PCWorld

["and a 3.5mm jack for an optional $80 1080p, and 1080p, 120-degree FOV rear captures. 120-degree FOV interior camera. But the real As our reviewer described it: \u201cThe Cobra SC stars of the show are the incredibly clear and 400D is experientially one of the nicest dash detailed 4K, 140-degree FOV front captures cams I\u2019ve ever tested.\u201d\u2014Katherine Stevenson PRICE: Free from fave.co\/3HTEYjo FULL REVIEW: fave.co\/3MzWBUw BEST REMOTE DESKTOP comes with just about every remote-desktop SOFTWARE: TEAMVIEWER software extra you will ever need, and is free OR REMOTEPC BY iDRIVE to use for personal or occasional use. It also doesn\u2019t require installation making it perfect This year\u2019s best remote desktop for the casual user. software (fave.co\/3GajKfN) is a toss-up between the free-to-use RemotePC by iDrive, on the other hand, TeamViewer (fave.co\/3MzWBUw)and the is a premium service that is a great choice for premium RemotePC by iDrive (fave. businesses\u2014especially those with mixed co\/3jfBs8x). TeamViewer is our choice for operating systems. RemotePC edges out the individuals because it is extremely easy to use, competition by offering a full feature set, JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 101","FEATURE BEST HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE 2022 including servers for PRICE: all major desktop $24.50 per year from OSes, multi-monitor fave.co\/3VgTNPY support, drag-and- drop file transfers, FULL REVIEW: screen recording, fave.co\/3jfBs8x whiteboard, remote sound and printing, among others. And it provides all of this at a more affordable rate than that of most other services. \u2014Sam Singleton BEST USB-C HUB: YEOLIBO PRICE: 9-IN-1 USB-C HUB (RU9A) $25 from fave.co\/3hC4IWN USB-C hubs should be cheap and flexible, and FULL REVIEW: this dongle has both qualities fave.co\/30z4JBG in spades (fave.co\/30z4JBG). At just a hair under $25 (fave. afterthought, and for this reason it earns our co\/3hC4IWN), this hub offers a variety of endorsement.\u2014Mark Hachman USB Type A and USB-C ports, plus a microSD and SD slot for transferring photos. It\u2019s also rated for up to 100W of input power, so you can connect your USB-C laptop charger to this hub, and from there to your PC. Let\u2019s face it: Buying technology can be expensive. But a USB-C hub like this is a necessity priced like an 102 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","SO CAN YOU.","FEATURE HOW MASTODON AND SERVICES PUT SOC IN THE PEOPLE\u2019S HA 104 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","TWITTER\u2019S TROUBLES SPARK A NEW OLD- SCHOOL REVOLUTION. BY ADAM TAYLOR D FEDERATED CIAL NETWORKS ANDS IMAGE: MASTODON JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 105","FEATURE MASTODON AND FEDERATED SERVICES T he internet is getting weird again. to \u201cmodern\u201d social media from 2012 or so Twitter\u2019s recent stumbles (fave. onward, all of this can be really confusing at co\/3BRTaFv) under new ownership first glance\u2014which is understandable! A lot of have surprisingly shined a quick jargon is being thrown around, and many of light on the world of federated and the established norms are being abandoned. decentralized social networking services, like Mastodon. These services are peer-to-peer or Have no fear! This is your guide to the community-run networks, depending on the federated universe (coined the \u201cFediverse\u201d), particulars. Federated services are services and what it all means for you and for the that are managed by individual organizations future of social media and networking. Since or \u201coffices,\u201d such as the post office, email, or the biggest crowd of Twitter refugees seems self-hosted forums. to be heading toward Mastodon, let\u2019s look at what you need to get started there first. If you were on the internet \u201cback in the Then we\u2019ll dive deeper into the underlying day,\u201d you might remember when everyone concepts and systems that make federated connected through a variety of different services work, as well as highlight some forums or instant messaging client accounts other specialized networks you can try\u2014like while having their own personal pages on PixelFed and PeerTube\u2014which take that idea Geocities or Blogspot. The rise of federated beyond mere Twitter clones into a full-on services is reminiscent of that. If you\u2019re used web experience. By the time you\u2019re done reading this you\u2019ll have a full grasp of how federated services work\u2014 and their potential. Eugen Rochko is the creator of Mastodon. MEET MASTODON Before we jump into the super nitty-gritty, let\u2019s take a look at one of the big services gaining traction right now: Mastodon (fave.co\/ 3PGZVQc). Mastodon has been exploding over the past few weeks, with over 1 million new daily active users getting involved just since the end 106 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","as many might hope. You\u2019d be forgiven for taking one glance at it and thinking, \u201cWow, that\u2019s generic Twitter.\u201d In a way, that\u2019s the point. The number of Mastodon users has grown over time. However, Mastodon is of October (fave.co\/3GhbZot). According to missing all the profit-centric bloat of modern this Mastodon signup tracking bot (fave. social media platforms. There\u2019s no algorithm co\/3Veum1x), there are more than 7 million recommending content or people to follow. total accounts, with 2,000 made every hour. Unlike Twitter or Facebook, where the goal is Momentum is gaining for Mastodon, which to keep you glued to the screen as much as has been around since 2016. possible and to prevent you from ever leaving Mastodon itself is very much a Twitter-like their website, Mastodon is just there to service. It\u2019s a microblogging tool in which you provide a social networking place for you to send mostly short-form text posts, a few have conversations. Humans don\u2019t images, or very small (40MB is the current limit) communicate with algorithms by nature. But videos, build threads, follow and reply to other people, and \u201cboost\u201d (the equivalent of sharing or retweeting) posts. There\u2019s also messaging, though it\u2019s not yet as fully developed At first glance, Mastodon\u2019s layout very much resembles that of Twitter. JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 107","FEATURE MASTODON AND FEDERATED SERVICES also, the point with Mastodon is to make some of the people you\u2019ve followed over friends, not follow brands. there may have publicized Mastodon handles you can follow as well. Instead, you get a linear feed of the posts the people you follow make (or boost). When In those alternative Mastodon apps, the you first join, this means your feed may seem Local timeline will be anyone in your empty or lonely\u2014especially if you\u2019re on the instance, and the Federated timeline is a \u201cofficial\u201d mobile apps. The better