Category: Tech Made Simple

How to stop Alexa from ruining Holiday Surprises

Echo smart speakers and smart displays have a handy feature that can show and tell you when there’s a package sitting on your doorstep and even what’s in it. While this is usually pretty helpful, this time of year it could seriously put a major Bah Humbug in your holiday season. Avoid making any Grinch-like […]

Halo Infinite is getting four new playlists Today!

Halo Infinite is getting Slayer, Free-For-All (FFA), Tactical Slayer (SWAT), and Fiesta playlists, according to a Reddit post from u/ske7ch343, otherwise known as 343 Industries’ community director Brian Jarrard (via Windows Central). Jarrard confirmed that the four playlists are coming to the game via an update on December 14th. 343 Industries previously said that Fiesta, […]

Mystery Solved: Amazon Web Services says “overwhelmed network devices” Triggered their Outage

If you’ve been wondering how that major Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage happened, and nervously asking, “Could it happen again?,” you’re not alone. The outage knocked out a slew of popular services like Venmo, Tinder, Disney Plus, and even Roomba, and the December 7th outage also put some Amazon deliveries on hold. Amazon experienced its […]

What caused Amazon’s outage? Will there be more?

A major outage in Amazon’s cloud computing network Tuesday severely disrupted services at a wide range of U.S. companies for hours, raising questions about the vulnerability of the internet and its concentration in the hands of a few firms. It was certainly a wake-up call for our ever-increasing dependence on all things tech.  Robotic vacuum […]

Is Sony’s new Spartacus subscription service PS’s answer to the Xbox Game Pass?

Sony is planning to create an Xbox Game Pass-like subscription service codenamed “Spartacus,” according to Bloomberg. The company already offers two subscription services, PlayStation Plus (which is required for the majority of online multiplayer games) and PlayStation Now (which offers a catalog of games to download or stream), and they will reportedly be merged in this […]

Valve has shared a Preview of the Steam Deck’s Final Package Design ahead of delayed Launch Date

Valve has shared a preview of the Steam Deck’s final package design ahead of the handheld gaming PC’s recently delayed launch date. Each Steam Deck comes with the console and a carrying case, and Valve revealed in these photos that each device also comes with its own USB-C power supply, meaning you won’t have to source your […]

Apple picks its 2021 App Store Award winners

Apple shared its 2021 App Store Award winners last Thursday, highlighting the 15 best apps and games selected by Apple’s global App Store editorial team. The top apps were chosen for their quality, innovative technology, creative design, and positive cultural impact. “The developers who won App Store Awards in 2021 harnessed their own drive and vision to […]

Twitch has a new Machine Learning Tool to detect Users evading Bans

The Verge reports that Twitch is furthering its efforts to reduce harassment with a new tool that uses machine learning to detect people who may be attempting to evade bans. It’s the company’s latest addition to combat things like hate raids, where streamers’ chats are overrun with trolls sending hateful messages. The new tool, called […]

Fortnite is closing its Second Chapter with a Big “The End” Event on December 4th

Fortnite’s next big in-game event won’t just mark the end of the latest season — it’ll also draw chapter 2 to a close as well. Called, appropriately, “The End,” The Verge reports that the one-time-only event will take place on December 4th at 4PM ET. Developer Epic describes it as “one last stand for the […]