When a friend asks you to share your WiFi password, how long is your explanation? Saying “Oh, it’s a mess of letters and numbers taped to the router behind the refrigerator in the rental unit upstairs” doesn’t make things easy for them. 

There are better ways to share your WiFi. And sure, each of these tips requires some minimal hoop-jumping, but it’s a heck of a lot easier than trying to dictate a password like “dD^#i16HJ9vD” to someone while they fumble with the password field.

It’s also worth noting that if you often find yourself needing to share your WiFi password, you should set up a guest network to allow people to access your internet while keeping other devices in your home safe. We’ll explain how below, but for now let’s satisfy your immediate needs.

How to share your WiFi password on Android

Google’s operating system allows you to share WiFi passwords via scannable QR codes, so you won’t have to watch your friends hunt and peck on their phone keyboards. 

1. Unlock your phone and open the Quick Settings menu—swipe down with two fingers from the top of the screen.
2. Long-press Internet to open the menu, and then tap the cog icon next to the WiFi network you’re connected to.
3. Tap Share.
4. Your phone will ask you to verify your identity with a biometric or a passcode. Once you provide it, it’ll generate a QR code with your home network’s info.

How to share your WiFi password on iOS, MacOS, and iPadOS

Sharing a WiFi password between Apple devices is even easier—at least if you’ve done some work beforehand. Specifically, both people need to have the email address associated with their Apple ID saved in the other person’s contacts, and you need to be signed into iCloud. For WiFi sharing to work, both devices also need to have WiFi and Bluetooth on, and personal hotspot off.

Unlock the device sharing the password. Have your friend tap the network on their device. A prompt should appear on the one that’s already connected—tap Share Password, then Done.

You’ll need to be somewhat near their device, and in my experience, the process can be a little finicky, but it’s something to consider. If the prompt doesn’t come up, you can always create a dedicated WiFi QR code.

If all else fails, generate your own network QR code

If you find the options above are not working or you have a lot of people coming over and don’t want to share your password with each one, you can print (or cross-stitch, if you’re ambitious) a QR code they can scan. There are plenty of tools out there that will help with this task, but I like QiFi.org. It’s incredibly straightforward: 

[Related: Device won’t connect to WiFi? Here’s what to do first.]

1. Head to your router’s administrator page by typing 192.168.1.1 into your address bar. This is a private IP address some internet service providers use as a gateway to access their routers’ settings. If that one doesn’t work for you, there are other numbers you can try. You can also check the sticker on the bottom of your router or find its user manual. 

2. Look for an option in the settings called Guest Network and set it up with a WPA2 password, if you can. 

The post The easiest ways to share your WiFi password appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Some corners of the internet act as bastions of healthy discussion, but out there on the Wild Web, discourse appears worse than ever before. If you’re tired of feeling your blood boil every time you get to the bottom of an article or open up your social media app of choice, it’s time to clean up your internet conversations.

Block comments on news sites and blogs

Some sites are doing away with comments altogether, but there are plenty that have stuck by their discussion section—even if it’s littered with spam and hateful garbage. You can’t stop commenters from spewing their filth, but you can banish them from your view. Shut Up is a simple open-source tool that will automatically block most comment sections across the web. It’s available as an extension for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple’s Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Opera. Just install it on your desktop or mobile platform of choice, and comment sections will disappear as if they were never there.

If there’s a site that you actually like to read comments on—yes, there are a few decent ones out there—you can click the Shut Up button in your toolbar or press Ctrl+Shift+X to whitelist that site. It will remember your preferences, so your favorite comment sections will stay visible no matter how many times you leave and return. Sadly, there’s no way to mute certain comments based on keywords.

Note that due to the way Chrome’s annoyingly broad permission system works, this extension will request access to read and edit data on all sites you visit, but you can read the developer’s privacy policy to ensure you agree with it. Afterward, if you’re still uneasy, you can always inspect and inject the Shut Up CSS code yourself, if you have a stylesheet extension you like.

Mute words on Twitter, Instagram, and other social networks

Website and blog comments are just a small fraction of toxic internet conversation—most of it happens on social media. Shut Up will block comment sections on some networks, like Facebook and Reddit, but that defeats the purpose of using those platforms at all. Thankfully some services, like Twitter and Instagram, have caught on and built “mute” functions that let you hide comments that contain certain keywords, for more control over what you see.

On Twitter, you can mute tweets with certain words or phrases by heading to the Twitter website and clicking More on the sidebar to the left. Next, go to Settings and Support > Settings and privacy > Privacy and safety > Mute and block > Muted words. Finally, click the plus icon in the top right to add words to your list. In the mobile app, the steps are nearly identical, but you start by tapping your avatar in the upper left-hand corner of your screen and build a list of muted words by using the Add button at the bottom right.

When you add the words you want to avoid, you can also select how long you want to mute it—which is useful if you’re just trying to avoid spoilers for a few days.

If you want to do a little less work, you can also turn on the switches under the Offensive words and phrases heading at the top of the page to hide comments or message requests containing any words Instagram thinks you won’t want to see.

Other social networks, like Reddit, don’t have a mute feature built-in. However, browser extensions like the ever-popular Reddit Enhancement Suite will allow you to mute comments with certain words just the same. Install the extension and open the RES Settings Console. Navigate to Subreddits > filteReddit, and create filters to your heart’s content. You can hide posts with specific terms in the title, or block posts that come from chosen websites. You can also build filters for comments, provided you know how regular expressions work—there’s a small tutorial available if you need it.

Finally, Facebook is in a weird spot when it comes to muting or filtering comments. Back in June of 2018, Facebook began testing a feature called Keyword Snooze that would allow you to hide any comment containing words you specified. It wasn’t available to everyone and that test ended in January 2021. Now, your best bet is to hit the three dots in the top right corner of any post on your News Feed and choose Hide post to see fewer posts like it. From the same menu, you can snooze and unfollow the person or page that posted it.

The post How to block toxic comments everywhere appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

After spending countless hours putting together a killer workstation, you have a tricked-out desktop computer, multiple monitors, bangin’ speakers, and… a computer desk that’s too tiny to fit it all. Here’s how to build your own ergonomic, customized computer table that displays all your tech, looks awesome—and doesn’t break the bank.

What you’ll need

There are an infinite number of ways to construct a desk. But for this particular project, I have four criteria I need my DIY computer desk to hit:

1. Large: The vast majority of desks you’ll find in the store are 60 inches long or less. I needed a large computer desk at least 80 inches across to fit all my gear, and the few store-bought options I found just didn’t cut it. They were either ugly and cheaply made, or too expensive—a large, decent-quality one will run you at least $400.
2. Cheap: Making something yourself instead of buying it almost always saves some money—in this case, it’s going to cut hundreds of dollars from the price. Our materials cost about $250 new, but depending on your deal-hunting skills and the parts you already have lying around, you’ll hopefully be able to get everything for $150 or less. That’s about half the price of most store-bought desks this size. Since there are so many different options for materials, make sure you pick the best wood for desktop. The type of wood you choose can depend on what color or design you’re going for as well as how much weight it will have to support.
3. Easy: You can fabricate an entire desk out of a single sheet of plywood or medium-density fiberboard (MDF) for under $100, but doing so requires a lot of tools and know-how. We want our project to be accessible to anyone, including those without lots of woodworking experience—even if that boosts the price a little.
4. Ergonomic: Too many people ignore the difference between a custom “computer desk” and a “writing desk.” Over time, those differences can wreak havoc on your body. In this project, I’m going to mix the sleek look of the latter with the ergonomics of the former to get the best of both worlds.

After lots of research, I decided to construct my desk out of a door slab and some adjustable desk legs from Ikea. It knocks all four goals out of the park, and as a bonus, you should be able to find the parts easily, no matter where you live. Here’s what I used.

The surface

For a big piece of furniture like this, you need a spacious desktop. And there are a few slabs you could try.

The Ikea Karlby countertop has become incredibly popular due to its large size and relative affordability—it costs between $100 and $200, depending on the size and color. Although you could use one with this guide, I wanted to go even cheaper. So I got a big door for my tabletop.

Doors have very reasonable price points, with new ones selling for $50 to $100. If you scour Craigslist, you can probably find some that cost even less, or pick up a free one if you’re really lucky. A door won’t be quite as polished around the edges as the Karlby, and it may require extra work to stain or paint, but I dig the more industrial look. Keep an eye out for something that’s solid core (not hollow) and has a width that matches your ideal desk depth—most doors range from 24 to 36 inches wide. If you have a circular saw, you can always cut a larger slab down to size, but for a patient shopper, that shouldn’t be necessary.

[Related: The best safety advice for any beginner woodworker]

I opted for a door that shows off the wood grain. Then I sanded, stained, and finished it myself. If you end up using a secondhand door, you may have to deal with a hole where the handle used to be, though you can always use it for cable management in the back. In my case, I hid the hole under my mouse and keyboard mat.

While most people would recommend standard desk legs or industrial pipe, I chose Ikea’s Olov legs. At $15 apiece, they’re a bit more expensive than Ikea’s regular table legs, but they’re adjustable, which means you can find the perfect height for you. This is crucial for good ergonomics, so it’s well worth the extra cost.

Again, hunt Craigslist to see if you can find cheaper legs. I bought a used table containing five Olovs from a neighbor. It cost $30 total—much less than the $75 Ikea would charge for five new legs.

The drawers

No workspace is complete without a place to stash your flash drives, sticky notes, and other miscellanea. I recommend that you fulfill this requirement with a filing cabinet or set of drawers that matches your ideal desk height (for a guide to calculating that height, see the next section) so you can use it as one of the legs. Because it depends on your own size, this component will be very personal.

I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but Craigslist is your friend here—though Wayfair will also do if you don’t have a bustling secondhand market in your area. I used a filing cabinet I already had in my house with a plastic desk organizer jury-rigged into the top drawer to hold all my stuff.

Everything else

Those are the bones of our build, but you’ll probably want a few other things to pull it all together. I highly recommend two of these anti-sag stiffeners, which are important for large pieces of furniture that tend to sink under their own weight.

I bought an unfinished door and stained it myself, so I also needed wood stain and a semi-gloss polyurethane.

Other items will help keep your gear in order. If your computer monitors aren’t height-adjustable, you may want to prop them up on something like a monitor stand. To really tidy up your workspace, I also recommend some sort of cable management, like a rain gutter or the Ikea Signum tray. Be sure to add a mousepad too—it’ll protect the desk surface from black marks and excessive wear.

Last, you’ll need two tools: a drill and a screwdriver (or a drive bit for your drill). You must attach everything to the wood with screws, but you’ll want a drill to create pilot holes, and a drive bit will make it much easier to put the pieces together. If you don’t own one, borrow a drill from a neighbor.

Building the desk

2. Plan the ergonomics. While you’re waiting for the door to dry, do a little ergonomic experimentation. Grab your desk chair and adjust the seat height and arm rests to a comfortable position. Your feet should be flat on the ground, with your elbows and knees at approximate 90-degree angles. Once you’ve got your position just right, measure the distance from the floor to the top of the arm rests, and then subtract the thickness of your surface—usually about an inch and a half. The resulting measurement is the setting you’ll want for your Olov legs, as well as the ideal height for your filing cabinet or drawers. Write it down, and buy the drawers if you plan to include them.

3. Place your parts. When your slab is ready, flip it upside down and plan out your build, starting with the legs. I recommend one leg in each of the four corners, with a fifth one in the center of the back edge for support. If you plan on incorporating that filing cabinet, it will replace one of those front legs.

Next, grab your anti-sag braces and find a place for them near the middle of the surface. If they bump up against the area where you plan to put your filing cabinet, you may need to set them slightly off-center. If you have any cable management trays, stick them in whatever empty space you have left over. I’m using an Ikea Signum tray and mounting my surge protector on its underside. I had to do a little finagling to find room for everything, so it’s a good idea to plan this all out before you start drilling holes.

4. Start assembling. Once you’ve found a place for everything, mark and drill some pilot holes for the legs, anti-sag braces, and anything else you’re attaching to the underside. This is critical: If you just start screwing into the surface, you’re likely to split the wood. Attach everything, including the leg brackets, except for the legs themselves. This will take some time and elbow grease, so again, I recommend using your drill as a driver to make things go a lot faster.

5. Add the legs. Now’s a good time to carry your door into the office for the last few steps—you’ll find it a lot less cumbersome to move before attaching the legs. Once it’s arrived in its new home, screw the Olov legs into the brackets. You can then adjust them to your desired height by unscrewing the bottom, sliding them out, and screwing them clockwise to tighten them.

6. Check the stability and height. Now, flip your desk over and stick the filing cabinet underneath. Ensure that everything is level. (If you don’t own a level, your phone may have a rudimentary one built in.)

While you’re reviewing the desk’s stability, also check its height with your chair. It may seem awfully low to the ground, but that’s because most desks are designed for writing, not computing. Computer desks are usually writing height, with a keyboard tray at arm level. You could set your home-built desk higher and use a screw-on keyboard tray to improve the ergonomics, but I prefer to put everything on one big, flat surface.

7. Set everything up. Once you’ve double-checked the size and stability of your creation, set up your computer, adjust your monitor so the top is at eye level, and enjoy your new custom workspace!

Make it your own

The post Build your own desk with custom features like USB ports and biometrics appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

I love big movie explosions as much as anyone, but I have a bone to pick with movie studios: It feels like every time I watch an action movie, I have to turn the volume way up just to hear the characters speak, then quickly turn it down every time something explodes. And when I’m not quick enough on the draw, my sleeping wife gets very angry.

Why do movies do this?

It all has to do with dynamic range—the difference between the loudest and softest parts of a soundtrack. The wider the range, the larger the dramatic impact, explains Scott Wilkinson, audiovisual technology journalist and consultant (and the “Home Theater Geek” on TWiT.tv). In other words, they mix it that way so when that explosion finally happens, it kicks you in the gut and rocks your world.

The problem is, sometimes you don’t want your world rocked. Sometimes you just want to relax while watching superheroes punch each other in the face, without waking the neighbors through your paper-thin walls—and that dynamic range becomes a lot less desirable.

“This is generally not a problem in commercial cinemas, which have high-quality sound systems and good acoustics,” Wilkinson says. “So you can hear and understand quiet dialogue in one scene without lessening the impact of loud explosions in another scene.” Even if these movies get remastered for home viewing, most people are using weak TV speakers in a less-than-ideal room with the air conditioner running in the background. It’s a recipe for unintelligible dialogue and constant volume tweaking.

If you don’t have the cash to improve the acoustics of your room and create your own soundproof home theater (what am I, made of money?), you have other options.

“This compresses the dynamic range, reducing the difference between the loudest and softest parts of the soundtrack,” says Wilkinson. “Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to find this setting in the device’s menu system, though some devices have a dedicated ‘night mode’ button on their remote.” Dig through the settings of your TV, speaker system (if you have one), and streaming box—this useful mode may also be called “dynamic compression” or something similar.

Use a good sound bar or set of speakers

Even with night mode on, you may find that your TV speakers are not up to the task of making dialogue intelligible at low volumes. You may not have the room to build a huge, powerful surround sound system, but even small upgrades can go a long way.

Turn up your center channel

A speaker system with a center channel will be a big step up from your TV speakers, but you can further decrease the dynamic range with in-menu volume adjustments. On many sound bars and receivers, you can increase the volume of the dialogue-focused center channel alone, without increasing the level of the other channels, Wilkinson says. This isn’t usually an option for two-channel systems, but it never hurts to look in your sound bar or receiver’s settings. Once you find the center channel volume level, crank it up a few notches and see where that gets you. (You may have to do a little experimentation to find the right balance—I always use The Matrix as a test case, as it’s a great example of a movie with high dynamic range.

You probably already have headphones that’ll do the trick, but I’d recommend against using Bluetooth, since there’s an inherent delay that’ll cause sound to be out of sync with the screen. Instead, connect your headphones to the TV or sound bar with a long 3.5-millimeter extension cable, or use a pair of radio frequency (RF)-based wireless home theater headphones like the Sennheiser RS 175. Some streaming boxes, like the Roku, may even allow you to plug your headphones into the remote—or your phone, using the remote app—to listen to music “wirelessly.” It may not be ideal, but at least you’ll get your superhero-punching fix without disturbing the neighborhood.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on March 13, 2020.

The post How to deal with movies that bounce from too quiet to too loud appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

If you’re unsatisfied with the quiet, tinny sound coming from your TV’s speakers, a soundbar can seriously improve your movie-watching experience. But while most soundbars are space-efficient and easy to hook up, they still have an occasional quirk or two—most notably an audio delay that causes audio and video to be out of sync with the mouths moving on screen. We’ll walk you through how to fix the audio delay in your soundbar.

How your TV and soundbar get out of sync

I’ve tried and reviewed countless TVs and the best soundbars, and audio delay is an extremely common issue. Many people jump to blame a certain brand or model of soundbar, but it’s not always that simple. Frequently, this delay is inherent to how TVs and soundbars decode audio.

“It is a complicated problem,” explains Allan Devantier, vice president of audio research and development at Samsung. “You’ve got all these different formats for audio, so there’s a large amount of number-crunching the TV has to do to unpack it all.”

Specifically, when you watch a Blu-ray or stream a movie on Netflix, that audio is encoded in a certain format—like DTS or Dolby Digital. When that signal is sent to your TV or soundbar, the device has to decode the audio in order to play it over your speakers, and that process takes time. We’re talking milliseconds, usually, but time nonetheless—and higher bitrate formats (like multi-channel Dolby Atmos) might take longer than a low-bitrate stereo track, leading to a more noticeable delay.

If you’re playing that audio on your TV’s speakers, your TV is doing all the unpacking, so it can hold off on sending both the video and audio until the process has finished. But when you introduce another product—like a soundbar—your TV might decode the video while your soundbar decodes the audio. If the TV doesn’t know exactly how long your soundbar will take, it may send the video before the soundbar has finished, leading to a disastrous mismatch of the mouths on screen. Couple that with any other processing you’re doing—like motion smoothing on your TV, or “virtual surround”-type features on the soundbar—and you’re basically guaranteed out-of-sync dialogue. Manufacturers try to fix this audio delay problem on their own, but there’s only so much they can do.

“We analyze all the different variations of streams that can come in, and calculate a best guess of how we should delay the audio and video to keep it synced,” says Devantier. “But it can only be an estimate.” He also tells me their calculations assume a Samsung soundbar, so you may notice more of a delay if you use products that weren’t designed to work together.

All hope is not lost, though. There are a few things you can do to combat this challenge, even if you don’t have brand-matched gear. After hours of testing with countless soundbars for TV over the years, here are a few ways on how to sync audio and video that I’ve found.

Adjust the audio delay on your TV or soundbar

Let’s start with the obvious: many TVs and soundbars have a built-in “audio delay” or “lip sync” setting that aims to play the two in tandem. You’ll find this in the audio settings of your TV and/or soundbar, and if you’re lucky, adjusting it a few notches may fix the problem.

Unfortunately, many TVs and soundbars only allow you to adjust it in one direction: delaying the audio. But if your audio and video are out of sync because the audio is behind the video—i.e. already delayed—delaying it further obviously won’t help. Ideally, your TV or soundbar would offer a negative delay, sending the audio a few milliseconds earlier (or the video a few milliseconds later). Many devices I’ve tested—including the LG TV, Vizio TV, Vizio soundbar, and Samsung TV I own—do not allow adjustment in both directions, which makes the feature all but useless against audio delay. To their credit, though, Devantier tells me Samsung has done a lot of work on this problem over the past few years, and 2020 models now have the ability to adjust its delay in both directions—though I haven’t yet tested its efficacy myself.

If you’re lucky, your streaming box or Blu-ray player might have its own audio adjustment feature. This is less common, in my experience, but it’s worth a shot. If none of these lip sync features solve the problem, though, you’ll have to get a bit more creative to fix the audio delay.

Turn off audio and video processing

Dig through your TV and soundbar’s settings for any features that alter the video and audio in some way. In particular, look through your soundbar’s menu for equalizer settings, presets like “movie” and “sports” mode, dialogue enhancers and volume levelers, or features like “virtual 3D” surround sound. Turn them all off, and you should find the delay is much smaller, if not eliminated. All those features require processing on the part of your device, which takes a few milliseconds of time.

Change the audio format on your TV

In my experience, this lip sync problem is most common when sending audio from your TV to your soundbar using HDMI ARC or optical out. Your TV sends the audio to the soundbar, the soundbar takes a moment to unpack the signal, and sends it out after the corresponding video has reached your eyeballs.

However, your TV may be able to do this audio unpacking process itself—taking the load off your soundbar and allowing the two to stay in sync. In your TV’s audio settings, see if you can change the audio format to PCM instead of Dolby Digital, bitstream, or passthrough. I’ve found this fixed the audio delay on all my TVs.

However, this does come with its own downsides. Some TVs can’t decode certain formats, like DTS or Dolby Atmos, which means this trick won’t work on movies encoded in those containers. It also could mean you lose multichannel audio—if your soundbar only contains two speakers, that’s fine, but if you have a 3.1 or 5.1 soundbar, you’ll lose your surround sound, which makes this solution a non-starter.

Related: The Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar raises the sound bar for all-in-one setups

Plug your source into the soundbar instead of the TV

The best solution, in my opinion, is to re-configure how your soundbar and TV are connected. If your Roku is connected to your TV, which then sends audio to your soundbar over HDMI ARC or optical, you’ll have to use the above (often imperfect) solutions to mitigate the delay. But if you plug your Roku into the soundbar, then pass video through the soundbar to the TV via HDMI cable, any delay caused by audio processing will disappear—because your soundbar will wait to send the video to the TV until all its work is done unpacking the audio. (This may introduce a video delay instead, if your TV is doing its own processing, like motion smoothing, but you can use the lip-sync feature on your soundbar to delay the audio to match.)

Despite being the ideal audio delay fix, I mention this last because it comes with one big downside: most soundbars don’t have many inputs. In fact, most affordable soundbars only have one HDMI In port, which means if you have a Roku, a Blu-ray player, and a game console, you won’t be able to plug them all into the soundbar at the same time (unless you use an HDMI switcher, which just introduces more wires and complexity). It also doesn’t work if you use your TV’s smart apps to watch Netflix, or if you watch local channels on an antenna plugged into your TV—in those circumstances, there’s no external box to plug into the soundbar, so you’re forced to route audio to the soundbar over delay-inducing HDMI ARC or optical.

You can see how such a simple thing gets complicated quickly. If you’re lucky, your TV or soundbar will be one that allows the lip sync feature to adjust in both directions—or at least you’ll have a higher-end soundbar with enough inputs for all your devices. If not, you’ll have to play around with the above tweaks to get things close enough.

The post How to fix the annoying audio delay on your soundbar appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on December 1, 2020.

Lately I’ve experimented with another solution: reinventing how I use these sites. This doesn’t require you to delete your profiles and avoid social media entirely—changing your focus and doing a little cleanup to the list of people and accounts you follow can be enough to do the trick.

Instead, I’ve found Facebook’s Groups feature to be an incredible replacement for my usually-toxic feed. You can join small communities of people focused on a specific topic, which means the conversation rarely strays into dangerous territory. My wife and I have been most successful with local and neighborhood groups, like Being Neighborly (a general group with chapters across the US), Buy Nothing (where people in your neighborhood can give things away they don’t need), and the San Diego New Mom’s Network (where she can connect with other moms in the area and share things like hand-me-downs and helpful articles). You may even find your online fitness trainer has a group for all their clients and followers, or that your favorite small-time podcast has a close-knit community sharing that interest on Facebook. My wife is even part of a group created by fans of her favorite cooking blog.

[Related: Tips and apps for finding a virtual personal trainer]

To start looking, head to Facebook’s Groups page. If you’re lucky, you might find some good stuff in Facebook’s suggestions (click Discover on the left if you don’t see any), but you’ll most likely have to throw some searches out to see what comes up. Pop in some topics and limit the location to your city, or put your neighborhood’s name in the search terms. If your favorite podcast, blog, or YouTube channel mentions a Facebook group every week on the show, look it up and join.

Experiment with what you find, but the smaller and more specific the better. Large public “gaming” groups, for example, are probably going to be rougher around the edges than a private group dedicated to dads who play Rocket League. A few hundred to a couple thousand members is usually good—once you get more than that, you have a large enough group where toxicity and mob mentality start to slowly take over.

Mix a good selection of groups in with the few people you actually care about, and you’ll have a pretty decent feed that’s completely different from what you started with—and more focused on positive communities than bickering “friends” you don’t even know that well.

Twitter: Turn it into a news feed

When it comes to sheer levels of toxicity, Twitter may be even worse than Facebook. The platform was designed to be a fast-scrolling feed of quick posts sent from one person to many, which makes it a terrible place for any discussion that requires detail or nuance. Combine that with a high volume of politically-inclined folks and an algorithm that promotes controversy, and you’ve got a recipe for endless doomscrolling.

If you, like most people, use this platform to keep up with current events, you could just ditch Twitter and pick up a newspaper. But just as I reinvented my Facebook account, I turned my Twitter into a modern RSS feed.

[Related: Elon Musk completes purchase of Twitter, fires CEO]

This meant creating an entirely new Twitter account from scratch, and there was only one rule when it came to my feed—follow sites, not people. Instead of the unhinged rants of celebrities, politicians, and certain media colleagues of mine, I get the more reasoned, edited, fully-formed thoughts they put into articles and interviews. In other words, I get a surprisingly good collection of topics I’m interested in, without the vitriol. Now I can dock Twitter to the side of my monitor and let it scroll by with useful information as I work.

But using social media for news does encourage you to only follow the things you want to hear, creating what is known as the “filter bubble effect.” This is dangerous, as it turns your feed into a fertile ground for misinformation and confirmation bias, so it’s important to try to counter it. While some publications have multiple Twitter feeds for different verticals—PopSci has its own DIY account, hint hint—casting a wider net and following a publication’s main account ensures you get news you might not have otherwise seen, which is important in being a responsible, well-informed citizen. Plus, you’ll get cool stories about wasp venom you might not have sought out.

I still have a personal account that I occasionally check in on, tweet from, and use to joke around in my friends’ mentions. But most of the day, I can stick to keeping up on current events without feeling my blood boil.

Look to other social media sites you’ve ignored

While Facebook and Twitter are the most obvious doomscrolling culprits, all of this goes for other sites and social networks, so you may also want to rethink how you use those platforms.

The post How to banish toxic posts from your social feeds appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

“Bright light is the most powerful time cue for influencing the circadian rhythm,” says Neil Kline, a sleep physician with the American Sleep Association, a professional organization that promotes public awareness of sleep health. Specifically, it’s the sun’s rays that tell us to wake up. As Kline explains, when light passes through your eyes, it sends a signal to the suprachiasmatic nucleus, a part of the brain positioned next to your peepers, which helps control the sleep-wake cycle.

As the days get shorter, our mornings lose that crucial light cue, so waking up gets harder. That means you’ll need to put in extra effort to either start work or get to work on time. We have a few tips that might help.

[Related: For better sleep, borrow the bedtime routine of a toddler]

What times should you aim for? Try to give yourself time so that you can get the recommended eight hours of sleep per night. Plenty of research backs this up, so if you pride yourself on requiring only six hours a night, well, it may be time to rethink that.

Getting quality zzz’s extends to your daily routine as well. Start by avoiding drinking too much alcohol, which might make you feel drowsy but can actually disrupt your dozing. Another good habit is to keep a regular exercise regimen.

And, just as bright light can help you wake up in the morning, avoiding that type of glare near bedtime can help you drift off. At night, you should especially steer clear of the blue light from electronic screens. So if you like reading before you close your eyes, try an actual book or an E-ink screen like a Kindle, which doesn’t emit the harsh blue light that phones and tablets do.

Finally, pick a bedtime and stick to it. Once you’ve had a full night’s sleep and trained your body to wake up at a set time, you should find it a bit easier to rise in the morning.

“For those that struggle with keeping a normal sleep-wake schedule and live in a relatively dark part of the world, portable bright light boxes can be helpful,” says Kline. 

Philips makes some popular models that produce daytime light during gray winter days. The company also offers wake-up lights that simulate a sunrise, gradually getting brighter around the time you want to rise. These can cost anywhere from $50 to $300, depending on features like sunset simulation for bedtime, auxiliary cables for your phone, app support, and the number of included background sounds (if you like white noise with your light).

Of course, if you’d rather not pay for a specialized device—or you want to test this practice before you splurge—you can always hook your bedside lamp up to a cheap outlet timer and set it for your preferred wake-up time. I already have a set of smart bulbs in my room, so I just set those to turn on at a certain time using a whiter, more sunlight-esque color instead of the yellowish “soft white” of most bulbs.

Automation makes this easy, too. Program your thermostat to raise the temperature before you wake so getting out of bed will feel pleasant rather than bone-chilling. Set your automatic coffee maker to start brewing before your alarm goes off, so you’ll rise to the aroma of fresh coffee. Just don’t drink too much java over the course of the day.

“Caffeine certainly can help to delay daytime sleepiness,” says Kline, But it’s no substitute for a solid eight hours. As Kline puts it, “We can only delay sleep debt for so long before we have to pay it back.”

The post How to wake up when it’s still dark outside appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on August 30, 2020.

Your computer is making a clicking or grinding noise

Let’s start with the most worrisome sound. If your computer is making a clicking or grinding sound, or any sort of low-pitched buzzing noise, you should stop what you’re doing and check the hard drive. This sound could indicate a dying disk—do not ignore it.

To check your drive’s health, I recommend a third-party tool like CrystalDiskInfo (Windows) or DriveDx (macOS). Fire up the program, click on each of your drives in the menu, and make sure they’re all listed as “good.” If the application indicates your drive is anything less than that, you should back up all your data as soon as possible. You may still have some time to do so—occasionally a drive marked “caution” can still run for years, but if it’s making noises, the end may be nigh. 

Once all your files are safe, consider replacing your drive with an SSD—not only will it likely last longer, but it’ll make your computer run much faster. If your hard drives are healthy, take the incident as a warning and avoid any unpleasant surprises by backing up your data regularly. Don’t neglect this: like living creatures, all hard drives die one day.

One you’ve ruled out your hard drive as the culprit, you’ll need to dig a little deeper to find what’s making the clicking sound. If your computer still has a DVD drive, it could be in the process of failing, and in need of repair or replacement.

Finally, in a lot of desktop PCs, a clicking noise could just mean a cable has gotten too close to a fan and is getting hit repeatedly by the blades. If you’re comfortable with a screwdriver, open up your PC and make sure the fans are clear of obstructions.

Your computer is making loud whirring noises

If there’s one sound every computer user knows well, it’s the loud whoosh that comes from an overzealous fan running at full speed. On a desktop PC, this will likely be low-to-medium pitch like the video above, and on a laptop, it could be higher-pitched and much more annoying. The smaller the fan, the louder and higher pitched that noise will be.

If the fans in your computer are indeed too loud, start by opening Task Manager in Windows (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) or Activity Monitor in macOS (under Applications > Utilities) and see if any programs are taking up a large portion of your CPU. If your computer’s working hard, the fans will work hard to cool it, so you may have a program running in the background you forgot about, or malware eating up resources without you knowing. Close the offending program or run a malware scan to see if that helps.

If your computer is idle and the fan is still making noise, it could be overheating. A program like Core Temp (Windows) or Fanny (macOS) can tell you if your CPU is running hot. As a ballpark, if you aren’t running anything strenuous and your CPU is 158 degrees Fahrenheit (70 degrees Celsius) or higher, I’d say that’s abnormal, and will likely cause excessive fan noise. 

If you’re using your laptop in bed, make sure to put a tray or something solid under it—your clothes, skin, or blankets might be preventing the system from cooling off, making the fans work harder and louder. The same happens with accumulated dust, so give the fan grilles a few passes with a dust blower, or better yet, an electric duster. If you feel comfortable, you might even want to open up your machine and wipe the dust off the fan with a clean microfiber cloth.

Finally, if you have a desktop PC—especially one you built yourself—you may just need to adjust the fan curves in the BIOS. Some of your fans may be running at 75 or 100 percent all the time by default, which is unnecessary. Or, the curves may be set in a weird spot that causes the fans to constantly ramp up for a few seconds to cool the CPU, but then they ramp back down, allowing the CPU to get hot again. Press Delete as your computer starts to enter the BIOS screen, and look for any fan control settings you can play with—try a lower setting, but don’t set them too low, lest your temperatures get too high.

Sounds coming from your speakers, even when you aren’t playing anything

Make sure the speaker cable is plugged all the way into your PC. You’ll usually hear a click that tells you the cable is fully connected, but sometimes you have to really shove it to get that last millimeter in. If that doesn’t work, you can troubleshoot your speakers by plugging them into another device (like your phone) to see if the sound persists. The problem could be in your speaker’s cable, or it could just be feedback from the internals of your PC, in which case a USB sound card, also known as a DAC, might help.

[Related: 12 ways to make your computer look and sound better]

You might also be experiencing a ground loop, in which case a ground loop isolator can reduce the noise. I’ve even had speakers that picked up faint radio signals due to poorly shielded cables, which is a remarkably spooky experience.

Ultimately, there are so many things that can cause unwanted noise from speakers that we could probably write a whole article on the subject. But if you play around with your connections, you may be able to narrow down the source, and replace the offending component.

Your computer is making buzzing or screeching noises

If none of the above have fixed the problem, but you’re still hearing a buzzing sound, it could be just about anything. Heck, if they’re mild enough, any of the above problems could be described as “buzzing,” so check your hard drive and running processes before you move on.

Once you’ve discarded all the scenarios above, my first guess would be that you’re experiencing coil whine—one of my least favorite noises in computing, since there’s often little you can do about it.

Coil whine happens when the coils in your components start vibrating at just the right frequency to start making a very annoying noise. It can be anywhere from a low-pitched buzz to a high pitched squeal, and often happens when your computer is under load. If you can pinpoint the source, you might be able to mitigate the noise, at least to some degree. For example, in gaming PCs, coil whine commonly comes from the graphics card when it’s doing a lot of work, in which case you can decrease your graphics settings or turn on VSync to lighten the load. I’ve also heard coil whine on a lot of power adapters—if you move your laptop or monitor’s power brick further away, it may not be as annoying. Some laptop manufacturers may even offer other power adapters without the old school “brick” that may coil whine less. In other cases, there’s nothing you can do, and you’ll have to suffer through the noise.

If you aren’t convinced the buzzing sound is coil whine, you might also want to look back at your computer’s fans. If they are vibrating against the steel case of your desktop PC, some rubber dampeners may help stop the sound. Your fans may also need lubrication, so a small drop of sewing machine oil in the bearing of an old fan can make it run like new again. And if you have one of the ever-so-trendy all-in-one liquid cooling units in your gaming PC, make sure it’s mounted properly, and check the manual to see if the pump is adjustable—turning the pump speed down could lessen the buzzing sound it makes.

The post What various weird computer noises mean for your machine appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on January 22, 2020.

Get rid of the manufacturer’s bloatware

When you think of a new PC, you probably imagine a perfectly clean desktop, free of all the junk icons you’ve stuffed in there over the years. But that’s not really how the world of Windows works. In order to lower the cost of the machine, manufacturers often include bloatware like antivirus trials, media suites, and games—not to mention the manufacturer’s own tools that can be less than useful. And this stuff can get annoying very, very quickly.

You have two options for cleanup: uninstall each item individually, or use Windows’ “Fresh Start” feature to return your PC to a clean, bloatware-free slate. The latter will require reinstalling certain drivers and manufacturer tools that you do want, so unless you stumble upon some stubborn programs you can’t uninstall, I generally think it’s faster and easier to uninstall the bloatware one-by-one.

To uninstall bloatware yourself, click the Start menu and search for “Add or remove programs”. Windows will present you with a list of all the software you currently have installed, and you can click on any app to uninstall it.

There are utilities like PC Decrapifier that will do this for you and can speed up the process—but I find doing it yourself is plenty fast. Some of the software you’ll see on the Windows list are actually drivers and companion programs for your hardware, which, among other things, allow you to use gadgets such as speakers or a fingerprint reader, if your laptop has one. If you have doubts as to whether you should keep something or not, you can always consult Should I Remove It—the platform offers a database on its website that you can search through if you aren’t sure whether a given app is garbage or not.

If you find certain bloatware is hooked so deeply into your system that you can’t remove it—or if you just want to start with a clean slate—the aforementioned Fresh Start option can help. This Windows process will remove all third-party apps, so before you do it, make note of any apps you want to keep (like, say, a Blu-Ray player app), and see if there are any license keys or license files you can back up. When you’re ready, open the Start menu and search for “Device performance & health”. Under the Fresh Start option, click Additional Info to make sure you know exactly what this entails. If you want to go ahead with the fresh start, open the Settings pane, go to Update & Security, and hit Recovery. Under the Reset this PC heading, click Get Started. From there, Microsoft suggests choosing Keep my files, sending them to local storage or the cloud, adjusting your settings, and setting Restore preinstalled apps? to No.

[Related: 10 new features to get you started with Windows 11]

Let Windows do its thing, and when it’s finished, you should have a much cleaner PC waiting for you. You’ll need to head to your manufacturer’s website (e.g. Dell.com, Lenovo.com, and so on), search for your PC’s model name, and download any drivers that didn’t come with Windows—like chipset drivers, firmware updates that fix bugs, and Intel graphics drivers. If you have an NVIDIA or AMD graphics card in your PC, you’ll want to grab that driver from NVIDIA’s or AMD’s websites, respectively.

Install all your favorite apps at once

I’ve built up quite an arsenal of apps I use to get things done—like music players, productivity tools, and utilities like 7-Zip. It would take forever to install each of them one-by-one, so I use Ninite to install a whole bunch of them in one fell swoop. Just check the boxes of the apps you want, and Ninite will download a single EXE file that installs all of them on your computer. It’s completely free, comes with zero bloatware, and is incredibly fast.

This doesn’t necessarily cover every app, though, and there are always a few extras I have to install manually—but Ninite does the bulk of the work. For many of my favorite apps, such as Lightscreen or Core Temp, I actually use portable versions—usually available as a ZIP download rather than an EXE—which don’t require installation. They just sit in my Dropbox folder and appear on every computer I own, no extra work required.

Migrate your data and sync your settings

Your job isn’t done once all your apps are installed. You also need to get those apps running like they used to, with all your settings, bookmarks, and shortcuts intact.

On your old computer, make sure you’re logged into Windows with a Microsoft Account. Then, when you log into your new PC using the same account, many of your Windows settings will sync right over. The same goes for your browser—log into Chrome using a Google account or Firefox with a Firefox account. Other cloud-based apps (like Evernote and Spotify) will sync your settings in much the same way.

For the apps that don’t have syncing built in, open their settings and see if there’s an Export option for your preferences. Put it on a flash drive or in your Dropbox, then sync it over and import it on your new PC. If your app doesn’t have an export option, you may be able to migrate your settings over by looking in C:UsersYOURNAMEAppDataRoaming, and copying the app’s AppData folder over to the same location on your new PC (where YOURNAME is your username on both PCs). This is a bit more advanced, but I’ve done it many times and it works beautifully.

Finally, to migrate the rest of your data, you’ll need an external hard drive or something similar. Windows doesn’t have a built-in option to migrate your files like macOS does, but almost all your personal files should be in your user folder under C:Users. Just drag those folders—Desktop, Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos—onto your USB drive and move them to your new PC. It’ll be like you never left.

The post The quickest way to set up a new PC appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on June 8, 2018.

It’s a balmy 75 degrees outside, but as soon as you open the door of your parked car, an oppressive cloud of heat envelops you. Here’s how to keep your vehicle from getting so hot—even when you can’t find a shady parking spot—and how to cool it off as quickly as possible before you hop in.

Those materials store the energy and radiate it back out in long, infrared wavelengths, which cannot easily pass through glass. That means they can’t exit the car. Coupled with the still, unmoving air inside the vehicle, you have a recipe for serious heat. In fact, according to the National Weather Service, “a dark dashboard or seat can easily reach 180 to over 200 degrees Fahrenheit.” Yikes.

Crack the windows

In order to free that trapped heat, open your windows a crack when you park your car, creating an escape route for hot air. Believe it or not, one researcher actually tested this back in the 1980s: A study in Pediatrics found that cracking the window 5 centimeters lowered the temperature in a car by about 28 degrees on a 98-degree day. The interior air was still hot—it reached a stifling 122 degrees—but that’s still better than the 150 degrees they measured with the windows fully closed. Another study found a smaller drop in temperature on a cooler day, so the actual change in temperature will vary depending on the outside weather.

Opening the windows halfway kept the vehicle much cooler than opening them a crack, but this also makes it a little too easy for thieves to break into your car. So it’s best to settle for a smaller opening unless your car is parked in a very safe location.

That’s only a mild improvement in air temperature, but their real advantage lies in their ability to shade your dashboard: The FSEC found that sun shades cooled the steering wheel and other surfaces by a whopping 40 to 50 degrees, allowing drivers to touch them without burning their hands.

[Related: Choose and install the right dash cam for your car]

You can buy sun shades for $20 or less on Amazon, though some people swear by custom products like these Covercraft ones, which cost $65. The latter option is pricey, but covers the full windshield more easily and effectively than the cheap shades do.

Still, the windshield is just one of the entry points for sunlight. If you can get shades for your windows too, all the better, although removing shades from all your windows can be a bit of a hassle.

As a more convenient alternative, if you’re willing to spend more, a good ceramic window tint will also cut down on incoming light. It may run you a few hundred bucks, but if you live in a perpetually sunny area, the investment may be worth it.

Cover your seat and dashboard

If you find sun shades too expensive or annoying to wrangle, you can at least keep your seat, dashboard, and steering wheel from getting searing by keeping a beach towel or other cover in your car. Just drape it on the seat or dashboard when you exit to shield them from the sun. The air in the car will still get hot, but you’ll at least be able to sit down without burning your hands and legs.

If you want something a bit more elegant, cloth seat covers can protect your bare legs from sizzling leather seats.

Even if you forget a cover, you can try this trick to protect your steering wheel: When you park, turn the wheel so its top faces away from the direct sunlight coming through the windows. That way, you’ll have a relatively cool spot to grab when you return to the vehicle.

Cool your car quickly with this weird door trick

Unfortunately, while the above tips can help somewhat, your car will always wind up hotter than the outside temperature (unless you manage to leave the windows wide open). But you have one last resort for avoiding that sweltering heat: Force some of that hot air out before you get in.

To do this, open the driver-side door, roll down the passenger window, and then “fan” the driver’s door by opening and closing it several times in a row. This will recirculate the air quickly, making the interior comfortable enough for you to get in and start the air conditioner. Aaron Miller, cars editor at Thrillist, found this cooling method worked even faster than driving with the windows down. Sure, you’ll look a little silly in the parking lot, but it’s a small sacrifice compared to melting in the driver’s seat.

The post How to keep your car from getting butt-burningly hot this summer appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on July 27, 2019.

Still, there are some common threads at play, so if you run into problems with your supposedly-futuristic smart home crapping out, here are some things we recommend trying before you give up and return everything in a fit of rage.

If you’re lucky, you may even be able to get better signal throughout your home just by moving the router. If it’s all the way off to one side of the house, for example, moving it to a more central location will provide a more consistent signal. I’ve even heard that if a device is too close to your WiFi router, moving it away from the router can help. I haven’t seen this myself, but if nothing else works, there’s no harm in trying.

[Related: How to fix 5 common WiFi problems]

Of course, not all smart devices use WiFi. Some use open protocols like Zigbee or Z-Wave, while others (like Insteon) use their own communication technologies. Philips Hue, for example, contains a hub that wires directly into your router and communicates wirelessly with its bulbs using a Zigbee mesh. If a bulb is too far away from the hub—or from another Hue bulb—it may be finicky, or unable to turn on at all. In this case, you’ll either want to move the hub, or add more bulbs near the problem area.

Similarly, when my Insteon ceiling fans were acting unreliably, it was because they were too far away from the next link in the chain, making it difficult to communicate with the controller hub on the other side of the house. I added an Insteon smart plug between them as an “extender” of sorts, so the signal could make shorter, more reliable “hops” back to its home base.

Wire devices to your router when possible

Wired connections will always be stronger and more reliable than wireless ones. Even if you have a seemingly good WiFi signal somewhere, you might get better results if a device is wired up with Ethernet.

Sonos, for example, uses WiFi to connect each speaker to your home network. If you plug just one speaker into your router with an Ethernet cable, though, that speaker will create its own separate wireless network and run your speakers off that instead, so they aren’t competing for bandwidth. If you can’t plug one of your speakers into the router, the standalone Sonos Boost performs the same function.

In addition, I’ve found that some smart home hubs—like the Philips Hue Bridge—perform better when plugged directly into the router, rather than being plugged into an Ethernet switch. If you have a complicated setup of network gear—say, a router from your internet service provider, a switch, and a few mesh extenders or powerline adapters—you may get better results from certain network devices than others.

Isolate the 2.4GHz WiFi band

Many modern routers are “dual band,” using both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies to improve speed and cut down on interference. To this day, some routers require you to have two separate networks as a result (e.g. Smith_House_2GHz and Smith_House_5GHz), which is clunky and inefficient. But now there are also alternatives that allow you to use the same network name for both frequencies, and your laptop, phone, and other devices will intelligently choose the best frequency they can.

There are a few potential solutions here. If you can log into your router’s settings and temporarily disable the 5GHz band, you might be able to get the app to connect your new device to the correct network. If that isn’t an option—as is the case on many modern routers and mesh systems—you might try using an old 2.4GHz-only phone or tablet to perform the initial setup. (The iPhone 4S was the last single-band iPhone, while a lot of old Android tablets were single-band as well.) If all else fails, you could add a second 2.4GHz-only router for those devices. But if you ask me, at that point, I’d just return my smart home product and buy something that works properly.

The post Your WiFi and your smart home don’t get along. Now what? appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on September 24, 2018.

Even when it’s silent, your phone is constantly begging for your attention. Maybe you get the urge to see what’s happening on Facebook, even though you just checked 15 minutes ago. Or you feel a phantom vibration in your pocket that turns out to be nothing. Increasingly, our smartphones have become more like appendages we can’t live without. Here’s how to wean yourself off your pocket computer… at least a little bit.

Why we’re so addicted to our phones

Psychologist Larry Rosen, author of The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World, has been studying this phenomenon for a few years. The typical young adult, he says, unlocks their phone more than 70 times per day, checking it for 3 to 4 minutes before locking it, and then and repeating the same process about 10 minutes later.

“They’re checking, primarily, things having to do with communication,” he says. “Once we get on a social media site, we now feel a ‘social responsibility’ to check it, and to respond. They’re compelled to use these sites because all their friends are on them.”

As a result, research has found that the more time we spend using technology, the more negative ramifications we experience. Our behavior contributes to symptoms ranging from anxiety to stress to sleep disruption—not to mention hazardous walking. And the apps on your phone are designed that way.

“The companies that create these apps have a vested interest in you using them,” says Rosen. “They hire psychologists and behavioral scientists to help them figure out the best way to get your eyeballs there and keep them there. And they’re very good at that.”

That means when you set out to disconnect yourself, you’re constantly fighting a deck stacked against you. But there are a few things you can do to make this task less painful.

Wean yourself gradually

“First of all, you can’t detox cold turkey,” says Rosen. “Putting your phone away for the weekend might seem like an easy solution, but it’s just going to make you highly anxious.”

He’s seen this demonstrated time and again in the lab: If people receive a text, but they aren’t allowed to touch their phones, their galvanic skin response will spike, indicating an anxiety reaction. This stomach-twisting feeling happens to both heavy and moderate smartphone users. You’re probably familiar with it, and if not, you can see it demonstrated on Anderson Cooper in this 60 Minutes piece.

Instead of ditching the phone entirely, Rosen recommends a form of systematic desensitization, where you gradually expose yourself to its influence less and less.

[Related: The best ways to cut down your screen time across all your devices]

“I usually tell people to start with 15 minutes,” he says. “Check in with your phone or computer, then turn your phone on silent and set the alarm for 15 minutes. Put it in front of you, face down, so you don’t see any notifications.” Putting it in within your line of sight is key, Rosen says—this sends a signal to your brain that you don’t need to get anxious, because the device is still within arm’s reach.

Then, when that 15-minute alarm goes off, feel free to check your phone for up to one minute. Repeat that process until you don’t feel the urge to check—that moment when the alarm goes off, but you say to yourself “no, I’m right in the middle of something, I’ll check it in a bit.”

Once you’ve mastered 15 minutes, you can go up to 20 minutes, and so on. “I would encourage people to get up to checking at least every 30 minutes, because that cuts down that typical 15-minute behavior in half.” If you can get to a point where you’re only checking your email every hour, even better.

There is one period of time Rosen does recommend avoiding your phone entirely, however: at night. “Put your phone away an hour before bedtime,” he says. “This has been a standard recommendation from the National Sleep Foundation for decades.” Blue light can disrupt your circadian rhythms, so avoiding it for an hour will help that melatonin kick in so you can fall asleep. If you must use it, turn the brightness way down and enable Night Shift, or whatever night mode it may have. Still, if you can keep it out of your bedroom and avoid activating your brain with that social responsibility, that’s ideal.

Make your phone less enticing

Weaning yourself off that compulsion is tougher than it sounds, but Rosen says you can help yourself along by making your phone less appealing. First, the obvious: turn off as many notifications and alert badges as you can. “You can leave alerts on for special people like your parents or your spouse, but turn off notifications for everybody else,” he says.

That’s only one small portion of the battle, though. Half the times you glance at your phone, according to Rosen’s research, no notification prompts your impulse. You’re just trying to find out the time (if you use your phone as a clock, you can probably lessen the number of check-ins by getting a good non-smart watch) or scratch that “social responsibility” itch with a check-in.

“I tell people to take each social media app icon and put it in a folder,” Rosen says. And he doesn’t mean one folder for all the apps. He means an individual folder for each app, which doubles the number of taps it takes to reach any of them. “Then move all those folders to your very last screen,” he says. This might sound silly, but jumping through hoops to access your apps can cut down on impulsive check-ins. “It makes you have to work really hard to get there,” Rosen says.

[Related: What to do if your iPhone home screen disappears]

If that isn’t enough, you can delete the social media apps entirely and rely on their mobile sites instead. That forces you to type in a URL and use a (usually) sub-par website rather than a more streamlined app. You can even block cookies in your browser, which forces you to log in every time (here’s how to do it on the iPhone and on Android). The more barriers you put between you and the service, the more time you’ll have to reconsider visiting that feed in the first place.

Tristan Harris, a former Google designer, even recommends setting your phone to greyscale mode, which dulls the bright colors designed to reel you in. Rosen says he hasn’t researched the effectiveness of this popular tip, but a colleague is hoping to soon.

To try it for yourself, on the iPhone, go to Settings > Accessibility > Accessibility Shortcut and tap Color Filters. Then you can triple-tap the side button (or the Home button if you have one) and touch Color Filters to turn greyscale on and off. On Android, the process can vary from phone to phone, but these instructions should point you in the right direction.

Lastly, if you’re the kind of person that responds well to self-talk, try using one of these lock screen wallpapers that try to convince you to put your phone away. When you’re just opening your phone to “check in,” your lock screen will remind you that there’s probably nothing important behind it—beyond some meaningless Facebook likes—and that knowledge can be very freeing.

The post You can trick your brain into using your phone less appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on July 16, 2019.

“Often, it comes from scraping public records,” explains Gennie Gebhart, associate director of research at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “For example, if you own a home, that real estate transaction is public record. They draw from all sorts of sources.”

They can also grab information from social media sites, warranty cards you’ve submitted, sweepstakes you’ve entered, and other places you’ve submitted your own information, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

So while it’s unnerving to see your data on display, temper your expectations before going through the opt-out process below. You won’t be able to scrub yourself off the internet completely, and while you can remove your information from some of these sites, more are popping up all the time and re-scraping your data. It’s a bit like playing whack-a-mole, and it may not even be worth your time.

Taking action is more useful if you’re being individually targeted, Gebhart explains. If you’re being harassed by someone, or you’re a semi-public figure with a more urgent privacy need, opting out of these sites can be worthwhile. For others, it may be more trouble than it’s worth. But if you are willing to invest the time or have pressing privacy concerns, there are two primary ways to do it.

This process is different for each site, and listing the steps for every one would be unhelpful, as the how-to could go out of date quickly. Luckily, there are two services that maintain detailed, up-to-date guidelines for the horde of data brokers out there: Privacy Rights Clearinghouse and DeleteMe. Browse those pages for step-by-step instructions for the most common people-finding sites.

[Related: How to request Google remove images of children]

But ironically, even as you’re trying to get your information off the web, some sites may require you send in even more of your personal information in order to wipe your slate clean.

For example, Radaris and WhitePages both ask you to give them your phone number to prove your identity before opting out. Others may require you to call them on the phone and give them your address, or even mail a copy of your driver’s license. Some services require you to create an account in order to remove your information.

All this may not seem terrible on its own, but repeat the process for tens of sites and it can become overwhelming. Plus, they’re constantly re-scraping, Gebhart says.

The automated method: pay a subscription to have it done for you

Your other option, Gebhart says, is to sign up for a service like DeleteMe that will do the job for you. You submit a name for removal, and they’ll send you reports along the way.

These sites are rather expensive, though—DeleteMe costs $129 per year for one person. So you can see how this can get costly, and again, as soon as you stop, those sites could begin re-scraping. Not to mention there are more sites being created all the time.

“Maybe it’s worthwhile if you’re a public figure who has an urgent risk,” Gebhart says. “The danger of being doxxed is terrifying. Folks in academia, particularly professors of color, have experienced doxxing a lot recently without a lot of institutional support.”

If your case is similar, you may want to build all the walls you can. Just remember it’s difficult, if not impossible, to wipe your information from the web completely—there are only ways to make it a bit harder to find. But that’s still something.

The post How to remove your data from people-finder sites appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

If you live in an area with abundant sunlight—hello, fellow southern Californians—you’ve probably thought about installing solar panels on your roof to save on your electric bill. But with so much information, it can be hard to know where to start.

Look no further—start here

Between the different types of panels, financing, inverters, and other jargon, researching solar energy can feel overwhelming at first. That’s why I recommend starting at a solar quote comparison site like EnergySage, Solar-Estimate, or SolarReviews (the latter two are run by the same people).

Both EnergySage and Solar-Estimate act as educational resources and comparison shopping tools to help you field bids. I’ve been using EnergySage, which is chock-full of articles explaining the technology involved. You can also watch videos, look at their buyer’s guide, or start getting quotes. Their Solar 101 series of articles will help you understand the basics, and when you’re done, scroll through the site’s “Learn About Solar” sidebar to read even more articles that’ll give you a feel for the process.

To understand what your home requires, though, you’ll need to look up how much electricity you use. If your bill tells you the average amount of electricity you use each month, make a note of that, or calculate a quick and dirty average yourself. The more information you have on your usage, the more accurate an estimate you can get from installers.

Your energy usage will determine how many panels you’ll need on your roof. Too few, and you’ll still have to pay the electric company for whatever extra power you use. Too many, and you’ll waste money on panels you don’t need—though the electric company will give you credits for any energy you don’t use, should you one day need electricity from the grid.

Keep in mind your future use, too—EnergySage CEO Vikram Aggarwal says that if you plan on getting an electric car, for example, you may want to add a few more panels than you currently need. My neighbor did exactly that, and he’s glad he doesn’t have to rely on the grid for the increased energy usage his new car requires.

From there, you can call local installers directly or plug your information into EnergySage to streamline the process. “You tell us about your home, your bill, and we ask you if you have any preferences regarding equipment, quality, or type of financing. Based on that information, you’ll get quotes from half a dozen pre-screened solar companies,” explains Aggarwal.

Since these quotes contain a number of figures, including a “price per watt,” it’s a bit easier to compare each installer apples-to-apples—rather than just comparing the total cost of each installation that you might get from individual quotes. And, unlike some other solar comparison tools, you won’t have to share your phone number on EnergySage, which is a big plus if you don’t want unsolicited phone calls. (Both EnergySage and Solar-Estimate make money from installers, who pay a fee to list on the site.)

How to choose an installer

As with any big project, don’t just pick the first cheap quote that comes along. “Consumers should get three to five quotes from a mix of different kinds of solar companies to truly evaluate their options,” says Aggarwal. That way, you’ll get a feel for the average cost—pay special attention to the price per watt, which is your main point of price comparison—though it isn’t the only factor you should consider when selecting an installer.

When you find some prices you like, reach out to the companies and set up a visit to your home where they can create a more detailed plan. You may find that a slightly more expensive installer makes a better pitch for the project. My brother-in-law, for example, liked that his chosen company had a keen attention to detail and helped explain the process to him. Other companies he looked at were cheaper, but didn’t take as much care in helping him decide between products, or determining the most aesthetic way to run the conduit to the electrical panel. So don’t be afraid to get a few on-site visits under your belt before committing. (And make sure a company is licensed, insured, and certified by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners—you can search their database of companies here.)

Different installers may carry or recommend different panels and inverters, too. (Inverters convert the direct current from the panels to alternating current for your home.) More-efficient panels are naturally more expensive, but may be necessary if you can’t fit enough lower-efficiency panels on your roof to cover your home’s electricity usage. If you have a large roof or lower usage, you can go with less-expensive panels. You can also choose between more-affordable inverters mounted to the side of your house and pricier, more-efficient ones that sit on your roof. A good installer will walk you through all your options, so you can make an informed decision.

The installer should also draw up the plans, get the permits, and install the actual equipment. So while the installation may be fairly quick, the start-to-finish process may take a few weeks to a few months, depending on your situation. Your installer should also tell you if you need to upgrade your electrical panel, which may be required for certain homes.

Payment and financing

Paying for your system can feel like a minefield all on its own. There are a ton of options out there, but most of them boil down to two main flavors: you can own your system, or you can rent it from the solar company.

Owning the system

Buying everything outright is ideal, since you reap the biggest financial benefits. You can either pay cash, which requires a high upfront cost but nets you the largest long-term savings, or you can take out a loan, which costs a little more in the long run but doesn’t require as much immediate money. Considering a typical solar power system can cost upwards of $10,000, a loan may be attractive. Plus, with a loan, as long as your monthly payment is lower than your monthly electric bill, you start saving money on day one. Purchasing the system upfront means you won’t break even for a few years (though again, you spend less in the long run).

That loan can come from many places, too. You can go to your bank and get it rolled into your mortgage, open a new line of credit, or get a loan through the installer, Aggarwal tells me. Going through your bank may be cheaper, he notes, but may also require more paperwork than choosing the loan your installer offers. It depends on how much legwork you want to do.

Renting the system

Signing a lease, a power purchase agreement, or renting a system through other means is also common, but generally not as financially advantageous. You’ll pay less money, but you won’t get as many of the benefits. “Most of the savings are going to the leasing company,” says Aggarwal. “You may only get 20 to 30 percent.” It can also be a bit complex if you ever want to sell your home—the homebuyer also has to qualify for the solar lease and agree to take over the contract. If they don’t, you could lose that sale, be forced to buy out the solar panels, or deal with the headache some other way. You won’t have to worry about maintenance or repairs, though, like you would with a system you own. If you can’t afford to buy or finance your panels, leasing may be an option, but make sure you’re aware of the downsides before proceeding.

