Opportunity Rover Tops This Week's Internet News Roundup
The internet also said "hello, again" to more government shutdown talk last week.

Digging Into Self-Driving Data and More Car News This Week
Plus: We bid adieu to the Airbus A380, Amazon makes a move, and we take a tour of the gear that keeps Nascar racers on the oval.

How the Brain Keeps Its Memories in the Right Order
A long-standing mystery in neuroscience is how the brain attaches a timestamp to our memories. Researchers now may have identified a neural mechanism.

What Is Credential Stuffing?
What happens to all those emails and passwords that get leaked? They're frequently used to try to break into users' other accounts across the internet.

This Company Takes the Grunt Work Out of Using the Cloud
HashiCorp has won fans among developers, and a billion-dollar valuation, by automating the mundane tasks of setting up and configuring servers.

Fossil Sport Smartwatch Review: A (Mostly) Solid WearOS Watch
Even with some flaws, it's almost certainly the best WearOS smartwatch you can buy.

Chinese Surveillance, Facebook Tracking, and More Security News This Week
3-D printed rifles, Iran missile hacking, and more of the week's top security news.

The Pentagon Needs to Woo AI Experts Away From Big Tech
Opinion: Without more DOD investment, there just aren’t enough incentives to lure talent away from high-paying jobs with great benefits into a life of public service.

Sci-Fi Author Robert Heinlein Was Basically MacGyver
Gregory Benford's new book portrays the writer as a man of action and improvised traps.

Space Photos of the Week: The Trail of Opportunity and More
As hard as it is to say goodbye to our favorite little rover, the mission had a hell of a run on Mars.

28 Best President's Day Sales on Laptops, TVs, Gear (2019)
We found the best tech bargains for the long holiday weekend from Beats, Dyson, and more.

The Soothing Promise of Our Own Artisanal Internet
As unease with Big Tech grows, some prescribe a slower, less viral online existence. "Eat independent sites, mostly not Facebook."

Uber Sues NYC to Kill Its Ride-Hail Car Cap
New York's mayor says the rule, which halts the granting of new licenses, is vital for reining in congestion. Uber says the city is overreaching.

Hacks, Nudes, and Breaches: It's Been a Rough Month for Dating Apps
Trouble at OKCupid, Coffee Meets Bagel, and Jack'd have made February a bad stretch for romantics online.

Trump Declared an Emergency Based on Data That Doesn’t Exist
As he declared a national emergency Friday, President Trump repeatedly dismissed statistics and reports produced by his own government.

Gadget Lab Podcast: The Allure of OG Usernames
Product designer Chris Messina snagged @chris as his Instagram name. It’s been awesome—and terrible. Plus: Amazon splits with NYC, on the Gadget Lab podcast.

With HQ2, New York and Amazon Played a Zero Sum Game—And Everyone Lost
With the HQ2 split, New York lost a chance for a more diverse economy. Amazon lost a chance to engage with critics. And in it all, America lost out too.

California's Rain Was a 'Cat 4' Atmospheric River. Wait, What?
All that rain drenching California this week came from an atmospheric river. A new rating scale would tell you how much water is fueling the system.

A 7-Year Journey Across the US, One Highway at a Time
Joshua Dudley Greer traveled 100,000 miles up and down US interstates for his new book 'Somewhere Along the Line'.

'Metro Exodus' Brings the Series' Grim Atmosphere Aboveground
By taking the 'Metro' titles out of the Metro, 4A Games is conducting a massive experiment—one that mostly succeeds.

How to migrate all of your Android contacts to Google
Jack Wallen walks you through the process of migrating your contacts from your phone's local storage to your Google account.

Network recovery advice: Experts weigh in
In the old days, you just had redundant everything, and disaster recovery meant switching over. Not so in the world of cloud computing, security nightmares, and virtual everything.

5 free alternatives to Microsoft Excel
If you don't want to pay for an expensive Microsoft Office subscription, here are five alternatives to Excel that you can get for free today.

