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Enlarge / Ahhh! I'm being attacked by an avatar who is REALLY, REALLY FRIENDLY. (credit: Rec Room)

The future of VR systems may be uncertain, but as consumer-grade devices come down in price, we're probably going to see a lot of apps that go beyond gaming. Companies are betting that VR (and, one day, AR) will become the new interface for what we're already doing on Web and mobile: shopping, working, and socializing. Imagine Twitter in VR: thousands of trolls and idiots, screaming into your face forever. Sounds like the apocalypse, right? Maybe. Developers are already thinking about how to prevent abuse from ruining their VR spaces. But first, they have to grapple with the changing face of trolling in VR.

People troll each other online for a million reasons, but one of the most obvious is that it's simply much easier to say cruel things to someone who isn't physically in front of you. Countless psychological studies have shown that people in real life have a difficult time saying negative things to each other's faces. And this could actually be good news in the fight against online abuse in VR. Once VR social spaces are good enough to create decent facsimiles of our faces, engaging in mass mobbing or trolling may become harder. There's a huge difference between sending a nasty tweet and speaking the same words to somebody's face.

The question is, will our psychological blocks against insulting people to their faces actually kick in when we're in a virtual space? Preliminary evidence from early social VR spaces suggests the answer is complicated.

Enlarge (credit: Valentina Palladino)

There still aren't many fitness trackers that are suitable for a gym atmosphere. While devices like the Atlas Wristband have pushed the category forward, the Fitbits and Garmins of the world still mostly focus on cardio exercises while throwing a few trackable moves like "weight training" into the mix. The $250 Beast Sensor is one of the newest devices to target gym-goers, specifically weight-room junkies.

The Sensor is a small module that, when attached to your wrist, back, or gym equipment, measures speed, power, and a number of other atypical metrics to help you achieve beast-like fitness goals. The Beast Sensor is built on the principles of velocity-based training, which is a way of working out that only a select group will be able to use (and want to use) to their benefit. I spent some time with the Beast Sensor in my gym and can say it's a capable fitness tracker, but only certain people will find it invaluable.

Design: Little sensor, lots of power

Despite its pseudo-intimidating name, the Beast Sensor is diminutive. It's a two-inch long neon yellow module that holds three accelerometers, three gyroscopes, and three compasses, with a lithium ion battery inside. The Sensor has the company's logo in black, and a small indicator light flashes when the sensor is properly connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth. The indicator also flashes when the Sensor charges via its microUSB port. On top of everything the Sensor packs into its tiny module, it's also magnetic, so you can attach it to its included wristband and any gym equipment you want, including barbells and metal weight machines.

Enlarge (credit: Mark Walton)

You have to wonder what the thinking was behind the Acer Predator 21X, "The world’s first curved-screen laptop." After all, with its obscene 21-inch 21:9 display, full-width mechanical keyboard, and dual Nvidia GTX 1080 graphics cards, the 21X isn't so much a laptop as it is an 8-kilogram eulogy to frivolousness. Very few need this much graphical grunt in a desktop, let alone a laptop sporting a display with a paltry 2560x1080 pixel resolution—even then, with the 21X costing a whopping $9000 (probably £9000), a similarly specced desktop would be a lot cheaper.

And yet, seeing the 21X in the flesh, it's hard not to marvel at the sheer ridiculousness of it all, or admire the bravado behind a laptop likely concocted after one too many beers during a Friday afternoon marketing meeting. Even the box it comes in isn't your typical cardboard affair. Instead, there's a ginormous flight case, complete with custom foam cutouts for the two 300W power supplies, wrist rest, and X-shaped power supply holder. Suffice it to say, the 21X is unlikely to fit in the boot of a car, let alone an aircraft's overhead locker.

Free the 21X from its foamy confinement—something not recommended for those with back problems—and its mammoth scale becomes apparent. At roughly 7cm (2.75in) at its thickest point, and roughly 60cm wide, the 21X is very much a desktop replacement, rather than a luggable laptop. That said, there is a battery inside that Acer claims is good for around 2-3 hours of use, depending on how heavily you tax the graphics cards; in reality, I doubt you'd get much more than an hour of use in a modern 3D game.

Enlarge / Chase Carey (center) is the new CEO of Formula 1. Bernie Ecclestone (right) made the sport what it is today, but he's in charge no more. (credit: Getty Images | Lars Baron)

In September 2016, news emerged that Formula 1 was changing hands, with a proposed sale from CVC Capital Partners to Liberty Media. Despite a couple of hurdles—including the sport's regulator standing to make a hefty profit from the sale—everything looks to have sailed through without a hitch. On Monday we learned that the sale was final and that the new owners have made an immediate change, for Bernie Ecclestone will no longer run the show.

We've known since last year that Chase Carey would be Chairman, with Ecclestone staying on as CEO for the near term. Evidently near-term meant four months, because as of Monday, Carey is the CEO. Ecclestone has been made Chairman Emeritus, and according to a press statement will "be available as a source of advice for the board of F1."

That advice comes from decades of experience, because Ecclestone is the man behind F1's commercial success. He consolidated the broadcast rights from individual races, negotiating on behalf of the other teams. Bit by bit, he took charge of everything, turning the F1 Grand Prix into the well-oiled machine it is today. The FIA was still the sport's organizing body and would still set the rules, but it gave Ecclestone the commercial rights. Tracks would pay to host a race and could keep any profits from ticket sales. But the rest—all that trackside advertising included—would go through his companies.