When I first started home labbing, I thought it would be as simple as getting some hardware, spinning up a few services, and letting things run. I quickly learned that there’s a lot more to it. Over time, I’ve made mistakes, reconfigured my setup more than once, and discovered things I wish I’d known from the beginning. If you’re thinking about starting a home lab, these insights might save you from a few headaches.

The library of games for the Nintendo 64 includes a number of popular releases and niche titles that people really enjoyed playing. Some of my favorite memories of the N64 come from games that weren't massive hits, but were still incredibly fun to experience. Whether someone was a fan of single-player or multiplayer games, there was always something intriguing to play on the console in one way or another. Unfortunately, game series that never found massive success were destined to fade into obscurity, while other franchises rose to prominence and continued to thrive on other Nintendo platforms. But those lesser-known games still managed to remain part of my gaming memories while growing up with Nintendo's 64-bit console.

The inner workings of Windows 11 can sometimes be a mystery to a lot of people, and it's easy to ignore the fact that some of the features enabled by default can actually hurt your experience. One of these features that you might not know about is called memory compression, and while it's generally a good thing, there's a chance it could be hampering your PC's performance.

When you're in the market for a new SSD, you're probably focusing on the PCIe interface (PCIe 4.0 or PCIe 5.0) and the read/write speeds. Most people choose a reasonably priced PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD for their PC, and the one spec they might check is the read/write speed. That's where the research ends in most cases, but it's important to know a few other things about the drive you're buying. Whether it has DRAM or not, how long it can last, and what type of NAND it uses are vital questions that should be answered before you part with your money.

After years of relying on Microsoft 365 as the default for productivity, I’m finally making a change – and I’m not looking back. Lately, Microsoft 365 has become a bloated, frustrating experience. From a lack of meaningful innovation and a clunky user interface to sketchy AI features and ever-increasing subscription costs, I have had enough. So, after a long and sometimes painful search, I’m making the switch to something better: LibreOffice.

There was just never anything like the Super Nintendo, was there? When Nintendo followed up the NES with the SNES in 1990, it was one of the biggest generational leap forwards in gaming history. This was 16-bit sorcery with colors, music, and depth that made the NES look like a warm-up act.

At the end of July, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) convened a three-day public hearing to investigate January's mid-air collision over Washington, DC that killed 67 people. After the hearing, two conclusions were inescapable. First, the disaster should have been prevented by existing safety rules. And second, the government regulators responsible for air safety have become hesitant to enforce those rules, especially when it means standing up to industry demands for more flights and lower costs. Instead of fixing the regulatory state's institutional cowardice, however, the Trump administration is moving to undermine it ev …Read the full story at The Verge.

