Linux’s GNOME Shell 3.32 Will Bring Major Speed Improvements

GNOME Shell 3.32 is set for release on March 13, 2019. This new release brings some real performance improvements, making this heavy Linux desktop environment more lightweight. GNOME Shell is used by default on Ubuntu and many other Linux distributions.

The GNOME Shell desktop environment has long been rather heavy compared to other Linux desktop environments. As Ubuntu news site OMG! Ubuntu! points out:

See, the GNOME Shell desktop is often criticised as being a bit on the ‘heavy’ side. Folks blast it for having comparatively high memory usage on start-up, for being taxing on the CPU, and for having a UI that often stutters or drops frames during usage.

But it’s getting better. These latest improvements are thanks to both the “upstream” GNOME Project and Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu. Georges Stavracas, a developer who did a lot of the work, lays out a lot of technical details on his blog. A number of improvements result in improved frame rates, smoother startup animations, and faster icon load times. There’s also some work being done on reducing GPU usage.

Canonical’s Daniel Van Vugt has also been doing a lot of work on GNOME Shell’s performance. These patches aren’t just for Ubuntu—they’re being contributed to the GNOME Project and every Linux distribution will benefit. Linux news site Phoronix lays out many of the issues he’s working on, but much of it boils down to lower CPU and GPU usage. GNOME Shell is getting leaner and faster.

These improvements will be available as part of GNOME 3.32.0, which should ship on March 13, 2019. But you won’t get it then. You’ll have to wait for your Linux distribution to ship the new GNOME—often as part of a new release. For example, GNOME 3.32.0 will be included as part of Ubuntu 19.04 “Disco Dingo,” which is scheduled for release on April 18, 2019.

RELATED: Ubuntu 19.04 is Named “Disco Dingo,” Arriving April 2019

Deal Alert: Score a Logitech G602 Wireless Gaming Mouse for Just $25

Take a look at your mouse. Is it old? Is it crusty? Does it go unresponsive every few minutes? Why don’t you replace that dumpy old mouse with something clean and responsive, like the Logitech G603?

Right now, Amazon is selling the popular Logitech G603 wireless mouse for just $25. We’ve covered the G603 before—it’s our favorite wireless gaming mouse. It’s a comfortable, responsive mouse that can get you through an arduous gaming session or a tough work week. This premium mouse retails at $60, and it has some features that are usually reserved for more expensive mice.

The Logitech G603 sports the HERO optical sensor, which happens to be Logitech’s most advanced sensor. It can connect to your computer via Bluetooth or LIGHTSPEED RF connection, which has a lag time of about 1 ms. The G603 also has six programmable buttons, so you can adapt the mouse for any video game or application.

If you’re excited to finally replace your old mouse with the G603, then you may be interested in the other Logitech items that are on sale today. Now might be the perfect time to replace your keyboard or buy a gaming headset. But you’ll want to act fast, these Amazon sales tend to disappear by the end of the day.

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Beta Test New Firefox Features with Mozilla’s Reference Browser for Android

Years ago, Mozilla’s “Test Pilot” initiative encouraged users to beta test mobile versions of the Firefox browser. Now, Mozilla is asking users to use its new Reference Browser to help bring a new generation of Firefox to Android phones.

Firefox is one of the most popular browsers for Android. It’s fast, can sync with the Firefox browser on your desktop, and implements tab features better than most mobile browsers. But the world of mobile phones is beginning to shift. By the end of the year, we’re going to see phones that use 5G, phones that fold open into tablets, and phones that have 1 TB of internal storage. With all of these changes coming right around the corner, Mozilla needs to bring its mobile browser to a new level.

In a post in the Mozilla community, Paul Wright, a leading Firefox contributor, announced that Mozilla is starting to build more powerful mobile apps. These apps will take advantage of Geckoview and Glean, and they’ll utilize more account integration. Presumably, the next big Firefox app for your Android phone will feel more like a proper browser and less like a phone browser.

