Monday 31 July 2017

Save Yourself Time and Effort by Automating GIMP With Scripts

save-time-gimp

Photo editing tends to involve a lot of repetitive processes, especially when you’re working with a large album of images. If you’re willing to dabble in scripting, you can use GIMP to automate some of these actions to save yourself time and effort. Scripting with Python in GIMP isn’t easy, but it’s very rewarding if you’re prepared to learn the ropes. Here’s how to get started with a couple of very basic scripts. Creating a Python Script Before we start start working on our project in earnest, we need to lay some foundations. First, open up a text editor, then copy and...

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5 Networking Commands for the Linux Terminal

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Working in the command line can have numerous advantages over working in the Graphical User Interface (GUI). It’s almost always faster, relative to the GUI. More advanced computer users often prefer command line for it’s scripting and concise process of working. Here are some of the Linux networking commands you can use and apply immediately. Some commands may require administrative privileges — so make sure you have sudo access! Image Credit: Julia Tim via Shutterstock 1. ping The go-to-command to quickly begin to diagnose network issues, find the IP address of a device on the network, or even monitor the reliability of your...

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How to Use (and Disable) Game Center on Mac & iOS

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In the old days, we used to get together with friends and family to play games. Now, with computer games and mobile devices, we have a much larger range of choices for games to play electronically. Apple’s Game Center strives to make playing mobile games a social activity again. Today we’ll look at what Game Center is, why you would use it, and how to sign make the most of it on your Mac and iOS devices. For those of you who used to use the default standalone Game Center app and are wondering where it went, we’ll also explain...

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After Dunkirk: 12 World War II Movies to Watch on Netflix

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Have you watched Chris Nolan’s Dunkirk yet? It tracks the story of the Allied evacuation off the beaches of Northern France in May 1940. Of course, the Dunkirk evacuation has passed into history as one of the most important episodes of World War II. Many historians argue that it’s the point Hitler lost the war. If he’d allowed his Panzer columns to continue rather than waiting for his infantry divisions to catch up, the Allied forces would have been almost wiped out. Instead, more than 330,000 British, French, Dutch, Polish, and Belgian troops managed to escape across the English Channel....

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Are Squeezable Smartphones a Gimmick or the Future?

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A couple of months ago, HTC launched the U11. Apart from high-end specifications, the smartphone’s marketing was centered around a unique feature called Edge Sense. The HTC U11 has grip sensors on both sides that recognize when the phone is squeezed. This gesture is used for launching apps and performing actions. Rumors now suggest that Google’s second-generation Pixel phone will have a similar feature too. So, is the squeeze feature a gimmick or is it actually a groundbreaking feature? Let’s find out. A History of Gesture-Based Features in Smartphones Ever since smartphones have had motion sensors like accelerometers and gyroscopes,...

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The 7 Best Windows File Explorer Replacements

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The best way to describe Windows File Explorer is “functional.” Sure, it’s got a few little settings you can tweak, and there are several tricks that’ll make it work more efficiently, but it’s still decidedly more “Volvo” than “Mercedes.” If you spend a lot of time in the app, it’s easy to become weary of its idiosyncrasies. Why can’t you integrate non-Microsoft cloud storage providers? Why can’t you reorder the main shortcuts in the left-hand panel? And why hasn’t Microsoft introduced tabbed browsing? Perhaps it’s time to dump File Explorer and use a third-party alternative? If you’ve never looked into...

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13 Best Root Apps for Android in 2017

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Once you’ve rooted your phone, you gain access to tons of extra apps in — and sometimes beyond — the Play Store. The best root apps can extend your battery life, change fonts and emojis, recover deleted photos, and even boot a full version of Linux. Here’s our pick of the 13 best root apps you must install. 1. Root Essentials Root Essentials is a one-stop shop for numerous root tasks. It’s a great starting point if you’re new to rooting, since it contains important tools like a build.prop editor, a root explorer, and a flashing tool. It also enables...

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10+ Classic Games You Can Run on Raspberry Pi Without Emulators

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It isn’t just for DIY projects. You can use it as a desktop computer, or send it into space. It’ll run as an inspiring digital picture frame, and put your old style, non-network printer onto your home network. In short, the Raspberry Pi is incredibly useful and versatile. It will even run retro games in emulators for many classic platforms. But what if you don’t want to mess around with emulators? Retro gaming on the Raspberry Pi without an emulator… could it be possible? Yeah, of course it could — and it is! The developers of the following six games...

