Thursday, 16 March 2017

Centralise your storage with a NAS

Centralise your storage with a NAS

NAS drives take the pain out of backing up and sharing files across your PCs. Jonathan Parkyn explains why you might need one and how to set it up

Network attached storage (NAS) devices used to be costly and complicated to set up. But prices have dropped to the point where some models aren’t much more expensive than a standard external drive – Western Digital’s 2TB My Cloud, for example, can be bought for around £110 (www.snipca.com/23561). User-friendliness has also drastically improved, and many NAS devices are now simpler than ever to configure. But what is a NAS? Do you need one? And, if so, how do you go about setting one up? Read on to find out.

Complete guide to digitising your old photos

Complete guide to digitising your old photos

Scanning photos doesn’t have to be an organisational nightmare. Jane Hoskyn explains how to digitise and sort whole albums of photos for free

You might assume that turning your dusty old photo prints into digital photos is a right palaver. And, until recently, you’d have been right. You had to fork out for an expensive flatbed scanner, then spend days, weeks and months using the infernal thing to churn out massive files with meaningless names like ‘1931304_47829780167_8088_n.TIFF’ – not the most charming title for an image of your wedding day.

But things have changed fast, thanks to powerful scanning and tagging tools that make this once-Herculean task quick and easy. Here, we reveal the best new ways to capture entire albums of prints, then organise them using tags so your favourite scanned photos are even easier to find than when they were in albums on your bookshelf - and it won’t cost you a penny.

Tuesday, 14 March 2017

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War

Middle-Earth: Shadow of War

Talion sprints towards the walls of Seregost Castle, undaunted by the glittering volley of flaming arrows streaking towards him and his loyal Uruk army. Nearby, a deluge of crude orcish artillery lands, exploding into a fireball that blooms and dissipates, leaving only a shower of wet earth and green bodies tumbling in its wake.

Talion charges on. This haggard ranger of Gondor is technically a dead man – given life only by the elven wraith Celebrimbor that resides within his undying frame – but he is feared and despised by Sauron’s forces nonetheless, who trade foul stories of the Gravewalker’s unnatural abilities and martial might.

During his first tour of duty, Talion spent most of his time engaged in a scrappy guerrilla war, shanking the odd captain here and beheading the occasional warlord there. But this time, Talion’s mounting a siege on Sauron’s fortresses across Mordor and beyond – and he’s building an army to dismantle the Dark Lord’s forces.

Thursday, 9 March 2017

Access hidden Netflix categories

Access hidden Netflix categories

Get more from streaming-TV services Netflix and Amazon Prime Video with our expert hacks and secret tips

Netflix offers thousands of movies and TV programmes to watch, which it organises into categories or genres. When you click the Browse link on the homepage, it displays around 20 categories. There are actually many more – hundreds, in fact – but you can’t see them. Luckily, there are several websites that provide links to them.

Visit bit.ly/genre418 and you’ll see a list containing dozens of categories. Click the link at the top to view the extended list, which contains many more. Not every link works because Netflix sometimes deletes categories, but many still function and contain fascinating movies you might otherwise miss. You’ll find an alternative source of Netflix categories at netflixcodes.me. These category links are a great way to discover different films and TV series.

Best Add-Ons For Anonymity

Best Add-Ons For Anonymity

Lots of browser add-ons claim to keep you anonymous online, but many are ineffective. Here, we pick the nine tools you need to guarantee your privacy