Consumer technology, gadgets, AI and machine learning, cybersecurity, software, apps, and digital culture.
Cyber attacks are up 144% since 2018. Your ISP is selling your browsing data. The right VPN costs $2-3 per month. There's no good reason not to have one.
Alex Chen·11 min read
TechnologyMatter killed the compatibility nightmare. An $8 smart plug now works with Alexa, Google, and Apple. Here's how to build a smart home.
Alex Chen·9 min read
TechnologyNotion has 100 million users and an army of template creators who only make money if you choose their platform. Obsidian has 1.5 million users, zero venture capital, and $25 million in annual revenue from people who voluntarily pay for a free product.
Alex Chen·14 min read
TechnologyTogether, Wix and Squarespace power 55% of all websites built with a website builder. Shopify dominates ecommerce. WordPress powers 43% of the entire internet. And yet, most people only need to consider three.
Alex Chen·14 min read
TechnologyWindows Defender scored 6 out of 6 in AV-TEST's December 2025 evaluation across protection, performance, and usability. So did Norton. So did Bitdefender. The free option that came with your computer now performs identically to the ones charging $50-$100 per year.
Alex Chen·14 min read
TechnologyYour phone, laptop, and tablet all have built-in screen recorders. None of them tell you they exist, and each one has a specific limitation that will ruin your first recording if nobody warns you.
Alex Chen·14 min read
TechnologyGPTZero claims 99% accuracy. Independent tests put it at 62 to 88%. Originality.ai catches only 7.3% of GPT-5-mini output. And a Stanford study found that detectors flag 61% of essays by non-native English speakers as AI-generated, even when they're completely human-written. The tools that are supposed to catch cheaters are creating a new class of victims.
Alex Chen·9 min read
TechnologyPython holds the #1 position on the TIOBE Index with a 26.14% market share, the highest rating any programming language has ever achieved. Python developers earn an average of $125,000 to $128,000 per year. 58% of developers now use it, according to Stack Overflow's 2025 survey. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 17% growth in software developer roles through 2033. If there has ever been a better time to learn a programming language from scratch, I'd like to see the data.
Alex Chen·8 min read