Life in pixels

Advertisement <firstimage=”//static.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/StuckPixel06.png”>Bad pixels often occur on brand new screens. Since a single bad pixel can become a great annoyance once you know it’s there, any new display with a warranty on it should be checked for bad pixels instantly. When you discover one however, you do not necessarily have to take the new display straight back to the shop. You may be able to fix it yourself.In this article I will explain what a pixel is and for what reasons it can get stuck. I will then show you how you can identify bad pixels on your LCD screen and what you can do to possibly fix them yourself. Only after you have tried all your options, is it time to claim your warranty.What Are Pixels?Simply put, pixels are single dots in a raster image and all of them put together make up the entire image.What you are seeing on your computer screen right now, technically, is a raster image made up of hundreds of pixels. … [Read more...] about How To Find & Fix Bad Pixels On Your LCD Screen

Advertisement Got an old Android phone, or like to play the latest high-end mobile games? You might encounter memory problems from time to time, as your phone struggles to keep up with you.But what can you do about it, if anything? Let’s take a look at how to manage RAM on Android.1. If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix ItThe first point to make about managing memory on Android is that unless you’ve got an old or budget phone, you won’t need to do it at all.Most mid-range to flagship devices from the last couple of years will have at least 4GB of RAM. A flagship from 2019, like the OnePlus 7 Pro or Galaxy Note 10 Plus, could have as much as 12GB. You never need to manage the memory on these devices.For the most part, Android is very efficient when it comes to handling memory. If you do check and find that all (or most) of your available RAM is in use, don’t worry—that’s how it’s designed to work. Android tries to keep apps in memory for as … [Read more...] about Low RAM on Your Phone? 6 Android Memory Management Tips You Need to Know

Advertisement SimCity is one of the original city building games. Although Cities: Skylines now holds the city building and management crown, SimCity holds a place in the hearts of many would-be city planners. And with good reason.However, if you don’t have the time to play SimCity or Cities: Skylines, why not try a browser-based city building alternative? Online city building games may not have the same depth as SimCity, but they’re great fun nonetheless.Here are the best online city building games that run in your web browser.1. Toy Box MetropolisToy Box Metropolis is a 10-turn city builder with a difference: it’s set on a child’s bedroom floor. Your city doesn’t grow organically. Instead of placing zones and letting residents and businesses flood into your city, Toy Box Metropolis assigns you several placeable elements for each turn.For example, you can select the Building option, which in turn lets you choose various city buildings such as a house, … [Read more...] about The Best Free Online City Building Games Like SimCity

Advertisement Over time, the grime of everyday life takes a toll on a laptop. It goes from that shiny new gizmo to a gadget with odd smudges and a buildup of dust. Let’s get precious looking good again, shall we?This guide will be especially useful if you are in the market for a used laptop or looking to sell one. You’ll be able to drive the price up if the notebook looks like it’s well taken care of, so give it a good cleaning outside when you also format the hard drive.What You Will NeedThe items you need to clean a laptop are easy to find and cost very little. Chances are, you probably already have them. Microfiber cloths — I used 3M’s Scotch Brite mirror cleaning cloth, but other users on the internet have had success with spectacles-cleaning microfiber cloths as well as soft towel-like microfiber cloths. Get as large a pack as you can, we’ll go through at least 10 of them in this guide. Yes, it’s a bit overkill, but these microfiber … [Read more...] about How to Clean Your Laptop Screen, Cover, Keyboard, and Fans

Advertisement Yes, that little smartphone you keep in your pocket has the potential to burst—and it’s not limited to exploding Samsung batteries. A lithium-ion battery is the same no matter what device it’s in, and they all carry identical risks.What are these risks? And how can you reduce them with your phone? That’s what we’re going to explore in this article.Smartphone Battery Explosions: The FactsWe don’t have a bunch of doom-and-gloom fear-mongering stories for you. Yes, your phone can explode. But no, it’s isn’t likely to happen at all.Modern lithium-ion batteries—today’s preferred rechargeable batteries for everything from smartphones to Tesla vehicles—have the capacity to be highly explosive.Have a look at this thermal video of a lithium-ion battery cell under “heat abuse” for two minutes:The point of explosion is sudden and extremely hot.But outside of a lab where people apply an extremely hot … [Read more...] about Why Smartphone Batteries Explode and How to Prevent It

Advertisement Our verdict of the iPhone 8:You'll need to make your own mind up about this one, since it's a refined smartphone but a lacklustre upgrade. Had Apple included a fast charger and maybe some form of wireless charging pad, it would have matched the 8/10 awarded to last year’s iPhone 7 Plus.710If you expect your yearly smartphone upgrade to include a few significant advantages over last year’s model, the iPhone 8 may disappoint. If you’re not one to upgrade your device year-on-year, the iPhone 8 might be the best smartphone you can buy right now.This year’s model marks one of the least exciting updates we’ve ever seen, but its base model is $50 more expensive than last year’s model iPhone 7 Plus Review iPhone 7 Plus Review This year's iPhone 7 models break with convention. For the first time ever Apple has opted for the same general design three years in a row, while introducing some divisive, but long-overdue features. Read More . … [Read more...] about iPhone 8 Review: Smart Phone, Dumb Upgrade