alternatives \u201cmutuals\u201d timeline featuring anyone that (such as Tusky [fave.co\/3WPpdhF] on anyone in your instance, or that you follow, Android or Metatext [fave.co\/3v3Nk0b] on has connections to. Think of it as a \u201cSix iOS) feature Local and Federated timelines to Degrees of Kevin Bacon\u201d kind of thing. The help you find more people. Your individual Federated feed is more akin to the r\/all page instance (read: community server) admins on Reddit (without upvotes) and is generally may have suggested accounts to follow from not the most fun place to be, but it can be that community when you sign up, too. interesting to browse. Otherwise, you can search for hashtags and follow them, or follow people posting cool You can reply to posts, and replies can stuff in those hashtags relevant to your be limited in privacy to public (shows up in interests. If you\u2019re migrating from Twitter, Home timelines and hashtag searches), unlisted (shows up in followers\u2019 Home You can keep your finger on timelines and on your profile, but the pulse while not in Local or Federated timelines on Mastodon, or hashtag searches), and private with trending (which only show up to the news, links, recipient). You can boost posts, and hashtags which just puts them in your showing timeline, including Local and you what Federated timelines. You can also conversations \u201cFavorite\u201d (remember when Twitter are going on\u2014 called Likes this?) posts\u2014but all all approved by that does is just interact with the your instance person. There\u2019s no system that will admins to keep feature Favorited posts in your the junk out. feed. Thank goodness. You can add people you\u2019ve followed to Lists and then pin those 108 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","lists to your Advanced Web View, located You can in Options -> Appearance\u2014which is reply to basically like Tweetdeck for Mastodon\u2014 posts, and and keep better track of different groups replies of people. You can also pin hashtags or can be groups of hashtags as searches to your limited in view to follow those as well. privacy to public, Heck, if you want to embed your unlisted, Mastodon feed in your blog, you can do and that with Mastofeed (fave.co\/3BPnEIr). private. These stark differences from Twitter Twitter isn\u2019t a singular service. It has built make it clear how different Mastodon\u2019s itself into a business structure offering a goals are as a service. For one, it intends to variety of services to different groups\u2014 be a service instead of a platform. including other businesses. It\u2019s a social media site for the users, sure, but instead of FEDERATED SERVICE earning revenue from its users in exchange VERSUS PLATFORM for that service, it recoups costs (even if unprofitably) by selling data, ad slots, and I\u2019m going to keep referring to these social other paid tools to businesses. networking tools as \u201cservices\u201d because they are just that: services instead of platforms. Nathan Reiff writes on Investopedia This is one of the major paradigm differences (fave.co\/3I8A5TJ): \u201cTwitter divides its between modern centralized social media revenue into two categories: the sale of and the direction things appear to be advertising services, which constitutes the heading (which, again, is also where they vast majority of the company\u2019s revenue, and came from). Twitter is a platform; it\u2019s a data licensing and other services.\u201d Twitter singular, centralized hub run by a corporation doesn\u2019t even have a revenue category for that controls every aspect of it. \u201cproviding a social media app to users.\u201d With Twitter, social networking isn\u2019t the A service is a tool designed to solve a product. The user is the product, with user problem for the user (in this case, social acquisition being the goal. With Mastodon, networking), whereas a platform is a generic the tool is the product. service that hosts other services for different target groups, according to Paylocity Chief Technology Officer Rachit Lohani (fave.co\/ 3VfyWMR). JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 109","FEATURE MASTODON AND FEDER ATED SERVICES Mastodon is a service. There\u2019s no then all talk to each other and share things centralized authority or hub: There are bigger, between each other. Microsoft uses this for more official-like server instances for it, but Active Directory Federation Services (fave. anyone can host an instance for a community co\/3Ve8FOT), as do plenty of other or niche and is encouraged to do so, and enterprise security systems. whoever runs those instances governs their own community (including policies, code OneLogin explains (fave.co\/3G8dwwQ) updates, and so on). It\u2019s all open-source that the difference between federation and software, which means community-based SSO (Single Sign-On) is that SSO is used for development, decision-making, modification, multiple applications from the same provider and verification. There\u2019s also no advertising, or domain, whereas federated identities can data sharing, or tracking of any kind. Code be used across multiple different applications, development and individual community services, or platforms from different providers server hosting is funded by the community or as long as those services are in the same the person funding it. federation and enabled to talk to one another. Could a major company build their own Simplified, it just means that a bunch of Mastodon instance and charge users to join services are built upon the same account and provide some sort of proprietary or foundation to allow you to use the same private offering to justify the cost? Absolutely. accounts and communication protocols But that\u2019s not an inherent part of the service across each other, so they can all speak the itself, and the vast majority of instances aren\u2019t same language. set up that way. For Mastodon and other Fediverse services, INSTANCES AND this foundation is ActivityPub (fave.co\/3YABKaj): DECENTRALIZATION an open, decentralized social networking protocol built by the World Wide Web So what the heck are these instances anyway? Consortium (fave.co\/3YFscdU). Many of the This is where things are going to sound popular federated services use ActivityPub as complicated, but I promise they\u2019re simpler their protocol and thus can talk to each other. than they first seem. There\u2019s a comprehensive list of these services here (fave.co\/3HMhEnv). ActivityPub posts (or First, let\u2019s cover federation. Mastodon posts and so on) are effectively like Mastodon is just one example of a RSS feeds. You can even subscribe to Mastodon federated service. Federation means using a accounts via RSS (fave.co\/3WeHZPg). singular method of authenticating accounts across multiple different services, which can These services are also decentralized, meaning that the hosting, organization, and 110 