All posts tagged: ASAP

Samsung Wallet just got a travel feature that I hope Google Wallet copies ASAP

Samsung Wallet just got a travel feature that I hope Google Wallet copies ASAP

Published by skeptic

Samsung / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Samsung’s Trips feature builds an itinerary from wallet entries. The feature is exclusive to Galaxy users. Google Wallet is missing a similar option to organize your trip. Samsung Wallet just dropped a major feature that’ll make you jealous if you use Google Wallet, especially if you travel often or have a big trip planned. Also: Samsung is ending Messages in July: 5 replacements I’d switch to now To this point, Samsung’s native wallet app and Android’s built-in wallet app have been so similar that most users probably default to Google Wallet because of name recognition. That might be changing soon, though, as Galaxy users are getting a big reason to use the Samsung app. Trips In an effort to make its wallet app more than just a place to store cards, Samsung has introduced Trips — a feature that takes all of your travel-related items you’ve added to your wallet, such as hotel reservations, flight …

Why your TV wowed you in the store but looks unnatural at home – and how to fix it ASAP

Why your TV wowed you in the store but looks unnatural at home – and how to fix it ASAP

Published by skeptic

Adam Breeden/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Store mode exaggerates brightness, color, and motion for display. Home mode delivers more accurate, balanced picture quality.  Switching modes is simple but may require a factory reset. The TV-buying experience has a lot in common with buying paint: it always looks different in your home than it did in the store. While paint colors look different on your wall because the gods delight in small miseries, TVs have special picture settings just for store display units that push them to the limit and are designed to grab your attention from the next department over.  Also: How to disable ACR on your TV – and why doing so is critical for your privacy Retail picture modes boost contrast, color saturation, 4K upscaling, and motion smoothing to create a very bold image, but don’t always represent how a TV will look in your actual home using one of the common presets or a custom picture mode.  While most new smart TVs automatically …

Still running iOS 18? Install this critical update ASAP

Still running iOS 18? Install this critical update ASAP

Published by skeptic

Thomas Trutschel / Contributor/ Photothek via Getty Images Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. Apple has launched a security patch for iPhones still running iOS 18. The patch protects them against the dangerous DarkSword exploit. Install the patch ASAP, but consider updating to iOS 26. Getting the newest security patches for your iPhone usually means you have to be running the latest flavor of iOS; nowadays, that’s iOS 26. In response to serious threats, Apple sometimes offers patches for older versions of iOS on devices that can’t be updated. But if you can update your iPhone to the latest OS and simply choose not to, you’re generally out of luck. Now, a new and dangerous exploit has prompted Apple to backtrack on that policy. Also: I’ve tracked Apple for nearly 50 years: How a garage rebel became a multitrillion-dollar empire Rolled out today is a security patch designed to protect iPhones still running iOS 18 against the DarkSword exploit. As documented by Google and by security firms iVerify and Lookout on …

If Microsoft really wants to fix Windows 11, it should do these four things ASAP

If Microsoft really wants to fix Windows 11, it should do these four things ASAP

Published by skeptic

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET  Sign up for our News Alerts to never miss an update. ZDNET’s key takeaways Microsoft’s plan to focus on Windows 11 fundamentals is a good first step A crucial next step is to reform the Windows Insider Program More transparency about design decisions will help, too Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Microsoft releases a new version of Windows packed with new features and abrupt departures from the familiar user interface, launching it with great fanfare. Customers respond with a combination of “Meh” and “Do not like” and “Ugh.” In response, the CEO makes some management changes, and the new leaders promise to get back to fundamentals and deliver what those customers have been asking for. Am I describing the reaction to Windows Vista? Windows 8? Windows 11? The correct answer, of course, is “All of the above.” Also: Microsoft announces sweeping Windows changes – but no apologies In this latest installment of the Windows break-fix saga, Microsoft’s Pavan Davaluri, President of the Windows + Devices business, wrote an open letter to Windows Insiders …

The US should end the war asap | US-Israel war on Iran

The US should end the war asap | US-Israel war on Iran

Published by Sam Flores

United States President Donald Trump’s instincts are correct. He wants to end the current engagement as soon as possible. He is using both a carrot and a stick to achieve that result. The carrot he offers is to spare Iran’s electricity grid and energy industry from further destruction. The stick, of course, is more bombing and possibly a ground invasion. He should lean more in the direction of the carrot. Destroying Iran’s energy infrastructure would result in an environmental disaster and make it an economic basket case for years to come. It would create a legion of refugees who would eventually make their way to Europe and possibly the US. These refugees, unlike those who left Iran after the Iranian revolution of 1979, would not be blaming the ayatollahs for taking away their freedoms. They would hate America for what it did to them and their homeland. They would be a destabilising force on the world stage. I guarantee this would come back to bite us here in the US. Obviously, coming up with an …

