Everything Else
How To: 5 Must-Know Tips for Not Getting Scammed on Craigslist When Buying or Selling
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—Craigslist is also one of the most convenient places to buy and sell pretty much anything you can think of. I've used it to buy my bed, my old bike (which was stolen!), and my couch. And while Craigslist is great in many ways...
How To: 10 Cool Tricks and Secret Features That Make YouTube Even Better
YouTube is the third most popular website in the world, after Google and Facebook. Millions of subscriptions happen each day on YouTube, with over 800 million unique users visiting each month. In that timespan, roughly 4 billion hours of video are watched, with 72 hours of video uploaded every single minute.
How To: Convert Your 6 Second Vine Videos into Animated GIFs
I recently wrote about Twitter's super now app called Vine, which lets people create 6 second video clips that can be embedded in a tweet. Those videos have their own proprietary extension, but if you want to turn those 6 second videos into an animated GIF, you can now do so thanks to developer Esten Hurtle, who created VineGifR, a seamless way to transform your (or someone else's) Vine movies into GIFs.
How To: Filter Profanity, Bad Grammar, and Other Undesirable Comments on YouTube with Comment Snob
YouTube is home to some of the most vile commenters on the internet—completely void of literacy, accuracy of facts, respect, and goodness in general. Known to many as the cesspool of the internet, the YouTube comment board can be a tough place for a person who's not accustomed to hostility on the web. "Tracking my cookies? They will never get my recipe!"
How To: Share Your Links More Securely Using These Temporary, Self-Destructing Short URLs
We share links on an almost daily basis, usually not even thinking twice about it. Whether you're sending a funny cat video to your sister, or letting your coworker know where to go to download relevant files, there are plenty of reasons you might be giving someone a URL.
How To: Short Attention Span? Use These Browser Plugins and Mobile Apps to Summarize Long News Articles
Our attention spans have vastly shortened thanks to the Internet and our subsequent procurement of information from it at a rapid pace. It's tough to pay attention to something for a good amount of time, unless it's ridiculously interesting and stimulating. It's gotten so bad for me that I keep checking my phone every ten minutes—I even did it during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises.
How To: Twitter's New Vine App Lets You Embed GIF-Style Videos into Your Tweets
I can't say that I'm a huge Tweeter, but I'm definitely a good follower. Having the ability to follow comedians, brands, and athletes helps me stay up to date on the things I'm interested in, and I appreciate being thrown a good joke every now and then.
How To: Download Your Twitter Archive for Every Single Tweet You've Ever Sent
A few weeks ago, Twitter announced that they would be creating an archive feature for its members, which they've been slowly rolling out to select users. After signing in today, I noticed the feature was finally available for my account, so I went to test it out.
How To: Know If Someone Is Blocking You on Google Talk
I can certainly say that I don't like be ignored, and you're probably right there with me on that. Also, if you're like me, you don't like being blocked on an instant messenger, either. There's something about being shafted like that that can really cramp your style.
How To: Automatically Delete Stored Site Cookies When You Close a Webpage in Firefox
As with most things on the Internet, browser cookies can be either helpful or harmful, depending on how they're used. On one hand, they make your experience more convenient by storing information about sites you use frequently. On the other, they can help companies track you across the web or cause your computer to be more vulnerable to attacks on public networks.
How To: See Who Has Viewed Your LinkedIn Profile Without Paying
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, pushing the company towards a business-first, users-second approach.
How To: 6 Ways to Access Members-Only Websites and Forums Without Giving Up Your Real Info
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 this because a lot of these sites either spam you themselves, or sell your information to someone else who will.
How To: Reveal Saved Website Passwords in Chrome and Firefox with This Simple Browser Hack
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.
How To: Facebook Adds Voxer-Like Voice Chats to Their Mobile Messenger Apps (VoIP Coming Soon!)
Facebook has been revamping its Messenger apps these past few months, trying to lure in more users. Competing in an already crowded market of third-party messaging applications, Facebook Messenger just upped the ante, by introducing voice messaging.