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","ActivityPub is basically a protocol for sending and receiving messages, where anyone can host their own servers (or instances) as a point for the user to interact with the broader network. decision-making for these services is divided mindly.social (fave.co\/3BRvVeS). And then between localized \u201coffices,\u201d or in this case there\u2019s the shining example of the Internet instances. Individual communities are using Archive having its own organizational their own server hosting to host different instance at fave.co\/3WAUN2v with clear community hubs\u2014usually on a virtual private roles and identification of IA employees. server, but some are having great success hosting instances on Raspberry Pis and These are where things get confusing for Chromebooks, interestingly enough. many new Mastodon users, however. You do not need to sign up for each individual Federated services are nothing new. instance. You can if you want to maintain Humans use federation for many things. Post separate branding for different purposes, but offices and libraries are good examples\u2014 most people do not need to do this. Each places that operate as a sort of universal instance is equivalent to a dedicated forum or service but are run by different offices or website in terms of focus and grouping of organizations. people, but they\u2019re all using the same communication protocol. That\u2019s the beauty of In Mastodon, there are the more official federated services. People from one instance generic instances that you can sign up to, can chat with, discover, and do anything else such as mastodon.social (fave.co\/3jgx9d6), with people from other instances without but there are lots of cool niche community much issue. Think of your Mastodon account instances such as techhub.social (fave. like an email address\u2014just because my email co\/3YQiIgn) for techies, mastodon.art (fave. is @[email protected] doesn\u2019t mean I can\u2019t co\/3YEa9EZ) for artists, writing.exchange chat with @[email protected]. (fave.co\/3VlSX4A) for writers, org\u2014it just means we created our accounts in peoplemaking.games (fave.co\/3WvlkOG) different places. for game developers, and the instance I\u2019m in, JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 111","FEATURE MASTODON AND FEDERATED SERVICES give power back to the user. You, the user, are in control of your own data. You can delete every ounce of it whenever you like, move it between instances if you don\u2019t like how the one you\u2019re in is being run, or host your own single-user or small-community instance where you make the rules. You are not the product, which is hard to Choosing a server is the biggest point of friction for new users. There\u2019s wrap your mind around nothing difficult about signing up\u2014it\u2019s the same as with every other when the net has website or app in terms of difficulty\u2014but this step does act as a potential conditioned us into speed bump. Think of servers as clubhouses, chat rooms, or subreddits accepting being the that you join based on interests or convenience. There\u2019s nothing wrong product for over a with joining a generic, big instance that lets you in and then moving to a decade now. smaller, more unique one as you learn and explore. Also, we just went You can also move your entire profile to through a load of decentralization talk, and another instance at any time, followers and all. we didn\u2019t need to mention blockchain or This is part of the resilience of the service. crypto even once. Just saying. Your previous \u201caccount\u201d then turns into a WHY PEOPLE HOST redirect to your new one. No worries if you MASTODON INSTANCES already told everyone your previous address\u2014the system has free mail forwarding! I got a chance to speak with Joe \u201cKuJoe\u201d All of this means services like Mastodon Dougherty, the operator of the mindly.social are decentralized, governed, and hosted by (fave.co\/3V7m3Ew) Mastodon instance, different groups of people in different places about why he started hosting it in the first and are not subject to any individual authority place, given it went up just a little before large or goals. They are resilient by nature of being crowds started coming over from Twitter. His decentralized and interoperable, and they story is similar to those of many who have 112 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","started seeking out alternative homes for immediately improved not just his mental social networking. health but his productivity. \u201cEarlier this year I was feeling a real sense Then, of course, the Twitter fiasco of dread using social media; it felt like a game exploded interest in Mastodon in general. As that I could never win,\u201d Dougherty told me. \u201cI one of the few instances available to these would spend a lot of my time on it looking for huge waves of new users\u2014as many instances somebody to interact with, but legitimate had to pause or close invites to balance the conversations were so few and far between load and allocate more resources and so because talking in replies doesn\u2019t get likes.\u201d on\u2014mindly.social saw a huge growth in As someone familiar with IT and server community members. \u201cNovember 7 we hit hosting, Dougherty was naturally curious 100 users on our instance, then on November about this new service and started 8 we hit 5,000 users, then on November 10 researching it, getting hooked immediately. we hit 10,000 users. Six days later we\u2019re \u201cI was drawn to the tech, to the freedom sitting at around 21,000 users.\u201d from corporations, and to the social aspect of it all,\u201d he continued. \u201cAfter a bit more research, I decided to start my own instance because I wanted to build a different kind of community than the existing instances while also putting my tech skills to work. It was a good feeling to offer other people a home on a new platform.