A new top-of-the line Chromebook, coming out in mid-October, reminds me how much better Chromebooks are compared to Windows or Macs, if you mostly work online or use Android apps.

For $500, you can get the Acer “Vero 514” Chromebook. It’s powerful, has a great display, and should last many years. It has a 12th-generation Intel Core processor and charges to 50 percent in 30 minutes. Much of it is made from “ocean-bound” or recycled plastic. It has standard screws, so you can easily open the device to upgrade it instead of buying a new one.

If you compare a Chromebook with a Windows PC that shares the same specs, you’ll find the Chromebook loads websites quicker. For example, the $200 Acer R13 with four gigabytes of RAM is lightning fast compared to its Windows equivalent.

With a Chromebook, you’ll never have the trouble a friend of mine did. He grabbed his wife’s laptop by mistake, then had to drive 40 minutes to get it back to her so she could go to work. If they’d both been using Chromebooks, she could have signed into her account on his machine. It  would have instantly acted and looked like her own.

Chromebooks are practically trouble-free. My three-year-old Pixelbook Go has only had a problem once. When that happened, I did a factory reset, also called a Powerwash. Just press and hold Ctrl + Alt + Shift + r, then select “restart,”  “Powerwash” and “continue.” Your computer will be as good as the day you bought it. 

I put a lot of Android apps on mine, such as WhatsApp, WordChums, Kindle, Solitaire, and Spotify. I use Google Docs for word processing, Google Slides instead of Powerpoint, and Google Sheets instead of Excel. For photo editing, I use the free Adobe Photoshop Express. 

To find out if a Chromebook would work for you, try it out at OfficeDepot, Staples, BestBuy or a similar store. Or you might want to check it out on YouTube.

High Tech Curtains

Some people have smart lights that go on and off on their own. How about smart curtains?

There are cheap versions on Amazon, but most have horrible reviews. The “Homesupplier Smart Curtains” for $339 stands apart. You control it with a handheld remote, a smart phone, or any device that allows you to call out  “Hey Alexa,” “Hey Google,” or “Hey Siri.” You can schedule its opening and closing, to make it look like you’re home when you’re not.

Monkey Island Appears on Talk Like a Pirate Day

The best adventure game I’ve ever played is Monkey Island, which first came out in 1990.  “Return to Monkey Island” is coming out September 19, on “International Talk Like a Pirate Day.”

The two versions I’ve played are funny and suspenseful. Our hero, Guybrush Threepwood, tries to outsmart evil pirates, get past voodoo ladies, find true love, and defeat the undead pirate LeChuck. It’s challenging. When last I played it, I relied heavily on a strategy guide, which is sold separately. You can preorder the game for Windows PCs and the Nintendo Switch for $25 at Steampowered.com.

Beep Beep

The “Googerteller” app beeps to let you know every time your computer gives info to Google. In the demo, it beeps every second. So if you’re worried about privacy, try this: In Gmail, block “pixel tracking,” so people won’t know if you’ve opened their emails. To set it up, click the gear icon, then “see all settings.” Under “General,” scroll down to “Images,” and check off “ask before displaying images.”  Alternatively, sign up for an “@duck.com” email address from DuckDuckGo, the privacy champion. Or start your web searches from Startpage.com, which some say is even better than DuckDuckGo. See also: “7 Google Privacy Settings You Should Enable Now.”

 

Artificial Intelligence Restores Old Photos

A new artificial intelligence tool restores badly-damaged, low-resolution photos. You can try it yourself for free.

Researchers from the company TenCent, led by Louis Bouchard, created a new system to fill in the missing details of a damaged photo. One of their restored photos is from “It’s a Wonderful Life,” with Jimmy Stewart, another is of Mohammed Ali. They looked great, but both lost a little of their soul, in my opinion.  

To try it, I clicked a  link in an Engadget article, “Free A.I. tool restores old photos.” My blurry photo became clearer, but there were odd bits of light here and there, outlining faces or hair. It works better on portraits than group scenes. 

Brain Waves for Dementia

Slap a cap on your head and get zapped with an electric current. Your memory problems, if you have any, could significantly improve.

That’s according to a new study published by Nature Neuroscience. I read all about it in TheVerge. The electrode-packed caps were worn by 30 people ranging from age 65 to 85 over a four-day period. Another 30 people got a fake stimulus. Both groups were asked to remember 20 words. Only the ones who got the brain zaps showed improvement. A month later, they were even better, especially those who started out with a bad case of Alzheimer’s.

Internuts

WaveSwell.com sells the UniWave 200, which converts wave energy into electricity. It rises and falls as it pushes air towards a turbine. It’s on the job now in Tasmania, but works in any coastal area.

Search on “SWEL’s Waveline Magnet” to see the prototype of another amazing, snake-like machine that converts wave power into electricity. 

 

Filed under: computers, Internuts, photos, science, security