The widespread protests in Iran have exposed both Tehran’s brutal tactics in the streets, where state authorities have killed thousands of demonstrators since early January, and extreme measures to block access to the global internet.

As it has done repeatedly in the past, the Iranian regime cut off the country’s residents from the global internet during the latest anti-government uprising. But it also shut down access to the country’s intranet, known as the National Information Network, which new research found is becoming a mechanism of constant and pervasive surveillance that may ultimately be the only way Iranians can get online.

The last remaining major nuclear weapons treaty between the United States and Russia just expired. So what will take its place? Artificial intelligence, of course. At least, that’s what some researchers believe. Combined with satellite imagery and human reviewers, AI-powered systems could replace in-person inspection of countries’ nuclear facilities. Obviously, there are flaws to this plan.

Cryptocurrencies may be only 16 years old, but they’ve already become the money form of choice for the world’s worst people. Crypto-tracing firm Chainalysis this week revealed that blockchain-based transactions linked to the sale of human beings into prostitution and forced scamming has nearly doubled over the past year, with hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions annually. Chainalysis researchers say that amount is likely an underestimate.

While the Trump administration says it is winding down its immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, the damage is still being done to the US court system in that state. A WIRED analysis found that court filings meant to give people the chance to be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody skyrocketed in January, leaving US attorneys stretched to the breaking point and people left imprisoned far beyond when they should have been let free.

Meanwhile, Customs and Border Protection has signed a $225,000 deal with Clearview AI that gives Border Patrol intelligence units access to the company’s face-recognition technology.

And that’s not all. Each week, we round up the security and privacy news we didn’t cover in depth ourselves. Click the headlines to read the full stories. And stay safe out there.

Ring is once again backtracking over the public’s distaste for mass surveillance. In an announcement first reported by The Verge, Ring explained that after a “comprehensive review,” it determined that its plan to integrate its sprawling network of privately owned surveillance cameras with Flock Safety, a company that sells license plate reader technology to police departments across the US, “would require significantly more time and resources than anticipated.”

“The integration never launched, so no Ring customer videos were ever sent to Flock Safety,” Ring said.

The cancellation of its Flock partnership comes just days after the company aired an ad during the Super Bowl featuring its new Search Party feature that “uses AI to help families find lost dogs.” Many people reacted to the feature by asking, essentially, “If Search Party can find lost dogs, that’s definitely going to be used to hunt down people too, right?”

Owned by Amazon since 2018, Ring for years drew condemnation from privacy advocates over its partnerships with police departments and a tool in its Neighbors app that allowed authorities to obtain surveillance footage directly from people who have Ring cameras installed rather than through any process with judicial oversight, like getting a warrant. The company eliminated the tool in early 2024. Flock has sparked similar ire due to its dragnet surveillance network that, according to 404 Media, ICE has surreptitiously tapped into as part of its relentless quest to remove immigrants from US soil.

Face recognition is not having a great moment in American society: Democratic lawmakers have asked ICE to stop using face recognition in the streets, and ICE itself keeps getting freaked out about people potentially using it on its agents.

This “dynamic political environment,” as an internal Meta memo obtained by the Times put it, is one where Meta might be updating its smart glasses to include a new face recognition feature that has internally been referred to as Name Tag.

When choosing a home security system for your home, you may be tempted to start by deciding between a DIY setup or professionally installed systems with monitoring services. Remember to make your decision after considering the equipment, installation, monitoring options and other features you want. Here are some bits of information to keep in mind about these parameters when shopping around.

Equipment choices

Do you just need to keep watch over your entryways? A good video doorbell for your front door and an outdoor camera covering the back may be all you need; easy to install and monitor yourself. If you want to keep closer tabs on your home inside and out with 24/7 monitoring and quick access to emergency response services, you’ll want a more robust system. DIY and professional brands offer home security bundles with most, if not all, of the equipment you’d need to get started and the ability to add single devices as needed.

Smart home and AI

Most home security devices are compatible with Alexa and Google Home smart hubs, but if you prefer Apple HomeKit or another smart home ecosystem, you may have to do a bit more shopping and comparing to find a system compatible with your existing smart home devices. Don’t fret over compatibility too much as Matter is making it easier to connect previously non-compatible devices (although it hasn’t quite come for security cameras yet).

Smart home features are also always changing, especially with AI. Just in the past two years, SimpliSafe has added AI face and movement detection to help its monitoring agents, ADT has added support for Nest’s familiar face AI recognition features and Arlo has increased services to include AI detection of fires, barking, screaming and more. You’ll have to pay a lot more for these features and consider your own privacy if you’re interested in the cutting-edge upgrades.

