When Adam Mosseri took over Meta-owned Instagram as CEO in 2018, the app was experiencing what he'd later call "concerning" drops and plateaus in user engagement, thanks partly to fierce competition from a new app: TikTok. Instagram estimated in 2019 that 23 percent of the decline in time spent on Instagram in the US was due to TikTok. Bytedance's video app kept expanding through the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. "We can't explain it all, but what's clear at this point is that we need to adapt, and do so quickly," Mosseri wrote to his team in March 2020. Instagram needed to recover, he testified Thursday in a DC courtroom, because "you're either growing, or you're slowly dying."Mosseri described the dire situation while testifying in the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust trial against Meta, where the government alleges the company illegally monopolized the market for personal social networking services, a category that it says includes Snapchat but not more entertainment-focused apps like YouTube or TikTok. Mosseri's testimony highlighted how much Instagram sees itself as in competition with TikTok, but it also showed that even as entertainment content becomes a larger port …Read the full story at The Verge.

As far as PC overheating is concerned, SSDs are often the last components you think about. CPUs and GPUs are usually the ones that you need to worry about. However, if you've been running your SSD without a heatsink, and suddenly start noticing some unusual behavior, it might be time to slap on a heatsink. High-performance SSDs, whether Gen4 or Gen5, can require a heatsink to stay cool and avoid thermal throttling. If your NVMe SSD never came with a heatsink and your motherboard doesn't have one either, you might have to consider an aftermarket one.

With summer steadily approaching, you might already be making plans for upcoming trips. And while you'll already have plenty of tech with you for the adventure, there's a good chance that a travel router isn't part of your current setup. Now, we know what you're thinking, and yes, many places already provide free Wi-Fi.

A network-attached storage — or NAS for short — may sound like something only IT folks would use. But there are plenty of home NAS models that blend so well into your everyday digital life that you’d wonder why you didn’t get one earlier. A NAS doesn’t just give you peace of mind with backups — this small box can literally save the day when something goes south one random evening, like your laptop crashing or someone accidentally deleting years of photos. And no, you don’t have to be a techie to take advantage of a NAS and its various (almost magical) perks.

Ecco the Dolphin is ready to save the world (and ocean) from extraterrestrial beings once again. On Monday (May 5th), Ed Annunziata, Ecco's original creator, spoke with Xbox Wire to celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The conversation covered a variety of topics such as movies and games that would be perfect to watch and or play to commemorate the cultural occasion.

The Raspberry Pi might not seem like a powerhouse, but that’s precisely what makes it perfect for running small, single-purpose Docker containers. While full servers tend to be underutilized when handling simple tasks, the Pi hits a sweet spot where performance meets efficiency. If you’re looking to streamline your home lab or just want more out of your little board, these containers are tailor made for ARM devices like the Raspberry Pi.

I've used a lot of routers throughout my time on the internet, from ISP routers that have locked-down services to routers I kept way longer than I should have. Still, on every one that I could change settings on, I've always changed the same set of security settings before starting to use the internet. These core settings go a long way toward making your home network more secure and cut off access to botnets, automated hacking, and more.

Netflix is removing the last two shows listed on its Interactive Specials page: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend, reports What’s on Netflix. The two specials will be pulled on May 12th, 2025, according to the publication, so if you want to watch them, you’ll want to catch them soon.Bandersnatch wasn’t Netflix’s first interactive special, but it was arguably the platform’s most famous. It was a dark, choose-your-own-adventure-style movie, and after it launched, Reddit detectives immediately went to work to decode the many choices throughout the film. (Though it didn’t work on every device that could play Netflix.)As of late, however, Netflix has been moving in a different direction with its interactive experiences, focusing more on its mobile games library (which has a Black Mirror-themed game) and testing cloud-streamed games over TVs. The new design for Netflix on TVs was even created in part to help people better find games they might like.The removals perhaps shouldn’t be surprising following Netflix’s decision late last year to pull all but four of its interactive specials from its catalog. “The technology served its purpose, but is now limiting as we focus on technological efforts in other areas,” spokesperson Chrissy Kelleher told me ahead of those removals.The other two interactive shows that stuck around were Ranveer vs. Wild with Bear Grylls and You vs. Wild. What’s on Netflix says they were removed in January of this year, but I’m seeing noninteractive versions of the show available to watch.Netflix spokesperson Jessica Braslow declined to comment.

The moment the white smoke appeared above the Sistine Chapel, I immediately turned on my television, because I wanted to see who the new pope would be, and then hopped on social media, because I knew that the internet could tell me more about the new pope faster than television could. That, and the memes would be good. The memes came first, naturally, flying in harder and faster than they ever did with Pope Francis, because the new pope was American. Not just that - Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was from Chicago, with a bio full of cultural touchstones that the American meme economy grasped immediately: Did the pope ever drink Malort? Was the pope a Cubs or a Sox fan? Was God going to intercede on behalf of the Knicks in the NBA playoffs because the pope graduated from Villanova? The next wave of information was, I'd suspected, going to be news and articles about his upbringing, pastoral history and religious stances - things that would tell the world what sort of leader this new pope would be. And then someone I followed posted a screenshot from an X account with the handle @drprevost: three retweets, over the past three months, that linked to articles harshly cri …Read the full story at The Verge.

Working with a laser engraver at home can be a fun and rewarding hobby, but it also comes with real risks if you’re not careful. These machines concentrate focused beams of light hot enough to burn through wood, acrylic, leather, and more, so creating a safe environment is essential. A good setup isn’t just about ventilation and goggles; it’s about building habits and protections that prevent accidents before they start. Whether you're new to laser engraving or upgrading your workspace, these five rules are non-negotiable.

Take-Two and Rockstar have announced that Grand Theft Auto VI won't be releasing until May 26, 2026, leaving a massive hole in the 2025 video game release calendar. While there won't be anything on the same scale as GTA VI, there are still massive and exciting games coming out this year. As for what can fill that void, we've got games about crime, great open worlds, and massive scale to try and satisfy the blockbuster cravings the decade-long wait for the next Grand Theft Auto has caused. Here are the games you can check out.

With technology advancing at a rapid pace, mini PCs have received quite a huge boost when it comes to computing power, making them viable options for those that don't have a lot of space. Of course, if you get the right combination of specifications, there's good chance that you'll never go back to a regular PC.