If you're spending hours on your phone playing games like Angry Birds and Candy Crush Saga, or posting online to Google+ and Pinterest, you're probably being spied on. The latest releases from NSA whistle blower Edward Snowden reveal that the National Security Agency, and its UK counterpart, GCHQ, are mining the ad networks utilized in these apps to collect a trove of information on you.
You can easily lock any folder on your Windows computer with a simple Notepad hack. By creating a batch file, you can hide a folder and require a password be entered before it becomes visible and accessible. This is a great tool for locking sensitive information, like pictures, financial statements, and a lot more.
There are several ways to get around location restrictions on subscription sites like Netflix and Hulu using apps, extensions and proxies, but they tend to only work on laptops and computers. Users who want to access content from mobile devices and gaming consoles are usually out of luck.
Let's just say it's been a pretty bad year for spies and government agencies and an even worse one for the privacy of U.S. citizens. Edward Snowden blew the lid off the NSA's spy program, and the FBI was recently discovered to have the ability to access your webcam any time they want—without triggering the "camera on" light. Yeah, that means those Justin Bieber lip sync videos you recorded weren't just for your private collection.
Snapchat was created for the sole purpose of removing evidence from your mobile that a photo or video ever existed. That way, snoopers can't find any of these questionable selfies in your photo gallery. Of course, there are plenty of ways around this safeguard, but it's still more private than the standard social networking app.
Rooting your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 grants you access to system files, giving you the ability to change things on the device that you normally wouldn't be able to. Sounds great, right? There's just one problem. How in the hell do you manually change those system files?
When we're dead tired but need to stay awake, we humans can do many things to make the drowsiness go away, from taking a cold shower to downing energy drinks or coffee to acupressure.
#FOMO. If it bugs the living hell out of you that you don't know what that means, you're presently FOMO, as in you've got a Fear of Missing Out.
You don't need to be a robot to be overly concerned with battery life, especially if we're talking about Terminators, which have nuclear or hydrogen fuel cells that keep them running for years straight. It will be a long time before smartphones get that upgrade, so in the meantime, we have to figure out how to make them last more than a couple hours in a single charge.
For most of us regular folk, the only opportunity to relish in the conveniences of a maid is during hotel stays. Personally, I would love to have a maid around to help fold my clothes and sweep up those crumbs that accumulate in the corners of my kitchen, but sadly, I currently live in reality and can't afford that luxury just yet. In real life, I'm on my own.
While there's still no set date, Jelly Bean 4.3 is rumored to be released on the Samsung Galaxy S4 and other TouchWiz devices within the next couple of weeks (or months), presumably sometime after the upcoming Samsung Unpacked event.
The new Moto X may not have a lot going for it when it comes to hardware, but there are some pretty cool software features that makes it a tempting device. One of these cool features is its Active Display notifications that appear on the lock screen.
Cloud storage looks pretty good compared to the heavy restrictions that hard drives and other types of external memory carry. The cloud is not only limitless in what it can hold, but it can also easily be accessed from any device that has Internet—your smartphone, work computer, personal laptop, tablet, and more. While accessing a specific cloud storage system like Dropbox or Google Drive may be easy on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2, managing all of them individually can not only get confusing, ...
Whenever a friend borrows my Samsung Galaxy S3 to browse the web or make a quick call, I always pause to make sure there's nothing incriminating on it. I'm no superfreak, but some of my friends are, so I have more than a few photos on my device that I wouldn't wish upon anyone. I like to avoid these kinds of looks.
Facebook knows who all of your closest friends and family are. When you backpacked across Europe last summer, they went along on the trip. Remember that break up two years ago? Yeah, they were there. The breakfast you ate this morning? They probably have a picture of it. They're even right under your own feet.
There are a ton of streaming services available at your disposal in the Google Play Store—Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, Last.fm, and the list goes on and on. These apps help satisfy my day-to-day cravings for good beats, but I tend to do a little too much hopping around from music app to music app (and music widget to music widget) in the process.
Cars are quite different than they used to be. Sure, modern cars have some cool things, but repairing them are becoming difficult. Even simple things like changing a headlight bulb.
UPDATE: The whitehouse petition has received enough signatures to require a response from the government. Your voices have been heard! Now we wait...
We share links on an almost daily basis, usually not even thinking twice about it. Whether you're sending a funny cat video to your sister, or letting your coworker know where to go to download relevant files, there are plenty of reasons you might be giving someone a URL.
Being politically correct on social media sites is super boring. I've had my fair share of rage tweets and angry Facebook posts with some colorful wording, but sometimes using and F-bomb just gets the point across better. Now that Facebook is pushing out their new Graph Search, it might be time to clean up your profile. FaceWash is a web app that searches your Facebook profile for common bad words. You will need to give the app permission to access all of your wall posts (or course). Once acc...
Males fight for dominance in order to gain access to the limited supply of female eggs. This is why male birds expend energy on brightly colored plumage, but female birds do not.
