How It Actually Works

Technology

Phones, internet, AI, and the digital life around them.

The energy path behind a hand-cranked smart lock — hand, dial, small generator, electromagnetic induction, supercapacitor, and a short burst of emergency power
How Does Ring's Hand-Crank Electricity Actually Work? Daniel S. I. · 10 min read
The Ring Smart Lock and its hand-cranked Power Dial — the emergency generator and supercapacitor that wake the lock when the main battery is dead
Ring Smart Lock: How the Dead-Battery Hand Crank Actually Works Daniel S. I. · 11 min read
Person wearing Meta smart glasses — what the FDA clearance for Meta's Hearing assist software actually covers, and who it is for
Can Meta's Smart Glasses Really Work as Hearing Aids? What the FDA Clearance Actually Means Daniel S. I. · 12 min read
Adversarial clothing: a shirt printed with a pattern designed to look ordinary to a person while interfering with what a computer-vision model detects
How Can a Shirt Fool an AI Camera? The Weird Science Behind Adversarial Clothing Daniel S. I. · 9 min read
A smartphone charging on a table with the airplane mode icon visible on its screen, illustrating whether airplane mode makes charging faster
Does Airplane Mode Really Charge Your Phone Faster? Daniel S. I. · 11 min read
A person adjusting a wireless earbud in one ear outdoors, illustrating why earbuds can fall out of ears that differ in shape and size
Why Do Your Earbuds Keep Falling Out? It's Not Always the Earbuds' Fault Daniel S. I. · 12 min read
A television with a black screen glowing in a dim living room while a remote points at it, illustrating a TV that plays sound but shows no picture
Why Does Your TV Have Sound but No Picture? What Failed Inside the Signal Chain? Daniel S. I. · 13 min read
Close-up of a hand holding a smartphone whose status bar shows SOS instead of signal bars, illustrating why a phone displays SOS when it cannot reach its carrier network for normal service
Why Does My Phone Say SOS? What It Means and How to Fix It Daniel S. I. · 11 min read
Illustration of a phone showing full WiFi bars while standing far from a router, with walls and interference in between, explaining why signal strength isn't the same as internet speed
Why Does WiFi Slow Down When You're Far From the Router, Even When the Signal Shows Full Bars? Daniel S. I. · 12 min read
Phone lying face down and warm on a desk with the screen off, showing heat rising while no one is using it
Why Does Your Phone Sometimes Get Hot When You're Not Using It? Daniel S. I. · 8 min read
Smartphone displaying a location map while GPS is switched off, showing how Wi-Fi and cell towers can still reveal where you are
Why Can Your Phone Know Where You Are Even When GPS Is Turned Off? Daniel S. I. · 6 min read
Phone gallery showing a deleted photo in the Recently Deleted folder, illustrating where deleted photos actually go
Where Does Your Deleted Photo Actually Go? Daniel S. I. · 8 min read
Smartphone showing battery, dark mode toggle, VPN switch, and charging cable representing eight tested tech myths
We Tested 8 of the Internet's Most Popular Tech Myths. Here's What Actually Happens Daniel S. I. · 11 min read
Recent apps screen on a smartphone showing multiple apps open in the background
Do Closing Apps on Your Phone Actually Save Battery Life? Daniel S. I. · 7 min read
Close-up of a smartphone showing 20% battery remaining on screen before unexpectedly shutting down
Why Does Your Phone Die at 20% Battery? Daniel S. I. · 8 min read