The Meta Quest 3S is back on sale at its all-time low price of $250. That’s $50 off, or a discount of 17 percent, and matches a deal we saw on Cyber Monday. You can get the deal at Amazon and Best Buy, and the latter offers a $50 gift card with purchase.
The 3S is the more affordable model in the company’s current VR headset lineup. It features the same Snapdragon XR2 processor as the more expensive Meta Quest 3, but with lower resolution per eye and a slightly narrower field of view.
In our hands-on review, we gave the Meta Quest 3S a score of 90, noting how impressive the tech was compared to its price. The headset was comfortable to wear during longer gaming periods, and the performance was quick and responsive thanks largely to the upgraded processor and increased RAM from the Quest 2.
We were big fans of the new controllers, which the 3S shares with the more expensive Quest 3. This new generation of controller sports a more refined design, shedding the motion tracking ring and leaving behind a sleek form factor that fits in your hand like a glove.
We did miss the headphone jack, though most users are probably fine with the built-in speakers. You can wirelessly connect headphones for higher quality sound if you feel the need. The Quest 3S also recycles the old Fresnel lenses from the Quest 2, which can lead to some artifacts.
If you were considering a VR headset for yourself or a loved one this holiday season, the Meta Quest 3S offers an excellent value alongside impressive performance.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-meta-quest-3s-is-back-down-to-its-cyber-monday-all-time-low-of-250-144027382.html?src=rssEngadget
I think I’ve had one of the messiest backup strategies for years. I’m constantly testing out new tools, and it takes a toll. I’ve used backup tools like Restic and mainstream options like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and Apple iCloud, to name a few. These options are robust but usually not totally under your control and often require paid plans for ample storage.
I finally came across BorgBackup (Borg for short), and it’s one tool that can replace all the backup options I’ve tried. It’s open source, my data is practically under my control, and it’s free. But more importantly, it’s a backup option that’s robust enough for daily use. It replaces every part of my previous setup with a single unified system.
Borg’s global deduplication
Borg eliminates repeated data across snapshots and machines
Of all the backup tools I’ve used, Borg has the most distinctive and effective approach to handling repeated data. It doesn’t back up entire files or scan for differences at a block level. Borg instead breaks data into variable-sized chunks based on its content. This ensures that even if you make a tiny change inside a massive file, only a few new chunks are stored, and the rest are reused. This approach becomes a long-term space-saving machine, going far beyond incremental backup.
The effect is felt most when you back up several machines to a single repository. It’s agnostic about which system produced the data. For example, if you have two computers that share identical system files, the chunks are referenced by multiple snapshots or machines but stored only once. This is called deduplication, and it recognizes just the data itself and not necessarily how it’s arranged or named.
Borg’s deduplication helps keep costs in check even when the number of devices or snapshots increases. Your storage only grows when something genuinely new is introduced. This is especially valuable to me because I maintain multiple computers.
OS
Linux, macOS, FreeBSD
Price model
Free
BorgBackup or Borg is a command-line, deduplicating archiver with compression and encryption. It offers space-efficient storage of backups.
Fortress-grade security by default
Encryption designed for untrusted servers
Afam Onyimadu / MUO
Encryption is a checkbox feature on some backup tools I’ve tried, but it’s a core part of Borg’s design. The data you store is encrypted and cryptographically protected against tampering, and your repository can be initialized with authenticated encryption. This way, the client will detect tampering or modification of repository data, and you get real protection even if someone modifies the raw chunks behind your back. The cloud provider has no insight into your files and, at best, will only see unreadable blobs.
I also appreciate that Borg implements a zero-knowledge architecture, and the encryption happens on my machine. I can then use off-site storage, a rented VPS, or a third-party provider as a mere location to deposit encrypted chunks. They don’t participate in encryption, hold the keys, or decrypt my data, even if compelled to do so.
I also love Borg’s approach to key management. It offers passphrase-protected keys and standalone keyfiles, which are great for different threat models. However, you must make proper key backup part of your workflow because losing the key also means losing the ability to restore data. This security model means you don’t need to fully trust a machine to host your backups. Borg’s encryption keeps it safe.
Instant restores
Afam Onyimadu / MUO
The file restore process is one reason I dread backups. On some tools, I have to extract entire archives, then wait for gigabytes of data to be processed. After that, I still have to sift through folders to find the one file I actually need. Borg lets you mount your repository via FUSE, largely eliminating this friction. It exposes backups as a directory, so every snapshot is accessible like a normal local folder.
