Many of us have come to rely on the Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Cmd+Z (macOS) undo shortcuts to get us out of trouble when a key tap accidentally wipes out three hours of writing or a misplaced click has suddenly turned a photo entirely green. But if you need to retrace more of your steps over a longer period of time,…
THE TECHNOLOGY in modern home appliances has breathed new life (and plausibility) into the old saying “If these walls could talk.” Your fridge and smart speaker may not have mouths, but they have an internet connection, and that can be more dangerous than the sharpest of tongues. Tech companies and manufacturers have made it seem like privacy is just a…
Check out all our anniversary coverage here. The first edition of Popular Science hit newsstands in May 1872, with founding editor Edward Livingston Youmans acknowledging the publication was “experimental” and hoping he, his staff, and the public would “give it a fair trial.” That experiment is still running 150 years later, and we’ve kept our records tidy. Anyone with an internet…
Google is now making it possible for people to ask them to remove sites from search results that list more types of personal information than they previously did, including details like your phone number or physical address. This is big as, until now, Google would only delist links with information that could actively be used to steal your identity or…
This story has been updated. It was originally published on February 3, 2020. You’re standing on the street when a total stranger walks up and asks if they can borrow your phone to make a call. Theirs died, you see, and they have to tell whoever they’re meeting they’ll be sitting in the back. Or you’re talking to a friend…
Google has a new method for tracking user interests on Chrome, the latest update in its years-long quest to ditch the cookies that are used to personalize ads. In a blog post Tuesday, product director Vinay Goel explained that the feature, called Topics, will assign websites into broad categories such as sports or literature. The company currently has about 350…
If you would rather square off against 100,000 hungry Everglades mosquitoes on their home turf than see your own face on video, a “cameras must be on” mandate is enough to get you buzzing with anxiety. Sure, some people love to stare directly into their own eyes while someone else talks, but that’s not you. Thankfully, most major video calling…
Part of Google Chrome’s appeal as a web browser is its huge library of extensions—add-ons that cover page layouts, bookmark management, online security, and so much more Creating Chrome extensions usually requires some programming ability, but Google has launched a tool that gives anyone this power, no coding required. It’s called Tab Maker, and it focuses on the New Tab…
This story has been updated. It was originally published on November 4, 2019. Choosing a good password means finding a careful balance between something simple you won’t forget, and something complex that no one will ever guess. Reusing passwords across multiple accounts is a tempting way to ensure you won’t get locked out of your favorite platforms, but this is…
Google was recently awarded a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) covering its invention of an air-, motion- and radar-based gesture control system which could one day find its way into everything from computers, to smartphones, smartwatches, appliances and more, allowing “touchless control” of key features and functions. Now, Reuters is reporting that the Mountain View, California search-giant this week received…