Installation

Keep in mind all that equipment will need to be installed. While there isn’t much to installing a security camera or even a wired video doorbell, whole-home systems can be a bit more demanding to install and set up. Some are DIY-friendly and use adhesive to position devices without leaving permanent marks but not all systems do this. If you’d rather leave that to an expert and have them walk you through how to use the system, a professional home security service may be the way to go.

Monitoring and alerts

Virtually all home security systems allow for self-monitoring, likely via an app on your phone. They’ll also send you push notifications when there’s an event, such as when a package is delivered to your doorstep. Basic sensors can send alerts about what specific sensor was triggered or tampered with, while adding a camera allows for more complex recognition. You can customize these alerts to get only the information you want (such as only when a person is detected), while most will automatically ignore things like vehicles.

Professional monitoring and emergency features

Consider whether you want to be in charge of all the monitoring or if you’d like some support. Most systems allow you to add a professional monitoring plan, some even require it from the beginning. These services often cost more than $30 per month and sometimes much more if AI features are added.

More advanced features, such as facial recognition, glass break sensors and communication with emergency services may not be available from all manufacturers and devices. Consider the level of monitoring you want, and who you want to do it, along with the emergency response options, when choosing a home security system.

Expandability

Most home security systems allow you to buy single sensors or compatible devices and add them, one at a time, whenever you want to upgrade or address a specific problem. But they go about this in very different ways. Some only allow you to purchase its own brand devices, while others are compatible with a variety of third-party smart home devices. Some have very limited add-on options, while others have many choices. No matter what you decide, we recommend checking out the add-on options on a security system website to see what potential upgrades will look like.

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Initial costs

We listed “cost” last for a reason. A complete home security system will likely cost you at least a couple of hundred bucks, so be prepared for that. There’s the potential to spend a lot more on equipment or a lot less. Also, keep in mind that the size of the system greatly affects the cost. Starter systems like many we listed here typically cost between $150 and $300, and allow you to add other compatible devices over time. Larger systems with 10 devices or more will cost at least several hundred dollars and can go up to $1,000 or more, depending on the tech that’s included.

Ongoing costs

Ongoing costs can carry a bit more weight when choosing the best security system. Expect ongoing monthly fees from a professional service and possibly a contract to lock you into those fees for a year or two (although we favored picks without a required contract). Signing a contract may not be ideal, but it may also come with free equipment or installation and lower upfront costs.

If you’re comfortable with self-monitoring, DIY systems may not come with any ongoing costs. Monthly subscriptions (without a contract) for cloud storage, enhanced features and possibly even professional monitoring are typically an option with DIY systems, often for lower monthly fees than professional services.

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Privacy and security

Always look for a brand that’s going to keep your data safe and has a good track record of security, encryption and protection against data breaches. That’s not always easy — many security companies have had issues in the past with breaches, privacy violations or even employees spying through home security cameras.

We look at a company’s current practices, track record and how they’ve been improving in the past few years when making recommendations. SimpliSafe is consistently one of the standout performers in security, which is one reason they earned a top spot on our list. While Ring has had missteps in the past, it’s improved in recent years and has even retracted its policy on providing police with video footage, so we feel comfortable recommending Ring at this time.

Lenses sure can be expensive for mirrorless cameras. When I first bought a Nikon Z camera, I picked up the versatile 24-70mm F2.8 S to go with it, and that fabulous lens tied me over for a few years until I could afford a second one.

Recently, I have been able to pick up a few more optics because I have found an affordable alternative that doesn’t compromise on quality, and that’s Viltrox.

Our slow-moving queue curves around a two-story wooden boathouse filled with props from explorations through distant lands. At the front of the line, a Disney cast member dressed in khaki helps us step onto a quaint little boat for a tour around the jungle.

This is Disneyland’s world-famous Jungle Cruise, filled with animatronic animals and painful puns from your skipper, and old-world set pieces depicting scenes straight out of the Amazon, Congo, Mekong and Nile rivers. It’s a ride that Walt Disney himself had a hand in developing, but something new is coming that separates it from its 1950s origins: a 3D-printed prop.

You may have seen small-scale 3D printing being done by hobbyists at home. But that’s child’s play compared to what industrial-scale 3D-printing workshops can do.

Haddy, a 3D-printing business based in Florida, says it can build worlds. More specifically, Jay Rogers, co-founder and CEO, tells me the company is installing its first boat in a Disney park.

“It’s in the Jungle Cruise ride,” he says during Disney Demo Day at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, at the end of last year.

