Like every gamer over a certain age, I’ve come to terms with the fact I’ll never clear off my gaming backlog. There just aren’t enough hours in the world, but that’s okay.

Pompeii reimagined with Nano Banana 2 in Google Earth. | Image: Google Google has shut down Google Earth feature it launched Thursday that allowed users to edit satellite images with text prompts using AI. The tool essentially let users create AI deepfakes of the real world using text prompts; Digital Digging's Henk van Ess, for example, intentionally generated images adding things like refugees near the Mexican border and a bomb crater by a hospital in Gaza. On Thursday, Google's initial response to van Ess noted that images generated with Nano Banana 2 in Google Earth included a digital watermark and that the company prevented "image creation on harmful topics."One day later, Google's new statement says tha …Read the full story at The Verge.

When AI chatbots were still in their honeymoon phase, most of us never gave a second thought to the model actually answering our questions. There were no usage limits to speak of, no real cost to being wasteful, and no spread of models to choose from even if you wanted to. You got one model, it gave you an answer, and there was nothing to weigh it against. We never developed a sense for matching a task to a model, because the situation never asked us to.

Most productivity tools are built for one type of person: the person who already cares about productivity tools. If you're the one setting things up, tagging things, maintaining the system, then a Notion or Todoist or Asana is fine. But a lot of the time what you actually need is just somewhere to jot down a running list and scratch things down. The heavy tools are overkill for that, and the light ones (sticky notes, phone notes app) don't really cut it.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is probing nearly 1.2 million Tesla vehicles after receiving complaints about a suspension failure that could cause "a loss of vehicle directional control," as reported earlier by Reuters. The preliminary investigation includes the 2018-2020 Model 3 and 2021-2023 Model Y, according to a filing from the NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation.The NHTSA says it received 156 complaints about the issue, which "involves the detachment of the front lower lateral link." In most cases reviewed by the NHTSA, failure occurred with "no advance warning," but some "cite noises occurring prior t …Read the full story at The Verge.

Adobe's Creative Cloud suite may dominate the creative industry, but that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of people eager to ditch the company's software for various reasons. Open-source alternatives to Lightroom have existed for some time, but I could never quite get into the likes of Darktable or RawTherapee, so I still needed Adobe.

Both Amazon and Costco are offering some solid deals. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge We spotted a great deal on Tile trackers earlier this week that’s still live, but if you’re an iPhone owner, we ultimately recommend Apple’s latest AirTag. Right now, you can pick up a four-pack for $89 ($10 off) at Amazon and Target, matching the bundle’s all-time low price. If you’re a member, Costco also has a deal that throws in a fifth AirTag for free.Apple AirTags (second-generation)Where to Buy: $99 $89 at Amazon (pack of four) $99 $89.99 at Target (pack of four)A growing number of Bluetooth trackers can tap into Apple’s Find My network these days, but none combine that with Apple’s latest ultra wideband (UWB) chip, which powers even better Precision Finding than before. Precision Finding uses on-screen arrows and distance indicators in the Find My app to guide you directly to a misplaced item, while the second-generation AirTag’s upgraded chip and extended Bluetooth range make it faster and more reliable to locate tags, even in multistory homes. You can also use Precision Finding to find lost items on an Apple Watch, provided you have a Series 9 or later. And if all else fails, the built-in speaker is noticeably louder than before, making it easier to track down an AirTag by sound.Plus, like its predecessor, the second-generation AirTag comes with a handful of features that are especially useful if you’re traveling this summer. AirTag sharing lets up to five people keep track of the same item, while Apple’s Share Item Location feature allows you to temporarily share an AirTag’s location with participating airlines, including United, Delta, and American Airlines. It’s still a shame Apple doesn’t include a built-in lanyard hole, meaning you’ll need to buy a separate loop or holder, but the tracker continues to use a replaceable CR2032 battery, so you won’t have to replace the entire device when it eventually runs out of power. And at $89 for a four-pack, it’s also a little easier on your wallet today.Read our second-generation AirTag review.

The Sharge Disk Pro 2. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge Sharge, the company that makes delightful retro Mac-shaped chargers and see-inside batteries, is finally impressing me with a portable SSD. I couldn't recommend the Sharge Disk, Disk Plus, or even the Disk Pro, but I'd be happy to own the new Disk Pro 2 Ultra.This isn't just a drive. It's a 4K HDMI dock and a USB-C hub too. It's a veritable USB-C Swiss Army Knife for all your main gadgets: laptop, tablet, phone, Steam Deck, even the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. And this USB multitool has built-in MagSafe pattern magnets to stick it to your iPhone, Pixel, or anything where you're willing to stick a magnetic ring. (One stick-on ring is in …Read the full story at The Verge.

Google is seemingly working on an item tracker that might compete with Apple's AirTag. 9to5Google obtained an image of something called a "Google Pixel Tag" that has a small oval shape. The publication also linked to a Slovenian store listing about the Pixel Tag that describes the gadget as an item tracker with a speaker that uses Google's "Find My Device" network (which is now called Find Hub).The Pixel Tag is popping up shortly ahead of Google's planned hardware launch event for August 12th. Google has already shown off teases of the Pixel 11 lineup for the event, and leaks have also appeared for a new foldable, smartwatch, and earbuds. …Read the full story at The Verge.

I’ve been spending a lot of time using local LLMs lately, and most of the time the process is boredom-inducing. Load the model, run a CLI command, nod at the tokens-per-second figure as if I understand what’s going on. Those numbers only tell part of the story, as knowing how fast something is doesn’t tell you how long it can stay on task.

If you want to get someone into tech, one of the best ways is to break it down so it's as simple as making a Lego set. That's the underlying mentality behind this adorable little robot, which took five years to come to fruition. All you need to do is put the pieces together, and you have your own little robot, and best of all, it can accept code wirelessly in real time without the need to recompile anything.