Early reviews of the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models are here, and while the improved performance is good, nobody is a fan of the $200 price increase.
Early reviews of the M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro are here.
The M5 Pro and M5 Max versions of the 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro were announced on March 3, offering better performance. The two laptops are spec bump upgrades, meaning there’s effectively no other change, relative to the preceding M4 Pro and M4 Max models. As a result, most reviews of the new laptop configurations focus largely on the processing hardware, what it can do, and how it performs in various tasks, be they hardware-intensive or not. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
There are many events so far in 2026 that could reasonably have been predicted, but perhaps one which couldn’t is a Hackaday scribe in Europe unexpectedly finding herself with a constant earworm from Afroman. The rapper, who most of us know only from his year 2000 hit single about getting high, made the news after an inept police raid on his house, and in turn a court case over his musical denunciations of the authorities.
We won’t pretend that Hackaday’s mathematical expertise stretches beyond that needed for engineering, but for the more advanced numberphiles among us the university’s write-up goes into some detail about their use of group theory to study the patterns and symmetry in a given piece of music. It’s a new approach that joins other more famous guides to musical success, so perhaps if you couple it with the stuff your music teacher failed to tell you in school, you could be on your way to the top of the charts. Meanwhile here at Hackaday we’ll stick to more conventional inspiration.
A former core infrastructure engineer has pleaded guilty to locking Windows admins out of 254 servers as part of a failed extortion plot targeting his employer, an industrial company headquartered in Somerset County, New Jersey.
According to court documents, 57-year-old Daniel Rhyne from Kansas City, Missouri, remotely accessed the company’s network without authorization using an administrator account between November 9 and November 25.
Throughout this time, he allegedly scheduled tasks on the company’s Windows domain controller to delete network admin accounts and to change the passwords for 13 domain admin accounts and 301 domain user accounts to “TheFr0zenCrew!”.
The prosecutors also accused Rhyne of scheduling tasks to change the passwords for two local admin accounts, which would affect 3,284 workstations, and for two more local admin accounts, which would impact 254 servers on his employer’s network. He also scheduled some tasks to shut down random servers and workstations on the network over multiple days in December 2023.
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Subsequently, on November 25, Rhyne emailed a number of his coworkers a ransom email titled “Your Network Has Been Penetrated,” saying that all IT administrators had been locked out of their accounts and that server backups had been deleted to make data recovery impossible.
Additionally, the emails threatened to shut down 40 random servers daily over the next ten days unless the company paid a ransom of 20 bitcoin (worth roughly $750,000 at the time).
“On or about November 25, 2023, at approximately 4:00 p.m. EST, network administrators employed at Victim-1 began receiving password reset notifications for a Victim-1 domain administrator account, as well as hundreds of Victim-1 user accounts,” the criminal complaint reads.
“Shortly thereafter, the Victim-1 network administrators discovered that all other Victim-1 domain administrator accounts were deleted, thereby denying domain administrator access to Victim-1’s computer networks.”
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Forensic investigators found that on November 22, Rhyne used a hidden virtual machine and his account to search the web for information on clearing Windows logs, changing domain user passwords, and deleting domain accounts as he planned his extortion plot.
One week earlier, Rhyne made similar web searches on his laptop, including “command line to remotely change local administrator password” and “command line to change local administrator password.”
Rhyne was arrested in Missouri on Tuesday, August 27, and released after his initial appearance in federal court. The hacking and extortion charges to which he pleaded guilty carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
Earlier this month, a North Carolina data analyst contractor was found guilty of extorting his employer, Brightly Software (a Software-as-a-Service company previously known as SchoolDude), for $2.5 million.
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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.
Ronan Rogers and Ruth Callanan discuss innovation in the west of Ireland and the evolution of Ireland’s STEM careers.
Ireland’s medtech sector is moving beyond traditional biomedical engineering, according to Ronan Rogers, the senior R&D director for cardiac ablation solutions at Medtronic. He explained the region has built “real depth”, not just in medtech, but across key areas such as pharmaceutical science, advanced analytics and digital technology. Areas that are now “increasingly converging”.
“That diversity of opportunity is a huge strength for Ireland,” he told SiliconRepublic.com. “It allows people from different professional backgrounds to find meaningful, high‑impact careers in healthcare, while helping Ireland move further up the value chain as a centre for complex, globally relevant innovation.”
