Technology

Plex is the ideal starting point for anyone who wants to build their own media server with minimal setup. But it isn't perfect. Some features you might want are missing, while others are locked behind a paywall. I use a few companion apps to add these features and upgrade my Plex experience in the process.

Earlier this month, we reported on the disturbing trend of AI companies using and then destroying physical copies of books to train their agentic AI, in a practice so eerily reminiscent of book burning that it's spooking even devotees of artificial intelligence.

Well, according to Axios, the FTC is now being urged to investigate the practice, not, as we might like, for crimes against humanity, but for violations of antitrust law, since every book destroyed is one less book available for competing AI agents to use. 

Axios reports that "[m]ore than a dozen civil society groups," including Demand Progress Education Fund, the Consumer Federation of America, and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, are urging the FTC to investigate these practices, particularly those involving rare books. In their letter, they "urge the FTC to view this practice not in isolation but rather as the latest escalation in a documented pattern of anticompetitive conduct designed to create an insurmountable systemic moat around AI incumbents." 

The problem is all the more acute because these companies are allegedly targeting older books — especially those published before 2022 — since those books are guaranteed not to have been written by AI and are far more likely to have been well edited.

The letter continues:

"Unlike a standard data acquisition strategy, this hoard-and-destroy practice could serve as yet another structural mechanism to raise rival companies' costs and deny start-ups and fledgling competitors a key source material essential to competing in the AI marketplace."

Recall OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's description of knowledge as a utility that could be sold to you "like electricity and water"? That business proposition looks a lot less wholesome when it involves the wholesale destruction of books, our first and still-unsurpassed repository for human knowledge, most of which can still be acquired cheaply or freely loaned from a local library.

Sadder still is the fact that our best practical defense against this modern book burning isn't an ethical one but a legal one: that it would be bad for other businesses.

Part of owning a smartphone is knowing that apps track where I go more than I'd like to admit. That doesn't mean there's nothing you can do about it. I started spoofing my location on purpose: here's what happened, why it's worth trying, and what else you can layer on top of it.

Windows comes with a built-in firewall, and right out of the gate, I have to say that it is adequate. If you've never thought about the word "firewall" and don't have any interest in managing your Windows computer's network activity or security, then the default firewall is great.

Like many Linux users, I came to appreciate Linux through beginner-friendly distros like Linux Mint and Zorin OS. They make the transition from Windows much easier, and in Mint's case, a big part of the appeal is how little it asks of you. It's stable and familiar to Windows users. You can install it and use your PC without spending much time thinking about what's happening underneath.

You can do a lot of cool stuff with an older Rapsberry Pi. I use mine for a few things: development, home lab experiments, and some light writing and programming. But, like many Pi enthusiasts, I also use it for various retro projects. Lately, I've been using optical media for storage and retrieval for very specific reasons.

Who needs more cordless power tools? DeWALT tools are extremely popular among homeowners and professionals, partly thanks to their constant stream of exciting new products, and the company isn't slowing down anytime soon. Recently, DeWALT unveiled several new tools for the second half of 2026, and they'll be worth the wait.

When Nissan engineers borrowed NASA's research on neutral body posture to design the seats in the Infiniti QX60, they wanted to keep drivers and passengers comfortable on long trips. Believe it or not, that same engineering mindset extends to something a lot less glamorous than astronaut ergonomics. Cupholders.

Yesterday, the Department of Justice announced that its legal actions against TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, over alleged violations of children's online privacy laws had concluded with a $400 million settlement. The settlement now ranks among the "largest recoveries ever obtained" under the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

The initial lawsuit was brought against TikTok under the Biden administration, with allegations including "massive-scale invasions of children's privacy" and repeated failure to "comply with parents' requests to delete their children's accounts and information," according to the initial complaint. 

Though the dollar amount of the settlement is certainly steep, the terms of the deal allow TikTok to vacate all charges, avoid further litigation arising from the initial complaint, and admit no wrongdoing.

In fact, the Department of Justice's own press release acknowledges that "TikTok has undergone significant changes to its ownership, management, compliance functions, and privacy practices," giving the company a much-needed PR win going forward. The DOJ, on the other hand, is portraying this as a victory for online privacy.

"This settlement is a major victory for American children and parents," according to Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. "The Department's priority is ensuring that children are protected online and that companies entrusted with their personal information meet their legal obligations. This resolution secures a substantial recovery while reinforcing the protections that families expect and deserve."

Considering that prior litigation targeting TikTok put it under constant threat of being banned under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, passed by Congress in 2024, and eventually forced its corporate restructuring, the $400 million settlement will likely look, in hindsight, like a small price to pay for a company generating billions of dollars in advertising revenue each year. 