3D printing burst onto the scene in the mid-2010s. These printers take little pellets or strands of polymer or liquid resin and turn them into fully fleshed-out designs, like the purple toy octopus and Prada purse that my 3-year-old daughter got from her Uncle Zach for her recent birthday. Using a digital file, you can send a project to the printer to produce — whether it’s a small octopus or an armchair.

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You can buy small 3D printers, priced between $180 and $400, for home projects, while larger operations require enormous machines that churn out items as big as cafe counters and even houses. 

And, yes, boats.

Haddy’s Jungle Cruise boat is a prop canoe that has now been placed on the ride at Disneyland, becoming part of the scenic journey alongside those fake animals on the banks of the Amazon-Congo-Nile-Mekong river.

Walt Disney Imagineering collaborated closely with the Haddy team to adapt the plans for the boat, ensuring it captured the spirit of the existing props while using 3D-printing technology.

“We had the old boat, and we did do a 3D scan in order to get it dimensionally,” Chris Hill, associate R&D imagineer for Disney, said in January when Disneyland installed the canoe right across from the loading dock. “For the creative part of it, we had a photo of the boat from the 1960s, and so using the dimensions from the 3D scan, I modeled the new boat, which is what we used to 3D print the boat.”

Do 3D-printed boats have that Disney whimsy?

Founded in 2022, Haddy creates home decor like planters, and furniture like outdoor benches, chairs and tables. Its gig of working with Disney’s Imagineers came about after it was selected as one of the four startups to receive financing, platforming and mentoring via the 2025 Disney Accelerator Program.

Rogers says Haddy can quickly transform imagination into reality, saving a lot of time (and presumably money, although the companies wouldn’t provide specifics). This is in addition to being able to recycle any 3D-printed material for new objects, because once a prop reaches the end of its life, it can be melted down and 3D-printed again into something new.

A 20-foot boat made by a traditional boat-maker can take 1,000 human hours, but not so for the Jungle Cruise canoe prop, says Rogers. “It’s not just faster to make, it’s faster to develop.”

He describes the traditional process, which unfolds over weeks and months: designing the boat, creating and securing a master mold, repeating the mold-making process an average of 30 times per boat and then manufacturing the parts that go onto the boat. 

By comparison, it would take Haddy 70 robot hours in manufacturing. Both processes use a digital file as a starting point. The difference is that Haddy can simply make tweaks to the file and reprint the boat if there are any problems with the final product — no more mold-making necessary.

Nick Blackburn, executive of technical business operations at Disney, says his team went to a series of conventions and conferences to find the right company to partner with on 3D printing. 

“This project right now is the premiere project that we’re working on to show that we can use advanced fabrication, robotic manufacturing and new materials to bring parks to life faster and more effectively,” Blackburn says.

Still, how much of the whimsy remains? Can a 3D-printed boat evoke the same feelings of nostalgia and fantasy as the ride’s existing set pieces? 

During Disney’s Demo Day, I spot what appears to be a wrought iron fence leaning against a tree, and Rogers says it was 3D-printed. Maybe guests won’t even notice if a boat is made of polymer instead of fiberglass-reinforced plastic, and printed by a robot.

Even the light fixtures in the Main Theatre at Walt Disney Studios, where I had just watched a video showcasing various new technologies being used by startups backed by Disney, were made by Haddy for this event. (I had assumed the intricate, glowing blue lights were a remnant of when Frozen 2 was being workshopped in the theater.)

Perhaps 3D-printed objects have a whimsy of their own? CNET Senior Editor James Bricknell, an expert on 3D printing, says yes. The canoe would not only have all the whimsy that an Imagineer can conjure, but would also be manufactured faster and in a far less expensive way — and would definitely float.

“It’s a brilliant idea,” Bricknell says. “You can make them look any way you like, just like the normal boats, but instead of injection molding, you can make each one individual for much less cost.”

Disney’s Imagineers are continually seeking new technologies to incorporate into the parks and on Disney cruise ships.

Walt Disney Imagineering is “the tip of the spear when it comes to emerging technologies” like AI, robotics and drones, according to Michael Hundgen, portfolio executive creative producer of Walt Disney Imagineering.

With Haddy, Imagineers are exploring the creation of set pieces for attractions in Disney’s theme parks. Beyond the Jungle Cruise, these products could also include closet doors from Monstropolis — for the new Monsters, Inc. ride being constructed at Walt Disney World — and rock work for various lands, such as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. There might even be the creation of furniture for thousands of hotel rooms across the Orlando property.

“We’re not just creating technology for technology’s sake; we’re doing it to help our creative teams bring the stories from the company to life,” Hundgen says.

