React 18 evolves the popular JavaScript component framework with new features built around concurrent rendering and suspense. It promises better performance, more capabilities, and an improved developer experience for apps that make the switch. In this article, we’ll show you how to upgrade your existing codebases to React 18. Bear in mind that this guide is only an overview of the most broadly applicable changes. Migration should be fairly painless for small projects already following React best practices; large sets of complex components may throw up some issues, which we’ll detail below....

Mobile gaming controls have come a long way, with gaming phones like the new Razer Phone 2 even being able to mimic shoulder buttons with haptic feedback. There’s nothing like a full controller though, especially for long gaming sessions. The PlayStation 4 controller is a natural fit for your smartphone or Chromebook since it connects right over Bluetooth. Fortunately, it’s straightforward to connect and get your game on! How to Connect the PS4 Controller to Your Smartphone Start by opening the Settings app and then head to the Bluetooth settings....

Sure, this isn’t the same experience as having an always-listening voice assistant at home. But it’s a convenient way to try out Alexa and use Alexa skills. On iPhone, iPad, and Android In the Alexa app, tap the blue Alexa icon on the bar at the bottom of your screen. Note that the first time you activate Alexa in either app, you’ll be prompted to provide permission for Alexa to listen to your microphone and access your geographical location....

Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-driven grouping of Q&A web sites. The Question SuperUser reader P_Q is curious about file systems, he writes: Is this simple take on the file system the most accurate way of describing it? Let’s dig a little deeper. And then I recently started using Linux, and my reference book says in the Linux filesystem everything starts at root and branches off from there....

Using Recuva Recuva is developed by Piriform which is the same company that brings us two other trusted utilities CCleaner and Defraggler. This is a free app but you will want to uncheck installing the Yahoo Toolbar if you don’t want it. When you first start up Recuva it brings up an easy to follow wizard which guides you through the recovery process. There is an option to disable this from starting up if you don’t care to use it....

So yes, this post is solely for my benefit. Hopefully it will help somebody else too. Let’s say you want to find any fields that contain the text “100%”, so you put together this query: Instead of what you wanted, you’ll get all the rows that contain “100” as well as the rows that contain “100%”. The problem here is that SQL Server uses the percent sign, underscore, and square brackets as special characters....

You’ve learned how to create scripts, use arguments, and build for loops. Now, let’s take a look at some more basic commands, text file manipulation, and redirecting input and output to files and other commands. Some Basic Useful Commands We’ve already given you a basic breakdown of shell scripts and an example-based outline of for loops, but be sure to check out those articles if you’ve missed our shell scripting guide thus far....

Windows Home Server (WHS) is one of the most reliable and feature rich network attached storage devices on the market. However, WHS 2011 removed some key features. If you’re looking for an upgrade without losing features, look no further than Amahi. A few praised features of Windows Home Server when it launched in 2007 were: Drive extender: allows for multi-disk redundancy and combines multiple drives into a single shared space Remote access: access to the server from on and off your network Add-ins: adds functionality to your WHS without needing to figure out complicated configurations...

Earlier this week we asked you to share the games you like killing downtime with; you responded and now we’re back to highlight your favorites. You guys logged a diverse pile of votes, but a few of the games had broader appeal and/or a unique angle. We’ve rounded up the more popular picks here with video trailers to show off the game play. Play Video Kynann writes: If you’re a fan of Final Fantasy style RPG games, Battleheart looks like a winner (in face we’re downloading it right now)....

Today’s Question & Answer session comes to us courtesy of SuperUser—a subdivision of Stack Exchange, a community-drive grouping of Q&A web sites. While dial-up modem use might be down from the nearly 100% market saturation in the 1990s to only 10% of current US internet users, the sound of a dial-up modem connecting lives on in the memories of geeks everywhere. This week we’re taking a look at the technology behind the noisy process and what exactly was going on when you dialed in for your internet session....

You’ve probably heard that it’s important to use your display’s native resolution – assuming you’re using an LCD flat-panel monitor instead of an ancient CRT monitor. With a LCD, using a lower resolution will result in inferior image quality. Windows generally defaults to your monitor’s native resolution, but many PC games will often default to lower resolutions. Image Credit: Kevin Collins on Flickr Effects of Using a Non-Native Resolution You can see the effects of using a non-native resolution yourself if you’re using an LCD monitor....

Nowhere was this clearer than at Gamescom 2022 in Cologne, Germany, where a decent-sized section of a massive hall was dedicated to retro gaming. It featured grizzled hobbyists showing off their collections of vintage games as well as teenagers playing games like Daytona USA 2, a racing game from 1998, or trying out Pong on an Atari arcade clone. Most striking, though, especially if you’re not familiar with retro gaming, is that a lot of these older consoles are getting new game releases....

The main menu in Linux Mint 12 contains a lot of items, but what if you wanted to add custom items, remove items, or rearrange items? To edit the main menu, you must use a menu editor program called Alacarte. For some reason, Alacarte is no longer installed by default in Linux Mint. However, it is available in the Software Manager and it’s easy to install. To begin, select Other | Software Manager from the Applications menu....

You may not think that a spell-checker is useful in a browser, but if you use a lot of forms online (for comments, forums, etc.), and you use Internet Explorer 9 (IE9), you may want to install Speckie. Speckie is a free, add-on for IE9 that provides a real-time spell-checker that looks just like the one available in Chrome or Firefox. It underlines misspelled words you type in a form in your browser, just like Microsoft Word does....

The secret sauce is ammonium chloride. They mixed up a batch of an ammonium chloride solution, made a custom stamp (in this case the Make logo), and then essentially stamped the solution, just like you would stamp ink, onto the wood. Once you’ve stamped the wood, you heat the surface with a blow dryer or heat gun and the heat activates the solution, burning the surface of the wood. Using this technique you can create significantly more detailed designs than you would be able to using a hand tool and without the expense of ordering a pricey custom branding tool....

Programs, such as Nautilus or gedit, allow you to browse or view all the files on your system, but they only allow you to change or create new files in your home directory (e.g., /home/lori) and its subfolders. We’ve previously showed you how to access an advanced file manager if you’re using Linux Mint 12. If you’re using Ubuntu 11.10, it’s easy to set up a shortcut that allows you to open any program as root or another user....

D7 is a very useful, free tool for maintaining, repairing, and tweaking Windows, assisting in the removal of malware, and backing up all the user profiles on your computer. It can aid PC technicians in performing many tasks. NOTE: D7 is intended for use by experienced PC technicians only, not for “end users.” It can be dangerous if not used very carefully. We recommend you also make a backup of all your data before using D7....

Windows 8 always shows the Metro-style Start screen when you log in. You don’t have to click the Desktop tile every time you log in, you can boot straight to the desktop with this quick trick. Update: If you’re using Windows 8.1 this is much easier. RELATED: How to Skip the Start Screen and Boot to the Desktop in Windows 8.1 This is especially useful if you’re using a third-party Start menu like ViStart or Start8, but it’s also useful if you just use the desktop most of the time....