MAC address filtering has long been included as a security feature in many consumer routers, allowing users to block traffic or limit speeds to specific devices on their network by MAC address. However, MAC addresses were never really designed as a security feature, and they have long been considered obsolete for protecting your network security. Here are four reasons why you shouldn't use MAC addresses to protect your network security (and what you might want to use instead!)

Image: Nvidia It seems like Nvidia might be about to reveal its RTX 50 series GPUs, and now Nvidia itself is teasing that the new graphics cards are nearly here. As spotted by VideoCardz, a video for Nvidia’s upcoming LAN party includes brief look at a shadowy PC that will be given as a prize, and if you brighten up the image, the GPU in the computer appears to be one that’s a new design.See for yourself — I’ve included an image of the shadowed version at the top of this post, but here’s our take at tweaking the image to reveal what’s hidden: Image: Tom Warren / The Verge I’ll admit I am not an expert in GPU designs, but VideoCardz says the design is “unfamiliar” and that an RTX 5080 or 5070 Ti could be “among possible candidates” of what’s being shown.Leaks last month from Zotac and Acer indicated that Nvidia may reveal as many as five RTX 50 series GPUs very soon, including an RTX 5090, an RTX 5080, and an 5070 Ti. VideoCardz also reported today on a leak of an RTX 5080 from MSI featuring 16GB of GDDR7 memory.And Nvidia isn’t being particularly secretive about the potentially imminent launch of the RTX 50-series GPUs. The LAN party, which runs from January 4th through 6th, is called the “GeForce LAN 50”, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is set to deliver a CES keynote on January 6th at 9:30PM ET.

You have a NAS drive filled with your favorite movies and TV shows, but now what? You don't want to be stuck streaming them to smaller screens. Well, if you have a decent Smart TV, you don't have to. Most Smart TVs can connect to NAS drives on your network, making it easy to get at your content.

If you've been looking for an awesome webcam that isn't going to cost a lot of money, consider the Anker PowerConf C200. Not only does it deliver excellent image quality at 1440p, but it also offers nice perks like an adjustable field of view and built-in privacy cover. The great part is that this webcam isn't all that expensive with a retail price of just $60. For a limited time, you can save 20% off its original price as it drops to just $48. So get it while you can before this promotion is gone.

Virtualization is easily the most integral part of home server projects, and there are plenty of ways to deploy virtual machines in your computing lab. While most experts recommend going with barebones virtualization platforms, you can even run VMs on top of your existing OS.

LG’s lifestyle projectors look great when off, probably not so great when on. | Image: LG LG is coming to CES with two all-in-one “lifestyle projectors” which means they’re gong to look great when off, but not necessarily provide the best picture for the money when on. Both run on webOS with plenty of support for your favorite streaming apps.The PF600U is three devices in one, combing a simple full HD projector with a Bluetooth speaker and standing floor lamp. It weighs 16 pounds 8 ounces (7.5kg) and features two speakers of unknown spectitude, as well as an LED lamp capable of nine colors and five brightness levels. Image: LG That image is simulated so temper your expectations for the PF600U. The projector swivels on a 110-degree tilting head with an automatic screen adjustment function that should make it quick and easy to fine tune the projected image as you move the lamp around the room. Just note that it’s only capable of producing 300 ANSI lumens of brightness which means that 1920 x 1080 image won’t look very good unless viewed in blackout conditions. Image: LG I love how small the CineBeam S is because I hate giant TVs that make pretty living rooms look ugly. But this likely isn’t bright enough to replace a TV for most people. The CineBeam S (model PU615U) is a remarkably small (4.3 x 6.3 x 6.3 inches / 110 x 160 x 160mm) ultra-short throw projector that can sit just inches from the wall — or better yet, an Ambient Light Rejection (ALR) screen — and still produce a giant 4K image from its laser (RGB) light source. It has integrated stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support. And while it can produce a slightly brighter 500 ANSI lumen image, it’s still going to look washed out if it has to fight with any ambient lighting in the room.LG isn’t announcing anything useful like pricing or release dates or countries of availability. Presumably the company wants to keep everyone on their toes when these are demonstrated publicly for the first time in Las Vegas, starting next week.

