Back-to-school season is closer than you might realize, especially for college students, many of whom are set to return to campus in a matter of a few short weeks. And while school can be a challenging time on many fronts, regardless of the grade, there are tools that can help you better prepare for life both inside and outside the classroom.With that in mind, we've compiled a selection of dorm-friendly recs from the larger Verge staff, as well as a few essentials suitable for high school and beyond. Apple's AirPods 4 and Roku's latest smart TV, for instance, are two entry-level upgrades designed to help students make the most of their dow …Read the full story at The Verge.

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 91, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, how is summer more than a month over already, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I'm pondering the leaked Pixel 10 lineup, marveling at BYD's leaping Yangwang U9 supercar, reading about why everyone's reading Reddit, already looking forward to Ted Lasso's fourth season, rewatching MKBHD's videos about the Escobar folding phone, melting with joy at the new Pokémon Concierge season 2 trailer, dreaming of buying the Lego Game Boy but not actually doing so because my to …Read the full story at The Verge.

Wired data connections will never be entirely replaced by wireless ones, but the Ethernet protocol still has some design constraints that limit the performance of certain data transfers. One way to optimize these large throughput transfers is by using jumbo frames, which send a larger payload of data with every Ethernet frame, while using the same overhead as the standard 1500 MTU packet size. They can help if your network is 2.5GbE or faster, as sometimes the smaller data packets cause more traffic, slowing down the network. I've tested them on my home network, and couldn't see any difference with standard tests, but it does depend on what hardware and network path you have set up.

Large language models (LLMs) aren't just chatbots or more advanced, occasionally hallucinating search engines, and there are many uses for them outside of talking to them. In fact, when treated like an actual language model, there are a ton of uses for them in productivity contexts that help me in my day-to-day life. From helping me be organized to making my day-to-day life easier, these are some of the ways I've deployed a local model to help me out.

Look, I'm not very good at managing my finances. It's taken me way too long to realize that managing personal finances is not just about keeping tabs on how much you earn and spend, but also about understanding where your money is, how it grows and whether your investments are heading in the direction of your goals. There are enough tools on the market that claim to help with that. But these are usually limited in functionality, filled with ads, or too reliant on third-party services that mine all your data. I'm not okay with that. That's when i discovered Ghostfolio.

Once your home network grows a little more complex, you soon realize that grouping devices into virtual local area networks (VLANs) makes a lot of sense, both from a security and administrative perspective. You can keep your IoT devices away from your data stores, group PCs with the printers and other network-connected devices they need, and only let those devices talk to each other, or carry IP camera feeds accessible from one central program.

The Fujifilm X-E5 has a familiar but gorgeous new look. The X-E5 is Fujifilm's tiny powerhouse. It's part of a line of cameras that has often been described as similar to the X100, except with an interchangeable lens. But the X-E line has evolved this year and is taking on a new shape. It used to be seen as a budget option, but at $1,699, that can no longer be said.Despite the fact that I've used almost every Fuji out there, this was my first time playing around with any of the X-E line of cameras. The X-E5 is a gorgeous, petite, and classy-looking camera with sharp lines throughout the body, and with buttons and an occasional concave edge for some extra flair and a distinctive look. It is ever …Read the full story at The Verge.

If you have an older PC that just doesn't meet the hardware demands of Windows 11, you're not out of options. Several Linux distributions are designed specifically for lightweight performance, user-friendly interfaces, and compatibility with aging hardware. These distros can breathe new life into machines that would otherwise be collecting dust. Best of all, they’re free, secure, and surprisingly capable for daily use.

Pi-hole is well-known in the self-hosting and privacy communities, but many people assume it requires powerful hardware to run correctly. After looking at how little CPU and RAM Pi-hole actually uses, I realized I didn’t need a full-sized Raspberry Pi or a mini PC. Instead, I repurposed a $15 Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W to act as a dedicated local DNS server and ad blocker. I’d already used one for network penetration testing, so it made sense to deploy another as my local DNS server and ad blocker.

Just like assembling a PC, putting together your first Network-Attached Storage server can be a thrilling experience. There’s the thrill of the hunt while browsing the latest components, and the satisfaction you get after successfully putting them together. If you aren’t familiar with the NAS-centric distributions out there, you’ll also experience the joy (and fright) of tinkering with an entirely new operating system.

When configuring your network-attached storage (NAS) for sending and receiving files from clients, several protocols are available. The two most common are Server Message Block (SMB) and Network File System (NFS). SMB is best suited for Windows clients, while NFS is the go-to for Linux and macOS (and any other Unix-based system). Depending on what devices you have on your home local area network (LAN) that will interact with the NAS, it may be prudent to have both active and running. It's what I do, and here's why.

I was a student not too long ago — one who always looked for cool tools to use. Having spent four years of my life pursuing a degree in electronics engineering, I know how overwhelming student life can be — especially when it comes to completing assignments and projects on time. I've spent hours researching the web for various answers and solutions to problems I would encounter. What made it worse was the spotty Wi-Fi network inside the campus that would take ages to load simple webpages. I would always wish there was a way for me to access these websites and forums even when I was offline, since it would be more efficient that way. While I couldn't do it back then, I've found a tool that can do it now.