The Problem with Plugging into USB Ports [Image]

Do any of you experience this same level of frustration with your USB ports?

All the time…

Create a Keyboard Shortcut to Insert Your E-Mail Address

Create a Keyboard Shortcut to Insert Your E-Mail Address:

Tired of typing your e-mail address every time you log in, register for a site, fill out a form, and so on? Here's how to automate address insertion.

What Kind of Ethernet (Cat-5/e/6/a) Cable Should I Use?

Not all Ethernet cable is created equally. What’s the difference, and how do you know which you should use? Let’s look at the technical and physical differences in Ethernet cable categories to help us decide.

Ethernet cables are grouped into sequentially numbered categories (“cat”) based on different specifications; sometimes the category is updated with further clarification or testing standards (e.g. 5e, 6a). These categories are how we can easily know what type of cable we need for a specific application. Manufacturers are required to adhere to the standards which makes our lives easier.

What are the differences between the categories and how can you know when to use unshielded, shielded, stranded, or solid cable? Keep reading for “cat”-like enlightenment.

Source: What Kind of Ethernet (Cat-5/e/6/a) Cable Should I Use?

Death by Browser Toolbar Overload [Humorous Image]

How many times have we all seen and had to fix browsers like this?

All of the tool-bars in the world are on this computer… (Larger Version of the Image) [via Reddit]

Recipe: Black Bean And Heirloom Tomato Quinoa With Lemon Dressing Six Ingredients (and Salt)

Quinoa is the perfect vehicle for summer vegetables: it's more substantial than couscous or rice and it kind of binds ingredients together. This simple version involves minimal cooking: just toss hot quinoa with black beans, chunks of ripe heirloom tomatoes, and crunchy scallions, and cover with a refreshing lemon dressing.

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10 Free Money Saving Android Apps

Sometimes we all wish we could magically raise our own debt ceiling just like Congress did for our nation, but we can't. So here are 10 apps for Android users looking to save a few sheckles online and while out and about...

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Back to School: 42 Digital Resources for Students & Parents

It’s getting to be that time of year. Your chances of seeing school supply commercials have increased exponentially. Kids are breaking out last year’s Elmer’s in anticipation of glorious glue feasts. Teens are cramming their entire summer reading into the last week of August. Yep, it’s back to school time, folks.

One thing that makes back to school a tad less stressful? Tech, of course! What did you think we were going to say — studying? Pssssh.

Take a gander below at these tech tools, apps, social media and parenting tips that will ease you or your kid into another school year. Here are Mashable‘s best education-related posts from the past year! Enjoy, you teacher’s pet, you.

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Tech & Mobile Education Tools

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• 6 Reasons Tablets Are Ready for the Classroom
  
  If tablets have penetrated mainstream consumer markets, what’s preventing them from widespread use in schools?


• 100+ Online Resources That Are Transforming Education
  
  Most education innovation is centered around a short list of fundamental ideas. In this post we walk through nine clusters of education tech companies.


• 8 Educational Gadgets That Make Learning Fun
  
  Everyone knows that learning is more valuable when you’re having fun doing it. These great toys and games will keep your kids infotained for hours at a time.


• 5 Innovative Classroom Management Tools for Teachers
  
  Didn’t get into teaching for the administrative tasks? These five virtual tools can help you complete them more efficiently.


• 15 Essential Back to School Podcasts
  
  If you need some help getting back into “learning mode,” these podcasts will open your ears to a wealth of insight on science, history, economics, literature, math and more.


• 5 Fun Ways to Help Your Kids Learn Math Online
  
  Math doesn’t have to be a dull subject when it’s taught with music, games, and iPhone apps. Check out these 5 ways to keep your kids’ summer educational and fun.


• Top 8 Android Apps for Education
  
  Whether you’re currently in school or just seeking a little self-improvement, here are some Android apps to enhance your knowledge base, expand your skill sets, and improve your memory.


• 6 Companies Aiming to Digitize the Textbook Industry
  
  The ebook market is booming. Here are some ways manufacturers are looking to get students to trade print for pixels.


• Smart, Digital Flashcards Maximize Study Time
  
  Need a better way to study? Brainscape might have the perfect solution.


• 4 Ways Mobile Tech Is Improving Education
  
  With the Internet in the palm of our hands, educators are looking to mobile as the next big tool for schools.


• How Teens Use Cellphones [INFOGRAPHIC]
  
  Flowtown has posted an infographic illustrating cellphone use among teenagers.


• 5 Fun iPhone Accessories for Kids
  
  We’ve found five fun products that will suit a wide age range of kids, from the toddler borrowing Mom’s iPhone right up to older children with gadgets of their own.


• 10 Useful Gadgets for Connected Teens
  
  A teen-friendly gadget is a good gift choice for young adults, as it’s a functional item that will prove useful, and if you’re lucky, even educational.

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Education via Social Media

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• 4 Ways Colleges Can Take Their Social Media Presence to the Next Level
  
  Most schools have a online social presence, but what strategies can they use to take it from good to great?


• Why Every College Should Start Crowdsourcing
  
  Crowdsourcing is a perfect solution for university to engage their diverse student bodies and get effective, creative solutions. Here’s why.


• The Case For Social Media in Schools
  
  Teachers and parents are often wary about using social media in the classroom. Here’s why the benefits outweigh the risks.


• Why Online Education Needs to Get Social
  
  Social websites and real-time news channels are exploding in popularity, but online higher education has been slow to adapt. Here’s why college courses need to tap into the social web to stay relevant.


• For Students, What Is the “Facebook Effect” on Grades?
  
  Social media has several effects on academic work — some more positive than others. Here’s an infographic that digs into the effects.


• How Schools Can Use Facebook to Build an Online Community
  
  Facebook is the perfect tool for creating an online community for parents, teachers and students. Here’s how to maximize potential while keeping kids safe.


• 4 Tips for Integrating Social Media Into the Classroom
  
  While social media is often cited as a classroom distraction, it can be utilized for its educational value. Here are four tips for implementing it in the classroom.


• The Future of Social Media Parenting [COMIC]
  
  If babies could tweet, what would their updates look like?

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Education Tips & Stats

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• How Online Education Is Changing the Way We Learn [INFOGRAPHIC]
  
  Online education is a $34 billion business. Here’s how it grew so fast — and why it’s so vital for modern-day students.


• How Social Media & Game Mechanics Can Motivate Students
  
  Kids like to play games, but can games also make them want to learn?


• How Students Use Technology [INFOGRAPHIC]
  
  This infographic sums up the research thus far on how students are using technology.


• 5 Ways To Integrate Technology Into Your Child’s Education
  
  Technology can be an asset to the learning process, if used appropriately. Here are five tips for integrating technology into your child’s education.


• The Case for the Virtual Classroom
  
  Extending the reach, affordability and effectiveness of education might come down to changing our definition of what constitutes a classroom.


• 8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education
  
  Technology’s role in schools has evolved from a contained “computer class” into a tool that’s changing how we demonstrate concepts, assign projects and assess progress.


• Why Career & Technical Education Should Be a Priority for the U.S. [OPINION]
  
  Has the U.S. been trapped in an educational rut of test-teaching and disconnected skill sets? Here’s why vocational and technical training will be crucial for America’s prosperity.


• School Tech: 6 Important Lessons From Maine’s Student Laptop Program
  
  Maine has had a successful one laptop per child program for almost 10 years. Here’s what it can teach other schools about implementing technology in their classrooms.

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Extracurricular Tech Education

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• 5 Tips for Transitioning From College to Startup Life
  
  It’s not always easy to jump from college to a full-time job. Here are some pieces of acquired wisdom to set you on the right path.


• How Open Source Projects Can Prepare Students for Better Careers
  
  Free and open source software isn’t just helping industry. It’s giving students a leg up in their education and job prospects. Here’s how.


• 4 Excellent Indie Games With Real Educational Value
  
  The secret sauce of educational gaming is an experience that’s so entertaining, you can’t even feel your neurons firing. We’ve highlighted four indie titles that make the grade.


• 4 Innovative Social Good Campaigns for Education
  
  These four projects have found innovative ways to help build schools using digital outreach campaigns.


• 5 Innovative Tech Camps for Kids and Teens
  
  New tech camps offer some of the coolest and most innovative programs around. Take a look and see all the ways your kids could be engaged next summer.


• How Shakespeare & Social Media Are Fighting Cyber Bullying
  
  William Shakespeare, the bard behind some of the greatest works in the English language, is coming to a Facebook page near you via an online re-enactment of one of his plays.


• New Slang: Find Out What Those Crazy Kids Are Saying [APPS]
  
  Teen Chat Decoder has the remedy for any parent suffering from Internet illiteracy.


• iPhone App Simulates Teen Dating Abuse
  
  A new mobile app is given parents a glimpse into abusive relationships to help better protect their teens.


• 4 Ways iPads Are Changing the Lives of People With Disabilities
  
  Touch devices like the iPad are revolutionizing the lives of children, adults and seniors with special needs.


• Online Tutoring Educates Kids in Developing Countries
  
  EducateNCare is an online personal tutoring service with a social good twist.


• HOW TO: Help Your Child Set Up a Blog
  
  Blogging can be a great way for children to learn writing, research, and technology skills. Here are some guidelines for parents looking to help their kids learn safely.


• 5 Classic Children’s Tales Reinvented for the iPad
  
  We’ve compiled a list of what we believe are the five best classic children’s books available for the iPad.