Needing to use your device in bright or low lighting can require an adjustment in the phone's built-in brightness settings. However, there are times when those default settings just don't do the trick.
Back in 2010, iOS developer Daniel Amitay developed a camera security app for iPhones that used an unlock screen almost identical to that of the iPhone.
Free stuff is pretty cool. Free internet is even cooler—and free internet that is actually free is the coolest. If you would rather avoid sitting in a Starbucks and having to listen to hipsters discuss the proper length of cropped jeans, then this should be of interest.
Most newer computers come with a webcam, but if you're using an older system, you may not have one. If you only need to use a webcam occasionally, it may not be worth putting the money into, so why not just use your smartphone? There are a few apps out there that can help you turn your phone into a super-convenient wireless webcam and save some cash.
Even though we all know it's a bad idea, a lot of people still use their browser's store password function to keep up with all their accounts. While convenient, this shortcut also makes their passwords very easy to find if you have access to the computer they're stored on.
Tethering your Android phone basically turns it into a mobile hotspot, allowing you to funnel a 3G or 4G internet connection from your phone into your PC or laptop via USB. As you might expect, phone carriers brought the hammer down in an effort to stop users from getting around the fees they charge to normally allow you to do this.
This video is about how to lock the screen in Mac OS X. 1. Opening the Keychain Access utility: Open up the Utilities folder. You can get to this by either hitting Command+Shift+U with the desktop (Finder) selected, or by opening Finder, browsing to the Applications folder, then double clicking on the Utilities folder.
Dragon Age 2 is the latest fantasy RPG from the folks at Bioware, and if you're watching this video you've probably either just gotten it or are thinking about it. Check out the vid for a walkthrough of the prologue quest, Destruction of Lothering.
This is, by far, the easiest way to root your Android phone, and it's even got its own name— the "SuperOneClick" method. This is a universal technique that applies to most Android-based smartphones (minus the HTC Evo and T-Mobile G2/Vision). TheUnlockr shows you the secret behind rooting your Droid, so watch and learn. Anyone with an Android-enabled phone can do this.
If you love computer pranks, this is one of the easiest ones to pull. This video will show you how to remove the Shut Down button from the start menu in Windows XP. Actually, it does't remove the shutdown button, it just disables it, giving the user a restriction message, stating "This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator."
Update: If you're running iOS 7 or higher, you'll want to check out the new way to fully close your background applications.
Chris Davis with the Educational Technology Center shows us a few easy steps to putting YouTube videos in our Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 presentations. To start you'll need to have an active internet connection and you should have the developer tab in PowerPoint active. To do this go to the Office menu, PowerPoint options, popular and click show developer tab. Locate the hammer looking more control option button and scroll down to Shockwave Flash Object and click it. This allows you to draw a ...
In this video from MacOSG we learn how to calibrate a Mac display by using ColorSync. Go to apple menu and select system preferences. Then go to Display. In there, click on color tab to access the profiles for your monitor. Click the calibrate button. It will bring up the Calibration Assistant. Make sure expert is checked. The goal here is to make the apple logo match the outside grid as much as possible. Click Continue and repeat the process. Next is gamma selection. In most cases the native...
Systm is the Do-It-Yourself show designed for the common geek who wants to quickly and easily learn how to dive into the latest and hottest tech projects. They will help you avoid pitfalls and get your project up and running fast. In this DIY episode, see how to safely wire an amplifier or power plug in your car.
Check out this informative video tutorial from Apple on how to organize your Mail in Mac OS X's Mail. See how to sort messages with rules, create smart mailboxes, and comlpletely organize your mail. Mac OS X. It's what makes a Mac a Mac.
Check out this informative video tutorial from Apple on how to use the basics of Mac OS X Mail. See how to set up mail with your email accounts, compose messages, add attachments, view attachments with Quick Look, and search through Mail. Mac OS X. It's what makes a Mac a Mac.
Check out this informative video tutorial from Apple on how to use Mac OS X Mail to its fullest. See how to filter out junk mail, use data detectors, and view RSS feeds in Mail. Mac OS X. It's what makes a Mac a Mac.
New techniques may improve a swimming pool workout from Masters coach Nancy Kirkpatrick Reno. Before sticking a toe in the water, consider this advice: * Swim in a pool that's at least 20 to 25 yards long; those pools can usually be found at high schools and some gyms. A 50-meter Olympic-size pool is best, but not everyone has access to that. "If you're going to become a lap swimmer," Kirkpatrick-Reno says, "you can't go any shorter or you'll be constantly turning." An outdoor pool is prefera...
Created by Houdini Product Specialist Stephen Tucker, this crash course series focuses on the concept of fluid dynamics and how they work within Houdini. These videos on Voxel Fluids should help any artist get up in running with the foundation tools available for creating fluid effects in Houdini 9.5. Topics range from how to create a container to how to gain access to fluid attributes for shading, and even passing data from volumes to particles.
