Google Chromecast is only 35 dollars. That's about 2 and a half drinks at a decent bar in Los Angeles. So, my roommates and I looked to make the investment. The small box arrived in the mail and the setup couldn't be easier. Simply, plug the Chromecast into the HDMI port on your TV and pair the two devices. Done and Done. Having the ability to stream anything on our computers or cellphones right to the TV was the main reason for getting Chromecast. Now, for streaming through the Chrome browse...
Most of us are used to just grabbing a bag and throwing it in the microwave when we want popcorn. It's easy, convenient, and requires little to no cleanup. But what about those times when you're away from home and don't have access to a microwave?
It's fairly easy to switch between running apps on the Nexus 7 by hitting the Recent apps key in the Navigation bar at the bottom of your screen, but for me—it's just not good enough. I don't particularly like leaving the app I'm currently in to see this menu, and the menu itself is kind of clunky, and overall, not as fast as I'd like it to be.
Why can't Thanksgiving be a celebration of fireworks, too? This year, it can be with an innocent looking pumpkin pie that erupts an insane fountain of flames and fire! In fact, the pie filling is actually a flammable mixture of sugar and potassium nitrate, which was made using the same process as my DIY smoke flares with fuses.
Who wouldn't want to know if someone was trying to log onto their personal computer without their permission? Be it your annoying co-worker or your girlfriend, there are many cases where people may try to gain access to your desktop or laptop.
Just because you're not Batman doesn't mean you can't use a hidden room that's camouflaged as a bookshelf. Maybe you have a collection that's worth a lot of money, or a super-secret lab—or, like YouTube user korostelevm, maybe you just want a good hiding place for your guns.
Recently I was working outside forming a driveway in the rain. Working in and around the wet sand was not friendly on my tools, especially my tape measure. About halfway through the day my tape measure would need "encouragement" in order to retract to the closed postion. Not too much later, with force applied, it would remain standing out at 1ft. and the problem progressively got worse.
I love to cook. There are few things more relaxing for me than spending an afternoon in the kitchen, and one ingredient that I throw into just about everything (seriously, everything) is garlic. It can instantly add a whole new level of flavor to a dish, and there's not much that it doesn't go with.
I can't say that I'm a huge Tweeter, but I'm definitely a good follower. Having the ability to follow comedians, brands, and athletes helps me stay up to date on the things I'm interested in, and I appreciate being thrown a good joke every now and then.
You've seen security cameras everywhere in the public space. How many are there? Where are they? This is information that can be difficult to come by. It's not just criminals that are interested in information on this. It's your fundamental human right to be able to go about your daily life without being monitored and watched at every step. You might think that these cameras are for safety, and they can certainly help make people feel secure. Then it automatically follows that these people sh...
Google is constantly adding new ways to do things quicker on its devices. Everything from multi-screen capabilities to lock-screen widgets has been added to the new updates of the Android OS, making its devices very powerful and efficient. Something that Android hasn't paid much attention to, though, is the ability to access applications easily from places other than the home screen. So, XDA Developers member Cyansmoker decided to take matters into his own hands creating an application that a...
I use Google Chrome every day for my browsing needs, and I had no idea they were hiding something from me. So, I was pretty surprised to see that Chrome has an entire hidden experimental add-ons section. There are add-ons that work for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS, so there's something for everybody.
If the number of apps designed to make getting out of bed easier tells us one thing, it's that people hate waking up. Whether it's because you're dreading going to work or school, or just stayed out a little too late the night before, it's almost never fun.
There are plenty of ways to speed up your wireless network at home, some as simple as changing the placement of your router. While you can always buy equipment to boost your signal, there are plenty of cheap or free DIY solutions you can try as well.
You can create a lot of impressive effects by stacking or layering photos, whether you do it in a darkroom or with Photoshop. The Harris shutter effect makes your photos super colorful, and double exposing or stacking negatives makes for some crazy looking portraits.
There are tons of ways to make a macro lens for your smartphone, but if you need one for a DSLR, it's not quite as simple as using a magnifying glass or a drop of water. If you have an old kit lens, though, you can turn it into a macro lens in no time—all you have to do is remove the front element. For this hack, Juha Loukola over on PetaPixel used a Canon 38-76mm lens, but says that the process should be pretty much the same for other lenses.
Most of us have traded our desktop systems for laptops, tablets, and mobile devices, meaning there's a lot of outdated hardware sitting in attics. Want to give your old computer a new purpose? Matthew Chappee turned his iMac G4 into an HDTV using the guide by Dremel Junkie. One thing to note before you take on this project yourself is that if you want to use it to watch cable, you'll need a converter box to get around the MPAA's HDCP restriction. But, a converter box is considerably less expe...
Sea otters are the largest members of the weasel family. When people started hunting sea otters for their fur, their population fell from roughly 225,000 to about 1,500, until the International Fur Seal Treaty took effect in 1911. Since the international ban on otter hunting, the population has rebounded back to roughly 107,000.
Before my time, people used to listen to music recorded on these things... I didn't really know what this thing was until my parents clarified and told me that they were called cassette tapes. These "cassette tapes" were utilized to store sound recordings on either side of the tape, which could usually hold between 30 to 45 minutes. I laughed at that information as I took out my iPhone 5 (roughly the same size), which can store roughly 40,000 minutes worth of music.
Windows 8 the biggest update to Windows yet. The new gesture-friendly version replaces the aging start menu with a dynamic new Start Screen, complete with live tiles that give you a glimpse into your apps before you launch them, not unlike the new Windows phones. With such a radical departure from the past, some familiar features have been moved around, which will take some getting used to. It's worth noting that the new Windows 8 does not abandon the old desktop model completely; it still ha...