Crunch the numbers

You may be curious to know how long it takes before the solar panels pay for themselves (the moment your savings overtake the initial cost of the system), particularly if you’re buying them outright. This depends on the price of electricity in your area, the incentives available in your region, and how much sunlight you typically get, Aggarwal says. In California, where I live, electricity is 56 percent more expensive than the national average, and there aren’t any state incentives. But we get so much sunlight that Aggarwal tells me California’s average payback period is seven to eight years. Most solar markets, he says, typically see payback in less than 10 years.

That’s pretty good, because most systems are designed to last significantly longer than that. Most solar equipment is warrantied for about 25 years, but can last even longer before you need to replace them, Aggarwal says. The panels do, however, lose efficiency over time, so they may not produce as much energy once you get that far down the road. In addition, the installer’s labor warranty will likely be shorter, so you may have to do a little legwork if you encounter trouble between years 15 and 25, for example.

Finding tax credits and rebates

If you choose to buy your solar system, you may be eligible for a number of financial incentives. It can be hard to keep track of what’s available, though, especially considering the federal government has started to phase out tax credits for solar. For 2020, the current federal tax credit stands at 26 percent of the cost of your system. This isn’t a rebate, it’s a tax credit, which means it’s deducted from the taxes you owe next year. If you don’t owe any taxes, you won’t get a check in the mail. The credit goes down to 22 percent in 2021, then phases out for residential customers in 2022.

There are also state or local incentives, but these can vary by location. Aggarwal recommends checking out the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency, or DSIRE, to see what’s available in your area. Your accountant may also be able to help you make sense of all this for your specific tax situation—so give them a call as you’re running the numbers to see what your final cost and savings will be.

Related: Best solar generators

The post What you need to know about converting your home to solar appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This post has been updated. It was originally posted on May 4, 2018.

Your computer is not as secure as you think. If you use it to store sensitive information—think tax forms, legal documents, and other files—you need to take extra steps to keep that data safe from prying eyes.

Protect files on your computer

Stashing sensitive files on your computer is much more convenient than hoarding stacks of papers in filing cabinets. But just as you lock your filing cabinet with a key, you need to lock those digital files so thieves and hackers can’t access them. Despite what you may think, a regular user account password is not enough. If someone has access to your device, they could easily find and steal your files with free and easy-to-obtain software.

Both Windows and macOS have built-in tools that will encrypt your files and treat your user account’s password as the key. That way, you’ll enter your password the same as you always have, but it does a lot more behind the scenes to lock down your files.

This feature can encrypt your computer, as well as your external drives. The latter ability is useful if you want to move files between PCs or lock the data under another layer of security by putting a portable drive in a physical safe. 

Here’s the catch: BitLocker requires that your computer has a special chip called a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), and not every PC comes with one. If your computer doesn’t have a TPM and you have Windows 10 or newer, you can enable BitLocker and save the encryption key on a flash drive. If your computer is running Windows 7 or newer, you also have the option to encrypt your local drive without a TPM or a USB drive. 

If all of that seems a bit complicated, you can turn to third-party options. VeraCrypt is a free program for Windows, macOS, and Linux that can encrypt your computer’s entire drive. You can also use it to encrypt certain groups of files inside their own secure “container,” though we recommend encrypting everything.

If you encrypt your hard drive (or put any files in an encrypted container), it’s incredibly important that you remember your password. Should you forget it you won’t be able to access those files at all.

“The Dropbox service can access files to do things like generate previews and allow users to interact with and collaborate on those files,” says Rajan Kapoor, head of data security at Dropbox. By making your data accessible to the platform, it can provide convenient features—but when it comes to your sensitive files, you may not feel that this is worth the trade-off. While Dropbox “performs threat modeling on every feature to probe for weaknesses,” it’s still asking you to trust its private security measures.

Some services, like SpiderOak One Backup, eschew those convenient features in favor of added security. “With other services, even when they use some encryption, you still are giving control over your files to the service,” says Jonathan Moore, CTO of SpiderOak. “The service can choose who can read the files, and even change them. With SpiderOak’s ‘trust less’ approach, we have no control over the data we host for you.” Because your data is encrypted before it ever leaves your computer, the SpiderOak service can only access that jumbled mess of encryption—not the actual files you’ve stored.

However, neither service will protect you if some ne’er-do-well actually gains access to your account. If someone else knows your Dropbox password or breaks into your account through a security breach—which has happened to Dropbox a couple of times in the past—your files will all become freely accessible to them. (To be fair, SpiderOak has also had security holes in the past, though none quite as serious as Dropbox’s breaches.) That’s why it’s incredibly important that you choose a strong, randomly-generated password and turn on two-factor authentication for every cloud service you use.

As long as you take advantage of those features, a cloud service like Dropbox or SpiderOak is probably good enough to protect most documents. But remember: When it comes to the cloud, you’re always trusting your data to someone else. If you really want an extra layer of security, you can store your files in a VeraCrypt container and then sync them to cloud storage. Even if someone got full access to your Dropbox or SpiderOak account, the bad actor would also need your VeraCrypt container’s password to access the files. Dropbox’s Help Center even recommends this approach when dealing with extra sensitive files.

Unfortunately, that isn’t very practical. Your recipient probably doesn’t use VeraCrypt, and asking them to install a whole new program just to read your files is probably going to be a non-starter. So you’ll need to try another route.

If you’re sending documents to a professional who regularly deals with sensitive documents, like a lawyer or tax preparer, they may have a “secure file box” on their website where you can drop the data. You’ll probably need to create an account to use it, but provided its developers have done their jobs, this will likely be your most secure option. (Again, there’s a big “if”: You have to trust the person managing the encrypted cloud storage.)

Of course, no matter how secure the handoff is, you’re putting your trust in the recipient: Once the file is in their hands, you can’t control how careful they are. So maybe it’s best not to fret too much. After all, they might leave their computer open without a password, or toss physical documents onto desks for all to see. That’s an unfortunate reality of the modern world. But you can at least do your part to keep sensitive information moderately secure—and hope others do theirs.

The post How to securely store and share sensitive files appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This post has been updated. It was originally published on June 8, 2020.

With a good pair of headphones, your music can sound incredible … and your brain can feel like it’s in a trash compactor. No matter where they’re hurting you, you’ll get way more comfortable headphones if you’re willing to mod them a little bit.

Every pair of cans is different, which means there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to the discomfort they cause. So as a first step, inspect your headphones to see if you can figure out where the pain is coming from and why. Maybe the band is digging into your skull, or the clamping force is too tight around your ears. Once you figure out the cause, we have a few potential solutions—but you may have to put on your engineering hat to adapt these fixes to your specific headphones to make them as comfortable as possible.

“Why do my ears get hot?”

Many headphones come with plush-but-plasticky fake-leather ear pads, which can make you sweat like a polar bear in Louisiana. The solution is simple: Get softer, more breathable velour (or fake velour) ear pads. Many companies make inexpensive third-party pads for popular headphones, so search around Amazon to find the right pair for to make your model more comfortable.

If you don’t see any pads made for your specific headphones, don’t lose hope. A lot of headphones use cups of similar size, so third-party pads made for one headphone may fit almost perfectly on another, less-popular model. Unfortunately, the only way to know is to try them out—or hope someone else has already done so. Google around for your model of headphones and “velour ear pads” to see what other audio nerds have found. Chances are, you’ll uncover a thread on Head-Fi.org or Reddit’s /r/headphones that has the information you need.

There is one big downside with this mod: More breathable ear pads, by definition, let more air in and out. That’s good for your ears, but it also means more sound will escape through that fabric, too. Your headphones won’t be quite as noise-isolating with this method, so you’ll be able to hear others around you, and they may be able to hear your music. It’ll also alter the sound of your headphones, slightly reducing the bass.

Unfortunately, you can’t change the laws of physics. You have to decide which of these things—comfort versus isolation and bass—matter more to you. On the other hand, if you don’t end up liking the pads, you can always replace the original ones.

“The headband hurts my skull!”

Some headphones pad the band with luscious amounts of memory foam… and others cover the hard plastic in cheap, thin fabric. If your headband feels like it’s pressing right on the peak of your skull, you’ll need to add some extra cushioning.

Depending on your headphones, this can be more difficult than it sounds. This inexpensive, universal padding from Geekria ($9) will fit just about any headband, but it looks like you pulled a sock over your headphones—not exactly fashionable. This pleather snap-on cushion from the same company is twice as expensive ($18), but it looks a bit better and should still fit a lot of headphones. And both are removable, if you decide you don’t like them.

To really go DIY on the headband, though, you can remove whatever cushioning is there and replace it with something completely new. Amazon is full of replacement cushions for popular headphones, and you may be able to use one of them to jerry-rig your own superbly comfortable pair. For example, you could apply this $15 replacement pad for various Bose headphones to a plastic headband with some glue or industrial Velcro. It will likely look a lot better than the universal options, but not every headphone will be so accommodating—so you may need to get a little clever in how you attach it.

If none of those solutions work, you might be able to remove the headband entirely—I replaced the hard, bumpy headband on my AKG Q701 with an old leather belt, and they now feel like a cloud—I can barely tell they’re on my head.

“They make my glasses dig into my head!”

You might be wondering how to wear headphones with glasses. No one understands the plight of uncomfortable headphones like someone with glasses. Even if they have relatively light clamping force and soft pads, a large pair of over-the-ear headphones will always press on your frames, making them burrow into your temple. Believe me, I’ve tried many.

If you want the most comfortable over-ear headphones, there’s a solution. I took a hobby knife to my ear pads and sacrificed their structural integrity in the name of comfort. After cutting a path the shape of my frames through the entire ear pad, my good headphones no longer make my glasses feel like a medieval torture device. Cutting into the foam like this will almost certainly make the pads fray after some time, but that’s a small price to pay. And if you’re worried about ruining your headphones’ ear pads, try this hack on some cheap replacement pads first, as discussed in the first section of this article.

“The headphones clamp too hard!”

You want your headphones to stay on your skull, not slide around while you bob your head to the music. But when they clamp too hard, it can be painful. Thankfully, the solution is pretty easy: Stretch them out.

[Related: The best wireless earbuds to get wrapped up in music]

Grab some books and stack them side-by-side until they’re about the width of your head, or a tad wider. Then stick your headphones over this improvised stretcher whenever you aren’t using them. After a few days, they should start feeling a little more comfortable. Just be careful not to stretch them out too much—better to start small and work your way up.

If your headphones have metal bands, like the Sony headphones shown above, you can also bend them by hand as shown in this YouTube video. Be very careful not to bend them too far, or you may not be able to get them back to their normal shape.

“The drivers press against my ears!”

What if the clamping force isn’t too bad, but the cups are too shallow, causing the driver to actually press against your ears? (This can also happen if your ears stick out like mine do.) In this case, you can deepen the ear cups, but be aware that this fix will probably alter the sound slightly.

To make your headphones more comfortable, take some foam or other padding and stuff it under the ear pad, all the way around. This should increase the thickness of the pad, creating more space inside the cup for your ears. I used backer rod, though you could also try something a little more plush, such as cotton balls.

In my experience, this makes the sound a touch bassier and muddier, but different types of padding will produce different results. You might even want to test out a few different materials to find the right balance of comfort and sound for you. Once you do, you’ll wonder how you went so long without it.

The post Want more comfortable headphones? Try these 5 fixes. appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Building your own computer from scratch allows you to craft the perfect rig for your needs, but if you’re on a super-strict budget, a shiny, new, custom-built PC isn’t always feasible.

So it’s a good thing you don’t need one of those to play games.

Sure, $400 or $500 might build you a decent budget gaming PC, but if money is tighter than that, your best bet is to go with something used. You might get lucky and find a cheap gaming PC on Craigslist, but you’ll get better bang for your buck going with something more common and less specialized: a decommissioned office PC.

That’s right—with a few choice upgrades, those Dell towers that litter office buildings ‘round the world can actually make decent gaming rigs. And your town is probably crawling with them, since schools and businesses often get rid of them in large batches.

Their loss is your gain—let’s bring one of those suckers back to life.

Related: Best gaming laptop: Five things to consider

What you’ll get

Before you start hunting for hardware, you’ll need to set your expectations. Even with a few upgrades, a low-end PC such as the Dell Optiplex I found won’t be playing all the latest triple-A titles at high resolutions with beautiful, ray-traced graphics. It will, however, handle a lot of lower-requirement esports titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, Fortnite, Overwatch, and Rocket League. Depending on the upgrades you make, higher-end games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider might be playable if you’re willing to turn the resolution down to 720p. (If you run into any trouble, though, YouTube channel LowSpecGamer has a lot of tricks for playing newer games below the minimum system requirements.)

Of course, you’ll also be able to grab games from a couple years ago during a Steam sale and play them without much issue, for super cheap. And since “Gaming” doesn’t just mean playing the latest graphical behemoths on launch day, you can also dig further back to classic masterpieces on stores like GOG.com.

Finally, know that this PC probably won’t be a long-term investment, so consider it a stopgap until you can afford a more powerful build. After all, we’re talking about pretty old, well-used hardware, and you can only upgrade it so far before it makes more sense to build a new PC from scratch. It also may require a bit more maintenance, so be ready to tackle problems if they happen—and make sure you have a good backup solution handy for your data.

If all that sounds palatable, it’s time to start deal hunting.

Where to find your parts

You can find used cheap PC parts all over the web, but the best deals are probably right in your neighborhood. I recommend pounding the pavement and finding your local electronics recycling centers, office liquidators, and thrift stores—give them a call or pay them a visit to see what kind of used PCs and PC parts they have. Alternatively, if you know people at local schools and businesses, ask them if their IT department is looking to offload any old gear.

You’ll be able to find a lot of the components you’ll need this way, but not necessarily all of them. For anything you can’t find at an e-waste center, you’ll want to scour Craigslist, OfferUp, LetGo, and other similar apps. You can also try eBay, but the platform has a much larger audience, which means stuff tends to sell for its fair market price. But you’re scraping together a PC on the lowest budget possible, so market price is not what you want: you want a local seller who’s willing to negotiate a killer deal just to get it off their hands. (You can even try to find some gaming PC parts for free, but I wouldn’t bank on that too hard—especially if you want stuff in decent working order.)

Buying local also allows you to test the equipment before you hand over your money. When negotiating the sale, ask the seller to have it plugged in and ready to try when you go to pick it up. That way you can see if it boots into Windows, run CrystalDiskInfo to see if the hard drive is still in good shape, and make sure it doesn’t reek of smoke (seriously—this is more common that you’d think). If the PC doesn’t have a hard drive—it’s common for companies to destroy them for security reasons before they dispose of their computers—see if it boots into the BIOS, or bring a flash drive with the Windows installer on it and see if it boots into that. If everything looks reliable, you can take it home and start working on your upgrades.

Online sales like eBay do offer buyer protection, though, which is handy if you get a defective component. Craigslist doesn’t usually have any recourse for that, so you’ll have to weigh your risk tolerance with your budget and go from there.

Related: Nine tweaks to supercharge your gaming PC

What to look for

As with any PC build, it helps to plan things out before you actually go shopping. (We’re assuming you already have a general idea of what goes into building a gaming PC—if you don’t, you should definitely become acquainted with our PC building guide first.) Lay out your budget, figure out which computer parts will fit into it, then start your hunt. My goal was to build something for only $100 (because hey, I like a challenge), but I’ll lay out parts in a few different price ranges for those who have more to spend.

The tower

There are a few different types of office-oriented PCs out there, but the Dell Optiplex is one of the more common and the one I’d recommend for this conversion. If you can find a Lenovo, HP, or Compaq machine with similar specs for a good price, you can use those too, but they’re a bit harder to come by. You’re looking for something that, ideally, has a second-generation Intel Core i5 processor (in which the four-digit number after i5 starts with a 2) or newer processor—an i3 might get you by, but avoid Core 2 Quads and other lower-end CPUs if you can.

These office PCs also come in different forms. I recommend getting a larger “mini-tower,” rather than one of the smaller, slimmer machines—you’ll have an easier time fitting in a graphics card, power supply, and other upgrades. If you find a small rig for a price that’s too good to pass up, it’ll work, but you’ll need to either shop for low-profile graphics cards or jury-rig it into the case using a PCI-express riser.

Finally, think about your upgrade plans for this machine. If you’re just building a cheap PC to get you by until you can build a new, high-end rig in a few months, you don’t need to worry too much about compatibility with future upgrades. But if you’re planning on adding a bit more power to this build, you may want to narrow your search to models that use a standard 24-pin power socket on the motherboard. Some of these office PCs use a smaller, non-standard 8-pin power connector, which means you won’t be able to upgrade your power supply in the future. It isn’t strictly necessary—many people will be just fine with the included power supply and a low-power graphics card like I’ll be using here—but it’s nice to have the option in the future. (There are 8-pin to 24-pin adapters out there, but I’m hesitant to use power supply adapters like these since many are cheaply or incorrectly made.)

That sounds like a lot of caveats, but as you browse through the shelves at the e-waste center (or through photos on Craigslist), you’ll be able to spot these things pretty quickly. I found a few contenders here in the San Diego area where I live, but eventually went with a Craigslisted Dell Optiplex 9010 that hit all my requirements for only $50. It didn’t have a hard drive, but even with that caveat, it was the best deal I could find—a hard drive is a pretty cheap addition.

Remember, patience is key—you may not find a killer deal tonight, tomorrow, or even next week, but if you monitor things closely and negotiate your butt off, you’ll eventually find the perfect system for an unbeatable price.

The graphics card

An office PC can handle day-to-day tasks just fine, but we’re gunning for a gaming rig here, which means you’ll need to pop in a dedicated graphics card. Again, you’ll want to hunt the used market for the best deals, and this is one area where e-waste centers probably don’t have what you need—but eBay just might.

On the low end, you can probably find an NVIDIA GTX 650 for cheap, as they usually sell for around $35 on eBay. It’s a bit long in the tooth, but you’d be surprised what you can get away with playing on a card this affordable—titles like CS:GO, League of Legends, and Dota 2 should run beautifully at 1080p, while games like Fortnite, Overwatch, and Rocket League may require ratcheting down the resolution a bit to stay at 60 frames per second. Something like this ASUS model is a good one to buy, since it doesn’t require a 6-pin connection to the power supply—which most office PCs won’t have.

If you can find it, an NVIDIA GTX 750 Ti would be even better, and is a good sweet spot for a build like this. It can crush most esports titles, and scrape by just enough in higher-end triple-A games. I found this Zotac model listed for $50 on OfferUp here in San Diego, which I negotiated down to $30—a pretty great deal. Again, the lack of a 6-pin socket is key if you don’t want to upgrade your power supply.

If you’re using a smaller PC, you’ll want a low-profile card—the NVIDIA GT 1030 is a popular one, and lies somewhere between the above two cards in power. It has a market price of around $50 for the less expensive models, but you might be able to get it for cheaper if you’re patient and buy locally.

The further you step up in cards—say, an AMD RX 460 or 560 for around $65, or a GTX 950, 960, or 1050 Ti for around $100—the more you can play. The 1050 Ti is also available without a 6-pin connector, and in a low-profile shape for slimmer desktops. At this point, though, you’ll need to consider adding a beefier power supply, which will increase the total cost of your setup. Still, a $200 rig powered by a GTX 1050 Ti is a fantastic value proposition.

You can go higher up the chain than that, but soon the old CPU in your salvaged computer will likely become a bottleneck, meaning your performance won’t increase enough to make the cost worth it. Plus, at that point, you’re probably better off building a PC from scratch rather than using the old office rig as your base anyway.

Other hardware (and software)

If you have more to spend—or your computer comes missing a few components—there are a few other things you’ll need to consider:

• Storage: Many of these used PCs won’t come with a hard drive, meaning you’ll have to add one yourself. You have a few choices: you can grab a new 500GB HDD for around $25, though it’ll be a little slow. If you’re efficient with your storage, I’d recommend buying a lower-capacity, higher-speed SSD like this 128GB PNY model for $20. Or, if you have enough money, get one of each: use the SSD for your boot drive, your spinning drive for your files, and live your best life. If you find a tower that does come with storage, make sure to test its health with CrystalDiskInfo—if it’s starting to fail, see if you can negotiate the price down further to make up for the drive you’ll have to buy.
• An operating system: You’ll need a 5GB flash drive to install Windows—if you don’t have one, borrow one (you’ll only need it for an hour or two). Almost all of these PCs should come with Windows licenses in the form of a 25-digit key printed on a sticker somewhere on the tower. If yours doesn’t have a Windows license, it’s probably not worth buying, since Windows costs about $100 on its own. If you plan on running Linux instead, you won’t need to worry about this, but since most people will probably want Windows for gaming, make sure it has that sticker.
• A keyboard, mouse, and monitor: As with most PC building guides, we’re only focusing on the tower itself here—we’re assuming you have an old monitor, keyboard, and mouse lying around. But if you don’t, you can often find old office peripherals in the same e-waste centers and classified apps where you found the tower (you’ll just need to budget for them). There are also plenty of affordable “gaming” mice and keyboards on Amazon, from brands like Velocifire and Redragon, if you’re willing to spend a bit more.
• A network connection: My machine didn’t have Wi-Fi, which was fine since I planned on using the more reliable Ethernet connection to access the internet. If Ethernet isn’t an option for you and your PC doesn’t have Wi-Fi, you’ll want to find a PCI or USB Wi-Fi receiver to access the web, either used or new on Amazon.
• A better power supply: while I found the 295-watt power supply in my Dell Optiplex was adequate for my GTX 750 Ti, it’s definitely borderline. If you can afford a nicer model like this EVGA 450-watt unit, it’s a worthy upgrade. Your system will be more stable since it will have more wattage headroom for your hardware, and you’ll have a wider choice in graphics cards, since it has a 6-pin connector.
• Some extra RAM: If your office PC only comes with 4GB of RAM, you’ll be able to get by, but it’s really at the edge of what I’d recommend on a Windows system today. Luckily, those old PCs use the older DDR3 standard, which means you can probably buy another 4GB for $10 (or less) on the used market. You’ll be glad you did, particularly if you plan on opening a lot of browser tabs or playing higher-end games.

You shouldn’t need much else, though some rubbing alcohol may be useful for cleaning the case, and a cloth for cleaning any dust off internal components.

Make your upgrades and install Windows

Once you’ve got your hardware in-hand—remember, patience is a virtue if you want the best price possible—it’s time to build your PC. We’ve already run through how to build a PC in this guide, so I won’t hold your hand every step of the way, but I will note a few things you may want to watch out for with Optiplex-like office PCs.

I ended up with a $50 Dell Optiplex 9010 housing an Intel Core i5-3470 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and no hard drive. I added a GTX 750 Ti I got for $30 and an SSD I got for free from a friend who was leaving town—although let’s assume I paid $20 for the sake of a fair comparison. That comes out to $100 even for my final setup—though again, I’d recommend a bit more RAM and a new PSU if you have an extra $50 to spare.

My Optiplex was decently clean, though I did give the case a once-over with some rubbing alcohol and a microfiber cloth, especially where there was some leftover sticker gunk on the front. (Be careful not to remove that Windows license sticker, though.) I also removed the side panel, evicted some dust bunnies with a dust blower, and gently wiped off the fans with a dry cloth. If you have an electric air duster, all the better. (Canned air works too, though it’s terrible for the environment, so I don’t recommend it.)

If you have a new power supply, you’ll want to install that before any other hardware. Unscrew the four screws surrounding the power cable on the back of the PC, unplug all the rainbow cables from the motherboard and hard drive (if applicable), and swap in your new one.

Next, grab your hard drive or SSD and insert the SATA cable, along with the SATA power cable from your power supply. I’m using an SSD, so I kind of just let it hang out where the DVD drive used to be, but if you’re using a traditional hard drive, you’ll want to screw it into the hard drive caddy and slide it into the cage. (Strangely, my particular Optiplex didn’t come with the blue caddy, but they’re available on eBay for $4.)

Finally, stick your graphics card in the top PCIe slot on the motherboard, making sure it’s firmly in place, and—if you bought extra RAM—put it in a free slot. Note that your RAM needs to go in the proper slot in order to work, so check your PC’s manual if you aren’t sure which slot to use—you can usually find it on the manufacturer’s website, e.g. Dell.com.

Before you continue, you’ll want to use another Windows PC to burn the Windows installer to that flash drive using Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool. It’ll take a bit of time, so get the process started now and let it run while you perform the next steps.

Now you can plug your computer into the wall, connect your mouse, keyboard, and monitor, and fire ‘er up. Look for anything on-screen that says something like “Press DEL to enter Setup” or “Press F12 for Boot Options.” Press the key in question and enter the UEFI/BIOS menu—you’ll want to double check a few settings in here first. Make sure it’s set to boot using UEFI, not Legacy, and that Secure Boot is turned on (unless you’re using an operating system not supported by this feature). You’ll also want to make sure your SATA drive is set to AHCI, not IDE or RAID.

When you’re satisfied with your BIOS settings, insert your Windows flash drive and reboot the computer. It should boot automatically into the Windows installer. Choose a custom install, erase your hard drive of choice, and format it for Windows usage just like you would any other new PC. When prompted for a Windows key, enter the one on your computer’s sticker. Even if it’s for Windows 7 or 8, it should work for Windows 10 as well.

The installation process may take a while, so make yourself a cup of coffee and try to contain your excitement. You’re almost there—once Windows drops you into the desktop, you can head to the support page on your PC’s manufacturer site (e.g. Dell, HP, or Lenovo), look up your PC model, and download any necessary drivers—usually Windows will install generic drivers to get you by, but grabbing the chipset, network, and audio drivers may be necessary if those functions don’t work (or if you want extra features contained in the manufacturer’s driver). You’ll also want to head to NVIDIA or AMD’s website to install your graphics card’s drivers, since they can improve gaming performance.

Once that’s done, I recommend running a CPU stress test like Prime95 to make sure your computer doesn’t have any power management or stability issues, preferably alongside HWiNFO so you can keep an eye on your CPU temperatures. If it can handle an hour with Prime95 running and staying under 80 degrees Celsius (176 degrees Fahrenheit) or so, you should be golden. (If you do have problems, you may want to have to do some troubleshooting—you might need a new power supply, or your CPU may be dying.) You can also run a GPU benchmark like Heaven for a couple hours to make sure your graphics card is in good shape.

I know it’s hard to delay the fun, but if you can get through those stress tests, you can be much more confident that your PC is ready to game. When they’re finished, though, it’s time to play. Download your games and start with the graphics on their lowest settings, slowly ramping them up until the game becomes too choppy for your tastes. With a bit of careful tweaking, you’ll be mowing down alien invaders in no time.

Related: Best Cheap Gaming PCs

The post Build a killer gaming PC for $100 appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

I’ve been a diehard user of Google’s pure Android phones—like the Nexus and Pixel lines—for years, preferring the unadulterated stock Android experience to the tweaked version manufacturers provide. But Samsung has some of the best hardware you can get today, plus a few handy features that Pixel phones don’t have. Samsung’s powerful processors and great cameras have constantly tempted me to switch and try one of their smartphones, but there was always the interface problem.

Once upon a time, manufacturer-skinned versions of Android were considered blasphemy. These days, that’s changed: Samsung’s One UI is a huge improvement over their older software, but after years with Google’s version, it’s still hard to get used to some of Samsung’s changes. So when I finally caved and bought a refurbished Galaxy S10e, I just couldn’t go without making some software alterations to make my new phone look and feel more like Google’s simpler offering.

This guide should get you the best of both worlds: Google’s simpler, more usable interface with all the extra features Samsung packs in to the OS itself.

Install Google’s Stock Apps

Before doing anything else, replace some of Samsung’s built-in apps with Google’s equivalents if you don’t have them already. These I feel are better designed or more feature-filled:

• Chrome
• Gmail
• Contacts
• Calendar
• Messages
• Gboard
• Photos

If you want, you can go even further and replace some of the smaller apps, like Phone, Calculator, and Wallpapers, but they aren’t strictly necessary unless you want that consistent Google-feel across your device. Google’s Camera app is an exception as well: you can technically install community-tweaked builds that’ll work on the latest Samsung phones, but they can be buggy, and in my experience the Samsung camera app just worked more reliably. If you’re unhappy with the quality of the photos Samsung’s camera app takes, you may want to tweak the “Scene Optimizer” and other features in the Camera’s settings before you try switching to the Google app.

Replace the home screen with Nova Launcher

Samsung’s home screen is pretty customizable if you dig into the settings, but it still can’t match a third-party home screen like Nova Launcher. The sheer amount of options, customizable shortcuts, and compatible icon packs is unmatched, and you can even get the Google Now feed that comes with Google’s standard launcher (instead of the “Samsung Daily” feed that comes with Galaxy phones). Grab Nova Launcher and start playing around with some settings—I recommend paying $5 for the Prime pack as well to get the full suite of features.

Look through everything Nova has to offer to find what you like best, but there are two things I definitely recommend tweaking. First, from Nova’s settings, head to App Drawer and then Hide Apps. From here, you can hide all of Samsung’s preinstalled apps that you aren’t using (like the aforementioned Internet, Calendar, and Contacts, which you can’t uninstall) plus any other bloatware that came with your phone. It’ll free up space and make you forget those apps are even there.

Next, go to Look & Feel and tap on Icon Style, where you can pick the more Google-esque round icon shape instead of Samsung’s Rounded Square. On that same menu, I also recommend grabbing a Pixel-focused icon pack, like Pixel Pie Icon Pack, which will generate Google-style round icons for a ton of third-party apps to make your home screen look just like stock Android.

If you don’t want to download Nova and just want to stick with Samsung’s home screen launcher, you could also head to the Galaxy Themes app and grab a “Material” designed theme, which will mimic the look of stock Android on Samsung’s home screen.

Remap the Bixby button to Google Assistant (or something else)

Ah, Bixby—the voice assistant nobody wants, but Samsung shoves in front of your face as often as they can. While I’m no fan of it, I actually like the Bixby button found on the side of Galaxy phones because nowadays it’s extremely customizable—just head to Settings, Advanced Features, and then Bixby Key. There you can change Bixby to a double-press while using a single press to open whatever app you want. For the most Pixel-like experience, remap this to the Google Assistant (almost mimicking the “squeeze” gesture on Pixel phones), though I find the button unnecessary since I can use the “Hey Google” command. I prefer to map it to the camera, or some other app I might need super-quick access to. It’s up to you.

Tweak the lock screen and navigation bar

Finally, I changed a few other minor settings for a more stock-like experience. First and foremost, lock screen notifications. Samsung hides your notifications behind an extra tap, which drives me absolutely bonkers, but you can turn this off by heading to Settings, Lock Screen, and then to Notifications, and changing the View Style to Details. You may also want to go to the Lock Screen settings and change the Clock Style to the more centered, Pixel-like option they offer.

If you’re used to stock Android phones, you’re probably also thrown off by the button order along the bottom—Samsung has always put the back button on the opposite side as Google. I used to hate this, but I have to admit that with today’s larger screens, I actually find Samsung’s right-oriented back button easier to reach with one hand. But, if you want it back the way Google does it, head to Settings, Display, and Navigation Bar, to change the button order from there.

Note that if you want to go above and beyond what both Samsung and Google offer by default, check out Good Lock. It’s a piece of Samsung software from the Galaxy Store that isn’t installed out-of-the-box, but offers a boatload of options for customizing your lock screen, navigation bar, quick settings panel, and more. It may be a bit overkill for some, but if you’re the kind of person that likes to tweak every corner of your phone, it’s a great alternative to the above tips.

Customize the Quick Settings panel

When you drag your finger down from the top of the screen, you’ll see your notifications along with a few “quick settings” along the top. Drag down again, and you’ll get the full Quick Settings panel, which allows you to customize your screen’s brightness, toggle certain settings on and off, and more.

Samsung’s Quick Settings panel looks a bit different from Google’s, but it’s actually a bit more customizable—if you want something both customizable and Pixel-styled, check out Power Shade. After installing the app and giving it Accessibility and Notification permissions, your Quick Settings panel will look exactly like the Pixel’s, only with far more options for customizing the layout, colors, icon shape, carrier name, and other features.

The post Tweak your Samsung Galaxy to give it that stock Android look appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on Aug. 9, 2018.

We’ve all had that moment when we’re far from home and low on data, but still need to finish up some work (or catch up on some Netflix episodes). Free WiFi is everywhere, yet paradoxically, it’s hard to actually find a hotspot when you really need one. Even if you locate a network, you may not trust that it’s secure. Here’s how to find free WiFi wherever you go, without compromising your privacy.

We collected some of the most popular chains with free, open WiFi at many or all of their locations.

• Coffee shops: Starbucks, Peet’s Coffee, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Dunkin’ Donuts, Tim Hortons
• Fast food restaurants: McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Chick-fil-A, Panera Bread, Arby’s, and some Subways
• Retailers: Apple, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Target, Whole Foods, Staples, Office Depot

Those locations should cover a lot of the occasions when you need WiFi but can’t find a Starbucks across the street. And if you plan to sit down and work, remember that coffee shops and restaurants will have more seating than retail stores.

Check a hotspot map

Big chains aren’t the only places that offer free WiFi. You can also find it at local libraries, laundromats, parks, restaurants, and churches—though they don’t always advertise it. Even more annoyingly, some of them are protected with passwords so only customers can access the network. That’s where the app WiFi Map (free for iOS and Android), comes in.

WiFi Map shows you a crowdsourced list of WiFi hotspots all over the world. When you launch the app, it detects your location and shows you a list of hotspots near you. If the hookup requires a password, WiFi Map will list it for you, letting you connect to just about any business’ network. Occasionally you’ll find an old listing that isn’t valid, but I found it to be pretty up-to-date here in San Diego, where I live.

The app is free, but it’s crawling with ads. You can remove them by earning points within the app (by adding or updating WiFi locations, for example), or buying a $2 monthly or $10 lifetime Pro version. (If you’re traveling or worried about running out of data, the Pro version also offers more offline features.) If you prefer a less intrusive app, check out OpenSignal’s app (free for iOS and Android), which includes WiFi coverage maps based on information crowdsourced from its users. This app boasts a much better design, but in my testing, didn’t have as many networks and passwords. Depending where you are—a city versus a more rural area, for example—your mileage may vary.

[Related: Everything you need to do before you start a free trial]

If you’d rather not download a separate tool, Facebook’s mobile app has a built-in WiFi finder—just open the menu (three lines) and go to Settings & Privacy > Find Wi-Fi. However, it doesn’t contain passwords for closed networks, so it isn’t quite as useful as dedicated apps like WiFi Map.

Connect to networks run by your internet provider

If you subscribe to cable, fiber, or really any internet at home, you probably have free access to thousands of WiFi networks around the country. Internet service providers (ISPs) like AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Cox, Spectrum, and others provide their customers with vast webs of hotspots. You can access your ISP’s networks for free just by logging in with your subscriber account.

For example, I have Cox cable internet at home, so I downloaded the Cox Connect app. Through this, I can see all the Cox-owned hotspots around me. When I reach a hotspot, I just connect to CoxWiFi, log in with my account—the same one I use to pay my cable bill online—and I’m good to go. You can do the same with Comcast’s xfinitywifi hotspots, Spectrums spectrumwifi ones, AT&T’s attwifi network, and so on. Just download your provider’s app to see its networks near you. When I checked the Cox Connect app in my hometown, I found locations everywhere.

Stay safe on public WiFi

Most of the public WiFi you’ll find using these methods is “open”—meaning it isn’t encrypted with a WPA password. Even if you have to type in a password on a web page, a network still counts as “open” if you don’t see the little lock icon next to it. And open networks come with security risks.

So whenever you’re connecting to these networks, make sure you follow all the guidelines in our guide to staying safe on public WiFi: Read the fine print, use HTTPS wherever possible, and—if HTTPS isn’t available on the site you need—set up a VPN to keep your personal info safe. (If you have a Nexus or Pixel phone from Google, you can enable WiFi Assistant to automatically connect to Google’s free VPN service on open networks.) Free WiFi isn’t worth the trouble if it puts your personal information at risk, so be vigilant.

The post How to find free WiFi when you really need it appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This post has been updated. It originally published on March 24, 2020.

When trusty ol’ streaming platforms start to feel a little stale, you don’t have to resort to binging Parks & Recreation for the fifth time (though it couldn’t hurt, honestly). If you’re stuck inside looking for things to watch, you might be surprised by how many free movies and shows are ripe for the picking on your TV.

Whether you’re using your TV’s built-in smart features or a standalone set-top box like the Roku or Apple TV, you’ll find a huge selection of channels that have some free content, even well-known names like NBC, Fox, and Adult Swim. Many of those are limited if you don’t have a cable subscription, but some, including those with lesser-known names, offer whole movies and TV seasons for no cost at all.

[Related: Stop your streaming apps from eating all your data]

First, temper your expectations just a tad. These channels are free for a reason, so they won’t have tons of big-budget flicks or the latest releases. Mostly, you’ll find a lot of B-movies and classic sitcoms, with a few standouts from more recent years mixed in. There’s also a decent amount of crossover, and catalogues rotate periodically, just like Netflix. Depending on when you’re reading this, the titles below may no longer be available, but they will give you an idea of what the selection and experience looks like.

Crackle

Sony’s Crackle channel has quite a large selection for a free channel, with lots of genres to choose from. Whether you’re a horror fan, an action nut, or just looking for a comedy, you’ll probably find something here. You’ll find critically-acclaimed movies like Fury and The Social Network alongside older titles like the Ace Ventura series, Failure to Launch, Midnight in Paris, and (weirdly) some classic sequels like Airplane II, Naked Gun 33 ½, and some of the Star Trek movies. It also has lots of classic sitcoms, plus also a few recent shows that were decent but didn’t do well, like Marry Me and Mr. Sunshine. There are probably some great ones I didn’t get to see, though, because browsing the app on my Roku was a terrible experience—the platform has only one visible row and an auto-playing video in the background. But if you can put up with that, there’s definitely a lot to watch.

Vudu

Vudu is primarily a movie-and-TV-buying service, with rentals and purchases similar to iTunes or the Google Play store. It does, however, have a decent selection of free stuff you can watch with ads, from movies like the Lethal Weapon series, V for Vendetta, or—if you need something a bit more upbeat—Superbad and Happy Feet. It has a few TV shows, but its definite strength lies in feature-length films, so check it out if you’re looking for a way to kill a couple hours.

The Roku Channel

Roku has curated their own channel of free movies and TV, showcasing slightly older movies like Hook, The Karate Kid, and Rudy, alongside TV shows like Schitt’s Creek, Without a Trace, and a stable of classic sitcoms like Bewitched. There’s also a lot of reality TV. It’s primarily designed for Roku users (obviously), but it’s also on the web and mobile devices, so you can watch it through your Fire TV’s browser or through AirPlay on your Apple TV.

Tubi

Tubi is not a household name, but I found the app pleasant with a decent selection of usual classic titles, alongside moderately-recent movies like Minority Report, Black Hawk Down, and Michael Bay’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Unlike some of the other channels, though, it has a lot of specific, easily browsable categories like family movies, black cinema, and the cleverly-titled “Not on Netflix,” which makes it a bit easier to find something you’re bound to like.

Filmrise

Filmrise is one of the few channels that keeps things simple: It’s a big list of movies in a basic interface that’s easy to browse and shares a lot of content with other free channels. I did find some fun titles like Lars and the Real Girl, Legally Blonde, The Illusionist, and Memento (one of my personal favorites). It has a few lesser-known TV shows as well, alongside a few bigger names like 3rd Rock from the Sun, Adam West’s Batman, and lots of Gordon Ramsay. You’ll find those elsewhere, too, but Filmrise has one section I didn’t see lots of other places: live concerts. So if you feel like watching a performance from the Rolling Stones, The Who, Stone Temple Pilots, or Dream Theater, Filmrise has a few to choose from.

[Related: It’s time to unsubscribe from some streaming services]

Popcornflix

Similar to Filmrise, Popcornflix is a simple, browsable database of free movies and shows. You’ll find classics like Clue and the original Italian Job, modern comedies like Young Adult and She’s Out of My League (which I maintain is funnier than it gets credit for), and some action thrown in for good measure. There’s an awful lot of crossover with other free channels on this list, but it’s worth a peek anyway.

Pluto TV

Pluto TV is a bit different from your typical streaming channels. Instead of a selection of always-available movies and shows, Pluto TV is more like Live TV, with “channels” like BET, Comedy Central, Fox Sports, Spike, Westerns, and even a 007 channel playing classic Bond films 24/7. You can’t start a movie from the beginning, so you’ll have to do things the old-school way and watch what’s currently on. But I suppose it’s nice if you’re the kind of person that likes to flip around channels rather than deal with a single decision. You may also find this built-in to your TV as its own input: Samsung calls it TV Plus, and Vizio calls it WatchFree+.

Crunchyroll

If you’re an anime fan, you probably already know about Crunchyroll. If you aren’t an anime fan—or you were in the past but haven’t kept up—there’s plenty to rediscover here. The selection of shows is huge, and most of them are available for free, with the main exception being the latest episodes of some newer titles. You’ll just have to put up with ads unless you pony up.

[Related: Best streaming devices to watch anything your heart desires]

Plex

While Plex started out as a way for you to stream your own shows across your home network, the company has expanded into a ton of streaming content, including news, web series, movies and shows. It’s a similar type of selection you see with other services, with a few standout titles plus some good but lesser-known series like The Dresden Files. Browsing will be familiar to anyone with a Netflix account, and Plex does a good job of splitting its large library up into more specific categories for easy browsing. You do, however, need a free account to stream.

Hoopla

Hoopla isn’t available to everyone, instead partnering with some local libraries and schools across the country to provide streaming movies, shows, and audiobooks to their members. You’ll find a similar selection to the above streaming services, but it also has titles I didn’t see in many other channels, like What We Do in the Shadows (seriously, watch it) and Good Will Hunting. It also has a remarkably large selection of family-oriented stuff, from The Pokémon Movie to 13 Going On 30. You’ll need to create a free account, but as long as your local library is supported by Hoopla—you can check when you sign up—you’ll have a pretty big selection to choose from.

Sling TV

If you’ve cut cable TV out of your life, you probably know all about Sling, the pseudo-a-la-carte live TV replacement. But alongside its live channels, Sling has a selection of free streaming content that you can watch without an account. A lot of it is news-based, but you’ll also find a few shows like the 21 Jump Street TV series, Hell’s Kitchen, and Grounded for Life. Sling’s free selection is probably one of the weaker I’ve seen (as most of its notable shows are available on other channels), but it’s worth checking out as you browse.

The post 11 totally legal streaming platforms that will let you watch movies for free appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This post has been updated. It was originally published on December 28, 2020.

It’s easy to get complacent when tearing down your holiday decorations—all you want is to toss them in a closet and forget about them for 12 months. But if you do a haphazard job now, you’ll be greeted by a tangled mess of lights and ornaments when next December comes knocking.

Don’t turn next year’s Christmas into a chore. Here’s how to pack your holiday decorations this year so you can ease your future self’s life.

Take photos and label everything

If you have trouble remembering how to set up your decorations every year, snap a few photos before you begin tearing them down. That way, you can print out these images and put them in the boxes with your decorations. For example, I often forget which lights go where, and exactly how I hung them. A few pictures help jog my memory and speed up each year’s setup.

[Related: How to print and frame a photo that deserves more than Instagram]

Next, grab a label maker—or some sharpies and masking tape—and mark every box with its contents as you pack it. This sounds obvious in retrospect, but I wasted far too much time for too many years digging through 10 boxes of unrelated junk trying to find the Christmas decorations. Never again—a few simple labels save me all that trouble.

Wrap lights to avoid tangles

String lights are easily the most annoying decoration to store. Every year, I wrap them neatly in a loop, place them gently in a box—and somehow still end up untangling a rat’s nest of tiny lights when I go to decorate.

In my experience, there’s no way to 100 percent avoid this—those little lights are like fish hooks, and they’ll always catch on something. You can, however, alleviate the problem by wrapping your lights around something to avoid tangles. Old coffee cans work best, but these can be tough to store. The cardboard tubes left over from your gift wrap are a great alternative.

If you want something that lays more flat, use a few pieces of cardboard—just be careful not to kink the wires too much as you wrap them around the edges. When you opt for this method, you gain an added bonus: You can label each piece of cardboard based on where those lights go in your house.

Pack ornaments to prevent breaking or chipping

For a long time, my family just tossed our ornaments in a plastic bin with a bit of tissue paper and called it a day. This can cause fragile ornaments to break if jostled too much. Or, even if they don’t break, they can still rub against each other, tangling their hooks or wearing down the paint on their sides. There are better ways to pack these keepsakes.

I’ve seen people recommend egg cartons, gluing paper cups to a bin, and lots of other craft-y solutions—but honestly, it’s way easier to just buy an inexpensive box designed for ornament storage. You’ll get more space, and you won’t have to waste time digging for trash to build your own solution.

This plastic bin from Snapware doesn’t cost much, and you can find plenty of fabric boxes priced a bit less expensively.

Alternatively, if you’re determined to avoid spending more money, you could just make your own dividers out of old cardboard boxes. However, you may have to remove a few of the cardboard dividers to make room for your larger ornaments.

Carefully store any artificial greenery

If you have an artificial Christmas tree, you want to make sure you reuse it as many years as possible—not just for your wallet’s sake, but for the environment’s as well. So the less you scrunch the tree up and wear out its branches, the better.

Instead of stuffing your tree back in its original box, which is probably a tight squeeze, grab a tree storage bag like this one. It has straps to tuck in your tree without squeezing it too tight, and it will keep your counterfeit conifer safe from water, dust, and pests. If the price is a bit steep, this bag is a bit less impressive, but much cheaper.

[Related: 7 key plant care tips we learned this year]

Artificial wreaths require similar care. A hard-shell case will ensure it never gets crushed by your other boxes.

A real tree presents fewer storage challenges, since you’re probably going to get rid of it completely. Just make sure you do so in an environmentally-friendly manner.

Once you’ve packed everything away, take a few minutes for tree cleanup. For example, if it left sap on your carpet, blot the goo with a rag soaked in rubbing alcohol. I’ve also found a brushless handheld vacuum cleans up pine needles much better than a traditional one, as the mess clogs brushes far too easily.

The post The best ways to store holiday decorations so your future self doesn’t hate you appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This post has been updated. It was originally published on October 16, 2020.

Working from home has many challenges, but there’s one that people everywhere, regardless of their setup, keep facing over and over again: slow, spotty WiFi. If sprucing up your home network has not stopped your connection from snailing, or solved the dead zones plaguing your workday, it’s time to break out the big guns. In this context, that means running some Ethernet lines and plugging them into a mesh Wi-Fi system.

Ethernet and mesh WiFi = wonderful internet everywhere

If your house is large or strangely laid out, no amount of router fiddling will get you solid, stable WiFi in every corner—it’s just an unfortunate fact of life. Wireless extenders and mesh systems like Eero can help in some cases, but they aren’t a silver bullet, especially if you live in a large place or have to deal with thick, winding walls.

“That repeater picks up the quality that’s being given to it—if it’s picking up bad-quality WiFi, all it can give out is bad-quality WiFi,” explains Cham Clayton, owner of CBG Multimedia in Shepherd, Michigan. His company professionally installs Ethernet and WiFi systems for residential and commercial properties, and he’s seen many cases where these fully wireless extenders can’t get the job done. Even if devices show more signal bars, the very nature of WiFi extenders (even good ones with multiple radios for “backhaul”) will force that TikTok video you’re uploading to make multiple “hops” to get back to the router, slowing things down.

But there is a simple, clear solution to all this: connect each of those mesh nodes into your main router with Ethernet cables. By doing so, instead of repeating whatever degraded nonsense they’re picking up from the edge of your router’s limited radius, each unit gets its signal directly from the source with minimal signal loss. This way, no matter how old your house is, how thick the walls are, or how far away your office is from the modem, you’ll get perfect WiFi coverage across your entire home, and you’ll never mutter curses to the WiFi gods under your breath again.

The solution is simple, yet whenever I suggest this method to friends and family, they throw up their hands as if it’s too much work to call an Ethernet installer.

Cost, complexity, and cavities of the setup

Obviously, renters can’t necessarily cut holes in the walls and run Ethernet throughout the house. But if you own your home, there are few barriers keeping you from this utopian setup. In fact, depending on how your home is wired, you may not even have to do much work.

“A lot of homes already have a coaxial network in them,” explains Clayton, referring to those twisty-turny cables you use for cable TV, internet, or over-the-air antennas. With a coaxial-over-ethernet converter, you can use those cables and turn them into a home network. The downside, Clayton says, is that they generally only carry about 60 to 100 megabits per second.

[Related: The best mesh Wi-Fi money can buy]

That may be a little slow if you have multiple people watching 4K Netflix at once, while someone Zooms with friends in the other room, and your computer runs its nightly cloud backup, but not everyone has an internet package that can handle that anyway. For most people, it’s enough, especially if you only need the coax for one that one remote corner of your house. And if your house is wired with a phone line, it may actually use an Ethernet cord—you’d just have to replace the phone jacks with Ethernet ones.

In Michigan, the standard price to have someone come and run brand-new wiring was about $130 per line in 2020, by Clayton’s estimates. For most states, that’s the baseline, though the price can jump in a state like Maryland where they require electricians to do low voltage work.

In practice, this means that if you have one mesh unit next to your modem and need to run Ethernet to two other access points, you’re looking at a few hundred bucks—plus the cost of those wireless access points, if you don’t already have them. You can use the consumer mesh system you already have, like Amazon’s Eero or Netgear’s Orbi, or pay the installer to set up a more professional-grade system, like one from Ubiquiti. They’re a bit more complex, but they allow your installer to remotely troubleshoot if you run into problems.

At the end of the day, it’s all about getting into the walls of your home. A finished basement ceiling, a drop ceiling, or a three-story house will force the installer to resort to more creative (and expensive) methods to run those wires, making houses with limited access pricier than others.

Clayton recommends having a local company do a walkthrough of your home, rather than giving a blind quote. Even if you have to pay someone a bit extra to do a pre-wiring inspection, it’s going to ensure you know the true cost up front.

Depending on how your home is laid out, you may also have to deal with what Clayton calls “beauty marks” on the wall—small holes about the size of a single or double wall plate they need to pull wires down. You can put an empty plate over these or patch them up and re-paint, which sounds like a hassle, but it’s a small price to pay for something that’ll keep you bathing in reliable WiFi for years to come.

The DIY option for mesh WiFi

If you’re excited by the prospect of perfect WiFi but are hesitant about the cost, you might even be able to do it yourself using what Clayton jokingly refers to as a “YouTube certification.”

“There’s nothing super tricky about the installation, and if it’s something you want to do yourself, there are a lot of great resources online—we hugely promote DIY,” he says.

[Related: How to hide your mess of cables once and for all]

Poke around YouTube for different tutorials and you’ll get a feel for the process—every house is different, so you may have to watch a few before you find the tips that are most useful for your particular layout.

The simpler your home’s access to crawl spaces, the simpler the job will be. Three-story homes, for example, are tougher since you’re fishing through multiple floors, so a seasoned professional might be a better idea if you want the job done quickly.

But with some fish tape, a drill, and a drywall saw—plus a spool of Cat6 Ethernet cable—you’d be surprised what you can do on your own. I personally had no trouble running Ethernet under the crawl space of my old one-story house, though my current two-story house required some compromises thanks to its slab foundation and lack of attic access for half the house. It may seem like a big project, but it’s not as hefty as it sounds.

And if that still sounds overwhelming, remember that the end result is something that will save you untold time, money, and headaches in the long run. Plus, says Clayton, putting in an Ethernet-wired mesh system can increase your home’s value by 10 to 15 percent—not to mention cheapen the cost of other projects down the line, like security camera systems. If you plan on working from home long-term, you owe it to yourself to fix those WiFi woes once and for all.

The post Set up a mesh Wifi system with little more than an Ethernet cord appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was first published on April 11, 2019.

The beauty of Android lies in its customizability. Apps can hook into the operating system and add shortcuts that weren’t built-in, allowing you to streamline your device as much as possible. Here are four apps that help you do just that.

Add shortcuts that go to a specific screen within an app

The icons on your home screen give you quick access to your favorite apps, but most of those just take you to the main screen of whatever you open. From there, you still have to tap through to get to the features you want, and if that’s a process you repeat daily, it can get cumbersome. Some apps may allow you to create shortcuts for these functions (Google Docs, for example, lets you create a shortcut on your home screen that starts a new document), but not all do.

[Related: Eleven essential widgets for your Android home screen]

There are plenty of apps in the Play Store, however, that let you create shortcuts to specific activities or functions, within other apps. QuickShortcutMaker is one such tool. Install it and you’ll be able to add a shortcut to specific locations within certain apps. For example, you could create shortcuts that pop you directly into Netflix’s search interface, open your Amazon wish list, or instantly create a new item on your to-do list.

Again, some apps come with this functionality, and while figuring out which activity you want to target can feel a bit cryptic (because they’re named things like “.activity.PrefsActivity”), it can be remarkably useful.

Add swipe gestures to home screen shortcuts with Nova Launcher Prime

Unfortunately, you can only fit so many icons on your home screen before the shortcuts themselves start to get unwieldy. If you’re tired of scrolling through pages of apps and you’re willing to replace your home screen launcher, you can get many, many more new shortcuts. You might lose some features of your current home screen, but you’ll gain a lot in return.

Nova Launcher Prime ($4.99) is easily the most popular third-party home screen replacement, and it contains one of my favorite features of all time: swipe gestures. Nova allows you to add extra touch gestures to your home screen to invoke all kinds of actions. You can customize these from Nova’s settings under Gestures & Inputs.

Even more useful, though—and my current addiction—is adding swipe gestures to your existing home screen icons. From the Nova home screen, press and hold on one of your app icons, then tap the Edit button. Select the None option under Swipe Action to create a gesture that will start an app, launch an activity, or perform any other function Nova supports. From then on, when you swipe up on that icon, it’ll perform the desired action.

I use this for all sorts of things. Swiping up on the Maps icon immediately navigates me home, and swiping up on the Phone icon immediately calls my wife. This works likeQuickShortcutMaker’s Activities, but you won’t have to dedicate home screen real estate to these shortcuts. Nova still has the ability to create Activity shortcut icons though, which is handy if you’re more of a visual person.

Add more options to the Quick Settings menu with Tile Shortcuts

When you drag down from the top of your phone’s screen, you’ll see all your notifications. Drag down again and you’ll see the Quick Settings menu: a handful of icons that, with one tap, will enable or disable features such as Airplane Mode, Do Not Disturb, or the flashlight. You can edit these tiles by tapping the pencil button, allowing you to add new ones or remove those you don’t use.

Android’s selection of Quick Settings tiles is rather limited, though, which is why Tile Shortcuts is a godsend. You can add any activity as a tile, or add tiles that toggle settings like adaptive brightness, launch the calculator, or perform all kinds of other tasks. I personally use this to enable and disable “Always On,” Android’s active display feature that can be useful but drains a bit too much battery if left on.

Tiles’ one inconvenience is that for certain tiles, you’ll need to plug your phone into your computer and run an ADB command to give certain permissions. If you’ve never used ADB or the command line before, this can be a little daunting, but tech-savvy users should be able to follow the instructions to make it happen.

Create custom voice commands and automate everything with Tasker

The tricks above allow you to create tappable shortcuts to tons of different functions, and that can speed up your life an awful lot. But what if you didn’t have to tap anything at all?

Tasker is an incredibly popular app that’s been around for years, and it’s a perfect showcase of Android’s hidden power. With Tasker, you can create rules that trigger specific events based on certain conditions. For example, you could have your phone automatically launch your music app when you plug in your headphones or stay silent when it’s face down on the table.

[Related: Your phone’s home screen can hold more than just apps. Here’s what else you should add.]

Plugins expand the app’s capabilities even further. AutoVoice, for one, allows you to create custom “OK Google” voice commands. If you can imagine it, there’s a good chance Tasker can do it, though it may require extra permissions from the command line or even root access in certain cases. If those requirements seem a bit too complicated, there’s still plenty you can do with Tasker’s most basic options.

Like the other apps we’ve discussed, Tasker can also create activity shortcuts and Quick Settings tiles, or you can use it to create your own apps. Just know that Tasker can be a bit complex depending on what you want to do, so be ready to experiment and do some reading if you want to truly experience the full scope of its abilities.

The post The best Android shortcuts that aren’t built-in appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This post has been updated. It was originally published on 09/15/18.

Ever feel like your laptop is about to burn your thighs? Or that the fan is spinning so loudly that it sounds like a wind tunnel? Running at high temperatures can permanently damage the computer. Here’s how to detect whether your device is too hot—and make it chill out.

Thanks to the second law of thermodynamics, the electricity in your computer generates heat. Unfortunately, that warmth can damage the same components that produce it. That’s why most computers keep their temperatures down with metal heatsinks, fans, and vents. But if something blocks the ventilation, a fan breaks, or cooling doesn’t kick in properly, your machine will start to experience the signs of overheating.

Sometimes, the overworked computer will just slow down. Modern processors and graphics chips can force themselves to run at lower speeds, so they’ll generate less heat and avoid more serious problems. This is called “thermal throttling.”

[Related: Fixing your computer is easier if you know which numbers to look at]

When techniques like this and spinning the fans at full blast don’t help, the computer shuts itself down before the central processing unit (CPU) reaches dangerous temperatures. However, in some cases—particularly in older or poorly-manufactured machines—that heat can still damage certain parts of the motherboard before it automatically turns off.

“We’ve seen this many times,” says Joe Silverman, owner of tech repair company New York Computer Help. “Sometimes the motherboard will get hot to the point where components can melt or snap off, which could cause the computer to totally stop working.”

If you suspect your machine has been overheating—maybe it’s shutting down randomly, or frequently becoming too hot to handle (literally)—here’s how to diagnose and fix the problem.

How to check your computer’s temperature

Heat isn’t the only cause of slowdowns and shutdowns. Your computer could be failing for other reasons, such as a software problem. Thankfully, it’s pretty easy to tell whether heat is the real culprit.

“If you turn on the computer and it turns off by itself a few minutes later, without opening any programs, that could be a problem,” says Silverman. You may also notice extra heat when doing something intensive, like playing games. If you’re still not sure whether your device has been overheating, an app can check for you—just keep in mind they all use temperature units of degrees Celsius.

For Windows, Speccy is the most user-friendly option, since it’s super easy to read. Just install it and start it up. After that, it’ll take a moment to check the temperatures of your CPU, motherboard, and GPU, indicating particularly hot components in red.

[Related: 5 easy fixes for common computer problems]

Mac users can download Macs Fan Control to see system temperatures. However, I would avoid using this app to actually control your fans unless you really know what you’re doing. Download the program to check temperatures, but leave the fan settings on “Auto.”

Once you choose an app, download it and leave it open in the background. When you experience a slowdown, shutdown, or other issue, check the temperatures—specifically the CPU and GPU values—to see whether they’re abnormally high.

“Typically, anywhere up to 70 degrees Celsius [158 degrees Fahrenheit] is okay, but if it gets hotter, you might start having problems,” says Silverman. Your CPU and GPU will usually start throttling themselves between 90 and 105 degrees Celsius (that’s 194 to 221 degrees Fahrenheit), depending on the model. And if you see temperatures that fall to negative levels or rise above 110 degrees Celsius (230 degrees Fahrenheit), those numbers are wrong—your heat sensor is probably broken or the program doesn’t support it.

