For years, external SSDs were the necessary evil of computing. They were the cheapest way to expand your storage capacity but often came capped at 100 MB/s thanks to USB 3.2 gen 2, or we're completely inaccessible if damaged.

Whenever my RTX 4090 used to run hot, I assumed I needed to improve my airflow. From cleaning dust off my front panel to adding more fans, I tried everything I could to ensure my case moved air efficiently. It made sense to me because when you have a GPU as power-hungry as the RTX 4090, there's very little room for suboptimal airflow if you want to keep its temps in check. Although the changes I made to improve airflow helped GPU temps ever so slightly, they weren't enough to make a meaningful difference.

Wise words. "Share a Disney quote that sums up how you're feeling right now!"That's what Disney posted on Threads the other day, and people immediately replied with lines from Star Wars, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and even Mary Poppins. The throughline between all the quotes: they were pretty pointedly anti-fascist and clearly aimed at the current administration. Apparently, Disney either couldn't handle the anti-fascist messaging of its own movies or was too afraid of pissing off the powers that be, because it quickly deleted the post. Thankfully, one resourceful Threads user recorded it for posterity, reminding us that yes, the human world is, i …Read the full story at The Verge.

Running your home network can be as simple as a router and a few wireless clients or as complex as a multi-node configuration with VLANs, switches, access points, and a custom router and firewall. Regardless of how you manage your local area network (LAN), it's important to consider some free tools that can transform how you interact with everything connected to the router. From IoT gadgets to home servers, growing your network can introduce unwanted complexity that makes such tools almost a necessity.

Tailscale is one of the best-known overlay networks, a type of software-defined networking solution that runs over existing infrastructure. When you add devices to your network, or tailnet as they're known, the software encrypts and routes data between those devices as if they were connected to the same physical network, wherever in the world they might be.

Times are changing fast, and Linux and Windows 11 are competing neck and neck to be your desktop operating system in capabilities and performance. Both are powerful, flexible, and more than capable depending on how you use your PC.

For the longest time, Synology NAS has been the go-to NAS. One would suggest it to everyone, from entry-level beginners to experts and enterprise users. It has always lived up to its promise of offering a friendly interface that is powerful too, and meets the needs of everyone. That is how a NAS should be: one that you can trust without having to tinker with it all that often.

Microsoft Loop does a lot right, and is one of the only near-perfect note apps that I’ve consistently reached for throughout my work and note-taking processes. It’s super minimal, sleek, fast, and has everything I need for frictionless writing and project planning. That said, it’s tied to a big corp, partially paywalled, and is also not open-source, which many prefer for privacy and customization.

My existing gaming PC has the iconic RTX 3080 still chugging along, over 5 years after its launch in late 2020. I was fortunate enough to get one at MSRP during the infamous GPU crisis that lasted well into 2023. When it stopped feeling like a high-end GPU, I dreamed of upgrading to the RTX 5080, but for numerous reasons, I decided to wait for something better. Well, it turns out that nothing else is coming, at least for a few years. The ongoing PC hardware crisis has led to reduced supply and skyrocketing prices across the board. Buying a new graphics card in this market would be insane, so I decided to overclock my existing GPU to see how far I can take it. There's little else that PC gamers can do in the current market.

There are times when my single research session turns into a 50-tab monster, my laptop fan kicks in, and Chrome’s tab strip shrinks so small I can’t even see the favicons anymore. I had accepted this tab situation as the price of productivity. But then I found Zen browser.

Windows Server carries with it a very specific reputation. It's typically thought of as an enterprise OS first, belonging to data centers and dismissed in enthusiast circles. That's rather unfortunate, because Windows Server has a legitimate case for being the OS of your home lab.

Setapp Mobile seemed like one of the many alternative app markets with promise that launched in the wake of the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA). While the law may have forced Apple to allow third-party app stores on its devices, it couldn't make users actually embrace them. MacPaw, the Ukrainian developer behind the subscription-based Setapp, posted on a support page that it would be sunsetting the service next month and users would lose access to any apps:Important: Setapp Mobile sunset noticeSetapp Mobile is scheduled to sunset on February 16, 2026, due to still-evolving and complex business terms that don't fit Setapp's current busi …Read the full story at The Verge.