One of the key use cases for generative AI involves answering questions over private datasets, with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) as the go-to framework. As new RAG techniques emerge, there’s a growing need to benchmark their performance across diverse datasets and metrics.  To meet this need, we’re introducing BenchmarkQED, a new suite of tools that automates RAG benchmarking at scale, available on GitHub (opens in new tab). It includes components for query generation, evaluation, and dataset preparation, each designed to support rigorous, reproducible testing.   BenchmarkQED complements the RAG methods in our open-source GraphRAG library, enabling users to run a GraphRAG-style evaluation across models, metrics, and datasets. GraphRAG uses a large language model (LLM) to generate and summarize entity-based knowledge graphs, producing more comprehensive and diverse answers than standard RAG for large-scale tasks.  In this post, we walk through the core components of BenchmarkQED that contribute to the overall benchmarking process. We also share some of the latest benchmark results comparing our LazyGraphRAG system to competing methods, including a vector-based RAG with a 1M-token context window, where the leading LazyGraphRAG configuration showed significant win rates across all combinations of quality metrics and query classes. In the paper, we distinguish between local queries, where answers are found in a small number of text regions, and sometimes even a single region, and global queries, which require reasoning over large portions of or even the entire dataset.  Conventional vector-based RAG excels at local queries because the regions containing the answer to the query resemble the query itself and can be retrieved as the nearest neighbor in the vector space of text embeddings. However, it struggles with global questions, such as, “What are the main themes of the dataset?” which require understanding dataset qualities not explicitly stated in the text.   AutoQ: Automated query synthesis This limitation motivated the development of GraphRAG a system designed to answer global queries. GraphRAG’s evaluation requirements subsequently led to the creation of AutoQ, a method for synthesizing these global queries for any dataset. AutoQ extends this approach by generating synthetic queries across the spectrum of queries, from local to global. It defines four distinct classes based on the source and scope of the query (Figure 1, top) forming a logical progression along the spectrum (Figure 1, bottom). Figure 1. Construction of a 2×2 design space for synthetic query generation with AutoQ, showing how the four resulting query classes map onto the local-global query spectrum.  AutoQ can be configured to generate any number and distribution of synthetic queries along these classes, enabling consistent benchmarking across datasets without requiring user customization. Figure 2 shows the synthesis process and sample queries from each class, using an AP News dataset. Figure 2. Synthesis process and example query for each of the four AutoQ query classes.  About Microsoft Research Advancing science and technology to benefit humanity View our story Opens in a new tab AutoE: Automated evaluation framework  Our evaluation of GraphRAG focused on analyzing key qualities of answers to global questions. The following qualities were used for the current evaluation: Comprehensiveness: Does the answer address all relevant aspects of the question?  Diversity: Does it present varied perspectives or insights?  Empowerment: Does it help the reader understand and make informed judgments?  Relevance: Does it address what the question is specifically asking?   The AutoE component scales evaluation of these qualities using the LLM-as-a-Judge method. It presents pairs of answers to an LLM, along with the query and target metric, in counterbalanced order. The model determines whether the first answer wins, loses, or ties with the second. Over a set of queries, whether from AutoQ or elsewhere, this produces win rates between competing methods. When ground truth is available, AutoE can also score answers on correctness, completeness, and related metrics. An illustrative evaluation is shown in Figure 3. Using a dataset of 1,397 AP News articles on health and healthcare, AutoQ generated 50 queries per class (200 total). AutoE then compared LazyGraphRAG to a competing RAG method, running six trials per query across four metrics, using GPT-4.1 as a judge. These trial-level results were aggregated using metric-based win rates, where each trial is scored 1 for a win, 0.5 for a tie, and 0 for a loss, and then averaged to calculate the overall win rate for each RAG method. Figure 3. Win rates of four LazyGraphRAG (LGR) configurations across methods, broken down by the AutoQ query class and averaged across AutoE’s four metrics: comprehensiveness, diversity, empowerment, and relevance. LazyGraphRAG outperforms comparison conditions where the bar is above 50%. The four LazyGraphRAG conditions (LGR_b200_c200, LGR_b50_c200, LGR_b50_c600, LGR_b200_c200_mini) differ by query budget (b50, b200) and chunk size (c200, c600). All used GPT-4o mini for relevance tests and GPT-4o for query expansion (to five subqueries) and answer generation, except for LGR_b200_c200_mini, which used GPT-4o mini throughout. Comparison systems were GraphRAG (Local, Global, and Drift Search), Vector RAG with 8k- and 120k-token windows, and three published methods: LightRAG (opens in new tab), RAPTOR (opens in new tab), and TREX (opens in new tab). All methods were limited to the same 8k tokens for answer generation. GraphRAG Global Search used level 2 of the community hierarchy. LazyGraphRAG outperformed every comparison condition using the same generative model (GPT-4o), winning all 96 comparisons, with all but one reaching statistical significance. The best overall performance came from the larger budget, smaller chunk size configuration (LGR_b200_c200). For DataLocal queries, the smaller budget (LGR_b50_c200) performed slightly better, likely because fewer chunks were relevant. For ActivityLocal queries, the larger chunk size (LGR_b50_c600) had a slight edge, likely because longer chunks provide a more coherent context. Competing methods performed relatively better on the query classes for which they were designed: GraphRAG Global for global queries, Vector RAG for local queries, and GraphRAG Drift Search, which combines both strategies, posed the strongest challenge overall. Increasing Vector RAG’s context window from 8k to 120k tokens did not improve its performance compared to LazyGraphRAG. This raised the question of how LazyGraphRAG would perform against Vector RAG with 1-million token context window containing most of the dataset. Figure 4 shows the follow-up experiment comparing LazyGraphRAG to Vector RAG using GPT-4.1 that enabled this comparison. Even against the 1M-token window, LazyGraphRAG achieved higher win rates across all comparisons, failing to reach significance only for the relevance of answers to DataLocal queries. These queries tend to benefit most from Vector RAG’s ranking of directly relevant chunks, making it hard for LazyGraphRAG to generate answers that have greater relevance to the query, even though these answers may be dramatically more comprehensive, diverse, and empowering overall. Figure 4. Win rates of LazyGraphRAG (LGR) over Vector RAG across different context window sizes, broken down by the four AutoQ query classes and four AutoE metrics: comprehensiveness, diversity, empowerment, and relevance. Bars above 50% indicate that LazyGraphRAG outperformed the comparison condition.  