In order to test all of this new technology, Mozilla needs some guinea pigs. That’s why the company is launching the Reference Browser, a quiet beta testing project. Users who sign up to use the Reference Browser will get a small preview of Mozilla’s new technology, and they’ll help speed up the company’s development process by providing user data and feedback.

The Reference Browser isn’t a finished product, and it isn’t meant to be anybody’s primary mobile browser. Paul Wright emphasizes that the Reference Browser should be looked at as a “technology preview,” and that Mozilla is only doing this to speed up the development of their future mobile browsers.

If you want to help Mozilla build its new browser technology, you’re going to have to sign up for the Reference Browser Google Group. Just make sure that you use the same Google account that you use to download apps in the Google Play store. Once you’re signed up, you can download the Reference Browser from Google Play. And that’s all there is to it. You’re a Test Pilot now.

Mozilla asks that users report bugs and issues to a Github group, but the company will benefit from your Reference Browser usage whether you report issues or not. As you can imagine, Mozilla is collecting a lot of data from the Reference Browser. The company has talked about how collecting data from beta programs is a necessary evil, and Test Pilots should know that they don’t have as much privacy in beta programs as they do in full versions of the Firefox browser.

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How to Save PowerPoint Objects as Pictures

If you’ve ever thought it would be useful to save objects or entire slides from your PowerPoint presentation as images to use in another program, then you’re in luck! You can do precisely that in a few simple steps.

Saving Objects as Images in PowerPoint

Saving an object, or even multiple objects, from your PowerPoint presentation is extremely handy. The thing that makes this trick so useful is that the objects are saved, by default, as a transparent PNG file, meaning that you won’t have the invasive background that you would otherwise have if you just took a simple screenshot.

We’re going to use the following slide as an example over the next few sections. In this slide, we have a total of four objects.

1. Image (“The Geek”)
2. Text box (Title)
3. Text box (Subtitle)
4. Shape (Line)

Save a Single Object as an Image

To save an object as an image, we first need to select the object to be saved. In this example, we’ll select our title.

Right-click the object and select “Save as Picture” from the menu that appears.

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23 Gifts For An Avid Indoor Gardener

Stock Up on New Logitech Gear with Today’s Amazon Sale

If you’ve been in the market for a new keyboard, mouse, headset, webcam, or speakers, today’s Amazon sale on a handful of Logitech products has you covered.

Granted, this isn’t the first time that a bunch of Logitech stuff has been discounted on Amazon, nor is it the largest Logitech sale we’ve seen, but it’s never a bad time to buy when you can get a good chunk knocked off the price of that one gaming mouse you’ve had your eye on for a while.

Case in point, you can grab the Logitech G602 wireless gaming mouse for just $25, which is a steal considering the product that you’re getting.

Furthermore, if you need a cheap gaming headset, the G430 is just $30 right now. And if you need a basic wireless keyboard and mouse to just get you by, the MK270 combo is just a bit shy of $15.

Make your decisions quickly, though, since this deal will only be around today. Hit the button below to see all the goodies on sale today—some of it is going for up to 70 percent off, so it’s worth a peek.

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UltraViolet is Shutting Down on July 31st, Here’s How to Transfer Your Movies

How to Prevent Storage Sense From Deleting Your Downloaded Files on Windows 10

Storage Sense is the Disk Cleanup replacement for the modern world. It frees up space on your computer by deleting things like recycle bin contents, temporary internet files, and app temporary files. This also includes the Downloads folder, but you can change that if you don’t want Storage Sense emptying it.

We’ve mentioned before how the Free Up Space tool in Windows 10 will delete your downloads by default (though you can turn it off, too). Storage Sense is the automatic equivalent to that tool and is the intended replacement for the venerable Disk Cleanup tool. By default, Storage Sense treats your Downloads folder as a temp folder, deleting anything older than 30 days when it runs. If you use your Downloads as a more permanent storage area for downloads, you can prevent Storage Sense from deleting your downloads.

How to Prevent Storage Sense From Deleting Your Downloaded Files

Open the Settings app by pressing Win+I, then clicking on “System.”

On the left side of the System page, click the “Storage” category.

Under the “Storage Sense” section on the right, click the “Change how we free up space automatically” link.

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How to Declutter Your Web Browser Bookmarks

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For a Better Instagram Experience, Follow Hashtags Instead of People

If you’ve been using Instagram for a while, you probably already know what a great place it is to find inspiration. But to see the best content, ditch following users and start looking at hashtags instead.

Following hashtags on Instagram isn’t a new feature, but it’s one you shouldn’t overlook—its hard to overstate their value. In my opinion, this is one of the best parts of the entire network. Why? Because it allows me two conveniences: first, it bypasses all the fluff most users post; and secondly, it lets me build a specially curated feed.

For example, I mostly use Instagram for my hobbies: guitars and bikes. Those are my favorite things to look at on Instagram because there’s just so much good, relevant content. These things inspire me to dig deeper into my hobbies and give me ideas for ways to improve technique, form, and so on. But here’s the thing: while there are many curated accounts out there, they don’t always show what I want to see. I fact, they miss the mark more often than not.

Let’s use bikes as an example. I’m a cyclist, and like so many other cyclists, I love looking at pictures of other riders’ custom builds—bikeporn, if you will. And while I follow several cycling-based accounts already, they don’t always post pictures of bikes. And even when they do, they’re not always bikes I care about. That’s not a problem, of course, as I don’t expect people I follow only to post content I like—they’re posting for themselves, not for me. I respect that.

 

So to see more specific content, I follow hashtags related to my specific interests. For example, I’m pretty into gravel bikes at the moment, so I follow the #gravelbike and #gravelbikes hashtags. I see some absolutely killer bikes that way.

But I can get even more granular, too. On the same topic of gravel bikes, I’m pretty obsessed with the 3T Exploro (the first aero gravel bike!) and would love to have one. There isn’t a single Instagram account that shares only pictures of Exploros, so that’s where the hashtag comes in. I follow both the #exploro and #3texploro hashtags and see all sorts of amazing Exploro content as a result. It’s great, even if a little disheartening because I don’t have one of my own to stare at.

 

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Bluetooth 5.1’s Presence Detection Could Be the Future of Smarthome

Bluetooth 5.1: What’s New and Why It Matters

Geek Trivia: The Screen Of Space Invaders Was Colored By What?

The Screen Of Space Invaders Was Colored By What?

Holograms Semi-Precious Stones Lasers Cellophane Think you know the answer?

These New Chargers from Anker and RAVPower Offer More Power in a Smaller Package

Tiny wall chargers already exist, but they can usually only pump out 5-10W. With a new technology called gallium nitride, however, those tiny wall chargers can now pump out a lot more power.

Several months ago, Anker introduced the PowerPort Atom series of USB-C wall chargers, the smallest of which is just a tad larger than Apple’s 5W iPhone charger, but packs in 30W of charging power, which is quite incredible. This will let you charge up larger devices than just your smartphone or tablet—possibly a small laptop.

The secret? It uses gallium nitride (GaN) instead of traditional silicon, the latter of which is used in pretty much every electronic product on the market, thanks to how cheap it is. Anker says that gallium nitride allows for simpler circuitry and better efficiency (meaning less heat production), resulting in the smaller size.

The 30W model (called the PD 1) is up on Amazon right now for $29 (although it appears to be sold out currently). Two more from Anker will be available in the future, including a 60W two-port model and a 100W four-port model.

If you can’t wait for a more-powerful wall charger, RAVPower is also selling its own gallium nitride charger, which packs in 45W and is about the size of a deck of cards. For $55, it’ll cost you extra, but it may be worth it in order to charge your larger devices without needing a larger power brick.

via The Verge

How to Link to Another Slide in the Same PowerPoint Presentation

If you know you’ll be referring to the content of a previously-viewed slide at some point during your presentation, it might be useful to insert a link pointing back to that slide for quick access. Here’s how to set it up.

Linking to Another Slide in the Same Presentation

Open your presentation and navigate to the slide that will contain the hyperlink. Once there, highlight the text, object, shape, or image to which you want to attach the link.

Next, head over to the “Insert” tab and click the “Link” button.

In the Insert Hyperlink window that opens, select “Place in This Document” on the “Link To” list on the left.

On the right, under the “Select a place in this document” list, select the destination slide.

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The Best Fitness Trackers For Kids

You Can Get Meizu’s Portless Phone for $1299…On Indiegogo

Databricks Runtime 5.2 ML Features Multi-GPU Workflow, Pregel API, and Performant GraphFrames

We are excited to announce the release of Databricks Runtime 5.2 for Machine Learning. This release includes several new features and performance improvements to help developers easily use machine learning on the Databricks Unified Analytics Platform.

Continuing our efforts to make developers’ lives easy to build deep learning applications, this release includes the following features and improvements:

• HorovodRunner includes a simplified workflow for multi-GPU machines and support for a return value.
• GraphFrames introduces a Pregel-like API for bulk-synchronous message-passing using DataFrame operations, with performance optimizations on Databricks.
• Clusters now start faster.

Using HorovodRunner for Distributed Training

In Databricks Runtime 5.0 ML, we introduced HorovodRunner, a new API for distributed deep learning training. In this release, we introduce two new features.

First, HorovodRunner provides built-in support for using nodes that each have multiple GPUs. On a GPU cluster, each Horovod process maps to one GPU on the cluster, and those processes are placed as groups on compute nodes. For example, if you run a job with np=7 processes on a GPU cluster with 4 GPUs on each node, then you will have 4 processes on the first node and 3 processes on the second node. This simplifies job setup while reducing the inter-task communication costs.

Second, the HorovodRunner.run() call can return the value from MPI process 0. This makes it easier for data scientists to fetch helpful results, such as training metrics or the trained model, as in the following code snippet.

def train():
  “““ Method for running training on each Horovod worker ”””

  model = get_model()
  model.train()

  # NEW: We use the return value for evaluation metrics.
  eval_results = model.evaluate(...)
  return eval_results

hr = HorovodRunner(np=8)
eval_results = hr.run(train)
print(eval_results.metric_avg)
print(eval_results.metric_std)

To learn about how to run distributed deep learning training on Databricks Runtime 5.2 ML, see the docs at Azure Databricks and AWS.

Pregel API in GraphFrames

GraphFrames is the open-source graph processing library built on top of Apache Spark DataFrames. In the latest release, GraphFrames exposes the Pregel API, which is a bulk-synchronous message-passing API for implementing iterative graph algorithms. For example, the snippet below runs PageRank.

val ranks = graph.pregel
  .withVertexColumn("rank", lit(1.0 / numVertices),
    coalesce(Pregel.msg, lit(0.0)) * (1.0 - alpha) + alpha / numVertices)
  .sendMsgToDst(Pregel.src("rank") / Pregel.src("outDegree"))
  .aggMsgs(sum(Pregel.msg))
  .run()

For more details, check the Scala API and Python API.

On Databricks Runtime 5.2 ML, we further improved the speed of Pregel implementation from open-source GraphFrames by up to 10x.

Performance improvements

Including PyTorch in Databricks Runtime 5.1 ML Beta increased cluster start times. In this release, we removed some duplicate libraries that helped lead to 25% faster start times.

Other Package Updates

We updated the following packages:

• Horovod 0.15.0 to 0.15.2
• TensorBoard 1.12.0 to 1.12.2

Read More

• Read more about Databricks Runtime 5.2 ML Beta for Azure Databricks and AWS.
• Try the example notebooks for distributed deep learning training for Azure Databricks and AWS on Databricks Runtime 5.2 ML Beta.

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Try Databricks for free. Get started today.

The post Databricks Runtime 5.2 ML Features Multi-GPU Workflow, Pregel API, and Performant GraphFrames appeared first on Databricks.

1TB Phones Are Coming, Thanks To Samsung

Samsung just announced that it’s mass-producing 1TB storage chips for phones, which means your phone of the future may come with more storage than you could ever need. Say goodbye to the days of full-the-day-you-get-it 16GB phones.

Four years ago, Samsung introduced the first embedded Universal Flash Storage (eUFS) device. It was a piece of hardware that could read and write files much faster than an SD card, and its 128 GB capacity eliminated the need for users to add additional storage to their phone.

It’s been four years since Samsung developed eUFS technology, and eUFS has expanded from 128GB to offer 256G and even 512GB storage options for mobile devices, which is just massive. To put it in perspective, the basic model of the iPhone X only has a 64 GB capacity, and the basic Surface Pro tablet, which retails at almost $1000, only comes with 128 GB of internal storage. But now, Samsung has been able to break the terabyte barrier with its newest eUFS chips.

Samsung plans to announce a new phone at its UNPACKED event on February 20th. With all the rumors about foldable phones and 5G technology flying around, this super-fast 1 TB storage device only raises more questions.

Cheol Choi, Samsung’s executive vice president of Memory Sales & Marketing, says that Samsung plans to bring a “notebook-like user experience to the next generation of mobile devices.” Will the next Samsung phone be a ridiculously fast, foldable, high-capacity leap into the future? Will it challenge the way that we think about smartphones? We’ll have to wait to find out.

Source: Samsung

GoPro Boosts Its Cloud Storage for Unlimited Video Uploads

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Deal Alert: Grab An Entry-Level Surface Pro For Just $649

Microsoft’s line of Surface tablets have been extremely successful, but they’re a bit expensive. Now’s your chance to grab one for cheap.

Tablets have become more and more powerful over the past few years, and the line between tablets and laptops has started to dissolve. The perception that tablets are only useful for playing games and watching Netflix is no longer correct, these are serious devices that can be used for work, video editing, sound design, and graphic design. Apple users have the iPad Pro, but in the world of Windows, the Surface Pro tablet is the king.

Surface Pro tablets have gotten a lot of praise for their balance of power and portability. They have responsive touch-screens, a long battery life, and premium detachable keyboards. Right now, you can buy a basic Surface Pro tablet for just $649 from Best Buy—that’s a $310 discount. It’s the base model with a 12.3″ touch screen, 4GB of RAM, an Intel M3 processor, and 128 GB of solid-state memory.

If the basic Surface Pro doesn’t have enough power for your needs, then you’ll be happy to hear that Best Buy is also offering a big $330 discount on the powerful Surface Pro 6. Right now, you can buy the Pro 6 for just $999. This tablet runs on an Intel Core i5 processor, it has 8GB of RAM, and it sports a 256 GB SSD. That’s twice as much RAM and internal storage as the basic Surface Pro tablet.

It’s nice to get a $300 discount on any device, and the renowned Surface Pro tablets are no exception. Just keep in mind that this deal won’t last long, so don’t sleep on it.

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How to Create a Radar Chart in Excel

A radar chart compares the values of three or more variables relative to a central point. It’s useful when you cannot directly compare the variables and is especially great for visualizing performance analysis or survey data.

Here’s a sample radar chart, so you can see what we’re talking about. It’s likely you’ve run across them before, even if you didn’t know that’s what they were.

Creating Radar Charts in Excel is straightforward. In this article, we’ll show you how to create two types of Radar Chart: a regular chart (like the one above) and a filled chart (like the one below, which fills in the areas instead of just showing the outlines).

