Ring's Super Bowl ad on Sunday promoted "Search Party," a feature that lets a user post a photo of a missing dog in the Ring app and triggers outdoor Ring cameras across the neighborhood to use AI to scan for a match. 404 Media argues the cheerful premise obscures what the Amazon-owned company has become: a massive, consumer-deployed surveillance network.

Ring founder Jamie Siminoff, who left in 2023 and returned last year, has since moved to re-establish police partnerships and push more AI into Ring cameras. The company has also partnered with Flock, a surveillance firm used by thousands of police departments, and launched a beta feature called "Familiar Faces" that identifies known people at your door. Chris Gilliard, author of the upcoming book Luxury Surveillance, called the ad "a clumsy attempt by Ring to put a cuddly face on a rather dystopian reality: widespread networked surveillance by a company that has cozy relationships with law enforcement."

Further reading: No One, Including Our Furry Friends, Will Be Safer in Ring's Surveillance Nightmare, EFF Says

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It’s the part of myself I’m most frequently embarrassed by – but as comedy festival season approaches, I’m prepared for the worst

I thought Daniel Kitson was just about ready to kick me out of the comedy room. He had already picked on me several times for laughing too loud, too readily (“that wasn’t even a joke”, he chastised me at one point). I was trying hard to suppress my laughter – to hold it in, to hold it back, to not fully express the joy I was feeling. I was being somewhat successful. And then I wasn’t. Everyone in the audience was laughing – but I was laughing too much.

Then Kitson looked at me, and asked me to laugh “10% less” – I was ruining it for the rest of the audience, he said. Bring it down 10% and give everyone else a chance. My face turned red, I shrunk in my seat, and I tried my hardest – really, I did – to not laugh so loud.

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Buddhist monks had walked 2,300 miles from Texas, braving snow and often barefoot – their arrival in the capital was greeted by thousands

Bhante Saranapala gazed down at more than a hundred Buddhist monks wearing burnt-orange, saffron and maroon robes, most sporting woolly hats, a few clutching flowers.

“These monks are awesome!” roared Saranapala, who is known as the “Urban Buddhist Monk”, prompting a cheer from the big crowd. “Their determination should be greatly appreciated. Walking from Texas to Washington DC, 2,300 miles; it requires strong determination!”

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A dark day, with the Sydney harbour suburb of Birchgrove in the foreground and Goat Island, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House and the financial end of the Sydney CBD also in the picture.

Named after Lieutenant John Birch's estate built circa 1812, the area served maritime and shipbuilding industries but, like neighbouring Balmain, has long ceased to be a suburb of the 'working man'. At one time the Balmain Colliery was located here.

S/opp Architects was founded in Oslo, Norway in 2016 . The practice emerged from observing a fundamental disconnect in Scandinavian architecture.