Geeky international news on technology, business and culture.
Ending graciously
29 September 2025 @ 12:00 pm
A few decades ago, when I was raising funding for a startup, I made a lasting impression on an investor by not only talking about how successful we would be, but also highlighting what would happen if we weren’t. Later, in an informal setting, I asked him what had persuaded him to invest in us. He told me that during the pitch, I had said, “And if all our predictions and expectations are wrong, we will use the last of our funding for a magnificent farewell dinner for all our investors. You’ll have lost your money, but at least you’ll…This story continues at The Next WebHow robotics could turn e-waste into a tech goldmine
24 September 2025 @ 9:00 am
E-waste has become a global problem. Unfortunately, the majority of discarded used technology, known as e-waste, is dumped or processed in unsafe conditions. Around 78% of electronic products aren’t properly recycled — and the garbage pile keeps growing. In 2024, the world churned out 1.22 billion smartphones. Add this to the billions of TVs, laptops, and computers, and what we have is a saturated market that fuels a throwaway cycle. A United Nations report forecasts that e-waste will grow to 80 million tonnes by 2030. “That’s enough to fill 1.5 million 40-ton trucks, which could circle the planet,” says Eric…Startup wisdom: 5 prompt engineering tips for vibe coding success
24 September 2025 @ 6:03 am
Startup wisdom is a new TNW series offering practical lessons from experts who’ve helped build great companies. This week, Dainius Kavoliūnas, head of no-code platform Hostinger Horizons, shares his tips on vibe coding. Vibe coding has become an indispensable tool, especially for entrepreneurial thinkers building apps and platforms for solving everyday problems, streamlining business processes, or enhancing digital experiences. It represents a paradigm shift in software development. Instead of writing lines of code, you can now describe your requirement and have AI bring it to life. Vibe coding is fast, intuitive and opens up a new realm of possibilities where code…How European battery startups can thrive alongside Asian giants
23 September 2025 @ 9:00 am
The global battery market is experiencing unprecedented growth, with projections showing the sector will reach $400bn by 2030. Yet European entrepreneurs often feel locked out, watching Chinese giants like CATL dominate headlines with record-breaking IPOs while homegrown champions like Northvolt file for bankruptcy, exposing the harsh realities of competing against established Asian supply chains. Still, Europe will never be entirely independent in green energy and will want to cooperate with Asia. Yet the continent has strong demand for on-shoring supply, including green power and critical manufacturing. There are also genuine competitive advantages available to European green battery startups: proximity to…The EU’s €2T budget overlooks a key tech pillar: Open source
23 September 2025 @ 8:30 am
On July 16, the European Commission proposed a €2tn seven-year budget – the largest in the EU’s history – to boost autonomy, competitiveness, and resilience. The spending plan addresses cybersecurity, innovation, and other key digital pillars, but omits a crucial component: open source. Open source software – built and maintained by communities rather than private companies alone, and free to edit and modify – is the foundation of today’s digital infrastructure. Since the 1990s, it has been ever-present in the digital infrastructure that European industry and public sector institutions depend on, creating huge dependencies on open source applications and libraries. From…Opinion: Europe’s VCs must embrace risk — or resign the AI era to US control
22 September 2025 @ 8:00 am
Europe’s AI startups are losing ground to the US — and their own investors are to blame. Only 5% of global venture capital is raised in the EU, according to the European Commission. The US, by contrast, attracts more than half, while China takes 40%. Yet Europe isn’t capital-poor: households save €1.4tn a year, nearly twice as much as in America. Still, very little of that money finds its way into startups, despite a plethora of incentives like the UK’s EIS tax relief for business angels. Even when funding is available, Europe’s venture capital firms are slow and cautious. Funds…VCs are growing wary of ‘AI-washing’ – but real innovation is still winning investors
18 September 2025 @ 10:00 am
Venture capital investment surged to a 10-quarter high of €108.3bn in Q1 2025, fuelled by artificial intelligence, which accounted for over €44.6bn raised. In recent years, AI has felt like a money-printing machine. Investors, eager to avoid missing out on the next big thing, were quick to back almost any startup that mentioned AI in their pitch deck. The idea didn’t need to be particularly well-implemented or useful. In some cases, even the illusion of innovation was enough to earn a unicorn valuation. But investors are now wising up to AI-washing. As the CEO of Gradient Labs — an AI…Opinion: Ukraine is becoming a global defence tech powerhouse
17 September 2025 @ 2:00 pm
The full-scale war has reshaped priorities for Ukraine’s tech sector. Innovative military technologies and advanced defence solutions are not only essential for the country’s security — they’re also among the most promising vectors for business growth. Ukrainian defence tech is tested directly on the battlefield, under the most challenging conditions. These circumstances allow products to prove their effectiveness, attracting interest from international partners, investors, and allied countries looking to strengthen their own defence capabilities. From my position at the heart of Ukraine’s tech ecosystem, I’ve seen how quickly the sector has shifted towards defence — and how global attention is now…Startup wisdom: Why resilience is the most underrated metric in startup success
17 September 2025 @ 7:00 am
