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Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge If you find yourself repeating the same tasks in Windows over and over again, it's likely you can automate the job, potentially saving you time and effort over weeks and months.These tasks might encompass starting the day with a certain selection of programs and websites, for example, or renaming batches of files to match the same format. Or maybe you want to shut down your PC at the same time every day, or you need a bunch of images resized to the same standard (something I've been automating for a long time now).There are lots of possibilities, and you've got a variety of tools to pick from. They all work in slightly different ways, so I will give you a sampling below, and you can choose the one that most closely matches what you're... Continue reading...

Image: The Verge Microsoft is working on a new feature for its Edge browser that will let you limit the amount of RAM it uses. Leopeva64, who is one of the best at finding new Edge features, has spotted a new settings section in test builds of the browser that includes a slider so you can limit how much RAM Edge gets access to.The RAM slider appears to be targeted toward PC gamers, as there is a setting in Canary versions of Edge that lets you limit the amount of RAM when you're playing a PC game or all of the time. While the slider lets you pick between just 1GB and 16GB on a system with 16GB of RAM, Microsoft warns that setting a low limit may impact browser speed." I can't wait to witness the chaos of Edge trying to handle my 100-plus tabs on just... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Google is suing two alleged crypto scammers, accusing them of using its Play Store to offer fraudulent cryptocurrency trading apps and investment platforms that instead simply took users' money. These apps were used in a type of romance scam commonly called pig butchering" in reference to fattening a pig before it's slaughtered.The accused scammers - two app developers based in China and Hong Kong - allegedly uploaded 87 different fraudulent apps to enable their schemes, luring in more than 100,000 people who downloaded them. Based on user complaints, Google alleges that users lost anywhere from $100 to tens of thousands of dollars each. Apps uploaded by the pair and their unnamed associates have been used in versions of the scam since... Continue reading...

Products on a conveyor belt are scanned at an Amazon fulfillment center, where they are being sorted and shipped out during Cyber Monday on November 27th, 2023, in Tampa, Florida. | Photo by Octavio Jones / Getty Images Despite making pledges to cut down on plastic packaging, a new report from the nonprofit conservation organization Oceana estimates that Amazon's plastic waste has continued to grow in the US.The company created 208 million pounds of plastic waste from its packaging in the US in 2022 alone, which Oceana says is enough trash to circle Earth more than 200 times in the form of plastic air pillows. That's a nearly 10 percent jump from the amount of plastic waste it generated the year before, according to the report.The US is a worrying outlier for Amazon, Oceana says. Globally, the e-commerce giant says that it reduced its use of plastic packaging 11.6 percent in 2022 compared to the prior year. But the US is the company's biggest... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Just as Elon Musk said, X is doling out free Premium and Premium Plus memberships to accounts with a high number of verified followers.Multiple X users on Wednesday reported seeing the familiar blue Verified" checkmark next to their handles despite not paying for either paid X subscription tier. Musk last week announced that X accounts with over 2,500 verified subscriber followers" would receive a free Premium membership; while accounts with over 5,000 would receive a free Premium Plus membership.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Microsoft is ending support for Windows 10 on October 14th, 2025, and you'll need to pay yearly if you want to continue using the operating system securely. Microsoft will offer Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 10 users, with pricing starting at $61 for the first year.The pricing for additional security updates will be offered to consumers for the first time ever with Windows 10. Businesses and consumers will need to purchase ESU licenses for each Windows 10 device they plan to keep using after the end of support cutoff date next year.For businesses, the first year is priced at $61. It then doubles to $122 for the second year and then doubles again in year three to $244. If you enter into the ESU program in year two, you'll... Continue reading...

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge Apple's online services were hit with an outage that cut many of us off from the App Store, Apple TV, and Apple Music on Wednesday night. The system status page for Apple's online service noted an outage beginning at 6:31PM ET affecting those services, as well as Arcade, Audiobooks, Books, Podcasts, Fitness Plus, and its new Apple Sports app.Now, the status page lists them all as outage resolved" as of 7:35PM ET, and they seem to be working again. The @AppleSupport account on X did not list a reason for the issues but directed users to check the status page for more information. Image: Apple.com On Downdetector, it looks like the first reports of issues started coming in just after 6PM ET. The Verge has contacted... Continue reading...

