The MakeUseOf’s Online Shopping Guide

Internet shopping requires knowing a lot more than just products. You need to know where to find reviews, how to shop safely, how to compare prices, and — above all else — how to get the best deals from your favorite sites, like Amazon, Walmart, and many other online retailers.This guide is available to download as a free PDF. Download The MakeUseOf’s Online Shopping Guide now. Feel free to copy and share this with your friends and family. We cover all that and more in the MakeUseOf guide to online shopping. 1. Introduction Why an e-book about shopping? Holiday e-commerce sales...

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Your Backbone Will Thank You: 6 Great Standing Desk Designs

Sitting can kill you or at least cause serious health issues. Unfortunately, many jobs require sitting at desks for several hours a day. While it’s tough to change what you do for a living, it’s pretty easy to switch your desk, and therefore your sitting and standing habits. An excellent means of remaining active at work is with a standing desk. Learn all about the best standing desks available, why you should use a standing desk, and what to consider when selecting one. Why Use a Standing Desk As a freelance writer working from home or a co-working space, I struggle with...

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How to Turn Your Amazon Fire TV Stick Into a Fire TV Box

Your Amazon Fire TV Stick is a great device, isn’t it? Ideal for watching Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, or installing Kodi! Then there’s apps like Plex for streaming video from a PC to your TV. But this HDMI TV stick isn’t so good for other things. For instance, you’re limited only to wireless networking. Also, there is no way to connect a USB drive and view your own video files. Contrast this with the more expensive Amazon Fire TV, and you’ll see you’re missing more than just the 4K video streaming. Fortunately, there’s an answer. With a few cables you...

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Is Bitmoji a Threat to Your Privacy?

Bitmoji was the number one most-downloaded app from Apple’s App Store in 2017. Millions of people have downloaded the app to create goofy, cute representations of themselves to share with friends and family. But what information does Bitmoji collect? Who does the company share that information with? And why does Bitmoji need full keyboard access? After asking a number of these privacy questions, I thought I’d dig into Snap, Inc.’s privacy policy to see if I could find the answer. Here’s what I found out. Bitmoji and Snapchat First of all, I wasn’t aware that Bitmoji and Snapchat were made...

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How to Quickly Find a Photo in Google Photos

Most of us have a Google account, probably for something like Gmail or Google Calendar. But did you know that Google is also a great option for storing and searching all of your photos too? Google Photos offers free unlimited (compressed) storage for your photos, making them available across a multitude of devices. If you prefer high-quality, full-resolution images, Google Photos can do that too, but it eats away at your total Google account storage. Everyone gets 15GB for free, and you can pay $1.99/month for 100GB, or $9.99/month for 1TB. You can get the free Google Photos app for...

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5 Best Free Online HTML Editors to Test Your Code

HTML runs the modern world. True, if you ask anybody what it takes to be a web developer, they’ll tell you all about JavaScript web frameworks, Python web frameworks, web programming practices, etc. Yet underneath all of that, HTML is what holds it all together. There is no web without HTML, and you need to know how to edit it if you want to do any kind of web work. But setting up a robust HTML editing workflow in Sublime Text or Visual Studio Code may be overkill if you aren’t working on a full-blown project. For times when you...

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5 Things You Must Do After Installing Windows 10

Windows 10 is a behemoth. Even after you’ve gone through the tedious process of preparing your system to install Windows 10 and sitting through the long installation procedure, you still have more work to do: setting up the operating system how you like it. Here are some of the bare minimum things you’ll want to do after installing a clean slate of Windows 10. If you want to skip some steps, that’s your call, but we recommend all of the following for the best experience possible. 1. Update Windows 10 I know, there are so many reasons to hate Windows...

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Here Are The Best Deals Available On Amazon Right Now

Today, you can save on Kindle books, a complete groomer, Amazon devices, Bluetooth headphones, and much more. Kindle Books On Sale My Not So Perfect Life: A Novel My Not So Perfect Life: A Novel Buy Now At Amazon Right now, Amazon has all kinds of popular Kindle books on sale starting at $1.99. This whole page is filled with best-selling books, so there’s a lot of good stuff to choose from. Darker: Fifty Shades Darker as Told by Christian (Fifty Shades of Grey Series) Darker: Fifty Shades Darker as Told by Christian (Fifty Shades of Grey Series) Buy Now...