\u201d Dougherty quit most other social media not long after, going all in on Mindly.social is one of many Mastodon instances that started out simply Mastodon by October, as a small, fun place to hang out, but quickly exploded during Mastodon\u2019s and said the change influx of viewers in November. JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 113","FEATURE MASTODON AND FEDER ATED SERVICES For Dougherty, it\u2019s hardly about the up late using Pidgin or Trillian to keep track of numbers. \u201cI\u2019m so glad to have a home for so AIM, MSN, and Yahoo instant-messaging many people, most of whom proudly share accounts to keep up with friends in different that they are escaping the negativity of other places. It meant having fan sites running their social media platforms like I was,\u201d he said. own shows and blogs spread out across \u201cIn the past few weeks I\u2019ve had so many Blogspot, Geocities, and so on\u2014rather than conversations with people just talking about everything being limited to Facebook groups random things, more than I\u2019d ever had in the and Twitter circles, where you\u2019re constantly 14 years I was on Twitter. I\u2019ve turned off fed ads, your data is harvested and sold, and notifications so I don\u2019t see when I get the for-profit corporations running them are favorites or boosts and I\u2019m genuinely more making decisions about how to extend profits happy as a result. rather than provide a great service. \u201cProbably the best part about this whole But with all of this momentum toward experience is every day it\u2019s different people,\u201d federated and alternative services, and Dougherty said. \u201cI didn\u2019t just find a group of millions of users finally trying this stuff out, it all two to three people that grouped up with means we might actually be able to reclaim and talk with every day. Every single day for the internet back for the users. the past nine days I\u2019ve had meaningful interactions with new people, even if it\u2019s just If you don\u2019t find yourself enjoying me helping them get situated and we make Mastodon, that\u2019s OK! The goal of this shift is little jokes while we work through it. Even not to convert you to another service that will outside of the conversations, every single day monopolize your time, but rather to get you people are posting fantastic artwork, beautiful to try out smaller services and communities photos, inspirational quotes and poems, and that might be a better fit for you. Let\u2019s take a just overall interesting stuff. Social media truly look at a few more while we\u2019re at it. is much better when there\u2019s no algorithm to get in your way.\u201d PIXELFED KICKING IT OLD SCHOOL Another great Fediverse service is Pixelfed (fave.co\/3G4xb0G), an Instagram clone Again: The Internet used to be this way to with all the same priorities and subversion as begin with. Socializing online meant chatting Mastodon. You can share photos and on different BBS or forums hosted in different images, like, comment, and reshare posts, places by different groups of people, usually use filters, add Stories (sigh), build albums, funded by that community. It meant staying direct-message users, and so on. There are also no ads, no data selling, and no 114 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","algorithms. I still think a no-comments photo share your PixelFed posts to your existing app like Glass (fave.co\/3YEnSvt) would be Mastodon followers. more akin to what I want as a pure art tool, PEERTUBE but this is awesome. Since it\u2019s federated, you can view, follow, If you want to host videos, PeerTube (fave. and interact with PixelFed posts and co\/3WdLkOK) is a great service for building accounts with your existing Mastodon that. It\u2019s decentralized, open source, and uses account. Creating posts does require you to ActivityPub for federation\u2014meaning that make a new, PixelFed-specific account, instead of just building one massive and which is a point of confusion for users. But direct \u201cYouTube competitor\u201d (which has then your PixelFed feed becomes its own historically not been a successful venture: See federated profile that you can, for example, VidMe, Vessel, and so on), individual follow on Mastodon to easily boost and communities or organizations can host their own video websites for specific topics or communities. A great example of this is TILvids (fave.co\/3WbVHmg), a video site run on PeerTube that\u2019s dedicated to edutainment videos (hence the \u201cToday I Learned\u201d acronym in the title). This has many advantages, including lower\u00a0and more spread-out costs by not putting the bulk of it on any individual or singular organization, easier discoverability by having specialized sites for While it\u2019s not a federated service connected to Mastodon, SpaceHey individual niches or (fave.co\/3Wmnuk4) is another great example of a small, alternative communities, and control social networking website that\u2019s independently run and that happens for organizations or groups to hearken back to the classic MySpace nostalgia. JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 115","FEATURE MASTODON AND FEDER ATED SERVICES who want to host their own content without being restricted in rules by a higher authority. Plus it has all the usual advantages of decentralization and federation described above. PeerTube uses the Bittorrent peer-to-peer TILvids is a video site run on PeerTube that\u2019s dedicated to edutainment videos. protocol for streaming video to reduce bandwidth costs blogging service that can be as private or and load. public as you want, with intense OWNCAST customization options. You can craft private personal journals or publish blogs with Beyond just watching on-demand videos, you monetization, complete with (optional) can use Owncast (fave.co\/3jgywIM) to host comments and federation to other your own live-streaming service with control ActivityPub-enabled services as well. You can over how things are run, no ads (unless you also set up your own blog on existing integrate them), chat with chat bots, and WriteFreely community servers like Write.as compatibility with most streaming software. (fave.co\/3hCkWiD) or easily host your own. For streamers wanting to reduce their Even better, it\u2019s easy to run. dependence on a specific streaming TUMBLR? platform, running Owncast is a great way to give viewers somewhere else to support you Believe it or not, blogging platform Tumblr without missing any of the action. (fave.co\/3YALbGB) is on the rise again after WRITEFREELY being sold to Automattic (the WordPress parent company) in 2019 (fave.co\/3hGtB3r). For long-form writers, WriteFreely (fave. While it\u2019s not currently a federated service, co\/3HNcR5j) is a minimal, Markdown-based Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg teased the 116 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","notion (fave.co\/3v3RbKH), then later that are \u201csocial networking\u201d instead of \u201csocial confirmed (fave.co\/3Wo375w) that Tumblr media\u201d to begin with. will be integrating ActivityPub into the blogging platform and working on You don\u2019t need to make drastic moves or interoperability with other federated services jump ship from any services right now, but (like Mastodon) once it scales up to handle familiarizing yourself with these decentralized the new wave of migrating Twitter users. options will only benefit you as things move forward. We can all benefit from a paradigm THE UNIVERSE EXPANDS shift back away from users being the product, INFINITELY and toward gaining control over our online experiences. The internet used to be a fun This article only included a brief overview of place full of clubhouses run by people with the many federated services available. More varying interests, but more recently it\u2019s just examples include: been big, monolithic office buildings run