When a Houston mom got tired of her kids seemingly refusing to return her calls, she decided that she'd take action. Sharon Standifird's vision was to create an app that would somehow force children to get into contact with their parents. Having no experience with app development, Standifird quickly taught herself the ropes and hired an experienced developer to help with coding.
As Microsoft unveiled their new Windows Phone 8.1 software update yesterday, undoubtedly the most memorable takeaway was their showcase of Cortana. Competing directly against Apple's Siri and Google's Now, Cortana is Microsoft's entry into the digital voice assistant fray, and the official replacement to their search app.
Notifications, while certainly helpful, can at times be overbearing. There are banners plastered every which way on your smartphone for almost every application. While many of the notifications can simply be swept away or turned off, the same can't be said of persistent notifications.
You don't have to be Drake to realize that some friends are better than others. There are friends you know are only there for the party, and friends who actually listen when you whine about your life. There are friends you go out with for a beer, and friends you call when you're drunk and need a lift at 4am.
For my money, one of the greatest improvements brought about from the smartphone revolution is the advent of visual voicemail. No longer do we have to slog through dial menus or trudge through every single message to get to the next. We can just look at our messages, right there on our screens, organized neatly like emails or text messages.
One of the more challenging things about using the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is the ability to use it with one hand, due to its enormously large (but wonderful) screen size.
David Blaine has made millions off his magic tricks and mind-bending illusions, so why shouldn't we get in on the action, too? Well, your Samsung Galaxy S3 can do all kinds of things, but magic isn't one of them...yet.
While the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has an integrated LED for notifications, it only works for a few things, like charging and low battery, and it only flashes two main colors (red and blue) when the screen's off. As someone that usually has their phone on silent or vibrate, it's hard to tell when I receive important messages or notifications. Sure, I could set a specific vibration or ringtone for individual apps, but that can quickly get annoying and distracting, especially at work or school.
There are so many things in life I wish I could've canceled without any repercussions, and I'm mostly talking about text messages.
On Thursday, March 14th, Samsung unveiled their new Galaxy S4. With it came a slew of new features, but what does that mean for us S3 users? Unless we're willing to shell out big bucks for the full retail version, most of us S3 owners (at least in the states) will not be eligible for upgrades until next year.
Now that there's a working jailbreak for every iOS 6.1 device, there are more and more people jailbreaking their iPhones (including me) for better customization. But for those of you who have no desire to jailbreak, you can still do some pretty cool tweaks.
The Jelly Bean update brought a lot of cool features to the Samsung Galaxy S3, but one nasty bug remained. Something was causing "Android System" usage to be consistently high. Of course, the percentage of this process that is used is dependent on what you're doing at any given time, but it shouldn't be anywhere near this level with "standard" use (calls, texts, emails, light browsing, etc.).
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.
If you're like me, getting as much sleep as possible is priority number one. With more and more time spent on or around our cell phones, it's becoming harder and harder to block out all the noise.
Collodion—it's one of those things that you probably never heard of before, but have actually come across many times in life. It's used for all kinds of applications, from photography to special effects, and it even has a few medical uses. So, what exactly is collodion? Photo by Bostick & Sullivan
If you have a Mac, you've probably been anticipating the release of OS X Mountain Lion. If you have multiple Macs, you've probably been dreading the long process of downloading and installing it on all of them. Here's how to create a bootable backup disk and save yourself some time. Before You Start
There are two kinds of people who will find this video tutorial useful: Jewelers/jewelry making aficionados and cosplay fans. That's because this crystal clear, shiny resin gemstone can be used just as equally for a beautiful pendant or a paperweight as it can be for cosplay costume accessories like shoulder pads and helms.
The iPhone and its cousin the iPod Touch are products of genius design, but sometimes we get a little bored of all that black and white with nothing in between. Inject some personality into your mp3 listening or phone calling by simply switching up your black plate, or the back cover.
The newest trend in couture? It's called 'trashion' - high fashion using trashy things. And we mean trashy! This tutorial shows you how to make a ball gown using trash bags, duct tape and newspapers. You'll also want a dressmaker's dummy to construct your dress around - or at least a model who's okay with standing still for a long period of time. Use the trash bags to form the dress, and then attack the newspapers over it layer by layer. You're ready for your debut!
If you're looking to expand your viewing space, and haven an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you can follow this how-to and learn how to do it. You'll need to get an app from the Apple App Store called SideMonitor. With this little app, you'll be able to connect your Mac or PC to your hand held device to get a bit more viewing room. It seems like you can never have enough viewing space, so don't poo poo the idea of hooking up some smaller devices.
A welted pocket (also called a jetted pocket or piped pocket) is a pocket where it appears just to be a thin slit in the fabric of the garment. Ideal for when you are making something you want to have pockets, but don't want to necessarily draw much attention to them - such as tailored suit jackets or streamlined dresses. All you need to learn this technique are some basic sewing notions (scissors, pins, etc) and either bias tape or the ability to cut your own bias tape from your fashion fabric.
