Over 100,000 steps, and probably just as many Red Bulls, later, I'm finally putting a bow on my Computex trip. There were some wonderful announcements at the show, from an Asus gaming keyboard that's the first of its kind to Intel's Project Battlematrix to AMD's tease of the next version of FSR. But by far my favorite part of Computex each year are the insane, custom rigs that are on display on the show floor. Not only are they great eye candy, they also show exceptional craftsmanship.

Like many of the components in a computer, performance doesn't always come down to "higher number = better." There's a ton of nuance within each part, and while sometimes performance is easy to quantify by looking at specs, the VRAM capacity of a graphics card isn't one you can do that with.

We still don’t know for sure what Ive and Altman are building together, but it isn’t glasses or a phone.The mysterious device that OpenAI is cooking up with former Apple designer Jony Ive will be pocket-size, contextually aware, screen-free, and isn’t eyewear. Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed details about the project in an internal staff call reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, after announcing the $6.5 billion acquisition of Ive’s AI hardware startup, io.Altman suggested that the acquisition could increase OpenAI’s value by $1 trillion, and envisioned a “family of devices” being born from the partnership. Information about the first device, which Altman is aiming to release by late 2026, has been kept tightly under wraps since its development was confirmed last year over concerns that competitors will set about trying to copy the product before it’s launched to the public. Altman dropped some hints during the call that shape our expectations, however, including that it will be unobtrusive, fully aware of a user’s life and surroundings, and will serve as a “third core device” a person would put on a desk after a MacBook Pro and an iPhone. OpenAI is already predicting that the device will be popular, with Altman saying that it will ship “faster than any company has ever shipped 100 million of something new before.”The leaked call also gave some insight into what the device likely won’t be — Altman said that it isn’t a pair of glasses, and that Ive wasn’t keen to make something you’d need to wear on the body, having recently slammed the Humane AI Pin. Altman has also denied rumors that OpenAI is developing a phone. The Journal previously reported that Ive and Altman wanted to wean users away from screens, with Ive saying in a recent interview that his next product is driven by owning the “unintended consequences” associated with the iPhone.Altman told OpenAI employees on the call that they have “the chance to do the biggest thing we’ve ever done as a company here.” The Journal reports that Ive referred to the project as “a new design movement,” and harkened back to his Apple career that saw him work closely with Steve Jobs before his passing in 2011. Now teamed up with Altman, Ive said, “the way that we clicked, and the way that we’ve been able to work together, has been profound for me.”

It’s like a shrunken, stripped-down X100.Fujifilm has a new pint-size addition to its X-series cameras coming in late June: the X Half. It’s an 18-megapixel “half-frame” camera with a portrait-oriented sensor and viewfinder and a fixed 32mm-equivalent f/2.8 lens.Despite being digital, the X Half is all about the vintage film aesthetic. The $849.99 camera is so dedicated to an analog-like lifestyle that it’s got an entire secondary screen just for picking one of its 13 film simulations, and it doesn’t shoot RAW photos at all — just JPGs, for a more what-you-see-is-what-you-get experience.Fujifilm’s definition of a half-frame is a bit different from the traditional one. Usually, a half-frame film camera like the Pentax 17 captures images measuring 18mm x 24mm (around half the size of full-frame / 35mm format). But the X Half uses a 1-inch-type sensor measuring 8.8mm x 13.3mm, which is about half the dimensions of the APS-C sensors in other Fujifilm cameras like the X100VI and X-T5. So I guess it counts on a technicality.But like the Pentax 17 and other actual half-frame cameras, the X Half is all about taking casual, fun snapshots and bringing it with you everywhere. It weighs just 8.5 ounces / 240 grams and is small enough to fit in most small bags or even some oversized pockets. The X Half is close in size to a traditional disposable camera, but unlike a one-time-use film camera it has a proper glass autofocusing lens with aspherical corrections, and it even shoots some basic 1080 x 1440 video. (Though, in my briefing on the camera, Justin Stailey of Fujifilm North America described the lens as having “some character.” Which is often a colorful way of saying the lens isn’t the sharpest.)Once you take some shots via the X Half’s traditional optical viewfinder (that’s right, there’s no EVF or hybrid finder here) or its portrait-orientation 2.4-inch touchscreen, you can connect to a dedicated smartphone app (launching slightly after the camera) for extra functions. You can create your own two-up diptychs like a traditional half-frame camera, though here you can pick out the two side-by-side pictures, or you can opt for two videos or one picture and one video.Fujifilm has baked other analog-inspired features into the X Half app, like a Film Camera Mode that collects your next 36, 54, or 72 images and arranges them into a contact sheet. But the film nerdiness goes deeper than that, as the digital film strip will be branded with the film simulation you used. There’s even a faux film advance lever for making diptychs, and in Film Camera Mode it forces you to use it between taking each shot.You can lean further into the film kitsch by adding filters, like a light leak effect, expired film look, or a ’90s-era time and date stamp to the corner. Of course, since the camera does not shoot RAW, your chosen filter and film simulation are fully baked into the JPG file. You can’t undo any of them or change it later in post-processing like you’d normally be able to with a RAW.Fujifilm is certainly taking a unique approach with the X Half, trying to capture the interest of younger photo enthusiasts who in recent years have been drawn to the imperfections and vibes of vintage film and aging point-and-shoot digital cameras. I don’t know how many of them will be jumping at the opportunity to scratch that creative itch with an $850 camera compared to alternatives costing a fraction of that — like a $70 Camp Snap for digital or any 35mm disposable film camera for $10 to $20 — but even if it’s half the fun I had with the Pentax 17 it should prove a good time.

Signal is a fairly popular messaging app that is touted for its security features. It is primarily used by those who are very conscious of their privacy or are involved in whistleblowing activities. The cross-platform app offers end-to-end encryption (E2EE) and is estimated to have tens of millions of users all over the globe.

Chapter 18: Belly of the Beast in Doom: The Dark Ageshas the Slayer navigating the insides of the Old One, after the ancient deity rises up to ingest him in the previous chapter. In a stark contrast to the first half of the game, the latter chapters are set in a Lovecraftian realm, and you can read in our review of the game how impressed it left us.

Dyson’s new skinny PencilVac looks like a broom. | Image: DysonDyson has announced what it’s claiming is the “world’s slimmest vacuum cleaner.” At first glance, its new PencilVac looks like a broom rather than a vacuum because the battery, motor, and electronics are all integrated into a thin handle that’s just 38mm in diameter — the same thickness as Dyson’s Supersonic r hair dryer. It weighs in at just under four pounds and is powered by the company’s smallest and fastest vacuum motor yet.The PencilVac is designed to be a replacement for the slim Dyson Omni-glide, which launched in 2021 with a cleaning head that used two spinning brushes so it could suck up dust and dirt in multiple directions. The new PencilVac is not only slimmer and lighter than the Omni-glide, it uses four spinning brush bars that Dyson calls Fluffycones.As the name implies, the Fluffycones each feature a conical design that causes long hairs to slide down to the narrow end of each brush and fall off so they can be sucked up instead of getting tangled up around the brushes. The Fluffycones slightly protrude at the sides for better edge cleaning, and are paired with green LED lights (instead of the lasers that Dyson’s other vacuums use) that illuminate dust and debris so you can see when floors have been properly cleaned.Other innovations Dyson is introducing with the PencilVac include a motor that’s just 28mm in diameter but spins at 140,000RPM to generate 55AW of suction, and a new two-stage dust filtration system that prevents clogging and performance loss as the vac fills up. Given its size, the PencilVac has a smaller dust bin than Dyson’s other cleaners, but uses a new design that compresses dust as it’s removed from the airflow to help maximize how much dirt the bin can hold.The PencilVac magnetically connects to a floor dock for charging and storage, and features a small LCD screen that shows the cleaning mode and an estimate of how long before the battery dies. It’s also Dyson’s first vacuum to connect to the MyDyson mobile app, which offers access to additional settings, alerts for when the filter needs to be cleaned, and step-by-step maintenance instructions.The vacuum’s slim design does come with some trade-offs when compared to the company’s larger models. Its cleaning head is designed for use on hard floors, not carpeting, and while it can be swapped with alternate attachments like a furniture and crevice tool, it doesn’t convert to a shorter handheld vac. Runtime is also limited to just 30 minutes of cleaning at its lowest power setting, but its battery is swappable and Dyson will sell additional ones to extend how long you can clean.Dyson hasn’t revealed pricing details yet, and while the PencilVac will launch in Japan later this year, it won’t be available in the US until 2026.

Microsoft employees have discovered that any emails they send with the terms "Palestine" or "Gaza" are getting temporarily blocked from being sent to recipients inside and outside the company. The No Azure for Apartheid (NOAA) protest group reports that "dozens of Microsoft workers" have been unable to send emails with the words "Palestine," "Gaza," and "Genocide" in email subject lines or in the body of a message."Words like 'Israel' or 'P4lestine' do not trigger such a block," says NOAA organizer Hossam Nasr. "NOAA believes this is an attempt by Microsoft to silence worker free speech and is a censorship enacted by Microsoft leadership to discriminate against Palestinian workers and their allies."Microsoft confirmed to The Verge that it has implemented some form of email changes to reduce "politically focused emails" inside the company."Emailing large numbers of employees about any topic not related to work is not appropriate. We have an established forum for employees who have opted in to political issues," says Microsoft spokesperson Frank Shaw in a statement to The Verge. "Over the past couple of days, a number of politically focused emails have been sent to tens of tho …Read the full story at The Verge.

Chapter 17: Temple of Lomarith in Doom: The Dark Agessees the Slayer further continue his journey onward through the Cosmic Realm, following the life signal of Commander Thira. In a stark contrast to the first half of the game, the latter chapters are set in a Lovecraftian realm, and you can read in our review of the game how impressed it left us.

I had been thinking about setting up some kind of NAS system for a while leading up to when I started my self-hosting journey just a few weeks ago. I knew I wanted to reduce my reliance on cloud-hosted third-party services, but everything was very foreign to me and I wasn't sure I'd get very far.

Google knows everything about us: what we search for, how we shop, sensitive financial data, and more. While you might not have anything in your life you want to keep hidden, you might not want to be voluntarily handing over your data either. Most users and small companies use all, if not most, of Google’s products, such as Docs, Meet, Drive, Gmail, Calendar, Chrome, Maps, Photos, YouTube, Android, Chromebooks, and other devices.

Look at your router. Now back to me. Now back to your router. And back to me. Your router isn't me, but it could be improved with a managed network switch. This is a smart switch that can provide additional bandwidth through more RJ45 ports and controls for creating virtual LANs (VLANs), managing and monitoring traffic, and setting priorities and other rules. Even if you don't plan to build out a home lab with countless servers and network-attached storage (NAS) enclosures, a network switch is worth considering for your home.