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Print-in-Place Gripper Does It With A Single Motor

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[XYZAiden]’s concept for a flexible robotic gripper might be a few years old, but if anything it’s even more accessible now than when he first prototyped it. It uses only a single motor and requires no complex mechanical assembly, and nowadays 3D printing with flexible filament has only gotten easier and more reliable.

The four-armed gripper you see here prints as a single piece, and is cable-driven with a single metal-geared servo powering the assembly. Each arm has a nylon string threaded through it so when the servo turns, it pulls each string which in turn makes each arm curl inward, closing the grip. Because of the way the gripper is made, releasing only requires relaxing the cables; an arm’s natural state is to fall open.

The main downside is that the servo and cables are working at a mechanical disadvantage, so the grip won’t be particularly strong. But for lightweight, irregular objects, this could be a feature rather than a bug.

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The biggest advantage is that it’s extremely low-cost, and simple to both build and use. If one has access to a 3D printer and can make a servo rotate, raiding a junk bin could probably yield everything else.

DIY robotic gripper designs come in all sorts of variations. For example, this “jamming” bean-bag style gripper does an amazing, high-strength job of latching onto irregular objects without squashing them in the process. And here’s one built around grippy measuring tape, capable of surprising dexterity.

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Google Messages gets a Trash folder for your unimportant chats to simmer in

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Google Messages is getting a small but genuinely meaningful feature that can help with cleanups and accidental inputs. The app now has a proper trash folder to let you get back to conversations you recently got rid of.

Why this is a handy new feature

The company’s official support documentation revealed the new Trash folder that lets users recover deleted conversations within 30 days. This adds a buffer that should help cut down on accidental message loss. But after this month-long window ends, the conversation is permanently deleted.

Though, the feature is still very useful. Instead of a deleted conversation vanishing for good right away, it goes into Trash first, similar to Google Drive‘s Bin folder. From there, users can restore individual chats, restore all of the deleted chats, or permanently wipe selected conversations. Google says that each trashed conversation shows an individual countdown indicating how many days remain before they are truly removed.

There’s more than one way to send chats to Trash

Google built this feature to be easily accessible. Users can move conversations into Trash either by setting up a swipe action or by touching and holding one or more chats and tapping the Trash icon. To enable the swipe shortcut, users need to head into Messages settings, open Swipe actions, and assign Trash to either the left of right swipes.

There is also one small catch.

If you receive a new message in a conversation that is currently in Trash, that incoming message can appear as a new conversation in your inbox. So Trash is not necessarily a holding area for chat threads you are trying to avoid.

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'Pluribus,' 'Mr Scorsese,' and more Apple TV shows nominated for Peabody Awards

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Apple TV has earned five nominations for the 86th Peabody Awards, honoring the streamer across entertainment, children’s, and factual programming.

A close-up of a person with blonde hair, mouth open, looking upward against a bright yellow background.
Pluribus — image credit: Apple

The Peabody Awards exist to celebrate storytelling across different media, and across different forms from television to radio and podcasts. Apple TV won its first Peabody in 2021, getting it for “Ted Lasso” and specifically the show’s radical optimism.
For the 86th annual Peabody Awards, Apple TV has been nominated across three categories. The nominations announced by the Peabody Awards are:
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Sony Raised PS5 Console Prices, and the PlayStation Portal Handheld Stepped Up

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Sony PS5 Console Price Increase PlayStation Portal
On April 2, Sony increased the price of all of its PlayStation 5 consoles. The standard disc edition now costs $650, the digital edition up to $600, and the Pro model is a hefty $900. However, when you take a step back and look closely at the PlayStation Portal, things begin to make a lot more sense.



It debuted in 2023 as a way to stream games from your PS5 to your TV, but you required your enormous PS5 connected in and nearby, which didn’t work out too well. If you were on the run or sharing a living space with others, it was a big pain, but that changed in November 2025 when Sony released a huge software upgrade. If you have the right PlayStation Plus Premium subscription, you may stream over 600 titles directly to your Portal, without the need for a PS5 or local consoles. The variety is also amazing, with recent PS5 releases and several older PS4 successes available in full 1080p and 60 frames per second as long as your internet connection is stable.


