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Amazon, Samsung, Apple

It’s hard to have the Monday blues when there are great deals abound. If you’ve had your eyes on a new iPad, a curved monitor, or some smart plugs, then now’s the time to pull out your wallet.

Right now, there are some killer deals on Amazon, Best Buy B&H, and Rakuten. In fact, there are so many good deals that it’s hard to pick favorites. There are some obvious standouts, like the $750 iPad Pro or the $15 copy of Catan, but we’re also excited about Rakuten’s 15-percent-off sitewide sale, and Amazon’s $99 Corsair K70 keyboard.

Laptops, Tablets Monitors, Printers, and Accessories

Need to upgrade your home office? Grab these great computer deals.

• Samsung 32″ Refurbished Curved Desktop Monitor, $180 ($70 off) [Amazon]
• iPad Pro 12.9″, $750 ($400 off) [B&H]
• Get $400-$500 off MacBooks [Best Buy]
• Samsung M2070W All-In-One Laser Printer, $50 ($80 off) [Office Depot]
• Corsair K70 Mechanical Keyboard, $99 ($70 off) [Amazon]
• Lenovo IdeaPad 720, $580 ($100 off with coupon code LEN100) [Rakuten]
• Microsoft Surface Pro, $600 ($360 off) [Best Buy]
• Team Group L5 1TB SSD, $99 ($50 off) [Newegg]

Video Games and Board Games

Who knew that games would be so cheap this week?

• Far Cry New Dawn – PS4, $20 ($20 off) [Amazon]
• Civilization IV – Nintendo Switch, $45 ($15 off) [Amazon]
• Call of Duty: WWII Valor Collection, $30 ($130 off) [Best Buy – Xbox One, PS4]
• Catan Histories: Merchants of Europe, $15 ($40 off) [Amazon]

The Internet of Things

Today’s a great day to grab some smart plugs, or a pair of Chromecast Ultras.

• TP-Link Smart Wi-Fi Light Switch 3-Pack, $57 ($48 off) [B&H]
• TP-Link Wi-Fi power strip, $55 ($25 off when you clip the on-screen coupon) [B&H]
• Google Chromecast Ultra 2-Pack, $48 ($22 off) [Facebook]

Everything Else

Need a new wall charger or a Samsung stylus? Grab these great deals.

• Samsung S-Pen, $15 ($15 off) [B&H]
• Anker Quick Charge 6-Port USB Wall Charger, $23 ($11 off with coupon code ANKERPB6) [Amazon]
• Anker 2-Port USB Wall Charger, $8 ($5 off with coupon code ANKERP22) [Amazon]
• Rakuten Takes 15% Sitewide (Use Coupon Code SAVE15) [Rakuten]

All good deals die young. If you see a deal that strikes your fancy, scoop it up before it’s too late!

Apple

In a surprising move, Apple quietly released new iPad models, sending out press releases and forgoing fanfare. The iPad Mini needed a refresh and finally has one, and the iPad Pro 10.5 is gone, replaced by the new iPad Air.

The iPad Mini Update Was Long Overdue Apple

Apple last updated the iPad Mini just under four years ago. And while the Mini is the little device that could, four years is hard on any technology. The processor was showing its age a while ago, the display tech was outdated, and the 1.2-megapixel camera is best left unused. Today’s update takes care of all of that, with just a slight painful cost. The latest iPad Mini bumps the processor from the A8 to the A12 (just the sheer jump in numbers dives home the time between hardware refreshes) which should give it a substantial increase in speed.

Additionally, the display is brighter and picks up Trutone, and the front-facing camera now shoots at 7 megapixels. That’s an improvement, but there’s no FaceID support yet. Finally, Apple added Pencil support to the Mini, which should make this iPad great for taking notes when traveling. But the one cost to all this improvement? The entry-level $399 128 GB option is now 64 GB instead. For $549 you can increase that storage to 256 GB, and if you can afford it, that’s probably the best option to pick.

The iPad Air is the iPad Pro Most People Should Get Apple

Apple wasn’t done when it finished detailing out the new Mini. Next up is the iPad Air, and the first thing you should know is it effectively replaces the iPad Pro 10.5 inch. And that’s a good thing. The two iPads are incredibly similar—they feature nearly identical specs.

If you’re wondering what the Pro 10.5 had that the Air doesn’t, it’s Promotion Technology and a better camera. Apple introduced Promotion Technology with the Pro line; it means the screens can display at a 120 MHz refresh rate. The iPad Air remains locked at 60 MHz. Additionally, the main camera steps down from 12-megapixels to 8.

But while you lose a couple of features, you otherwise have an iPad Pro for much cheaper at $499. The iPad Air supports the smart keyboard, has a more powerful processor than the iPad Pro 10.5 inch, and retains the pencil support, TrueTone tech, wide color gamut support, and even sports the same resolution as the old iPad Pro 10.5 inch mode. And it weighs slightly less, at just one pound.
If you’ve always wanted an iPad Pro but didn’t want to spend iPad Pro prices, the iPad Air is the model for you. it gives you most of the features of a Pro for a more palatable price.

