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From flamethrowers to hot pants, Elon Musk has already released a range of weird and wacky products. Now, the billionaire is taking on the likes of McDonald's, Wendy's, and IHOP, with his very first diner. The Tesla Diner is described as a 'retro-futuristic diner and drive-in charging experience.'

There are many weird and wonderful humanoid robots out there, but one of the most eye-catching machines launched this year can change its own battery pack — making it capable of running autonomously for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Walker S2 robot, made by the Chinese company UBTECH, is 5 foot 3 inches (162 centimeters) tall and weighs 95 pounds (43 kilograms) — making it the size and weight of a small adult. Using a 48-volt lithium battery in a dual-battery system, the robot can walk for two hours or stand for four hours before its...

Researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) School of Engineering say they have invented the world’s brightest and most energy-efficient quantum rod LEDs (QRLEDs). Designed to maximize energy efficiency while delivering highly bright, deep green emissions “at the top of the color triangle,” these potentially breakthrough QRLEDs could replace organic LEDs (OLEDs) and quantum dot LEDs (QLEDs), and even in-development phosphorescent light emitting diodes (PHOLEDS), as the state-of-the-art LED architecture for smartphones, Televisions, and AR/VR devices by offering unprecedented color purity and a maximized color gamut. In a statement announcing the breakthrough design, team leader Professor...

He walks with a cane and is a bit hard of hearing. Yet Boris Chertok, 95, a former deputy chief designer in the Soviet bureau that put the first Sputnik satellite into orbit 50 years ago, still has strong opinions on the evolution of the country's space program. Chertok says the free-market changes instituted by President Boris Yeltsin after the Soviet Union fell apart were disastrous for Russian science. "We need to restore what we have lost over 15 years of destructive reforms," said Chertok, whose very name was once a state secret. "The market economy is incapable of fulfilling...

Not sure what to make of this, perhaps people more knowledgeable about computers than I can add some insight: I opened up my Lenovo laptop, I had not shut it down over night, just closed the screen. I could faintly hear music and some background noise. It sounded as if I was listening to a phone, that had been left off the hook with the line open. I had no programs running. I then shut down and restarted. Problem went away. I do subscribe to a computer help system that has in the past come into my computer to resolve...

Walmart is reportedly laying off more than 100 employees in its technology offices in Silicon Valley, part of larger corporate layoffs across the country. The company’s tech workers in the San Francisco Bay Area are being axed as part of Walmart’s plan to lay off around 1,500 corporate employees across the country, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle. Positions within Walmart’s global technology, U.S. e-commerce fulfillment, and advertising divisions will reportedly also be hit as a result of the company being restructured. The company, however, did not disclose all of the locations that will be affected.

Reporting Highlights Temp to Permanent: There’s periodic debate over the 120,000 foreigners annually awarded temporary H-1B visas, but almost no attention to the process by which many receive green cards. Filled, Then Verified: Foreign workers are eligible for permanent residency only when no U.S. citizens can do the job — but companies confirm that after foreigners have been employed as temps. Lost in Print: The law also requires that companies advertise these jobs in the classified ads of Sunday print newspapers, decreasing the chances that U.S. applicants see the listing. It’s a tough time for the rank-and-file tech worker or...

I have been using this TP-Link router for 9 years. In the beginning years, it ran without any problems or freezes. Last 6 months, it froze once every day like clockwork. Every morning I had to reboot by unplugging and plugging power. Usually it only froze once every day. On rare occasions it froze twice in a day but that was rare. I was getting ready to buy a new one thinking it is just getting old.. But.... Strangely, during last two weeks it has not frozen or crashed even once! Nothing has changed. Same PC's and phones and security...

Tax bods characterize it more as a brainstorming session, says Elon's unit wasn't involvedCongressional Democrats are again demanding answers from a federal agency over whether DOGE's latest tech makeover could put taxpayer data at risk. The latest please-explain-this-DOGE-activity letter letter [PDF] landed yesterday on the desk of the Internal Revenue Service's acting inspector general, Heather Hill. It is from Representative Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and perennial DOGE gadfly. This time, Connolly is demanding answers about a 30-day "hackathon" reportedly launched last month by DOGE staffers embedded at the IRS, in...

If you have an ounce of historical awareness (and basic empathy), the name “Guantánamo Bay” triggers images of torture and pain. It’s a site where the deprivation of the powers that be has been on full display. But what if Guantánamo wasn’t such a downer? What if it became a “prosperous charter city”? That’s the proposal coming from the most recent group of libertarian tech weirdos trying to rebrand Guantanamo with the help of a little modern-day slave labor. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has been courted by several groups proposing “charter”, “startup”, or “freedom” cities in the United...

