It's no secret by now that Switch 2 has a feature that is not too unlike that of a computer mouse. You can use one of the Joy-Con 2s and drag it around a surface to emulate the same kind of controls that someone with a keyboard and mouse would have (well, maybe except the keyboard).

After the success of the Steam Deck, Valve hasn't been slacking. For a long time, the company expressed interest that it wanted to bring the Steam Deck's operating system, SteamOS, to other handheld devices too. And we're not talking just giving people the option to use SteamOS: we're talking full, official support from Valve itself.

It’s funny how you can use a tool extensively, even daily, and still only scratch the surface of its capabilities. For me, that tool has been Obsidian. I have been a dedicated user for years, managing everything from project notes, knowledge, to personal reflections. But as with any powerful ecosystem, there are always deeper layers to uncover. Looking back, I can’t help but feel regret for not exploring certain features and plugins sooner.

I’ve been in the graphic design and digital creation game for a while. Over a decade, in fact. Even throughout my degree, when we were all poor students who barely had two pennies to rub together, Photoshop was the encouraged program of use. Even with a student discount, it’s pricey. But with browser-based tools like Photopea, there’s little requirement to fork out hundreds of dollars a year on Photoshop anymore. Photopea is one of the best alternatives to Photoshop, besides price alone. Here’s why I made the switch.

Star Wars is a franchise that is very malleable for developing video games. There have been all sorts of games to come out across many different platforms, covering the majority of genres to explore. But one genre that has done very well with the Star Wars franchise is 2D action platformers. Many of the classic Star Wars games from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras were highly praised for the amount of fun they provided for Star Wars fans. But in the years following their release, Star Wars games have explored other types of game designs and genres that are far removed from action platformers. This is something many fans wish would make a return in some form, allowing us to jump and shoot our way through a galaxy far, far away once again.

Valve CEO Gabe Newell pretends to get a hole drilled into his head for a brain-computer interface.Valve co-founder and CEO Gabe Newell, the company behind Half-Life and DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike and preeminent PC game distribution platform Steam, has long toyed with the idea that your brain should be more connected to your PC. It began over a decade ago with in-house psychologists studying people’s biological responses to video games; Valve once considered earlobe monitors for its first VR headset. The company publicly explored the idea of brain-computer interfaces for gaming at GDC in 2019.But Newell decided to spin off the idea. That same year, he quietly incorporated a new brain-computer interface startup, Starfish Neuroscience — which has now revealed plans to produce its very first brain chip later this year.Starfish’s first blog post, spotted by Valve watcher Brad Lynch, makes it clear we’re not talking about a complete implant yet. This bit is the custom “electrophysiology” chip designed to record brain activity (like how Neuralink can “read your mind” so patients can interact with computers) and stimulate the brain (for disease therapy), but Starfish isn’t claiming it’s already built the systems to power it or the bits to stick it into a person’s head.“We anticipate our first chips arriving in late 2025 and we are interested in finding collaborators for whom such a chip would open new and exciting avenues,” writes Starfish neuroengineer Nate Cermak (bolding theirs), suggesting that Starfish might wind up partnering with other companies for wireless power or even the final brain implant. But the goal, writes Starfish, is a smaller and less invasive implant than the competition, one that can “enable simultaneous access to multiple brain regions” instead of just one site, and one that doesn’t require a battery. Using just 1.1 milliwatts during “normal recording,” Starfish says it can work with wireless power transmission instead.Here’s the chip’s current spec sheet:Low power: 1.1 mW total power consumption during normal recording Physically small: 2 x 4mm (0.3mm pitch BGA) Capable of both recording (spikes and LFP) & stimulation (biphasic pulses) 32 electrode sites, 16 simultaneous recording channels at 18.75kHz 1 current source for stimulating on arbitrary pairs of electrodes Onboard impedance monitoring and stim voltage transient measurement Digital onboard data processing and spike detection allows the device to operate via low-bandwidth wireless interfaces. Fabricated in TSMC 55nm processNeuralink’s N1, for comparison, has 1,024 electrodes across its 64 brain-implanted threads, a chip that consumed around 6 milliwatts as of 2019, a battery that periodically needs wireless charging, and the full implant (again, not just the chip) is around 23mm wide and 8mm thick. The Elon Musk-led company has reportedly already implanted it in three humans; while some of the threads did detach from the first patient’s brain, he still has functionality and has been giving interviews. Starfish says it could be important to connect to multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, instead of just one region, to address issues like Parkinson’s disease. “there is increasing evidence that a number of neurological disorders involve circuit-level dysfunction, in which the interactions between brain regions may be misregulated,” Cermak writes.In addition to multiple simultaneous brain implants, the company’s updated website says it’s working on a “precision hyperthermia device” to destroy tumors with targeted heat, and a brain-reading, robotically guided transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) system for addressing neurological conditions like bipolar disorder and depression.In case you’re wondering how any of this might make its way back to gaming, I’ll leave you with Valve’s talk from GDC 2019 about brain-computer interfaces.

