Blogroll

Military radar might be messing with your Wi-Fi router

How-To Geek - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 23:30

When your Wi-Fi drops unexpectedly, what's your first guess? Mine is, naturally, to blame the ISP. Then, if I'm on my phone or something else portable, I'll start wondering about Wi-Fi dead zones.

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 productivity app replacements you can build in an Excel spreadsheet

How-To Geek - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 23:01

Apple's 2009 "There's an app for that" slogan rings even truer in 2026. Anything you want to do, you'll find an app that's supposed to help you, and productivity apps are no exception.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Become a Claude power user with this $20 E-Degree

Mashable - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 23:00

TL;DR: Stop underutilizing Claude and unlock its full potential with some help from the Claude AI Professional E-Degree, on sale now for just $19.99 (reg. $159).

Opens in a new window Credit: Eduonix Learning Solutions Claude AI Professional E-Degree $19.99
$159 Save $139.01   Get Deal

Learning to use AI efficiently is becoming increasingly important, whether you’re working on personal projects or trying to incorporate it into your workflow. The Claude AI Professional E-Degree gives you a structured way to master one of the most popular AI models, with lessons on prompting, coding, and integrations to help you put your knowledge into practice.

Right now, you can secure the Claude AI Professional E-Degree for just $19.99.

When it comes to AI, you don’t want to miss the boat. The Claude AI Professional E-Degree lets you keep up without having to head back to school or spend hours doing your own research. This 8-hour E-Degree shows you how it works, how to prompt, how to use it for coding and integrations, and a whole lot more.

The Claude AI Professional E-Degree is taught by Eduonix Learning Solutions, a professional team of technology trainers who teach you how to use these skills the way they’re used in the real world.

You can work through the four hands-on modules at your own pace and go from a Claude beginner to an expert user. Start with Claude Chat: Best Practices, where you learn how to craft the most effective prompts and achieve the best results. From there, you move on to Claude Code: Agentic Coding, which helps you become a more efficient coder.

A Claude CoWork module shows you how to connect Claude with your favorite apps and plugins to streamline your daily routines. Then the Master Claude CoWork module takes things even further, showing you more advanced plugins and automation to help build a better AI-driven workflow.

There are quizzes available to test your retention as you go. You’ll also receive a professional E-Degree certification upon completion of the modules.

Master Claude with the Claude AI Professional E-Degree for just $19.99.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Your next Google TV should be a projector

How-To Geek - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 22:45

Whether or not you find Google TV compelling on a TV, there’s a different form factor where it’s a genuine game changer—on a projector.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Your Samsung Galaxy phone has more buttons than you think. Here's how to unlock them

How-To Geek - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 22:30

Your Samsung Galaxy phone is great for many things, but one of the best parts about it is how you can personalize and set it up for your convenient use. You may not even realize it, but one simple way to set up your phone for daily use is with its buttons.

Categories: IT General, Technology

I've used a KDE Linux desktop for years. Here's why I'm switching to Xfce today

How-To Geek - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 22:01

KDE Plasma has been my desktop for years, and it earned that spot. But Plasma’s latest direction changed the math for me, and Xfce now fits the way I work better. Here’s where Xfce pulls ahead, where KDE still wins, and who should pick which.

Categories: IT General, Technology

NASA reaches out to commercial space industry for help saving legendary Hubble Space Telescope

Mashable - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 21:52

Sad news for space aficionados: the famous Hubble Space Telescope, responsible for some of the most jaw-dropping images of our solar system taken more than three decades since its launch into low-Earth orbit in 1990, is on a slow path towards a fiery fate. At its present rate of altitude loss, NASA's most famous telescope is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere sometime in 2033 or 2034, at which point it will come crashing down like a comet, according to Space.com, possibly endangering human life on its descent

It doesn't have to be that way, though. If NASA had more room in its budget, it could repeat its 2002 Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-109 and give the aging telescope a nudge into a higher orbit, extending its lifespan. In desperation, NASA has put out a Request for Information (RFI) to the fast-growing commercial space sector, hoping for aid to either boost Hubble's altitude and extend its lifespan or else guide its descent to a safe crash site, such as the middle of the ocean.

