What to read this weekend: Rural horror infused with Chinese mythology, and the lush alien world of Convert

New releases in fiction, nonfiction and comics that caught our attention.

Sacrificial Animals by Kailee Pedersen

There’s something about the idea of coming home and reawakening dormant familial trauma that just makes for great horror stories, and Sacrificial Animals is no exception. In the novel, brothers Nick and Joshua Morrow return to their family’s farm in Nebraska after many years estranged from their abusive father, reopening old wounds and allowing supernatural forces to take root. Sacrificial Animals bounces between “Then” and “Now” perspectives, painting a picture of the boys’ childhoods under the violent and racist man, and the gravity of returning once they learn he is dying.

The slow burn horror story weaves in Chinese mythology, using flowery language and a Cormac McCarthy-like lack of quotation marks (and McCarthy-like brutality) to really give it a folkloric feel. But do yourself a favor and skip the blurb if you plan on reading this one, as it betrays a bit too much about the direction the story will go.

Trash Talk: An Eye-Opening Exploration of Our Planet's Dirtiest Problem by Iris Gottlieb

Humanity’s trash problem is one so massive and complex it can be difficult to even comprehend, especially for those of us who are more or less removed from the reality of it. I mean, it feels like every other week I learn that an item I’ve long been told is recyclable is, in fact, not recyclable, and garbage is even piling up in space. Iris Gottlieb’s Trash Talk: An Eye-Opening Exploration of Our Planet's Dirtiest Problem breaks the whole issue down, diving into the many facets of global trash production and management, and exploring how we got to where we are.

It’s filled with illustrations and insight to help contextualize a problem that, unfortunately, isn’t going away any time soon, and is a great read for anyone who wants to know more about what really happens to your garbage when you throw it “away.”

Convert by John Arcudi, Savannah Finley

The first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the cover for issue #1 of Convert was Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy. A man in a space suit — with the helmet removed — stands in a field holding a huge gun, surrounded by strange flora that almost seems like it’s trying to consume him. The mental comparisons to the Area X of VanderMeer’s series only continued as I read through it, but a development its final few panels affirms that Convert has its own unique story to tell.

The first issue of the new science fiction/fantasy series from Image Comics was released this week, and visually, it’s stunning. In the opening pages, “Science Officer Orrin Kutela finds himself stranded on a distant planet, starving and haunted by the ghosts of his dead crew,” per the description. “On the verge of death, he makes an astonishing discovery.” Convert was written by John Arcudi, with art by Savannah Finley, colors by Miguel Co and lettering by Michael Heisler. The second issue drops September 25.

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Seeking Mavis Beacon is a wild search for a lost tech icon

Note: This review was originally published during Sundance 2024. We're reposting it because Seeking Mavis Beacon is now out in theaters.

With a healthy dose of heart and whimsy, the Sundance documentary Seeking Mavis Beacon follows two young Black women who are devoted to finding the original model for Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. If you touched a computer during the '80s or '90s, there's a good chance that Mavis helped you get comfortable with a keyboard. Or at the very least, you might remember her from the program's original 1987 cover: a smiling, elegant Black woman dressed in a cream-colored outfit. She embodied style and professional poise — it was as if you could be just as capable as her if you bought that program.

It's no spoiler to say that "Mavis Beacon" didn't really exist – she was a marketing idea crafted by a group of white dudes from Silicon Valley. But the program's cover star was real: Her name was Renee L'Esperance, a Haitian model who was discovered while working at Saks Fifth Avenue in Los Angeles. After her image helped make Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing a success, she retreated from the spotlight, reportedly heading back to retire in the Caribbean.

Seeking Mavis Beacon

The documentary's director and writer, Jazmin Jones, as well as her collaborator, Olivia McKayla Ross, start with those basic details and set out to find L'Esperance like a pair of digital detectives. From a home base in a rundown Bay Area office – surrounded by tech ephemera, a variety of art pieces and images of influential black women – they lay out L'Esperance's reported timeline, follow leads and even host a spiritual ceremony to try and connect with the model.

