Tuesday, 31 October 2017

Which Amazon Echo Should I Buy? Echo vs. Dot vs. Show vs. Plus and More

The Amazon Echo started off as a simple device, but now there are more than nine different Echo products out in the wild and on Amazon’s virtual shelves. So what’s the difference between them all, and which one should you buy?

Source: How-To Geek

How to Enable the Apple TV’s Dark Mode, Manually or Automatically

When it’s after dark and the lights are out, the last thing you want is to be blinded by the bright white of your Apple TV’s home screen when your movie ends. Here’s how to enable dark mode on the Apple TV to make your late-night TV escapades more enjoyable.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: Which Of These Halloween Movies Was Critically Panned, But Became A Cult Classic?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Save Big on iPhone 8 Cases by Buying an iPhone 7 Case Instead

If you need an iPhone 8 case, your first impulse is to search for an iPhone 8 case and buy the one you like, right? Not so fast.

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Source: How-To Geek

What’s the Difference Between APFS, Mac OS Extended (HFS+), and ExFAT?

So you’re using Disk Utility to partition your new hard drive when you’re presented with a choice of potential file systems. The list is longer than you’d think, with terms like “APFS (Case-sensitive)” and “Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted)” to choose from.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Send a Steam Digital Gift Card in Any Amount

Valve just added digital gift cards to Steam, allowing you to send money directly to a friend’s Steam Wallet. You can also use the same trick we used adding Steam Wallet funds to send almost any amount—not just the preset values.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Enable Color Filters to Read the Screen More Clearly on Windows 10

Windows 10 now includes color filters, an accessibility feature that changes the color of everything on your screen. They apply at the system level and work the same way as Night Light, so they work with any application. Filters can turn your screen black and white, invert colors, help with light sensitivity, and make colors easier to distinguish for those with color blindness.

Source: How-To Geek

Best Micro SD Cards for All Your Devices

It’s really hard to distinguish micro SD cards from one another. Besides their capacity, they’re all the same, right?

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Source: How-To Geek

How to Connect to a VPN on a Chromebook

While not necessary for everyone, VPNs can be a crucial tool for online safety—especially if you use public Wi-Fi a lot. There are tons of one-click solutions out there that make it really easy to hit a toggle and activate a VPN, but for the most robust options, manual setup is key. Here’s how to do it on Chrome OS.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Switch Your iPhone to “Mono” Audio (So You Can Wear One Earbud)

The overwhelming majority of audio you listen to uses stereophonic (or stereo) sound. This means there are at least two separate audio channels: one for the right speaker, and one for the left. Each channel may play something slightly different, giving the illusion of directional sound like you experience in everyday life.

Source: How-To Geek

Eight Alternatives to the Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi, a tiny, low-powered, inexpensive system-on-a-chip computer, has become famous as the preferred tool of DIY gadget builders and tinkerers. But thanks to its explosive success, it’s no longer the only choice on the market for cheap all-in-one gadgetry and development. If you can’t get your hands on a Pi, or you want to try something else, give these alternatives a look.

Source: How-To Geek

Monday, 30 October 2017

How to Download Games to Your Xbox One From Your Phone

Xbox One games can be massive in size, and take hours to download. Rather than waiting for games to download when you’re ready to play them, you can remotely start game downloads on your Xbox One from a smartphone or web browser. They’ll automatically download to your Xbox and be ready when you get home, so you can play them instantly.

Source: How-To Geek

The Best Spooky Philips Hue Tricks for Halloween

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.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: Blood Drives Tied To Which Of These Movie Franchises Have Collected Over 120,000 Pints Of Blood?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

How to Boot Into Safe Mode on Windows 8 or 10 (The Easy Way)

One of the most common steps when troubleshooting a PC is to boot into Safe Mode. Up through Windows 7, you did this by pressing the F8 key during boot—right before Windows started loading. This all changed with Windows 8 and its introduction of Automatic Repair mode—something that continues in Windows 10.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Block Cookies (Except for Sites You Use) in Any Browser

Cookies can be useful when you’re in control of them. Today we’re taking a look at how you can control cookies by blocking them except for when you want them to enhance your user experience.

Source: How-To Geek

Worried About Breaking Your New iPhone? Get AppleCare, Not Carrier-Provided Insurance

During the iPhone X pre-order rollout last Friday, Apple quietly updated their repair prices to include the new phone and one thing is perfectly clear: very expensive phones come with very expensive repairs and insurance isn’t really optional anymore.

Source: How-To Geek

Worried About Breaking Your New iPhone? Get AppleCare, Not Carrier-Provided Insurance

During the iPhone X pre-order rollout last Friday, Apple quietly updated their repair prices to include the new phone and one thing is perfectly…

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Source: How-To Geek

What’s the Difference Between Ubuntu, openSUSE, and Fedora on Windows 10?

The Windows Subsystem for Linux received a huge update in Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update. It now supports multiple Linux distributions, not just Ubuntu. Ubuntu, openSUSE, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server are available at launch, with Fedora and other Linux distributions set to arrive in the future.

Source: How-To Geek

The Complete Guide to Improving Android Battery Life

Once upon a time, you had to really keep an eye on your Android phone to make sure the battery wasn’t being depleted prematurely. Manually toggling connections, constantly adjusting brightness, and the like are basically all things of the past now—but there are still things you can do to maximize your handset’s battery life.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: Tim Burton Was Fired From Disney Over Which Of These Animated Shorts?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Sunday, 29 October 2017

What Unity Users Need to Know About Ubuntu 17.10’s GNOME Shell

Ubuntu 17.10 “Artful Aardvark” has dropped the Unity 7 desktop, instead switching to GNOME Shell. Ubuntu’s developers tried to make the GNOME Shell desktop work as much like Unity as possible, but there are still some big differences. Here’s what you need to know.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: Which Planet Did Carl Sagan Want To Terraform First?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Saturday, 28 October 2017

How Credit Card Skimmers Work, and How to Spot Them

A credit card skimmer is a malicious device criminals attach to a payment terminal—most commonly on ATMs and gas pumps. When you use an terminal that’s been compromised in such a way, the skimmer will create a copy of your card and capture your PIN (if it’s an ATM card).

