The first-ever Amazon Big Spring Sale just kicked off, and you’re able to find epic deals on all sorts of tech this week. Just in time for better weather, get the latest Insta360 Ace Pro action camera on sale, smartphone accessories, portable chargers for all your outdoor activities, and much more. It’s a great time to snag Google’s Pixel Tablet and speaker dock combo for its smart home prowess or to watch videos during DIY jobs around the house....

Quick Links Summary MostBluetooth speakersare meant for listening on your own or, at most, with a few friends. What if you’re looking to throw an outdoor party, and you want to provide the soundtrack? That seems to be the exact environment that theTribit StormBox Blastis meant for. The StormBox Blast isn’t just a pretty face, it’s a monster of a Bluetooth speaker. From the 90 watts of power to the built-in LED light show, this portable powerhouse has all the volume and bass you need for a larger gathering....

Summary You may have noticed that later versions of macOS lack the option to open Login Items minimized, resulting in a rather cluttered startup environment. Do away with that by using this scripting shortcut. How to Use This Shortcut Using this shortcut is very straightforward. There is a comment at the top with an abridged explanation of its use, but let’s get a little deeper into it here, shall we?...

Quick Links Summary Gravity batteries store energy using gravity. They’re often used to store energy from renewable sources like solar and wind. For example, a gravity battery might use solar power to pump water uphill on a sunny day and then, on a cloudy day, let the water flow downhill (using gravity) and generate power from it hydroelectrically. The biggest problem with renewable energy is that when the sunlight or wind goes away, so does the power....

Summary You’ve probably heard phrases like “Spin up a virtual machine” or “Try it out in a virtual machine.” But what are virtual machines, and how can you make use of them? What Is a Virtual Machine? A virtual machine (VM) is a software-based emulation of a computer. A program called a hypervisor runs on your computer. It allows you to create virtual machines–virtual computers—and configure them with an amount of RAM, hard drive space, CPU cores, and other details that would normally be provisioned in hardware....

Quick Links Summary Rapid Security Response updates are a new Apple update delivery method that allows for easy deployment of performance and security fixes to Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads, and Macs. You should download and install them as they become available. Apple has a faster way to get security updates to iPhones, iPads, and Macs faster: The “Rapid Security Response.” Here’s what you need to know about the new update delivery method that debuted in May 2023....

Quick Links If you have a really sharp eye when looking at web addresses in your browser’s top bar, you’ll probably have noticed the very first part of any website’s address, the letters “HTTP” or “HTTPS.” What is HTTP, though, and how does it work? Let’s take a look at the glue that keeps the web together. HTTP: The Short Version HTTP is an acronym and stands forhypertexttransferprotocol. Let’s break that down a bit, starting with the “protocol” part....

Quick Links Summary Apple’s QuickTime technology used to be one of the main ways to watch videos across web browsers, Macs, and Windows PCs. Those days are over, but QuickTime Player is still a core application on Mac computers. The Origins of QuickTime QuickTime might be most recognizable as a media player, but it was originally an all-encompassing framework for digital media. There was a QuickTime Player application for Mac and Windows, a QuickTime plug-in for web browsers, a PictureViewer tool for viewing photos, and other components....

Quick Links Before picking up a new hard drive or solid-state drive, it’s worth understanding how workload rate will impact their performance. Here’s what you need to know about this mysterious attribute and why it’s so important. Workload rate is a term used to describe how much data can be transferred to or from a hard drive before its performance begins to deteriorate. Most manufacturers advertise the annual workload rate, giving users an idea of how much data can be transferred in a year before running into issues or (possibly) voiding the warranty....

Quick Links Summary If you’re like me, you must inspect every millimeter of every new gadget you buy. Motherboards, with all those different connectors and headers, are sensory overload heaven. While connecting your fans to the motherboard, you might come across a peculiar-looking header labeled “RGB” or “LED.” What Is an RGB Header? The RGB header on your motherboard is used to power and control thecolorful LEDs on computer parts. It looks a lot like a 4-pin computer fan header at first, but don’t be fooled; RGB connectors are slightly larger and don’t have the small plastic alignment tab present on all fan connectors....

Summary The world of mechanical keyboards is so expansive that it’s sometimes hard to choose which keyboard to use. I landed on a tented, split mechanical keyboard (with eight thumb keys), which is a pretty bold move. Here’s why I chose the Dygma Raise to run my desk setup. Split Keyboards Are Great for Ergonomics When I first came across my brother-in-law’s original Dygma Raise (the company is now on the Raise 2), I was a little taken aback....

Are you frustrated with free productivity apps offering bare-bones functionality? Or annoyed by paying a monthly fee for apps that fail to make you any more productive? Well, say hello to Super Productivity—a free app boasting powerful features that’ll put premium alternatives to shame! What I Love About Super Productivity Super Productivityis a truly free-to-useproductivityappthat gives you all the tools you need to not only capture and organize your tasks butalsohelp you complete them....

Summary There’s a certain subset of gamers who seem to think that the pinnacle of video game visuals will be achieved on the day that video game graphics can’t be separated from real life, but like any media, realism isn’t necessarily the point of video games. Even when the technology for photorealistic graphics is perfected, that doesn’t mean the art of video games will peak. What Does Photorealism Even Mean? In the most literal sense, photorealism simply means “realistic lighting”....