tricks

As just about everyone knows by now, President Obama got the entire Internet in a tizzy this morning by seemingly mixing up "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" references and trying to pass them off as a clever "Star Wars" line.

It's been much reported that, speaking about his negotiations with Republicans over budget reform, he complained that he can't perform a "Jedi mind meld." Cue a million anguished Twitter users in outrage, jokingly insisting on impeaching the president over his inability to remember that the line is actually "Jedi … Read more

When I first read Rafe Needleman's tweet where he encouraged his iPhone to dance, I shrugged it off. Then I clicked on the cycloramic.com link in the tweet and watched one of the videos posted on the site. I shook my head in disbelief as I watched an iPhone 5 spin in a circle -- hands-free -- while standing on end. I was convinced there had to be some sort of special effects or movie magic going on. Obviously this was a prank. Right?

Boy was I wrong. So I followed the link to the App Store, forked … Read more

Do you have a workplace or have to communicate with one that is still using an older format of Microsoft Office from 1997-2003? Well, if you spend a lot of time writing, sharing, or collaborating on documents through Google Docs, you're probably aware that Google has discontinued support for these older formats.

You could try to encourage your workplace to upgrade its software, but that's probably not the most realistic or speedy option. Thankfully, there are a few options for dealing with this formatting change.

Save your documents in any format and use an online converter. … Read more

You can add bookmarks, favicons to the toolbar, or just type the Web address to get to your favorite Web site. But what if you want something even faster? Evidently the development team behind Google Chrome feels the same way.

Thankfully, the process is very simple: just navigate to a Web site you want extra-fast access to, and then click the wrench icon near the top right-hand corner of the Chrome window. From there, pick Tools and then select Create application shortcuts.

In the pop-up window that appears, pick the places you'd like to have a shortcut for the … Read more

If you're like me, you enjoy doing things faster. Using keyboard shortcuts can help you spend less time looking for buttons or menus, and more time enjoying music and videos. So take a moment to become a more efficient by reading over these VLC shortcuts:

Space: toggle pause/play

F: toggle full-screen (you can also use Esc to leave full-screen mode)

Z: change zoom mode

Ctrl + Up / Down: Adjust volume up/down (you can also use mouse scroll wheel for this)

M: toggle mute

T: display time remaining/elapsed

+ / -: play media faster/slower

S: … Read more

Pin It

If Tumblr and StumbleUpon had a baby, they would likely give birth to Pinterest.

The new social networking site, which lets you grab things--photos, videos, and blog posts--from around the Web and "Pin" them, is quickly claiming the social lives of Internet users.

Aside from being a fun and effective way to discover new content on the Web, Pinterest might eventually replace traditional bookmarks, as the site offers a more attractive, visual way to scrapbook stuff you find on the Net.

And men, you're welcomed, too. Although the cutesy-looking Web site is attracting mostly females, … Read more

LAS VEGAS--If you don't know what a Thunderbolt drive is, and most importantly, how vulnerable your data can be, IoSafe wants to sear that in your mind.

Following its tradition of the last three CES shows, (and as I predicted prior to CES 2012), the maker of disaster-proof hard drives pulled off a spectacular show this year to unveil its Rugged Portable Thunderbolt drive. This time the demo came with a little twist.

The new drive itself is very similar to the previous USB 3.0 Rugged Portable that was introduced at last year's demo--and shot with shotguns. … Read more

You've opened the box, charged the battery, and oohed and aahed over your shiny new toy. Now what?

Scan your manual No, you don't have to read the whole thing, just the important stuff. In the beginning somewhere there will be a diagram showing you the parts of the camera. That's the really important stuff. Then turn to the index, providing the manual has one (there are some utterly heinous examples of manualcraft that don't include an index); if there isn't, use the table of contents instead. Run down the index or TOC, and look at the page in the manual for every term you don't understand. … Read more

Managing your photos--a lot easier than you think.

What a surprising number of people don't realize is that every device these days pops up as a drive on your system, and that you can drag and drop your files onto your computer--even your phone. (And to those of you saying "everybody knows that already!" trust me; they don't.)

Commit to downloading First, you have to make the decision--and stick to it--that you'll download (or upload) all your photos and videos within a day or so of taking them. It's a good idea to get … Read more