Technology

Samsung

If you’re in the market for both a new phone and tablet (or maybe you just know someone who’d like the latter), Amazon has an enticing deal today: buy a new Galaxy Note 9 and get a free Galaxy Tab A.

This bargain is notable in two respects: one, the Note 9 is the American unlocked version with a Snapdragon processor, which will work on any US carrier (including the sometimes-tricky Verizon and Sprint networks). And two, it comes with a decent tablet. We’ve seen these kinds of bundles before, usually with a carrier-locked phone that comes with a two-year financing commitment and some no-name, whitebox tablet with the carrier’s own branding on it. The Tab A is a middle-of-the-road 10.5-inch machine, but Samsung’s fit and finish is miles ahead of your typical freebie.

The cheapest bundle on Amazon is at the phone’s $999 retail price for the 128GB version, meaning you’re getting the $327 tablet for free. An extra $50 will get you the capacious 512GB version of the Note. Black, blue, and purple colors are available. We should note that, sans bundle, the phone alone costs $815 on Amazon—which might be an even better deal if you have no interest in Android tablets.

The Note 9 is last year’s Samsung flagship phone, and it’s still a beast in terms of specs and software. Still, this is probably a case of Amazon clearing out some stock before the new Galaxy phone announcements in at Mobile World Congress later this month. The deal is active for the rest of today only.

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Do you lie awake at night wishing that you or your child could learn to code? Well, now’s a good chance to grab the Kano touch kit. It’s a great way to practice coding, and it’s on sale right now.

Coding is a valuable skill, but it isn’t just for full-time or would-be programmers. Learning to code is almost like learning a language. It’s a great hobby that stretches your critical thinking skills, and although it could lead to a job, it doesn’t need to.

That’s why we’re always excited to talk about coding kits, especially the Kano kit. Coding kits are educational products that are geared toward kids, but adults can benefit from them as well. These products teach you how to code a computer from the ground up, and they really aren’t too expensive.

Right now, the Kano touch kit is on sale for just $168—that’s a $112 discount. The Kano touch kit teaches you how to build software on a touchscreen tablet. With the Kano touch kit, you get a Raspberry Pi 3, a 10″ touchscreen tablet, a keyboard, a case and stand, a DIY speaker, and a step-by-step instruction book. The Kano kit also gives you access to the Kano community, where thousands of users upload their custom code, and instructions on how to hack Minecraft.

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The best way to sit and thumb through your iCloud Photo Library is with an iPad. If you want to edit those images, Photos on a Mac is advisable. But when those aren’t around, here’s how to view photos online.

Many people don’t realize that they can access every photo and video they have stored in iCloud Photo Library from any desktop computer, so long as it has access to iCloud.com. It’s a feature that Apple hasn’t done a good job of sharing with people, which is a shame because it can be super useful.

To get started, all you need is a connection to iCloud.com, your Apple ID and password, and your two-factor authentication code. You *do* have two-factor authentication active, don’t you?

How to View iCloud Photos Online

To get started, open Safari–or any other web browser if Safari isn’t available– and head to iCloud.com and log in with your Apple ID email address and password. When you’ve authenticated, click the Photos icon.

Once the page loads, you will see something akin to Photos on a Mac, albeit a little less capable. If this is the first time you have used iCloud.com to view your Iibrary, it might take a little time while it pulls everything together.

You might not have the same editing tools you would expect on an iOS device or a Mac, but the interface will give you access to view any of the photos or videos that you have stored in iCloud Photo Library. Clicking a photo opens it fully.

If you’d like to upload a new photo or video, click the icon with a cloud and upwards facing arrow, as seen below.

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Amazon is buying the mesh Wifi company Eero, in a bid to strengthen its smarthome offerings. As more smart devices rely on Wi-Fi, Amazon needs a powerful network connection offering, and Eero is the solution.

If nothing else, CES 2019 showed that Wi-Fi smart devices are coming in full force. Unfortunately, current Wi-Fi standards are less powerful and traverse less distance on their own than ZigBee or Z-Wave mesh standards, and this is a problem for Amazon’s smart home ambitions. Most of Amazon’s current smart home offerings (from Ring to Echo to its smart outlets) are Wi-Fi devices.

While Google already has a mesh system that can help with this problem, if Amazon wanted to offer mesh Wi-Fi it needed to either build a new system from the ground up or buy a robust existing system. It opted for the latter and chose Eero for the latest acquisition.

