Bland

Keyboards tend to get overlooked as we rapidly text or type up emails, but when we do find the time to look at it, it's pretty bland. That's why we showed you how to spruce things up with a dark keyboard on your iPhone, which served as my default keyboard...until now. Video: . ...more

Montezuma's revenge, the runs, the trots, or just diarrhea — everyone gets it sooner or later. What exactly is diarrhea good for, if anything? The basic description of diarrhea is loose, watery, stools. It can be explosive, frequent, acute, or chronic — but the bottom line is ...more

"Does bottled barbecue sauce even taste that bad?" a friend of mine asked. Well, truthfully, no. But it also doesn't taste that good, especially if you've had truly great barbecue or even your crazy uncle's homemade sauce at a holiday cookout. Just like pasta sauce and salsa, ...more

The iOS 7 lock screen was made to be just that, a lock screen, so it's pretty limited in terms of functionality. We're able to add wallpapers and easily access the Control Center or Notification Center (unless we disable that access through our settings), but other than that, ...more

Aside from being able to change the wallpaper and add shortcuts, the Galaxy S4's lock screen doesn't offer much in the department of personalization. The lock screen is efficient and practical, but it's also a little bland. To add some functionality and visual effects to the ...more

Letting wine "breathe" isn't just something that happens in restaurants in '80s teen comedies with snooty maître d's. It's really a thing, and you should learn how to do it at home, because it'll make just about any wine—including Two-Buck Chuck—taste much, much better. It's a ...more

There's nothing better than gulping down an ice cold beer to calm the senses and ease the mind. The holiday season can be very stressful as people scramble around trying to find the best gifts for friends and family. And we all know that gifts can be very hit or miss, but it's ...more

I've never met a person who doesn't love French fries. And, to be frank, I have no desire to meet such a person. I know traditionalists who love their fries with ketchup; European folk who love theirs with mayonnaise; gourmet eaters who prefer truffle oil; and some, like my g ...more

When you know how to cook it, tofu is a delicious dish in and of itself—truly. Too many people have been subjected to poor quality or badly cooked tofu and told to eat it because it's a "healthy alternative" to meat. Usually what they bite into is a bland, rubbery mess coated ...more

Summer's coming, and that means burger season. Okay, never mind... every season is burger season. Burgers are universally loved; they're the one meal you can find at numerous fast food shacks and haute cuisine spots. Don't Miss: Secret Tricks for Tender, Juicy Burgers Every T ...more

Whether you call it chicken-fried steak, country-fried steak, Milanese, wiener schnitzel, or breaded cutlet, there's something irresistible about a piece of meat that's been treated until it's thin and tender, dredged in beaten egg and flavorful bread crumbs, then fried until ...more

Fresh salsa is so tasty. Who can resist the robust mix of spices, the mouth-watering heat of jalapeños, and the juiciness of fresh tomatoes? Alas, I don't always make my own and have to get the pre-made stuff. However, there are ways to fix jarred, canned, and bottled salsas ...more

Your Instagram feed is jam-packed with interesting and lively photos, videos, and stories that largely offset the iOS app's comparatively bland user interface. If the interface's dull colors have always bothered you, you can splash on some much-needed color to better reflect y ...more

It's that time of the year, y'all—when the air becomes crisp, the nights grow long, and people crave hearty, warm soups and stews. And of all the season's offerings, my hands-down favorite has to be chili: It's versatile, meaty, and above all else, it's damn easy to make. (Tha ...more

Message effects in iMessage lets you add a touch of flair to otherwise bland communications. With the feature, you can complement a birthday wish with a stream of balloons, send a congratulatory text along with a shower of confetti, or make the chat bubble slam itself in the t ...more

I'm no coupon-cutter (I just don't have the patience for it, sadly), but I do love buying things in bulk to save a buck or two. And one of the staples on my bulk-buy list is chicken; I cook with chicken so often that trying to save money on it is a no-brainer. Since I'm only ...more

How many of us actually drink enough water? It's one of the easiest ways to improve your health, but most people don't get nearly as much as they should. We've grown so accustomed to soda, coffee, and sugary juices that water just seems bland by comparison. That's why drinks l ...more

