One of the most interesting recent additions to Sea of Thieves is the A Pirate’s Life Tall Tale series. An official crossover with Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean property, the questline was revealed during Microsoft’s conference at E3 2021 and offers five feature-length missions full of new enemies, tricky puzzles and iconic characters. You’ll meet Captain Jack Sparrow and the dreaded Davy Jones across these mini-adventures, which you can play solo or with a crew of friends. 

The first of these missions is called A Pirate’s Life and, in this guide, we’re going to show you how to start and complete this quest so you can kickstart your adventure with Captain Jack. Here’s how to complete the A Pirate’s Life Tall Tale in Sea of Thieves.

In the menu, before you set sail in Sea of Thieves, click ‘Play’. Once you’re in the ‘Play’ menu, there will be an option for ‘A Pirate’s Life.’ Click this, pick your ship and crew and then you’ll land on an outpost after a loading screen. You should spawn in front of a barnacled Castaway sitting around a green fire. To the right of the castaway, on the wall of her hut, you’ll find a number of quests. To start the expansion, find the quest on the far left which is called ‘A Pirate’s Life’ and press X to drop your knife on it. Once your crew does the same, the voyage will start.

The Castaway will tell you to visit the Sea of the Damned and then open up a portal inside the rock directly behind you. Naturally, you’re going to have to sail through it. Once you do, you’ll enter a gloomy green area, and after a few scripted scenes, you’ll find yourself in a new area called Strange Shores.

Dock your ship on the island when you regain control and head inland. You should see the innards of a broken ship if you follow the wall, creating a passage that you can walk through to find a bell-toting statue.

From here on out, the puzzles revolve around lantern use. Stoke your lantern using the green flame indoors and then light the other two lanterns in the next room to open the door.

Proceed through and light the lantern hanging on the captain, then move the skeleton’s arm leaning against the wall to get to the second lantern. In a side pathway within this room, there’s a broken rowboat with another lantern. Once you light that one, the door will be opened by ghosts turning an anchor.

Head outside and proceed through the broken ship. Enjoy the tunes, and you’ll eventually come across a waterfall area full of jolly ghost pirates. Go behind the waterfall to find a room with a skeleton wielding a broken oar. Take it and use it to open the door on the upper path in the waterfall room.

Go through to the next area, and you’ll find another lantern to light on the way to an anchor, which lowers a bridge. Light the lantern to activate the anchor, and raise it to proceed.

Head across the bridge you’ve just lowered and use the pulley (a rope hanging from the ceiling) to raise a platform, and then use it to get to another lantern at the end of the path. Light it to lower the bridge.

Valve shook the gaming world when it revealed the Steam Deck, a handheld that’s essentially a portable PC. The Steam Deck console lets players access their Steam libraries on the go, and looks positioned to give the Nintendo Switch a serious run for its money when it releases sometime during December 2021.

But with some reports that certain games might not be able to run on the Steam Deck, including Destiny 2 and Apex Legends, how can you be sure your favorite go-to games will be playable at all?

Fear not, as there’s a relatively simple way to find out ahead of time if your most beloved Steam games are compatible with the Deck, and it lies within the fact that SteamOS (the Steam Deck’s operating system) is powered by Linux.

Valve actually has an official tool, Proton, aimed to help players migrating from another OS to Linux maintain compatibility with the majority of their Steam library. And while Proton is still in beta, it’s currently being used to enable play on Linux for games that otherwise might not be compatible with the less commonly used operating system.

Linux playability for Steam games is handily catalogued on Proton DB, the tool’s official database that tracks how compatible games currently are with Linux. One glance at Proton DB’s homepage shows that while thousands of games are compatible with Linux, the majority do have issues that need to be ironed out.

Looking up your games on Proton DB is as easy as using the site’s search function to check their overall compatibility. On the Proton DB homepage, simply click on the “Search games” search bar in the top left corner of the page. There’s another search bar directly under that, labeled “Search for a game” which accomplishes the same thing.