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Find Out How Much Traffic Twitter Is Sending to Your Website

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Tracking individual Twitter visitors to your websites isn’t possible, but you can at least tell how much traffic Twitter (or any other social network) is sending your way. All of that information is just a few clicks away when using an analytics tool like Google Analytics. To check overall social network traffic using Google Analytics, go to Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels. Here you’ll see how much social network traffic you’re getting, and how it ranks compared to organic search, direct traffic, referral, and email traffic. If you click on Social, you’ll see a breakdown of all the social networks that are...

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Free Games for PS Plus & Xbox Live in August 2017

Ready for some new games? We’ve got the skinny on August 2017’s free games for PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold subscribers. PlayStation Plus On PS4, you’ve got a good selection coming. First is Just Cause 3, which offers a mega, 400-square-mile open-world to play around in. The second title is Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry, a standalone expansion for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. It’s a great way to get more gameplay if you played Black Flag, or enjoy a diluted AC experience if you haven’t tried the series in a while. Coming on PS3 is Super Motherload, a couch...

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Really Private Browsing: An Unofficial User’s Guide to Tor

Privacy on the internet is a constantly evolving battleground. And for good reason. Revelations concerning government spying programs, almost daily data breaches, and less-than-transparent corporations are de rigueur. Tin foil hats abound; more and more citizens around the globe are taking note of their privacy… and where it is going. When Edward Snowden revealed the PRISM (NSA) and Tempora (GCHQ) global surveillance programs, shock was met with apathy. Those that suspected this level of surveillance found their suspicions vindicated. But the average man or woman on the street? Many didn’t even pause for thought. This sort of invasion of privacy makes...

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Share PDF Versions of Google Drive Files Without Converting by Hand

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You can do a lot with PDF documents on Google Drive, like converting any Google Drive document to a PDF. But did you know that you can also directly share PDF versions of your files? There is no need to convert each document to a PDF by hand every time. There are clear benefits to taking the direct-to-PDF approach when sharing: There is no need to store multiple PDF versions of the same file. You don’t have to re-download the PDF version and share it every time you make a small change to the source document. Anyone with the PDF...

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iOS and Mac Users: You Need to Update Right Now

Apple devices have a longstanding reputation for being more secure than their Windows-based counterparts. Of course, that’s no longer the case. The amount of malware found on Apple devices has been rising steadily for the last few years. Now there’s another security flaw Mac and iOS users need to worry about. Apple is so worried, in fact, it rolled out a near-instant software update for all users. What Happened? Known as Broadpwn, the vulnerability allows potential hackers to gain control of your phone or computer through its Wi-Fi chips. A security researcher at Exodus Intelligence discovered the problem, and he presented...

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July’s Most Popular Deals [UK]

It’s that time again where we take a look back to your favourite deals from the month. July’s highlights include SanDisk SSDs, robotic vacuum cleaners, and Audio-Technica headphones. All of this month’s best deals are available for Prime delivery. If you haven’t already, make sure to give Prime a spin using their 30 day free trial. There’s way more to Amazon’s subscription service than just next day delivery. SanDisk Extreme 900 – 960 GB Solid State Drive [15% Off] [US/CA] SanDisk Extreme 900 Portable SSD 960GB SDSSDEX2-960G-G25 SanDisk Extreme 900 Portable SSD 960GB SDSSDEX2-960G-G25 Up to 9X faster than external...

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Saturday 29 July 2017

5 Guides to Understand Movies and Appreciate Films

Movies dazzle us, entertain us, educate us, and delight us. But what sets apart a great movie from an average one? What are filmmakers doing that makes us connect so deeply with moving images on a screen? These sites can help you understand it better. You could take a college course in understanding cinema, with all the technicalities of the medium. But appreciating filmmaking should be entertaining too, instead of an academic endeavor. These guides aren’t to find the perfect movie to watch. Instead, they’re about taking films you have already seen and finding out why you loved them so...

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10 Powerpoint Tips for Preparing a Professional Presentation

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Presentations, whether made with PowerPoint or another tool, are a great way to support a talk, visualize complicated circumstances or focus attention on the subject. Meanwhile, a foul presentation can achieve the opposite. Poorly designed slides with walls of text or oversized blurry graphics can distract or irritate your audience. Sometimes, PowerPoint is just the wrong tool to make an impact. Here’s is a small guide that will help you create presentations with a professional look and concise content, avoiding the most common mistakes. Design The first thing that gives a professional touch to any presentation is the design. It’s...

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What’s the Cheapest Smart TV You Should Buy?

