Inhoudsopgave van 662 - Computeractive

If you believe much of the tech media, the most thrilling launches of 2023 are expensive gadgets like virtual-reality headsets and foldable phones. We tend to get more excited about releases that cost less (preferably nothing) and make fewer headlines but have more impact on your everyday computing. It’s why I had no hesitation in devoting a Cover Feature to DuckDuckGo’s new browser. As Robert Irvine explains, it protects your privacy and blocks adverts just as effectively as its search engine does. Barely a month old, it’s already a serious alternative to Google Chrome. I have no doubt what its most popular feature will be: Duck Player. This clever tool blocks personalised ads on YouTube without you needing to install an extension. And with YouTube threatening all-out war on ad…

Few tools have added more security tools recently than WhatsApp. It has brought them all together in a new Privacy Checkup feature that lets you easily see all the options for making your account safe and secure. Tap the Settings cog bottom right, then Privacy. You should see the Privacy Checkup option at the top. Click the blue ‘Start checkup’ link (see screenshot 1) and you’ll see four headings 2: • Choose Who Can Contact You • Control Your Personal Info • Add More Privacy to Your Chats • Add More Protection to Your Account Tap one to see the settings you can tweak to suit your privacy needs. For example, in ‘Choose Who Can Contact You’ you’ll find the new Silence Unknown Callers option, which blocks all callers not…

I want to move on from Office 2013. When did you compare it to free alternatives? Tony Niven CA SAYS That was in Issue 653, page 60. Buy it at www.snipca.com/46618. When did you explain how to find TV-streaming discounts? Pam Sharpe CA SAYS In Issue 645’s ‘Pay Less for TV’ Cover Feature. Read it on our Back Issue CD: www.snipca.com/44660 I’m finalising the setup of my new Windows 11 laptop to mirror the settings of my PC. But I can’t move the taskbar to where I want it. Didn’t you explain this once? Trevor Sykes CA SAYS We think you mean the Workshop in Issue 619, page 38. It explains how to use the free program Taskbar11 (www.snipca.com/46617).…

Recuva Professional www.snipca.com/46723 Price: £24.95 Free trial: None What you need: Windows 7, 8.1, 10 or 11 No file-recovery tool is guaranteed to restore your deleted data, but Recuva has a higher success rate than most. After being neglected by its developer (the Avast-owned Piriform) for several years, the program recently received some small updates, but is it worth paying for its Professional edition to get more features? Unlike some free recovery tools, Recuva doesn’t limit the number or size of files you can salvage. The paid-for version offers the same ‘advanced file recovery’ and ‘Deep Scan’ option (see screenshot) – it doesn’t find or restore more items, so you don’t get better results for your money. Its main benefit is the ability to recover deleted files from virtual hard…

Deep sorrow was the normal response to the Titan submersible imploding last month, killing all five passengers. But someone somewhere thought it was more appropriate to use AI to create this fake image of the doomed vessel. We don’t know whether the Twitter account ‘Prince of Deepfakes’ was responsible for the image, but it’s made plenty of other fakes. And it certainly spread the bogus Titan pic, with the caption: ‘BREAKING: Photo – Titan titanic submarine implosion debris field. Imploded.’ Worse was another AI-created image shared by the account showing a gaming controller floating near the wreckage – a reference to the Titan being controlled by a Logitech Gamepad. This pathetic attempt at humour was condemned by others and debunked by Full Fact at www.snipca.com/46643.…

Computeractive is owned by Future PLC, which employs a team of specialist technical reviewers. You’ll often read references to our benchmark testing, which is a method of assessing products using the same criteria. For example, we test the speed of every PC and the battery life of every phone and tablet in exactly the same way. This makes our reviews authoritative, rigorous and accurate. Future PLC also owns the magazines Maximum PC, PC Pro and T3, and the websites Laptop Mag (www.laptopmag.com), TechRadar (www.techradar.com) and Windows Central (www.windowscentral.com). This means we can test thousands of products before choosing the most relevant for Computeractive. FAIR AND IMPARTIAL Our writers follow strict guidelines to ensure the reviews are fair and impartial. The manufacturer has no involvement in our tests. OUR AWARDS We…