The Sample Data

Let’s first take a look at the sample data we’ll be using for our examples.

We have three trainers: Graham, Barbara, and Keith. We’ve assessed them in five different categories (Knowledge, Delivery, and so on) and our Excel table contains those ratings.

Create a Radar Chart in Excel

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Switcheroo Review: A Simple Lighting Solution for Switched Outlets

If your house has outlets that are controlled by light switches, then you might just benefit from a neat product called the Switcheroo, which lets you easily change the outlet that your light switch controls.

These types of outlets are everywhere in my house (and pretty common in many homes). In fact, most of the rooms don’t have any built-in light fixtures at all. Instead, there’s a single outlet in each room that’s controlled by its own light switch. This is so that you can plug in a lamp and control it with the light switch, which is really convenient and all, but only if you wanted to put your lamp right where the outlet is.

That’s impractical, especially if you want a lamp on the other side of the room from where the switched outlet is. Normally, you’d have to use a long extension cord, which is unsightly at best. But a company called Switcheroo has a neat little that aims to fix this exact problem.

Not A “Smart Plug”

While it looks like a set of smart plugs, it’s really anything but—there’s no app needed and no connecting them to your Wi-Fi. It’s “smart,” but not in the traditional sense that you might be familiar with.

Switcheroo comes a 2-pack for $42—you can also get a 5-pack for $92. If you buy more than two, you can use them in different rooms, or you can have one unit send its signal to multiple units so that you can turn on multiple lamps at once with the light switch. Also, each unit has two receptacles, so you can plug two lamps into one unit if you’d like.

One thing worth noting here is that we’ve been talking about the Switcheroo in terms of home lighting and that’s how the company intends you to use it. Although each plug is rated for 8A/960W, Switcheroo is very clear in their product documentation that the plug is meant for lights and not, say, for space heaters, window fans, or other devices.

A No-Hassle Setup Experience

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iFixit Will Sell Its iPhone Battery Replacement Kits for $30 Through 2019

If you still haven’t gotten the battery replaced in your older iPhone, the price to do so by Apple has gone back up. However, if you’re intrigued about doing it yourself, iFixit is still discounting its battery replacement kits at $30.

If you’re out of the loop, it was discovered a little over a year ago that Apple was purposely throttling down iPhones with old, degraded batteries to prevent random shutdowns and other problems. The fix? Replace the battery. But Apple didn’t tell anyone that until they were caught red-handed.

At that point, Apple began offering discounted battery replacements, which also led to increased wait times at Apple Stores. iFixit stepped in and discounted its battery replacement kits so that if you didn’t want to wait on Apple, you could do it yourself instead. And while it may seem daunting, it’s actually not too bad of a process.

If you’re not sure if your iPhone could use a battery replacement in the first place, you can check the battery health by going to Settings > Battery > Battery Health. From there, it’ll tell you whether or not you could benefit from a replacement.

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How to Set an App Time Limit on iPhone and iPad

With the arrival of iOS 12, Apple made a big song and dance about digital wellbeing. The App Limits feature that came with it lets lock apps after a given amount of time. Here’s how it works.

App Limits is precisely what it sounds like; it limits the amount of time you can spend using a particular app. You specify the apps (or whole categories of apps) and iOS will refuse to launch them when you’ve reached the allotted time. It’s great for limiting how much time children spend on apps like YouTube, for example, but can also help you if you struggle setting limits on things like your social media addiction.

By the way, even after you reach an App Limit, you can override it by entering a passcode. That means you will never be locked out of your apps completely (unless you don’t know the code), but setting the limit still might be enough to give you pause when opening Instagram for the millionth time at 3 am.

How to Set an App Limit for a Specific App

To kick things off, open the Settings app and then tap “Screen Time.”

You’ll see a graph at the top of the next screen. Either tap the graph or the “All Devices” option directly above it.

Scroll down to the list of apps you’ve been using and then tap the app for which you want to set a new limit.

