Dan Ackerman
@danackerman.bsky.social
Editor in Chief, Micro Center. Former EiC Gizmodo; Editorial Director, CNET/CBS. Yes, I wrote that book about Tetris. Subscribe to my super sweet newsletter: danackerman.substack.com
Never change, Google AI overview…
November 15, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Never change, Google AI overview…
Great explainer on LLM quantization: What hardware you're running affects which versions of models you can run, which in turn affects the output. Going to become a bigger deal as people turn to running AI on local hardware b/c of cost, privacy, flexibility, etc. www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
November 12, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Great explainer on LLM quantization: What hardware you're running affects which versions of models you can run, which in turn affects the output. Going to become a bigger deal as people turn to running AI on local hardware b/c of cost, privacy, flexibility, etc. www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
Unintentionally existential SMS spam.
November 11, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Unintentionally existential SMS spam.
What happened today at the *official* Grand Opening of Micro Center Phoenix (after two wild VIP Early Access Days)? See it here, from Intel, AMD, and MSI tents outside to @mryeester and @austinnotduncan PC builds inside, all via MC News: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
November 7, 2025 at 10:59 PM
What happened today at the *official* Grand Opening of Micro Center Phoenix (after two wild VIP Early Access Days)? See it here, from Intel, AMD, and MSI tents outside to @mryeester and @austinnotduncan PC builds inside, all via MC News: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
Is the future of AI local or cloud? A lot of people are betting on the former, but it requires a big hardware investment, especially an understanding of VRAM and memory bandwidth. This MC News explainer lays it all out: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
October 31, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Is the future of AI local or cloud? A lot of people are betting on the former, but it requires a big hardware investment, especially an understanding of VRAM and memory bandwidth. This MC News explainer lays it all out: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
Excited that the Micro Center team just interviewed a group of Nvidia AI experts about the new DGX Spark. We’ve got walkthroughs and demo sessions, including model training, video analysis, and a multi-agent chatbot. Article and full video here: microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
October 23, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Excited that the Micro Center team just interviewed a group of Nvidia AI experts about the new DGX Spark. We’ve got walkthroughs and demo sessions, including model training, video analysis, and a multi-agent chatbot. Article and full video here: microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
Someone’s rocking the giant 12-foot Home Depot skeleton right on Smith Street.
October 18, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Someone’s rocking the giant 12-foot Home Depot skeleton right on Smith Street.
Much more on the DGX Spark from Nvidia, including initial hands-on testing. The Micro Center News crew was at the Santa Clara store today for the launch and not only was there a line outside, I hear someone bought six units. New hands-on video and impressions here: microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
October 15, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Much more on the DGX Spark from Nvidia, including initial hands-on testing. The Micro Center News crew was at the Santa Clara store today for the launch and not only was there a line outside, I hear someone bought six units. New hands-on video and impressions here: microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
Walking out of the coffee shop in Brooklyn I was working at today, a young dude in a bike rides past me and says, "Dope fit, man." So at least I've got that going for me.
October 15, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Walking out of the coffee shop in Brooklyn I was working at today, a young dude in a bike rides past me and says, "Dope fit, man." So at least I've got that going for me.
ICYMI last night -- Nvidia's DGX Spark has been unboxed, with a release date of Oct 15. Here's some very early hands-on footage and setup info from the MC News team. On sale at @micro-center.bsky.social stores this Weds! www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
October 14, 2025 at 1:49 PM
ICYMI last night -- Nvidia's DGX Spark has been unboxed, with a release date of Oct 15. Here's some very early hands-on footage and setup info from the MC News team. On sale at @micro-center.bsky.social stores this Weds! www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
The NVIDIA DGX Spark is officially landing on Oct 15! The Micro Center crew got our hands on one a little early, so please check out this unboxing and a few early details: microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
October 13, 2025 at 11:58 PM
The NVIDIA DGX Spark is officially landing on Oct 15! The Micro Center crew got our hands on one a little early, so please check out this unboxing and a few early details: microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
ICYMI, from my latest newsletter: danackerman.substack.com/p/the-ultima...
October 12, 2025 at 5:20 PM
ICYMI, from my latest newsletter: danackerman.substack.com/p/the-ultima...
