TechLifeApril 2020的目錄

Microsoft has revealed its plans to bring its Defender antivirus software to both Android and iOS later this year. The software giant is currently developing apps for both mobile operating systems which will provide antivirus prevention along with a “full command line experience”. However, Microsoft has not yet shared any details regarding the functionality of the apps yet but it does plan to preview them at the upcoming RSA conference. Microsoft’s mobile Defender apps will likely be quite different than their desktop counterparts and this is partly because Apple doesn’t allow apps to scan for malware on iOS. On Google’s mobile operating system however, there are already a number of Android antivirus apps that are capable of detecting malware in apps that have been sideloaded onto a user’s device. Phishing…

NASA’s Juno probe discovered a giant new storm swirling near Jupiter’s south pole in November 2019, a few weeks after pulling off a dramatic death-dodging manoeuvre. Juno spied the newfound maelstrom, which is about as wide as Texas, during its 22nd science pass of Jupiter. The storm joins a family of six other cyclones in Jupiter’s south polar region, which Juno had spotted on previous passes by the gas giant. Those encounters also revealed nine cyclones near Jupiter’s north pole. The southern tempests are arrayed in a strikingly regular fashion. Previously five of them had formed a pentagon around a central storm, which is as wide as the continental United States. With the new addition, that girdling structure is now a hexagon. “These cyclones are new weather phenomena that have…

Google Stadia is the name of both a new game-streaming service from Google as well as the name of the storefront from which you’ll buy games. Anything you buy is yours to keep, but you’ll likely be paying full price for all the games you’ll find on the Stadia store. What Stadia promises (and mostly delivers) is a game-streaming experience that only requires the most basic of equipment: a Chromecast Ultra or your phone or your laptop, plus a controller of your choosing - either Google’s own Stadia Controller, the Xbox One controller or the PS4’s DualShock4 gamepad. Last but not least you need a connection to the internet, something we thought would be an early nail in the platform’s coffin considering how few of us have fibre connections. That…

The 60-Second Quiz Pens at the ready, your time starts now! 01 How does the OED suggest pluralising ‘computer mouse’? A Computer mice B Computer mouses C Either 02 Who invented the mouse? A Douglas Engelbart B German engineers at Telefunken C Both, at the same time 03 Between 1982 and 2008, how many mice did Logitech sell? A 10 million B 100 million C 1 billion 04 Which computer is said to have first popularised mouse use? A ZX Spectrum B Commodore Amiga C Apple Lisa 05 How far does an average mouse cursor travel in a year? A 1 mile B 12 miles C 120 miles 06 What innovation did Mouse Systems’ ProAgio bring in 1995? A Laser tracking B Nine buttons C A scrollwheel Answers 1C 2C…

Speaking to Italian entertainment outlet Bad Taste, director Stefano Sollima said the project has “stood still” for two years. “Well, the Call of Duty film has remained a bit like this ... We wrote the script with Scott Silver, which is who wrote Joker, and let’s say that the idea of expanding the universe, the world of Call of Duty to film, it is no longer at the moment an industrial priority...”…

As a new member of Kindred Aerospace’s Pioneer Program, you’re sent to the alien planet AR-Y 26 to scout it out, see if it’s habitable, and shake it down for resources if it’s not. It quickly becomes clear that this planet is a bit more than you bargained for – savage, you might call it – and that your employer isn’t terribly concerned for your safety. So begins an irreverent tale of capitalism and climate change which is every bit as scathing as it is satirical. Journey to the Savage Planet is a first-person action-platformer about collecting resources, crafting upgrades, using them to explore the titular planet, and shooting various critters which get in your way. Just as importantly, it’s a blunt and relentless caricature. It’s set in a time…

“Spin-off games were treated like an extension of merchandising, rather than opportunities to expand cinematic universes in meaningful fashion.” John Wick Hex isn’t the first licensed game Mike Bithell has worked on. It’s just the first good one. “Basically, game devs of a certain age, we all worked on a SpongeBob game,” he tells the audience at Yorkshire Games Festival. “It’s one of those unifying truths.” Before the breakout success of Thomas Was Alone allowed Bithell to set up a full-time indie studio, he had an unenviable window into the world of adaptations. Licensees would sometimes offer studios just nine months in which to throw together something resembling a workable video game. “It’s not fun,” he says. “It always comes down to a lack of respect, that you’re being asked…