If the temperature does seem to spike at the same time you experience problems, then it’s probably safe to blame heat for your issue.

What to do with an overheated computer

Once you determine that your computer is, in fact, overheating, you need to figure out why. Here are a few of the most common culprits, and how to fix them.

• Make sure the fan is running. “If it didn’t run hot at first, and it’s running hot now,” says Silverman, “put your hand near the fan grille and feel for vibration, to see if the fan is working.” If it’s broken, then it won’t dissipate that heat. You’ll need to contact a professional who can replace it.
• Blow out the dust. “Dust bunnies, debris, and food fragments can find their way through ducts and magnify the situation,” says Silverman. He recommends grabbing a can of compressed air and using it to clean out the fan grille. “Try to angle the nozzle so you’re blowing air out of the laptop.” Cleaning out the gunk will allow the fan to run freely once more.
• Check your surroundings. If something is blocking the airflow around your computer, that could be causing your problem. “Don’t put it on a bed—that’s the worst thing you can do,” says Silverman. “The blankets just stifle the airway. Put it on a flat desk, or on top of a flat book so air can flow.” Some clamshell cases also stifle airflow, so if you have a case on the bottom of your laptop, try removing it. Other surroundings also matter—if the weather is hotter than 95 degrees Fahrenheit, don’t use your computer outside of the air conditioning.
• Stick to a genuine battery and AC adapter. “If you replace your battery with a secondhand battery from eBay or Amazon, you’re going to have issues,” says Silverman. “They aren’t packaged the same way as the originals, so the heat tends to run hotter on the contacts. Don’t skimp on the battery. Bad things will happen.”
• Update your software. This is rare, but occasionally, software and firmware issues can cause overheating. In fact, this what happened with Apple’s 2018 MacBook models: They thermal throttled under seemingly-normal conditions until a software update fixed the issue.

Related: Best laptop cooling pads

If none of those suggestions seem to describe your situation, or these fixes don’t help, call in the professionals. If you have enough experience, you may want to open your computer and take a look yourself, but a repair shop can do a more thorough cleaning with specialized tools, and an expert might be able to diagnose other, more specific, hardware issues.

The post Hot computers are slow and dangerous—here’s how to cool yours down appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on November 14, 2019.

Do Not Disturb is one of the best (and most underutilized) features on modern smartphones. With the press of a button, you can silence incoming calls and texts while you’re driving, in a meeting, or taking a nap. But it’d be a lot better if you could automatically send a text message back to the caller, letting them know when you’ll be available again

Unfortunately, neither iOS nor Android have this feature baked in. Or at least, not one that’s versatile—iOS has a “Driving Focus” feature (formerly “Do Not Disturb While Driving”) that lets you send one specific message when your phone detects you’re driving, but that’s it; and Google’s stock version of Android has no auto-reply feature whatsoever.

But there are ways to get around these limitations.

On the iPhone: Use Driving Focus as a workaround

The iPhone doesn’t allow third-party apps to send text messages on your behalf, so you can’t achieve the same level of automation that you can on Android. There are, however, a few things you can do to make the auto-reply process easier.

The most hands-off solution is the Driving Focus feature. Since you can use it anytime—not just while driving—you can use it with any kind of auto-reply message. Just head to your iPhone’s Settings app, tap on Focus, and look for a Driving option. If you don’t see one, tap the plus button in the upper right and choose Driving from the list that appears. If you’re setting it up for the first time, you’ll have the option to let your iPhone turn Driving Focus on when it detects driving-like motion. Deny it. Once Driving Focus is set up, you can tap Driving from the main Focus menu and choose Manually from the popup menu under Turn on automatically. Then tap Auto-Reply to set your text message to whatever is applicable at that moment (like “I’m in a meeting right now, text you later,” or “I’m asleep, call my wife if it’s urgent”). You can even choose to auto-reply to your favorite contacts or recent contacts only, rather than everyone who calls and texts. Whenever you want to enable this function, toggle on the switch at the top of the main Driving Focus menu.

Since the Focus rebranding, Apple has made this feature a permanent part of the Control Center. Open this handy shortcut menu by swiping down from the top right corner of your screen (up from the bottom if you have a Home button) and tap the Focus button. From there, select Driving to turn that auto-reply feature on and off. You’ll just need to change the message from the Settings regularly, which is kind of a bummer.

If you want something a bit more versatile and a bit less automated, you can also use the iPhone’s text shortcuts in Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement. Just create canned responses for common situations and assign them shortcuts—for example, “I’m in a meeting” could have the easy-to-remember shortcut “.meet” or something similar. Then, when someone texts you, you can just type .meet on your keyboard to automatically send the longer “I’m in a meeting” message. It’s not ideal, but you can create more than one message at a time.

Using these features in tandem is probably the best solution: Create your most common responses with Text Replacement, then re-populate the Do Not Disturb feature with just a few taps whenever you need to.

On Android: Use the SMS Auto Reply app

Android may not have a lot of auto-reply features built in, and it technically doesn’t allow apps to send messages for you, but third-party apps like SMS Auto Reply have found ways to work around the system.

When you first launch the app, tap the Add/Edit button to create a new rule. Give it a name, like “At Work” or “Sleeping,” and write your message in the text box. You can then go to Set Time to set the time, date, or days of the week you want that rule to be active. If you want, you can even put certain contacts on the “Don’t Reply List,” or create a list of personalized messages for certain people (like your spouse). It doesn’t do everything I’d like it to do—it can’t respond to voice calls, and changing profiles based on location would be nice—but it’s pretty powerful, especially compared to what the iPhone offers.

When you’re done, tap Save, and you’ll see your rule presented with a toggle switch next to it. When you first turn it on, you’ll see a prompt to give SMS Auto Reply access to your notifications—it needs the permissions to detect when messages are coming in, and uses the Reply shortcut to send a response. After that, head back to SMS Auto Reply and try turning your rule on again. You’ll then be prompted to remove it from Android’s Battery Optimization—it’ll take you to the correct screen, but you’ll need to tap on Not Optimized at the top, head to All Apps, and select SMS Auto Reply to turn off optimization. Finally, back in the app, you’ll be prompted to allow SMS Auto Reply access to your cellular data, so it can send messages in the background. It’ll take you to the correct screen—just flip the switch next to Unrestricted Data Usage.

Once you’ve done these three things, your auto-reply rule should turn on, and you can test it by asking someone to send you a text message.

You can see how this isn’t necessarily the ideal solution—it’s a little janky to set up, and can’t auto-respond to incoming calls thanks to Android’s permission system—but it’s better than nothing, and calms your friends paranoia by given them an idea of why you aren’t texting them back.

The post How to auto-reply to text messages when you’re busy appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on October 15, 2019.

Sharing a WiFi network with a bunch of strangers isn’t a great way to keep your data private. Taking the necessary precautions is easy when you’re using a single laptop on free coffee shop WiFi. But if you’re living in a place where you share a network with your neighbors, things start to get complicated. That girl from down the hall seems nice, but you don’t know her. She might be a hacker, right? Or that man from two floors down who always lets you say “Hi” to his chocolate Labrador. Doesn’t he seem like the kind of person who has no idea his laptop is filled with malware?

Many apartment buildings bundle internet service with rent, putting everyone in the building on a single, easily accessible network. Sometimes they’re open networks anyone can join, with a portal you have to sign in through to get internet access. Other times they use a standard WPA2 password, like a typical home network. Some apartments may go as far as to create separate WiFi networks for each apartment—definitely the preferred route—but since you don’t get to set them up, they could have easy-to-guess passwords or other security holes. In other words, if you don’t have control over the WiFi network you use at home, you could be at risk.

“Sharing a WiFi network with unknown people is, as a rule, unsafe,” says April C. Wright, a security consultant at ArchitectSecurity.org. “It exposes your device and network traffic to eavesdropping and attack.” There are proper ways an apartment complex can set up a network like this, Wright says, but you never know what your landlord has done—and good luck getting them to explain it to you. There’s a good chance they don’t even know, since this is the kind of job that typically gets outsourced.

To make matters worse, you might not have the option to get your own separate internet plan: The cable company may have a deal with the entire building, or other internet providers are so terrible that it isn’t worth doing so. And if the rent is affordable and the building is nice, it’s hard to turn down a great place to live just because of the WiFi.

Thankfully, even if you don’t have control over the building’s network, there are a few things you can do to make your devices more secure.

“Separating the building’s WiFi network from the home’s network is the ideal configuration to protect the home devices,” explains Wright. “This requires a wireless bridge to act as a firewall between the external and internal networks.” There are a few ways to do this, but the best options require you to have your own, personal WiFi router.

If you have physical access to the building’s router (or an Ethernet port in your apartment that connects to the building router), you can just connect the WAN port of your personal router to one of the LAN ports on the building router using an Ethernet cable. Then you can set up your own WiFi network from your personal router as you would with any other internet subscription.

If you can’t plug in directly, you can buy a WiFi bridge like the TP-Link TL-WA901ND Wireless Access Point. Connect it to your building WiFi in “Client Mode” using the TP-Link web interface, then connect your personal router’s WAN port to the WiFi bridge’s Ethernet port. It doesn’t have to be this particular TP-Link bridge, of course—you can do this with any network extender that can provide wireless internet to wired devices. Just note that the process and terminology may vary slightly from device to device.

In both of these scenarios, your personal router basically sees the building’s network as the internet, allowing you to create your own WiFi network as you would in any other home or apartment. You control the network in your apartment, and while you’ll be able to see other building tenants’ devices, they won’t be able to see yours—just your router.

That’s the biggest piece of the puzzle, since the router will perform network address translation (NAT), acting as a sort of firewall between you and the rest of the building. But beyond that, you need to be extra careful about your normal security practices, too. “Using a VPN whenever you are connected to a WiFi network (even at work) is a must, on phones and computers,” Wright says. “The VPN software should block your internet access while it is not connected to the VPN.” You can check out some of our favorite VPNs, and learn how to set one up on your phone using this guide. Alternatively, if it supports the feature, you could set up a VPN directly on your router—that way all of your outgoing traffic is encrypted, including devices like your smart TV that might not have their own VPN apps.

Finally, use multi-factor authentication on all your online accounts, set up a guest network for anyone that visits your home (don’t give out the password to your home network), and make sure the firewalls built in to Windows and macOS are active at all times. The more of these tips you can implement, the better off you’ll be—creating your own WiFi network with the aforementioned bridge can help, but you need good everyday security practices too. As Wright puts it: “Endpoint devices should not rely solely on network protections, and networks should not rely solely on endpoint device protection. You need both.”

The post How to secure your apartment-provided WiFi appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on September 17, 2019.

Enable “Reachability” or “One-Handed” modes

You may be surprised to learn that your phone actually has a one-handed mode built right in, designed to make all those icons easier to reach. The iPhone’s version is called Reachability mode, and I find most people enable it by accident and think it’s some sort of glitch, rather than a useful feature.

That might be why Apple disabled the feature by default in iOS 12, but you can get it back by heading to Settings > Accessibility > Touch and toggling Reachability on. From there, you can either swipe down near the bottom of the screen (on iPhones without a Home button) or double-tap—not click, but tap—the Home button (on iPhones with this button) to shift your home screen icons down for easy access.

[Related: Smartphones aren’t designed for seniors, but these tweaks make them more accessible]

Many Android phones have their own one-handed mode. On Galaxy devices, you’ll find it in Settings > Advanced Features > One-Handed Mode. On Pixel phones, the path is a little longer: go to Settings, then System, Gestures, and finally One-handed mode. If you want something a bit different, Reachability Cursor is another popular tool, giving you a mouse-like cursor to reach faraway icons on the screen. Bottom Quick Settings is a good companion app too, allowing you to reach Android’s Quick Settings panel from the bottom, rather than the top, of the screen.

Arrange your home screen for one-handed access

While the above tricks will get you pretty far, there are other things you can do to make reaching your apps even easier. A bit of home screen organization, for example, can go a long way—either on its own or in addition to the reachability tools we’ve already talked about.

Both iOS and Android allow you to rearrange your home screen apps by pressing and holding on the icons to move them around. Put your most-used apps in the bottom right corner of the screen (or bottom left, if you’re a southpaw) and they’ll be a lot easier to reach. Android even allows you to leave the unreachable portion of the screen empty, so all your apps are reachable. Apple forces you to arrange your iOS icons in a grid, but you can use a tool like Makeovr to create invisible icons, thus allowing you to push all your apps to an easily reachable corner while leaving the rest of the screen “empty.”

Android users have a few more tricks up their sleeve in this realm, too. Google has been adding advanced hand gestures since Android 10, and now you can swipe down anywhere on the screen to reveal the notifications drawer. You might also want to check out our list of Android home screen replacements, which may also provide some one-hand friendly layouts.

Shrink the keyboard

Typing on a keyboard with one thumb isn’t exactly fast, and if you’re tapping out more than a couple words, you’ll probably want to use both hands. But for quick texts like “on my way,” one hand works well… as long as you can reach all the keys.

Many keyboards, on iOS and Android, have a one-handed mode that shifts the keyboard toward the right or left edge of the screen, so you can reach all the keys with a single thumb. On iOS, you’ll usually find this option by holding the globe icon and enabling one-handed mode (the keyboard icons with arrows pointing left or right). On Android, it can vary from keyboard to keyboard. Google’s Gboard, for example, lets you switch to one-handed mode by holding down the comma key. It won’t make typing on a phone enjoyable or anything, but it’ll at least save you from making so many typos.

Tweak your apps

Finally, your apps may have some one-handed features built-in. We obviously can’t detail every app here, but dig through the settings of your most-used apps and see what you can find.

The post All the ways to use your phone with one hand appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

You spend hours sitting at your desk every day. Sure, you know it’s bad for your health. You may have even tried to optimize your position with a few ergonomic tricks and products. Still, a lot of the advice you’ve heard may be overkill. Here are a few misconceptions about “ergonomic” office equipment—and the actually effective behavior you should keep in mind.

You don’t need an expensive name-brand chair

Too many people sit slouched over a laptop, leaning forward to see their monitor, or perching their arms on a too-high desk. These habitspostures can wreak havoc on your body. To prevent them, some people invest in expensive ergonomic chairs from Herman Miller, Steelcase, and Humanscale. But you don’t have to pay through the nose to fix your posture.

“When you’re looking for a chair, it doesn’t necessarily have to be from one of those big brand names,” says Karen Jacobs, a board-certified professional ergonomist and clinical professor of occupational therapy at Boston University. “The key is getting a chair that’s adjustable.”

Now, those brands have made a name for themselves for a reason—many have spent years researching and designing ergonomic chairs for maximum comfort. But they aren’t magical seats that fix your body as soon as you plop down in them. They’re great because they’re super adjustable—but that still means you have to actively tweak them to get that ideal ergonomic position.

Besides, while these brands are more adjustable than most competitors, you can find plenty of affordable alternatives that will fit the bill just as well. Your chair just needs to be comfortable for your body. Look for these traits as you shop.

• Supports your lower back: “It’s really important to have a chair with some kind of back support,” says Jacobs. “It’s our lower back that’s taking a lot of the stress when we’re sitting In a chair.” So if you can find one with adjustable lumbar support, that’s ideal.
• Moves up and down: Adjustable height is important. “You want to make sure that you can adjust your chair so that your feet are flat on the floor,” says Jacobs. “Your knees should be a little bit greater than 90 degrees, and you can stretch your legs out onto the floor or a footrest.” If your desk doesn’t allow for your feet to be flat on the floor, you’ll need an accessory that lets you keep your elbows between 90 and 100 degrees—either a keyboard tray that sits under your desk or a taller footrest. Speaking of that footrest, Jacobs recommends a rocking one, because it keeps your blood flowing.
• Swivels: This is common even in fixed office chairs, but it’s more useful than you think. “When you’re typing, and you’re moving to maybe read a document on the table or on a tablet stand, you want to move your whole body and avoid twisting,” says Jacobs. “If you can turn the chair rather than the person, that’s ideal.”
• Reclines: You don’t want to slouch, but a slight reclining position is actually good for your body, since it allows your back muscles to relax. So get an office chair that allows you to move the seat and back support into a mild recline. This is especially important if you’re working from a laptop, which all too often requires that you hunch forward. “Notebook computers were really designed for transient work, not for everyday work,” says Jacobs. “If possible, work on a desktop PC or dock your notebook computer.” Even putting your laptop on a stand and using an external keyboard and mouse can go a long way toward promoting healthy posture.

Finally, Jacobs says, “Try out the chair before you purchase it, if possible. Some companies will loan you a chair, and you should try it for about a week to see if it’s comfortable.” If it doesn’t fit your body, then move on until you find one that does.

Ergonomic keyboards aren’t always ergonomic

You spend most of your computer time clicking and typing. If you don’t position your wrists well, they can take a lot of abuse. Contrary to popular belief, though, some of those “ergonomic” keyboards can actually exacerbate the problem.

“Don’t be smitten by the word ‘ergonomic,’” says Jacobs. “There is no consumer protection over the word. So any company can put ‘ergonomic’ on their product without proper analysis of whether that product actually has user-centered features.”

In particular, avoid split keyboards. They force your elbows far away from your body, which is the opposite of what you want: Your arms and elbows should stay close to your sides. The same goes for keyboards with number pads, since they require you to place your mouse further to the right—again, away from your body. If you don’t need the number pad, look for a tenkeyless keyboard that eschews it in favor of more mouse room. If you live and die by the number pad, there are external ones you can pull out only when you need them, or keep on your left so they won’t interfere with the mouse. (Southpaws can reverse this.)

On a similar line, many keyboards these days include built-in wrist rests, which aren’t actually good for you. “Your wrists should be in a neutral position,” says Jacobs. “I don’t recommend wrist rests, because you’ll have a tendency to put extra pressure on your wrist, which can result in some issues over time.” Instead, she says, you should float your arms above the keyboard, keeping your wrists straight.

Finally, “Never use the feet on the bottom of your keyboard,” says Jacobs. “It takes your wrist out of that neutral position. Some people even like a slight negative tilt to the keyboard tray, where the front is higher than the back.” Of course, you’d need an adjustable keyboard tray to make this possible, and you won’t find that on all desks.

As with chairs, purchase your pick from a company that will allow you to try the keyboard for a week. If it isn’t comfortable, return it and find one that is.

Standing desks aren’t a necessity

We all know sitting is killing us. But standing desks, while they have their place, aren’t perfect either.

“The verdict is still out on standing desks,” Jacobs says. “For some people, they make sense, but for most of us, that’s not affordable.” Instead of fretting over how much time you spend sitting versus standing, Jacobs recommends putting that energy toward taking frequent breaks.

“It’s really important when you’re in a mostly static posture that you take a break,” Jacobs says. “And it can be a brief break, maybe for two minutes every 20 to 30 minutes. Get up from your seat, walk around, hydrate yourself, and then come back.” This is not just important for your lower back, but for your eyes, neck, and shoulders too.

That’s easier said than done, of course: It’s all too easy to gain momentum on a project, working for two, three, or four hours in a row before you look up and wonder where the day went. So Jacobs recommends some sort of external reminder.

You could set a recurring alarm on your phone or wearable device. Or check out a dedicated desktop program like Big Stretch Reminder (for Windows) or Stretchly (for Windows, Mac, and Linux), which allow you to customize these reminders. Jacobs has also co-designed a free program called Stretch Breaks for Kids (just as applicable to adults) that will recommend different stretches.

Whatever ergonomic measures you take, remember to get up and move regularly. “Change and vary your posture often,” Jacobs says. “If you’re sitting in your chair and all of a sudden you don’t feel comfortable, get up and move around.”

The post How to sit ergonomically without expensive equipment appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on June 2, 2018.

Keeping your phone’s battery alive is a constant battle. To thwart misbehaving apps and excessive drain, Google has added a number of energy-saving features to Android over the years. Here’s how they work, and how to tweak the settings to fit your needs.

You can turn on Battery Saver mode at any time. Just head to Settings, Battery, and then Battery Saver. Once there, tap Turn on now to enable it.

You’ll also see an option to have this mode turn on automatically. That way, whenever you start feeling uncomfortable with the juice left on your device, Android will attempt to stretch the battery as long as it can go before that final shutdown.

To set it up, go to Battery Saver and tap on Set a schedule. There, you’ll have two options: choose Based on your routine to allow Android to turn it on automatically if your device decides it’s likely to die before your usual charge. You can also choose Based on percentage, and use the slider to determine how much charge you want your battery to reach (from 5 to 75 percent) before Android turns on Battery Saver.

If you frequently rely on this mode, add a shortcut to the Quick Settings panel, which you’ll see when you swipe down from the top of the screen. For easy access, just tap the edit pencil in the bottom left corner of the menu, then hold and drag the Battery Saver button into Quick Settings.

When your screen has been off for a while, your phone begins dozing. Doze mode, according to Google, shuts off network access and defers any syncs. Instead, it waits for occasional “maintenance windows,” when the phone wakes up briefly, to run those jobs. That means you’ll still get notifications, but they may be a bit delayed, since they’ll only come in during those times. So-called “High Priority” notifications like text messages and phone calls will still come through right away, but emails, Facebook messages, and other less immediate notifications may lag.

[Related: 24 hidden Android settings you should know about]

If the screen is off and the phone is completely idle—that is, sitting on a table instead of moving around in your pocket—it’ll enter an even deeper Doze state. In this mode, Android disables certain types of alarms, GPS, Wi-Fi scans, and “wakelocks”—which keep your phone active when the screen is off—as well as cutting off network access and spreading out those maintenance windows even more. This super-deep Doze mode is particularly effective at saving battery, as you can see in the graph below.

When you turn on your screen, your phone automatically exits Doze mode. That’s why you’ll occasionally see notifications arrive just as you unlock your phone—those messages came in between maintenance windows, and waking your phone up allowed them to pop up.

Android activates Doze by default, and there’s no way to turn it off completely. You can, however, exempt certain apps from Doze mode if you want them to run in the background at all times. That said, I wouldn’t recommend you do this, since it will drain your battery faster. If you still want to exempt a few apps, head to Settings, Battery, tap the three dots in the top right corner of your screen, and choose Battery Usage.

You’ll see a list of apps ranked by how much battery they’ve used since the last full charge. Open each one to see whether they’re optimized—you’ll see a Not Optimized under Battery optimization, which means they’re exempt from Doze. Tap Not optimized to see all the apps working under this protocol. By default, this list will mostly contain core pieces of Android that need to run at all times. 

App Standby puts rarely used apps to sleep

Ever download an app, install it, and then forget about it for a month? App Standby keeps those apps from running in the background and draining your battery. If you don’t use an app for a few days—and if it hasn’t sent you any notifications—it’ll enter App Standby, where it’s no longer allowed to run in the background or access the internet until you purposely open it again. If you don’t, then it will only run briefly once a day or so, and when your device is plugged in, before re-entering standby mode.

You can exempt apps from App Standby the same way you do Doze: Just turn off Battery Optimization for that app, as described previously. If you’re curious about which apps are currently in Standby mode, though, you can check on them from Android’s Developer Options. Just be careful, as these options were not meant for users to tinker with.

Head to Settings, About Phone, and tap the Build Number seven times. Your phone will ask you for your lock pattern or biometrics, and once you provide them, it’ll tell you that you are now a developer. This will allow you to access the Developer Options menu under Advanced in System. 

Head into that menu and scroll down to Standby Apps near the very bottom. Tap that option, and you’ll see a list of apps on your system. The ones marked NEVER are currently in App Standby mode.

As a more productive activity, though, try checking out the ACTIVE apps. If an app is active even though you haven’t used it in weeks, it might be worth asking why. Perhaps you need to turn off notifications for that program, or maybe it just deserves to be uninstalled.

Adaptive Battery learns your usage patterns

In 2018, with the launch of Android Pie, Google added yet another battery-saving feature—this time with more machine learning. Adaptive Battery learns which apps you use and when, and based on this information, it restricts the apps it doesn’t expect you to open anytime soon.

The post 4 ways to keep your Android phone from dying when you need it most appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

One day, you’ll face hard drive failure. I don’t care who you are or how carefully you use your computer. There will come an evening when you’ll plug in that old external disk only to be greeted with an error, missing data, or—worst-case scenario—nothing at all.

But let’s say you’re lucky, and when the judgement day finally comes, you don’t lose anything of importance—maybe because you’re able to recover your stuff, or because you have it backed up. Drive errors can be so cryptic that it’s hard to know whether you’re dealing with a minor blip or a ticking time bomb, so you might ask yourself: is it safe to write more files to the drive? Or was that failure an indication of more bad things to come?

The difference between corruption and drive failure

“Ninety-nine percent of the problems that happen [to drives] are outside issues that cause the data to become corrupted,” explains Michael Cobb, director of engineering at DriveSavers Data Recovery. In those cases, the drive itself is fine, but the data got damaged somehow. Maybe you had a power outage while your computer was writing to the disk, or you yanked out an external drive before it was done with an operation. It happens all the time.

This can also have other, scarier consequences, like a drive going RAW. This happens when that corruption happens on the master boot record, which tells your computer about the drive’s file system. In this case, your data may still be intact, but your computer just doesn’t know where to look for any of it, so it thinks the drive is empty and needs to be reformatted for use.

When this happens, the drive likely isn’t failing—instead, some outside force has simply caused a problem with the data, and the drive will be safe to use again once you remedy that issue.

If your drive has problems at the hardware level, though, things get more precarious. Cobb says these symptoms can be a bit harder to pin down, but they’re there. Maybe you try to format the drive and it doesn’t work until the third try. Or perhaps it’s making clicking, grinding, and buzzing noises, which could indicate a physical problem with the read head. Even solid-state drives, while longer-lasting than their mechanical cousins, can experience hardware failure.

If you aren’t sure whether a drive has experienced run-of-the-mill corruption or is on its way to hard drive heaven, check its S.M.A.R.T. status. You can do this using utilities built into your computer, but it’s easier to run a tool like CrystalDiskInfo (Windows) or DriveDx (Mac), which will give you a clear, easy-to-read diagnosis. If it cautions you that the drive has some bad sectors, it’s probably time to buy a new one—your drive may keep working for years, but it may also fail when you least expect it. Bad sectors may not become a real problem until you fill up the drive with enough data, so if you want to be on the safe side of things, don’t push your luck and replace the drive soon.

If the S.M.A.R.T. status is fine but you’re still experiencing problems, look at other links in the chain. If it’s an external drive, try a different USB cable or dock, or pop the drive into another USB enclosure—the adapters in external drives are more prone to failure than the drives themselves. If that solves the problem, you know the drive is safe to continue using.

What to do if you’ve lost data

These rules have one big caveat—if you’ve lost important data and you don’t have a backup, stop using the drive immediately. Writing data to the drive could overwrite the files you’ve lost, so the gadget isn’t truly “safe to use” until you’ve recovered everything you need.

You can try to get your files back using a tool like Recuva, LazeSoft Mac Data Recovery, or Disk Drill, as described in this guide. As long as you’re transferring things to a different disk (like a flash drive), you’re probably safe. You shouldn’t, however, attempt to repair the corruption until you have your data back. Once that’s done, you can try fixing your drive using Windows’ built-in error checking or a third-party utility like Disk Tool. Otherwise, you could be erasing your data permanently.

If you can’t get your stuff back with the above software, and your files are truly irreplaceable, it’s time to turn to a company like DriveSavers. They’ll diagnose the disk for free, so you don’t have anything to lose, but if you decide to go through with the recovery service, be warned that depending on the drive and the severity of the problem, it can cost you several hundred to a couple thousand dollars.

Once you have your data back, then, and only then, you can attempt to repair the corruption or wipe the drive and start fresh.

Start backing up today (if you haven’t already)

No matter what, says Cobb, it’s better to assume the worst: someday you’ll have to deal with hard drive failure, and even if you were lucky when that happens, you don’t want to be caught without a contingency plan. “Back up, back up, back up,” he repeats. “If you feel it’s something important to you, find a way to have a backup locally and a backup on the cloud. The more places it is, the better off you’ll be in case of an actual failure.”

For local backups—that is, files stored on another drive inside your house—your computer’s free, built-in tools will do a good job. Windows users should check out the File History feature, while Mac users should look to Time Machine. They’re free and super quick to set up—all you need is an external drive. A NAS system would be even better, since it allows your laptop to stay backed up without being plugged into an external drive all the time.

For cloud backups, I recommend Backblaze, a dead-simple program that will automatically put your data in a bucket online—so even if your house is burgled or catches fire, you’ll still have access to all your files. It does require a $6 per month subscription, but it’s well worth it. In my family, I’ve deemed this a non-negotiable expense, because certain things (like photos of my kids) can never be replaced if my hard drive fails.

Whatever you choose to do, do it today. It only takes a few minutes, and the longer you put it off, the more you tempt fate. Put tonight’s Netflix binge on hold—set up your backup and never risk losing your data again.

The post Did your hard drive crash? Here’s how to know if it’s safe to use again. appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on June 25, 2018.

Snoring versus sleep apnea

You probably didn’t need science to tell you this, but “snoring can affect your quality of sleep as well as your bed partner’s,” says Neil Kline, a sleep physician with the American Sleep Association. If you don’t believe us, take a look at this 2006 study, which found evidence of sleep disruption in children and adolescents who snored, or this 1999 one, which found that people slept an entire hour longer each night after their spouses stopped snoring. This is important because we know that good-quality sleep improves your overall health.

However, sleep disruption may be one piece of a larger, far more worrying health issue. Snorers produce that gravely sound because the tissues in the back of their throats are obstructing their airways, vibrating as they inhale and exhale. In some cases, the obstruction can be so bad that the airway closes entirely. This is called sleep apnea, and it’s a huge problem. It means you’re essentially suffocating for a few moments until your brain wakes up and restarts your breathing.

[Related: Skip the wearables and track your sleep with these apps]

Apnea can cut off your breathing as rarely as a few times a night, or as frequently as a few times per hour, causing a host of very real health risks. According to the American Sleep Association, sleep apnea can “increase the likelihood of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, obesity, and diabetes,” not to mention other risks like driving accidents due to lack of sleep.

Snoring is almost always a symptom of sleep apnea, but apnea isn’t always the cause of snoring, so it can be hard to tell whether your nighttime noise is a mere annoyance or a more serious health problem. Kline says, “If you have snoring accompanied by excessive daytime sleepiness, witnessed pauses in breathing during sleep, gasping during sleep, or the presence of other health disorders, a visit to the doctor is recommended.”

How to stop snoring and sleep better

If you’re concerned you may have sleep apnea, don’t just rely on your partner to diagnose you, as non-experts may not notice when others stop breathing during sleep. Instead, a doctor will likely recommend a sleep study with a specialist. You can undergo one of these diagnostic tests in a sleep center or using an at-home kit. A specialist can also take your medical history into account and offer options for long-term treatment.

Even if you don’t seem to have sleep apnea, your loud sawing can still annoy your partner and disrupt your own z’s. According to Kline, you can take several steps to alleviate it.

For starters, most snorers sleep on their backs. Changing your sleep position can change this habit. Alcohol also increases your likelihood of a noisy night, so try to avoid a nightcap before bed.

If these measures fail, you can move on to more significant interventions. Klein says, “If you’re overweight, weight loss may be very effective at decreasing the size of the tissues that surround the airway.” With less surface area vibrating at the back of your throat, the sound of your breathing will grow quieter. Klein also recommends an anti-snoring mouthpiece, which can help widen your airway.

In certain cases, you can even ask an ear, nose, and throat doctor about performing one of several surgeries that reduce snoring. Klein says, “While there is no guarantee of success with any surgery, and there are risks, these options may offer an option to eliminate snoring—without other concurrent treatment options.” If you’re a good candidate for this type of procedure, you’ll be able to dispense with other anti-snoring measures.

The post How to stop snoring and spread the gift of better sleep appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Black text on a white background isn’t just boring—it’s blinding. When you’re using your phone or computer at night, the last thing you need is a bright screen torching your eyeballs. Turning the brightness to less than zero can help, but thankfully, companies have added new ways to darken their apps. If that appeals to you, here’s how to “Dark Mode” all the things.

Windows 10

Windows 10 has had a dark mode for a while, but for a long time it only affected the settings panel and the Microsoft Store. In 2018, Microsoft extended those grey backgrounds to the File Explorer as well, inching a bit closer to system-wide darkness. Couple that with a dark wallpaper and you’ve got the beginnings of a desktop you might actually want to use at night. Just open the Settings app and head to Personalization > Colors and under Choose your color choose Dark.

macOS

Mac users have had the dark mode option for a while, affecting the menu bar and plenty of apps, whether they’re built-in or added on. To switch it on, open System Preferences and click the General pane. At the top of the window, choose Dark for your appearance, and everything should change immediately. 

Google Chrome and Firefox

Darkening your browser is easy. Both Chrome and Firefox hook directly into the dark modes offered by Windows 10 and macOS, so if you switch your operating system to dark mode, your browser should automatically follow. If you have a theme installed in Chrome, the system dark mode won’t override it, so you’ll have to go back and reset it to the default theme. To do this, click on the three dots in the upper right corner, and then go to Settings. On the panel to the left, click on Appearance, and on the first line choose Reset to default. 

[Related: The best internet browsers you’ve never heard of]

If you prefer to enable dark mode on its own, Firefox allows you to switch it on manually by right-clicking the title bar, choosing Customize, and going to Themes at the bottom of the window, and choosing Dark. Other browsers have their own separate dark modes too, including Microsoft Edge and Opera, which you can find in their respective settings menus.

iPhone

Apple’s iPhones have a customizable dark mode, and a lot of iOS apps have their own built in (which we’ll talk about in a moment). To turn on dark mode in iOS, open Settings, go to Display & Brightness, and tap the bubble under Dark. If you want to automatically switch between light and dark, turn on the toggle switch next to Automatic and choose a schedule. And if you want a lighter or darker dark mode, you can adjust the Brightness slider to your heart’s content.

For a slightly different look or to see what we had to do before Apple rolled out a true dark mode, you can try the color inversion option that makes your iPhone’s screen look like a photo negative, or the newer Smart Invert feature that aims to darken the phone without making the color shift quite as jarring. You can turn these on by heading to Settings, Accessibility, and then Display & Text Size. There, toggle on Smart Invert or Classic Invert.

You can also create a shortcut for this color change by going back to the Accessibility menu, selecting Accessibility Shortcut at the bottom of the list, and checking Smart Invert. With that checked, you can triple-click your side button (or home button if your phone has one) to turn on Smart Invert at a moment’s notice.

Android

Every Android phone is a little different, thanks to version fragmentation and the various manufacturer skins companies such as Samsung add to their phones. If your phone is running the latest version of Android (11.0 or just R), you can head to Settings, Display, and toggle on the switch beside Dark theme. 

Again, Android can differ from phone to phone, so how exactly you’ll see dark mode display on your device, and how to turn it on, may vary—chances are it’s somewhere in that Settings app.

All your favorite apps and sites

The above settings will cover the main operating systems, but a ton of apps offer their own dark modes, or something similar. Here are a few of the most common ones:

Gmail

On the web, you can choose a dark theme by clicking the settings gear in the upper right corner, clicking on See all settings, and heading to Themes. There, click on Set theme, and on the pop-up window scroll down to the color themes and choose Dark. Keep in mind that your emails will still appear on a white background when you open them. 

On mobile, open the Gmail app, tap on the three lines in the upper left corner, and swipe up to find Settings. Tap on it, then on General settings, and then on Themes. Finally, tap the checkbox next to Dark. 

Facebook Messenger

Facebook originally soft-launched Messenger’s dark mode with an adorable secret trick that required you to send a friend the crescent moon emoji in a chat. Now, however, you can simply head over to the Facebook page and click on the downward arrow in the upper right corner of your screen. There, choose Display & Accessibility and under Dark mode mark the checkbox next to On. On mobile, just tap your profile picture, then Dark mode, and finally the checkbox right next to On.

Twitter

Twitter updated this feature a couple of years ago, and you can find its Dark Mode on the left side panel by clicking on More and Display. There are two versions: Dim, which turns things a deep navy blue, and Lights Out, which turns them pitch-black. The latter will save battery on phones with OLED screens that turn black pixels off entirely, such as the iPhone X and Xs.

[Related: Eight ways to make your Twitter feed less toxic]

On mobile, tap on the three lines in thetop left of your screen, and at the bottom left, tap on the light bulb. There, you’ll be able to apply a Dark theme, but also just activate Dark mode by tapping on the checkbox next to On.

YouTube

YouTube gets a gold star for its Dark Mode feature, which is available on both the web and its mobile apps. On the web, just click your profile image in the upper-right corner and click on Appearance, and then Dark Theme. On the mobile app, open Apps Settings” from your profile picture.

On Android, tap on your profile picture, then on Settings, and then General. There, choose Appearance and tap the checkbox next to Dark theme. On iOS, open Settings, then go to General and flip the Dark theme toggle switch.

Reddit

If you’re a heavy Reddit user, you can enable its dark mode on the web by clicking your username and toggling Dark Mode on. If you’re using the mobile app, you’ll find this mode on the main Settings page, though you can also use third-party Reddit apps like Narwhal or Reddit Is Fun, which contain lots of useful features and their own dark modes.

Slack

The Slack mobile app offers a Dark Mode for each workspace. Tap on the profile pic of the workspace in the upper left corner of the screen, and at the bottom choose Preferences. There, choose Dark Mode and tap the checkbox next to On. On the desktop app the path is similar—in preferences, go to Themes and choose Dark.

PlayStation 4

There’s no official dark mode, but you can choose a darker theme from Settings, and then Themes.

Xbox One

Press the Xbox button on your controller, select Profile & System, then Settings, Ease of Access, High Contrast, and switch Dark Theme on.

Nintendo Switch

Navigate to the Switch’s System Settings from the main menu, then head to Themes and turn the Basic Black option on.

Everywhere else

You’re probably starting to get the idea. If you have a favorite app not listed here, check its settings and see if it supports a dark mode. Plenty do, including Wikipedia, Instagram, Pocket, IMDB, Waze, Google Maps, countless weather apps, and more. Dark websites are a bit rarer, but some browser extensions (like Dark Mode or Dark Theme for Chrome) can alter many of them for you.

The post How to turn on ‘dark mode’ for all your gadgets and apps appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This post has been updated. It was originally published on December 6, 2018.

Your router’s features make easier to use, but these same properties often make it less secure. In recent years, vulnerabilities in the common Universal Plug and Play (UPNP) protocol, which facilitates communication between devices on a network, was used to hack thousands of routers. There’s a good chance your device remains vulnerable to this and many other security holes.

The problem gets worse if you rely on an older model, which may not have patches for recently discovered vulnerabilities. If you haven’t upgraded your router since the early 2000s, you probably should think about buying a new one soon. In the meantime, these tips on how to change your router settings will help protect your home network from intruders.

Update your firmware and reset to factory settings

Your computer updates itself automatically, but many routers don’t. Instead, they require you to go through an arduous process to install new firmware. Annoying as it may be, this practice is crucial for good security. So before doing anything else, we recommend you reset your router to factory settings (in case it’s been compromised already) and install the latest firmware.

[Related: Wi-Fi routers that will smarten up your entire home]

The process will vary a bit for each router, but here’s the basic gist. Type your router’s IP address into your browser’s address bar (usually something like 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1, or 10.0.0.1) and press Enter. If you’re having trouble, check your router’s manual or try one of the IP addresses from this TechSpot list. Enter your username and password to access the router’s web interface—if you don’t know what your login information is, look for it on the side of your router or in your manual. If you still can’t find it, the database at RouterPasswords.com may be able to help.

Once you reach the main interface, poke around the menus until you find the administrative settings. There, you’ll want to do the following things.

• Update the firmware. You may be able to do this with the click of a button, or you may have to go to your router’s support page, download the latest firmware, and manually upload it to your router. While you’re doing this, make note of the date that the firmware came out—if the manufacturer released it a few years ago, that company probably does not support your router anymore, and you may want to upgrade it soon.
• Reset to factory settings. If your router offers to back up your settings, do that now—just in case. Then find the option to restore your router to factory defaults, and click on it. This will erase your settings, but also ensure any previous hacks will no longer compromise your system. If you run into issues setting the router back up from scratch later on, you can always restore from the backup to see what settings you might have forgotten to re-enable.
• Change your password. After restoring your router to factory settings, it’ll go back to using the default password. This is bad, since these codes are easy for anyone to find online. So look for the option to change the router login password. This is not the Wi-Fi code, which we’ll get to in a moment, but the password you use to log into this web interface. This option should be in the same administrative settings as the firmware update you just ran. Create a memorable username and a strong password, and write it down somewhere so you don’t forget—preferably in a secure password manager like LastPass.

If you see an option for automatic updates, enable it. This probably won’t be vital though—many routers don’t have this feature, and the ones that do often have turned it on already.

Set up a strong password

Once you’ve updated your router’s firmware, it’s time to set up your Wi-Fi.

From the router’s web interface, find the Wireless section of its settings, and give your network a name, ideally something unique to you and your household—not just “linksys.” Make sure the password type is set to WPA2 or WPA3, not WEP, which is insecure and incredibly easy to crack. Then enter a strong password and apply your settings.

[Related: How to keep people from stealing your Wi-Fi]

While you’re in this section, you may be tempted to “hide” your network’s name, or Service Set Identifier (SSID), in an effort to keep it secret from nearby villains. But you shouldn’t do this. Not only are SSIDs kind of a hassle to deal with (some devices don’t properly support hidden networks), but in some cases, your laptop or phone can actually leak that “hidden” name when you’re out and about, making your network less secure. Finding a hidden network is trivial for even the most remedial of hackers anyway, so it’s always best to leave this feature turned off.

Disable WPS, UPnP, and Remote Administration

You’re almost done! As a last step, go through your router’s settings and turn off the following features.

• Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS): This feature allows you to connect a new device to your network just by pressing a button and entering a PIN—no password necessary. Sounds convenient, right? Too bad it’s notoriously insecure, and makes it far easier for someone to get onto your network without your permission. Most people don’t use this feature anyway, so you can just turn it off.
• Universal Plug and Play (UPnP): This allows devices to more easily communicate with one another on (and sometimes off) your network. Here is a full explanation of this feature. In summary, while it has its uses, it’s been host to numerous security issues over the years, including recent mass router hacks. Unless you really need this feature and know your router is getting regular updates, you’re probably better off just disabling it. If certain applications stop working properly after disabling UPnP, look up how to forward their ports manually.
• Remote Administration: Many routers allow you to access their settings page from outside the network. In general, this is not a good idea, and not something most people will need anyway. Turn it off, if it isn’t off already.

Changing all of these settings will take you pretty far, but again, there’s no substitute for a well-made device with up-to-date firmware. If you’ve had the same old router for more than a few years old, its firmware may be forever out of date. Without the latest security patches, it will leave you vulnerable. So, at some point in the near future, you’ll want to upgrade.

If you do go shopping for a new router, consider a system like Eero or Google Wifi. These not only receive regular automatic updates, but also give you better range across your house and let you easily manage your settings right from your phone.

The post 6 router settings you should change right now appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

As the headphone jack disappears from mobile devices, wireless Bluetooth headphones are the future. But they’re so complicated that it’s hard to know what to look for as you shop for the right pair. What’s the difference between Bluetooth 2.1 and 5.0? What do acronyms like AD2P and aptX mean? Here’s your guide to the Bluetooth headphone features you should look for—and the ones you can safely ignore.

Bluetooth versions: Does 4.2 versus 5.0 matter?

When shopping for Bluetooth headphones, you’ll probably see a “version” somewhere in the specs: Most recent devices probably work with Bluetooth 4.1, 4.2, or the brand-new 5.0. And if you look around the web, you’ll find lots of claims that Bluetooth 5.0 drastically increases the technology’s range, bandwidth, and other capabilities. This is true…but these improvements don’t necessarily make headphones better.

Most of the current improvements apply to the “Bluetooth Low Energy” protocol, which communicates with fitness wearables, keychain trackers, or smart-home devices. Headphones, on the other hand, use a protocol called Bluetooth Basic Data Rate/Enhanced Data Rate, or BR/EDR. And BR/EDR does not benefit from Bluetooth 5.0 improvements.

So the anti-climactic answer is no, Bluetooth version does not matter when buying headphones. However, the latest cans still have lots of useful features and updates. Those changes just aren’t part of the Bluetooth core spec itself.

Audio quality: SBC, AAC, aptX, and LDAC codecs

Bluetooth doesn’t just stream your MP3 file to your headphones. It actually compresses the audio and sends it over; then your headset decodes the song before playing it in your ears. Different headphones and music players support different formats, or “codecs,” for this compression. That can affect the audio quality.

Here’s a quick rundown of the popular codecs you’ll find on modern headphones and smartphones.

• SBC (Subband coding): This is the default codec for all stereo Bluetooth headphones, and it provides the lowest audio quality. It isn’t always terrible, but the quality of the stream can vary from device to device, so SBC sometimes sounds noticeably worse than its alternatives.
• AAC: The AAC codec is very efficient, providing better quality than SBC. It’s the only non-SBC codec that iPhones and iPads support, and you’ll find it on some Android phones as well. On the headphone side of things, AAC is available on Apple’s own AirPods and Beats headphones, and is finding its way into non-Apple headphones as well.
• aptX and aptX HD: Owned by Qualcomm, these codecs use more efficient compression to provide higher fidelity audio than SBC. You’ll find them codecs in quite a few Android phones. These formats also aim to lower latency, reducing the audio delay that can cause lip sync problems when you’re watching videos and playing games. If you want the lowest latency possible, look for a headphone with aptX LL—the LL stands for “Low Latency.”
• LDAC: Owned by Sony, LDAC allows for multiple audio qualities, and has potential for higher quality connections than any other Bluetooth codec. This codec now comes built into Android 8.0 Oreo, which means it’s appearing on lots of new Android phones. It isn’t as common in headphones, though, and you’ll mostly find it in Sony models.

That’s a lot of acronyms and technical jargon, but to the vast majority of people wearing the vast majority of headphones, any non-SBC codec will probably sound equal in quality. Look for something with AAC, aptX, or better on both your phone and your headphones, since both devices need to support the codec in question. If you have an LDAC-compatible phone linked to SBC-compatible headphones, for example, the connection will fall back to SBC. To take advantage of the better codecs, you may also need to enable high-quality audio in your device’s Bluetooth settings.

Wireless headphones

Fast pairing: W1, NFC, and other options

Bluetooth is supposed to make headphones more convenient by ditching the cable—but in doing so, this technology introduced the unbelievable hassle of pairing your headphones to your music player. Often, your cans connect seamlessly, while other times, they take too long, try to pair to different devices, or just fail entirely. And pairing always involves a visit to the Bluetooth settings for your device, which is annoying.

Some manufacturers aim to alleviate this problem with so-called fast pairing technologies. Apple’s W1 chip, for example, makes the AirPods a breeze to connect. Google now has a competing standard for Android phones creatively named “fast pair.” With both of these methods, a notification appears on your phone when a compatible set of headphones is turned on and nearby. Then you simply tap the alert to connect.

However, not all headphones support these fast-pair methods, and only Apple-owned products like AirPods and Beats use the W1 chip. So you’ll need to make sure headphones support your phone’s fast-pairing standard before you purchase them.

You can also explore other technologies that simplify the pairing process, like near field communication (NFC). This is the same mechanism you rely on when you tap your phone to use Apple Pay or Google Pay at the grocery store—but built into headphones. If you have a pair of cans with an NFC chip, you merely tap them on your phone to connect and start listening.

Other unique features

Codecs and fast pairing are the big features to watch out for, but they aren’t the only ones. Countless other conveniences come to Bluetooth all the time.

“Multipoint” technology allows you to pair multiple devices to one set of headphones—so if you’re listening to music on your tablet and get a phone call, you can switch over without having to re-pair your headphones. “Advanced Multipoint” allows you to take a second input without dropping the first one, which is even more impressive.

Many Bluetooth headphones have their own apps as well. These let you customize certain features. For example, my Bose SoundSport Wireless earbuds ($150 on Amazon) work with the Bose Connect app, which allows me to turn off the voice prompt, adjust the “standby” time to save battery, and more. These apps can also update your firmware, which may add new features or fix certain issues like stuttering audio.

Finally, lots of new headphones offer unique features that aren’t part of Bluetooth, but can still change the game. For example, Beyerdynamic’s new Aventho headphones ($449 on Amazon can pause your music automatically when you take them off, and they’ll adjust the audio to make up for gaps in your hearing. Sony’s H900N ($298 on Amazon has an “ambient awareness mode” that lets you hear the outside world when you palm the right ear cup. And don’t forget about more traditional headphone features like active noise cancelling, which can drown out airplane noise and large crowds so you just hear your tunes.

Above all else, buy something that’s comfortable and sounds good to you. Convenience doesn’t matter one lick if you never want to wear your headphones in the first place.

The post The complete guide to Bluetooth headphone terms appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

A refreshing dip is the best way to beat the heat. But the water can be dangerous—particularly for youngsters who don’t know how to swim. For children ages 1 to 14, drowning is the second most common cause of death from unintentional injury. And for every kid who dies from drowning, five more survive but require emergency care.

One reason drowning is so deadly: It doesn’t look that bad. When movies and television shows portray someone going under, they may show the victim calling for help or splashing heavily. But in reality, there’s a good chance you wouldn’t be able to tell a drowning child from one playing in the water. So before you head to the pool this summer, familiarize yourself with drowning, and what you can do to prevent it.

In reality, drowning is rather silent. By the time a person begins to drown, they can no longer speak at all. Their mouth is sinking below the water, reappearing just long enough to gasp in a breath before going down again. As they bob up and down, they won’t thrash or wave. Instead, they will hold their arms out to the side or front trying to “paddle” back to the surface.

[Related: Swimming pools are full of poop, but they probably won’t make you sick]

This process is shockingly quick—about 20 seconds for young children and 60 seconds for adolescents—meaning you have only a few moments to realize it’s happening before they sink under the water entirely.

Sometimes, drowning can occur during a momentary lapse in supervision, while a parent looks away for five minutes before realizing the child is missing. But Pia says that, in many cases, “Children are surrounded by people who are looking at them but don’t realize that the drowning is taking place. They mistakenly believe that the person is playing in the water.”

There’s a whole YouTube channel of these videos. Try watching them to familiarize yourself with the signs of struggle before you jump in the pool.

How to prevent drowning before it happens

Recognizing the signs is only half the battle. Because the process is so quick and quiet, you must keep a very close eye on children.

Most guardians probably aren’t supervising closely enough, says Pia, especially if a lifeguard is on duty. “The lifeguards have a responsibility for everyone in the pool,” he says, but “a parent can look at their child and only their child.” It’s best to think of the lifeguard as a redundant backup system, he recommends, while the person supervising the child acts as the first line of defense.

Furthermore, Pia says to stay close and attentive, particularly for younger children. “The best technique for parents to use is called ‘touch supervision’ or ‘reach supervision,’” Pia says. Whenever a child is in the water, an adult can be on the deck or in the pool, but he or she must stay within arm’s reach. They must also remain attentive. That means, Pia says, “Parents can’t be on the lounge chair on their laptops or cell phones. They don’t get a second chance—if they don’t recognize the drowning struggle and intervene, bad things start to happen right away.”

The big bad thing you want to avoid is having the victim’s heart stop. If this happens, you’ll have many more obstacles to overcome than you did a few minutes ago.

That’s why all parents should learn CPR, Pia says. CPR may not save a drowning child on its own—in some cases, it’s merely a stopgap measure to keep oxygen flowing to the brain before emergency services arrive—but it’s part of a chain of recovery that can prevent brain damage and death. If you try winging it in an emergency situation, the high stress will make resuscitation very, very difficult. Instead, spend a couple hours in a CPR class so you can practice the technique.

[Related: Women are less likely to receive CPR. But why?]

After you take your class, sign your kids up to take their own lessons in swimming. The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends swim lessons for children over 4 years old—for tots younger than that, lessons are fine, but not mandatory—they won’t make as big of a difference as they do for older kids.

The post It’s surprisingly hard to tell if someone’s drowning, so we made you a guide appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published on May 15, 2020.

What you’ll need for your deep clean

The moment you rouse your grill from its winter hibernation is a great time to give it a thorough cleaning, so it’s ready for the season. To do so, you’ll need a few things:

• A grill brush. Kolman recommends buying a new grill brush every year. That way, you aren’t using a rusty five-year-old brush every time you fire up the barbie, and you can use last year’s brush for the early-season deep clean without worrying about ruining it. He likes Weber’s own three-sided grill brush—unsurprising since he works for the company—but so does America’s Test Kitchen, so that’s what I used for this guide. Whatever you choose, make sure it’s a highly-rated brush from a trusted brand, since some cheaper ones can fall apart or strip the coating off your grates.
• A paint scraper. Either metal or plastic should work fine, Kolman says—you just want something with a flat edge that will scrape debris off the inside of your grill.
• Grill and grate cleaner. A spray-on grill cleaner isn’t always necessary, but it can help make stubborn, burnt-on food easier to scrape off. I used this Goo Gone grill cleaner, though Easy-Off is another popular option, and Weber makes its own spray, too.
• A scouring pad. A mild scrubbing pad will help clean off some of the more stubborn gunk.
• Dish soap. You probably already have some in your kitchen—any decent dish soap designed to de-grease should work fine.
• Stainless steel and/or glass cleaner. If your grill has a porcelain hood, you can clean it with any old glass cleaner and paper towel. For stainless steel hoods and side tables, though, you’ll want a more specialized stainless steel cleaner and polish like this spray from Weiman. If the steel has some rust spots, like our grill, you could also grab some Bar Keepers Friend to scrub them off.
• A microfiber towel. Again, if you have any stainless steel parts, a non-abrasive cloth will help prevent cleaning-related scratches.

If your grill runs on gas, make sure you’ve turned its fuel supply off at the source—that little knob should always be shut when your grill is not in use—and survey the damage. (If you’re using a charcoal grill, the advice about some components—like burners—obviously won’t be relevant, but the rest of the guide should suit you well. Just follow the parts that apply to you.)

1. Remove the grill grates, along with any heat-dissipating panels and other easily removable parts. Weber grills often have a set of “flavorizer bars” above the burners that you’ll want to remove, for example. These parts may have a decent amount of rust, but as long as they don’t come in direct contact with food, that’s okay. We’ll still give them a good clean, but you aren’t likely to get them back to their original steel shine. “As long as the burners and bars do not have holes or pitted areas, these parts will work just fine,” Kolman says. “Issues occur when they are pitted, have holes and are breaking apart.”

2. Put some of your dish detergent in a large bucket and fill it with warm water. Toss in the grates, heat panels, and flavorizer bars and let them soak for a few minutes. (I didn’t have a bucket big enough to fit everything, so I used the lid to my kid’s old plastic sandbox. Whatever works, right?) If your grates are made of bare cast-iron instead of stainless steel, you don’t want to soak them—it can ruin the seasoning. Leave them aside for now.

3. Get brushing. While the removable parts soak, take your grill brush and give your burner tubes a once-over, making sure there isn’t any debris blocking the holes in the burner. Brush across the tubes, rather than along the length of each one—you don’t want to push debris into the holes as you go, as it can block the flame or clog the burners. Again, don’t worry if these are a little rusty—that’s normal.

4. Go back to your soapy bucket and give your steel components a good scrub with your scouring pad. If you need a bit of extra cleaning power, spray them with some grill and grate cleaner, let it sit for a moment, then scrub away. Be sure to rinse these parts with clean water when you’re done, then dry them with a rag.

5. Turn your attention to the grill itself. Start by checking the lid. If you see any flakes peeling along the inside, don’t panic: It’s not paint. “Because of the heat or moisture humidity inside there, the smoke has a tendency to bake itself onto the inside of the lid, and it’ll start to sheet itself off,” Kolman says. You can easily take your putty knife or grill brush and scrape away all that carbonized grease. It’s okay if it falls into the cookbox, because we’re about to clean that, too.

6. Check out the cookbox. There’s a good chance you have a lot of grease and food residue in the cookbox along the bottom of your grill. If so, grab a shop vacuum and clear out all the loose debris you can. (If you don’t have one, you can shovel some of it out yourself, but a small, relatively inexpensive shop vac goes a long way.) If there’s any debris caked on the bottom of the cookbox, grab your paint scraper and scrape it off. If it’s really fossilized, spray your grill cleaner, let it sit, then scrape again, pushing all that nasty stuff into the hole that leads to the drip tray. You can then slide the grease tray out and give it a good cleaning, too, brushing any debris into the trash. Wipe off any remaining cleaner with a wet paper towel.

Finishing up

No matter how much you scrub, your grill will probably never look like it did the day you bought it, and that’s okay. The goal isn’t to get it looking shiny brand-new—your goal is to remove large deposits of grease and charred food that can negatively impact your grill’s performance. Don’t feel like you need to replace your grill just because it has signs of use—consider them a badge of honor!

You may, however, have to replace some components here and there—like, as Kolman mentioned, heat panels that have cracks or holes in them. And if your cast-iron grates are rusted to hell like the ones on the run-down model we cleaned, you can either strip and re-season them, or just grab some new ones—we opted for the latter. (You can replace them with stainless steel if you want something a bit lower-maintenance, though the grilling ability of stainless steel versus iron is a debate all its own.) If your grill’s manufacturer doesn’t sell replacement parts for your particular unit, Grillparts.com is a great resource for tracking down hard-to-find pieces, and third-party vendors such as GrillGrate offer their own cooking surfaces for a variety of grills.

[Related: 9.5 tips to scientifically enhance your grill game]

You may also find, once you fire up your grill, that your burners still need some extra love. One of mine was producing a large yellow flame rather than the more desirable small blue flame, which can indicate that it needs to be completely removed and cleaned with a bottle brush (or replaced entirely). Make sure everything is lighting up, too. If you’ve only got fire halfway along the length of the burner, you may have a clogged hole or two that you need to poke through with a pin.

When all the important stuff is done, feel free to clean the stainless steel on the outside as well. “Spray on the cleaner and let it sit for five minutes, because you need time for that cleaner to start to activate,” Kolman says. “Then take your microfiber towel and wipe with the grain.” He notes that you should avoid paper towels on steel, lest you scratch the finish. And while Kolman didn’t mention it in our chat, I found Bar Keepers Friend did an incredible job of cleaning rust spots with some good scrubbing. Generally, abrasive cleaners aren’t ideal when it comes to stainless steel, but you might prefer a slightly scratched surface over one covered in rust. A porcelain lid is much more forgiving, and you can just use glass cleaner and paper towels for that. Clean any plastic parts with soap and water, and you’re ready for the first burgers of the season.

How to maintain your grill as you go

After buckling down for a deep clean, you’ve hopefully resolved to not ever let your grill get to such a sorry state again. Thankfully, Kolman has a few tips for making that happen.

“Every month, I think it’s a pretty good rule of thumb to take a look at the inside of the grill and clean up the flavorizer bars and grates,” he says. A bit of occasional scraping with a putty knife will help keep your grill operating at peak performance.