When I first started cooking, there were a few steps I always skipped in recipes. I never added zest to anything because it seemed like too much trouble, I rarely separated wet and dry ingredients in baking recipes because I was lazy, and I never let meat rest after it was don ...more

Pop-Tarts are a pretty iconic breakfast food. And while I'm more of a bacon, eggs, and toast person myself... sometimes a sweet, gooey, artificially-flavored treat is just what you need in the morning. Yet, despite the fact that I do enjoy Pop-Tarts, I've always found them a l ...more

Ever since the much-lauded effects of the Mediterranean diet became widely known, people have been buying olive oil by the gallon. A diet that prevents heart disease, is based on fresh, seasonal foods, and includes a tasty as hell fat like olive oil? Duh—that's a no-brainer. ...more

I know people who hate mayonnaise. I know people who detest ketchup. But I know almost no one that hates mustard, and that's because mustard has a complexity and depth that bland mayo and ketchup do not. Mustard runs the gamut from smooth and subtle to sharp and spicy, especia ...more

The recently released HTC One M8 and the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S5 are both boasting selective focus features for their camera apps, but with a 13 megapixel camera, the GS4 can take some pretty stellar pictures, too. To get that nice blurred background effect being showcased ...more

Most people are familiar with the fact that vinegar adds sourness to a dish, in varying degrees from light acidity to puckering acid. However, vinegar can also be used in lieu of salt when seasoning the final touches to sauces, soups, and stews. Hold the Salt—Are You Nuts? I ...more

In my family, if a food could be made instead of bought, it was made. It wasn't until I went to college and started eating dorm food that I tasted the store-bought versions of many kitchen staples. I quickly learned that there is an enormous quality difference between homemade ...more

If you have a local Trader Joe's, you know first-hand how enchanting the frozen aisles are—almost every item offers the promise of a delicious meal or dessert. (We're always tempted to open the package and eat the cookie butter cheesecake, stat.) While cooking from scratch is ...more

Garlic: almost every cuisine in the world considers it a staple, and for good reason. Its pungent flavor gives depth and character to food. Dishes made without it seem bland and forgettable. And on top of all that, it's been studied for its potential anti-cancer properties (an ...more

The stair is considered by many people to be one of the, if not the most, versatile blocks in Minecraft. They can completely change the look and feel of a build and increase its quality. In this post, I will highlight just a few of the options you have for using them. The fir ...more

You either love kimchi or you hate it, but for those of us who love it, its salty, briny, spicy crunch is the stuff of life. Honestly, if you're not eating it regularly, you should start, since it's being studied for an amazing list of health benefits, including anti-cancer, a ...more

Your phone's keyboard is one of the most commonly used apps. Whether you're typing out status updates, sending private messages, or just bombarding everyone in sight with as many emoji as you possibly can, you probably couldn't get by without a good keyboard app. Since Androi ...more

Hear me out. No, really. Before you sharpen your pitchforks and give me anecdotal evidence of your Chinese restaurant syndrome, I think you need to know a few things about monosodium glutamate. First of all, it's a naturally-occurring chemical compound that can be found in any ...more

The X-Ray Vision-aries Blog has compiled a list of YouTube's 100 Coolest Science Experiments. I particularly enjoy their introduction to the selection: "Although YouTube has something of a reputation as a repository for the inane mental diarrhea of stunted man-children injuri ...more

While there are countless ways to welcome in the new year, many of them involve imbibing copious amounts of delightfully spirited libations. If you're anything like me, I know you're fearing the monster hangover on New Year's Day. The good news is, you don't have to. If you w ...more

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic means that social distancing has become the new normal. It also means that more Americans are using video conferencing to connect with colleagues working from home or friends and family in quarantine because of the new coronavirus. In gen ...more

Gravy is a relatively simple dish, yet it's remarkably easy to mess up. We've all experienced the disappointment of excitedly pouring gravy onto our mashed potatoes, only to realize it's too runny, too lumpy, or too bland. And because gravy is so simple, even if you don't mess ...more

I don't know how many of you had this experience in your youth, but when I was a kid, I used to actively think about what would happen if I suddenly woke up in a fantasy land, or were to pass through a portal into another space and time. I knew it wouldn't really happen, but w ...more

