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Credit: Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

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Waze is picking up new features in the latest update, including a broader conversational mode.

The navigation app also gets an improved AI-powered Motorcycle mode.

The update also makes the app’s route recommendations more personalized to you.

Waze is fundamentally different from Google Maps in its philosophy; it’s primarily designed with drivers and riders in mind, and places a heavy emphasis on crowdsourced data. This data is also richer in detail and more descriptive than in Maps, which keeps it relevant to date. That’s also one of the reasons why Google sends occasional updates to Waze , keeping it alive for its individual appeal, rather than merging it with Google Maps . Today, Waze gets another big update that blesses it with some of the smartest features in Google Maps.

The Waze team at Google is rolling out an update heavy on Gemini and AI. For starters, the app’s recommendations will now appear more personalized to you. The announcement notes that Waze will now remember your preferences for routes, whether you like driving the highway with fewer stops or through quicker lanes that beat the traffic, and optimize your route the next time. If you don’t want Waze to show you these recommendations, you can simply turn them off.

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Sheetz, a US convenience store chain, is moving its 838 locations off VMware.

Sheetz has used VMware virtualization across two Dell R440/R450-series servers at each of its locations since 2019. Now it’s migrating 12 to 14 virtual machines (VMs) in each of its stores from VMware vSphere to StorMagic’s SvHCI, “with an additional two VMs to be replaced over the coming months to transition from Windows 10 to Windows 11,” Scott Robertson, infrastructure team manager at Sheetz, told Ars Technica via email. Ultimately, Sheetz will move about 11,000 VMs from Broadcom's virtualization platform. Sheetz is still running the original Dell server hardware.

So far, Sheetz has finished migrating more than 600 stores, averaging 200 per month, according to a company announcement today. Sheetz should be finished with the migration in four months, the announcement said.

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I've been around long enough that I can remember a time when we didn't know Steam sale dates in advance. We had a rough window, based on the timing of previous sales, but the absence of anything precise meant that all of us poor news guys had to sit around mashing F5 on Steam every hour.

It sounds weird now, because now , Valve tells everyone well in advance when all of these things are going to happen. And I do mean all, as you can see in the Steamworks schedule shared today that lays out all the Steam sales and themed events set to happen in the first half of 2027.

"What better way to celebrate making it (more than) halfway through 2026 than by sharing the schedule of all the awesome Steam events we have planned for the first half of 2027?" Valve wrote, reminding us all of the daily struggle to survive we face in each of our remaining days upon this benighted world. "Each year we work to come up with different ideas for fun themes to build fests around so that all kinds of games can be celebrated, and we're excited about where we've landed for 2027 so far."

Here's what's coming in the year two-oh-two-seven, up to and including the Steam Summer Sale:

January 2027 Desktop Companion Fest : January 14 - 18

Shop Keeper Fest : January 25 - February 1

February 2027 Sheep Fest : February 4 - 8

Couch Co-Op Fest : February 8 - 15

Next Fest: February 2027 : February 22 - March 1

March 2027 Rhythm Fest : March 8 - 15

Steam Spring Sale 2027 (Seasonal Sale): March 18 - 25

Dinos vs. Robots Fest : March 29 - April 5

April 2027 Racing Fest : April 12 - 19

Witch Fest : April 22 - 26

Fighting Fest : April 26 - May 3

May 2027 Real-Time Strategy Fest : May 10 - 17

Mountaineering Fest : May 31 - June 3

June 2027 Next Fest: June 2027 : June 14 - 21

Steam Summer Sale 2027 (Seasonal Sale): June 24 - July 8

So there you have it: A look 12 months into the future of Steam sales and themed events that will keep you absolutely buried in bargoons and wondering when you're ever going to have time to play all these games—sometimes even as you buy them. And fear not: As linked above, we keep a running tally of Steam sale dates you can check with if you're ever worried that you might be missing one.

