There are some excellent operating systems out there that are specifically designed for running network-attached storage (NAS), but almost any OS with a shareable filesystem will do. A NAS is simply a device that stores data and allows other hardware to connect to it over the network. All you need is an install of Ubuntu, file-sharing protocols (SMB or NFS), and some network rules, and you're good to go! But why should you choose Ubuntu over TrueNAS SCALE, Unraid, OpenMediaVault, or some other NAS OS? Here are some reasons why you may wish to use this popular Debian-based Linux distro.

Illustration: The Verge The Russian government is once again trying to influence the US presidential election, the Biden administration says. In a series of actions across the government on Wednesday, several agencies sought to crack down on alleged disinformation campaigns targeting the November election. The government alleges that Russian actors operated websites and social media accounts that spread propaganda furthering Russian interests and even created fake social media personas to comment on posts to make their efforts more believable. In one of the alleged influence campaigns, Russian-controlled media outlet RT financed a Tennessee company that gained millions of views on videos posted to YouTube, according to the US. The announcements came as the... Continue reading…

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Verizon’s next big acquisition might be Frontier. Reports from The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg suggest that Verizon is in “advanced talks” to acquire the communications provider, with a potential announcement coming as soon as this week.Joining forces with Frontier could help Verizon expand its fiber footprint — by clawing back some of its old Fios subscribers. In 2015, Frontier bought Verizon’s wireline operations, including Fios fiber internet connections, across three states for $10.5 billion.With AT&T going deeper into fiber and T-Mobile planning to acquire fiber provider Metronet, Verizon executives may have decided that now’s a good time to get back into the business. During the Bank of America Securities conference today,... Continue reading…

Nothing is worse than a computer that won't display anything, especially when you need to use it. Since most PCs use the graphics card to send the display signals to the monitor, there's likely something wrong with your GPU if you see the "No signal" error message on your monitor.

If you've been thinking about upgrading your keyboard, now's going to be a great time. One of our favorite mechanical keyboards, the RK Royal Kludge K61, is now being discounted on Amazon. The keyboard is compact, offers a great typing experience, and, best of all, comes in at a price that's absolutely affordable. The keyboard is normally $65, but is now being discounted to $49.99, which is 23% off its original retail price.

Illustration by Laura Normand / The Verge Elon Musk is a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist.” He’s declared himself so committed to the unfettered, open exchange of ideas that he’s said the only way X would let a government suppress speech on its platform is “at gunpoint.” All of this explains why Musk recently allowed X to be banned in Brazil rather than comply with the country’s mandate that the social media platform block certain accounts.It does far less to explain Musk’s history of doing that very thing in other countries — often at the behest of right-wing or authoritarian regimes.By “free speech”, I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws... Continue reading…

A VPN can be an essential tool in your cybersecurity toolbox, and is useful for protecting your identity and privacy online. VPNs offer a way to encrypt your internet traffic, routing it down an encrypted tunnel, making it more difficult for prying eyes to monitor your online behavior.

Belkin has announced its latest portable chargers at IFA 2024, and among them are two new Qi2-certified BoostCharge Pro magnetic wireless travel chargers that, in many ways, pick up where Apple’s discontinued MagSafe Duo left off. A $119 two-in-one model features a 15-watt Qi2 magnetic charging pad and a flip-up Apple Watch puck, while the $129.99 version adds a 5W nonmagnetic Qi charging pad for devices such as AirPods. Both products, like Apple’s MagSafe Duo, are made up of square pads that fold into a stack for easy stowing.Each of the chargers can either be unfolded flat or tented for StandBy mode, Apple’s feature that can turn certain iPhone models into something like a digital clock or smart home controller when charging in... Continue reading…

Image: NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) will start sharing stories about some of the agency’s past missions in a new podcast. Dubbed No Such Podcast, the podcast will initially focus on foreign signals intelligence and cybersecurity in the first two episodes, both of which will be available to listen to starting tomorrow, September 5th.For years, the work of the NSA has been a closely kept secret. Then, in 2013, former agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked secret information about surveillance programs like PRISM and Boundless Informant. Outrage and intense debate over the agency’s actions quickly followed, and it continues to this day.Now, we’ll find out what the NSA chooses to reveal in interviews with its experts.The pilot episode of... Continue reading…

Whether your internet service provider (ISP) is Verizon FiOS, CenturyLink, Xfinity, or any of the other providers worldwide, you're missing out if you use the router supplied when you signed up for access. You might be limiting your Wi-Fi speeds or losing out on other benefits of more feature-packed routers. You might be being tracked for marketing purposes, or possibly even sharing your Wi-Fi as a hotspot for other subscribers, such as is the case with Xfinity Wi-Fi. You might not even get the full speed you're paying for, especially if you upgraded your speed at some point but kept the same equipment. Don't let the ISP's aging hardware keep you from browsing nirvana.

Illustration: The Verge X has won an appeal to block parts of California’s content moderation law, which requires social platforms to publicly post policies against hate speech and misinformation, as well as submit semiannual reports on their enforcement efforts. A federal appeals court decided on Wednesday that the reporting aspect of the law likely violates the First Amendment, as reported earlier by Bloomberg Law.In the lawsuit, filed against California last year, X alleged the state’s social media law violates free speech because it “compels companies like X Corp. to engage in speech against their will.” A California judge later denied X’s request for a preliminary injunction of the law, arguing that the enforcement reporting requirement doesn’t appear to... Continue reading…

It's been a good year for fans of Windows on Arm, hasn't it? It's been quiet for a long time, and now we're seeing an unstoppable torrent of apps making the jump over to the Snapdragon system. Well, get ready for another one, because ExpressVPN is the newest app to arrive on the Arm architecture.