software programs rule!
One of the joys of being a kid is writing out your Christmas wish list to Santa Claus. Sure, you can tell him yourself at the mall, but it’s always good to make a list for him, just in case. When we were kids, letters were the way to go, as you could just pop it in the mail, and the mailman would get it to the North Pole. These days, kids know that Santa operates a more high-tech operation,…
With tools like Dropbox, it’s easier than ever to keep files backed up in the cloud, and synced between different computers. But what happens when you want to share one of those files with several people? This can be a bit of a hassle, depending on whether or not the people in question have a Dropbox account, and how big the files are. However, with Pancake.io, things might get a lot easier. Once you sign up for a free Pancake.io…
When you need to look up information, Google is generally the place people turn to. These days you can find what you need by just typing in a few words. However, what if you’re not sure what the thing you’re looking for is called? Well if the thing you’re looking for is a letter or symbol, there’s an easy way to look it up, simply by drawing it.
If you upgraded to an iPhone 4S from a 4, it’s very likely that you did so for one reason: Siri. That was the main reason I did it (that, and my old phone was worth more than the cost of a new one) and I love using it. Now that the novelty has worn off, I’ve been longing to use Siri to control more things than my texts, emails, and Google Maps. Well, it seems that I soon will…
In an age where cell phones rule, people are constantly distracted by their favorite gadgets. Whether they’re talking on it, texting, or playing Angry Birds, people lose themselves in their phone. This can help put them into danger, without even realizing it. There are laws in many states preventing you from using many of the features while driving, but what about while walking? Well now Android owners have access to an app that might help keep them out of harm’s…
Have you ever been in a mall, or large store, and felt completely lost? Usually you can find a helpful employee or even a map with one of those �you are here� stickers on it. However, wouldn’t it be great if you could just whip out your phone and use Google Maps, just like you do when you’re trying to get your bearings outside? Now you can.
The web is full of funny pictures. One could waste entire days on sites that serve up nothing but amusing images. If you’ve ever encountered a picture that is animated, there’s a good chance that it’s a gif file. Creating these animated gifs normally requires you to stitch together a series of images using special software on your computer. However, these days all it takes is a smartphone and a free app. If you install GifBoom on your iPhone, you…
There’s nothing quite so embarrassing as someone stopping by your house, only to find it a complete mess. For me, the same thing applies to a messy desktop on my computer. I do my best to keep it free of clutter, but after a few weeks of nonstop work, it can look like a disaster to those who might peek at it. If you want to be able to have those icons strewn about, yet have it appear to be…
Have you ever been browsing the internet and come across an image that you wanted to look at from a different direction? Maybe it’s just a photo that was taken at a weird angle and you want to rotate it. You can turn your head, but that’s not quite the same. So what do you do? You download the image, then open it, and rotate. Then once you’ve seen it, you delete it. While it only takes a few seconds…
So you’re surfing the net, and you find a great video that you want to save. Sure, you could bookmark the link, but what it it gets taken down, or the uploader decides to make it private? Well, then you’re stuck searching around for another copy somewhere else. Your other option is to just download it to your hard drive, where you’ll always have it. Few sites make it easy to do, which is why you need special software to…
There are plenty of times when you’d like to know where an image came from. Maybe you want to find the original creator, so you can give them proper credit. Or perhaps you’re just after a larger size. Whatever the reason, TinEye is a great web app that can help you find what you’re looking for. Now wouldn’t it be great if you could just click on an image on your computer, and have results pop up in TinEye? Well…
Facebook has taken the internet by storm over the last few years, and it seems that almost everyone has an account. I held out on getting an account for some time, not wanting to see the constant meaningless updates from my friends and family. Unfortunately, it’s such a good way to communicate with so many people that I can’t afford not to have one these days. One thing I’ve never liked about the site is the messenger feature. I like…
Laptops do a good job of making us feel like we’re on a regular desktop. However, desktops don’t have trackpads or batteries to worry about. Dealing with these pieces of hardware can be a bit annoying, and can ruin your computing experience. For instance, bumping that trackpad and moving your cursor to a different spot in your document can be rather annoying. And having a dead battery causes some obvious issues. So how do you get the most out of…
In this economy, everyone is looking to cut corners and save money. Naturally, we tend to turn to our technology to help us do exactly that. For instance, if I’m planning on buying something, I almost always look around online to see where the best deal is. After all, there’s nothing worse than finding out you overpaid for something, just because you didn’t take a minute to look. Sometimes there are local deals that you might not see online, which…
Cloud hosting services are a great way to keep your files backed up off-site, and share them with others. However, if you’re hosting sensitive files, it can almost be a scary thing, not knowing if someone could hack into the server, and get access to them. There are a number of ways to protect them, one of which is Safebox. Safebox is a relatively simple way to make sure that the files hosted by Dropbox are kept secure. It gives…
