IT General

Major changes are coming to Google account storage for Android users. Stuff that has historically not counted toward your storage allotment soo will—it could put a damper on your data management. Here's some background info on the changes and what you can do to adapt.

Photoshop is one of the hardest apps to find a good free, open-source (FOSS) alternative for. It's genuinely powerful, has decades of history behind it, is familiar to professionals across the industry, and its interface just works. And truth be told, at the time of writing, there's no single FOSS app that can do everything Photoshop does. But use three FOSS apps together, and they can cover most of what people use Photoshop for day to day. Sure, you give up some convenience—but you save a lot of money in the process.

I'm not a big fan of smart home dashboards. My ideal smart home is one that works automatically without me having to control things manually. When I got my hands on a VR headset, however, I wanted to see if I could build a virtual smart home dashboard in 3D space.

GitHub has grown from a simple place to store code into the center of the modern development world. It's still the largest platform of its kind, and if you want other developers to discover, use, or contribute to your project, it remains one of the easiest places to reach them. That network effect is hard to ignore, and I don't think most developers need to abandon GitHub completely.

Google DeepMind released a series of videos demonstrating Gemini Robotics 2 utilizing the Apptronik Apollo 2 Humanoid Robot working alongside the Franka F3 Duo Dual-Arm System robot, and it looks like I won't be doing too many household chores in the near future.

Splitting your home network into VLANs is sensible, so kudos to you if that's what you're doing. Your computers go on one network, smart home devices on another (as they can be pretty dodgy security-wise), and guests get a separate corner where they don't bother or endanger any other part of your network.

Our experts have now spent weeks with Valve's gaming PC and have complicated thoughts. Is this the hybrid gaming device you're looking for?

SAVE $10: As of July 31, the Lego Marvel Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock Subway Train Scene is on sale for $44.99 at Amazon. That's $10 off its full price of $54.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Lego Lego Marvel Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock Subway Train Scene (76321) $44.99 at Amazon
$54.99 Save $10   Get Deal

If Spider-Man: Brand New Day has you in the mood for even more from the beloved web-slinger, Amazon's offering a great discount right now on the awesome Lego Marvel Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock Subway Train Scene. As of July 31, you can score it for $10 less than usual.

This discount has dropped its price from $54.99 to $44.99, which is also just $1.04 away from its lowest-ever price point of $43.95 at the retailer, according to price tracker camelcamelcamel. If you've had your eyes on this build, or maybe know a Spider-Man fan who would adore it, now is a great time to pick it up.

SEE ALSO: Lego is livestreaming a Pokémon Smart Play demo on July 31 — how to watch

This 393-piece set, recommended for ages 9 and up, recreates the subway train scene from Spider-Man 2, with a brick-built subway that includes removable roof sections revealing passenger seating inside. Of course, it also comes with minifigures to bring this memorable moment to life: Spider-Man (who has attachable webs and interchangeable heads for wearing the mask or not), Doc Ock with four jointed tentacles, J. Jonah Jameson, and Aunt May.

It looks like quite a fun build for a Marvel fan to assemble, so if it's caught your eye, don't miss out on this great deal on it at Amazon.

And Spidey's Lego adventures don't end there, either. You can even get a free Lego Spider-Man vs. Anti-Venom set on your next order at Lego today, which you can learn more about here.

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SAVE $10: As of July 31, the Soundcore V40i by Anker open earbuds are at their lowest-ever price of $29.99 at Amazon. That's $10 off their full price of $39.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Soundcore Soundcore V40i by Anker Open Ear Earbuds $29.99 at Amazon
$39.99 Save $10.00   Get Deal

If open earbuds have caught your attention, Amazon is a great place to look for discounts right now. The retailer has had several great offers pop up recently, and among them is the Soundcore V40i by Anker open earbuds. As of July 31, you can snag these buds at a new low price of $29.99.

Compared to their usual full price of $39.99, that's a $10 discount. Considering this is their lowest-ever price at Amazon according to price tracker camelcamelcamel, this is a great time to grab them. You can even choose between the black and white models at this price.

