Cheaper, richer, tastier coffee: How to roast your own beans at home
Cheaper, richer, tastier coffee: How to roast your own beans at home
For many, coffee isn't just a luxury, but a habit that adds structure and satisfaction to the daily routine. With states mandating you to stay inside most of the day and even Starbucks stores closing to foot traffic, chances are you're making more coffee yourself. Now's the chance to uplevel your skills and consider roasting your own coffee right at home.
Raw coffee lasts for years on the shelf, yet still retains its flavor. It's only when you introduce intense heat through the roasting process that the powerful coffee essence unlocks, and then begins to slowly fade. But if you roast your own beans, you can stock up in bulk on raw product and roast only as much as you need in the short term. In some ways, it's the perfect quarantine staple.
Plus, freshly roasted coffee is outrageously delicious compared with the standard store-bought variety that's typically months old, even the whole roasted beans.
Unroasted, or green, coffee costs less, too, so you'll save money in the long run. In fact, you can get your hands on green coffee for as little as $4 to $5 a pound. Sure, the idea of home roasting might sound intimidating at first, but the payoffs are huge. Here's how to get started.
These are raw, or green, coffee beans that have not been roasted.
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From raw to roasted coffee
With enough heat energy applied to green coffee, the hard structure of a bean breaks down to release its complex mixture of contents. This cocktail includes everything from water to sugars, proteins, fats and, yes, caffeine.
The high temperature of roasting chemically alters many of these compounds (such as by caramelizing sugars and oxidizing lipids, proteins and starches), and ultimately creates what we expect to see, smell and taste in freshly roasted coffee.
Read more: The best espresso machine for 2020
Gather the tools and hardware you need for this project.
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Build a backyard roaster
You can build a coffee roaster easily from inexpensive items you can buy at a hardware or kitchen supply store. Here's a list of the parts I used.
To begin, drill a hole through the center of the base of each colander with a three-eighths-inch metal drill bit. Next, spin one nut and one wing nut onto one end of the threaded rod (go about halfway) and from the opposite side, slide one washer down the rod. Then, slide one of the colanders onto the rod through its drilled hole, next to the washer, with the open side up. Follow with another washer and two regular nuts, and tighten all nuts so the colander stays fixed in place.
In the same way, attach the other colander to the rod so that the rims of the bowls face each other. Leave a 6-inch gap between the two vessels, hold the rod vertically and add your green coffee to the lower colander. It's a 5 quart model with plenty of room for the 1 pound batches I suggest you roast. Finish by slipping the second colander down to close the gap and securely tighten the nuts.
The roaster you've constructed should rest above the burners and be able to spin freely around its threaded rod.
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Prepare your barbecue
I suggest using a gas grill to roast coffee. These grills have responsive burners powered by propane. That makes their internal temperature easier to control compared with charcoal grills. Begin by removing your grill grates, heat diffuser (bars or pan) and warming rack. If your grill has a slot for a rotisserie accessory, use this opening to place the threaded rod across the burners. If not, lay the rod across the hood's sides with the hood open. (Many grill hoods have sections cut out of their sides to make room for accessory mounts when closed. Line the rod up to match these gaps.)
Your roaster should now be suspended and centered over the barbecue's burners. To spin the apparatus, connect an electric drill to one end of the roaster's rod as if it were a drill bit and tighten the drill's chuck jaws around it.
Use a cordless drill as a motor to rotate your roaster.
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An adjustable hose clamp wrapped around the drill's trigger is a simple way to apply steady pressure and spin the roaster drum at a constant rate. Aim for 120 rpm (I count revolutions for 30 seconds and then double the number).
That's quick for a rotisserie motor (10 to 55 rpm) but easy for a power drill (600 to 1,500 rpm). The goal is to mix the beans quickly enough so heat hits them evenly, yet slowly enough to minimize stress on the drill and avoid loosening any nuts and washers.
Fill your roaster with raw coffee beans.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
Roast, baby, roast
How long any given roasting session will take can vary greatly depending on factors like the coffee variety, how hot your roaster gets and whether you'd like a light, medium or dark roast. As a general guide, expect a small batch of beans (1 pound or less) to take about 10 minutes.
Fire up your grills burners and start roasting.
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Start by firing up the grill and turning the burners up to maximum. Close the hood to let the grill cavity warm up and when the grill thermometer hits 400 degrees Fahrenheit, turn the burners down to medium. Next, add green coffee to the drum, tighten the two colander halves together, carefully set the rod in place and start spinning.
Now you're ready to close the hood while keeping your ears, nose and eyes peeled to monitor what's going on inside. It's OK to take a few quick peeks, but open the hood too many times and you risk losing vital heat. Ideally, you want to keep temperatures in the roaster consistently between 400 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Since it's difficult to mount a heat sensor inside a spinning roaster, just use your grill's built-in thermometer instead.
Pay close attention to what you see, hear, and smell as the beans roast.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
Listen out for the pop and don't burn your beans
The first change happens visibly when the beans shift from a muddled green to yellow to a darker golden hue. As the beans' internal temperature approaches and exceeds the boiling point of water, steam forms and trapped water vapor fights to escape.
