Make Tech Easier https://maketecheasier.com/ Uncomplicating the complicated, making life easier Fri, 24 Jul 2026 11:47:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.5 https://maketecheasier.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/cropped-site-icon-32x32.png Make Tech Easier https://maketecheasier.com/ 32 32 At 3 gigahertz, a processor has only a third of a nanosecond between clock ticks, enough time for light to travel about 10 centimetres in vacuum before real interconnects, logic gates and capacitance shrink the distance a signal can cross on the chip https://maketecheasier.com/mte-at-3-gigahertz-a-processor-has-only-a-third-of-a-nanosecond-between-clock-ticks-enough-time-for-light-to-travel-about-10-centimetres-in-vacuum-before-real-interconnects-logic-gates-and-capacita/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-at-3-gigahertz-a-processor-has-only-a-third-of-a-nanosecond-between-clock-ticks-enough-time-for-light-to-travel-about-10-centimetres-in-vacuum-before-real-interconnects-logic-gates-and-capacita/#respond Fri, 24 Jul 2026 11:47:05 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861528 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-at-3-gigahertz-a-processor-has-only-a-third-of-a-nanosecond-between-clock-ticks-enough-time-for-light-to-travel-about-10-centimetres-in-vacuum-before-real-interconnects-logic-gates-and-capacita/feed/ 0 When Adobe announced Flash’s end-of-life in July 2017, it closed a technology that had once run on 99 per cent of desktops — and took with it an estimated four million animations, games and interactive works now preserved only by an amateur archive called Flashpoint https://maketecheasier.com/mte-when-adobe-announced-flashs-end-of-life-in-july-2017-it-closed-a-technology-that-had-once-run-on-99-per-cent-of-desktops-and-took-with-it-an-estimated-four-million-animations-games-and-interactive/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-when-adobe-announced-flashs-end-of-life-in-july-2017-it-closed-a-technology-that-had-once-run-on-99-per-cent-of-desktops-and-took-with-it-an-estimated-four-million-animations-games-and-interactive/#respond Fri, 24 Jul 2026 09:38:35 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861515 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-when-adobe-announced-flashs-end-of-life-in-july-2017-it-closed-a-technology-that-had-once-run-on-99-per-cent-of-desktops-and-took-with-it-an-estimated-four-million-animations-games-and-interactive/feed/ 0 When Japan’s trade ministry put the PlayStation 2 under export control in April 2000, its 6.2-gigaflop hardware was considered adaptable for missile guidance, briefly forcing anyone exporting more than one console to seek government approval https://maketecheasier.com/mte-when-japans-trade-ministry-put-the-playstation-2-under-export-control-in-april-2000-its-6-2-gigaflop-hardware-was-considered-adaptable-for-missile-guidance-briefly-forcing-anyone-export/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-when-japans-trade-ministry-put-the-playstation-2-under-export-control-in-april-2000-its-6-2-gigaflop-hardware-was-considered-adaptable-for-missile-guidance-briefly-forcing-anyone-export/#respond Fri, 24 Jul 2026 08:30:02 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861507 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-when-japans-trade-ministry-put-the-playstation-2-under-export-control-in-april-2000-its-6-2-gigaflop-hardware-was-considered-adaptable-for-missile-guidance-briefly-forcing-anyone-export/feed/ 0 How did a failed CD deal between Sony and Nintendo in 1991 accidentally create the console that would sell over 100 million units and reshape gaming? https://maketecheasier.com/mte-q-how-did-a-failed-cd-deal-between-sony-and-nintendo-in-1991-accidentally-create-the-console-that-would-sell-over-100-million-units-and-reshape-gaming/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-q-how-did-a-failed-cd-deal-between-sony-and-nintendo-in-1991-accidentally-create-the-console-that-would-sell-over-100-million-units-and-reshape-gaming/#respond Fri, 24 Jul 2026 08:05:45 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861505 