by corporations and billionaires. Let\u2019s take the \u2022 BookWyrm (fave.co\/3HLAYBk) for a internet back and make it weird again. nice alternative to GoodReads. I\u2019m still setting up other federated services \u2022 Lemmy (fave.co\/3Wewsja), a link (including my own instance I\u2019m super stoked discussion service like Reddit. about), but in the meantime you can find me on Mastodon at @[email protected] (fave. \u2022 friendica (fave.co\/3PIVHro), a direct co\/3Ga1wep) and my WriteFreely blog at friendship manager service. AnalogDreams.blog (fave.co\/3v1WSsx). \u2022 Funkwhale (fave.co\/3PIJi6D), for music sharing and discussion. MAKE THE Mastodon has a wide selection of federated services, including Funkwhale NET WEIRD (fave.co\/3PIJi6D) for music sharing and discussion. AGAIN Regardless of what direction Twitter goes in, it seems the social networking landscape on the Internet is changing, potentially for the better\u2014starting with just having services JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 117","Finish your high school diploma for you and for them. Find free, flexible and supportive adult education centers near you at FinishYourDiploma.org.","Here\u2019s How HOW TO BUILD, MAINTAIN, AND FIX YOUR TECH GEAR How to use two-factor authentication to lock down your accounts the right way The best 2FA methods don\u2019t depend on a phone number. Here\u2019s what to use instead. BY JARED NEWMAN R eady or not, two-factor involves combining a regular password with a authentication (fave.co\/3co510T) secondary numeric code, which you must is something you\u2019ll need to start enter on any device where you haven\u2019t thinking more about. logged in before. This extra code typically This approach to online security, also gets sent to your phone, so someone who known as two-step authentication, multi- steals your password can\u2019t get into your factor authentication, or just 2FA for short, account unless they have physical access to IMAGE: KT STOCK PHOTOS\/SHUTTERSTOCK JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 119","HERE\u2019S HOW USE 2FA TO LOCK DOWN YOUR ACCOUNTS your phone as well (and know how to (fave.co\/3WbHZ2N). (The FCC is only now unlock\u00a0it). starting to examine that problem; fave. The added annoyance of 2FA is well co\/3YwAZ25.) And if your phone gets lost or worth the extra security it provides, which is stolen, you\u2019ll want to have a backup 2FA why some tech companies have now started method at the ready. requiring it. Google (fave.co\/3Vbq5vy) and If you\u2019re ready to take 2FA more seriously, Amazon\u2019s Ring (fave.co\/3Wfom9W) both here are some options to consider: made 2FA mandatory last year, and it\u2019s on by USE AN AUTHENTICATOR default for most Apple IDs (fave.co\/3G8FCIt). APP I\u2019ve also noticed Amazon selectively enforcing 2FA on it apps and website, Instead of sending 2FA codes by text sending a link to click on via text message message, most major online services let you when you login on a new device. use an authenticator app to generate codes While these are all positive steps, the on your phone. The authenticator app syncs smartest approach to 2FA isn\u2019t merely up to your online service\u2014usually by having passive. Many of these 2FA methods work you scan a one-time QR code\u2014and from then by\u00a0texting a code to your phone, which is on, you use the app to look up the code better than nothing but is susceptible to when you\u2019re logging in on a new device. potentially devastating SIM hijacking attacks While Google and Microsoft both offer their own authenticator apps that work with a wide range of online services, I personally prefer Authy (fave. co\/36EzKHx). It\u2019s free, and more importantly, you can install it on multiple devices at the same time. I have Authy installed on my iPhone, Android phone, iPad, Windows desktop, Windows Amazon selectively enforces 2FA on its apps and website. laptop, and Mac Mini, 120 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","which means my 2FA\u00a0codes are never\u00a0out of reach. This convenience does come with a trade-off: Installing Authy on a new device requires its own authentication code, which Authy can send via text message. But Authy mitigates this in two ways: You must also enter a password to unlock your Two-factor authentication confirms your identity. backups on a new device, and you can always disable the ability device to help you sign in on another. to install Authy on new devices. To turn the Similarly, some services can send you an extra ability back on, you\u2019d need physical access to verification code via email when you log in on a device where Authy is already installed. a new device. I wouldn\u2019t rely solely on Authy if you\u2019re Either approach is better than getting prone to forgetting passwords, because codes via text message\u2014at least, if your there\u2019s no way to recover Authy\u2019s password if devices and email account are secure you lose it. But if you want easy access to 2FA themselves\u2014and in most cases you can set codes across multiple devices\u2014including them up alongside an authenticator app such your computer\u2014its multi-device support as Authy. That way, you have multiple makes it tough to beat. methods for getting into your accounts when USE EMAIL OR APP-BASED 2FA is enabled. 2FA INSTEAD OF TEXT USE PRINTED CODES If you\u2019ve ever seen the \u201cAre you trying to sign OR\u00a0A\u00a0SECURITY KEY FOR\u00a0EXTRA BACKUP in?\u201d prompt on your phone when logging into Gmail on a new device, this in itself is a To make doubly sure that you can always get form of 2FA, using an existing sign-in on one into your account, some services will let you JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 121","HERE\u2019S HOW USE 2FA TO LOCK DOWN YOUR ACCOUNTS Yubico\u2019s YubiKey is a hardware-based 2FA solution. SETTING IT ALL UP print out backup codes or plug a USB security key into your device for 2FA. Last year, for Here\u2019s where things instance, I set up a Yubico (fave.co\/ get a little tricky: Not 3BQEMNL) security key with my Gmail, every app or online Microsoft, Twitter, and Stripe accounts, so if I service works with all of ever need to log in on a new device, I can just the options I just plug in the key instead of using Authy. You described. Some may can see which online accounts work with not support physical Yubikey here (fave.co\/3BL4B1K). security keys or email- based authentication. SIGN IN WITH GOOGLE OR Others may not APPLE WHEN POSSIBLE provide printed codes as a backup method. Once you\u2019ve gone through the trouble of Others may only offer text-based two-factor locking down your Google and Apple authentication or may not offer 2FA at all. account, consider using them to log in on That doesn\u2019t mean you should avoid 2FA other sites whenever that\u2019s an option. For entirely. Instead, you should use the best instance, I often use \u201cSign in with Google\u201d on available options for each of your accounts, sites that offer it, as spares me from creating starting with the ones that store your most another password and gives that site the same important data. If 2FA options are limited or level of security as my Google account. unavailable, it\u2019s all the more important to rely on strong passwords\u2014preferably generated by a password manager (fave.co\/3lRkfRz). Ready to get started? Here are quick links to setting up 2FA on Google (fave.co\/ 3WzBnen), Microsoft (fave.co\/3YESyNa), Yahoo (fave.co\/3PDBt2d), Amazon (fave. co\/3WzBcQf), Facebook (fave.co\/3YFTm4K), Twitter (fave.co\/3FFTCrK), LinkedIn (fave. co\/3Waidfl), and Apple (fave.co\/3G8FCIt). Authy\u2019s website also has a searchable list of tutorials (fave.co\/36EzKHx) for setting up 2FA on other sites. 