The Lunar Dawn LTV from Lunar Outpost, Lockheed Martin, General Motors (GM), Goodyear, and MDA Space. | Image: Lunar Outpost NASA has selected Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Venturi Astrolab to develop the lunar terrain rover for its Artemis lunar explorations. All three companies are in the running for task orders with a potential value of $4.6 billion over the next 13 years.The trio will develop their team's ideas for a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) to help astronauts explore the Moon's south polar region. It's believed the area contains frozen water, so it makes sense for NASA to set up base camp there.All three must design vehicles that can accommodate two suited astronauts and handle the area's extreme conditions. They also must feature robotic, remote operation capabilities so NASA can continue to perform tests and explore even when astronauts... Continue reading...

Nothing but respect for MY president. | Image: OpenAI OpenAI's DALL-E is getting a couple of upgrades today that help you shape your AI-generated masterpieces. First, you'll now find image editing tools when using DALL-E within ChatGPT, both on the web and on mobile. Second, DALL-E now offers preset style suggestions to help inspire image creation - not unlike Android's AI-generated wallpaper prompts. Because how else could you dream up a sci-fi polar bear on vacation?DALL-E is on its third generation, and recent updates like this seem to be aimed at making it more user-friendly. DALL-E 3 added integration with ChatGPT, which takes the burden off the user to write a perfectly descriptive image prompt - just tell ChatGPT what you want, and it will do the rest. Today's update is an extension... Continue reading...

Proba-3's occulter blocks the Sun's light for the coronagraph. | Image: European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing to create its own solar eclipses so that researchers can study one of the more difficult-to-observe parts of the Sun's anatomy: its blazing-hot corona. To do that, it hopes to fly two separate spacecraft, 150 meters apart and aligned so that one satellite (called the occulter") blocks all but the corona from the other satellite, which will observe it using an instrument called a coronagraph.The mission's two craft will have to fly in precise formation down to millimetre accuracy," using satellite navigation, radio-based satellite interlinks, cameras, and a laser beam reflected between them. ESA technology director Dietmar Pilz said in a statement that getting the two to act as if they are... Continue reading...

Photo by Chance Yeh / Getty Images for HubSpot This is Hot Pod, The Verge's newsletter about podcasting and the audio industry. Sign up here for more.I have never gotten so many responses to an issue as I did with last week's on Andrew Huberman. He seems to elicit an even stronger response than Rogan, though perhaps response to Rogan has calmed down as we have all gotten more used to his shenanigans. Today, I have a look at what some of you all had to say about the value of his podcast and how the revelations from the New York Magazine article have (or have not) changed that. Plus, Spotify's audiobook expansion, The New York Times' new audio initiative, and Apple's (alleged) pay-for-play scheme. Let's get into it.Andrew Huberman, reconsideredICYMI: NYM published an 8,000-word... Continue reading...

Image: Netflix Henry Cavill may be gone, but Netflix's live-action adaptation of The Witcher is soldiering on with even more seasons inspired by Andrzej Sapkowski's novels. Continue reading...

Game Pass was already the best deal in gaming, but this discount makes it even better. | Photo by Mateusz Slodkowski / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images My digital game library is filled with titles that I've never played, so a few years ago, I promised myself that I would stop buying every new release. It's easy with services like Game Pass, which offers hundreds of games and other benefits. Whether you're new to the scene or in need of a renewal, now might be a good time to tack on some extra months. A three-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is 20 percent off at Target, bringing your total down to $39.99 ($10 off). It's not the best price we've seen, but it's still well worth it. You can also get a one-month subscription for $13.59 (close to $4 off) at Target.I've long said that Xbox Game Pass is the best value in gaming, and while competing services are quickly catching... Continue reading...

Image: Warner Bros. Discovery Though the last Matrix movie was basically a warning about corporations sucking the life out of iconic pieces of subversive IP, Warner Bros. Discovery is already going back to the well.Deadline reports that The Martian writer Drew Goddard has been tapped to pen and direct another Matrix movie executive produced by Lana Wachowski. Currently, the new film has no title or projected premiere date, and there's been no announcement as to whether franchise stars like Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, or Jessica Henwick will return.In a statement, Warner Bros. Motion Pictures production head Jesse Ehrman said that Goddard came to the studio with a fresh idea for the franchise's future that would honor... Continue reading...

