Auto-playing videos are one of the worst things about social media, and now they’re on by default in Facebook Messenger. If I want to watch a video, I’ll click play. I don’t need Messenger to just decide that, since someone’s sent me a video, I want to watch it there and then. Here’s how to turn it off. NOTE: Videos only autoplay on iOS devices at the moment, so Android users won’t find this setting....
Chrome’s Incognito Mode allows you to surf the web and search for stuff without your browsing history being tracked. However, what if you want to temporarily save your browsing history just for that incognito session, so you can go back to pages you just visited? There’s a handy extension that allows you to do this. The Off The Record History extension in Chrome keeps a history of your current Incognito browsing session....
Most web browsers are installed in Windows as 64-bit versions by default, Firefox being the exception. If you installed the default download of Firefox, you have the 32-bit version, not the 64-bit version, even if you’re running a 64-bit version of Windows. Say you recently got a new Windows computer. After installing the 32-bit version of Firefox from the main page, you installed your favorite add-ons, restored your backed up bookmarks, and even set up multiple profiles for personal and work purposes....
Whether you’re running an Airbnb, having someone watch your house while you’re gone, or just having guests over for the weekend, here’s how you can make use of Alexa to help your guests feel more at home. Take Advantage of Alexa Skill Blueprints While its capabilities are still a bit limited, Alexa Skill Blueprints provide a way for anyone to create their own Alexa Skill of sorts, using a handful of provided templates....
How to Find and Use Instagram Effects Instagram Effects is yet another addition to the already crowded Instagram Stories interface. To check it out, open Instagram, and then either swipe right from the left edge or tap the Camera icon in the top-left corner. RELATED: What Are Instagram “Stories,” and How Do I Use Them? Make sure you’re in “Normal” mode. The Shutter button should be in the center, surrounded by a carousel of circular icons, which are Instagram Effects....
How to Set Memoji as Your Apple ID Picture on iPhone or iPad Before you start, you’ll need to create a Memoji and Animoji on an iPhone or iPad if you haven’t already. Only then can you proceed to use it as the profile picture of your Apple ID. After creating a Memoji, open the “Settings” app on your iPhone or iPad and head to the “Messages” section. Select “Share Name and Photo....
How Does Private Browsing Work on the Oculus Quest 2? Much like private browsing in a desktop web browser such as Google Chrome, Private Mode in Oculus Browser isn’t a way to conceal your browsing history from your ISP, business, school, or websites you visit. Instead, it will keep other people who use Oculus Browser on your Oculus Quest 1 or 2 headset from seeing your browsing activity while you were using Private Mode....
Any computer can, with an antenna and tuner card, pick up live TV signals and even record shows for you. But there hasn’t really been simple software to do this with, at least not since Microsoft killed off Windows Media Center almost a decade ago. Sure, you could set up NextPVR to connect with Kodi, but that means setting up two different programs and fiddling around with a lot of settings....
Samsung may build the most popular Android phones on the market, but that doesn’t automatically mean they’re the best. In fact, there are a lot of reasons to ignore the Samsungs and LGs of the market and get your Android phone straight from the source: Google. RELATED: Is It Worth Upgrading to the Pixel 2? Now, that’s not to say Samsung or LG build bad phones, because that’s not true, and I’d never want to imply otherwise....
At this point, you’re probably aware that online reviews can be less than honest. Unscrupulous vendors, manufacturers, and other businesses aren’t above priming their economic pumps with a little glowing praise from people who might not be wholly impartial. But fake reviews aren’t the only means of gaming the system: there’s a new and growing trend of reviews that can be manipulated and turned to a company’s dishonest advantage even when they’re left by genuine customers....
Samsung has a long-running relationship with McAfee. And while it’s bad enough that it bundles this nigh-useless junk on its computers, it’s “extending” this partnership to the S10 and all 2019 Smart TVs. Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Samsung throw McAfee on Galaxy smartphones, as it shipped the S8 with the antivirus app installed too. Then Samsung later brought it to previous Galaxy devices with an update, which is honestly just disgusting....
RELATED: How to Stop the HomePod from Reading Your Text Messages to Other People Before I get too far in, it’s important to know that the HomePod technically doesn’t compete against the Echo or Home, but it’s really easy to want to compare the three in the same category, and that’s completely justified—all three of them are voice-controlled smart speakers more or less. However, Apple is pretty much marketing the HomePod as a speaker first and a voice assistant second....
Android and iOS are constantly running in parallel, copying (and expanding on) each other’s features. But they’re not always at parity. Here’s a closer look at a handful of things Android can do that you won’t find on iPhone—even after you upgrade to iOS 12 this Fall. RELATED: What’s New in iOS 12, Arriving Today, September 17 Before we jump into some features, however, let’s first make one thing clear: this isn’t a flame war....
Christmas has come and gone, the paper torn off of every box under the tree, and you just scored a brand new PlayStation 4 (or Pro!). Congratulations! It is, at least in this writer’s humble opinion, the best version of the PlayStation that has ever existed—especially the Pro. Let’s make the most of it, shall we? RELATED: What’s the Difference Between the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Slim, and PlayStation 4 Pro?...
Well, another Google I/O Keynote is in the books, and just like years past, Google announced a lot of cool stuff. Here are some of the biggest things announced today. Android P Enters Beta Android P has been available as a developer edition for a little while now, but Google used I/O to roll out the Beta version. This brings several improvements over the developer build, mostly in that it can be installed as an OTA onto a compatible phone and that it will receive updates in the same way....
Right after getting hacked a few weeks back, Facebook announced the Portal, a smart video calling device for your home that they said would respect your privacy. Turns out they didn’t really mean your privacy. Somebody’s privacy might get respected though. The Facebook Portal has a camera and microphone, and is meant to be used to talk to your relatives, watch videos from social media, and listen to music. It’s supposed to be the new communication portal with the rest of the world, using Facebook and Messenger to communicate with friends and family....
Windows 10’s October 2018 Update brings a modern screenshot tool to Windows 10. A new keyboard shortcut lets you screenshot part of your screen, and add annotations. How This New Screenshot Tool is Different There are many ways to take screenshots on Windows 10. You can press Windows+Print Screen (some keyboards label this key “PrtScn” or “Print”) to save a screenshot as a PNG file to your Pictures\Screenshots folder, press the Print Screen key by itself to copy your entire screen (or Alt+Print Screen for just the active Window) to your clipboard so you can paste it somewhere, or launch the Snipping Tool and use it to snip parts of your screen....
So you found something called “kernel_task” in Activity Monitor, and you want to know what it is. Good news: it’s nothing nefarious. It’s actually your operating system. RELATED: What Is This Process and Why Is It Running on My Mac? This article is part of our ongoing series explaining various processes found in Activity Monitor, like hidd, mdsworker, installd, and many others. Don’t know what those services are? Better start reading!...
The next version of macOS is out now, with improvements to Safari, Mail, Photos, and a lot under the hood. Here are the best features you’ll see in macOS 10.13 “High Sierra”. RELATED: How to Try the macOS High Sierra Beta Right Now No, that’s not a typo—they’re calling it High Sierra, after the highest region of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. And yes: Apple made a few weed jokes after announcing the name, because the most powerful corporation on Earth is nothing if not counter-cultural....
Most Linux distributions include the bash shell by default, but you could also switch to another shell environment. Zsh is a particularly popular alternative, and there are other shells, like ash, dash, fish, and tcsh. But what’s the difference, and why are there so many? What Do Shells Do? When you sign in at the command line or launch a terminal window on Linux, the system launches the shell program....
