Prioritize Self Care Search Results

How To: Reduce Battery Drain on Your Samsung Galaxy S3 by Fixing Android System Usage

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.).

How To: Flaw in Hilton's Rewards Program Allows You to Achieve Instant HHonors Gold Status for Free

Are you constantly traveling? Well, as a Hilton HHonors member, you can enjoy special treatment at all of their hotels and resorts. It's free to register, but the difficulty lies in climbing up their membership level. To reach Gold elite status, Hilton HHonors requires that you have a minimum of 20 stays, 40 nights, or 75,000 base points—all in one year. While this may very will be easily attainable for those with jobs that revolve around traveling, it's almost damn near impossible for the re...

How To: Invert the Colors on Your Apple or Android Device for Better Sleep

Inverting colors on your mobile device not only saves battery life, but also helps prevent straining your eyes, especially during the nighttime. Bright white screens interfere not only with your eyes, but with your sleeping patterns, as well. The bright lights greatly reduce your melatonin, a hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain that helps you go to sleep. Thus, the onset of sleep is delayed and the possibility of deep sleep is reduced greatly.

How To: Adjust Your Samsung Galaxy Note's S-Pen Sensitivity for Better Touch Response

Touchscreens are all the rage these days, and it seems that the stylus has become a relic of the past thanks to newer and better fingertip responsive smartphone displays. But when it comes to phablets like Samsung's Galaxy Note line, the added S-Pen is definitely helpful for more accurate and precise actions (and a less greasy screen). Of course, there are disadvantages of using an S-Pen too, one being hardware issues. Unlike your finger, the S-Pen can malfunction and become a huge problem, n...

How To: Hide All of the Social Numbers on Your Facebook Page with the Demetricator

The reason that Facebook is so popular is because it connects us to people that we could have never been connected to before. When people log on, they look for messages, comments, likes, and any other notifications that connect us to those people. These same notifications, though, distort our view of Facebook. We tend to appreciate statuses (I prefer stati) that have more likes. We're geared towards people that have more friends, so we tend to like pages that already have hundred of thousands...

How To: 3 Free Alternatives to Apple's iPhoto

Firstly, I'd like to say that I have nothing against iPhoto; it's a great application that works wonderfully in Mac OS X. Unfortunately, when you no longer have iPhoto on your MacBook—and you don't want to pay for it—looking for an alternative is a necessary endeavor. I could sit here and try to explain to you how I updated to Lion and then inexplicably dragged the iPhoto application into the trash—and proceeded to empty said trash. I could tell you guys that story, but I fear you might judge...

How To: Unlock Turn-by-Turn Directions and 3D Views for Apple Maps on a Jailbroken iPhone 4, 3GS, or iPod touch (4th Gen)

It's no secret that most people who got an iPhone 5 (or upgraded their old iPhone to iOS 6) have been sorely disappointed with Apple Maps. We may all miss Google Maps, but the Google says they aren't even working on an app for iOS 6 yet. Even worse, Google exec Eric Schmidt says they're waiting on an invitation from Apple, and if we know Apple, that could be a while. Users who didn't get an iPhone 5 have had an even worse time of things—Apple disabled 3D maps and turn-by-turn directions on ol...

How To: TAP Card Dissolved! How to Use Acetone to Transfer an RFID Tag to Your Phone

RFID cards are becoming a fairly common way to purchase goods, but they're already widely used to pay fares on buses, trains, subways, and trolleys across various cities. TAP cards are quick and reliable, but it can be a real pain to remember to bring them with you, especially if you weren't planning on using public transportation that day. Luckily, an intrepid tinkerer at Adafruit has managed to find a way to embed an RFID card into her phone, something you're far less likely to leave at home.

How To: Do the "Double Charge" pen spinning trick

Interested in pen spinning? Want to pick up a few moves? Pen spinning is the skilled movement of a writing instrument or pen with one's hands. It is used as a source of self entertainment (often for students), but there is a great deal of pen spinning culture (competitions, websites, etc.). Watch this pen spinning tutorial video and learn how to perform the "Double Charge" move.

How To: The Hidden Gesture for Switching Between Apps on Home Button iPhones

I love my iPhone 8 Plus, but the allure of modern iPhone gestures is sometimes more tempting than I care to admit. I imagine many of you with a home button iPhone feel the same. What if I told you, however, that your iPhone is capable of iPhone X-like gestures? In fact, you can use a gesture to switch between apps. Welcome to the future.

How To: Trick Your Twitter Followers into Thinking You're Somewhere Besides Where You Really Are

There are plenty of reasons not to use location information when you tweet, whether you're trying to stay safe or just don't want your crazy ex showing up while you're in line at the grocery store. But a new website called 'Please Don't Stalk Me' could actually make broadcasting your location work to your advantage—it lets you tag your tweets with any location you choose, anywhere in the world. Playing hooky? Send a tweet from 'home' to take care of any suspicion from your boss and coworkers....