According to the RFI, a successful orbital boost would require an ascent of more than 370 miles (600 kilometers), which is a significant increase in elevation and an astonishingly difficult challenge from a purely technical perspective. 

In a statement on the NASA website, Nicky Fox, an associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate, spoke to the growing power and influence of the private space sector: "Commercial industry has rapidly evolved in recent years to offer new capabilities for in-space satellite capture and servicing. Given the time we have until Hubble’s anticipated re-entry, we are eager to explore the breadth of possibilities to boost Hubble to a higher orbit while we develop the flagship mission to follow."  

NASA administrator Jared Isaacman spoke of a duty to both "the American taxpayer" and "the scientific community" to explore all possible ways to extend Hubble's life, and the project is likely to attract serious interest from companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Peter Beck's Rocket Lab, which became famous for successfully catching a used rocket with a helicopter. 

It wouldn't even be the first time that the commercial space sector has lent NASA a helping hand. In March of last year, stranded astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were rescued from the International Space Station with assistance from SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft.

Let's hope history repeats itself and NASA finds a willing collaborator, because Hubble's insights over more than a three decades have radically altered our understanding of the universe we inhabit and inspired new generations to look to the stars.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Inde Navarrette mocks Shane Gillis gym joke in SNL monologue

Mashable - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 21:49

Inde Navarrette has been hitting the gym for Marvel. She also had a little something to say to Shane Gillis in her opening monologue.

The Obsession star made her Saturday Night Live hosting debut on Halloween, slipping a jab at the show's previous host into an otherwise straightforward update about playing Rogue in the upcoming X-Men movie.

"I know it’s really important for Marvel that you get really fit, so I’ve been working out a lot," she said. "So every morning I put on my little whore outfit and I hit the gym."

Credit: Will Heath/Getty Images

The audience caught the reference, breaking into laughter and applause. Three weeks earlier, Gillis had stood on the same stage and complained that women "dress like whores now" at the gym, following it with a bit about revealing shorts and being told not to stare.

The comments prompted criticism from Dan Levy and former SNL cast members Cecily Strong and Ego Nwodim, who posted a gym selfie on Instagram Stories captioned "Whore reporting for duty."

Navarrette also had a less reassuring update about her love life. Addressing fans who wondered whether she resembled Nikki, her character in Obsession, Navarrette insisted that the similarities ended onscreen.

"My boyfriend is here tonight to support me and we have such a chill relationship, right?" she said.

The camera cut to her boyfriend, Nick Aiello, bound and gagged in his audience seat.

The monologue ended with cast members showing off their Halloween costumes, including Marcello Hernandez as a sexy TSA agent and Kam Patterson as Elizabeth Holmes. Jeremy Culhane turned up as Wolverine, hoping Navarrette could get him into her Marvel movie. Apparently, he'd come prepared for an audition.

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Categories: IT General, Technology

5 hidden ESP32 project costs I forgot when I bought the cheap board

How-To Geek - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 21:30

An ESP32 development board can cost just a few dollars, making it a popular choice for DIY projects such as building your own smart home devices. The cost of the ESP32 itself doesn't tell the whole story, however. There are often additional costs that can be easy to forget.

Categories: IT General, Technology

4 safe ways to download Android apps without using the Google Play Store

How-To Geek - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 21:00

The Google Play Store is the primary method of downloading Android apps on all Android phones. There are many reasons why you would want to install apps from sources other than the Play Store. Maybe you don't want to use a Google account, or perhaps you're using a de-Googled phone for privacy reasons.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Im watching the Mexican GP for free this weekend — how to live stream F1 for free

Mashable - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 20:46

TL;DR: Sign up for a 7-day free trial of Apple TV+ through Prime Video Channels to watch select F1 races for free. Watch the Mexico GP for free with the Prime Video app.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Apple TV Prime Video Channel Watch the Mexico GP for free with a 7-day trial Shop Now

Kimi Antonelli had a slim chance of winning the title last weekend in Austin. He did his part by winning the Grand Prix, but Hamilton and Russell stayed in the game. Now the action heads to Mexico, where Antonelli's victory seems all but certain.

