The best digital photo frames let you put your memories on display using a convenient and easy-to-setup device. With the increasing popularity of smart displays like the Echo Show that offer digital photo display along with a slew of other features, digital photo frames have to provide a truly simple and seamless experience to compete. I tested the 10.1-inch Brookstone PhotoShare Friends and Family Smart Frame to see how it stacks up against other digital photo frames and smart displays, paying close attention to its design, setup process, audio and video quality, software, and price....

Inkjet printers are great for printing everything from documents to high-resolution photo prints, but the reality is if it’s only documents you’re looking to print, your best bet is to go with a laser printer. Not only do laser printers cost less per print, but they also tend to be easier to maintain over the long run, as you don’t have to worry about multiple inks every time you run out—you simply pop in a new drum or toner cartridge and you’re good to go....

Collect Payroll Data Create a new workbook in Microsoft Excel, using your pay stub or payroll remittance advice form as a guide. Populate the sheet’s columns as follows: Your federal tax rates may vary based on your exemptions. To calculate your tax rates, divide the assessed taxes against the taxable gross income from your pay stub. Calculate Net Salary The easiest way to calculate net salary is to break it into smaller formulas rather than one long and complicated formula....

You start to say things you might later regret. Suddenly, a message appears on your computer screen. “Empathy Cue—Think about how the customer is feeling. Try to relate.” It’s not a real person telling you what to do. It’s a message from Cogito, an artificial intelligence program designed to help workers empathize with frustrated callers and boost performance. Cogito is one of a growing number of AI programs that are trying to teach humans empathy....

Your Options for Several Channels If you only want to keep family videos out of the public eye, you can use your regular YouTube account and adjust the privacy settings of individual videos. However, if you have two different audiences for your content, it’s better to set up different channels. In the past, you would create a separate YouTube account for each audience, and that method still works. To do it, just create a new Gmail account for every YouTube channel you want to create....

What Is a CHA File? A file with the CHA file extension is most likely an Adobe Photoshop Channel Mixer file, a format that stores custom intensity levels of red, green, and blue source channels. However, it’s not the only format that uses this extension. Some CHA files are IRC Chat Configuration files, a format that stores information about an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channel, like the server and port, and maybe even the password....

Design: Sturdy and functional The Cheetah Mount has a build that allows for a large range of motion on a bracket that can retract to only 2.7 inches. Tilt is controlled by a pair of screws that can be loosened to allow the TV to tilt along a crescent track. Once tightened again, the television will hold its position securely. Removing the TV from the wall mount makes this entire process easier....

Define Your Requirements Database management systems (or DBMSs) can be divided into two categories: desktop databases and server databases. Desktop databases are oriented toward single-user applications and reside on standard personal computers (hence the term desktop). Server databases contain mechanisms to ensure the reliability and consistency of data and are geared toward multi-user applications. These databases are designed to run on high-performance servers and carry a correspondingly higher price tag. A careful needs analysis before you commit to a database solution is essential....

What Is Chrome Canary? Canary is an experimental version of the popular Chrome browser. Google offers four release channels for its browser: Stable, Beta, Dev, and Canary. Most people use the Stable release of the popular browser, which is rigorously tested and considered very reliable. By contrast, Canary may appeal to people who like noodling around with new technology and want to get an advance look at what the standard browser may look like in the future....

Unlock Your Chromebook With an Android Smartphone You can unlock your Chromebook with a password or PIN code, but Google has developed another option too: unlocking your Chromebook with your Android smartphone. Once set up, your Chromebook will automatically unlock when a paired phone is nearby and unlocked. Enable the Google Play Store to Install Android Apps Google’s two operating systems, Chrome OS and Android, haven’t always played well together. However, Google has begun merging the two by adding the Google Play Store and Android app support to a range of Chromebooks....

Putting a Bootable Lion Installation on a Flash Drive This process has a few steps. First, make sure your USB drive is formatted for use with a Mac, then download the OS X Lion installer from the App Store and copy it to your flash drive. Finally, use your bootable flash drive to install Lion on your Mac. Make Sure Your USB Drive Is Formatted for a Mac Not all USB drives can be used with a Mac right out of the box....

What Does Wireless Mean? Wireless is a broad term encompassing all sorts of technologies and devices that transmit data over the air rather than over wires, including cellular communications, networking between computers with wireless adapters, and wireless computer accessories. Wireless communications travel over the air via electromagnetic waves. The FCC regulates radio frequency bands in this spectrum, ensuring that they do not get too crowded and that wireless devices and services operate reliably....

Android users are getting a huge update in the coming weeks that promises to vastly improve the entire experience and bring it in line with its iOS counterpart. How are they doing this? Discord is switching to the open-source React Native UI software for the Android app, which allows them to make any fixes or roll out new updates simultaneously across every platform. In other words, running Discord on an Android device won’t seem “weird” or “off,” as it will mirror the experience of using it on any other platform....

The DJI RoboMaster S1 is a remote-controlled toy on steroids. Looking more like the kind of driving drone that bomb squads or soldiers use, it’s hyper-maneuverable, with complex and versatile wheels that allow it to drive sideways and zip ahead at high speeds. It even shoots little gel pellets from its cannon and can capture photos and HD video. In all regards, the DJI RoboMaster S1 is a beast, and easily one of the most impressive connected toys we’ve ever seen....

How DTS Neo:X Works Like the ProLogic IIz and Audyssey DSX, DTS Neo:X does not require studios to mix soundtracks specifically for the 11.1 channel sound field. Still, DTS Neo:X has the ability, and doing so delivers a more accurate result. However, without optimizing the mixing end, DTS Neo:X looks for cues already present in stereo, 5.1, or 7.1 channel soundtracks. It places those cues within the front height and wide channels that are distributed to additional front height and rear height speakers, enabling a more enveloping 3D listening environment....

Systems like traction control and anti-lock brakes help you maintain control during acceleration and braking, but electronic stability control (ESC) is designed to prevent you from losing control in other circumstances. What’s the Point of Electronic Stability Control? ESC is supposed to keep a vehicle moving in the direction that the driver wants to go. Like anti-lock brakes and traction control, electronic stability control is an added safety measure. These systems won’t protect you from careless driving, but they help keep you on the road under adverse conditions....

The entry-level 13-inch M2 MacBook Pro, the one with the Touch Bar and the aging six-year-old case design, is already a bad choice, but the news gets worse. Its SSD, the storage’ disk,’ only operates at half the speed of its predecessor. It’s not a stretch to say that ever-faster SSDs have been the most important change in personal computers over the last decade, so this is a significant step backward....

One of the biggest criticisms of Eventide’s years-old H9 Harmonizer pedal was not its amazing array of effects or its build quality but the fact that you could only use one effect at a time. The H90 explodes that limitation, adds powerful new hardware, and—with a bright OLED screen and an array of knobs and buttons, it looks a lot easier to use, too. “They had created algorithms that combined certain effects, but you were limited to them and couldn’t just combine your favorites....

Using Force Touch With Notifications If the notifications are piling up on your Apple Watch, Force Touch can easily help you clear them all at once. Manage Apple Watch Faces Force Touch can also help you give your Apple Watch a new, customized look, or delete the watch faces you no longer want to use. Create and Customize Apple Watch Faces Create a Watch Face From a Photo Create your own watch face using any photo in your library....

The gist of Opera’s latest feature works specifically through Yat, which allows users to create a custom web URL from a string of emojis—the resulting webpage can be customized or used as a redirect to a more typical website. Ideally, it would work as an attention-grabbing way for companies to get people to check out their websites, but experts are hesitant to view it as anything more than a fad....