I’m not one to simply buy power tools on a whim; I usually need a good excuse. Recently I decided to take the plunge on an impact driver to see me through a weekend project and into the future. I ended up with a relatively cheap Ryobi model, and I love it.

Back when Android phones were still establishing their core identity, and Google was still a bright-eyed company mostly focused on software, Google came up with a brilliant idea, and, surprisingly, its partners played along. It was called "Google Play Edition" phones.

Sometimes a Windows bug is too small to carefully fix but too annoying to ignore. For years, my sound card has had its output mode switched from stereo to 5.1 after every reboot. Fixing it manually isn't difficult or all that time-consuming, but over the thousands of reboots since I purchased the card years ago, it adds up to several hours just changing audio device configurations.

The one thing that makes it easier for me to get up at 6 am for a training session or video call with someone on the other side of the world is the guarantee that my first cup of coffee will be a good one.

I make heavy use of voice dictation—I'm actually speaking the words you're reading right now. But I'm squeamish about the privacy concerns of Gboard and the connectivity requirements of Wispr Flow. Fortunately, I've found a private, offline-only option that is just as good—if not better.

Unfortunately, the end of August means the end of summer is near. It's the last chance to get that last-minute trip in before the school year starts, and the weather starts to cool down. As one of those people taking a trip, I've started to realize that the most important tool in my suitcase is an Amazon Fire TV Stick.

A NAS is a simple way to add a miniature cloud storage setup to your home network. Most of them are even versatile enough that they can host some basic open-source services as well, like a Navidrome music server or a WireGuard VPN. However, if you have an old PC lying around, you probably don't need to buy a dedicated NAS—you can repurpose the old PC instead.

The compact luxury SUV segment is dominated by familiar German badges, but a newer challenger is making it increasingly difficult to justify paying extra for them. It offers a genuinely upscale interior, strong performance, generous standard equipment, and a driving experience that feels more engaging than you might expect from a luxury crossover. Better still, it manages all of this while costing roughly the same as its most obvious rivals.

There's a long-standing debate over which web browser you should use. Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, and plenty of others all have their fans, and most of us eventually settle on whichever one fits our particular needs. For me, Edge Drop makes Microsoft's browser considerably more useful—but now that's being taken away.

Do you love making things and getting your hands dirty? Whether you’re into arts, crafts, or both, a 3D printer could be a good investment. You don’t need model design skills to benefit either, since there’s a whole world of models out there just waiting to be discovered.

It's frustrating to sit down at your laptop for an afternoon of work, only to realize that it's hovering at two percent battery. Oh, and you forgot your charger at home. Perfect.

That's why battery life is one of the most important factors shoppers consider when searching for the best laptops, according to a 2025 CNET survey. (FYI: Mashable and CNET are both owned by the same parent company, Ziff Davis.) That makes total sense. While not everyone needs a marathon runner — PC gamers and creative professionals will probably prioritize performance — a laptop that constantly leaves you stranded without juice is an inconvenience. It's not truly portable, which is basically the whole point of buying a laptop instead of a desktop PC. This is why Mashable tests every laptop we review for battery life using a standardized video rundown exercise.

The battery lives of laptops have improved dramatically as of late — Windows laptops, in particular. In 2024, only one PC we tested lasted over 20 hours. In the last two years, three models have surpassed the 30-hour mark, two have lasted over 24 hours, and 10 more have lasted at least 20 hours. Our median battery life for 2024-model-year PCs was 12.5 hours; for this year's models, it's at 18.5 — a 48 percent increase. This boost was fueled by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X series chips and Intel's Panther Lake chips.

In the MacBook realm, Apple's switch to custom M-series silicon in 2020 was a game-changer. With a rated battery life of up to 18 hours, the original M1 MacBook Air had 50 percent more stamina than its Intel-powered predecessor. Subsequent M2, M3, M4, and M5 Pro and Air models we've tested have lasted for up to 21 hours per charge. And the new budget MacBook Neo, while short-lived for a modern MacBook, outlasts the average cheap PC or Chromebook with roughly 15 hours of battery life.

These massive battery life bumps aren't the result of laptop batteries getting bigger. They've happened because laptop chips are getting smaller and more efficient, according to another CNET analysis. Tinier processors don't need as much juice to work.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon X series chips and Apple's M-series chips are further aided by the fact that they're both based on ARM instruction set architecture, or ISA. Put simply, ISA determines how a laptop's chip talks to its software. ARM ISA is less complicated than the traditional x86 ISA used in Intel and AMD chips, so ARM-based laptops tend to be more power-efficient. (The only catch is that you might run into compatibility issues with some specialty software and PC games.)

The best battery life laptop we've ever tested is the HP OmniBook 3 16, which held out for 40 hours and 14 minutes in our video rundown test. No other laptop we've tested has surpassed the 35-hour mark, though one comes close.