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NSO Group, one of the most well-known and controversial makers of government spyware, released a new transparency report on Wednesday, as the company enters what it described as “a new phase of accountability.” But the report, unlike NSO’s previous annual disclosures, lacks details about how many customers the company rejected, investigated, suspended, or terminated due to human rights abuses involving its surveillance tools. While the report contains promises to respect human rights and have controls to demand its customers do the same, the report provides no concrete evidence supporting either.  Experts and critics who have followed NSO and the spyware…

you’ve probably seen a smart bird feeder or know someone who has one. They’re fairly recognizable from a distance with their clear housing, cameras, and solar panels, and perhaps a friend or family member has sent you a photo or video of a bright goldfinch or handsome woodpecker (guilty). The question at this point, then, is whether these things are really worth the $100-plus price tag. Are they actually durable? And what about the squirrel problem?Lucky for you, we’ve been testing the most popular smart bird feeder models, including Netvue’s original Birdfy Lite feeder ($140) and Birdbuddy’s Pro ($179), for…

Week of December 29The period between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve feels like no man’s land. No one knows what to make of it. That includes the evening news shows. For instance, NBC News does not have any weekly averages. None of its telecasts were categorized as regular telecasts.Note: The weekly averages for ABC News, NBC News, and CBS News are based on different periods: ABC News’ average covers two days (Monday-Wednesday). It’s Wednesday (12/31/25) broadcast was preempted, coded as a special on Thursday (1/1/26), and retitled to WNT-ABC on Friday (1/2/26). NBC News’ broadcast was retitled to NBC…

WordPress 6.9 arrives on December 2, 2025, and it’s not just another incremental update. This release marks the beginning of Phase 3 of Gutenberg—the collaboration phase—and introduces features that fundamentally reshape how teams work together in WordPress. At the heart of this release is Notes, a feature we’re particularly proud to see land, given that Human Made sponsors Adam Silverstein, the WordPress core committer who has been instrumental in bringing collaborative editing to the platform. For enterprise teams managing complex content workflows, this is the release we’ve been waiting for. Block-Level Notes: Real-Time Collaboration Comes to WordPress The headline feature of…

Internet connectivity collapsed across Iran on Thursday amid nationwide protests, according to web monitoring firms.  “I think we’re at a near-total disconnection from the outside world now,” Amir Rashidi, an Iranian cybersecurity researcher who works for the nonprofit Miaan Group, told TechCrunch.  Doug Madory, the director of internet analysis at Kentik, a company that monitors internet traffic worldwide, concurred, telling TechCrunch that Iran’s internet has been in “near-total blackout” since around 11:30 a.m. on the U.S. east coast on Thursday, or 8 p.m. local time in Tehran. A chart showing how internet traffic dropped in Iran on Thursday around 11:30…

If you insist on using biometric unlocking methods to have faster access to your devices, keep in mind that some phones have an emergency function to disable these types of locks. Hold the wake button and one of the volume buttons simultaneously on an iPhone, for instance, and it will lock itself and require a passcode to unlock rather than FaceID or TouchID, even if they’re enabled. Most devices also let you take photos or record video without unlocking them first, a good way to keep your phone locked as much as possible.Your FaceFace recognition has become one of the…

Florian “Flo” Adamski, the chief executive of Omnicom Media, is bullish on the future of his newly reshaped organization. The company absorbed much of IPG Mediabrands—and retired some divisions—as part of its parent Omnicom’s $13.5 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group, finalized in late November.As Adamski looks to steer the overhauled organization, the longtime media exec is leaning into an ethos of “agency as a platform,” he said at ADWEEK House during the CES technology conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday. “When you look at a modern client, what they’re seeking are two things,” he said. “Number one, first and foremost,…

AI is reshaping how organisations plan, produce, and manage content — but not everyone is starting from the same place. In our recent AI Readiness Research Report, published in partnership with WordPress VIP, digital leaders made one thing clear: becoming AI-ready isn’t a single initiative. It’s a multidimensional architecture, technology, governance, operations, and strategy. Across 99 responses, patterns emerged, from common challenges, to shared priorities, and clear indicators of what it takes to build an AI-ready foundation. Those insights form the five pillars below: the essential areas that determine whether your organisation can harness AI responsibly and at scale. Each…

