Start here tonight

try this one first Trending toolXDA Developers, Oct 4

A free office suite that edits Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on Windows, Mac and Linux

Before the next subscription renewal, it is worth an evening with the free suite that opens the same files.

ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors puts documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDFs and forms in one tabbed application, free for personal use on Windows, macOS and Linux. The official product page lists DOCX, ODT, XLSX, ODS, CSV, PPTX and ODP among the formats it opens and saves, which covers most of what a Word or Excel user already has on disk. XDA's reviewer, writing today, kept the tools that matter in shared documents, Track Changes, comments and version comparison, and said the built-in PDF annotation still loses to a dedicated editor for heavy work. A paid Enterprise edition exists for organizations that want an SLA and support; the desktop suite is the free one.

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The tool shelf new tonight

ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors

Free for personal useWindows, macOS, Linux desktopXDA Developers, Oct 4

Documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDFs and forms in one tabbed app that reads DOCX, XLSX and PPTX, though XDA's reviewer still sends heavy PDF editing to a dedicated tool.

Clonezilla

Free, GPL v2Bootable USB, x86 machinesXDA Developers, Oct 4

Images or clones a whole disk so a failed drive can be restored without reinstalling the system, but the project lists real limits: no differential or incremental backup, partitions must be unmounted, and you cannot open an image to pull out a single file.

LatencyMon

Free Home EditionWindows diagnostic utilityMakeUseOf, Oct 3

Measures kernel timer latencies and DPC and ISR execution times to name the driver behind the stutter, with the caveat that it was written for real-time audio work and that a paid Professional Edition sits alongside the free Home one.

gping

Free, MITTerminal app, every desktop OSHow-To Geek, Oct 4

Plots ping replies as a live graph so a flaky connection shows up as a visible spike, installed from winget, Homebrew or apt, though How-To Geek calls it a diagnostic rather than long-term monitoring and warns against aliasing ping to it.

Every shelf item is available today; no waitlists, no vaporware.

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The workflows follow along at home

Five linked Notion databases turn a notes app into a place where every idea has a destination

An evening, start smallA Notion accountMakeUseOf front page, Oct 4

Relations do the work A homepage dashboard over Projects, Inbox, Library and Learning, with Projects related to one master Tasks database so each project filters its own tasks automatically.

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Clear the preinstalled apps off Windows using only Settings, winget and PowerShell

An hour, unhurriedWindows 10 or 11How-To Geek front, Oct 4

Built-in tools only Uninstall what you can from Settings, Apps, Installed apps, clear the stragglers with winget uninstall or Remove-AppxPackage, and leave the Store, Start menu and runtime libraries alone.

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Switch off the animations and startup extras, and an aging Windows 11 laptop stops stuttering

About 30 minutesWindows 11MakeUseOf front page, Oct 4

Animations off first Turning off animation and transparency effects, hiding Search, Task View and Widgets, and disabling the Edge startup entry took memory use from 4.7 GB to 3.4 GB on the author's Core i3 machine.

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Six Google Messages settings that fix the texting annoyances, from HD+ photos to muting a group

Ten minutesGoogle Messages on AndroidAndroid Police, Oct 4

Swipe for timestamps Swiping left in a thread reveals the time and RCS encryption status, the photo picker can be switched to HD+, and a muted group still alerts you on an @ mention.

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Mary of Nazareth

Keep and Ponder

The useful work is finished. Keep what is true, ponder what matters, and entrust the rest to God.

Keep

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

Psalm 4:8, KJV

Ponder

Name one thing that can remain unfinished until morning.

Entrust

God of peace, hold what I cannot finish, and let me receive this night as a gift. Amen.

A practice shaped by Luke 2:19Guided by the biblical witness of Mary of Nazareth.

Page notes

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