标签：#hardware

A few months ago I got properly bitten by the Linux bug. Ubuntu became my daily driver, I started digging into terminal tools way past the point of “practical necessity,” and I got obsessed with an idea that wouldn’t leave me alone: old hardware doesn’t have to die just because it’s old. I work as an on-site IT coordinator, handling day-to-day IT operations for an industrial company. Between that and years of general sysadmin work, I’ve watched a lot of perfectly usable machines get pulled out of service and shipped off as e-waste — not because they were broken, but because someone decided they were “too old” for whatever OS they were running. A Core 2 Duo with a fresh SSD and a lightweight distro can still be a genuinely useful computer.That gap between “technically obsolete” and “actually still works great” is where a lot of my curiosity lives right now. The gap I kept running into The more I looked into the Norwegian Linux scene, the more I found — Skolelinux/Debian Edu has deep roots here, NUUG (Norwegian Unix User Group) has been active for decades, and there’s a project called PC-Aid that collects, wipes, and reinstalls Debian Edu on used PCs, then sends them to schoolchildren in Ukraine. It’s been running for a few years now, quietly doing real, tangible good. I wanted in. But when I looked for any of this activity near me — Sunnmøre, a district on Norway’s west coast (in Møre og Romsdal county, home to the town of Ålesund) — there was nothing. No local NUUG chapter, no meetup, no group. Just… a gap. (If you’re not from Norway, don’t worry, most Norwegians would need a map for this too.) So instead of waiting for someone else to fill it, I started SLUG — Sunnmøre Linux User Group. Reaching out, awkwardly, like you do Starting a group is the easy part. Getting it to mean anything is harder. So I did the obvious thing: I found people who’d actually been part of PC-Aid and reached out. First was someone who’d been active in the project early on. I sent a message

Clicks’ $99 Power Keyboard brings a customizable, slide-out physical keyboard to MagSafe and Qi2 smartphones, but its added heft can make larger phones awkward to use.

While the device is pretty and lightweight, it’s not something the everyday person needs due to its hefty price tag and size.

The Movinkpad 11 a versatile little graphics tablet that can help make your wildest digital art dreams come true.

Additional details about OpenAI's mysterious new AI device make it sound like a pricey smart speaker.

For decades, desktop computers followed a familiar formula: a large case, powerful components, dedicated graphics cards, and plenty of space for upgrades. But the way we use computers is changing. Today, many users are looking for something different: a computer that is powerful enough for their daily needs, consumes less energy, takes less space, and can adapt to modern workflows. This is where Mini PCs are becoming one of the most interesting trends in personal computing. What is a Mini PC? A Mini PC is a compact computer designed to provide desktop-like functionality in a much smaller form factor. Unlike traditional desktop towers, Mini PCs integrate most components into a small chassis while still offering modern performance. A typical Mini PC includes: Modern processors from AMD or Intel Integrated Radeon or Intel graphics RAM and SSD storage Multiple connectivity options Compact cooling solutions Companies such as Minisforum have helped accelerate this trend by creating small computers powered by modern Ryzen and Intel processors, showing that compact hardware can still deliver impressive performance. Why are Mini PCs becoming popular? Efficiency matters more than ever One of the biggest advantages of Mini PCs is their efficiency. Traditional desktop computers can require significant power depending on the hardware configuration. In comparison, many Mini PCs provide enough performance for everyday tasks while maintaining lower energy consumption. For many users, reducing power usage without sacrificing productivity is becoming increasingly important. Small computers, new possibilities A smaller computer changes how we think about desktop setups. Mini PCs can be used for: Software development environments Home servers Media centers Student workstations Office computers Compact gaming setups A powerful computer no longer needs to occupy a large space on or under your desk. Modern processors changed the game The biggest reason Mini PCs are becoming more capable i

Anthropic is building a team for designing its own custom AI chips. The Claude maker said it would co-design hardware and models to help its technology run faster and more efficiently.

When asked about product-market fit, Spiegel said he believes mass-market consumer adoption won't occur until the end of the decade.

The global memory chip shortage appears to be affecting the availability of Apple’s most popular Mac.

Apple's new Upgrade program is the latest sign that smartphone ownership is changing.

This $9 NFC key requires you to physically scan it to unlock distracting apps on your phone.