Illustration by Samar Haddad for The Verge | Photo by The Verge One of the coolest things you can do with the Apple Vision Pro is use your Mac screen - either floating by itself in a virtual landscape or, better yet, in mixed reality. It's hard to make work exciting, but if you can, why not work on the Moon? Or on top of Haleakal in Hawaii?You can also blow up that Mac screen as big as you like or even stick it on the ceiling if you're so inclined. The catch is that, for now, you can't have multiple Mac screens. So, if you've got dual monitors, you're a bit out of luck there.You can use this feature with a MacBook or a Mac desktop, though the process is slightly different for each. Here's how to get started.Check your settingsBefore diving in, make sure your Mac and Vision Pro are both logged... Continue reading...

Photo by Matt McClain / The Washington Post via Getty Images The Federal Communications Commission will vote on April 25th on a proposal to restore net neutrality rules, the agency announced on Wednesday.If the five-member panel votes to restore the rules, internet service providers (ISP) will be reclassified from information services to common carriers, bringing stricter regulations with the change.The idea of net neutrality is to keep ISPs from treating internet traffic differently by throttling or blocking, for example. The FCC installed net neutrality rules back in 2015, but they were repealed in 2017 under a Trump-nominated chair. Republicans on the commission believed that removing what they saw to be onerous rules would lead to greater innovation. Democrats believed that repealing the... Continue reading...

Oura's new Symptom Radar feature detects early signs of change to your overall wellness. | Image: Victoria Song / The Verge The Oura Ring is getting a bit more experimental. Starting today, Oura users will get access to a new Oura Labs feature, which allows them to opt in to experimental features. The first will be something called Symptom Radar, which detects early signs of physiological strain.Symptom Radar isn't quite illness detection - a feature that Oura and many other wearables companies put a lot of research into during the early days of the covid-19 pandemic. Instead, it notifies users of significant changes in biometric trends like temperature, respiratory rate, resting heart rate, and heart rate variability. When alerted, users can choose whether to enable Rest Mode or lower their daily activity goal to prioritize rest. While illness could... Continue reading...

Photo by NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images A new report from the US Cyber Safety Review Board has found that Microsoft could have prevented Chinese hackers from breaching US government emails through its Microsoft Exchange Online software last year. The incident, described as a cascade of security failures" at Microsoft, allowed Chinese state-sponsored hackers to access online email inboxes of 22 organizations, affecting more than 500 people including US government employees working on national security.The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released a scathing report that found that the hack was preventable" and that a number of decisions inside Microsoft contributed to a corporate culture that deprioritized enterprise security investments and rigorous risk... Continue reading...

The Dudesy podcast agreed to take the allegedly ai-generated comedy special offline as part of the settlement. | Photo by Mark Junge/Getty Images George Carlin's estate has reached a settlement with the media company that purportedly used generative artificial intelligence to imitate the late comedian. The decision arrives as a group representing artists like Billie Eilish, Nicki Minaj, and Stevie Wonder calls for performers to be better protected against being mimicked by AI technology.According to the New York Times, Will Sasso and Chad Kultgen - the Dudesy podcast creators who imitated Carlin in a faked comedy special titled George Carlin: I'm Glad I'm Dead" - agreed as part of the settlement reached on Tuesday to take the offending content offline and never upload it on any platform. Sassoo and Kultgen also agreed to not use Carlin's voice or likeness in content they produce... Continue reading...

Cath Virginia / The Verge DMA is about to unleash a brave new world of game emulators, clipboard managers, and uncertainty. Continue reading...

Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images Intel's chip-making division accumulated $7 billion in operating losses in 2023, Reuters reported on Tuesday. That's a big increase from $5.2 billion it lost in 2022, and while it made $18.9 billion in revenue in 2023, that number is down 31 percent from the $27.49 billion it made the year prior.However, based on CEO Pat Gelsinger's comments to investors, the total loss isn't a total surprise. Gelsinger says these latest numbers are partially the result of Intel's past mistakes catching up with its foundry business, which caused the chipmaker to outsource about 30 percent of all its wafer production to other foundries, like TSMC, one of Intel's biggest competitors currently.But now Intel has invested in using extreme ultraviolet (EUV)... Continue reading...

