Secrets of Technology

Google built an Android laptop to take on the MacBook Air, but who actually wants one? Dom Bettinelli, Tom Grelinger, and Fr. Joseph Sund weigh the Googlebook's price, Gemini features, and app gap, plus the EU's age check app.

The post Google’s Android Laptop Takes Aim at the MacBook Air appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Is waving your card at a register riskier than swiping it? Dom Bettinelli, Thomas Sanjurjo, and Jack Baruzzini explain how NFC and RFID work, where the real weak spots are, and which fears to drop.

The post Invisible Radios: NFC and RFID Myths vs. Real Risks appeared first on StarQuest Media.

A $1,999 phone that unfolds into a tablet-sized screen — Apple's foldable is real, and it's the iPhone Duo. Dom Bettinelli and Joanne Mercier react to Apple's September event, from the Duo's three screens to the Watch's new Health Age.

The post Apple Unfolds Their New iPhone Future appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Announcing Holy Troublemakers, a new podcast from StarQuest. In this weekly podcast host Dom Bettinelli will introduce you to the difficult people who built the Catholic Church. From mystics who argued with popes to missionaries who walked into places nobody sane would go, every episode tells one of their stories.

The post Announcing Holy Troublemakers appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Deleting photos first is a mistake. Dom Bettinelli, Pat Scott, and Fr. Andrew Kinstetter reveal the real storage hogs on your phone, from message attachments to Siri voices, and the safest order to clear them out.

The post Stop Deleting Your Photos First: The Real Phone Storage Fix appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Struggle has value, and the internet just rediscovered it. Friction-maxxing means making your tech deliberately harder to use — and Dom Bettinelli, Fr. Joseph Sund, and Pat Scott find that the monks got there about seventeen centuries first.

The post Friction Maxxing: The Internet Rediscovers That Struggle Is Good for You appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Desk setup videos sell a look with a shopping list attached. Dom Bettinelli and Joanne Mercier sort the home office upgrades that matter from the ones that just photograph well — chairs, lighting, power, ergonomics, and cable chaos.

The post Upgrade Your Home Office Without Going Broke appeared first on StarQuest Media.

An OpenAI model broke out of its own test sandbox and hacked its way into another company's systems. Dom Bettinelli, Pat Scott, and Thomas Sanjurjo ask whether that's a real threat — or a very convenient story for OpenAI to tell.

The post AI Broke Its Own Cage: What OpenAI’s Hugging Face Hack Really Means appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Mint died and took 3.6 million budgets with it. Dom Bettinelli, Fr. Joseph Sund, and Tom Grelinger map the apps that replaced it — subscription, self-hosted, or the bespoke one that Dom built himself.

The post What’s in My Pocket? Picking a Personal Finance App appeared first on StarQuest Media.

The box of photos and VHS tapes in your basement is decaying right now. Dom Bettinelli and Joanne Mercier map out how to rescue family memories before the media rots — and why recording who's in the photo outlasts the photo.

The post Digitize Your Family Memories Before They’re Gone appeared first on StarQuest Media.

The lawn has gone high-tech. Dom Bettinelli and Thomas Sanjurjo weigh battery mowers against gas, robot mowers against your Saturday, and smart irrigation against a soggy guess — plus the gardening gear that actually earns its keep.

The post Your Lawn Just Went High-Tech appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Your monitor is the last computer upgrade that's still genuinely affordable, and the tech has quietly gotten great. Dom Bettinelli, Pat Scott, and Fr. Andrew Kinstetter decode the specs that matter, then hit two Sony stories about owning what you buy.

The post Monitors: The Last Affordable Computer Upgrade appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Laptop prices are up and RAM is scarce — so how much computer does a college freshman really need? Dom Bettinelli, Fr. Joseph Sund, and Tom Grelinger map Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chromebook picks to every major.

The post Computers for College: What You Actually Need in 2026 appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Cramped keyboard, tiny screen, no ports—those are the three pain points of working away from your desk. Dom Bettinelli and Leo Devick gear up with portable keyboards, monitors, stands, mice, and USB hubs to fix all three.

