Opera released an update on Tuesday for Opera One, the companys web browser focused on AI tools. With the new version, Opera One makes it easier for users to access Discord, Slack, and Bluesky directly from the sidebar with just a click.Update brings new features to Opera OnePreviously available in a beta version, these shortcuts are now available to the public with the latest version of Opera One. Integration with Discord, Slack, and Bluesky joins integrations with WhatsApp, Instagram, and Telegram. Users can choose which platforms they want to enable in the sidebar.Once enabled, the platform can be accessed from the Opera One sidebar. As a result, users can send messages on their favorite platform without leaving the web browser or having to open a dedicated tab.Were integrating these three new applications in the sidebar of Opera One so you can have quick and convenient access to them while browsing reducing the need of several open tabs and apps at the same time, the company said in a press release.If you already have the latest version of Opera One installed, all you have to do is click on the three-dot button in the sidebar and select which apps you want to use. You can always decide which apps to enable or disable.In addition to the new shortcuts, Opera One also got new themes with the update.Earlier this month, Opera launched another new browser called Opera Air this one focused on mindfulness features aimed at helping users relax while surfing the web.You can download Opera browsers for free from the companys website. Theyre all compatible with macOS.Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Apple says that phonetic overlap is to blame for a peculiar glitch in the iPhones dictation feature. Over the last several days, the bug has gained traction on various social networks including TiKTok. In one video on TikTok, you can see an iPhone user using the built-in dictation feature to clearly say the word racist, only for the iPhone to moementarily transcribe it as Trump. The transcription quickly corrects itself before being finalized. An Apple spokeswoman told The New York Times that the issue is due to a phonetic overlap between the two words and that the company is working on a fix. John Burkey, a former member of the Siri team at Apple who is still in regular contact with the team, says the issue began after an update to Apples servers. Burkey is skeptical of the phonetic overlap excuse and said it smells like a serious prank by someone inside Apple. The issue appeared to begin after an update to Apples servers, said John Burkey, the founder of Wonderrush.ai, an artificial intelligence start-up, and a former member of Apples Siri team who is still in regular contact with the team.But he said that it was unlikely that the data that Apple has collected for its artificial intelligence offerings was causing the problem, and the word correcting itself was likely an indication that the issue was not just technical. Instead, he said, there was probably software code somewhere on Apples systems that caused iPhones to write the word Trump when someone said racist.This smells like a serious prank, Mr. Burkey said. The only question is: Did someone slip this into the data or slip into the code?Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal also notes that other words with an r consonant also temporarily replaced with Trump, including rampant and rampage. Heres one of the TikTok videos in question if youd like to see for yourself: @user9586420191789 My dad sent me this video this morning. He told me his friend noticed that when he used speech to text and said racist, it briefly changed to Trump before changing back. Seems like subliminal messaging to me. I dont have an iPhone and my phone doesnt do it. #iphone #Trump #apple #elonmusk #fyp @Anna Matson @Aquarius_Waive @athena @David Gokhshtein @Doxielvr @Hello America @Jason Pargin, author @Jeffery Mead @Jeff Mead @Joe Pags Pagliarulo @J.D. Vance @Link Lauren @Tulsi Gabbard @user80861822781 original sound Jess White2260 9to5Macs TakeThe New York Times story cleverly omits the fact that other words like rampage trigger this glitch, not just racist. This leads some credence to Apples explanation that this is due to phonetic overlap. Still, Im choosing to believe this was a prank and an excellent prank at that by someone inside Apple who is a little frustrated with the company cozying up to Trump. Add 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

In leaked chat logs, intelligence officials appeared to discuss numerous not safe for work topics, ranging fromgroup sex to explicit sexual fetishes, on an official government message server and our country's most notorious spy agency is not pleased.In a statement toFuturism, the CIA confirmed that it was looking into the newly-revealed chats between spies and seemed to suggest that these exchanges did happen on a government server."The messages published today from an NSA messaging platform allegedly involving a CIA official are unacceptable and have no place at the Agency," Liz Lyons, the CIA's newly-appointed public affairs director, said in the statement. "The CIA will be taking immediate action on this matter which only further proves the need for serious reform."Beyond that confirmation, however, the unfolding story is awfully murky including that