Your status bar is a hub of essential information, displaying things like battery life, signal strength, and missed calls and texts. Many of you have probably had your Samsung Galaxy S3 for almost two years now, so I'm sure looking at this same old status bar layout can get p ...more
If you're as bad at locking your Nexus up as I am, you have the "slide" option set for your screen lock. It may not be the most secure option, but it's definitely the easiest way to unlock your device while being able to utilize lock screen widgets. Now look at your lock scre ...more
Welcome back, my greenhorn hackers! Although we have focused primarily on technical hacks here, social engineering can sometimes be especially effective. This one requires a bit of technical skill, but not too much. In addition, it's limited by how specific a target you can c ...more
When it comes to smartphones, we can sometimes get a little carried away with the "smart" aspect of it all. Things like apps, games, and softMods take center stage, and we can almost forget that the device also functions as a phone. So, we're here today to give some overdue l ...more
Online gaming is nothing new, and with live YouTube streams becoming ever more popular, there always seems to be a way to watch people play video games. Twitch TV offers the same spectator experience you've come to know and love, but the people over at TwitchPlaysPokémon have ...more
This time it's serious. Really. The largest web security vulnerability of all time went public on Monday, April 7th, 2014, resulting in widespread panic throughout the Internet as system administrators scrambled to secure their websites from the OpenSSL bug known as Heartblee ...more
Multi Window, a feature that was greatly improved with the release of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, is still quite limited on the older Note 2, allowing only the use of a few stock applications to multitask with. While we've already covered a way to get more apps in Multi Window ...more
I don't like a lot of app icons on my home screen. It makes everything on my Nexus 7 feel dense and congested. As a minimalist, I like a simple and well-organized home screen, which is why I regularly utilize my app drawer to launch apps. However, there are times when I wish ...more
As the Chromecast becomes more and more popular (it's even available overseas now), the market has seen an avalanche of Chromecast-compatible apps. We can play games, cast TV stations, and even mirror our screens, but today I'm going to show you a multifaceted tool that'll do ...more
Welcome back, my fledgling hackers! A short while ago, I did a tutorial on conducting passive OS fingerprinting with p0f. As you remember, p0f is different from other operating system fingerprinting tools as it does not send any packets to the target, instead it simply takes ...more
In today's dog-eat-dog world, every minute matters. Whether you're in school or working for the Man, a huge amount of your day is consumed by tasks, assignments, and other kinds of work. Then there's the time you spend playing video games, watching TV, or screwing around on yo ...more
Welcome back, my novice hackers! There are SOOOO many ways to hack a system or network, which means you need to think creatively in order to be successful. Many novice hackers focus way too much energy on cracking passwords (which should be a last resort unless you have spec ...more
Applying for jobs can be a truly miserable experience. Sending out endless résumés, filling out those janky online applications, and creating cover letters can really wear a person down. So, any suggestions that make that process easier are always welcome. If you suspect your ...more
You probably use your smartphone to mostly surf the web, play games, and communicate with others, but there's so much more it can do. Thanks to integrated features and third-party apps, you can seamlessly control things around your home, including your TV, tablet, Bluetooth sp ...more
There are plenty of ways to customize your stock HTC One (or any Android device), from playing retro games to adding rotating live wallpapers. But to get the most out of your device, you need root access. After rooting, the floodgates open and you have free reign over the dev ...more
Whenever a new version of a phone comes out, there's always that one cool feature you wish you had on yours. For me, that's Group Play. On the Samsung Galaxy S4, you can easily share music, games, photos, and files to multiple devices using Group Play. While my older Galaxy S ...more
With a 5-inch screen, it's possible that the Samsung Galaxy S4 can be a bit large for our hands. While my grubby hands let me navigate the phone pretty easily, the same can't be said for everyone. A lot of us use two hands to type on the phone, play games, and perform tap or s ...more
There are a lot of things your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 can do straight out of the box, but there's also a ton of things it can't, or simply could be better at. That's why most of us end up rooting—to enhance the mobile experience. Today, I'll be showing you some of my favorite ...more
If you've been using Google's hidden App Ops to lock down and prevent some of your Android applications from exposing your privacy, then think twice before updating to the new Android 4.4.2 software. What Is App Ops? App Ops was Google's hidden gem that was built into the An ...more