AutoD: Automated data sampling and summarization Text datasets have an underlying topical structure, but the depth, breadth, and connectivity of that structure can vary widely. This variability makes it difficult to evaluate RAG systems consistently, as results may reflect the idiosyncrasies of the dataset rather than the system’s general capabilities. The AutoD component addresses this by sampling datasets to meet a target specification, defined by the number of topic clusters (breadth) and the number of samples per cluster (depth). This creates consistency across datasets, enabling more meaningful comparisons, as structurally aligned datasets lead to comparable AutoQ queries, which in turn support consistent AutoE evaluations. AutoD also includes tools for summarizing input or output datasets in a way that reflects their topical coverage. These summaries play an important role in the AutoQ query synthesis process, but they can also be used more broadly, such as in prompts where context space is limited. Since the release of the GraphRAG paper, we’ve received many requests to share the dataset of the Behind the Tech (opens in new tab) podcast transcripts we used in our evaluation. An updated version of this dataset is now available in the BenchmarkQED repository (opens in new tab), alongside the AP News dataset containing 1,397 health-related articles, licensed for open release.   We hope these datasets, together with the BenchmarkQED tools (opens in new tab), help accelerate benchmark-driven development of RAG systems and AI question-answering. We invite the community to try them on GitHub (opens in new tab).  Opens in a new tab

For the past two years, it’s been a ghost in the machine of American tech. Between 2022 and today, a little-noticed tweak to the U.S. tax code has quietly rewired the financial logic of how American companies invest in research and development. Outside of CFO and accounting circles, almost no one knew it existed. “I work on these tax write-offs and still hadn’t heard about this,” a chief operating officer at a private-equity-backed tech company told Quartz. “It’s just been so weirdly silent.”AdvertisementStill, the delayed change to a decades-old tax provision — buried deep in the 2017 tax law — has contributed to the loss of hundreds of thousands of high-paying, white-collar jobs. That’s the picture that emerges from a review of corporate filings, public financial data, analysis of timelines, and interviews with industry insiders. One accountant, working in-house at a tech company, described it as a “niche issue with broad impact,” echoing sentiments from venture capital investors also interviewed for this article. Some spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive political matters.Since the start of 2023, more than half-a-million tech workers have been laid off, according to industry tallies. Headlines have blamed over-hiring during the pandemic and, more recently, AI. But beneath the surface was a hidden accelerant: a change to what’s known as Section 174 that helped gut in-house software and product development teams everywhere from tech giants such as Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META) to much smaller, private, direct-to-consumer and other internet-first companies.Now, as a bipartisan effort to repeal the Section 174 change moves through Congress, bigger questions are surfacing: How did a single line in the tax code help trigger a tsunami of mass layoffs? And why did no one see it coming? For almost 70 years, American companies could deduct 100% of qualified research and development spending in the year they incurred the costs. Salaries, software, contractor payments — if it contributed to creating or improving a product, it came off the top of a firm’s taxable income.AdvertisementThe deduction was guaranteed by Section 174 of the IRS Code of 1954, and under the provision, R&D flourished in the U.S.Microsoft was founded in 1975. Apple (AAPL) launched its first computer in 1976. Google (GOOGL) incorporated in 1998. Facebook opened to the general public in 2006. All these companies, now among the most valuable in the world, developed their earliest products — programming tools, hardware, search engines — under a tax system that rewarded building now, not later.The subsequent rise of smartphones, cloud computing, and mobile apps also happened in an America where companies could immediately write off their investments in engineering, infrastructure, and experimentation. It was a baseline assumption — innovation and risk-taking subsidized by the tax code — that shaped how founders operated and how investors made decisions.In turn, tech companies largely built their products in the U.S. AdvertisementMicrosoft’s operating systems were coded in Washington state. Apple’s early hardware and software teams were in California. Google’s search engine was born at Stanford and scaled from Mountain View. Facebook’s entire social architecture was developed in Menlo Park. The deduction directly incentivized keeping R&D close to home, rewarding companies for investing in American workers, engineers, and infrastructure.That’s what makes the politics of Section 174 so revealing. For all the rhetoric about bringing jobs back and making things in America, the first Trump administration’s major tax bill arguably helped accomplish the opposite.When Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the signature legislative achievement of President Donald Trump’s first term, it slashed the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% — a massive revenue loss on paper for the federal government.To make the 2017 bill comply with Senate budget rules, lawmakers needed to offset the cost. So they added future tax hikes that wouldn’t kick in right away, wouldn’t provoke immediate backlash from businesses, and could, in theory, be quietly repealed later.AdvertisementThe delayed change to Section 174 — from immediate expensing of R&D to mandatory amortization, meaning that companies must spread the deduction out in smaller chunks over five or even 15-year periods — was that kind of provision. It didn’t start affecting the budget until 2022, but it helped the TCJA appear “deficit neutral” over the 10-year window used for legislative scoring.The delay wasn’t a technical necessity. It was a political tactic. Such moves are common in tax legislation. Phase-ins and delayed provisions let lawmakers game how the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) — Congress’ nonpartisan analyst of how bills impact budgets and deficits — scores legislation, pushing costs or revenue losses outside official forecasting windows.And so, on schedule in 2022, the change to Section 174 went into effect. Companies filed their 2022 tax returns under the new rules in early 2023. And suddenly, R&D wasn’t a full, immediate write-off anymore. The tax benefits of salaries