Each game is collectively assigned a rank by the Proton DB community, with “native” being the best possible result, and “borked” (i.e. a game that flat-out doesn’t work, or has significant playability issues) being the worst. In between are ratings like “silver” and “gold” to help gauge overall performance.

As an example, we searched for Guilty Gear Strive, a recent and popular multiplayer fighting game. Currently, the game has a “gold” rating on ProtonDB, meaning that it works perfectly after some tweaks are made. At this point, the community submits reports on exactly what changes need to be made in order to facilitate play on the Linux operating system.

The improvement of Proton is largely being handled by the community, who are currently posting robust, easy to read reports on a per-game basis. These reports highlight how well a game is running on Linux, as well as issues currently facing the game and potentially how to circumvent them. However, Valve is aiming to make every Steam game compatible with the Steam Deck before launch, which it mentions in this official video (skip to 2:16).

At the time of writing, there seems to be significant issues with multiplayer-specific titles like Apex Legends, Rainbow Six Siege and PUBG, all of which are currently rated as “borked” on Proton DB. 

With watchOS 8 on the horizon it’ll soon be time to update your Apple Watch – and you might find that there isn’t enough free space to install the update. 

That’s because your Apple Watch has a limited amount of non-expandable storage, and it doesn’t take a lot of data to fill it up. The good news is that it’s easy to find and deal with the biggest space hogs.How do I free up storage space on my Apple Watch?

The amount of storage on your Apple Watch depends on what version you have. The first, second and third generation, Series 1 to 3, have 8GB (16GB on the Series 3 Cellular). The Apple Watch Series 4 has 16GB. And the Apple Watch Series 5, the Apple Watch Series 6 and the Apple Watch SE have 32GB.

Not all of that storage is available to you, because the operating system has to live there too. On our 32GB Apple Watch the total available capacity is 26.5GB. The rest is reserved for the operating system.

The system requirements for watchOS 7 say you need to have 3.1GB of free space on your Apple Watch. watchOS 8 is likely to require a similar amount of free space.

We’re glad you asked. It’s tempting to go into the list of apps on your phone and start deleting things at random, but Apple provides some useful tools that enable you to identify what’s taking up room on your wrist so that you don’t end up deleting things that aren’t really taking up room. You’ll find them in the Watch app on your phone.

If you have multiple Apple Watches – lucky you! – make sure you’ve selected the one you want to analyse in the Watch app before you proceed.

The first step is to discover what’s taking up space. To do that, tap on General in the Watch app and then scroll down until you see Usage. Tap on that.

You should now see a screen like the one below, with your available and used storage right at the top and then a list of the apps on your phone and how much space they’re taking up. 

The figures you see are total space, not just the app itself, so for example the figure you see for your Music app will include any music stored on your Apple Watch. In a handy touch the list is already sorted so that the biggest space invaders are at the top.

One of the most underestimated business resources that catches out most small and medium businesses is storage. Everything from its storage, and availability, to management and security, needs careful consideration. 

That’s where Network Attached Storage (NAS) comes into play. Simply put, a NAS is a server that creates a centralized and shared storage data repository that’s accessible over a network. 

While you can pick up NAS devices from storage vendors such as Western Digital, Seagate, QNAP, Synology, and others, with a little effort you can also assemble your own. Doing this not just gives you more bang for the buck, but also helps create a scalable system that can easily grow along with your requirements. 

OpenMediaVault (OMV) is one the best open source DIY NAS solutions available out there. The project targets home users and small businesses and besides servers, can also be installed on several Arm-based single board computers, such as the Raspberry Pi 4. 

Here’s our hands-on tutorial for anyone who want to run OMV on top of a Raspberry Pi.

OMV is straightforward to rollout and simple to manage, thanks to its well designed browser-based user interface, which makes it suitable for even non-technical users. It supports all the popular deployment mechanisms, including several levels of software RAID, and you can access the data it holds using all the popular network protocols such as SSH, SMB/CIFS, FTP, Rsync, etc. 

The server also has an extensive permissions system to control access to the shared volumes and folders.