“It’s so good that it may cause you to completely rethink the importance of premium handsets.” With its surprise arrival in Australia last year, Realme shook up the local budget smartphone scene by offering high quality handsets at prices that seemed too good to be true. Though it originated as a subsidiary of Chinese phone-maker Oppo, the company has since gone (mostly) independent, managing to garner a reputation for exceptional value in little-to-no time. The Realme XT is currently the company’s flagship phone in Australia, and it’s so good that it may cause you to completely rethink the importance of premium handsets. For less than $500, the Realme XT offers a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage (with a dedicated microSDXC slot allowing for further expansion),…

Sitting right at the top of Sony’s APS-C lineup for enthusiast photographers, the Sony A6600 is aimed at those who want a top-spec camera, but can’t quite stretch to full-frame options like the Sony A7 III. Sony is known for releasing similar cameras in quick succession, and the A6600 comes not too long after the Sony A6400, and shares the same 24.2 MP APS-C sensor, along with the Bionz X processor that’s also found in the flagship A9 II. The A6600 has inherited quite a few features from the A6400, but it also brings some new features, including in-body image stabilisation and a bigger battery. A 24.2MP sensor sits at the heart of the Sony A6600. It’s the same sensor as the one in the Sony A6400 and the Sony…

Skullcandy’s entry into the premium noise-cancelling market doesn’t do enough to threaten the likes of Sony or Bose. The simple and clean aesthetic of the Crusher ANC is spoiled a little by the brand’s logo, and the build quality feels decidedly plasticky given the price tag. The large main control buttons are a welcome change from the trend of fiddly touch interfaces, although the dedicated bass slider is wasted space. Turning this slider up will cause bass frequencies to vibrate your head with increasing intensity, but it’s fatiguing even at the lower settings and quickly gets ridiculous, even distorting and muddying the overall audio. In their defense, the default audio sounds great – good clarity, well separated frequencies, and rich bass. You can improve on this via the Skullcandy app…

Balancing work with daily life can feel a little overwhelming at times, especially if you’re experiencing a more intense time with one of them. 33% of us bring home work over the weekends, and getting everything done around the home takes up a tremendous amount of time and energy. One antidote to all this is learning how to make the most of our free time. Work related stress costs millions of working days per year, and spending long hours working can make us feel rather irritable, anxious or depressed. To start turning the tide, perhaps think about working smarter, not longer. How? By bucking the statistics that say only 23% of office time is spent actively working – that’s one reason so many of us take work home. Next, draw…

THE CYCLING COMMUTE Cycling gets your body moving and starts your day right. By not driving a car to work you also reduce pollutants in the air and the level of traffic on the road. Plus, you get to sail past those frustrated motorists stuck in another morning traffic jam. So why do 2018 statistics show that only 1% of road traffic is made up of bicycles? Well, perhaps not all of us have met the right bike yet. The Gocycle GX ($5,499, www. gocycle.com) could change that. This brilliant folding electric bicycle is small enough to tuck under your desk at work. For fitness and versatility, we would opt for a snazzy commuter bike like the Canyon Commuter 6 ($2,199, www. canyon.com/en-au). Hydraulic disc brakes offer enhanced safety, plus…

If you’ve spent any time on Australia’s roads, you won’t need convincing about the value of a dashcam. Whether it’s hoons, suicidal wildlife, general road debris, morons, insurance fraudsters, or decent people making honest (but very serious) mistakes, there are many threats that can cause damage to your vehicle or injuries to you and others. In many instances, you’ll end up talking to police and an insurance company and, without a dashcam, it will be your word versus someone else’s. This is not a position you want to be in when you’re suffering from shock and some shyster is spinning a yarn about how it’s all your fault. “In many instances, you’ll end up talking to police and an insurance company and, without a dashcam, it will be your word…

1 USE STORAGE OPTIONS From the Apple menu, select About This Mac, click Storage, then Manage to open Storage Management. Select iCloud Drive for the option to Enable iCloud Desktop and Documents. 2 USE SYSTEM PREFS Or open System Prefs and, in macOS Catalina, click Apple ID, then iCloud; in earlier versions, click iCloud. Beside iCloud Drive, click Options. You’ll see Desktop & Documents Folders. 3 ENABLE ICLOUD SYNC Enabling this will sync the contents of Desktop and Documents folders (in your Home folder) to iCloud Drive. This gives you an offsite backup, but also has a space-saving benefit. 4 AUTOMATIC OFFLOAD Everything in your iCloud Drive – (accessed on your Mac from the sidebar of any Finder window) is also stored on your Mac. But when your Mac’s drive…

