Photo by Nathan Howard / Getty Images This is Hot Pod, The Verge’s newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.I hope you all had a great weekend/eclipse/first moment of NYC sunshine. Today, I’ve got a look at Ted Cruz’s eyebrow-raising arrangement with iHeart and news on two new acquisitions. Let’s get into it.iHeart doesn’t pay Ted Cruz for hosting Verdict. It pays a Ted Cruz super PAC.This is certainly one way to raise campaign money. Sen. Ted Cruz hosts an iHeartMedia podcast, Verdict, which performs reasonably well among right-wing political shows. He does not get paid for hosting the podcast, but reporting in recent weeks from Forbes and the Houston Chronicle shows that iHeart has paid more than $630,000 to a super PAC that supports... Continue reading…

Cruise will look to get its driverless cars under control before it takes on new passengers. | Getty Cruise has announced that it’s resuming tests for its fleet of self-driving taxis in Phoenix, Arizona , though not with passengers just yet. The autonomous vehicle maker says it will start with humans behind the wheel, with no passengers and no autonomous driving mechanisms engaged.In California, lawmakers banned the GM subsidiary from operating its vehicles in the state after one of them ran over a San Francisco pedestrian and dragged them over 20 feet in October, after another vehicle threw the victim into the robotaxi’s path. That was just weeks after another incident where one of Cruise’s vehicles collided with a fire truck after failing to properly yield to the truck’s emergency signals. The company’s been dealing with the fallout... Continue reading…

Random-access memory, or RAM, is one of the most crucial components of a desktop computer and other computing devices like smartphones. It's essentially a short-term storage solution that benefits applications, games, and even the operating system, as they can store important information and files for quick and easy access. Not only is it important to have enough memory installed in your system, but it's also crucial to optimize RAM to churn every bit of performance out of it for your PC. I've highlighted a few tried-and-tested ways to optimize RAM and improve the overall performance of your system.

We wouldn’t recommend the 10th-gen iPad for most people at full price, but it’s certainly a better value at $349. | Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge With each passing day, it seems increasingly unlikely that Apple will introduce a new slate of iPads before the end of April — which isn’t surprising when you consider the latest reports now indicate Apple’s forthcoming tablets won’t arrive until early May. The iPad Pro, iPad Air, and iPad Mini are all rumored to receive a refresh, though, the same isn’t true of Apple’s entry-level model, which is currently matching its all-time low of $349 ($100) in its base configuration at Amazon and Best Buy. You can also pick it up at Target for the same price if you’re a member of Target Circle, the retailer’s free rewards program.As for where it sits in Apple’s current tablet lineup, the 10th-gen iPad resides somewhere between the ninth-gen... Continue reading…

For a little while now, we've been waiting for Microsoft to release the Moment 5 update for Windows 11. We've seen hints of what Moment 5 has in store for us in the beta branches, but people on the release version of the operating system couldn't experience the new features. Fortunately, this Patch Tuesday, Microsoft has finally unleashed Moment 5 for everyone to use.

Starting on Wednesday, all but the smallest ISPs will be required to publish broadband “nutrition labels” on all of their plans. | Image: FCC It appears that a nearly eight-year-long battle by the FCC to require internet companies to display information on the costs, fees, and speeds of their broadband services is finally over. Starting on Wednesday, all but the smallest ISPs will be required to publish broadband “nutrition labels” on all of their plans, the regulator announced. The FCC’s intention behind the labels is that they’ll allow consumers to more easily comparison shop between plans and avoid any hidden fees. The next time you shop for either a standalone home or fixed internet plan, or a new mobile broadband plan, you should notice such a label. Each label will include monthly broadband prices, introductory rate details, data allowances, broadband speeds, and links... Continue reading…

You might know the broad strokes of the Joker and Harley Quinn’s twisted romance from Batman: The Animated Series and other DC projects. But the first trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux makes it seem like director Todd Phillips is doing something very different with his musical take on the characters.Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is still locked up in Arkham in Folie à Deux’s new trailer, and it seems as if the events from the previous film have led to his being put under an increased amount of supervision. The Asylum looks like a lonely, bleak place as Arthur’s marched around by armed guards. But there’s hope in Arthur’s eyes when crosses paths with fellow inmate Harleen Quinzel (Lady Gaga).Though the trailer features a handful of shots... Continue reading…

Part of a filtration system designed to filter out PFAS forever chemicals from the drinking water supply at Well #2 of the Horsham Water and Sewer Authority facility in Horsham, Pennsylvania, on August 22nd, 2019. | Photo by Bastiaan Slabbers / NurPhoto via Getty Images The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalized rules for the amount of certain “forever chemicals” allowed in drinking water. This is the first time the US has placed legally enforceable federal limits on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), chemicals so ubiquitous that they’ve likely already made their way into most Americans’ bloodstreams.There are thousands of different kinds of PFAS used to make products resistant to water, stains, and heat. Before potential health risks came to light, these chemicals became staple ingredients in everything from nonstick pans, food packaging, fire-fighting foams, and fabric protector to dental floss and menstrual products. The chemicals’ hallmark hardiness also means that they... Continue reading…

SBCs have come a long way since they were first introduced, and the Raspberry Pi is still one of the most popular options in 2024. While people look for more power and features with the latest Raspberry Pi 5, it never ceases to amaze me with how many creative projects come to life using these amazing boards. Just over the span of a few months, we've already seen a TV for felines, BMO, an AirPlay receiver, and so much more.

There is no shortage of note-taking apps out there. Being a productivity nerd, I have tried several note-taking solutions in the last few years. Even though these modern apps shine with a long list of unique features like graphs to visualize your connected notes, Kanban boards to manage small personal projects, canvas to brainstorm ideas, plugins and third-party app integrations, I keep coming back to my trusted OneNote setup on my laptop.

Image: Rakuten Kobo Rakuten Kobo is launching its first color e-readers, the Kobo Libra Colour and the Kobo Clara Colour. Both use E Ink’s latest Kaleido color screen technology, which has subtle, pastel-like hues and drops from a 300ppi grayscale resolution to 150ppi when you view content in color.I’ll be testing both e-readers soon, but so far, they look like small upgrades to Kobo’s existing e-readers. That’s not a bad thing, though! The seven-inch Kobo Libra 2 is my favorite e-reader outside of Amazon’s ecosystem, offering the Kindle Paperwhite’s IPX8 waterproof design but with extras like physical page-turning buttons, no lockscreen ads, and more storage. Image: Rakuten Kobo The Kobo Libra Colour comes with physical... Continue reading…

Gaming has always been a passion of mine, and I'm an avid competitor in games such as Counter-Strike and Valorant. How these games work under the hood has always been an interest of mine as well, and when I can, I love to poke around and see how things work. Games like those are protected by an anti-cheat, but plenty of indie games and single-player games are surprisingly easy to analyze with tools like x64dbg and Cheat Engine. One such game that's easy to modify is Brotato.