Influencer and content creator partners have become a huge channel for small businesses, but there are some things these owners should know, says Think Folk marketer Courtney Henderson. Read...

Forget exotic carbon fibre and fancy lithium batteries, some eVTOL flying taxis are actually built almost entirely of snake oil, or so it would seem. Read...

Two of his former bandmates say they are owed £1.75m in backdated payments, court documents show. Read...

How much should you pay for a budget laptop? Well, that depends on your budget, of course. If you’ve only got $400 to spend, then you should find the best one for $400, end of story—but that can be very limiting, especially when it comes to specs. Today, Best Buy is offering an extremely rare deal: a touchscreen Windows laptop with 16GB of RAM for just $379.99. It’s good for today only, September 2nd. This Lenovo IdeaPad 1i is a budget design down to its bones, but it has a few upgrades over the IdeaPad 1i’s extremely underpowered base model: a surprising amount of power from a 13th-gen Intel Core i5 processor, the aforementioned 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. The 15.6-inch 1080p screen is a touch panel (a rare sight at this price), and Intel Xe graphics should provide enough juice to run Minecraft on basic settings (or pretty much any 2D game). Don’t expect miracles from the underpowered battery, but you at least get plenty of ports (USB-C, double USB-A, full-sized HDMI, and an SD card reader) and a full-sized keyboard with a number pad. I also like the privacy shutter for the webcam, though there’s no mention of an IR sensor for Windows Hello compatibility. This laptop would be pretty good at $500, but it’s an absolute bargain at $380—and because of that, I don’t suspect it’ll stay in stock for very long. Best Buy is only selling it at this price today, with the deal ending at 1 AM Eastern US time according to the product page. It also says there are only three at my nearest Best Buy retail location. Hop on it quickly if you’re looking for an affordable laptop with some extra power and features. If it isn’t what you’re looking for, then check out PCWorld’s picks for the best laptops. This touchscreen laptop with Core i5 and 16GB RAM is crazy for $380Buy now from Best Buy Read...

A new study from researchers at University of Pennsylvania shows that AI models can be persuaded to break their own rules using several classic psychological tricks, reports The Verge. In the study, the Penn researchers tested seven different persuasive techniques on OpenAI’s GPT-4o mini model, including authority, commitment, liking, reciprocity, scarcity, social proof, and unity. The most successful method turned out to be commitment. By first getting the model to answer a seemingly innocent question, the researchers were then able to escalate to more rule-breaking responses. One example was when the model first agreed to use milder insults before also accepting harsher ones. Techniques such as flattery and peer pressure also had an effect, albeit to a lesser extent. Nevertheless, these methods demonstrably increased the likelihood of the AI model giving in to forbidden requests. Read...

Rieko Ioane’s underwhelming form on the wing is just one issue for the All Blacks selectors’ to ponder before the test against the Springboks in Auckland. Read...

Total eclipse is due about 5.30am, when the Moon will be completely shadowed by Earth and appear visibly red in the sky. Read...

Feeding a Kiwi family now costs $25,000 a year — $10,000 more than in Australia and $8000 more than in the UK. Read...

A Colombian couple who came to New Zealand seeking a better life have been granted two-year open work visas, but not the residency they had hoped for. Read...

Eden Park has lodged its redevelopment plans, with confirmation of funding needed by year’s end to begin work ahead of the 2028 T20 Cricket World Cup. Read...