You have to open a specific file before Borg downloads or decrypts it. Although it feels like lazy-loading, it lets you inspect archives instantly. Instant restores make Borg an ideal tool for backing up your entire digital life.
Backups that never bog down your system
Making Borg fast on everything from desktops to low-power NAS devices
Afam Onyimadu / MUO
After the initial full backup, Borg became remarkably lightweight. Deduplication does most of the work, so incremental runs are fast, and Borg is ideal for scheduled, high-frequency backups. I can run it for hours, and it barely touches my disk or network because it’s only moving tiny bits that have changed, not entire files.
You can choose between LZ4, ZSTD, or GZip, and this adds another layer of efficiency. For large and frequently changing directories, I use LZ4 because it favors speed. ZSTD will typically shrink storage, but won’t hurt performance on modern CPUs. Even though GZip is slower, it’s ideal for archival snapshots that won’t be touched again. Many other tools, unlike Borg, won’t allow you to tune compression per job.
BorgBackup also excels at network-aware scheduling. You can apply upload throttling to prevent Wi-Fi bandwidth from being overwhelmed during backups. These optimizations are more evident on Raspberry Pi NAS units, small VMs, older laptops, or other low-power hardware.
Even though Borg does a great job of creating backups, its biggest strength is in how it maintains them. Automated pruning, compaction, and verification workflows offer constant oversight that keeps the repository healthy.
Borg keeps my entire archive consistent. However, it is a command-line tool, and if you’re non-technical or prefer a graphical user interface (GUI), backup tools like Duplicati may be better fits.
A lightweight, secure, and extensible MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for MySQL designed to bridge the gap between relational databases and large language models (LLMs).
I’m releasing a new open-source project: mysql-mcp-server, a lightweight server that connects MySQL to AI tools via the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It’s designed to make MySQL safely accessible to language models, structured, read-only, and fully auditable.
This project started out of a practical need: as LLMs become part of everyday development workflows, there’s growing interest in using them to explore database schemas, write queries, or inspect real data. But exposing production databases directly to AI tools is a risk, especially without guardrails.
mysql-mcp-server offers a simple, secure solution. It provides a minimal but powerful MCP server that speaks directly to MySQL, while enforcing safety, observability, and structure.
What it does
mysql-mcp-server allows tools that speak MC, such as Claude Desktop, to interact with MySQL in a controlled, read-only environment. It currently supports:
Listing databases, tables, and columns
Describing table schemas
Running parameterized SELECT queries with row limits
Running as either a local MCP-compatible binary or a remote REST API server
By default, it rejects any unsafe operations such as INSERT, UPDATE, or DROP. The goal is to make the server safe enough to be used locally or in shared environments without unintended side effects.
Why this matters
As more developers, analysts, and teams adopt LLMs for querying and documentation, there’s a gap between conversational interfaces and real database systems. Model Context Protocol helps bridge that gap by defining a set of safe, predictable tools that LLMs can use.
mysql-mcp-server brings that model to MySQL in a way that respects production safety while enabling exploration, inspection, and prototyping. It’s helpful in local development, devops workflows, support diagnostics, and even hybrid RAG scenarios when paired with a vector index.
Getting started
You can run it with Docker:
docker run -e MYSQL_DSN='user:pass@tcp(mysql-host:3306)/' \
-p 7788:7788 ghcr.io/askdba/mysql-mcp-server:latest
A lightweight, secure, and extensible MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for MySQL designed to bridge the gap between relational databases and large language models (LLMs).
I’m releasing a new open-source project: mysql-mcp-server, a lightweight server that connects MySQL to AI tools via the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It’s designed to make MySQL safely accessible to language models, structured, read-only, and fully auditable.
This project started out of a practical need: as LLMs become part of everyday development workflows, there’s growing interest in using them to explore database schemas, write queries, or inspect real data. But exposing production databases directly to AI tools is a risk, especially without guardrails.
mysql-mcp-server offers a simple, secure solution. It provides a minimal but powerful MCP server that speaks directly to MySQL, while enforcing safety, observability, and structure.
