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et oe aci
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Dre uli ry :
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INTO YOUR PC?
(ee eum te Le EWM cu (o} oo PCSPECIALIST
PcSpecitist recommends Windows if Windows 10
CUSTOM GAMING
DESKTOPS & LAPTOPS
ORDER ONLINE NOW AT
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{Empat Ost 00
oesineouraunontoe
Greets tat ee eared
‘otra Grima ata
‘Saeuerinca 4028 0298
erect
See
Peereeers
ee
ees
een
a
soo
ompamese petty
srouns hha Sy re
,
its available via the Apple
TV app on your Phone or
Pad, or via httas://tvappte.
comon your PC. You can,
also accessit on Roku and
‘Amazon Fire TV devices, and
some Samsung smart TVs.
TOMORROW'S
Pol Ti} =
Would you tke to be looked
after by a’care robot? The
Governments investing
£34min such devices, hoping
Intime they!t be ableto
help people up after fall,
deliver food at mealtimes
and provide reminders about
taking medication. says
theyre needed because by
2040 one in seven people
inthe UK wile over 75.
Read mare on Gov.UK:
wnww.snipca.com/33227.
20November-3December2019 7 News]
‘OLD SAMSUNG TVS.
REMOVE NETFLIX
[Nett wil stop working
‘on some old Samsung TVs
‘made in 2010 and 20 due to
"technical limitations”. From 1
December these models wil
show a message that Nett,
will na longer be available,
though youl stil be able to
watch by connecting to
your TV another device that
Contains Netflix. Samsung
ide confirm which models
are affected, but said twas
‘small number" and that
‘twill contact alt customers
with alternative options.
(02STOPS CLASSIC:3P
02 has stopped seling its
‘Classic pay-as-you-go
(PAYG) deals which charged
3p aminute for calls, 2p for
‘texts and Ip per MB of data,
‘They're being replaced by
‘Big Buncles, which start
at £5 amonth for unlimited
texts and minutes, butro
data. For data youll need to
pay £10 (368), £15 (6GB),
££20 (10GB), or £30 (2068).
Read more on O2's site:
‘wenowsnlpca.com/33250.
THE WORLD'S (G>))
GONE MAD! ca
Dont try this at home, unless
you're extremely bendy and
have millions of Instagram
followers to satisty. This
position, called the yooa
sleep pose, is one that
people are trying in order to
‘get tikes’ on social media. UK
physios say t's edt a sharp
rise in hip injuries, as people
‘go head over heels (iteralty)
In pursuitof fame online
8 20Noverber ~3 December 2019
BBC/ITV's BritBox launches
for £5.99 a month
The service is seen as an
attempt by the broadeasters 10
take on TV-streaming giants
like Netflix and Amazon
Prime, [t's the first time shows
fromall the UR's main
television channels will be
available through one
catch-up service.
It will mostly offer shows
that were initially broadcast
years or even decades ago,
rather than within the past
12 months.
ramus inelude Cracker,
Downtown Abbey and Prime
Suspect. while comedies
Include Absolutely Faburous,
Blackadder, Only Fools and
Horses and Fawity Towers.
There will also be some new
shows made exclusively for
BritBox.
Nearly 600 episodes of that you know.
Doctor Who broadcast She added that some past
between 1969 and 1989 will ke BC and ITV shows that were
available by Christmas available on Netflix will mewe
The broadeasters hope to BritBox
the emphasis on British BrkeBox's price of £5.99 a
content will attract viewers. month isthe same as the basle
Reemal Sakaan, ITV's packages oflered by Amazon
group director forstreaming, Prime and Netix. oth
said: I's got the widest change more for extra features,
range of UK boxsets ofany _suehas high-definition
service. Ostensibly the other quality and watching on more
streamersare US-focused than one screen
so they make dramas for the aR RER
US market, whereas BritBox is Satemmaiscae,
the faces, people and places leters@computeracte co.uk
Windows 10 gets ‘Quick search’ buttons
lerosoft has added ‘Quick
search’ buttons to Windaws
10 to make it easter for you to
{Gnd important information,
‘The four buttons, called
Weather, ‘Top news’, Today in
history’ and ‘New movies’ (see
screenshot), appear in the
latest preview version of
Windows 10 2081, which will
bea major Feature Update
NEWEDGE BROWSER COMING IN JANUARY
Microsoft plans to launch the new version of ts
Edge broviser on 15 January next year. thas been
rebuilding the browser all year using Google's
(Chromium source code, on which Chrome runs. Edge
also has a new blue-green circular logo (pictured), replacing the
‘design that was criticised for resembling Internet Explorer.
released! next Spring,
They're placed at the
bottom of the page that
appears when you start typing
in the Search box at the bottom
left of the taskbar: Chicking
the buttons shows info pulled
from the web,
Microsoft said in a blog post
(www snipca,com/354 the US now before being
the buttons are
lablein released worldwide soon,
It didn't reveal why it chose
these four subjects as quick
searctes, but presumably it
hhas research showing these
are popular search terms.
