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Quick Links I’ve started to back up some of my most important files on an old Android phone, and it’s a more robust solution than you might initially think. Coupled with a Tailscale connection, I now have a portable, secure file vault that I can use anywhere, and setting it up was very simple. Why an Old Android Phone Makes for the Perfect Offline Storage Device There are a few main reasons why I decided to use an old Android phone as a mostly offline storage device....

Summary If you’ve ever reached for a USB-C power adapter and thought it wasn’t a fun enough product, then you’ll love theUgreen Uno Charger 100W. With several different digital faces and a stand in the shape of shoes, this power brick has a ton of style. The problem is that it focuses on fun over some functionality. Ugreen Uno Charger 100W Ugreen Uno Charger 100W stands out with its impressive 100W rapid charging capability....

Four years ago, the U.S. government started providing $30 monthly home internet discounts for low-income families under the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. These subsidies were later folded into the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which currently services about 23 million households. Unfortunately, the ACP is running out of money and slowly winding down. Home internet discountswill fall to $14for the month of May—a significant reduction that could leave millions of households with a prohibitively expensive internet bill....

Quick Links Summary Thermal pads and paste are integral parts of our computers' cooling mechanisms. We’ve seen various iterations of those materials over the decades. A recent development in the field has emerged, and what’s exciting is that it leverages a physical process called “phase change.” What Are Phase-Change Thermal Pads? APhase-Change Material(PCM) is a substance that can store and release heat as it transitions from one physical state to another....

Quick Links Summary Kinetic Kudu sees the desktop environment being upgraded to GNOME 43 and Pipewire taking PulseAudio’s place as the default audio manager. The kernel is moving to version 5.19, and preloaded apps in Ubuntu 22.10 like Firefox and LibreOffice are also being updated. Canonicaldebutedthe official build of Kinetic Kudu, the latest release of its Ubuntu Linux distribution, on August 14, 2025. We check it out to see what’s new and whether it’s worth upgrading....

Quick Links You may have noticed some webpages you own take 10+ seconds to load—you’re not alone. Slow webpages cause higher bounce rates, and that’s bad. Modern tooling and conventional techniques are the culprit. Fortunately, with a little knowledge and smart strategy, you can easily overcome this common problem. Your general aim should be to keep your webpages light, avoid making many network requests during the initial page load, and focus on getting something on the page as fast as possible....

Quick Links The Element Inspector in your browser seems like a tool only meant for developers, but you can do some cool things with it even if you don’t know any programming. You might need to grab an image from a website. You attempt to right-click on it and press “Save Image,” only to find that right-click is disabled or the “Save Image” button isn’t available. Other times you may find that you can only download a small thumbnail preview of the image, and not the full-sized file....

Summary Fortnite, being played by many kids and having a ton of microtransactions, has a huge problem with unwanted or accidental purchases. After Epic seemingly took advantage of it, the FTC is now refunding these unwanted purchases to players and parents—and you can still submit a claim. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is distributing over $126 million in refunds to players who were charged for unwanted in-game purchases. This latest disbursement brings the total amount of refunds issued to nearly $200 million, stemming from a 2023 settlement with Fortnite developer Epic Games....

Summary Most people know that high-end CPUs offer more cores and cost more than budget CPUs. But there’s more to it when it comes to the differences between high-end and budget CPUs. Below, you may learn about those differences and determine which CPU is the best choice for your particular needs. High-End CPUs vs. Budget CPUs: The Core Differences Explained Firstly, high-endCPUsusually pack morecoresand are pricier than budget and mid-range options....

Summary The Nintendo Switch 2 is almost here, and one of the biggest questions on everyone’s lips is: how does the console stack up against current-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft? While the exact specifications of the Switch 2 hardware are still something of a mystery, we can infer a lot from the official specifications, gameplay footage that Nintendo has shown, and chip-maker NVIDIA’s own statements. The Switch 2 Can’t Match the Power of a Home Console The Switch 2 is a hybrid console that’s only slightly larger than its forebear, designed with both portable and docked play in mind....

Quick Links Summary Do you want to stop people from installing new apps on your Windows PC? You’re not alone. Luckily, there are several ways you can do this on Windows 11, Windows 10, or older versions. Let’s see how. Why Block Installing Apps on Windows? Every user could have their own conditions and use cases. However, the general reasons to block installing new apps or programs may include: How to Block Users From Installing New Apps on Windows We’ve outlined several methods for stopping app installations on Windows, and you can pick the most appropriate method for your use case....

Quick Links The Dynamic Island displays Live Activities from currently-active apps, allowing you to see live information from them virtually anywhere on your device. Yet, while it has been advertised that you can store more than one Live Activity in the Dynamic Island at a time, it'’s not obvious how to change or hide them. Here’s how to do it easily the next time you use the Dynamic Island. Which iPhones Use the Dynamic Island?...

Quick Links Summary You can fix any connection error with Urban VPN by switching servers to one that hopefully doesn’t have load problems. The best solution, though, is to use a different, better VPN service. Urban VPNis a free VPN that offers a lot of locations you can connect to, as well as a wide range of apps for the most common phones and computers. However, there are some issues with Urban VPN, most notably some all-too-common connection errors....