Black Friday & Diwali sales and discounts are around us and though many are going for phones and tvs or computers, I basically just want a 2TB external hard drive. I have a lot of files that I save onto my computer and then I move them onto hard drives that I have with me. I currently have 5 external hard drives with me. Two 2 TB drives and 3 1 TB drives. I have two older 1 tb drives that have since died on me; they were bought way back in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Photos, images, wallpapers, mp3s, videos I shoot, movies and tv show – anything and everything that I save, I will first save it on my laptop’s drive and then move it into folders on these hard drives. Now, I do have quite a bit of space on two of these drives but 1 of those are specifically for a certain type of file, hence I am trying to only save those onto that particular 2 TB hard drive. So if I have more of the other types of files, I save them onto the other drive.

Problem is I am not seeing any good offers of late on either Flipkart or Amazon. I have been checking almost on a daily basis. Nothing that seems to be a good discount. Infact the amounts have only fallen briefly for a short amount and then it seems to be back up and staying so. I will wait a few more day and see what happens.

I have never owned a tablet pc myself, though for almost 2 years I did have an ipad given to from the company I currently work for. It was good, though with so many restrictions ofcourse. But I have never owned one. Now I don’t make the kind of money to justify having a laptop and a secondary device like a desktop or tab but I am tempted when I see some new models come out. And if I could afford and go for one, it seems to be this Samsung Galaxy S9 FE tab.

Samsung’s latest big-screen tablet is practically in a league of its own. The new 12.4-inch Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus (released alongside the 10.9-inch Tab S9 FE) is here to make many tablet owners be envious. Samsung packed the Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus with phenomenal battery life, and made sure the display and sound quality were good enough for a $600 slate. One of the most annoying parts of owning a tablet is that moment when you pick it up only to discover its battery is empty and needs a charge. Fortunately, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus packs a lot of endurance with its 10,090mAh lithium-ion battery.

Battery test have shown that the battery lasts well. This isn’t the only place the FE Plus beats its similarly priced competitors, as it also offers both facial recognition and fingerprint identification. While the Tab S9 FE Plus may be too big for some give Samsung credit for offering a larger tablet at a midrange price. The $600 12.4-inch Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus is much more affordable than Apple’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which starts at a whopping $1,099, and that’s without a stylus. Prices in India start at Rs 56,999.

The ‘Fan Edition’ or FE series from Samsung was designed to offer enthusiast users flagship-grade smartphone features at mid-range prices. Samsung nailed it with the Galaxy S20 FE 5G, leaving not a lot of room for improvement. In 2022 year, we had the follow-up FE smartphone called the Galaxy S21 FE 5G. Samsung launched the Galaxy S21 FE 5G in two variants, with 128GB of storage for Rs. 54,999 and 256GB of storage for Rs. 58,999. Both variants have 8GB of RAM. Samsung had offers of Rs.5000 cash back at that time.

No, October 2023 is the month that Flipkart has their Big Billion Sale & Amazon India has their Great India Festival. The former is now on sale at the price of Rs. 29,999 which is what I usually prefer to pay for a smartphone. This phone looks like an extension of the Galaxy S21 series thanks to the ‘contour-cut’ shape of the rear camera module. Samsung offers features that most fans want in their FE phones while leaving out certain aspects they do not care about. With S21 FE, Samsung has emphasised on three aspects – display, camera, and performance. At this discounted price it is a great deal and you can buy it.

Pros

• Excellent display
• Versatile cameras
• Good performance
• Priced very decently
• Can play most games but for the high intensity ones it can a bit heated

Cons

• Average battery life

When Is It O.K. to Replace Human Limbs With Technology?

When is it ok to replace human limbs with technology? When the original limb has to be amputated. I am all for using technology to aid humans. Science – it works bitches! – when a massive catastrophe happens and you need to have one of your limbs taken away from you. To date, most robotic-powered prostheses are in the early stages of development, and the research prototypes have yet to be translated into commercial applications. However, once they do reach clinical viability, they could prove genuinely life changing.

