Tech

How Teaching Saved My Life

Published

2 months ago

5 February 2026

This story was published by a Voices of Change fellow. Learn more about the fellowship here.

Teaching is many things. It’s a profession and a passion, tedious and rewarding, infuriating and full of joy. For some, mental health issues like anxiety and depression become worse when teaching. This has led to many teachers and educators leaving the profession, with plenty of news and opinion coverage on the mental health crisis in education.

But my story is a bit different. Not only has teaching improved my mental health, but it quite literally saved my life.

Against a Sea of Troubles

In February of 2017, I was working in retail management, and had been doing so since graduating college back in 2002. I was OK at sales, a pretty good manager and especially great at training new sales associates. At the same time, I was also struggling with severe depression and anxiety. I didn’t really know why. I didn’t think I hated my job; I loved my wife and family. On paper, I had good friends and a pretty good life. But there were some days I just could not face. I felt alone, empty and frankly, lost. Was this all that my life would have to offer? Would this be all I was ever known for? Would anyone miss me when I’m gone?

This led to the evening of Feb. 24. I was driving home from another dull day of work when the desire to drive my car off an overpass became stark, real and terrifyingly close to reality. I simply had had enough and thought this would make people remember me, even for a little while. But I didn’t do it. The experience and its closeness shook me. When I got home, I broke down to my wife and we decided I needed help and I needed it now. She took me to a hospital where I spent the next few days reading, reflecting and most importantly, talking to mental health professionals.

Over the next few weeks, I learned two life-altering things. First, my brain needed medicine. Second, I wanted to become a teacher. That may sound a little strange, but in the course of my reflections and therapy on why I felt so empty, one thing became clear: I had an innate desire to make a positive impact on the world. When I started broaching the topic of what that might look like for me, friends and family all floated the same idea, “Maybe you should think about teaching?!”

Plan B

Growing up, I wanted to be one of two things: a professional wrestler or a rock star. By my mid-20s, after forgoing college norms and diving into both of these dreams, I realized that maybe those weren’t the most practical vocations. So, without much thought, I started working retail. I never stopped to think about what I wanted to do; I just did what I needed to do to get by.

But even in my long career in retail sales and management, a trend started to emerge. I liked teaching people. I took on training roles and attended classes to learn as much as I could about the product I was selling. My favorite accomplishments over the years were never the big sales I made, but the people I developed and guided to success. So when my family and friends started telling me to look into teaching, I thought, “Well, why not? It can’t be too different from teaching people to sell guitars and mattresses.”

I am also very much a kid at heart. I play video games, watch streamers on Twitch, love cartoons and comics and have always worn the title of “goofball” as a badge of honor. I could fit in with literal kids; they might relate to me more than my actual peers! I am also a self-described nerd who loves learning new things and researching anything and everything. Sharing my enthusiasm for learning made teaching seem like a strong fit.

More importantly to my mental health, the idea of being a teacher hit home in that missing part of my life. Would teaching the next generation make me feel like I’m leaving my mark? Will it help me feel fulfilled? Is it OK to place so much of my personal value on a career?
Without much to lose and the hope that a change in vocation could bring what I felt was missing, I applied to an online university to begin my journey toward becoming an educator.

A New Hope

Fast forward through a few years with a lot of college work and a stint as a district substitute teacher in an urban school district. I got my first full-time job as a teacher, teaching fourth grade math, science and social studies at a wonderful little school that was walking distance from my home. In that first year, even though I was in my late 30s, I experienced all the anxiety, fatigue and headspinning experiences of any first-year teacher. I also began to see a change in myself. Even though I had never been so tired and so challenged, I also finally felt like I mattered. Like I was doing what I was supposed to do.

Before going into teaching, my belief was that the difference I would be able to make in a kid’s life would be impactful, but only insofar as education. I had no idea how much teaching actually revolved around two things I am particularly good at that really fill my emotional bucket: performing and building relationships.

