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        <title>Ars Technica</title>
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        <link>https://arstechnica.com</link>
        <description>Serving the Technologist since 1998. News, reviews, and analysis.</description>
        <lastBuildDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 23:26:02 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>Ars Technica</title>
	<link>https://arstechnica.com</link>
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            <item>
                <title>Ukraine’s military robot surge aims to offset drone risks to humans</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/ukraines-military-robot-surge-aims-to-offset-drone-risks-to-humans/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/ukraines-military-robot-surge-aims-to-offset-drone-risks-to-humans/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Jeremy Hsu]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 22:42:22 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[killer robots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[military drones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weaponized robots]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/ukraines-military-robot-surge-aims-to-offset-drone-risks-to-humans/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Ukraine is replacing more soldiers with robots in the battlefield kill zone.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Ukrainian ground robots and drones have demonstrated how to overcome a Russian military position by themselves while forcing the surrender of Russian soldiers, claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. If true, that would represent a significant robotic milestone during the ongoing war that has already been significantly reshaped by drones—and it could offer lessons for how militaries worldwide may use robots and drones to do the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in future conflicts.</p>
<p>The<a href="https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/2043736603336609875"> claim by Zelenskyy</a> has not been independently verified but was<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/1skw0g4/zelenskyy_for_the_first_time_in_the_war_an_enemy/"> accompanied by a promotional video</a> in which he described Ukraine’s military robots as having completed over 22,000 missions in the last three months. Ukraine’s defense ministry also recently described a threefold increase in the Ukrainian military’s uncrewed ground vehicle missions over the last five months, with more than 9,000 robotic missions conducted in March, according to <a href="https://www.scrippsnews.com/investigations/russia-ukraine-war-on-the-ground/ukraines-ground-robots-now-running-9-000-missions-a-month">Scripps News</a>. The growing robotic ground presence represents a new trend in a war that has become synonymous with drones.</p>
<p>Zelenskyy’s statement may refer to an event that occurred in the Kharkiv Oblast in northeastern Ukraine last year, according to <a href="https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/europe/russia-ukraine-robot-drone-army-zelensky-b2957467.html">The Independent</a>. It referenced a statement by the Ukrainian 3rd Separate Assault Brigade detailing how the unit had used flying drones and “kamikaze” ground robots to attack fortified Russian frontline positions at that time. The brigade’s statement also described Russian soldiers as surrendering to one of the unit’s robots after abandoning the battered fortifications. There are previous examples of individual or small groups of Russian soldiers <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkirichenko/2026/03/11/russian-soldiers-are-now-surrendering-to-ukrainian-drones-and-robots/">surrendering to Ukrainian drones</a> and <a href="https://united24media.com/latest-news/this-ukrainian-ai-robot-just-captured-three-russian-soldiers-on-the-front-line-video-15373">even a robot</a> while being recorded on video, so the idea of a group of Russian soldiers surrendering their position and themselves to a robot is not necessarily far-fetched. The battlefield exploits of such robots were also featured in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMTSH1U44cw">recent video </a>by the Ukrainian government-run platform United24, which described a similar or possibly the same incident involving the same brigade.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/ukraines-military-robot-surge-aims-to-offset-drone-risks-to-humans/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/ukraines-military-robot-surge-aims-to-offset-drone-risks-to-humans/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>17</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/DevDroid-military-robot.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/DevDroid-military-robot-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>DevDroid (CC BY 4.0)</media:credit><media:text>A Droid TW 12.7 military robot armed with a remote-controlled machine gun was developed by the Ukrainian company DevDroid.</media:text></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Sony killing features for antenna, set-top box users of Bravia smart TVs in May</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/sony-killing-features-for-antenna-set-top-box-users-of-bravia-smart-tvs-in-may/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/sony-killing-features-for-antenna-set-top-box-users-of-bravia-smart-tvs-in-may/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Scharon Harding]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 22:00:31 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sony]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TVs]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/sony-killing-features-for-antenna-set-top-box-users-of-bravia-smart-tvs-in-may/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Some 2023 and 2024 models are also affected. ]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Sony is removing some features from its recent Bravia smart TVs next month, a move that will affect people who use an antenna or a set-top box.</p>
<p>As of “late May 2026,” people who use an antenna with the affected TV models will see a reduced TV guide, according to a <a href="https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00380371">support page</a> spotted by <a href="https://cordcuttersnews.com/sony-is-removing-many-popular-features-from-its-free-ota-tv-options-impacting-abc-cbs-fox-nbc/">Cord Cutters News</a>. Per the support page, “program information may not appear depending on the channel,” and “only programs from <strong>recently watched channels</strong> may be shown” for channels delivered through an antenna.</p>