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-q-how-did-a-failed-cd-deal-between-sony-and-nintendo-in-1991-accidentally-create-the-console-that-would-sell-over-100-million-units-and-reshape-gaming/feed/ 0 Standard QR codes hide three larger squares in their corners so scanners can orient them from any angle, while their strongest Reed-Solomon setting can restore roughly 30 per cent of damaged codewords, though not necessarily 30 per cent of the visible square https://maketecheasier.com/mte-standard-qr-codes-hide-three-larger-squares-in-their-corners-so-scanners-can-orient-them-from-any-angle-while-their-strongest-reed-solomon-setting-can-restore-roughly-30-per-cent-of-damaged-codew/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-standard-qr-codes-hide-three-larger-squares-in-their-corners-so-scanners-can-orient-them-from-any-angle-while-their-strongest-reed-solomon-setting-can-restore-roughly-30-per-cent-of-damaged-codew/#respond Fri, 24 Jul 2026 07:39:26 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861503 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-standard-qr-codes-hide-three-larger-squares-in-their-corners-so-scanners-can-orient-them-from-any-angle-while-their-strongest-reed-solomon-setting-can-restore-roughly-30-per-cent-of-damaged-codew/feed/ 0 In 1911, the Dutch physicist Heike Kamerlingh Onnes cooled a thread of mercury to 4.2 kelvin in a bath of liquid helium and its electrical resistance vanished completely, and a current set circulating in a superconducting loop like that will still be flowing years later, indistinguishable from the day it began https://maketecheasier.com/mte-in-1911-the-dutch-physicist-heike-kamerlingh-onnes-cooled-a-thread-of-mercury-to-4-2-kelvin-in-a-bath-of-liquid-helium-and-its-electrical-resistance-vanished-completely-and-a-current-set-circula/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-in-1911-the-dutch-physicist-heike-kamerlingh-onnes-cooled-a-thread-of-mercury-to-4-2-kelvin-in-a-bath-of-liquid-helium-and-its-electrical-resistance-vanished-completely-and-a-current-set-circula/#respond Fri, 24 Jul 2026 06:57:17 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861501 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-in-1911-the-dutch-physicist-heike-kamerlingh-onnes-cooled-a-thread-of-mercury-to-4-2-kelvin-in-a-bath-of-liquid-helium-and-its-electrical-resistance-vanished-completely-and-a-current-set-circula/feed/ 0 Red, green and blue became the primary colours on every screen because the human retina carries just three types of cone cells — the pixels aren’t matching the light, they’re matching your eyes https://maketecheasier.com/mte-red-green-and-blue-became-the-primary-colours-on-every-screen-because-the-human-retina-carries-just-three-types-of-cone-cells-the-pixels-arent-matching-the-light-theyre-matching-your-eyes/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-red-green-and-blue-became-the-primary-colours-on-every-screen-because-the-human-retina-carries-just-three-types-of-cone-cells-the-pixels-arent-matching-the-light-theyre-matching-your-eyes/#respond Thu, 23 Jul 2026 12:14:12 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861497 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-red-green-and-blue-became-the-primary-colours-on-every-screen-because-the-human-retina-carries-just-three-types-of-cone-cells-the-pixels-arent-matching-the-light-theyre-matching-your-eyes/feed/ 0 Inside a modern processor, transistors switch on and off billions of times a second — and they’ve shrunk to about 3 nanometres wide, roughly 15 silicon atoms across, close to the physical limit of how small a switch can be https://maketecheasier.com/mte-inside-a-modern-processor-transistors-switch-on-and-off-billions-of-times-a-second-and-theyve-shrunk-to-about-3-nanometres-wide-roughly-15-silicon-atoms-across-close-to-the-physical-limit-of-how-s/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-inside-a-modern-processor-transistors-switch-on-and-off-billions-of-times-a-second-and-theyve-shrunk-to-about-3-nanometres-wide-roughly-15-silicon-atoms-across-close-to-the-physical-limit-of-how-s/#respond Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:02:46 