I have a lot of smart home and IoT devices on my home network, and what I'm perpetually scared of is them talking to external servers without me knowing exactly what they're up to. That fear isn't entirely unfounded. Recent reports confirm that modern LG TVs can scan a local network and collect information for various devices on my network. In fact, it might even be listening in on conversations. That's far from ideal.

I was called a rookie when I recently mentioned that my media server has no more than 5TB of storage. I agree that 5TB isn't a very large collection, but the idea that your media server needs double-digit terabytes of storage is flawed.

Poll data released Tuesday by the New York Times and Siena University confirms what we've already been seeing, and what politicians are responding to - AI and data centers are incredibly unpopular. Asked if they support or oppose the construction of data centers to power AI tech, 61 percent of the 1,503 likely voters surveyed in early September (ahead of the recent AI safety slowdown discussion) said they were opposed, with only 14 percent saying they strongly support. The split was about even among 2024 Donald Trump voters, at 49 percent support to 45 percent oppose, while people who had voted for Kamala Harris or who didn't vote leaned opp …Read the full story at The Verge.

If you've seen my articles around XDA, you'll know that I absolutely adore e-ink readers. So, when I heard that BOOX was releasing three more devices to cover every possible use case, I knew I had to check them out.

Windows 11 has its fair share of problems, but it seems that Microsoft is finally listening to its users. A group of Windows Insiders has managed to get their hands on an experimental build of Windows 11, and it's already reporting that things feel snappy. And the good news is, if Microsoft is ready to show Insiders these improvements, it shouldn't be long until we all get them.

My Proxmox host uses a 500 GB NVMe SSD as its boot drive, and to be honest, while that capacity is on the smaller side for a modern boot drive, it's overkill for a machine like this. Proxmox itself takes up a few gigs, container templates and ISOs take up a bit more, and then every actual byte of data that I care about lives on the ZFS mirror that's stored on two SAS drives off of an HBA card. Despite being rarely called upon to do any actual work, that boot drive is constantly being written to in the background by Proxmox, and it eats into the drive's TBW. Most people have no idea, and it can have a very real effect on the lifespan of your SSD.

I've always maintained that every single tool in the PowerToys suite improves upon a distinct aspect of Windows 11, and recently I've come to realize that they do it in a way such that it becomes hard to envision going back. A few months of my experiences with Workspaces established just as much.

Meta may be ready to reveal a new pair of smart glasses with no camera at all, amid a PR crisis for the company caused by the video recording capabilities of its flagship smart glasses. A new report from The Information claims the camera-free glasses, codenamed Luna, could be revealed as soon as the Meta Connect event next week.Instead of a camera, the Luna glasses will reportedly include six microphones that allow users to chat to Meta AI and the new Muse AI agent, along with speakers for audio playback. Stripping the camera out has apparently made it possible to make the glasses' arms smaller, and closer to ordinary frames. Meta is repor …Read the full story at The Verge.

Nearly two years after the last update to Boox's smartphone-sized black-and-white e-reader, the company announced the Palma 3 with a sleek redesign, new functionality, and a handful of other small updates that may justify its significant price bump depending on how you plan to use it. While the Palma 2 launched in 2024 for $279.99, the Palma 3 will be $339.99 and is expected to be "available soon."The most obvious upgrade for the Palma 3 is the hardware itself. It still features the same 6.13-inch, 300ppi E Ink Carta screen as its predecessor (which is now quite a few years old), but it's wrapped in a new anodized aluminum frame with a pap …Read the full story at The Verge.

When I first started out with Home Assistant, I always wrote “happy path” automations. I was naive enough to assume that when a door opened, the Zigbee sensor would instantly broadcast that state, Home Assistant would receive it within milliseconds, and the light would turn on. But I quickly learned things aren't quite so rosy.

Windows Vista is an operating system that I look back on fondly for one major reason: it was among the best-looking Windows options we've ever had. The Aero design philosophy was a major part of both Windows Vista and Windows 7, though Microsoft dropped it in Windows 8 in favor of its Metro design. Aero is honestly reminiscent of Apple's design philosophy in a lot of ways.

Canon announced the second-generation of its EOS R8 with a new retro-inspired redesign and the addition of in-body stabilization. That feature was one of the most notable omissions from the original R8 that launched in 2023 as a smaller, cheaper, and more accessible alternative to the Canon R6 Mark II for photographers wanting a larger full-frame shooter. While the new EOS R8 Mark II is slightly heavier than its predecessor at 1.2 pounds thanks to the additional stabilization functionality, it's lighter and cheaper than last year's EOS R6 Mark III.The Canon EOS R8 Mark II is expected to be available sometime in late October for $1,899 for …Read the full story at The Verge.