You like tabs, we like tabs. Tabs are the coolest thing to happen to web browsers since private browsing and bookmark syncing, but just how much of a tab guru are you? Today we want to explore tabbed browsing on Google Chrome, and show you a few tricks you might have not have known. How to Open, Pin, and Close Tabs You probably know the basics already. To open a new tab on Chrome, click the New Tab button....
Windows 10 includes a telemetry service that automatically sends diagnostic and usage data about your computer to Microsoft. These settings have caused a lot of controversy since Windows 10’s release, but what do they actually do? Today, we’ll look at what kind of data this actually sends to Microsoft. You can select your desired telemetry level—or “diagnostic and usage data” level—from Settings > Privacy > Feedback & diagnostics. On the consumer editions of Windows 10, you can select either Basic or Full usage data that will be sent to Microsoft....
“This site has insecure content;” “only secure content is displayed;” “Firefox has blocked content that isn’t secure.” You’ll occasionally come across these warnings while browsing the web, but what exactly do they mean? There are two types of mixed content — one is worse than the other, but neither is good. Mixed content warnings are in indication that something is wrong with a web page you’re visiting. What is Mixed Content?...
“Stop” is a photography term that gets thrown around a lot. Someone will describe a photo as a stop under-exposed, or tell you to increase your shutter speed by a stop. The concept can be a little confusing for new photographers, so let’s look at exactly what a stop is and what it means when it comes to photography. Stops, Shutter Speed and Aperture RELATED: Your Camera’s Most Important Settings: Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO Explained...
What Is VSync? VSync (short for vertical synchronization) is a technology used in displays and graphics cards to synchronize the display’s refresh rate with the graphics card’s frame rate. This ensures that each video frame is displayed on the screen at the correct time without tearing or stuttering. When the refresh rate and frame rate are not in sync, the display may show part of one frame and part of another frame simultaneously, resulting in a torn image....
The 2nd generation of Philips Hue smart light bulbs have been out for quite a while now, and 3rd-generation bulbs have just recently come out, but you can still buy 1st-generation Hue products at some stores. Here’s what you need to know about the 1st- and 2nd-generation Philips Hue hubs, as well as the newer 3rd-generation bulbs. RELATED: How to Set Up Your Philips Hue Lights Philips Hue released its 2nd-generation Hue lineup late last year leading up to the holiday shopping season, just three years after first releasing the smart light bulbs to the world....
“Encrypt everything to protect your data!” It’s common advice these days, with concerns about snooping and privacy reaching a fever pitch. But average computer users don’t really need to encrypt everything. More operating systems are including encryption by default, which is fine. But, if your operating system doesn’t, you probably don’t need to start encrypting everything with third-party software. When Encryption Actually Helps RELATED: What Is Encryption, and How Does It Work?...
If you work with Windows long enough, especially with folders and files that have long names, you’ll run into a bizarre error: Windows will report that the folder path or file name is too long to move to a new destination or even delete. What’s the deal? The problem you’re running into is an unfortunate intersection of two systems that, in cases like this, yields an error. To understand exactly where the error comes from, we need to dig into the the history of Long Filenames (LFN) and how Windows interacts with them before we delve into solutions....
What Is Samsung Good Lock? Let’s start with the basics—what exactly is “Good Lock”? Contrary to what you may think from the name, it’s not just about the lock screen or security. Good Lock includes a number of “modules” that allow for customizing and tweaking different parts of the operating system. There are 14 different modules included in the Good Lock suite. They include the ability to customize the lock screen, notifications, clocks, multitasking screen, navigation bar, sound, and more....
While GPS tagged photos are handy for always knowing where you took a photo, location data embedded in photos does have unsettling privacy and security implications. Should you be worried about the risk of people tracking you down via photos you post online? Before we delve into the technical side of your issue, we feel compelled to address the social side. Yes, everyone is worried that something bad is going to happen to their kids (or grandkids), but realistically speaking, even if every photo we all posted online had our full home address printed right on the front like a watermark, the probability of anything bad happening to any of us (including our kids) is still nearly zero....