Source: How-To Geek

Friday, 27 October 2017

How to Factory Reset the Kwikset Kevo

If you’re planning on selling your Kwikset Kevo, or just moving to another house and don’t plan to take it along with you, here’s how to factory reset it so your digital keys are completely erased from it.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: Which Of These U.S. States Is Known For An Architectural Detail Called A “Witch Window”?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

How to Make Your Pixel 2’s Colors More Vibrant with Oreo Colorizer

To say that the Google Pixel 2’s displays have come under scrutiny would be an understatement. While most of the criticism has been overblown, there’s no arguing that the color calibration of the Pixel 2’s displays aren’t what we’re used to seeing.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Uninstall Windows 10’s Built-in Apps (and How to Reinstall Them)

Windows 10 includes a variety of universal apps, and there’s no easy way to hide them from the “All Apps” view in the new Start menu. You can uninstall them, but Microsoft doesn’t allow you to easily uninstall them in the usual way.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Get The Xbox One S Controller Working Properly With Android

Years after the smartphone boom, there are hundreds of different Bluetooth controllers for Android. Most of them work just fine out of the box, but there are exceptions, like Microsoft’s new Bluetooth-equipped Xbox One S controller.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Use Windows 10’s “Continue on PC” Feature With an iPhone or Android Phone

Microsoft wants your PC and phone to work well together, even if you have an iPhone or Android phone. In the Fall Creators Update, new “Continue on PC” features allow you to quickly send links from your phone to your computer.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Enable Wi-Fi Calling on an Android Phone

If you’re on a carrier that supports it, Wi-Fi calling is a great feature to have. It will allow your smartphone to use the best connection in your house to make and receive calls and text messages. It also allows for higher quality audio, and it’s perfect if you don’t get good signal in your house.

Source: How-To Geek

Is the iPhone X Worth the Premium? Probably Not.

The iPhone X is officially on the market now and if you intend to upgrade your iPhone, but haven’t gotten around to it yet, now is the time…

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Source: How-To Geek

The iPad’s Keyboard Can Type Symbols Faster in iOS 11: Here’s How

The iPad got a lot of updates in iOS 11 to make it a better productivity tool. Along with headline stuff like multitasking, you’ll probably notice that the keyboard got an overhaul. While it may seem a little cluttered at first, it’s actually a big improvement. Here’s what’s changed and how to use it.

Source: How-To Geek

Thursday, 26 October 2017

Pre-ordering the iPhone X Tonight? Here’s How to Cut in the Virtual Line

Apple pre-orders are usually a zoo and the release of the iPhone X is poised to be especially so.

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Source: How-To Geek

How to Sync Your Apple TV’s Home Screen Across Multiple Apple TVs

If you have more than one Apple TV in your household, you probably know how annoying it is when you have to install Apple TV apps multiple times on each device. However, with the release of tvOS 11, that’s no longer the case.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: The Coin Widely Believed To Have Popularized The Idea Of “Heads Or Tails” Was The?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

How to Back Up Your Mac and Restore Files With Time Machine

Regular backups are essential. When your hard drive dies—and it will die eventually—it’s important to know you’ve got another copy of everything somewhere. PC users can use Windows’ File History to back up their data, but Mac users have something that’s arguably simpler and more powerful: Time Machine.

Source: How-To Geek

What Is Mixed Reality on Windows 10, and Should You Buy a Headset?

Microsoft is building an ecosystem of “Mixed Reality” headsets from various PC manufacturers. Despite the misleading name, the first headsets you can buy today are really just virtual reality headsets, with no augmented reality features at all.

Source: How-To Geek

PSA: Parents, YouTube Is Littered with Creepy Pseudo “Kid-Friendly” Videos

There’s a growing and, frankly, disturbing trend on YouTube wherein people create and upload videos clearly geared towards children, but…

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Source: How-To Geek

How to Make Video Chats Look Better with Your Computer’s Night Mode

I hate video chats. As a tool for a work-from-home writer, it’s obviously pretty essential, but between my pale complexion and a desk full of computer monitors, the picture streaming through my webcam makes me look like the least attractive extra in an Anne Rice movie.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Stop Spotify From Auto-Playing Music After You Finish a Playlist or Album

By default, whenever Spotify reaches the end of the song, album, artist, or playlist you’re listening to, it auto-plays similar songs using its Radio feature. You can see in the screenshot below that I listened to REM’s Bad Day, and then the next thing it played was a Song Radio for Bad Day.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Install macOS High Sierra in VirtualBox on Windows 10

Whether you want to occasionally test a website in Safari, or try out a little bit of software in the Mac environment, having access to the latest version of macOS in a virtual machine is useful. Unfortunately, you’re not really supposed to do this—so getting macOS running in VirtualBox is, to say the least, tricky.

Source: How-To Geek

Wednesday, 25 October 2017

Amazon Key Lets Amazon Open Your Door, But Do You Really Want That?

Amazon’s brand new offering, Amazon Key, gives Amazon the power to open your door for delivery people, dog walkers, cleaners…

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Source: How-To Geek

How to Download Videos from Your SkyBell HD

The SkyBell HD keeps all of your most-recent recorded videos stored in the cloud for up to 20 videos at a time. This can go fast if your doorbell is used a lot, so here’s how to download videos from your SkyBell HD to store them locally forever.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: The Term “Personal Space” Was Injected Into The English Language By?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Amazon’s New Cloud Cam Is Like the Nest Cam, But a Whole Lot Cheaper

Today, in Amazon’s quest to make every single gadget in your home smarter and Alexa-connected, the company introduced the Amazon Cloud Cam…

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Source: How-To Geek

How to Set Up Your Mac to Act as a Networked Time Machine Drive

We all know it’s important to back up your Mac with Time Machine, but remembering to plug in your external drive can be a hassle, especially if you’re a MacBook user. So networked backups come in handy: you don’t have to remember to do anything.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Pick the Right Monitor Mount

I have some depressing news for you: the mount or stand that came with your monitor probably sucks. Oh, it’ll hold up the screen and stand on your desk…but that’s about it.

Source: How-To Geek

Which Game Console is the Best for You? PS4 vs Xbox vs Switch

Console gaming is getting better—and in some ways, cheaper—than ever before.

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Source: How-To Geek

How to Limit Windows Update’s Download Bandwidth on Windows 10

Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update gives you more control of Windows Update’s downloads and uploads. You can now set a download bandwidth limit, ensuring Windows Update won’t hog your Internet connection with its background downloads.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Change the Text Message and Other Notification Tones on Your iPhone

One of the worst things about modern smartphones being dominated by Apple and Samsung is that almost everyone’s phone sounds the same. Any time I’m out in public and I hear Apple’s default text tone I instantly reach for my pocket. If you’re in a similar situation, here’s how to change the tone so you aren’t quite as confused.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Block Spam Calls and Texts in Android, Manually and Automatically

It’s dinner time. You’re just sitting down when you get a call. On the other line, a robotic voice says: “We have important information regarding your credit accounts. Please hold to speak to a representative.”