How to blur your home on Google Street View – and why you should do it ASAP

How to blur your home on Google Street View – and why you should do it ASAP

Published by skeptic

ZDNET With Street View, you can see panoramic, street-level images of practically any place in the world. Captured by Google’s fleet of specialized vehicles with high-resolution cameras, these images provide a virtual tour of neighborhoods, landmarks, and businesses. While Street View is incredibly useful and sometimes nostalgic, it does raise privacy concerns. Also: Google’s new Pixel 10a may be the affordable iPhone alternative I’ve been waiting for Google tries to blur identifiable faces and license plates in Street View to prevent misuse, but your house will still appear clearly. If this visibility feels unsettling — whether due to geospatial data privacy concerns, the desire to prevent criminal targeting, or maybe you just want to shield your property from unwelcome attention — Google allows you to blur your home upon request. Here’s how. How to blur your house on Google Maps Street View Google provides a quick process for requesting that your house, vehicle, or other object, or even your face, be blurred on Street View. Keep in mind that once blurred, the image cannot be reverted, so …

Got a TCL TV? Change these 16 settings ASAP – here’s why

Got a TCL TV? Change these 16 settings ASAP – here’s why

Published by skeptic

TCL / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways Your TCL TV may not be optimized for home right out of the box. A few quick changes can dramatically improve your experience. You can also reduce unnecessary data collection while you watch. TCL is known for its budget TVs, but in recent years, it has delivered some jaw-dropping models and consistently rolled out excellent hardware that often rivals far more expensive sets. My issue, however, is that most TCL TVs ship with default settings that do not give you the best picture, performance, or privacy protections at home. Luckily, the fix is simple. Also: Own a smart TV? These 13 features can dramatically improve your performance – here’s how Your TCL TV has over a dozen different settings that give you fine-tuned control over how your TV processes motion, color, brightness, and even how much data it collects about you. Changing them is easy and can radically improve your experience. Below are the TCL …

If You Want To Seem Like A Total Smarty Pants, Remove These 12 Phrases From Your Vocabulary ASAP

If You Want To Seem Like A Total Smarty Pants, Remove These 12 Phrases From Your Vocabulary ASAP

Published by Jenni Sidey

Most of us want to be seen as intelligent. We want credibility and that respectful admiration that comes from being the person others take seriously. But intelligence isn’t just having a high IQ or knowing a lot of facts. A big part of how smart you seem comes down to how you communicate and the words you reach for without thinking. The phrases you use when you’re talking to people can either sharpen your message or slowly diminish how confident and capable you sound. If you want to seem like a total smarty pants without trying so hard, it helps to pay attention to what you’re saying out loud. Start by removing these 12 not-so-smart phrases from your vocabulary ASAP. If you want to seem like a total smarty pants, remove these 12 phrases from your vocabulary asap: 1. ‘I literally’ Andrea Piacquadio | Pexels Using “literally” to exaggerate a point does the opposite of what you want. It can make you sound dramatic or careless with language, especially in professional settings. If you want …

Microsoft issues emergency patch for latest Windows bugs – grab it ASAP

Microsoft issues emergency patch for latest Windows bugs – grab it ASAP

Published by skeptic

sarayut Thaneerat/ Moment via Getty Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET’s key takeaways The January Windows update introduced a couple of new bugs. The glitches affect Windows 11 and 10 and Windows Server. Microsoft has issued emergency patches to resolve the problems. Ah, Microsoft. What would the new year be without a couple of new Windows bugs to plague your users? Yep, that’s what we got with the January Patch Tuesday update. Fortunately, Microsoft now has a patch for the patch. Here are the details. Rolled out on Jan.13 (hmm, an ominous date), the first Patch Tuesday update of the year resolved more than 110 security vulnerabilities, with several of them critical and one already exploited in the wild. The update also fixed a few outstanding issues in Windows itself. Sounds good so far. But the monthly update also introduced a couple of bugs to Windows 11 and 10, as well as Windows Server. Also: Your Windows PC needs this patch to ward off nasty bootkit malware – update now In the …

10 LGBTQ+ YA Sports Books To Read ASAP

10 LGBTQ+ YA Sports Books To Read ASAP

Published by José Betancourt

Vale’s life is soccer. She loves the game, but it’s more than just a game. She’s good, her future depends on the game, and she’s got expectations to exceed from her father. But then Vale incites a fight with long-time rival Leticia Ortiz, and everything becomes chaotic. Vale decides she’ll find solace over the summer by working at her old youth soccer camp. It sounds like the right chance to reignite a love for the game and get back to the heart of what it means to be an athlete. But then she discovers that she’ll be co-captaining the youth team this summer with none other than Leticia. Will fists fly? Or will it be sparks? This Week’s New Queer Book Releases Dive into these new LGBTQ+ books hitting shelves this week. – George Falls Through Time by Ryan Collett – Steppe by Oksana Vasyakina, translated by Elina Alter – Better the Devil by Erik J. Brown – Hemlock by Melissa Faliveno – Semantic Error: The Novel, Vol. 1 J. Soori – Mine, Yours & Ours by Karmen Lee – How to Lose …