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The Portal is no longer just a stylish accessory. Throw in the $250 price tag and the $160 yearly Premium subscription, and you’re still considerably below the price of a new $650 PlayStation 5. Heck, you’ll save a few hundred bucks right away, and that’s only the beginning, especially because you won’t have to pay for extra controllers or a separate TV setup.


Sony is blaming the PS5 price increase on a global economic squeeze and memory chip shortages, and to be fair, this has been going on for a long. The Portal avoids these issues entirely because it does not require the same amount of hardware because the actual graphics-heavy stuff is handled by the cloud server. On the other hand, you avoid all of the supply chain issues and rising production costs that are driving price increases in traditional consumer products.

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After some hands-on time with the Portal, you’ll agree that it feels just how you’d expect. The portable features an 8-inch LCD screen sandwiched between two classic controller halves, as well as adjustable triggers and haptic feedback. The built-in speakers are also rather powerful, producing superb spatial music that allows you to avoid using headphones for shorter play durations. With a battery life of about two hours on a single charge, it’s perfect for lazing on the couch.


Plus, the user interface has seen significant improvements since early 2026. Your buddy invites and trophy celebrations appear in the corner of the screen without pulling you out of the game. You simply scan a fast QR code, and new accounts are created in a flash.

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Quordle hints and answers for Sunday, April 12 (game #1539)

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Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing ‘today’s game’ while others are playing ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for Saturday’s puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Saturday, April 11 (game #1538).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

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NYT Strands hints and answers for Sunday, April 12 (game #770)

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Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing ‘today’s game’ while others are playing ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for Saturday’s puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, April 11 (game #769).

Strands is the NYT’s latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it’s great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

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Why the Ring Indoor Cam Plus Turns Everyday Home Checks Into Something You Actually Look Forward To with Retinal 2K

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Ring Indoor Cam Plus Newest Model 2K
Home security gets a quiet boost when the details are clear regardless of time of day or lighting conditions. The newest Ring Indoor Cam Plus, priced at $35 (was $60), delivers on that promise with its Retinal 2K resolution, allowing you to see a misplaced key on the kitchen counter or a sleeping pet in the corner without having to squint at blurry corners.



Clarity like that goes much beyond simply capturing a great photo. You can place one in the doorway to record the precise moment a delivery arrives, then zoom in several times to read the label on the box. You could put another one in the living room to see if the kids finished their homework or if the poor old dog tripped over a plant again, and all of that detail appears in bright, vivid color during the day and remains the same when the evening comes around.

The Low-Light Sight function dramatically improves nighttime monitoring. A hallway lit just by a distant nightlight nevertheless displays good and realistic colors on screen, while complete darkness provides clear black and white detail that cuts right through the shadows. Homeowners no longer have to question if a noise was made by the cat or something else because the feed distinguishes between the two right away.


Having many cameras throughout the house provides a more complete image of what’s going on. You can place one in the nursery and look at a sleeping infant from the sofa or the store. Another one near the back door allows you to keep track on who is arriving and exiting without constantly checking. The flexible mount allows you to place it on a shelf, on the wall, or even on the ceiling, allowing you to set it anywhere you need it and then move it to a different location as your needs change.


Real-time alerts appear on your phone as soon as motion passes a preset zone. You can configure those zones to ignore the hallway fan except when it is near the safe or medicine cabinet. Two-way audio is also useful because it provides good voice on both ends, allowing you to remind the adolescent to lock up or simply say hello to a neighbour who has stopped by. Of course, there are simple privacy controls, both in the app and on the camera itself. Simply slide the removable lens cover over to conceal the view and turn off the microphone when the room must remain off-limits. You can also utilize custom zones to black out critical areas, such as your home office desk or a restroom doorway, so that the camera only monitors what is truly vital.

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Ring Indoor cam Plus Newest Model 2K
Getting everything up and running takes only a minute or two, and all you need is a standard power outlet and the Ring app on your phone. Views load quickly, and the system continues to grow as more cameras are added to cover new locations. People who start with one frequently add a second or third because the ease simply builds up, as each new camera fills another gap without generating any more difficulty.

