There's a very specific kind of magic that Nintendo used to deal in. It was the kind that made you believe cardboard could become robotic, and that you looked ultra-cool with a plastic bazooka strapped to your shoulder. Over the ages, it really does feel like Nintendo has tried everything under the sky, and, for me, the worst part is that most of the coolest stuff seems to have happened before my time.

Windows 11's File Explorer has been in the news in the last few days for all the wrong reasons. From flashbanging users to reports of slow performance, File Explorer got all the negative press in the last couple of weeks. Microsoft has fixed the bug that's causing Windows 11's File Explorer to flash a brief white screen in dark mode, but the company hasn't officially responded to the performance issue.

My Network-Attached Storage servers are an essential part of my home lab, as they house essential project files, VM data, OS images, actual images, ebooks, ROM files, and everything in between. As my collection of hoarded files grew, I had to start upgrading my NAS' capacity or risk making my “private” data vulnerable to hardware failures and (admittedly) my own botched experiments.

Windows 11 did a major overhaul of the native File Explorer app, which was equally liked and mocked after the release. While the app did improve over time, it added essential features like tab support, an improved details pane, and support for more archive formats. I don't hate the app, but there's a reason so many third-party alternatives exist. Windows 11 File Explorer doesn't match everyone's expectations and can act sluggishly, ignore necessary features, and has many more drawbacks. These drawbacks might not matter to the average PC user who needs a basic app.

I, like most people, rely on copy and paste all day long. It's such a simple part of your daily workflow that you don't even realize when you are using it. Copy text from a browser, paste it into notes. Or perhaps copy something from your email into your calendar. Notion to Slack, you catch my drift. It's such a basic action that you expect it to work everywhere without effort. But here's the thing: unless you are locked into a particular ecosystem, copy-paste doesn't exactly work seamlessly across platforms. Apple has its own ecosystem, Windows has one too, and Android has a few apps that use its own dedicated servers. If you use more than one platform, nothing really works across devices. And while there are cloud-based sync tools, whatever you copy goes through third-party servers.

When business leaders spout buzzwords like "AI," "8K" and "5G," sometimes in the same sentence, we often get a sneaking suspicion they don't know what they mean! With President Donald Trump, there's no need to wonder: he clearly has no idea. "What does [6G] do? Give you a little bit deeper view into somebody's skin?" he mused today, live on TV, right in front of Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, who did not bother to correct him.Trump: So we're into 6G now. Yeesh. I was a leader on 5G, getting that done. What does that do? Give you a little bit deeper view into somebody's skin? I like the cameras of the old days.- FactPost (@factpostnews.bsky. …Read the full story at The Verge.

It's always possible to repurpose old PC components for DIY projects when you move on to something new. However, if you're more of the tinkerer type, you might be more interested in what's inside your components than simply reusing them as-is. Before you recycle your old machines, you can still extract tons of internals for creative and useful maker projects. The best components to target are power supplies, motherboards, optical drives, hard drives, and GPUs. You'll need to desolder many of the constituent parts, so proceed only if you're familiar with that. Of course, if you're really attached to your old CPU, GPU, RAM, or storage drives, they can always find a place in your home lab or a power-efficient home server.

I get it, life takes over sometimes, leaving your desk a mess, filled with devices, cables and anything else that's long been forgotten about. If you've been looking for a way to tidy things up, this Anker docking station might be helpful. It features 14 ports for versatile connectivity, and can also provide up to 160W of power to devices when needed.

If you've seen my posts here on XDA, you'll know that I lovee-ink displays. I love covering them and showing them off, but I always mention one drawback: their refresh rate is so slow that you're better off using them as smart home dashboards or picture displays. Trying to do work on them or display any sort of advanced animation is pretty much a no-go.

Portable monitors had a bit of a moment a few years back, with cheap offerings flooding the market, making them great displays if you needed something that you could take with you on the go. However, they can also be a great tool if you're looking to debug your home lab.

Retro gaming handheld manufacturer Ayaneo has finally revealed the design of its first Android phone, which has been teased since August. Fittingly, it too is a throwback - to 2011's Sony Ericcson Xperia Play.The Pocket Play has a screen that slides up to reveal a full set of inset physical controls, including a D-pad, ABXY fact buttons, and two circular touch pads. There are twin sets of shoulder buttons round the back of the phone too, though no sign of a 3.5mm headphone jack.Unfortunately, that's all we know. The Pocket Play is only confirmed to launch "soon," and the Kickstarter campaign page doesn't reveal a single spec.It's actua …Read the full story at The Verge.

Storage has come a long way in recent years, from hard disk drives to solid-state drives, and now that we're multiple generations deep into the SSD reign, it has to be said: the HDD is not dead.