What do they do? There are two types of ink used in most inkjet printers: pigment or dye-based. Some use a mixture of both. How do they work? Pigment inks comprise coloured particles suspended in a solution of carrier fluid. These tiny particles (the pigments) hold all the colour and are deposited on paper where it’s needed. Pigment inks last longer and aren’t prone to smudging. Dye-based inks are liquids that have the colour fully mixed in. This tends to cost less and produces more colourful and vivid results, but it doesn’t have the longevity of pigment ink and can be prone to smudging and smearing, particularly when still wet. What are the specs? Cheaper inkjet printers tend to use dye-based ink, though manufacturers have made great strides in recent…

Good call We usually associate German company Cherry with mechanical keyboards, but it has now branched out into microphones. The UM 3.0 is the basic model in a series that also includes the UM 6.0 Advanced (£110 from www.snipca.com/46638) and the UM 9.0 Pro RGB (£128 from www.snipca.com/46639). The latter two are designed to squeeze that extra layer of quality out of recordings, but for most purposes the UM 3.0 will be perfectly sufficient. It stands upright and comes with a shallow tripod, so it can sit on your desk directly in front of you when you make video or voice calls. Connecting it to your PC is a simple plug-and-play action, so it just works straight away, with no need to install any additional software. There’s a handy push-to-mute…

Virgin Media I got fed up with Virgin Media increasing their prices. They wanted to increase my broadband and TV package to over £150! And what I use instead I’m in the process of switching to small internet provider LilaConnect (https://lilaconnect.co.uk), and planned to use Now TV instead of Virgin’s TV. But I realised that I needed a phone line to register. Having read your advice, I decided to go with Virtual Landline (www.virtuallandline.co.uk), which costs £7.95 a month. It’s easy to sign up, and if I don’t answer the phone it forwards the call to my mobile. I also bought a Grandstream Buzz Box (www.snipca.com/46569, pictured) for £55 so I could use my old set of three BT cordless phones. Overall cost for broadband and landline will now be…

Seek by iNaturalist Free Android www.snipca.com/46697 iOS www.snipca.com/46696 This educational but fun app tells you which birds, insects, plants, fungi and animals are commonly found in your area, then lets you earn badges by taking photos of whatever you encounter. Alternatively, you can just use Seek to identify mystery flora and fauna in your garden and when you’re out and about. Best For Identifying local wildlife and plants Picture Insect Free* Android www.snipca.com/46692 iOS www.snipca.com/46693 Despite its nags to pay for a subscription, this app offers an easy way to identify insects, either from photos or by searching its huge database. This spans categories including Common Gardening Pests and Common Biting Insects, and includes images, descriptions and prevention advice. Best For Identifying insects PlantNet Free Android www.snipca.com/46694 iOS www.snipca.com/46695 Whether…

In this special offer you can buy Windows 11 Pro for just £79.99 – that’s £140 cheaper than Microsoft’s full price of £219.99. To buy Windows 11 Pro, visit www.snipca.com/41588 and click the red Buy Now button on the right. If you have any questions about your order please email editor@computeractive.co.uk JUST SO YOU KNOW… This offer can be used by one person only, and expires at midnight on 1 August, 2023. It’s a lifetime licence for one computer.…

Here are the minimum Android and iOS requirements for the UK’s main parking apps. The oldest version of Android here (4.0.3) was released in 2011, while the oldest version of iOS (9.3) came out in 2016. Bear in mind that these requirements can change when apps are updated, which means you can’t guarantee that your phone will always be able to work with an app. And some older phones may struggle to run these apps even if they’re running a compatible system. To check your Android version follow Google’s instructions (www.snipca.com/46725); for iOS follow Apple’s (www.snipca.com/46726). EasyPark https://easyparkgroup.com Android 6.0 and up, iOS 15 or later JustPark www.justpark.com Android 6.0 and up, iOS 14 or later NCP www.snipca.com/46722 Android 5.0 and up, iOS 14 or later Parkopedia www.parkopedia.com Android 4.0.3…

‘Unpaid tax’ for MacBook I’ve never bought an Apple MacBook, so I was puzzled and slightly amused by an email supposedly from PayPal (‘service@paypal.co.uk’) saying that I owed money for the device. What makes this scam even more odd is that it claims HMRC wants the cash because it’s “unpaid tax”. It threatened me with arrest unless I paid within 48 hours. I was meant to phone a number to hand over the money, or click the Pay Now button. The email subject line sounded plausible enough (‘You’ve got a money request’), but it’s as blatant a scam as you’re ever likely to see. Warn your fellow readers about scams at letters@computeractive.co.uk…