2026 games : All the upcoming games

Best PC games : Our all-time favorites

Free PC games : Freebie fest

Best FPS games : Finest gunplay

Best RPGs : Grand adventures

Best co-op games : Better together

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Lisbon's hotel scene has as much character and charm as the city itself — and its newest arrival comes courtesy of World of Hyatt's Andaz brand. Just opened in March, Andaz Lisbon made not one but two of TPG's lists of most exciting hotels opening in 2026.

The Andaz brand's Portugal debut promised a prime location in the bustling Baixa district, views of historic Lisbon landmarks and the brand's signature cultural connections — and it didn't disappoint. From the gorgeous design and top-notch service to the carefully curated menus of Portuguese dishes and cultural activities offered, this points hotel feels anything but cookie-cutter. Read on to learn what the buzz is all about.

Related: The Andaz Turks and Caicos Grace Bay is now open for bookings

First impressions

RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY

From the outside, Andaz Lisbon — housed in a former bank building — fits right in with the Baixa neighborhood's elegant 18th-century architecture. Inside, the brand-new hotel gives a nod to its history. The foyer displays an Our Lady of Mercy tile panel from 1767, unearthed during the renovations, and a desk from one of the bank's offices displays books on art and design in the lobby.

RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY The corridors and common spaces feel alive with color, and artworks and curios await around every turn. In keeping with the Andaz brand's cultural ethos, the pieces on display were all created by artists with some connection to Portugal. Other decor elements were inspired by destinations around the globe: rich, saturated prints bring to mind African textiles, for example, and abstract sculptures are reminiscent of the German Bauhaus style.

RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY The result is a reflection of Lisbon: A diverse, cosmopolitan city that has plenty of style but doesn't take itself overly seriously. A place where high-end fashion designers coexist with tiny, centuries-old shoe stores (more on those later), where tuktuks rattle down winding cobblestoned streets and e-scooters zip past castles and cathedrals.

The rooms

Behind its compact facade, Andaz Lisbon houses 170 rooms and suites arranged over six floors. Options range from basic one-king rooms to the palatial 1,065-square-foot presidential suite.

A basic king room at Andaz Lisbon. RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY I stayed in a deluxe one-king room, with a little extra space in the seating area and double windows overlooking Rua do Comercio. Pops of color and mixed textures felt aligned with the hotel's art-forward design.

RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY My snack station was well equipped with a coffeemaker, tea kettle and minibar. (The snacks and drinks are complimentary, but only on the first night.) There were also two fun stainless steel water bottles — free souvenirs offered in every room — which the hotel encouraged guests to refill at the water station in the lobby.

The bold, red-tiled bathroom managed to fit a roomy shower, toilet stall and vanity into a small footprint. Even better, I found plush bathrobes and slippers waiting for me.

RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY It's worth noting that, like some other upscale hotels, Andaz Lisbon has a fragrance throughout the property, which may be a concern for migraine-prone travelers like me. I didn't have trouble because the smell didn't extend to my room or the dining areas, but extremely sensitive travelers should be mindful.

Dining at Andaz Lisbon

One notable takeaway about dining here: Andaz Lisbon offers an extensive breakfast spread, similar to what you'll find at many European hotels, for an extra 29 euros ($33) per person per day. There's a cold and hot buffet, and you can order more sophisticated cooked dishes from the menu at no added cost. This is a tasty and filling way to kick off a day of exploring; I often skipped lunch because I was still full from breakfast.

RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY Luzzi Restaurant & Terrace

Breakfast is served inside Andaz Lisbon's rooftop restaurant, Luzzi, which for the rest of the day serves traditional Portuguese fare with a modern twist. The space is infused with colors, patterns and textures dappled with sunlight from the windows overlooking the city. The result manages to be both bright and cozy, yet energetic and relaxed at the same time.

Luzzi seems to attract not only guests but local Lisboetas, which is a good sign; even on a Wednesday night, I saw packs of locals dressed up for a night on the town.

RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY Everything I tried — feijoada Lusitana, a Portuguese bean stew (20 euros or $23), tofu dumplings (10 euros or $11) and sweet potato fries (8 euros or $9) — was superb. I also sampled a vegan version of the Portuguese dessert quindim (10 euros or $11), and the passion fruit sorbet blew my mind.

RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY On the terrace next door, visitors can enjoy the same dishes and drinks in a more casual setting, with views of Rua Augusta Arch from balconies tucked into the tiled walls and live music every night from Wednesday to Saturday.

RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY Andaz Lounge

On the ground floor, Andaz Lounge — inspired by the traditional Portuguese quiosque — serves refined drinks and elevated street food.

RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY I'm not exactly an oenophile, but I couldn't leave Lisbon without sampling some Portuguese wines — especially when all the lounge's by-the-glass offerings are made by female wine producers nearby. The bartender was happy to help me choose a wine, as well as to find vegan-friendly menu items. I went with the Caesar salad (12 euros or about $14) with a mushroom dressing and tofu, and let me tell you: I've had a lot of salads in my life, and this easily made the top five.

RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY Whether you're fueling up at the breakfast buffet, having a lively dinner with friends at Luzzi or curling up with a glass of wine and a good book at the Andaz Lounge, you can expect warm service that's just polished enough to make you feel a little bit like a VIP — without having to worry about a dress code.

Amenities and Signature Experiences

Beyond the on-site restaurants, here are the other amenities you'll find at Andaz Lisbon:

A 24/7 fitness center

A spa coming later this year (until then, in-room spa treatments are available, and the hotel partners with nearby spa facilities that the concierge can arrange for guests)

Pet friendly accommodations (for dogs up to 66 pounds)

Andaz Signature Experiences available for booking

The hotel partners with a local tour company to offer various half- and full-day Andaz Signature Experiences. These culturally inspired activities include an artist-led street art tour, a coastal horseback ride and a catch-and-cook boat ride with a local fisherman.

I tried a shortened version of the "Gems in the Making" experience (900 euros or $1,028 for the full version), which involved a tour of the city's oldest artisanal shops on foot or by tuktuk. With the help of my guide, I explored the world's oldest operating bookshop, a fifth-generation hat maker, a coffee shop once frequented by the 19th century poet Fernando Pessao and more — followed by a hands-on filigree workshop with a family of jewelers that has been in business since 1924.

RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY I was impressed not only by the tour's quality but also by how distinct to a "local's" version of Lisbon that it was. It introduced me to a lesser-known facet of the city that I otherwise would never have discovered.

Location and logistics

The Rua Augusta Arch near Andaz Lisbon. RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY The Andaz is located in the tourist-friendly Baixa area, or downtown, half a block from the main drag of Rua Augusta. It's steps away from the Tagus River, and it puts guests within easy walking distance of many of the city's highlights — from the historic Alfama neighborhood to the buzzy nightlife of Pink Street.

The hotel is about a 20-minute drive from Lisbon Airport (LIS). A rideshare will set you back around 10 to 20 euros ($12 to $24), or you can take public transportation for around 2 euros, though it will take roughly twice as long. The nearest bus stop and metro station, Praca do Comercio and Terreiro do Paco, are a couple of minutes away on foot.

Accessibility

RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY Andaz Lisbon is not the most accessible hotel I've visited, but it does have some accessibility features.

Most common areas are accessible by elevator, and there is a specially adapted room for guests using wheelchairs, complete with widened doors and a roll-in shower. There is only one of this room type, so be sure to call ahead and confirm it for your dates.

I didn't see any Braille on signs, and the hotel doesn't advertise features like visual doorbells. However, it's worth calling to see if it can accommodate your needs before ruling it out.

How to book a stay at Andaz Lisbon

RACHEL CRAFT/THE POINTS GUY Standard rooms start from 266 euros ($303) per night, while my one-king deluxe room starts at 304 euros ($346) per night, not including breakfast. Award rates for this category-6 property range from 20,000 to 40,000 World of Hyatt points per night, per the program's updated award chart .

