As early as 2024, scientists from the US and China discovered that the Earth’s core had slowed down and even stopped moving in relation to the Earth’s crust. But until now, the general public—that’s people like you and me—has barely noticed this remarkable change. The Earth’s core is comprised of metals and, as the name suggests, makes up the interior of the Earth. It consists of a liquid outer core (made of iron and nickel and other elements, which play a role in the Earth’s magnetic field) and a solid inner core (also made of iron and nickel, at a temperature up to 5,700 degrees Celsius). The Earth’s outer core begins around 1,800 miles below the Earth’s surface and the inner core begins around 3,200 miles below. Rotation changes in the Earth’s core For a long time, scientists assumed that the Earth’s inner core had a stable, even, and constant rotation below the Earth’s crust. However, with the help of seismic analyses (i.e., studies of earthquakes), researchers have discovered that this rotation is by no means constant but fluctuates. These fluctuations can be so massive that the Earth’s core can move as fast as the Earth’s crust and then appear to stand still. However, this doesn’t mean that the Earth’s core rotates in the opposite direction. Instead, it only appears that way because it rotates more slowly in relation to the Earth’s crust—sometimes even significantly more slowly. Nor does the Earth’s core ever remain stationary, but simply stops changing in relation to the Earth’s crust. This current slowdown in the rotation of the Earth’s core began as early as 2009. At that time, the Earth’s core and crust moved more or less in unison, but since then, the movement of the Earth’s core has become even slower. It seems that the Earth’s core changes its rotational direction relative to the Earth’s crust every 35 years. Therefore, the fluctuations that comprise an entire cycle last 70 years. What effects does this have on Earth? Technically, days can become longer or shorter due to the changes in rotational speed of the Earth’s core. However, the changes are tiny—in the range of milliseconds. We humans might not notice this, but it can have an effect on astronomical measurements and satellites. Changes to the Earth’s magnetic field and the climate are also possible. Read...

I’ve been using Windows for as long as I can remember. My dad is something of a Windows loyalist (he inspired my love of computers!) and I guess you could say I inherited it from him. Even though I’ve always been a Windows stan, I can’t help but notice what Apple’s doing over there just beyond the fence. Apple is rumored to be planning a $599 MacBook. Unthinkable, right? This would be a first in Apple’s history, as the company has never placed a MacBook squarely in the budget category from the start. Supposedly, it’s packing the same A18 Pro chip inside the iPhone 16 Pro. That’s why everyone’s unofficially calling it the “A18 Pro MacBook.” This bit of news is exciting and also eroding my loyalty, as it’s got me questioning which side I’m really on: macOS or Windows. Am I really a traitor to the realm? Oh, Windows, you’re my home (to the tune of Dirty Water) I thrive on routine and familiarity. Since I learned the Windows interface early on, it’s basically baked into my muscle memory–that’s hard to undo. For years I balked and hissed at anything macOS because it was different and that freaked me out, but as I got older, I’m starting to change my tune. But herein lies the problem. As much as Windows feels like home, MacBooks are downright gorgeous–the minimalist aesthetic really sings to me. But the one thing that always barred me from purchasing one was the high price. Apple laptops were beautiful, but exclusive and that’s kind of part of their identity, isn’t it? But with a $599 MacBook (possibly) on the horizon, the temptation is more real than ever. If this MacBook does indeed come with an A18 Pro chip, I’m not expecting it to break any benchmarking records–that’s not the point. It’s designed for those who have straightforward needs (like me!). In theory, it should be able to handle all the stuff I normally do on my laptop (like writing, editing, and so on). If those specs end up being true, Macworld predicts it may perform like the MacBook Air M1–that’s more than enough processing power for my daily grind. Another perk is the A18’s efficiency. Since it was originally designed for iPhones, it probably doesn’t consume as much power as the M-series chip. This could (potentially!) translate to great battery life, though we can’t say for sure until we’ve tried out the machine ourselves. MacBooks are the bewitching sirens of the laptop world There’s nothing quite like the experience of opening an Apple product for the first time. From the all-white boxes to the sleek and minimalist product tucked deep inside, Apple definitely wants to send a clear message here, that message being… We’re the cool kids and no, you can’t sit with us. Eugen Wegmann It isn’t hard to fall in love with a MacBook. They look elegant as hell and they’re known to last for years, but they were always so damn expensive. Back in college, a MacBook was way out of my budget–I remember secretly envying my friend who strutted around with the latest model. It was the same feeling as being denied a spot at the popular kid’s table. I’m not the only one, either. Simplicity is in and it’s definitely here to stay. Just look for any laptop roundup on the web and you’ll find sleek, featherlight machines everywhere.  