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‘Toy Story 5’ Surges Toward a Historic $1 Billion Box Office Milestone
Toy Story 5 is on course to become the third billion-dollar film of 2026, having passed $900 million worldwide after five weekends in cinemas. The Pixar sequel, featuring the returning voice cast of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Joan Cusack, is proving both a commercial success and a critical hit, reinforcing the strength of the…
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Lisa Nandy Stays in Post as U.K. Culture Secretary, Kanishka Narayan Appointed First AI Minister
New UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has reshuffled his cabinet but kept Lisa Nandy in place as Culture Secretary, making her one of the longest-serving holders of the role in a post that has seen frequent turnover. The decision brings continuity to a department currently handling several major issues affecting the country’s media and screen…
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Prince Harry concedes that Harry Styles is the UK’s most famous Harry
Prince Harry has publicly acknowledged that pop star Harry Styles is Britain’s most famous Harry, ranking himself only third behind Styles and England footballer Harry Kane. The admission came during an appearance on James Corden’s US chat show After Hours, where the royal was pressed by Corden and co-host Rio Ferdinand to give a “bold”…
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Social Darwinists to tech bros: tracing the long fight against equality in US
Historian Kim Phillips-Fein’s new book, Country of Lords, traces a long lineage of American thinkers and figures who have resisted the ideal of equality, from founding father John Adams to modern tech figures such as Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. Published amid celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the book arrives…
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Forget the mojito: Experts say Ernest Hemingway’s signature drink was likely something else
Ernest Hemingway’s supposed love of mojitos, celebrated each year at Florida bars around his July birthday, is likely more legend than fact, according to scholars. Mark Ott, a Hemingway expert, says the association is “more myth than reality”, and the drink most closely tied to the author through his writing and personal habits was actually…
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Who’s afraid of the big, bad GPU?
A feature from The Verge examines the environmental and ethical costs of GPUs, the chips powering the current AI boom, arguing that scrutiny should extend beyond AI data centres to the broader history and use of graphics processors. The piece notes that hundreds of thousands of GPUs are being installed in data centres worldwide, but…
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Scalding hot AI accelerators have put datacenters in hot water. Two-phase cooling could chill them out
US startup Accelsius has commissioned research suggesting datacentres could cut cooling costs significantly by switching to two-phase cooling fluids for AI accelerators, which run far hotter than traditional server chips. The approach matters because the ongoing AI datacentre building boom, combined with rising electricity costs and supply constraints, has made cooling efficiency an increasingly important…
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A Device Hidden in Cars Across the US Leaves Them Vulnerable to Hacking and Paralysis. Patch It Now
Security researchers at UC San Diego have discovered a serious vulnerability in the KARR Security System, an aftermarket car alarm fitted to more than two million vehicles across the United States. The flaw allows anyone within Bluetooth range to remotely unlock a vehicle, disable its alarm, sound the horn, flash the lights, or even cut…
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As Sony plans to kill discs, PS5 publisher says “physical games help us reach audiences that digital often can’t,” even if “digital distribution has made games more accessible”
A publisher working on PlayStation 5 titles has defended the continued value of physical games, even as Sony moves towards phasing out disc-based releases. The publisher argued that physical copies allow games to reach audiences that digital storefronts often struggle to reach, highlighting a tension between industry trends towards all-digital distribution and the continued demand…
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BBC Staff In Town Hall Revolt Over 1% Pay Rise, Job Cuts & Romesh Ranganathan Ad: “It’s Insulting”
BBC staff confronted director-general Matt Brittin at a heated town hall meeting on Monday, criticising a proposed 1% pay rise, anxiety over 2,000 planned job losses, and a new advertising campaign fronted by comedian Romesh Ranganathan. Employees said the below-inflation pay offer was “insulting” and made them feel like “second-rate citizens”, with some suggesting it…