I consume a lot of YouTube. My nighttime watching consists of history videos. Some of the best tutorials I’ve ever watched were buried inside YouTube playlists. Thirty-part explainers on Python, design thinking, creative writing, and photography, all nested neatly into a playlist I could queue up and binge.

We're getting to the point where even great laptops aren't costing all that much anymore, which is a good thing if you've been thinking about grabbing something new. While there are plenty of options, we think this Snapdragon-powered laptop from Lenovo is going to be just the thing. Not only do you get a fantastic laptop that's versatile, but it also comes with a discount that knocks $310 off, bringing it down to just $550 for a limited time.

Home Assistant is a versatile platform for connecting all your Internet of Things (IoT) and general smart home hardware. Whether you have Philips Hue bulbs, Reolink cameras, or Nuki door locks, this platform allows you to control everything from a single interface. Then there's the ability to configure automation, which can prove useful for setting values with various elements of your smart home depending on parameters detected elsewhere. For instance, should your camera detect movement, activate a nearby floodlight.

An Nvidia RTX 5090 graphics card. | Photo by Tom Warren/The VergeEvery so often, Central Computers - one of the last remaining dedicated Silicon Valley computer stores - lets subscribers know it's managed to obtain a small shipment of AMD graphics cards. Today, it informed me that I could now purchase a $600 Radeon RX 9070 XT for $850 - a $250 markup. It's not alone. I just checked every major US retailer and street prices on eBay, and I regret to inform you: the great GPU shortage has returned. Many AMD cards are being marked up $100, $200, $250, even $280. The street price of an Nvidia RTX 5080 is now over $1,500, a full $500 higher than MSRP. And an RTX 5090, the most powerful consumer GPU? You can't even get the $2,000 card for $3,000 today.Here, I've built tables to show you:ItemMSRPAverage eBay street price (Mar-Apr)Best retail price (April 25th)AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT$599$957$880AMD Radeon RX 9070$549$761$835Nvidia RTX 5090$1,999$3,871$3,140Nvidia RTX 5080$999$1,533$1,390Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti$749$1,052$825Nvidia RTX 5070$549$715$610"Best retail price" is the actual price I saw a card for on April 25th - roughly the minimum you'd pay.You shouldn't just blame tariffs for these price hikes. In early March, we found retailers were already …Read the full story at The Verge.

Power consumption is relevant in any computer, and all operating systems give you an opportunity to control how much power your system uses. Whether you're on a laptop or desktop, these settings can control every facet of your system and their power consumption.

The Nintendo Switch is one of the most successful game consoles of all time, and with its successor finally unveiled, it's finally time to bid farewell to the original. Or is it? Nintendo argues that you can just buy the original if the successor is too expensive, and with a massive library of fantastic games, it's not as if the Switch is suddenly irrelevant. Plus, if you pick up one of the much older original Switch units, it's really easy to install custom firmware... or Linux, I guess.

Donald Trump wants to mine the depths of the ocean for critical minerals ubiquitous in rechargeable batteries, signing an executive order on Thursday to try to expedite mining within US and international waters. It’s a brash move that critics say could create unknown havoc on sea life and coastal economies, and that bucks international agreements. Talks to develop rules for deep-sea mining are still ongoing through the International Seabed Authority (ISA), a process that missed an initial 2023 deadline and has continued to stymie efforts to start commercially mining the deep sea.“A dangerous precedent”“Fast-tracking deep-sea mining by bypassing the ISA’s global regulatory processes would set a dangerous precedent and would be a violation of customary international law,” Duncan Currie, legal adviser for the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition that has advocated for a moratorium on deep sea mining, said in a press statement.The ISA was established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. More than 160 nations have ratified the convention, but the United States has not. Ignoring the convention, the executive order Trump signed directs federal agencies to expedite the process for issuing licenses to companies seeking to recover minerals “in areas beyond national jurisdiction” in accordance with the 1980 US Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act. A country’s territorial jurisdiction only extends roughly 200 nautical miles from shore.The Trump administration wants to work with industry “to counter China’s growing influence over seabed mineral resources,” the executive order says. However, no country has yet to commercially mine the deep ocean where depths reach about 656 feet (200 meters) in international waters. There have already been efforts to explore parts of the ocean floor rich in nickel, copper, cobalt, iron, and manganese sought after for rechargeable batteries, though, and China is a leading refiner of many critical minerals.  China responded on Friday: the BBC reported Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun as saying that Trump’s move “violates international law and harms the overall interests of the international community.”The Metals Company announced in March that the Canadian company had already “met with officials in the White House” and planned to apply for permits under existing US mining code to begin extracting minerals from the high seas. California-based company Impossible Metals asked the Trump administration earlier this month to auction off mining leases for areas off the coast of American Samoa, which would be within US-controlled waters. Trump’s executive order also directs the Secretary of the Interior to expedite the process for leasing areas for mining within US waters.Companies seeking to exploit offshore mineral resources argue that it would cause less harm than mining on land. Their opponents contend that there’s still too little research to even understand how widespread the effects of deep sea mining could be on marine ecosystems and the people who depend on them. Recent studies have warned of “irreversible” damage and loud noise affecting sea life, and one controversial study raises questions of whether the deep sea could be an important source of “dark oxygen” for the world. More than 30 countries — including Palau, Fiji, Costa Rica, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, New Zealand, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom — have called for a ban or moratorium on deep-sea mining until international rules are in place to minimize the potential damage.“The harm caused by deep-sea mining isn’t restricted to the ocean floor: it will impact the entire water column, top to bottom, and everyone and everything relying on it,” Jeff Watters, vice president for external affairs at the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy said in a press release.