122 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","How to add check boxes to Microsoft Word documents Are you making a list and checking it twice? BY MARSHALL GUNNELL Whether you\u2019re writing the in the Developer tab. This tab isn\u2019t displayed next greatest novel or a by default. To show the Developer tab, simple grocery list, Microsoft right-click anywhere in the ribbon and click Word is used for all types of the \u201cCustomize the Ribbon\u201d option in the things. Fortunately, if you\u2019re looking to add context menu. In the Options window that check boxes to a personal survey or work appears, check the box next to Developer checklist, it\u2019s relatively easy to do. We\u2019ll guide and then click OK. you every step of the way. Let\u2019s dive right in. Now type out the list you\u2019d like to add ADD CHECK BOXES TO check boxes to. Once you\u2019ve typed it out, WORD DOCUMENTS ON place the cursor at the beginning of the first WINDOWS item. Then, in the Developer tab, click Check Box Content Control in the Controls group (1). To add check boxes to your Word document on Windows, you\u2019ll need to use the features The check box will appear next to the item. Copy and paste the check box next to IMAGE: PIXIEME\/SHUTTERSTOCK JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 123","HERE\u2019S HOW ADD CHECK BOXES TO WORD DOCUMENTS 1. type the list that you would like to add check boxes to. Next, place the cursor each item. To check or uncheck a check box, at the beginning of the item on the first simply click on it with your mouse. line and then select Check Box in the Developer tab. ADD CHECK BOXES TO WORD DOCS ON\u00a0MACOS The check box will appear next to the item. To check or uncheck the box, select As with Windows, you\u2019ll need to display the the box and then click Options in the Developer tab. In the pop-up window that appears, select Checked under default value to check it and Not Checked to uncheck it. Select OK (2). That\u2019s all there is to it. ADD CHECK BOXES TO WORD FOR THE WEB Word for the Web only offers check boxes using the bullet feature. Unfortunately, there\u2019s no way to check or uncheck these boxes digitally, so you\u2019ll need to print the sheet out and manually check the boxes with a pen. Developer tab to add check boxes. To show the Developer tab, open the Word\u00a0menu and select Preferences. In the Word Preferences window that appears, click Ribbon & Toolbar. Next, check the box next to Developer in the Customize\u00a0the Ribbon group\u00a0and select OK. With the Developer tab 2. now in view, go ahead and 124 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","Is gigabit internet worth it? Only if you meet these 3 criteria You\u2019ll probably be fine with much slower speeds. BY JARED NEWMAN I f you ever need a textbook example of important for \u201cscrolling through your misleading marketing, just look at what Instagram feed on your phone while some internet providers are saying about simultaneously streaming Net\ufb02ix and sur\ufb01ng gigabit internet service. Amazon Prime on your laptop.\u201d Likewise, Cable companies would have you believe Comcast says to consider gigabit speeds that speeds upward of 1 Gbps are essential (fave.co\/3jjToPu) if \u201cyour family loves to for modern internet use. A gigabit connection stream movies and TV while playing \u201clets you multitask,\u201d Cox\u2019s website proclaims bandwidth-hungry games and downloading (fave.co\/3v49Eql), suggesting that it\u2019s the latest apps on your smartphone.\u201d IMAGE: PROMKAZ\/SHUTTERSTOCK JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 125","HERE\u2019S HOW IS GIGABIT INTERNET WORTH IT? For the sake of keeping this article family- streaming audio. You\u2019d have to stream on friendly, the term I will use for these claims is more than 108 devices at a time to run out of \u201cexaggeration.\u201d Gigabit speeds are overkill bandwidth on a gigabit connection. for the vast majority of internet users, but with Gigabit internet may require additional more people ditching cable TV and girding hardware investment as well. If you have your their homes for remote work, internet own cable modem, you\u2019ll need one with providers have found a golden opportunity to DOCSIS 3.1 support (fave.co\/3llkTWF) to push unnecessary upgrades with fatter profit get\u00a0gigabit speeds from most providers. Some margins. So it\u2019s no surprise that they\u2019re routers\u2014including older Eero models (fave.co\/ capitalizing on gigabit internet confusion. 3BOGTSi)\u2014don\u2019t support gigabit speeds. WHY GIGABIT INTERNET Anecdotally, I\u2019ve been quite satisfied with MAY BE OVERKILL 200 Mbps speeds from Spectrum. While negotiating a lower price from the company a Consider the facts: couple years ago, I even declined their offer \u2022 Netflix recommends download speeds for a \u201cfree\u201d 400 Mbps upgrade because I of 25 Mbps for 4K HDR video. That means didn\u2019t want to get smacked with a steep price you\u2019d need 40 simultaneous streams\u201410 hike once that promo rate expired. times more than what Netflix\u2019s 4K plan even I\u2019m writing this because I\u2019ve heard from allows\u2014to make full use of a gigabit too many folks who\u2019ve been led to believe connection. \u2022 Zoom Video recommends speeds of 3.8 Mbps for videoconferencing at 1080p. Bandwidth would only become a problem if you had more than 263 video calls going at the same time. \u2022 Tidal reports a maximum bitrate of 9216 Kbps for master-quality Many TV streaming services don\u2019t need gigabit internet. 