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How to watch Euphoria season 3

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After a painful four-year wait for fans, Euphoria returns this Sunday and we can finally find out what Rue, Cassie, Nate and the rest have been up to since we last caught up with them. Viewers can tune into Euphoria season 3 on HBO in the US, with episodes streaming online through HBO Max in countries where the platform is available. Read on for how to watch Euphoria S3 online from anywhere with a VPN.

Just like in real life, half a decade has passed in the lives of Euphoria’s main characters since season 2’s climax – which leaves some catching up to do. High School may be a distant memory, but Rue (Zendaya) still seems to be haunted by her drug-afflicted past. Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) and Nate (Jacob Elordi) have been married in the intervening years, but the S3 trailer (watch below) suggests the honeymoon period may be long gone. While Lexi (Maude Apatow) is trying to get a foothold in the TV industry and Jules (Hunter Schafer) is making her way at art school.

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PlayStation6 might not deliver a price shock, but don’t bite too much into the feel-good murmurs

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Fresh reports suggest that the next-generation PlayStation console, widely expected to be the successor to the PlayStation 5, may not be as expensive as previously feared. Despite ongoing concerns around rising memory and component costs, early estimates indicate that the PlayStation 6 could launch at a price closer to current PS5 levels rather than crossing the $1,000 mark.

Pricing Expectations Remain Lower Than Worst-Case Fears

According to recent analysis based on supply chain estimates and leaks from a known insider Moore’s Law Is Dead, the PS6 could carry a launch price of around $749.

The report suggests that manufacturing costs for the console may reach roughly $743 per unit, with memory alone accounting for a significant portion of that expense. In fact, around $300 of the cost could come from RAM, while storage components like SSDs also remain expensive.

Even with these pressures, the projected retail price is still relatively close to the PS5’s positioning, especially compared to earlier fears that the next-gen console could exceed $1,000.

Rising Memory And Chip Costs Continue To Pressure Pricing

The biggest uncertainty around PS6 pricing remains the global memory and chip market. Over the past year, demand for AI infrastructure has driven up the cost of RAM and storage components significantly.

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Reports indicate that DRAM and SSD prices have surged due to increased demand from data centers and AI companies, limiting supply for consumer electronics.

In some cases, RAM prices have risen dramatically, with certain components seeing multiple-fold increases.

This trend has already impacted current-generation consoles. Sony recently increased PS5 prices globally, citing rising component costs, signaling how deeply supply chain volatility is affecting the gaming industry.

Why The Price Still Might Stay Controlled

Despite these challenges, analysts believe the PS6 may avoid extreme pricing due to a combination of factors.

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First, companies like Sony are likely to optimize component choices and production efficiency over time. There is also an expectation that some component prices, particularly memory, could stabilize before the PS6 launches, which is currently rumored for 2027 or later.

Additionally, tariffs and geopolitical factors play a major role. Estimates show that import duties alone could push the console price closer to $900 or more, depending on market conditions at launch.

However, if these external pressures ease, the final retail price could remain within a more consumer-friendly range.

What This Means For Gamers

For gamers, the takeaway is cautiously optimistic. While next-generation hardware is expected to become more expensive due to advanced components and AI-driven features, the PS6 may still remain within a familiar pricing bracket.

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That said, the volatility of the supply chain means nothing is guaranteed. Pricing could shift significantly depending on memory costs, tariffs, and global demand closer to launch.

What Comes Next

Sony has yet to officially reveal any details about the PlayStation 6, and a launch is still several years away. Reports suggest the company may delay announcements until market conditions stabilize, particularly around memory supply and pricing.

In the meantime, the industry continues to grapple with rising costs and supply chain uncertainty. As AI demand grows and chip shortages persist, the next few years will likely play a crucial role in determining not just the PS6’s price, but the future affordability of gaming hardware as a whole.

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Nerf Arena Blast from 1999 Refuses to Quit Even Today, Here’s Why

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Nerf Arena Blast 1999 Game
Jumping back into Nerf Arena Blast today provides the same adrenaline that captivated players all those years ago in 1999. People are still loading patched versions of the game onto their modern machines and connecting to active servers, where matches are quickly filling up. This game has always managed to transform what would otherwise be a bunch of kids playing with foam darts into full-fledged digital competition that still feels new 27 years later.