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9 Tips for Typing Faster on Your Android Phone

Typing on a touchscreen device is nowhere near as convenient as typing on a hardware keyboard. Tapping away on a slab of glass gives you no feedback and isn’t anyone’s idea of fun. While there’s no absolute solution to this problem, there are a lot of shortcuts and tips you can learn that can help you type faster on your Android smartphone. And since you spend a fair amount of time typing on your Android device, learning such tricks can help you save time dramatically. Make the Most of Gboard Gboard, previously known as Google Keyboard, has quickly emerged as...

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How to Move Your User Folders in Windows 10

Want to tweak the location of your Windows user folders? Here’s how! A fresh installation of Windows produces various different user folders that are meant to hold things like files downloaded from the internet and organize content like music and photographs. However, you might want to customize things to your own liking. Whether you’re looking to move these folders to an external drive, or just place them in a different location on your PC, it’s not difficult to change things up. That being said, it’s worth taking stock of how you perform this procedure, as certain methods can have some...

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How to Clear Your Safari Browsing History and Data

A large amount of our time is spent online, and your browser remembers all the websites you’ve visited and logged in to. Your browser stores data to make it easier and quicker to go back to websites you visit often. Browsing data reveals your browsing habits, and can be accessed by sites you visit. If you’re concerned about your privacy, you can manage and delete your browsing history and other browsing data, like cookies, cache, and AutoFill information. We’ve discussed clearing browsing history in different browsers on Windows. Today, we’ll cover how to manage your browsing history and other browsing...

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How to Customize Your Mouse in Windows 10

You use your cursor to navigate everywhere on your computer, but do you know how much you can customize it? It’s simple to change everything from its speed, look and function, so we’re going to show you how. There’s so much you do in Windows 10 to adjust your mouse, but some of the settings are tucked away. We’ll go through everything in turn so that you can perfect your mouse and have it moving and looking exactly how you want. If you have your own mouse customization tips to share, let us know in the comments below. Basic Mouse...

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How to Do Basic Data Analysis in Excel

Most of the time when you run statistics, you want to use statistical software (or a free tool like R). These tools are built to do calculations like t-tests, chi-square tests, correlations, and so on. Excel isn’t meant for data analysis. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Unfortunately, Excel’s statistical functions aren’t always intuitive. And they usually give you esoteric results. So instead of using stats functions, we’re going to use the go-to Excel statistics add-in: the Data Analysis Toolpak. The Toolpak, despite its rather unfortunate spelling, includes a wide range of useful statistics functionality. Let’s see what...

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A Complete Beginner’s Guide to iOS 11 for iPhone & iPad

So you’ve just bought your first iPhone or iPad, and you’re a little unsure where to begin. Fortunately, smartphones aren’t that complicated and Apple’s are designed from the ground up with usability in mind. In spite of this, first time iOS users can often feel perplexed. So we’ve put together a small guide that we think will give you a good grounding in most of the basic features. We’ll start right at the beginning, from the moment you unpack your iPhone, and teach you the basics of securing your device, messaging friends, using Siri, and much more. So let’s get started! What is iOS?...

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How to Set Up and Use Your Chromecast

The 2nd generation Chromecast is a simple, plug-and-play internet streaming stick. Unlike rivals such as the Roku Streaming Stick, Amazon Fire Stick, or Apple TV, it doesn’t come with a remote or even an interface of its own. When Chromecast is enabled and connected, all you’ll see on your TV is a slideshow of some amazing pictures from around the world. To do anything with the Chromecast, you need to use another device. Your Android phone, iPhone, or a PC will do just fine (nowadays, you can even use your Google Home to control your Chromecast). By default, the Chromecast doesn’t...

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How to Use Git Branches to Structure Your Programming Project

Movies and television portray programming as a frantic activity. A bomb’s timer counts down, and the nerdy sidekick who was a burden up until that point works feverishly on a laptop. Code flies across the screen until she hits the final return key with a satisfying clack! The timer stops, and all is right in the world again. But programming is nothing like that. It includes design documents, UI mock-ups, and code reviews. And more than anything it involves trial-and-error, especially if you’re a beginner (like me). Now, you may already be convinced of the value of keeping your coding projects...