I love being on stage and in the spotlight. It’s why I wanted to be a wrestler or a rock star. What I wish I had known all those years ago was that teaching is just a big performance every day that can elicit the same emotional highs (and lows) as a fun rock show. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that I sometimes have the same sense of accomplishment and “high” when I feel like I gave a great lesson — or the students really get into the groove of a good debate — as I do when I step off stage after thrashing punk music with my band. The idea that I could do something positive for the world and still feel this way afterward cemented my belief that teaching is where I belong.

In my first year of teaching, I also began to see how this new vocation could help others besides the kids and me. One day, partway through my first year, a parent came in to request a conference. She felt overwhelmed and frustrated that her amazingly bright child just could not get into math and was actively pushing back against the very idea of it. As I sat with the mom and we brainstormed how we could work to present learning in a new and novel way for her child, I saw her relax, smile and realize that it would be OK. I had hard proof that what I’m doing made someone’s life better, even for just a few moments. By the end of the year, her child was doing much better in math and, more importantly, really enjoyed learning and working with her mom to build resilience and a growth mindset.

Solidarity

Mental health among teachers is a tough and very personal subject. My hope in sharing my story is not to say that teachers should all be happy all the time, or that the struggle with depression and anxiety amongst teachers isn’t a real problem that needs solving. I am simply reflecting on what it is that teaching gives me each day. The opportunity to perform. The opportunity to make connections with students, families and fellow teachers. The opportunity to teach skills and subjects that will make my students better learners. And crucially, the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of my students and their families.

Today, I have the pleasure of teaching my favorite subject, history and social studies, to seventh and eighth grade students. One goal I have every day is to remember that being allowed to influence these students’ lives is an honor and a privilege. My words, no matter how much they try not to listen, have real power and influence on their growth and the decisions they will make.

By choosing to be a teacher, not only did I save my own life, but I am also improving the lives of my students, and they may just save the world.

If you or someone you know is in immediate distress or is thinking about hurting themselves, call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You also can text the Crisis Text Line (HELLO to 741741) or use the Lifeline Chat on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline website.

Source link

Tech

New AT&T Elite 2.0 Phone Plan Boosts Wireless Hotspot and Data Performance

Published

30 seconds ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

Only a few weeks after overhauling its unlimited phone plans, AT&T has added a new plan to the top of the lineup that offers more data and performance — for a higher price. The AT&T Elite 2.0 plan is available now.

For a single line, Elite 2.0 costs $110 (plus taxes and fees). As more lines are added, the per-line price goes down. AT&T customers can mix and match plans on an account, but if we assume everyone is signing up for the Elite 2.0 plan, the costs break down like this:

• One line: $110
• Two lines: $100 per line, $200 total
• Three lines: $85 per line, $255 total
• Four lines: $75 per line, $300 total
• Five lines: $75 per line, $375 total

To compare it with AT&T’s next-priciest option, the Premium 2.0 plan costs $90 for a single line, or $55 per line on an account with four lines.

What’s included in the AT&T Elite 2.0 plan

For those amounts, the plan includes unlimited high-speed 5G data, prioritized even during network congestion, just like the Premium 2.0 plan, and 250GB of hotspot data (up from 100GB for the other plan). It also includes cellular access for one smartwatch and one tablet per line.

For travelers, Elite 2.0 has unlimited international talk, text and 20GB of high-speed data per month in 210 countries. The Premium 2.0 plan has unlimited talk, text and high-speed data, but only for 20 Latin American countries.

Aside from the data amounts, the Elite 2.0 plan includes AT&T Turbo, a feature normally offered as an add-on that increases data performance for video calling, gaming and streaming on 5G-capable devices. For other plans, AT&T Turbo costs $7 per line per month.

(AT&T Turbo is a separate feature from AT&T Turbo Live, which is designed to boost performance in certain crowded venues such as concerts or sporting events.)

