The modern ultimate man cave isn’t what it used to be. What was once a quiet corner for watching the game or spinning records has evolved into a fully connected media space built for movies, music, gaming, and actual human interaction. Today’s setups have to do more; stream in high resolution, handle vinyl, deliver immersive surround sound, and still look good enough that nobody feels banished to the basement.

That shift has created a crowded market filled with everything from all-in-one powered speakers to reference-grade home theater systems, modular seating, and high-performance displays. The challenge isn’t finding gear—it’s finding the right mix of components that work together and actually elevate the experience. Whether you’re working with a small room or going all-in on a dedicated theater, the goal is the same: build a space that sounds better, looks better, and keeps you coming back long after the credits roll.

Kaleidescape Movie Player & Server

Looking for the ultimate man cave upgrade? Kaleidescape delivers a high fidelity movie platform with lossless audio and full reference video quality. The Strato E, its entry level 4K movie player, outputs high bitrate video with support for SDR, HDR10, and Dolby Vision, bringing studio quality playback into the home without the compromises of streaming. Need more storage? The Mini Terra Prime server is a match made in home cinema heaven. Check out the Strato E ($2,995) and Mini Terra Prime ($9,995) today and schedule a demo with a dealer near you. 

Marantz A/V Separates

Experience Marantz at its most ambitious with the 15.4- channel AV10 processor paired with the 16-channel AMP10 power amplifier, a reference level combination built for serious home theater systems.

Bluesound Soundbar

Whether it’s the Big Game, a blockbuster premiere, or your go-to playlist — the Bluesound PULSE CINEMA soundbar transforms every moment into an unforgettable experience. With 12 high-performance drivers, dedicated upfiring speakers, and a center channel for crystal-clear dialogue, it delivers breathtaking Dolby Atmos immersion — no extra gear required. Feel the roar of the crowd, the crunch of a hit, and every play in rich, three-dimensional detail.

Denon DP-500BT Turntable

Denon’s latest turntable is step-up from entry-level models and versatile to handle all your vinyl needs. With built-in preamp and Bluetooth it can stream wirelessly to headphones or speakers, connect to powered speakers or fit into any hi-fi rack.

Advertisement

Bowers & Wilkins 703 S3

An Editors’ Choice winner, the Bowers & Wilkins 703 S3 floorstanding loudspeakers will delight any listener for a fraction of the price of the company’s flagship 800 Series. Available in mocha (as shown), black or white.

LG 97″ OLED TV

Why not enjoy the largest OLED TV you can fit on the wall? Last year’s LG G5 97-inch 4K OLED TV delivers pixel perfect images, stunning detail, and inky black levels. Plus it’s discounted while supplies last.

Apple TV 4K

Apple’s latest Apple TV 4K set-top box provides intuitive access to all your favorite streaming apps. Plus it’s also one of the only ways to listen to Dolby Atmos Music through your home speaker system with an Apple Music subscription.

Nostalgia Popcorn Cart

With 32 cups of popcorn in a single batch, this vintage popcorn maker will ensure fresh snacks are always at hand, while adding retro appeal to your man cave.

Need more gift giving ideas?

Disclosure: The products listed above are approved by our Editors, but may be requested by our sponsors. When links to buy are provided, we’ll direct you to the lowest price at time of publication. In doing so, eCoustics may earn a small commission from the associated retailer if purchased.

With the upcoming Android developer verification rules, there’s been a growing concern regarding Google effectively killing sideloading Android apps.

But Google says that’s not the case.

In a fresh blog post, the company basically confirmed that sideloading apps will still be possible, even from unverified developers, using a new system called “advanced flow.” So you’re not losing the handy feature; it’s just getting a little harder.

What does advanced flow even do?

According to Google, advanced flow is designed as a one-time process for users who want to install apps from outside the Play Store. In the past, one simply had to toggle the “install from unknown sources” setting, but now, there is a multi-step verification process before one can proceed. This includes:

• Enabling developer-related settings
• Confirming that they’re not being scammed or coerced
• Restarting the device
• New wait time before installation
• Authentication via PIN or biometrics

The simple idea behind the change is that Google wants to make Android sideloading more intentional and harder to abuse.

