Don’t Buy an E-Reader! 2 Upcoming Technologies That Kill the Kindle

Thinking of buying an e-reader? Hit the brakes. Two near-future technologies make today’s products obsolete in 2018. And they’re a big deal. Why Today’s E-Readers Won’t Hold Up in 2018 Technology changes. Unlike smartphones, e-reader technological progress occurs at a glacial pace. Incremental refinements to e-paper screens — known as E Ink — release every three years. Updates to the guts of the device (the processor) occur even less frequently. That means major technological innovation occurs so rarely that when it does reach devices, it’s a very big deal. And two major inventions to e-readers will release sometime between 2017...

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Should You Jump On Any Of Amazon’s Deals Today?

Today, Amazon has a really solid deal on a Dyson vacuum, a lawn mower, and plenty of others. Rather than just list the deals (Amazon already does that), we analyze the value of the discount and the quality of the product. Here’s how we rate the deals to make it quick and easy for you to decide if they’re worth getting: Must-Buy: The lowest price ever and a deal that hasn’t been seen often. Good: At or close to the all-time low, but has been available at that price other times. Decent: If you need one, it’s an okay deal,...

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Smart Switches vs. Smart Bulbs: Which Solution Is Best for You?

It’s time to get smart when it comes to smart switches and smart bulbs. A major part of any smart home is the ability to control electrical devices quickly and easily. And both smart bulbs and smart switches offer these features. But while the smart switch and smart bulb might sound similar (after all, they both automate turning your bulbs on and off), they have a number of notable differences. Each device also works better in specific situations than the other. Choosing which device to install throughout your home can be confusing. To give you a quick primer on both smart devices,...

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Microsoft Will Pay You to Find Bugs in Windows 10

Microsoft has launched a new bounty program aimed at encouraging Windows users to find bugs in its products. The Windows Bounty Program means you could receive payouts of up to $250,000 for being the first person to find and report bugs in Windows 10 and/or other qualifying products. No company is perfect. And no company is capable of shipping a product that’s 100 percent guaranteed to be free from bugs. Which is why bounty programs exist. In a nutshell, they tempt security researchers into hunting for bugs in the hopes of bagging a reward. And the new Windows Bounty Program...

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Why You Should Be Using Spark to Manage Your Mail on iPhone & Mac

There aren’t many email apps that work across all Apple devices, with consistent feature parity. There’s Apple’s Mail app of course, but that’s a bit too basic. If you’re all-in on Apple ecosystem, Spark is probably the email app you should be using on all your devices: iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. Spark is part of a new breed of email apps, ones based on a smart inbox. If you deal with a lot of email, across different accounts, you’ll appreciate how it only notifies you about important emails. The app is free everywhere, has a lot of smart and...

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Why Netflix Is Right to Cancel the Shows No One Is Watching

Netflix has been roundly criticized in some quarters after announcing a spate of cancellations, including fan favorites such as Sense8. These cancellations are set to continue too, with CEO Reed Hastings recently saying: “We’ve cancelled very few shows. I’m always pushing the content team: ‘We have to take more risk; you have to try more crazy things. Because we should have a higher cancel rate overall.” And you know what? He’s absolutely right. Netflix should be cancelling the shows no one is watching, and here are all the reasons why. Netflix Exists to Make Money While bingeing on shows or...

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Make Facebook Relevant Again With These Forgotten Tricks

How long is it since you joined Facebook? Five years? 10? And in that time, your interests have changed, right? But does Facebook know this? Or is the social network regularly showing you posts and pages based on the topics you showed interest a decade ago? If your news feed is becoming cluttered with information about boy bands or toys or video games or TV shows that you grew out of years ago, you’ll know what I’m talking about. So, what can you do about it? How can you make the Facebook news feed relevant to you? It’s all about...

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How to Build a Custom Excel Toolbar of VBA Macros

Ready to supercharge your Excel productivity? A custom toolbar can do just that. A well-made Excel macro can perform a time-consuming task in one click, which is pretty convenient. It’s even more convenient when you construct a custom toolbar containing all your most commonly used macros. Attaching a macro to a button is one solution, but there are times when it would be great to embed that functionality into the Excel interface. By following these steps, you can put your macros right there in the Ribbon. Here’s how to get started on your custom toolbar. Adding a Tab to the Ribbon...

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3 Reasons Why You Should Be Using a VPN with Kodi

If you use Kodi for streaming content around your home, you should be using a VPN. The reasons are more complex than you might think. Sure, VPNs let you access geo-blocked content, but failing to use a VPN with the software can also have grave security implications. As Kodi boxes continue to grow in popularity, they are becoming an increasingly attractive target for hackers and cyber criminals. Deploying a VPN can shut down some of the software weak points before they can be exploited. But what exactly are the weaknesses? And how can a VPN help? Let’s take a closer...