AT&T Elite 2.0 vs Premium 2.0

	Price for 1 line, per month	Price for 4 lines, per month	High-speed data	Mobile hotspot	International Call/Data	AT&T Turbo
AT&T Premium 2.0	$90	$220 ($55 per line)	Unlimited	100GB	Unlimited talk, text and high-speed data in 20 Latin American countries; unlimited texting from US to 200+ countries	Not included
AT&T Elite 2.0	$110	$300 ($75 per line)	Unlimited	250GB	Unlimited talk, text and 20GB high-speed data in 210 countries	Included

Source link

Tech

Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss review: a clever cosmic horror puzzler that almost crumbles under tedium and technical issues

Published

14 minutes ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

Why you can trust TechRadar

We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Although I’ve watched countless pieces of media or played dozens of video games and board games that draw on the Cthulhu mythos and the works of HP Lovecraft, I was suddenly struck by one question I don’t think I’ve ever properly considered while writing this review of Big Bad Wolf’s solid investigation puzzler, Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss. What does Cthulhu want?

Review info

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Release date: April 16, 2026

As I’m trawling through audio logs, video diaries, and messages left by a research crew and its billionaire funder in an abandoned underwater facility and an otherworldly city, I witness how they all succumb to the call of the Great Old One and become fixated on bringing about his/its/their return.

A screenshot from Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss — (Image credit: Big Bad Wolf / Nacon)

I guess you could argue that’s the whole point. Cthulhu is supposed to be a being beyond our comprehension, from a place with impossible geography, so I should just take the win and be happy I was able to stop him from awakening before being subsumed into the fandom.

But while some things may never be understood, Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss is all about solving what you can. As an occult investigator, Noah, you use tech and your wits to explore the grotesque and fascinating environments of a flooded bayou to the sunken city of R’lyeh. It’s a game of scanning for clues, absorbing the relevant information, making connections, and figuring out how it will help you stop Cthulhu.

What that ultimately means is that this is a game with a lot of reading, a lot of listening, and a lot of work outside the game, shuffling the facts around inside your brain as you piece it all together. Fortunately, it’s never interrupted by the threat of a monster attack or an enemy stalking you throughout the area like a Soma or Amnesia. Some wrong moves or wayward exploration will result in death, but it’s easy to avoid this if you’re paying attention.

To help visualise all of your clues, you do get given a mind map of sorts that allows you to move clues around and draw connections where you think they are relevant, but most of the time, the game will prompt you on the important questions that need answering to progress.

Mario), so I just ended up scanning everything when I had the chance. Because of that, the whole system feels superfluous.

The same goes for the upgrades and augments you can find or earn from special tablets or shrines dotted around each area. You can only equip a limited number based on your maximum capacity, but when all they offer are small bonuses, such as an increase in your scanner range or a chance to restore energy when analyzing clues, the decision of what to equip doesn’t matter all that much.

Fortunately, you can still investigate and puzzle solve fully while both the energy and augment systems just exist in the background without requiring you to engage with them. I can only assume they must have been added to make Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss feel more gamey, but I don’t think they add anything of value.

One aspect you will be engaging with a lot is the sonar built into your AI companion, Key. Using the frequencies you gain from analyzing clues, you can set and search for nearby items that match the frequency. This becomes a loop for part of the game’s puzzle-solving.

For example, a component made of a specific alloy might be missing from a piece of equipment, so you can scan the surrounding area for alloys that match that frequency to find it. Relatively straightforward, then, but the game does expand on this idea a handful of times by making certain key frequencies harder to find or requiring you to combine frequencies to find more specific items and secrets.

Best bit

There’s little else quite so satisfying as connecting the dots between various pieces of seemingly unrelated information and working out exactly what you need to do to progress. Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss has several moments like this, and when you get deep into a puzzle that comes together in one intricate and elegant solution, you feel like a genius.

I liked it enough as an idea, but as with all of these special vision types in games (I’m looking at you, Arkham detective mode), I ended up simply cycling through what I thought was a relevant frequency and spamming it in each new location to be sure I wasn’t missing any clues.

That’s not to say the game’s puzzles are bad. I did enjoy investigating a lot, with many solutions requiring you to take in all of the information given to you. There are moments where you feel like you are uncovering the secrets of an ancient civilization, learning how to use their bizarre technology, or piecing together the lives and relationships of the original research team as they descended into madness.

What’s also interesting is that chapters give you two possible solutions to the main puzzle: one that pushes you more towards the corrupting influence of Cthulhu, and another (often slightly more elaborate) that lessens the Great Old One’s control over you and the world. It’s a neat idea that rewards you for following a different path than the obvious one and encourages you to fully consider all the clues presented to you.

