This year’s CES unveiled a ton of new gadgets, but most of them aren’t that interesting. Here are the ones that we liked the best — just the most interesting gadgets and gear that we looked at. The thing about conferences like CES is that there is a ton of stuff to wade through — mountains of bluetooth speakers, phone cases, and all sorts of random things that nobody would ever want....
Windows 10 includes an Xbox app and other Xbox-related features. Many of these features are useful even if you’ve never owned an Xbox in your life, and one of these features is even useful for Windows 10 users who never play games. This isn’t the first time Microsoft has attempted Xbox integration with Windows. Microsoft tried that with Games for Windows LIVE, which launched nearly a decade ago back in 2007....
Bluetooth speakers are everywhere these days and it’s, frankly, rather hard to tell one from the other. Rather than hold one speaker above all as the end-all solution to your wireless music needs, let’s instead take a look at the entire gadget category and highlight which features you want for the best experience. What’s a Bluetooth Speaker and Why Do I Want One? Although you’ve likely seen them advertised or on the shelves of your local electronics store, you may not be intimately familiar with the Bluetooth speaker gadget market....
How a VPN Works Since they’re much more popular than Tor, we’ll start by briefly going over how VPNs (virtual private networks) work. When you connect to the internet under normal circumstances, you do so by first connecting to a server run by your internet service provider (ISP), which in turn connects you to the site you want to visit. In this scenario, the site can see your IP address and the ISP can see what site you’re connected to....
All-Time High ATH stands for “all-time high.” In cryptocurrency and online trading, the ATH is the highest price or market capitalization that a particular asset has reached in its entire history, since its listing. ATH is a way to discuss the potential value of a specific asset since it’s the peak price. The way people use ATH varies based on the context. On trading blogs and news websites, writers use ATH to discuss what valuation an asset has reached in the past....
When you are installing drivers, you may see some references to items that leave you wondering exactly what they are and what purpose they could possibly serve. With that in mind, today’s SuperUser Q&A post helps clear up the confusion for a curious 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. Photo courtesy of Audio Mix House (Flicker)....
Sadly, sports networks are often included in the larger bundles of channels you may not want. To make matters worse, the majority of sports networks have been gobbled up by two entities—Disney (ESPN) and FOX Sports. Getting all of these channels can be pricey and annoying. Cheapest for ESPN: Sling Orange Sling TV offers two bundles of channels, each with a smattering of sports networks. The “Orange” bundle includes the ESPN family of networks for $35 per month....
With the rise of inexpensive online photo printing services, inkjet printers have fallen out of favor. But, as with any DIY project, some people claim that it’s cheaper to print photos at home. Is that really true? A Quick Cost Comparison Let’s break down the price difference between at-home photo printing and online printing services. We’re going to do this by comparing the price of online printing services and at-home printing....
There’s a good chance you already use the VLC media player. But VLC isn’t just a media player — it’s a complete Swiss Army Knife for digital videos and music, filled with useful and fun features you haven’t found yet. If you’re just using VLC to play back local media files, you’re only using a tiny fraction of VLC’s capabilities. There’s so much more you can do with VLC, whether you’re using it on Windows, Mac, or Linux....
Have you ever found yourself manually opening WinSCP to the same server you’ve just SSHed into with mRemoteNG? Or wishing you were able to extract the password from the mRemoteNG connection? HTG will guide you on how to unlock mRemote’s true power. Image by: andreasnilsson1976 via Compfight cc and Aviad Raviv-Vash We gave an introductory tour of mRemoteNG in our “How to Use mRemoteNG to Manage All Your Remote Connections” guide....
Safari comes pre-installed on your Mac and might just be all you need from a web browser. It also has some features that make it a more attractive and convenient option for owners of Apple hardware in general. Safari is Highly Optimized for macOS Safari is a highly optimized browser that Apple develops alongside macOS and the hardware it runs on. Thanks to this, it uses less energy than competing browsers which is especially important if you own a MacBook....
Bluetooth’s power-hungry nature has made it impractical for many types of wireless devices in the past. Bluetooth Low Energy is changing this, enabling new types of devices that can operate for months or years with small batteries. For example, you’ll be able to put a cheap, small device on your keychain so you can track the location of your keys from your phone. The device’s battery will last an entire year without any recharging necessary....
In today’s lesson, we’re going to help you understand how to better categorize your inbox and organize your messages with labels and some predefined but configurable tabs. Once your Gmail account gains some steam and you begin to receive a bunch of messages, you will want to learn to tame the torrent into more manageable streams. Gmail’s filters allow you to manage your incoming email messages, helping you keep your less important email out of your way and filtered into a label....
How Were Google Drive and Photos Connected? Currently, Google Drive and Google Photos are linked together. From within Google Drive, you can select a “Google Photos” folder to browse all your photos and videos. The Google Backup and Sync tool for Windows and Mac can sync these photos to your computer, just as it can sync your other Google Drive files. And, from within Google Photos, you’ll also see photos you store in other folders in Google Drive....
Old devices using 802.11b Wi-Fi are a problem. They slow down modern Wi-Fi networks just by operating on the same channel nearby. Even your neighbors’ Wireless B devices may be slowing down your Wi-Fi. There are a lot of myths and rumors here. The worst rumors have been exaggerated, but rogue 802.11b devices can still slow down your network. How Much Does an 802.11b Device Slow Down a Newer Network?...
Android TV is an excellent set-top box platform, but many of the units available on the market today have extremely limited storage. As the ATV catalog grows, users are going to want to install more apps than ever before, even if you don’t consider the newer, space-eating games. The good news is that you can actually expand the storage on your Android TV box. Before we get into how to do it, here’s a quick look at what you’ll need:...
The Problem With iMessage Reactions on Android Here’s what happens: the iPhone user selects the “like” expression in a conversation. They—and other iMessage users in the conversation—see a thumbs-up emoji on the message. Android users, however, receive a new message from that person that reads “Liked ‘[message contents].” So what can you do to stop getting these annoying messages? Well, nothing, really. You can’t block them completely or remove them from the conversation....
When you use the sudo command to run commands as root or administrator you are prompted to enter your password. You may have noticed that if you run another command using sudo shortly after the first command, you are not prompted for your password again. You can customize the length of that grace period in which you are not asked to enter your password for the sudo command again by changing a setting for the sudo command....
If you’ve spent any time using Mac OS X, you’ve figured out that the Cmd+W shortcut key closes a window or tab, while the Cmd+Q key quits the entire app. The problem? The keys are right next to each other, and way too easy to accidentally hit! Here’s how to change it. This problem is compounded even more when you’re using an application like Google Chrome, Safari, or Firefox, where you’re opening or closing tabs all the time, and probably using the Cmd+W key to close just the current tab....
If you’ve ever set up a profile in Apple Health on your iPhone, the app will collect data on how many steps you take each day. If you’d like to clear this record of your physical activity, it’s easy to erase it in the Health app. Here’s how. First, open the Apple Health app. If you can’t find it, swipe downward with one finger in the middle of your iPhone screen, then type “health” in the search bar....
