Whether you are a student juggling multiple classes, a busy professional managing projects, or a casual user who loves to capture ideas and thoughts, having a reliable and efficient note-taking tool is more crucial than ever. But with countless note-taking tools out there, picking up a suitable solution can be challenging. Here is where my ultimate checklist comes in.

Playstack Now that Balatro is out on mobile, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. And while it’s a great game, its tutorial doesn’t do the best job of setting you up for the kind of success necessary to hook you. In my first few hours, though I was completing the objectives laid out, it felt like I was stumbling my way to success instead of achieving it through strategy. Onboarding was a bit too abrupt, focused on the barebones of how to play instead of blending that with tips on how to play effectively. With that in mind, here’s some useful info and tips on how to get started.I was told there would be no mathIn Balatro, the main gameplay loop is amassing enough poker chips to beat a set chip total called a blind. To do that, you must... Continue reading…

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge Apple, the most valuable company in the world, will have to work this weekend to meet a legal deadline on Monday. That’s after Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixson on Friday denied the company’s request for more time to produce 1.3 million documents related to App Store changes it made in January to comply with a 2021 court order. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who presided over the Epic lawsuit that resulted in those changes, told Apple’s legal team on May 31st it would need to produce all documents related to how it decided the new App Store rules after Epic challenged them. Document discovery was then referred to Hixson, who quoted part of a transcript from the hearing when he set Monday’s deadline back in August:“THE COURT: — so let... Continue reading…

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images Meta is restricting links on Threads, Instagram, and Facebook that lead to Ken Klippenstein’s newsletter containing a JD Vance dossier that was allegedly nabbed in an Iranian hack of the Trump campaign. The company has apparently removed posts containing the link and is seemingly blocking links to PDFs of the dossier being hosted elsewhere. Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold emailed Meta’s statement to The Verge:“Our policies do not allow content from hacked sources or content leaked as part of a foreign government operation to influence US elections. We will be blocking such materials from being shared on our apps under our Community Standards.” A Meta page on privacy violations forbids users from sharing details “obtained from hacked... Continue reading…

“So full. So filled.” | Image: Disney This week, I’ve been slowly catching up on Dark Matter; I’m about 20 hours into Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on the Switch; and I’m still trying to work a trip to the movie theater into my schedule to see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. I’m behind, in other words! And this week’s trailers shoveled so much more onto my need-to-watch pile, from the next Marvel MCU film, Thunderbolts, to the amusingly bizarre black comedy Rumours, to Disclaimer, Alfonso Cuarón’s new Apple TV Plus series. That’s to say nothing of all the game trailers from Sony’s State of Play event this week. Check out some of my favorite trailers from this week below.ThunderboltsMarvel hasn’t said much about Thunderbolts, which sees David Harbour’s Red Guardian and... Continue reading…

Samsung’s Galaxy Book4 Edge offer a vibrant OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. | Photo: Joanna Nelius / The Verge The portability of a laptop is nice and all, but oftentimes, the tradeoff is a smaller screen that can feel cramped if you’ve got a lot of tabs open. Thankfully, there are laptops like Samsung’s Galaxy Book4 Edge, which offers a 16-inch display in a thin and lightweight package. It typically starts at $1,499.99, but right now, Best Buy is selling it with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for just $999.99 ($450 off), which is a new all-time low price. If you prefer a slightly smaller display, the 14-inch model is also on sale for $899.99 ($450 off).We were struck by how stunning the Galaxy Book4 Edge is. Along with being spacious, the laptop boasts a lovely OLED display that makes colors pop, while its chassis is beautiful. The screen... Continue reading…

Having a monitor is essential to finishing up any computing setup, but the tricky thing is that there is no best monitor for every user. Whether you want it for gaming, a professional workspace, or a blend of the two, finding the right monitor for your needs is tricky. There are multiple panel types to choose from, differing sizes, aspect ratios and refresh rates, and connectivity options to consider. Some monitor specifications are firmly in the "nice-to-have" camp, though, so these are the seven features I decide first when I've got the itch to upgrade my monitors.

AI tools are built into every Adobe product. Since Adobe Fireflys integration into Adobe's products, there have been questions over whether Adobe will train its AI on your content, but rest-assured that if your children use Adobes AI tools, their content is safe from training, tracking, and explicit AI-generations. Creative AI tools can be an enjoyable way to spend time with your kids or let them have safe, independent play with new and upcoming technology. These 6 Adobe AI projects alone offer great ways to entertain children.

Lenovo has long been a name synonymous with business laptops. Most of us have either had a work-issued Lenovo laptop or know someone who has. The ThinkPad line of business workstations has been quite popular across the professional world for years. For 2024, the 16-inch ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 gets upgraded with an Intel Core Ultra CPU, bringing with it a dedicated NPU for AI tasks (and a Copilot key no one asked for). Its not officially labeled as a Copilot+ PC that designation is still exclusive to Snapdragon X-powered computers but it does bring more of the popular AI features to professional-grade laptops.

Just like the best laptops, the best Chromebooks aren't only for everyday consumers. If you're a student, there's a chance you've been issued a Chromebook or a great ChromeOS tablet for school. That means you might have to use a school account on your Chromebook, which is typically tied to your school email address and is managed by your school's IT administration.

If youre worried about the privacy of your online activities, a Virtual Private Network will serve as a worthwhile addition to your software suite. Unfortunately, cheap VPNs are infamous for selling user data, while their premium counterparts tend to have high subscription fees.

Brian Williams during a Meet the Press taping in 2008. | Photo: Alex Wong / Getty Images for Meet the Press Former news anchor Brian Williams is in talks to host an Amazon Prime election night special, reports Variety. The show would apparently be a “non-partisan discussion” as election night news comes in and could include multiple guests.Williams has been out of the news game for a while. He lost his role as anchor of NBC’s Nightly News after some of his reporting was found to have been repeatedly embellished. He went on to host MSNBC’s 11th Hour until he resigned from the network in 2021. If the deal goes through, Williams would begin the November 5th presidential election night broadcast as early as 5PM ET and continue for up to eight hours — or longer if the election is too close to call, writes Variety, citing unnamed sources familiar... Continue reading…