Apple says the new iPads can be ordered today and hit stores next week.

Safari uses Google as its default search engine out of the box, but it’s not the only option. You can choose other search engines like Bing, Yahoo, or DuckDuckGo if you prefer them.

While most modern search engines can find the web sites you’re looking for, there are often ramifications to consider when making your selection. Google is the big player here, but depending on your privacy stance you might want to select something else. For example, DuckDuckGo pushes itself as a more private search engine, while Bing is integrated with Microsoft Rewards. Making the change in Safari on your iPhone or iPad is super simple, so long as you know where to look.

Changing the Default Search Engine in Safari on iPhone and iPad

To get started, open the Settings app and tap “Safari.”

Next, under the “Search” heading, tap “Search Engine.”

Finally, select the search engine that you would like to use as your default when inside Safari. To select a search engine, tap it. You can choose either Google, Yahoo, Bing, or DuckDuckGo.

Sorry—those are the only options. Apple won’t let you choose other search engines as your default. You can still navigate to those search engines in Safari and search them from their website, but that’s it. The only way you’ll get more options here is if Apple adds them in a future version of the iOS operating system.

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Corsair

MMO or MOBA mice are made for games that use a lot of buttons. These mice practically give you an extra keyboard. And you can rebind those keys to whatever you want, including hotkeys and macros.

We’ll be using the Corsair Scimitar as an example in this guide, as it’s inexpensive ($59.99) and has great software. We also love Razer’s NAGA Trinity ($74.92), naming it one of our best gaming mice. The same general instructions should work for any mouse as long as you can rebind its buttons.

How Those Mouse Buttons Can Help

Out of the box, there’s not much having extra buttons does for you right away; you have to bind the macros yourself to fit your needs. Try to think of anything that wastes your time, even small things. It doesn’t have to be huge—a second or two saved on something you do hundreds of times a day adds up over time and makes your work feel a lot snappier.

For example, I work on a MacBook and prefer using a mouse in addition to the built-in trackpad. Switching between desktops on macOS is easy with the trackpad, but to do it while using a mouse I’d have to hold the Ctrl key and press an arrow key, which would use my right hand anyway. So I’ve bound switch desktop left and right to 4 and 5 on the mouse’s numpad, which saves me from moving my arm around so much. On a smaller scale, I do the same for switching back and forth between Chrome tabs (and any other app that has tabs) using 1 and 2 for left and right, rather than using hotkey combinations or clicking top bar with the mouse.

By the way, Windows has the same kind of virtual desktop switching as macOS does, but you might not have even noticed if you don’t know the hotkeys (Windows+Control+Arrow Keys). Binding these to mouse buttons makes Windows virtual desktops much easier to use, and will help clean up your cluttered mess of windows.

Keyboard shortcut aficionados will still swear by their methods. For some apps, having both hands on the keyboard is much quicker than using a mouse in the first place, which is something every vim user can attest to. But, on a modern system, you’re going to use a mouse at some point. It’s best to make the most of it and not let it slow you down, especially if you have a mouse with loads of buttons anyway.

Configuring Your Mouse

Setup will depend on the mouse you own and its software, but most mouse manufacturers’ utilities will let you do similar things. Corsair’s Utility Engine is very powerful, offering full macro support and multiple profiles. You can configure one button to press an array of key combinations, so the options you have are fairly limitless.

Profile switching is an extremely useful feature, as it essentially allows you to nest macros behind other buttons. I have 10, 11, and 12 set to switch to different profiles, and then switch back after another button is pressed. This gives me 45 different slots to fit macros into, although I certainly haven’t filled them up yet. You can configure different profiles for different apps, and a separate one for gaming which will leave the number keys unaffected.

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Amazon

Amazon has completely dominated the ebook reader market, but you don’t have to use a Kindle to get your ebook fix. There are a surprising number of ebook reader alternatives, and many of them are actually better than the Kindle.

Tablets, like the iPad, may be great for streaming video and playing games. But they make for inconvenient ebook readers. They’re expensive, they have short battery life, and their displays can be a bit aggressive on the eyes. Plus, tablets are the ultimate portable distraction. How can you sit down and read when Youtube’s siren song is just a gesture away?

Because of the tablet’s shortcomings, typical ebook readers are still the best way to consume digital books. And although the Kindle is synonymous with the term “ebook reader,” there are a lot of good reasons to stay away from Amazon’s flagship reading device.

Now, this isn’t to say that the Kindle is a bad ebook reader. They’re powerful, they last a long time, and you can buy one for just $50. But the Kindle has one very big problem—it’s tethered to the Amazon marketplace. You can’t use the Kindle to open EPUB files or PDFs (unless you want to put in an enormous amount of effort). If you want more flexibility from an ebook reader then your aversion the Kindle is completely understandable.

Lucky for you, we’ve tracked down some of the best Kindle alternatives on the market. These ebook readers have their ups and downs, but they all give you the ability to escape from (or work alongside) Amazon’s ebook market.

