In photography, bokeh refers to the blurry or out-of-focus parts of a shot. Bokeh can be good or bad—it all depends on how you use it. There are tons of ways to create a bokeh effect, whether you go the traditional route with lens filters, digital with Photoshop, or even from ...more
Baking used to be a fun, relaxing hobby and a way to make treats for friends and family. These days, this hobby has become a creative battleground among out-of-work graphic designers with Pinterest accounts. People everywhere are now upping their baking game by adding interest ...more
Take everyday sprinkler parts and form them into a high pressure rocket launcher that will shoot paper rockets nearly 300 feet!!! It's cheap to make and a lot of fun! Video: . A quick trip to nearly any hardware or sprinkler supply store should get you everything you need for ...more
As part of the iOS 11 update, Apple added a document scanner function that creates high-quality digital copies of physical documents, but it was only available inside the Notes app. With iOS 13, Apple has built its scanner right into the Files app, enabling you to quickly crea ...more
Finland-based Rovio, one of the pioneers of mobile gaming, is now ready to break new ground in augmented reality with its Angry Birds franchise. Along with its AR development partner, Sweden-based Resolution Games, the publisher is following up Angry Birds FPS: First Person S ...more
It can be incredibly frustrating to take closeup shots with an iPhone camera—or any smartphone camera for that matter. Even if your phone's camera is top of the line, you'll still get a fuzzy picture if you get to close to your subject. To resolve this, you could always purch ...more
If you've ever wanted to be a graffiti artist, but you also frown upon vandalism, then augmented reality is for you. A trio of iOS apps leveraging the ARKit platform turn the world into your canvas, where you are free to paint to your heart's delight. (Until a company like Ar ...more
My college days are long behind me, and while I don't necessary miss them, I am jealous of all the countless resources available to students these days. Apps like PhotoMath are something I wish I had access to in my student days, making assignments less strenuous and easier to ...more
Collodion—it's one of those things that you probably never heard of before, but have actually come across many times in life. It's used for all kinds of applications, from photography to special effects, and it even has a few medical uses. So, what exactly is collodion? Photo ...more
These days, news papers, online editorials and magazines are filled with news on Iran and Syria. Of course, that is expected, as such sources need to stay current to stay in the game. My concern is that most of these articles talk about what to do about these situations. One ...more
Now that the cutting-edge iPhone X is up for preorder, everyone is excited to see how the new device will compare to offerings from Apple's competitors. Namely the Galaxy Note 8, which is a beast of a phone in its own right. The reasoning behind wanting to see how the iPhone ...more
Peanut butter cookies may not have as big a fan base as their chocolate-chip counterparts, but their distinct flavor is loved by many a cookie enthusiast. Don't Miss: 10 Tips for Making Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies Peanut butter cookies do have one giant advantage over cho ...more
Here's a way you can turn a mousetrap into a fun little handgun that shoots up to 40 feet! This is a great project because it can be made with simple materials, very basic tools, and in just a few minutes! Video: . This pack of two mousetraps was only $0.98! Aside from those, ...more
Sick of washed out photos? How about red eye? Or maybe you can't get the right shot because your flash is causing too much shadow in the background. That's what a flash bounce is for—it reflects the light off of the ceiling or another surface so that your photos look more bala ...more
Want to add cool effects to your photos without using expensive equipment? Photographer Laina Briedis created these gorgeous shots by stacking 35mm negatives of starry or cloudy skies on top of photos of people to give them a surreal, dreamlike effect. There are a few ways to ...more
Students have been passing notes in class for decades, so what's the big deal about sending a quick text message? Everybody does it, even your teacher was surely guilty of covertly communicating with his or her peers back when they were in high school. Don't Miss: How to Bypa ...more
I record close-cropped videos and take macro still shots with my smartphones on a daily basis, so as you would expect, I spend a lot of time cleaning these devices. Over the course of a couple years, I've fine-tuned my cleaning regimen, and at this point, it's down to a near-s ...more
Last week, I highlighted 5 of my favorite free interactive live wallpapers that you could use on your Android device. But where do you go from there? What's the next step up? While the regular old interactive live wallpapers are amazing, if you can't stop thinking about your ...more
Old school media stalwart Sports Illustrated is billing this year's Swimsuit Issue as the "Most Immersive Experience Ever," and it certainly lives up to that statement, as the magazine has added augmented reality and virtual reality experiences to this year's version via Snapc ...more
