Rufus 3.19 Beta was released last week, which adds a few new options when creating a bootable Windows 11 USB install drive. It can modify the installer to skip all collection questions by auto-selecting ‘Don’t allow’ or ‘Refuse,’ and removes the requirement for a Microsoft account in Windows 11 22H2 (if you also disconnect all network devices during installation). Finally, Rufus can turn off the Secure Boot and TPM checks, allowing Windows 11 to be installed on most 64-bit PCs....

The key to getting the most out of the money you spend on groceries is meal planning. This allows you to optimize the ingredients you buy and limit the waste. When food goes bad, you’re basically throwing money away. So it’s best to buy ingredients that can be used for multiple meals. With that in mind, let’s take a look at three meal planning apps that I’ve tried and like....

Bitcoin on the Ethereum Blockchain Bitcoin and Ethereum both serve unique but separate purposes in the crypto economy. Bitcoin is the oldest and most valuable cryptocurrency due to its unique scarcity, security, and decentralization. It pioneered the trail that many digital currencies have subsequently followed and hasn’t looked back since. Ethereum has become the world’s second most valuable cryptocurrency because of the vast DeFi ecosystem it supports. Ethereum’s programmable smart contracts allow developers to build applications for lending, borrowing, providing liquidity, and much more....

The 27 countries in the European Union have been considering a law for years that would force phones, tablets, laptops, and other mobile devices to use a single connector: USB Type-C. Now the EU is one step closer to pulling it off. The European Parliament has reached a “provisional agreement” that establishes a single charging solution — in this case, USB Type-C — for certain electronics. The current agreement applies to phones, tablets, eReaders, earbuds, digital cameras, headphones, headsets, handheld consoles, and portable speakers....

Email is more like physical mail than we might like. You probably get tons of unwanted emails, but unlike physical mail that can literally fill your mailbox until you dispose of it, you can let unread emails pile up forever. Don’t let that happen to you. When an email arrives in your inbox you have a few choices. You can open the email and read it, immediately archive or delete it, or completely ignore it and let it sit there unread....

This is a pretty touchy subject among readers. People who prefer physical books are often very passionate about that. It feels like people who like eReaders are the ones who have to defend their position. So allow me to defend my position. RELATED: How to Borrow eBooks from a Library on a Kindle for Free Temporary Is Okay First, let me start by saying I am not anti-physical books. I love real books....

Give Yourself Time to Relax and Reset Playing video games can be stressful, especially if you’re playing competitive games that require a lot of thinking and focus. Playing for many hours non-stop can be exhausting and stressful. You start feeling extremely burnt out and tired, which isn’t a good way to play games. It’s supposed to be fun, exciting, and rewarding, not the opposite. Even if you’re an avid gamer, you need to give yourself breaks–a mental reset....

Windows 10 has a built-in Voice Recorder app, intended for creating simple recordings from a connected microphone. Microsoft is now overhauling the app for Windows 11, with a new name: Sound Recorder. The existing Voice Recorder app is about as bare-bones as you can get, with no option to change input devices (it’s hard-wired to the default Windows audio input), no file format options, no automatically-generated text, and so on....

Microsoft is has been busy with Windows 11. It seems like every other day, the company has a new build with some interesting features. The latest Dev channel build adds more natural-sounding voices to the Narrator. Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22543 to the Dev Channel is available now, and the most significant change is the improvements to Narrator. If you rely on it to help you navigate around the operating system, the more natural voices will be helpful....

Microsoft introduced a new Media Player application in Windows 11 last year, which replaced the old ‘Groove’ music player. It mostly serves as a music library, similar to Apple’s iTunes and Music applications, but it can also play video files (and music without importing). Starting with Media Player 11.2206.30.0, which is currently being tested with Windows Insiders in the Windows 11 Dev Channel, Media Player is now the default application for opening video files on your PC instead of the ‘Movies & TV’ app....

There’s a good chance you take your phone with you when you’re out for a nature walk. Did you know it can be a surprisingly accurate bird identification tool? There are a few handy apps that can turn you into a bird call expert. RELATED: How to Use Tech to Stay Safe in the Sun Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is one of the top resources for information about birds....

Podcasts are having a resurgence at the moment, with companies like Spotify and Apple investing millions of dollars in exclusive shows. YouTube is now entering the mix, starting with a new page dedicated to podcasts. Google has created a new page at youtube.com/podcasts, which highlights popular episodes and playlists for video podcasts already on YouTube. However, some of the recommended videos aren’t strictly podcasts — there are a few “story time” videos, some reaction content, and even regular news clips from channels like NBC and Fox News....

After installing Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 launch the application to set up a new machine. You are created by the standard Wizard to set up a new machine. You don’t have to use the Wizard, but it makes simple set up quick. For this part of the Wizard I just leave the default setting which allows me to set up a basic configuration. Click Next. Name your Virtual Machine....

It’s good that there’s an extension for Firefox called Add to Search Bar that will add a new context menu item to let you create your own search plugins on the fly. For instance, you can right-click on the search box here and then choose Add to Search Bar… You’ll be prompted to give it a name, I chose to shorten the site title down a bit. And there we go, now I can search the How-To Geek from Firefox....

Android 13 is Google’s release for 2022, and it’s not exactly the most exciting version of Android we’ve ever seen. There aren’t many big features that everyone will immediately notice. Is that really a bad thing, though? It’s only natural to want every update to include shiny new features. Android 12, for example, included a brand new theming system called “Material You.” Android 13 is admittedly a bit boring, but that’s okay....

iPads Aren’t Waterproof Unlike iPhones, iPads have no water resistance features. If you dunk an iPad in water, your device will likely suffer damage unless it is dried quickly. Power the iPad off immediately, dry it externally as much as possible, and leave it sitting powered-off for 24 hours. Or you could try taking the wet iPad to an Apple store where they could potentially disassemble it and dry it out from the inside before corrosion damage occurs....

Virtual machines allow you to run an operating system in an app window on your desktop that behaves like a full, separate computer. You can use them play around with different operating systems, run software your main operating system can’t, and try out apps in a safe, sandboxed environment. There are several good free virtual machine (VM) apps out there, which makes setting up a virtual machine something anybody can do....

Of course there are many cleaner applications that will do this for you, but we’ll explain how to do it manually. Clear Recent Run Dialog Entries Through Regedit Open up regedit.exe through the start menu run box, and then navigate down to the following key: You’ll see all your recent commands on the right, and you can delete any of the keys that contain your commands. You’ll have to logoff and then back on, but the list should be clean....

With a command-line switch on a shortcut, of course, which will run the same option as when you right-click on the Recycle Bin: Of course, not all of us show the Recycle Bin on our desktop, and many of us like to keep the desktop icons hidden most of the time… which is why I’d rather have a shortcut or hotkey somewhere else. Setup Your Options You’ll need to decide which settings you want to run when CCleaner is run automatically… for instance, I’d look at whether or not you want to clean out your cookies or recent documents (which is a feature I use often, so I don’t want them cleaned out)...

The template mode will not be available if you have Word set as your email editor, so the first thing we’ll need to do is turn that option off. Open Outlook Options by choosing Tools \ Options from the menu. Choose the Mail Format tab, and make sure to uncheck the boxes to use Word. Now to create our template. Just open a new mail message, choose the person(s) to send it to, a subject line, and a message body....