Kobo Aura H20 ($160) Kobo

The Kobo Aura H20 is by far the most popular Kindle alternative. It’s made Rakuten, a popular Japanese corporation, and it actually blows the Kindle out of the water in terms of physical features and file usability. Plus, it doesn’t have annoying special offers on the lockscreen.

This ebook reader has a backlit screen with an adjustable blue light filter, robust font settings, and a relatively large 6.8″ e-ink touchscreen. Like the newest version of the Kindle, the Kubo Aura H20 has 8GB of memory, a 1 GHz processor, Wi-Fi compatibility, a micro USB port, and a battery that lasts for a few weeks. It also has a water-resistant IPX8 rating, which means that it can sit in 2 meters of water for an hour before sustaining any damage.

Kobo ebook readers support up to 14 file formats, including EPUB, EPUB3, PDF, MOBI, TXT, TIFF, and HTML. You can transfer these files to the ebook reader via micro USB cable. But there’s also a dedicated Kobo e-book store, and you can use Kobo ebook readers to remotely borrow books from your library.

The Kobo Aura H20 can’t open AZW files (Amazon books), but you can use a software like Calibre to convert AZW files to the EPUB format.

Buy From Kobo Kobo Forma ($280) Kobo

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Windows 10 no longer shows the estimated battery time remaining after the Creators Update. You’ll just see a percentage when you hover over the battery icon—not a time. Although it has its quirks, you still might want to see it.

Why Did Microsoft Hide the Battery Life Estimate?

This information was removed because it’s just an estimate. It can change dramatically depending on what processes are running, how bright your screen is, and whether you’re connected to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Your computer is making an informed guess and displaying an estimated battery life in real-time. It can fluctuate wildly, and Microsoft seems to think it’s no longer useful.

Apple recently made the same decision on macOS, too. By default, both macOS and Windows just show the percent of your laptop’s battery you have left with no guess about how long it will last.

RELATED: Why Is My Battery Estimate Never Accurate?

How to Bring Back Battery Time Remaining

To bring back the battery time remaining in Windows 10, 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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BitLocker, the encryption technology built into Windows, has taken some hits lately. A recent exploit demonstrated removing a computer’s TPM chip to extract its encryption keys, and many hard drives are breaking BitLocker. Here’s a guide to avoiding BitLocker’s pitfalls.

Note that these attacks all require physical access to your computer. That’s the whole point of encryption—to stop a thief who stole your laptop or someone from gaining access to your desktop PC from viewing your files without your permission.

Standard BitLocker Isn’t Available on Windows Home

While nearly all modern consumer operating systems ship with encryption by default, Windows 10 still doesn’t provide encryption on all PCs. Macs, Chromebooks, iPads, iPhones, and even Linux distributions offer encryption to all their users. But Microsoft still doesn’t bundle BitLocker with Windows 10 Home.

Some PCs may come with similar encryption technology, which Microsoft originally called “device encryption” and now sometimes calls “BitLocker device encryption.” We’ll cover that in the next section. However, this device encryption technology is more limited than full BitLocker.

How an Attacker Can Exploit This: There’s no need for exploits! If your Windows Home PC just isn’t encrypted, an attacker can remove the hard drive or boot another operating system on your PC to access your files.

The Solution: Pay $99 for an upgrade to Windows 10 Professional and enable BitLocker. You could also consider trying another encryption solution like VeraCrypt, the successor of TrueCrypt, which is free.

RELATED: Why Does Microsoft Charge $100 for Encryption When Everyone Else Gives It Away?

BitLocker Sometimes Uploads Your Key to Microsoft

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What Ubiquitous Office Application Was Originally Mac-Only?

1. Microsoft Excel
2. Microsoft Word
3. OpenOffice Writer
4. Internet Explorer

Think you know the answer?

Josh Hendrickson

When you decide to get rid of your smarthome gadgets, you shouldn’t just toss them in the trash, sell them, or give them away. Before you take the products out of your house, you should wipe the data off them.

Smarthome Tech May Contain Personal Data Amazon

Smarthomes are continually changing, and what may be the best tech will be old news tomorrow. Sometimes our devices are replaced by better versions of the same product, like when Amazon released the slimmer Ring Pro. in other cases, you may have jumped into one ecosystem only to find that a different ecosystem emerged that better suited your needs—like a switch from SmartThings to Wink, for example.

No matter the reason, occasionally it’s time to retire older smarthome hardware. You may want to toss it, you may want to give it to family, or you may even want to sell it. But before you do that, you need to properly remove the device from your smarthome system and erase its data. Otherwise, you run the risk of someone else gaining access to your saved credentials. (You should take it to an electronics recycler rather than just tossing it in the trash, though!)

It may be tempting to unplug your voice assistant or smart plug and call it a day, but the truth is those devices may have information about you on them. That could be your location, your network, or even passwords. Even in cases where a device might not contain this kind of information (like some Z-Wave lightbulbs), if your intention is for someone else to use your old gadget, they will run into trouble connecting a used smart device that still retains its old connection information.

Unfortunately, the process for factory resetting your smart devices is as wide and varied as smart devices themselves. Some of your smarthome gear will have a reset button that does the trick. Some of it will require using an app. And some will provide both options. If you’re going to use a reset button, doublecheck that it truly factory resets the device. Routers, for instance, often have reset buttons but those perform a power cycle operation.

