Tips and Tricks

HomePod and HomePod mini are excellent smart speakers if you’re anchored in the Apple ecosystem. They even provide ways to protect your sensitive information from friends and visitors who try to ask Siri to spread your secrets. But there’s an extra layer of privacy you can set to make sure no one can access important notes, reminders, and calendar events. …

Calculate how much money you can get from the 2021 child discount. Sarah Tew / CNET You’ve gone through the confusion in calculating the total of yours third stimulus check (or even the new plus-up payments — but the revised child discount is much more complicated. In front of qualified parents and caregivers, the new credit could run you between …

Google In February, Google announced that the revamped video editor for its Photos app would release on Android devices after being an iOS exclusive for months. Now Google Photos users on Android can finally access the powerful new video editor through a server-side rollout. The updated video editor brings several new features to the Photos app on Android, including horizon …

The IRS is now sending plus payments as it handles 2020 taxes. This is what it means for the total of your stimulus control. Angela Lang / CNET “Plus-up” payments are now on the way, with the IRS sending these supplemental checks weekly in addition to new batches of incentive money. If you get your Check for $ 1400, should …

Josh Hendrickson How fast is your internet? If you’re not sure, you can always run a speed test via Ookla. But what if checking your speeds could lead to improvements on the road? That’s what the FCC is (almost) promising, as it asks people to voluntarily check speeds with the FCC app on iOS and Android Like similar apps, the …

If your stimulus check never arrived, you may need to request payment tracking from the IRS. Sarah Tew / CNET With the IRS broadcasts weekly waves of the third stimulus check, also for social security recipients who Advantages of SSI and SSDI last week and before veterans receiving VA benefits this week it can be challenging to find out if …

Periodic crickets emerge from the ground in the spring of their 13th or 17th year. Fifteen US states, and Washington, DC, are about to see a whole lot. Getty images Parts of the eastern and southern United States are about to witness a remarkable sight: Billions of crickets emerge for the first time since 2004 to swarm outdoor spaces and …

Counterfeit calls come from a source that disguises the phone number as another, and you are likely to get these calls all the time. Maybe they are numbers from your local area code or numbers for prominent companies, and the callers are hijacking those numbers just to make fun of you. Turns out a fake call is something anyone can …

It’s frustrating to start listening to music only to find that your wired earbuds are more like a tumbleweed that you can’t easily detach. Cords get tangled, are fragile, and make it difficult to do so many things that music makes easier, such as exercising, commuting, and cleaning. The Raycon E50 Wireless Bluetooth 5.0 Earbuds are fully wireless earbuds on …

Neil Sardesai Developer Neil Sardesai has done it again. The iOS engineer, who found a way to play Pong in the macOS Dock, now playing Flappy Bird in a macOS notification window. The game is not available for others to download, although experienced developers should have no problem recreating it. The Flappy Bird notification is not port or hack. It’s …