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Hacks & Workarounds

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All articles tagged Hacks & Workarounds.

5 Milwaukee Tools Worth Waiting for This Summer

Milwaukee announced over 150 new products for 2026, but several standouts still haven't shipped. Here's what's coming in June and July that mechanics and contractors should keep on their radar.

Manaal Khan·23 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

6 TV Cliffhangers From the 2000s That Never Got Resolved

Some of the best TV shows of the 21st century ended abruptly, leaving fans without closure. From My Name Is Earl to Santa Clarita Diet, these six series left major plot threads dangling when networks pulled the plug.

Manaal Khan·23 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

3 Waze Features That Work Better on Android Auto

Waze's community-driven navigation shines brighter when moved from your phone to your car's dashboard. Voice reporting, larger hazard alerts, and streamlined rerouting all benefit from Android Auto's bigger screen and safer interface.

Manaal Khan·23 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

6 Jailbroken Kindle Plugins That Replace Amazon's Software

A veteran Kindle hacker shares six free plugins that transform a jailbroken Kindle into a more capable device. From the open-source KOReader to Pomodoro timers, these community-built tools offer features Amazon never shipped.

Manaal Khan·23 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·6 min

12 Apple Watch Tricks That Power Users Swear By

Most Apple Watch owners use maybe 20% of what the device can do. A decade-long user shares the hidden gestures, shortcuts, and settings that transform the Watch from a notification repeater into a genuine productivity tool.

Manaal Khan·23 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

How to Turn Your Obsidian Vault Into an Automatic Project Tracker

The free Dataview plugin transforms Obsidian's local Markdown files into a queryable database. One user built a project dashboard that eliminated twenty-minute note hunts. Here's how to set it up.

Huma Shazia·23 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·6 min

7 Places to Put Smart Buttons in Your Home

Smart buttons are the overlooked solution to voice assistant frustration and app fatigue. These physical remotes work instantly, function offline, and can be placed exactly where you need them. Here's where they belong.

Manaal Khan·23 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

How to Run Claude Code Locally Without API Costs

A MakeUseOf writer built a fully local AI coding setup by pairing Claude Code with Ollama, eliminating recurring API bills. The approach swaps Anthropic's cloud models for open-weight alternatives that run entirely on your machine.

Manaal Khan·23 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

2027 Kia Seltos vs Audi Q3: Premium Tech at Half the Price

Kia's redesigned 2027 Seltos delivers a dual-screen cockpit and premium features that rival the 2026 Audi Q3, but starts nearly $20,000 cheaper. The second-generation compact SUV debuted at the New York Auto Show with a new platform and technology suite that blurs the line between mainstream and luxury.

Huma Shazia·23 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

Libby App: How to Read Thousands of Books Free

The Libby app connects to your local public library, giving you free access to ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines. If you have a library card, you already have a subscription to thousands of titles. No late fees, no upselling, just reading.

Huma Shazia·23 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

Shotcut: A Free Video Editor That Handles 4K Without Fees

Adobe Premiere Pro costs hundreds per year and locks users into contracts with early termination fees. Shotcut, an open-source alternative, handles 4K editing without subscriptions, watermarks, or export restrictions. For creators who edit a handful of videos annually, the free option makes the paid one hard to justify.

Huma Shazia·23 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·6 min

5 Android Permissions That Act Like Backdoors for Malware

Not all Android permissions are equal. Five specific ones give apps so much control over your phone that banking trojans and stalkerware actively exploit them. Here's what they are and how to check if you've already granted them.

Manaal Khan·23 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

3 Claude Features to Enable Before You Waste Your Subscription

A tech writer shares hard-won lessons from her first months with Claude Pro. The AI assistant works better when you configure memory, understand its workflow tools, and stop treating it like a disposable chatbot.

Manaal Khan·22 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

5 Pixel Settings to Disable for Better Battery Life

Google's Pixel phones ship with convenience features that drain battery in the background. Here are five settings to turn off in your first hour with the phone, plus smarter alternatives that preserve the functionality without the power cost.

Huma Shazia·22 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

Windows 11 God Mode: How to Create One-Click Setting Shortcuts

Windows 11 scatters system settings between the modern Settings app and Control Panel, making simple tweaks tedious. God Mode consolidates hundreds of options in one folder, but you can take it further by creating desktop shortcuts for your most-used settings.

Huma Shazia·22 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

5 Sound-Reactive ESP32 Projects to Build This Weekend

The ESP32 microcontroller paired with a simple microphone can create surprisingly clever audio-responsive gadgets. From portable party lights to Home Assistant integrations, these five weekend projects turn sound into action without breaking the bank.

Huma Shazia·22 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

5 NAS Upgrades You Can Do This Weekend for Almost Nothing

Your network-attached storage doesn't need expensive hardware to become more useful. Five practical upgrades, most of them free, can improve reliability and add new capabilities without eating your entire Saturday.

Huma Shazia·22 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·6 min

3 Ways Your Browser Leaks Data and How to Stop Each One

Every website you visit learns your IP address, browsing history via cookies, and unique device fingerprint. These three data leaks happen silently, but each has a practical fix that takes minutes to set up.

Huma Shazia·22 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

ChatGPT vs Claude: Why One Writer Switched After 3 Tests

A tech journalist ran identical prompts through both AI assistants and found ChatGPT falling behind on basic tasks. The comparison reveals growing quality gaps in daily workflow scenarios.

Manaal Khan·22 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

Excel Conditional Formatting: 5 Rules That Fix Ugly Spreadsheets

Most beginner spreadsheets fail for the same reason: they lack visual structure. Excel's conditional formatting applies rule-based styling that updates automatically, turning walls of numbers into readable data. Here's how to use it without touching a formula.

Manaal Khan·22 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

How to Stop Your Smart TV From Tracking Your Viewing Habits

Your smart TV logs every show you watch and sells that data to advertisers. The technology behind this, called Automatic Content Recognition, runs on every major TV brand. Here's what ACR collects and how to disable it.

Huma Shazia·22 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·5 min

Android 17 Beta: 3 Features That Make Old Pixels Feel New

Google's Android 17 beta introduces smarter memory management, per-app theme control, and improved chat bubbles. These under-the-radar changes address long-standing Pixel pain points without flashy AI announcements.

Huma Shazia·22 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

OnlyOffice vs LibreOffice (2026): Which Free Office Suite Wins?

Microsoft Word alternatives promise freedom from subscription fees, but most break when you need to share .docx files with colleagues. One tech writer tested both LibreOffice and OnlyOffice to find which actually maintains formatting compatibility.

Huma Shazia·22 May 2026

Hacks & Workarounds·4 min

Phyphox Turns Your Android Phone Into a Physics Lab

Your smartphone already has accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, and barometers. Phyphox, a free open-source app from RWTH Aachen University, lets you access these sensors directly to run real physics experiments, graph data in real time, and export results for analysis.

Manaal Khan·22 May 2026