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Deal Alert: Grab an Original 6-Camera Arlo System for just $360

There’s no doubt that the newer Arlo Pro camera systems from Netgear are really, really good, but if you just want something simple and cheap to cover your house, this deal on a 6-camera system isn’t too bad.

The system comes with the hub and six cameras, which should be plenty to cover every corner of your house. And for just $360, that’s not a bad a price to pay for whole-house camera coverage.

Granted, it’s Netgear’s original Arlo system, so it only records up to 720p and doesn’t use their latest rechargeable batteries. Instead, it uses unique CR123A batteries, which you can find at most stores, but they’re certainly not as common as AA or AAA batteries.

However, they can still do night vision and provide motion alerts, and you’ll get the same free 7-day video storage that you would with Arlo’s newer systems.

What’s more, is that while Arlo still sells these older systems, they don’t sell a system with six cameras. So if you absolutely want or need six cameras, I would bite now—better make it fast though, because once this deal is sold out, it’s gone for good.

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Why Face ID Is Much More Secure Than Android’s Face Unlock

Unlocking your phone using your face is the new hotness, mostly thanks to Apple’s Face ID. Android has had a similar feature since 2015 called Trusted Face, but it’s not even close to the same thing.

How Does Face ID Work?

Apple put a lot of tech into getting Face ID to work in a way that was not only intuitive and accurate but also incredibly secure. In short, it creates a 3D map of your face by using a combination of infrared light and image capture. Forbes did a great job of explaining this:

It uses infrared (IR) light to illuminate your face while capturing the images, to work day or night, outside or indoors. IR spans wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation (known commonly as ‘light’) just beyond the visible spectrum, so iPhone X’s display won’t dazzle you in the dark.

In more layman’s terms, it uses a variety of sensors combined with the device’s camera to create a 3D map of what you really look like—that’s why it works in the dark or light, with a hat on, with or without glasses, and everything in between. All that tech is the reason the iPhone X series has a notch—that’s where the hardware sits.

In other words, it uses so much more than just a picture.

RELATED: How Secure Are Face ID and Touch ID?

How Does Trusted Face Work?

By contrast, Android’s Trusted Face feature (formerly called Face Unlock) is nothing more than a stored picture of your face. In fact, you can fool it pretty easily with a printed picture. That’s bad.

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The Best PC Games of 2018 (That Don’t Need a Graphics Card)

So you’d like to play some awesome PC games, but you’re stuck on your dusty laptop with integrated graphics. It just can’t handle the latest GPU-melting AAA masterpieces, but that’s no problem—we have you covered.

Rather than just tell you to play older (but good games) like, say, Torchlight we’ve selected the best PC games from 2018 that can run on pretty much any machine from the last five years, even (and especially) on the kind of integrated graphics that are common in ultraportable and budget computers. These are fresh (but not GPU-melting) games that are contemporary and laptop friendly. The list is mostly 2D titles, which will indeed run on almost anything, but a few 3D games have also been made specifically with integrated graphics in mind.

You ‘ll find at least something to pique your interest in the list below, and all of them should be playable on any Windows-powered machine you might find in Best Buy. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt almost all of the games below are under $25 at the time of writing. Here are our picks, in no particular order.

Dead Cells ($25)

Cribbing unashamedly from classics of 2D platforming like Metroid and Castlevania, with the grim storytelling and “prepare to die” ethos of Dark Souls, Dead Cells is the kind of pain you learn to love. Its procedurally-generated levels shift with each play, but new weapons and abilities unlock as you go through repeated lives.

The combat is brutal, but with super-tight controls and a wide variety of approaches, the game doesn’t feel hard in the cheap way that some “Souls-like” titles do. While only a handful of level designs mean the game is short in a technical sense, it will probably take you weeks of play to master the tougher enemies and bosses.

