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When sound engineers are mixing an album, they decide how loud they want each track to be. Depending on what the artist’s intentions are, they might want one track to be slightly quieter than another to add to the overall atmosphere. The effect is even more pronounced between albums, especially ones from different eras. Albums from the 70s are normally mixed so that they’re slightly quieter than albums from the 00s, if your stereo is set to the exact same volume....

Sometimes it’s necessary to grab a still image of what’s happening on your device’s screen—that’s called a screenshot. While this used to be a hassle on Android (many moons ago), all modern handsets include the capability. Here’s how to do it. How to Take a Screenshot on Android Android devices can vary greatly when it comes to how things work. Thankfully, the vast majority of Android phones and tablets can take a screenshot with the same method....

You should always check and make sure that your webcam works before an important video meeting. Here’s how to do it in Windows 10 and 11—and in some popular video-chatting apps, including Zoom, Google Meet, and Discord. How to Test Your Webcam With the Camera App The easiest way to test your webcam is with the built-in camera application. Click on the Start button, type “camera”, and then click the Camera app....

The Kwikset Kevo mostly relies on your smartphone for locking and unlocking, but what if your phone died or you just forgot to bring it with you when you left the house? You’re not completely out of luck, and with a couple of preventive measures, you can rest easy knowing that you can still unlock your door even if your phone is unable to help. RELATED: How to Install and Set Up the Kwikset Kevo Smart Lock...

Software updates are essential in keeping your applications up to date with the latest features, performance improvements, and security patches. Microsoft regularly provides updates for its Office suite. Here’s how to check for, and install, Microsoft Office updates. Note that, while we use Microsoft Word in this example, you can update via any of its Office applications. Turn on Automatic Updates By default, Microsoft automatically keeps your Office applications up to date....

Synology makes it super easy to install Plex Media Server on its DiskStation NAS boxes, but missing from the simple user interface is a way to update Plex Media Server if a new version releases. Don’t worry, though—there’s still a way to do it. UPDATE: Synology has now added the ability to update Plex Media Server right from within Package Center just like any other package, but the below method still works if you ever want to push a manual update....

Technically, there’s nothing distinguishing a Wi-Fi hotspot from any other wireless access point. You could consider the wireless router in your home to be a Wi-Fi hotspot. However, when we talk about hotspots, we’re usually talking about the public, physical locations where you can sign on to Wi-Fi (often for free). They’re usually provided by businesses like coffee shops and hotels, but are sometimes provided as a public service. To connect to a hotspot, the only thing you need is a device with wireless connectivity, whether that’s a smartphone, laptop, or tablet....

The best thing about DSLR cameras is that you can use different lenses for different situations. With dozens of lenses to choose from, however, which ones do you buy? Let’s have a look at some of the best Nikon lenses for different situations. Lenses are pretty expensive—and the best lenses are incredibly expensive—so don’t view this as a “must have” list. Instead, you should work out what kinds of things you like to photograph, and then invest in the lenses that will help you the most....

The Nest Secure security system comes with two Nest Tags, which can be used to quickly arm and disarm the system. However, they can easily get lost, so here’s what you can do if that happens. RELATED: How to Install and Set Up the Nest Secure Security System A Nest Tag is about the size of a half dollar coin, but it has the addition of a small rubber loop that lets you attach it to your keyring....

We’ve rounded up some third-party software to help. This list is focused on applications that support the Ext4 file system, which most new Linux distributions use by default. These applications all support Ext2 and Ext3, too — and one of them even supports ReiserFS. What About WSL2? You can also use the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2) to mount Ext4 drives, but the drive with the Ext4 filesystem must be a different physical drive from your NTFS drive....

About Our Ranking If you search the web, you’ll find plenty of lists of the best free email accounts. Of course, the truly best choice is subjective to the reader, except perhaps if you’re ranking by one particular attribute of the service, like ease of use, security, or platform support. Even then, not everyone will agree that one attribute is the most important. One thing that virtually all free email services have in common, though, is a limited set of features compared to their costly upgrades or alternative paid services....

Google confirmed a while ago that Chrome 109, due to be released in January 2023, will be the last version to support Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. The next update after that, Chrome 110, will require Windows 10 or 11. Google says there won’t be any more updates on those old Windows releases, even security patches. That should already sound familiar to anyone still on Windows 7 — Microsoft mostly stopped security updates for the operating system in 2020, but a handful of emergency patches have been pushed since then....

Rise or fall, people just can’t stop talking about Bitcoin. Let’s be clear: We’re not recommending you purchase Bitcoin. But, if you have your heart set on it, here’s how to do it easily—without getting scammed. Warning: Be Responsible RELATED: Bitcoin Is Not a Currency, It’s an (Unsafe) Investment In our opinion, speculating on Bitcoin (also known as BTC) is basically the same thing as gambling. It’s not a currency people are using in the real world....

RELATED: What is Paramount+, and Does It Replace CBS All Access? While this post will focus on canceling your Paramount+ subscription from the desktop website, we have guides on canceling subscriptions on your iPhone, iPad, and Android. We also have an in-depth article on canceling your CBS All Access subscription, which offers instructions for every platform that can be replicated when canceling Paramount+. When you’re ready to cancel your Paramount+ subscription, open the Paramount+ website in your desktop web browser of choice on your Windows 10 PC, Mac, or Linux computer....

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. What’s the Deal with Single and Double Spaces, Anyway? The single or double space between sentences argument has been an ongoing one for decades....

Had enough of Linux Mint’s annoying update notifications? Or maybe you’re so concerned with staying up-to-date you want to see them even more? Either way, adjusting the notifications or turning them off is simple, as we’ll explain. Updating is, of course, essential to staying secure on Linux. The notifications introduced in Mint 20.2 are meant to ensure you don’t forget about important security patches and kernel improvements. However, you might have your own updating routine, or maybe you prefer using the command line rather than a GUI....

If you use conditional formatting in Microsoft Excel to automatically format cells that match criteria, you may want to apply the same rule to another part of your sheet or workbook. Instead of creating a new rule, just copy it. You might have a conditional formatting rule based on date that you want to use for other dates. Or, you may have a rule for finding duplicates and need to use it on another sheet....

Smartphone cameras can do a lot more than just take photos and videos. You can take a photo with your iPhone and copy text from the real world. We’ll show you how this handy feature works. iOS 15 introduced a couple of new features in the Photos app. “Visual Lookup” can identify objects, while “Live Text” can identify text. The text can then be copied, translated, or used for a search....

If you work in an office, then the chances are you spend a lot of time dealing with email, most probably in Microsoft Outlook. It’s worth taking a little time to get Outlook to display the information you need. For email, the best way to do this is with folder views. Here’s how they work. What Is a Folder View? Every place you keep your email in Outlook—whether it’s the inbox, sent items, archive, deleted items, or any other place—is a folder....

Until recently, Alexa would only let you create a shopping list and a to-do list. Now, you can create any kind of list you want. Here’s how to make it happen. Using Your Voice To create a list and add items to it, start off by saying “Alexa, create a list”. Alexa will then ask what you want to name the list. In this case, I’ll name it “Christmas Gift Ideas for Mom”....