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Finally Convert to an Adjustable Standing Desk in 2018

The research is clear: sedentary lifestyles are killing us, and office workstations play a huge role in that. Sitting for too long can significantly increase your risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and perhaps most obvious, obesity. Over the years, you’ll also run into issues of ruined posture. It happens to pretty much all of us, which is why people are literally dying for advice on posture and back pain. Long story short: changing how you use the computer can improve your health and even help you sleep better. If you’re on the computer for hours at a time on...

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How to Fix Kodi Buffering Issues: 3 Simple Tips

Kodi is well-known among cordcutters. It’s one of the best ways to manage, access, and cast your locally-saved media. But despite its popularity, the user experience arguably isn’t as enjoyable as its great rival, Plex. It requires more maintenance, more knowledge, and, most importantly, is prone to buffering. If you’ve spent hours setting up your Kodi app only to discover buffering issues are ruining everything you want to watch, don’t despair. It’s often possible to fix the problems. In this article, we’re going to show you three simple tips to fix buffering on Kodi. Kodi Streams Aren’t All Created Equal...

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Here’s a New Windows 10 Taskbar Feature You May Have Missed

Your Windows 10 Taskbar has a new feature: My People lets you communicate with your contacts straight from the Taskbar. This feature merges multiple platforms, like email and Skype, into a single seamless communication experience. We’re going to show you how to set up My People, organize your contacts, and pin people to your Taskbar so you can be up and chatting in no time. Please be sure to share your experiences with My People in the comments below. Enable My People The My People feature comes included as a new setting in the Fall Creators Update. To check you’re...

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A Guide to Google Tools — Tips & Tricks You Can’t Live Without

Whether you’re a student, educator, executive or a scientist, Google offers online services and products that help everyone remain as productive as possible. There are many Google services that have come and gone through the years, but a few of them — like Gmail, Google Drive and of course Google Search — stay even more relevant as time goes on. The following is a comprehensive guide of tips, tricks, and hacks that’ll help you make better use of Google services you use. Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned expert, you’re likely to find something here that you can add...

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3 Types of Excel Lists to Ease Data Entry

Do you need a list that’s based on spreadsheet data? Excel is your friend! An Excel list makes it easier to enter and track your data. Today we’ll cover three different types of lists you can add to your Excel worksheets: custom lists, dropdown lists, and checklists. 1. Custom Lists If you frequently use the same sets of data in your worksheets, you can create custom lists for them. Custom lists can include sets of data like department names, clients, and age ranges. Once you’ve added a custom list to a specific workbook, it’s also available in all new and...

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9 Alternative Chromium Browsers That Beat Chrome at Its Own Game

Google Chrome seems ubiquitous these days, thanks to its robust set of features. Its vast collection of extensions and its sheer simplicity make it really hard to give up on Chrome. Though, it has its own share of problems like being heavy on system resources and draining battery life. What if you could switch to a different lightweight browser? And retain the technology that runs Chrome? Chromium is the open-source browser project behind Chrome. A lot of developers have forked Chromium to include unique features around privacy, multi-media, and security. More importantly, most of these browsers support Chrome extensions so...

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The Major Cybersecurity Events of 2017 and What They Did to You

We’ve made it through another year in security… and what a year it has been. From global ransomware attacks to leaks containing billions of records, it has had it all. Cybersecurity is a constant news feature. Not a month goes by without a major leak, attack, or similar. Did you notice everything that went on? It is difficult to keep up — even for me, and I watch and read security news every day. With that in mind, I’ve collated and reviewed the year in cybersecurity so you can sit back and marvel at everything that went spectacularly wrong. The...

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6 Sites All Parents Should Add to Their Block List Today

If you’re a parent, you will no doubt be aware of the dangers of giving your child unfettered access to the web. Whether it’s adult entertainment, gore, or gambling, there’s a near-endless number of sites that your children shouldn’t be seeing. Even stuff that appears innocent can still be a minefield; the new YouTube Kids app was recently criticized for letting unsuitable content leak through its filters. In December 2017, the BBC uncovered another shocking story. Sites such as Omegle and Periscope (which kids often use for live streaming) are being used by groomers and pedophiles in attempt to lure...

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What Are the Differences Between Bitcoin and Ethereum?

Over the course of 2017, the price of 1 Bitcoin shot up from $963 to $19,694. Similarly, the price of 1 Ethereum shot up from $8 to $747. People are going crazy over these two cryptocurrencies, and you may be tempted to join in yourself. But aren’t cryptocurrencies just virtual money? What’s the difference between these two? This article will bring you up to speed enough to understand why Bitcoin and Ethereum are such hot topics right now and why people are so excited about them. This article will not equip you to do any serious Bitcoin- or Ethereum-related development....

