IT General

2026 is the new 2016, a throwback to what some are fondly remembering as the carefree internet. That seemingly more simple time before everyone was an influencer, before AI and algorithms were everywhere, and before everything got so expensive. Those were the days.

Want to take your Vim game to the next level? From my time using Vim, I've learned many neat tips and tricks that have saved me tons of time and headaches while editing with Vim. I'm sharing some of my top tips in this guide so you can incorporate them into your workflow.

There's one spec that unifies most laptop users: soldered RAM. Hate it or love it, it's present in many laptops, sometimes making them impossible to upgrade in any meaningful way.

Cloud storage can get costly, so an alternative for many people is to just grab any important memories and store them in a hard drive to revisit in the future.

No matter what type of vehicle you drive, be it a beautiful luxury sedan or some fangled hoopty, your engine has to work harder during the winter. Data from the U.S. Department of Energy shows that fuel economy drops in line with the outside temperature, with quick trips, defined as three to four miles, seeing the greatest decreases.

Nexus Mods has confirmed that its popular mod manager, Vortex, is officially coming to SteamOS in 2026. This brings streamlined mod support directly to the Steam Deck and Steam Machine hardware. This is massive news for the modding community and will be big for anyone who owns a Deck.

Google is leaning harder into generative AI inside its photo ecosystem with the launch of Me Meme, a new feature rolling out in the U.S. that lets users turn themselves into custom memes directly inside Google Photos.

Announced by the Google Photos team this week, Me Meme uses generative AI to insert your likeness into meme-style images using preset templates or user-uploaded visuals. The process is intentionally simple: pick a template, select a photo of yourself, and let the tool generate a meme-ready image that can be saved, regenerated, or shared across platforms.

Unlike third-party meme apps, Me Meme lives entirely within Google Photos, positioning it as less of a novelty add-on and more of an extension of Google’s broader push to make Photos a creative hub, not just a storage locker. It also builds on Google’s growing suite of AI-powered creation tools, which already include photo-to-video effects, AI stickers, and smart editing features.

The feature appears aimed squarely at casual users rather than professional creators. There are no advanced controls, captions, or formatting tools here. Instead, Me Meme focuses on quick, shareable results that require minimal effort. First-time users are guided through a brief intro flow, reinforcing the idea that this is meant to be approachable, not intimidating.

As with most Google Photos features, Me Meme is rolling out gradually, so not everyone will see it immediately. For those who do, it’s a low-stakes way to experiment with generative AI without leaving an app they already use daily.

I used to spend a lot of time commuting, but these days I’m lucky enough to work remotely. My wife isn’t. She drives about 20 miles each way on busy highways, and like a lot of people, I worry about her every time she pulls out of the driveway. Late last year, I bought her a dashcam. It’s nothing fancy, just something recording in the background, but she really likes it and says it gives her peace of mind. That alone made it feel worth it to me.

Home Assistant is arguably the best choice for anyone looking to start a smart home, but this is especially true for power users. If you want unhindered freedom to decide how your smart home functions and you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty, there’s no better choice.

If your current vehicle feels cramped when packing for trips, hauling gear, or managing daily family duties, one of 2026’s most spacious midsize SUVs may solve that problem. The 2026 Grand Highlander is engineered with cargo capacity and versatility in mind, offering more room behind the rear seats and a flexible interior layout that easily adapts to passengers, luggage, and everything in between. For families who need space without sacrificing comfort or refinement, it’s a standout option.

A monster winter storm is currently barreling through roughly two-thirds of the United States, stretching across a massive swath of the country from Amarillo, Texas, to familiar winter hotspots like Boston, Massachusetts, and Buffalo, New York. Reports from outlets like CNN indicate that cities like Boston could see more than 36 inches of snow over the course of the weekend, while areas south of the snow line, including Charlotte and Atlanta, are expected to see less snow and more ice, a combination that makes road conditions especially dangerous.

The scale of the storm has also driven a surge of activity on social media in the days leading up to its arrival. Across the country, residents have been clearing store shelves in preparation for being snowed or iced in, posting photos of empty aisles and last-minute supply runs.

At the same time, users online are fixated on the novelty of places like the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex seeing significant snowfall, a spectacle that tends to be fun for a few hours until the ice sets in and the state’s fragile power grid starts to strain.

Or you could be in Florida and not see any snow, with cities like Orlando currently predicted to reach a high of 86°F on Sunday.

Going all the way back up north, Minnesota, it's so cold that a user posted a video of pasta frozen in mid-air. As former Fox 9 meteorologist Jennifer McDermed writes on X, Minneapolis hit a low of -21°F on Friday, with wind chills around -45°F.

This article will continue to be updated as more posts and news emerge throughout the storm.

Netflix pioneered the idea of streaming services making their own original content, exclusive to each platform. In general, this has worked well, and shows like Stranger Things have become major tentpole hits.

Synology has faced a lot of hate over the past year for various reasons—some of which are very founded. However, a longstanding gripe of the brand’s customers is how expensive its hardware is. Here’s why I think that it’s still worth paying the Synology tax in 2026.

High fidelity is almost never the default setting in the digital streaming world today. Most platforms, including YouTube Music, prioritize keeping your playback smooth and saving your data over giving you pure audio quality. This trade-off is silently ruining your listening experience.

Imagine yourself lost in the wilderness, miles from civilization, with no cell signal or Wi-Fi. Your phone is pretty much a useless brick. But what if you could still send a text? While it's not always possible to text without any connection, your Google Pixel has a few tricks up its sleeve for when you're truly off the grid.

Home Assistant is arguably the best choice for anyone looking to start a smart home, but this is especially true for power users. If you want unhindered freedom to decide how your smart home functions and you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty, there’s no better choice.

I used to treat my Linux app menu like a forgotten drawer. I rarely opened it, only to switch to my terminal a bit later. Then I found Ulauncher. It quietly replaced my start menu, app grid, and desktop shortcuts. Once I got used to it, I wondered why I ever clicked through menus in the first place.

With Microsoft's long-term vision aiming for Windows to become an agentic OS, you may think about switching away. I don't blame you because it sounds like a horrible idea, and one that I believe will end in disaster—I have three reasons why.

VBA used to be the only way to handle iterative, multistep logic in Microsoft Excel. Not anymore. REDUCE brings the power of functional programming directly into your cells, allowing you to condense complex, messy data into single, clean results.

This was another busy week for tech news, including more updates (and bugs) for Windows 11, cheaper plans for YouTube TV, Amazon bricking smart home hardware, and more. Here are the biggest stories you might have missed.