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Logical functions are some of the most popular and useful in Excel. They can test values in other cells and perform actions dependent upon the result of the test. This helps us to automate tasks in our spreadsheets.

How to Use the IF Function

The IF function is the main logical function in Excel and is, therefore, the one to understand first. It will appear numerous times throughout this article.

Let’s have a look at the structure of the IF function, and then see some examples of its use.

The IF function accepts 3 bits of information:

=IF(logical_test, [value_if_true], [value_if_false])

• logical_test: This is the condition for the function to check.
• value_if_true: The action to perform if the condition is met, or is true.
• value_if_false: The action to perform if the condition is not met, or is false.

Comparison Operators to Use with Logical Functions

When performing the logical test with cell values, you need to be familiar with the comparison operators. You can see a breakdown of these in the table below.

Now let’s look at some examples of it in action.

IF Function Example 1: Text Values

In this example, we want to test if a cell is equal to a specific phrase. The IF function is not case-sensitive so does not take upper and lower case letters into account.

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Smart plugs are a really easy and cheap way to start up a smarthome and turn dumb appliances into smart devices, and today you can grab two Eufy smart plugs for just $26.

This is a really solid deal if you’ve been in the market for some smart plugs, and these Anker-owned Eufy models are some of our favorite.

Normally, a two-pack of these sells for around $40, and even just one sells for $23, so it’s like you’re buying one for $23 and getting the second for just $3. Or buying two for just $13 each. Or buying one for $26 and getting the second for free. Or buying one for $25 and getting the second for just $1. Or buying one for $24 and getting the second for just $2. Or buying one for $22 and getting the second for just $4. Or buying one for $21 and getting the second for just $5. Or buying one for $20 and getting the second for just $6. Or buying one for $19 and getting the second for just $7. Or buying one for $18 and getting the second for just $8. Or buying one for $17 and getting the second for just $9. Or buying one for $16 and getting the second for just $10. Or buying one for $15 and getting the second for just $11. Or buying one for $14 and getting the second for just $12—you get the idea. There are a lot of different ways to look at it.

In any case, this is one of the best deals we’ve seen on smart plugs, so we recommend snatching up a pair of these as soon as you can.

Buy on Amazon

Not interested in Amazon or Google’s smart speakers? Maybe you should check out the HomePod, a premium smart speaker by Apple. Right now, Woot is selling it at a hefty discount.

What’s the Apple HomePod? It’s like the Amazon Echo or the Google Home, but with a built-in Siri assistant and a super high-quality speaker. You can use voice commands to tell the HomePod to play music, make calls, or control other smart devices. Really, it’s a smart speaker for Apple fans.

But the most exciting thing about the HomePod isn’t Siri integration, it’s the sound quality. These speakers are made for music. They produce a crisp, high-fidelity sound with deep bass. Not to mention, the HomePod uses spatial awareness to analyze a room’s acoustics and adjusts volume and equalization to fit the room. Neat.

If you forgot that Apple had smart speakers, then you’re not alone. Although the Siri-powered smart speakers have great sound quality and style, they also have a pretty hefty retail price tag, and a lot of would-be buyers have chickened out. But hey, that’s what makes this deal so good. Apple fans can finally buy a HomePod smart speaker for a reasonable price.

Right now, Woot is selling refurbished Apple HomePod speakers for $235 each—that’s a hefty $115 discount. Keep in mind that these HomePods are refurbished, but they have a 90 day warranty through Woot.

Buy From Woot

The Sticky Notes app is part of Windows 10, but it’s also linked to your Microsoft account. You can access your Sticky Notes anywhere you have a web browser or on an Android phone. iPhone and iPad support is coming soon.

RELATED: How to Use Sticky Notes on Windows 10

How to See Sticky Notes on the Web

Windows 10 Sticky Notes syncs all your notes to the cloud and lets you create, view, and manage notes on the web from any computer. Getting there isn’t as straightforward as you might think, though. Searching the internet doesn’t provide a direct link to any Microsoft site. Instead, you have to know where exactly to go.

To access Sticky Notes via the web, you’ll need to be signed into the Sticky Notes app with your Microsoft account. To check, click the gear icon at the top-right corner of the Sticky Notes app on your desktop. If you’re not signed in, click the “Sign In” button at the top of the window. The Sticky Notes app will synchronize your notes with your Microsoft account, so you can access them on the web, on your other Windows 10 PCs, and Android phones.

Fire up your favorite browser, head on over to onenote.com/stickynotes, and sign in to your Microsoft account.

After you’ve signed in, a simple sticky notes homepage loads and a list of synced notes appears along the left side panel. Clicking a note displays the full contents of it in the pane to the right.

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Swaddling isn’t just some old fashioned practice or a cute way to bundle a baby up for adorable portraits. It’s a time-tested trick to help babies sleep more soundly. Here are some great swaddles to help you get started.

Why do babies sleep better when they’re swaddled? After months in the womb with little room to stretch out, babies aren’t quite used to all that freedom of movement and if you watch an unswaddled baby sleep they’ll often shoot their arms and legs out, frequently startling themselves awake in the process.

Wrapped up snug in a swaddle they feel more secure with familiar pressure around their bodies and they won’t wake themselves up through their startle-reflex. The reflex can last up to around 4-5 months of age, but the general consensus is that you should swaddle your baby from birth until around 3-4 months of age—4 months is around the age babies are getting strong enough to roll themselves over and it’s important to let them move more freely. But with all things, it depends on your baby and consult your pediatrician if you have any questions.

Now, you can use any small blanket to swaddle a baby but not everybody feels comfortable wrapping a swaddle the old fashioned way with a swaddle blanket. Think of it as like wrapping a really secure and very important burrito, but you’re sleep deprived and the burrito is fighting back (and possibly crying too). It’s far easier to buy a ready-made swaddle that’s designed for you to slip your baby into with minimal effort. To save you the effort, here’s a look at the best baby swaddles out there.

Best Overall: Halo SleepSack Swaddle ($23) Halo

The Halo SleepSack Swaddle is the best general baby swaddle out there. It’s a 3-way adjustable swaddle so it adjusts easily to your baby’s sleep style. You can swaddle them so one or both arms are tucked in, or you can position them so their hands and face are together. Whatever your baby prefers, you can adjust things accordingly.

The material used is made of 100% cotton so it won’t irritate your baby’s skin. Also, there’s an inverted zipper so you can easily change their diaper without needing to unswaddle. It’s a great time saver as well as an effective way to help your child feel comforted and supported.

Buy on Amazon Most Versatile: Aden & Anais Classic Swaddle ($50) Aden & Anais

Ok, so the Aden & Anais Classic Swaddle is a blanket that requires a little input from you. However, it’s incredibly cute and great for multiple different purposes. Made from 100% cotton, it has cute pictures and designs on it that you and your child will love. For $50, you get 4 different swaddles measuring 47″ by 47″. The fabric used is breathable and comfortable muslin, so it’s gentle on your child’s skin as well as cool too.

You can use the blankets for swaddling, tummy time, as well as for burping on, or simply covering the changing table with. It’s a delightful way of swaddling the old fashioned way.

Buy on Amazon Best For ‘Arms Up’: Love to Dream Swaddle UP Original ($30)

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You can find the geographic location of a remote Linux system using open APIs and a simple bash script. Geolocating a server could help you track it in the physical world, ensuring servers are located in regional hotspots.

Each server on the internet has a public-facing IP address. This is either directly assigned to the server, or assigned to a router that sends traffic to that server. IP addresses give us a clue about where that server is located in the world. We can get this geolocation data through two open APIs, provided by ipinfo.co and IP Vigilante and use it to see the city, state, and country associated with a server or other remote system. This doesn’t give you a precise GPS location; it just lets you see the general area of the IP address.

Connect to a Remote System

You’ll be running the following commands on the Linux server or other remote systems you want to geolocate, so you must connect to the server and access a shell on it first. For example, you might connect via SSH. You could run the commands on your local system to find its location, but you probably already know where you are!