Amazon and Eero say that together they can work for a better smarthome experience, as Dave Limp, SVP of Amazon Devices and Services, explains in a press release:

We have a shared vision that the smart home experience can get even easier, and we’re committed to continue innovating on behalf of customers.

Amazon’s purchase of Ring seems to have gone smoothly, so if that track record is anything to go by, Eero should remain a viable product post-purchase, as opposed to being shut down and folded into another existing product.

Windows 10 no longer has built-in help for File Explorer, as Windows 7 does. Microsoft makes you search the web for information, so here’s what you need to know about using Windows 10’s file manager.

File Explorer Interface Basics

While it’s been renamed “File Explorer” in Windows 10, this application is basically the same as Windows Explorer on Windows 7. It does have some new features, including a ribbon interface and built-in Microsoft OneDrive for syncing your files to the cloud.

The “Quick Access” area in the sidebar replaces “Favorites” on Windows 10. You can drag and drop folders to the Quick Access area to “pin” them for easy access in the future. Windows 10 will automatically add your recently used folders to this area, too. You can customize Quick Access from the options window. To remove an individual folder from Quick Access, right-click it and select “Unpin From Quick Access.”

The “This PC” section replaces the “My Computer” item on Windows 7. It contains shortcuts to user data folders on your PC as well as other drives, such as USB drives and DVD drives.

How to Use the Ribbon

The ribbon in File Explorer works just like the ribbon in Microsoft Office applications like Word and Excel. There are a few different ways you can use it.

If you want more space in your file browsing windows, you can leave the ribbon collapsed by default. You can still click any of the tabs at the top—like “Home,” “Share,” or “View” to view the commands and click a button. The ribbon will only appear temporarily.

If you’d rather see the ribbon all the time, you can expand it. To do so, either click the arrow near the top right corner of the File Explorer window or press Ctrl+F1.

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Michael Crider

Peak Design makes bags explicitly for photographers, but there’s enough careful design in the Everyday Messenger to make it worth considering for almost anyone who needs a quality bag. It’s stiff competition for the likes of Timbuk2 and Chrome.

The Everyday Messenger isn’t cheap—$220 for the smaller 13-inch version, $250 for the larger15-inch. But that investment is worth it if you want a bag that’s dependable, accessible, and flexible for hauling around sensitive gear. In a word: fantastic.

Messenger Design, With A Twist

The Everyday Messenger might just be named ironically since the design is anything but. On the surface, it looks surprisingly simple, with a big main pocket that’s undivided by any sleeves or interior compartments. The laptop holder, more or less a requirement for any modern messenger, hides out on the back underneath a sturdy weatherproof zipper. This makes your laptop (and/or tablet, since there’s a divider in there) accessible without opening the main compartment.

Michael Crider

But as it turns out, getting into the big compartment is easy—easier than any messenger-style bag I’ve ever used. This is thanks to the unique “MagLatch” sliding clasp and ladder attachment system. The aluminum mechanism grasps onto one of the ladder rungs with a sliding catch, allowing it to easily close and open. A big chunk of metal keeps things securely closed at any of the four positions, while magnets inside the top flap keep it reasonably stable without locking if you’re in a hurry or need to access the compartment multiple times in quick succession. It’s an ingenious design that’s easy to open and close, firmly or softly, with just one hand.

Michael Crider

Speaking of which, there’s another way in to that big pocket. If you need to grab something from the top of the pocket quickly, the top of the flap also has its own zipper, granting hand access for smaller gadgets and lenses. It’s a nice perk if you’re frequently swapping out pieces of gear, but it wouldn’t be a practical way to get, say, an iPad in and out of the main compartment.

Michael Crider

Keeping our focus on that main pocket: it looks empty. And on its own, it is—a big dump for all your loose gear. But the bag also comes with a pair of dividers: two stiff, trapezoidal little walls for you to attach at any point thanks to soft Velcro on the front and back of the compartment. If you’re used to dedicated camera bags you might be familiar with the setup.

These dividers come with unique origami-inspired folds in the material, allowing them to be set up in different ways. You can get a tall, narrow packet ideal for a water bottle or zoom lens, a divided pocket that works well for a power adapter below and a mouse above, or a double-down fold that works as both a hidey pocket and a platform for irregularly-shaped items, like a DSLR with its lens attached. The dividers can attach at any point inside, accommodating smaller or larger contents.