‘There doesn't seem to hea
‘way to change or remove the
buttons, though these options
may be added after the update
is released. Loophole that lets drivers take
photos to be closed |~ =
Government asst
Than cose se
loophole tates ers
tng pines © Uk pa
tnd peor co sv
tle fr drkverstouse
theta calor tox on
phones, bse motors
have dodged punishment by
claiming they weren't using
thee phtos bcomaninle
wihoiher people
Indy jules versed
st gear ol aay Bare’
There oto Hh
court jae cling rhe
Ta whe eae Ino en
2002, ob update tn
ting pots and videos
weal ante
Tina Paterson, hos
tm epreseied Mi Bart
Mozilla: ban web political
argued that “unless
police can prove beyond
reasonable doubt that
‘what someone was
doing was actually
communicating, it
wasn’ tan offence to be
uusing.a smartphone" drivers from picking up
She added that she expected their phone for any reason,
the law to change “very which is what road-safety
quickly”, and just five months campaigners Brake are
‘on, the Department for calling for.
‘Transport has said it will “All phone use behind the
review the law *with the aim wheel is dangerous and to get
of tightening up existing this message across to drivers
legislation” tocriminalise any the law must reflect this,” ts
phone use behind the wheel, senior public affairs officer
Transport Secretary Grant Samuel Nahk said
Shapps said: “We recognise He added: “Far too many
that staying in touch with the people still use thetr phone
world while travelling isan behind the wheel, yet it
essential part of modern-day should beas unacceptable as
fe, but we are also drink driving, with research
committed to making our showing that reaction times
roads sale” ‘whilst texting are double
Any change could forbid those of drink drivers",
POLLING
ads during election
(Our black-and-white text document
rattled off at 1.3 pages per minute (ppm),
{aster than Epson's claimed 1oppm and
only alittle slower than inkjets at twice
the price, Duplexing slowed it down to
seven sides a minute, better than most.
Colour cut the speed! to 3.6ppm, anda
single 10x8in photo took just ever two
minutes at maximum quality, while a full
Ad colour test eard in the sam
dragged on for four minutes. A single
black-and-white photocopy took 13.3,
seconds, and colour 37, while scans were
slow and even al 1200dpi failed (o captare
the full detal of photo prints. Print
quality was generally decent, but some
copies looked dull and blotchy.
The main problem with the XP-#100 is
its running costs, which work out at 6.4p
per black page and an exorbitant 20.5p
for colour. Remember photos will use
several times more ink.
‘SPECIFICATIONS
'5670x1440dpi maximum pl esoation»
1200%2400%p1 aru scan resolution «Ooppm
‘uote speed (Aa mona Sppm quoted speed AA
{Gloun + US82.0+802 Mawr Ae 19437300
[tx 349 + One-year waranty
sina onn/33152
———
‘VERDICT Thisisnot abad budget
printer but youll end up geting your
‘wallet out forink - even more so than
average
Ok ok
ALTERNATIVE Canon Posma 753150
£35 Slower, but cheaper to buy and
torun, though it
inonerefil
Alupscaling?
What is it?
‘Nvidla's new Shield TV-streaming box
supports 4K resolution four times as
sharp as Full HD), as you'd expect
these days. That's
only really useful BEFORE}
Wyouhave aak
WVarmonitorto
show all those
pices, Even if you
do,noteverything
you might want
towatchis
availablein aK,
‘and evenifitis,
your broadband
connection might
‘not be able to keep up with streaming
allthat data So Nvidia offers three
‘modes that upscale video from 1080p
Full HD, oreven coarser 720p HD, to
‘what looks lke 4K crispness (see image
above). The cleverest of these upscaling
‘methods uses’ artical inteligence’
(A), which means, as usual, machine
learning making use of a neural
network ~a computer model that
‘works a bit tke nerves in the brain,
AFTER
What does it do?
Increasing the resolution of an image
fs technically impossible, because you
‘can't read more information than is
actually there, So the job of upscaling
algorithms is to guess the missing
detail. Nvidia basically made its Al
‘watch alot of video at higher and lower
resolutions untilit got good at predicting
the extra pixels,
What's the catch?
Is stil guessing. so you're seeing the
original video but with fine detail added
that the cinematographer did't put
there. Early testers report it looks great
‘most ofthe time, butit won't do well
‘with content ike old black-and-white
fims or vintage TV shows.
So can | do without it?
‘Yes, especially f your TV isn't aK ~ but
‘you can expect more ofthis kind of tech
trickery that makes images look sharper
and shiner.
