Liam Chen

World Affairs Reporter

Liam Chen covers geopolitics, diplomacy and global development, with a focus on making complex international stories accessible.

81 articles

What Is a Software Patch?

A software patch is a small update that fixes bugs, closes security holes or improves an existing program. This guide explains…

Liam Chen · · 5 min read

What Is a Zero-Day Vulnerability?

A zero-day vulnerability is a software flaw that attackers know about before the people who could fix it. This guide explains the…

Liam Chen · · 5 min read

What Is Social Engineering?

Social engineering is the art of manipulating people into giving up information or access, rather than hacking the technology…

Liam Chen · · 5 min read

What Is a CAPTCHA?

A CAPTCHA is the test that asks you to prove you are human, from typing wobbly letters to ticking a box. Here is how it works…

Liam Chen · · 6 min read

What Is a Codec?

A codec is the technology that shrinks audio and video for storage and streaming, then rebuilds it for playback. Here is how it…

Liam Chen · · 6 min read

What Is USB-C?

USB-C is the small, reversible connector now standard on phones, laptops and accessories. Here is what it is, why not all USB-C…

Liam Chen · · 6 min read

What Is a GPU?

A GPU is the chip built to handle thousands of calculations at once, powering games, video and modern AI. Here is how it differs…

Liam Chen · · 6 min read

What Is a CPU?

The CPU is the central processor that runs the instructions behind everything your computer or phone does. Here is what it is…

Liam Chen · · 6 min read