Chrome’s address bar is already feature-packed, with the ability to search for pages, history items, bookmarks, data from extensions, and much more. Google is now making it easier to filter results with special shortcuts. You can already search your bookmarks, tabs, and history by typing the name in the address bar, but they are displayed alongside results from the web and other places. Chrome is now introducing search shortcuts to narrow down the results — if you type @bookmarks before your search, only bookmark results will be listed....
Now that Microsoft Teams seems to have taken over many companies, people expect to know when you’re available or not. Set a custom status message so your colleagues know what you’re up to. One way of letting your co-workers know that you’re busy is by setting a status, which works when you’re in meetings or set to Do Not Disturb. It doesn’t work so well if your status is a bit more ambiguous, like “Away” or “Appear Offline,” however....
If you have a Wi-Fi cam (like the Nest Cam) set up for security, it’s one thing to catch any perps on video. But it’s also a good idea to scare them away by having lights automatically turn on when any burglars are detected. RELATED: How to Automate Your Favorite Apps with IFTTT Of course, you could use motion sensors connected to your smart lights, but if you don’t have those and already have a Wi-Fi cam set up, you can use that as your motion sensor of sorts—as long as you also have some smart lights (like Philips Hue, for instance)....
First, Add a Payment Method and Delivery Address Before you buy stuff with your Google Home, you’ll need to set up how you’ll pay and where your stuff should go. To get started, open up the Google Home app and tap the menu icon in the top-left corner. Then, tap the “More settings” option. Scroll down to the “Google Account settings” section and tap “Payments.” If this is your first time setting up a payment method with Google Home, you should see a screen like this one....
However, if you don’t necessarily need to spend $25 and just need that one small item to get to your doorstep pronto, you can use Alexa to bypass the $25 minimum. Set Up Voice Purchasing First You’ll also want to make sure that your 1-click settings use the right shipping address and credit card that will be used with voice ordering through Alexa. To do this. tap on “Payment Settings” at the bottom within the Voice Purchasing screen....
Microsoft Planner allows you to have multiple plans, but they all have a similar blank logo with the plan initials. This makes it hard to distinguish plans at a glance. Here’s how to change the logo to something more unique. You might think that changing the logo of a plan would be simple and straightforward, but you would be wrong. Microsoft 365/Office 365 (M365/O365) includes the ability to create an “M365/O365 Group,” which provides a shared mailbox and calendar, file storage, and a Planner plan, amongst a few other things....
Although you may not be able to directly contact Gmail support without subscribing to G Suite for businesses, there are a couple of ways to get the answers you’re looking for online. Let’s look at how you can get help with your Gmail issues. Using Gmail Help for General Support Topics The first resource we’re going to look at is Gmail Help, a Gmail-specific support page loaded with solutions for most common issues....
Do you want to count the number of cells that contain any or specific text while ignoring all other cells? If so, Microsoft Excel has a dedicated function to help you do that. We’ll show you how to use it. In Excel, you can use the COUNTIF function to count either cells containing any text or cells containing specific text. Use the method below that works for your specific situation....
3D Touch is a terrific innovation, bringing a new level of functionality to iPhone. Usually, the 3D Touch shortcuts baked into app icons are just fine, but there are a few things you can do to customize or manipulate some of these shortcuts. Customize Favorite Contacts in Phone and FaceTime RELATED: What is 3D Touch and Why it Will Change How you Use Mobile Devices The Phone and FaceTime apps offer direct ways to customize the favorite contacts that appear....
Fast User Switching can be handy, but also comes with downsides. Here’s how to disable it on all versions of Windows, if you want to. Fast User Switching allows users to sign into a computer while other users are still signed in. While it offers the obvious advantage of not forcing other users to sign out before you can sign in with your own account, it does have some disadvantages....