How To: Assemble a Survival Kit

I am writing this quick post in response to the recent earthquakes and tsunamis that are affecting Japan. As soon as the news broke, and we began to hear of tsunami warning for our area, I immediately realized how under prepared I was for a natural disaster. The thing that drove this point home even deeper was the number of people asking me for advice on what they could do to prepare for the possibility that we are hit by one of the resultant tsunamis. Many thoughts raced through my mind, and...

How To: Snorkel

Why the Love? Every one has a reason for loving something. Mine was that it was the only thing I had. That one sure thing. I loved it because I had nothing, and it cost me nothing. At times I had no idea what was going to happen to me, or where I was going to be. The shore is always there! Rain or shine( the water is always calm beneath the surface), day or night( bring a waterproof flashlight).

News: Obsessively Crafted Sculptures Made of Salt

Japanese artist Motoi Yamamoto's medium of choice is none other than your simple household table salt, fragile and completely ephemeral. Yamamoto creates beautiful installations with the medium, salt being a strong symbol in Japanese death culture (as well as several other cultures around the world:  Hinduism, Catholicism, Egyptian and Aztec mythology).

How To: Handle and restrain a mouse for injections

This Animal Welfare Foundation two-part video tutorial is from expert veterinary staff demonstrating the correct procedures for handling small mammals for clinical examination and medication. Its aim is to show that the primary consideration should be for the the welfare of the animal. This video guide will show you practical animal handling for a mouse.

How To: Tie square lashing knots with animated knot tying help

Learn how to tie a knot, but not just any old knot... a square lashing knot. You'll never have any troubles again tying nautical square lashing knots, thanks to this Marinews knot tie animated tutorial. You can learn by simply watching the knot tying animation at a moderate speed, or if need be, click on "learn by steps" to get step-by-step rope knot instructions for square lashing knots. How to make a knot is not the hard part, choosing the right fishing knots or rope knot is.

How To: Disintegrate Objects at Super Speed (You Will Need: Sandpaper & After Effects)

Largely self-taught, Ryan John Kothe is an animator working out of Auckland, New Zealand. After picking up some rudimentary After Effects skills, he went on to create an impressive portfolio of beautifully rendered stop-motion animations with a distinctly tactile feel. Curious about the process behind Worn Out—Ryan's depiction of objects disintegrating in fast-forward (shown below)—we contacted him for a brief Q&A on the techniques behind his work.

How To: Use the GasBuddy Mobile App to Find the Cheapest Prices in Town

Gas prices across the United States have skyrocketed, with today's national average for regular unleaded gas at $3.51 a gallon, with California leading the pack at $3.90 a gallon. AAA reports that last week's national average was just $3.37. That's a $0.14 increase in just one week! Just one month ago, the average was $3.12. A year ago—$2.75 a gallon. Actually, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) states the price of gas hasn't been this high since since 2008 when it hit $3.57 in ...

How To: Sew in a Weave Yourself

Ready to try and sew-in your own weave? It's a big decision. As with everything that concerns our hair, we struggle with the pros and cons and often dwell on what could go wrong. Pixie cut. Perm or not? New shade (of pink, purple, or blue). These are all major decisions because ... well, it's our hair, and hair is such a big part of our style. To get a weave or not calls for careful consideration, and to sew one in yourself, that's an even bigger internal debate.

How To: Focus on Kung Fu basics for kids

In this online video self-defense course you’ll learn the basic moves of Kung Fu for kids. Sifu Dan Schmidt demonstrates various stances, blocks, punches, kicks and jumps that will give children a means of defending themselves if they’re ever in a bad situation. These lessons are perfect for helping kids build strength, endurance, motivation, self-discipline and concentration, so watch these free video clips and start training today.

News: Alec Baldwin Kicked Off Plane for Playing Words with Friends

Alec Baldwin loves word games? Enough to get kicked off an airplane? Apparently. Yesterday, while sitting in first class on his American Airlines flight back to New York from LAX, a flight attendant "reamed" him off the plane for playing the popular Scrabble clone, Words with Friends, and not turning off his phone and obeying signs requiring seat beats. Apparently, the aircraft was still at the gate and unmoving. His tweet:

A Closed World: MIT Video Game Confronts Sexual Identity Issues

University video game design programs have been spreading like wildfire around the world over the last ten years. They allow students, researchers and game developers to work on their craft in an academic environment away from the harsh realities of the market, and have led to some interesting products like Fl0w from USC and Ulitsa Dimitrova from Germany. Both games take on topics not often addressed in mainstream games and do so in simple, poignant ways that aim to influence the rest of the ...

News: The Many Methods for Hypnotizing Chickens

Chicken hypnotism is pretty mind boggling. We were enthralled when young Ciaran hypnotized a chicken with his infectious little boy charm (and more importantly, the gentle back-and-forth sway of his arms). There are a wealth of videos on YouTube depicting the process—a bonafide practice tried and true among both farmers and scientists. So, what is the why and how-to behind the art of fowl hypnosis?