Antonelli needs to finish in ninth place or higher in Mexico to be crowned champion, even if Russell takes the race win. Surely it's time. I'd be shocked if Antonelli doesn't secure his place as the youngest champion in F1 history.

SEE ALSO: ExpressVPN review: A stylish VPN service with proven privacy and a large U.S. presence

If you want to watch F1 2026 for free from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is the Mexico GP?

The Mexico GP is the 19th race of the 2026 F1 season. Here's the full schedule from the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez:

  • Practice 1 — 2:30-3:30 p.m. ET on Oct. 30

  • Practice 2 — 6-7 p.m. ET on Oct. 30

  • Practice 3 — 1:30-2:30 p.m. ET on Oct. 31

  • Qualifying — 5-6 p.m. ET on Oct. 31

  • Race — 3 p.m. ET on Nov. 1

Fans can follow all the action from this race weekend without spending anything.

How to watch the Mexico GP for free

Apple TV holds exclusive U.S. broadcasting rights for F1, and you can now sign up for a seven-day free trial of Apple TV directly through Prime Video Channels.

That trial gives you access to select races for free, including this weekend's Mexican Grand Prix. The subscription rolls over to $12.99 per month after the seven-day trial, but you can disable the automatic renewal and still stream the entire race weekend for free.

If you're already paying for Amazon Prime, calling it "completely free" is a stretch. But if you don't have an active membership, Amazon offers a 30-day free trial for new users. Stacking that Prime trial with the seven-day Apple TV channel trial means you're truly spending nothing to stream this weekend's race.

If you've already made use of this method, you still have a few workarounds:

  • Apple TV: New standalone subscribers qualify for a direct seven-day free trial through Apple's app.

  • Apple One: If you want more than just streaming, the Apple One tier packages Apple TV alongside Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple News+, and 50GB of iCloud storage — and it comes with a full one-month free trial ($19.95 per month after the promotional period).

  • Apple: The most generous Apple TV offer is tied to new hardware purchases. Buying an eligible iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV grants new subscribers three months of free service. You obviously have to spend money on hardware, but if you were already planning an upgrade, it effectively unlocks a massive chunk of the F1 season for free.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Homelabbers are making classic storage mistakes just to save money on hard drives

How-To Geek - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 20:30

Hard drives became expensive very quickly—over the last year or so, hard drive prices have jumped about 50%, and prices show no sign of coming back down.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Roku is ruining the things I always loved about it

How-To Geek - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 20:01

I am a long-time Roku user, going all the way back to when it was a little square box that plugged into my TV with RCA jacks. I have several Roku TVs and a few streaming sticks as well. While there's plenty of competition out there, I've always stuck with Roku because it was simple and straightforward. I would turn on the TV, choose a streaming service, pick a show and start watching. I never wanted Roku to recommend shows to me or make decisions for me. I just liked the fact that it was an easy way to access my streaming services. In fact, simplicity was the biggest selling point in my opinion.

Categories: IT General, Technology

4 ways I customized Google Calendar to manage projects and cut out the noise

How-To Geek - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 19:30

I used to use Google Calendar almost passively, mainly to keep track of bookings and recurring bills. Even though it's not a particularly clunky app, I didn't manage to make it work for anything else.

Categories: IT General, Technology

David S. Pumpkins returns to SNL, and Trump makes it weird

Mashable - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 19:19

David S. Pumpkins returned to Saturday Night Live for Halloween, but another familiar orange figure quickly took over.

Tom Hanks reprised his pumpkin-suited character during the Oct. 31 cold open, alongside Mikey Day and Bobby Moynihan as his dancing skeleton sidekicks. What looked like a Halloween reunion soon became a platform for James Austin Johnson's Donald Trump to discuss the midterm elections — and Hanks' backside.