Why is Google doing this?

The new restrictions aren’t appearing out of the blue. This is a part of a broader change. Starting from September 2026, Android will require apps to come from verified developers. While the change will initially hit select regions, a wider roll out is expected later.

Google’s aim is to make it harder for malicious developers to distribute harmful apps repeatedly under new identities. Regardless, the company acknowledges that sideloading is a core part of Android and its “open” nature. Thus, the option is still being kept alive, albeit in a slower way.

What this means for everyday users

The changes from Google don’t affect a majority of Android users, who stick with the Play Store for their apps. But for those who use third-party app stores, install APKs manually, and experiment with indie apps, sideloading is about to become a little more complicated.

Automattic has added write capabilities to WordPress.com’s MCP integration, giving AI agents like Claude and ChatGPT the ability to create posts, build pages, manage comments, and restructure content, all through natural conversation, with human approval at every step.

For most of the past six months, connecting an AI agent to your WordPress.com site has meant giving it a window. You could ask Claude or ChatGPT questions about your content, pull up site analytics, or check which posts hadn’t been updated in a year. Useful, but fundamentally passive.

On Friday, Automattic added a door.

WordPress.com has launched write capabilities for its Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration, enabling AI agents to create and modify content directly on your site.

The update adds 19 new operations across six content types: posts, pages, comments, categories, tags, and media. From a single natural language prompt, an agent can draft and publish a post, build a landing page using your theme’s block patterns, approve and reply to comments, reorganise category structures, or fix missing alt text across your entire media library.

The underlying architecture, MCP, an open protocol that standardises how applications provide context to large language models, was first introduced on WordPress.com in October 2025. At that point it was read-only: agents could query your site but could not touch it.

A second update in January 2026 added OAuth 2.1 authentication, making it simpler to connect AI clients securely. In February, Automattic launched an official Claude Connector, again read-only at the time. Today’s write capabilities are the step the platform has been building towards.

The feature is designed around explicit human approval. Before creating, updating, or deleting anything, the agent describes exactly what it plans to do and asks for confirmation. New posts default to draft status, giving users a chance to review before anything goes live; modifying a published post triggers a warning that changes will be immediately visible.

Deletions of posts, pages, comments, and media send items to the trash, where they are recoverable for 30 days. Categories and tags, which WordPress cannot trash, trigger an additional confirmation warning that deletion is permanent. Every action is logged in the site’s Activity Log.

User role permissions are fully enforced: an Editor can create and edit posts but cannot change site settings; a Contributor can draft but not publish.

One of the more technically interesting aspects of the implementation is theme awareness. Before creating a page or post, the agent can read the site’s design system, colours, fonts, spacing, block patterns, and generate content that inherits those specifications.

The write capabilities are available today on all WordPress.com paid plans. Users enable them through the MCP dashboard at wordpress.com/me/mcp, toggling on the specific operations they want to permit on each site.

Compatible clients include Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and any other MCP-enabled tool. WordPress.com powers a significant share of the web, according to figures presented at Automattic’s State of the Word event in December 2025, WordPress runs more than 43% of all websites globally and holds a 60.5% share of the content management system market.

The scale at which write-capable AI agents can now operate across that infrastructure is considerable.

The MCP ecosystem has been expanding rapidly. The WordPress MCP Adapter, which enables similar functionality on self-hosted WordPress installations, has been moving toward inclusion in WordPress Core.

Automattic’s other products, including WooCommerce and Beeper, have their own MCP implementations. The pattern, standardised AI agent access to application functionality, rather than one-off integrations, is becoming an architectural assumption rather than an experiment.

For WordPress.com users, the practical question is trust. Giving an AI agent write access to a production site is a different proposition from asking it to summarise your traffic. Automattic has leaned into this explicitly, making the approval model the centrepiece of the announcement and granular per-operation toggles the default configuration. 

Itacho Sushi was a Hong Kong sushi brand that has been around for 22 years

Earlier this week, another name had been added to Singapore’s ever-growing list of F&B casualties.

Itacho Sushi shuttered all its remaining outlets here on Monday (Mar 16), following a spate of closures over the past year. 

