What is Siri Shortcuts? Each Shortcut includes a specific task or multiple actions that get automatically combined into one job. Not all Shortcuts require manual triggering using a voice or a tap. Instead, these shortcuts start automatically based on location, time of day, or other circumstances. Using Shortcuts Some Shortcuts run best as a widget, which you activate directly through the app or from notifications from your device. Others are ideally suited for use on Apple Watch....

The Slingbox comes with a quick start guide and the cables you’ll need for just about any configuration. Not pictured here, but also included are a power brick and sensor for an IR blaster. The Slingbox itself includes all the standard ports you could wish for the well equipped home entertainment center — including HDMI. The wiring installation can be as easy as looping the coaxial cable from your antennae or cable modem through the “in” and “out” on the Slingbox....

If you’re trying to convert things into a hand-drawn appearance, then Snap Art 3 is a Photoshop plugin that can handle the job. It, like many other plugins, provides a unique set of filters that automate what would normally take hours of manual labor. The biggest problem with Snap Art 3 however, is the price. It’s quite far from free at a $199 price tag or a $99 cost for the upgrade....

I have “Hey Cortana,” which enabled me to ask questions, set reminders, and use other features by using my voice. However, if I have a podcast or TV show playing in the background, sometimes it will be triggered (especially when listening to tech podcasts). With Cortana in Windows 10, you can avoid this issue by making it respond to your voice only. Make Cortana Respond to Your Voice Only Note: Cortana is decoupled from Windows Search....

This week join host Josh Windisch and Brian Burgess as they talk groovy tech. Google Play requires you to log in with Google+ account before leaving comments. What’s the best way to filter customer review comments? Josh gets a new Samsung EH-5000 HDTV during Black Friday deals. Brian disputes “Windows 8 fail” in the tech press, gives tips on how to make it easy to use. Are computer manufacturer’s the reason Windows 8 sales are slow?...

Here’s a look at what you can do with Cortana and some tips for getting the most from the desktop assistant. Enable Hey Cortana The ‘Hey Cortana” feature lets you activate it by voice and engage by speaking to your PC. However, it’s not enabled by default. To turn it on, open Cortana and select Settings and then flip the switch on. You don’t need to talk to your computer to use Cortana; you can also type your queries into the Cortana search box....

Twitter has decided to file a lawsuit in a San Francisco federal court against companies behind some of the most “popular” spam tools for the microblogging service. The companies owning TweetAttacks, TweetAdder and TweetBuddy will have some defending to do. And so will James Lucero (justinlover.info) and Garland Harris (troption.com). The lawsuit says that some of those companies have done things like offering software that helps spammers be more effective....

For full coverage of the Department of Justice’s complaint, check out the official pdf copy. It’s 21 pages long, so if you’d rather just checkout the highlights – we have them below. So what do you think? Will the deal go through? Do you think the DOJ should let this ride or nuke? “The merged firm would have approximately 132 million connections to mobile wireless devices in the United States, with more than $72 billion in mobile wireless telecommunications services revenues....

Android users should be familiar with Easter egg games like the hidden Flappy Bird clone that you can find in Android 6.0 Marshmallow. There is another version of that game waiting to be unlocked in Android Lollipop 5.0 as well. With the newest version of Android 7.0 Nougat comes with a new Easter egg called “Android Neko”. It’s not a game in the traditional sense like the Flappy Bird clone like the two previous versions of Android mentioned above....

Net neutrality is aptly named. It describes the effort to keep the internet neutral of bias, including corporate or political. A neutral internet is the opposite of totalitarian ones like China, where content and information on the internet is strictly controlled. A “net neutral” internet provides equal streaming bandwidth for all information. What Is Net Neutrality? The term “network neutrality” was coined in 2003 by law professor Tim Wu at Columbia University....

What is Start.exe and Why is it Running? Sandboxie is security software that creates a virtualized “sandbox” environment for your Windows applications to run in. The program is free and is somewhat effective for circumventing malware that might infect your computer, particularly through a web browser. In Sandboxie, Start.exe is used to launch applications within the protected sandbox so that changes made within a program won’t affect the rest of your computer....

What’s Happens to Make My Phone Warm? There are only two parts inside a mobile device that can make it warm through regular use, the battery, and the system of a chip, or SoC. When you feel the heat on the back of the device, it’s usually because the metal housing inside the phone is attempting to dissipate the heat to drop the internal temperature. The chips in today’s smartphones are more efficient than those in previous models, and no doubt, we’ll say the same about future devices....

Explain a Web Version Browser to Anyone When you visit https://www.whatsmybrowser.org/ it will detect which browser you are running and which version. It will then display this information in a small box and then list other browser options. It’s quite refreshing to see an unbiased explanation when you consider Google owns and operates the site. If you continue scrolling down, the page begins with a short and simple explanation of what a web browser is....

That was then. Today, it’s clear there is no possible way for the antivirus industry to keep up with malware and computer virus authors. Even the top AV companies have admitted this. Pause…No need to panic. Just keep reading. ;) I spend a lot of time on my computer and online. I can honestly say I’ve not had a single virus on any of my systems in many years despite the fact that I quit installing AV apps a long time ago....

Surface Hub The Surface Hub is an 84-inch 4K display that is designed to be an incredible videoconference device. Directly from the screen you can star a Skype session, a whiteboard presentation, show off ideas in OneNote and a lot more. To get a better idea of how it will work, check out the following video. Microsoft HoloLens Microsoft is getting into the Augmented Reality (AR) market with its just announced HoloLens which is the company’s first holographic computing platform....

We recently reported about Microsoft yanking the November Update from the Media Creation Tool (MCT) and Windows Update. Today, the company restored the update, and this new cumulative update fixes privacy settings that led to it being pulled in the first place. If you upgraded to the November Update version 1511 and turned off the Privacy Settings shown below, the update reverted them to the default value, which is on....

Patch Tuesday Update KB5006674 for Windows 11 This update doesn’t include a whole lot, but the changelog reports the following quality fixes and improvements: Addresses known compatibility issues between some Intel “Killer” and “SmartByte” networking software and Windows 11 (original release). Devices with the affected software might drop User Datagram Protocol (UDP) packets under certain conditions. This creates performance and other issues for protocols based on UDP. For example, some websites might load slower than others on the affected devices, which might cause videos to stream slower in certain resolutions....

Windows 11 has rightly been the biggest story to come out of Microsoft this year. However, Windows 365 is also a big deal, although it probably won’t affect nearly as many users. However, after finally being released into the wild, the “hybrid Windows for a hybrid world” has given up its secrets. Or rather, Microsoft is finally answering the questions many of us had when it was first announced....

First, right click the Start Menu Orb / Button and click Properties. Click Start Menu Tab (Or Jump Lists Tab for Windows 8) and uncheck the box Store and display recently opened items in the Start Menu and the taskbar. Click OK when done. Now if you click the start menu / orb again you will see the items / files are gone with only the Programs remaining. Comment Name * Email *...

Magnify your Desktop Press and hold the Windows key then press the plus key (+). Keep pressing the plus key to making the screen magnify even more (you can make it crazy huge). Then use the minus key (-) to zoom back out for a normal view. After you’re done, make sure to close out of the magnifier app if you don’t need it anymore. If you’re trying to see more details on a small image, this groovy keyboard shortcut comes in handy....