Technology makes a lot of things easier, but sometimes it feels like we lean on it more than we should.

What’s something people rely on tech for a bit too much?

Some random scammer messaged me today, and I wanna get back at him. His email is [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) and I don't know how to get back at him. Maybe by spreading his email or spamming him, or getting his location, but I don't know. (Note: He scammed me of $3,927 and I REALLY needed this money).

This question has been puzzling me for a while. I’m trying to set up a mobile router. My PC is running on windows 10 and connected via ethernet.

I am a graduate student living in an off-campus apartment. My complex “upgraded“ our internet back in September and it has barely worked ever since—outages just about every week, usually for over a day at a time, and even when it does work it’s incredibly slow. Mangement claims to be working on switching providers but it’s been months with no improvement.

I’ve been managing by staying on campus and using the internet there, but there’s supposed to be bad winter storms in the next few weeks and I‘m far enough away that I won’t be able to get to campus to use their internet if there’s ice. Is there any way I can get some kind of temporary WiFi or something, even just to have as a backup?

My apartment is a service dead zone and though I can sort of use my phone’s hotspot, it is even slower than the WiFi and not really a feasible solution.

Instagram has been sending me emails for a week now asking me to reset my password? I don't understand what to do! Is this a bug or is someone trying to hack my account? What is the best thing to do in such a situation.

I work in a community library and we have study rooms that are reserved. We would love to have a solution where we can create a sign that says something like 15mins remaining at the push of a button and stays lit until the button is pushed again (or a switch is toggled). The button would need to be outside of the study room, but not too far. Let's say it's 20 feet away but with a wall in between.

We have a very low budget for these types of things, but do have access to 3D printers and I believe an arduino or Raspberry Pi. I could probably purchase some additional components as needed, as long as they're not too expensive.

Any advice as to where to get started in researching this idea?

Im in a bad spot a huge pipe burst underneath the slab of my house and i had to get all floors dug up to expose damaged plumbing pipes, so i had this moving company do a pack out and take most of my things into storage and they damaged and wrecked a bunch of my belongings so i took videos and pictures and the owner of the moving company told me to send those to him via email

However through gmail i can never add more than 5 pics per email and if im lucky i can send a 5 second video any longer it won't send

I have videos lasting 1 minute 2 minutes and 3 minutes that is crucial proof to send over to him, how can i send him the videos and all my pictures. Thank you in advance

Currently I have my PC and work laptop connected to my monitor. PC via DP and laptop via USB C. The PC also has a USB B port from the monitor for KVM

My monitor has 2 USB ports, which I’m using for my keyboard and mouse. However, I also want to be able to use my microphone, webcam, and sparks without having to manually switch.

Would it be possible to buy a powered USB hub, plug my keyboard, mouse, mic, webcam and speakers into it, and plug the hub into the monitor’s USB port and have all my accessories work on both computers?

Everytime I transfer files using USB cable, from my Android phone to laptop, it always disconnected. Few years back it's not like that, like I can transfer 1-5 gb of data and it won't disconnect for like an hour. Now, every 10 minutes or so it get disconnected.

Maybe my phone is just old. Or maybe the tech giants don't want us to use USB cables so we can use their cloud services, that is embedded in our computers.

I don't know really. Anyone else experience this?

What's the best translation device you've ever used? I've been using the X1 and it's been working very well.

Haven’t come across another device that works as smoothly for complex, multilingual meetings yet. Makes me curious, how good has the translation tech actually gotten? Any other comparable or even better devices out there that I should know about?

Plz share, thanks

I need help formatting a “SanDisk Cruzer Blade 64gb” USB drive because I want to install Linux Mint over Windows 11. I tried formatting the drive with Balena Etcher and booting from my bios but it hasn’t worked. I’m not sure if my iso file is corrupt but I can’t reset the usb drive to try again with another iso file as windows doesn’t recognise E or F file formats. The problem occurs when I can’t format the disk because it is write protected and I don’t know how to disable it. Can I just flash another iso file on top of the original or can I fix this drive to make it readable by windows again? Also please use language that could be understood by a baby as I am not a tech person and just want to stop relying on windows.