But buying a MacBook and loving the look of one are two entirely different things. Beauty was always paired with a hefty price tag… until now. $599? Now we’re talking The major highlight here is Apple breaking into the budget category with a $599 MacBook. MacBooks have always been pricey, as they’re built with nice materials that last for years. Plus, Apple markets them like they’re dipped in (rose) gold or something, which only makes them feel fancier. But by lowering the price tag, Apple’s opening the door to students and other budget-conscious buyers. This is great news, especially given this country’s (ahem) current economic situation.  If this MacBook really does cost $599, then that’s a steep drop from Apple’s usual starting price of $999. That shift makes it possible for people who were priced out before (like me!). Apple can likely price this MacBook so low because of the rumored A18 chip inside. While not as powerful as the M-series chips, which you’ll find inside the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro, the A18 should breeze through everyday tasks. But the chip is just one part of a larger narrative. Apple might be feeling pressure from Chromebooks and other budget-friendly Windows laptops, which totally rule the schools. Many of them are competitively priced too, falling somewhere between $500 and $700. This puts the new A18 Pro MacBook in direct competition. And with everyone keeping a close eye on their wallet these days, this might be the perfect way to break into that space. Instead of Apple being the unattainable brand, a brand only some folks could afford, it’s suddenly much more approachable. Of course, affordability comes with your typical trade-offs. As far as raw power goes, I don’t expect it to outperform a laptop with an M2 chip or a high-end Windows laptop. But for things like word processing and web browsing, it should be nothing but smooth sailing. But price isn’t everything. A cheap MacBook is tempting, sure, but switching over from a Windows device has other challenges I’d have to tango with. check out pcworld`s best budget laptop Acer Aspire Go 15 (2024) Read our review Best Prices Today: $309.99 at Amazon My tiny worry My one fear is switching to a MacBook and then regretting it. Maybe I won’t adapt well to macOS because I’m too accustomed to Windows, it’s just too deep in my bones at this point. I’d have to learn all new shortcuts and see if my daily routines even work on macOS. Part of me also feels like I’d be betraying my own identity–I mean, I’ve been a Windows user forever, and switching to macOS? Yeah… feels weird. Of course, the A18 probably won’t outperform the M-series MacBooks when it comes to 3D modeling or heavy video editing. But for my personal daily workflow? That’s plenty of power. Of course, that makes it even harder to resist. Ugh. But this isn’t just about my own personal struggles with loyalty and identity, it’s about Apple shifting its entire approach. Why this matters I know I’m not the only one tempted by a $599 MacBook, and it could ignite a shift in operating system loyalty. Who knows, Windows users like me might actually start reconsidering. On top of that, it might raise the bar for budget laptops in general. Apple’s got a reputation for reliable hardware, and if they can pull that off in a cheaper MacBook, other brands are going to have to step it up too.  And let’s be honest: most people are watching their wallets right now. Dropping a MacBook into the same price bracket as Chromebooks and cheap Windows laptops? That’s some spot-on timing right there. This is a way for Apple to rub shoulders with price-conscious buyers (like students, for instance). It’s not just about me and my little identity crisis, though. A $599 MacBook could flip the whole operation, so to speak. That leaves me with the big, existential question… Where I’m landing on all this Could I really see myself dumping a Windows laptop for a MacBook? Eh, maybe. But if Apple really does drop a $599 MacBook, let’s just say my loyalty is flimsier than I thought. Life is full of surprises, yeah?  Assuming Apple follows through with the $599 A18 MacBook, the arrival of such a machine would definitely shake things up, for sure. It won’t just tempt me on a personal level, but it could inspire a similar identity crisis in others. But until we get the official 411 from Apple, I suppose it’s (mostly) just speculation. Still, watching a brand go from unattainable to attainable is freaking wild. Read...

