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One of the most common issues with aging laptops is overheating, something many people aren’t sure how to fix. We’ll help you figure out what’s causing the heat and how to keep your notebook functioning at a lower temperature. Overheating computers can cause a lot of problems, from seemingly random blue screen crashes to data loss. You might not even realize that overheating is the root of your issues, and before you know it you have a burnt-out motherboard on your hands....

Whether you want to merge collections of short stories into a DIY anthology, or you want to split a greatest-works volume you recently acquired into the author’s individual novels, you can follow along as we show you how to merge and split ebooks with ease. Why Do I Want to Do This? There’s all manner of motivations for wanting to split or combine ebooks in your collection. Perhaps you break up a massive anthology into small pieces, combine collections of poetry into a mega volume, or create one big master copy of every single Robert Heinlein book so you can use the progress tracking meter on your ebook reader to see exactly how far you’ve progressed in working your way through his entire life work....

Developing or debugging code inside Docker containers can be tricky. You’d usually attach to the container and use shell utilities to edit files. Visual Studio Code’s Remote Containers extension lets you open folders inside containers, so you can work with them in your code editor. Remote development works with Docker Desktop 2.0 and up for Windows and macOS and Docker Engine 18.06 and higher for Linux. If you’re using Windows 10 Home, you must have the April 2020 update, Docker Desktop 2....

One of the best things about geek culture is that you’re never too old to play with toys big and small. Read on as we highlight great picks from the toy aisle for geeks of all ages on your holiday gift list. Whether you’re shopping for yourself, for a kid-at-heart sibling, or for the lucky tykes on your list, we’ve assembled a list of toys sure delight. Read on as we survey a broad range of toy categories....

While using your iPad, you may end up with two app windows on the screen by accident due to multitasking features called Slide Over and Split View. The extra app window can be frustrating to remove if you don’t know the right gestures. Here’s how to do it. How to Get Rid of a Small Floating Window on iPad (Slide Over) While using your iPad, you may end up with a smaller window off to the side hovering over a full-screen app....

If you have a Microsoft Excel sheet that you need someone to verify, confirm, or agree to, you can have them sign it. Here, we’ll show you how to add and customize a signature line in your Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. We mostly think about signature lines in terms of things like contracts, legal documents, and real estate agreements. You may create these types of documents and request signatures using Microsoft Word....

Windows 8 is designed to push Microsoft’s web services: Bing, Internet Explorer, Outlook.com, and more. However, Windows 8 isn’t limited to just Microsoft’s services. Google services like Gmail, Google Search, Chrome, and more can all be integrated with Windows 8. Google hasn’t made many Modern apps for Windows 8 and has no intention of doing so, but important Google services like Gmail work in the included apps. Unfortunately, contact and calendar sync will stop working in July....

If you use an iPhone but prefer Google Assistant over Siri, it’s possible to launch Google’s voice assistant easily if you configure the Google Assistant app. Here’s how to set it up. First, if you don’t have the Google Assistant app, you can get it for free from the App Store. Once you have it, launch Google Assistant. In the Google Assistant app, tap the “visual snapshot” button in the lower-left corner of the screen....

For additional security, you can require a time-based authentication token as well as a password to log into your Linux PC. This solution uses Google Authenticator and other TOTP apps. This process was performed on Ubuntu 14.04 with the standard Unity desktop and LightDM login manager, but the principles are the same on most Linux distributions and desktops. We previously showed you how to require Google Authenticator for remote access via SSH, and this process is similar....

Charts and graphs serve little purpose if the audience doesn’t know what each section of the illustration represents. Adding a color-coded legend is the perfect way to keep the audience on track. Inserting a Graph in PowerPoint The first step is to create your graphic illustrating the data trends you’d like to show. Luckily, PowerPoint comes with several different graphs and charts from which to choose. The most difficult part of this process is choosing the graphic that you like best....

When you run a command using sudo in Linux, the Terminal prompts you to type in your password with no visual feedback as you type. We’ll show a quick tweak that will show asterisks (*) when you type in your password in the Terminal. NOTE: When we say to type something in this article and there are quotes around the text, DO NOT type the quotes, unless we specify otherwise....

While video-conferencing on Zoom, sometimes other people’s video feeds become too noisy. Hosts can mute everyone’s microphones to stop this. Whether someone stepped away to quiet a noisy parrot or is being disruptive, here’s how to mute them. Hosts Only On Zoom, only hosts can mute everyone in a conference. You can change the host of a meeting to delegate these powers. When you mute everyone, it turns off their microphones so you can’t hear them....

Recently, we showed you how to open a directory in Terminal from within Nautilus. However, what if you’re working on the command line in Terminal and need to access the same directory in Nautilus? There’s an easy solution for that. NOTE: When we say to type something in this article and there are quotes around the text, DO NOT type the quotes, unless we specify otherwise. To open the current directory open in Terminal, type the following command at the prompt and press Enter....

If your computer becomes infected with a virus or another piece of malware, removing the malware from your computer is only the first step. There’s more you need to do to ensure you’re secure. Note that not every antivirus alert is an actual infection. If your antivirus program catches a virus before it ever gets a chance to run on your computer, you’re safe. If it catches the malware later, you have a bigger problem....

Whether you need to check what files were recently opened on your computer for backup reasons or if you want to see what someone else was opening on your computer, the OSFV tool comes in handy. Today we will discuss what the tool is and how you can use it to see what files were recently opened in Windows. What is Open Save Files View? Open Save Files View, which we will refer to as OSFV from now on, is another great Nirsoft utility program....

First, you’ll need to install the replacement texting app you want to use. There are plenty of SMS Apps on the Play Store. Textra SMS is a popular one and what we’ll be using as our example here. After you install your texting app, there are two ways to set it as the default. You can do it from the app itself when you launch the app for the first time or you can do it later on through your device’s Settings app....

Android doesn’t have an iTunes-like desktop program, so the process of syncing your data may not be as obvious as it is with an iPhone. However, you don’t need a desktop syncing app — even iPhone users are leaving iTunes behind. While you can move files back and forth with a USB cable or wireless network connection, the ideal way to keep data in sync between your devices is by relying on online services that do the work for you....

Skype is one of those services that’s loved and hated in equal measure. If you find that you ‘have’ to use it because it is the only way some of your contacts will communicate, you’ll be pleased that it’s no longer necessary to have a messaging client installed – it can all be done from within a browser… with a plugin installed. Editor’s Note: I’m not really sure that there’s much of a difference between using Skype on the desktop and via a plugin in the browser....

Your Chromebook comes equipped with a built-in camera you can use to snap pictures to post to your social media accounts or share with friends and family. Here’s how to take a photo on a Chromebook. How to Take a Photo Google recently rolled out Chrome OS 76 stable, which came with a bunch of new features such as Virtual Desks and a redesign of the Camera app. Google moved the position of the shutter button and camera mode, added a landscape mode, and implemented some much-needed improvements to shutter speed....

Linux is a powerful and diverse operating system, so naturally the screenshot tools for the platform are just as powerful and diverse. The wide variety of these screeenshot tools range from simple and easy-to-use to powerful command-line tools that offer the ability to script and automate the process. Method One: Use GNOME Screenshot, Ubuntu’s Simple Default Tool Ubuntu, like many GTK-based Linux distributions, comes with GNOME Screenshot as the default screen capture tool because it’s one the simplest and most straightforward screenshot tools available on Linux....