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Linux, the most widely used open source operating system in the world, narrowly escaped a massive cyber attack over Easter weekend, all thanks to one volunteer.The backdoor had been inserted into a recent release of a Linux compression format called XZ Utils, a tool that is little-known outside the Linux world but is used in nearly every Linux distribution to compresses large files, making them easier to transfer. If it had spread more widely, an untold number of systems could have been left compromised for years.And as Ars Technica noted in its exhaustive recap, the culprit had been working on the project out in the open.The vulnerability, inserted into Linux's remote log-in, only exposed itself to a single key, so that it could hide... Continue reading...

Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos from Getty Images The United States and United Kingdom agreed to work together to monitor advanced AI models for safety risks. The two countries will collaborate on research and do at least one joint safety test.Both countries say safety is a top concern when it comes to using AI models. US President Joe Biden's executive order on AI required companies developing AI systems to report safety test results. Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the creation of the UK AI Safety Institute, saying that companies like Google, Meta, and OpenAI must allow the vetting of their tools.The agreement between both countries' AI Safety Institutes takes effect immediatelyUS Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the government is committed to developing... Continue reading...

Image: Square Enix I'm in awe of how smart the developers of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth are. After seeing a post comparing Cloud during the Nibelheim flashback and his arrival at the city much later in the game, my mind is reeling from the subtle brilliance in how Square used the tiniest of animation details to convey one of the biggest, most shocking plot twists in Final Fantasy narrative history.Spoilers for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth to follow.In a clip shared on X by pwtizza, Cloud, with one of his big-ass swords strapped to his back, is seen sitting at the top of Nibelheim's famous water tower. In the right half of the clip, Cloud removes his sword before sitting at the top of the water tower. In the left half of the clip, he doesn't; Cloud simply... Continue reading...

An Amazon Dash Cart in Whole Foods. | Photo by Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu via Getty Images Amazon has decided to give up on its Just Walk Out program that lets customers leave its brick-and-mortar grocery stores without a formal checkout process. Instead, it's switching fully to Dash Carts," where customers scan products as they toss them in their cart.That's according to The Information, which reports that the company is pulling Just Walk Out from all larger stores where the system is in place and sprucing up the stores across the board" as it prepares to expand Amazon Fresh locations later this year. Amazon will keep using it in smaller corner stores, though.Amazon hasn't managed to get a handle on in-person retail despite buying the upscale, popular Whole Foods chain back in 2017. Over the years, the online shopping... Continue reading...

Illustration: The Verge Google just sent out its final reminder that Dropcam and Dropcam Pro cameras and Nest Secure home security systems will stop working next Monday, April 8th. Google first made the announcement a year ago, a month before it rolled out its redesigned Home app.The Dropcam and Dropcam Pro, which came out in 2012 and 2013, respectively, will stop being able to connect to the Nest app and stop recording video. Video history will remain available after April 8th, but the length of time depends on your individual Nest Aware subscription version and tier, which range from five to 60 days.Current users should also check their emails for an offer toward an indoor wired Nest Cam, which expires on May 7th, 2024. But perhaps most importantly, users... Continue reading...

Screenshot: Chris Welch / The Verge I've become almost numb to the deluge of notifications that hit my phone every day. But when an app sends a simple, very human Hi!" message, apparently that's enough to stop me in my tracks. And Starbucks just sent exactly that push notification to god knows how many devices a few minutes ago. For what purpose? Who knows?Just hi. No other context. A random hello on what's (here in New York) a dreary, rainy Tuesday. So I tapped. Doing so just brought me into the Starbucks app without any special destination or obvious promotion attached to the prompt.Starbucks has sent out accidental notifications before. So it's fair to question:

Apple's second-gen AirPods still deliver a lot of value for Apple fans given how well they integrate with other iOS devices. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge We don't often recommend five-year-old earbuds, but Apple's second-generation AirPods are one of those rare gadgets that have stood the test of time. They're still a good option if you just need a simple pair of earbuds that integrate well with other Apple devices, and right now, they're just $89 ($40 off) at Amazon and Walmart. That's $20 shy of the all-time low price set during Black Friday and the best price we've seen them sell for so far this year.Apple's last-gen entry-level earbuds still deliver excellent sound and voice call quality, even if they lack the IPX4 water resistance and MagSafe charging compatibilities of the third-gen AirPods. They nail the basics with long battery life and reliable performance, while letting Apple... Continue reading...