Seagate Fast SSD 1TB $239, seagate.com FEATURES Transfer up to 540MB/s, USB–C and USB–A 3.0 cables included This SSD doesn’t need to be plugged in to the wall. Its speed is limited by the USB 3 Gen2, but it’s four–times quicker than most hard disks and cheaper than Thunderbolt drives. WD My Passport Ultra for Mac 4TB $129.99, shop.westerndigital.com FEATURES 5,400rpm hard disk, USB–C cable, USB–A adapter This USB 3.0 hard disk isn’t fast but has room to back up a 2TB Mac and store a large media collection. Speed won’t really be an issue once you have completed the initial bulk file transfer. G-Technology G-DRIVE USB 3.0 Desktop 4TB $349, shop.westerndigital.com FEATURES 7,200rpm hard disk, USB–A cable This chunky Mac–formatted hard disk offers a relatively high speed of up…

1 DOWNLOAD THE APP You’ll find that all the major cloud services have free apps available for iPadOS. Open the App Store and search for the name of the service you want. Get the app and wait for it to complete downloading and installing. 2 CHOOSE YOUR BACKUP Select Restore From Time Machine Backup. When prompted, select the Time Machine backup drive as the Restore Source, then confirm the backup you want to use. Next, confirm the destination to restore to, usually Macintosh HD. 3 RESTORE YOUR DATA The destination drive is erased and replaced with your backup, which may take up to several hours. Since this restores everything, it’s not a way to save space, but may fix problems that have arisen on the drive.…

HARDWARE Laptop fan too loud Yesterday, I left my laptop running while on charge while I went for dinner. When I came back around 90 minutes later its fan was running extremely fast and loud, while the bottom of the laptop was very hot. I shut down my PC, and today it’s working fine. Is it due to overcharging? Fros Vonex The fan will run hard and the laptop feel hot whenever it’s running under load – in other words, some intensive process in running in the background. Should the problem reappear, open Task Manager and use the Processes tab to review the CPU and Memory scores – if either is over 50% then click the column header to see which app or process is responsible for the problem. Closing…

1 LOG IN AND GET STARTED Open your browser and head to docs.google.com, signing in with your Google Account if necessary. Click Blank under the Template gallery to create a blank document, from where you’ll define your Styles. These will be limited to that document, but you can select ‘Format > Paragraph Styles > Options > Save as my default styles’ to use them across all future documents. 2 SET TEXT STYLES Styles work by reformatting selected text to a specified font (including attributes such as bold or italic, colour and size), alignment (left, centre, right, justified) and line spacing. Google Docs offers nine text styles: normal (or body) text, title and subtitle, plus six header styles. It’s important to set up your normal text style first, as changes to…

REQUIRES An iOS 12 device (some features work on older versions) YOU WILL LEARN How to adjust iPhone or iPad behaviors for a better experience IT WILL TAKE 20 minutes Your iPhone or iPad arrives with sensible settings that will suit most people, but it’s wise to check the Settings app for behaviors you might want to tweak. From increasing the privacy of notifications on the Lock screen to improving familiar features like Look Up and Siri, we’ll help you by highlighting some of the most important settings to check out. Unless your mobile data plan provides you with unlimited usage every month, you should definitely pay special attention to steps 4 and 5 on the opposite page. That said, you may want to hold back on making changes until…

At this juncture, we’d like to think that most internet users have cottoned on to the idea that it’s a good idea to have a junk email address, one used solely to log into sites of dubious character. There are so many sites that demand you give them your email address to log in (so they can send you a “confirmation code”) that it’s nearly essential to have an email address exactly for that purpose. Inevitably, the email address used will get sold by some unscrupulous site owners to spammers, and you can expect the given address will forevermore be polluted by endless waves of spam mail. Better for that to happen to a secondary email address than your main one. But having a second email address is just the…

When you’re shooting on the streets, being subtle is everything. If you want true candid shots of people who are unaware of your presence, they will also need to be unaware of your big camera. Holding a DSLR in front of your face shows subjects that you’re photographing them, so how else can you snap images? In this tutorial we headed to the city to reveal how simple it is to use zone focussing for sharp street shots – with practice. To zone focus, switch to manual focus, set a lens to a predetermined distance and shoot subjects when they fall into this range of focus. The technique is ideal if you hold the camera at hip level and don’t look through the viewfinder. Pre-focussing enables you to take pictures…

“It remembers your passwords and enters them automatically wherever you need them.” “PC Fresh specialises in optimisation and the removal of superflous Windows services.” Streamline your security Never forget a password again with StickyPassword. Full version worth $30 No more forgotten, weak or reused passwords! Sticky Password is the award-winning password manager and form-filler that has been protecting millions of passwords around the world for more than 19 years. It remembers your passwords and enters them automatically wherever you need them – on your desktop, smartphone or tablet. You won’t have to worry about typos and entering data on all those sites. Sticky Password also generates new strong, unique passwords whenever you need them. Download link: stickypassword.com/techlife Spring clean your pc Improve performance with Abelssoft PC Fresh. Full version worth…