Michael Crider

This setup isn’t perfect. It’s difficult to get big things and small things in the main pocket at the same time—I can’t, for example, carry a mechanical keyboard while also organizing smaller gadgets. But it’s excellent for camera gear and laptop accouterments, and I’m sure more general users can make it work effectively for them, too.

Thoughtful Exterior Touches

One of my favorite parts of the bag is the strap. It solves two problems I didn’t know I had with my old Timbuk2 bag: one, it’s reversible, so there’s no need to order a specific bag with a sewn-down strap for right-handed use or southpaws. And two, it includes a big padded section with a grippy underside, eliminating the call for an extra piece of padding secured with velcro.

Michael Crider

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There are a few things to consider when buying your first projector. Price range and the space you have are important, but you should also consider lamp technology. This will affect both the price and image quality of the projector.

Most of the projectors you see on the market will be lamp projectors. The lamps typically last thousands of hours, meaning you can get years of use before you need to purchase a new lamp. And since you can replace the lamp yourself, you can get even more time out of your projector by spending less than $100 on a new lamp.

Laser projectors are a bit of a different beast. They’re more expensive, but they get brighter and last much longer: typically over 20,000 hours. That means if you use one for four hours each day, your projector’s laser will last over 13 years.

How Do Lamp Projectors Work?

Lamp projectors are by far the most common you’ll see when you research for your home theater. At this point, they’re an established technology, and cheap enough to manufacture that they’ve just become the default.

The lamps inside a projector work the same way other light sources do: an electrical signal passes through semiconducting materials. This signal activates electrons in the semiconducting materials to produce photons, which are particles of light visible to the human eye.

When it comes to projectors, TVs, and other displays, there are red, blue, and green pixels inside the display. These combine into all the colors you see onscreen. Inside the projectors, you’ll see one of two things. Projectors with a Digital Light Processing (DLP) chip will reflect the light off an array of tiny mirrors, while those with Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) layers pass the light through these LCD layers the same way a TV does.

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Lamp Projectors?

As mentioned above, lamp projectors have been around for a while. LEDs are now cheap enough to be used in projectors that are about $100, and in specialty projectors like night lights that are even cheaper. The lamp in most home theater projectors is replaceable, and they typically last for a few thousand hours of playback. I have a ViewSonic PX800HD, which has a rated lamp life of 3000 hours in normal mode. If you use the projector for four hours a day, the bulb will last 750 days—or just over two years. And at the end of those two years, I’ll be able to get a replacement bulb to make the projector last even longer.

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Cigdem/Shutterstock 

Before you head off to search for what smart meters are, you need to hear something very important: Smart meters, like any other device that emits radio frequency radiation, do not pose any risk to your health.

Right now, there’s a lot of buzz on the internet about the dangers of smart meters. People claim that, because smart meters utilize radio frequencies, they can cause cancer, anxiety, insomnia, and other complications. These aren’t just harmless internet conspiracies; there are actual protests against the statewide adoption of smart meters, and protesters cite their health as their main concern. But what are smart meters, how do they work, and why is radio frequency radiation harmless?

Smart Meters Are Walkie-Talkies that Measure Energy Consumption

Smart meters are digital devices used to gauge the energy consumption of your home. They accurately measure your kilowatt hour consumption of electricity and use wireless radio frequency (RF) technology to communicate your energy consumption to the utility company in real-time. That’s the part that people think is dangerous—the radio frequencies. But we’ll get to that in a second.

Electrical meters, both smart and dumb, measure the amount of electricity that you use in terms of kilowatt hours. They’re usually installed outside of your home, but as you can probably guess, they’re wired to your building’s circuit.

Old mechanical meters measure your energy consumption using two metal conductors and an aluminum plate. The two conductors use the electricity that’s circuiting through your home to form an electromagnetic field (a form of radiation), which causes the aluminum plate to spin. The plate spins faster as you use more electricity, and slower as you use less electricity. As the plate spins, it turns the gears on a five-panel display called an indicator, which tells you your energy consumption in kilowatt hours.

Smart meters use AC sensors to measure voltage and amperage in your home’s circuit. They’re accurate digital sensors with no moving parts, and they don’t run a risk of failing due to mechanical flaws or wear and tear. Unlike mechanical meters, smart meters communicate energy consumption with the utility company via radio frequency, which cuts out the need for meter-checking agents and allows the utility company to view your energy usage in real-time.

