Value ERO

If you’re looking to get back some of your privacy, Google recently introduced new policies that’ll let users protect themselves from Google Search. By that, we mean giving people control over what personally-identifiable information shows up in search results. For those unaware, removing personal information from Google is nothing new, but this week the search giant added some much-needed changes. Before today, users could request Google to take down explicit images, fake images, and addresses to prevent doxxing. Plus, Google…

After half a year of silence, Apple has finally launched its Self Service Repair program. It’s a huge step for the company—customers can now buy authentic Apple parts and access official repair manuals. But Self Service Repair isn’t ideal for customers, and it gives Apple an excuse to double down on its worst practices. Let’s start with the good stuff; you can now buy official screens, batteries, and other parts for the iPhone SE (2022), iPhone 12, and iPhone 13.…

Samsung’s best and fastest portable SSD is now available in an ultra-rugged form factor. Available now for $160, the Samsung T7 Shield is a durable beast, with a proper IPX rating, improved drop protection, and a durable rubberized finish. While it’s one of our favorite portable SSDs, the original Samsung T7 is disappointingly fragile. It doesn’t have an IPX rating for dust or water resistance, and it’s only drop-resistant at up to 6.5 feet. The new T7 Shield flips the…

This week Dell announced a trio of new laptops, all with varying screen sizes up to 17-inches. In addition, the release includes one with the world’s first collaboration touchpad built with shortcuts to make meetings easier than ever. Out of all three laptops, the new Dell Latitude 9330 caught my attention. This model is the first 13-inch laptop in the popular Latitude 9000 series, with a 2560 x 1600 resolution QHD 16:10 display, but it’s the touchpad that will have…

One crypto bro steps down; another comes to take his place. Just a few weeks after announcing his bid for Twitter, Elon Musk has entered a “definitive agreement” to purchase full ownership of the company. The deal is valued at around $44 billion, and upon its completion, Twitter will exit the stock market and become a private company. Tesla CEO and meme enthusiast Elon Musk recently purchased a large share of Twitter, enough to join the board of directors. He…

Quick Response (QR) codes are everywhere these days. You’ll find these two-dimensional barcodes in restaurants for the menu, and everyone probably remembers that Coinbase QR code Super Bowl commercial. Most people have used a QR code at some point, but have you ever seen an animated QR code? We’re all familiar with flat, printed QR codes, but they can still work if the image moves in a GIF or is animated. We recently saw a great example of this from…

The computers and electronics we all use daily have some unique marvels inside. Have you ever built a computer or looked inside one and wondered how those shiny, pointy, heatsink fins are made? Heatsinks are those silver or copper metal fins and porcupine-looking blocks on the inside of computers, and they help disperse heat, so our devices stay cool and perform their best. We recently stumbled upon a video that shows how heatsinks get manufactured, and it’s far simpler than…

Framework has quickly made a name for itself by creating a genuinely repairable Laptop for nearly anyone. Now the company is expanding that offering a little by pulling back. Instead of buying the whole kit, you can now purchase just the Mainboard and make a powerful “Raspberry Pi.” At its heart, a Raspberry Pi is a low-power single single-board computer. That low-power bit comes with advantages, like electricity use, and disadvantages, mainly in performance. Don’t expect to play AAA games…

We’ve reached a point where NFTs are unavoidable. They line the bowels of social media, turn franchises like Star Trek into “investments,” and hog advertising space during football games. Still, despite the over-saturation of NFTs, you probably have zero experience with the technology. NFTs are the crux of a $40 billion market, yet they’re still quite niche. And that’s not a big surprise; not only are NFTs complicated, but they haven’t found a practical purpose outside of investing. That could change in…

One of the big reasons I’ve avoided the Surface Laptop Studio, aside from its price, is that it looks completely unrepairable. But Microsoft’s topsy-turvy laptop is surprisingly easy to take apart, as seen in the company’s new teardown video. It even has modular parts! Getting into the Surface Laptop Studio requires very little effort, especially when compared to previous Surface products. You just remove the laptop’s rubber foot, remove seven screws, hold open the backplate like it’s a book cover,…

Last year, Alienware began offering its popular gaming desktops and laptops with AMD Ryzen processors. It was a major change for the company, and it was likely inspired by the stellar multi-threaded performance (and reasonable cost) of AMD chips. Now, Alienware is launching a flurry of new AMD-powered machines to cover nearly all budgets. The new Alienware Ryzen Edition R14 ($2,949) is the highlight of this collection. Built in collaboration with AMD, this machine features the highest multi-threaded performance of any…

Today Google announced some big changes to the Chrome Web Store and extensions. Chrome will now display a new badge designating “Featured” extensions or “Established Publishers” to keep users safe and free from malicious content. It’s no secret that you can quickly find all sorts of themes, extensions, and add-ons with malicious intent or that don’t work correctly, and this is Google’s most significant step in addressing the problem. This will help prevent users from adding potential harmful extensions, but it’ll…