Brian Fagioli

NVMe solid state drives are one of the best PC innovations ever. This storage is insanely fast, making SATA SSDs look slow in comparison. Seriously, folks, a quality NVMe drive will make your computer scream.

Today, Samsung announces a new Thunderbolt 3 SSD that uses NVMe storage. In other words, it is an external drive that matches the ultra fast speeds found in internal variants. Called "Portable SSD X5," it will be sold in three capacities -- 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB. Not only is it fast, but quite beautiful too. As you can expect, the X5 is very pricey.

Continue reading →

In 2018, the smart home market is absolutely exploding. There are more and more smart products being released every day. Using myself as an example, I have a smart thermostat, smart sprinkler controller, Wi-Fi security cameras, and more. My favorite smart home product category, however, is lighting. Being able to turn lights on and off using an app or my voice feels both futuristic and magical. I particularly like the ability to turn on the lights remotely when away from home -- my dog doesn't have to sit in the dark when I am out late.

TP-Link is a company that manufactures exceptional networking hardware and devices at affordable prices. Its routers are legendary with cost-conscious consumers. Today, the popular brand unveils a trio of new smart light bulbs. Using its "Kasa Smart" branding, there is the KL110, KL120, and KL130 -- all of which are compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Continue reading →

Both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 are great consoles, but let’s be honest — Sony is dominating Microsoft. Many true gamers simply prefer the PS4 thanks to its superior game library. Sony’s success isn’t Microsoft’s failure, however — there is enough room for both.

With all of that said, Microsoft is probably very embarrassed to be perceived as the big loser for this generation of video game consoles. Desperate to catch up with Sony, today, the Windows-maker unveils it’s latest scheme — Xbox All Access.

Continue reading →

Canonical once had an ambitious vision of making Ubuntu a dynamic operating system that would scale to desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones. Unfortunately, this goal was ultimately a failure -- the Ubuntu Touch plan was abandoned. Later, the much-maligned Unity environment was killed off. Why did it all fail? Quite simply, as Microsoft learned with Windows Phone, it is pretty much impossible to compete with Google and Apple in mobile. Android and iOS are just too mature and too good. Ubuntu Touch had no real chance due to a lack of apps and device support.

For those that still own devices compatible with Ubuntu Touch, all is not lost. You see, the UBports Foundation has picked up development. Today, the foundation releases version OTA-4, which is based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. It is chock-full of improvements, but unfortunately, despite the "OTA" name, you apparently cannot upgrade over the air.

Continue reading →

While your computer's onboard sound might be "good enough," if you are serious about audio quality, it would be wise to invest in a sound card. USB variants in particular are a great way to easily update your desktop or laptop's sound. This won't just benefit listening to movies and music, but in some cases, gaming too.

Creative has long manufactured superior PC sound hardware -- its "Sound Blaster" products are legendary. Today, the company announces its latest such offering. Called "Sound BlasterX G6," the USB DAC offers an insane 130dB dynamic range. Best of all, it is compatible with PC (Windows and macOS), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It will probably work with Linux-based operating systems -- such as Ubuntu and Fedora -- too.

Continue reading →

I love my Apple TV -- it is great. Well, mostly great, I should say. You see, the remote that it comes with is rather terrible. It is not at all ergonomic -- it fits terribly in any human hand. Not to mention, its reliance on a trackpad is an exercise in frustration. In theory, the idea of sliding your finger to navigate makes a lot of sense. In practice, however, it isn't reliable -- I often over-scroll or under-scroll, and as a result, I select the wrong things. I wish Apple would release a more traditional remote for its box. Ultimately, using a Harmony remote with Apple TV saved my sanity.

Also bad? Navigating media with a video game console controller. Yeah, it is passable, but if you have a PS4 or Xbox One, and you stream a lot of music, TV, and movies, a true remote is a wise investment. Today, Sony announces a new officially licensed remote from a company called PDP. The "Cloud Remote for PS4," as it is called, looks like a joy to hold and use. Believe it or not, you can even program it to your TV using the cloud! Best of all, you can sort of get the Bluetooth remote for free!

Continue reading →

People continue to be obsessed with technology and devices, and that is fine. But you know what? It is important to remember "Mother Nature" too. We only have one Earth, and the ability to relocate humanity to other planets or moons is very far off. In other words, it is important that we protect the environment, such as maintaining the extremely important National Parks.

Today, Apple announces that it is celebrating America's National Parks through two new initiatives. The iPhone-maker is leveraging both Apple Pay and Apple Watch to get its users involved with our beautiful National Parks. In addition, the Apple App Store will feature National park-related apps,

Continue reading →

One of the best things about there being so many Linux distributions, is it can be fun to try them all. Believe it or not, "distro-hopping" is a legit hobby, where the user enjoys installing and testing various Linux-based operating systems and desktop environments. While Fedora is my reliable go-to distro, I am quite happy to try alternatives too. Hell, truth be told, I have more fun trying distributions than playing video games these days, but I digress.

