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People mining cryptocurrency have driven up the price of GPUs. So, if you’re a gamer and you already have a powerful GPU in your gaming PC, can you really make some extra cash mining cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin) with your PC? We’re not talking about setting up a dedicated mining rig or getting too technical here. And we’re definitely not recommending you buy hardware just to mine. We’ve seen reports that anyone with a reasonably powerful GPU can just download easy-to-use software and put that GPU to work, and that’s what we tested....

Phones Are Built Tougher Than Ever Smartphone manufacturers don’t design smartphones with cases in mind. It’s a device that’s been created to use as it comes from the box. Sure, the accessories market is worth a lot of money and the company that makes your phone will happily sell you a case for it, but nowhere in the warranty or manual does it say that you need to have a case (or screen protector) for your phone....

It’s important to secure your wireless network with WPA2 encryption and a strong passphrase. But what sorts of attacks are you actually securing it against? Here’s how attackers crack encrypted wireless networks. This isn’t a “how to crack a wireless network” guide. We’re not here to walk you through the process of compromising a network — we want you to understand how someone might compromise your network. Spying on an Unencrypted Network RELATED: Why You Shouldn’t Host an Open Wi-Fi Network Without a Password...

PDF, the ubiquitous document format, is great for sharing documents while preserving fonts, images, and the general layout across platforms. Is there an easy way, however, to preserve that very formatting when copying and pasting text out of the document? 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 Colen is searching for a way to extract text from PDFs while preserving the formatting:...

You’re constantly plugging and unplugging (and mounting/unmounting) your flash drive. What can you do to minimize potential data loss? 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 Peter wants to know what he can do to keep the file system and files of his flash drives intact. He writes: Is there nothing he can do, or are there preventative steps he can take?...

There is more to an Internet connection’s speed than just its bandwidth. This is especially true with satellite Internet connections, which can offer speeds of up to 15 Mbps – but will still feel slow. Latency can be an issue with all Internet connections and networks. Wired network connections tend to have the lowest latency, while wireless connections generally have higher latency. Image Credit: Timo Newton-Syms on Flickr Latency vs....

Windows users have the ability to hide the Taskbar, but the menu bar on macOS is a constant presence. This isn’t necessarily bad because the menu bar doesn’t really take up that much room. If you want to hide it, however, you now can. The menu bar is quite versatile. You can add new controls to it, access further options using the “Option” key, and even move menu bar icons around by holding down the “Command” key....

When you get a new computer (Mac, in this case), you might want to check how well it can perform. By running a benchmark, you’re actually finding out your machine’s scores regarding various performance-related tasks, and then you can compare your results with others. There are several benchmarking tools available, but the two most commonly used are Geekbench and Cinebench. While Geekbench provides you with an idea of how well your machine’s processing is, Cinebench takes it one step further and also benchmarks the graphics processing capabilities....

Macs can boot into a “Target Disk Mode” that causes them to function like an external hard drive. Connect one Mac to another Mac and you can access its files in the Finder. This is a lot like opening up your Mac, removing the internal drive, placing it in an enclosure, and then connecting it to another Mac. But it does all of that without any disassembly — just reboot and plug it in....

When you delete sensitive files from your Dropbox account, you may think you’ve deleted them permanently. However, the files remain in a hidden cache folder on your hard drive for efficiency and emergency purposes that is cleared automatically every three days. If you need the space, you can manually clear the cache by deleting these files. It won’t save a lot of space permanently, necessarily, but if you deleted a rather large file, it might make a significant difference....

Notifications in OS X are a relatively new feature but since their introduction in 2012 as part of Mountain Lion they’ve become almost indispensable, sporting their own settings panel and aptly-named Notification Center. Here’s how to make the most of both these features. If you use OS X, you’ve likely noticed the various notifications that slide out from the right screen edge. These can cover a considerable amount of information and a wide variety of apps, services, and system announcements....

Create a Custom Zoom Background Professional designers can, of course, create their own Zoom backgrounds in software like Photoshop, but not all of us have that kind of talent. Luckily, there are online applications at your disposal that require little-to-no experience to use. Plus, a majority of them are free. RELATED: How to Set Up a Zoom Meeting We’ll be using Canva. It’s extremely easy to use, has a free plan, provides a large library of images, and offers a ton of editing tools....

With Rogue One coming out this weekend, the internet is in full on Star Wars fever (well, more than usual). Why not use this for a little Photoshop fun? Let’s have a look at how to add a lightsaber special effect to a photo. I’m going to keep everything as simple as possible, though to follow along, you will need to understand layers, layer masks, and adjustment layers. If you aren’t familiar with these subjects, check out our guides to layers and masks and adjustment layers before continuing....

Driving Mode is only available for Android devices. It’s a simplified interface with big buttons and it puts Google Assistant into always-listening mode. Essentially, it’s like Android Auto on your smartphone. You can launch it with a voice command, but a home screen shortcut may even be easier. Before we get started, make sure you’ve opted-in to Driving Mode from the Google settings. Here’s how to enable Driving Mode....

Our Geek School articles can get pretty complicated, and there’s no reason to do a ton of crazy stuff on your own desktop PC. Instead, you can just VirtualBox like we do to create virtual machines for all of your testing. Here’s how to do it. You can even network multiple virtual machines together, so as long as you have a decent amount of RAM in your PC, you can fully test a scenario without messing with your PC’s settings at all....

If you want to create a customized envelope, whether for personal or professional use, but don’t want to invest the money having it done professionally, Microsoft Word has you covered. Creating a customized envelope in Word is simple thanks to a feature designed for the task. Creating and Printing Envelopes in Word Go ahead and open up Word and select the “Mailings” tab. Next, click the “Envelopes” button. The Envelopes and Labels window will appear....

The Control Center in macOS Big Sur and higher provides a one-stop location for system toggles and utilities ranging from Wi-Fi to keyboard brightness. You can also customize and add more features to the Control Center on Mac. Just like the Control Center on iPhone and iPad, there are parts of the modular Control Center that can’t be changed. The network, display, and sound modules will stay put. But it’s possible to add more modules to the bottom of the Control Center....

By default, live hyperlinks in Word are opened in the default browser by pressing and holding the “Ctrl” button and clicking the link. If you would rather just single click to follow a hyperlink, you can easily disable the “Ctrl+Click” using a setting. To access this setting, click the “File” tab. On the backstage screen, click “Options” in the list of items on the left. On the “Word Options” dialog box, click “Advanced” in the list of items on the left....

Instead of forwarding several emails individually, you can send them all at once as attachments. You can do this with both Microsoft Outlook’s native desktop client and the online web app. Here’s how to forward emails as attachments in both. Before we begin, note that this feature isn’t available in the Outlook mobile app for iPhone, iPad, or Android or on Outlook in mobile browsers. Forward an Email as an Attachment Using Outlook’s Desktop Client You can attach an email to a new email (or to an email you’re replying to) using Microsoft Outlook’s native desktop app for Windows and Mac....

Audiobooks—or books on tape—have been around for decades but they’re booming in popularity now that they no longer take up a dozen CDs and the cost has plummeted. Let’s look at how to get started. I’m a huge fan of audiobooks. I find they’re the best way to fill dead time when you’re driving, cleaning, cooking, taking your dog for a walk, or otherwise doing pretty mindless tasks. If you spend a couple of hours sitting in the car alone commuting, then you should really check them out....