On that day, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston to announce and enforce General Order 3. The order, in part, informed everyone that effective immediately, “All slaves are free.” The first Juneteenth celebrations began the next year. President Abraham Lincoln began the process of freeing enslaved people in America’s Confederate states through the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863. But it took the incremental advance and victory of Union troops to enforce that order....

Vivint vs. Frontpoint overview Contract length Most home security systems come with a contract. While this can vary anywhere from one to five years, the average length is about three years. It’s good to consider a company’s contract length even if you plan on staying in your home for many years to come, but it’s especially important if you plan on moving. Some companies will make you pay early termination fees if you choose not to transfer service to your new home....

As much as I wish I was disciplined enough to meet my sleep goals without help, Apple’s sleep schedule and sleep focus features are what’s kept me not just accountable, but competitive with myself for more sleep. Here’s how you can use the sleep features to turn your Apple Watch 8 into a sleep booster. How to set up a sleep schedule Contrary to popular belief, technology can make following a sleep schedule easier – at least with this Apple ecosystem feature....

Rather than launching smart bulbs and color-changing lights, the company is going straight to the source with its new Schneider Home energy management solution, a venture that seeks to empower consumers. As a CES 2023 Innovation Award Honoree, the company unveiled Schneider Home at the event, which includes home battery, a high-power solar inverter, a smart electrical panel, electric vehicle charger and smart electric outlets and light switches, plus a mobile app to control them all....

IT does not exist in a vacuum. It serves specific business needs with operational responsibilities linked to revenue, cost, and risk. An IT operating model helps ensure that IT maintains operational excellence, delivers the right services to stakeholders, and supports the overall business direction and strategy. Gartner defines the IT operating model this way: However you define it, an operating model helps the CIO prioritize investments of time and money to achieve maximum impact for the organization....

Not only is Apple always adding new faces, but new complications also offer the opportunity to have invaluable information available with just a glance at your wrist. Let us show you how simple it is to completely change the look and functionality of your Apple Watch with just a few taps. Also: The ultimate use of your Apple Watch Ultra’s Action button Note: the instructions presented here should work with any Apple Watch, including the Series 1 through Series 8, as well as both generations of the Apple Watch SE, and the Apple Watch Ultra....

Fortunately, Slack makes it possible to customize the Sidebar such that I have immediate access to those bits. However, by default, the only thing added to your sidebar is Mentions & reactions, so you’ll probably want to add different items. I want to walk you through the process of customizing that Sidebar on the Slack desktop client. Do note this doesn’t work on the Slack mobile app (because it doesn’t actually have a Sidebar)....

But consumers and smaller businesses seem to think that adding extra security isn’t worth the extra work required. The problem with this take is anyone who refuses to take the extra steps might find themselves on the wrong end of a data breach. You might have sent some sensitive information in an innocent email, only to find some bad actor intercepted the message and was able to easily read the content of that email and extract the information....

That’s right; you now have the option to ditch Samsung’s Bixby in favor of Google’s digital assistant. The process of installing Google Assistant on your Galaxy Watch 4 should be seamless, but if it’s not, there’s an easy workaround. How to get Google Assistant on your Galaxy Watch right now There isn’t a software update tied to the release of Google Assistant on the Galaxy Watch 4. Instead, your watch should automatically install an update to Google Assistant without you having to do a thing....

Most people know stock photography when they see it. It’s not meant to evoke emotion so much as catch the eye and lead it to copy. The thing is, it doesn’t have to be that way, and the photographers at Scopio are forging a new path that’s a win-win for both creators and marketers. Now that a lifetime subscription to the service is available for less than $30, brands, both big and small, are seeing how it can work for them....

Also: The best Macs: Which is right for you? However, there’s always been one glaring issue I’ve had with the MacOS UI and that is the sad attempt at window snapping it offers. Out of the box, not only is window snapping limited, it’s awkward to use. That’s why I set out to find a solution that not only made it easier but offered true window snapping for MacOS....

I was using Apple Mail, and found a pretty simple way to set the priority for the email. To test the feature, I sent myself a sample email set to Highest priority. Also: Signs of phishing emails to watch for When I received it in Apple Mail, the !! priority denotation appeared after my name in the email. However, when I viewed that email in either Gmail or Thunderbird, there was no indication of priority....

Windows 11 includes a section in Settings under Accounts in which you can access all the options for your Microsoft 365 plan. The OS lets you view your billing, see who in your family is running the different Office apps, and find out how much space you’re using in OneDrive. Also: Yes, you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade And if you need to check or change other settings, you can access your Microsoft account site right from Windows 11....

You don’t normally think about hot glue guns. Also: You’re using super glue all wrong But I’ve found that I use mine a lot for all sorts of things, from tacking cabling into place inside PCs to weatherproofing housings for gadgets that are going to live outdoors. And outside of tech, hot glue guns have so many applications, from craft projects to home repair to model making. Pretty much any project that doesn’t require a high level of strength or heat resistance, as long as it’s not going to be damaged by the application of the hot glue – which, as the name suggests, is pretty hot (temperatures can range from a scolding 250°F/120°C to a searing 430°F/220°C – is a candidate for hot glue....

If you’ve been aiming for a higher-paying career in tech, you might feel like your lack of training is holding you back. This may especially be the case if you want to pursue IT roles, as recruiters in this industry specifically look for professional certifications. But whether you have tech experience of some kind or none at all, the Complete 2022 CompTIA Certification Course Super Bundle contains training that could help you create a customized tech career path....

Well, if you hate the new Start menu in Windows 11 as much as I do and want something more usable and customizable, your best bet is to switch to a Start menu replacement. Several third-party apps can replace the Windows 11 Start menu with a more familiar look and layout and a variety of ways to customize it. The program I use on my Windows 11 machines is Start11....

It’s very handy, especially if you leave your phone in a charging cradle on your nightstand that makes the phone’s display face you. If that’s your setup, you are perfectly aware of how that screen can become a real nuisance throughout the night. Fortunately, Android 13 has a very unique feature, called Bedtime mode, which is a part of the Digital Wellbeing app. This mode silences notifications, turns the screen black and white, and can even shift the UI to grayscale at a specific time....

When you go on vacation, you’re still going to receive emails every day. And if you’re very busy, those emails will stack up. That’s fine because you can deal with them later. But what about the people who sent you the email? They may not know you’re on vacation and the time between them sending the missive and you finally replying when you get back from vacation can be a source of concern....

Also: The best headphones you can buy For most people, the default Spotify settings will do just fine. And given many listen to Spotify through earbuds that don’t always have the best sonic clarity, does it really matter anyway? Of course, it does. If you really want to enjoy your music, you should know the default equalization settings aren’t ideal for every type of music or content. Fortunately, Spotify has a built-in equalizer that allows you to select from a number of presets and even adjust it manually....

I do rely on several Windows virtual machines running in applications like VMWare Workstation and Oracle VM VirtualBox. But sometimes, I just want a fast, temporary VM to do something relatively quick and simple. Plus, getting Windows 11 to work as a virtual machine in a third-party application can be challenging due to its onerous requirements. That’s where the Windows Sandbox comes into play. Available in the Pro and Enterprise flavors of Windows 10 and 11, the Sandbox is a lightweight and temporary virtual machine outfitted with the same version of Windows installed on your host PC, meaning 10 or 11....