G33k Feed

I've been an avid gamer my whole life, but after getting married, I learned that Feng Shui is more important than displaying your favorite console in the living room. Now that my wife and I have our own home, it was time to get creative. She wan…

There are warning signs that your home network may have been compromised, such as unusual traffic patterns and slowdowns in system performance, but now there's a simple tool to help determine if your router or connected devices are being used to…

If there is one piece of smart technology I'd love to have in my home, it would be a smart washer or dryer. Unfortunately, I don't have the money to make that happen right now, as it is an incredibly expensive piece of equipment to update. M…

By now, you've probably written your fair share of prompts for AI chatbots like Gemini or ChatGPT. With powerful large language models (LLMs) powering these chatbots behind the scenes, it doesn't take much instruction for Gemini or ChatGPT t…

Do Not Disturb used to be a simple toggle to suppress all notifications on your iPhone. But since iOS 15, it’s grown into a suite of profiles called Focus, which is so much more useful. from MakeUseOf https://ift.tt/zWwfB1M via IFTTT

My TV used to be the saddest thing in my room. It dominated an entire wall yet spent most of its life powered off. This always made me feel I was wasting its potential. But the good thing with smart TVs is that you’re not limited to streaming movies…

If you have a dishwasher, you're familiar with its many benefits. This is especially true if you've ever lived for an extended period of time without one. When I lived in a small apartment, not having a dishwasher meant trying to wash and dr…

Wireless headphones are convenient for use across multiple devices, including your phone, tablet, or computer. However, you might find that your headphones' sound quality varies depending on the connected device. Relying on a wireless connection…

Windows 11 comes with some good preinstalled apps . Whereas some of the other built-in apps from Microsoft are, let's say, less impressive. So, over the years, I have replaced built-in apps like Snipping Tool, Windows Search, the clipboard manag…

Right now, Apple TV+ is getting a lot of attention for airing Pluribus , which is quickly becoming everyone's new nerdy obsession. But Pluribus is far from the only sci-fi show that's thriving over there. Between Severance , Silo , For All …

While I've been a firm believer in the Google Home ecosystem for quite a while, I would be lying if I wasn't at least a little jealous of the folks who have had Alexa + roll out onto their devices recently . Taking Alexa from one of the wors…

Love it or hate it, artificial intelligence is everywhere. Every day, there seems to be a new AI tool that promises to supercharge your creativity, productivity, writing, and make your life much easier. That said, as the AI market expands, so does …

I’m always on the lookout for ways to reclaim space without compromising my apps or personal files. And in my quest to do that, I’ve uncovered several system folders wasting storage . One of the most surprising culprits I stumbled upon recently was …

Warrior is the best TV show you haven't heard of. It's a period drama set against the backdrop of the Tong Wars in the late nineteenth century, when Chinese gangs fought each other in a variety of American cities, especially San Francisco. …

Living in Northern Indiana means dealing with temperature extremes—below-zero winters and 100°F+ summers. For homes with attached garages, those big overhead doors become the weakest link in your home's thermal envelope, leaking heat in the wint…

For a long time, I thought my phone’s declining battery was because of the aging hardware. Bigger and brighter displays, powerful processors, and advanced connectivity all come at a cost. I used to charge my smartphone twice and made sure to carry a…

Smart homes don't have to be the same. Some people might think that having a smart home means having the same kind of smart home as someone else. But that isn't the case; you can customize your home to make it the way you want. from MakeU…

I can be pretty tough on AI, especially when it's used to make misinformation slop . But as cynical as I may seem, I do acknowledge that there are plenty of useful and beneficial features that AI powers. Take live translation, for instance: Not …

Avengers: Endgame is still one of the highest-grossing movies of all time. But since then, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has lost a bit of its luster, with box office returns shrinking year after year. Marvel will try to turn this around with next …

Samsung’s always-on display is one of those features you appreciate for its convenience but rarely think about. It shows the time, lock screen widgets, and a few notification icons. If you like personalizing your Samsung phone though, you’ll find th…

Searching for “free movie sites” almost always leads to the same place: pop-ups, malware warnings, suspicious redirects, and endless scam pages pretending to host the latest blockbuster. It’s one of the most dangerous search phrases you can type int…

At first glance, a Thunderbolt port looks just the same as any old USB-C port. Same shape, same cable, same satisfying click when you plug something in. But that small lightning bolt symbol next to the port signals something very different happening…

It often looks like modern AI can accomplish any task, no matter what you throw at it. Want a unique marketing image? Covered. Need an AI agentic browser to compile a report? Sorted. Want to use AI to create a chart-topping song? You're good to …