for engineers, product and project managers, data scientists, and even some user experience and marketing staff — all of which had previously reduced taxable income in year one — now had to be spread out over five- or 15-year periods. To understand the impact, imagine a personal tax code change that allowed you to deduct 100% of your biggest source of expenses, and that becoming a 20% deduction. For cash-strapped companies, especially those not yet profitable, the result was a painful tax bill just as venture funding dried up and interest rates soared.AdvertisementSalesforce office buildings in San Francisco.Photo: Jason Henry/Bloomberg (Getty Images)It’s no coincidence that Meta announced its “Year of Efficiency” immediately after the Section 174 change took effect. Ditto Microsoft laying off 10,000 employees in January 2023 despite strong earnings, or Google parent Alphabet cutting 12,000 jobs around the same time.Amazon (AMZN) also laid off almost 30,000 people, with cuts focused not just on logistics but on Alexa and internal cloud tools — precisely the kinds of projects that would have once qualified as immediately deductible R&D. Salesforce (CRM) eliminated 10% of its staff, or 8,000 people, including entire product teams.In public, companies blamed bloat and AI. But inside boardrooms, spreadsheets were telling a quieter story. And MD&A notes — management’s notes on the numbers — buried deep in 10-K filings recorded the change, too. R&D had become more expensive to carry. Headcount, the leading R&D expense across the tech industry, was the easiest thing to cut.AdvertisementIn its 2023 annual report, Meta described salaries as its single biggest R&D expense. Between the first and second years that the Section 174 change began affecting tax returns, Meta cut its total workforce by almost 25%. Over the same period, Microsoft reduced its global headcount by about 7%, with cuts concentrated in product-facing, engineering-heavy roles.Smaller companies without the fortress-like balance sheets of Big Tech have arguably been hit even harder. Twilio (TWLO) slashed 22% of its workforce in 2023 alone. Shopify (SHOP) (headquartered in Canada but with much of its R&D teams in the U.S.) cut almost 30% of staff in 2022 and 2023. Coinbase (COIN) reduced headcount by 36% across a pair of brutal restructuring waves.Since going into effect, the provision has hit at the very heart of America’s economic growth engine: the tech sector.By market cap, tech giants dominate the S&P 500, with the “Magnificent 7” alone accounting for more than a third of the index’s total value. Workforce numbers tell a similar story, with tech employing millions of Americans directly and supporting the employment of tens of millions more. As measured by GDP, capital-T tech contributes about 10% of national output.AdvertisementIt’s not just that tech layoffs were large, it’s that they were massively disproportionate. Across the broader U.S. economy, job cuts hovered around in low single digits across most sectors. But in tech, entire divisions vanished, with a whopping 60% jump in layoffs between 2022 and 2023. Some cuts reflected real inefficiencies — a response to over-hiring during the zero-interest rate boom. At the same time, many of the roles eliminated were in R&D, product, and engineering, precisely the kind of functions that had once benefitted from generous tax treatment under Section 174.Throughout the 2010s, a broad swath of startups, direct-to-consumer brands, and internet-first firms — basically every company you recognize from Instagram or Facebook ads — built their growth models around a kind of engineered break-even.The tax code allowed them to spend aggressively on product and engineering, then write it all off as R&D, keeping their taxable income close to zero by design. It worked because taxable income and actual cash flow were often notGAAP accounting practices. Basically, as long as spending counted as R&D, companies could report losses to investors while owing almost nothing to the IRS.But the Section 174 change broke that model. Once those same expenses had to be spread out, or amortized, over multiple years, the tax shield vanished. Companies that were still burning cash suddenly looked profitable on paper, triggering real tax bills on imaginary gains.AdvertisementThe logic that once fueled a generation of digital-first growth collapsed overnight.So it wasn’t just tech experiencing effects. From 1954 until 2022, the U.S. tax code had encouraged businesses of all stripes to behave like tech companies. From retail to logistics, healthcare to media, if firms built internal tools, customized a software stack, or invested in business intelligence and data-driven product development, they could expense those costs. The write-off incentivized in-house builds and fast growth well outside the capital-T tech sector. This lines up with OECD research showing that immediate deductions foster innovation more than spread-out ones.And American companies ran with that logic. According to government data, U.S. businesses reported about $500 billion in R&D expenditures in 2019 alone, and almost half of that came from industries outside traditional tech. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that this sector, the broader digital economy, accounts for another 10% of GDP.Add that to core tech’s contribution, and the Section 174 shift has likely touched at least 20% of the U.S. economy.AdvertisementThe result? A tax policy aimed at raising short-term revenue effectively hid a time bomb inside the growth engines of thousands of companies. And when it detonated, it kneecapped the incentive for hiring American engineers or investing in American-made tech and digital products.It made building tech companies in America look irrational on a spreadsheet.A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing to repeal the Section 174 change, with business groups, CFOs, crypto executives, and venture capitalists lobbying hard for retroactive relief. But the politics are messy. Fixing 174 would mean handing a tax break to the same companies many voters in both parties see as symbols of corporate excess. Any repeal would also come too late for the hundreds of thousands of workers already laid off.And of course, the losses don’t stop at Meta’s or Google’s campus gates. They ripple out. When high-paid tech workers disappear, so do the lunch orders. The house tours. The contract gigs. The spending habits that sustain entire urban economies and thousands of other jobs. Sandwich artists. Rideshare drivers. Realtors. Personal trainers. House cleaners. In tech-heavy cities, the fallout runs deep — and it’s still unfolding.AdvertisementWashington is now poised to pass a second Trump tax bill — one packed with more obscure provisions, more delayed impacts, more quiet redistribution. And it comes as analysts are only just beginning to understand the real-world effects of the last round.The Section 174 change “significantly increased the tax burden on companies investing in innovation, potentially stifling economic growth and reducing the United States’ competitiveness on the global stage,” according to the tax consulting firm KBKG. Whether the U.S. will reverse course — or simply adapt to a new normal — remains to be seen.

