Kryptowire, a company specializing in mobile security solutions, released a report on Tuesday, November 15 that exposed firmware in a number of Android devices that was collecting personally identifying information (PII) and uploading it to third-party servers without users' k ...more
Calling all popcorn fanatics: we know a bit of drizzled butter is all that's needed to make a delicious bowl of your favorite finger food, but we've got some interesting mash-ups of flavors that we think you should try the next time you veg out on your couch for another Netfli ...more
If you're an Android fan, you're probably familiar with Qualcomm's Quick Charge technology or, at the very least, what it can do. Quick Charge 3.0, the third generation of Qualcomm's fast-charging technology, is built into most Snapdragon SoCs and it's what lets you charge you ...more
If you're in the market for a non-root ad-blocker, developer Julian Klode has an app that you'll definitely want to check out. It uses Android's VPN system in a similar manner to alternative apps like NetGuard and AdGuard, but it's got a new twist that should save lots of batt ...more
In case you didn't know, Google has an awesome app that gives you free money to spend on apps, games, movies, books, and virtually anything you can buy on the Google Play Store. The app is called Google Opinion Rewards, and all it asks in exchange for the Play Store credit is ...more
Google's Pixel phones have a feature that lets you swipe down on the fingerprint scanner to open your notification shade and Quick Settings panel. It's one of those features that make you wonder why it wasn't there in the first place, since it gives you another way to interact ...more
These days, when you're setting up an Android device for the first time, you'll be prompted to add extra email accounts directly to the Gmail app. It's really simple, too—just sign in with your work or exchange account, then emails from those accounts will be mixed in with you ...more
Can't figure out how to give songs star ratings anymore in your iPhone's Music app? That's because Apple removed the ability to do so from the new iOS 10 update, just as I expected they would. It's still possible to rate songs, it's just very irritating. Don't Miss: The 10 M ...more
If you enjoy modding your Android device with root utilities, custom ROMs, and Xposed modules, then there's a good chance you've had to factory reset your phone when something went awry. Plus, when you're switching ROMs, it's always recommended that you wipe all data, so us mo ...more
Switching between mobile operating systems is fairly easy, but there are a few bumps along the way that you're bound to encounter. One of the first issues you'll run into is that the contacts on your old iPhone don't easily sync with your new Android device. So if you've rece ...more
When you change smartphone ecosystems, there are a lot of minor hurdles to clear along the way. It's definitely not hard to switch from Android to iOS, but little things like making sure your contacts get transferred over can take a bit of work. So if you've recently ditched ...more
Imagine you have mastered the perfect cherry pie for your annual work picnic but, upon taking it out of its airtight pie carrier, your heart sinks as you realize the crust has turned to mush thanks to the moisture from the filling. Sound familiar? Well, I have news for you: i ...more
Emojis, for better or for worse, have essentially taken over online forms of communication. And now, thanks to a recently discovered feature in iOS, they are going to change the way you search for nearby places. The process is actually very simple. Let's say you're looking fo ...more
When was the last time you restarted or shutdown your Mac? In the post-iPhone era, most devices are now powered on almost constantly. For better or for worse, the computing landscape has accommodated this "always on" trend, but you still need to periodically restart your devic ...more
Things are definitely starting to shape up with iOS 10. After three developer betas of the upcoming operating system, Apple has begun rolling out the developer beta 4 release for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, which focuses mostly on refining some of the cool new features. Don ...more
When you're browsing the internet on a computer, you just need to hit Ctrl F (or Command F) and type something out to find all instances of that word in the webpage. It's a handy feature baked into most browsers (nearly all mobile browsers have a "find" feature, too), but unfo ...more
It's hard to argue with the notion that wine and pasta are a winning combination. I mean, millions of Italians can't be wrong. But this classic combo can be taken one step further to become the ultimate comfort food dish—by turning that wine into an actual pasta sauce. Best o ...more
North American users get a raw deal when it comes to Sony devices. For some reason, the critically-acclaimed Xperia lineup of smartphones is hardly ever available here, whereas in Europe, the Sony Xperia Z series is one of the most popular flagship devices around. But now, th ...more
Samsung's latest flagship devices, the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, as well as the Note7, have a useful feature called "Always On Display." With this one enabled, the clock and some other information will continue to be shown on the screen, even when you lock your phone or turn your ...more
This is a familiar scenario: you light up the grill, get cooking, eat the fruits of your labor, then clean up every trace of your barbecuing once you're finished — except maybe the hot charcoal, which usually gets dumped right before the next cookout. But instead of tossing e ...more