20November-3December2019 25 _ Reviews
PHONE £669 from Google www.sninca com/33159
Google Pixel4
One small step for Android
Despite the popularity of Samsung's
feature-hneavy Galaxy phones, Google's
Pixel 4 is very much the IPhone of the
Android world, coming from the same
‘manufacturer as its software and with a
‘more elegantly restrained design,
This year, Google has finally added a
second camera (though not a third or
fourth) to the glass rear panel, replacing
the awkward stripe atthe top of previous
Pixels with an iPhone Li-like square
bulge (pictured below). The extra lens.
provid
low-light and IDR abilities help to
ensure you'll get the legendary Pixel
Image quality in almost any conditions,
The iPhone it Pro isstilla whisker
ahead, though, and Google's video
stabilisation js more prone to judder: The
front seltle cumema is back to a single lens,
Tsing the Pixel 3's wide-angle option.
The notehless sereen is sharp. with,
accurate colour, but lacks the extreme
2x optical zoom, and new
Meet OT g
brightness to make HDR content really
pop. Inside, the Snapdragor: 855
processor can't quite keep up with the
iPhone 11 Pro, but it'sas fast as you'll ind
Inan Andioid phone. Sadly, Google hasn't
followeel Apple's lead and upped its battery
life: the Pixel 4 lasted only 12 hours seven
‘iutes in our video- playback test.
The addition of a radar chip to detect
hhand gestures is more sensible than it
sounds - you can wake the phone, snooze
alarms oF advance playlists with a wave
but the removal ofthe fingerprint
sensor in favour of what's currently quite
buggy face recognition isn't so welcome,
We don’t mean to sound
underwhelmed. After all, this flagship
phone costs a relatively reasonable £669
£270 less than the Pixel 2's launch price
lange but otherwise similar XL model is
£829 (compared to £1,049 for Apple's
iPhone 11 Pro}. Equipped with the brand
new and impressively refined Android 10,
both Pixel 4 sizes are beautifully finished
in black, white or orange, with 64GB of
storage; doubling this costs an extra £100,
SPECIFICATIONS
'571n2280x1080- pel screen«122 and
16-megaphelrearcameras« megane ont
‘cameranS4C8 fach storage +802 Nee Wee
11629 Two year waranty you sine cor/ 331651
We solve your buying dilemmas.
bbut is worth considering because, like
iPhones, Pixels don't have microSD card
slots to add more space
‘VERDICTIt' stil not the most excing,
butthe Pixel 4is actassy
phone wath excellent
cameras
Sek
ALTERNATIVE,
Google Pixel 3a £399
Lacks the camera
‘advances, but good value
{see our review Isstie
555, page 28)
What's the best current HP Envy printer?
sy Hy a iter
[essa
and copying plus HP's web
Tiriiecna ev cas ae
cee es
Meauret bey
sen wr
The Envy 120 wasa unique al:
In-one four-ink printer with a
motorised touchscreen
front panel and eye-catching
‘upside-down scanner. Sadly,
26. 20Noverber ~3 December 2019
there's nothing like it in HP's current
range; the only unusual model is the
‘Tango (see our review. Issue 57), which
doesn't havea scanner.
External design aside, the Envy 120's
specification wasn't especially high. The
plasticky HP Envy 5010 (£49 from Amazon
: :
slightly faster while
matching its WL-Fi and
online features, 80-sheet
‘input tray and double
sided (duplex) option. It
Jacks the memory card slot and output
tray. Canon's TS inkjets might appeal
‘more, The six-ink Pixma TS8350 (£150
from Amazon ywwwsnipea com/33157)
hhasa lange touchscreen and memory
card slot; the the ink Pixma TS6350
(£120 from Amazon wwwsnipea.
‘com/33158, pictured) is striking, but
with a smaller sereen and no slot. Both
hhave auto-expanding output trays
reminiscent ofthe Envy 120,
Do yuneedadcr on what you snow?
all usatloners@ccmputeractve.couk CALL US: 01270 888104
OG PalicoMp | ssrateam aut _ Reviews
TRACKER | From £20 from Amazon www.snipca.com/33163
Tile Inc Tile 220
Lost and found
Tile's wireless tracker tags ean be
attached (o almost anything and, by
keeping in touch with your smartphone,
Jet you know where that thing is if you
rislay it This update expands the family
(0 four: last year’s THle Mate (£20) and Tile
Pro (£30, see Issue 540, page 29) plusa
revival ofthe Tile Slim (£25), refigged to
the size ofa thick credit card, and a new
‘Tile Sticker,
The last two are more waterproof, but
~ ina throwback to the very first Tile —
their batteries can't be replaced, so once
they mun out you have ta replace the
whole thing, They're estimated, but not
guaranteed, to last three years, The
Stleker costs £25 for two or £55 forfour,
and these packs are currently available
with an Amazon Echo Dot - the smallest
version of the Alexa smart speaker — for
TAG ME IN
‘Tile tags don’t connect independently
to the internet, but your phone sees
them via Bluetooth when within
range, and so can other devices with
the Tile app. Ifyou leave a tagged iter
in the middle of nowhere, the
hhope is that a passing Tile
user will rigger an alert,
‘which comes privately to you
and lets you know the
location. Tile reckons 90 per
cent of lost tags are found.