Disney is taking us for fools with its reason for objecting to compulsory 14-day free trials for TV-streaming services (‘Question of the Fortnight’, Issue 661, pictured). It claims that so many viewers will simply “binge-watch” series and then cancel without paying that it will have to increase subscription prices to compensate. But those viewers are likely to be true fanatics who live and breathe TV. If they’ve suspended daily life just to watch an entire TV series in one go, surely they’ll stick with a service to see what else is coming soon. If anything, the reverse of Disney’s argument is true. The viewers most likely to cancel are those who subscribe but then find hardly anything worth watching. I wonder if Disney realises how much potential business it’s losing…

I’ve discovered that several ancestors served for the British Empire in Burma during the 19th Century. Is there an online database of names I can search? Ian Brokenshire Try the ‘Families in British India Society’ (www.fibis.org), which was created to help individuals research ancestors who once lived in India, and other countries nearby that were part of the Empire, such as Burma (now Myanmar). It has a database containing over two million names that can be searched for free. You may also consider becoming a member of the society for many more benefits – prices start at £12 a year: www.snipca.com/46654. Have a genealogy question for Judith? Email letters@computeractive.co.uk with ‘Grow Your Family Tree’ in the subject line.…

All bright in the night The Arlo Pro 5 is the latest addition to Arlo’s range of home-security cameras. It can be used indoors or out, and is compact and lightweight. It feels solid and well made, and comes in either white or black. To charge the camera’s 4,800mAh battery, you have to attach it to a magnetic cable. Alternatively, you can open the case and swap the battery, if you want to buy a spare, to ensure it can keep recording while the other battery is charging. “ The camera has full colour night vision, a siren and the ability to talk to visitors ” The camera can record video at a 2K resolution (2560x1440 pixels), though this can be reduced to save power. The camera has full colour…

HARDWARE Avoid interference with wireless keyboard and mini PC Following Issue 660’s Cover Feature on mini PCs (buy it from www.snipca.com/46567), I hope my experience of using a wireless keyboard with my mini PC will help other readers avoid some frustration. I bought a Geekom IT11 mini PC (www.snipca.com/46362) and fitted a Crucial 500MX internal SATA SSD. I also bought a Logitech K270 wireless keyboard and mouse (£69 from www.snipca.com/46571, pictured below left) to use with it. The keyboard’s wireless receiver plugs into a USB-A port. The keyboard and mouse worked perfectly initially, but then I began to have trouble with frequent missing characters, delays in the keyboard ‘waking up’ if I hadn’t used it for a short while, and erratic mouse behaviour, with the cursor sticking then jumping across…

I have an old Acer Aspire ES 17 ES1-732 laptop, and retrieving anything on its original Toshiba hard drive was becoming painfully slow. I decided to buy the Crucial MX500 2.5in SSD, choosing the 500GB model. I also bought Crucial’s ‘Install and Upgrade Kit’ (£27 from www.snipca.com/46503) which includes brackets (not needed) and two SATA cables to transfer data. I’m no tech whiz-kid, but I cloned my old drive using Acronis True Image and a cable, then removed it, fitted it into the laptop and – hey presto! – everything now works like new and is extremely fast. The overall purchase was money well spent – and certainly better value than splashing a grand on a new laptop. I’d recommend fellow readers try the same method. Crucial will even check…

ANDROID & iOS Transfer your WhatsApp chats to a new phone WhatsApp has made it easier to transfer your chat history to a new phone. Previously, you needed to back up your messages to Google Drive or iCloud, then download them on the new device. Now you can perform the transfer using a QR code, though only if both phones are running the same mobile operating system – you can’t use the new method to transfer chats from Android to iOS or vice versa. To use the feature, connect both devices to your Wi-Fi network then open WhatsApp on your old phone and tap Settings then Chats. Select ‘Transfer chats’ (on Android) or ‘Chat transfer’ (on iOS) and tap Start (see screenshot below left) to generate a QR code. Now…

WINDOWS 11 Turn adaptive brightness settings on or off Microsoft’s third ‘Moment’ update for Windows 11 added the adaptive brightness setting for desktop PCs (it was previously available only for laptops). When active, it automatically changes the brightness level of your screen based on what’s being shown. If you’re watching a dark scene in a film, for example, the screen will automatically dim. While it might be useful for preserving battery on a laptop, you might want to turn it off completely, or even set it so it’s always on. To change the feature, first right-click anywhere on your desktop and select ‘Display settings’. Click the Brightness setting (1 in our screenshot below), then the dropdown menu next to ‘Change brightness based on content’. By default, it’s turned to Off for…