Having recently expanded its Galway-based pharmaceutical laboratory, the Medtronic facility now serves as a west of Ireland hub for high-tech innovation and the evolving needs of the global healthcare space. Rogers is of the opinion that this is reflective of the convergence of the country’s medtech divisions.
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Noting that the primary purpose of the lab “is to integrate pharmaceutical, engineering and analytical expertise under one roof to address the complex challenges of combination products, [that is] where a medical device and a medicine work together”.
“We see that convergence very clearly in this laboratory and there is a wide range of career paths in our industry, whether that’s a pharmacist drawn to the faster innovation cycles and applied science of medtech, or a software developer who wants to use their skills to solve real healthcare challenges and code with a deeper sense of purpose.”
What opportunities exist?
With the expansion comes the opportunity for students and professionals to consider a new role, either as part of Medtronic or within Galway’s thriving life science and medtech spaces.
“Galway offers a unique innovation ecosystem where infrastructure, academic partnerships and a significant medtech footprint all provide a strong foundation for sustaining Ireland’s leadership in the life sciences sector,” said Ruth Callanan, Medtronic’s director of site quality.
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With the investment focused on significantly expanding R&D capability and technical depth within a critical space in the Irish medtech sector, Medtronic has increased lab space by almost a half and introduced analytical technologies that didn’t exist there before.
Callanan said: “This creates the conditions for future high‑value work as programmes grow. It strengthens Galway’s ability to attract and retain highly specialised talent, pharmaceutical scientists, chemical and materials engineers and it allows work that was previously outsourced internationally to be done here in Ireland.
“Over time, as demand and activity scale, we do expect this capability to support additional specialist roles, phased in over the coming years. Importantly, it reinforces Ireland’s position at the forefront of advanced medtech R&D and reflects a broader industry trend toward self-sufficiency in high-tech analytical testing.”
Step into the future
She explained the new lab will enable experts to integrate processes as the facility will be responsible for the entire life cycle of product development, from early phase R&D through to post-market oversight.
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She added: “The laboratory utilises advanced LCMS [liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry] and GCMS [gas chromatography-mass spectrometry] technologies, which act as ‘molecular microscopes’. This allows our scientists to identify unknown compounds or impurities at extremely precise levels.”
According to Rogers, the new lab has a role to play in what he believes to be the reshaping of how STEM careers in Ireland are perceived and pursued, with Callanan noting this creates for students and professionals opportunities to engage with careers that bridge the gap between various scientific disciplines.
“A laboratory of this size and complexity requires students and professionals with a wide range of skills and experience across multiple disciplines,” she said.
“Just as importantly,” added Rogers, “we’re sending a clear signal to pharmacists, chemists and analytical scientists that medtech offers deep, intellectually challenging career paths that go well beyond traditional manufacturing or even classical biomedical engineering.”
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Colorado is rolling out an average-speed camera system that tracks vehicles across multiple points instead of catching them at a single camera, making it much harder for drivers to dodge tickets with apps like Waze and Radarbot. Motor1 reports: The state’s new automated vehicle identification systems (AVIS) use several cameras to calculate your average speed between them, and if it is 10 miles per hour or more over the limit, you get a ticket. No longer will you be able to slow down as you approach a camera and speed back up after passing it, not that you should be speeding on public roads in the first place.
Colorado began deploying this new camera system after legislators changed the law in 2023, allowing AVIS for law enforcement use. The systems, installed on various roads and highways throughout the state, first began issuing warnings, but police began issuing tickets late last year.
The most recent section of road to fall under surveillance is a stretch of I-25 north of Denver, which brought the state’s growing panopticon to our attention. It began issuing tickets on April 2. The Colorado Department of Transportation installed the cameras along a construction zone. The fine is $75 and zero points for exceeding the speed limit, and the police issue it to the vehicle’s owner, regardless of who is driving.
Oracle’s Cloud Experience Center in downtown Seattle. (GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop)
Oracle is laying off 491 employees in Washington state, according to a filing Tuesday from the state Employment Security Department.
