Summary Over ten years after its launch,The Sims 4is still an EA flagship title. Unfortunately, without TheSims 5on the horizon, it seems it will remain that way for the foreseeable future. If you feel let down by EA’s reluctance to create a sequel, you might be looking in the wrong direction.InZOIis the new competitor toThe Sims, and it seems like it’s going to live up to the hype. The SimsHasn’t Evolved Much Since the Last Release Instead of being a groundbreaking sequel,The Sims 4feels both like an upgrade and a downgrade of the previous game....

Mechanical keyboard enthusiasts aren’t afraid to criticize something they enjoy. So, when Drop launched its luxury CTRL, ALT, and SHIFT, keyboards, it opened itself up to plenty of “tough love.” Customers praise these keyboards for their excellent design and extensive customizability, but they’re quick to point out small problems, such as the lack of 5-pin switch support. That’s why Drop is launching improved second-gen models of the CTRL, ALT, and SHIFT keyboards that address customers' most common complaints....

CES 2025, one of the biggest tech events of the year, has officially come to a close. Here are the biggest stories you might have missed this week, from CES and beyond. There was a lot of exciting news coming out of CES, with some of the highlights being NVIDIA’s new RTX 5000-series graphics cards, the OnePlus 13 and 13R Android flagships, Dell’s revamped laptop product lines, and AMD’s new Ryzen CPUs and Radeon GPUs....

Summary You might use the Linux terminal every day to enter commands, but have you ever thought about where it came from? There are three eras of computer terminals, and they influence modern terminals today. Teletype: The Early Days The first computer terminals for interactive use didn’t have screens. They were called teleprinters, or used the brand name Teletype. They were effectively automatic typewriters that could print text received from a remote phone line....

We recently reported on Steam’s new licensing disclosure notice—a message that explains how you don’t really own software purchases made on the Steam storefront. Now, GOG is taking the opportunity to remind gamers of its friendlier, DRM-free business model. In atweet, GOG shared a modified screenshot of its checkout page with a notice stating, “a purchase of a digital product on GOG grants you its Offline Installers, which can not be taken away from you....

Google’s solution for playing Android games on Windows computers, Google Play Games for PC,entered public beta last yearin five countries. Today, the beta is expanding to even more regions and computers, and there are a few new features to enjoy. Google Play Games is a virtual Android environment with support for downloading and playing select games from the Google Play Store. That gives it some overlap with Microsoft’s ownWindows Subsystem for Android, as well as third-party virtualization toolslike Bluestacks....

Google has announced a bunch of new templates for Slides that could give your next presentation that professional polish without too much work. Slides templates bring custom layouts, backgrounds, fonts, and color schemes, including sample or placeholder content that you can replace with your own stuff to build professional-looking presentations much faster. The built-in gallery lets you browse collections to find the right template for your needs. You can insert all slides from the template in your presentation to give it a uniform look or cherry-pick specific ones to use....

Apple has been selling the10th Generation iPadfor a while now, but the 9th Gen model is still sold as a budget alternative. Now, you can get the 9th Gen model for just $250, matching the previous all-time low price. The 2021 iPad, also known as the 9th Generation iPad or 10.2-inch iPad, is Apple’s current entry-level tablet. It has 64 GB of internal storage, a 10.2-inch screen, Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac), an 8 MP rear camera, a 12 MP front-facing camera, and stereo speakers....

Quick Links Summary Like any hobby, getting started with a telescope is intimidating when you have no idea how to begin. Now that I’ve gone through the learning pains, here’s what I have to share. There Are Two Essential Specs to Look For Whenever I got my hands on a telescope in the past and found I couldn’t see anything, my first assumption was that I was doing it wrong. Turns out, there are many telescopes aimed at beginners that aren’t powerful enough to actually see anything other than the moon, and they look blurry while doing so....

Quick Links Summary To post on Reddit, launchthe Reddit websiteor the Reddit mobile app. Then, access the subreddit most relevant to your post, choose the type of post you want to create, compose your message, and select “Post.” You’ve probablyused Reddit to look up answers to your questions, but why not try asking a question yourself or sharing your advice there? It’s easier to do that than you think. We’ll show you how to post on Reddit from any device....

Quick Links DVDs are fine and all, and easy on storage, but Blu-rays can really elevate your Plex server. Just like with DVDs, Blu-rays can be ripped and added to your library for all your friends and family to enjoy. The Hardware You Need Before you’re able to even imagine crisp, high-quality Blu-rays gracing your Plex media server, you need the proper hardware—specifically, a Blu-ray drive that can read, burn, and rip....

Quick Links Although it’s nice to start afresh with a new or newly reset Mac, there are several essential changes that I make every time. It’s good to have mainstays like the dock, trackpad gestures, and hot corners set up as you like (while disabling some of macOS more irritating features). These are the tweaks I make to help improve multitasking, reduce distractions, and streamline my everyday macOS experience. 1Set Up the Dock The Dock is useful for accessing your most often-used apps and folders, but it does take up space, especially on a 13-inch MacBook....

Quick Links Windows Security, built into Windows 11, eliminates the need for a third-party security app. While the default Windows Securitysettings are sufficient for most situations, I’ve made these five changes to the Windows Security settings for optimal security. 1Core Isolation Core isolationhas been part of the Windows ecosystem since Windows 10 and uses virtualization-based security (VBS) to protect your computer from malicious actors. VBS and core isolation ensure that all important processes on your computer run in a virtualized environment, isolated from other processes on your system....