Livingston has spent the last six seasons as the Bengals’ safeties coach.
February 2024
PayPal Tumbles After Firm Forecasts Little Profit Growth in 2024
How to Customize Your Steam Deck Theme
When it comes to making your Steam Deck your own, there are a lot of ways to customize it. You can purchase various skins and cases or even change out the thumbstick covers to provide a look and feel that is all your own. But if you want to customize the way the Steam Deck’s menus and UI look, that’s a bit of a different thing altogether.
The best way to customize your Steam Deck, at least that I’ve found over the past several months, is to install a third-party loader called Decky. This loader unlocks access to a variety of different plugins, including a CSS Loader that you can use to change your Steam Deck’s theme.
How to install Decky
Before you can install Decky, you first to need to make sure you have a Sudo password set up. If you don’t already have one set up, I suggest following our in-depth instructions in our guide to installing CryoUtilities, a set of scripts and commands that help improve Steam Deck performance. Once you have the Sudo password set up, you can install Decky itself, which you’ll do by downloading an installer file. Here are the steps:
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Ensure your Steam Deck is charged up, or plug it into the charger. The last thing you want to do is run out of battery while installing a program.
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Navigate to your Steam Deck’s Desktop mode by pressing the Steam button > Power > Desktop Mode.
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Once Desktop mode launches, open your preferred browser and then navigate to decky.xyz. Here, you’ll find the Decky Loader website, and you can download the file directly to your Steam Deck.
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Once downloaded, double-click on the file and then wait for the system to install Decky. Make sure to select the Recommended Settings option, and once the installation has finished, boot back into Gaming Mode by clicking on the Gaming Mode option on your Desktop.
Install CSS Loader
Back in Gaming Mode, press the Menu button (it looks like three dots) on the right-hand side of the Steam Deck. This will bring up a list of different settings. Scroll down to the bottom and select the Plugin icon, which looks like a plug. You can check for updates using the Settings cog, but if you want to start installing plugins, select the icon that looks like a market stall.
This will load up the Decky store, where you’ll find a ton of different plugins. You can decide which plugins you want to use for yourself, but the main one you need to install here is the CSS Loader plugin. Scroll down the list until you find it, and then select Install It.
Now wait for CSS Loader to install, and return to the main game carousel page. Here, you can once again select the menu button, then the plugin icon, and then select CSS Loader. If you select the download button (it looks like a downward-facing arrow), you can select from the different themes available in the store. The themes that you want to use here really come down to personal preference, and many of them can be mixed and matched to get you a unique look that makes the Steam Deck feel more like your own machine.
How to Make Sure Your Tax Preparer Actually Knows What They’re Doing
If you’re hiring someone to do your taxes this year—and there are several situations in which you should—you need to make sure that person isn’t out to scam you. Unfortunately, there are tax “professionals” out there who aren’t qualified or who are straight-up dishonest and will use your business as an opportunity to engage in identity theft or fraud. Since you’re legally responsible for your taxes, it’s important to vet tax preparers before entrusting them with your return.
Check their PTIN
By law, all qualified tax preparers who are paid to assist with federal returns must have a valid Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) registered with the IRS. This is a minimum requirement for any professional you hire. That said, not all tax preparers have the same education and expertise: Certified public accountants (CPAs), attorneys, and enrolled agents may all prepare federal returns, but there are also qualified preparers who don’t hold these credentials and have a more limited scope.
Legitimate tax pros will sign and include their PTIN on any return they prepare. “Ghost” preparers try to scam consumers by not signing returns—this is a red flag.
Check their availability
There are qualified tax pros who work seasonally or who are more limited in how they help clients—they can’t represent you in the case of an audit, for example—but you should look first for someone who will be available all year to answer questions about your return after tax season is over.
Check their credentials
As mentioned above, tax preparers don’t have to be CPAs, but you should look up their credentials and read customer reviews and complaints on sites like Better Business Bureau, Google, and Yelp to ensure your preparer is legit.
You can also check their membership in professional organizations and search for disciplinary actions through the State Board of Accountancy (for CPAs), the State Bar Association (for attorneys), or the IRS’ enrolled agent database.
You may also work with an authorized IRS e-file provider.
Check their fee structure
The IRS warns against using tax pros who charge based on a percentage of your refund as well as those who promise to get you a bigger refund than other preparers. You should also avoid anyone who claims to deposit refunds in their account before paying out to you. Be sure to check the bank account and routing numbers on your return before submitting it.
Check their preparation practices
A legitimate tax preparer will be thorough and ask for documentation and receipts to support your return. If they do not collect information about your income, deductions, and tax credits, be wary. E-filed tax returns must use a W-2 rather than a paystub, so if your preparer uses the latter, do not proceed.
Finally, make sure you review your return thoroughly before signing, and do not submit anything left blank or incomplete. Again, you are legally responsible for the information in your return even if someone else helps prepare it.
How to Make Alexa Mad, Rude, or a Little Bit Feisty
Sure, Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant can do all sorts of helpful things: control your smart lights, tell you the weather forecast, do some online shopping on your behalf. But she can show a little “personality” now and then, too, if you know to to bring it out in her. Here’s how to make Alexa act angry, rude, or at least a little more feisty than usual.
How to make Alexa sound mad
If you’ve got an aggressive announcement to make, you can program Alexa to do the deed for you. Open the Alexa app, and select the More tab at the bottom right; tap Communicate, then select the Announce icon (the one with the bullhorn). Then type or say the angry announcement you’d like Alexa to relay. You can also add sounds like a fart, dinner bell, or trumpet; when you’re done, press the arrow icon to send the announcement out to your Echo speakers.