The price of TVs varies wildly. You can literally be looking at thousands of dollars separating the cheapest models from the most expensive ones. Shopping for a TV is anything but one size fits all. Someone who wants to watch their favorite sitcom from the 90s a couple times a week will need something completely different from a gamer who watches the latest movies as they become available. And that brings us to the big question: how cheap can you actually go on a smart TV? Is there a certain point where you’re sacrificing too much, or is it okay...

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Friday 28 July 2017

5 Intelligent iPhone Email Apps to Sort & Organize Your Inbox

It’s a good time to say goodbye to the Apple Mail app, especially if you use a Google account. Mail.app, while a reliable client, doesn’t offer anything more than the traditional inbox experience. In this day and age, where so much of your work, personal and travel life revolves around email, that’s just not enough. Intelligent Email? The App Store is filled with intelligent email apps. These apps do some of the heavy lifting for you: special sections for newsletters, intelligent replies, previews for arriving packages, and automatic travel plan tracking. The one big intelligent feature that the Mail app doesn’t have a...

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Every WhatsApp User Must Know These Features

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Thanks to a steady stream of new features, WhatsApp still enjoys a spot as one of the world’s most popular messaging apps. Whether you use WhatsApp as an alternative to SMS texting or regularly message friends in other countries, it’s a free, easy, and powerful solution for chatting. If you want to take your WhatsApp use to the next level, you should take advantage of its many features. Some of these are easy to find and others are well-hidden. Here’s a list of the best features — new and old — every WhatsApp user should know. 1. Disable Read Receipts...

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3 Pinterest Security Issues, and What You Can Do About Them

Pinterest may not be as big as Facebook or YouTube, but as social networks go, it has proved lucrative for scammers. Several security issues exist, and while things are better than they were — scammers at one point generated over $1,000 a day — Pinterest is far from perfect. But because Pinterest doesn’t look or feel like a social network, scammers seem to be able to get away with more. It’s tougher to spot something suspicious. Even if you genuinely know how to use Pinterest, you can still be dragged into someone’s scam. While Pinterest remains fun to use, the...

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Is Your School Taking Your Child’s Privacy Seriously?

When you pack your children off to school in the morning, you’re probably worried about a few things. Gym kit? Instrument? Did they actually do that homework? Oh, and have you safeguarded their online identity and personal data? Online data protection and privacy is an important topic that many adults aren’t completely versed upon. You would hope that schools have a solid grasp upon data protection best practices. After all, they’re no longer just stopping a lunchtime fight. Teachers are now faced with protecting the masses of digital information created in the schooling environment, and the inherent dangers that brings....

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New Music Friday – This Week’s Best Releases [UK]

As another week draws to a close, it’s time to get hyped for the weekend – and the summer holidays. Kick back and relax with new music from the likes of Arcade Fire, Alice, Cooper, The Fall, and more. While all the releases are available in digital and physical formats, you could save money and skip the hassle by streaming them instead. Amazon’s Music Unlimited streaming service is just £7.99/month for Prime members and has a collection of over 40 million songs. There is even a 30 day free trial if you want to take Music Unlimited for a test...

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Apple Kills the iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle

The iPod is no more, with Apple discontinuing both the Nano and Shuffle. That leaves the iPod Touch as the only Apple device now sporting the iPod name. And we all know that’s more than just a standalone music player. And with that another piece of tech falls to the mighty smartphone. Technology evolves at an astonishing rate. There was a brief period when digital music players were the latest and greatest thing. Then the iPhone was released, and standalone music players lost their luster. 10 years on and Apple is now hammering the final nail in the iPod’s coffin....

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JavaScript Compressors: How and Why to Minify Your JS

We’ve all been there, you learned how to build an awesome website, but once you publish it, it’s unbearably slow. Minifying your javascript is one way to speed up website response times (along with compressing HTML), and fortunately for you, it’s an easy process. Today I’ll show you everything you need to know. What Does Minify Mean? The process of minification (or minifying) is a simple concept. When you write code in JavaScript or any other language, there are many features that are only required to make the code easier for humans to understand — computers don’t care what you...

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How to Delete All the History on Your Android Device

Do you want to cover your tracks? I don’t blame you. It seems everyone from the government to your family wants to peek inside your phone to see what you’ve been looking at. A vital part of keeping yourself safe is deleting your history. And I’m not just talking about your browser’s history. Your Android device is full of content that hackers and snoopers would love to get their hands on. Worryingly, because your footprint is so vast, it’s not easy to remember everything you need to wipe. In this article, I’m going to give you a helping hand. Let’s...

