Summary Benchmarking is all about testing the performance of your computer to see if it’s working correctly, or if its performance is good enough for your needs. Benchmarking can seem complicated, but as long a you’ve got the basics under the belt, you’ll be just fine! Gaming Benchmarks I’m going to start off with gaming benchmarks, because not only is this the most common type of benchmark most people want to run, but it’s also the most comprehensive....
Summary Spatial audio music isn’t a gimmick, but not a lot of people have really experienced it out loud. Sonos Era 300 is one option, but now theSoundcore Motion X600Bluetooth speaker is another spatial audio speaker, and it’s highly impressive, not to mention portable. Soundcore Motion X600 Immersive Spatial Audio: Inspired by theater acoustics, Motion X600 has 5 drivers and 5 amplifiers that are positioned to deliver sound all around you....
Apple has revealed new MacBook Pro laptops, complete with faster M4 chips, more memory in the base models, and other upgrades. The new MacBook Pro is available in 14-inch and 16-inch models, with the base models using the same M4 chip as theiMac,Mac Mini, andiPad Pro. The regular M4 chip should be more than powerful enough for typical productivity, web browsing, and content creation. Apple is also selling more expensive options with the higher-power M4 Pro and M4 Max, intended for more demanding video editing, 3D modeling, AI workloads, and other tasks that can make use of the additional CPU and GPU cores....
Summary When it comes to TVs—size matters! However, it might not matter in the way you think. We have a tendency to think that larger and more expensive TVs are the way to go. Except, as we trend to screens larger than 55-inches, the returns can diminish, and it may even hurt the experience. The Inflation of the “Big Screen” TV What exactly counts as a “big screen” TV? In the age of CRTs a 30-inch TV was considered a large tube, and even now my 34-inch Sony Trinitron CRT is an imposing TV, despite not being quite as big picture-wise as my 55-inch TV that’s nearby it....
Quick Links The bell part of the doorbell equation seems like an immutable part of the experience, butvideo doorbellsare mixing things up. Here’s what you need to know about using a video doorbell without a chime. Why Use a Video Doorbell Without a Chime? When most folks replace their plain ol' button-based doorbell with a more advanced video doorbell, they want to keep their existing doorbell chime. I’m particularly fond of the huge Westminister brass bell system in my old home, and keeping it in working order withthe right transformer upgrade for a video doorbellwas important to me....
Summary Meta’s Quest VR headsets are affordable, advanced VR systems that give you access to a mountain of content. However, they are also social media devices hooked into the biggest social media platform in the world. So while you may not be aware, much of what you do on your headset is recorded and even shared. Here are some settings you may tweak to change that. Since it’s challenging to get good screenshots from within VR, especially when it comes to system menus and the Quest UI as a whole, I’ve built this short guide around using a web browser to change privacy settings....
Quick Links Summary Have you ever installed a shiny new computer part only to realize it’s not making much of an improvement in games? This is the result of a performance bottleneck caused by another component in your system. Here’s how to spot them and what you’re able to do. Signs Your PC Has a Bottleneck A “bottleneck” a term used to describe a performance discrepancy in computer parts like your CPU, GPU, RAM, and VRAM....
Why type long and tedious paths when you’re able to instantly jump to directories? We’re entering the age of quantum computing, yet still navigating terminals like it’s the 1970s. Solutions exist today: tools like Zoxide, Warp, and Yazi all make cd obsolete and could save you a lot of time. Slowly typing out the long and tedious directory paths is error-prone. Back when I was a beginner—on both Windows and Linux—it was torture to type out each individual character, hoping thatthis timeit wouldn’t spit out an error....
Quick Links Google revealed thePixel Tabletin full at this week’s Google I/O event, as the company’s first Android tablet in several years. It’s definitely unique, but for $500, it needs to be something more. The Pixel Tablet is an 11-inch tablet with Google’s own Tensor G2 chipset, Android 13, 128 or 256 GB of storage, and a sleek design. Besides the usual Android tablet features, you get Google’s customized Pixel software, and the tablet ships with a special speaker dock that turns it into a super-charged smart display....
Quick Links The world’s greatest way to maintain coffee temperature is getting a new addition to its family of products. TheEmber Tumblerjoins the Cup, Mug 2, and Travel Mug 2 to provide caffine enthusiasts the largest capacity container at 16 ounces. The caveat is the Tumbler comes in at a whopping $199.95, but don’t let that scare you off—at least yet. Ember Tumbler Designed to be used wherever life takes you, the Ember Tumbler does more than simply keep your coffee hot....
Good news—memory cards are back in gaming vogue. If you missed the days of the N64 and PlayStation memory cards, there’s still a way to enjoy the novelty with the Xbox Series consoles. Did you know that theXbox Series Xand S consoles have an expansion slot on the back of them? This is one of the easier ways to expand your console’s memory so you can download more games. It’s very similar to the memory cards of the PS1 and PS2 days, even down to its relative size....
Quick Links For all its popularity, Goodreads is far from the best way to find your next read. I want to show you some alternatives that I’ve been using for years which will help you find better book recommendations on the internet. Why Goodreads Sucks I first made aGoodreadsaccount about seven years ago. Back then, it was just a tool for me to keep track of my reads, but I also picked up some of its book recommendations....
Twitch, the Amazon-ownedvideo live-streamingplatform, recently shared some fascinating stats—such as which game attracted the most watch hours in 2024. At the top of the list? A household name that launched more than a decade ago, proving that newer doesn’t always mean better. I’d hate to keep you waiting any longer, so let’s dive into which game is crushing it on Twitch, how it managed to get to the top, and a few other key highlights from the announcement....