The guys at Visionary Media did an excellent job designing the game around Nerf gear. Every blaster in the game is an exact replica of the one you can purchase at the store. The Wildfire, for example, can just spit out darts in fast bursts, whereas the Ballzooka releases these clusters that spread all over the place when they impact, and because ammo is limited, you can bet your bottom dollar that whoever runs out will be left hanging out to dry. Throwing in some secondary fire modes, such as tighter spreads or faster reload times, adds another layer of strategy to each of those Nerf guns, so practice pays off.

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Instead of simply racing around and gunning like most other arena games, Nerf Arena Blast offers three separate events to pick from. PointBlast is all about scoring hits on both your opponents and stationary targets, as well as collecting bonus tokens that appear when someone is tagged out. SpeedBlast is all about racing through colored flags in the correct order, and if you get tagged out, you get a free pass to reset your progress to the last checkpoint. Then there’s BallBlast, in which 7 random colors are scattered all over the map and players must run around grabbing these balls and shooting them into the goals, but the golden ball is the real game changer. These formats make every second of gameplay worthwhile since points matter far more than simply knocking someone out.

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As you go through the single-player campaign, new arenas will unlock in phases. Early levels involve winding through tight passages and water slides inside the Amateur Arena, but later levels take you to forest platforms in Sequoia or zero-gravity chambers on an orbital station. There are power-ups everywhere to give you a momentary speed boost or a shield that renders you nearly invulnerable for a short period of time, and you’ll be relieved to hear that health pickups only go up to 200 points, putting your survival skills to the test.

Nerf Arena Blast 1999 Game
The Multiplayer modes, however, are what keep Nerf Arena Blast going. Local splitscreen now works out of the box, but fan-hosted servers bring strangers together for intense team battles on dozens of custom maps created by community members. Who could have predicted that one of the fans would add capture-the-flag to the game back then? Hundreds of custom venues and game adjustments are now included in a single small community patch that simply bundles all of the repairs and improves compatibility. As it is now officially abandonware, anyone can download the original files and begin playing without the need for any old disks.

Nerf Arena Blast 1999 Game
The game’s scoring system is also designed to promote some innovation. Tag someone out, and the points go to whoever finishes them off, keeping everyone in the fight until the end, and double-damage pickups are the best, since they glow orange until someone whacks the holder, after which the effect is passed on to the next person to grab it. These minor touches keep games going in a continual push-pull, with no one giving up.

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This could be the phone-sized Kindle alternative we’ve been waiting for

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Durobo’s compact Krono e-note is finally available after a short delay. It brings a slightly different take on the e-reader formula, going head-to-head with the popular Boox Palma.

Priced at $279.99, the device combines a 6.13-inch e-ink display, Android 15, and a physical smart dial designed to streamline everyday tasks.

At its core, the Krono is still built for reading. However, it leans into versatility more than most devices in this category. It runs Android 15 with full access to the Google Play Store. This means users can install everything from e-book platforms to music streaming apps. That gives it a broader use case than a typical Kindle-style reader. Still, it stops short of replacing a smartphone.

The display uses an E Ink Carta 1200 panel with 300 PPI, paired with a front light for reading in low-light conditions. The standout feature, though, is the Smart Dial on the side. It can be used to adjust brightness on the fly. Additionally, with a press, it can trigger shortcuts like recording voice memos or launching the built-in AI assistant.

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Beneath the surface, Krono runs on an octa-core processor with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. This should be more than enough for reading, note-taking, and light app use. It also includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, stereo speakers, microphones, and a USB-C port. Therefore, it is a fairly well-rounded portable device.

There are some clear limitations. There’s no modem, no camera, and no speaker above the display. So it won’t double as a phone. But that seems intentional as the Krono is more about offering a focused, distraction-light experience with a few smart extras layered on top.

With its mix of e-reader simplicity and Android flexibility, the Durobo Krono feels like a device aimed at users who want more than just books. Yet, it does this without going all the way to a full tablet.

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