Claude is one of the tools I didn't expect to become part of my stack, mainly because I never really paid attention to it, as it seemed to be a thing for coders. But I definitely regret not using it sooner now, even though I've yet to touch Claude Code. Chat and Cowork have been where most of my work happens, and I've especially taken a liking to its Artifacts feature because it lets me practice design prototyping. Moreover, it's the perfect space to visualize an idea you might have had for a long time. I tried to make one of my own, and here's how it went…

Even the best Wi-Fi routers for home use are intentionally hobbled. Not at the core, but on the periphery, where you'd expect advanced features or extended I/O ports. They're just not built for large-scale installations, which makes sense for the buildings they're designed for.

Venmo is starting to test a big redesign of its app, and as part of the changes, it will be implementing a major new privacy measure: the onboarding process for new users will set their posts to only be viewable by their friends by default instead of being public.It's a notable update for a platform that has struggled with privacy in the past. In 2021, BuzzFeed News tracked down President Joe Biden's Venmo account and the accounts of people in his inner circle because Venmo, at the time, had no way to keep your Venmo contacts private. It fixed that soon after. As part of the redesign, if you're a new user and you do want …Read the full story at The Verge.

In late April, Palantir - the software company that, in recent years, has perhaps become best known for its defense industry contracts and work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement - announced that it would be adding new products to its merch store. The latest offering was a cotton chore coat. At $239 and in bright blue and black options, the jacket looks like a standard offering that has, by way of photographer Bill Cunningham, trickled down into mainstream menswear for years. This jacket is a pastiche of 19th century French workwear that was worn by people actually doing physical labor; the only noticeable difference is that a dainty …Read the full story at The Verge.

If your baby monitor looks something like this, it’s probably a Meari. | Image: Meari A baby's eyes peer directly into the camera lens. A kid with a striped shirt looks up, then away. A boy in a policeman's costume, a gold star on his chest. A messy bedroom that reminds me of my own daughters, with an unmade bunk bed, a little girl's hat and headband, and Hello Kitty plastered on the wall.One thought repeats in my mind: I shouldn't be seeing this. No stranger should. But bad actors could've easily spied on all these locations - and a million more - because many of Meari Technology's Wi-Fi baby monitors and security cameras were absurdly insecure. If you had access to one of those cameras, you theoretically had access to t …Read the full story at The Verge.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Netflix, accusing the company of turning its back on its promise to remain ad-free and safe for kids. The lawsuit, filed on Monday, claims Netflix has "opened Texans' data for inspection by the same Big Ad Tech community it once criticized for exploiting users in this same way."In the lawsuit, Paxton claims Netflix drove up subscriptions by promoting its platform as an "escape from Big Tech surveillance." But that changed when Netflix introduced an ad-supported streaming plan in 2022, something co-founder Reed Hastings promised not to do. Its move into digital advertising allowe …Read the full story at The Verge.

