Mike Tee, Author at Make Tech Easier

How to Password Protect Your Excel Workbook or File

Mike Tee — Sat, 11 Jun 2022 15:25:00 +0000

Although cloud-based solutions and budget apps are trying to steal Excel’s thunder, it still remains the king of accounting, charting and data organization. With millions of people worldwide using MS Excel, many forget to utilize its formidable security feature: adding passwords and making it read-only.

This will ensure that the only people who can tamper with your spreadsheet are those you give express permission to do so, locking customization of your sheet behind a secure encrypted password. Here’s how to do it.

Content

Why Lock an Excel Workbook
How to Save an Excel Workbook as Read Only
How to Unprotect an Excel Workbook
Frequently Asked Questions

Why Lock an Excel Workbook

Protecting an Excel workbook with a password can work in two ways:

Prevent unauthorized... Read more

11 Strategies to Find Great Deals and Save Money

Mike Tee — Sun, 29 May 2022 15:25:00 +0000

Deal, sale, special offer, buy now, all of these phrases are words that are meant to grab our attention and click the “Buy” button. Between Amazon, Walmart+ and retail shops all around us, it’s easy to impulse buy as soon as you think something is a good deal. The reality is quite different after a few minutes of research. This article will help you out and tell you if something really is a great deal. Read on to learn whether you should jump on a low price or keep waiting.

Content

1. Integrate Cashback into Your Browser
2. Never Pay Full Price
3. Use a Price Comparison Tool
4. Look for Coupons First
5. Save Money with Discounted Gift Cards
6. Add Items to Your Shopping Cart and Wait
7. Follow Discount Sites/Deal-Hunters
8. Wait for Specific Times to Buy
9. Check for Veteran, Education, and Other Discounts
10. Search a Deal Website First
11. Using the Right Credit Cards
Frequently Asked Questions

What is Bluetooth Used For? 7 Uses for the Wireless Technology

Mike Tee — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 06:25:00 +0000

Bluetooth, the wireless technology that enables you to create a wireless connection between two devices, is more useful than you might think. In most cases people use Bluetooth technology for connecting their smartphone or computer with an audio device for wireless audio transmission.

However, Bluetooth (which is now in its 5th iteration and has existed since 1998) has actually grown into a pretty universal technology. Here are some great uses for Bluetooth other than wireless audio transmission.

Content

1. Remote Controls
2. Bluetooth Tethering
3. Transfer Files Between Two Devices
4. Play Multiplayer Mobile Games Over Bluetooth
5. Connect Different Devices
6. Control Smart Home Systems
7. Bluetooth and Cars

1. Remote Controls

For years, Bluetooth has been wrestling with good old-fashioned IR (infrared) technology as the main... Read more

How to Automatically Change Cell Color in Google Sheets

Mike Tee — Sun, 13 Feb 2022 16:25:00 +0000

Sometimes using color-changing cells in a spreadsheet can be a handy visual aid for quickly assessing data. If you’d like this feature on Google Sheets, it’s very easy to set it up so that a cell changes color depending on the data.

How to Change Cell Color in Google Sheets

For this example, let’s make a spreadsheet for recording how many miles I’ve run in a week. I’m trying to get into shape, so I made the following spreadsheet to track how my runs have gone:

Ideally, I’d like to run 10 miles every week, then record each week to see which weeks I did well and in which I didn’t achieve my goal. To make it... Read more

8 Best Android File Manager Apps in 2022

Mike Tee — Sat, 12 Feb 2022 16:25:00 +0000

One of the downsides of Android compared to desktop operating systems is its apparent lack of options to deep-dive into the OS and manually manage your files. While an unrooted Android OS doesn’t, by default, offer many of these options, there are many very good file manager apps that will give you that granular control you want.

Whether you want to explore the root directory of your phone, encrypt apps, or just manually move, create and delete folders on your device, these file manager apps will see to your needs.