Andaz Lisbon is also a member of Chase Travel's The Edit , so you can access elitelike perks while stacking Chase Ultimate Rewards and World of Hyatt earnings on your stay. Plus, it's a Points Boost property, so you can get solid value when redeeming your Chase points through Chase Travel. Just be sure to compare prices on the portal to Hyatt's website before deciding where to book .

CHASE TRAVEL If you book directly, you'll want to use one of the best credit cards for Hyatt stays , and ideally one that offers World of Hyatt elite status for value-added benefits. These include:

World of Hyatt Credit Card (see rates and fees ): Earn 4 points per dollar spent at Hyatt hotels and resorts, automatic Discoverist status and five elite night credits per year toward a higher tier.

World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (see rates and fees ): Earn 4 points per dollar spent at Hyatt hotels and resorts, automatic Discoverist status and five tier-qualifying night credits for every $10,000 you spend each year toward a higher tier.

Bottom line

With a central location, top-notch service and style in spades, Andaz Lisbon makes a luxurious home base for a trip to Portugal's capital.

But this jewel of a hotel is more than just a place to rest your head. In fact, the hotel's excellent fare and cultural experiences were among the most memorable aspects of my entire trip.

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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I had thought science denial would hit a bottom — that once people began to experience the direct consequences of being wrong, of holding fast to beliefs that were demonstrably at odds with well-established science, they would drop those beliefs. It turns out I was wrong.

As a research scientist who’s also dedicated many years to science communication, coming to grips with this truth has been hard. It leaves us all facing difficult questions about how science and society can — or cannot — co-evolve when so many are opting out of science. How we address these questions may determine the fate of democratic societies in a world where excellence in science translates directly into both soft and hard power.

Science denial has little to do with science

My first experience with this kind of science opt-out (I’ll also call it “denial”) came in the late 2000s when I was writing a science blog for a major U.S. news outlet. Anytime I’d write a piece about climate change, the comments section would quickly fill up with the most aggressively ignorant opinions I’d ever encountered. People would claim the science was a hoax. They would claim scientists were only in it for the money. They would say things that even a freshman taking a planetary science class would know were glaringly wrong.

Being committed to the ideals of science communication, I did my best to engage with the commenters. I would explain what scientists knew about radiation transfer through an atmosphere (the basis of the greenhouse effect). I would lay out how hard-won evidence — from ice cores to tree rings — allowed us to unravel millennia of Earth’s response to changing atmospheric and ocean chemistry. Finally, I would detail how consensus works in science and how communities of researchers build a public understanding of their field.

None of it mattered.

One notable example of my encounter with science opt-out came when I tried engaging with a reader on a personal level. In response to a climate post, he had sent me an email telling me that I should be arrested for my climate lies. I replied and asked him about himself. What did he do for a living? He said he owned a dry-cleaning business. I asked some questions about the business. After a bit, I made a purposefully ridiculous claim about dry-cleaning chemicals. When he responded that I was clearly ignorant of the work he did every day, I said, “Yes, and that’s what your claims sound like to a climate scientist.”

The point was lost. Nothing would shake him from his beliefs. From this, and many other encounters, I learned that science denial is not about science — that reader and others I’ve engaged with expressed no curiosity about how planetary climates actually worked. Instead, it is about a kind of tribalism: If you identify as a member of certain groups — usually ones that have a particular political orientation — then you oppose certain kinds of science.

This opposition comes regardless of whether they know any of the deep (and often difficult) details required to make sweeping claims about that science. So, what might have been an interesting back-and-forth with a reader about what determines a planet’s temperature becomes a tiring slog through their fixations on Al Gore or long-refuted claims that 1970s climate science predicted “global cooling.”

Seeing was not believing

Despite these experiences, I still believed that once we all saw firsthand the reality that a field of science was predicting, denial would have to fall. Then came COVID-19. I was already watching the new resistance to vaccines rise with its all-too-predictable outcomes, like the 2017 measles outbreak at Disneyland . But with COVID-19, the willingness to ignore what was right before people’s eyes rose to a new level.

