15 Super-Charged Alternatives to Built-in Windows Apps

Quick Links It’s great Windows ships with a pile of included apps for everything from taking notes to viewing media files, but they usually aren’t the best options out there. Here are our favorite alternatives to the default Windows applications. Why Change the Built-in Windows Apps? Why move away from using built-in Windows apps? While the apps included with Windows are great for those times, you just need to do something quickly now and then—like record a brief audio clip or look at a picture or two—they often begin to show their limitations as you move into power user territory and really begin to lean on them....

July 9, 2025 · 7 min · 1450 words · Michelle Marquez

6 Things That Would Make Android Auto Better

Quick Links Android Auto has made it drastically easier to enjoy the features of your phone safely while driving. Maps, music, and messages are easily in sight and can be controlled without looking away from the road. However, Android Auto is far from perfect–here are some things that could make it even better. 1Bring Back Android Auto for Phones In the early days of Android Auto, Google had a version that could run on phone screens....

July 9, 2025 · 4 min · 674 words · Hayley Mcgee

7 Product Reveals Apple Made This Week: iPhone 16, AirPods 4, and More

Quick Links Apple revealed the next generation of iPhones on Monday, along with a slew of other product announcements that have set the tech world abuzz. To save you sitting through the 90-minute presentation or wading through half a dozen press releases, here’s everything Apple announced. 1The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus The biggest announcement of the day was, of course,the iPhone 16 linuep. Beyond the startlingly vibrant colors, the flashiest new feature is the Camera Control, which offers quick access to the iPhone camera, whilst letting you tweak various photo settings at the same time....

July 9, 2025 · 5 min · 858 words · Madeline Bryant DDS

8 Tips to Personalize Your Chromebook

Quick Links Chromebooks offer a range of personalization options, from repositioning the Shelf and changing the wallpaper to customizing the cursor’s size or toggling between dark and light modes. If you have never customized your settings, here are a few tweaks to make your Chromebook feel more personal. 8Personalize the Shelf The Shelf—the bar at the bottom of your Chromebook—helps you manage open apps and launch new ones. Itoffers several customization options....

July 9, 2025 · 5 min · 1021 words · John Thomas

9 Windows Features to Disable for Better Security

Quick Links Although each feature in Windows is designed for convenience, some can make your PC more vulnerable to security risks if left enabled unnecessarily. Disabling these features reduces the risk of hacking, data breaches, and other cyber threats. Here are the features you should always keep turned off. 1Clipboard History When you copy text or images, they are saved in the Clipboard History, even after pasting or copying another item....

July 9, 2025 · 6 min · 1148 words · Carmen Duran

A Look Back on NFTs: Where Are They Now?

Summary In 2021, NFTs were all the rage. Some of these digital assets sold for millions of dollars to dedicated collectors, even though they had no intrinsic value. Today, the case is very different. NFTs have somewhat faded from mainstream culture, but what lead to this decline? What made NFTs so popular in the first place, and where are they now? The Origin of NFTs The history ofNFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens)stretches back to 2014, whenQuantum, the first-ever NFT, was made....

July 9, 2025 · 7 min · 1420 words · Patty Garcia

Apple Watch Series 9 Review: Steady as It Goes

Quick Links Summary The Apple Watch has improved with each release, but some updates are more significant than others. As an owner of the original Apple Watch Ultra, I was excited to try out theApple Watch Series 9to see how it performed. The Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 were released this year. Still, neither model makes significant upgrades over its immediate predecessor. Like its iPhone series, Apple has been introducing increasingly minor, incremental updates to its Apple Watch lineup each year....

July 9, 2025 · 9 min · 1781 words · Brian Smith

Apple Watch Won't Unlock Your Mac? Try These Fixes

Quick Links Your Apple Watch can automatically unlock your Mac and be used to approve authentication requests across the operating system. Unfortunately, the feature doesn’t always work as advertised. Here are some fixes to try if you’ve run into trouble. Apple Watch Unlock Requirements You can unlock your mid-2013 or newer Mac with an Apple Watch running watchOS 3 or above. You can check if your Mac supports this feature by clicking on the Apple logo at the top of the screen....

July 9, 2025 · 6 min · 1099 words · Barbara Wood

Are Yahoo, Hotmail, and Gmail Email Addresses Unprofessional?

Quick Links When crafting a resume or building a personal website, you may wonder if your Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL, or Gmail address doesn’t look professional enough. Depending on who you are and what you’re doing, it may in fact be time for an email upgrade. Does My Email Address Look Unprofessional in Resumes? As a working professional, you may consider replacing yourfree email addresswith a custom email domain. You might be a job seeker, freelancer, or contractor without a company or domain of your own....

July 9, 2025 · 4 min · 849 words · Timothy Johnson

Avoid Pacman Headaches on Arch Linux by Automating Mirror List Updates

Quick Links Summary Mirrors are servers that replicate a Linux distribution’s repositories. Arch Linux has many mirrors situated around the globe. We show you two ways to select which mirrors your Arch Linux computer uses. Why Mirrors Matter All the software packages available to users of a Linux distribution are held in repositories. Repositories are simply internet-accessible servers. When you install an application, your package manager has to connect to a repository so that it can retrieve the installation files....

July 9, 2025 · 5 min · 867 words · Hannah Smith

Best Disaster Docs to Watch on Netflix Now

There’s something fascinating about observing humankind’s response to adversity—andNetflixhas certainly got this covered. From natural disasters to unsolved mysteries, here are five of the best tragedy docs you can digest this week. Disaster documentaries contain scenes that some may find upsetting. Please refer to the official age ratings and content warnings before watching the documentaries listed in this article. 2022 1 Overall Running Time 1 hour 38 minutes Picture this: it’s a beautiful early summer’s day in New Zealand in 2019, and dozens of tourists and their guides are enjoying a day out at Whakaari, the country’s most active volcano....

July 9, 2025 · 6 min · 1147 words · Diana Preston

Build a Personal AI Assistant with ChatGPT's Custom Instructions

ChatGPTis gaining new features at a breakneck clip, but the addition of “custom instructions” to ChatGPT’s beta features might turn out to be the biggest game-changer yet for the chatbot—especially if you want a personalized AI assistant. Here’s what it does and how to use it. What Are Custom Instructions? As a Large Language Model, ChatGPT can understand instructions in natural language and act in accordance with those instructions. So, at the start of the conversation, you may specify the rules of engagement, and give ChatGPT the information it needs to do the work you’re asking of it....

July 9, 2025 · 2 min · 392 words · Shawn Owens

Can the Galaxy Watch Actually Measure Stress? (How?)

Summary If you own a Galaxy Watch, you probably know that it can supposedly measure your stress levels. But how exactly can a watch on your wrist do that, and can it really do it accurately? The Galaxy Watch can definitely do it, but there are some important caveats to keep in mind about its readings. How Exactly the Galaxy Watch Measures Your Stress Technology these days is pretty amazing. Not that long ago, the idea of your watch being able to measure stress levels would have seemed far-fetched....

July 9, 2025 · 6 min · 1165 words · Todd Hill