If you’re new to setting up or troubleshooting your Wi-Fi connection, you might be wondering what a network security key is. Luckily, it’s not as confusing as it sounds – your network security key is essentially just your Wi-Fi password.
Of course, it’s not actually that simple – if it were, we wouldn’t need another word for it. A network security key is a specific type of password that allows your Wi-Fi router to talk to the device you’re using, and allows you to use the internet securely.
What to know about network security keys
Network security keys have become more sophisticated over time, and there are now a few different kinds that work a few different ways. Knowing what kind of network key your router uses can be important for setting it up and solving issues.
There are three common types of network security keys.
How to find your network security key
Depending on which security key you go with, your password might be located in a couple different places – most of the time, default WEP keys can be found on a piece of paper given to you by the network owner with the router. Default WPA/WPA2 keys are usually printed somewhere on the side of your router, often on a sticker.
If you’ve forgotten your Wi-Fi password, it’s not the end of the world. As long as your computer is already connected to the router, you can pull the password up that way instead – this works on a Mac or on a PC. You can also share access with others across Apple devices, whether you’re using a Mac or an iPhone.
How to create a strong password
Network security keys are an important part of keeping your network protected – and in a world where we do most of our business online, that protection is more important than ever.
Making sure you select the highest security network you can is part of that, but another part is selecting a good password. Experts say that a strong password has as many of the following qualities as possible:
Is 12 characters or longer (the longer the better)
Uses a mix of numbers, letters, and symbols
Doesn’t use common substitutions (like zero for “O,” $ for “S,” et cetera)
Doesn’t use an easy keyboard path (like “asdfjkl,” “qwerty,” or 123456)
One of the most highly recommended ways to create a secure password is to make it a random combination of words that one might not usually find together, or else a simple sentence. For example, security experts would likely say that “PeanutButterManPants” and “PutThatDownJordan” are both strong passwords. Add some numbers or symbols and you have one of the best possible defenses against hackers.
Even if you’ve never used Reddit, you’ve no doubt heard of it; it’s one of the largest sites in the US, and with more than 2 million “subreddits,” it has a stunning depth and breadth of content.
With all that activity, it’s not surprising that Reddit has become a hub for digital piracy, and the site has struggled with managing copyright violations for several years. A subreddit called r/piracy (all subreddits begin with an “r/”) in particular has become the focus of some unwanted attention.
Reddit’s piracy subreddit, explained
While other subreddits have occasionally shared copyrighted material, the r/piracy forum is, by design, for individuals interested in the tools, techniques, and resources of online piracy.
With more than 640,000 members, it was created in 2008 with the mission of being “a community dedicated to the discussion of digital piracy,” according to its own description. That you can find discussions of the vulnerabilities of piracy laws on Reddit is unsurprising.
“Google ‘reddit piracy’ and you’ll find lots of active links, where Reddit users openly discuss the weakness and vulnerabilities of various piracy laws,” said Monica Eaton-Cardone, chief operating officer of Chargebacks911.
Given the subject matter, the piracy subreddit attempts to thread a particularly precarious needle. According to the rules of the subreddit, “submissions must be related to the discussion of digital piracy.” The rules of the forum specifically prohibit activities like linking directly to pirated media, requesting activation keys, asking others to download pirated content, or asking how to pirate specific copyrighted works (though generalized conversations about pirating techniques are acceptable).
A scan of r/piracy reveals an active community (at any given time, there are more than 1,000 users online) with threads about a diverse range of topics, including tips and tutorials on using popular tools and utilities, troubleshooting tips (“why are my 4K movies purple?”), and news about sources for copyrighted content.
Unlike many online forums elsewhere on the internet, though, r/piracy is a moderated community (Reddit moderators are unpaid volunteers from the community) and the discourse is largely civil and on-topic.
The state of piracy on Reddit
Reddit has been attempting to address piracy on its platform for several years, with serious efforts to mitigate copyright infringement beginning around 2019. Eaton-Cardone said, “Reddit has banned some of the more blatant abusers – /r/NFLstreams, /r/NBAstreams, /r/soccerstreams, /r/UFCstreams, /r/WWEstreams – but Reddit is one of the largest sites in the world. Policing it is extraordinarily difficult.”