Tap the iStat Menus app for system information on the macOS menu bar
Apple minimizes distractions within its designs, and sometimes this makes performance monitoring difficult. Find out how the iStat Menus app solves this problem.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e: A cheat sheet
The new Android device has been redesigned to make it ultra-portable. The Galaxy Tab S5e is the first Samsung tablet to feature Bixby 2.0.

71% of successful MSPs store client information in private cloud, report says
By embracing the cloud, security, and data protection, MSPs aim to stay ahead of competitors, according to a Kaseya report.

Study: The 4 software development trends that will dominate 2019
The software development landscape is changing, but developers are using four key methods to handle it, according to an Atlassian survey.

How to set up a DHCP server with Ubuntu server 18.04
If you want to control how DHCP addresses are given out, you can do so with the help of Ubuntu Server.

Autonomous cars are not ready for public deployment
Despite the hype surrounding self-driving cars, human intervention is consistently required for its functionality, according to Consumer Watchdog.

10 tech companies with generous parental leave benefits
Reddit, Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM are some of the tech companies offering employees paid parental leave, adoption assistance, fertility treatments, and other helpful resources for parents.

How to install Kitematic on Pop!_OS
If you're looking for a top-notch Docker GUI, look no further than Kitematic.

Infographic: The most important skills needed in the future workforce
As the workforce evolves, so do in-demand skill sets, according to Bongo.

The year 2018 was the second most active year on record for data breaches, report says
Despite a slight dip in the total number of breaches it was still a banner year for hackers focused on stealing data from websites, according to a Risk based Security report.

Report: Industrial control systems face uphill security battles in 2019
A trio of reports from ICS security firm Dragos point out what was learned in 2018 and give industrial security teams some tips for making 2019 less dangerous.

Copy an Excel sheet from one workbook to another
Susan Harkins shows you two quick ways to copy data from one Excel workbook to another.

Chinese surveillance company found tracking 2.5 million people
Security vulnerabilities are horrible, but one of them is shedding light on the reach of the Chinese surveillance state. Security researcher Victor Gevers discovered that facial recognition firm SenseNets left a surveillance database completely expo...

UK parliament report will call for 'sweeping' regulation of Facebook
The UK Parliament's Facebook document dump is close to creating serious legal trouble for the social network. According to The Guardian, the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee plans to release a report on February 18th calling on the UK gov...

'Selfie harm' and the damage done by social media
With a new project called Selfie Harm, photographer John Rankin Waddell, better known as Rankin, wanted to see the role social media played on self image in young people. He took photos of a group of teens aged 13 to 19, then asked them to spend a fe...

Lightsaber Academy helps you practice your Jedi swing
Toy lightsabers are a lot of fun: Kids love to strike poses, swing them through the air and jab the weapons at their friends as they pretend to be Luke Skywalker, Rey or even Darth Vader and Kylo Ren. But what they can't do with a standard lightsaber...

'Overwatch' action figures and Monopoly are coming this spring
Hasbro is about to give you many, many ways to flaunt your Overwatch fandom beyond the occasional Nerf gun. It's launching a series of toys and games themed around the character-driven shooter, including Monopoly Overwatch Collector's Edition. The $5...

The best portable power stations
By Sarah Witman This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commission. Read the full portable power stations guide here....

After Math: Love is in the AR
While most of us are still recovering from the frenzied orgy of capitalist affection that is Valentine's Day, companies from all over the industry continue to fly forth like arrows fired from Cupid's bow. Google announced it will be spreading some of...

NASA backs tiny 3D-printed sensors for planetary rovers
Nanomaterials might just prove the key to the next wave of planetary rovers. NASA has poured $2 million into a Goddard Space Flight Center team developing 3D-printed sensors whose nanomaterials make them tiny, ultra-sensitive and resistant to radiat...

Congress oversight body recommends GDPR-style privacy laws
Tim Cook and the Senators pushing for US version of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules have found an ally in the Government Accountability Office. In a report publishing its findings for a study commissioned by the House Energy...

UK will track thousands of criminals with GPS tags
It's not a novel idea to make criminals wear GPS bracelets, but they could soon be relatively commonplace in the UK. The country's government plans to use them for around-the-clock monitoring of criminals across England and Wales by the summer, with...

