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News: Astronomical Observing News (3/28 to 4/3)

Grab your binoculars and telescopes, because there's a lot going on in the night skies this week. The usually dim Little Dipper will appear brighter as it moves to the right of Polaris, creating a cool effect with the Big Dipper. There's also a first-quarter moon and a really good view of Saturn. If you know of something else, share with us in the comments below!

Important Astronomers: Galileo Galilei

I'm starting a series on the top astronomers, with probably about eleven astronomers that I will be covering overall. So, let's start out from the top, with the top most important astronomer. In my opinion, Galileo Galilei is the top astronomer.

How To: Remotely Control Computers Over VNC Securely with SSH

VNC is a great protocol that you can use on Windows and Linux machines to remotely control computers. This is useful if you need to control your computer when away from home, help your grandma check her email, or help a client with a disk cleanup. VNC is secure in the sense that it requires authentication in order to make the connection, but after that, the data is sent over the internet unencrypted. This means that an attacker could sniff your traffic and snoop everything that's going on. Th...

How To: The Hacks Behind Cracking, Part 2: How to Generate Software Keys

If you've ever heard software piracy terminology being discussed, I'm sure the term KeyGens came up. KeyGens is short for key generator, which is a program that exploits algorithmic faults in software by generating software license keys that appear to be genuine. Normally used as a technique to protect the source code software and prevent piracy, a key generator exploits the key algorithm to effectively nullify the need for any software licenses. For example, we must try to find patterns in t...

How To: Update to the New Gmail Look (And See What's Changed)

It's live! Google has finally unveiled the much-hyped makeover of their Gmail email service. As of yesterday, anyone who wants to update to the new Gmail look can, but in the coming days it will be forcefully pushed to Gmail users everywhere. If you enjoyed the look of the old Gmail, you've only got a few more days to bask in the design before it becomes a mere memory.

How To: Make a Redstone Death Machine

Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play on our free server. Oh, the power of redstone! But, what good is any technology if it can't be harnessed for killing? Here's a redstone build for the mad scientist in each of us.

How To: Use the Enchantment Table in Minecraft

Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play on our free server. For about the past month, the folks at Mojang have been leaking pre-releases of Minecraft 1.9 and they've added many exciting things. Additions to the game include: potions, new mobs, a new biome, new realms, and something called an enchanting table. I went over how potions work in one of my previous articles and, while they are fun to play with, boy are they confusing!

Scrabble Bingo Weekly Roundup: Shlemiels, Cynosures and Yanquis

Bingo! No, this isn't the game where balls fly around in machines and players dab their cards with daubers. In a game of Scrabble, bingo refers to the bonus a player receives when emptying their rack in one turn, which gets them an extra 50 points on top of whatever their play was. Even if you had two blanks on your rack and didn't utilize any premium squares on the board, you'd still have an impressive 56-point turn (at least) by using all 7 of your letters.

League of Legends: Dominion Coming Soon

If you’re unfamiliar with League of Legends, you’re either not into PC gaming or you haven’t spent much time on the internet. Riot Games officially released League almost two years ago, and since then it’s become a huge hit. In fact, the Santa Monica based company recently announced that the DOTA inspired game has 15 million registered users, 4 million unique logins each month, and 500,000 people playing the game at any given moment.

News: HP TouchPad Tablet Discontinued – Get One Now for Just $100

In a recent announcement, Hewlett-Packard announced that they're considering spinning off their PC hardware business, but even more recent was the decision to completely off webOS devices. Though they aren't eradicating the once popular Palm platform altogether, they are liquidating all of their HP branded smartphones and tablets in a fire sale, including the Pixi, Pre and Veer phones and TouchPad tablet, which is less than two months old.

News: 3 Unique Alternative Web Browsers for Your iOS Device

A few weeks ago I wrote about Atomic Web as the best web browser for iOS devices, and while I believe it is a superior option, Atomic Web is not the only alternative web browser you can use on your iOS device. There are three more—Dual Browser, iCabMobile, and iSwifter—that are all great options because of their unique features. Let’s check them out.

