Kobo’s Elipsa 2E is a good e-reader that offers an intuitive note-taking experience. | Image: Kobo Amazon might have released a new Kindle Scribe earlier this month for $399.99, but after testing it, I still don’t think it can compete with its rivals. If you’re looking for a good e-reader with more useful note-taking capabilities, the Kobo Elipsa 2E is still one of my favorites, and it’s down to an all-time low of $349.99 ($50 off) at Amazon or Target. Rakuten Kobo will also throw in $10 in credit when you buy a $50 gift card, which you can use toward buying books or styli.If you’re the type of person who likes to scribble in margins while reading ebooks, you’ll likely prefer the Kobo Elipsa 2E. The Elipsa 2E lets you directly write on ebook pages, taking notes in margins or anywhere else you’d like, just as you would on paper. The new Kindle Scribe lets you directly write on pages, too, but it’s a lot more complicated and you can’t even circle phrases or words.The Elipsa 2E also offers other helpful features beyond just a more natural note-taking experience. It boasts double the storage (32GB) as the entry-level Kindle Scribe, for example, and accurately converts handwriting into typed text faster than the Scribe. The biggest drawback, of course, is that it doesn’t natively support Kindle ebooks, so you’ll have to convert your library if you want to read them from your Kobo device. Just a few more dealsSony’s WH-CH720N noise-canceling headphones are currently down to just $74.99 ($75 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target, which is their all-time low price. Their noise cancellation isn’t as effective as rivals like Sony’s WH-1000XM5, but for the price, they do a decent job of tuning out noise. They also deliver good sound, support for multipoint Bluetooth connectivity, and up to 35 hours of continuous playback, rendering them a great option if you’re on a budget.If you’re in need of USB-C chargers, you can buy the Anker PowerPort III and the eco-friendly version of the 30-watt Anker 511 Charger bundled together for $24.99 ($29.99 off) from Best Buy. Both are USB-C chargers that’ll quickly power up your phone, laptop, tablet, and electronics, but the 30-watt Anker 511 Charger is smaller and thus more portable with a single port. In contrast, Anker’s PowerPort III is a 65-watt wall charger that lets you quickly juice up to three devices at once.If you’re looking out for porch pirates, the Blink Outdoor 4 camera is on sale for $49.99 ($50 off) — one of its better prices to date — at Amazon with a Sync Module 2 included. Blink’s 1080p security camera offers better image quality than its predecessor, two-zone package detection, and an impressive two years of battery life. You don’t need a premium subscription to record motion events either, thanks to the included Sync Module 2, which lets you record motion-activated video locally (with a USB stick) for free.

With all the viruses, keyloggers, and other malware prowling the computing industry, it’s essential to arm your devices with cybersecurity tools. By helping you configure hardened traffic rules to filter malicious packets, firewalls are among the most useful tools to grant an extra oomph to your network’s security.

People have a lot of fun stuffing new things on old hardware and seeing how it'll run. Remember that time someone got .NET running on a NES? Anyway, it seems people are at it again with the retro tech by turning a Game Boy Color into a monitor. It turns out, it can handle games like Ultrakill and Doom Eternal if you don't mind the 2FPS slideshow.

Image: Atlus Metaphor: ReFantanzio is one of 2024’s best games racking up a stack of Game Awards including best RPG, best art direction, and best narrative. But one category in which Metaphor particularly stood out was its music. The soundtrack, produced by Shoji Meguro – the long-time music director of the Persona series, is one of the outstanding achievements in video game music this year, particularly its battle theme which became a viral hit. In an interview with The Verge, Meguro talked about his work on the Metaphor soundtrack including what went into what is perhaps the coolest piece of video game battle music ever made. Meguro, known for his work producing the pop-y, jazzy vibes of the Persona soundtracks, acknowledged that Metaphor’s heavy orchestral / choral sound is not something Persona fans would expect from him and definitely outside his own wheelhouse. He said in order to effectively change gears from Persona to Metaphor, he had to relearn classical music theory.“But that’s what makes creating this score so exciting,” he said. “When I was first told about Metaphor: ReFantazio, I was told it would be an epic, high-fantasy RPG. And immediately I heard the sound of great... Read the full story at The Verge.

It has been a bit of a bumpy ride for Nvidia and its app these past few days. Things began brewing as reports came in of a performance drop while using the Nvidia App, and people were on the hunt for a cause. At first, fingers were pointed at the app itself, as the performance problems went away as soon as it was uninstalled. However, people quickly learned that it was the settings within the app causing issues and turning these off got things back to normal. Now, Nvidia has released a patch for its performance issues, which fixes the issue...kind of.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images This year paved the way for a future where earbuds are much more than audio accessories. Read the full story at The Verge.

Hi, Barbie! The Barbie Phone, much like the doll it pays tribute to, is a thing of beauty. But like that doll whose proportions, historically, are impossible, the Barbie Phone just isn’t built for the modern world.Even if the ultra-feminine aesthetic isn’t your thing — and it’s not really mine — you have to hand it to the Barbie flip phone. From the box it comes in, to the interchangeable back plates, rhinestone stickers, and Barbie-fied interface, it’s a delight. The charger and battery are both pink, though they’re a lighter shade than Mattel’s trademarked Barbie Pink (Pantone 219). The phone says “Hi Barbie!” when you turn it on. It’s the definition of committing to the bit.The breezy fun of the Barbie aesthetic, Pantone 219 or otherwise, is at odds with the actual experience of using the phone. It’s based on one of HMD’s feature phones, and it runs an operating system called KaiOS. The phone is designed for basic connectivity — texting, calling, emails — and even includes a web browser. According to HMD, in addition to being cute, the nostalgic design and limited feature set are supposed to encourage you to disconnect and spend time with your friends IRL. There are a series of... Read the full story at The Verge.

Containers are useful in many computing projects, be it hosting FOSS services, developing programs inside isolated environments, or experimenting with fun packages and repositories. But when you’ve deployed an army of containers, managing them can become quite a hassle.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images It was another sci-fi-heavy year for Apple’s streaming service. Read the full story at The Verge.

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images We got a healthy dose of Star Wars and Marvel shows on Disney Plus this year, but the more mature series from Hulu helped balance things out. Read the full story at The Verge.

Photo by Kevin Carter/Getty Images American Airlines temporarily grounded all of its flights in the US this morning due to unspecified technical issues, disrupting travel at the start of a busy Christmas Eve. Service has now resumed as of 8AM ET according to a statement American Airlines spokesperson Sarah Jantz provided to CNN.The airline suffered a massive system outage according to multiple travelers on X who are facing delays, which prevented boarding passes from being scanned and flights from departing. A notice published on the Federal Aviation Administration website at 6.50AM ET said that the airline grounded all flights nationwide. An FAA update posted at 7.50AM ET has since announced that the nationwide groundstop has been canceled. The airline hasn’t given any details on what caused the technical issues.“We’re currently experiencing a technical issue with all American Airlines flights,” American Airlines said in a statement on X before flights resumed. “Your safety is our utmost priority, once this is rectified, we’ll have you safely on your way to your destination.”Update, December 24th: American Airlines flights have now resumed nationwide.

The Surface 11 Pro is going to be one of the best laptops that you can buy in 2024. Now, saying it's a laptop is a bit of a stretch, but if you're willing to shell out for the costly accessory, then it's something that can happen. However, most may never walk that path, instead opting for a convertible laptop for a lower price.