Thomas Pockrandt

Aurora borealis lighting up the night sky

Just caught the northern lights over Germany! Breathtaking aurora borealis lighting up the night sky.

Nature at its finest.

Millions Used Their Computers to Search for Aliens. Now Scientists Have 100 Signals Worth a Closer Look For 21 years, the SETI@home project tapped personal computers to analyze unusual radio signals from space.

Remember when millions of people lent their home computers to search for alien life?

After 21 years, SETI@home scientists have narrowed billions of signals down to 100 mysterious ones that deserve a closer look. ✨

Tailwind's shattered business model is a grim warning for every business relying on site visits in the AI era Tailwind CSS is one of the most successful open-source projects in web development. But while the framework is booming, revenue at the company behind it has dropped 80 percent. Founder Adam Wathan bla...

Tailwind CSS explodes in use, but AI crushes revenue, team slashed.

• Docs traffic -40%, sales -80%
• 75% layoffs (3/4 engineers gone)
• Google AI sponsors survival

Harsh reality: AI skips page visits and kills ad funnels. Time to adapt - or build AI-native from day one with your next project. 🦾

What Is A Dumb Phone And Who Buys Them? - BGR Tired of constant notifications? Discover what a dumb phone is, why they are making a comeback, and who is trading in their smartphone for a simpler life.

Ever heard of a dumb phone? They’re back - but who actually uses them?

- seniors who want simple calls
- kids' as their first phones
- adults chasing a digital detox

Fewer apps, longer battery, zero doom-scrolling.📱

Not for me, but from a tech perspective, “dumb” is starting to look pretty smart.

The ‘S&P 493’ reveals a very different U.S. economy A few trillion-dollar companies are powering the market’s gains. Here’s what’s happening to most other businesses in the United States.

2025‘s stock market: S&P 500 up 12% YTD, but it’s the „Magnificent Seven“ AI stars (Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, etc.) carrying the load. The other 493? Snoozing through a weak economy.

YouTube video by Apple TV Pluribus — Official Trailer | Apple TV

They say you give a show 3 episodes to decide if it’s worth watching. Just finished episode 4 of #Pluribus and it definitely earned the hype. Vince Gilligan’s storytelling and Rhea Seehorn’s performance bring back that true quality TV show feeling.

Apple lets you upload your passport to your iPhone. Here’s how to do it Yes, you can store your U.S. passport in your Wallet app now. But don’t leave that hard copy at home just yet.

Apple finally brings a Digital ID for U.S. passports to Wallet.

How it works:
- Needs iPhone 11+ / Apple Watch 6+
- Scan passport, read chip, selfie for setup
- Present at 250+ TSA checkpoints in U.S. airports!

Cool step for travel, but not for international trips yet. 🛫

California bans noisy ads on Netflix, YouTube, and other streaming services The end to volume jumpscares is in sight.

From July 2026, streaming ads on Netflix, YouTube, and more won’t be louder than its shows anymore. No more sudden volume jumps ruining the vibe. Finally, some peace for tired ears! 🔉

New iPhone game RidePods uses clever AirPods trick for steering - 9to5Mac RidePods is a new iPhone racing game on the App Store that lets you steer hands-free thanks to the motion tracking capabilities of AirPods.

AirPods aren’t just for music or calls—now they can be game controllers too. 🎮

The game RidePods uses head tracking so you steer a motorcycle by simply tilting your head.

It’s a playful, hands-free twist on iPhone gaming, supported on most recent AirPods models. 🏍️

NYC’s newest EV charger hangs 10 feet high on a lamppost The Voltpost Air, a 10-foot-high lamppost EV charger, was launched in Brooklyn, offering faster installs and more reliable urban charging.

NYC just got a quirky new EV charger—mounted 10ft up on a lamppost.

How it’s done:
- Retractable cable avoids clutter + damage
- Works on wood or metal poles
- Level 2 charging, up to 9.6 kW
- Pay by tap or app

Feels very NYC: Even the EV chargers dream of being skyscrapers. 🏙️⚡️

Major Amazon Prime Benefit Faces Crackdown Next Month Amazon plans to end its Prime Invitee program soon. Here's how this could affect your deliveries.

