Category: Guides

  • Use Bubbles and Your Android Phone to Create Memorable Phone Calls

    In a world filled with short attention spans and thinning short-term memories, it can sometimes be difficult to remember to mentioning  important topics while making a phone call. Heck, give a person 30 minutes of phone conversation to wander, and their mind will stray further than the island of Lilliput (hint: it’s a fictitious location…

  • How to access Wikipedia during the SOPA/PIPA blackout

    How to access Wikipedia during the SOPA/PIPA blackout

    If you are a college student, like me, and you have an assignment due tomorrow, like I do, you may have noticed that Wikipedia has taken itself down (sort of) in protest of SOPA and PIPA legislative acts. While I agree with the protest going on and commend Wikipedia for doing what they have to…

  • How to download a full backup copy of Wikipedia

    I’ve spent plenty of time making jokes about what would happen if Wikipedia went offline in our modern, internet-dependent world – planes dropping out of the sky, no knowledge of any events before 2007, dogs walking their owners – but in all seriousness, any Wikipedia outage will affect millions of students, educators, scientists, and everyday…

  • Clearly: Chrome browser extension cuts distractions from web pages

    Clearly: Chrome browser extension cuts distractions from web pages

    Evernote has created a tool for people who are easily distracted. Clearly is a Google Chrome extension that strips out navigation, links and advertisement from any Web page and presents you with a cleaner, less distracting online reading experience. The Clearly reading experience is customizable: you can choose between three styles of background and typography –…

  • An Introduction to Flight Simulators Part 1: Getting Started

    My mission is simple: Fly over the enemy’s fortifications and snap some reconnaissance photos. Resistance should be light, and I’m one of a three-man flight group. Fly there, fly back, land in time for breakfast. Easy, right? As my Spad XIII lifts off from the makeshift runway, Earth’s features slowly blending together beneath me as…

  • Tips and Tools for Better, Faster Writing

    Tips and Tools for Better, Faster Writing

    I’ve been writing here at Techerator for over a year, but only recently have I decided to take steps to improve my writing and time efficiency. You probably know the drill: sit down at your desk, check out Twitter, open your word editor, Tweet something, check out Facebook, decide on a title, Facebook about how…

  • BitTorrent takes on Dropbox with new file-sharing service

    It seems that everyone is planning an Operation Overthrow against popular file synching service Dropbox. Earlier this week, it was Insync. This time, the newest member to join the movement is BitTorrent, Inc. with their new desktop app simply dubbed Share. The service allows you to transfer any type of files to anyone with no…

  • Create a WiFi signal strength map with NetSpot for Mac

    Create a WiFi signal strength map with NetSpot for Mac

    Finding the best spot for wifi access in your home or in a public place is pretty much trial and error. Turn on your laptop, and see what happens. NetSpot is a free wireless survey tool that makes it more of a treasure hunt. Once you install it on your Mac (OSX only), your laptop…

  • Insync integrates with Google Docs to take on Dropbox

    After well over a year of being in closed beta, Insync has finally released to the public. If you’re not familiar with the service, it closely resembles other cloud-storage services, in that a folder you create is automatically synced to the cloud for backup and/or sharing purposes, but a few minor differences separate it greatly from…

  • How to Reset Your Cr-48 Chromebook to its Default Factory Settings

    How to Reset Your Cr-48 Chromebook to its Default Factory Settings

    Google’s Cr-48 Chromebook was distributed to beta testers in February 2011 and was public’s the first glimpse at a netbook running the Chrome OS. Since its release, the Cr-48 has undergone a number of updates, and on occasion, the software changes create a problem that can be hard to fix with the limited number of resources available…