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Go Nuts With Nutyx: A Customizable Linux Operating System

Linux affords greater control than operating systems like macOS and Windows. But within the Linux space, certain Linux operating systems yield more user control than others. NuTyX stands out as a highly-flexible Linux operating system. As a Linux distro, NuTyX is aimed at Linux fanatics. It’s a distribution that offers customization and comes completely bloatware free. Because of its command line interface, it’s a pretty barebones but functional OS. Find out what NuTyX is, why it’s so flexible, and learn if you should use it! What Is NuTyX Linux? Image Credit: NuTyX.org NuTyX is a Linux operating system which emphasizes...

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This Happens When Windows 10 Support Ends

No piece of software can last forever. Sooner or later, nearly every program has to go and its replacement takes the stand. The Windows operating system (OS) itself is no exception. What happens when Windows reaches the end of its lifetime? What Windows products are currently supported? And what do you need to do about it? We’ll answer these questions and more as we look at how the Windows lifecycle works. What Is the Windows Lifecycle? Whenever Microsoft releases a new version of Windows, they also announce its end of support date. You can find these dates in a table...

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The Ultimate Netflix Guide: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Netflix

In 2017, one year shy of its 20th anniversary, Netflix announced that it had passed a new milestone: Netflix now has 100 million subscribers. Those are worldwide numbers. When we look at it by country, we see that only half of them are U.S. users. It’s still an impressive accomplishment, but that means 60 percent of America still hasn’t given in to the lure of Netflix (assuming 125 million total households). If you’re thinking of subscribing to Netflix but aren’t sure if it’s right for you, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, you’ll learn everything you need...

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How to Delete Browsing Data and History in Edge

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If you’re a Windows 10 user, you really should give the Edge browser another chance. Sure, when Microsoft released it in mid-2015 there weren’t many features, but the app has improved a lot over the last couple of years. Now, it’s a serious competitor to Google Chrome. It’s lighter on your computer’s resources, it’s more tightly integrated with the Windows operating system, and it’s faster to load. If you’re tempted to give it a try, you might be left wondering where some of the most useful settings are hiding. Like any new software, there will be a period of adjustment...

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Every Programmer Who Uses OneNote Needs This Add-On ASAP

OneNote is a fantastic note-taking app, and it’s totally free unlike Evernote. While OneNote works great for simple text notes, it gets way better when you start embedding media and using advanced features. But there’s one group of people that OneNote might frustrate: programmers. Having one place to assemble all your notes on new techniques, optimization, to-do lists, etc. is great, but what if you want to jot down bits of code? Without proper formatting and syntax highlight, it can be quite the mess. That’s where GitHub user elvirbrk’s NoteHighlight2016 comes in. Available as a free add-on for OneNote, it...

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What to Do When Google Prevents Sign-In Access to Third-Party Apps

About three years back, Google put a bigger lock on its doors and improved sign-in security access for all of its services. That lock was (and is) OAuth 2.0, which is very specific about which third-party apps it allows access to. Think of this protocol as a big burly bouncer guarding the smarts of a computer. Only with its say-so can you share information from your Google account with third-party applications or websites. That’s why when you try to sign in to a Google tool with any other app (e.g. a mail app on your phone or an RSS reader), you get...

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How to Auto-Block Offensive Content on Social Media and the Web

The internet is a vast, unruly place that only seems to be getting more and more antagonistic with every passing day. If you want to take a break from hateful comments and browse a more tranquil internet, there’s an extension for that. Chrome users can install Soothe, a free extension that blurs out homophobic, racist, sexist, transphobic, violent, and/or sexually violent comments and posts. The developers behind Soothe say that their goal is to “prevent online harassment and help users avoid seeing triggers while they browse the web.” It blurs out anything that might be considered offensive in real-time and works on all sites....

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Developers Petition Adobe to Open Source Flash

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It turns out that not everyone hates Flash. Honestly, we thought the feelings of revulsion were fairly universal. However, one web developer has made it his mission to save Flash for future generations. How? By petitioning Adobe to open source Flash once they kill it off in 2020. In case you hadn’t heard, Adobe is killing Flash. Finally, after years of tech companies begging Adobe to hammer the final nail in the rotting coffin. It won’t be happening for a few more years, but Adobe has announced its intention to end-of-life Flash at some point in 2020. Most people are...