The Hong Kong-based sushi chain’s last four outlets at Ion Orchard, Bugis Junction, The Star Vista, and Novena Square 2 are now listed as “permanently closed” on Google Maps. Its website, social media accounts, and mobile app have all been taken down—without any public announcement from the company.

Government records on the Bizfile portal show that Itacho BM, the Singapore-registered company behind the chain’s local operations, has been marked as “gazetted to be struck off” the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority’s Register of Companies. The notice was first published on Feb 13.

For a brand that has been around for 22 years—17 in Singapore—the silence was telling. We look back at how a chain that once drew crowds for “cheap and good” sushi ended up here, with no farewell and no explanation.

Itacho Sushi had over 40 outlets in three markets at its peak

Itacho Sushi was founded in Hong Kong by the late food entrepreneur Ricky Cheng Wai-tao, also known as “Ricky San” for his knowledge of Japanese dining culture.

Cheng’s culinary journey began in Japan, where he studied in his early years. He returned to Hong Kong in 1989 and launched his first venture, a Japanese pancake shop called Pancake House, in 1992. At its peak, the chain operated 20 branches, but it closed by 1996 as the pancake craze waned.

He then brought the Ajisen Ramen brand to Hong Kong via a franchise model in 1996 before co-founding the Itamae Sushi chain in 2004 and later launching Itacho Sushi in 2007.

In 2008, Cheng, who made frequent television appearances, even made history as the first non-Japanese winner of the annual tuna auction at Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market, securing a bluefin tuna with a winning bid of HK$430,000 (approximately S$70,239).

He came to be known as “Tuna King” for four consecutive years since then. 

Cheng brought Itacho Sushi to Singapore in July 2009 as a subsidiary of Taste of Japan Group, the Hong Kong-founded parent company established in 2004. Local operations were managed by Itacho BM.

The sushi chain continued to expand steadily over the years.

At its peak around 2019, Itacho Sushi had a strong presence across Asia, with 10 outlets in Singapore, nearly 30 in Hong Kong, and additional locations in Japan—bringing its total to more than 40 restaurants across the three markets.

Together with Itamae Sushi, the chain reportedly generated over HK$40 million (around S$6.5 million) in annual revenue.

Legal battles & worsening health made Cheng step back

But Cheng’s success would not last. The sushi boss was embroiled in a series of legal battles over the years.

Before Itacho Sushi, Cheng had gone into business with siblings Daisy and Jason Poon. The three had worked together since 1996, when they brought Ajisen Ramen to Hong Kong.

In 2004, they joined forces again to launch Itamae Sushi under a company called Smart Wave Ltd, with Cheng as sole director and the Poons as shareholders.

After the success of the first Itamae Sushi branch, the siblings accused Cheng of opening six additional branches of Itamae Sushi in Hong Kong without their knowledge, each under a different company, where Cheng was the sole director and shareholder. He was also accused of opening competing chain Itacho Sushi without informing them. 

This resulted in a lawsuit filed by the Poons against Cheng in 2013. The siblings won, with the High Court finding that Cheng breached fiduciary duty in 2015. He lost the lawsuit and subsequent appeal in 2016 and was ultimately ordered to pay hefty legal costs and damages. 

Then came another blow.

In 2017, Cheng revealed he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He gradually stepped away from the business, and in Apr 2024, passed away in Tokyo at the age of 57.

That same year, Itacho Sushi quietly shut down all its outlets in Hong Kong, and its parent company, Taste of Japan, was deregistered. A Google search for its Japan outlets did not turn up any results, and it is unclear when they closed in Japan, too.

Commenting on the closure of Itacho Sushi’s Hong Kong outlets, Simon Wong Ka-wo, President of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said: “Following his death, nobody was left to take care of it.”

Wong added that the chain had been in decline for nearly a decade, worn down by prolonged legal disputes, the lasting damage of the pandemic, and ultimately, the loss of the man who built it.

Singapore, it turns out, simply seems like the last to go.

Good while it lasted

Following Itacho Sushi’s closure in Singapore, several netizens have taken to Reddit to share their thoughts on the Hong Kong-founded Japanese restaurant chain. 

