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The standard Facebook app for Android—how can I put this delicately?—sucks. Not only is it probably draining more battery from your phone than most of your other apps, Facebook has gutted the messenger functionality from it in order to push a separate app and platform. There are alternatives to the official app, but most of them can’t also send user-to-user messages. Luckily, there’s an official solution that’s both efficient and effective: the Facebook Lite app....

I love Chromebooks, but I’m not blind to their faults. Despite partnering with Brydge to sell a Bluetooth keyboard for the new Pixel Slate, the Bluetooth stack on Chrome OS is still terrible. But it can be fixed. The fact that this is fixable isn’t to excuse the sorry state of Bluetooth support that Chromebook users have to deal with though. Wired accessories are going to be more stable on any operating system, but on Chrome OS they’re almost a necessity....

From The Dock The Dock is by far the simplest way to launch applications on macOS. It’s a lot like the Windows taskbar, containing an icon for each running app, except the macOS Dock comes with many default apps already pinned to it. It also shows notifications for each app and apps that need your attention will start bouncing. You can click on any of these icons to launch the app....

Do you ever feel annoyed that Outlook doesn’t mark messages as read as soon as you click and view them in the Reading Pane? Here we show you how to make Outlook mark them as read as soon as they’re opened. By default, Outlook will not mark a message as read until you select another message. This can be annoying, because if you read a message and then immediately delete the message, it shows up as an unread message in your Deleted Items folder....

When you mute a profile, Instagram doesn’t notify them about your action. There are a couple of ways to mute someone’s posts or Stories (or both). Here’s the first. How to Mute Someone on Instagram From the Instagram app for iPhone or Android, navigate to the profile of the person or page that you want to mute. Here, tap the “Following” button found near the top of the profile....

What Is a JAR File and How Can You Open One? JAR stands for Java Archive, which is an archive comprising multiple files. Developers can make apps and other items in Java and save those files as JAR. It’s worth keeping in mind, though, that JAR files contain executable code making them potentially dangerous file types. Make sure you trust the source of your JAR file before running it. To run a JAR file on your Windows PC, you have to install the free Java utility....

The Windows 10 Creators Update removes the Command Prompt command from context menus in favor of using PowerShell. Here’s how to put it back. Open Registry Editor. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\cmd. Take ownership of the cmd key. In the cmd key, rename the HideBasedOnVelocityID value by putting an underscore (_) before its name. Exit Registry Editor. The Creators Update for Windows 10 really pushes you to use PowerShell instead of Command Prompt, replacing the shortcut on the Windows+X Power User menu and the extended context menu you get when you Shift+right-click a folder in File Explorer....

UPnP is a convenient way for programs to forward ports without you having to pull up your router’s web interface and forward ports manually. Unfortunately, some programs that require port forwarding don’t support UPnP – that’s where UPnP PortMapper comes in. This application takes care of port forwarding for you, right from your desktop. If your IP address changes, you don’t need to log into your router and change your port forwarding rules – you can have the application update them for you....

There’s nothing quite like the frustration of forgetting where you parked. Fortunately, if you have an iPhone, iPad, or Android smartphone with the Google Assistant installed, you can quickly find your vehicle! You can tell how common this problem is by the multitude of solutions available. The best is the one that requires very little effort. As long as you have Google Assistant on your Android device, iPhone, or iPad, and you have it with you when you park, this method will work....

If your “Open With” right-click menu is getting a little cluttered, why not get rid of entries you don’t use? With a little Registry hacking, it’s easy to do. The “Open With” menu is an undeniably handy feature when you open files with multiple programs. Whenever you open a file with a particular program, that program gets added to the “Open With” context menu for that type of file. If you’ve ever accidentally opened a file with the wrong program or with a program you don’t use any more, though, you’ll probably want to get rid of a few....

Most of us use emoji on our iPhone, but until recently finding the right one has been tricky. Luckily, starting in iOS 14, you can now search for emoji directly within the Emoji keyboard in any app on an iPhone. Here’s how. First, open the app you’d like to type an emoji into. Tap any text-input area, and when the on-screen keyboard appears, tap the emoji keyboard button. (If you don’t see the emoji button in your on-screen keyboard, that means the emoji keyboard has been deactivated in Settings....

Windows, Mac, and Linux can all get along together, sharing files with each other on a network. They can also share printers, allowing you to use a single wired printer for all the computers on your home network. This is only necessary if you have a wired printer connected directly to a computer, such as USB printer. Modern wireless printers connect to networks and share themselves, so you just have to connect to them....

The latest versions of Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge only support the Flash plugin. You’ll need to find an alternative browser if you want to use Java, Silverlight, or any other ActiveX or NPAPI-based plugin. Most web users can get by without these plugins. That’s why browser developers no longer support them. But some websites, especially old business and government applications, still require these old technologies. So if you need them, what should you use?...

Pass is a command-line password manager built with the Unix philosophy in mind. It enables you to interact with your passwords using regular Unix commands. Credentials are stored in GPG-encrypted files. Getting Setup pass is available within the package managers of most popular Linux distributions. Try to install it as pass using the package manager relevant to you, such as apt for Ubuntu/Debian or yum for Fedora/RHEL. Specific guidance for each supported distribution is available on the Pass website....

It’s easier than ever to quickly communicate with friends, family, or co-workers thanks to Microsoft Teams Chat built into Windows 11 and accessed through a “Chat” button on your taskbar. Here’s how to set it up and start chatting. The Setup Process To get started with teams chat, click the Chat icon (which looks like a purple word bubble) in your Windows 11 taskbar. If you don’t see it there, check Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar Items and flip the switch beside “Chat” to “On....

All-in-one PCs are the domain of the novice, the hotel business nook, or the interior decorator who can’t stomach seeing a “real” PC in a pristine living room. With the exception of the iMac, they were seen as boring, underpowered boxes with laptop components stuffed behind a cheap screen. But that’s changing. It’s true that all-in-one machines are mostly cheap and simple, but the form factor has been undergoing a quiet revolution for the last couple of years....

Remember when uTorrent was great? The upstart BitTorrent client was super lightweight and trounced other popular BitTorrent clients. But that was long ago, before BitTorrent, Inc. bought uTorrent and crammed it full of crapware and scammy advertisements. Screw that. Whether you need to download a Linux ISO or…well, do whatever else you do with BitTorrent, you don’t have to put up with what uTorrent’s become. Use a better BitTorrent client instead....

RELATED: The Best Comedy Movies on Netflix in 2022 The Big Sick Play Video Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon turn their real-life trauma into a sweet and funny romantic comedy with The Big Sick. Kumail falls for Emily (Zoe Kazan), and then must deal with her family as well as his own career and commitment issues when she is suddenly struck with a mysterious illness. Drinking Buddies Play Video...

I joined Facebook about ten years ago, and I’ve used it daily since then. But I’m a little embarrassed by my really old posts. When I first signed up, I was 16, in high school, and incredibly grumpy. Most of my posts from back then say things like, “Harry Guinness is depressed” or simply, “ugggghhhhh”. Over the years, what I posted to Facebook changed. From 18 to 24 I was in college and a lot happier....

This trick is for Linux and SSH users who often log in to remote systems. Having to type the same info over and over again is mind-numbingly repetitive, but using an SSH config file makes the process much more convenient. It’s pretty easy to turn into something quick: ssh –p 50001 username@remote.sshserver.com Aside from specifying port numbers, addresses, and user names, you can specify key files, time out intervals, and tons of other options....