After acquiring Steam Deck rival Loupedeck last year, Logitech is launching a $199.99 MX Creative Console that’s designed to control Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro. The control panel includes a Stream Deck-like keypad and a dialpad that has an analog dial and plenty of buttons to speed up creative tasks.

Logitech has created custom plugins for Adobe apps like Photoshop, Lightroom Classic, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition, and Illustrator for its MX Creative Console. In Premiere Pro you can use the dial to scrub through a timeline, and there are four buttons around the dial to activate functions like undo.

There’s also a roller for navigation, allowing you to easily adjust the level of zoom on a Premiere Pro timeline for more precise edits. In Photoshop you can twist the main dial to adjust brush sizes, or zoom in and out using the roller.

The main keypad works much like a Stream Deck, with nine customizable LCD keys that can be used to launch apps or control different features inside apps like Photoshop or Premiere Pro. There are also two page buttons at the bottom so you can create 15 pages of keys for each app.

All of the controls are fully customizable through Logitech’s app, with presets you can drag and drop onto the buttons for each app. It helps automate repetitive tasks into a single button press that usually require a few clicks or memorizing numerous keyboard shortcuts.

While this type of hardware combination will certainly speed up creative tasks in apps, if you already have the muscle memory of knowing a variety of keyboard shortcuts then the Creative Console might be slightly less useful. The dialpad alone could make this $199.99 device worth it for some though, thanks to the dial and roller precision tools that are unlike controlling apps using a mouse or keyboard.

Logitech is launching the MX Creative Console in pale grey and graphite models, and it’s even bundling three months of Adobe’s Creative Cloud membership. The main keypad connects to a PC or Mac through USB-C, and the dialpad connects via Bluetooth or Logitech’s Bolt dongle (sold separately).

If you’ve been wondering how a company as successful as Sonos ended up recently not just shooting itself in the foot, but taking aim at each toe again and again and again, a new report in Bloomberg tells the whole story. And it’s like a movie, albeit a movie you’d watch from behind your fingers. 

The report is by journalist Dave Lee, who’s been investigating an internal review carried out by Sonos’s lead counsel, Eddie Lazarus. Through multiple sources inside the company, he’s been able to get a pretty good idea of what that internal review discovered, and it revolves around something called “technical debt”, catalyzed with a dose of seeming mismanagement.

The conversational tone of an AI chatbot or voice-based assistant seems like a good way to learn about and understand new concepts, but they may actually make us more willing to believe inaccuracies, compared with information presented like a static Wikipedia article.

To investigate how the way we receive information can change how we perceive it, Sonja Utz at the University of Tübingen, Germany, and her colleagues asked about 1200 participants to engage with one of three formats.

Even if you own one of the best SSDs, it will fail one day, and that’s a fact.

Because of how SSDs work, each has a finite number of read and write cycles that it can complete before it dies, and every such cycle contributes to the degradation of NAND flash memory. At some point, it’ll be beyond saving. The good news? It’s nearly impossible to use up all of these read/write cycles. The bad news? Your SSD may still fail even if you’re far from hitting that limit.

Signs of a failing SSD include crashes, blue screens of death (BSOD), slow performance, data loss, and inability to write new files to the drive. When things are going south for your SSD, it’s important to know and act as soon as possible — you might still have time to back up your data. Check out the best ways to test your SSD to make sure your data is safe.

Check your SSD in Windows Settings

For a very basic check, you can just head straight to Windows Settings. Remember that this is not an in-depth test, so if you suspect your SSD might be failing, try out the other options on this list when you’re done with this one.

Step 1: Start by entering the Storage section of Windows Settings. You can do this by either pressing the Windows and I keys on your keyboard, then navigating to System > Storage, or by typing Storage into the Windows Search and selecting Storage Settings.

Step 2: Once you’re there, scroll down to find Advanced storage settings, then Disks & volumes.

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Step 3: Pick your SSD from the list and click on Properties. Scroll down past some basic information about your SSD and look at Drive health. Windows will give you an estimate of your SSD’s remaining life, available space, and the temperature of your drive. Unfortunately, that’s all the information you can get from this utility.

Use Windows Command Prompt

This is another simple “yes or no” type of test. Using the Command Prompt (CMD) in Windows, you can check whether your SSD is healthy. If it isn’t, that’s a big red flag that you should back up your data while you still can.

Step 1: Click on the Start Menu and type in Command Prompt. Then, right-click the result and select Run as administrator.

Step 2: Run the command as follows: wmic diskdrive get status and press Enter.

If the tool says that your SSD is “OK,” you’re in the clear. However, if you encounter “Pred Fail,” you should rush to back up your data (and then proceed with some more in-depth testing).