When life gets boring, you change it up. A little tweak in your schedule goes a long way in making your existence fresh again, and it could be anything from putting on deodorant to seeing a movie with someone you don't know. The more flexible you are in life, the more dynamic ...more
This year, like every year before it, Black Friday sales are starting earlier than ever. A lot of stores will be opening their doors as early as 5pm on Thanksgiving to get a head start on the madness (and it really is madness). As we've discussed in the past, one of the keys t ...more
Phone interruptions are commonplace, as is evident by my historically epic missed phone call list, ranging from annoying sales people to my mom checking in every five minutes to see if I'm still alive. While I can usually put my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 on vibrate and silence al ...more
Old people are usually perceived as wise and enduring, whereas an old smartphone, like my iPhone 4, becomes the butt of a joke every time I take it out of my pocket. I mean, come on, it's not like I'm still rocking one of these... And if I was, I guarantee you wouldn't beat my ...more
Whenever the word "popup" pops up, I immediately cringe because all I can think about are those obnoxious ads that ruin my everyday browsing experience. But, not all popups are evil. On your Samsung Galaxy S3 or other Android device, popups are used to notify you of important ...more
Sometimes, it's very useful to be able to use more than one app on Android phone or tablet. For example, if you want to watch a movie while surfing or if you need calculator, find some contact, write a note, search web or wikipedia for some facts, etc. Fortunately, this is pe ...more
Are you a messy burger eater? Ants and fruit flies invading your home? Hate drinking warm drinks? Find out the quick and easy DIY solutions to these problems with these 10 amazing tips and tricks for the summer. Video: . I had seen pictures of some of these useful ideas on the ...more
There was a time in my life when I could think of nothing but getting home and playing Super Smash Brothers on my Nintendo 64. It was just something about tossing Mario across the map with Donkey Kong that seriously made me feel like an OG, not to mention that it was the first ...more
Samsung is currently dominating the Android market with their line of Galaxy devices, including the GS3, GS4, Note 2, and Tabs. All of these devices run Samsung's TouchWiz, which is something every softModder should try out eventually. The only thing is that Samsung devices ar ...more
Back in 1996, the Super Nintendo had pretty much reached its end of life, since everyone in the Mario club began switching from 2D to 3D gaming. The third home console by Nintendo, the Nintendo 64 (N64), ushered in the new 3D gaming generation of Nintendo fanatics, paving way ...more
In one of Apple's newer ads, the company claims that "more photos are taken with the iPhone than any other camera." If this is in fact true, then it might also be appropriate to say that more photos are accidentally deleted on iPhones than any other camera. Don't Miss: How to ...more
Welcome back, my hacker apprentices! In recent weeks, the revelation that the NSA has been spying on all of us has many people up in arms. I guess I take it all in stride as I just assume that the NSA is spying on all of us—all of the time. Don't get me wrong, I don't condone ...more
A blue hedgehog runs at high-speed through fantasy environments collecting rings. Sounds a bit loony, but I’m of course taking about the Sonic adventure series that was made popular on the Sega Genesis. The days of cartridge 16-bit gaming has long been eclipsed, but nostalgia ...more
If you've tried watching a video that requires Adobe Flash Player installed on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2, then you're probably well acquainted with the "Flash Player is not installed" message. If you try tapping the deceiving Install Flash Player button it takes you directly ...more
I'm still amazed by all the things some people just don't know. Script-kiddies often refer to Metasploit if someone asks them how to hack a computer because they think there's simply no other way. Well here I am today trying to increase your set of tools and -of course- skills ...more
Wet shoes are uncomfortable, no one can deny that. Just think about walking around with soaking wet footwear ... and each squishy step you take. Makes you cringe, doesn't it? It can happen in heavy rain, at the beach, or from an unforeseen puddle on the street. And while you c ...more
If you're an avid PC gamer, then you're probably well familiar with the term overclocking, which is basically just tweaking your computer hardware to run faster than it was originally intended. Why would you want to do that? Let's say the processor in your PC is listed as 2. ...more
Smartphones and tablets are great for watching movies and videos while you're out, but at home, the screen is just too tiny. There are quite a few projectors on the market that work with mobile devices, but they can get pricey. The good news is that it's pretty simple to hack ...more