The need for these kinds of devices is not in doubt. Millions of people around the world live with limb loss, often due to diabetic neuropathy or trauma. Around 185,000 amputations are performed annually in the US, along with 431,000 in Europe. For these patients, their quality of life will depend to a large degree on the quality of their prosthetic devices. Traditional passive prostheses may give them some mobility, but they can’t restore natural muscle function and often end up restricting the person’s activity levels.

Prompt from Over 1,000 Writing Prompts for Students at The New York Times Learning Network

IQOO is a phone brand under the BBK group heritage – that’s the same group behind the likes of OnePlus, Vivo, Oppo and Realme. Here are some details about their operations in India.

1. iQOO is not just a random collection of letters. And no, it is not a different spelling of IQ (intelligence quotient). It actually stands for “I Quest On and On,” reflecting the brand’s commitment to keep improving.
2. The Indian branch of the brand will be based in Bengaluru. That makes it the third major phone brand to be headquartered in the city many people call India’s Silicon Valley (Xiaomi and OnePlus are the other two at the time of writing).
3. Initially seen as a sub-brand of Vivo, iQOO is, however, going to be an independent entity in India and globally. And this extends to everything from its product development to service centers and retail stores. Yes, it will even have separate service centers and will not be “leveraging” those of Vivo, a brand with which many associate it. “Vivo and iQOO are independent brands. We are competitors,” Gagan Arora, Director-Marketing, iQOO, told us.
4. The brand will be launching its first phone in India in February 2020. Although details are scarce at the moment, we have been told it will be a global launch and will be the first phone in the Indian market to come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor and support for 5G.
5. The brand’s first phone was manufactured in India, using shared manufacturing facilities in Vivo’s plant in NOIDA, India, near the capital Delhi.
6. iQOO’s team in India started with eighty people but we were told its size is likely to go up in the coming days. As of now it seems the company has around 200 employees.
7. The brand is not focusing on a predominantly online or offline retail strategy. Although the brand mostly sells mainly online, it has also been made available in all channels. However Amazon seems to be the preferred destination to buy their products.
8. India is the first market outside of China to get iQOO products. Not a bad start for the brand, and it is also wonderful to see brands getting into this mode.
9. As per briefings in India, iQOO is going to be a brand that is going to be competing mainly on performance. “Best in class performance, perhaps the best in the industry,” Arora said, also indicating that the brand would be bringing a number of innovations to the Indian market.

Step 1: Close All Running Apps

To make sure your PC cleanup efforts bring the best results, close all running applications. This will immediately free up system resources and maximize the power of the decluttering tools we’re going to use. If you don’t feel like shutting down everything, at least close your browser, Skype, Zoom, WhatsApp, email client, and MS Office documents. It’s also a great idea to check your taskbar for any apps running in the background.

Step 2: Perform Disk Cleanup

Now it’s time to remove useless temporary and cache files from your computer. Don’t worry, it’s really easy because Windows has a built-in disk cleanup tool. To use it, do the following:

1. Open file explorer, click on “This PC”, right-click on your disk drive icon and click on “Properties…”
2. Click on the “Disk Cleanup” button to open the disk cleanup utility.
3. Check what it’s going to clean and, if all looks good, click OK to run the cleanup.
4. You can also click on the “Clean up system files” button if you’re logged in as administrator. That will remove unneeded files created by Windows when it was downloading updates and so on.

Step 3: Uninstall Unused Software

It’s astonishing how a computer can get cluttered with all types of software apps in just a short time! There are so many apps out there and it’s so tempting to try them out that we often install stuff only to open it once and never use it again. Removing the apps you don’t use will help you to recover precious disk space and free up system resources to make your PC faster. Here’s how you can uninstall programs on Windows 10:

1. Click on the “Start” button, go to “Settings” and then go to “Apps & Features”
2. Click on the app you want to remove and select “Uninstall”

Step 4: Clean Out Duplicate Photos, Songs, Videos and Documents

Now that your computer is free of junk files and unused software, it’s time to organize all your files. The best way to do that quickly is to use Easy Duplicate Finder to find and remove duplicate documents, music files, videos, photos, emails and more. When you have too many duplicate files, it’s only too easy to start editing the wrong document, get annoyed by the same song playing over and over again. Deleting them has two main benefits: you’ll free up lots of disk space and you’ll get rid of unintentionally made copies of your files that make things confusing.