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Launched way back in April 2004, Gmail has now been around for over 20 years — and it boasts lots of great features that many users, for whatever reason, still aren’t taking advantage of. While Gmail is fundamentally built for the sending and receiving of email, its various features can make that entire process work better for you. If you aren’t using the following Gmail features, consider starting today. You might be surprised by how helpful they can be. Smart compose Smart Compose is designed to help you write emails faster by writing your emails for you, saving you the hassle of wasting time or brainpower. The feature uses machine learning to predict what you intend to type, with Gmail offering real-time suggestions as you compose an email. Dave Parrack / IDG Smart Compose is turned on by default unless you’ve opted out of smart features and personalization. However, it’s easy to toggle Smart Compose by navigating to Settings > See all settings, then scrolling down the General tab until you see Smart Compose. The standard Smart Compose feature offers predictive writing suggestions as you type, but you can also enable Smart Compose Personalization to have these real-time suggestions personalized to your own writing style based on all the emails in your Gmail account. Schedule send Are you the type to write your emails ahead of time? If so, you probably draft them up then let them sit in Drafts until you’re ready to send. But this can be risky because you might forget about it… and is there anything more frustrating than thinking you sent someone that email only to hear back that you never did? Ugh! Dave Parrack / IDG That’s why you need to be using Gmail’s Schedule Send feature. When your email is typed up and ready to go, you don’t have to send it right away — you can instead set a date and time for the send. To do this, instead of clicking Send like usual, click the drop-down arrow next to Send and then click Schedule Send. By default, you can opt for “tomorrow morning,” “tomorrow afternoon,” or “Monday morning” (which is great if you’re typing up a work-related email on the weekend). But you can also Pick date & time to select any specific date and time for sending it out. Never forget again! Undo send Gmail’s Undo Send feature is pretty self-explanatory. It gives you a grace period after sending an email to change your mind, allowing you to cancel the send so you can make further changes, or postpone sending to a later time, or just withhold sending altogether. Undo Send is really useful when you accidentally send in the middle of composing the email, or if you forgot to attach those files, or if you spot a typo after the fact, or you mistakenly CC’d instead of BCC’d, etc. Dave Parrack / IDG Undo Send is enabled by default, but you can change the duration of the grace period for undoing the sending of an email. Navigate to Settings > See all settings, then scroll down the General tab until you find Undo Send. You can then set the timer to anywhere from 5 seconds to 30 seconds. I recommend setting it to 30 seconds because there’s really zero downside to having that extra time. To undo an email after sending it, look for the Message Sent notification in the bottom-left of your screen and click Undo. If you’re quick enough, the email will revert back to Draft status without ever actually having been sent to the recipient’s inbox. Search operators While the basic search function in Gmail is as easy as typing what you’re looking for into the search box, the results aren’t always that great. If you’re tired of irrelevant or excessive results when searching through your entire Gmail archive, start using Gmail’s search operators to better filter the results. This is especially useful if you have tons of emails filling up your inbox and it feels like searching for a needle in a haystack any time you have to rummage through for a particular email. Dave Parrack / IDG There are too many Gmail search operators to list them all here, but some of my most used ones include from: (used to filter emails to only those that were send from a specific person) and subject: (used to filter the search by email subject lines and ignore body content). I recommend checking out our article on essential Gmail search operators worth knowing. To go even further, you can see a full list of all Gmail search operators on this Gmail support page. Snooze emails Snoozing an email is a bit like snoozing your alarm clock in the morning — Gmail temporarily removes the snoozed email from your inbox for however long you decide to snooze it. By default, you can snooze an email until “tomorrow,” “this weekend,” or “next week.” But you can also pick and choose whatever date and time you want, allowing you to procrastinate to your heart’s content. When the snooze expires, the email pops right back into your inbox. Dave Parrack / IDG To snooze an email in Gmail, hover over the email in question and click the Snooze icon on the right-hand side of the options. You’ll see a bunch of default time periods you can snooze the email for, but if none quite work for you, click Pick date & time to set your own. You can also snooze multiple emails at once by selecting them all and doing the same. After snoozing emails, you can then view all of your snoozed emails under Snoozed in the left panel, and you can unsnooze any emails early if