What it does
mysql-mcp-server allows tools that speak MC, such as Claude Desktop, to interact with MySQL in a controlled, read-only environment. It currently supports:
Listing databases, tables, and columns
Describing table schemas
Running parameterized SELECT queries with row limits
Running as either a local MCP-compatible binary or a remote REST API server
By default, it rejects any unsafe operations such as INSERT, UPDATE, or DROP. The goal is to make the server safe enough to be used locally or in shared environments without unintended side effects.
Why this matters
As more developers, analysts, and teams adopt LLMs for querying and documentation, there’s a gap between conversational interfaces and real database systems. Model Context Protocol helps bridge that gap by defining a set of safe, predictable tools that LLMs can use.
mysql-mcp-server brings that model to MySQL in a way that respects production safety while enabling exploration, inspection, and prototyping. It’s helpful in local development, devops workflows, support diagnostics, and even hybrid RAG scenarios when paired with a vector index.
Getting started
You can run it with Docker:
docker run -e MYSQL_DSN='user:pass@tcp(mysql-host:3306)/' \
-p 7788:7788 ghcr.io/askdba/mysql-mcp-server:latest
https://photos5.appleinsider.com/gallery/66064-138426-macbook-pro-14-inch-1249-deal-xl.jpgBetter-than-Black Friday pricing has hit Apple’s M4 MacBook Pro, with the 14-inch laptop marked down to $1,249.
This blowout M4 MacBook Pro deal is likely to sell out – Image credit: Apple
The $350 discount beats Black Friday pricing by $50, with the laptop in stock in Silver with delivery by Christmas.
The World Wide Web is a massive universe that will take multiple lifetimes to completely explore. In fact, by habit, most people confine themselves to just a few selected parts of the web, usually Google, Facebook, YouTube, ChatGPT, and Instagram. That’s why I go out of my way to discover new and exciting websites.
I once discovered a website that allows me to listen to radio stations from around the world for free. But this time, I might have found one that’s even better: Viralwalk, a website that allows me to discover some of the coolest sites on the web. I’d give fair warning: don’t visit this website if you don’t want to waste a few hours.
Viralwalk is the anti-algorithm you didn’t know you needed
A website that lets you wander instead of search
One of the most authentic and refreshing experiences you can get on the modern web comes from landing on a website that has absolutely no idea who you are. One with no history, tracking, or algorithm waiting to nudge you towards what it believes are your favorite online destinations. That is exactly what Viralwalk does. It does not give you a search bar or a limited set of categories; you simply get the Start Walking button. Clicking it opens up the internet in a way you haven’t experienced for ages.
The first time I used Viralwalk, the experience I got was closer to wandering through an unfamiliar city than actually browsing the internet. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but stumbled upon actual gems.
One such gem was the Random Things To Do website. This site gives you ideas for things to do when you’re bored. Here, I spent minutes playing random games, then found drawing and painting prompts and projects to build in Minecraft. I would never have known that such a fun but simple site existed.
Exploring the web through moods instead of menus
The Walk, Chill, and Flow modes create different kinds of discoveries
Viralwalk gives you a unique way to explore the web. One of my favorites is the Mood category, which gives you a curated set of search moods. A few of the Mood options stand out and easily resonate with me. I love the Late Night Coding Vibes mood. One of the pins on this mood shows trending GitHub repositories. It became an invaluable resource that I use to find new open-source projects to test and write about. I only discovered it by chance, thanks to Viralwalk.
I also love the Digital Reading Nook mood. It has a helpful catalog of reading and writing tools, some of which I already know and use, and others that were new to me. It also has a few newsletters that I’ve now signed up for.
There are also a few other categories that I love. Flow gives a short overview of a bunch of random websites. You can keep scrolling through Flow until you find a website that catches your attention. Then click Open Site to visit it. You need to be logged in to use Flow.
Chill is also an interesting option on Viralwalk. It’s the option that allows you to relax with ambient visuals. When I need to take a break, I navigate to Chill and leave it in full-screen mode. The visuals constantly change, and it has a calming effect, perfect for a break after a long day’s work.
Collecting the gems you uncover along the way
Liked sites and albums make Viralwalk feel like a digital scrapbook
Viralwalk shows you so many interesting corners of the internet, and your first instinct is to save them. This is where the Like button comes in handy. There’s no browsing history that takes you back to familiar paths, but liking a destination saves it in your profile, and you can always come back to browse the list of liked sites.