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7 Reasons the Swift Programming Language Is Worth Learning

Programming can be stressful, especially if you try to start out with an archaic language. Newbies are better off dipping toes in something a bit more modern, such as Python, Ruby, or Swift. But coding veterans also have much to gain by switching to Swift, including those who feel burned out on mainstream languages. Having only debuted in 2014, Swift is a young language and many programmers have been rightfully skeptical about picking it up. But sure enough, that skepticism holds less and less water every day — you ought to learn Swift sooner rather than later if you don’t...

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Everything Spotify Knows About You, Revealed

In the old days, when people listened to the radio, no one really knew anyone’s taste in music unless they told them. Then, we started buying singles and albums, on vinyl and CD, and people could rifle through our record collections to build up a picture of our listening habits. Now, unless you’re a vinyl-buying hipster, you probably stream all of your music. And that is allowing the companies responsible to build detailed profiles of our musical likes and dislikes. They know what we listen to, when we listen to it, and what it reveals about our personalities. This enables...

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Find the Best Free Guitar and Bass Tabs on These 5 Sites

Learning a musical instrument is some of the most fun you can have. It unleashes creativity and strengthens your mind. Some of the most popular instruments for any budding musician to pick up are the guitar and bass. These influential instruments are the key to many of your favorite songs. When you first start out you try hard to emulate your guitar and bass heroes, but everyone needs to begin somewhere. Tabs are the perfect way to learn and practice your favorite songs. Take their help to mimic your musical heroes in no time. The easy-to-read format means that those...

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This Is the Easiest Way to Move Android Apps to a Micro SD Card

It’s a common sight. You try and install a new app and the Not Enough Space warning pops up. All those games, photos, and 4K videos have finally taken their toll. If your phone has a memory card slot then the solution is easy. A Micro SD card is a convenient and cheap way of expanding your phone’s storage, and most versions of Android allow you to move your apps across to the card to free up space. How you do it depends on what version you’re using. We’ll take a look at them all in this guide. Using a...

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Protect Your Network With a Bastion Host in Just 3 Steps

Do you have machines on your internal network that you need to access from the outside world? Using a bastion host as the gatekeeper to your network may be the solution. What Is a Bastion Host? Bastion translates literally into a place that is fortified. In computer terms, it is a machine on your network that can be the gatekeeper for incoming and outgoing connections. You can set your bastion host as the only machine to accept incoming connections from the internet. Then, in turn, set all other machines on your network, to only receive incoming connections from your bastion...

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How to Compare Two Excel Files

Need to compare two Microsoft Excel files? Here are two easy ways to do so. There are plenty of reasons why you might need to take one Excel document and compare it to another. This can be a time-consuming task that requires a lot of concentration, but there are ways to make it easier on yourself. Whether you just need to take a close look manually, or you want Excel to do some of the heavy lifting on your behalf, here are two straightforward methods to compare multiple sheets. How to Compare Excel Files Excel makes it easy for users...

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18 Tiny but Useful macOS Features You’ll Want to Know About

I went two years without noticing that the address bar in Safari changes from white to gray when you’re in private browsing mode. Not very perceptive of me, I know. That’s not the only macOS feature I have discovered of late, but it has been the most startling. As it turns out, macOS has many such small yet useful features that are easy to miss until you stumble upon them or someone points them out to you. I’ll share 18 such features that made me go “Aha!” recently. 1. Create Custom Toolbar Icons for Files and Folders You’re probably aware...

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Do You Know 2017’s New Internet Scams?

Cybercriminals never really tire of the tried-and-tested scams; however, they advance their techniques and try out new iterations of classic scams. They must, in order to stay ahead of the numerous warnings issues by security companies and sites. Millions are tricked every year, and the scams of 2017 will live on into 2018 and beyond. Here are just a few of the latest internet scams you need to protect yourself against. 1. The “Goods Not Received” Scam You order an item. You wait for it. It doesn’t turn up. The seller maintains they have sent it. But it never arrives....