it originated with the conservative muckraker behind the debunked claim that Haitian immigrants were eating cats in Ohio.In a post on his personal Substack, activist-cum-journalist Christopher Rufo wrote that intelligence officials had provided him with chat logs from Intelink, the National Security Agency's internal chat server, that showed spies discussing a multitude of topics ranging from gender-affirming surgeries to fetishes, polyamorous relationships, and group sex.Rufo clearly had an axe to grind, cherry-picking lurid details from the exchanges about pee kinks,anal hair removal and gender-affirming vaginoplastyto wage a vindictive culture war.Make no mistake: there's nothing wrong with seeking gender-affirming care, dating polyamorously, or engaging in consensual kinks. But on a professional level, the messages run the gamut from overly personal to egregiously inappropriate for the workplace and that's without getting into the fact that these are people working forspy agencies, where they know they could be targets for blackmail.There's also a pretty stunning lack of judgment on display from the (mercifully anonymized) agents here as well. If you have to talk about stuff like this with coworkers at an intelligence agency, why not use a medium outside of work?Unsurprisingly, right-wing media outlets like Fox News and The Daily Wire picked up on Rufo's story as did unelected Trump administration official Elon Musk, who suggested the revelations show that "MAJOR housecleaning is needed" at America's spy agencies.It's true that some poor judgment and appalling operational security are on display here but any failings have nothing to do with the gender identities of any of the spies involved, and everything to do with their failure to keep after-hours conversations out of the workplace.Share This Article

As the artificial intelligence boom spirals to epic proportions, big tech companies are throwing heaps of cash into massive data centers throughout the world.Packed full of hardware to process AI queries, these data centers put out forest-melting levels of heat as they suck the life out of local energy grids and water tables to meet demand. They're incredibly noisy as well pumping incessant mechanical sounds into quiet neighborhoods and driving away wildlife.And unfortunately, the public cost of AI doesn't end there. New research by academics at UC Riverside and Caltech is warning that AI data centers are also taking a massive toll on human health, in the form of diseases like cancer and asthma.The study, which hasn't yet been peer-reviewed, looked at the production output of AI hardware over the past five years, found that air pollution resulting from AI development could cause as many as 1,300 premature cancer and asthma deaths per year by 2030.That's on top of a cost approaching nearly $20 billion a year from the collective burden of health treatment, missing wages, and lower school attendance as a result of diseases caused by AI runoff. In 2023 alone, the total cost of AI-connected illness was $1.5 billion, the paper found, in an eye-watering 20 percent increase from 2022.The issue of air pollution is easy to overlook, because in most cases, the data centers are powered by local coal burning plants, which tend to be disproportionately located near low-income and working-class communities. It also seems wherever they go, AI data centers drive up the local cost of electricity, saddling their host communities with a burden not shared by the rest of the country, let alone by Silicon Valley or big tech's Wall Street investors.And though households living closest to AI centers and power plants face the most immediate health issues, there's no telling how far the consequences of big tech's sky-high power use will spread."Unlike carbon emissions, the health impacts caused by a data center in one region cannot be offset by cleaner air elsewhere," UC Riversideresearcher Shaolei Ren toldArs Technica of the findings.AI's air pollution impacts can be best summarized like the nuclear meltdown of Chernobyl the deadly toxins spread far and wide with no respect for distance, affecting those in, around, and far away from the actual data center itself."The data centers pay local property taxes to the county where they operate," Ren said in a press blurb about the study. "But this health impact is not just limited to a small community. Actually, it travels across the whole country, so those other places are not compensated at all."The authors of the study recommend tech companies adopt standard reporting procedures for air pollution and public health resulting from AI runoff something the immensely profitable ventures are unlikely to do willingly.A range of big tech companies investing heavily in AI, including Meta and Microsoft, pushed back against the research in statements to Ars. A Google spokesperson said that the paper "promotes an inaccurate emissions estimate generated under false pretenses, undermining the progress of clean energy resource growth and creating a false narrative of health harms."In other words, this line of inquiry is getting under their skin. With the AI market set to inflate to $900 billion by 2026, communities are beginning to ask who's really paying the cost for big tech's lucrative gambit and how much computer power we truly need to build a better world.More on AI data centers: Microsoft Backing Out of Expensive New Data Centers After Its CEO Expressed Doubt About AI ValueShare This Article