How to Factory Reset an Amazon Echo Amazon

Amazon Echo devices retain not only information about your Wi-Fi network, but also what devices connect to it through Bluetooth (such as if you paired your phone). Resetting an Echo is easy, but the exact steps depend on which Echo you have.

If you have a first generation Echo, Echo Plus, or Echo Dot, you will take a different process than other Echo devices. Grab a paperclip and unbend it. Then lift your Echo and find the hole on the bottom. Insert the paperclip until you feel a button depress, then hold the paperclip in for five to eight seconds. You’ll see the light ring turn off, and then turn on. The factory reset is complete, and you should be prompted for setup.

For the Echo Dot Second Generation, the Echo Second Generation, and Echo Plus Second Generation, press and hold the volume down and microphone off buttons for twenty-five seconds. The light ring will turn off and on, and the factory reset is done.

The Echo Dot Third Generation and Echo Input, Echo Auto, and Echo Sub are similar, but in this case, you will press and hold the action button twenty-five seconds.

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What Company Lobbied For A 7.5 Cent Coin?

1. Coca-Cola
2. Walmart
3. Atari
4. Hershey's

Think you know the answer?

Irina Rostokina/Shutterstock

A cast-iron skillet is a great addition to everyone’s kitchen arsenal. We’ve already checked out the best skillets and pans for the job, but how about the best accessories to go alongside your new purchase? Read on to find out more about the best tools for the task.

Cast-iron skillets are pretty straightforward to maintain but that chore becomes even simpler when you have the right equipment to streamline the process. Here, we have a bunch of great items for keeping the pan clean, as well as keeping your hands safe when handling it. Each will make cast-iron skillet ownership that little more satisfying.

Here are the best accessories for your cast-iron skillet.

Steel Spatula: MANNKITCHEN Professional Grade Stainless Steel Spatula ($25) MANNKITCHEN

A spatula is an important tool for safely flipping over your pancakes, hash, or, well, whatever you happen to be cooking. The MANNKITCHEN Professional Grade Stainless Steel Spatula is the spatula for every job. Made of hardened stainless steel, it promises an even surface for lifting.

Its handle is made from a single piece of heat resistant hardwood so you don’t have to suffer, while the stainless steel component of the straight edge means it’s easy to lift, as well as chisel a little if anything happens to get stuck (unlikely as that may be). What more could you need?

Buy on Amazon Pan Scraper: Pampered Chef Nylon Pan Scrapers Set of 3 ($7) Pampered Chef

It’s not a glamorous part of cast-iron skillet ownership but it’s important to scrape the pans clean in a way that doesn’t scratch or damage them. The Pampered Chef Nylon Pan Scrapers Set of 3 removes stubborn, baked on messes from stainless steel, non-stick cookware, and glass, as well as on your skillet.

Such versatility means it’ll fast become one of your favorite cleaning tools. It’s pretty durable and sharp, so you won’t have much trouble scraping off past meals.

Buy on Amazon Pan Scrubber: NYKKOLA Cast Iron Cleaner ($8) NYKKOLA

A chainmail scrubber, the NYKKOLA Cast Iron Cleaner is made from the best kind of stainless steel so it offers superior corrosion resistance. Simply use it to scrub around the surface of your pans, and watch the stubborn dirt lift off. It’s big enough to cover a lot of the surface area, so you won’t have to go around the pan too many times.

Sure, it’s going to look a little disgusting after you’ve finished up, but its many holes mean it’s easy to wash up afterwards. There’s a loop at the top so you can easily hang it on a peg for later use. It also works well on stainless steel, copper, Pyrex, and other non-coated cookware.

Buy on Amazon Alternative Scrubbing Surface: FlavorMaster Chainmail Scrubber ($10) FlavorMaster

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Wi-Fi cameras rely on infrared (IR) for night vision. But IR bounces off glass—so, if you’re using your camera behind a window, you’ll only see a blurry reflection at night. Here’s how to get a clear image.

Night Vision and Window Panes Don’t Mix Josh Hendrickson

Night vision on most Wi-Fi cameras uses a relatively simple trick of physics. One or more IR LEDs blast out as much light as possible, acting as a floodlight. Because infrared isn’t visible to the human eye, you don’t even notice, and your camera can use that IR light to record video at night.

If you’ve ever tried to point your Wi-Fi camera out a window, you’ve probably found that it works perfectly during the day. But, at night, it’s a blurry mess of video, showing mostly just the reflection of your camera and smears of light.

This is a Wyze Cam with NightVision on and exterior lights off.

This completely defeats the point of even having a security camera. If your camera did see someone outside, you’d never know what they looked like or what they were doing.

If you want your camera’s night vision to work through glass, you’ll want to provide exterior lighting. You can use either traditional outdoor lighting or IR lighting. You must also either turn off or cover the camera’s built-in IR lighting. Finally, you will either have to move the camera as close as possible to the window or angle it slightly instead of using a direct-on angle.