Robert Templeman from the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana and several of his friends from Indiana University recently developed an Android application that is capable of gathering pictures and videos from mobile devices in order to reconstruct a user's environme ...more
Assuming everyone knows of the recent "String of attacks" passed between Obama and Romney, I just want to talk about how useless this entire thing is. I'll try to be as un-biased as possible. Election year is a major phenomenon in any country. The masses pick their candidate ...more
With ultra competitive games like Fortnite Battle Royale and PUBG taking the mobile world by storm, gamers are looking for ways to get a leg up on the competition. One of the biggest advantages you can give yourself is the ability to aim and shoot while on the move, but that's ...more
After poor sales of last year's HTC 10 and the terrible reviews their first 2017 flagship received, HTC really needs the HTC U11 to succeed. But they're not taking things lying down, as they've come up with some interesting tech for their latest handset. The biggest new featu ...more
Everyone and his mother (and grandmother) has a chocolate chip cookie recipe that he swears is the absolute best recipe, guaranteed to produce a chocolate chip cookie so good it will make you weep with joy. The problem with that is that everyone—relatives included—has a differ ...more
When the announcement of the Cheddar app for Magic Leap first went out on Tuesday morning, the app was not available on my updated Magic Leap One (located in New York City). However, after checking throughout the day, I can confirm that the app is now live. The free app downl ...more
Researchers have created a possible replacement for traditional camera lenses, using an "optical phased array" to function as both a lens and sensor of a camera. The project from researchers at the California Institute of Technology is the first ever camera that works without ...more
It's safe to say most of us know the dangers of online security. We know there are people trying to steal our most sensitive information, and we try our best to prevent that theft. But new research is showing what we're doing might not be enough, as the sensors in our phones m ...more
For anyone who has spent an entire afternoon attempting to assemble a set of IKEA chairs, these wooden masterpieces probably seem pretty appealing. British furniture maker Gavin Munro has found a way to create interesting, yet functional pieces by planting tree shoots, guidin ...more
My bathroom is like my own private arcade room. Whenever I'm seated comfortably on the toilet, no one is going to disturb me, so I can play anything I want on my smartphone. You probably do it, too — and your parents, kids, friends, colleagues, and boss — so don't be afraid to ...more
Nikola Tesla is one of the most tragic figures in the history of science, a history that is practically filled to the brim with tragic figures. Francis Bacon, a 16th century philosopher and scientist, caught pneumonia and died because he was trying to stuff snow into a dead ch ...more
The pumpkin is everyone's favorite cucurbit come Halloween time, and while there are only a few types of Halloween-friendly pumpkins out there, there is definitely no shortage of what you can do with them. You can carve faces into them, perform brain surgery, make them sing, ...more
At the beginning of every year, Samsung drops a fantastic phone in the Galaxy S series, and then tries to top it with the Galaxy Note series in August. This year, Samsung had their work cut out for them. But they managed to improve on their predecessor and properly challenge A ...more
Sticky notes and the refrigerator go perfectly together, like chocolate and peanut butter. They're particularly popular among families with young kids, so they've been a key part of our personal lives for many years now. But what if you could turn those sticky notes into a dig ...more
Every fall, we can expect a few things: leaves changing colors, cooler temperatures, and Samsung and Apple releasing new phones that fanboys and fangirls will argue about until the following year. This year, Samsung is mixing it up, releasing two phones in the Galaxy Note seri ...more
Instagram has long-resisted easily resharing content. While it's been testing a "regram" feature for a long time, it still lags behind apps such as Twitter and Facebook when it comes to resharing content. But while Instagram is a bastion of original material, there is a featur ...more
Over the years, mobile gaming has become a phenomenon, rivaling in magnitude with its console and PC-based counterparts. We even have mobile versions of Fortnite and PUBG now, games that require lots of processing power to run. But when you just want a quick game to play in th ...more
While there aren't as many ways to customize your iPhone like there is on Android, there are still a lot of apps out there that can help streamline and enhance your experience beyond Apple's own default options — and we've hand-picked over 100 essentials. No matter if you've ...more
Kylo Ren, conflicted villain of the new Star Wars trilogy, will surely be a major presence again this Halloween, with The Last Jedi fast approaching. His costume, all black and layered, complete with dark-side helmet and crossguard lightsaber, seems quite perfect for Oct. 31 — ...more
It's nice to have a drink on an airplane, whether you're taking a flight somewhere fun or for work. However, what's not so nice is the high prices and relatively bad quality of the liquor that's available. If that's what's holding you back from having a nice tipple, never fea ...more