Graduation is one of those unique milestones in life that’s both exciting and nerve-wracking. It’s worth celebrating, but it also marks a new chapter that can feel overwhelming. That’s why your grad will surely appreciate a little support as they step into the next phase of their life, whether that be college or their first job.Lucky for you, we’ve put together a list of gifts that are designed to make the transition into post-grad life a little smoother. Our picks cover essentials they might need for their first apartment or dorm — from kitchenware to tools — along with a few gifts to remind them of home. We’ve also sprinkled in a ton of gadgets to set them up for success, including e-readers and portable chargers. And because they’ve certainly earned some downtime, we’ve included a selection of other ideas to help them unwind and celebrate a job well done.Update, May 23rd: Adjusted pricing / availability and added several new gift suggestions, including Apple’s latest MacBook Pro 13 and Lovepop’s colorful Black-Eyed Susan Bouquet.

While the rest of my PC components have seen a lot of churn over the years, my storage drives have remained more or less constant. I have been using the same Gen3 NVMe and SATA SSD since 2017, and even the newer Gen4 SSD I got in 2022 has been showing warning signs for the last year or so. I was running out of storage, and I finally decided to do a complete storage overhaul, replacing all the drives, even bringing back an HDD into the fold.

Frigate is a powerful tool for creating your own home surveillance system with a few IP cameras and an available network-attached storage (NAS) enclosure, single-board computer (SBC), or home lab server. I've been running the software for a few weeks now and have come to appreciate all the features it offers over the competition. Like anything you self-host, however, there are always things you learn along the way, and here are some points I wish I knew before getting into the world of Frigate.

The winners of the $TRUMP meme coin contest did get to see President Donald Trump speak at a private dinner closed to the press - but his speech was probably the least exciting part of their night. They did get a better, more valuable, and potentially more lucrative experience: the opportunity to network with the biggest crypto traders in the game, win watches worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and attend a not-so-exclusive afterparty at the Capitol Hill Marriott afterward - all without having to complete particularly thorough background checks. The vetting process for entering the dinner was a 'pretty light' KYC checkAfter being whisked behind the gates of the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, past a throng of journalists snapping photos and protesters screaming at them for being corrupt, the 220 attendees went through security and had their IDs checked. According to one attendee, many were wealthy but some were living on normal-ish paychecks. The other guests, he said, were largely foreigners from overseas, all with an extremely high risk tolerance for gambling with crypto. The attendee said the vetting process for entering the dinner was a "pretty light" …Read the full story at The Verge.

Capable of tracking every minute detail of your budget, finance management apps are some of the best quality-of-life-enhancing services on the block. But with budgeting applications popping up like mushrooms, you might have a hard time picking the right tool to manage your expenses. Over the years, I’ve tried to use Expensify, YNAB, PocketGuard, and several other bookkeeping services, but each tool lacked the je ne sais quoi to satisfy my budgeting needs.

If you've been looking to buy an OLED screen, this one from LG is going to be a fantastic buy as it drops to just $550. Not only do you have a TV that delivers vibrant colors, but it can also be used as a monitor as well. It's simple, performs well, and is now quite affordable. Grab it from Best Buy with this limited-time deal and save.