you want to deal with them ahead of schedule. Email templates If you find yourself sending the same email over and over — or at least similar emails that contain very similar structure and content — then you should absolute utilize Gmail’s Email Templates feature. As the name suggests, Email Templates allow you to create and save different templates, which you can then use in the future to instantly start with a baseline email that you can edit, instead of having to draft your emails from scratch every single time. Dave Parrack / IDG To use templates, navigate to Settings > See all settings, then scroll across to the Advanced tab and find Templates. Click Enable, then Save Changes. Once Gmail has reloaded, you can create a template. To create a template in Gmail, compose an email as normal, but instead of sending it, click the three-dot menu > Templates > Save draft as template. Then, the next time you want to send a similar email, just click the three-dot menu > Templates > Insert template. Spelling and grammar suggestions Correct spelling and grammar in emails is important at all times, but it’s especially important when you’re emailing someone in a professional capacity. Whether to your boss or a client, you want them to have the best impression of you with every email you send. Thankfully, Gmail offers autocorrect for both, as well as real-time spelling and grammar suggestions that come in handy when autocorrect seems too much and you want to remain in control of your writing. Dave Parrack / IDG To have Gmail check your spelling and grammar as you write, navigate to Settings > See all settings. Scroll down the General tab until you see the option to toggle grammar suggestions, spelling suggestions, and autocorrect. Experiment and find what combination works for you. Inbox categories, labels, and filters If you send and receive a lot of emails, Gmail’s basic organization isn’t enough to keep you sorted and tidy — at least not without a lot of manual effort on your part. Fortunately, Gmail has advanced organization features that can help automate a lot of that and keep you straight. For starters, Gmail’s inbox categories exist to automatically sort your email by intent. These inbox categories include Social, Promotions, and Spam, and Gmail automatically processes incoming emails and sorts them into these categories for your convenience. Beyond those categories, you also have labels. A label is like a custom tag that lets you manually categorize emails however you want. Each label is like a folder, except you can mark an email with as many different labels as you want. Labels are navigable in the left-side panel, and labeling makes it easy to browse and find emails by type. For example, you might have labels for receipts, bills, work projects, different hobbies, etc. Dave Parrack / IDG One step further, you have filters. A filter is a custom rule you can create, which automatically does things to emails as they enter your inbox. To create a filter, click Show search options to the right of the search box, enter your search criteria, and then click Create filter. For example, you might create a filter that automatically applies a certain label to all emails with a certain word in the subject line, or you can automatically forward emails to a different inbox if they come from a specific domain address. Confidential mode Did you know Gmail has a confidential mode? It’s one of the best ways to make Gmail more secure, designed to protect your sensitive information by limiting what recipients can do with your email. When an email is sent via confidential mode, you can set it to have an expiration date and whether it should require an SMS passcode to open. Confidential emails can’t be forwarded, copied, printed, or downloaded by recipients. You can also revoke access to the email later. Dave Parrack / IDG To send a confidential email, when composing a message, click the Lock icon to toggle confidential mode. You’ll then be able to set the above mentioned features for that email. Safe! Keyboard shortcuts While Gmail is, by default, extremely user-friendly, you can end up wasting a lot of time if you only navigate using your mouse cursor. The more time you spend reading, writing, and organizing your email, the more you can benefit from the use of keyboard shortcuts. You have to enable keyboard shortcuts in Gmail, but once you’ve done so — and after you’ve learned the useful ones enough that they become second nature — Gmail will become so much easier to use and you’ll end up saving a lot more time than you thought possible. Dave Parrack / IDG To enable keyboard shortcuts in Gmail, navigate to Settings > See all settings, then scroll down the General tab until you see the option to toggle Keyboard Shortcuts. Gmail offers a large number of keyboard shortcuts out of the box, and it may take some time to wrap your head around all of them. Once keyboard shortcuts are enabled, you can always see a full list of them by typing ? while Gmail is open. If you aren’t happy with the keyboard shortcuts as is, you can customize them however you want. Navigate to Settings > See all settings, then scroll down the Advanced tab and enable Custom Keyboard Shortcuts. After that, you should see a Keyboard Shortcuts tab where you can customize Gmail’s keyboard shortcuts to your heart’s content. Further reading: The Gmail settings I always use (and a few I don’t) Read...

