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The Pico 4 offers both a standalone and a PC-connected experience, just like the Quest 2, but includes something Meta has still yet to crack: full-color passthrough. In VR terms, passthrough refers to seeing the world around you as you use the device, which comes in handy when avoiding furniture, finding controllers, and just checking out the source of external noise. Quest 2 only offers an extremely grainy black and white passthrough, which makes it difficult to see what is going on when wearing the headset....

I’m old enough to remember when Quake was the first-person shooter, grabbing the spotlight from Doom thanks to its more advanced visuals. Seriously, my friend Nick and I would spend hours in the game just marveling at how we could see enemy remains from different angles. 3D models were a huge deal back then. Naturally, I was excited to see how one of my most fondly remembered shooters holds up in 2021....

The report from consulting firm McKinsey & Company says that by harnessing the mysterious power of quantum mechanics, computers could find everything from better batteries to ways to capture emitted carbon. The company predicts that useful quantum computers could arrive by the end of the decade. “Meeting the goal of net-zero emissions that countries and some industries have committed to won’t be possible without huge advances in climate technology that aren’t achievable today,” the report’s authors wrote....

The Different Types of Cell References The three types of references that can be used in Excel and Google Sheets are easily identified by the presence or absence of dollar signs ($) within the cell reference. A dollar sign tells the program to use that value every time it runs a formula. Relative cell references contain no dollar signs (i.e., A1).Mixed cell references have dollar signs attached to either the letter or the number in a reference but not both (i....

The music is available on The Roku Channel as part of its ad-supported FAST streaming service. In other words, these channels are free, though you will likely have to endure a detergent ad now and then. Warner breaks this service into three distinct channels, which are part of WMX, the company’s “next-generation artist services” platform. There is WMX Pop, WMX Rock, and WMX Hip-Hop. All three channels are available now and are accessible via The Roku Channel’s live TV guide....

What Is an RPT File? A file with the RPT file extension is most likely some kind of report file, but knowing how to open it depends on the program that’s using it since different applications might utilize reports with the .RPT suffix. For example, some RPT files are Crystal Reports files made with the SAP Crystal Reports program. There might be data in these reports that originated from a variety of databases and is most likely fully sortable and interactive within the Crystal Reports software....

Samsung’s new Odyssey OLED G8 gaming monitor is an impressive screen for folks who want to hook it up to a PC or console, but the game-streaming part could be a game changer. Buyers of a fancy gaming monitor might not be interested in game streaming because they already have a console, but imagine future TVs with access to services like Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass. Will gamers even need to buy a console?...

The company revealed plans to showcase some of its latest advancements on Monday. One of the biggest focuses is on Wear OS, the newest version of Google’s Android Watch operating system, which recently teamed up with Tyzen to create a completely new experience. Engadget reports that Samsung also plans to show off some of the big security enhancements for the Galaxy ecosystem. It’s unclear if this event will actually deliver any new devices, as it isn’t one of Samsung’s usual Galaxy Unpacked keynotes....

Risks of Overheating Laptops A laptop that’s too hot can actually scald you. Sony recalled thousands of VAIO laptops because of possible burn hazards. There’s also some indication that working with a hot laptop in your lap can potentially cause male infertility. Regarding the device itself, operating a laptop at very high temperatures leads to failed hardware components (video cards, motherboards, memory modules, hard drives and more are susceptible to damage) and decreases the lifespan of your computer....

Here we describe each layout and why you would want to use it. We also show you how to change the layout of an existing slide or choose the layout for a new one. How to View Layout Options When you open a new presentation in PowerPoint, you see a single slide with the Title Slide layout. To view the other slide layouts available, on the ribbon select Home > Slides > Layout....