A so-called all-male ‘holy mountain’ in northern Greece has hosted Christian monasteries for nearly 2,000 years, with women strictly prohibited. But one woman may have found a home there – at least in death. During a recent restoration in the Pantokratoros Monastery on Mount Athos, archaeologists unearthed bones under the chapel floor that were smaller than most of the other remains found at the site. In fact, some experts are claiming that these diminutive bones once belonged to a female. “As far as I know, this is the first case that bones belonging to a woman have been discovered on Mount Athos,” architect and restorer Phaidon Hadjiantoniou, the project leader for the excavation, told the Greek Reporter. The size and shape of a sacrum, shinbone and forearm, for example, differed…

If you’re the owner of a Sonos smart speaker and you fancy picking up an upgrade, Sonos will offer you a discount if you recycle your old device. That’s great, isn’t it? You get a cheaper speaker, and your old model moves on elsewhere. What isn’t so great is Sonos’ method: the company flips a virtual switch which throws your existing speaker into ‘recycle mode’, effectively disabling it forever. It doesn’t matter whether the hardware was working perfectly beforehand, or might be useful for a charity or second owner; once the deed is done, it’s destined for the local e-waste bin. There are many logical reasons for this. Sonos estimates that over 90% of the hardware it has ever sold is still in use. Those with older hardware miss out…

There is something quite admirable about Audeze’s almost complete refusal to compromise. From the outset, the company has targeted both the professional market and the higher-end domestic consumer – and by using an alluring combination of planar magnetic technology, lavish materials and an unmistakable aesthetic, it has established a product range that’s been rapturously received. So here, a mere dozen years or so after the whole Audeze journey kicked off with the LCD-2 planar magnetic on-ear headphones, is the LCD-1, the most affordable pair of headphones Audeze has ever produced, despite sharing a number of similarities with headphones that cost twice as much. Design It’s worth starting off by saying that the LCD-1 isn’t a wireless design. In fact, it’s even more wired than most wired designs - there’s a…

Rainbow Six Siege is heading to PS5 and Xbox Series X, launching on the same day as the consoles. That’s according to game director Leroy Athanassof, who was speaking to Windows Central. Athanassof said, “What I can tell you is that we are going to be on [the consoles] from launch. When they will release the consoles; but it’s up to them to agree that. For Siege, our target is to be available right at launch.”…

As we wait for more solid next-gen info to devour, we can enjoy the questionably nutritious appetiser that is allegedly leaked specs – and the next set of dishes has just arrived. A poster on 4chan’s video game subforum, claiming to be a “game tester in a 3rd party studio”, recently shared some specs that they say come from the second version of the PS5 devkit. Conveniently, they also had all of the detailed specs for the latest version of Xbox Series X at their disposal. Is your face a giant “Hmmm” emoji right now? That is the proper response. Anybody can post to 4chan – anonymity is the whole point – and though the site has hosted its share of legitimate leaks, it’s also an infamous epicenter of hoaxes…

No matter how intelligent or empathetic you are, it’s incredibly difficult – arguably impossible – to truly comprehend the enormity of the atrocities of Nazi Germany. Games usually seek to loosen your grip on the concept further, by saying little more than “go shoot every German you find in the face”. This pigeonhole-defying game, while still failing to communicate the scale, opens your eyes wider in a very impressive way. It is, really, more an emotional journey than anything else. You and your small band of resistance members are German citizens; names, attributes, and appearances randomly generated. The story begins with Hindenburg appointing Hitler Chancellor in 1933, and runs right through until the aftermath of the war in 1946. The story is firmly grounded in reality, so there’s no chance…

Microsoft’s newest attempt at an ARM-based Surface Pro device could have been highly impressive. It even boasts Microsoft’s first-ever original processor, the SQ1, which it co-developed with Qualcomm. However, it unfortunately falls short of expectations. We’re more than a little let down by a few key Pro X design choices. Particularly, this tablet/laptop hybrid doesn’t have an audio jack, and its battery life, while decent, is subpar compared to predecessors and contemporaries. And, that’s without getting into the pricing. $1,699 gets you 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. You can double the storage, which brings the price to $2,149, and up the RAM to 16GB with a 512GB SSD, which costs $2,899. It’s simply too pricey for this level of performance. All Surface Pro X models include Microsoft’s Qualcomm…