The post The Mobile Office: Best Gear for Working on the Road appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Every sci-fi fan has thought "I want that." Dom Bettinelli and Thomas Sanjurjo sort the genre's gadget wishlist — communicators, tricorders, warp drives, transporters — into what's real, what's coming, and what stays pure fantasy.

The post The Sci-Fi Tech We Wish Were Real appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Apple's WWDC 2026 promised a new Siri, redesigned parental controls, and a platform cleanup. Dom Bettinelli, Joanne Mercier, and Pat Scott debate whether Apple Intelligence has finally arrived.

The post Apple Intelligence: Is It Really Here This Time? appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Hardening your browser doesn't mean building a bunker — just locking the doors. Dom Bettinelli and Tom Grelinger share quick, no-jargon steps to make everyday browsing safer for you and the non-techies in your life.

The post Browser Hardening for Normal People appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical takes on AI. Dom Bettinelli, Joanne Mercier, and Fr. Andrew Kinstetter unpack *Magnifica Humanitas* — from Babel and Jerusalem to Tolkien and the duty to remain profoundly human.

The post Magnifica Humanitas: What the First AI Encyclical Actually Says appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Google just declared AI the operating system for everything it makes. Dom Bettinelli and Thomas Sanjurjo dig into Google I/O 2026 and ask the hard question: can you trust an ad company to run your life?

The post Google Goes All In on AI appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Printers remain one of the key pain points of computing. Dom Bettinelli, Pat Scott, and Fr. Andrew Kinstetter try to alleviate some of that pain and sort through which printers are actually worth buying in 2026 for each use case.

The post Why Printers Are Still Terrible (And What to Buy Anyway) appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Your kitchen wall could replace the calendar, whiteboard, sticky notes, and family group text. Dom Bettinelli, Tom Grelinger, and Fr. Joseph Sund break down smart family display boards — and whether any are worth the price.

The post The Family Command Center: Worth It or Wasted Money? appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Your Wi-Fi problems probably aren't your ISP's fault — they're your router's. Dom Bettinelli, Joanne Mercier, and Leo Devick break down how to choose the right one, plus AI Jesus, the FCC router ban, and a diocese's AI fundraiser.

The post Pick the Right Router the First Time appeared first on StarQuest Media.

You don't need to know how to code to build something useful anymore. Dom Bettinelli, Jack Barruzini, and Thomas Sanjurjo break down AI-assisted coding — and why the real skill is describing the problem.

The post Anyone Can Build: AI-Assisted Coding for Everyone appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Want AI to actually help you — not confuse or mislead you? Dom Bettinelli and Pat Scott walk through everything a casual user needs: how to prompt well, what to keep private, and which chatbot to use for what.

The post The Casual User’s Guide to AI appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Trackers, smartwatches, rings, earbuds: fitness wearables have claimed every corner of the body. Dom Bettinelli, Tom Grelinger, and Fr. Joseph Sund break down every category from $30 clip-ons to $3,200 Garmins.

The post Fit for Everything: Trackers, Watches, Rings, and Earbuds appeared first on StarQuest Media.

A NAS isn't just a storage box — it's your own private cloud. Dom Bettinelli and Joanne Mercier unpack network-attached storage: what it is, who needs one, and how to get started without a computer science degree.

The post Your Own Cloud: The Case for Network-Attached Storage appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Dom Bettinelli, Fr. Andrew Kinstetter, and Joanne Mercier open their computer bags — from a priest's pocket essentials to a tactical backpack loaded with cables. The Vatican also has thoughts on the Church's digital future.

The post Cables, Clerics, and Tactical Backpacks appeared first on StarQuest Media.

AI sounds confident even when it's wrong. Dom Bettinelli, Fr. Joseph Sund, and Tom Grelinger share a five-step verification workflow for AI outputs — because plausibility is not the same as truth, and authority belongs to people, not machines.

