Using AirTags for NFC Automations While AirTags are most useful when finding things, Apple also decided to throw NFC (near-field communication) compatibility in there, too. Using this, you can scan the AirTag with your phone or Apple Watch by bringing it close, then trigger a huge variety of actions using Apple’s Shortcuts app. Apple’s Shortcuts app comes preinstalled on iPhone and iPad, but you can download it from the App Store if you’ve previously uninstalled it....

Listening to music while driving is a great way to pass the time. If you’re already using Google Maps to navigate on your iPhone or Android device, you might as well control your music with it, too. In an attempt to help you keep your eyes on the road, Google Maps integrates with a number of streaming music services include, but not limited to, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Pandora, and more....

How the Instagram Chronological Feed Works By default, Instagram shows you posts that it thinks you’ll like, even if it means placing an old post at the top of your feed while keeping a recent one at the bottom. It does that by learning your preferences from your app usage and other sources. However, if you’d like the platform to show you the most recent posts at the top, you can do so by switching to chronological feed order....

Windows 11 includes a handy new “Quick Settings” menu that replaces the functionality found in Action Center on Windows 10. At a glance, it resembles Control Center on a Mac. Here’s a quick look at what it does and how it works. A Handy Menu for Changing Settings Quickly When using your PC, you’ll sometimes need to quickly change a setting, but you probably don’t want to dig through menus or the full Windows Settings app to change them....

The Razer Phone Cooler Chroma retails for $60, and it attaches to the back of the iPhone through MagSafe. It will help circulate air around the phone and keep it cool when you’re banging out those intense gaming sessions on your iPhone. The device comes with a 7-blade fan with up to 6400 rpm. It features a dozen RGB lights with support for 16.8 million colors, so you can make your device stand out with a light pattern that works for your style....

Weather resistance is another important factor when shopping for a portable speaker. Every speaker we’re looking at here features an IP rating, which describes how weather-resistant a given speaker is. If you’re mainly using your speaker indoors, you can disregard this, but the higher the IP rating, the more water and dust-resistant a speaker is. Another major aspect to consider is the battery life. If you’re only using your speaker for an hour or two a day and frequently recharging, this doesn’t matter as much....

The Best Tech White Elephant Gifts White Elephant gift exchanges are a fun way of spicing up an office holiday party or family get-together by essentially randomizing what gifts everyone gets. But it also means that, while the gift you’re buying should be suitable for most people, it also has to be a little fun and unusual. If you’re the kind of person that wants to make sure whoever ends up with your gift also ends up with a nifty bit of tech, then you’re in the right place....

Advertisers Know Who You Are Tell us whether this sounds familiar: You’ve been thinking about buying something—say, a pair of jeans—for a while now. You do a little bit of research on lists of good jean brands (like visiting some posts about jeans on social media) and look for a store that sells jeans in your area. Suddenly, every ad that you see on the internet for the next few days is related to jeans....

Thanks for the Invite! TFTI stands for “thanks for the invite.” In direct messaging, people use this sarcastic initialism when they feel left out of a social situation. For example, if all your friends decided to go out for drinks and you saw their pictures on Instagram, you might message them, “Wow, TFTI.” You can write it in both the uppercase “TFTI” and the lowercase “tfti,” with both being reasonably common....

What Is a Laptop Screen Extender? A laptop screen extender clamps onto the lid of your laptop, extending your screen real estate by one or two monitors. Some models add a single display to the left or the right of your laptop’s built-in monitor, while others go the whole hog and have a monitor on either side for maximum use of space. Whether you’re using a Windows laptop or MacBook, these monitors appear to the operating system as any other monitor would....

Different Types of OLED Displays OLED stands for organic light-emitting diode, and it’s a type of display that first appeared in the late 1980s. OLED displays are self-emissive, which means that they create their own light and don’t need a backlight. The “AM” in AMOLED stands for “active matrix,” which is different from less efficient PMOLEDs (or “passive matrix” OLEDs). In passive matrix models, external circuitry is required to control each pixel on the panel....

Fedora 35, Red Hat‘s free Linux distribution (distro), was released on November 2, 2021. From an updated desktop experience to behind-the-scenes tweaks, we’re taking a look at the Workstation edition to see what’s new for desktop users. A More Polished Fedora Red Hat’s community Linux build rolled out in beta on September 28, 2021, and the official release came November 2, 2021. This version is “all about polish,” as Red Hat said in a blog post....

There’s a good chance you have both the “C:\Program Files” and “C:\Program Files (x86)” folders on your Windows PC. If you poke around, you’ll see that some of your programs are installed in one folder, and some are installed in the other. 32-bit vs. 64-bit Windows RELATED: What’s the Difference Between 32-bit and 64-bit Windows? Originally, Windows was only available as a 32-bit operating system. On 32-bit versions of Windows—even 32-bit versions of Windows 10, which are still available today—you’ll only see a “C:\Program Files” folder....

The first steps here assume your Mac just isn’t responding when you press its power button. If it’s responding but failing to boot up normally, scroll down to the Recovery Mode sections. Ensure It Has Power Ensure your Mac is plugged into a power source. Try swapping out the charger or power cable, or using a different power outlet. The charger itself may be damaged. If you’re using a MacBook and its battery is completely dead, you may need to wait a few moments after plugging it in before turning it on....

Just Look at These Terrible Windows 10 Emoji First, let’s take a look at something that you’ll see all over social media platforms: the Thinking Face emoji. Microsoft’s Thinking Face emoji is a perfect example of why Windows 10’s emoji are so bad. Just look at how flat it is compared to Apple and Microsoft’s version of the emoji. It features very simple colors and blocky shapes. The expression seems like a totally different emotion, too....

“We are very excited to introduce to all of you the redesigned Notepad for Windows 11, which includes a number of changes we think the community will enjoy! First, you will notice a completely updated UI that aligns with the new visual design of Windows 11, including rounded corners, Mica, and more,” Microsoft said in a blog post. Starting with the dark mode, Microsoft says it works with your system’s theme preferences, so it’ll blend in perfectly with the rest of the operating system....

With a registry hack, it’s possible to move your Windows 11 taskbar to the left or right side of the screen, but the buttons don’t show up. Could this mean Microsoft is planning to bring back a moveable taskbar in a future update? We explore the possibilities. Borrowing From Windows 10 As of October 2021, Windows 11 doesn’t let you move your taskbar (or even resize it). But through a Windows Registry hack, it’s possible to make the taskbar appear on the top of your screen and still be functional....

Microsoft announced that the Seagate 2TB Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S will be available for pre-order for $399.99. To put that into perspective, the Xbox Series S console costs $100 less at $299 and the Series X costs only $100 more at $499. When you can actually get the console for less than the storage expansion, it puts into perspective just how much 2TB of space will set you back....

Your camera is a tool, and you should be able to use it with total confidence. You should never have to dig through the manual or play around with random buttons trying to work out how to do something on a shoot. Here are the most important settings you need to master. Change the Shooting Mode At How-To Geek, we’re big fans of Manual and semi-automatic shooting modes—like Aperture Priority....