Forza Horizon 5 has captivated racing enthusiasts since its launch in November of 2021. One of the key elements that set this game apart is its meticulous recreation of real-world locations, making players feel as though they are truly exploring these places. We've looked into the real-world inspirations behind some of the most iconic locations in ...

These days, global screen time averages at almost 7 hours a day. Admittedly, some of this is ‘work time’, but the rest is often just dreaded evening-time scrolling. After all, the internet and our smartphones are uniquely designed to catch us after a long day, when we sit down for ten minutes but end up on social media for two hours instead.

This, in itself, needn’t be an issue, but most people report feelings of guilt or inadequacy after long phone sessions. Despite that, studies show that our screen usage is only set to increase. So, what can we do to save our sanity in this age of screen time?

Believe it or not, there is such a thing as ‘good’ screen time. By taking the time to remember this, you may find it possible to develop more wholesome, satisfying screen experiences overall. 

The question is, what exactly does ‘good’ screen time mean these days? 

I start up Windows 11, and a horrifying sight that would make Lovecraft's skin crawl greets my eyes. A depraved mockery of a user interface that looks like the illegitimate child of GNOME, macOS, and a knockoff touch phone has replaced a sensible Start menu. What was once understood by the human brain has been replaced by a horrifying nest of icons and poorly tiered menus with drop-downs as a belated afterthought. What used to be comprehensible to find programs to use is now an aggravating mess. As I see what Microsoft hath wrought, despair almost creeps upon me and strangles all hope in my heart.

But then, I found replacers for these horrific searing mockeries of a good interface, and angels begin to sing as the ability to purge this offense from God's world saves my sanity and thus my soul.


.....Okay, in all seriousness, the Windows 11 Start Menu is horrible. What was originally straightforward and sensible has, over the years, become a worse and worse-looking way to access common programs. Even the Windows 10 Start Menu looked horrible, but at least that was navigable and rendered to the left side of the screen with a scroll-down menu I could read. Windows 11, in Microsoft's questionable wisdom, was them deciding to rip off some of the worst ideas from the GNOME desktop, macOS, and some bizarre interpretation of a touch phone to make their worst menu yet.

Thankfully, there are solutions to these eye-searing horrors to restore a menu that is not a center-aligned mishmash of bars, icons, and poorly selectable menus into something that makes actual sense. Note, in one of the latest updates they finally let you put the menu back to the left, but all the other flaws remain. Read on for the potential fixes.



1. Start11

Price: 5.99 USD (single user), 14.99 (multi-device license), 39.99 (Object Desktop combo), business prices variable depending on need

Start11 by Stardock is a great way to fix most of the agony that is the horrible Start Menu UI. It allows the start menu to be left aligned, can be much more readable like the Windows 7 and earlier versions, and I found it very easy to install and configure.

Best of all is that its features work great alongside the rest of Windows 11 and it's very easy to customize it, the taskbar, and the search feature and replace them with nicer versions that are less clunky.

The only downside is that, unfortunately, it does cost money, but for a single user it's not a large price to pay. Even the multi-computer license is far from unreasonable. It can be downloaded from Steam or Stardock's own website, with a free trial, home and business pricing solutions, and full support for all versions.

While not required, a companion program they also offer is WindowBlinds, which allows remaking the rest of the interface not touched by Start11. They have an Object Desktop suite that offers even more options for remaking the entire Windows 11 interface however you like, but Start 11 already injects a huge dose of much-needed sanity for the worst of it.


2. Open Shell


This is a free and open-source program not meant for Windows 11 at this time, but it can be used regardless due to overlapping UI code between 10 and 11. This is the ideal "quick and dirty" fix, but far from ideal.

Open Shell will have all features work fine on Windows 10, but on 11, it will be limited. You will need to do some tweaks to make the left-aligned start menu show up (enable a custom icon, it provides one already or you can supply your own), and the original is still there in the center of the Windows 11 taskbar.

