Eliana Willis

Maria Diaz/ZDNETWhile there’s been much talk surrounding Amazon’s generative AI-powered overhaul of its voice assistant, Alexa, and its expected subscription fees, we’ve heard little from the e-commerce giant about a launch date. This week, reports indicated the subscription-based update is expected to launch in October but won’t be powered by Amazon’s proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) models.Also: Why Claude’s Artifacts is the coolest feature I’ve seen in generative AI so farThe new and improved Alexa with generative AI should launch in just over a month and is reportedly powered by Anthropic’s Claude AI models. Sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Amazon’s in-house software struggled to become the ‘remarkable’ generative AI virtual assistant the company expected, taking too long to respond to prompts and failing to meet expectations.The October launch date for the revamped Alexa is delayed from what was expected earlier this year when reports indicated it would launch in September. It will be a paid alternative voice assistant to the “classic Alexa,” which is how Amazon refers to the currently available free version in internal documents obtained by the Washington Post. Several reports indicate that a subscription to the new virtual assistant, dubbed “Remarkable Alexa,” could cost between $5 and $10 monthly.  More

A new Costco membership comes with a free $20 gift card right now. StackSocial Thinking about joining Costco? Or, have you been sharing a membership card with your parents or friends? Now that Costco is starting to crack down on membership sharing (in the coming months, the stores will start scanning cards at the entrance […] More

SmallRig RT 25 RGB tube light Ant Pruitt/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysThe SmallRig RT 25 More

Jose A. Bernat Bacete/Getty Images Welcome to ZDNET’s Innovation Index, which identifies the most innovative developments in tech from the past week and ranks the top four, based on votes from our panel of editors and experts. Our mission is to help you identify the trends that will have the biggest impact on the future. We’re […] More

Matthew Miller/ZDNETZDNET’s key takeawaysThe Engo 2 Photochromic glasses More

Get Windows 11 Pro at a big discount right now. StackSocial Need an operating system upgrade? Windows 11 Pro puts productivity in your hands with features that make everything from hybrid work to streaming entertainment easy, and you can grab the software for a discounted price right now through StackSocial. A lifetime subscription for the […] More

deberarr/Getty Images We recently ran a piece that summarized an IEEE study of programming language popularity based on job listings. It definitely fostered some conversation, including some debate about whether the languages IEEE used in its survey were even languages. Most of us are familiar with polls and poll results, especially during campaign seasons. Unfortunately, polls […] More

You can find the “X things to do immediately after installing Linux” articles everywhere. I even penned one myself. It’s beautiful, it’s bold, it’s Budgie. Jack WallenZDNETWhat you don’t always see are articles telling you what not to do after installing the open-source operating system and I’m here to put an end to that drought. Why? Also: The first 5 Linux commands every new user should learnIsn’t Linux about the possible and not the impossible? It most certainly is. But that doesn’t mean new users shouldn’t be warned about certain things. With such warnings, new users are better prepared to have a positive experience with Linux and that’s why I do what I do.Here’s what not to do after you install Linux. 1. Add random repositoriesRepositories are remote locations that house software installed via the built-in package manager. For instance, you can install GIMP from the default Ubuntu repositories with the command sudo apt-get install gimp -y. Default repositories are those that are automatically configured by default. Also: Deepin 23 brings AI to the Linux desktop – and it’s complicatedWith most Linux distributions, you can add all the third-party repositories you want. The big question is… should you? Probably not. Why? Just because a repository is available doesn’t mean you need it or that it’s safe. There have been repositories discovered to contain malicious software. Because of that, I only add repositories from trusted sources (such as a known vendor). If you run across a repository for an app you might want but you don’t know the developer or the company, do a bit of research before using it. 2. Log in as rootOnce upon a time, logging in as root was necessary. What we didn’t know was that doing so could lead to security issues. Now, some distributions have the root (admin) account locked down. Ubuntu, for example, doesn’t even ship with a root user password, so logging in as root cannot be achieved unless you enable the user. Also: Linus Torvalds talks AI, Rust adoption, and why the Linux kernel is ‘the only thing that matters’If your distribution of choice allows logging in as root, don’t. If your distribution allows you to su to the root user, don’t. Instead, use sudo to gain admin privileges for a command. When the root user is enabled, should someone gain access to that user, there’s nothing they cannot do on your system. Instead of running that risk, never log in as root. Ever. Period. More