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Why is this copy of Super Mario Bros. worth $100,000? We asked a buyer

Collectors say still-sealed test-market game is gaming's Action Comics No. 1.

Before you go searching to see if that old cartridge in your attic might be your gateway to riches, note that this copy of the game is so valuable primarily because it’s one of the earliest known copies of the game, and in near-perfect condition. The box in question comes from Nintendo's extremely limited "test market launch" for the NES in New York City and Los Angeles starting in late 1985 (no one actually knows the exact date). These copies didn't come in the usual shrink wrap but were instead sealed with a small matte or glossy sticker (this handy guide outlines the many different Super Mario Bros. box variants released between 1985 and 1994).

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Microsoft shaking up how Windows feature updates are rolled out—again

Each feature update now has one release date rather than two.

When Microsoft first started delivering Windows 10 "as a Service" with a regular flow of feature updates, the company planned to have two release tracks: a "Current Branch" (CB) that was consumer-oriented and "Current Branch for Business" (CBB) aimed at enterprises. The CBB track would trail the CB one by a few months, with consumers acting as guinea pigs to iron out bugs before the quality of each release was deemed good enough for corporate customers.

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Rocket Report: Russia’s new spacecraft; is the US sabotaging Iranian rockets?

“NASA has issued a stop work order on the agency’s Lucy mission."

US may be sabotaging Iranian launch efforts. As noted previously in this newsletter, Iran's two recent rocket launch attempts (on January 15 and February 5) both failed. That is part of a pattern where 67 percent of the country's launch attempts have failed during the last 11 years. The New York Times reports that the Trump White House has accelerated a secret American program to sabotage Iran's missiles and rockets, which is part of an expanding campaign by the United States to undercut Tehran's military and isolate its economy.

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Samsung’s new Tab S5e is super thin, supports Bixby, and costs just $399

The more affordable tablet takes some notes from the premium Tab S4.

The high-end nature of the Tab S5e comes in its design. The all-metal unibody is the thinnest and lightest of any Samsung tablet, weighing about 14 ounces and measuring 5.5mm thick. Samsung didn't skimp too much on the display, either, sticking a 10.5-inch, 2560×1600 AMOLED panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio on the tablet. It's also the first Samsung tablet with Bixby built in, allowing users to call on the voice assistant to answer questions, control connected SmartThings devices, and more.

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Military to investigate decision to certify the Falcon Heavy rocket

"We plan to begin the subject evaluation in February 2019."

In a memorandum released Monday night, the US Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General informed Air Force leadership that it will evaluate the military's certification of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy for national security missions.
"We plan to begin the subject evaluation in February 2019," the memorandum states. "Our objective is to determine whether the US Air Force complied with the Launch Services New Entrant Certification Guide when certifying the launch system design for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle-class SpaceX Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles."

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Amazon acquires Eero, maker of mesh Wi-Fi routers

Eero's routers could help Amazon connect its various Echo and Alexa devices.

Bay Area-based Eero, named after Finnish industrial designer Eero Saarinen, has been in operation since early 2015. It has already shipped several products. Neither Amazon nor Eero revealed how much money the tech giant paid in the acquisition, but Eero had raised $90 million in venture capital since its founding.

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Bay Area: Join us 2/13 to discuss a new hope for tech activism

Leigh Honeywell will talk about tech workers challenging companies to be more ethical.

Over the past couple of years, we've seen a huge upsurge in activism within the technology community. From the walkouts at Google to labor organizing at Amazon, tech workers are starting to see a connection between their work and social issues. Engineer and entrepreneur Leigh Honeywell has been at the forefront of tech activism for many years, and at this month's Ars Technica Live on Wednesday, February 13, we'll be talking to her about activism in today's world and the politics of a life lived online.

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Vaccinations jump 500% in antivax hotspot amid measles outbreak

“I would rather it not take an outbreak for this to happen.”

As of February 6, the county—which sits just north of the border from Portland, Oregon—has tallied 50 confirmed cases and 11 suspected cases of measles since January 1. The case count is rising swiftly, with figures more than doubling in just the last two weeks. On January 18, the county declared a public health emergency due to the outbreak.

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Messy office owners, rejoice: Skype now blurs the background to your video

No need to frantically tidy things up before making a call.

The background-blurring feature has already been rolled out to Microsoft's corporate communication client, Teams, and now it's in the consumer-oriented app. While bulletproof detection of the background requires a depth-sensing camera, the approach used in Skype (and Teams) uses machine learning-derived algorithms in order to work with any camera. The algorithms have been trained to detect human outlines, including the voluminous hair that some lucky people are blessed with as well as arms and hands. Presumably this means that it will properly detect even those arms and hands that appear dismembered, appearing from off the edge of the screen. Using blur is optional, and it can be enabled on a call-by-call basis.

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Motorola’s 2019 cheap smartphone lineup includes a 5000mAh battery option

Motorola shows off the Moto G7, G7 Power, and G7 Play.

Today, Motorola is announcing the new Moto G series for 2019: the Moto G7 family. There are three devices to take a look at: the Moto G7, the Moto G7 Power, and the Moto G7 Play. Along with the phones from Nokia, members of the G series are among those rare smartphones that can be had for under $400, and that makes them pretty interesting.