Before you get started with the software aspect, you’ll first have to make sure you have the right hardware for your NAS server. OMV has rather modest requirements, and like we mentioned can even be run from SBCs. 

Of course, for an SMB with dozens of users accessing the data at the same time, you’ll need something with a lot more processing power. We wouldn’t recommend anything lower than a multi-core processor and 8GB of RAM. 

You’ll also need multiple disks, and OMV supports traditional hard disks, as well as SSDs. You’ll need one that’s at least 4GB in size for OMV’s installation, and several others for storage. Remember, you’ll not be able to use the unused space on the installation drive for sharing files.

Let us show you how to combine PDF files effortlessly. PDF files are now a vital part of our daily lives, not just in the workplace, with important personal and legal documents often coming in PDF format. So, knowing how to combine them will definitely come in handy someday.

If you have a bunch of work or personal PDF documents that you’d like to put in a single file, you’ll be happy to know that figuring out how to combine PDF files isn’t reserved for the computer savvy. There are also many ways to do so, all of them pretty easy and straightforward to do. For Windows users, numerous websites offer doing so for free, as do many third-party free PDF editors and free PDF readers. Meanwhile, macOS users already have Apple’s own easy and free tool that they’ve likely already utilized for other things.

Of course, we’ll also walk you through the step-by-step process of combining PDF files. Take a look at our guide below, and you’ll be doing so like a pro.

macOS users have it easy. If you need to combine PDF files into a single PDF document, you can simply use the Preview app, which come pre-installed when you purchase your Mac computer. Even better, you mostly only need to drag and drop files, so the process is fast and effortless. 

Before you start, make sure that you have all the files you’d like to combine in one folder to make the merging process all the more seamless.

Step 1: Open the Finder folder where your files are stored and make a duplicate of the file you want as your first page.

You want to use a duplicate to make the changes in, so that you’re preserving the original file, in case you make a mistake or need it for something else in the future. To create a duplicate, simply two-finger click on the file and select Duplicate in the dropdown menu.

Step 2: Double-click on the duplicate file to open it in Preview. 

Make sure that the thumbnail sidebar is visible. If it isn’t, go to View > Thumbnails or press Option+Cmd+2. If your file isn’t opening in Preview at default, you can two-finger click on that file then go to Open with > Preview.

Step 3: Add PDF, JPG, PNG and other additional files to Preview by dragging and dropping them into thumbnails sidebar.

You don’t need an advanced set of skills to download YouTube Videos. Believe it or not, doing so is a straightforward process as long as you have the right tools on hand, and you don’t even require a paid subscription to do so. While YouTube Premium allows the user to download a video for offline viewing, free ways are also on hand that lets you watch or listen to them without using the official application. You simply need to figure out how to download YouTube videos, and you’re free to watch them without an internet connection. 

Downloading YouTube videos is ideal for keeping yourself entertained on planes, trains, and trips to places without reliable mobile internet access. Since you can do so while using your home Wi-Fi, It’s also a great solution if you have a mobile plan with a limited data allowance, letting you enjoy your favorite content on the move without risking going over your data allowance. 

Let just show you just how to download YouTube videos – or better yet, just how easy it is to do so. If you only want to save music from videos, or strip out the audio to turn it into a podcast, check out our guide to the best YouTube to MP3 converters, the best YouTube downloaders, and the best free video editing software for Windows, macOS and Linux.

Using third-party apps to download YouTube videos is against YouTube’s terms of service – which state that you are only able to stream videos directly from its servers. Downloading YouTube videos also opens you up to potential copyright infringement unless you have permission from the copyright holder, it’s in the public domain, or you own the video yourself.

That said, YouTube does offer some ways to download videos through its web service and its own apps. In this guide we’ll explain how to do this, and take you through the other options available for iPhone, Android, Mac and PC. 

To download YouTube videos to a Windows PC, start by downloading and installing 4K Video Downloader. This versatile software is completely free, and can download whole playlists, as well as 360-degree and 3D videos. When it’s done, check the box marked ‘Launch’ and click ‘Finish’.

