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How to Find Your Lost or Stolen Android Phone

You’re having a night out. With dinner down the hatch, you’re walking down the street with your sweetheart to the next destination. You reach into your pocket to pull out your phone, when that feeling hits the pit of your stomach: your phone is missing. Did you leave it at the restaurant? Or maybe at home? Did someone steal it? Your mind races. You have no idea. Fortunately, there are some things you can do in this situation to hopefully get your phone back. How to Find Your Phone From Your Computer There’s a good chance you’ve stumbled across this article after having lost your phone, so instead of telling you what you should’ve done before losing it, let’s get right to it: you want to know what to do right now. The good news is that you can quickly find your missing handset with Google’s Android Device Manager, even if you don’t have the app installed. Grab your computer (if you don’t have your computer, see the next section), connect to the internet, open Chrome, a...

Are Cheap Android Phones Worth It?

    Cheap Android phones are quickly becoming commonplace—for as low as $99, you can get a reliable, initially-impressive handset that you’re free to take to a bunch of different carriers. While these bargain-bin devices are definitely appealing, you have to ask yourself: is it really worth it?   What Makes a Cheap Phone a Cheap Phone? Let’s start with the obvious: cheap phones are cheaper for a reason. There has to be something that separates a $99 phone from a $700 one, and–in most cases–it’s probably a few things. Here are a few areas the manufacturers tend to cut costs.   Hardware Most of the time, affordable phones have either current low-end hardware, or higher-end hardware from two or three years ago. This is one of the most effective ways to keep costs down, but that always means performance takes a hit. In addition, the cameras are usually of lower (but generally passable) quality, and the screens don’t commonly have the high pixel ...

Ubuntu 16.04 Makes Ubuntu Exciting Again

 Ubuntu hasn’t had the best reputation among Linux users over the past few years–with some even going so far as to call it “boring”. If you’ve been hesitant to try it out, then hold on to your seats–Ubuntu 16.04 “Xenial Xerus” is not only an exciting release, but one that has the potential to be a game changer for the Linux ecosystem. Ubuntu first leaped into the Linux world in 2004 and with it, completely changing the face of Linux taking it from the days of “only usable by experienced geeks” to the era of “Linux for Human Beings”. Now, 12 years later, they just might be on the verge of repeating that lightning in a bottle that took it from a brand new small project to becoming the most popular distribution of Linux. Ubuntu 16.04 was released today, and with it comes a ton of improvements throughout the distro. There are many changes that improve the usability and experience for the end user as well as potential landmark changes that might pique the interest of even the most...

What is Alphabet, Google's new company?

Google just announced a major overhaul of its corporate structure. As part of the change, the company that used to be called Google going to become a new holding company called Alphabet . Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are recognized for their efforts at the conclusion of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, September 22, 2006. Former US President Bill Clinton's annual event brings together world leaders from business, government and philanthropy to try to solve world issues. Shareholders will get one Alphabet share for every Google share they previously owned. The executives in charge of Alphabet will be the same execs in charge of Google today -- CEO Larry Page, President Sergey Brin, Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, CFO Ruth Porat, and chief counsel David Drummond. Alphabet includes the following entities: A smaller company called Google, headed by CEO Sundar Pichai, that includes the company's core businesses. Those businesses: ...