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Use Windows PowerShell

Windows PowerShell can provide you with a bit more information than the Command Prompt can, and there are a couple of different commands you can run to learn more about your SSD.

Step 1: Start by launching Windows PowerShell. Enter the Start Menu and search for Windows PowerShell. Then, right-click it and Run as administrator.

Step 2: Once in PowerShell, you can try the following commands (you can just copy and paste them in):

• Get-PhysicalDisk — This will tell you the operational status of your SSD and whether it’s healthy or not.
• Get-PhysicalDisk | Get-StorageReliabilityCounter | Format-List — This drastically expands the amount of information you’ll get on your SSD. You’ll see the current and maximum temperatures, whether your SSD has encountered any read or write errors, or how long your SSD has been in use.

If the columns are empty, you may need to use a more advanced tool — more on that below.

You can also modify the second command: Get-PhysicalDisk | Get-StorageReliabilityCounter | Select [insert value here] and replace “[insert value here] with the specific information you might want to see. For example, to see write errors, use Get-PhysicalDisk | Get-StorageReliabilityCounter | Select WriteErrorsTotal.

Use Optimize Drives in Windows

This is yet another option that will just tell you whether your SSD is healthy. However, you can also use the Defragment & Optimize Drive utility to optimize your SSD if there’s anything wrong with it.

Word of warning: Don’t bother defragmenting your SSD. Just use this tool to check your SSD health and optimize it.

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Step 1: In the Start Menu, search for Defragment & Optimize Drive. Next, launch the tool.

Step 2: You’ll immediately be met with a list of all your drives. In the Current status column, you’ll be able to see whether your SSD is doing fine.

The utility will also tell you how long it’s been since the last “retrim.” This refers to a process that reclaims unused space on your drive by essentially telling your SSD which blocks of data aren’t needed anymore. No matter if your SSD is healthy or not, you can press Optimize to run a retrim. The tool performs retrims in the background, so if it’s been done recently, there’s no need to re-do it.

Use CrystalDiskInfo

Step 1: First, you need to download CrystalDiskInfo. Once the download finishes, install and run the tool.

Step 2: CrystalDiskInfo doesn’t have many hidden caveats that you need to keep in mind — what you see is what you get. It monitors your SSD health by checking SMART, which stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology. You’ll be able to tell at a glance whether your SSD is doing well.

Run the tool and check out the health of your drives. Some of the most important info to look at, apart from the percentage value under Health Status, includes Power On Count, Power On Hours, and Total Host Writes.

Use AIDA64 Extreme

AIDA64 Extreme is not a free tool, but you can use it for free for 30 days to test your PC. Unlike CrystalDiskInfo, AIDA64 can provide you with useful information on the rest of your PC, too, including your processor, motherboard, and RAM. Remember that if your SSD is fine but the rest of your PC may not be, we have a comprehensive troubleshooting guide to give you a hand.

Step 1: Start by downloading the AIDA64 Extreme tool directly from the manufacturer’s website. Pick the latest version available and download the trial. Go through the quick installation process and select Launch AIDA64 before it’s done.

Step 2: You’ll be met with a screen that lists a number of PC components and software on the left. To check SSD health, the one that you want to click on is Storage. Next, click on SMART to locate your SSD.

This is where you’ll get all the useful information about your SSD. The extent of data is similar to what you’ll find in CrystalDiskInfo because AIDA64 also reports the SMART data from your SSD. You’ll see SSD health, lifetime writes (written in a different format than in CrystalDiskInfo), and the total power-on time.

Use HWiNFO

Step 1: Begin by downloading HWiNFO from the official website. You can either choose the installer, which will create a persistent version of HWiNFO on your PC, or you can use the portable version that doesn’t require an installation.

Once downloaded, either install the program or launch it. Don’t tick any of the boxes (sensor only or summary only) — just press Start.

Step 2: You’ll see two windows pop up — the system summary and the main HWiNFO window. The summary gives you a brief overview of your system, and in the bottom-right corner of it, you’ll see a quick indicator about your SSD health. There’s much more to dig into, though.

Close or minimize the system summary window and tab into HWiNFO. On the left-hand side, click on the little arrow next to Drives. In the drop-down menu, select NVMe Drives and pick your SSD from the list.

Step 3: Click on your SSD and scroll through all the pertinent information. Like the other tools on this list, HWiNFO reports on device health, spare capacity, power cycles, and errors.

You can also click on Sensors at the top. There will be a bunch of other (interesting, but unrelated) sensors at first, so simply scroll down until you reach S.M.A.R.T. followed by your SSD model. This is where all the interesting metrics sit, such as real-time temperature and read/write totals.