Vivoactive is Garmin’s range of touchscreen fitness watches. Back in the Vivoactive 3 days, this was a great slimmer, smaller alternative to the Forerunner and Fenix watches. But Garmin has made its watches designed for real running nerds a lot more accessible in recent years. So where does that leave the Vivoactive 4? The Vivoactive 4 is still significantly cheaper than most Fenix and Forerunner alternatives, and smart changes to the controls mean you are much less likely to accidentally pause and stop exercise tracking with touchscreen swipes and prods. The Vivoactive 4 looks fairly similar to the Vivoactive 3 and Foreunner 645. A band of silver, but not chrome-bright, metal sits around the edge of the watch. Its screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 tech, but it’s not…

Chances are, your Windows PC or Mac speakers come with middling, if not terrible audio quality. Or maybe they’re decent, but not quite good enough to truly enjoy what the music or games you spend time listening to. Cue the Creative Sound Blaster X3, a USB DAC (digital-to-analog converter) with a headphone amplifier that can produce virtual 7.1 surround sound, and offers a variety of ways to enhance the audio coming out of your computer or game console. It’s like an external sound card that’s compatible with PS4, PC and Mac and has the added bonus of harboring SXFI, Creative’s audio technology that simulates 3D sound in a pair of stereo headphones. Creative found a way to keep things simple, yet provide different avenues to pursue all at once. The…

eM Client Free, www.emclient.com eM Client has been around for nearly 10 years now, and throughout that long development has evolved into the best free email client for Windows. The app makes it easy to migrate your messages from Gmail, Exchange, iCloud and Outlook.com – just enter your email address and the client will choose the appropriate settings for you. eM Client can also import your contacts and calendar. It’s easy to deselect these options if you manage them separately. eM Client is also packed with options such as automatic translation, delayed sending and encryption. It’s a remarkable set of tools, and for managing two email accounts, it’s ideal. If you have more accounts, it’s well worth upgrading to eM Client Pro for a one-off fee. This lets you connect…

Statistics show that the two most common New Year’s resolutions are: to get in shape and to lose weight, in that order. While resolve is a powerful thing, it’s far from a guarantee of success; the Journal of Clinical Psychology suggests that only 46% of resolutions bear any fruit. So how can you ensure you hit your new fitness goals this year? It’s a combination of dedication, continuing to show up for yourself, and drafting in some nifty pieces of tech to maximise your effort. As we pointed out in our beginner-focused section, when starting out it’s beneficial to work on general fitness and weight loss before upping the intensity of your workouts – working so hard that you injure yourself does more harm than good. So, assuming you’re past…

1 Samsung Galaxy S10 5G When you’re bouncing between coffee shops, train tables and hot desks, connectivity is key – this variant of the S10 offers the chance, if you’re lucky enough to find a signal, to exploit the absurd speed of 5G. With a huge 6.7-inch screen and an enormous battery, it’s the perfect quick-fire work tool even if you’re tethered to 4G. From $1,399, samsung.com.au 2 Logitech C930E Some built-in webcams offer less-than-ideal levels of performance. Not that we’re picking holes, but that’s the one area where Apple really dropped the ball with its latest MacBook (see below), which is perplexing given the company’s mastery of miniaturised phone optics. Get a better one like Logitech’s 1080p C930E, designed to deliver clear sound and video, even in low light…

If you believe what Marie Kondo says, there is joy to be found in tidying up. But we’re the first to say that cleaning isn’t for everyone: after all, there are plenty of things we’d rather be doing on a Sunday than washing windows. Apparently not everyone feels that way, as there’s a growing number of people who find cleaning to be strangely therapeutic and beneficial to their general wellbeing. Why? Positive psychology has some answers… In 2014, Indiana University associate professor Nicole Keith studied a group of 998 people and found that those of them with cleaner homes were generally healthier than people with messy homes. Before that, in 2011, researchers at Princeton University found that clutter can make it more difficult to focus on a task, lending weight…

SD card storage Virtually all dashcams use microSD cards for storage but few actually come with one in the box. While this may smack of stinginess, there’s the issue that the dashcam maker doesn’t want to take responsibility for a core component that is manufactured by another company. Note that there are also many different choices of microSD card on the market with some offering certified ruggedisation, which could be important in a bad smash. Spending big on high capacities is unnecessary for everyone: most people will only need the footage from the last incident recorded so it won’t matter if the camera simply starts erasing older files once storage is full. However, some users – especially commercial drivers – may need high capacities if they need to keep a…

1 TIME MACHINE PREFS Be sure you have a backup before you start deleting files. Time Machine is an easy way to keep a backup of your Mac and attached drives. Open System Preferences and click Time Machine. 2 SELECT A BACKUP DRIVE Use a Mac OS Extended (Journaled) formatted USB or Thunderbolt hard disk or SSD, an Apple AirPort Time Capsule, or a NAS unit with Time Machine compatibility. Click Select Backup Disk. 3 CHECK AVAILABLE SPACE Eligible drives are listed showing free space. Time Machine can share a drive with other files (no need to partition it). Aim to select a drive bigger than all the space you’re backing up. Click Set Up. 4 START BACKING UP Check Back Up Automatically. Your first backup will start in the…