1. Files by Google

Want to keep things super-simple? If you don’t want to download third-party apps to your phone, then you can just stick with Google’s Files app, which is built-in on most stock Android devices or can be downloaded from the Play Store for others.

How to Type Special Characters, Emojis, and Accents on Windows

Mike Tee — Sat, 05 Feb 2022 22:25:00 +0000

Unless you communicate in some cryptic hieroglyphic script, odds are that most characters you type are the standard alphanumeric ones available on your keyboard. Every now and then, however, you may find yourself in need of some less common symbols (like €, ó, á, ₩, ü, ฿) or even emojis like this ambivalent squid: ?. Windows comes preloaded with quite a few different ways to type special characters, symbols and emojis, though, so that won’t actually be too difficult.

1. Character Picker

The most straightforward way to type a special character in Windows is the built-in picker. It contains a massive selection of emojis, symbols, and kaomoji (emoji made with Japanese... Read more

The Best Weather Widgets for Your Website

Mike Tee — Sun, 30 Jan 2022 16:25:00 +0000

If you are looking for a way to include the weather on your website, you may immediately think about looking for one from the Weather Channel. But unfortunately, the Weather Channel does not currently have its own weather widget. They may be releasing one at some time this year, but what do you do in the meantime?

Luckily, the lack of a widget from the most popular weather outlet gives us a chance to see what else is out there. Let’s take a look at some of the alternatives.

1. Weather Atlas

If your site uses WordPress, then you can’t go too wrong with the Weather Atlas widget, which gives you a simple, boldly colored widget that you can resize and fill with all the essential weather information – from temperature, humidity, wind and pressure to, well, the weather.

How to Drop Pins in Google Maps for More Accurate Directions

Mike Tee — Sat, 08 Jan 2022 16:25:00 +0000

If you’ve ever wanted to use Google Maps to drive to a place that does not have a specific mailing address, you may remember the frustration it causes. Looking for areas of parks, camping sites, or a particular location with a fabulous view can be difficult, and sharing those with others even more so.

Google Maps makes this easier to do by dropping pins onto their maps in any location you want. Dropping pins is the term used to locate a place on a map that is not identified by a searchable address. You can drop pins and then save or share them or create navigation routes using those pins.

You can drop pins and use them on Google Maps on either Android or iPhone or your laptop computer.

Content

Dropping Pins on Mobile
Dropping Pins on Your Computer
Dropping Pins on Custom Maps
Other Custom Maps Options

How to Check for Controller Deadzones in Windows

Mike Tee — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 22:25:00 +0000

Have you ever experienced a problem where a controller doesn’t seem to fully register when you push the analog stick in one direction? You may be suffering from a deadzone, but there’s no easy way to figure out what the problem is. Let’s explore what a deadzone is and how to detect one in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

What Is a Deadzone?

When your analog stick has a deadzone, it doesn’t fully register input when you push it in a specific direction. No matter how hard you push the stick, the controller acts as if you’re not fully pushing it – if at all.

This creates some annoying issues while playing games. When you try to move your character or the camera around, it doesn’t feel as if your actions are properly translating to the game.

How to Detect a Deadzone

How to Convert and Save WEBP Files to JPG

Mike Tee — Sat, 25 Dec 2021 22:25:00 +0000

Webp is a file extension developed by Google. It is a format that is of superior quality and smaller in size. Google developed this new image format to reduce the size of the image without needing to sacrifice image quality. Recently, a lot of websites are making use of the Webp image format.

The problem with it is that it won’t open in a normal image viewer – for instance, Adobe Photoshop or the Windows 10 Photos app. The solution to this is converting this Webp image to JPG. This article will show you some of the best tools to convert and save Webp files to JPG.

Content

1. Google's WEBP Photoshop Plugin
2. iLoveIMG
3. FreeConvert
4. Tinyimg
5. Aconvert
6. OnlineImageTool

1. Google’s WEBP Photoshop Plugin

Before moving onto online solutions and third-party tools, wouldn’t it be great if you could open Webp files directly through Photoshop? Well, some Google developers with a bit of time on their hands made this a reality. Yes, that... Read more

What Does It Mean When Data is “Roaming?”