SEE ALSO: Pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 from Amazon and get a free $100 gift card

Rather than having buds that go in your ear, the Soundcore V40i features four-level adjustable ear hooks that wrap around your ears and an open design that sits over the front for listening. According to the store page, these buds also offer a maximum boost of 7.5dB over non-adjustable hooks, so you can enjoy fuller sound from your favorite music.

On top of that, their battery life can get you through a workout or commute with ease, lasting up to six hours on a single charge or up to 21 hours with the help of the charging case.

This deal on the Soundcore V40i open earbuds by Anker may not last long, so act fast to save on them at Amazon.

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Every time I plan a trip, I go through roughly the same steps: I download a specialized trip planner, spend a day carefully planning my days to optimize time, and then I spend the entire time reading out of my Google Keep notes and using Google Maps instead.

TL;DR: The Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Pitch Black Elite Trainer Box is on sale for $81.98 at Amazon, down from its $119.99 list price.

Opens in a new window Credit: The Pokémon Company Pokémon TCG Mega Evolution Pitch Black Elite Trainer Box $81.98 at Amazon
$119.99 Save $38.01   Get Deal

Pitch Black’s Elite Trainer Box has kept dropping in price over time since launch, and Amazon’s latest trading card marketplace offer has now taken the nine-pack Pokémon TCG set below $85 for the first time we’ve seen.

As of July 31, the Pokémon TCG’s Pitch Black Elite Trainer Box is available at Amazon for $81.98. Removing $38.01 from the current list price of $119.99 yields a large 32% discount, the lowest price this ETB has seen on Amazon (confirmed by the price tracker camelcamelcamel). The listing is sold and shipped by the third-party seller Collector’s Cache, though Amazon is handling customer service directly if there are any issues. As a bonus, free delivery is currently estimated for Aug. 7-13. 

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Away from Amazon, TCGplayer remains slightly cheaper if you’re open to shopping elsewhere. A single unopened English box is available for $75.98 plus $2 shipping, making the total $77.98 and undercutting Amazon by exactly $4. That even undercuts the Pitch Black ETB’s current market price of $77.79 by a cent.

Inside the box are nine Pitch Black booster packs, one full-art foil Zarude promo card, 65 card sleeves, 40 Energy cards, and a player’s guide. The remaining extras include six damage-counter dice, a competition-legal coin-flip die, a plastic coin, six dividers, a collector’s box, and a Pokémon TCG Live code card.

Pitch Black is led by some valuable chase cards (which you can also buy individually on TCGplayer) — including Mega Darkrai ex and Mega Zeraora ex, with Mega Chandelure ex, and Morpeko ex also appearing across the expansion. At $81.98, the ETB comes to roughly $9.11 per booster before accounting for the promo card and accessories.

Whether you're rotating your tires to extend their life, swapping between summer and winter wheel sets, or simply installing a different set of wheels to give your car a fresh look, no rule says you must pay a tire shop to do it. With a handful of basic tools and about an hour of free time, you can handle the job yourself and save the money of having it done at the dealer. You also don't need a dedicated garage.

This week saw the launch of Furious, a new crime drama from Elizabeth Meriwether (New Girl and Dying for Sex) that focuses on the cat-and-mouse tale of traumatized FBI agent Alice Black (Emmy Rossum), who's tracking a female serial killer (Lola Petticrew) on a deadly quest for vengeance.

In my review of the series, I cheered Meriwether's masterful blend of dark subject matter with resilient humor. In particular, I praised the way she managed to make a show that addresses child trafficking and sexual assault without making a spectacle of either.

SEE ALSO: How 'Furious' delves into a world of sex and violence without being exploitative

In interviews with Meriwether, Rossum, and Petticrew, we dug in on how the show's creator approached these issues, how her stars tackled their trickiest scenes, and more.

For more on Furious, check back with Mashable each week. We'll have posts and interview snippets dropping all season long.

The first three episodes of Furious are now streaming on Hulu, with new episodes every Monday through Aug. 31.

