Your spare PCIe slot may not actually be free, and checking your manual matters

Using the second or third PCIe slot on your motherboard is usually pretty straightforward. Whether you’re installing a capture card, a network adapter, or even an expansion card to add more NVMe SSDs, you’d naturally a**ume that you can just plug it in and call it a day. After all, when you see three full-length slots on your motherboard, there’s really no reason to think otherwise. Except things aren’t always that simple, especially on modern motherboards where PCIe and M.2 slots can share lanes and limit the bandwidth available to your GPU.

Ethan Clark
Canada

I tried 3 Claude Code mods, and now waiting for it to finish is actually fun

I've been using Claude Code since its early days, and if there's one thing I've learned from my experience between now and then, it's that there's almost always a way to make it do more than you initially thought possible. Just when I think I've figured out everything the tool...

Danielle Arnold
United Kingdom

I used Spotify, YouTube Music, and Plexamp on Android Auto for a month, and the self-hosted one won

I can’t drive without music playing, and Android Auto makes it easy to bring whichever music app you prefer into the car. I spent a month switching between Spotify, YouTube Music, and Plexamp, which plays music from my own Plex server.

Yasemin Arıcan
Turkey

Samsung’s Switch 2-ready MicroSD Express card is on sale for less than $50

Running out of space on your Nintendo Switch 2? Thankfully, Samsung’s P9 MicroSD Express card is discounted at multiple retailers, with the 256GB version going for $47.99 (Amazon, B&H Photo) and the 512GB version $99 (Amazon, B&H Photo). The smaller card typically sells for around $80, and the larger option...

Michael Johnson
Chicago

OpenAI announces three big science discoveries and a new way to work with academics

Less than a month after its mass release of hundreds of manuscripts that it said contained solutions to long-standing mathematics questions, OpenAI is back with three more "major" discoveries in math, computer science, and physics. What's different this time is the choice to have external experts that OpenAI describes as...

Timmo Kaijser
Netherlands

5 GPUs that are finally too old for modern games in 2026

GPU longevity is a touchy subject with gamers, since everyone has a different definition of what's "good enough." In a market where GPU pricing has gone off the rails, advocating an upgrade is not easy, but we sometimes have to admit the obvious. Every GPU reaches the end of the...

Emily Brown
Houston

The cheapest terabytes left for a home NAS are used SAS drives, and they need a $30 card most people have never heard of

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past year, you know about the PC hardware crisis we're going through. It started with RAM, but soon engulfed GPUs, SSDs, and even hard drives. Storage may not be a priority for gamers, but NAS and home lab users need tons...

Jennifer Thomas
Switzerland

I replaced three cloud subscriptions with my own server, and Tailscale makes it work anywhere

Saving money is one of the big reasons people can get into self-hosting, though whether that actually works out really depends on what you're doing with your server. Just replacing cloud storage with a home server may not actually be cheaper, but once you start replacing enough services, it can...

Dem'yan Yaroviy
Ukraine

GPT-6.1 Terra brings more advanced computer agent use at a lower cost than Claude

It seems a big pattern with GPT-6 is offering better performance for cheaper. When Anthropic revealed Claude Opus 5.5, OpenAI fired back with GPT-6 Sol and Luna, which OpenAI claimed were both better and more affordable than GPT-5.6. Now, OpenAI has pulled back the curtain and revealed GPT-6.1 Terra, which...

Jane Smith
Los Angeles

Your TV’s HDMI ports aren’t equal, and manufacturers aren’t telling you the whole story

It's an age-old problem, and one that's a little too common for comfort — someone you know spends $500, $1000, or even $2000 on a brand-new TV and a console, but the TV refuses to deliver the features listed on the product page.

Jordan Fletcher
Ireland

The old Raspberry Pi 4 sitting in your drawer is worth more now than the day you bought it

Every computing device, big or small, has seen an astounding price rise in the last few months. Memory and storage prices have quadrupled, and it's even hard to find “in-stock” products. Like everything else, the Raspberry Pi lineup is feeling the impact. Nothing is selling at its original price, and...

Olivia Miller
Seattle

Anthropic is burning gas to feed the AI boom

As it prepares to go public, Anthropic's S-1 filing makes generative AI's methane dependency glaringly obvious. "Competition for access to electrical supply and data center locations with adequate power availability is intense." In documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission Monday, Anthropic acknowledges that data centers are becoming...