Leo Laporte - The Tech Guy

On this week's episode of Hands-On Tech, Barry asks whether anything inside a QR code can actually hurt you, or whether the real danger lies somewhere else, and what a person should check before scanning one out in the wild.
Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them in a future episode!
Host: Mikah Sargent
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On this week's Hands-On Tech, Lorraine asks Mikah whether her husband or her daughter is right about the difference between shutting down and restarting a Windows PC, and how often she should be restarting her computer and phone.
Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them in a future episode!
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
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In this week's episode of Hands-On Tech, Wendell asks Mikah whether his wife is right that typing into an AI chatbot is no different from a Google search, and wants to know where those conversations go, who can see them, whether they're used for training, and if any settings can turn that off in both ChatGPT and Gemini.
Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them in a future episode!
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
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On this week's Hands-On Tech, Mikah helps Harriett understand whether deleted files are truly gone when the recycle bin is emptied, and whether accidentally deleted files can still be recovered.
Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them in a future episode!
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
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On this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah answers Gene's question about whether airplane mode still serves a real engineering purpose in 2026 and what the smartest phone setup is for flying.
Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them in a future episode!
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
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In this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah answers Joyce's question about why so many everyday smart devices now require downloading an app & creating an account, and how to opt out of sharing personal data without giving up the products' functionality
Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them in a future episode!
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
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In this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah answers Rosemary's question about what private browsing actually hides, from whom, and what it's really for.
Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them in a future episode!
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
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On this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah answers Al's question about why their gigabit internet plan isn't delivering the promised speeds during a Wi-Fi speed test, and who's really to blame: the ISP, the router, or the device.
Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them in a future episode!
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
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On this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah answers a listener's question about whether safely ejecting a USB flash drive is still necessary or just an outdated habit.
Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them in a future episode!
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
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In this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah answers a listener's question about whether his phone's battery percentage is an accurate measurement, why it seems to stay at 100% for a long time before suddenly dropping to dead, and whether battery recalibration is a real fix.
Send in your questions for Mikah to answer, and any products you'd like Mikah to take a look at, to [email protected]!
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
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Sponsor:
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On this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah settles a household debate about whether it's harmful to keep a laptop plugged in all the time, and whether battery charge limit settings are worth using.
Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them in a future episode!
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
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In this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah answers Denise's question about whether her smart TV is tracking what she watches and how to stop it.
Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them in a future episode!
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
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In this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah answers Doug's question about why identical-looking USB-C cables can have wildly different charging and data speeds, and how to tell them apart.
Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them in a future episode!
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
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On this episode of Hands-On Tech, Marcus asks Mikah whether Matter and Thread are the real solution to smart home ecosystem lock-in, or just more marketing hype.
Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! [email protected]
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
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Sponsors:
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NetSuite.AI/HOT

On Hands-On Tech, Eleanor asks Mikah how to transition away from her long-standing ISP email address without losing access to the important accounts tied to it.
Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! [email protected]
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
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In this episode of Hands-On Tech, Jim asks Mikah how to effectively reduce the overwhelming volume of spam texts and robocalls he's been receiving on his iPhone, and for advice to help his wife with the same issue, who uses Android.
Send in your questions for Mikah to [email protected], and he'll answer them during the show!
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
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Sponsor:
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In this week's episode of Hands-On Tech, Clint wants to know whether Telegram is truly safe to use or not.
Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! [email protected]
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
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On this week's episode of Hands-On Tech, listener Lenny asks Mikah for advice on how to get the best performance out of an external SSD connected to his MacBook Pro.
Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! [email protected]
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
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On this week's episode of Hands-On Tech, David asks Mikah whether his old, out-of-service Windows Home Server is worth bringing back online now that he has a fast fiber internet connection, and what the best way to set it up would be.
Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! [email protected]
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
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In this week's episode of Hands-On Tech, Robert asks Mikah for help choosing a new Windows laptop suited for heavy photo and video editing work, including guidance on GPU and VRAM requirements for his specific software stack, as well as advice on whether switching to a Mac is a viable option after a disastrous previous migration experience.
Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! [email protected]
Host: Mikah Sargent
Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech
Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
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Sponsors:
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