Startup wisdom is a new TNW series offering practical lessons from experts who’ve helped build great companies. This week, global traction strategist Nina Aziz Justin — founder of The Resilience Mentor — shares her approach to building resilience. In the startup world, we’re taught to obsess over metrics. Burn rate, CAC, MRR — they dominate the dashboards and drive the decisions. And yes, data matters. But there’s something quietly more essential that rarely gets the same spotlight: resilience. This piece offers a balanced perspective — one that holds space for both sides. While execution metrics are essential for traction and…Europe’s AI boom is leaving femtech behind
16 September 2025 @ 8:00 am
Left unchecked, Europe’s narrow focus on AI investment will come at the health of half its population. As venture capital floods disproportionately into the AI sector, women’s health innovation — the definition of essential infrastructure — is once again left fighting for scraps. In 2021, global femtech investment peaked at €1.89bn before plunging to just €1.1bn the next year, amid a tech funding apocalypse and capital making a headlong dash towards AI. Several factors contributed to this decline — broader market conditions, withering investor risk appetite, and natural sector maturation. But the surge in AI funding coinciding with a plunge…
Following the launch of a compact low-speed ambulance in July, California's GEM has unveiled an electric utility truck that's designed to haul gear through the neighborhood before heading to wilder work sites.Continue ReadingCategory: Automotive, TransportTags: Electric Vehicles, Truck, utv, 
A new class of weight-loss drug has shown it can significantly boost weight loss when paired with GLP-1 therapy – without adding side effects – in a mid-stage clinical trial, pointing to a powerful new combination approach to tackling obesity.Continue ReadingCategory: Obesity, Illnesses and conditions, Body and MindTags: 
Living up to its name, University of Washington spin-off company ZAP Energy's Century system is developing fusion power technology by blasting plasma with super-lightning-like pulses 12 times per minute, without relying on superconducting magnets or laser beams.Continue ReadingCategory: Energy, TechnologyTags: Nuclear Fusion, Lightning
A first-of-its-kind study has found that recognizing – and actually using – personal strengths is linked with better wellbeing and fewer mental-health symptoms in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It also mapped which “ADHD strengths” are more commonly self-endorsed, adding nuance to a field that’s often framed around deficits.Continue ReadingCategory: ADHD & Autism, Brain Health, 
You don’t become one of the world’s top motorcycle component manufacturers for nothing. For the past five years, Brembo has been working to improve the environmental impact of its manufacturing processes – and now, it's claiming a breakthrough.Continue ReadingCategory: Motorcycles, TransportTags: Motorcycle, 
A large study has found that calcium supplements, long recommended for bone health, particularly in older women, don’t increase dementia risk, offering reassurance for the millions who take them to protect against osteoporosis.Continue ReadingCategory: Wellness and Healthy Living, Body and MindTags: Vitamins and minerals
The Japan Mobility Show – which brings together major automakers to show off their upcoming vehicles in Tokyo each year – is still a couple of weeks away. Thankfully, we don't have to wait until then to see what Yamaha's got cooking, because it's totally fire.Continue ReadingCategory: Motorcycles, 
Friendships, community ties and family bonds may apply the brakes to natural cell aging, providing a simple way to invest in health in older age. In a massive new study, scientists have found that social connections are tied to slower biological aging and less chronic inflammation.Continue ReadingCategory: Aging Well, Wellness and Healthy Living, Body and MindTags: 
Once confined to Latin America, Chagas disease – a potentially deadly parasitic infection that is spread in a gross way – is now endemic in the United States, threatening both humans and their pets in what experts are calling a silent public health crisis.Continue ReadingCategory: Wellness and Healthy Living, Body and Mind
I know it's only a concept, but there are a lot of clever ideas crammed into the new Dacia Hipster electric vehicle (EV) that have me wishing I could run out and buy one right away. There's a lot more to this Kei car-inspired mockup than components built to a cost.Continue ReadingCategory: Automotive, TransportTags: Concept Cars,
I purged all contacts from my Outlook account and made sync but these contacts are still shown in Teams.
I have no Teams on phone, only on desktop.
I also tried to clean the app's cache.
Chrome at the same machines goes at this URL without any failures.
Any ideas what to change in about:config in Firefox to allow it opening this URL without such an error?
error: attempt to read or write outside of disk 'hd0'.
Entering rescue mode...
(Arrival is a fantastic movie. Watch it, but don’t stop there – read the Story of Your Life novella it was based on
With early computers, you didn’t boot up to a fancy schmancy desktop, or a screen full of apps you could easily poke and prod with your finger. No, those computers booted up to the command
In true 'Halloween Ends' fashion, these endings probably wouldn't have been for everybody.
Fionna & Cake are back in goofy, animated action in the next season of their HBO Max series.
While you wait for 'Avatar: Seven Havens' and the Aang movie, the 'Avatar Legends' game will let you beat series' characters to a pulp.
Saw 'Tron: Ares'? Loved it, hated it, digging the soundtrack? Go ahead and share all your thoughts on the film.
Wired earbuds are trendy again, but don't throw your wireless ones out just yet.
Comics fans, rejoice: DC Vertigo is back from the dead with new books from Ram V, Mariko Tamakai and more arriving throughout 2026.
Maingear's new PC puts an extra premium on its pretty build, but it's a damn nice desktop besides.
Incredible deals await on five of Dreame's elite home-cleaning robots, including the amazing X50 Ultra vacuum/mop combo.
Using a combination of physics and machine learning, the researchers predicted how the plasma inside a tokamak reactor would behave given a set of initial conditions.
The Dreame X50 Ultra (Complete) is the step-scaling, tangle-proof, self-cleaning vacuum and mop that blew away the tech crowd at CES 2025.
ProWritingAid VS Grammarly:
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