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iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 (henceforth referred to as just iOS 15) do get some great new features. We won’t try to cover everything, but we’ll look at the changes that will have the most impact on you, the user. “It’s true that iOS 15 doesn’t have any flashy new features that will set the internet and world abuzz,” cybersecurity analyst Eric Florence told Lifewire via email. “At this point, Apple hasn’t released a ground-breaking new iOS in years now and it’s unlikely that they will any time soon....

Many slow-running computers will enjoy a significant speed boost if you uninstall old programs. Modern apps sometimes start up silently in the background and consume system resources even when you don’t use them. Use the Reset This PC tool in Windows 10 to engage in even more under-the-hood housekeeping before you conclude that you must upgrade or replace your computer. Upgrade or Replace? No hard-and-fast rule exists about when you should upgrade a computer versus replacing it outright....

What Are SteamIDs For? SteamIDs identify individual users on Steam. Since Steam users can change their profile names at any time, SteamID is the best way to tell whether a user is who they claim to be. Here are some of the reasons why you would need to have a SteamID on hand: To find the community profile associated with a given user.To access web forums that require or allow SteamIDs....

The new Tidal DJ session feature lets anyone DJ a set, and share a link so that whoever wants to can tune in live. This could be as simple as sharing a session with friends or as fancy as starting your own radio station, and it could totally shake up music discovery and make Tidal the go-to streaming service—unless Spotify and Apple copy it first. “As an independent music recording artist, I was excited to hear about Tidal’s new DJ session feature....

Here’s how to decide if TikTok or YouTube is better for you. Overall Findings YouTube and TikTok are large, mature social media and video platforms, but one thing is clear: YouTube leads the Tiktok vs. YouTube rivalry, at least in terms of users. YouTube has roughly 70 percent more monthly active users than TikTok as of 2022. The rivals also differ in presentation. YouTube is driven through subscriptions, recommendations, and searches....

Spatial Audio for music sounded like a gimmick but soon proved to be a great way to enjoy big sound from small speakers. The new MacBooks Pro sounds especially impressive and makes a case for listening to music with Apple’s surround-sound processing permanently enabled. So, in some ways, it’s not surprising to learn that, according to Apple’s VP of Apple Music and Beats Oliver Schusser, more than half of Apple Music’s subscribers are listening to Spatial Audio....

“At first, almost everyone I know was celebrating this until they started going in depth with the terms and conditions,” said Twitch streamer and musician Ceddy Ang. “They found that playing music through Soundtrack does not exempt us from being [subject to copyright enforcement] and that’s when most of my friends went ‘meh’ about it.” The World of Digital Copyright In other words, the company failed to acquire synchronization rights to music in its Soundtrack catalog, leading to VODs (video-on-demand clips) archived after a livestream to be stripped of any music streamed via Soundtrack for legal purposes....

To start with, you’ll need to locate the dial on the top of your camera, with letters written on it. This dial will always include, at the very minimum, these four letters — P, A (or AV), S (or TV), and M. There will also be a fifth mode entitled Auto. Let’s look at what these different letters actually mean. Auto Mode This mode pretty much does exactly what it says on the dial....

Following a year fraught with pandemic-related unemployment, job openings in the US hit a record high in June—a trend that continued into July. As the demand for workers persists amid the country’s reopening, experts say video resume platforms could be a helpful tool for job seekers hoping to find the perfect fit with their next position. “Where TikTok is coming from, as well as other providers, is excellent because it gives job seekers the opportunity to use the media of video in addition to just text…for showing value to prospective employers,” Brad Taft, chief career strategist at Taft Career Group, told Lifewire in an interview by phone....

Sometimes a hop is counted when a packet passes through other hardware on a network, like switches, access points, and repeaters. This isn’t always the case, and it depends on what role those devices are playing on the network and how they’re configured. Why Does Hop Count Matter? Every time packets flow from one computer or device to another, like from your computer to a website and back again (i....

Upgrade to Add Years to PC Life Tablets aren’t built to be upgraded, although many Android and Windows tablets support flash drives, which can upgrade the existing storage. In the PC world, upgrades are standard, and they often add years to the life of a computer. Even laptops, which aren’t as upgradeable as desktop PCs, can have their life span extended by upgrading the memory or adding additional storage. Use a Mouse The camera connection kit allows you to connect a variety of USB devices to your iPad, including wired and wireless keyboards and MIDI devices, but don’t expect it to work with your mouse....

There are dozens of e-book formats that you can access on your iPad, but these are the most common ones: Apple Books The books purchased through the Books Store are in the ePub format, but they are modified to include Digital Rights Management to prevent unauthorized sharing or copying. Any ePub digital book can be opened in the Books app or in other downloadable apps. ePub The ePub open format is one of the most commonly used e-book file types....

Why Would You Run a Benchmark? You might run a benchmark to simply compare your hardware with someone else’s, to test that new hardware is actually performing as advertised or to see if a piece of hardware supports a certain amount of workload. For example, if you plan on installing a new high-end video game on your computer, you might run a benchmark to see if your hardware is capable of running the game....

Hostnames are also used by DNS servers, so you can access a website by a common, easy-to-remember name. This way, you don’t have to recall a string of numbers (an IP address) to open a website. Examples of a Hostname Each of the following is an example of a Fully Qualified Domain Name with its hostname written off to the side: www.google.com: wwwimages.google.com: imagesproducts.office.com: productswww.microsoft.com: www The hostname (like products) is the text that precedes the domain name (for example, office), which is the text that comes before the top-level domain (....

Motherboard Definition The motherboard is the piece of computer hardware that can be thought of as the “backbone” of the PC, or more appropriately as the “mother” that holds all the pieces together. Phones, tablets and other small devices have motherboards, too, but they’re often called logic boards instead. Their components are usually soldered directly onto the board to save space, which means there aren’t expansion slots for upgrades like you see in desktop computers....

What is a Phablet? Phablets have the power to replace your smartphone, tablet, and laptop — at least most of the time. Most phablets have a screen size between five and seven inches diagonally, but the actual size of the device varies widely. The large display means you can comfortably take advantage of split-screen mode. Some models are hard to use one-handed, and most won’t fit comfortably into a pants pocket, at least when the user is sitting down....

How Are Services Used? Services can be used by Windows to control many things like printing, sharing files, communicating with Bluetooth devices, checking for software updates, hosting a website, etc. A service can even be installed by a 3rd party, non-Windows program, like as a file backup tool, disk encryption program, online backup utility, and more. How Do I Control Windows Services? Since services don’t open and display options and windows like you’re probably used to seeing with a program, you must use a built-in Windows tool to manipulate them....

You receive a SIP address when you register for a SIP account, and it acts as a communication handle that people use to contact you. SIP addresses can be translated into phone numbers, which can be easier to track as contact identifiers than SIP addresses. Why Get a SIP Account? Use a SIP account to set up VoIP desk phones, soft phones, and mobile VoIP clients. A SIP account opens the door to free video calling and HD voice calling on many platforms, including Windows and Mac computers and iOS and Android mobile devices....

What Is the Dot? The Dot is a speaker, some microphones, and other computer hardware built into a compact form factor at a basic level. Previous versions were about the size of a fat hockey puck and available in a limited variety of fabric colors. That still holds mostly true, but now the Dot has an entirely new look with rounded edges and a fabric surround. It kind of looks like a tiny bowling ball these days....

It’s used to manage the drives installed in a computer—like hard disk drives (internal and external), optical disk drives, and flash drives. It can be used to partition and format drives, assign drive letters, and much more. Disk Management Availability Disk Management is available in most versions of Microsoft Windows including Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows 2000. How to Open Disk Management The most common way to access Disk Management is via the Computer Management utility, which you can get to from Administrative Tools in the Control Panel....