Microsoft gaming boss Phil Spencer has just announced he's leaving the company after 12 years leading Xbox and nearly 40 at Microsoft in total. His replacement: Asha Sharma, formerly head of development for Microsoft's AI enterprise teams. Before that, she was COO of Instacart for three years, and spent four at Meta in charge of the company's messaging apps. What will Sharma do with Xbox? Read for yourself in her first internal memo, which we've printed in full below. Sharma says she is committed to "the return of Xbox," games in "new categories and markets where we can add real value, grounded in what players care about most," and that g …
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Xbox chief Phil Spencer has just announced in an internal memo that he's leaving Microsoft after 38 years. In a memo entitled "A new chapter for Microsoft Gaming," Spencer reveals to Xbox employees that he made the decision to retire from Microsoft last fall.
He also reveals Xbox president Sarah Bond is leaving Microsoft, triggering a big change of management at Xbox. Asha Sharma, currently the president of CoreAI product at Microsoft, is stepping into the Microsoft Gaming CEO role, reporting directly to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Here's Phil Spencer's full memo on his retirement: When I walked through Microsoft's doors as an intern in …
Read the full story at The Verge.

Xbox chief Phil Spencer is leaving Microsoft after nearly 40 years at the software giant. Xbox president Sarah Bond is also leaving Microsoft, in what is a major shakeup to the management of Xbox and Microsoft's gaming efforts. Asha Sharma, currently president of CoreAI product, is taking over as CEO of Microsoft Gaming. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced Phil Spencer's retirement in a memo to all Microsoft employees today. "Last year, Phil Spencer made the decision to retire from the company, and since then we've been talking about succession planning," says Nadella. "I want to thank Phil for his extraordinary leadership and partnershi …
Read the full story at The Verge.

Sarah Bond during the May 2024 Bloomberg Technology Summit. | Bloomberg via Getty Images Sarah Bond, the president of COO and Xbox, is leaving the organization, along with CEO of Microsoft Gaming Phil Spencer. Her departure is being announced at the same time as Spencer's, with Asha Sharma moving into the EVP and CEO of Gaming role and Matt Booty being promoted to EVP and chief content officer.
Microsoft is making the changes as it is undergoing some dramatic shifts to its Xbox plans, including bringing Windows and Xbox closer together to empower devices like the Xbox Ally handheld instead of relying entirely on first-party Xbox hardware. The company is also navigating increased pressures on the Xbox business,...

A PSA to experience Norihiro Yagi’s gatekept series before the live‑action adaptation breaches containment and has its fandom sweating.

Kingston Fossil Plant, a 1.4-gigawatt coal-fired power plant located in Roane County, just outside Kingston, Tennessee on the shore of Watts Bar Lake. | Photo: Getty Images The Trump administration just tossed out Biden-era restrictions on mercury and other toxic pollutants from power plants. It's repealing Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) just as electricity demand in the US ticks up with the buildout of new AI data centers. Those standards are particularly impactful when it comes to pollution from coal plants responsible for around half of mercury emissions in the US. Mercury is a neurotoxin; high exposure has been linked to birth defects and learning disabilities in children. Exposure can also impact...

Homeland Security aims to combine its face and fingerprint systems into one big biometric platform—after dismantling centralized privacy reviews and key limits on face recognition.

The court said the president does not have unilateral authority to impose import taxes. The U.S. government may still be obligated to issue refunds

Trump slammed the door shut on working with Congress on tariff legislation after a big Supreme Court loss: “I have the right to do tariffs"

Allegedly, the coding assistant decided to “delete and recreate the environment” that was causing problems.

A 2023 law championed by Republicans requires the CDC have a director confirmed by the Senate. For months, though, it's had only acting directors—and the White House won't say when that will change.

“Kala-azar, a persistent public health challenge in Nepal, is on track to be declared eliminated this year, thanks to a significant drop in new infections in recent years. Health officials said the new infection rate has fallen to less than one case per 10,000 people, while deaths from the disease have also remained below one percent of those infected over the past two years—a key threshold for elimination.. The disease is transmitted through the bite of the infected female phlebotomine sandfly. Common symptoms include loss of appetite, weight loss, weakness, cough, persistent fever, and enlargement of the spleen and stomach. If not treated on time, the disease has a fatality rate of up to 95 percent.”...

“The World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that Libya has eliminated trachoma as a public health problem, a landmark victory for public health in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region. This hard-won achievement protects future generations from preventable blindness and provides a powerful reminder that countries can overcome neglected tropical diseases despite persisting challenges.” From The World Health Organization.
The post Libya Eliminates Trachoma as a Public Health Threat appeared first on Human Progress.

