News: Squid Ink Is the New Black
I have a thing for black foods, whether it's mysterious, lovely black garlic (the secret to its color: fermentation) or adding charcoal powder with its reputed health benefits to cookies, cakes, and breads.
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Exploiting XSS with BeEF: Part 2
Now that we have our vulnerable server, it's time to start up BeEF. Getting Started
How To: Make Google Play Music's Interface Better on Android
Google Play Music is an awesome app—even if you don't subscribe to their $9.99/month All Access service, you can still use it to store and stream up to 50,000 of your own songs for free. Add to that the fact that it's a pre-installed app on most Android devices, and there aren't many reasons not to be using Play Music.
How To: Theme Hangouts for Android with 23 Custom Colors
Hangouts is a great cross-platform messaging service from Google that works with almost any device, making it one of the few messengers that can be installed on Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android gadgets alike. With its many useful features, one of the few debatable downsides is its not-so-attractive color scheme.
Weird Ingredient Wednesday: Zucchini Blossoms
Those ordinary green zucchini you see in the market are hiding a lovely, delicious secret: Actually, all summer squashes produce these delightful blooms, but the zucchini's are most frequently used for eating since they taste the best: fresh, clean, and zucchini-like, but with a little something extra. They used to be a rarity at supermarkets, so you had to have a garden or a gardener friend who would generously share the bounty with you.
How To: Get Back Lock Screen Customization in Android Lollipop
Beginning with KitKat, I've been used to customizing every aspect of my Android phone, but with the release of Lollipop, there is quite a bit of catching up that developers need to do. Most customization features, like quick settings rearrangement and theme support have already been ported over, but any type of lock screen customization has been noticeably absent.
How To: Want to Appear Smarter? Stop Using Impressive Vocabulary
We've all been there: facing a lengthy, complex word that ignores the phonics we were taught in elementary school, unsure of not only its pronunciation, but also its meaning. These words, from autochthonous to esquamulose, are both terrifying and impressive. After all, if someone knows how to use them—and even say them—they must be quite smart. Yet before you begin stuffing every email and presentation with verbose prose, you might want to reconsider what others perceive to be intelligent.
How To: Set a Sleep Timer on Your iPhone So Music, Movies, Podcasts & Other Media Won't Wake You After Falling Asleep
We all fall sleep in different ways. Some may require absolute silence, others need white noise, and some enjoy listening to a song or two to help bring on the sleep. If you're in the latter group, like I am, there's a problem. Fall asleep before the music stops, and a loud song may jolt you awake in the middle of the night. With an iPhone, however, that issue can be avoided with a little setup.
Hack Like a Pro: How to Anonymously Torrent Files with Tribler
Welcome back, my nascent hackers!
How To: PIN-Protect Photos, Log-in Credentials, Credit Card Info, Notes, & More with Keeply
In the weeks before Apple officially released iOS 8, consumers were abuzz over rumors that a new feature would password-protect your photos and text messages from prying eyes. Unfortunately, this ended up being untrue, though we did cover some alternatives to protecting your important information using some built-in features and a third-party app. Now, there's a new iOS app that can do it all.
How To: Use Easy-to-Install Plugins to Customize Almost Any App on Your Mac
When you buy a Mac, you accept that you're giving up the customization found on Windows or Linux systems for a more fluid and secure machine. This is great for most consumers, but for those of us who'd rather opt for a tailor-made experience, there are always developers that can combine functionality with stability.
How To: Achieve Your Goals by Changing Your Password
Finding the motivation to make a change can be tricky. It's difficult to resist the urge to procrastinate, or even give up when goals seem distant and difficult. If you wish you could stick to your New Year's resolutions, or maybe even just commit to pursuing smaller goals, you might want to consider making a small change to start: just create a new password.
How To: Fill in Ugly Bare Spots on Your Christmas Tree
You've found the perfect tree — or so you think. As hard as we try to display an ideal tree each year, both plastic and pine can disappoint, especially when you're shopping on the cheap.
