How-To Geek

Week in Geek: FBI Plans to Increase Monitoring of Social Networks

Asian Angel — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:00:46 GMT

This week’s edition of WIG is filled with news link goodness covering topics such as the botnet apps found in the official Google Android Market, Mozilla’s plans to add a reset button to Firefox, the operator of the Kelihos botnet was a former anti-virus firm employee, and more.

Photo by phillip torrone.

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The Best Wi-Fi Articles for Securing Your Network and Optimizing Your Router

Lori Kaufman — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:00:00 GMT

Wi-Fi is a big part of everybody’s daily life. However, it can cause frustration if not set up properly or optimally. Worse than that, it can get you into big trouble if it is not secure.

Understanding more about routers and setting up Wi-Fi on PCs, Macs, and mobile devices, can provide a better and safer experience when getting online wirelessly. The following articles explain about the hardware used for Wi-Fi, and how to set it up securely on different platforms including mobile devices, configure and optimize the hardware, install and use alternative firmware for the hardware, customize Wi-Fi settings, and stay secure when using Wi-Fi on a home or public network.

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Desktop Fun: Auroras Wallpaper Collection

Asian Angel — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:00:49 GMT

Auroras lighting up the sky with bursts of color are truly stunning visual experiences and make great photos when caught on camera. Now you can bring the beauty of these sky-borne events to your desktop with our Auroras Wallpaper collection.

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Chun-Li in Battle [Wallpaper]

Asian Angel — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:30:56 GMT

Chun Li [DesktopNexus]

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The Best Tools to Check for Windows Software Updates – Analysis Report

Asian Angel — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:00:50 GMT

Apps that check for updates for your favorite Windows software are becoming more popular, but are they actually good and if so which ones work the best? The folks over at the 7 Tutorials blog have analysed seven different popular update checkers and report on their effectiveness for the Windows programs chosen, performance, and where they fall short.

The analysis report makes for interesting reading and you will have a much better idea on which ones to choose (and avoid) if you are considering this type of software to keep your system updated.

The Best Tools to Check for Software Updates [7 Tutorials]

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Geek Trivia: What Popular 1980s Computer Game Blatantly Ripped Off Super Mario Bros?

Jason Fitzpatrick — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:37:11 GMT

What Popular 1980s Computer Game Blatantly Ripped Off Super Mario Bros?

1) Plumber Brothers United
2) Block Smash Kingdom
3) Super Jump Man
4) The Great Giana Sisters

Think you know the answer?

Juice Boxes, Watermelons, and More Slo-Mo Exploding in a Microwave [Video]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:00:17 GMT

In this terribly clever restaurant advertisement we’re treating to 500 frame-per-second slow motion video of everything from watermelons to beer bottles exploding in a microwave.

In this clever ad fro Moe’s Southwest Grill they’re trying to convey how microwaves ruin everything (and, the subtext we can then assume, is that they make everything fresh and don’t use a microwave) by showing how thins like watermelons, eggs, CDs, juice boxes, and suffer inside a microwave. While we’ve never heard of the restaurant in question that doesn’t stop us from appreciating their novel approach. Watch the video above to see just how sad life is when you’re a lime in a microwave.

[via Geekologie]

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What You Said: Your Battery Life Maximizing Tips

Jason Fitzpatrick — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Earlier this week we asked you to share your tips and tricks for squeezing more juice out of your mobile devices. Now we’re back with a roundup of those battery-extending tips.

Image by Nathan W. Pyle.

One of the primary, and easiest to apply tricks, is to toggle off the highest power consuming elements of your device. Chris writes:

I usually turn my screen brightness to the lowest setting and only charge when the battery is about to die.

For those curious why Chris waits until his battery is low to charge it: batteries have a finite number of charge cycles before the performance begins to degrade. Older Ni-Cad batteries had issues with battery memory but still had a recharge based life cycle (that said, some readers still found Ni-Cad batteries to be an ideal solution for their needs). Newer Lithium Ion batteries no longer suffer from the battery memory issues but they to have a fixed life cycle. While it takes quite a few charge cycles for performance to noticeably degrade and quite a few more for the battery to actually need a replacement, if you’re trying to really extend the life of your battery its worth paying attention to.

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Why History Needs Software Piracy

Jason Fitzpatrick — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:00:47 GMT

Lately we’ve been subjected to some rather fierce debate about piracy and the alleged and irreversible harm it does. One thing lost in the current debate is the long eye of history and how pirates have served our culture.

In this deeply insightful piece from Benj Edwards, we’re treated to a look at the history of illegal duplication and how, for the last 3,000 years (including the last 30), pirates have been quietly saving our intellectual history from rot. Here’s a snippet of the introduction:

I’m here to offer a different perspective, at least when it comes to software piracy. While the unauthorized duplication of software no doubt causes some financial losses in the short term, the picture looks a bit different if you take a step back. When viewed in a historical context, the benefits of software piracy far outweigh its short-term costs. If you care about the history of technology, in fact, you should be thankful that people copy software without permission.

