IT General

Lincoln’s $100K spa on wheels: Inside the redesigned 2026 Navigator

How-To Geek - Mon, 03/16/2026 - 00:00

The Lincoln Navigator, one of the early originals in the full-size luxury SUV category, is entering a new era. Nearly three decades after helping establish the segment alongside the Cadillac Escalade, the 2026 Navigator is showing off a bold new exterior, a capable powertrain, and a tech-forward interior that Lincoln is positioning as a "sanctuary on wheels."

Categories: IT General, Technology

SNL Cold Open tackles Trumps rising gas prices

Mashable - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 23:11

This week's Saturday Night Live cold open sticks to the formula that's been working all season — James Austin Johnson's uncanny Trump impression anchoring a tour through the latest week of governmental chaos. The Cold Open starts with a family stranded at a gas station, forced to make the grim calculation of which kid gets left behind after gas prices blow past $5 a gallon in the wake of the Iran war.

Then the family freezes, and Trump appears with this week's unhinged stream of consciousness. The sketch breaks the fourth wall just enough, with a nod to that night's host, Harry Styles, and a sharp dig at Marcello Hernandez's well-established role as the show's perpetual child actor.

"He's SNL's little chihuahua," Johnson's Trump declares. "That sounds racist, and it is."

Colin Jost's Pete Hegseth also makes an appearance, randomly tumbling out of the back of the family's Chevy Impala wearing shoes several sizes too big — a gift from Trump that he's apparently obsessed with.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The active NVMe cooling trap: Why SSD fans are a waste of money (with one major exception)

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 23:00

Modern NVMe SSDs are insanely fast. They can move tens of gigabytes of data in minutes, but all that speed comes at a cost: heat. Adding a heatsink is an excellent way to protect a fast NVMe from overheating, but you don’t need to go overboard by getting a model with a tiny cooling fan.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Siri bug reportedly delays Apples smart home lineup

Mashable - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 22:41

Siri's development over the years has been less than stellar, especially compared to competing voice assistants from Google and Amazon, but if the rumors are true, work on the new Siri update is so much of a hassle that Apple is delaying the release of its next-generation Apple Home products.

Last year, notorious Apple scooper Mark Gurman told Bloomberg that the Cupertino-based tech giant had been working on a slew of new home products, including long-overdue updates to their HomePod and HomePod Mini, indoor security cameras, and even a tabletop robot with a motorized arm, all to be controlled by the sound of your voice.

SEE ALSO: Apple reveals celebration plans for its 50th birthday

This aggressive foray into the smart home market was originally slated to launch last year, but was delayed until spring of 2026. Another, more recent report from Gurman has highlighted the growing disconnect between Apple's hardware and software divisions as the main cause of another delay.

At the center of this recent report is a smart home display/hub that Apple hoped to compete with Amazon's Echo Show. Reportedly, the device was to lean heavily on artificial intelligence and facial recognition technology to deliver tailored information to every new person who approached it: homework assignments for the kids, for example, and upcoming meetings for the parents. But with Siri's development behind expectations, these new smart home devices are being further delayed, most likely until September, when the next generation iPhone lineup is set to launch alongside a much-improved Siri assistant. 

Apple fans eager to give their homes a smart upgrade will have to wait a few more months, but with so many products releasing simultaneously this fall, even more pressure will be placed on Apple's command of artificial intelligence across its product ecosystem, making September a momentous month for the company.

Categories: IT General, Technology

7 things nobody tells you about hosting a Plex media server

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 22:24

Are you thinking about starting a Plex server soon? While the initial setup of Plex is easy, there are definitely some nuances I wish I knew about at the beginning. That’s why I made this list: to keep you from making the same mistakes I did.

Categories: IT General, Technology

ARC Raiders opts to replace AI-generated dialogue with professional voice actors

Mashable - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 21:47

In a bizarre inversion of recent trends, human actors have managed to steal work from artificial intelligence. Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz recently, Embark Studios CEO Patrick Söderlund revealed that the studio had replaced AI-generated dialogue with human voices in their successful ARC Raiders game, albeit only after the successful October launch.

The decision came down to quality, with Söderlund ultimately admitting that the professional voice actors still offer something that artificial intelligence cannot: "There is a quality difference. A real professional actor is better than AI; that's just how it is."

SEE ALSO: 'Arc Raiders' issues widespread penalties for alleged cheaters

Despite the game's remarkable success on Steam, with 14 million sales in February and more than 6 million weekly active users, critics have balked at the game's clunky use of text-to-speech, claiming that it harms immersion in the otherwise compelling story and world. As proof that the studio is sensitive to criticism and still eager to improve their already-launched product, the developers have identified key sections of dialogue to be "upgraded" by paid voice actors. As of now, however, there are no plans to replace all AI-generated voice content with human actors. 

Embark Studios also emphasized that, while some artificial intelligence was used in the dialogue, no generative AI was used in creating the game's striking, much-praised visuals. 

While critics of AI are quick to point out the human cost in terms of jobs lost or the damage to artistic integrity when AI trespasses into the realms of the human imagination, proponents point to the incredible cost-saving benefits of artificial intelligence, which may ultimately give more creative power to cash-strapped individuals rather than corporations. 