Source: How-To Geek

Tuesday, 24 October 2017

What’s Up With the Pixel Screens? The Facts and the BS

Google’s new Pixel 2 phones are out and they’re pretty awesome. However, there are also reports of issues with both the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL’s displays. A little bit of misinformation and a lot of hysteria have made it sound like both phones are just the Worst Thing Ever. So, we’re going to break down what’s worth worrying about and what’s a lot of hot air.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: Pneumoencephalography Is A Medical Procedure Where Your Spinal Fluid Is Replaced With?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

What’s Up With the Pixel Screens? The Facts and the BS

What Are Electron Apps, and Why Have They Become So Common?

Have you noticed a lot of new desktop applications look pretty much like websites? It’s not your imagination.

Source: How-To Geek

The Nintendo Switch Appears to Now Support GameCube Controllers

Curious players have discovered an unannounced feature in the new Switch update: you can use GameCube controllers with your Switch—if you h…

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Source: How-To Geek

How to Record the Sound Coming From Your PC (Even Without Stereo Mix)

You don’t have to hold up a microphone to your computer’s speakers to record its audio. Even if you don’t have a Stereo Mix option on your PC, you can easily record the sound coming from any Windows PC.

Source: How-To Geek

A Clicker Game About Paperclips Changed How I Think About Gaming

I’ve been writing about technology on the web for seven years now, with much of that time occupied covering mobile gaming. And before that, I played PC and console games for more than two decades, ever since I could pick up a Genesis controller. And in all that time, no game has made me think quite so hard—or feel quite so humble—as a little browser clicker about making paperclips.

Source: How-To Geek

The Xbox One Gets Backwards Compatibility With Thirteen Original Xbox Games Starting Today

When the Xbox One first came out, it wasn’t backwards compatible with any older games.

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Source: How-To Geek

How to Invert the Colors on Your Android Phone’s Screen

If you (or someone you love) has vision issues, however, the tiny fonts and complex colors on modern phones can makes them nearly impossible to use. Fortunately, there’s a feature built in to Android that allows users to easily invert the colors, making things much easier for those with poorer eyesight.

Source: How-To Geek

Voice Messaging Is the Best Chat Feature You’re Probably Not Using

Text messaging sucks. If you think about it, it’s a pretty inefficient way to communicate. It’s slow, lacks nuance, and it’s easy to make mistakes. Smartphones with huge touch screens have a lot going for them, but making texting easy isn’t one of them.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Install Custom Themes and Visual Styles in Windows

Windows has had support for themes, also known as “visual styles”, since Windows XP. By default, Windows will only load Microsoft-signed themes—but you can get around this fairly easily.

Source: How-To Geek

Nintendo Announced a Super NES Edition of the 3DS XL, Complete with Super Mario Kart

Want to relive the glory days when the Super Nintendo ruled supreme even though you’re all grown up and have to leave the house?

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Source: How-To Geek

Monday, 23 October 2017

The Kindle Is Ten Years Old, and Amazon’s Celebrating With $30 Off a Few Models

It’s been nearly ten years since the first Amazon Kindle came out, with the explicit purpose of destroying physical books forever.

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Source: How-To Geek

How to Watch the 2017 World Series Live

The 2017 World Series is officially here. If you’re interested in catching all of the action, here are the different ways you can watch the series on your television or mobile device.

Source: How-To Geek

Your Smart Home Speaker Can Do a Lot More Than You’re Probably Using It For

 

Smart speakers are becoming more popular than ever.

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Source: How-To Geek

How to Scan QR Codes with the iPhone’s Camera App

Before iOS 11, iPhone users had to download a third-party app in order to scan a QR code. However, this functionality is now built in and you can use the stock Camera app on the iPhone to scan as many QR codes as your heart desires.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: Which Of Superman’s Powers Was Created At The Behest Of Animators?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Is Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program Cheaper than Buying Outright?

The premise of Apple’s iPhone Upgrade Program is simple: you pay Apple a monthly subscription-like fee and, in return, they give you AppleCa…

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Source: How-To Geek

How to Stop Windows 10 From Uploading Updates to Other PCs Over the Internet

Windows 10 includes a peer-to-peer download feature for updates and Store apps. By default, Windows will automatically use your PC’s Internet connection to upload updates, hiding the option to disable this five clicks deep in the operating system.

Source: How-To Geek

The Best Chromebooks You Can Buy, 2017 Edition

While once considered a novelty item by many tech enthusiasts, Chromebooks have broken out of the “just a browser” mold and become legitimate laptops. They’re full-featured, lightweight machines that can do everything most users need them to do. Best of all, they’re more secure and often more affordable than the competition.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Turn Off Vibration When Your iPhone Is On Silent (or All the Time)

At some point, everyone finds out that even a silent iPhone makes a lot of noise if vibration is turned on. The same motor that provides subtle vibration in your pocket is capable of giving Lars Ulrich a run for his money when your phone is left on a table.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Manage Windows 10’s New “Power Throttling” to Save Battery Life

Windows 10 now performs “Power Throttling” of applications, even traditional Windows desktop programs and background processes. By limiting the CPU available to background applications, Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update can increase battery life on laptops and tablets. You can tell Windows not to perform power throttling for certain processes if this causes a problem.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: Which Of These Countries Has A Traditional Calendar With Dozens Of Microseasons?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Sunday, 22 October 2017

How to Free Up Space on an iPhone or iPad

It seems like storage space is one of the biggest complaints from iPhone and iPad users, thanks to apps taking up more and more real estate, and media becoming more storage-hungry than ever. Here’s how to fix that.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: The Most Popular Laserdisc-Based Video Game Was?

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Source: How-To Geek

Saturday, 21 October 2017

How to Make Your Samsung Galaxy Phone Feel More Like Stock Android

The Galaxy S and Galaxy Note are some of the best Android phones available right now. But TouchWiz has a bad rep for being ugly and “bulky” (especially with Android elitists). If this is the only thing holding you back from giving one of these otherwise excellent phones a shot, we’ve got you covered. It’s actually pretty easy to get a near-stock experience on most Samsung phones—you’ll just need to download and tweak a few things.

Source: How-To Geek

Whoa Neat: The Pixel 2’s Notification Shade Changes Colors Based On Your Wallpaper

I like dark phone backgrounds.

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Source: How-To Geek

Abandon Your Real Job and Come Work For Universal Paperclips

It’s Friday. You’ve been working far too hard in your real job and you need a break. What kind of break?

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Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: Lakes Formed By Meteor Impacts Are Called?

