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2004 was a great year.

In descending order of importance, it was the year I got my first boyfriend, the year Veronica Mars came out, and the year when much of our digital world was created. It was also the year when some incredible music was released. Kazaa is long gone so we’ve put together this playlist to set the vibes as we revisit 2004. Enjoy!


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You won’t have to wait forever to play Tetris Forever.

The new playable documentary from Digital Eclipse will be released on November 12th, VGC reports. The title will include more than 15 games spanning 40 years of Tetris.


The San Diego Zoo has a new giant panda camera.

The live camera shows four-year-old female Xin Bao and five-year-old male Yun Chuan. Xin Bao can be “easily recognized by her large, round face and big ears” and Yun Chuan has a recognizable “long, slightly pointed nose,” according to the zoo.


A closeup of a panda’s face looking into a camera.
Screenshot: San Diego Zoo
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The US National Archives is pitching Google Gemini to employees.

And its example is really something:

A live demonstration of Google’s Vertex AI was given in which it pretended to be an “expert archivist” and was asked questions about the John F. Kennedy assassination. ... These questions included “Who killed Kennedy?” and “What was the CIA’s involvement in the assassination of Kennedy?” 

I see no way this could go wrong!


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Relive EGM’s history in a new book.

The EGM Compendium will chronicle the history of Electronic Gaming Monthly. The makers of the book are launching a Kickstarter for it today. The biggest backer goal? If reached, old EGM staffers would get back together to produce a new print issue.


Segway’s new two-in-one robot mower can also trim your edges.

The company’s follow-up to its sub-$1,000 robot lawnmower is the Navimow X3.

According to Segway, the new flagship model can now handle the edges of your lawn and tackle any space up to 2.5 acres without guide wires. RTK and vSlam technology power the mower’s mapping skills, and an AI-powered camera should stop it from mowing over your magnolias.


The Segway Navimow X3 robot mower will be available next Spring. Pricing has not been announced.
The Segway Navimow X3 robot mower will be available next Spring. Pricing has not been announced.
Image: Segway
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Best new music site.

Pitchfork was the music tastemaker of the blog era. Now, after media empire Condé Nast acquired it and eventually gutted the staff, several former Pitchfork writers are launching a (mostly) worker-owned music site called Hearing Things. NYT has the backstory of how it came together.

(In an era where everyone is starting newsletters, I’m excited for a new, good old fashioned homepage to bookmark.)


DJI’s Air 3S drone is a low-light all-rounder

New features include improved low-light image quality that was already great and nighttime obstacle avoidance to bring it safely home.

Oh the humanity!

B&W’s iconic Zeppelin iPod speaker has evolved over the years, culminating in today’s new £699 / $799 Zeppelin Pro Edition. It now comes in gold and gray finishes, a more colorful downlight to set the mood, and new tweeters paired with midrange drivers and a subwoofer that are said to improve the overall sound. It can be used in a multi-room setup and supports AirPlay2, Bluetooth aptX Adaptive, and Spotify Connect.


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Image: Bowers & Wilkins
Starlink Mini actually works in a backpack.

I’m working on a full review in a variety of scenarios but I’m shocked it works at all in the outer sleeve of this Peak Design backpack connected to a USB-C power bank. Once it gets satellite lock it holds on to it reasonably well for an average of 54Mbps down and 11Mbps up, despite the dish’s vertical alignment and 110-degree field of view.

I don’t know why you’d do this, but you can!


<em>The 27,600mAh (99.36Wh) 140W USB-C PD 3.1 power bank I carried could have powered this connected walk for up to three hours.</em>

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The 27,600mAh (99.36Wh) 140W USB-C PD 3.1 power bank I carried could have powered this connected walk for up to three hours.
Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
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Passkeys are getting portable.

The alliance managing the passwordless login standard is working on a way to securely move passkeys between password managers offered by 1Password, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Okta, etc. The draft specifications for secure credential exchange are now in community review.

Hopefully this will get sorted soon as passkeys inch closer to going mainstream. The last thing users want is to have their passwords locked to a tech ecosystem.


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NYC Verizon Fios customers were having some issues.

New York City Verizon customers complained about problems on Monday night as they experienced slow or intermittent internet connections reflected in this data from the connectivity trackers at Netblocks.

The number of reports on Downdetector had already been dropping, and Verizon spokesperson Ilya Hemlin confirmed it’s fixed in a statement sent to The Verge:

On Monday evening, some Fios customers in NYC briefly experienced intermittent network issues. The issue was quickly resolved and service is operating normally.

Update: The service is now back online.


Real-time metrics show US internet provider Verizon (AS701) is currently experiencing a widespread outage in New York with high impact to NYC, Queens, The Bronx and Brooklyn
Image: Netblocks (X)
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Xbox Cloud Gaming stream your own games is starting to show up.

The developer behind the Better xCloud script has found that Microsoft is already adding references to “stream your own games” to Xbox Cloud Gaming. I’m expecting to see this debut initially to Xbox Insiders next month, allowing you to stream your existing library of games to mobile devices, Amazon Fire TV sticks, and much more.


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Google has signed an agreement for nuclear energy from Kairos Power.

According to Google, the deal will help “unlock the full potential of AI for everyone”:

The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies that are powering major scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth. This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone.