Brian Fagioli

People sometimes forget, but The Sims was a revolutionary game when it was first released. The innovative game essentially allowed you to play God, controlling characters on the screen. It was really unique -- almost like Sim City, but instead of a city, you simulated humans/life. Hardcore gamers often turned their noses up at the game, while many casual gamers enjoyed it immensely. In fact, over 100 million copies of games from the franchise have been sold since the initial release in the year 2000.

The fourth (and most recent) major version of the game, The Sims 4, remains wildly popular today, and it is available for Windows, macOS, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. And now, for a limited time, both the Windows and macOS versions of the game are totally FREE!

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Believe it or not, Bose speakers are a bit controversial. While many consumers (including yours truly) enjoy the sound quality of Bose products, many self-proclaimed "audiophiles" tend to speak badly of the brand. The reality is, if you enjoy Bose speakers, that's all that matters -- ignore the haters.

Today, some existing Bose speakers are arguably getting even better. If you own a Bose Home Speaker 500, Bose Soundbar 500, or Bose Soundbar 700, you will get the always-listening Google Assistant functionality through a free automatic update.

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Kingston has long been a popular brand with enthusiasts, as its flash memory products are often high quality and reliable without breaking the bank. This isn't just its USB flash drives and RAM, but its solid state drives too.

Today, it launches its newest such SSD. Called "KC2000," it is an NVMe PCIe variant, meaning it will be blazing fast. Pricing is pretty reasonable too, as it starts at just $62.40.

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Windows 7 support will end in January of next year, and that is a huge problem for both business and home users that are still running the aging operating system. Can't these people just upgrade to Windows 10? Well, yeah, but many just don't want to. Windows 10 has extreme telemetry that many people consider to be spying. As a result, they simply don't trust Microsoft's latest operating system. Not to mention, for businesses and organizations with many computers, the upgrade to Windows 10 could prove to be a costly affair.

And now, as a result of the upcoming death of Windows 7 support, the South Korean government has reportedly decided to ditch Microsoft Windows entirely. According to The Korea Herald, the Asian country's government will switch from Windows 7 to a Linux-based operating system.

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Ubuntu is a great operating system; that's why so many other Linux distributions are based on it. Hell, even Microsoft seems to be enamored with Ubuntu these days. What makes Ubuntu so good? The Linux distro is rock solid, has tons of compatible packages, and its online community can be very helpful (unlike snooty Arch users).

Today, a lesser-known (but very good) Ubuntu-based operating system reaches a new milestone. Called "Peppermint," version 10 is now available. Peppermint 10 should be particularly good for those with modest hardware, thanks to its use of the fairly lightweight Xfce desktop environment and available 32-bit variant. With that said, those with more powerful computers should have a positive experience with Peppermint 10 too.

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For the most part, Android tablets have proven to be a massive failure. What looked like a promising market has devolved into a collection of low-quality tablets from no-name manufacturers. Sure, companies like Huawei and Samsung are still producing solid Android tablets, but consumers largely don't care. If it isn't an iPad, the tablet won't get much attention.

There is one big exception to this, however -- Amazon Fire. Yes, the book-seller's affordable media consumption tablets -- which do run a variation of Android -- are extremely popular with consumers. Despite not having access to Google's Play Store, Fire tablets are very affordable while providing a quality media experience. Not to mention, you get access to the Alexa voice assistant. Today, Amazon refreshes the 7-inch Fire 7 tablet with improved specifications, such as providing double the storage capacity and a beefier processor. Believe it or not, despite better hardware, it still retains its sub-$50 starting price tag.

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Satechi is a company that makes really great products that are also affordable. While many of its offerings are Apple-focused, they usually work fine with all things. For instance, it manufactures USB-C dongles that use colors to match MacBook laptops, but color aside, they are totally Windows compatible too.

Today, Satechi launches a new elegantly designed Bluetooth 4.0 mouse that is clearly aimed at macOS users, but it will of course work with both Windows and Linux too. Called "M1," it features a premium aluminum body and scroll wheel. Sadly, there are no side thumb buttons -- likely a deal-breaker for some.

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For most consumers, Gigabit Ethernet (1 Gbit/s) is more than enough. After all, they likely only use a hardwired network connection when accessing the internet, which typically won't even fully saturate the connection. Hell, many don't even do that -- some households strictly have Wi-Fi devices, with the only use of a cable being the connection from their router to the modem.

Some enthusiasts and business users don't only use Ethernet for getting on the internet -- they may have high-speed internal networks where they are moving files between various hardwired computers and network-attached storage devices. And sometimes Gigabit speeds wont cut it. These folks may opt for 2.5GBASE-T (2.5Gbit/s), 5GBASE-T (5Gbit/s), or even 10GBASE-T (10Gbit/s) networks.

