Competent Machines Search Results

News: Everything You Need to Know About the iPhone XR

The iPhone XR has touched down alongside the XS and XS Max, and it utilizes tried and tested materials found on the iPhone 8, while being molded in the same vein as the iPhone X. The budget-friendlier flagship comes with its own set of design elements to set it apart from its more expensive brethren, but is powered by the same SoC, making it is a solid choice if you're thinking of upgrading.

News: Everything You Need to Know About the iPhone XS

Apple's successor to the iPhone X is a beautifully made smartphone with much of the same characteristics, including a 5.8-inch OLED screen, two storage choices, and Face ID. But many features set the iPhone XS apart from its predecessor, as well as the other 2018 lineup of iPhones, making it a worthy choice to upgrade to if you're in the market for a new mobile device.

How To: Attend Defcon Without Looking Like a Noob or Spending a Fortune

Defcon is the largest hacker conference with something for everyone, whether it be the talks, parties, villages, or any of the hundreds of events. In this guide, we'll take a holistic view at everything that goes into attending the con for the first time, from securing your electronics and making the most of your time to the logistics of getting there and finding the right place to stay.

How to Hack Wi-Fi: Automating Wi-Fi Hacking with Besside-ng

Besside-ng is the hidden gem of the Aircrack-ng suite of Wi-Fi hacking tools. When run with a wireless network adapter capable of packet injection, Besside-ng can harvest WPA handshakes from any network with an active user — and crack WEP passwords outright. Unlike many tools, it requires no special dependencies and can be run via SSH, making it easy to deploy remotely.

How To: 11 New Features on iOS and iPadOS 18 That'll Make Apple Notes Your Go-To Productivity App

Still on the fence about Apple's native Notes app? The latest Notes update for iPhone, iPad, and Mac is about to change your mind. With some fantastic new features and plenty of valuable tools from previous software versions, Notes is becoming a clear winner when it comes to saving important information from your personal and professional life.

How To: You're Using Lidar on Your iPhone and iPad — And You Don't Even Know It

Lidar, a technology first used by meteorologists and aerospace engineers and then adopted in self-driving vehicles, has slowly crept into consumer electronics over the last five years. If you have a Pro model iPhone or iPad, there's a good chance it has a lidar sensor, and you're likely using it whether you know it or not.

How To: Make Google's Messages App on Your Phone Write or Rewrite Text Messages for You Using GenAI

Text messaging is a core component of the mobile experience, and Google has added several AI-fueled features to help you text better, such as Smart Reply for quick response suggestions. But Messages by Google's newest AI-powered tool is possibly the best one yet, giving you improved response suggestions and your own personal copyeditor to fix all your message drafts.

How To: Apple's New Cutout Tool Magically Isolates Subjects and Removes Backgrounds from Images on Your iPhone

One of the most useful new features Apple included on iOS 16 lets you instantly lift the subject out of a photo, separating it from the background. Once extracted, you can paste, save, or drop the cutout wherever you want as a new image, and you can even make it a sticker in messaging apps.

How To: Assign Each App on Your iPhone a Background Sound to Set the Mood

You can play background sounds on your iPhone to help you focus, stay calm, or fall asleep, giving you a personal sound machine wherever you go. Even better, there's a way to set each of your apps to play one of Apple's six ambient soundscapes automatically. When you open the app, its assigned sound plays, then it stops when you exit or switch to another app.

How To: Your iPhone's Weather App Has a Crazy Number of Customization Options You Probably Didn't Know About

Apple's Weather app has been around forever, at least for iPhone, and it's gone through many design changes over the years. But we're at a point now where we can actually customize how the Weather app looks and feels in many different ways, some of which you probably haven't even considered.

How To: Use Your iPhone's Hidden Microphone Effects to Improve Your Audio in FaceTime, Zoom, and Other Video Calling Apps

Being seen clearly is an essential part of any video call you're on, but being heard is equally important. Lousy audio from your side can ruin the experience for others on the call if they can't understand you or hear the sounds they need or want to hear. To improve your audio feed during FaceTime, Google Meet, Instagram, WhatsApp, Zoom, and other video calls, unlock your iPhone's hidden audio filters.