The episode, hosted by Obsession star Inde Navarrette with musical guest Gracie Abrams, opened with a couple boarding a haunted attraction guided by Kenan Thompson. When Hanks appeared, the riders wanted to know why David S. Pumpkins belonged on the ride. Before he could explain, Johnson's Trump interrupted with one word: "Midterms."

"Aw, are you sad you don’t get to see your third David Pumpkins scene?" he asked. "I’ll save you four minutes: he keeps popping up and confusing people on the ride. The end."

With the performers frozen behind him, Trump compared himself to Pumpkins. "We both appeared in 2016, we’re both very loud, very orange, and very, frankly, annoying!" he said.

He then praised Hanks' acting before adding, "Great ass! A great ass on Hanks." The joke nodded to Trump's recent campaign speeches, in which he has repeatedly admired Ohio Republican Sen. Jon Husted's physique, describing his backside as "a pile of muscle." On SNL, that fixation extended to Hanks and Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, making men’s backsides the butt of the joke (pun intended).

Holding up a bruised hand, Trump also compared its color to Texas turning purple, declaring that if the state went blue, he would abandon it.

Thompson, meanwhile, walked offstage. When Trump thanked him for a supposed donation, he replied, "Yeah, you wish, bitch."

Saidah Belo-Osagie appeared as Nicki Minaj, whom Trump introduced as a prospective press secretary. "I’m out here killing it," she said. "And by it, I mean my career."

Veronika Slowikowska followed as Katie Zacharia, who bungled the show’s opening line, leaving Hanks and his skeletons to deliver "Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!"

Want more of the best of late night? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Your Pixel can double as a webcam with a USB-C cable you already own

How-To Geek - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 19:00

If you own a Pixel phone running Android 14 or newer, there’s a neat feature that allows you to turn it into a webcam for your computer anytime you need one, using only a USB-C cable. The setup is seamless; you can do it in seconds, and the feature works on all three major desktop platforms — Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Categories: IT General, Technology

The 11 best celebrity Halloween costumes of 2026, from Heidi Klum to Keke Palmer

Mashable - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 18:42

Celebrity Halloween has become a holiday within a holiday. There are the costume reveals, the elaborate photo shoots, and the inevitable moment of trying to figure out what, exactly, someone is supposed to be. Half the fun is recognizing the reference before reading the caption.

This year's best looks gave pop culture obsessives plenty to work with. Music videos, cartoons, and an awkward talk show interview all made the cut, alongside a few transformations that deserve a closer look. Some were genuinely creepy. Others were funny enough to make a case for keeping Halloween very, very unserious.

Here are 11 of our favorite celebrity Halloween costumes of 2026.

SEE ALSO: Here are some the internet's best Halloween costumes Heidi Klum as a giant severed hand This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Heidi Klum, the Queen of Halloween, turned up to her annual party as an enormous, bloody version of her own left hand, complete with red nails and rings. Getting into the costume reportedly took five to six hours. An impressive amount of effort to make everyone a little uncomfortable.

Lily Allen as a Ticketmaster seating chart This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Lily Allen dressed as a Ticketmaster seating chart. A strong contender for the scariest costume here, especially for anyone who has recently tried to buy concert tickets.

Zendaya as Halle Berry This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Zendaya recreated Halle Berry's look from the 2000 X-Men premiere, with styling by Law Roach. A red carpet reference specific enough to reward the people who immediately recognized it.

Alex Consani as a Thumb-Thumb from Spy Kids This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Alex Consani became a Thumb-Thumb, reviving one of Spy Kids’ most unsettling creations. Somewhere, an adult who watched that movie as a child just remembered an old fear.