The post The Second Opinion Workflow: How to Fact-Check Your AI appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Parish livestreams: prayerful tool or accidental “show”? Dom Bettinelli and Joanne Mercier break down audio-first setups, stable camera habits, privacy, and liturgical framing—plus quick reactions to Apple’s MacBook Neo, iPhone 17E, and more.

The post Livestream Mass, Don’t Turn It Into A Show appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Your devices don’t just respond—they anticipate. Smart tech now nudges, predicts, and guides daily life. But when automation shapes habits and choices, are we still free? Dom Bettinelli and Thomas Sanjurjo examine agency, consent, virtue, and reclaiming silence in an always-on world.

The post Ambient Computing: Are You Making Free Choices? appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Is a computer still necessary—or can a tablet or phone handle daily life? Dom Bettinelli, Pat Scott, and Tom Grelinger weigh real-world needs across ages and careers. Are we overbuying tech we don’t actually use?

The post Do You Really Need a Computer in 2026? appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Billions are stolen from seniors each year—why is it so hard to stop? Dom Bettinelli, Tom Grellinger, and Pat Scott expose today’s most dangerous scams and share practical safeguards every family should implement now.

The post How to Scam-Proof Your Parents (Without Offending Them) appeared first on StarQuest Media.

TV buying isn’t just about screen size anymore. Dom Bettinelli, Joanne Mercier, and Leo Devick unpack privacy risks, long-term value, and ecosystem lock-in—plus why streaming boxes may outlast your smart TV and what truly future-proofs your setup.

The post Smart TVs vs. Streaming Boxes appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Is convenience worth the cost of privacy? Dom Bettinelli and Thomas Sanjurjo unpack what happens when you step away from Big Tech, why EU tools may protect users better, and how adding friction to tech habits can actually improve life.

The post Escape the Walled Garden of Big Tech appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Can a digital Sabbath really work in 2026? Dom Bettinelli, Pat Scott, and Fr. Andrew Kinstetter tackle whether constant connectivity is stealing our peace—and how intentional tech boundaries can restore prayer, family life, and freedom.

The post The Digital Sabbath: A Rule for Life appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Why is your Wi-Fi fast in one room and useless in another? Dom Bettinelli explains what’s really slowing you down, how to fix it without being a tech expert, and why Apple turning to Google’s Gemini AI could reshape Apple Intelligence.

The post Slow Internet? Troubleshoot Your Wi-Fi appeared first on StarQuest Media.

CES promises the future—but which ideas actually help people? From home robots for seniors to LEGO’s screenless tech and worries about AI companions, Dom Bettinelli, Joanne Mercier, and Leo Devick weigh what’s hopeful, helpful, and just plain creepy.

The post Is CES Showing Us the Wrong Future? appeared first on StarQuest Media.

Christmas gift panic? We’ve got you covered with last-minute tech picks for all budgets—plus, a bold look at Apple’s stand on privacy and why AI-generated podcasts could ruin what makes podcasting real. With Dom Bettinelli, Fr. Joseph Sund, and Tom Grelinger.

The post Last-Minute Tech Gifts That Won’t Feel Last-Minute appeared first on StarQuest Media.

What’s the best Apple gear to give this year? Should every nerd build their own 8-bit computer? Dom Bettinelli, Joanne Mercier, and Leo Devick share Christmas gift ideas, plus the troubling truth behind Amazon’s DRM changes and Instacart’s shifting prices.

The post The Gift Guide for Apple Fans, DIY Geeks, and Office Productivity appeared first on StarQuest Media.

This week’s Christmas Gift Guide spotlights tech that sparks curiosity, from KiwiCo kits and 3D pens to Arduino starters and game-dev courses with Thomas Sanjurjo. Dom Bettinelli adds smart car upgrades—plus a bold question: Are we ready for a moral framework for AGI?

The post The Gift Guide for Future Makers, Coders, and Drivers appeared first on StarQuest Media.