Ask Ars: are "green" hard drives really all that green?
Ask Ars was one of the first features of the newly born Ars Technica back in 1998. It's all about your questions and our community's answers. Each week, we'll dig into our bag of questions, answer a few based...
Feature: Making music in Linux and beyond
You can do a lot with free open-source software, also known as FOSS. Musicians with a yen for Linux are in luck; the array of choices for creating, editing, producing, and publishing music using nothing but FOSS software is...
Feature: Why you should always encrypt your smartphone
Last week, California's Supreme Court reached a controversial 5-2 decision in People v. Diaz (PDF), holding that police officers may lawfully search mobile phones found on arrested individuals' persons without first obtaining a ...
Should you buy a Verizon iPhone? Your questions answered
The Verizon iPhone has finally become a reality thanks to years' worth of collaboration between Apple and the "nation's most reliable network." We—and everyone else on the Internet—have been flooded with questions abo...
The state of Intel’s CES booth: MIDs gone, netbooks down, TVs and tablets up
The shot of Intel's booth above speaks volumes about the company's plans and priorities for 2011—not so much what's in the picture, but what isn't. Last year, the wall to the right housed a huge...
Feature: Lords of the rings: understanding tree ring science
Ask any second grader what you can do with the rings on a tree, and they'll respond, "Learn the age of the tree!" They're not wrong, but dendrochronology—the dating of trees based on patterns in their rings—is more t......
How to keep your customers safe at your business’ hotspot
Public WiFi is insecure. But it doesn't have to be. If you own or manage a venue, like a coffeeshop or restaurant, and provide free and open WiFi, you can help protect your customers without having to provide technical...
How to stay safe at a public Wi-Fi hotspot
Firesheep lit a figurative fire under the feet of folks who otherwise weren't concerned with the security of their data as it passes to and fro over a WiFi network in a public place. That's good. You're at risk...
Feature: Raising a healthy gamer: seven tips for parents
This feature originally ran in the middle of 2009, but with video games being such a popular gift for the holidays, this seemed like a good time to revisit the issue. We were happy to see that very little...
Feature: The 2010 Ars Technica Gaming Gift Guide
The Gaming Gift Guide is the third installment in our four-part series of holiday guides. Part 1 focused on gadgets and gizmos, Part 2 was a mix of staff recommendations, and Part 4 (launching tomorrow)...
Apple, Google, RIM go shopping for Nortel patents
Apple and Google are reportedly in a bidding war for bankrupt Canadian telecom Nortel's patent portfolio. Unnamed sources speaking to Reuters confirmed that the two companies—among others—participated in the first rou...
