It’s easy to see why everyone loves Figma - it’s very polished, feature-rich, user-friendly, collaboration-friendly, all of it. Before diving deep into design this year, I didn’t even realize it was the industry standard for product design and prototyping, and it is now actually preferred over Sketch by professionals. Even the free version is really powerful. You can handle most of the web or product design pipeline without paying for a subscription.

Turning a living room into a comfortable, responsive media space usually starts with a streamer, and many people default to something like a Chromecast. It is inexpensive, small, and simple to set up, which is usually enough for most households. After relying on devices like the Chromecast and Fire TV Stick for years, I decided I wanted more control over my media and a smoother way to play local content. That led me to try a Raspberry Pi 5 running LibreELEC, and the difference surprised me.

On Wednesday, a rumor began popping up in Washington about a momentous policy change: the White House, it was said, would issue an executive order on Friday that would finally preempt state AI laws, handing over those regulatory powers to the federal government. The minute it leaked online, lawyers and policymakers began to scour every sentence of it. There was a lot about it that seemed politically unfeasible; there was even more that seemed overbroad, possibly illegal. There were a lot of agencies that had suddenly been cut out.But crucially, they noticed how much power would have been handed to a certain South African tech-billionaire-t …Read the full story at The Verge.

Dust accumulation is one of those problems most of us ignore until it starts affecting thermals and performance. At first, it's nothing more than a cosmetic issue, but over time, it slowly starts interfering with how efficiently components like your CPU and GPU dissipate heat. When dust clogs up intake filters and settles deep into heatsink or radiator fins, your fans will have to work harder just to push the same amount of air through the case. That translates to more noise, high temperatures, and less effective cooling overall.

Virtualization platforms like Proxmox or ESXi are handy tools if you want to test Linux distros or containers before they go into production, or if you're in the middle of your home lab journey. While Proxmox is the hypervisor of choice for most XDA home labbers, it's nowhere near the only option and is built for broad compatibility with the widest range of hosted OSes.

Have you ever done a grand reveal of something you've worked really hard on, expecting a ton of praise, but were instead met with indifference, or worse, disdain? Well, that's how I'm imagining how Microsoft is feeling right now about its grand Windows agentic reveal. It likely expected us to adore the idea of our Windows 11 PCs filling to the brim with AI agents, all of which are trained to help us get stuff done in the best way possible. Instead, we've told Microsoft where it can take its AI agents, and it's a little confused as to why.

Warner Music Group has struck a licensing deal with the AI music creation platform Suno. Under the agreement, WMG will allow users to create AI-generated music on Suno using the voices, names, likenesses, images, and compositions of artists who opt in to the program.WMG, which owns record labels that have signed musicians like Ed Sheeran, Twenty One Pilots, Dua Lipa, and Charli XCX, says participating artists will have “full control” over how their likeness and music are used, though it doesn’t share how. “These will be new creation experiences from artists who do opt in, which will open up new revenue streams for them and allow you to interact with them in new ways,” Suno says, adding that users will be able to “build around” an artist’s sounds “and ensure they get compensated.”WMG is also dropping out of a lawsuit it originally filed with Universal Music Group and Sony, alleging Suno illegally ripped their copyrighted works from YouTube. In recent weeks, major music labels have begun to embrace AI, as WMG similarly settled with AI music maker Udio earlier this month, while UMG ended its litigation against the platform in favor of a licensing agreement. The “ethical” AI music platform Klay has also struck deals with UMG, Sony, and WMG.Along with the licensing agreement, Suno is planning to use licensed music from WMG to build next-gen music generation models that it claims will surpass its flagship v5 model. It will also start requiring users to have a paid account to download songs starting next year, with each tier providing a specific number of downloads each month.

There isn’t much to dislike about NotebookLM. It does exactly what it promises, which is improving your research and learning experience through its context-aware AI. But not every app is going to check all of our boxes, so there’s always going to be an alternative that fills those gaps. I wanted to see if there was anything else that could handle long-form documents and research, especially ones that aren’t tied to Google. Many of the PKM and productivity tools I use already have some type of AI assistant, but none of them measure up to NotebookLM. This is how I came across Gistr.

