Pledge Planets is a new episodic activity series for Messenger Kids, designed with the help of online safety experts and child development specialists. Episodes are intended to teach kids how to handle different social situations, with different mini-games themed around kindness, respectfulness, safety, and having fun. The first episode, titled “Be Kind,” is available today for all countries where Messenger Kids is available. It introduces kids to the owner of a sandwich shop, who they can help out by playing two different mini-games about kindness....

Dial-In Your Contrast and Color Grading Experiment to familiarize yourself with Photoshop’s various adjustment layers (Brightness/Contrast, Levels, Curves, Hue/Saturation, Color Balance, etc.). Adjustment layers are non-destructive, so you should never be afraid to push things as far as possible. One of our favorite color-grading solutions is the gradient tool, which is an excellent way to add warm/cool color contrast and harmonize your color palette. How to Add a Light Bloom Effect The light bloom effect adds dramatic impact to a scene....

What Is an FNA File? A file with the FNA file extension is a FASTA Format DNA and Protein Sequence Alignment file that stores DNA information that can be used by molecular biology software. FNA files, specifically, may be used to hold just nucleic acid information while other FASTA formats contain other DNA-related information, such as those with the FASTA, FAS, FA, FFN, FAA, FRN, MPFA, SEQ, NET, or AA file extensions....

A recent study found that children who reported playing video games for three hours per day or more performed better on certain cognitive skill tests. A growing body of evidence shows that video games aren’t harmful to kids, but not everyone agrees that video games boost brain performance. “This study is interesting, but has so many holes that it won’t hold water,” Connie Bartlett, a pediatrician with Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Orange County, Calif....

What Is the Gmail Archive? Rather than deleting an email and losing it for good, you can choose to archive it instead. As soon as a message is placed in the Gmail archive, it is removed from your inbox and tagged with the label All Mail. These messages remain in your Gmail account and can be retrieved easily at a later time, but in the meantime, they are out of sight and out of mind....

Google on Thursday announced the move to push back the large-scale rollout of its Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) technology. Engadget notes that Google’s Privacy Sandbox originally was announced in 2019, with a tentative date set for 2022 as the goal for Google’s replacement of third-party cookies. Now, though, it looks like the old way of tracking users won’t be completely replaced until 2023 at the earliest. According to the announcement, Google now plans to phase out cookies entirely in Chrome over a three-month period that is set to end in the later months of 2023, noting that it needed more time to get the economy right....

Auto-delete default: Google can already automatically delete your Location, Search, Voice, and YouTube activity data in three or 18-month intervals, but you had to opt-in. Now auto-delete is the default for all core Google activity settings. YouTube will be set to 36 months by default. If you want to keep your history intact, you’ll need to do that manually. Easier access: Now you can get to the privacy checkup settings with a simple ‘Google Privacy Checkup’ in Search....

Google made the call at a relatively late date, though. Facebook, Twitter, and Square all previously announced similar plans. In fact, Twitter and Square plan for such work from home initiatives to continue indefinitely. Still, Google is kind of a big deal and bears watching. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, made the decision recently after a meeting with company executives. According to The Verge, Pichai sent an email to all employees last week with the plan....

In Your Car Car GPS devices are still great navigation aids. Screens are bigger and brighter than they used to be and accuracy has improved significantly, as has the usability of maps and directions with added features such as traffic alerts and the ability to wirelessly pair a mobile phone to an in-car unit via Bluetooth to get hands-free mobile speaker-phone use. On the Trail Handheld GPS units have dramatically changed outdoors travel, replacing the map and compass with moving digital maps and precise location, elevation, topographic, and other data....

Common Tablet Sizes There are five general display sizes available for tablets, though specific models vary in their exact dimensions. The advertised size of a tablet reflects a diagonal measurement of the screen, so two 10-inch tablets might have slightly different proportions. Some high-end devices, like the Samsung Galaxy View, have screens larger than 18-inches. Still, most tablets fit into one of the following categories: Manufacturers usually list the dimensions of their tablets....