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Stick to Your New Year’s Resolutions with 5 Smart (and Cruel) Tools

As we prepare to exchange the calendar for a new one, it’s also a good time to make some changes. You’ve probably made new year’s resolutions in the past and found them difficult to stick to. Try these smart apps to finally keep your resolutions for a better you. There are specialized tools to tackle popular resolutions, but the basic principles of meeting goals are the same. Keeping that in mind, these websites and apps will push you towards achieving your objective, whether by motivating you or by bullying you. Keep Your F****** Resolutions (Web): Auto-Pay If You Fail Money...

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How to Fix Windows 10: A Beginner’s FAQ

Looking for some help with Windows 10? You’ve come to the right place. Whether you’ve just upgraded to Windows 10 and are wondering how to control it, or can’t find an important feature, we’re here to help. Let’s answer some of the most commonly asked beginner questions about Windows 10. 1. How to Uninstall Programs on Windows 10 Need to remove some bloatware or just clean up old programs? Here’s how to uninstall any program in Windows 10: Open the Settings app (using the Windows Key + I shortcut if you like). Select Apps. On the Apps & Features tab,...

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Spend Those Amazon Gift Cards on These Great Deals

Did you get an Amazon gift card as a gift this year? Maximize the value by snagging some great deals. Most of today’s deals revolve around home networking devices, but there’s also a great deal on an Xbox One S console! Mesh Wi-Fi Systems For the first three deals, you can snag huge discounts on mesh Wi-Fi systems. If you’re sick of having dead spots in your home’s wireless internet system, a mesh system is just what you need. Yes, they cost a little more than a standard router, but by all accounts, the performance makes it worthwhile. Linksys Velop...

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Revealed: How Netflix Makes Money

Netflix is the biggest video streaming service in the world today. It serves 190 countries with over 109 million users, with movies and series in 21 languages — and all without ads ruining your viewing experience. So how exactly does Netflix make any money? The service is full of fantastic TV shows, be it Stranger Things or Black Mirror. As a viewer and subscriber, you surely want to know how Netflix plans to keep serving more episodes of your favorite shows. Let’s find out. How Does Netflix Make Money? Netflix’s main source of revenue is subscriptions, which cost between $7.99...

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10 Online Tools to Help You Keep Your New Year Resolutions

Christmas always comes and goes. Before you know it, the calendar will be showing January 1st. That time of the year for new resolutions and fresh promises. After the chocolate-based sugar high has worn off and the turkey is no more than a pile of discarded bones, you’ll be left looking at an empty year ahead. It’s full of possibilities – new love, a change in career, fresh hobbies… and a chance to finally kick some of those old bad habits. It’s not easy to stick to your New Year resolutions; temptation is a powerful force. Thankfully, with the advent of technology, it’s...

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The Firefox FAQ: 7 Key Questions Answered

Mozilla Firefox has been around for a long time and is a competitor to other major browsers like Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Opera. If you’ve been using a different browser and you want to switch to Firefox, we have the answers to some questions you may have as you start exploring Firefox for Windows. Note: This version of the FAQ was written primarily for Firefox versions 56 and 57, aka Firefox Quantum. 1. What Is Mozilla Firefox? Firefox is a free open-source web browser available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. It’s available in more than 70 languages. Firefox’s...

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Facebook’s Hidden Recommendations Are Awesome

Ever feel like there’s so much noise on Facebook that you can’t use it for what you really want? Sometimes you have to turn to little-known tricks to get productive on the social network. One useful feature you might have seen your friends use is Facebook’s relatively new recommendations. You can use these to get advice and opinions from your trusted friends. Let’s check out how to use them and what you can use recommendations for. What Are Recommendations? Have you scrolled through your Facebook feed recently and noticed a post that looks like this? This is a recommendations post,...

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Short on Space? Try These Compact Home Office Desks!

When I grew up, my mom was self-employed and had her own home office with a large desk in the basement. Meanwhile, my dad, who had a regular job, turned the broom closet into a tiny office for himself. The closet-office was the highlight of every house tour. While Dad eventually moved to a basement office, the broom closet, with its small corner desk, remains the place where my parents store their paperwork until this day. Desks have this tendency to take up space, they easily gather clutter and generally don’t blend in well. When you are short on space you have...

