Facepalm: In what might be one of the biggest gaffs of the year, HP is trying to dislodge its foot from its mouth after getting caught intentionally forcing customers to wait for 15 minutes on technical support calls. Even HP's customer service staff criticized the bafflingly dumb move. The Register reports that HP intentionally forced customers to wait 15 minutes when trying to reach tech support. The "minimum" wait time idea mentioned in an internal memo that The Register obtained was floated as a way to push users to go online and look for "self-support" as the company tried to "improve" its overall customer service experience.The change would have impacted retail customers calling from the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, and Italy. The memo from HP management informed customer care staff that, effective February 18, people using the "Interactive Voice Response" (IVR) system would need to wait at least 15 minutes before reaching support.The company aimed to "influence" customers to use its digital support services, which is essentially just a Google site search. The IVR system would play a message about non-existent "high call volumes," asking users to check the official HP support or VirtualAgent Cloud websites for a quicker response to technical issues.The IVR system only mentioned the 15-minute wait time at the beginning of the call. The rest of the automated recording would play three times during the call so that customers wanting to speak to a human would be too annoyed to complete the call. The company said it was taking "decisive short-term action to generate warranty cost efficiencies."Technology companies seeking quarterly profits above everything else have never been particularly good with customer support. Even HP staffers weren't happy with the bizarre decision because clueless managers don't have to deal with customers looking for human help with their malfunctioning devices. // Related StoriesUltimately, HP backpedaled after "initial feedback" on the ill-conceived notion and abandoned the policy. However, it still tried to spin the story in its favor to save face, saying it was only trying to make customers aware of its digital support options."We have found that many of our customers were not aware of the digital support options we provide. Based on initial feedback, we know the importance of speaking to live customer service agents in a timely fashion is paramount. As a result, we will continue to prioritize timely access to live phone support to ensure we are delivering an exceptional customer experience."Nice try.

Everything Flows: Amazon spent over a decade pursuing a foothold in the app store business. Now, the company has announced that it is shuttering its Android app store, with no guarantees that previously purchased apps will continue working. However, users can migrate their owned apps to Amazon devices such as the Kindle. Amazon is warning users about the impending shutdown of its official "Appstore" for Android devices. Customers will lose access to the Amazon Appstore on their Android smartphones or tablets on August 20, 2025. Unsurprisingly, the company is also discontinuing its Amazon Coins program.Amazon Appstore debuted in 2011 as a potential alternative for downloading and distributing Android apps without going through Google Play. Two years later, Amazon Coins introduced a new payment and microtransaction method for purchasing apps and making in-app purchases.A new FAQ regarding the discontinuance notes that any apps downloaded from the Amazon Appstore could stop working after August 20. The store closure does not involve Fire TV, Fire Tablet, and other Amazon devices. It only affects Android users. To minimize frustration, Amazon provides an APK package for manually reinstalling the store on its devices.The company has already ceased selling Amazon Coins as of yesterday, February 20. Customers with active coin balances are encouraged to use them by August 20. Amazon says it will refund unused coin balances after the deadline. The company also advised and provided instructions for turning off subscription auto-renewals to avoid the inconvenience of requesting refunds.Amazon hasn't explained the sudden demise of its Android app store. However, the service never gained much traction among Android users despite Amazon offering exclusive games, a "free app of the week," and other enticing promotions. Amazon Appstore came preinstalled on a few brands of Android phones but still struggled to attract much attention. // Related StoriesAmazon Appstore was also available on Windows, but Microsoft announced that it is discontinuing support for third-party Android apps and stores on Windows 11. Amazon's announcement of the store's closure is unlikely a coincidence. Official Android app support on Windows 11 made even less sense than on mobile. Windows users have several alternative ways to get the same apps or Win32 programs. So, Amazon Appstore won't likely be missed.