Install curl and jq

We need two tools to access the geolocation API: curl to make HTTP requests and  jq to process the JSON data that we get back. Open a terminal and use  apt-get to install these tools on Ubuntu or Debian-based systems. On other Linux distributions, use your Linux distribution’s package installation tool instead.

sudo apt-get install curl jq Find the Server’s Public IP Address

We also need the server’s public IP address before we can get the geolocation data. Use curl to make an API call to ipinfo.io in your terminal window.

curl https://ipinfo.io/ip Get Location Data From The API

Now that we have the public IP of the server, we can make a call to ipvigilante.com’s API to get the geolocation data. Replace <your ip address> with the address that came back in the previous command.

curl https://ipvigilante.com/<your ip address>

Let’s take a closer look at what data we get back from this call:

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Since the dawn of the smart home, the smart hub has been the brains at the center of the operation. But, thanks to Google and Amazon, hubs are less necessary and may soon become a thing of the past.

Hubs Were the Brains of the Smarthome

For a long time, if you wanted control of all your smarthome devices in one place from one app, a smarthome hub was the way to go. Smarthome hubs did the best job of connecting everything from Wi-Fi outlets to Z-wave smart locks. They introduced routines, automation, and a handy dashboard to control everything in one dedicated place. Devices made by different manufacturers could work in tandem when connected to a hub. You weren’t limited to a single brand, or out of luck if your favorite brand didn’t make a particular type of device.

Smarthome hubs also made Z-wave and Zigbee devices truly smart. Without one, you couldn’t control a smart lock remotely, and managing codes was far more difficult. You could monitor a Z-wave or Zigbee device and managed it locally from a dedicated app from the manufacturer, but you needed a hub to extend capability further.

Hubs Do Have Downsides

Unfortunately, the smarthome hub business hasn’t been particularly stable. Lowe’s has abandoned its Iris platform entirely, and there are plenty of other hubs you probably shouldn’t use. The two biggest players in the smarthome hub business, Wink and SmartThings, have gone through buyouts that haven’t been a resounding success.

SmartThings currently requires two different apps to get to all its features and knowing which app to use when is often confusing, which defeats the ‘one app to control them all’ line of thinking entirely.

Wink’s history may even be more fraught, Quirky formerly owned the business but went bankrupt and sold Wink to Flex. Flex, in turn, sold Wink to i.am+, which was founded by Will.iam.

Wink hasn’t announced any new third-party product integrations since September 2017, and the last new product Wink announced (Lookout) came in October 2017. To make matters worse, low stock of the hubs is a frequent issue, as seen in multiple Reddit threads.

Google and Amazon Have Negated the Necessity of Hubs

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What Common Office Supply Staple Is Capable Of Generating X-Ray Radiation?

1. White Out
2. Erasers
3. Toner
4. Scotch Tape

Think you know the answer?

The Mac App Store is in the midst of a revival, with Apple focusing on both it and the apps within it much more since the release of macOS Mojave in 2018. Want to use it more? Here’s how to find all your apps.

It’s easy to forget that the Mac App Store has been around for a good while now, as few people took advantage of it for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it was just an awful app to use, and secondly, developers either never sold their apps via the Mac App Store, or removed them after concluding that either the financial or technological issues it posed were just not worth the effort.

With macOS Mojave, Apple has sought to change all that by helping big-name apps join the Mac App Store and simultaneously giving it a sizeable lick of paint. It also gets much more editorial attention from within Apple now, too, with apps regularly featured to help boost sales. That’s all great for developers, and eventually, it’ll be great for customers, too. That means you might want to venture back into the Mac App Store for the first time in a while, and if that’s the case, you’re going to need to download your old apps, too.

So where exactly do you do that? It’s funny you should ask…

Where to Find All of Your Apps, Including Free Apps

Anything you have previously downloaded from the Mac App Store, whether that was something you bought or was free, can be found in the same place within the newly redesigned Mac App Store. It’s a treasure trove of all you probably forgot all about, but it’s easy enough to find when you know where to go spelunking.

To get started, open the App Store on your Mac and then click the icon that represents your Apple ID. You may need to enter your Apple ID password to progress.

Here you’ll see a list of all of the apps you have downloaded. If you want to re-download one, click the cloud icon beside it. If it’s already installed, you can open it from here, too.

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Samsung

It’s finally here! Samsung’s folding-screen phone, the Next Big Thing that will ignite the imaginations and empty wallets all over the smartphone world! Or, more probably, not.