The OpenShell Menu generally works the same as it did on Windows 10, but configuration options outside the Start Menu itself will be a coin flip if they work, most of the time silently failing.

There is still good support for this unofficially which makes it an acceptable fallback option if you want to spend nothing, but the other options mentioned here will be better for functionality beyond the bare basics.


3. Start Menu X


Price: Free (freeware version), 9.99 (Professional)


This is a somewhat more compatible free (though not open source) alternative to Open Shell. It does what it says remaking the Start Menu in the image of older Windows versions.

Interestingly, it comes in a freeware and "Pro" paid version. The free version is already pretty good, providing a lot of Start Menu customization features out of the box, with the "Pro" version only offering some marginal improvement.

Unfortunately, unlike Open Shell, which does have some other, non-Start Menu tweaks that can function on Windows 11, Start Menu X is strictly confined to modification of ONLY the start menu and nothing else. Essentially, you trade off features for compatibility between it and Open-Shell.


4. Start All Back

Price: 4.99 (1 PC), 8.99 (2 PCs), 14.99 (3 PCs), business price variable based on need

This is the last of the options currently available, and it's something like a potpourri of the good and bad of the other versions.

On the good side, it has great compatibility, can configure more than just the Start Menu like Open-Shell but with more working like File Explorer and Control Panel tweaks, and has a freeware version.

On the bad, it has a nagware screen after the 30-day trial expires (though the license price is fairly cheap), it is not open-source, and I found its support website, while better than Start Menu X, to be a bit hard to navigate for support.


Conclusions


If you want to have a good idea of what I consider ideal, these are my suggestions.

The worst but cheapest option is Open-Shell. While it will require some tinkering, you pay nothing and it still provides better-than-nothing improvements.

Start Menu X is somewhat better. The paid version can be skipped as the freeware version is more than acceptable, but its options for anything beyond the Start Menu itself are basically nil.

Start All Back is the second-best choice. Cheaper than Start 11 and offers more features, but support for it is not as transparent as Start 11. Freeware with a nag screen after the trial expires (with a very minor functionality hit) is still good even after the trial expires, but can still be annoying.

Of all the options, Start 11 is my recommendation for plug-and-play, fire-and-forget sanity to the Start Menu. It's for money, but it's lavishly supported by Stardock and can be further enhanced to tweak even the most minor parts of your UI to your preference, provided you'll pay Stardock for the extensions.

Thank you Muhoop for sending us this bug zapper to review!

Though I can’t find any Biblical evidence, I believe that fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, and other blood sucking creatures are part of mankind’s curse in Genesis 3. I have yet to find someone who appreciates mosquitoes and wishes for them to stay alive. The “Electronical Mosquito Killer HK-1107” claims to be the best and has “achieved patent” according to the box.

This $20 mosquito killer is quite affordable and measures at 10” tall and 4.5” wide. The power cord is only 3 feet long and that’s my biggest complaint. There is no instruction manual, so I’m not sure how to open it up to clean away the bug bodies with a “soft lrush” as the box instructs. The box also recommends using this mosquito killer “in bed-room, hall, hostal, office, chicken farm, animal huslardry, and any other places where needs killing mosquitoes.“ As you can see, there were multiple typographical errors within the packaging, and it would have been a better experience had some of the instructions gone through a bit of proofreading before release.

Thank you Dongguan Emily Trading Co., Ltd for sending us this heating pad to review!

Getting old isn’t fun. I discover random aches and pains without origins other than my age. For example, my left hip started hurting the other day for no apparent reason. It’s not like I ran a marathon or fell. Thankfully, I had this heating pad handy!

The device is simple to use with only three buttons to press. The power button is where you start or end to turn the device on or off. The other two buttons control the temperature and timer functions. The temperature starts at 95 degrees Fahrenheit and goes all the way up to 158 in 9 degree intervals. The timer can be set from fifteen minutes to two hours in 15-minute intervals. Setting the timer to one hour at night was perfect for my sore hip as the warmth felt good and it didn’t have to be on after falling sleep. When I woke up in the morning, the pain wasn’t completely gone, but it was much better.