When it finally does, the coffee beans begin to snap with an audible pop. In what's known as the "first crack," the beans split open down their middle and swell in size. At this point your beans are technically roasted, but they'll have a bright acidity on the edge of sourness. Drinking coffee from this roast level is perfectly fine, but to develop a traditional coffee flavor, you must go a little further.
Roasting coffee beans definitely creates a lot of smoke. That's why it's best to do this outdoors.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
As the temperature climbs higher (435 to 445 Fahrenheit) fats, sugars and proteins break down. The beans are now roasting in earnest. Be careful at this stage because the pace of these reactions will speed up. If you're not paying close attention, you'll end up with burnt beans in no time.
As gases including CO2 (carbon dioxide) form, they cause another round of sustained snaps called the "second crack." The beans will then release oils giving them a shiny, glossy look. Roast longer and the beans will darken further to dark brown, even bordering on black. This creates dark roasts such as French roast.
Transfer the just-roasted coffee beans to another vessel. An extra metal colander will do the trick.
Tyler Lizenby/CNET
Cool things down
Once you've reached your desired roast level, turn off the grill and gas and quickly transfer the roasted coffee beans from the roaster to a metal oven sheet pan. Remember to use heat-resistant gloves or oven mitts to handle the apparatus.
Set the pan and contents aside for 24 hours to let the beans cool. As long as they're not smoking you can do this inside. Technically you can brew coffee from these beans. However, it's best to hold off for another 24 hours. Freshly roasted coffee typically gives off CO2 gas that can create funky flavors. Finally, preserve your roast by storing it in an airtight container, a special valve bag or at least a zip-closure pouch.
Brew, sip and tweak
Congratulations! You've turned raw green coffee into the essential ingredient for brewing a uniquely delicious beverage. Of course, you'll need a quality brewer and grinder to harness all that coffee flavor. And if the joe you've made isn't to your liking, there are a ton of ways to tweak the roasting process for an outcome more to your tastes.
Even with the same coffee variety, changing the roast level will greatly alter the flavors that ultimately land in your cup. And just wait until you start experimenting with beans and blends sourced from exotic locales. Better hold onto your mug.
For more tips to brew better coffee at home or fun projects to help pass the time while in self-quarantine, check out how to make wine in your Instant Pot, how to keep bread from going stale and cleaning your oven without harsh chemicals.
TikTok CEO to relinquish CFO role at parent ByteDance
TikTok CEO to relinquish CFO role at parent ByteDance
The chief financial officer of TikTok parent company ByteDance will step down to focus his attention full time on running the popular video-sharing app, according to an internal memo sent to employees on Monday.
ByteDance CFO Shou Zi Chew joined ByteDance in March and was appointed TikTok's chief executive in April.
The shift is part of a broader reorganization that will create six business units within TikTok's parent company, ByteDance Chief Executive Liang Rubo said in the memo, reported earlier by Reuters. The new structure will include TikTok, Douyin, work collaboration unit Lark, business services unit BytePlus, gaming unit Nuverse and education tech unit Dali.
ByteDance declined to comment on the memo.
Chew became TikTok's CEO in April, eight months after the resignation of Kevin Mayer, its previous chief executive. Mayer, who helped launch the popular Disney Plus streaming service, resigned after a turbulent year for TikTok. In his resignation letter after three months at TikTok's helm, Mayer cited as a reason for his departure then-US President Donald Trump's threat to ban TikTok unless it was sold to a US-based company.
Instagram Phishing Scam Exploits Users' Desire to Be Verified, Report Says
Instagram Phishing Scam Exploits Users' Desire to Be Verified, Report Says
If you receive an email about becoming verified on Instagram, be careful, it may well be a scam.
Cybersecurity company Vade reported Thursday that since late July, some users have been receiving a suspicious email from hackers posing as Instagram. The email says the user's profile has been reviewed and selected for verification.
The email uses the subject line "ig bluebadge info" and comes from the address "ig-badges." Some users might think the email is legitimate, since Instagram and Facebook logos are placed near the top and bottom.
"The hackers hope these tactics disguise the signs of a phishing scam, including the context of the email," Vade wrote.
However, the email includes various misspellings and formatting errors. For example, one part of the email reads, "Thanks, you instagram team."
This is what the suspicious email reportedly looks like.
Vade
A phishing scam is when hackers use bait -- in this instance, the opportunity to be verified on Instagram -- to trick victims into clicking a malicious link or entering personal information into a bogus form. These scams usually take place via emails, so its hard for security software to block or filter them out.
Instagram writes in its Help Center that the verification process takes place within the app, not over email, and you have to be a public figure, celebrity or a brand to request to be verified.
The best thing to do if you receive this email: Don't click anything in it, and delete it.
Meta, Instagram's parent company, didn't immediately respond to CNET's request for comment.
For more, check out this FBI and House Committee warning about cryptocurrency fraud. And here's how to spot a student loan relief scam.
WWE Wrestlemania 35: Results, ratings, surprises and new champions
WWE Wrestlemania 35: Results, ratings, surprises and new champions
Wrestlemania 35 is done! The biggest wrestling show of the year was headlined by the first ever women's main event. A triple threat match that pit Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey against SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair against Becky Lynch. And the winner (revealed below) walked away with both titles.
