Anyone who's used a computer before knows how messy the downloads folder can get. Everything you've ever downloaded just lands there by default, and we rarely have the patience to be proactive and organize things in a way that makes sense for you. So, things just tend to pile up with no rhyme or reason. And if you download ZIP files, you might extract them and then you have a mix of files and folders in there, it's far from ideal.

For most of my life as a PC user, I've lived by one very specific belief system, as I'm sure millions of others have, too: if it ain't broke, don't touch it. Now, this sounds responsible enough, until you realize it's actually just procrastination wearing a suit and tie. Because PCs don't ever break politely, or by giving you a two-week notice. They implode at 2AM, right when you have work to finish and your brain is already halfway melted.

I’ve written about AFFiNE a lot here at XDA because it’s genuinely one of the best PKM tools I’ve come across. However, I’d only ever used it locally on my PC. I’m still new to self-hosting, and actually used NotebookLM to help me learn the ropes. Ever since, I’ve been willing to experiment more with running my own servers, and since I use AFFiNE often, it was one of the first tools I wanted to switch to a self-hosted setup.

The Stream Deck Plus is on sale for $159.99. If you’re looking for a simple way to streamline your workflow, the Elgato Stream Deck Plus is a handy productivity tool for automating everyday tasks. Right now, it’s on sale for $159.99 ($40 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H Photo, which is its best price to date.Like the standard Stream Deck, the Stream Deck Plus comes with eight programmable keys you can use to automate tasks, such as muting yourself on a video call or turning off smart lights. The Plus, however, adds more customizability with four rotary dials that let you make fine adjustments, like changing the volume for a specific app.Elgato Stream Deck PlusWhere to Buy: $199.99 $159.99 at Amazon (black) $199.99 $159.99 at Best Buy $199.99 $159.99 at B&H PhotoThe dials are especially useful for controlling music. With a single dial, you skip forward or backward through a Spotify playlist, then press it to pause or play. On a standard Stream Deck, you’d need multiple buttons to do the same thing. Elgato also includes “Dial Stacks,” which let each dial handle multiple functions you can cycle through. A slim touchscreen above the dials shows what each control is currently assigned to and lets you swipe between different pages within a profile. And while the touchscreen itself can’t trigger plug-ins like the regular buttons, Elgato’s since released software updates  that let you assign up to three standard button or plugin actions to each dial, making the Stream Deck Plus far more useful than it was at launch.

The first big outage of 2026 is here, as Verizon customers across the US, including several of our phones, complain that service has been spotty or nonexistent starting at around noon ET, with phones switching to SOS Mode and being unable to connect.This cell service outage follows a "software issue" that cut off service for many people in August for several hours, and while Verizon has acknowledged the issue, there is no word yet on when it will be fixed.Verizon:We are aware of an issue impacting wireless voice and data services for some customers. Our engineers are engaged and are working to identify and solve the issue quickly. We …Read the full story at The Verge.

Thin-and-light laptops sound like a match made in heaven for Linux. They're incredibly efficient already, and when you combine that with an OS that's known to be light on its feet, you can see there's a lot of potential there.

If your phone doesn't have a network connection or your home internet isn't working right now, don't worry, you aren't alone.

Running a home lab and any amount of services will almost guarantee that you'll make mistakes. Some of them will be relatively minor and annoying, but others can take down your entire setup. The frustrating part is that many of these problems aren't caused by bad hardware or lack of knowledge, but some poor habits that can creep in over years of running a home lab. Looking back at the year my home lab had in 2025, there are a few mistakes I made often enough that I've definitely learned my lesson now.

Back in my day, if you wanted to watch something with a friend remotely, you both had to load it up on your PCs and then do a "3-2-1 play" countdown to ensure you were both seeing the same thing at the same time. Fortunately, tech companies have since respected that people ideally want the app to do the syncing for them, and as such, there are plenty of ways to watch things with your friends with minimal hassle.

Naya has already shipped one successful Kickstarter for a weird keyboard. The Naya Create was an ergonomic split deck with four swappable controller addons: a touchpad, a trackball, a rotary encoder, or a 6DoF spatial mouse. The Connect takes that modular concept, applies it to a more traditional flat keyboard form factor, and expands the ecosystem to be even more flexible. And clearly, people are into the idea, because it hit its minuscule funding goal in just six minutes.The Naya Connect has four main components: a low-profile 75% mechanical keyboard called the Naya Type, a 24-key multipad, a six-key programmable strip, and a dock. The …Read the full story at The Verge.

Alienware makes some of the best gaming monitors out right now. So, if you've been looking to pick up something new, you can't really go wrong here. We've reviewed some of Alienware's QD-OLED monitors in the past, and, for the most part, we came away impressed. That's why we think the Alienware AW2725D monitor is a good one to go with, especially at its discounted price.

No matter how much technology continues to evolve, there's always a community of people who relish holding on to the products of yesteryear. ReactOS wasn't developed with this goal in mind, but that's kind of why it still exists today. It's a project that essentially aims to reverse engineer Windows NT 4.0-based operating systems and create an experience that fully supports the same set of drivers and programs without using any Microsoft code. So, we have an experience that's very close to Windows XP, which some might consider an upgrade from Windows 11.