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Showing posts from July, 2018

The Best Accessories To Turn Your Chromebook Into A Powerhouse Workstation

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So you have a shiny new Chromebook and want to give it a little  oomph. There are definitely some neat accessories out there to superch… Click Here to Continue Reading

What Is a MOBI File (and How Do I Open One)?

A file with the .MOBI file extension is used for storing eBooks. It was originally a Mobipocket Reader format but has since been adopted by several different readers as well. Amazon purchased Mobipocket in 2005, and later discontinued the MOBI format in 2011.

Geek Trivia: The Term “Cliffhanger”, To Refer To A Suspenseful But Unresolved Ending Originated With?

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

Nintendo Has Sold Nearly 20 Million Switches In a Year And a Half

You Can Now Quickly Add Reaction GIFs in Gmail

Ever wish you could respond to an email with a GIF, like you can in messaging apps? With Gmail now you can.

The Endless Cycle: Websites Keep Getting Heavier as Internet Speeds Get Better

Have you noticed the internet sometimes feels slower than ever, even as broadband speeds get faster?

The Best Cordless Power Tool Systems for Every Skill Level and Budget

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The cordless tool market has improved greatly over the years, but perhaps the greatest advancement has been the sheer variety. Click Here to Continue Reading

How to Add a Background Color, Picture, or Texture to a Word Document

You can quickly add visual appeal to your Microsoft Word document by adding a background color, image or texture. You can choose from a variety of colors and fill effects. Adding a colorful background image can be helpful when creating a brochure, presentation, or marketing materials.

The Best Gifts For Your Geeky Husband, Boyfriend, or Son

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Geeks are hard to buy for—especially if you aren’t one yourself. Click Here to Continue Reading

Five Android Features Samsung Does Better Than Google

Ask any Android purist and they’ll tell you: stock Android is the one true Android. But objectively, it’s not perfect, and there are things that Samsung devices do better than any stock Android device out there—even Google’s own devices.

How to Disable the Articles on Chrome’s New Tab Page for Android and iPhone

Google Chrome for Android, iPhone, and iPad shows “suggested articles” from the web on its New Tab page. You can hide those if you’d rather clean up your New Tab page and avoid the distractions.

How Water Damages Electronics

It’s common knowledge that water does bad things to electronics, but there are still a few things you may not know about how exactly water can damage electronic components and what you can do if you ever accidentally take your devices for a swim.

Anker Soundcore Space NC Headphones Review: An Ideal Budget Pick

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Premium noise cancelling headphones are pretty expensive, but the Anker Soundcore Space NC sets out to prove they don’t have to be. Click Here to Continue Reading

What You Can (and Can’t) Do with Multiple Amazon Echos

The Amazon Echo is a device that can quickly become the center point of your smarthome setup, but what if you live in a larger home where one Echo just won’t cut it? Here’s what you should know about bringing in a second, or even a third, Amazon Echo into your house.

Geek Trivia: Which One Of These Common Food Crops Is Deadly If Stored Incorrectly?

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

YouTube Surrenders, Removes Black Bars From Vertical Videos

Google is officially done trying to teach all of you to shoot your videos properly, so they’re going to make vertical videos look slightly better.

New Ecobee Feature Will Adjust Your Thermostat When Energy Rates Get Too High

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Ecobee is rolling out a new feature to some users that will automatically tweak your thermostat when energy rates get too high. The new… Click Here to Continue Reading

The Best Compact Mobile Keyboards For Typing On The Go

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So you want to start chipping away at that screenplay in your local coffee shop, but lugging your laptop along isn’t ideal. Click Here to Continue Reading

How to Recover Your Forgotten WhatsApp PIN

Although WhatsApp lacks a password for signing in to your account, it does, however, have a two-step verification to keep anyone from gaining access to your account if they steal your SIM card. Here’s how you’re able to reset that 6-digit PIN if you’ve forgotten it.

Will MoviePass Please Die So People Stop Complaining About It

For months now, the tech nerd community won’t stop talking about MoviePass, and I’m sick and tired of hearing about it. Can MoviePass just die already?

How to Roll Back to iOS 11 (If You’re Using the iOS 12 Beta)

So you’ve installed the iOS 12 beta and, well, you’re experiencing some bugs. That’s okay, because you can quickly downgrade to the stable iOS 11.4.1.

