Tutorials »

• REST Web services demystified

  REST API integrations can be daunting if you haven't worked with Web services before. Here's how to get started

  Written by Kirsten Jones • 23 Aug. 12 13:39

• How to create custom notification tones in iOS 5

  Apple's latest iOS 5 operating system for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices went live last week and one of its new features is custom notification tones.

  Written by Ross Catanzariti • 18 Oct. 11 09:39

• Internet Explorer 9: A getting started guide

  Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 officially launched late Monday and is ready for download here.

  Written by Ian Paul • 16 March 11 01:32

• Open source FreeOTFE encrypts disks handily

  FreeOTFE may sound like a political bumper sticker, but it stands for "Free On The Fly Encryption." The "Free" part is self-explanatory; "On The Fly Encryption" refers to the encrypting/decrypting of data as it is written to or read from your hard disk.

  Written by Ian Harac • 09 March 11 06:09

• Enable iTunes Home Sharing in iOS 4.3

  The next major iOS update is slated to be released this Friday, March 11, alongside the ultra-hyped iPad 2. One of the key features is a little something called iTunes Home Sharing, which allows users to stream music, podcasts, movies and more from PC to iOS device.

  Written by Mike Keller • 09 March 11 04:54

• Digitize your movies

  Analog movies can be the easiest--or the hardest--medium to digitize, depending on the format you're working with. While older camcorder and video formats such as 8mm and Hi8 or VHS and Betamax tapes are easy to transfer, digitizing film can be difficult at best.

  Written by Jon L. Jacobi • 03 March 11 02:00

• Digitize your music

  In my lifetime, music has been delivered on vinyl, cassettes, eight-track tapes, CDs, and audio DVDs. How do I listen to it now? Usually with a PC or a smartphone, and occasionally with an MP3 or other media player. I downloaded much of that music or ripped it from CDs, but the rest of it came from LPs and cassettes.

  Written by Jon L. Jacobi • 03 March 11 01:59

• Digitize your documents

  The space required to store paper documents can be a problem. Digitizing your documents renders them exquisitely portable--you can store an entire library on your e-book reader with ease. And because paper documents can be turned into editable computer documents, they become searchable. Compare typing "Roosevelt" in a search field with spending all day scanning microfiche and old newspapers by eye to research the Square Deal or the New Deal. The digital document is a boon to researchers the world over.

  Written by Jon L. Jacobi • 03 March 11 01:58

• Digitize your pictures

  Today the digital camera is ubiquitous, but photos used to be taken by momentarily exposing something called "film" to light. Yes, film--the ode to photo-sensitive chemical reactions that produced all of the pictures made before 1990 or so. Those images were, and quite of­­ten still are, transferred to photo paper and pasted into coffee table al­­bums. Sometimes they were processed into transparent 35mm slides and projected onto white screens for everyone's en­­joyment (or boredom, depending).

  Written by Jon L. Jacobi • 03 March 11 01:58

• Should I protect my tweets?

  When I signed up for a Twitter account in the summer of 2009 I spent some time thinking about whether or not I should protect my tweets. As a novice Twitter user, I had to decide whether the benefits of protecting my tweets outweighed the drawbacks. Looking back, I do not regret my decision to protect my tweets, and I'll tell you why.

  Written by Phil Shapiro • 23 Feb. 11 09:14

• Keeping track of your iPhone data usage

  When users had unlimited data there was no reason to be concerned with how or where that data was being consumed. Since AT&T; dropped unlimited data in favor of tiered data caps, though, users have struggled to understand data usage, and now AT&T; is faced with a law suit accusing it of systematically overcharging customers.

  Written by Tony Bradley • 09 Feb. 11 08:26

• iPhone 4 newbies: 10 essential tips and tricks

  You soon-to-be Verizon iPhone 4 customers can learn from the experiences of others. Take it from iPhone old-timers, you're about to enter a magical world of awesome apps running on the most simplistic, addictive device on the planet.

  Written by Tom Kaneshige • 09 Feb. 11 07:33

• Laptop not charging

  Reader Bballgurl84life's laptop battery isn't charging.

  Written by Lincoln Spector • 08 Feb. 11 06:28

• Prepare your PC for future data disasters

  Reformatting and restoring a PC is not fun--in the way spending 2 hours in the dentist's chair is not fun. You have to back up all your data (and pray that you haven't forgotten anything), reformat the hard drive, install Windows, track down missing drivers, find and reload all your software, restore your data, and pull out clumps of hair over the things you inevitably neglected to save. (Firefox plug-ins, anyone?)

  Written by Rick Broida • 05 Feb. 11 01:51

• Stop Facebook from cluttering your inbox

  There's a fine line between awesome and annoying. Take Facebook: Most of the time, it's great, but a few things about the service drive me crazy.

  Written by Rick Broida • 02 Feb. 11 04:02

• 10 ways to get more out of LinkedIn

  With more than 80 million users worldwide, LinkedIn has established itself as the premier social networking site for professionals. If you're job searching, looking to broaden your network or hunting for new partnerships, these 10 tips and tricks will propel you toward success.

  Written by Kristin Burnham • 31 Jan. 11 15:23

• Switching to desktop Linux? 6 ways to ease the migration

  With all the many compelling reasons for a company to switch to Linux on the desktop, it's no wonder that businesses large and small are increasingly relying on the free and open source operating system.

  Written by Katherine Noyes • 27 Jan. 11 06:52

• Gmail Tips: Five great e-mail timesavers

  If you're one of Gmail's 193 million users worldwide, you probably rely on the service -- and its add-ons -- every day. Popular among users for its customization features, Google constantly adds to its arsenal of Labs and brings new features mainstream to simplify processes and save users time.

  Written by Kristin Burnham • 25 Jan. 11 07:36

• How Quora could help your business

  Question-and-answer sites like Yahoo Answers may offer a quick way to ask questions and get answers, but they tend to be plagued by wisecracks, poor spelling, and generally low quality. On the other hand, a new site targeting this niche, Quora, is going to great lengths to keep quality high.

  Written by Katherine Noyes • 21 Jan. 11 12:00

• There's never been a better time to upgrade RAM

  In case you haven't noticed, memory prices have dropped through the floor. As such, I've been busily upgrading every computer I can get my hands on. For example, my 2009 MacBook Pro has been maxed-out to 8GB, which involved buying two 4GB SODIMM modules. The cost? Just US$97. I dare say I could have got them even cheaper if I'd shopped around.

  Written by Keir Thomas • 14 Jan. 11 09:06