Kolman also recommends brushing the grates before you cook, not after. “Preheat your grill for 10 to 15 minutes, get the grates extremely hot, and any excess debris you have on there is going to get burned off.” Then just brush it away. He says brushing after you cook is more likely to gunk up the bristles of your brush.

[Related: 5 tools you absolutely need to start grilling]

These days, many people prefer wooden paddles instead of metal-bristled brushes for those in-between cleanings—that way you don’t get metal bits falling off into your food. America’s Test Kitchen didn’t see any issues with this in their durability tests, but they did find that a bristle-free metal brush like this one was more effective than a wooden paddle.

You should also empty and clean the drip tray regularly, Kolman says. “The more stuff you have down there, the less the grease is getting out, the more chance you have some minor flare-ups.” He says once a month is probably fine for most people, but if you do a lot of grilling, once every two weeks may be better. And for heaven’s sake, keep the grill under a cover when you aren’t using it, to protect it from the elements.

The post How to get your grill ready for summer appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Scroll back through your texting history, and you’ll see a series of errors that make your messages look like ransom notes. Misspelled words, random spaces, and hilarious autocorrect mistakes are so common that you can find whole websites devoted to them. Here’s how to prevent these keyboard betrayals—and type a little faster in the process.

Why you make so many phone typos

Phones have small screens, and we have big thumbs. This makes us inherently more prone to mistakes when we’re poking at a phone keyboard with our sausage fingers. It’s “a completely different experience than typing on a computer,” says Angana Ghosh, Product Manager for Google’s Gboard. “There’s smaller real estate on a phone screen.”

Why can’t the keyboard compensate for our shortcomings? The problem is, developers would have to cater to your typing style, which varies wildly from person to person. “There’s a difference in how people hold their phones (single handed versus double handed),” Ghosh says, “and there’s a multitude of ways to type—single-finger tappers, two-thumb tappers, gesture typers, prediction takers.” This not only makes it hard for us to type accurately, but makes it hard to create a good mobile keyboard.

Some would even argue that our standard QWERTY keyboard is inherently inefficient, both on mobile and desktop. “Historically, the keyboard layout has been selected for its ratio between efficiency and efforts required by the user,” says Olivier Plante, CEO of the company behind the popular Fleksy keyboard. “In the near future, we see the introduction of a new layout adapted to digital interfaces and gesture-based typing,” he says.

Although several companies have introduced radically different keyboard paradigms, such as the gesture-based 8pen, they haven’t really caught on. Even “swipe” typing on standard QWERTY layouts, which is available on many of the most popular smartphone keyboards, hasn’t become ubiquitous. Not many people want to learn to type from scratch—even if it would make them more efficient in the long run— we stick with the keyboard layouts we know.

Thankfully, plenty of keyboard makers have gone the extra mile to make up for the inadequacies of touch screen typing. But to take advantage, you might need to install a new keyboard.

Choose a new layout

In order to cut down on errors, you want a keyboard with lots of settings that you can tweak to suit your typing style. This usually requires a third-party keyboard from your phone’s app store.

Android phones let you customize your keyboard a bit more than iPhones do. But you can find specialized layouts for both systems. Here are a few we recommend.

1. Gboard (for iOS and Android): Technically, Gboard is the default keyboard on Google’s Android phones, but on the iPhone and heavily modified Android devices (like Samsung’s Galaxy line), it requires a third-party download. Gboard offers glide typing, emoji suggestions, voice input (through Google’s incredibly powerful voice recognition), and a number of settings to customize the layout for fewer mistakes. However, the Android version offers significantly more settings than the iOS one.
2. SwiftKey (for iOS and Android): SwiftKey is, first and foremost, all about text prediction. While most keyboards offer a bar along the top that suggests the word it thinks you’re trying to write, SwiftKey’s biggest goal is to make those suggestions as accurate as possible. Not only does it learn from what you type on your phone, but you can also connect it to your Google or Microsoft accounts so it can study your emails, text messages, and other writing. It also offers glide typing, and on Android, its layout is extremely customizable.
3. Fleksy (for iOS and Android): If SwiftKey sounds a little too invasive for you, take a look at Fleksy. It does all of its processing on your phone, without sending any of your data to Fleksy’s servers. Unfortunately, its auto-prediction feature isn’t nearly as good, and it doesn’t have an option for glide typing. However, on iOS, it’s the most customizable of the three, thanks to the way it uses extensions to tweak its layout. Customization of the Android version of Fleksy is on par with the other keyboards.

Those keyboards should be a good starting point, but if none of them suit you, feel free to poke around your app store and see what’s available.

Install and enable the third-party keyboard

Once you’ve downloaded a new keyboard, you’ll need to enable it from your phone’s settings—which takes many more taps than you’d expect.

If you’re using an iPhone, head to Settings > General > Keyboards > Keyboards and tap “Add New Keyboard.” To enable some of its features, you may also need to tap on that keyboard in the resulting list and toggle “Allow Full Access”. The next time you enter an app and want to start typing, you should be able to switch between keyboards by tapping and holding the globe or emoji icon in the bottom-right corner.

On Android, head to Settings > System > Languages & Input > Virtual Keyboard and tap “Manage Keyboards,” then toggle on your new download. Enter an app and pull up your keyboard, and you can switch between options by tapping the small keyboard icon in the bottom-right corner of your phone’s screen (in the navigation bar). However, these instructions may vary depending on your model of Android phone.

Customize your keys for easier typing

If you’re using one of our recommended keyboards on Android or Fleksy on iOS, you’ll find quite a few customization options in that keyboard’s settings. This isn’t just about colors and GIFs, either—many of these tweaks allow you to change the size, shape, and layout of the keyboard to make typing easier.

In particular, look through the settings to make some of the following adjustments.

• Resize the keyboard. You may be able to shift the keyboard to the left or right of the screen for easier one-handed typing, or split it down the middle for easier two-handed typing. Some apps also let you make the keyboard bigger or smaller altogether—and as Ghosh says, “Bigger is better!” Larger keys provide easier targets for your clumsy thumbs.
• Add a number row. If you type numbers often, you can add a number row along the top. This will make your keyboard take up more of your screen, but it will also let you access numbers without having to tap or tap-and-hold an extra key.
• Enable gestures. Some keyboards offer more gestures than others, but in general, this setting lets you delete words by swiping left, capitalize letters by swiping up or swiping from the Shift key, and take advantage of other shortcuts.
• Swipe to type. Sometimes called “glide typing” or “gesture typing,” this allows you to type by swiping your finger between the keys. Once you get the hang of it, it can actually be faster than tap-typing.
• Check out the themes. Themes aren’t just for fun colors and patterns. Some also add an outline to the key borders, which might help you aim better when trying to hit a key.
• Add words to your dictionary. Constantly using non-standard words like “homeskillet” and “awesomesauce”? You can add those words to your personal dictionary so your keyboard won’t constantly “correct” you. Some options, such as Gboard, will also let you add your contacts’ names to your keyboard with the flick of a switch.
• Sync your dictionary. Many keyboards allow you to sync a personal dictionary drawn from your Google, Microsoft, or other account. Doing so will cause far fewer autocorrect errors, particularly if you have multiple devices or just got a new phone. If you enable this this in SwiftKey, you can also give the keyboard access to your email and text messages, allowing it to learn more information more quickly.
• Opt out of snippet sharing. By default, Gboard and SwiftKey share anonymized snippets of your typing with their servers to make their predictions better for everyone. If you’d prefer to turn this off, you can do so in the keyboard’s settings. It won’t change your experience much, though you may suffer a guilty feeling from knowing that you’re contributing less to the keyboard’s overall improvement. Or not.

Dig around your keyboard’s settings and see what other features it offers. You might find that your biggest annoyances are actually fixable, leading to an easier, more accurate typing experience.

The post How to prevent those annoying texting typos appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This story has been updated. It was originally published in December 20, 2018.

Your TV and internet package looked so affordable when you first signed up for them. But after a short introductory period, there’s a good chance your bill has skyrocketed. Here’s how to talk the cable company back down to a more reasonable price.

Research the competition and set a realistic goal

You can call up your cable company to negotiate your bill at any time—but you don’t want to rush in half-cocked. The customer-service reps you’ll talk to are trained to convince you to stay on their plan, and they know the details of their competitors’ offers very well. So before you dial, do some research on the alternatives in your area. Knowing how much those other options cost will give you some extra leverage.

Annoyingly, TV and internet providers frequently have very little competition, but if you’re lucky, your area may have at least one other option. Usually, a different source will use a different technology—so if you currently have cable internet, you should look at the costs of DSL, satellite, and fiber services.

Make sure you read the fine print of these plans, as it may affect that cost. AT&T advertised the aforementioned plan at $50 per month, but that doesn’t include taxes and fees like Cox’s plans do, so the total ended up closer to $55.

In addition, add in the cost of any installation fees, early termination fees for your current plan, or other tacked-on payments. Remember, the goal is to estimate the total cost if you were to dump your current plan and replace it with a cheaper one—because that’s what you’ll be threatening on the call. If the new service requires that you sign a contract, make sure the price doesn’t go up within the contract period (or if it does, factor that into your average monthly cost).

If you’re ever unsure about anything, hop into the competitor’s online chat—they can sometimes help clear up fees or confusing policies for you. However, it may help to do some outside research on any hidden fees the salespeople aren’t telling you about.

Once you’ve done your due diligence, decide on a reasonable price you hope to pay for your service. I was happy with the $65 a month I paid before the price hike, and it was unlikely Cox would go lower than their original introductory price, so I stuck with that number. Your decision will vary depending on the service in your area.

When you have your goal cost, write it down, along with your notes about the competition, and prepare for battle.

Make the call

With notes in hand, find the customer service number for your cable provider, call them up, and tell them your bill is too expensive and you’d like a better price. Most companies have an entire “retention department” dedicated to keeping you as a customer—in fact, you may even be able to Google that department’s number and call them directly. They’ll be happy to help.

At this stage, the customer service reps will let you know of any current promotions they are running for existing customers—this usually ends up being a paltry discount. In some cases, they may even try to upsell you a better package “for only $5 more!” But this is just the first layer of discounts they’re allowed to offer. You can go much deeper.

Tell them thank you, but you’re really looking to save more than that. Reiterate the price you used to pay, and mention that their competitor is offering a similar plan for X dollars per month. At this point, they’ll likely put you on hold to “see what they can do.” Make sure you act polite and pleasant during this exchange—if you behave antagonistically, so will the representative.

Just be aware that the fewer competitors you have in your area, the harder this will be, and the less of a deal you may be able to get. Still, if you stand your ground, you should at least manage to get back down to the introductory price you originally had. And if not, hey—there’s always the option of actually cancelling and taking the competitor’s better offer!

Your exact experience may vary. I’ve had friendly reps bend over backward to help me get what I want, and I’ve had reps that were straight-up hostile, lying to me about what their competitors offered and threatening to shut down my service immediately instead of at the end of the month. It’s just the luck of the draw. But after holding my ground, at the last minute, every single rep I’ve talked to has put me on hold again and come back with a better deal.

Take notes and set a reminder for next time

After you hang up, take a moment to jot down some notes about your call—the name of the rep you talked to, the discounts they offered, and the deal you were ultimately able to nab. Stash that note in a safe place—it’ll be handy to have later on.

This process feels a bit nerve-racking the first time you do it, but after a bit of practice, you’ll be a pro. Plus, you’ll be sitting on a bit of extra cash. In my case, a 15 minute phone call helped me save $240 per year—not a bad deal.

The post How to strike a better deal with your cable company appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Does it seem like you always get sick when you travel? You aren’t alone. Packing a bunch of people in a confined airplane cabin during cold and flu season is a recipe for the sniffles. To avoiding sneezing your way through the holidays, take some precautions to stay healthy when you fly.

Most people blame recirculated air when they catch a cold after a flight. But researchers have found that this likely isn’t the case. After surveying 1,100 passengers—half of whom traveled on planes with recirculated air; the other flyers used 100 percent fresh air—they found that nearly 20 percent of travelers developed a cold within a week of flying, whether they breathed recirculated air or not. In other words, those in-cabin HEPA filters seem to really do their job well.

Still, science has uncovered several factors that make you more likely to catch a bug when flying. So the next time you take off, keep these things in mind.

Environmental evils

When you board a plane, you’re entering an environment where you have limited control. You can’t expel that coughing passenger or set the temperature to a more comfortable level. But that doesn’t mean you’re entirely unable to adjust your surroundings.

• Choose the window seat to minimize contact with others. You’re more likely to get sick if you sit within one or two rows of a sick traveler, but you can’t predict this in advance. In general, no matter where you end up, you’ll want to avoid as much contact with other people as you can. One study, which modeled the behavior of passengers aboard a plane, found that the window seat provides the least contact with other people. In addition, the less often you get up and move, the less likely you are to come into contact with germ carriers.
• Turn on your air vent. While you aren’t likely to catch something from the recycled air, you may still be at risk from airborne pathogens hovering near you. So turn the air vent to low or medium and aim it to blow down into your lap. This will hopefully direct those germs away from your face.
• Wipe down your tray table, armrest, and seat. Bad news: The airline does not clean your accommodations nearly as often as they should. Researchers have found that the seat pocket and armrests are some of the germiest spots on planes, though the in-flight entertainment screen, tray table, and other areas of your seat follow not far behind. To eradicate germs, carry a pack of wipes with you and clean the surfaces surrounding your seat after you board. Even if they aren’t contaminated, they’re probably pretty gross anyway.
• Avoid in-flight magazines, blankets, and pillows. Like those seat surfaces, there’s no guarantee these items have been cleaned recently. You’re probably best off avoiding them altogether. If you tend to get chilly, just bring your own sweater.

Personal health precautions

On the ground, you should already rely on general good-health practices to stay well. These precautions become even more important while you’re in the air.

• Stay hydrated. Airplane air is rather dry, with a humidity level of about 20 percent (compared to 30 percent in the average home). This dry air will thicken the mucus that usually protects you from viruses and bacteria, making you more susceptible to infection. Bring a water bottle and keep that H2O flowing so your nasal passages remain moist.
• Use hand sanitizer, even after washing your hands. The Wall Street Journal famously found that airplane water is often contaminated with nasties. Since then, the EPA has demanded more stringent standards, but it looks like they haven’t helped enough. To be safe, don’t drink anything that doesn’t come out of a can or bottle. After using the lavatory and washing your hands in the sink, rub some sanitizer on them.
• Rest well, especially if you have a long flight. We all know a lack of sleep makes you more susceptible to infection. When you’re traveling for long periods—like cross-country or overseas—you’re probably depriving yourself of much-needed Z’s. Make sure you get sufficient rest before and after your flight, especially if it’s a long or late-night haul.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth. Many people forget that viruses spread not just when you touch an infected surface, but when you follow up by touching your eyes or mouth afterward. Stay cognizant of your hands and make sure you sanitize before you eat or rub your sleepy peepers.

After you land, don’t let down your guard. Remember, while your actual flight may make up the bulk of your travel, you’re also in close proximity to other travelers in the airport, taxis, and other parts of your day. So don’t get complacent once you’re off the plane.

Finally, if you do get sick, it isn’t the end of the world. Stock up on the remedies that actually work and try to enjoy yourself anyway. You’ll be spending time with your family—they have to love you whether or not your sniffling nose looks like a cherry.

The post How to stay healthy on your next germ-filled flight appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Airports are like an endless stream of waiting, scrambling to do a thing really quickly, then more waiting for the next step… all so you can have the pleasure of sitting on a cramped plane for four hours. Thankfully, the age of the internet can make this process—from airport to accommodation—at least 5 percent less terrible.

Keep your itinerary organized with TripIt

I’ve been using TripIt for longer than I can remember, and I can’t overstate its utility when your trip has a lot of moving parts. Sure, if you always fly the same airline to the same place, you can probably just use that airline’s app to keep track of your reservation, but when you take multiple trips a year to different cities, or have a multi-stop trip that contains a flight, a train, and a hotel, things get a bit complicated.

TripIt will parse all those email reservations into one easy-to-read itinerary, complete with your confirmation numbers, departure and check-in times, and a map that takes you from the airport to your Airbnb. In other words, it has all the information you need to get where you’re going, so you don’t have to root around in your email.

TripIt is free to use, but the Pro subscription gets you a few extra features, like points tracking and real-time flight alerts, but it costs $49 per year. (If your employer uses Concur, though, you might be able to get a free TripIt Pro subscription through them—ask your human resources manager before you pony up.)

TripIt is free for Android and iOS, with a Pro subscription available for $49 a year.

See TSA wait times with MyTSA

As much as I loathe the way security works at U.S. airports today, I have to admit that the Transportation Security Administration did a pretty good job with the MyTSA app. Open it up, choose your airport, and it’ll let you know the average wait for any day and time. You can also report your wait times for a more accurate, timely estimate, which will appear above the historical data when others check the app.

It’s more helpful than nothing, but take it with a grain of salt. (Here’s the real tip: If you haven’t signed up for TSA PreCheck, do it now. It’s one of the best travel-related decisions I’ve ever made and is especially handy during the holidays when the airport is slammed with less-seasoned jet-setters.)

MyTSA is free for Android and iOS.

Get food delivered with AtYourGate

I have the worst luck with gate numbers—it seems like my flight always leaves from the opposite end of the airport than the good restaurants, requiring me to walk a mile with my carry-on just to get a halfway-decent meal. AtYourGate is like UberEats, but for the airport: you order food on your phone and someone brings it right to your gate for you. That way, you can order as soon as you arrive at the terminal, and have food in your lap once you’re through security. (It’s also useful if you have a short layover and don’t have time to stand in line.)

It’s currently only available in nine airports across the country, but they’re still expanding, and their list includes a few pretty big hubs—like Minneapolis-Saint Paul and all three major New York airports.

AtYourGate is free for Android and iOS.

Predict your Wi-Fi speeds and plan accordingly

Public Wi-Fi is rarely awesome, but sometimes it verges on unusable. So before you leave, check Ookla’s list of the fastest (and slowest) airport Wi-Fi networks, which they publish every year.

If you’re staying in a hotel, it’s also a good idea to check Hotel WiFi Test, which uses crowdsourced data to show you which hotels in a given city have free or paid Wi-Fi, and what speeds you can expect. (Be sure to submit your own speed test, too, to help contribute to the site’s database.)

And for those few hours you’re on the plane, check out our guide to surviving in-flight Wi-Fi.

Settle into an airport lounge

On quick, straightforward trips, there’s nothing wrong with chilling at the gate and watching some downloaded Netflix. But if you’re feeling truly haggard before you even get to the airport, it may be worth paying a few bucks for the added luxury of a lounge—even if you aren’t flying business class. We have an entire guide to getting into an airport lounge, but the short version goes like this: see if your credit card or frequent flyer program has free access built-in, and if not, check out Priority Pass and LoungeBuddy.

Priority Pass is a simple service that costs $99 per year, plus $32 per lounge visit in over 1,300 lounges across the world. That’s useful if you plan on hitting up the lounge more than a few times over the year, but for one-off visits, LoungeBuddy costs $25 to $50, no yearly subscription required. Trust me, after a long week of flying, that shower is worth it.

Survive a delayed or cancelled flight

There are few things more annoying than an extended stay in an airport, but it happens. Make sure you have a Plan B, especially in the winter, when extreme weather (or as Minnesotans call it, “Thursday in January”) is likely to rear its ugly head.

Sleeping in Airports is a handy tool that prepares you for extra time in the terminal, letting you know which airports offer Wi-Fi, cots, luggage storage, and showers. It’ll even tell you the best part of the terminal to grab some free shuteye in the middle of the night, in terms of low noise and comfortable seats. (Honestly, its list of amenities for each airport is handy even if you aren’t sleeping there.)

Speaking of which: if your flight gets delayed, canceled, stuck on the tarmac, or your luggage gets lost, you might be entitled to compensation, depending on the laws in your area. Companies like AirHelp will promise to get you the money you deserve, but keep in mind they keep a hefty portion of your prize—so you’re better off filing the claim yourself, unless the airline is being particularly stubborn.

The post Minimize travel hell with these apps and tools appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

I’m on a constant mission to downsize my wallet. I’m tired of a bulky billfold, bursting at the seams, digging into my rear end every time I sit down. I’d get rid of all my credit cards if I could, but for now, I’ll settle for a super-slim clip—with all the non-essentials offloaded to my phone.

Get rid of temporary junk you don’t need

Start by clearing out the cruft that doesn’t have to travel with you: business cards, extra receipts, that long-expired coupon for tacos—you know, the junk. I’m not saying you need to trash everything, but you don’t need to keep it in your wallet. Those receipts can go in a folder in your house, and business cards can go in a business card book—or, better yet, you can go all digital.

For receipts, scan them or snap a photo before trashing them—you can take a regular photo with your phone camera or use an app specialized for scanning documents. PhotoScan (available for Android and iOS) was designed to digitize print photos, but it’ll also tweak and crop your receipts for better legibility. You can do the same with those business cards, which you can then store and organize in an app like Evernote—which also makes the text in your documents searchable for easy access. Or, if you have the time, just transfer the information on them into your online address book.

Stick to a couple debit and credit cards

If I could ditch all my credit cards and just use Google Pay, I would. But Apple and Google Pay aren’t quite as ubiquitous as I’d like yet, so credit cards are still a necessity—for now. I recommend picking one, maybe two credit cards to carry with you—and your main debit/ATM card for emergencies when you need cash. If you have a lot of credit cards and aren’t sure which ones to take with you, pick the ones with the rewards categories you’re most likely to encounter out and about—like groceries.

Then, put the rest of your cards on your phone. Check out our guide to setting up Apple and Google Pay for step-by-step instructions—trust me, you won’t be disappointed. It’s actually faster than using a card these days, since those chips take so long to process. If you have a smart watch that supports your payment system of choice, you can make your life even easier by paying without taking your phone out of your pocket.

Ditch the insurance cards, loyalty cards, and other miscellanea

Now it’s time to get into the nitty-gritty—all the other seemingly-important cards you carry with you. These add a lot of bulk, and you might be surprised how few of them you actually need.

Start with your health and auto insurance cards. You rarely need to access them, so there’s actually no need for you to devote precious space to them in your pocket. Your insurer probably provides a digital “card” in their mobile app, or you can snap a photo of both sides of the card and keep it in an app like Evernote or Dropbox for easy access when you need it.

According to Allstate, every U.S. state except New Mexico allows you to use a digital insurance card when pulled over—but you may want to double-check the laws in your state before ditching the paper copy. You could keep those cards in their glove box, but the National Insurance Crime Bureau recommends against this, since it usually contains personal information that tells car thieves where you live.

Next up: loyalty cards. You probably already know that you don’t need these. Almost every grocery or retail store with a loyalty program will either give you a smaller card for your keychain or, even better, let you type in your phone number to get your benefits. In short, there’s absolutely no reason to carry this card in your wallet.

For the few cards you actually do need in physical form—for example, my family’s annual passes to the San Diego Zoo—you can either keep them in your car’s glove box (if they don’t contain too much personal information), or put them in a container by the door of your house, so you can grab them on your way out.

Put it all in a slim money clip

The traditional bi-fold wallet is not the most efficient use of space. Your wallet’s leather adds more bulk than you might think, so once you’ve slimmed down its internals, slim down the wallet itself with a space-saving money clip. I’ve been using this Tumi model for years, but there are cheap minimalist wallets, too, not to mention some more unique options like the Ridge wallet. Alternatively, you can go with one of the ever-so-fashionable card holders on the back of your phone, or a full smartphone case with a wallet built-in. Just try to avoid things that fold—the more layers you have, the bulkier it’s going to be in your pocket.

The post Shrink your ever-expanding wallet appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

I can never resist the allure of a new gadget to play with—especially if it’s on sale. A few months ago, I bought a new smartwatch, telling myself it’d be great to keep up with work notifications throughout the day, and track my distance while running. After researching the latest models and hunting down deals, I finally pulled the trigger.

Three months later, I rarely use it. There’s nothing wrong with it—it does everything I hoped it would. I just don’t often feel the need to wear it in place of my normal watch. I had more fun doing the research and building anticipation than I actually did owning the product.

Online shopping has made it easier than ever to buy stuff without a second thought. “It’s less tangible,” says journalist Kristin Wong, author of Get Money: Live the Life You Want, Not Just the Life You Can Afford. “When you click the button and put it on a credit card, it feels like Monopoly money. It’s so easy that I’ve accidentally bought stuff on Amazon.” Couple that with the fact that we’ve come to value deal hunting more than actual ownership, and you’ve got a recipe for rampant, impulse consumerism.

That’s not to say buying things is inherently terrible. We wholeheartedly recommend buying things that genuinely make your life easier, and while most of us aren’t truly addicted, we could all stand to think a little more before we click that “Add to Cart” button.

Trick your brain into waiting

It’s easy to curb some of those casual impulses by putting some space between the urge and the purchase. Some like to adhere to what Wong calls the 24-hour rule: “Put it on your Amazon wish list, then wait,” she says. A 24-hour waiting period forces you to ask yourself if you actually want what you’re about to buy, or if you just don’t have control over your emotions. A lot of the pleasure we get from shopping comes from the anticipation of the item rather than actually owning it—so if you can ride that out before hitting “Confirm Order,” you might be able to ward off excess spending.

A browser extension called Amazon Contemplate does something similar, but on a smaller scale—any time you try to check out, it forces you to wait 30 seconds, lightly taunting you about your impulse spending. Sometimes that’s all you need.

It also helps to remove yourself from all those retail newsletters and sale alerts, unless you’re tracking a specific item you already have on your wishlist or have previously searched for. Those newsletters are designed to increase a sense of urgency, leading you to want to buy the item now—instead of giving yourself that waiting period.

Wong has gone so far as to make a list of all the clothes she currently has. “Just having a list of things I already own is such an effective deterrent for not buying more stuff,” she says.

And of course, there’s the old standby: unlinking your credit card information from Amazon and other sites. If you have to go find your card and type in the numbers, you’re building in extra time that may lead you to rethink the purchase.

Examine why you spend

You can freeze that credit card in a block of ice if you want, but it’s not going to stop you every time. “I really think these tricks work,” says Wong, “but at some point, you have to get down to the root of the problem. You have to figure out why you’re inclined to spend that money. Is it stress? Is it emotional? What kind of need are you trying to fulfill when this happens?” Because when the urge is strong, you’ll eventually cave and re-enter those credit card numbers.

Figuring this out is a bit different for everyone, and will take some self-examination to uncover. Some people, for example, impulse-buy utilitarian products instead of luxury items, because it gives them a sense of control over their life. “I have a big problem spending on clothes,” Wong says. “It feels like I’m fixing a problem—the problem being ‘I am not stylish at all.’ But I feel like if I just buy the right clothes, and have the perfect capsule wardrobe, then I will solve the problem.” Others may pursue the biggest discounts possible because they love the chase. Or maybe, like me, you just get bored, and your time gravitates toward shopping.

If you can figure out what the impulse is really trying to achieve, you can replace it with something else.

Find another way to get your fix

When designer and illustrator Sarah Lazarovic found herself in this never-ending shopping cycle, she started painting the things she wanted instead of buying them (eventually turning those paintings into a book called A Bunch of Pretty Things I Did Not Buy). By doing so, she redirected her energy into something more productive. This inspired what she calls the “Buyerarchy of Needs”—riffing off of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs—to help others redirect their energy, too. It looks like this:

Wong loves this approach. “Our default in fixing a problem, or in getting that dopamine hit, is to spend money,” she says. “But before you buy, ask yourself if there’s a way to fix this problem without spending money.” For example, you could borrow the item from someone else, or thrift it at a much lower price—tapping into that deal-hunting desire.

I experienced this myself recently when my phone started to show its age. Not only had battery life degraded after two years of use, but it would stall at random times while I was using it—despite having perfectly capable hardware. It would have been easy to move on and buy a new phone (and, admittedly, I did start searching) but I decided to replace the battery myself and do a factory reset before shelling out the cash. Not only did it work—my phone is running better than ever—but I feel a lot more attached to the device now that I’ve put my own blood, sweat, and screwdrivers into it.

“Decluttering and getting rid of things can give you the same sense of productivity,” Wong says. “Consumerism makes you feel like you’re curating a collection of material goods, but getting rid of stuff can help you feel that way too.” Heck, you can even rearrange the items in a room to give yourself that novelty you crave from new things. Don’t let this backfire, of course—the more you get rid of or the more space you make in a room, the more you may feel you need to buy later on.

“I don’t think consumption is bad,” Wong explains. “Sometimes it’s okay to spend money, it’s okay to be impulsive. Just budget for it.” That way, when Black Friday comes along, you can give yourself a set amount of splurge money—and you won’t feel guilty for spending it.

The post Fend off Black Friday regret with science appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Wireless charging is one of those smartphone features that seems mediocre—until you actually use it. Once you experience the convenience of plopping your phone on the nightstand at the end of the day and having it refuel overnight, it’s hard to go back to wrangling a cable. High end flagships like the iPhone X series and Samsung Galaxy S10 series have this feature built-in, but if you’re using an older phone that doesn’t—or a budget model like the much-lauded Pixel 3a—you can still add wireless charging to your device with an inexpensive accessory.

Alright, it may be more accurate to say you’ll need three inexpensive accessories—at least if you want the best results. That means a wireless charging receiver that attaches to your phone, a case to hold the receiver in place, and a charging pad to actually charge the phone. Here’s what I recommend.

The wireless receiver

In order to pull this off, you’ll need a wireless charging receiver that plugs into your phone’s USB port. There are a few on the market, but I’ve been using this $13 “Magic Tag” from Nillkin for the past few months, and it works great. The patch lays flat against the back of your phone and contains a coil just like the one in wireless charging-enabled devices. Instead of being connected to your phone’s internal circuitry, though, it plugs into the USB port on the bottom of your device. When placed on a wireless charging pad, the juice flows through the patch and into your phone through its usual charging port.

You’ll need to browse the Magic Tag’s Amazon page to make sure you get the right one for your device. There are versions for the iPhone and iPhone Plus models, as well as micro-USB variants in both orientations—narrow side up and narrow side down—for older or budget Android phones. Newer Android devices will either use the USB-C patch or the short USB-C patch, depending on the size of the phone. My Pixel 2, for example, uses the short patch, since it’s of average stature and contains a fingerprint sensor on the back, which I don’t want the patch to cover up.

There is one downside: by using this patch, you lose easy access to your USB port. Most of the time, I’ve found this to be a non-issue. I do almost all my charging at home, and I have wireless charging pads placed strategically around my house—no cables necessary. And since Google stole my headphone jack, I finally bit the bullet and bought some Bluetooth earbuds, so I don’t need the port for listening to music, either. If I’m going on a long drive or a vacation where I know I’ll be charging by cable, I just leave the Magic Tag at home. Most of the time, though, it stays on.

Since you may want to remove the patch for those rare occasions, I don’t recommend using the accompanying adhesive to stick it to the back of your phone. Instead, hold it in place with a case.

The case

There’s a good chance you have a case on your phone already. It’s the best way to protect it against accidental drops and scrapes, not to mention it helps distinguish your device from the others on the coffee table. If you want to use the Nillkin Magic Tag, you’ll just need to make sure your case is compatible (or get one that is).

Since the patch loops around the bottom of your phone to plug into the charging port, you’ll need a case that provides enough clearance for the USB connector. Cases with “closed” holes around the charging port won’t always work—I’ve found some that do, and some that don’t. Cases that are “open” along the bottom, however, tend to work swimmingly, since they provide more room for the connector to loop around.

The patch can also make your case bulge a little bit, though this hasn’t been a huge problem for me, and it’s not really noticeable unless you’re looking for it. Still, if that drives you absolutely nuts, you might try one of Spigen’s cases meant to be used with a magnetic car mount—they call them QNMP-compatible cases, after the quantum neodymium magnetic plate they have a little cutout for. I’m using the $13 Spigen Thin Fit, and the charging patch fits pretty well inside that cutout, meaning this type of case won’t bulge as much as others. Plus, the Spigen Thin Fit actually feels great, so after a few months of trying other cases, I’ve switched to using it full-time.

The charging pad

If this is your first go-round with wireless charging, you’ll need to outfit your home with a charging pad or two. Prices range from $12 for the basic Anker PowerWave to $50 for the Wirecutter favorite RAVPower stand. You can also get them in more unique forms, like a charging pad built into a lamp or hidden in a picture frame, so they don’t cramp your living room’s style. You can even get one built into a suction cup car mount, so you can charge while you navigate. Stick a few around your house and you’ll never have to futz with cables again.

Wireless charging may seem like a silly feature to get all excited about, but trust me: once it’s in your life, there’s no going back. It’s also particularly great if you’re a multi-platform household—now that we use wireless charging, my iPhone-using wife can use the same chargers as I do with my Pixel. It’s not for everyone, but if you’re a big fan of wireless charging and would rather not spend hundreds of dollars on a new phone, this is a more than suitable compromise for the convenience it offers.

The post How to add wireless charging to your phone appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

When voice assistants first came out, I thought they were silly gimmicks and nothing more. Now, I live and die by Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa. They navigate me where I want to go, send messages to my friends, and control the lights and thermostats in my house. But occasionally, one or the other will mishear me and perform the wrong command, or just ignore me entirely.

Early on, Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant required a bit more finesse to get voice commands working properly. These days, they’re much smarter, and spokespeople at both Amazon and Google noted that their devices are always learning about human speech patterns to improve their ability to understand us. It shows. They can pronounce tough names better than before, connect synonyms like “couch” and “sofa,” and even learn the idiosyncrasies of your voice—so the more you talk to them, the better they get. Still, there are occasions where things can go awry. If you’re having trouble, there are a few proactive ways to smooth out the process.

Place them properly

First and foremost, make sure your device—whether it’s a standalone voice assistant product like an Amazon Echo or a phone with an assistant built-in—can actually hear you. If it’s too far away, it may not understand your command, if it hears you at all. Don’t try to hide it behind books or cover it with decorative disguises, as you risk muffling the microphones. And don’t leave it somewhere where ambient noise might confuse it—like next to your TV or your child’s play area.

In general, I’ve been pretty amazed at how well voice assistants can understand me from less-than-ideal spots, and they are learning to ignore ambient noise—but there’s no reason to make their job any harder than it has to be. If you need more than one unit to cover a large area, Echo Dots and Google Home Minis are cheap and easy to spread around your space.

Train them on your voice

If your assistant is having trouble understanding you or someone in your home, there are a few helpful options built into the app.

First, give the device a little extra information on your voice by setting up what Alexa calls “Voice Profiles” and Google calls “Voice Match.” This feature teaches the assistant your specific voice, which not only helps it understand you better, but can also ensure you get relevant responses. So, when you ask what’s happening today, for example, you’ll hear items from your agenda, not your spouse’s.

To set up Alexa’s Voice Profiles, each person needs to download the Alexa app, log in with the main user’s account, but select “I’m Someone Else” when prompted. Then, they can head to Settings > Alexa Account > Recognized Voices in the Alexa app to turn the feature on and train their voice (or they can just ask Alexa to “Learn my voice“). If you have a Google Home, a secondary user must open the Home app, log in with their own Google account, select the Google Home in question, and tap the Voice Match banner to add a new user.

Siri doesn’t have this exact feature, but you can re-train its “Hey Siri” trigger by switching it off, then on again from the Siri settings on your phone.

When you go through this training with any device, you’ll be prompted to say the wake word for your device: “Alexa,” “Hey Google,” or “Hey Siri.” As you do this, think about how your voice inflects when you actually call on the assistant. I’ve caught myself using very different tones during training than I do in everyday life, which hindered my devices in the past. They’ve gotten better at understanding me over time, but the more you set an assistant up for success, the easier your life will be.

There’s one other thing you can do if you’re an Echo user: tell your assistant it’s made a mistake. Just head to “Activity” in the sidebar of the Alexa app, find the command, and tap “More.” Under “Did Alexa do what you wanted?” specify whether it did or didn’t, which will help improve future responses. Sadly, Google and Siri do not have this feature.

Give devices and people unique names

One of my more frequent frustrations happens when I try to turn on a light, a ceiling fan, or another smart home device and my assistant targets the wrong one—or asks, “Wait, which one?”

After a while, I realized many of my devices had names that were probably too similar to one another, and giving them each unique names meant voice assistants could easily tell them apart. For example, instead of naming each light “Bedroom Light One,” “Bedroom Light Two,” and “Bedroom Light Three”—which would get jumbled up when I said “Turn the bedroom lights on”—I now have “Master Ceiling Light,” “Whitson’s Nightstand Lamp,” and “Kathleen’s Lamp” in a group called “Bedroom Lights.” These are distinct enough that I rarely run into problems anymore. You should also make sure to delete old or duplicate smart home devices from your assistant’s settings—if they’re still looking for devices that aren’t there, they’re going to return an error.

You can similarly adjust your contact list to avoid problems when trying to call your friends. Both Google and Siri allow you to add phonetic names to your contacts, so you can ensure that when you say “Call shee-la,” it knows you mean your Irish friend Sile Murphy. You can also add nicknames to contacts to help differentiate them from others with the same name—or if you want to say something like “Call Mom” and have it work properly without renaming the contact entirely.

Don’t talk like a robot

It’s funny to watch my family and friends interact with their voice assistants. Some speak to them normally (“Alexa, add detergent to my grocery list”), while others talk like a caveman (“Alexa… add grocery list item… detergent”). It’s easy to understand why the latter would be instinctive, especially if you grew up with primitive voice recognition tech, but these devices are designed to understand natural speech patterns. So try to avoid talking like a robot and speak more conversationally—you might find it works better.

Of course, voice assistants aren’t really people, so there are still some conversational commands they may not understand, especially if you leave out important information. For example, if you’re looking to control a third-party device, Alexa usually knows what you want, but if it fails, you may have to say exactly what you mean. For example, “Alexa, turn the volume up,” will turn the assistant’s own volume up, so you’ll need to say “Alexa, ask Harmony to turn the volume up” in order to crank the sound on your Harmony Hub-equipped TV.

Remember, if your assistant just can’t seem to understand a request, the best thing you can do is rephrase it. If you just keep saying the same thing louder and more slowly, there’s a good chance you’ll be disappointed.

The post How to get Alexa, Siri, and Google to understand you better appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

If you haven’t followed the hype surrounding dash cams here in the U.S., you’ve probably at least seen crazy dash cam footage on YouTube from countries like Russia, where everyone has one in their car. Installing one may seem complicated, but it’s actually a super-simple project that anyone can do.

Decide if you need a dash cam

Dash cams aren’t as popular in the U.S. as they are elsewhere, so you don’t hear about them as often after a big car crash. When I reached out to insurance companies, most were hesitant to say whether they use dash cams to determine fault or not, or whether they recommend their customers install one.

“There are so many things that go into what happens in an accident,” says Janet Ruiz, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute. “A lot of times, the police report has to be taken into account first. There might be some states or counties where the police have started using dash cams, and therefore the insurance companies use them. But it’s still too much in the works to say, ‘Put a dash cam in, and that’ll help you determine fault after an accident.’” She did note that they can be useful for combating fraud and theft, though.

While most insurance companies were reluctant to give concrete answers, a spokesperson for Amica told me they have used dash cam footage to assist with the determination of fault in the past, even though they don’t have an official recommendation for their customers yet. So while the jury is still out on whether installing a dash cam is a slam-dunk good idea, it may be worthwhile if you want to cover all your bases. Keep in mind, of course, that they may prove your own fault in an accident too, so it can be a double-edged sword.

After my car got totaled earlier this year—in a collision where there were no witnesses beyond the two drivers—I decided to get one for my wife’s car, should anything happen in the future. Even if it doesn’t protect us, at least I’ll know I did everything I could.

Find the right dash cam model

If you’ve decided to go for a dash cam, we’re here to tell you the hardest part of the process is actually finding one. There are plenty of different models out there, and there’s no one-size-fits-all option. There are, however, a few things you should consider as you shop:

• Power source: Many dash cams are powered by the cigarette lighter socket in your car, though there are some that have the ability to be hard-wired directly to your battery. The latter requires professional installation outside the scope of this guide, so we’re focusing on the more typical DIY-friendly models here. In addition, some models contain a lithium-ion battery—like your phone—while others contain a capacitor to store energy. If you live in a particularly hot climate, you’ll want a capacitor model, since they’re more heat resistant than their battery-powered siblings.
• Field of view: Ideally, you want a dash cam with as wide a field of view as possible, so it can see cars not just in front of you, but to the sides, too. You’ll find 140 to 160 degrees is fairly common, though there are some models that go as wide as 170 degrees.
• Picture quality and frame rate: The sharper the video captured by your dash cam, the better, so you can make out the license plate numbers of other cars on the road. Resolution is part of this equation, but not all of it—you also need to consider picture quality in low light, for example, so you can get good nighttime footage. The best thing you can do is look at reviews and see if you can find footage online taken from the model you’re researching.
• Number of cameras: At the bare minimum, a dash cam will record video from your front windshield. But some models have other cameras for other views, like one for your back windshield or a camera facing the driver’s seat to capture other people in the car. (This is particularly useful for Uber and Lyft drivers who want evidence of anything that happens on the job.)
• Built-in screens and GPS: While it’s not required, some models have screens on the back of the camera that allows you to see the video it’s recording—which can be helpful during the initial setup, if nothing else. Others have built-in GPS or support for separate GPS modules, so you can attach your location to the footage you capture. Some may even offer turn-by-turn navigation (though honestly, the navigation on your phone is probably better).
• Wi-Fi and app support: Dash cams with built-in Wi-Fi allow you to view and share footage from an app on your phone, rather than having to remove the SD card and insert it into a computer. Again, this isn’t imperative, but some people may find it useful.
• Emergency sensors: Your dash cam is limited by the amount of space on its SD card, and when its storage is full, it’ll automatically erase old footage to make room for new footage. I highly recommend getting a dash cam that can detect when you’ve been in a collision, since it allows the dash cam to “lock” that footage from being overwritten as you continue driving. If your dash cam is wired directly to your car (rather than plugged into the cigarette lighter), it may also have the ability to record collisions that happen while you’re parked, which is a nice perk.

Since I live in a hot climate and don’t need a ton of extra features, I settled on the Blackvue DR900x, which contains a capacitor and comes with a front and rear camera. Other popular options include the Vantrue N4, for a battery and preview screen, or the Garmin Mini for those on a strict budget. Just be sure to read the user reviews before you buy—that’s how I learned to avoid battery-powered models in hot weather. If the dash cam you pick doesn’t come with an SD card—or the one it comes with is small—you may want to grab a 64GB model like this one from SanDisk.

How to install a dash cam

Before you install your dash cam, do a bit of research on windshield mounting laws in your state. Certain regions may require you to place objects in the lower corners or upper middle of the windshield, so as not to obscure your view of the road. Make sure you know what’s allowed before you mount your dash cam with strong adhesive. You may also want to look up any laws about recording audio without the consent of others riding in the car, though you can always turn audio recording off if you prefer.

Second, while this is a pretty simple process, it’s still a DIY project involving your car, so the usual caveats apply: If you aren’t comfortable or willing to do a bit of extra research on your specific model to make sure it’s installed properly, there’s no shame in consulting a professional.

Once you’ve got your mounting location picked—I used the spot behind my rearview mirror since I don’t have a screen on my dash cam—clean the spot thoroughly with some rubbing alcohol, then remove the adhesive or attach the suction cup and place it on your windshield. Then, plug the dash cam into your car’s cigarette lighter and make sure it turns on. I’d even take a quick drive around the block to make sure it records footage properly and that the quality of that footage is up to your standards. If you don’t have a screen on your dash cam, doing so can also help you find the right angle to get the best coverage of the road in front of you.

Once you’ve tested the dash cam and are satisfied with its performance, it’s time to hide all those unsightly wires dangling about in your car. While you could just use clips or tape to secure them somewhere, you can actually hide them under your car’s trim for a much cleaner look. It just requires prying the trim back and pushing the wires underneath.

For best results, you’ll want a trim tool kit, though I had a plastic pry tool from an electronics repair kit that worked decently well. Start by giving yourself a little extra slack where the cable plugs into the dash cam, and pry the headliner at the top of your windshield away from the glass. Shove part of the cable underneath, and continue this process along the trim. This can be pretty tough at first, depending on your car, but you’ll get the hang of it as you go. Don’t be afraid to start over if you need to—it’s worth it for a clean look in the end.

Once you get to the door, continue the process by hiding the wire under the A-pillar, between the plastic trim and the windshield. Many people run the wire across the A-pillar and down the weather stripping by the door, but this crosses over the side airbag on many cars, so there’s debate as to whether it’s safe—so I prefer to run my wire along the windshield, behind the airbag, instead.

Then, once you reach the dashboard, you can double back and route the cable under the weather stripping. This whole step may vary a bit from car to car, and in some cases you may need to remove the A-pillar altogether, which may require a look at your manual, some YouTube searching for your car, or even some professional help. I opted to just leave a bit of cable visible above the one part I couldn’t tuck under, though it still ended up looking clean enough for my taste.

Pushing it into the rubber weather stripping is easy, and you can keep going until you get to the AC socket on the dashboard. This is in a different spot on every car, but on my wife’s Prius, it was right under the glove compartment.

Repeat the process for the rear camera, if you have one. Since the cable for my front camera ran above the passenger side of the car, I ran the rear camera in front of the driver’s side, down the A-pillar to the floor, then all the way to the back seat and up into the trunk. Again, I avoided running it along the top of the car to avoid putting the cable in front of any side airbags. Since my Prius is a hatchback, I had to leave a bit of slack out in the open for the trunk to open properly, but this won’t be necessary on normal sedans.

My dash cam also came with a few adhesive clips that I was able to use to hide the last bit of wire behind the rearview mirror before going up to the headliner. The end result was a super-clean look, with the dash cam and its wires barely visible from the car’s four seats.

The post Choose and install the right dash cam for your car appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Popular Science stories often link directly to scientific studies. You can get all the information you need from the articles themselves, and even more from these links, but if you get the urge to investigate further—perhaps to see the data for yourself—you’ll want to read the study firsthand. Unfortunately, many academic papers are hidden behind expensive paywalls.

There’s a lot to say about the academic research industry, but many believe scientific studies should be freely available to the public. Even if you find a paper that’s hidden behind a paid subscription, there are ways to get it for free—and we’re not talking about piracy. Often, the study you’re looking for may be freely, legally available elsewhere, if you know how to find it.

Google (Scholar) it

Don’t get discouraged just because one database says you need to pay for a specific study. Search for the title of the study (or a portion of the title with an author’s last name) on Google Scholar, the Google-powered search engine for academic literature. If you’re lucky, you’ll see a result with an [html] or [pdf] link on the right-hand side of the page, which should link you to the full text of the study.

If for some reason the right sidebar link doesn’t work, you can also click the “All 11 versions” link at the bottom of each result block to see more sites that offer the paper. You could also try searching regular ol’ Google for the paper’s title, perhaps with the filetype:PDF operator as part of your search terms. This may help you find it on sites that aren’t crawled by Google Scholar.

Use browser extensions to your advantage

If you’re a journalist, student, or science nerd who finds yourself regularly hunting for full-text articles, you can streamline the process a bit with a browser extension called Unpaywall. It works with Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox, and displays a small padlock icon on the right side of your browser window whenever you visit a page dedicated to a scholarly article. If there’s a paywall and the padlock is green, that means Unpaywall found a free version somewhere on the web, and you can click the icon to visit it immediately. In my experience, this doesn’t find much more beyond a Google Scholar search, but it’s a lot easier than performing manual searches all the time. Heck, even if a site isn’t paywalled, Unpaywall’s green icon is still easier than hunting for the “Download PDF” button on a given page.

A tool called Open Access Button does something similar. It’s browser-agnostic and has been around for a bit longer, so try both tools and see which you like better. I think Unpaywall feels a bit smoother, but Open Access Button’s maturity may help you find things Unpaywall doesn’t know about yet.

Check your local library

Many public libraries subscribe to academic databases and share those subscriptions with their constituents. You may have to head to the library’s physical location to get a library card, if you don’t have one already, but those are usually free or cheap. And from then on, you should be able to access a lot of your library’s resources right from your computer at home, including scholarly journals (not to mention other paywalled magazines like Consumer Reports). If your library doesn’t have access to the publication you’re looking for, they may even be able to get it through an inter-library loan. If you ever feel lost, don’t hesitate to ask a librarian—they probably know the process like the back of their hand, and will do their best to help you find what you’re looking for.

If you’re a student, your school or university likely has access to more databases than you can shake a stick at (not to mention hordes of physical journals you can hunt through). If you aren’t a student but have a college nearby, ask them if they offer fee-based library cards—you may be able to pay for in-house access to their vast resources.

Email the study’s author

Finally, if you can’t find a paper anywhere online, you might be able to get it directly from one of the people who wrote it. The money earned by those paywalls doesn’t go to the researchers—it goes to the publisher, so authors are often happy to give you a copy of their paper for free (provided they’re allowed to do so).

Finding their current email address is the hard part. Papers will often contain an email address you can contact for questions, but if this becomes out of date, you’ll have to do a little hunting. Find the university or organization the researcher currently works for, not the one they worked for when the study was first published. A little Googling can usually point you in the right direction, but sites like ResearchGate and LinkedIn can also help. Some researchers have a personal website that may be up to date, as well, and in some cases, may even have their previous work available to download. But if not, shoot them a message, ask politely if they’d be willing to send you a copy, and thank them for their hard work.

The post How to get past paywalls and read scientific studies appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

If looking at a grid of icons on your phone has started to become boring, you don’t have to stay married to it. There are plenty of Android home screen launchers that go beyond the 5-by-5 grid and will completely change how you use your phone.

I’m not talking about the typical, well-known ones like Nova Launcher, either (though I do love Nova Launcher). While lots of home screen launcher apps aim to amplify Android’s typical layout, others seek to use an entirely different paradigm. Some look awesome, some offer denser information up front, and others are simple and minimal, so you aren’t constantly distracted by your phone. Check these out:

Launcher 10: Windows Phone-Style tiles on Android

Remember Windows Phone—the operating system so few people used it became a bit of a punchline? It actually had a lot of cool stuff going for it, and while it’s officially dead now (RIP), you can get a similar home screen experience on Android with Launcher 10. And don’t worry—it doesn’t come with Internet Explorer.

The app replaces the small icons with large, squared-off tiles that you can arrange however you like, customizing the size, color, transparency, and “live” information that appears on each.

It’s a good alternative to Android’s traditional display, since it’ll preview your latest email or text message right on the home screen, or make your most-used app icons bigger so they’re easier to tap. It’s free to download, but you’ll need to pony up $7 for Live Tiles functionality.

If you like the idea of a Windows-style home screen, but Launcher 10 isn’t doing it for you, you might try Launcher 8. It’s been around much longer and is more customizable, but it has lately had some annoying bugs that seem to have affected a lot of users (including myself).

Square Home 3 is also popular, albeit slightly less Windows-like.

AIO Launcher: information-dense, graphics-light

If you don’t like the icon-heavy look of traditional home screens, AIO Launcher takes a different approach, showing you tons of information on one scrollable page.

You’ll see one block with your most-recently used apps, one with recent calls and texts, one with CPU and RAM usage, and others with your email, calendar, and even stock prices. It’s useful, but text-heavy, which means it can be a bit harder to see everything at a glance.

But that also means it won’t be quite as enticing, allowing you to cut back on screen time more easily.

AIO is free to download and use, but the full version offers themes, icon customization, multiple widgets, and a whole bunch of other features for $3.

If you want something even more minimal, ap15 is an alternative that eschews icons for a “word cloud” of apps on your home screen.

Niagra Launcher: simple, minimal, and one-handed

Imagine if your home screen were gone entirely, replaced with an alphabetical app drawer you could navigate with one hand. That’s Niagra.

You can select a few of your apps as “favorites” that show up at the top, but to access any others, just tap the right side of the screen and drag down to scroll through your list of apps. (You can search, too, but in my experience, scrolling through the alphabet works just as fast, if not faster.)

Apart from a cool waterfall effect and a few color customizations in the settings, Niagra is visually minimal: what you see is what you get, and it does its job gracefully.

The real advantage to this approach is that you can use the entire home screen one-handed, without having to stretch across today’s giant screens to access different apps or features.

I’ve also found it reduces my desire to check my phone, since my non-productive apps are just a few taps further away.

If you aren’t a fan of Niagra’s layout—or you have so many apps that search becomes more useful than scrolling—you might prefer KISS Launcher, which has a similar minimal feel but focuses more on searching through your apps, contacts, and the web via one unified bar.

Kustom Live Wallpaper (KLWP): build your own home screen from scratch

If none of the above launchers appeal to you but you still want something truly unique, you might be a prime candidate for Kustom Live Wallpaper, also known as KLWP in the Play Store. KLWP isn’t actually a launcher—it’s a live wallpaper you can put under any other launcher, such as Nova. But instead of acting as a mere animated background, KLWP lets you create a home screen from the ground up with widget-like blocks of data, cool animations, and—if you’re a particularly savvy user—a programming language that’ll let you create just about anything.

KLWP isn’t for the faint of heart, but if other launchers aren’t suiting your needs, it’ll let you make something uniquely yours. And if you’re worried about battery life, fear not—many users find it to be quite battery-friendly, as long as you don’t tinker with it too often.

If KLWP is too intense and the learning curve too steep, Lightning Launcher is a slightly simpler (but still very customizable) alternative.

The post 4 Android home screens that will completely change the look of your phone appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

We all love free stuff. I mean, have you seen the line at Ben & Jerry’s on Free Cone Day? You’d think they were giving away Ferraris.

But sadly, not all things come at so low a price. There’s a lot of great free software out there, but some of the best tools cost money—whether it’s a $4 app like Dark Sky or a $120-per-year subscription like Photoshop. If you’re strapped for cash, there might be a way to lower the cost of that program you’ve been eyeing.

Track giveaways, sales, and bundles on deal sites

A lot of companies give away their products—or put them on sale—from time to time to stoke interest. This happens more with smaller programs that need exposure (you probably won’t see a Final Cut Pro giveaway anytime soon), but it’s still a great way to save a few bucks.

Sometimes, you can plan in advance—Digiarty gives away their premium DVD ripping software every year around the holidays, and Black Friday is always a good time to nab discounted licenses for popular programs. Other times, deals may come out of nowhere—like the Spotify-with-free-Hulu bundle from a few months ago—and disappear just as quickly. Some sites are dedicated to providing bundles of apps at a heavily discounted price, like MacHeist and Humble Bundle.

It can be difficult to keep an eye on all these sites at once, so aggregators like Giveaway Radar aim to collect deals in one place. But that’s still a whole lot of information to parse at once, so I recommend picking the programs you really want and setting up alerts on a site like Slickdeals.net (for desktop software and subscriptions) or AppShopper (for mobile apps). That way, when something goes on sale, you’ll know about it right away.

Get a referral link from a friend or forum

Many programs and services may offer discounts if you get a referral from a friend—like a longer free trial, or a discounted rate for your first year. Trello, for example, offers a month of its premium service for each friend you refer. Dropbox offers extra cloud storage space for each person you invite (I’ve had 20GB of free space for almost a decade). Evernote uses a points system that you can use to pay for premium features. Referral programs are more common with subscription services than one-time-purchase apps, but it never hurts to check.

Companies don’t always advertise their referral program heavily on the front page, though, which means you might need to ask around to find out if one even exists. Check forums like Reddit, Slickdeals, and others to see if current users are willing to offer you a code—they probably will, since they usually get some benefit, too.

Use your education discount (if you’re a student or teacher)

You probably know this is a good way to get a decent discount on computers, cell phone plans, or even Amazon Prime. But you’ll arguably find the deepest education discounts on software like Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, and—yes—Adobe products like Photoshop. However, you may have to actually walk down to your student union for the best prices.

For example, Adobe offers 60 percent off its Creative Cloud membership for students, but that’s still pretty expensive ($20 a month—and it goes up after the first year). Some schools, however, have worked out a deal with Adobe where a membership is far cheaper, or even free. (I’m still using the discounted version of Photoshop CS5 I got 10 years ago.) So ask at the university’s computer store, or email someone in the IT department, and see what they offer. Microsoft offers Office for free to students directly, as long as you have a valid .edu email address—not to mention upgraded versions of Windows 10, depending on your school. You may find similar discounts for military members as well.

Find the secret “free” URL

Some companies offer a free version of their software, but make it incredibly difficult to find on their site—probably so you’ll second-guess yourself and pay for the full thing. I once spent 20 minutes clicking around Genymotion’s site looking for the free version of their Android emulator. I remember Bitdefender being similarly difficult back in the day (though they advertise their free version more prominently now). And tax preparing companies like TurboTax are notorious for hiding the truly free version of their software—you can only access it if you know the secret link, or find it on the Internal Revenue Service’s website. (It’s only for certain income levels, though, and you may be better off with one of the IRS’ other free software recommendations.)

So if you know you’ve heard about a free version of some program but can’t seem to find it, ask around—read articles about the topic, post in a relevant subreddit, and see if anyone knows where to find that hidden web page. That free software may be hiding in plain sight.

Email the developer

Sometimes, all you need to do is ask. I’m not saying you should email every software company asking for free stuff—that’s a pretty annoying tactic, and it’s not likely to get you very far with most companies. Some may direct you to a sale you didn’t know about, or offer you a short-term deal—but I wouldn’t bank too hard on it.

In some cases, though, your circumstances may set you apart. Maybe you own an older version of the software and need a new activation key. In that case, a developer might offer you a discount on the latest version, or a new key with a proof of your original purchase. (Sega, for example, now offers Steam keys to owners of the boxed copy of Dawn of War for PC as long as you can send a photo of those old discs.) If you have a previous relationship with the developer as a paying customer, there’s a good chance they’ll do their best to help you out.

When all else fails, find a free alternative—or spend the cash

If you just can’t find a discount on the software you want, you might be out of luck. If you haven’t already, make sure to try the free or cheap alternatives—like GIMP or Pixelmator instead of Photoshop. (Check out our favorite open-source alternatives to Office for more recommendations.) And if they don’t work, you may just have to pony up the dough—trust me, some of those programs are worth paying for.

Just be careful as you go through this process. Some deals are totally legitimate, while others are straight-up piracy—and even more exist in a weird grey area. Sites that sell heavily discounted game and software keys, for example, might be selling stolen keys that could get revoked at any time. So be sure to do your research before you press that “buy” button.

The post Download paid software for free or cheap appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Most of us only have one phone number, and we probably don’t want to share that one number with everyone. A disposable second number is awfully useful for one-time Craigslist conversations, or the early stages of online dating. Or perhaps you’re starting your own business and need a separate work number. If you want a way to separate your calls without shelling out an extra $30 a month for a second line, there are a few apps and services that can give you an additional number on the cheap.

Churn through temporary numbers with Burner

When you don’t want to risk spam and harassment on your real phone number, disposable numbers can be a godsend. Assign yourself a random phone number, give it out to people for one-time use, then delete it and grab another number whenever you feel the need. Burner is an app available for iOS and Android that allows you to pick a number from any area code you desire, and whenever someone calls it, Burner will forward them to your phone. You can even install extensions that block robocalls, save voicemails to Dropbox, or make your own text-message auto-reply bots, making it pretty powerful.

