There's something alluring about the subtle hum of an enterprise server sitting inside a rack at home. It's quite the experience to be utilizing hardware that costs four figures and still manage to run just fine a decade later. It's an enticing proposition for anyone building out a home lab too, which is precisely what I migrated to from a simple NAS setup that did everything. I used a few old Dell PowerEdge R210 II servers with a more recent Lenovo ThinkServer SR250 V2. All three were more than enough for self-hosting a few containers and VMs.

IO Interactive, the studio behind the Hitman series and 007 First Light, announced that it is laying off staff after a relationship with an "external partner" on its next big franchise, Project Fantasy, "has come to an end." IO has described Project Fantasy as an "online fantasy RPG", and Kotaku and Bloomberg report that Microsoft, which is planning significant cuts as part of a broader "reset" of the Xbox business, was going to be the game's publisher. It's unclear how many people will be affected by IO's "staffing decisions." The company says "we are fully committed to supporting those affected through this challenging transition." IO al …Read the full story at The Verge.

A new teaser trailer confirmed that Wonka's The Golden Ticket will premiere on Netflix on September 23rd, following its Squid Game reality show in the trend of creating real competitions based on fictional torture scenarios. While the sets seen in the trailer are real and not some Glasgow-style AI fakes, the voiceover is AI-generated. Deadline reports that Netflix worked with AI audio company ElevenLabs with consent from Wilder's family, after working on productions re-creating the voice of Michael Caine and Stan Lee. It also continues Netflix's 2021 partnership with the Roald Dahl company, and is separate from the Charlie vs. the Chocolat …Read the full story at The Verge.

I've never really cared that AI can draft my emails, optimize my schedule, write a quick script for me, churn out a slide deck, and so on. Yes, I've used it for all of these tasks before, and I'll definitely continue to do so. However, none of it has ever made AI feel like it actually belonged in my workflow. Instead, it just felt like a faster way to do things I already know how to do. What ended up changing my perspective and convincing me that AI could improve my productivity within my workflow was mandating that the AI start with the documents I provided before it reached for anything else.

Workers at Grand Theft Auto VI developer Rockstar Games have submitted a request for their union, the IWGB Game Workers Union, to be voluntarily recognized, according to a press release. The request follows Rockstar firing more than 30 staffers last year in a move accused of being "union busting." According to the release, IWGB members have been "actively" organizing since 2019 and "claim they now represent a significant proportion of the workforce across each of the studio's sites in Edinburgh, Dundee, Lincoln, Leeds and London." As the union has grown, "Rockstar has already made improvements to workers' conditions including unprecedented …Read the full story at The Verge.

For now, only the “Laurel Oak” color option is available for $20, not the “Arabesque” color. | Image: Motorola Announced at CES 2026, the Moto Tag 2 has finally arrived in the US. The Bluetooth tracker with improved battery life over its predecessor, plus UWB sensing for more accurate tracking, is available through Motorola’s site at a special $19.99 launch price (originally $29.99). There are plenty of trackers for Android owners to consider, but the Tag 2 seems tough to beat at this price. It supports Google’s Find Hub network, has an IP68 rating, and runs off a replaceable CR2032 coin battery that can last up to 600 days.Moto Tag 2Where to Buy: $29.99 $19.99 at Motorola (single pack) $99.99 $69.99 at Motorola (four pack)The Moto Tag 2 has a built-in speaker that can sound off at up to 77 decibels. The tracker itself has a button that can be set to do several things, and is configurable within the Moto Tag app. Pressing the button can help you find your phone nearby. It can also trigger your phone’s camera shutter. A Bluetooth tracker doesn’t need most of these features to be good, but the Moto Tag 2 has them anyway.

The GIF-picking interfaces in some of your favorite online platforms might look different going forward, as Google prepares to shut down the Tenor API today. While the Tenor website, along with its searchable GIF library, will remain live, platforms like X, Discord, Bluesky, and WhatsApp that previously integrated the API are now having to migrate to alternative GIF picker services.Google acquired the Tenor GIF platform in 2018. Both its website and API allow users to search for GIFs using keywords, similar to competing services like Giphy and Klipy. Google will continue using Tenor across its own services, including Google Messages and Gb …Read the full story at The Verge.

