Google's Gemini AI is now better at editing your photos, and it's free for everyone. I have a backlog of travel photos that need editing, dating back over two years, which leaves me with hundreds of photos to edit and clean up before adding them to my digital photo library for safekeeping.

You don't need expensive, complicated networking equipment to create a compelling home local area network (LAN). So long as your router and all other connected hardware work together and you have no issues running everything required, you're good to go. But should you wish to dabble in virtual LAN (VLAN) and other more advanced features, I highly recommend considering a managed switch.

If you listen to music the way a lot of people do these days - with a pair of wireless earbuds, from a Bluetooth speaker, or just blaring directly out of your phone - you will never notice a difference between Spotify's high-quality 320Kbps streams and its lossless audio. But, if you usually listen with wired headphones while working at your desk, or have a quality speaker from the likes of Bose that supports Spotify Connect, there actually is something to be gained here.Comparing Spotify's normal quality streams (96Kbps) with the new 24-bit / 44.1kHz lossless FLAC files feels unfair. Even a relatively untrained ear should be able to hear …Read the full story at The Verge.

I love the idea of self-hosting all my apps and services. Not being reliant on commercial cloud services is a dream. The idea of cutting out big tech, taking back control and running my own slice of the internet from my own server excites me. It smells of freedom. No subscriptions or being tied to terms and conditions, or being at the back and call of a third party service's uptimes. All that sounds incredible, but it isn't how it always pans out. When you're running a self-hosted stack, you're the IT guy, you're the support and you're the maintenance. Updates break things, usually at the worst possible time, services become unreliable, and you're spending more time fixing things than enjoying them. I've tried enough self-hosted apps to know that some are simply not worth the effort to me and maybe to you. These are the four self-hosted services that I regret trying to rely on the most.

The ESP32 is an incredibly versatile chip that comes in all kinds of forms and devices. From smart "Now Playing"-style displays to security systems, it can do a whole lot. For those with a supported display, you can even turn it into a Flipper Zero-competitor of sorts thanks to Marauder. However, I decided to build my own Wi-Fi scanner and honeypot using a regular ESP32-S3 and a Python server on my computer.

Proxmox has many features that I appreciate, but its FOSS nature and thriving community might just be my favorites. Thanks to a talented community of tinkerers, Proxmox has a massive number of script repositories that not only make it easy to use the virtualization platform, but also add certain functionalities to it. There’s the Proxmox VE Helper-Scripts repo for easy to use templates, PVE mods for real-time temperature monitoring, and Ultimate Updater for simpler VM and LXC updates.