The best thing to do, of course, is to use an outdoor camera. An outdoor camera will bypass issues with glass and still benefit from most of these suggestions. But, if you can’t use an outdoor camera for any reason, consider these options to improve the video you do get from your indoor camera.

Consider Leaving the Porch Light On

The first goal in gaining a better picture is to take the built-in IR lights out of the equation. Traditional lights are the simplest way to accomplish that goal. If you have a porch light, leave it on. You can then turn off night mode on your camera.

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Which Classic Boardgame Has Been Solved For All Possible Outcomes?

1. Chess
2. Backgammon
3. Go
4. Checkers

Think you know the answer?

Did you just close a Safari tab or window? No problem—you can get it back. Like all modern web browsers, Apple’s Safari for Mac can reopen a closed tab or window—as long as you weren’t browsing privately.

Tabbed browsing is perhaps the best thing to come to the internet since Keyboard Cat, and if you’re anything like us you probably have more tabs open than you can ever remember looking at. That unfortunately sometimes leads to what we like to call “The Purge”—a cleanup of tabs that invariably has an unfortunate side effect—closing the one tab that you absolutely wanted to keep open.

Thankfully, someone at Apple thought about that and there’s a handy dandy menu bar option that will return that recently closed tab to its former glory. There’s even a keyboard shortcut, too!

There is, of course, one caveat to consider here. If you’re browsing away in private browsing mode, and then close a tab, you’re out of luck. No amount of spamming the right buttons or key combinations is going to bring it back. Sorry! Everything is discarded as soon as you close a private browsing tab. That ensures your private browsing stays private.

With that out of the way, here’s how to get your lost tab back.

Restoring the Last Closed Tab in Safari

If you just closed a tab and realized that you shouldn’t have, getting it back is a case of two mouse clicks.

To get started, click the “History” option in the menu bar at the top of the screen in Safari.

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Amazon

Pi Day is in the past, but there are still some great deals floating around. If you’ve had your eyes on a premium laptop, a curved monitor, or a portable battery, then now’s the time to drop some cash.

Right now, there are some great deals on Amazon, Best Buy, and the Microsoft store. Today’s a great day to buy a new keyboard, portable battery, board game, curved ultrawide monitor, or a heavily discounted LG Gram 13″ Laptop. Just a week ago, we gave the LG Gram a 9/10 rating, so you can imagine why we’re excited about a $372 discount.

Laptops and Desktop Accessories

If you missed our great Pi Day deals, then today might be your last chance to get a cheap premium laptop. Now’s also a good time to grab a new curved monitor, or the SteelSeries Apex 150 keyboard.

• LG Gram 13″ Laptop (i7, 8GB, 256GB SSD), $1028 ($372 off) [Amazon]
• Microsoft Surface Pro 6 Tablet (i5, 8GB, 128GB SSD), $800 ($260 off) [Best Buy]
• Dell XPS 13 (i7, 8GB, 256GB SSD), $1000 ($700 off) [Microsoft]
• SteelSeries Apex 150 Keyboard, $39 ($10 off) [Amazon]
• Acer 34″ Curved Ultrawide Gaming Monitor, $400 ($180 off) [Newegg]

Board Games and Video Games

Want to amp up your game night? Buy a discounted board game, or start playing the Borderlands franchise on Steam. If you only look at one thing in this section, look at One Night Ultimate Werewolf. It’s a fantastic easy-to-teach social/party game—and it comes with a free iOS/Android app that runs the game for you so nobody gets stuck moderating the game instead of playing.

• One Night Ultimate Werewolf (Board Game), $10 ($15 off) [Amazon]
• Azul (Board Game), $19 ($20 off) [Amazon]
• Santorini (Board Game), $17 ($12 off) [Amazon]
• Steam Sale on the Borderlands Franchise and DLC, (50-75% off) [Steam]
• 12 Month Xbox Live Membership, $40 ($20 off) [CDKeys]
• 10,000 Amazon Game Coins, $61 ($20 off with coupon code C6OEWZCMMP) [Amazon]

Everything Else

Need a portable battery, a mini projector, or a new smart home kit? We’ve got the deals for you.

• Echo Dot (3rd Gen) with Sengled 2 Smart Bulb Kit $70 ($20 off) [Amazon]
• Samsung 10,000 mAh Battery Pack, $16 ($19 off) [Samsung]
• Ultimate Ears BOOM 2 in BrainFreeze Blue, $83 ($68 off) [Amazon]
• Nebula Mars Lite Portable Projector, $224 ($126 off) [Amazon]
• Jackery Power Station 160, $110 ($29 off) [Amazon]
• RAVPower USB C 20,100 mAh Portable Charger, $48 ($12 off with coupon code LKWZQ4C3) [Amazon]

Remember, good deals can’t last forever. Don’t wait until the last minute to scoop up those board games, or to buy that super cool laptop.

If you’re collaborating on a document with several other people, there is always a chance that the content you wanted to remain untouched gets edited. Protect yourself from human error by protecting specific parts of a Word document from editing.

