The point of ice in your cocktail is to make it cold, right? Yes and no. Obviously, ice does lower the temperature of your cocktail, but it also does other things: enhances certain flavors while masking others (handy if you're drinking less than stellar booze or wine). As Sim ...more
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. It turns out there are multiple simple ways to close them out and ...more
Sometimes when you answer a call you are unable to hear it unless you use your earbuds or a Bluetooth headset. This is because the earpiece speaker no longer appears to function. This happens when the iPhone thinks the earbuds are still plugged in (because the plug is fouled w ...more
Running commands on Linux seems so complicated for the layman that it may as well be a foreign language. But for the die-hard terminal users, or for those who are just curious about the Linux experience, there's a new Android launcher that gives your home screen a command line ...more
Once you've installed Ubuntu with security in mind and reduced the possibility of network attacks on your system, you can start thinking about security on an application level. If a malicious file is opened on your system, will an attacker be able to access every file on the c ...more
Excited about experiencing blazing-fast 5G speeds on your iPhone 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, or 12 Pro Max? Well, that brand new iPhone you just bought might not actually be using 5G, even when you see that 5G symbol in the top right. Unless you follow these instructions, your iPhone ...more
You've probably heard of RCS messaging. The new standard has been promoted by Google as their answer to iMessage and is the backbone behind the new "Chat" features in Android Messages. With RCS, Android phones will now enjoy enhanced messaging like iPhone users have had for ye ...more
During our last adventure into the realm of format string exploitation, we learned how we can manipulate format specifiers to rewrite a program's memory with an arbitrary value. While that's all well and good, arbitrary values are boring. We want to gain full control over the ...more
When the hardware buttons on your smartphone aren't working right, it can be a real pain to do almost anything. Simple tasks like accessing your home screen, opening the menu, and powering your phone on and off—normal functions you use every day—become chores, if you're even a ...more
Google's 2020 Pixel Buds are one of the hottest true wireless earbuds of the year. With their unique, circular design, they stand out from the long-stemmed AirPods look you get from other wireless earbuds. The design is also sleek and minimal, making them the perfect candidate ...more
Apple's latest iPhone and iPad software, iOS 15.5 and iPadOS 15.5, became available on May 16, so you can download and install it right now if you haven't already. While there aren't as many new features as iOS 15.4 and iPadOS 15.4 had, there are a few big ones in the U.S. you ...more
Need to secure your track to the road bed for your model railroad? Well, this video tutorial will show you how to do it, not to mention show you how to weather your flex track. If you're into model railroading, or rail transport systems, or scaled trains, or whatever you want ...more
Christian Cantrell, Adobe's Air Product Manager and Evangelist, has released a video to demo websites that take advantage of the motion sensors in a mobile phone, tablet, or laptop via JavaScript. Now, let's take a look through the code and break down the core pieces that you' ...more
Apple dropped the sixth public beta for iOS 13 today, Aug. 15. This public update comes just hours after the release of developer beta 7, an interesting move for Apple. The company has recently stuck to a schedule of seeding the public beta at least one day after the developer ...more
Digital distribution games are already firmly established on the PC, and they've infiltrated every present and next-gen console to some degree. Whether you like to play DOS, AAA, PC or indie games, there's a way to purchase most of them without leaving the comfort and warmth o ...more
According to the CDC, one in four U.S. adults has a disability, where limitations can involve vision, cognitive function, hearing, motor skills, and more. That's why the iPhone has accessibility features; so that everyone can use an iPhone, not just those without any impairmen ...more
Apple's latest big update to iOS 14 has a lot to be excited about. While iOS 14.2 had some fun new features, such as new emoji and wallpapers, People Detection in Magnifier, and a Shazam control, iOS 14.3 brings on the heat. There are new Apple services and products that are s ...more
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is a great smartphone, but do you know all the tips and tricks within the handset? Take a look at these five features you might not have known about on the Galaxy S4! Video: . Block Mode - Repels notifications during set hours of the day. In-Call Help - ...more
When you hear people say that Android is more flexible than iOS, it's because of things like Tasker. You can do virtually anything with the venerable automation tool, from saving battery life to controlling your smart home with your fingerprint. But before you get to that, you ...more
The new iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 14 Pro, and 14 Pro Max all come with great, never-before-seen-on-iPhone features, including the A16 Bionic chip, Bluetooth 5.3, precision dual-frequency GPS, and dual ambient light sensors. But that's only a few new features exclusive to the 2022 li ...more
