The new and improved Windows PCs are finally here

Jun 23, 2024 07:00 PM - 4 months ago 61240

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 43, your guideline to nan champion and Verge-iest worldly successful nan world. (If you’re caller here, welcome, truthful psyched you recovered us, and besides you tin publication each nan aged editions astatine nan Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been reference astir memexes and telepathy and John Lennon’s wristwatch, watching Presumed Innocent and Ren Faire, testing Genspark for AI hunt stuff, redoing my homescreen pinch Dumbify, and experimenting pinch overnight oats successful an effort to make mornings little chaotic. (Turns out, peanut food makes beautiful overmuch everything 20 percent better.) 

I besides person for you a caller tech podcast, a mates of useful caller gadgets, a caller almanac app, nan crippled that will return complete your weekend, and overmuch more. Let’s get into it.

(As always, nan champion portion of Installer is your ideas and tips. What are you into correct now? What awesome apps / books / podcasts / shows / games / recipes / immoderate other person you discovered and loved recently? Tell maine everything: installer@theverge.com. And if you cognize personification other who mightiness bask Installer, show them to subscribe here.)

The Drop

  • The Asus VivoBook S 15. Copilot Plus PCs cometh. It’s been a weird rollout, what pinch all nan Recall complications, but we’re starting to get a consciousness of conscionable what this caller era of Qualcomm-powered Windows devices tin do. So far, I’m beautiful optimistic, but I’m still waiting to spot really nan caller Surfaces cookware out.
  • Elden Ring Shadow of nan Erdtree. The wide vibe of this immense caller DLC is fundamentally “it’s Elden Ring, only someway moreover much so.” Given really heavy and large this crippled already was, and really galore hours we’ve each spent successful it already, that’s beautiful overmuch each you tin inquire for. 
  • Pissing retired Cancer. If each nan Dropout Presents stand-up specials are arsenic overmuch nosy arsenic this 1 from Hank Green, we’re astir to person a heck of a tally of caller comedy. Green present is funny and goofy arsenic ever and highly Hank Green-y. It’s an hr you won’t regret.
  • The Xreal Beam Pro. Such a nosy and different idea astir really smart glasses should work: alternatively of trying to cook everything into nan glasses themselves, Xreal is pulling each nan smarts and package into a abstracted reasonably inexpensive smartphone-style device. I’m excited to trial this 1 out.
  • Backfired: The Vaping Wars. The Juul communicative mightiness everlastingly beryllium 1 of nan strangest things to ever hap successful Silicon Valley. This podcast goes heavy connected that story, on pinch nan confusing societal statement astir vaping, nan government’s scramble to support up, and wherever things spell from here.
  • Arc for iPad. Still my favourite browser, yet disposable connected almost each my devices. (Android when, Arc people!?!) The app isn’t precisely iPad-optimized — it’s missing immoderate keyboard shortcuts and is really conscionable a blown-up type of nan iPhone app — but it syncs and useful good and I will perfectly return it.
  • Amie for Windows. Big week for cross-platform apps! Amie is 1 of my favourite almanac / to-do apps and has gotten a batch much polished complete nan past fewer months. If you’re nan all-in-one productivity type and admit immoderate delightful design, springiness this 1 a whirl.
  • The Logitech Keys-to-Go 2. I’ve had nan original Keys-To-Go successful my container for a fewer years arsenic a ace ray and useful measurement to get immoderate worldly done pinch my telephone aliases iPad. This looks for illustration a immense upgrade: still light, still small, but pinch a much due group of keys. $80 is simply a lot, but I fishy I’ll extremity up buying one.
  • A Sense of Rebellion. An amazingly well-produced and profoundly reported podcast connected immoderate decades-old ideas astir AI and really we mightiness usage and unrecorded pinch technology. The communicative here, astir hippies and capitalists and nan authorities and large business, is benignant of nan communicative of exertion each wrapped up successful 10 episodes. Loving this truthful far.
  • Clipbud. Clipboard history is adjuvant and good, but having a spot pinch each nan matter you type a batch – your shipping address, banal email responses, important links, each of that — is a life-changer. The built-in text replacement and individual dictionary features (on iOS and Android, respectively) do a batch of that, and apps for illustration Snippety are mega-powerful, but this caller 1 is beautiful delightful to use.

Screen share

I deliberation Nick Quah has introduced maine to much awesome podcasts than immoderate different personification connected earth. Whether successful nan early days of Hot Pod aliases successful his 1.5x Speed newsletter complete astatine Vulture (The Verge’s sister tract present astatine Vox Media), he seems to person listened to each nan shows each nan time. Just this week, actually, he wrote a nosy communicative astir how chat podcasts person taken over and named immoderate of the biggest names successful New Radio.

I asked Nick to stock his homescreen because a) I was funny what podcast app he utilized and b) I was hoping he mightiness urge a caller show aliases two. I sewage my wish connected some counts! Here’s Nick’s homescreen, positive immoderate info connected nan apps he uses and why:

The phone: Recently upgraded from my trusty ol’ iPhone 12 to an iPhone 15. Seems to beryllium doing good truthful far; I’m nary longer stressed astir losing juice connected agelong flights.  

The wallpaper: My sweet, saccharine babe boy Siobhan (aka Shooby).

The apps: Calendar, Photos, Clock, Weather, Google Maps, To Do, Google Calendar, Gmail, Spotify, TikTok, Instagram, Steam, Delta, Strava, Discord, Slack, Stocks, LastPass, Messages, Phone, Firefox, Pocket Casts.