Amazon is ending Prime Invitee Oct 1. No more sharing free shipping outside your household — you’ll need your own $15/mo Prime. The “Amazon Family” plan only works if you live together. 📦

Chance to rethink: is Prime really worth it to subscribe on your own?

California man sues Microsoft over Windows 11 upgrades : He wants Microsoft to keep supporting Windows 10 until its market share drops below 10%

California man sues Microsoft over “forced” Windows 11 switch. He wants free Win10 updates until less than 10% use it.

He claims:
- His laptops can’t run Win11
- Win10 support ends too soon
- Upgrade is about AI + profit

If you don’t go with the times, Microsoft will make you go with the times. 🤦‍♂️

Caffeine Flip-Flops a 500-Million-Year-Old Switch to Slow Aging Scientists have discovered that caffeine doesn’t just perk up your brain—it energizes your cells in a way that could slow aging. By flipping on an ancient fuel-sensing enzyme called AMPK, caffeine ind...

Kind of addicted to my daily coffee—and turns out science is finally on my side 😅

Caffeine does more than wake you up:

- Activates ancient enzyme AMPK ⚡️
- Boosts DNA repair & stress resistance 🛠️
- May slow aging at the cellular level ⏳

In that case, time for another one ☕️

Watch Haptic Trailer - Apple TV+

Apple’s new haptic trailer for the F1 movie syncs iPhone vibrations with engine revs, curbs, and gear shifts. It adds a tactile edge that suits a sport built on feel. More a tech demo than a game-changer, but still a smart use case. 🏎️

Philips will let you fix your trimmer with 3D printable parts and accessories Fix it, don’t toss it.

Keep losing or breaking your trimmer parts? Philips now lets you 3D print your own at home—starting with the OneBlade comb. It’s free, easy, and helps cut down on waste. ♻️

Everyone Says They’ll Pay More for “Made in the USA.” So We Ran an A/B When we priced a U.S.-made version of our flagship product 85% higher than our Chinese-made one, 25,650 customers had the chance to vote with their wallets. Here’s what happened. As small business own...

Same showerhead: one made in Asia for $129, one made in the USA for $239. 25,650 people looked — nobody bought the U.S. version. According to this A/B test by brand Afina, price still matters more than good intentions.

Paris air pollution is down 50% after its radical bike-friendly transformation Cars have been banned from more than 100 streets. Tens of thousands of parking spots have been eliminated. Hundreds of miles of bike lanes have been added. And air pollution is plummeting.

Paris cut air pollution by 50%—just by making it easier to bike. 🚲

- 100+ car-free streets
- 100,000+ parking spots removed
- Hundreds of miles of bike lanes

Now it feels more like Copenhagen: clean air, quieter streets, and a city made for people, not traffic. 🌳

Amazon Equips Some Drivers in Europe With Defibrillators - TT Amazon.com Inc. equipped some delivery vans in Europe with defibrillators to see if drivers crisscrossing residential areas could speed up aid to heart attack victims.

Amazon’s vans might save lives, not just deliver packages. Amazon tested defibrillators in delivery vans—drivers often reach heart attack victims faster than EMTs.

- Piloted in 3 European cities
- 100+ trained drivers
- Often beat emergency services

Looking forward to a global rollout. 🚨

Updated Northern Lights Forecast: These 15 States May See Aurora Borealis Tonight Amid Geomagnetic Storm Winds from a spot on the sun’s surface may affect Earth’s magnetic field, forecasters said.

Want to see something spectacular? Look up!
The Northern Lights might be visible TONIGHT!

You might see them in MT, ND, MN, MI, WI, NY, VT & ME
Best time: 10pm-2am

Go somewhere dark, look up, and enjoy the show!
Use night mode for pics & share if you see them! 🌌

Nearly 1.6 million Android TV devices have been infected by Vo1d malware While Vo1D hasn't reached the US in any sizable numbers, it's a reminder to keep all your connected devices secure, including TVs.

Nearly 1.6M Android TV devices have been infected by the Vo1d malware, peaking on Jan 14. While North America isn’t hit hard yet, it’s a wake-up call: update your TV’s firmware, enable auto-updates, and stick to trusted app stores. Your smart TV is just as vulnerable as your phone or PC.