<p>Users will also no longer see channel logos or thumbnail images in program descriptions for TV channels delivered through an antenna.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/sony-killing-features-for-antenna-set-top-box-users-of-bravia-smart-tvs-in-may/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/sony-killing-features-for-antenna-set-top-box-users-of-bravia-smart-tvs-in-may/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>38</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/125732_original_local_1200x1050_v3_converted-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/125732_original_local_1200x1050_v3_converted-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Sony</media:credit><media:text>A marketing image for Sony'a Bravia 5 (XR50) series of Mini LED TVs that came out in 2025. </media:text></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>Americans ask AI for health care. Hospitals think the answer is more chatbots.</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/04/americans-ask-ai-for-health-care-hospitals-think-the-answer-is-more-chatbots/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/04/americans-ask-ai-for-health-care-hospitals-think-the-answer-is-more-chatbots/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Beth Mole]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:30:20 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chatbots]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health systems]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hospitals]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/04/americans-ask-ai-for-health-care-hospitals-think-the-answer-is-more-chatbots/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Do you trust AI chatbots for health advice? What about one in your patient portal?]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>With many Americans turning to large language models for health advice, health systems around the country are eyeing and even rolling out their own branded chatbots in an attempt to harness this already popular tool and steer more people to their services. But the burgeoning trend is raising immediate questions and concerns for the country's complicated and generally underperforming health care system.</p>
<p>Executives frame the new offerings as a convenience for patients, meeting people where they are and providing a service with digital equity. They also suggest their chatbots will be a safer alternative to commercial versions people are using now.</p>
<p>"We are at an inflection point in healthcare," Allon Bloch, CEO of clinical AI company K Health, said in a statement. "Demand is accelerating, and patients are already using AI to navigate their lives."</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/04/americans-ask-ai-for-health-care-hospitals-think-the-answer-is-more-chatbots/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/04/americans-ask-ai-for-health-care-hospitals-think-the-answer-is-more-chatbots/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>49</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/GettyImages-2245570667-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/GettyImages-2245570667-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Getty | Inkoly</media:credit></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Two-year-old Surface PCs get $300 price hikes as sub-$1,000 models go away</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/two-year-old-surface-pcs-get-300-price-hikes-as-sub-1000-models-go-away/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/two-year-old-surface-pcs-get-300-price-hikes-as-sub-1000-models-go-away/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Andrew Cunningham]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:58:52 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Microsoft Surface]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/two-year-old-surface-pcs-get-300-price-hikes-as-sub-1000-models-go-away/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA["Paying more for the same stuff" is the story of consumer technology in 2026.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>If you've been waiting for Microsoft to update its Surface PC lineup—perhaps with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 Elite processors—I've got bad news for you. Microsoft <em>is</em> shaking up its PC lineup, but it's doing so by instituting big price hikes. This means you'll be paying at least $1,500 for Surface devices that launched at $1,000 just two years ago and that Microsoft no longer offers new Surface devices under $1,000 at all.</p>
<p>The 12-inch Surface Pro tablet that originally started at $799 and the 13-inch Surface Laptop that launched at $899 now cost $1,049 and $1,149, respectively, a $250 price increase. The higher-end Surface Laptop and 13-inch Surface Pro from 2024 both started at $999 but <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/05/echoing-xbox-prices-are-going-up-for-high-end-surfaces-and-some-accessories/">increased to $1,199 in 2025</a> when their entry-level versions with 256GB of storage were discontinued; both now start at $1,499, a $300 increase.</p>
<p>As originally <a href="https://www.windowscentral.com/hardware/surface/microsoft-reveals-major-price-increases-for-all-surface-pro-laptop-pcs-as-ram-crisis-continues">reported</a> by Windows Central, Microsoft is blaming "recent increases in memory and component costs" for the price hikes. Supply shortages for RAM and storage chips in particular have been wreaking havoc with consumer tech all year, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/03/dont-worry-valve-still-plans-to-launch-the-steam-machine-this-year/">delaying</a> some launches, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/valves-steam-deck-intermittently-out-of-stock-as-ram-shortage-drags-on/">depleting the stock of existing products</a>, and <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/ongoing-ram-crisis-prompts-raspberry-pis-second-price-hike-in-two-months/">raising prices</a> for small and large companies alike.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/two-year-old-surface-pcs-get-300-price-hikes-as-sub-1000-models-go-away/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/two-year-old-surface-pcs-get-300-price-hikes-as-sub-1000-models-go-away/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                        </content:encoded>
                                    
                                    <slash:comments>61</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_1971-1152x648.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_1971-500x500.jpeg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Andrew Cunningham</media:credit><media:text>Microsoft's Surface Pro 11 has received two price hikes and zero internal updates in the last two years.</media:text></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Apple chooses Amazon satellites for iPhone, years after rejecting Starlink offer</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/amazon-to-merge-with-globalstar-become-iphones-primary-satellite-provider/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/amazon-to-merge-with-globalstar-become-iphones-primary-satellite-provider/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Jon Brodkin]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:50:16 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[amazon leo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iphone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spacex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[starlink]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/amazon-to-merge-with-globalstar-become-iphones-primary-satellite-provider/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Amazon announces $11.6B merger with Globalstar and satellite deal with Apple.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Amazon today <a href="https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-globalstar-apple">announced</a> two satellite deals that it hopes will make its Amazon Leo network a more formidable competitor to SpaceX's Starlink. Amazon signed a merger agreement to buy satellite operator Globalstar and said it entered into an agreement with Apple to provide satellite service for iPhones and Apple Watches.</p>
<p>Amazon is spending an estimated $11.6 billion for Globalstar, which already partnered with Apple for satellite messaging on the iPhone. Amazon said that buying Globalstar will help it enter the Direct-to-Device (D2D) market in which satellites provide connectivity to mobile phones.</p>
<p>"In addition to the agreement with Globalstar, Amazon and Apple signed an agreement to provide satellite connectivity for current and future iPhone and Apple Watch features," according to Amazon, which operates the Amazon Leo satellite network formerly known as Kuiper Systems. Panos Panay, Amazon's senior VP of devices and services, <a href="https://x.com/panos_panay/status/2044032086399693048">said</a> the Apple deal will make Amazon the "primary satellite service provider for iPhone and Apple Watch."</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/amazon-to-merge-with-globalstar-become-iphones-primary-satellite-provider/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/amazon-to-merge-with-globalstar-become-iphones-primary-satellite-provider/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>64</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/amazon-leo-phone-1152x648-1776193826.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/amazon-leo-phone-500x500-1776193813.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Amazon</media:credit><media:text>Promotional image for Amazon's Leo satellite service.</media:text></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>UK gov&#039;s Mythos AI tests help separate cybersecurity threat from hype</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/uk-govs-mythos-ai-tests-help-separate-cybersecurity-threat-from-hype/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/uk-govs-mythos-ai-tests-help-separate-cybersecurity-threat-from-hype/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Kyle Orland]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:11:25 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AISI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anthropic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Claude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mythos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[security]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/uk-govs-mythos-ai-tests-help-separate-cybersecurity-threat-from-hype/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[New model is the first AI system to complete a difficult multistep infiltration challenge.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Last week, <a href="https://red.anthropic.com/2026/mythos-preview/">Anthropic announced</a> it was <a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/anthropic-limits-access-to-mythos-its-new-cybersecurity-ai-model/">restricting the initial release of its Mythos Preview model</a> to "a limited group of critical industry partners," giving them time to prepare for a model that it said is "strikingly capable at computer security tasks." Now, the UK government's <a href="https://www.aisi.gov.uk/about">AI Security Institute</a> (AISI) has published <a href="https://www.aisi.gov.uk/blog/our-evaluation-of-claude-mythos-previews-cyber-capabilities">an initial evaluation of the model's cyberattack capabilities</a> that adds some independent public verification to those Anthropic reports.</p>
<p>AISI's findings show that Mythos isn't significantly different from other recent frontier models in tests of individual cybersecurity-related tasks. But Mythos could set itself apart from previous models through its ability to effectively chain these tasks into the multistep series of attacks necessary to fully infiltrate some systems.</p>
<h2>"The Last Ones" finally falls</h2>
<p>AISI has been putting various AI models through specially designed <a href="https://www.eccouncil.org/cybersecurity-exchange/ethical-hacking/capture-the-flag-ctf-cybersecurity/">Capture the Flag challenges</a> since early 2023, when GPT-3.5 Turbo struggled to complete any of the group's relatively low-level "Apprentice" tasks. Since then, the performance of subsequent models has risen steadily, to the point where Mythos Preview can complete north of 85 percent of those same Apprentice-level CTF tasks.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/uk-govs-mythos-ai-tests-help-separate-cybersecurity-threat-from-hype/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/uk-govs-mythos-ai-tests-help-separate-cybersecurity-threat-from-hype/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>28</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/GettyImages-2270583709-1024x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1024" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/GettyImages-2270583709-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Getty Images</media:credit><media:text>The UK's AI Security Institute is one of a select few groups that have gotten early access to Anthropic's Mythos Preview.</media:text></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Google introduces &quot;Skills&quot; in Chrome to make Gemini prompts instantly reusable</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/04/google-introduces-skills-in-chrome-to-make-gemini-prompts-instantly-reusable/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/04/google-introduces-skills-in-chrome-to-make-gemini-prompts-instantly-reusable/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Ryan Whitwam]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 17:00:37 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chrome]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gemini]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/04/google-introduces-skills-in-chrome-to-make-gemini-prompts-instantly-reusable/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[You can save custom prompts you find useful or grab a premade Skill from Google's library.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Chrome is the most popular browser in the world, and the competition is not even close. So the browser is a key part of Google's efforts to get everyone using its AI tools. The company's chatbot has already infused various parts of the Chrome UI, and you can even turn Gemini loose to <a href="https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/02/tested-how-chromes-auto-browse-agent-handles-common-web-tasks/">control the browser</a>. The <a href="https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/chrome/skills-in-chrome/">latest AI addition to Chrome</a> comes in the form of "Skills," reusable prompts you can access while browsing with a single click.</p>
