The hard drive that I have been using since 2017 died on me around two years ago. It was past the 5-year mark, and had started showing signs that it was about to die, such as slow access speeds and occasional file corruption. Alas, I procrastinated backing up my data, ignoring all the well-meaning advice we tend to give readers here. Then, the worst happened, and my HDD stopped working completely one fine day.

Netflix is starting to test search that’s powered by OpenAI, according to Bloomberg.The new search engine will let users “look for shows using far more specific terms, including the subscriber’s mood, for example, the company said,” per the report. This OpenAI-powered search will also allow users to make queries that “go well beyond genres or actors’ names.”The feature, which is opt in, is already available for some users to try in Australia and New Zealand on iOS.Netflix spokesperson MoMo Zhou confirmed to The Verge that Bloomberg’s story is accurate. Zhou says that the test will expand to the US “in the coming weeks and months” and that there aren’t currently plans for the feature outside of iOS.“It’s early days for the feature and we’re really in a learn and listen phase for this beta,” Zhou says.OpenAI didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.In an interview on the Decoder podcast last year, The Verge’s editor-in-chief, Nilay Patel, asked Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters about how the company was thinking about AI. Here was part of his response:We have a long history of using machine learning and artificial intelligence in our recommender systems. We’ve been doing that for 20-some years. Again, we think that our job is to be proactive about understanding where there’s technical innovation. How do we use that both to serve creators, allow them to tell their stories in more compelling ways, and also then to serve our members better user experiences?

In a perfect world, no one will have to buy used PC hardware, and newly launched components will be widely available at affordable prices, providing phenomenal generational gains, every single time. We don't live in that world, unfortunately, which is why used PC components exist. Buying a used PC part can be filled with anxiety, especially when doing it for the first time. If you know how to protect yourself when buying used hardware, you open yourself up to a whole new world.

No other PC component attracts as much attention and fanfare as graphics cards. Every GPU launch is preceded by a flurry of rumors and leaks, and proceeded by endless coverage, analyses, and criticism. Amid this entire hype, manufacturers do their best to confuse the consumer by marketing features that have little to do with actual performance.

For the first few PCs I used, I didn't have much of a say in the components. I used to shoot for the stars, and my parents used to land a few storeys from the ground, selecting whatever hardware fit the budget. Later, when I started earning, and had full control over my builds for the first time, I started with budget PCs. From using a Pentium 3 pre-built machine to a custom-built Ryzen 7 5700X and RTX 3080 gaming rig, I have a long list of CPUs and GPUs that I wish I had purchased at launch.

If you have ever felt overwhelmed by information or struggled to leverage your knowledge effectively, you're not alone. I went on extensive testing and put dozens of PKM tools to their paces. While each tool brought its unique advantages, the real goal wasn't in mastering every feature but in discovering fundamental productivity principles that consistently delivered results.

When Nintendo announced the Switch 2 would cost $450, my initial reaction was disappointment. “Why does it cost so much more?” I thought to myself. “Why does Japan get it cheaper?” my brain jealously added, once I learned that Nintendo would sell a Japan-only model for the equivalent of just $333.It felt like Nintendo was about to overcharge the entire rest of the world for a modest improvement to its original $300 console, one that doesn’t come with an OLED display or anti-drift magnetic sticks. Surely it can’t cost Nintendo that much more to make, especially seeing how it’s selling the exact same hardware for so much “less” in Japan? But while Nintendo might be charging more than I’d like to spend, particularly with its $80 games and its button that makes you pay extra, I no longer think the company’s being distinctly unfair to gamers outside of Japan. The $450 price makes more sense when you consider what’s happened to the dollar and the yen. Since its March 3rd, 2017, debut, Nintendo basically hasn’t changed the price of the original Switch in either the US or Japan. The portable console cost $300 USD or Â¥32,378 in 2017; it costs the same $300 …Read the full story at The Verge.

It's easy to see why portable SSDs are so popular. Not only do they offer excellent performance, but you also get a device that's rugged and compact. Crucial's X9 portable SSD delivers on all fronts, and is now down to its lowest price for a limited time.

Ever since Microsoft added widgets to Windows, I haven't really made use of them. However, the newest Windows 11 Beta patch may change that. Microsoft has pushed a new update full of content, and one of the key features allows you to read articles on MSN right from your Widgets feed.

The ability to craft anything from your imagination makes 3D printers invaluable for DIY projects involving microcontrollers, SBCs, and other computing devices. By letting you concoct everything from custom screws and cable ties to full-on racks and cases for your paraphernalia, a 3D printer serves as a solid investment for home labs.

I've been going all out on my smart home recently, and that includes finding new ways to integrate older hardware that I have lying around into Home Assistant. That hasn't been too much of an issue; many of my older Tuya devices work with Local Tuya, and I have a lot of self-hosted services that are useful for feeding info into Home Assistant, too. I hit a major snag when it came to my Govee H615B strip lights, though, which led me down a rabbit hole of reverse engineering to integrate them like I had everything else.

Nintendo has a special stranglehold on many gamers, myself included. No matter what the company does to us, we begrudgingly accept our fate and bow to nostalgia. The second a new Mario game is revealed, we all become little kids again, excited to see what new abilities the mustachioed protagonist has. When Nintendo announced the GameCube addition to NSO, everyone jumped for joy despite needing to fork over additional money to get access to the games. There is no denying that I hate the Nintendo Switch 2, but I will be getting it on day one (or whenever I can obtain it in the US). Here is why I hate that I will once again succumb to the whim of the nostalgia factory we call Nintendo.