That was only the first of three major title matches. Noted human death machine Brock Lesnar faced Royal Rumble winner Seth Rollins for the Universal Championship, while Kofi Kingston got his first ever singles shot at the WWE Championship when he took on Daniel Bryan.
With over a dozen matches, these three championship bouts only scratched the surface. We also saw the return of Batista, Kurt Angle's retirement match, Roman Reigns' first Wrestlemania match since returning from his bout with leukemia and, amazingly, much more.
Below we recap the event as it happened. Needless to say, spoilers ahead!
Becky Lynch defeats Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair
The crowd may have one match worth of excitement in them yet. Fortuitous timing, because it's main event time.
Flair is taxied to the stadium in a helicopter. She steps out, takes off her leather jacket and has her lackeys bring over a patented Flair sparkle cape. Rousey is out first, played in by Joan Jett. Rousey smiles at the band, then gets her killer face on. Flair comes out to fireworks, and "The Man" Becky Lynch steams in last.
The crowd is all about Lynch. Remember, both Rousey's Raw Women's Championship and Flair's SmackDown Women's Championship are on the line.
Rousey kicks things off with punches to Lynch. Rousey kicks Flair out of the ring. Rousey is the monster of this main event. Lynch and Flair work together to take out Lynch. Flair and Lynch end up alone in the ring. The crowd is well and truly alive again, chanting "Becky" and booing everyone not Becky.
Rousey returns to the ring. Flair and Lynch try a double power bomb on her, but Rousey counters with a double armbar over the ropes. Lynch escapes and dropkicks Rousey out of the ring.
Flair goes for a moonsault on Lynch but Lynch counters into a Disarmer armbar. Rousey re-enters the ring and puts Lynch in an armbar. Flair breaks it up with a solid knee to Rousey's face. Flair hits Rousey with a million chops, then backhands her to the face. Rousey goes for a flying armbar.
All action. So far so good.
All three women are in the ring. Lynch hits an exploding suplex on Flair from the top rope. Rousey hits a off-the-top-rope splash on both and starts Judo throwing everyone. Double armbar on Lynch and Flair. Lynch and Flair counter with a double powerbomb on Rousey. Rousey holds the armbar. Two more powerbombs breaks the hold.
Lynch and Flair have an exchange, leaving Lynch alone with Rousey in the ring. Lynch hits the Disarmer on Rousey. Rousey powers out. Flair is back. Off-the-top-rope Spanish Fly from Flair to Lynch gets a two count. Flair kicks Lynch out of the ring. Flair works over Rousey's leg, which immediately bruises up. Flair puts a figure four leglock on Rousey using the ring post before Lynch breaks it up.
Flair puts Rousey in a Figure Eight leglock in the center of the ring but again Lynch breaks it up, this time with a flying leg drop. Lynch brings out a table. The crowd is happy. The table gets set up in the ring. Rousey kicks it over, the crowd is furious. She pummels Lynch. Flair spears both women. Double two counts.
The table is now setup by one of the turnbuckles. Flair spears Lynch for a two count. Michael Cole has no voice left. Flair tries to spear both Lynch and Rousey through the table but ends up going through herself. Lynch and Rousey square up in the ring and the crowd pops big.
Rousey goes for a Piper's Pit slam but Lynch counters into a crucifix pin for the three count. Becky Lynch wins both the SmackDown and Raw Women's Championships. After the match, it was reported Ronda Rousey broke her hand during the bout.
Rating: 3.75 stars. Excellent opening and middle, but the match's ending came out of nowhere. Just as it felt like we were going to get a satisfying ending segment the match ended. The fluke win over Rousey will likely lead to a future rematch, but it was a weak ending to a Wrestlemania main event.
Becky Lynch wins all the gold.
WWE
Finn Balor defeats Bobby Lashley
When Finn Balor first unveiled his Demon Finn alter ego in NXT back in 2014, the first thing that came to my mind was "wow, imagine what a Demon Finn entrance at Wrestlemania would be like." Today is that day.
Hello, Demon Finn.
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Balor starts with a spinning wheel kick, a scissor kick and a shotgun dropkick. Kicks galore from Demon Balor. Lashley comes back with a slam and a suplex. Lashley sends him outside. Balor hits a slingblade and a shotgun dropkick into the barricade. Lashley spears Balor out of the ring, then hits another one in the center of the ring. Two count.
Balor powers up, hits a powerbomb on Lashley and a Coup de Grace. We have a new Intercontinental Champion.
Rating: 2.5 stars. Lashley' spear was spectacular, and Balor's powerbomb was impressive. It was a short match though, and the crowd at this point only cares about the main event.
Kurt Angle loses to Baron Corbin, retires
Baron Corbin, Kurt Angle's opponent, comes out first. People aren't keen. Fans hoped Corbin would get a last-minute replacement, but it doesn't appear to be happening.
Corbin hits Angle with some punches and generally whales on him. Angle mounts a comeback, hits a three German suplexes. Angle gets him in an ankle lock but Corbin powers out. Corbin hits him with a Deep Six slam. Angle hits an Olympic Slam for a two count. Angle takes off his straps and puts Corbin in the Ankle Lock. Corbin powers out again.
Kurt Angle farewells his last Wrestlemania crowd.
