Brian Fagioli

For home computer users, it is crazy not to use a solid state drive -- especially when coupled with a good cloud backup plan. With that said, data centers are an entirely different beast. When you are looking to maximize storage on a budget -- and with physical constraints -- a hard disk drive still reigns supreme. That's why its so important for companies to continue to innovate when it comes to mechanical hard drives.

For example, last year, Western Digital released an impressive 14TB SMR HDD for data centers, and today, the company kicks it up a notch. The 3.5-inch Ultrastar DC HC620, as it is called, gets a slight 1TB bump. In other words, this new data center drive features a very spacious 15TB of storage. And yes, as the SMR in the name implies, the drive uses the innovative shingled magnetic recording.

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With YouTube and social media being so popular these days, it can seem like everyone is sharing photos and videos of themselves online. Heck, there are professional content creators and Instagram models that get paid a lot of money to share media content with followers. It's a weird and wild world, folks.

Webcams are an important tool to vloggers and streamers, but make no mistake -- all cameras are not created equally. In fact, the ones that are integrated into laptops are often terrible. Thankfully, companies like Logitech produce high-end USB webcams for those that don't want to compromise. Apparently, the company was dissatisfied with its webcam software offering, however, as today, it launches a public beta for its successor. Called "Logitech Capture," it aims to step things up for both amateur and professional content creators alike.

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While the transition from standard definition TV to HDTV was monumental, the 4K (UHD) movement is much less so. Don't get me wrong, I own both a 4K Samsung TV and an Apple TV 4K, so I am invested in the resolution, but I am rarely blown away by UHD content. In other words, you probably shouldn't run out and buy a 4K television to replace your 1080p TV.

But OK, if you already have a 4K TV, you might as well watch some UHD content, right? Today, Google announces several improvements to its Play Movies and TV service in that regard. Not only will 4K content be more affordable, but the search giant will be automatically upgrading the SD and HD videos consumers already bought to 4K resolution (when available) for free. As long as the consumers are in the USA or Canada, that is.

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While many people use Windows 10 every day, I sometimes wonder how many actually enjoy doing so. Look, Microsoft's operating system is very popular, but that could be largely out of habit. The interface is very inconsistent, and with aggressive telemetry, it can feel like you are being spied on too. Computers running Microsoft's OS are prone to malware, and even worse, users could find their important files deleted! Hell, even the Surface hardware feels uninspired these days. Once people start looking at alternatives, such as the excellent Linux-based Chromebooks, they may wonder why they need Windows 10 at all.

For education in particular, many schools find Chromebooks safer and easier to manage. Not to mention, they can be quite cost effective too. So it should come as no surprise that a major country has chosen Chromebooks over Windows 10 devices for education. What is the country of which I speak? New Zealand. You see, all public schools there now have access to Chrome Education licenses.

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System76 is making huge moves lately. The company used to just sell re-branded computers running Ubuntu, and while there was nothing wrong with that, it has much more lofty goals. You see, it released its own Ubuntu-based operating system called "Pop!_OS," and now, it is preparing to release its own self-designed and built open source computers. In other words, much like Apple, System76 is maintaining both the software and hardware aspects of the customer experience.

While its new hardware is not yet available, the latest version of its operating system is. Following the release of Ubuntu 18.10, Pop!_OS 18.10 is now available for download. While it is based on Ubuntu, it is not merely Canonical's operating system with System76 branding and artwork. Actually, there are some significant customizations that make Pop!_OS its own.

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Just yesterday, Ubuntu 18.10 was released. "Cosmic Cuttlefish," as the operating system is called, is available in several flavors featuring various desktop environments other than the stock GNOME -- Xfce (Xbuntu), KDE (Kubuntu), and more.

One such variant, Ubuntu MATE 18.10, is popular thanks to its low system requirements -- it works very well on meager hardware. To highlight just how adaptable the operating system is, a special image has been released for both the GPD Pocket and GPD Pocket 2. If you aren’t familiar with these mini-laptops, please know they are essentially what used to be called a "Palmtop."

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One of the big knocks against Linux-based operating systems is lack of software. The truth is, there are countless excellent programs for both productivity and fun. One fair criticism, however, is fragmentation between distributions. For end users, it can be difficult installing an app that isn't designed for their distro. And yeah, that has been a pain point for years.

Thankfully, Canonical -- maker of Ubuntu -- aimed to alleviate that problem with Snaps. These containerized packages can be installed on pretty much any Linux distribution, making things easier for both users and developers. But has the organization's standard been a success? Apparently, very much so. As a way to celebrate yesterday's release of Cosmic Cuttlefish, Canonical shares the following infographic.

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I am old enough to remember the days before USB, and let me tell you -- when it came out, everything changed. It became so much easier to add hardware to a PC -- no need to open the case. USB largely made the term "plug and play" a reality. The problem? The damn thing wasn't reversible! As we all know, you had a 50/50 shot of plugging the Type-A connector in correctly, yet for some reason, it felt like you were almost always wrong the first time. Maddening!

USB-C solved that dilemma, as the connector is reversible. Long gone is the frustration of having to turn the connector around. Adoption of USB-C has been frustratingly slow, with companies like Microsoft still refusing to add it to the Surface Laptop 2. Sigh. With that said, there are many nice USB-C products on the market, and today, StarTech launches a trio. All three products are USB-C hubs, but they are quite different from each other.

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There has never been a better time to be a Linux enthusiast. There are so many great distributions from which to choose, including elementary OS 5 Juno, Linux Mint 19, and Bodhi 5.0.0. What do those aforementioned operating systems have in common? They are based on Ubuntu. To take things a step further, Canonical's operating system is based on Debian, but I digress.

But yeah, Ubuntu is wildly popular -- with both end users and other Linux distro maintainers. When a new version of the operating system is released, the world goes wild. Well, it's time to get excited, yall! Today -- after a short Beta period -- Ubuntu Linux 18.10 Cosmic Cuttlefish is finally available for download!

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Recently, we reported the Sentry K300 keypad flash drive from DataLocker Inc. What made that flash drive newsworthy? Well, besides its 256-bit AES hardware encryption, it has an industry first -- an OLED screen.

While entering a passcode into keypad on a flash drive is cool, Lexar has a new drive that makes it look like old hat. The JumpDrive Fingerprint F35, as it is called, uses biometrics for decryption. Much like the fingerprint reader found on a smartphone, you can use your finger to unlock the flash drive. How cool is that?

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If you can afford it, 4K monitors are great. If you are on a budget, however, 1080p is still totally passable. They work perfectly with all operating sytems -- Windows, macOS, and Linux-based -- without any scaling issues. In other words, it is generally a headache-free experience.

Today, AOC launches a new affordable "V2 Series" line of 1080p monitors, and they look incredible. How affordable are they? Pricing starts at a mere $99.99! There are three sizes from which to choose -- 22-inch, 24-inch, and 27-inch. The bezels are insanely slim -- great for those that want to use two side-by-side. Despite being inexpensive, these monitors are not no-frills. Believe it or not, they have AMD FreeSync technology and a respectable 75Hz refresh.

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Using a computer should be fun and inspiring. Windows used to be enjoyable for many consumers, but Microsoft's latest operating system just isn't. Not only is Windows 10 very buggy -- deleting user files is as bad as it gets, folks -- but the spyware nature with the excessive telemetry can make the user feel like a visitor on their own computer. Hey, you spent good money on your PC -- you should feel at home on it, right?

Enter Linux. God bless the open source kernel. Thanks to Linux-based operating systems and excellent free open source software, it is possible to return to the better days of computing. One operating system in particular has put a ton of focus on the user experience -- elementary OS. This is an oversimplification, but the interface feels like a blend between GNOME and macOS. It looks good, is intuitive, and is an absolute pleasure to use. October may be the month of Halloween, but it feels more like Christmas, because the latest version of the operating system -- Juno -- is ready to be unwrapped like a gift.

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We are currently in the golden age of storage -- NVMe solid state drives are insanely fast and getting increasingly more affordable. Whether you are a gamer or performance enthusiast, you are probably in tech heaven.

Today, Corsair launches its latest storage drive, and yes, it is an NVMe PCIe SSD. The "Force Series MP510," as it is called, offers blazing fast performance -- 3,480MB/sec read and 3,000MB/sec write.

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These days, it can be quite scary storing important data in the cloud. We were sold a bill of goods that the cloud was safe and secure, but with so many data breaches, it’s only a matter of time before your data is exposed. Sad but true.

If you want to store important files locally, a drive with hardware encryption is ideal. Keypad variants are quite convenient, as they can easily work on all operating systems, such as macOS, Windows, and Linux distros. Today, DataLocker Inc. announces a beautiful such drive with a unique feature -- an OLED screen.

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Paul Allen is dead. Sadly, the Microsoft co-founder succumbed to cancer today -- non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, to be exact. His death is a bit of a surprise, as earlier in the month, he shared on Twitter that his prognosis was good. Unfortunately, as we learned from the death of Steve Jobs, money can't guarantee life -- an important thing to reflect on when feeling down about being broke. Good health is priceless.

While less famous than Bill Gates, Allen (the bearded one above) was still a tremendous force in the world of technology. The icon earned billions of dollars thanks to his time at Microsoft, something he used to become a big name in the world of sports -- surprising for a tech guy. He purchased both an NBA team (Portland Trail Blazers) and an NFL franchise (Seattle Seahawks). While I am sure he loved both teams, the latter was probably closer to his heart. You see, Allen was a significant presence in Seattle, WA -- the place he was born and died. He was probably beyond proud when he brought a Super Bowl championship to the city he loved so much.

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