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861493 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-inside-a-modern-processor-transistors-switch-on-and-off-billions-of-times-a-second-and-theyve-shrunk-to-about-3-nanometres-wide-roughly-15-silicon-atoms-across-close-to-the-physical-limit-of-how-s/feed/ 0 In 1987, CompuServe engineer Steve Wilhite built GIF around LZW compression and a palette capped at 256 colours for users on 2,400-bit-per-second modems, and the file structure that emerged still governs the looping images moving through browsers and chats today https://maketecheasier.com/mte-in-1987-compuserve-engineer-steve-wilhite-built-gif-around-lzw-compression-and-a-palette-capped-at-256-colours-for-users-on-2400-bit-per-second-modems-and-the-file-structure-that-emerged-still/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-in-1987-compuserve-engineer-steve-wilhite-built-gif-around-lzw-compression-and-a-palette-capped-at-256-colours-for-users-on-2400-bit-per-second-modems-and-the-file-structure-that-emerged-still/#respond Thu, 23 Jul 2026 10:00:56 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861486 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-in-1987-compuserve-engineer-steve-wilhite-built-gif-around-lzw-compression-and-a-palette-capped-at-256-colours-for-users-on-2400-bit-per-second-modems-and-the-file-structure-that-emerged-still/feed/ 0 How did a single mistyped command by one AWS engineer in February 2017 knock a huge slice of the internet offline for nearly four hours? https://maketecheasier.com/mte-q-how-did-a-single-mistyped-command-by-one-aws-engineer-in-february-2017-knock-a-huge-slice-of-the-internet-offline-for-nearly-four-hours/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-q-how-did-a-single-mistyped-command-by-one-aws-engineer-in-february-2017-knock-a-huge-slice-of-the-internet-offline-for-nearly-four-hours/#respond Thu, 23 Jul 2026 09:01:32 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861468 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-q-how-did-a-single-mistyped-command-by-one-aws-engineer-in-february-2017-knock-a-huge-slice-of-the-internet-offline-for-nearly-four-hours/feed/ 0 The peak of Chimborazo in Ecuador sits about 2,072 metres closer to space than Everest’s summit — because Earth bulges at the equator, and Chimborazo stands almost directly on the bulge https://maketecheasier.com/mte-the-peak-of-chimborazo-in-ecuador-sits-about-2-072-metres-closer-to-space-than-everests-summit-because-earth-bulges-at-the-equator-and-chimborazo-stands-almost-directly-on-the-bulge/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-the-peak-of-chimborazo-in-ecuador-sits-about-2-072-metres-closer-to-space-than-everests-summit-because-earth-bulges-at-the-equator-and-chimborazo-stands-almost-directly-on-the-bulge/#respond Thu, 23 Jul 2026 08:00:32 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861464 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-the-peak-of-chimborazo-in-ecuador-sits-about-2-072-metres-closer-to-space-than-everests-summit-because-earth-bulges-at-the-equator-and-chimborazo-stands-almost-directly-on-the-bulge/feed/ 0 Wi-Fi doesn’t actually slow down when a café gets crowded — the signal is fine, but every device has to wait its turn to speak on the same frequency, and the polite queuing is what you feel as lag https://maketecheasier.com/mte-wi-fi-doesnt-actually-slow-down-when-a-caf-gets-crowded-the-signal-is-fine-but-every-device-has-to-wait-its-turn-to-speak-on-the-same-frequency-and-the-polite-queuing-is-what-you-feel-as-lag/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-wi-fi-doesnt-actually-slow-down-when-a-caf-gets-crowded-the-signal-is-fine-but-every-device-has-to-wait-its-turn-to-speak-on-the-same-frequency-and-the-polite-queuing-is-what-you-feel-as-lag/#respond Thu, 23 Jul 2026 06:48:12 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861466 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-wi-fi-doesnt-actually-slow-down-when-a-caf-gets-crowded-the-signal-is-fine-but-every-device-has-to-wait-its-turn-to-speak-on-the-same-frequency-and-the-polite-queuing-is-what-you-feel-as-lag/feed/ 