I won't say if the pair actually end up finding L'Esperance because it's the journey that makes Seeking Mavis Beacon such a joy to watch. Jones and Ross both grew up with the typing program and felt a kinship toward the character of Mavis Beacon. It was the first program to prominently feature a Black woman on the cover (a move that reportedly caused some suppliers to cut their orders), so it made the technology world seem like somewhere young Black women could actually fit in. Beacon's digital hands also appear on-screen, as if she's gently guiding your fingers to the correct letters and positioning.

To help uncover more details about the whereabouts of Mavis Beacon, Jones and Ross set up a hotline and website for anyone to submit clues. Some of those calls are featured in the film, and they make it clear that her digital presence inspired many people. The film opens with references to Beacon throughout culture, including one of my favorite bits from Abbott Elementary, where Quinta Brunson's over-achieving teacher is far too excited to spot the typing icon in a school crowd. I was reminded of my own childhood experience with Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, spending free periods at school and idle time at home trying to get my typing speed up. By middle school, typing felt as natural as breathing. And yes, I would also have freaked out if I saw the real Beacon in person.

While the documentary doesn't seem out of place at Sundance, which is known for innovative projects, it also sometimes feels like a piece of experimental media meant for YouTube or an art show filled with impossibly cool twenty-somethings. (At one point, Ross attends a farewell ceremony for one of her friends' dead laptops, which was hosted in an art space filled with people dressed in white. That's the sort of hip weirdness that will either turn you off of this film, or endear you to it more.)

Yeleen Cohen

Jones shows us screen recordings of her own desktop, where she may be watching a TikTok alongside her notes. Instead of a full-screen video chat with another person, sometimes we just see a FaceTime window (and occasionally that reflects Jones' own image looking at the screen). Finding Mavis Beacon tells its story in a way that digital natives will find natural, without locking itself exclusively into screens like the film Searching.

As is true for many first features, the film could use some narrative tightening. Jones and Ross's investigation stalls at several points, and we're often just left adrift as they ponder their next steps. The pair also occasionally appear too close to the story, or at least, that's how it seems when we see Jones tearing up while pleading to meet with L'Esperance.

But I'd argue that's also part of the charm of Seeking Mavis Beacon. Jones and Ross aren't some true crime podcast hosts looking to create content out of controversy. They're young women who found comfort in one of the few faces in tech that looked like them. With this film, Jones and Ross could be similarly inspirational for a new generation of underrepresented techies.

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The Morning After: X labeled an NPR story about Trump as ‘unsafe’

X briefly discouraged users from viewing a link to an NPR story about Donald Trump’s recent visit to Arlington National Cemetery. NPR reporter Stephen Fowler posted a link to a story in which he quoted an Army official who said an employee at Arlington National Cemetery was “abruptly pushed aside” during an event attended by Trump and members of his campaign earlier this week. Clicking on the story generated an X warning message saying, “this link may be unsafe.” It stated it could be malicious, violent, spammy or otherwise violate the platform’s rules. In a statement to an NPR reporter, an X spokesperson claimed the warning appeared due to a “false positive.” It’s now been removed.

It might be an innocent mistake, but X owner Musk has been a vocal supporter of Trump this election. Musk has also publicly feuded with NPR in the past — weird fight to pick — adding a “state-affiliated media” label to its account for several months last year. NPR hasn’t posted from its main account on X since the label was added.

— Mat Smith

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The PS5 Pro could appear in the next few weeks

But what will it look like?

The PS5 Pro could be announced in mid-September and will likely hit store shelves sometime during the holiday season, according to insider information published by VGC. First of all, it’ll actually be called the PS5 Pro, with the leaker claiming to have access to the packaging design, but they didn’t feel comfortable sharing copyrighted images. However, specs? We don’t know. Disc drive option? Maybe. Other leaks have hinted at the console’s power. A YouTuber leaked apparently official documentation from Sony that shared some of the console’s specifications, but the video was pulled down at Sony’s behest. It has also been rumored the GPU will have 33.5 teraflops versus the standard PS5’s 10.28 teraflops. Don’t expect a three-times more powerful console: Recent changes in AMD’s architecture make it difficult to directly compare teraflop numbers.