How to create custom angry responses for Alexa
You can also use routines so Alexa gives an angry response to certain commands. To make a custom angry response, open the Alexa app and choose the More tab. Select Routines and press the + icon in the top right to make a new routine.
Type in a name for your angry routine, such as “get mad.” Next, tap When this happens, choose the voice option, then type in the phrase you want to say to Alexa to prompt the angry response. Tap on Add action and select Alexa Says and choose Customize. From there, you can type in your desired response. You can put swear words but Alexa will bleep them out—you can try to get around this by using alternate spelling words that sound similar to swear words. Finally, select Next and then Save.
How to enable Teenage Daughter Mode
If you want to see what is like to have an angsty teen, you can turn Alexa into a teenager with the Teenage Daughter mode. Say, “Alexa, enable teenage daughter.” Alexa will tell you that Teenage Daughter mode has mature content and ask if you want to continue. Now when you ask Alexa things like, “How was school?” or tell her to “Get to bed,” the voice assistant will respond by saying things like “school sucks.” If you want to turn off the mode, say “cancel” or stop talking.
How to make Alexa fart or burp
Alexa is also capable of (virtual) flatulence. Say, “Alexa, burp” or “Alexa, fart.,” and you’ll be gifted with a burp or fart sound. You can also ask for specific types of farts or burps like “wet farts” or “silent but deadly farts.” To put an end to Alexa’s flatulence say, “Alexa, cancel” or stop talking to her.
How to get a feisty response from Alexa
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Say, “Alexa, roast me,” and Alexa will respond with an insult. (Almost all of Alexa’s insults are clean and family-friendly, in case you’ve got kids within earshot.)
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Say, “Alexa, make me a sandwich,” and the assistant will respond by saying, “OK, you’re a sandwich.”
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Say, “Alexa, say a bad word,” and she’ll simply respond by saying, “I’d rather not say anything rude.”
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When you say “Alexa, can you give me some money?” she’ll tell you either “I’m not a bank” or “No pockets, no wallet.”
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Say, “Alexa, surely you can’t be serious,” and one of the responses that Alexa will give you is, “I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.”
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Ask, “Alexa, how much do you weigh?” and Alexa will typically respond with, “I am weightless, like a cloud. Wait a minute, clouds actually weigh a lot, so that’s not quite right. Let’s just say I’m more sass than mass.”
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If you tell the voice assistant, “Alexa, I got 99 problems,” she’ll promptly say “…but a glitch ain’t one.”
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Ask, “Alexa, do you have any pets?” and Alexa will reply with “I don’t have any pets. I used to have a few bugs, but they kept getting squashed.”
You can also ask, “Alexa, tell me a dirty joke,” or “Alexa, say a bad word.”
Heat’s Haywood Highsmith involved in car accident after win over Magic, out vs. Spurs
Haywood Highsmith will miss Wednesday’s game against the Spurs due to “personal reasons” after the car accident on Tuesday night.
Chicago White Sox announce 2024 Spring Training TV schedule
The White Sox announced their spring training broadcast schedule on Wednesday, including six games that will air on NBC Sports Chicago. Those games include the Cactus League opener on Feb. 23 against the Cubs, and the White Sox’ spring home opener against the Mariners on Feb. 24. Here’s the full list of games that will be televised on NBC Sports…
Shohei Ohtani better be a good storyteller, or he may spend first Dodgers bus ride on toilet
Miguel Rojas says new Dodger Shohei Ohtani has to tell interesting stories on his first team bus ride or the Japanese star will spend time on the toilet.
OpenAI Just Made It Easier to Tell If an Image Was Made by DALL-E 3
OpenAI is finally making it easier to tell if an image was made with the DALL-E 3. The company shared the news this week, noting that it will soon start adding two types of watermarks to all images generated by DALL-E 3, adhering to standards set forth by the C2PA (The Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity). The change is already rolling out to images generated through the website and via the API, but mobile users will start to getting the watermarks starting Feb. 12.
The first of two watermarks exists strictly within the image’s metadata. You’ll be able to check the creation data of an image using the Content Credentials Verify website, as well as other websites like it. The second watermark will be a visible CR symbol in the top left corner of the image.
Credit: OpenAI
It’s a good change, one that moves DALL-E 3 in the right direction as well as properly identifying when something was made using AI. Other AI systems use similar watermarking in the metadata, and Google has implemented its own watermark to help identify images created using its image generation model, which recently made the jump to Google Bard.
As of the writing of this article, only still images will carry the watermark. Videos or text will still remain free of any watermarks. OpenAI says that the watermark being added to the metadata should not create any issues with latency or affect the quality of the image generation, either. It will, however, slightly increase the size of images in some tasks.
If this is the first you’re hearing of it, the C2PA is a group that consists of companies like Microsoft, Sony, and Adobe. These companies have continued to push for the inclusion of Content Credentials watermarks to help identify whether images were created using AI systems. In fact, the Content Credentials symbol which OpenAI is adding to DALL-E 3 images was created by Adobe.
While watermarking can help, it isn’t a surefire way to ensure that misinformation isn’t being spread via AI-generated content. Metadata can still be omitted thanks to the use of screenshots, and most visible watermarks can be cropped out of photos. However, OpenAI believes that these methods will help encourage users to recognize that these “signals are key to increase the trustworthiness of digital information” and that they will lead to less abuse of the systems that it has made available.
Phillies add more pitching depth to 40-man roster, DFA Muzziotti
The Phillies made another waiver claim to add pitching depth and trimmed outfielder Simon Muzziotti from their 40-man roster.