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Source: How-To Geek

Friday, 20 October 2017

Smart Watches for Children Are Dangerous Garbage

A recent analysis of popular smart watches intended for children has revealed that the fledgling market is littered with devices that, at best, fail to…

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Source: How-To Geek

Six Month Review: The Nintendo Switch Delivered On Its Lofty Promises

The Nintendo Switch came out earlier this year and the hardware looked great, but a few questions still lingered…

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Source: How-To Geek

How to Check Your Motherboard Model Number on Your Windows PC

Whether you need to update drivers, check hardware compatibility, or you’re just curious, it’s way easier to check your motherboard model number with these simple tricks than to crack open your case to check the board itself. Here’s how to check your motherboard model number from the comfort of your keyboard.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Spot Fake Stock Photos (and Attribute the Right Person)

Spammers and other unscrupulous advertisers are always looking for new ways to get you click on their pages. One of the latest tactics is to steal popular and useful stock images—like the kind you sometimes see in news articles—and re-upload them elsewhere.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Make Banner Notifications Stick on Your iPhone’s Screen (Instead of Disappearing)

Almost all iOS apps show a temporary banner when you receive a notification. It appears at the top of the screen, and then after a few seconds disappears—although you can still see it in the Notification Center.

Source: How-To Geek

How Windows Defender’s New Exploit Protection Works (and How to Configure It)

Microsoft’s Fall Creators Update finally adds integrated exploit protection to Windows. You previously had to seek this out in the form of Microsoft’s EMET tool. It’s now part of Windows Defender and is activated by default.

Source: How-To Geek

Thursday, 19 October 2017

The Best Earplugs for Every Situation (Airplanes and Screaming Babies Included)

Hearing damage is permanent but completely avoidable—if you have the right hearing protection, that is.

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Source: How-To Geek

How to Fix a Sticky or Stuck Crown on the Apple Watch

The Apple Watch doesn’t have many mechanical issues, since it has very few moving parts to begin with. However, the digital crown is one part in particular that can get stuck or feel sticky, making it difficult to spin. Here’s how to fix that.

Source: How-To Geek

The Garmin Speak Puts Alexa In Your Car (No New Car Purchase Required)

Last month Amazon and BMW announced a partnership that puts Alexa-enabled voice navigation and assistance right in new BMWs—but you don’t ne…

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Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: During World War II, Which Of The Following Items Was Heavily Censored?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

How to Access Your Router If You Forget the Password

If you’ve forgotten your router’s password, acquired a used router, or are just helping out a friend with their setup, you can reset the router’s password to its factory default.

Source: How-To Geek

What Can You Do With Samsung’s Bixby?

It seems like every technology company under the sun is working on a voice-controlled assistant to go up against the likes of Google’s Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa, and Apple’s Siri. Samsung’s branded version gets a boost from the company’s massive smartphone market share and a somewhat less-than-graceful inclusion of an extra hardware button on its latest models. But what all can Bixby do, and how is it different from its erstwhile competitors?

Source: How-To Geek

How to Use a Limited Color Palette for Better Photos

Color is one of the most important aspects of photography. It can make or break your images. It’s great when nature gives you great color to work with, but you also need to deliberately manipulate colors in your photos, both while you’re shooting and in post-processing.

Source: How-To Geek

Aire Is the Dystopian Domestic Security Drone Of Your Dreams

Secretly—we like to muse anyway—all smart home companies aspire to create a product straight out of a dystopi…

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Source: How-To Geek

What’s New in Ubuntu 17.10 “Artful Aardvark”, Available Today

After quite a few unexciting releases, Ubuntu 17.10 “Artful Aardvark” is full of huge changes. Ubuntu Phone is dead, and so is Ubuntu’s dream of a converged desktop. Ubuntu’s developers are no longer working on Unity 8, and Ubuntu 17.10 ditches the old Unity 7 desktop for GNOME Shell.

Source: How-To Geek

Wednesday, 18 October 2017

This Is What Happens When You Ask Google to Get Spooky In a Smart Home

With Halloween close at hand, Google wants to set the mood in your home.

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Source: How-To Geek

How to Train Alexa to Recognize Different Voices (and Give More Personalized Answers)

Your Amazon Echo can finally recognize and differentiate voices from different household members. Here’s how to set it up in the Alexa app on your phone.

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Geek Trivia: The Term “Gerrymandering” Originated In Which U.S. State?

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How to Quickly Make a Mac Photo Slideshow With Preview

When you double-click a photo in the Windows file browser, you can use the arrow keys to quickly browse every photo that folder. Open a photo in Preview on macOS, however, and pressing the arrow keys does nothing. This makes it hard to have a quick slideshow.

Source: How-To Geek

Microsoft: Please Name Windows 10 Updates After Dogs

We need to talk, Microsoft. Windows 10 is great, and we’re loving all the new features we get every six months or so. Gold stars all around.

Source: How-To Geek

Mouse Aficionados Rejoice: The IntelliMouse Rides Again

Some tech comes and goes without much fanfare, and some tech—like the beloved Microsoft IntelliMouse—develops a cult following.

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Let’s Face It, Phone Makers Are Just Bored

You know those days at work when you’ve finished your tasks and you’re waiting for the next importa…

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The Nintendo Switch Accessories You’ll Actually Need

The Nintendo Switch is set to be one of the hottest gaming items this holiday season.

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Best USB Car Chargers

The built-in USB ports in cars are notoriously under powered (and for anybody with multiple gadgets and passengers, notoriously under abundant).…

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Best Full Size Multitool

When you need a lot of tools on hand for a variety of tasks but you can’t pack a toolbox, a full-size multitool should be your go to companion.

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The Best Bluetooth Speakers for Your Shower Listening Needs

If you want to sing along in the shower or enjoy your favorite podcast radio dramas in the tub, you’ll want a solid and waterproof shower-fr…

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Amazon Introduces Accounts for Teens (Your Purchase History is Finally Safe)

For years there’s been a glaring oversight in the Amazon Household ecosystem—a total lack of a “training” account for teenagers…

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10 Best Keychain Tools

The best tool is the one you have with you, so what better place to have it stashed than on your keychain?