It may seem counterintuitive, but piracy has actually saved more software than it has destroyed. Already, pirates have spared tens of thousands of programs from extinction, proving themselves the unintentional stewards of our digital culture.

Software pirates promote data survival through ubiquity and media independence. Like an ant that works as part of a larger system it doesn’t understand, the selfish action of each digital pirate, when taken in aggregate, has created a vast web of redundant data that ensures many digital works will live on.

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The Many Types of Facebookers [Humorous Comic]

Asian Angel — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:30:03 GMT

Which type are you?

Types Of Facebookers [via Geeks are Sexy]

Quick Digital Makeup Tips To Make Yourself Look Ten Years Younger

How To Extend Your Wireless Network with Tomato-Powered Routers

Stupid Geek Tricks: Change Your IP Address From the Command Prompt

Satellite Image Captures North American in 8,000 Pixels [Astronomy]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:00:49 GMT

If you’re looking for a new wallpaper this ultra-high resolution image of the Earth’s surface spans a whopping 8,000 by 8,000 pixels.

Courtesy of NASA and the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), the image provides an intimate look at North America. Although this image is floating around the internet with the claim attached that it is the highest resolution image of Earth ever taken, that’s simply untrue. The Los Angeles Times explains:

Some media outlets have reported that the image is the largest image ever made of our planet, but Norman Kuring, the NASA oceanographer who actually made the image, told The Times that simply is not true.

“I’m surprised that it’s gone viral,” he said. “I think what’s happening in the general public is seeing a larger image than they are used to seeing, but there have been higher sensing instruments around for a number of years.”

Kuring explained that this particular image was made using data collected by the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite, which is on a satellite flying 512 miles above the Earth. VIIRS is not really a camera — rather it has a scanning telescope that measures the difference between the amount of light coming down to the surface of Earth from the sun as compared to the amount of light that is reflected back to the telescope. Kuring made the image above by running code that translates that data into an image.

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Friday Fun: Swarm Control

Asian Angel — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:00:48 GMT

In this week’s game you take control of aerial armies as the war between bees and bears elevates to the next (and final) level. Can you lead the bee armies to victory over their enemies and ensure that bee civilization, not bears, will dominate the land?

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Stupid Geek Tricks: Change Your IP Address From the Command Prompt

Install Linux Mint’s New Cinnamon Desktop on Ubuntu

Chris Hoffman — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:00:22 GMT

Tired of Ubuntu’s Unity desktop environment? Try Cinnamon, the latest desktop environment from Linux Mint. Cinnamon offers a more traditional, GNOME 2-like layout, but it’s based on the modern GNOME Shell — and you can install it on Ubuntu.

One day, Cinnamon will be Linux Mint’s default desktop environment. It’s forked from GNOME Shell instead of being based on GNOME 2, so it can take advantage of modern technologies and shed GNOME 2’s outdated software.

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How to Use Multiple Headers and Footers in a Single Document

Taylor Gibb — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:00:11 GMT

There is no option in Word 2010 that allows you to use a different header and footer for different sections in a document. The trick is to use section breaks and unlink the header and footer respectively–this allows you to set them as you are creating the document.

For demonstration purposes we have a document with a plain text header as well as a plain text footer which both say How-To Geek.

This is awesome but i want a different header and footer on the next page saying my name. Now we could use the option which allows for different headers and footers on odd and even pages, however we also want a different header on the third page saying @howtogeek (which is our twitter handle). The only way to achieve this is to use section breaks. So place your cursor at the end of the first page and switch to the page layout tab.

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From The Tips Box: Download All Your Facebook Data, Inifinite Apps in iOS Folders, and Checking Web-App Permissions

Jason Fitzpatrick — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:00:00 GMT

Once a week we round up some of the great tips that flow into the HTG tips box and share them with the greater readership. This week we’re talking about downloading your Facebook data for easy wall searching, packing lots of apps into iOS folders, and keeping tabs on web apps that can access your private data.

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When Larry met Sergey – A Slideshow Infographic

Asian Angel — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 20:30:37 GMT

Enjoy watching a slideshow that shares the story of Larry and Sergey’s beginnings together and the building of the company known as Google.

Here is a preview of one of the slides from later in the slideshow…

Note: You can even see how they look (hair and clothing styles) change throughout the slideshow as well.

Watch the slideshow by visiting the link below. Keep in mind that it may take a few moments to finish loading. Make sure to watch for the interactive elements that will display additional information at different points in the slideshow!

