While it may seem like the internet everywhere is the same, sites and services can differ quite a bit in content and price. While streaming services like Netflix are some of the best examples, a lot of sites change their prices based on which country you access them from. One major example is airlines, which can offer lower prices in certain countries than others. By connecting to a VPN server hosted in another country, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to save on flights, especially those provided by airlines headquartered in that country. If you want to save on flights, you’ll need some patience and one of the best VPNs with servers in a lot of different countries.

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Artificial intelligence-powered drive-thru company Presto Automation described itself as “one of the largest labor automation technology providers in the industry,” and boasted its ability to increase sales and “save” human labor time. But according to recent filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, off-site human workers are stepping in and completing over 70 percent of orders.Despite the company’s branding and marketing suggesting magical drive-in tech, Presto Automation uses workers in places like the Philippines, according to Bloomberg. The AI drive-thru technology is used by fast food restaurants including Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, Del Taco, and Checkers across the country, promising to lower labor costs and increase... Continue reading…

Microsoft's new Outlook for Windows now has support for voice dictation, allowing users to write emails using their voices. The Outlook Windows and Mac clients have had the feature for a long time, but now, by rolling it out to the new Outlook app for Windows, Microsoft further narrows the gap in offerings between the two.

Illustration: The Verge NotebookLM, Google’s experimental AI-powered note-taking app, is now widely available in the US. It’s also getting several new features and is “starting” to use Google’s Gemini Pro AI model “to help with document understanding and reasoning,” according to the company.NotebookLM can already do things like summarize the documents you import into the app, come up with key points, and even answer questions about your note-taking sources. But now, Google is adding a way to transform your notes into other types of documents, too. Once you select all the notes you want to include, NotebookLM will automatically suggest formats, such as an outline or study guide. However, Google notes that you can also tell NotebookLM to transform your notes... Continue reading…

The Raspberry Pi 5 is leagues ahead of its brethren in terms of performance thanks to a plethora of hardware improvements. I used it as my daily driver for a week, and the superior processing capabilities of the SBC made it a solid alternative to my laptop for everyday work (minus gaming).

When you switch from Windows, macOS, or ChromeOS to one of the many Linux distributions or a great Linux laptop, you might be wondering about some of the basics of your new operating system. Indeed, if it's Ubuntu, Linux Mint, or any other Linux flavor, copying and pasting is one thing you'll find yourself doing a lot. It might be because you want to copy a specific line of text from a web page or even paste a line of code for a task in the terminal. The good news is that this process on Linux is similar to how it works on Windows and ChromeOS, so you should feel right at home.

Image: Square Enix Square Enix already let us know that it was working on DLC for Final Fantasy XVI. But during the Game Awards, we learned it was working on not one but two DLC chapters with one of them available... right now. Watch the trailer here.The first DLC, Echoes of the Fallen, is a new story chapter that takes place before the final battle. It features the whole gang working together (honesty, I choked up to see it) to investigate — what else — more messed up crystals. In the DLC, Clive will also be able to wield the iconic buster sword weapon from Final Fantasy VII as well as earn a chiptune version of the FFXVI song “Away”. It’s available right now, but I haven’t been able to find a link in the PlayStation store yet.The other DLC, The Rising... Continue reading…

JavaScript is the most in-demand programming language right now, and it enables developers to create beautiful and functional cross-platform apps when used alongside Node.js — a JavaSript runtime environment. To get started with JavaScript, you can use ChatGPT to help you start coding, but you'll still need a package manager like Yarn or Node Package Manager (NPM) to develop and share code. While NPM was the default package manager for Node.js for a long time, Meta developed Yarn as a more efficient and stable alternative.

Photo by JC Olivera / Getty Images At this point, you cannot talk about how amazing 2023 has been for the quality of games released this year without also mentioning how it’s been utterly disastrous for the people who made them. But that’s exactly what Geoff Keighley did during this year’s Game Awards.The numbers vary, but estimates say anywhere between six and seven thousand workers have lost their jobs just this year. No level of studio size or success has been spared. And those who have been let go are now being forced to contend for an ever-dwindling number of open job postings. “This has been one of the most volatile periods in the games industry in the last 15 years,” said Jakin Vela, executive director of the International Game Developers Association, in an... Continue reading…

The Core i9-13900K is one of the most powerful gaming processors out there, which is why it needs an equally competent cooling solution to maximize its performance. The thermal paste is a critical component of your cooling solution which is often overlooked as most PC builders use the same thermal paste that came with their CPU cooler. However, investing in an aftermarket thermal paste is ideal if you want to maximize the performance and longevity of your CPU. Moreover, it can substantially increase the overclocking potential of your processor as well. Keeping this in mind, here is a selection of the very best thermal pastes that you can buy for the Core i9-13900K processor.

Image: Larian Studios Baldur’s Gate 3, which just won Game of the Year at the 2023 Game Awards, is now available to purchase on Xbox Series X and S. You can buy it now for $69.99.The Xbox version of the game has been in the works for a little while. A few weeks after the hugely-successful PC launch of the game in August — and just before the release of the PS5 version — Larian Studios announced that it would be bringing Baldur’s Gate 3 to Microsoft’s consoles, though without split-screen co-op on the Xbox Series S.At the time, Larian also said the Xbox version only allows cross-save between the Steam and Xbox Series consoles, so if you’re hoping to move your PS5 save over to Xbox, you may be out of luck. (Although I’m sure somebody will test the PS5 to... Continue reading…

YouTube’s new comment moderation feature lets you take a break from commenters without removing your existing video comments. | Image: YouTube YouTube has introduced a new moderation tool for creators that allows them to pause comments, preventing any new comments from being added to videos while preserving those that have already been posted. In a blog post published on Thursday, YouTube said the feature enables creators to “take a break from managing comments if they become overwhelming” and provides some flexibility over how comments are managed.Before this update, YouTube creators only had two options for moderating what would otherwise be a complete commenting free-for-all: either hold comments for manual review before publishing them, or completely disable all comments on a video. YouTube says the Pause feature is rolling out now — we’ve asked the company for... Continue reading…