Nir Kshetri, a professor at the Bryan School of Business and Economics, explained why Reddit was compelled to act: “When it was shut down, r/NBAstreams had 474,000 subscribers who could access pirated NBA content for free. The subreddit r/soccerstreams had more than 400,000 subscribers who had access to pirated soccer streams.”
Rather than shutting down r/piracy outright, as happened with those other subreddits, Reddit decided in 2019 to delete all of r/piracy’s posts and comments created prior to September 2018 – a decade’s worth of content, erased from the Reddit archives.
In Reddit’s transparency reporting, it’s clear that the platform has been increasing its content monitoring exponentially. In 2018, Reddit received 9,534 copyright notices, which resulted in 26,234 content removals. In 2019, Reddit received 34,989 copyright notices, which resulted in 124,257 content removals – nearly five times that of the year before. In 2020, Reddit received 86,866 copyright notices and removed 375,774 pieces of content – three times as many as in 2019.
Based on the takedown requests – and actual takedowns – Reddit appears to have a piracy problem, and r/piracy moderators have existential concerns about the future of their subreddit. “We are now on thin ice,” moderators wrote in one post, and added that the subreddit is in jeopardy. “We definitely do not want to be banned like r/megalinks, which was a subreddit specifically tailored to providing links to pirated content.”
Cleansing Reddit won’t eliminate piracy
Even if members appear to follow guidelines and avoid posting links to copyrighted material, some users say that the subreddit is still a direct vector to piracy.
Will Peach, a fourth-year medical student who regularly uses the r/piracy subreddit, said, “It happens via the backdoor. Recommendations are made in various threads and then DMs [direct messages] are sent privately. Piracy happens via other portals, like Google Drive. But it almost always starts on Reddit.”
Reddit moderators appear to be enforcing guidelines in hopes of staving off a full shutdown of the r/piracy subreddit, yet they’re also planning for the worst.
Allan Borch, founder of the tech marketing blog Dotcom Dollar, said, “[They] already have a list of forum replacements, including rival discussion site Raddle.me.” Referring to the purge of posts older than 2018, Borsh added, “Indeed, those posts 10 years in the making aren’t actually gone. They’ve already been archived on GitHub. Piracy might move away from Reddit, but that doesn’t mean it’s dead.”
How many speakers do you own? If you count your phone, computer, TV, car – there’s probably more than you think. Speakers are basic equipment for anyone who wants to listen to music, watch TV, or even browse the internet.
But for audiophiles who value having a quality sound system, speakers aren’t so basic. Deciding what equipment you’ll need for the best sound possible can get complicated, especially if you’re new to audio tech.
One of the best kinds of speakers you can get to immediately enhance your sound is a subwoofer. These reinforce the bass and richness of whatever you listen to.
Here’s everything to know about subwoofers, including how they work, where to use them, and what kind to get.
What is a subwoofer?
Every sound in the world has a frequency. Higher-pitched sounds have higher frequencies, and vice versa.
Regular speakers and surround sound systems can’t properly reproduce low frequency sounds. This makes a lot of music and movies sound flat.
A subwoofer (or “sub”) focuses on producing the lower frequencies within music, known as the bass and sub-bass, amplified through the woofer.
While regular speakers can allow you to hear the bass, a subwoofer enables the listener to feel the sound. The frequency range, specifically between 20 to 200 hertz, highlights instruments within that range like bass guitars, pipe organs, and kick drums. It also enhances deep voices and movie sound effects like explosions.
If you’ve ever gone to a movie theater and felt your chair shake when something big happens on screen, it’s probably because of subwoofers.
Depending on what devices you already have for your sound system, a subwoofer may be the perfect addition. Subs take away the strain your speakers are under to reproduce the audio’s complete sound, allowing you to not only hear but feel how a director or artist intended for you to experience their work.
Where to use a subwoofer
Deciding what kind of subwoofer you need may take some time. But here are a few tips for those looking to add a subwoofer to either a home theater or car stereo system.
Home theater subwoofer
In general, a home theater subwoofer integrates into your central sound system, increasing the width and depth of a system’s soundstage.
