Technology

Nowadays, we're using just a handful of data storage media. Flash memory is arguably king, found in SSDs, memory cards, and the storage chips of countless devices all across the world. HDDs are still very important; they aren't as common in the consumer market as they used to be, but they're still the most widely used storage medium in data centers and homelabs. Lastly, there are Blu-ray discs and CDs, which aren't as popular as they were a decade ago but are still used to store movies, games, and music.

It's no secret that Android phones are great for DIY smart home projects. They're essentially an all-in-one Raspberry Pi. However, there's always one big looming question: Is it safe to keep a phone plugged in 24/7? Well, it depends.

I'm not ashamed to admit that for me, every day starts with booting my PC first, everything else second. But the one time I had to rush out instead of sitting down at the computer, my PC refused to boot. This resulted in a stressful couple of hours, hours during which I ran a checklist in my mind, wondering what was wrong with it.

The calendar has flipped to October, and Hulu has an eclectic list of new shows and movies hitting the service. Anyone up for some "Wonderwall?" One of the most talked-about reunions finally comes to streaming in a new documentary this month. Another movie to watch is an intriguing horror featuring one of the stars of Severance.

We've all experienced that moment when something about your internet connection feels off. Maybe you're on a video call, and it is intermittently choppy, or maybe you're gaming and something is slightly weird about the way you're moving, so you launch into your usual troubleshooting procedure.

I built my first PC over 20 years ago, and since that first one, I've basically never stopped. But of course, in that time, I've probably made just about every PC building mistake imaginable, too.

Lenovo's latest premium laptop, the Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition 14, boasts a lot of premium features. From its all-metal chassis (with polished edges around the bottom case) to the extremely nice OLED panel, here's why I think this is the Windows laptop to get in the sub-$2,500 price range.

An old TV remote is easy to overlook. Once the device it came with is gone, the remote usually ends up in a drawer with a pile of other forgotten electronics, destined to sit there indefinitely or eventually become e-waste. But just because you no longer need it for its original purpose doesn't mean the hardware itself is useless.

It's official: Digger couldn't strike gold at the box office.

The Tom Cruise climate change satire, directed by Oscar winner Alejandro G. Iñárritu, made $8 million at the domestic box office over its opening weekend, Variety reports. Its international earnings totaled $12 million, bringing Digger's opening weekend total to $20 million.

According to Variety, the film cost between $160 and $180 million to make, meaning Digger is officially a massive box-office bomb. It is also the last Warner Bros. film released before Warner Bros. Discovery merges with Paramount to become Skydance, marking a rough end to this era for the historic film studio.

Warner Bros. banked on Cruise's star power to deliver success for Digger, but the film's box office is shaping up to be one of the worst of the famed actor's career. (Yes, potentially worse than 2017's The Mummy, which stopped Universal's Dark Universe franchise plans outright.) Digger has the lowest box-office opening for Cruise since 2007's war drama Lions for Lambs, which earned $6.7 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend. However, with a $35 million budget, that film cost markedly less to make.

Following Digger's catastrophic opening and underwhelming critical response, Warner Bros. has leaned into the film's divisiveness with a new campaign that pits negative American reviews against positive international ones. Cruise posted a tribute to the film's cast and crew on Instagram, saying that he was "so proud of what we created."

Topping the box office this weekend was Colleen Hoover adaptation Verity, which picked up $32.6 million domestically and an extra $30 million internationally. It is Anne Hathaway's third number-one opening of the year, after The Devil Wears Prada 2 and The Odyssey.

Fresh Windows installs often ship with apps most people never open, and some quietly keep running in the background. You can clean up much of this using only built-in tools, with no third-party debloaters or modified ISOs. Here is how to do it safely.

xTool has long been a big player in the personalization space, focusing primarily on lasers. Eventually, xTool released some lasers with CMYK inkjet print heads on them. However, earlier this summer, xTool launched the O1 Omni, its first UV printer, and I've spent the past few months with it. Here's why I think the xTool O1 Omni is a complete game-changer for small businesses.

Android dominates the smartphone market, and Google TV is a strong streaming platform. That same success hasn't followed Google's attempts with PCs — and it's not for lack of trying. Back in 2015, it tried to put a desktop OS in a streaming stick.

Netflix's documentary collection is a rich place to explore titles for your watch list. Whether you are digging for a documentary on your niche interests or just looking for an entertaining watch for a night in, the streamer has quite a lot to offer.

