Technology

Have you been thinking about biting the bullet and learning Bash scripting? Or perhaps you're like me, and you're always looking for ways to improve. I have three tips that will improve every Bash script you write.

Are you having troubles streaming movies and TV shows remotely with Plex? There are a few things to check to make sure your media server is set up correctly.

It might shock you to learn that I have burned over 100 optical discs in the past year, but that's just a fraction of how many discs I burned at the peak of physical media storage.

You’re a Spotify Premium subscriber who’s just toggled on the new lossless playback option to hear your favorite tracks in richer detail. Maybe you notice the difference; maybe you don’t. But one thing you do notice is that since going lossless, your phone’s free storage seems to be shrinking.

Buying your first 3D printer is a big decision. You’re about to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a hobby that you’ve yet to fully commit to, and you’ll probably doubt your decision right down to the moment you click “Pay.”

The site formerly known as Twitter has killed what were formerly known as Twitter DMs, in favor of something new.

Elon Musk's X has finally rolled out Chat, a replacement for the DM tab that has been located at the bottom right of the Twitter app for many years. All your old DMs and group chats are still there, but there have been some changes. It's all end-to-end encrypted now; you can edit and delete messages, and even set them to disappear after a certain amount of time, similar to Signal. X claims this is all for the sake of privacy, of course.

All of this came along with a UI makeover as well. While added privacy is, in concept, a very good thing, I should note that many longtime Twitter power users in my life are dismayed by these changes. Finding existing chats in the web browser version of X is now more challenging than it used to be, and changing the names of group chats has also become difficult, if not impossible. The mobile app version of Chat is also noticeably slower than what was there before, in my experience. One of my longtime group chats has already started the process of migrating to Discord.

However, it's now Elon Musk's site, and he can do with it as he pleases. Maybe Bluesky will finally add group chats one of these days.

Got an old Chromecast sitting in a drawer unused? It doesn't matter if you no longer need it for streaming, there are plenty of other ways to make use of it. So connect it to your TV, update the software, and try one of these ideas to repurpose your old Chromecast.

There is so much I love about Home Assistant, but I still have to fall back to Samsung SmartThings more often than I'd like. As sad as it makes me, I’m running into enough issues that I can’t yet commit to Home Assistant being my one and only smart home platform.

Microsoft's taking a different tack with its next-generation of Xbox hardware, and it seems this might be putting it on a collision course with Valve and its Steam platform.

You've probably used top and htop for many years, and while they've served us well, it's 2025—modern software has moved on to more functional and visually appealing designs. Both top and htop feel outdated and could use a modern refresh, which is exactly what btop++ brings.

For too many years, I merely accepted YouTube's flaws—a feed plagued by Shorts, annoying automation, and a bloated UI. Now, thanks to one simple browser extension, I finally have the personalized video platform I always wanted.

There’s a lot you can do to design a resilient smart home, from choosing an open ecosystem like Home Assistant to avoiding devices that depend on the cloud to work. But sometimes, things just don’t go to plan.

This was another busy week for tech news, with Valve revealing its new Steam Machine console and Steam Frame headset, Mozilla overhauling Firefox, a new update for Visual Studio Code, and much more. Here are the biggest stories you might have missed.

If you're a fan of Ryobi's brightly colored tools found at Home Depot, or even own several, you've likely seen a few "Hybrid" tools from the brand. Ryobi tools are incredibly popular, fairly affordable, and constantly on sale. However, did you know that the brand also offers hybrid tools that you can continue using even when the battery runs out?

The git program supports so many sub-commands that it’s almost impossible to keep on top of them all. Most of them are quite low-level and carry out simple tasks like committing code changes or switching branch. But some of the most obscure offering surprising functionality that does way beyond the norm.

Lincoln is a classic American brand that somehow always feels current. Its current lineup leans heavily on SUVs, and the latest Navigator has reminded everyone why Lincoln still dominates the full-size segment.

For far too long, I struggled to find the perfect image without a distracting background for my PowerPoint slides. I used to think I needed complicated software to fix it, but I eventually discovered a tool that's built into the software itself: Remove Background.

You can't properly, safely store passwords without a password manager, and my choice for that on Linux is KeePassXC. There are many out there, but there's a reason I've stuck with this free and open source option for five years.

Perhaps it's not fair coming from a (nearly) 40-year-old man, but the opening sequences of modern cartoons just don't have the same zing it used to in the '80s and '90s. I guess the commerce-driven Saturday morning cartoon had more incentives to be attention-grabbing, and these classics are certified bangers in any era.

I gave up on the new Outlook six months ago, fed up with the clunky, buggy, featureless mess of a desktop app. Half a year on, I hoped its fundamental problems would be fixed—but they haven't. It's still a slow, under-tooled disappointment that sabotages my workflow.