How Does a Plasma TV Work? Plasma TV technology is similar to that used in a fluorescent light bulb. The display panel consists of cells, each containing two glass panels that are separated by a narrow gap. Neon-xenon gas is injected and sealed in plasma form during the manufacturing process. The gas is electrically charged at specific intervals when the plasma set is in use. The charged gas strikes red, green, and blue phosphors, creating a TV image....

Researchers have recently discovered a new strain of malware that is attacking security vulnerabilities in several routers. Once infected, the compromised routers are roped inside malicious botnets that cybercriminals use to attack a website or online service with junk traffic and choke them out of service. This is known as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack in cybersecurity parlance. “Unfortunately, there are far too many poorly protected systems that can easily be co-opted into these attacks,” Ryan Thomas, VP of Product Management at cybersecurity solutions provider LogicHub, told Lifewire over email....

The formerly incarcerated often are out of touch with modern tech, putting them at a disadvantage in finding jobs and schooling their children, experts say. One recent study found, for example, that many women coming out of prison frequently have inadequate access to the internet, rely on cell phones for online tasks, and know little about protecting their privacy. “Once these women are released from prison they come back to this very rapidly changing digital media environment,” Hyunjin Seo, a journalism professor at the University of Kansas and one of the study’s authors, said in a phone interview....

Match.com, for instance, has an AI-enabled chatbot named “Lara” that guides people through the process of romance, offering suggestions based on up to 50 personal factors. Other AI software can help suggest potential matches or even recommend a place to meet. Using AI is a matter of efficiency, especially during a pandemic, when dating options are limited, experts say. “AI is more accurate and personalized” than regular swipe and match online dating, relationship expert Michelle Devani said in an email interview with Lifewire....

Taking Advantage of the Cloud “It dawned on me, that there was this dependency on somebody having a controller. Not only did we have to presume that someone was going to have a controller, but we had to presume that someone had a controller that was going to work where the client would be,” he said. “So, we started brainstorming… Could that work? How would it work? And just like a light bulb, it hit....

SafeUp uses crowdsourcing from its users to connect one woman with another who lives in the area they are walking in to feel safe and looked after while navigating the streets alone. The company’s CEO and co-founder, Neta Schreiber, said the app’s goal is to encourage women to help each other feel like they are making a difference. “It’s bigger than just a safety app,” Schreiber told Lifewire in a video call....

Imagine plugging your iPhone in to charge, using the standard Lightning cable, and placing your AirPods case on the back of the phone to charge that at the same time. This reverse-charging capability is right there in the iPhone 12 you have in your hand, according to Apple’s own FCC filings. “In addition to being able to be charged by a desktop WPT charger (puck), 2020 iPhone models also support WPT charging function at 360 kHz to charge accessories,” says the introductory section of one FCC filing....

The recently released app, Sojo, works by connecting its users to tailors so clothing can be repaired instead of thrown out. It’s one of many apps intended to help keep people from spending too much money during lean economic times. The software also could help the environment by reducing waste, observers say. “Reuse is one of the foundational pillars of sustainability,” Tato Bigio, CEO of UBQ Materials, a company that claims to turn waste into climate-friendly plastic, said in an email interview....

Adverse Uses of Street Maps Ill-intentioned people use Google Maps and Bing Maps to: Locate entrances to buildingsDetermine locations of security cameras, gates, etcFind good hiding placesFind holes or weak spots in perimeter fencesLocate utility boxes (power, water, gas)See what make, model, and color of vehicle a building occupant or resident drivesSee if locks, guards, dogs, etc., are normally presentMeasure distances between objects (using Google Earth) to determine how quickly it would take to run or drive from one point to another....

Learn all about how car defrosters, defoggers, and demisters work. Types of Car Defrosters There are two primary kinds of defrosters. The first type uses a vehicle’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to blow warm, dehumidified air directly onto the foggy or iced-over windshield. The other type of defrosting system defogs and de-ices through a mechanism known as resistive heating. How Do Primary Car Defrosters Work? Defrosters that use a vehicle’s HVAC system are sometimes referred to as “primary” defrosters, since they are designed to clear up the front and side windows, and they work via two main principles....