WWE
Corbin gives Angle a "you can't see me" taunt. Angle goes in for more german suplexes. Crowd wakes up and cheers for Angle. Angle goes for a reverse moonsault but Corbin moves out of the way. Corbin hits an End of Days to win the match. The MetLife Stadium collectively shakes its head.
After the match Angle gets on the mic and asks the crowd to walk him out by chanting "You suck." The best and worst of WWE in this match.
Rating: 2 stars. No one wanted this.
Triple H defeats Batista
Shawn Michaels is out for what is being touted as potentially Triple H's last match. Two SUVs come out carrying Batista and his entourage. Batista is so great. Physique wise he looks the same as he did five years ago which, at 50-years-old, is impressive. He trips while stepping through the ropes. Not a good omen. Kumail Nanjiani, of Silicon Valley fame, is at ringside.
Triple H's entrance is Mad Max: Fury Road-themed. He comes out on the back of what can only be described as a death mobile. It's time to play the game.
Triple H on his death mobile.
WWE
The two are outside within seconds. This is a no-holds-barred match, meaning anything goes. Triple H finds a toolbox with a thick chain in it and promptly whips Batista. Nice and easy start. Triple H brings out a pincer tool and crushes Batista's fingers with it. If Saw was PG-14 and set in a wrestling promotion, this would be it.
Triple H throws Batista in the ring and hits him with a chair. Then he tears Batista's nose ring out with pliers. This is actually pretty gross. At the very least, you can't say Batista isn't dedicated to showbiz. Batista eventually gets some offense in, slamming Triple H twice on one of the announcer's tables. Batista throws Triple H into the barricade three times. Crowd is tired.
Batista throws Triple H around the ring a few times. Triple H rolls out and Batista hits him with the steel stairs. Batista puts the steps on top of one of the announcers' tables. Batista goes for a Batista Bomb, but Triple H counters with a back body drop onto what is possibly the most reinforced announcers' table of all time. Triple H gives Batista ye' ol' crotch chop and spears him through a third announce table.
Batista goes in the ring and Triple H brings out his sledgehammer. Good times ahead. Triple H goes for a hammer shot but Batista hits him with a spear. Batista takes the hammer and goes for a shot, Triple H kicks him and takes the hammer. Triple H goes for a hammer shot but Batista counters with a spinebuster. Batista hits a Batista Bomb for a terrific near fall.
Batista brings the steel steps into the ring. Triple H gets the upper hand and powerbombs Batista into the steps and then hits a Pedigree. Two count.
Ric Flair, who Batista attacked in the lead up to this match, appears. He slips a sledgehammer to Triple H and distracts Batista. Triple H hits Batista with the hammer, Pedigree and 1-2-3.
Rating: 3.75 stars. Lots of tricks here. Chairs, tables, sledgehammers, nose rings. The match was hurt by a tired crowd, but still great. This was a memorable way for Batista to go out.
If you're going to hit someone with a sledgehammer, do it with style.
WWE
John Cena, PhD, returns
It's now time for Elias to do whatever it is Elias does. There's an Elias in the ring playing guitar with two titantron Elias'. Amazingly, the crowd cheers. The real, in-ring Elias plays a riff from 7 Nation Army. Elias says WWE stands for Walk With Elias. The crowd is with him. This is all setting up a spectacular beat down, surely.
It's like 2003 again, and we're OK with that.
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And spectacular it is. He's interrupted by the Doctor of Thuganomics, 2003 John Cena, Cena is wearing a Yankees jersey and has his Word Life knuckle busters. This is awesome. Cena, wearing a pair of Reebok sneakers he must have kept in a safe somewhere, gives a "freestyle" rap. It was also awesome. Worth the price of admission alone.
Roman Reigns defeats Drew McIntyre
Scottish drummers are here to play in Drew McIntyre. These two could have a great match but will have to contend with a crowd who just hit a high during #KofiMania. Reigns' music hits to cheers. This is his first Wrestlemania not in the main event since Wrestlemania XXX.
Announcer Corey Graves says Reigns, who just returned from leukemia, is fighting for anyone who has ever been seriously sick. Reigns and McIntyre exchange hard-hitting strikes before the latter hits a spinebuster. McIntyre beats on Reigns. They end up on the outside. Reigns misses a drive-by dropkick. Back in the ring, McIntyre hits a reverse Alabama Slam.
The crowd is into the match but is showing signs of exhaustion now that we're three hours into the main show, and it's been five hours since the preshow started. McIntyre slaps Reigns which kicks Reigns into berserk mode. Reigns hits a drive-by dropkick on the outside and then a Samoan drop.
Reigns hits a Superman Punch and sets up a spear. He hits it and gets the three count.
Roman Reigns wins his Wrestlemania return.
WWE
Rating: 2.75 stars. Nothing wrong with the match, but the crowd is tired and the ending was anticlimactic.
Samoa Joe retains the United States Championship
The United States Championship is on the line. Rey Mysterio comes out as Mysterio from Spider-Man.
The two come in hot, with Joe hitting Mysterio with a big boot. Mysterio hurricanranas Joe into the ropes and hits a 619. Joe counters a splash into a rear-naked choke. Samoa Joe retains.
Rating: No rating. This one was too short to really count as a match. They'll likely have a great rematch on SmackDown or at the next pay-per-view.
