A Fusion of a Smart Plug and a Power Strip A smart power strip looks like your average power strip, but you can control it (and each individual outlet) with a smart device or a voice assistant. The number of outlets in a smart power strip varies, so there’s an option for everybody. Most will come with USB ports to charge cell phones, tablets, and other mobile devices, freeing up power outlets for other devices....

What Is an Echo Dot? Starting at $50, the Echo Dot is the least expensive Echo speaker. For example, the Echo Studio costs $200. Once you say the wake word, you can follow up with any of Alexa’s voice commands. Of course, you need to be close enough to your Echo Dot that it can pick up your voice—it works best when you’re within 10 meters. Your Echo also needs to be connected to Wi-Fi to function....

Most Chromebooks have Android app support now, but not all your favorite apps are along for the ride. Here’s what to do if an app you want show up as “not compatible” with your Chromebook. Why Apps Show Up As Incompatible There are lots of reasons why apps can be incompatible with Android phones, but for your Chromebook it pretty much comes down to one thing: the way the developer has the app tagged....

New Windows 8 PCs don’t include the traditional BIOS. They use UEFI firmware instead, just as Macs have for years. How you go about doing common system tasks has changed. If you’re interested in why UEFI is replacing the BIOS, take a look at our overview of UEFI and how it’s different from the traditional BIOS. You’ll Need to Access These Options From Within Windows RELATED: Three Ways to Access the Windows 10 and 8 Boot Options Menu...

Yes, Android devices have serious security problems. There’s Android malware out there — mostly outside the Google Play Store. The biggest problem is that most Android devices don’t get security updates. Android antivirus apps aren’t a solution to these problems. Security companies have been pushing their Android antivirus apps, using the concern over the Stagefright exploit to sell security software. But Android antivirus apps aren’t going to help you here....

This is usually so complicated because DRM technologies generally don’t bother supporting Linux. Even downloaded video files require a bit of work due to patents that prevent Linux distribution from including the required codecs. But don’t worry: we’ve got you covered. Netflix You can watch Netflix on Linux without any dirty hacks, but you’ll have to install Google Chrome for Linux and use it to watch your shows. You can’t use the Firefox web browser, and you can’t even use Chromium....

OTPs via SMS may not be the most secure, but it’s a very common choice for 2FA. Since an OTP is by definition only for one-time use, there’s not much danger in keeping them around. That also means there’s no reason to save them. So let’s make it easy to keep your messaging app clean. RELATED: What Is Two-Factor Authentication, and Why Do I Need It? We’ll be using Google’s Messaging app for this....

You can use the new Automations section in Shortcuts to trigger automation in many different ways, ranging from Near Field Communication “NFC” to location. RELATED: How to Create Automations on an iPhone or iPad In this guide, we’re going to focus on the app launch automation. This feature can be useful in a couple of different ways. You can set up a shortcut to automatically engage Do Not Disturb mode when you open your favorite game or start playing music when you open the Music app....

The only thing worse than incorrect data in your spreadsheet is missing data. If you want to count the number of blank or empty cells in Microsoft Excel, we’ll show you two quick and easy methods. By using a function, you can keep the number of blank cells parked in your sheet. This way, if you change your data, that count will adjust. If you prefer to simply see a fast count of empty cells, you can use Excel’s built-in Find feature....

Google Classroom is a digital hub where students, teachers, and supporters of both can engage and collaborate. You can create user-friendly quizzes and assignments, along with supporting materials, in just a few clicks. All you need is a free Google account. Creating a Quiz Assignment in Google Classroom To get started, open your web browser, and go to classroom.google.com. Sign in to your Google account, and then either create a class or click an existing one....

Accidentally retweeted someone’s tweet on Twitter? If so, it only takes a few clicks to delete that retweet. Here’s how to do it on Twitter on desktop and mobile. When you delete a retweet, Twitter only removes the retweeted tweet from your profile. The original tweet (the one that you retweeted) remains intact. RELATED: How to Send a Normal Retweet on Twitter (Not a Quote Tweet) Delete a Retweet on Twitter on Desktop To remove a retweet on your Windows, Mac, Linux, or Chromebook computer, first, open a web browser on your computer and access the Twitter site....

Let’s face it: Caps Lock can be annoying. Very few people use the feature, but it’s easy to hit by accident, and SUDDENLY YOU START TYPING LIKE THIS. Luckily, the Caps Lock key is easy to disable on both the iPad’s soft keyboard and an attached hardware keyboard. Here’s how. How to Disable Caps Lock on iPad’s On-Screen Keyboard On the iPad on-screen keyboard, you can turn on Caps Lock by quickly double-tapping the shift key....

The Disk Cleanup tool has been around in Windows for years. It offers a quick way to remove temporary, cache, and other non-essential files to help you free up some disk space. You can even use it to remove old versions of Windows after an upgrade to Windows 10. Disk Cleanup also has several hidden options that you can only access if you run it from the Command Prompt or a custom shortcut....

Computers crash and freeze. Your Windows PC may have automatically rebooted itself, too. If so, it probably experienced a blue screen of death when you weren’t looking. The first step in troubleshooting is finding more specific error details. RELATED: What to Do When Windows Won’t Boot The steps we’re going to cover should help you narrow down and identify problems with your PC crashing or freezing. For example, the tools here may point the finger at a specific device driver....

Apple Mail, the email application included with macOS, has some confusing account setup screens. If emails you send appear to be coming from the wrong address—for example, emails you send from your personal address are being sent from your work address, or vice versa—you can tweak your email account settings to fix this problem. How to Fix Your Outgoing Mail Settings To fix this problem, you’ll first need to open Apple Mail and click Mail > Preferences....

So, What’s the Problem? Apple isn’t just selling a device; it’s selling a whole family of devices, and an ecosystem to go with them. Given this, if you forego the wider Apple ecosystem, you’re also foregoing some of the reasons many people choose an iPhone in the first place. This includes features like Continuity and Handoff, which make it easy to pick up where you left off when switching devices. iCloud support is also baked-in to most first-party apps, allowing Safari to sync tabs and Photos to store your images on the cloud....

All iPhones from the iPhone 6 onwards include a barometer that calculates a device’s current elevation. The iPhone uses that data for multiple things, not least to help it know when you take a flight of stairs—gotta close those activity rings. The Difference Between Altitude and Elevation People often interchange the two words, but they do have separate definitions. Altitude is the height of an object or place “above a given planetary reference plane, especially above sea level on earth” as explained by dictionary....

Most of the app data on your Android is probably synced online will automatically sync to a new phone or tablet. However, your Google Authenticator credentials won’t — they aren’t synchronized for obvious security reasons. If you’re doing a factory reset, getting a new phone, or just want to copy your credentials to second device, these steps will help you move your authenticator data over so you won’t lose your access codes....

Microsoft Excel provides row headers starting with number 1. But if you have data that you want to number beginning below the first row, these row headers aren’t much help. We’ll show you how to add your own row numbers. You may want to number rows for an easy way to collaborate and make sure you’re talking about the same data. Or, maybe you want to use a specific sequential series for reference numbers throughout your sheet....

If you’re away from home and your furnace or A/C breaks down, bad things can happen. If you have a Nest Thermostat, you can get notified whenever this happens, so that you can fix the problem before it becomes…well, an even bigger problem. RELATED: How to Install and Set Up the Nest Thermostat A broken furnace or A/C unit is not only troublesome by itself, but it can cause a lot of other secondary problems....