If youre looking at headphone deals and true wireless earbuds deals and nothing has caught your attention so far, you may want to try something out of the ordinary. Check out the Shokz OpenRun Pro Mini bone conduction headphones, which are on sale from Until Gone with a 39% discount. From their original price of $180, theyre down to a more affordable $110. Were not sure how much time is remaining before this offer expires though, so you better hurry with your purchase if you want the $70 in savings.The Shokz OpenRun Pro Mini is the more compact version of the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2, and theyre both made by the brand that dominates our list of the best bone conduction headphones. The Shokz OpenRun Pro Mini is designed for all-day comfort with the brands signature open-ear design they wont be clamping down on your head like other headphones, and they wont be plugging your ears like wireless earbuds. But how do bone conduction headphones work? They use transducers to send vibrations through your cheekbones, delivering sound directly to your inner ear. As such, they prevent damage to your eardrum, which is very sensitive to wear and tear from loud volumes coming from traditional headphones.Youll enjoy crisp and clear audio from the Shokz OpenRun Pro Mini because theyre equipped with two bass enhancers and the brands PremiumPitch 2.0 technology. They can run for up to 10 hours on a single charge, and 5 minutes of charging will give you 1.5 hours of listening time. The wraparound titanium frame promises stability and durability, and the bone conduction headphones also have an IP55 rating so they wont get damaged by sudden rainfall or sweaty workouts.RelatedFor those who want to try bone conduction headphones, youre going to want to take advantage of Until Gones offer for the Shokz OpenRun Pro Mini. Theyre on sale at 39% off, which slashes their price from $180 to only $110. Were not sure if the $70 discount will still be available by tomorrow though, so if youre interested in this bargain, you need to push forward with the transaction as soon as you can. Buy the Shokz OpenRun Pro Mini bone conduction headphones right now while the savings are still online.Editors Recommendations

Table of ContentsTable of ContentsHow to watch Tennessee vs. Texas A&MWatch Tennessee vs. Texas A&M on Sling TVHow to watch Tennessee vs. Texas A&M from abroad with a VPNThe SEC continues to be the best conference in mens college basketball. The latest top-10 matchup features the No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers (21-5) taking on the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies (20-6). To illustrate the competitive nature of the conference, Tennessee is the sixth-ranked team in the country. Yet the Volunteers sit in sixth place in the SEC. Good luck finding a better conference.After falling to Kentucky last week, Tennessee bounced back last weekend with an 81-76 victory over Vanderbilt. Tennessee still has Alabama and Ole Miss on their schedule after A&M, meaning nothing will be easy. Coach Buzz Williams has his Aggies on a five-game winning streak before losing to Mississippi State earlier this week. A&M is one of the best rebounding teams in the country, so expect the Aggies to attack the glass all game long.Recommended VideosThe winner of this game will strengthen their NCAA resume and potentially give themselves a shot to land a No. 1 seed. Find out how to watch the game between Tennessee and Texas A&M. Check out our NCAA mens basketball March to the Madness guide for more coverage.RelatedMississippi State Postgame: Buzz WililamsWatch the game between Tennessee and Texas A&M at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 22, 2025. The game will be played inside Reed Arena in College Station, Texas. Stream the game on WatchESPN.Tennessee vs. Texas &MPhil Nickinson / Digital TrendsCollege basketball can be streamed all season long on . With sports-friendly channels and reasonable pricing, Sling is a great option for basketball fans who dont want to pay for cable.How much isSling TV? It depends on your budget. Sling Orange is $46 per month, while Sling Blue is $51 per month. Combine Orange and Blue for one monthly price of $66. The first month for all Sling plans is 50% off. If youre looking for ESPN, its in the Orange package.Derek Malcolm / Digital TrendsWhat is a VPN? First of all, a VPN means a virtual private network. With a VPN, consumers will be able to bypass regional broadcast restrictions when streaming abroad. It also presents a way to add more privacy to your connection. One of the best VPNs is NordVPN. While Nord does not offer a free trial, it has a 30-day money-back guarantee if you are unsatisfied with the product.Editors Recommendations

The company said it created a new state of matter that represents a major advance for quantum computing. But physicists who have reviewed the work say they arent convinced of the finding.

