There once was a time in the Android rooting scene where we couldn't rely on using a custom recovery for all of our modding needs. Manual file flashing was very popular in the early days of Android before custom recoveries started taking over. With the rise of TWRP, it seemed ...more
In recent years, Hollywood has taken a shine to hackers, with hackers appearing in almost every heist or mystery movie now. This can be both good and bad for our profession. As we know, whichever way Hollywood decides to depict our profession is how most people will perceive i ...more
There have been hundreds of reports of users hearing a grinding noise when they place a disc into their brand new Xbox One video game consoles. To prove it, here is an awesomely sad compilation of Xbox One owners having the issue. Video: . Needless to say, shelling out 500 buc ...more
Watch this instructional video brought to you by Richard Berry to learn how to operate the Nikon D90. This Nikon D90 video tutorial demonstrates how to use the control dial (auto mode, scene modes, program [P], shutter priority [S], aperture priority [A], and manual [M]); read ...more
Are you an aspiring actor with a crying scene in a play? Or are you a shameless manipulator who will need some cheap sympathy from the jury during a court case? You never know when the ability to shed fake tears will come in handy. If you need to pop a few tear drops for a co ...more
If you have a modern iPhone, you have an excellent video recorder at your disposal. Every iPhone since the 6S has the ability to shoot in 4K resolution, and each new iteration has brought new capabilities to the table. But even the best mobile shooter can use a little extra he ...more
Android Marshmallow was recently released, and as we've grown to expect, a root method was quickly made available to devices running the brand new operating system. Legendary root developer Chainfire has stated that he's working his way towards retiring from the scene, but he ...more
Turning your abode into a haunted house of horror for Halloween takes a lot of time and work. Finding ways to build props on your own can save you some money that's better spent elsewhere. If you're looking to add some flare to your household decorations, try out this DIY bur ...more
Apple just released its biggest update to iOS 17 yet, and there are 60 exciting new changes for your iPhone. With iOS 17.2, you get a brand new app, more Apple Music enhancements, upgrades in Messages, and a new security feature that was announced last year, as well as changes ...more
Of the sixty or so "must-have" apps that are installed on my Samsung Galaxy Note 3, there's only one that I need to use and hate with a passion. Skype. Whenever using it, I'm consumed by dropped calls, mic issues, poor quality, and random crashes, among other things—and I'm no ...more
You don't have to be a frequent flyer to know how indispensable navigation apps have become. Many of us rely on these apps for traveling from state to state and getting around in foreign cities, but even more of us count on these apps to beat rush hour traffic and find the qui ...more
The top five apps of the 2010s were all social media apps of some kind, and the fact that's not surprising to you says a lot. We may use them for other reasons here and there, but our phones are social media machines at their cores. The thing is, some make better machines than ...more
Remember that PSP you had? I pretty much dropped mine when smartphones became more prevalent in the mobile gaming scene. Why would I want to carry around a huge PlayStation Portable when I've already got an Android in my pocket? Still, I miss the days of PSP gaming. Early on, ...more
Even for those of us who enjoy spending time alone at home, at a certain point, it just gets boring. We all need social interaction, but with stay-at-home orders, that can be hard to come by. If you're feeling the itch to hang out with friends and have a good time, you should ...more
Remember that scene in The Matrix when Trinity uses a realistic Nmap port scan, followed by an actual SSH exploit (long since patched) to break into a power company? Well, believe it or not, but that scene is not far fetched at all. If you want to exploit vulnerabilities and r ...more
If you shoot videos with your iPhone in low-light situations, you may not always get the results you want. And that applies when recording video in 720p, 1080p, and even 4K resolutions. But there's an easy way to maximize your video's quality when filming in dark environments. ...more
Now that we've got all of our software installed, we're going to proceed with the next step in our HoloLens Dev 101 series—starting a fresh project and building it into a Holographic application. Then we will output the application to the HoloLens Emulator so we can see it in ...more
You probably know Lenovo from their low-cost Windows PCs here in the states, but something you may not be aware of is that they also make smartphones. Right now, their biggest market is in China, but a rumored merger with BlackBerry could make Lenovo a contender in North Ameri ...more