The Ultimate Facebook Prank: How To "Kill" Your Friends on Facebook by Faking Their Deaths
It only takes a minute for something well intentioned to turn into something sinister. Facebook created 'memorial pages' as way for friends and family to share their thoughts and feelings for those that are no longer with us.
How To: Grant Other People Access to Your Gmail Account Without Sharing Your Password
Whether it's because you have no access to the internet or because you're simply on vacation, having someone else check your emails may be a possibility. You can give them your password and screen name, but that's never a good thing. Giving out your password to anyone, even someone you trust, is not something that I would ever suggest for two reasons:
How To: Hack a Skype Password
Skype is a great way to stay in contact with friends and family over the internet, and people tend to share a lot in their chats, so why not try and find a way to hack it! Once a Skype account is hacked, you can view all conversations within the last three months, see how long each video call was, and even access files that were shared through chat.
How To: Find Out Who Doesn't Like You Anymore on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Twitter
Offensive pictures, depressing tweets, political statuses, and just plain old dumb comments are only a few of the reasons why people unfriend or unfollow others on social media sites. Sometimes it's just social spring cleaning, other times there's no reason at all.
How To: Speed Up Firefox Using the About:Config Menu
Firefox's hidden advanced menu gives you several ways to tweak the way it works under the hood. Here are a set of settings to change to get it to browse faster than ever.
How To: Get Split-Screen Browser Windows in Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer
For anyone who uses computers regularly, the screen can become cluttered with different windows, tabs, and applications in no time. One solution to that mess is dual monitors, which allow users to be more organized and divide their work into two halves. The problem is that not everyone is fortunate enough to have access to more than one monitor.
How To: Easily Transfer All of Your Instagram Photos Over to Flickr
It's been a rough week for Instagram. First they came out with a new terms of service that suggested the right to let companies use people's photos for advertisements without the user's permission. Then everyone started freaking out and debating whether or not to leave the online photo-sharing and social networking service. Now, they've changed the controversial wording saying that the selling of user photos "is not true and it is our mistake that this language is confusing".
How To: Get Unlimited Free Trial Subscriptions to Netflix, Spotify, and More Using Gmail
Free trials are a great way to test out products before a purchase, or simply for the exploitation of free stuff for that limited amount of time. Some trials last a few days and some last even a month or two, but no matter what—these trials will always expire. But like most things in life, there is a way to get around such limitations.
How To: Enable Google Chrome's Secret (And Possibly Dangerous) Experimental Features
I use Google Chrome every day for my browsing needs, and I had no idea they were hiding something from me. So, I was pretty surprised to see that Chrome has an entire hidden experimental add-ons section. There are add-ons that work for Mac, Windows, Linux, and Chrome OS, so there's something for everybody.
How To: 5 Alternative Apps to Instagram, Plus How to Back Up and Delete Your Instagram Account for Good
It might be time to move those Instagram photos to another service. It seems that Instagram has never heard of the phrase, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." In a very big WTF moment, the extremely popular photo sharing and editing app decided that it has the right to sell its users photos to third parties without pay or notice. Yep, you heard that right. That photo you took of your girlfriend laying out on the beach could be in the next stupid Corona commercial without your consent and witho...
How To: Improve the Facebook Photo Gallery for Advanced Stalking and Ogling
If you're a professional stalker like me, you know that scrolling the photo gallery on somebody's Facebook profile can take some time. In order to see the full-sized image of any one picture, you have to click on it, view it, and then return to the gallery. Anything that slows down the stalking process only enhances its inherent creepiness.
How To: Get Around Instagram's Twitter Ban Using an IFTTT Recipe
Last week, Instagram stopped supporting media Cards on Twitter, meaning that in order to view a full photo shared in a tweet, you have to click through to Instagram rather than seeing it on your Twitter feed. Otherwise, the photo will appear to be cropped.
How To: Delete All of Your Inactive or Unwanted Facebook "Friends" at the Same Time
Facebook makes it extremely easy to keep in touch with family and friends, while maintaining those relationships with little to no face-to-face contact. It's the perfect tool for recluses.