Don’t confuse smart meters with energy monitoring products like the Sense or the Smappee. These are devices that attach to your electric panel and allow you to monitor your energy consumption on your phone or tablet, and they tell you how you can save money on your electric bill.

What’s The Big Deal? Fewerton/Shutterstock

A lot of people are spreading the myth that RF radiation from smart meters causes cancer, insomnia, anxiety, and a host of other health problems. But smart meters have been installed in US homes since 2006, and according to the US Energy Information Administration, nearly half of all American homes have a smart meter. Where is this misinformation coming from, and why is it so sudden?

Well, some Americans were concerned about smart meters when they were first introduced in 2006, but as time went on, those concerns started to fade away. But the UK recently began a nationwide transition from mechanical meters to smart meters (that are pre-packaged with energy monitors, lucky Brits), and it’s caused a bit of a controversy.

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Before The USB Port, Computer Users Plugged Their Peripherals Into What?

1. Serial Ports
2. TRS Ports
3. Ethernet Ports
4. VGA Ports

Think you know the answer?

Hand-me-down hardware is a rite of passage for even the most hardened of technology fans, so there may be times where a child receives an old iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Here’s how to create them their own Apple ID and add it to your family.

Apple IDs are vital for helping Apple and apps differentiate between users, and an Apple ID is necessary for making App Store purchases and signing up for iCloud. Both of those things are pretty integral to using an iOS device, so even if you’re handing an old device to a child, they’re going to need an Apple ID to really use it. Don’t leave your Apple ID signed in for them—that’s just asking for trouble.

Once you’ve successfully created a new Apple ID for your child, you can link it to your “family,” meaning you’ll have control over it and any App Store payments will be processed via your method of choice.

With that said, here are the steps you need to follow.

How to Create an Apple ID for a Child

To start, open the Settings app and then tap on your name at the top of the screen.

Next, tap “Family Sharing” to enter the screen where you can manage all of the accounts associated with a parent’s Apple ID.

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Makeup is a fun thing to shop for but what about if there was a way to receive some great beauty products every month as a kind of gift to yourself? These subscription boxes all do exactly that.

In each case, the subscription box offers a fun way of trying out new beauty products that you might not ordinarily consider. In some cases, you get sample size items while others you’re getting the full product. Regardless of the item size, it’s a neat way of trying something a little different on a regular basis.

Here’s our pick of the best makeup subscription boxes, and just why they might be the perfect subscription for you.

Best All-Rounder: Ipsy ($10 per month/$110 per year) Ipsy

The great thing about Ipsy is it works for pretty much everyone. To start out, it asks you a few key questions about your skin tone, hair color, as well as how comfortable you are using makeup, before finding out what brands you love and what kind of makeup you most frequently use. The options are super extensive so there’s little chance of getting something that’s just not for you.

The subscription service costs $10 per month or you can pay $110 upfront for the year and get a month free. For the price, you get 5 beauty products with a rough average value of $53. These can be anything from lipgloss to foundation or eyeliner. Typically, they’re well aligned to what you’ve requested, and you can always change up for future months if you want a focus on different kinds of beauty products. There’s a rewards scheme too for those that regularly buy other products through the site.

Subscribe to Ipsy Best For Lip Products: Lip Monthly ($12.95 per month/$137.40 per year) Lipmonthly

Mad about lip based products? Subscribe to Lip Monthly and you’ll never run out of options. For $12.95 per month or $137.40 per year, you get a selection of full-size lip products with a retail value of $40-$80 each month. It’s unusual for such services to offer full-size products so this is a big thing in favor of Lip Monthly.

You typically get a mixture of 4 to 5 lip glosses, lipsticks, lip balms, lip stains, and other products. These are generally a combination of big brands as well as niche and emerging brands that are well worth checking out. Much like Ipsy, there’s a rewards scheme too for its shop. Although, don’t expect to be able to heavily customize your options before subscribing. This is a more general service.

Subscribe to Lip Monthly Best For Natural Products: Love Goodly ($34.95 every two months/$48.95 every two months) Love Goodly

Love Goodly has an emphasis on providing cruelty-free vegan makeup and beauty products. All of its items are non-toxic as well as certified palm oil free so you can feel safe in the knowledge that you’re not damaging the environment while using its makeup.
For $34.95 every two months, you get 4-5 full-size products, as well as an occasional eco style accessory, wellness product or healthy snack. It’s those little bonuses that make it feel even more like a gift to yourself. The item value works out at about $99 each time. Alternatively, for $48.95 every two months, you can subscribe to the VIP service which bundles in an extra product or two and has a total value of about $174.