The Galaxy Fold is an aspirational device, like a flagship supercar or an ultra-rare luxury watch. It’s the phone you drool over, but not the one you buy. Samsung knows this—it’s hard to imagine that they don’t, with a price tag that makes even Apple’s most expensive iPhone look cheap by comparison. And they’re fine with it. Because the Galaxy Fold is a massive gamble from one of the only phone manufacturers that can make it. And however this product cycle plays out, Samsung wins.

Buying the Mustang

Samsung gave the Galaxy Fold pride of place in its pre-Mobile World Congress press event, with both the event’s tagline and the lead position secured for the daring new design. But it isn’t the one that Samsung is actually invested in: that is, obviously, the Galaxy S10. Look no further than the presenters if you need evidence.

The Galaxy Fold was introduced by a vice president of the marketing department. But when Samsung CEO DJ Koh came out, brandishing a brief demo of the Galaxy Fold hardware, it was the Galaxy S10+ that he personally introduced.

Samsung’s CEO personally introduced the Galaxy S10+, not the Galaxy Fold. Samsung

That’s because, this year as every year, Samsung’s going to sell a hell of a lot of Galaxy S phones. Even with the alarming price increases (roughly in step with Samsung’s only major competitor, Apple), carrier promotions and financing options will ease the financial pain of that cool new model. But even someone who might be able to justify a $1000 hit to their budget would be reticent to double it for the Fold.

Want more evidence? The Fold uses a tiny (by modern standards) 4.6-inch front screen, presumably so small on such a large device because Samsung needed every cubic millimeter to cram in other hardware around that interior hinge and massive screen. And even so, the Galaxy Fold isn’t getting the best of Samsung’s newest doohickeys, aside from its massive interior screen.

Ultrasonic fingerprint reader integrated into the screen? Nope, it has a side-mounted reader, like a phone from eight years ago. Reverse wireless charging that can give your Galaxy Buds a boost? Nope, not mentioned at all. While the S10 has a maximum of a terabyte of onboard storage, the Galaxy Fold is limited to 512GB, despite a massive 12GB of RAM. The phone doesn’t even get the Galaxy S10’s signature new feature, the “hole punch” for the camera—the interior screen just uses a massive cutout for its dual cameras.

Samsung

So what does all of this mean? It means that Samsung isn’t concerned with making the Galaxy Fold the be-all, end-all smartphone in every possible measure. Because it doesn’t need to be. The S10+ plus is the phone they’re marketing to enthusiasts, to people who want something on par with (or better than) the latest iPhone or Pixel. By contrast, the Galaxy Fold is a classic aspirational product: the one you want on everyone’s mind, even if no one can afford it. Or even justify it.

Think about this in terms of cars. If you’re a car buff, you know about the Ford GT, the Dodge Viper, the Nissan “Skyline” GT-R. Those are the cars you drool over, maybe even take a test drive of the dealership’s loaner if you’re feeling daring. But even if you could scrape together the monthly payments, you know you’d regret it the first time you tried to actually put a full load of groceries in the trunk, or the third time you filled up the gas tank in a week.

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dbrand

That nagging voice in your head is right. Your phone case is bulky and annoying, and that gaming laptop that you bought is uglier than sin. But don’t worry, now’s the perfect time to try a dbrand skin.

Right now, dbrand is selling all of their skins at a 20% discount, including their cool new Swarm skin. If you’ve never heard of dbrand, then you should probably catch up to speed before this sale ends.

dbrand is the leader in customizable adhesive skins. The company sells skins for cellphones, tablets, laptops, game consoles, and even headphones. If you have any electronics around the house (don’t lie to me), then there’s a chance that dbrand sells a skin for it.

We aren’t talking about the gross decals that you put on your Nokia phone a decade ago, we’re talking about great products that are clean, stylish, and strong. dbrand’s adhesive skins can provide an alternative to bulky phone cases, and they can turn your boring looking game console into something cool or sophisticated.

Buy From dbrand

Layla

Traditional mattresses are slowly but surely being replaced by easy-to-ship, inexpensive foam mattresses. But you shouldn’t settle for the first foam mattress that you see, find something comfortable! We’re here to help.

