A thread of the best WIRED approved deals for Prime Day 2021:
★ @InstantPot Duo Plus 6 Quart for $55 ($45 off)
This is the Instant Pot that members of the Gear team use every week: wired.trib.al/w9SNn1t
If you buy something using our links, WIRED may earn a commission. 1/
★ iRobot Roomba 692 for $200 ($100 off)
Senior associate editor @adriennemso tests new robot vacuums every month, but Roomba vacuums seem to always make their way to the top of her lists: wired.trib.al/A1nRiLX 2/
★ Stasher 1/2-Gallon Reusable Storage Bags for $15
($7 off)
We love Stasher bags. They're better for the environment than single-use Ziploc bags, and they're dishwasher-friendly: wired.trib.al/pInib86
📷: Amazon 3/
★ LifeStraw 2-Pack for $20 ($20 off)
If you don't already have one or several, a Lifestraw is a good thing to stow away in your emergency supplies kit: wired.trib.al/EFcq3PC
📷: Amazon 4/
★ Fire TV Stick 4K for $25 ($25 off)
It's not as great as Roku or Android TV, but Fire TV is still a solid ecosystem, and for $25 this is a great way to upgrade from your TV's built-in interface: wired.trib.al/da4Vi7h
📷: Amazon 4/
★ Nintendo Switch Lite + MicroSD Card for $200 ($25 off)
This bundle isn't a huge discount, but it does give you a free 128-GB MicroSD card, which is an essential accessory for Switch: wired.trib.al/qGWti2w
📷: Nintendo 5/
More #AmazonPrimeDay deals!
★ @wacaco_ltd Portable Coffee Maker for $40 ($7 off)
This is the best portable coffee maker for the task. It's a vacuum-pressure brewer. Learn more: wired.trib.al/0NyWR0y
📷: Wacaco 6/
★ @OXO Brew 8 Cup Coffee Maker for $145 ($26 off)
This countertop brewer (9/10, WIRED Recommends) can make up to eight cups of coffee: wired.trib.al/0NyWR0y
📷: Oxo 7/
More WIRED approved deals for Prime Day 2021
★ SodaStream Fizzi for $50 ($36 off)
Stop throwing La Croix cans in the recycling and make your own sparkling water. The Fizzi doesn't even need electricity, so you can even use it when camping: wired.trib.al/JHLVkA5 8/
★ @SimpliSafe 5 Piece Wireless Home Security System for $106 ($74 off)
We recently reviewed SimpliSafe's security system and really like it. It truly is as the name suggests: simple and safe: wired.trib.al/JHLVkA5
📷: SimpliSafe 9/
★ @Coway_Global Airmega 200M Air Purifier for $149 ($50 off) at Walmart
This is our favorite air purifier for small rooms: wired.trib.al/JHLVkA5
📷: Coway 9/
★ @roborockglobal S4 Max Robot Vacuum for $310 ($120 off)
Of all the robot vacuums that @adriennemso has tested, Roborock has emerged as the front-runner: wired.trib.al/JHLVkA5
📷: Roborock 10/
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DOGE is knitting together data from the Department of Homeland Security, Social Security Administration, and IRS that could create a surveillance tool of unprecedented scope. wired.com/story/doge-col…
The scale at which DOGE is seeking to interconnect data, including sensitive biometric data, has never been done before, raising alarms with experts who fear it may lead to disastrous privacy violations. wired.com/story/doge-col…
“They are trying to amass a huge amount of data,” a senior DHS official tells WIRED. “It has nothing to do with finding fraud or wasteful spending … They are already cross-referencing immigration with SSA and IRS as well as voter data.” wired.com/story/doge-col…
American police are spending hundreds of thousands on Massive Blue’s unproven and secretive technology that uses AI-generated online personas designed to interact with and collect intelligence on “college protesters,” “radicalized” political activists, and suspected traffickers.
Massive Blue calls its product Overwatch, which it markets as an “AI-powered force multiplier for public safety” that “deploys lifelike virtual agents, which infiltrate and engage criminal networks across various channels.”
404 Media obtained a presentation showing some of these AI characters. These include a “radicalized AI” “protest persona,” which poses as a 36-year-old divorced woman who is lonely, has no children, is interested in baking, activism, and “body positivity.”
The audit covers DOGE’s handling of data at several Cabinet-level agencies, including:
–the Departments of Labor, Education, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services
–the Treasury
–the Social Security Administration
–the US DOGE Service (USDS) itself wired.com/story/gao-audi…
It's being carried out after congressional leaders’ requests and is centered on DOGE’s adherence to privacy and data protection laws and regulations.
A Congressional aide said the requests followed media reports on DOGE’s incursions into federal systems. wired.com/story/gao-audi…
Dozens of federal employees tell WIRED that Trump's federal return to office order has resulted in chaos (including bad Wi-Fi and no toilet paper), with productivity plummeting and public services suffering. wired.com/story/federal-…
One effect of all this, many federal employees tell WIRED, is that they are travelling long distances in order to spend all of their time in virtual meetings.
A Treasury employee says they spend most of their time at the office on video calls as well. wired.com/story/federal-…
It isn’t just traveling to work to sit on Zoom calls—it’s that there may be no place to take the call, or no working internet to connect to it.
WIRED granted employees anonymity to speak freely about their experiences. wired.com/story/federal-…
SCOOP: Elon Musk’s DOGE has plans to stage a “hackathon” next week in Washington, DC. The goal is to create a single “mega API”—a bridge that lets software systems talk to one another—for accessing IRS data, sources tell WIRED. wired.com/story/doge-hac…
DOGE ops have repeatedly referred to the company Palantir as a possible partner in the project, sources tell WIRED.
SCOOP: Shortly after senior Trump officials discussed the bombing of Yemen in a Signal group chat that just happened to include the Atlantic's editor in chief, a subset of the group feasted at a secret dinner featuring Trump where guests were asked to pay $1 million apiece to join. wired.com/story/trump-of…
The date was Saturday, March 15. President Donald Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago estate attending a “candlelight” dinner that wasn’t on his public calendar. On the lawn outside, luxury cars were on display: a Rolls Royce was parked near a Bugatti and Lamborghini.
Earlier that day, the United States had bombed Yemen, targeting Houthi leadership. At least 53 people, including children, were killed.