Mike Tee — Sun, 19 Dec 2021 20:25:00 +0000

If you’ve poked around the inside of your phone’s settings for a while, you may have come across a setting called “data roaming.” If you enabled it, you might have seen a scary pop-up message saying that turning this option on may incur significant network charges. As far as explaining what data roaming is, however, phones typically don’t tell you what it’s used for. So, what is data roaming, and why would you enable it if it could incur these charges?

Content

What "Roaming" Is
How Data Roaming Works
The Result
What Are These "Significant Charges"?
Does This Affect WiFi?
Data Roaming Between UK and EU

What “Roaming” Is

First, let’s tackle what it means when your phone is “roaming.” Roaming is when your phone leaves the range of your network... Read more

Android Device Overheating? – Here’s How to Cool It Down

Mike Tee — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 01:25:00 +0000

Once I used my smartphone’s flashlight for a while because I needed to light my way in a power outage. Since I was holding it by the sides, I didn’t realize how hot my phone was getting. When I finally remembered where I put the flashlight for these kinds of situations, my phone was so hot I couldn’t even hold it in my hand anymore.

There are always going to be situations or apps that cause our devices to overheat, but knowing how to cool down a hot Android device is a must. The first thing we have to figure out is where the heat is coming from. This is going to determine where the problem is located which will help us find the right solution.

Content

Check Which Apps are Using Most Battery
Don't Use Third-Party Chargers and Cables
Cool Your Android Device with Cooling Master
Keep Your Device in a Cool Place
Never Cool Down Your Android Device this Way
How to Prevent Your Android Device from Overheating

Differences Between UEFI and BIOS, and Which One You Should Use?

Mike Tee — Sat, 27 Nov 2021 01:25:00 +0000

UEFI vs. BIOS, which one is better and which one you should use? It’s a good question for anyone who wants to find out how the underlying hardware works so they can personalizing the nuts and bolts of their personal computers. In short, UEFI is newer, better and comes loaded on most modern PC. But things are not as simple as black and white. Here’s a rundown of the functionalities both UEFI and BIOS provide and why you might choose one over the other.

Content

The basics
Breaking out of size limitations
Speed and performance
Security
Why Choose UEFI?
Why Choose BIOS?
Frequently Asked Questions

The basics

BIOS and UEFI are two firmware interfaces for computers which work as... Read more

How to Easily Batch Uninstall Apps on Android

Mike Tee — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 16:25:00 +0000

Have you ever filled up the available space in your Android phone storage and couldn’t download an app you want to install? Of course you have. We all have. Going through and selecting the apps you want to delete to make more space for the new one can be tedious if you have to go through them one by one. It’s much faster to batch uninstall apps and remove all unwanted apps at once.

Multi App Uninstaller

There are many different apps that will do this for you. The one I prefer is called Multi App Uninstaller. It’s fast, easy to use and ad-free, so pretty much a no-brainer to use.

This app gives the user some different options for deleting unwanted... Read more

20 of the Best Siri Shortcuts for iOS Power Users

Mike Tee — Fri, 12 Nov 2021 01:25:00 +0000

Say what you will about Siri, but shortcuts are among the most useful features that have found their way to Apple’s AI assistant over the years. They’re also a rare case where Apple has ceded its typically tight control over its mobile operating system, letting savvy people develop their own shortcuts and share them with fellow iOS users.

It’s a really neat system, and to help you dive deeper into it, here are some of the best Siri shortcuts you can use.

1. Play Favorites

Play Favorites is very simple, but indispensable for music lovers everywhere. It uses your favorites playlist from Apple Music to shuffle all your greatest tunes right away. Not much more to it than that, but if you just want to kick back with your best beats then that’s all you need.

