Cloudflare snaps up Human Native in bid to reshape how AI models pay for online content, promising new tools for pricing and discovery. Read...

Tired of messy cables cluttering up your desk space? This simple solution will fix that. This 14-in-1 Anker Prime docking station keeps all your devices connected and your desk clutter-free, and it’s only $170 right now (that’s 37 perfect off!). View at Amazon The docking station offers 14 ways to charge gadgets, transfer data, and connect multiple displays. It includes two 10Gbps USB-C ports, two 100W USB-C ports, five USB-A ports, an audio jack, an Ethernet port, two HDMI ports, and an upstream USB-C port. All in all, you can add two extra displays to your setup, making multitasking more efficient. Plus, those high-power USB-C ports provide a quick way to move files around. The 10Gbps transfer speeds will cut down the time spent waiting for large files to transfer. This combination of power, data transfer speed, and display support makes the Anker Prime station perfect for streamlining your workspace. Get yours for $170 before the deal ends. Get the Anker docking station with 160W output and 10Gbps data transferBuy now at Amazon Read...

I help family members with account management. (Kind of the unofficial side job of all of us tech-minded folk.) I know I’m not alone. Netflix, however, seems to think it must be completely unusual. Last month, I stopped being able to see settings for an account I pay for. Pay for. Not use. I don’t think I’ve watched anything on that account since maybe early 2025, and that was already rare. This, of course, is a side effect of Netflix’s rabid crackdown on users logging into accounts when not at home. Who travels to other homes or even whole other cities, amirite? But the stupid part (and I don’t use that adjective lightly) is that Netflix isn’t just blocking access to its content. Content-blocking makes sense, given how the company keeps making its own series and also wants to buy a whole other company right now. But no, Netflix decided to go the full distance and even block access to account settings if you log in from a location outside of your usual home. Can’t change the password, or in my case, update the billing information. I get that Netflix likely assumes that I would have access to the registered email address, and be able to put in the temporary code for access. Nope. I put the other person’s email address down so that if they ever need to reset the password, they don’t have to wait on me for the process to happen. So over the holiday, what I assumed would be a two-minute billing update turned into a much longer task. I had the choice of calling the account owner to get a temporary access code (…which kind of goes against the reason why I take care of the account…) or actually haul my butt over to the person’s house. Fortunately, I live in the same geographic region. Everyone else cares about Netflix’s series. Not me. I just want to pay for the dang service and then ignore it.Ben Patterson/Foundry I may now have to rethink my approach, so that I can get access to codes in a pinch if I need, while also still allowing password resets to be accessible to the account owner. (Yes, they do know about password managers, but this is just in case.) But seriously, Netflix. What the %*(#. I could stomach this better if it was at least couched as You’ve never logged in from this location and we’ve blocked it because it seems suspicious. But nah. (Also, speaking of, why no 2FA still?) This location block may be partially related to the holiday period—a quick check just now seems to let me access the whole shebang again. But I don’t trust this couldn’t happen again, and of course when I would most want quick access. (I’m mostly likely to have to shuffle things around or help with accounts during holiday periods. That’s when people have time off to watch the most things!) But you know what also happens during the holiday periods, especially Black Friday? Deals on other streaming services. A few of which I took advantage of. Maybe I should stop letting an $18-per-month subscription continue uninterrupted when I have to deal with this nonsense—and there are cheaper and equally interesting alternatives available. Read...

I don’t know about you, but I feel like something is always charging when I’m in the car. Whether it’s my smartwatch, my smartphone, or my headphones, there’s always a device plugged in. One of the easiest ways to simplify charging on the go is with these Lisen car chargers with retractable chargers, now 35% off at just $16.13. View at Amazon This super-compact gadget plugs into any standard 12V vehicle socket (that cigarette lighter port no one uses) and provides access to not one, but two retractable cables: a 30W USB-C cable and a 12W Lightning cable for older Apple devices. And that’s not all. There are also two other ports, a USB-C and a USB-A, for charging additional gadgets. With all these options, your family will never fight over whose turn it is to charge on road trips. The Lisen charger fits nicely in your car and even swivels up to 180 degrees on a hinge, so it works with almost any aux power outlet, no matter its position. Grab one for $16.13 on Amazon while it’s still on sale. Get this charger with retractable cables for $16Buy now at Amazon Read...