3,2,1... blast off! Here's a fun little experiment you can do with a tea bag and some matches. You can try it at home and see how far up you can make your tea bag rocket go. The Tea Bag Rocket is really an adaptation of a classic science demonstration called the Ditto Paper Rocket. Each piece of Ditto paper had a sheet of tissue paper that separated the two-part form, and it was this discarded piece of paper that kids used to make the "rocket." Since Ditto paper is a thing of the past, scienc...
If you're not satisfied with your out-of-the-box version of Windows 7 or Vista then get ready to tweak it up good! With this video, you'll see how to use a little program called Ultimate Windows Tweaker to wrestle your software to perform the way YOU want it to. This software lets you get into the registry in a safe and easy way if you're not a computer wizard. Remember to always back up your system before toying with the registry.
It's called the AUDynamicProcessor, and it's very helpful when it comes to mastering your songs in GarageBand. In this video tutorial, you'll learn how to utilize and manipulate the sound dynamics of your songs in GarageBand using the AUDynamicProcessor filter, which effects the high and low ends of audio.
Spring-loaded clothespins are used for more than just clothes. If you looked in anyone's home, you'll see these springy wooden clothespins used for things like chip clips, photo holders and even for attaching sports cards on bicycle spokes. They're even used in the film industry (called C47s or bullets) for clamping colored gels or diffusion to hot lights on set. So, there's a million uses for these wooden clamps, but that doesn't mean they have to look the same— drab and unoriginal.
First of all, we're not going to lie: This butterfly ball origami project is not a simple one to fold. In fact, you should only attempt it if you're an intermediate or advanced origami student. Second, we have no idea why this star-like object is called a butterfly ball (perhaps because it looks like a cacoon?), but either way it's a very cool modern shape.
Thankfully, the wait for the much desired Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) update from Google is upon us. And the first Android device to take advantage of this new firmware is their Nexus S. This smartphone is going to be a killer. But the thing to look out for here is Google Voice.
A front walkover is like the advanced version of a cartwheel. While the move may look easy, it's actually much more difficult and requires more balance than a cartwheel.
Before Bon Jovi caused teenage girls to spontaneously and simultaneously burst out of their clothing at his concerts he was just a kid in his basement, strumming chord after chord until his fingers turned red.
Before you live out your lifelong dream of becoming the next Bon Jovi and singing to a sold-out crowd of boob-flashing teenage girls, you have to actually learn how to play the guitar first.
If you're scared of using public Wi-Fi networks with Firesheep out and about, then maybe you should fight back. Don't switch to another web browser— keep using Firefox safely with the help of a new Firefox Add-on that combats Firesheep's password stealing capabilities. It's called BlackSheep, and when installed and running, it will alert you whenever Firesheep is active on your network connection.
Camp Searchlight may be an infested ghoul town, once owned by the NCR, that's completely engulfed by radiation, but popping a few Rax-X's and a healthy supply of RadAway should do the trick! If you can last long enough and find Logan you'll be able to get the key to the Fire House there in town. Inside of the Fire House lies a unique weapon called Knock Knock, a powerful Fire Axe that looks similar to the ones used by the Pyro in Team Fortress 2! To learn the location and get the axe yourself...
Gwyneth Paltrow is well known as an Oscar-winning actress and mother of two kids, Apple and Moses. But the film industry isn't the only one in which she excels. Paltrow started a healthy living and eating website called Goop a few years back, and she's a very talented chef.
The cake is a LIE!!! If you're a gamer worth his (or her) salt, then you know all about Portal. And not only that, you've played it, completed it and finished all its challenges. Well, maybe you didn't go THAT far, but regardless, EVERY gamer knows about Portal. Even Lionhead Studios.
Sometimes a dish your preparing simply doesn't call for soggy tomatoes still filled with its interior webbing and seeds. That's when you need to know how to seed a tomato.
If you've been making nice with NCR, or you know, making not so nice and lying about it to get in, you've probably found HELIOS One at some point during your travels in Fallout New Vegas. Not only is HELIOS One a power plant, but it also houses a Orbital Laser Strike weapon within its depths! But in order to use it, you will need to get a hold of Euclid's C-Finder! In this video you will get the location of where to find the C-Finder to call down your fiery wrath!
"True Blood" hottie Alexander Skarsgard is handsomely distracting in any scene he enters, but even his gorgeousness wasn't enough to pry our eyes away from Lady Gaga's outrageous Minnie Mouse inspired getup in her music video for "Paparazzi."
If you're still drinking tea from water infused with a dinky little tea bag then you're not really drinking tea at all. In fact, drinking tea from a tea bag you get at Ralph's is equivalent to eating a burger and fries at a fast food joint and thinking it's real food.
Often times a recipe will call for a sticky ingredient like ketchup, honey, or jam preserves. And if you're one to follow the recipe at a precise level, you'll definitely toss that ingredient into a measuring cup or spoon. But once you dump the ingredient out a lot of it gets stuck on the measuring tool.
The archenemies of cell phones— puddles, toilets, swimming pools— can cause serious damage to your gadgets. And if your mobile phone has taken the dive, don't panic— there's hope for recovery.
