Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Microsoft Windows shares it’s processing time (CPU cycles) with every program that’s running, including the programs that are running in the background. This makes the program you’re actually using at the time run slower than it really has to.
A free utility called TopWinPrio allocates extra CPU cycles to whichever program is currently active while reducing the number of CPU cycles allocated to those running in the background. This makes the active program run faster. [Read more…]
Do you use your mobile device primarily for texting? If so, a free app called HeyWire will let you text until the proverbial cows come home for free!
With HeyWire you can purchase a cellular plan that comes with a very low number of included minutes and texts and save a ton of money each month.
HeyWire uses your device’s data connection to send and receive SMS messages. The user interface is very attractive and easy to use (it works pretty much like the one you’re using now) and you can learn to use it in 2 minutes flat!
It doesn’t matter whether you use an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Windows Phone or an Android device, there is a free HeyWire app ready and waiting for you to download, install and begin using it in minutes. You can even use HeyWire to text from your laptop or desktop computer’s web browser! [Read more…]
Do you ever have guests over to your home who ask to access your secure Wi-Fi connection? Depending on the guests, it can be a little uncomfortable handing over the password to your Wi-Fi network. Well, now you don’t have to if both you and your guests use Android devices.
Instabridge is a free Android app that allows you to invite guests to use your secure Wi-Fi connection without having to give them your network password. Here’s how it works: [Read more…]
Every day thousands of laptops, tablets and smart phones are lost or stolen, and relatively few of them are ever recovered and returned to their rightful owners. But a free app called Prey can tilt the odds greatly in your favor.
Prey is a small, discrete app that “hides” on your laptop or mobile device and lies dormant until you need it. Then if the device is ever lost or stolen you can easily “wake it up” with a remote signal sent by you either through the Internet or via an SMS message. Once activated, Prey gets right down to business by performing the following actions: [Read more…]
Imagine that you’re walking through your favorite store and an item catches your eye. You pull out your smart phone and take a picture of it and a description pops up with details on the manufacturer, retail pricing and more.
Or perhaps you’re walking through Paris and you come upon an interesting looking building, statue or other landmark. You snap a picture of it with your phone and you’re immediately presented with the details of what you’re looking at.
A bit farther down the street you see a sign written in French (of course), so you photograph it and your phone provides you with the English translation.
Sound like something out of a science fiction movie? Well, it isn’t. This technology is available right now, and it’s absolutely free. Just download a free app called Google Goggles and you’ll be doing just this type of thing in minutes! You can download Google Goggles for free from the Google Play Store.