All this does come at a small cost, though it’s much lower than paying for another line with your carrier. Burner offers a 7-day free trial, after which you’ll need to pay $4.99 per month for one line, or $14.99 per month for three lines (with small discounts for paying a year’s subscription up front). With those plans you get unlimited calls and texts, plus the ability to swap your number out once per month, which should be enough to keep annoying people off your tail. If you prefer not to pay monthly, you can buy credits and get prepaid minutes as well.

Burner is far from the only app of its kind, and if you prefer something a bit more privacy-focused, Hushed offers a similar service for $3.99 a month. It doesn’t have as many features as Burner, but it does offer encrypted messages you can set to self-destruct, if that’s more your style.

Create a forwarding number with Google Voice

For a more permanent secondary number you can use with your existing phone, Google Voice is your best bet. This free service has been around for over 10 years now, and while it’s only received a few incremental improvements since then, it still gives you a lot of bang for your buck.

To sign up, head to voice.google.com and choose “For Personal Use” for the free tier. You’ll be able to pick a phone number, attach it to your Google Account, and forward calls and texts from that number to your existing phone(s)—even an old flip phone. You can also use the official Google Voice app for iOS or Android to make calls and texts from that number. With Google Voice, you get a bunch of extra features too, like cheap international calls, call screening, call recording, and advanced rules that decide which phone should ring at which time of day. You can even port your existing number to Google Voice and get a new number for your carrier’s line, if you’d rather have those fancy features on your current number.

Google Voice offers a version of its services with G-Suite for businesses as well, with extra features starting at $10 a month. If you aren’t a fan of Google, Line2 is a similar business-focused alternative with its own set of advanced features for $10 a month.

Get another line for cheap with FreedomPop

If you want to use two phones rather than merely two numbers, you’ll actually need another line with its own SIM card. You could obviously pay for a second line with your existing carrier, but if you’re trying to keep costs down, check out FreedomPop. It’s an AT&T-based cell phone carrier with a free service tier (well, technically it’ll cost you a few bucks to get started, but there are no monthly fees). You’ll get 200 minutes of talk, 500 texts, and 200MB of data per month—with some caveats.

The voice calling is technically VoIP (voice-over-internet protocol), which means it uses data to make calls—like Skype and other apps do. That means you’ll have to use FreedomPop’s app for calls and texts, rather than the built-in apps on your phone. Those calls don’t count toward your 200MB of data, but they do use up your allotted minutes and texts. You can also use Google Voice in tandem with FreedomPop to make free calls over Wi-Fi, if you don’t like the FreedomPop app.

When you first sign up for FreedomPop, you’ll pay 1 cent for an LTE SIM card they send you in the mail. Pop that into your phone, and configure your phone’s APN settings using these instructions from FreedomPop. Here’s the tricky part: your account will be, by default, signed up for two 30-day trials for different portions of FreedomPop’s premium service: one for your main plan, and one for some premium add-on services they offer. Once those trials are up, they’ll charge you—so when you receive your SIM card (not beforehand), you’ll want to log into your account and downgrade these trials to the actual free plan. This requires having a small account balance, so the process works like this:

1. From your account overview, click the “Billing” tab in the navigation bar along the top and add $10 (the minimum) worth of credit to your plan. This is that “few bucks” I mentioned earlier, but it’s an upfront cost you should only have to pay once and a requirement for downgrading your plan to the free tier.
2. Once that’s done, click the “Plan” tab in the navigation bar, click on the grey box detailing your trial plan, and then on “To downgrade, click here.”
3. Finally, click the “Services” tab in the navigation bar, and repeat this process—click the grey box, then click the link on the bottom of the page labeled “To deactivate, click here.” This will remove some of the premium add-on features FreedomPop sells alongside its plans, so they won’t charge you when the trial is over.

Note that FreedomPop will automatically charge you if you go over your allotted minutes or data, so it may be prudent to enable a data limit in your phone’s settings. On Android, this is under Settings > Network & Internet > Data Usage > Data Warning & Limit. On the iPhone, you can set a limit from Settings > General > Restrictions.

It’s a bit tricky, but that’s the price you pay for free. You can read more about this process, and how to get the most out of FreedomPop, in this thorough and frequently updated guide. It may seem overwhelming, but don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it looks—I’ve used FreedomPop on my testing phone for months, and with minimal attention to my account, I’ve never incurred any charges. Sure, it’s a bit more work than a typical line, but for the price, you (literally) can’t beat it.

The post Get a second phone number without buying a whole new line appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Despite being the central hub for most of our work, email can be a real productivity killer. Everyone is vying for your attention at all hours of the day, and that little unread icon taunts you until you give in and re-open your inbox to see what’s happening. This, of course, interrupts the flow of your actual job.

I’m a slave to the notification icon as much as anyone. In an ideal world, I’d learn to keep pushing forward and deal with email when I actually have time between other tasks. But that’s not as easy as it sounds. So instead of changing my own behavior, I’ve forced my inbox to do things my way so I spend less time emailing and more time working. Gmail has been a great ally in this, and the platform’s steady stream of new features has given me ever-increasing power to bend my inbox to my will.

Snooze unimportant emails for later

Despite the advice of productivity experts, my inbox doubles as a to-do list. (Hey, I’m not the only one.) It just works for me: unread emails act as a constant reminder that something requires action, and since I check my email regularly, I never forget about those tasks. One unread email reminds me that I need to reply to a client when they have questions, and another reminds me that I need to go get my car’s oil changed. I’ll even email myself to remind myself of certain to-dos.

Not all of these tasks require an immediate response, though, and having them sit unread in my inbox nags at me. Plus, they make it harder to see the urgent stuff that’s mixed in. For that, Gmail’s Snooze button has become my new best friend: just hover over the message in question and click the little clock icon that appears to the right. Snoozing banishes a message from your inbox until a time you specify—say, tomorrow morning when you have free time to schedule an appointment with the mechanic—so you can keep things clean and anxiety-free.

Schedule emails to send at the most opportune time

Dealing with email as it comes in is rarely a productive use of your time. It’s better to batch a few email sessions—say, once every couple of hours—and knock everything out in a single chunk. That way, you aren’t constantly interrupting your momentum with an unrelated task.

The problem is, it’s hard to time those inbox sessions perfectly for every email. Maybe it’s Friday afternoon, and I’d rather send a message Tuesday morning when it won’t get buried over the weekend. Or maybe an email isn’t relevant until next week, but I want to get it all down while it’s on my mind. Gmail’s Schedule button lets you write the email when you want and schedule it to send later—so it arrives precisely when you mean it to.

Stop wasting your time on typing

It may seem silly to say that “writing email is a waste of time,” but in the age of automation, it’s true. Gmail has a number of features that can help you draft messages more quickly, so you can get back to doing actual work.

Templates have been around for ages, though they used to be known as “canned responses.” These allow you to save certain blocks of text that you use often and insert them into any email with a few clicks. For example, you could use them to enter your address, or ship off a form response to a question you get asked every day.

You can create a template by opening a new message, typing the text you want to save, clicking the three dots on the right of the Compose bar, selecting Templates, and then saving that draft as a template. Then, when crafting a reply to an email, you can go to that same menu to insert text from any template. (Advanced users may prefer system-wide software like PhraseExpress, which lets you type those templates even faster with a keyboard shortcut.)

Smart Compose is a new-ish feature that you probably already know about because it’s enabled by default: it predicts what it thinks you’re about to type and shows the rest of the sentence in grey text. You can press Tab to complete the prediction, and keep on typing. If you disabled this feature when it first came out—I get it, it’s distracting—you should give it another shot. Once you get used to it, it’s amazing how quickly you can breeze through some messages.

Finally, Gmail recently started allowing multiple signatures, so you can switch between different sign-offs based on who you’re emailing. It’s rolling out slowly, but you can click the gear and head to Settings > Signature to see if you have it. Once you create multiple signatures, just click the pen icon in a Compose window to switch between them.

Mute distracting email threads

I have friends and family that like to start long, multi-person email threads sharing silly jokes, political debates, or other time-wasting nonsense. Unfortunately, there’s no way to leave a thread completely without nagging someone to move you to BCC. But Gmail offers the next-best thing: the Mute feature, which prevents the thread from showing up in your inbox when new messages arrive.

To mute a thread in Gmail, right-click on it and choose Mute—that’s it. Further messages will still be marked as unread, but they’ll skip the inbox altogether and enter the bowels of your All Mail tab, never to be seen unless you search for them. (That way, you can catch up on those threads later, if you want—and you can even unmute them if they become relevant.)

Pause your inbox to stop the barrage of notifications

When muting a thread isn’t enough, it’s time to mute your entire inbox.

You could just close your email tab, but chances are you actually need access to some of your old messages for your work. In that case, you need a Gmail add-on called Inbox Pause. We mentioned Inbox Pause in our list of the best Gmail add-ons—check that story out when you’re done here—but it works like this: install the Boomerang extension and you’ll see a big Pause button on Gmail’s left sidebar. Click it whenever you need to stop incoming messages. You can still let certain senders through, though, if you’re expecting something urgent.

If you’d rather not install a third-party extension for this job, there are some other workarounds that may help. You can use Gmail offline, for example—just head to Settings > Offline and check the Enable box—which will let you view your email even when you’re completely disconnected from the web. (Of course, this only works if you don’t need the rest of the internet for your work).

You could also use a third-party email client like Thunderbird or Apple Mail. Even if you don’t want to use a desktop client all the time, you can add your Gmail account, then open the client and put it in offline mode whenever you want some peace. That way, you can keep using the web while your email stays frozen in an offline state. Just head to Gmail’s Settings > Forwarding > POP/IMAP to enable IMAP access—that’s what allows those desktop programs to access your email. Then you can go ahead and log into your email app of choice.

The post Five Gmail features to get you out of your inbox and back to work appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

The promise of smart home tech is based on convenience. Why get off the couch when you can automate your lights, TV, and other gadgets, or even turn them on with your voice? Smart thermostats go a step further, claiming they’re not only convenient, but that they’ll actually save you money in the long run. This may be true, but they aren’t magic bullets: to save money, you have to actually use them properly.

Companies like Nest claim you can save you up to 15% on cooling, and ecobee bets for an even higher 23%. But these savings highly depend on factors such as the size of your house, the type of insulating materials it was built with, your particular usage, and the kind of thermostat you’re replacing. Ecobee’s estimate comes from comparing smart thermostats to a straight temperature hold, while Nest’s values are based off people who did at least some programming to their thermostats. (You can read Nest’s white paper on smart thermostat studies here.)

There’s a bit of debate on the internet as to whether these devices can actually save enough energy to make a difference in your bills, particularly when compared with programmable models. Some users report noticeable savings, while others claim smart thermostats are just fancy versions of already-available programmable models. As is often the case, the truth lies somewhere in between.

Here’s the thing: programmable thermostats are a bit of a pain to use, and they only work if your schedule is extremely predictable and you stay on top of them regularly. If you’re the kind of person who sets your schedule, sticks to it, and remembers to manually adjust your thermostat every time you deviate from that schedule, then you probably won’t save much money with a smart thermostat. (You might save some time and brain power, though.) If you’ve sort of programmed your thermostat, but find it frustrating enough that you rarely futz with it, smart thermostats like the Nest, ecobee, or Honeywell T9 have a few automation features that may save you some dough.

Let it know whether you’re home or not

Most smart thermostats can detect when you’re home, so it can turn down the climate control and save energy when you’re away. Every thermostat has its own name for it, but they’re all very similar: the Nest calls it “Home/Away Assist,” while ecobee calls it “Smart Home/Away.” Typically, this setting uses a combination of the thermostat’s internal motion sensor with the GPS in your phone to detect whether you’re inside a certain perimeter—or, in other words, whether you’re home or not. For it to work properly, however, you’ll definitely want to link it to your phone and the phone of everyone living with you—otherwise, the thermostat may think that no one’s home when only you’re away.

This becomes more useful the more irregular your schedule is. For example, my wife stays home with our two young kids, so we can’t just program the thermostat to be off from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.. But we can program it to turn off whenever she takes the kids out for the day, solely by virtue of whether her phone has left the premises. If you come and go at random times, that’s far more useful than a programmable thermostat. Heck, even if only your weekends are unpredictable, it’s a useful feature that can add up savings over time.

Use separate temperature sensors

Most homes don’t have a consistent temperature throughout the structure. Our living room is always cooler than the office and bedrooms, which can be frustrating, since we need to account for those rooms when setting the temperature. Some thermostats, including the ecobee and Honeywell T9, support separate temperature sensors you can place around the house (the ecobee SmartThermostat comes bundled with one extra sensor, but you can buy more if you need them).

Since they also have occupancy sensors built in, they can determine whether someone is in a given room and adjust the temperature accordingly. So instead of cooling our whole house to make the hottest rooms livable at all times, the thermostat can just cool things down a little extra when I’m in the office, or when my son wants to play in his bedroom. And when we’re all in the living room, it won’t waste its energy cooling down those areas.

You can also use these sensors to heat and cool rooms on a schedule, meaning you can instruct your thermostat to cool the living room to 75 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, and the bedroom to 75 degrees Fahrenheit in the evening. However, the occupancy sensor is the more useful “smart” feature here, which is why I find Nest’s temperature sensors a bit too limited. Still, it’s better than a traditional programmable thermostat, so I’d recommend grabbing a couple temperature sensors for the rooms you often use if you have a larger home.

Create your own custom automation rules

You’ll find some useful automation features within the Nest, ecobee, and Honeywell apps, but they aren’t the only ones you’ll get with a smart thermostat. Using a service like IFTTT, you can create easy “if this, then that” rules that incorporate all kinds of other apps and services. For example, if your family tends to open the windows without regard for the thermostat (because they’re monsters), you can stick a few sensors on the windows, and with the help of a smart home hub like Samsung SmartThings, set IFTTT to shut your thermostat off whenever the windows are open. That way, you won’t end up accidentally cooling the whole neighborhood. (Talking from experience here.) If you have a security system that already works with IFTTT, you may not even need to buy new equipment to make this work.

You can see how this can get really powerful. If you have ceiling fans hooked up to a smart switch, you can set them to turn on at a certain temperature threshold, potentially saving you from turning the air conditioning on too early. A couple energy companies even work with IFTTT, allowing you to automatically adjust your thermostat during peak usage times when prices go up.

Monitor your energy usage over time

Smart thermostats can easily track your usage over time, providing detailed reports about your energy consumption, graphs of the temperature in your house compared to the outside weather, and so on. It’s easy to ignore these at first, but many users report the best energy savings by merely paying attention to these insights—you might realize that you’ve been running the air conditioning when it was only a couple degrees warmer outside, or that your home/away setting wasn’t working properly. Check in on these every month and you’ll get some recommendations on how you can save a couple more bucks.

Enroll in energy-saving programs

The above features are somewhat dependent on your schedule and your house. Some people may see minimal savings from using them while others may find they make a sizable difference. But no matter what your usage looks like, a smart thermostat might allow you to take advantage of energy-saving programs in your city that offer bill credits.

For example, San Diego Gas & Electric has a program that allows the company to remotely adjust your thermostat during times of particularly high air conditioning usage across the city. If you allow your house to be a bit hotter for a couple hours, you’ll save money and help the city out. If you decide you just can’t deal with it on a given day, you can just re-adjust the thermostat manually yourself. Here’s the kicker: you’ll still receive $50 cash back for each eligible smart thermostat you enroll, and another $25 if you stay enrolled until the program ends. (SDG&E says it has 20,085 customers taking part and has reduced energy consumption by 10 megawatts in a single day this year.) Obviously, the programs in your city will vary, but it’s worth checking the website for your local utility provider to see what they have available.

Don’t forget to take advantage of rebates

Finally, many energy companies offer rebates on smart thermostats to encourage their customers to use them (and save energy). Here in San Diego, that rebate is currently $75. That means ecobee’s more budget-focused ecobee3 Lite, which lists for $170 on Amazon, is really closer to $95 with a rebate—and if I enroll in SDG&E’s Air Conditioning Saver program, it goes down even further to $45. That’s a much more enticing price tag for the convenience alone, not to mention any savings I might get from the automation features.

At the end of the day, how much you save will depend entirely on your home, the type of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system you have, as well as your habits before getting a smart thermostat. And depending on how your cooling system is set up, you may need a professional to run a common wire so it can receive power (the Nest claims it doesn’t need one, but you should run one anyway). This labor could increase your initial costs, so you’ll need to do a little math to see whether it’s worth it for you or not.

Getting a smart thermostat isn’t guaranteed to save you money, but if you use it properly, you’ve got a pretty good shot at saving a few bucks—and it’s a heck of a lot easier to use either way. Just make sure you actually take advantage of its automation, rather than just using it as an expensive programmable thermostat.

The post How to configure your smart thermostat to save the most money appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

You’re feeling proud of yourself: you finally did the responsible thing and brought home a load of fruits and vegetables. But when you go to harvest the bounty in your fridge, it’s a slimy, wilted, brown mess.

If you’re tired of your produce going bad after a few days, here are a few tips to keep it fresh.

Shop smart

Keeping produce fresh starts with, well, buying fresh produce in the first place. The fresher it is when you grab it off the shelf, the longer it’ll last once you take it home.

“Often, it’s difficult to judge how old your produce is just by its appearance,” says Jeffrey K. Brecht, Ph.D., a postharvest physiologist at the University of Florida. “So, a big factor in how long it lasts in the refrigerator has to do with how long it has been since it was harvested, and how it was treated during that time.”

You might think local produce is your best bet, but don’t rush to the farmers market just yet.

“Produce at farmers markets are closer to the farm in terms of distance and time from harvest, but farmers market produce is not usually handled with proper temperature management, so it can be less fresh than chain grocery store produce,” Brecht says. “Was it refrigerated after harvest and kept in a cooler? Displayed in the shade? Is it in plastic bags? Those practices help prevent loss of freshness.”

So before you grab the first head of cabbage you see, ask the vendor how the products were stored and handled. Once you find a vendor you trust, stick with them.

Finally, planning your meals ahead of time—and shopping accordingly—can ensure you eat food when it’s at its peak. I highly recommend using an app like Paprika to plan out your week, scheduling meals with fresher ingredients for soon after you go grocery shopping. That way, those ingredients get used first.

RELATED: Healthy food prescriptions could save billions in healthcare costs

If you’re the type of person who goes to the grocery store twice a week (as many people do), you can alternatively grab a second batch of fresh ingredients then. Whatever your preference, planning ahead is key.

Set your fridge’s temperature and humidity properly

Refrigeration is a magical thing, which is probably why humans have relied on it, in one form or another, for centuries. But if you come home from the grocery store and toss your food on any ol’ shelf without a second thought, you might be unintentionally shortening its usable lifespan.

The USDA says your refrigerator needs to be set below 40 degrees Fahrenheit to avoid foodborne illness, but Brecht recommends going a little lower for optimal freshness.

“Set the temperature in your refrigerator to about 36 degrees Fahrenheit—basically as low as you can without freezing the lettuce (which freezes at just below 32 degrees Fahrenheit),” he says. “The temperature fluctuates both above and below the set point, so you want it to be as low as possible without fluctuating below 32 degrees on the down cycle.”

If your fridge doesn’t have a built-in thermometer, consider buying an appliance thermometer to make sure the fridge is adhering to your desired temperature—not just in one spot, but throughout the whole thing, since the temperature can vary between compartments.

“Second, to reduce wilting and shriveling, use the crisper drawers,” Brecht says.

If you have multiple drawers, they may be intended for different types of food or have humidity sliders you can set. In general, you want one drawer set to high humidity and one set to low, with wilt-prone vegetables in the high-humidity drawer, and rot-prone produce such as apples and zucchini in low humidity.

Finally, some produce shouldn’t be stored in the fridge at all. Tomatoes, bananas, basil, mango, papaya, and other tropical fruits will lose quality when stored below room temperature, so leave those out on the counter for optimal freshness. Once you peel and slice them, though, they should go in the fridge for safety reasons.

When it comes to your freezer, zero degrees Fahrenheit will keep your food safe to eat almost indefinitely. Not all produce freezes well, though, so check out this good-but-not-exhaustive list of foods that will lose quality at freezing temperatures.

RELATED: Find the real breakfast of champions with this helpful chart

Storage is key

“I think more produce in home refrigerators reaches the limit of its acceptable quality due to water loss than anything else,” Brecht says.

So if your lettuce won’t stop wilting, your goal should be to keep its moisture level high. Leave your produce in the plastic bags they provide at the grocery store before placing it in the drawer, so moisture doesn’t escape. You can also place a moistened paper towel in the produce drawer to increase its relative humidity, Brecht says.

In addition, you’ll want to store certain produce closer (or farther away) from other fruits and vegetables to avoid over-ripening.

“As some fruits ripen, they produce ethylene, a gas that promotes both the ripening of those fruits plus aging of other fruits and vegetables,” Brecht says.

That includes apples, pears, avocados, bananas, kiwifruit, peaches, plums, and other ethylene-sensitive fruits, so you’ll want to keep those away from other produce to avoid damage. You can, however, use this to your advantage.

“You can use the ethylene produced by ripening fruits like apples, avocados or bananas to speed up the ripening of other ethylene-producing fruits by putting them together in a loosely closed bag or in a fruit ripening bowl,” Brecht says.

It can feel a bit like a logic puzzle getting all your fruits and vegetables in their optimal storage spots, but you’ll get the hang of it. At the end of the day, planning your meals and shopping with a purpose is the best thing you can do. The more work you can do up front, the less often you’ll be disappointed by another head of wilted lettuce.

The post How to keep produce fresh as long as possible appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

No internet connection. It’s amazing how one little grey icon can make you feel cut off from the world. Whether you’re on a road trip with no Wi-Fi access or your office’s internet has gone down for the day, here’s how you can keep getting things done offline.

Use offline services to keep working

When greeted with that dreaded “Unable to Connect” message, you may be tempted to play Google’s Dinosaur Game for the rest of the day. But you can do better. Plenty of online services allow offline access, including Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar. You won’t be able to download new messages or sync new files, obviously, but you’ll be able to see whatever was there the last time your computer was online.

You may, however, be unable to allow offline access while you’re disconnected, so it’s important to plan ahead by checking your settings when you have internet. The last time I lost connection, for example, I found out I’d flipped this switch long ago and was able to continue plowing through work with ease.

Desktop apps almost always allow offline access too, so if you need to read your email in Microsoft Outlook or reference notes in Evernote, you’ll be able to open them up and keep on working. They’ll sync new changes when your connection returns. If you know the internet’s going to be down ahead of time, you can even download articles you might need for work in an app like Pocket for offline access later.

Do some (figurative) house cleaning

There’s a good chance your computer’s hard drive is a disorganized mess. No matter how obsessive you are about keeping things clean, other work always gets in the way. Even as I write this, the latest photos of my kid are still waiting to be moved to my photo manager, my desktop is full of shortcuts I don’t need, and my hard drive is still screaming that it’s low on space.

When you’re offline, it’s the perfect opportunity to take care of these boring-but-necessary duties. You need to handle them at some point, so what better time than when you’re forced to put other jobs on hold? Clear up that hard drive. Clean your messy desktop. Remove those browser extensions you aren’t using. And maybe even give your laptop a physical wipe-down—it’s probably pretty grimy.

Catch up on non-digital to-dos

Every day, I put off important-but-not-urgent tasks in favor of more pressing office work. I need to call the plumber and finally fix that water heater. I need to mow the lawn. I need to go to the bank. And I really need to go through the pile of junk mail on my kitchen table. It’s amazing how fast your to-do list can grow while “real” work is getting done.

Since a lot of these tasks don’t require internet—or even a computer, for that matter—they’re a great choice for when your connection goes kaput. So start chugging away at the ones you can do where you are—you obviously can’t mow the lawn if you’re stuck in the office. Even if you never leave your desk, making all those phone calls you’ve been putting off will take a lot of your mind. While you’re at it, call your family, too—they probably haven’t heard from you in ages.

Bring on a brainstorm

With so many tasks coming at you each day, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. According to David Allen, author of “Getting Things Done” and creator of the productivity method with the same name, the key to organizing your jumbled thoughts is getting them out of your head and down on paper. This will help you avoid that anxious feeling you get when you have a long list of stuff you want to remember, but are worried you’ll forget it. You can’t forget what’s written in front of you.

With the internet down, it’s a good time to do just that, so grab a piece of paper and do a brain dump. Write down everything that’s been on your mind: ideas you’ve been meaning to pitch to your boss, whatever’s been stressing you out at home, even that ridiculous thought you had in the shower. Once it’s all out there, figure out which tasks you might be able to delegate to others and which ones you can get out of the way immediately. Once you separate the meaningful from the mess, you can jump back into work more confidently when the internet returns.

Learn that skill you’ve been putting off

There are so many parts of my job I’d like to do better, but never get around to learning. I’d like to get some Photoshop chops, for example, or at least program some keyboard shortcuts for my most oft-used actions. And I’m sure I’m doing everything in Excel the long way instead of the efficient way.

Sure, the internet can be incredibly helpful for learning how these tools work, but you’d be surprised what you can do with a little offline exploration. Poke around the menus and see what you find. And if you’re in an office, maybe the Excel expert down the hall would be willing to give you a brief crash course. After all, their internet’s down too, so their day just blew wide open.

Unplug and take a walk

There’s no shame in using broken internet as an opportunity to take a break from work. In fact, you should probably be standing up and taking breaks more often, since sitting all day is slowly killing you, and that screen is probably causing some eye strain.

Stepping away doesn’t make you a slacker—studies have shown that mental breaks can help keep you focused, and that taking a walk can boost your creative thinking. So while you might not have an excuse to take the day off and go home, use the downed internet to your advantage and get a quick breath of fresh air. Who knows, it may give you a new perspective on that task you’ve been stuck on, giving you a boost of momentum to get the job done.

The post How to stay productive when there’s no internet appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

No matter what computer you choose, there are always a things on other platforms that seem better than whatever you’re using. I’ve been a Windows user for years, but macOS has some great features Microsoft has yet to truly adopt. Thankfully, third-party developers have filled a few of those gaps.

Bring Quick Look-esque file previews to Windows with Seer

When I first switched to Windows (after many years as a Mac user), I was surprised to find Quick Look was the feature I missed the most. Being able to preview any file with a quick tap on the space bar is so fast and easy that it becomes muscle memory, and losing it feels like losing one of my fingers.

Seer is the best Quick Look clone I’ve used: it’s a small app that runs in the background and works pretty much exactly like you’d expect. Select an image, text file, PDF, or other document in Windows’ File Explorer and press the spacebar. You’ll get an immediate preview in an overlay window, so you don’t have to wait for an actual program to load. If Seer doesn’t support the file format in question, pressing spacebar will give you some of the file’s properties, which is better than nothing.

Seer costs just over $12 for the most recent version, but you can download an old version for free, without ads, and use it as long as you want. New versions mostly support more file types and add a few features here and there, but the free version works great if you only need basic functionality.

Launch apps faster, Spotlight-style, with Launchy

Apple’s Spotlight has evolved from a little search bar in the corner to a front-and-center digital multitool. Press Command+Space on your keyboard and type a few keystrokes to launch an app, look up a word, perform calculations, and more. Similar to Quick Look, once you get that shortcut in your muscle memory, it’s hard to give up—and while Windows’ Start menu has gotten more powerful over the years, it’s nowhere near as good as Spotlight.

That’s why Launchy is one of the first programs I download on any new Windows PC. It’s a free, open-source tool that opens with Alt+Space, letting you launch apps or open certain files just by typing a few letters. However, if you want to go further, Launchy has a ton of options and plugins you can use to beef it up (like a more powerful calculator, or the ability to shut down your computer). Even with plugins it doesn’t quite reach the level of Spotlight, but it’s a lot closer—and now I rarely have to take my hands off the keyboard to perform those basic tasks.

Send text messages from your PC (at least, if you use Android)

iMessage makes it extremely hard to leave the Apple ecosystem. Being able to text people over Wi-Fi, see when they’re replying, and sync up messages with your Mac is amazing. And unfortunately, there’s no true alternative for Windows if you’re an iPhone user—but Android users have a few options for texting from their PC.

The two official options from Google and Microsoft are arguably the best. Google’s PC-messaging webapp is incredibly easy: just head to messages.android.com in your computer’s web browser, scan the QR code using the Messages app on your Android phone, and boom—you can send and receive text messages from your PC. You’ll even get notifications through your browser, as long as the Messages window is open in a tab.

Windows also has built-in message syncing for Android, but it takes a bit more setup. Open the Start menu, search for “Your Phone,” and go through the wizard. You’ll be prompted to download the Your Phone Companion app for Android, link it to your Microsoft account, and give it the necessary permissions to see your messages, contacts, photos, and so on. Once you’re done, you’ll see the Your Phone app populate your messages, and photos on your PC, and you’ll get new notifications when messages come in—with the ability to respond right from the notification banner.

“AirDrop” files between machines

When Apple first announced AirDop on the Mac and iPhone, I was a bit skeptical. Did we really need another way to share files between devices? After I used it, though, I was immediately jealous. Sure, there are lots of ways to share files on Windows PCs, but few of them are as quick, easy, and reliable as AirDrop.

Microsoft did add a similar feature to Windows 10 last year, called “Nearby Sharing.” You can enable it from Settings > System > Shared Experience Settings, allowing you to share links or files between your own devices, or any device nearby. (Just remember the risks of allowing anyone to share files with you.) From there, you can share a file with another PC by right-clicking it and choosing “Share.” Simple, right?

Unfortunately, this doesn’t work with non-Windows PCs or phones. So while it’s worth having in your back pocket, I also recommend bookmarking Snapdrop—an incredibly simple webapp that works just like AirDop, but cross-platform. Just open up the webpage on both devices, and they should appear in the Snapdrop window. Then drag your file into the window to send it along—it’ll transfer over the network, without ever touching Snapdrop’s servers. Snapdrop is open source, so if you want to vet the code, you can do so on its Github page.

The post 4 great macOS features you can get on Windows appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

It’s almost impossible to read the news these days without seeing yet another article on the rising threat of Android malware. But at the same time, a new report from AV-Comparatives has been making the rounds for its finding that most Android antivirus apps are terrible scams. So what’s a security-conscious user to do?

It’s easy for reports to get overblown, so we spoke to the folks at AV-Comparatives to get to the crux of the matter. They’re an independent organization that tests the effectiveness of security software on PCs and phones to find what actually works (and what should be avoided like the plague). Here’s what they had to say about the prevalence of Android malware, and what you can do about it.

Android malware is real, but the risk is higher outside the U.S.

The risk of malware on the Android operating system “depends on many different factors,” says Andreas Clementi, CEO of AV-Comparatives.

“Official stores such as Google Play are mostly used in western countries, where the risk of infection is very low,’ Clementi says. “In Asian countries, where rooted devices and large number of third-party app stores can be found, the chance of installing a dangerous app is greatly increased.”

Furthermore, Android malware is different from Windows malware, and that leads to confusion when all you see are scary statistics.

“Numbers propagated in the media might be inflated, depending on how threats are defined,” Clementi says. “Some people define Adware and other potentially unwanted apps as threats. If those are counted as such, the numbers look very high, as there are a lot of potentially unwanted apps on Android.”

Put another way, there’s a big difference between malware that spams you with ads and malware that tries to steal your personal information. And while phishing and other more serious threats are definitely present in the Android ecosystem—including in the Google Play Store—it may not be as prevalent as some news outlets would have you believe.

Most (but not all) Android antivirus apps are terrible

This spring, AV-Comparatives tested 250 antivirus apps, finding only 80 that detected a significant amount of malicious samples. The remaining 138 either had a detection rate lower than 30%, had too many false positives, or—in many cases—weren’t really antivirus apps at all. The wannabes, instead of scanning for malware, instead relied on primitive whitelists that would allow certain known apps and block everything else. Not only is this approach incredibly annoying (since it will almost certainly block trustworthy apps you actually want to use), it’s incredibly ineffective, as malware developers can easily circumvent it.

That said, there are plenty of anti-malware apps on Android with higher detection rates, particularly those from the same trusted security companies making good antivirus programs on Windows—companies such as ESET, F-Secure, Bitdefender, and Malwarebytes, for example.

Unfortunately, even these apps can only do so much, as the technology within them is much simpler than what runs their Windows counterparts. And most apps merely detect when you download or install an app, then compare its digital signature against a database of known malicious apps. If the app is on that list, the antivirus will alert you and ask that you remove the app. This simple approach doesn’t make antivirus apps very compelling, even when you factor in the virtual private networks, call blockers, and other extra features some offer.

The best security is to avoid malware altogether

So Android malware is real and not all antivirus apps are total scams, but do you actually need protection? Well, experts are somewhat split on the issue.

While the risk of infection is low in the U.S., Clementi says it never hurts to be proactive in case the situation changes. Google itself, however, has railed against antivirus apps in the past. In 2014, for example, Google’s then-lead security engineer for Android said there was “no reason” to install an antivirus app because the risk was low and Google’s built-in protections were strong enough. Antivirus manufacturers fired back, scoffing at the notion and pointing to third-party app stores used across the globe (and a few pieces of malware that have, despite Google’s protections, snuck into Google Play).

Unfortunately, most people taking part in the discussion have some sort of skin in the game, so it’s hard to know who’s opinion to trust.

There is one thing all experts agree on, though: your first and main line of defense should be common sense and good security practices.

“Only download apps from official app stores like Google Play, or stores of reputable app makers and avoid third-party stores and side-loading,” Clementi says.

Of course, Google Play still hosts some bad apps while third-party sites may offer trustworthy downloads. The most important thing is to download apps built by well-known developers and companies you trust. And never, ever, pirate apps from sketchy sites, as these are often dangerous.

Similarly, check the permissions an app requests before you install it.

“An app that counts the steps the user takes every day, for example, has no need to access the phone book or call log,” Clementi says.

Over-reaching permissions won’t necessarily guarantee an app is malicious, but they may warrant further investigation on your part before installing.

Finally, if you can help it, don’t root your phone.

“Rooting the smartphone may gain the user more functionality, but it also increases the risk that malicious apps will take control of the device,” Clementi says.

It also helps to buy a phone that gets regular security updates. Samsung’s Galaxy line, Google’s Pixel line, and any phone in the Android One program are good choices for that reason. Many people root their phones in order to get security updates, so if you buy a well-supported device, you may not need to root at all.

These practices are the most important steps to avoiding malware, antivirus or not. If you’re the kind of person who can’t resist installing every wallpaper app and free game you come across, it may behoove you to install one of the more trustworthy antivirus apps for a modicum of protection. But you’d be much better off considering your downloads more carefully instead.

The post How to combat the threat of Android malware appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

I buy almost everything on Amazon. I try not to think about the fact that I’m contributing to our Wall-E-esque future when I do, but it’s just so easy to have things show up at your door two days after pressing a button. If that sounds like you, check out these 10 Amazon features you really should be using.

Schedule your delivery with Amazon Day

Part of Amazon’s allure is the ability to buy stuff as soon as you remember you need it. That way, you can avoid coming home from vacation to a house with no toilet paper. But if you aren’t going to be there when the package is delivered, Amazon Prime’s new Amazon Day feature lets you pick your delivery day ahead of time. That’ll keep your package from getting soaked by inclement weather or swiped by neighborhood thieves while you’re living it up at Uncle Ralph’s cabin. They’ll even combine the orders you make before that date into one easy shipment. Just head to checkout and click “Choose Your Amazon Day” before you place your order.

Get Amazon credits with No-Rush Shipping

If you have Prime, you know how awesome free two-day shipping is. But not everything requires it. If you’re replenishing your razor supply but know you still have a week or two before you run out, Amazon often offers credits for “No-Rush Shipping,” which gets you the item in a week or so. Whether it’s a $5 credit for Prime Pantry or a $1 credit for books and music, it’s handy to have, even if you don’t have something to use it on immediately. You may not think you’ll ever use Prime Pantry, but in three weeks when you want to order an item that’s only available there, that $5 box credit will be a godsend.

There’s a good chance you’ve used this feature before, but consider this your reminder to regularly consider whether you’re really in that much of a rush.

Save money with Amazon Warehouse and Amazon Outlet

Anyone can sell their used gear on Amazon for any price, but Amazon Warehouse is a particularly useful place to hunt for discounts. Amazon sells these products itself, usually from a stock of refurbished, returned, opened, or cosmetically defective merchandise. The goods may not come with their original warranty, but you’ll get Amazon’s stellar return policy, along with Prime’s two-day shipping. In a similar vein, take a look at the lesser-known Amazon Outlet for similar clearance items.

Get a refund when packages are late

Okay, this isn’t exactly a public-facing “feature,” but it’s still a useful tip. If Amazon gives you a “Guaranteed Delivery Date” and the package arrives later than that, you can contact customer support and get a refund on shipping. Refunds can vary depending on the item—DealNews reports it could be between $5 and $10—so you’ll have to contact customer support and ask. Prime members used to be eligible for a free month of Prime for late packages, but it seems Amazon may no longer offer this perk.

Share your Prime benefits with your spouse, roommate, or kids

If you have Prime, it can benefit everyone in your house. Simply link their account to yours in the Amazon Household menu and you’re done. Adults in the same home will be able to use two-day shipping and access other Prime benefits such as streaming video, cloud photo storage, and Kindle books on Prime Reading. You can even share purchased books with your spouse, which is great. If you have kids, Amazon Household will let you link them to your account for certain benefits, including streaming video, without giving them the ability to go crazy with your credit card.

Get discounts with Subscribe & Save

For a long time, I knew about Subscribe & Save—a feature that lets you schedule recurring deliveries of certain essentials at a 5% to 15% discount—but wrote it off because I’m bad at predicting when I’ll need to replenish diapers or paper towels. The discounts might seem small, but as you subscribe to more items, Amazon boosts your discounts.

Amazon has also done a decent job of making this service user-friendly. You’ll get an email when a shipment is about to go out, and if you aren’t ready for one of the items, you can head straight to the Amazon site and delay the shipment to a later date. If you’re ordering something like diapers or baby food, Amazon Family will net you an even bigger discount on subscribed items.

Order in one tap with digital Dash Buttons

A lot of people found Amazon’s Dash Buttons silly, but I found them incredibly useful. With the press of a button, I could re-order laundry detergent, disinfectant wipes, or other household products that don’t run out fast enough to warrant using Subscribe & Save. Amazon has sadly discontinued these in favor of voice purchasing with Alexa, but it still has digital Dash Buttons available from its website or mobile app. Even better, these work with more brands than the physical buttons did. Check out the Dash Buttons section of Amazon’s site, delete the ones you don’t want, and you’ll have a nice little page where you can quickly reorder zip-top bags or printer ink with a single tap.

Use your phone’s camera to help you shop

Similar to the convenience of Dash Buttons, Amazon Flow—a feature built into the mobile app—allows you to buy things by taking a picture of them. This works best on items with distinct labels, such as a box of cereal or a bag of dog food. It’ll be harder with an unwrapped gadget like a phone charger, but it’s still pretty handy. No more potato chips? Just open the app, tap the camera button to snap a photo, pick the correct item from the generated list, and a new bag will be on its way to your door. This feature is also useful if you’re standing in an aisle at Target and want to ensure you’re getting the best deal, especially if the store in question will match Amazon’s price.

Read books for free with Prime Reading and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library

If you’re itching for something new to read but aren’t sure what you want, take a virtual stroll around Amazon’s free eBook stores. Prime Reading is available to Prime members and offers a ton of well-known books for free, plus magazines and comic books. A lot of them even have audiobook options from Audible, if you prefer to listen while you work. You just have to return the books when you’re done.

The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library is similar, but the selection isn’t nearly as good, so be sure to check both—they’re different sections of the site.

Donate to charity at no extra cost with AmazonSmile

A few years ago, Amazon started an initiative called AmazonSmile that donates 0.5% of the money you spend to a charity of your choice, at no extra cost to you. All you have to do is shop from smile.amazon.com instead of the Amazon homepage. So change your bookmark or install a browser extension like Smile Always that’ll redirect you to AmazonSmile every time, pick a nonprofit, and shop as you normally would. It won’t necessarily add up to a lot of money—I’ve been shopping for years and still haven’t reached $100 worth of AmazonSmile donations—but it’s something, especially if everyone uses it.

Believe it or not, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Take a deep dive into the site and you’ll find Amazon has many additional features and initiatives that might not get a lot of press but are bound to help you out.

The post 10 Amazon features you should be using appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

You’ve created a killer workspace, but the underside of your desk looks like Medusa’s worst hair day. With power cables, speaker wire, and the giant surge protector everything plugs into, a serious workstation can amass a lot of connections. Here are three steps to hide them away for a clutter-free space.

Hang them up

Getting your cables off the ground is the first and most crucial part of organizing them. If you keep them close to the underside of your desk’s surface, they’ll be hidden from view to anyone standing in the vicinity, creating a clutter-free environment so you can do your best work (that is, unless your desk is glass, which is very unforgiving to messes).

This, for example, is what my desk looks like without any cable management:

There are a number of ways to remedy this rat’s nest. I currently use the $15 IKEA SIGNUM cable management tray to mount my cables to the underbelly of my desk, though I’ve also used rain gutters with good results. You could even use pegboard, or a shallow wire basket if you have one lying around. Mount your tool of choice on the bottom of your desk, re-run your cables through it, and you’ll be on your way. The more you can keep them separated from one another, the easier they’ll be to manage later on, but don’t stress out too much—it’s very, very difficult to keep things neat and tidy under there if you have a lot of cables. (I tried very hard, and you can see I still failed. But at least they’re hidden.)

If you have a normal, skinny surge protector, you can probably fit that on your cable management tray to get it off the ground as well. (Bonus tip: grab a couple of these short extension cables for devices with large, annoying power bricks, and you’ll be able to make use of every outlet on the strip.) If you have a larger surge protector—like the Smart Strip I’m using—it may not fit on a SIGNUM or in a rain gutter. In that case, you may want to mount the surge protector to the underside of your desk on its own, either using some Command Strips or the included screw mounts on the back.

I actually built my current desk with these tricks in mind, but you should be able to find a solution for just about any desk if you’re clever enough. Here’s what mine looks like when organized:

Bundle them together

Mounting some cable trays will hide a lot of the mess, but if you want to keep things a bit more organized—especially on the top side of your desk, where PC and monitor cables run a little wild—invest in some cable ties to bundle them together. Zip ties are the cheapest option, though I find them kind of a pain for anything I might disconnect later, so I currently use velcro-esque reusable ties like these ones instead. Alternatively, you can run your cables through a long zipper sleeve like this one. I’ve also started using these stiff rubber ties around my house, and really like them.

I wrap these around bundles of cables every foot or two along the runs under my desk, as well as behind my desk, where they can keep stray monitor, keyboard, mouse, and other cables from flapping about. It’s a small improvement that can make a big difference.

Clear your workspace

With the cables under your desk hidden away, it’s time to take care of the stragglers atop the surface. You have a few options here:

• Switch to wireless devices: If you have a mouse, keyboard, or other peripherals that come in wireless varieties, you can eliminate cables entirely by switching to Bluetooth models. They tend to be a bit more expensive than their wired brethren—and you’ll want to make sure the manufacturer is known for reliable wireless connections—but if you’re striving for a truly cable-free space, this is a given.
• Stick peripherals to the underside of your desk: Your surge protector isn’t the only thing that can hang down below. I’ve mounted my headphone amp, SD card reader, and headphone hook all to the underside of my desk using Command Strips. Their cables run through cable drops stuck to the bottom of my desk, all the way to my SIGNUM tray, so they never have to grace my sight. Not only does this eliminate cable clutter, but it eliminates desk clutter in general, while keeping those peripherals within arm’s reach.
• Build cable management into the desk surface: For things that you absolutely need on top of your workspace, find a way to build cable holes and outlets into your desk. For example, this guide at Make Magazine shows you how to install a USB hub into your desk, or you can install simple grommets for your cables to run down to the underside (instead of trailing all the way to the back of the desk).

It’s up to you which of these tips in this guide you take to heart, of course. I personally don’t like wireless mice and keyboards, so I’m willing to put up with a couple cables. Especially since my desk is still rather clean—or, at least, far cleaner than it was a few years ago before I undertook this never-ending mission. Good luck.

The post How to hide your mess of cables once and for all appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

If you have a credit card, you probably know the basic rewards it offers: maybe you get airline miles, maybe you get cash back, or perhaps it gives you points to shop on Amazon. But are you really making the most of those points, or are you leaving money on the table? Here’s how to ensure you get as much of that free stuff as possible.

How to choose the right credit card

“There are many different ways to approach maximizing your rewards,” says Beverly Harzog, credit card expert and consumer finance analyst for U.S. News and World Report. “The number one thing to do is pick the right credit card. Sometimes, people go wrong right there: they might pick a card they saw advertised, or that their neighbor had […] but you have to pick the card that’s right for you based on how you spend your money.”

Travel cards, for example, are extremely popular, and their points tend to be worth more than other types of rewards programs. But if you don’t travel very often, you might be better off with a cash-back card, even if those travel points give you more for your dollar. “I like to think about that ahead of time, so you can have a goal, something that you’re working toward,” says Harzog. Consider getting an airline miles card to help you pay for a trip to your brother’s wedding in Bermuda, for example.

If you’re comparing two similar cards and want to see which program’s points are more valuable, though, plenty of credit card sites—including U.S. News, The Points Guy, and others—have pages dedicated to calculating how much money different points are worth. For example, many airline programs redeem at a value between 1 and 2 cents per point, while most hotel points are worth significantly less—usually under a cent. So if you travel a lot, you might consider signing up for a miles program instead of a hotel points program.

Consider which points make the most sense for your usage, too. For example, my family lives in Detroit, which is a Delta hub. That means a Delta card makes a lot of sense for me. Even if I don’t fly Delta all the time, I know I’m guaranteed to fly there once or twice a year. Even if I liked another airline better, having that guarantee means my points will never go to waste.

Finally, when choosing a card, make sure you take into account all the hidden costs. For example, many cards offer a big signup bonus, but you have to spend a certain amount in the first three months to get those extra points. “Make sure you’re going to be able to spend enough within that three month period without spending more that you intend to,” says Harzog. “If you use that card for stuff you were going to buy anyway, you’re fine.” In addition, check the annual fee and make sure that your rewards outweigh the fee. You can sometimes call the credit card company and get the fee waived the first year (or more), too. And—though this should go without saying—don’t ever carry a balance on your card, since you’ll end up spending more in interest than you’ll ever gain in points.

Analyze your credit card benefits

Once you pick a card that looks good, get to know all of its benefits. A lot of people miss out on certain perks because they didn’t pay close enough attention, says Harzog. “It’s very boring to read this stuff, and it’s hard to understand because it’s written by lawyers. Sometimes I have to read it a couple times.” Don’t hesitate to call the credit card issuer if you aren’t sure about something, and see if you can find discussion about the card elsewhere on the web that may shed light on its idiosyncrasies.

RELATED: Credit card stolen or lost? Here’s what to do.

For example, I’ve had the popular Amazon Prime Rewards card for years, and it’s great for me—I shop a ton on Amazon, so I earn 5 percent back on all those purchases, and eventually accrue enough Amazon points to buy something really awesome. I did not realize, however, that I can also exchange those points for a statement credit of equal value. This is a much better option, even if I’m still going to buy that big-ticket item on Amazon—if I buy it on a card instead, I accrue more points. If I buy it with points, I get nothing. I’ve definitely missed out on a few hundred dollars over the years with this mistake.

Similarly, plenty of cards come with shopping portals—like United’s MileagePlus Shopping, or American Airlines’ AAdvantage eShopping—that can net you more points per dollar you spend, as long as you navigate to the retailer through the credit card’s website. For example, shopping at Macys.com normally might get you the usual 1 mile per dollar, but going to Macys.com through United or American’s portal might get you 3 miles per dollar. If you’re already going to be shopping at one of those retailers anyway, that’s a great way to earn extra points over time. You may even be able to sign up for email notifications when certain retailers have points-related promotions. If you have multiple credit cards, you can use an aggregator like evreward or Cashback Monitor to see which shopping portal has the best rate for a store at any given time, too.

When it comes time to spend your points, you’ll want to make sure you spend them in the right places. A lot of cards offer the opportunity to trade your miles for, say, Amazon points or other perks, but they aren’t always a good deal. “Some cards don’t transfer at 1-to-1 point values,” says Harzog, “So it’s important to check and see what your points are worth.” Again, do some research on your card and see what experts estimate for the point values on any given redemption. If you’re debating between getting a gift card and redeeming for travel, you may find your redemption program places more value on one or the other.

RELATED: Budgeting is tedious. These tricks make it easier.

How to track your credit card rewards

Finally, says Harzog, if you have more than one or two cards, it’s important to keep an eye on your rewards programs to make the most of them. She recommends checking out services like AwardWallet, which can keep track of your balance across multiple programs and notify you if miles are about to expire. “It’ll track up to three rewards programs for you for free, or you can upgrade and get all kinds of analytics and notifications,” says Harzog. You do have to hook it up to your rewards account, however, so if you prefer not to do that, making your own spreadsheet works too—you’ll just have to update it manually.

AwardWallet can also keep track of bonus categories that net you more points. “Say you’ve got the Blue Cash Preferred card, and you get 6 percent back at grocery stores,” says Harzog. “You’re going to want to be sure that you use that card when you go to the grocery store.” Many credit card sites can also send you reminders, especially with cards like Chase Freedom where those categories change every few months. If it helps, put sticky notes on your cards to remember which ones to use where.

Finally, “don’t forget to actually use those rewards,” Harzog says. “So many rewards are lost because people haven’t kept track, or they expire.” If you can, sign up for notifications to make sure you know when your points are going to disappear—that way, you don’t miss out on any free money.

The post How to make the most of your credit card points appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

You might be careful about what you say on social media now, but we were all dumb teenagers once—and you never know what someone might dig up in an attempt to get you fired. Here’s how to delete all of your old, embarrassing Facebook and Twitter posts.

Of course, you could always go whole hog and delete your social media accounts entirely, but most people don’t want to take such drastic measures. The instructions in this guide will help you delete posts older than a certain age, which can partially cover up your younger, stupider past.

However, this won’t necessarily erase those posts from history. People may still remember, or keep screenshots of, your bygone ideas, but these steps will at least prevent someone from looking for them in the future. And if you want to keep those old posts for personal viewing, you can download your Facebook and Twitter archives to your hard drive before deleting them.

Facebook: Hide or delete old posts

On Facebook, you don’t necessarily have to wipe your old history in order to hide it. The social network has a built-in feature that allows you to limit all your past posts to “Friends Only,” preventing outsiders from seeing them.

Head on over to Facebook, click the arrow in the upper-right corner of the page, and go to Settings and then Privacy. There, on Your activity, choose Limit Past Posts. Finally, click the Limit Past Posts button that appears on the dialog box, and all your past posts that are currently visible to “Public” or “Friends of Friends” will be reset to “Friends Only.”

If you’re satisfied with that, then you’re good to go. But if you have a lot of Facebook friends, especially those you aren’t particularly close with, I wouldn’t stop there. You never know who might have it out for you one day.

Unfortunately, Facebook makes it hard to delete lots of old posts at once—you can only erase them one by one. Thankfully, a Chrome extension called Social Book Post Manager will automate the process for you.

Social Book Post Manager

You just need to install this add-on: Launch the Google Chrome web browser, head to the extension’s page, and click Add to Chrome.

Once you’ve secured your add-on, head back to Facebook, click the arrow in the upper-right corner, and select Activity Log. Click the extension’s button in the upper right-corner of Chrome, and you’ll see some options for pruning your past. Choose a month and year, enter a search term if you so desire, and click Delete.

Social Book Post Manager will scroll through the page, highlighting in yellow the posts that match your parameters. This may take a few hours, since the software is actually imitating a human, scrolling gradually through the entire page. Once it has highlighted everything that you might want to delete, it will ask you to confirm. This gives you a chance to alter your parameters and re-run the search if there are any highlighted items you’re not ready to erase. Finally, the add-on will delete your posts (which, again, will take a long time).

This process isn’t perfect, so you may have to repeat your purge a few times to get all stray posts. But at the moment, it’s the best option we have.

Twitter: Delete old tweets with web apps

Twitter, like Facebook, doesn’t give you an option to delete old posts in big batches. So again, you’ll have to turn to a third-party service. Yes, you’re trusting your data to yet another stranger, but if you’re dead set on removing those old tweets, the ends justify the means. And for this social media housecleaning, you have a couple different options.

TweetDelete

TweetDelete is a free history-scouring service with a very clear privacy policy. But it only lets you delete items that fall within the range of your previous 3,200 tweets. You could run it multiple times to erase your entire history, but this isn’t ideal if you want to keep the past couple years and delete everything before that.

To use TweetDelete, head to their home page, sign in with your Twitter account, and authorize the app to access your account. (You aren’t giving it your password or direct messages, just access to certain Twitter functions like that ever-important Delete button.)

Once authorized, slash-and-burning all past tweets is incredibly simple: Tell TweetDelete to delete your posts older than a certain age (one week to one year), check the box that says “Delete all my existing tweets before activating this schedule,” and uncheck the boxes that allow TweetDelete to post to your account. Click Activate when you’re ready. Again, if you have a long history, you may need to go through this process multiple times.

After that, TweetDelete will continue to run in the background, automatically deleting tweets once they reach your specified age. If you don’t want TweetDelete to keep working on a schedule, then sign out, head to Twitter’s Application Settings, and revoke access for tweetdelete.net. Your old tweets will still be gone, but your newer ones won’t continue to disappear on a schedule.

If you want a more powerful deletion tool, you’ll likely need to pony up some cash. Of the fee-based options, we like TweetEraser, which costs $6.99, and also has a decent privacy policy. In order to delete more than your past 3,200 tweets, this web app will require a copy of your Twitter archive.

Request your archive on Twitter

Visit your Twitter Account settings, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click the Request Your Archive button. Twitter may take a while to retrieve your data—mine took about 20 minutes—and then you’ll receive an email containing a link to download the archive.

Next, head to TweetEraser and choose the Standard or Premium tier. You’ll see a prompt to authorize access to your account (this won’t let them see your password, but it will give them full access to all posts, messages, and functions like Delete). Once logged in, click the PayPal button below the Standard or Premium tier to pay for your upgrade, which will allow you to delete more than the standard 3,200 tweets.

TweetEraser

After paying, the screen will return to TweetEraser. On the left-hand side of the page, head to Your Twitter > Tweets. Then choose Upload Archive and select the ZIP file you downloaded earlier. This will give TweetEraser access to your entire Twitter history, rather than the 3,200 tweets available on the Twitter website.

Once that’s done, you should see your orange Tweet count on the right. This was originally limited to 3,200 posts, but should now display the total number of tweets you’ve ever shared. If it does, then you’re ready to delete.

Click Advanced Search on the right-hand side of the page and set the date range for the tweets you want to eliminate. (You can also search for tweets with certain words, if you’d prefer to prune specific topics.) Once you’ve done so, click Search, and TweetEraser will load that batch of tweets in the middle of the page. Check them to make sure you’re deleting the correct updates.

When you’re ready to delete those tweets forever, click the select all checkbox in the list’s top-left corner and then press the big red Delete Tweets button. This process may take some time, but once it’s finished, you’ll have a squeaky clean timeline.

When you’re done, don’t forget to downgrade your subscription to make sure you don’t receive extra charges. Finally, head to Twitter’s Application Settings to revoke TweetEraser’s access to your account. If you want to keep regularly deleting your old tweets after they reach a certain age, then you can use the free TweetDelete option instead of continuing to pay for the premium version of TweetEraser.

The post How to erase your embarrassing old Facebook and Twitter posts appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

A truly good TV can make your movies and favorite shows look amazing, but not everyone has $1,500 to plop down on a high-end panel. That doesn’t mean you’re stuck with mediocrity, though—if you aren’t happy with your TV’s picture, there may be a few things you can do to kick things up a notch.

Resolution is just a number

I used to visit my in-laws and watch a myriad of shows on what I assumed was just a cheap relic of a bygone era. Then I realized I’d only ever watched TV through their cable box, so when I popped in a Blu-ray, I marveled at how capable the set actually was.

Sources like cable, streaming, and discs all offer varying levels of picture quality. Just because two of them come in a resolution of 1080p doesn’t mean they offer the same picture. One of them might have been compressed to hell, which means colors will become blocky and fine detail will be lost in order to make the resulting file take up less space. In that case, the best, most expensive flatscreen won’t help you—getting better picture quality starts at the source.

Blu-ray and UHD Blu-rays are the best quality you can get at home, hands down. If you really want something to look good, get it on disc. Even on a cheap TV, it’ll look better than streaming or cable. You can buy an affordable 4K Blu-ray player on Amazon, or—if your TV isn’t 4K—grab a 1080p model for pocket change on Craigslist. If you have an Xbox One S or One X, then you already have a 4K Blu-ray player in your house.

If Blu-ray isn’t an option, streaming is an easy go-to, but there are three variables at play. First, some services are just better than others—HBO Now’s streaming quality is sub-par compared to Netflix and Amazon, for example, even disregarding the fact that it doesn’t offer 4K at all. Second, make sure you’re using the best streaming box possible—no matter how high the quality of the source, if you’re streaming through that old 720p Apple TV, it just won’t look as good as with a modern, 4K-capable model. And finally, make sure your internet’s up to the task. If your Wi-Fi is weak near the TV, your streaming platform of choice will prioritize seamless streaming over resolution, and automatically drop down to lower levels of quality to compensate. You could be paying extra for that 4K Netflix subscription but still only get 1080p if your internet is slow.

Cable is, in my opinion, a last resort. Picture quality can vary from provider to provider, but I often find that even over-the-air antennas provide better picture quality than a cable subscription. For shows and sporting events on network TV, I’d give over-the-air a shot. If you don’t have an antenna, check out tools like AntennaWeb or Channel Master to find one that gets the most channels. Outdoor antennas are best if you can swing one—I have a Channel Master Omni+ on my roof here in San Diego and I can watch stations from Los Angeles without any dropouts.

Tweak the few settings you have

We’ve talked about adjusting your picture settings before, and many of the same rules apply here. Cheaper TVs are likely to have fewer settings though, which means there’s only so much you can do with them.

If you’re watching in a dark room, your best bet is to put your TV in “Movie” or “Cinema” mode— it is the least likely to introduce “artifacts,” or visual errors in the image. The picture may look a little dark or reddish at first glance, but it’s actually the most accurate in terms of color, so give yourself a chance to get used to it. On some TVs, Standard mode might be able to get brighter, so moving to Standard is fine too, though I’d recommend turning the color temperature a bit warmer to avoid overly blueish whites.

I’d also go through that menu and turn off any unnecessary processing features like motion smoothing, if your TV even has them. You may not find them on most cheaper sets, but some mid range TVs will have them, and you’ll want them turned off. (Local Dimming is an exception to this rule, which can help make blacks look deeper.)

Add some bias lighting

Lower-end TVs cut corners in a lot of different ways, but black levels are some of the most noticeable, and without local dimming, what should be black can often look dark grey. TVs that have local dimming often produce a white glow around certain objects called “blooming”, and the uneven backlighting on cheap TVs can cause a similar blooming effect around the edges of the screen. This is why the cheaper the TV, the more likely the picture will look uneven and washed out.