How To: Boot Ubuntu on a Macbook From USB

For Windows laptops and PCs it's easy to install Linux. However for Macs, it's a different story. There are people installing Ubuntu on Macbooks and so far I've noticed that they are using 9.10. I've remastered my own Ubuntu 10.04 complete with playing flash videos and other applications already pre-installed on a DVD. Plus, it can boot on laptops with Nvidia graphic cards. If you'd like to see my workaround for Nvidia check out my article on remastering Ubuntu.

Camera Plus Pro: The iPhone Camera App That Does it All

Even with Apple's forthcoming iOS 5 updates to its default camera application, those upcoming features can't match what already exists in Global Delight's Camera Plus Pro. For $1.99, Camera Plus Pro provides users with over 100 tools for every part of the picture taking process, including video recording. It works with all versions of the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad 2 with iOS 4.1 or the later update. Let's examine what it can do, and why you will want to replace Apple's default camera with ...

TVs Are for Old People: A Guide to Handheld Consoles

Advancements in technology usually lead to the miniaturization of old technologies, and video games are no exception. Since at least 1990, game hardware manufacturers and enterprising DIY electronics enthusiasts have poured their efforts into making full-size video game consoles smaller, even handheld. And for good reason—who would have ever played a black and white Game Boy if they could have had an actual NES in their pocket?

News: Did George Plimpton Make a Falconry Game for ColecoVision?

George Plimpton may be one of the most interesting Americans ever. Foremost a sports journalist, he was also a novelist, Fireworks Commissioner for New York City and host of Mouseterpiece Theater. Some of you may also recognize him as one of the men who tackled Robert F. Kennedy's assassin, Sirhan Sirhan. But most of you probably remember him as the pitchman for products like Pop Secret Popcorn and the Intellivision video game console. Actually, his most appreciated work would probably be a s...

News: Want a Next-Gen Old-School Final Fantasy Game? Go Cheap. Go Cthulhu.

I was raised in the glory days of Japanese RPG's (JRPG's) on the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest were the biggest game franchises, and real gamers could debate their merits endlessly. We remained engaged in the stories of the games, even though the soldiers, princesses and schoolchildren all had spiky day-glo hair. We waded through hours of randomly triggered menu-based battles instead of playing Doom or baseball. And we loved every minute of it.

Privacy Is So 2001: An Anime Video Game Novel About Social Media

Japanese people are into many things Americans find weird—like YouTube's beloved canine-hosted cooking show or Daito Manabe's light up LED grills or even more insane, a vending machine that distributes live crabs. In light of these cultural oddities, the Japanese phenomenon of visual novels (NVL, or bijuaru noberu), seems relatively normal. A meeting place of books and video games, visual novels are a sort of "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure" for the new generation.

Nyala: A Taste of Ethiopia

Little Ethiopia is the place to get ahold of authentic African cuisine. African food mainly consists of spices and fresh ingredients. Ethiopia is a country in Africa that demonstrates the use of spice in its cuisine. The Ethiopian cuisine follows the Islamic rules, the religion Ethiopians are accustomed to, and its old custom, which is the caressing of the earth. The Ethiopian Islamics prohibit the eating of pork so their meat choices are limited. The Ethiopians are specialist whenit comes to...

How To: How The Internet Works

Sure, you go online to email and shop and do research. But have you ever been curious about how the internet actually works? Don't worry, you don't need a degree in computer science to get a handle on how your info gets from point A to point B. Learning the basics of the internet will give you a whole new appreciation for all those emails and chat messages that seem to magically appear. Get ready, because we're about to enter the wonderful world of digital data!

Emerald Knights: A Palace of Nerdery

Before last Sunday I hadn't been to a proper game store since I was in middle school. Over ten years ago. If you decide to stop reading right now because I obviously don't care enough about MTG to be writing this thing, I don't blame you. But I tell you, friends, as someone who has denied the utter awesomeness of their hobby for too long, that going to Emerald Knights in Burbank made me feel at home. I want to tell you about it and explain why I will be back many times in the future.

HowTo: Top 10 Avatar Halloween Costumes

Below, 10 step-by-step instructional videos for transforming yourself into a Na'vi being this Halloween. Step 1: Choose your favorite Avatar look from the list below. Step 2: Apply your chosen look. Step 3: For the dedicated fans with (more than a little) time on their hands, learn the Na'vi language and your transformation is complete!