Category: Tech Tips

Put an end to those nagging yellow Tool Tip boxes that pop up whenever you hover over a hyperlink in your browser. Mac OS X Tips revealed this godsend for Mac users: Close Safari, then open Terminal (in Utilities) and type: defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitShowsURLsInToolTips 0 Restart your computer. To restore Tool Tips, go back to Terminal and substitute a 1 for the ...

Earn the gratitude of pine forests and beleaguered postal carriers the world over by signing up to receive electronic catalogs instead of paper ones. CatalogChoice.org is a godsend in that you can quickly and easily sign up. When you enter the customer data from the address labels of catalogs you receive, you'll get the option of either signing up for an iCatalog or just canceling delivery ...

Other than jailbreaking it or using e-mail, the iPhone offers no built-in way to accept non-media files, even ones that it's able to display (like PDFs and Office files, among others). There are a few iPhone apps, however, that help. AirSharing is a nifty app that lets you wirelessly mount your iPhone on your computer (Mac, PC, or Linux) like a network drive. From there, you simply drag and ...

If your plasma HDTV has burn-in -- a permanent image on the screen that won't fade -- all is not lost. Unplug your video source, turn on the TV so that "snow" (or fuzz) appears, leave it on for 15 minutes, and then plug in your video source to see if the burn-in is fixed. If your screen automatically goes black (won't show snow), plug your plasma into your PC. There, go to JScreenFix.com for a ...

All is not necessarily lost if your cell phone ends up in the drink. If your phone gets doused, do the following as quickly as possible: First off, do not try to turn on the phone if it's already off, or if it's acting funky. Pop out the battery. Dry off the outside as much as possible. Some sources recommend not shaking the phone, as that can actually cause water to travel inside the ...

If you're the type to spawn tons of new tabs or windows in a browser rather than use the previous/next page buttons, there's a quick way to toggle through them using keyboard commands. To toggle between several open Web browser windows: Command (which is the Apple key) + ` (the one just below the Esc button) To toggle between several open tabs in a Web browser's window: Control + Tab ...

You might not know it, but Apple regularly posts free downloads in the iTunes music store. Rather than hunt through iTunes' vast library to find the freebies, hit up Free iTunes Downloads for a constantly updated list of free music, movies, videos, and TV shows. Each post features the iTunes description in a blog format and includes a direct link to the download. ...

If you're the road-warrior type, or a student or freelancer who spends a lot of time at the local library or Starbucks, it's essential to lock down your laptop with a strong password. All it takes is a second for a thief to jack your laptop, gain access to your e-mail, photos, and contacts, and potentially even find the login info to all the sites that house your sensitive personal info. At a ...

If you've suffered a hard drive meltdown, or simply like a friend's photos and want them for yourself, you can either spend the rest of your life downloading them one at a time, or make use of the many Flickr software hacks out there. Two free versions that work particularly well are Flickrdown for Windows and Photo Grabbr for Mac; both let you easily locate photo sets by user name, and then ...

Other than adding as much RAM as possible, a quick, relatively cheap way to gain noticeably better performance from your aging PC is to upgrade the hard drive to a faster model. The faster a hard drive spins (measured in revolutions per minute or rpm), the more quickly it can access data and pass it back and forth to the processor. For desktop computers, you should get at least a 7,200 rpm ...

Rather than sell or recycle your old cell phone (or throw away, God forbid!), consider donating it to one of the many charitable organizations that put them to good use. Hit charityguide.org for a list and description of places that accept used cell phones. And as always, make sure to delete all personal information from your phone before putting it in the mail (including the memory card). ...

If you need the content of a Web page but can't be bothered to cut and paste text, or want to memorialize your amazing word stack on Bananagrams, use your iPhone's built-in ability to take screenshots. Hold down the Home button, and then press and release the Sleep button (on top). Once you hear the familiar shutter sound effect, you'll be able to access your new snaps in your Photos collection. ...

When requiring a stable camera for tricky subjects, the resourceful (or broke) photographer needs no more than an eye-hook bolt, a nut, and a simple piece of string to construct a makeshift monopod. All you'll need is a 1/4-20 eye hook, a 1/4-20 nut, and a length of string that is about your height. First, screw the nut halfway up the bolt, tie or loop the string to the eye hook, and then screw ...

If you aren't willing to donate old electronics to a non-profit organization, and don't feel like going through the hassle of haggling with buyers on eBay, try one of these services: Gazelle.com (formerly Second Rotation) lets you input the condition of and details about your electronics. Then, based on current auction market prices, it makes you an offer. If you accept, administrators will ...

If you've spent any length of time with a Windows machine, you've heard the term "registry" bandied about -- usually accompanied with curse words. The registry is often the starting point of conflicts that bollock up your PC, so cleaning it out is something that will make your world a much happier place. Now, messing with the registry can utterly and permanently destroy your PC, so you are warned ...