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Star Wars Uncut: The Director’s Cut [Video]

Asian Angel — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:00:43 GMT

Starting in 2009, Casey Pugh asked people to submit 15 second long recreations of their favorite scenes from the original Star Wars movie done in whatever manner they liked. Now after 2+ years in the making, this creative crowd-sourced version using the best scenes submitted is finally available for viewing in its full-length glory.

Star Wars Uncut: Director’s Cut [via Geeks are Sexy]

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Geek Trivia: Which Operating System Bestows Animal Code Names On All Releases?

Jason Fitzpatrick — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:37:34 GMT

Which Operating System Bestows Animal Code Names On All Releases?

1) Ubuntu
2) Unix
3) Windows
4) Mac OS

Think you know the answer?

Recycle an Old Digital Camera Into a Night Light

Jason Fitzpatrick — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:00:44 GMT

If you’re looking for a clever way to recycle an old camera, this simple hack turns the camera housing into a night light.

Photography Laura Merz took an old Kodak digicam and hacked apart the guts for some stylish night-time illumination. She writes:

I took out all the tiny screws and gutted the camera very carefully as to not crack the exterior case. Be careful — some of the parts are pretty sharp. Removing the lens is the last step, and allows you to insert a small round night light through the opening. I had to crack off the exterior casing on the night light, but with a little force, it snapped right off.

Inserting the light right into the body of the camera is a clever way to have to avoid any heavy rewiring.

[via Petapixel]

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Fix a Worn Out Game Controller with Aluminum Foil

Jason Fitzpatrick — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:07:30 GMT

If you’ve logged so many hours playing Call of Duty you’ve worn out the buttons on your controller, don’t blow your money on a new one–repair it with this simple hack.

The majority of game controllers, remote controls, and other devices with push-buttons use a simple rubber conductive pad beneath the button to form a contact with the circuitry of the controller. When that pad wears out, the button either needs to be pressed too firmly for comfortable play or it can’t be effectively pressed at all. Viktor, a tinker with a bent for economical solutions, wanted to repair his Xbox 360 control on the cheap. He did so by using nothing more than a torx screw driver (to open the controller body) and some supplies from his kitchen and office (like a paper punch, tape, and aluminum foil). In the photo above you can see how he simply punched new contact points out of the aluminum foil and attached them to the backs of the buttons with two-sided tape. Now when the button depresses, a solid contact is made between the circuit and the conductive material on the back of the button.

Hit up the link below for a detailed walk through of the technique.

Fixing a Worn Out Remote Control [via Hacked Gadgets]

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Adaptception [Humorous Image]

Asian Angel — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:30:21 GMT

We need to adapt deeper…

Adaptception [via MakeUseOf]

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Mario Is Too Mainstream [Video]

Jason Fitzpatrick — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:00:51 GMT

Jumping around, stomping squat bad guys, rescuing maidens–it’s all in a day’s work for members of the jumping platformer club.

For the curious, the characters that make an appearance are Super Mario, Tim (from Braid), Shadow Boy (from Limbo), and Meat Boy (from Super Meat Boy).

[via Dorkly]

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Quick Digital Makeup Tips To Make Yourself Look Ten Years Younger

Eric Z Goodnight — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:00:00 GMT

It may not be a fountain of youth, but Photoshop is the secret of beauty experts everywhere. Here’s some tips on how to reduce wrinkles and make the people in your pictures look younger in virtually no time at all.

Whatever you might think about using photo editors to create an unrealistic standard of beauty, the fact remains is that it’s done every day by professional image editors. And today we’re going to show you some tricks that even the pros use to keep models looking young. So open up Photoshop or GIMP and get ready to take some years off. Keep reading!

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How to Optimize Safari for Maximum Privacy

Chris Hoffman — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 11:00:50 GMT

Apple’s Safari browser can defend against tracking by advertisers, ask websites not to track you and prevent insecure transmission of important data, but not all of these features are enabled by default.

Safari doesn’t contain as many privacy-concerning features as Internet Explorer and Google Chrome, but there are still a few options you might want to tweak.

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How to Make Programs Start Automatically in Linux Mint 12

Taylor Gibb — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:00:41 GMT

In Windows we have the Startup folder where we can easily place a shortcut to a program that we want to launch automatically. In Linux Mint there is a way easier way to manage startup applications–here’s how to do it.

Note: Since this is just for demonstration purposes I will be setting VLC Media Player to start automatically. However, this will work with any application.

The first thing you are going to want to do is click on the Applications menu, then select Other and launch “Startup Applications”

You will now be able to see the applications that are set to startup

Go ahead and click on the Add button

Give your startup item a name, I will just call mine VLC

Now click on the browse button and navigate to where your application is installed. For most applications this is at:

File System > usr > bin

Now select your application and click on the open button

Now click on the add button

Your application is now set to startup automatically

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