Protecting Specific Content in a Word Document

So you’re getting ready to send out your Word doc, but you want to make sure that certain parts of the document remain untouched. Instead of leaving this up to trust, you can take advantage of a feature that allows making specific parts of your content read-only, rendering them un-editable.

First, go ahead and open the Word document to be protected and head over to the “Review” tab.

Next, click the “Restrict Editing” button.

The “Restrict Editing” pane will appear on the right side of Word. Here, tick the “Allow only this type of editing in the document” checkbox.

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OHishiapply / Shutterstock

While you could host a game server on your PC, sometimes it’s more convenient to have a cloud server running 24/7. Game server hosting can be surprisingly cheap, especially if you’re just looking to play with a few friends.

Dedicated vs. Shared Hosting

Dedicated hosting is when you rent out an entire rack of a server—or, often, a portion of that rack’s resources. You’ll often be given detailed specifications about what exactly you’re buying, and you’ll generally be paying a bit extra compared to shared hosting.

Shared hosting runs multiple instances of a game server across multiple server racks, allowing the hosting provider to save money and provide a low price. However, it’s not always clear what specs you’re getting, and you can run into congestion issues if your server suffers heavy load.

If you’re looking to set up a server for you and a couple of friends, we recommend you save some money and get shared hosting. If you’re looking to have a lot of people playing on your server, you should try shared hosting first and upgrade to dedicated hosting if it’s necessary.

Depending on what provider you buy your server from, you may also get managed hosting, which is when the provider builds tools to set up, configure, and manage your server automatically, such as automatic restarts and easy mod installing.

Shared Hosting Options Nodecraft

All of the options listed here are also managed hosting. You won’t have to worry about setup too much, as it should be relatively straightforward or just handled for you completely.

• Gameservers.com: Very cheap servers for small use cases, as you’re charged by the number of player slots you want. A decent control panel, but no DDOS protection.
• Low.ms: A compromise between dedicated and shared hosting, while still providing a managed control panel for most games. You’ll know the specs you’re getting, but you’ll have to pay extra for a dedicated thread. They also put branding in your server title, which costs $2 to remove, but you might be fine with it if you’re trying to save some money.
• Nodecraft: A shared hosting provider that doesn’t charge per slot. They have different tiers, segmented by RAM and the number of instances you can run. In fact, you can host multiple servers on one tier, RAM permitting.

Whatever option you go with, make sure it has a managed control panel and supports the game you want.

Dedicated Hosting Options

Dedicated hosting allows you a lot more freedom and control. You can host multiple game servers off one box, as well multiple different games, and since you have full access to the box, you can even host a web server to run a website off the server, or anything else non-game related.

• OVH: Only two locations, Canada and France, but offering very powerful servers for the price. If you don’t care about having the latest gen hardware, you can rent their old equipment from their sister company SYS. Both will be completely fresh servers, and you’ll have to set everything up yourself.
• Gameservers.com: Though this company focuses on shared hosting, it also offers dedicated servers as an option. You’ll even get the managed control panel, though this is optional and will restrict your access to only the control panel.
• Amazon Web Services: More of a premium, enterprise option. If you’re a game developer looking to host servers, AWS GameLift is worth looking into. If you’re looking for a single, generic server, EC2 will be more suitable. And if you’re a student, you can get $100 in free credit with a .EDU email.

Setting Up a Dedicated Server

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Qustodio

One of the biggest pitfalls of most parental control software is limited to a particular device or platform. Qustodio overcomes that by working across all your child’s devices.

How (and Where) It Works

If you’ve done any legwork researching different content filtering and app management solutions for your family, you’ve likely discovered something quickly. There are a ton of solutions that are pretty limited in scope. There are solutions that lock down web browsing, that lock down a single computer, or that work very well on a tablet or phone, but don’t work at all on computers—and then there are solutions that are some combination thereof.

Single device content filtering and monitoring might have worked well 10+ years ago when the only thing you were trying to keep an eye at home was a single computer. Today, however, many families have multiple devices and it’s not atypical for a child to have a computer, phone, and tablet depending on their age and the amount of tech in their household. If the goal is to keep your kids away from adult content and keep an eye on their app usage, then clearly a PC-only solution isn’t worth anything if they can just pick up their phone or tablet and do whatever they want unsupervised.

Above all else, this is where Qustodio, a flexible content filtering and application management tool, really shines. While the free account is limited to a single device (perfect for testing if the product will meet your needs or if you only need to secure a single device like your child’s iPad) a premium account allowed for cross-platform functionality across multiple devices. Armed with a premium plan—$54.95 a year for 5 devices, $96.95 for 10, or $137.95 for 15—you can get the same protection on your child’s computer (Windows or macOS), Android and iOS devices, and even Kindle tablets.

Not only does it work on all those different operating systems and devices, but it works across the entire device. No matter what app or web browser your child uses, the Qustodio system covers it. Using a different web browser, private browsing mode, or other workarounds that would defeat other more simplistic systems won’t work.

On top of all that, Qustodio also offers additional features like application use time tracking, application blocking (with rules and time settings such as restricting games or video apps during homework hours or bedtime hours, for example), social media monitoring (currently limited to just Facebook), mobile location tracking, and, on Android only, SMS monitoring and a panic button.

