When you start self-hosting, you should be prepared for lots of troubleshooting, things not working as they should, and unexpected downtime. I would say that I've been quite lucky with the services I've chosen to use, with only one that stopped working for an unexplained reason after running smoothly for a while.

Before cloud storage was so ubiquitous, portable storage like flash drives and portable HDDs were extremely popular. I personally have never fully moved on from these pieces of hardware, whether it's because I need a flash drive to install an operating system, or because an external HDD lets me store large files and easily access them on different PCs without needing personal sign-in details for a cloud service.

Halloween has always meant horror games. You could be playing alone in the dark, or with a backseat gamer yelling directions at you from the couch, but there's just no better time of the year to feel that delicious chill down your spine. For the longest time, Microsoft's Game Pass has been one of the best ways to play those AAA horror titles without breaking the bank. But with the recent price hikes across all tiers — which have not been met kindly — a lot of players are understandably pulling the plug on their subscriptions.

I downloaded Finch during a recent burnout phase. My to-do list apps felt like digital drill sergeants. My calendar was a graveyard of optimistic time blocks I'd never honored. I needed something different that could rewire how I approached momentum entirely.

The word "undervolting" might infer some sort of compromise to some users, but with modern hardware, it's actually anything but. You obviously get less voltage and less heat, and you might think you get less performance, but the truth is almost the opposite. For modern CPUs and GPUs, dialing in a smart undervolt can actually make your system faster, quieter, and more consistent under load.

On paper, dual-booting Windows and a Linux install of your choice seems like you're getting the best of both worlds. For months, I did exactly that in order to see what it would be like to daily drive Linux for as much work and play as possible, while keeping my Windows install in case I needed access to specific apps and games. Although I did enjoy the everyday experience of using Linux, dual-booting came with its own pitfalls that I really wasn't prepared for.

As it rushes to meet its pledge for “100 percent” of trips in electric vehicles by 2030, Uber is offering grants of $4,000 for drivers to swap their gas-guzzlers for zero-tailpipe emission vehicles. The company is also dropping its “Uber Green” branding in favor of the more simple “Uber Electric.”Uber has said it will be completely carbon neutral in North America and Europe by 2030 and in all global markets by 2040. But when it first announced this pledge in 2020, it said it wouldn’t directly pay drivers to ditch their gas-burning vehicles in favor of EVs. Now, the company is reversing that decision in the hopes that direct payments can help accelerate EV adoption. The reason for the switch is not that surprising. The recent expiration of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit in the US is expected to put a serious dent in EV sales, which will make it harder for Uber drivers to make the switch while also keeping their costs inline. Uber’s new offer is aimed at softening the blow for many drivers who relied on the credit for both used and new EVs. Not every driver will be eligible for the grants, at least not initially. As part of Uber’s new “Go Electric” program, drivers in New York City, California, Colorado, and Massachusetts can apply for $4,000 when they switch to a new or used EV. When combined with local incentives, like Massachusetts’ MOR-EV and Colorado’s Clean Fleet Program, EV prices can drop even further.Uber notes that the $4,000 amount was the same as the recently expired federal tax credit for used EVs. Through “Go Electric,” Uber is hoping to make up for the loss of the tax credit by putting up its own money for EV purchases.It’s been a bumpy ride for Uber in its quest to eliminate gas guzzlers from its platform. During the EV exuberance of 2021, rental company Hertz announced the purchase of 100,000 Teslas and 65,000 Polestars, with the aim to rent some of them to ridehail drivers. But high rates of depreciation led Hertz to reverse the deals and offload most of its EVs it had already acquired.Uber notes that the $4,000 amount was the same as the recently expired federal tax credit for used EVsBut Uber has stuck to its commitment to get more drivers in EVs. Last year, the company announced a partnership with Chinese auto giant BYD to put drivers in 100,000 EVs in Europe and Latin America. There are currently 200,000 EV drivers on Uber’s platform globally, the company says. Of course, getting the hundreds of thousands of people who drive for Uber to switch to electric vehicles will be no easy task. Ridehail drivers are classified as independent contractors, and many use their personal cars to drive for not just one but several gig economy companies. Uber can’t just force all its drivers to make the switch without jeopardizing their status as freelancers. Also, EVs tend to be more expensive than gas vehicles, despite costing less to fuel and maintain. That steep upfront cost may make it a challenge for many drivers, who typically operate with incredibly tight margins.Earlier this year, Uber said that Uber Green, the company’s EV and hybrid ridehailing product, would become an EV-only feature. Previously, Uber Green featured both electric and hybrid vehicles, offering an extra per-trip fee (usually $1) to drivers who used any vehicle with less tailpipe pollution. Now, under the Uber Electric branding, the company is offering discounts to riders of 20 percent, or up to $8 off, for EV rides with the code GOELECTRIC20. (The offer is valid for seven days.)Uber is also expanding its battery-aware matching feature to more EV brands. The feature filters trip requests based on an EV’s battery level so drivers can accept trips that end near a charger or avoid trips that are too long for their battery. The feature is now launching in 25 countries in the US, Canada, and Europe. And it will now support EVs from Kia, Hyundai, Ford, Nissan, Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz.

In the early days of Steam, it felt like a huge sale could drop at any second. When they did, all pretenses of saving for something went out the window as people worldwide filled their digital carts to the brim with highly-discounted games. Fortunately, while the dates of the big sales used to be a secret among developers on Steam (and a poorly kept one at that), Valve is now more transparent about when sales will occur.

The Apple iPhone Air is a beautiful contradiction. I fell in love when I first pulled it out of the minimalist packaging. Then I picked it up, and fell in love all over again. Then I set it up and tried to live with it as my daily driver, and well, dropped out of love. But I keep sneaking glances at it sitting on my desk, and every time I pick it up — everything is forgiven and forgotten again. Until I had to do anything.

Most browsers today make password storage feel effortless. When you sign in somewhere new, Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox offer to remember your credentials and even sync them across devices. Autofill takes care of the rest, saving a few seconds every time you log in. It’s no surprise that millions of people trust their browsers to manage this sensitive data.

Despite their apparent lack of popularity in the grand scheme of things, I've professed my appreciation for mini PCs a few times in the past, and my main work setup is, in fact, powered by an M4 Mac Mini. This is still my preferred form factor for a computer, and I think they deserve more attention.

It's very rare that we see a game so well-loved in the gaming community go on a 92% discount, but when it does, you can be sure we'll notice. After all, who doesn't like getting a critically acclaimed game for an incredibly agreeable price?