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- The Software Year That Ended With Everything on Fire
Looking back at 2021's biggest software and security stories, from Log4Shell to Copilot to Gopher, as the year closes out.
- The Space Stories That Defined 2021
Looking back at the year's biggest space milestones, from JWST's launch to a record pace of Falcon 9 flights.
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 1: Who Ships It First, and What Else Qualcomm Buried in December
The Motorola Edge X30 is already out in China on Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 — here's who's likely next, plus a look at Qualcomm's new handheld gaming chip.
- Log4j Fatigue Is Real, and It's Teaching Us the Wrong Lesson (Sort Of)
Three Log4j patches in under two weeks left security teams exhausted — and exposed a deeper problem: nobody actually knows what's in their software.
- The Chip Shortage Was 2021's Real Main Character
A year-end look at how the global chip shortage reshaped buying everything from GPUs to cars in 2021.
- Webb's Nail-Biting 29-Day Drive to L2 Has Begun
The day after launch, JWST is now on its month-long trip to L2, facing roughly 50 deployment steps that all have to work with no chance of a repair mission.
- Merry Christmas, We Have a Telescope in Orbit
The James Webb Space Telescope launched this morning from French Guiana, beginning its month-long journey to L2.
- VR Finally Has Its Christmas Morning Moment
Quest 2 and third-party VR titles are posting record holiday numbers, a sign VR headsets have become a real gift-category contender.
- GameStop's Holiday Restock Says the Quiet Part Out Loud: PS5 and Xbox Are Still Nowhere to Be Found
GameStop's Christmas-week PS5/Xbox restock event, gated behind PowerUp Rewards Pro and bundled with extras, shows console scarcity hasn't let up.
- Skillsoft Buys Codecademy for $525 Million: What It Means for Learn-to-Code
Corporate e-learning giant Skillsoft is acquiring Codecademy in a ~$525 million cash-and-stock deal, betting big on developer upskilling.
- SpaceX Sends Christmas Dinner (and a Lot More) to the ISS
SpaceX's CRS-24 Cargo Dragon launched today from Pad 39A with over 6,500 pounds of supplies for the ISS crew.
- Copilot Writes Fast. Does It Write Safe?
New academic research digs into how often GitHub Copilot's AI-generated code suggestions contain insecure patterns.
- How a Satellite Parks Itself 22,000 Miles Above One Spot on Earth
A plain-language look at geostationary orbit and why launches like Turksat-5B matter for broadcast and telecom coverage.
- SpaceX Closes Out a Record Year with Turksat-5B
SpaceX is targeting December 18-19 for the Turksat-5B launch from Cape Canaveral, another step toward a record 31 Falcon 9 flights in 2021.
- CISA Orders Federal Agencies to Patch Log4Shell — And Apache Ships a Third Fix
CISA issued an emergency directive on Log4Shell as Apache released its third Log4j patch in under two weeks.
- Ray Tracing and Upscaling Aren't Optional Anymore
Real-time ray tracing and DLSS-style AI upscaling have gone from marketing gimmicks to baseline expectations on new GPUs.
- Best Buy's Restock Vanishes in Minutes, and the Console Shortage Grinds On
Best Buy's 9am PS5 and Xbox restock sold out almost instantly, underscoring how deep the holiday console shortage still runs.
- Patch Tuesday Lands on Windows 11 While the Internet Fights Log4Shell
Microsoft's December cumulative update brings fixes and small UX polish to Windows 11, arriving as IT teams scramble to contain Log4Shell.
- Log4j Gets a Second Patch While the Geminids Light Up the Sky
Apache ships Log4j 2.16.0 after CVE-2021-45046 exposes gaps in the first fix, and the Geminid meteor shower peaks the same week.
- Comet Leonard Just Made Its Closest Pass by Earth
Comet Leonard (C/2021 A1) swung within about 21 million miles of Earth today, giving skywatchers a shot at 2021's brightest comet before it heads for the Sun.
- What a CVSS 10.0 Actually Means (And Why Log4Shell Earned It)
A plain-language look at the CVSS scoring system, using Log4Shell's maximum 10.0 score to explain what severity ratings really tell IT teams.
- Log4Shell Just Dropped and the Internet Is on Fire
A critical remote-code-execution flaw in the ubiquitous Log4j library was disclosed today as CVE-2021-44228, and exploitation is already underway.
- Halo Infinite's Campaign Finally Arrives
343 Industries shipped Halo Infinite's campaign on December 8, three weeks after the multiplayer's surprise free-to-play launch.
- DeepMind's Gopher Shows What 280 Billion Parameters Buys You
DeepMind's new Gopher model outperforms GPT-3 on many benchmarks, and the accompanying papers are as interesting as the model itself.
- The Holiday Buying Guide for a Chip-Starved Year: Laptops and Desktops Worth Gifting
With GPUs and consoles nearly impossible to find this holiday season, here's where stock actually exists and what's worth buying.
- Apache Rushes Out a Patch for a Nasty Log4j Flaw
A maximum-severity remote-code-execution bug in the ubiquitous Apache Log4j library got its first fix today, and the fallout is only beginning.
- How Webb's Origami Mirror Is Supposed to Work
A look at the 18-segment folding mirror that has to unfurl perfectly in space for the James Webb Space Telescope to see anything at all.
- The Chip Shortage Isn't Done With Us Yet
A look at why the semiconductor crunch that defined 2021 is still hitting shelves, prices, and wait times heading into the holidays.
- Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Kicks Off Flagship Android Season
Qualcomm's 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 brings ARMv9 cores and a faster Adreno 730 GPU, with the Motorola Edge X30 first in line.
- Another Day, Another Starlink Launch — SpaceX Keeps the Cadence Up
SpaceX's Starlink Group 4-3 mission sent 48 satellites and two BlackSky rideshares to orbit as the company chases its own launch record.