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Into the Breach ($15)

Into the Breach is chess, but with giant robots and aliens. You control three pixelated mechs on a small grid, taking turns to punch, zap, and shoot invading bugs. The game has the wonderful quality of a simple setup that feels like it unlocks infinite combinations.

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How to Add Presets to Adobe Lightroom

Presets are one of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom’s most powerful features; with them, you can use the same settings over and over again. The most common presets are Develop presets that consistently apply the same edits to any image.

RELATED: What Is Adobe Lightroom, and Do I Need It?

As well as Develop presets, Lightroom has presets for most of its features. For example, there are Metadata presets, Import presets, Export presets, Keyword sets, Slideshow presets, Watermarks, and more.

While you can make your own presets, there are a thriving community and marketplace of presets made by other people. Let’s look at how to install them in Adobe Lightroom.

Why Use Presets

The big advantages of presets are that they are consistent and quick. If you always make the same few adjustments to an image, a preset lets you apply them all with a single click. This is great for professional photographers who have to process hundreds or thousands of images.

Also, if you’re just starting and you’re not entirely familiar with all of Lightroom’s editing tools, presets offer a way to give your image a unique look while you learn to do things for yourself. It’s a mistake to rely on Develop presets completely, but you can think of them as super-charged Instagram filters.

Finally, some of the other presets make Lightroom’s lesser-known features more powerful. For example, there are presets that let you export time-lapses directly from Lightroom.

How to Find Presets

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What Was The First Rover To Land On A Celestial Body?

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How to Find and Use All Your Siri Shortcut Suggestions

Siri Shortcuts arrived alongside iOS 12 in September 2018, along with the Shortcuts app and all that it entailed. The two features upped the iOS automation game considerably, but not without causing confusion. Here’s what Siri Shortcuts are, and how to use them.

If you’re unclear on the differences between Siri Shortcuts and Shortcuts, you’re not alone. Apple hasn’t done the best of jobs explaining the two features and how they differ, nor has the iPhone community as a whole. The two features are linked in many ways, and the similarity in the name doesn’t make it easier to differentiate between them, either.

It is, however, important to remember that Siri Shortcuts and Shortcuts are indeed different, and the former is the most user-friendly of the two.

What’s the Difference between Shortcuts and Siri Shortcuts?

In a nutshell, Shortcuts is the app that Apple built based on the Workflow app that it bought in 2017. Similar to Automator on a Mac, Shortcuts lets you create often-complex automation by using the building blocks on offer. Shortcuts can dip into compatible apps, too, allowing custom shortcuts that can drastically reduce the time it takes to complete a repetitive task.

Siri Shortcuts, however, are different. When developers build their apps, they can present features for use by Siri Shortcuts. These are predefined things like playing a playlist in a podcast app or opening a particular file in a note-taking app. In some cases, iOS will also notice some of the things you’ve done previously and recommend a Siri Shortcut for use. You can then set a custom voice command for invoking a Siri Shortcut via, you guessed it, Siri.

Where are Siri Shortcuts and How Do I Use Them?

You’ll find the Siri Shortcuts that your apps provide in a couple of different places. Good apps will make them visible within the app, perhaps beneath a menu option. If not, one great place to find Siri Shortcuts that you might not know to exist is to head into the Settings app.

Once inside Settings, tap “Siri & Search.”

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Where to Find the Requests Folder After Facebook Messenger’s v4 Update

When you get messages from non-friends on Facebook Messenger, they go to a “requests” folder. The thing is, this folder isn’t really easy to find, especially after Messenger’s recent update to version 4.

The recent Messenger update is, in fact, supposed to “simplify” the experience, and truth be told, it has for the most part. But the requests folder? Nah. It’s practically hidden now in a place that makes no sense to anyone at any time.

The good news is that once you know, you know. Here’s how to find it.

So, with Messenger open and on the main page, tap the little people-looking icon at the bottom.

From there, tap the other person-looking icon in the upper right corner.

And there it is in the top row: Requests.

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