It may seem impossible to win an argument against an irrational person, but it turns out the tried-and-true techniques that hostage negotiators use against hostage-takers work surprisingly well in everyday situations. You may not ever deal with a real hostage situation persona ...more
The term "selfie" is taking the world by storm. Having been around since 2002, the slang word for "self-portrait" went into hyperdrive thanks to the addition of front-facing cameras on mobile devices. It's even popular enough to have been included in the Oxford Dictionary, and ...more
Apple introduced Portrait Mode with the iPhone 7 Plus, a feature which utilized the iPhone's dual cameras to create a shallow depth of field around a subject. This effect replicates the look of DSLR cameras, making your photos look more professional. Apple, of course, carries ...more
The reveal of Apple's new ARKit extensions for iPhones and iPads, while not much of a shock, did bring with it one big surprise. By finding a solution to surface detection without the use of additional external sensors, Apple just took a big step over many — though not all — s ...more
Practically every smartphone comes with a built-in camera app, but these apps are generally created by the device's manufacturer. And let's face it, manufacturers are hardware companies first and foremost, so they don't always produce the best software. Luckily, though, Andro ...more
Skulls. What spooky Halloween décor or staging of Hamlet is complete without a skull or two popping up? For ghoulish special effect and/or setting a dramatic scene, skulls are absolutely integral. Well, with some artistry, hardware supplies, and a good dose of patience, you ca ...more
Many developers, myself included, use Unity for 3D application development as well as making games. There are many that mistakenly believe Unity to be a game engine. And that, of course, is how it started. But we now live in a world where our applications have a new level of d ...more
Give an 18-month-old a shoe, check back 10 minutes later, and it's a very big maybe he will have it on his foot. But give him your smartphone, and in a mere five minutes, he can take 100 pictures of the carpet, send weird messages, and delete essential apps. Imagine what your ...more
Contrary to popular belief, augmented reality apps have been available for a while now. I remember using the Layar app (still available for iOS and Android) to explore nearby businesses and landmarks with varying success via an early-generation Android handset. It would be ha ...more
Since its release three years ago, Canon's EOS 5D Mark II has been the most sought out digital SLR for photographers everywhere. But it's also becoming a favorite amongst cinematographers, thanks to its compact size and high-def video recording mode, seeing action in everythin ...more
Checking the weather ranks among the most mundane but essential tasks you can do on your smartphone. Thankfully, both the iOS App Store and Google Play are loaded with weather apps that add some much needed spice to this daily routine, giving you less of a reason to be caught ...more
Cinema is a matter of what's in the frame and what's out, according to director Martin Scorsese, who asserted that when describing his life's work. Getting the perfect shot can turn an otherwise ordinary scene into something great, both on and off screen. One of the most reco ...more
This instructional video explains the basics of Chroma Keying in Final Cut Pro. This is used when you want to remove or key out a specific color from a scene. Created as a component in the Temple University Instructional Video Database.
Thanks to its advanced cameras, the Galaxy S9 can capture videos at an astonishing 960 frames per second (fps). To put it in perspective, you now have you the ability to record the world around you in ways that previously required expensive professional camera equipment. And t ...more
Welcome back, my tenderfoot hackers! In continuing my series on digital forensics using Kali, I want to introduce you to two complementary tools, both built right into Kali Linux. These are Brian Carrier's tools Autopsy and Sleuth Kit. Carrier is one of the leading authoriti ...more
Apple's iOS 14 is here. With it, you'll see over 200 new features and changes hit your iPhone, including home screen widgets, inline replies in Messages, and cycling routes in Maps. Here's how you can get your hands on the brand new update. Apple released iOS 14 to compatible ...more
Video chatting has become an important factor in the overall smartphone experience. Even just a few years ago, 37% of teens were making video calls on a regular basis, and that number has surely grown. 85% of households with infants have used video chat apps to call relatives ...more
If Android is all about options, then iOS is all about new features. Every year without fail, Apple announces a cool software component that brings something new to the table, and this year was no different. The headlining feature to go along with the iPhone 6s is called "Liv ...more
In this video, learn how to draw a beach scene. You will learn, step by step, how to sketch the ocean and sand. This is a great technique for any landscape drawing or background.