“The World Health Organization (WHO) has verified that Iran has sustained rubella and measles elimination, an official with the health ministry has said… The measles vaccination program in Iran started in 1984, when 34 percent of the population was vaccinated in the first year, and 90 to 95 percent of the population after 6 years. Also in 2003, 33 million people were vaccinated with a national program to eradicate measles in the country… In April 2025, Raeisi said some 98 percent of the target population in the national program for the immunization against measles had been vaccinated.” From Tehran Times.
The post WHO Verifies Iran Has Sustained Measles, Rubella Elimination appeared first on Human...

Considering that the Nintendo DS already has its own remake of Super Mario 64, one might be tempted to think that porting the original Nintendo 64 version would be a snap. Why you’d want to do this is left as an exercise to the reader, but whether due to nostalgia or out of sheer spite, the question of how easy this would be remains. Correspondingly, [Tobi] figured that he’d give it a shake, with interesting results.
Of note that is someone else already ported SM64 to the DSi, which is a later version of the DS with more processing power, more RAM and other changes. The reason why the 16 MB of RAM of the DSi is required, is because it needs to load the entire game into RAM, rather than do on-demand reads...

“Vietnam’s government has allowed SpaceX to launch its Starlink satellite internet service in the country, state media reported on Saturday. The report said the Ministry of Science and Technology granted Starlink’s local unit a license to provide both fixed and mobile satellite internet services. The company was also granted a license to use radio frequencies and radio equipment.” From Reuters.
The post Spacex’s Starlink Gets Nod for Satellite Internet in Vietnam appeared first on Human Progress.

“The southern elephant seal’s conservation status in South Africa has improved from near threatened to least concern, with experts citing four decades without major threats to its breeding colonies on Marion and Prince Edward islands… At the time the last edition of the Mammal Red List for Southern Africa was published in 2016, scientists estimated that the elephant seal population on Marion Island and Prince Edward Island was around 3000 individuals. The latest assessment says that it has grown to about 5,500 as of 2023.” From Mongabay.
The post Southern Elephant Seals Recover in Southern Africa appeared first on Human Progress.

The Oscar nominee praises the 'perfect script' that still brought unexpected moments to the screen.

Chipotle chairs are now design collectibles, much of the concrete contributing to L.A.’s heat grid may be unnecessary, and more.Dallas is considering demolishing its I.M. Pei-designed City Hall for a "full-blown entertainment district," and relocating the government to nearby vacant office buildings. Here’s why, to some, the idea feels out of touch with what makes downtowns thrive and have a sense of identity. (The Atlantic) As it turns out, Chipotle chairs are incredibly chic. The chain restaurant’s original 1990s dining chairs, built for burrito bowls and barbacoa spills, have become unlikely cult design collectibles, being hunted, hoarded, and even flipped at vintage auctions. Here’s what makes the...

Astronomers had decent guesses about how these peanut-shaped asteroids formed but couldn’t get the physics to work—until now.

Starbase, Texas, has grown to over 580 people.

The Supreme Court has weakened Trump's hand in dealing with other nations, writes Anthony Zurcher.

The comedian and television host talks about the decline of late night, the death of Rob and Michele Reiner, and why he loves when things go wrong onstage.

Dhruv Khullar on the latest research on GLP-1 drugs, which, though typically used to manage diabetes and obesity, are showing promise as groundbreaking treatments for addictions of all kinds.

Americans shouldn't bet on getting refunded for the tariffs they have paid up to now. For companies, it's a different story

New data showing sluggish economic growth and stubborn inflation means it’s less likely that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month

Le « M. Internet » de Nicolas Sarkozy, Nicolas Princen, a rencontré, le soir du 1ᵉʳ octobre 2011, Jeffrey Epstein, dans son appartement parisien. Ce rendez-vous « sans aucune suite », assure l’ex-conseiller, illustre les tentatives du multimillionnaire pédocriminel pour approcher l’ex-chef de l’Etat.

Comments and other data left on a PDF detailing Homeland Security’s proposal to build “mega” detention and processing centers reveal the personnel involved in its creation.

Texas could become the world’s top data center market by 2030, as the cloud stops floating and starts buying land, power, and permits — fast

Branch makes excellent office essentials, and our top picks are discounted.

C’est ici :

Alors que le régime castriste, privé du pétrole vénézuélien et mexicain, est de plus en plus perçu comme étant “au pied du mur” par la presse d’opposition, la répression, les arrestations et les intimidations se multiplient contre les dissidents.

