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Twelve South makes MacBook cases that look like beautifully aged antique leather books. The cases are pricey, but they have kept my MacBook ding-free and might even have prevented a robbery. Unlike most cases, the Twelve South versions actually look better with use. They acquire a unique patina that personalizes the cover and makes it your own. Light scratches in the leather give it character, rather than looking messy. Pricey but Unique I’m using BookBook, which costs $99....

In a study of human-chatbot interaction from ResearchGate, researchers found that participants who interacted with a bot designed to be as “human” as possible reacted negatively, experiencing a sense of discomfort from the interaction. So, some bot designers have concluded that it’s essential to keep their creations from promising too much. “When customers think that a bot is human, or capable of human-level interaction, they will often speak to it in a much more roundabout way,” Pranay Jain, co-founder and CEO of Enterprise Bot, a company that builds bots for companies, said in an email interview....

The video conferencing company said its new service will allow people visiting offices to check-in without physical contact. All you have to do is start a Zoom call to speak to a human receptionist in a remote location. Experts say video services can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 once people return to offices. “Any way we can limit physical contact right now will help stop the spread of COVID-19,” Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs, a company that makes video conferencing cameras, said in an email interview....

A new study says that phone manufacturers and developers aren’t doing enough to preserve the anonymity of users. Researchers found people can now be identified with just a few details of how they communicate with apps. The news comes amid growing concern about the diminishing level of privacy on the internet. “Most people don’t know what information can be used against them until it’s already too late,” John Bambenek, a researcher at the cybersecurity company Netenrich, told Lifewire in an email interview....

The gamer-nerd term for this sort of game is a “Metroidvania,” which is a portmanteau of the two most famous entries in this particular sub-genre. They’re action-adventure games focused on exploration, where you slowly work your way into every corner of an open-ended sprawling map full of dangers and treasures. Like its predecessor, the 2015 indie megahit Axiom Verge (which you don’t have to play first), AV2 tilts closer to the Metroid than the -Vania....

All of the free word processors below can create, edit, and print documents. Many of them can open and edit Word documents, automatically check your spelling, use a wide selection of free MS Word templates, create tables and columns, and much more. Our top picks for a free word processor are the first ones on the list. These have the most features and we suggest checking them out first to see if they’ll fit your word processing needs....

A few of these websites also offer free online Easter invitations, making it easy to invite friends and family over for an Easter egg hunt, Easter brunch, or other Easter celebration. These sites may even collect RSVPs for your event. Cards range from fun and cute Easter greetings and invitations to more religious and meaningful options. Send your best wishes or invite friends and family over for an Easter egg hunt or brunch....

The best part is that you don’t need to be an audiophile to make these adjustments. Read on to understand the simple ways to get the most out of what you already own. Select a Room With Good Acoustics Just like how a speaker or receiver creates the foundation for good audio output, room acoustics play an equally important role. In some cases, the space and layout of a room have a greater effect on the overall quality of music and audio in your home theater—even more than the components combined....

At least, that’s what experts suggest Apple would be hoping for with its recent acquisition of a UK-based startup called AI Music. The company had been working on using AI to shift songs, essentially generating unique music. AI experts believe the acquisition puts Apple in a position to push the boundaries of AI-generated music. “AI as an analytical tool has seen profound success with big data,” Abhishek Choudhary, founder of AI-enabled edutech platform AyeAI, told Lifewire via LinkedIn....

This year’s winner of the AI Song Contest, in which machine learning was used to create music, was recently announced. “Listen To Your Body Choir” was co-written with artificial intelligence and takes inspiration from the song “Daisy Bell,” the first song to be sung by a computer in 1961. But is a computer program really capable of being creative? “The short answer, right now, is ’no’ or at least ’not yet,’” Chirag Shah, a professor in the Information School at the University of Washington, told Lifewire in an email interview....