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These are shroom-bots

They could lead to crop-tending robots that sense subtle chemical reactions.

Researchers at Cornell University tapped into fungal mycelia to power a pair of proof-of-concept robots. Mycelia, the underground fungal network that can sprout mushrooms as its above-ground fruit, can sense light and chemical reactions and communicate through electrical signals. Researchers created two robots: a soft spider-like one and a four-wheeled buggy. The researchers used mycelia’s light-sensing abilities to control the machines using ultraviolet light.

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Spotify says Apple ‘discontinued’ the tech for some of its volume controls on iOS

Whyyyyyy?

The latest round in the Spotify vs. Apple battle concerns… volume. According to Spotify, Apple “discontinued the technology” on volume buttons for Spotify Connect. Yeah, it’s baffling.

Spotify Connect allows you to sync with speakers, TVs and other devices from inside the streaming app. It works with either Bluetooth or WiFi. Apple told Spotify it requires apps to integrate with HomePod to access the technology that controls the volume on iPhones. The streaming company added this issue doesn’t affect Bluetooth or AirPlay connections, nor does it impact Android users.

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Nintendo can’t repair your New 3DS because it ran out of parts

It’s been over a decade.

Nintendo has stopped offering repairs for the New Nintendo 3DS. Sure, it’s a decade old, but apparently Nintendo has simply run out of parts. Third-party repair platform iFixit currently has a stock of replacement parts and guides for the handheld in its online catalog. US customers can still take advantage of Nintendo’s repair service for late-model 3DS XLs. For now.

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Labor Day sales to shop right now: The best tech deals we found from Apple, Amazon, Samsung and others

The final holiday weekend of summer is here and there are Labor Day sales to be had. Historically, Labor Day isn't a boon for tech deals but there are always a few decent ones that pop up, particularly in the outdoor tech space. Labor Day sales often overlap with back-to-school sales as well, so there's a good chance you can save on tech like tablets, speakers, kitchen tech, charging gear and other items that can help make for a smooth return to campus.

We've collected the best Labor Day deals on tech here, including discounted gear from Apple, Amazon, Anker and others. Particularly if you're an Amazon Prime member, just be mindful that the company's "big deal days" will return in October — if something on your list isn't on sale now, there's a chance it will be in a few weeks' time.

Labor Day sales on Apple gear

Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

• iPad (9th gen) for $199 ($130 off): This model is being discontinued, but at this record-low price, it's a great option for kids or anyone who wants to snag an iPad for dirt-cheap.

• iPad Air (M2) for $729 ($60 off): The iPad Air remains our top pick for the best iPad for most people, and this 13-inch version gives you a little extra screen real estate.

• AirPods Max for $399 ($150 off): One of our biggest issues with the AirPods Max since their debut has been their sky-high price tag. They're a much better buy at this sale price.

• Apple MagSafe Charger for $29 ($10 off): This is a rare discount on Apple's own MagSafe charging pad, which provides up to 15W of wireless power to your iPhone and a strong, magnetic attachment.

• MacBook Air (13-inch, M3) for $899 ($200 off): Just $50 shy of a record low, this deal on the latest 13-inch MacBook Air gives you our top pick for the best MacBook at a great price — a solid opportunity for students going back to school to snag an excellent, lightweight laptop for less.

• MacBook Air (13-inch, M2) for $799 ($200 off): Don't sleep on the M2 MacBook Air. It's plenty powerful despite not having Apple's latest chipset, and the 13-inch model is down to a near record low.

• Apple Watch Series 9 (GPS) for $299 ($100 off): If you just can't wait for (presumably) the Series 10 to drop in September, $100 off the Apple Watch Series 9 is one of the best deals we've seen on our top pick for the best smartwatch.

