In an effort to further bolster its already successful advertising business, Google is currently experimenting with a new initiative that promises to give companies and marketers unprecedented control the search results stemming from specific queries. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google’s new program “allows marketers, media companies, politicians and other organizations [to] publish content directly to Google and have it appear instantly in search results.”

In one example of the new advertising feature in action, ABC yesterday paid Google for the right to effectively take over the search results page when a user typed in “Jimmy Kimmel.” In that scenario, a normal page of search results was replaced with an ABC created “carousel” that featured handpicked posts and videos that users could browse through. At this point it remains unclear if the promotion appeared before every user who typed in the query or if ABC was perhaps able to target certain geographic locations or even demographics.

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In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes and the fact that you will never be as good a guitarist as Prince.

The word lost an icon last week, and if you missed it you should definitely watch this video showcasing one of his greatest performances ever. The story behind it is just as amazing. If you were a fan, there may be no better way to honor the late, great musician than to finally realize your dream of learning to play the guitar.

It’s not going to be easy, but at least now it’ll be cheap… today, for one day only, Amazon has a big sale going on four different guitars and you can buy one for as little as $189. None of them are as hot as Prince’s axe in the picture at the top of this post but hey, you have to start somewhere.

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Any iPhone users out there when have been around long enough to have bought an early iPhone 4 unit will remember the unexpected cellular signal loss they may have experienced. The antenna was on the outside of the phone, and Apple’s engineers didn’t foresee this problem: holding the phone by its antennas might mess with cellular reception. But then late Apple cofounder and CEO Steve Jobs famously explained that if you experienced signal issues while using the iPhone 4, you were probably holding it wrong.

Now, a different Apple executive is telling us we’ve been doing something else wrong when it comes to the iPhone.

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We may be accustomed to seeing high-tech companies file patents for out-there concepts and technologies, but a new patent from Google takes the cake. Originally spotted by Forbes, Google earlier this month filed a patent which describes a method of injecting a device into a person’s eyeball as a means to correct poor vision.

If you’re at all wary about inserting a Google product into your eyeball, well, you should be. The description of the patent in question seems to be lifted straight out of a bad sci-fi book.

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There are precious few high-end smartphones that are actually worth paying top dollar for, but the Galaxy S7 should be counted among them. Samsung did a tremendous job of combining a gorgeous design with cutting-edge specs, and the S7 easily has the best smartphone display on the planet. It’s our favorite Android phone right now, hands down.

But just because it’s worth paying top dollar doesn’t mean you actually should.

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A professor at Stanford University has designed a robotic humanoid diver with articulated hands that is designed to be an underwater avatar, exploring the way a human would— while its driver remains safely up at the surface.

The robot, which measures about five feet long, uses artificial intelligence and also a haptic feedback system to provide its controller with a feel for what the robot is holding. While the front part of the submersible resembles a human, the back part features computers, batteries, and thrusters.

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The National Security Agency (NSA), which is behind some of the world’s most sophisticated mass surveillance operations, can’t say how many Americans it’s spying on in these endeavors. That’s not because it’s a secret, though that might be a reason too. It’s because the agency’s operations are so vast that it can’t even figure out the number.

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Hundreds of thousands of Tesla fans have been throwing money at the company to buy its cheapest electric car yet, securing their place in line to purchase the Model 3. Many of them preordered the car even before Tesla revealed its design and specs. In the meantime, almost everything is known about the Model 3 at this point, but a new report reveals hidden design details that might make Tesla’s new Model 3 one of the best electric cars money can buy in any price range. At least, for the time being.

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We all know how nerve-racking it is the moment you feel your iPhone slipping out of your hand and dropping toward the ground. Whether it’s a 1-foot drop or a 6-foot drop, if the phone lands at the wrong angle the screen is done for. Sometimes there’s just no way to avoid it and Apple charges an arm and a leg to replace a cracked display.

Well guess what: There’s another option.

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Ted Lieu is one of the few bona fide computer geeks in Congress. Even if you didn’t already know the California Democrat is one of only four congressmen (out of a total of 535) with a computer science degree, it’s the kind of thing that quickly becomes apparent when talking to the Stanford grad about a range of privacy and encryption matters.

For starters, he recently downloaded and started using WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging platform that earlier this month defaulted to end-to-end encryption for all users. He’s not only a supporter of strong encryption without backdoors — Lieu considers it “a national security priority.”

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