0 In a Milwaukee workshop in the 1870s, Christopher Latham Sholes spent years rearranging the keys of his mechanical Type-Writer so that commonly paired letters sat far apart, ensuring the metal typebars would swing from different directions and not jam mid-word https://maketecheasier.com/mte-the-qwerty-layout-on-your-keyboard-was-designed-in-the-1870s-to-slow-typists-down-the-arrangement-kept-commonly-paired-letters-apart-so-the-metal-typebars-of-christopher-sholess-mechanical-typewri/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-the-qwerty-layout-on-your-keyboard-was-designed-in-the-1870s-to-slow-typists-down-the-arrangement-kept-commonly-paired-letters-apart-so-the-metal-typebars-of-christopher-sholess-mechanical-typewri/#respond Thu, 23 Jul 2026 05:29:39 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861476 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-the-qwerty-layout-on-your-keyboard-was-designed-in-the-1870s-to-slow-typists-down-the-arrangement-kept-commonly-paired-letters-apart-so-the-metal-typebars-of-christopher-sholess-mechanical-typewri/feed/ 0 People who are truly pleasant and kind but have no close friends often spent decades being the one everyone called during a crisis — and somewhere along the way noticed almost none of those calls had reversed direction https://maketecheasier.com/people-who-are-truly-pleasant-and-kind-but-have-no-close-friends-often-spent-decades-being-the-one-everyone-called-during-a-crisis-and-somewhere-along-the-way-noticed-almost-none-of-those-ca/ https://maketecheasier.com/people-who-are-truly-pleasant-and-kind-but-have-no-close-friends-often-spent-decades-being-the-one-everyone-called-during-a-crisis-and-somewhere-along-the-way-noticed-almost-none-of-those-ca/#respond Thu, 23 Jul 2026 04:14:02 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861472 https://maketecheasier.com/people-who-are-truly-pleasant-and-kind-but-have-no-close-friends-often-spent-decades-being-the-one-everyone-called-during-a-crisis-and-somewhere-along-the-way-noticed-almost-none-of-those-ca/feed/ 0 Research suggests the feeling that time speeds up with age can be shaped by fewer temporal landmarks — the small disruptions to routine that give the brain something worth remembering https://maketecheasier.com/research-suggests-the-feeling-that-time-speeds-up-with-age-can-be-shaped-by-fewer-temporal-landmarks-the-small-disruptions-to-routine-that-give-the-brain-something-worth-remembering-2/ https://maketecheasier.com/research-suggests-the-feeling-that-time-speeds-up-with-age-can-be-shaped-by-fewer-temporal-landmarks-the-small-disruptions-to-routine-that-give-the-brain-something-worth-remembering-2/#respond Thu, 23 Jul 2026 04:06:57 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861469 https://maketecheasier.com/research-suggests-the-feeling-that-time-speeds-up-with-age-can-be-shaped-by-fewer-temporal-landmarks-the-small-disruptions-to-routine-that-give-the-brain-something-worth-remembering-2/feed/ 0 Ray-finned fishes evolved bioluminescence at least 27 chemistry and others by housing luminous bacteria, a repeated evolutionary experiment spread across deep-sea, inshore and reef lineages using different molecular machinery to make visible light https://maketecheasier.com/mte-ray-finned-fishes-evolved-bioluminescence-at-least-27-chemistry-and-others-by-housing-luminous-bacteria-a-repeated-evolutionary-experiment-spread-across-deep-sea-inshore-and-reef-lineages-using/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-ray-finned-fishes-evolved-bioluminescence-at-least-27-chemistry-and-others-by-housing-luminous-bacteria-a-repeated-evolutionary-experiment-spread-across-deep-sea-inshore-and-reef-lineages-using/#respond Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:09:57 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861455 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-ray-finned-fishes-evolved-bioluminescence-at-least-27-chemistry-and-others-by-housing-luminous-bacteria-a-repeated-evolutionary-experiment-spread-across-deep-sea-inshore-and-reef-lineages-using/feed/ 0 