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Posted by msmash

Microsoft has announced that it will raise prices on its Microsoft 365 productivity suites for businesses and government clients starting in July 2026, marking the first commercial price increase since 2022. Small business and frontline worker plans face the steepest hikes: Business Basic jumps 16.7% to $7 per user per month, while frontline worker subscriptions surge up to 33%. Enterprise plans see more modest bumps, ranging from 5.3% for E5 to 8.3% for E3. Microsoft attributed the increases to more than 1,100 new features added to the suite, including AI-driven tools and security enhancements. Copilot remains a separate $30-per-month add-on.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Posted by Grant St. Clair

Gen V

It's a little weird it's taken this long, given that several video games based on The Boys' crop of murderous superheroes already exist within the show's universe.

Homelander might be kicking ass in Mortal Kombat, but the newly announced The Boys: Trigger Warning (sigh) is the first full-on The Boys video game. — Read the rest

The post "The Boys" is getting its first video game adaptation appeared first on Boing Boing.

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Posted by Jason Weisberger

Pete Hegseth (Joshua Sukoff/shutterstock.com)

According to Trump's Secretary of War Cosplayer Pete Hegseth, the future of U.S. warfare is not boots on the ground, it is bots in the cloud. In a proudly dystopian declaration, Hegseth announced that the military is handing Google's Gemini AI models to "every American warrior," proving once again that if there's a button labeled "create Skynet," someone in Washington will mash it with both fists. — Read the rest

The post Whiskey Pete says the future of "American warfare" is Google autocomplete appeared first on Boing Boing.

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Posted by msmash

Pinduoduo in China, Shopee in Southeast Asia, and Meesho in India operate in markets that could hardly be more different -- an upper-middle-income industrial state, a stitched-together archipelago of under-banked economies, and a country where three-quarters of retail is unorganized and e-commerce penetration sits at about 7% -- yet all three have landed on the same business model. These platforms run asset-light marketplaces specializing in cheap goods and slow delivery, monetizing through logistics mark-ups, advertising, and installment credit rather than retail margins. Temu and Shein are further variations now expanding in the U.S. and Europe. The economics are thin. Pinduoduo's EBITDA margins on GMV sit in a 0-4% band; Meesho's group-wide EBITDA hovers around break-even. Neither charges commissions on most sales; both earn through logistics mark-ups and advertising. Sponsored listings account for 1-3% of GMV at Indian marketplaces and 4-5% at Alibaba and Pinduoduo. Credit is the more consequential side business. In India, cash on delivery functions as unofficial credit. Meesho CEO Vidit Aatrey said the customers prefer CoD for its "built-in delay," which effectively makes it "a five-day loan." Geography, income, and regulation were supposed to produce different answers. They produced one: a 3% endgame where e-commerce clips a few points of GMV and relies on attention and credit for profits.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Posted by Ellsworth Toohey

LightField Studios/shutterstock.com

A Croydon facelift isn't surgery. It's a ponytail pulled so tight that it stretches the skin of your forehead back, mimicking the effects of cosmetic work. The name comes from Croydon, a working-class London neighborhood, and the term isn't meant as a compliment. — Read the rest

The post The "Croydon Facelift" is a hairstyle with a class war built in appeared first on Boing Boing.

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Posted by Ayala Sorotsky

Meow. Yes, just meow. It's not that we don't want to say anything else - we always have a lot to say, about many interesting subjects, about various topics - but we just want to meow meow. Just like cats. Head empty, no thoughts, just meow meow. Want to join us in this meowing endeavour? But be careful, there's only one place for a single brain cell where we're going. Choose it carefully. We recommend choosing the meowing brain cell, so we can all meow aimlessly together.

Meow. Did you meow as well? Good. It's just meow meow from here on out. No thoughts, head empty. The headspace is limited. There's a place to pack the following, and the following only: One (1) brain cell, two throughs (not consecutive), the sock lost in the dryer (color not important), meow (as many as you can), cat memes (snacks for brain). You got that? No? That's okay, we'll meow it to you later. Just don't forget the cat memes.

Now that we've got that out of the way, are you ready for some true feline funnies? They're best enjoyed when the head is empty, no thoughts included. Just meow meow. Just memes memes. And nothing more. Laughs will come either way, we pawmise. Did you remember to pack? Wait, what were we meowing about?