Let’s say you’re on the hunt for the coolest pixel-pushing hardware for your next PC when you realize that you’ve run out of budget. As it turns out, you don’t really need a full repertoire of components for a functional PC – if you’re willing to deal with hours of anguish, hair-pulling, and inconvenience just to satisfy your tinkering fantasies, then read on! Here’s a list of essential PC components that, despite fulfilling essential roles, can be removed from your upcoming build.

Whether it's for your home network or that of friends and family, knowing when to upgrade your router can be a bit tricky. Not everyone is keeping up with the latest developments in Wi-Fi standards and technology, and it can all feel a little overwhelming (even to those of us who purport to). A working Wi-Fi and home internet are some of those "don't touch it, it's working" kinds of things. Especially if you've got a family to worry about. Breaking your home internet could be anything from a slight pain to an enormous problem for families and children who are trying to get some work done (or chat to their friends on Discord). It's difficult to know when to make a change, or when to leave something that's working in place for as long as possible. With that in mind, here are five signs that it's time to get an upgrade for your Wi-Fi router.

The Apple Fitness Plus integration in Strava is getting a revamp. | Image: Apple Apple Fitness Plus is getting a fresh makeover in the Strava app. The two companies just announced they’re collaborating to revamp how Fitness Plus integrates with the popular fitness community, which includes more detailed workout summaries, Strava athletes appearing in Fitness Plus content, and a free three-month trial to the service for Strava subscribers.Starting today, you’ll be able to see a thumbnail of the Fitness Plus workout and information like episode number, music genre, trainer, metrics, and achievements. While mostly a design update, this brings Fitness Plus more in line with other Strava integrations from services like Peloton and Ladder.Technically, Apple Watch users have been able to import their workouts into Strava from the get-go. However, that integration has been limited with bare-bones workout summaries. While you could see the activity type, calories burned, and basic heart rate metrics, there wasn’t any information about the class or instructor. (As you can see from this screenshot, you’d be hard-pressed to know that my New Year’s Day yoga workout was even a Fitness Plus class.) The Fitness Plus and Strava integration goes in both directions. For starters, new and existing Strava subscribers in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia will get a free three-month trial of Fitness Plus regardless of whether they have an Apple Watch. (You do, however, need an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV to access the service.) Popular Strava athletes will also feature as guests in Fitness Plus workouts. That includes a strength workout with runner Hellah Sidibe on January 13th and a treadmill workout with Kayla Jeter.So far, Apple has only offered free Fitness Plus trials with the purchase of a new Apple gadget. And while the service regularly features well-known athletes as guest hosts in its programming, it’s never sourced those guests from a third-party fitness community. Sidibe, for example, may not be quite as famous as two-time Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety (who recently hosted a Fitness Plus series). However, if you’re into running and on social media, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with Sidibe’s seven-year daily run streak and penchant for running with four smartwatches. “Over the past 10 years, we’ve hugely admired what Strava has done to impact the fitness space, especially around community,” says Jay Blahnik, Apple’s vice president of fitness technologies, acknowledging that Apple doesn’t often partake in this sort of collaboration. Blahnik says working with Strava also presents a new opportunity for Fitness Plus’ reach. When the service first launched, there was an emphasis on making sure it was inclusive, motivating, and accessible for people of all levels. And in those early days, it often felt like Fitness Plus was like a fitness starter pack for the average person who might need a little encouragement — something The Verge pointed out in its initial review. That’s not exactly the typical Strava user.“They don’t need us for motivation! They’re already self motivated,” says Blahnik. Instead, for seasoned athletes, Blahnik is pitching Fitness Plus as a supplemental resource for cross-training and discovering new activity types. “Maybe they’re taking up running for the first time, and they want to make sure that they don’t get injured, and they need to do the yoga and the strength,” adds Zipporah Allen, Strava’s chief business officer. Both Allen and Blahnik also note that the collaboration isn’t a one-and-done type of deal, hinting that the integration could evolve further down the road. While both demurred on providing specifics, Blahnik noted the companies “have bold ambitions for what [they] might be able to do down the road in terms of sharing.” (Asked if perhaps one day you could tap on a Fitness Plus class a Strava friend took and immediately be taken to that workout on your phone, Blahnik said they’d keep that in mind.) In the short term, it’s a beneficial move for both companies. Strava recently angered users by changing the terms of its API for third-party apps, leaving some disgruntled users questioning the value of a Strava subscription. A free three-month trial to Apple Fitness Plus could appease some of those users. Strava has long been a de facto fitness data hub for dedicated athletes, giving Fitness Plus easy access to long-term athletes who aren’t likely to quit their New Year’s resolutions.

