IT General

Subscriptions are the new cable, and if you're not careful, you might find that your subscription costs wind up creeping higher than any cable subscription ever did.

Linux is generally less prone to malware than Windows, and so long as you're careful about the commands you enter, Linux systems tend to age much more gracefully than Windows systems. However, no system is truly immune to malware, and blindly following instructions online can easily break something on your system if you're not cautious. That is where immutable distros can save the day.

Windows has a vast ecosystem of its own apps, but many of my current favorite apps for Windows actually started their digital lives on Linux. If you're looking for a few free or open-source alternatives to your conventional Windows apps, some of these options are a great place to start.

Hot take: 1TB SSDs are fine for some people, but not for most people. Not anymore.

One of the most anticipated television events of the year has arrived—well, at least part one of it has—and with it comes the return of our favorite monster-fighting 80s teens. It’s been a long three-year wait, but Stranger Things season five has begun. The only bummer is that it’s dropping in three volumes. While we'd all love for the final season to drop at once, we must be patient.

We all know and rely on the glorious copy-paste shortcut. Seriously, imagine having to right-click to copy and then right-click to paste every single time you need to move a snippet of text. Frustrating, right? It completely breaks your rhythm!

Meta is delaying the release of its anticipated mixed reality headset, codename "Phoenix," and will focus on next-gen devices and wearables over the next year.

In an internal memo, Reality Labs Vice President Maher Saba stated that the commands originated from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who instructed Reality Labs teams to focus on "higher quality experiences" and other efforts to make the business more sustainable. Saba clarified to employees that the extended timeline was not due to the device receiving additional features, but rather to encourage teams to refine the details.

Other Meta VR leaders, including Reality Labs executives Gabriel Aul and Ryan Cairns, added that the decision would give them more "breathing room" to complete the product, as reported by Business Insider. "There's a lot coming in hot with tight bring-up schedules and big changes to our core UX, and we won't compromise on landing a fully polished and reliable experience," they wrote in another memo.

The glasses reportedly look similar to Apple's Vision Pro glasses, with a goggle-like shape and an external computing puck that makes the unit extremely lightweight. Insiders say it will run on the same Horizon OS as Meta’s Quest headsets.

Meta will instead aim for a 2026 release of a "limited edition" wearable device, called "Malibu 2," as well as a next-generation Meta Quest device. Aul and Cairns said the revamp will include a major capabilities upgrade focused on immersive gaming.

There are some features that are easy to immediately dismiss as gimmicks. Then, over time, they start to make sense. Apple’s "Personas" are one such feature, one Samsung and Google seriously need to imitate.

Today, downloading a free Unix-like system for a PC or a single-board computer like a Raspberry Pi is routine. In the late '80s and early '90s, as computer hardware improved, these systems brought Unix power down from minicomputers and workstations to the personal level before the arrival of Linux.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat. Most of my friends and relatives know that I'm a self-confessed geek and will often buy me tech gifts that they're sure I'll love. Sometimes, however, they would have been better off saving their money. If you're looking to buy something for a tech lover, please don't get them these gifts.

If you’ve ever had to reinstall everything on your Mac, or even on a second machine, you’ll know what a struggle it is. Even keeping track of what’s installed can be a pain if, like me, you’re constantly trying out new software.

Streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music give you access to hundreds of millions of songs, but they're quite restrictive in how you can use them. They may not include some of the music you want to listen to, and you may not be able to play those streaming services through some of your speakers. Music Assistant allows you to play music from a wide range of sources on almost any speaker in your home.

Melissa McCarthy served up some of her classic physical comedy in a new Saturday Night Live sketch about what happens when a sales associate is just really, really nice to you on a particularly bad day.

Playing a severely touch-starved and jealous suburban woman, McCarthy doesn't quite know how to respond to cast member Jeremy Culhane's kindly grocery store employee, who has just handed her some soft and tasty Raclette. McCarthy, the owner of a pack of ill-behaved dogs, gives Culhane a family heirloom, pats him with soft caresses, and violates several other HR policies, all in the name of a little bite of cheese. I get it.

The spirit of Christmas has taken over 30 Rock, and this week's Saturday Night Live host, Melissa McCarthy, joined in with a sketch about spreading joy through acts of kindness.

Well, kind of.

Following her young neighbor's heartwarming decision to shovel her snowy path, McCarthy — the elderly, seemingly innocuous grandma next door — decided to return the favor, with a series of gifts that escalate in terrifying, hilarious ways.

A bully (Marcello Hernandez) hog-tied on the front lawn, two women and a pimp on the doorstep, a gun in a nicely-wrapped box — it's like some kind of messed-up Grinch fable. Grandma might be a psychopathic killer, but her misguided attempts are still spreading holiday cheer.

Colin Jost's Pete Hegseth returned to Saturday Night Live this week to kick off the Melissa McCarthy-hosted episode, featuring Dane Cook jokes, 6-7, and the ongoing conflict with Venezuela.

The Defense Secretary sauntered into the White House press room like a WWE superstar, crushing cans and berating journalists with insults like a particularly annoying middle school bully as he answered questions about what he dubbed "Operation Kill Everybody."

"As you probably read in some gay newspaper, we're now at war with Venezuela," the government leader told the press pool.

Hegseth was joined by "reporter" Matt Gaetz (Sarah Squirm) and "high-energy Alpha" President Donald Trump (James Austin Johnson), with the latter nodding off in the corner while dreaming about NYC Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani.

Driving today is all about balancing focusing on the road while trying to handle all the other things that happen when you are navigating busy streets. Waze understands that the best way to make roads safer and get the most efficiency is by letting drivers chat with the app.

2025 is the year I bought both a Nintendo Switch 2 and a Samsung Galaxy XR headset, but my favorite tech purchase isn’t either of those things. That would, surprisingly, be a night light. But this isn’t just any night light.

If you work with PDFs a lot, you often have to choose between expensive proprietary software or free alternatives that have lackluster features or questionable privacy and security. But what if I told you that you can have the best of both worlds? It's called BentoPDF.

Whether you're looking to download a GPU-specific driver, trying to determine whether you'll be able to play a new game at a reasonable frame rate, or checking the specs on an unfamiliar PC, knowing exactly what GPU you're dealing with is an important piece of information. Here are a few ways you can do it.

I've always struggled to concentrate on work. When I should be working, my mind starts to wander, or I end up falling down a tech rabbit hole trying to fix something that takes far longer than I expect. I've tried Pomodoro timer apps, but they never worked for me, so I decided to build my own using Home Assistant.