Qustodio achieves all this by combining on-device applications with administrative profiles for those devices to control access to restricted content and applications in a more granular way than many other tools can achieve. Let’s take a look at how to set it up, what daily use looks like, and what we thought of the whole experience.

Setup

Despite how sophisticated the system is under the hood, the setup process itself is extremely easy. That’s how it should be: you shouldn’t need to have a degree in computer science to secure your children’s devices.

Every Qustodio setup has two parts: the parental control account and the application installed on the child’s device(s).  To get started you simply need to create a parent account either on the website or using the control app on your phone or tablet.

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Apple’s Music app has a built-in equalizer setting on iPhone and iPad. You can use these EQ settings whether you’re an Apple Music subscriber, you buy songs from iTunes, or you listen to music files you’ve transferred over manually.

While there is, unfortunately, no option to set up your own EQ configuration, Apple provides many different presets. Whether you want to get an added bass boost or you want to hear the vocals of your favorite song a little more clearly, there should be an EQ for every taste. Oddly, these aren’t visible within the Music app itself but fear not. We’ll show you where they are.

How to Select an EQ Preset for the Music App

To get started, open the Settings app and scroll down to “Music” before tapping it.

Next, scroll down and then tap “EQ.”

Here you will see a list of presets, all of which make your music sound slightly different depending on the settings Apple used when creating them. To select an EQ, tap it.

On iOS 12.1.4, the available options are Acoustic, Bass Booster, Bass Reducer, Classical, Dance, Deep, Electronic, Flat, Hip Hop, Jazz, Late Night, Latin, Loudness, Lounge, Piano, Pop, R & B, Rock, Small Speakers, Spoken Word, Treble Booster, Treble Reducer, and Vocal Booster.

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There was a lot of movement in the Android world the week of March 8th thru 15th. The Q beta landed with all sorts of new features, Vivo showed off a portless phone, and Google killed a bunch of services.

Android Q Feature Roundup

Let’s start with the biggest Android news for the week, shall we? The Q beta landed for all Pixel devices, and it’s jam-packed with all sorts of new features. Android Police and 9to5Google both did an incredible job of covering all the new stuff as it showed up—here’s everything so far.

• The Android Q Beta is here. For Pixel phones, anyway. [Android Developers Blog]
• The word on the street is that Q is also going to hit even more devices during the beta and developer previews this year. [Android Police]
• With the upcoming demise of Google+, the Android Beta community has been moved to Reddit. [Android Police]
• Android Q has a built-in screen recorder! But apparently, it’s broken right now. [9to5Google, Android Police]
• There are more haptic feedback vibrations in Android Q. Okay then! [9to5Google]
• Foldable phones are coming. Q is ready. [Android Police]
• The always-on display in Q got a bit of a makeover. [9to5Google]
• The Files app is all new, with an updated look and some nifty new features. [Android Police]
• Google is cracking down on undocumented APIs to make Q more secure. [Android Police]
• The sharing menu is getting faster and less crappy. Finally! [9to5Google]
• Thanks to some ART enhancements, apps launching should be faster. [Android Police]
• Android Q has a desktop mode! Which is…kind of confusing. Why does Android Q have a desktop mode? [XDA Developers]
• Pixel Launcher on Android Q will let you replace removed items with a new undo feature. [Android Police]
• Dual SIM and standby support on the Pixel 3 is live in Q. [XDA Developers]
• There’s a little bell icon for new notifications now, so you can tell which one just pinged. That’s useful! [9to5Google]
• You can share your Wi-Fi password with a QR code. [Android Police]
• Remaining battery shows an estimated time in the shade now. [Android Police]
• You can only dismiss notifications by swiping to the right in Q—the left is the action menu. Oof. [9to5Google]
• So many new privacy features. [Android Police]
• Accent colors and new icons shapes are tucked into Q’s Developer Options menu. Are more customization options incoming? [Android Police]
• You can switch the audio source from the notification shade. [9to5Google]
• Rounded corners and the notch show up in screenshots in Q. Yuck. [Android Police]
• There are more options when you long-press a notification, which is neat. [Android Police]
• Third-party camera apps have access to depth effects and more. [Engadget]
• Call screening and emergency information apps are now part of Android’s Default Apps menu. Third-party options don’t exist yet, so this is telling. [Android Police]
• Background clipboard access is blocked in Android Q, which probably means bad things for clipboard managers. [XDA Developers]
• Smart Home and IoT connections are getting simpler in Q. [Android Police]
• Battery Saver is more dynamic in Q, with the option to automatically activate based on usage. [Android Police]
• There’s a new series of options called “Feature Flags” that lets users tweak all sorts of stuff. [9to5Google]
• You can see all your disabled notifications in one place in Q. [Android Police]
• It looks like Google is planning six betas in total, with the final release in Q3 of 2019. [XDA Developers]
• In what’s sure to make some users upset, the Magisk dev says that Q could mean bad things for root access. Uh-oh. [9to5Google]

Vivo’s Portless Phone Shows Its Stuff

Chinese phone manufacturer Vivo showed off an absolutely gorgeous portless concept phone to a group of writers in Hong Kong. The shell of the phone is a unibody piece of glass—apparently, Vivo had to come up with a special production method to form, cut, grind, and polish a single piece of glass for the body of this phone. It’s wild.