You know that sinking feeling when your favorite song vanishes from Spotify without warning? Or when your internet cuts out right in the middle of your commute? For the longest time, I considered these acceptable trade-offs for the convenience that …

My house is drafty when the cold wind of winter begins blowing here in Philadelphia, starting in November. These drafts cause us to turn up the heat, use more hot water, and overall endure higher energy costs as we use more natural gas to power our …

We baby our smartphones and laptops with glass protectors and rugged cases, yet the accessories that keep them alive, such as charging cables, expensive earbuds, power banks, dongles, and essential smartphone accessories , are often treated as dispo…

After negotiating the price of your home, if you're buying a house that was previously owned, you immediately think about the ways you can change it. It probably has never happened before that someone didn't make changes to the house they pu…

Once again, there is a new feature available on Google's NotebookLM , the AI tool that functions like a personal assistant and only references material you provide for it. This one is a slide deck generator, which can be useful if you need to m…

There are two things that put people off switching to a proper password manager: time and money. from MakeUseOf https://ift.tt/Jst4iGf via IFTTT

I'm a sucker for a long-running show, because I am a binge-watcher at heart. So what's better for that than something with five or six seasons and a bunch of episodes? From binge-worthy thrillers to twisty, philosophical sci-fi shows , ther…

My Whirlpool fridge came with an ice maker built into the door. It works fine. I press the lever, ice comes out, end of story. I've barely given it a second thought in the years we've owned it. That's why adding a GoveeLife Smart Ice Mak…

Most GPUs lose around half their value within two or three years, especially when newer generations arrive offering better performance or lower power consumption. It's a difficult cycle to beat, especially given the enormous focus on GPU perform…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Apple released the latest 14-inch MacBook Pro with the powerful M5 chip this October , and ever since then, it has been st…

Gemini 3 and Nano Banana Pro hit the Gemini app for everyday users in November 2025, along with a slew of AI-powered features from Google. These upgrades are a big deal—Gemini 3 Pro is the best-performing AI model on the planet in multiple categorie…

The horror genre has expanded in so many ways over the past few decades, and I would argue that it's doing a lot of heavy lifting in keeping the theatrical experience alive. Everyone always wants to flock to the cinema to get scared silly, and I…

There's nothing more frustrating than smart home stuff that doesn't work. You open the app, tap the button, wait... tap it again, still nothing. Or Alexa says "okay," but the lights stay on anyway. I dealt with this constantly for …

The World Wide Web is a massive universe that will take multiple lifetimes to completely explore. In fact, by habit, most people confine themselves to just a few selected parts of the web, usually Google, Facebook, YouTube, ChatGPT, and Instagram. T…

Most of us stare at screens all day and assume the text we read is as sharp as it can get. But the truth is, every PC has a different display . And beyond the hardware, our eyes are unique, so what looks crisp to one person might appear slightly fuz…

YouTube has evolved into the internet’s most expansive library of tutorials, explainers, documentaries, and niche deep dives. Yet paradoxically, actually watching long-form content on the platform can be frustrating. You are 20 minutes into a 40-min…

Running an efficient smart home can be difficult to achieve. While we like to think that smart homes are going to make our lives easier, sometimes the opposite can occur. Whether you realize that a smart home gadget is not actually worth it for you …

Google Chrome comes preinstalled on Android devices , and many of us make peace with it as the default browser. But over time, Chrome on Android has become bloated, stagnant, and increasingly hostile to power users. It lacks the versatile toolsets f…

I’d been using Chrome as my go-to browser since I got my hands on my first Android smartphone. That’s the case for most people, as it comes pre-installed. But while Chrome was my primary browser for years, there are alternatives that you can use. In…

Sci-fi movies can really explore a plethora of topics, from advancing technology to dystopian futures. Personally, one of my favorite, more underrated aspects of the genre is when the concept of cloning is injected into a narrative, which is why Mic…

Lossless audio is a staple of music streaming in 2025, with almost every major streaming platform supporting at least CD-quality tracks. The one exception is YouTube Music, and the others — including Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, and Amazon Music — a…

Lately, I have been trying many browsers to replace Chrome. Because Google Chrome lacks many features that other browsers, like Opera , provide out of the box, the Chrome experience has become increasingly cluttered. Still, I stayed because of the e…

I used to treat my desktop like a junk drawer. Whenever I downloaded something or needed quick access to a file, I’d toss it onto the desktop and tell myself I’d sort it later. Of course, that day never came. It got to a point where my beautiful Win…