The sound waves created are omnidirectional and bounce around the room. Both the room size and furniture arrangement can affect audio, with bass frequencies being sensitive to room factors. There’s a chance the waves bounce into each other, making standing waves or bass nulls.
Standing waves: These waves are determined by the size of the room and length of the soundwave, creating an excess of bass energy producing a ‘boomy’ effect that lacks definition.
Bass nulls: Occurs when reflecting soundwaves cancel each other out, creating a dead spot.
Related Article Module: The 5 best home theater systems of 2021
Installing a subwoofer into your home might take some work. Try placing it in different spots around the room, like corners surrounded by a sound-absorption device or a filled bookshelf to help reinforce the bass. Understanding the environmental factors in your home, like its natural acoustics, will help you find the optimal position for your home theater.
Car subwoofer
Have you ever pulled up alongside another car playing music so bass-heavy that your car shakes? That’s what a good subwoofer does.
Cars come with a factory standard sound system based on their make and model. Most sound systems need to be professionally installed, especially as cars become more advanced.
These are some key factors to consider when shopping for a car subwoofer.
Size: The bigger the subwoofer, the richer the bass, so space is essential for placement in your trunk or under a seat.
Enclosure type: There are two types of boxes that contain the subwoofer. A sealed enclosure creates deeper bass and is recommended for audio targeting all frequencies. Ported enclosures are louder and are suited for genres like rap and house music.
Power: RMS, or average power levels, are connected to the power handling of a subwoofer. A higher RMS means more bass.
Sensitivity: Determines how much power a sub requires to produce a particular volume, expressed in sound pressure level or SPL. High SPL ratings are more sensitive and require less power to produce high volumes.
Impedance: The subwoofer’s electrical resistance is measured in ‘ohms’ – the impedance of your amp and sub need to match.
Once the correct specifications are chosen and installed, you’ll notice a richer sound. Subwoofers offer a better bass response, allowing you to listen to sounds your speakers couldn’t reproduce alone. With quality subs in your car, the chance of your music sounding distorted at high volumes is significantly lower.
Popular types of subwoofers
If you have a better idea of what and how subwoofers work, you’ll probably need to understand the two types of configurations – passive and active.
A passive subwoofer’s power source is an external amplifier with enough power to maintain bass effects through the subwoofer. An active subwoofer has an amplifier built-in, and requires an AC power source or outlet. Active subwoofers will usually be more powerful than passive ones.
Outside of those configurations are various styles of subwoofers, with each style serving a different purpose.
Ported: An extra port or hole that allows air to escape to boost the bass level. Sometimes referred to as ‘bass reflex’ speakers, these subwoofers give a rich and thick sound.
Sealed Cabinet: A subwoofer without a port or passive radiator. The sound loses depth but is well-rounded with fewer booms and peaks.
Passive Radiator: A port is replaced with two passive radiators not wired to the amp. This allows sound to escape with better range and is common in Bluetooth speakers.
Front/Down Firing: This sub is based on the placement of the speakers. Front-firing has speakers pointed forward with the sound coming from the front and sides. Downward directs the sound to the front and ground, ideal for elevated speakers.
Bandpass: Separated by two chambers with one part with a port to release radiation from the front cone, this subwoofer allows you to specify the bass levels you want to be reproduced through the speakers.
Horn Loaded: It uses sound that would usually leak and spreads it out in various directions through a longhorn speaker. This sub type is known for being the loudest of subwoofers.
Each style of subwoofer has a specific environment it works best in. When buying a new sound system, consult with an expert or sales representative about your individual situation.
Once you have all the necessary information, you can start building your sound system to experience sound the way you’re meant to.
OptiFine is a versatile program that many “Minecraft” players can’t imagine going without, particularly when playing on a less capable computer. It’s a “Minecraft: Java Edition” optimizer, allowing computers with less memory and less powerful graphics cards to run the game more smoothly.
OptiFine also gives you access to tons of new texture packs and HD shaders to make your game look as good as possible, as well a few useful new gameplay mechanics, including the famous “OptiFine Zoom.”
It’s different from mods in how it’s installed and runs, but is similar in that it changes how the game looks and works.
Here are two ways to install and use OptiFine, depending on whether or not you want to use it with other mods.
