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The HP HyperX Omen 15, which I first saw at CES, replaces the HP Victus 15, a longtime bestselling budget gaming laptop. The Victus cost just $800, or less when on sale, and was a good entry point to decent laptop gaming.

The Omen 15 has nice little upgrades over the Victus. Its RTX 5050 Laptop GPU can play 2026's latest games

• I spend hours each week coordinating my mother's care.
• Daily calls, paperwork, and emergencies have become part of my routine.
• Caregiving has left little room to process my own grief.

When my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease two-and-a-half years ago, it soon became apparent that she would need 24-hour

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Remember the executive who sparked the tokenmaxxing panic earlier this year after saying Uber had already blown through its 2026 budget for Anthropic's Claude Code? He's back with a more interesting lesson about AI.

Uber CTO Praveen

• Oil and gas prices across the US have remained high amid the ongoing US-Israeli war with Iran.
• Gas prices have dropped after spiking in May, but the national average is still over $4 per gallon.
• Indiana has seen the biggest rise in the past month, increasing by 14%.

Since the Iran war began in late

• In 2020, Margo Fairchild built a tiny home on her own with no prior experience.
• Fairchild spent countless hours and almost all her paychecks to build the 240-square-foot home.
• It took 15 months and $43,779 to build the home, but the freedom she has is priceless, she said.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation

Illustrators have spent years sounding the alarm about generative artificial intelligence startups training their models on artists' work without permission. They've pointed out how the practice is tantamount to theft, and in response, many gen AI boosters have argued that it's necessary for the technology's evolution. This has led to contentious legal battles, but it's also given rise to

• I compared Las Vegas restaurants owned by Gordon Ramsay, Lisa Vanderpump, and Giada De Laurentiis.
• Vanderpump has wild cocktails, while De Laurentiis sticks to Italian-American classics.
• My favorite was Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen restaurant, where every dish was perfectly executed.

Trips to Las

This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on smartphones and Android, follow Dominic Preston. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers' inboxes on Sunday at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here.

How it started

Believe it or not, it didn't all start with Samsung. Royole, a now-bankrupt manufacturer of flexible displays, was the

• Laura Lynch was laid off from her middle manager role in 2025 and has struggled to find work since.
• She's eating into her 401K and considering downsizing while skill-building to create opportunities.
• Lynch says her daily struggle is giving into feelings of failure.

This as-told-to essay is based on a