Bias lighting is one of the best ways to solve this problem. You can buy bias lighting strips for as low as $20 for a 55” TV—just stick them on the back of your panel, plug it into the USB port on your TV, and it’ll reflect off the wall, producing a white glow behind the screen. This isn’t just about a cool glow-y effect, though—it actually changes the way your eyes perceive contrast, making blacks look darker than they really are.

Look at the image above: the rectangle in the center is colored in solid grey throughout, but it looks darker against the lighter background—think of this backdrop as the bias light, and the grey rectangle as your TV’s black level, and you’ll get an idea of what bias lighting can do. Having installed bias lighting on my own cheap TV, I can tell you the results are great, and unless you have an OLED TV with perfect black levels, you should absolutely get one of these kits to make your TV look its best.

The post How to level-up the picture quality of your cheap TV appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Between data privacy scandals and the psychological toll social media can take on your brain, quitting Facebook can be an alluring prospect. But it’s not always practical to delete your account: like it or not, everyone else uses social media, and for many, it’s their primary way to stay in touch, send a group message, or invite you to their birthday party. If you want to quit Facebook without going completely incommunicado, here’s how to strip it down to the bare essentials.

By “bare essentials,” I mean three things: eliminating the News Feed, removing your personal information, and setting up email notifications for the stuff you actually do want to see. Once you’ve done those three things, you should rarely—if ever—need to visit Facebook again, but your friends will still be able to reach you without having to hunt you down on another platform.

Unfollow Everyone

The News Feed is Facebook’s cornerstone, the arena in which most other Facebook activity happens. In order to break free of Facebook’s addictive grasp, you need to eliminate the endless scroll of “news” from all your friends. Thankfully, you can do so without unfriending them completely—if you merely unfollow them, then they can still message you, invite you to events, and see whatever info you decide to leave up, but you won’t see their posts in your feed. Your friend won’t get any kind of notification about the unfollow, so it won’t lead to awkward conversations down the road.

To manually unfollow everyone you know, head to Facebook’s home page, and in the left sidebar—next to “News Feed”—click the three dots and choose “Edit Preferences.” Click “Unfollow people and groups to hide their posts” and select everyone on the list. After a few days, you should find yourself greeted with a blissfully empty News Feed.

Manually selecting all your friends shouldn’t take too long, but if you’d rather automate the process—or test out the empty News Feed before fully committing—there are some browser extensions that may help. News Feed Eradicator, available for Chrome and Firefox, replaces the News Feed with a simple quote of the day and nothing else. You don’t need to configure anything; just install it and you’re done. If you’re curious about how it works, it’s open source, so you can check out the code on GitHub. This doesn’t unfollow your friends, so it won’t work on computers without the extension installed, but it’s an quick, easily reversible fix.

For a more permanent solution, Chrome extension Nudge—which has numerous features to help you “wean” yourself off your addiction—has a Delete News Feed feature that will automatically unfollow all your friends for you (though it does take a while, since it has to go through the process one-by-one). It isn’t open source, so if you’re skeptical about installing extensions from people you don’t know, you’ll need to go through the process manually. Again, though, it shouldn’t take that long unless you have thousands of friends.

Erase Your Posts and Personal Info

Having some basic info on your profile allows your friends to keep up with what you’re doing—like what state you live in, or what company you work for—and that can be valuable for some (in fact, I’ve gotten actual jobs through Facebook before). But if you’re cutting back on Facebook, there’s a good chance you want to remove some, if not all, of your personal info from the site, so they know as little about you as possible.

This part’s easy: just head to your profile and click the “About” option under your cover photo. You’ll see what everyone else sees here, which can help you decide what to remove. For example, if you want to remove your workplace, school, hometown, and other information, you can hover over the “About” box and click the “Edit your contact and basic info” link that pops up. You can also click your photo albums to delete them (or set them to private), remove location check-ins, and unlike the music, TV shows, and movies that appear on your profile. You can also hide entire sections by clicking the pencil icon in the upper-right corner of each. If you want to go whole hog, you can even erase all your old posts on the platform.

Lastly, be sure to remove any Apps that have permission to see your info. You can do so from Facebook’s Apps and Websites settings page here. Just check the box next to any apps you want to banish, and click the Remove button.

It’s worth noting that once you’ve told Facebook info about yourself, that information is out there and deleting it from your profile won’t necessarily take it out of Facebook’s collection of data. If you made that data public, there’s also a decent chance companies called data brokers have found it and added it to their databases as well.

Set Up Email Notifications for Important Stuff

Now that your News Feed and profile are mostly empty, it should be pretty easy to avoid using Facebook. Just uninstall the app from your phone—you can still log in from your phone’s browser if you need to—remove the bookmark from your computer’s toolbar, and bask in your new Facebook-free life.

However, the whole point of this is staying accessible to your friends and family that use Facebook to get a hold of you, so if you’re really committed to avoiding the site, you’ll want to set up email notifications for direct messages, event invites, and any other communications that are important to you. Head to the Notifications page in Facebook’s settings, and click the Email section. Under “What You’ll Receive,” click “All notifications, except the ones you unsubscribe from.” In my case, I had a list of notifications I’d turned off, and I just had to click the “Turn On” button next to Messages, Events you’re invited to, Posts you’re tagged with, and whatever else I wanted. In other cases, you may have all these turned on by default, and you may need to unsubscribe from them individually as they come in. But once you’ve curated that list, you’ll be in business: still easily accessible to your friends, without being tethered to Facebook on a daily basis.

The post Make Facebook useful by turning off all its annoying features appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

It’s amazing how quickly a few subscriptions can add up. $16 for Netflix here, $10 for Spotify there, $10 more for that new platform everyone’s talking about, and before you know it, you’ve racked up $100 or more in monthly costs. If that portion of your budget has gone a little out of control, it may be time to take a strategic look at what you actually use.

1. Pay for the essentials up front

If you know you just can’t live without a certain subscription—that space in the cloud to back-up your computer comes to mind—you might be able to save some money by paying for a year (or more) up front, rather than on a monthly basis. Backblaze, for example, costs $6 a month, or $60 for a year up front. You can even pay for two years up front for $100, which is a total of $34 in savings. It’s small, no doubt, but the more subscriptions you can pay up front, the more you’ll save. And this is not only for digital services—some insurance companies may even offer similar incentives, so check with yours if you have the option.

2. Scale back your services

In other cases, you may want the subscription itself, but you can lower your cost by scaling back the features you use. Netflix in 4K is nice, but unless you have a high-end TV, Netflix’s cheaper Standard HD plan may be more than good enough. Again, that $3 savings may seem like small potatoes, but repeat the process for other bills and you’ll be looking at significant monthly savings. Start by making a list of your subscriptions and see what can you dial back: maybe you don’t need five whole gigs of data on your cellphone plan—especially if you’re spending most of your time connected to WiFi—and maybe you don’t need the fastest internet speeds money can buy—actually, you probably don’t.

3. Rotate subscriptions as you need them

You might have grabbed that HBO Now subscription to watch Game of Thrones, but HBO is banking on you forgetting to unsubscribe, or keeping it around just in case—even if you already have dozens of hours of TV waiting for you in your other streaming queues.

But as we’ve already mentioned, there’s nothing wrong with unsubscribing, re-subscribing, and then un-subscribing as you need a given service. Grab Netflix for a month when the new Stranger Things comes out, cancel it and switch to Disney+ for The Mandalorian; then cancel that and move to HBO for the latest season of Watchmen. It might seem like a lot of effort, but unsubscribing is easy, and that way you’d only be spending $10 a month rather than $30 or $40 for all those shows you “might” watch down the line.

4. Negotiate your rates

You probably know that you can negotiate your cable and internet bills, but have you actually taken the time to do it? It’s super easy, and it works for plenty of other subscriptions too. We’ve got your step-by-step guide right here, but here’s the gist—do your research and ask what you need.

Dive into Google to see if anyone else has successfully negotiated their bill down and how low. Then find out how your company’s prices compared to the competition’s so you’ll know what fee is worth quitting for. Then call the company (or, if you’re nervous on the phone, bring up their online chat), and tell them your bill is too expensive and you’re hoping they can find you a better rate. If they don’t meet your number, ask to cancel. Every time I’ve done this, they’ve come back with a better number, sometimes even going through this process two or three times until they reach my goal.

They usually lower their prices for a limited amount of time, so you may have to repeat this process every few months when your bill goes back to normal. But once you do it once or twice, it becomes second nature.

5. Share your account

In certain scenarios, you may be paying full price for a subscription, but only using part of it. Maybe you’ve only registered three out of the five devices a service qualifies for, or you’ve only used a few gigabytes of cloud storage space and you have plenty of extra to spare. If that is your case, then you might be able to get a friend or family member to go halfsies with you. My brother in law and I did this with my old cloud backup service, and we both got a good deal as a result—just be sure to read the terms of service, since some products may specifically forbid this practice.

6. Buy instead of subscribing

Take a look at your subscriptions and ask yourself a simple question: which of these are costing me money, and which are saving me money? A Costco membership, for example, pays for itself as soon as you replace the tires on your car. In other cases, buying individual items a la carte may be better for your wallet. Do you really need an Amazon Prime membership if you only require two-day shipping for a few items every year? Do you really need that YMCA membership when you only go once or twice a month and can pay for individual visits instead? Tally up the totals and see what shakes out—you might be surprised. Even if you want to visit the gym four times a month, canceling your subscription and paying per-visit is a good idea until you actually build that habit.

7. Find free alternatives

You might be surprised at how much free stuff is out there if you look in the right places. Got too many streaming services? There are lots of free ones with rotating catalogs. Kindle Unlimited weighing down your wallet? Check out the Kindle Lending Library instead. Or maybe check out an actual library—yes, they still exist both physically and online. With a library card you can often access an enormous library of ebooks, movies, music, magazines, and a whole lot more.

8. Kill what you don’t need

I know you don’t want to hear it, but some things just aren’t necessary to your daily life. Once you’ve done the above, make a point to track all your subscriptions in one place. Apps like Truebill and Trim (which can even handle some of the aforementioned negotiation) will do this for you, but I just use a separate page of my budget spreadsheet.

If, after some time, you find that one of your subscriptions isn’t getting used, cut it ruthlessly. Remember you can always resubscribe later if you happen to miss it. If you’re having trouble quantifying how much you use your services, calculate an hourly rate for the relevant ones—if you spend 20 hours a month watching Netflix and only a couple hours listening to Spotify, then that music plan is a lot more expensive, even though they both cost $10 a month.

The post Eight ways to cut down on your monthly subscriptions appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

No one likes to think about it, but one day, you’re going to die. (Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.) You probably know where you want your money and other physical possessions to go, but you have a lot of digital assets to pass on too. You need to plan for the future of those accounts right now.

“It’s impressive to me how many times people don’t recognize the extent of digital assets that they own,” says Mark Parthemer, Managing Director and Senior Fiduciary Counsel at Bessemer Trust. “With many clients, they’re concerned about financial things, but they need to protect the sentimental assets too, like photographs.”

To start, Parthemer says, make an inventory of the digital items that your family may want to access after you die. That includes financial accounts, but also any photos and videos stored online, digital notebooks, email, social media accounts, your phone, and even your contact list. (How else will they break the news to all your friends?)

In some cases, you can just print out the requisite information—like that contact list—and call it a day. Other times, you’re dealing with an account that contains so much data, or undergoes such frequent updates, that a simple paper copy won’t cut it. Here’s what you need to do now to ensure trusted family members can access your information after your death.

Designate trusted contacts

Some services have built-in features that let you pass data off to surviving members of your family. You identify your trusted loved ones, and these digital services will give them access to your account—but only under specific circumstances.

For example, Google’s Inactive Account Manager allows you to decide what happens to your account after it’s languished for a certain amount of time (the default setting kicks in after three months, but you can adjust that as you see fit). If your account remains inactive for that period, then your designated contacts—you can select up to 10 people—will receive permission to download whatever data you allow in advance.

In my case, I’ve given my wife access to an archive of my calendar, contacts, email, photos, YouTube videos, and documents stored in Google services. If you want to keep certain data private even after you pass away, you can choose to provide access to less information—say, only your contacts and photos. Once you’ve decided what to share, you can set your account to delete itself after your trusted friends obtain that archive.

Similarly, Facebook allows you to designate a Legacy Contact. After you die, your profile will become a memorial, and the Legacy Contact has permission to write a pinned post for it, respond to new friend requests, and update the profile picture or photo. They can also download a copy of your Facebook data. However, this person cannot log into your account or read your messages.

Other services may contain content that you don’t specifically own, but that you have a license to access. Examples include the movies you bought on iTunes, your video games from Steam, or the books on your Kindle.

“Typically, those licenses expire on passing, but not always,” says Parthemer. “Apple, for example, has been generous—a surviving spouse or family member may continue the iTunes account with the Apple ID of the deceased person.”

That said, your living relative can’t merge your old license with their own account, which makes things cumbersome. If the service in question offers a Family Sharing feature—like iTunes, Steam, Kindle, and others do—it may be easier to just enable that. With Family Sharing, your family member’s account will have access to your content, whether you’re alive or dead.

Prepare to share your passwords

Unfortunately, not all companies have features that allow you to pass on your data. For the ones that don’t, or that don’t offer granular enough controls, your best bet is to speak to an estate attorney about giving authorized access to your next of kin.

Merely scribbling down your passwords on a sheet of paper isn’t always enough. In many cases, your relatives are still legally prohibited from accessing your account without express permission. Thankfully, 41 states have adopted laws that allow you to declare who has access to what data—as long as you “include a provision in your will or revocable trust and your power of attorney,” says Parthemer. “Have a conversation with your advisor team to decide on the scope of the access.” Maybe you want them to see who you emailed, but not the contents of your email. Let them access just enough information to uncover any assets you may have forgotten about, like an old cryptocurrency wallet.

Now that your will gives your loved ones permission to access your accounts, you’ll need to provide some of those passwords. This is more difficult than it sounds, says Parthemer. “Passwords are constantly being changed, new accounts are being established, so it’s very difficult to keep an up-to-date list of all of one’s accounts and passwords. But there are companies that deal with password storage and administration of digital assets post-death.”

LastPass, for example—a password manager we’ve recommended many times—allows you to send specific passwords to another user in the event of your death. Just click Emergency Access in the extension’s sidebar to set it up.

Before you start these preparations for the sweet embrace of death, take some time to think about the people to whom you can entrust your digital life. In Parthemer’s words, “Be thoughtful about who will be in charge of these digital assets. There are some families, for example, where person 1 is going to be the individual appointed to administer the financial assets and other things, but that person may not be technology savvy. So maybe person 2 should be appointed to be the digital assets fiduciary.”

When you make your estate plan, you need to designate who should run what so you play to everyone’s strengths. A good estate attorney can ensure the language is crystal clear, so your friends and family won’t have to do any extra legwork during their time of grief.

The post How to prepare your digital life for your inevitable death appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Google is one of those “throw spaghetti at the wall” companies. It’s always exploring new areas of tech, whether it’s movies, gaming, cloud storage, or voice assistants. And to make those services more enticing, it often gives away free perks to sweeten the deal.

The company hides some of these offers behind menus in its apps, so you might miss out on free movie rentals, Android games, or other treats if you don’t check in occasionally. If you haven’t opened any of your Google apps in a while, you should take a peek to see what might be available.

Grab Google One benefits

My family uses Google Photos religiously, which requires paying for some extra storage with Google One. What I didn’t realize—until a friend pointed it out months after I signed up—was that Google One offers occasional benefits to subscribers, like discounts on hotels or Google Play credits you can use for games, movies, or books. Just download the Google One app for Android or head to the web interface and click the Benefits tab to see what promotions they’re currently running. Check back occasionally so you don’t miss any new ones that pop up.

Find offers in the Home app

Once upon a time, Google offered regular movie rentals and other perks for free if you had a Chromecast. Now that Chromecast has been combined with other smart products in the Home app, these offers have moved to a hard-to-find spot. In the Home app (for Android or iOS), tap the plus button in the upper left corner, then choose Offers. These don’t seem to appear as often as they used to, but the option is still there, so it’s worth checking once in a while.

Get perks for owning a Chromebook

If you have a Chromebook, Google offers some pretty sweet perks. They come and go, but at the time of this writing, there are some great freebies available, including 100GB of Google One storage for a year and free downloads of DOOM, DOOM II, Stardew Valley, and Duet Display—all of which work on Android phones and tablets as well as Chromebooks. I was able to redeem all of these on my older Chromebook without a problem, though your mileage may vary.

Find deals in Google Play

Google Play credits are some of the most common deals you’ll see from Google. They’re often hidden in Google’s other apps, but sometimes pop up in the Google Play Store itself. You may have to head to individual sections of the store, like Movies or Books, to see them. Look for banners offering free or 99-cent deals—Google will occasionally present these to certain accounts, so it’s a good idea to browse once in a while to see if you’re one of the lucky chosen.

Rack up credit from Google Opinion Rewards

If you aren’t familiar with Google Opinion Rewards, it’s basically an app that occasionally sends you super-quick surveys that can get you Google Play credit (on Android) or PayPal credit (on iOS). Most of the time, it’s just trying to improve Google’s data in Maps (asking you if you visited a certain location), search improvements (what were you trying to find when you searched for “watch men”?), or whether you used your credit card at a certain store. It’s probably not the app for privacy advocates, but you won’t be punished for declining surveys you aren’t comfortable with, and it can rack up rewards pretty quickly.

Keep an eye out for hardware offers

Sometimes, it seems like Google gives away Nest Minis like candy. At the time of this writing, YouTube Premium subscribers can get a Nest Mini for free (via this link), and Nest Aware subscribers can get a Nest Hub (which appears to be over email invitation)—handy deals if you already use one of those services. These types of offers aren’t always visible in the apps themselves, so keep an eye on news and deals sites to know when they pop up and how to access them.

Do some digging yourself.

The suggestions above aren’t necessarily the only places Google has offered free stuff, and they may find new avenues for these perks in the future. So while I recommend checking everything here once in a while, it never hurts to explore on your own. Whenever you download a new Google app or get a new piece of hardware, poke around the app to see if it has a section for free offers and sign up for email notifications (if you can handle the onslaught in your inbox). Keep an eye on news and deals sites, which may alert you to promos that aren’t hosted in Google’s apps (like this HBO/Google Play offer). You never know what you might find.

The post Google has free movies and games if you know where to look appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

At midnight, when your bedroom is pitch black, a text comes through that you just can’t resist. So you grab your phone, unlock the screen…and screech in horror as the blazing light sears your eyes. Sometimes, even the lowest brightness setting is too dang vivid. Here’s how to change it.

Most phones have a built-in Night Mode, but this doesn’t actually change the brightness. Instead, it adjusts the color temperature: Whites appear “redder” at night, blocking the blue light that can wreck your sleep. This is great for using your phone in the evening, but won’t soothe the pain of a too-bright screen in a too-dark room.

For that, you’ll need a different set of tools. While you can’t technically dim the backlight lower than the device allows, these software solutions add a black filter over the image on your phone. This gives it the illusion of lower brightness—and saves your eyeballs in the process.

iPhone: Reduce the white point

On the iPhone, dimming the screen is actually very easy. That said, you do have to hop through a few menus to find the right setting.

Open the Settings app on your phone and head to General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations. At the bottom of this screen, you’ll see an option to Reduce White Point. Turn this on and adjust the slider until the screen brightness suits your preferences. Counterintuitively, the higher you make the percentage, the lower the brightness will seem.

If you head back to the main Accessibility menu, you can create a shortcut to turn this on and off a little more quickly. Scroll down to Accessibility Shortcut option and tap it. Hit Reduce White Point so a checkmark appears. From now on, you can triple-click the home button to enable the feature, which will dim your phone when it’s just too bright. While you’re in this menu, you can also check some of the other options. If you do so, then triple-clicking the home button will pull up a menu with all the Accessibility options you’ve assigned to that shortcut.

Android: Download a screen-filter app

Every Android phone is a little different, but most lack a built-in white point setting like the iPhone’s. Instead, you’ll need to download a third-party app that can overlay an image on the screen—in this case, a transparent black filter that gives the appearance of lower brightness. There are plenty of apps with this feature, but we like Screen Filter for its simplicity.

Just open the app, set the filter brightness—the lower the slider, the dimmer the screen will become—and tap the Enable Screen Filter button. Your screen should immediately appear dimmer. If you have Android Oreo or above, you’ll notice that Screen Filter can dim everything except for the notifications drawer, but in my experience, that doesn’t make a huge difference.

There are a few small catches here. First of all, if you accidentally lower the screen brightness so far that you get a black screen, you’ll have a hard time finding the settings to undo that. In fact, you may have to reboot your phone by holding the power button until it resets. After a reboot, Screen Filter should be disabled, so you can go back and adjust its settings accordingly.

Second, since Screen Filter is using Android’s built-in overlay permissions, you may not be able to install some apps or use certain features while the app remains active. If you ever see an Install button that’s greyed out, try disabling Screen Filter to see if that helps.

If you want quicker access to Screen Filter, you can press and hold on the home screen to add its widget. You can also make your phone automatically enable Screen Filter’s dimmer settings at nighttime, by using the popular Tasker app. Just don’t forget to get some sleep, okay?

The post Your phone’s dimmest setting is still too bright. Here’s how to darken the screen even more. appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

You probably know the basic steps to getting good customer service: Be polite, keep your requests reasonable, and ask for a manager if things don’t go your way. But what happens when you’ve asked nicely, but a company still won’t refund your purchase—or worse, refuses to answer the phone in the first place? These tips will help you make customer service hear your claim.

Document everything

If your first round of calls bounces you from robot to robot, or the customer service representative you do reach turns down your refund request, your next step is to do some research and take stock of your case.

“Make sure the facts are on your side,” says Michelle Couch-Friedman, Executive Director of Elliott Advocacy, a consumer advocacy organization. “Read the terms and conditions of the company you’re contacting. If the terms don’t support your claim, then you’re wasting your time.”

If you’ve read up on the company and still believe you have a strong case, skip the phone. Instead, find the email address for customer service. This usually appears on an organization’s website, but if not, you can check out Elliott’s company database to dig up the right contact.

“As soon as you find out that the phone customer service representative is not going to help you, stay off the phone for the rest of your problem solving,” says Couch-Friedman. “You need to develop a paper trail.” That way, when you escalate the problem, you’ll have documented evidence that you started at the bottom, reaching out to the official customer-service channel, rather than jumping straight to emailing the CEO (which will rarely get you anywhere).

Couch-Friedman recommends sending the listed email address a short, polite message explaining your problem and the specific, reasonable resolution you hope to achieve. If you can, cite the rule or rules in the company’s terms that support your case.

It may also help to have a friend look over your message before you hit send. “We see people who are so angry that they’re sending out lots of extraneous information, with the complaint hidden somewhere inside that letter,” says Couch-Friedman. If you have a lot to say, then put it in bullet points—the more concise you can be, the better.

If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably reached out to customer service already. But if you did so over the phone, or with a too-long letter, you may want to repeat the process using the above recommendations. This will give you solid documentation, which will help once you move up the chain.

Escalate the right way

Everybody has a boss. Even if you’ve already asked to speak with a manager (or a phone representative who claimed to be the manager), there’s someone further up you can also talk to.

The most obvious method is to ask the current tier to refer you to their supervisors. But sometimes, the key to escalating is to reach out to a higher tier directly.

Once again, this is where third-party databases like Elliott’s come in handy. Look for the “Primary Contact,” usually with a title like “Communications Director” or “Vice President of Customer Relations.” If you can’t find an executive email address, Consumerist has a good guide to figuring it out. Send this person an email describing the problem you’re having, the resolution you’re hoping to achieve, and the trail you’ve followed so far.

With any luck, they’ll help you—or hand you off to someone who can. Again, if you’ve read up on the company policy and it’s on your side, you’ll probably get the result you want. However, that’s not always the case.

“Once in a while, you may find an unreasonable company that doesn’t really have an interest in customer service,” says Couch-Friedman. “That’s when you might have to escalate to a consumer advocacy organization.” Institutions like Elliott and Consumer Action might be able to check your work and tell you where you went wrong with your letter. Or, if they conclude you’re in the right, they can help publicize the issue and find a solution.

Just remember to start at the bottom and work your way up, rather than immediately trying to email executive customer service as your first step. If you have a paper trail showing you followed the proper channels first, you’re more likely to get the result you want. If you abuse those executive email addresses, you’re doing yourself—and everyone else—a disservice. Some companies have even been known to change those email addresses regularly to keep abusers of the system at bay.

Most important, keep your seething rage under control throughout this process. “It’s never good to unload your anger at a company if you’re hoping for a positive resolution,” says Couch-Friedman. “Telling a customer service representative that they’re a horrible company, you hate them, and you’re going to shame them on social media or go to a lawyer doesn’t propel your case in the right direction.”

Speaking of social media, we’ve all heard stories of tweets that have drawn immediate responses from brands on Twitter. True, reaching out to the company on social media isn’t bad—in fact, it can sometimes garner results! But unless you have enough of a following, you’ll get mixed results from shaming the organization. That threat, especially if you have a small list of followers, won’t convince most companies to help you.

If all else fails, dispute the charge on your credit card

If customer service won’t help, or proves to be non-existent, you may have another avenue available to you. In some cases—if you made a purchase and were billed incorrectly, or the product was not delivered as agreed upon—you can dispute the charges with your credit card company.

“The Fair Credit Billing Act protects consumers who use credit cards, but chargebacks are a last resort,” says Couch-Friedman. “If you do it too soon, you could end up ruining your case, especially if the bank sides with the company—which happens.” Similarly, if you abuse this too often, your credit card issuer will take notice, and it can even harm your credit rating.

That means you should only try to use a chargeback in cases of billing errors and fraud—not when you had a bad experience. For example, if you were charged twice for an item, or received your purchase in damaged condition, this is one way to get your money back. Even then, you need to make a good-faith attempt to resolve the issue with the company before you start disputing charges.

You can read more about the criteria for chargebacks at the FTC’s website. To file a dispute, you either call your credit card issuer or log into your account on their website and find the Dispute option.

Just remember that chargebacks aren’t foolproof either. Even if you win, it just means the charge disappears from your bill. But if a company that thinks they have a strong case, they can take your charges to collections.

At a certain point, you need to ask yourself whether the issue is worth your time, money, and energy to solve. Remember, your time has value, and if you’ve spent hours arguing over a $75 item, it might be time to fold and move on with your life. Of course, if you’re talking about thousands of dollars, you can always file a small claims lawsuit and keep pushing forward—but in most cases, you should be able to resolve your issue with these steps.

The post How to make customer service actually respond to you appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

No computer lasts forever, but to get the most out of your investment, you probably want to stretch its life out for as long as you can. Upgrades and repairs can carry your machine along for a decent amount of time, but at a certain point, you might be better off investing in a new computer instead of dribbling away your money on continuing maintenance.

Eventually, every computer slows down—even if you’re using it for the exact same things you were five years ago.

“Over time, you’ll get Windows updates, or a new version of macOS, and these things can weigh heavily on the PC,” says Joe Silverman, owner of New York Computer Help. Even some of your apps will update themselves over time, and the web pages you visit may just require more resources than they used to. (Remember what the web looked like in the 90s?). When the machine slows to a crawl, you’ll have to bite the bullet and spend your money on something better.

Before you shell out for a new set of RAM though, you should figure out what’s actually causing the slowdown. This will tell you whether you really need a replacement, or you’ll find it worthwhile to eke out more time with an incremental repair or upgrade.

Diagnose the problem

Your computer consists of multiple components, each with their own specific purpose. Any one (or more) of them could be causing your slowdowns or other issues. To make sure you spend your money in the right place, you need to diagnose the source of the problem.

First, make sure it isn’t a software issue. “It’s always good to run a virus or malware test, and make sure there are no infections in the background,” says Silverman. You can also check programs’ resource usage: On a PC, open the Windows Task Manager (hit Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and click More Details; on a Mac, open Spotlight (press Command+Space) and search for Activity Monitor instead. If you see one program gobbling up all the CPU or RAM, uninstalling it and replacing it with an alternative may speed things up.

“Check the operating system, too—there could be corruption somewhere,” says Silverman. “If you haven’t reinstalled the operating system in five years, it might be time.”

If you can’t narrow the issue down to just one program—or the problem lies with an essential one, like your web browser—then you may need to upgrade your hardware. During the next slowdown, open up that same Task Manager, head to the Performance tab, and look at your CPU and memory usage. If either of those graphs shows particularly high, sustained usage, you know which part probably requires an upgrade.

It’s also possible that one of your components is failing entirely. “Do a hard drive test with a program like HD Tune, which has a free trial,” says Silverman. “It will let you know how slow or abnormal some of the read-write activities are, and if your hard drive is failing.” I also like CrystalDiskInfo, which isn’t as thorough as HD Tune, but will give you a basic, clear idea of your hard drive’s health for free.

While you’re running through potential trouble areas, check your RAM as well. “Failing RAM could cause slowness, but it can also stop your computer from turning on, or it may shut down randomly,” says Silverman. “So run a RAM test like Memtest, which will check each stick and see if it’s good or not. If you have a bad stick, you want to make sure you replace it.”

Once you narrow down the problem to a specific component or two, you’ll be able to better target your repairs.

Run the numbers

Unfortunately, upgrading parts costs money—and some replacements are more worthwhile than others.

“RAM can definitely improve performance, and upgrading from a mechanical hard drive to a solid state drive, or SSD, is probably the best way to speed up your computer,” says Silverman. As a bonus, you can probably perform both of those upgrades yourself. “But I wouldn’t upgrade the motherboard or CPU,” he says, “since it’s going to be a nominal speed bump.” When you replace the CPU with a newer model, you often have to swap out other components to ensure compatibility—and at that point, you might as well just buy a new machine.

To determine whether an upgrade is worth your money, look at how much it will cost, and compare that to the computer’s age. “If the computer is seven years old or more, and it requires a repair that is more than 25 percent of the cost of a new computer, I’d say don’t fix it,” says Silverman. “If your computer is three to four years old, that’s a better time to start looking at an upgrade, since you can buy one to three more years of time.” At that age, you can probably get away with a repair that costs 50 percent of a new machine. Pricier than that, and again, you should think about a new computer.

Final thoughts

It would be great if we could tell you exactly what to do when your repair or replacement will have a specific cost. But it’s difficult to give hard numbers that apply to everyone. That’s why it helps to perform those diagnostics.

In general, if you know a single component bears the blame for slowing down your computer, upgrading that part can probably extend your machine’s lifespan by a few years. If a lot of components are struggling to keep up, you’re running on borrowed time. In that case, you’re probably better off buying a new PC.

The post When to repair your computer and when to replace it appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Ever feel like you have plenty of charging cables, but not enough adapters to plug them into the wall? It would be so much easier if your regular outlets just included USB ports. Luckily, you don’t need an electrician to make this change. Here are two easy ways to add USB ports to your walls.

The easy, no-hassle way: Plug-in adapters

Let’s start with the simplest option: Buy a multi-outlet adapter with USB ports and leave it plugged in.

Wall mount surge protector

The typical charging block is easy to lose because it’s so darn small, but if you get something like the APC Wall Mount Surge Protector, you can just leave it in the wall without sacrificing outlets—in fact, you’ll gain a few. You’ll find plenty of models like this on Amazon, albeit with different designs, but APC is a highly trusted name in surge protection, so we’re confident recommending it.

There are a few downsides to this option. First, you’ll obviously have to deal with some extra bulk in the wall—that’s unavoidable. Second, it provides 2.4 amps of power across both USB ports—which means it’ll charge two phones at once, or one larger tablet, but it won’t be able to charge a phone and a tablet at the same time.

Finally, the APC unit provides a screw that allows you to secure it to the wall using the screw hole in traditional outlets—but not all outlets will have that threaded hole in the middle. In those cases, you can still use the APC unit, but it won’t connect to the wall as securely, which means it may fall out easily when you unplug your charged device. You’ll experience this issue with just about any wall-mounted surge protector, so it’s up to you whether that’s worth the hassle-free installation.

The DIY way: Replace your outlet

If you’re willing to do a bit of electrical work, you can install an actual receptacle with built-in USB outlets. It’s remarkably easy to do, as long as you take the necessary precautions.

One quick caveat before you start: If you’re at all uncomfortable working with electricity, hire an electrician. Or at the very least, get a DIY-savvy friend to help you your first time. This is particularly important if you’re thinking about replacing GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) outlets, which protect you from electrical shocks in rooms with water sources—like the kitchen or bathroom. In this case, you may want to consult a professional first, especially if you aren’t sure how that room’s circuit is laid out.

For this guide, I’ll be installing this receptacle from TOPGREENER, which provides up to 2.4A of current for each USB port. It’s perfect for charging all your devices, including tablets. If you have a number of USB-C devices (or want to be prepared for the inevitable USB-C future), you can use this model instead, which outputs 5.8A for quicker USB-C charging on phones that support it. Whatever you get, make sure it’s UL-listed, which ensures it adheres to certain safety standards. You’ll also need a voltage tester like this one.

This video demonstrates how a non-contact voltage tester works.

To start, use your voltage tester on your outlet to ensure the tool works properly. If the outlet is hot, the device will turn red and beep repeatedly—that’s what you want to see. Check out the video above for more information on how to use your voltage tester properly. Do not skip this step or get lazy—it’s one of the most important things you can do to protect yourself from electric shock.

Next, head to your home’s circuit breaker box and switch off the power to the receptacle you’re replacing. Test the outlet again with your voltage tester to ensure it’s turned off (again, do not skip this step.) If your breakers aren’t labeled well, this step may take a little trial and error, so before you start flipping switches, first shut down any computers or other important devices.

Once you’re confident you’ve shut off the electricity to that outlet, you can unscrew the faceplate and remove it. You’ll then find two more screws under that, holding the outlet in place. Remove those and pull the outlet out of the wall.

Next, make note of which wires are connected to which terminals on the outlet. If your wires are properly colored, like mine were, you should have one or two hot wires (black) connected to one side with a gold screw, and one or two neutral wires (white) connected to the other side with a silver screw, along with a bare copper ground wire connected elsewhere on the outlet with a green screw. The wires may be be wrapped around screws, under clamping plates, or pushed through holes in the back of the outlet, depending on its design.

If these colors are reversed, all wires are black, or you see some other inconsistency, it’s a good idea to have an electrician come take a look. It’s always possible that the previous owner wired something improperly—and you don’t want to repeat their mistake.

Take a photo, so you can refer to how the original outlet was wired. Then unscrew the wires from their terminals and remove the outlet from the wall.

Now, install the new outlet with exactly the same connections as the old one. Connect the black wires to the hot terminals and the white wires to the neutral ones, just as they were before. Finally, connect the ground wire to the green screw, and then push the whole outlet back into the wall. This may take some strength, since those wires are thick. When you’re done, screw everything back in.

When everything is in place, flip the power back on and test the outlet. If it works, congratulations—you’ve successfully brought your home into the 21st century.

The post Add USB ports to your outlets without springing for an electrician appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

You’ve got a headache for the third time this week, and the culprit could be anything: stress, a migraine, a burgeoning cold, or any of a hundred other things you’ve found on WebMD. But what if the pain is just coming from eye strain?

What causes eye strain

The Vision Council says that more than 60 percent of people report symptoms of digital eye strain, including headaches, neck and shoulder pain, dry eyes, and blurred vision. But what is it about those screens that causes strain in the first place?

“Your eyes are relaxed when viewing object that are over 3 meters away,” says Michael J. Duerr, an optometrist in Rochester Hills, Michigan. “Anything closer than that, the eyes are working.” When you’re peering at an object that’s closer to you, your orbs need to turn inward, or “converge,” and focus on that thing.

“Holding this posture for long periods of time can cause the muscles and eyes to strain,” says Duerr. Imagine holding a squat for hours—your muscles would get unbearably sore. When you’re focused on nearby sights, the same thing is happening to your eyeballs.

On top of that, keeping that focused posture means we often forget to blink. “Humans blink about 15 times a minute, but studies show we blink half to a third of that while using computers and other digital screen devices,” says Purnima S. Patel, M.D., clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. And when you forget to blink, your eyes feel dry. One study even suggests that blinking may allow your brain to rest briefly, so you can focus more after each dip.

It isn’t just screens that tire out your orbs: “Extended reading, writing, or other intensive ‘near work’ can also cause eye strain,” Patel says. However, recent research shows that screens cause higher rates of eye strain and irritation than printed text.

So if you’re focusing intently on text or other close-quarters work for a long period of time—as most of us do every day in the digital age—you’re giving your eyes quite a workout. Hence that pesky headache.

How do you know if it’s actually eye strain

So what separates an eye-strain headache from something more run-of-the-mill? You can’t pin it down by its location. “The feeling of a headache behind the eye may seem like it is coming from inside the head, from the sinuses, or from the back of the eye itself,” Patel says. “A headache behind the eye may or may not throb with your pulse. Where you feel pain is not necessarily an indicator of what’s causing the pain.”

Even if the headache is right around your eyes, that isn’t always a surefire sign that you can blame eye strain. “Headache behind the eye may be associated with a migraine, and can be similar to pain around the eye, behind the eye, or in the eye,” she says.

A better way to figure out your pain’s cause is to try tracking the timing of your headaches. If you find those symptoms happen more often on workdays than weekends, or when you’ve been spending lots of time reading screens, there’s a good chance it’s related to eye strain.

Ultimately, though, there’s only one way to know for sure: “If you have a consistent headache and suspect it may be related to your eyes or vision, see an ophthalmologist,” says Patel. A professional can determine whether your symptoms are due to eye strain, or whether you need to see a different specialist.

If you don’t already have glasses, you may be surprised to hear that the American Optometric Association recommends getting an eye exam at least every two years. If it’s been a while since you visited an eye doctor, it’s probably time for another checkup—you may need glasses and not even know it, which could be contributing to your eye strain.

Your vision insurance plan should cover part, if not all, of an annual checkup. So as long as you make sure your local optometrist accepts your insurance, you have nothing to lose but an hour or two of your time.

Prevent eye strain

If you’re experiencing eye strain headaches, go ahead and take a couple ibuprofen or acetaminophen. However, you’re better off taking measures to stop them from happening again. So go ahead and check out our guide to preventing eye strain.

The post Is my headache actually eye strain? appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

As we age, our eyesight can get worse. Although lenses can compensate for these changes, many people worry that wearing glasses will make their eyes become dependent on visual correction. In other words, they think if you wear specs, your sight will deteriorate even more.

Thankfully, this is not how our peepers actually work.

“Wearing glasses will not make your eyes worse,” says Michael J. Duerr, an optometrist in Rochester Hills, Michigan. “Your actual prescription is based on the anatomy of the eye: the front curve of the cornea, the refractive power of the intraocular lens, and the length of the eyeball.” And peering through spectacles won’t change that anatomy, Duerr says. “Wearing glasses or soft contact lenses will not change what your required prescription is.”

But when you take off your glasses, the world seems blurrier than you remember. Does this indicate that you “need” your glasses more now than you did before you got them? Not necessarily. That change probably just means you’re getting used to seeing things clearly, according to the American Academy of Opthamology. Now that you know what the world is supposed to look like, it’s hard to go back—even if you thought your vision was fine before.

It’s true that you may find yourself needing stronger and stronger prescriptions as the years go on, but again: This isn’t a result of wearing glasses. Our vision deteriorates as we get older, and chances are, you’ll need to upgrade your prescription from time to time.

That brings us to another interesting worry: Some people fear that wearing an incorrect or outdated prescription can cause their eyesight to get worse. This is also a myth, at least in the case of adults—two studies found that incorrect prescriptions did slightly increase the progression of myopia, or nearsightedness, in children.

In addition, the special glasses given to children with crossed eyes or a lazy eye can actually change them—but in a good way. These aids help straighten the eye. The real harm comes from not using them, according to the Opthamology Department at Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin: “Not wearing such glasses may lead to permanently defective vision.”

But don’t fear wearing glasses: There’s no evidence that the correct prescription will worsen eyesight in children or adults. As long as you stick with your annual or bi-annual checkups, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Wear your specs whenever you need them, and enjoy the privilege of seeing clearly.

The post Will wearing glasses make my vision worse? appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Ever tried carrying around a bowling ball for nine hours a day? Your arms would get pretty tired. Well, that’s what you’re doing to your eyes when you stare at screens all day.

This may sound like an exaggeration, but you probably spend more time on your computer or phone than you think: Two 2016 surveys found that adults look at screens for around nine hours per day. That’s at least half of your waking hours. All that staring can really give your eyes a workout—and as a result, you might experience headaches, dry eyes, or blurred vision. So how can you prevent that when more and more of your work and personal life is happening on screens?

Why do screens cause eye strain?

You use your eyes all day. So what is it about screens that irritates them so much? According to Purnima S. Patel, M.D., clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology, “The discomfort some people have after looking at screens is most likely digital eye strain. Most of us blink less when looking at screens, causing eye strain and dry eyes.”

Although reading printed books for extended periods can also tire your eyes, the inherent characteristics of screens make the problem worse. “Viewing a computer or digital screen is different than reading a printed page,” according to the American Optometric Association. “Often the letters on the computer or handheld device are not as precise or sharply defined, the level of contrast of the letters to the background is reduced, and the presence of glare and reflections on the screen may make viewing difficult.”

Screens may be irritating, but thankfully, any damage they deal to your eyes is not permanent. And you can alleviate the pain with a few minor changes to the way you work.

How to give your sore eyes a break

By far the best thing you can do is take your eyes off the screen. “Take regular breaks using the ‘20-20-20’ rule,” says Patel. “Every 20 minutes, shift your eyes to look at an object at least 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds.” If your eyes have been feeling dry, then you can also take advantage of those breaks to refresh your peepers with some “artificial tears” drops.

In between breaks, when you are tapping away at your computer, you can at least minimize the amount your eyes have to work. Reduce the brightness on your screen to a comfortable level. You’ll find these controls in the settings of your phone or tablet, and on the monitor or keyboard of your computer. If your glossy screen is prone to glare, you may also want to turn down the lights, re-position your monitor, or use an anti-glare screen protector to minimize reflected light.

If you can swap your laptop or tablet for an e-reader, that might also help. E-ink screens like Amazon’s Kindle treat your eyes more like paper does than like the backlit screens of computers and tablets do. In fact, research shows they cause significantly less visual fatigue.

In addition, make sure you aren’t sitting too close to your computer. The top of your computer’s screen should sit just below eye level, at a distance of 20 to 28 inches—or about one arm’s length—away from your face. If you have trouble reading from that distance, don’t bring your face closer. Instead, try increasing the print size so you don’t have to strain to focus.

Eye strain isn’t the only issue screens can cause. They also disrupt your sleep. While Patel says, “There is no scientific evidence that blue light from digital devices causes damage to your eye,” she does explain that it can affect your body’s circadian rhythm. “During the day, blue light wakes us up and stimulates us,” she says. “But too much blue-light exposure late at night from your phone, tablet, or computer can make it harder to get to sleep.” So if you can, avoid screens starting about two to three hours before your typical bedtime.

Finally, if you wear glasses, make sure your prescription is up to date—and if you don’t, then it might be time for an eye exam. “Uncorrected or under-corrected vision problems can be major contributing factors to computer-related eye strain,” states the American Optometric Association. Even if you think your vision is fine, if you’ve been having eye strain problems—and it’s been a few years since your last exam—you might solve the issue with a pair of glasses. But, Patel says, “Skip the glasses that claim to protect your eyes against blue light.” There’s not much evidence suggesting they are effective.

The post How to prevent eye strain when you stare at screens all day appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

It’s become a sad reality of the modern world: Someday, your credit card information will fall into the wrong hands. Maybe hackers will compromise the number in a large data breach like the recent one at Newegg.com. Or maybe you’ll get unlucky and leave the plastic in the grocery store checkout line. (Even if someone returns a lost card, you should assume the information on it has been compromised.)

Either way, you’ll need to take immediate action. Here’s what to do if someone gains access to your credit card information.

Reach out to the credit card company

“The most important thing you can do is act rapidly,” says Rod Griffin, director of consumer education and awareness at credit bureau Experian.

As soon as you suspect your card may be compromised, log into the website of its issuer and check your statement for any unauthorized transactions. Then give your credit card issuer a call—you’ll find the customer support number on the back of the card (if you still have it) or on the website. You should reach out even if you haven’t noticed any suspicious activity—just because no transactions have shown up yet doesn’t mean they won’t appear soon.

Once you let the company know your information has been stolen, they’ll likely cancel the card and send you a new one. If the thieves made any unauthorized transactions, you’ll have to walk through these items with the issuer. If your card number, rather than the plastic itself, was stolen, you won’t be liable for those charges. Similarly, if you report the theft before any charges are made, you won’t be liable. Unfortunately, if neither of those situations apply to you, you might be on the hook for up to $50, but it depends on the card issuer’s policy—some may not charge you anything.

Keep in mind that those rules only apply to credit cards—debit cards do not have the same protections. This means the later you report the theft, the more money you’ll be responsible for.

Once you’ve made your initial contact, your next step depends on whether your card was part of a larger-scale breach. If so, you’ll receive a breach notice with a list of next steps you should follow.

“The breach notice will give you instructions for working with the organization that had the breach,” says Griffin. “They may also offer free identity theft monitoring services, which can help alert you to this use of your information so you can take action immediately.”

In fact, you may also ask your credit card company about identity theft monitoring services, as they may already offer a similar service that sends you an email or text message you when suspicious charges appear.

Depending on the situation: Check your credit report

“In most cases, when your credit card number is stolen, they aren’t really interested in your identity,” says Griffin. “They want to take that card, use it to make some purchases, and then disappear—not perform other sorts of financial frauds.” Unfortunately, that’s not always the situation.

If you suspect that the thieves might have other personal information of yours—especially something private like your social security number—you’ll want to keep an eye out for larger-stakes identity theft.

If that possibility worries you, you should request a copy of your credit report. Ensure you don’t see any newly-opened accounts that don’t belong to you, and then add a one-year fraud alert to it. This forces lenders to undergo extra identity verifications before they open a new account in your name. The fraud alert can be annoying—it will slow down the process if you’re trying to open a new account for yourself—and it isn’t imperative every time this happens. Still, it may be a worthwhile protection.

“We recommend you get your credit report at least once every 12 months anyway, to make sure everything is what it should be,” says Griffin. “You can do that free at annualcreditreport.com, which is the federal free credit report site.”

Note that your credit report does not include your credit score, which isn’t particularly important in this scenario. If you want to check your credit score as well, you can do so separately by contacting one of the three bureaus. Just make sure that in doing so you don’t automatically sign up for any credit-monitoring services you don’t want, as these may charge you monthly fees.

Final clean-up

Once you’ve contacted the credit card issuer (and possibly protected your credit), the company should send you a new card in the mail. Then it’s time to perform a few final tasks.

Even though your old card was cancelled, you should still destroy it. Because it contains personal information, dumpster divers could use it for identity theft (just like much of your other trash). Cut it up into multiple pieces or shred it with a cross-cut shredder. If your card is made of actual metal, request an envelope from the credit card company, ship it back to them, and they’ll destroy it for you. Or, if the issuing bank has a physical branch near you, you may also be able to take it to them for destruction.

Finally, don’t forget to enter your new credit card number on any recurring bills, such as your cable subscription, Netflix account, and so on. Some companies, like American Express, can automatically redirect those recurring charges to your new card, but it’s still a good idea to change the numbers as soon as you have the option.

And if you weren’t already checking your credit card statements regularly, start a new habit. “You need to monitor your billing statements,” says Griffin. “You’ll see signs of fraud there before you will on your credit report.” This early detection can prevent the larger hassles that ensue if a thief goes unnoticed.

The post Credit card stolen or lost? Here’s what to do. appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Ever since I got a phone with wireless charging, it’s been hard to go back. Plugging my phone into the wall feels time-consuming and archaic, and with rumors of a port-less iPhone on the horizon, it’s clear that wireless charging is here to stay. It’s too bad those little circular pads are so ugly.

While there are chargers that disguise themselves as regular decor (like lamps or picture frames), I wanted something even more invisible. So I grabbed the end table next to my couch, carved a hole in the underside, and glued in a wireless charger. Now I can juice up just by plopping my phone on the table.

Stats

• Time: 3 hours
• Material cost: $50 (not including the table)
• Difficulty: easy

Materials

• A table
• A wireless charger
• A Quick Charge 3.0 power adapter
• An extra-long charging cable

Tools

• A chisel and mallet
• A hot glue gun
• Pencil
• Tape measure
• (Optional) a woodworking router

Before you start

1. Choose a table. Obviously, you’ll need a surface to convert to a wireless charger. I used this end table I had in my office, since it was cheap enough that I didn’t have to worry about ruining it if I messed up. You can use any table you have on hand, though I wouldn’t necessarily do this with a valuable family heirloom. Alternatively, you could build your own table or computer desk and integrate these steps into the process.

2. Select a wireless charger. I’m using an inexpensive charging pad from Anker with a QC 3.0 adapter for fast charging, plus an extra-long cable to reach the outlet a few feet away—but any charging pad should do the job, as long as it still works if there’s a few millimeters of space between the pad and the phone. Aukey even has one with multiple coils, so you don’t have to hit a specific “sweet spot” for your device to charge (though I haven’t tested that pad myself).

3. Plan your pad placement. Put your table in its home—mine’s next to the couch in my office—and think about where you want to put your phone for charging. For me, it was the corner closest to the couch, though you may want it a bit more out of the way if you want room for drinks or other knickknacks. Figure out where that spot is on the other side of the tabletop, and trace the outline of your charging pad—be sure to include some room for the charging cable’s micro-USB end, too.

Carve your housing

I recommend doing this outside or in the garage, since you will be making a little bit of a mess (even if you aren’t using power tools). The exact steps for this project will vary a bit, depending on your table’s construction and the tools you have available. Get your tools ready—it’s time to start carving.

4. See what your table is made of. Head out to your workspace and put something soft down so your table doesn’t scratch against the ground. Then flip your table over, grab your chisel, and hammer it into the underside just a little bit, prying it up to see what’s inside. This is how I discovered that my table, like many inexpensive tables, was made of extremely cheap particle board—almost like cardboard—that came apart pretty easily. Some tables are nothing but honeycomb cardboard inside, which would make this project incredibly simple.

• Note: If your table is real wood, or you’d rather use a power tool than some elbow grease, you can use a router in the next step to finish the job in no time. If you aren’t familiar with the tool, there are plenty of YouTube videos that can get you started.

5. Carve a hole for your charging pad. I wasn’t sure how my table’s material would react to power tools, so I stuck with the chisel. When you begin scraping, make sure your off hand isn’t in the line of fire should your chisel slip, and start taking off just a little bit at a time from inside the area you traced in Step 3.

• Tip: If you haven’t used a chisel before, there are a ton of great videos on proper technique, but I really like this one, which shows all the different ways it can be used to dig a big hole in a piece of wood. That said, I was working with cheap, crumbly particle board, so I didn’t need my mallet much, nor did I need it to look super pretty. No one’s going to see the underside of my table anyway.

6. Test fit, and keep carving if necessary. Once you get deep enough, see if your charging pad fits flush in the hole—you may find you need to take a bit more off the sides. Again, it doesn’t have to look perfect. If your table is anything like mine, it’ll be pretty difficult to get a clean edge, so just make it functional.

• Tip: To stay clean, vacuum up the dust and shavings as you go with a shop-vac.

7. See if your phone charges. Once you start feeling like you’ve chiseled through to the other side of the table, hold your charging pad in the hole, plug it into the wall, and see if your phone will charge through the surface. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to go a little deeper. Keep checking its charging ability as you go, and be careful—if you punch a hole through the table, it’s all over!

8. Glue the charging pad in place. Once your phone can charge reliably through the table, spread some hot glue around the edges of the hollow and press the charging pad in place. Do this quickly, as hot glue sets within seconds. When it’s done, flip your table back over. It won’t look any different than when you started, but now it has some secret superpowers.

• Note: There are a few ways to attach your charging pad to the underside of your table, but I went with hot glue—it’s easy and strong while remaining removable if you have to adjust things.

Tidy up and plug in

With your table all finished, put it back inside and plug it in—you now have a table with built-in wireless charging.

There are a few other things I recommend at this stage. First, grab a few zip-ties or cable clips to route your charging cord under the table and down one of the legs—the better you can hide this, the more impressive the final product will look. I was able to get the cable running down the back leg and under the couch for a barely-visible tether.

You’ll also want something on the surface of the table to denote where the charging pad is, since your phone needs to be right on the center “sweet spot” in order to charge. You have a few options here: you can mark the edges of where your phone should lie, or mark the center of the charging pad. The former makes it easier to “aim” your phone as you place it down, but the latter looks a bit cleaner, so that’s what I went with. I put this fun little Space Invaders decal on my table, but you can do anything—a little carving, a spot of clear nail polish, or a little cross cut out of electrical tape.

If you want to get really nerdy, you could even use a small Wi-Fi QR code, so your friends can charge their phones and connect to your Wi-Fi in one fell swoop. Just make sure you put it in the right spot—I used a tape measure on the underside of the table to find the center of the charging pad, then used those measurements on top to find the sweet spot for my sticker.

I have to admit, as rough as the underside of my table looks, the finished product looks fantastic in my office, and I get all the convenience of wireless charging without losing space on my table. It even works with a case on my phone, though your mileage may vary with thicker coverings.

The post Build a wireless charger right into a table appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Working from home is a blessing and a curse—you get the freedom to work how you want, but the temptation to slack off is strong. It’s easy to stick to your job when your boss is breathing down your neck, but at home, even the best noise-canceling headphones won’t keep you from doomscrolling through news 15 times an hour. If you need to buckle down, you need a digital workspace that’s conducive to focus.

Start fresh with a new user profile

Our personal computers have more shortcuts and automations than ever. What once took a few clicks and keystrokes now takes a single gesture, making it far too easy to check Facebook as soon as your attention starts to falter. So if you want to truly block out distractions, start with a clean slate—without any of your bookmarks, auto-filling passwords, and other automations.

The easiest thing to do is create a new profile in your browser of choice. In Google Chrome, just click your current profile image in the upper right-hand corner, then choose Add. Name your profile “Work” (or something to that effect), and Chrome will present you with a fresh browser window, ripe for customization with only the tools you need for your job. (If there’s a lot of crossover between your work and personal tools, you may want to split those up as well—for example, make a separate LastPass account with only your work-related passwords.)

I’d start with the clean Chrome profile and work with that for a while—it may be all you need. If you do a lot of work outside the browser, you can take the slightly more drastic measure of creating a new user account for the entire computer. In Windows, just head to Settings > Accounts > Family & Other Users and choose Add Someone Else to This PC. In macOS, navigate to System Preferences > Users & Groups, click the lock to make changes, and click the plus sign to add a new user.

I’ve heard of people going even further by using an entirely separate PC for work—in some cases resorting to an old PC that can’t run modern apps, or a dedicated writing tool like Freewrite. Installing a minimal Linux distribution would work well, too, though again, start small and work your way up if you need it.

Go totally full-screen

Even if you have a desktop dedicated entirely to work, other work apps can still distract you. Plenty of research shows that multitasking isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and if you’re constantly switching between writing and email—even if it’s work-related email—you’ll experience diminished cognitive performance. So when you need to plow through something, you need to block everything else out.

We writers tend to be a scatterbrained bunch, which has created a market for full-screen, distraction-free writing tools like FocusWriter, Q10, and many others. They fill the entire screen with nothing but a plain text box (often with soothing sound effects or calming backgrounds), so you can focus on the one thing in front of you. You don’t need to be a writer to adopt this sort of workspace, though. Both Windows and macOS have full-screen modes that allow you to cover your entire monitor with a single application. So whether you’re trudging through spreadsheets or binge-writing code, you can cover up your taskbar, other windows, and notifications with an edge-to-edge window.

On Windows, this varies a bit from app to app. Many “Universal Windows Platform” apps that you get from the Microsoft Store will go full-screen when you press Win+Shift+Enter, while other desktop apps might have their own full-screen modes (Chrome can go full-screen with F11, for example). Not every app has this ability, though you can always approximate something similar by hiding the taskbar (right-click on the taskbar, then hit Taskbar Settings and Automatically Hide the Taskbar in Desktop Mode) and turning on Focus Assist (Settings > System > Focus Assist) to block notifications.

Apple has built a full-screen mode into macOS as well, and it works with plenty of apps—just click the green full-screen button in the upper left corner of a given window. Some apps may have their own full-screen shortcuts, too.

Tune in to focus-enhancing music

It’s hard to force that “flow state” that gets you into a steady groove at work, but music can help—at least, certain kinds of music. As we’ve discussed in the past, research points to lyric-free, somewhat fast-paced music as ideal for productivity, making video game soundtracks a surprisingly good choice. (I’m listening to the heavy metal grind of Doom’s soundtrack as I write this.) Spotify has a whole set of focus-oriented playlists in different genres as well, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find something that suits your fancy. There are apps and services completely geared around productivity-focused music too, like Brain.fm and Focus@Will, though they come with separate monthly subscription fees.  

Block distracting sites from tempting you away

If you need an extra layer of accountability, there are plenty of tools that will block time-wasting sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Tetris so you can stick to the task at hand. 

Chrome extension StayFocusd is one of the most popular options. You can add any domain you want to a list of blocked sites, and set a window of time during the day—like 9 to 5—that StayFocusd blocks you from visiting those pages. If you need something stronger, StayFocusd’s “nuclear option” allows you to restrict all sites except those you specify. You can even force a “challenge” that requires you to type a block of text, without typos, before you can continue—making it more difficult to change StayFocusd’s settings and work around the blocks you’ve set. It’s pretty powerful, provided all your distractions are on the web.

If you need something system-wide, Freedom is another feature-rich option that can block desktop apps, set the days and times you want those apps blocked, and track your time to see your biggest distractions. Freedom costs just under $30 per year, though, so you’ll need to pay for that extra power.

It’s okay to take breaks: just schedule them first

None of these tools are panaceas—they’ll just help you along the way. But if you aren’t committed to trying, you probably won’t get anywhere. You’ll still need to take an active role in focusing on work.

Part of that active role, though, means knowing when to give yourself some leeway. Taking regular breaks can aid in productivity when done properly, not to mention prevent eye strain and other tension in your body. The key is scheduling those breaks ahead of time, rather than continually giving in to distractions whenever you feel the slightest tug. So set a timer and make yourself work for 30 minutes (read up on the Pomodoro Technique for more), or set alarms in an app like Google Calendar to schedule your day. If you can look forward to that break, maybe you can stay focused long enough to finish the task at hand without temptation.

The post How to block out digital distractions and get work done appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Amazon’s review system helps shoppers separate the great from the garbage. But as the retail giant grows ever bigger, its sheer number of reviews is expanding—and some of them are less than reliable. Here are a few tricks to discern which reviews are genuine so you can judge products as they deserve.

Not all suspicious reviews are outright fakes. Sure, some may come directly from a company’s PR team, but others may result from regular people who received money to try a product. Once upon a time, Amazon allowed companies to offer discounts on items, as long as the buyer left a review—an obviously problematic practice, since it incentivizes people to leave positive reactions. Amazon banned this practice two years ago, but as the Washington Post notes, those incentivized reviews didn’t disappear. They just moved to more secretive corners of the internet, such as Facebook groups where companies pay regular folks to leave five-star reviews.