How to install and run OptiFine in ‘Minecraft’ without mods
1. In a web browser of your choice, navigate to the OptiFine downloads page. If you aren’t running the most current version of “Minecraft,” click “Show all versions” to find and select your version.
2. Click “Download” next to the version of OptiFine that you want. Click “Skip” in the top-right corner after a brief countdown if you’re taken to an ad break page.
3. Click “Download” when you’re redirected to the OptiFine download, and save it anywhere you can find it. You may see a warning about your download from your browser and/or computer, which you can safely disregard.
4. Navigate to the downloaded OptiFine file, which will be an executable .jar file. Double-click the file to open the installer and click “Install.” You should then see a message saying OptiFine has been successfully installed.
5. Open your Minecraft Launcher, and in the drop-down menu to the left of the “Play” button, make sure that “OptiFine” is selected. Once it is, click “Play.”
6. When “Minecraft” loads, select “Options…” from the main menu, then “Video Settings.” You’ll know that the OptiFine download was successful if you see added options like “Shaders,” “Details,” and “Animations.”
How to install and run OptiFine to work with ‘Minecraft’ mods
1. Follow the first three steps to download OptiFine as shown above. If you haven’t already, download Minecraft Forge as well. You can follow our guide here.
2. Open the Minecraft Launcher app.
3. In the drop-down menu near the green play button, select “forge” then click “Play” to launch.
4. You’ll see the “Mods” option in the Minecraft main menu. Click it, then select “Open mods folder.” Java will automatically open the mods folder created by Forge.
5. Drag and drop the .jar OptiFine file that you downloaded into this mods folder.
6. Close “Minecraft” and relaunch it, again running the Forge installation version. This time on the load screen, you should see the message “Found 2 modfiles to load” pass by, indicating that OptiFine has been incorporated into Forge.
7. You can check that it’s been installed correctly the same way as before: By going into the main menu and selecting “Options…” then “Video Settings.” If there are additional options like “Shaders,” “Details,” and “Animations,” then OptiFine is installed.
How to get started using OptiFine
OptiFine adds a lot of new options and settings to your game, so it can be a bit confusing to jump right in. Here’s some of the basic features, explained.
When “Minecraft” first came out, there wasn’t any way to beat the game. You just played as long as you wanted – or until you fell into a ravine and died. But a few years into “Minecraft’s” life, the developers added a final boss: the Ender Dragon. Once you beat this flying titan, the credits roll, and you get an achievement for beating the game.
To reach the Ender Dragon, you’ll need to build a special structure known as an End Portal. The End Portal gives you direct access to “The End,” the dark dimension where the dragon lives.
If you’re playing in Survival or Hardcore mode, you’ll need to find a broken End Portal underground and repair it using Eyes of Ender. In Creative mode, you can just build one using materials from your infinite inventory.
Whatever your style, we’ve got you covered with steps to find an End Portal in Survival mode, or craft one in Creative mode.
How to find and make an End Portal in “Minecraft’s” Survival mode
In “Minecraft’s” default mode, Survival, several broken End Portals are generated underground as soon as you create your world. To use them, you’ll need to find the underground stronghold and repair them with Eyes of Ender.
Fortunately, you don’t have to aimlessly strip mine the map to find a stronghold. Strongholds can be located using those same Eyes of Ender.
Finding the End Portal
To find the stronghold, you’ll need Eyes of Ender, which act as magic compasses of sorts for finding strongholds.
This’ll take some work, though. Here’s the step-by-step.
Making the End Portal
Once you’ve reached the portal room, you’re almost done. For safety, fill in all the lava and destroy the monster spawner. This will prevent any unfortunate accidents.
At the top of the staircase is the broken End Portal. The portal’s entire frame is there, but a number of Eyes of Ender will be missing. Carefully fill in all the missing pegs with Eyes of Ender to activate the structure.
Once you’ve placed all the pearls, you’ll hear a loud booming sound, and darkness will fill the portal. Once you jump in, you’ll be taken to The End, and the final boss, the Ender Dragon.
Make sure you’re ready to face it before you step inside, because once you do, the only way back is by dying or winning.
How to make an End Portal in “Minecraft’s” Creative Mode
The frame pieces of an End Portal can’t be crafted. However, in Creative mode, you can find these frames in your inventory (as well as Eyes of Ender) and place them freely.