Before I go further, though, I want to be clear that the CDC and others in public health did make mistakes during this difficult period. It was, after all, a “novel” coronavirus and the first pandemic of the modern age. Also, I’m all in for discussions about whether and how some measures taken by public health officials went too far. If we don’t have these discussions, then how else can we learn what to do in the next pandemic? What we can’t argue over, however, is the reality of COVID-19 or the ability of the vaccines that scientists developed to save lives.

With COVID-19, just like with climate, lines were drawn, and tribalism kicked in. The famous cases of people dying of COVID-19 and still proudly proclaiming their resistance to a vaccine that might have saved them told the tale in no uncertain terms. They’d opted all the way out.

Now we live in a time when science denial inhabits the highest levels of power and receives broad acceptance. At the institutional level, climate science in the U.S. (along with many other types of science) is being decimated. The U.S. government lost 10,000 STEM PhDs in 2025 (compared to about 4,500 in 2024 ) in the wake of the present administration’s aggressive funding cuts to its own world-renowned scientific institutions. At the popular level, social media is awash with influencers routinely hosting guests claiming the Moon landings never happened.

As part of my work in science communication, I’ve appeared on podcasts associated with the “manosphere,” including The Joe Rogan Experience . Because of these appearances, I often have conversations with young men who have a clear interest in science, but who’ve also been led into strange vortices of science denial. “So, you really think we went to the Moon?” they ask. Or, “Scientists are always hiding the truth about stuff, right?”

I was not routinely fielding questions like these in 2010. There has been a shift in the cultural current. We now live in a kind of mirror-verse where opinions, if repeated often enough, can replace the decades of work needed to establish a scientific truth. Building off a narrative that falsely associates expertise with oppressive authority, influencers seeking clicks have driven viewers like the people I encounter into a haze of impossible claims presented as revealed truth.

So, where does it end? Surely there must be consequences for so many people opting out of science in a world that is, in fact, dominated by science.

The price of denial

Yes, there are consequences, but they aren’t occurring on an individual scale, as I expected them to a decade ago. Instead, they are playing out for society as a whole.

If you were interested in the cutting edge of science in 1600, you would have traveled to Italy. That is where wealthy government patrons were supporting Galileo and other scientists’ efforts to push the frontiers of telescope design, mechanics, and other fields. But if you were interested in the cutting edge of science in 1700, you did not go to Italy anymore. The baton of scientific excellence had already been passed to England and France. Likewise, if you wanted to be where the most important scientific discoveries were being made in 1900, you went to Germany, but by 1960, you would be on a plane to the U.S. instead.

The reasons for this ever-shifting localization of the best science have everything to do with a nation’s broad commitment to science. History shows that once a nation begins to slip in those commitments, the frontier of scientific progress moves elsewhere. Just as important, history shows that the nations making this commitment are the ones that prosper from the latest scientific breakthroughs.

It’s already becoming clear how the infection of science denial — of opting out of a commitment to science — is affecting the U.S. Because the current administration has embraced climate denial, it also remains in denial about the world’s ongoing energy transition away from fossil fuels. In 2025, global electric vehicle sales increased by 20% , but in the US, the growth rate was less than 10%. Today, the largest producer of new EVs is China.

Science and science leadership don’t stand still. When a society becomes infected with science denial, when its populace thinks it’s OK to opt out of treating science as a source of public truths, it elects leaders who lead with that vision of the world. But the bill always comes due. When those leaders slash science budgets for political reasons and create chaos in their own world-renowned scientific institutions, it becomes impossible to plan on the decades-long timescales required to ensure the nation is still a scientific leader well into the future.

Worse, the rest of the world is always watching. The best and brightest students from across the globe — the ones who used to come to your universities to learn and then stick around to start businesses — go where they will be supported and not harassed.

In the long run, the price you pay for science denial is the denial of your own scientific capacities.

This article Who pays the cost when Americans opt out of science? is featured on Big Think .