Stanford University has confirmed its admissions policies for fall 2026 will continue considering legacy status, a decision that could influence access to one of Silicon Valley’s most important talent pipelines. Stanford is also ending its test-optional policy, requiring SAT or ACT scores for the first time since 2021. According to the Stanford Daily, the university […]
Tech companies keep telling everyone that this or that AI feature is going to change everything. But when you press them for examples, real, concrete examples of how those AI tools should be used, the answers tend to be lackluster. Sometimes AI tools feel so open-ended, it’s hard to know where to start or what […]
Passwords still seem to be the most popular method of ensuring that the right person is using the right app or service, despite the slow adoption of passkeys, which are considered more secure. And because we should be using different ones for each device and/or app, the best way to track all of them is […]
How it started When I was growing up in the Midwest, everyone I knew drove small cars. My dad had a light pink Volvo 240, my mom drove a Dodge Dart, and my grandmother had a 1988 Honda Accord – which would eventually become my first car. We lived in the suburbs, so almost no […]
It’s the lack of noise you notice first. There’s no clatter of equipment, rumble of engines, or chatter of coworkers. Only the low hum of electronics. For an industrial space, this is eerily quiet, but it makes sense in a building where robots might outnumber people. I’m at a warehouse – or customer fulfilment center […]
Leaving the house without my phone is the stuff of nightmares. Leaving the house without my phone on purpose? Are you kidding? What if I need to take a picture of something? What will I look at if I need to wait in line? What if disaster strikes or a War of the Worlds happens? […]
In the fascinating new reality of the internet, teen girls can’t learn about periods on Reddit and indie artists can’t sell smutty games on Itch.io, but a military contractor will make you nonconsensual deepfakes of Taylor Swift taking her top off for $30 a month. Early Tuesday, Elon Musk’s xAI launched a new image and […]
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 93, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, I’m sad the sun is setting sooner, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’m reading about the rise of GEO, laughing at Kirby’s […]
Security researchers are now sounding the alarm on a new SMS text message fraud operation, which is surging in popularity — and its ability to steal people’s credit cards — since the demise of its predecessor.
I keep hearing the same sentence repeating in my head. “My vision is that every American is wearing a wearable within four years.” RFK Jr., our current secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said this at a congressional hearing at the end of June. Wearables, he said, are key to the MAHA […]