The post The Most Controversial Easter Egg In Gaming History appeared first on PCL Publications.
]]>One of the most iconic and first gaming Easter eggs can be found in the classic game “Adventure” for the Atari 2600. Released in 1979, this game contained a hidden room that could only be accessed by performing a specific set of actions. Inside this secret room, players would find a credit to the developer Warren Robinett. In this time game developers were rarely named in the game at all. Thus this Easter egg was groundbreaking as it marked one of the first instances of a developer acknowledging their work within a game, setting the stage for future self-references and hidden messages in video games. This Easter egg was one of the earliest examples of hidden content in a video game, and it left players searching for similar secrets in future titles.
As video game technology advanced, so did the complexity of Easter eggs. “Doom II: Hell on Earth”, released in 1994, contained a secret level that paid homage to the classic first-person shooter game “Wolfenstein 3D”. By discovering a hidden room and interacting with a specific wall, players would be transported back in time to the iconic Castle Wolfenstein, complete with pixelated soldiers and a treasure trove of additional secrets. This Easter egg not only delighted fans of both games but also demonstrated the dedication and attention to detail that developers put into their creations.
The most famous or should that infamous Easter egg can be found in “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas”, released in 2004 by Rockstar Games. By traveling to a specific location beneath a bridge, players could discover a small door that led to a hidden world within the game. This secret area, known as the “Hot Coffee Mod”, contained originally blocked content that depicted explicit sexual activities. While this Easter egg was not intended to be accessed by players, its discovery in the PC version’s game code and caused controversy and led to legal action against the game’s developer. This incident serves as a cautionary tale of the fine line between hidden surprises and inappropriate content within games.
Easter eggs have become a cherished tradition within the video game industry. From hidden rooms and messages to secret levels and references, these surprises add an extra layer of excitement and exploration to the gaming experience. As technology continues to evolve, we can only imagine what creative and unexpected surprises developers will have in store for us in future games? Although we suspect they will never be quite as shocking as GTA’s most infamous Easter Egg.!
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]]>The post Get More From Your iPhone’s Camera appeared first on PCL Publications.
]]>The Rise and Rise of iPhoneography
Sales of iPhones have increased and this has had a knock-on effect in the world of the digital camera. The compact digital is feeling the effects of the rise of mobile tech and in recent years, demand for an entry-level digital camera has waned. Casual photographers have turned to their camera phone, a device that is now so ingrained in our culture, it’s hard to imagine a time when they didn’t exist.
Whilst images taken on a camera phone cannot yet rival the quality of DSLRs, the leaps in technology being made have closed the gap considerably. In reality, the quality is not even close just yet, but that’s not the idea behind mobilography. The quality of the shot is secondary to the concept of just going out, having a little fun and getting creative with a device that should be intended for making phone calls and which now has an avid following in mobile photography circles.
So Many Choices
So prevalent is cameraphone culture, that many people serious about wanting to use their device for mobile photography, now base their purchasing decision on the quality of the camera and little else. After all, when you buy a new phone you’re usually locked into an 18- or 24-month contract, so getting the most up-to-date tech with as many bang-for-the-buck features is a priority. You’ve a decent number of iPhone models to choose from too, all with their own advantages and disadvantages. Thankfully, most apps for phone photography are released on both the iOS and Android platforms and if an app is Android-exclusive, there are always a number of similar apps out there you can use instead.
Access all Areas
The iPhone’s pre-installed Camera app is great, but it’s not the only iOS photography option. Many apps can be purchased that offer DSLR-like control, allowing you to adjust shutter speed, ISO sensitivity, white balance, focusing, exposure compensation, metering and more and even in the Camera app, there are various shooting modes over and above the standard shot functions.
HDR mode allows you to shoot a sequence of images at different exposures and combine them into a final image with increased dynamic range. You can set your iPhone to use HDR automatically or manually; go to Settings > Camera and use the Auto HDR switch.
Panorama mode is also available (PANO on the Camera app’s mode selection wheel), as is the ability to shoot a burst of images to capture a fast action sequence, just tap and hold the on-screen shutter button.
The Lens
By their very nature, phones are designed to be slim and easy to carry in your pocket or handbag, so their cameras have to be similarly low profile too. A sleek new phone with a hefty lump of a lens attached to one end is not the most ergonomic design choice. That means the lens is small, has no physical optical zoom function and is usually a fixed focal length that is roughly equivalent to a 25mm DSLR full-frame lens.