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Career Options for Java Programmers

Java programmers are experts in the Java programming language. As of 2017, there are a lot of opportunities for Java programmers. With a projected growth rate of 19 percent for the 2014-2024 period (according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for all application programming), the career prospects for Java programmers are indeed excellent. Education Level To be considered for a Java Programmer position, at a minimum, you need to have a bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems, mathematics, or the equivalent. Some employers require a master’s degree as well. With some exposure to Java programming, it should be...

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How to Update Your iPhone: iOS, Apps, and Data Backups

Upgrade season is right around the corner — Public Betas have already arrived. If you need to update your iPhone, you’ve come to the right place. Like everything on iOS, keeping your iPhone up to date is not as simple as it used to be. There are many ways to back up your phone and apps, depending on how you prefer to work with your iPhone. Before You Begin: Backup, Backup, Backup! Before you make any changes, you need a backup. There are two ways to back up your iPhone: iCloud and iTunes. Neither is perfect, but they are easy...

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Thursday 27 July 2017

Don’t Buy an E-Reader! 2 Upcoming Technologies That Kill the Kindle

Thinking of buying an e-reader? Hit the brakes. Two near-future technologies make today’s products obsolete in 2018. And they’re a big deal. Why Today’s E-Readers Won’t Hold Up in 2018 Technology changes. Unlike smartphones, e-reader technological progress occurs at a glacial pace. Incremental refinements to e-paper screens — known as E Ink — release every three years. Updates to the guts of the device (the processor) occur even less frequently. That means major technological innovation occurs so rarely that when it does reach devices, it’s a very big deal. And two major inventions to e-readers will release sometime between 2017...

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Should You Jump On Any Of Amazon’s Deals Today?

Today, Amazon has a really solid deal on a Dyson vacuum, a lawn mower, and plenty of others. Rather than just list the deals (Amazon already does that), we analyze the value of the discount and the quality of the product. Here’s how we rate the deals to make it quick and easy for you to decide if they’re worth getting: Must-Buy: The lowest price ever and a deal that hasn’t been seen often. Good: At or close to the all-time low, but has been available at that price other times. Decent: If you need one, it’s an okay deal,...

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Smart Switches vs. Smart Bulbs: Which Solution Is Best for You?

It’s time to get smart when it comes to smart switches and smart bulbs. A major part of any smart home is the ability to control electrical devices quickly and easily. And both smart bulbs and smart switches offer these features. But while the smart switch and smart bulb might sound similar (after all, they both automate turning your bulbs on and off), they have a number of notable differences. Each device also works better in specific situations than the other. Choosing which device to install throughout your home can be confusing. To give you a quick primer on both smart devices,...

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Microsoft Will Pay You to Find Bugs in Windows 10

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Microsoft has launched a new bounty program aimed at encouraging Windows users to find bugs in its products. The Windows Bounty Program means you could receive payouts of up to $250,000 for being the first person to find and report bugs in Windows 10 and/or other qualifying products. No company is perfect. And no company is capable of shipping a product that’s 100 percent guaranteed to be free from bugs. Which is why bounty programs exist. In a nutshell, they tempt security researchers into hunting for bugs in the hopes of bagging a reward. And the new Windows Bounty Program...

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Why You Should Be Using Spark to Manage Your Mail on iPhone & Mac

There aren’t many email apps that work across all Apple devices, with consistent feature parity. There’s Apple’s Mail app of course, but that’s a bit too basic. If you’re all-in on Apple ecosystem, Spark is probably the email app you should be using on all your devices: iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. Spark is part of a new breed of email apps, ones based on a smart inbox. If you deal with a lot of email, across different accounts, you’ll appreciate how it only notifies you about important emails. The app is free everywhere, has a lot of smart and...

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Why Netflix Is Right to Cancel the Shows No One Is Watching

Netflix has been roundly criticized in some quarters after announcing a spate of cancellations, including fan favorites such as Sense8. These cancellations are set to continue too, with CEO Reed Hastings recently saying: “We’ve cancelled very few shows. I’m always pushing the content team: ‘We have to take more risk; you have to try more crazy things. Because we should have a higher cancel rate overall.” And you know what? He’s absolutely right. Netflix should be cancelling the shows no one is watching, and here are all the reasons why. Netflix Exists to Make Money While bingeing on shows or...

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Make Facebook Relevant Again With These Forgotten Tricks

How long is it since you joined Facebook? Five years? 10? And in that time, your interests have changed, right? But does Facebook know this? Or is the social network regularly showing you posts and pages based on the topics you showed interest a decade ago? If your news feed is becoming cluttered with information about boy bands or toys or video games or TV shows that you grew out of years ago, you’ll know what I’m talking about. So, what can you do about it? How can you make the Facebook news feed relevant to you? It’s all about...