The padding is super soft and very comfortable. With the detachable cord it’s washable too! Another advantage of the detachable cord is that it can break away if accidentally tugged on or tripped over. This item is also covered by a five-year warranty so it’s nice to hear that the manufacturer stands behind this product.

People who are super organised are often teased for being a bit anally retentive, but if you’re one of those people whose home is always uncluttered, who’s never late and who is always ready for anything, you could be the one getting the last laugh. Why? Because being organised is seriously good for your life and career prospects.

Just look at this list of things that organised people are better at than the average person, and you’ll see how you could be improved by having this particular trait:

Ability to focus

When you’re organised, you don’t have to worry about the mess that’s piling up on your desk or the fact you’ve forgotten to write the notes for that speech you’d also forgotten you had to give, which means you can give the task at hand your complete and utter focus.

Improved productivity

For similar reasons, if you have your life organised, you’re more likely to be more productive, Whether you work, you’ll be able to get more done when you have a plan of execution and no distractions to stop you from following it. In fact, according to some research, organised people can be as much as 50% more productive than the disorganised in our midst.

There is an ongoing battle on which operating system is best and the foremost rivals are Windows and Linux. Everyone has his own favorite system and their arguments in online chat forums to present their system as the superior one, proves that both OSs have their strengths and weaknesses.

A major strength of Linux is integrating systems that can improve students’ lives and has taken various initiatives to continue penetrating on this strength. How has Linux proved better at helping students improve themselves?

Here are seven reasons how Linux for students is better than other OSs.

Financially savvy

The evolution of web browsers made them even more useful and efficient than they were initially. Thanks to many developers, users can add various extensions in the browsers and forget about third-party applications or separate programs. Google Chrome is one of the browsers, which allows users to install many useful extensions.

The Best Extensions for Google Chrome in 2019

In recent years the number of available extensions for web browsers is significantly increased. Many developers prefer to create a simple, yet powerful and helpful extension instead of wasting time on another full application for PC. When you open the ‘Extensions’ tab, you are not limited to your options, and it is possible to browse through the shop to find what you need right now. Today, we review the best extensions for Google Chrome that users choose daily. Heads up, we are starting.

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In case you've at any point seen individuals doing parkour or know somebody who does parkour then shots are excellent you've heard one of the accompanying expressions said in passing. Perhaps you've even said a couple jokingly yourself…

Because hello, what's a "Would you be able to complete a backflip?!" between companions (or so far as that is concerned, finished outsiders). Do you know the uncle at each family assembling who advises similar jokes to similar individuals consistently and after that gets distraught and shouty in case you don't snicker?

Congrats, that’s you. So to abstain from being Uncle Maury, here's a rundown of four expressions you honestly shouldn't state to somebody rehearsing parkour.

#1. Hardcore Parkour!

Most importantly, In case you haven't seen the clasp from The Office that began this pattern, you ought to likely watch that here so the remainder of this will sound useful to you. Likewise, it's funny. Honestly, watch it and get a decent giggle in before you return.

With massive data growth in every organization, the need for security is increasing every single day. Most companies face such security threats as data breaches and hacks that’s why the demand for qualified professionals that possess skills to protect company’s data has increased. Employers are ready to pay them high salaries, that’s why such professionals should be certified. If you wish to make a career in such a demanding and constantly developing field as security, having a certification is a real necessity for you. Among the certifications available here, the best way is to start with CompTIA Security+ credential, as it doesn’t require prerequisites. Being a vendor-neutral, it is one of the most demanding IT certifications in the field of security that after its completion grants you a number of benefits.

In this article, you’ll get to know the tips on how to gain this certification. So, to start with, you need to pass one exam, known as CompTIA Security certification exam or simply CompTIA Security+ Certification Practice Test Questions.