Kofi Kingston wins the WWE Championship
It's time for one of the biggest, most anticipated matches of the night. Wrestlemania, don't you dare be sour...
Crowd is very up on Kingston and very down on Bryan. This is the hottest the crowd has been all night. The two start with chain wrestling before Bryan retreats. Some more back and forth action ends with Kingston in a painful-looking surfboard submission.
Bryan ends up outside. Kingston does a springboard dive, but Bryan moves out of the way. Kingston crashes into the announce table and potentially kills himself.
Kofi Kingston nearly kills himself.
WWE
Bryan works over Kingston's back, including a flying knee from the top rope to a hanging-on-the-top-rope Kingston. Bryan hits running dropkicks on Kingston. Kingston tries to counter with a dropkick of his own, but Bryan does an awesome counter into a Boston Crab.
Kingston starts mounting a comeback and the crowd is hype. Kingston hits a great top-rope splash on Bryan as Bryan is trying to stand up. Crowd is getting even more hype. Kingston goes for a Trouble in Paradise, Bryan tries to counter into another Boston Crab but Kingston rolls out and cradles Bryan. They exchange more cradles and Bryan tries and fails to lock in the Labelle Lock. This is easily the match of the night so far.
Bryan sets up his Busaiko Knee but Kingston turns it into an SOS DDT, which Bryan then counters into a Labelle Lock. Kingston reaches the ropes, to a huge pop from the crowd. Bryan hits his Gatling kicks, Kingston hulks up. The crowd is buck wild. Kingston hits a reverse DDT for a two count.
The New Day brawl with Rowan on the outside. Bryan goes for a dive on all three but Kingston hits him with a punch and sets up the Trouble in Paradise. Bryan ducks and hits his Busaiko Knee for a two count. Bryan stomps on Kingston's face and puts him in the Labelle Lock.
Kingston escapes and gives Bryan the same face stomps Bryan gave him moments ago. Kingston hits the Trouble in Paradise and gets the one-two-three.
Rating: 4.5stars. The best WWE Championship match at Wrestlemania since Brock Lesnar versus Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 31. Awesome, awesome match.
#KofiMania
WWE
The IIconics win the Women's Tag Team Championships
Paige, of Fighting With Your Family fame, is out as guest commentator here. The Boss 'n' Hug Connection, still the worst-named tag team in wrestling today, take on The IIconics, Nia Jax and Tamina, and Beth Phoenix and Natalya. Beth and Natalya get walked down the ring by Bret Hart in a cute moment.
Bayley and Tamina start off. A few neat spots early but the match settles into a rhythm. Natalya locks in a double sharpshooter on the Boss 'n' Hug Connection at the same time, but Tamina levels her and then the brutes Tamina and Jax dominate like two bears versus a group of puppies.
Jax and Tamina take to the top turnbuckles to try and drop a mammoth double splash but Phoenix takes out Jax in the nick of time. Phoenix sets up Bayley for the Glam Slam from the top rope but the IIconics sneak in for a win. We have new champions, guys.
Rating:3stars. Enjoyed some of the big spots in this match and a real good showing from Phoenix in her return match, including the huge Glam Slam. Clever finish to lift the IIconics above their middling status, even though they entered dressed like they were going to a high school costume party. Happy times for the WWE Universe.
Shane McMahon defeats The Miz
The Hall of Fame class of 2019 come out for their bows. DX get their own entrance. Shane O'Mac's match is up next.
Shane comes out first and makes announcer Greg Hamilton introduce him as "The Best in the World" multiple times. The match starts with chicanery, as Shane goes outside to accost Miz's dad. Notoriously stiff Shane pummels Miz with some painful looking boxing potatoes. Miz starts bleeding.
The match quickly goes awry as Shane lays Miz on the announcer's table to set up his flying elbow. Miz's dad comes out of nowhere to protect his son. The Miz's father enters the ring. The crowd likes it. Shane starts beating on Miz's dad, then Miz comes in and takes down Shane.
They brawl outside before Miz goes back to the ring to check on his dad, who is down and out. Miz's dad is now a wrestling meme.
Miz goes back into the crowd to brawl with Shane. This is a Fall's Count Anywhere match, for those who forgot (me). Miz hits Shane with a chair shot, puts him through a table and then strikes him with... the roof of a golf cart. They're in the crowd though, so most of the crowd can't see them properly.
Miz hits the Skull Crushing Finale on a camera stand for a two count. Shane then climbs up the structure, which Miz then suplexes him off. They crash through what's obviously a padded mat area. The two are knocked out, but Shane is on top of Miz, technically a pin, and gets the three count. Lame.
Rating:2 stars. Miz's dad was the highlight here. Some OK brawling, although the golf cart roof was a nice touch, and an underwhelming finishing sequence, considering what Shane is here for.
The Usos retain SmackDown Tag Team Championships
We get a Lacey Evans walkout before The Usos come out for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match. They'll defend against The Bar, Shinsuke Nakamura and Rusev, and the team of Aleister Black and Ricochet.
Crowd is noticeably quieter for this one, but the action is good. With four teams and two people in the ring at any time, it's also too fast to recap.