The threat to Taiwan, writing with AI, Robert Frosts turbulent life and more.

Vaccine-preventable Texas measles outbreak reaches 90 cases; 9 cases in New Mexico The Texas cases are largely in children. Sixteen cases have been hospitalized. Beth Mole Feb 21, 2025 5:26 pm | 17 Measles rash on the body of the child. Credit: Getty | Povorozniuk Liudmyla Measles rash on the body of the child. Credit: Getty | Povorozniuk Liudmyla Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreAn ongoing measles outbreak that began in one of Texas' least vaccinated counties has mushroomed to 90 cases across a cluster of seven counties in the state, according to an update by the Texas Department of State Health Services on Friday.The outbreak may have also spread across the border to New Mexico, where nine cases have been reported. In an email to Ars, Robert Nott, the communications director for the New Mexico Department of Health, said that as of today, the department has not confirmed a connection between the nine cases and any of the confirmed cases in Texas.However, all nine of the cases are in Lea County, New Mexico, which sits at the border with Gaines County, Texas, the epicenter of the outbreak. Of Texas' 90 cases, 57 are in Gaines, which has a vaccination rate among kindergarteners of just 82 percent this school year. The lack of a clear connection between the Texas and New Mexico cases may be yet more worrying because it suggests undetected community spread and a heightened risk of transmission in Lea, the health department noted in an alert last week.Other affected counties in Texas include Dawson (6 cases); Ector (1); Lubbock (1); Lynn (1); Terry (20); and Yoakum (4).In Texas, the majority of the cases continue to be in children: 26 are in infants and young children ages 0 to 4, and 51 are between ages 5 and 17. All but five cases have been in unvaccinated people. Sixteen people (roughly 18 percent) have been hospitalized.In New Mexico, there have been no hospitalizations, and five of the nine cases are in adults. The other four cases were between the ages of 5 and 17.Given low vaccination rate in the area and the contagiousness of measles, health officials expect the outbreak to continue to grow. Measles is one of the most infectious viruses known; 90 percent of people who are unvaccinated and exposed will fall ill. The disease is marked by high fevers and a telltale rash and can cause severe complications in some, including younger children.In the US, about 20 percent of people with measles are typically hospitalized. Five percent develop pneumonia, and up to 3 in 1,000 die of the infection. In rare cases, measles can cause a fatal disease of the central nervous system later in life called Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. Measles also wipes out immune responses to other infections (a phenomenon known as immune amnesia), making people vulnerable to various illnesses.Beth MoleSenior Health ReporterBeth MoleSenior Health Reporter Beth is Ars Technicas Senior Health Reporter. Beth has a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended the Science Communication program at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She specializes in covering infectious diseases, public health, and microbes. 17 Comments

TOURISM TARGET? Under new bill, Bigfoot could become Californias official cryptid California has a lot of official symbols. But none are cryptids. Nate Anderson Feb 21, 2025 5:01 pm | 17 Credit: Getty Images Credit: Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreYou might suspect that a one-line bill about Bigfoot that bears the number "666" is a joke, but AB-666 is apparently a serious offering from California Assemblymember Chris Rogers. Rogers represents a California district known for its Bigfoot sightings (or "sightings," depending on your persuasionmany of these have been faked), and he wants to make Bigfoot the "official cryptid" of the state.His bill notes that California already has many official symbols, including the golden poppy (official flower), the California redwood (official tree), the word "Eureka" (official motto), the red-legged frog (official amphibian), the grizzly bear (official animal), swing dancing (official dance), and the saber-toothed cat (official fossil). The state has so many of these that there are separate categories for freshwater fish (golden trout) and marine fish (garibaldi). So why not, Rogers wants to know, "designate Bigfoot as the official state cryptid"?That's... pretty much the bill, which was introduced this week and already has Bigfoot advocates excited. SFGate talked to Matt Moneymaker, who it describes as "a longtime Bigfoot researcher and former star of the Animal Planet series Finding Bigfoot," about the bill. Moneymaker loves it, noting that he has personally had a face-to-face encounter one time, after which I was absolutely sure they existed because I had one about 20 feet in front