Summary The best Esport that you’ve never heard of, the Microsoft Excel World Championship, features something to which most of us can relate: spreadsheets. It sounds drier than it is, and the championship offers a glimpse into the incredible efficiency some people have with shortcuts and custom functions. Yes, Excel Esports Are a Thing It was 3 am, and ESPNews had resorted to reruns of dog surfing and the College Cornhole Championships (both real things)....

Ham, a chimpanzee trained by the US Air Force, was the first great ape in space. He proved primates could perform complex tasks while experiencing the extremes of space travel, thus paving the way for human spaceflight. Number 65 Relaxed and surrounded by the same familiar humans who had always strapped him into the same familiar seat, it seemed to Number 65 that he was getting prepped for another game. The usual wires and sensors were attached, and, once again, the humans put him into a cramped capsule, as they always did....

The World Car Awards has announced the finalists for each of its six categories for 2025, revealing a mix ofEVsand internal combustion engine-powered vehicles. Hyundai Group andPorschehave populated most of the categories, as you’d expect, but there’s only one Japanese brand among the finalists. Last year, onlyToyota and Lexusmade it to the finals, with the Toyota Prius winning the World Car Design category. This year, Toyota aims for another win in the same category....

Quick Links Summary Typing commands in a Linux terminal window can be slow and error-prone. Use these keyboard shortcuts and other command-line tricks to improve your efficiency and accuracy, and avoid frustrations and mistakes. How These Shortcuts Can Help The Linux command line gives you a tremendous amount of power. You get unparalleled access to the inner workings of your Linux installation. All the Linux commands, configuration files, and other tools are at your disposal....

Summary While Apple wants people to use iPads as computers, they’re not even remotely close to Apple’s actual computers, Macs. Someone has taken it upon themselves to change that up, though. A Chinese modder by the name of Shu Chan has put together the “iPadBook,” a custom-built hybrid that integrates a MacBook Air and an iPad Pro into a single package. The foundation of the iPadBook is the chassis of an M1 MacBook Air....

Quick Links Connections is a game from the New York Times that challenges you to find the association between words. It sounds easy, but it isn’t—Connections categories can be almost anything, and they’re usually quite specific. If you need a hand getting the answers, we’ve got you covered. What Is Connections? Connections is a game from the New York Times. The objective is simple: sort 16 words into groups of 4....

Quick Links Connections is a game from the New York Times that challenges you to find the association between words. It sounds easy, but it isn’t—Connections categories can be almost anything, and they’re usually quite specific. If you need a hand getting the answers, we’ve got you covered. What Is Connections? Connections is a game from the New York Times. The objective is simple: sort 16 words into groups of 4....

Quick Links Summary Instagram Threads is a new text-based social network similar to Twitter. It was created by Meta, the parent company of Facebook. Social media companies are rushing to capture people who are fleeing Twitter in the wake ofElon Musk’s many changes. Meta (Facebook) is hoping Threads—a new text-based branch of Instagram—is the answer, but is it just more of the same? What is Threads by Instagram? Instagram Threads is a social media app that revolves around writing short text posts of up to 500 characters....

Summary Have you ever watched Netflix and noticed the dialogue is too quiet, but the sound effects and music are too loud? This is a problem that many people complain about, and—depending on your TV and home theater setup—it could have a simple fix. Why Does This Happen? The audio you hear from a movie or TV show is comprised ofmultiple recordings that have been “mixed” together. There are channels for the actor’s dialogue, sound effects, background music, and more....

Summary Microsoft has included a media player application in Windows for decades, but Windows 11 has a brand new one, simply called Media Player. If you haven’t tried it, you might be missing one of the best improvements in Windows 11. The History of Windows' Media Player Windows has shipped with a media player application for almost its entire history. The aptly named “Media Player” first arrived as part of an optional package in Windows 3....

Linux wildcards let you type a single command that acts on whole groups of files at the same time. That’s a great time saver, unless things go wrong. And they can. Destructively. What Wildcards Are For The well-known wildcards are the question mark, ?, and the asterisk, *. These can be used to create filename patterns. The question mark represents any single character, and the asterisk represents any sequence of characters, including zero characters....

Quick Links One of Android’s best features is theability to use third-party keyboards, but Google’s ownGboardkeyboard might be the best one—and the most popular. There are tons of features hidden inside Gboard to help improve your typing experience. Adjust the Height The great thing about a virtual keyboard is you can customize it to fit your typing needs. That includes the size of your hand.Gboard allows you to adjust the height of the keyboardfrom “Extra-Short” all the way to “Extra-Tall....

Quick Links Getting ready for a productive semester of study? Back-to-school season is looming, which means getting back into the study groove after a summer break. As you prepare your handy study tools and apps, you may be missing out on something important. Your iPhone has a lot to offer as far as productivity goes, but did you know that it can be an important tool in your study arsenal? Set up these features and hacks on your iPhone to study with better focus and efficiency....