Amazon claims that only 1 percent of its reviews are fake, but even if that’s true—which is up for debate—it means a few million fake reviews are still floating around the site, likely concentrated heavily in certain product categories. Here’s how to hone your BS detection skills.

Let sites analyze an item for you

Fake reviews tend to share certain characteristics: They often contain specific repeated phrases, appear at the same time as a large influx of positive reactions, or come from users who have reviewed multiple products from the same brand. Thankfully, when you set out to detect these traits, you don’t have to read every single review yourself.

Two online tools will do the heavy lifting for you: Fakespot and ReviewMeta. Just paste the URL of an Amazon product into either site, and it’ll analyze that item’s reviews for the tell-tale signs of fakery. Both sites will then throw out the suspicious reviews to offer an “adjusted rating.”

However, neither site is perfect—and they both admit as much. There are no characteristics that guarantee a review is fake, and a computer algorithm can only do so much. As a result, glancing at these adjusted ratings is just a first step. ReviewMeta in particular lets you drill down into a more detailed report to learn more about what repeated phrases were used, which users left suspicious reviews, and so on. You should take advantage of this feature, because it’s important to trust your own judgment above all else.

Look for patterns and suspicious language

If you see the same language repeated over and over again in a number of reviews, that could indicate of foul play. Both Fakespot and ReviewMeta take this into account, but some repeated phrases are more suspicious than others. To suss that out for yourself, you’ll need to look through the reports.

For example, if you’re looking at reviews for a phone charging cable, you might see the phrase “great quality for the price” recur again and again. That statement on its own isn’t too strange. It’s much odder to read the exact phrase “i bought these for my iphone 7 plus and they transfer data to the computer really well and get it charged without any problem” in multiple reviews.

Similarly, look for full mentions of a product’s brand or name. It’s not normal for multiple people to refer to, say, an “Inner Ear Bluetooth Headphones with Bass Boost Technology™.” Look through the reviews and analyzer reports yourself to decide what really sounds suspicious.

Lastly, both services check each reviewer’s history for certain criteria. For example, if a reviewer only has one review—or has multiple reviews for products from the same brand—that could mean something fishy, especially when combined with unusual repeated phrases. If they wrote about those products within days of each other, that’s even more suspicious. You can even check the reviewer’s wish list—if multiple dubious reviewers have the exact same items on their wish lists, then those products might be planted.

Again, none of these characteristics necessarily proves that a review is fake, but if the text shares a few of these patterns, you’re probably better off ignoring it. Move on to the next reaction for real information about the product.

Watch for incentivized reviews

While Amazon has banned companies from incentivizing reviews through its platform, a number of those reviews are still floating around from the old days. If you see a phrase like “I have received this product for a discount in exchange for my honest review,” it’s probably left over from that old program. That means it isn’t fake, per se, but you should definitely take it with a grain of salt.

Strangely, though, Amazon still allows incentivized reviews from people Amazon incentivizes itself. The company recruits certain reviewers for its Vine program, which offers free or discounted products in exchange for what Amazon says should be an “honest” review.

The vetting process is more rigorous than for third-party incentivized reviews, but if you see a “Vine” badge on any review, keep in mind that they probably got that product for free. That means they may not judge its performance it in a totally impartial fashion.

Remember that fake reviews don’t tell the whole story

Even if you detect questionable reviews with these methods, that doesn’t mean you should necessarily avoid the product. It merely indicates that some of its reviews aren’t completely reliable.

So once you’ve filtered out the fakes, take care to read the trustworthy reviews more closely. Three- and four-star reviews may be more enlightening than one- or five-star ones, since fake reviews tend to fall on more extreme ends of the spectrum (yes, companies sometimes leave one-star reviews on their competitors’ products). Trust your own BS detector, do your due diligence—and remember that Amazon reviews aren’t the only assessments out there.

For example, you might find a professional reviewer with similar tastes and read up on their favorite products. Try asking a friend for recommendations. And, when all else fails, remember Amazon’s generous return policy. If a product doesn’t live up to expectations, send it back and try something else. Just be sure to pay it forward and leave a review for other shoppers.

The post A savvy shopper’s guide to spotting fake Amazon reviews appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Sticking to a budget is hard…because it’s just so boring. Who has the motivation to painstakingly enter every purchase into a spreadsheet when you could be doing literally anything else? Instead of relying on your own willpower to curb your spending, we collected a few offbeat tricks to keep you on track.

First of all, many of us approach budgeting with the wrong attitude. “Most of the time, we don’t have a goal in mind,” says journalist Kristin Wong, author of Get Money: Live the Life You Want, Not Just the Life You Can Afford. “People come up with a budget and then say, ‘I’m done, that’s taken care of.’ But they don’t realize that budgeting is an ongoing process.” According to Wong, you should make a habit of regularly revisiting your budget. Don’t treat it as something you can work on once and then ignore for months.

This sustained effort can wear you down. So before you come up with your budget, think about why you’re doing it. “Say your friends want to go out to a fancy restaurant, and you’re trying to cut back on restaurant spending,” says Wong. “You’re probably going to give in if your only reason is ‘I want to be a responsible adult.’ But if you come up with a specific and meaningful goal, like ‘I’m trying to save $1,000 for a trip to New York,’ then you’re more likely to say no to things.” You provide that motivation by focusing on what you’re saying yes to.

But in the age of monthly subscriptions, Amazon, UberEATS, and Apple Pay, it’s easier than ever to tap a button and exceed your spending goals without ever “seeing” the money go away. Here are a few tricks for more mindful budgeting.

Force yourself to wait

One way to stay true to your budget: Avoid impulse buys. It’s so easy to grab something off the shelf, say “This looks neat,” and buy it without another thought. That’s why Wong came up with what she calls the “10/10 rule”.

“Whenever I’m contemplating a purchase,” she says, “I spend 10 minutes thinking about it.” That’s the first roadblock—you have to actually consider why you want this thing. Then there’s a second review. “If I spend more than 10 minutes thinking about it, I look at the price,” Wong says. “If it’s $10 or less, I just buy it. If it’s more, it automatically goes back.” More often than not, she says, she ends up avoiding the purchase, because she doesn’t want to waste that 10-minute thinking period—and she knows that if she has to invoke the rule, it’s probably an unnecessary impulse purchase anyway. On the occasions she does give in, she only spent $10 or less, so it isn’t a budget killer.

Online shopping, especially on sites where you’ve saved your credit card information, makes impulse purchases even more impulsive. But you can apply a method similar to the 10/10 rule by forcing yourself to pause before you click “buy.”

For example, the Chrome browser extension Amazon Contemplate forces you to wait 30 seconds before checking out, which gives you time to wonder if you really need that item. Half a minute doesn’t seem very long, but on the internet, it’s like going back to using dial-up—you might be surprised how quickly you move on to doing something else.

As another delaying tactic, you can always unlink your credit cards from all those online shopping sites. If you have to type in your card numbers every time you shop, you build that thinking time into the process.

In addition, Wong suggests writing your spending goal on a piece of paper and taping it to your laptop, or writing it on your physical credit card. That way, the number confronts you, making you hesitate before confirming a purchase. Just be sure to change the color of the sticky note once a week or so, so it doesn’t start blending into the scenery.

Automate your savings

One of the most important goals of your budget should be saving some of your income—and it doesn’t really matter how you get there. One friend of a PopSci editor says that whenever she receives a $5 bill, she puts it in her savings instead of spending it. Sure, that’s arbitrary and a little silly, but as long as it increases the money in that account, it works.

Wong does something similar with an online bank called Qapital, which has a smartphone app that helps you save for your goals.

“When I successfully fight an impulse purchase, I save that money in Qapital,” she says. “So, when my husband and I go out to dinner and say ‘We’re going to be good and not get a drink’—which here in LA can save you $30—we’ll actually save that $30 in our Qapital account, and use it for travel or whatever.” In effect, this turns saving into a game, which makes it more enticing.

Qapital also contains lots of automation features. For example, you can set it to save a certain amount whenever you spend money at a specific establishment.

“I want to punish myself if I go to eat at Jack in the Box,” Wong says, “so I have it save $20. Now that $10 Jack in the Box meal, which I only eat because it’s convenient, costs me $30.” With this method, you either end up avoiding the purchase entirely (which saves you money), or giving in (which also saves money)—it’s a win-win.

Just don’t go too overboard with the automation, Wong says. It can backfire, because it allows you to spend without really paying attention. Take an app like Mint, which can automatically categorize all your spending. Even if you’re tempted to let the program chug along in the background while you think of other things, you still need to check in regularly to see if you’re on track. Otherwise, that budget won’t do you any good.

Set impassable spending limits

If you still can’t get your spending under control, you might have to take a slightly more extreme tack and cut yourself off after spending a certain amount.

Financial guru Dave Ramsey developed what he calls the Envelope System to do just that. Instead of using a spreadsheet or app to track your spending, you take out physical cash and put it into envelopes: say $500 for groceries, $100 for clothes shopping, and so on, adjusting the amounts to fit your individual budget. When an envelope runs out of cash, you’re done—you can’t spend any more in that category until next month.

“This forces you to be more mindful with your money because it ticks that pain point of having to fork over the cash,” says Wong. “I’ve tried all the tricks in the book, and if your spending has really gotten out of control, nothing works as well as just using cash.”

Of course, cash-only becomes difficult in the face of online shopping, but you can do something similar with reloadable prepaid debit cards. Just grab a card for each of your hard-to-budget spending categories, load them up with the amount you want to spend, and shop with those cards only. Once you empty that card’s balance, you’re done until you reload it at the end of the month. More modern services like Akimbo can take care of card-loading with the help of a smartphone app that tracks your spending.

Just remember that prepaid debit cards often come with fees. Still, if they keep you from overspending, that small price may still be worth it in the long run.

These tricks don’t just apply to fun activities like shopping or eating in restaurants. You need to look at your budget and note where you’re most likely to overspend. The results may surprise you.

One recent study found that we often impulsively spend on utilitarian products in an effort to feel a sense of control. Since there’s less guilt associated with household items (they’re easier for us to classify as “needs” rather than “wants”), it’s easier to overspend on them. But it’s important to watch all spending categories, including necessities, closely. After all, you need food to live, but that doesn’t mean you should blow your budget on fancy groceries instead of more moderately-priced staples.

Too strict to fail

Lastly, don’t be too hard on yourself. Instead, make a little room for failure.

“Give yourself an impulse budget,” Wong suggests. “We all give in every now and then—our willpower can only take us so far—but if you give yourself a limit every month, you know you only have so much to splurge.” And if you let yourself indulge a little bit, you’re less likely to go all-out and destroy your budget completely.

The post Budgeting is tedious. These tricks make it easier. appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

As a lazy homebody, I shop for almost everything online—except clothes. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer to go to the mall, try on multiple sizes, and visit a few stores to find the perfect fit.

But things are not so simple in the midst of a pandemic. Some states, like California and Florida, are suffering from strong infection surges and authorities are asking people to stay home. And even in places where stores are reopening due to low infection rates, there are a lot of people who still feel uncomfortable going out for anything non-essential, like clothes shopping.

If either is your case, and you simply need to wear something other than those gray sweatpants, you’ll have to venture online.

Measure yourself and look for size charts

You might know that you usually wear a large, but a large at one store is not the same as a large at another. Knowing your exact measurements is the first step to finding the right fit online, so grab a flexible tape measure—or a piece of string—and write them down.

I could detail how to take each measurement here, but it’s best to see it in video form—so check out this video for female-bodied folks and this video for male-bodied to start. It doesn’t hurt to watch a few video guides, as they’ll all have little tips and tricks to get things just right (like measuring yourself with and without a bra for a more accurate fit).

Then, when you’re shopping on a site, look for the brand’s size chart to see where you lie. You may find a link to the sizing chart on the page for a given item, or you might find it at the footer of the store’s website. In theory, it’ll let you know whether you’re a large or an extra large for that particular brand, and control the kind of fit you want for a particular piece of clothing.

I wouldn’t stop there, though.

Find your best-fitting clothes and compare them

Many folks will tell you that taking your measurements is the most important tip when shopping online. I disagree—it’s an important first step, but it only takes you so far. Some brands may not have entirely accurate sizing charts, thanks to vanity sizing, sub-par quality control, and the wide variation between each of our bodies (not to mention personal fit preferences). Even if the size chart is accurate, it only shows you the closest match to your measurements—not whether an item will fit the way you want. Instead, you’d be better off using some of your favorite clothes as a benchmark.

You know what I’m talking about: that one t-shirt that fits you perfectly, or that one pair of jeans you’ve never been quite able to find again. Grab your favorite items from your closet, note the brand, style, and size, and see how it compares to other brands.

There are a few online tools that can help you in this endeavor, but they’re often startups, which means they come and go like feathers in the wind. Fitbay, for example, was a tool that compared clothes from various brands, and used your measurements to match you up with “body doubles” to find clothes that fit similarly. The service is now defunct, but two infographics—still viewable at Bustle and Lifehacker—can help you determine which brands will fit your body type based on Fitbay’s research. Secondhand retailer ThredUP has some of its own findings in graph form as well.

True Fit is a moderately useful tool as well—it isn’t a standalone app, but it’s built into many retailer websites. You’d be forgiven for glossing over the “Find Your True Fit” link on the item pages, as it doesn’t exactly stand out—but this service allows you to punch in the size of a few of your favorite items alongside your height, weight, and body type to find out whether a given item will fit. For example, after creating my profile, it told me a small would be my size in this shirt—but that it’d be just a tad on the looser side rather than a perfect fit. I wish it were a bit more detailed—it doesn’t let you pick what style your favorite items are, only the brand and size—but it’s a step in the right direction. Look for it on the item page for any retailer that supports True Fit.

Other stores may support similar services, like Fit Analytics and Virtusize. If you can find a fitting tool on the site you’re shopping, give it a try.

If you aren’t sure where to even start, SizeCharter is a standalone tool that does something similar. Plug in your favorite brand or give it your measurements, and it’ll return a list of the best brands for your body type (sorted from top to bottom), with specific sizes for each one. That way, you’ll know you’re more likely to be an eight at Gap, but a 10 at Forever 21. (It doesn’t take into account everything, though, so you’ll still have to do some try-ons at home.)

None of these tools and tricks are perfect—far from it. But they’re better than guessing based on what size “most” of your clothes are.

Try a little augmented reality

Augmented reality—the act of imposing digital assets on real-world imagery—is the next big thing in clothes shopping. While it hasn’t gained widespread reach yet, there are a few apps that let you “try on” clothes using your phone’s camera. You won’t necessarily get an idea of what size you should get, but it will still help you understand the intended fit in the design and get a feel for how the color and style will look, decreasing the need for annoying returns.

Zeekit lets you browse curated collections of clothes from Adidas, H&M, and other brands and overlay them on a photo of yourself to see whether that yellow hoodie will actually look good. (The better lighting you can get for your photo, the more true-to-life it’ll appear.) And hey, even if they don’t have the exact item you want, they may have something similar, which is still better than flying blind. Forma is a similar app, though it’s more of a Pinterest-esque style “look book,”—it doesn’t contain the popular brands and links to buy that Zeekit does.

Augmented reality is a bit more common in other categories—Sephora and L’Oreal let you try makeup shades using a photo, for example, Warby Parker has its own virtual try-on for glasses, and Amazon lets you put virtual furniture in your living room—but clothing brands like Gap have been talking about the tech for years, and Asos has tested it in their virtual stores on a few occasions. It’s only a matter of time before we see it become more common, so if you see a “virtual try-on” option appear in your favorite apps, give it a go. In the meantime, if you’re really mulling over a purchase, you can always cut-and-paste an outfit onto a photo with a free image editor. (Yes, I’ve actually done this before.)

Check the return policy

None of these things guarantee a perfect fit every time—they just increase the likelihood. But no matter how hard you try, you may still need to return something that doesn’t suit you—or that you don’t actually like—which is why you should check that return policy before you complete your order. In particular, see if the retailer requires you to pay return shipping or a restocking fee. Many retailers, like Amazon, won’t, but others may. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing—it’s a small price to pay for being able to size up or down when necessary, especially with notoriously generous return policies like Patagonia’s.

In a similar vein, I wouldn’t buy any “final sale” clearance items unless you already know that brand, style, and size fit you well. Make sure the company is still available for customer service if need be (some call centers and online chats are closed right now) and check the company’s COVID-19 updates to see any temporary changes to their return policy—many are broader than usual right now.

The post How to get the perfect fit when buying clothes online appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Have you ever tried to lift your child’s backpack? Between textbooks, notebooks, and three-ring binders, there’s a good chance that they’ve loaded it too heavily. Over time, carrying that weight can cause injuries and pain that might last into adulthood. This school year, choose an ergonomic backpack for your child—and make sure it fits just right so it won’t cause discomfort.

Buy a backpack that fits properly

When you take children back-to-school shopping, they won’t base their decisions on ergonomics. “Kids, particularly the younger ones, are picking up backpacks based on ‘who’s the superhero’ or ‘what’s my favorite color,’” says Karen Jacobs, clinical professor of occupational therapy at Boston University. That’s why adults need to help them—particularly when it comes to choosing the size of the bag.

First and foremost, Jacobs says, “You want to get a backpack that fits your child. Start with the size of their back: From the shoulder blades to the waist makes a rectangle, and that’s where you want the backpack to sit.”

Avoid the temptation to buy a larger carrier that your little one can grow into over five or six years. You need a pack that fits your child right now.

Next, make sure the backpack has enough padding, both on the back of the bag and on the straps. As a child gets older and must carry a heavier load, he or she could also benefit from a backpack with a hip strap, which takes a lot of weight off the shoulders. A waist strap isn’t enough—you want something that’ll sit on top of the pelvis.

While it isn’t specific to ergonomics, Jacobs also recommends keeping safety in mind as you shop. As mornings get darker, for example, you’ll want something with reflective material that makes the wearer visible to cars. “I also don’t recommend putting the child’s name on their backpack,” says Jacobs. “Unfortunately, we live in a world where there are predators, and you don’t want someone to come up and say ‘Hi Elliott,’ and make up a story saying they’ve come to get them.” Instead of a name, she recommends you make a bag unique with an abstract decoration or by hanging a small item like a keychain from it.

Lighten the load

Everyone always wants to know if there’s a specific weight limit they should avoid. The issue gets a bit more complicated than that.

While the American Occupational Therapy Association recommends bags that weigh less than 10 percent of the child’s weight, Jacobs says that’s just a guideline. “I think it’s more important to ask your child if it’s heavy or uncomfortable than to stick the backpack on a scale, especially with overweight children.”

If your child says the backpack feels too heavy, work with them on strategies to lighten it. “Kids have a tendency to not empty their backpacks, so that something from two weeks ago is still in there,” Jacobs says. “Just like you’d say ‘go brush your teeth’ at the end of the day, say ‘let’s check your backpack and take out what you don’t need.’”

Once you do, evenly distribute the weight of whatever’s left in the backpack, so that when it sits on a child’s back, it doesn’t throw off their center of gravity or putting too much pressure on one shoulder. Nestle heavier items near the back center, and keep lighter ones near the outside.

Wear it right

Lastly, make sure your child actually wears their backpack properly.

“You want to adjust the straps so that the pack is flung over both shoulders and fits snugly against the back of the child,” Jacobs says. “You want it to be snug, but not uncomfortable.” Make sure the wearer doesn’t fling the bag over one shoulder or let it hang down below the back. Instead, it should sit comfortably in the middle of the back, without extending over the shoulders or past the top of the hip bones.

Jacobs also recommends the child take regular breaks if they’re wearing their backpack for a long time, just like you do while sitting at a desk.

Good posture is another must: “Stand up straight and don’t ‘churtle in’ or lean back, because your center of gravity will be off,” Jacobs says. (She uses the word “churtle” to refer to a posture with a hunched back, a stance that lets the body fold in instead of keeping it straight.) “Even when putting on a backpack, it’s better to avoid lifting the backpack from the ground, but rather pack it on a tabletop and slip it on from there.”

If you have any questions as a parent, Jacobs says, turn to occupational therapy practitioners. They’re available in every school district in the United States. These professionals focus on children with challenges or disabilities, but they can also act as resources for any parent to reach out and ask questions. In addition, the American Occupational Therapy Association has plenty of information on its website, including handouts for its yearly Backpack Awareness Day.

The post Heavy backpacks can hurt kids—here’s how to send them back to school safely appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

On long flights, some people love to kick back and with a book or a movie. But nothing makes time pass like burying your nose in work. Unfortunately, in-flight Wi-Fi leaves a lot (a lot) to be desired.

Between unstable connections and the sheer cost of expensive day passes, you might write off midair internet as not worth the trouble. But with the right tricks up your sleeve, you can finish your work without spending too long waiting for that email to load.

Get a better price

In-flight Wi-Fi is expensive…if you buy it once you’re in the air. Internet providers know you become more desperate once you’ve boarded the plane and boredom has set in, so they jack their prices way up—a typical day pass costs about $40. You can save more than 50 percent by buying a pass before your flight.

Gogo, for example, which provides Wi-Fi on Delta, United, and Virgin (among other airlines), offers all-day passes on their site for $19. You can buy them anytime, and they’ll wait in your account for the next flight you take.

You may save even more if you purchase the pass at the same time as your plane ticket. Take Delta: It lets you purchase Gogo passes for $16 during checkout. And if you’re a frequent flyer, don’t forget about the discounted monthly subscriptions, too.

You may even be eligible for free passes through your credit card or mobile carrier. Lend Edu has a good list of credit cards that come with free Wi-Fi passes, and T-Mobile gives its customers one hour of free Gogo Wi-Fi on domestic flights. Check for travel-related perks associated with your card or phone to see what benefits are available.

Force a stubborn login page to appear

Too many times, I’ve opened my laptop in midair, connected to the Wi-Fi, and waited for a login page that never appeared. It’s supposed to pop up automatically, but sometimes your computer misbehaves and just shows you an “Unable to connect to the internet” page.

If other passengers seem to be getting online, then the problem is most likely on your end. Here are a few things to try.

If you’ve changed your domain name system (DNS) servers for speed or privacy reasons, try switching back to automatic DNS. Sometimes third-party servers fail to redirect you to the Wi-Fi’s login page, and changing them back to automatic has fixed the problem for me on a few occasions. Next, try clearing your cache or opening up a page in incognito mode. It’s possible your browser is using cached DNS entries to try and navigate to a page, instead of redirecting you to the Wi-Fi’s login page.

In many cases, I’ve found that the Wi-Fi network’s “Gateway” IP address—that is, the IP address of the plane’s router—will redirect you to the login page. In Windows, you’ll find this address by clicking the Start menu, searching for “Command Prompt,” and running the ipconfig command. Look for “Default Gateway” under your Wi-Fi adapter, then type that number—usually something like 172.19.131.2—into your browser’s address bar. On a Mac, just hold the Option key while clicking the Wi-Fi icon in the upper right corner—you’ll find the IP address under “Router.”

As a last resort, try manually navigating to the wireless provider’s home or login page. If you’ve visited that site before, it may already exist in your browser’s history. For example, the last time I had problems connecting, I typed “gogo” in my address bar, and the browser auto-suggested airborne.gogoinflight.com. I clicked that, and sure enough, the login page appeared. Bookmark this page for future reference so you don’t get stuck. If you don’t know the URL of the login page, try the provider’s home page—they’ll often let you browse their entire site without a pass.

Hopefully, one of these tips will solve the problem, allowing you to connect normally again. Just don’t forget to change back your DNS service once you get home.

Make the most of a slow, intermittent connection

The hassles don’t stop once you’ve connected to the Wi-Fi. Sure, in-flight internet is a miracle of human ingenuity, but it still works remarkably slowly and often drops the connection. Some airlines have better Wi-Fi than others, but no matter how you’re flying, you can keep things running smoothly by taking a few things into consideration.

First, make sure your device isn’t running any data-hogging apps in the background. When bandwidth is precious, you don’t want to waste it on making updates, syncing data to the cloud, downloading new files, or loading GIFs on Twitter. Head to your system tray or menu bar and quit any data-munching apps you don’t need. While you’re there, make sure your apps aren’t auto-updating in the background. Save that process for more reliable Wi-Fi.

Cutting the fat should keep up your speed—at least somewhat—but those occasional dropouts are a bit harder to fix. I’ve found that the best solution is to enable offline features. You’d be surprised how many web apps work offline in some shape or form. So you should set that up before you leave.

For example, you can configure Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs to run offline so that even if your connection drops, you can keep working. You can save articles to Pocket for later offline reading, with the bonus of preventing ads and other page elements from slowing down your experience. And if you want to watch Netflix or stream music, you can download shows and playlists before you go. That way, you can save the in-flight Wi-Fi for necessity. And even if it drops, you’ll be able to get some things done.

Lastly—and this has nothing to do with speed, but it’s important nonetheless—don’t forget to stay safe on public Wi-Fi. Most in-flight Wi-Fi is unencrypted, meaning your activity might be vulnerable to snoopers. Remember to use HTTPS sites and VPNs to keep your data secure.

The post In-flight Wi-Fi is terrible—here’s how to make it better appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

When was the last time you googled yourself? It’s not just about vanity: Potential employers, dates, and even friends may search for your name from time to time—and what they see can really affect their first impression of you.

Unfortunately, despite what some people think, you can’t really control what the search engine says.

“Google is just reflecting the web,” says Vanessa Fox, a search engine optimization (SEO) expert and author of Marketing in the Age of Google. Fox should know—she used to work at the tech behemoth, and even helped launch some of the tools we’ll be talking about later. “If you want to get something taken off of Google,” she says, “you’re really thinking about removing it from the web entirely.”

However, that doesn’t mean you’re completely at the mercy of the search giant. Here are a few steps you can take to curate your image on Google.

Request a takedown from Google

While you can’t ask Google to take down a site you don’t like, you can request the removal of pages that threaten your privacy.

“If the information is what Google considers ‘personal information,’ like a social security number, Google has a specific form that you can fill out where they will remove it from their search results,” Fox says. Personal information can also include your bank account number, a handwritten signature, or a sexually explicit photo that someone has shared without your consent.

You can read more about Google’s removal policies here.

Start at the source and contact the owner

If the page that’s bothering you doesn’t contain private information, your best bet is to go to the owner or webmaster hosting the content you want to remove from your search results. For example, if someone posted an embarrassing YouTube video of you, you’ll need to contact that person and convince them to take it down. If it’s a Tumblr update that casts you in a negative light, plead with the writer to alter the post or delete it entirely. Some people will be more receptive than others, though—if you want to take down an actual news story about you or your business, you’re unlikely to make much traction.

In some cases, you may even be the owner of a search result you dislike. Perhaps you accidentally posted some less-than-glamorous photos to Facebook or wrote an angry blog post you now regret. You have the power to take those down or make them private.

“All of the social media companies have privacy settings, and Google respects those,” says Fox. “So Google can’t actually see anything on a social media site that requires a login to view, and they certainly can’t see anything is set to private for your friends.” So make sure you delete or alter the privacy of any posts you’d rather hide from Google.

If you are able to remove the objectionable content at the source, you need to tell Google about it. “Sometimes Google’s index takes a while to get updated,” says Fox. “So if you get something removed, you can fill out this request form from Google and they’ll remove it within 24 hours.”

Be wary of reputation management companies

For most people, working alone will be enough. However, businesses and public figures, people who are far more invested in their public reputation, have additional options: For fees of $1,000 and up, plenty of “reputation management” companies will alter your Google results by performing these tasks on a larger scale. But before you ask for help, you need to be careful.

“Reputation management companies are really the wild wild west,” says Fox. “There are a lot of really deceptive companies out there, so anyone who’s looking for reputation management services needs to be really cautious about it.” So if you really need to scrub things from your online past, make sure you do your research first. “There are some reputable services,” says Fox, “but there are also some who really prey on people.”

Create more positive pages to push the bad results down in the rankings

If you can’t convince content owners to take down negative pages with your name on them, you have one other avenue, Fox says: “Add a bunch of other information to the web. If you don’t have that much about you online, and someone searches your name, Google doesn’t really have much to show except for that one weird YouTube video.”

So fill up those search results with positive hits. Establish a LinkedIn profile, if you don’t already have one. Make sure your social media accounts use your actual name, not just an anonymous username. Create a personal landing page by using a service like about.me or starting a blog. It’s an especially good idea to buy a personalized domain like JohnSmith.com, if you can afford the fee.

If you have a common name, chances are that some of those negative results are referencing other people. In those cases, you’ll just have to try to distinguish yourself. “If you have a LinkedIn profile, try to add positive information like the city you live in,” says Fox. “Often when people do a search, and they find a bunch of different people, they do refine the search in some specific way to zero in on the person they’re looking for.”

In fact, googling yourself with specific keywords—city, occupation, or other identifying characteristics—is a good idea: This may bring up other search results that you’ll also want to deal with.

Ultimately, your new content can be about literally anything. As long as it has your real name on it, Google will likely push it up in the rankings. You could even contribute to a friend’s blog or podcast—the more sites on which your name appears, the more disagreeable sites you can banish to the second page of search results.

The post Don’t like what Google says about you? You might be able to change it appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

You don’t have to be a scientist to experience humanity’s tremendous achievements. Collecting scientific memorabilia—pieces of old spacecraft, fossils from long-extinct creatures, or autographed photos of history’s greatest inventors—lets you literally touch great moments from our past. But you have to do it the right way.

Buying these relics can be tricky. The internet is full of fake, stolen, or misrepresented items, and some of them may be flat-out illegal to own. Even if you find a legitimate seller, you have a responsibility to keep your purchases intact for future generations. We talked to a few experts about how to start your collection of scientific keepsakes—and do so ethically.

Get to know the dedicated communities and dealers

Finding cool keepsakes is easier than ever, thanks to the internet—especially sites like eBay. But you can’t always trust that the wares you’re bidding on are the real deal. Seth Sorensen, quarry developer and owner of popular online store Fossil Shack, recommends that beginners work with reputable dealers.

“Look at their credentials, and if they work with the scientific community or museums,” he says. “It’s important they have those kinds of connections in the field.”

Buying from lesser-known sellers is riskier, Sorensen says. “It’s interesting how often fossils from eBay are just such horrendous fakes. Not only are there fake, but people often have misidentified things.” Of course, not everything online is fraudulent. “That’s not to say there aren’t legitimate fossils on eBay—there are,” Sorensen says. “But I would encourage people who are going to purchase material from a site like that to make sure that they get someone to help authenticate it first.”

Robert Pearlman, editor and founder of collectSPACE, a news and community site dedicated to space exploration and memorabilia, agrees. You never know what’s been sitting in someone’s attic, so eBay can be a great place to find new material entering the market. But you have to be careful.

“In an ideal world, I would say you shouldn’t buy anything off eBay that you’re not already a semi-expert on,” says Pearlman. “Read everything you can get your hands on about the subject. Ask questions in communities to those who have been collecting longer.”

The internet abounds with forums—like collectSPACE for astronomy-related items and Fossil Forum for paleontology ones—full of experts. Consult them if you need help analyzing memorabilia for authenticity.

You can also avoid eBay entirely and shop only on reputable sites dedicated to science memorabilia. In addition to Fossil Shack and collectSPACE, check out Fossil Era, Jeremy Norman’s HistoryofScience.com, and Kuenzig Books, as well as any annual events or trade shows in your area of interest. Depending on what you’re collecting, you may also find small keepsakes at official sources like NASA’s online store or museum gift shops.

“Be patient,” Pearlman says. “It’s very tempting to rush and buy your first piece or first 20 pieces. It’s much more rewarding to take it step by step and learn the history of the item before you collect it. Then, once you receive it, it will mean that much more.”

Learn the legal hurdles for your hobby

Just because an item is legitimate doesn’t mean it’s legal to own. Every category of collecting is subject to its own laws, and they can differ depending on where you live.

For example, Sorensen says, “On federal land, it’s illegal to collect vertebrate fossils, meaning anything that had a backbone. However, on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) lands, you can collect invertebrates as long as they’re not scientifically important.” In other words, when you’re hiking on public BLM lands, you need to leave those dinosaur bones alone, but if you find a clam shell, you can carry that home…as long as it isn’t in a national park or national monument, where it’s illegal to take anything.

Confused yet? Just wait until you set foot on territory owned by the state—the laws about collecting there will differ depending on which state you’re in.

These complexities mean that, whether or not you’re a fossil hunter, you need to become familiar with the rules that apply to your type of collecting. Veterans in the aforementioned forums can point you in the right direction, but check with official sources just to be safe. For example, the Bureau of Land Management has a few web pages explaining the laws that regulate what you can and cannot collect from federal land.

Things can get especially murky when you’re dealing with items once owned by the government. “Government property is government property until they say it’s not, and there’s no statute of limitations on the theft of government property,” says Pearlman. “Some types of items are never legal to be owned. That includes moon rocks brought back to earth by the Apollo astronauts, and the wreckage of space shuttles Challenger and Columbia.” Owning a piece of government property—any government’s property—that hasn’t been relinquished to the public can land you in jail. Yes, even if you found it on your own: You can’t defend yourself in court with “finders keepers.”

You also don’t want to find yourself in possession of a stolen souvenir. To sidestep that situation, follow the same precautions you would to avoid buying fake items: Stick to reputable sellers and sites, don’t go shopping on the black market, and verify eBay offerings for authenticity and legality. Much like buying a TV on Craigslist, you’re always taking a small risk that the item has unsavory origins—but as long as you’re buying something legal (remember, no moon rocks) and authentic, you should be in good shape.

And again, if you ever feel unsure about an item you’ve found for sale, make use of those online communities and reputable dealers. There are a lot of experts that can help you figure out what the laws are surrounding your particular interests.

Preserve and display your collection carefully

Part of the joy of collecting is sharing your finds with others. But if you’re going to display fragile artifacts—fossils, clothing, autographs, or anything else—you need to take care of it.

“There are some items so numerous in number that I’d have no problem telling your kid to take it to show and tell,” Pearlman says. “It’s more important that people get to see these items and enjoy them. But as you get deeper into the hobby and you start collecting one-of-a-kind pieces, that’s when you need to act more like a museum curator than a private collector.” As Pearlman points out, a good owner will make sure that a physical piece of history outlives its caretaker. “You can’t take it with you when you die,” he says, “so your job is to make sure that it survives in its present condition or better until the next owner.”

To take care of autographs and other documents, Pearlman recommends framing them with archival-safe matting materials under ultraviolet protective glass (also known as “museum-quality glass”). You might even create a high-quality color reproduction of the document and display that, while keeping the original in a safe. That way, you can still enjoy looking at your prize, and no one will know the difference—but the original will be preserved far from potentially-damaging sunlight.

“While there is some desire to preserve autographs and other collectibles, the real responsibility comes when you’re dealing with artifacts that were not created to be collected,” Perlman says. “In those cases, the best advice is to follow what museums do: If it needs some type of restoration, seek expert help.”

Even within a given category, every item is different. For example, one type of fossil may require different types of preservative chemicals than another. This means the education doesn’t stop once you’ve collected your prize. Luckily, museums are often happy to share advice on preserving memorabilia, so call one up and ask a curator how they would handle it.

As a hobby, collecting requires patience and a willingness to learn from the experts. But if you stick with it, the memorabilia will reward your interest.

“Collecting can be a real way to live vicariously through the objects,” says Pearlman. “I was born in 1976, four years after the last Apollo moon landing, so I didn’t see those missions firsthand. But I have had the opportunity to hold items that flew on those missions. Through that, I was able to experience, in part, the excitement of that achievement.”

Just remember to collect what you like—and not just what other people finds valuable. In the end, you’ll have a piece of science history.

The post Don’t buy stolen artifacts—here’s how to ethically collect science memorabilia appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Want a zero-hassle way to relive your youth? The NES and SNES Classic are back on store shelves. They only come with a few dozen games though, so if you have a vast collection buried in your closet, you might be tempted to pull out your old retro systems instead. The only problem: They look and play terribly on modern TVs.

When you plug an old game console into an HDTV, you’ll see an underwhelming mess of blurry, laggy video with muted colors. You could get better picture quality by using an emulator to play those games on your PC, but emulators aren’t perfect. Some obscure games have bugs, or don’t work at all with this type of software and unless you plan on illegally downloading the games you want, you’ll still need specialized equipment to connect those old cartridges to your PC.

If you want a true retro gaming experience, you’ll want to use the original consoles. And thankfully, you can do a few things to make them look great on modern TVs, from tweaking the settings to buying a dedicated video upscaler. Here are your options.

Get a cleaner picture with the right cables

So how should you connect your console to your television? Many classic video game consoles had multiple outputs, and some were better than others. On older systems, you’ll find support for some or all of the following.

• RF: The lowest quality of the bunch, RF uses radio frequencies to transmit video, and it hooks up to the antenna port on your TV. There is almost no reason to use this on a modern set.
• Composite: Composite video improves on RF by separating video and audio into their own cables: You’d probably recognize the familiar yellow, red, and white RCA cables used to do this job (the yellow cable transmitted video and the others transmitted audio). Believe it or not, these were designed in the 1940s, and while still ubiquitous, produce very low-quality video.
• S-Video: S-video split the luminance and chrominance—aka, the black-and-white and color signals of a picture—into two separate lines within the cable, providing better image quality than composite. These are less common on modern TVs and receivers, but you will see them occasionally.
• RGB or SCART: This format splits the video signal up even further, giving red, green, and blue signals their own lines, providing a cleaner picture than all of the above options. While some retro systems supported this using a SCART cable, most U.S. televisions didn’t support that, since the format was more common in Europe. As a result, you probably won’t be able to use this without some sort of converter box—which we’ll get to in a moment.
• Component: This is similar to RGB (the cables are even red, green, and blue), but more common in the United States. Most consoles didn’t come with component output, but these days, you can grab component cables for compatible systems at HD Retrovision.

This video showcases the difference in picture quality you’ll see between composite, S-video, and component cables on the Sega Genesis console.

If you want to hook an old system up to your TV, first see what outputs that console supported and pick the best one. Then buy a compatible cable online and plug it into your TV or receiver.

Because each console is different, and even variations of the same system may require different cables, you may have to search a little before you find the right cable. But choosing a good connection is the cheapest way to improve the video quality of those old consoles.

Reduce input lag with Game Mode

Modern televisions do a lot of work to make your picture look good. For example, when your 1080p or 4K HDTV has to upscale the 240p picture from a gaming console, the television may perform motion interpolation or other post-processing in the background. This can cause “input lag,” in which you experience a delay between pressing a button on the controller and seeing a reaction on the screen. This is a problem for lots of video games, but it’s especially noticeable on older, difficult, fast-twitch ones like Tetris or Super Mario Bros.

You can alleviate this by turning on your set’s so-called Game Mode. As we’ve mentioned in the past, Game Mode disables a lot of your TV’s post-processing to reduce input lag.

If you feel like Mario’s not jumping until long after you press the A button, head into your TV’s settings and make sure Game Mode is turned on. This won’t eliminate lag completely—for that, you have to replace your modern set with an old-school CRT TV—but it’ll still provide a noticeable improvement.

Achieve high-def perfection with an external scaler

While a good cable will give you better colors and less noise, it won’t put the best possible picture onto a modern TV—after all, it’s still carrying a low-resolution, analog signal. If you want something more comparable to the high definition output of the NES and SNES Classic—or something even better—then your setup can get pretty complicated (and expensive).

If you think that picture is still worth it, you can achieve HD output on old systems using an external scaler designed for video games. These convert your console’s low-res 240p signal to a high-definition signal for modern HD sets.

The XRGB-Mini Framemeister is the most versatile and well-known of these devices, and while it’s been discontinued, you can still find systems on Amazon and eBay for about $400. Just plug it into any console via composite, S-video, or RGB, and send the output to your TV over an HDMI cable. (On consoles that support it, RGB will provide the best picture. However, that will require a SCART cable for your console along with a SCART-to-XRGB-Mini adapter for the Framemeister.)

The result is a much cleaner, high-quality picture than you’d get with any of those analog signals alone.

Check out this video at 11:10 for a side-by-side comparison of the picture with an external scaler and with analog signal alone.

The Open Source Scan Converter (OSSC) is a more readily available alternative, and it has less input lag than the Framemeister. At £162.00 (about $210), it’s significantly cheaper too. And the latest models have an HDMI output that you can plug right into your TV. On the negative side, the OSSC is significantly less versatile, since it only accepts SCART, component, and VGA inputs. That means that you’ll need a component or SCART cable for many of your systems, and consoles that don’t support those outputs—like the original Nintendo and Nintendo 64—won’t work with the OSSC at all (unless you modify the console’s innards for RGB output). In addition, it may have compatibility issues with some TVs, so you’ll need to try it to figure out whether it will work at all.

An even newer $99 device called the RetroTINK-2X can accept component, S-video, and composite inputs. It isn’t quite as powerful as the others, with fewer features and a maximum resolution of 480p, but for the price, it’s a great budget option. It’s currently backordered, however, since it’s still ramping up production.

Although you can also find other cheaper options, they introduce more input lag than I’d generally consider acceptable. You’re better off just plugging component cables straight into your TV.

Is your head spinning yet? I don’t blame you. The results can be fantastic, but buying a setup like this will lead you down a complex, winding rabbit hole. That’s why some folks have opted for updated “clones” of retro consoles instead—like the Analogue Super NT, which plays all your old Super Nintendo cartridges using built-in upscaling and HDMI. They don’t exist for every system, and they’re still expensive. But if you only want to rediscover one older console, it won’t cost much more than an upscaler—and it’ll be much easier to use.

The post How to make retro video games look good on your modern TV appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Loading the dishwasher is a remarkably controversial activity. After five years of marriage, my wife and I still debate the proper method for getting dishes clean with minimal hassle. So I spoke to an expert to settle our battle once and for all.

“It’s a contentious issue in most households,” says Richard Tarrant, category director for Bosch dishwashers. “We do a lot of consumer studies to gain insights, and 61 percent of Americans actually argue over whether the dishes should be pre-rinsed. It’s incredible.” And while every dishwasher has its own idiosyncrasies—especially if you’re using an older one—he has a few tips to help make sure things get clean.

Don’t rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher

Let’s talk about that hotly-debated issue: pre-rinsing. Bosch’s research suggests not rinsing your dishes before they enter the dishwasher, Tarrant says, explaining that modern detergent is designed to cling to leftover food in order to clean effectively. Now, that doesn’t mean you should toss your plate in the dishwasher with a half-eaten sandwich on it—unless you want a mushy catastrophe. Instead, he says, scrape big items off your plate—into either the trash or garbage disposal (a debate all its own)—and put the dish in without rinsing it. This will not only get your dishes clean, but keep them in good condition. If there’s no food to cling to, the detergent may end up damaging your dishware over time, etching little scratches and pits into the surface, he says.

There are exceptions to this, of course. Tarrant notes that while Bosch tests with stubborn foods like eggs and oatmeal in order to account for them in their product design, sometimes dishwashers just can’t do the job perfectly on the first go-round. “If you have a casserole dish which has very burned-on food residue, it probably makes sense to soak that a little bit before you put it in your dishwasher,” he says. Your mileage on this may vary, too—if you find your dishwasher isn’t up to snuff with certain foods (avocado was the enemy of our old dishwasher), take note and clean those items by hand. But if you rinse everything before putting it in the machine, you’ll just end up wasting water—up to 27 gallons per load, according to Tarrant, versus the three to six gallons a typical Energy Star-rated dishwasher uses.

Mix up the direction of the silverware

In my household, our biggest disagreement debate concerns silverware, specifically whether it should face up or down in the basket. My wife thinks everything needs to face up so the water has a better chance at cleaning off the food; I think facing down is just as effective while being less inconvenient when loading. I load the silverware her way in hopes it will gain me husband points, but I still grit my teeth every time I try to drop a dirty spoon in handle-down without getting peanut butter on my hands.

In a way, we’re both right (and both wrong), Tarrant says: “You don’t want your spoons to nest together, or your forks to nest into spoons. So mix it up to make sure the water can get in and make sure all that food comes off correctly.” In other words, if your spoons are spooning, food will get trapped between them, and they won’t get clean—so spread them out in the basket, and flip some of them upside down if you need to. (He does note that knives should probably point down for safety reasons, and if you have delicate knives that can’t handle this, just hand-wash them.) The same goes for bowls and other similarly shaped items—if you’ve overloaded the dishwasher so much that they’re nesting, they won’t get clean.

Use the right cycle for the job

I almost never pay attention to which dishwasher cycle I’m using. I assumed soap and water was soap and water, so why use anything other than a “quick” cycle if things looked clean? The quick cycle may be fine if you’re pre-rinsing your dishes, but—as we’ve already noted—that wastes more water and time than if you’d just let the dishwasher do the work for you.

“The shorter cycle is designed for either a light soil or maybe freshly soiled dishes,” explains Tarrant. “Maybe you have tableware that you purchased recently, and you just want to get it washed that first time. Or maybe you and your partner sit down to have dinner and just want those dishes clean.” For normal loads, you should probably use—you guessed it—the normal cycle.

That is, of course, unless your newfangled dishwasher has an automatic cycle. “We would say the auto cycle is designed for an everyday mixed load. That’s where the intelligence of the machine comes in: it measures the soil level, it detects anything that’s still in there, and it adjusts the cycle based on that.” Provided your dishwasher has the smarts to run an auto cycle effectively, you can probably use it for the majority of loads, barring special scenarios like pots and pans or baby bottles that need the sanitary cycle.

Clean your dishwasher’s food trap, for heaven’s sake

I’m embarrassed to say I went years without realizing that my dishwasher might require its own cleaning and maintenance. There’s one thing, in particular, that Tarrant says a lot of people gloss over: the food trap.

It’s in the base of the dishwasher, and it’s kind of icky, so people don’t like to take it out and mess with it, he says. But, you should clean it out every three to six months depending on how frequently you run the dishwasher.

If you aren’t sure where it is, check your dishwasher’s manual—it may not be as exciting as the next episode The Legend of Korra, but there’s a lot of useful info in there on keeping your dishes clean. Once you locate the food trap, check YouTube and your favorite search engine for tips on removing it. Dishwashers are relatively simple machines, but the mechanisms may be held together by plastic clips that break easily, so I don’t recommend you dive in and start pulling things apart if you’re unfamiliar with how everything fits together.

A word of caution: If anything has ever broken in your dishwasher, there may be pieces of glass around the drain, so be careful. When you’ve got the food trap out, run it under some water with a soft brush and a bit of soap, and your dishes will stay sparkly clean.

The post Four tips to make sure your dishwasher does its job appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

When the rest of the world gets too distracting, it’s tempting to pop in your earbuds, crank up some tunes, and close yourself off to focus better. But if you blast your music too loudly, you may permanently damage your hearing. Here’s how to keep your ears in good shape—so you aren’t kicking yourself 10 years down the road.

Why high volumes cause hearing loss

“Noise exposure is a common cause of hearing loss,” says Tricia Ashby, Director of Audiology at the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA). When you subject your ears to loud input, the fluid in your inner ear moves more, which can damage the hair cells that send signals to the brain.

This exposure is cumulative, meaning the more often you expose yourself to loud sounds, the greater impact it will have on your hearing. For example, after a loud concert, you may notice that your “hearing threshold” shifts—it may become more difficult for your ears to pick up certain things you could easily hear before.

“If a person has repeated exposure to noise,” Ashby says, “that temporary threshold shift can become a permanent threshold shift. This is why it is so important to protect your hearing when involved in noisy activities.” That includes everything from mowing the lawn to attending a concert to, yes, jogging with earbuds in. The earlier you start taking care of your hearing, the better off you’ll be down the line.

How loud is too loud?

Headphones aren’t inherently dangerous. They’ve been around for decades, and while there are no statistics measuring hearing loss from these devices specifically, hearing loss as a whole has actually declined over the years. Still, some experts—like those at the World Health Organization—think these gadgets may have something to do with the rise in hearing damage among young people.

According to the ASHA, noises at 85 A-weighted decibels (dBA)—dBA are decibels adjusted for how we perceive sounds, and 85 of them are about as loud as busy traffic or a motorcycle going by—can be harmful if you listen to them for more than 8 hours at a time. That may not seem so bad, but as the audio gets louder, the safe listening time decreases exponentially. By the time the dial reaches 91dBA, you can only listen for 2 hours before you start damaging your hearing.

Many headphones can easily exceed that. So if you’re trying to drown out some other distraction—like the aforementioned traffic—you can quickly reach the unsafe range without realizing it.

“In today’s technology age, the best option is to limit the exposure time,” says Ashby. “Volume levels should be set so the person can hear the signal they are listening to, but it is not so loud that they aren’t able to hear sounds around them.”

This may seem easy, but again, if you’re masking other noises with your music, you might be listening at louder levels than you think. Ashby says your music is too loud if:

• You have to raise your voice to be heard.
• You can’t hear or understand someone 3 feet away from you.
• After you remove the headphones, the speech around you sounds muffled or dull.
• You have ringing or pain in your ears.

Those last couple may seem extreme, but most of us can probably identify with the first two. It seems lame to listen to music with the volume so low you can hear everything around you, but it’s definitely better than gradually losing your hearing.

Keep your volume in check

On its surface, the solution is simple: Turn the music down (and get off my lawn, you darn kids). But we all know how effortless it is to turn the music up just one notch to drown out the guy at the next table. Then you turn it up one more notch to mask the clamor of nearby construction, and so on, until you’re right back where you started.

Most smartphones have limiters that let you change what constitutes “maximum” safe volume. If you have an iPhone, head to Settings > Music > Volume Limit and set the slider to your desired level. This only affects the stock music app, unfortunately, so if you listen through another app like Spotify, you’re out of luck (unless that app has its own built-in limiter).

If you have an Android phone, check Settings > Sound > Volume to see if your particular device offers a limiter. Samsung phones, for example, have one hidden under this page’s three-dot menu. Other phones may not have a limiter built in, but you can download an app like Volume Lock that lets you set a range of safe levels.

Noise-reducing headphones, particularly those with active noise cancellation, are a more elegant (and more expensive) solution. Since they mask external distractions, you can set your volume lower and still hear your music comfortably. Just don’t use these while jogging or in other situations where ignoring the outside world may be unsafe.

Lastly, take breaks. The longer you listen to loud music, the more likely you are to cause permanent damage. Remove the cans every hour or so to give your ears a rest.

Even with precautions like these, Ashby advocates for regular hearing testing, so you can avoid the negative effects of hearing loss. “As we lose the ability to hear, we begin to isolate more and more from people around us,” Ashby says. “It is important to have regular hearing testing, perhaps every 5 years, to track hearing ability from a baseline measure forward. People with treated hearing loss have far better cognitive outcomes and communication ability over time compared to those who don’t get treated.”

The post It’s surprisingly easy for your headphones to damage your hearing appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Your laptop charger goes everywhere with you, but all that back-and-forth takes a toll. If your cables start to fray, they become not only unsightly, but dangerous. Here’s how to deal with broken chargers, and protect them from wearing out in the first place.

The danger of frayed cables

We all know how bad a worn-out charger looks. But how much harm can it actually do?

“There are two potential victims—the user, and the device,” says Arthur Shi, technical writer at iFixit. “For users, the biggest danger is electrocution via wall AC current. Fortunately, chances are usually low.” That’s because, when AC current from the wall reaches the power brick, it gets converted to DC power before flowing to your device. Most frayed wires happen on the DC side of the cable—the one that plugs into your computer—rather than the more durable AC side, which plugs into the wall. However, Shi says, “If the AC wire is frayed, you should immediately stop using it and repair or replace it.”

When frayed wires occur on the low-voltage DC side, they won’t pose an immediate danger, but they still carry risk.

“The best-case scenario is that the user wiggles the point and it resumes working,” says Shi. “However, wiggling the frayed area only weakens the wires further and delays the inevitable.” If two frayed wires touch, they could burn out the charger circuitry, or cause damage to the gadget they’re plugged into. Possible outcomes include a fried charging port and overcharged batteries, which can make a lithium-ion-powered device explode. That’s right: Your frayed wire isn’t just a nuisance, it could cause an actual explosion.

So stop fiddling with the wire and throw it away! Or better yet, recycle it at your local e-waste center.

Can I repair a worn-out charger?

Your first instinct may be to slap some duct tape on your unraveling cable and call it a day, but this isn’t a great idea, says Shi. Sure, if you know how to splice a wire, you can repair it yourself and reinforce it with heat shrink tubing. Less proficient tinkerers can take it to a repair shop. But the Electrical Safety Foundation International, a non-profit that promotes electrical safety, officially recommends against repairing broken cables. Besides, given the (usually) low cost of replacements, we’d recommend keeping it simple and just buying a new charger.

That said, don’t buy a cheap, poorly-made third-party charger, warns Shi. Shoddily-made cables can be just as risky as fraying ones. “This is especially true for laptops,” he says, “where the charging brick contains complex circuitry and protection systems—things cheap aftermarket chargers choose to skip to cut costs.” Pay the extra few bucks to buy the real deal.

Smartphone chargers are less intricate, which makes them easier to replace: Aftermarket cables are usually fine, as long as they’re from a good brand like Anker, which makes high-quality, affordable cables. Just don’t grab the first cable you see in the checkout line at the drug store.

Keep your cables in good condition

Of course, buying a new charger every year isn’t really an ideal solution. So next time you replace your cable, take some steps to ensure its longevity.

First, consider buying a more durable option. Braided cables like Anker’s Powerline+ ($18 on Amazon) are built to last, and that one costs $12 less than Apple’s official-but-flimsy Lightning cable. When you shop, look for cables that are well reinforced at the joints between the cable and the connector, since that’s where cables usually break down.

Sadly, durable cables aren’t always an option, especially with laptops, when it’s important to buy a first-party charger. If your laptop comes with a flimsy cable (like Apple’s MacBook chargers, for example), give the joints a bit of reinforcement with Sugru ($11 on Amazon), a moldable silicone glue that’s perfect for all sorts of DIY projects. Do this before the cable frays. That way, you get the reliability of the first-party charger and the safety of an unbroken cable, without the structural issues that’ll lead to problems later on.

No matter what type of tether you end up with, the way you treat it can significantly extend its useful life. For example, when you tug it out of the wall, pull it at the base of the socket instead of yanking on the cord.

The way you transport the charger also matters. “Avoid making sharp kinks when you wrap the cable for transit, especially where it comes out of the power brick,” says Shi. The key is to avoid repeatedly bending the wires in the same direction, like you do when you tightly wrap cables around your hand. To avoid stressing the charger, try the following tried-and-true wrapping method.

The video demonstrates a “roadie wrap” on an AV cable, but the same method will also work on your charger. If you can take care of your cables like this, you’ll be shocked how much longer they last.

The post Don’t try to fix your frayed cable—prevent the damage in the first place appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Technology is advancing faster than it breaks, which means we’re upgrading our devices—and getting rid of our old gadgets—more often than ever. In 2016 alone, the United States trashed about 44 pounds of electronic waste per person. And today’s devices, from iPhones to simple alarm clocks, often contain toxic chemicals like lead, cadmium, and mercury. If you just throw them away, those poisons will end up in the environment.

“The whole idea is to avoid putting electronics in the landfill,” says Danny Muller, Assistant Supervisor of the University of San Diego’s Electronics Recycling Center. “E-waste is about 2 percent of all the waste in a landfill, but it represents about 70 percent of all hazardous waste—and it’s contributing most quickly to the growth of landfills.”

Scrapping your old gear isn’t just harmful to the environment; it’s bad for your wallet, too. Although you can recycle your tech through multiple channels, we recommend that you visit a center specifically designed to handle e-waste. These organizations may even offer tax deductions for your donations, and let you pick up some cheap tech while you’re there. Here’s how to safely and responsibly dispose of your old gadgets.

Find a local electronics recycling center

In general, Muller says, you’ll find a few different types of centers in your area. Many of the big recycling centers don’t serve regular consumers, and if they do, you can only bring in your waste on specific days of the week or month. Smaller collection centers, however, make it easier to donate, and they’ll do a lot of the heavy lifting for you.

“If the electronics still contain some value, we’ll sell it on our eBay store or in our storefront,” Muller says. “We’ll sort items that are not worth selling in our warehouse, and they will get picked up by a certified recycler once per week. Everything will get broken down and sent to different plants and vendors where their raw materials can be used again.”

A simple Google (or Google Maps) search of terms like “electronics recycling” or “e-waste” should turn up a ton of options in your area. From there, you can differentiate the big recycling centers from the consumer-focused collection centers. Some of the latter are local shops with a variety of monikers, while others share a name—for example, multiple cities around the country host e-waste centers called Free Geek, named after a particularly successful shop in Portland, OR. If you find a location that sells used tech back to the community, you know you’re headed in the right direction.

Safely recycle your devices

Once you’ve found an e-waste center near you, it’s time to recycle your electronics. You don’t need to make a trek down there in every time you toss an old light bulb, though. “My recommendation would be to have some kind of e-waste bin in your house that’s designated specifically for electronic waste,” says Muller. “And then every six months or so you can just empty it, bring it by, and we’ll sort it all out.” E-waste centers may charge you a small amount to recycle certain items, such as batteries, but they’ll tackle most items for free.

Before you turn them in, you’ll want to take care with hard drives and other tech that might contain personal information. You can securely erase them yourself by encrypting and resetting or formatting the device, but many recycling centers will also do this task for you.

“We have machines here that can erase hard drives to Department of Defense standards, so there’s no way to retrieve data from the disk,” says Muller. That way, they can resell the clean drives in the store. Alternatively, he says a recycling center can demolish hard drives onsite and give you a certificate of destruction. They’ll even let you watch as staff members mangle your drive, so you can feel secure that nothing will happen to your data.

Get tax deductions and buy used tech

It’s nice to know you’re doing your part for the environment, but it’s even better if you get something tangible out of it. Depending on the recycling center, you may be able to deduct the cost of your donation from your taxes, which will let you get a little money back. To do this, you need to donate to a nonprofit recycling center—you won’t get a tax deduction if you recycle your old devices with the manufacturer or a retailer like Best Buy.

When you donate, ask for a receipt—the center will usually provide a list of items you donated and their condition. You can keep that or give it to your accountant when you do your taxes. This serves as proof, allowing you to deduct the value of the donation. However, your receipt won’t include the price of each item, so you’ll need to look this up yourself.

“It’s up to the customer to research the value of their items and make a fair appraisal,” says Muller. “The best way to find the real market value is to look at sold listings on eBay. Don’t just look at active listings—items that people are currently trying to sell—look at the history of sold items.” You should be able to find a similar item in similar condition and see what it sold for.

Want to save even more money? Consider buying your “new” tech from an e-waste center, if your local one offers old stuff for sale. Muller says they rigorously test everything they get, and they sell anything in decent working condition (or easily fixable). Speaking from experience, the prices are fantastic: At the University of San Diego’s recycling center, where Muller works, I’ve purchased an HDMI-based A/V receiver for $35, an 8-port Ethernet switch for $4, and a wireless phone charger for less than a buck. (The switch was missing a power cable, but thankfully, the recycling center also sells power cables of all shapes and sizes, so I was able to find a compatible one for only $2). They even sell old desktop PCs, laptops, and speakers, and maintain a small desk where customers can test out equipment for themselves to make sure it fits their needs.