of me, growling at me.Rogers represents California Assembly District 2, a sprawling expanse of Northern California that includes the town of Willow Grove, epicenter of the early Bigfoot sightings back in the 1950s. Today, the small community boasts the Bigfoot Museum, the Bigfoot Motel, and the Bigfoot Steakhouseto say nothing of Bigfoot's Barbershop, Bigfoot Equipment & Repair, and, of course, the Bigfoot Cannabis Company. The bill seems like an easy way to goose interest in Bigfoot and to reap the tourist dollars that come from that interest.This is not to deny the underlying reality of a Bigfoot-like creature (though you can indeed count me among the extremely, extremely skepticalsurely most of these sightings are of bears). Moneymaker runs the Bigfoot Field Researchers' Organization, which tracks sightings across the US. The most recent one I could find on the site was report 77,879 (!), which came from rural Buchanan County, Virginia, on November 10, 2024.A woman working in the food service of a local prison submitted a report describing how she drove to work at 2 am for an early morning shiftand saw an alleged Bigfoot beside the road."I was turning on a side road at the main gate of the coal mines," she writes. "I drove less than a quarter mile from the coal mines when I saw a large what I thought was a bear or feral cow beside the road so I slowed down in case it spooked and ran across the road. That was when I noticed it was on two legs and was large but was kneeling down if I had to guess I would say it was 500600 pounds. This animal had shaggy fur that I could see the outline of from the lights. It looked over what seemed to be its shoulder and had a human like face with a heavy brow. It looked back through the brush and then looked quickly back again before stepping toward the creek and climbed down and went out of sight. The thing that made me stop in the road was it had a knee and was looking through the brush holding it apart to look through. This "animal" had no eye shine. Once I passed its location I saw that it had been looking at 2 does."Remarkably, this huge creature is reliably spotted alive across the US, from Virginia to a famed spot in Ohio to Willow Grove, California. Despite the ubiquity of cell phones, people keep running into Bigfeet (Bigfoots?) but can't manage to snap a compelling picture or video.And no dead bodies are ever found. And when scientists do put out calls for possible Bigfoot hair, what they get is material from horses, bears, tapirs, cows, raccoons, and mule deerbut nothing from a Bigfoot. And let's not even get started on attempts to sequence the DNA of a Bigfoot.Clearly, if it exists, this is one crafty animal. And it might just become California's next official symbol.Or it might not. A similar idea was proposed in Washington state in 2017. Despite being reintroduced several times, the bill never seems to have made it out of committee.Nate AndersonDeputy EditorNate AndersonDeputy Editor Nate is the deputy editor at Ars Technica. His most recent book is In Emergency, Break Glass: What Nietzsche Can Teach Us About Joyful Living in a Tech-Saturated World, which is much funnier than it sounds. 17 Comments

Martin Fiore, Santhosh Kumar LalgudiFebruary 21, 20256 Min ReadFreer Law via Alamy StockAlong with the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has come a surging demand for data and data center capacity to host growing AI workloads. And more and more organizations find themselves in the race to build the infrastructure and data center capacity capable of supporting the current and future use of AI and machine learning (ML).For finance functions, high-quality, well-organized, and trustworthy data is essential in the development of effective AI-driven operating models. And while speed is a big factor, trust and safety are even greater concerns in a technology environment where there are few guardrails for AI risk management. Just think of the internet with no rules around e-commerce, privacy, or business and personal safety.So where does a management team get a handle on the critical issues around an AI approach that is both highly efficient from an operations standpoint and optimized for risk management? We believe in this case that the past can be the prologue: consider a principle known as the medallion architecture -- a commonly used industry framework for managing large-scale data processing in cloud environments. For many of the same reasons it works so well there, we also find it applies well to data engineering. Its particularly well suited for tax and finance operations, where data is one of the most valuable assets and for which flexible, scalable, and reliable data management is essential for regulatory compliance speed and accuracy.Related:A Layered ApproachThe reality is that data and AI are essentially inseparable in our new digital era. While data has existed for a long time without AI, AI does not