Either way, your skin will feel healthier with natural products, and you’ll know you’ve done your bit for the environment too.

Subscribe to Love Goodly Best For Emerging Brands: Glossybox ($21 per month/$210 per year) Glossybox

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Rumors come and go, but recently a whole slew of things about what Apple will be doing in 2019 hit the scene. While these may or may not be absolutely spot-on, they’re worth at least considering either way.

Now, before we get into the details, it’s worth emphasizing that these are rumors. That means they can change at any point or, to be completely honest, they may be wrong altogether. But they all seem highly probable, so we’re pretty confident sharing them.

Rumor #1: 2019 iPhones Will Keep the Lightning Port Cameron Summerson

With the newest iPad Pro models making the switch to USB-C, there’s been a lot of talk about whether or not Apple will make the switch on this year’s iPhone. According to a new leak (original source, in Japanese), it doesn’t seem like that will be the case.

Now, this shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone—Apple generally delays changes likes this for longer than many users would like. At this point, it seems more likely than ever that we won’t see the switch to USB-C on iPhone until 2020.

It’s also rumored that the 2019 iPhones will ship with the same slow 5w charging brick that they have been for a few years now, even though modern iPhones support quick charging. Since this is easier to change than swapping the port out, it’ll be a huge bummer if true.

Rumor #2: A New iPad Mini is Coming, and It’s Just Like the Old One Apple

If you’ve been waiting for a new iPad Mini, your dreams may soon be coming to fruition. But if you were hoping for a totally redesigned model, well, then you may be disappointed.

Another leak today suggests that the iPad Mini 5 will roll out sometime in the first half of this year, but the overall footprint and design will remain largely the same. The innards will likely be updated with more modern specs, but again you should keep your expectations in check—the goal is to make the Mini more affordable, so don’t expect the hottest thing smoking in the Mini 5.

According to the source of the leak, Apple’s A10 chip is suggested to be powering the device, which is still a lot faster than the A8 in the current-gen Mini. Past that, the 5 should have a Lightning port, headphone jack, and Touch ID…just like the 4.

Rumor #3: AirPods 2 and AirPower are Coming This Year Apple

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Have you been fighting the urge to grab a new, modern laptop? Maybe one of those touch screen 2-in-1 devices? Well, now might be the time to go for an HP x360.

We’ve spent a lot of time raving about the Chromebook, and why wouldn’t we? Chromebooks are great alternatives to Windows or Apple laptops. They’re powerful, affordable, and reliable. The HP x360 is no exception. It’s a 14″ 2-in-1 touchscreen Chromebook with 8GB of RAM, 64GB of flash storage, and an Intel i3 Processor. That’s more power than many people need in a Windows laptop, and it works really well in a Chromebook.

Since the HP x360 is a 2-in-1 laptop, you can easily use it in place of a tablet for commutes, games, and Netflix. Or, you could grab a couple of accessories to turn the x360 into powerhouse workstation. And since Chromebooks work really well with all of Google’s products and platforms, you won’t have any trouble controlling your Chromecast or accessing your Google Docs.

Of course, even when you fall in love with a laptop, it can be hard to drop a couple hundred dollars on the fly. That is unless it’s heavily discounted. Right now, the HP x360 is only $450 on Best Buy — that’s a $150 discount. Not bad. But like anything good in this world, Best Buy’s hefty discount won’t last forever. Grab it now while you still can.

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via Chrome Unboxed

At best, it’s irritating to get an email that contains unreadable characters. At worst, it can prevent you from reading the mail at all. Sometimes, changing the encoding in Outlook shows those missing characters and lets you read the message. Here’s how to do it.

What is Character Encoding?

If you’re not sure what “character encoding” is, we’ve got a comprehensive explanation for you. The less-comprehensive explanation is that a character is a glyph that appears on screen when you type something. So every letter in this article is a glyph that represents a letter—a, b, c, and so on. Behind the scenes, your computer represents these glyphs using a code that is interpreted by a program—like a web browser or a word processor—and then renders them on screen as a character.

RELATED: What Are Character Encodings Like ANSI and Unicode, and How Do They Differ?