<p>Skills don't so much add new functionality as they make it easier to repeat tasks that were already possible with Gemini in Chrome. Previously, you would have to reenter the prompt each time you wanted Gemini to do something in Chrome; whether that meant typing it or copy-pasting from a saved document, you had to do it manually. Saving those favorite prompts as Skills in Chrome makes them quicker and easier to access.</p>
<figure class="video ars-wp-video ars-wp-video--horizontal">
  <div class="" style="">
    <div class="wrapper ars-wp-video-wrapper relative" style="aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777778;">
      <video class="wp-video-shortcode absolute w-full h-full object-contain left-0 top-0" id="video-2149712-1" width="1920" height="1080" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Desktop-Skills-Protein.mp4?_=1"></source>Saving a Gemini prompt as a reusable Skill</video>
    </div>

    <figcaption>
      <span class="icon caption-arrow icon-drop-indicator"></span>
      <div class="caption font-impact dusk:text-gray-300 mb-4 mt-2 inline-flex flex-row items-stretch gap-1 text-base leading-tight text-gray-400 dark:text-gray-300">
    <div class="caption-icon bg-[left_top_5px] w-[10px] shrink-0"></div>
    <div class="caption-content">
      Saving a Gemini prompt as a reusable Skill

          </div>
  </div>
    </figcaption>
  </div>
</figure>

<p>The desktop version of Chrome will remember your saved Skills across devices. As long as you're logged in to your Google account, you can type forward slash ( / ) in Gemini or click the plus button to bring up your saved Skills. Simply click, and it will run in the current tab. You can also add additional tabs if it's a skill that pulls from multiple sources.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/04/google-introduces-skills-in-chrome-to-make-gemini-prompts-instantly-reusable/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/04/google-introduces-skills-in-chrome-to-make-gemini-prompts-instantly-reusable/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>45</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-automate-windups-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/google-automate-windups-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Aurich Lawson</media:credit><media:text>Is Chrome's AI agent ready? </media:text></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Physicists think they&#039;ve resolved the proton size puzzle</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/physicists-think-theyve-resolved-the-proton-size-puzzle/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/physicists-think-theyve-resolved-the-proton-size-puzzle/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Jennifer Ouellette]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:52:34 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[particle physics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Physics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[proton radius puzzle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[protons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the standard model]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/physicists-think-theyve-resolved-the-proton-size-puzzle/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA["We believe this is the final nail in the coffin of the proton radius puzzle."]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>There has been considerable debate among physicists over the last 15 years about conflicting measurements of the charge radius of a hydrogen atom's proton—some confirming the predictions of our strongest theoretical models, others suggesting it was smaller than expected. The discrepancy hinted at possible exciting new physics. Now the debate seems to be winding down with the latest experimental measurements, described in two recent papers published in the journals <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10124-3">Nature</a> and <a href="https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/lgl2-6cb8">Physical Review Letters</a>, respectively. And the evidence has tilted in favor of a smaller proton radius and against new physics.</p>
<p>"We believe this is the final nail in the coffin of the proton radius puzzle," Lothar Maisenbacher, of the University of California, Berkeley, who co-authored the Nature paper, told Ars.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/09/physics-not-broken-after-all-were-close-to-resolving-proton-radius-puzzle/">previously reported</a>, most popularizations discussing the structure of the atom rely on the <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cocktail-party-physics/dont-be-dissin-the-bohr-model/">much-maligned Bohr model</a>, in which electrons move around the nucleus in circular orbits. But quantum mechanics gives us a much more precise (albeit weirder) description. The electrons aren’t really orbiting the nucleus; they are technically waves that take on particle-like properties when we do an experiment to determine their position. While orbiting an atom, they exist in a superposition of states, both particle and wave, with a wave function encompassing all the probabilities of its position at once. A measurement will collapse the wave function, giving us the electron’s position. Make a series of such measurements and plot the various positions that result, and it will yield something akin to a fuzzy orbit-like pattern.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/physicists-think-theyve-resolved-the-proton-size-puzzle/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/physicists-think-theyve-resolved-the-proton-size-puzzle/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>53</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/protonTOP-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/protonTOP-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:text>Image of a hydrogen atom's electron orbitals taken with a quantum microscope in 2013. </media:text></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>NASA chose the right crew to launch a new era of human space exploration</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/rockets-and-spaceships-are-cool-but-the-humanity-of-artemis-ii-resonated-most/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/rockets-and-spaceships-are-cool-but-the-humanity-of-artemis-ii-resonated-most/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Stephen Clark]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Space]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[artemis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[artemis II]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christina Koch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human spaceflight]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeremy Hansen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[moon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NASA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[orion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reid Wiseman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[space launch system]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[victor glover]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/rockets-and-spaceships-are-cool-but-the-humanity-of-artemis-ii-resonated-most/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA["It’s a special thing to be human, and it’s a special thing to be on planet Earth."
