You've undoubtedly used your email address to sign up for a chance to win something online or to purchase something on sale. Often, these offers are too enticing to pass up, and you reason that you'll live with the consequences of handing out your information for the chance at making out big.
These last few months have been a Lollipop lovefest, and I'm not talking about the candy. Android's latest OS has been exalted for its embrace of Material Design, and we've certainly given Lollipop its fair share of coverage as well; check out all its new features and ways to make older devices get some of the new look and feel of Android 5.0.
While it's currently impossible to go back in time, there is something wonderful about being able to undo the stupid stuff that you just did. While this is only really possible in the digital world, it does save you from real-life repercussions. If you've ever sent an email to the wrong person or sent some not-so-genius text messages, you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Chromecasts can make for some fun nights. Whether you're setting up a collaborative YouTube watch list, letting everyone add to a giant party playlist, or playing games like Cardcast and Big Web Quiz, Google's streaming media stick is a hit by all accounts.
A group ironically called the "Guardians of Peace" hacked into Sony Pictures' computer systems and released a mountain of internal information such as medical records, leaked scripts, work complaints, and even celebrity aliases.
A messaging app that blows your mind doesn't come along very often. Yeah, there's WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, which are both good for what they are (web-based messaging platforms), but when it comes to interesting or unique features, they're somewhat lacking.
With Nexus devices already enjoying Android 5.0 Lollipop, most other manufacturers are scrambling to get their flagships updated to Google's latest operating system. While HTC has promised Lollipop by the end of 2015, OEMs such as Motorola and Sony have already issued updates to their latest models. Then there's Samsung.
Google's music offerings have been on a roll lately. First they announced a new music video streaming service called YouTube Music Key, offering ad-free playback with background listening. Then they stated that the new offering would be rolled in with their Google Play Music service, with members allowed to exclusively test the Music Key beta, which just went live. And if all that wasn't enough, they're also offering free music to boot!
Spotify lets you use Siri commands to play and control music on your iPhone, but it wasn't always like that. It only applies in iOS 13 and later, so if you're on an older iPhone model with an older iOS version, you can use a really complicated workaround in iOS 12 or try a jailbreak tweak on older firmware.
Snapchat is definitely not known for its stellar privacy or security features, but that hasn't stopped them from gaining millions of users. Now, those millions of users can do more than just share pictures and videos—they can share money.
This past Halloween, 26-year-old Gabrielle Wathen learned the hard way about Uber's ridiculously expensive surge prices. After a night out and an Uber ride home, she learned that the 20-minute drive cost her more than $360.
A shady practice in place by AT&T and Verizon Wireless—and possibly more wireless carriers—was recently uncovered. Outgoing data requests sent from devices on these service providers are being injected with a Unique Identifier Header (UIDH) that allows websites, the carriers, and potentially even government agencies to track your online activity.
While it's not too hard to remember to watch your favorite TV show every week, it's almost impossible to remember to watch all of your favorite shows. Add on to that sports games, live music events, and new film releases and you'll find yourself in a disorganized mess with a lot of missing out.
Thanks to Apple's implementation of Continuity on Mac OS X Yosemite and iOS 8, communication is truly a seamless thing. Without even looking at my iPhone, I can message or call friends comfortably from my computer or iPad.
Your favorite instant messaging service might not be your friend's preferred choice of communicating, and your sibling might prefer yet another. So when they send you messages via different apps, it's like having one address but multiple mailboxes on a single porch.
As messaging and texting have all but replaced the need to actually call someone, emojis have seemingly replaced our need to type out text. With a simple emoji, you can relay emotions like "I don't feel very well" or "I love you" quickly and easily, knowing that the other party will instantly know what you're feeling.
While I consider myself to be a pretty organized guy, there are often times where I just can't find a file I put on my phone. Most of the time, when I download a file it goes automatically into my Download folder, but when I use a third-party to download other files, like torrents, they could end up in a number of places. Filtering abilities on file explorers often fall short, so it was time to find an app that would automatically sort files in real time.
The new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have bigger displays, and that means more overall screen real estate, something that the new Safari app has taken into account by letting you access desktop versions of mobile websites. Even if you're sporting an older device, you'll still be able to request the desktop version of a site online in the browser.
While the majority of photos taken on phones are used for personal reasons, mediums like Instagram and Flickr offer a means to show them off to the world. But those pictures of your brunch or beach day can actually go beyond that to make you some money.
Restoring data is not always the easiest thing to do when you flash a new ROM on Android. Google can back up your contacts and Wi-Fi passwords, and various tools can back up your apps and data, but the rest is usually lost in-between ROM flashes. This leads to a lot of wasted time getting everything back into place, and it'll take a long time before your new ROM feels like "home" again.