So far, so simple, especially if you think there are only 26 characters in the alphabet, ten numbers, and some grammatical marks like ! or @.

However, there are also 26 upper case letters and far more grammatical marks that you might realize (your keyboard only shows a small subset of possible grammatical marks, even for English). And this only covers one language, English, which is in one alphabet, Latin (also known as the Roman alphabet). The Latin alphabet includes most Western European languages and has a large number of diacritic symbols which aren’t used in English. Diacritic symbols are things like accents, umlauts, cedillas, and other marks that change the pronunciation of a letter or word.

Then there are the many other alphabets, such as Cyrillic (most widely known for containing the Russian language), Greek, Kanji (Japanese), and Chinese, many of which include more than one language.

Now, you can now start to see the scale of characters that need to be encoded as glyphs. There are over 70,000 Chinese glyphs alone. A character encoding contains a number of code points, each of which can encode one character. ASCII, which you have probably heard of, was an early Latin alphabet encoding that had 128 code points, nothing near enough to cover all the possible characters people use.

W3’s recommended encoding for HTML is called UTF-8, which has 1,112,064 code points. This is enough to cover pretty much all of the characters in all of the languages in all of the alphabets (although not every single one), and is used in 93% of all websites. UTF-8 is also the encoding recommended by the Internet Mail Consortium.

Why Would I Bother Changing It?

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 Smartphone screens are getting bigger and brighter every year. It’s a nice change of pace, but how do you keep prying eyes away from your beautifully clear iPhone screen?

Whenever you’re using a phone or computer in public, you need to keep your privacy in mind. You might not be the kind of person that looks over shoulders to read text messages, but there are plenty of nosy people in the world, and some of them have malicious intents. That’s why it’s important to use a screen protector that has a built-in privacy filter.

Back in 2015, 3M and Ponemon teamed up to study “visual hacking.” This is a simple method of hacking where nefarious folks obtain usernames, passwords, and other sensitive information by watching people’s computer screens from across the room. It turns out that the low-tech method of “visual hacking” is surprisingly effective, and visual hackers can expect their beady eyes to obtain sensitive information with a 91% success rate.

Now, before you say “phones and laptops aren’t the same thing, I don’t need a privacy filter on my iPhone,” take a second to hear me out. You type everything on your phone using an on-screen keyboard. You use your phone in public every day. Phones are communication devices, and any type of private communication (especially email) carries sensitive information. If you’re using a work phone, the tiniest details on your screen could compromise a lot of peoples’ security.

Don’t worry too much about the creepy haiku’s and Netflix login information that you’ve texted to significant others in the middle of a busy Dunkin Donuts. That’s in the past, and we’re worried about the future. Privacy filters are a great way to protect your laptop screen from prying eyes, and phones are no different. There are plenty of high-quality screen protectors that have built-in privacy filters, you just have to find one that fits your iPhone. Lucky for you, we’ve taken the time to find the best privacy screen protectors for each (usable) iPhone on the market.

iPhone X and XS ($12)

If you don’t have a screen protector on your expensive iPhone X or XS, then you need to reflect on the decisions that you’ve made up to this point. You should probably grab at least one screen protector, if not more. And since the X has a high-contrast, easy to read OLED screen, you should probably make sure that your screen protector has a built-in privacy filter.

Luckily, Maxboost sells 3-packs of powerful tempered glass screen protectors for just $12. These screen protectors have built-in privacy filters that will keep any nosy nerds from stealing your credit card info when you decide to pay your bills at the last minute in a Denny’s lobby.

Buy on Amazon iPhone XR ($10)

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After Windows starts up, it waits about ten seconds before opening your startup programs. This “startup delay” lets your desktop and Windows services finish loading, making everything run a bit smoother. If you have apps you’d rather run immediately, you can do it with a simple Registry hack.

The ten-second delay after Windows starts but before it begins loading startup apps gives the operating system time to load into memory and perform any necessary system tasks before the apps start requesting resources. The Registry hack we’re talking about in this article reduces or disables the startup delay, meaning that it applies to all startup apps. There’s no way to apply this technique only to specific apps.

RELATED: How to Add Programs, Files, and Folders to System Startup in Windows

Note: Eliminating the startup delay works best on solid-state drives since they load things much quicker. While you can certainly give it a try if you have a traditional hard drive, you might not see much increase in how fast your startup apps load.

