I started self-hosting because I was tired of paying separate subscriptions for cloud storage, media streaming, and every other app I used regularly. Running these services on my own hardware gave me control over my data while removing several recurring bills. I still had to buy the hardware and pay for electricity, but the cost wasn’t much compared to the subscriptions, and at least I owned the infrastructure.

My previous experience with running local AI models taught me to keep my expectations modest. I'd mostly deferred to them for simple stuff that I didn't want to send to the cloud: autocomplete in VS Code, boilerplate generation, and easy tasks that are hard to screw up. For a while, I thought that was about as good as it gets for running AI at home.

My Kindle goes everywhere with me. As an avid reader, it's a constant companion. I'd hacked my Kindle to break out of Amazon's shackles long ago. So, recently, I decided to explore what else my Kindle could do.

It's time to get back into school, and here at XDA, we're ready to help you make the most of the upcoming term. School is never easy, which is largely the point, but it can quickly feel overwhelming to get through a seemingly never-ending stream of projects, lectures, and social events. It's also incredibly easy to get distracted and achieve absolutely nothing for a few hours, which is why you should turn an old PC into a home lab before getting through the first week of computer science.

Cute name, especially if it were a wookiee. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge Finding a good laptop under $500 was hard enough before RAMageddon. They nearly always had cheap hardware and underpowered, often outdated chips. That's what made the MacBook Neo so disruptive: It offered great build quality and good-enough performance starting at $599. Windows laptops couldn't touch it. Even though it's gone up to $699, it's still the laptop to beat.So when little-known Chinese brand Chuwi announced a $450 Windows laptop with an aluminum build and a brand-new Intel Wildcat Lake processor, it sounded too good to be true.It is.Chuwi UniBookScore: 3ProsConsIt's $450Tons of ports for a small laptop (though none are very …Read the full story at The Verge.

I don't speak for everyone, but most people's very first laptop was a Windows laptop. It would barely turn on, would need to be plugged in 24/7 because the battery gave out years ago, and would wheeze its way through more than three open tabs. The reason I'm mentioning this is because that clunky old machine is where most of us met our very first browser.

To power its new West Texas data center, Amazon is investing in the construction of a new power plant that could be one of the largest single producers of greenhouse gases in the US, according to the New York Times. The new gas-burning plant in Pecos County, Texas has received significant investment from Amazon and, at least initially, would not be connected to the state's power grid. Instead, its 35 natural-gas turbines would primarily deliver its 7.65 gigawatts of electricity to the new data center.According to Cleanview, which tracks data centers and their associated power projects, GW Ranch received a permit from Texas allowing for the …Read the full story at The Verge.

Buc-ee’s mega-convenience store and 120-pump gas station in Mount Crawford, Virginia. | Image: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images Buc-ee's became something of a viral sensation during the World Cup, but it has a troubling history of suing small gas stations and convenience stores. On a recent episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver literally begged the company to sue him for selling merch featuring his squirrel mascot, Mr. Nutterbutter, with branding that reads "Buc-Off." But Buc-ee's has so far declined to take the bait, instead targeting yet another small business that lacks the deep pockets and legal team of HBO.According to WDTN, an NBC affiliate in Miami Valley, Ohio, Buc-ee's opened its first locations in the state earlier this year. And now it's targeting es …Read the full story at The Verge.

When you’re building a Network-Attached Storage, you’ve got quite a few options at your disposal. You can opt for a pre-built chassis if you want a simple and straightforward setup, though its first-party distribution and a lack of customization options makes it a bit of a problem for hardcore users. Or, you can go all out and build a custom backup workstation that’s outfitted with a dedicated HBA, high-speed network card, and dozens of HDDs.

Tom, we can’t see your face. | Image: Tom Vek Tom Vek burst onto the scene in 2005 with his album We Have Sound, which garnered a solid 7.6 from the tastemakers of the day over at Pitchfork. His undeniably catchy brand of dancy indietronica landed him an appearance on The OC and placement on the Grand Theft Auto IV soundtrack. His follow-up, Leisure Seizure, had a lengthy gestation period, but arrived in 2011 to similar success, reaching No. 79 on the UK charts.View LinkVek has continued to release music at regular intervals over the last 15 years, dropping Newer Symbols in 2022. But in 2020 he started toying with this idea he had for a music player called Sleevenote. Inspired by viny …Read the full story at The Verge.

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 139, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, barbecue sauce, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I've been reading about Johnny Knoxville and Google Zero and the history of the bicycle, @all-ing everyone in all my WhatsApp chats just because I can now, rereading There Will Come Soft Rains because this week is when it happens, seeing if Sabbath can help fix my screentime problems, once again moving everything around in my home office, eating altogether too much of the fabulous Trader Joe's snack mix, testing th …Read the full story at The Verge.

If you're as big a fan of e-ink displays as I am, you'll likely share my desire to see people create e-ink versions of common gadgets. As such, when I saw that someone had created their own e-ink watch, I knew I had to check it out. Not only does this watch come with over 20 faces, but the creator has stated that they hope to get the source code and STL files uploaded soon.