F1 25 is a near-perfect mix of realism and playability that offers much of the drama from the real-life sport and a sprinkling of fiction and, uh, Brad Pitt just becauseTech18:11, 02 Jun 2025This year's game looks better than everIn many ways, writing an F1 25 review should be the easiest of this year’s critical assessments. Codemasters is legendary for its commitment to digital recreations of automotive competition (I’ve been playing its games since TOCA on the PS1 ), and having the F1 licence means it’ll always be cutting-edge in terms of racers, tracks, and more.If you’re an F1 fan, you’ve almost certainly already bought it, and while non-fans of sports games will baulk at paying for a “roster update” each year, Codemasters simply refuses to coast, keeping its foot firmly on the gas and moving from last year’s podium finish to Championship-winning form with this year’s entry.‌Conditions can be treacherous‌Last year’s F1 24 was easily one of the most impressive games to look at on PS5 Pro, and while Codemasters had talked a good game about visual fidelity , I wasn’t sure it would be able to take much of a realistic step beyond.And yet, F1 25 is frequently stunning. In motion, it’s hard to see anything wholly new, but that’s more down to the speed at which you’ll be taking corners of meticulously detailed tracks. Slow things down a tad, though, and you’ll find things a little less sterile than they had been.Whereas F1 24 circuits felt a little too clean at times, there’s a little more dirt here and there, more wear on the track, and even correctly identified tree species in tracks that have been scanned via LiDAR.Article continues belowIt’s likely an ongoing process, with Bahrain, Miami, Melbourne, Suzuka and Imola getting the scanned treatment so far, but it’s an impressive taste of what’s to come and could mean upcoming games look even better.On track, the handling model feels much breezier. You can still crank up the difficulty by leaving the assists in the pits, but cars feel more responsive than ever.You’ll need that, too, because some tracks can be driven in reverse (complete with mirrored pit lanes).‌You can still race, but you'll pick one of your stars to "follow" for the weekendThe crown jewel of this year’s entry, however, is My Team. The mode has always been solid, but lacking in ambition, but this year sees Codemasters really go to town on its underlying machinery.While you’ll no longer be some team owner/driver hybrid superstar like Tony Stark in Iron Man 2, that adds an interesting new flavour to the mode. You’ll start as boss of an existing team or form your own, and then hire drivers, work to improve your car, and try to woo sponsors.‌Because you’re no longer racing yourself, there are more magnanimous decisions to be made about car parts. Research costs time, manufacturing costs money, and then you’re left to decide which of your racers gets the added boost.Consistently upsetting one can see them look elsewhere, while you can plan for next season’s drivers right from the off, making a Lewis Hamilton-esque switch to a rival a pressing concern throughout the year.While much of My Team takes place in menus, they all feel dynamic enough to feel much more enjoyable than you might expect, and while it doesn’t get quite as deep as F1 Manager, it’s still full of potential.‌You can even sneak some star power onto the grid, too, taking the reins of Brad Pitt’s racing team from the upcoming F1 movie , or signing iconic former drivers to build a dream lineup.As an aside, I love that EA is experimenting with things like this in its career modes, especially since EA FC added Icons to its own version. Long may it continue.Konnersport are now vying for titles(Image: EA)‌Another big return this year comes from Braking Point , marking its third instalment. The mode that essentially condenses a season’s worth of drama into playable chunks with a healthy dose of inspiration from Netflix ’s Drive to Survive is back as part of its “one season off, one season on” cadence.It’s packed with sporting cliches and no small amount of cheese, but it humanises a sport that can sometimes feel more focuses on cutting seconds off a lap than it can the drivers doing that work.After years of building a team, Konnersport is finally competing for the Championship, and players can switch between their driver roster to achieve different objectives, and there’s an alternative ending for those willing to commit.Article continues belowF1 25 is the best entry in years, with changes big and small piling up to offer a truly immersive and feature-packed title.My Team will get the plaudits (and rightfully so), but Braking Point’s return and Codemasters’ continued commitment to realism shouldn’t be forgotten.Reviewed on PS5 Pro. Review copy provided by the publisher.‌‌‌

Stranger Things 5 — the final season of Netflix’s blockbuster sci-fi series — has its official release date.Or make that release dates. The final season of the series consists of eight episodes spread out across three chunks that will be available at different points during the fall and winter of 2025. They are..Four episodes on November 26.Three episodes on Christmas Day.The series finale on New Year’s Eve.All of these episodes for all of these different parts will be available at 5PM PT on their respective release dates. Here is the new teaser for the final season of Stranger Things:READ MORE: Everything New on Netflix Next MonthAnd here is the new season’s official synopsis:The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.The final season cast of Stranger Things includes Winona Ryder (Joyce Byers), David Harbour (Jim Hopper), Millie Bobby Brown (Eleven), Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler), Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin Henderson), Caleb McLaughlin (Lucas Sinclair), Noah Schnapp (Will Byers), Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield), Natalia Dyer (Nancy Wheeler), Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers), Joe Keery (Steve Harrington), Maya Hawke (Robin Buckley), Priah Ferguson (Erica Sinclair), Brett Gelman (Murray), Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna), Cara Buono (Karen Wheeler), Amybeth McNulty (Vickie), Nell Fisher (Holly Wheeler), Jake Connelly (Derek Turnbow), Alex Breaux (Lt. Akers), and Linda Hamilton (Dr. Kay).STRANGER THINGS (2025)Netflixloading...STRANGER THINGS (2025)Netflixloading...Get our free mobile appThe Best Sci-Fi Films of the Last 10 Years (2015-2024)These science-fiction films redefined a great genre for our modern world.Filed Under: Netflix, Stranger ThingsCategories: Trailers, TV News