It can be difficult to shop online for a mattress. Since you can’t test each mattress that you see on the internet, you need to take the time to consider your mattress needs. Do you like a deep, soft mattress? Or do you want something more supportive? Maybe you like to sleep on something that’s as cold and dense as a tile floor (I do, but, outside of Korea, good luck finding a stone bed like that).

A good way to figure out your mattress needs is to think about the mattresses of your past. How did they disappoint you, and what did you like about them? What would have made them better?

Even when you’ve figured out what kind of foam mattress you’re looking for, it can still be difficult to navigate through the complicated world of online mattress buying. That’s why we’ve taken the time to find the best premium foam mattress, for everybody’s needs.

Layla Dual Firmness Memory Foam Mattress ($1,099) Layla

Some people need a foam mattress that can do it all, and that mattress might just be the Layla. It’s a flippable mattress—one side if soft, and the other is firm. Both sides of the Layla mattress are made from a copper infused gel foam, which keeps you comfy and cool at night. And unlike some foam mattresses, the Layla can work with adjustable foundations, so you can prop yourself up or spread yourself out in whatever direction you choose.

This mattress is a bit pricey, but it offers a soft and a firm side — it’s like buying two mattresses for the price of one. People that have a love-hate relationship with their mattress might get a lot out of the Layla, as you can choose between a soft or firm mattress depending on your mood or changing needs. This mattress is also great for a guest room because it can be flipped to suit anybody’s preference—how’s that for some over the top hospitality.

Buy on Amazon LUCID Plush Bamboo Charcoal and Aloe Infused Mattress ($400)

If you’re looking for an affordable, ultra plush, odor-eliminating mattress, then you should check out the LUCID infused mattress. It’s made from a soft memory foam that can pull you deep into a wonderful sleep. And unlike some soft foam mattresses, the LUCID is firm around the edges, so you won’t be misshapen or hard to sit on.

But you’re not here for the firm edges, you’re here for the odor-elimination. The LUCID’s foam interior is infused with a blend of bamboo charcoal and aloe, which will neutralize whatever smells you bring to bed with you. That’s a pretty novel selling point, but unfortunately, if your back demands a very firm mattress you’ll have to keep looking.

Buy on Amazon Nectar Firm Gel Memory Foam Mattress ($699)

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AirPods are one of Apple’s most beloved new products. But, if you love them so much that you use them every day, expect the irreplaceable batteries to only last a few years at most.

RELATED: The Best Truly Wireless Earbuds (That Aren't AirPods)

AirPods have been on the market for a little over two years now. Throughout the last few months, we’ve been seeing more and more complaints of battery life issues with AirPods—mostly from users who’ve been using theirs for hours on end every day. With that much use, battery life will degrade in a matter of a couple of years. Unfortunately, that just means you’ll be throwing out your AirPods and buying a new pair.

Discarding your AirPods may sound extreme, but the batteries in the earpieces and the charging case cannot be replaced. Once your AirPods can no longer hold a significant charge, into the garbage they go.

AirPods Weren’t Designed to Be Repaired

First off, the reason that you can’t just replace the batteries in these things is that AirPods weren’t designed to be repaired in the first place. And no, it’s not that Apple just makes them extremely difficult to repair. Rather, AirPods aren’t designed to be repaired, period—if they break or the battery degrades to an unusable state, you’ll be throwing them out and buying a new pair. Sorry.

Just have a look at iFixit’s teardown of a pair of AirPods. Everything is glued together, and you can’t even remove the battery without destroying the earpiece. The same goes for the charging case. On their blog, iFixit says that “All in all, accessing any component—including the batteries in the case and in the ‘Pods—is impossible without total destruction.”

iFixit

Apple does offer repair services for AirPods, but we can’t imagine how Apple is repairing them. They’re probably just replacing AirPods with new ones, because there’s no way Apple’s “battery service” involves actually replacing the battery in an earpiece. It isn’t possible.

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Microsoft offers desktop and server versions of Windows. At first glance Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 look similar, but each has different uses. Windows 10 excels at everyday use, while Windows Server manages many computers, files, and services.