In the Tile app (pictured),
cach tag you own is allocated
a category, stich as Keys,
28 20Noverber ~3 December 2019
free, This makes the Sticker
the cheapest and most
versatile Tile even iis still
abit bulky to attach to very
small items,
The other Tiles use easily
replaceable CR2032 watch
batteries, and there's no cost
beyond that unless you feel the need
{or Tile Premium, a £3-a-month service
that sends you batterles free (though
not for Stickers), warns you before you
Jeavea tagged item behind. and provides
430 day location history
The last two features should really be
standard, but Tile’s basic features work
fine without Premium: showing where
all your tags were last located, playing a
sound on any tag (the Pro is pretty Toud,
the Sticker not so much) so you can find
it when nearby. and triggering a sound
(on your phone from any tag if you lose
your phone.
Rivals like Chipolo and TrackR haven't
reached the same critical mass of users
Wallet or Luggage, so you can quickly
Identify and find it. There's aTile skill
for Alexa, too, so with any Feho device
(or the Alexa app) you can say, for
‘example, ‘Alexa, ask Tile to find my
keys’ und the tag on your
keys wll play a tingtone, or
locate my keys’ and i'l tll
you where they are, 'you
hhave muliple sets of keys
ll ask winich ones. Ifyou
pay for Tile Premium, you
can share Tiles with other
users you trust, and see
where each others’ are,
Efile expands its
range of trackers for
every item you may
leave behind§ 9
important, because it’s other users!
devices that find your Tost items ~so Tile
isthe wireless tag brand of choice at the
‘moment, There ate signs that Apple may
release its own version, called AirTags,
‘which means the likes of Google are
probably thinking about it too. But even if
competition takes off, Tile’s partnership
‘with Amazon suggests 1°'s a safe bet
SPECIFICATIONS
‘Bluetooth LE agseUp to om ranges Wate
resistant or watesproof 2742747 3mm (Slices
352546 2m Mate), 424246 Seam ro),
‘365424 (Sim wn srigca con 3172
SSS
VERDICT We wish t was cheaper, but
“Te woris well and the four types of
tag will suit range of purposes
Tek ke
ALTERNATIVE Cheaper tags are
avaliable on Amazon and eBay from
makers Uke Kimfy, +
but they won't
be found away
{rom yourphone SECURITY CAMERA £80 from Box wwwsnipca.com/33183
D-Link mydlink HD Pan &Tilt
Wi-FiCamera
Obtuse angles
This standalone wireless security ea
‘magiel DCS-8S15LH, conneets through
your home broadband router to the
rmydlink app. We were hoping its
motorised pan and tilt functions would
make us feel like MIS agents in 2 BBC
thriller, but things quickly descended
Into asitcomas we tried to get the hang,
of the controls. Once you've positioned
the camera, It shoots @ 340" panorama of
your room, and you can then touch any
part of this to direct the camera there,
ut the panorama is fiddly to see an your
phone screen, andl doesn't help with
polnting the camera up or down, whieh
you do by swiping
6G Some decent
features butit’s alla
bit gimmicky 99
The field of wiew isn’t as wide as some,
so you might find yourself moving the
camera a lot, You can save four preset
positions, and there's an option to return
oa default view if you forget. This i
Important because, lIke other WL-FI
cams, the DCS 851SLI's main function is
(ostart recording when it detects
movement, which it can only do within
its current view. Once it spots something,
Irean automatically pan and tiltt0 follow
it, which is exciting but hopefully won't
ever happen ~ unless it’s following your
cat, in which case youl get a lot of
"unwanted video footage
You can opt to record to online storage,
with one-day'storage included free and
options from £2.29 per month to keep
‘SPECIFICATIONS
720p camera with pn tit andemation delectons
hire ted right vision Mise card slot+Supports|
‘Alea, Google AssstantIFTTT +Requkes Aekold 44
(5 recommended 01105 9005 1 recommend
tiger deveo “Requires WF conection «
129x88x88nen HxWxD)» 2405 Two-year
earony swat con 33384
—
recondings for a week, or to a memory
card inthe camera's microSD slot; you
can't do both,
The 720p resolution isn’t as sharp as
1080p Full HD cameras, although the
later often come set to 720p by default to
make video streaming mote manageable
Built-in LEDS enable slightly blurry
infra-red night-time shooting, and you
can see alive feed on Amazon Echo and.