The long, long wait for Stranger Things 5 is almost over. Netflix has finally revealed the release date for the show's fifth and final season: November 26. At least, that's when the first part will drop. Just like Season Four, Stranger Things 5 will be released in chunks, so you won't be able to binge it all in one go from the outset. Volume One, which will have four episodes, comes out on November 26 at 8PM ET (5PM PT), followed a month later by three episodes for Volume Two on Christmas (December 25) and the final episode on New Year's Eve (December 31). If you need a little refresher on where we're picking back up with the Hawkins crew — I sure do — here's the synopsis for Season Five: The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time. With that, the countdown to the end has officially begun. There's 177 days to go as of today, which leaves you plenty of time to rewatch all four seasons in preparation.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/stranger-things-5-finally-has-its-release-date-152255914.html?src=rss

The launch of a new console is always exciting, because new hardware means new software to play on it. For the Switch 2, Nintendo is changing tactics with the release cadence of new games, as the console will launch with just a single first-party exclusive instead of several all at once. The launch lineup will still be bolstered by third-party support, and the company has several more exclusives on the way, but these are arriving throughout the rest of 2025 and 2026.For this list, we're looking at the games you'll only find on the Switch 2 and the ones that offer new content exclusively for the system. We're skipping Switch games being upgraded for the Switch 2--like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom--or titles that'll be available on both Switch and Switch 2, like Pokemon Legends: Z-A and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.We're expecting a library of Switch 2 games that'll stand tall next to some of the best across multiple Nintendo eras, and we'll be listing every known and new release as they're revealed. Mario Kart WorldRelease date: June 5, 2025The marquee title for the Switch 2, Mario Kart World is the first mainline entry in the series since the release of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in 2017, which was a port of 2014's Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U. Mario Kart World looks like it has the potential to push the series to new heights, as it offers colorful visuals, a stacked roster, and courses set inside of a massive open-world environment that can be freely explored.Where to buyWalmartTargetBest Buy Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome TourRelease date: June 5, 2025The Nintendo Switch 2 will be loaded with several new features, and Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour looks like a fine--and fun!--way to learn about them. The caveat here is that this tech demo has a $10 entrance fee, but if you don't mind paying for it, this will likely be a great way to explore the new features on this console. See on the Nintendo eShop Kirby Air RidersRelease date: 2025The Kirby Air Ride sequel that fans have been waiting years for, this new game is being directed by the pink blob's creator, Masahiro Sakurai. Kirby Air Ride on the GameCube was beloved for its fast-paced racing action in multiplayer sessions, and while we don't know too much about the new game yet, we're hoping to see some of that classic Kirby magic when the cute fella arrives on Switch 2. See on the Nintendo eShop Donkey Kong BananzaRelease date: July 17, 2025The next Donkey Kong adventure combines traditional platforming fun with destruction, as Nintendo's favorite ape will be able to smash his way through various environment. You'll be able to tear off chunks of terrain to hurl at enemies and punch your way into subterranean worlds to uncover secrets lurking beneath the surface.Where to buyWalmartTargetGameStop Fast FusionRelease date: June 5We haven't seen a brand-new F-Zero game in many years, but Fast Fusion might just be the next best thing. A very fast anti-gravity racing game that looks like it was also inspired by Wipeout, Fast Fusion is the fourth game in the Fast series and a sequel to 2017's Fast RMX. See on the Nintendo eShop Hyrule Warriors: Age of ImprisonmentRelease date: 2025This isn't the first time that Koei Tecmo and Nintendo have teamed up, and like its previous effort, you can expect this game to combine the world and characters of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom with the gameplay of Dynasty Warriors. Narratively, Age of Imprisonment serves as a prequel to Tears of the Kingdom as it focuses on the "Imprisoning War" that set the stage for that game. See on the Nintendo eShop Survival KidsRelease date: June 5, 2025The original Survival Kids game was released all the way back in 1999, and while it wasn't a smash-hit, critics at the time did praise it for its clever blend of ideas inspired by the likes of Pokemon and The Legend of Zelda. The sequel once again follows a group of kids stranded on an island and forced to fend for themselves, but this time, the focus is on co-op gameplay, puzzle-solving, and crafting. See on the Nintendo eShop Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD RemasterRelease date: June 5First released on the Nintendo 3DS, Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster on Switch 2 will feature some nifty upgrades on that system. The remaster has improved graphics, but in terms of content, this version also offers a redesigned user interface, the ability to fast-forward through certain scenes, quality-of-life upgrades, and two types of mouse-controlled minigames.Where to buyWalmartBest BuyGameStopTarget Yakuza 0: Director's CutRelease date: June 5Considered to be the best