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Showing posts from December, 2020

Apple Pay Can Now Be Used at Every NYC Subway Station

As 2020 comes to a close, New York City's Metro Transit Authority has officially finished its rollout of Apple Pay and other contactless payment systems across all MTA subway and bus stations in the five boroughs. Use Apple Pay to Travel New York Apple Pay was first trialled as a payment method for transportation at selected subway stations more than 18 months ago. That rollout process has now been completed, meaning that it's possible to pay for your transport using your iPhone or Apple Watch with the tap-and-pay OMNY (One Metro New York) system installed throughout the network. "OMNY is available at all subway stations and on all buses, allowing you to tap and go throughout New York City," said MTA in a statement. "You can use OMNY with your own contactless card or smart device. OMNY currently supports a full-fare, pay-per-ride option for now, including free transfers." While Apple Pay and other contactless options are accepted throughout subway statio

Apple Patents System for Controlling Drones

For such a big company, Apple keeps its number of actual products fairly small. It makes computers, tablets, phones, smartwatches, and a handful of accessories. But that doesn’t mean it's not working with plenty more cutting-edge tech behind the scenes. As highlighted by Patently Apple , the US Patent & Trademark Office has published a patent application filed by Apple, describing a system for controlling drones. Apple's Drone Patent Application The application, which was published on the last patent day (and the last day, overall) of 2020, describes, "an apparatus of a drone, the apparatus comprising: sensors arranged to determine a geographic location and an orientation of the drone; a plurality of antennas configured to form a beam through which the drone communicates data and control signals with a serving cell using a carrier frequency; an application processor; and a wireless modem arranged to communicate with the serving cell through the antenna and with the

Want to Keep Personal Data Secure? Here's How to Encrypt a File

We all have particularly important and sensitive files: financial records, old family photos, or a hobby you would like to keep secret even from close friends. But having your files on a laptop or PC is unsafe. Devices could get stolen and a simple mistake while browsing the internet could give a hacker complete access. Your best option to fully secure your files and folders is to encrypt them. What Is File Encryption? By encrypting a file, you scramble its content beyond recognition. You unlock it using a cryptographic key, i.e. a password or code. That way, only authorized individuals with the encryption key can access the data. Encryption varies in speed, efficiency, and strength depending on various factors such as the length of the key and the type of encryption. But all in all, instead of having to keep an entire file safe, encryption means you only need to safeguard your password. Why Do You Need File Encryption? There are multiple reasons you should encrypt one or more

6 Tips to Strengthen Your YouTube Channel and Videos

With YouTube being one of the most visited sites on the internet, it’s no surprise to see all types of channels attempting to master their YouTube marketing skills. In order to reach out to more subscribers, you must make sure that the content in your channel is appealing and attractive. Read on as we explore some smart and effective techniques that will help you improve the quality of your YouTube channel. 1. Focused Video Content A very effective method for attracting traffic to your channel and increasing your audience is by making use of specific topics and/or single keywords. Employing SEO best practices is crucial to the success of your YouTube channel and will enable you to maximize your appeal. There are great keyword tools online that will enable you to identify the most searched keywords relating to your content. Moreover, this will guide you to structure your content based on these insights. Related:  Free Tools to Get the Best Keywords By identifying your keyword or

What Does "Bash" Mean in Linux?

If you've been using Linux for long at all, you've no doubt seen the word Bash thrown around in forums and articles. It sometimes seems like a synonym for the terminal, but Bash and the terminal emulator are definitely two different applications. So what is Bash exactly? In this short article, we'll explore what Bash is, what it does, and how you can start using it. Bash Defined The name Bash is an acronym for B ourne- A gain SH ell, a pun on the name Stephen Bourne, creator of one of Bash's predecessors. The first beta was released in 1989, and, as of this writing, has seen its most recent update in December 2020: version 5.1. Bash is among the most popular of shell languages, known for its combination of powerful capabilities and user-friendly commands. That's why it's so prolific across Linux distributions. Bash operates not only on Linux, however; it's also available on macOS and BSD, and you can use it on Windows through Windows Subsystem for Linux

Reddit Alternative, Voat, Has Shut Down for Good

Voat, the Reddit clone where hate speech has been festering for years, has shut down for good. The platform has hinted at shutting its doors in the past, but this time it's official. Voat Has Been "Sacrified" to the Internet Gods If you head to Voat, you'll see a page that reads "Voat was sacrificed on December 25th, 2020." In other words, Voat is no longer. Voat made its debut in 2014, and marketed itself as a Reddit alternative for free speech. However, the platform quickly became a safe haven for hate speech and toxic content. Related:  Free and Fantastic Alternatives to the Official Reddit Website & App Voat co-founder, Justin Chastain, announced the closure in his  final post on Voat. The platform basically ran out of funding, and Chastain noted that he "can't keep it up." Chastain went on to explain his thoughts about the shutdown, stating: Instead of feeling pity or vengeful, I’m instead going to celebrate the fact that Voat

Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical Will Debut on New Year's Day

Ratatouille: The Musical is coming to TikTok for an exciting one-night performance. The musical's star-studded cast will come together to reenact the events of the Pixar classic on TikTok. The First-Ever Ratatouille Musical Hits TikTok Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical will debut on TikTok on January 1, 2021. If a Ratatouille musical seems sudden (and a bit random), that's because it is. The musical was born out of a group of TikTokers' passion for music. Talented TikTok creator, Emily Jacobsen, started the Ratatouille craze without ever intending it to become a full-blown musical. Related:  Positive Social Media Stories That Will Make Your Day After Jacobsen created a Ratatouille-inspired song on TikTok, composer Daniel Mertzlufft added music to make it Broadway-ready. This TikTok collaboration morphed into an original composition, Remy the Ratatouille, which you'll get to hear during the musical. Other original musical scores were created by TikTokers from across

Luminar AI Photo Editor: Everything You Need to Know

The release of Skylum’s Luminar AI marks the first time in history that a photo editing program operates solely on an AI platform. Skylum has been working its way up to this moment for years, which like Adobe and its competitors, offer photo editing suites that partially run on AI for small portions of its computational architecture. First, we’ll take a look at how Luminar AI works and what you can expect as far as performance and results. We’ll also discuss who will benefit the most from using Luminar AI. Let’s dive in! Where to Get Luminar AI You can download Luminar AI from the  Skylum website. It’s available to run as a plugin on programs like Photoshop and Lightroom. But in order to unlock all of Luminar AI’s functionality (like Compositional AI), you must run the program in its launch edition as a standalone program. On its own, the program will cost you $99. Templates Are the Front Door to Luminar AI When you open an image in Luminar AI, you'll see a set of template

Report: iPhone 12 Could Be the Supercycle Apple Has Waited For

Demand for the iPhone 12 looks set to exceed even the "bull case scenario" of Wedbush analyst Dan Ives as Apple heads into 2021, Ives wrote in a note to clients. In his new note, via MarketWatch , Ives noted that "so far reality is meeting the initial hype" for a possible iPhone supercycle this year. A supercycle is the term used to describe a year or product cycle in which more people than usual decide to upgrade to the latest model. More focus has been placed on possible iPhone supercycles in recent years as the massive growth in unit sales that marked the first eight years of the iPhone is no longer something that can be taken for granted. Apple's Eye-Popping Future According to Ives, Apple could manufacture between 90-95 million iPhones in the last calendar quarter of 2020. This is approximately 35% higher than many, including Wedbush, were anticipating. Into 2021, Apple is expected to manufacture 60-70 million iPhones in the first calendar quarter, and

4 Free Ways to Open DOCX Files on Your Mac

The wide usage of DOCX files makes us greatly dependent on the Microsoft ecosystem. But not as much as you might think. Luckily, you don't necessarily need to install the Microsoft Office suite to open such files. Here are a few simple and free ways you can view and edit Word documents on your Mac. Open Word Files With No Hassle When opening DOCX files on your Mac using any word processing tool except for Microsoft Word, there may be issues with displaying complex graphic elements or formatting correctly. However, the tools listed here will usually display such files without any problems. 1. Pages One of the easiest ways to open and edit files DOCX on your Mac is using a built-in app—Pages. It does a great job in showing special formatting so that the document will be as close to the original Word version as possible. To open such a document in Pages, local the file that you need and right-click it. Then move the mouse cursor to Open With and select Pages from the list of a

Is TikTok Safe for Kids? A Guide for Parents

As a parent, it can be difficult to keep up with the newest social media trends. But TikTok has not only become a viral sensation, it also made international headlines in 2020 for attracting the attention of the US government. Since its userbase is mostly under the age of 25, you’re probably wondering, is TikTok safe for kids? Here's what to know about the app and what parental controls are available. What Is TikTok? TikTok is a social media app that lets you create short videos, set them to music, and share them with the world. It's easy to learn how to use TikTok and it's perfect for those with short attention spans as videos are only 15 seconds or 60 seconds long. Of course, like any social media platform, you can browse, like, share, and comment on posts, as well as follow channels you enjoy. While there are always trending categories like #HolidayMusic or #Covid19, you’ll find a variety of topics to suit your interests, like animals, recipes, self-improvement, or