Code completion in GitHub Copilot for Xcode is now generally available · GitHub Changelog Code completion in GitHub Copilot for Xcode is now generally available

I’ve always loved how Xcode makes building iPhone and iPad apps possible. With GitHub Copilot, coding feels smoother—less repetition, more focus on real problem-solving. It’s amazing to see how AI is opening the door for more people to create, making programming more accessible, intuitive, and fun.📱

YouTube video by Summoning Alt Mike Tyson in 1:59.97 (World Record)

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out is a legendary game that's tested players for years. After 75,000 attempts over 5 years, Summoning Salt has finally defeated Tyson in under 2 minutes for the first time. A perfect mix of skill and luck made it happen, marking history in gaming! 🥊💥

Wiz Research Uncovers Exposed DeepSeek Database Leaking Sensitive Information, Including Chat History | Wiz Blog A publicly accessible database belonging to DeepSeek allowed full control over database operations, including the ability to access internal data. The exposure includes over a million lines of log str...

Even disruptors can make basic security mistakes. DeepSeek left its database wide open, exposing sensitive data.

Key lessons:
- AI security isn’t just about future threats—basics matter
- Simple misconfigurations cause major risks
- Rapid growth needs strong security
- Innovation needs protection 🔐

'Free Our Feeds' campaign aims to billionaire-proof Bluesky’s tech | TechCrunch The initiative, Free Our Feeds, aims to protect Bluesky’s underlying technology, the AT Protocol, and leverage it to create an open social media ecosystem that can’t be controlled by a single company ...

Social media shouldn’t belong to billionaires. @freeourfeeds.com is working to keep Bluesky’s tech open and fair for everyone. Imagine apps like Instagram or TikTok, but no one owns the roads we all use. A better internet, built for the people.

30 years ago Tomorrow's World predicted 2025 - how did it do? From space junk gel to hologram surgery, the team had lots of intriguing predictions. Which, if any, came true?

In 1995, Tomorrow’s World imagined life in 2025.

Here’s how it went:
- Robots doing surgery? Check!
- Holograms everywhere? Not quite—think smart speakers.
- Mining asteroids? Still a dream.

Big ideas, some progress, and plenty to look forward to. 🚀
Nice read.

NYC Wants You to Stop Taking Traffic Cam Selfies, But Here's How to Do It Anyway The Traffic Cam Photobooth website from artist Morry Kolman lets you snap a pic as you pass a public camera. New York officials responded with a cease-and-desist, but Kolman is undeterred.

Turning traffic cams into a giant public selfie machine is such a creative idea. Morry Kolman turned surveillance tech into interactive art, making it feel absurd and playful while making a statement. Now NYC wants him to stop. 📸

Rumor has it: Valve’s gearing up to take on Sony, Xbox, and even Meta—living room consoles, wireless VR, SteamOS devices, and more. Imagine playing anywhere with hardware made for gamers, by gamers. Maybe Steam Deck was just the start... 🔥

Does closing apps on your iPhone save battery life? The surprising answer is no – here's why Mythbuster: It's satisfying, but not particularly effective

This answers a question I had for some time: Does closing apps save battery? Not really. Apple says apps in the background don’t drain power, and reopening them uses more.

Better tips:
- Only close frozen apps
- Use Low Power Mode to save battery
- Keep iOS updated

No need to force quit apps. 🔋

California will offer EV rebates if Trump kills federal tax credits | TechCrunch California is committed to zero-emission vehicles, even if the federal mood shifts.  The state's governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said Monday that

California’s EV future? Still on track. If Trump ends the $7,500 tax credit, here is the Governors plan:

- Bring back state EV rebates
- Fund them with polluters’ dollars
- Help more Californians go electric

Clean cars, affordable options, and zero turning back. ⚡

YouTube video by Coca-Cola The Holiday Magic is coming.

Coca-Cola’s new AI generated Christmas ads are getting roasted online:
- Fans say the magic feels lost
- Glitches, weird vibes and proportions in the footage
- Critics call it a cheap move to cut costs

Some say it’s playful, what do you think? 🎄

Read more: www.forbes.com/sites/danidi...