A proper fast-charging power adapter is one of those essentials you shouldn’t overlook. Right now, the Ugreen Nexode model is currently 40 percent off, the best deal we’ve seen so far, bringing the price down to $33.24 at Amazon. View at Amazon It’s not just that this charger is fast, it also features four ports all your gadgets. There are three USC-C ports and one USB-A, giving you plenty of ways to charge everything from your laptop to your smartphone, earbuds, and smartwatch. If you’re only using a single port, the top two USB-C ports can deliver up to 100W, perfect for your laptop. If all ports are in use, the top port maxes out at 45W, the second at 30W, and the other two deliver 10.5W each, so you’ll need to be mindful which cable goes to which device. Built with GaN technology, the charger outperforms older power adapters by being smaller, faster, and more efficient. Its foldable plugs make it ideal for travel, as the prongs won’t catch, bend, or break. Grab the Ugreen Nexode charger for $33.24 before this deal ends. Charge four gadgets at once with this 40% off power adapterBuy now at Amazon Read...

AINA secures USD $1 million seed funding to speed rollout of its AI hiring platform for recruiters and jobseekers battling application overload. Read...

Well, well, well, if it isn’t one of the best gaming mice out there at its best price ever. Yes, I’m talking about the Razer Basilisk V3 X HyperSpeed that’s down 46 percent from its MSRP, which means you can get it for $38. View at Amazon This gaming mouse isn’t one of Razer’s newest models, but it’s one that stands the test of time. With an 18K optical sensor, it’s both precise and fast. There are also nine customizable controls that make handling all your gaming sessions an absolute breeze. The mouse takes a more old-school approach to power, relying on a single AA battery. Still, you won’t need to replace it anytime soon, as you can get up to 285 hours of use via the Razer HyperSpeed Wireless feature or up to 535 hours on Bluetooth. Oh, and you’ll also enjoy Razer’s signature sleek design, giving your setup a clean, understated look. Go ahead and grab the Razer Basilisk V3 X HyperSpeed wireless gaming mouse for $38 before this deal goes away. The Razer Basilisk V3 X HyperSpeed is 46% offBuy now at Amazon Read...

The site`s co-founder speaks to the BBC for the online encyclopedia`s 25th anniversary. Read...

