It's always exciting when you buy a new PC and it runs faster than your old one and lets you do all kinds of things you couldn't do before. Indeed, hardware keeps evolving, and buying a new computer is the most effective way to get better performance. But if you want to keep your computer snappy, there are a few things you can do to keep things running smoothly as time goes on, so you don't have to start thinking about getting a new computer every year.

Image: Abigail Bassett When you think of the Cannonball Run, you probably think of a group of people making the trip from New York’s Red Ball Garage to the Portofino Hotel in Redondo Beach in the shortest (and usually most dangerous) amount of time. Police encounters, lack of sleep, zero rest stops, a spare fuel tank or two, and gallons of energy drinks are usually what fuels these attempts to make the roughly 3,000-mile route in record time. But something was lacking in the most recent successful attempt: conventional gasoline. That’s because speed wasn’t the aim of the three friends who built and drove a solar-powered car across the country in a record-setting 13 days, 15 hours, and 19 minutes. While that’s more than 300 hours longer than the 25-hour... Continue reading…

Image: NASA NASA and Sierra Space blew up another space habitat in June, and everyone is smiling about it. That’s because the full-size inflatable structure in this “ultimate burst pressure” test only failed after exceeding NASA’s recommended x4 safety levels by 22 percent.Sierra Space’s inflatable structure, known as a Large Integrated Flexible Environment, or LIFE, had its last stress test in January. LIFE is built from “basket-weaved Vectran fabrics” that strengthen once inflated. It’s intended to be used as a component in the Orbital Reef space station project involving NASA, Blue Origin, and Sierra Space.“This second burst test will get us the design, repeatability, and architecture as we go towards our certification of the pressure shell of... Continue reading…

Apple’s UWB trackers remain a cheap, convenient way to keep tabs on all your belongings. | Photo: Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Over the past month or so, we’ve seen a flurry of new Bluetooth trackers, from Motorola’s forthcoming Moto Tag to ESR’s Find My-compatible wallet. That being said, if you’re an iPhone user, Apple’s AirTag remains the best option — one you can still grab at Amazon and Walmart for an all-time low of $23.99 ($5 off). You can also buy a four-pack of trackers at Amazon and Walmart for around $89 ($10 off), though be aware that you can often buy the bundle for $15 less.Despite having launched several years ago, Apple’s AirTags pack plenty of utility. The ultra wideband (UWB) location trackers provide ultra-precise tracking if you’re embedded in the Apple ecosystem, as they allow you to easily leverage the company’s extensive Find My network... Continue reading…

Illustration: The Verge Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today on his WhatsApp channel that WhatsApp now has 100 million monthly active users in the US as of July 25th. According to WhatsApp, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and Seattle are among the fastest-growing markets in the country. However, the company says it’s experienced “significant growth” in Southern states as well, with more than 10 million users in Texas.“This is the first time data pertaining to users has been released since Meta’s acquisition of the messaging app and demonstrates how the messaging platform, already the biggest messaging app in the world, has experienced tremendous growth in the U.S.,” WhatsApp spokesperson Ashley O’Reilly wrote in a press release.Since purchasing WhatsApp... Continue reading…

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge After a year and a half of negotiations, SAG-AFTRA has called a strike of all video game work produced under the union’s Interactive Media Agreement. The strike goes into effect July 26th at 12:01AM and impacts all SAG-AFTRA actors, voice actors, and motion capture actors and involves companies like Activision Blizzard, EA, Insomniac Games, WB Games, and more. According to SAG-AFTRA’s press release, the union and video game companies could not come to an agreement regarding AI protections.“We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse AI to the detriment of our members,” said SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher in the press release. “When these companies get serious about offering an agreement our members can... Continue reading…

Image: Jay Maidment Check out all of The Verge’s coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2024. Continue reading…

Image: Epic Games Epic Games plans to bring Fortnite to the third-party iOS app store AltStore PAL, which is only available in the EU. The company made the announcement in a Thursday blog post about its strategy for mobile stores, and it says it expects to announce support for “at least two other third-party stores soon.”While Epic says that it plans to “bring our own mobile games including Fortnite to other mobile stores that give all developers a great deal,” it didn’t provide a specific timeline. In addition to Fortnite, Epic also plans to bring Rocket League Sideswipe to AltStore PAL, spokesperson Natalie Munoz tells The Verge. When reached for comment, AltStore’s Riley Testut pointed to Epic’s post and said that “we’re very excited to be bringing F... Continue reading…

Whether you get the 40mm or the 44mm version of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, youre going to be dropping a good chunk of change. It makes sense, then, that you'd want to protect your investment. Scratches, scrapes, and bumps can all leave lasting damage. While your watch will probably continue ticking just fine, you dont want to start collecting battle scars on something that you spent at least $300 on.

Soldier 76 and Reinhardt in Overwatch 1. | Image: Activision Blizzard A couple of years into the Overwatch 2 experience, player angst has reached a point where the people making the game are considering bringing the old 12-person matches back. Today’s blog post from the developers at Blizzard says that, finally, “we’re exploring how we can test different forms of 6v6 in the game to gauge the results.” Game director Aaron Keller also notes that issues like hero balancing, game performance, and what might happen to queue times if players have a choice between the two formats are questions the team needs to answer but is at least ready to start considering.Other than making a full-priced game free to play and laying out promises about player-vs-environment content that weren’t exactly fulfilled, the shift... Continue reading…

The Nutribullet Flip’s high-torque motor is strong enough to blend ice and most fruits. | Image: Nutribullet Nutribullet’s new Flip incorporates a blender into an insulated stainless steel tumbler that looks no larger than a typical travel mug. If you don’t have enough time in the morning to blend your breakfast, the rechargeable Flip works anywhere you don’t mind making a bit of noise. (Maybe skip the crowded subway.)The $99.99 Flip isn’t Nutribullet’s first single-serve blender, nor is it the company’s first rechargeable one. What sets it apart from past offerings is that the blender part — including blades, an 11.1-volt electric motor, and a rechargeable battery — are all incorporated into the Flip’s lid, instead of into a removable base that gets left behind. We’ve seen that idea before in the powerful Cruz BlenderCap, which costs $149. ... Continue reading…

California Gig Workers Union members gather outside the Supreme Court in May. | Photo by Lea Suzuki / San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash workers in California will remain independent contractors after the state’s Supreme Court upheld Proposition 22, as reported by CalMatters. The unanimous decision issued on Thursday is a win for ridehailing and food delivery services, which have spent millions campaigning for Prop 22 to avoid having to classify gig workers as employees.While Prop 22 guarantees workers some protections, such as 120 percent of the local minimum wage for each hour spent driving, a health insurance stipend, and reimbursement for job-related injuries, it’s far from the full range of benefits Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, and other services would’ve had to provide if workers were classified as employees.We are deeply... Continue reading…