It was the battle of the video games on last night's Saturday Night Live.

During the show's Weekend Update segment, co-host Colin Jost stated that the hype around Grand Theft Auto VI is so massive, it's made other video game developers push their own release dates back to avoid competing with its Nov. 19 launch. Only one game still stands strong against it: Nintendo's remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, out Nov. 5.

To discuss the rival release dates, Jost invited GTA VI main character Jason (Marcello Hernandez) and The Legend of Zelda main character Link (Mikey Day) to the Weekend Update desk. What followed was essentially a redo of the pair's emoji sketch from last season, in which Hernandez's popular Red Heart character roasted Day's Aerial Tramway. Day retaliated with increasingly loud (and incredibly successful) attempts to break Hernandez.

Here, the joke is the same, just with a new skin. As Jason, Hernandez hypes up the cool factor of GTA VI, saying it promises "destruction, chaos, and sex."

He also labels The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as TMPNG: Too Many Puzzles, No Guns.

Meanwhile, Day's Link works to sell viewers on The Legend of Zelda's puzzles, light combat, and fairy bottles. With every diss from Jason, he gets more frantic and defensive, with breaks all around. Check out the chaos for yourself above, and decide whether you're heading to Hyrule or Vice City come November.

One day, OneDrive just appeared on my PC. Before I knew it, it was syncing files, backing up my entire desktop, and storing photos.

Saturday Night Live took the United States' upcoming midterm elections as an opportunity to break out several of its impressions of key members of the Republican party.

In its Oct. 3 cold open, staffers of the Republican National Committee (Andrew Dismukes and Ashley Padilla) invite Republican politicians to film ads telling their base to get out and vote. First up is Secretary of State Marco Rubio (Marcello Hernandez), who delivers an impassioned speech in Spanish about how Trump "tricked" everyone, including him. Then comes a wheelchair-bound Senator Mitch McConnell (Mikey Day), who throws up a peace sign and almost cuts the cold open short with an ill-timed "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

After a brief appearance by Vice President JD Vance (Jeremy Culhane), whose ad (and presidential ambitions) are hastily dismissed, the cold open dials up the dude bro aggression with the appearance of Colin Jost's Pete Hegseth. He chugs Bero ("Spider-Man's new non-alcoholic bitch beer") and levels some insults at the audience ("schlong donkeys") before commanding everyone to "do the gayest thing ever and vote." Things take a turn for the surreal when he breaks into some strange slam poetry, complete with bongos, homophobia, and transphobia.

Of course, it wouldn't be a 2026 SNL cold open without an appearance from James Austin Johnson's President Trump, who's ready to deny any election results that don't go his party's way. Bleak! But at least the bongos are fun.

Did you know that you could use your Milwaukee M18 battery to power a fridge on the job site? What about using an M12 battery to stay warm with a powered jacket? Here are five fun things you didn't know you could use your Milwaukee batteries to do.

It's Taylor Swift season.

A little over a week after releasing The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, the singer-songwriter made an appearance on Saturday Night Live to support host Dakota Johnson. Johnson stars in the music video for Swift's latest single, Project Zero.

In her monologue, Johnson promoted her new film Verity, while also lamenting her pattern of dating musicians. One musician who hasn't let her down? Swift, who enters the monologue just as Johnson is describing how her "really good friends" support her through her breakups.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my literal therapist," Johnson said while introducing Swift.

"I'm not your therapist, actually," Swift tells her. "You just show up once a week at my house with an empty bottle of wine and ask if I want some."

According to LateNighter, SNL faked out Swift's cameo at the episode's dress rehearsal so it would be a surprise during the actual show. Cast member Sarah Sherman reportedly played the role of Swift during Johnson's rehearsed monologue.

Swift also reappeared during the episode's goodnight to hand Johnson a birthday cake. Johnson turned 37 at midnight while hosting the show.

When a Chromebook ages, it often sits unused and collects dust. However, with a little effort, you can breathe new life into your old device. From passing it down to your kid to turning it into an e-reader or a digital photo frame, here are some ways to repurpose your old Chromebook.

I've had issues with my homelab dying in the past for several different reasons. Services hogging all the RAM have caused things to crash, and I've even had problems with the mini PC overheating. When my self-hosted services stopped working recently, I assumed that it was for a similar reason, but the problem turned out to be caused entirely by a faulty Ethernet cable.