Quick Links While fires were raging in California, my corner of the US was hit by snowstorms. We lost power for a spell, and when we did, I was surprised just how much I appreciated having a book-style foldable phone. With This Much Power, the Hotspot Didn’t Bog My Phone Down I have two young kids, and my wife and I were in the middle of work when the power cut off, so the first thing I needed to do was get the internet back up and running....

You’ve probably never heard of theTouhou Projectseries. Even if you have, there’s a good chance you haven’t played any of the games. Although the series has always been stuck in the confines of its cult classic status,Touhouhas played a monumental role in shaping the modern gaming landscape, and many of your favorite games wouldn’t exist without it. What IsTouhou? Touhou Project—better known as just “Touhou”—is an indiebullet hellseries created by solo-developer Jun’ya Ōta (known to fans as “ZUN”)....

Quick Links Summary A loud PC is likely due to fan noise. Reducing heat with more efficient airflow, better PC placement, and cleaning can help reduce noise. you may also manually control your fans, replace noisy and inefficient coolers, or swap out clicky hard drives for silent solid-state drives instead. Does your computer sound like a jet engine? Maybe you’ve noticed some rattling, drones, or whines you’ve not heard before. Let’s take a look at what causes a PC or laptop to get noisy, and what you can do about it....

Summary Windows 11 25H2 is shaping up, and it’s going to be one big feature-packed update with a lot of stuff. We’ve seen a lot of it, but new things are still popping up. And now, it’s getting something actually useful—and for once, not related to customization. Microsoft is rolling out a new feature to Insiders on the Canary channel, dubbed “quick machine recovery.” This feature is meant to automatically detect and resolve critical system issues that prevent a computer from starting correctly, potentially saving you from hours of troubleshooting and data loss....

Have you ever wished you could filter and clean up all those ads on your Kindle e-reader lock screen? Amazon is constantly updating its popular line of Kindle products, and the latest Kindle update, version 5.18.3, lets you do exactly that. Many people with Kindles opt for an ad-supported version to save a little money, but that means there are all sorts of personalized and regular ads on the lock screen....

Qualcomm chipsets power many Android smartphones and tablets, as well as some Windows PCs and embedded devices. Today the company revealed some advancements that could mean your next Android phone will have its own local ChatGPT-like chatbot or Stable Diffusion-like image generator, without needing external servers or paid subscriptions. Qualcomm had a lot of AI-related announcements today, includinga “Qualcomm AI Hub”that gives app developers access to optimized AI model, as well as new modems with “AI-powered 5G....

Being “shadowbanned” means that you’re effectively blocked on your social media platform, but you don’t actually know that you are. You may think that you’re just going on as normal, but few if any people can see your activity, and you might as well be shouting into the void. It’s always hard to tell if you’ve been shadowbanned, or if you’re just not that interesting to other people on the web, but if any of these symptoms ring a bell, you might be in an invisible online prison....

The sheer number of extensions for VS Code can be so overwhelming that even veteran users get lost searching for what they need. Let me show you how to take your coding experience to an entirely new level with ten VS Code extensions I just can’t live without! When you start a new project, VS Code will often suggest essential extensions—such as Java IntelliSense for Java projects or Python tools for Python development....

Quick Links MacOS may often be associated with premium, beautiful-looking, locked-down apps. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t attract the fine folks working on open-source software. Like Windows and Linux, the Mac has native versions of some of the best open-source projects available. Here’s a selection of must-have open-source apps to boost your Mac experience. 1LibreOffice LibreOfficeis a fantastic solution if you often work with Microsoft Office formats or need an alternative to Apple’s office suite on Mac....

If you’re planning on observing the night sky, going for a night hike, or trying to snap a shot of the Moon, the phase is incredibly important. Here’s everything you need to know about the current Lunar phase, as well as what you may expect in the near future. What Is the Moon Phase on March 26th? Today, the moon is 12% full, which puts it in the waning crescent phase....

Quick Links When I was young I loved paging through my uncle’s collection of mid-90s video game magazines, and when I was old enough to buy my own I’d grab three or four of my favorite PC and console magazines each month. Then, almost overnight, the internet practically killed the gaming magazine, and we’ve lost much… 4Longform Reviews From Career Writers and Exclusive Content There’s a lot of variety in a magazine, and that’s its main strong point, but for me, the meat and potatoes of gaming magazines were always the big feature articles rather than game reviews....

Quick Links Your pets bring you tons of love and joy, and you want to do everything you can to keep them happy and healthy. As technology continues to integrate into our lives, it’s no surprise that your furry friends haven’t been left out of the conversation. Here are five gadgets that are sure to help you care for your dogs and cats. 1Whisker’s Litter-Robot One of my favorite pet products of all time, Whisker’sLitter-Robotmakes one of the less glamorous parts of pet ownership much more pleasant....

Quick Links The wires accompanying your speakers can turn an organized setup into a jumbled, messy nightmare. Bluetooth speakers are an option, but they still require charging—which involves a wire—and generally don’t match the sound quality of wired speakers. However, there are ways to manage the clutter, keep your setup clean, and keep your wires lasting the longest. Here are five methods I use to make speaker wires easier to deal with....