Samsung makes some of the best SSD storage that you can buy right now. Of course, that means paying top dollar for the best performance you'll find, but sometimes, you just don't need that when you're looking to upgrade for cheap. That's where Samsung's 990 Evo Plus series comes in, providing a more affordable line of M.2 SSDs that still deliver great performance.

Gone are the days of spending countless hours perfecting a specific configuration for my CPU, GPU, RAM, and motherboard to achieve maximum performance from my system. It's hard to believe a decade has passed since I was more into the custom water cooling scene, with overclocking at the forefront of my main rig. I even kept hold of a trusty AMD FX 4100 to see how hard I could push it on a dedicated test bench. Toying around with components was my jam, and I appreciated the delicate balance of power and stability, mixing in undervolting for good measure. Those days are long behind me now, and I don't feel like I'm losing out on anything, as modern components have smarter algorithms that enable them to boost much higher for longer.

2025 has already had some massive hits in the AAA games space, with titles like Doom: The Dark Ages, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Avowed making up some of the biggest releases so far. The indie space hasn't been quite either. In fact, it's been where some of the best games so far this year have come from. Indie games have the ability to be more innovative than AAA games, which need to have broad appeal to succeed. The indie games on the list feel like new evolutions in specific genres, like turn-based RPGs and puzzle games, while others feel so unique in what they are doing that it becomes innovation by default.

Apple will have to continue allowing web links and external payment options in the App Store after its request to halt a judge’s order was rejected today by a higher court.In April, a federal judge demanded that Apple begin allowing web links, cease restricting how links are formatted, and enable developers to offer external payment options without giving the company a cut of their revenue. Apple promptly appealed and requested that the order be put on hold until the legal proceedings were finished.But an appeals court has now denied Apple’s emergency request to block the order. The court said it was “not persuaded” that blocking the order was appropriate after weighing Apple’s chances to succeed on appeal, whether Apple would be irreparably harmed, whether other parties would be hurt if the order is halted, and what supports the public interest.Spotify, Kindle, and other big apps have quickly added options for web purchasesThe rejection bodes poorly for Apple’s chance of overturning the order, which stems from a lawsuit by Epic Games. Epic sued Apple over its App Store restrictions back in 2020. Epic notched only a narrow win in the case, with the court ordering Apple to allow developers to communicate with their users about better pricing.Then, in April, in a scathing ruling, the court said that Apple had repeatedly failed to comply. The judge then gave Apple a more explicit order about how the App Store must be opened up.In the weeks since, major apps like Spotify and Kindle have taken advantage of the ruling by adding links in their apps to make purchases on the web. Fortnite has returned, too, offering an option between Apple’s in-app payment system and Epic’s own payment and rewards program. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney told The Verge this week that there’s currently a 60-40 split in usage between the two systems, with Apple’s still winning out.“We are disappointed with the decision not to stay the district court’s order, and we’ll continue to argue our case during the appeals process,” says Apple spokesperson Olivia Dalton. “As we’ve said before, we strongly disagree with the district court’s opinion. Our goal is to ensure the App Store remains an incredible opportunity for developers and a safe and trusted experience for our users.”

PlayStation has announced Project Defiant, an arcade-style fighting stick that looks like it’ll be perfect to use with the newly announced Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection. Sony teased the device during the State of Play on Wednesday before revealing more details in a blog post, which says the controller will let you wirelessly connect it to your PS5 or PC with PlayStation Link technology.Sony says PlayStation Link offers “ultra-low latency” connectivity, allowing for precise responses to button inputs and stick movement. There’s also an option to plug the controller into your device with a USB-C cable.The controller comes with a digital stick that’s custom-designed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, along with buttons that have mechanical switches, a touchpad similar to the one on a DualSense wireless controller, and interchangeable restrictor gates (square, circle, and octagon) for the stick.Project Defiant comes with a carrying case with a lever gap “to keep the digital stick safe during transport.” Sony plans to release the controller in 2026 and will share more details about the device, including its official name, in the “months ahead.”

