RAM is often blamed first for abrupt slowdowns and overall sluggish PC performance. In both gaming and productivity workloads, a lack of free system memory can cause these symptoms, but increasing capacity isn't always the surefire way to fix them. In fact, modern systems running out of memory to the point of significant performance loss isn't as common as you think. Configuration plays a big part in your RAM's ability to do its job, and sometimes, the best upgrade can be as easy as a toggle in your BIOS.

They used to just be called “books.” | Image: Spotify Spotify is going all in on books in 2026 and partnering with Bookshop.org to let you buy physical copies of audiobooks and support local retailers starting in the Spring. The announcement dovetails with the launch of Page Match, a new feature that lets you sync physical books and ebooks with audiobooks in the Spotify app using your camera. When the partnership launches later this year in the US and UK, there will be a button at the bottom of pages for audiobooks, prompting you to "get a copy for your bookshelf." The process will take you out of the Spotify app to complete the purchase on Bookshop.org, leading you directly to the checkout p …Read the full story at The Verge.

For a while now, I've been in search of a proper grocery tracking app that not only helps me balance my shopping list, but also lets me stay on top of pantry staples I already have at home. I've tried a variety of options (including a way too complex Notion setup), but nothing has quite hit the nail on the head. When I discovered Grocy, I thought I'd struck gold — it seems custom-built for that purpose. Unfortunately, after using it daily for a week, it turned into a massive headache that took more time to maintain than it saved.

Substack is notifying some users that the email addresses and phone numbers linked to their accounts were exposed in a "security incident" last year. In an email to account holders, Substack CEO Chris Best said that a hacker had accessed internal data without authorization in October 2025, but that passwords, credit card numbers, and other financial information remain secure."On February 3rd, we identified evidence of a problem with our systems that allowed an unauthorized third party to access limited user data without permission, including email addresses, phone numbers, and other internal metadata," Best said in the email. "We do not ha …Read the full story at The Verge.

When Valve first announced its impressive-looking Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller hardware in November, the company said the products would begin shipping in early 2026. Some journalists were told "Q1 2026" specifically. But because of the ongoing memory and storage crunch, that launch has been delayed to sometime in the first half of this year, and Valve says it will reset expectations for how much they will cost "as soon as possible.""We planned on being able to share specific pricing and launch dates by now," Valve says in a new post. "But the memory and storage shortages you've likely heard about across the industry ha …Read the full story at The Verge.

A Pi-Hole is one of the first self-hosted projects most people turn to. I, too, have been running one for years, and it's one of the easiest ways to cut out ads, tracking, and telemetry noise from your entire home network. But as good as Pi-Hole is, it can be borderline overkill for some people. For example, on my iPad, I actually prefer seeing ads as it helps me do research for my marketing business.

Pairing an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor with 32GB of DDR5 RAM, 2TB of SSD storage, and an AMD Radeon 890M graphics is a very simple recipe for a powerful PC. Most people would have no issues using this type of machine, and it would easily be able to handle everything you could throw at it.

I've been really impressed with how far COSMIC Desktop has come in so little time. When I gave it a go, I felt that, while COSMIC didn't quite dethrone KDE Plasma as my favorite desktop environment, it did cement itself as my second-fave, and something I'll be keeping a close eye on. The fact that a desktop environment that got its first stable release two months ago could even make a dent on KDE Plasma in my mind is awe-inspiring.

Well, it seems that even Valve isn't immune to the sheer weight of the RAM situation right now. While the company has been working away on a console-like device called the Steam Machine, it seems the device has been delayed for a few more months at the very least. Worse, it seems that the shortage has caused Valve to go back to the drawing board and reconsider how much it wants to charge for this device, and its answer has a chance to really scupper the Steam Machine's changes.

One of my favorite things people do with microcontrollers is to make really itty-bitty versions of classic games. While it may not be practical to play a game on a tiny screen for long periods of time, I feel like these projects win on geek cred alone. Well, someone has gone and added Pac-Man to a 1.69'' screen, and you can control it using tilt controls. Very cool.

Spotify has launched a new feature called Page Match that lets you quickly sync your spot in a physical or ebook with an audiobook. Point your camera at a page, and the Spotify app uses computer vision to match text with audio. If you have to jump behind the wheel for a long drive, but didn't want to put down The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, you can just snap a pic to jump to the spot in the audiobook where you left off in the physical book.It's not unlike Amazon's Whispersync for Voice, which lets you seamlessly jump back and forth between Kindle books and Audible audiobooks. The difference is that Spotify's version works with physical books an …Read the full story at The Verge.

When you take the first (or perhaps a second) look at the Steam Deck, it's hard to think of it as anything beside a handheld-gaming console. It's got its ergonomic grips, dual thumb sticks, and a display that, when taken together, echo the DNA of the PSP and the Game Gear, which were machines purpose-built for gaming.