Simply Purple Search Results

How To: Why White Sugar Is the Only Type of Sugar You Need in Your Kitchen

I'll bet this scenario will sound familiar to you: you're in the middle of making a spectacular dessert that will knock the socks off of your guests, and you've almost finished gathering all of your ingredients to create your mise en place. The last ingredient listed is powdered sugar, and you reach for where it's stored, when—drat! You don't have enough for the recipe.

How To: Restrict Guest Users to One App in Windows 10

For reasons unknown, Microsoft decided to change the way the Guest account feature in the new Windows 10 operating system works. In previous versions, the Guest account feature allowed you to set up a limited account for other users so they don't have access to your important documents and settings. Now, the process requires assigning an email to a new account and configuring share settings.

How To: Overcome Anxiety with Supplements

There has been a huge shift over recent years to alternative medicine as people get disillusioned with conventional medicine to overcome anxiety. Natural and herbal supplements are becoming popular as people re-engage with nature. The list of potential side effects from drugs and the rebound effects from withdrawing often make the thought of taking medication unpleasant. Often the promise of how effective the medication can be is exaggerated or it simply does not have the effect it should bec...

How To: Goodbye, Bloatware! How to Remove All Preinstalled Crapware from Window 10

Slowly but surely, Microsoft seems to be steering Windows in the direction of Google's Android. First, they released Windows 10 as a free upgrade, mainly because they wanted to cash in on the revenue that they hoped would come when more users had access to the Windows Store. Then, they included tons of tracking "features" to help populate Bing with targeted ads, which has always been Google's primary method for monetizing Android.

How To: Get Root Access on OS X Mavericks and Yosemite

Hello all! In this tutorial, I'd like to show you one way of getting root on OS X. Check out this GitHub page for a recent privilege escalation exploit that was recently discovered. I've tested it and it works on both OS X 10.9 Mavericks and OS X 10.10 Yosemite, but appears to have been patched with OS X 10.11 El Capitan. If you check out the file main.m you can see where most of the magic is happening. This source code can very easily be changed to make it do more than just the system("/bin/...

How To: Disable Twitter's Annoying Autoplay Videos

It's bad enough that we have to deal with autoplaying video advertisements all over the Web, so why do we have to be subjected to autoplaying videos on Twitter, too? Autoplay video are muted by default, but that doesn't make them any less annoying, especially if you have a small data plan on your phone.

How To: Cast Torrents, Magnet Links, Local Files, & Web Videos from Your Windows PC

Google's Chromecast has been out for almost two years, and I can safely say it has changed the way I use my TV. At first it was a hassle to even get local media to play on it, but now casting has branched out to torrent streaming, which was a real game changer. Unfortunately, most apps only let you stream one video or song at a time, or you can't add magnet links or torrents to a playlist of local content.

How To: Bring Desktop Gadgets to Windows 10

The concept of desktop gadgets has been around for quite some time, and Microsoft officially introduced them in Windows Vista to much fanfare. Desktop gadgets offered the ability to view various information at a glance, play mini-games, and more. Unfortunately, Microsoft decided to kill this beloved feature after Windows 7, citing security reasons.

How To: Build a DNS Packet Sniffer with Scapy and Python

In my last how-to, we built a man-in-the-middle tool. The aforementioned script only established a man-in-the-middle. Today we'll be building a tool to utilize it. We'll be building a DNS packet sniffer. In a nutshell, this listens for DNS queries from the victim and shows them to us. This allows us to track the victims activity and perform some useful recon.

How To: Disable the Lock Screen on Windows 10

If your PC setup includes a mouse and keyboard, you'll be happy to know that most of the touchscreen-first features of Windows 8 have gone by the wayside in Windows 10. Where it once required awkward gestures to access key features, Windows now recognizes when you're using a traditional desktop or laptop, then responds by making sure that all features can be easily discovered with clickable buttons and menu entries.

How To: Update Makes It Easy to Remove S Finder & Quick Connect from Your Galaxy S6's Notification Tray

Sure Samsung toned down TouchWiz on their latest flagship devices, but there was one issue (albeit minor and mostly cosmetic) that really irked me: those damn "S Finder" and "Quick connect" buttons in the notification tray. Only the T-Mobile S6 variants shipped with an option to remove these two buttons, so AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and other non-T-Mobile users were stuck with them taking up space in the notification panel. If you didn't mind rooting your device, there was a way to remove them b...

How To: Make an All-Night Campfire with Just One Log

The next time you're out camping, whether it's outdoors in the wilderness or right outside in your own backyard, try this hack out for an effortless campfire all night long. While there is definitely some prep work involved, it's well worth it if you don't need a huge bonfire, and more so if you plan on cooking meals over the flames.

News: The Fantastical, Flavorful Fiddlehead Fern

Fiddlehead ferns look like something from Alice in Wonderland, or something that you might see when you close your eyes while listening to Pink Floyd and enjoying some herbal refreshment. What they don't look like is a tasty vegetable that's perfect for any spring or summer dish. Yet that is exactly what these bizarre spirals are. What Are They?

How To: Hide Photos & Other Files on Android Natively Using This Easy Trick

Have you ever noticed that some Android gallery apps display every last photo that you have stored on your device? This is particularly annoying when most stock gallery apps don't provide an option for hiding certain folders from your filmstrip view. Then there are music players that load up ringtones and video players that queue every video on your device, regardless of whether you want them there or not.

How To: Wear High Heels Without Any Pain

Whether you love or hate wearing high heels, a pair of stilettos can be incredibly painful. You can feel blisters, searing pain, pressure, and stabbing aches long after you kick off those heels, but a really simple trick could help alleviate some of the issues caused by tight-fitting, wobbly shoes. According to Kat Collings of Who What Wear, taping your third and fourth toes (if counting away from the big toe) together with tape will reduce the amount of pain you feel in the ball of your foot...

How To: Easily Find What Port a Service Runs On and Vice-Versa

I wrote a python script that allows you to easily ask what service runs on a specific port and vice-versa. Now, I am sure that such a program already exists on our lovely linux OS's, but... I didn't think of that before I started, and haven't found it yet. So if you haven't found it yet either, maybe you'll find this of some use. It's just called getport. If I have a port number, and want to know what services run on that port, I do:

How To: Unroot & Restore a Samsung Galaxy S6 Back to Stock

There are several reasons that you might want to restore the factory firmware on your device—maybe you need to send your phone back for warranty purposes, or perhaps you're getting ready to accept an over-the-air update and need to unroot first. In some cases, reverting to the stock firmware can even resurrect a soft-bricked phone.

How To: Dehydrate Food Without a Dehydrator

I grew up in a rural town, and that meant that we dehydrated a lot of food. Even with a hungry family of five, there was no way that we could eat all of the season's tomatoes before they molded, or all of the orchard's apples before they grew soft, or all of the wild mushrooms that we picked. And so our dehydrator was always getting a good workout.

How To: 5 Awesome Culinary Uses for Mason Jars

I have a confession: I hoard glass jars. I buy mason jars whenever I get the chance. When I finish a jar of pickles or mayonnaise, there's no way that glass jar is going in the recycling (thankfully, they're easy to de-stink). And when my sister gives me a basket of her homemade jams, she can forget about ever seeing those jars again.

How To: Remove the Boot-Up Sound on Your Galaxy S6

Mobile service providers have an uncomfortably strong grip on the Android platform as a whole. For instance, all four U.S. versions of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge play their carrier's obnoxious jingle every time they boot up. You don't get any say in the matter—if you buy your phone from one of the big 4, you're a walking audible billboard.