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PCWorld reveals that robot vacuums require regular maintenance and human intervention despite being marketed as fully autonomous cleaning devices. While these devices excel at surface dust and daily cleaning tasks, they struggle with deep-seated pet hair, larger debris, and need consistent emptying and care. Advanced models with LiDAR mapping and scheduling features offer better navigation than cheaper alternatives, but even premium options cannot replace traditional vacuums for thorough cleaning. Years ago, I owned a robot vacuum named Gerald. After a catastrophic tumble down the stairs, I retired him early and have stuck with traditional vacuuming ever since. But after spending more time with them lately and chatting with the experts that make them, I realized I've been holding onto a lot of misconceptions, especially about how "smart" these things actually are in real homes with clutter and pets. I used to think suction power was everything.

Two former staffers have created a new, perplexing company. And DOGE alumni make splashy announcements about entering complex industries with scant qualifications while promising to "root out waste." This, at least, is the premise of Special, a newly announced start-up co-founded by Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh, two former Department of Government Efficiency staffers who left the federal government "motivated to extend the ethos of our work at DOGE back into the private sector," as they wrote on Special's website. The company officially launched last week with funding from the Elon Musk-friendly contingent of Silicon Valley, including the venture groups Andreessen Horowitz and Human Capital. Special is also backed by investments from numerous Musk associates, including Steve Davis, Musk's top lieutenant at DOGE.

A Waymo nearly hit me, but I'm still optimistic about driverless cars A near miss with a Waymo while cycling through London hasn't changed my optimistic stance on driverless cars, but we can't ever let our guard down, says Matthew Sparkes Waymo driverless cars are in London, but is this a positive move for road safety? Waymo's driverless cars have been rolling through London for months, although they aren't taking passengers yet and a human sits ready to seize control if needed. Every time I've encountered them, they have seemed cautious and predictable. But recently, I had a near miss. I was circling a roundabout as I cycled home from work and a Waymo was about to pull onto it in front of me.

A brave eight-year-old boy helped save his grandad after the pair drifted more than two miles (3km) from the coast on a capsized kayak. Marley and his granscha, David Dai Jones, from Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, had been kayaking off Fontygary in the Vale of Glamorgan on 27 May when they capsized and were unable to get back onboard. Dai managed to help Marley back onto the kayak but could not climb back on himself. He remained in the water holding on as the pair drifted in the strong Bristol Channel currents. Despite the frightening situation, Marley remained calm and used a mobile phone kept in a waterproof pouch to contact his nan on shore, who called 999.

Follow this section to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. Follow this tag to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW?

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Did a Chatbot Write a Prize-Winning Story? If the possibility that one or more of the winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize was A.I.-generated chills us, it may be because of what it reveals about human writing. In early May, the Commonwealth Foundation announced the five regional winners for its influential Short Story Prize, which recognizes unpublished short fiction. One of the awardees, a Trinidadian writer named Jamir Nazir, was accused of A.I.-assisted cheating by a broad array of social-media users who seized upon his story's synthetic tics, glitchy metaphors, and general unreadability. "Maybe it was a name; maybe rain took a shape and decided to keep it.")

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