You don’t need one to get music or software or whatever else you’re after—your browser handles that job pretty well for the most part—but in some special situations, they can come in handy. Some can even speed up the download process by grabbing your file from multiple sources at once. These programs also often support pausing and resuming of downloads—something many browsers actually do already. Here’s a list of completely free download managers and music downloaders that we think you’ll like: You can create batch downloads, download torrents, preview ZIP files before they’re downloaded and even deselect files you don’t want from the compressed folder, download entire websites, resume broken downloads, run automatic virus checks on downloads, quickly control the bandwidth allocation for all downloads, and download all links from the clipboard....

The College Info Geek Podcast Want to build a freelance career as a student? Or learn how to study abroad, or how to turn your life into a video game? This podcast helps listeners become more effective students and improve in several areas of life. The host, Thomas Frank, interviews tons of interesting people, including scientists who study the brain to the U.S. Secretary of Education. Episodes are a little longer than one hour and are released approximately every week....

Use these tips to take your Hangouts conversations to the next level. Then, as if one pony couldn’t possibly be enough, type /ponystream to see a whole herd of ponies. Ponies pour in from both sides of the screen in a continuous stream, and they won’t stop until you enter the command a second time. Enter the Konami Code in Hangouts using the arrow keys on the keyboard and press Enter to change the background of the chat window into a nice landscape scene....

While AeroAdmin doesn’t have chat capabilities, its small in size and can be started up in less than a minute, which is perfect for a remote desktop program. Continue reading for a list of pros and cons, a quick look at how AeroAdmin works, and what we think of the program. More About AeroAdmin AeroAdmin can be used with 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows XP Windows Server 2016, 2012, 2008, and 2003 are also supported operating systems Can be launched from a flash drive or other USB device You can run it for personal use or in a commercial setting for free No router changes are required The free license limits connection time, meaning that you can only use the program for a certain number of hours every month....

Where to Download the Age of Empires 2 Demo for Free You can download the Age of Empires II demo for free from File Planet and similar download websites. You might also be able to find a torrent file of the demo on a torrent site. Simply extract the compressed game files and run the installer. What Is Age of Empires 2? Like its predecessor, AOE 2 is a simulation game in which players manage societies over the course of thousands of years....

Automation puts people out of jobs, from ATMs to washing machines to supermarket cashiers. But those have always been pretty menial tasks. Now, the machines are coming for the creative classes. A new “human-assisted AI” music-making service called Soundful promises to replace jingle artists, soundtrack makers, and anyone who creates commissioned music. And music artists are getting pretty excited about it. “I see it very much the same as AI art […] potentially steam-rolling ’low value’ creative output—but I don’t really see this as a bad thing....

Setting Up and Using Fire TV Devices The Fire TV Stick also supports mirroring or casting from mobile devices or computers. The Fire TV model released in October 2017 includes the following significant changes and improvements over previous versions: Enhanced 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) support HDR (high dynamic range) image support (for clearer pictures) Additional TV channels and apps More movies, games, and other content Smaller form factor Improved Bluetooth functionality and Wi-Fi support Improved support for Alexa and Echo devices to find, launch, and control content with your voice...

Overall Findings Samsung makes a wider range of devices offering different display qualities and levels of performance. The Fire 10 HD is a little less expensive than the comparable Galaxy Tab A8, and it even beats out the A8 in terms of performance. That said, the best Fire tablet can’t compete with the best Samsung, especially when it comes to the camera, battery, and app availability. Given the differences between models, it’s important to look at the individual technical specifications....

According to rumors, the 2023 iPhone 15 will use a periscope lens that could extend its optical zoom range to 10x. That would allow amazing close-up shots of far-away subjects, better background blur, and opens up a whole range of possibilities for Apple’s computational photography tricks and gimmicks. “While many Android flagships, like Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra, have already featured telephoto lenses for a long time, the iPhone 15 series is slated to go official in 2023, which will give [Apple] enough time to tweak its periscope lenses [for] amazing photo quality,” technology explainer Victoria Mendoza told Lifewire via email....