This means that you don’t need to hunt for an End Portal – you can just make one from scratch.
1. Open your infinite inventory and grab your materials. You’ll need 12 Eyes of Ender, and 12 End Portal Frames.
2. Now let’s start building. To easily make sure that the frames are placed correctly, dig a 3×3 grid in the ground and stand inside of it.
3. Position yourself within the grid and face outward, and then place End Portal Frames along the edge of the grid. How you place the frames matters – the sides of the frames with extra green need to be facing the inside and outside, not toward the blocks next to them. Standing inside the grid should ensure they’re placed correctly.
4. Now get out of the grid and start placing your Eyes of Ender in the frame. As soon as you place the 12th and final Eye, the portal will activate. Jump in, and you’ll be transported to The End.
Secure Boot is a feature of your PC’s UEFI that only allows approved operating systems to boot up.
It’s a security tool that prevents malware from taking over your PC at boot time.
While it’s not recommended to disable Secure Boot, you can customize the certificates it uses to authenticate which operating systems are approved on your PC.
Secure Boot is a feature found in the startup software for your computer that’s designed to ensure your computer starts safely and securely by preventing unauthorized software like malware from taking control of your PC at boot-up.
If you’re using Windows 10 and a modern PC with UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, the low-level software that enables your computer to boot), then you’re automatically afforded protection from illicit software attempting to take control of your computer when it starts up.
How Secure Boot works
Before Secure Boot, the computer’s BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) would hand off control of the PC to any bootloader that was located in the right location on the hard drive. There was no way for the BIOS to validate or authenticate the software, so anything could boot the PC – Windows, other operating systems like Linux, and even malware.
That’s no longer the case. Secure Boot is a feature in UEFI, which has replaced the BIOS on the vast majority of PCs in use today. While the BIOS was commonly used in computers from the first PC until the 2000s, today virtually all PCs use UEFI. You may have seen the UEFI interface if you had to access the startup menu by pressing a keyboard shortcut (usually F1 or F2) when the computer is first turned on.
Secure Boot establishes what programmers refer to as a “trust relationship” between the UEFI and the operating system that it launches at boot time. To do this, the launch software is signed with pairs of public/private security keys. The operating system’s private key is “whitelisted” by UEFI. If UEFI has approved the key, the software (like Windows 10) can launch.
Windows 10 ships with a certificate that’s stored in UEFI; this serves as the key that allows it to boot. Likewise, other reputable operating systems (like Linux) can also acquire a key and register with UEFI, allowing them to boot securely as well.
Conversely, if malware tries to install a bootloader on your PC to take over at startup, it will not have a signed key, and UEFI will not allow it to launch.
Secure Boot is an important safety and security feature found on most modern PCs – it prevents unauthorized software like malware from taking over your PC when it turns on. It’s a feature in your computer’s UEFI designed to authenticate security keys on compatible software like Windows 10.
Sometimes, though, you might need to disable Secure Boot. This might be the case if you need to install an operating system or other bootup utilities that are not compatible with Secure Boot. Only Windows 8 and Windows 10 have Secure Boot certificates, for example – if you needed to install Windows 7 on a Secure Boot-enabled PC, you would need to disable Secure Boot.
Please exercise caution before doing this, though. Secure Boot is an important element in your computer’s security, and disabling it can leave you vulnerable to malware that can take over your PC and leave Windows inaccessible.
A monitor’s refresh rate measures how frequently the on-screen image is updated.
You can change the refresh rate on your monitor through your display settings, though it may be limited by the monitor, graphics card, and screen resolution.
A typical refresh rate is 60Hz; slower refresh rates can look jittery, while higher refresh rates are desirable for gaming.
Your display’s refresh rate is a measure of how frequently the on-screen image is updated. Refresh rate is measured in hertz (Hz), which indicates the number of times per second something occurs. So a 60Hz display is one that has a refresh rate of 60 times per second.
Understanding monitor refresh rates
Most people don’t need to worry much about refresh rate, especially when using a computer for ordinary productivity applications. That’s because computer displays typically have a refresh rate of 60Hz – that’s the default for many monitors – and that value is perfectly adequate almost all the time. It’s fast enough that there’s no obvious blurring or “image tearing” when there’s on-screen motion. Below this value – 30 Hz, for example – you might see some stuttering or jitteriness when things are moving on the screen.
