Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) has shut down its digital ID app, Florida Smart ID, for iPhones and Android phones. The department emailed users asking them to delete the app and said it’s looking for another vendor to help it revive the service by “early 2025,” according to 9to5Mac. The state promoted its Smart ID app as a contact-free way to show proof of age or identity at stores or when talking to police, but now it’s gone. According to a report by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel last year, not many people were using it, with only 95,000 activations out of more than 17 million licensed drivers, and many police departments said they weren’t using it, either.The state department has posted this... Continue reading…

If you've ever set up a Linux distribution like Ubuntu, you may have noticed the installer prompts you to enter a name for your machine. Commonly called the hostname, it's the name that identifies your Linux system every time you connect to another device over a network or Bluetooth connection.

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images A judge overseeing Redbox owner Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment’s bankruptcy case granted a request Wednesday to convert it from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to Lowpass’ Janko Roettgers and The Wall Street Journal. The company’s lawyers said Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment will lay off its remaining 1,000 employees and liquidate the businesses, including streaming operations and the 24,000 or so disc kiosks that have rented out DVDs, Blu-rays, and videogames for years.According to Roettgers, Judge Thomas Horan said, “There is no means to continue to pay employees, pay any bills, otherwise finance this case. It is hopelessly insolvent... Given the fact that there may also be at least the possibility of... Continue reading…

The Starlink Mini can be powered by a portable USB battery. | Image: SpaceX SpaceX’s Starlink Mini dish — which Elon Musk says “will change the world” — is now available to anyone in the US. The diminutive internet-from-space kit neatly integrates the dish and Wi-Fi router into a weatherproof package that’s significantly smaller and uses less power than previous Starlink kits. The laptop-sized all-in-one dish can even be powered directly by a USB-PD power bank capable of 100W (20V/5A). Initially, Starlink Mini was only available as an add-on for current Residential subscribers in the US. Now, just a few weeks since launch, it’s available to a wide spectrum of vanlifers and digital nomads who want to stay connected no matter where they set up shop.The Starlink Mini hardware costs $599 and is available with both... Continue reading…

Microsoft is always looking for ways to improve Teams for customers. The online collaboration and communication software receives tons of updates each month, which the Redmond tech firm details every four weeks. For the past couple of months, Microsoft has been working on adding support for custom emojis and reactions in Teams, and now, it is ready to roll out this capability for some.

The Killers marked England’s victory against The Netherlands in the Euro 2024 semi-finals with a bright(side) bang. | Image: The Killers The Killers assisted UK fans in celebrating England’s Euro 2024 semifinal victory yesterday by pausing their gig at London’s O2 Arena to project the final moments of the game behind the band. Viral videos across X and Instagram captured the elation that followed as confetti showered the crowd during a rousing rendition of “Mr. Brightside” — and now they’re being taken offline by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).According to an Instagram takedown notice seen by The Verge, UEFA says the removed videos include content that “infringes their copyright.” Many of the impacted videos being pulled, such as a clip posted by photographer Bella Falk, contained mere seconds of the live match and are “transformative” enough to fall... Continue reading…

Stellantis’ idled Belvidere Assembly Plant is one of the factories that will have new life as an EV facility thanks to $334 million in grant money. | Image: Getty The Biden administration announced $1.7 billion to convert endangered or shuttered plants into electric vehicle manufacturing facilities. Eleven auto factories across eight states that are currently closed or at risk of closing will receive the funding in order to retrofit their operations for EV manufacturing, administration officials said in a call with reporters. The types of goods these factories will produce run the gamut from “parts for electric motorcycles and school buses, hybrid powertrains, heavy-duty commercial truck batteries, and electric SUVs,” the White House says. “Building a clean energy economy can and should be a win-win for union autoworkers and automakers,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “This investment... Continue reading…

Image: Apple The “Music Dance Experience” is on its way back. Apple just released the first teaser trailer for the much-anticipated second season of Severance, along with the news that the show won’t be returning until 2025. The first episode will start streaming on Apple TV Plus on January 17th and last 10 episodes.The short teaser doesn’t reveal much about what to expect in the new season, but according to Apple, “Mark (Adam Scott) and his friends learn the dire consequences of trifling with the severance barrier, leading them further down a path of woe.”A day before the trailer dropped, Apple released an appropriately cryptic teaser:pic.twitter.com/046vNV03vz— Apple TV (@AppleTV) July 9, 2024Severance debuted on Apple TV Plus in 2022,... Continue reading…

Running a website usually involves subscribing to a hoisting plan with a provider, which then handles all the background processes. To save money, its possible to run a website on your network-attached storage (NAS) device. This is precisely what I did using a Synology NAS enclosure though it will work on a custom NAS with an OS such as TrueNAS or Unraid. Depending on what you need the website to do, a NAS can be a powerful web server.

Foldable phones have come a long way, but durability is still a concern. That's why many folding phone owners turn to great cases to add a bit of extra protection to their expensive devices. The latest Samsung Galaxy Z Fold costs $1,800, the OnePlus Open costs $1,700, and the Pixel Fold costs $1,800. Clamshell foldables like the Motorola Razr or Galaxy Z Flip are cheaper, but are still pricey. Keeping these folding phones up and running for years is vital, and it's also a challenge.

If you've used Discord, then you definitely know about Discord Nitro. It's a subscription with two tiers, with Nitro Basic costing $3 a month and full Nitro costing $10 a month. For a yearly subscription of both, that's $30 a year and $100 a year respectively. While the cheaper one is easier to justify, I would argue that Discord Nitro is a waste of money for pretty much everyone, and I say that as someone who coughs up the $100 a year for my own personal usage.

Image: Jackson Gibbs for The Verge Renting bins is convenient, slightly more sustainable, and not once did I miss cardboard boxes. Continue reading…