The choices you make can affect the state of the world, characters, and your final ending, so I really appreciate a usually very linear puzzle game offering up some more freeform elements that give you more influence over the story — and a chance to try alternate paths if you feel stuck on one route or are keen for a second playthrough.

I doubt I’ll be diving in again, though, as I feel happy with everything I got out of Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss on the first go. It has some rough edges, namely an inconsistent autosave, which meant I had to repeat some steps when loading my game on a few occasions. There are also fussy item manipulation mechanics and some ideas that aren’t fully realised.

However, its core investigation gameplay is strong, and the atmosphere is suitably sinister, so I’m sure anyone who enjoys a puzzle game with a dash of cosmic horror will come away satisfied enough — especially for a budget release.

Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss has two difficulty modes: Investigation and Exploration. The first is the standard experience, while the second allows you to ask your AI companion for hints and shows the clues available in each location. You can also set a custom option to tweak how much corruption affects you and how energy is used.

Elsewhere, there are three color blind modes for green, red, and blue color blindness, the option to make subtitles clearer, disable head movement to ease motion sickness, and fully rebind all controls.

PlayStation 5 Pro on a Samsung S90C OLED TV and Samsung HW-Q930C soundbar while using a DualSense Wireless Controller.

I played the whole game in Performance mode and still experienced a few technical hitches and moments of slowdown, so I wouldn’t risk Quality mode without a major patch.

In my time playing, I completed the game once and saw one of the possible endings, although I did have to replay an early chapter three times due to an autosave issue, which should now be fixed in the full release. However, I did still find the autosave unreliable, and that probably bumped up my total playtime by at least an hour.

First reviewed April 2026.

Source link

Tech

WordPress plugin suite hacked to push malware to thousands of sites

Published

28 minutes ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

WordPress plugin suite hacked to push malware to thousands of sites

More than 30 WordPress plugins in the EssentialPlugin package have been compromised with malicious code that allows unauthorized access to websites running them.

A malicious actor planted the backdoor code last year but only recently started pushing it to users via updates, generating spam pages and causing redirects, as per the instructions received from the command-and-control (C2) server.

The compromise affects plugins with hundreds of thousands of active installations and was spotted by Austin Ginder, the founder of managed WordPress hosting provider Anchor Hosting, after receiving a tip about one add-on containing code that allowed third-party access.

Further investigation by Ginder revealed that a backdoor had been present in all plugins within the EssentialPlugin package since August 2025, after the project was acquired in a six-figure deal by a new owner.

EssentialPlugin, established in 2015 as WP Online Support and rebranded in 2021, is a WordPress development firm offering sliders, galleries, marketing tools, WooCommerce extensions, SEO/analytics utilities, and themes.

According to Ginder, the backdoor sat inactive until it was recently activated and silently contacted external infrastructure to fetch a file (‘wp-comments-posts.php’) that injects malware into ‘wp-config.php.’

The downloaded malware is invisible to site owners and uses Ethereum-based C2 address resolution for evasion. Depending on the received instructions, the malware can retrieve “spam links, redirects, and fake pages”.

“The injected code was sophisticated. It fetched spam links, redirects, and fake pages from a command-and-control server. It only showed the spam to Googlebot, making it invisible to site owners,” explained Ginder.

Analysis from WordPress security platform PatchStack shows that the backdoor worked only if the ‘analytics.essentialplugin.com’ endpoint returned with a malicious serialized content.

WordPress action and infection status

WordPress.org responded quickly to the reports of the malicious activity by closing the plugins and pushing a forced update to websites to neutralize the backdoor’s communication and disable its execution path.

However, the developers warned that the action did not clean the wp-config core configuration file, which connects websites to their databases and includes important settings.

The WordPress.org Plugins Team also cautioned administrators with websites running an EssentialPlugin product that while one known location for the backdoor is a file named wp-comments-posts.php, which resembles the legitimate wp-comments-post.php, the malware may also hide in other files.

BleepingComputer has contacted EssentialPlugins for a comment on the reported malicious commit that occurred after the acquisition, but we have not received a response by publishing time.