So now it’s out with the fiberglass-reinforced plastic and in with the polymer pellets. We’ll have to see whether guests truly can tell the difference between the old props and the new.

Google has just updated the Deep Think mode for its Gemini 3 model, and it’s a massive step forward for chores involving 3D printing. For the unaware, Deep Think mode focuses on enhanced multimodal understanding and reasoning, and its latest upgrade pushes it further for engineering, research, and scientific tasks. The core focus is going from theoretical to practical applications. One of those application areas is 3D printing.

Essentially, Gemini 3 Deep Think is going to turn your rough sketches into a proper 3D model and generate a file ready for feeding to a 3D printer. What you have here is a tool that can basically take a look at physical objects or a 2D image, and turn them into a 3D blueprint while making changes you request in natural language.

Why is this a big step forward?

For anyone interested in 3D printing, even for personal usage, going from idea to execution is a hassle. You must know CAD modeling, own the right software, and have a powerful computing machine to turn those ideas into a 3D file. The whole process is pretty intensive and time-consuming, in addition to posing a steep learning curve. And when it comes to product prototyping in engineering labs, or even companies testing new products, the whole ordeal of physics modeling and prototyping ends up taking a lot of time and resources.

With Gemini 3 Deep Think, Google wants to replace those technical challenges, letting users go from ideas to the 3D printing stage without having to deal with complex physics-based modeling and software. But it’s not just the sheer convenience of turning drawings into 3D files that is going to speed things up.

Iterating on an existing design is an equally crucial step, and Gemini 3 Deep Think is aiming to ease that, as well. The benefits are huge, not just for DIY enthusiasts but also for material scientists, engineers, and product developers.

A huge practical shift for AI

“I used it to engineer new metamaterials and a spider-web inspired bridge design, 3D printed it, then validated the structural integrity with a @nvidia DGX Spark load test. A mind-blowing example of the future of material and architecture design – image in, fabrication-ready design out,” Markus Buehler, an engineering professor at MIT, wrote on X.

Taking a conversation approach to fixing and tweaking the complex models of objects, and then having a CAD model ready for printing in minutes, is a huge step forward. Gemini 3 Deep Think is available to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the Gemini app, and it will also be made available via API for the first time to interested companies and researchers.

The lovely thing about the x86 architecture is its decades of backwards compatibility, which makes it possible to run 1990s operating systems on modern-day hardware, with relatively few obstacles in the way. Recently [Yeo Kheng Meng] did just that with Windows 98 SE on a 2020 ThinkPad P12s Gen 1, booting it alongside Windows 11 and Linux from the same NVMe drive.

Naturally, after previously getting MS-DOS 6.22 from 1994 running on a 2020 ThinkPad X13, the step to doing the same with Windows 98 SE wasn’t that large. The main obstacles that you face come in the form of UEFI and hardware driver support.

Both ThinkPad laptops have in common that they support UEFI-CSM mode, also known as ‘classical BIOS’, as UEFI boot wasn’t even a glimmer yet in some drunk engineer’s eye when Win98 was released. After this everything is about getting as many hardware drivers scrounged together as possible.

[Yeo] ended up having to bodge on a USB 2.0 expansion card via a Thunderbolt dock as Win98 doesn’t have xHCI (USB 3.0) support. With that issue successfully bodged around using a veritable tower of adapters, installing Windows 98 was as easy as nuking Secure Boot in the BIOS, enabling UEFI-CSM along with Thunderbolt BIOS assist mode and disable Kernel DMA protection.

Because UEFI-CSM implementations tend to be buggy, the CREGFIX DOS driver was used to smooth things over. Another issue is the same that we chuckled about back in the day, as Windows 98 cannot address more than 512 MB of RAM by default. Fortunately patches by [Rudolph Loew] helped to fix this and some other smaller issues.

Unfortunately neither Intel nor NVIDIA have released Win98 drivers for quite some time, so there’s no graphics acceleration beyond basic VESA support and the SoftGPU driver. Disk access goes via the BIOS too rather than using an NVMe driver, so it’s not as zippy as it could be, but for Win9x it’s quite usable.

Finally ACPI wasn’t recognized by Win98, but it’s only fair to blame that on the complete flaming train wreck that is ACPI rather than anything to do with Windows. This particular issue was worked around by configuring the BIOS to support S3 power state and with that making Win98 happy again.

It’s honestly quite a shame that UEFI-CSM is largely ignored by new systems, as it makes installing even Windows 7 basically impossible, and thus creating probably the largest split within the x86 ecosystem since the arrival of AMD64/x86_64.