WhatsApp is a very popular messaging app on the Play Store, but unfortunately, tablet users have been left out of all the fun because WhatsApp only works on smartphones—until now. Tech wiz James Nakata wrote up a short guide over in our forum for porting WhatsApp onto a Nexus ...more
One of the best things about the Samsung Galaxy S3 is the ability to modify the device in countless ways, as with any other Android device. A recent guide on adding softkeys to the GS3 from mod Faisal inspired me to share some information on how to edit build.prop, which is y ...more
If I could win a trophy for waking up to go to work or for eating a bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats without any of the biscuits getting soggy, I think my life would be so much more awesome. The gaming industry has cornered the market when it comes to achievement-based rewards, bec ...more
Craigslist is probably the greatest site ever created, and I'm just talking about it's classified section, both awesome and amazingly creepy. Seriously, spend 20 minutes scrolling through the personals and you'll never want to take your eyes off the screen. But I digress—Craig ...more
I had my wallet stolen a few months ago, and I knew I would never see it again. My biggest gripe was not the credit cards in there, since they're easily cancelled, but the gift cards. I had some pretty good gift cards in there, and there's no way to get those back. Your walle ...more
There's a lot going for the Samsung Galaxy Note 2—smart screen rotation, huge HD display, great rear camera—which makes it an awesome device for reading, watching videos, and taking pics. But all of those luxuries will end up hogging up your internal memory, which is one of th ...more
One of the most frustrating things on the Internet are sites that make you register just to view content. I'm not talking about paywalls—I mean the sites that make you give them personal information to look at free articles or forum threads. Most people are uncomfortable with ...more
The number of passwords I have for different websites and emails is easily in the triple digits. And if I had to actually remember all of those individual passwords, I would be locked out of accounts on a daily basis. That's why I use the "remember my password" feature whenev ...more
Despite the security concerns that have plagued Facebook for years, most people are sticking around and new members keep on joining. This has led Facebook to break records numbers with over 1.94 billion monthly active users, as of March 2017 — and around 1.28 billion daily act ...more
For those of you still using a BlackBerry smartphone, this article will show you the tips and tricks to installing emulators and playing some classic Game Boy Advanced games on your device. You can find a few tutorials and videos out there on getting Game Boy Color or NES game ...more
Your entire life has been a lie. Mario does not hit blocks with his head, footlong subs are never really 12 inches long, and those paper ketchup cups at fast food joints aren't just little cups. And that's not the worst of it. What I'm about to tell you next is the revelation ...more
One of the greatest consoles ever to exist in the world of gaming is the PlayStation 3, which even lets you do a million different things unrelated to games. But no matter how big of PS3 fan you are, you have to admit that the internal browser is not the greatest. Far from it. ...more
Let's say that you've got the look down, and you have your Steampunk props all ready to go. Congratulations! You're a Steampunk! But now what do you do with yourself? You can sit there, patting yourself on the back, but that gets lonely after awhile. Your props will look nic ...more
Send an email prematurely? Forgot to attach a file? Accidentally addressed it to the wrong person? It happens to the best of us. But what can you do to get it back? Hack into the other person's email account and delete the email before they get a chance to see it? Unless you'r ...more
We use smartphones for just about everything, and while that may be beneficial to us in our day-to-day lives, it can also be used against us in the court of law. Law enforcement officials can seize smartphones and give warrants to Apple, Google, your cellular provider—whoever ...more
If you use Ubisoft's uPlay browser extension, you should probably get rid of it right now. An Information Security Engineer at Google discovered that the plugin has a hole in it that allows programs to be installed through uPlay, essentially letting anyone who feels so incline ...more
Later today, the Olympics are kicking off in London on NBC and its partner stations. However, if you don't have cable or a television with some good reception—or if you'd rather just follow the events on-the-go or at your desk—you're not out of luck. Photo by Locog Watch a Li ...more
A few days ago, Russian hacker Alexy Borodin found a way to get free in-app purchases on an iPhone or iPad. In-app purchases include things like items and power-ups for iOS games, as well as subscriptions and "premium" memberships for certain apps. The method is novel, not fo ...more
Other than sticking your crayon drawings onto your refrigerator door, magnets have a variety of unexpected and sometimes surprisingly practical uses, ranging from keeping your chip bags sealed to creating weird patterns on your nail beds using magnetic nail polish. The strong ...more