• Mac Mini (M2 Pro) for $1,150 ($150 off): If you're looking to upgrade your desktop computer, this discount-plus-coupon deal is a solid one on the Mac Mini with an M2 Pro chipset.

• Apple Music 3-month free trial for $0: New subscribers can get an extra-long free trial of Apple Music, three months instead of the usual one.

Labor Day sales on outdoor tech

Ooni

• Ooni Fyra 12 pizza oven for $250 ($100 off): This is one of our top picks for the best pizza ovens, and its compact size makes it a little more manageable, plus it convenient runs on wood pellets that you can easily refill from its built-in chute.

• Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven for $649 ($150 off): This Ooni oven can make pizzas up to 16-inches, and it supports wood, charcoal or gas as fuel sources.

• Solo Stove Labor Day sale — up to $150 off with code LABORDAY: Use code LABORDAY at checkout to get up to $150 off fire pits, pizza ovens and more. A highlight is the Bonfire Backyard Bundle discounted to $455.

Labor Day subscription sales

Paramount+

• Paramount+ annual subscriptions — 50 percent off with plans starting at $30/year: The Essential plan is only $30 for your first year, while the upgraded plan with access to Showtime (and limited ads) costs just $60 with this discount.

• 1Password Families annual plan for $45 (25 percent off): This is a great discount on our top pick for the best password manager, and the Families plan includes access for five people on an unlimited number of devices.

• Masterclass annual subscription for $60 (50 percent off): Annual plans range for $60 to $120 for your first year, with the major differences between the plans coming in how many simultaneous device streams you have, plus the ability to download classes for offline viewing.

Labor Day sales on kitchen and smart home gear

Photo by Sam Rutherford / Engadget

• Ninja Creami ice cream maker for $149 ($50 off): This model of the popular, at-home ice cream maker includes 5 one-button programs, including ice cream, milkshake and sorbet, and it comes with two 16-ounce pints with storage lids for you to save all of your creations.

• Ninja end of summer sale: A number of Ninja's tabletop appliances are on sale right now, including the 11-in-1 version of the Creami (with extra storage pints) and the Thirsti sparkling drink maker.

• iRobot Roomba Q0120 robot vacuum for $179 ($70 off): This basic Roomba has three power levels, up to 120 minutes of run time and connects to the iRobot mobile app for easy cleaning scheduling and maintenance.

• iRobot Roomba Combo j5 robot vacuum and mop for $299 ($300 off): This is the best price we've seen on the Combo j5, which vacuums and mops thanks to its included mopping pad and water reservoir. Just note that it does not come with a self-emptying base.

• Roborock Q5 Max+ robot vacuum for $330 ($120 off): This is an upgraded version of one of our top picks for the best budget robot vacuums and it has 5500Pa of suction, LiDAR navigation and its own self-emptying base.

Labor Day sales on Amazon devices

• Echo Spot for $55 ($25 off): While not quite as cheap as it was around Prime Day in July, the revived Echo Spot is down to one of the best prices we've seen. You can get the same sale price on a bundle that includes the Echo Spot and a Sengled smart light bulb, too.

• Echo Pop + Sengled smart light bulb bundle for $23 ($37 off): This is Amazon's smallest Alexa-power speaker and the free Sengled smart light bulb this bundle includes is one of our favorites.

• Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $40 ($20 off): This is a return to the streaming stick's record-low price, and this model supports 4K HDR content and Wi-Fi 6E.

• Fire HD 10 tablet (64GB) for $100 ($80 off): This tablet has extra storage than the base, plus a 10-inch touchscreen and up to 13 hours of battery life.

Labor Day sales on tech

Anker

• Anker 10K magnetic power bank for $30 ($10 off): This slim, MagSafe charging brick can power up an iPhone easily without adding too much bulk, and this is the best sale price we've seen.

• Jabra Elite 8 Active earbuds for $150 ($50 off): One of our top picks for the best headphones for running, the Elite 8 Active have an IPX4 design, great sound quality and ANC and a solid battery life. Jabra may be exiting the consumer headphone business, but the company will continue to support products like this for a while.

