OTR stands for “off the record.” It’s a way to have encrypted private instant message conversations online. It uses end-to-end encryption so your network provider, government, and even the instant-messaging service itself can’t see the content of your messages. This isn’t too hard to set up, although both people will have to use the correct software and go through a quick setup process before your conversations will be encrypted....
“Try repairing your disk permissions” is a standard Mac troubleshooting tip that’s been going around forever. There are actually two different tools for repairing different types of disk permissions, and one of them is very hidden. The permissions here are really file and directory permissions, but they’re generally called “disk permissions.” Your Mac won’t automatically repair permissions except while installing or upgrading Mac OS X itself. Update: As of Mac OS X 10....
You want to link your home network to an outbuilding, like a garage or workshop, and wired is the only way to go. How do you run the Ethernet cable safely to the secondary building? 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 Yoyoyoyosef is ready to wire his garage with Ethernet, but he has a few questions:...
Whether it is just a matter of curiosity or a genuine need to know, how do you tell if two DVDs are exactly the same? Today’s SuperUser Q&A looks at some different ways to find out. 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 Luca Colli (Flickr). The Question SuperUser reader Mega wants to know if there is a way to tell if two DVDs are exactly the same or not:...
Smart Folders in macOS are a tool to help you organize and find your files. They’re not folders, as they don’t contain anything. They’re saved searches, and can save you a lot of time for searches you perform often. For example, if you often open your downloads folder and sort by Date Added to find your recent downloads, you could instead make a Smart Folder called “Recent Downloads” which only contains files in your Downloads folder added there today, saving you a couple clicks each time....
Whether you share your computer with other people or you use it for a lot of downloads, it is nice to be able to clear out the download folder without having to manually take care of it each week or month, which is when an automated deletion comes in handy. You can automate the cleanup of your download folder using a batch file that will delete files older than a certain amount of days....
Whether you need to hide your recent activity on a computer or if you need to synchronize file dates, using BulkFileChanger is the best way to adjust the creation, access, or modification dates and times of files or folders. What is BulkFileChanger? BulkFileChanger (BFC) is another great addition to your software utility collection produced by NirSoft; one of the only freeware producers we trust. They are well known for creating bloatware and crapware free products unlike many other software companies....
Many iPhone users are surprised to find that the default settings for the Do Not Disturb mode aren’t all that conducive to being undisturbed. Read on as we walk you through the configuration process and highlight why you would want to use one setting over another (and how Do Not Disturb differs from using the physical mute switch on iOS devices). The Difference Between Do Not Disturb and Hardware Muting There are two mechanisms for silencing your iOS device, and it helps to understand the difference between the two as well as why you would want to use one over the other....
The Nest Secure system comes with two Nest Detect devices, which are open/close sensors that can also act as motion detectors. They even have a small, motion-activated LED light (named Pathlight) that can light your way in a dark hallway. However, if that’s not something you need, you can disable Pathlight in the Nest app. To do this, open up the Nest app and tap the Settings gear icon up in the top right corner of the screen....
Limitations of Downloading Songs on SoundCloud Not every song on SoundCloud is downloadable. You can only download the songs whose creators have made those songs downloadable. Also, you can’t perform this download process on a mobile device. You must use a Windows, Mac, Linux, or Chromebook computer to save songs from SoundCloud. Additionally, downloading songs requires you to sign in to your SoundCloud account. Download Songs From SoundCloud to Your Computer To start the download process, first, open a web browser on your Windows, Mac, Linux, or Chromebook computer and launch the SoundCloud site....
If your reaction to the announced demise of Google Reader was to scream “But my starred items!”, then this is the tutorial for you. Read on as we show you multiple ways to extract all your starred articles from Google Reader. Why Do I Want To Do This? Google Reader is shutting down on July 1st. If you, like millions of RSS fans across the globe, were a Google Reader fan, there’s a good chance that you used the star function to flag articles to hold onto, to read later, or for some other purpose....
User Accounts Advances in technology often bring their own new problems. As soon as computers were able to support multiple users, the need to ring-fence and encapsulate each person’s work from everyone else became apparent. This led to the concept of user accounts. Each user has a named ID and a password. These are the credentials that let them log into their account. Their files are kept in an area that is private to each user....
Should Your Remove Stickers From Your Laptop? The decision to remove stickers from your laptop is really up to you. If you’re planning to sell the laptop, you’ll probably want to clean it and remove any stickers that you put on it. On the other hand, it may be a good idea to leave the stickers that come with the PC, just as a sort of “proof” of what you’re selling....
So you’ve got your Samsung Galaxy device and the company’s accompanying virtual reality headset, Gear VR. That’s awesome! Gear VR provides a great, inexpensive taste of what virtual reality has to offer. Let’s show you how to get that thing all set up and running so you can strap it your face and travel to far away lands. Get hype. Step One: Put the Phone in the Gear VR This may seem like a no-brainer, but putting the phone in the headset can be a bit confusing the first time you do it....
If you see a light shining on the back of your iPhone 12, you’ve turned on the phone’s built-in flashlight somehow. Luckily, it’s easy to turn it off with just a tap or two, and this technique applies to the 12 Mini, 12 Pro, or 12 Pro Max as well. Turn Off the Flashlight Using the Lock Screen Whenever your iPhone screen turns on after standby mode, you’ll see a lock screen....
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If your iPhone or iPad runs iOS 14 or iPadOS 14 or higher, you have access to a new Inline replies feature which allows you to create threads from a message (similar to Slack). RELATED: How to Use Threads on Slack to Group Conversations When you create a thread, others can reply to it, as well. This way, a single conversation can be tracked in a single thread. To get started, open the Messages app on your iPhone or iPad and go to a group conversation....
The Windows Task Scheduler can automatically send email at a specific time or in response to a specific event, but its integrated email feature won’t work very well for most users. We have already shown you how to do this using a third party tool, but who really wants to do that when you can do it with tools built right into Windows? Enter PowerShell + Task Scheduler The first thing we need to do is set up a scheduled task, to do so press the Win + R keyboard combination to bring up a run box then type “control schedtasks” and press enter....
Did you have someone else set up the wireless network in your house, and can’t for the life of you remember the password? If so read on to see how you may still be able to recover it. This should work for Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10. Note: Unfortunately this trick will only work if you are a local administrator on your machine, if you are not you will be prompted by UAC for administrative credentials....
Recently we showed you how to volume limit any device with volume limiting headphones to protect your child’s hearing. You can do the same thing in-device if you have an iPhone, iPad, or other Apple device with a simple iOS setting adjustment. Why Do I Want To Do This? There’s a very simple reason for volume limiting your iPhones, iPads, and other iOS devices as they are all capable of outputting sound at a high enough volume to cause permanent hearing loss with extended exposure....