The Sun is actually white — the yellow we see is Earth’s atmosphere scattering the shorter blue wavelengths away before the light reaches our eyes, which is also why sunsets turn red https://maketecheasier.com/mte-the-sun-is-actually-white-the-yellow-we-see-is-earths-atmosphere-scattering-the-shorter-blue-wavelengths-away-before-the-light-reaches-our-eyes-which-is-also-why-sunsets-turn-red/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-the-sun-is-actually-white-the-yellow-we-see-is-earths-atmosphere-scattering-the-shorter-blue-wavelengths-away-before-the-light-reaches-our-eyes-which-is-also-why-sunsets-turn-red/#respond Wed, 22 Jul 2026 12:01:52 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861450 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-the-sun-is-actually-white-the-yellow-we-see-is-earths-atmosphere-scattering-the-shorter-blue-wavelengths-away-before-the-light-reaches-our-eyes-which-is-also-why-sunsets-turn-red/feed/ 0 In 1858, engineers laid the first telegraph cable across the Atlantic — it worked for only three weeks before failing, but it cut the message time between London and New York from ten days to a matter of minutes, and set the pattern for every undersea internet cable since https://maketecheasier.com/mte-in-1858-engineers-laid-the-first-telegraph-cable-across-the-atlantic-it-worked-for-only-three-weeks-before-failing-but-it-cut-the-message-time-between-london-and-new-york-from-ten-days-to-a-matter/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-in-1858-engineers-laid-the-first-telegraph-cable-across-the-atlantic-it-worked-for-only-three-weeks-before-failing-but-it-cut-the-message-time-between-london-and-new-york-from-ten-days-to-a-matter/#respond Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:30:18 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861448 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-in-1858-engineers-laid-the-first-telegraph-cable-across-the-atlantic-it-worked-for-only-three-weeks-before-failing-but-it-cut-the-message-time-between-london-and-new-york-from-ten-days-to-a-matter/feed/ 0 In 1988, a 23-year-old Cornell graduate student named Robert Morris released a self-replicating program to measure the size of the internet — within hours it had crashed roughly 6,000 of the 60,000 machines then online, and computer security became a field https://maketecheasier.com/mte-in-1988-a-23-year-old-cornell-graduate-student-named-robert-morris-released-a-self-replicating-program-to-measure-the-size-of-the-internet-within-hours-it-had-crashed-roughly-6-000-of-the-60-000-m/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-in-1988-a-23-year-old-cornell-graduate-student-named-robert-morris-released-a-self-replicating-program-to-measure-the-size-of-the-internet-within-hours-it-had-crashed-roughly-6-000-of-the-60-000-m/#respond Wed, 22 Jul 2026 10:30:22 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861436 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-in-1988-a-23-year-old-cornell-graduate-student-named-robert-morris-released-a-self-replicating-program-to-measure-the-size-of-the-internet-within-hours-it-had-crashed-roughly-6-000-of-the-60-000-m/feed/ 0 Noise-cancelling headphones don’t block sound, they generate its exact mirror image — a microphone samples the incoming wave, and the driver plays an inverted copy that meets it and cancels to near silence https://maketecheasier.com/mte-noise-cancelling-headphones-dont-block-sound-they-generate-its-exact-mirror-image-a-microphone-samples-the-incoming-wave-and-the-driver-plays-an-inverted-copy-that-meets-it-and-cancels-to-near-sil/ https://maketecheasier.com/mte-noise-cancelling-headphones-dont-block-sound-they-generate-its-exact-mirror-image-a-microphone-samples-the-incoming-wave-and-the-driver-plays-an-inverted-copy-that-meets-it-and-cancels-to-near-sil/#respond Wed, 22 Jul 2026 09:00:09 +0000 https://maketecheasier.com/?p=861428 https://maketecheasier.com/mte-noise-cancelling-headphones-dont-block-sound-they-generate-its-exact-mirror-image-a-microphone-samples-the-incoming-wave-and-the-driver-plays-an-inverted-copy-that-meets-it-and-cancels-to-near-sil/feed/ 0