IT CAN BE AN EASY FIX FOR STORAGE GLITCHES If a drive is acting oddly, run Disk Utility, from the Utilities folder in Applications. Select a drive and click First Aid. It’ll report any problems and usually repair them. Most repairs can’t be done on the drive you started up from, so in this case restart from Recovery and run Disk Utility from there. If First Aid reports problems that can’t be fixed, ensure you’ve an up-to-date backup, erase the drive and restore (see above). This often works, but in the worst case the drive might need replacing.…

Neither iCloud backups nor backups to your Mac include everything. For more details, see bit.ly/apple-backupsmob. When you enable encryption for a local backup (to your Mac), more personal data is included: see bit.ly/apple-encryptbackup. Note that if you forget the password you set, nobody can decrypt your local backup. In contrast to this, iCloud backups are encrypted on Apple’s servers, but Apple can decrypt them. It will only do so at your specific request if you get locked out of your stuff, or if it has received a valid order from law enforcement or the security services.…

download the latest manufacturer-supplied driver if you wish to take full advantage. Alex Cox MEDIA Free Blu-ray player I’m looking for a way – preferably free – that allows me to watch Blu-rays on my Windows 10 PC with all the menus. VLC Media Player does a decent enough job, but its lack of menus makes it difficult to navigate. Gemma Soubry Try LEAWO Blu-ray Player (www. leawo.org/blu-ray-player), which despite the nag about being unregistered, is completely free to use for watching Blu-rays. You gain access to the menus, and it also promises region-free playback for both Blu-rays and DVDs. It can also be used to play a wide range of video and audio files too. The Premium version (US$23 per year) adds the ability to convert your Blu-rays and…

GENIUS TIP Use Do Not Disturb for relief from banners and alerts. Select it in the Notifications pane for fine control, and scroll up in Notification Centre to toggle it as needed. REQUIRES macOS Mojave (many features work in older versions) YOU WILL LEARN How to manage your notifications IT WILL TAKE 30 minutes Notifications in macOS can be a very useful tool for keeping up to date with things. You can be informed of, say, an upcoming appointment, deadline, or incoming message. However, notifications can also be a frustrating distraction. For example, if you work in an environment that uses multiple email inboxes for different projects and you use Outlook with notifications for incoming messages, message previews might pop up on screen every minute or two. No one needs…

“The iTunes and App Stores are nicer to browse these days, with slick animation and videos that autoplay.” 1 STOP UNINVITED USE You may want to limit access to some features unless your device recognizes you’re in control. In Settings > Touch/ Face ID & Passcode, look under “Allow access when locked”. You won’t want a stranger to get access. 2 GUARD YOUR PRIVACY Review whether apps can track your real–world position in Settings > Privacy > Location Services: always, never, or only when using the app. Also, ensure you haven’t unduly granted access to personal things, like photos. 3 STOP INFO LEAKING In Settings > Notifications, set Show Previews to When Unlocked so detailed info isn’t shown on the Lock screen until you use Touch/Face ID. Or limit this…

Last month we talked somewhat generically about setting up private game servers for you and your friends and family. This month we thought we might put it into practice, and walk through the process of setting up a private Minecraft server where you and your kids and their friends can play together, unbothered by the great unwashed public. Prepping the network Over the past three months we have published short guides on individual aspects of preparing your home network for running a game server, so we won’t repeat those lessons in full here. But briefly, follow these steps: 1 SETTING UP DDNS  Full guide: TechLife January 2020 Home Networking column. This step is optional, but setting up DDNS for your home network will make it much easier for players outside…

While generally developments in the AI space are contributing to the progression of humanity, sometimes they don’t and so this month we are forced to take a look at Clearview AI, a company that will destroy the little privacy we have left in the 21st century. Under the right law enforcement circumstances the AI facial recognition app could be a great tool, but the ability to know everything about someone after taking a covert phone picture is a little too powerful to be the sole responsibility of a single Silicon Valley start-up. Apart from this, VR is looking to simulate dangerous conditions to train firefighters, and AR will project digital piano teachers into your living room so you can see how the masters do it. VR The RFS is using…

Nerf is making a line of Halo toys in time for this fall’s Halo Infinite. The current lineup consists of three different toy guns that shoot the company’s classic foam bullets. The marquee toy in the new lineup is probably the MA40 Blaster, which is not just a new gun coming to Halo Infinite, but it’s also the biggest of the trio coming from Nerf. On top of that, buyers will also receive a code to use in the game to unlock the toy’s color scheme for the same gun. If you prefer something more compact, two more toys are coming via Nerf’s Microshots line, which are often single-hand, smaller guns. In the case of the Halo Infinite toys, that includes the iconic Covenant firearm, the Needler, as well as…

“To care about the story in Zombie Army 4 is misguided, and generally feels like more effort than the dev team expects of you.” If you’re wondering where the first three Zombie Army games went, you’re probably not alone. Rebellion’s undead Sniper Elite spinoffs began years ago on PC before a new third game was packaged with the first two and launched for all platforms back in 2015 as Zombie Army Trilogy. The trio didn’t make a lot of noise critically and playing Zombie Army 4 feels like the true debut for the series as it’s now fully fleshed out and distances itself from its roots as something closer to a mod than a new series. As a third-person Nazi zombie shooter, no-one would suggest Zombie Army 4 is a…

Cookies Must Die Free with IAP Every time I feel like every single type of “mobile game” has been done, every twist on the touch screen interface has been achieved, a clever little action platformer comes along to throw me off. Cookies Must Die, apart from having one of the best names ever, is exactly the sort of experience that is both simple to learn, difficult to master, and impossible to put down. “The result is a frenetic mash of projectiles, exploded donuts and liquorice, actual cherry bombs and crumbs… everywhere.” Jack is a super-secret agent with the power to slow down time, which is perfect as his city has been invaded by sweet treats bent on destruction. You simply swipe to run and jump, which is handled perfectly -…

If you’re starting out in the hi-fi hobby, one of the first things you should purchase is a headphone amp and DAC, or digital-to-analog converter. That’s because audiophile headphones can be tough to drive, requiring more power than your laptop or phone can supply. That’s where a good headphone amp comes in – a good DAC will improve the sound quality of just about any device you connect it to, whether it’s your laptop, PC, phone, or even TV. If you don’t have much money to spend on your first headphone setup, the iFi Zen DAC is the perfect starting point. This DAC and amp combo has enough power to drive power-hungry headphones while also working with sensitive in-ear monitors, making it extremely versatile. The iFi Zen DAC has more…

It’s been a while. Samsung took more than a year to deliver a viable successor to the very well received T5. The T7, as it is now known, is available in two versions; a plain-vanilla model and one that packs a fingerprint reader and is known as the T7 Touch. Three different capacities are available (500GB, 1TB, 2TB) and two colour schemes (black and silver). Both the T7 and T7 Touch come with a three-year limited warranty, Samsung’s Portable SSD Plus 1.0 software and AES 256-bit hardware encryption. The T7 Touch looks very similar to the T5 but is a tiny bit bigger and heavier. 85 x 57 x 8.0 mm for a weight of 58g for the former and 74 x 57.3 x 10.5 mm for a weight of…

Sticking to a more sporty look, the Urbanista Athens earbuds look like they can withstand you dropping them if worst comes to worst – something that not all truly wireless earbuds achieve. There’s the standard selection of silicone earbuds to choose from to get the right size for you, but the key here is to twist them as you pop them into your ears – that way you should achieve a secure fit. The Urbanista Athens are nice enough to look at but they’re fairly standard fare for sports based earbuds; you won’t have to worry about them looking a bit too noticeable as you move. The only ‘moving’ part to them are the buttons for the controls. Unusually, they are pressure sensitive buttons rather than touch sensitive so you…

1 Bowflex Selecttech 560 Bowflex’s compact dumbbell set is perfect for everything from toning curls to serious lifts, and is suited to those of you with little space for workout gear. Each Bluetooth dumbbell in this adjusts from 2.3kg (5lbs) to 27.2kg (60lbs), with your sets, reps and weights recorded into the companion app to help you track your progress. $899, bowflex.com 2 Technogym MyRun Running boosts cardio and melts body fat, but there are days when you’d rather do it at home. This app-connected treadmill is ideal for such times, with a surface that can be extended up to a 12% incline to push you. A Running Music feature chooses songs (from your playlists) best matched to the rhythm of your run. $5,480, technogym.com 3 Promixx iX Vortex Mixer…

1 Underbed Storage According to feng shui, if you must store items under your bed, make it bedding and other items that are ‘energetically clear’. You could store an entire bed’s worth of linen in this soft yet durable cotton trunk. 2 Wall Mounted Storage Expand cupboard space by making use of spare walls. This is an especially handy trick above washing machines, as you can create a mini laundry room space if you don’t have a dedicated utility room. 3 Storage Ottoman Storage needn’t be dull and boring, as proven by this velvet ottoman. Fill it with pillows and throws, or use it as a super-fancy toy and magazine chest if you’d rather not lower the decor tone in your home with a plain storage bench. 4 Storage Baskets…