Google Home devices with sereens, but
you can't fell Alexa or Google Assistant to
‘move the eamera ~ another Line of Duty
‘moment missed,
In practice, pan and tilt isa bit of a
gimmick, and one that’s available in
cheaper cameras sue as TP Link's Kas
Spot Pan Tit KCHO (850 from Amazon
www snipea.com/3318), Without it, the
cloud-based KC120 (£65 from Amazon
wewwsnipea.com/S1151, see our review
Issue 551, page 25) is more practical, but
lacks microSD storage
‘VERDICT Pan and titjust complicates
‘the setup and operation of
‘tls W-Ficam — we'd
stick witha fixed unit
Jk kok
‘ALTERNATIVE
TP-Link Kasa Cam
KCT20 £55 with no
‘microSD slot, this is mited to
‘free 48-hour online storage,
but works well
Reviews I
GADGET GRAVEYARD
Devices that
never caught on
Red Hydrogen One
What was it?
‘Announcedin the summer of
2077, the Hydrogen One (pictured)
‘didnt materialise until more than
a year late. twas a surprise entry
Ino the smartphone market by
Red, best known for pioneering
with a single space El, then click Replace
Alltoreplace the carriage returns fora
space, This may take a while to complete.
‘to.audiobooks at higher than
normal speed. I's surprising how
quickly you get used to taking in
Information at sucha fastrate.
Nk Rawiinson
wich documents do you
comverto ita? Lets know
leerstecomputractvecouke
Repeat this process by copying the
‘ext section from the book and pasting It
{nto the online box for conversion. Each
time, make sure the selection contains
550,000 or fewer characters, and give
the resulting file a sequential name ~ so,
“wilers 02’, “oilers 03" and so on.
‘Transfer your audiobook
to an iPhone
Start Tunes and drag the
converted files from your hard drive into
your FTunes library. Once there, click on
‘the first, then hold shift and elick on the
last one to select ther all. Right-click the
selection and choose Get Info from the
‘menu, When Tunes asks sf you're sure
‘you want to edit multiple items, click
Tit items.
In the box that appears change the
ATbum name to The Toilers of the Sea’
and the Artist to Victor Hugo, This will be
Ce ae
ext from which you willhave
removed several thousand unwanted
characters. You just need to replace yo
paragraph breaks. Replace S with \'\'X° EE
Inthe Find box, and the single space in the
Replace box with Nn then click Replace
‘All again. Once it's finished, save the
36 20Novernber- 3 December 2019 Turn documents and books into audiobooks
MINI WORKSHOP
Remove returns in Microsoft Word
Press Ctt+H to open the Find and,
Replace’ box Bl. You dontt need 10
be explicit about searching for regular
‘expressions the way you do in LibreOffice,
‘sojust type *p°pin the Find wat box
‘and "in the Replace with’ box EL
Click Replace All and Word wil replace
‘every dauble paragraph break for three
asterisks.
One last step youright lke to consider is to remove the formatting
‘mark used throughout the document to denote the start and end
of talics. In this instance, the authors have chosen the unclerscore
character. To remove it open the Find and Replace’ box again,
type 2 (pressing Shift and hyphen) in the Find box, make sure the
Replace box is empty, then click Replace All
added to each file in the collection. Click
OK, then click again within the library,
outside of your selection, to deselect the:
files. Now right-click the first track of the
audiobook, flowed by Song Info, This
calls upa similar box, which contains the
info you entered previously, This time,
focuson the track numbering boxes. You
need fa make sure the tracks are played
In the correct order, which you can do
by numbering each one sequentially,
separately from the filename, The tenth
line of boxes shows two inputs, beside
“irack’ and ‘of (see screenshot below}. If
‘you're working with the frst file in the
audiobook, enter‘I" in the ‘track’ box,
‘Number the tracks sequentially to make sure
they're played in the correct order
Now youneed to deal with your single
catiage returns, which appear atthe end
cof eachtine. Replace “p’p with ust *p inthe
"Find what box Hand“ with a single space
Inthe ‘Replace with box FL Once again, cick
Replace All and Word will remove al ofthe:
paragraph breaks andreplace them with
‘ingle spaces, converting your dacument
Into an unbroken block of text.
Fall, reinstate the gaps between
your actual paragraphs by replacing
“pinthe Find wnat box with "Hand
the single space in the ‘Replace wit’ box
‘with “p E. Click Replace Al Word will now
find each instance of three asterisks and
‘swaps them out fora paragraph break.
Save the processed fle
‘Your book is now a itle ver 813,000 characters. Prior to being
reformatted, t was almost 841,000. Naturally, $13,000 is stil too
‘many characters to convert tothe spoken word in one go, but by
‘splitting the book into a litle more than 16 parts, you can convert tin
‘chunks, Each will act as a natural audio chapter, allowing youtto more
‘easly skip to specic parts,
and the total number of tracks inthe ‘of
box, then click OK. Repeat this process
foreach track in your audiobook
Now connect your iPhone or iPad to
your PC using its USB cable and, when it
appears in the iTunes sidebar, select all
the files that comprise your audiobook
and crag them on to the iPhone/tPad
fcon to transfer them, When they've
completed their journey, disconnect the
phone. The files will now appear in your
Phone's or iPad's Music app,
Ityou have an Android device,
download Google's Music Manager app
from sewwsnipca.com S074 (is free
to upload 50,000 tracks). Go through
the instructions and, when asked where
you would like toadd music from, click
“Other folder’, then navigate to the folder
containing your converted audiobook
files. Click Select to choose the folder,
then click through the instructions,
leaving the settings at their defaults.