How To: Upload Your Photos to Instagram—Without an Android or Apple Device
Instagram allows us to vicariously live through others, experiencing their moments with them. It's an enormously popular application and has already garnered 100 million users, but it has only been made available for download on Android and Apple devices. Sure, there are third-party apps where you can browse, like, and comment on other people's Instagram photos—but they don't give you a way to upload your own pictures. So, what about all of the other people who want to share their lives, but ...
How To: Schedule Automatic Birthday Wishes for Your Facebook Friends
If you have a lot of friends on Facebook, chances are that every day is at least one of their birthdays. If you took the time to individually post a message every time, you'd spend ALL of your time on Facebook, but you don't want to be a bad friend either. Let's face it, some people take this stuff personally.
How To: Add Real-Time Twitter Results to Google Search in Chrome and Firefox
If you want to know the most up-to-date news on a trending topic, Twitter can be a great place to look since people generally tweet about things as they happen. It used to be easy to find Twitter results in Google Search, but after their deal expired last year, tweets are no longer included in search results.
How To: Find Photos by Exact Dimensions and 'Larger Than' Sizes in the New Google Image Search
Google recently changed the way we search online, and from what I can tell, I'm not the only person online just a little bit irritated with the new design.
How To: Change Facebook's Boring Blue Theme to Any Color You Want
Facebook has always been notoriously difficult to customize. Personally, I think this is an improvement over MySpace's totally open platform (some people should not use code), but users should still have the option to change a few things if they want. While you'll never be able to choose your own background image or add an obnoxious number of aWeSoMe quiz results to your profile, there are a few browser plugins that let you at least change the color scheme.
How To: Send Self-Destructing Spy Messages via Google Docs, Texts, and Private Links
There's really nothing safe about transmitting sensitive information electronically, but even if it gets there safely without being seen by prying eyes, there's no guarantee what happens to it once it reaches its destination. And let's face it, there are some things that you just don't want floating out there forever. So what can you do? Whether you want to send an email, a text, or a link, there are ways to send messages that self-destruct so that once they're read, they immediately vanish. ...
How To: Use Your Friends' Profile Pictures as Emoticons in Facebook Chat
By now, everyone on Facebook is pretty well-versed with emoticons. Some of them are as simple as :) while others like :putnam: are a bit more odd. And now you can have even stranger faces by turning your friend's profile pictures into an emoticon! It's not new, but even the best chatters out there don't know this one.
How To: Block Annoying Political Comments from Your Facebook and Replace Them with Cute Kittens
Election day is less than two weeks away and the political rhetoric is at an all time high. From the constant political commercials to the endless cable news coverage, it's hard to escape the noise. And nothing is worse than your social media sanctuaries being invaded by some clown's personal political insights.
How To: Send Encrypted Spy Messages Through Gmail on Google Chrome
Have a super secret spy communication you'd like to send out, but don't have the funds to hire your own trusted operatives to deliver the message? Then stick to what you're used to—email it. SafeGmail is a browser extension that allows you to send encrypted emails right through your regular Gmail account. While this may seem a bit unnecessary for most messages, encrypting your email can definitely be useful.
How To: Don't Be Duped by Malicious Short Links—Here's How You Verify the Destination URL Before Clicking
Link shorteners like TinyURL and Bitly are great for Twitter (or anytime you're limited on space), but they're also great for hackers. It's easy to hide a malicious link in an innocent-looking shortened URL, which increases the chances that people will click on it.
How To: Add Emoji to Facebook Comments Using Emoticons (& How to Disable Them)
For over three years, Facebook users have been able to clog up their Facebook chats with little pictures of smiley faces and red hearts, but now it has finally gone a step further...
How To: Don't Trust Cloud Security? Here's a Safer Local Alternative to Dropbox
Having all of your stuff in the cloud is super convenient if you want to access it on multiple devices, or if you want a backup in case it gets lost or wiped. The biggest downside with services like Dropbox, though, is security. With everything sitting there in one place, the last thing you want is for someone to break in.
How To: Disable Annoying Autoplay Media in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer
When you're at work or in class, there's nothing more annoying than sites that automatically play media. One minute you're happily distracting yourself, and the next, you're scrambling to hit pause while everyone stares at you. Not to mention now your boss knows you're slacking off.