exist without data. By extension, a solid data strategy is required for achieving meaningful returns on AI value, and medallion architecture is a highly effective data management tool that helps get the most out of an organizations AI investment. As a data engineering model, it organizes information into three distinct tiers of bronze, silver and gold medals. Each layer has a specific role in the data pipeline, designed to facilitate clean, accurate and optimized dataflows for downstream processes:Bronze: This is the raw data layer. The data is ingested from various sources, including structured, semi-structured and unstructured formats. At this stage, the data is stored in its original form without any significant transformation. This serves as a robust foundation, providing a full audit trail and allowing businesses to revisit the raw data for future needs.Related:Silver: In this intermediate stage, data from the bronze layer is cleaned, filtered and structured into a more usable format. This involves applying necessary transformations, removing duplicates, filling in missing data and applying quality checks. The silver layer acts as a reliable data set that can be used for analysis, but its still not fully optimized.Gold: This is the final stage of the data pipeline where the silver data is further refined, aggregated and structured for direct consumption by analytics tools, dashboards and decision-making systems. The gold layer delivers highly curated, trusted data thats ready for use in real-time reporting and advanced analytics.Applying the Benefits of Medallion Architecture in the Finance SectorFor financial institutions, data management needs are highly complex. Banks, trading firms and FinTech companies process enormous amounts of data daily, with requirements for accuracy, speed and regulatory compliance. Medallion architecture addresses the following needs.1. Improved data quality and governance. Financial institutions must ensure data accuracy and completeness in alignment with strict regulatory requirements, such as Basel III, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and MiFID II. The multilayered features of medallion architecture support data quality checks that can be applied at each stage. By moving from the bronze to gold layer, data undergoes multiple transformations and validations, improving accuracy and reducing errors. It also facilitates better data governance and traceability, allowing for easier auditing and compliance reporting.Related:2. Scalability for large data volumes. The financial sector often deals with massive data sets -- from transaction histories and market feeds to customer data. The layered approach makes it easier to scale these data pipelines. Since the raw data in the bronze layer is stored in its original form, it can handle the ingestion of high volumes of data without requiring immediate transformations. As data moves to the silver and gold layers, the architecture supports scalable processing frameworks that enable financial institutions to efficiently process large data sets.3. Faster time to insights. In fast-paced financial markets, speed is essential. Trading firms, for example, need real-time data to make decisions on market movements. The medallion structure allows financial institutions to separate raw data ingestion from data analytics. Analysts can start working on silver and gold layers for immediate insights, while engineers refine and clean the data in the background. This results in quicker access to actionable insights, essential for high-frequency trading or real-time fraud detection.4. Flexibility and agility. Medallion architecture offers flexibility in handling diverse data sources and types -- an essential feature in the financial industry, where data comes from numerous channels. The bronze layers ability to store raw data in its native form makes it easy to adapt to new data types or sources without needing immediate transformations, while the silver and gold layers can be adjusted to reflect new business requirements, market conditions or regulatory changes.5. Cost efficiency. Processing large volumes of financial data is expensive. Separating the raw data from the processed data helps reduce unnecessary data transformations and storage costs. Financial institutions can optimize their compute resources by running complex transformations only when needed, thus lowering operational costs.6. Enhanced security and risk management. Raw data in the bronze layer can be heavily restricted, with only authorized personnel able to access it, while the curated gold layer can be more widely available for analysis. This segmentation of data access allows for tighter security controls and reduces the attack surface.7. Advanced analytics and machine learning. From algorithmic trading to fraud detection and credit risk analysis, ML and AI are very important to the financial industry, and this approach