(Once you've cleared the last screen,
Music Manager will upload your
audiobook to your online Google Account,
Click °Go to masie player’ once i's
completed.
“Music Manager opens your library ina
Next issue: Find out who's really spamming you - then block them
The Toles of the Sea
Transfer your audiobook to an Android device
by uploading it to Google Play Music
browser window, where your new album,
will be shown at the start of the contents,
At present, it won't havea meaningful
‘name, 50 click the three dots in the top-
right comer and pick ‘Edit album info
from the menu, In the box that appears,
speeily the artist as Vietor Hugo and the
alburn name as ‘The Toilers ofthe Sea
(ee screenshot above.
‘Your amendments will be updated
coniine and, when you open the Play
‘Music app on your phone, the audiobook
‘will now be properly indexed. Tap the
three lines at the top of the screen to
‘open the memu, then tap ‘Music library’
Now tap Aliuams on the bar ranning.
across the top and scroll down to "The
‘oilers ofthe Sea’.
20November-3December2019 37 Workshop 1
Check who’s using USB
sticks on your PC
What you need: USBDeview: Windows 7,8.10r 10,
Time required: 20 minutes
[Fsomeone gains access to your PC in
Jorder to steal your files, the likelihood
Is they'll copy them {oa USB stiek. Free
NirSoft tool USBDeview lets you see
which USB sticks have heen used with
‘your PCand when, revealing any
siete an,
eeaeeaonmeenntan
unauthorised use of your computer.
Also, should! you forget which USB
stick you moved a file to, USBDeview
lets you generate a log so you can
quickly identify which stick was
connected at the time.
oleae ncaas
omens
—
You'll mow see a log, shiowing all USB devices that have
been used on your PC (connected! and disconnected).
Those highlighted in green are currently attached to
‘your computer, Along with USB sticks, the ist will include
‘other devices, such as keyboards and mice. To narrow it to USB
sticks, click Options, then untick ‘Display Devices Without Port!
Serial Number’ EL. You may still find non-USB sticks are stil
displayed (such your laptop's integrated webcam). You can
‘reorganise the columns by dragging their headers EI Icft or right.
Alternatively, click View then Choose Cokumns and untick any
you don't want to see.
A
38. 20Noverber ~3 December 2019
Soo &
‘Take a moment to review the list of USB sticks, paying
particular attention to the manufacturer name listed in
the Deseription column B. Ifyou spot one you don't
recognise, ou can check when it was last used on your
computer. When we tried It, we found the Last PlugyUnplug
Date Bland Created Date Bl imestamps had been switched, with
the Created Date actually showing the last time the USB stick
had been used (and vice versa). This glitch appears to only affect
certain PCs, so we recommend testing it on yours by plugging in
then removing one of your USB sticks maltiple ties, then
~ taking note of how the timestamps update,
3 eS
highlight the stick in USBDeview again and select Enable
eines
‘esau
facaaaaa|
‘USBDeview instantly updates
whenever you connect or remove
a USBstick, However, you can
take a snapshot and save it at any time by
exporting the listas an HTML Gi, Click
View then “HTML Report ~All Items’
and the report will open in your default
Drewwser BL USBDeview overwrites the
previous report whenever you create a
new one - to keepa specific report for
future reference, press Ctrl» in your
browser to save it (Edge doesnt let you
save pages, so you'll need to print it and
select PDF as the output)
petreserrrayy
You can also use USBDeview to Bnd information about
‘your USB devices and your computer's USB ports.
Double-click a USB stick or device that’s currently
‘connected to your PC (a Samsung phione in our example KB) to
‘view all available information. Here, we can see aur phone is
‘using a USB 2.1 connection B. However, when plugged into a
different port on aur laptop, it jumped to the faster USB 3.1.
Using a similar method, you can identify which ports on your
‘computer are best to use for copying large files. 2
3
Next issue: Combine old hard crives to keep your files safe
By USBDeview also lets you organise your USB sticks by
assigning permanent drive letters to them, To do this,
insert your USB stick into your PC, right-click its entry
and select Change Assigned Drive Letter Ener the drive letter
{you want to use, then click OK. fhe drive lrterisalready in
tase, soul be prompted to enter another. Now, whenever Sou
insert the same stick ft wil alays use this dive eter.