From premium Shark and Dyson offerings to random Amazon devices, these mini fans will make your sweaty summer a little more managable.

The pitch sells itself. An assistant that's entirely mine, running on my own machine, needing no connection, with nothing I type ever leaving the room. No company counting my tokens. No subscription. No outage on someone else's servers wrecking my afternoon (I'm looking at you, Anthropic, and your recurring outages). I wanted that badly enough that I spent a few months chasing it, and I want to tell you honestly where it left me. 24GB sounds like plenty until you load a model My Mac has 24GB of memory. This felt generous when I bought it, but then you load a real language model and that number shrinks fast. The system keeps its cut because the computer needs to keep running, and what's left for the model is closer to two-thirds of the sticker figure. The models actually worth trusting sit right at that ceiling or just past it. So you have to choose: a model that fits comfortably and isn't very bright, or a smarter one that leaves the machine gasping. The obvious fix is more memory, but have you seen memory prices lately? The timing could not be worse. Memory got expensive in a way that still surprises people who haven't shopped for it in a while. DRAM has roughly doubled in price since the start of 2025, and the analysts who watch this space think it could climb another 70% or so across 2026. Storage is worse in spots. The raw NAND wafers that SSDs are cut from are trading at something like eight times where they sat in the middle of last year, and a 4TB drive I'd have paid about $250 for not long ago now wants north of $700 — and because the market is so volatile right now, when this blog post goes live these numbers might be totally different because it's 2026 and who knows how much RAM and SSDs will cost. The reason for this insanity is also the reason behind half the stories in tech right now — AI. The big datacenter buildouts are on track to swallow around 70% of the world's high-end memory this year, and the cloud giants have signed contracts that lock up prod

AI data center demand is fueling a multi-year chip shortage, pushing up component costs and retail device prices.

The biggest reason NVIDIA began providing GPL-licensed kernel modules is that its driver architecture evolved to the point where Linux integration, distribution, and maintenance could be greatly simplified while keeping the GPU's critical intellectual property in firmware and user-space components . To be precise, NVIDIA did not open-source its entire driver stack. The components that became open are primarily the following Linux kernel modules: nvidia.ko nvidia-drm.ko nvidia-uvm.ko nvidia-modeset.ko User-space components such as CUDA, OpenGL, Vulkan, and the GSP firmware remain proprietary. ( NVIDIA Developer ) 1. To make integration with Linux distributions easier Previously, NVIDIA's proprietary kernel modules had to be built, signed, and distributed separately from the Linux kernel. A DKMS-based workflow, which rebuilds modules after every kernel update, commonly led to problems such as: Kernel modules failing to build after kernel updates Unsigned modules being blocked by Secure Boot Linux distributions having difficulty maintaining the driver as an official package Increased complexity when integrating with custom kernels or cloud environments By publishing the source code, distributions such as Ubuntu, Red Hat, and SUSE can integrate NVIDIA's kernel modules into their own packaging, signing, and update infrastructure much more easily. NVIDIA itself cites tighter OS integration and simpler signing and distribution as key motivations. ( NVIDIA Developer ) 2. To improve debugging and security review Kernel modules interact with deep parts of the operating system, including memory management, interrupts, inter-process synchronization, PCI Express, and display subsystems. With the source code available, Linux distribution developers and enterprise users can: Trace where execution stops inside the kernel Analyze interactions between GPU events and workloads Fix incompatibilities with custom kernels Review security-related issues Submit patches to NVIDIA NVIDIA stat

Apple is worried enough about supply shortages that it reported about $11.1 billion in inventory, which is almost double the $5.7 billion it reported last September.

With the Light Phone, Kaiwei Tang and Joe Hollier have spent over a decade exploring the value of simplicity in our relationship to technology, partnering along the way with players like Andrew Yang, Kendrick Lamar, and Pete Davidson. Now, with a new flip phone and a growing wave of “attention activists” pushing back against Big Tech, they think the rest of […]

Ozlo’s first major update to its sleep earbuds introduces longer battery life, improved connectivity, enhanced audio, and new sleep features as the startup continues the product line once abandoned by Bose.

Leasing prices start at $17.99 per month for iPhone, $11.99 for Apple Watch, $24.99 for Mac, and $11.99 for iPad.

This $9 NFC key requires you to physically scan it to unlock distracting apps on your phone.