Optimizing your Windows PC can be a tedious process. Fortunately, several companies offer software that can help you do this easily. While not all software is created equal, a few programs are quite decent and will help ensure your PC isn't running sluggishly.

Let’s face it, no one likes room temperature coffee. | Image: Ember Fall has arrived, bringing cooler temperatures with it. Thankfully, Ember is running a sale through October 21st that takes 20 percent off many of its self-heating vessels — including the Ember Mug 2, a guilty pleasure of ours. The 10-ounce mug is available for about $104 ($27 off) with promo code SEASON20, while the 14-ounce version is down to about $120 ($30 off). The same code is good for the metallic versions of either model, too, as well as the 16-ounce Ember Tumbler (now $143.96) and the ultra-fancy Travel Mug 2 Plus (now $159.96). Each Ember Mug 2 features a built-in battery, which allows the second-gen smart mug to last up to 90 minutes per charge or indefinitely if you set it on the included charging coaster. It pairs with a... Continue reading…

What if I told you the Meta Quest 3S is in some ways just a more powerful Quest 2 with color passthrough? “Yes, of course it is,” someone who’s read our coverage might say, but iFixit shows just how true that is in the teardown video it published today.The first hint of that is the headset’s Fresnel lenses, which iFixit’s Shahram Mokhtari writes in a blog post are “100% compatible” with those used by the Quest 2. The headset has the older headset’s IPD adjustment mechanism, as well; and it shares the same single LCD panel, rather than using one panel per eye, like the Meta Quest 3. Screenshot: YouTube This is what sits behind the faceplate of the Quest 3S. Legacy parts aside, iFixit found that the 3S uses two... Continue reading…

Docker containers are powerful self-contained apps that transform your simple network-attached storage (NAS) or server into a powerful system. With containers, you can install packages to create a media streaming service, cloud storage platform, home surveillance system, and much more. Using just Docker, I've rounded up some cool projects you can do with your new NAS or server without much experience and know-how. It's a great place to start learning how everything connects.

Having left desktop computers behind for laptops, I found myself in need of a permanently-connected computer to act as my local media server. One that looks nice and is not too expensive. The answer I found was a refurbished mini PC, with lots of trial and error along the way.

It's no secret that you can emulate games on your handheld console, but what if you want to go further than that? What if you wanted all the conveniences of a portable console while also still staying true to the original experience? Fortunately, if you're willing to do a little DIY, you can have the best of both worlds, just as this avid tinkerer demonstrated with a portable original Xbox console using legit hardware.

Image: Kristen Radtke / The Verge When people search for “Adam driver Megalopolis” on Instagram or Facebook right now, instead of seeing posts about Francis Ford Coppola’s latest film, they’re shown a warning, titled, “Child sexual abuse is illegal.” That bizarre fact was pointed out in a post on X yesterday, and as of today, I’m still seeing it when I search for the phrase. But why? Well, it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with recent Threads moderation failures. Nor are there bombshell revelations about Megalopolis or its main star that I’m aware of. Screenshot: Instagram Yikes. Instead, Facebook and Instagram seem to be blocking searches containing “mega” and “drive” — I saw it when I searched with those two words together, but not when I... Continue reading…

Ford says some of its NACS adapters could cause issues. | Image: Ford Ford started offering free adapters for Tesla’s Supercharger network to owners of its EVs in February, and now it’s telling some of its customers to stop using them, reports InsideEVs. The company found a “potential issue” that could cause “reduced charging speeds over time” or even damage to the charge port itself, according to a service bulletin it’s sending to those affected.Ford EV owners should follow the link on Ford’s notice to make sure it has the right address on file. If it is, they won’t need to do anything else to get their replacement, but if not, the company says customers need to update their address by October 24th. Ford will supply a replacement adapter in the coming weeks and provide return instructions to send back... Continue reading…

If you're a developer, sysadmin, hobbyist, or IT professional, enhancing your skills in networking can feel like a bit of an uphill slog. There's a very real chicken-and-egg problem of not having access to the most advanced hardware to learn on until you've got the experience to prove you can do so responsibly, which can be hard to acquire without access to a proper setup, advanced features, and examples of how things are done properly in an enterprise environment.

The Windows Forecast is a look at the future of Windows that comments on the latest news for Windows Insiders, as well as other major announcements in the Windows space each and every week. My name is Joo Carrasqueira, and I've been covering the world of Windows professionally since 2018. If there's something you'd like to see covered, you can reach me at [email protected].

With Intel having a rough few months, all eyes are on its latest releases to see if it can reclaim some of its lost momentum. We've seen some data on the Intel 200V range (called "Lunar Lake") and the Intel 200S range (called "Arrow Lake"). Now, a leaker has potentially revealed the specs for the regular Intel 200 range, and it looks like the company is basing these off of Raptor Lake chips.

We're all pretty dependent on cloud services nowadays, with everything from our email inboxes to game streaming services storing our data somewhere other than on our physical computers. But with that ever-increasing dependency comes inherent risk. Your cloud provider could be using unsafe practices, like not encrypting data, or they could be a smaller provider that might disappear one day. Or it could be both of those and a whole host of other issues you might not think of. To keep your cloud storage private and secure, you need to choose a provider that uses end-to-end encryption (E2EE) in their design, and preferably one that also uses a zero-knowledge model so that your data is encrypted everywhere it goes unless it's on your personal devices where the decryption keys are stored.