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Figuring out the right smart home automation routines has been a challenge for me, as I can't nail the perfect ones on my own. To identify the correct routines I need, I decided to enlist the help of AI. Google already has access to all my data, from my Google Home devices to my user history. I also use a Pixel 10 Pro with the Google AI Plus plan, so it only made sense to use Gemini for the job. Privacy isn't a concern for me because Google already knows everything about me, so I figured I might as well make the most of it.

While the Steam Deck is getting a bit long in the tooth and can’t run the majority of recent AAA titles at playable frame rates, Valve’s handheld PC is still capable enough for a good chunk of AAA games released a few years ago and earlier. The biggest downside when playing those games is upscaling, since the handheld’s AMD GPU is limited to older FSR versions that look way worse than DLSS and FSR 4.

Several months ago, I tried using AI to make 3D models and it didn’t end well. When I went to try using AI to make 3D models again, I expected it to end the same way. I was sorely mistaken. AI-generated 3D models have come a long way in a short amount of time, and it’s now an extremely viable way to create something with your 3D printer that doesn’t exist otherwise.

Watching a show can make a long treadmill session easier to get through, especially when enough is happening to keep you from checking the elapsed time. A miniseries also gives you a complete story you can finish over a few workouts, without adding too much to your watch time.

A NAS is basically a box full of hard drives, and there are a lot of ways to set one up without paying $1,000 for a big-name 8-bay box. You probably have parts lying around the house that can be used in the setup, including the one thing those shiny boxes almost never give you: real PCIe slots. Whether you're picking up a used PC for NAS duty or rescuing your own, these are the five cards I'd actually spend money on to close the gap with a premium NAS, and then blow right past it.

Setting up a media server is the easy part. The hard part shows up the first time you try to let your sister or a friend watch something on it. You send what feels like a simple invite, and suddenly you're explaining ports, domains, and why a TV remote can't type a colon. Where your server lives matters less than how a non-technical person gets to it. I've been on both sides of that conversation; there's a reason Plex is a more welcoming platform than Jellyfin.

TL;DR: Curiosity Stream is a documentary streaming service, and a lifetime subscription is $119.99 (reg. $399.99) with code DEAL20.

Opens in a new window Credit: Curiosity Stream Curiosity Stream Standard Plan: Lifetime Subscription $119.99
$399.99 Save $280   Get Deal

Most streaming services bill you monthly, and their documentary sections are usually small compared with their drama and reality shows. If you want a whole service built around nonfiction, try a Curiosity Stream lifetime subscription. Enter code DEAL20 at checkout, and you pay $119.99 (reg. $399.99) once, 70% below the list price.

Thousands of documentaries, one payment

Curiosity Stream comes from John Hendricks, who founded Discovery Communications. His streaming service is all documentaries, with thousands of films, series, and shows on science, technology, history, nature, and art. New titles arrive every week, so the library keeps growing long after you pay. Series include Planet of Treasures, Engineering the Future, Deep Time History, and Into the Jungle. Stephen Hawking’s Favorite Places follows Hawking on a computer-generated trip through the universe, and that trilogy won Curiosity Stream its first Emmy for graphic design and art direction.

Everything streams in 1080p HD on desktop and mobile. You can download episodes before a flight and watch without Wi-Fi, bookmark a show for later, or start on your laptop and finish on your phone. Apps run on Android 5.0 and up, iOS 11 and up, Android TV, and Xbox One, and older Apple TV models can play shows through AirPlay. Built-in search tools sort the catalog by subject, so finding something on ancient history or deep-sea life takes a few seconds.

Parents who homeschool can use it to add to science and history lessons, and anyone who likes learning something new at night gets a steady supply of material. On the App Store, the app has a 4.7/5 rating.

This deal is for new Curiosity Stream users only. Your code needs to be redeemed within 30 days of purchase.

Pay once and keep a documentary library on hand for good. Through Nov. 15 at 11:59 p.m. PT, use code DEAL20 to get a Curiosity Stream lifetime subscription for $119.99.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

It's understandable that anyone creating a product is only incentivized to do the absolute minimum for it to sell. In a monopoly, that bar can be very low indeed, and in a competitive space things are better, but you only have to outperform your rivals, no more.

I've been a Plex guy from the very start of my self-hosted media journey (unless you count network shares and DLNA), but all my colleagues keep going on about Jellyfin and how great it is.

An impact wrench is a powerful and versatile tool I think everyone should own. And chances are, many DIY mechanics already have one that came in a combo kit. But as we all know, Ryobi is constantly releasing exciting new tools or upgrading its 18V ONE+ arsenal, and that includes an all-new impact wrench that's the perfect upgrade for your garage or shop.