How To: Quickly Break Down Any Article Online into Short, Accurate Summaries to Save Time Reading

If you're like me, you don't have time to sit down and leisurely read an entire article from start to finish — but you still want to be informed throughout the day. Instead of just browsing the daily headlines, there's a free service that will summarize any article you throw at it, giving you a better idea of what's going on without committing to reading an entire article.

How To: Perform Advanced Man-in-the-Middle Attacks with Xerosploit

A man-in-the-middle attack, or MitM attack, is when a hacker gets on a network and forces all nearby devices to connect to their machine directly. This lets them spy on traffic and even modify certain things. Bettercap is one tool that can be used for these types of MitM attacks, but Xerosploit can automate high-level functions that would normally take more configuration work in Bettercap.

How To: The Not-So-Obvious Way to Use AirPods with Your Nintendo Switch or Switch Lite

The Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite are console gaming on the go — with zero regards for modern audio features. Headphone jack? Check. Bluetooth connectivity? Not so much. While Nintendo seems to think we're all happy to live like it's 2015, there's a way to use your AirPods with your Switch or Switch Lite for wireless and convenient entertainment.

How To: Separate Vocals & Instrument Tracks from Your Favorite Songs to Make Karaoke Music or Play Along with the Band

Adobe Audition, Audacity, and other audio editing software have tools to isolate vocals and instruments in regular songs so that you can get an instrumental track for karaoke, vocals for an a capella version, or solo drums, bass, keys, etc. that you can use to learn the song yourself. The software is mostly for desktop computers, and it doesn't always do a good job, but that's where Moises comes in.

How To: 15 New Safari Features in iOS 14 That Will Change the Way You Surf the Web

Nearly every native app on the iPhone received an upgrade or new features in iOS 14 — and Safari is no exception. The web browser now has better password protection, faster performance, privacy reports, and built-in translations, just to name a few. Some of the Safari updates went unnoticed by many, but they're there and ready to use in iOS 14.

How To: 16 New Apple Maps Features for iPhone in iOS 14, Including Cycling Routes, New Widgets & City Guides

Once the laughing-stock of the navigation app market, Apple Maps is now a powerful, reliable travel companion. Apple rebuilt the platform from the ground up, placing the app in league with Google Maps. That said, there's always room for improvement, as demonstrated by its impressive new features set in iOS 14.

How To: Crack Password-Protected ZIP Files, PDFs & More with Zydra

Everybody knows not to store sensitive information in unencrypted files, right? PDFs and ZIP files can often contain a treasure trove of information, such as network diagrams, IP addresses, and login credentials. Sometimes, even certain files that are encrypted aren't safe from attackers. That's where Zydra comes in — a tool for cracking RAR files, ZIP files, PDF files, and Linux shadow files.

How To: Conduct a Pentest Like a Pro in 6 Phases

Penetration testing, or pentesting, is the process of probing a network or system by simulating an attack, which is used to find vulnerabilities that could be exploited by a malicious actor. The main goal of a pentest is to identify security holes and weaknesses so that the organization being tested can fix any potential issues. In a professional penetration test, there are six phases you should know.

How To: Program MicroPython NeoPixel Holiday Lights to Animate However You Want

Individually addressable LEDs, also commonly called "NeoPixels" after the popular Adafruit product, are a bright and colorful way to get started with basic Python programming. With an inexpensive ESP8266 or ESP32 microcontroller, it's easy to get started programming your own holiday lighting animations on a string of NeoPixels with beginner-friendly MicroPython!

How To: I Tried 5 Different Pomodoro Apps Over 5 Days — Here's Which Helped Me Get the Most Done

Procrastination is an ugly beast. At first, it seems so innocent to spend five minutes checking Reddit or Twitter. You'll get started on work right after. Next thing you know, it's 1 a.m. and that paper is due in seven hours. Before you start another YouTube video, know you don't have to be like Spongebob. You can be like me, taking control of your productivity with the right app.

News: New iOS 13 Features — The 200+ Best, Hidden & Most Exciting New Changes for iPhone

Apple's iOS 13 has been available for beta testing since June, and the stable release pushed out to everyone on Thursday, Sept. 19. To help you make the most out of iOS 13 for iPhone, we've rounded up everything you'll want to know, whether a colossal feature, small settings change, interface update, or hidden improvement.