You can read more about this forward-thinking handset at The Verge and Engadget.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Updates (And More)

All sorts of stuff happened with Samsung’s newest flagship this week. Some good, some bad. Some just neat. Here’s you go.

• If you hate the S10’s hole punch camera cutout, these are the wallpapers for you. [XDA Developers]
• Samsung pushes the one-handed gesture navigation app from One UI to the Play Store. This means it can be updated independently of the OS. Nice. [Android Police]
• S10 owners can get six months of free Spotify Premium. The downside? Spotify is pre-installed on all S10s. You win some, you lose some. [The Verge]
• Speaking of free stuff for S10 owners, they also get four months of YouTube Premium. Yay for no ads! [9to5Google]
• In slightly less pleasant news, the S10’s face unlock feature easily can be fooled by a picture because Samsung removed the retina scanner. Ouch. [Android Police]
• Verizon started pushing Android 9 Pie with One UI to the Note 9. Better late than never, I guess. [Android Police]
• Similarly, Android Pie started hitting the Galaxy A+ this week, too. [XDA Developers]
• Samsung wants to make a “perfect full-screen” phone with no cutouts or notches. Interesting. [Engadget]

What’s New with Google This Week

Google announced some stuff, killed some stuff, and maybe killed some other stuff. This is everything that isn’t the Android Q Beta.

• Finally, Google released an Android Q feedback app. [9to5Google]
• Google Fit is getting more battery efficient on Wear OS. All three of you who use Fit and Wear OS better be grateful. [9to5Google]
• Google Home Hub and other Assistant smart displays finally got continued conversations. Finally. [Android Police]
• Google teased its upcoming game streaming service. It’s going to announce plans at GDC next week. Exciting stuff. [Google on Twitter]
• Speaking of, Google filed a patent for a game controller. [The Verge]
• If you subscribe to Google Fi and bring your existing number and device, you get a free month of service. That’s better than a not free month of service if you ask me. [Android Police]
• Deaths: Allo, goo.gl URL shortener, Inbox, and Google+. RIP, those things. [9to5Google]
• Third-party Google Assistant speakers are getting phone calls. [Android Police]
• Google shut down part of its hardware division focused on tablets and laptops, which is troubling. [9to5Google]
• If you use Google One and pay for 2TB of storage, Google probably wants to give you a free Home Mini. [Android Police]
• Google’s Lookout app for the visually impaired is now available for download…assuming you have a Pixel device, anyway. [The Verge, Google Play]
• The Drive mobile apps got a facelift to match the web UI. It’s pretty. [Engadget]
• Google Maps is getting more features from Waze, like speed trap and crash reporting. Nice. [9to5Google]
• Good news: An adware app had almost 150 million downloads before Google realized it and pulled it from the Play Store. Also, I think I need to work on my definition of “good news.” [The Verge]
• Chrome’s data saver on mobile now works on HTTPS sites, which is like 80% of the web at this point. I think that really is good news. [Android Police]
• Shared Libraries on Photos moved to a more obscure place that still kinda makes sense? [Android Police]

Device Updates, App Updates, and Everything Else

There were a couple of major app updates this week, along with some minor device updates. Also, RED said some stuff about the Hydrogen One that pretty much confused everyone.

• Pushbullet got a major update that brings bundled notification, quick replies, and some other stuff. [Android Police]
• Facebook is testing a blindingly-white interface in its Android app. I’m sure that’s going to go over well if it gets released. [XDA Developers]
• Spotify is testing an option to let users disable its dumbest feature: canvas videos. Good. [9to5Google]
• Microsoft’s My Phone feature in Windows 10 is getting screen mirroring. [The Verge]
• The Xiami Redmi Note 7 got its first MIUI update, which brings a low-light camera mode. [XDA Developers]
• The NVIDIA SHIELD got a small update that brings Xbox Elite Controller support and some other stuff. [9to5Google]
• You know the little dinosaur you see in Chrome when it’s offline? Well, you can buy a real one now. I need it. [Dead Zebra]
• RED pulled the add-on modules for the Hydrogen One, then said some confusing stuff. [Android Police]
• The Xiaomi Mi 8 got official LineageOS support. [XDA Developers]
• T-Mobile’s OnePlus 6T got RCS messaging. So it begins. [9to5Google]
• Firefox Fenix got its initial release. It looks neat. [Techdows]
• Root Stuff: The 2015 Amazon Fire TV got rooted again. Go modders, go. [XDA Developers]
• Root Stuff: GravityBox can be installed on Android Pie devices running the Xposed framework now. [XDA Developers]
• Some details about Motorola upcoming Razr folding phone leaked. Curiously, it’s said to be using a Snapdragon 710 processor. Weird. [XDA Developers]

That’s a lot of stuff, but that’s how it goes in Google’s world. Something is always happening.