Informed Choice Search Results

News: Scrabble Finally Hits Android Devices... But Does It Beat Words with Friends?

Three years ago, Scrabble was one of the very first 500 mobile applications to appear on the new iTunes App Store, allowing iPhone users the chance to kill their Scrabble cravings on the go. It was a smart move for Hasbro and Electronic Arts (EA), but it's been two years and eight months since the Android Market opened for business, and they've just now released an official app for Android smartphones—Scrabble Free.

Weasel Out of a Ticket & More: Life Lessons from the Creator of COPS

In 1988, John Langley created COPS for the fledgling FOX network. 23 years later, the show is still running. It is the Energizer bunny of prime time television. Since John has followed more police officers and witnessed more crime than any human being on earth (absolutely no question), I had to ask some advice for hypothetical unwanted encounters with the men in blue.

How To: Create Realistic 3D Shadows

Setting up shadows takes just as much time and attention as setting up lights. You can think of all of your illumination as one half of your lighting design, and shadows as the other, equally important half. Shadows can add richness to the tones and shading of your image, tie elements together, and improve your composition. Besides their artistic importance, rendering shadows is a key technical area to master. This chapter will explore both the visual and the technical sides of shadows and oc...

See Jane Pwn: A Primer for Internet Slang

Making your way into an online community can be really exciting. Some life-long friendships and lasting romances begin in humble chat rooms and message boards. But for the novice internet user, one of the biggest hurdles can be trying to figure out just what people are saying to one another.

News: Alan Wake First Look

A first hands look at the first chapter of the game. "When the wife of best-selling writer Alan Wake disappears on their vacation, his serach turns up pages from a thriller he doesn't remember writing. A dark presence stalks the small town of Bright Falls-" 

How To: Use Firefox Add-Ons and Greasemonkey to Make Google+ Perfect

Although +Google Chrome has been getting many deserved kudos for its innovations and speed, many people still prefer to use +Mozilla Firefox as their primary browser. If you’re a dedicated Google+ user, you know that there are many Google+ Chrome browser extensions available to modify your Google+ experience. What you may not know is that there are also Firefox extensions you can use for Google+.

How To: Setup an Asterisk Server

Over the years, I have enjoyed playing with Asterisk. I have found Asterisk to be extremely powerful and fun to play with. There are several books and many scattered how to articles out there, but most are outdated and the information required to build Asterisk from beginning to end can be a bit daunting. I wanted to combine all the steps into a single article and share my experience with everyone. If I have left out any steps please let me know.

How To: Start Developing Websites

How To Start To start developing website is a hard way to tell people depending on what they are best at. I'd like to describe a few of 'em. I will call them a few names depending on what effect comes out of 'em. And I will describe what developing languages there are out there and are most widely used. Let's start with that for now.

News: Secure Your Wireless Network from Pillage and Plunder in 8 Easy Steps

Wireless networks. Nowadays, everyone uses 'em, but most don't secure 'em. On average, I can drive up and down any block in my city and find at least one or two open or semi-open networks on any given day. With some changed MAC addresses for good measure, an attacker can use your network as a spring board for who knows what. When the police come a few days after, they are coming to your door—and not to talk about how nice your lawn is. Don't be that guy.

Quick Start Guide: How to Set Up Your Canon 5D Mark II in 10 Easy Steps

Before jumping right into becoming the next James Neely or Moose Peterson, you're going to have get situated with your new digital SLR. No matter if you purchased the Canon EOS 5D Mark II body and lens separately or together, you've got everything you need to get started except the CompactFlash (CF) card. If you plan on shooting in RAW or capturing HD video, I suggest getting an 8GB or larger CF card. If you can afford it, maybe even opt for a high-speed UDMA card.

News: G+Me Makes Google+ (Almost) Perfect: An Interview with Huy Zing

G+Me is one of our favorite Chrome extensions here at Google+ Insider's Guide. We love it because it's one of the most comprehensive extensions out there. It attempts to address the "noisy streams" issue, with list mode, and collapsible posts and comments. The creator, +Huy Zing, is very responsive to feedback, and he's been quick to address any issues that arise, including privacy concerns. He's even created a G+Me (Paranoid Edition) extension, for the extra careful Google+ user. And if you ...

News: So You Just Bought Photoshop. Now What?

Photoshop. It’s like a mountain to climb. You can chug up to the top, working hard, never letting up, or you can just go part way up and scoot around the side of the mountain and still get to the other side. Not everyone needs to be a Photoshop guru, or ninja pixel punisher. There are a few things to know and be comfortable with in order to do lots of cool things. Here are some tips that will take you a little way up the mountain, somewhat in order of altitude.

News: Gardening's Here!

Finally! Gardening! Many have been waiting for ages for this invention to come true, and now it has! Come experience it for yourselves in the Test Realm (instructions on getting there will be added)! When you enter, go the Moolinda Wu and she will teach you how to start gardening. Easy as that! You can plant many things, and monsters drop seeds, too. You can plant indoors or outdoors. Garden now on the Test Realm!Here's the complete article Professor Moolinda Wu wrote:

Build a Home Arcade Machine: Part 1

Remember the arcades? Were you saddened when they closed up one by one, leaving no outlet to actually go out and socialize while you played video games? With all the home consoles and internet connectivity, gaming has evolved, but the social factor has been eliminated. Sure we can play against others, but they may be miles and miles away. Remember back in the day when you could go down to the corner store to play your favorite game and show off your skills in front of a crowd? Well, all is no...

Get Into the Kit Business: How to Build and Sell Your Own Arduino Shields

The DIY industry is booming, despite the desperate blackmailing of society by finance capitalists. Companies like Adafruit and Makerbot are grossing well over a million dollars a year, and Evil Mad Science Laboratories just recently dedicated themselves to running a full-time kit business. Making kits is fun, but starting a business can be scary. If you already enjoy making gadgets and want to take the plunge into selling your own kits online, this article is for you.