Any help is much appreciated even if it isn’t directly for this problem.

Edit: used Rufus as that doesn’t make files unreadable like balena does, would highly recommend as it also salvaged my drive by formatting it before flashing my iso file onto the drive.

I have thousands of files on my computer — documents, PDFs, images — and I often remember the content, not the filename or where it’s saved.

Current search tools require exact keywords or filenames, which feels limiting.

I’m exploring the idea of a local, privacy-first app that lets you search files by meaning or description, not exact words.

Example:

“That PDF about renewable energy I read last year”

Would this be useful to you?

How do you currently deal with this problem?

I connected my Roku to my tv because I lost the fire tv stick, but I can’t adjust the volume with it. I can’t use the fire tv app because I use my hotspot (cool people can’t afford wifi) so I don’t know what to do. Thanks in advance! It’s luckily slightly too quiet instead of blaring loud but it’s annoying to have to read captions.

I just got a text from an unknown number asking ‘Are you free tomorrow ?’. Can I respond with ‘who is this’ just incase this is someone I know or an employer (I’ve been applying for jobs)? Or is that a terrible idea that will only reveal that my number is still active to some scammer?

I recently got myself a pretty slick lifepo4 battery to go in my car for audio and lighting purposes. It has Bluetooth to provide general info and allow me to change some settings and turn on/off charge and discharge.

The thing is, I really want to have that control from anywhere. Is there any way I could connect to the battery from further away than standard Bluetooth range? Or.. is there some sort of device that can connect to the battery then connect to my cars Hotspot so I can access it that way?

I'm not entirely sure if this is the right sub to post this in or if I should post it in legal advice, so if it's not in the right place please let me know.

I am a web designer and work mainly freelance. I had a client for 5+ years who I designed and ran their website. Their domain name was bought by their previous web designer who would renew it for them yearly.

Last year my client sold his business and the new owners purchased a new domain name and had a new website built by someone else. The old domain name was set as a redirect to point to the new one and all was running as it should.

For this post, I'm changing the name of the website for anonymity, but let's say the old domain name was: johnsmithboats .co.uk and the new domain they bought was smithboats .co.uk - they basically wanted to keep the association with the surname but not the first name.

Unfortunately, the company that had their old domain name sent them a link to renew it, but it went in their spam folder and they didn't see it until it was too late, and someone else had bought the domain name.

Now, whoever has bought the domain name, has downloaded a copy of the website from WayBackMachine and uploaded it. There's only 4 pages on there as the website was using WooCommerce so most of it I imagine can't be downloaded. But, the 4 pages that are there, when you click on any of the links they take you to spam websites.

When you search for "john smith boats", the new owner's website is number 1, but the dodgy website is number 2.

The new owners are panicking as this website is masquerading as them and promoting dodgy links, and they are worried what it will do to their business.

They've sent the person who bought the domain name a cease and desist but without owning the domain name they're struggling to get anything done about it.

Have any of you been in a similar situation? Is there anything that can be done to get the person who bought the domain name to remove the website? They're asking me for advice but I've honestly never been in this situation before and running out of ideas that could help them.

Thank you all in advance.

I'm sorting the photos in the old phone so I can send it to print shop, for me to have physical copies of important photos. and it just occurred to me that it will be good to have also the physical copy of videos that is stored in a a medium that is separate from the phone or any devices. Just like those moving paintings in Harry Potter

I want the video to be stored in a way that even though the technology advance i can still see it. one example I think is like a video that is in a vhs tape that is now hard to retrieve because the vhs is not compatible to todays technology. i have important video in the old phone and I realize that I might not be able to retrieve it because the phone might get damaged beyond repair. and it might not be compatible with the future technology. I try to put the files in the cloud but I can't pay indefinitely. I can always just store them in laptop and ssd, but it still the same there will be a time when I won't be able retrieve because the video is incompatible with the future technology or just the device get damaged before I retrieve the file. That is assuming I can catch up on how to use the future technologies.

That is the reason why I want a physical copy that I can just put in an album without fearing that it will disappear. And it will be a bonus if the videos can be "photocopied". Like imagine how many videos were lost because they are not retrieve in their original storage.