I didn’t pay much attention to power consumption when I first set up my Synology NAS at home. I was more excited by the possibilities the NAS enabled in my workflow and personal life with file management and photo backups. But over time, as I started considering power backup solutions for my unit, I realized how much of an impact the NAS has been causing on my power bill. While the NAS itself isn’t rated to eat up a lot of electricity, I could still use some frugality to make it much more efficient — and even cut my NAS power bill almost in half. These are the changes I made to my setup to hit that goal.

Though Universal’s decision to split Wicked‘s story across two films seemed a little iffy at first, the new trailer for Wicked: For Good makes it look like the studio knows exactly what it’s doing.Despite all of the vibrant colors and singing, there’s a dark undertone in the new Wicked: For Good trailer that speaks to how the first movie ended. Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) has become known as the Wicked Witch of the West, and the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) has convinced everyone in Oz that she’s a villain who’s meant to be feared. With Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) working her own magic to create chaos across Oz and Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey) being the face of the Wizard’s hunt to find Elphaba, people are inclined to believe that she truly is a danger to them all. But the trailer makes it abundantly clear that Glinda (Arianna Grande) hasn’t bought into the negative propaganda about her good friend at all.The trailer makes Wicked, part two, seem like it’s going to have no trouble standing on its own with a distinct tone and powerful renditions of the original musical’s second act songs. And when the movie hits theaters on November 21st, it’s probably going to set off a new wave of sing-alongs that we should all start getting ready for.

Sony’s showcase had a pleasant surprise: the debut trailer for 007 First Light. The James Bond game — which has some definite Uncharted vibes — doesn’t have a release date, but is slated to launch sometime in 2026. And while it was announced at a PlayStation event, the debut trailer confirms it’s coming to Xbox, PC, and the Switch 2 in addition to the PS5.The game appears to be an origin story, as players will follow a much younger version of Bond, at least compared to the films. Hitman developer IO Interactive announced that it was working on the franchise way back in 2020, so it’s been a long wait to see the actual game in action. The announcement also comes at an interesting time for the franchise overall, which is now under the Amazon umbrella.You’ll also be able to see more of the game very soon. IO is holding a showcase event on June 6th at 9PM ET, which will include an appearance from First Light.

In the crowded landscape of note-taking applications, finding a tool that strikes the perfect balance between simplicity, power, and user control can be a challenge. Many solutions offer extensive features but often come with proprietary formats, vendor lock-in, or a steep learning curve. This is where Many Notes, an open-source Markdown-based web app, truly shines.

I have been watching, with some grim amusement, Elon Musk discovering the limits of being just another political donor. While he was at DOGE, he literally could control the Treasury and DOD - he effectively had the IT reins of the entire country, and could simply gut things he hated at will. There was a price for that: it destroyed what was left of his reputation. But it was real, true power - being able to stop payments at will makes you more powerful than the president.So much for that. These days, Musk is reduced to begging his followers on X to call their senators and congressmen [sic, obviously] to vote down the Big Beautiful Bill. His nominal reason is that Donald Trump's budget plan will increase the deficit, but reports indicate that Musk is annoyed an EV credit is getting cut. That makes it harder to sell Teslas in an environment where it's already hard to sell Teslas. Also, Musk may be annoyed that he didn't get to stay past his statutory limit as an unpaid advisor and that the FAA isn't using Starlink, according to Axios.Even less powerful enemies can lead to political problems, which is why Musk doesn't get his pet boy in NASAThe cracks have been showing in the M …Read the full story at The Verge.

The self-hosting ecosystem is rife with cool and quirky apps designed to automate every facet of your life. There’s the holy Terraform and Ansible combo for home lab enthusiasts who love watching VMs come to life without pressing a single button, while n8n can handle all software-based automations. On the smart home side, you’ll often find Home Assistant as the most recommended utility for creating schematics to control your IoT gadgets. And well, HASS can serve you well with its trigger-action workflows.

There's something about the cream-white that computers used in the 80s and 90s that really brings the nostalgia home. While you can 3D print miniature versions of classic hardware, really nailing that unique color that invokes a different time can be hard to do. Fortunately, if you've been making do with colors that aren't "quite right," you need not suffer anymore, as someone has gone through the tough process of getting the filament just right, and you can purchase some yourself.