Mary Beth Barone and Benito Skinner as Dakota Johnson and Ellen DeGeneres This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

The Ride hosts revisited Dakota Johnson’s famously awkward 2019 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, with Mary Beth Barone as Johnson and Benito Skinner as DeGeneres. During the interview, DeGeneres claimed she hadn’t been invited to Johnson's birthday party, prompting the actress to respond, "Actually, no, that’s not the truth, Ellen." The uncomfortable exchange became an enduring internet reference — and, apparently, an excellent two-person Halloween costume.

Lisa Rinna as Kylie Jenner This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Lisa Rinna recreated Kylie Jenner’s orange Chrome Hearts look from the Marty Supreme premiere, complete with a long dark wig and a chunky silver cross necklace. The resemblance even got Jenner’s attention. "Thought this was me," she commented on Rinna’s Instagram post.

Keke Palmer and Leodis as Janet and Michael Jackson This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Keke Palmer and her son, Leodis, channeled Janet and Michael Jackson’s 1995 "Scream" music video, complete with matching hairstyles and a black-and-white shoot. Palmer also recreated the choreography in a video, while Leo appeared perfectly content sitting nearby with his iPad. "That iPad is a life saver omg," she wrote in the caption. "I haven’t stopped laughing." Same, Keke.

Lizzo as Seiko Ayase from Dan Da Dan This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Lizzo chose Seiko Ayase, the grandmother from the anime and manga series Dan Da Dan, for her Halloween fit. If the reference required a quick Google search, consider this an introduction to the next show on the watchlist.

Paris Hilton as Britney Spears This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Paris Hilton revisited Britney Spears’s 2001 MTV Video Music Awards look, channeling her friend's iconic "I'm a Slave 4 U" performance. A reminder that the early 2000s will always be a reliable source of Halloween inspiration.

Kim Kardashian as North West This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Kim Kardashian dressed as her daughter North West, recreating her blue hair, faux facial piercings, black grill, and long pointed nails. The resemblance was uncanny: "Girl, I thought this was North," one commenter wrote.

Alix Earle as a Sorayama sculpture This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Alix Earle turned herself into a Sorayama sculpture for Halloween, wearing a futuristic metallic costume that she said took an hour and a half just to get into. She documented the transformation on TikTok, captioning one update “An hour 1/2 later.” Getting dressed was apparently an event of its own.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Windows 11 says you have a choice, but Microsoft is quietly removing it

How-To Geek - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 18:30

Windows is still, by a large margin, the most dominant operating system. Microsoft has enjoyed decades of being the default OS provider for the vast majority of computer users, and its market position hasn't changed much—yet!

Categories: IT General, Technology

5 home network projects for a $15 Raspberry Pi that don’t require extra purchases

How-To Geek - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 18:00

The Raspberry Pi Zero and Zero 2 W are both still very affordable despite price hikes across the rest of the lineup.

Categories: IT General, Technology

Anthropic expands text watermarking to older Claude versions beginning November 3

Mashable - Sun, 11/01/2026 - 17:59

As we first reported in early August, Anthropic has bowed to demands from EU legislators that AI-generated text carry a hidden watermark, to help eventually distinguish between human- and AI-generated content. 

The initial watermark rollout only applied to the latest and greatest versions of Claude, but on Friday Anthropic alerted its users that an expansion of the watermark would soon roll out to Claude Mythos 5, Claude Opus 4.7, Claude Opus 4.6 and Claude Sonnet 4.6, starting on November 3. 

According to the AI giant, it will be the same watermarking technology already in use in Opus 5.5, based on "an imperceptible pattern in word choice" that won't change the accuracy or readability of its output, or contain any identifying information about the user or organization working with Claude. 

But it's one thing to worry about the function of artificial intelligence and another to worry about the human element. Lawyers have been caught using AI-generated citations, novelists have been caught relying on AI to write entire books, and scientific researchers have been caught using AI in the peer review process. 

For all the problems solved by AI use, and the mundane busywork it so ably processes in seconds rather than hours, it also creates a powerful incentive for humans to cut corners and lie about it, so it will be interesting to see if widespread watermarking helps keep the human element honest.

Categories: IT General, Technology
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