Self-Checkouts: Good or Bad? (Plus: Wi-Fi Security Camera Tips)

October 13, 2022

Did You Know?

French dip sandwiches did not, as the name might imply, originate in France, but were instead first created in Los Angeles and called French dip sandwiches because of the style of bread used.

Happy Thursday! This jam-packed week isn’t over yet, and Microsoft has plenty to talk about. In case you missed it, we got our first look at the Surface Pro 9, Surface Laptop 5, Audio Dock Speaker, and Surface Studio 2+ yesterday.

The company also has a lot of big software news — the Office app is being renamed, new features are coming to the OneDrive web and desktop apps, and the new Microsoft Designer tool includes AI image generation from DALL-E 2.

– Corbin

Wireless security cameras can save you the hassle of running dedicated wiring, but they require a strong Wi-Fi signal. Here’s how to get a better signal for your cameras. Read More »

Your monitor probably came with a stand, but there’s a good chance it’s not quite as good as it should be to give you the best computing experience. If you’ve never considered it, there are several great reasons to upgrade. Read More »

USB-C hubs are great if you don’t have a lot of ports to plug things in—like a laptop. They often come with ports for more than just USB devices, so it’s easier to use SD cards, plug in HDMI cables, and whatever else you may need.

But perhaps most importantly, a good USB-C hub doesn’t need to close much. Anker’s hub is only $35, has all of the essential ports your laptop may be missing, and even allows for passthrough charging while plugged in. For that price, it’s worth picking up and throwing in your bag for whenever you may need it!

Your phone number can be as sensitive as your email, or even more so. Putting it on the internet, or sharing it with a third party in general, puts you at risk of robocalls, text messages, or even unwanted charges. Because of that, Mozilla just extended its Firefox Relay masking to phone numbers. Read More »

No Ethernet runs in your house? No problem. If you have coaxial cable, the stuff used for television connections, you can convert them to Ethernet for high-speed connectivity across your home. Read More »

There’s a shortlist of features all great wireless earbuds have in common: punchy bass, sustained battery life, and effective noise cancelation technology. This week, you can pick up a pair of our top-rated JBL Live Pro 2 earbuds with all these features, plus more, for less than $100. Read More »

OneDrive is one of the best cloud storage services around, with apps on all major platforms (except Linux) and Office app integration. During the company’s Ignite event, Microsoft revealed new features coming to OneDrive. Read More »

You might not know Steam even has a mobile app, but as it turns out, it does. Obviously, you can’t download games to your phone from there, but you can keep tabs on your Steam profile and friends. Now, though, it’s getting a little bit better with the addition of several new features. Read More »

Overclocking is a hallowed tradition among PC enthusiasts to get the best from their silicon. However, with advances in manufacturing and automated performance management, is there any point in overclocking your computer? If overclocking isn’t dead, who is it for? Read More »

You can’t kill Michael Myers, and you can’t kill the Halloween franchise, either. The horror series has been repeatedly rebooted and reimagined since the 1978 original, and it just keeps going. Here’s how to stream all of the Halloween movies. Read More »

Humans haven’t walked on the Moon since the end of the Apollo program 50 years ago. NASA wants to change that sometime this decade with the SLS rocket, which the agency will try launching again in just a few weeks. Read More »

You can’t take quality photos without a high-quality lens. Luckily, if you shoot Nikon, there are plenty of DSLR lenses available. Whether you need wide-angle glass or another type of lens, you’ll find some of the best Nikon options below. Read More »

Fall is in full swing. With Halloween quickly approaching, you might want to get into the holiday spirit by carving a pumpkin. This festive task can be a lot of fun but also messy (and a little gross) with all the pumpkin seeds you need to clean out. Read More »

Love Coca‑Cola, but prefer to opt for a zero-calorie, sugar-free option? Then you’ve probably reached for Coke Zero or Diet Coke. Both are great alternatives to the original Coca-Cola, but what is the difference between the two? Read More »

Using a cable to charge is still the go-to for most people, but wireless charging stands like the Mophie snap+ make a compelling case for the move to a more modern solution. With the ability to charge a phone, earbuds, and a smartwatch at the same time, the value proposition is clear. Read More »

Post-it Notes are the stuff of passive-aggressive dreams, sprawled out on work whiteboards as part of some overly elaborate plan, or a reminder to do something you don’t want to do, which is why you wrote it on a Post-it Note. Microsoft has now incorporated the curly, sticky squares into its Teams app. Read More »

AI tools like DALL-E 2 make it easy for anyone to create art with a click. While this movement may conjure up old fears of robots taking over the world, some things, like human creativity, are immune to the machine. Read More »

We live at a time where you can walk into a store, grab some items, and pay without ever interacting with another human. Despite how awesome that sounds, self-checkout has its haters. Let me tell you why it’s great. Read More »

It’s always a bit humiliating when you’re the guy at the self-checkout whose screen freezes up and starts flashing, prompting the attendant to come over and free you like you’re the kid whose bumper car broke. Read More »

RGB lighting gets an upgrade as part of the Philips Hue line with the easy-to-install Philips Hue Play Gradient LightStrip. Paired with the Hue Bridge, you have complete control over gradient lighting to set a scene that matches your aesthetic if you don’t mind the price tag and yet another wire. Read More »

Desktop clutter can quickly get out of control once you start adding peripherals, such as a dock, a camera, or a speaker. But if you’re all about that clean look, the new Microsoft Audio Dock Speaker might be just for you. Read More »

The term “Microsoft Office” generally refers to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other apps in the Office suite, but there’s also a unified “Office” app used for organization and managing other apps. Microsoft just announced that the Office app and website will have a new name and logo. Read More »

AI image generators like DALL-E 2 and Midjourney have suddenly burst into mainstream consciousness. More of these tools seem to be popping up all the time, but they aren’t always available to the public. Here are the ones you can use right now—today. Read More »

Microsoft has been cramming its Edge web browser with new features at a rapid rate, to the point where the browser often feels too bloated and complex. However, one feature on the way sounds incredibly useful: Edge Workspaces. Read More »

A mixture of tough hardware requirements, some unpopular changes to the user interface, and a general feeling of “Why bother?” have resulted in poor adoption rates for Windows 11. However, Windows 11’s 2022 update goes a long way to alleviating a lot of those gripes. Read More »

Apple has many services under its umbrella, but most of them don’t work well (or at all) with non-Apple devices. That has gradually started to change over the past few years, and now more of them are coming to Windows PCs. Read More »

There’s a long-standing belief that magnets are dangerous to have around electronics, but can they really damage your phone or computer? Read More »

Welcome to day two of Amazon’s Prime Day sales event! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our massive Prime Day roundup for all the latest discounts and deals. Otherwise, we’ve handpicked some of the best items and tossed them below for your buying pleasure. Read More »