A home lab is not exclusively for large enterprises or the rich. With ample open-source software options, cloud storage solutions, virtual machines, and other smart tips, anyone can create a functional home lab without a hefty investment. Whether you are an aspiring IT professional, a coding ninja, or simply a tech enthusiast who wants to build a custom digital playground, these practical tips will help you get the job done without emptying your wallet.

Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge Some of the most watched and listened to music on YouTube and YouTube Music disappeared on Saturday, replaced by a short message:Video unavailableThis video contains content from SESAC. It is not available in your country.That is probably not what people expected when they tried to stream Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” or other songs from artists as varied as Kendrick Lamar, Britney Spears, Green Day, Kanye West, and Burna Boy. This leaves two questions: what is SESAC, and when is the music coming back? Screenshot: YouTube SESAC stands for the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, which has been around since 1930 and, according to its website, “...currently licenses the public performance of more than... Continue reading…

Part of the reason you don't often see people with Android phones using other Apple products is that the two ecosystems aren't designed to work together. While Google offers a plethora of applications on Apple operating systems, only a few Apple apps are available officially from the Google Play Store.

Image: David Pierce / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 54, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve been reading about AI slop and sports betting and Jony Ive, clearing my schedule for the new season of The Great British Bake Off, watching Sicario and Pirates of the Caribbean and A Quiet Place: Day One on plane-seat screens like their directors intended, insta-subscribing to Hasan Minhaj’s new YouTube show, and just relentlessly trolling people with Vergecast clips through Pocket Casts’ new feature. I also have for you a couple of new Meta gadgets, the mobile game that will eat up all your free... Continue reading…

If youre a Windows user, youve probably noticed Microsofts persistent nudges to use OneDrive. It's like that friendly-but-overbearing neighbor who insists on helping with every little thing. While OneDrive has its perks, Ive found that Google Drive fits my needs better. Heres why I ditched OneDrive and made the switch to Google Drive, even on my Windows PC.

DaVinci plugins are external apps that you can install in the DaVinci Resolve video editing software to boost the native tools. There are plugins for effects and transitions, color, and audio, and they range from free plugins to paid, from a variety of developers, including native Resolve plugins. Theyre easy to install and will improve your video editing results more than if you just stick to DaVincis native tools. DaVinci is a great video editor for Windows, and to make your videos even better, here are the best plugins to improve your experience with DaVinci Resolve.

It's always a good thing if you can keep older tech from going to the landfill, and old laptops are no exception. They often work perfectly except for a few things, including the speed of the physical hard drive. The best laptops are also upgradeable, which, for older laptops, means using 2.5-inch storage drives. Adding SSD storage is the biggest boost to performance for these older computers, and here are three compelling reasons for doing just that.

GIFs are a great way to bring a string of images or illustrations to life.

Valve and Linux have been making big strides lately, and now, it seems it's getting even better. Arch Linux has announced that it has struck a partnership with Valve that will help it do its job better. And given how the Steam Deck uses Arch Linux as a base, this will likely mean good things for gamers.

The Verge Roughly a month ago, Michael Sayman realized he could finally build the app he’d been thinking about for years: a social network where everyone but you is an AI bot. Large language models are finally good enough and cheap enough that the experience might actually feel social and useful, and not like a gimmick or a game. And so, after years of waiting and months of testing the latest models, Sayman got to work.The app he built is called SocialAI, and it has become something of a viral phenomenon since it launched. (All he’d tell me is that it was downloaded 20,000 times in the first couple of days — but says the number has gone up substantially since then.) Some people thought it seemed fun and useful; other people thought it felt deeply... Continue reading…

With October just around the corner, it's time to bust out those sweaters and get ready for a chilly time. However, as the mercury drops, the news is showing no sign of stopping as we see announcement after announcement hit the internet. So, if you've been too busy planning your Halloween parties and didn't keep your eyes on the news, here's all the cool stuff you missed.

Ever since we knew that the Nintendo Switch 2 was a real thing being worked on, we've seen a steady trickle of rumors surrounding it. Previous claims state that it'll come in at a pretty decent price point and will be fully backward compatible with original Switch games, both digital and physical. Now, further rumors have given us a release date, and not only is it pretty soon, but it does align with previous sources claiming a similar release window.