Did you know that the average cost to make a penny is about 2.4 cents?!? That's why the Obama administration asked Congress earlier this year for permission to change the metals in the penny, hoping to get the cost back down where it makes sense.
We all expect a little something on our birthdays, so why should those expectations drop when we are talking about our gaming systems? Microsoft has started handing out birthday gifts to its Xbox LIVE Gold members with their new MyAchievements rewards program. Those eligible for the gift will automatically receive the offer on their dashboard. To be eligible for the free gift, you must be:
Planning on getting the iPhone 5, but want to keep your SIM card? The new nano-SIMs that manufacturers are adopting will be even smaller than the micro-SIMs that most of us currently use. It's fairly easy to cut a regular SIM down to a micro-SIM, but because the nano-SIM will be thinner as well as smaller than the micro, cutting it down to size will require a little more work. Photo by Tech Digest
As useful as they can be, 360-degree photos are a total pain to create. The process usually involves taking a bunch of pictures with expensive equipment or software, and not just anyone can do it. But a new iPhone app called CupChair changes everything—it lets you take 360-degree photos with nothing but your iPhone and a cup.
Windows users have been getting a lot of bad news about their security lately. First, we found out that passwords in Windows 7 and 8 can easily be exploited if password hints are enabled, and now, Russian password-cracking software developer Elcomsoft has found another huge vulnerability.
The new Windows 8 Metro Apps (or Modern UI, or Windows 8 Tablet Style Apps, or whatever you want to call them) are sleek and quick, but unfortunately there's not an obvious way to completely close out of them.
Cropping images can be a huge pain if you have a bunch to do at once. Even if you have Photoshop or a similar program, the process of opening each individual photo and cropping them one at a time can take forever. A free web-app called Cropp.me makes that task a lot easier by auto-cropping your photos to whatever size you choose. All you have to do is upload an image, choose what size you want it to be, and click Cropp My Images. You can choose from a list of sizes or input a custom size of y...
Online shopping is way more convenient than brick-and-mortar stores in a number of ways, not the least of which are the discounts. But with so many online stores and sites like Amazon which feature thousands of retailers, how can you know you're getting the best deal?
Always smudge when using Copics? This tutorial takes you through how to use Copics, alcohol-based markers, by applying the specific pigment-ink evenly throughout so to not smudge when coloring.
A cover letter is a quick description as to why this resume is better for a particular job position than all the other resumes, so having specific job position details in it is very important. Write a cover letter specific to each job application by using these tips from a career adviser in this free video on job guidance.
Learn how to strength train your body for specific speed movements.
What's a great way to work out your abdominal muscles without hurting (or possibly injuring) your back? Hanging knee raises are perfect, because they isolate and work out the rectus abdominis muscles and obliques with little or no strain on the back and neck. It requires a vertical knee raise tower as the equipment.
If you're looking to beef up your biceps, then this is definitely an exercise you'll need to perform. Watch this instructional video to see how to correctly do hammer curls sitting on a weight bench. Doing hammer curls really works out your biceps brachii and brachialis muscles.
If you are one of the smaller kids in school, you know that sometimes you have to exert yourself a little bit more to get noticed for your athleticism. There will always be better athletes than you, but only if you don't apply yourself. Weight training is the best way to bulk up and this exercise, called the bench dip, will beef you up by working out your biceps muscles. It's a great workout to increase your arm size.
Exercise is a very important for everyone on a daily basis. Our society has evolved into a life of work, work and work. The majority of these jobs are sitting at a desk in some sort of cubicle. Humans are not built for this purpose; we are made to be active every single day. Thus, we must incorporate exercise in one way or another during our 14-16 hours of wake time. And this instructional video will show you a great exercise— how to do an abs crunch on an exercise ball.
This recipe from Holiday Kitchen shows you their impressive, celebratory dish that satisfies the most discriminating crowd. Beef Wellington will leave your party guests grinning and wide-eyed as you present and carve this spectacular meal at the table. This masterpiece of meat is worth the effort! But don't worry— there's no foie gras here.
John White of Southwest Yard and Garden along with Kitty Schafer teach you about bio-intensive gardening. Bio-intensive gardening is the combination of two techniques. Part of the technique involves composting top soil with other coarse organic material into a lasagna style mound. Add 2 inches of straw to the soil and spray with water. Add 2 inches of green material that you have collected from other area of your garden, such as bug eaten greens or specific greens for composting. Then add som...
According to bhaufschild, cat urine smell is a major problem in houses these days. in this video he demonstrates how to get rid of the cat urine smell. One of the best is a product called odor fix plus which extracts the cat urine smell out of the house completely. To use this product you need a bucket, a watering can, a brick and water. it is mixed as 10 parts warm water and 1 part of the product. before you use the product you will have to smell out the urine to specific areas where the cat...
In this how-to video, you will learn how to organize your closet. You will need motivation first and foremost in order to fully go through with this project. The closet of course is the best way to motivate yourself to clean your entire house. First start by getting rid of the items you do not wear or do not like anymore. You can easily get rid of things you do not love by doing this. Next, purchase matching hangars. You can even just rework what hangars you are currently hanging. Items such ...
This card trick is called Jack the Bounty Hunter. After a series of cuts, placements, and sorting, Jack the Bounty Hunter ends up adjacent to a card the spectator picked earlier in the trick. Brief synopsis of the procedure (you need to see the video for the full explanation): First, you set a Jack aside. Then you make two piles of 15 cards and set them aside. The spectator gets a pile, and you get a pile. Cards are cut. The spectator picks a card from the remainder of the deck. The spectator...