20Novenber-3December2019 39 Workshop 2
Combine multiple clips
into a single video
What you need: Video Combiner: Windows 7.8.1 0r 10
Time required: 15 minutes
{sso easy to record high-quality video seamless video using the free Video
jon your phone that you'll often end up Combiner tool. Unlike most video
‘with lots of small clips particularly editors, won't bombard you with
when returning from a day out. I'you confusing settings or complicated
want to share the best ones with friends, transitions. Simply Import the videos
don't swamp them with individual clips. to combine, change their order, then.
Instead, combine them into a single, export toa single file,
Goto Video
Bp Combiner, then follow the installation process Bland
launch the program, Next, you need! to get your videos
from your phone to your PC ~ in this example, we're using a
‘wired connection, so we connect our phone (a Samsung Galaxy
$8) to our PC using a USB-C cable. The type of cable you use
‘will depend on your phone, but you should have received a
‘compatible cabie when you bought the phone. Now unlock your
phone, which lets you access the les on I.
feaonmeny oper
40. 20November - 3 December 2019
AFile Explorer window may appear on your PC when,
you connect your phone; if not, press Windows key*E
to open one. In the list on the left, select This PCH,
then look for your phone in thelist of crives. liek your phone's
icon, then navigate to the folder that contains the video. On
four phone, it’s the \DCIM\Camera folder. Next, click the View
‘menu, choose Details 6, then click the Type column Eso that
all your videos (usually MP4 fies) appear together; you may
need to scroll down to view them. Now hold Ctrl and click each
video you want to combine EL
Dos
= ea You should have Video Combiner running (sce Step 1)
fot, launch it now from the Start menu. Next, select
all the videos in the new folder you created ("Videos to
in the order in which they will be combined I. To re-
‘ext now seal your videos sein Video Combiner
5 order the videos, select the one you want to move, then
‘combine’ in our example). Ifthe folder onty contains your use the green up and down arrow buttons EL Ifyou want a
Videos, is quickest to select them all by pressing Cirl+A. Now video to appear twice, simply crag and drop it into the Video
drag and drop them into the Video Combiner window Combiner window a second time. To add another video clip,
press the Add button at the top El or just drag and drop i into
the window as before. "To remove a video from the list, selec it,
‘then click the delete button EL
_most appropriate settings for the output fe, but you
‘can adjust these if needed. For example, you can
choose the Output Format (Including popular formats such as
Mp4, AVI and MOY) as well as the Screen Size Bk be aware that
changing this size from the recommended Fit Max Width may
result in borders around your video of sections clipped off I
you do this and want to view the entire video, tiek the Seale
Videos option £1, which will squash or stretch your videos to
‘ideo Combiner wil select what it believes tobe the
3
‘When you're ready to create the combined video, choose where to
save it, then click the Combine Videos Now button Hl (don't make
the same mistake as us and click the green arrow top right,
because this closes the progam and clears your video list, meaning you
hhave to go back to Step 4). A green bar appears atthe bottom indicating
progress Bl. Once finished, your combined video will appear in the folder
‘you specified uncer the name combined! Video.mp4 (the fle extension will,
vary depencling on what output format you chose in Step 6).
Next issue: Create Hollywood-style video effects for free 20November-3December2019 41 Readers’ Tips
bi eae a cL
Skip and re-read sentences in Narrator
In Issue 565 Howard Gatting asked
readers for more tips for Windows
‘Narrator. 'm lappy to oblige. I's
probably the tool I use most in
Windows, so with every update |
check to see iT anything new has been
added tot
I recently discovered some new
keyboard shortcuts that skip and
re-read sentences. To do this, you frst
hhave to know what key acts as Narrator
im shortcuts. By default, this is the Caps
Lock or Insert key. You ean change this
to something more suitable in Narrator
settings, but Caps Lock is fine for me.
‘Toskipa sentence, you press the
Narrator keyCtes, (ull stop). This is
useful when you want to skim-read (or
skim-hear, [suppose) a document, Just
keep your fingers on the Narrator key and
(Gur, then press the full-stop key to skip.
Ty real the previous sentenice, press M
Instead of the full top,
Incidentally | ound these new
shortcuts in the ‘What's new’ section of
Narrator, which many people may not
have noticed. To get there, open Narrator
‘then click the ‘What's new’ heading,
‘which is under the feon of a loudhailer
(see screenshot). [hope Howard and
other readers find these as useful as Ido,
Jeremy Kendall
Se ACU Rakes ccd ot Lo)
PC GAMES.
Play Microsoft Flight Simulator
in Internet Archive
Wp | the lite reference i issue
565 (page 6) about 2,500 new
MS-DOS games being available on the
Internet Archive. I's shame you didn't
20 into more detail because readers
‘might not appreciate how many great
Why I stopped using.
TeamViewer
‘Twas using TeamVlewer (www.
scamylewer.com) to remotely
access PCs used by friends and family.
know more about computing than
they do, so used it to help them
perform tricky tasks.
‘And what | use instead...