In Excel, you can filter unique values (ie, those that appear only once) in a list and copy them to a different column. In our example, the countries we’ve previously visited on holiday are listed in column C (1 in our screenshot), but there are many repeats. To filter the unique values, first highlight the full range – it’s C3:C25 in our example – and the heading (‘Country’) 2. Next, click the Data tab at the top followed by Advanced in the ‘Sort & Filter’ section. When the Advanced Filter box appears, select ‘Copy to another location’ 3, then tick ‘Unique records only’ 4. Next, click the button next to the ‘Copy to:’ field and choose which cells you want the unique results to appear in (E3:E31 in our case…

• The best elements and amenities passed down from the industry leading STM family tree of functional and style laptop bags.• Suspended tech cells & ample storage space.• Pockets. pockets. pockets!• With everything designed to maximise your organisation. when it comes to an everyday carry, this bag is top of the line.• Fits most 15" screens and 16" MacBook Pro. Other great reasons to subscribe.. • Benefits of subscribing to the world’s handiest technology magazine include..• Every issue of ComputerActive delivered direct to your door. Save up to 45% with each monthly issue• Get all the tips, product reviews and security updates early A year’s worth of issues. 1 Payment every 6 months. Simple. PRINT EDITION £25.99 every 6 months 26 issues of ComputerActive in print over 12 months and…

META LAUNCHES TWITTER RIVAL THREADS Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has launched a rival to Twitter called Threads. It lets you post messages up to 500 characters long, and include links, photos and videos up to five minutes. You can create an account at www.threads.net. Read about it on Meta’s site: www.snipca.com/46757. POWERTOYS LETS YOU PREVIEW ZIP FILES Microsoft has launched a new version of PowerToys (0.71) that lets you use the Peek tool to preview files saved in zip archives – so you can see what they contain without extracting them. You’ll be prompted to install the latest version when you next open PowerToys. If you haven’t yet downloaded PowerToys, click one of the download links at www.snipca.com/46760. TOMORROW’S WORLD In front is Nadine, an AI robot. Behind…

Can I refuse Royal Mail’s request for a secure drop-off place? Q Is it possible to refuse delivery of a product even when Royal Mail wants you to identify a secure ‘drop off’ at your home address? George Shutler A Yes it is. Royal Mail can’t force you to nominate a secure drop-off point. With the growth of online shopping, couriers are increasingly asking shoppers to name somewhere they can ‘safely’ leave the parcel, such as in your porch, in a shed or with a neighbour. But they have no right to demand this of you. Should a courier ignore your request not to leave an item in a safe place, and it then goes missing or is stolen, you should contact the retailer for help. It’s this company you…

SYSTEM TOOL Winaero Tweaker 1.55 www.snipca.com/46733 What you need: Windows 7, 8.1, 10 or 11 We’re always pleased when a new version of Winaero Tweaker is released, because it gives us even more ways to make Windows less annoying and intrusive. Since we last featured the program in this section, in Issue 659 (page 19), it’s been updated three times, as it strives to keep up with the latest unwelcome changes made by Microsoft. For example, the revamped File Explorer in Windows 11 removes options that many users found useful, so Winaero Tweaker lets you restore them without editing the registry. Scroll down to the File Explorer section in the left-hand panel, click Classic Folder Options and select ‘Make the checkboxes removed in Windows 11 visible’. These options include ‘Show…

SOFTWARE WARNING! Phone Doctor’s bad medicine Regular health checks are vital in life, and the same is true for our devices. Despite being only two years old, my Oppo Find X3 Lite phone was showing signs of slowing down – so I decided to make an appointment with the Phone Doctor (www.snipca.com/46588). This is an Android app with more than 10 million downloads, so I assumed I’d be in safe hands. It promises to remove junk, uninstall apps and clear pointless notifications – of which I have plenty. That sounded like precisely the medicine my phone needed. Sadly, my own blood pressure suffered when I began to use its main junk-wiping tool. Pressing the Clean button did precisely nothing. Or rather, it submitted my phone to what seemed like a…

Fair game We’re seeing more and more gaming PCs coming on to the market for less than £1,000 – and the Topaz Supreme is the latest. And we think PCSpecialist has created an impressive machine that strikes a sensible balance between price and performance. It all starts with the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 processor, which does a great job tackling everyday Windows tasks. It has just six cores but it uses them well, providing decent performance levels that compare favourably with top-of-the-range chips. For example, it scores better in benchmark tests that push the processor to its limit than the more expensive Stormforce Gaming Onyx 6164 (£950 from www.snipca.com/46051, reviewed in Issue 659), which is built around a 12th-generation Intel Core-i5 12400F chip (also six cores). These test outcomes are…