126 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","that faster speeds will eliminate bu\ufb00ering and other connection problems. Fact is, most of the time, those issues can be solved with the same speeds on a better Wi-Fi router (fave.co\/ 3WzdEdZ). All that said, there are some scenarios where gigabit internet service makes sense. If you\u2019re going to spend You might need a faster cable internet plan to get better upload speeds extra, it should be for for participating in video calls. one of a few very speci\ufb01c reasons: those upload speeds to 20 Mbps, you\u2019d GIGABIT JUSTIFICATION 1: need to upgrade to much more expensive YOU NEED FASTER UPLOAD gigabit plan. SPEEDS Unfortunately, this is a common problem among cable providers due to the way Oddly enough, the biggest reason to pay for they\u2019ve built their networks (fave.co\/ gigabit internet has nothing to do gigabit 3j7nmG8), so you\u2019ll \ufb01nd similar \u201casymmetric\u201d speeds. Instead, you might need a faster speeds on Spectrum and Cox as well. (They cable internet plan just to get better upload also take pains to hide this pitiful fact from speeds for backing up data or participating new customers, fave.co\/3V6gEgY.) in video calls. While upload speeds can vary But even as a ticket to faster uploads, by cable internet provider, they tend to be gigabit service might still be an excessive much slower than what you get for choice. I\u2019ve found that Spectrum\u2019s 10 Mbps download speeds, leading to more upload speeds have been fine for two noticeable bottlenecks. simultaneous Zoom sessions. And if you With Comcast, for instance, a plan with have a fiber-optic internet provider in your 200 Mbps download speeds only o\ufb00ers area, this issue probably doesn\u2019t apply. upload speeds of 10 Mbps. Just to double Verizon and AT&T both offer equal JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 127","HERE\u2019S HOW IS GIGABIT INTERNET WORTH IT? download and upload speeds for their fiber back up his clients\u2019 computers every night service, so you can safely stick with sub- (fave.co\/3WdSmmG). gigabit plans. Those all sound like legitimate use cases, GIGABIT JUSTIFICATION 2: but they\u2019re quite specific. They also assume YOU HAVE A SPECIALIZED that whatever server you\u2019re contacting USE CASE IN MIND supports gigabit speeds as well, which isn\u2019t always the case. (This becomes painfully clear To see if I was missing anything, I recently whenever my PlayStation 4 needs a large asked folks on Twitter what actual use cases software update.) existed for gigabit internet service, and I got a GIGABIT JUSTIFICATION 3: few interesting responses. YOU WANT THE BRAGGING RIGHTS KTLA tech reporter Rich DeMuro said he has to transfer huge video files on a daily basis for his broadcast TV job, so the Even if you can\u2019t think of a particular use for gigabit speeds come in handy (fave. gigabit internet, maybe you just want the co\/3FKQRp1). Consumer Reports\u2019 Nicholas satisfaction that comes from having the fattest De Leon said he likes being able to data pipe available. That way, if any high- download PC and console games faster bandwidth applications do come around, (fave.co\/3hDsuBt). A computer consultant you\u2019ll be well prepared, and on some level named \u201cMax\u201d said he needs the speeds to you\u2019re establishing a market for those use cases in the first place. As a tech enthusiast myself, I\u2019m not going to deny anyone\u2019s right to technological excess. Just don\u2019t have any illusions about what exactly you\u2019re paying You may wish to opt for gigabit internet if you\u2019re a fan of online gaming. for. 128 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","The Steam Deck\u2019s button mapper is the best feature you\u2019re not using How to make pretty much any PC title work with a game controller. BY JARED NEWMAN F or me, the Steam Deck\u2019s aha re-release on GOG a few years ago. That and moment came when I figured out some other odd display issues kept me from how to play the PC version of ever giving it a try on my gaming PC. Stranglehold without a mouse and\u00a0keyboard. But after I sideloaded the game through Steam Deck\u2019s desktop mode, Valve\u2019s button The John Woo\u2013produced, somewhat remapping tool saved the day. This Steam underappreciated third-person shooter didn\u2019t Deck feature is so extensive that you can get include controller support when it launched practically any game to work well with the on Windows in 2007, and neither did the portable console\u2019s thumbsticks, triggers, and IMAGE: VALVE JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 129","HERE\u2019S HOW STEAM DECK\u2019S BUTTON MAPPER buttons, and I\u2019ve since used it to breathe new create your own layout. Pick a PC game from life into other old PC games as well. your library that has poor or nonexistent controller support, then read on for details. Here\u2019s an in-depth guide to everything Steam Deck\u2019s button remapping can do: CREATING A STEAM DECK\u00a0CONTROLLER HOW TO FIND THE STEAM LAYOUT: THE BASICS DECK\u2019S BUTTON REMAPPER Before building your own Steam Deck Once you\u2019ve loaded a game on the Steam controller layout, you should visit the game\u2019s Deck, click the Steam button, select Controller control menu first. Using your phone, take Settings, then press the A button again. pictures of the game\u2019s keyboard and mouse assignments so you can reference them along Scroll down from here and you\u2019ll find the way. Trust me, this will make the some quick settings such as y-axis inversion remapping process much less tedious. and sensitivity levels for the mouse and trackpad. Keep in mind that these are For this tutorial, I\u2019m going to use F.E.A.R. independent of the in-game control settings, as an example, as the first-person shooter so I would only make adjustments here if the format does a great job demonstrating game itself doesn\u2019t offer them. everything you can do with button remapping. (That, and I\u2019ve been wanting to Still, those quick settings only hint at get the game off my backlog anyway.) what\u2019s possible. To truly take advantage of Steam Deck button mapping, you\u2019ll need to Here\u2019s an overview of how the remapping The Steam Deck\u2019s Controller Settings. process works: \u2022 From the Controller Settings menu, select the current layout, and then select the Templates menu. \u2022 Scroll down and select \u201cKeyboard (WASD) and Mouse.