game in the Yakuza series, Yakuza 0: Director's Cut is a two-fisted tour through Tokyo that tells a hard-hitting story. For its Switch 2 release, the game is being updated with new cutscenes designed to give deeper insight into key incidents and character backstories, an English dub has been added, and there's a new online mode called Red Light Raid. For now, it looks like Yakuza 0: Director's Cut has only been confirmed for Switch 2, but we wouldn't be surprised if it makes the leap to other platforms after a period of timed exclusivity.Where to buyAmazonWalmart Super Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV: Switch 2 EditionRelease date: July 24While the game did launch for in October 2024, Super Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV: Switch 2 Edition will offer more than just improved graphics and frame rates. This new edition is packed with new modes and minigames, making this the ultimate version of the party game.Where to buyWalmartTargetGameStop Release date: August 28In case you missed it when it first came out on Switch, Kirby and the Forgotten Land was a terrific adventure starring the adorable Nintendo icon. On Switch 2, the game is getting a graphical upgrade and exclusive adventure called Star-Crossed World and all-new Mouthful Modes to wield in battle.Where to buyWalmartTargetGameStop Drag x DriveRelease date: Summer 2025If there's going to be a showcase game for the Switch 2's new Joy-Con 2 mouse controls, it might just be Drag x Drive. Details on it are slim for now, but from what we've seen so far, Drag x Drive will let you put your hoop-shooting skills to the test while you race around the arena in a wheelchair. The catch here is that the game makes heavy use of the Switch 2's mouse controls to move around and score points. See on the Nintendo eShop The DuskbloodsRelease date: 2026With Elden Ring Nightreign proving to be an enjoyable showcase of souls-like multiplayer, we're excited to see what From Software has in store for Switch 2 players when The Duskbloods eventually hits the scene. The studio has shared more details on the game since it was first revealed, like how players can choose from a cast of "over a dozen" characters that can be customized, the setting for the game, and how progression works. Interestingly, The Duskbloods was originally pitched for the Switch, but plans changed after Nintendo spoke to developer From Software about the Switch 2 console. See on the Nintendo eShop

$45For some people, note-taking is serious, serious business. That’s why your dad’s great ideas, errant thoughts, to-do lists, and appointments deserve a worthy notebook. Traveler’s leather-bound travel journals are great for jotting down all of the above, especially since they come in a slew of sizes.$45 at Traveler’s Company (various sizes)$69Whether your dad is a fan of the Indiana Jones flicks or he digs MachineGames’ excellent Wolfenstein titles, there’s plenty to like in The Great Circle. The first-person exploration game lets you crack the whip, punch Nazis, and traverse the globe to retrieve precious relics. It’s good fun.Anker Laptop Power Bank$110$13519% off$110There are plenty of portable batteries out there, but few are as versatile and powerful as Anker’s 25,000mAh Laptop Power Bank. The handy pack features two built-in, retractable USB-C cables — one of which serves as a lanyard — allowing you to quickly charge most devices on the go.Backbone Pro$170$170The best mobile controller is the Backbone Pro. It retains the same overall design and feel as the company’s cheaper model, only with some comfort-boosting improvements. It also features a built-in battery and Bluetooth support, so your dad can use it for gaming on his TV, computer, VR headset, or handheld PC.$170 at Best Buy$170 at BackboneAncel AD410 OBD2 Scanner Professional Diagnostic Scanner$40$5020% off$40The more ways you know how to diagnose a possible issue with your car, the less time you’ll spend at the mechanic (sorry, mechanics). Ancel’s diagnostic scanner plugs into the OBD2 port found in most US cars dating back to ’96, letting you see exactly why certain lights on your dash keep popping up.$40 at Amazon (with Prime)$50 at AncelSony WH-1000XM6$448$4500% off$448The latest iteration of Sony’s best-in-class noise-canceling headphones has finally arrived. The newfangled XM6 make subtle improvements to every facet, from sound quality to comfort to ANC, while wisely bringing back the foldable design last seen on the last-gen XM4.Hoto SnapBloq System$216$30028% off$216Hoto’s modus operandi is to make svelte, handsome tools, with the SnapBloq being its sleekest yet. Buying all three sets — which, as the name implies, snap together to form a block — nets you a precision screwdriver, drill pen, and rotary tool, all of which are rechargeable. Dad may already own enough tools, but we bet they don’t look nearly as good as these do.$216 at Amazon$240 at HotoSatechi Vegan-Leather Magnetic Wallet Stand$28$4030% off$28Satechi’s MagSafe-ready wallet addresses two specific needs that may make it a must-have for some dads: it’s crafted from vegan leather, and it doubles as a kickstand. That means the durable wallet provides a hands-free way to watch videos or hop on a call, whether you place it in portrait or landscape mode. AirPods 4$119$1298% off$119Most of Apple’s high-end earbud tech can be found in the AirPods 4, which cost significantly less than the latest Pro model. They’re relatively small, offer great sound, and even support USB-C charging, making them a great pick if you can do without active noise cancellation.James$18$2836% off$18Percival Everett’s first work of fiction earned him the Pulitzer this year — and it’s no surprise. The bold 2024 tale serves as a reworking of Huck Finn as told by the enslaved man who travels with him down the Mississippi, and although it’s dead serious at times due to the subject matter, it’s also inventive, poetic, and surprisingly funny.Xiaomi Sound Pocket$27$3010% off$27Xiaomi doesn’t have as much of a presence in the US as it does globally, but thankfully, the classy Sound Pocket is readily available. The compact Bluetooth speaker supports hands-free calling with its built-in microphone, and its IP67 rating means it can even handle some water — so long as you don’t submerge it for too long.