This Supreme Court decision is bad news for Hollywood’s AI ambitions
Computer scientist Stephen Thaler was well ahead of the curve when it came to generative AI. He created his own generative AI system, DABUS (Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience), many years before the current boom, and used to create the piece of artwork you see above, entitled A Recent Entrance To Paradise.
Source: MakeUseOf | 14 Mar 2026 | 12:00 pm(NZT)
Still running Windows 10? Here's what actually happens if you don't upgrade
Your Windows 10 PC still works fine, booting up, running the apps you need, and connecting to the internet. Nothing has visible changed recently, but there is a change. And the longer you wait to deal with it, the worse your options will become.
Source: MakeUseOf | 14 Mar 2026 | 11:00 am(NZT)
Don't buy a power station until you try this with your tool batteries
Portable power stations have become one of those products that seem indispensable once you start reading about them. Jackery, EcoFlow, Bluetti — there's a whole category built around the idea that you need a dedicated battery bank to keep the lights on during a storm or charge your phone at a campsite. Some of those products are excellent. They're also $150 on the low end, closer to $400 if you want real capacity, and they require their own charging ecosystem. If you already own Ryobi ONE+ tools, you may already have most of what you need. The Ryobi 18V ONE+ 150W power source costs $49 as a bare tool and snaps directly onto the batteries you already own. It changed how I think about portable power.
Source: MakeUseOf | 14 Mar 2026 | 10:00 am(NZT)
Your spreadsheets shouldn't look like a rainbow — use conditional formatting properly
When you see a traffic light, you don’t have to stop and think about what red or green means. You just know what to do because your brain can decode the signal instantly. The colors follow a clear, familiar system that doesn’t require explanation every time you see it.
Source: MakeUseOf | 14 Mar 2026 | 9:30 am(NZT)
The 7 Linux apps I install on every fresh system (no terminal required)
A fresh Linux install feels amazing for about ten minutes. Everything boots fast, the desktop is spotless, and nothing is cluttered yet. For a brief moment, it feels like this machine might finally stay perfectly organized forever. Then real life begins. A few chats appear, perhaps you have downloaded a video, or your phone wants to send a file to your computer. Suddenly, that pristine system starts revealing small gaps that make everyday tasks slightly more awkward than they should be.
Source: MakeUseOf | 14 Mar 2026 | 9:00 am(NZT)
I put Asahi Linux on my M1 MacBook and it’s surprisingly usable in 2026
I've put Linux on many of my older Macs as a way to extend their life or to learn more about the Linux operating system. That came to an end when Apple started making its own Silicon, as Linux had always needed Intel on a Mac to manage the install.
Source: MakeUseOf | 14 Mar 2026 | 8:31 am(NZT)
Windows 11's Snipping Tool is now my favorite way to copy text
Windows 11 has plenty of useful preinstalled apps, and one of them is Snipping Tool. The built-in screen capture tool lets you record your screen, take screenshots, and even annotate live. It's a handy tool for basic screen capturing needs without investing in a full-blown screenshot app like ShareX.
Source: MakeUseOf | 14 Mar 2026 | 8:00 am(NZT)
The weird reason your laptop battery drops faster when it’s almost full
You unplug your laptop at 100%, and within the first twenty minutes, it's already at 85%. Then, strangely, it seems to crawl from 60% down to 30% over the next two hours without much drama. Does it sound familiar?
Source: MakeUseOf | 14 Mar 2026 | 7:30 am(NZT)
This 60-second Windows health check is better than any third-party app
Every time something felt off on my Windows PC in the past, I went searching for a third-party diagnostic app. The problem is that most of them are either bloatware, a limited fee scan that ends up in a paywall, or a simple dashboard that surfaces data from Windows itself. It's not an app that I need, but knowledge of where to look.
Source: MakeUseOf | 14 Mar 2026 | 7:00 am(NZT)
Almost every browser uses Chromium - these 5 don't
I'm someone who likes to stick with something if I know it works well. It's probably why I still use my Kindle Fire 7 tablet from 2015. If it isn't broken, there's no need to fix it. I felt the same way about using Google Chrome as my preferred browser. I have used it for years and haven't had too many issues with it.
Source: MakeUseOf | 14 Mar 2026 | 6:31 am(NZT)
