Joel Stein’s cover piece for TIME this week is about online data mining—how marketing companies know so much about you just by simply tracking your web surfing habits. It’s an interesting and/or terrifying read, depending upon your disposition. Whatever the case, there are several quick and easy steps you can take to prevent your …
How-To
How to Back Up Gmail
Did you hear the news? Gmail crashed in a fiery inferno of power cords and Ethernet cables over the weekend (we can assume, based on reports).
The damage was monstrous—with a whopping 0.02% of all Gmail users affected. Maybe monstrous isn’t the right term, but why would the media make it into such a big story if it wasn’t monstrous? …
Two Minute Video: Quick and Simple TV Buying Tips
Let’s buy a new TV this holiday season—you and me. I need a new one desperately. But there are so many options: How big of a screen do you need? 720p or 1080p? Plasma, LCD, or LED?
Here are a few simple tricks for sorting everything out.
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How to Get Music Files Back After Updating Your iPhone
Apple’s recent iOS 4.2 software update has seemingly wiped out entire music collections for certain users. Not to worry, your music hasn’t been deleted. Here’s how to get it back.
1. Connect your iPhone to your computer and open up iTunes.
2. Under the DEVICES heading, click iPhone > Music.
3. Double-click one of the available …
Two Minute Video: Windows Phone 7 Tips and Tricks
Here’s a quick look at some tricks you can do with your new Windows Phone 7 device. Aside from the tips contained in the above video, check these ones out as well for some additional functionality.
Quickly delete multiple e-mails
Tap the left-hand edge of any message in your inbox to expose checkboxes next to all your messages. Check
…
Two Minute Video: Quick and Easy Tricks for Using Twitter on Your Phone
This whole Twitter thing might… just… catch… on. Did you know you can handle a lot of Twitter functions simply by sending text messages?
It’s a great way to quickly update your status, send messages to other users, and pull up stats without waiting for a big graphics- and data-intensive app to load on your phone. Here’s a look …
How to Free Up Space in Gmail
If you find yourself running low on storage space inside Gmail, Lifehacker has a good piece on a service called Find Big Mail. The service basically hooks into your Gmail account and creates three new folders in your inbox: My Big Mail, My Really Big Mail, and My Ultra Big Mail. You can then scour the messages in those folders and delete …
Two Minute Video: Quick and Easy Facebook Tricks
This whole Facebook thing might… just… catch… on. Until it does, here are a few simple tips and tricks you can use while you wait for the rest of your friends to join. I’ll show you how to make sure nobody but your actual friends can see what you’re up to, how to block your boss from seeing all your work-related complaints, how to …
Two Minute Video: 10 Simple Gmail Tricks
Plenty of people use Gmail without really leveraging some of the more advanced features. Here’s a quick list of 10 useful tricks that don’t require any advanced hacking or wizardry. Enjoy.
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How to Quickly Tune Up Your PC
There are thousands upon thousands of step-by-step guides that’ll show you how to de-gunk your PC in the event of system slowdowns, crashes, and viruses. This one’s built for speed and can be done on a semi-regular basis if you just want to tidy things up a bit.
You’ll need to download, install, and run these three programs in this …