TCL's folding phone projects include a watch-like bracelet
Multiple companies have ideas as to how they'll develop folding smartphones. TCL, however, isn't content to settle on one -- it's seemingly tackling them all. CNET has obtained images and patent filings that show TCL exploring five foldable designs...

Razer closes its game store after 10 months
Razer is learning a hard lesson about the challenges of launching a game store. The hardware giant is closing the Razer Game Store on February 28th at 4AM Eastern as part of "realignment plans." It'll still honor pre-orders and notes that games wil...

Google's AR tools make it easier for apps to apply face filters
Augmented reality experiences are still in their relative infancy, but because Android runs on so many devices, it can't always assume they'll have dedicated hardware to create extra effects. While Apple is already pushing ahead with AR and packed an...

LG's first 5G phone will likely be the V50 ThinQ for Sprint
LG and Sprint haven't been shy about their plans to launch a 5G smartphone in 2019. Now, though, you might be looking at the device in question. Well-known scoop provider Evan Blass has obtained an image of the V50 ThinQ, a Sprint-bound flagship with...

Owleez is the mutant offspring of a cuddly pet and a helicopter
Ask any parent of a school-aged child and they'll probably tell you nurturing toys are big now. Those are the ones where petting and feeding it are not optional activities, thanks to a series of sensors embedded under the plaything's surface. It'...

Apple buys the voice tech startup behind Hello Barbie
Apple has acquired PullString, the startup behind the voice technology powering the interactive "Hello Barbie" doll Mattel released in 2015. PullString, previously known as ToyTalk, was founded back in 2011 by former Pixar employees. Its AI platform...

Air Hogs' new racer is the Spider-Man of remote-controlled cars
Spin Master's AirHogs brand is, like it says in the name, primarily a toy aircraft line today. Remote-controlled planes, helicopters and, of course, drones. But occasionally it will hit the ground with some cool land vehicles like race cars, tank...

Facebook suspends Pages from Russia-linked viral video company
Facebook's crackdown on Russia-linked accounts has usually taken down outlets with a relatively small presence, but its latest move is more substantial. The social network has suspended three Pages from Maffick Media, a viral video outlet that has r...

Twitter can keep copies of your deleted DMs for years
Twitter might still have copies of your DMs saved in its system even if it's been years since you deactivated your account. Security researcher Karan Saini told TechCrunch that he found years-old messages in an archive of his Twitter data -- which yo...

Samsung stops releasing Blu-ray players in the US
Did you notice that Samsung hasn't made a peep about Blu-ray players at CES or other recent trade shows? There's a good reason for it: the company is exiting the category in the US. Samsung told Forbes and CNET that it's no longer introducing Blu-ray...

Recommended Reading: The best of the Best Pictures
The Best Picture championship belt Adam Nayman and Sean Fennessey, The Ringer This year's installment of the Academy Awards is set for February 24th, but ahead of the festivities, The Ringer is looking back at the best Best Pictures with a unique...

How ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ triumphed over the uncanny valley
When the first trailer for the live action Alita: Battle Angel dropped in late December 2017, the internet was abuzz about the eponymous character's large CG eyes. Heck, even we called them "creepy" and "weird." Now that the film's finally here and I...

The Morning After: Amazon drops 'LotR' hints
Hey, good morning! You look fabulous. Welcome to your weekend! We're closing things out with a teaser from Amazon, as well as a preview of Samsung's big Galaxy S10 reveal. Some of the highlights from last week include a Zelda remake and our review o...

Amazon’s HQ2 New York plans didn’t need to end this way
After the pageantry of searching for a new spot for its headquarters, some had expected Amazon's decision to move to New York be a done deal. Not so. It took Amazon months to decide to bring one of two new headquarters to Long Island City, and mere m...

Twitter removes tweet from Iran's leader, citing company policy
Once again, Twitter has run into a sticky situation while deciding when and how to apply its content rules. Buzzfeed News reports that it removed a tweet from an (unverified) account linked to Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, the current Supreme Leader...