]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>HOUSTON—Their mission is complete. The four people who flew beyond the Moon on NASA's Artemis II mission are back home in Houston with their families. But the lessons from Artemis II are just beginning to be told.</p>
<p>There are tangible, objective takeaways from the nine-day mission. How did NASA's Space Launch System rocket perform? Nearly perfectly. Was the Orion spacecraft up to the job of flying to the Moon and back? Absolutely. Will engineers need to make any changes before the next Artemis mission? Yes, and that's not terribly surprising for a program that, 20 years in, has just flown a crew to space for the first time.</p>
<p>Ars has covered the technical lessons from Artemis II, such as <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/02/unable-to-tame-hydrogen-leaks-nasa-delays-launch-of-artemis-ii-until-march/">hydrogen leaks on the launch pad</a>, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/nasa-homes-in-on-likely-redesign-to-fix-orion-spacecrafts-leaky-valves/">helium leaks in space</a>, and a <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/artemis-ii-is-going-so-well-that-were-left-to-talk-about-frozen-urine/">toilet that wasn't always available</a> for No. 1.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/rockets-and-spaceships-are-cool-but-the-humanity-of-artemis-ii-resonated-most/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/rockets-and-spaceships-are-cool-but-the-humanity-of-artemis-ii-resonated-most/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>32</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/55193772547_1008756b4d_5k-1152x648-1776180946.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/55193772547_1008756b4d_5k-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>NASA</media:credit><media:text>Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, and Reid Wiseman (left to right) are joined by their mission mascot, a plushie toy named "Rise," inside the Orion spacecraft.</media:text></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Google will begin punishing sites for back button hijacking in June</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/websites-that-hijack-your-back-button-must-stop-by-june-15-or-face-googles-wrath/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/websites-that-hijack-your-back-button-must-stop-by-june-15-or-face-googles-wrath/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Ryan Whitwam]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 15:48:41 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[browsers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/websites-that-hijack-your-back-button-must-stop-by-june-15-or-face-googles-wrath/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Google says it could penalize back button hijacking by demoting websites in search ranking. ]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>So you thought you'd just read that webpage and then go back to the previous page? A bold assumption. All too often, clicking the back button in your browser doesn't actually take you back. It's called back button hijacking, and Google has thus far tolerated it. That <a href="https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/04/back-button-hijacking">ends in June</a>, when the company will designate it a "malicious practice," and any site continuing to do it will face consequences.</p>
<p>Back button hijacking is a way of wringing more pageviews out of visitors. It's common on sites that live and die on search traffic. You may end up on a page because it looks like something you want, but instead of letting you leave the domain, it manipulates your page history to insert something else when you click back.</p>
<p>The phantom page is usually a collection of additional content suggestions or a pop-up that tries to eke out a few more clicks from each visitor. Some sites get a little more creative with it, though. For example, LinkedIn has a nasty habit of sending you "back" to the social feed after you land on a link to a profile or job posting.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/websites-that-hijack-your-back-button-must-stop-by-june-15-or-face-googles-wrath/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/websites-that-hijack-your-back-button-must-stop-by-june-15-or-face-googles-wrath/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>127</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/google-logo-green-terminal-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/google-logo-green-terminal-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Aurich Lawson</media:credit></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>IONNA Rechargeries are coming to more than 350 Circle K stations</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/04/circle-k-partners-with-ionna-to-upgrade-its-ev-charging-experience/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/04/circle-k-partners-with-ionna-to-upgrade-its-ev-charging-experience/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Jonathan M. Gitlin]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 15:37:00 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Cars]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EV charging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fast charging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IONNA]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/04/circle-k-partners-with-ionna-to-upgrade-its-ev-charging-experience/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[The OEM-backed charging network offers 400 kW NACS and CCS DC fast chargers.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Today, the IONNA <a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/07/seven-major-automakers-to-build-ev-charging-network-with-30000-chargers/">charging network</a> announced that it's partnering with Circle K to bring its "Rechargery" experience to more than 350 Circle K locations in the US. IONNA will start with 85 existing Circle K charging sites, with the first Rechargeries powering up electric vehicles by the end of the year, "followed by additional scale in 2027," IONNA said.</p>
<p>IONNA was founded back in 2023 by eight OEMs: BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Toyota. Its plan is to deploy 30,000 high-speed chargers across the US by 2030, starting with its first locations in 2024. Currently, there are 108 IONNA locations operational with 375 NACS and 658 CCS plugs, assuming the Department of Energy's <a href="https://afdc.energy.gov/stations#/analyze?tab=fuel&amp;fuel=ELEC">Alternative Fueling Station Locator</a> remains a reliable resource.</p>
<p>Lengthy permitting delays are one of the main factors slowing the build-out of fast-charging infrastructure, and partnering with sites that already have some chargers installed will certainly help speed things up, at least a little.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/04/circle-k-partners-with-ionna-to-upgrade-its-ev-charging-experience/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/04/circle-k-partners-with-ionna-to-upgrade-its-ev-charging-experience/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>113</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IONNA-86-edited-scaled-1-1152x648-1776179324.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IONNA-86-edited-scaled-1-500x500-1776179313.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>IONNA</media:credit></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Retro Rewind re-creates the glorious drudgery of working a &#039;90s video store</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/04/retro-rewind-re-creates-the-glorious-drudgery-of-working-a-90s-video-store/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/04/retro-rewind-re-creates-the-glorious-drudgery-of-working-a-90s-video-store/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Kyle Orland]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 21:58:41 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Gaming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blockbuster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blood pact]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[retro rewind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[simulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[simulator]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VHS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video store]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/04/retro-rewind-re-creates-the-glorious-drudgery-of-working-a-90s-video-store/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[What the nostalgic throwback lacks in complexity it makes up for in repetitive charm.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[
