It's always nice to learn that a video game could actually have physical benefits in some form or another. For example, there was one time when researchers studied the correlation between counter-strike and enhancing decision-making skills. While this is by no means concrete proof of any benefits from gaming, it's still nice to think there's a chance.

Despite its beginner-friendly UI, Home Assistant offers top-tier automation facilities under the hood. If you’re a smart home enthusiast or a tinkerer with multiple IoT gadgets in your arsenal, HASS is a gold mine for automation projects. But for folks who fall under the casual user umbrella, you can leverage blueprints in your Home Assistant workstation instead of spending hours compiling lines of code just to automate a couple of LEDs.

For the past several months, it seemed like President Donald Trump and Elon Musk were inseparable. The tech billionaire and "First Buddy" championed Trump on his reelection campaign trail, slept at the White House, attended deal-making dinners at Mar-a-Lago, and chainsawed a giant hole in the government with firings and spending cuts through DOGE.Now, Musk is saying he's had a change of heart. On May 28th, Musk announced that he's officially stepping away from DOGE as his "scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end." And in the days leading up to this update, Musk has held a flurry of interviews in which he's tried to convince his audience that he's done with politics."I think I probably did spend a bit too much time on politics," Musk said during an interview with Ars Technica. "It was just relative time allocation that probably was a little too high on the government side, and I've reduced that significantly in recent weeks." For reasons we've explained, the idea he's leaving politics is suspect - but he's got good reasons to say he is.Musk's time as a special government employee always had a legal 130-day deadline that was up at the end of May. He isn …Read the full story at The Verge.

If you're looking for a way to step up your web presentations, then a new webcam is going to be the way to go. While there are plenty of options to choose from, we think the Insta360 Link 2 is going to stand above the rest, providing a good mix of features, along with fantastic audio and video quality. Furthermore, you can grab the Link 2 at its lowest price right now, with a discount that drops it down to $171.

A great headset is just one of those accessories that can really take your gaming experience to a new level. Not only does it need to deliver excellent sound, but it also needs to be able to handle voice chats as well, while also being comfortable to use for hours on end. Getting these things dialed in isn't as easy as you think, which is why it's so hard to find a good gaming headset at a great price.

Tile trackers are getting more deeply integrated with the Life360 app. In a blog post published this week, Life360 announced that you’ll now be able to set up and manage the handy Bluetooth location trackers without using the Tile app at all. Life360, a family safety and location app, purchased Tile’s Bluetooth device-tracking business for $205 million in 2022. Since then, Tiles have been part of the Life360 app, allowing you to track the location of both people and items in one app, but you still needed to use the Tile app to set up the tracking devices. As part of the transition, the Life360 app will get some of the Tile app’s features, including sending an automatic push notification if you leave an item behind and the ability to see location history for Tile-tracked items.The move seems aimed at pushing Tile’s users toward the Life360 app. In an email to The Verge, Kristi Collura, director of corporate communications at Life360, confirmed that the Tile app is still available and is not being retired “at this time.” However, with her statement that “all new features and updates are available only in the Life360 app,” the standalone Tile app’s days are likely numbered.As part of the update, Life360 is also reorganizing its paid plans, adding the SOS Alerts feature that lets you call 911 by triple-tapping on a compatible Tile to its $7.99 a month Silver membership, along with seven days of location history. SOS Alerts were previously only available with the $14.99 a month Gold plan, which also allows for 30 days of location history. You can use Life360 for free to track both people and items, but you only see 2 days of location history. Life360 is a location app designed for families. Similar to Apple’s Find My app, it allows authorized members of a “Circle” to see each other’s real-time locations in the app. Each member has control over whether the app shares their location, as well as how precise a view of their location other members have at any time. The service can send alerts to members of your circle when you arrive somewhere, leave somewhere, and when your flight lands. It essentially does away with all those “text me when you get there” requests from parents and family members. Life360 offers more than just location services. It styles itself as an overall family safety app and has features such as crash detection and roadside assistance. Its paid plans also include driver reports, which show phone usage, top speed, and hard braking data. Families with teens who are tempted by this service may want to consider exactly how that data is shared before signing up for it. While Life360 says it no longer sells precise user data, its current privacy policy states it may share data with business partners, including driving analytics services. These services may share data with insurance companies, as detailed in this report by Kashmir Hill in the New York Times. After this story was published, Life360’s Collura said in an email to The Verge that “Life360 does not make driving data available to insurance companies to influence our members’ insurance premiums, except in cases where a member explicitly requests that we share their individualized data for this purpose.” According to a Life360 blog post linked by Collura, Life360 shares data, including location, with the driving analytics company Arity, which provides the app’s drive and crash detection. Arity sells “aggregated and anonymous insights” on driver behavior to insurance companies.Updated May 29th: Added a statement from Life360 regarding the Tile app and additional details about its data sharing practices.