\u201d This maps the left stick to the WASD keys 130 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","Once you\u2019ve mapped those face buttons, you can move on down the left sidebar to map the Steam Deck\u2019s thumbsticks, triggers, D-Pad, trackpads, and rear buttons. You can map those controls to pretty much anything, including mouse buttons, the scroll wheel, and even system actions like the Selecting a controller template on the Steam Deck. screenshot function. While most of this is and\u00a0emulates mouse movement with the pretty straightforward, pay special attention right\u00a0stick. to the Joysticks tab, and in particular the \u2022 From the Controller Settings menu, gear icon next to Right Joystick Behavior. select Edit Layout. \u2022 Use the left sidebar to choose between the physical controls on your Steam Deck. \u2022 Use the right-hand menu to assign commands to those controls. In the image at right, I\u2019ve set the Steam Deck\u2019s face buttons to correspond with keyboard commands for some common actions in F.E.A.R., including Use, Flashlight, and Reload. (We\u2019ll get into the long- press behavior later.) Remapping keyboard controls to the Steam Deck buttons. JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 131","HERE\u2019S HOW STEAM DECK\u2019S BUTTON MAPPER Once you\u2019ve con\ufb01gured everything to your liking, go back to the Controller Settings menu and the gear icon underneath your layout. From here you can either choose Export to save the layout on your device or Share to upload it for other folks to use as well (more on that shortly). Controlling joystick mouse sensitivity in the Steam Deck. Give your layout a name and a description, From here you can adjust the sensitivity, then save it. It\u2019ll appear in the Your Layouts scale, and dead zone for mouse emulation, tab on the layout selection screen, so you can which is especially useful when mapping always come back to it even if you mess first- and third-person shooters. You\u2019ll likely around with alternative control schemes. need to fine-tune the sensitivity as you go, ADVANCED STEAM DECK but you can do this later through the quick MAPPING OPTIONS settings menu. The fun doesn\u2019t stop there. Valve also offers a few advanced ways to optimize your PC games for the Steam Deck controller: Secondary commands: For games where a simple button press isn\u2019t enough, you can map additional key bindings behind a long The Steam Deck layout save menu. press or double press. You 132 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","\u2022 Choose which button to map it to, then click the gear icon next to the new command and select Regular Press. \u2022 Choose to map the extra command to a long press, double press, hold, or release. Virtual Menus: This neat trick lets you create your own radial menus for The Steam Deck lets you roll your own radial weapon selector. the touchpad, directional pad, or thumbsticks, can also map separate bindings for when complete with visual overlays that appear in you hold and release a button\u2014perfect for the game. It comes in handy for shooters or shooters that toggle the iron sights with a MMORPGs where you\u2019d normally switch trigger button when you\u2019d prefer to hold it between weapons through the number row. down instead. \u2022 From the layout screen, head to Virtual \u2022 Click the gear icon next to any button Menus, then select Add Virtual Menu. and select Add Extra Command. \u2022 Give it a name that\u2019ll help you identify it later, such as \u201cF.E.A.R. Weapon Selector.\u201d \u2022 Choose the type of menu you want to create. Radial works best with the touchpad or thumbsticks, Touch Menu is just for the touchpad, and Hotbar is mainly for cycling through items with the D-Pad. \u2022 Select the pencil button next to the newly The Steam Deck secondary controls. created menu. JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 133","HERE\u2019S HOW STEAM DECK\u2019S BUTTON MAPPER method to the Virtual Menu. For instance, you can head to Trackpads, tap the drop-down menu next to Left Trackpad Behavior, and choose your newly created menu from the list. Action sets: This lets you switch to a different control scheme in response to a button The Steam Deck\u2019s Virtual Menus. press. A great example is reducing the joystick-to- \u2022 Select Add Command and choose the mouse sensitivity when looking down the key you\u2019d like to assign. sights in a first-person shooter. Here\u2019s how to \u2022 Use the Add Virtual Menu Entry option set that up: to create additional items in the menu. \u2022 In the remap menu, head to Action Sets. \u2022 Use the dotted circle next to each \u2022 Select the gear icon next to Default and button to select an icon for each item. select Add Layer. These icons will appear in the overlay during the game. \u2022 Optionally use the gear icon next to each button and select Rename Command to give it\u00a0a name that will appear on screen as\u00a0well. \u2022 Finally, return to the main remapping menu and assign a Steam Deck control The Steam Deck radial control menu. 134 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","Action Set, disable the two blue toggles, and click Confirm. \u2022 Return to the remap menu and hit R1 so that While Aiming appears in the top left of the screen. \u2022 In the Trigger menu, select Add Command next to Creating a Steam Deck Action Set. Soft Pull. \u2022 Navigate to \u2022 Give the layer a name, such as While the Action Sets tab and select Remove Action Aiming. Set Layer. \u2022 In the Trigger menu, click the gear icon \u2022 Select the While Aiming Action Set and next to Soft Pull and select \u201cAdd sub choose Confirm. command.\u201d \u2022 Select \u201cAdd command\u201d to bring up the control selection screen. \u2022 Navigate to the Action Sets tab and select Add Action Set Layer. \u2022 Select the While Aiming Adding Action Sets on the Steam Deck. JANUARY 2023 PCWorld 135","HERE\u2019S HOW STEAM DECK\u2019S BUTTON MAPPER some truly horrendous layouts even for games with straightforward control schemes. Community layouts can be a good starting point, but it\u2019s still worth understanding the button remapper so you can make your own adjustments or start from scratch if need be. The Steam Deck\u2019s Action Set behavior. While this is admittedly a lot to take \u2022 In the Joysticks menu, click the gear icon in, a little experimentation is all it takes to get next to Right Joystick Behavior and then lower hooked. When everything clicks, you\u2019ll the mouse sensitivity. realize you can create the perfect layout for COMMUNITY LAYOUTS: A pretty much any game on the Steam Deck, no SHORTCUT (WITH CAVEATS) matter how complex the control scheme. Now, excuse me while I go \ufb01gure out how If all that just sounds like too much work for to set up X-Wing (fave.co\/3VhPDXP). the sake of play, there is a shortcut: Just select one of the Community Layouts that other players have created. You\u2019ll \ufb01nd these by clicking on your layout in the Controller Settings page, then heading to the Community Layouts tab. The problem with community layouts is that you never know what you\u2019re going to get, and I\u2019ve seen The Steam Deck\u2019s community layouts. 136 PCWorld JANUARY 2023","Qui int smokint was hard. Screening for lung cancer is easy. If you smoked, you may still be at risk, but early detection could save your life. Get SavedByTheScan.org","Tech Spotlight Avideoshowcase of the latest trends Watch the video at youtu.be\/ pWvS9Vtzv08 Our Favorite PC Hardware Of 2022: The Full Nerd Awards \u2265 It\u2019s the end of the year, so that means it\u2019s time for the members of our Full Nerd podcast to pick our favorite PC hardware that came out in 2022! Watch the gang argue their picks across a range of categories before settling on the winners. (We almost broke Brad.) 138 PCWorld JANUARY 2023"]