The cuts impact workers at two Seattle offices as well as remote employees and take effect June 1. The cloud and database giant stated in its WARN letter that the offices will not be closing.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg and others reported that Oracle was planning to cut thousands of jobs across the company as it tries to fund the high-cost deployment of new data centers. The reductions are also the result of AI-driven efficiencies within the organization, according to comments by Mike Sicilia, Oracle’s co-chief executive, in an earnings call March 10.
“The use of AI coding tools inside Oracle is enabling smaller engineering teams to deliver more complete solutions to our customers more quickly,” Sicilia said, according to the publication CIO.
Oracle declined to comment on the newest job cuts.
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The Washington layoffs affect more than 230 software developers across multiple seniority levels and an additional 48 employees with the title of software development. The cuts include workers in senior director and vice president roles, as well as managers, product developers, product managers, program managers, site reliability developers, technical analysts, user experience developers and others.
The layoffs are the latest in a series of Oracle reductions. In August the company laid off 161 workers, followed by 101 employees in October. By last fall, Oracle had approximately 3,800 employees in the Seattle area, according to LinkedIn.
Oracle has grown its presence in the region over the past decade, tapping into the area’s engineering talent pool as it battled Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud. In recent years, the company has establishedpartnerships with both Seattle-area giants.
Now all three, plus other tech companies, have been undergoing multiple rounds of job reductions, with recent Meta cuts impacting 168 Washington workers and T-Mobile confirming new layoffs last Friday.
Finalists for GeekWire’s 2026 Sustainable Innovation Award, from left going clockwise: Helion Energy fusion device (Helion Photo), OCOchem team (OCOchem Photo), TerraPower’s mock fuel rods (TerraPower Photo), Ravel team (Ravel Photo), and IUNU’s image capturing system. (IUNU Photo)
Climate change is battering the earth with record-setting high temperatures, more powerful storms and devastating wildfires. A slate of cutting-edge sustainability companies are fighting back with technologies that aim to curb carbon emissions and help humanity navigate a change world.
This award, presented by Amazon, recognizes the Pacific Northwest’s leaders in this space. The Sustainable Innovation Award finalists this year are Helion, IUNU, OCOChem, Ravel and TerraPower.
Now in its 18th year, the GeekWire Awards is the premier event recognizing the top leaders, companies and breakthroughs in Pacific Northwest tech, bringing together hundreds of people to celebrate innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit. It takes place May 7 at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle.
Carbon Robotics, an ag-tech company building weed-killing machines that use artificial intelligence and computer vision to recognize and zap unwanted plants, won the category last year.
Continue reading for information on this year’s finalists, which were chosen by a panel of independent judges from community nominations. You can help pick the winner: Cast your ballot here or in the embedded form at the bottom of this story. Voting runs through April 16.
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Helion Energy has spent 13 years working to replicate the physics that power the sun and stars — pursuing nearly limitless clean energy for the grid. The Everett, Wash.-based company is currently developing its seventh-generation prototype while simultaneously building what it hopes will be the world’s first commercial fusion plant, in Eastern Washington.
Backers include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Microsoft has signed a deal to purchase power from that first facility. Helion has raised more than $1 billion toward its goal — though whether it can deliver remains an unanswered question.
The Seattle ag tech startup IUNU wants to bring computer vision and AI to the commercial greenhouse — deploying autonomous rail-mounted cameras and canopy-level sensors that can spot early signs of disease, track plant growth, and tell growers exactly what to do about it.
Pronounced “you-knew,” IUNU was founded in 2013 by CEO Adam Greenberg, the son of a botanist and co-founder of a clean water startup called Pure Blue Technologies. The company has deployed its technology across six countries, has additional offices in Canada and Netherlands, and has raised $60 million.
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Unwanted carbon dioxide has a higher purpose thanks to OCOchem. The Richland, Wash., startup is taking water and captured industrial CO2 and turning them into chemicals that can be converted into clean-burning hydrogen fuel, used in aviation deicers, or fed to microorganisms that biosynthesize proteins.
The company has raised $11.2 million from investors plus additional grant dollars, and has multiple pilot projects underway as it scales up production. Todd Brix launched OCOchem in 2017 after a nearly two-decade career at Microsoft.
