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Windows has always displayed your username somewhere prominent — usually in the Start menu — and Windows 8 is no different. Call up the Start screen and you’ll see your name to the upper right of the screen. If you want to change the way your name appears here, it is not immediately obvious how to do so. Here’s how to go about it. The difference with Windows 8 compared to previous versions of Windows is that most people are going to be using a Microsoft account to sign into Windows rather than just a local one....

There’s no need to huddle around the same computer or send files back and forth over email if you want to collaborate with other people. You can all edit the same copy of the document — you can even edit it together in real time. We recommend Google Docs because it’s a more mature collaboration solution and we have the most experience with it. Microsoft’s Office Online recently gained real-time coauthoring features, so it may also be worth a look....

Once a concern that was the province of the paranoid, years worth of reports and revelations have made it readily apparent that people really can spy on you through your webcam. Here’s why you should disable or cover yours. TL;DR version: Script-kiddie hackers and teenagers can, and do, use easily accessible tools and phishing techniques to hijack webcams of unsuspecting people, often who they know, and watch them through their camera....

Ever since switching to OS X there has been one tiny annoyance bugging me, and it really is a small one: My SSH sessions will hang whenever my VPN times out, and then I have to close out of the Terminal to get it to disconnect, because SSH takes forever to time out for some reason. Of course, there are a bunch of settings that you can use to change the SSH timeout so it’ll recognize that the connection is gone, but I was in the mood for instant gratification....

What Is Game Sharing? Game sharing is a process that allows you to use a single digital copy of a game across multiple consoles, similar to how you’d share a physical copy of a game. This is especially useful for families with multiple consoles, or groups of friends that don’t want to pay for the same game repeatedly. All digital purchases on the Switch are linked to a Nintendo Account. To share games between two devices, you need a single Nintendo Account on both....

If you are using Outlook 2013 on a smaller screen, you may not want the Navigation Bar at the bottom of the window to be full size. You can easily change it to be more compact at the bottom of the folder pane. To make the Navigation Bar compact, click the View tab. In the Layout section, click Folder Pane and select Options from the drop-down menu. On the Navigation Options dialog box, select the Compact Navigation check box so there is a check mark in the box....

Being able to record your computer screen can be highly useful, like if need to show someone how to do something, or not to do something. If you use a Mac, you can record your screen without the need of any additional software. We have covered this general topic before, however, today we want to hone in and focus on OS X today. If you’re interested in knowing how to record your screen on other systems, then you might want to check our article on that topic....

We’ve shown you how to run your own blocktastic personal Minecraft server on a Windows/OSX box, but what if you crave something lighter weight, more energy efficient, and always ready for your friends? Read on as we turn a tiny Raspberry Pi machine into a low-cost Minecraft server you can leave on 24/7 for around a penny a day. Why Do I Want to Do This? There are two aspects to this tutorial: running your own Minecraft server and specifically running that Minecraft server on a Raspberry Pi....

Microsoft Word and Outlook have long featured the ability to view “readability” statistics for what you’re writing, so you know how simple or complex you’re writing is. This can help ensure your writing is readable enough for your intended audience. In older versions of Word, the feature was just a click away on your status bar. In versions starting with 2013, you have to enable the feature first, and then access it by running a spell and grammar check....

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as the smooth and crisp action of a well built keyboard. If you’re tired of mushy keys and cheap feeling keyboards, a well-constructed mechanical keyboard is a welcome respite from the $10 keyboard that came with your computer. Read on as we put the CODE mechanical keyboard through the paces. What is the CODE Keyboard? The CODE keyboard is a collaboration between manufacturer WASD Keyboards and Jeff Atwood of Coding Horror (the guy behind the Stack Exchange network and Discourse forum software)....

For many of us, our lives can be quite hectic and busy at times, so the temptation to get as much done as possible while on the go has a lot of appeal. But is it really a good idea to have our laptops powered up and running while in a backpack or bag as we commute between locations, or is it an invitation for trouble? 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 Perfected 2-in-1 Apple Watch and iPhone Dock You’ll know just how premium the Base One Max is the instant you pick it up. Its metal build quality not only looks and feels high-end, but its weighted base (which comes in around 2lbs) also makes this charging dock hefty. That weight, plus a rubberized base, ensure nothing moves when you pick up your magnetically attached iPhone. Looking around the Base One Max, you’ll find a dust- and scratch-resistant TPU surrounding the Apple Watch charger and a glass layer elevating the MagSafe puck....

Don’t let the version number trick you, Android 4.4 KitKat isn’t a minor release. This isn’t a small update like Android 4.3, but a big new release with lots of important features. Google’s changed the way Android looks, created their own new launcher, made the dialer much smarter, further consolidated their messaging services, given the Email app love, and added many new features for app developers to take advantage of....

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the recently-released Ubuntu 13.04 is that it isn’t remarkable at all. Ubuntu 13.04 contains the latest versions of software and additional polish, but there are no must-have features that will make you rush to upgrade. At some point, individual releases of Ubuntu became more of an option for enthusiasts. Ubuntu’s download site pushes Ubuntu 12.04 LTS as the most prominent option, software like Valve’s Steam is designed to support Ubuntu 12....

If you have ever done system administration, you probably have the problem where you connect to so many servers that you have no idea which computer you are connected to half the time. BGInfo is a great utility that lets you display useful system information right on the desktop. And it works for regular Windows users as well. If you’ve been following along with our series, you might be surprised at the huge departure from hunting malware and deleting crapware to displaying stuff on the desktop, but the SysInternals tools aren’t just about finding things to kill....

Did you know that Mozilla is creating a new operating system built on top of Firefox, dubbed Firefox OS? This isn’t an operating system for your computer — Firefox OS is Mozilla’s attempt at a smartphone OS. If you keep up on tech news, you’ve probably heard of Firefox OS. If you’re a normal person — or just a busy geek who doesn’t read all the tech news — you may not know much about it yet....

What Exactly Is Graphene? There’s a good chance you’ve heard about graphene in the media before. Every few years there are breathless predictions of how this wonder material will transform various technologies. What you may not know is that graphene is just carbon. The same stuff life on earth is based on and an incredibly abundant element on earth. Graphene is a one-atom-thick crystalline lattice of graphite, which is essentially crystalline carbon....

What Is a Network Adapter? Network adapters are one of the many pieces that connect us to the internet. They’re usually an antenna or card built into your device, but can also be plug-in USB dongles or antennae that allow purely wired devices to receive data wirelessly. Network adapters allow computers and other devices to interface with a local area network (LAN) or another type of network in order to access the internet....

One of the biggest things that annoys users about Windows 8 is its all-or-nothing Start screen. Windows 10 tries to fix that problem with a separate full-screen tablet mode that it hopes will soothe angry desktop users. Tablet mode is a new feature that should automatically activate (if you want it to) when you detach a tablet from its base or dock. The Start menu then goes full screen as do Windows Store apps and Settings....

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS is a huge change from Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. This is the first long-term support (LTS) release after the massive changes of Ubuntu 17.10, which saw the end of the Unity desktop, Ubuntu Phone, and Ubuntu’s convergence plans. If you were already using Ubuntu 17.10, you won’t notice any big changes. Ubuntu 18.04 focuses on polishing the changes made in Ubuntu 17.10. However, while Ubuntu 17.10 used the Wayland display server by default, Ubuntu 18....