$27 at Amazon (with on-page coupon)$30 at Walmart (with on-page coupon)$35While writing Cat’s Cradle, Kurt Vonnegut needed to pay the bills, so he tried his hand at making board games. His creation, a tactical war-themed tabletop game called GHQ (General Headquarters), never saw the light of day — that is, until recently. Needless to say, the two-player game is a great title for Vonnegut fans and scholars alike.$35 at Barnes & Noble$35 at Kurt Vonnegut’s GHQ Museum and Library$550The Forerunner 570 has no business looking as good as it does for a running watch. Garmin’s new wearable features a bright OLED display, a slick translucent band, and several new features, including skin temperature sensors and a built-in speaker / mic. The only real question is what size to get for dear ol’ dad: 42mm or 47mm?$70Magic: The Gathering isn’t as difficult to get into as you might think, and the Final Fantasy-themed expansion might be the perfect place to start. The upcoming collection has sent the internet into a proverbial spiral, with many products selling out as a result of a very dedicated fan base. Lucky for dad, the entry-level starter kit is still readily available.Nitecore BB21 electric blower$65$707% off$65All of dad’s precious tech is prone to dust and other debris, which can impact usability if left unchecked. Fortunately, with Nitecore’s rechargeable air blower as a companion, he can easily rid his mechanical keyboards and other tough-to-reach crannies of unwanted grime, ensuring all of his gadgets are in tip-top shape.$31Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon has come a long way from the fabled Wisconsin cabin where he supposedly holed up to record his debut. Sable, Fable, his latest LP, is a welcome kaleidoscope of sounds and feelings, from familiar strummers and beat-heavy ballads to the kind of sultry, R&B-flecked tracks that would make Prince swoon.$450Telepathic Instruments’ retrofuturist keyboard is a vibes machine, one designed for people who want to easily produce cool sounds. It only houses a few piano keys, but it has dedicated major, minor, and other inputs that let you get creative without necessarily having to know how to play.$450 at Telepathic InstrumentsChef’n S’mores Roaster$50$7432% off$50You can effortlessly replicate the magic of making s’mores while camping with Chef’n’s small, safe machine. The contained flame on the tidy indoor / outdoor roaster is built to toast marshmallows, while its ceramic dome can melt chocolate onto graham crackers. All you’ll need to supply is a fuel can, plus all the s’mores ingredients you can muster.Panasonic 4K Blu-ray player (DP-UB420-K)$245$2502% off$245Like all of us, your dad deserves to watch movies at the best possible resolution, which is where a 4K Blu-ray player comes in. Panasonic makes some of the best models you can buy, and when paired with the right TV, 4K Blu-rays look and sound better than even the most high-res streaming apps. Plus, it’s still fun to collect discs.$125If your dad’s shaving gadget repertoire is outdated, try treating him to a fantastic — and customizable — beard trimmer. Panasonic’s washable, wide-tipped model comes with 19 adjustable settings and can cut hair, too, just in case dad wants to keep a short ’do or touch up his sideburns.$125 at Amazon$125 at PanasonicOntel Battery Daddy storage system$15$2025% off$15Most modern gadgets are rechargeable via USB-C, but many households still rely on traditional batteries for all sorts of things. Your dad is sure to be impressed with your moxie when you gift him this deluxe battery organizer, which has dedicated compartments for coin cell batteries, large D-cell batteries, and all of the smaller sizes in between.Baseus Free2Pull Retractable USB-C Cable 100W$10$2255% off$10Most people don’t want to wrangle cables… and who can blame them? Not us, which is why several folks at The Verge own Baseus’ handy, retractable USB-C option. The Free2Pull comes in two sizes, each of which conveniently pulls the excess cable into a small puck that’s far tidier and easier to manage than a loose cord.$200Most Lego creations occupy some desk or table space, which can be annoying if you’re trying to tidy up. However, every item from Lego’s Vincent van Gogh collection, which consists of several brick-ified paintings from the artist’s late-1800s heyday, can be assembled and then mounted to your wall.$220A massage gun is a gift that keeps on giving. When muscles and tendons are tight or sore, the Theragun Mini serves as a quick and easy remedy, allowing dad to get on with his day with less discomfort. The third-gen model is just a little smaller, making what was already an ultra-portable device even more compact.Birdfy Feeder 1$120$22045% off$120Looking at birds is cool, and we’re all better off spending more time doing it. And while birdwatching typically requires patience and a decent pair of binoculars, you could summon birds with Birdfy’s entry-level smart feeder, which features a 1080p camera and an app that lets you view birds up close as they munch on seeds.Xreal One smart glasses$499$499The Xreal One aren’t the most affordable augmented-reality glasses available, but they are some of the best for displaying movies and games on the go. You can connect them via USB-C to your smartphone, tablet, or handheld gaming PC, making the 84-gram spectacles the ultimate upgrade for both plane flights and your commute.$499 at Amazon$499 at XrealTime Timer MOD (Home Edition)$20$2520% off$20A basic timer may seem like a thoughtless gift, but there are many tasks we procrastinate on every day that could be more easily managed if we dedicated a little bit of time to them. A visual Pomodoro timer, such as the colorful MOD (Home Edition), is key to helping break tasks into manageable chunks or take them on all at once.Nintendo Switch 2$449$449The Switch 2 could make for a stellar gift for any dad — that is, if you can manage to preorder one ahead of the console’s arrival on June 5th. Nintendo’s latest hybrid console packs a larger 7.9-inch 1080p display, magnetic Joy-Con controllers, and a host of other minor but welcome improvements that build upon what was already a winning formula.