Seattle’s Ravelhas developed a proprietary, planet friendly technology that unwinds the components of fabric blends through a process it calls “purification recycling.” Ravel’s target is elastane, which is known as spandex or Lycra and added to essentially every category of apparel.
The startup recovers the elastane, turning it into cost-competitive, recycled plastic pellets that serve as the raw material for making polyester fabrics. Ravel launched in 2019 and last year announced a pre-seed funding round.
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In March, TerraPower became the first next-generation nuclear company in the U.S. to receive federal construction approval — a milestone for the Bill Gates-backed startup, which is engineering smaller, modular reactors designed to be assembled from factory-built components. Each reactor generates 345 megawatts and pairs with a molten salt energy storage system that can supply additional power.
The Bellevue, Wash., company broke ground on a demonstration plant in Kemmerer, Wyo., in 2024 and aims to start splitting atoms there by the end of 2030. TerraPower has raised $1.66 billion from investors and secured a $2 billion federal grant.
The event will feature a VIP reception, sit-down dinner and fun entertainment mixed in. Tickets go fast. A limited number of half-table and full-table sponsorships available. Contact events@geekwire.com to reserve a spot for your team today.
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Although many of us associate hotels with cushy business trips or relaxing holiday getaways, frequent travelers will know that it does come with its own set of issues. While some minor annoyances, like not being able to stream your content, can be solved by bringing a fire TV stick, other problems, such as bed bugs, are harder to solve.
Despite being around for millions of years, bed bug infestations are still a recurring problem, even for expensive hotel chains. And, as anyone who has to deal with them can tell you, you may need to hire professional help if they ever reach your home. Because of this, it’s best to follow the standard bed bug prevention protocol, such as using suitcase stands and inspecting the room with tools like UV flashlights. If you’re looking for one such tool that is affordable, Harbor Freight sells a UV flashlight for under $8 that might be perfect for your next business trip.
Harbor Freight has been known to sell well-rated flashlights, with most of them under the Braun label. Priced at $7.99, the Braun UV Leak Detector LED Flashlight can generate 395 nM UV light and is the cheapest UV flashlight on offer at Harbor Freight as of March 2026. Apart from helping you spot pests, UV flashlights can also be used to detect all kinds of stains, leaks, and even counterfeit currency, which could all be valuable uses when you’re on the road or at home. Here’s what else you should know.
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The Braun UV flashlight is rated highly by those who have bought it
Running on three AAA batteries, Harbor Freight says this flashlight has a 5.5-hour total run time, so it can be convenient when traveling to locations with no sockets or portable chargers. For an improved grip, this flashlight has both a knurled body as well as a ridged collar. It has a 10-foot range, but this model can’t be used as as normal flashlight and it doesn’t have the standard white light.
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As of this writing, the Braun UV Leak Detector does not have a significant number of reviews, so it’s hard to say what customers think of it. For what it’s worth, however, the four buyers who have left reviews all rated it 5 stars, with one reviewer saying it was “not super bright but gets the job done.” If you want a tool that has both UV and white lights, Braun sells a more compact UV flashlight that can also double as a normal flashlight. For $24.99, the Braun 400 Lumen Rechargeable Penlight with UV Light is highly rated and can run an extra half hour more than the $8 UV model. Of course, these extra features are going to cost you.
Man City vs. Liverpool will air in the US on ESPN and ESPN Plus, and is also available via ESPN Select or ESPN Unlimited.
The pick of this weekend’s FA Cup quarterfinals sees Man City host Liverpool in a blockbuster cup clash at the Etihad Stadium.
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Man City’s goal with this last-eight faceoff is to move a step closer to claiming the prize following last month’s Carabao Cup triumph over Arsenal. City’s route to the quarterfinals has seen it beat Exeter and Salford before easing past Premier League Newcastle 3-1 at St. James’ Park in the previous round.
Liverpool, meanwhile, comes into this cup tie looking to get back to winning following their Premier League defeat to Brighton before the international break. With the Reds out of the EPL title race and also eliminated from the Champions League, this tournament provides their final opportunity to claim the silver cup this season, as well as ease the mounting pressure on manager Arne Slot amid what has so far been a disappointing campaign.
Manchester City takes on Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 12:45 p.m. BST local time in the UK, which is 7:45 a.m. ET or 4:45 a.m. PT in the US and Canada, and 10:45 p.m. AEDT in Australia.
