customization

How to skip through corporate phone trees with GetHuman

If you've ever needed to resolve a simple billing question or handle anything other than signing up for a new service, you know that you need to block out time to navigate the phone trees or other obstacles corporations throw in your way. Customer service costs them money, and the more issues they can resolve without paying a human representative, the better for their bottom line. When we need to reach someone, though, this can mean interminable waiting and frustration. GetHuman is a Web service designed to help you get the assistance you need quickly. Here's how to … Read more

PlayStation's mobile, multiscreen push

Tuesday's top tech headlines are formatted to fit your second screen:

At the Gamescom conference in Germany, Sony announced several new PlayStation games and new methods for playing. Sony talked more about PlayStation Mobile for Android devices, but we still don't know exactly when it'll hit the market or how many games will launch in the store.

And there are some perks for those that own both a PS Vita and the PS3. For one price, you can get a game for both systems, starting with "PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale," "Sly Cooper: Thieves in … Read more

Google+ launches vanity URLs, catching up to Facebook, Twitter

Both Twitter and Facebook have offered vanity URLs personalized to users' accounts for years -- something that has been glaringly vacant in Google Plus' URLs. But, that's about to change.

Google's social network announced today that vanity URLs for profiles and pages are on their way. It has even begun rolling out a few for celebrities, like soccer player David Beckham and pop singer Britney Spears, along with brands like Toyota, Delta, and Hugo Boss.

Here's what Google product manager Saurabh Sharma wrote in a blog post today:

Your Google+ profile is a place for you to … Read more

The 404 1,107: Where we're all friends with Gems (podcast)

- What artists and songs were found on John Lennon's long lost jukebox?

- Ultimate Ears' custom tuned in-ear monitors.

- Condav99's custom Nintendo Boomcase! More on Boomcases here.

- Can a tiny $39 amp make your headphones sound a lot better?

- The Audiophiliac picks 11 of the world's best headphones.

- The Philips Shoqbox is our favorite camp-friendly, rugged Bluetooth speaker.

- Self-portraits done to a different drug every day.

Follow Steve Sphere Guttenberg on Twitter.

Bathroom break video: Steve Coogan impersonates Steve Hawking.… Read more

Apple Store employee rescues woman from alleged kidnapper

It must have been quite a surreal scene.

A woman in Louisville, Ky., claims that last Saturday she arranged a date with a man, who arrived at her door and pointed a gun at her leg.

He then allegedly forced her to drive around to several stores, in order to buy cell phones in her own name, with her own money.

According to WDRB News, one of those stores was an Apple Store in Oxmoor Mall.

Somehow -- it's unclear how -- her puported kidnapper, named as Victor A. Sarver Jr., 32, was sufficiently negligent to allow the unnamed … Read more

Foursquare aims to turn a buck with 'Promoted Updates'

Foursquare has taken off the kid gloves and is ready to start making money. After rolling out "Local Updates" last week, letting any merchant allure potential nearby customers by sending out status updates, it launched "Promoted Updates" today.

Promoted Updates, which is still in pilot, takes the idea of Local Updates up a notch. Rather than being available to any merchant using the check-in service, Promoted Updates is only for those merchants willing to pay Foursquare on a "cost per action" model, according to TechCrunch. While in pilot, there are roughly 20 participating companies, … Read more

Five great tips to get you started with the Nexus 7

Getting started with the Nexus 7 can be a bit daunting if it's your first tablet, or if you're not familiar with Android. But, that's why we're here. We have rounded up the best Nexus 7 tips and tricks to help get you started with your latest tech addiction.

Customizing the Nexus 7 The first thing you're going to want to do is personalize and customize your Nexus 7. Donald Bell came through with a great video full of Nexus 7 tips and tricks. You will be shown how to change widgets, the wallpaper, or … Read more

Facehugger corset just wants to cuddle your midsection

Few science fiction creatures are as misunderstood as the Facehugger monster from the "Alien" movies. It really just wants to hug your head and impregnate you with its horrific offspring. What's so wrong about that?

You can show your sensitivity to the plight of the Facehugger with a custom corset from prop and costume maker Rage Custom Creations. The Facehugger corset misses the face mark a little bit, but makes up for it by lovingly grasping your midsection and chest.… Read more

The Boundary B404, a high-end outdoor speaker

Outdoor speakers are a little out of my area of expertise, and most of the ones I've seen at shows look like plastic rocks. Leon Speakers' Boundary B404 is definitely a big step up from those sorts of things.

The B404 sports a gorgeous solid mahogany cabinet inspired by Chris Craft's classic Thunderbird boats. Right now there's just one model in the Boundary line, the B404.… Read more

The iPad has revolutionized the NFL

As players line up across imaginary lines, eyeballing their opponents, wrapped in armor, capped by helmets, and ready to smash into each other with ferocious abandon, it becomes difficult to imagine that this heathen-esque sport, a staple of American athletic fandom, has been completely revolutionized by touch screens.

Specifically, it is Apple's iPad that has changed the way the NFL handles its mental component.

As Jeff Darlington explains on NFL.com, the process by which information is obtained by players and coaches will never be the same. … Read more