A small home in Wayne County, Missouri was torn apart by a tornado. An aerial image by Jeff Roberson taken on March 15 depicts chunks of stick-framed walls and half-recognizable debris strewn across a patchy lawn in an eviscerated orthography of middle-American life. Elisa Iturbe, assistant professor of Architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, describes this scene as “an image of climate impact, climate victimhood…these walls are doing the hard work of containment, of containing the rituals of human lifestyle.” Roberson’s image embodied the themes that emerged from the Projective Territories Symposium: The atomized fragility of contemporary American domesticity, the fundamental link between ways of living and modes of land tenure, and the necessary primacy of form in architecture’s response to the incoming upheaval of climate change. Lydia Kallipoliti talked about her 2024 book Histories of Ecological Design; An Unfinished Cyclopedia. (Andy Eichler) Projective Territories was hosted at Kent State University’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design on April 3 and 4. Organized and led by the CAED’s assistant professor Paul Mosley, the symposium brought Iturbe, Columbia University’s associate professor Lydia Kallipoliti, California College of the Arts’ associate professor Neeraj Bhatia, and professor Albert Pope of Rice University to Kent, Ohio, to discuss the relationship between territory and architecture in the face of climate change. “At its core, territory is land altered by human inhabitation,” read Mosley’s synopsis. “If ensuring a survivable future means rethinking realities of social organization, economy, and subsistence, then how might architecture—as a way of thinking and rethinking the world—contribute to these new realities?” Projective Territories kicked off on the afternoon of April 3 with a discussion of Bhatia’s Life After Property exhibition hosted at the CAED’s Armstrong Gallery. The exhibition collected drawings, renderings, and models by Bhatia’s practice The Open Workshop on a puzzle-piece shaped table constructed from plywood and painted blue. Nestled into the table’s geometric subtractions, Bhatia, Pope, Mosley, and CAED associate professor Taraneh Meshkani discussed Bhatia’s research into the commons: A system of land tenure by which communities manage and share resources with minimal reliance on the state through an ethic of solidarity, mutualism, and reciprocity. Neeraj Bhatia presented new typologies for collective living. (Andy Eichler) The symposium’s second day was organized into a morning session, “The Erosion of Territory,” with lectures by Kallipoliti and Iturbe, and an afternoon session, “The Architecture of Expanding Ecologies,” with lectures by Bhatia and Pope. Mosley’s introduction to “The Erosion of Territory” situated Kallipoliti and Iturbe’s work in a discussion about “how territories have been historically shaped by extraction and control and are unraveling under strain.” Lydia Kallipoliti’s lecture “Ecological Design; Cohabiting the World” presented questions raised by her 2024 book Histories of Ecological Design; An Unfinished Cyclopedia, which she described as “an attempt to clarify how nature as a concept was used in history.” Kallipoliti proposed an ecological model that projects outward from domestic interiors to the world to generate a “universe of fragmented worldviews and a cloud of stories.” Iturbe’s “Transgressing Immutable Lines” centered on her research into the formal potentials for Community Land Trusts—nonprofits that own buildings in trust on existing real estate. Iturbe described these trusts as “Not just a juridical mechanism, but a proposal for rewriting the relationship between land and people.” “Ecology is the basis for a more pleasurable alternative,” said Mosley in his introduction to the day’s second session. “Cooperation and care aren’t the goals, but the means of happiness.” An exhibition complementing the symposium shared drawings, renderings, and models. (Andy Eichler) Neeraj Bhatia’s lecture “Life After Property” complemented the previous days’ exhibition, problematizing the housing crisis as an ideological commitment to housing rooted in market speculation. Bhatia presented new typologies for collective living with the flexibility to formally stabilize the interpersonal relationships that define life in the commons. Albert Pope finished the day’s lectures with “Inverse Utopia,” presenting work from his 2024 book of the same name, which problematizes postwar American urban sprawl as an incapability to visualize the vast horizontal expansion of low-density development. Collectively, the day’s speakers outlined a model that situated the American domestic form at the center of the global climate crisis. Demanding complete separation from productive territories, this formal ideology of the isolated object is in a process of active dismemberment under climate change. The speakers’ proposed solutions were unified under fresh considerations of established ideas of typology and form, directly engaging politics of the collective as an input for shaping existing space. As Friday’s session drew to a close, the single-family home appeared as a primitive relic which architecture must overcome. Albert Pope’s images of tower complexes in Hong Kong and council estates in London that house thousands appeared as visions of the future. “The only way we can begin to address this dilemma is to begin to understand who we are in order to enlist the kinds of collective responses to this problem,” said Pope. Walker MacMurdo is an architectural designer, critic, and adjunct professor who studies the relationship between architecture and the ground at Kent State University’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design.