It took some time, but One UI 9 has finally started to roll out to a swath of older devices. You don't have to have a brand-new flagship Galaxy device to get the update anymore, which is good news for me and my S24 FE. Even mid-range A-series devices and some tablets are now gaining access to the swath of new features.

At this point, there's a good chance anyone reading this has already purchased and pre-loaded Grand Theft Auto VI. You've chosen a console, or maybe you're still looking to buy one, but at any rate, all you can do is wait for the game and soak in any pre-release details you can.

Thank goodness for The Guardian, then, as the UK newspaper published an exclusive preview of the game in its Saturday print edition. We've read the whole thing, which involved a tour through Vice City's open world in the early stages of the game, and have compiled three of the more fascinating details that were revealed in the piece for your reading pleasure.

SEE ALSO: Boxed copies of GTA 6 are already out in the wild. Here's what's inside. There are so many birds in this game

One tiny nugget in the preview that stood out immediately is that, apparently, the player can keep a logbook of different wildlife they encounter in the streets and swamps of Leonida. As far as I know, this is a first for Grand Theft Auto, and it feels like something right out of Red Dead Redemption. Nature has been featured in some previous GTA games, but the player didn't have much of a relationship with it, unlike Rockstar's cowboy series.

Anyway, Rockstar confirmed to The Guardian that there are 62 different types of birds to log in GTA6. That's so many birds, man.

Romance isn't just in cutscenes

Much of GTA 6's marketing has focused on the romantic interplay between protagonists Jason and Lucia. We already know that both are playable, and can be switched between freely for much of the game outside of story missions. Rockstar has also spoken to some extent about the way romance works in GTA 6, but The Guardian's preview shed more light on how the player will actually affect it outside of cutscenes.

Specifically, whoever the player is controlling can call or text the other protagonist when they aren't together. When they are together, the player can make them go on dates, which can take the form of getting drinks, going to the gym, or even robbing a liquor store. Love manifests in many different ways, I guess. There will also be some unspecified consequences for neglecting the relationship, according to the preview.

Rockstar wants to encourage empathy

This was perhaps the most vague part of The Guardian's piece, but also the most interesting. According to Rockstar, GTA 6 "provide mechanisms to encourage [empathy]" in the player. We don't yet know exactly how that will manifest in-game, but it would be a stark departure from the almost nihilistic crime spree fantasies from previous GTA games.

Of course, you can still play GTA 6 that way if you want, but the game might have something for those of us who aren't interested in causing mayhem, too.

Flash drives aren’t the cheap choice that they used to be. Sure, you can still find some cheap flash drives around, but have you considered buying an external SSD instead? When you start to get to larger storage tiers, the pricing evens out and the external SSDs actually become a better buy.

So you buy a Kindle and you think to yourself, "I sure would like to turn the pages from way over here, surely there's a solution for that?" Well, to my personal surprise, I have recently learned both that people who want to turn eReader pages at a distance exist (it makes sense when you think about it) and that Kindles in particular have no elegant way of achieving this goal. Hence, the existence of weird and wacky "Kindle page turners."

When it comes to streaming, buying, selecting, or watching, I'm a picky viewer. It drives my wife bonkers. When I'm not being a thorn in her side about picking media to watch, I'm usually searching for ways to cancel subscriptions.

I got into radio and music production at a very weird time. For a while, I rocked a TASCAM PortaStudio for my personal recordings. When I got into college and started working in radio, it was all physical digital audio workstations and programs like Adobe Audition. When I no longer had access to professional-grade equipment and software, Audacity just hit a sweet spot for me. Whether it was recording my own songs, digitizing my LPs, or doing voice work, it was always there for me. Naturally, I was pretty excited when I heard about Audacity 4, one of the biggest updates to the software in some time. It was fantastic before, but its newest features are really going to give other professional DAW (digital audio workstations) a run for their money.

I’ve been a devout Android user for nearly two decades, but I never even toyed with the idea of building an app until this year. Google’s AI integration in Android Studio makes it accessible to anyone, and custom widgets are a great place to start.

Ever since I've been using Linux as a daily driver, I haven't really considered dropping Mint for something else. Don't get me wrong. I have a machine running Debian, a machine running Arch, and I still use Red Hat and Ubuntu at the office. So I'm very much in the Linux world. But I recently discovered an OS that gives Mint a run for its money (at least for my work): CachyOS.

The internet is full of a lot of garbage, but there’s also some incredibly useful information out there. Home Assistant has a native integration that can scrape information from some websites and extract specific values. I scrape data from several different sites, and once I've got the data into Home Assistant, there’s a lot I can do with it.

I've been a PC gamer for well over a decade. It's safe to say I've spent collectively over $10,000 on various gaming desktop builds over the years. But, I recently moved from my full-size superpowered custom-built desktop to a mini PC—and I love it?