Automated pentesting proves the path exists. BAS proves whether your controls stop it. Most teams run one without the other.

This whitepaper maps six validation surfaces, shows where coverage ends, and provides practitioners with three diagnostic questions for any tool evaluation.

Source link

Tech

After price hike, YouTube Premium is now half the price if you pay for Google One

Published

42 minutes ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

YouTube Premium got harder to justify after its recent price hikes, and YouTube Music Premium also followed soon after. But Google now has a new way to make the bill sting a little less.

The Gemini team just announced a bundle deal that lets users get 50% off YouTube Premium for a whole year. But while this sounds solid on paper, this is not a no-strings-attached promo deal.

How do you avail this half-off deal?

This limited-time offer is available for users in the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Germany, France, or Japan and ends April 29. 🎁⏳ Discount offer for 12-months, then @YouTube Premium auto-renews at a reduced rate with Google One bundled purchase. Terms apply.
Check out the Google One…
— Google Gemini (@GeminiApp) April 15, 2026
Advertisement

YouTube Premium still gives you the usual core benefits like ad-free videos, background play, offline downloads, and ad-free YouTube Music. Cutting that price in half for 12 months makes the subscription a lot easier to stomach.

But there is a catch, because of course there is. This is not a broad YouTube Premium discount for everyone. It is tied to Google AI Pro, which sits inside the broader Google One subscription setup. Google’s support page says the YouTube Premium add-on is currently available only to eligible members, and some users may not be able to sign up at all. The company also says the 12-month Google AI Pro trial membership is not eligible for the YouTube add-on bundle.

Why this offer is a Google lock-in perk

While it may not outright say it, the brand is clearly not just discounting YouTube Premium out of generosity. Just a while back, the company bumped the cloud storage capacity from 2TB to 5TB for Google AI Pro subscribers. So the YouTube Premium deal is just another add-on to make Google AI Pro’s value seem sweeter. The Gemini X post frames it as a “special surprise” for power users, while Google’s own pages position it as part of the bigger Google AI Pro experience.

The company has even tied this benefit to the individual YouTube Premium plan, which is not shareable with family members. Aside from this, the deal is only available in select countries like the US, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Japan, and France. So yes, after the price hike, YouTube Premium is now effectively half the price if you pay for Google One through Google AI Pro. But this is less a straightforward discount and more Google’s latest reminder that the cheapest way to use one of its services increasingly involves subscribing to two.

Source link

Tech

April Windows Server 2025 update may fail to install

Published

56 minutes ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

Windows Server

Microsoft is investigating an issue causing this month’s KB5082063 security update to fail to install on some Windows Server 2025 systems.

On affected systems, users are also reporting seeing 0x800F0983 install errors when trying to deploy the April 2026 cumulative updates.

“Microsoft is monitoring diagnostic data reports on update installation failures and has observed a recurring error on Windows Server 2025 devices when installing the April 2026 Windows security update (the Originating KBs listed above), released on April 14, 2026,” the company says in a service alert spotted by Microsoft MVP Susan Bradley.

“A limited number of affected servers might experience an installation failure accompanied by the error code 800F0983.”

Microsoft says it’s currently looking into this known issue and will share more details as it learns more about the root cause.

On Wednesday, Microsoft also warned IT administrators that some Windows Server 2025 devices will boot into BitLocker recovery after deploying the KB5082063 Windows security update, prompting users to enter a BitLocker key.

However, as the company further explained, this is unlikely to affect home users, as affected configurations are typically found on systems managed by enterprise teams.

This week, Microsoft also finally addressed a bug that has been plaguing Windows servers for 1.5 years, causing systems running Windows Server 2019 and 2022 to upgrade to Windows Server 2025 “unexpectedly.”

While it initially blamed the issue on misconfigured third-party update management software, Microsoft said it had addressed the issue and that customers can once again check for updates through the Windows Settings app.

Since the start of the year, it has also released several emergency updates to resolve security vulnerabilities in the Routing and Remote Access Service (RRAS) management tool, a Bluetooth device visibility bug, broken sign-ins with Microsoft accounts, and update installation issues affecting the March 2026 non-security preview update.