You're better than a can of Reddi-wip, which is why you should always make fresh whipped cream at home. It's extremely easy to make, won't have all those nasty preservatives, is thicker and creamier in consistency (like cream should be), and tastes much richer. Don't Miss: 4 ...more
Cool, refreshing fruit, ice-cold margaritas (or beergaritas), and popsicles... this combination of food and drink just screams summer. Turn up the chill jams on the stereo, fire up the grill, and throw on your shades—you're just one pool away from the best summer party ever. ...more
Google Maps does a lot of things well, but one feature it's always been lacking is an on-screen speedometer. Well, now you can add one with Velociraptor, and you can even set it to alert you when you're traveling above the speed limit. While Velociraptor works in other naviga ...more
I often read ebooks on my iPhone while I walk, but being glued to my screen is a good way to get run over or cursed at. To save my physical and social hide, I use this trick to get my iPhone to read ebooks and articles out loud, turning my whole text library into de facto audi ...more
Smartphones are designed to be used in portrait mode primarily, so smartphone apps are created with that layout in mind. This means that practically every app on your phone is vertically oriented, which, in turn, means that we have to scroll up and down quite a bit. So develo ...more
Google seems to be growing tired of the way links appear in its Search results page, because they're currently experimenting with a color change (that's already causing lots of controversy). Google changed the color of the links to show up in black instead of the blue that ev ...more
When a craving for crunchy tacos hits, it's undeniable. Don't Miss: Everything You Know About Microwave Ovens Is a Lie Normally, you'd head to the store to get your fix. But store-bought taco shells get stale too quickly, and, more often than not, they're broken when you fi ...more
Soda bottle jello went viral when the popular YouTube channel AwesomeDisneyToys posted video directions for this revolutionary gelatin confection. I just had to try it out to see what the hype is all about. Video: . My takeaway: Yes, it really is as easy and fun as described i ...more
As the internet continues to become a bigger part of our day-to-day lives, we slowly but surely start to rack up a bunch of web-based subscriptions. These internet subscription services—Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, just to name a few—may seem innocuously cheap individually ...more
A cold drink on a hot day is a welcome sight; but a cold drink with ice-encased fruit is both both refreshing and irresistible. Fruit-infused cubes give water a burst of flavor, dress up cocktails or iced tea, add elegance to punch bowls, and will impress everyone. They're al ...more
When Google released the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, they added official support for fingerprint scanning to Android's main code base. On the surface, this was done to ensure that the fingerprint scanner in their own devices could be used to its full extent, but because it was adde ...more
Apple has stepped up its emoji game lately, and as a result, there are several iPhone emojis that don't show up on Android devices running older firmware. However, Google responded by adding a next-gen set of Unicode 9.0 emojis to its Android Nougat preview build, meaning that ...more
Amazon has completely changed the way we purchase household items, to the point where many of us haven't visited a big box, brick-and-mortar store like Walmart or Best Buy in years. And when you think about it, all of this success comes down to two main factors—convenience and ...more
When it comes to proper tomato storage, conventional kitchen wisdom (and Alton Brown) state that tomatoes are best stored at room temperature—not in the refrigerator. Supposedly, refrigerated tomatoes develop a mealy texture and lose their flavor if they are exposed to cooler ...more
Over the course of the past year, a lot of Android apps have added pull-to-refresh functionality. It's a very useful and intuitive gesture, because all you have to do to refresh the page you're viewing is scroll to the top of the screen, then slide your finger down one more ti ...more
Although there has been much speculation about how much damage could be done if hackers were to take control of a country's SCADA systems, there have been few examples - until a few months ago, with the power outage in Ukraine caused by hackers. How? The attackers used a wid ...more
Since its purchase by Microsoft in 2014, Minecraft has regularly been pushed to new platforms such as Windows 10, Wii U, and Fire TV. In that spirit, Microsoft-owned Mojang has been developing virtual- and augmented-reality versions of the blocky sandbox game. Recently, Oculu ...more
Sourdough is a delightful twist on your traditional bread, but creating and maintaining a sourdough starter can be a headache for many home bakers. Heck, I'm a culinary school graduate who spent plenty of time studying how to perfect sourdough starters, and I still don't jump ...more
You can use the F1 key to notably dim your Mac's display, but sometimes that just isn't dark enough. If you're working in pitch black conditions, have a migraine or tired eyes, or just want a more comfortable environment, you might want your screen even darker—without making i ...more
As one of the most popular home screen apps on Android, the Google Now Launcher is used by millions of people across the world. The two main reasons behind this success are its integrated Google Now home page and an elegant, easy-to-use design. But as simple and straightforwa ...more