Not only will buying used save you money, but it continues the cycle of avoiding landfills. “If you don’t need a new piece of technology, don’t buy it—or think about buying used,” Muller says. “There’s so much consumption of new technology in our country, and that’s really where it starts.” If you can avoid over-consuming and throwing away old items out of convenience, you’ll do yourself and the environment a big favor.

The post You throw out 44 pounds of electronic waste a year. Here’s how to keep it out of the dump. appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Class is back in session, though many schools have chosen to stick with distance learning over in-person instruction. This introduces a number of challenges—like supplying all three of your kids with their own laptops for school.

After all, if you google “best laptops,” you’ll probably find models in excess of $1,000, with maybe a few $500 models thrown in. That’s awfully pricey when you tally up the whole family, and even tougher when everything seems out of stock. When push comes to shove, though, you might be able to make do with an old or used laptop and a few upgrades—for much less than a new model would cost.

Figure out what you need

First, let’s talk about narrowing your search. If you haven’t already, ask your kids’ teachers what kind of laptop they require. Do they only need basic tools such as Zoom and Google Docs? If so, a Chromebook may give you the best bang for your buck. Since a browser-based operating system requires fewer resources, you can spend less money for the same level of performance from lower-tier components. You’d be surprised how far a browser can take you these days—most of what we do is in the browser anyway (my work laptop is a Chromebook and when I use it, I miss very little of my Windows software).

If the teachers require more-specialized tools that only work on Windows, you’ll need to find a compatible machine that matches the recommended specs for what they’re doing. If the teacher knows what’s required, make sure you note any CPU and RAM guidance, along with other necessary features (like a touch screen). If you don’t have anything to go on, I’d recommend something with an Intel “Core i” CPU from within the past four or five years, or a recent AMD Ryzen processor. Avoid low-end Celeron and Athlon processors for Windows machines, as they’ll provide sluggish, sub-par performance. You’ll also want an SSD and 8GB of RAM to keep things snappy. Once you have your minimum specs in hand, you can go shopping.

Check out the used market

You can buy an affordable laptop at Amazon or Best Buy, of course, but the cheaper you go, the more sacrifices you’ll have to make. Once you get below $500 or so, you’ll start encountering machines that are, frankly, unbearable. So if you want to spend as little as possible, or you’re having trouble finding something in stock, look to the used market instead.

While the highly-reviewed “best” models tend to keep their value—think MacBooks or Dell’s XPS line—most other Windows laptops lose a ton of value as soon as you drive them off the proverbial lot. On sites like Craigslist and OfferUp, you can often find barely-used Windows laptops at huge discounts, since people are rarely searching for those specific models. (I’ve bought $500 laptops, in almost-new state, for $200 with a bit of negotiation.) Your mileage may vary depending on the city you live in and increased pandemic demand, but a little negotiation goes a long way. Just make sure it has a working webcam, doesn’t smell like cigarette smoke, and that you take the proper precautions when picking up the machine: wear a mask, turn it on and ensure it works, then disinfect the keyboard and case before handing it over to your kid. Don’t use Clorox wipes on the screen, though—use a bit of water or a screen-safe cleaner.

By the way, the used market extends beyond public sites like Craigslist. If you have an old laptop in your closet, you may be able to upgrade it for basic school usage. Or perhaps a family member has a “slow” or “broken” computer they’ll gladly hand over for you to fix up. Ask around before you start spending your money.

Buy cheap and upgrade (or repair) yourself

If you’re having trouble finding a laptop with the specs you want at a reasonable price, you may be able to fine-tune the hardware on your own. You can’t necessarily make up for a CPU that bogs down under the weight of Zoom (laptop CPUs are almost never upgradeable), but many laptops allow you to swap out the storage and/or RAM, which can help make a once-low-end laptop feel snappy.

As you shop, do some digging on Google and YouTube to see if you can find any disassembly guides or teardown videos for the model you’re looking at. You’ll want to do this before you buy, so you can see if it’s even possible to upgrade the memory and storage by hand. Some thin and light laptops may have one or both soldered firmly onto the motherboard, which is no good. Understanding whether the necessary pieces come apart will help you avoid buying an outdated, non-upgradeable PC.

Typically, 4GB of RAM isn’t enough for a Windows laptop these days, so if you can upgrade to 8GB, you’ll almost certainly want to do so. Look up the type of RAM the machine uses (e.g. DDR4-2666 SODIMM), or type the laptop’s make and model into Crucial’s compatibility tool. You can usually get an 8GB stick of RAM for $30 or less, making for a very affordable improvement in multitasking performance.

Similarly, any machine with a spinning hard drive (or HDD) is going to feel sluggish these days. A solid-state drive (or SSD) is one of the best ways to make a slow computer feel brand new, and there are plenty of affordable models from companies like SanDisk. Just make sure you get enough storage for everything your kid needs, particularly if they’re going to use this laptop for personal stuff like music and movies—I’d recommend at least 240GB, if not 480GB.

Make up for low-end shortcomings with external hardware

The guts of your laptop aren’t the only important pieces—the keyboard, trackpad, and hinge can also make or break the experience. If the trackpad is a pain to use, the laptop will be a pain to use, no matter how fast it is.

That said, when you’re using a laptop at home, you can make up for these failings with external peripherals. If your laptop has a clunky keyboard, for example, you can easily buy an external keyboard that will do the job much better. Jumpy, unusable trackpad? Grab a cheap wireless mouse. It won’t make for the most space-saving setup, but it’ll do the job, and will still probably be cheaper than a new or higher-end machine.

Oh, and if the Wi-Fi feels spotty—and you’ve done all you can to improve your coverage—you might try wiring your laptop directly to your router with an ethernet cable and, if necessary, an ethernet-to-USB adapter (if your laptop doesn’t have an ethernet port). Sometimes, older laptops have cheap Wi-Fi cards that don’t work well, and when it comes to distance learning over video chat, you’ll want the best connection you can possibly get.

The post How to buy a quality laptop for school without breaking the bank appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

It’s bad enough that we’ll most likely be stuck in and around our homes for the year, but the COVID-19 pandemic has also put many folks in a tough financial spot. Whether you’ve lost your job or had your hours cut, your bank account may be a little more starved than usual.

But other than all the nights out you’re not having, there are some savings opportunities that may not have crossed your mind and are possible mainly because you aren’t going anywhere.

Cut back on your car insurance

If you’re one of the lucky folks able to work from home right now, your car is probably sitting in the garage more often than it used to. This, by default, is probably saving you money on gas, but if you’re still paying the same insurance premium, you’re spending unnecessary money on something you rarely need.

Some insurers now offer pay-per-mile programs, where you can use a mobile app or other tracking mechanisms to pay only for the miles you drive, rather than a flat monthly rate. Allstate has Milewise, Nationwide has SmartMiles, and Metromile is a newcomer focused on this type of product. You may also find companies offering discounts for safe driving if you install their tracking app, which monitors your speed and how hard you brake, among other things.

If your insurance company doesn’t offer this option, or you aren’t comfortable with them tracking every touch of the brake pedal, just give them a call. My insurer was already providing its customers some pandemic-related discounts, but I also discovered my rate was based on a much higher amount of driving than I’ve actually been doing lately. By giving them an estimate of my current driving habits—I didn’t even have to provide documents or data—I was able to lower my premium by a significant amount. When I’m back to driving every day, I can call them again and bump it back up.

Just make sure you’re still caring for your car and using it occasionally, even if you have nowhere to go.

Go digital with your exercise subscription

My family is a longtime member of our local YMCA, but you won’t find us using the gym anytime soon, so we decided to suspend our subscription and look for at-home alternatives. While some are just as pricey (I’m looking at you, Peloton), other options are much cheaper, and even though they’re not a gym, they’ll do in a pinch.

For example, my wife is doing pilates multiple times a day over video with an instructor here in California for $16 per month, while I bought some bodyweight workout gear to exercise in my office during remote working breaks. And, of course, there’s always running and biking outside, which was a great idea even before the pandemic made gyms untenable.

Between fitness tracking apps, workouts on your smart TV, and yes, even TikTok, there are plenty of digital-friendly ways to help you stay fit during this health crisis, and for a lot less than a typical gym. If you need inspiration, check out Popular Science’s Muscle Month for a ton of pandemic-friendly workout ideas.

Skip grocery delivery and do free (or cheap) pickup

When the pandemic first hit, getting groceries felt like the week’s biggest challenge, and for everyone who stayed home, booking a grocery pickup time slot was basically winning the lottery. Instead of trying our luck, many of us turned to third-party grocery delivery services, willing to pay extra money to stay safe and avoid the crowds. But between fees and tips, and considering how often you need to re-stuff your fridge with fresh produce, delivery is likely to make a whole new dent in your monthly budget.

Now that the mad rush for toilet paper is over, grocery stores have plenty of pickup times available again, and you may find it even cheaper than before. Ralph’s (or Kroger, for you East-Coasters) usually charges $8 for pickup, but has started to offer it for free. While this gives the store a huge leg up over delivery services, it benefits customers too. Other retailers are following suit, and the process is similar across the board—you can do all your shopping right from the store’s app, complete with weekly ads, coupons to clip, and substitution options if your desired item isn’t in stock.

If you haven’t checked pickup availability for your favorite store, now might be the time to switch away from delivery—it’s easily the most time- and cost-effective way to get your groceries. Besides, using an app to get your groceries might help you make healthier choices, too.

Get credit card points you’ll actually use

I love the feeling of racking up credit card points, then using them on a free flight home to see my family. And typically, airline miles are the most efficient rewards around, netting you more value per point than most cash-back and other types of cards. Unfortunately, I don’t see myself getting on a plane anytime soon, so all those points are just sitting there.

Log into your credit card issuer’s app and see what other ways you might be able to redeem those points. Some cards—even those focused on travel—may allow you to trade them in for cash back, or for shopping on places like Amazon. You might not rack up as much in the long term, but if you’re short on cash, it’s probably worth getting money you can use now rather than waiting to use miles a year or two down the line.

Make sure you’re making the most of whatever points you redeem, though—check out our guide to credit card points for more tips.

Audit your other bills

If you’re starting to see a pattern here, it’s because there is one: pull out the ol’ budget spreadsheet and look at all your regular expenses, noting which ones may be less relevant due to the quarantine.

If you’re always on Wi-Fi, knock your cellphone bill back to the lowest data tier. If you aren’t working at coffee shops anymore, maybe that VPN subscription can be put on pause (or even canceled) for the time being. And for heaven’s sake, get to know your electric company’s time-of-use plans—you may not have worried about off-peak hours much when you were at the office all day, but now that you’re home using more electricity, it may behoove you to schedule the dishwasher, air conditioning, and other appliances for specific times when the rates are lower.

Every little bit counts, and you might be surprised how quickly all those savings add up.

The post Save money during the pandemic with these tech-savvy solutions appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

You know it the moment you wake up: Last night’s little throat tickle has turned into a full-blown sneezy, nose-dripping, red-eye cold. You had plans to work out today, but would keeping them make your illness worse? In other words, should you stick with your exercise routine or indulge in some rest? Here are a few guidelines to help you decide.

Follow the “above the neck” rule

Exercising while you’re sick will not necessarily hurt your immune system. In fact, if you work out regularly, then you’ve almost certainly done so while your body was fighting off an illness.

“Up to half of rhinovirus infections are asymptomatic, so you never feel sick,” says Bruce Barrett, a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Similarly, 10 or 20 percent of influenza infections won’t have any symptoms. It’s very likely that you’ve hit the gym while sick, and you didn’t even know it. So just because you can work out…should you?

Even that issue defies an easy yes-or-no solution. “Nobody has really done the type of study that would be required to answer that question definitively,” says Bruce Barrett, a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Still, doctors have a pretty consistent set of recommendations.

Michael Gleeson, a professor of exercise biochemistry in Loughborough University’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences lays it out: “The general rule is that it is okay to train moderately if your symptoms are above the neck—that is, a runny nose or sore throat. But if you have symptoms below the neck, such as coughing, a tight chest, or joint aches and pains, it is best to avoid all but the lightest exercise until at least two days after your symptoms have improved.”

And you should never exercise when you have a high fever, Gleeson says, so check your temperature before you hit the treadmill. If it’s 102°F or higher, stay home.

When you’re sick, lower the intensity

So if you’re just dealing with a little nasal congestion, you can exercise—but you should still ease off the fervor. We don’t know exactly how exercise during a cold can affect you, but studies from Gleeson and other researchers suggest that intense exercise when healthy can increase your risk of getting sick. “People seem to have a higher rate of getting sick from a viral respiratory illness after a major physiological stress, including long-distance running or other long-distance aerobic exercise,” says Barrett. “There’s something about overworking the body that can dampen the immune system and increase the chance of getting a bug.” Researchers are still testing this theory, but it means you should scale back on the intensity of your workout when you’re sick.

While you struggle with an illness, your immune system releases cytokines, small proteins that regulate its response to an infection—but also make you feel tired and lethargic. During this time, Gleeson says, “Training will generally feel harder and fatigue will begin earlier. So stick to light to moderate training and avoid the high-intensity workouts. Moderate aerobic or strength training is okay, but do less than normal.”

When you’re healthy, exercise regularly

Even though intense workouts can increase your risk of illness, that doesn’t mean you should abandon your exercise routine once you feel better. Both doctors stressed that working out can help stave off the next summer cold heading your way. “People who exercise regularly have fewer cold and flu infections, and research suggests that they have shorter and less severe episodes than those who don’t,” says Barrett. “So exercise is good.” In addition to physical health, Barrett’s work has also found that good mental and social health correlate with a lower risk of respiratory infections.

Barrett recommends everyone aim to spend at least 150 minutes per week doing moderate, sustained exercise. But it’s easy to let an illness derail your entire regimen. Will keeping up the consistency—even at a lower intensity—while you’re sick help you maintain your routine after you recover? If so, that’s a great reason to keep working out.

The post Should I work out when I’m sick? appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

The sun is returning for another bright summer, which means it’s time to relax and read by the pool. So you pull out your phone, don your shades, and…you can’t see a thing on the screen. What gives?

This annoying phenomenon happens with all kinds of electronics, including phones, tablets, and computer monitors. Even with the brightness cranked up, the display appears dark, purple, or in some cases, completely black when you wear sunglasses. The culprit? Polarizing filters.

How polarization works

You’ve probably heard of polarized sunglasses before, but to solve the problem, it’s important to understand why this “black screen” phenomenon occurs when you’re wearing them. (Don’t care about the science? Skip to the end of this article for the quick fix.)

Light is made of particles called photons, which travel through space like a wave, zig-zagging back and forth on their way to your eye. Natural, unpolarized light consists of photons bouncing in many directions at once. But as soon as they strike certain types of reflective surfaces—like a body of water or an asphalt road—those waves will all begin vibrating in one direction, usually horizontally. This is what causes the intense glare that hurts your eyes when you look at sunlight on a lake.

Polarizing filters absorb light waves that vibrate along a certain axis. In the case of polarizing sunglasses, they absorb the horizontally-vibrating waves. That means that only vertically-vibrating waves get through the filter and reach your eye. This reduces the intensity of reflective glare without blocking too much of the surrounding light.

Polarized light

Polarized lenses don’t just cut down on glare; they also protect the long-term health of your eyes. “Everyone should be wearing polarized sunglasses for maximum eye protection from UVA/UVB rays,” says Purnima S. Patel, clinical spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Chances are, you’ve already taken this advice. There’s just one problem: It’s also the reason you’re having trouble seeing your screen.

How to see your screen without removing your shades

Your gadgets contain polarizing filters, too. “These LCD screens are polarized to reduce glare, especially in bright sunlight—but so are sunglasses,” Patel says. “When the filters for the screen and sunglasses align in opposite directions, the light emanating from the screen with be cut out.” In other words, if the screen emits horizontally-vibrating light, and your sunglasses block all except vertically-vibrating light, no photons will get through and you’ll be stuck with a dark or entirely black image.

Some devices will experience this effect worse than others. Although a lot of higher-end devices have found ways to get around the issue altogether (like the current generation of iPhones, iPads, and Google Pixel phones), you’ll still notice it to some degree on many phones and tablets.

Thankfully, there’s an easy fix: Turn the screen 90 degrees in either direction. This will align the polarizing filter on your screen with the one on your sunglasses, and the light from your screen will be able to pass through to your eyes.

The post Seeing your phone’s screen while wearing sunglasses just takes one quick trick appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

In these days of wireless headphones, when we carry thousands of songs in our pockets, it feels impossible to exercise without “Eye of the Tiger” playing in the background. But music isn’t just a cure for boredom while you run. Countless studies have shown the right playlist can actually help you push yourself longer and harder.

Music helps you train better

Researchers have been studying the link between music and exercise performance since 1911, when researcher Leonard Ayres discovered that bicyclists pedaled faster while a band was playing compared to when it was quiet. Much of the recent work has been summarized in a review by Costas Karageorghis and David-Lee Priest, published in the International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology and available in two parts.

They found that in over 60 studies, music caused participants to push themselves for a longer period of time, report lower levels of exertion, and maintain a better mood overall. The right tunes can even draw you into a “flow state”—a fancy way of saying you’re “in the zone”—which reduces the amount of mental energy you need to expend to keep moving.

However, music’s power is more effective during moderate exercise than high-intensity workouts. In those more vigorous cases, when you’re already giving the activity everything you’ve got, researchers found that music didn’t increase performance. That said, it can still improve your mood during those tough workouts.

Music can serve our workouts in two primary ways: asynchronously, in which it acts as a background motivator and mood elevator, and synchronously, in which it helps us keep time as we move. We humans have a natural tendency to synchronize our movements with music, so songs with speedier tempos can unconsciously make you run faster to match your stride with the beat. In these situations, music increases performance even more than it does as simple background music.

Of course, this isn’t true for every single persone. Some athletes prefer to focus on their pace and performance, and they find music distracting. If that’s you, don’t fix what isn’t broken. But if you already like the idea of listening to music while you run, then you need the right playlist to really pump you up.

Craft the perfect exercise playlist

Loud, fast songs with lots of bass are always good motivators, according to researchers. The higher the tempo, the more likely you are to push yourself—until you reach around 140 beats per minute. At that point, going faster doesn’t necessarily increase performance, at least if you’re using music as background motivation.

If you’re synchronizing your movements with the beat, however, you can try to match the tempo of your music with your desired pace. This chart from run2rhythm gives you some basic BPM values for different mile paces. For example, if you’re aiming for an 8 minute mile, you’ll want songs with a tempo of around 166 beats per minute. You can also cut the tempo in half and run with two steps per stride.

Once you know your desired BPM range, head to a site like SongBPM and start plugging in your favorite tunes. SongBPM will tell you the tempo of the music, so you can decide whether it belongs in your playlist or not. Stick to songs that have an even tempo that isn’t too complex, since they’ll be easier to match with your movements.

The ideal song will have more than just the right tempo, though. In a 2009 study, Karageorghis found that music with motivational qualities drove athletes even harder than music without. So choose music with lyrics that pump you up and motivate you to keep going, like Eminem’s ‘Till I Collapse (171 BPM) or Krewella’s Killin’ It (160 BPM).

In addition, researchers found that music works much better as a motivator when participants picked their own music, choosing songs that were more personally or culturally relevant. Instead of loading up a random exercise playlist on Spotify, pick songs that fall into genres you like, fit your personal taste in lyrics, or have emotional significance for you.

Grab the right gear

Researchers are quick to acknowledge the dangers of running with headphones, so if you’re going to listen to music, make sure you do it right. Get an unsealed headphone that lets you hear outside noise, so you can remain aware of your surroundings. We recommend the sweatproof Plantronics BackBeat FIT ($105 on Amazon) or Yurbuds Inspire 200 ($25 on Amazon). Apple’s EarPods are cheaper than our other picks, but unfortunately aren’t waterproof—though they’ll do in a pinch. Unsealed headphones may not sound as good as sealed ones, but safety is more important than sound quality.

As you sweat it out, you don’t want that moisture to make your phone slip out of your hand. A cheap exercise armband can protect it from both sweat and gravity. Alternatively, leave your phone at home and run with an old iPod Shuffle—you can find cheap ones on Craigslist. That way you won’t have to worry about damaging a $700 device when you should be focused on pushing yourself to the limit.

Finally, make sure to keep all your devices—music player and headphones—charged. There’s nothing worse than hearing the music die in the middle of a hard workout.

The post Music can seriously improve your workout. Here’s how to create the perfect playlist. appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

We all have a favorite item of clothing we wish would last forever—the t-shirt from an incredible concert, that sweater grandma gave you, or the swimsuit you bought at a little boutique in France. But stains, tears, and worn spots can limit any garment’s lifespan—and laundering your clothes only speeds up the process.

If you’re tired of shirts fading and workout clothes stretching into flimsy wrecks, tweak your laundry habits to give them longer lives. To do that, you need to know why clothes fade and break down in the first place.

Know your fabrics

Different garments wear out for different reasons. “There are two really different families of fibers,” says Lana Hogue, a garment manufacturer with 25 years of experience, who teaches classes at Garment Industry 411. “There are natural fibers, and there are synthetic fibers. And they all need different care.” Natural fibers include cotton, linen, and wool, while synthetic fibers encompass nylon, polyester, spandex, and other heavily-processed fabrics. Each category is sensitive to different parts of the laundering process.

Synthetic fibers, found most often in sportswear, are particularly sensitive to heat and oil. “The heat from the dryer can cook a lot of garments,” Hogue says. Things like running shorts and spandex pants will lose their structure when exposed to a hot dryer too often.

Some synthetic-fiber clothes—like women’s swimsuits—are particularly vulnerable. It only takes one trip to the dryer to potentially ruin these garments. In addition, suits can break down more quickly if you use a lot of sunscreen, thanks to the oils in the lotion.

Cotton holds its shape better than synthetic fibers, but it isn’t nearly as colorfast: The water and friction of a washer will cause its hues to fade. To maintain color longer, Hogue likes blends, especially for dark items that can get that frosty-on-the-shoulders look. “When I’m looking for a black shirt, I will look for a cotton-polyester blend. Any amount of polyester is going to help retain the color in that black.”

In fact, blends get the best of both worlds. In addition to helping maintain color, the polyester will prevent the cotton from shrinking too much. The cotton, meanwhile, will keep the polyester from breaking down as easily in the dryer.

If you know what type of fabric your clothing is made out of, you can do a much better job of playing to its strengths—and weaknesses.

Read the care instructions (seriously)

Almost every item of clothing has a tag that tells you exactly how to care for it, and you should read it! (You probably already know this, but be honest: Do you really do it?) That tag will give you a really good idea of where to start, and what not to do, if you want that item to last as long as possible. If your tag only has symbols on it, this graphic from Primer explains what they all mean.

Hogue notes that most of these instructions err on the conservative side, so you can usually get away with slightly harsher practices. However, your clothes may wear out faster, so it’s best to be cautious. And there’s one instruction you should always follow: Items that say “dry clean only” absolutely must be dry cleaned.

In addition, Hogue says, “There is no difference between machine-wash gentle and hand washing. Unless you have a very aggressive washing machine, you can throw a hand-wash garment into your washing machine on gentle cycle, and it’s usually fine.” Just be careful of delicate clothing with straps or other parts that can get wrapped around other items in the wash. You might want to zip those items into a mesh bag for delicates to keep them in check.

Take extra care of the things you want to last

So you’ve looked at the tag, you’ve noted the fabric type and its instructions, but you still want to make absolutely sure that item lasts as long as possible. Hogue says the following tips go a long way.

• Launder less often: “I don’t launder my dark clothes as often as I wash my light clothes because they just don’t show dirt as much,” she says. Natural fabrics will lose color faster the more often they’re washed, so if you can get away with laundering something less often—like if you wear an undershirt with it—do so. For items worn against the skin, like jeans, she says you can put them in the freezer to kill germs without doing a load of laundry.
• Wash colors inside out: When you do go to wash those colorful cotton garments, first reverse them. Color loss comes from water and friction, and by turning an item inside-out, you can at least reduce the friction portion of the equation. This step is less important for synthetic fabrics.
• Avoid heat (especially for synthetics): For synthetic fabrics, heat is the number one enemy. Even items made of a cotton-polyester blend shouldn’t go into the dryer on high heat. “The only things that can withstand high heat in the dryer are linen, cotton, and hemp,” says Hogue. Everything else should dry on low heat, or better yet, on a clothesline. Heat can also cook in stains.
• Try line drying: “If you can line-dry all of your clothes, they’ll last so much longer,” Hogue stresses—but she admits that this is unrealistic for most of us. So instead of giving up and tossing everything in the dryer, give that extra bit of care to the few items you really care about preserving. “If you have favorite clothes that you never want to wear out, always line dry them,” she says. “They’ll last a lot longer.”

The post How to wash your clothes without wearing them out appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

It’s easy to skimp on storage when you’re buying a computer. You think there’s no way you’ll ever need more than 256GB, but there you are, one measly year later, staring at an overflowing C: drive that won’t stop bugging you with reminders that it’s almost full.

If your laptop allows you to open up the bottom and pop in a new drive, upgrading the drive is easy. Don’t toss out that old drive when you’re done, though—you can put it in a USB enclosure and use it as an external drive for backups, extra storage for your gaming PC, or as a way to hand stuff off to your friends.

It’s incredibly easy, as long as you buy the right gadget.

Before you start

We won’t get into the ins and outs of upgrading your drive here, since that’s a guide all on its own. But if you haven’t done so already, you’ll need to copy any important files off your old drive first, or clone your operating system installation with a tool like Macrium Reflect (Windows) or Carbon Copy Cloner (Mac) before you open up your computer and swap the new drive in.

The actual process of switching drives is as easy as it sounds, even if you’ve never dug into a laptop’s innards before. You can google your computer’s model number to find a step-by-step walkthrough. Once that’s done, if your old hard drive is still working—that is, if it hasn’t failed or isn’t filled with bad sectors—it’s time to breathe new life into it.

Find the right USB enclosure

These days, hard drives come in a few forms. On modern PCs, you’re likely to find one of the following:

• 3.5-inch hard drives: Big, slow, and loud, but can hold the most amount of space. You’ll find these in desktop PCs.
• 2.5-inch hard drives: Still slow and loud, but smaller so they can fit inside a laptop.
• 2.5-inch solid-state drives (SSDs): The same size and shape as 2.5-inch hard drives, but with solid-state hardware, which eschews the loud spinning platter for much faster, long-lasting storage with no moving parts.
• mSATA SSDs: Modern laptops—that is, those manufactured in the past 10 years—save even more space by cutting down the 2.5-inch form factor into something much smaller. These mSATA drives are similar in speed to 2.5-inch SSDs, but are more compact.
• M.2 SATA SSDs: M.2 is a new connection standard that looks similar to mSATA. Not all M.2 drives are the same, though—some use the old SATA connection standard (and thus are similar in speed to 2.5-inch and mSATA SSDs), while others use a faster connection called…
• M.2 NVMe SSDs: NVMe storage is super fast, and common in many of the higher-end laptops you’d buy today. M.2 NVMe SSDs often look similar to M.2 SATA SSDs, but may not be compatible with the same enclosures.

That may sound like a lot, but don’t worry—you don’t necessarily need to know everything about each drive type. Just look at your drive (or, if you haven’t opened your computer yet, look at photos or video of your laptop’s repair guides) and compare it to the photo above. The label may also list the drive’s connection type.

For 3.5- and 2.5-inch drives, there are dozens of different enclosures out there. On the affordable end, ORICO enclosures are popular and have worked well for me in the past. This model fits 3.5-inch drives, and you can grab it with old-school USB-A or new-school USB-C, depending on what ports you’ll need to plug it into. For smaller drives, their more compact 2.5-inch model works well for a dirt-cheap price and comes in multiple connection types. That said, you do get what you pay for, to an extent. I’ve used cheap drives at home without problems, but you can invest in more durable materials and more attractive designs if portability or aesthetics are important.

For more compact laptop drives, things are just a tad more confusing, since they look so similar. Thanks to its size, mSATA is a bit easier—if your drive is short and stout, this enclosure should do the trick. For M.2 drives, pay attention to the label and the “keying”—the shape of the connector at the end. Most Amazon listings will have a graphic in the carousel of images that shows you which drives it’s compatible with—this UGREEN model, for example, works with SATA-based drives that either have the “B-Key” (one notch on the end) or “M+B Key” (two notches on the end).

It does not, however, work with NVMe-based M.2 drives, which can look identical to M-Key SATA drives, so check the label to see whether your drive is NVMe- or SATA-based. NVMe drives will work with this UGREEN enclosure instead. Like above, you can feel free to search around for drives with different appearances or durability features—just make sure to read reviews before you buy.

Transfer your drive, plug it in, and reformat

Picking the right enclosure is, weirdly, the hard part. Transferring the actual drive is super easy, and you shouldn’t need much in the way of tools. In fact, the ORICO drive I’m using for the purposes of this guide is completely tool-less—the top just slides right off, revealing the inner chamber where the hard drive lies.

Grab your old drive, face the SATA or M.2 connector toward the dock inside the enclosure, and gently slide the drive into place. Once you’re sure it’s in all the way—it shouldn’t take too much force—just close it back up.

Congratulations, you just made your own external drive.

Plug one end of the USB cable into the enclosure, and the other into your computer. If you’re using a 3.5-inch enclosure, it may also require you to plug it into a wall socket using the included adapter, so it can draw enough power to spin that big drive. Smaller, more portable drives shouldn’t require this, but you can read your enclosure’s instruction manual for more info.

Your computer should recognize the old drive as if it were any other external drive. It will still have all your old data on it, though, so once you have that extracted to the new drive inside your computer, you’ll want to format and erase the old drive. In Windows, open Explorer, right-click on the drive, and choose Format. Select NTFS if you plan on using it on Windows machines, or ExFAT If you plan on moving it between Windows and Mac machines. If you have a Mac, you can format the drive by running Disk Utility (you can find it in Utilities, in the Applications folder), selecting the drive in the left sidebar, and clicking the Erase button. Choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format and click Erase.

Once your drive is free and clear, you’re ready to fill it up with whatever nonsense you choose—which, coupled with the new drive in your PC, should give you plenty of room for activities.

The post Rip out your computer’s guts and craft an external hard drive appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Internet providers plaster ads all over TV for “gigabit” internet speeds, and their websites imply that “HD streaming” is only possible with 150Mbps plans, and that decent multiplayer gaming requires 500Mbps.

We can think of them as “the experts” and take their word for it, but if you suspect these claims are only a marketing scheme, you may be wondering if you really need to pay for all that bandwidth. The truth is slightly more complicated than these companies let on, and understanding more about how internet speeds work might help you get exactly what you need from your provider.

Know what you pay for (and if you really get that speed)

You may pay for a 100Mbps plan, but you may not be actually getting the speeds you think. A lot of things can affect the speed of your downloads and streams:

• Your Wi-Fi signal may be weak, degrading that 100Mbps by the time it gets to your laptop or TV. If this is the case, you’ll need to improve your signal rather than upgrading your internet package.
• You may be confusing megabits per second (Mbps) with megabytes per second (MB/s). Your internet package is measured in megabits, while your browser will measure download speed in megabytes. Make sure you’re comparing apples to apples.
• Your provider may not be providing the speeds you pay for. You’ll need to give them a call.
• Your device may have an old Wi-Fi or ethernet chip that’s slower than your super-fast internet package. This is less common, but possible if you have an old router or old gadgets. If this is the case, you’ll need to upgrade your setup to get the full speeds you pay for.
• Other people may be trying to download or stream at the same time. Buying a heftier package will provide more bandwidth for everyone to share.

A site like Speedtest.net will measure your internet speed—in megabits per second—so you can compare the number from your test to the number on your bill. If there’s a drastic difference, you may need to speed up your Wi-Fi, upgrade your router, wire up with ethernet, or call your internet provider.

If your speed test reports the same number as your bill, you can move on to deciding if that’s the right amount of Mbps for you. If your internet is feeling sluggish, you may need to upgrade, but if it feels fast enough, you might even be able to save some money by downgrading.

How much bandwidth do common activities actually use?

Providers usually advertise internet plans with “use cases” for each tier, like “downloading large files” or “online gaming.” These are supposed to guide you toward finding the speed that’s right for you, but they can be misleading.

One person browsing the web doesn’t require all that much bandwidth. Even 5Mbps is enough to check your email, browse the web, and even watch the occasional 1080p YouTube video. I know, because I researched and wrote this article on a 5Mbps connection with nary a hiccup—and plenty of folks with slower internet than that will tell you they do just fine.

In fact, despite what your internet provider might imply, that 5Mbps connection is perfectly usable for online gaming—after all, online multiplayer has been around for decades, and we played games just fine on dial-up speeds back in the day. If you have a game like Overwatch installed on your PC or Xbox and you’re playing with your friends, you’re probably using less than 1Mbps of bandwidth during a match. If that is your setup, having a reliable connection matters much more than actual internet speed, and you’d probably see a bigger benefit going from Wi-Fi to Ethernet than you would upgrading your plan.

Downloading games on a faster connection, however, makes a huge difference. If you buy lots of games digitally, or if you play multiplayer games that require large patches every few weeks, that faster download speed will be nice to have. The same goes if you use services like NVIDIA GeForce Now or Google Stadia, where what you’re actually doing is streaming the game’s footage while the match is taking place on a server somewhere instead of your own computer.

That said, having a 500Mbps internet connection doesn’t necessarily mean files will download at 500Mbps, either. If the server on the other end can only handle a few hundred megabits per second, or if the walls in your house are so thick that they mess up Wi-Fi coverage, you’ll only download as fast as the weakest link in the chain.

Similarly, some services may not scale infinitely. Take Netflix, for example: its 4K streams only use about 25Mbps, with HD streams using 5Mbps and SD streams using 3Mbps. So upgrading from 3Mbps to 25Mbps will give you better-quality Netflix streams, but upgrading from 25Mbps to 300Mbps isn’t going to magically make Netflix look better.

When high-speed packages make sense

None of that is to say you should buy the cheapest plan and be done with it. All the numbers we’ve seen so far are for one person doing one thing at a time—if you have multiple people in your household, all using the internet at once, the numbers look very different.

Take the Netflix example above. While 25Mbps is enough for one person streaming a movie at 4K, it isn’t going to cut it if three people are trying to watch their own 4K streams in different rooms. Or if you’re watching a 4K stream while your spouse is FaceTiming Grandma and your kids are playing Fortnite while listening to Spotify. The Netflix stream won’t necessarily drop out, but its quality will deliberately decline to ensure everyone gets bandwidth.

The more people you have in your house using the internet simultaneously, the more useful that 50, 100, or 200Mbps speed will be. But this doesn’t mean you should take a provider’s speed recommendation at face value. Comcast advertises its 400Mbps plan as a requirement for “streaming in HD on multiple devices,” but that math doesn’t add up. At 5Mbps per HD Netflix stream, you’d need 60 streams going at once to saturate that connection—so I’d call their sales page a little misleading.

You may also want to consider upload speeds. A given internet package may download at 100Mbps, but it may only upload at 10 or 20Mbps. Many people probably won’t notice, but if you’re uploading large videos in an attempt to start your fledgling YouTube channel, or streaming your gameplay on Twitch, you’ll definitely feel the pain of a slow upload connection. In that case, upgrading to a faster plan may be worthwhile for better upload speeds, even if you don’t need the extra download bandwidth.

In short, when it comes to figuring out the perfect internet speed, there isn’t one right answer for everyone. When I lived alone, 25Mbps was fine for browsing, streaming, and gaming, as long as I was patient on patch day. With a wife and two kids, though, stepping up to that 100 or 200Mbps connection helped keep things running smoothly—and those packages are more affordable than ever. My advice is to start one tier lower than you think you need, since you can always upgrade if things feel sluggish. Add in a little negotiation, and you’ll ensure you never waste a dime.

The post Find the perfect internet speed for you appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

Between my TV, sound bar, Roku, and Blu-ray player, it feels like I need an end table solely dedicated to remote controls. When I head to friends’ houses, it’s worse, and I’ve even seen tables covered with remotes for devices they don’t even own anymore.

If that is your case, then it’s time to end this madness and consolidate that clutter. You might even be able to get rid of your remotes without spending a single cent.

Turn on HDMI-CEC

Many modern TVs, Blu-ray players, and other devices have a built-in feature called Consumer Electronics Control, or CEC. This functionality sends signals to other devices over HDMI, or vice-versa, which allows you to control more than one gizmo with a single remote.

By turning CEC on you can, for example:

• Automatically turn on a Blu-ray player connected over HDMI whenever you turn on your TV
• Control the volume of your sound bar connected over HDMI ARC by pressing the TV remote’s volume buttons.
• Turn your TV on and switch it to the PlayStation’s input automatically by simply pressing the PS button on your PlayStation.

This sounds great, but unfortunately CEC doesn’t work for every device, and some of them may only support certain functions. To see how they might work together using this feature, google your specific TV, sound bar, streaming device, and other gadgets, and look for their compatibility.

To make matters more confusing, every manufacturer has their own made-up brand names for CEC, so you’ll have to look that up too. Vizio, for example, calls it CEC in its settings, while LG calls it SimpLink, Samsung calls it Anynet+, and Sony calls it Bravia Sync. Your best best is to google the CEC name for the manufacturer of each device, head into that device’s settings, and turn it on. You may find that if you let your TV remote do the heavy lifting, some of the others can stay in a drawer.

Use your cable box’s remote for (almost) everything

“Universal” remote controls have been around for ages and come in a wide range of prices—from the $10 RadioShack models (RIP) to the $300 Wi-Fi connected powerhouses. But if you subscribe to a cable package, you might already have one of the simpler models in your house, as many companies provide universal remotes with their cable boxes.

To make sure yours falls into this category, take a look at it. If it has “TV,” “DVD,” and other buttons along the top, you can program it to control those devices. The process can vary a bit from remote to remote, but it generally involves pressing a combination of buttons, entering a four-digit code for your TV or DVD player, and pressing a button to lock in the programming. The instructions for your remote should be in the user manual that came with your cable box, but if you don’t have it, you can always search online for the manufacturer and model of your device.

You’ll also have to google the four-digit code for your TV or DVD player’s manufacturer. Keep in mind that many brands have multiple codes you may need to try—so this can get tedious. Eventually though, you should be able to find a code that works with your devices, and then you can finally toss that DVD player’s remote in the drawer for good.

At my parents’ house, for example, the cable remote can control the TV, sound bar, and DVD player—thus eliminating plenty of remotes—but they still needed the Roku’s dedicated buttons to control streaming services. Still, not bad for a $0 upgrade.r modern devices, such as streaming boxes, might use something more advanced like Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. If your cable remote doesn’t support those protocols, it won’t be able to control those devices.

At my parents’ house, for example, the cable remote can control the TV, sound bar, and DVD player—thus eliminating plenty of remotes—but they still need the Roku’s dedicated buttons to control streaming services. Still, not bad for a $0 upgrade.

If you wanted to, you could also use your phone to control streaming boxes and other devices—the Roku app has a remote screen built-in, for example—though that can sometimes be its own level of hassle.

Go all-out with a dedicated, universal remote

If the above options aren’t able to completely eliminate your coffee table clutter—and you aren’t satisfied by half-measures—it may be time to invest a few bucks in a dedicated universal remote to control everything.

You can still get old-school infrared remotes for $10, or grab a more advanced Logitech Harmony 665 for $99.99, which can control more devices and add custom functions to its backlit screen. The former will use the four-digit code system described above, while the Logitech model uses desktop software that’s a bit more intuitive to program, allowing you to easily customize what each button does.

Both options, however, are infrared-only, so just as with cable remotes, you still might not be able to control all your devices.

For total over your setup, Logitech’s Hub-based remotes, like the Harmony Companion and Harmony Elite, can control infrared, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth devices all from one programmable gadget. It’ll even let you control your TV with Alexa, or turn off your smart lights with a button. It comes at a hefty price, but you’ll never have to deal with multiple remotes again, which is an enticing proposition if you have a decked-out home theater.

Ultimately, you’ll need to look at the devices you own, which ones can be controlled by what types of remotes, and decide for yourself how far you want to go. For most people, the additional convenience of HDMI-CEC and basic infrared remotes will go pretty far into cleaning off that living room end table. But once you go for a real, feature-rich universal remote, it’s hard to go back.

The post Get rid of the remote controls you don’t need. Here’s how. appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

You set aside a few minutes to sneakily wrap your gifts and suddenly realize you have an object that doesn’t fit the traditional rectangular shape. Of course, you can always put your oddly-shaped item in a box and wrap it normally, or stuff it in a gift bag with tissue paper. But if you don’t have a box or bag on hand, there are other ways to wrap it—without the end result looking like garbage.

If you’re crafty, you can find loads of solutions for wrapping unusual shapes, but not everyone is. For this guide, we focused on methods that require nothing but the stuff you’re guaranteed to have: wrapping paper, tape, and scissors.

The cylinder method: for candles, hexagonal boxes, and other tubular shapes

Let’s start with gifts that comes in boxes, but not cubic ones—maybe a shape that has more than four sides or looks like a straight-up cylinder.

In this case, you can wrap it much like you’d do with a rectangular prism: Just roll the paper around the sides and fold the edges in on the top and bottom. The difference is how you turn the edges. Instead of bending in each corner, you’ll want to create small creases around the circle, as shown in the above video from Alison Westwood of wrapping service Eclipse Gift Wrapping. (Westwood adds a crafty flower decoration at the end, which is not necessary—the edges will look just fine as long as you follow her instructions.)

You can adapt these instructions to pentagonal, hexagonal, and other polygonal boxes with more than four sides. You just need to make those creases at each corner, as shown here.

The diagonal method: for when you don’t have enough wrapping paper

Ever get down to the last gift of the bunch, and your final strip of wrapping paper is just too small to fully envelop the box? Or maybe you’re wrestling with a box so big that even a full sheet of paper won’t cover it. Well, thanks to some geometric wizardry, you can make your limited resources work.

To use the diagonal method, try turning the gift diagonally and pulling the corners of the wrapping paper up the sides, as shown above in Kallie Branciforte’s video from her YouTube channel But First, Coffee. This method often allows you to cover the entire surface area of the box without leaving any exposed cardboard.

If you still don’t have enough paper for the diagonal method, here’s an alternative that lets you grab multiple pieces of wrapping paper to cover up those exposed portions. It’s more of a last resort, but with the neat method for folding the corners, it’ll at least look decent instead of haphazard.

The tennis racquet method: for large, relatively flat items

Sometimes, you have a shape so odd—like a tennis racquet, guitar, or some other flat object with round edges—that one side is basically guaranteed to look bad when you use a single sheet of wrapping paper.

Instead of trying to wrap the whole thing in one piece, you can make it much cleaner by wrapping each side individually. Nilda Garcia, of now-closed New York City stationary store Kate’s Paperie, demonstrates that method in the above video from DIY site Howdini. In summary, you wrap one side cleanly, leaving a portion of the top exposed—then flip it over and wrap the other side in the same way. One of the two sides will still have a slightly patchy appearance, but it’ll look a heck of a lot better than if you used only one sheet of paper. Just flip it so the good-looking side faces up before you put it under the tree.

The wine bottle method: for…well, you know

Because wine is such a common gift, and has such an odd shape, you can find dozens of wrapping methods dedicated to bottles. However, most of these techniques require tissue paper (which is a lot more forgiving on weird shapes) or gift bags—and we need an option that requires neither.

Thankfully, Hallmark’s YouTube channel shows off an easy way to do it without a lot of supplies. Wrap the bottom like you would any other cylinder (the video’s host uses scissors, but you can use the aforementioned cylinder method instead), then twist the top like a candy wrapper. If you have a ribbon, string, or gift tag, slap that on top of the twist to hide the crumples. If you don’t, a small piece of plain, differently-colored wrapping paper might do the trick.

The envelope method: for small, oddly-shaped items

For boxless stuffed toys and other shapeless trinkets, you’ll have to get a bit more creative… and essentially create your own box out of wrapping paper.

The above video from DIY Projects shows how to create an envelope that should work for just about any bauble. If your item is more spherical, like a ball, the video demonstrates a pyramid-like envelope that’ll work for that, too.

The gift bag method: for everything else

If literally none of the above options work for you—and you don’t have a gift bag handy—you can turn a large piece of wrapping paper into a gift bag that’ll fit just about anything.

This method is a tad more complex, but essentially involves cutting a large strip of paper and turning one edge into a flat-bottomed bag. This works for anything: weirdly-shaped blister packs, Tonka trucks, or even spherical gifts like a basketball (though you could also use aluminum foil for that). In the video above, the wrapper ties the ends off with a ribbon, but if you don’t have one of those, your gift will look just fine with the top edge taped down.

Whatever method you use, don’t stress too much about getting it to look perfect. Your recipient will appreciate the gift itself much more than the wrapping job—and they’ll only see it for five seconds before tearing into your meticulous work.

The post Tips for wrapping gifts of any shape appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

I dream of a truly smart home. But I don’t just want light bulbs I can turn on with my phone—I want a fully automated, Tony Stark-style robot house that talks to me and anticipates my every need before I even ask.

Consumer technology is still far from this fantasy, but with geofencing you’ll be one step closer to it. Many smart devices today contain this kind of features, which allow you to set up a virtual perimeter around your home, and trigger certain actions when you enter or exit that area. For example, you can set your gadgets to unlock your door, change the thermostat, or turn on the lights as soon as they detect you’ve arrived. But unless you tweak some settings on your phone first, these functionalities don’t always work as intended.

Here’s the problem: your device can often mess up your geofencing setup with power-saving modes or other settings meant to improve your privacy. Your phone will put the apps you need to sleep, or block them from getting your location, and they’ll never realize you’ve left your home. These features are well-intentioned, but make geofencing a bit more complicated to use, especially on Android (thanks to some clunky, confusing menus).

But after years of decking out my house with tech and reviewing dozens of smart devices, I’ve learned a few troubleshooting steps that can help you with your geofencing problems—whether you’re trying to fix your thermostat, lights, or something else entirely.

Know your radius

Every smart device implements its geofencing radius a little differently. Some will mark you as “away from home” if you’re 250 feet away from the house, while others might need you to travel a few miles before it considers you out and about. If your devices don’t seem to be flipping into “Away” mode, make sure it’s actually designed to do so at the distance you’re traveling.

You may have to google your device to find out what its radius is, but if you’re lucky, it’ll say so right in the app’s settings. And if you’re really lucky, you may even be able to adjust the radius directly from those settings. This will come in handy if you often head over to your neighbor’s and want to make sure the door unlocks when you come back.

Start with just one phone

In general, these geofencing features take into account the location of everyone in your household to function correctly. So if you, your spouse, and your kid all have the same smart home app on your phones, all with geofencing turned on, it’ll only put your lights and locks into “Away” mode when all three of you are out of the house. This can cause quirks, so try setting it up on one smartphone before you bring in other people.

In addition, one person using multiple devices might complicate things. For example, you and your phone might be away from home, but if you have an iPad you always leave in the bedroom, it might keep your status set to “Home”. Narrow down the problem by removing the app on other devices while you test your setup, and if you have an old phone still registered with the service, go into your account and remove it. Even if you’ve long wiped and sold it, its presence in your account could be throwing things off.

Tweak your location settings

Both Android and iOS have improved privacy controls over the past few years—after all, you don’t want to give every app on your phone free reign to collect location data. But when you actually want an app to know your precise whereabouts for the purposes of home automation, your phone’s protections may be a bit overzealous.

On Android, long-press the icon for your smart home app and choose *App Info. Tap the *Permissions menu, choose *Location, and set the location access to *Allow All the Time. If this wasn’t already selected, there’s a good chance this permission was keeping the app from knowing when you left the house. You also need to make sure your GPS and mobile data are turned on in your phone’s settings, as Airplane Mode will automatically turn off location services.

If you have an iPhone, open the Settings app and scroll down to your smart home app. From there, you should see a *Location option—tap that and change location access to *Always. You may also need to turn on *Precise Location if it isn’t already.

Adjust power saving features

Smartphone technology has come a long way, but battery life is still at a premium on most devices. That’s why manufacturers have included a host of battery-saving features that keep apps from running needlessly in the background.

But like the privacy improvements, this can be a hindrance for those apps you want running in the background, such as geofencing smart home apps. As you’d expect, tweaking both of these options will drain your phone’s battery faster, so you’ll have to decide whether that’s a worthy tradeoff.

On Android, long-press the app’s icon and go to *App Info again. This time, choose *Battery—you may need to expand the *Advanced options for the battery settings to appear. Make sure *Background Activity is allowed, and if it isn’t, flip the switch. If you still have problems, you can also try tapping *Optimize Battery Usage here. This will take you to a new screen where you’ll have to tap *Not Optimized at the top, show all apps, and then turn optimization off for the smart home app in question.

Finally, if you use any task killers, you’ll want to exempt the smart home app from them as well—though really, you shouldn’t use task killers at all, as they often do more harm than good.

On the iPhone, most apps should already be able to use battery in the background, but you can double check by choosing your app in *Settings and ensuring *Background App Refresh is enabled. In addition, the app may need to actually be open on your phone to work. This doesn’t mean on-screen, though—you just may need to launch the app and then go back to the home screen so it’s running in the background. Make sure you don’t close the app from the App Switcher—in fact, you probably never want to do this unless the app is having problems.

When all else fails, email support or try another solution

If you still can’t get your smart devices reacting to your location, it may be worth an email to the support team of your device’s manufacturer, as they may be able to help you find other factors at play in your setup. In some cases, the app will have a bug that causes problems with the feature on certain phones. If the company’s support team is half decent, they’ll be able to figure out a solution for you.

If you can’t seem to get an app’s built-in geofencing to work, you have other options. iOS users might try registering the device with HomeKit and using its built-in geofencing instead. Or, if the device works with IFTTT, you can try setting up location-based automations through that instead.

And if geofencing is a total bust, other automations can serve similar purposes—motion sensors are a good alternative, and if you always come home at the same time, time-based schedules may also do the trick. A little creativity will certainly help you find something that works well enough for you.

The post Geofencing can level up your smart home if you set it up properly appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

You’ve just moved into a lovely new house complete with everything you ever wanted—except the ability to call anyone. If you don’t seem to get a cell signal inside your home or office, here’s how to keep making calls and texts.

Enable Wi-Fi calling and texting

All three of the major US service providers (Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile), as well as a few other prepaid carriers, support a feature called Wi-Fi calling, which allows you to make and receive calls over your home’s wireless internet instead of a cellular connection. This works with text messages too, so you can keep texting your friends whether you have service or not. As long as your Wi-Fi is decent, you’ll be able to make calls throughout your dead zone of a house.

However, this trick has its limitations. Your carrier may not support Wi-Fi calling on certain older phones, or on models the company does not sell. If it does let you set up wireless calling, it may not allow certain phones to send group or picture messages over Wi-Fi. Make sure to check with your carrier to find out whether this feature will work for you.

Once you’ve checked whether your phone allows Wi-Fi calling, it’s time to enable this function. On the iPhone, head to Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling and flip the Wi-Fi Calling on This iPhone switch to the On position. On the same page, you may also want to tap Update Emergency Address—this allows emergency responders to see your address as soon as you call 911 over Wi-Fi, which could be handy in a crisis.

Some carriers even support Wi-Fi calling from “iCloud-connected devices,” which means you can make a call on your iPad as long as Wi-Fi calling is enabled on both the tablet and your iPhone. To enable this, head to Settings > Phone > Calls on Other Devices. Flip on the Allow Calls on Other Devices switch, and then tap Add Wi-Fi Calling for Other Devices.

On an Android phone, go to Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > Wi-Fi Preferences > Advanced. (You can also just open the Settings app and search for “Wi-Fi Calling” to jump straight there.) Slide the Wi-Fi Calling toggle to On, and you’re good to go.

If you don’t have cell service at home or work, Wi-Fi calling is by far your best option. However, if you don’t see this option on your phone, then your carrier probably doesn’t support it on your device. In that case, I recommend switching phones or carriers—it’s a lot easier than one of the other options below.

Try a messaging app

If Wi-Fi calling doesn’t work for you and you’re unwilling to buy a new phone, there are other solutions—though none of them are quite as seamless.

Most messaging options—like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Skype—allow you to make voice calls and send messages to any of your friends within those apps.

There’s a good chance most of your contacts are on Facebook anyway, so that’s a decent option—but it isn’t always as reliable as text messaging, since your friends may not receive notifications about Facebook messages or check the app very often.

If you’re willing to go through a bit more setup, Google Voice lets you make calls and send actual text messages using a regular phone number, and your recipient doesn’t have to download any special apps—they’ll just receive your calls and texts as normal. There’s only one catch: Google Voice doesn’t use your phone’s existing number; you have to pick a new number when you sign up for the service. That means you’ll have to either give this second number to your friends (so they know who’s calling), or port your current number to Google Voice, get a new number for your phone, and use the Google Voice app for all your calls and texts going forward. Like I said…it’s complicated.

Boost or create a wireless signal

Lastly, there are devices out there that can either boost or create a cellular signal inside your house. But they can also be complicated and expensive, and come with their own limitations.

Verizon, for example, offers a 4G LTE Network Extender for $250. This is a microcell device that uses your home internet connection to “create” a tiny cell tower within your house. AT&T used to offer a similar device, but has discontinued it since the release of Wi-Fi calling. T-Mobile has also stopped selling its signal boosters, which did not use Wi-Fi and merely extended the network from a low-signal area (like a window) to a no-signal area (like the rest of your house). If you want something that works with all major carriers, you can buy third-party microcell devices, but they’re even more expensive than the proprietary ones.

Not only are these devices pricey, but they allow anyone passing by your house to use your home internet for cell service. Meanwhile, if you have friends and family that use a different carrier than you, they won’t get a signal from it.

If you have a carrier that’s not one of the big three, there are other third-party devices that can do something similar. We recommend buying your device from a store with a good return policy so you can test it before committing, since everyone’s home is different.

Overall, Wi-Fi calling is the easiest and most reliable option—but if you absolutely can’t use it, these alternatives will work. You just have to be willing to spend time setting them up.

The post How to fix spotty cell service in your home appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.

This post has been updated. It was originally published on 1/16/2020.

There are few things more soul-crushing than losing that last photo of grandma, or videos of your child’s first steps. But SD cards can be fussy, and occasionally those photos get corrupted or accidentally deleted. And it’s not quite possible to recreate those photos after the moment’s passed.

The good news is that if you still have that SD card, you still have hope.

How file recovery works

This may come as a shock to you, but when you delete a file from an SD card (or hard drive, or flash drive) that data isn’t erased right away—instead, your computer just marks that space as available for re-writing. Even though you can’t see the files, they’re still there until your camera (or computer) overwrites them with something else. That means that if you haven’t taken too many new photos, you might be able to get those old ones back.

So if you lost or accidentally deleted files off an SD card, the first thing you must do is stop using it. Don’t take any more pictures—remove it from your camera and set it aside. If you keep snapping away, you might overwrite the photos you’ve lost, and then you really won’t be able to get them back.

[Related: How to open broken computer files]

Be ready to pay a little money if things get tough. We’ll go through two free SD card recovery programs here, but if they can’t find what you’re looking for, it may be worth trying a paid option instead—sometimes one program can root out files that others missed. You’re not going at it blind, though—most paid programs will let you scan the drive for free, at which point you can pony up to actually recover the files. A few bucks is usually a small price to pay for those irreplaceable family photos.

Let’s get started.

Windows: Recover your files with Recuva

Recuva is a free tool that can be a little finicky, but it’s a good place to start. Install Recuva like you would any other Windows program and start it up. If, for some reason, it doesn’t launch, it may be conflicting with a driver on your PC or an antivirus program—this is a somewhat common issue, and I was able to get it to launch by booting into Safe Mode. (Just hold Shift while restarting the computer, head to Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings, and restart into Safe Mode with Networking.) I also had to plug my SD card in using a USB card reader, rather than my laptop’s built-in SD card slot, though your mileage may vary.

Recuva’s Wizard will attempt to make the scan a bit speedier by asking you what you’re looking for. The first time you go through, I recommend choosing Pictures on My Media Card or iPod, but you can choose All Files from All Drives if you prefer to catch everything humanly possible—it’ll just take longer.

Recuva will then present you with a list of files it found. In my case, it found about 13 deleted photos I’d taken for work a couple years ago, and I was able to recover all but one of them (which had probably been partially overwritten with new data at some point). If the software found a lot of files, note that checking each box can be a tedious task, so I recommend selecting the first photo, holding Shift, then selecting the last photo to highlight them all. Then, right-click on a photo and choose Check Highlighted to mark every photo for recovery. Click the Recover button to find a place for them on your computer’s hard drive. Do not recover them to the SD card, or you may overwrite the files before they can be recovered.

If you don’t find everything the first time, try re-running Recuva and doing a Deep Scan—it’ll take longer, but you might get lucky. When I ran a deep scan, Recuva found about 35 photos from years ago that it didn’t find in the initial scan.

Mac: Recover your files with LazeSoft Mac Data Recovery

If you’re a Mac user, I recommend starting with a freeware program called LazeSoft Mac Data Recovery. It isn’t pretty, but it’s completely free, and worked remarkably well in my tests. Install the program as you would any other, then start it up and select either a Fast Scan or a Deep Scan. (A deep scan will find more, but will take longer.) Select your SD card when prompted, and let it do its thing.

When LazeSoft is done scanning, you’ll have a list of folders in the left sidebar you can browse through. It doesn’t show thumbnails, so it can take some time to find the photos you’re looking for. Once you do, you can check them off and click on Save Files along the top to recover them to your hard drive. Again, remember not to recover them to the SD card, or you may overwrite the files before they can be recovered. Be sure to check through all the folders in the sidebar to make sure you catch every photo that’s available for recovery.

What to do if you don’t find what you’re looking for

Here’s the thing: The above programs are great first efforts, but they’re free for a reason. If you aren’t finding everything you want to recover, it’s time to try something a bit heftier, like Disk Drill Pro ($89, for Windows and Mac, including the latest Big Sur OS), EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard ($70 per month or $100 per year, for Windows; $90 per month or $120 per year, for Mac), or Ontrack EasyRecovery ($79 per year, for Windows and Mac). When I tested these programs, I found 200 photos—a far cry from the 51 found in Recuva’s deep scan—plus a couple of videos, taken so long ago I barely remembered them. All three options will scan your drive for free, but will only recover between 500MB and 1GB of data before you have to pay. Honestly, that’s a pretty good deal. Try one or all of them before you pony up to make sure you get the maximum amount of recovered photos possible.

[Related: Is your hard drive safe to use after it crashes?]

If they still can’t do the trick, you may be out of luck. But if those lost photos are incredibly important to you, a data recovery service like DriveSavers or LC Technology may be able to recover files that consumer-level software can’t—at a cost of hundreds or even over a thousand dollars. So you’ll have to decide if recovering those photos is actually worth potentially spending that amount of money.

Whether you’re able to recover your photos or not, remember that the story doesn’t end here—you’ll also want to do everything in your power from preventing this in the future. Copy your photos to your PC early and often, properly eject your SD card before removing it from your PC, and have a good backup strategy in place, so those memories never disappear.

The post How to recover deleted photos from a memory card appeared first on Popular Science.

Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made.