Automated pentesting proves the path exists. BAS proves whether your controls stop it. Most teams run one without the other.

This whitepaper maps six validation surfaces, shows where coverage ends, and provides practitioners with three diagnostic questions for any tool evaluation.

Source link

Tech

Oppo Find X9 Ultra and Find X9s Series Global Launch Rumoured for April 21

Published

1 hour ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

Oppo is gearing up to expand its flagship range with new models soon. It looks like the Oppo Find X9 Ultra will launch alongside the Find X9s. Along with these phones, the company may also introduce other products, such as the Oppo Watch X3 and Enco Clip 2, at the same event.

Rumored Specifications of Oppo Find X9 Ultra

The Oppo Find X9s is expected to feature a flat display design, which many users prefer for everyday use. The bezels are quite slim at 1.15mm, adding to its premium look. On the front, a hole-punch cutout will house the selfie camera. Moreover, the phone stands out for its button placement: the power and volume buttons are on the left, while another button is on the right.

For photography, Oppo is adding a Hasselblad-tuned triple camera system to the Find X9s. It will feature a 50MP main camera designed to capture clear and sharp images. The camera setup sits inside a square module, and an LED flash is also included.

Another important feature of the phone is its battery, which comes with an impressive capacity of 7,025 mAh. The device will easily handle any task thanks to its powerful battery, whether it’s gaming or video streaming. However, details about the phone’s chipset and performance features remain unknown.

What to Expect from the Find X9s Pro

As of now, it appears the Oppo Find X9s Pro will be released only in China. Among other things, the smartphone will reportedly feature a quadruple-camera module with two 200MP lenses. In addition, it could integrate Oppo’s LUMO image-sensing tech to deliver high-quality shots. As for the display panel, it is expected to be 6.3 inches.

Source link

Tech

Daily Deal: Geekey Multi-Tool | Techdirt

Published

1 hour ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

from the good-deals-on-cool-stuff dept

Geekey is an innovative, compact multi-tool like nothing seen before. It’s truly a work of art with engineering that combines everyday common tools into one sleek little punch that delivers endless capability. Geekey features many common tools that have been used for decades and proven essential for everyday fixes. It’s on sale for $23.

Note: The Techdirt Deals Store is powered and curated by StackCommerce. A portion of all sales from Techdirt Deals helps support Techdirt. The products featured do not reflect endorsements by our editorial team.

Filed Under: daily deal

Source link

Tech

How to download and install older macOS versions on compatible Macs

Published

2 hours ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

If you’ve ever have to wipe the drive of a very old Mac, you know you need an old macOS to get it running again. Beyond Restore, Apple only grudgingly allows downloads, but others are trying to make it easier.

Circular icon of a lion's face with golden mane on a dark background, bordered in white, with a large metallic downward arrow pointing to the top of the circle

You can download installers for most versions of the Mac operating system back to OS X Lion – image credit: Apple

Apple does rather prefer you to use only the latest version of macOS, but it’s not as if it charges you to do so. Eventually you might need to buy a new Mac, so there is some financial upside for the company, but most of the time, the reason to stay up to date is security.
If you’re looking for an older macOS version then you know this already, but you also know that the Mac you’re working on will not run macOS Tahoe. In which case, your job is this:
Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Source link

Tech

Federal jury finds concert business Live Nation is a monopoly

Published

2 hours ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

Live Nation, which operates the Ticketmaster platform, has been determined to be a monopoly. A federal jury handed down its decision today that the company violated federal and state antitrust rules. This finding won’t surprise anyone who has used Ticketmaster and been sticker-shocked by their final bill. However, it’s unclear what the jury’s decision will mean in practice.

For starters, the judge overseeing the case hasn’t determined what remedies will be applied. The actions could go as far as requiring Live Nation to sell off Ticketmaster. There are also monetary damages to be awarded, which haven’t been set yet. And whatever the judge decides, it’s likely that Live Nation will appeal the decision. In a statement released by Live Nation today, the company noted that there are other motions still pending that could also impact the jury’s ruling. “Of course, Live Nation can and will appeal any unfavorable rulings on these motions,” it said.

