A report this weekend by Axios cited documents from within the National Security Council describing the possibility — nay, inevitability — of a 5G network built and operated by the U.S. government. Officials have since poured cold water on this idea, and really, it was never feasible. Read More
A report this weekend by Axios cited documents from within the National Security Council describing the possibility — nay, inevitability — of a 5G network built and operated by the U.S. government. Officials have since poured cold water on this idea, and really, it was never feasible. Read More
Reddit is finally offering two-factor authentication to all users. The content aggregator/social platform has been testing 2FA for a while, but it has finally flicked the switch. Which means Reddit users have an extra layer of security beyond the standard email/password combination. For the uninitiated, two-factor authentication is a double-lock for your account. So, you enter your password as usual, but then need a secondary code to gain access. Thus, two-factor authentication (2FA) stops hackers from accessing your account by simply entering your password. Reddit Enables 2FA for All A lot of websites now offer 2FA, and Reddit is the...
Read the full article: You Can Now Enable 2FA on Reddit
Smartphones are now well established as the main way most of us connect to the internet. It’s a trend that looks irreversible. And it means getting the fastest possible internet speeds on your mobile devices is more important than ever. But sometimes this doesn’t happen. There might be problems with the way you’ve set up your home router, or with the quirks of public Wi-Fi, or even issues with your carrier. Let’s take a look at the main reasons why you have slow internet on your phone, and how you can fix them. 1. Poor Router Position One of the...
Read the full article: 7 Reasons Your Smartphone Has Slow Internet Speeds
Facebook’s latest step in its on-going effort to fix its embattled news delivery offering involves prioritizing local sources. The social media giant announced today in a blog post that, along with efforts to elevate content from friends and outlets designated as “high quality,” the site will be working to push local news offerings to the top of users’ feeds. The… Read More
The metal joysticks are safely nestled inside the flip-out arms of the controller, the landing gear safely nestled in the propeller arms. Not a millimeter is wasted, not even in the packaging. It’s the culmination of a dozen years of drone making experience — but really, it’s built directly on top of the company’s recent push to make the perfect consumer quadcopter.… Read More
The address book is the last, worst default app you rely on. It’s time it got as smart as the rest of our phones. That’s the idea behind SuperPhone. Email isn’t how you build relationships anymore. Yet most business software sanctifies the spammy inbox when it’s the immediacy of text messaging that keeps people in touch today. Musician Ryan Leslie learned that when… Read More
The address book is the last, worst default app you rely on. It’s time it got as smart as the rest of our phones. That’s the idea behind SuperPhone. Email isn’t how you build relationships anymore. Yet most business software sanctifies the spammy inbox when it’s the immediacy of text messaging that keeps people in touch today. Musician Ryan Leslie learned that when… Read More
How often do you take offline backups of your important files? Once a month? Once a year? I have another question for you. How often do you check that those backups are still working? I decided to do just this recently. And when I connected my external drive to my laptop, up popped an I/O device error. I couldn’t immediately access the drive. My heart sank. Nearly ten years’ worth of photos were lost. But I was sure of a fix — and lo, there is. So, here are five ways to fix an I/O device error, without losing any...
Read the full article: How to Fix a Disk I/O Error in Windows
Google has started selling its adorable little Clips camera. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, the device is already out of stock. The first pre-orders are due to start shipping at the end of February, but there’s no word yet on if and when Google will start taking orders again. Google is becoming a serious contender when it comes to hardware. Its current lineup includes the Pixel 2, the Google Home speaker, the Chromecast, Pixel Buds, and Daydream View (which Plex now supports). And the company is also preparing to unleash Google Clips onto the world. Google Clips Captures Everything...
Read the full article: Google Has Started Selling its Clips Cameras
You finally acquiesced and agreed to give your kids a smartphone. But you’re still not sure. Is it totally safe for a child to have a phone? Sure, you can keep in touch with your offspring… but is that really why they wanted the phone? Or was that just you? Do your children have another purpose in mind for the expensive iPhone you just shelled out for? Quite possibly. A bunch of apps pose as being ideal for children and young adults but actually turn out to be pretty horrific. We couldn’t possibly cover them all here, but have collected...