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How to Build a Custom Excel Toolbar of VBA Macros

Ready to supercharge your Excel productivity? A custom toolbar can do just that. A well-made Excel macro can perform a time-consuming task in one click, which is pretty convenient. It’s even more convenient when you construct a custom toolbar containing all your most commonly used macros. Attaching a macro to a button is one solution, but there are times when it would be great to embed that functionality into the Excel interface. By following these steps, you can put your macros right there in the Ribbon. Here’s how to get started on your custom toolbar. Adding a Tab to the Ribbon...

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3 Reasons Why You Should Be Using a VPN with Kodi

If you use Kodi for streaming content around your home, you should be using a VPN. The reasons are more complex than you might think. Sure, VPNs let you access geo-blocked content, but failing to use a VPN with the software can also have grave security implications. As Kodi boxes continue to grow in popularity, they are becoming an increasingly attractive target for hackers and cyber criminals. Deploying a VPN can shut down some of the software weak points before they can be exploited. But what exactly are the weaknesses? And how can a VPN help? Let’s take a closer...

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Powerful and Rugged: The Blackview BV8000 Pro Takes Everything You Throw at It

Our verdict of the Blackview BV8000 Pro:Rugged usually means poor performance with a premium tacked on for a big rubber case. The Black BV8000 Pro costs just $250, has good performance, massive battery life, and took a beating in our durability tests. 810 We're giving away a Blackview BV8000 Pro. Keep reading to find out how to win!Deliberate or not, modern smartphones are getting more fragile every year. They’re so thin you can bend them just by sitting down. Edge to edge glass screens make even the smallest of drops fatal. If you’re sick of such precious devices, consider something...

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How You Can Save Money by Using Linux

Buying a new computer can be exciting, but not when it’s out of necessity, and definitely not when money’s tight. Who enjoys forking over hundreds of dollars for computer software? Even when we want to have fun and buy a game, the cost can be off-putting. Computing, frankly, can be pricey. I like to save money however I can. One way I’ve saved hundreds, possibly thousands, is by using Linux. For much of the past decade, I have not had to spend money on the software I use on my laptops. But that’s only the beginning. Let’s break this down. Free Software...

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How to Switch to Alternate Keyboard Layouts in Windows 10

Did you know that QWERTY, the most common keyboard layout, isn’t the only one around? Indeed, several other keyboard formats exist and are more efficient than QWERTY. Many people take the time to master another layout in order to type more efficiently and reduce strain. If you’re interested in doing so, Windows 10 makes it easy to switch between keyboard layouts on the fly. First, you’ll have to add a second mode. To do this, open Settings and choose the Time & Language option. Select the Region & language tab on the left and look for the Languages header. Here,...

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How to Get Rid of Duplicate Files in iTunes

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Spotify might have taken over the musical world, but there are still lots of people out there (myself included) who love to maintain their own locally-saved music collection. I know that might be hard to believe, but consider this: Streaming services raise issues concerning music ownership that lots of audiophiles are not comfortable with. A service could go offline temporarily, leaving you without music. Your provider could shut down entirely. What would happen to your playlists and music libraries? Streaming services aren’t customizable. Spotify only recently started letting you add your own artwork to playlists. All that said, personal music...

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Need Free Public Wi-Fi? Use the Facebook App to Find a Spot Near You

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There are plenty of ways to hunt down free public Wi-Fi in your area, and you can now add the Facebook mobile app to that list. It’s dead easy to use, but it does come with a price: constantly sharing your location with the social networking giant. Tap the hamburger menu button and you should see Find Wi-Fi as one of the menu options listed. If you don’t already have location services enabled on Facebook, you should see a message requiring you to allow Facebook to Always access your location. This means that the Facebook app can access your location even when you’re not using the app. In...

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6 Of The Best Backup Battery Packs To Extend Your Phone’s Uptime

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  A battery pack or a power bank is the simplest way to ensure your phone or laptop never runs out of juice. Picking the right power bank is a bit more complicated though. Depending on your needs, there are several options. Some offer the convenience of integrated cables, others will give you quick charging tech, and some can even power up laptops. Here are six of the best battery packs for different purposes. A Few Numbers Before We Start Not everyone needs a high capacity battery pack. Smartphones generally have about 3,500 mAh batteries, while tablets pack in around...

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