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Source: How-To Geek

Announcing Review Geek: A Better Solution for Tech News and Reviews

People think of How-To Geek as a place that helps them understand how to do things, or how to understand technology, and sometimes that involves specific products or services. But as a general rule, people don’t think of HTG in conjunction with products or tech news. So today, we welcome Review Geek to the family.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Use “My People” on Windows 10’s Taskbar

Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update includes the “My People” feature originally promised for the first Creators Update. You can now pin up to three of your favorite people to the taskbar and quickly chat with them on Skype or send them emails.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Disable Haptic Feedback Vibrations on iOS

The iPhone 7 and 8 don’t have a physical home button. Instead, the feel of pressing a button is recreated by what Apple calls the Taptic Engine. When you touch the home button, the Taptic Engine sends out a small vibration. It feels really like pressing an actual button.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Protect Your Files From Ransomware With Windows Defender’s New “Controlled Folder Access”

Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update includes a new Windows Defender feature designed to protect your files from ransomware. It’s named “Controlled Folder Access”, and it’s disabled by default. You’ll need to enable it yourself if you want to try it out.

Source: How-To Geek

Tuesday, 17 October 2017

How to Use OneDrive’s Files On-Demand in Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update

The Fall Creators Update includes a new OneDrive feature called “Files On-Demand”, in which your PC now shows “placeholder” copies of your OneDrive files. When you or a program accesses them, they’re downloaded as needed. That way, even if you have 1 TB of files in your OneDrive, they can take up almost no space on your PC, and you can still browse through them in File Explorer.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: The Only M*A*S*H Cast Member To Appear In Every Single Episode Was?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Why Does ~ Represent the Home Folder on macOS and Linux?

Whether you’ve installed the Linux subsystem on Windows 10 or are getting started using the Linux Terminal, there are all kinds of shorthands you need to learn…none of which are intuitive.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Get Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update Now

Microsoft has started rolling out Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update, but it will be a few months before every PC gets it. If you don’t want to wait, you can download the Fall Creators Update from Microsoft right now.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Add Two-Factor Authentication to Steam

If you’ve been playing PC games in the last few years, the accumulated games in your Steam account are probably worth hundreds (or maybe even thousands) of dollars. Perhaps even more importantly, your Steam account might contain in-game items that can be traded for real-world cash…and thus, stolen with some very real consequences. So it’s a very good idea to apply Valve’s Steam Guard two-factor authentication to your account.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Take Good Photos of the Starry Sky

The night sky is breathtaking. If you go somewhere reasonably dark and let your eyes adjust, you can look up and see thousands of pin pricks of light, each one a star or galaxy that’s millions of years old. I find it completely humbling.

Source: How-To Geek

What’s New in Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update, Arriving Today

Windows 10’s Fall Creators Update, codenamed Redstone 3, will be released on October 17, 2017. Here are all the new features you’ll see in the latest version of Windows—and some big, splashy features Microsoft announced that never arrived.

Source: How-To Geek

Monday, 16 October 2017

How to Call and Message Friends Using Your Amazon Echo

Alexa is great to have for controlling your smarthome and asking various questions, but she can also call and message your friends and family. Here’s how it works and how to set it up.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: The Largest City Located Within The Arctic Circle Is?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

How to Disable Notifications During Video Playback on an Xbox One

Notification pop-ups can get annoying when they appear over a video you’re trying to watch on Netflix. The Xbox One allows you to hide notifications while watching videos, preventing such distractions.

Source: How-To Geek

Your Wi-Fi Network Is Vulnerable: How to Protect Yourself Against KRACK

Today, security researchers published a paper detailing a serious vulnerability in WPA2, the protocol that keeps most modern Wi-FI networks secure—including the one in your home. Here’s how to protect yourself from attackers.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Download Games to Your PlayStation 4 From Your Phone or PC

PlayStation 4 games can be huge, and take hours to download. Thankfully, you can start downloading games even when you’re away from home. All you need is Sony’s official smartphone app, or a web browser on any PC.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Invert the Colors of Your iPhone’s Screen

Apple goes to a lot of effort to make their iPhones as accessible for everyone as possible. One system option allows you to invert all the colors on the phone’s display, which is useful if you’re sensitive to brightness, have certain kinds of color blindness, or just are in the dark. Here’s how to enable it.

Source: How-To Geek

The Amazon Prime-ification of Windows, and Everything Else, Is Coming

Microsoft has been pushing Office 365, the $100-per-year Microsoft Office subscription, for years now. But the Windows Fall Creators update goes further. For the first time, non-Office Windows features will live behind the Office 365 paywall.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: Numismatics Is The Study Of?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Sunday, 15 October 2017

The Best Ways to Scan a Document Using Your Phone or Tablet

RELATED: How to Buy the Right Scanner for Your Needs: Photos, Documents and More

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: Which Of These Cities, Due To How Many Hawaiians Visit It, Is Called The Ninth Island?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Saturday, 14 October 2017

What Are Planar Magnetic Headphones?

The world of audiophile hardware is dense and hard to parse… and to be perfectly honest, audiophiles seem to like it that way. Even so, a technology called “planar magnetic drivers” is making its way into cheaper and more accessible headphones as of late, promising audio fidelity much greater than conventional cans. What makes planar magnetic headphones different—and allegedly better—than normal ones? Let’s have a listen.

Source: How-To Geek

Friday, 13 October 2017

How to Scan Documents with the iPhone’s Notes App

In the past, iPhone users had to download a third-party app in order to scan documents and save them in a digital format on their phone. However, with the release of iOS 11, you can now scan documents natively using the built-in Notes app.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: Crayola’s Iconic 64-Crayon Box Was Introduced On Which Of These TV Shows?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Your Mac Is Tracking Your Location in High Sierra, Here’s Why (and How to Disable It)

You probably didn’t notice, but macOS High Sierra keeps an ongoing list of recurring locations. The feature is called Significant Locations, and according to Apple is used by Maps, Calendar, and Photos to “provide useful location-related information.”

Source: How-To Geek

How to Control Your Smarthome Products with Cortana on Windows 10

Cortana can do a lot of stuff, but she’s not quite as powerful as more mature voice assistants like Alexa or Google Home. But Microsoft has finally added support for smarthome devices, so you can control Philips Hue, Samsung SmartThings, Nest, Insteon, and Wink devices right from your PC.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Convert a PDF File Into an Editable Text Document

Adobe’s PDF standard is handy whenever you need to distribute some information and be sure that it’s seen the same way by all recipients. But PDF files are also infamously tough to edit.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Create Custom Ringtones for Your Android Phone

So you got a shiny new Android phone. You changed the wallpaper, bought a case that you like, arranged your home screens…you know, made it yours. Then someone calls. Why on earth are you still using a stock ringtone? Get that out of here—it’s time to not only make it look like yours, but sound like it too.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Take Polls With Your Instagram Story

Instagram, in their continuing quest to eat Snapchat’s lunch, has recently added a way to take simple polls through your Story. Here’s how.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Install Windows 95 in a Virtual Machine

Microsoft’s Windows 95 was a huge leap from Windows 3.1. It was the first release of Windows with the Start menu, taskbar, and typical Windows desktop interface we still use today. Windows 95 won’t work on modern PC hardware, but you can still install it in a virtual machine and relive those glory days.

Source: How-To Geek

Thursday, 12 October 2017

How to Safely Use a Table Saw, the Most Fearsome Power Tool of All

If you’ve decided to upgrade your power tool game and get a table saw, there are several things you should know before you crank it on and slide your first pieces of wood through.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: The Loudest Frog In The World Is The?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

How to Disable Notifications During Video Playback on a PlayStation 4

PlayStation 4 notifications always pop up over whatever you’re doing, which is particularly obnoxious when you’re watching videos over Netflix, YouTube, or your local library. With the PS4’s 5.0 system firmware update, it’s now possible to disable notifications while watching videos in any app.

Source: How-To Geek

The Beginner’s Guide to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (aka PUBG)

So you want  to try out the new Battle Royale sensation that’s sweeping the nation, but you don’t know how to get started. That’s understandable: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is a full game based on an old ARMA mod, and it’s still in early access. The game is missing a lot of features, chief among them any kind of tutorial or player guide for people just getting started. but if you’re ready to jump into the deep end of this winner-take-all online multiplayer arena, here are a few tips to get you on your feet…so someone else can blow you off them.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Enable a “Night Mode” in Android to Reduce Eyestrain

They say that blue spectrums of light are bad for your eyes, especially at night when you’re more likely to be looking at your phone in a dark environment. This also supposedly leads to poor sleep, which leads to poor health. Here’s how to combat that on your Android phone.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Control Both Ringer and System Volume with the iPhone’s Volume Buttons

By default, the volume buttons on the side change the “system volume”, which affects things like music and video playback. But the volume of your ringer volume, which controls the ringer and notifications, stays the same unless you change it from the settings.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Get the Most Out of Your Roku: Six Things You Should Do

You finally worked out which Roku to buy, and set up the basics: Netflix, Amazon, and whatever other services you’re subscribed to. What next?

Source: How-To Geek

Wednesday, 11 October 2017

How to Password Protect Notes on the iPhone

If you tend to jot down sensitive information in the Notes app on your iPhone or iPad, you may want to keep them protected behind a password. Here’s how to enable the feature in iOS 11.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: The First Vehicular Combat Video Game Was?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

How to Sync Your Kodi Library Across Multiple Devices with MySQL

Kodi is still one of the most powerful media center applications around, and it works on everything from powerful media PCs to small Raspberry Pis. But if you have multiple TVs in your house, wouldn’t it be nice if they all stayed in sync?

Source: How-To Geek

How to Get Free Money From Google By Answering Quick Surveys

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a search engine in possession of a good fortune must be in want of more data. If you want to earn some extra money (in the form of Google Play Credit or PayPal money), Google will give you some in exchange for answering a few occasional survey questions.

Source: How-To Geek

What Is “Broadcast DVR Server” and Why Is It Running on My PC?

Look in the Task Manager on Windows 10 and you may see one or more “Broadcast DVR server” processes running. These processes have the file name bcastdvr.exe, and are part of the Windows 10 operating system.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Make Phone Calls With Your Google Home

After Alexa gave users the ability to call other Echo owners, Google upped the ante with true phone calls. If you live in the U.S. or Canada, you can use your Google Home to place a call to anyone’s phone. You don’t need to limit yourself to other people who have a Google Home. Here’s how to get started making phone calls.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Disable Auto-Brightness on Your iPhone

Auto-brightness is a feature designed to save battery life and make your iPhone’s screen easier to read. When you’re somewhere dark, like your bedroom at night, the screen will automatically dim. When you’re somewhere bright, like outside on a sunny day, it’ll crank itself up to maximum brightness.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Pick (and Customize) the Best Mechanical Keyboard For You

Mechanical keyboards are a surprisingly resilient trend among gamers and power users. But as they get more popular, the various options and technical variations become more and more complex. If you’re looking for everything you need to know to get started in this surprisingly varied portion of the PC world, we’re here to help you out.

Source: How-To Geek

Tuesday, 10 October 2017

How to Free Up Space Used By Your iPhone or iPad’s Messages App

If you send and receive a lot of text messages, the Messages app can take up a significant of space on your iPhone or iPad. Not only does it store your text message history, but it also keeps photo and video attachments you’ve received. Here’s how to free up that space if you’re running low.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: The Screen-Independent Unit Used For Ensuring Exact Proportions Across Different Display Systems Is Called A?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Which Roku Should I Buy? Express vs. Stick vs. Stick+ vs. Ultra

So you’ve decided you want a Roku, but there are so many choices. There are currently five different models (not including full TVs with Roku built-in), and it’s not at all clear what the difference between them is. Which one do you want?

Source: How-To Geek

APFS Explained: What You Need to Know Apple’s New File System

Apple’s macOS 10.13 High Sierra brings a new file system named “Apple File System”, which largely replaces the older HFS+ file system. Apple File System, also known as APFS, has been used by default on iPhones and iPads since iOS 10.3, and is also used on the Apple Watch and Apple TV—but now it’s finally on the Mac, too.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Automatically Open Articles in Safari’s Reader Mode

Apple just made one of Safari’s best features even better. Whether you’re using an iPhone or iPad with iOS 11 or Safari 11 on a Mac, you can now make Safari always open articles on any website in Reader Mode. This is perfect if there’s a site with content you love, but design choices you absolutely despise. Reader Mode is one reason why every Mac user should ditch Chrome for Safari.

Source: How-To Geek

What Is Facebook’s New “Explore Feed”?