La préfecture de la région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes a annoncé autoriser la marche prévue samedi. « Il n’est pas utile de faire de Lyon, demain, la capitale des fascistes de notre pays », a réagi le premier secrétaire du PS, Olivier Faure.

For today’s podcast Elliot Williams is joined by Jenny List, and we’re pushing the limits of mobile connectivity as Jenny’s coming to us from a North Sea ferry. We start by looking forward to the upcoming Hackaday Europe, with a new location in Lecco, Italy. We hope you can join us there!
There’s a bumper collection of hacks to talk about, with a novel soft pneumatic display, a CRT-based VR headset, an LCD photographic aperture, and a novel time-of-flight sensor array in the line-up.Then there are 3D printed PCBs, Scotch tape for a lens, and a project to map farts. We kid you not. Finally we wrap up with mind controlled toys, and a a treatise on requirements and specifications in an age of AI. Or...

Magnet placement tools are great because they remove finger fumbling while ensuring correct polarity every time. [EmGi] has made a further improvement by making a version that auto-feeds from an internal stack of magnets.
A stack of magnets auto-feeds with every press of the plunger.
That is a trickier task than one might imagine, because magnets can have a pesky habit of being attracted in inconvenient ways, or flipping around and sticking where they should not. [EmGi] solves this with a clever rack and pinion mechanism to turn a single plunger press into a motion that shears one magnet from a stack and keeps it constrained while the same magnet responsible for holding it to the tip takes care of dragging it...

Quarante jours après la répression dans le sang du mouvement de révolte, les proches des manifestants tués ont organisé des cérémonies festives pour exprimer leur douleur mais aussi leur profond rejet du pouvoir en place, raconte “Middle East Eye”.

The couple behind Working Holiday revamped the nondescript house from top to bottom with brick and oak floors, limewash and Roman clay walls, and a checkerboard-tiled bathroom.Location: 16727 Pineridge Drive, Granada Hills, California Price: $2,200,000 Year Built: 1962 Renovation Date: 2023 Renovation Designer: Working Holiday Footprint: 2,727 square feet (4 bedrooms, 3 baths) Lot Size: 0.48 Acres From the Agent: "This reimagined Granada Hills residence by Working Holiday Studio presents a master class in elevated modernism. A complete infrastructure overhaul includes new electrical and plumbing systems, HVAC, and a tankless water heater, while upgraded insulation and All Weather Architectural aluminum-clad...

New York City’s $16 billion plan to close Rikers Island involves four smaller facilities that tout a more humane vision of carceral buildings. Some activists think that’s an oxymoron.In the fall of 2024, Chloë Bass opened her email to see a congratulatory subject line from Percent for Art, the arm of New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs that ensures one percent of the budget for city-funded construction projects is spent on public artwork. She was a semifinalist, the email read, being considered to create art for five yet-to-be designed projects around the city. She hadn’t applied or signed up for this, but as a born-and-raised New Yorker and multidisciplinary artist, it’s not surprising...

In Halifax, Nova Scotia, two architects designed a turquoise house with an office and connected apartment that’s surprisingly referential to its context.In 2019, Sara L’Esperance and Michael Putman’s nearly 10 years in London were coming to an end. With plans to grow their family, and feeling nostalgic for their nature-filled childhoods in Canada, they accepted an offer for Michael to teach at a university in Halifax, Nova Scotia, relocating to the small but lively maritime city on Canada’s Atlantic coast. Sara L’Esperance and Michael Putman, cofounders of the architecture firm SUPERBLK Studio, designed a flexible forever home in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with three distinct programs: a rentable town...

Changer de vie, échapper à la routine et au confort ? Encore faudrait-il les avoir connus ! Dans un article personnel, publié en mai 2024 sur le site d’information “The Cut”, cette chroniqueuse canadienne se rendait compte qu’elle avait vécu dans la précarité depuis ses 20 ans.

Nasa sets the launch date following a successful "wet dress rehearsal" of the Artemis II mission.

Le média russe indépendant « Viorstka » a recueilli les témoignages de soldats ayant assisté au meurtre, aux humiliations ou au passage à tabac par leurs supérieurs, d’autres militaires refusant d’obéir à leurs ordres.

Anthropic doesn’t want its AI used in autonomous weapons or government surveillance. Those carve-outs could cost it a major military contract.

La Cour suprême a tranché : le président américain ne pouvait pas imposer seul des taxes à l’importation à ses partenaires commerciaux. En les jugeant illégales, elle fragilise un levier central de sa diplomatie.