As mentioned above, the lenses have a fixed aperture that falls between f/1.7 and f/2.3. This fixed focal length issue has given rise to many third party manufacturers such as Olloclip and CamKix supplying clip-on lenses that can change the apparent focal length of the camera’s lens. They vary in size and include 10x macro, 0.67 wide angle, 180° fisheye and 12x zoom lenses.
The Flash
The flash on a phone is great if you’re shooting a selfie or a group of friends in a bar in low light conditions. For photography that is more serious: the best thing you can do is turn it off. The flash, which is a small LED light, can emit a single flash or continuous light, but it is not flattering to a subject, nor is it particularly powerful. Since it is a very small point light, the shadows it casts are sharp and hard. Even as a fill light, it is not recommended. If you are shooting in a place that requires additional light, put the phone on a sturdy tripod and do a longer exposure.
A World of Apps
Whether you are just uploading selfies to social media sites, getting involved in one of the many online mobile photography communities, or using one to unlock the full photographic potential of your iPhone, there are so many apps to choose from it can be overwhelming. However, there are a number of apps that rise above the general background noise of hundreds of others.
Camera+ 2, Halide, ProCam 5, Slow Shutter Cam and Manual are a few of the iOS apps that give you DSLR-like control over your camera phone. Combine that with solid HDR programs like Hydra and Pro HDR and you can elevate your photos to the next level. Of course, the somewhat overused filters that you see on Instagram are there too and they have their place. Some of them can be quite beautiful. It comes down to not being so heavy-handed that you lose the original detail you spent time trying to capture in the first place.
Testing iPhoneography
We put an iPhone to the test. We used the third-party app Camera+ to get the most from the smartphone’s camera, then tested it indoors and outdoors to see how it handled as a photographic device, compared to a traditional DSLR. There is a whole culture built up around using an iPhone as a camera and it’s not hard to see why. When combined with a couple of good apps, it’s actually a lot of fun once you get used to the controls. Camera+ is fairly intuitive and, if you already have a basic grounding in photographic technique, the manual control of shutter speed and ISO sensitivity, have you taking decent pictures straight away.
The screen gives you instant feedback on your settings choices, so you can press the shutter release with confidence. Although you can keep shutter speed and ISO high to eliminate camera shake, or use the built in stabilisation option, we chose to mount the iPhone on a tripod. As a DSLR photographer, old habits can die hard, but this is a good habit to retain.
It might seem like overkill to mount a small, lightweight phone on a large, heavy tripod, but it does help slow you down and take more care with the shots, as you have to line them up and choose your positioning and composition more carefully. It also means that on such a rock-solid base, the phone is not going anywhere.
Interesting Possibilities
The combination of the iPhone and the Camera+ app allowed us to get ISO sensitivity down to 0.01, which in turn allowed us to achieve shutter speeds of about four seconds in broad daylight. This suddenly opened up the possibilities of daytime long-exposure shots or control of light trails in low light and night time photography. Another nice feature, that was of great help, was the ability to set a focus point in a shot by tapping on the screen in the appropriate area and then adding a second point that could be used to meter the light. Moving the metering reticule around the display meant we could choose which area in the scene the camera was going to meter.
We tried this feature out at a local beach. Placing it just above the horizon gave us a good balanced exposure. Pressing the button started the four-second exposure and the sea was transformed into the familiar misty fog made popular in DSLR photography.
Processing and Filters
This aspect of mobile photography can divide a few people. Many are more than happy to take a picture on their phone, edit and filter it right there and then upload it to Facebook, Instagram or any number of social media and photo-sharing sites.
Snapseed is one of the many apps available where you can process your images and apply pre-set filters to change your images beyond all recognition and why not? Then there are the purists who prefer to process an image to get the most out of it, but not filter it. The rest of us probably sit in the middle of all this and use filters only now and again, or maybe we bring our shots into Photoshop Express and have a go at some post-process work, to see if we can bring out any more detail.
All of the above is down to the preference of the individual and all of the above is utterly fine. The great thing with this is, you can do what you like and enjoy it. If photography becomes a chore, where’s the fun in that? Snapseed has a lot of filtering options available. You should find a pre-set that you like without too much trouble. However, if you feel the need to make some intricate post-process adjustments to your images, it has that covered too. It has a wide range of image adjustment tools to keep you occupied for quite some time. With the iPhone and the Camera+ app, we could choose both the point of focus and the area to be metered, separately, by using the two on-screen reticules. Fine-tuning of the exposure could then be done using exposure compensation or altering either ISO, or shutter speed, to dial in a perfect exposure.
The macro clip-on lens was dug out again to try some handheld shots of the ingredients on the table. One thing we noticed was the 10x magnification factor of the macro lens was almost too much. The close ups were so close that you lost a sense of what you were shooting and it almost turned into an abstract. A few small coffee beans were just the right size to fill the frame of the shot and make for some impressive macro photos.
Parting Thoughts
The iPhone’s ability to take long exposures was a big plus and offered a huge range of creative possibilities. What this tells us is that even without up-to-date phones that have more pixels and available features, mobile photography is both fun and creative. When you take your phone out of auto mode and start to use the functions more like a DSLR, you can appreciate the technicalities of photography while still enjoying the freedom of using a device that, not so long ago, would have been languishing in your pocket waiting for a phone call.
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]]>The post Make Gmail More Secure! appeared first on PCL Publications.
]]>Confidential Mode – On Computer
Open Gmail and click “Compose” to start a new email. At the bottom of the compose window you will see all of the email controls. The last one (a padlock with a clock) is the button for Confidential mode.
Click on this and a new window will open, allowing you to set an expiry date/time and choose whether to set a SMS passcode. Expiry options are: 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months and 5 years.
If you choose the “No SMS passcode” option, recipients using the Gmail app will be able to open it directly. Recipients who don’t use Gmail will still be sent an email with a passcode.
Choose “SMS Passcode” and the recipient will have a passcode sent to them by text message. For this to work, you will obviously need to enter their mobile phone number. Click Save.
You can then complete the email message and subject and click Send. This is when you can enter the mobile phone number for the passcode.
Confidential Mode – On Mobile
Confidential mode on iOS and Android works in almost exactly the same way as it does in the browser version of Gmail. Open Gmail and tap the Compose button to start a new email. Then tap the More button > Confidential mode. You can now set the expiry time and choose to add a passcode lock. Tap save and you will be taken back to the email compose screen to complete your message.
If you chose to add a passcode lock, when you click the Send button you will be asked to enter the mobile phone number of the recipient.
Remove Access Early – Computer and Mobile
If you want/need to, you can revoke access to the email earlier than the expiry date you set when you sent it. Open Gmail and click on the sent folder. Find the confidential email you sent and open it. You will see a message along the bottom of the email telling you that it is confidential. Here you will also see “Remove Access”. Click this and the email will become unreadable to anyone it was sent to.
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]]>The post 7 Things New iPhone Owners Must Do! appeared first on PCL Publications.
]]>The Battery Health feature
Go to Settings > Battery. You’re taken to the Battery screen, where you can see information related to your battery. You can see which apps have taken up a lot of power and also reduce brightness or turn on Low Power Mode if you’re low on power.
Tap the new Battery Health option and you’re shown your battery’s maximum capacity, which, when fully charged, is how much power it holds compared to when it was new. You’re also shown whether the Peak Performance Capacity has been restricted.
A degraded battery might cause the iPhone to crash. When this happens, peak performance is restricted to stop it happening again. To disable this, tap ‘Disable’. You can’t then turn it on again but it’s reactivated in the event of another shutdown.
Which iPhone Do You Have?
If you need to identify which model of iPhone you have, first look at the back of the phone. In the small print, you see the word ‘Model’ followed by the letter ‘A’ and three numbers. This is your model identifier, so write it down. In Safari, on your iPhone or any other device that can use the Internet, go to www.apple.co/1BLyiHU. This page, from Apple’s support site, lists every iPhone and their identifier numbers. Look for yours here.
3D Touch
If your phone is new enough, the screen responds to deep presses. Press a little harder to access new functions. For example, on the Home Screen, you can deep press an icon for instant access to an app’s options. Deep press an email or web link and you can preview it without opening it. Deep press a phone number and you’re offered options including ringing or messaging it. It’s very useful when you’re used to using it.
Night Shift Mode
Night Shift cuts down on blue light that can interfere with sleep if you use your iPhone late at night. Activate it from Control Centre, do a deep press on the brightness slider then tap the large button below it. You can also schedule it. Go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Night Shift and review the options available on this screen. You can set a time for it to come on and off or set it to stay on until tomorrow.