The Best Budget Friendly Retro Watches

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We’re huge fans of automatic watches here at Review Geek b… Click Here to Continue Reading

The Best Video Editing Tools for Chromebooks

While it’s commonly thought Chromebooks aren’t good for anything more than surfing the web, that’s not the case. If you need to do some video editing from your Chromebook, there are definitely some tools out there that can do the job.

How to Change a Picture to Black and White in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word has several simple color adjustment options so that you can quickly and easily style the images in your Word document. Whether you want to create an artistic masterpiece or simply get your document to match your printer’s settings, you can change your images to black and white in Word.

How to Enable Windows Defender’s Secret Crapware Blocker

Windows 10’s antivirus does a good job overall, but it lets crapware through. A hidden setting intended for organizations will boost Windows Defender’s security, making it block adware, potentially unwanted programs, PUPs, or whatever you want to call this junk.

Geek Trivia: Which Of These Used To Be An Official Olympic Sport?

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

The Best Manual Coffee Grinders For Delicious And Consistent Flavor

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Fresh ground coffee tastes better, but really high quality grinders are expensive. What’s a coffee aficionado on a budget to do? Click Here to Continue Reading

Cord Cutting Isn’t Just About Money: Streaming Services Are Better Than Cable

Cord cutting is picking up steam. Forecasters are predicting a 33 percent increase in people dropping their cable subscription this year over last—faster than analysts predicted.

Geek Trivia: How Fast Was The CPU In The Original IBM PC?

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

The Best Running Watch For Every Budget

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If you’re running regularly, it’s useful to be able to track your progress, pace, elevation, and route. Click Here to Continue Reading

Forget Voice Control, Automation Is the Real Smarthome Superpower

Too often I find myself taking way too much time to figure out easier ways to control my smarthome devices, but I think many of us (including myself) forget that there’s a better way: not having to control them at all.

Facial Recognition Software Could Help Women Find Egg Donors Who Look Like Them

Every year, thousands of women struggling with fertility issues use egg donors so they can have babies of their own. However, getting a child who looks like them is generally left up to the doctor’s judgement and fate. Until now, that is.

What Is a Log File (and How Do I Open One)?

Sometimes the best way to troubleshoot and operating system, application, or service is to consult the log file(s) that app or service generates as it goes about its business. But what is a LOG file and how do you see what’s in it?

MoviePass Had an Outage Because It Ran Out Money, So Maybe Use Yours Quick

MoviePass currently has a business model of burning money. Turns out they burned a bit too much. On Thursday night, the service experienced an “outage” because the company ran out of cash.

What the Hell Does Valve Even Do Anymore (Besides Take Our Money)

As Steam unveils an overhaul to its chat system that barely competes with the rising star of Discord, we’re left to wonder why this took so long to begin with. What the heck does Valve even do anymore?

The Best Automatic Dog Food Dispensers

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Automated dog food dispensers won’t just make your life easier, they can also improve yo… Click Here to Continue Reading

Are You Freaking Kidding Me? Nintendo’s Newest Labo Kit Has a Car, Plane, and Submarine

How to Type Accent Marks Over Letters in Microsoft Word

If you don’t have a specialized keyboard, you have to do a little extra work to type letters with accent marks in Microsoft Word. Here are a few ways to get it done.

You Can Now Schedule Custom Routines in Google Home

A few months ago, Google added a feature to Google Assistant called Custom Routines that allows users to create strings of commands that can be executed with just a single phrase. Starting today, you can schedule those commands.

The Best Laptop Bags Under $40

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So you just bought that dream laptop. Super-powerful. Amazingly thin. Click Here to Continue Reading

The Best Photo Editors for Chromebooks

One of the biggest question we see about Chromebooks is “can they run Photoshop?” The answer to that is no—at least not the full version you’ll find on other platforms. But that doesn’t mean they can’t do photo editing.

What’s the Difference Between an Optical and Electronic Viewfinder?

The viewfinder is the bit you look through on your camera when you’re taking a picture. There are two main kinds: optical viewfinders and electronic viewfinders, although live view screens are also used. Let’s look at the differences between them.

How to Enable Dark Mode for Gmail

Microsoft just added a dark mode to Outlook.com, but Google is way ahead of Microsoft. Gmail has had a dark theme for years. Here’s how to enable it—and get a better, more complete dark mode for Gmail, too.

How To Recover Your Forgotten Snapchat Password

Password managers help you by saving those complex passwords that can be pretty difficult to remember. If you’ve forgotten your Snapchat password, you can’t really recover that same password, but it’s easy enough to recover your account by resetting your password to something new.