<p>If you were working a retail job at a movie rental store in the early '90s, there's a decent chance you couldn't wait to clock out for the day and escape from the daily grind with a mindless video game. Here in the 2020s, on the other hand, at least one mindless video game is striving to re-create the daily grind of working at a video rental store.</p>
<p><em>Retro Rewind: Video Store Simulator</em> is the latest in a burgeoning field of "work simulators" that have <a href="https://gamalytic.com/game/3552140">found indie success on Steam</a>. And while the depth of the game's overall retail simulation is pretty shallow, there is a sort of soothing, zen comfort to be found in the repetitive nostalgia of that menial workaday world of the past.</p>
<h2>Working 9 to 5</h2>
<p>Unlike simulations that rely heavily on menus or spreadsheets, <em>Retro Rewind</em> puts you in the first-person perspective of the manager of a small local VHS rental joint circa 1990. That means you have to run around doing everything from buying the tapes to laying out the furniture and decorations in the store. And while you can technically display those tapes out on any shelf you want, grouping them together by genre makes for both a better customer experience and helps to quiet those anal-retentive organizational voices in your head.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/04/retro-rewind-re-creates-the-glorious-drudgery-of-working-a-90s-video-store/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/04/retro-rewind-re-creates-the-glorious-drudgery-of-working-a-90s-video-store/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>58</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20260413104210_1-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20260413104210_1-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Blood Pact Studios</media:credit><media:text>Shut up and take my money.</media:text></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>Measles takes a plane to Idaho, which has worst vaccination rate in US</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/04/airport-measles-case-reported-in-idaho-state-with-lowest-vaccination-rate/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/04/airport-measles-case-reported-in-idaho-state-with-lowest-vaccination-rate/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Beth Mole]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 21:32:48 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[idaho]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[measles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MMR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vaccine]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/04/airport-measles-case-reported-in-idaho-state-with-lowest-vaccination-rate/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[In the 2024-2025 school year, only 78.5% of kindergartners had measles vaccination.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>A person with measles passed through the busiest airport in Idaho, shedding one of the world's most infectious viruses in the state with the country's lowest measles vaccination rate.</p>
<p>Health officials are now warning residents and travelers about the exposure while trying to directly notify passengers who shared flights with the infected person. <a href="https://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/news/possible-measles-exposure-occurs-boise-airport">In an announcement on April 9</a>, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) said the infected person was at the Boise airport on March 29 between 1:30 am and 7:40 am while traveling through the area.</p>
<p>Measles symptoms—which begin with fever, cough, runny nose, and watery, red eyes—can develop between seven and 21 days after exposure, but typically start after 11 or 12 days. That means that for anyone infected during the airport exposure, the initial generic symptoms would likely have started over the weekend. The telltale rash of measles typically doesn't appear until two to four days after those early flu-like symptoms. The rash begins on the head and moves down the body, while fever may spike to 104° F or higher. Infected people are infectious for four days before the rash appears and for four days after its onset.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/04/airport-measles-case-reported-in-idaho-state-with-lowest-vaccination-rate/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/04/airport-measles-case-reported-in-idaho-state-with-lowest-vaccination-rate/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>194</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/GettyImages-1726660639-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/GettyImages-1726660639-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Getty | Don and Melinda Crawford</media:credit><media:text>The Boise airport is in south central Idaho in Ada County. </media:text></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Google shoehorned Rust into Pixel 10 modem to make legacy code safer</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/google-shoehorned-rust-into-pixel-10-modem-to-make-legacy-code-safer/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/google-shoehorned-rust-into-pixel-10-modem-to-make-legacy-code-safer/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Ryan Whitwam]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 21:12:51 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pixel 10]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/google-shoehorned-rust-into-pixel-10-modem-to-make-legacy-code-safer/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Cellular modems are complex black boxes of legacy code, but Google is making them safer with Rust.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Modern smartphone operating systems have myriad systems in place to improve security, but none of that helps when attackers target the modem. Google's Project Zero team has shown it's possible to get remote code execution on Pixel phone modems over the Internet, which prompted Google to reevaluate how it secures this vital, low-level system. The solution wasn't to rewrite modem software but rather to <a href="https://security.googleblog.com/2026/04/bringing-rust-to-pixel-baseband.html">shoehorn a safer Rust-based component</a> into the <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/08/google-pixel-10-series-review-dont-call-it-an-android/">Pixel 10</a> modem.</p>
<p>Cellular modems are something of a black box. Your phone's baseband is its own operating system running legacy C and C++ code, which makes it an increasingly appealing attack surface. The core issue is that memory management in these systems is difficult and often leads to memory-unsafe firmware code on production devices. That can allow attackers to leverage serious vulnerabilities like buffer overflows and memory leaks to compromise devices.</p>