4 Ways to Clone an Entire Hard Drive on Linux

Mike Tee — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 15:25:00 +0000

Imagine the hard drive in your computer failing. Your computer no longer detects it, and it’s impossible to recover the data that you saved. This is a nightmare scenario for just about anyone. You will end up wishing that you had a backup of everything on your hard drive.

Luckily, this is possible and much easier than you may think. There are many different available Linux programs that will help you back up your hard drive, including one that is already installed by default in every Linux distribution.

Best of all, these tools will allow you to save the contents of your hard drive to an image file, giving you more flexibility with your backup is stored.

Why Back Up to an Image File?

Many modern backup tools will save the contents of your hard drive to the cloud or clone your hard drive to another hard drive. While these are both useful and completely valid options, they aren’t very flexible.

If you decide you don’t want your data saved in the specific cloud server you chose, then you have to jump through hoops... Read more

How to Force the Facebook App to Use an External Browser to View Links

Mike Tee — Sat, 30 Oct 2021 19:25:00 +0000

The option to open links within the Facebook app in a browser of your choice is a good feature to have. For a start, it’s clear Facebook isn’t particularly dedicated to making its in-app browser any good any time soon. Also, the less data we’re directly feeding to Facebook, the better, right?

There’s been some strange activity with the option to open links externally in Facebook lately. The feature seemed to have been silently removed in June 2021, before being silently reinstated again.

So who knows if this option is going to stick around. But in the meantime, here’s how to force the Facebook app to use your browser of choice to view links.

What Is an In-App Browser?

In-app browsers are nothing but webpage viewers without all the other functionalities that browsers... Read more

How to Fix a Frozen Mac During an Update

Mike Tee — Sat, 30 Oct 2021 15:25:00 +0000

While macOS is a very robust operating system, hiccups can occur when you’re performing a system update. Most of the time, macOS should be able to resolve these issues gracefully, but occasionally it may cause your Mac to lock up halfway through the update. If your Mac encounters difficulties when downloading or installing the latest release, don’t panic! In this article, we share several fixes that can fix your frozen Mac and get it back on track.

Preliminary Precautions

Before performing any system-level update, you should always back up all your important data. This ensures you’ll have something to restore if you encounter any problems during the update.

If you’re here because your Mac has already frozen (which I’m willing to bet most of you are), don’t worry. Chances are your data will remain intact.... Read more

What is VSync, and Should I Turn It On or Off?

Mike Tee — Sat, 23 Oct 2021 19:25:00 +0000

If you use 3D applications or games, you may have come across a strange option in the video settings. It’s usually called “vertical sync” or “VSync” for short, and it’s not immediately obvious what it does. So why is this option here, and what does it do? What forms does it take? Here we explain what VSync is and whether you should turn it on or off.

Content

What VSync Does
Advantages of VSync
Disadvantages of VSync
The Two Main Types Of VSync
Should I Turn It On or Off?
Frequently Asked Questions

What VSync Does

To start, let’s look at how graphics are processed in your computer. Your computer or laptop has a way of rendering graphics to a screen. This may either be integrated graphics within your processor or an independent graphics card. The graphics processor’s main job is to “paint” visuals onto the screen. The reason you can... Read more

How to Create an SSH Honeypot to Catch Hackers in Your Linux Server

Mike Tee — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 15:25:00 +0000

If you’ve ever looked at the authentication logs for your server, then you know that any server connected to the Internet is under a constant barrage of login attempts from hackers.

Even if your server is a completely unknown hobby server, automated scripts will find it and continually try to brute force their way in using SSH. Although they’re not likely to get in as long as you’re using complex passwords or other security measures, there’s still always the chance that they could succeed.

Luckily, there’s a useful and fun way to trap these hackers in your server and keep them too distracted to cause any trouble.

What Is an SSH Honeypot?

To put it simply, an SSH honeypot is a decoy meant to look like low-hanging fruit to attract cybercriminals and bait them into targeting it. But it’s not an actual target, and the hacker often doesn’t realize it until it’s too late.

A honeypot can take on many forms and have many different uses. Sometimes they are little... Read more