The Little Green carpet cleaner can do more than just suck up unmentionable pet-created disasters. It’s great for getting out coffee stains, too. | Image: Bissell A big part of my job here at The Verge is to find deals on tech that readers will like. But in my personal life, I’m not spending anywhere near as much money on tech as I am on food, litter, and other supplies for our two cats. Sad, but true. If your life is also ruled by furry (or feathered, scaled, shelled) friends, perhaps your interest will be piqued by Amazon’s five-day Pet Days sale happening through 2:59AM ET on Saturday, May 16th.There are a ton of products available that have some sort of discount attached — too many to list out individually. In case you don’t want to sort through all of the deals, I’ve attempted to do you the favor of plucking out seven noteworthy discounts for cat and dog parents.The product I recommend to all pet owners is Bissell’s Little Green upholstery and carpet cleaner, which is $99.99 at Amazon (originally $129.99). It’s the fighter you need on your side to help you get nasty stains out of your carpeted floors and stairs, rugs, couch cushions, and more. The portable cleaner works with Bissell’s cleaning formula, and the purchase includes a sample of the product. It also comes with a cleaning brush and crevice tool for sucking yucky stuff out of corners.While not a quiet machine to use, it’s valuable in that it’s a way to undo your pet’s accidents (it’s great for getting out coffee stains, too). Bissell Little Green carpet cleanerWhere to Buy: $129.99 $99.99 at AmazonPet owners have a special connection to their animals, and many can intuit what their pets need based on how they’re trying to get our attention. But wouldn’t it be great if your pet could put in a little more effort? I’m not saying that this 10-pack of voice-recording buttons will suddenly turn your pet into Sapphie, but at $19.76 (just a few bucks off) for the kit at Amazon, it seems fun to try. Each button can record up to 30 seconds of voice clips.10-pack of voice-recording buttonsWhere to Buy: $22.58 $19.76 at AmazonThe Litter-Robot 4 self-cleaning litter box is a big ticket item for cat owners looking to delegate the stinky chore. There’s a bundle that has been discounted recently at Amazon that includes the little box plus a starter kit of accessories for $799.99 (typically $860). The whole point of getting the Litter-Robot 4 is to make your life easier, scooping less, and doing other stuff with your time that hopefully doesn’t involve hunching over. The accessories included (three OdorTrap packs, 10 liners, 30 wipes, and two carbon filters) make it so you need to interact even less often with the litter box.Litter-Robot 4 Supply & Accessory bundleFeatures advanced litter-sifting technology, reduced litter tracking, and real-time monitoring of waste and litter levels through the Whisker app.Where to Buy: $859 $799 at Amazon (black) $799 at Best Buy (black) $859 $799 at Amazon (white)There are countless Wi-Fi-enabled cameras you can get to remotely see what your cats are up to, including those that cost less than $20. For my money, I’ve been satisfied with the TP-Link Tapo 1080p indoor camera that’s $17.99 at AmazonIt may be more basic than what some pet owners want. And yet, it’s capable enough that I’ve used it as a baby monitor. It has pan and tilt functionality so you can see around the room, and its feed is viewable in the Kasa app, which is convenient if you have other TP-Link gadgets. It supports motion detection, two-way audio, night vision, and the option of cloud or microSD card storage. There are pricier options out there made to ease concerns for pet parents that can dole out treats and what not, but if your pet doesn’t need as much attention, this’ll do fine.TP-Link Tapo C200 Pan / Tilt Security CameraWhere to Buy: $19.99 $17.99 at AmazonA few more Pet Days dealsStandard pet food isn’t typically expensive, but costs can rise if your pet requires (or at least benefits from) a specialized diet. Of the many brands that have discounted food during Pet Days, you can get a rare deal on Hill’s Science Diet dry food for cats and dogs. For instance, dry food formulas for indoor cats ages one through six are $24.49 for a seven-pound bag (almost always priced at $35) at Amazon. You can head to Hill’s landing page to see if they have a deal for your kind of pet, and note that subscribing to a recurring delivery will knock 20 percent off your total at checkout.Surely, you’ve floated the idea of getting Apple AirTags to keep track of your pet, right? Not every pet or pet parent will want to stick one on a collar, but for those who’d rather be safe than sorry, you can get a four-pack of first-gen AirTag trackers at Woot (an Amazon-owned site) for $56.99. That’s the best price yet on a four-pack, which originally launched for $99. The newer second-gen AirTag model offers better connectivity, Precision Tracking, and longer tracking distances, and a louder speaker, among other features. But if you’re not losing sight of your pet all that often, there’s no harm in saving some money with the older version.Our cats don’t go outside. They’d get instantly demolished by the tougher feral cats that roam around. That doesn’t stop me from feeling bad that they’re all cooped up inside where their instinctive expression is limited. This 20-foot transparent cat tunnel with zippers on both ends is so cool that I may end up buying one. It’s currently $28.99, down from its usual $40 or so price at Amazon. Best of all, it’s part of a modular system of outdoor accessories, and you can attach the tunnel if you choose to upgrade later on.

Death, taxes, and Windows versus Linux arguments on the internet. It's something that will never end, and each camp has valid points: Windows for software compatibility, gaming, and out-of-the-box hardware support; Linux for performance, stability, and the freedom to actually own your machine. The lines were clear, and so were the trade-offs.

Microsoft is currently testing a new speed boost feature in Windows 11 that is designed to improve app launch times and make things like the Start menu feel more responsive. The feature, which is reportedly called "Low Latency Profile," will ramp up CPU frequency in short bursts to improve the speed of menus, flyouts, apps, and more - much like how macOS handles similar tasks.Windows 11 testers have been trying out the new unannounced feature over the past week, and noticing significant speed improvements launching File Explorer or the Start menu, as well as apps like Outlook, the Microsoft Store, and Paint.TESTED: Windows 11's upcoming …Read the full story at The Verge.

A PC build is seldom a one-and-done proposition. Technically inclined tinkerers tend to pop the side panel off frequently to add storage, PCIe accessories like sound cards and networking adapters, or just perform routine cleaning. Keeping a rig pristine, especially an all-white one, and upgraded requires a solid, reliable set of tools.

For the first time, Google says it has spotted and stopped a zero-day exploit developed with AI. According to a report from Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG), "prominent cyber crime threat actors" were planning to use the vulnerability for a "mass exploitation event" that would have allowed them to bypass two-factor authentication on an unnamed "open-source, web-based system administration tool." Google's researchers found hints in the Python script used for the exploit that indicated help from AI, like a "hallucinated CVSS score" and "structured, textbook" formatting consistent with LLM training data. The exploit takes advantage of …Read the full story at The Verge.

Apple now lets you have encrypted RCS conversations with Android users through the Messages app on iOS. As part of iOS 26.5, which was released on Monday, Apple added support for end-to-end encrypted RCS messaging in beta, meaning that Apple and Google can't see your messages while they're sent. With iOS 26.5, you'll see a lock icon and a small "Encrypted" message at the top of the chat to note when you're having an encrypted conversation with an Android user and are on a carrier that supports the feature. Apple says that encryption will be on by default and "will be automatically enabled over time for new and existing RCS conversations." …Read the full story at The Verge.