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Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have won each of their last 17 home fixtures in the FA Cup.
Adam Davy/ PA Images / Getty Images
Livestream Man City vs. Liverpool in the US
Every match from this point in the tournament will be available to stream live on ESPN Plus, which is accessible via the network’s ESPN Select or ESPN Unlimited streaming packages. ESPN Select carries ESPN Plus and is the cheaper option at $13 per month.
ESPN’s streaming platforms have been shaken up in recent months. The sports network now offers two tiers with its new direct-to-consumer setup: ESPN Select and ESPN Unlimited. ESPN Select is essentially what ESPN Plus used to be, with the same content available to subscribers, including FA Cup soccer, for $13 per month. If you want full access to ESPN’s networks and services, such as ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNews and ESPN Deportes, as well as all of ESPN Select’s content, then ESPN Unlimited is the way to go. It costs $30 per month.
Livestream Man City vs. Liverpool in the UK
TNT Sports and the BBC are sharing duties for the FA Cup this season, with this Sunday afternoon game set to be shown on TNT Sports 1.
You can access TNT Sports via Sky Q, Virgin Media and EE TV as part of a TV package.
Alternatively,TNT Sports has a new streaming home with the launch of HBO Max in the UK. It costs £31 either way and comes in a package that includes Discovery Plus’ library of documentary content.
A bundle including HBO Max’s entertainment plan alongside TNT Sports currently costs £31 per month.
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Livestream Man City vs. Liverpool in Canada
Canadian soccer fans looking to watch this FA Cup fixture can watch all the action live via Sportsnet.
Sportsnet
Sportsnet is available via most cable operators, but cord-cutters can subscribe to the standalone streaming service Sportsnet Plus instead, with prices starting at CA$30 per month or CA$250 per year for the standard plan.
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Livestream Man City vs. Liverpool in Australia
Football fans in Australia can watch FA Cup matches live on the streaming service Stan Sport.
Stan
Stan Sport will set you back AU$20 a month, on top of a Stan subscription, which starts at AU$12. It is worth noting the streaming service is offering a seven-day free trial. On top of select FA Cup matches, a subscription gives you access to Premier League, Champions League and Europa League action, along with international rugby and Formula E.
Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? When you solve it, the puzzle makes a colorful shape and spells out a very California phrase. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Mercedes-Benz is about to change something fundamental about how cars feel to drive, and it’s not just another software update. The company is bringing steer-by-wire tech to a production vehicle for the first time, starting with the refreshed EQS, and it’s a pretty big departure from how steering has worked for over a century.
Mercedes-Benz
And yes, this is the same kind of tech that’s been used in aircraft for years, and was even showcased on the Mercedes-Benz Vision Iconic. Now, it’s finally making its way into a luxury sedan.
What does “steer-by-wire” actually mean here?
In simple terms, Mercedes is removing the physical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels. Instead of a mechanical linkage, your inputs are sent electronically to actuators that turn the wheels.
Mercedes-Benz
That might sound a bit unnerving at first, but Mercedes says it has built in multiple redundancies, sensors, and control systems to ensure safety. In fact, the company has already tested the setup for over a million kilometers before bringing it to production. There are also some real advantages here. Because everything is software-controlled, the steering ratio can change dynamically depending on speed, making parking easier while keeping things stable at highway speeds.
Mercedes-Benz
And then there’s the design twist. Since there’s no need for a traditional steering column, Mercedes is pairing this system with a yoke-style steering wheel. It’s flatter, more futuristic, and designed to improve visibility of the instrument cluster.
Why this could be a turning point for cars
With steer-by-wire, carmakers get far more flexibility in how steering behaves, how interiors are designed, and even how future autonomous features are integrated. It also opens the door to a more “software-defined” driving experience. Things like steering feel, responsiveness, and feedback can be tuned digitally, rather than being locked in by hardware.
Mercedes-Benz
Of course, there’s still a trust factor to overcome. Removing a direct mechanical link between driver and wheels is a bold move, and not everyone will be comfortable with it right away. But if Mercedes gets the balance right, this could end up being one of those changes that feels strange at first… and completely normal a few years down the line.
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