Windows 10 and Windows Server Share Similar Code

If you load up a clean copy of Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016, it would be easy to confuse the two at first. They can have the same desktop, same start button, and even the same task view button. They use the same kernel and can feasibly run the same software. You can, for instance, install Google Chrome or Microsoft Office on both.

But the similarities stop there. Microsoft designed Windows 10 for use as a desktop you sit in front of, and Windows Server as a server (it’s right there in the name) that runs services people access across a network. While Windows Server does have a desktop option, Microsoft recommends installing Windows Server without a Graphical User Interface (or removing it), leaving just a command line to work which reduces the overhead needed to run the server. This includes a push to choose Nano Server, which drops the GUI and local login capabilities in exchange for using far less space than the standard Server install.

Windows Server Includes Server Software

If you have the GUI enabled, moments after Windows Server loads, a Server Manager program launches showing the first distinct difference in the two Operating Systems. Here you can add on server-specific features like Windows Deployment services, DHCP services, and Active Directory Domain Services. These features allow deployment of an OS remotely to other machines, the creation of static IP address for client machines, control of a network domain for joining other computers to a domain, and creating domain users. Features like these aren’t available for Windows 10 natively, although you could install third-party software like the Apache web server.

Also, Windows Server supports features like SMB Direct for faster file sharing, greater support for Resilient File System, the only way to get similar features without Server is to use Windows 10 Pro for Workstations.

Servers are designed to work in conjunction as well, so you may have one server fulfilling one or two of the roles above, and another server taking on other roles to spread the work.

Windows Server Supports Higher-End Hardware

Windows Server also supports more powerful hardware. While Windows 10 Pro has a max limit of 2 TB of RAM, Windows Server allows for 24 TB. A desktop user is unlikely even to consider such a large amount of RAM, but servers can make good use of their greater RAM capacity, between managing many users, computers, and potential VMs through Hyper-V.

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Google Drive, compared to the attention services like Dropbox and iCloud get, seems to just sit out in the wings hardly looked at. But, much to my surprise, it’s a fantastic service with flexible backup options.

About six months ago I started looking for a backup service. Not just any old cloud storage service: one that could store the weekly backups from my massive desktop PC, holding a decade’s worth of photos, documents, videos, and even more exotic, larger files like virtual machines.

I settled on Google Drive, AKA the new “Google One,” as it’s sometimes branded for consumers. After trying out the general consumer tiers from Dropbox, Box.com, Microsoft’s OneDrive, and a handful of others. For the specific goal of backing up hundreds of gigabytes at once while preserving the file and directory structure of my desktop, while costing as little as possible, it met my needs perfectly.

I think I’m not the only one in this situation, and others would benefit from some head-to-head comparison of paid options. So, without further ado, here are the reasons I settled on Google Drive for my cloud backup system.

Easy File Management

When you install Google Drive’s desktop component, blandly titled “Backup and Sync from Google,” it’s all pretty straightforward. Log into the service, pick a primary folder location on your drive, and start downloading things from the cloud as the initial sync begins. But then you get to this page in the small program:

See that option to add external files to your account? It’s an obvious feature…but one that’s actually very rare, as these backup services go. Dropbox doesn’t do it: everything you want to put on Dropbox’s cloud drive has to be within its specific folder. Microsoft OneDrive, Box.com, and Apple’s iCloud don’t do it: ditto. For all of them, even if you’re paying for terabytes of space, you need to keep all your synced items in a single folder.

That’s a problem for me, since I use a speedy SSD for my desktop’s primary storage drive and a massive, cheap hard drive for backups and other space-hogging files. Google Drive allows me to keep a “primary” folder of synced cloud items on the desktop—a sort of quick “pocket” for frequently-used files that I often access from multiple devices—while also syncing my gigantic backup folder to the cloud.

Clearly I’m not the only one.

To get the same thing done in the other services I tried, I’d have to either move my entire cloud folder to the big, slow hard drive (not ideal for frequently-used Photoshop templates), or sync files back and forth between the drives. That puts one more moving part in my setup, between my backup program (Cobian 11) and the cloud storage service itself. I tried to make it work with Dropbox and OneDrive, using tools like Boxifier or Microsoft Synctoy… and at one point managed to make a recursive backup system that kept backing up my SSD over and over again until the entire hard drive was full. iCloud and OneDrive offer desktop and document folder syncing, but still can’t add any other external folders or drives.