Smartphone displays are getting bigger every year, and Samsung devices are at the forefront of that trend. But, from a software standpoint, the icons, buttons, and other on-screen elements seem to stay at the same scale. So while phones are getting bigger, their interfaces are ...more
Dried fruit makes a great snack or salad topping, but after a while, they tend to become fossilized, rock-hard versions of their former selves. At this point, most folks probably just toss them out, as they're unpleasant to chew on when eaten raw and even more unpleasant to ea ...more
When we were kids, Saint Patrick's Day was a green-hued holiday that promised green eggs in the morning and green mashed potatoes in the evening... along with some traditional corned beef and cabbage, of course. Don't Miss: 8 Delicious Dessert Recipes for St. Patrick's Day W ...more
Out of nowhere, Google released a preview build of the upcoming Android N release back in March—a full two months early. As if that weren't enough excitement for one day, they topped themselves by following up that announcement with the debut of a new "Android Beta" program th ...more
An accelerometer/gyro goes onto an Arduino board and transmits the angular motion of the skateboard via Bluetooth to a virtual reality game I made for Android phones and Google Cardboard. DIY Virtual Reality Skateboard Video: . This is a really fun and easy project that can b ...more
Whenever I go to Jamba Juice, I usually gravitate towards either the Matcha Green Tea or Caribbean Passion smoothies. But when I learned about their secret menu a few years ago, I felt like a little kid all over again—especially with flavors like Pink Gummy Bear and Orange Dre ...more
The first time a friend or family member asks if they can borrow your phone or tablet, you probably just hand it over without a second thought. But the second, third, and fourth times? Now it's starting to become a habit, and something probably needs to be done about it. Luck ...more
Welcome back, my hacker novitiates! Often, to hack a website, we need to connect to and exploit a particular object within said website. It might be an admin panel or a subdirectory that is vulnerable to attack. The key, of course, is to find these objects, as they may be hid ...more
Listen up, children, pregnant women, and lightweights: this particular KitKat variety is not for you. Well, with 0.8% alcoholic content per 2 KitKat bars, it's highly unlikely anyone will actually get drunk on these things. Still... The newest flavor of KitKat (or Kit Kat) in ...more
Whether you're anxious to tune into this Sunday's Super Bowl 50 to see Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers take on Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos, or to see if you win some money on your silly prop bet, or just want to tune in for the commercials, there are a handful o ...more
In my last post I introduced how to use ncat to connect to your Pi remotely, but what's the point to if you can't actually hack? This tutorial I'm gonna show you how to use very simple tools for a much bigger purpose. With that said, boot up our Pi and lets wreck havoc. Recon ...more
OS X is built upon a UNIX foundation, which grants you access to the benefits that UNIX offers, including the standard toolkit (make, gcc, clang, git, perl, svn, size, strings, id, and a lot more) via the command line developer tools, which are an essential if you're a develop ...more
When it comes to cooking grains, there is an unspoken rule to never stray from the exact measurements. Consulting charts for the proper ratio of liquid to grain is considered the difference between crunchy, undercooked pebbles and a mushy mess... that is, until now. Don't Mis ...more
If you want to keep your online world secure, your best bet is to have a different password for every site and service that you use, and to make sure each of the passwords are comprised of random characters instead of familiar words or numbers. But this obviously creates a pro ...more
As a kid, my mother would always bring the noodles onto the table in a colander, then bring the pot of sauce she cooked separately. So I grew up with the idea that pasta and sauce were two separate entities that you combined table-side, and continued to eat pasta that way well ...more
Some of the best images I've seen were shared via Snapchat, but once they're expired, they're gone forever, with no way to view them again unless I want to take a screenshot. But that will, of course, alert the sender. Some of your friends might not mind if you take a screens ...more
Android has a built-in browser called WebView that any app can use, which makes it easy for developers to display webpages without actually having to build an internet browser into their apps. But WebView is a stripped-down, bare bones browser with no ties to Android's default ...more
Whether your holidays are cause for celebration or exhaustion from over-celebrating, alcohol is more often than not involved in the merrymaking. We at Food Hacks are very fond of enjoying this particular indulgence in lots of different ways. Flavored liquors and liqueurs have ...more
As one of only three hardware buttons on an iPhone, the Sleep/Wake button gets a lot of use day in and day out. If you've had your iPhone for a considerable length of time, this button—which is also used to power down the device, as well as turn it on—may begin to malfunction ...more
Google Play Music has been my go-to music service ever since its release. The free cloud storage for 50,000 songs and full access to Songza-powered radio stations make it a great music app, even without the $10/month streaming service. The only downside is that the desktop ex ...more