Transfer Files with AirDrop
On an iPhone, you can send files to other Apple devices using AirDrop but Wi-Fi and Bluetooth must be switched on. Open the file, tap the Share icon. People you can AirDrop to are shown at the top of the window. Tap the person you want to send the file to, and it’s sent. Use Settings > General > AirDrop to determine whether receiving via AirDrop is on or off, share only with people in your Contacts app or share with everyone. If you accept AirDrops from everyone, when you’re sent an AirDrop file, you have to accept it first. AirDropped files are accessible from their host apps: Safari links open via Safari, photos via the Photos app, etc.
Pairing and Unpairing with Bluetooth
Bluetooth can wirelessly connect your iPhone with devices such as speakers, headphones and keyboards. The item you wish to pair with must be put in Pairing Mode. To do this, follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Go to Settings > Bluetooth, and the device you’re pairing should be listed. Tap it and the two devices pair. Pairing only needs to be done once. You don’t have to pair your Bluetooth device every time you use it. To unpair a device, in Settings > Bluetooth, tap the ‘i’ icon next to the device in question. You can then disconnect it (assuming it’s currently connected) or tap ‘Forget this Device’ to unpair it completely.
Stop In-App Purchases (IAP)
Turning off In-app purchases could stop your kids running up a huge bill without you knowing about it. Go to Settings > General > Restrictions. Tap Enable Restrictions, then enter and confirm a four-digit code.
Turn In-App Purchases off by touching the switch. It’s now disabled and cannot be turned on again unless someone knows your four-digit PIN. To turn it back on, return to this screen and flick the switch again.
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]]>The post Update Your iPad to the Latest iPadOS NOW! appeared first on PCL Publications.
]]>When there’s a new version of iOS, the Settings app icon on the Home screen is badged with a number in a red circle. Open it, and from the next screen, look for the General link and then tap it.
In General, tap Software Update. Your iPad checks with Apple to see if there is a newer version than the one you’re currently running. If there isn’t, you’re told you’re up to date, but if there is, you can install it now.
If an update’s available, tap the Install Now link. You may need to plug your iPad into a mains power supply if the battery’s low. After entering your passcode, the update is verified and then downloads to your iPad.
When it’s finished, tap Install Now to begin the installation process. The update installs and your tablet restarts; don’t turn it off whilst this is going on. After the restart, you must enter your passcode, when prompted, and agree to Terms and Conditions. Then you’re ready to enjoy your new version of iPadOS.
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]]>The post What To Do If Your iPhone Is Hacked appeared first on PCL Publications.
]]>Hacked? How Will You Know?
You may hear about a big data breach in the news, or from friends and colleagues, and if the company hacked is one you have accounts with, it is worth following all of the steps below just in case. Often, the first you will know about being hacked is a call from your credit card company or bank about unusual activity, or from friends/relatives suddenly receiving strange requests for money from you.
Many of the large email providers, such as Gmail, will alert you if there is a new login to your account from an unrecognised location or device. Or you may simply find that you have been logged out of an account and your password is no longer working.
The most important thing is not how you discover how you have been hacked, although we urge you to keep a close eye on all your online activity, but how you act immediately after you find out.
You can check if your email address has potentially been involved in a data breach by entering it in to the Have I Been Pwned website.
What To Do Next
Even if you think only one account has been targeted, you should still move to protect ALL of your important accounts. This is especially true if you main email account has been breached, or if you use the same email and password for all of your online accounts.
Change Your Passwords
The very first thing you need to do is change all of your passwords, especially for your email account, banking accounts, credit card accounts, PayPal, etc. Many online accounts now offer 2-step verification, which adds an extra layer of security by sending you a passcode each time you try to log in. If this is available, set it up as soon as possible.
If your email account password has been changed by the hacker, you will need to contact the provider and prove you are the rightful owner of that account. The other main email providers should offer similar advice.
Check your bank and Credit Card Statements
Check both your bank account and credit card statement for any unusual activity (online and immediately if possible, but if not contact your bank/credit card company and ask for a statement). It is also worth informing both your bank and credit card company what has happened, so that they can be aware and alert for any unusual activity in the near future.
Having to get new cards issued may be a hassle, but it is less hassle than trying to sort out the mess left when a hacker starts buying things using your card details.
Recover Your Accounts
Major companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft are well aware of the possibility of accounts being hacked, and most offer processes to get the account back to normal. Indeed, the company may well be the first to realise an account has been hijacked and shut it down for you. Head over to the homepage of the website in question and check the knowledge base/help desk for advice on what to do next.
