On paper, Brave sounds like a great browser. It runs smoothly, has built-in security tools, and has a privacy-focused design. However, over the years, the Brave team has slowly added features to its browser that people aren't too fond of. If you're someone who doesn't like all of the things Brave has added, you can now download Brave Origin, a slimmed-down version without all the bloat. Oh, but you have to pay $60 to get it.

Unlike DLSS, DLAA never really seemed worth it in the kind of AAA games that I played. The whole appeal of DLSS is that it gives higher frame rates while still looking almost as good as native resolution. DLAA, on the other hand, expects you to give up a bit more performance for slightly better image quality. Considering native 4K is already demanding even on high-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 and 5090, especially in newer open-world AAA titles, it felt like an unnecessary trade-off.

Even if you've done nothing wrong, it's never a good idea to hand your phone to the cops. But international travelers at American airports often have no choice - even if they're US citizens. When Minnesota labor organizer Janette Zahia Corcelius returned home from a three-week trip to Europe in late April, she was detained and questioned by customs agents at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Before they let her go, the agents searched her luggage twice, confiscated political literature she had purchased abroad, and seized her phone - which has yet to be returned, according to a complaint filed in federal court in Minnesota.Is i …Read the full story at The Verge.

When I used Lossless Scaling for the first time in my life, I was amazed. The first thought that occurred to me was that frame generation, as a technology, had been successfully democratized. A $7 utility on Steam had done what the incumbent semiconductor giants wouldn't, which was, to bring frame generation to hardware they had already written off. Eight years later, I'm convinced I was right.

Agentic AI is the hot topic right now, but no matter how powerful those agents get, they're limited by what they can access. If you're anything like me, you know the pain of dealing with overstuffed email inboxes, no matter how many filters you put in. The idea of sorting through your email as if you were chatting to an assistant is enticing, but have you thought about what you're giving away by doing so?

Indigo, citrus, and a touch of blush. It’s a Neo cocktail. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge The MacBook Neo is Apple's cheapest laptop, its most colorful, and its easiest to repair in years. That means owners can buy replacement parts in all four of its available colors and swap them in on their own. So that got us thinking: What if we bought a Neo just to see how funky we could make it look with official parts?I ordered an indigo Neo to tinker with, and some spare parts from Apple's self-service site.I opted for a replacement trackpad and bottom case in blush, and USB-C ports and keycaps in citrus. My goal was to make it as mishmash-y as possible without changing out more labor-intensive parts - like the top case or lid, whi …Read the full story at The Verge.

For all the excitement around AI, one question keeps coming up: how much of your data are you willing to hand over in exchange for better answers? The latest cloud models are incredibly capable, but they work by sending your prompts and context to someone else's servers. Local models solve that problem, but they often come with their own limitations.

We're now deep into developer conference season, and one of the themes so far is the relentless conviction from Big Tech companies that AI is going to change everything about how we do everything. Nvidia's Jensen Huang made that clearer than anyone this week, when he described a completely new way of using our laptops - and a completely new kind of laptop made to support it. It's all very interesting, but it raises the same question we have around so many AI products: Does anyone actually want this?On this episode of The Vergecast, Nilay and David run through a lot of the products coming out of Microsoft Build and Google I/O, from Gemini S …Read the full story at The Verge.

Over the past year, we've seen more and more Linux projects ditch X11. Whether it's a distro dropping support or a desktop environment moving to a full-Wayland implementation, development teams are banking on X11 compatibility tools to keep people's legacy apps alive as they move to a new frontier. While KDE Plasma hasn't completely axed X11 support yet, there are plans for 6.7 to be the last release with it, as the stats show that people just aren't using X11 as much anymore.

When I first got a smart plug, I used it to remotely turn devices on and off. Soon enough, I had access to detailed energy consumption reports for appliances that were connected to it. It was all I needed at that point: an automation tool for dumb appliances around the house, say portable fans, lights, and more. But then it hit me, if a smart plug could remotely control power, track energy usage, and show the active power draw, it would be more useful as a troubleshooting tool.

When we talk of desk upgrades, what usually comes to mind is a monitor arm, cable management tray, or monitor light bar. You might even include a better chair, a larger desk, or a deskmat on the list. However, the desk upgrade I "discovered" was already part of my setup for many years — I had simply never considered it. My monitor's built-in USB ports were something I never thought of using. On my previous monitor, I was used to plugging in my peripherals directly to the motherboard. There was no lack of USB ports, so the monitor's USB hub went unused for years. It was only recently that I discovered its oft-ignored benefits, and since then, even my wireless peripherals have the monitor's USB hub to thank for their excellent connectivity. Even if your motherboard has a few vacant USB ports, I recommend leaving them free for your high-bandwidth devices. Use your monitor's USB ports to the fullest for peripherals that don't need as much bandwidth. You'll also have a cleaner desk as a bonus.

Back in 2002, Porsche fans sputtered with rage as the Cayenne made its debut at the Paris Motor. More than 20 years later, Porsche now sells more SUVs than anything else in its lineup. Last year, the Macan and Cayenne accounted for 62 percent of all Porsche sales. Now, these SUVs are trolling traditionalists in a whole new way: They've gone electric, with a Cayenne Electric joining a smaller plug-in Macan. And the Cayenne Coupe Turbo is fast enough to have 911 owners looking over their shoulders. Even Porsche's hardcore fans, the kind who attend Lollapalooza-type festivals to worship a bygone age of air-cooled engines, have to give the Tur …Read the full story at The Verge.