Everything is connected these days. Not only are our households filling up with an ever-increasing amount of screens, but the rest of our physical world is becoming wired as well. The coffee maker, the vacuum cleaner, and the refrigerator - it's all hi-tech nowadays. And the thermostat, washing machine, and television? All of those are now "smart" devices, brimming with Bluetooth and running software seemingly designed to piss your parents off when things don't work just right.

The end result is a whole new suite of problems to address when you come home for the holidays. The old ones still exist - a router is just as obnoxious as it's alwa …

Read the full story at The Verge.

It doesn't matter if a computer is brand new or several years past its prime, it seems like some relative you bump into over the holidays will always have encountered a problem with it. Macs are pretty easy to take care of, but you still have to deal with all of the common issues that hit any computer over time: slow downs, lost files, broken apps. Here's what you can do to get a troublesome Mac in good shape again without missing too much family time.

Update software (and maybe the OS)

The Mac App Store makes it really easy to keep apps up to date, but it's also really easy to keep clicking "ignore" when it prompts you to investigate and po …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Android phones don't usually need that much care and maintenance - assuming that your loved ones don't do anything crazy with them. But, well, that's probably a bad assumption. More so than iOS, Android phones make it easy to do lots of weird and cool things to the core of the OS. But "weird and cool" is the door to "stupid and dangerous," so when you head home this Thanksgiving, you might have a little work ahead of you.

Leave well enough alone

So look, your dad may come to you and say, "my phone is slow, what is wrong with it?" and exhort you to fix it. Take the phone, play around, and see if he's right. Perhaps he is, and perhaps that's o …

Read the full story at The Verge.

You finally convinced your parents it was time to leave their beloved flip phone behind and upgrade to a more modern device. They went with the iPhone, a dependable choice we've recommended as the best smartphone you can buy for several years in a row. They love the new phone but of course there are some minor problems you'll need to help troubleshoot. We're here to help ensure that your holiday tech support sessions go quickly and smoothly, leaving you more time to fill up on stuffing and enjoy the big game.

I can't find the apps I want

It's easy to get carried away with the excitement of a new phone and download a ton of apps. Pretty soon …

Read the full story at The Verge.

It's that time again: Thanksgiving. For the past 12 months you've been telling your parents to just "restart it" and the family PC has been running fine, kind of. You just want to enjoy your oven-roasted turkey on Thursday, but your parents are ready to embrace your technical skills. This year, it's time to fix all the little problems on the family PC and make sure it's easy to resolve others in the future. Here's a crash course on the type of questions you're going to get on Thursday.

My computer is too slow

This one is a classic one, and most people will complain about slow PCs. The best place to start is to make sure the system drive isn' …

Read the full story at The Verge.