Easy Duplicate Finder is the fastest duplicate finder out there and it’ll be able to help you to get rid of all kinds of duplicate files in no time. The best part is that it lets you bulk-select the files you want to delete and remove them in one click. It’s that easy!

1. Search for and Remove Old Apps

Older, unused applications take up space on your drive that could be used for other purposes. On top of that, many applications–especially those that have not been updated recently–pose security threats. If you want to keep your machine running as smoothly as possible, take the time at least once a year to remove applications you have not used. Open Settings > Apps > Apps & features to see the list of currently-installed applications on your PC. You can sort by name, size, or install date. We recommend sorting by size. Since your digital spring cleaning is focused on efficiency, look at the largest programs you have installed.

2. Clean Up Your Browser

Your browser automatically stores cookies that can slow down your browsing experience. These cookies enable automatic logins on different websites, as well as form autocompletes. The browser also stores the cached version of different websites. Sure, while the content might change each time you visit Reddit, the images and specific settings do not. These are stored in your browser and load almost instantly. A cached version of a website hastens load times and reduces the amount of time you spend staring at progress bars. It’s good to clear your cache at least once a year, though. Not only does this eliminate many of the problems that arise from cached information (after all, one of the main troubleshooting tips is to clear your cache), but it also ensures you have the most recent versions of web pages and increases the performance of your PC.

To clear your browser in Chrome, click the three buttons in the top-right corner and click Settings. Click Clear browsing data and choose Cookies and other data and Cached images and files. Once you have chosen these two, click Clear data.

3. Delete Unnecessary System Files

Your system accumulates a variety of different files during operation. Some of these are related solely to the installation of an application and are never used again, while others are log files and error reports that are only valid until the next time you launch a program. The problem is that many of these files are never deleted. The good news is that Windows 10 has an integrated, built-in tool that helps you clear out these files and free up storage space. Open Settings > System > Storage > Temporary files. This displays a list of all temporary files on your PC. You can choose between individual sections or select all of the files and delete them.

Select Temporary Internet Files and Temporary files and then click Remove Files at the top of the window. This will permanently delete these files, but don’t worry–any necessary files will automatically be generated and configured when you launch a program that needs it.

4. Clean Your Inbox

Every Spring-cleaning day has at least one task you don’t want to tackle. Maybe it’s the bathrooms, or maybe it’s that upstairs closet you haven’t opened in two years. In your digital life, this obstacle to getting your digital life organized is most likely your inbox. The ideal goal is to reach Inbox Zero, but if you have a limited amount of time just aim to delete older emails. Anything more than a year old is likely safe to delete. If older emails contain something you want to keep, download it to your computer. Your inbox has a limited amount of space, whether you host your own address or use a Gmail account. Deleting old emails and their attachments frees up space for new messages.

5. Run a Virus Scan

Another thing you should do is perform a virus and malware scan on your system. Often, the most harmful digital infections are those that don’t make a splash–they sit on your drive for weeks or months collecting information. Passwords, credit card numbers, and more can all be put at risk and you might never know until someone begins spending your money. If you don’t already run periodic virus scans, you should schedule one at least once per month. Perform both a virus scan and a malware scan on your PC as part of your digital cleaning. This will let you know if anything is hiding out in some dusty sector of your hard drive and help you remove it.

6. Update Your Software

It’s never a glamorous job and it can sometimes lead to more problems, but updating the Windows operating system and all of your hardware drivers is normally going to make things run smoother. With the big Windows updates that come out every 6 months (usually around April and October), it’s best to wait at least a month after the release before updating. Whatever issues and bugs are in the first release will usually all be fixed after a month or so. Updating your drivers is important as there manufacturers are always releasing updates to improve performance, compatibility and stability.

Take the chance this spring to straighten up your PC. You’ll find that it runs better, is easier to navigate, and safer to use. It doesn’t have to take long–most everything on this list can be accomplished in an hour or two.