Apple’s Magic Keyboard case (with trackpad) is the best iPad Pro accessory around. It truly transforms the device, turning it into a capable laptop replacement. It’s also more expensive than some laptops. The 12.9-inch version costs $350 and is now obsolete. So, should you just ditch Apple’s version and try an alternative? “It doesn’t completely put me off the new iPad Pro because I would be buying it for unrelated reasons, but I completely understand how it would be a dealbreaker for some people,” Rex Freiberger CEO of Gadget Review, told Lifewire via email....

One of the latest attempts at outfoxing hackers has arrived in the form of a first-of-its-kind security chip from Microsoft, called Pluton. It’s included in the AMD Ryzen 6000 processors, which power the Lenovo ThinkPad Z series laptops unveiled at CES 2022. “It is designed to store sensitive information securely in your computer, like passwords and biometrics, so transactions can occur without the threat of being compromised by a threat actor,” Morey Haber, chief security officer at BeyondTrust, explained to Lifewire over email....

AMD Ryzen vs. Intel: Overall Findings When comparing AMD Ryzen and Intel processors, it’s important to keep in mind it’s not really a question of which one is the best. They’re both great processors in their own right, and generally speaking, PCs that use either one tend to perform well. But if you have specific computing needs in mind or if you plan on using your PC mostly for one specific task, then there are real differences in performance between AMD Ryzen processors and Intel processors....

Apple has ditched the Siri remote, is adding back ports on the next MacBook Pro, and has put a fingerprint reader on the iPad. Then there’s the colored iMac, the return of MagSafe, even the inclusion of an Ethernet port on a power brick. The company seems to be reversing almost every bad design decision it made over the last decade. What’s next? “I think that Apple’s reversal of previous design decisions stems from listening to what their customers are saying, sharing, and commenting on online,” Viscosoft CEO Gabe Dungan told Lifewire via email....

Apple announced recently that Apple Music subscribers would be able to listen to music with lossless audio. The new feature is available for Apple Music subscribers starting this month at no additional cost. At launch, 20 million songs support lossless quality, and Apple says it will support all songs on ‌Apple Music‌ by the end of the year. Some audio geeks lament the current state of audio formats in which files are compressed to make them smaller....

Weighing in on Bitdefender’s announcement to retire its popular free antivirus product, cybersecurity experts feel that although the company officially says it’s retrenched the product to focus on multi-platform protection, Bitdefender’s hands could have been forced by factors that are plaguing other vendors as well. “The malware problem has become too large and too costly to manage for a free product. More than a million new malicious programs appear every month....

The Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i are headphones designed to be free of compromise. These aren’t just premium on-ear headphones, but also a luxury product that commands a luxury price tag. The question is, can they meet the expectations that accompany their high cost? Design: High-class materials My first impression of the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H8i was the sheer quality of their construction. The genuine leather of the headband and earcups, as well as their metal frame, make it clear these headphones are built to last....

What Types of EV Batteries Exist Right Now? There are four main types of batteries that exist today: Lithium-ion batteries (the most common),Nickel-metal hydride batteries (used more often in hybrid vehicles, but also power some EV vehicles),Lead-acid batteriesUltracapacitors. These batteries haven’t changed much but, fortunately, newer and faster ones are being developed that could appear on the market in the not-so-distant future. On the horizon NAWA Technology’s Ultra Fast Carbon Electrode, which is like a battery booster, is said to be one of the fastest batteries in the world....

Finding stuff on the internet is pretty easy. What’s hard is finding that exact web page you knew you were reading last week. You know what it was about, but no matter how hard you try or how much time you spend, you just can’t find it in your history or even a regular search. Journeys is a new feature in Google’s Chrome desktop browser that fixes that. When you type in a word from a previous research session, Journeys asks if you want to “resume your research” and takes you back to where you left off....

What Is a CSV File? A CSV file is a comma-separated values file. It’s a plain text file that can contain numbers and letters only, and structures the data contained within it in a tabular, or table, form. Files ending in the CSV file extension are generally used to exchange data, usually when there’s a large amount, between different applications. Database programs, analytical software, and other applications that store massive amounts of information (like contacts and customer data), usually support this format....