1 REINSTALL MACOS Alternatively, you can start from Recovery (see above) and use Disk Utility to erase your startup drive: see bit.ly/apple-erasedisk. Back at macOS Utilities, use Reinstall macOS: see bit.ly/apple-reinsmacosrec. 2 USE MIGRATION ASSISTANT Your Macintosh HD now contains nothing but a clean copy of macOS. On restart, Migration Assistant will offer to restore files. Choose “From a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk” and click Continue. 3 RESTORE FILES Having confirmed the location of your backup, choose what to restore from it. Be sure to include your main user account. If you miss anything, re-run Migration Assistant from the Utilities folder in Applications.…

3 CONNECT TO YOUR MAC Unless you’ve previously set up your device to sync via Wi-Fi, connect it with a USB cable. Previously, it would appear in iTunes; in Catalina, look in the left sidebar of a Finder window. Select Trust on both devices. 4 MAKE A LOCAL BACKUP The right–hand pane shows the contents of your device. You can sync media to it from your Mac: see bit.ly/ applefindersync. To back it up, select the second option under Backups. Check Encrypt and click Apply. 5 RESTORE FROM BACKUP Switch back to iCloud backup to keep that going. To erase and restore a device from your local backup later, connect it and click Restore iPhone (or iPad). You’ll need to turn off Find My, using your Apple ID password.…

SKILL LEVEL Straightforward SUITABLE FOR… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 NICK’S BEST TIP! Save time with these shortcuts: Ctrl-Alt-0 for normal text, and Ctrl-Alt-1 through -6 for headers. IMPROVE NAVIGATION Styles ensure your document looks professional, and make navigating large files easier. TEXT ATTRIBUTES You’ll find more text attributes – superscript, strikethrough and sub-script – on the ‘Format > Text’ menu. ALIGN TEXT For most people, aligning text left or justified is sufficient, but centred and right-aligned text is also supported. LINE SPACING Adjust the spacing between lines (and paragraphs) from here – it will give your text room to breathe. CREATING STYLES First, style up the text as you want it to appear, then click the Styles button and choose ‘Update [style] to match’. CUSTOM STYLES Install the…

1 THE FUNDAMENTALS Choose Apple > System Preferences. At the top right of the new window, click the Notifications icon. Scroll through the list of apps until you find the one whose notifications you want to change. Click on its name to select. 2 BANNER OR ALERT To the right, set how notifications from this app will behave. A banner disappears after a few seconds. An alert stays on screen until you dismiss it yourself. Pick None to stop the app using this method of notification. 3 TO PREVIEW OR NOT… Check the options above. If you choose to allow notifications to appear when your Mac is locked, consider whether you want to allow previews to be displayed. You can choose to allow them only when your Mac is unlocked.…

Gradients are normally thought of as a feature for graphic designers. After all, why would photographers need a tool that creates a straightforward blend from one colour to another? Used in combination with Gradient Maps, however, gradients can become a powerful tool for toning and tinting your photos. “A gradient map works by mapping colours onto the tonal range of your image.” A gradient map works by mapping colours onto the tonal range of your image, from shadow tones on the left of the gradient to highlight tones on the right. So you can tint the shadows with one colour, and the highlights with another. This means you can use gradient maps to create all kinds of interesting tonal effects, from vintage washes to stylish colour shifts. If you’ve used…

AO Air US$350 | ao-air.com According to its website AO Air is functional, fashionable and future forward, but this personal air purifier has been independently tested to be between five and 50 times better than any other available portable purifiers, so if you want to breathe better air than your peers, you can’t settle for anything less. AO Air knows that even perfect air shouldn’t get in the way of your looks so it’s already put its facewear on the catwalks of New York and Seoul to make sure all the people that actually matter, know that the AO Air mask will be sci-fi Chic in 2020. Pawnix US$200 | pawnix.com When it comes to high and low pitched noises, dogs are far better at hearing than we are, so…

“A second band in the Dyson headphones sits over your mouth and pumps out pristine air from fans in the drivers. British inventor, Sir James Dyson, is the man responsible for solving one of the 20th century’s biggest problems: the vacuum bag – so we really shouldn’t be too surprised that his attention now turns to the current critical issue of providing fresh beats and fresh air at the same time. A headphone patent filed by Dyson in the UK Intellectual Property Office reveals that this OBE -awarded designer already has a plan for how he’ll atmospherically control the portable biosphere of the future. Basically, a second band in the Dyson headphones sits over your mouth and pumps out pristine air from fans in the drivers. Unfortunately the system has…