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One camera feature a lot of photographers underuse is the Live View screen on the back. While it’s slower to line up a shot with Live View rather than just looking through the viewfinder, there are a few advantages. Let’s look at how you can use the Live View screen to take better photos.

See the Whole Image

Have you ever taken a photo looking through the viewfinder where you carefully cropped out some distraction on the very edge of the frame then, when you looked at the photo later, whatever that distraction was is still on the edge of the image? The reason for that is your camera’s viewfinder only shows most of the image. Generally, it’s about 95% (or 98% on better cameras). Here’s what that looks like.

While it’s not normally a huge deal, it does mean that you’ll sometimes need to crop away otherwise good pixels to get rid of a distraction you didn’t see in the viewfinder. With the live view screen, you see the whole image all the time.

See How Things Will Really Look

Not only do you see the whole image, but you also better see things how they’ll look in the final image. The viewfinder shows you the light that’s entering your camera and bouncing straight off the mirror to your eye. So that enough light gets through, the aperture is kept wide open. You won’t see if your image is correctly exposed or how the depth of field looks—at least until you press the DOF Preview button.

RELATED: How to Nail Exposure on Location When You Take Photographs

With the live view screen, your camera displays how the photo will actually look—or at least, a very good approximation of it. With longer shutter speeds, the live view screen won’t show any of the motion blur.

Zoom in to Get Focus

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BMW Group

Self-driving cars have been on our minds for a while now, and manufacturers seem to be making progress every day. But when will you have a self-driving car in your driveway?

Well, the answer is a bit complicated. To answer it, we need to understand where we are with self-driving cars right now, and what steps we need to take to make fully autonomous cars a reality in the future.

When is a Car Fully Autonomous?

According to SAE International standards, autonomous cars are rated with a “level” on a scale from 0 to 5. Level 0 cars have no autonomy and must be controlled by a human at all times. Level 5 cars are fully autonomous and don’t require any help from a human to operate.

NHTSA/SAE

The car that you’re driving right now is, more than likely, a Level 1 autonomous vehicle. It has cruise control features, and it might even have a backup camera. But there’s a chance that you’re driving a Level 2 or Level 3 semi-autonomous car, like a Tesla, a Cadillac CT6, a Mercedes-Benz E-Class, or a Volvo S90. These cars have features like Auto Pilot or Super Cruise, which allow you to take your hands off the wheel while your car maintains a steady speed and changes lanes.

Okay, glorified cruise control is super cool, but you’re trying to buy a fully self-driving car. Are there any Level 4 or Level 5 autonomous cars on the market? The answer is a resounding “no,” but you could find yourself in a genuine self-driving car very soon.

RELATED: What Are the Different Self-Driving Car “Levels” of Autonomy?

2019 is the Year of Level 4 Autonomous Cars

We haven’t talked about Level 4 autonomous vehicles yet, but they’re an important step in the journey to self driving cars. The dividing line between Level 4 and Level 5 autonomous cars is, essentially, flexibility. While Level 5 autonomous cars can traverse anywhere on a whim and safely maneuver through novel locations, Level 4 cars are stuck in predetermined areas, like a city or a state. Level 4 cars are also fed roadmaps and travel data that make everything super easy and safe. While Level 5 cars are comparable to hyper-aware human drivers, Level 4 cars are comparable to a near-blind person walking the streets of a familiar city.

That’s why Level 4 autonomous cars are being built specifically for driverless ride-sharing and delivery services, not for the retail car market. These cars run on a predetermined track, but they’re capable of maneuvering between lanes and avoiding collisions with cars or pedestrians. They’re reliable, safe, and good for collecting data that will be useful for Level 5 cars in the future. Manufacturers are already using Level 4 autonomous cars in some cities, and there’s a decent chance that you’ve seen (or been inside of) a Level 4 autonomous car.