Your heart is constantly work for you, yet you think nothing of it—and Samsung wants to change that. They stuck a dedicated heart-rate monitor on the Galaxy S5, they're putting one in the upcoming Note 4, and they're bound to slap one in every Galaxy device thereafter.
Ever use an open hotspot on your Note 3, only to find out that it's severely restricted to what sites you can access? While getting online with free Wi-Fi is great for those who have a limited data plan, when that one site you absolutely need to visit is blocked, you're left frustrated and sent back into the Wi-Fi menu for another access point.
I love finding new artists on SoundCloud and listening to the tracks they put up. While some artists allow fans to download their tracks, others don't, leaving you to constantly load up their webpage to have a listen.
Metro apps are pretty nice, but they absolutely suck on a Windows desktop with a mouse and keyboard. That's to be expected though, since Metro (also known as Modern UI or Microsoft design language) was created mainly with touch input in mind for Surface Pros and Windows Phones.
Copy and paste keyboard shortcuts are beautiful gifts from the gods, and any website that blocks such an offering can burn in hell. But really, Cmd+C and Cmd+V (Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V for Windows folks) are second nature to most of us, so it's very frustrating when sites like PayPal don't let us use them.
In February of this year, the Higher Court of Berlin ruled that Facebook must follow strict German data protection laws, which Facebook's terms of services and privacy policies circumvent.
In a era where cyber security is becoming increasingly important, Comcast has decided to use its customers' routers to provide hotspot access to the public. A new program, outlined by Dwight Silverman over on the Houston Chronicle website, seeks to provide Xfinity customers with city-wide Wi-Fi hotspots by using, well...other customers' wireless routers.
Amazon just signed a deal with HBO to host the cable channel's original content on its Instant Video service. For those of us with Amazon Prime accounts, this is great news—but there aren't any readily apparent options for playing it on Chromecast.
I am a graphic designer, so I have to collect massive pics from webpages to provide me with inspiration. But sometimes I need to use them everywhere, even if I've no access to computers or laptops, so I have to resort to mobile devices.
Adding water features to your garden can help to create an enviroment that more closely resembles nature. The sound of a trickling fountain can make your garden feel more peaceful and relax. Paul Tamate, a leading landscape designer working with water features and Asian-inspired garden designs in San Francisco says, "design spectacular water features as the centerpiece of gardens that serve as retreats from modern life."
Google released its long-awaited Google Now launcher a couple months ago, allowing users to access Google Now with the simple command of the voice. As great as the feature is, it requires that our screens be on, unlike the Moto X's "active listening" service that operates with Google Now, activating through a screen-off state.
Imagine that Tinder fornicated with Facebook and had a baby. The product of that union would be the hideous, yet overwhelmingly interesting SocialRadar, an app dedicated to stalkers and stalkees.
Facebook makes it easy to show how much you appreciate a funny status, great picture, or cool news article using their iconic "thumbs up" button, but what about those terrible jokes and annoying baby pictures? Where's the "thumbs down" for that crap?
The lockout feature in iOS 7, which securely locks your device after a few incorrect passcode entries, can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.
Changing the look and feel of an app's user interface can really make it more pleasurable. Popular apps like Facebook or Twitter may take for granted the importance of a clean UI, since the companies have hundreds of millions of users no matter what their apps look like.
Whether you're on the john or sitting quietly on the bus to work, there's always time for a little video. And thanks to my favorite high school procrastination site, I'm going to be turning that little into a lot.
Personally, I think Velveeta is pretty gross. Nothing about its texture, flavor, or color resembles real cheese. But your taste in cheese isn't the important part—what matters is having something good to eat while you watch the game.
Oversleeping isn't just an epidemic that affects millions of hungover college students every year, we all want that extra minute or two of sleep. Unfortunately, oversleeping and showing up late to work or class isn't something we can generally afford to do.
I wonder if Best Buy has any Note 3's for sale?? When trying to figure out when something is in stock, we usually either check online or call the store to talk to someone. If certain products are out of stock the process might be tedious, with having to find phone numbers and calling several stores.
As of this week, Gmail is going to start letting Google+ users email each other using a new option called "Email via Google+." There's nothing wrong with making it easier to get in touch with people you want to hear from, but the default setting allows anyone with a Google+ account to send a message to your Gmail inbox. After the feature is in use, Gmail will start to suggest Google+ connections along with your other contacts as recipients. Email addresses will not be displayed for Google+ co...