Read the full article: 5 Dangerous Mobile Apps Your Children Should Not Be Using
Even the best photographers make edits to their pictures. By spending a little bit of time with image-editing software like GIMP, you can ensure that the finished product is as good as it possibly can be. Here are a few easy techniques that you can use to retouch a portrait. They’ll make sure that your subject is completely happy with how the photo turns out. Getting Started Open up your chosen image in GIMP. Before we do anything else, we’re going to duplicate the original image. Right-click it in the Layers window, and select Duplicate Layer. This ensures that we...
Read the full article: Basic Portrait Retouching in GIMP: All the Tricks You Need
What we do on our computers has changed over the decades. No longer are they solely places where we type up documents and produce code. Now we stream movies, play video games, and read digital books. With this change in behavior came an effort to produce and sell better-quality displays. Apple, as the company is known to do, has done a good job marketing these changes in the technology behind our screens. It has coined the term Retina display since the iPhone 4. With the release of the 9.7-inch iPad Pro in 2016, Apple coined a different screen technology: True...
Read the full article: Retina Display vs. True Tone: What’s the Difference?
We have previously spent a lot of time discussing Plex and Kodi, and will continue to do so in the future. After all, these two apps dominate the home theater sector: they let you watch, cast, and manage all of your media. The apps deserve plenty of attention. Kodi and Plex are easy to use and packed with cool tricks. However, there is a third option in the form of Emby. Emby doesn’t boast the same level of recognition as its two big brothers, which is unfair. The app’s developers have spent the last couple of years consistently improving the...
Read the full article: Forget Plex and Kodi, Try Emby Instead
If you’re a maker or a creative person with a lot of innovative technology ideas, at some point you’re likely to find yourself pondering how to patent an idea or a product you’ve created. We’ve previously covered how and why to copyright, which protects intellectual property like writing or photography. We’ve also done fun articles about brand trademarks, which is a design or logo that identifies a product or service (a brand). In this article we’re going to cover the patent process, especially from the perspective of a maker. Keep in mind that this article isn’t intended to provide legal...
Read the full article: How to Patent an Idea in 8 Simple Steps
According to a Bloomberg article, Apple could be workin on three new Mac models for this year. All three of them could feature an ARM coprocessor to improve security. Apple isn’t switching to ARM chipsets altogether. There will still be an Intel CPU in every Mac, but with a second ARM processor. Currently, the MacBook Pro features a T1 chip while the iMac Pro features a T2 chip. On… Read More
Music is a lot more fun when you share it with the world. The only musical experience better than discovering new music is sharing that music with others. Thankfully, in the age of streaming music, sharing is easier than ever. Whether you want to publish your custom playlists to the world or create a fresh mixtape with friends, here’s how you can do it. Sharing Playlists on Spotify Desktop If you primarily use Spotify on your computer, you have several options for sharing playlists. First, make sure you have a playlist to share. If you need to make a new...
Read the full article: The Easiest Ways to Share Spotify Playlists
Microsoft Word is packed with so many features that you can produce pretty much whatever you want with it. But these features don’t always result in the kind of beautiful, high-quality, and professional documents that may be expected of you. It’s one thing to know everything about Microsoft Word, all of its intricacies and quirks and functions — it’s something else entirely to know what makes a great document. This article isn’t about how to use Microsoft Word’s various features. We’re specifically looking at the design aspect of business reports and academic papers, meaning the whats and the whys that...
Read the full article: Know These Font and Formatting Rules to Beautify Word Documents?
Free lensing, also called lens whacking, is a simple technique: you “free” the lens from your camera to create dream-like photos. It is a photography idea even beginners can try with something as simple as a 50mm prime lens. How to Create Dreamy Photos With Free Lensing Photography is all about light. The freestyle nature of detaching your lens from the camera while keeping it close can create interesting effects. The light leaks add a dream-like touch to the photos as some of part of your composition goes out of focus. In some cases, it also gives the appearance of a tilt-shift or a macro shot...
Read the full article: How to Create Dreamy Photographs With Free Lensing
Whether you’re hosting a small get-together or a big public event for your business, Facebook makes it easier than ever to send out one big blast to let people know they’re invited. How to Create Events on Facebook Click on Events under the Explore section of the left hand sidebar. Click the blue Create Event button. A dropdown menu will appear allowing you to create a private or public event. Make your selection. The following steps will be almost identical regardless of your selection, but you can’t change privacy settings after creating an event. Fill in the form with the...
Read the full article: How to Create Events on Facebook
