I played Half-Life 2 for the first time this year—here’s how it went
Wake up and smell the ashes, Ms. Washenko. It's Half-Life 2 week at Ars Technica! This Saturday, November 16, is the 20th anniversary of the release of Half-Life 2—a game of.....»»
FTC to launch investigation into Microsoft’s cloud business
Microsoft is accused of using punitive licensing terms for Azure. The Federal Trade Commission is preparing to launch an investigation into anti-competitive practices at Microsoft.....»»
Citing “decreasing” launch opportunities, ABL Space will pivot to missile defense
"Our path to making a big contribution as a commercial launch company narrowed considerably." A 7-year-old launch company that has yet to have a rocket successfully lift off annou.....»»
Six inane arguments about EVs and how to handle them at the dinner table
Need to bust anti-EV myths at the Thanksgiving dinner table? Here's how. The holiday season is fast approaching, and with it, all manner of uncomfortable conversations with relati.....»»
Half-Life 2 pushed Steam on the gaming masses… and the masses pushed back
Back in 2004, many players saw Valve’s new platform as nothing but “fancy DRM.” It's Half-Life 2 week at Ars Technica! This Saturday, November 16, is the 20th anniversary of.....»»
Faulty Colorsofts have left some Kindle owners without an e-reader
A trade-in program doesn't work too well when the new product has tech issues. The launch of the first-ever color Kindle isn't going so great. Amazon's Colorsoft began shipping on.....»»
EU fines Meta €800 million for breaking law with Marketplace
EU: Tying the free Facebook Marketplace to the social network undermines rivals. Meta has been fined nearly 800 million euros ($844.6 million) by Brussels after regulators accused.....»»
ChatGPT’s success could have come sooner, says former Google AI researcher
A co-author of Attention Is All You Need reflects on ChatGPT's surprise and Google's conservatism. In 2017, eight machine-learning researchers at Google released a groundbreaking.....»»
Are standing desks good for you? The answer is getting clearer.
Whatever your office setup, the most important thing is to move. Without question, inactivity is bad for us. Prolonged sitting is consistently linked to higher risks of cardiovasc.....»»
Microsoft finally releases generic install ISOs for the Arm version of Windows
Generic install media brings Arm PCs closer to feeling like any old x86 PC. For some PC buyers, doing a clean install of Windows right out of the box is part of the setup ritual......»»
Trump team puts EV tax credit on the block, Tesla is on board: Report
Elon Musk is on record as saying it would hurt competitors more than Tesla. Some electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are set to get less affordable from next year, it seems. As.....»»
Dragon Age: The Veilguard and the choices you make while saving the world
“Events are weaving together quickly. The fate of the world shall be decided.” BioWare’s reputation as a AAA game development studio is built on three pillars: world-buildin.....»»
After working with a dual-screen portable monitor for a month, I’m a believer
More pixels and versatility, but without the sacrifices of dual-screen PCs. Having two displays in a single device is a growing trend that appeals to people with limited desk spac.....»»
Here’s how to survive your relatives’ uninformed anti-EV rant this Thanksgiving
Need to bust anti-EV myths at the Thanksgiving dinner table? Here's how. The holiday season is fast approaching, and with it, all manner of uncomfortable conversations with relati.....»»
IBM boosts the amount of computation you can get done on quantum hardware
Incremental improvements across the hardware and software stacks add up. There's a general consensus that we won't be able to consistently perform sophisticated quantum calculatio.....»»
Trump says Elon Musk will lead “DOGE,” a new Department of Government Efficiency
Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to target "massive waste and fraud." President-elect Donald Trump today announced that a new Department of Government Efficiency—or "D.....»»
Amazon ends free ad-supported streaming service after Prime Video with ads debuts
Selling subscriptions to Prime Video with ads is more lucrative for Amazon. Amazon is shutting down Freevee, its free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service, as it heigh.....»»
How Valve made Half-Life 2 and set a new standard for future games
From physics to greyboxing, Half-Life 2 broke a lot of new ground. It's Half-Life 2 week at Ars Technica! This Saturday, November 16, is the 20th anniversary of the release of Hal.....»»
What did the snowball Earth look like?
Entire continents, even in the tropics, seems to have been under sheets of ice. By now, it has been firmly established that the Earth went through a series of global glaciations a.....»»
Tesla is recalling 2,431 Cybertrucks, and this time there’s no software fix
Owners of the affected trucks will require replacement hardware. Tesla has issued yet another recall for the angular, unpainted Cybertruck. This is the sixth recall affecting the.....»»