Most smartphone manufacturers focus on megapixels when it comes to cameras, but HTC took a different direction with the HTC One. Instead of trying to compete with the 13MP camera on the Samsung Galaxy S4, or the 20MP camera on the Sony Xperia Z1, or even the newer iPhone's 8MP ...more
Someone does't really like you. I don't know who or where they are, but they exist. If you want to change that, simply ask them to do you a favor. This trick is known as the "Benjamin Franklin Effect." The idea is that when someone who views you unfavorably performs a favor f ...more
We've been able to mark all or individual unread conversations as read in Apple's Messages app since iOS 8. Eight years later, Apple is finally letting us mark individual text and iMessage chats as unread. Try to remember how many times you opened a new message without replyi ...more
When you want to brighten up your iPhone's screen, you likely use Control Center's brightness slider to increase your nits (especially if you've disabled auto-brightness). But once you max it out, it doesn't seem like the display can get any brighter. However, depending on you ...more
Art nerds rejoice. With the aid of Photoshop, the folks at Artcyclopedia have doctored Van Gogh's paintings to give the effect of a three dimensional model (the same effect used in tilt-shift photography). Artcyclopedia says: "The effect is simulated in Photoshop, by adjusti ...more
Apple has implemented a new sensor on the rear camera of its fourth-generation iPad Pro, and it's pretty exciting. It's called the LiDAR Scanner, a scanning "light-detection and ranging" sensor, and you may very well be acquainted with it if you follow any driverless car news. ...more
Google just rolled out a revolutionary feature to its Pixel devices — Google Lens. Previously, Lens had only been available in the Photos app, but now, whenever you want to learn about something in the real world, you can just bring up Google Assistant, turn on the camera, the ...more
I've been involved in the Android scene for a very long time and have grown to develop a love/hate relationship with CyanogenMod. While I do like the stability they offer in their custom ROMs, they don't always include the flashy features on top of their vanilla Android base. ...more
Sorority Life hacks, cheats, glitches. How to hack Sorority Life. Watch this video tutorial to learn how to hack unlimited invites in Sorority Girls (08/16/09). Description of the app on Facebook: Live the fabulous life: fabulous fashion, fabulous friends and fabulous partie ...more
A lot of people still trust their web browsers to remember every online account password for them. If you're one of those users, you need to adopt a more secure way of managing passwords, because browser-stored passwords are hacker gold mines. With a USB Rubber Ducky and physi ...more
When LinkedIn first arrived on the scene, I thought it was a great resource for staying connected and getting in touch with those people in your desired career path. Keyword: Thought. Like most businesses, money and shareholders seem to have taken over the driver's seat, pushi ...more
One of the biggest downsides to rooting is that it can be a pain to update every month with each new security patch. With other phones, you might have had to fully unroot the device, maybe flash a stock recovery, or potentially even flash all the factory images to get a new up ...more
I love pomegranates. I don't even mind the mind-numbing task of picking out the arils (which is what those ruby-colored seed-like things in the pomegranate are called). However, I'm always on the lookout for new, easy ways to peel it that don't make my kitchen look like a crim ...more
Apple's iPhone 8 and iPhone X announcement went about exactly as the rumors predicted. Really, there was only one surprise — the fact that all of the new models will support the Qi wireless charging standard. Wireless charging itself wasn't unexpected, but seeing Apple use a ...more
How to draw and paint rock cliff mountain environmental concept background. This landscape scene is created in a video demonstration using Photoshop. his step by step video shows you laying down the base color, blocking in shape for painting, assigning value and color composit ...more
Minecraft is unique among computer games in that some users have created such breathtaking works of beauty and ingenuity that it challenges the very idea that Minecraft is even a game at all, but suggests that it is instead a tool for artistic expression much like Photoshop. ...more
In this video tutorial on Adobe Photoshop CS3, we will cover using channels to cleanly cut out complex hair selections of both brunette and blonde hair on a studio style background and an outdoor scene. You will learn a lot about how to select things in Photoshop using the tec ...more
As Android's de facto virtual assistant, Google Now lets us speak directly to our phones in plain English to answer our questions and perform many basic tasks. With the app open, just say "Okay Google," then wait for the beep, and ask almost any question. But several Google N ...more
Apple has four iPhone models for the remaining months of 2020, but the most impressive ones are the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. While the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini are great smartphones, the "Pro" models offer more advanced features, especially for photographers an ...more
Arcades have long faded away from popularity, but their legacy is being kept alive thanks to emulators and the avid fans who grew up loading quarters into all of those coin-op games. Although nothing beats an actual arcade environment, my favorite emulator from the early 2000s ...more
The advantages of rooting have been covered before, and with rooting comes flashing ROMs and mods to your device. The easiest method for flashing anything is to do it through recovery. Recovery is the bootable portion of the phone's system that allows data wipes and system up ...more
This cake decorating how-to video goes over how to create a unique and spectacularly decorated Christmas cake. Follow along and learn how to make a scene of handmade choir boys on your cake using regal ice from a craft shop. Regal icing is very versatile, don't just decorate y ...more
Easily turn your pics into table top style miniatures with this easy to create effect. This takes panarama photographs from afar and fades certain areas creating a toy scene effect. It's magical. Turn cities into model like images that resemble fantasy more than real life. To ...more