Let's be honest, most of us buy the bottom-shelf vodka either because we're broke or because we're going to disguise the gag-inducing taste of it with juice or something fizzy. If you're cooking or baking with vodka (ice-cold vodka works wonders in pie crust), what's the point ...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
Whether you're in high school or college, you no doubt will have your iPhone in your pocket all day long. To make your iPhone last the whole time and even help you out with your studies, these are the accessories you'll want to get your hands on. You might not think you need ...more
For awhile now, Google has offered the ability to translate text through smartphone cameras via Google Translate and Google Lens, with Apple bringing similar technology to iPhones via Live Text. Hold our beers, say AI researchers at Facebook, who have now developed computer v ...more
Whether it becomes mandatory or not to show your COVID-19 vaccination card at events, restaurants, bars, hotels, airports, and other public places, it's a good idea to digitize the paper card on your smartphone so that it's always with you. It's also wise to give yourself quic ...more
One of my favorite perks of this job is the opportunity to try out all the big flagship phones each year. Whether it's rating their suitability for a particular use-case or just entering their specs into our comparison tool, we have to get our hands on all major phones release ...more
Despite the fact that over 600,000 Snap Lens filters have been created since Lens Studio debuted in 2017, and Facebook is reporting that more than a billion users have interacted with its Spark AR filters across Facebook properties, social augmented reality filters get a bad r ...more
Let's say you have an important report to submit, but you want to check it over for any last-minute edits or changes. Times running out, and you simply can't find this Pages document anywhere. Wouldn't it be great if you could just ask your iPhone to open the report for you, s ...more
The rise and fall of Meta, the Silicon Valley-based augmented reality startup that looked to challenge the likes of Microsoft's HoloLens, and others, took just six years. Now, as the story of the company draws to a close, we finally have some deeper insight into what exactly ...more
The Pixel 3 XL versus Galaxy Note 9. Stock Android versus Samsung Experience. When I began this comparison, I thought the Pixel 3 XL would be unfairly outmatched. But after looking at the specs side-by-side, you'll see a different picture. This year, Google delivered a worthy ...more
When BlackBerry first announced the KEY2 back in June, the biggest gripe we heard was about the price. It was reasonable criticism, as BlackBerry was asking a lot of its consumers at $650. Knowing this, BlackBerry went back, made some downgrades, and cut the price, creating th ...more
With the announcement of ARKit 2.0 at WWDC 2018, Apple is bringing some powerful new capabilities to mobile augmented reality apps this fall. Shared experiences, persistent content, and 3D object recognition will enable more social, transcendent, and immersive experiences for ...more
The Sony Xperia XZ Premium brought 4K HDR to a Sony flagship along with some competitive internals, while the Xz1 brought some powerful specs in a more midrange, traditional form factor. Now, Sony has unveiled the XZ2, which sees not only an upgrade in performance, but a compl ...more
Razer just made a big step into the mobile industry by releasing an absolute beast of a smartphone. The gaming-centric Razer Phone tries to provide the best experience for its target audience: Gamers. With that in mind, they created a top-tier device with some of the best spec ...more
Earlier this year, NASA reported on findings that might point to water, and microbial life, on moons orbiting Jupiter and Saturn. Named Europa and Enceladus, those moons contain large oceans under their icy surfaces, which many speculate could hold microbial life. On Earth, l ...more
After months of leaks and rumors, Google has finally unveiled the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. If there were such a thing, the Pixel would be the one "true" Android flagship — so even if you don't plan on buying a Pixel 2, you'll want you learn more about this milestone device. La ...more
Girl Scout cookies are arguably some of humankind's greatest creations. Not only are they tasty, but they also support an excellent, female-empowering cause. While many folks (cough—yours truly—cough) have been known to plow through an entire sleeve of cookies at a time, there ...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
Staying healthy is a progressive challenge we all face throughout our lives, and figuring out just how to do that can be a challenge when it's not your job. For doctors, however, it is. Here's how they keep themselves healthy day to day. While it won't surprise you to learn t ...more
There's never been a better time for streaming videos on your phone. With so many options available (including a potential mobile-only Netflix tier) and so many new smartphones having large screens, there's a good chance you know someone who mainly use their phone for videos. ...more
Ever since the announcement of the Razer Phone, a wave of gaming smartphones started to hit the market. With ASUS being such a big name in gaming, it made sense for them to throw their hat in the ring. The result is the ROG Phone. And with this first try, ASUS has topped the r ...more