Just remember that if you get an email from Facebook, Twitter, etc., telling you that your account has been breached, make sure that it is legitimate and not someone phishing for your login information.
Examine All Your Accounts Carefully
This includes banking, email, online shopping accounts, especially if you use the same password for multiple logins. Check your email inbox and sent mail box for things you haven’t signed up to or sent. Think about how you recover a forgotten password on almost any website: You request a password reset to your email address. If someone has got hold of access to your emails, they could do the same.
Look for any unusual activity at all, and if you spot some, contact the website or company to let them know your account may have been breached. Often, they can help you sort it out the fastest way.
If your email account has been taken over, and the password changed, you will need a way to prove that you are the rightful owner. This is why it is important to have two separate email addresses, as you can usually use a second email address as the alternate contact for the main address.
Scan Your Device For Viruses/Malware
If your computer has been infected with a virus or malware, this could be where the hacker got your details, so none of the steps above are any use if the underlying source of the breach is still sitting on your device waiting to send all of your updated information to the hacker. Run a complete virus scan, using reputable scanning software from the likes of Norton, Kaspersky, Panda or McAfee.
If using Windows 10, then the Windows Defender tool offers an Offline Scan, which can find even particularly well-hidden malware on your computer. This scan will take at least 15 minutes to complete, but is the most in-depth scan offered by the free anti-virus software.
Contact Friends, Family and Colleagues
If you think that your email or social media account has been hacked, contact friends, family and colleagues top let them know. There have been many cases where a family member or friend has received an email supposedly from a stranded person, asking for help (in the form of money) so that they can get home. Making people aware, means they will be less likely to fall for this sort of scam.
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]]>The post Get More From Siri On Your iPhone appeared first on PCL Publications.
]]>How to activate and speak to Siri
Siri learning
The more you use Siri, the more it learns about you, your voice and the sort of words you use. The digital assistant gets used to your accent and also your way of speaking. Over time, Siri has become better at understanding natural language and expressions, making it easier to use and far more useful to you.
What Siri can do for you
Check appointments
Siri can tell you if you have any appointments on any particular date, or even within a time frame. Say to Siri something like “What’s my schedule for April?” and it tells you how many appointments you have in that month and lists them on screen. If you want to be more specific, say “What are my appointments today?” or “What’s my schedule for June 19th?”. Tap an appointment to see it in the Calendar app.
Look things up
To look things up using Siri, speak to Siri as you would if you were asking a human being. For example, ‘Which planet is the largest?’ ‘Why does snow fall?’ or ‘What movies has Clint Eastwood starred in?’ Siri uses the source it thinks best able to answer the question. If you want to use a particular search engine, simply say the name before the question: “Google, how far is it to the Sun?”
Add things up
Siri is particularly good at maths questions, from general things like “What is six multiplied by nine?” to more real-world problems such as splitting a restaurant bill, “What is 96 divided by five?” If that isn’t impressive enough for you, try something harder like “What is the square root of 45,051?” Just for a laugh, ask “What is zero divided by zero?” Maths has never been more fun.
Turn alarms on or off
Siri makes common tasks easier but don’t forget there are many other things that your personal assistant can help you with. Rather than fumbling about late at night to turn your morning alarm on or off, simply raise the phone to your ear, wait for the beeps and say “Turn on (or off) my alarm”. Siri confirms it.
Siri in third-party apps
Apple has made Siri available to third-party developers. You can now operate non-Apple apps using the Siri assistant. For example, you can say “Send a message using WhatsApp” and Siri opens the WhatsApp messenger, or “Book me an Uber” and a car is booked for you. More will follow soon.
Identify a song
Siri is not only there to search for content on the web, it also lets you identify a song using the Shazam audio recognition software. While a song is playing, activate Siri and ask, “What is this song?” Siri searches, finds the title and then links you to its entry in iTunes to give you the chance to buy it.
Play music
Siri can find and play music. You can tell Siri to play your music in a few different ways. The simplest is to say “Play <track name>”. You can also use commands such as “Play drum and bass” or “Play my exercise playlist”. Assuming that you have some music defined as drum and bass or a playlist called Exercise, they start to play. It can source music from the Apple Music streaming service on your iPhone too.