CompTIA Security+ Exam Overview:

The CompTIA Security+ test (SY0-501) is an online test that includes about 90 multiple-choice and performance-based questions. You are given 90 minutes to answer all the questions and your task is to score 750 on the scale of 100-900 in order to become a CompTIA Security+ certified professional. The price for taking this test is 339 USD.

Lack of time, a constraint on personal acquaintance, the desire to find love with the same interests are just some of the reasons why modern people resort to online dating applications. However, how to find a simple and secure mobile application with informative questionnaires and real photos? We offer the best Tinder alternatives that will help you to find true love.

1. Badoo

Badoo has a huge user base. You can find people who are nearby or with whom you have crossed paths before. By the way, to see the profiles you are interested in, you don’t have to open them. You can make gifts, communicate in a chat (by reciprocity), and look for the "lookalikes." This is a secure application that works correctly and safely.

Advantages:

- encrypted data transfer;

If you are running a fleet management company that deals with food transportation and deliveries, you need to ask yourself whether the fleet is ready to comply with all of the new rules. Starting a new business does not pose a lot of compliance challenges like those that run with different rules. Both 2017 and 2018 brought some changes into the industry that both small and large food transportation fleets are expected to comply with. However, all of these are for the benefit of the consumers who are the heart of the business.

FDA Regulations

Both the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011 and Sanitary Food Transportation Act of 2005 mandate the FDA to come up with better ways of transportation of food with an aim of reducing contamination. Thus, they have been working on this before rolling it on to fleet owners and management firms. According to officials, this has since been completed in 2016.

Areas Covered

The FDA has tried to cover all food handling and transportation areas across all sectors. The primary goal is to have all vehicles and shipping containers maintained at set standards and to avoid contamination by all means. Apart from hygiene, temperature control is another concern one has to address. Thus, if you are in this sector, you need to understand the new rules and comply. Here are the areas covered.

The CompTIA Security+ certification the vendor-neutral certification that allows you to work on the overall cybersecurity field. The CompTIA Security+ SY0-501 exam is a worldwide recognized endorsement of foundation-level safety abilities and comprehension and can be employed by companies and security professionals around the world.  The CompTIA Security+ SY0-501 exam will ensure that the successful candidate has the knowledge and techniques required to set up and configure systems to safeguard applications, networks, and devices; execute hazard analysis and response using proper reduction techniques; engage in hazard reduction actions; and run with an awareness of related policies, laws, and regulations. The successful candidate can conduct these jobs to encourage the principles of ethics, confidentiality, and accessibility.  The CompTIA Security+ SY0-501 exam is aimed at an IT security professional with prepaway Security+ Practice Test - SY0-501:

• A minimum of 2 years' expertise in IT management with a focus on safety
• Day-to-day technical data security expertise
• Broad understanding of safety issues and execution, such as the subjects in the domain

Which are the modifications in CompTIA Security+ SY0-501 exam compared to the previous exam?

When there are lots of changes, possibly the most important is a heightened demand for hands-on abilities. Information technology has had a severe impact on the growing world. This trend will grow and continue because the SY0-501 exam is supposed to comprise endorsement of hands-on abilities. This means functionality based questions about the exam, though CompTIA hasn't supplied information about any new exam design. Several types of research indicate a foundation of 90 multiple choice questions, together with multiple choice questions being swapped out to every single performance-based query the candidate experiences about the exam. Although enforcement could be hard, CompTIA indicates that hands-on labs ought to be strong and compulsory given the new exam requirements.

Benefits offered by the CompTIA Security+ certification

Boost Your Employment Prospects

Many occupations require Security+ certification.  Moreover, many public-sector businesses realize the need for safety aware workers. The CompTIA Employer perceptions of IT Training and survey reported 91 percent of managers to imply CompTIA certifications are valuable in supporting experience. It shows an understanding of key safety concepts.

Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi from Pexels

If you think that drones are just a quick fad or gimmick that makes a fun Christmas present, you're very much mistaken. They've actually got tons of uses in big industry that you might not be aware of. The drone industry has exploded in recent years, with growth in many different areas. There are industrial drones, public service drones, commercial drones and much more.

We're going to look at eight different drones you might not be aware of. Each of these could have a big impact on a number of different industries.

1. Ambulance drones

These have been trialed in The Netherlands recently. While they can't offer emergency care on the level of a trained professional, they can help professionals carry out their duties. They can also deliver supplies and equipment much more quickly than an ambulance that has to beat traffic. As well as that, they can relay real-time video back to someone in an emergency call center, who can provide expert advice to the public before a real medical professional arrives.

2. Security drones

Allowing the police and other security professionals the ability to get an aerial view is a huge benefit to them. While surveillance planes and helicopters have been around for a while, they are expensive and are therefore out of reach for smaller police forces or security companies. With the right surveillance drones, your neighborhood can be made much safer. Dronethusiast.com has more on home surveillance drones.

Thank you Whalek for sending us this product to review!

My family loves to go camping though we don’t “rough it” entirely. We make sure that our phones stay charged and we pack our own food to cook on an open fire. Showering facilities are welcome as well. Though we have always brought sleeping pads in the past, having an extra layer between our tent and the sleeping bags is always appreciated. Not too long ago, we reviewed the Whalek Self-Inflating Camp Pad and it’s great for a single person. The double-pillowed sleeping pad is ideal for married couples.

Setting up the sleeping pad is fairly simple. Removing it from the carrying bag and unfolding it does not take too much time or effort. Loosing up the valves on each end of the mat will allow for air to automatically inflate the bottom mat a little bit. This process takes some time and it won’t ever look or feel like an air mattress. Still, it’s far better than sleeping on bare ground! The pillows require inflating the old fashioned way and they each have their own valve.

Thank you Porter’s Gate Worship Project for sending us this digital album to review!

I grew up Roman Catholic and then attended a Baptist church in my teenage years. Both of those churches had traditional hymns with only an organ or piano and vocals. I appreciate a good hymn, but I also love contemporary worship with a wide variety of instruments or even a symphonic band! Seeing a need for worship revival, The Porter’s Gate started a creative movement to compose some new worship songs with the help of first-rate singers, songwriters, and musicians.

The theme for this collaborative effort is vocation and they hope to use music as an opportunity to extend hospitality and build bridges with our neighbors. I think they achieved this goal of creating music that is beautiful, truth-filled, and inspiring in this thirteen-track album.

There’s a lot of variety in each of the songs with some of them having a male lead singer while others feature a female lead singer. Urban Doxology was part of the collaboration project too. The voices are all great and I didn’t hear any sour notes. Some of the songs feature just a piano while others have an entire symphony. There are some somber songs and others are energetic.

Specifications:
Body size: 21"x13"x8"
Weight: 2.40 lbs
Fully padded 17.3" laptop compartment
Internal tablet pocket
Separate shoe compartment
Large size zippered pockets
Padded carry handles
Padded back and backpack straps

Strong Points: Unique, well thought out design; looks very nice; lots of pockets, with a very large main duffel area; laptop pouch is extra large, and well padded
Weak Points: Small number of larger pouches; no location for pens or notepads (pens do fit in pockets though); no shoulder strap reinforcements

Thank you Solo for sending us this backpack to review!

I have always cared deeply about what kind of backpack I have used. I went through several cheaper ones before I finally settled upon one that has lasted – a Swiss Gear. The build quality was a huge step above the several cheap ones I used before that; despite the ~+50% price increase, it has been worth every penny, because it has lasted well on the order of ten years. Sometimes it's worth it to pay more, because it may last more than twice as long. But despite this, my excellent Swiss Gear is finally starting to show its age – flaking ends, the logo was lost years ago, and more signs that it needs to be retired soon. So, when I had the chance to review a new backpack, I jumped on it.