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Posted by msmash

The Pokemon Trading Card Game has quietly transformed into something its creators never intended: a speculative asset class dominated by adults hunting for profit while children struggle to find a single pack on store shelves. The resale market has climbed so high that the latest set, Phantasmal Flames, had a rare Charizard illustration valued at more than $800 before anyone had even pulled one from a pack -- a pack that retails for about $5.3. Ben Thyer, owner of BathTCG in Bath, has watched his shop become a flashpoint. His staff have received threats from customers, and he's heard reports of attacks and robberies at other stores. He stopped selling whole boxes of booster packs and now limits individual pack purchases. On Amazon, customers can only enter raffles for the chance to buy cards at all.The Pokemon Company printed 10.2 billion cards in the year ending March 2025 and still cannot meet demand. The company shared a seven-month-old statement saying it is printing "at maximum capacity." Thyer sees signs of a correction -- prices on singles and sealed products are falling -- but expects renewed frenzy around Pokemon's 30th anniversary in early 2026.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Dead Space is, well, dead

Dec. 9th, 2025 07:17 pm
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Posted by Grant St. Clair

If there's anything EA seems to like more than making money, it's not making money. The Dead Space remake elevated one of the godfathers of modern survival horror to a prettier, more gruesome form than ever, delivering on every single one of the original's scares in newfound high fidelity and selling millions of copies for their trouble. — Read the rest

The post Dead Space is, well, dead appeared first on Boing Boing.

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Jasmine Crockett has never been one to ease into a fight, and she isn’t starting now. 

Hours before Texas’ filing deadline on Monday, the Dallas-area congresswoman—progressive firebrand, Trump antagonist, and one of the House’s most visible new Democrats—jumped into the state’s 2026 Senate race, shaking up what had been a relatively quiet Democratic contest.

x

Texas, let’s win this thing. #JasmineForUS #TexasTough

Jasmine Crockett (@jasmineforus.bsky.social) 2025-12-08T23:03:37.976Z

For most of the year, the Democratic field looked somewhat settled, with former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred and current state Rep. James Talarico vying for the nomination. But by Monday evening, Allred had bowed out, Talarico had issued Crockett a polite welcome, and the shape of the contest shifted almost instantly.

“What we need is for me to have a bigger voice,” Crockett told supporters in a fiery 40-minute speech. “We need to make sure that we are going to stop all the hell that is raining down on all of our people.”

Crockett is right about one thing: Few races this cycle carry as much potential upside—or peril—for Democrats. Texas remains the party’s great white whale, a state that looks just competitive enough to tempt national strategists every cycle, only to break their hearts by November. That’s the political superstition, at least.

But states don’t stay unwinnable forever, and Texas will be safely red … until, suddenly, it isn’t.

Democratic insiders have been trying to game out which candidate is best positioned for that moment. Many of them gravitated toward Allred, whose moderate appeal they believed might better reach white suburban voters. 

Texas state Rep. James Talarico speaks during a rally to protest against redistricting hearings at the Texas Capitol, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who is running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, shown in July.

Crockett’s critics were blunter: They argued she’s too “conceited” and too unapologetically herself to win a statewide race—arguments that tend to collapse into coded assumptions about race and who counts as being “electable.” 

As Vox’s Astead Herndon noted, there’s “no ‘moderate’ lane” in the Democratic Party, particularly in a national primary, “without Black southerners.” After all, in 2020, former President Joe Biden won the Democratic nomination largely because Black South Carolinians turned out for him and changed that contest’s narrative.

In practice, the idea of being a “moderate” has less to do with measuring appeal and more to do with keeping candidates who don’t fit a certain mold on a short leash.

Allred leaned into that logic as he exited the race. With three Democrats in the race, he warned, the party risked a bruising primary that would drain resources and leave the nominee limping into the general election.

“I’ve come to believe that a bruising Senate Democratic primary and runoff would prevent the Democratic Party from going into this critical election unified,” he said in a statement, arguing that the stakes of a Trump-aligned Senate were too high to risk internal chaos.

And on the Republican side, chaos is exactly what’s on offer. The GOP is barreling toward a brutally expensive three-way brawl between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, MAGA-pilled state Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Houston-area Rep. Wesley Hunt. Cornyn is fighting for political survival, Paxton is fighting off years of legal trouble, and Hunt is hoping to outflank them both. Polling suggests a runoff is inevitable, extending the bloodletting into late May.

Democrats, by contrast, have managed to whittle their field down to two leading candidates with starkly different styles but overlapping constituencies. Talarico is a seminarian and former schoolteacher who’s carved out a niche as a religiously grounded critic of Christian nationalism, with a following that somehow spans MSNBC progressives and Joe Rogan listeners. Meanwhile, Crockett is the opposite in almost every aesthetic category: Black, sharp-tongued, and unfiltered, with a gift for generating viral moments and a temperament built for political combat.

