Posts

If you’ve frequently longed to interact with your phone, check notifications, and otherwise stay up to date with a motion as casual as glancing at your wrist watch, you’re a perfect candidate for a smartwatch. Read on as we take a tour of the Pebble smartwatch and how seamlessly it puts notifications and more right on your wrist. Smart Watches? The Pebble? Although 2013 is quickly on the way out the door with a scant few weeks left in the year, it will definitely be remembered as the year smartwatches began to emerge from the incubation of design labs....

Most of the time our programs work just like we need them to, but every once in a while you have one that is less than cooperative and leaves you looking for a way to fix its ‘attitude’ problem. Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has some great suggestions to help a frustrated reader get the results he needs. Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites....

You will usually see the Linux operating system referred to as “Linux” online. However, the term “GNU/Linux” is occasionally used instead. Linux and GNU/Linux refer to the same operating system and software, and there’s a controversy over which term is more appropriate. We’re not here to take a side in this old debate, but this article should help you understand why there’s a naming controversy and what the difference is between the terms “Linux” and “GNU/Linux....

Using trusted USB drives that you own on your up-to-date, well-secured operating system is one thing, but what if your best friend stops by with their USB drive and wants you to copy some files to it? Does your friend’s USB drive pose any risks to your well-secured system, or is it just baseless fear? Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites....

For some time now, people have been warned to disable Java in their browsers or to completely remove it from their systems unless they actually need it. But if you disable it or remove it, are you actually losing much, if any, functionality? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answer to a concerned reader’s question. Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites....

If you’ve ever tried to get a vintage computer game up and running on a modern system, you’ve likely been shocked at how fast the game ran. Why do old games run out of control on modern hardware? Earlier today we showed you how to run older software on modern computers; today’s question and answer session is a nice compliment that digs into why some older software (specifically games) never seem to work right when you try to run them on modern hardware....

Putting your computer into hibernation mode always seems so snappy compared to taking it back out of hibernation mode and resuming your work. Why is it so much slower to spool the system back up than to spool it down? Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites. The Question SuperUser reader enthrops is curious:...

Google Reader will be dead soon, but it has been dying for a long time. A declining user base, lack of innovation, and lack of mass appeal doomed it. People are using other types of services to stay up-to-date with their favorite websites. None of this will convince the hardcore information-addict RSS users to switch, but most people don’t want another inbox containing hundreds of headlines to dig through every day — that’s what really doomed Google Reader....

Everyone seems to be complaining about their Nexus 7 tablets slowing down over time. Sure, this is anecdotal — but there are a lot of anecdotes. We’ll cover a variety of ways to speed it up. Many people report that the update to Android 4.2 slowed down the Nexus 7. However, it seems that many issues can cause Nexus 7 slowness. We’ve looked all over the web to see the tricks people recommend....

“Don’t do your online banking or anything sensitive on a public Wi-Fi network.” The advice is out there, but why can using a public Wi-Fi network actually be dangerous? And wouldn’t online banking be secure, as it’s encrypted? There are a few big problems with using a public Wi-Fi network. The open nature of the network allows for snooping, the network could be full of compromised machines, or — most worryingly — the hotspot itself could be malicious....

One of the most exciting things about Windows 11 is the ability to run Android apps. But why exactly is that exciting? Hasn’t it been possible for years with an app called “BlueStacks?” Yes, but this is much better. It is true that it’s technically been possible to run Android apps in Windows for a long time. The first stable version of BlueStacks was released all the way back in 2014....

When moving to a new Windows system, either after getting a new computer or reinstalling Windows, you may be tempted to copy a program’s folder to your new system just like you’d copy your files. But this normally won’t work. Some programs — games especially — do allow you to copy their folders over and run the program. Other programs specifically designed to be “portable apps” will also be able to do this....

Windows has a built-in firewall that blocks inbound connections. If a program wants to act as a server, Windows will prompt you. Some geeks don’t like the built-in firewall because it doesn’t offer the same prompts for outgoing connections. The Windows firewall allows all programs on your computer to connect to the Internet without asking you. There’s a whole firewall industry bent on convincing average users that they need additional protection, but you really don’t....

Sending Wi-Fi Locations to the Cloud When you use “location services,” your devices are regularly sending lists of nearby networks to the platform holder: Google, Microsoft, or Apple. Whether you’re pulling up Apple Maps on an iPhone, telling Microsoft Edge to share your location with a website on Windows, or providing your location to an app on Android, Wi-Fi details are being transmitted as part of the location-finding process. GPS Just Isn’t Enough Our devices aren’t just using GPS to determine our physical location—and for good reason....

Game Pass We could talk all day about whether Game Pass is technically a feature, but considering you get a month’s subscription to Microsoft’s all-you-can-eat service for $1 with your console, it might as well be. Game Pass might just be the best deal in gaming, and it means there’s always something to play. A Game Pass subscription lets you download and play new and old games as they are added to the service....

Windows users see advertisements for all sorts of system tools and optimization utilities. It’s easy for companies to tell you that you absolutely have to run these tools, but you don’t need most of the junk on offer. Using these system tools just slows downs your computer, wastes your time, and makes your life more complicated. Simplify your life and skip these system tools — you only need the essentials....

What Are Bash Functions? Alike to other coding languages, Bash allows you to create functions from within your code or script. A function can be defined to do a specific task, or set of tasks, and can be called easily and readily from within your main code by simply using the name given to the function. You can also nest function calls (calling a function from within another function), use local variables within the function and even pass variables back and forth with functions, or via using global variables....

Sometimes accidents happen to a USB drive, and you find yourself in a very bad position when your only copy of an important document is on there. When something like this happens, is it possible to fix a physically broken USB drive? Today’s SuperUser Q&A post comes to the rescue for a stressed out reader. Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites....

There’s a font for just about every occasion and eventuality, but what about those times when you need something a little different? Windows includes the Private Character Editor which can be used to create your own fonts, or just individual characters and symbols. Private Character Editor is not a new tool – it has been available for many years now – but it is something that is often overlooked....

If you do a lot of coding and need to switch back and forth between open tabs often, then you need a quick and simple way to do it to keep things flowing smoothly. Today’s SuperUser Q&A post has the answer to help a frustrated reader enjoy tab-switching goodness. Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites....