YouTube’s TikTok competitor, YouTube Shorts, is now rolling out globally. The service launched first in India last year, before expanding to around 26 countries including the US and the UK. Now YouTube Shorts, which is still in beta, will be available “across more than 100 countries around the world where YouTube is available.”

YouTube Shorts is playing catchup to TikTok as the short-form video platform of choice, but Google’s service is pushing Shorts’ integration with the wider YouTube ecosystem as a key selling point. It recently added the ability for Shorts creators to sample audio from YouTube videos, and says it’s exploring ways to offer quick links from Shorts to YouTube videos they’ve taken samples from.

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Apple’s flagship 2021 iPhones will come in the same sizes as last year’s models, but with a smaller display notch, according to a new report from Bloomberg. This mirrors previous predictions from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. According to Bloomberg, this year’s phones will be an iterative upgrade over the iPhone 12 series, and will include incremental improvements to their processors, cameras, and displays when they’re announced in September.

Bloomberg reports that “at least one” of the four new devices will include an LTPO (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide) display. It’s a technology Apple has previously used with its smartwatches to dynamically adjust their screen refresh rates to conserve battery. That lines up with a pr ... Read more »

When the automobile was first invented, it was a purely mechanical creation. Fast-forward 130 years: Dozens of computers control everything from wiper blades and power windows to the internal combustion engine and transmission. The two main computers we usually worry about are the engine or powertrain control module (ECM or PCM) and the transmission control module (TCM).

Physically, the ECM and TCM may be located anywhere in the vehicle, such as in the trunk, under the dash, or under the hood. Using dozens of sensors, such as those that measure engine coolant temperature or transmission output shaft speed, the ECM monitors engine and transmission function. Using this data, it can fine-tune actua ... Read more »

At its most basic, a short circuit is a fault in the wiring harness, which shunts electricity between circuits before getting to its destination. A short-circuit should not be confused with an open circuit, in which current does not flow at all. Though the symptoms of a short circuit can be similar to an open circuit, diagnosis is a bit different. There are several ways a short circuit can occur, and it isn’t usually easy to find and repair. To understand how to find a short circuit, though, we need to understand how a properly-functioning circuit works.

How Car Electrical Circuits Usually Work

There are many ways that electricity is carried around the car electrical system, and a short circuit could easily interrupt the proper flow of electricity in any of them. We can ro ... Read more »

The term spark ignition is used to describe the system with which the air-fuel mixture inside the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine is ignited by a spark. The process uses an electrical field induced in a magnet or coil to build many thousands of volts that are collapsed via a timed circuit. The resulting surge of current travels along a wire and terminates at the spark plug inside the combustion chamber.

An electrical spark occurs as the charge tries to jump the precision gap at the tip of the spark plug at exactly the moment a precisely metered mixture of fuel and air — developed through atomization — has been thoroughly compressed in the combustion chamber. The result ... Read more »

If your car won't start or it hesitates when you crank it, you might have a bad ignition coil. Testing an ignition coil on most cars is pretty easy. No special tools are required, and you don't even have to remove the coil. Just remember to be careful, because the amount of electricity generated by your ignition system can be dangerous.

What the Coil Does

An ignition coil is a kind of high-voltage transformer. It converts the power from your car's 12-volt battery into the thousand or so volts that the spark plugs need in order to fire and then ignite the engine's air-fuel mixture. Although manufactured to last, ignition coils ... Read more »

It's easy to get frustrated when you get in your car and the engine won't turn over. Don't worry quite yet. If you're at home, there are three things you can test that will tell you what's wrong—and you might have an inexpensive repair on your hands. The most likely problem is a dead or drained battery. If that's good, then your battery cables might be dirty or your starter may be going bad. Rule these things out before you spend any time troubleshooting other possibilities.

Dead Battery

Just because you have a dead battery today doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to go out and buy a new one. Many batteries lose their charge or go ... Read more »

Keep in mind that an undercharged battery is often caused by car accessories being left on overnight, or by a rear compartment or instrument panel compartment lamp that stays on.

When the charging system is operating normally, the charge indicator lamp will come on when the ignition switch is turned ON and will go out when the engine starts. If the lamp does not come on with the key ON you will need to check the warning light circuit or replace the bulb.

Alternatively, noise from an alternator may be caused by the following components:

• Improper routing of hoses, wiring, or shielding against the alternator housing
• ... Read more »

Car cleaning doesn’t have to be a chore
Who doesn’t love a spotless, gleaming car? And while we’re all home-based, this is a great time to give the car a good scrub and a new lease of life. If it’s going to be sitting on the driveway, it can at least sparkle!

If you want to do the job properly, then filling a bucket with hot soapy water and wheeling the vacuum cleaner out onto the drive isn’t going to cut it. For particularly dirty cars (or perfectionists!), there are plenty of tips, tricks and products that can get things gleaming on the outside and squeaky clean on the inside. Here are a few of our favourite car cleaning tips.

Pick your moment
Washing a car like a pro can be less of a chore and more of science. ... Read more »

Understanding the basics of what web hosting is won’t help when you land on a web hosting provider’s website and see lots of different terms thrown around. Every provider offers different types and tiers of web hosting plans for different prices. For someone new to the whole thing, it’s confusing.

In most cases, there are a few main types of web hosting plans available. Here’s what you need to know about each and how to figure out if it’s the right plan for you.

Shared Hosting

Shared web hosting is when a provider hosts the websites of a number of different customers on the same server. Because the server is split between a bunch of different websites, the cost is split as well. That makes this the most afford ... Read more »