As Americans struggle to afford groceries and gas, Donald Trump threw his "Make America Affordable Again" promise in the trash at a recent campaign rally, with the president mocking "affordability" during his speech — even saying aloud, "What's affordability?"

On Late Night, Seth Meyers reacted to Trump's comments with a new segment he likes to call "I Feel F***ing Crazy." And, yeah.

"Can I tell you guys a secret? I feel f***ing crazy," said Meyers. "What do you mean, 'what's affordability?' You're the one who said it! You said we were going to 'make America affordable again.' Affordability is the noun form of the adjective affordable, you f***ing dropout. This is like if, after chanting 'build that wall' for four years, he admitted he didn't know what a wall was. Build that wall so I can finally lay eyes on one. You hear a lot about them. You never see walls. Someone told me I see walls every day, but then they pointed to one. I said, 'That's not a wall. That's a side roof.'"

SEE ALSO: Seth Meyers reacts to Trump being called a 'pedophile protector'

Meyers pointed out that during the rally, Trump also mocked reporters for asking him why prices were so high in a press conference.

"You're the president, of course they're asking you why prices are so high," said Meyers. "Who do you want them to ask, Jimothy? By the way, let's be clear: Do not let Jimothy anywhere near the White House. RFK will just assume his Uber Eats showed up early."

Meyers noted that while Americans are "struggling to afford food while Trump and his family line their pockets," Trump's job approval has again hit a record low — it's currently at -25, with 60 percent of Americans disapproving of the president, according to The Economist.

"The president's job approval rating is at a new all-time low, and the reason is simple," concluded Meyers. "He promised to bring down prices and keep us out of wars. And in both cases, he's done the opposite. He's good at enriching himself."

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I'm a Windows user, and I'm no stranger to dual-booting. It was actually my first real introduction to Linux. Like a lot of people, I carved out a partition, installed a second OS, and got that satisfying moment of choosing which OS to boot into at startup. At the time, it felt like the right way to do it if you wanted the full experience.

Imagine waking up one day to discover that decades of your digital history have been erased. For one Twitch streamer, Joshua Khane, that nightmare scenario became a reality. His long-standing Microsoft account, which held thousands of dollars in Xbox games, along with Outlook emails and his son's baby photos, was unceremoniously deleted by Microsoft after a hacker gained access and changed the recovery email and phone number.

LEGO is about to retire a large number of sets, which means you have limited time to grab them before they’re gone for good. This includes some of the company’s biggest tie-ins, long-running fan favorites, and some of the more obscure sets.

Former chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci's diary from the time of Covid has been made available to the press, and Daily Show host Desi Lydic is just as outraged by his entries as the people on Fox News.

"This guy is completely obsessed with himself," Lydic says. "I bet he'd put his name on random buildings if you let him. I mean, who writes a diary about themselves? What a lunatic."

Lydic goes on to play clips of various Fox News hosts contradicting each other over why exactly they're so angry with Fauci.

"It couldn't be clearer," says Lydic. "Covid killed a million Americans and also wasn't really that deadly, so we shouldn't have shut down. Remember, Fauci made this fatal virus in a lab, but he did a bad job because the virus wasn't even that fatal. Fauci's real crime is being a shitty deadly virus maker."

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When it comes to Bluetooth audio, your headphones are only half of the equation. Even if your phones support the latest and greatest technology, if your Windows computer's Bluetooth doesn't match those specifications, you're only going to get the lowest common denominator between the two.

All four BLACKPINK members have now taken on the Hot Ones challenge, with Lisa, Rosé, Jennie, and now Jisoo appearing on First We Feast's iconic web series. (Jennie made a direct plea for Jisoo to tackle the wings when she appeared on the show.)

The pop icon and actor joined host Sean Evans to eat increasingly spicy hot wings, and she's outstandingly tough. As the hot sauce levels increase, Jisoo handles that heat with ease, discussing how spiciness in Korean dishes is both stress relief and good for singing, the horror movie that actually scared her (Orphan), and playing Resident Evil Requiem.

And yes, she keeps the BLACKPINK/Hot Ones tradition alive with a final sketch. Honestly, she barely breaks a sweat. Go Jisoo.

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