Most NAS USB ports live a pretty boring life. They get used for an occasional external drive, a quick backup, or a forgotten flash drive that sticks out of the back until the next time you crawl behind the shelf. That makes sense, because storage is the obvious job for a storage appliance. Still, I think that habit undersells one of the most useful things a NAS can do when something starts acting strange.

Google's NotebookLM is adding a new way to catch up on your notes: TikTok-style AI videos. The new feature is rolling out to Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers, allowing NotebookLM to generate 60-second vertical AI clips based on the sources you upload to the app.The example shared by Google details Australia's unsuccessful war on emus, pairing paper cutout-style AI art of emus with narration. It adds to some of the other ways NotebookLM lets you interact with your research, including by generating AI podcasts, cinematic videos, and visual explainers.Doom scrolling but make it educational 🤓Introducing Short Video Overviews in Notebo …Read the full story at The Verge.

The Acer Swift Go 16 AI | Image: Acer As high memory and storage prices have driven up the cost of everything from consoles to computers, finding a competent laptop for under $1,000 has become a challenge. Thankfully, the Acer Swift Go 16 AI is on sale for $899.99 at Best Buy, a steep discount from its usual list price of $1,549.99. The well-equipped laptop has an Intel Core Ultra 7 355 processor, 32GB of LPDDR5X memory, and a 1TB SSD. It has a great 16-inch OLED (1,920 x 1,200) touchscreen, too. Its tall 16:10 aspect ratio lets you see more, and it has a 180-degree hinge that lets you find your preferred viewing angle.Acer Swift Go 16 AIWhere to Buy: $1549.99 $899.99 at Best BuyThe generously-sized multi-touch touchpad has a Corning Gorilla Glass top layer, and its backlit keyboard even squeezed in a numpad. Sure, its integrated Intel graphics aren’t great for serious gaming, but it should be more than powerful enough for Balatro, and the system can run for over 20 hours on a single charge, depending on brightness settings. It has quite a few ports, particularly when compared to other slim laptops, including two USB-A 3.2 ports, two USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 support, HDMI 2.1, a microSD card slot, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.Correction, June 30th: An earlier version of this article mistakenly used a photograph of the Acer Swift 16 AI instead of the Acer Swift Go 16 AI.

The price of LG’s UltraGear 27GX700A-B 1440p gaming monitor that came out last August has dropped to nearly its best price yet. You can grab it at Amazon for $484.99 or at LG for $499.99 (originally $599.99). That’s a great deal considering this is one of LG’s Primary RGB Tandem panels built with fourth-generation WOLED tech that delivers higher brightness and punchier contrast than its predecessors, rivaling QD-OLED.LG 27-inch UltraGear Tandem OLED gaming monitorWhere to Buy: $599.99 $484.99 at Amazon $599.99 $499.99 at LGThis model could satisfy gamers with PCs built to deliver smooth 1440p gameplay. It features a 280Hz refresh rate, twin HDMI 2.1 and one DisplayPort 1.4 jack, a near-instant .03-millisecond response time, not to mention a thin design. The monitor also has some USB-A ports for connecting accessories, plus a headphone jack for private listening.The 27GX700A-B supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and is Nvidia G-Sync-compatible, meaning it supports variable refresh rates and can keep the image running smoothly even with variations in frame rate. We haven’t tested this model, but reviews site Rtings does say it has “distracting VRR flicker,” though that likely depends on the game.While costs have risen in recent months on computer components like RAM and storage, it’s been delightful to watch prices go in the opposite direction for OLED gaming monitors. Some people may prefer to spend less on fast, feature-packed IPS and VA panels, but it’s nice that there are more opportunities to get cutting-edge panel tech for your gaming PC or console.

“After college, my plan was to come to New York and get a record deal.” | Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Watching Elon Musk fulminate at Bill Savitt during Musk v. Altman - the case in which Musk sued Sam Altman and OpenAI instead of seeing a therapist about his AI failures - was a bit like watching a toddler have a temper tantrum at his nursery school teacher. Savitt's questions were "designed to trick me," Musk said. He also told Savitt at one point, "You mostly do unfair questions."Savitt, who has the approximate demeanor of a handsome Droopy Dog, gently told Musk, "I am trying to put the questions as fairly as I can. I am doing my best." I've seen a number of styles of cross-examination. Savitt's was mild-mannered and soft-spoken; his q …Read the full story at The Verge.