Computers and hardware posts - How To- Page 58

How to protect your Android on public Wi-Fi

Update, Wednesday at 11:45 a.m. PT: Google has issued a fix that forces the affected Google apps to connect via the secure protocol HTTPS. As long as you update your apps when the fix is pushed out, this public Wi-Fi vulnerability won't affect you. Until then, it's best to use public Wi-Fi with extreme caution or follow the instructions below.

Android phones and tablets running version 2.3.3 and earlier suffer from a calendar and contact information vulnerability on public Wi-Fi networks, according to a new report. However, there are some concrete steps you can take to protect yourself.

Here's how it works. The vulnerability is in the ClientLogin Protocol API, which streamlines how the Google app talks to Google's servers. Applications request access by sending an account name and password via secure connection, and the access is valid for up to two weeks. If the authentication is sent over unencrypted HTTP, an attacker could use network-sniffing software to steal it over a legitimate public network, or spoof the network entirely using a public network with a common name, such as "airport" or "library." While this won't work in Android 2.3.4 or above, including Honeycomb 3.0, that only covers 1 percent of in-use devices.

Of course, the safest solution is to avoid using public, unencrypted Wi-Fi networks by switching to mobile 3G and 4G networks whenever possible. But that's not always an option, especially for Wi-Fi-only tablet owners or those on tight data plans. … Read more

How to wirelessly send pictures and video between iOS devices and your computer

Currently, if you want to transfer a picture or video from your iPhone to your iPad, Apple requires you to sync the video on your iPhone to your computer, then sync your iPad to your computer (moving the video from the computer to the iPad). The ability to exchange pictures between your iDevices and your computer wirelessly exists; we are going to show you where to find it and how to use it. Follow along!… Read more

How to create a BitTorrent personal content channel

BitTorrent 8, released last week in beta, contains a sharp new feature that makes it easier than ever to create torrents of your personal files and share them with a personal group of friends or colleagues. The feature implementation isn't expected to change by the time that BitTorrent 8 graduates to its final version, so this How To ought to be viable for some time.

Once you've installed BitTorrent 8 beta (download), take a quick tour of some of the public content channels that come with the program. This part isn't essential, however, it's worth seeing … Read more

How to jump-start a car

We've all been there at least once: you've left your headlights on overnight or spent too much time listening to music in your car and when you go to start 'er up, you get nothing. What you need is a jump-start. So, call a friend or flag down a neighbor, because I'm going to show you how to do it.

What you'll need:

your disabled car with a drained battery a donor car with a charged battery jumper cables insulating gloves (optional) eye protection (optional)

Step 1: Note the orientation of the cars' batteries in the … Read more

How to bulk download attached files from Web mail

Web mail services like Hotmail and Gmail are powerful and convenient, but one issue that can stress out heavy users is keeping track of attachments. You may be bumping up against storage limitations, shutting down an old address, or reorganizing files to a single offline location, but it can be a daunting grind without some way to download files in bulk. Windows users can use a free customizable program that makes it simple. Here's how to use it:

Download, install, and run the free Mail Attachment Downloader (MAD) software.Enter an e-mail address and password (you can use as … Read more

How to e-mail attached files to Dropbox

Once you've settled in with Dropbox (and convinced all your friends to do the same to boost your space), it doesn't take long before you're wishing for a simple e-mail-to-Dropbox function. Maybe you're at work, maybe your phone doesn't yet support the mobile Dropbox app, or maybe you have friends who want to send files straight to your shared folders. With a quick 10-15 minute investment, you can set up a dedicated email address that sends attachments straight to the Dropbox folder of your choice. Here's how:

Get a Dropbox account, if you haven'… Read more

How to access hidden files to restore in Time Machine

The filesystem in OS X is relatively clean by default when viewed through the Finder. The only folders you see are the system folder, applications folder, user home directories, and a few others that might be useful when configuring the system for your needs. In reality there are a number of hidden files and folders that help govern the behavior of OS X, and occasionally when configuring software packages you have to interact with these items.

Recently in the Apple Support Communities forum user "uwes98" had difficulties after uninstalling the technical computing application Matlab and removing the hidden &… Read more

How to create an external boot disk in OS X

One of the convenient features in early versions of Windows (yes, Windows) was the ability to easily create an MS-DOS boot disk out of any floppy disk, which could then be used to troubleshoot certain problems with the system. Given how difficult it was to load and reload operating systems, this type of feature came in rather handy, but while current operating systems can be loaded and configured much easier, having an alterate boot source is just as important (if not more so) to have around.

In OS X creating an alternate boot device can easily be done, with no … Read more

How to upgrade a Mac's hard drive

There are a couple of reasons--besides replacing a broken drive--why you might consider swapping out your Mac's hard drive. One is to increase your available storage capacity, and another is to better the performance of your drive. While most Macs ship with 500GB to 1TB drives that should be adequate for most home purposes, you can now get up to 3TB of data on a single drive, and the standard 7,200rpm mechanical drive crawls in comparison to the performance of some SSD drives these days.

Generally if you are just looking to increase the storage capacity of your … Read more

How to stream Amazon Cloud Player music on iOS devices

iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users can now access Amazon's new Cloud Player on their mobile gadgets, bypassing the initial lack of support for Apple iDevices. It doesn't work flawlessly, but if you follow the instructions detailed below, you'll be streaming cloud music to your iPhone in no time.

Unveiled late March, Amazon's cloud-based music player lets you play music purchased and downloaded from Amazon or uploaded from your own local music collection, providing a way to retrieve your various music libraries online.

Technically speaking, the Cloud Player is geared toward PC and Mac users as … Read more