I'm guilty of it, and I'm sure many of you are in the same boat. Despite having decent gaming rigs and the money to buy the games we love, we probably spend less time gaming than ever. Family, friends, and responsibilities take up a significant chunk of our time, but even in our free time, we rarely sit down to properly enjoy a game like we used to. Instead, we spend hours browsing Steam and Epic Games Store sales, optimizing our hardware, and arguing with strangers on Reddit. If this isn't you, then you're in the minority, but most PC gamers I know suffer from this OCD. I hope we can all turn a new leaf in 2026, and start enjoying our gaming PCs for, well, gaming more than anything else.

Have you ever wanted to use an Xbox Series X gamepad with a Dreamcast? Maybe you'd like to use your child's Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Controller to revisit Raccoon City in Resident Evil 2?This is exactly what software developer Robert Dale Smith (@RobertDaleSmith) is making happen with his open source Joypad OS project (it was formerly called USBRetro). The core idea behind Joypad OS is to make any controller work with whatever system you want, whether that's using a Switch controller with a GameCube, or a Switch 2 Joy-Con 2 with the original Switch. Joypad OS aims to be universal controller firmware for adapters, controllers, and input setups across USB and Bluetooth.

Humane's AI Pin was a disaster, but that reportedly hasn't discouraged ChatGPT's parent company Open AI from working on its own take on a wearable AI pin — and now, it looks like Apple wants in on the action.

When you press the power button on your computer, you probably expect Windows, macOS, or Linux to spring into action. But here's something most people don't realize: by the time you see your desktop, your computer has already executed millions of instructions across multiple independent processors. It has already executed a large amount of firmware code across multiple controllers, potentially verified boot components with cryptographic signatures, trained memory, initialized devices, and prepared the machine to load an OS. And all before your actual operating system even begins to load.

OpenAI says it will minimize water use and pay for energy infrastructure upgrades needed to power its data centers. "We're being good neighbors," the company said, directly addressing the growing opposition to AI projects amid rising utility bills."We commit to paying our own way on energy, so that our operations don't increase your electricity prices," OpenAI said. The company promised to work with local communities to minimize the impact of its Stargate data centers. OpenAI was not specific but said plans could involve securing its own energy supplies or paying for local grid upgrades. OpenAI also highlighted the vast amounts of water …Read the full story at The Verge.

Ask any hardcore Raspberry Pi enthusiast about the accessories they pair with their single-board computer, and you should be prepared to hear a long sermon about all the HATs, adapter boards, and gizmos in their arsenal. Truth be told, I’m no different, as I’ve got a bunch of devices stashed in my home lab, including peripherals I bought simply because they looked interesting.

When first implementing smart home products into your home, you may be aiming for that sci-fi fantasy feel that you see in a range of different movies. You want the ability to walk up to a sleek wall, mount a tablet, and control your home. It looks super cool in photos and videos, but in practice, it is a usability nightmare and can be expensive.

On a blustery afternoon late last year, on the lawn just outside City Hall in Rowlett, Texas, a strange-looking craft cleared the trees just before me. It hovered overhead for a moment before lowering a second craft on a thin rope all the way to a parched patch of grass. The little, white thing deposited a brown paper payload, then rode its tether back up to its waiting mothership, which turned and left. The experience lasted less than 30 seconds.This wasn't some UFO experience. This was a Zipline drone delivery, out in the real world, and that payload was my lunch. It was just one of the two million such deliveries this company has made s …Read the full story at The Verge.

In 2026, ChatGPT+ and even its rivals like Claude Pro or Google Gemini can cost roughly $240-$300 per year. While there are free versions of this software, if you want the pro features, the $20/month subscription fee can feel like the cable bill of the 2020s: expensive, restrictive, and lacking in privacy.

I'm not sure anyone saw this news coming, but the TV landscape as we know it could change considerably over the next year or two. Sony, the storied Japanese TV brand, has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with its Chinese competitor TCL. This potential partnership - with TCL set to hold a 51 percent stake and Sony 49 percent - has prompted speculation across the internet and I'm sure many meetings at a couple of other TV companies in South Korea.Before we get too apocalyptic and proclaim the end of Sony TVs, it's important to understand that this isn't a done deal. The memorandum of understanding indicates that the …Read the full story at The Verge.

The SATs are one of the most important standardized tests in the US (and other parts of the world). While more and more schools seem to be going test-optional, the test still plays a meaningful role in college admissions and scholarships. Ultimately, tens of thousands of students prepare for the exam multiple times a year, often taking it more than once to maximize their chances of hitting a target score.

PCIe 5.0 SSDs represent the fastest consumer storage you can get your hands on. These Gen5 drives doubled the theoretical bandwidth compared to Gen4 drives, pushing it to 16GB/s (total for 4 lanes). You got SSDs boasting nearly 15,000MB/s transfer speeds, promising massive throughput for data-intensive workloads. These next-gen drives took a massive technical leap forward, but they targeted a problem most people didn't need solving. Gen4 drives were far from struggling when Gen5 drives came along, and they didn't even speed up the most common workloads in any meaningful way. Add to that the PCIe 5.0 premium and thermal challenges, and you can see why people consider Gen5 SSDs useless, at least for the time being.