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Add a Pleasing Background Light to Your TV With These Ambilight Kits

Ambilight adds ambient backlight effects to televisions compliment on-screen video content. An Ambilight kit dynamically adjusts elements such as color and brightness to create a more immersive multimedia experience. Adding Ambilight strips to a TV or monitor truly transforms video, gaming, and even audio. Check out the best ways to add a pleasing background light to your TV with these Ambilight kits. From all-in-one packs to do-it-yourself options, these are the best Ambilight kits you can buy. 1. LEDGlow Million Color Home Accent Lighting Kit LEDGLOW's Home LED Lighting Kit LEDGLOW's Home LED Lighting Kit LEDGlow Home Theater LED Accent...

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5 New Instagram Hacks to Fix Annoying or Missing Features

Over 800 million people use Instagram every month, making it one of the biggest social networks around. There’s a lot more to it than sharing photos though. Check out these apps that take your Instagram to the next level. Instagram has added several new features over the years, such as Instagram Stories, a robust website, and more. It’s no wonder the app grew to $2 billion in two years. Such constant innovation also leads to third-party developers coming up with ways to make your experience better. From circumventing restrictions like the 15-second limit in Stories to bypassing the one-link problem,...

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The Weirdest Programming Principles You’ve Never Heard Of

We’ve already walked you through the most essential programming principles you need to know about, but there’s another class of programming principles that may prove even more beneficial than those. Whereas the aforementioned principles teach you how to be smart with your code, the following principles will teach you to be wise with your code. Some of them are strange, and many of them are humorous, but they’re all equally practical and important. Take heed! 1. The Bloat Principle This one has so many variations that it’s hard to pick one as the main one. Perhaps the most “official” version is...

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9 Privacy-Friendly Android Apps You Should Be Using

These days, you can find an Android app for just about anything. Want to know what the weather will be like next week? No problem. Need to explore your device’s file system? It’s easy. Dying to waste a few hours playing high-quality games? There are thousands to choose from. But the app-for-everything nature of the store does have a notable downside: privacy. Honestly, how many of you research an app’s stance on privacy and security before you install it? The result of our collective laissez-faire approach to software installation is a growing number of apps that are a privacy nightmare....

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5 Electron Apps for Linux You Should Try Today

Programs written using the Electron framework don’t have the best reputations. A lot of this has to do with the way they seem to use up a lot of resources. They are, after all, based off Google’s Chrome web browser, with all the benefits and trappings of it. That’s not to say that all of them are bad. In fact, there are a few out there which make use of the easy development the framework provides to do things which other previous programs have not. Here are a few such examples. 1. Etcher Naturally, the program which lets you easily...

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The Biggest and Best Tech News Stories of 2017

The end of the year is nigh, and 2017 has been an epic year for technology. We thought it would be a good idea to look back over the past year in tech news to see which stories made the headlines. But remember, we try to cover tech news you can make use of, as that’s our thing… January In January, Netflix launched a new app for DVD rentals, Instagram added ads to Stories, Chrome added support for FLAC files, Samsung explained why the Galaxy Note 7 exploded, Google announced all new Chromebooks would run Android apps, and HP recalled...

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A Short Guide to X299 Motherboards and Intel Core i9s

Intel’s new and fastest line of processors, the new Core i9 series, has drawn significant attention. It puts the company ahead of its chief rival, AMD, in the speed wars and the core wars. But if you want a taste of the action, you need a new motherboard to go with it: the X299 chipset. What is this new motherboard? What are the advantages and disadvantages? And is it really worth it? Let’s dive in and find out. What Is a Chipset? The X299 Chipset Explained The first thing you need to understand is what a chipset does. To put...

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The Best Tech Gifts for the Geeks in Your Life

It is difficult to pick the right gift for people, but it’s even more difficult when you don’t know anything about their interests. If you’re perplexed about what gift to buy for a geeky loved one, try one of these. Keep in mind, these are actual tech gifts. In case your friend already has all of these, you can always look at non-essential geeky gifts for techies. Streaming Sticks or Media Players as Tech Gifts? Geeks love their TV shows, so make it easy for them to watch their favorites on a big screen. A smart TV isn’t the best...

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How to Open AI Files Without Adobe Illustrator

Vector-based images are commonly used by graphic designers. The files are small, yet the images themselves are infinitely resizable. They’re perfect for drawings, and especially for things like logos and icons. Adobe Illustrator is the leading graphic design package, which means its native filetype (AI) is the industry standard. The trouble is, AI is a proprietary format owned by Adobe. So figuring out how to open AI files without Illustrator can be difficult. And support varies quite considerably, depending on what you want to do with it. Put simply, opening an AI file just to view is easy. Opening it...

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