• Theragun Elite massage gun for $299 ($100 off): This massage gun comes with five attachments, includes a built-in OLED screen and allows you to save three preset treatments to your device using its accompanying mobile app. Also available at Theragun.

• Theragun Mini 2.0 massage gun for $149 ($50 off): The most compact of Theragun's massage machines, the Mini 2.0 is 20 percent smaller and 30 percent lighter than its predecessor, and remains a great gift for the runner in your life. Also available at Theragun.

• Samsung Music Frame for $300 ($100 off): This frame-like speaker can hold album art and includes two woofers, two tweeters and two mid-range drivers.

• Samsung Freestyle Gen 2 projector for $600 ($200 off): The latest version of this projector rotates 180 degrees so you can get the exact right placement for your screen (even if that happens to be on your ceiling), and it comes with a built-in speaker for 360-degree sound.

• Keychron C3 Pro keyboard for $25 ($12 off): This is a record-low price on our budget pick in our guide to the best mechanical keyboards; just note that this particular model does not have RGB lighting or hot-swappable keys.

• Astro A40 TR gaming headset for $100 ($30 off): This is a great deal on a top pick in our guide to the best gaming headsets, and we liked it for its comfortable design, spacious sound profile and solid value.

• Sonos Labor Day sale — up to 20 percent off speakers: Sonos' discounts for the holiday weekend include $50 off the Era 100 speaker and $180 off the Arc soundbar.

• JBL Labor Day sale — up to 40 percent off: Bluetooth speakers, wireless earbuds and more gear are included in JBL's holiday sale, with highlights being the PartyBox 310 speaker for $420 and the Tune Flex earbuds for $50.

• Barnes & Noble Lego sale — up to 25 percent off: A handful of Star Wars, Mario, Disney and other sets are discounted at the book retailer, including this Death Star Trench Run Diorama for just under $53.

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LG debuts its ThinQ ON smart home hub that comes with an AI voice assistant

LG has introduced a smart home hub called ThinQ ON that has the technology to control not just LG-branded appliances but also other smart home devices. It comes with a built-in speaker that gives you a way to talk to LG's AI voice assistant, so you can use it to look up information, as well as to control your smart devices with spoken commands. LG says its technology can "understand the context of conversations" and can determine your preference for a specific device. It could, perhaps, tell your preferred temperature for the thermostat or the washer cycle you typically use. And it can notify you when a task is done, such as when the dryer cycle is finished. 

The ThinQ ON hub is Matter-certified and can use Wi-Fi or Thread — a low-power wireless protocol — to connect to smart home devices and appliances. In addition, LG's acquisition of smart home platform company Athom and its smart hub Homey Pro earlier this year gives the device's compatibility a huge boost. Apparently, the Homey App Store contains over 1,000 applications that will give the hub that capability to control products from a wide number of brands around the world. 

LG has yet to reveal the ThinQ ON's pricing and availability, but it's showcasing the hub at IFA 2024 in Berlin, Germany, which will take place from September 6 to 10. 

LG Electronics, Inc.

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Met Police deploy LFR in Lewisham without community input

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The Morning After: GameStop’s retro gaming pivot

GameStop has announced it’s launching a group of retro game retail locations, which will stock physical consoles, discs and cartridges from classic Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox and Sega platforms. The company announced on X it’ll cover 18 classic systems, from NES through to PS Vita. You can search for retro-friendly locations within a 100-mile radius on Gamestop’s website, but most will find these stores as rare as a mint-in-box copy of Chrono Trigger.

It does make a degree of business sense for the games retailer. When most of us download our games from online stores — or get them delivered by Amazon — a combination of physical media and a degree of expertise could capitalize on GameStop’s strengths. The biggest challenge could be piracy.

— Mat Smith

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Telegram CEO charged and released from police custody

The billionaire must remain in France for the foreseeable future.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has been formally charged by French prosecutors and is barred from leaving the country. Durov was officially charged on Wednesday with “complicity in distributing child pornography, illegal drugs and hacking software” on the messaging app he founded. He must stay in France “under court monitoring” and check in at a police station twice a week while the investigation continues.