Waymo

Waymo, the self-driving car company that was founded by Google, is one of the forerunners of Level 4 self-driving cars. The company has been working on autonomous cars for almost a decade, and Waymo vehicles are currently used for ride sharing (by a select group of people) in Chandler, Arizona and San Francisco, California. Residents of the Metro Phoenix area that want free rides in a Waymo autonomous taxi can sign up for an Early Rider program right now, but spaces are limited, so don’t spend too much time thinking.

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What Animal Was Used To Make The Sound Of The Star Wars TIE Fighter?

1. Cobra
2. Elephant
3. Wombat
4. Ant Eater

Think you know the answer?

Samsung

At today’s Unpacked event, Samsung finally and formally unveiled its long-rumored folding Galaxy phone. The Galaxy Fold (natch) uses a 4.6-inch exterior screen and a folding, seamless 7.3-inch screen that opens book-style thanks to an interior hinge.

Samsung

As impressive as the technology is, Samsung wants a premium price for what it calls a new category of smartphones. When the Galaxy Fold comes out on April 26th, it will start at $1980 USD, just shy of two grand. If you want the 5G version, with few details and no date, you’ll no doubt have to shell out more.

Samsung

Samsung bills this as a “luxury phone,” but what you’re really paying for is novelty. Not that it isn’t impressive. The folding screen works seamlessly with the exterior screen, allowing apps to go from one to the other when the interior hinge is activated, with none of the flickering or choppiness you might expect. Samsung developers are working with Google to make sure the experience is as fast and smooth as possible.

Samsung

Working with the larger interior screen, you can use two or even three apps at once with Samsung’s multi-panel interface. Apps can be moved from the larger window to the smaller easily, allowing for comfy multi-tasking without using the switcher button.

Other hardware features include a “7-nanometer processor” (precise model and capabilities weren’t mentioned), 512 GB of storage capacity, and a side-mounted fingerprint reader—note that the Galaxy Fold is missing the screen-integrated fingerprint reader on the Galaxy S10. No less than six cameras are on the phone: three on the back, one on the front, and two cameras on the inside.

Samsung

The battery is split into two main packs, with 4380 mAh combined. How long will that last switching between screens? Who can guess? There are a lot of hardware, software, and market features of the Galaxy Fold that are a mystery at the moment, and won’t be truly explored until it’s released and we can see how practically it works in the real world.

Samsung

However novel or useful this first major implementation of a folding phone screen is, it seems unlikely that Samsung will sell many of them. Samsung seems to know that, too: the Galaxy Fold was introduced by a marketing executive, while Samsung CEO DJ Koh waited for his moment to reveal the more market-friendly Galaxy S10. The consumer reaction to the Galaxy Fold will be critical to see if there are more folding screen products from Samsung, or its competitors, in the near future.

Samsung

Samsung announced a host of new products today, and while phones were a focus, it didn’t forget about the products you wear too. Samsung showed off two new devices: the Galaxy Watch Active and the Galaxy Fit.

Wearables are a burgeoning market, and Samsung wants to create an entire ecosystem, so it’s no surprise that they’re all in on smartwatches. While the Gear 2 was well known for its rotating bezel functions for easier navigation, the Watch Active eschews that entirely in favor of touch gestures, along with an overhaul of the design.

Samsung

New to the watch though is support for Samsung’s reverse wireless charging feature, which will let a Galaxy S10 charge this watch. The watch is water resistant and features heart rate and blood pressure tracking. An Exynos CPU powers the Galaxy Watch Active and it includes 4GB of storage, Bluetooth 4.2, and GPS tracking for your marathons

The Galaxy Watch will cost $199, and you can pre-order it starting February 21st. The Watch is available March 8th.

Samsung

Speaking of marathons, Samsung also announced a band designed less like a watch and more as a fitness tracker. The Galaxy Fit has a smaller screen than the Watch Active but benefits from both longer battery life and light weight. Samsung described the Fit as weighing about as much as a strawberry (23 grams) and promised the device would last about a week on a charge.

Like the Galaxy Active, the Fit is water resistant and has heart rate and stress tracking. Both devices also offer sleep tracking, and will automatically track 6 different exercises. You can manually start tracking an exercise session too.

The Fit will cost $99 and you can purchase it on March 31st.