A unique distribution I recommend trying is the Ubuntu-based Bodhi Linux. The operating system is lightweight, meaning it should run decently on fairly meager hardware. It uses a desktop environment called "Moksha" which is very straightforward. The Enlightenment 17 fork is a no-nonsense DE that both beginners and power users will appreciate. Today, version 5.0.0 finally becomes available. This follows a July release candidate.

Continue reading →

The world is a terrible place right now. In Pennsylvania, it was revealed that thousands of children were allegedly abused by Catholic priests over several decades. The President of the United States -- who some say is mentally unstable -- has been separating immigrant children from their parents. Mr. Trump -- who should be a role model -- is also calling human beings dogs on Twitter. In Florida, red tide is killing precious marine life, such as manatees and dolphins. Shockingly, all of that negative news is just from the USA! There are many other horrific things happening in other countries.

With all of this going on, it can be hard to get out of bed in the morning. Thankfully, Google is here to save our sanity and hopefully lessen our negative news-driven depression.. The search giant has added a new experimental feature to Google Assistant called "Tell me something good." As you can imagine, the feature is quite literal -- the user asks the voice assistant for some positive news stories. If you say "Hey Google, tell me something good," you will be reminded that the world isn't all bad through a rundown of "good news."

Continue reading →

Yeah, there are way too many Linux distributions these days. You know what, though? Many of them are great! True, it is probably a waste of resources, but as long as high-quality distros are being released, who really cares?

One such excellent Linux-based desktop operating system is the beautiful deepin. Today, that OS reaches version 15.7. The distribution features significant performance improvements, a new laptop battery saving mode, a reduced ISO image size (nearly 20 percent), and better memory optimization. Owners of laptops with Nvidia hybrid graphics will appreciate improved compatibility thanks to NVIDIA-PRIME.

Continue reading →

When building a desktop gaming PC, there are many brands of RAM from which to choose. If you think "RAM is RAM" and the company producing it doesn't matter, think again. Cheap RAM can lead to some serious headaches -- for system builders, nothing is worse than an unstable computer that experiences random crashes. In other words, the cost savings by going with a no-name brand of memory simply isn't worth the aggravation.

There are a some specific brands of RAM by which I swear, such as G.SKILL and HyperX. Speaking of the latter, today, the Kingston gaming brand announces that its Predator DDR4 and DDR4 RGB RAM kits are getting both increased frequencies and storage capacities.

Continue reading →

Debian is one of the most important open source projects ever. The Debian Linux operating system is extremely popular in its own right, but also, it is used as the base for countless other distributions. Ubuntu, for instance -- one of the most-used distros -- is Debian-based. Even Linux Mint, which is based on Ubuntu, also has a Debian edition. Not to mention, Raspbian -- the official Raspberry Pi OS -- which is based on Debian too.

Today, Debian is celebrating a very important milestone -- a 25th birthday! Yes, it is seriously that old -- its development was announced on August 16, 1993. Hell, many of its current users weren't even born then!

Continue reading →

Storing files in the cloud is very convenient, but understandably, if they contain extremely sensitive information -- such as trade secrets -- you may not want to transmit them over the internet. For this, locally stored data is probably a better move. Of course, if possible, you should encrypt the storage drive. Encryption may even be required as a result of new laws and regulations such as California's Consumer Privacy Act and GDPR.

Software-based encryption for storage drives is better than nothing, but hardware-based is obviously superior. Apricorn has been producing hardware-encrypted USB drives for a while now, and they are very well respected. Today, the company unveils its latest such drive. Called "Aegis Secure Key 3NX," it uses 256-bit AES XTS hardware-encryption -- FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validation is pending. The successor to the well-received Secure Key 3z features a convenient keypad, making it easy to lock and unlock when needed.

Continue reading →

I'm not a Microsoft "hater" at all. With that said, I am not a fan of the state of Windows 10. The privacy issues alone are a reason to avoid the operating system, but that is hardly the only concern. For instance, Microsoft has been pre-loading tiles for games like Candy Crush and other apps -- a move that shows major disrespect towards its customers. Not to mention, the "Insiders" program is just a way for the company to get free beta testing -- Microsoft is all too happy to treat Windows 10 users as guinea pigs. It is all very shameful.

These days, if someone asks my advice on buying a computer, I recommend purchasing a Mac, Chromebook, or PC with a traditional desktop Linux distribution, such as Ubuntu. If you are happy with your current computer, but hate Windows 10, installing a Linux distro is very easy nowadays. I often suggest that Windows switchers try Zorin OS as it has a familiar interface. Today, that excellent operating system reaches version 12.4.

Continue reading →

When you own a Mac, there aren't many keyboards from which to choose. True, any USB or Bluetooth keyboard should work, but most are designed for Windows -- they are not labeled for macOS keys such as "function" and "command."

Apple's own keyboards are excellent, but not everyone likes the style. Not to mention, they are wildly expensive. Hilariously, Apple even charges a premium for the black models. Seriously, the company makes you pay more because of the color. Thankfully, there are some third parties that make quality Mac accessories that are more affordable. One such company, Macally, today announces a no-nonsense USB membrane keyboard designed for macOS. Called "XKEYLED," it features backlit keys for typing in the dark.

Continue reading →