The original Reflex Pro controller (pictured) had easily removable stick toppers, but its potentiometer-based modules were not.Scuf is adding drift-resistant Hall effect sticks to updated versions of its wireless Envision and Reflex controllers. The revised models include the $149.99 Envision and $199.99 Envision Pro for PC as well as the $249.99 Reflex Pro and $279.99 Reflex FPS for PlayStation 5 and PC. Those are all starting prices, of course, as the Corsair-owned brand offers a wide variety of customization options that can take each model to even higher prices.The Hall effect upgrade brings Scuf’s wireless offerings in line with its wired-only Valor Pro and Nomad mobile controllers, replacing the original Reflex and Envision pads that first debuted in 2021 and 2023, respectively.Scuf is getting with the program on Hall effect sticks at a time when the magnetic, drift-resistant sensing option has become commonplace in other brands like 8BitDo, Razer, and GameSir, but hasn’t appeared in controllers from Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft yet. But some controller makers are already moving on to a more power-efficient drift-resistant technology: TMR sticks.Scuf controllers may be even pricier than premium controller options from Microsoft and Sony like the Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 and DualSense Edge, but in my experience they’re nice for those willing to spend the money. They’re some of the few native wireless options for Xbox Series X / S and PS5, and Scuf’s rear paddles and clicky hair-trigger options are some of the best feeling “pro” upgrades around. The lack of drift resistant sticks has made it a little more challenging to recommend them, though. Take, for example, our Xbox controller buying guide where the Razer Wolverine Pro V3 knocked off the Scuf Instinct Pro I used to personally love.Better late than never, Scuf.

Home Assistant is the driving force behind my smart home, allowing me to centrally manage all kinds of devices that I've connected through various different protocols. Many of these are Zigbee devices, but I also have many different Wi-Fi-based devices and integrations with other services for data collection, too. While I have a simple smart switch on my desk for turning on and off my light, I wanted to see about making my own dashboard that I could control from my desk.

Lenovo's Legion Go S with SteamOS started shipping on the 25th of May, and the Nintendo Switch 2's official launch date is finally in single digits. Ultimately, the gaming handheld market is rapidly evolving, which puts pressure on Microsoft to step up its Xbox handheld plans. In case you aren't aware, Microsoft has reportedly been working on an Xbox-branded gaming handheld expected to roll out later this year.

Whenever I travel, I miss the reliable home Wi-Fi network to stay connected. I, too, have ignorantly connected my devices to public Wi-Fi networks, Airbnbs, cafés, hotels, and other public places without considering the security risks. I decided to turn my Raspberry Pi into a travel router and carry it everywhere possible. RaspAP is a popular free software that turns the Raspberry Pi into a wireless router. I had a Raspberry Pi lying around and wanted to put it to good use.

UV printing is one of my favorite ways to create unique and professional-looking designs on various surfaces. However, getting a design to really stand out takes more than just hitting "print." Over time, I’ve learned that a few tweaks in the design phase can make the difference between an okay result and a truly eye-catching finish. These are some of the design tips I rely on to maximize the potential of every UV print.

Anthony Boyle at the Disney Plus BAFTA TV Awards reception in May 2025. | Photo: Getty ImagesLike Amazon and Apple, Netflix is also looking to cash in on the story of how Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison managed to steal billions from the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.Variety reports that Anthony Boyle (Tetris, Manhunt) and Julia Garner (Ozark, The Fantastic Four: First Steps) have been cast in Netflix’s upcoming drama series The Altruists as Bankman-Fried and Ellison. Executive produced by Graham Moore and Jacqueline Hoyt (who will also showrun the series), The Altruists will recount how Bankman-Fried, FTX’s former CEO, and Ellison, the former head of FTX’s sister cryptocurrency trading firm, Alameda Research, enriched themselves by defrauding FTX’s investors. Netflix has ordered eight episodes for the series, and James Ponsoldt (Shrinking, Running Point) is attached to direct the premiere.Netflix describes the series as being about “two hyper-smart, ambitious young idealists who tried to remake the global financial system in the blink of an eye — and then seduced, coaxed, and teased each other into stealing $8 billion,” which sounds accurate, if a bit aggrandizing. Presumably, the show will cover how both Bankman-Fried and Ellison ultimately wound up being sentenced to 25 and two years in prison, respectively. And if The Altruists really wants to be seen as a serious, thoughtful piece of storytelling that isn’t just mythologizing its central felons, it should probably touch on how hard Bankman-Fried is now pushing for Donald Trump to give him a pardon. (Disclosure: The Altruists is a coproduction by Higher Ground Productions and New York Magazine/Vox Media Studios.)Correction, May 29th: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Bankman-Fried pleaded guilty to the charges against him. He pleaded not guilty before he was subsequently sentenced to 25 years.