How we turned a vintage radio into a into a Smart Speaker using a Raspberry Pi Zero W 2 and Adafruit Speaker Bonnet. Great maker project from MC News: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
October 10, 2025 at 6:22 PM
How we turned a vintage radio into a into a Smart Speaker using a Raspberry Pi Zero W 2 and Adafruit Speaker Bonnet. Great maker project from MC News: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
Just made a bunch of useful 3D prints for traveling, especially these really cool cable clips. (And a holder so my passport wouldn't just be floating around in my bag). All done on a Bambu A1 with standard PLA filament. Details and STL file links here: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
October 9, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Just made a bunch of useful 3D prints for traveling, especially these really cool cable clips. (And a holder so my passport wouldn't just be floating around in my bag). All done on a Bambu A1 with standard PLA filament. Details and STL file links here: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
That's a big block of text just say $240 -> $360.
October 3, 2025 at 5:34 PM
That's a big block of text just say $240 -> $360.
Eshitification continues. One of the more interesting/useful things about HBO Max was that you could watch live CNN. No more, apparently.
October 3, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Eshitification continues. One of the more interesting/useful things about HBO Max was that you could watch live CNN. No more, apparently.
Attended today’s Amazon press event with tons of new stuff, but honestly most excited about the colorsoft version of the Kindle Scribe.
September 30, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Attended today’s Amazon press event with tons of new stuff, but honestly most excited about the colorsoft version of the Kindle Scribe.
Another tech project I turned into a how-to article. Took an M4 Mac Mini, with just 256GB of storage, added a 2TB M.2 drive in an external enclosure, mapped my home directory to it, and mounted everything on the back of an Apple Studio Display. via MC News: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
September 26, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Another tech project I turned into a how-to article. Took an M4 Mac Mini, with just 256GB of storage, added a 2TB M.2 drive in an external enclosure, mapped my home directory to it, and mounted everything on the back of an Apple Studio Display. via MC News: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
Never a bad time to sign up for PBS Passport...
September 24, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Never a bad time to sign up for PBS Passport...
Fantastic deep dive on how to build a PC with hardline water cooling, plus great pics and video. Via @micro-center.bsky.social, MC News, and @helplessskippy.bsky.social: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
September 18, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Fantastic deep dive on how to build a PC with hardline water cooling, plus great pics and video. Via @micro-center.bsky.social, MC News, and @helplessskippy.bsky.social: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
I finally recreated my faux "iMac Pro" (which was an actual Apple product from 2017-2021) by 3D printing a mount to connect an M4 Mac Mini to an Apple Studio Display, and also added an external 2TB M.2 drive. Here's the .stl file I used and other details: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
September 12, 2025 at 3:50 PM
I finally recreated my faux "iMac Pro" (which was an actual Apple product from 2017-2021) by 3D printing a mount to connect an M4 Mac Mini to an Apple Studio Display, and also added an external 2TB M.2 drive. Here's the .stl file I used and other details: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
My newsletter isn't always media and AI doomerism! This week, I go over rediscovering and framing this classic large-format 1978 Superman vs. Muhammad Ali comic. (Fun fact: In this, Clark, Lois and Jimmy all work for a local TV station, not the Daily Planet.) danackerman.substack.com/p/nano-banan...
September 9, 2025 at 3:12 PM
My newsletter isn't always media and AI doomerism! This week, I go over rediscovering and framing this classic large-format 1978 Superman vs. Muhammad Ali comic. (Fun fact: In this, Clark, Lois and Jimmy all work for a local TV station, not the Daily Planet.) danackerman.substack.com/p/nano-banan...
As widely expected, new iPhones (and possibly other stuff) coming Sept 9. I was really going to upgrade this year, but based on the leaks so far, I might just get a new battery for my iPhone 13 Pro Max and wait for the folding iPhone next year. What's everyone else think?
August 26, 2025 at 4:31 PM
As widely expected, new iPhones (and possibly other stuff) coming Sept 9. I was really going to upgrade this year, but based on the leaks so far, I might just get a new battery for my iPhone 13 Pro Max and wait for the folding iPhone next year. What's everyone else think?
Here's what the upcoming IFC/Shudder film "Good Boy" (a horror film from the perspective of a dog) would look like if the protagonist was a cat.
August 21, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Here's what the upcoming IFC/Shudder film "Good Boy" (a horror film from the perspective of a dog) would look like if the protagonist was a cat.
Let's test the new open-weight GPT-OSS-20b AI model on a bunch of different consumer PC hardware... Results here: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...
August 7, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Let's test the new open-weight GPT-OSS-20b AI model on a bunch of different consumer PC hardware... Results here: www.microcenter.com/site/mc-news...