However, wouldn't call myself
computer expert, and after awhile T
42. 20November - 3 December 2019
games are included.
‘To tempt people in, let me just
provide links to two great games
that I bet Computeractive readers
will enjoy: Microsolt Flight
Simulator from 1998 (wwvesnipea,
‘com38053, pletured left) and
Scrabble from 1987 (wwwsnipea
com 33054). Youve gat to leve those
blocky graphics!
Nicholas Cooper
ONLINE MAPS
Download screenshots of
WW2 air raids
Fo Tank yor the news story in
Issue S66 (page 7) about the map of
air raids during World War 2. Ifyou open
the settings, you'll find a quick way (0
take and download a screenshot of the
became bewildered by TeamViewer's
numerous settings and buttons. 1
switched to AnyDesk (https://anydesk.
omen) because it seemed simpler,
and so ithas proved.
‘map. Vist the map (wwwsnipea.
‘com/4052) then zoom into the part of
the UK you want to take a screenshot of
Next, click the Export Map Image (camera)
fcon on the right (see sereenshov), You'll
see several options, including downloading
aan Image of the map without any
cluttering menus,
Maurice Lyons
In fact, when you first open
AnyDesk the interface isso minimal
that you may think its not working,
properly. But itjust shows you what
you need - the code on the left (see
screenshot) to allow access, and a
bar (o drag and drop files
‘TeamViewer, by contrast, is simply
bafiling,
Pete Deane
Tus ny youstoppedusinga webste app
or procrartersatcompiteractve ok Handy hints and tips from your fellow readers
[Email us your tips: letters@computeractive.co uk
IMAGE EDITING
Take scrolling screenshots
on your PC
“This ist an earth-shavering tip,
BA ur joty gla rve ciscovered it
Jn PlePick dhitps:/picpickapp), my
favourite sereenshot program, You ean
takea screenshot of a serolling window
As you take it, the screen moves down as
it by magte, capturing al oft es very
clever.
To use it, open PicPick, then click
Seroling Window inthe Sereen Capture
section. bar will appear at the top of
Your screen, Click the Captute Seralling
‘Window icon, which fsa bie down:
arrow ina document, You'l see a red
border appear around the sereen you
want to capture. Click inside this and i
serell down without you doing ans thing
Once finished it wall appear in aPicPick
‘aiing window, where You can make
tweaks and save it
Barry Williamson
PC SEARCH
Include OneDrive files when
searching your PC
T hope Will Staley’ enjoyable
BM picce on NirSof’s SearchMyFiles
{Issue 565, page 20, ws wsnipca
com/32942) will encourage more people
{o use this great ite program, Wil
didn’t mention a box you can tiek to
make the software also search OneDrive
files synced to your PC. I's the Scan
NTFS symbolic links jantion points?
box, which you'l se halfsy down on
—
Reader recommends...
Netgear Orbi Outdoor RBS5OY
£235 from wwwsninca.com/31688
FO |r tom nomen a garden
shed that I converted into an
office. I's cosy and I can play my own,
music without bothering the wife,
boul the most important things that it
_gels good! WI-FI via Neigear’s Orbi
‘Outdoor unit.
‘You reviewed this in Issue 5S1, and it
sounded exactly what I needed,
‘beeause I already had set up Netgear's
‘Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi system
‘throughout my five-bedroom home.
‘use an extension lead to place itina
‘protected location in the garden, near
the shed. Eventually Pl probably get
around to sticking it on a wall.
| was sceptical of your claim that it
could boost speeds to 450Mlops, but
‘that’s precisely what I'm getting. I
the right (see screenshot below left).
thought it would be a useful tip
because [bet most readers wouldn't be
able o work out what it does just by its
‘name. Not that Pm claiming to be a tech
‘wizard or anything, only found out
what it does by reading NirSoft’s notes on
the program, available from the ink
above.
tan Wits
SOFTWARE
Search saved copy in Ditto
clipboard
Sometimes i feels like
FY] Sometimes
(Computeractive can read my mind,
Forages 'd been looking for a good
replacement for Windows’ clipboard, and
then you present me with the software
565 (Workshop, page 38)
It works a treat, just as you described.
Just one thing: in the Workshop
{ntroduetion you mention that you can
search previous copy you've saved to the
clipboard, but teasingly failed to explain
how. Ifany other new Ditto users want to
do this, just open the program andl type
{in the Search bar at the bottom. The
results will appear in red above.
Its a great way to retrieve content you
know you saved days, weeks or even
‘months ago.
‘Adam Barclay
consistently get this, with only the
‘occasional dip.
‘Without wanting to sound like an
advert for Netgear, Pd say it's an
essential purchase for the increasing
army of self-employed shed-workers!
‘Alan Gil
warttorecommenthardaee or sottrre
totellw reader? Emadleters@
PHOTO EDITING
Add backgrounds without
searching the web
BJ |
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