facilitates advanced analytics by providing high-quality, structured data in the gold layer. Additionally, having access to both silver and bronze layers enable data scientists to work with both historical and refined data, both of which are essential for building accurate predictive models.Medallion architecture is an effective framework for financial sector data management and processing in the digital era. Its layered approach offers financial institutions the capability to handle vast volumes of data efficiently, while providing data quality, compliance and scalability. Using this layered approach, financial firms gain better control over their data pipelines, reduce costs and drive innovation through advanced analytics. As data management plays an increasingly crucial role in contemporary business, this framework helps position financial firms for success in a data-driven world.About the AuthorsMartin FioreDeputy Vice Chair of Tax, EY AmericasMartin Fiore is EY Americas Deputy Vice Chair of Tax. He is author of the 2021 award winning book, Humanity Reimagined, forecasting current advancements in human and technology convergence and the need for guardrails in developing AI and other transformative technologies.See more from Martin FioreSanthosh Kumar LalgudiData & Cloud Technology Solutions Leader, EY AmericasSanthosh Kumar Lalgudi is the Data & Cloud Technology Solutions Leader in the EY Americas Tax Technology & Transformation practice. He is the author of several articles on the role of data and technology in modernizing finance and tax functions.See more from Santhosh Kumar LalgudiNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

The black hair conditioner on the left is derived from the wood powder on the rightFengyang Wang/Stockholm UniversityThis sustainable, wood-based hair conditioner may be pitch black and smell like peat, but its creators claim it could be the future of haircare after tests suggest it may work just as well as commercial products. We are using the power of nature, says Ievgen Pylypchuk at Stockholm University in Sweden. We combine a high level of science with old traditions [to] get something really cool: simple, useful and quite effective. AdvertisementPylypchuk and his colleagues used lignin, a polymer that is a central component of wood and bark, as the starting point for their bio-based conditioner. When extracted from wood, lignin naturally interacts with waterThe researchers combined a lignin gel developed in their laboratory with coconut oil and water to make the end product. Team member Mika Sipponen, also at Stockholm University, claims it works almost as well as commercial conditioners. When used on samples of wetted bleached human hair and then washed out, it reduced the drag when combing the hair while it was still damp by 13 per cent, compared with the commercial product they tested, which reduced drag by 20 per cent. One potential downside is that the current formulation of the conditioner is pitch black and smells like cooked wood, similar to peat, says Sipponen. That hasnt deterred the researchers from contemplating commercialising it. They tested the formula on hair, towels and pig skin, and say it washes off without leaving stains. Even the smell is quite pleasant, says Pylypchuk. I personally like it very much, and most of the people in our lab maybe because they work with lignin they liked it. The latest science news delivered to your inbox, every day.Sign up to newsletterPylypchuk and Sipponen have a patent for the lignin gel and hope their conditioner can become a consumer product, offering people a more sustainable alternative to current products that rely on ingredients derived from fossil fuels. They say the next step is to see if it causes eye and skin irritation ahead of any trial on living hair. But US-based cosmetics researcherTrefor Evans,formerly at the Textile Research Institute Princeton, New Jersey, has doubts about how well the product would perform compared with commercial rivals. Ive been doing these experiments for 30 years, and a conventional conditioner product will lower the combing forces by 80 per cent, maybe even 90 per cent, he says. Sipponen thinks variation in the testing methods and condition of the hair under analysis could explain why his team only found a 20 per cent reduction for the commercial conditioner.The wood-based conditioners appearance and unusual smell may also put consumers off, says Evans. The patent literature is absolutely chock-a-block with potential hair conditioner formulas that never went anywhere, he says. And the reason is because you dont just need efficacy for the consumer to buy it, what you really need as well is aesthetics. So, would a black, wood-smelling, eco-friendly conditioner be a hit with consumers? Sounds like a bit of a non-starter, says Evans. Journal referenceScience Advances DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adr8372Topics:cosmetics