How to Disable the Windows 10 Startup Delay

To disable the Windows 10 startup delay, you just need to make a few edits in the Windows Registry.

Standard Warning: Registry Editor is a powerful tool and misusing it can render your system unstable or even inoperable. This is a pretty simple hack, and as long as you stick to the instructions, you shouldn’t have any problems. That said, if you’ve never worked with it before, consider reading about how to use the Registry Editor before you get started. And definitely back up the Registry (and your computer!) before making changes.

Open the Registry Editor by hitting Start and typing “regedit.” Press Enter to open the Registry Editor and then permit it to make changes to your PC.

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Have you been waiting for the perfect opportunity to buy an Amazon smart device? Well, the wait is over. Woot is selling Amazon products at a ridiculous discount.

Online retailers will usually sell refurbished devices at a moderate discount. Maybe $20 or $30, nothing too crazy. But right now, Woot is selling refurbished Amazon devices for more than 50 percent off, just in time for Valentine’s day.

Here are Woot’s discounted Amazon products:

• Echo Connect Black – $15 $35
• Amazon Echo (1st Generation) – $25 $130
• Echo Look – $30 $100

An Amazon Echo for $25 is a complete steal, even if it is the older model. And an Echo Look for the price of a restaurant dinner ain’t too shabby either. Remember how it used to cost $200?

A lot of people haven’t heard of the Echo Connect, but it can be really helpful if you own a couple of Amazon Echos. Essentially, Echo Connect pairs your landline phone connection with all of your Alexa-compatible devices. $15 to gussy up your old landline? That’s a pretty good deal.

As with any good deal, this one won’t last forever. In fact, it’s going to end at midnight. Whether you’re trying to make your home a bit smarter or impress a Valentine, this may be your last chance to do it for cheap.

Buy on Woot

Willy Barton/Shutterstock.com

If you’ve just bought a new TV, you might be wondering why everything you watch feels eerily sped up and smooth, like you’re watching a live broadcast all the time. You’re not imagining things: Your TV might be suffering from Motion Smoothing.

What is Motion Smoothing, and How Does it Work?

Every TV manufacturer calls their specific tech by a different name, for marketing reasons of course. Action Smoothing, TruMotion, Motionflow—these are all names for the same function: making your TV’s picture feel smoother. And that’s motion smoothing. It’s also known as the “soap opera effect” because low-budget soap operas used to have cheap video cameras that produced a higher frame rate, smoother-looking video.

Most TV shows, movies, and broadcasts are filmed at 24 or 30 frames per second (fps, also called “hertz” or “Hz”), which is fast enough for the eye to perceive them as smooth video and not a choppy slideshow. However, the standard most TVs and monitors are capable of is 60 Hz and some more expensive displays clock in at 120 Hz and even 240 Hz.

But, movies and TV shows are still 30fps, which presents a problem: what’s the point of 60hz displays if the content you watch only updates at half of that? The refresh rate of film isn’t changing anytime soon, so this is where “Motion Smoothing” comes in. Motion smoothing tries to fix this issue by taking a guess at the 30 frames missing from each second, usually by comparing a before and after shot and attempting to find the middle ground between the two of them.

RELATED: Why Does My New HDTV’s Picture Look Sped Up and “Smooth”?

Why Is It Such a Problem?

Most people have trouble with motion smoothing. After all, we’ve spent years training our brains to enjoy movies and TV shows filmed at 24 or 30fps, and our brains have come to think of that as how a movie or TV show should look.

TV manufacturers, on the other hand, are just trying to advertise bigger numbers to consumers. 240 Hz must be better than 120 Hz and much better than 60 Hz, right? Well, sometimes it is, yes—especially when the content is designed for it.

But most consumers don’t enjoy the higher frame rates on most of the content they watch. Viewing content filmed at 24 or 30fps looks especially weird on TVs that run at 120 Hz and above. The insanely smooth motion makes the video almost seem real, which breaks the immersion of cinema completely. Honestly, it often feels more like you’re watching a behind-the-scenes documentary about the movie than the movie itself.

For some things, motion smoothing makes sense. Live action sports and video games, for example, have fast-moving content that could use a bit more clarity. Unfortunately, two other problems associated with motion smoothing break these two use cases as well.