For now, however, expected more heated debates on the virtues and vices of AI as its use continues to accelerate in the gaming industry.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Why your expensive new router feels slow: 5 next-gen features disabled by default

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 21:30

Wi-Fi routers are often treated as plug-and-play appliances. For most people, the setup process begins and ends with plugging in the power cable and, if they're feeling adventurous, setting a custom network name and password.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Prime Video will restrict basic users to HD streaming

Mashable - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 21:02

Bad news for the more than 180 million Americans signed up for Amazon Prime: the service is revamping its membership structure and locking 4K video streaming behind a higher-cost tier, charging customers an additional $4.99 per month to unlock the highest-resolution experience.

Prior to the change, regular Prime members paying either $14.99 per month or $139 per year could stream in 1080p HD or 4K/UHD, while customers eager to stream ad-free could pay an additional $3 per month. Now, however, the basic Prime Video package restricts users to 1080p streams, while the ad-free experience is being upgraded and rebranded as "Ultra."

SEE ALSO: Alexa+ is now available to everyone in the US, and free for Prime members

To further entice customers to upgrade their subscription, Amazon is throwing in additional perks for Ultra members, including an increased download capacity for offline viewing (from 25 to 100), support for Dolby Atmos audio and Dolby Vision picture, and an increase in the number of concurrent streams from a single account, from three to five.

It isn't all bad news for basic Prime members, though: they will also gain access to Dolby Vision support, as well as an increase in the number of concurrent streams they can access from a single account, from three to four.

It's also worth noting that true 4K streaming is still a tall order for most customers, either because they lack the bandwidth or because their streaming device, especially on smartphones and tablets, doesn't support true 4K UHD resolution. 

For those Amazon customers who rely on Prime Video for their home theater, though, the Ultra upgrade should be mandatory.

Categories: IT General, Technology

6 Reasons the 2026 Subaru Outback is still the ultimate adventure wagon

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 20:30

For three decades, the Subaru Outback has occupied a unique corner of the automotive world, carving out a niche that sits comfortably between a family wagon and a mountain-climbing SUV. With over three million sold since its debut, the Outback has become the literal and figurative utility player of the Subaru lineup.

Categories: IT General, Technology

When storage hijacked the motherboard: The forgotten history of the RAM-slot SSD

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 20:00

DIMM SSDs are one of those oddities that almost look fake at a glance if you're not familiar with them. They take up a RAM slot, but depending on the design, they might behave like a normal SATA SSD or a persistent memory module that sits much closer to DRAM than a conventional drive does.

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 niche Milwaukee power tools (and what they're used for)

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 19:45

Fans of Milwaukee and those red power tools know that the company actually makes a little bit of everything. Milwaukee is wildly popular thanks to its capable tools, specialty offerings, and a steady flow of new tools each year. You probably own the basics, but here are a few niche Milwaukee tools you might actually want, along with what they're used for.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Don't panic over new Linux exploits: How to check if your PC is affected in under 5 minutes

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 19:30

Every other month a new Linux vulnerability appears in the news and a CVE number starts circulating. If you use Linux, the reaction is predictable: "Am I vulnerable?" Before assuming the worst, take five minutes and actually check whether your PC is affected.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Here's how I turned my old Android phone into a PC performance dashboard

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 19:00

PC gamers love keeping an eye on their CPU, GPU, and other resource usage and temperatures during intense gaming sessions. While a secondary monitor can handle this easily, I prefer to turn mine off completely so it doesn’t distract me while I game.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Home Assistant isn't just for privacy: 4 practical reasons to build a fully local smart home

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 18:45

Home Assistant is a free and open-source smart home platform that operates entirely on a device on your local network, making it the go-to recommendation for any smart home enthusiast that's concerned about privacy—but there are many other reasons to choose a local smart home hub that isn't operating in the cloud.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Microsoft has lost the plot: 5 Windows "features" nobody asked for

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 18:30

Windows 11, Microsoft's newest operating system, got people excited at first because of its fresh look and modern features. However, as the software has been around longer, a clear trend of unfriendly design choices, really pushy ways to make money, and a plain lack of concern for your privacy have emerged. This growing list of unnecessary features shows the worst examples of how Microsoft is making the experience worse just to benefit its own corporate interests.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Everything leaving HBO Max in March

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 18:15

While March is heating up on HBO Max with several noteworthy new shows and movies, it’s also time to say goodbye to everything leaving the platform this month. Though most of the titles leaving are movies, there are some documentaries and shows in there that you’ll definitely want to see.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The 3 best Apple TV shows to binge-watch this week (March 16 - 22)

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 18:00

While we wait eagerly for some of the new upcoming series coming to Apple TV, including new seasons of For All Mankind (March 27), Your Friends and Neighbors (April 3), and Criminal Record (April 22), there are some solid shows to while away the weeks.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Why I refuse to buy another Windows PC

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 17:58

I grew up using Windows and laptops. Now, both of those feel like things of the past. While I can't say for sure that I'm done with laptops, if I do get another one someday, I know it won't come with Windows.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Smart home lag isn't normal—here's how to fix it

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 17:00

The idea of a modern smart home can sometimes be better than the reality. This generally happens when you treat it as a simple 'plug-and-play' gadget rather than the infrastructure of your home. You might have thought that kind of sluggishness was just part of the deal, but you can fix this by changing the way your devices operate.

Categories: IT General, Technology

This "weird" Ryobi tool solved the most annoying problem in my garage

How-To Geek - Sun, 03/15/2026 - 16:45

All the different power tool brands produce a ton of excellent tools, especially Ryobi, which makes a little bit of everything. Every once in a while, you'll stumble onto some weird, obscure item that you never knew you needed. That's exactly what happened to me late last year at Home Depot, and that tool ended up solving one of my biggest workshop woes.

Categories: IT General, Technology
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