Use vendor-specific tools

• Seagate SeaTools — This tool also works with drives from other vendors. You can use it to run additional diagnostic tests.

• Samsung Magician — This tool will only work if you have a Samsung SSD. It also includes features that can help you optimize your SSD’s performance.

• Western Digital Dashboard — Similar to all the other tools, the WD Dashboard also lets you upgrade your firmware and check SSD health. Only works with WD and SanDisk SSDs.

• Crucial Storage Executive — Made only for Crucial SSDs, this tool includes performance optimization and firmware updates.

• Kingston SSD Manager — Provides SMART data and usage statistics, secure erase, and firmware updates for Kingston SSDs.

Of course, there is a chance that the tests reveal that the device is close to expiring. In this case, it’s probably time to look for a new SSD and make sure you know how to install an SSD in your PC.

Puerto Escondido, Mexico — Hurricane John struck Mexico’s southern Pacific coast with life-threatening flood potential after growing into a major hurricane in a matter of hours. It came ashore near the town of Punta Maldonado late Monday night as a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. John’s rapid intensification forced authorities to rush to keep pace and warn people of its potential destruction.

“Seek higher ground, protect yourselves and do not forget that life is the most important thing; material things can be replaced. We are here,” Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador wrote on the social media platform X.

By early Tuesday, John had weakened to a Category 2 hurricane with 100 mph maximum sustained winds, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center. It was expected to batter Punta Maldonado and the nearby tourist hubs Acapulco and Puerto Escondido before being weakened over the high terrain inland.

The center said before landfall that “life-threatening” storm surges and flash floods were already ravaging the Pacific coast near Oaxaca.

Hurricane John shows growing threat of rapid intensification

The unexpected surge in strength caught scientists, authorities and residents of the area by surprise, something AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Matt Benz and other experts have attributed to warmer oceans, which add fuel to the hurricanes.

As a result, surprise surges in hurricanes’ strength have become increasingly common, Benz said.

“These are storms that we haven’t really experienced before,” he said. “Rapid intensification has occurred more frequently in modern times as opposed to back in the historical record. So that’s telling us there’s something going on there.”

Rapid intensification is defined by meteorologists as an increase in the maximum sustained winds of a tropical cyclone of at least 30 knots (about 35 mph) over a 24 hour period, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.  

Residents were tense in Oaxaca’s coastal cities as the forecast shifted and authorities responded.

Laura Velázquez, the federal coordinator of civil protection, told residents of Pacific coastal cities they should evacuate their homes and head to shelters in order to “protect theirs and their family’s lives.”

“It’s very important that all citizens in the coastal zone… take preventive measures,” Velázquez said.

Ana Aldai, a 33-year-old employee of a restaurant on the shores of the tourist hub Puerto Escondido, said businesses in the area began closing after authorities ordered the suspension of all work on the area’s main beaches.

The governments of Guerrero and Oaxaca states said classes would be suspended in a number of coastal zones on Tuesday.

Oaxaca’s governor said the state government had evacuated 3,000 people and set up 80 shelters. It also said it sent out 1,000 military and state personnel to address the emergency.

Videos on social media from Puerto Escondido showed flip-flop-clad tourists walking through heavy rain and fishermen pulling their boats out of the water. Strong rains in previous days have already left some roads in the region in a precarious position.

Aldai said she was “a little bit distressed” because notice from authorities came quickly. “There was no opportunity to make the necessary purchases. That also distresses us,” she said.

A lingering impact for a coast battered a year earlier by Otis

Benz, the meteorologist, expressed concern that the storm could slow once it hits land, leaving the storm hovering over the coastal zone, which could cause even greater damage.

The hurricane is bleak news for the region, which last year was walloped by Otis, a similar rapidly intensifying hurricane.

Otis devastated the resort city of Acapulco, where residents had little warning of the strength of what was about to hit them. One of the most rapidly intensifying hurricanes ever seen, scientists at the time said it was a product of changing climate conditions.

Otis blew out power in the city for days, left bodies scattered on the coast and desperate family members searching for lost loved ones. Much of the city was left in a state of lawlessness and thousands scavenged in stores, scrambled for food and water.

The government of López Obrador received harsh criticism for its slow response to Otis, but authorities have since pledged to pick up their speed.

President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum said her government planned to work on improving an early alert system, similar to what the country has with earthquakes.

Through Thursday, John is expected to produce 6 to 12 inches of rain across coastal areas of Chiapas state with more in isolated areas. In areas along and near the Oaxaca coast to southeast Guerrero, between 10 and 20 inches of rain with isolated higher totals can be expected through Thursday.

“You’re going to feel the impacts of the storm probably for the next couple of weeks to a couple of months,” meteorologist Benz added.