The Pocket was initially revealed in 2019 and set to release sometime in 2020. Following the pandemic, however, the company decided to delay the release. It then delayed it twice more. Now, Analogue has revealed an official shipping date for the handheld console. According to an email sent to people who preordered it, Analogue will start shipping the Pocket on December 13. “Due to unprecedented shipping congestion, your order will ship and be delivered between December 14th – December 30th,” the email reads....

The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 Headphones are the active noise-canceling Bluetooth headphones you buy if you want to save some money without cutting too many corners. That makes sense; Anker, the parent brand of Soundcore, has made a name for itself as a company that provides excellent chargers, power bricks, and portable batteries that don’t break the bank. I’ve tested a bunch of Soundcore headphones before, but only the Liberty true wireless earbud line....

Self Service Repair will be available for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 to start, then later open up to include Mac computers with M1 chips. It will also be focusing on the most common repairs to start (the screen, camera, battery, etc.), but will add options for additional repairs in the future. The catch is you have to order both the parts and the necessary tools directly from Apple....

Every iPhone released since 2017—even the budget-friendly iPhone SE (2nd Gen)—has supported wireless charging, although it has maxed out at 7.5W, a relatively slow pace compared to wired charging. The ability to pop your phone onto a charging pad is more convenient than plugging in a cable, but it sips slowly at the power source. Some rival Android phones have embraced faster wireless charging speeds up to 15W, with a small number even reaching the 30-40W range....

Up until the launch of the new 2021 MacBook Pro, Apple’s Pro laptop lineup had little to distinguish it from the entry-level Air. If you wanted a small, lightweight laptop with great power and battery life, then you bought the Air. If you wanted something to provide ambient white noise with its howling fans while quickly running the battery down, you bought a Pro. Now, as we shall see, the choices are clear....

Apple claims its recently revealed M1 Max silicon chip touts several times the GPU performance of current M1 processors, and that does look to be the case. Geekbench put the new chip’s GPU to the test, and the initial results are in, showing there is, in fact, a marked improvement. Geekbench stresses all of a processor’s cores simultaneously, then calibrates the results against a baseline of 1,000 points (derived from an Intel Core i3-8100)....

What Apple Watches Can I Buy? Currently, Apple is officially selling several versions of the Apple Watch Series 8, Apple Watch Series7, Apple Watch Series 6, the Apple Watch Series 3, and the Apple Watch SE and SE 2. There’s also the Apple Watch Ultra, designed for extreme outdoor conditions. Apple Watch Series 1, Series 2, Series 4, the original Apple Watch, and the first-generation Apple Watch Edition have all been discontinued, but you may still find some via third-party retailers....

AirTags are little pucks that let you track and find bags, pets, and keys. They also allow you to track people, which of course, raises privacy concerns. Apple has several built-in safeguards to stop people from tracking others with AirTags, but do they work? Can abusive spouses use these cool little tracker tiles to terrorize their partners? Can cops use them for unauthorized tracking? “Apple has taken extraordinary steps to prevent stalkers from using the AirTag as a tracking device, but like any technology, bad actors have gone to extraordinary steps to circumvent that,” Ryszard (Rick) Gold of Apple repair and support company The Stem Group told Lifewire via email....

Even if you’ve ditched CDs in favor of a digital music collection, or even a subscription to a service like Spotify or Apple Music, your car probably still has a CD player in it. And if you do still listen to CDs in your car, then there’s a strong argument to be made in favor of investing in a CD changer so you can shuffle through multiple CDs without swapping out, even in these days of Pandora and Spotify....

One popular category that Belarc Advisor excels at is providing software license information. This means you can use it to find the correct product key or serial number for your installed programs. Belarc Advisor Basics Similar to other system information programs, Belarc Advisor gathers information regarding things like any software installation, video card, CPU, RAM, software update, as well as motherboard and network information. Belarc Advisor works on 64-bit and 32-bit versions of Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8 (including Windows 8....

The equalizer ranges from 32 Hz to 32,000 Hz, which is more frequency bands than most apps. Either choose presets that have been created by professional musicians, or make your own customized ones. The multi-band equalizer screen makes it easy to shape the sound, all you do is drag points up and down on the screen. Then, save your custom EQ profile. This app also has an upsampling feature which improves audio quality by converting songs to a higher sampling rate....