I've had a 75" LG Smart TV for roughly 10 years now, and its picture quality has yet to fail me. Instead, it's been the smart TV apps that have given more jeers than cheers. A few additions to the living room have made nightly TV watchi…

While modern smart TVs are far more advanced than their recent ancestors, when used right out of the box, we are only tapping the surface of their potential. Most require add-ons or accessories to perform at their best, such as digital streaming dev…

I've spent years testing VPNs. I've stress-tested speeds, compared WireGuard implementations, checked server quality, streamed my way through half of Netflix, and run enough leak tests to last a lifetime. But none of that matters anymore. Af…

There’s nothing wrong with paying for great PC software. Some apps absolutely earn their price for the convenience they offer. But over the past few years, many tools that were once essential are no longer must-haves. This includes screen capturing …

I watch 100% of my YouTube videos on TV, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. YouTube is rapidly replacing traditional TV , and it's easy to see why—the app comes pre-installed on most Smart TVs, and with all kinds of high-quality videos b…

I bought an Amazon Smart Thermostat expecting lower energy bills. The first month showed modest improvement—maybe a few dollars saved. It was nothing dramatic. I figured real savings would come once the device learned my patterns, so I left the defa…

When I think about VPNs, I think about how fast I can access content. The first port of call when you fire up a new VPN is almost always a speed test. Just how fast is the VPN provider , and what's the damage to your actual internet speeds? f…

The premiere batch of episodes for the final season of Stranger Things has been met with a lot of praise and hype in equal measure, with more hits than misses overall to be excited about. We don't yet know if the long-running and highly popula…

It’s too easy to let clutter pile up all across our homes. You might have good intentions of not wanting items to go to waste or having to spend money to replace them later, but clutter causes its own set of problems long before those theoretical on…

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Garmin watches have never required a subscription to access any of their core features, and that hasn't changed. But as of 2025, Garmin now offers a $6.99/month subscription called Connect+ tha…

If you ask most people how they stay private online, they’ll give you a familiar list: incognito mode, rejecting cookies, maybe switching to a “privacy browser.” It sounds sensible. It feels responsible. Unfortunately, most of it doesn’t actually pr…

We’ve all seen those USB flash drives, headphones, and other techy goods at a dollar store, gas station, or similar cheap retailer. And while it can be tempting to give them a try—even if out of curiosity—there are certain items you shouldn’t bother…

I'm a big fan of the Watchmen comic and really anything Alan Moore created during his prime as a storyteller. The way that it deconstructs the superhero genre is something that was unheard of at the time it was released. Sure, it's been don…

One of the first things that anybody notices when they visit my house is the number of trees we have in our backyard. There are huge trees that tower over our house, two of which are in the middle of the backyard, while several others are scattered …

I've been using Google Chrome for years, and I've experimented with and switched my browser's default search engine . But when I came across Ecosia—a browser that claims to plant trees with your searches—I was curious enough to give it a…

An Android phone comes with several useful features most people never bother exploring, and the accessibility menu is a perfect example of this. It might sound like a menu meant only for those with specific needs, but inside sits a set of tools that…

HBO Max has really cornered the market in a lot of ways. Sure, one could make the argument that prestige television has found a new home on Apple TV+ , the premium streamer is still pumping out quality shows and movies. And the future does look brig…

It isn't just a phrase from Game of Thrones . Winter is indeed coming, and there's not much any of us can do about it. As homeowners, we have to prepare our homes to keep our families safe and warm during the colder months. Even if you don&#…

Keeping Chrome feeling fast and fluent doesn't come easy. Once you've installed a few extensions and toyed around with a few settings, you'll probably notice Google Chrome slowing down, and that's even before we mention the insane am…

What makes Samsung phones special for me is that they always have a little extra on top of Android. You get access to Samsung apps that are better than Google’s offering , useful features like pop-up view, and of course, Good Lock modules. Most of t…

Love watching dark dramas with police investigations? Feel like you're into true crime podcasts and documentaries but want to take a step back and watch a serialized show? There are plenty of shows out there for you to watch. But you may miss on…

I've been cleaning my Windows desktop lately by hiding all my app icons and pinning only my most used apps on the taskbar. The result was clean and distraction-free, exactly what I wanted. But there was a catch. While this minimalist approach lo…

Google Chrome is one of the most popular web browsers, and it commands a significant chunk of the market, thanks in part to being preinstalled on Android smartphones. But even on desktop platforms, Chrome still dominates. And it’s a great browser ex…

My search for the ultimate navigation app has taken me far and wide, and I have discovered some compelling solutions, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Despite the wealth of options available, I usually end up resorting to Google Maps as t…