MUO

Homelabs are quite the rabbit hole to delve into. There’s a ton of things to explore and customize, making the home lab truly your own. One of the more unconventional “upgrades” I’ve made this year is switching to an open-air PC case, and it's been quite the pleasant surprise.

MapQuest’s new Surveillance Layer shows known surveillance cameras and automatic license-plate readers on its map. The layer covers equipment from Flock Safety and several other surveillance companies, although its database may contain gaps. The privacy-minded feature follows MapQuest’s surge to No. 1 after it refused to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America.” MapQuest now allows you to see surveillance cameras and automated license-plate readers scattered along roads.

Google Maps has revolutionized travel for me, and I believe it is the best option for getting from A to B as quickly as possible. However, sometimes, the best part of a road trip is taking the long way around, discovering a winding country road, or finding a scenic route I wouldn't have considered otherwise.

I've been testing Lenovo's premier ThinkPad, the X1 Carbon Gen 14 Aura Edition, for many weeks now, both alongside and in place of my workhorse M5 MacBook Pro. You might think that Lenovo's ThinkPads are only issued by corporate IT departments, but laptops like the X1 Carbon Gen 14 offer a surprising blend of classic business characteristics and premium consumer features. It's clear that the X1 Carbon Gen 14's biggest hurdle is its price.

Your old Android phone isn’t slow because it’s old. After three or four years with a budget phone, everything feels laggy, and at some point you just assume the hardware is giving out. I thought the same about my Samsung Galaxy M31, until I realized its processor hadn’t actually degraded. What had changed was the software, a handful of default settings that had been quietly dragging the phone down all along.

Chrome has a comprehensive Settings menu, but you'd be mistaken to think it tells you everything you need to know about your browser. Google doesn't include certain important pages in the Settings menu, and they're worth a look because they show a clearer picture of what shapes my browsing experience. I realized that even though I hadn't set up any organizational management or policies on my own instance, Google’s variations system was active.

If you’ve got a new smart TV, it might not always look or behave the way you'd expect straight out of the box. Your TV might look unnaturally bright, movies could have an odd smoothness, or the home screen shows promotions you never asked for. These issues don't mean something is wrong with your TV's hardware. Rather, some default settings could be responsible for affecting your overall viewing experience.

Having a car is not only about the fun and long drives. Fuel, tolls, and parking can drain your wallet faster than you’d expect. Android Auto is the best way to stay entertained safely inside a car and also get navigation assistance. But did you know that you can use Android Auto apps to help you cut your expenses and save money?

The Windows right-click context menu is one of the most powerful tools every Windows user has access to. So of course it makes sense that in Microsoft's never-ending drive to push AI into every aspect of its operating system, we now find AI actions to help speed us along. Currently, the AI actions are limited to a few default Windows apps, with other integrations for certain apps you might have installed, like Zoom, Manus, and similar, apparently arriving in a future update.

Routers often include a USB port. This feature may feel ornamental because you probably aren't using it, but it doesn't have to be. From acting as a real file server to sharing a printer, it offers several options that make your home network more robust. This underrated port has helped me eliminate a number of friction points on my home network that may have otherwise needed additional hardware. Once you start maximizing its use, you'll realize how much value you've been leaving on the table.