Brian Fagioli

NFL pre-season football is in full swing, meaning regular season games will be here before you know it. It is a league where anything can happen. Injuries (which are prevalent in USA football) can change rankings in the blink of an eye. If you participate in Fantasy Football, for instance, you know how things can change from week to week.

While many folks compete in fantasy leagues and track their favorite teams using smartphones nowadays, nothing trumps a full-fledged PC experience. This is what Microsoft's Surface Pro line of tablets can deliver. If you do use a Surface Pro 3 or 4 computer, and you love the NFL, Microsoft has something that will make you giddy --  Special Edition NFL Type Covers. Yes, all 32 teams are represented. This includes my favorite team, the J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS!

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Connected-home technology and the Internet of Things are poised to explode in popularity over the next several years. My, how far humanity has come -- having our refrigerators, thermostats, and door locks connected to the internet. Huzzah! All joking aside, it is actually exciting stuff, folks.

Today, Logitech announces a very curious home device. Simply called "Pop", it is a switch, that when pressed, can perform an action. Actually, each switch can do three actions, depending on how the user interacts with it. It is looking like Logitech has hit a home-run with Pop.

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While 4K displays are popular nowadays, 1080p variants are still wonderful. Quite frankly, depending on your needs, a 1920x1080 display could even be preferable. Gamers, for instance, may not have the GPU required to game on 4K. Not to mention, on Windows 10, some legacy programs and settings can look pixelated and blurry when up-scaling above 100 percent. 4K with Linux is even worse, but I digress.

Today, ViewSonic announces an absolutely gorgeous 24-inch 1080p monitor. The "VP2468" display has incredibly small bezels and professional-grade color accuracy. This monitor should prove brilliant for both home and business users, not to mention gamers too. But is the price too high?

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The Android operating system is having its fair share of trouble lately. Not just one, but four nasty vulnerabilities (dubbed 'QuadRooter') have been discovered, affecting close to one billion devices. If that doesn't scare you, however, there are plenty of quality handsets to choose from.

Today, Kyocera announces an interesting smartphone that stands out among the others. The 'DuraForce PRO' is super-rugged, and has both an octacore processor and large 3,240mAh battery. The stand-out feature, however, is the integrated wide-angle HD action camera.

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When it comes to Twitter, I don't like change. Many folks likely feel the same way -- its users seem to be very passionate, as if the social network is sacred. Quite frankly, from an engagement standpoint, that is a good thing.

The social network's 'Moments' feature -- a curation of Tweets focused on storytelling -- annoyed me at first. I found it to be a waste of space -- something I only accessed by mistake. Over time, however, I learned to love it. It is a great way to keep track of trends and follow stories. Unfortunately, not all creators have access to contributing to it. Today, Twitter announces that it will be opening access to 'Moments' to more people, beyond the existing curators.

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Many people think the big selling point of Linux is that it doesn't cost money. Yeah, operating systems based on the open source kernel are largely free up front, but that isn't the whole story. True, home users can probably get by without paid support, but businesses can't always rely on Google searches and forum posts for help.

Enter Ubuntu Advantage. If you are a small, medium, or large business that is transitioning to the Ubuntu operating system, going it alone is not always wise. UA is a paid subscription offering from Canonical, which provides professional-level support. Today, the company makes it even easier for users to subscribe.

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Ride-sharing apps are all the rage nowadays. It is not hard to see why traditional taxi drivers despise the services -- it is extremely convenient and satisfying to reserve a car with a smartphone app. Standing in the street with your arms flailing in an effort to get a driver's attention is archaic and uncouth.

While Uber is undoubtedly the king of ride-sharing in the USA, its competitor, Lyft, is no slouch. Today, Lyft announces an upcoming new feature that looks rather useful -- 'extra stops'.

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Gaming headsets are rather curious products. As the name implies, they are designed for chatting during gaming, but in reality, they are so much more. Actually, many of them can be used for non-gaming communication, such as on Skype, plus listening to music or watching movies. Just because they have a microphone, doesn't mean they can't be used as headphones too. Am I right?

