Powerful programming: BBC-controlled electric meters are coming to an end
Customers are being pushed to smart meters that have their own signal problems.
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Kevin Purdy
Senior Technology Reporter
Kevin is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering open-source software, PC gaming, home automation, repairability, e-bikes, and tech history. He started his writing career as a newspaper reporter, covering business, crime, and other topics. Kevin has written about technology and computing for more than 15 years, having previously worked at tech and productivity blog Lifehacker, product recommendation site Wirecutter, repair advocate and vendor iFixit, and home energy and climate site Carbon Switch. He graduated from the University at Buffalo, and lives in Washington, D.C., where he bikes, bakes, and makes passable espresso. Kevin is occasionally on Mastodon.
Recent stories by
Kevin Purdy
Five standout games revealed at today’s Triple-i Showcase
More than 35 games in 45 minutes, and some of them were danged intriguing.
Kevin Purdy
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Japanese railway shelter replaced in less than 6 hours by 3D-printed model
Custom-printed shelters could help fix up rural train stops faster.
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Balatro yet again subject to mods’ poor understanding of “gambling”
YouTube restricts some, but not all, videos depicting the poker-ish indie game.
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Dustland Delivery plays like a funny, tough, post-apocalyptic Oregon Trail
Buy low, sell high, fight raiders, and fix tires in this quirky RPG.
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A look at the Switch 2’s initial games, both familiar and what-the-heck
A bit of early 2020s triple-A, some neat originals, and two wild arrivals.
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Satisfactory now has controller support, so there’s no excuse for your bad lines
Can you mine resources and build factories with merely sticks and buttons?
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Lithium-ion battery waste fires are increasing, and vapes are a big part of it
Tiny batteries and "disposable" e-cigs remain big risks for waste handlers.
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Most Read
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat, all but demanding replays
A surprising addition in patch notes for a 10-year-old CRPG classic.
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“MyTerms” wants to become the new way we dictate our privacy on the web
It's not a "do not track" request, it's a set of terms you demand from sites.
Kevin Purdy
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CEO of AI ad-tech firm pledging “world free of fraud” sentenced for fraud
Prosecutors: Firm offering "300% more" fraud detection oversold revenue by 700%.
Kevin Purdy
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Hands-on with Frosthaven’s ambitious port from gigantic box to inviting PC game
Checking out an early version, headed by X-COM creator Julian Gollop.
Kevin Purdy
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The early 2000s capacitor plague is probably not just a stolen recipe
Video takes a wider look at the busted caps of early 2000s PCs and other gear.
Kevin Purdy
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Plex ups its price for first time in a decade, changes remote-streaming access
You've got until April 29 before the Lifetime Pass more than doubles in price.
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Eight years later, new but familiar-looking PebbleOS watches appear
Shipping in July and December, with far more battery life and newer chips.
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Old Bolt, new tricks: Making an EV into a backup power station with an inverter
Using a custom kit to make a budget EV offer some emergency power.
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iRobot says there is “substantial doubt” about it as a “going concern”
After Amazon bid failure, firm cut 50% of staff and is launching new robots.
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Pocket Casts makes its web player free, takes shots at Spotify and AI
Cross-platform client says podcasts "belong to the people, not corporations."
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Google Pixel 4a’s painful “update” was due to battery overheating risk
Australia made explicit risks of "fire and/or burns" for non-updated 4a models.
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1Password offers geo-locating help for bad apps that constantly log you out
Get at that hard-to-remember app or garage pin with a new "Nearby" feature.
Kevin Purdy
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Shadowveil is a stylish, tough single-player auto-battler
The first Legends of the Five Rings PC game will make you work for your wins.
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Apple announces M3-powered iPad Air with improved Magic Keyboard layout
The base iPad also doubled its storage, is "6x faster" than some Android models.
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Kaizen: A Factory Story makes a game of perfecting 1980s Japanese manufacturing
Puzzle masters return with a new studio and compelling manufacturing challenges.
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Salty game dev comments, easier mods are inside Command & Conquer’s source code
With the right folks involved, EA can capably preserve and update its classics.
Kevin Purdy
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Now the overclock-curious can buy a delidded AMD 9800X3D, with a warranty
CPUs ready to blast past their limits can be had with a warranty, for a premium.
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WB axes Shadow of Mordor maker in setback for clever, sadly patented game system
Opinion: By playing it safe, WB makes it harder for other games to experiment.
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As the Kernel Turns: Rust in Linux saga reaches the “Linus in all-caps” phase
Torvalds: You can avoid Rust as a C maintainer, but you can't interfere with it.
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Small study suggests dark mode doesn’t save much power for very human reasons
LCD screens, dominant in laptops and tablets, tend to get turned way up.
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78
Russia-aligned hackers are targeting Signal users with device-linking QR codes
Swapping QR codes in group invites and artillery targeting are latest ploys.
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Valve releases full Team Fortress 2 game code to encourage new, free versions
Other Source games also get the Half-Life 2 anniversary update treatment.
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Nvidia’s 50-series cards drop support for PhysX, impacting older games
The 32-bit tech on older games can't bring snazzy effects forward.
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Review: Asus’ ROG Flow Z13 tablet takes the asterisk off integrated GPUs
Performance like an RTX 4060, but it's packed into a slightly heavy Surface-like.
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“NokiApple LumiPhone 1020 SE” merges Windows Phone body with budget iPhone guts
Maybe Hack-iPhoning is the next wave to replace Hackintoshing.
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X is reportedly blocking links to secure Signal contact pages
Signal has recently become a popular organizing tool among government workers.
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Asahi Linux lead resigns from Mac-based distro after tumultuous kernel debate
Hector Martin cites burnout, and Rust for Linux oppostion, in resigning.
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Apple now lets you move purchases between your 25 years of accounts
Now we can all bring that mandatory U2 album back into our main libraries.
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