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Team shooter Concord doesn’t quite take off

Despite launching across PC and PS5.

Firewalk Studios

It’s been a long time since we’ve had a first-person shooter from PlayStation. Firewalk Studios’ debut game, the 5v5 team shooter Concord, however, hasn’t captured the imagination of gamers. Is it the lackluster characters or the at-times unashamed Guardians of the Galaxy vibe theft? Well, they probably don’t help, but under 700 concurrent players on Steam (and no fanfare announcements from Sony on player counts / copies sold) point to a dud.

Anecdotally, no one’s been asking me to play the team shooter — no one’s even asked what I thought about Concord.

However, Engadget’s Kris Holt points out that PlayStation has been having a good year. Helldivers 2, published by Sony, is having a great year while the PlayStation Portal and PSVR 2 hardware continue to find willing buyers, thanks to strong support from handheld gamers. And some VR headset discounts.

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Apple’s latest iOS developer betas include an AI object removal tool

Aw, just like Google.

Apple’s latest iOS 18.1 and iPadOS 18.1 developer betas include a few more Apple Intelligence features. The most notable is a Clean Up tool in the Photos app, very much like Google’s Magic Eraser. The Photos app will identify distracting background elements for you, so you should be able to remove them with a tap. Otherwise, you can circle or brush over an object you want to nix. The tool is compatible with every image on your camera roll too.

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Interview: Currys CIO Andy Gamble on AI strategy

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X's Grok chatbot now directs election queries to Vote.gov

Misinformation is all over the internet, including the — at times — chaos that is X (formerly Twitter). AI bots have a habit of adding to it. Now, with barely two months left until the presidential election, an update to Grok, X's premium chatbot, could curve some of it (after being called out for said election misinformation). Grok will now direct anyone with an election-related query to Vote.org, a non-partisan website operated through a partnership between the US government, the US Election Assistance Commission and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

The catalyst for change came on July 21, only hours after President Biden announced his decision not to seek reelection, when Grok falsely posted that the ballot deadline had passed in nine states, implying officials couldn't change the democratic candidate. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon had staff attempt to contact X about the error, to which they received the response, "Busy now, please check back later." Grok continued to share the response for ten days. 

Secretary Simon joined the Michigan, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington Secretaries of State — all states wrongly named by Grok — in writing an open letter to X and xAI CEO Elon Musk calling for Grok to direct any election queries to CanIVote.org, another non-partisan resource. They claimed Grok's response, though only available to X Premium and Premium+ subscribers, reached "millions of people" due to screenshots and shares. 

The letter also shamed Grok and xAI a bit further, explaining how its competitor, OpenAI, had teamed up with the National Association of Secretaries of State to provide accurate, up-to-date election information. It also mentioned that OpenAI's bot, ChatGPT, was already programmed to direct users to CanIVote.org if it received questions about the US election.

The update is a start. The bot has also created misleading images of the top party candidates. "We appreciate X's action to improve their platform and hope they continue to make improvements that will ensure their users have access to accurate information from trusted sources in this critical election year," the Secretaries of State said in response to the update. "Elections are a team effort, and we need and welcome any partners who are committed to ensuring free, fair, secure, and accurate elections." 

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The Morning After: Why aren’t you playing Balatro yet?

As a regular reader of TMA, you might have picked up on regular references to the addictive card-game-that-isn’t-a-card-game, Balatro. If you want to get technical, it’s a single-player poker-themed rogue-like deck builder game where you build and modify your decks with powerful joker cards to overcome scores that increase in each round. (I am aware of how boring that makes it sound, but trust me: It’s amazing)

If you’re not playing it yet, get on it. The makers have announced a collaboration with a handful of games, introducing new themed decks based on The Witcher, Vampire Survivors (another addictive game recently added to Apple Arcade), Dave the Diver and Among Us.