Crowd comes alive when Ricochet enters the ring and works his magic with Cesaro. Cesaro does his Cesaro Swing on Ricochet as Sheamus clubs... everyone. Awesome moment. Cesaro puts Ricochet in a sharpshooter, but one of the Usos breaks it up with a superkick.
Black and Rusev end up the legal men. Black kicks the hell out of Rusev. Black is awesome. I wonder if we could be friends. Probably not. He tags out Ricochet, who I probably couldn't be friends with either. Rusev hits a swinging slam. All eight guys end up on the turnbuckle for an eight-person superplex spot. Ricochet hits a 630 on Sheamus, goes for the pin but it gets broken up by multiple guys.
Ricochet's 630. Beautiful.
WWE
The eight guys trade finisher moves. Good stuff. Usos hit stereo splashes on Sheamus to retain.
Rating: 4 stars. The crowd started soft but ended loud. Lots of great action in this match. It was a spotfest for sure, but a fun one.
AJ Styles defeats Randy Orton
Jerry "The King" Lawler is out to commentate the next match. It's AJ Styles versus Randy Orton. This could be a great one.
Chain wrestling to open the match. Orton goes for an RKO, AJ avoids. Crowd is hot on AJ, but there are some solid Orton chants too. Orton works on AJ's legs, but AJ mounts a small comeback with a beautiful dropkick. Orton rolls out the ring, AJ hits him with an over-the-top-rope forearm. After some outside action Orton rolls AJ in for your first headlock of the night.
Some back and forth action, including an Orton powerslam. Standard Orton pace here, slowing things down after the frenetic opener. AJ locks in a calf crusher in the center of the ring, but Orton gets the ropes. He's a long-limbed man. Orton fights out but is selling his knee. Styles fakes a Phenomenal Forearm, leading to Orton going for an RKO and falling on his back. AJ hits a springboard 450 for a two count. Cool spot.
After some more back and forth, Orton hits the best superplex I've seen in years. A European uppercut then knocks AJ out of the ring. AJ's selling is on point tonight. Orton sets up an RKO, AJ counters with an enziguri but then Orton actually does hit an RKO. Two count.
Orton goes for a top-rope RKO. AJ sneaks out from underneath, hits a Pelé kick and Orton rolls out the ring. AJ hits a phenomenal forearm on the outside. He rolls Orton in, lands another phenomenal forearm for the win.
Rating: 3.5 stars. Well wrestled. What you expected it would be, but not what it could be.
Seth Rollins defeats Brock Lesnar
The two get into a brawl before the match starts. Lesnar hits an F-5 on Rollins outside the ring and generally wrecks shop. Lesnar brings Rollins in the ring and demands the ref start the match. Before the ref can, Lesnar throws Rollins back outside. Lesnar logic.
The Beast is your first Wrestlemania surprise.
WWE
The ref rings the bell. Lesnar hits a few german suplexes and goes for another F-5. Rollins counters and the ref gets knocked down in the process. Rollins hits a low blow and then a curb stomp. Then another. Then another.
Three curb stomps lays out The Beast for a three count. Rollins wins the Universal Championship clean.
Rating: 3 stars. Hot segment to start the show but not much of a match. You can never be sure with Lesnar, but the way this bout went makes it seem like he's headed for UFC.
The show starts with a major title change.
WWE
Alexa Bliss, the official host for the night, opens the show. She says she can create a Wrestlemania moment with a snap of her fingers. She snaps her fingers and out comes Hulk Hogan. It's like Wrestlemania XXX all over again -- but without The Rock or Steve Austin.
Hulk's back.
WWE
As Hogan and Bliss are flexing, out comes Paul Heyman. If Brock Lesnar isn't on last, Heyman says, he's on first. There's your first Wrestlemania shock.
Preshow results
Wrestlemania's two-hour preshow had four matches, one of which crowned new champions. Here are the quick results.
Andre The Giant Men's Battle Royal: Braun Strowman wins by last eliminating SNL's Colin Jost.
Raw Tag Team Championship match, The Revival versus Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins: Curt Hawkins breaks his 269-match long losing streak as he and Ryder become Raw tag team champs.
Wrestlemania Women's Battle Royal: Carmella wins by superkicking Sarah Logan out of the ring.
Cruiserweight Championship match, Buddy Murphy versus Tony Nese: The cruiserweights kick off Wrestlemania in a match that saw Tony Nese dethrone Murphy and become the new cruiserweight champion.
Ford Is Testing Robot EV Chargers to Help Disabled Drivers
Ford Is Testing Robot EV Chargers to Help Disabled Drivers
Maybe the most annoying part of driving an electric car is having to charge it. Public chargers are regularly broken or malfunctioning, and many of them have weirdly sized or placed parking spots. Plus, the charging cables themselves can be heavy and annoying to carry around and maneuver. All of that inconvenience is magnified for disabled or elderly drivers, many of whom are unable to plug in an EV at all. To help remedy this, Ford is starting trials on a new robot charging station that can be operated from inside your car.
The driver pulls up to the specially designated station and initiates the charging process using the FordPass smartphone app. The car's charge door pops open, and a robot arm emerges from the station and precisely plugs itself into the car using a small camera to position itself. Ford's video also shows another version of the robot that drops down from the ceiling of a parking garage to plug in. When it's finished, the arm retracts back into the charging station.