The Best PC Gaming Headsets For Every Budget

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If you want to feel immersed in your PC games and effectively communicate in online multiplaye… Click Here to Continue Reading

Geek Trivia: Besides Humans, The Only Mammal Known To Love Hot Peppers Is The?

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

Give All Your Smart Home Gadgets Unique Names, Even Across Different Services

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Most smart home gadgets like Hue or Nest will make you use unique names within their service. Click Here to Continue Reading

Your Windows PC Might Finally Learn to Stop Rebooting While You’re Using It

Windows updates are a necessary evil for PC owners, which often result in the computer rebooting to successfully apply said update. With Windows 10, this is generally done automatically—and annoyingly.

You Can Pre-Order a Nintendo Switch Online Subscription, But You Probably Don’t Have To

How to Enable Dark Mode in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge has a dark theme, but you have to enable it in Edge’s application settings. Even if you enable Windows 10’s dark theme, Edge will keep using its light app mode until you go out of your way to select dark mode.

Alexa Cast is Amazon’s Answer to Google Cast—But Just for Music

Google Cast is the gold standard for streaming content from your phone to speakers, TVs, and more, but something that Amazon has refused adding to its devices and services. So instead, it created its own.

How to Add Imported and iCal Calendars to Google Home

If you use multiple calendars on the daily and you also use Google Home, then you know how frustrating it is that Google Home doesn’t list all your calendars when you ask about your day. Fortunately, that’s changing.

The Best Streaming TV Services for People with Young Kids

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The way we shop for things changes once kids come into the picture—it’s no longer just about what we need or want, but what’s… Click Here to Continue Reading

How to Control Line and Paragraph Spacing in Microsoft Word

There are lots of reasons you might want to change the amount of space between lines in a paragraph, or between paragraphs themselves. Word offers some handy preset values to use, but you can also take full control by specifying exact spacing. Here’s how.

How to Find (Or Make) Free Ringtones

If you’ve gotten sick of the ringtones that come with your Android phone or iPhone, it’s easy enough to buy new ones. But before you do that, there are a number of sites where you can get free ringtones. We’ve rounded up some of the best.

The Best Clear iPhone 8 Cases To Protect (But Showcase) Your Phone

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The iPhone 8 is a great looking phone and, naturally, you want to show off its stylish looks—but you also want to keep it safe from scra… Click Here to Continue Reading

Amazon and Google Are Taking Over the Smarthome Industry

While the smarthome industry is filled with startups and smaller companies, it’s a market that’s increasingly being controlled by the big guys, namely Amazon and Google.

Geek Trivia: Which Of These Games Is Credited With Defining The PC Adventure Gaming/RPG Genre?

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

The Best Portable Battery Packs For Every Situation

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Your smartphone is kind of like a supervillain: it’s super-intelligent and has fantastic capabilities, but it’s also insanely hungry for… Click Here to Continue Reading

Facebook’s New Watch Party Lets You Watch Facebook Videos With Your Friends

Free Download: Shockingly Complete Archive of Old Mac and iPhone Wallpapers

Love or hate Apple, you’ve got to admit: their background images are consistently stunning. Now you can download all of them.

These Popular Browser Extensions Are Leaking Your Full Web History On Purpose

Browser extensions and phone apps used by a combined 11 million people are recording users’ complete browsing history, a clear violation of privacy.

How to Turn Off New Message Alerts in Microsoft Outlook 2016 or 365

Outlook can trigger several types of alerts when you get a new message. You might see a taskbar notification, notice a message icon in your system tray, hear a sound, or even see your pointer change briefly to an email message icon. Here’s how to disable them all.

How to Leave Windows 10’s S Mode

Some PCs, including Microsoft’s Surface Laptop and the Windows on ARM PCs, run “Windows 10 in S Mode.” In S Mode, Windows can only run apps from the Store—but you can leave S Mode in a few clicks.

The Best Home Network Switches to Expand Your Router For Every Need

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If you’re lucky, your router came with a few Ethernet ports. Click Here to Continue Reading

How to Use Footnotes and Endnotes in Microsoft Word

Whether you use Microsoft Word for personal or professional writing, sometimes you may want to add supplemental notes to sections of your work. Maybe you want to make a side comment on one of your arguments, or you need to cite another author’s work without distracting from the main text. Luckily, Word has useful tools for adding footnotes and endnotes to your writing.