These themed decks are seemingly the only twist. There are no super-powered new jokers, but a new challenge is welcome. Now, where’s that mobile version? According to the creator of Black Mirror, it could end humanity.

— Mat Smith

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Telegram CEO charges include distributing CSAM and money laundering

There are 12 charges in total.

French authorities have arrested Telegram boss Pavel Durov on charges that include money laundering and distributing child pornography. The charges reportedly come from a judicial investigation opened in July against an unnamed individual. The arrest has sparked debate around how much responsibility platform owners have for content on their platforms. Telegram denies the charges, while Elon Musk (ugh) has called for Durov’s release. French President Emmanuel Macron defended the arrest, stating France is committed to upholding the law.

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Dell XPS 13 Copilot+ laptop review

A capable AI PC but issues with Windows on Arm.

The XPS 13 is a capable and stylish Copilot+ PC, but it’s still slower than the Intel model, at times. On top of that, it doesn’t run some games and apps. Sadly, battery life is also surprisingly average. With an NPU capable of 45TOPS, the laptop is better equipped for future AI features.

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The retro Barbie flip phone arrives only 15 months after the movie

It’s set to launch in October.

HMD’s Barbie Phone finally has pricing and release info. The Mattel-sanctioned hot pink flip-phone launches in October — only 15 months after Greta Gerwig’s movie hit theaters! — for $129. Better late than never? Or just… never?

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Should you get fired for buying IBM?

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Government backs Danish version of ChatGPT

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The Morning After: The iPhone 16 launches September 9

Apple pretty much always announces the year’s iPhone in the first chunk of September, so no surprise here. It’ll announce the iPhones 16 on September 9 with the usual pomp and show at Apple’s campus, complete with global live stream. Dubbed It’s Glowtime, the event name hints at the new features leveraging Apple Intelligence.

Being a diligent technology news outlet, we already have a detailed roundup of all the rumors. It’s likely the hardware won’t change too much, with small tweaks all around. That includes slightly bigger screen sizes, new colors and a faster chipset better able to run Apple Intelligence. Personally, I’m excited for a second action button as a camera trigger, given how often I’m snapping with my iPhone.

— Dan Cooper

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Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli ordered to surrender copies of one-off Wu-Tang Clan album

Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

Real-life Batman villain Martin Shkreli has been ordered to hand over any copies he may have made of the Wu-Tang Clan album that propelled him to infamy. The album’s current owner gained an injunction demanding he document any copies made and hand them over within the next week. Probably shouldn’t have boasted he’d sent the album to various people and stored copies in safes all around the world.

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After CEO Pavel Durov’s arrest in France, Telegram says it’s ‘absurd’ to blame a platform if users abuse it

It’s not entirely clear why Durov has been arrested.

Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, the messaging platform, was arrested by French authorities on the weekend. French law enforcement says Durov’s arrest is part of a wider investigation into online crime, but Durov’s connection isn’t clear. Shortly after the arrest, Telegram said it’s “absurd” to arrest its CEO because some users may be misusing its platform.

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SpaceX will soon send the Polaris Dawn crew off to attempt the first commercial spacewalk

Good luck to the crew.

SpaceX

Bankrolled by billionaire Jared Isaacman, Polaris Dawn is a private space mission that aims to complete the world’s first civilian spacewalk. Due to launch August 27, the Polaris Dawn capsule will travel into the high atmosphere before two of the four crew members exit the craft. The flight will also test SpaceX’s innovative idea of not building the capsule with an airlock. Instead, the crew will all don spacesuits then open the door, exposing the rest of the crew and the spacecraft to the vacuum of space. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed.

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Starliner astronauts will come home in February on a SpaceX Crew Dragon

Boeing’s annus horribilis continues.

NASA / Robert Markowitz

After years of having its backside handed to it by SpaceX, Starliner was meant to be Boeing’s comeback story. Sadly, after its first trip to the International Space Station, the vessel will return to Earth without its two crew members. NASA has announced that, instead, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will get home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon scheduled for February 2025.

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