Buying a graphics card in 2025 can be a challenge to say the least. Between fleeting stock of your preferred card, exorbitant prices, and straight-up disappointing releases, it can feel like a minefield. Unfortunately for you prospective GPU buyers out there, it’s not getting any better, at least for the next few weeks. Right now is probably the worst time you could upgrade your new GPU, and here are 3 reasons why.

Image: The Verge / Shutterstock Anthropic has made a deal to settle parts of a copyright infringement lawsuit ​​brought against the maker of the Claude AI model for allegedly distributing protected song lyrics. The agreement was signed off by US District Judge Eumi Lee on Thursday, requiring Anthropic to apply existing guardrails in the training of future AI models and to establish a procedure for music publishers to intervene when copyright infringement is suspected.In October 2023, several music publishers including Universal Music Group, ABKCO, Concord Music Group, and Greg Nelson Music filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Anthropic for allegedly training its AI system on lyrics from at least 500 protected songs. According to the complaint, when Claude was prompted for the lyrics to songs like Beyoncé’s “Halo,” Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk,” and “Moves like Jagger” by Maroon 5, the chatbot provided responses “that contain all or significant portions of those lyrics.”While the music publishers acknowledged that platforms like Genius already distribute lyrics online, they noted that those sites pay a licensing fee to use the protected works. Anthropic “intentionally removed or altered copyright management information” from the impacted songs when ingesting data found on those sites to train its AI models, according to the lawsuit filing.Under the agreement signed by Anthropic on Thursday, the AI company says it will maintain the guardrails it has already implemented that aim to prevent its AI models from infringing on copyrighted content. Anthropic will also apply its existing guardrails to any future AI systems it develops. Music publishers and Anthropic will work together in “good faith” to resolve any instances where the guardrails are deemed ineffective, with the court ready to settle any disputes.Claude “isn’t designed to be used for copyright infringement, and we have numerous processes in place designed to prevent such infringement,” Anthropic said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Our decision to enter into this stipulation is consistent with those priorities. We continue to look forward to showing that, consistent with existing copyright law, using potentially copyrighted material in the training of generative AI models is a quintessential fair use.”The music publishers behind the original complaint have requested a preliminary injunction to bar Anthropic from training future models on their protected song lyrics, with the court expected to issue a ruling in the coming months.

If you're using Windows 11 or Windows 10, you’ve probably noticed that PowerShell and Windows Terminal come pre-installed. Both are command-line tools that let you type in commands to get things done. But a common question is whether they’re the same thing or if they’re different. The short answer is PowerShell is a scripting language built on .NET, great for automating tasks and managing your system. Windows Terminal, on the other hand, isn’t a tool on its own. It’s just a front-end app that gives you a nicer interface for PowerShell (and other command-line tools). Here are four key differences between Windows Terminal and PowerShell.