Many reminisced fondly about its early years—a go-to spot for “cheap and good Japanese food” with its discount menu and generous portions. One user recalled it as “one of the few good Japanese restaurants with a large variety of Japanese food, not just sushi and ramen.”

However, in recent years, particularly after the COVID-19 period, the netizen added that the chain has been on a “huge downhill,” using “less fresh ingredients” and “making portion sizes smaller,” all while “increasing prices”—a sentiment corroborated by another internet user.

Another remarked that Itacho Sushi had simply joined the growing list of restaurants to “bite the dust” in Singapore—a market where Japanese dining options are endless, competition is fierce, and closures are anything but rare.

The full picture, however, is harder to pin down. Was it the legal battles that drained its founder? The pandemic that gutted foot traffic? The cost-cutting that eroded customer trust? Or the death of the one man who held it all together? Likely, some combination of all.

Whatever the reason, the quiet disappearance of a brand that fed Singaporeans for 17 years is telling—another reminder that in one of Asia’s most competitive dining markets, even long-standing names are never too big to vanish without a word.

• Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

English majors, today’s NYT Connections puzzle has a purple category with our names on it. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Right to the point.

Green group hint: What you aim for.

Blue group hint: Not chess.

Purple group hint: Carl Sandburg is one.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Direct.

Green group: Target.

Blue group: Checkers terms.

Purple group: 20th century American poets.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is direct. The four answers are blunt, frank, plain and straight.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is target. The four answers are goal, mark, object and point.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is checkers terms. The four answers are capture, crown, jump and king.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is 20th century American poets. The four answers are (Elizabeth) Bishop, (Robert) Frost, (Ezra) Pound and (Adrienne) Rich.

Toughest Connections puzzles

We’ve made a note of some of the toughest Connections puzzles so far. Maybe they’ll help you see patterns in future puzzles.

#5: Included “things you can set,” such as mood, record, table and volleyball.

#4: Included “one in a dozen,” such as egg, juror, month and rose.

#3: Included “streets on screen,” such as Elm, Fear, Jump and Sesame.

#2: Included “power ___” such as nap, plant, Ranger and trip.

#1: Included “things that can run,” such as candidate, faucet, mascara and nose.

Update: Added that Oracle declined to comment on whether the vulnerability has been exploited.

Oracle has released an out-of-band security update to fix a critical unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability in Identity Manager and Web Services Manager tracked as CVE-2026-21992.

Oracle Identity Manager is used for managing identities and access across an enterprise, while Oracle Web Services Manager provides security and management controls for web services.

In an advisory released yesterday, Oracle is “strongly” recommending that customers apply the patches as soon as possible.

“This Security Alert addresses vulnerability CVE-2026-21992 in Oracle Identity Manager and Oracle Web Services Manager. This vulnerability is remotely exploitable without authentication. If successfully exploited, this vulnerability may result in remote code execution,” reads the security advisory.

“Oracle strongly recommends that customers apply the updates or mitigations provided by this Security Alert as soon as possible. Oracle always recommends that customers remain on actively-supported versions and apply all Security Alerts and Critical Patch Update security patches without delay.”

The CVE-2026-21992 vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 severity score of 9.8 and impacts Oracle Identity Manager versions 12.2.1.4.0 and 14.1.2.1.0, as well as Oracle Web Services Manager versions 12.2.1.4.0 and 14.1.2.1.0.

Oracle says the flaw is of low complexity, remotely exploitable over HTTP, and does not require authentication or user interaction, increasing the risk of exploitation on exposed servers.

The fix was released through its Security Alert program, which delivers out-of-schedule fixes or mitigations for critical or actively exploited vulnerabilities. However, Oracle says that patches released through these programs are only offered for versions under Premier or Extended Support, and older unsupported versions may be vulnerable.

Oracle has not disclosed whether the vulnerability has been exploited and declined to comment when BleepingComputer asked about its exploitation status.

In a separate blog post published today, Oracle once again noted the severity of CVE-2026-21992 and warned customers to review the security alert for full details and patch information.

Malware is getting smarter. The Red Report 2026 reveals how new threats use math to detect sandboxes and hide in plain sight.

Download our analysis of 1.1 million malicious samples to uncover the top 10 techniques and see if your security stack is blinded.

Advertisement

Download The Report