How to Delete Your YouTube Watch History (and Search History)

YouTube remembers every video you’ve ever watched, assuming you’re signed in with your Google account. YouTube uses this history for recommendations, and even encourages you to re-watch old videos. Here’s how to clean up your watch history—or stop collecting it.

How to Properly Wrap Charging Cables to Prevent Damaging Them

How do you wrap your charging cables for storage or travel? There’s a chance that you might be doing it wrong and causing harm to the cable. Here’s how to properly wrap your cables so that they last as long as possible.

The Five Must-Have Tools and Accessories for Charcoal Grilling

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Grilling with charcoal is enjoyable, cheap, and usually results in better-tasting food, but it’s a little trickier than propane. Click Here to Continue Reading

The Best Cameras for Beginners

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Smartphone cameras are great, but … Click Here to Continue Reading

Geek Trivia: The Peace Symbol Is A Stylized Representation Of?

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

Whoops, Philips Hue Accidentally Announced Outdoor Light Strips

The iPod is Dead, and So Is Listening to Music Without Distractions

It’s the end of an era: Apple killed off the last of its dedicated music players last week.

MoviePass Is Burning Money to Build a Userbase, But That’s Hardly Unique

MoviePass is losing money on basically every customer. Should you care?

How To Search Through (And Delete) Your Old Tweets

The nature of Twitter allows people to amass thousands of posts after a few years of use, perhaps not all of which are well thought out. High-profile celebrities and politicians on Twitter frequently regret a poorly-phrased or simply offensive post. But going through that massive backlog of tweets can be a daunting task. Here are a few ways to do it more efficiently.

How to Fix All Your Samsung Phone’s Annoyances

Samsung is the biggest manufacturer of Android phones in the world, but that doesn’t mean these handsets are perfect out of the box. In fact, most of these phones have several annoyances initially—here’s how to fix many of these.

The Best Portable Hard Drives For Every Need

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Your laptop only has so much storage on it. Click Here to Continue Reading

How to Create and Format a Text Box in Microsoft Word

Text boxes let you emphasize or bring focus to specific text in a Microsoft Word document. You can choose from a variety of preformatted text boxes, or draw and format your own. They’re great for adding things like pull quotes, or even for laying out text and images on things like flyers.

What is the New “Block Suspicious Behaviors” Feature in Windows 10?

Windows 10’s Redstone 5 update, scheduled for release in Fall, 2018, includes a new “Block Suspicious Behaviors” security feature. This protection is off by default, but you can enable it to protect your PC from a variety of threats.

Here’s How Gmail, Calendar, And Other Google Apps Might Look Soon

Google is overhauling all its apps, and a new video gives you an idea of what that might look like. Spoiler: it’s all very white.

The Best Toiletries and Gear to Put In Your Dopp Kit

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A Dopp kit—named for American leatherworker Charles Doppelt who popularized the design—is an essential bit of travel gear. Click Here to Continue Reading

How to Limit Notifications on Your Nest Cam Using Activity Zones

It’s likely that you receive a ton of irrelevant false positive motion alerts from your Nest Cam—a car driving by, a bug flying through the frame, or a bush off to the right waving around in the wind. Here’s how you can limit those kinds of notifications using Activity Zones.

The Best Way to Get a Phone Number for Your Small Business

Lots of small businesses use their personal cellphones when making work related phone calls. Some may even be using old landlines for their calling needs. While it makes sense to use your cellphone, and it can be scary to make a change, owning a business in the 21st century may require an upgrade.

Geek Trivia: The First Commercially Viable Strain Of Penicillin Was Created From Mold Found On A?

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

Netgear’s Arlo Adds a Smart, Audio-Only Doorbell to Its Home Security Product Line

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Netgear has a line of security cameras under the Arlo brand, and now the company is expanding with a… Click Here to Continue Reading

Buy It For Life: Our Office Gear That’s Stood the Test of Time

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While the up front cost can be high, buying gadgets for life can save you a lot of hassle over the long run. Click Here to Continue Reading

Your HomePod Could Soon Support Phone Calls

HomePod, Apple’s smart speaker, could get new phone features this year, allowing you to initiate phone calls.

How to Change Double Spaces to Single Spaces in Microsoft Word

If you find yourself in possession of a Word document where someone has typed two spaces between every sentence and you need to change those to use just one space, Word makes it easy to do a find and replace that changes all instances with a single command. Here’s how to do it.

