Author: The Tech Guy

If you’re struggling to keep up with your ever-growing media library, setting up your own media server is a wise move. However, when it comes to creating one, most of us dismiss the idea immediately, thinking it’s an expensive or overly complicated affair. In reality, though, it’s a different story, as you don’t need expensive hardware to have your own media server. Your old laptop lying around at home is a capable media server, and it basically also has its own emergency power backup. Convenience, flexibility, cost savings, and more Image by Jayric Maning –no attributions requiredCredit: Jayric Maning / MakeUseOf…

Edgar Cervantes / Android AuthorityTL;DR Google is rolling out version 4.1 of the Google Home app. This is the first update after the recent Google Home redesign that rolled out with version 4.0. The changelog for the latest update notes that the app is getting several improvements and fixes based on user feedback. Google has released version 4.1 of the Google Home app, marking the first major update since the app’s big redesign earlier this month. The company says it’s listening to user feedback and is rolling out several small but meaningful improvements to the Google Home experience. Don’t want…

Remember when browsers were simple? You clicked a link, a page loaded, maybe you filled out a form. Those days feel ancient now that AI browsers like Perplexity's Comet promise to do everything for you — browse, click, type, think.But here's the plot twist nobody saw coming: That helpful AI assistant browsing the web for you? It might just be taking orders from the very websites it's supposed to protect you from. Comet's recent security meltdown isn't just embarrassing — it's a masterclass in how not to build AI tools.How hackers hijack your AI assistant (it's scary easy)Here's a nightmare…

ComputingGoogle’s Quantum Computer Makes a Big Technical LeapCade Metz | The New York Times ($)”Leveraging the counterintuitive powers of quantum mechanics, Google’s machine ran this algorithm 13,000 times as fast as a top supercomputer executing similar code in the realm of classical physics, according to a paper written by the Google researchers in the scientific journal Nature.”FutureThe Next Revolution in Biology Isn’t Reading Life’s Code—It’s Writing ItAndrew Hessel | Big Think”Andrew Hessel, cofounder of the Human Genome Project–write, argues that genome writing is humanity’s next great moonshot, outlining how DNA synthesis could transform biology, medicine, and industry. He calls for global cooperation…

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test. RIG R5 Spear Pro HS: one-minute review (Image credit: Future)Quality gaming audio doesn’t have to cost the earth; something that Nacon’s RIG brand has proven time and again with some of the best PS5 headsets around. Now, its RIG R5 Spear Pro HS wired gaming headset has landed around the top end of the budget spectrum, and yes, it’s also a winner.I’m usually wary of cheapish gaming headsets as…

After recently being spotted testing a way to share longer text, Threads, Meta’s X competitor, is now officially rolling out the feature that allows users to attach up to 10,000 characters of text to their post. The addition has been designed with the needs of creators in mind, as it supports linking out to content outside of Threads, like newsletters, blogs, podcasts, and more. Before this update, Threads supported 500 characters — which is already far more than the 280 characters offered to X’s unverified users. However, X in 2023 introduced a way for its paid subscribers to post up…

As with any operating system, there are things that people like and don’t like. This can seem like a broad generalization, but that’s kind of the point. Many people don’t think about the operating systems much for the devices that they use. They are the brains behind how our devices run, and you have to deal with the developers’ decisions, for better or for worse. If you’re an iPhone user, you probably have been enjoying iOS 26, which has been a resounding hit with many users, thanks to its new Liquid Glass display and bevy of new features like Live…

China’s Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba, detailed technical information around its new model, Ring-1T, which the company said is “the first open-source reasoning model with one trillion total parameters.”Ring-1T aims to compete with other reasoning models like GPT-5 and the o-series from OpenAI, as well as Google’s Gemini 2.5. With the new release of the latest model, Ant extends the geopolitical debate over who will dominate the AI race: China or the US. Ant Group said Ring-1T is optimized for mathematical and logical problems, code generation and scientific problem-solving. “With approximately 50 billion activated parameters per token, Ring-1T achieves state-of-the-art performance…

Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: James Vigil/MLB Photos via Getty; Andrew Harnik / Getty Images The war between copyright holders and AI companies has been raging for years at this point. AI’s seemingly magical ability to synthesize human-like text and lifelike videos Stephen Hawking demands a huge appetite for data from books, films, music, and even your social media posts. AI’s appetite for raw data has been a huge legal sticking point, to put it mildly. Yet as Politico notes in a recent article, legal experts are now growing incensed not just about what’s going into the chatbots…

Today, Saturday, 25 October 2025, all older Nest Learning Thermostats will have their core smart features turned off, as Google continues to destroy the once brilliant brand. Writing in a blog post, Google has confirmed that the 1st and 2nd gen Nest Learning Thermostats (launched in 2011 and 2012 in the US, and in 2014 in Europe for the 2nd gen) will be unpaired from your account and removed from the Nest app or Home app. Once killed, these old thermostats will no longer be controllable via your phone, won’t send notifications, and won’t receive software or security updates. Pre-set schedules will work, and the…