tips

Not long ago, my uncle enlisted my help on a project he was conducting through the hospital where he works.

His task: to create a tutorial that would be used in an ongoing training course for other physicians. My uncle is a neonatalogist, chemist, and hobbyist beer brewer, but no video producer. Furthermore, there was little budget for his leg of the undertaking. He needed simple software to capture mouse movements on the computer screen--in the end, the freeware TipCam saw him through.

TipCam isn't the only screencast software out there, and it certainly isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. … Read more

Green and gadgets typically don't go together, but sustainability is a buzzword on everyone's lips these days, especially the phone makers. We now have handsets made from recycled materials, devices with built-in solar panels and energy-efficient power adapters.

But what can you do to reduce your carbon footprint? We round up 10 simple tips in our latest episode of Mobile Talk. If you haven't been considerate to the planet's woes, Earth Day's a good time to turn over a new leaf.

(Source: Crave Asia)

I suppose the "place the sub wherever" myth is based on the fact that low frequencies (80 Hertz or lower) are nondirectional, so it's hard to tell where in the room the deep bass is coming from. That's true, but that's not the same thing as disregarding subwoofer placement concerns altogether.

Some experts recommend always sticking the sub in the room's corner. I rarely do that, but corner placement will produce more bass at a given subwoofer volume setting. The corner's two walls and floor reflections "reinforce" bass output, so sure, the sub would have to work harder to generate the same amount of bass when it's not in a corner. But in my experience the bass is smoother (flatter) and better integrated with the speakers when the sub's placed next to a wall.

If your speakers are small, fewer than 10 inches high, with a 4-inch or smaller woofer, I recommend keeping the sub within 3 or 4 feet of the front left or right speaker. The logic here is that if the sub is much farther away it's easy to tell the bass is coming from the sub. The goal is to make the bass sound like it's coming from the speakers, not the sub.

Larger speakers, with 6-inch or larger woofers, make more bass on their own, so the sub is only responsible for delivering the deepest (nondirectional) bass. Sub placement options are greater for that reason, but the best possible bass sound still requires a little work on your part.

Some placement experimentation may be useful; play a CD with lots of deep bass and keep repeating the track as you move the sub to all of the visually acceptable locations in your listening room. Wireless subs simplify the task somewhat, but they always have at least some wires and need to be plugged into an AC power outlet. You'll be amazed just how different the bass will sound in different locations; some will be muddy, some will sound louder, and some will reduce the bass volume. The goal is to get the best balance of deep bass and still have mid and upper bass in equal proportions. … Read more

Windows automatic updates are a good thing. They keep your system patched, so you should probably leave the updater on. However, they can be annoying. The updater is always prompting you, or even automatically rebooting your system when you walk away for a moment. I'll show you how to turn off the automatic updates, only if you promise to manually keep up with the patches! We don't need another zombie-Windows-machine botnet out there.

Go to Windows Update by clicking the start button, choosing all programs, and then clicking Windows Update.

On the left side of the panel, click … Read more

Your iPhone and its apps can support typing in many different languages after changing a few simple settings. Launch the Settings app and then go to: General > Keyboard > International Keyboards.

Once there, turn on the foreign language keyboards you need and after that you use the small "globe" icon on the left side of the spacebar to rotate through the keyboards you selected.

In Mobile Safari after the keyboard you've chosen is displayed, you can press and hold the ".com" key. The iPhone will then display the most common top level domain names … Read more

You just can't swap out your iPhone battery whenever you feel like it, so it is important to know how to prolong its life. This week's tip will show you how.

I rummaged around inside my iPhone Atlas archives and I found an article I recommend that you read: Get the most out of your iPhone battery.

I wrote the post, which is still relevant, last summer with information in it that will help you to get the most life out of your iPhone battery.

This is particularly important for people that experienced poor battery performance after the … Read more

This week's tip will make you a faster typist on your iPhone. Rapidly select symbols from the iPhone virtual keyboard and return to typing letters in mere seconds.

If you are typing a note, e-mail, etc., you can rapidly add a period, comma, question mark, or other symbol by pressing and holding the 123 key. Then, without lifting your finger, slide it over to the character you need and let go. You'll get that character and find yourself back in letter mode on the virtual keyboard, where you can rapidly type out the rest of that sentence or … Read more

Here's a feature you'll like for capturing screenshots on your iPhone. You can use it to capture displayed error messages, images, or practically anything you see on your iPhone's screen.

Simply press the Home and Sleep/Wake buttons simultaneously and immediately release them. The screen will momentarily flash, and the iPhone's current screen contents will be saved to your Camera Roll.

Even more interesting is the fact that when the app or screen you are in supports the zoom feature you can simply zoom to the desired depth, then trigger a screen snapshot using the same … Read more

Many people using the Mac these day are recent converts from Windows, and may have developed an affinity for some of the interface features in Windows. One of these is the capability to maximize windows to full screen using the windows' maximize button; however, the analogous button in OS X performs a slightly different default function.… Read more