Corsearch has launched CVAN, an AI-driven network that spots suspect listings across 1,500 marketplaces before counterfeit goods go live. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Free 10GB plan Affordable monthly and yearly plans Attractive, easy cross-platform client software Virtual drive allows access directly from Windows Explorer Versioning for both sync and backup Cons No online editing Limited preview compatibility File retention settings are global, not per job Our Verdict Icedrive is one of the slickest online storage services available. There’s no online editing, but there are online previews, sharing, and competitive pricing. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Retailer Price Icedrive $6 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Icedrive online storage Retailer Price Icedrive $6 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices There are a lot of choices in online backup these days, so users can pick and choose the easiest and most affordable. Icedrive competes well on both fronts — proving to be one of my favorites to use. This is my second review of the service, with a look at some features that were formerly in beta. Color me impressed. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best online backup services to learn about competing products. What are Icedrive’s features? As with any online storage vendor, Icedrive’s primary feature is providing an offsite repository for your files. However, it also sports collaboration features such as file sharing, public links, and file requests (others asking to see your files). In addition to its facility for syncing files, Icedrive’s client-side software provides an optional virtual drive. You can change the drive letter but it defaults to I: (Icedrive, “I:”, get it?), which is good enough in my book. Icedrive in action under Windows. The virtual drive acts as a local portal to your online files, as well as an encrypted folder that utilizes a secondary password or passphrase that you define. Icedrive doesn’t have access to this passphrase, so don’t lose or forget it. iOS and Android apps are also provided, so you can back up your phone or other mobile devices. My one caveat here is the lack of a Sync tab as on the Windows client. Instead mobile backups (it’s not traditional sync) are defined under the settings tab — the last place I looked. Icedrive on and iPhone Speaking of such, in addition to the two-way syncing virtual drive, Icedrive’s Windows client offers what it calls “Full sync” and “Backup.” The former is two-way sync and the latter is one-way sync. Both use versioning, which is a bit odd for two-way sync. File versioning can serve as a kind of ad hoc backup: Older files are kept just in case. Icedrive does it better than most. Instead of moving the older file to a visible sub-directory, or renaming the older file and leaving it in plain view (this can get messy with a lot of versions), it retains the files out of sight. IceDrive was very quick to spot new and changed files. Shown are the older versions of this test file. Sync is enhanced with the choice to delete files locally (or not) after they are deleted online (mirroring the online version), and to delete files online (or not) after they were deleted locally (mirroring the local data repository). Select both and you’re in effect doing “Full sync,” or two-way sync. Alas, the delete options are not available on a per-sync job basis — they apply to all sync pairs. Icedrive offers an online document preview feature that handles many common types. PDF, JPEG, MP3, Wave, and even FLAC/OGG/M4A (lossless included) play just fine, so an A for audio file support. It still, however, will not correctly display my Excel spreadsheets. No editing of said documents is available, so if you’re looking to work online, Icedrive is likely not your cup of tea. At least for now. That said, Icedrive doesn’t make claims in this regard. As simple storage with easy access, it’s a winner. How easy is it to use Icedrive? Icedrive is easy to get up to speed with, once you understand all the sync/backup options. If you know the ins and outs of sync already, that shouldn’t take long. The Icedrive virtual drive for macOS and Linux relies on the public domain macFUSE driver — a separate download. OpenDrive for Apple machines also relies on this macOS extension, which seems to work well. To access your encrypted folder from the “local” I: drive, you must enter the passphrase online, then open the local client and under the Mount tab, choose Crypto Lock, and enter the passphrase. Simple, and after that, it’s all transparent. Icedrive is easy to get up to speed with, once you understand all the sync/backup options. Icedrive’s Encrypted folder provides a private second layer of security for important or sensitive data. Dragging a few files to the IceDrive Virtual Drive is certainly the easiest way to upload them, but there’s local caching going on so you can eat up disk space (especially important with internal SSDs) in a hurry. You can move the cache file to an external location, and there’s also an “upload” context menu option that bypasses the major caching and copies the files directly online. Sadly, this context menu item is not available for the Mac. On that platform you’ll need to upload using a sync pair to avoid local caching. Icedrive’s virtual drive is your window into your online storage. Some is cached locally, Note that you can set the online storage as read-only if you want to be sure files don’t get mucked up. How much does Icedrive cost? The five-year plans that the company once featured are gone, while the monthly and yearly options remain. Simpler is generally better when you’re trying to support a large number of users, no doubt. The five-year plans have been dropped in favor of pure annual and monthly rates. The monthly plans as of this writing are $8 for 1TB and $20 for 5TB, while annual prices at the time of this writing are: $29 for 2TB (discounted from $99), $49 for 4TB (discounted from $159), and $99 for 6TB (down from $269). The discounted yearly plans I saw are outstanding values and there’s always the free 10GB plan (without the encrypted folder) so you can kick the tires. Note that the discounts are only good for the first year you use the service, and the above offers may only be temporary. Don’t just click blindly through on my reporting. And while the discounted plans are excellent deals, the normal fees are on the pricey side. How does Icedrive perform? Any online storage service will of course be limited to the upload/download bandwidth of your broadband connection. That said, the program was quite speedy in my testing under Windows, and without throttling the rest of the system. It also found new versions of files quickly and synced them to the cloud in darn close to real time. Nice. The experience was largely the same with the macOS version, with the exception that the IceDrive client tended to thwart my attempts to shut down the computer. I had to use “Force quit” on the program on several occasions. Also, the “pause backup” button was sometimes less than responsive. Basically, the Mac client needs to poll the system for OS commands more often. No biggie, but annoying. Should you sign up for Icedrive? Icedrive is easy to use, versatile, and its pricing is quite competitive — when discounted. Drop a half star from the rating at the normal prices. But it’s still definitely worth a look-see. Editor’s note: Because online services are often iterative, gaining new features and performance improvements over time, this review is subject to change in order to accurately reflect the current state of the service. Any changes to text or our final review verdict will be noted at the top of this article. Read...