You may never have heard of the Hi5 social network, but it’s been around longer than Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Tumblr, and Pinterest, and it’s still going strong. A Brief History of Hi5 Hi5 became one of the most popular social networks in 2007 when it experienced a huge growth spurt with much of that popularity coming from Central America. The site got its name from a feature that gave members the opportunity to give their friends virtual high-fives....

Application of Home Theater The application of home theater can vary widely. With a little planning, assembling your home theater can be easy, resulting in an organized, functional, and visually pleasing setup. Custom Home Theater An elaborate, custom-built home theater could cost thousands of dollars and include the following: High-end large screen TV or projector,Blu-Ray Disc/Ultra HD Blu-ray player,Media serverCable or satelliteSeparate amplifiers for each channel controlled by a preamp or controllerIn-wall speakersAnd a couple of subwoofers (some people include up to four subwoofers in their setup)....

Here we’ll look more closely at some of these features. Blinkfeed With a quick swipe to the left, you’ll discover a cool feature called Blinkfeed—a one-stop shop for news and social networks. Here, you’ll receive status updates, videos, and news based on your interests. Blinkfeed can also integrate with other third-party apps, like Foursquare and Fitbit, to add more functionality. Need restaurant recommendations? Blinkfeed can do that, too. Picture-in-Picture Mode Suppose you’re watching a video on YouTube and maneuver to another app on the phone....

Mini LED vs. Standard LED Mini LEDs work similarly to the LEDs used in LED TVs, QLED TVs, and most PC monitors but are much smaller. The standard-size LEDs used in LCD TVs and PC monitors are about 1,000 microns (0.04 inches) in size. Mini LEDs measure about 200 microns (0.02 inches). The Mini LEDs’ smaller size means several thousand can be placed on a backlight panel (depending on the TV’s screen size) instead of tens or hundreds of standard-sized LEDs....

What Is Output Impedance? To understand output impedance, we need to lay out some basic electrical engineering. When you transfer electricity from place to place via a wire or another conductive material, not all of the energy gets through. Think of it like pouring hot water over coffee grounds and a filter in the morning; most of the water gets through, but not all of it. Thus, you’re going to lose some of the energy, often in the form of heat....

What Is Opera? The original Opera web browser was released in 1995, as the result of a research project of a Norwegian telecommunications company. Since that time, the browser has received multitudes of updates in response to new innovations, and to keep pace with new technological innovations. Opera has a fast development cycle and experiments with new features and updates every two weeks. Opera’s Top Features for Functionality Opera has many outstanding features, but one of the best is Opera’s battery-saving technology....

Venmo is undoubtedly convenient, and it offers industry-standard security, but like any app or software that deals with finance, it’s not impervious to scams and fraud. How Can You Use Venmo? In general, you can use Venmo in two different ways: Pay back friends and family for shared expenses.Purchase products or services from Venmo partners. Examples of how you might use Venmo include: Sending your roommate your share of the rent....

What Will You Use It For? This is most likely the easiest question you’ll need to consider before purchasing video capture hardware. Most people go in knowing what they need and the features they’ll require. Do you just need to back up the raw video so it’s safe and sound? Do you want to be able to edit the files afterward? If you simply want to capture and save your videos, just be sure that the device saves them in a format that can be easily played back....

The chip, which was revealed along with Macbooks and the Mac Mini that are powered by the novel silicon, was designed by Apple itself instead of Intel. The M1 is specifically designed for the Mac OS and also means that the Mac will be able to run iPad and iPhone apps. There’s nothing else quite like the M1 on the market, observers say. “With the introduction of ARM laptops, Apple has introduced vertical integration to the laptop space,” Simha Sethumadhavan, Associate Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University, said in an email interview....

Although Apple has been previously hailed as one of the only Big Tech companies that actually care about user privacy, the new CSAM-scanning technology introduced last week is putting a big wrench in that. Experts say even though Apple promises user privacy, the technology will ultimately put all Apple users at risk. “Apple is taking its step down a very slippery slope; they have fleshed out a tool which is at risk for government back doors and misuse by bad actors,” Farah Sattar, the founder and security researcher at DCRYPTD, said to Lifewire in an email interview....