It’s September, and many among us are dealing with back to school, and anticipating the colder weather that’s on its way (at least, if you live in the northern climes). This, plus a somewhat fraught political atmosphere, means that you might be looking for reliable, affordable ways to escape the doldrums.You don’t need us to tell you that a way to do that is by watching some movies and TV shows. Through September 18th, Paramount is offering a doozy of a deal on both tiers of its Plus streaming service. You can save 50 percent on an annual subscription to Paramount Plus Essential, or its mostly ad-free Premium plan. The Essential Plan is down to $29.99 (from $59.99) and a Premium plan goes to $59.99 (from $119.99). The neat thing is that you can take advantage of this whether you’re a new or a returning subscriber (but be careful to mark your calendar; it will renew after that year at full price).Paramount Plus Essential (annual subscription)Essential gets you ad-supported access to TV shows and movies. You won’t be able to download content, but you get many of the same benefits as Premium.Where to Buy: $59.99 $29.99 at Paramount PlusParamount Plus Premium (annual subscription)The Premium tier allows for downloads, and content can be viewed without ads (except during live TV). You’ll also get access to Showtime series and CBS.Where to Buy: $119.99 $59.99 at ParamountIt’s a tempting deal, whether you go for the ad-supported Essential or the skip-the-ads Premium. The latter also lets you download your shows, which could be very handy when you’re traveling with kids, and from its library of Showtime Originals. Either way, you not only get recent shows like Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the entire Yellowstone catalog, Top Gun: Maverick, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and Bob Marley: One Love, but animation series like South Park and SpongeBob Squarepants, and live NFL games. Also, it hosts every Mission Impossible movie, aside from the latest one, The Final Reckoning.Other deals our readers loved this weekLego kits are really popular, but the more elaborate types can quickly get pricey. If you just want to brighten up your home and do a quick bit of affordable building, you can get a pair of Lego sunflowers for only $7.99 (normally up to $14.99) at Amazon, Target, and Walmart. If you’d rather spend your entire weekend absorbed in Lego building, you can get the house from the Pixar movie Up for $38.49 (normally $59.99, a savings of $21.50) at Walmart.Several Verge readers have dug this launch deal on the Baseus VD1 Pro dash cam, which is $109.99 at Amazon (instead of $169.99). The system comes with two components: the front camera has a solar panel that powers its rechargeable battery, allowing it to detect motion and impacts for up to 14 days — without sipping on your car’s battery. It also includes a rear camera that can see what’s happening behind your car.The college football season is well underway, and if you can’t get enough of seeing your favorite team hit the field every week, we suggest getting EA Sports College Football 26 for the PS5 or Xbox Series X. The game was $20 off when we first covered the deal earlier this week, but it has since dropped to almost $30 off at Amazon, at least for the PS5 version. It’s $49.99 for the Xbox version, which is still a nice deal. If your chosen way to escape is to take a refreshing run while listening to your favorite tunes, then you may want to check out the Nothing Ear Open, the company’s first pair of open-style earbuds, which are now on sale at Nothing’s online storefront or Amazon for an all-time low $99 ($50 off) with a Prime membership.Not every gamer wants a bulky over-ear headset. Sony’s Inzone Buds are a great, significantly more compact alternative, and they’re cheaper than ever this week. GameStop has them for $143.98 ($86 off), and no other retailers are matching the price. These wireless earbuds offer superb sound quality, effective active noise cancellation, and a USB-C transmitter that works in everything from a PS5 and Switch 2 to a PC.Finally, if you’re looking for a new phone and are not into the idea of waiting for an iPhone 17 preorder to arrive, you can find a cute and useful budget foldable for a great price. Motorola’s latest Razr is currently matching its all-time low price of $599.99 ($100 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Motorola’s online storefront, It’s solid, lightweight, and offer an internal OLED display that stretches to 6.9 inches when the phone is open.

In recent months, I've talked a whole lot about moving away from Windows 11 and how much I prefer Linux. And yes, I've used Linux quite a bit on a few laptops, but the truth is I work on a desktop computer 95% of the time, and that's not a Linux PC. Indeed, I work on the M4 Mac Mini I reviewed last year, and while I initially complained about a lot of macOS behaviors, things have changed.

Who doesn't like a free game? They're quick to install (usually), they're short and sweet, and, well, they don't cost a penny. If that isn't reason enough to at least try out a free game, I wouldn't know what is. In my own experience, I've found that in this department, platformers do the best work. Whether they are 2D or 3D platformers, free-to-play games flourish with tight controls and clever design instead of big budgets.

The average home now has dozens of networked devices, from computers to smart devices and streaming boxes. Each of these comes with different considerations about how they use the network, and that's an issue if they're all on the same IP range. Those smart home devices should really be kept away from the rest of your network. Streaming devices send tons of broadcast chatter out, and that's before getting into IP security cameras and other devices you may have set up. But there's a simple solution, using virtual LANs aka VLANs.

There is a connection between people that were kids during the 90s and dinosaurs. Whether it was because everyone back then watched the first Jurassic Park film or any of the Land Before Time animated features, people love things with dinosaurs in them. This is why many different video games released over the years have included or featured dinosaurs somehow. One way or another, dinosaurs had a presence in games that made a significant impact. It was a time when dinosaurs truly ruled entertainment with an iron jaw.

AMD's Ryzen CPUs have transformed the company's prospects, from an also-ran running out of money quickly, to the class leader in desktop and server processors. Recent releases like the Ryzen 9000 series have cemented its place ahead of rival Intel, and it doesn't look like that will change any time soon. With that knowledge, you might be tempted to use AMD for your CPU next build, and that's a good idea, but you should also know what little foibles you're getting.