• For sports, things sometimes move so fast that the smoothing algorithm doesn’t know what to do, and ends up producing a strange, often blurry image instead of a clear “in between” frame. This defect, which results in incorrect or glitch pictures, is called artifacting.
• For video games, the extra input lag required to add motion smoothing completely ruins being able to play the game effectively. The controls feel sluggish and unresponsive, which is why most TVs offer a “Game Mode” that disable motion smoothing and other advanced picture effects.

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Craig Lloyd

Most Wi-Fi cameras require a power outlet, which puts a real damper on where you can place them. Battery-powered Wi-Fi cameras, while not as numerous as their wired counterparts, offer much more flexible placement. Here are the best models available.

If you’re not interested in tearing up your walls to run wire (or paying an electrician to do it), wireless battery-powered security cameras are pretty appealing. There’s no video feed cable, no power outlet required, and if you’re willing to charge the batteries a few times a year then installation is as simple as screwing the mounting point into the wall or even just setting the camera on a shelf in your home.

Arlo Ultra ($399) Arlo

If money really isn’t an issue and you simply just want the best battery-powered Wi-Fi camera on the market, you can’t go with the Arlo Ultra.

The Ultra can record in 4K HDR, which is quite impressive for a battery-powered camera. It also can do color night vision thanks to the built-in spotlight, making it easier to recognize objects (unlike the typical black and white night vision that most other cameras that makes it more difficult to distinguish between things on the video feed). It has two-way talk capabilities and a really wide 180-degree field of view so you see much more of your yard or home.

It’s also weather resistant, so you can place outside if you’d rather keep tabs on the outside of your house. Plus, it has strong magnetic mounts to make it easy to mount the cameras but just as easy to dismount it whenever you need to recharge it.

The downside is that a proprietary hub is required in order to operate the Ultra cam, but once you have the hub installed, you can add as many cameras as you want with little hassle.

Buy on Amazon Ring Stick Up Cam ($179) Ring

Ring doesn’t only just make video doorbells. They also make standalone Wi-Fi cameras as well, and the Stick Up Cam comes in a battery-powered version that works great anywhere around your house.

While it doesn’t do 4K video like the Arlo Ultra, it can at least churn out 1080p video and comes with all the features you’d want, including two-way talk and night vision, as well as motion alerts and plenty of different ways to mount it.

If you only need one or two Wi-Fi cams in your house and need them battery powered, this is definitely the way to go.

Buy on Amazon Budget Option: Arlo Wire-Free ($249 for 2) Arlo

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leungchopan/Shutterstock.com

The “screen door effect” often occurs when using modern virtual reality headsets. It looks like you’re viewing the world through a mesh screen, and is a result of the black, empty spaces between pixels when seen up close.

What Does the Screen Door Effect Look Like? thd_fon/Shutterstock.com

Screen doors have mesh screens, and it looks like you’re viewing the world through a grid when you look through them. That’s exactly what the screen door effect can look like in a virtual reality headset.

The screen door effect doesn’t always look the same. The visual effect depends on the specific headset you’re wearing and the content you’re viewing. Different people’s eyes and brains may perceive the screen door effect differently, too. And, even if two people can see the same visual effect, it may annoy some people more than others.

Heck, one person on Reddit even claims the screen door effect is less noticeable when using a VR headset while intoxicated—perhaps due to slightly blurrier than normal vision.

RELATED: How Good is VR in 2018? Is It Worth Buying?

What Causes the Screen Door Effect? CobraCZ/Shutterstock.com

The screen door effect (SDE) is a visual artifact caused by the display inside the headset. Modern flat-panel displays use pixels, which are tiny individual elements laid out on the panel. There’s a bit of space between each pixel. That space isn’t lit and is black, and it results in the black visual grid you sometimes see. That’s the screen door effect.

This effect isn’t new to VR headsets, and it can occur for other types of displays. It’s worse on VR headsets than other modern displays because our eyes are so close and are looking at the panel through lenses that magnify it. In other words, you’re looking at the display really close, so you can see the individual pixels and the spaces between them.

However, if you get your face right up against another display—assuming the display is low resolution enough—you may be able to see the individual pixels and the grid between them on that display, too.

How Can the Screen Door Effect Be Fixed? Samsung

This problem is less noticeable on higher-resolution displays, which have higher pixels per square inch (PPI.) This means the pixels are packed more tightly together and there’s less space between them. As the space between pixels shrinks, the screen door effect becomes less noticeable and can practically be eliminated.

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