Summary MiniDisc is one of the most under-appreciated audio formats of all time. It combined the digital benefits of a CD with the mix tape abilities of a cassette in a pocketable package. Though the rise of MP3 players and writeable optical media helped sink the format, there are still a few reasons you might want to dig out or get your hands on a player today. Unfortunately, time is of the essence....

An important part of using Linux is choosing a decent desktop environment. GNOME and KDE are the top contenders, with an entire ecosystem of applications and utilities integrated to work together, andGNOME 45 entered betaback in August after months of development. Now, GNOME 45 is officially out, and you’ll be able to try it in popular Linux distributions soon. The GNOME Project has finally launched GNOME 45, also known as “Rīga,” featuring notable improvements and new features....

Quick Links Summary While DLSS 3 and TV motion smoothing, which results in the soap opera effect, are fundamentally similar, DLSS 3 is designed to solve the problems that TV motion smoothing causes for video games in particular. This makes any comparison between the two technologies meaningless. You may have heard that NVIDIA’s newDLSS 3technology for its RTX 40-series GPUs is no different from the dreaded “soap opera” effect on TVs, but the truth is it’s a qualitatively different version of the same idea....

Social media has been a daily part of our world for almost two decades now, and we’ve gotten used to not thinking twice about the things we engage with. Unfortunately, not every post, quiz, or game is harmless. Some of them are bait. What Are Security Questions? Security questions are an older, but still pretty common, account security feature. Sometimes you need to answer them to log in to your account, while others only force you to use them if you’re trying to change your password, log in from a new device, or if they’ve detected repeated login failures using your password....

Quick Links Summary Though total anonymity is practically impossible while browsing, smart use of a VPN in combination with incognito mode will go a long way. However, VPNs don’t make your browsing completely anonymous, and there are drawbacks to using them too. You’re being watched while on the internet. Marketers want to slurp whatever data you generate, while some governments want to verify you don’t visit sites they don’t like. Let’s go over a few tips for anonymous browsing so you may avoid this surveillance....

Quick Links Summary Getting ready to watch a video or listen to your favorite song, only to discover that your headphones aren’t working, can be quite frustrating. Various factors can contribute to this problem on Windows 11, such as a different audio output device set as default, an app taking exclusive control of your headphones, outdated drivers, and more. Thankfully, it’s usually straightforward to fix your headphones not working on Windows 11....

Quick Links ChatGPT has increasingly been entering creative fields once thought impossible for an AI to succeed in—such as fiction writing. However, ChatGPT needs some help. It needs solid prompts, otherwise, its writing can be very generic. ChatGPT’s Fiction Writing Capabilities and Limitations As an AI, ChatGPT does not have any innate creativity. It cannot come up with original concepts on its own or use its imagination. It needs to be given specific requests (called prompts) to generate bodies of text....

Quick Links Have you finally finished playingCyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty campaign, or are you just getting started? Either way you should check out some of theamazing modsfrom the community. These mods get you access to hours of additional content and playtime in the amazing sandbox that is Night City. What to Know About Cyberpunk 2077 Modding If you want to modCyberpunk 2077there are a few modding tools that will make your job much easier....

Summary If you’re privacy-conscious and want to know what apps are accessing your camera or microphone, you’re able to use the built-in tools on your Windows 11 PC to do that. I’ll show you how. Check the Camera Notification or the Mic Icon When an appaccesses your PC’s camera, Windows 11 displays a toast notification saying Camera On. This indicates an app has activated your PC’s camera. When the app stops using the camera, you’ll see another notification saying Camera Off....

Summary Plash is a free macOS app that allows you to take any web page and use it as your wallpaper, effectively pinning it behind all other open windows and applications. Let’s explore how to use it and why it’s a worthy addition to your app arsenal. Getting Started With Plash Once you have installedPlash via the App Store, open the application. Once it is running, you will notice a new addition to your menu bar in the form of an icon resembling a water droplet....

Summary Did you know your Samsung Galaxy phone has an Object Eraser feature that can remove unwanted objects or people from a photo? The next time you capture the perfect image but realize someone is in the background, you can quickly remove them with this AI tool. What Is Samsung’s Object Eraser? You can’t go back in time and retake a photo, but with Samsung’s Object Eraser, it’ll feel that way....

Summary Thanks to a new feature called iPhone Mirroring, your Mac can now receive notifications from your iPhone. However, without configuring them, they can become overwhelming. Here is how to manage them from your Mac in macOS Sequoia. Personalizing iPhone Notifications on Your Mac Notifications from your iPhone will automatically be enabled on your Macwhen you start using iPhone Mirroring, meaning you don’t need to touch anything to get it started....

Quick Links It can be frustrating when the audio from your laptop’s speakers is distorted. But unless there’s physical damage, it’s usually fixable. Let’s look at the common causes and their solutions to get you back to hearing crystal-clear audio again. 1The Volume Is Too High If you blast music on your laptop speakers to the fullest, chances are you’re exceeding the maximum amplitude they can handle. This is probably why you’re hearing all that clipping and crackling....