Wearable devices like smart watches and fitness trackers help us measure and learn from physical functions such as heart rates and sleep stages. Now MIT researchers have developed a tiny equivalent for individual brain cells. These soft, battery-free wireless devices, actuated with light, are designed to wrap around different parts of neurons, such as axons and dendrites, without damaging them. They could be used to measure or modulate a neurons electrical and metabolic activity. They could also serve as synthetic myelin for axons that have lost this insulation, helping to address neuronal degradation in diseases like multiple sclerosis. The devices are made from thin sheets of a soft polymer called azobenzene, which roll when exposed to light. Researchers can precisely control the direction of the rolling and the size and shape of the tubes by varying the intensity and polarization of the light. This enables the devices to snugly, but gently, wrap around curved axons and dendrites. To have intimate interfaces with these cells, the devices must be soft and able to conform to these complex structures. That is the challenge we solved in this work, says Deblina Sarkar, an assistant professor in the Media Lab and the senior author of a paper on the research. We were the first to show that azobenzene could even wrap around living cells. The researchers, who developed a scalable fabrication technique that doesnt require the use of a cleanroom, have demonstrated that the devices can be combined with optoelectrical materials that can stimulate cells. Moreover, atomically thin materials can be patterned on top of the tubes, offering opportunities to integrate sensors and circuits. In addition, because they make such a tight connection with cells, they could make it possible to stimulate subcellular regions with very little energy. This could enable a researcher or clinician to treat brain diseases by modulating neurons electrical activity.

The tiny beads added to some cleansers and cosmetics are one source of the long-lasting microplastics that threaten the environment. But MIT researchers have found a way to address the problem at its source: replacing them with polymers that break down into harmless sugars and amino acids. Particles of this polymer could also be used to encapsulate nutrients such as vitamin A to fortify foods, which could help some of the 2 billion people around the world who suffer from nutrient deficiencies. To develop the material, graduate student Linzixuan (Rhoda) Zhang and her colleagues turned to poly-beta-amino esters, a class of polymers previously developed in the lab of Institute Professor Robert Langer, ScD 74, which have shown promise for medical applications. By changing the composition of these materials building blocks, researchers can optimize properties such as hydrophobicity (ability to repel water), mechanical strength, and pH sensitivity. One property the team targeted, with an eye to using the polymer to add nutrients to food, was the ability to dissolve when exposed to acidic environments such as the stomach. The researchers showed that they could use particles of the polymer to encapsulate vitamins A, D, E, and C, as well as zinc and iron. Many of these nutrients are susceptible to heat and light degradation, but the team found that the particles could protect them from boiling water for two hours. They also showed that even after being stored for six months at high temperature and high humidity, more than half of the encapsulated vitamins were undamaged. To demonstrate the particles potential for fortifying food, the researchers incorporated them into bouillon cubesa common ingredient in Africa, where nutrient deficiencies are common, says Ana Jaklenec, a principal investigator at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and a senior author, with Langer, of a paper on the work. In this study, the researchers also tested the particles safety by exposing them to cultured human intestinal cells. At the amounts that would be used in food, the particles were not found to damage the cells. To explore the particles potential for use in cleansers, the researchers mixed them with soap foam. This mixture, they found, removed permanent marker and waterproof eyeliner much more effectively than soap alone. Soap mixed with the new microparticles was also more effective than a cleanser that includes polyethylene microbeads, and the particles did a better job of absorbing potentially toxic elements such as heavy metals. The researchers plan to run a small human trial later this year and are gathering data that could be used to apply for GRAS (generally recognized as safe) classification from the US Food and Drug Administration. They are also planning a clinical trial of foods fortified with the particles. Their work on the polymer, they hope, could help significantly reduce the amount of microplastic released into the environment from health and beauty products. One way to mitigate the microplastics problem is to figure out how to clean up existing pollution, Jaklenec says. But its equally important to look ahead and focus on creating materials that wont generate microplastics in the first place.

If you're a Copilot user, you now have more artificial intelligence tools at your fingertips: Microsoft is giving unlimited free access to Voice and Think Deeper on its free tier. Voice lets you have a conversation with the AI tool using verbal commands, while Think Deeper allows for more complex questions than regular Copilot, as it has more advanced reasoning powered by OpenAI's o1 model.Copilot, launched in 2022, is Microsoft's entry in the increasingly competitive world of AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini. As tech companies compete against each other and new Chinese entrant DeepSeek for a foothold, they continue releasing new AI-powered features and tools -- and are now providing more for free after DeepSeek launched an entirely free service. These Voice and Think Deeper features are variations on interface, giving users different ways to engage with Microsoft's AI offerings.CNET Senior Editor and computing expert Lori Grunin tested Think Deeper out on Tuesday, confirming that while it's free, "at one point it stopped providing new answers to refined queries and a 'Get the full Copilot experience' popup and tried to get me to sign in."Grunin added that it didn't obey specific parameters during her test, either.I gave Voice a go without signing into a Copilot account, and it greeted me like a voice assistant, letting me know I can chat to it "just like with a mate" (it had a male, British accent, though it noted I could change how it sounded in the settings) and asking me my name. Screenshot by CNETIts follow-up question, after mispronouncing my name, was the ever-generic: "What's on your mind?" I asked it the weather in my city, and it gave me up-to-date information as well as a recommendation to get "out and about" in the unseasonably sunny, warm weather.But it then told me I only had 2 minutes remaining of Voice time. So you really do have to create an account and sign in to get that unlimited access announced today. (When I closed the voice chat, Copilot gave me a transcript of our call.)You can become a Copilot user for free -- just sign up using a Microsoft email address. The free version limits what features you have access to, slows down your responses after 15 "boosts" per day and only gives you access to the latest models during non-peak times. There's a paid tier called Copilot Pro ($20/month) and an enterprise version that starts at $30 per user per month.Some of Microsoft's suggestions include using Voice for practicing a new language, asking it to help you practice for a job interview or asking it out loud for cooking advice or recipe steps while your hands are busy in the kitchen -- kind of like a voice assistant.For Think Deeper, Microsoft says some of the more complex issues it can help you with are comparing electric vehicles, asking it for home renovation advice and checking for the pros and cons of buying a generator for outages.As with all AI tools, you should be wary of what it advises you to do, however, and CNET recommends double checking everything it comes back with -- whether it's on-the-fly cooking advice that may lead you astray thanks to a hallucination, or coming up with a savings plan that makes no financial sense.You also shouldn't ever tell an AI chatbot any of your personal details, including financial information, lest a data breachleak it to malefactors.That said, our CNET review found Copilot to be one of the better AI tools, giving it a 7/10 as it generally provides accurate and relevant information. Senior writer Imad Khan does recommend Anthropic's Claude as the best AI chatbot, however, saying it "does a consistent job and goes further than what's coming out of Google, Microsoft, Perplexity and OpenAI at the free tier." Watch this: What Is DeepSeek AI? Everything to Know About the Popular New AI 01:25

The original iPhone released in 2007 spelled doom for phones with physical keyboards as the industry slowly switched to a full front display with digital keypads. But last year, new accessories company Clicks Technology released a wrap-around case for iPhones that includes its own physical keyboard with buttons -- and now it's releasing them for Android phones.Clicks Technology has opened preorders for keyboard cases fitting three of the newest Android handsets: the Google Pixel 9, Samsung Galaxy S25 and Motorola Razr 2024. Each has the full 26-letter keyboard with a few extra buttons for social, app and AI assistant shortcuts thrown in for good measure.The appeal of the Clicks case isn't just for a physical keyboard -- it's for the freed-up bottom chunk of the display typically taken up by the digital keyboard. The case's keys are backlit so you can type in the dark, and it runs off the phone's battery