The new ASL Alphabet Lens lets people practice the ASL alphabet, learn to sign their name, and play games. It is based on technology from Signall, which uses AR and cameras to read and translate sign language. But is Snapchat—or TikTok, or similar—a good platform for education? Or is this just using deaf awareness as a PR stunt, kind of like greenwashing but for accessibility? “It doesn’t seem like a serious attempt to teach anything beyond the kind of tokenism you get on [Apple’s] Fitness+,” deaf designer and author Graham Bower told Lifewire in an interview....

The mobile app announced a bunch of birthday additions dubbed the Birthdays Mini, enabling you to enjoy personal greetings and birthday messages from your friends. “See a list of upcoming and recent birthdays, as well as birthdays organized by Zodiac Sign. Wish your friends a happy birthday with unique stickers and fun Lenses to commemorate their big day! You can even countdown your own birthday, right down to the second!...

If you’re not familiar with Snapchat, take a look through the following summaries and links to get a glimpse of how to jump in on some of the biggest Snapchat trends. Get Started With Snapchat First, get the latest version of Snapchat to make sure you have all the up-to-date features. After you create your account, add some friends either manually or by scanning their snapcodes. If you love checking out stories, add a few of the big brands on Snapchat too....

Learn how to use Cortana every single day. Open an App When you’re in the middle of a focused work session, it’s often faster to let Cortana open programs than doing it yourself. This can be for something as frivolous as launching a music app such to more productive uses like opening Outlook. Send an Email When you need to fire off a quick email, Cortana can do it for you when you say, “Send an email....

We knew Nintendo’s popular squid game (no, not that one) was getting a third installment, and we knew that, like most sequels, it would be iterating on the game before it. That being a game that Lifewire selected as the best shooter on the Switch in 2022. And thanks to a new official trailer, we finally know when we can start playing it, too. Turf Wars—ink-filled battles between rival teams of Inklings and Octolings—are still a primary focus this time around, naturally (if it ain’t broke, etc....

Spotify continues its mission to stream every kind of audio, especially those that don’t require royalty payments to record companies. In a presentation last week, Spotify CEO Daniel EK laid out the company’s plans to expand into audiobooks. This move will be based on Spotify’s acquisition of Findaway—an audiobook platform—last year. This sounds like good news for listeners, but how about for authors? “Spotify, in my opinion, does not have a good track record in taking care of creators....

According to specs provided by Starlink, the new dish is 19 inches by 12 inches and, with the cable, weighs 9.2 pounds, which is almost half the weight of the older model. Improvements to the dish’s overall kit have also been made, including adding a new 3x3 MU-MIMO internet router that can operate in extreme temperatures. MU-MIMO stands for Mulituser Multiple-In Multiple-Out, and this technology allows people to use multiple bandwidth channels when transmitting or receiving data....

Subwoofers, as we know, add sub-bass to your sound system, whether it’s for music listening, movie watching, or music production. What we may not know is why they’re better (or worse) than just buying bigger, more bass-capable speakers. The answer is—as you’d expect—it depends. And while in general terms, the bigger the subwoofer, the better, you can get more than enough low-end oomph from a modestly-sized unit. “The reason you need a subwoofer is simply because the vast majority of speakers and monitors can’t accurately reproduce bass in the 20Hz-80Hz region,” musician and audio expert Richard Yot told Lifewire via message board....

What is Bukkit? Bukkit is an application programming interface (API) that programmers can use to create plugins for Minecraft. It basically makes it a lot easier for programmers to make plugins and server administrators to install them. The original Bukkit was a modified fork of the official Minecraft server program, which means that the developers took the Minecraft server code and modified it to automatically install and run Bukkit plugins. That project ended when Minecraft publisher Mojang bought the Bukkit team, but you can still use Bukkit plugins with Spigot and CraftBukkit servers....

Both educational institutions and individual experts who want to offer their courses online need somewhere to host it and get it out to people who want to learn. This is why there are many platforms dedicated to offering online courses. Some focus on tighter niches like green technology. Others include courses in a variety of fields. Whatever you’re interested in learning, you can find a course about it from the educational course sites listed below....