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Everyone knows Google tracks its users. When you use a "free" service, such as the many the search giant offers, you essentially end up being the product. In other words, your personal data is the true cost. Unfortunately, Google is not the only company spying on its users. Microsoft is also guilty of this, especially with its overreaching telemetry in Windows 10.

That isn't Microsoft's only product that is anti-privacy, however. The company is now trying to spy with Office, and as you can imagine, its Bing search engine is tracking user activity too. Today, the Windows-maker openly brags about spying on your recent search activity by announcing a new "feature" for Bing Maps Autosuggest.

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Lenovo is very well known for manufacturing high quality business laptops. Its ThinkPad line, for instance, which it inherited from IBM, is considered by many to be the best. Of course, there are others who prefer Dell, HP, or another maker.

Today, Lenovo launches a new line of Windows 10 laptops aimed at small businesses in particular. Called "ThinkBook," there are two models from which to choose -- the 13s and the 14s -- both of which have a screen size that match the model name. There is just one resolution for both -- 1080p. Each model will have an m.2 solid state drive by default --  either SATA or PCIe. You can get up to 512GB  of storage.

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If you have a large home, it can be difficult to blanket it entirely with Wi-Fi. Sadly, many folks experience dead spots, meaning some locations in the house either have no Wi-Fi or an exremely low signal. Speaking frankly, this situation sucks. Sure, you can potentially remedy it with a range extender, and that can be a great solution, but it isn't as elegant as mesh.

Unfortunately, a mesh Wi-Fi system with multiple access points can be a pricey affair. While they have been coming down in price, these mesh systems are still largely too much money for many consumers. Today, TP-Link brings mesh Wi-Fi to the masses with an insanely low price. Called "Deco W2400," this Dual Band AC1200 system costs less than $100!

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Ahh, Arch Linux; the distribution with the most pretentious user base. If you aren't familiar with Arch, please know it is a very good operating system that is unnecessarily difficult to set up. As a result, the ones who are successful, and end up using the distro, are often quite full of themselves. Many Arch users seem to look down on those using a different distro, such as Ubuntu or Linux Mint. This is what has lead to the infamous "BTW I use Arch" meme. No, not all Arch users are insufferable, but many are. True story.

And now, thanks to Microsoft's Windows Subsystem for Linux, you can (sort of) become a pretentious Arch user too -- all without leaving the comfort of Windows 10. That’s right, folks, you can now install Arch from the Microsoft Store. These are strange times we are living in, eh?

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Apple's iPad Pro is the best tablet on the market, and believe it or not, it can be a fairly useful "laptop" when paired with the Smart Keyboard Folio. Microsoft is simply wrong in its claims about Apple's tablet. You can even expand iPad Pro functionality with USB-C dongles. Without mouse or trackpad support, however, iOS will never be a proper desktop operating system, but I am hopeful that will be added eventually.

If you are someone who owns both the Apple iPad Pro and Smart Keyboard Folio, Urban Armor Gear has a really cool new rugged case you should check out. Called "Scout Series," it protects the tablet without the need to remove the keyboard. In fact, this case requires the keyboard be attached. It even has a useful Apple Pencil holder that allows charging.

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Apple's iPad devices are the best tablets on the market -- better than Microsoft's Surface line or any Android tablet. In other words, since the first iPad was released in 2010, no manufacturer has figured out how to best it. Nowadays, Apple has the iPad Pro as well, and the newest versions even have USB Type-C. So yes, you can even add USB-C docks, dongles, and hubs to the latest iPad Pro tablet, enabling it to have increased functionality, such as HDMI or an SD card reader.

Unfortunately, adding such a dongle or multi-purpose hub is not an elegant affair. You will essentially have an unsightly wire hanging off your iPad. A new product called "BoltHub" is aiming to change this. It plugs into the USB-C port on the iPad Pro, and adds 3.5mm audio, 4K HDMI, microSD, SD, and USB-A to the tablet. And yes, it has pass-through USB-C charging.

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One of the best investments you can make for your home is an internet connected camera. Even if you don’t feel comfortable having them indoors, outdoor variants can be essential for protecting your house. Whether you are home or away, it is nice to know you can always pull out your phone and monitor the perimeter of your property.

Today, Amazon announces the second generation Blink XT camera, which is designed for both indoor and outdoor use. Called “Blink XT2,” it is very affordable, starting at less than $100. Believe it or not, the budget friendly camera features 1080p video, motion detection, and night vision. Best of all, cloud storage is gratis (no monthly fee), making it an extremely inexpensive way to get started with a smart security camera.

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