<p>So that's not great—why are we still using this stuff? Part of the issue is just the inertia of embedded systems. Companies have been developing modem firmware based on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP">3GPP</a> specifications for decades, so there's a lot of technical debt at this point. Modems also have to operate in real time to send and receive data effectively, and C/C++ code is fast.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/google-shoehorned-rust-into-pixel-10-modem-to-make-legacy-code-safer/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/google-shoehorned-rust-into-pixel-10-modem-to-make-legacy-code-safer/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>55</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Google-Pixel-10-13-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Google-Pixel-10-13-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Ryan Whitwam</media:credit><media:text>The Pixel 10 series ships with Google's safer modem code.</media:text></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>NZXT agrees to let customers keep their rental PCs in class-action settlement</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/nzxt-agrees-to-3-45-million-settlement-over-controversial-rental-pc-program/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/nzxt-agrees-to-3-45-million-settlement-over-controversial-rental-pc-program/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Scharon Harding]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 20:55:35 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Desktops]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gaming PC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[subscriptions]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/nzxt-agrees-to-3-45-million-settlement-over-controversial-rental-pc-program/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[NZXT will forgive up to $5,000 in debt for customers of the Flex program. ]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>PC hardware company NZXT and its billing partner, Fragile, have agreed to a $3,450,000 settlement in response to a class-action complaint regarding NZXT’s Flex PC rental program.</p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/08/nzxt-wants-you-to-pay-up-to-169-month-to-rent-a-gaming-pc/">NZXT announced Flex</a> in August 2024, saying that it would charge customers $59 to $169 a month to rent an NZXT gaming desktop (as of this writing, Flex prices are $79 to $279 per month). At the time, NZXT said that the PCs would be “new or like new.” Subscribers had the option to receive an upgraded rental PC every two years.</p>
<p>The program was met with criticism. Renting a PC can quickly become more costly than buying one, depending on the rental, and YouTube channel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pomC1CfpC0">Gamers Nexus</a> claimed in November 2024 that customers received less powerful components than expected and that NZXT advertised the rental PCs with inaccurate benchmark results. There was also concern about what NZXT did with customer data left on returned computers.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/nzxt-agrees-to-3-45-million-settlement-over-controversial-rental-pc-program/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/nzxt-agrees-to-3-45-million-settlement-over-controversial-rental-pc-program/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>71</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/NZXT-1-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/NZXT-1-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>NZXT</media:credit><media:text>An NZXT gaming PC. </media:text></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Your tech support company runs scams. Stop—or disguise with more fraud?</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/your-tech-support-company-runs-scams-stop-or-disguise-with-more-fraud/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/your-tech-support-company-runs-scams-stop-or-disguise-with-more-fraud/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Nate Anderson]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 19:58:33 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indian call center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tech support scams]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/your-tech-support-company-runs-scams-stop-or-disguise-with-more-fraud/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Fake it till you make it.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Michael Cotter had a problem: "Chargebacks" at his tech support company were too high. The reason for this was not hard to find; people at his company, Tech Live Connect, were scamming Cotter's fellow Americans.</p>
<p>The scams usually began with a pop-up message warning that a user's computer might have a virus. The pop-up then claimed to run a "scan" (which was always positive) of the computer and provided a toll-free number to call for more help. Those who called were connected to Tech Live Connect's Indian call center, where they were asked for remote access to their computers, diagnosed with fake problems, and charged hundreds of dollars to "fix" them. Call center workers often pretended to be Apple or Microsoft employees.</p>
<p>Defrauded people complained in droves.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/your-tech-support-company-runs-scams-stop-or-disguise-with-more-fraud/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/your-tech-support-company-runs-scams-stop-or-disguise-with-more-fraud/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>76</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/GettyImages-2170707494-1152x648-1776109033.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/GettyImages-2170707494-500x500-1776109016.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Getty Images</media:credit></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>Sunrise on the Reaping teaser brings us a Second Quarter Quell</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/04/sunrise-on-the-reaping-teaser-brings-us-a-second-quarter-quell/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/04/sunrise-on-the-reaping-teaser-brings-us-a-second-quarter-quell/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Jennifer Ouellette]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:15:59 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HG: Sunrise on the Reaping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hunger Games franchise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lionsgate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trailers]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/04/sunrise-on-the-reaping-teaser-brings-us-a-second-quarter-quell/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA["You have no idea what's in store for you. Twice the number of tributes, twice the glory."]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<div class="ars-video"><div class="relative" allow="fullscreen" loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fS35YSjopjE?start=0&amp;wmode=transparent"></div></div>
<p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games_(franchise)">Hunger Games franchise</a>, based on the bestselling novels by Susan Collins, has grossed over $3.4 billion at the global box office across five films and shows no sign of slowing down any time soon. Lionsgate just dropped an extended teaser for the sixth film, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games:_Sunrise_on_the_Reaping"><em>Sunrise on the Reaping</em></a>—a sequel to 2023's <em>Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes</em> and a prequel leading into the events of the first film, <em>The Hunger Games</em> (2012).</p>
<p><strong>(Some spoilers for prior films in the franchise below.)</strong></p>
<p>Confession: While I was a fan of the first two films, my interest in the Hunger Games franchise flagged a bit after that. It didn't help that the first prequel, <em>Ballad,</em> was the weakest film in the franchise, although it still raked in $349 million globally at the box office. That film told the backstory of future Panem President Coriolanus Snow (played by the late Donald Sutherland in the first four films) as a young man (Tom Blyth). Set in the earliest days of the Games, we see his gradual transformation from well-meaning mentor to a tribute named Lucy Gray (Rachel Zegler), to conniving villain willing to do pretty much anything for power.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/04/sunrise-on-the-reaping-teaser-brings-us-a-second-quarter-quell/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/04/sunrise-on-the-reaping-teaser-brings-us-a-second-quarter-quell/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>29</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/hunger1-1152x636.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="636">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/hunger1-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:text>Joseph Zada plays a young Haymitch Abernathy.</media:text></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>IBM folds to Trump anti-DEI push, admits no misconduct but pays $17M penalty</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/ibm-folds-to-trump-anti-dei-push-admits-no-misconduct-but-pays-17m-penalty/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/ibm-folds-to-trump-anti-dei-push-admits-no-misconduct-but-pays-17m-penalty/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Jon Brodkin]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 17:53:46 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dei]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ibm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[trump administration]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/ibm-folds-to-trump-anti-dei-push-admits-no-misconduct-but-pays-17m-penalty/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[IBM is first firm to pay penalty under Trump's "Civil Rights Fraud Initiative." ]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>IBM agreed to pay $17 million to the US government to resolve the Trump administration's claim that the firm's diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies discriminated against employees and job-seekers.</p>
