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Buying an external hard drive is one of the best decisions a PC or Mac user can make. It gives you the option of backing up your data in a form factor that detaches from the machine, allowing you to keep your data safe in a different location. Millions have lost all of their photos, music, videos, and important documents because their computer's hard drive fried or because they lost their device entirely. So, if you're wondering if having a backup drive is a smart idea, then you'll be happy to know that it absolutely is. However, like any product category, there are some things people should know before buying an external hard drive and some situations where one type of external hard drive is better than another. For example, what you'll use your external drive for will help determine what kind you want. Some folks have tons of photos and videos that they want to back up, so cost and storage matters the most. Others may want to load an entire operating system on their hard drive and carry it around, which works best with a different kind of drive. Even the nomenclature can be confusing for first timers. For example, many people still refer to all storage drives as hard drives, even though hard drives refer to a specific kind of drive. We'll go over the various things you should know before buying a storage drive so that you can go into your purchase as educated as possible. There are three main types of external storage. The first are mechanical drives, which are old school HDDs. These have been around for decades and have improved immensely over the years. Despite their advanced age, there are benefits to having an HDD. The price per GB is the best of any type of storage and you can easily find 4 TB external hard drives for under $100 when sales are going on. HDDs are best for bulk storage, backups, and similar applications. Over the last couple of decades, solid state drives, also known as SSDs, have become more common. Typically, you'll find them as storage drives in more expensive laptops, desktop PCs, and even modern game systems like the PlayStation 5 Pro . However, you can also buy them as external hard drives. Like their internal counterparts, SSDs are more expensive for how much space you get but the read and write speeds are significantly faster. They're best for moving files around between multiple devices quickly. Finally, we come to flash storage. Flash drives are the smallest form factor when it comes to external storage. They are faster than HDDs but slower than SSDs. Their main claim to fame is being imminently portable, fitting into a pocket or a bag while taking up minimal space. However, its biggest advantage is also its biggest weakness. The smaller drives have the most storage options available but have a lower maximum storage amount than SSDs or HDDs. Compatibility is rarely an issue these days. Virtually any external hard drive is compatible with virtually any computer and even gaming console. Generally speaking, even if a hard drive isn't immediately compatible, you can use your OS to reformat the drive and make it work. Game consoles like Xbox will ask if you want to do this the first time you plug in a drive. However, there are some instances where the hard drive you choose may not be the best option. The best example of this is game consoles. The Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 both have limitations as to what external storage can do in general. In both cases, Xbox Enhanced Games and PlayStation 5 games cannot be played from any type of external hard drive, be it HDD or SSD . This is due to the external drives being too slow over a USB connection to load assets fast enough for optimal game play. For PlayStation, Sony recommends offloading games you don't intend to play for a while onto external storage. Xbox owners can purchase storage expansion cards from Seagate or Western Digital , which acts like internal storage and bypasses the restriction. Fortunately, such issues are mostly limited to gaming consoles these days. In some cases, you may hear someone tell you that you need to buy a specific type of external hard drive for MacOS or something like that but in virtually all cases, you can simply reformat any old drive to be compatible with whatever OS you're working with. This one seems obvious — mostly because it is. External storage devices have to connect to your computer in order to be of any use and thus, you'll want to make sure that whatever drive you buy will actually fit into your computer. For desktop PCs, this is rarely an issue as most desktop PCs come with an assortment of USB ports to choose from. Laptops, on the other hand, can get a little tricky depending on which one you own. One excellent example is the MacBook lineup of laptops. The 2024 MacBook Air M3 only comes with two USB-C ports . Thus, an external drive that uses a USB-A port won't work unless you buy an adapter . So, if you own a modern MacBook, you'll want to ensure that your new external hard drive either comes with a USB-C cable or an adapter so that you can actually use the thing on your laptop. Folks with older PCs want to think about the above problem in reverse. Desktop PCs can last for many years depending on how they're used, so people with older computers may not have the modern USB-C ports. In that case, make sure your external hard drive comes with a USB-A cable or adapter so you can use it. That should cover the vast majority of cable compatibility issues. If you wind up with one that has a connection you've never seen before, here is a helpful graphic hosted on Reddit that shows all the various connection types in case you need to buy an adapter. Okay, so we have compatibility out of the way in terms of operating system and cable types. The final consideration in terms of compatibility is your lifestyle. People use external hard drives for myriad reasons and in various conditions. How you intend to use and store your external storage drive can help you determine which one to get. For example, many external storage brands such as Samsung sell ruggedized versions of their products with IP ratings and thicker enclosures for folks who need extra storage in inclement weather or more difficult conditions. How you use your storage can help you decide what kind to buy in other ways as well. External hard drives with the old school HDDs are more susceptible to drop and shock damage, so while they are great for mass storage, you'll want a flash drive or an external SSD if you intend on taking it with you everywhere. Flash drives are the smallest form factor but are often just plastic enclosures over the internal components. Those who need survivability in their external storage would be best served with something more rugged like this Corsair Flash Survivor Stealth stick. People with active lifestyles have more to think about than those who intend to leave their hard drive at home all day. As long as it's stored in a safe place where it won't take an accidental tumble, you can buy any type of external storage for home-only use. Those who venture into the used market for external storage should be wary. Storage drives have finite lifespans, and these can range wildly depending on how much they get used. Most authorities on the matter say that mechanical hard drives can last around five years while SSDs can last around 10 years, give or take. Since external drives don't get used as often as internal ones, they tend to last much longer. However, a person simply doesn't know what an external drive was used for before it went to the open market. There are ways to find out. Programs like CrystalDiskInfo can tell you things like reads, writes, and drive usage over time. This can help ensure that you're using a drive that isn't beyond its expected lifespan. If you're dealing with an individual seller on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or Craigslist, a reputable seller will have no problems booting up CrystalDiskInfo and showing you the drive's stats. Even older hard drives come with S.M.A.R.T. data, which tells you how old the drive is and how often it's been used. In general, SSDs measure their lifespan in TBW — terabytes written — while mechanical hard drives have moving parts that age just like anything else. For the most part, as long as the hard drive is relatively new, you should be fine. However, if you intend on using the drive heavily, as in the case of an external storage device for a game console or for frequently moving data from one computer to another, you may want to buy new so you can maximize the lifespan. However, S.M.A.R.T. data can only tell you so much, so it's wise to avoid nearly all external HDDs that are on the used market if you can help it. It's not necessarily that all external HDDs are bad. It's more of a risk versus reward decision. HDDs have moving parts, which degrade with age. Since it's not optimal to open an external hard drive to check its integrity, each mechanical drive you buy used is a little bit of a crapshoot as things like manufacturing tolerances and other variables can cause drives to fail sooner than expected. Tech savvy folks will buy used mechanical drives, but it usually comes with a long list of caveats. You'll want to test the drive with multiple full passes using something like Microsoft's SDelete tool to make sure the entire drive can be written and not just most of it. Less reputable sellers will also wipe or change the S.M.A.R.T. data, leaving you with no way to know how old the drive is or what it was used for in its prior life. Plus, if someone dropped the thing, the disks themselves might be damaged, which will cause failure and data loss down the road. There are complicated equations that businesses use to predict hard drive failure in server farms that use a lot of HDDs. However, unless you're a tech savvy individual who understands and accepts the risks, it's mostly better to buy a new external HDD. Then you know how many times it's been dropped and how often it's been used. Another big issue with buying external storage is underestimating how much storage you actually need. Taking a quick look at the contents of your computer or mobile phone and buying exactly enough storage to offload what's already there might seem like a sound investment in the moment, but you'll eventually run low on storage and end up having to buy a second drive. This is a waste of space, money, and time. Using external storage for gaming is the biggest and best example of this. Not long ago, it was rare to see games eclipse the 50GB mark and such games were considered massive. In 2024, such games are not only commonplace, but darn near average for the segment. Some games are well over 100GB now with some even asking for over 200GB of space. Even games released years ago have grown. Destiny 2 launched at around 30GB in 2017 and now requires over 150GB as of its latest DLC in 2024. In short, things are getting bigger. Phone cameras are taking larger photos and recording larger videos. File sizes are ballooning everywhere. What's good for you right now may not be ideal in a few years. Thus, it's good practice to buy a size or two up from what you think you need. It might seem like overkill at first, but as you accumulate more files and as those files increase in size, you'll be glad you did. It's virtually always cheaper to buy a single 1 TB drive than it is to buy two 500 GB drives. Backing up personal data is one of the most common reasons to own an external hard drive. After all, it's always good to keep your personal documents backed up in case of a failure. However, offloading them onto a small device that is easily misplaced and stolen carries its own risks. Fortunately, security is plentiful on external storage devices, and you can do things like encrypt your drive to keep prying eyes out in the event your drive falls into the wrong hands. Many external hard drive makers have security software that come with their drives. These are okay for basic security and will keep prying eyes from accessing your drive. Usually, included software has simple features like password protection and full disk encryption. These certainly help deter potential ne'er-do-wells from accessing your private files. At a minimum, consider encryption and password protecting your drive. People who are serious about their privacy have other options as well. One such example is VeraCrypt . VeraCrypt allows you to do all sorts of neat things, like create hidden, encrypted partitions on your external storage that only you know how to access. These partitions are hidden from others and fully encrypted. This is not an ad for VeraCrypt and even if it was, it wouldn't matter because the app is free and open source. We're just fans of software that lets you do the kinds of things that most thieves won't even check for, like create completely hidden volumes on your hard drive. For the most part, external storage drives are very similar from product to product. They include a drive of some sort inside of an enclosure, and all you have to do is plug it in. So what if I told you that you can create your very own external storage drive with a couple of Amazon purchases? This gives you complete control over what kind of drive it is, how big it is, and which brand it's from. Additionally, this is a great way to repurpose old internal hard drives that you otherwise might not be able to use. Start by looking for hard drive enclosures. They come in many shapes and sizes and for a variety of drive types. For example, this Cenmate Aluminum Dual Bay Hard Drive Enclosure comes with a cooling fan to keep your HDDs cool. Buy one of those, pop one or two HDDS into it, and you've effectively made yourself your very own external storage drive. There are also enclosures available for 2.5-inch drives and NVMe SSDs . The technology here is fairly straightforward, as the enclosures are relatively simple pieces of tech. They come with all of the connections necessary to let an internal drive connect to your PC over a USB cable. There are other benefits as well. If your laptop fries, you may be able to salvage the data by pulling out the laptop's hard drive and using an enclosure to access the data. Plus, internal drives tend to be less expensive than their external counterparts, which might help you save money. The only downside is that purpose-built external drives are more rugged than an enclosure. Reliability is a mixed bag when it comes to storage. There are so many variables that can determine if a storage drive is going to go the distance or fail. For the most part, the big players have near equal reliability and most negative feedback is simply bad luck. It is in the nature of mass-produced goods that some just roll off the line with a defect and virtually all makers have had bad products in the past. Still, it's important to know the big players in the external hard drive space. They include Samsung, Seagate, Crucial, Western Digital, Toshiba, and SanDisk. For the best customer support and warranty support, you'll want to stick with the big guns, even if they cost a little more. However, the industry isn't as big as you think it is. For example, Micron makes flash storage for a variety of brands. Crucial is the in-house brand for Micron but the brand also sells its storage to other brands for use in their products. Another example is Samsung, which works with SanDisk to make flash storage. Thus, buying a SanDisk or Samsung external SSD will likely have components from the other company. LaCie makes storage drives, but the company is owned by Seagate. Kingston buys its tech from Micron and SK Hynix, among others. You see where this is going. Most of the industry's drives are made by the same handful of companies, so reliability is virtually the same across the entire vertical. We do recommend checking to see who supplies off-brand companies with their tech before buying, though, to make sure you're getting something good.
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MADRID – The Iranian Parliament has definitively passed the legislation known as the "Support for Families through the Promotion of the Culture of Chastity and Hijab," more commonly referred to as the Hijab Law. According to official sources, the new regulation explicitly prohibits "nudity, the removal of the hijab, and inappropriate attire in public spaces, both physical and virtual." In Western discourse, the hijab has been frequently employed as a cultural or religious symbol to justify questionable and inhumane policies towards Eastern nations. No care is taken in understating the philosophy of hijab, or how Muslim women say they feel more protected, valued, and independent wearing it. For the West, which is often tied to secularism, an exclusionary approach that validates certain sensibilities while marginalizing others, the hijab is presented as a symbol of lack or absence of agency, a marker used to define and position women who wear it as subjects devoid of autonomy or decision-making power. However, this perception does not necessarily reflect the experience of those who choose to wear it, but instead responds to a discursive logic that prioritizes values such as visibility and individual freedom, understood within a Western framework. Moreover, as political scientist Wendy Brown points out, if the West places freedom at the core of its ideals, it must also, inevitably, define its opposite: the lack of freedom. Brown emphasizes that “the earliest conceptions of freedom are always limited and, potentially, require the structure of oppression that freedom combats.” The interaction between the veiled and the unveiled creates a visual psychic economy in which the issue of freedom is imagined as resolved. In this context, the veiled is associated with oppression, absence of agency, and lack of freedom, with the solution to these absences seen, from this perspective, in Westernization, specifically understood as unveiling. In this sense, it can be argued that, from the Western discourse, the veiled woman forms part of what Anne McClintock calls a "panoptic time," which represents modernity and contrasts with the "anachronistic time" of the veil. In most analyses of the veil from a Western perspective, the presence of the veiled woman is constructed as a constant reminder of the existence of an "Other" that obstructs the desire for assimilation into modernity and, by extension, into whiteness. On one hand, the body that is, or can be, exposed is presented as a modern, free, secure, conscious, and human body, visible in its presence. This body is contrasted with the invisible body, veiled by insecurities, vulnerability, and, most notably, subhuman in its absence. In the Western imaginary, freedom, understood as the practice of the body, is identified with the performativity of unveiling: the body always unveiled, reflecting the accumulation of the desire for transparency characteristic of modernism. In this context, the veil evokes the notion of a suffering and wounded body, as Wendy Brown describes, where women who wear it are seen as victims of oppression. In the fantasy of liberation through unveiling, it is assumed that the veil symbolizes suffering and submission, and that, therefore, the women who wear it embody a wounded identity that needs to be liberated. This liberation is projected as an action that must be facilitated by liberal states, which present themselves as protectors of these women. However, in practice, the act of stripping them of the veil can become a way of imposing a homogeneous vision of freedom and autonomy, without considering the realities of the affected women. Thus, the veil is not only perceived by the West as a symbol of oppression, but also becomes a space for political intervention, where the state, through the imposition of liberal norms, seeks to "save" women. This approach overlooks their experiences, choices, or particular contexts. In this way, there is a risk of stripping women of their agency, turning their attire into a problem that must be resolved from an external and normative perspective. The veil, by erecting a barrier between the body of the Eastern woman and the Western gaze, seems to place her body beyond the reach of Western desire and observation. This opaque and enveloping veil creates a mysterious and elusive figure, frustrating the Western desire by making it invisible and inaccessible. The veiled figure's refusal to be observed generates disillusionment in the Western gaze, which, frustrated, subjects this enigmatic figure to constant scrutiny. The representation of the East and its women, "as the unveiling of an enigma, making visible what is hidden," becomes a process in which the veil plays a crucial role. The veil is one of those tropes through which Western fantasies of penetrating the mysteries of the East and accessing the interiority of the other are materialized. This fantasy of unveiling not only seeks to dissolve the mystery surrounding the Eastern woman but also to establish a power dynamic, in which the Western subject, by removing the veil, gains access to knowledge that was previously inaccessible to them. Through this process, a narrative of domination is constructed, where the other— in this case, the veiled Muslim woman— becomes an object to be unveiled, understood, and controlled by the West. Without delving into the specifics of the recently passed hijab law by the Iranian Parliament, the key point is that when discussing the veil, one must avoid the trap of an Orientalist discourse that reduces female agency to a single narrative.Stock Market News Today Live Updates on December 5, 2024 : IGL Bonus Issue: CGD Indraprastha Gas board to consider free issue of shares; record date to be fixed on THIS dayWEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An online spat between factions of Donald Trump's supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House. The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump's movement — wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry — and people in Trump's Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.
The Reds ultimately left St James’ Park with only a point after Fabian Schar snatched a 3-3 draw at the end of a pulsating encounter, but Salah’s double – his 14th and 15th goals of the season – transformed a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead before the Switzerland defender’s late intervention. The 32-year-old Egypt international’s future at Anfield remains a topic of debate with his current contract running down. Asked about Salah’s future, Slot said: “It’s difficult for me to predict the long-term future, but the only thing I can expect or predict is that he is in a very good place at the moment. Two goals and an assist for Mo tonight 👏 — Liverpool FC (@LFC) “He plays in a very good team that provides him with good opportunities and then he is able to do special things. “And what makes him for me even more special is that in the first hour or before we scored to make it 1-1, you thought, ‘He’s not playing his best game today’, and to then come up with a half-hour or 45 minutes – I don’t know how long it was – afterwards with an assist, two goals, having a shot on the bar, being a constant threat, that is something not many players can do if they’ve played the first hour like he did. “That is also what makes him special. If you just look at the goals, his finish is so clinical. He’s a special player, but that’s what we all know.” Salah did indeed endure a quiet opening 45 minutes by his standards and it was the Magpies who went in at the break a goal to the good after Alexander Isak’s stunning 35th-minute finish. Slot said: “The shot from Isak, I don’t even know if Caoimh (keeper Caoimhin Kelleher) saw that ball, as hard as it was.” Salah set up Curtis Jones to level five minutes into the second half and after Anthony Gordon has restored the hosts’ lead, levelled himself from substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold’s 68th-minute cross. He looked to have won it with a fine turn and finish – his ninth goal in seven league games – seven minutes from time, only for Schar to pounce from a tight angle in the 90th minute. Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe was delighted with the way his team took the game to the Reds four days after their disappointing 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace. Howe, who admitted his surprise that VAR official Stuart Attwell had not taken a dimmer view of a Virgil van Dijk shoulder barge on Gordon, said: “It’s mixed emotions. “Part of me feels we should have won it – a big part of me – but part of me is pleased we didn’t lose either because it was such a late goal for us. “Generally, I’m just pleased with the performance. There was much more attacking output, a much better feel about the team. “There was much better energy, and it was a really good performance against, for me, the best team we’ve played so far this season in the Premier League, so it was a big jump forward for us.”Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration that honors African heritage, culture, and values. It's a time for family gatherings, storytelling, music, and giving. While the holiday doesn't focus on commercial gift-giving in the traditional sense, exchanging gifts plays a significant role in expressing love, appreciation, and cultural pride. If you're wondering what gifts to give on Kwanzaa, here's a guide to help you select meaningful presents that align with the holiday's principles. The Seven Symbols of Kwanzaa Before diving into gift ideas, it's helpful to understand the seven core principles of Kwanzaa, known as the Nguzo Saba. These principles focus on unity, self-determination, collective work, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. Gifts chosen for Kwanzaa often reflect these values, promoting personal and collective growth within the community. Thoughtful Kwanzaa Gifts That Reflect the Principles When it comes to Kwanzaa gifts, it's important to choose items that are not only thoughtful but also carry cultural significance. Here are some gift ideas that tie into the celebration's core values: Reading is a powerful way to honor the principles of Kwanzaa. Books that explore African history, culture, and stories are wonderful gifts that can enrich knowledge and inspire the next generation. Consider books by authors like Maya Angelou, Chinua Achebe, or James Baldwin, or books that share stories about African traditions, art, or social justice. Kwanzaa celebrates African heritage and creativity, so art and handmade gifts make perfect presents. Look for items that reflect African traditions, such as hand-carved sculptures, paintings, or woven baskets. Not only do these items beautify the home, but they also embody the principle of creativity and support artisans in the African diaspora. Clothing that represents African culture, such as dashikis, headwraps, or jewelry, makes a meaningful and stylish gift. These items celebrate cultural pride and help keep traditions alive while embracing modern fashion. Consider giving a beautifully crafted Kente cloth scarf, or earrings featuring African designs to show thoughtfulness and love. Music is central to Kwanzaa celebrations, as it brings families and communities together. Gifting an album by an African or African-American musician, or even an instrument like a drum, maracas, or kalimba, promotes unity and joy. Music has always played a central role in African cultures, so this gift will encourage both artistic expression and togetherness. A symbolic and practical gift for Kwanzaa is a kinara, the seven-branched candle holder used during the holiday's celebrations. The kinara holds seven candles, each representing one of the seven principles. Gifting a beautifully crafted kinara or high-quality candles can help the recipient celebrate Kwanzaa in style and create an environment that fosters reflection and unity. Homemade and Personalized Gifts If you prefer a more personal touch, consider making something special by hand. Homemade gifts such as baked goods, quilts, or a personalized family scrapbook can carry even more sentimental value. Personalizing your gift to reflect the recipient's personality and interests makes it unique and meaningful. Kwanzaa Gifts for Kids Kwanzaa is a family-oriented holiday, and kids play a central role in the celebrations. When shopping for children, consider gifts that promote learning, creativity, and cultural appreciation. African-themed puzzles, books, or toys that focus on history or traditions can spark curiosity and encourage young ones to embrace their cultural roots. Kwanzaa and the Spirit of Giving Kwanzaa is not just about receiving gifts; it's about the joy of giving and reflecting on the values that unite us. When choosing gifts for Kwanzaa, it's important to remember the spirit of love, unity, and collective well-being. Thoughtful gifts that honor African culture and the Nguzo Saba principles will not only delight recipients but will also reinforce the deeper meanings of this special holiday. In the end, the most valuable gifts you can give on Kwanzaa are those that come from the heart-gifts that build community, foster growth, and celebrate heritage. Whether you choose to buy or create, the gesture of giving is what truly captures the essence of this meaningful celebration.NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are climbing Thursday after market superstar Nvidia and another round of companies said they’re making even fatter profits than expected. The S&P 500 was pulling 0.7% higher, as of 2:45 p.m. Eastern time, after flipping between modest gains and losses several times in the morning. Banks, smaller companies and other areas of the stock market that tend do best when the economy is strong helped lead the way, while bitcoin briefly broke above $99,000. Crude oil, meanwhile, continued to rise.US stocks surge to records, shrugging off upheaval in South Korea, France