Now, it needs to be said that I am nowhere near as rough on backpacks as I used to be. I no longer regularly take the train to work, nor am I a college student any longer (thankfully). So, a bag that looks good, meets my basic needs, and holds my stuff is more than enough.

For the reasonable price of $12.99 you can get 2 FDA approved and BPA/BPP free mats that measure 16.5” long , 11.6” wide, and 0.03” thick. These are the perfect size for half-sheet baking pans. The corners are trimmed so they’re easy to lift up as well. Because these mats can withstand temperatures up to 500 °F, you can use them instead of wax paper or aluminum foil to protect your baking pans. Alternatively, you can freeze them as long as your freezer doesn’t go below -40 °F. The mats can be cleaned up with soapy water or ran through the dishwasher. They’re pretty flexible (pun intended) when it comes to storage as well. You can store them flat, folded, or rolled up to save space.

The two mats have different designs and I used the one with the inches and centimeters on it for rolling out some pie dough. I’d much rather sprinkle flour on and roll on top of a baking mat than my kitchen counter top. Pizza dough will be another great use for these mats. Having both of them will come in handy for really big pizza crusts! Here’s the recipe I use for making deep dish pizza.

With Mother’s day around the corner this set would make a great gift for mothers out there that enjoy baking. As an added bonus, a bright red silicone spatula is included. I can never have enough spatulas and the red one will be much easier to find in my silverware drawer too. My family and I look forward to many more meals and desserts made with the help of these baking mats. They seem pretty durable and I’m sure we’ll be enjoying them for many years to come. This set is priced lower than competing models and comes with a bonus spatula. How can you beat that?

(Amazon Affiliate Link)

Thank you Whalek for sending us a review sample!

Family camp-outs are fun and our kids aren’t too picky when it comes to just using a sleeping bag to separate themselves from the tent and gravel/dirt terrain underneath them.  My husband and I appreciated the foam padding we brought along, but sadly, foam often breaks apart over time.

The Whalek sleeping/camp pad is pretty durable and has many nice features with my favorite being the self-inflation.  The valve is easy to use, though if there was an instruction manual included, I would have gladly read it.  The construction is solid and looks like it can take a bit of a beating.  The carrying bag on the other hand isn’t as forgiving as I can already see some loosened stitches.  This can be problematic as we all know that putting things back in their original containers is never as easy as removing them!

My 5’7” body fit nicely on this sleeping mat, but my 6’2” husband had his feet dangling off the end a bit.  In conjunction with a sleeping bag using this camp pad is more comfortable than without. However, if I had a choice between a sleeping mat or an inflatable air mattress I would choose the latter without a second thought!  A couch still trumps an air mattress if there isn’t a bed available.  

Thank you Iserlohn for sending us this bronze wind chime!

When my oldest daughter was a toddler we did a nine-hour road trip to Missouri to visit my mom and step dad.  It was a nice trip, but when we were half-way home on the way back, the unimaginable happened.  My daughter puked in the car when we still had another 4.5 hours to go!  We stopped at the closest gas station and used up a lot of paper towels to clean up what we could.   The gas station attendants knew what was going on and took pity on us and gave her some lemon lime pop to soothe her stomach a bit.  While we were at the counter my daughter took notice of the wind chimes and as many toddlers would do, grabbed one and broke it.  Since the gas station refused to let me pay for the broken wind chime, we bought a different one that used to be a lot fuller and purpler than it is today.  

It’s definitely time for a replacement.  Upon opening up the new wind chime, I noticed that some of the chimes were tangled, but thankfully they were easy to separate again.  There are also two extra hangers included with the wind chime.   The build quality is good and it looks pretty sturdy with the exception of the plastic ring on top.  While it won’t rust like the previous one did, I still wonder how much of a beating it will take with the 50MPH+ winds we can get here in Illinois.