The joy of 6E If you’ve taken the plunge and bought a Wi-Fi 6E router, your PC or laptop may not be making the most of its faster connection speeds. Some of the latest computers and laptops come with 6E built in, but many older models may be restricted to Wi-Fi 6 or lower. The Nighthawk A8000 is an affordable and simple upgrade that adds Wi-Fi 6E to any Windows PC with a USB 3.0 port. “ A simple way to upgrade your PC so it can benefit from Wi-Fi 6E speeds ” You get two main components in the box. First is the antenna, which looks like a chunky USB drive or streaming dongle, and which folds out to stand upright and catch your Wi-Fi’s signal. Second is a…

Wired for sound Many people now listen to music through their smartphones and have abandoned their physical or digital music collections for streaming services such as Spotify. Sound quality has suffered as a result, with very few smartphones accommodating the level of music-playing technology that you’d get from a dedicated music player. Sony may have the answer to this gap in the market, with a new arrival in its Walkman range. The NW-A306 is a worthy descendant of the portable audio tape and CD players that used to carry the name. This is a compact device, much smaller than most modern mobile phones, measuring just 98x57x12mm (HxWxD) and weighing 113g. Around its edge the unit has a USB-C port, stereo mini-jack and a microSD card slot (pictured right). It comes…

EBOOK READER PRICE DROP Kobo Libra 2 £149 from www.snipca.com/40645 Tested Issue 624 A fantastic 7in screen, 32GB of storage and Bluetooth connectivity make this a rival to Amazon’s Oasis ebook reader, yet it’s much cheaper. Battery life is superb – we managed 54 hours of use per charge. It supports OverDrive, so you can borrow ebooks from libraries. ALTERNATIVE Amazon Kindle This low-cost option is a good choice, especially now it has 16GB of storage. £85 from www.snipca.com/44221 PC MONITOR Iiyama ProLite XU2492HSU-B1 £109 from www.snipca.com/39701 Tested Issue 618 This 23.8in screen is superb value, with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. Colour is good, covering 88 per cent of the sRGB colour range. Connect your computer via HDMI, DisplayPort or VGA, and there’s a USB hub to connect your mouse…

I use Linux mainly when writing features in LibreOffice. I edit photos using GIMP, but a lot of my artwork is also underpinned by code, which I edit using the excellent Komodo Edit (www.snipca.com/46635). You can also use this for programming and designing websites. When I need to write something short, like a blog post or the first draft of an email, I use a text editor called Apostrophe (www.snipca.com/46637). This lets you format text using codes, rather than clicking your way through toolbars and menus. How do you use Linux? Please let us know: letters@computeractive.co.uk…

CHROME Read web pages without the clutter Chrome 115, released 18 July, finally introduces the browser’s long-awaited ‘Reading mode’, which we first covered in Issue 653 (page 42). This converts the web page you’re viewing into a more readable format by removing all the adverts, images, design elements and other clutter. To use the new feature, click the ‘Show side panel’ button on Chrome’s toolbar (1 in our screenshot below) and select ‘Reading mode’ in the dropdown menu 2. The cleaned-up text from the current page will now be displayed in the side panel. Resize the panel by dragging its border to the left, then use the options on the toolbar to customise how the content looks. You can change the font, make the text larger or smaller, apply a dark…

Opera Browser with AI Free* Android www.snipca.com/46682 Following the release of its new PC browser (see Issue 661, page 18), Opera has also updated its Android app. This now includes its AI assistant Aria, which you can launch by tapping your profile icon to ask questions about anything. The browser also offers a VPN, ad blocker and QR code and barcode scanner. RichCast Free* Android www.snipca.com/46687 iOS www.snipca.com/46688 RichCast is an ‘immersive storytelling app’ from the team behind the classic Dizzy series of games. Its interactive stories let you talk to characters using either your voice or by tapping on-screen suggestions, in a ‘choose your own adventure’ style. There are 30 games to play and you can also create your own. Explore Wiltshire Free Android www.snipca.com/46684 iOS www.snipca.com/46683 This new…