Recently, two new icons popped up in the Facebook app on iOS where the old chat icon used to be: a little shopfront and a rocket ship. The little shopfront is a quick link to Facebook Marketplace, and the rocket ship a link to Facebook’s Explore Feed.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Theme Your Android Oreo Device with Substratum and Andromeda (No Root Required)

Android 8.0, affectionately and officially known as “Oreo,” changes a lot of things in Google’s mobile operating system. But the most obvious is a switch from a general dark theme in the interface to blinding white on the Quick Settings menu on the notification bar. If you’re tired of looking at all those fully-lit pixels on your phone, there’s a way to theme the interface with some new tools—no root required.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: James Bond, The Iconic And Fictional British Spy, Was Named After A Real?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Monday, 9 October 2017

Hey iPhone Users, Apple Maps Is Good Now

I’m just back from a road trip around Southern California. Over six days I hit up San Diego, Joshua Tree, Los Angeles, and then San Diego again. It was about twenty hours of driving in total, along everything from wide open freeways, narrow canyon roads, and the chaos that is LA traffic. The whole time, I was trusting Apple Maps to get me where I needed to be…and amazingly, it did.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Block Spammy Text Messages on an iPhone

iOS 11 adds a new SMS filtering feature that allows you to automatically filter spam text messages in the Messages app. It works similarly to the call-blocking feature added in iOS 10. Once activated, you’ll have two tabs in your Messages app—one for real messages and one for “SMS Junk”.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: The Modern Day Country With The Most Pyramids Is?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Sunday, 8 October 2017

Why Snow, Rain, and Confetti Destroy Streaming Video Quality

If you’ve ever watched a movie on Netflix, YouTube, or some other streaming service, you might notice that any time there’s a rainy scene, the video quality completely falls apart. Even if you’re streaming over the best internet connection, the video will look like crap. This happens because all video streams are compressed, and particles like rain, snow, and confetti completely destroy compressed streams.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: The Largest Terrestrial Biome On Earth Is The?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Friday, 6 October 2017

Canary’s Free Tier May Have Changed, But It Still Offers More Than Other Cams

Canary, the makers of the home security Wi-Fi cam that we briefly checked out earlier this year, made some changes to their memberships. Specifically, they cut down on the number of features available to users in the free tier, which has created some warranted backlash.

Source: How-To Geek

RIP AIM, The Messaging App AOL Never Wanted

Another piece of the retro Internet is dead. AOL’s free instant messaging service, called AIM, is shutting down its servers on December 15, 2017, 20 years after it launched…and about ten years after it was last relevant.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: The Motherboards Inside Xbox One X Units Have A Hidden Mark Depicting?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

How to Show Empty, Unformatted Drives in Disk Utility on macOS

The macOS Disk Utility, by default, will not show you an empty, unformatted drive. You might think this means it can’t be used to create partitions on new disks, which is frustrating, but you can solve this problem with one click.

Source: How-To Geek

What Is “COM Surrogate” (dllhost.exe) and Why Is It Running on My PC?

If you poke around in your Task Manager, there’s a good chance you’ll see one or more “COM Surrogate” processes running on a Windows PC. These processes have the file name “dllhost.exe”, and are part of the Windows operating system. You’ll see them on Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and even earlier versions of Windows.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Easily Share Your Wi-Fi Password Using Your iPhone and iOS 11

If a friend or family member comes over to your house and wants to hop on your Wi-Fi network, iOS 11 has made it way easier to share your Wi-Fi password with very little friction. Here’s how to do it.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Hide the Red Notification Badges for Apps on Your iPhone

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who open and delete unwanted emails, and those who just ignore them, leaving the unread count to grow forever.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Enable Emergency SOS Services on Your iPhone

In iOS 11, Apple has introduced a new Emergency SOS feature to the iPhone. Let’s look at what it does.

Source: How-To Geek

Chrome Is Your OS Now, Even If You Use Windows

Yesterday, Microsoft announced they are bringing Edge to iOS and Android devices, in order to create a more seamless experience between your computer and your phone. But who cares? That seamless experience already exists through Chrome, the app you already use for everything on your PC.

Source: How-To Geek

Thursday, 5 October 2017

How to Hide Recent Apps from the iPad Dock

In an effort to bolster the iPad’s multitasking abilities, iOS 11 introduced a new feature that automatically puts your most recently-used apps on the right side of the iPad dock, separated by a line. This supposedly makes it easier to switch between them, but if you’re not a fan, here’s how to get rid of it.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: In Addition To Corn And Rice, The Most Important Carbohydrate Source For Tropical Nations Is?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

The Pixel 2 Isn’t Really Exclusive to Verizon: You Can Use It on AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint

Another year, another Pixel event…and another round of confusing “Only on Verizon” ad campaigns. But here’s the thing: the Pixel 2 can be used on any major carrier in the US. So what’s with this “exclusive” junk?

Source: How-To Geek

How to Set Up BitLocker Encryption on Windows

BitLocker is a tool built into Windows that lets you encrypt an entire hard drive for enhanced security. Here’s how to set it up.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Use the One-Handed Keyboard on Your iPhone

With iOS 11, Apple added a one-handed keyboard option to the iPhone. This should make it easier to type while holding a larger iPhone in a single hand. Both right-handed and left-handed keyboards are available.

Source: How-To Geek

Facebook Messenger Lite Is a Great Alternative to Facebook Messenger

Facebook Messenger is a really popular communication app. It’s only real downside is that it’s incredibly bloated. On my Moto E4, it weighs in at just under 60MB, which makes sense—not only does it have all the messaging features that you want, it also has audio and video calling (nice), chat heads (alright), a Snapchat Story clone (why?), games (not that you knew), and lots more under the hood.

Source: How-To Geek

Wednesday, 4 October 2017

Is It Worth Upgrading to the Pixel 2?

Well the day is finally here: the day Google brought to light its newest Pixel phones. While none of what was announced today was particularly surprising, it’s at least officially official. The real question here is, of course, should you buy a new Pixel phone?

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: When Faced With A Choice Where The Only Options Are The First Choice Or Nothing, It’s Called A?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

What’s the Difference Between the Google Home, Mini, and Max?

In an effort to more closely compete with Amazon’s latest additions to its Echo lineup, Google unveiled the Google Home Mini and the Google Home Max. Here’s what you need to know about these new products and how they compare to one another.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Leave the macOS Public Beta Now That High Sierra Is Out

If you installed the High Sierra public beta over the summer, you might think you’re done now that High Sierra is officially released. But you’re not: odds are you’re still enrolled in the Apple Beta Software Program right now, meaning you’ll keep getting beta versions of macOS updates.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Join Netflix’s Test Program and Try Out New Features Early

Netflix frequently tests new features and designs on a small number of users before rolling them out to everyone. The company has tested things like a Skip Intro button or a mobile data saver feature weeks or months before anyone else gets them. If you want to be among the users that get to try out new features, here’s how to join Netflix’s test program.

Source: How-To Geek

The Cheapest Ways to Stream NHL Hockey (Without Cable)

If you’re like me, you watch hockey, and…basically no other sports. You also, like me, would like to skip the cable subscription. So what’s the cheapest way to watch NHL hockey online so you can cut the cord?

