Windows 8 takes a new approach to the hosts file by default – it won’t allow you to block Facebook and other websites by modifying your hosts file. Luckily, there’s a way to bypass this restriction. When you add certain website addresses to Windows 8’s hosts file, Windows 8 will automatically remove them, effectively ignoring your changes. Microsoft isn’t just doing this to annoy us – there’s a good reason for it....

You should use a strong password for every important web service you have. While Twitter may not be up there with Facebook in terms of the personal data connected to your account, you may still use Twitter for important stuff, or have it connected to other accounts. If you feel your password could be stronger, here’s how to change it. On the Web Open Twitter, click the profile icon in the top right and go to Settings and Privacy > Password or just go directly to www....

You can simply add things to a shopping list using the Assistant or your Nest speaker by saying, “Okay Google, add milk to my shopping list.” If you have a Google Nest speaker or display, you don’t even need to pull out your phone. Selecting a preferred shopping list is the first step in getting the most out of this feature. Choose a Shopping List App on Google Home Open the Google Home app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device, and tap the “Settings” gear icon in the top section....

PowerPoint has some useful features that allow others to make edits or leave feedback on your presentations. You can even coauthor a presentation in real time if you have a Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) subscription. Here’s how to collaborate with others in PowerPoint. Sharing a Presentation Before others can work on a presentation with you, you have to share it with them. To do so, open the presentation you want to share, and then click “Share” in the top-right corner....

Generally, there are two kinds of Open/Save dialog boxes in Windows. One kind looks like Windows Explorer, with the tree on the left containing Favorites, Libraries, Computer, etc. The other kind contains a vertical toolbar, called the Places Bar. The Windows Explorer-style Open/Save dialog box can be customized by adding your own folders to the Favorites list. You can, then, click the arrows to the left of the main items, except the Favorites, to collapse them, leaving only the list of default and custom Favorites....

Appsmith is a low code platform for assembling complex line-of-business software from pre-built UI components. It connects to your existing data sources such as SQL databases, spreadsheets, REST APIs and GraphQL endpoints. You can wire these information repositories up to rich widgets including tables, lists, and charts. The Appsmith Community Edition is open-source and can be fully self-hosted. In this guide, we’ll show how to deploy your own Appsmith instance as a Docker container....

We all know backups are important, but we rarely think about backing up our email. GMVault can automatically back up your Gmail to your computer and even restore the emails to another Gmail account – convenient when switching Gmail addresses. We’ve also covered using Thunderbird to back up your web-based email account, but GMVault has a few advantages, including its integrated restore function and easy integration with the Windows Task Scheduler....

Programs written for previous versions of Windows will not function in Windows 8 unless you have an older version of the .Net Framework installed. You can easily run both the new and older versions of the framework at the same time. Installing the .Net Framework Older versions of the .Net Framework have become optional extras in Windows 8, this means that if you want to run older programs you will need to enable them, to get started press the Windows + R keyboard combination then type appwiz....

When you browse the internet with cookies enabled, websites can save your passwords and other data (with your consent), making your browsing experience a bit more enjoyable. Here’s how to enable (or disable) cookies in Mozilla Firefox. How to Enable/Disable Cookies in Firefox on a Desktop To enable cookies in Firefox on Windows 10, Mac, or Linux, click the hamburger icon in the top-right corner. RELATED: Clearing Your Cookies All the Time Makes the Web More Annoying...

How Low Data Mode Works Low data Mode in iOS 13 and beyond shuts off all background communication. It stops Background App Refresh for apps and requests apps to postpone all non-urgent sync tasks until you’re connected to a network that doesn’t have Low data mode enabled. It also pauses all background sync tasks. So when Low Data Mode is enabled, the Photos app won’t back up your photos. You won’t see much of a difference using your iPhone on a day-to-day basis, but all the background processes that you usually don’t have control over will be paused....

GitLab’s Rails console provides an interactive terminal that lets you directly manipulate data in your GitLab instance. You can use it to extract information, troubleshoot problems, and perform advanced administration tasks that aren’t supported in the GitLab web UI or API. To access the console you must be running your own self-managed GitLab server. You’ll need superuser privileges on the machine that hosts your environment. The console provides unimpeded control over GitLab and your data so only trusted administrators should be allowed to use it....

Ever wanted to restore a file from the past, but don’t have a good way to do it? With System Restore Explore you can mount a System Restore snapshot, and browse a past copy of your entire drive. Going Back In Time With System Restore Explorer Head over to the developer’s website and grab yourself a free copy of System Restore Explorer. The program requires a simple next, next finish kind of install....

Put Your Bluetooth Headphones into Pairing Mode To pair Bluetooth headphones with a new device, they need to be put into pairing mode, which makes them available for new connections. The exact process varies from make to make, but it normally involves holding down the power button, a dedicated pairing button, or a combination of buttons for a few seconds. If you’re not sure how to put your headphones into pairing mode, check the device’s manual....

A bad audio jack can cut your listening short and force you to buy new headphones. If you’ve got expensive cans or rare equipment, however, you can save money by replacing the connector yourself. What You’ll Need Aside from your headphones or cable, you’ll need a spare audio jack. You can find these online or at a local store like Radioshack. Taken apart, it’ll look like this. You can see that the contacts on the left piece here have screws....

If you have ever upgraded your Windows installation without formatting, you have probably come across the Windows.old folder which houses all the files from your previous installation. Here’s how to use it to restore your files. RELATED: What Is the Windows.old Folder and How Do You Delete It? You might be wondering if you can actually remove the Windows.OLD folder, and the answer is that you definitely can — just read our article on the topic for more....

What You Need For this tutorial you won’t need much and, Kindle aside, it’s all free. To follow along you’ll need: A Kindle A computer (we’ll be using a mix of web-based, Windows-only, and cross-platform solutions) Your Kindle’s free delivery email address (we’ll show you how to find it) You can use the techniques on the Kindle Fire, but they really shine for the e-ink Kindle models as they have fewer options for accessing mobile content (it’s radically easier, for example, to read web pages on the Kindle Fire and you can actually install a stand alone RSS reader)....

Got a Linux PC you want to put to work? Maybe you’re not comfortable with the command-line only version of Ubuntu Server Edition. Here’s how to keep the standard Ubuntu desktop and add web-serving capabilities to it. Whether you’re not comfortable with a command-line only system, you’re using your Ubuntu desktop for other things, or you just need it installed for a few particular apps, you can add Apache, MySQL, and PHP to any standard desktop installation of Ubuntu very quickly and easily....

Adding memory is one of the easier ways to boost your PC’s performance. There are a few things to check before spending your money, though, so let’s talk about them. Choosing Your New RAM As with most things about upgrading your PC, figuring out what you need and then doing some comparison shopping is the hard part. After that, physically installing your new memory is a breeze by comparison. Here are some of the things you’ll need to figure out when making your decision....

Enter your vehicle type, year, make, and model into the box that pops up. Click Add when you’re done. If you just want to enter basic car information, you’re done. However, when you’re searching for parts, it’s best to be as exact as possible, so we’re going to add a bit more information. Click “Update vehicle info” on the left side of the screen. At the top, click the Trim drop down box and select the style of your car, if you know it....

In today’s IT learning article, we are going to take a look at installing Terminal Services, otherwise known as Remote Desktop Services, on a Server 2008 R2 machine. Note: this is part of our ongoing series teaching IT administration basics, and might not apply to everybody. What is Terminal Services (Remote Desktop Services) Starting with Server 2008 R2, Terminal Services has been renamed to Remote Desktop Services. RDS, as it is abbreviated, allows you to have a powerful server that all your users connect to using the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)....