Interim DC attorney Ed Martin has written a letter to the Wikimedia Foundation — the organization behind Wikipedia — that calls into question its status as a nonprofit entity. In the letter, which was obtained by The Free Press, Martin claims he found that Wikipedia “is engaging in a series of activities that could violate its obligations” under US law about tax-exempt organizations.Under the law (Section 501(c)(3) of Title 26), tax-exempt organizations must operate “exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes.” Martin alleges that Wikipedia is “allowing foreign actors to manipulate information and spread propaganda,” including by “rewriting” historical events and through “other matters implicating the national security and the interests of the United States.”Martin is known for thinly justified legal threats against media organizations. In recent days, Martin has sent letters to the New England Journal of Medicine, the CHEST Journal, and Obstetrics and Gynecology, accusing them of being “partisan in various scientific debates.”Martin asks the Wikimedia Foundation to respond to several questions, such as what it’s doing to “safeguard” the public from propaganda, as well as efforts to exclude “foreign influence operatives from making targeted edits” on topics that would “reshape or rewrite history.” He’s giving the Foundation until May 15th to respond.“Wikipedia’s content is governed by three core content policies: neutral point of view, verifiability, and no original research, which exist to ensure information is presented as accurately, fairly, and neutrally as possible,” Jacob Rogers, the Wikimedia Foundation’s associate general counsel, said in an emailed statement to The Verge. “The entire process of content moderation is overseen by nearly 260,000 volunteers and is open and transparent for all to see, which is why we welcome opportunities to explain how Wikipedia works and will do so in the appropriate forum.”Martin’s letter reflects a broader trend of the right targeting Wikipedia. Last year, Elon Musk told supporters to “stop donating to Wokepedia” before later calling the site “an extension of legacy media propaganda.” In January, a report from Forward.com found that The Heritage Foundation, the right-wing think tank behind Project 2025, created a presentation with a series of slides geared toward “targeting” Wikipedia editors. The Wikimedia Foundation has since created tools to protect the identities of editors, with CEO Maryana Iskander telling the community that it’s “seeing an increase in threats, both regulation and litigation across the world,” as reported by 404 Media.

The motherboard is always one of those components that can easily hijack your PC budget without reaping any tangible benefits. For most people, gamers or otherwise, spending too much on a motherboard doesn't pay real dividends. Around $200 can get you everything you need on a modern motherboard without sacrificing performance, connectivity, or esthetics.

Donald Trump | Image: Laura Normand / The VergePresident Donald Trump recently announced that he would host a private dinner for the top 220 biggest holders of $TRUMP, the meme coin he launched days prior to taking office - and several U.S. Senators would like to know exactly why he's doing this. The dinner was publicly advertised on the $TRUMP coin homepage this past Wednesday, and included a special VIP package for the top 25 holders: a private reception with Trump, and a VIP tour of the White House the next day. According to the site, the winners will be determined by how much of the coin a contestant owns, as well as how long they hold it between April 23rd and May 12. "The more $TRUMP you hold - and the longer you hold it - the higher Your Ranking will be," it said. At its peak, a $TRUMP token went for $75.35 on January 19th, the day before his inauguration. It has plummeted ever since, losing 88 percent of its value, and sat at $9.18 before the contest was announced. The promotion caused $TRUMP to jump by more than 50 percent, according to CBS, hitting a peak of $14.32 that afternoon and bringing in an extra $100 million in value. Democrat Senators were outraged, with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) posting on X that thi …Read the full story at The Verge.

Back in August, we saw the US Supreme Court rule that Google was breaching antitrust law. Now, in a court case that began last Monday, the court had a new task: find out how to de-monopolize Google. Part of the process involves forcing the tech giant to sell some of its products off, and the first one on the docket is its browser, Chrome.

Windows 8 is kind of the laughing stock among the many Windows versions released throughout the years. There have always been misfires, but Windows 8's radically different approach to the UI design and user experience resulted in one of the biggest failures the company has ever seen when it comes to its big software launches.