I consume a lot of YouTube. My nighttime watching consists of history videos. Some of the best tutorials I’ve ever watched were buried inside YouTube playlists. Thirty-part explainers on Python, design thinking, creative writing, and photography, all nested neatly into a playlist I could queue up and binge.

Home Assistant is a versatile platform for connecting all your Internet of Things (IoT) and general smart home hardware. Whether you have Philips Hue bulbs, Reolink cameras, or Nuki door locks, this platform allows you to control everything from a single interface. Then there's the ability to configure automation, which can prove useful for setting values with various elements of your smart home depending on parameters detected elsewhere. For instance, should your camera detect movement, activate a nearby floodlight.

With its tantalizing performance-per-dollar ratio, pages upon pages of documentation, and a fleet of accessories, the Raspberry Pi series has dominated the project-building landscape for years. However, the Raspberry Pi’s popularity has led to other manufacturers upping their game, with many DIY-oriented devices offering their own spin on the classic budget-friendly system formula.

When I first started using Obsidian, it felt like a blank canvas. While its core functionality is robust, the true power of Obsidian lies in its incredible community-built plugins. These add-ons have transformed my barebone vaults into a highly customized and efficient personal knowledge management powerhouse.

If you purchased one of the early models of the Gigabyte Nvidia RTX 50 GPUs, you may have noticed that it has been oozing gel lately. Reports are coming in around the world claiming that people's GPUs are losing a little more thermal gel than they'd like, and naturally, people are concerned as to why it's doing that.

As a PC user, keeping the system temps low is always high on my priority list. I'm sure many of you have struggled with the obsession surrounding CPU temperatures despite the fact that they're within spec most of the time. Still, reducing the CPU and GPU temps inside your PC is never a bad thing, and many of us resort to adding extra fans or high-quality fans to improve airflow on our PCs.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the newest and hottest RPG on the block, brought to you by the small teams at Sandfall Interactive and Kepler Interactive. The surrealist adventurelaunched on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC on Thursday (April 24th), and early impressions of the game have been stellar so far.

The Kuxiu S2 magnetically attached to the MagSafe-compatible case on my iPhone 15 Pro.Solid-state batteries are the future. They're more powerful, compact, safe, and sustainable than Lithium-ion alternatives, but true all-solid state batteries can't be mass-produced cost-effectively. That's why Kuxiu has gone semi-solid state for what it calls the "world's safest" power bank, while calling dibs on it being a world first.Kuxiu's $79.99 S2 Qi2 5000mAh MagSafe Solid-State Power Bank supports Qi2 for 15W wireless charging. And with a 5,000mAh (19Wh) capacity, it holds enough energy to easily charge the latest iPhone 16 models - with batteries ranging from 3,561mAh to 4,685mAh - from zero to full at least once. And despite using the truncated "solid state" in the S2 name and product page, the company confirmed to me that it's built around a semi-solid state battery and that distinction matters. I've been carrying the Kuxiu S2 for the past few weeks. While I didn't hammer, pierce, or tear the battery apart or expose it to fire like Kuxiu did, I can at least confirm that it otherwise works as expected."Solid state" ambiguityIt's not just you, the battery industry itself can't seem to agree on what qualifies as a solid-state battery. There's all-solid state, se …Read the full story at The Verge.

Hey, remember the Dune Weaver? I reported on it just under two months ago, and at the time, it was a super impressive project that I absolutely adore. At the time, the developer said they were working on a Dune Weaver Pro, but it wasn't quite done yet. Now, I'm happy to announce that the developer has finished off the rough edges on his newest project, and you can get making one of the best conversation pieces a Raspberry Pi can get you right now.

An Nvidia RTX 5090 graphics card. | Photo by Tom Warren/The VergeEvery so often, Central Computers - one of the last remaining dedicated Silicon Valley computer stores - lets subscribers know it's managed to obtain a small shipment of AMD graphics cards. Today, it informed me that I could now purchase a $600 Radeon RX 9070 XT for $850 - a $250 markup. It's not alone. I just checked every major US retailer and street prices on eBay, and I regret to inform you: the great GPU shortage has returned. Many AMD cards are being marked up $100, $200, $250, even $280. The street price of an Nvidia RTX 5080 is now over $1,500, a full $500 higher than MSRP. And an RTX 5090, the most powerful consumer GPU? You can't even get the $2,000 card for $3,000 today.Here, I've built tables to show you:ItemMSRPAverage eBay street price (Mar-Apr)Best retail price (April 25th)AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT$599$957$880AMD Radeon RX 9070$549$761$835Nvidia RTX 5090$1,999$3,871$3,140Nvidia RTX 5080$999$1,533$1,390Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti$749$1,052$825Nvidia RTX 5070$549$715$610"Best retail price" is the actual price I saw a card for on April 25th - roughly the minimum you'd pay.You shouldn't just blame tariffs for these price hikes. In early March, we found retailers were already …Read the full story at The Verge.

Back in August, we saw the US Supreme Court rule that Google was breaching antitrust law. Now, in a court case that began last Monday, the court had a new task: find out how to de-monopolize Google. Part of the process involves forcing the tech giant to sell some of its products off, and the first one on the docket is its browser, Chrome.

I've always been a proponent of building a PC ever since I built my first one over 15 years ago. You're in full control, you can almost always save money, and it's just more fun. However, custom PCs aren't for everyone, and this was especially true for my best friend when he finally decided to move to PC gaming this year. I could have easily built a custom rig for him when he handed me $1,500 and asked me to arrange a gaming PC for him. Considering the kind of guy he is, however, I realized a pre-built machine would work best for him. Plus, with the GPU market we're dealing with right now, pre-built PCs are more relevant than ever.