Would it surprise you to learn Microsoft booted Jeffrey Epstein from its online gaming platform? As spotted by XboxEra, the latest batch of Epstein's emails shows that in December 2013, he was "permanently suspended due to harassment, threats, and/or abuse of other players."But it appears the real reason may be simpler: A second email from Microsoft to Epstein the very same day shows he was banned because he was a registered sex offender, and because Microsoft was among the companies that agreed to purge registered sex offenders from their systems.While Epstein became a registered sex offender years earlier, another email shows he ma …Read the full story at The Verge.

We've all been there at one point or another. We're working hard on a project, and we just need more ports, and they aren't available. It's common on laptops and tablets, and even some desktop PCs as well.

If you're looking for an affordable gaming monitor that delivers on performance and features, the Samsung Odyssey G3 monitor is going to be it. While it's small in size, coming in at just 24 inches, it still provides an excellent experience.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) talks to reporters following the weekly Senate Democratic policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on January 28, 2026 in Washington, DC. | Getty Images The Senate voted on Friday evening to pass the federal budget, funding everything except for one entity: the Department of Homeland Security, which was given a two-week funding extension in order to negotiate new guardrails around Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). If no agreement is reached, DHS funding will lapse and the department will face a shutdown.The agreement - the result of frenzied negotiations between a united Senate Democrat caucus, their Republican counterparts, and the White House - passed 71-29. DHS will remain unfunded over the weekend, however, until the House of Representatives reconvenes on Monday to approve th …Read the full story at The Verge.

I built my first personal cloud on an SBC because I wanted something I owned end-to-end. No subscription math, no account juggling, and no feeling like my files lived on somebody else’s schedule. It worked, and I still prefer the idea to most commercial cloud pitches. But the part I didn’t anticipate was how quickly “small and simple” can turn into a painful nightmare when you are the admin, the support desk, and the warranty department.

For the last three years that I've owned my gaming rig, I've always been happy to get the most out of my 1440p machine. Buying a new 4K mini-LED TV, however, has changed that: it has planted in me the idea that maybe the console doesn't have to be the only thing plugged into it. The PS5 Pro is great, sure, but a PC, even one built around a three-year-old GPU, still offers better image controls, more flexibility, and far more room to experiment.

I have always treated OneNote like a digital dumping ground where notes went to be forgotten rather than used. I was frustrated by the clutter and convinced the app just wasn’t smart enough for my workflow. But the truth was simpler: I was using it all wrong.

Project Genie’s version of Link from an experience I made. | Image: Google The stock prices of some major video game companies, including Take-Two Interactive, Roblox, and Unity, had notable declines on Friday, just a day after Google announced its Project Genie tool that lets users prompt AI to generate interactive experiences, Reuters reports. Take-Two's stock price closed at $220.30 (down 7.93 percent from yesterday), Roblox's closed at $65.76 (down 13.17 percent), and Unity's closed at $29.10 (down 24.22 percent).Other AI tools have received significant pushback from artists and creators over allegations of theft of their work to train the underlying AI models, AI's water and electricity usage, and what this …Read the full story at The Verge.

One of the Amazon Fire TV Stick's most significant issues is how full of ads it is.

Peloton said on Friday that it's cutting around 11 percent of its staff, mostly impacting "engineers working on technology and enterprise-related efforts," reports Bloomberg. Last August, Peloton laid off six percent of its workforce and told investors it would continue layoffs globally in 2026, in an attempt to cut at least $100 million of annual spending by the end of the fiscal year. Peloton's latest strategy shift to reverse the effect of its pandemic-era boom stalling out has also brought new hardware with Peloton IQ AI features. The Cross Training Series that debuted last October includes a new Bike, Bike Plus, Tread, Tread Plus, …Read the full story at The Verge.

My job means I spend a lot of time writing, and as a result, I spend a lot of time — more than is productive, probably — looking for the best possible writing apps. Over time, what I look for in apps has changed. An abundance of features has become less of a necessity; instead, I want something straightforward that lets me get the job done with minimal distractions.

Adobe seems to be one of those services people either love or hate. I’d like to think I fall somewhere in the middle. I don’t appreciate its sneaky cancellation fees or that data collection is turned on by default, requiring you to locate the opt-out function - plus, nobody likes the high prices. But I can also appreciate the quality of their products overall and the effort the developers and designers put into them. For anyone who does professional or even hobbyist image editing, you’re kind of cornered if you don’t get an Adobe subscription, but also cornered if you do.