Early Apple Wach models lacked one significant feature: an always-on display. That changed with the Series 5, which includes a low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) display. The option shouldn’t affect the Apple Watch’s battery life, but here’s how to turn it off.
Disable It from the Apple Watch
Start by pressing the Apple Watch’s digital crown.
Locate and tap on the “Settings” app. The icon looks like a gear.
Scroll down and then select “Display & Brightness.”
Do you ever catch yourself hunching forward at the wheel? It may be time to upgrade your car seat with a supportive lumbar pillow.
What to Look for in a Supportive Car Pillow
While you could technically use any lumbar pillow in your car, you may get sick of it and revert back to your slouching ways. See, regular lumbar pillows are made for office chairs, not car seats. They may provide lower back support, but they often lack support for the upper back or shoulders.
So we suggest buying a lumbar pillow that’s designed specifically for the car. These pillows are more supportive than regular lumbar pillows, and they’re often a lot more breathable and adjustable to boot.
Of course, no two pillows are alike. Here are some things to look out for while shopping for a car pillow:
Size: Small lumbar pillows can correct your posture, but they rarely provide support for your upper back and shoulders. If lumbar pillows have seemed uncomfortable to you in the past, then we suggest getting a full-back or a back and neck pillow.
Removable covers: If you’re worried about stains and smells, consider buying a pillow with a removable, washable cover.
The look: Back and lumbar pillows look super dorky. Spinal health is a solid trade-off for looking like a nerd, but you can try and minimize the dork-factor by buying a lumbar pillow that actually matches your car seats (beige pillow with beige seats, leather pillow with leather seats, etc.).
Breathability: Memory foam isn’t very breathable, which means it can make your back sweat if you live in a hot and humid area. If you already experience some back sweat while driving, maybe you should buy a lumbar pillow with a breathable mesh or cotton lining.
Now that you know what you’re looking for, it’s time to get into it. Here are the best back and lumbar pillows for your car.
The Best Overall: Dreamer Car Full-Back Pillow
Dreamer
Basic lumbar pillows can improve your posture and help with lower back pain. But they can leave your upper back hanging, which isn’t always a comfortable feeling.
Thankfully, the Dreamer cushion can support your whole back while you drive. It’s made of supportive memory foam and secures to your seat with adjustable straps. Sadly, the Dreamer’s cotton cover isn’t removable, but you should be able to clean it with whatever solution you use to clean your car’s seats.
The time has come to replace your Mac. Once you’ve decided on a new model, forked over the cash, and unboxed your expensive new toy, it’s time to get down to business and transfer your data.
All the tools you need are bundled with macOS (give or take a cable or two, or an external drive). And, if you buy a new Mac, Apple will move your data over for free.
Apple Will Migrate Your Data for Free
If you don’t want to transfer your data yourself, an Apple employee can do it for you. You just have to bring your old Mac with you when you buy its replacement. Apple used to charge $99 for this service, but now, it’s free to anyone who purchases a new Mac.
For MacBook and Mac mini models, this makes a lot of sense. If you have an old iMac or Mac Pro, though, you might be better off transferring your data at home.
Your Options
Apple has a tool called Migration Assistant in macOS to help you with both sides of a data transfer. In Migration Assistant, you can transfer data in one of three ways:
Mac-to-Mac, over the local network (or a local wireless connection between machines).
Mac-to-Mac using Target Disk Mode and a cable.
Restore from a Time Machine backup stored on an external drive.
There are a few things to keep in mind if you want to use the first option. If both machines run macOS Sierra or later, then you can transfer wirelessly via a local Wi-Fi connection. This connection is made directly between the machines, and thus, doesn’t require that both machines be connected to the same network.
If your Mac is older and only supports OS X El Capitan, you have to make sure both machines are connected to the same network. You can do this over Wi-Fi or, for better results, use an Ethernet cable. Migration Assistant allows you to transfer data from older Macs that run OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or later.
Not sure which version of macOS or OS X your Mac is running? Click the Apple logo in the top-left corner of the screen, and then select About This Mac. You should see the name and version number of the current operating system listed on the Overview tab.
A long, multiday hike or backpacking trip is very different from a one-day hike. Here are some of the most important things you need to know.
I recently walked 250 miles in Northern Spain on the ancient pilgrim routes to Santiago, Camino del Norte and Camino Primitivo. My next plan is a four-day backpacking trip to bag the seven most northerly Munros in Scotland. All this stuff is on my mind, so I thought I’d share with the class.
You’ll Probably Get Blisters (and Other Foot Pains)
Walking long distances is hard on your feet—especially if they aren’t used to it. The first issue you’ll probably encounter is blisters. Unless you wear exactly the right boots and socks, your feet will rub against your shoes. On a one-day hike, this isn’t too much of a problem. Sure, your feet will be a bit sore afterward, but they’ll recover in a few days. On a multiday hike, though, you have to walk again no matter how sore your feet are.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and all that. If you can, find a boot and sock combo that works for you, and stick to it. What works for me won’t necessarily work for you and vice versa, so take the time to test out different socks on one-day hikes to see what feels best. Some people like to use a liner sock and an outer sock, while others prefer a good merino wool sock.
While you can do as much prevention as you like, there’s still a chance you’ll get blisters. This is where proactive treatment comes in. As soon as you feel a hot spot start to form, stop, and put something like a 2nd Skin square on it to prevent more rubbing. If you stop blisters from forming, you can make sure they don’t spread.