The Best Controller For Steam (Isn’t What You Think)

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Steam’s Big Picture Mode and Steam Link platform have their own branded Steam Controller. But it’s not the best one to use. Click Here to Continue Reading

How to Temporarily Disable the Fingerprint Reader and Smart Lock in Android P

Starting with iOS 11, Apple included a way to quickly disable Touch ID and Face ID on iOS. With Android P, Google is introducing a feature named “Lockdown Mode” that essentially does the same thing.

How to Fix “Unlock iPhone to Use Accessories”

Starting with iOS 12, you will always have to unlock your iPhone or iPad to connect a USB accessory. This is because of “USB Restricted Mode,” which protects your iPhone or iPad from hacking tools like GrayKey.

What is a Monitor’s Refresh Rate and How Do I Change It?

A refresh rate is the number of times your monitor updates with new images each second. For example, a 60 Hz refresh rate means the display updates 60 times per second. A higher refresh rate results in a smoother picture.

Geek Trivia: The First Person To Be Honored With A Hollywood Walk Of Fame Star For Live Performances Was?

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

The Best Powerline Network Adapters

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If you want high-speed network access throughout your home and Wi-Fi isn’t cutting it, you’ve probably considered running Ethernet… Click Here to Continue Reading

The Smarthome Industry Has Reached a Plateau. Here’s What’s Holding It Back

There’s a problem with the smarthome industry—multiple problems, actually. And after experiencing a huge boom over the last few years, smarthome as a whole has reached a plateau of sorts.

Geek Trivia: In The 2000s, Footage From The Original Lunar Orbiters Was Digitized In A Former?

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

Five Tips and Tricks to Set Up In-Car Entertainment for Your Kids

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Are we nearly there yet? How many times do you hear this on a road trip with the kids? Too often, right? Click Here to Continue Reading

6 Smarthome Safety Features You Should Enable Right Now

Most homeowners deck out their houses with smarthome gear for the convenience and cool features, but what you may not know is that some devices come with features that can prevent problems and even potentially be life saving.

How to Link or Embed an Excel Worksheet in a PowerPoint Presentation

Sometimes, you want to include the data on an Excel spreadsheet in a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation. There are a couple of ways to do this, depending on whether or not you want to maintain a connection with the source Excel sheet. Let’s take a look.

Geek Trivia: Which Of These Iconic Video Games Originally Ran On HyperCard?

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

Buying A Kindle? The 3G Models Are The Only Ones Worth Looking At

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The Kindle killer feature isn’t the sharp screen on the Oasis or the free books that come with a Prime account. Click Here to Continue Reading

Mario Kart 8 Is Getting Breath of the Wild’s Link and His Motorcycle

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In a batch of DLC for  Breath of the Wild , Link hit full mid-life crisis and got a motorcycle. Click Here to Continue Reading

How to Stop People from Following You on Instagram

Instagram continues to add deeper account management tools, and starting today you’ll be able to manually remove followers. This feature has been available for users with private accounts for a while, but now it’s available for everyone.

What is a 400 Bad Request Error (and How Can I Fix It)?

A 400 Bad Request Error occurs when a request sent to the website server is incorrect or corrupt, and the server receiving the request can’t understand it. Occasionally, the problem is on the website itself, and there’s not much you can do about that. But most of the time, the problem is one you might be able to solve—maybe you typed the address wrong, or maybe your browser cache is causing problems. Here are some solutions you can try.

The Best Video Editors for Android

There’s no need to break out a computer for a quick edit on a video you just shot—with the proper tools, you can do a lot right from your phone. Here are the best video editors for Android.

The Best Dog Dishes For Healthy Eating And Digestion

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A good dog dish can help dogs big and small eat healthier—whether that means slowing down or aligning th… Click Here to Continue Reading

When and How to Rent Photography Gear

Photography and videography gear is expensive. Professional equipment starts at a few hundred dollars and goes up to hundreds of thousands. You might dream of shooting with a RED EPIC camera, but you probably don’t want to pony up the $19,000+ to own one. The thing is, there’s another option: rental.

What Data Can a Thief Get from a Stolen Phone or Laptop?

Losing your hardware is bad enough, but what happens to your personal data? Could a thief with your phone, tablet, or laptop access your apps and files? It depends on the device you lost—unfortunately, most Windows PCs aren’t encrypted.

Save Time With Custom Search Folders in Microsoft Outlook

Searching in Outlook is pretty easy, but why bother typing out the same searches over and over if you perform them regularly? Custom Search Folders let you save those custom searches so you can get back to them with just a click or two.

