Self-hosting has exploded in popularity over the past few years. With projects like Nextcloud for storage, Jellyfin for multimedia, and Matrix as a Discord alternative, it’s easier than ever to run your own replacements for the big-name apps. I admire the control and privacy that comes with self-hosting, and while I self-host a few things here and there, there are still a few cloud services I’d rather not give up. They’re polished, they’re reliable, and for my daily workflow, they simply make more sense.

It's been a long time coming but Spotify is finally getting lossless audio. Rumors have been circulating about a high-fidelity offering since as early as 2017. In 2021, Spotify claimed it was "coming later this year." And by May of 2024 it was "almost ready." So, when rumors started picking up again in June of this year, they were met with skepticism, especially amid announcements over the launch of features nobody was asking for, like direct messaging.Well, it's here. For real. And there's some good news - Lossless won't be confined to a new higher-priced tier. There's no new Spotify HiFi membership or Music Pro subscription. Instead loss …Read the full story at The Verge.

As I primarily write about different software and platforms, I use multiple computers running on various operating systems. My primary laptop is a Mac. I have a gaming desktop running on Windows, and a server-grade mini PC on which I recently installed Ubuntu to get a taste of Linux. The Mac and the Windows desktop are my most-used computers, since I use the PC when I'm at home, and the MacBook when traveling. Every time I switch between the two platforms, there are features I miss on both of them. Owing to this, I've brought several macOS features onto Windows and vice versa over the past few months. One of them is Spotlight Search.

Nvidia is releasing a new GeForce Game Ready driver today in preparation for the Borderlands 4 release later this week. There’s also an Nvidia app update arriving today that includes a new RTX Remix update to allow modders to improve fire and smoke effects in older games.Today’s Game Ready driver (581.29) includes optimizations for DLSS 4 in Borderlands 4, with the new game also supporting Multi Frame Generation and Nvidia’s Reflex technology. Dying Light: The Beast is also part of the Game Ready driver, with optimizations ahead of its release next week with DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation, DLSS Super Resolution, and regular DLSS Frame Generation support.The new RTX Remix update lets modders create new particles in Remix that are similar to those found in modern games. More than 165 RTX Remix games are now ready to be modded further to improve smoke and fire effects. Modders have managed to greatly improve older games thanks to RTX Remix, and Nvidia used Half-Life 2 as a showcase for its RTX 50-series GPUs and the RTX Remix tool earlier this year.Nvidia’s RTX 50-series GPUs are also restocked at Amazon, Best Buy, and Newegg with a variety of cards at or close to recommended retail prices. Here are the latest deals available:Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5060 WINDFORCE OC 8GB GDDR7 – $298.99 at AmazonASUS DUAL NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 OC Edition 8GB GDDR7 – $299.99 at Best BuyZotac GAMING GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB AMP – $599.00 at Newegg CAPNY GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8GB EPIC-X RGB Overclocked – $379.99 at WalmartPNY NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8GB EPIC-X RGB OC Triple Fan – $379.99 at B&H PhotoASUS PRIME NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 12GB GDDR7 – $549.99 at Best BuyPNY GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Overclocked Triple Fan – $699.00 at WalmartGIGABYTE NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti WINDFORCE SFF 16GB GDDR7 – $749.99 at Best BuyPNY – GeForce RTX 5080 16GB OC GDDR7 — $999.99 at Best Buy

Nikon has just unveiled the ZR, its first official co-brand with RED, the cinema camera company it purchased in April of last year.The ZR takes what Nikon has already been doing well, with its heavily adaptable Z-mount, internal RAW video recording and popular color science and turns it up to 11 for video shooters. That's headlined by its ability to shoot RED R3D NE files. These files allow you to change settings like ISO and white balance can be changed in post, giving you way more flexibility after shooting. It was a big reason people purchased RED cameras in the past, and it'll makes it much easier to color match these cameras to existi …Read the full story at The Verge.

Ask someone their worst fears about AI, and you'll find a few recurring topics - from near-term fears like AI tools replacing human workers and the loss of critical thinking to apocalyptic scenarios like AI-designed weapons of mass destruction and automated war. Most have one thing in common: a loss of human control. And the system many AI experts fear most will spiral out of our grip? Elon Musk's Grok. Grok was designed to compete with leading AI systems like Anthropic's Claude and OpenAI's ChatGPT. From the beginning, its selling point has been loose guardrails. When xAI, Musk's AI startup, debuted Grok in November 2023, the announceme …Read the full story at The Verge.

Back when Copilot was still just a plan in Microsoft's eyes, its CEO, Satya Nadella, said that he wanted the AI assistant to become the next Start menu. We saw the beginnings of this concept when the Copilot key arrived on our laptops, although Microsoft has since let us rebind it (as did KDE on Linux).

A before and after image of a bedroom changed using Zillow’s Virtual Staging tool. Zillow is launching an AI-powered feature that will allow home hunters to empty the room of furniture or subtly change the design style. The intent is to make it easier to overcome the owner’s dodgy design choices and questionable furniture so buyers can better picture themselves living in a property.In concept, the tool, called Virtual Staging, is great. It tackles a genuine and difficult problem that almost anyone who has searched for a home at some point has encountered. “Too many buyers overlook what could be the perfect home for their family simply because they can’t see past the furniture or design choices,” says Zillow home trends expert Amanda Pendleton.Unfortunately, Virtual Staging is rather basic in this phase of the rollout. The lackluster changes are so subtle — adjusting a bit of furniture here, changing the color of a rug there — you’d have trouble knowing anything had changed without the telltale sparkles of AI or the ability to slide back and forth between preselected styles like modern, Scandinavian, luxury and farmhouse.Zillow says the feature is a “smarter way to shop” and sell, joining an AI search feature it upgraded last year to help shoppers find homes. Its use will be limited to premium “Showcase” listings, and even then it’s only on “select featured room photos.” All the examples seem limited to plain white walls, as well.

I grew up in the 2000s, so it might be a surprising statement when I say that much of my introduction to the internet, technology, and gaming came from Internet Relay Chat, also known as IRC. As a kid, I had no idea that IRC was already an incredibly important piece of internet history. It dates back to the 1980s, predating the World Wide Web itself, and was the brainchild of a Finnish student named Jarkko Oikarinen. As it turns out, real-time group chats were in existence years before web browsers and AOL existed, and decades before Discord, Slack, or WhatsApp.

In the race to accelerate AI on everyday devices, the industry has long relied on two workhorses: GPUs, with their raw parallel power, and NPUs (Neural Processing Units), designed for specialized neural network tasks. Both come with flaws, though. GPUs have a latency and power overhead for short, spiky workloads (like a voice assistant processing a quick query, or an AI-powered device search), and NPUs, while efficient, are fragmented across vendors and force developers to account for a lot of different hardware. That's why I find Arm's alternative option intriguing, and honestly, outright better than a pure NPU reliance.

How good a shot are you with a Nerf gun? If you're not sure or you're just a little rusty, you can always use a firing range to test your skills. However, blasting tin cans gets tiring after a while, and annoying your family and pets with them only goes so far until you're left with a snapped-in-half Nerf gun.

A Raspberry Pi may be small, but it can power a complete home theater experience when set up correctly. With the right software and accessories, you can stream movies, manage your media library, or even bring retro gaming into your living room. Each option has its own strengths, and most are flexible enough to customize to your needs. Whether you want something polished and user-friendly or prefer tinkering with advanced features, the Pi has plenty of options to explore.