Ford says the robot charger has passed its initial lab testing phase and is now going through real-world trials, and the setup could be used in disabled parking spots, private homes or parking lots. In addition to being a major help for disabled drivers, this new robot tech could provide easier charging of large company fleets, and it could also charge cars more powerfully and in less time than traditional chargers. In the future, Ford envisions the process could be fully automated, with drivers sending the car to the charging station by itself.
The robot was developed in partnership with Dortmund University in Germany, and Ford said the research project will be followed up by working with charging network Ionity to further improve the system. This tech could also be applied in combination with automated valet parking, which Ford first showed off at the Munich Auto Show last year.
Intel's Alder Lake chip could speed PCs by 30% while saving battery power
Intel's Alder Lake chip could speed PCs by 30% while saving battery power
Intel's new Alder Lake processor could boost the performance of personal computers by as much as 30% while delivering longer battery life, a breakthrough the chipmaker credits to a hybrid design that marries modules for top speed with others for efficient operation. It's an approach that's been used for years in smartphones.
At its Architecture Day event on Thursday, Intel said Alder Lake chips will come in three broad classes to power mainstream laptops, ultralight laptops and beefier desktop PCs. The three classes will be modeled on smartphone chips that combine high-performance computing cores for demanding jobs with smaller efficient cores that don't sap as much energy.
The number of performance and efficiency cores differ for each variety, but the fastest model will have eight of each. Intel's diagrams showed mobile Alder Lake chips combining six performance cores with eight efficiency cores and ultramobile chips combining two performance cores with eight efficiency cores. The Alder Lake family of chips will be available in PCs this fall.
The power and efficiency boost over today's 11th-gen Core models code-named Tiger Lake are a crucial selling point now that we have grown to expect laptops that can run for an entire day unplugged. Intel already competes with Apple and its M1 Mac processor that delivers improved power and battery life.
"We want [to] combine the best of both best of both in one system," Raja Koduri, who runs Intel's Accelerated Computing Systems & Graphics group, said in an advance briefing. Alder Lake's hybrid approach will help chart Intel's course for the next decade, Intel said.
Alder Lake's hybrid architecture is a variation of the Big.Little design that chip designer Arm rolled out a decade ago and now dominates smartphones. Apple employs the same approach with the M1 chip, which began powering Macs in 2020 and likely will be upgraded for more powerful Macs expected this year.
Alder Lake marks an important moment of unification and simplification for Intel's chip product line. Intel has been juggling a hodgepodge of new and old designs as it struggled with delays to its manufacturing process. The company fell behind its competitors as it wrangled with the problems, with AMD chip designs gaining market share, Apple ejecting Intel chips from its Macs and Asian giants Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and Samsung leapfrogging Intel in chip manufacturing.
Now all Intel's PC chips will be built with a manufacturing process called Intel 7. The same goes for Alder Lake's big sibling, Sapphire Rapids, a server chip due to arrive in the first half of 2022. Reducing the complexity should lower Intel's costs.
The chips were designed before Pat Gelsinger rejoined Intel earlier this year as chief executive. But they're an important part of his attempt to reclaim Intel's lost chipmaking leadership. He's also overseeing Intel's launch of a foundry business that builds chips for other companies, including rival Qualcomm, and hiring rival TSMC to build parts of its own chips.
"Intel is getting back to the Intel of old," said Tirias Research analyst Kevin Krewell, with the company rebuilding its past technical and operational acumen.
How much faster and more efficient will Alder Lake be?
Intel has been cagey with details but released some measurements of Alder Lake.
An average of speed tests shows Alder Lake's performance cores, known by the code name Golden Cove, demonstrates a 19% boost over today's Tiger Lake chips while running at the same clock speed, said Adi Yoaz, director of the Intel Core architecture. "This is our largest architectural shift in over a decade," he said.
Intel Alder Lake processors likely will all come with eight high-efficiency cores, shown in blue, for lower priority tasks and battery-saving operations. The number of high-performance cores, shown in purple, will range from eight on beefy desktop processors to two on ultramobile devices.
Intel
The new manufacturing process should add another 10% to 15% through hardware refinements that improve attributes like clock speed. Together, that could mean a 30% or more boost in top speeds, a big step up from past annual improvements typically less than 10%.
For preserving battery life while running a set of lower priority tasks, the Gracemont efficient core's design improves Intel's over earlier Skylake design, which is still widely used even though it's six years old. While juggling four tasks at once, efficiency cores require a fifth the power of Skylake cores, said Intel chip architect Stephen Robinson.
Using a technology called Thread Director, Alder Lake will determine whether computing jobs should be assigned to performance or efficiency cores or be shuffled around as new tasks arrive. Thread Director requires support built into Microsoft's upcoming Windows 11, but the current Windows 10 will be able to tap into some of its multicore features, said Rajshree Chabukswar, an engineer on the Alder Lake team.
Intel buying chips from rival TSMC
At Architecture Day, Intel revealed that TSMC, the foundry that builds Apple iPhone and Mac chips, will build Alchemist, the first member of Intel's new Arc family of standalone graphics chips. The chip is due early next year.