It also has an Albums feature, which turns your discoveries into something more personal. I have an album of clever mini-projects and another for beautifully designed websites. Whenever I use Viralwalk and stumble on a website I like, I can tag it by including it in albums that are organized by theme. Anyone can browse my albums if I make them public when I create them.
A minimalist platform that quietly invites you to explore
Viralwalk’s design makes wandering the internet feel peaceful
After logging in for the first time, I saw a simple message: "Good morning." The interface had soft colors and rounded cards, and this calm layout set the tone instantly. It felt like I was opening a small creative studio rather than visiting a website.
It has a Quick Note panel on the welcome page, and I didn’t expect to appreciate it as much as I did. Mid-exploration, I keep referring back to Quick Note to jot down ideas, especially when my exploration sparks ideas that I’d love to revisit. Of course, this isn’t as elaborate as dedicated note-taking apps like Joplin, but it is a helpful little feature.
Viralwalk, however, limits you to 20 discoveries per day, and you’ll need to budget $8 per month if you prefer the pro service, which unlocks unlimited site discoveries in Flow/Walk. But the free plan is more than enough for me, since I don’t plan to spend my entire day on Viralwalk.
Wandering, surprise, and digital serendipity
Viralwalk uniquely brings the feeling of stumbling into something unexpected online. It perfectly recaptures the time when browsing meant exploring, not scrolling. It is one of the few websites I’ve stumbled upon this year. It’s just as much fun as that website that allows you to look through other people’s windows.
The Kiffness made us laugh out loud with his silly remake of the 2011 Awolnation track Sail, which cleverly replaces the original’s synthesizer with the irresistible snoring sounds of a dog deep in slumber. Blame it on his floppy cheeks, baby!
Nuclear engineer Lonnie Johnson worked on NASA’s Galileo mission, has more than 140 patents, and invented the Super Soaker water gun.
But now he’s working on "a potential key to unlock a huge power source that’s rarely utilized today," reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. [Alternate URL here.] Waste heat…
The Johnson Thermo-Electrochemical Converter, or JTEC, has few moving parts, no combustion and no exhaust. All the work to generate electricity is done by hydrogen, the most abundant element in the universe. Inside the device, pressurized hydrogen gas is separated by a thin, filmlike membrane, with low pressure gas on one side and high pressure gas on the other. The difference in pressure in this "stack" is what drives the hydrogen to compress and expand, creating electricity as it circulates. And unlike a fuel cell, it does not need to be refueled with more hydrogen. All that’s needed to keep the process going and electricity flowing is a heat source. As it turns out, there are enormous amounts of energy vented or otherwise lost from industrial facilities like power plants, factories, breweries and more.
Between 20% and 50% of all energy used for industrial processes is dumped into the atmosphere and lost as waste heat, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The JTEC works with high temperatures, but the device’s ability to generate electricity efficiently from low-grade heat sources is what company executives are most excited about.
Inside JTEC’s headquarters, engineers show off a demonstration unit that can power lights and a sound system with water that’s roughly 200 degrees Fahrenheit — below the boiling point and barely warm enough to brew a cup of tea, said Julian Bell, JTEC’s vice president of engineering. Comas Haynes, a research engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute specializing in thermal and hydrogen system designs, agrees the company could "hit a sweet spot" if it can capitalize on lower temperature heat… For Johnson, the potential application he’s most excited about lies beneath our feet.
Geothermal energy exists naturally in rocks and water beneath the Earth’s surface at various depths. Tapping into that resource through abandoned oil and gas wells — a well-known access point for underground heat — offers another opportunity.
"You don’t need batteries and you can draw power when you need it from just about anywhere," Johnson said. Right now, the company is building its first commercial JTEC unit, which is set to be deployed early next year. Mike McQuary, JTEC’s CEO and the former president of the pioneering internet service provider MindSpring, said he couldn’t reveal the customer, but said it’s a "major Southeast utility company." "Crossing that bridge where you have commercial customers that believe in it and will pay for it is important," McQuary said… On top of some initial seed money, the company brought in $30 million in a Series A funding in 2022 — money that allowed the company to move to its Lee + White headquarters and hire more than 30 engineers. McQuary said it expects to begin another round of fundraising soon. "Johnson, meanwhile, hasn’t stopped working on new inventions," the article points out. "He continues to refine the design for his solid-state battery…"