It's hard enough to get through the holidays without strangling your relatives. It's even harder when you and your family don't speak the same language. Get through at least the beginning of your Thanksgiving dinner by checking out this video. Margaret Frances teaches you com ...more
OSPD1 In 1978, the first SCRABBLE Dictionary was conceived and published by Merriam-Webster, with the help of the National Scrabble Association (NSA). The idea was to include any word that was found in one of the five major dictionaries at the time: Merriam-Webster's Collegi ...more
Out with the old, in with the new—but sometimes that phrase is reversed. Just take a look around and you'll see some high-top fades from the '90s and some hipster wearing his great grandmother's Depression-era reading glasses. So, no matter how many new phones or styles come ...more
One of the more challenging things about using the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is the ability to use it with one hand, due to its enormously large (but wonderful) screen size. Being the multitasking fiend that I am, I've tweaked all of the settings that I could find on my Note 3 to ...more
Last time, I showed how to start putting together an AC arc welder from scavenged microwave parts, focusing on the transformer modifications. Now, I'll show you how to finish up your DIY stick welding machine by fixing up the electrical system and performing the finishing touc ...more
Apple just released the eighth public beta for iOS 14 today, Wednesday, Sept. 9. At this time, beta 8 (18A5373a) seems to be a minor update to iOS 14, introducing bug fixes to improve the software's overall stability. So far, there haven't been many new user-facing features o ...more
Microsoft's built-in antimalware solution does its best to prevent common attacks. Unfortunately for Windows 10 users, evading detection requires almost no effort at all. An attacker armed with this knowledge will easily bypass security software using any number of tools. As ...more
A friend of mine has a crazy amount of Reddit karma and gold, and yesterday he let me in on his secret. This person, who will remain unnamed for obvious reasons, created a Python script called Reddit Karma Crawler that finds rising posts before they get too popular. Every goo ...more
Apple's first big iOS 17 point update for iPhone just came out, and it includes some of the features initially planned for the iOS 17.0 release last September. But there's much more to iOS 17.1 than that — exciting new features and changes are hiding within Books, Music, Stand ...more
Despite Samsung's long running support for Wi-Fi Direct, most users still struggle to transfer files between their devices. Whereas Apple has AirDrop, Samsung's previous solution wasn't so obvious. With the Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Z Flip, Samsung hopes to correct this with "Quic ...more
Garlic isn't just a food, it's a legend. It's been found in the pyramids of Egypt and is referenced in the Bible. Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, prescribed it regularly, and it was given to the first Olympic athletes in Ancient Greece to enhance performance (tak ...more
Love Charmander? Show the world! In this clip, you'll learn how to recreate Charmander from Pokémon as your Call of Duty: Black Ops playercard emblem. Learn how to draw Charmander in the Black Ops Emblem Editor with this video tutorial. Call of Duty 7 (COD: BO) is the seventh ...more
Last year, many were caught off guard when Google released a midrange Pixel device. It was quickly crowned the best value-buy phone on the market, as it brought most of the camera tech people loved in the flagship Pixel for almost half the cost. Google's 2020 entry in this ser ...more
Apple's AirPods are convenient because you can easily switch which Apple device is connected to your AirPods with just a few taps. But unless you're using Shortcuts to make the connection, you aren't using the fastest method possible. For the uninitiated, Shortcuts is a power ...more
While hackers know and love the Raspberry Pi, many don't know of its cheaper cousin, the microcontroller. Unlike a Pi, which can be used more or less like a regular computer, microcontrollers like the Wi-Fi connected ESP8266 require some necessary programming skill to master. ...more
With the release of the Pixel 2 XL and the iPhone X, smartphones have hit a new high not just in price, but also raw processing power. These new flagships not only cost more than twice as much as an Xbox One or PlayStation 4, they have also become almost as powerful as far as ...more
Sometimes incorrectly referred to as "iMessage," the Messages app is where iPhone owners go to chat with iOS users across the world. Apple has made some significant improvements to the messaging app with its iOS 12 update for iPhone. If you're interested to see how your Messag ...more
Welcome back, my tenderfoot hackers! As hackers, we often are required to get past antivirus (AV) software or other security measures. To do so effectively, we need to have some understanding of how AV software works. In this tutorial, we will take a cursory view of how AV so ...more
I'm all about saving time. If there's a quicker way to do something, I'm going to find it. For this reason, whenever I need to search through old emails or compose new ones in Gmail, I do it directly from Chrome's address bar, or as Google likes to call it, the omnibox—and you ...more
Even if you haven't heard of ube (pronounced "OO-beh"), you've probably seen pictures of desserts made with this brilliant purple yam. The ube really does look almost too pretty to be food, doesn't it?. While there is often confusion between sweet potatoes and true yams, the u ...more