The Department of Justice and a group of state and district attorneys general sued Live Nation on monopoly claims in 2024. The government agency reached a settlement with Live Nation last month, but the other parties continued their action. There’s also a separate case being waged by the Federal Trade Commission questioning whether Live Nation colluded with ticket resellers.

Update, April 15, 2025, 6:31PM ET: Added statement from Live Nation.

Source link

Tech

Musical Fidelity Introduces M6xi Integrated Amplifier With HDMI ARC

Published

2 hours ago

16 April 2026

NewsAdmin

Musical Fidelity has introduced the M6xi integrated amplifier, a $3,799 USD model that builds on the proven analog circuit design of its award winning “si” series while adding expanded digital inputs and stronger system integration. The launch comes as the brand gains renewed momentum under Pro-Ject Audio Systems ownership, alongside a more stable and focused U.S. distribution strategy through Harmonia Distribution, signaling a more aggressive push into the competitive integrated amplifier category.

Industrial Design & Chassis Construction

The M6xi is built around a rigid aluminum chassis, with the front, side, and top panels machined from extruded profiles. This all metal enclosure is engineered to reduce electromagnetic interference while providing a solid, well damped structure. The result is a clean, durable exterior that also supports consistent electrical performance.

Preamplifier Stage & Connectivity

The M6xi’s preamplifier stage is designed for low noise and stable performance across a wide range of listening levels. It employs a Burr Brown stepped attenuator to ensure precise channel matching and accurate volume control. Connectivity includes a pre-out for bi-amping or subwoofer integration, along with a phono input that supports both MM and MC cartridges.

Amplifier Stage & Power Delivery

The M6xi’s amplifier section is based on Musical Fidelity’s TITAN platform, first introduced in 2008, and delivers a slight increase in power (10 more watts) over the previous M6si. It is rated at 230 watts per channel into 8 ohms and 390 watts per channel into 4 ohms, providing the current and headroom needed for a wide range of loudspeakers.

A low distortion Darlington output stage is employed to reduce crossover artifacts and residual distortion, while an optimized PCB layout helps maintain channel balance and stability. The use of dedicated analog power supplies further limits high frequency noise and electromagnetic interference, supporting cleaner overall performance.

Connectivity

The M6xi provides a host of connections, including

Optical, Coaxial, and HDMI-ARC inputs
USB-C input
4 sets of RCA unbalanced stereo Analog inputs
One set of Analog XLR Balanced stereo inputs
One Line output
One Pre-Amp Output
Left and Right channel speaker terminals
5 V, 2 A USB-A power output for external streamers
12 volt Trigger
RS232 connector for custom integration control

Another practical connection option is a home theater bypass input, allowing the M6xi to function as a dedicated two channel power amplifier within a multichannel system.

“We are delighted that Musical Fidelity has introduced the new M6xi, adding important, listener friendly features without detracting from the performance the M6si was known for,” says Jeff Coates, Musical Fidelity Brand Lead and Director of Sales at Harmonia Distribution. “We look forward to listeners experiencing it in person.”

The Bottom Line

Musical Fidelity knows exactly what it is doing here. The M6xi doubles down on traditional two channel design with serious power, a refined analog foundation, and just enough modern flexibility to make system building easier. The inclusion of a proper MM and MC phono stage, pre-out, and home theater bypass makes it more adaptable than it first appears, even without built-in streaming.

What is missing is just as clear. There is no Bluetooth, no Wi-Fi, and no onboard streaming platform. In a category where many competitors are racing to become all in one hubs, the M6xi stays firmly in the physical source camp. That is either a limitation or the entire point, depending on how you listen.

There are also gaps. Full specifications are not yet available, and without official documentation or extended listening, it is too early to draw firm conclusions about how it stacks up against rivals in this price range. That matters when you are asking close to $4,000.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

The M6xi is aimed at listeners who already have a source chain they trust and do not want an amplifier cluttered with features they will never use. If your system revolves around vinyl, CD, or a dedicated external streamer, and you want power, control, and a more traditional approach, this is exactly the kind of amplifier that makes sense.