Alan is an experienced culture and tech writer/editor with a background in newspaper reporting. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, The Escapist, ESPN, PC Gamer, and a multitude of other outlets. He has over twenty years of experience as a journalist, author, and editor.
Give your aging PC new life by installing a lightweight Linux distribution or ChromeOS Flex, a free cloud-based version of Google's operating system.
1 monthIn a bid to become less reliant on Google, I swapped the popular search engine for an AI alternative, Perplexity. Here's what worked for me—and what didn't.
1 month, 2 weeksPerplexity AI can be a reliable research companion, but does it top Google for day-to-day searches? Here's what worked for me—and what didn't.
1 month, 4 weeksThe future of AI is local computing on your device, but are Galaxy AI and Microsoft Copilot powerful enough to replace the apps I use every day? I put them to the test.
2 months, 1 weekToday's phones and PCs are full of built-in AI, from Galaxy AI to Copilot, but are these tools powerful enough to replace the apps in my regular rotation? I put it to the test.
2 months, 2 weeksAlexa+ is out of early access and available to all Prime members for free. I used Amazon's enhanced AI in early access and found it to be pretty capable, especially on a few key tasks.
3 months, 3 weeksAmazon is rolling out Alexa+ for Prime members, promising a more human-like interaction with its AI. I've found it to be pretty capable, especially with a few key tasks.
4 months, 1 weekWhile ChatGPT or Gemini are busy hallucinating answers to random questions, AI is also quietly working to improve your photos, meetings notes, PC power consumption, and more.
5 months, 1 weekAmazon's AI-powered Alexa offers new features for just about everyone. Here's how to get started.
6 monthsAmazon's AI-powered Alexa offers new and improved features for just about every user. Here's how to get started and whether you should buy a new Echo device to try it out.
7 months, 3 weeksAmazon's AI-powered Alexa offers new and improved features for just about every user. Here's how to get started and whether you should buy a new Echo device to try it out.
7 months, 4 weeksAmazon should use its Sept. 30 event to announce these upgrades if it wants Alexa+ to compete with the best AI chatbots.
8 months, 1 weekDuolingo offers a fun, gamified approach to language learning, but quick hits of vocab and inadequate lesson reviews put true fluency out of reach.
1 yearChatGPT isn't the only game in town. If you want to do more with AI, check out these five up-and-coming models that offer chat, art, video, music generation, and more.
1 year, 1 monthIt's possible to leverage AI's power to generate images and text and feel OK about it. Just follow these tips.
1 year, 1 monthIf your hard drive is running out of space, you can move your collection of PC games to a different drive. Here's how to set up the move from your game client of choice.
1 year, 4 monthsDiscord is finally available on home consoles. Here's how to set up the service so you can start voice chatting on PlayStation and Xbox consoles.
1 year, 4 monthsNot sure whether to hook your new monitor up to your computer using HDMI or DisplayPort? Different ports have different capabilities and compatibilities; here's what you need to know.
1 year, 4 monthsDon't want to install Windows on your Mac to play PC games? Turn to programs like Wine, DOSbox, and GeForce Now instead.
1 year, 6 monthsPlaying older PC games on modern machines will leave a little to be desired in the graphics department, but there are ways to improve the look of your favorite classic titles.
2 years, 1 month
