There are plenty of ways to speed up your wireless network at home, some as simple as changing the placement of your router. While you can always buy equipment to boost your signal, there are plenty of cheap or free DIY solutions you can try as well.
You can create a lot of impressive effects by stacking or layering photos, whether you do it in a darkroom or with Photoshop. The Harris shutter effect makes your photos super colorful, and double exposing or stacking negatives makes for some crazy looking portraits.
There are tons of ways to make a macro lens for your smartphone, but if you need one for a DSLR, it's not quite as simple as using a magnifying glass or a drop of water. If you have an old kit lens, though, you can turn it into a macro lens in no time—all you have to do is remove the front element. For this hack, Juha Loukola over on PetaPixel used a Canon 38-76mm lens, but says that the process should be pretty much the same for other lenses.
Most of us have traded our desktop systems for laptops, tablets, and mobile devices, meaning there's a lot of outdated hardware sitting in attics. Want to give your old computer a new purpose? Matthew Chappee turned his iMac G4 into an HDTV using the guide by Dremel Junkie. One thing to note before you take on this project yourself is that if you want to use it to watch cable, you'll need a converter box to get around the MPAA's HDCP restriction. But, a converter box is considerably less expe...
Sea otters are the largest members of the weasel family. When people started hunting sea otters for their fur, their population fell from roughly 225,000 to about 1,500, until the International Fur Seal Treaty took effect in 1911. Since the international ban on otter hunting, the population has rebounded back to roughly 107,000.
Before my time, people used to listen to music recorded on these things... I didn't really know what this thing was until my parents clarified and told me that they were called cassette tapes. These "cassette tapes" were utilized to store sound recordings on either side of the tape, which could usually hold between 30 to 45 minutes. I laughed at that information as I took out my iPhone 5 (roughly the same size), which can store roughly 40,000 minutes worth of music.
Windows 8 the biggest update to Windows yet. The new gesture-friendly version replaces the aging start menu with a dynamic new Start Screen, complete with live tiles that give you a glimpse into your apps before you launch them, not unlike the new Windows phones. With such a radical departure from the past, some familiar features have been moved around, which will take some getting used to. It's worth noting that the new Windows 8 does not abandon the old desktop model completely; it still ha...
Did you know that the average cost to make a penny is about 2.4 cents?!? That's why the Obama administration asked Congress earlier this year for permission to change the metals in the penny, hoping to get the cost back down where it makes sense.
We all expect a little something on our birthdays, so why should those expectations drop when we are talking about our gaming systems? Microsoft has started handing out birthday gifts to its Xbox LIVE Gold members with their new MyAchievements rewards program. Those eligible for the gift will automatically receive the offer on their dashboard. To be eligible for the free gift, you must be:
Planning on getting the iPhone 5, but want to keep your SIM card? The new nano-SIMs that manufacturers are adopting will be even smaller than the micro-SIMs that most of us currently use. It's fairly easy to cut a regular SIM down to a micro-SIM, but because the nano-SIM will be thinner as well as smaller than the micro, cutting it down to size will require a little more work. Photo by Tech Digest
As useful as they can be, 360-degree photos are a total pain to create. The process usually involves taking a bunch of pictures with expensive equipment or software, and not just anyone can do it. But a new iPhone app called CupChair changes everything—it lets you take 360-degree photos with nothing but your iPhone and a cup.
Windows users have been getting a lot of bad news about their security lately. First, we found out that passwords in Windows 7 and 8 can easily be exploited if password hints are enabled, and now, Russian password-cracking software developer Elcomsoft has found another huge vulnerability.
The new Windows 8 Metro Apps (or Modern UI, or Windows 8 Tablet Style Apps, or whatever you want to call them) are sleek and quick, but unfortunately there's not an obvious way to completely close out of them.
Cropping images can be a huge pain if you have a bunch to do at once. Even if you have Photoshop or a similar program, the process of opening each individual photo and cropping them one at a time can take forever. A free web-app called Cropp.me makes that task a lot easier by auto-cropping your photos to whatever size you choose. All you have to do is upload an image, choose what size you want it to be, and click Cropp My Images. You can choose from a list of sizes or input a custom size of y...
Online shopping is way more convenient than brick-and-mortar stores in a number of ways, not the least of which are the discounts. But with so many online stores and sites like Amazon which feature thousands of retailers, how can you know you're getting the best deal?
People fundamentally distrust magicians. And they should. The illusions they proffer are just that, illusions meant to astound rather than tangible interactions and results that have weight and meaning in our real world. Our lizard brains know this, and, no matter what the outstanding feat of "magic" presented, we nevertheless hold fast to our survival-based grip on the truth: we just saw simply "can't be real."
