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How Does the Apple Credit Card Work?

Apple is getting into the financial services game with its new Apple credit card. Insider sources say they added a port just so they could take it away again, in keeping with Apple’s time-tested design philosophy. Okay, I’m just kidding about the port, but they did remove everything except the user’s name from the physical titanium card, opting instead to store all sensitive info in the Apple Pay app. Classic Apple. The rest of the card’s features also feel a lot like what you would expect from an Apple financial product: simple, private, secure, user-friendly, and only available to iPhone users. It’s another step by… Read more

USB Power Delivery Explained

There is nothing worse than watching your phone battery drain, knowing that you need it to stay on and you have no way to charge it quickly. Manufacturers have been working to find ways to charge your phone battery faster, and the USB Power Delivery method seems to be the way of the future. What Is USB Power Delivery? USB Power Delivery, or PD for short, is designed to be a single charging standard that you can use with any USB device. These devices include not only cell phones but also hard drives, tablets, laptops, and even monitors. It’s a safe and efficient way to… Read more

USB Power Delivery Explained

There is nothing worse than watching your phone battery drain, knowing that you need it to stay on and you have no way to charge it quickly. Manufacturers have been working to find ways to charge your phone battery faster, and the USB Power Delivery method seems to be the way of the future. What Is USB Power Delivery? USB Power Delivery, or PD for short, is designed to be a single charging standard that you can use with any USB device. These devices include not only cell phones but also hard drives, tablets, laptops, and even monitors. It’s a safe and efficient way to… Read more

What Is a VPN, and Why Do I Need One?

A virtual private network (VPN) enables you to have a secure connection between your local device and an external server. It creates a private network out of a public Internet connection by hiding your Internet Protocol (IP) address. With a VPN, all your browsing data is routed through a safe encrypted passage protecting you from snooping eyes. Though not a magic bullet, a VPN is currently the best way to protect your device from hacking, DNS/IP address leaks and ISP surveillance. Indeed, a few governments frown upon VPN use, but if you purchase a high quality VPN service with traffic encryption and zero knowledge DNS,… Read more

Which Allocation Unit Size Is Best for Your Drive?

If you’ve ever formatted a hard drive or USB thumb drive, you might have seen the “Allocation Unit Size” setting. This is set by default, but you can change it if you want. Should you? If so, what should you set it to? What does allocation unit size even mean? There are multiple answers to the above questions, both simple and not-so-simple. The two-word answer for any of them could be “it depends.” Related: How to Choose a Filesystem for Your USB Drive What Does Allocation Unit Size Mean? Depending on who you’re talking to, allocation unit size may also be referred to as “cluster… Read more