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After getting a new MacBook Air and deciding to try out OS X for a while, I started wondering why the battery would suddenly start dying really fast, but only when I was sitting at the kitchen table. That’s when I noticed the display brightness kept changing on its own… and realized the problem. OS X, just like your phone, and any modern device, tries to figure out the brightness of the room you’re in, and adjust the brightness of the screen....

Do you use a webmail service you’re unhappy with because it’s where all your email is? There’s good news – you can easily switch, without losing your old email and contacts and without missing email sent to your old address. This guide will help you switch to a shiny new webmail service. The exact ways to switch between email services will differ depending on which webmail provider you’re using. We’ll be focusing on three of the most popular services here: Gmail, Outlook....

If you’re using Linux as your desktop operating system, you probably are very aware of what version you are running, but what if you need to connect to somebody’s server and do some work? It’s really useful to know exactly what you are dealing with, and luckily it’s also pretty easy. As with everything in Linux there are multiple ways to get things done, so we’re going to show you a few different tricks and you can pick the one that you like the best....

PCs are all about backwards compatibility, but this can lead to problems. Games designed for DOS or even just earlier versions of Windows may not work properly on modern versions of Windows without some tweaking. We’ll walk you through the basic things you need to know when trying to troubleshoot games — much of this applies even if you’re purchasing old games from Steam. Use DOSBox for DOS Games Most DOS games won’t work on modern versions of Windows if you try to run them in the Command Prompt....

Docker containers don’t see your system’s GPU automatically. This causes reduced performance in GPU-dependent workloads such as machine learning frameworks. Here’s how to expose your host’s NVIDIA GPU to your containers. Making GPUs Work In Docker Docker containers share your host’s kernel but bring along their own operating system and software packages. This means they lack the NVIDIA drivers used to interface with your GPU. Docker doesn’t even add GPUs to containers by default so a plain docker run won’t see your hardware at all....

One of the big new features in Apple’s iOS 7 is Control Center, which allows you to quickly access and toggle common setting from anywhere. However, Android phones have had quick toggles for a long time. Android now has its own built-in quick toggles, while popular manufacturer-customized interfaces like Samsung’s TouchWiz have their own quick toggles, which work differently. You can also add custom quick toggles in different places....

It is easy to add or modify an environment variable with Command Prompt (CMD), but removing one is much more complicated. Here are a few different ways you can do it. How to Add or Modify an Environment Variable First, you need to launch Command Prompt, or CMD, as an administrator. Click Start, type “cmd” into the search box, and then click “Run as Administrator.” There are two distinct ways to set environment variables....

Even with the advances in Wi-Fi routers it’s still possible you have a dead spot or two in your house (and if you have an older router it’s likely you have entire portions of your home with a poor or non-existent signal). D-Link’s DAP-1250 offers a dead simple and low-profile way to extend the reach of your home network. What is the D-Link DAP-1520? The D-Link DAP-1520 is a wireless extender with a wall-wart form factor....

The Raspberry Pi and the SD Card Built by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the Pi is one of the most successful single-board computers ever built. Although it is cheap, it was designed to provide enough power to make it a viable educational platform that schools and colleges could adopt and embrace. Families could afford to have the same type of equipment as the schools. Almost as soon as it was launched in 2012, the potential of a small, cheap, low-power computer capable of running a genuine Linux distribution saw it adopted by makers and hobbyists....

Halloween is coming up, and if you have a house full of Philips Hue light bulbs, now is the time to really put them to good use. Here are some great ways to use these lights to make your house just a tad bit haunted. Take Advantage of Hue’s Horrible Greens If you have 1st- or 2nd-generation Hue bulbs, then you might be familiar with how poorly they produce a true green color—it’s more like a disgusting yellow-ish green, but the one this is a good thing is during Halloween....

If you use Windows 10 with a machine with a built-in camera or fingerprint reader, you may encounter the term “Windows Hello” while setting up sign-in methods. But what does it mean? Let’s find out. What Is Windows Hello? First announced in 2015, “Windows Hello” is Microsoft’s fancy name for Windows 10’s non-password login security options. Several of those login options are biometric, which means that they use an aspect of your body for identity verification....

Adding an extra layer of security is never a bad thing, but you may find yourself wondering about the benefits you actually gain from said layer. Today’s SuperUser Q&A post explains what makes “Secure Login” secure 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 Matt Biddulph (Flickr). The Question SuperUser reader Nexusfactor wants to know what makes Secure Login (Ctrl+Alt+Del) secure:...

An impedance mismatch arises when data is fetched from or inserted into a database. The properties of objects or classes within the codebase need to be mapped to their corresponding database table fields. Mapping and Relationships Your classes won’t necessarily map directly to individual database tables. The construction of an object might require data from several tables to be used in aggregate. You’ll also need to handle relationships between your data....

Microsoft released a preview of their update to Windows 8 today, and we’ve got all the details, starting with how to get your hands on it. Note: we totally lifted that picture from Microsoft’s blog. Do they care? Nope. Give Me the Info! Before we give you the download link, there are a couple of things you should keep in mind: Windows 8. 1 will be a Free update to Windows 8....

HDMI allows you to connect almost any device to a TV or another external display, but HDMI requires a wired connection. You might assume there’d be a well-supported standard for wireless displays, but you’d be wrong. When it comes to mirroring a device’s screen wirelessly or using it as a remote-control for media displayed on another screen, there is still a wide variety of competing standards fighting it out in the market....

Recently, YouTube started shutting down several popular Discord bots that allowed anyone to play videos on the service with friends. Now, there appears to be an official YouTube integration with Discord in testing, though it’s only available on select servers right now. The feature in testing is called Watch Together, and as the name implies, it allows you to get together with friends on Discord and watch videos from YouTube....

Are you an avid Dungeons & Dragons player who is curious about the latest edition, been away from the game for a bit but want to get back in, or someone who is completely new to the game? Then we have the perfect opportunity to share with you! The Basic Rules set for the latest edition is now available to download for free! Image courtesy of Wizards of the Coast....

Google just announced a new feature where Google+ acts as a bridge between the social network and your personal email. Anyone who follows you on Google+ can now email you directly. If this sounds like a terrible thing (we certainly weren’t thrilled to hear it), read on to learn how to opt out. What Exactly Has Changed? Here’s a more extended explanation: Google has rolled out a new feature for their ubiquitous Gmail email service....

Apple promises that Personalized Spatial Audio, added in iOS 16 for iPhones, can help tailor your audio experience to your specific head shape. Here’s how to set it up so you can judge for yourself. What Is Personalized Spatial Audio? First announced at WWDC 2022, Personalized Spatial Audio arrived in the iOS 16 update for iPhones. Apple says it tailors the spatial audio listening experience to you. By scanning your face and ears, the experience of listening to spatial audio technologies like Dolby Atmos is better than the one-size-fits-all approach introduced with iOS 15....

The accessibility options that are available in Windows have been designed to help people that have difficulty using a computer because of a condition or impairment, but there are plenty of interesting options that could prove incredibly useful to everyone. We will reveal how the Ease of Access Center could help you. The Ease of Access Center can be found in the Control Panel and is home to a wealth of settings relating to how you interact with your computer, how notifications appear and much more....