Posts

Google Photos, which stores images in the cloud, has become a favorite app in part for its ability to easily offload photos from our smartphones to free up space without a physical computer. But perhaps the biggest draw to the service—its unlimited free storage for “high” quality photos—is going away on June 1, 2021. “In order to welcome even more of your memories and build Google Photos for the future, we are changing our unlimited High quality storage policy,” wrote Shimrit Ben-Yair, the vice president of photos at Google, in a Nov....

The website shut down in 2019 and now redirects to another streaming service, called CONtv, which is offered by the same company that purchased Viewster. The good news is that you can still watch some of Viewster’s movies on YouTube, as you’ll learn below. There are also lots of other similar, free movie streaming sites you can use instead. What Was Viewster? Viewster had free movies, TV shows, and other videos from partners like STARZ, 20th Century Fox, BBC, and HBO....

Creepers Were Originally Pigs The original creeper was brought into Minecraft on August 31, 2009. Accidentally altering the length and height of a pig, video game programmer Notch reversed the numbers and wound up with a pig was skinny and tall vs. short and fat. He was grey-green and didn’t have a name. Notch liked the flaw so much he decided to implement it into the game and create a new hostile mob....

Many kinds of registry values exist, all of which are explained below. They include string values, binary values, DWORD (32-bit) values, QWORD (64-bit) values, multi-string values, and expandable string values. Where Are Registry Values Located? Registry values can be found all throughout the registry in Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. In Registry Editor are not only values but also registry keys and registry hives....

A smart speaker can serve as a central information source that offers the weather, a dictionary, traffic conditions, directions, and more. It’s also a home assistant that controls common household tasks, such as environmental control (thermostat), lighting, door locks, window shades, security monitoring, and more. Smart Speaker Core Features There are no official industry standards on what qualifies a product as a smart speaker. Still, the label is applied to standalone audio devices that incorporate the following core features:...

What Is a TikTok Challenge? In the most basic sense, a TikTok challenge is a call to take some sort of action and record it via TikTok video. Typically, these challenges originate from viral TikTok videos usually involving a song, dance move, movie quote, etc. Of course, a challenge isn’t complete without its defining hashtag in the video’s description. Types of TikTok Challenges There are hundreds of TikTok challenges to indulge in, such as dance challenges, reaction challenges, song challenges, and more....

What Is Airplane Mode on a Cellphone? Airplane mode on a cellphone turns off all network communications, including mobile connections, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. On some phones, it even turns off the phone’s GPS function. Initially, Airplane mode was designed to be used when flying, so you could keep your phone on, but turn off any wireless communication signals that might interfere with the plane instrumentation panel. These days, however, most planes have Wi-Fi available, and many planes may soon have cellular access, so what’s the point in using Airplane Mode these days?...

IP Webcams: The Basics An IP webcam is usually a small device that can be discreetly hidden in an area or easily mounted. However, they typically need to be plugged into a standard wall outlet or have batteries changed regularly. They range from straightforward cameras that take low-resolution black-and-white video to full-color HD devices that can automatically track people and animals within their range of vision with servos built into their mounts....

The RCA cable is named for the Radio Corporation of America, which first used it in the 1940s to connect phonographs to amplifiers. It entered popular home use in the ’50s and is still in use today. The two most common types are composite video and component. Composite Video RCA Cables The colors used in composite RCA cables are usually red and white or black for right and left audio channels and yellow for composite video....

Paper Size and Weight Bond paper has a basic size of 17x22 inches and, usually, a basis weight of 20 pounds. A paper’s basis weight is determined by the weight of 500 sheets of paper at its basic size. In the case of 20-pound bond paper, 500 sheets of 17x22 inch bond paper weigh 20 pounds. Even when the large sheet is cut down to other sizes, including the frequently used 8....