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A lot of gamers go to great lengths to find a portable retro gaming device with the lightest and most compact kit. The Linux powered Raspberry Pi 5 does a decent job on that front. But what many players don’t know is that an even smaller and lighter solution is available by turning the humble USB flash drive into a portable gaming console. You still need a PC to play, but it means you can get around with more compact gear. Here’s how to do it for under $100… What you’ll need… A USB flash drive: I’m using the SanDisk 512GB drive, but you can also use one with a smaller or larger capacity. A small wireless keyboard: Here’s one on Amazon I found for just $10 that will do the job just fine. It also has a compartment in the back to store your USB flash drive. A gamepad: A lot of USB gamers rate the 8BitDo Pro 2. It supports USB-C, so you can just plug it into your PC without any fuss. Adam Patrick Murray What to do… Install the OS on your flash drive Your flash drive needs to be set up with the open-source OS Batocera to play. Here are the steps: Plug your USB flash drive into your PC. Go to the Batocera website. Then select the x64 Windows version of the OS and wait until it downloads. Now download and install the BalenaEtcher tool which you will need to flash the Batocera OS to your flash drive. Open BalenaEtcher, click Flash from File and choose the downloaded Batocera file. Choose your USB flash drive and select Flash to flash the OS to the device. When the flashing is done, hit Cancel or Ignore on all the windows that pop up. Boot into your flash drive Now that the OS is installed, you need to boot into your flash drive. There are two ways to do this, so if the right options don’t appear the first way, try the second way. Method 1 Type recovery options into the Windows start menu and under Advanced Startup hit Restart now. Now select Use a device and then UEFI: Removable Device. Batocera should boot now. If you didn’t see the option to select the UEFI: Removable Device, use the next method. Method 2 Power down your PC and power it up again. While your PC is powering up hit the F12 key to enter your PC’s BIOS menu. When given the choice to pick a boot device select UEFI: USB, Partition (your USB flash device). This should boot you into Batocera. Further reading: Best external drives Load games into Batocera Now that you have Batocera installed you’re going to want to populate the OS with some games. Batocera is an emulation frontend that supports a large number of game emulators for retro game consoles. PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo 3DS games are just a small fraction of the game types you can play using Batocera. The OS does come with a limited number of game ROMs preloaded, which are free and legal to use, but if you want more than that you’ll need to install your own ROMs. Dominic Bayley / IDG I can’t tell you where to get these from. It’s illegal to use ROMs without a license, so you’ll want to own each and every one. Here’s how to load them up. In Batocera press F1 to launch the file manager. Find the location of the ROM files on your computer, or else plug in the storage device that has the ROMs (USB stick or hard drive) and select it from the list on the left-hand side. Highlight and right click on the files you want to copy. Click on ROMs down the left-hand side. Find the folder for the appropriate game emulator and paste the game files into it. Now your games will be visible, but some may not have artwork. To apply artwork to each game, find the game in Batocera and long press the X button (number 3 button) on your controller. Now select Scrape. You will have to be connected to the internet for this to work. You should be up and running now and can use your flash drive on any PC to play retro games. As a general rule any PC with mid-range specs will work a treat; you should hit about 60fps in most games. Some things to take note of This whole process can be done with an SD card or a portable hard drive instead of a USB flash drive. Personally, I find a USB flash drive is the ideal size to carry, being neither too small, nor too large. To get the best out of Batocera and your games, it’s also worth watching a few “How to” videos to familiarize yourself with the OS. You’ll want to learn how to adjust the video settings and resolution for specific emulators, for example, so that your games will look great. For these and more tutorials, a great source of information is the YouTube channel Batocera Nation. That’s all for now. Happy retro gaming! Further reading: Is your USB flash drive trustworthy? These tips will tell you Read...

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