As someone who loves experimenting with wacky self-hosted services, let me tell you, containers are a godsend for home labs. They don’t consume too many resources, provide decent isolation provisions, and are fairly simple to use once you get the hang of CLI terminal commands (or switch to Portainer, if you prefer web interfaces).

There are plenty of ways to open programs in Windows. You can use the Start menu, pin shortcuts to the taskbar, or even use PowerToys. Back when Cortana was around, voice commands were an option too. Keyboard shortcuts actually offer a much faster way to launch apps. I recently set up custom shortcuts for all my apps, and while I won’t claim it’s life-changing, it has made things noticeably faster. Here’s how you can do it too.

Ever since personal computing became a common fixture in our lives, the PC modding scene has existed. I can think back to the heydays of LAN parties when many participants would compete to show off their modded systems, and in an era when PC cases were either beige or black, they were eye-opening. Modern PC cases are very different from those early chassis, which might have you thinking the PC modding scene has gone away. But it hasn't. It just grew up along with the manufacturers and found new ways to push the envelope on what a mod could be.

BMW’s Vision Driving Experience is a test mule for its Neue Klasse platform. | Image: BMWLast November, I strapped into the rear passenger seat of an all-electric, four-door sedan with BMW test driver and 24-hour racer Jens Klingmann behind the wheel. It was a cold day at BMW’s Performance Driving Center in Greer, SC, and beneath the five-point harnesses, roll cage, and heavily camouflaged body, Klingmann had an unexpected co-pilot: a tiny black box called the “Heart of Joy.” It was an odd name for an interesting suite of tech features powering my brief three-lap stint on the 1.7-mile performance track. The Heart of Joy represents an interesting future for the German brand that still wants to be known as the “Ultimate Driving Machine” in the electrified future. The VDXThe vehicle we rode in is called the Vision Driving Experience (VDX), a one-off built specifically for testing this supposedly magic black box, as well as more upcoming features for BMW’s Neue Klasse platform. The VDX uses fans to suck it down to the track for better traction at speed. Those fans are loud inside the vehicle, making it nearly impossible to hear much more than a roar while we’re hurtling around the track at speeds nearing 90 mph, even though the car itself is a mostly …Read the full story at The Verge.

Microsoft officially pulled support for Windows 7 a long time ago, and that means those PCs don't get any features or security updates from Microsoft. Even the Windows 7 ESU program can't save you from this problem, because Microsoft ended it way back in 2023.

If you want your PC to glow like it's radioactive, the good news is that almost every component in your computer can be found with some level of RGB lighting. That extends to peripherals like keyboards and mice, and also monitors, mousepads, and more. The bad news is that when you prefer form to function, the number of different RGB solutions on the market makes it tricky to plan out your build. You'll want to check a few things before you start piecing together your parts and building that PC.

A Raspberry Pi is a powerful yet affordable device that can handily serve as the brain for your smart home. With the right hardware, software, and setup, the Pi can control lights, security cameras, thermostats, and even automate daily routines. Instead of relying on cloud-based services, you can keep everything local for better privacy and reliability.

Who says tech fans can't be fashionable? If you're on the hunt for a purse that both shows off your enthusiasm for all things digital and you want to spend five digits on it, then boy, do I have a deal for you. A company has revealed a new line of purses that use an Nvidia H100 AI GPU as part of the design, and it's selling for a pretty penny.

After Nvidia unleashed its 32GB 5090, all eyes have been on AMD to see what it does in response. Naturally, that means a lot of speculation around the possibility of a 32GB version of its most powerful up-and-coming card, the Radeon RX 9070. And while it was fun to dream, it seems that AMD has finally had enough and shut off further speculation with a funny response.

It is impossible to ignore the impact that Mario and his friends (and enemies) have had on the gaming zeitgeist. Mario has been featured in everything from movies to Lego sets, all stemming from a long series of fantastic games. Everything about these games is exceptional, from the music to the level design; they are overflowing with care and dedication. That said, some games are better than others. If you're looking to play the best that Super Mario offers, we broke down the best of the best just for you.

So you're running a LAN party, you've got your network configured, power figured out, but what are you going to play? There are a few games that work especially well at LAN, and these are some of the best and easiest to run.

The Metal Gear series is a stalwart of the video game industry. Long and storied, it has had more hands on it than just creator Hideo Kojima. However, these games regularly get left out of the conversation, mostly because they don’t have any general effect on the overall story and narrative the mainline Metal Gear series is known for.