Higher refresh rates are of interest to gamers, though. Because many video games rely on fast-moving visuals, many computer displays are optimized for gaming with very high refresh rates – 144Hz, 240Hz, and even 360Hz. For gaming, the higher the refresh rate the better.
There’s also a relationship between screen resolution and refresh rate. Because a computer only has so much bandwidth for the display, you might find that at higher resolutions, your display can’t run at its maximum refresh rate. If you are adjusting these settings, you might need to make a choice between, for example, an HD (1920×1080) display at 144Hz or a 4K (3840×2160) resolution at 60Hz.
Depending on your monitor or laptop display, you might be able to adjust the refresh rate. Some displays aren’t running at their highest refresh rate by default, for example, and it’s adjustable in the system settings. If you try to increase the refresh rate but it won’t go as high as you think the monitor is designed to go, you might need to lower the resolution to make a higher value become available.
Google Images is a great place to search for pictures and photos by typing in relevant keywords. But you can also search Google using an image – called a reverse image search – to find out more information about a specific photo or graphic.
Here’s why you might want to use it and how to Google reverse image search on a desktop web browser or the Google Chrome mobile app on your iPhone or Android.
What is a reverse image search?
When you do a reverse image search on Google, you place a photo, or a link to a photo, in the search bar instead of a text query. Google then finds websites featuring your image as well as related images.
Google Images also detects the subject of your photo and brings up other websites related to your image topic.
Google reverse image search on iPhone or Android
First, you’ll need to download the Google Chrome mobile app to do a reverse image search on your mobile device.
Then, you can reverse image search on iPhone or Android using a photo from the internet or a photo from your camera roll. Here’s how to do it.
To reverse search using an image from the internet
2. Tap the icon of three horizontal dots in the bottom-right corner.
3. In the pop-up menu, scroll down and select “Request Desktop Site.”
4. Now the Google Images page will look as it does on a desktop browser. In the Google search bar, tap the camera icon.
5. Select “Upload an image” and tap “Choose File.” Alternatively, you can choose to “Paste image URL.”
6. In the “Choose File” drop-down, you can select “Photo Library,” “Take Photo or Video,” or “Browse.” Select “Photo Library” to choose an image from your camera roll.
7. Select an image from your camera roll and tap “Choose” in the bottom-right corner.
8. You’ll then be taken to a page containing similar images or information about the image.
Google reverse image search on a computer
You can do a more robust Google reverse image search on your computer by uploading a file from your computer or searching for an image you find on the web. Google Images works with Chrome, Firefox, and Safari browsers.
To reverse search using an image from your files
1. Open images.google.com in a web browser – it doesn’t have to be in Chrome.
2. Click the camera icon to start a reverse image search.
3. Select the “Upload an image” tab, then select “Choose File” to browse your files and pick an image to search. Or drag and drop an image file into the browser window.
4. Find an image from your files, click it, then select “Open.”
5. You’ll then be taken to a page containing similar images or information about the image.
To reverse search using an image from the internet
1. Find the image you want in Google and right-click on it.
4. Click the camera icon to start a reverse image search.
5. Select the “Paste image URL” tab and paste the URL.
6. Click on the “Search by image” button, and you’ll be taken to a page of results related to your image.
It’s also possible to Google reverse image search on your computer in two more ways.
You can use the “Upload an image” tab to drag and drop an image into the search box. Or, on the Google Images search results page, right-click on an image and choose “Search Google for image.” This will open a new tab with the search results.
If you decide you don’t want your Snapchat account anymore, it’s easy to delete it. However, you can only do so on the Snapchat website, which means you’ll need to know your login information.
Keep in mind that once you complete these steps, your Snapchat account won’t be deleted right away. It’ll be deactivated for 30 days, during which time you’ll have the option to reactivate your account before it’s permanently deleted.
Here’s how to delete Snapchat and deactivate your account.
If you decide to reactivate your Snapchat account before 30 days have passed, you can do so by simply logging back in with your username and password. It may take up to 24 hours for your account to reactivate.