Régulièrement critiquée depuis sa nomination en décembre dernier, la coalition gouvernementale dirigée par le populiste Andrej Babis a déclaré la guerre aux médias, s’inquiète l’hebdomadaire libéral “Respekt”. Suppression de la redevance audiovisuelle et financement de la télévision et de la radio publiques tchèques avec le budget de l’État sont plus que jamais à l’ordre du jour.

La Cour suprême vient d’invalider une grande partie des tarifs douaniers imposés par le locataire de la Maison-Blanche. Elle a jugé qu’il avait outrepassé les pouvoirs conférés par la Constitution, soulignent les médias américains.

La Cour suprême des Etats-Unis a jugé que les droits de douane « réciproques » imposés par le président américain en 2025 étaient illégaux.

There was a period from the 1970s to the mid-2000s or so when a fixture underneath the family TV set was a VHS videocassette recorder. These were a masterpiece of cramming a color video signal into the restricted bandwidth of an affordable 1970s helical-scan tape deck, which was achieved by clever use of frequency shifting and FM carrier modulation. Very few of us will have had the ultimate iteration of the VHS format though, W-VHS, which managed the same trick but with HD video. But how? [Superchromat] is here with the answer.
W-VHS used a frequency modulated carrier, but instead of splitting luminance and chrominance in the frequency domain like its VHS ancestor, it did so in the time domain in the same way...

La DGFIP du Ministére des finances l'avait annoncé, des courriels allaient être envoyés aux personnes impactées par le piratage de données FICOBA. Les premiers courriels arrivent....

TRIBUNE // Durant les élections municipales de mars 2026, l’IA ne sera pas qu’un outil de campagne. Derrière affiches générées et chatbots, se joue une nouvelle fracture démocratique et un enjeu central de gestion publique. C'est en tout cas la conviction de Martin Pavanello, Co-fondateur et CEO de Mister IA.

Parma • Italia • May 2010 📷 #flashes

Si le Vieux Continent exporte massivement ses biens, il apparaît aussi comme un bon client des services américains.

Rudy Reichstadt et Tristan Mendès France décryptent et analysent, dans ce nouveau numéro de Complorama, comment l'intelligence artificielle générative transforme la diffusion des théories du complot. "Le complotisme boosté à l’IA” c'est le 104è numéro de Complorama.

Illustration par ChatGPT
Je vous disais cela ici, le 25 janvier 2026, il y a moins d’un mois : « Ce n’est pas la gauche – trop en ordre dispersé, qui fera tomber Trump mais la droite classique : US Chamber of Commerce devant la Cour Suprême, ou Wall Street Journal devant l’opinion. »
Le Wall Street Journal, le 20 février 2026 à 16h07 : « La Cour suprême invalide les tarifs douaniers mondiaux imposés par Trump
La décision estime que le président a outrepassé ses pouvoirs en imposant des tarifs douaniers sans autorisation claire du Congrès. » Mon billet du 5 novembre 2025 :
Trump a peut-être trouvé adversaire à sa taille
Quand je dis : « Trump a peut-être trouvé véritable...

During the Cold War, the specter of a nuclear “dead man’s switch” was central to the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). In the event that one side was annihilated by the other, an automated system would be triggered to deliver a revenge strike that would ultimately destroy the attacker. It was the ultimate defense, as your enemy will never attack if they know doing so will inevitably lead to their own destruction.
The same idea has occasionally been employed by whistleblowers and journalists as well. Should the individual fail to check in regularly, a series of predetermined events will be set into motion. Again, the idea is defensive in nature. If somebody is in possession of information so...

Quentin Griffiths co-founded Asos in 2000 and remained a significant shareholder after leaving the firm five years later.

Ari Lennox “Deep Strokes”
It’s a slow jam called “Deep Strokes;” you know what it’s about. But still, I appreciate Ari Lennox’s commitment to a flimsy double entendre. Sure, it’s about painting! Literal painting. Your walls have been looking kinda empty these days! And you know, the body is something like a canvas – of course you want to get some paint on it. Makes sense! Lennox’s kayfabe makes it funny, but also keeps this gorgeous ballad from dipping into “joke song” territory. There might be a wink in the lyrical conceit, but everything else about the song is earnest and straightforwardly sexy. Buy it from Amazon.

A drawing that riffs on the latest news and happenings.

La visite à Alger du chef de la junte nigérienne, Abdourahamane Tiani, les 15 et 16 février, met un terme à une brouille qui a commencé en 2023, et pourrait annoncer un apaisement similaire avec le Mali.

Juan Pablo Guanipa announces that he has been freed after "almost nine months" of imprisonment.