Medical centers around the country are doing everything from shutting down their email systems to backing up patient information in preparation for ransomware attacks. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a warning regarding ransomware activity targeting health care facilities. Criminals are targeting hospitals because they are more likely to pay the ransom than other types of institutions, observers say. “With the risk of networks staying down for hours or even days, hospitals simply cannot afford the time it would take to recover if they did not pay a ransom,” Justin Fier, the director of cyber intelligence and analysis at cybersecurity firm Darktrace, said in an email interview....

Wi-Fi 6 is the latest Wi-Fi protocol, and it’s optimized for connecting lots of devices, and for ignoring the neighbors’ Wi-Fi packets. This, along with increased bandwidth, should make your connections more consistent, faster, and better. That’s fine, but the next Wi-Fi version, 6E, adds support for extra radio bands, and will be better still. “[Wi-Fi 6] feels like a bit of a Band-Aid solution to me, a short-term fix,” technology writer Andrew Liszewski told Lifewire via Twitter....

In fact, it did once power an iPhone. The monitor’s A13 Bionic chip is the same chip found in the iPhones 11 and the 2021 iPad. And remember the Mac DTK, the Mac mini with an iPad chip inside, for developers to work on Apple Silicon before the M1 Macs launched? That ran on an even older chip. So, why is Apple using iPhone chips inside a monitor? “Undoubtedly, Apple Silicon makes it easier to add software updates to the Studio Display,” business and computer science specialist Simon Bacher told Lifewire via email....

Facebook, which purchased WhatsApp in 2014, said the app is now being used to send about 100 billion messages per day in its third-quarter earnings update on October 29. Yet, while WhatsApp now counts 2 billion users per month, only about 20% of American adults said they used WhatsApp in a 2019 Pew Research Center survey. By comparison, 69% reported using Facebook and 73% YouTube. “So, it’s a combination of marketing, interface design, and user needs that have come together to make this much more popular across the world,” S....

The Virtual Reality Church only meets using headsets. It’s part of a growing movement to expand religious services to an increasingly tech-savvy religious audience. There may even be benefits to virtual services over in-person ones, observers say. “VR has no physical restrictions and allows for hosting services for as many people as you need,” virtual reality developer Yury Yarmalovich of HQSoftware said in an email interview. “On top of that, virtual spaces can be customized in whatever way the user wants....

PayPal recently began allowing customers to purchase some cryptocurrencies as part of a growing movement to make investing in crypto easier. But be careful whose advice you take when investing. “There seems to be no shortage of self-styled crypto investment ’experts’ offering advice on social media and forums, all promising to know the secret formula to crypto investment success,” David Janczewski, co-founder and CEO of crypto software firm Coincover, said in an email interview....

Twitch emailed its users last week to inform them it’s recently received 1,000 new DMCA takedown requests relating to the unlicensed use of music, all of which were related to VODs. In general, this means fan-created clips and archived recordings of live footage. This is the latest chapter in an ongoing struggle between Twitch, its users, and the music industry, which has seemingly been scouring Twitch for any sign of unlicensed music for most of the last year....

Apple and other companies are warning of manufacturing constraints due to a shortfall in critical components. Microprocessors, essential to smartphones and many other electronics, are in high demand and in short supply. “Overall, consumers should be prepared to pay more for smartphones and wait for some time to get the phones they want,” Nir Kshetri, a business professor who studies chip supplies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, told Lifewire in an email interview....

Many people avoid the number 13. But will this really impact the sales of the next iPhone? And what about other parts of the world? Is 13 considered unlucky everywhere? And how has Apple handled odd product numbering in the past? “There are a few instances where people have to avoid using the number 13 for superstitious reasons,” Katherine Brown, founder of remote monitoring company Spyic, told Lifewire via email....

When Was the Xbox Series X Released? The Xbox Series X became available worldwide on November 10, 2020. Its sister console, the Xbox Series S, was released the same day. The Series X is fast-loading with truly stellar graphics. We tested it out and were impressed with it over the PS5. Xbox Series X Pricing The Xbox Series X is priced at $499. While that’s how much it will cost to buy the system outright, it isn’t your only option....