These services include iCloud Drive, which is similar to Dropbox and Google Drive; iCloud Photo Library, which is an offshoot of Photo Stream; iTunes Match; and even Apple Music. iCloud also provides you with a way to back up your iPad in case you need to restore it at a future point, and while you can download the iWork suite to your iPad from the App Store, you can also run Pages, Numbers, and Keynote on your laptop or desktop PCs through icloud....

With ride-sharing services, drivers use their personal vehicles rather than a company-issued one, and payment is made through an app. Lyft is available in hundreds of cities in North America. To request a ride, you must be at least 18 years of age. To become a Lyft driver, you must be at least 21. Getting Started With Lyft To use Lyft, you need a smartphone with a cellular plan and the Lyft app....

Is PCI Still Used Today? Modern computers mainly use other interface technologies like USB or PCI Express (PCIe). Some desktop computers might have PCI slots on the motherboard to maintain backward compatibility. However, the devices that were attached as PCI expansion cards are now either integrated onto motherboards or attached by other connectors like PCIe. Other Names for PCI A PCI unit is called a PCI bus. A bus is a term for a path between the components of a computer....

How 127.0.0.1 Works All messages generated by TCP/IP application software contain IP addresses for their intended recipients. TCP/IP recognizes 127.0.0.1 as a special IP address. The protocol checks each message before sending it to the physical network. Then, it automatically re-routes any messages with a destination of 127.0.0.1 back to the receiving end of the TCP/IP stack. To improve network security, TCP/IP also checks incoming messages arriving on routers or other network gateways and discards any that contain loopback IP addresses....

One common IP address assigned to home routers is 192.168.1.1. This IP address is used because the router is on the 192.168.1.0 network. In the same way, routers on the 192.168.0.0 network are usually assigned the local, private IP address of 192.168.0.1. Why Most Devices Don’t Use 192.168.0.0 Each Internet Protocol network consists of a continuous range of addresses. The protocol uses the first address number in the range to designate the network as a whole....

About the Echo Input The Echo Input is a small, circular, internet-connected device that looks like a speakerless Echo Dot. It connects wirelessly to Bluetooth speakers. It’s an option if you have powered speakers, a stereo receiver, or a home theater receiver with a 3.5 mm input jack or an RCA jack. (You may need a 3.5 mm-to-RCA cable converter.) After you hook up your Echo Input, use Alexa voice commands to play music, ask questions, set alarms and timers, add items to a to-do list or shopping list, control compatible smart home devices, and check the news, weather, and traffic....

Buy and Add HomeKit Compatible Devices When you purchase home automation accessories, look for the “Works with Apple HomeKit” badge. This indicates that you can connect and control the accessory with your Home app. Devices that work with HomeKit include speakers, lights, switches, outlets, thermostats, windows, fans, air conditioners, humidifiers, air purifiers, sensors, security devices, locks, cameras, doorbells, garage doors, and sprinklers, among others. (To learn more about HomeKit, see Everything You Need to Know About Apple HomeKit....

Certified Wireless USB is not another name for Bluetooth as they are different networking protocols. How Wireless USB Works Wireless USB works like standard USB (Universal Serial Bus), but without copper wire acting as the intermediary connector. Where the signals and information would normally be broadcast along copper wires, a wireless USB adaptor (either as part of a mouse, keyboard, or headphones) instead changes the signals into radio waves. The majority of wireless USB keyboards work on the 2....

Use Your Password Reset Disk Assuming you were proactive and created a Windows XP password reset disk at some point in the past, use it at the login screen to change your password. Your password reset disk will still work even if you’ve changed your password since creating it. Have Another User Change the Password for You If there are other users that have accounts on your computer, one of them might be set up with administrator-level access....

Settings won’t open.Settings won’t work after opening.Clicking the Settings icon opens the Store app instead of Settings. This problem often occurs after a Windows update. Cause of Windows Settings Not Working If your Windows 10 has recently updated, an update bug, corrupted system files, or corrupted user account files could be causing the problem. How to Get Windows 10 Settings to Work If you’re having issues with your Windows settings not working, there are a few things you can try that might bring them back to life....