Ikea’s introducing two new Bluetooth speaker designs next month. | Image: Ikea Ikea is launching two new Bluetooth speakers next month as part of a larger collection announced earlier this year, following the end of the company’s partnership with Sonos. Like the Blomprakt speaker lamp that launched in the US last month, both the new Solskydd and Kulglass speakers blend technology and design so they’ll function as part of a room’s decor while not filling it with music.“We’re treating speakers with the same care as the rest of the home, so they contribute to a room’s atmosphere and personality not only through sound but also through form, colour and character,” says Ikea product developer Sara Ottosson. The company collaborated with designer and colorist Tekla Evelina Severin to achieve that, resulting in devices that look nothing like what typically comes to mind when you think of Bluetooth speakers.The Solskydd is a family of round speakers in three different sizes that could be mistaken for serving trays. The smallest 8-inch model ($79.99) features a single 2.5-inch driver hidden behind a fabric wrap with an orange checkerboard-inspired pattern. Despite its size, it can output up to 80.5dB of sound and is the only portable option with a rechargeable battery that’s rated for up to 25 hours of playback.A slightly larger 11-inch version ($99.99) of the Solskydd pairs a 1-inch tweeter with a 4-inch woofer for up to 83.6dB of sound hidden behind a green fabric facade with brown and beige diagonal stripes. Like its smaller counterpart, it can be hung on a wall or attached to an included display stand. The largest 18-inch Solskydd model ($139.99) hides a 1-inch tweeter and two 4-inch woofers (producing up to 93.6dB) behind an orange textured finish and is exclusively designed to be wall-mounted. The two larger options offer three different EQ settings, while all three versions of the Solskydd are also available in clean white finishes if you prefer your speakers with a subtler design.In addition to Bluetooth connectivity, Ikea’s speakers support Spotify Tap so you can start playing music from where you left off in the streaming app, as well as multi-speaker connectivity. You can use two of them in a left-and-right stereo configuration to boost a TV’s sound, or connect up to 100 of them together and have them all play in sync to fill a larger space.If you want even more functionality, Ikea’s new Kulglass ($129.99) pairs a whimsical lamp featuring an ice cream-inspired swirl-shaped shade with a Bluetooth speaker in its base, packing a 1-inch tweeter and 3.5-inch woofer producing up to 82.6dB. Unlike the Solskydd speakers that rely on a pair of buttons for adjusting volume, the Kulglass lamps, available in two versions finished in shades of green or red, include a volume knob.Specific release dates in December 2025 will vary by country, but in the US the new speakers aren’t expected to be available until January 1st, 2026.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is just one of many shows available on Paramount Plus. | Image: Marni Grossman / Paramount Plus In case you missed it, Paramount Plus is raising prices by $1 a month starting on January 15th, 2026, taking the ad-supported Essential plan from $7.99 to $8.99 and the ad-free Premium plan from $12.99 to $13.99. Thankfully, Paramount’s Black Friday promo has arrived just in time to (somewhat) soften the blow. Now through December 2nd, both new and returning subscribers can sign up for a two-month subscription for just $2.99 a month, dropping the price of the Essential plan by $5 and the Premium plan by a whopping $10.Paramount Plus (two months)Where to Buy: $7.99 $2.99 at Paramount Plus Essential $12.99 $2.99 at Paramount Plus PremiumNo matter which plan you choose, Paramount Plus gives you access to over 40,000 TV episodes and movies, including the latest season of Landman, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Naked Gun, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, South Park, Fight or Flight, and The Daily Show. You’ll get access to 20 curated live channels and a few Showtime titles — including the first two seasons of Yellowjackets and all of Dexter — with support for three simultaneous streams and up to six profiles (including kid-friendly ones). Some live sports are also available, including all UEFA Champions League games and select NFL games.The Premium plan takes things a step further, granting access to the full Showtime library — including shows like The Chi, Dexter: Resurrection, and every season of Yellowjackets — as well as films like The Substance, Talk To Me, Infinite, and Past Lives. It also adds support for streaming select titles in 4K UHD with Dolby Vision or HDR10 Plus, 24/7 live CBS news via your local station, and the ability to download shows and movies for offline viewing.

If you're obsessed with keeping your CPU and GPU cool, you've probably considered spending a bit more than average on the thermal paste. Expensive thermal compounds can sound compelling with labels like "High-performance" and impressive thermal conductivity numbers. But the difference doesn't always translate to better cooling, and you may find yourself unimpressed unless you're replacing really cheap, throw-away paste.

Arc Raiders players are certainly having a whale of a time. Not only are they playing one of the best extraction shooters ever made, but its PC community, apparently, is friendlier than console-only lobbies. More importantly, though, PC players of Arc Raiders on Steam have been trophy hunting like there's no tomorrow, including yours truly. However, some of Arc Raiders' trophies are incredibly difficult to achieve.