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Powerful and Rugged: The Blackview BV8000 Pro Takes Everything You Throw at It

Our verdict of the Blackview BV8000 Pro:Rugged usually means poor performance with a premium tacked on for a big rubber case. The Black BV8000 Pro costs just $250, has good performance, massive battery life, and took a beating in our durability tests. 810 We're giving away a Blackview BV8000 Pro. Keep reading to find out how to win!Deliberate or not, modern smartphones are getting more fragile every year. They’re so thin you can bend them just by sitting down. Edge to edge glass screens make even the smallest of drops fatal. If you’re sick of such precious devices, consider something...

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How You Can Save Money by Using Linux

Buying a new computer can be exciting, but not when it’s out of necessity, and definitely not when money’s tight. Who enjoys forking over hundreds of dollars for computer software? Even when we want to have fun and buy a game, the cost can be off-putting. Computing, frankly, can be pricey. I like to save money however I can. One way I’ve saved hundreds, possibly thousands, is by using Linux. For much of the past decade, I have not had to spend money on the software I use on my laptops. But that’s only the beginning. Let’s break this down. Free Software...

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How to Switch to Alternate Keyboard Layouts in Windows 10

Did you know that QWERTY, the most common keyboard layout, isn’t the only one around? Indeed, several other keyboard formats exist and are more efficient than QWERTY. Many people take the time to master another layout in order to type more efficiently and reduce strain. If you’re interested in doing so, Windows 10 makes it easy to switch between keyboard layouts on the fly. First, you’ll have to add a second mode. To do this, open Settings and choose the Time & Language option. Select the Region & language tab on the left and look for the Languages header. Here,...

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How to Get Rid of Duplicate Files in iTunes

Spotify might have taken over the musical world, but there are still lots of people out there (myself included) who love to maintain their own locally-saved music collection. I know that might be hard to believe, but consider this: Streaming services raise issues concerning music ownership that lots of audiophiles are not comfortable with. A service could go offline temporarily, leaving you without music. Your provider could shut down entirely. What would happen to your playlists and music libraries? Streaming services aren’t customizable. Spotify only recently started letting you add your own artwork to playlists. All that said, personal music...

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Need Free Public Wi-Fi? Use the Facebook App to Find a Spot Near You

There are plenty of ways to hunt down free public Wi-Fi in your area, and you can now add the Facebook mobile app to that list. It’s dead easy to use, but it does come with a price: constantly sharing your location with the social networking giant. Tap the hamburger menu button and you should see Find Wi-Fi as one of the menu options listed. If you don’t already have location services enabled on Facebook, you should see a message requiring you to allow Facebook to Always access your location. This means that the Facebook app can access your location even when you’re not using the app. In...

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6 Of The Best Backup Battery Packs To Extend Your Phone’s Uptime

  A battery pack or a power bank is the simplest way to ensure your phone or laptop never runs out of juice. Picking the right power bank is a bit more complicated though. Depending on your needs, there are several options. Some offer the convenience of integrated cables, others will give you quick charging tech, and some can even power up laptops. Here are six of the best battery packs for different purposes. A Few Numbers Before We Start Not everyone needs a high capacity battery pack. Smartphones generally have about 3,500 mAh batteries, while tablets pack in around...

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Google Kills Instant Search Because Everybody Uses Smartphones

Google is killing Instant Search, which rendered search results in realtime as you typed. The problem, according to Google, is we all now do most of our searching on smartphones, and Instant Search makes no sense on smartphones. So killing the feature is the only sensible option. Google introduced Instant Search in 2010, with then-vice president of search and user experience (catchy title) Marissa Mayer, calling the feature a “fundamental shift in search”. At the time it felt quite innovative, and capable of shaving precious milliseconds off of searches. Everything Has Changed Since 2010 However, fast-forward to 2017 and the...

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How to Photograph the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

If you’re a fan of nature photography, a total solar eclipse presents an unrivaled opportunity for some amazing shots. But photographing an eclipse requires some special considerations. Here are six things to keep in mind when photographing this year’s (or any other’s) eclipse. A few notes before we get started. First, make sure you’re wearing proper eyewear during the eclipse. When you’re not photographing, you’ll want to be watching the event. Grab some eclipse glasses. Second, make sure you’re contributing to a good experience for everyone — it’s going to be crazy out there. Be polite, turn your flash off, and...

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10 of The Cheapest VPNs and Online Courses You’ll Find Anywhere

Today, we're going to look at five different lifetime VPN subscriptions that cost less than $50, and we're going to dig into five online course bundles that'll teach you a new skill!

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How to Run Doom on Your Raspberry Pi Without an Emulator

Want to enjoy some awesome retro gaming, alone or with friends? Fancy teaming up online for some awesome monster blasting first-person shooter fun? Of course you do! Back in 1997, id Software released the source code for Doom, the ground-breaking 1993 FPS which pits you, a space marine, against all manner of demons and beasts on the Martian moon of Phobos. With the source code available, various new forms of the game have appeared over the years, perfect for running on a Raspberry Pi. Yes, that’s right: Doom on the Raspberry Pi. PiDoom, anyone? What You’ll Need To run this...

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