Accessing your PC’s BIOS menu lets you perform several useful functions, such as running hardware tests, and also shows vital information about your system. Normally you have to restart your device and tap a key on startup, such as F10 or F12 (though it varies from one machine to another). A much easier way to access your BIOS menu is by creating a desktop shortcut. Right-click anywhere on the desktop, then click New, followed by Shortcut. Now type shutdown /r /o /f /t 00 into ‘Type the location of the item:’ (1 in our screenshot) then click Next. Now type Restart to BIOS in the ‘Type a name for this shortcut’ box. Click Finish. You can now double-click the shortcut 2 to reboot your PC into the BIOS menu.…

DuckDuckGo’s Private Browser app for Android (www.snipca.com/46630) and iOS (www.snipca.com/46631) offers many of the same features as the new Windows browser, including tracker-blocking, cookie-pop-up management, the Fire Button and Email Protection. The Android version also includes a powerful privacy feature called App Tracking Protection. As well as blocking hidden trackers in sites you visit in DuckDuckGo Private Browser, it blocks tracking requests in other apps installed on your phone or tablet. This prevents them from collecting data about you while still allowing necessary permissions. To activate the feature, tap the browser’s three-dot menu, select Settings and enable App Tracking Protection. Tap ‘OK’ to allow DuckDuckGo to set up a VPN on your device – this isn’t a real VPN but allows it to block trackers at a network level. The…

Last year, DuckDuckGo caused concern when it was reported – including by us (see Issue 633, page 6) – that it was allowing Microsoft trackers in its mobile apps and browser (which was Mac-only at the time). The search engine sources most of its results from Microsoft’s Bing, so the news suggested that DuckDuckGo was compromising its privacy – and that of its users – for the benefit of its commercial partner. In response, DuckDuckGo updated the agreement regarding its use of Bing search results, and will now “block Microsoft scripts from loading on third-party websites” in its browser and extensions. It has also vowed to be more transparent about its partnership with Microsoft. In a Help Pages article entitled ‘Ads by Microsoft on DuckDuckGo Private Search’ (www.snipca.com/46652), the company…

One of the main worries about using a password manager is that if you forget your master password you’ll lose access to all your other passwords – most services warn you about this risk when you sign up. To avoid getting locked out, you can print an ‘emergency sheet’ that includes essential details about your password-manager account, including the sign-in URL, the email address you used to register, your master password and the secret key or backup code the service gave you. 1Password has an Emergency Kit feature that compiles this information into a PDF (www.snipca.com/46709, see screenshot), but you can easily create your own – a security blog called Password Bits helpfully provides a template at www.snipca.com/46710. Put your emergency sheet somewhere secure such as in a safe or…

WHAT YOU GET ✓ Real-time malware protection✓ Secure VPN✓ 75GB PC Cloud Backup✓ Webcam hack alerts PLUS Monitors the dark web for your personal information Norton is made by NortonLifeLock Inc – a standalone company dedicated to consumer cyber safety. It has always performed strongly in Computeractive antivirus tests, so we highly recommend it. 10 devices for two years NOW ONLY £19.99* Normally £179.99 Buy it from our Software Store at www.snipca.com/33247 * while stocks last…

Shouldn’t you warn about side effects of using ad blockers? Q Recently, after visiting a local newspaper website, I was prevented from looking further because I was running an advert blocker. I noticed that this wasn’t something you mentioned in Issue 657’s ‘How to be Invisible Online’ Cover Feature. Should you have pointed this out? After all, being invisible online is fine, but not if you can’t actually do anything! George Chappell A We didn’t focus on using ad blockers in Issue 657’s Cover Feature because they don’t actually help to make you appear invisible online. Indeed, as you correctly point out, using an ad blocker will instantly draw your activity to the attention of certain websites – particularly those that make revenue from advertising – and you may be…

1080p/1440p Common types of high-definition video of 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 pixels respectively. 2K A screen with 2048x1080 pixels. 3G/4G/5G Technologies that deliver faster mobile broadband. 4K Video with a resolution of at least 3840x2160 pixels. Administrator Someone who can make changes to a computer that will affect others who also use it. AI Artificial Intelligence. Intelligence demonstrated by a machine rather than a human. Often used to describe technology that can perform human-like tasks. AMOLED Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode. An alternative technology to LCD for creating flat-panel displays. Most commonly used in smartphones, tablets and smartwatches. Apt package manager A tool for installing and running Linux software. Aspect ratio A measurement of the shape of a display. Traditional computer screens are 4:3. Widescreen displays are 16:9 or 16:10. Benchmarking Comparing software…