Anker Soundcore Flare Review: Stylish, Rugged, and Customizable

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Bluetooth speakers are a pretty great concept but you have to pay a lot for the best sound experience, right? Well, not exactly. Click Here to Continue Reading

Geek Trivia: Lyme Disease Is Named After A?

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

Apple Probably Fixed the MacBook Pro Keyboard Problem, But Can’t Tell You That

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Last week, Apple announced a… Click Here to Continue Reading

The Best Cell Phone Plans for Families

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Finding the right cell plan for you and your family can be a challenge. Click Here to Continue Reading

Is Google Replacing Android with Fuchsia? Maybe, But Not for a Long Time

Today Bloomberg is reporting that Google’s new Project Fuchsia operating system might actually be a successor to Android. Since this will likely fuel speculation, we thought we’d weigh in with our completely uninformed educated guesses as well.

What is “Lost Mode” on the iPhone, iPad, or Mac?

If you ever lose your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch, you should put it in “Lost Mode.” Lost Mode locks your device to protect your personal information, tracks its location, and places a customizable message on its lock screen.

Why Do iPhones Generally Have Better Sound Quality Than Android?

If you’ve ever used both platforms—especially listening to audio through headphones—you probably noticed that iPhones generally have better sound and more volume than Android. But why is that?

The Best Qi Wireless Charging Pads

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Now that Apple has joined the wireless charging party, a lot more smartphone owners can take advantage of wireless charging pads. Click Here to Continue Reading

How to Get Started With Audible and Audiobooks

Audiobooks—or books on tape—have been around for decades but they’re booming in popularity now that they no longer take up a dozen CDs and the cost has plummeted. Let’s look at how to get started.

How to Use a Windows Laptop as a Wireless Monitor (for Another PC)

You’d like a secondary screen to increase your productivity in Windows 10, but you don’t have another monitor handy. If you have a recent Windows laptop or tablet, though, you can use it as a wireless monitor.

How to Link or Embed an Excel Worksheet in a Word Document

Sometimes, you want to include the data on an Excel spreadsheet in your Microsoft Word document. There are a couple of ways to do this, depending on whether or not you want to maintain a connection with the source Excel sheet. Let’s take a look

The Best Premium Laptop Bags For Every Need

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Your laptop works hard for you. Doesn’t it deserve a fancy place to rest in between your destinations? Click Here to Continue Reading

Geek Trivia: The First Video Game To Feature Point-And-Click Mechanics Was?

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

The Kindle Oasis: Two Years Later, Still The Best E-Reader Around

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The Kindle Oasis is Amazon’s premium Kindle device. It’s—supposedly—the best e-reader Amazon can make but is it worth the ridiculous price? Click Here to Continue Reading

The Beam, Sonos’ $399, Alexa-Powered Sound Bar, Is Now On Sale

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The Sonos Beam is, by all accounts, the perfect soundbar for the modern smarthome. Click Here to Continue Reading

How to Set Up and Configure Your Amazon Echo

So you just got an Amazon Echo, either from the recent sales or the holidays. Let’s take a look at how to set it up and some useful things you can task your Echo with.

What Are Woofers, Mid-Range Speakers, and Tweeters?

Woofers, mid-range speakers, and tweeters are all types of loudspeakers. Most often, all three types of speakers are mounted in a single enclosure, but you can also find each in discrete enclosures. Let’s take a closer look at how they work.

How to Enable (or Disable) Automatic Updates on Your iPhone or iPad

Apple’s iOS 12 operating system will bring automatic operating system updates to iPhone and iPad. The App Store can automatically update your installed apps, too. Here’s how to enable these updates, or disable them if you’d rather update manually.

The Best Mesh Wi-Fi Routers For Every Need

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When a single Wi-Fi router won’t do, a mesh Wi-Fi system lets you get strong coverage everywhere in your house without tearing your wall… Click Here to Continue Reading

What Does the Depth of Field Preview Button Do On Your Camera?

Have you ever wondered what the button next to the lens mount on your DSLR is for? Not the one that you use to detach a lens, but that other one? That’s the depth of field preview button. Let’s dig in.

Why Does Google Chrome Say Websites Are “Not Secure”?

Starting with Chrome 68, Google Chrome labels all non-HTTPS websites as “Not Secure.” Nothing else has changed—HTTP websites are just as secure as they’ve always been—but Google is giving the entire web a shove towards secure, encrypted connections.