If you do get a blister, you can either cover it and leave it alone, or drain it with a sterile needle, and then cover it and leave it alone. Most doctors recommend you leave it be, but most hikers recommend you drain it, so walking is less painful. Whichever option you choose, if there’s any swelling, redness, or pus, seek medical attention—an infected blister is no joke.
And blisters are just one of the many foot aches you might encounter. There’s a reason footsore is a word, and “handsore” isn’t. Pay attention if things start to hurt and stop to address why. You might have the wrong insole, bruises from walking on a hard surface, or your boots might be too tight.
Don’t Pack Too Much
Carrying a big backpack uphill is hard work. Harry Guinness
Unless you’re an experienced hiker, your packing list is probably too long and your backpack is probably too heavy. Every extra item you bring adds weight you have to lug for miles. You want to pack the least amount of gear possible.
It’s true—you’re packing for longer than just a few hours. So, you need clothes, food, and (possibly) shelter. You don’t want to get caught in a storm without a rain jacket. When it comes to packing, the key is to find the right balance.
Apple’s Mac Pro will be made in the USA with a starting price of $6,000. You get a pretty sweet machine for that price, but how close could you get to the power of the Mac Pro if you tried to build a Windows version yourself?
You Could Build a PC With Similar Hardware for Less
No surprise: By our calculations, you can get the job done for much less, though it’ll still cost you. We weren’t able to make a carbon copy of the Mac Pro, but we did get some advantages that the base model Mac Pro doesn’t have. We also had to give up some features in the process.
For this article, we’re focusing on the base model since it’s the only one with a known price at this writing. We have no idea what the upper models will cost, so there’s nothing to compare it to, price-wise. If you want to see a nice example of a killer Windows machine that goes head-to-head with the best Mac Pro, check out this video by Linus Tech Tips.
Before we get into our base model, one last note. We did not build this machine ourselves. So this is not a build guide. It’s more of a thought experiment. Enough preamble—let’s dive in.
The CPU and Motherboard
The Asus WS C422 Sage/10G motherboard.
Apple doesn’t specify which Xeon W CPU it’s using in the base model of the Mac Pro, but we do know it has eight cores, 16 threads, and a turbo boost of 4GHz. Looking at Intel’s ark listings, that is similar to the Xeon W-3223—although the cache is a little larger on the Mac Pro CPU. The W-3223 has an MSRP of $749 but is not available on major sites like Newegg or Amazon.
So we swapped it out with something close to its specs, the Xeon W-2145. That’s a Skylake part from late 2017. It has eight cores, 16 threads, but a higher boost at 4.5GHz. Nevertheless, it has the advantage of being available, though just barely, and as an OEM part. That means it comes without a cooler and the warranty is shorter. That’s not great for an actual purchase, but for a thought experiment, it’ll do.
Here is where we hit difficulty number two: Apple’s Mac Pro motherboard is a pretty sweet custom build with enough capacity for eight PCIe lanes, two Thunderbolt 3 ports in the back, and two 10G LAN ports.
To try and get close to all this we’re going with the Asus WS C422 Sage/10G. This is a single-CPU motherboard with seven full-size PCIe slots, two dual 10G LAN ports, and an M.2 slot.
Based on the best prices we can find we’ve spent $1,290 at B&H Photo on the CPU. We can find lower prices on Amazon, but they are through third-party sellers without Amazon fulfillment. That means if there are any issues you’re relying on the seller’s customer service policy, not Amazon’s. It’s better to go with a known quantity when buying online, in our opinion.
Smart bulbs are easy, convenient, and great for many smarthomes. But do you know what’s even better? Smart light switches. They fix all the biggest problems with smart bulbs (with a few compromises).
As your smarthome grows, one of the first areas you want to control is your lighting. Smart bulbs might seem like the most straightforward option to accomplish this, but that’s not always the case. Instead, you might want to consider installing smart light switches.
Smart switches offer several benefits over smart bulbs. They solve the light switch problem, are easy for everyone to use, cost less, and even eliminate any naming issues.
The Biggest Smart Bulb Problem, Solved
Who turned off this switch again? Josh Hendrickson
If you have smart bulbs, you’re probably already aware of their biggest flaw. If a light switch controls a smart bulb, and someone turns off that switch, you now have a dumb bulb.
It makes sense that the switch cuts power from the bulb, and without electricity, how can it be “smart?” But we’re creatures of habit, and trying to tell yourself (or anyone else in your home) not to use the switch is an exercise in frustration. Sooner or later, someone (perhaps even you) will flip that switch.
To use smart light switches, you keep your standard dumb bulbs, and the switch handles the smarthome part. So, you’ll never have to worry about bulbs without power again.
Everyone Can Use a Smart Switch
This smart switch always resets to a neutral position. Josh Hendrickson
If you’ve never seen a smart switch before, it looks like a paddle-style wall switch. However, instead of locking in the on or off position, the paddle always resets to neutral. The switch contains extra electronics to interact with your smarthome. When someone uses the switch, it communicates whether it’s on or off to your smarthome.
If you use an app or voice commands to control the lights, that signal also goes to your smart switch. But the beauty of a smart switch is you don’t need to use voice commands or an app to control it. Any guest or family member can turn the lights on and offjust as they would in any other home.
That’s a bonus if you’re worried your smarthome might intimidate guests.