An Oregon bill that would require big tech companies including Google and Meta to pay money to local newsrooms and journalists is steadily advancing despite protests from tech industry groups. The latest version of Senate Bill 686 would require companies of Google’s magnitude to pay at least $104 million annually to Oregon newsrooms and journalism programs. Companies of Meta’s scope would pay at least $18 million. Alternatively, companies could choose to undergo an arbitration process to determine a different payment amount. Lawmakers from both parties and numerous Oregon publishers have said the bill would be a financial lifeline for newsrooms...

... They're masking IPs, exporting laptop farms to America so they can connect into those machines and appear to be working from the USA, and they are using AI – but there's a question during job interviews that never fails to catch them out and forces them to drop out of the recruitment process. "My favorite interview question, because we've interviewed quite a few of these folks, is something to the effect of 'How fat is Kim Jong Un?' They terminate the call instantly, because it's not worth it to say something negative about that," he told a panel session...

This week, Silicon Valley heavyweights mingled with top Trump administration officials at a conference at the Ritz-Carlton in Miami. The event was hosted by the Rockbridge Network, a secretive yet increasingly powerful organization at the center of business, technology, and Republican politics. Those in attendance included venture capitalists Chamath Palihapitiya and Keith Rabois, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and real estate developer-turned-United States Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff. The Rockbridge Network was founded in 2019 by now-Vice President J.D. Vance and financier Chris...

The entire staff of the Defense Digital Service (DDS), the Pentagon’s decade-old technology development office, is leaving by the start of May, with nearly all individuals resigning, a current member of the office confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday. The mass exodus, first reported by Politico, means the service will effectively shutter in less than a month. Of the 14 members of the office, a dozen including Director Jennifer Hay have requested the Trump administration’s deferred resignation option and plan to leave by May 1. Two other staffers are also leaving in that time frame. “Although DDS was excited to...

On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Ingraham Angle,” White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz stated that it is odd that Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who has “gone to just all kinds of lengths to lie and smear the president of the United States, and he’s the one that, somehow, gets on somebody’s contact and then gets sucked into this group.” He also stated that Goldberg wasn’t on his phone, “a staffer wasn’t responsible. And, look, I take full responsibility.” Waltz also said that Goldberg’s contact “looked like someone else. Now, whether he did it deliberately or it...

The European Parliament has, once again, found itself at the heart of a corruption scandal, this time involving the Chinese tech giant Huawei. Police raids have been carried out across Belgium and Portugal amid suspicions of bribery, forgery, money laundering, and organized criminal activity. The European Parliament’s latest corruption scandal unfolds even as the previous one—the so-called ‘Qatargate’ affair—remains under investigation and litigation, further deepening preexisting concerns about foreign influence in EU institutions. The Qatargate scandal, which surfaced more than two years ago, involves allegations that Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), lobbyists, and their families accepted substantial sums of...

For almost a year I have been emphasizing the fact that the DemoKKKrats have two major internal civil wars, neither of which they could win without massive electoral damage to the party. Civil War #1 was the Pale/Hamas vs. Jewish/Israel civil war. The DemoKKKrats cannot come down too hard on the Hamas Murder Pirates without losing---as they did in Michigan in November---their Muslim support. Trump didn't have to do anything except promise some generic version of peace. He did not overtly side with Israel, even though that is in fact where his support lies. DemoKKKrats unfortunately for us cannot alienate...

Users beware: This ransomware poses a threat to precious data. The FBI has issued a warning regarding malicious malware that demands a ransom from victims in order to release their data. Dubbed “Medusa,” the “ransomware-as-a-service” has affected more than 300 known people “from a variety of critical infrastructure sectors” since it was first discovered in 2021, according to a recent advisory penned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center. In order to protect themselves, people can follow the agencies’ tips and tricks for securing accounts and personal...

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has pushed for a massive upgrade of the Federal Aviation Administration, claiming their computer system still uses 'floppy discs.' As the nation is reeling from recent plane crashes, Duffy sounded the alarm on the antiquated FAA claiming there are systems in the network 'that are run on floppy discs.' 'The systems that we use are so old. I need the Congress to move faster with us. We can't wait four years, six years, 10 years. We have to do it right now,' Duffy told CBS News. Donald Trump's Administration has set its sights on replacing the...

Thank you for the kind introduction. I want to start by thanking President Macron for hosting the event and of course, for the lovely dinner last night. During the dinner, President Macron looked at me and asked if I would like to speak, and I said, "Mr. President, I'm here for the good company and free wine, but I have to earn my keep today." I, of course, want to thank Prime Minister Modi for being here and for co-hosting the summit, and all of you for participating. I'm not here this morning to talk about AI safety, which was...