Boy do I wish this existed when Ian was in school! The founder of Khan Academy and his son test out OpenAI’s new tutoring tool. Pretty amazing stuff.
How to find out if the flash drive you bought is counterfeit
We all love a deal. But what if the 2TB hard drive you just bought only holds 50GB? It happens, folks. There’s a free tool you can use to check if what you bought is what you got. Do this with every drive you buy!
This is a game-changing application designed for Windows users. In an era where purchasing memory cards and external drives online carries the risk of receiving counterfeit products that don’t match their advertised specifications, ValiDrive steps in as a safeguard.
This software offers a 576-region spot-check tool, capable of assessing the readability, writability and genuine storage capacity of any USB storage drive. Whether it’s a compact thumb drive, a memory card or an external hard drive, ValiDrive ensures you get what you pay for.
How to use ValiDrive
The first thing you need to do is download ValiDrive to your Windows PC. Sorry Apple fans, this is only for Windows PCs at the moment. You can get the program on this page by clicking the Download now button.
Now that you have the file saved to your PC, open it. A User Account Control button will appear. Click Yes to run the tool.
Now, connect the flash drive to your PC’s USB port. NOTE: If the drive was connected before you opened ValiDrive, you must remove and reinsert it so ValiDrive recognizes it correctly.
ValiDrive will now display the drive’s declared size. Click Validate THIS drive to start the verification process. When the test is finished, you’ll see a map with four potential results that are color-coded in green, blue, yellow and red. They represent:
- Validated – The region’s original data was read, random noise data was written, then read, and the original data was replaced. At no time was any error reported, and the presence of storage underneath the tested location was fully verified. ValiDrive notes that fact in green.
- Read Error – During either of the two read operations – reading the drive’s original data or reading the random noise test data – the drive reported that it could not successfully perform the read. Since this prevents the validation of storage at that location, ValiDrive notes that fact with blue.
- Write Error – During either of the two write operations – writing the random noise test data or replacing the drive’s original data – the drive reported that it could not successfully perform the write. Since this prevents the validation of storage at that location, ValiDrive notes that fact in yellow.
- No Storage – The region’s original data was read, then random noise data was written. But despite no errors, the test data that was then read back did not match what was written. Therefore, at that tested location, the drive is not storing data nor indicating any error. ValiDrive notes that fact in red.
Click the Close button to exit the map. The next screen shows a detailed report summarizing the drive’s access time statistics. It also supplies more information about ValiDrive’s interaction with the drive.
Broken appliances? Use this site to learn how to fix them yourself
When a home appliance fails, it’s not always easy to diagnose the issue. What’s causing the problem and why? Tap or click here for 10 bad habits destroying your home appliances.
We’ve found a helpful tool with a find-a-part database to refer to when fixing an appliance. You can plug in your model number or brand and quickly get the answers you need.
Your medical claim was denied: And all you got was a form letter. Legally, your insurance company has to send you any relevant info if you know what to ask for. Try this free tool from Pro Publica for help.
How to avoid light pollution and stargaze
When was the last time you experienced a truly dark sky? I have an amazing tool that can find you a perfect stargazing spot, in 60 seconds.
🎓 Share this AI tool with a teacher: Khan Academy’s AI teaching assistant, Khanmigo, is now free for teachers to whip up quick lesson plans, thanks to a donation from Microsoft. You can bet this is going to make a huge dent on teachers who sell their lesson plans on TeachersPayTeachers.com.
How to import all your photos and videos from Facebook
The more social media accounts you have, the more data companies collect on you. There’s an easy way to clean up your old posts from Twitter, Facebook, Imgur and more. Tap or click here for a tool that can automatically remove posts from over 20 sites and apps.
Sick of hateful comments? Use this free tool to block them on your favorite sites
The internet is, arguably, the meanest place to hang out in the world. Hateful comments, harmful content, and other unsavory behavior all await. Where can you turn when it all gets to be just a bit too much to handle? Tap or click here to filter certain words from your Facebook feed.
What is the sharpest object in the world?
The sharpest object in the world is not a knife or razor blade. It’s a tiny, needle-like tip made of a single carbon atom. But this incredible tool is not used to cut things. Instead, it’s used to do something you may not have thought was possible.
📧 AI coming to Gmail inboxes: Soon, a “smart assistant” will summarize email threads and suggest responses. A Q&A tool (powered by Gemini) will dig through your emails to answer questions like, “I got three bids for a new roof. Which one is the best?” Once it’s live for everyone, I’ll show you how to use it.
Online selling savvy: Whether it’s a baseball card or a used car, there’s an excellent tool to determine its worth: eBay. Don’t waste time scrolling through active listings. Search for an item, then go to Filter and scroll to Sold Items. Tap or check the box to enable this filter. This gives you a better idea of the prices folks are willing to pay.
Clippy’s back …: … Kind of. Winpilot, a third-party tool that helps optimize your Windows OS, now includes a built-in assistant called — you guessed it — Clippy. Much like the original Office 97 assistant, it mostly assists with stuff you can do already in your Settings menu. But it can help you remove Windows 11’s built-in AI assistant, Copilot. Assistant-on-assistant crime: You hate to see it.
Is it real or AI? A new web app called AI or Not might have the answer. This free tool uses content recognition tech to identify if a pic is the product of AI tomfoolery. Drop in an image to see here.
Record your Mac screen: Maybe you’re sharing directions or want to show something to a friend. Hit Cmd + Shift + 5. A toolbar will pop up. Here’s a quick look at what each tool does. Pick your fave, hit Record, then press Stop when you’re done.
Try this on your Kindle: If you ever find yourself wondering, “Who’s that character again?” use the X-Ray tool. It provides a quick overview of characters, terms and even locations mentioned in the book so you’re never lost within a complex plot. Just hold down on the word(s) you want to know about.
Rappin’ Lisa: Microsoft’s new AI tool, VASA-1, animates still images into videos loaded with facial expressions, head motions and lip movements that match a speech or song. Here’s a video showing the Mona Lisa rapping. Microsoft is delaying the release of this tool, though, because it makes creating deepfakes too easy.
Cmd + spacebar: This Mac shortcut opens Spotlight, an incredibly powerful tool for finding documents quickly, opening apps or searching the web right from your desktop.
Free filing: The IRS is testing a free tax filing tool called Direct File in 12 states. Finally! Of course, there’s a catch: It’s only for folks in certain areas with specific incomes. Want in? Check here to see if you’re eligible.
Quick way to escape a car trunk
Know about this secret tool in your car’s trunk? Here’s how it can save you, in one minute.
Another example of why TikTok is a danger to America
Do you have a dangerous spy tool for China on your phone? I give you the details, in 60 seconds.