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.
Facebook has been looking to launch a new product for a while now, and it seems they've finally realized what they're best at—being as creepy as possible. If you thought your boss checking out your girlfriend's beach photos was weird, Facebook's new Graph Search has only upped the ante. Now, I don't want to be an alarmist, because I'm sure there are a bunch of great things a Facebook search would find. If you're single, perhaps you could search "Girls that are single that like Goodfellas." Th...
At some point or another, we've all been in that awful situation when someone walks up behind you while you're looking at something you don't want them to see. Whether you're tweeting during class, shopping for gifts online, or looking at something a little more NSFW, there are times when it would be nice to just click a button and have all your open tabs disappear.
I think part of the reason why I don’t eat more vegetables or fruits is because there's always a process—a simple one, but a process nonetheless. Having to wash my fruits and veggies is just flat out annoying. I just want to eat them, not take a shower with them.
Inductive charging is already a reality on popular smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S III and Google Nexus 4, and Apple has recently published a patent that would make inductive chargers a reality for the iPhone. There are also several phones that have the capability for wireless charging, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note II.
Whether it's because you're too startled from a sudden awakening or you're elbow-deep in cake batter, turning an alarm or timer off on your phone can be annoying. So why not simplify the process by eliminating the need to even touch your phone? With these free apps by Augmented Minds, you can turn off your timer or alarm with just a wave of your hand. That means no more fumbling in the dark for the right button, and more importantly, no more worrying about getting food on your iPhone.
Last year, Lytro released their first light field camera to help photographers have more control over focusing. This innovative and revolutionary camera allows users to change the depth of focus of a photograph after the picture is taken.
Glitches can be extremely annoying when playing some of your favorite games, but sometimes, only sometimes, there are glitches in the game that give you an unprecedented advantage against the computer or other players online.
If you have a lot of friends on Facebook, chances are that every day is at least one of their birthdays. If you took the time to individually post a message every time, you'd spend ALL of your time on Facebook, but you don't want to be a bad friend either. Let's face it, some people take this stuff personally.
People use search engines for a wide variety of subjects (just look at some of the results that pop up in autofill). The results you get with each different search engine are usually different, but almost all of them display the same number of results per page by default—ten. If you find what you're looking for at the top of the first page, great. But if you have to do a lot of digging, it can be a pain to load so many different pages to find it, especially if your connection is slow.
Microsoft's updated web browser, Internet Explorer 10, has only been out for a few days on Windows 8, and there is already a storm of controversy surrounding its launch.
The reason that Facebook is so popular is because it connects us to people that we could have never been connected to before. When people log on, they look for messages, comments, likes, and any other notifications that connect us to those people. These same notifications, though, distort our view of Facebook. We tend to appreciate statuses (I prefer stati) that have more likes. We're geared towards people that have more friends, so we tend to like pages that already have hundred of thousands...
Link shorteners like TinyURL and Bitly are great for Twitter (or anytime you're limited on space), but they're also great for hackers. It's easy to hide a malicious link in an innocent-looking shortened URL, which increases the chances that people will click on it.
Having all of your stuff in the cloud is super convenient if you want to access it on multiple devices, or if you want a backup in case it gets lost or wiped. The biggest downside with services like Dropbox, though, is security. With everything sitting there in one place, the last thing you want is for someone to break in.
When you're at work or in class, there's nothing more annoying than sites that automatically play media. One minute you're happily distracting yourself, and the next, you're scrambling to hit pause while everyone stares at you. Not to mention now your boss knows you're slacking off.
When you're a kid, the best part about Halloween is the free candy, but if you're past your trick-or-treating years, there are still plenty of things you can do. With all the costumes, scary stories, and pranks, what's not to love? And now, you can even use your smartphone to celebrate.
The convenience of storing things on the cloud can definitely make life easier, but if you're storing sensitive files, it could be a total disaster if anyone hacked your account. Some encryption services can be expensive, but if you just need it for personal use, there are some really great ones that don't cost anything. Here are three programs that let you encrypt your cloud storage for free. BoxCryptor
Having a flash drive is more or less a must, but the biggest downside is that they often get stolen, and it's not hard to figure out why. They're small, so they easily fit into pockets, and a lot of people store valuable information on them. Want to pretty much guarantee no one takes yours? Disguise it as a broken USB cable like Windell Oskay of Evil Mad Science Labs so it just looks like a piece of junk to would-be thieves. The materials are pretty simple: a flash drive (the smaller the bett...
Think your roommate's been using your computer while you're not around, but don't have any proof? Worried your little brother or significant other is snooping through your stuff? Here's how to check on both Windows and Mac OS X so you can catch and confront anyone who's logging onto your computer without your permission.