<p>The Department of Justice (DOJ) <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/ibm-pays-17-million-resolve-allegations-discrimination-through-illegal-dei-practices">touted</a> the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1435761/dl">settlement</a> on Friday, saying it's the first one secured under the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-establishes-civil-rights-fraud-initiative">Civil Rights Fraud Initiative</a> launched in May 2025. The Trump administration created the program to make DEI-related complaints against government contractors fall under the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/civil/false-claims-act">False Claims Act of 1863</a>, which imposes triple damages and a civil penalty on contractors that defraud the government.</p>
<p>The Justice Department alleged that IBM violated the False Claims Act by failing to comply with anti-discrimination requirements in its federal contracts, which required IBM to certify that it would not discriminate against employees or applicants. The US claims that IBM certified compliance despite maintaining practices that "discriminated against employees during employment and applicants for employment because of race, color, national origin, or sex, and failed to treat employees during employment without regard to race, color, national origin, or sex."</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/ibm-folds-to-trump-anti-dei-push-admits-no-misconduct-but-pays-17m-penalty/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/04/ibm-folds-to-trump-anti-dei-push-admits-no-misconduct-but-pays-17m-penalty/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>205</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ibm-logo-1152x648-1776101828.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/ibm-logo-500x500-1776101836.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Getty Images | NurPhoto </media:credit><media:text>IBM logo at the company's exhibition stand during Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, on March 2, 2026. </media:text></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Slate Auto raises $650 million as production gets closer and closer</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/04/slate-auto-raises-650-million-as-production-gets-closer-and-closer/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/04/slate-auto-raises-650-million-as-production-gets-closer-and-closer/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Jonathan M. Gitlin]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 14:35:29 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Cars]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Slate Auto]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/04/slate-auto-raises-650-million-as-production-gets-closer-and-closer/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[The Slate Truck will start in the "mid-$20,000s" when it goes on sale in late 2026.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>The electric pickup startup Slate Auto started the week well. This morning, it announced it has raised $650 million in its latest funding round.</p>
<p>Slate is a refreshing outlier among the aspiring new electric vehicle OEMs. Lucid debuted with an electric sedan that intended to <a href="https://arstechnica.com/features/2026/01/2026-lucid-air-touring-review-this-feels-like-a-complete-car-now/">move the game on</a> from the Tesla Model S. Rivian said, "What if [we had] supercar suspension and a smiley face for an EV with <a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/09/rivians-67-500-314-mile-electric-adventure-truck-put-to-the-test/">serious off-road skills</a>?" Both arguably succeeded. Sony Honda Mobility wanted to make the EV a true digital content hub, at least until one half of that joint venture <a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/03/honda-cancels-the-two-electric-vehicles-it-was-developing-with-sony/">called time</a>—who knows how that project would have turned out, although I suspect sales would have been underwhelming.</p>
<p>But Slate, which got its start in 2022, is doing things differently. It's not starting sales with something near six-figures; far from it. The abolishment of the federal clean vehicle tax credit was no doubt inconvenient—with it, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/04/amazon-backed-startup-wants-to-sell-a-bare-bones-ev-truck-for-20000/">a sub-$20,000 starting price was possible</a>, but even at "mid-$20,000s" the Slate Truck should match or undercut the Ford Maverick XL, currently the cheapest pickup on sale in the US.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/04/slate-auto-raises-650-million-as-production-gets-closer-and-closer/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/04/slate-auto-raises-650-million-as-production-gets-closer-and-closer/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>345</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Blank-Slate-Profile-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Blank-Slate-Profile-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Slate Auto</media:credit></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Meta spins up AI version of Mark Zuckerberg to engage with employees</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/meta-spins-up-ai-version-of-mark-zuckerberg-to-engage-with-employees/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/meta-spins-up-ai-version-of-mark-zuckerberg-to-engage-with-employees/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Hannah Murphy, Financial Times]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Mon, 13 Apr 2026 13:52:46 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mark Zuckerberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[personal superintelligence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[syndication]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/meta-spins-up-ai-version-of-mark-zuckerberg-to-engage-with-employees/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[The Meta chief is personally involved in training and testing his animated AI.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Meta is building an artificial intelligence version of Mark Zuckerberg that can engage with employees in his stead, as part of a broader push to remake the Big Tech company around AI.</p>
<p>The $1.6 trillion group has been working on developing photorealistic, AI-powered 3D characters that users can interact with in real time, according to four people familiar with the matter.</p>
<p>The company recently began prioritizing a Zuckerberg AI character, three of the people said.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/meta-spins-up-ai-version-of-mark-zuckerberg-to-engage-with-employees/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/meta-spins-up-ai-version-of-mark-zuckerberg-to-engage-with-employees/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>200</slash:comments>
                
                
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<media:credit>Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</media:credit><media:text>With an image of himself on a screen in the background, Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Financial Services Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill October 23, 2019, in Washington, DC.</media:text></media:content>
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