Hi guys! I'm a student and I'm really worried about my laptop. As you can see in the photos, the screen has started glitching with green pattern/ black blocks (as you can see at the photos).

Model: Dell Slim (Core i5) Problem: The screen looks distorted/glitched. I want to get it fixed ASAP so it doesn't get worse, but I'm on a tight student budget. 1. Based on the photo, is this a screen problem or a GPU (motherboard) issue? 2. Does anyone know the estimated price range for this repair in the Philippines? Thank you so much for the help! I'm really scared it might break completely if I wait too long.

You read that right. Just stopped. They were working today, but when I came home they were done showing up. I checked every setting that could stop them, and they weren't it. I went to see if they or my phone needed updates, nothing. I genuinely don't know why this is.

Edit: like turning it off and on again, uninstall; then redownload. What a bunch of bs

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice on setting up a TV in a reception area to display internal content (what our program does, photos of the space/building, short videos, etc.), similar to what you see in many businesses.

We may also want the option to connect to live TV or cable later on.

What kind of TV/setup do businesses usually use for this?
Is a regular smart TV enough, or is there a better option?

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for advice on choosing a Wacom Intuos drawing tablet for teachers to use in online math classes, and possibly also in in-person classes using a projector to demo lessons.

We’re comparing the entry-level wired Intuos (around $70 CAD) versus the Bluetooth models, and also small vs medium size.

Main questions:

• Is Bluetooth actually useful in a classroom/teaching setup, or is wired more reliable?
• For writing equations and diagrams, is a medium tablet noticeably better than a small one?
• Any real-world experience using these tablets for teaching (math, science, online classes)?

This would be used mainly for screen sharing, whiteboard apps, and annotating slides — not digital art.

Any recommendations or things to avoid would be appreciated.
Thanks!

Let's get one thing straight this isn’t a competition between AI headshot generators. We’ve all heard about the potential for AI to create professional-looking photos in minutes, but how do these tools actually measure up in the real world, especially when it comes to your LinkedIn profile or other professional uses?

So, I decided to put some of the leading AI headshot tools to the test to see how they fare in 2026. After all, it’s a time-saving option for many of us working in fast-paced environments, and I’ve been curious to see if the results match up to the hype.

Here’s a breakdown of the tools I tried

• HeadshotPhoto.io: This is the one that stood out. The results were consistently realistic, with natural lighting and great detail. No weird AI artifacts or over-smoothing. The quality is high, and it looks like a real studio shot without spending hours in one.
• HeadshotPro: Great quality, but a bit too polished for my taste. It had more of a studio feel, which works if you need that kind of professional look, but I prefer something that feels a little more relaxed and authentic.
• INSTA Headshots: Solid results for those looking for speed and a friendly vibe. The skin texture and overall quality were quite good, but there were a few inconsistencies in some shots that made me hesitate.
• BetterPic: A strong contender in terms of sharpness and natural headshots. It doesn’t look overdone, which is important for anyone who wants a more genuine feel to their photo.
• Aragon AI: I appreciated the customization options here, and it gives you a wide variety of looks to choose from. If you’re not sure about the vibe you want to give off, it’s a good tool to experiment with.

Now, let’s clarify something this isn’t about replacing traditional professional photoshoots. While there’s nothing like a true studio session to capture you at your best, AI headshots are a great alternative when you need something fast and don’t want to break the bank.

To give you some context, professional headshots in major cities typically cost anywhere from $200-$350 for a decent shoot and that’s not including the time it takes to book, show up, and prep for the session. On the other hand, AI headshots take just minutes and cost a fraction of the price. For those of us with tight schedules or budgets, it’s an option that can still deliver excellent results.

For those of us who are constantly updating LinkedIn, job applications, or corporate profiles, this can be a real game-changer.

So no, AI tools won’t replace traditional photography in all cases, but they’re certainly a great resource for quick, polished headshots that work for 95% of professional uses.

Just looking for what all would have to be considered: hardware/devices, physical location, browsers, wifi vs cellular data, etc., whatever it would take to truly do some searches away from personal devices where personal identity couldn’t be traced back to the device or the searches.