Source: How-To Geek

How to Regain Control of a Hijacked Twitter Account

Someone logged into your Twitter account, and that someone isn’t you. They’re probably a spammer hoping to inundate your followers with junk, or maybe a “hacker” (in a very loose sense) being paid to follow other accounts. It’s just possible that they’re intentionally targeting you and hoping to make you look bad. Whatever the circumstance, you want to kick them off your account on the double. Here’s how.

Source: How-To Geek

What Are NVIDIA MAX-Q Laptops?

If you’re looking for a new Windows-based laptop and you’re somewhat interested in performance, you might come across models that are marketed as “featuring “NVIDIA MAX-Q.” But that description is somewhat nebulous: MAX-Q isn’t a specific NVIDIA graphics card, or even a hardware feature at all. So what exactly does this description mean, and does it make a gaming-grade laptop any more desirable than a non-Q laptop?

Source: How-To Geek

How to Enable or Disable the Spell Checker on Android

So everyone knows that their preferred keyboard on Android has autocorrect, but did you know Android also has built-in spell check? If you’re really looking to double down on your spelling—or perhaps get rid of autocorrect altogether—this is a setting you’ll probably want to enable.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Change Your Country on Amazon So You Can Buy Different Kindle Books

Book rights, and especially eBook rights, can be messy. UK publishers can’t just start selling books in the US, and vice versa. For most modern books by big authors, you’ll see the hardback and eBook versions being published at pretty much the same time around the world. For older books that were released before eBooks were a big deal, and for smaller authors with publishing deals, however, you’ll regularly find that the eBook version is available in some countries and not others.

Source: How-To Geek

Tuesday, 3 October 2017

How to Type Out Voice Commands for Siri

If it’s too loud around you and you can’t adequately use Siri to quickly look up something real quick, there’s now an alternative to shouting out voice commands—you can now type them out. Here’s how to do it on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: Many Xbox 360 Owners, Desperate To Fix The “Red Ring Of Death” Failure, Resorted To Wrapping Them In?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

How Safari’s New Intelligent Tracking Prevention Works

It’s one of the most discussed new features in High Sierra: Safari’s new Intelligent Tracking Prevention. Advertisers are upset about it, claiming it’s “bad for the ad-supported online content and services consumers love.” Apple is undeterred by the rhetoric. But what does the feature actually do?

Source: How-To Geek

How to Upgrade Your Smarthome Connections in Google Home

Google is constantly updating its Google Home and smarthome lineup. Thanks to one recent update, you’ll need to unlink and relink some of your smarthome services in order to keep using them and take advantage of new features. Here’s how to do that.

Source: How-To Geek

Not All Ethernet Cables Are Equal: You Can Get Faster LAN Speeds By Upgrading

Wired connections, which use Ethernet cables, are generally faster and have lower latency than Wi-Fi connections. But, just as modern Wi-Fi hardware has advanced, modern Ethernet cables are capable of communicating at faster speeds.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Disable GeForce Experience’s Reward Advertisements

NVIDIA’s GeForce Experience software now displays notification advertisements for free-to-play games. If you don’t want notification popups for games you’ve never played appearing when you’re just trying to use your computer, here’s how to disable them.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Automatically Enable Wi-Fi When You’re Near a Trusted Network in Android Oreo

You disable Wi-Fi on your Android phone to improve battery life, which is great! But how many times have you forgotten to enable it again, ultimately eating up some of your mobile data when you could’ve been on Wi-Fi? With Oreo, that fear is no more.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Stop Your iPhone Dinging Twice When You Get Text Messages

By default, when you get an SMS or iMessage, your iPhone will make a sound once when you receive it, and then again two minutes later in case you missed it. If you read the message after the first ding, it doesn’t ding again.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Run Android on Windows With AMIDuOS

There are an increasing number of ways to try out Android applications on your Windows desktop or laptop. But of the various methods I’ve sampled, none combined complete access to Android’s basic functions with ease-of-access quite like American Megatrends’ AMIDuOS.

Source: How-To Geek

Monday, 2 October 2017

How to Re-Caulk Areas in Your Bathroom or Kitchen

Caulk is vital in areas like the bathroom and kitchen where water has the opportunity to creep into all sorts of crevices and cause problems. If the caulk in your house is looking a bit aged, here’s how to re-caulk it and give it a fresh, new look.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: After Community Uproar, Mojang Changed The Food You Feed Minecraft Parrots From?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

What Is the powerd Process, and Why Is It Running on My Mac?

You’re browsing Activity Monitor on your Mac when something catches your eye: powerd. What is that, and should you be worried?

Source: How-To Geek

How Neutral Density Filters Work and How to Use Them For Better Photography

Taking good photographs isn’t just about framing your subject and learning composition. Learning how to control how much light enters your camera and for how long can help you take photos that elude the average photographer. Neutral density filters are a powerful tool towards that end. Here’s what they are and how to use them.

Source: How-To Geek

The Only Safe Way to Update Your Hardware Drivers on Windows

Want to update your computer’s hardware drivers? Get your driver updates from Windows Update or your device manufacturer’s website. Here’s how.

Source: How-To Geek

How to Log In to a Windows Desktop Without a Keyboard

Have you ever had your keyboard break down on you, or your computer simply refuses to accept its input? It’s especially frustrating if this happens while the computer is off, since you can’t input your password to get access to Windows. Thankfully, Microsoft has included a way to access your data (and hopefully fix your problem) using only a mouse or a touch screen.

Source: How-To Geek

The Cheapest Ways to Stream NBA Basketball (Without Cable)

I love NBA basketball. Every year, I get really excited around the beginning of September because I know tip-off is approaching. This year, I also had to figure out how I’m going to watch the Bulls (lose almost every game) with a combination of streaming packages. That’s fun. And slightly depressing.

Source: How-To Geek

Why Can’t I Listen to Radio If My Phone Has an FM Receiver In It?

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai just publicly called on Apple to activate the FM receiver chips found in iPhones for public safety reasons. Many Android phones also contain dormant FM chips. But, if your phone has an FM receiver, why can’t you already listen to the radio on it?

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: The Precursor To The Bright Yellow On-Screen “First Down” Line In Football Was A Tracker Used In?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek

Sunday, 1 October 2017

The Best File Extraction and Compression Tool for Windows

If you’re a Windows user, you probably need to install a tool for creating and extracting archive files. Windows only features built in support for ZIP files, but third-party tools add support for other common types of archives like RAR and 7z. They also offer built-in encryption features, allowing you to securely protect archives you create with a passphrase.

Source: How-To Geek

Geek Trivia: Canada And Which Of These U.S. States Have Very Similar Population Sizes?

Think you know the answer? Click through to see if you're right!

Source: How-To Geek