Some people like to stay on the cutting edge of technology. If that’s you, you already know that Google is going to officially unveil its Pixel 10 phones (including a new Fold) during its August 20th event. But if you’re someone who prefers to use these opportunities to save on last-gen tech, you’ve been rewarded with a sweet deal on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. The base 256GB version in obsidian (black) is down to $1,199 at Amazon and Best Buy, which is 33 percent off its original $1,799 price. It was selling for $100 more just last week.Google Pixel 9 Pro FoldWhere to Buy: $1799 $1199 at Amazon (256GB) $1799 $1199 at Best Buy (256GB) $1799 at Google (256GB)The Pixel 9 Pro Fold was a big leap forward compared to Google’s first-gen foldable, touting a lightweight design that looks and feels like a normal phone before you unfold it. One of its main drawbacks was that, despite its high original price, you don’t get the same great cameras in the cheaper Pixel 9 Pro (which, by the way, is only $599 at Best Buy). They’re still good, mind you, but reviewer Allison Johnson said during her testing that its telephoto lens produced softer images by comparison, and low-light photos were less detailed. Drawbacks aside, she was eager to recommend the foldable phone at its original $1,800 price.The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is nearly upon us, and it’ll likely deliver some sizeable improvements. Google itself has already shown off its design in YouTube clips, and it’s very similar to the model on sale now. However, there’s a rumor that it might have an IP68 rating, which would make it dustproof. Dust was the kryptonite for early foldable models, but the tech has apparently come a long way since then, so this would be a huge selling point in favor of the new model if it’s true.Read our full Pixel 9 Pro Fold review.Other Verge-approved deals for your weekendWe had some tough (but warranted) words for the Windows version of the Lenovo Legion Go S gaming handheld in our review. The Verge’s Sean Hollister summed it up by saying it “feels good, plays bad,” which I echo in my Polygon review from earlier this year. One of Sean’s main complaints is the exorbitant $730 price that Lenovo was charging, especially since its specs aren’t all that impressive compared to the Steam Deck, and don’t get us started on the pain of using Windows 11 in handheld mode. However, its recent $300 off price drop at Best Buy to $499.99 makes it easier to overlook its faults. This model has AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Go chip, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It’s a decent value now considering that the version with SteamOS instead of Windows 11 costs $599.99, yet includes half the RAM and storage, though we’d still recommend picking a system with a Z1 Extreme chip. Also, note that Valve told us it doesn’t officially support SteamOS on the Windows model.If you’re looking for your first — or next — Sonos speaker, there aren’t too many deals worth flagging on new units right now. One good refurbished deal has come to the surface, though, and it’s on the Sonos One SL, which is $119 at Wellbots for Verge readers. Enter the code SONOSVERGE40 at checkout to knock the price down from $159. This is an appealing deal because it beats the current prices at Sonos’ own refurbished outlet, and because it comes with a one-year warranty through Sonos — just as new speakers do. The 2019 One SL can be used alone, or synced up with other Sonos Wi-Fi speakers through the company’s app. It lacks a microphone, so you can’t bark voice commands at it. Read our Sonos One review.Those who own a 4K Blu-ray player, like the Panasonic DP-UB420-K, can add more flicks to their library of discs on the cheap over at Gruv. The shopping site (which is owned by Universal Pictures) is offering a bunch of 4K Blu-ray titles in a “3 for $30” sale, making each one just $10 before tax and shipping. Just to give you some examples of visually-stunning films that are eligible, there’s Dunkirk, Crazy Rich Asians, The Matrix Resurrections, and more.

Dead Take, the second game from Tales of Kenzera: Zau developer Surgent Studios, is a quiet horror game where the monster is ambition and the lengths a person will go for stardom. Like a lot of horror games, Dead Take relies on jumpscares to get the heart pumping. But playing this game, my deepest, most upsetting scares didn't come from the startle of a sudden knock but from the performances of the game's actors. In Dead Take, you play as Chase Lowry (Neil Newbon), a struggling actor who has come to the creepy mansion of Hollywood producer and kingmaker Duke Cain (Abubakar Salim), to look for his friend, Vinnie Monroe (Ben Starr), another …Read the full story at The Verge.

The ESP32 is one of the most versatile microcontrollers out there, capable of Wi-Fi connectivity and, in the case of the original ESP32, full-on Bluetooth, too. However, nearly every ESP32 device can at least do Bluetooth Low Energy, allowing them to capture data from a wide range of smart devices. However, with a custom Home Assistant integration and ESPHome, we can turn a few ESP32s into a way to track the presence of devices, like Apple's "Find My" network, but built for your home, instead.

During summer, your PC feels the heat just as much as you do. When the ambient temperature is high, your fans and coolers work harder to make sure your components don't overheat. Even a properly ventilated PC can run hotter and noisier than usual, and in some cases, the higher room temperature is enough to cause thermal throttling during extended gaming sessions. I experienced this firsthand while playing the Battlefield 6 open beta, where I saw my CPU temperature creep past 85C.

I’ve been hanging on to a machine with 8GB of RAM for a while now, and for the most part, it does the job. However, these days, it feels like almost every app I use is an Electron app — essentially, a web app bundled with Chromium.