How To: Resize Extremely Long "Open" & "Save" Dialog Boxes in Mac OS X Yosemite
Yosemite is definitely an improvement over Mavericks, but there are still some painfully obvious and annoying bugs that occur within certain apps.
How To: Use Your Command Line to Cast Almost Any Music or Video File Type
Using a combination of my phone, laptop, and an arsenal of apps and plugins, I can send pretty much anything to my Chromecast. However, nothing is ever perfect, and the file type that was still giving me headaches were torrent and magnet files.
How To: Use Scare Tactics to Increase Your Productivity & Accomplish More
Admit it: when nothing's at stake other than your boss's disapproval, you don't exactly feel the urge to get working. Finding the motivation to take on a task, whether at work or home, can be a constant struggle. Though working through your laziness might seem like the best course of action, a meaner method can make more of an impact on your productivity.
How To: Stop Snoozing with a Personal Wake Up Call—No Concierge Required
I have never been a morning person, and that's a trait that I don't think is going away. Combine my distaste for early hours with being a heavy sleeper, and it adds up to a lot of alarms being dismissed in a haze, with no real intention of ever waking up.
How To: Get Total Control Over Android's Volume Slider Precision
On most Android devices, the various volume levels are comprised of either 7 or 15 steps between minimum and maximum. For voice-call volume, alarms, and notifications alike, 7 presses of a volume button will bring you all the way from silent to full-blast. With media controls, you get 15 steps between mute and max.
How To: The Trick to Nesting App Folders Within Folders on Your iOS 8 Home Screen
One of the best ways to reduce clutter and enjoy the new iOS 8 wallpapers on your iPhone is to use the little-known trick of hiding all of your main home screen apps. This trick effectively moves your apps off the main home screen and over to additional home screen pages, or in your dock, making your main home screen beautifully clutter-free.
How To: Have a Healthy Relationship with a Partner with STI/STD
Sometimes, it helps to be prepared before jumping into a new relationship; look before you leap! To have a healthy relationship with someone who has an STI, it is advisable that you enter the relationship knowledgeable about sexually transmitted infections and what your risks might be.
How To: Add No-Touch Scrolling to Your Android
It's really amazing how much you can do with root access on an Android device. From various themes to porting exclusive funtionality from other devices, the power of Superuser privileges is truly awesome.
How To: Get the OnePlus One Lock Screen on Your Nexus 5 or Other Android Phone
Depending on who you ask, the OnePlus One smartphone has so far been either a bit of a letdown or a rousing success.
How To: Enable the Hidden Call Recording Feature on Your Samsung Galaxy S5
Before your carrier got its grubby little hands on your Galaxy S5, there was less bloatware installed and more functionality offered by the Samsung flagship device. Case in point: the GS5 that Samsung designed was capable of recording phone calls, yet the one that you own probably isn't.
How To: Lock Any App with Fingerprint Security on Your Galaxy S5
If you keep sensitive data on your phone, you've surely considered a "lockout" app before. There are many such apps that can add an extra layer of security to other apps within Android. For instance, you can require a PIN or password before anyone is able to launch a particular app.
News: We Went to the Google Glass Film Festival—Don't Expect Glass-Made Movies Anytime Soon
It was a chilly but otherwise beautiful night at YouTube Spaces LA—food trucks, ping pong, a photo booth, and the chance to view film school projects created completely with Glass. About a year ago, the Glass Creative Partnership was formed to explore how Glass could be used in filmmaking, with partnerships spanning from the American Film Institute to CalArts and UCLA. On July 16, 2014, the products of that partnership were screened under the Southern California night sky. Three films were sh...
How To: Make Your Lies Undetectable in Email & Text Messages
Developing an imperceptible lie is difficult, especially when you're lying right to someone's face. Thanks to smartphones, getting people to trust you is now easier than ever. You can craft a lie in seconds and hit send, all without ever seeing their untrusting faces.
How To: Wake Up Faster with a Back-Talking, Snooze-Hating Alarm Clock on Your Nexus 5
I am not a morning person. This is a fact that has been proven with science. I need every bit of help to get me out of bed in the morning—multiple alarms, extremely loud tones, Pandora—I've tried everything.