In a sense, their contest isn’t ideological at all. It’s a choice between modes of persuasion.

UNITED STATES - JUNE 3: Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, arrives for a vote in the Capitol on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, shown in June.

Crockett’s national profile, already high thanks to her relentless sparring with House Republicans, is likely to rocket even further in a Senate campaign. For instance, Trump regularly singles her out, which, in today’s politics, is essentially free advertising. Her supporters see her as the kind of fighter Democrats have chronically lacked: someone who can generate enthusiasm and drive turnout in bluer parts of the state.

Republicans, though, already have their attack lines ready. Cornyn labeled her “radical, theatrical, and ineffective.” Paxton’s allies are practically salivating at the chance to define her early. A Crockett nomination may drive up GOP turnout—but so would a Paxton nomination, and Democrats believe facing him would give them one of their best pickup opportunities nationally.

Polls of the Democratic primary have been limited and inconsistent. Crockett is well known and liked among Democrats, but she also reliably triggers Republicans. A December survey from Change Research found that 49% of Texas voters said they would definitely not vote for Crockett, a higher share than for any other candidate in the contest. And while the poll found Talarico to be less polarizing, Democrats still don’t know whether either candidate could flip the seat, even if they’re no longer treating the question as laughable.

Behind the scenes, Texas Democrats have been trying to avoid the circular firing squad that doomed previous statewide attempts. Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke and other party leaders spent months coaxing candidates toward a coordinated slate that could maximize talent across next year’s races, which include the open attorney general’s seat and Gov. Greg Abbott’s reelection contest. 

And when Crockett started weighing a Senate bid, those conversations accelerated. She privately told both Allred and Talarico that her internal polls showed her strongest in the general election. Her campaign has not made those numbers public.

UNITED STATES - MARCH 6: Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol after the last votes of the week on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)
Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, shown in March.

“The data says that I can win,” she said on MS NOW. “I am very formidable.”

Whether that’s true will become clearer soon enough. Texas requires a majority to avoid a primary runoff, and the most plausible scenario is still a Crockett-Talarico matchup heading into March. That gives Democrats something Republicans won’t have: time. While the GOP slogs through months of intraparty warfare, Democrats could emerge unified.

Crockett acknowledges the skepticism; she said she’s heard variations of it her entire political life.

“Turning Texas blue is what I want to talk to y’all about today,” she said in her announcement speech. “Y’all ain’t never tried it the J.C. way.”

Texas Democrats haven’t won statewide office since 1994. Maybe 2026 will finally break the curse, or maybe Texas will remain Texas for another cycle. But with Crockett in the race, and regardless of whether she or Talarico wins, the party will have a nominee who doesn’t shrink from a fight.

At minimum, Democrats won’t be accused of playing it safe. At maximum, they might catch the GOP on the rare night it stumbles.

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President Donald Trump kept up his crusade against countries with large Black populations, attacking migration from Congo and Somalia in an interview with Politico published on Tuesday.

Trump was asked by interviewer Dasha Burns to respond to criticism of his recently released National Security Strategy, particularly to his expressed opposition to nonwhite migration to European countries.

“Europe, they’re coming in from all parts of the world. Not just the Middle East, they’re coming in from the Congo, tremendous numbers of people coming from the Congo,” Trump said. He added, “Even worse, they’re coming from prisons of the Congo and many other countries.”

Later on in the interview Trump attacked Somalian migration to the United States.

“I want to see people that contribute. I don’t want to see Somalia.”

In recent days Trump has repeatedly smeared Somali immigrants as part of his most recent racist obsession. Speaking in the Oval Office on Wednesday he said, “It’s not even a nation. It's just a—people walking around killing each other.”

Days before he also referenced Somalia and said, “Their country stinks, and I don't want them in our country.”


Related | ‘I don’t want them in our country,’ Trump says in racist rant


Trump’s remarks and his decision to target Minneapolis with his latest federal immigration operation has created a state of fear among the Somali immigrant community.

Somali migrants have been a vital addition to Minnesota and other states following the decision to leave their home nation in the fallout from Somalia’s brutal civil war.

“They’re afraid to go out to the grocery store, they’re afraid to send their kids to school,” Minnesota State Rep. Samakab Hussein, a Somali American, told Newsweek.

Trump has integrated racism throughout his presidency, from domestic policy initiatives to foreign policy priorities. His latest comments show he has no intention of retreating and stands by his open bigotry.