TSMC will also build Intel-designed graphics chips core to Ponte Vecchio, a massive processor package with high-speed links between many different chip elements. Ponte Vecchio will be the main brains of the Energy Department's $500 million Aurora supercomputer at Argonne National Laboratory. (Slow development of the processor has delayed the arrival of that machine.)
Expect Ponte Vecchio's array of packaging technologies -- an Intel manufacturing advantage -- to trickle down to mainstream products, said Real World Technologies analyst David Kanter.
"Ponte Vecchio is the Lamborghini of the chip world. Will this become the Lexus and then become the Toyota?" he asked. "The answer is yes."
Other Alder Lake chip specs
Alder Lake processors will come in varieties consuming as little as 9 watts for ultramobile devices and 125 watts for the beefy desktops used for the most demanding tasks like gaming and video editing.
The new chip is faster thanks to a variety of improvements in how it fetches instructions to execute, caches data instructions in high-speed memory, predicts the instructions it expects to run and recovers from mistakes in those predictions.
And it gets new instructions to execute artificial intelligence tasks with a technology called Advanced Matrix Extensions. AI is an immensely important new type of computer work, and many chip designers -- including Apple, Google, Qualcomm, Samsung, Arm and many startups -- are building dedicated AI acceleration electronics into chips.
Also built into Alder Lake are controllers to handle faster new memory standards, DDR5 (Double Data Rate 5) memory and, for mobile devices, LPDDR5 (Low Power Double Data Rate 5). Faster memory helps keep the processor fed with data so it doesn't have to spend as much time idling.
For connecting to the other devices like network controllers and graphics cards, Alder Lake chips debut support for the new fifth-generation PCI Express. That can double data transfer speed compared to PCIe 4.
Hackers Target Ukrainian Military, Journalists on Facebook
Hackers Target Ukrainian Military, Journalists on Facebook
Facebook's parent company Meta said late Sunday that hackers are increasingly targeting Ukrainian military officials and journalists to spread disinformation. Hackers tied to an operation known as "Ghostwriter" compromised some Ukrainian Facebook accounts, but Meta said it wasn't naming the victims to protect their privacy.
"We detected attempts to target people on Facebook and post YouTube videos portraying Ukrainian troops as weak and surrendering to Russia," said David Agranovich, director of global threat disruption at Meta, at a virtual press conference.
The threats underscores the variety of challenges social media companies face as they try to combat false claims about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Meta added features in Ukraine meant to keep users safe such as the ability to lock their Facebook profile and remove the ability to view and search friends lists. The company, like Twitter, is encouraging users to enable two-factor authentication, an extra layer of security that makes it tougher for hackers to break into accounts.
Ghostwriter typically targets people through email first through tactics such as trying to trick people into clicking on a malicious link to steal their login credentials, Agranovich said. After compromising a target's email, they will then break into people's social media accounts and use those accounts to post disinformation.
Nathaniel Gleicher, who heads Meta's security policy, said as social media users take steps to protect their accounts, they should also think about how their information could get compromised on other apps and devices. Gleicher said Ghostwriter targeted a "small number" of Facebook users but the group is going after valuable targets such as public figures.
Mandiant Threat Intelligence, which has done research on Ghostwriter, said in a report published last year that it found evidence that suggests the operation has ties to a suspected state-sponsored cyber espionage actor called UNC1151. In November, Mandiant Threat Intelligence linked UNC1151 to the Belarusian government.
"We cannot rule out Russian contributions to either UNC1151 or Ghostwriter. However, at this time, we have not uncovered direct evidence of such contributions," Mandiant Threat Intelligence said in a blog post.
The European Union said in a press release in September that some EU member states have associated Ghostwriter with the Russian state.
Meta also pulled down a network of about 40 fake accounts, Pages and Groups on Facebook and Instagram from Russia and Ukraine. The accounts targeted Ukrainians across multiple social networks including on Twitter, YouTube, Telegram, Odnoklassniki and VK. These fake accounts pretended to be news editors, a former aviation engineer and an author of a scientific publication on hydrography (the science of mapping water). They ran fake news websites and published stories that included "claims about the West betraying Ukraine and Ukraine being a failed state," Meta said.
The company said the network of fake accounts didn't have a wide reach. Fewer than 4,000 Facebook accounts followed one of more of these Pages and fewer than 500 accounts followed one or more of the Instagram accounts.
The social media giant shared information about the operation with other tech platforms, researchers and governments.
Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok are being flooded with misinformation and disinformation, including misleading videos that use old footage to create a false image of what's happening in real-time.
Meta said it's expanding its third-party fact checking capacity in Russia and Ukrainian, labeling state-controlled media publishers and barring ads from Russia state media. The company, which owns Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, said it created a special operations center with experts who speak Ukrainian and Russian to help monitor its platform.
Russia has partly restricted access to Facebook after the social network refused to stop fact-checking and label content posted on Facebook by four Russian state-owned media organizations. Russia's telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor alleges Facebook violated "fundamental human rights" by restricting the country's state-controlled media.
Gleicher said he doesn't have any more information about what restrictions Russia put into place but Meta's teams continue to monitor the situation and "do believe that we're still accessible in [the] country."
On Sunday, Meta said it restricted some accounts, including several run by Russia state media, because the Ukrainian government requested the company do so. The company is reviewing other government requests to do the same in their countries.