Get directions
Siri really comes into its own as a personal assistant when you need directions. Just ask “How do I get home?”, “Show me the way to <address>” or “Which way is it to work?”, and Siri summons the Maps app, giving you directions. You can even ask, “Where is the nearest pub”, or train station, or other such facility, and if Siri finds an appropriate venue, follow up with “How do I get there?”.
Show you pictures
Siri can search the web for pictures if you wish. Just ask (for example), “Show me pictures of a sunset”, and Siri searches the web for suitable pics, and shows them to you. Scroll up the results and tap to search alternative sources. Tap on a picture for a bigger preview and double-tap to open it in Safari.
Send SMS messages
When dictating a message (or email, note, etc.) you need to remember to speak the punctuation. To send a message, you can either say “Tell my wife I’ll be home late” or “Send a message to John”. In the latter case, Siri then asks what you want the message to say. Speak it and Siri turns it into text
Siri dictation commands
Siri also understands dictation as well as words, so if you are dictating an email, for instance, this useful list of dictation commands that Siri recognises will prove very useful.
New line – Move to the next line
New paragraph – Start a new paragraph
All caps – Make the next word all uppercase
All caps on … all caps off – Make part of what you say uppercase
No caps – Make the next word lowercase
No caps on … no caps off – Make sure part of what you say is all lowercase
Space bar – Prevent a hyphen from appearing in a normally hyphenated word
Period – .
Comma – ,
Apostrophe – ‘
Exclamation mark – !
Question mark – ?
Ampersand – &
Asterisk – *
Open parenthesis – (
Close parenthesis – )
Open bracket – [
Close bracket – ] Open brace – {
Close brace – }
Dash: Hyphen
Em dash —
Percent sign – %
Copyright sign – ©
Registered sign – ®
Section sign – §
Dollar sign – $
Cent sign – ¢
Pound Sterling sign – £
Degree sign – °
Caret – ^
At sign – @
Pound sign – #
Greater than sign – >
Less than sign – <
Forward slash – /
Back slash – \
Vertical bar – |
Smiley –
Frowny face) –
Wink –
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]]>The post What’s So Special About Apple AirPods Pro? appeared first on PCL Publications.
]]>The AirPods have Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). Two microphones and advanced software combine to remove background noise, allowing you to enjoy your tunes in peace. Even in a loud environment like on a train station or in a crowd, you can listen to your AirPods Pro without background noise intruding and spoiling your fun.
Another new feature, Adaptive EQ (Equaliser), automatically tunes the low- and mid-range frequencies of the music to the shape of your ear, custom-tuning the sound to suit. Throw in a consistent, rich bass which goes all the way down to 20Hz and you have the makings of a great sound. Just don’t ruin it with over-compressed MP3s.
For times when you don’t want to cut out ambient noise, like when you’re on a train and need to hear the announcements or are out for a run and don’t want to block out the traffic sounds, there’s Transparency Mode. This lets through important background noises while still cutting down on distractions. A brand new force sensor on the step of one of your AirPods Pro switches between Noise Cancellation and Transparency Modes.
There are a few drawbacks. While AirPods Pro offer the same five-hour battery life as the previous AirPods, this is cut to four and a half hours if you’re using Active Noise Cancellation or Transparency Mode. They also need iOS 13, which in turn demands an iPhone SE or 6s/6s Plus or later, while their predecessors only needed an iPhone 5s or later. Even so, the raft of improvements make the new AirPods Pro a significant step up.
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]]>The post Worst Computers EVER! appeared first on PCL Publications.
]]>However, there are some examples of computer that are categorically bad. They could have been badly specified, overpriced, have terrible support, exploding PSUs… the list goes on. We’ve therefore gathered a selection of such computers, the ones that near-everyone agreed were pretty awful.
Apple III
After the success of the previous Apple line of home computers, the company continued its branding with the release of the Apple III in late 1980 at an eye-watering cost of between $4,300 to $7,800. Sadly, due to initial problems with the Apple III it was withdrawn from the shelves and re-issued nearly a year later in November 1981.
The Apple III is regarded as one of the biggest failures in the history of modern computing. Its problems were many, and included warped circuit boards, severe overheating that would pop chips out of their sockets and melt disks. The aluminium case served as a heatsink, and would grow incredibly hot to the touch. And, according to internet rumour, the system was designed by the marketing team and not the engineering team.
Too many components in a small space was the main blame, which caused the massive overheating of the Apple III. Needless to say, by 1984 the Apple III was laid to rest in favour of its successor, the Lisa.