Google’s Bringing Back Google Now (Sort of) Inside Assistant

That little icon in Google Assistant may not look like much, but it heralds a return to form for Google. Now, when you tap this new button, you’ll find something like the extremely useful Google Now.

The Best Desktop Photo Printer For Every Budget

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Ultra portable photo printers are great for when convenience and speed is key to printing your photos, but how about if you want a better qual… Click Here to Continue Reading

How To Create A Graph On The Web

Sometimes you just need to make a decent-looking graph, but don’t want to get bogged down in a complex spreadsheet app. Here are some free websites that let you create graphs, no matter what your experience level.

Geek Trivia: The First Game Console-Based Camera Accessory Was Called The?

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

Google’s Bringing Back Blob Emoji As a Sticker Pack

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Google used to objectively have the best emoji. Now, they don’t. Click Here to Continue Reading

How To Rename AV Inputs On Roku TVs

Roku’s software is a popular standard for “smart” HDTVs, especially among budget manufacturers. If you want your homescreen to be more organized, you can apply custom names and icons to your input device. Here’s how.

The Best Digital Audio Workstations for Windows

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If you’re looking to get into music recording, you’re going to need a good DAW—or Digital Audio Workstation.  There

PSA: Make Sure You Have a Backup for Two-Factor Authentication

Two factor authentication (2FA) is generally a great security tool. But if you have it enabled on your Apple or Google accounts, this could really come back to bite you in the worst way. Here’s what you need to know.

How to Use Alexa Without an Amazon Echo

You don’t need an Amazon Echo to use Alexa. You can play Skyrim and Westworld, take advantage of Alexa voice shopping, and just use Alexa normally with your iPhone, iPad, or Android phone.

What to Do If You Find Someone’s Lost iPhone or Smartphone

Smartphones go missing all the time. I’m pretty sure my sister loses hers the second Tuesday and third Thursday of every month. We’ve already looked at what to do if you lose your smartphone so let’s take a different perspective: what to do if you find someone’s smartphone and want to return it to them.

The Best Desk Chair Alternatives

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For millennia, the preferred place to park your posterior has been a chair. But this is The Future, people! Click Here to Continue Reading

How to Recover Your Forgotten Yahoo! Password

If you don’t use a password manager, those complex passwords can be pretty hard to remember. If you’ve forgotten your Yahoo password, you can’t really recover that same password, but it’s easy enough to recover your account by resetting your password to something new.

Geek Trivia: The Oldest Genetic Proof Of Malaria Was Found In A?

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Google Hid An Awesome Per-App Auto Rotate Feature in Android P

Historically, when you turn your phone on its side, the screen rotates. To keep this from happening, you can lock the orientation. But with Android P, Google included a way to have to the best of both worlds.

Amazon’s Prime Day (and a Half) Starts Today, These Are the Best Deals We Found

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Amazon’s nebulous Prime Day starts at 3PM Eastern today, and with it comes a host of deals. Click Here to Continue Reading

Amazon Fire TV Cube Review: The Universal Remote You’ve Been Waiting For

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What happens when you put an Echo Dot, a Fire TV, and a universal remote in a blender? Click Here to Continue Reading

The Best Prime Day Deals Are 50% Off Amazon Devices (Echo, Cameras, Fire, Kindle)

Amazon’s Prime Day officially starts at 3PM EST today, but as always, the real deals are deeply discounted Amazon products, and this year that includes smarthome devices like Ring, cloud camera, and security systems.

How To Mod Your Nintendo Switch Dock For Better Portability

The Switch is great! Nintendo’s dock design is…less great. While buying a third-party dock can be risky, there’s an alternative: replace the plastic shell on the original to make it a lean, mean, fast-docking machine.

The Best Dopp Kit Travel Bag for Your Toiletries

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A few hours on a plane doesn’t have to leave you looking (and presumably smelling) like Robin Williams in Jumanji. Click Here to Continue Reading

How to Manually Export and Back Up Contacts on Android

Android does a great job of keeping all your contacts in sync with your Google account, so theoretically you should never lose all your contacts. That said, things happen, and keeping a backup is never a bad idea. Here’s how to export all your contacts on Android.

How to Clear Your Furthest Read Page on Kindle

It’s really annoying when you’re trying to re-read an eBook and your Kindle or Kindle app keeps trying to get you to jump to the end because that’s the “Furthest Location Read.” Here’s how to fix it.

