Satellite images of the California wildfires
Satellite images from January 6th to 8th show just how quickly the California wildfires spread and the sheer scale of the devastation.
Satellite images from January 6th to 8th show just how quickly the California wildfires spread and the sheer scale of the devastation.
After Tim Cook announced that Apple is donating to help those affected by the Los Angeles wildfires, the company has just confirmed that Apple Card users living in the impacted regions will also get some relief. These people can temporarily postpone their Apple Card payments without interest.
more…Grok, the AI assistant that's for some reason baked into X, is now available as a standalone app. Like the version that exists as a tab on the social media platform, the Grok app can be used to generate images, summarize text and answer questions, with a conversational tone xAI, the AI assistant's creator, calls "humorous and engaging."
The app was first tested with a limited set of users in December 2024, right around the same time X debuted a free tier of Grok that's available to anyone. Prior to that, you needed to pay at least $8 a month for X Premium to have the privilege of using the AI.
The limitations of that free access — 10 requests every two hours, three image analysis request per day — may also apply to the Grok app. You can use the app without signing in, or sign-in with an Apple account, X account, Google account, or a plain old email. It's not clear whether an X Premium subscription gets you added benefits in the Grok app in the same way it does X.
Grok has struggled with similar issues around accuracy and bizarre image generation choices as other AI assistants like Gemini and ChatGPT. The chatbot mainly stands out from its competitors because xAI pitched it as being able to answer "spicy questions" other AI assistants avoid, and a version of the Grok AI model is open source. You'll have to see for yourself how "spicy" the Grok app ultimately is, but at least you don't have to go to X to use it now.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apps/xs-grok-ai-assistant-is-now-a-standalone-app-225151579.html?src=rssAt the end of 2024, a US court authorized the Department of Justice to sell 69,370 bitcoins from "the largest cryptocurrency seizure in history."
At bitcoin's current price, just under $92,000, these bitcoins are worth nearly $6.4 billion, and crypto outlets are reporting that DOJ officials have said they're planning to proceed with selling off the assets consistent with the court's order. The DOJ had reportedly argued that bitcoin's price volatility was a pressing reason to push for permission for the sale.
Ars has reached out to the DOJ for comment and will update the story with any new information regarding next steps.
Stephen “tWitch” Boss is survived by his wife, children and more extended relatives after his December 2022 death at age 40.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to share my husband Stephen has left us,” Boss’ wife, Allison Holker, said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times at the time. “Stephen lit up every room he stepped into. He valued family, friends and community above all else and leading with love and light was everything to him. He was the backbone of our family, the best husband and father, and an inspiration to his fans.”
The So You Think You Can Dance alums began dating after competing on the dance competition in 2010. They shared three children together: Weslie, Maddox and Zaia. (Boss adopted Weslie, Holker’s daughter from a previous relationship.)
Keep scrolling to learn more about Boss’ family:
Tom Holland and Zendaya made their love permanent.
After Zendaya, 28, showed off her dainty “T” tattoo at the 2025 Golden Globes on Sunday, January 5, TMZ reported that Holland, 28, got matching ink to honor his fiancée.
According to the outlet, the duo got inked at Boston Tattoo Company on November 27. Holland reportedly got a “Z” sketched into his ribcage.
Tattoo artist Lily Jarnryd later opened up to Us Weekly about tattooing the Spider-Man costars, gushing, “It was a lot of fun, it was lovely meeting them.” She continued, “They are both lovely and I wish them the best. I love my job so much!”
Fans Speculate Zendaya’s Golden Globes Tattoo Is Dedicated to Tom Holland
Zendaya’s side tattoo wasn’t the only thing she showed off at the Golden Globes. She also debuted her engagement ring, which Holland gave her over the holidays. Her east-west ring features a horizontal diamond set on a 18-karat white and yellow gold band, reported to be from London-based celebrity jeweler Jessica McCormack.
McCormack describes the cut as “a literal twist on a classic solitaire,” and calls it “the perfect modern engagement ring … beloved by cool brides for its pared-back, non-traditional aesthetic.”
While flashing her engagement ring at the annual awards show, Zendaya wore a burnt orange custom Louis Vuitton gown featuring a strapless sweetheart neckline and a column skirt glammed up with a Watteau train. The Challengers star added even more sparkle to her look with a gleaming Bulgari diamond necklace and a matching ring.
For glam, she pinned her brunette locks up into a chin-length bob that was styled in Old Hollywood curls. She tied her look together with winged eyeliner and long lashes.
Zendaya Sparks Tom Holland Engagement Rumors With Ring at Golden Globes
That night, Zendaya, who attended the awards without Holland, was up for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy for part as Tashi Donaldson in Challengers. Demi Moore ended up taking the trophy home for her role in The Substance.
Timothée Chalamet just made one Bob Dylan megafan’s dreams come true — but he might have caused a little family discord in the process.
On Wednesday, January 8, sports radio host Chris “Mad Dog” Russo told his followers on social media that he’d been invited to the London premiere of Chalamet’s new Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown after the star slid into his DMs.
Russo, 65, a longtime Dylan fan who hosts his own Sirius XM sports radio show, had spent the weeks ahead of the event sharing his frustration at being left off of the film’s press run. He told listeners that he even reached out to Chalamet’s father in an attempt to have the actor guest on his show and talk about Dylan’s music.
Despite those ups and downs, Russo’s efforts were ultimately successful. After Russo went on a lengthy rant about the upcoming premiere on Tuesday, January 7, Chalamet, 29, an avid sports fan, shared the clip and wrote in his Instagram Stories, “We gotta get Mad Dog a ticket to Paris or London or Rome premiere!!!!”
Timothee Chalamet 'Floored' by Bob Dylan's Praise of 'A Complete Unknown'
The next day Russo, who frequently appears on ESPN’s First Take, told cohost Stephen A. Smith that Chalamet had come through. “How about yesterday?” he said. “I go to Cablevision. You ready? I go to Cablevision and return a box. I get a phone call from [Jeff Saturday’s agent] Jill, your agent. She says, ‘Chris, you’re not gonna believe this.’ I says, ‘What’s that?’ ‘Mr. Chalamet called Searchlight, who called us and offered you two tickets to one of those premieres next week in Europe.”
Russo decided to take his daughter, Kiera, who will celebrate her birthday the day after the movie’s January 14 premiere in London, as his plus one. This decision prompted another outburst — this time from Chris’ son, Colin, who went off on his own rant about his dad on his show “Russo & Rizzo.”