Apple's iOS 12 has finally landed. The big update appeared for everyone on Monday, Sept. 17, and hiding within are some pretty amazing augmented reality upgrades for iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. We've been playing with them ever since the iOS 12 beta launched in June, and ...more

Whether you choose the sassy face of someone like your inner Disgust from Inside Out, or you're the happy-go-lucky Joy, chances are you're well-versed in expressing your inner "ew." So for this Halloween, take pride in your judgmental self by donning a DIY Disgust mask. Don't ...more

When your day sucks, all you want is a tall, ice-cold glass of beer at the end of it all. Nothing complicated about having some booze to temporarily drown your sorrows. But sometimes you get stuck with crappy beer (hey-o, Keystone Ice!), and it feels like the world is out to ...more

I like to think of myself as a pretty calm and even-keeled person. I rarely get angry or annoyed, and I don't even get peeved very frequently. For better or for worse, that often changes in the kitchen. When it comes to culinary matters, I'm a little more emotionally invested ...more

Never buy pasta sauce from the supermarket again. Or salad dressing. Or pie crusts, chicken stock, hummus, bread crumbs and other common cooking staples that can be easily replicated within the comfort of your own kitchen. Why? For the most part, making these food items at ho ...more

Cooking rice, pasta, and other grains in water is so boring. There is a much better way to guarantee they will have your mouth chewing something seriously tasty: cook them in something that isn't water. Alternative liquids such as stock, milk, juice, or even tea will give blan ...more

There is no SD card support on the Nexus 7, so managing internal storage can be tricky. There are ways to free up space, but the biggest space hog on my tablet is music, and that's not something I'm willing to delete just yet. I could add more storage space with a USB drive, ...more

The Air Command window on Samsung Galaxy Note devices makes it easy to access all of the features that the S Pen has to offer, such as Action Memo, which turns your handwritten notes into actionable links, and Pen Window, where you can draw a square on the screen to open a cer ...more

Cayenne peppers are great for spicing up your bland cooking, but did you know that they can also prevent frostbite? If you ever need to keep your feet warm during a long snow hike or skiing adventure, add a little bit of cayenne pepper powder to the bottom of your socks. More ...more

Kitchen tools are a personal thing. One hard lesson for me to learn is that just because something is popular doesn't mean that it's right for me. Take the slow cooker, for instance. Many rave about it, but I never cottoned to the thing. However, the more research I do, the mo ...more

When I first heard about the Thermomix, an all-in-one kitchen appliance from Australia, it sounded like an old SNL commercial parody: It slices! It dices! It heats! It kneads! Is there ANYTHING this machine CAN'T do? Um, yes. At almost AU$2,000, it can't pay for itself. In th ...more

This may seem like an odd subject, because what do Steampunks and iPhones even have to do with each other? Actually, more than you might think! With the recent release of iOS 6 and the iPhone 5, I thought it was time to show how they relate to Steampunk. Photo by Robert S. Do ...more

The story of Helicobacter pylori is a real testament to the tenacity of medical researchers to prove their hypothesis. It took decades before the scientific world would accept that the bacteria H. pylori caused ulcers. Now that we know the bacterial culprit can cause peptic u ...more

February may be the shortest month of the year, but for iOS softModders, there were plenty of apps and tweaks to fill up those days. Whether patching major security holes or just a tweak to make speed dialing more efficient, there was a plethora of great mods for our jailbroke ...more

If you have a hard time remembering what you've just read on your iPad or Kindle, try changing the font next time. The typeface you use to read books, newspapers, and online articles is either hurting or helping your memory, and you'll be surprised which ones are killing your ...more

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 dro ...more

To say we're a nation of coffee-lovers is putting it mildly. Americans consume 400 million cups of joe in one day alone, but how well do we actually know our morning BFF? We know it comes from a bean, and that more coffee drinks exist than there are ways to skin a pig, but wha ...more

While some researchers look for drugs to treat HIV, other scientists delve deep into the virus itself for answers on how it causes infections. Using two supercomputers, University of Illinois research scientist Juan R. Perilla and late physics professor Klaus Schulten simulat ...more