What To Do If You Lose Your Two-Factor Phone

Many websites send security codes to your phone number to confirm your identity when signing in. You may use apps that generate security codes on your phone, too. But what happens if you lose your phone?

Geek Trivia: The Month With The Most Birthdays In It Is?

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The Best Indoor HDTV Antennas

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The cheapest way to cut the cord is to ditch cable and use an over-the-air antenna to watch local TV. Click Here to Continue Reading

Switching to a Chromebook? Here’s What You Need to Know

If you’re considering making the switch from a traditional PC (or Mac) to a Chromebook, you may be concerned about the transition. Not to worry—moving to a Chromebook is simple, and these tips will help ease the move.

How to Watch France vs Croatia in the 2018 World Cup Finals Online

On Sunday, France is playing Croatia in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Finals, and if you want to watch the games without cable, we are here to help. Here’s how to watch France vs Croatia in the 2018 World Cup Finals online.

Geek Trivia: Foster’s Rule Is A Rule In Evolutionary Biology That Explains?

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The Best Dehumidifier For Every Situation

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Dehumidifiers are a critical tool for managing dampness in your home. Click Here to Continue Reading

Don’t Fall For the New CryptoBlackmail Scam: Here’s How to Protect Yourself

Here’s how a CryptoBlackmail scam starts: A criminal contacts you over email or snail mail and insists they have evidence you cheated on your wife, there’s an assassin after you, or there’s a webcam video of you watching pornography.

How to Clean Dust Out of Your MacBook

If your MacBook is performing hotter than usual, the cooling fans and other areas might be blocked by dust, and that can prevent them from keeping the whole machine cool. Here’s how to clean out your MacBook so you can get back to intensive computer work in no time.

Geek Trivia: Many Of The Modern Aspects Of Grocery Shopping Were Pioneered By Which Of These Stores?

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The Best Budget Burr Coffee Grinders

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Good coffee starts with fresh ground coffee. A good coffee grinder can cost a mint—but it doesn’t have to. Click Here to Continue Reading

YouTube TV Apologizes For Outage During World Cup Semifinals With a Free Week

How to Delete All the Photos On Your iPhone or iPad

No matter how big your phone’s storage capacity, you’re bound to run out of space sooner or later. When you start getting low storage warnings, you have two choices: stop taking photos or make more space by deleting images you don’t want anymore.

The Best Premium Wine Preservers

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As soon as you pop the cork on a bottle of wine, the clock starts ticking. Click Here to Continue Reading

How to Enable Dark Mode in Firefox

Firefox will soon begin respecting Windows 10’s dark app mode setting. But you can enable dark mode in Firefox today, on any operating system, and without installing any third-party themes. This works on Windows 7, Windows 10, macOS, and Linux.

How to Make Your Phone’s Fingerprint Reader More Accurate

Fingerprint readers on phones have made devices more secure and faster to unlock, at least when they work on the first try. If you have trouble unlocking your phone quickly, there are things you can do to improve your device’s fingerprint reader.

What Is an RTF File (And How Do I Open One)?

A file with the .RTF file extension is a Rich Text Format file. While a normal text file stores only plain text, RTF files can include extra information about font style, formatting, images, and more. They are great for cross-platform document sharing because they are supported by lots of apps.

Everything New in Notepad in Windows 10 Redstone 5

Believe it or not, Microsoft is hard at work on Notepad with the Windows 10’s Redstone 5 Update. Notepad is packed with new features in Redstone 5, which will be released sometime around October 2018.

How to Rename Smarthome Devices in the Alexa App

When it comes to controlling smarthome devices using Alexa, you need to make sure those devices are named correctly. Here’s how to rename your smarthome gadgets so that voice commands sound a bit more natural.

The Best Robotic Lawnmower For Every Yard

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Imagine a life where you never have to mow the lawn. Ever. That’s the promise of robotic lawnmowers: perfect lawns without the toil. Click Here to Continue Reading

Geek Trivia: Which Of These Citrus Fruits Is An Ancestral Variety And Not A Modern Hybrid?

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If You’ve Been Holding Off On a New MacBook Pro, Now’s a Good Time to Buy

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Apple has rolled out a refresh on the MacBook Pro line of laptops, bringing quieter keyboards and 8th-generation Intel processors. Click Here to Continue Reading

Amazon Echo vs Google Home: Does It Really Matter Which You Choose?

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There are two emerging smart speaker ecosystems leading the pack these days: Amazon’s and Google’s. Which one should you go with? Click Here to Continue Reading