so it doesn't require charging. Just slide a phone into the case and plug it into the Clicks' USB-C port to situate it; there's another port at the bottom of the case to charge the handset. Clicks cases for the Google Pixel 9 (left) and Motorola Razr 2024 (right). Clicks TechnologyAll three new Android Clicks models are available to preorder now, have introductory prices of $99 if paid for by March 21 and come in different colors. The Google Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro models (no option for the Pixel 9 Pro XL) have support for wireless charging with built-in magnets and come in a bright yellow and black, which start shipping at the end of April. The standard Galaxy S25 with a red (Pinot) Clicks case on it. Clicks TechnologyThe Motorola Razr 2024 and Razr Plus 2024 can be reserved for $49 with a full introductory price of $99 and come in a light blue and black hues. It starts shipping in May. The Samsung Galaxy S25 (only the standard S25 -- no option for the S25 Plus or S25 Ultra) can also be reserved for $49 with a full introductory price of $99, comes in wine red and black and starts shipping in June.After March 21, the price increases to $139, which is the same as the iPhone-compatible Clicks models. Unlike those released for Apple phones, however, the models for Android phones will have a dedicated key to launch AI tool Gemini (replacing the microphone/Siri shortcut on the iPhone versions).Clicks Technology has sold over 100,000 keyboards in over 100 countries, the company noted in a press release. It did not indicate whether it would be making cases compatible with other Android phones or iPhones. Watch this: Review: My Thoughts After 2 Weeks With Samsung's Galaxy S25 Ultra 07:00

The Sims 4 finally adds the series' iconic burglar, and it only took 11 yearsOut now in free update.Image credit: Eurogamer/EA News by Matt Wales News Reporter Published on Feb. 25, 2025 If your Sims 4 nights have been lacking a certain criminal frisson for the last 11 years, things are about to get a whole lot more exciting. Over a decade after its release, The Sims 4 has finally added the series' iconic burglar as part of its latest free update.The burglar was, of course, a perpetual looming menace across the first three Sims games, threatening to slip onto your lot in the dead of night - accompanied by a dramatic musical sting - in order to steal your valuables and scarper. Assuming the police didn't get there first.Unfortunately for fans of late night thievery and stripy knitwear, burglars didn't make the cut when The Sims 4 launched in 2014. But now, more than a decade of nocturnal peace is set to be shattered as the series celebrates its 25th anniversary. Image credit: EAAs detailed in EA's announcement, The Sims 4's burglar - now named Robin Banks - behaves similarly to her earlier counterparts. She'll sneak into homes after dark when residents are asleep, shoving items into her sack before making her escape. Her stealing spree can potentially be stopped, however, if Sims call the police before she flees into the night.The purchasable burglar alarm is back too, guaranteeing the police will arrive in time to make an arrest - and providing other safeguards if Sims are handy enough to install them. A suitably equipped alarm can, for instance, zap a passing burglar, causing her to drop her stolen goods. Additionally, bold (and ideally gym-fit) Sims can take Robin on in a one-on-one fight.The Sims 4 - Businesses & Hobbies Expansion Pack trailer.Watch on YouTubeEA says it's added a total of 37 player-directed interactions and 50 unique reactions relating to the burglar across The Sims 4's base game and 17 different packs. Depending what expansions you own, dogs can chase burglars out of the house, werewolves can intimidate them into leaving, spellcasters can deter them with magic, and Servos can zap them into place. Scientists, meanwhile, can immobilise them with a Freeze Ray, and vampires might have a late night snack.If all that sounds a bit much, EA notes burglar visits will be rare by default. However, those wanting to increase the frequency of break-ins can activate the Heist Havoc Lot Challenge, causing burglars to turn up more often and potentially making alarms go on the blink.The burglar is available now as part of The Sims 4's latest free base game update. This paves the way for its upcoming Businesses & Hobbies Expansion Pack - letting players run everything from a pet cafe to a tattoo parlour - which launches next Thursday, 6th March.All this comes as The Sims series celebrates its quarter-century anniversary with a range of events, including (somewhat wobbly) remasters of The Sims and The Sims 2.

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