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20 ways tech can make your life better in 2018

Here are 20 how-tos that can enhance your new year.

Alina Bradford
Alina Bradford has been writing how-tos, tech articles and more for almost two decades. She currently writes for CNET's Smart Home Section, MTVNews' tech section and for Live Science's reference section. Follow her on Twitter.
Alina Bradford
2018
1 of 20 Alina Bradford/CNET

No matter what your New Year's resolution is -- or how well you're doing with that -- we've got 20 how-tos you can use to make your life better. From optimizing your electronics to keeping your child safer online, here are some of our best tips. 

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2 of 20 Colin West McDonald/CNET

Use your slow cooker more

Whether your super busy, or just don't like to monitor the cooking of your dishes, the slow cooker will make your 2018 life easier. Here are 10 amazing slow cooker recipes to get you started.

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3 of 20 Brian Bennett/CNET

Make better rice

Have you tried making rice in your Instant Pot? It's a lot easier than using the stove. Brian Bennett has the detail on making rice in this convenient appliance

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4 of 20 Alina Bradford/CNET

Control home humidity

If you hate humidity, you can blast it from your home using your Nest app and the Cool to Dry setting. Here's how to turn on the Cool to Dry setting and what it does to get rid of moisture in the air.

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5 of 20 Óscar Gutiérrez/CNET

Fix your iPhone X

Whether your iPhone X has a glitchy Face ID, your notifications are hidden or you're missing your home button or headphone jack, Rick Broida found the nine biggest iPhone X annoyances and how to fix them.

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6 of 20 César Salza / CNET

Maximize your AirPod use

While you're taking your iPhone X from good to great, don't forget your Apple AirPods. Here are 11 tips and tricks for your new Apple AirPods. For example, you can pair them with non-Apple products and connect them with your Mac.

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7 of 20 Josh Miller/CNET

Optimize your Android

If you're not an Apple person and use Android instead, there are some awesome apps out there that you need to know about. Here are our picks for the best Android apps for 2018.

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8 of 20 David Carnoy/CNET

Get the best picture on your TV

Even if you think your television picture is great, you can make it even better, for free. Geoffrey Morrison has the scoop. For example, you may think that setting your satellite or cable box to 1080i is best, but some TVs look better with 720p.

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9 of 20 Marvel

How to watch every Marvel property in the perfect order

Now that you've got your TV set up perfectly, you can get your geek on. Caitlin Petrakovitz found a way to watch every Marvel property in the perfect order.


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10 of 20 Screenshot by Lori Grunin/CNET

Make the most of your Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime is a lot more than just free shipping. You also get unlimited, ad-free streaming music, unlimited photo storage and more. Here are the best seven perks of Amazon Prime.

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11 of 20 Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Keep your oven and cooktop cleaner

Cleaning your oven and range are one of the most difficult of kitchen tasks. Here's how to how to clean your gas cooktop with just a few supplies and how to clean your oven without harsh chemicals.

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12 of 20 Alina Bradford

Clean your range fast

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13 of 20 MoviePass

Get a movie theater subscription

Stop paying full price for movie tickets and get a theater subscription to save some cash. For example, with MoviePass' plan, you can see a movie in the theaters every single day for less than $10 per month. Here's what you need to know about Movie Club, MoviePass and Sinemia subscriptions.

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14 of 20 Sarah Tew/CNET

Keep your kids safer online

There's no secret that kids are vulnerable online. Matt Elliott has the steps to set up a Windows 10 laptop for your kid and how to make YouTube Kids safer for your kids.

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15 of 20 Jason Cipriani/CNET

Set up Messenger Kids

While you're on online protection patrol, check your children's messaging app. Kids love to use grown-up messaging apps, but those can get them into trouble. Messenger Kids might be a good alternative. It is for children 6-12. The benefits? Your kids won't need to sign up for a Facebook account, parent's are in control of contacts and your child won't be found in Messenger public searches. 

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16 of 20 Alina Bradford/CNET

Protect your credit cards, too

Around 15.4 million people had their identity stolen in 2016. Don't let online scammers get your credit card information. Here is how to protect your credit cards online.

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17 of 20 Abrar Al-Heeti/CNET

Build an awesome small business

Creating a successful small business is no easy task, especially when you have a lot of tasks to do and not a lot of startup cash. Outsourcing to freelancers may be the answer. Here's how the self-employed workforce can help you save on administrative and overhead costs.

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18 of 20 Screenshot by Alina Bradford/CNET

Upgrade your Office

If you are running a traditional perpetual-license version of Office at home or at work, you may want to upgrade the Office 365 subscription. It offers continuous updates, 1TB of OneDrive cloud file storage, mobile apps that can help you create no matter where you go and more. Here are five things to consider.

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19 of 20 Alina Bradford/CNET

Don't let your humidifier make you sick

Did you know that your humidifier needs regular care beyond just a quick clean? It also needs to be sanitized and descaled. If you don't, you may be releasing minerals and bacteria in the air that could make you sick. Here are five tips to clean and care for your humidifier.

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20 of 20 Steve Guttenberg/CNET

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