• 5 Social Good Websites Aimed at Youth
  
  What if that stereotypically self-absorbed, trite teen you see on Facebook has an altruistic side? Here are five sites where youngsters are making a difference online.

Source: Back to School: 42 Digital Resources for Students & Parents

The Wrong Way to Get a Legal Copy of Microsoft Office [Humorous Image]

Hacker Traces Laptop Thief Using Facebook Information

If you’re going to steal a laptop, make sure you know who you’re dealing with — one London teenager accused of stealing a laptop during the recent London riots certainly didn’t do his homework on who he was robbing.

Greg Martin, an IT security specialist and former FBI and NASA employee, came home to his West Kensington apartment last Wednesday to find that his place had been ransacked and his MacBook Pro was stolen.

Martin, who runs a blog called InfoSecurity 2.0, was obviously the wrong person to be stealing a laptop from — he had previously installed an open source tracking software called Prey on his computer. The free software “lets you keep track of your phone or laptop at all times, and will help you find it if it ever gets lost or stolen,” the product’s website states.

A self-described hacker, Martin wrote on his blog:

“Almost two weary days had gone by [since the robbery], and I’m at dinner on a business trip in Luxembourg, and I received an email which nearly knocked me out of my chair with excitement.”

The robber had finally logged on to the laptop — Martin went back to his hotel to stake out and gather evidence against the thief.

After two hours of watching the laptop thief surf the Internet, Martin was able to collect information on the man’s name, school, address, IP address, Internet service provider, wireless access point and Facebook ID number.

The thief’s Facebook information was the deciding piece of information for Martin — he sent the information on to the London Metro police and went to bed.

After details about the thief — identified as Soheil Khalilfar, 18 — were released to the police, the man’s apartment was raided and the laptop was recovered and returned to Martin.

Modern day thieves are at a much higher risk of being caught with the pervasiveness of technology.

In June, another MacBook thief was nabbed after the laptop’s owner tracked the thief using Hidden app and a Tumblr account.

[via: BBC]

Enable Google Maps' Awesome "Bubble Buttons" Lab for Quicker Calling and Navigation

Google Maps for Android just updated with an awesome "Bubble Buttons" feature that adds phone call and navigation buttons to map results. Here's how to enable it. More »

Firefox Minimalist: OneLiner Slims Down Your Browser

Do you prefer your UI slim down to a minimal presence? Firefox user? You might want to download the extension, OneLiner, developed by the team over at Mozilla if you want to trim the UI fat. Upon installing you'll find your navigation bar streamlined, combining the space where the location and tab bars reside into one...

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Create a Keyboard Shortcut for Your Favorite Folder

Windows doesn't let you pin folders to the Taskbar, but you can set up keyboard shortcuts that'll open them just as lickety-split.

Source: Create a Keyboard Shortcut for Your Favorite Folder

Final Frame: Our Tech Answer to Everything

The age old Help Desk answer to every tech problem asked. Via Holoprogram Tumblr.

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The Best Image-to-Text App for Android [App Directory]

Android doesn't have a ton of apps that can turn images into text documents, but of the ones available, Google Goggles is free and does everything it promises to do: copy text from an image and let you paste it anywhere. More »

Source:The Best Image-to-Text App for Android [App Directory]

Easily Find the Serial Number of your Computer

You’ve got a problem with your computer, you call their technical support team and the person on the other side requires the machine’s serial number (also known as the Service Tag) before he can even log your request.

If you using a laptop computer, you can easily find the service tag by turning the machine upside but for desktops, especially the older models, the sticker that holds the service tag is often placed at a more harder-to-reach location.

There’s a alternate way to find the computer’s serial number without you having to slide beneath the table.

Open the command prompt (Start –> CMD) and type the following command:

wmic bios get serialnumber

Another command that will also print the model number (or make) of your computer is:

wmic csproduct get name, identifyingnumber 

The system model number can also be found using the System Information program available under All Programs –> Accessories –> System Tools.

The above commands should work on Windows 7, XP and Windows XP Pro machine as wmic.exe didn’t ship with the previous editions of Windows. Refer to this page to learn about all other system details that you can retrieve with the help of wmic.exe command.

Source: Easily Find the Serial Number of your Computer

From the Tips Box: Managing Android Audio Profiles, Google Bookmarks on Android, and Cable Lacing

It’s a Thursday afternoon and that tip-time-of-week again. This week we’re looking at managing audio profiles on Android phones, accessing Google Bookmarks on Android, and vintage organization with Cable Lacing.