Coleco Adam
Launched in 1983, the Coleco Adam was a cassette and cartridge-based home computer that could also serve as an expansion device for the ColecoVision games console. It’s initial price was around $790, but that also included a printer, couple of Coleco controllers and a keyboard. It was comparable to that of the Commodore 64 at the time, but it did come with a myriad of problems that meant the Adam only ever sold about 100,000 units.
One of the more bizarre issues regarding the Adam was that the power switch was located on the back of the printer, not the computer. So if you didn’t have the printer, or the printer failed for some reason, the entire Adam setup was next to useless. But, the major issue with the Adam was the fact that when powered up it released a huge surge of electromagnetic energy, and any tapes that were already inserted during start up were promptly wiped.
IBM PCjr
The IBM PCjr, PC Junior, was released in 1984 and is one of the biggest flops for the company during the 80s. Introduced at the unbelievable price of $1,300 (without a monitor), this 128KB system was supposed to be designed for home users who didn’t want the fully-blown IBM PC experience. Sadly, it didn’t work out too well.
One of the major issues with the PCjr was that much of the existing IBM PC software couldn’t run on it, due its lack of memory. There was also limited hardware expansion, just a single external slot, and a terrible keyboard. IBM later swapped out the keyboard, and dropped the price of the PCjr, which surprisingly improved the sales of the machine. However, by the following year the PCjr was discontinued.
eMachines eTower 366c
eMachines became a well-known household name in the late nineties due to its amazingly cheap PCs flooding the market. In a time when the internet was taking its first fledgling steps, having an eMachine meant that you could get online to that superhighway thingie for as little as a few hundred pounds.
The computer in question, from the many that eMachines dished out, was the eTower 366c. A beige-coloured behemoth that could be bought for around £400, but could also come as part of a deal with certain ISPs on a three-year contract. While that sounds reasonable, the eTower did have its issues. For one, the PSUs were notoriously faulty, the fans were noisy, the built-in modems were next to useless, poor customer support, and many users reported their eTowers randomly turning themselves on in the middle of the night.
Needless to say, they didn’t last long.
Texas Instruments TI-99/4
1979, and the golden era of the home computer was about to kick off in a big way. Before we got there, though, we had the TI-99/4. This monstrous computer, with its own Zenith 13-inch display, and terrible keyboard was, to quote The New York Times, “an embarrassing failure.? Overpriced, non-standard BASIC, and a severe lack of software meant the TI-99/4 didn’t last too long on the shelves.
Among the aforementioned issues, the TI-99/4 also suffered from a lack of expansion, overheating, random power shutdowns, and you could only ever type in capitals. Texas Instruments fared better a couple of years later with the release of its successor, the TI-99/4A.
Future Tech
Many of these systems were filling a need, or a niche in the market at a time when the home computer was still quite a new experience for a lot of people. In some respect you can hardly blame the companies for opting for something new, and little extreme to fit the bill. On the other hand, there were a lot of corners cut in some models. Who knows, maybe in another forty years someone will write about those terrible PCs we used back in the 2020s, while typing on their quantum-based, mind-connected computers?
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]]>The post Stop Your Kids Spending Your Money On Google Play! appeared first on PCL Publications.
]]>Luckily, you can enable a parental lock on the Google Play Store to prevent others downloading things you don’t want them to. Setting these controls is a good idea for a few reasons. It will help to avoid hefty bills when ‘paid-for’ apps are downloaded without you knowing. You can also rest assured that children aren’t downloading inappropriate content for their age. Whatever your reasons for setting limits you will need to know how to do it!
Enable parental lock on Google Play
First, you will need to open the Play Store and tap on the menu icon at the top of the screen. This icon is usually three horizontal lines together. From the menu options that appear tap on Settings and then tap the sliding button next to the option titled Parental Controls. This will turn the Parental control option on resulting in your device asking you to create a parental lock pin number.
Once you have created your pin number you will be shown a range of options you can control. For example you can ask the Play Store to request your PIN number before letting you download any content that is for over 18’s. Work your way through the list of things you can download and tap on any that you want to set restrictions for. Once you have completed this you can rest safe in the knowledge that the children in your life will not be able to accidentally download anything you think they shouldn’t. It is not, however, a magic bullet and it remains important to keep an eye on what your children are viewing and downloading on your smartphone or tablet.
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