Open your web browser, find the video you want to download from YouTube and copy its URL from the address bar. Then return to 4K Video Downloader and click the green ‘Paste Link’ button at the top left.

The software will retrieve information about the video and give you a choice of quality options. These will vary depending on the quality of the original video, but the software can download YouTube videos in 4K if it’s available.

4K Video Downloader will allow you to download whole YouTube videos, or just rip the audio. Choose your preferred selection using the drop-down menu on the left, then choose a format using the menu on the right. We prefer MP4 for our videos, because it gives a good balance of quality and file size – and will play on basically every device.

Then, choose your quality. For playing back video on your TV or PC, we recommend picking the highest resolution, but bear in mind that this will take longer and will take up more space. Luckily, you can check the estimated file size on the left to see how much space it will take.

QR codes are a theoretically-simple way to send or receive information – they might hold a link to a website or app, contact information, ticket details, or a number of other things, and you can simply scan the QR code with your Android phone to get that data.

But QR codes also aren’t things you’ll necessarily encounter regularly, so you might not be sure how to scan one when you do, which rather removes the convenience factor. Making things even trickier is the fact that the process can differ on different Android phones.

But ultimately, no matter what Android phone you have – whether it’s a recent Samsung or an older OnePlus – it’s very quick and easy to scan QR codes, and below we’ll explain exactly how you can read a QR code on your phone.

Many Android phones let you scan QR codes direct from the camera app. In most cases this will be true if your phone runs Android 9 or later. That software was launched in 2018, so the majority of recent handsets will be on that version or later.

To scan a QR code this way, simply open the camera and point it at the QR code for a few seconds – there’s no need to actually take a photo. If your phone can scan QR codes from the camera app, then a link should appear on the display. Tapping on that will take you to the contents of the code (such as a website or Google Play Store page).

If at first you don’t succeed, try lining the QR code up in the center of the frame and making sure that it’s clearly visible, and that the phone is held steady. You’ll also need to have a data connection.

Note that on some Samsung phones you’ll also need to enable Bixby Vision within the camera before QR code scanning will work. To do this, tap the Bixby Vision icon in the top left corner of the camera app. Some phones also require you to enable QR code scanning on their main settings screen, so you might have to do some digging.

If you’re still having no luck, then chances are your phone’s native camera app can’t scan QR codes, but not to worry, there are other ways to scan them, detailed below.

Google Assistant can also scan QR codes using a tool called Google Lens, just as long as your phone is running Android 8 or above. To activate this, just launch Google Assistant (usually by saying “Hey, Google”, or long-pressing the home button), then tap the Google Lens icon. This looks a bit like, well, a camera lens.

Point Google Lens at the QR code for a second or two and it will highlight the code and display a link to its contents. Tap on that to head to the website or other location hidden within the code. As with any other method for scanning a QR code though, you will typically need an internet connection for it to work.

When you run out of things to watch on Netflix, have played every game on Xbox Game Pass and have read every iPhone 13 rumor on the internet, you might decide to root your phone.

This is the Android equivalent of iPhone jailbreaking. And like jailbreaking, Android rooting isn’t as popular as it was back in, say, 2012. We like to think it’s because almost every custom Android interface made by every major manufacturer is now pretty good.

One of the main things you can do with a rooted phone is to install a different version of Android, known as a ROM. Non-rooted Android phones let you change the top layer, the ‘launcher’, but not the whole lot beneath.

In this article we’ll look at what you can do with a rooted phone and show you how to do it. But first off, let’s deal with why you probably shouldn’t.

You can easily brick your phone during the root procedure, or at least send it into what’s called a boot loop. This is where Android doesn’t load properly, likely sending you into a spiral of headaches that might, if you’re lucky, end up back where you started after hours of effort.

The best way to avoid this is to follow installation instructions very carefully. Doing this doesn’t guarantee that things will go well, but usually allows you to navigate around unfortunate events caused by sheer carelessness.

A rooted phone is also more susceptible to certain security threats. You give third-party software deeper access to the phone, bypassing security layers Google put into the Android OS for good reason.

This is why banking apps can’t be used with most forms of rooted Android. A few methods still allow for this sort of access, but banks don’t block rooted Androids because they are party poopers. It’s because it’s unsafe, and using an unusually exposed device for this sort of stuff can prove costly to both the bank and you. Don’t be stupid.

Rooting your phone will also invalidate its warranty, which is why we tend to only recommend trying it out on older Androids. Ideally your ‘old’ phone, not your current one – in case something bad does happen in the process.

Some types of root will also stop your phone receiving official OTA (over-the-air) software updates. And the first step of the process, unlocking the bootloader, will also completely erase your data. So make sure to back up anything you don’t want wiped before you start.

If you’re anything like us, you probably have a ton of tabs open in Safari, all completely disorganized and disjointed. Every time a new project comes to mind, more tabs get opened, adding to the ever-growing mess.

In macOS Monterey, that can be a thing of the past thanks to Safari’s Tab Groups feature. Now, you can siphon websites into sets of related tabs. When one Tab Group is open, all other tabs are hidden, but they’re easily accessible if you want to shift your focus. Follow our Tab Group tips and you’ll wonder how you ever managed before.

If you have several tabs open, you can create a new Tab Group by clicking File > New Tab Group with x Tabs (where x is the number of tabs you have open). All your existing tabs will be grouped together into a new, untitled Tab Group. 

Once you have created a Tab Group, you won’t be able to make another Tab Group with those same tabs, even if you add or remove tabs from the current group. Instead, you’ll have to create a blank Tab Group (see step 3 below).

Alternatively, you can create a new Tab Group using the sidebar menu. Click the sidebar button in the top-left corner of the Safari window (it is next to the Close, Minimize, and Maximize buttons), press Shift+Cmd+L, or click View > Show Sidebar.

Once the sidebar is open, click New Tab Group with x Tabs. This serves the same purpose as it does in step 1 above, but the sidebar contains extra options for managing your existing Tab Groups or creating new ones, so you might find it useful to have it open.

It is also possible to create a blank Tab Group by clicking File > New Empty Tab Group or by pressing Ctrl+Cmd+N. This will preserve any tabs you had open in addition to the new blank Tab Group.

You can create as many blank Tab Groups as you like. To populate a new, blank Tab Group, either open some new tabs using Cmd+T, or drag and drop tabs from an existing group to an empty group. You need to click and hold the tab until it changes color before dragging, otherwise you will just move the Safari window.

Every time you open a new tab within a Tab Group, it is saved to the group automatically — there is no need to manually save the group. Likewise, you can delete a tab from the group by simply closing it and it will be removed.

These changes are synced to any of your other Apple devices that are connected to the same Apple ID. To check your Apple ID, open System Preferences on a Mac and click Apple ID in the top-right corner. On iOS or iPadOS, open Settings and tap your name at the top.

If you are a senior, or you have a health condition that should be monitored, a medical alert system covered by Medicare can save you money. Statistics show that after the age of 65, six out of ten people will visit a hospital emergency room because of a fall. 

Other benefits of medical alert systems include: 

✔ Lowered anxiety and confidence in fall detection systems

✔ Faster access to help in a medical emergency

✔ Better communication about your health to friends and family

This article tells you how to find out if your medical alert system is covered by Medicare. If your doctor doesn’t accept Medicare, ask for a referral to a clinic who will. You can also find a Medicare physician yourself. 

Take note: enrolment for Medicare runs annually from October 15 to December 7.

Look out for more details of each plan on the Medicare website. Durable medical equipment (DME) coverage can cover certain medical alert systems.

To check the health conditions cover you have, you can also use the Medicare app, available in the Apple store (for iOS) or on Google Play (for Android). 

There’s no need to shop around to find the best medical alert device for your system. By searching our database, our trusted partners will send you free quotes on a medical alert device that’s right for you.