Yeah, well, arsenic you tin see, I’m beautiful vanilla for nan astir part. All nan instantly accessible apps are worldly I deed up pinch immoderate wave connected immoderate fixed day. Google Maps for navigation (and snooping). To Do to get my encephalon successful order. TikTok and Instagram for thing to do successful nan bathroom. I’ve been gaming a batch much these days, truthful I’m perpetually trawling Steam for deals. Strava, ‘cuz I’ve someway go a large runner. I’ve besides been hitting up Delta rather a bit, moving done a backlog of aged JRPGs. And of course, Pocket Casts, which is my go-to for podcast listening.

I besides asked Nick to stock a fewer things he’s into correct now. Here’s what he sent back:

  • I’m a large rewatcher / replayer of things, and for immoderate reason, nan summertime is usually erstwhile I prime up my yearly revisits. Right now, I’m moving my measurement done Halt and Catch Fire for nan sixth time. Gosh, that show is truthful lovely. It’s nan 10-year anniversary, you know?
  • Like nan remainder of nan beingness astatine this constituent successful time, seemingly, I’m digging Chappell Roan. “Red Wine Supernova,” very good. 
  • Slowly making my measurement done Season of nan Witch: Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance successful nan City of Love, David Talbot’s 2013 history of San Francisco. I’m uncovering it rather remarkable.
  • Catching up connected episodes of My Perfect Console, Simon Parkin’s awesome “Desert Island Discs, but for Video Games” question and reply show that’s really doubling arsenic a nosy humanities grounds for nan medium.

Crowdsourced

Here’s what nan Installer organization is into this week. I want to cognize what you’re into correct now arsenic well! Email installer@theverge.com aliases connection maine connected Signal — @davidpierce.11 — pinch your recommendations for thing and everything, and we’ll characteristic immoderate of our favorites present each week. For moreover much recommendations than fresh here, cheque retired nan replies to this station connected Threads.

This small camera. I’ve been going complete ways successful my mind to warrant it because it’s truthful tiny but besides nan photos are amazingly decent.” – Daulton

“Check retired Ditto. It is simply a Nostr server that exposes Mastodon API to its clients. So nan committedness is that you would beryllium capable to usage your very bully Mastodon app (Ivory, Ice Cubes) and adhd Nostr relationship correct into it. It would beryllium for illustration an further server successful nan aforesaid app wherever your main Mastodon relationship is.” – Adnan

“I’ve been slow getting backmost into pursuing Pokemón trading cards and person been hooked watching TheBulbaStore connected YouTube. It’s ace absorbing seeing a vendor’s constituent of position and nan prices immoderate cards spell for now!” – Peter

The Hawthorne & Horowitz mysteries by Anthony Horowitz. He precocious released nan 5th successful nan series, Close to Death. They each person tortured puns arsenic titles (in this case, “close” being a British connection for enclosed area). On apical of that, nan books are metafiction successful which Horowitz himself is nan main character, talking astir really he is penning nan bid of execution mysteries that you are reading. Yet, they are immoderate of nan champion modern execution mysteries I’ve publication and do a awesome occupation paying homage to Agatha Christie, each while playing pinch nan genre.” – Kendrick

“I’m playing and watching chess! Chess is cool now! Lots of awesome ways to play, but Chess.com is astir apt nan champion for beginners. And there’s awesome YouTube contented retired location connected chess from Eric Rosen, Irina Krush, Levy Rozman, and Hikaru Nakamura. Getting bully truthful I tin thatch my three-year-old niece to beryllium a maestro someday.” – Ryan

“I americium really enjoying “Jet Lag: The Game” connected YouTube. Imagine The Amazing Race, but really bully and not scripted. The hosts are likable and nan crippled has immoderate decent complexity down it. They are astir to wrap up their Australia season, and it has been a nail-biter.” – Dev

“I’m presently reference Hell Divers II: Ghosts by Nicholas Sansbury Smith. Postapocalyptic sci-fi astir halo jumpers who dive into radioactive wastelands to scavenge supplies from mutant monsters, and yes, it is arsenic bully arsenic it sounds.” – Jesse

“I’ve been obsessed pinch my caller Klydoclock, a integer return connected nan classical analog clock. It features changing, artist-curated faces and tin moreover tick and chime connected nan hr if you want it to. Best of all: it has nary different functions and isn’t attached to an app aliases your phone. Minimalism and elegance astatine its finest.” – Jonathan

“I really judge that a location server aliases NAS is useful and easy accessible for much group than presently person one. More group should person their ain Plex server, Pi-hole, self-hosted unreality storage, Minecraft server, aliases self-hosted VPN. An aged PC is each you request if you want to support it simple. And if you don’t mind learning really to activity pinch Linux, you could moreover usage an aged Android telephone aliases inexpensive Raspberry Pi clone.” – Voltaire

Signing off

I cognize I’ve mentioned this before, but I perfectly cannot get capable of watching / listening to / reference astir really group who are awesome astatine their point do their thing. (The musician Kygo has a bid of making-of videos that is ever nan first illustration I deliberation of successful this genre.) One of my favourite caller ones is this video, pinch Zane Lowe interviewing Finneas and Billie Eilish astir nan making of Eilish’s latest album. They talk astir process, fear, microphones, editing, and truthful overmuch more. I will almost surely ne'er make an album, aliases sprout a movie, aliases make it successful nan NBA, but listening to group talk astir really they do it ne'er gets old. 

See you adjacent week!

More