News: Everything Google Didn't Tell Us About Android "L"
It was the star of the show, but now that Android L has been released for preview to Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 owners, there's a lot that Google didn't tell us about their latest mobile operating system, rumored to be called Lollipop.
How To: Search Your Chrome History More Easily by Indexing All Text from Webpages Visited
Let's be real, browser histories are virtually useless. Trying to find something you passed up a week ago is like, pardon the cliché, finding a needle in a haystack.
How To: Get the New Android L "Heads Up" Notifications on Your Nexus 5 or Other Android Device
We got a fairly extensive look at the newest version of Android at Google I/O yesterday. The "L" version, which we're betting stands for "Lollipop", brings Google's new design philosophy to Android, and one of the main aspects of that design are new "heads up" notifications. Allowing you to continue using whatever app you're currently in without interuption, this new type of alert borrows from Apple's iOS, but does it the Android way. These notifications can be dismissed with a swipe away, ex...
How To: Turn Your Movie Night into a Calorie-Burning "Workout" by Choosing Scarier Films
Merely fidgeting and shivering can burn calories, but now you can add trembling in fear to the list too. Just pop in a good horror movie and turn down the lights to burn off up to 200 calories. What would you rather do? Walk for over 30 minutes or watch a 90-minute scarefest?
How To: Quickly Search the Web & Your Nexus from Within Any App or Screen
Prior to the release of Android 4.0, most devices had a dedicated search button. This functionality allowed you to search Google from your home screen and app-specific content from within any app. Eventually, though, this dedicated search button was ditched in favor of an icon in the action bar of apps, and a search bar on the home screen.
How To: Get the LG G3 Exclusive Keyboard, Sounds, & Wallpapers on Any Android Phone or Tablet
Last week marked the announcement of LG's new G3 smartphone, and with it came a ton of new features and improvements to their Optimus UI. While most manufacturers put little effort into their keyboards—probably due to the attraction of third-party alternatives—LG has made their latest iteration one of the best OEM keyboards I have ever used.
How To: The Single Best Way to Keep Your Facebook Friends List Clean & Tidy
Admit it: you haven't talked to more than 70 percent of your Facebook friends in the last year. Whether you barely know the names crowding your friends list, or have vague memories of high school Spanish class with them, Facebook friends are easy to find and difficult to get rid of.
How To: Stop Friends from Asking You What Your "Relationship Status" Is on Facebook
Facebook rolled out a new feature that lets your friends ask you about your current relationship status. This is great feature if you use Facebook for finding hookups, but if you use it mostly to connect with family and friends, a bunch of questions about your dating status can get annoying real quick.
How To: You Can't Stop Gmail from Scanning Your Emails—But You Can Limit Their Ad Targeting
Google recently updated their TOS to reflect the email scanning practices they use in Gmail, which are used to display more relevant ads, among other things.
How To: Add Thumb-Friendly Quick Settings to Your Nexus 7 Tablet
There are two types of tablet users in the world—those who like their quick settings up top, and those who want them on the bottom. I fall into the latter category, and there are a couple of reasons for it.
How To: Root Your Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in One Easy Click Using Windows
In order to unleash the full potential of your Samsung Galaxy Note 3, you've got to root it. These days, it's easier than ever, and can be done by just plugging your device into a Windows computer and pressing one button. It's so easy, your grandmother could do it, so what's stopping you?
How To: Install the Leaked KitKat Build on the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (International Variant Only)
While the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy S4 are enjoying their official KitKat updates, those of us with Note 2s are left to play the waiting game. While we know our devices will eventually see an update to Android 4.4.2 KitKat, it's unclear when an official update for our devices will come.
How To: Keep Nosy Friends Out of Your Apps by Password Protecting Them on Your iPad or iPhone
As respectful as you may be, it's hard to resist looking through someone's iPhone when given the chance. You're not trying to snoop around, but it's just too easy to open up apps and read embarrassing emails or find scandalous Instagram follows. It's like looking through a digital diary riddled with deep, dark secrets.