After poor sales of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, Google needs to reinvigorate its Pixel lineup, devices it's been pushing heavily over the last couple years. On May 7, Google had the eyes and ears of the technology industry at its Google I/O keynote, making it the perfect time ...more
If you use the Notes app on your iPhone and haven't updated to the newest software yet, you're missing out on some pretty valuable upgrades that improve smart folders, note security, collaboration, and more. So what are you waiting for? The new tools in Apple's Notes update m ...more
If there's one strength of Apple's that iOS and Android fans can agree on, it's the company's dedication to user privacy. With each new iteration of iOS, Apple builds upon these foundations, enhancing and increasing each iPhone's ability to protect its user's data. In iOS 12, ...more
If you just purchased an Android enable mobile device with Bluetooth, then one of the main objectives you'll have on your to-do list is to set it up in your vehicle for hands-free dialing and phone calls. Activating Bluetooth inside your car is easy, and all you need to rememb ...more
The Kinect for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Move might be fun to play with, but people do not look very cool while they're doing it. Air guitar is not particularly flattering (even if done on stage), and neither is air-anything else, as pleasurable as it might be. This is why I fi ...more
Now that you have your two-letter words down and have practiced your skills, it's time to move on to another important part of Scrabble gameplay—the opening move. There's a well known adage that states, “The player going first will win 54% of the time—all other things being eq ...more
Bash (Shell) Scripting for Beginners Intro I am an occasional Linux user currently playing around in CrunchBang and loving it. Prior to this, I used to dual-boot Windows and xfce-buntu (or xubuntu) at work, and due to some unforeseen circumstances, my screen always went fuzz ...more
Google switched to gestural navigation in Android 9, and in removing the back/home/recents buttons, they were able to greatly reduce the size of the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen. However, there's still a white line, aka "The Pill," taking up space to show you whe ...more
The iPhone XR has touched down alongside the XS and XS Max, and it utilizes tried and tested materials found on the iPhone 8, while being molded in the same vein as the iPhone X. The budget-friendlier flagship comes with its own set of design elements to set it apart from its ...more
Apple has released the 2nd beta of iOS 8, exactly fifteen days after the first version was unveiled at WWDC and subsequently released to developers. I've already shown you some of the new features of iOS 8, like location-based app alerts, randomized MAC addresses, hidden Safar ...more
It wasn't long ago Apple released iOS 13.2 to the masses. The second major update to iOS 13 included 22 new features and changes that added a significant layer of depth to an already feature-filled experience. Apple isn't ready to stop the fun, however, as iOS 13.3, released D ...more
Automation applications bring the future a little closer. If you've seen Minority Report or other futuristic sci-fi movies, the intrigue of having your electronics work independently is something we can all appreciate. While smartphones continue to improve and push the limits ...more
Welcome back, my budding hackers! One of the most basic skills the forensic investigator must master is the acquisition of data in a forensically sound manner. If data is not captured in a forensically sound manner, it may not be admissible in court. In my Kali Forensics seri ...more
There's a growing sentiment around the web that when it comes to Android, stock is best. Many people prefer the clean look of Google's vision for Android, but manufacturers like LG will add features and themes on top of this base to differentiate themselves from the pack. But ...more
Will the predicted apocalyptic date — December 21st, 2012 — really be the end of the world? In this ongoing five-part series, we examine what would happen if zombies, nuclear weapons, cyberwars, earthquakes, or aliens actually destroyed our planet — and how you might survive. ...more
With only a day left until Halloween, a full and detailed costume is too much to throw together for most people. But you still have to dress up as something, right? No one will give you candy or let you into a Halloween party if you don't even put in some effort. A mask is ab ...more
From Lifehacker's Tips Box, four short-cuts to life's small problems, urawaza-style: No Iron? If you're out an iron and you happen to have a hair straightener hanging around, it will do the trick (quite nicely). Also, works well as a dually useful traveling item, ladies. Warn ...more
In this day and age, maintaining your privacy is a perpetual battle, and doing so with an internet-connected device like your smartphone is even more of a struggle. Every website you visit, every app you install, every message you send, and every call you make is a potential v ...more
Welcome back, my aspiring hackers! Those of you who use Windows in a LAN environment understand that Windows machines can share directories, files, printers, etc. using "shares." This protocol dates back to the 1980s when the then dominant computer firm, IBM, developed a way ...more
For all of you PS3 owners who got addicted to the wonderful puzzle platformer LittleBigPlanet, your hopes and dreams have finally been realized— LittleBigPlanet 2 is now out! Originally set to be released in November of last year, Media Molecule's LBP2 was in stores last Tuesd ...more