It's easy to take your iPhone's Notification Center for granted. As useful as it is for viewing important alerts, reminders, and more, the feature is pretty drab when compared to the customizable Control Center, Accessibility Shortcuts, and others.
Every summer for the last 26 years, hoards of hackers have descended on the Las Vegas Strip for DEFCON, the biggest hacker conference in the US. There's a wealth of talks every season (DEFCON 27 has at least 95 scheduled), and there have been some essential topics to learn from in past discussions. We've dug through the last ten years and found the 15 most popular talks you should watch.
The idea of squeezing your phone might have sounded a bit out there when it was new, but it's now a hallmark feature on Pixel devices. As useful as it is for summoning the Google Assistant, however, it certainly would be nice to be able pick and choose what action is triggered by squeezing the phone. Well, now you can.
All the Android fans out there undoubtedly remember the squeeze gestures introduced with the HTC U11. Google continued the trend by bringing the gestures to the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Thanks to a brand new app, you can now enable similar squeeze actions on your Galaxy S9 or S9+, and even some older Samsung phones.
If you recently received your new Galaxy S9 or S9+, you're probably excited to try out all of the features the flagship offers. While many of the features are self-explanatory and easy to access, there are a handful of very useful items that Samsung has buried in the settings menu. Enabling these hidden features will help you unlock the true power of your new device.
Crazy Taxi continues to be a favorite among gamers of all ages, from those who played the game in late-'90s arcades to those who discovered the game later on consoles. This weekend, Sega announced their mobile version of Crazy Taxi would now be available for free. What a time to be alive. So does the arcade classic still hold up in 2017? Let's find out.
This recipe from Holiday Kitchen shows you their impressive, celebratory dish that satisfies the most discriminating crowd. Beef Wellington will leave your party guests grinning and wide-eyed as you present and carve this spectacular meal at the table. This masterpiece of meat is worth the effort! But don't worry— there's no foie gras here.
An ounce of garlic is worth a pound of prescription heart drugs. This how-to video discusses the benefits of garlic and what you should know before preparing garlic, or taking garlic supplements. Watch and learn more about reducing cardiovascular diseases by incorporating garlic into your diet.
It's irresistibly exotic and lusciously juicy; it's also got that enormous pit that sometimes makes the mango seem like more trouble than it's worth. Tame this tropical teaser with a few well-placed cuts.
Making this braided egg bread from scratch is worth the effort. You Will Need
You don't need flying broomsticks or magic balls to play this version of the game – it's tailor-made for muggles like us.
There's nothing more maddening than opening the office fridge and discovering your lunch is gone. Put an end to the stealing with some of these strategies. This video will show you how to deter coworkers from stealing your lunch.
Learn how to play straight gin. Grab a friend, pull out a deck of cards, and get comfortable. Straight Gin is easy to learn.
Often used to settle scores, 21 is a continuous, fast-paced version of basketball with few rules and little room for error.
Decorating a space can be a time consuming and frustrating experience for any homeowner or decorator. But once everything comes together, it makes all the pain worth it. In this tutorial, you'll find out some helpful tips for decorating the outside of your home using outdoor urns. So check it out and good luck!
Is your neighbor creating a ton of racket? Suffering in anything but silence? It can be hard to approach a noisy neighbor without starting a big riff. Follow these steps to get the quiet you deserve.
Don't toss that old LP! A few minutes in the oven and you can have a bowl that will be a real conversation piece. Watch this video to learn how to turn a used vinyl record into a bowl.
Okay, Mr. Thrifty, you reserved the least expensive hotel room that you could. But your inner Donald Trump doesn’t want to settle for low-frills. Go ahead, it never hurts to ask. Watch this video to learn how to get a hotel upgrade.
If even the bats are intimidated by the clutter in your attic, it’s time to tackle the mess. Watch this video to learn how to clean out your attic.
Learn how to play gin rummy: knocking variation. In this version of Gin, you can end a game by "Knocking."
Growing a pineapple doesn’t take a lot of skill, but it does take a lot of patience—two to three years worth, to be exact. Learn how to grow your own pineapple at home with this video guide.
TRY IT NOW! Learn how to make The Incredible Paper Popper! (Reusable) Scare Your Friends over and over with this fun prank! Just takes a min! Worth the watch! Use this as inspiration for one of your April Fools Day pranks!
This instructional sewing video shows an easy way to tie a knot in your thread for hand sewing an quilting. This is a simple sewing trick, but it's worth taking the time to learn how to tie a failsafe knot. Don't let your sewing projects fall apart at the seams.
It may a couple of painful tries, but this instructional video can teach you how to perform the infamous, "Jonas Snap." If you are a dedicated fan of the Jonas Brothers, the pain will be worth the effort. Let them know how much you care.