The BlackBerry is back — sort of — thanks to the latest product from the mobile keyboard maker, Clicks Technology, which last week announced its debut phone, the $499 Communicator, which sports a physical keyboard. The company is also offering a separate $79 slide-out physical keyboard that fits to any device. At CES, TechCrunch chatted with Clicks chief marketing officer and co-founder, Jeff Gadway, and went hands-on with the latest handmade prototype of the forthcoming smartphone. The device, which offers a BlackBerry-like keyboard and messaging-focused touchscreen, runs Android 16 under the hood. That means the Communicator can run any Android…

Creatine monohydrate is typically sold as a flavorless, white powder that you can mix into water or a shake. According to Amati, the standard dose is three to five grams per day. Some athletes may “load” with higher doses, but studies show this offers no long-term benefits and can put unnecessary stress on the kidneys.Muscle Growth and Exercise PerformanceCreatine is most useful for activities that demand short, intense effort: sprinting, weightlifting, and high-intensity interval training, to name a few. It’s far less relevant for endurance sports like marathons. Some evidence suggests creatine also increases muscle glycogen storage, which could help…

This is TVNewser’s basic cable network ranker and cable news report for 2025.The non-election year didn’t help CNN and MS NOW (formerly MSNBC), as the two networks experienced double-digit year-to-year declines in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo during primetime and total day.On the other hand, Fox News posted a stronger 2025 performance with total viewer gains during primetime and total day compared to the previous year. Fox News also experienced declines in the advertiser-prized demo; however, those declines were in the single digits. Among the biggest stories, President Donald Trump, in the first year of his second term, generated the…

The 2025 State of Enterprise WordPress report offers one of the clearest pictures yet of how large organisations are using WordPress to deliver at scale. The findings reveal a platform maturing in capability, broadening in adoption, and steadily gaining influence inside enterprise technology stacks. For teams navigating digital strategy, this year’s report provides valuable insight into what is working, where investment is growing, and how leaders are thinking about the future of their CMS ecosystems. Here are the five takeaways that matter most. 1. Enterprise adoption is deepening across sectors and regions WordPress is not only well established in the…

Spangle, an AI e-commerce startup founded by former Bolt CEO Maju Kuruvilla, has raised $15 million in a new funding round, valuing the company at $100 million after the investment. Led by NewRoad Capital Partners, the all-equity Series A round comes over a year after the Seattle-based startup raised a $6 million seed round at a $30 million pre-money valuation. Madrona, DNX Ventures, Streamlined Ventures, and strategic angel investors also participated, bringing total funding to $21 million, according to the startup. Retailers are facing changes in how consumers discover products online, as AI tools, social platforms, and recommendation engines increasingly…

Google is putting even more generative AI tools into Gmail as part of its goal to further personalize user inboxes and streamline searches. On Thursday, the company announced a new “AI Inbox” tab, currently in a beta testing phase, that reads every message in a user’s Gmail and suggests a list of to-dos and key topics, based on what it summarizes.In Google’s example of what this AI Inbox could look like in Gmail, the new tab takes context from a user’s messages and suggests they reschedule their dentist appointment, reply to a request from their child’s sports coach, and pay…

As backing out of plans becomes increasingly normalized, Miller Lite positions itself as a reason to follow through on them. Today (Jan. 8), the brand debuted a new creative platform, “Legendary Moments Start with a Lite,” starring actor Christopher Walken.Created by agency Leo Chicago, the campaign comprises three ads that champion the joy of connecting in real life over a beer. It was inspired by research last year that found nearly 60% of adults admit to canceling plans at least once a month. The first spot, “Ditch the Apps,” features Walken quietly admonishing a young man who would seemingly rather focus on…

On December 10th Human Made co-hosted a webinar with WordPress VIP taking a deep dive on our recent AI Ready research project. You can find the recording right here: The conversation saw Human Made CEO, Tom Wilmot and WordPress VIP Technical Account Manager, James Giroux discussing key findings from the report, as well as exploring the wider issues it raises around the challenges and opportunities that exist for enterprise organisations looking to harness the power of AI. Read the full AI Readiness Report here. Keep exploring: More insights from the AI Readiness project If you’re interested in diving deeper into the…