Today, SteelSeries announces a new gaming headset. Dubbed "Siberia 840", it builds on the company's existing Siberia 800 with the addition of Bluetooth. This means the headset should work brilliantly for PC, Mac, consoles (Xbox One and PlayStation 4), and mobile.

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If you are a Windows user, and want a really great computer, you should consider Microsoft's Surface line. Not only do they serve as wonderful tablets, but with the keyboard attachment, they can be solid laptops too.

While many Linux users dislike Microsoft, some of them undoubtedly envy Windows hardware. While it is possible to run Linux distros on some Surface tablets (I've done it), not everything will work flawlessly. Today, release candidate 1 of Linux Kernel 4.8 is announced, and it seems a particularly interesting driver has been added -- the Surface 3 touchscreen controller. Will Microsoft's lower-priced (starting at $499) hybrid computer become the ultimate mobile Linux machine?

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As a Linux desktop user, you'd think I'd be a big Android proponent. Actually, I rather detest Google's mobile operating system lately. Other than Nexus devices, most Android devices fail to get regular updates, leaving users exposed to vulnerabilities. That is unacceptable! It is why I own an iPhone now, but I digress.

Sadly, yet another set of vulnerabilities have been discovered for Android. Dubbed 'QuadRooter', all Qualcomm devices are affected. In other words, this is really, really, bad, folks. You see, 900 million phones and tablets are impacted, and most of them will probably never be patched. The Android sky is falling!

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In the technology market, there are many types of manufacturers. Two such examples are those that make devices and those that make accessories for those devices. This works quite well, you see, as not only do consumers love gadgets, but they love customizing them with cases and other things too.

Speaking of accessory makers, Griffin is well known for its quality offerings. Apple users in particular have long been buying that company's products, but it makes accessories for non-Apple devices too. Today, popular case-maker, Incipio (which also owns Incase and Braven), announces that it has acquired Griffin for an undisclosed amount of money. Is this good or bad?

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Regardless of your stance on guns, I think everyone can agree that firearms deserve to be treated with respect. Even staunch 2nd amendment proponents will tell you that the weapons are not toys. Proper training and understanding of their potential danger are key for safety.

Understandably, however, some parents don't want their children -- or themselves -- to have guns in their lives at all. Thanks to emoji, guns are sort of unavoidable nowadays. While parents can refuse to buy toy guns for their children, pistol symbols in communications are now a thing. Well, except on iOS 10 beta, that is. Apple has chosen to go against the tech world and Unicode consortium by using a water gun to represent the pistol emoji. Are Tim Cook and company right or wrong in this decision?

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There are many reasons why solid state drives are better than mechanical hard drives. Obviously, they are very much faster -- an upgrade to SSD can make an older PC feel new again. Also, they are silent, meaning you don't have to listen to a grinding-like seek sound.

One of the forgotten aspects as to why SSDs are better, however, is energy savings. Since they use less electricity, they can save money and allow batteries to last longer. Today, Seagate announces a new enterprise SSD that it calls 'energy-efficient'. But aren't they all?

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The Raspberry Pi line of computers are wonderful for many things. If you are a builder or maker, it can be great for projects. If you just want a low-energy media computer, these little devices are a godsend.

The most powerful version is the Raspberry Pi 3, and earlier this year, I bought it. Recently, I even purchased the super-cool Kodi Edition case for it. The problem? I am not a maker or builder, and I mostly use my Apple TV as a media player. I simply do not have a need for my Pi 3 anymore. My problem can be your gain, however, as I am giving away both the computer and case. Interested? Read on to enter the giveaway.

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Android phones are rarely exciting nowadays, save for a few flagships from the major players. No manufacturer of devices running Google's mobile OS is more popular or celebrated than Samsung. It is not hard to see why -- the company listens to users and creates elegant devices to meet needs.

Some of that company's most popular such smartphones are the Galaxy Note line of productivity-focused phablets. The company recently announced the Note7 and it looks downright amazing. If you choose to purchase it, however, you will probably want to protect it with a case. Luckily, today, Ballistic unveils its new line of cases for the Samsung Galaxy Note7.

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