“Beyond being a massive sphere of turbulent incandescent plasma, the sun has a lot of internal drama, too. For example, every 11 years its north and south poles swap places and the magnetic turmoil produces more sun spots, solar flares, and space weather. These periods of intense solar activity are called solar maximums, and we’re currently in one (which peaked in October of 2024). On our planet, these maximums spark more brilliant aurorae stretching from the poles closer to the equator, visible to more Earth-bound humans.” | | Groceries and gas aren’t getting cheaper, and a Costco Gold Star Membership is one of the more practical responses to that: member pricing on fuel, bulk pricing on the stuff you’re already buying, and access to more than 900 warehouses worldwide. This one also includes a $50 Digital Costco Shop Card*, the largest amount we’ve seen attached to this offer, good in-warehouse or online on anything they sell. Get it soon before it’s gone. [Ad] | | “Siri AI is iOS 27’s most impactful addition. The rebuilt voice assistant finally delivers on the promises made by Apple Intelligence in 2024: it can pull user data from previous interactions, understand on-screen content, and execute in-app actions. The update goes even further by equipping Siri with real-time world knowledge and housing it in a dedicated app, where users can have back-and-forth conversations. In other words, the new Siri has evolved into a proper AI chatbot that — in theory — can compete against the likes of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Feeling skeptical? To find out whether Siri AI can effectively replace ChatGPT on my iPhone, I decided to spend a week solely relying on Apple’s new chatbot app. Here are my findings.” | | “It’s three weeks until Mississippi’s standardized test season begins, and Candace Hamberlin is feeling the pressure. Evidence of what’s at stake hangs all around Jefferson County Middle School, where Hamberlin is in her first year teaching eighth-grade English. Inside her classroom, a large piece of black polyester with clear pouches labeled ‘Data Wall’ shows the current reading level of each student. The school hallways are lined with posters listing schoolwide scores on an earlier practice test. One prominently displays the grade Mississippi would assign their school if that practice test had been the real thing: 175 out of 700 points, an F. … Much of literacy instruction at Jefferson County Middle School now begins and ends with screens…” | | IntelliCode in Visual Studio Professional 2026 doesn’t just autocomplete; it learns your codebase’s patterns and ranks suggestions on what you’re likely to write next, not a generic syntax dictionary. It fills in full lines and blocks, flags refactors before bugs sneak in, and cuts the boilerplate hunting that eats a session. Because it’s built in rather than bolted on, there’s no separate subscription to manage: It just runs, quietly making you faster across .NET, C++, and everything else. [Ad] | | “Porn is a topic we tend to avoid talking about — whether it be at school, work or around the dinner table. But in Australia, roughly three-quarters of men (76%) and more than one-third of women (41%) report having looked at pornographic material in the past year. And among Australians aged 15-20, more than half (54%) of young men and one in seven (14%) young women report accessing porn weekly. You may have heard the term ‘porn addiction’ used to describe the excessive consumption of porn, in ways that disrupt a person’s life or the lives of those around them. But is porn actually addictive? Current research suggests the answer is rather complicated.” | |
Interested in having one of your social posts featured in The Futurist? | | *To receive a Digital Costco Shop Card, you must provide a valid email address at the time of sign-up. Valid only for new members and those whose memberships (Primary and Affiliate) have been expired for at least 18 months. Valid only for nonmembers for their first year of membership. Not valid for upgrade or renewal of an existing membership. Promotion may not be combined with any other promotion. Costco employees are not eligible for new member promotions. Digital Costco Shop Card will be emailed to the email address provided by the Primary Member at time of sign-up within 2 weeks after successful sign-up and enrollment in auto renewal. Digital Costco Shop Card is not redeemable for cash, except as required by law. Costco is not liable for incentives not received due to entry of an invalid address during sign-up. Digital Costco Shop Cards are not accepted at the U.S. or Canada Food Court. Neither Costco Wholesale Corporation nor its affiliates are responsible for use of the card without your permission. Use the provided single-use promo code when entering your payment information. A Costco Gold Star Membership is $65 a year. An Executive Membership is an additional $65 upgrade fee a year. Each membership includes one free Affiliate Card. May be subject to sales tax. Costco accepts all Visa cards, as well as cash, checks, debit/ATM cards, EBT and Costco Shop Cards. Departments and product selection may vary. |
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