Source: From the Tips Box: Managing Android Audio Profiles, Google Bookmarks on Android, and Cable Lacing

How to get Wireless Tether up and running on HTC EVO 3D

One of the main reasons that people root their phones is so they can enjoy root-only apps, such as ShootMe, SetCPU, or Wireless Tether. The latter is, for obvious reasons, one of the most popular root-only apps for the HTC EVO 4G, as it allows people to skirt past Sprint's $29.99/month mobile hotspot feature and get the same functionality for free. Unfortunately, many users are having trouble getting this set-up on their newly-rooted HTC EVO 3Ds. While the stable build of Wireless Tether that's available now in the Market will return errors when trying to tether, some users are reporting...


Source: How to get Wireless Tether up and running on HTC EVO 3D

T-Mobile Makes a Startling Shift From Unlimited To Overages On Their 200MB Data Plan

This could be the end of an era, folks. According to this leaked pic TmoNews managed to get their hands on today, it seems starting August 13th, T-Mobile may be shifting away from their unlimited (but throttled) data on their most affordable 200MB plans. Ironically, this is T-Mobile’s most popular plan and it’s because of this that T-Mobile is forced to move to overages to “remain competitive.” I was able to get my whole family onto the Android bandwagon thanks to this plan’s small $10 price tag.

But not all is doom and gloom. I mean, the overages cap out at around $30 dollars and if you’re currently an unlimited user, your plan should remain the same providing you don’t cancel your line. For everyone else, customers who near their 200MB limit will receive a warning from T-Mobile alerting them to upgrade their plan or face extra charges.

Even if this only affects their 200MB plan, it’s still a little scary seeing this shift from T-Mobile’s much touted unlimited data to overages based upon a plan’s popularity. I know most Android users are data hungry but are any of our readers currently on the 200MB plan? Will this change force you to upgrade your plan, or will you take your money and go elsewhere?

[Via TmoNews]

Motorola KORE is Name for Fitness Devices, Not Tablets

After a bit of speculation following a round of domain purchases by Motorola, we can finally get an idea of what the Motorola KORE is – it isn’t a tablet, in case you were wondering. New trademark filings describe the KORE to be a fitness monitoring device, likely the same one they have been surveying consumers about for a bit of time. Here is the full description for the trademark filing:

"ELECTRONIC NON MEDICAL PORTABLE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY MONITOR AND FITNESS DEVICE FOR MEASURING MOVEMENTS, INDIVIDUAL’S ENERGY EXPENDITURE AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL AND ACCESSORIES THEREFORE, NAMELY, HEADPHONES; SOFTWARE FOR DEVELOPING AND MONITORING PERSONAL ACTIVITY AND EXERCISE PLANS, TRAINING PLANS, TRAINING GOALS AND GIVING FEEDBACK ON THE ACHIEVED RESULTS".

Indisputable, now isn’t it? In related news, they also have Motorola Energia saved up with its description pointing toward headphones. Considering the name and considering Motorola doesn’t really have a history with headsets, we expect this to tie into the KORE. It may be a Bluetooth headset that can communicate with the fitness watch, reading off your vitals as you run or work out.

No tablets for now, but we’re hopeful news of that will turn up sometime this fall in time for a very possible holiday launch. [Fusible]

Source: Motorola KORE is Name for Fitness Devices, Not Tablets

AT&T to soon begin revoking unlimited data from jailbreak hotspot users

AT&T to soon begin revoking unlimited data from jailbreak hotspot users http://goo.gl/fb/sasif

Source: BGR: AT&T to soon begin revoking unlimited data from jailbreak hotspot users http://goo.gl/fb/sasif

Is it Time to Clean the Computer Yet?

Don't let your computer get dirty!
Keep cooling fans clean (especially laptop ones)!
You can see more examples like this in the collection the image above came from using the link below.
The dirtiest computer cases ever

SilverStone to Release Nightjar 500W Silent PSU Later This Week

SilverStone is on course for releasing the Nightjar ST50NF this Thursday. The ST50NF is a 500W, fan-less (completely silent), 80 Plus Gold compliant, non-modular power supply (PSU). The PSU does away with the 120 mm fan, and replaces it with a large aluminum heatsink that draws heat from numerous smaller heatsinks below that in turn draw heat from the various hot components. To try and offset the weight it puts on with all those heatsinks, and to make the unit airy, the outer body is made of thin perforated aluminum sheets.



The Nightjar ST50NF delivers 500W of continuous power, it is standards-compliant with ATX 12 V2.3 & EPS 12V. It features active PFC (power factor correction), and uses a single +12V rail design. All its cables are fixed to the unit. There should be enough cabling for a performance PC with a single graphics card. The PSU carries an MTBF rating of 50,000 hours. SilverStone's Nightjar ST50NF will be priced at €129.







Source: TechConnect Magazine

Lifehacker Pack for Windows: Our List of the Best Windows Downloads [Downloads]

Whether you've just reinstalled Windows or you need to fill some holes on your software collection, we've got everything you need in our annual Lifehacker Pack. Here, you can grab our all-time favorite downloads in one, simple installer. More »