Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Watch this space to find some great indie games. Read the full story at The Verge.

Virtual reality hasn't really picked up the way everyone thought it would. Whether it's the early debacle of the metaverse or the still-nascent VR gaming industry, it seems VR is still waiting for its big moment. That said, if you've been wanting to scratch that VR gaming itch, I'm happy to report that there are enough gems that can individually make a VR headset purchase worth it.

Many of the larger components of our computing setups are easily turned into projects or reused in other computers, but what happens to peripherals once an upgrade arrives? Whether you decide on a new slim mechanical keyboard or mouse, it's all too easy to toss the device it's replacing into a drawer as a spare. But with a little bit of thought and some tools, those peripherals can get a new lease of life as a gift or gadget to be enjoyed further.

There are a lot of great headphone options out there. But if you're looking for something lightweight, comfortable, and wireless — we think the Jabra Evolve2 65 is going to be a great choice. In addition to the qualities above, you also get long battery life, and it now comes at $151 less than its retail price. So grab this deal while you can because it won't last long.

Image: Second Dinner Mobile card game Marvel Snap is coming back to app stores, starting with Google Play. That’s according to Developer Second Dinner, which announced yesterday it was starting the process of restoring the game to Google’s Android app store at 6PM PT / 3PM ET that day. The developer said in another post it expects the game to return to both Google’s and Apple’s app stores “as early as next week.” Marvel Snap was caught up in the TikTok outage last weekend because its original publisher, Nuverse, is owned by TikTok parent company ByteDance. The game came back online for players on Monday and Second Dinner said it planned to “bring more services in-house and partner with a new publisher.” As of now, Marvel Snap is still “provided, operated, and managed by Nuverse,” according to the privacy policy on the game’s website.An admin of the Marvel Snap Discord server also announced a set of compensation packages for players affected by the outage. As seen in screenshots posted to Reddit, that includes in-game credits, tokens, and special variants for accounts that were created in the US or that showed US activity in the 30 days prior to the outage. Non-US players will also get a “Global Gratitude Package” with similar, though fewer, benefits. Other apps that went down last weekend, such as CapCut and Lemon8, have since come back online but still aren’t listed in the iOS and Android app stores. Although President Donald Trump has directed the US Attorney General not to enforce the US TikTok ban, it’s unclear whether he can shield Apple or Google from legal liability if they host the apps in defiance of the law.

Windows may be the most popular desktop operating system in the world, but it does have a reputation for sometimes being frustrating to use for one reason or another. And with Linux sometimes being brought up by people who are generally more tech-savvy, it begs the question of whether Windows is still a good OS for power users.

I've written about the console vs. PC debate before, the things consoles are better at, and the kind of user uniquely suited to the console experience. Personally, I'm still on Team PC — the little time I'm able to devote to gaming is reserved for my gaming PC. More and more, however, I've been feeling a pull toward consoles, and it looks like it may be time to reconsider my opinion.

You know, when it comes to DIY projects, we like to see ideas that use 3D printers and pre-bought materials that get the job done. However, when we do, we lose sight of the real foundation of DIY fans everywhere: Lego blocks. If you're tired of telling yourself that your electronic projects can't use colorful building blocks to house them, then check out this cool example that uses Lego to get the job done.

Do your Excel spreadsheets move slower than a rush hour traffic jam? It’s time for a serious tune-up, as such behavior can affect your productivity and life. Just like there are shortcuts and strategies to navigate a busy city, there are clever tricks to optimize your Excel spreadsheets for smoother performance. In this post, I will show you my go-to practices to fix common Excel woes and dramatically speed up those loading times.

Designed to help you experiment to your heart’s content, home labs are equipped with all sorts of unique facilities to enhance your project-building experience. Containerization is one such feature that can turn your experimentation workstation into a powerful self-hosting platform. Often contrasted with virtual machines, containers offer plenty of perks for server enthusiasts – and here are five reasons why you should integrate them into your home lab workflow.

A few years ago, it became a "life hack" to add the word "Reddit" at the end of a search term for something you want help with (at least, before Google began serving Reddit posts higher than usual). The idea is that whatever problem you have, there are ten Reddit threads from days past that have threads full of troubleshooting tips, advice, solutions, and tools to fix your issue. Well, it seems that the life hack is being used against us, as scammers now use fake Reddit websites to peddle malware.

It’s all about the vibes. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge There are a lot — and I mean a LOT — of fitness trackers out there, many of which can provide a surprising amount of insight into your health and fitness. That being said, the bare-bones Casio WS-B1000, which is currently on sale at Amazon and Walmart for an all-time low of $39.10 (about $17 off), is not exactly one of them.At its core, the WS-B1000 is a lightweight wristwatch with some basic smarts, retro styling, and a few different color options. There’s no optical heart rate monitor or fancy-schmancy OLED display, though it does boast an onboard accelerometer for tracking your steps, up to two years of battery life on a single CR2016 coin cell battery, and Bluetooth for pairing it with your phone. Doing so lets you view a basic activity log in the Casio app while ensuring you always have the correct time on hand (a wild concept, I know).You get some basic wristwatch functionality as well — including a stopwatch, a timer, and an alarm — but the appeal of the WS-B1000 isn’t what it offers but what it lacks. For someone like me who’s burnt out on push notifications and rarely tracks anything beyond steps, a cheap tracker with some Y2K vibes is a welcome reprieve.Read our Casio WS-B1000 review.Other ways to save this weekendSamsung held its latest Unpacked event this week, providing us with a closer look at its forthcoming slate of Galaxy phones. The iterative S25 Ultra is the most capable of the bunch thanks to its improved ultrawide camera, and if you’re looking to reserve it ahead of its February 7th release date, it’s now up for preorder at Amazon and Best Buy with a $200 gift card starting at $1,299.99. Samsung, meanwhile, is offering the 6.9-inch phone for the same price with $150 in store credit. Read our hands-on impressions.Now through the end of tomorrow, January 26th, Anker’s 341 USB Power Strip is available from Amazon and Anker for an all-time low of $18.69 (about $7 off). The 11-in-1 power strip isn’t going to provide a ton of surge protection, sure, but it sports a pair of wall-mounting slots, several USB ports, and a whopping eight AC outlets. Plus, it features a nifty fastener, allowing you to easily coil the 5-foot cable if you plan to take it with you on the road.If my colleague Antonio G. Di Benedetto’s recent experience with the GameSir G8 Plus left you envious of his big screen upgrade, you can now pick up the clamp-on mobile controller at Amazon for $65.99 ($14 off), which nearly matches its all-time low. It’s similar to 8BitDo’s first smartphone controller in that it features drift-free Hall effect sensors in the joysticks and connects over Bluetooth as opposed to USB-C; however, unlike 8BitDo’s offering, the G8 Plus supports Android and iOS, along with the Nintendo Switch.