If you've got more than one computer, it can be a huge pain to switch form one to the other. Between files, settings and apps, it can take a while to transfer everything—and if you're running different operating systems, it's even worse. Image by Onion
Whether you're making a poster, drawing a logo or designing a website, the font you use can make a huge difference in any visual design, and the ones available in most word processors can get pretty boring. There are thousands of sites online where you can download free fonts, and even a few that let you design your own. Here are some of the best.
There are tons of situations that require you to give out your phone number, and I think just about everyone has regretted doing so at some point. It can be incredibly convenient to have a secondary or temporary number on hand, so if you don't want to provide your real digits, you can still get the call without revealing your true numbers. And that's where Burner comes in. Burner is a mobile app for iPhone and Android that lets you create alias phone numbers that you can take out of service a...
If you've read anything in the news about Skype recently, it probably hasn't been good. First, there was the controversy over the company listening to and recording users' conversations. Now, there's a new spam tool for Skype that can harvest usernames, see whether or not you're online, and even parse your log files. Image by Lloyd Dewolf
Sometimes you just want to grill. It doesn't matter where you are, what you have, or whom you're with—you just want a delicious burger and you don't care what it takes.
It may be surprising, but those cardboard toilet paper tubes are dead useful for so many things besides just keeping the circular shape of your TP roll. As shown before, you can make car dash mounts for your mobile phone, but that's just one of the many beneficial uses from a seemingly junk cardboard tube. You probably go through quite a bit of bathroom tissue over the course of a year, especially if you're using it for facial tissues, too. So, the next time you throw away that lonely little ...
There's nothing worse than losing your phone—except losing your phone when the ringer is silent. If you're alone, it can be excruciatingly hard to find your lost device even if the ringer is on, considering most of us don't have landlines anymore. So, the next time you find yourself hunting for your phone, don't tear your house apart until you've tried some of these quick tips.
Assuming everyone knows of the recent "String of attacks" passed between Obama and Romney, I just want to talk about how useless this entire thing is. I'll try to be as un-biased as possible.
Thanks to everyone who submitted ideas in last month's Mad Science contest. The question called for your best idea for using Sugru, a temporarily malleable silicone modeling clay that self cures for a soft-touch permanent bond. It's a marvelous product for at-home quick fixes and for even making some cool DIY bumpers and grips for your electronics. William scoured through all of the comments and chose the two winners he felt best deserved a pack of Sugru.
Paper towels are really cool. I like having them around for quickly cleaning up messes and what not. However, I do not have a stand or something similar for my paper towels, so it can sometimes get a bit taxing to pick up the roll and unravel it every time I need a towel.
Flavored oils are amazing. They add a new flavor and depth to dishes not possible with plain oil. Most unfortunately, however, flavored oils almost always come with a hefty price tag to reflect their deliciousness and to capitalize on the general cluelessness of the public.
Steaming food has a lot of advantages over other cooking methods. The gentle heat of steam allows for meats, such as chicken wings, to become more moist after cooking.
Cheese makes everything better. It's just a fact. Sandwiches, burritos, and even plain bread all get a benefited flavor quotient when cheese is involved.
Fresh peppercorns add a delicious and noteworthy touch to many dishes. Some of my favorite dishes that include peppercorns are pepper-crusted steak and peppered spread for crostini.
Everyone loves grilled cheese sandwiches! They're delicious, portable, and evoke images of your childhood. They really are the ultimate comfort food.
The future of TikTok in the U.S. is all but certain. Microsoft, Walmart, or Oracle could save the day by buying the company, TikTok may win its lawsuit, or China's new restrictions could halt everything — but all could fail. Just like Vine before it, TikTok could be on its way out, only for opposite reasons. But will it matter if TikTok gets banned in the States? With the competition heating up, likely not.
Microsoft's built-in antimalware solution does its best to prevent common attacks. Unfortunately for Windows 10 users, evading detection requires almost no effort at all. An attacker armed with this knowledge will easily bypass security software using any number of tools.
Last week, I updated VirtualBox on my computer since I had skipped a few versions, then I could no longer copy text or paste text from my Kali virtual machine to my host OS and vice versa. Installing the Guest Additions didn't seem to do anything, and the bidirectional shared clipboard was enabled, but there was one thing that did work for me that may help you out too if you experience the issue.
If you're concerned about your privacy, TikTok might not be the app for you. Its shady practices with user data have been the subject of concern, criticism, and even legal action by the US government. Then again, it's just so addicting. If, like me, you're not going to stop using TikTok anytime soon, you should at least know how to view the personal data it has collected on you.
If you're as addicted to TikTok as much as I am, you probably heard about the app's alleged, hidden views counter, which can show you how many TikToks you've watched on your account. Most people who look at their counters are horrified to see that they've watched hundreds of millions of TikToks so far. Can that be right?
When you don't want certain friends viewing your account or just need to take a break from social media, Instagram lets you do so. While you can completely delete your Instagram account, then start over when you're ready again, it makes much more sense to just disable your account temporarily. Doing so will hide your profile, photos, comments, and likes from everyone, including your friends.