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Go Into The Story Interview: Jack Epps

My talk with the co-writer of Top Gun, Legal Eagles, The Secret of My Success.Back in the 1980s and 1990s, there was almost no one hotter in the world Hollywood screenwriting than Cash & Epps. Their writing credits include Top Gun, Legal Eagles, The Secret of My Success, Dick Tracy, Turner & Hooch among other notable films.Transitioning into the field of academics, Jack Epps is currently chair of Writing for Screen & Television at the University of Southern California School of Cinem

4 smart purchases to reduce your home energy usage

Energy costs are up, and the best way to lower your bill is to lower how much you use. There are multiple ways to go about that, and the right tech can help.<img src='https://static0.howtogeekimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/wm/2026/09/182460.jpg' />

4 subscriptions you can replace with a $10 ESP32

Even when you buy a product outright, you may still need to pay a subscription to access all of its features. These subscriptions can soon add up, but thankfully, there are alternatives. You can often avoid subscription fees with an inexpensive ESP32.

How to set up a perfect “rescue USB” that can save any PC

When your PC's operating system gets corrupted, or if an update fails, or a drive gets damaged, you need to be ready—or be prepared to spend a lot of time trying to get it back up running. Thankfully, it's just as simple as grabbing a thumb drive and getting it up and running as a rescue drive.

‘Give people a chance’: For adults with developmental disabilities, the job market can be tough to navigate

Brian Rescino, an autistic man in Concord, faces hiring hurdles despite holding five jobs. Discover his journey toward more work.<img src='https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1636112163085-2f0b1951d028?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=M3wyMzg1fDB8MXxzZWFyY2h8MTF8fEpvYiUyME1hcmtldHxlbnwwfHwyfHwxNzYyNzI5NjQ4fDA&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=80&w=1080' />

I tested 3 paper-like Android tablets, and the winner isn't e-ink

As much as I enjoy digital books and comics, there is nothing quite like reading on paper—but I have neither the budget nor the space to amass physical copies of my digital library. This is why I've kept tabs on the state of paper-like Android tablets over the years. After comparing three devices that each take a different approach, here's what I would buy.

I ditched my gaming PC for work after trying this low-power mini PC

I built a capable gaming PC because I wanted a powerful machine that could run all the latest games in 1440p and 4K. The problem is that I spend most of my day writing, browsing, and doing other miscellaneous tasks rather than gaming.<img src='https://static0.howtogeekimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/wm/2026/09/mini-pc-on-desktop.jpg' />

I stopped paying for Philo and Hulu after buying this used $15 antenna

I've been a cord-cutter for years, so over-the-air TV isn't new to me. I've used an antenna during hurricane outages and for the occasional football game when I wanted a local broadcast without worrying about which streaming service carried it. It was always useful, but it never became a big part of how I watched TV.

Masters of Miniature delivers minuscule upgradable Ryzen AI laptop — Mouse has a 12.2-inch screen, weighs 981g, but ain't on sale outside Japan

Mouse Computer has fitted Ryzen AI processors into a laptop weighing just 981gThe X2 uses a 12.2-inch display with 1920 by 1200 resolutionA free SODIMM slot allows memory expansion from 16 GB to 32 GBJapanese electronics maker Mouse Computer has introduced a compact laptop called the X2, a compact notebook weighing 981g.The device pairs a 12.2-inch display with AMD processors, offering configurations that scale from modest to genuinely capable performance.The laptop f

These 4 under-the-radar HBO shows will give you a reason to rush home from work

HBO Max has no shortage of shows that everyone is into, but some of its best series are not exactly the household names that dominate every streaming conversation. Dig a little deeper into the platform's catalog, and you will find plenty of shows that deserve more attention than they get.

I ditched my NAS OS for Ubuntu Desktop, and I’m never going back

Your NAS is, at its core, kind of another PC. It has PC specs, and it runs a full operating system, but the way it's put together means it's optimized to do certain things betther than your PC.<img src='https://static0.howtogeekimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/collage-of-ubuntu-wallpapers-with-the-ubuntu-logo-centered.png' />

Built a free invoice generator with no invoice cap and no watermark (100% browser-based)

Every freelance invoicing tool I looked at had the same catch — free tier caps you at 3-5 invoices a month, or the PDF ships with a watermark until you subscribe. For something as basic as billing a client, that felt excessive.Built one without the catch:Logo upload, client details, up to 50 line items with live-calculating totalsFlat or itemized tax (same math as the GST Calculator — handles India's mixed GST slabs)Discounts, fixed or percentage, applied before or after tax10 currencies with co

Why I stopped using random online tools (and built my own 100% local alternative)

As developers, we constantly rely on quick online utilities. Need to format a messy JSON payload? Decode a JWT token? Compare two code snippets? Generate a UUID? We just Google it, click the first result, and paste our data in.But recently, I had a terrifying thought while pasting a production API key into a random JSON formatter: "Wait, is this site logging my data?"The truth is, many free online tools process your data on their backend servers. You have absolutely no guarantee that your propri

5 classic shows that look better today than when they first aired

While watching the endless episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and The X-Files that I consumed on the old CRT of my youth, at the time I don’t recall ever thinking that it looked terrible. Compared to the pristine digital that the vast majority of today’s television is produced on, though, the difference is stark—it was softer, grainier, and there was way les

5 filaments I avoid using on my 3D printer (and why)

If you rarely feel the need to venture beyond PLA or PETG for your 3D printing needs, you’re not alone. These materials are cheap and easy to print, plus they avoid the downsides that come with many other 3D printing filaments.

5 ways to turn your old Android phone or tablet into a 24/7 home dashboard

If you have an old Android phone or tablet lying unused in a drawer, you're wasting its potential. Old devices can work really well as dashboards. There are plenty of ways to use your Android device to display information in your home.

Black Panther 3: release date, confirmed cast, and everything else we know about the Marvel Phase 7 movie so far

Black Panther 3: key information- Officially announced in July 2026- One of three movies that's part of Marvel Phase 7- Set to debut in December 2028- Filming yet to begin, so no trailer/footage to pore over- First cast members confirmed- No story details have been unveiled- Unclear on how it'll impact the MCUBlack Panther 3 is already primed to round out Marvel's 2028 line-up on the big screen. Indeed, with its launch set for December 2028, we know it'll be one of th

I paid $4.99 for this recipe app, and it's the best kitchen decision I've made

If you spend any time cooking at home, you already know the frustration that comes with modern online recipe blogs. I battled with these sites for years, but paying for one app immediately made my life better. Downloading Paprika was the best decision I made for my daily kitchen routine.

Ryobi’s battery promise from 1996 is still going strong, just like its tools

The Ryobi brand was founded in Japan in 1943 and made its first power tool in 1968. Eventually, popularity grew thanks to die-cast products in the 80s, but everything changed in 1996 with the introduction of its first 18V cordless drill. It had a nickel-cadmium (NiCad) battery with a simple connector rail on a plastic housing. Three decades later, that design remain

Building a Modern E-Commerce Platform: From Product Search to Secure Checkout 🛒🚀

Over the past few months, I worked on building a full-stack e-commerce platform designed to provide a smooth shopping experience while keeping the backend scalable and maintainable.The goal was to create more than just a product listing website — I wanted to build a complete shopping system that handles product management, user accounts, payments, orders, and real-time inventory. 💡 Project OverviewThe platform allows customers to:Browse products by categorySearch and filter itemsAdd product