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Posted by Blake Seidel

How far will you go for your love of cats? Most of us would happily do anything for our fluffy felines, but we're also not allergic to them. But imagine that you are, for a second. The thing in life that you want the most makes you sneeze nonstop, making life purractically unbearable. Most people would give up there, but not this cat lover below. He spent three years getting allergy shots to build his immunity to cat dander, all so he could have a cute kitty of his own. Recently, he went and adopted his first rescue kitten, 'Legolas', and we literally couldn't be happier for him.

Cat allergies are no joke - they are ranked on a scale of 1 to 4. One is a minimal to mild allergy, which means that you may get a runny nose and your eyes feel a bit watery. Four, on the other hand, is an extreme allergy, making your time in their presence worse than sticking your head in a smelly litter box. What was his allergy level? A four. That's just how dedicated he was.

Now, the two snuggle daily, as you can see below with Legolas purrfectly perched on his shoulder. So next time you meet someone who is allergic to cats, just tell them his tail, and in a short three years, they'll be cured as well!

A Very Tight Response Time

Dec. 9th, 2025 06:55 pm
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Posted by Not Always Right

Read A Very Tight Response Time

I was out cycling on my day off. I'd left just before 7 AM, aiming to do about 60km. When I reached what was around my halfway point at 8 AM, I took a short break to enjoy the peace of the ocean, which was promptly interrupted by a call from my boss.

Read A Very Tight Response Time

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Posted by msmash

Microsoft announced on Tuesday its largest-ever investment in Asia -- $17.5 billion over four years starting in 2026 -- to expand cloud and AI infrastructure across India, fund skilling programs, and support ongoing operations in the country. The commitment adds to a $3 billion investment the company announced in January 2025 that is on track to be spent by the end of 2026. A new hyperscale cloud region in Hyderabad is set to go live in mid-2026 and will be Microsoft's largest in India, comprising three availability zones. The company also plans to integrate AI into two government employment platforms -- e-Shram and the National Career Service -- that serve more than 310 million informal workers. Microsoft is doubling its India skilling target to 20 million people by 2030; since January, it has already trained 5.6 million.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Posted by Jason Weisberger

marjorie taylor greene

After years of cheerleading the frothing chaos of Trumpism and fanning the flames of right-wing outrage, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is now astonished that the mob has turned on her. The Georgia congressperson, who once proudly branded herself an unflinching warrior for MAGA, now says she "had a very hard time" forgiving Donald Trump after his attacks led to threats against her and her family. — Read the rest

The post Marjorie Taylor Greene shocked to find face eating leopards demanding her face appeared first on Boing Boing.

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Posted by Boing Boing's Shop

Apple MacBook Air (2017) 13" i5 1.8GHz 8GB RAM 128GB SSD Silver (Refurbished)

TL;DR: Get 79% off a like-new laptop with this refurbished Apple MacBook Air (2017) 13″ for just $199.97 (Reg. $999).

Laptops are almost essential in the digital age. So why are they so expensive? They don't have to be. By choosing refurbished, you can buy a like-new MacBook Air for just $199.97 instead of spending over a thousand dollars. — Read the rest

The post Would you rather pay $1000 or $200 for a MacBook Air? appeared first on Boing Boing.

No Box, No Basil

Dec. 9th, 2025 06:45 pm
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Posted by Not Always Right

Read No Box, No Basil

I’m in an aisle, restocking a shelf with one of those deep cardboard boxes full of individually wrapped items. I’m halfway through when a woman walks up behind me. Before I can even turn back around, she grabs the other end of the box, lifts it up, and dumps the entire contents onto the floor. Hundreds of little items scatter everywhere.

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Posted by Jason Weisberger

The United States has officially traded its democracy credentials for the banana republic starter pack, and there do not appear to be any safeguards left to get us back on the rails. Dean Blundell shares a disturbing report and itemized list of where the United States has gone, and is going, wrong. — Read the rest

The post US downgraded from democracy to banana republic appeared first on Boing Boing.

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Posted by Jason Weisberger

In a move that would make George Orwell proud, the Trump Department of Justice has announced it is "restoring equal protection" by rewriting civil rights enforcement rules to declare that discrimination is a problem only if it is done out loud and on purpose. — Read the rest

The post Trump's DOJ weaponizes "Neutrality" as a wrecking ball for civil rights appeared first on Boing Boing.

No Problem Until It Is

Dec. 9th, 2025 06:00 pm
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Posted by Not Always Right

Read No Problem Until It Is

Customer: "You should say you’re welcome! Saying ‘no problem’ implies I’m a problem!"
Me: "But it wasn’t a problem. I’m telling you it was no problem."
Customer: "Why would you tell me what something isn’t?"

Read No Problem Until It Is

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