Will opens up Apple's new set top box in search of chips and treasure.
How To Make the Most of Chromium's About:flags PagebySam CookonOct. 25, 20106 Comments
The Chromium web browser is the genetic pool of Google Chrome, an experimental and sometimes shaky ground where new ideas are tried and tested. That being the case, Chromium’s about:flags page (formerly about:labs) acts as the official version’s crystal ball, giving us a glimpse into any new browser features that Google is hard at work on. Some of the about:flags options can be used right now, others don’t do much at all for the moment, but either way they all provide insight into Google’s vision for its browser—and its upcoming Chrome OS .
How To Choose the Right Anti-Aliasing Mode for Your GPUbyMatthew BragaonOct. 22, 201034 Comments
Old games had it good. There were no shaders, or lightmaps or anti-aliasing woes – just two dimensions of graphical wonder, fueled by pixelated style. It was blocky, sure, but that was all there was. Who knew we’d come to loathe those jagged edges we once viewed with awe?
How To Install Apps that are Filtered Out of Your Android Market AppbyRyan WhitwamonOct. 22, 201011 Comments
Android is always getting new apps, but if you find they aren't showing up in your market app, it can be a real buzz kill. There's all this new application goodness and you can't get it on your phone? There must be a way around this. As it turns out, there are a few ways to get apps that the market won't let you have.
How Android Users Can Survive on Just a 150MB/Month Data PlanbyRyan WhitwamonOct. 20, 201012 Comments
Just as we'd previously heard, Verizon seems to be on the verge of implementing tiered data plans. But before you start the Internet protests, take a look at the rumors. We're having trouble working up any righteous indignation at all. If these early detailsare right, then Verizon is really just offering new options, not taking them away. Big Red will reportedly offer a $15 per month data plan that includes 150MB of data. The $30 unlimited plan will be staying put, at least for now.
Use MediaRover for Push iTunes Syncing and StreamingbyWesley FenlononOct. 19, 20108 Comments
Are you one of those music listeners who throws an odd assortment of MP3s into a folder, disregarding file names and ID3 tags, uncaring if your surf rock collection is divided between albums tagged Beach Boys and The Beach Boys? If so, you probably have no use for MediaRover, but those of us who love keeping our collections neat, orderly and properly tagged may have just found a new best friend. Though the setup process can take a bit of finagling with network folders, sharing options and file pathways, MediaRover provides a free way to sync entire iTunes libraries between systems, be they Mac or PC.
NAS devices, most users will set it up on their desktop and use that always-on computer to sync to laptops--or stream to other networked devices like the PS3, Xbox 360 or WD TV. We’ll walk you through a few tips for setting up MediaRover to push new music to all of your devices, and keep each and every MP3 up to date--the syncing service will even detect metadata changes.
How To Make Color Photos Out of Black and White ExposuresbyWill GreenwaldonOct. 15, 20104 Comments
This isn't a particularly useful technique, but it's a great way to see how digital cameras put together color images. Like LCDs, digital camera sensors use colored sub-pixels to put together an image. Instead of displaying red, green, and blue, sensor sub-pixels individually react to red, green, and blue light. The end result is a pixel (or rather, millions of pixels) that can display a wide variety of color, but it's only because of the intensity of each sub-pixel handling individual RGB channels.
You can see the individual color channels in Photoshop by enabling and disabling the channels in the Channels pane. You can even enable two channels at a time and see how they combine with each other to produce the full palette you see in your photos. If you want to get more hands-on, you can also capture individual color channel photos, using your camera, a tripod, and some colored filters.
put together the process (admittedly, as a means of promoting its series of handheld camera and flash filters). Let's run through the steps.
5 Things You Didn't Know Your Android Phone Could DobyRyan WhitwamonOct. 15, 20108 Comments
Maybe you've just moved to the wonderful world of Android, and you're just getting your bearings. Don't worry, everyone experiences that learning curve. Not everything that Android can do is immediately apparent. If you're coming from a feature phone, things can be downright perplexing. Some functionality is tough to find, and even more experienced users might not know it's there.
Picking the Right Power Supply—How Much is Too Much?byWill GreenwaldonOct. 15, 201022 Comments
Hardware rules of thumb dictate that more power is better. The more juice you can keep consistently flowing to your components, the smoother your system will run. A wimpy, tiny power supply can cause all sorts of problems by not feeding your components enough electricity. Crashes and glitches can occur if your power supply isn't up to snuff; in fact, the word "glitch" in electronics refers to unwanted electrical pulses that can disrupt circuits. Logically, you want a power supply that can put out as much electricity as possible. But is it possible for a power supply to be too powerful?
Will takes apart Jeff's 17" MacBook Pro to investigate a noisy fan.
How To Create the Perfect Android Home Screen LayoutbyRyan WhitwamonOct. 14, 201016 Comments
When you get a new Android phone, customizing the home screen is one of the first things to do. With the openness of the platform and the robust widget framework, the options are nearly endless. Finding the right layout can make you more productive, reduce frustration, and let you enjoy your device more.
How To Give Your PC a Crowdsourced Clean-UpbyMatthew BragaonOct. 14, 201014 Comments
A truly clean Windows install is the stuff of legends. Try as you might, there always seems to be some service, process or application that manages to sully an otherwise fast machine. Removing these problems is just half the battle — keeping them from coming back is where the real challenge lies.
Don't believe us? We'll show you what we mean.
Shooting Photos in Black and White vs Post-ProcessingbyWill GreenwaldonOct. 11, 201011 Comments
Black and white photos are classy. They're artsy. They're stylish. They're sometimes cliched, but can look really good if you know what you're doing. In the days of film, photographers could simply use black and white film, a medium designed to capture a monochromatic image. In the age of digital photography, though, native color images have to be converted into black and white to produce the same result. Because digital camera sensors are designed to capture color images, there's actually no advantage to setting your camera to black and white and "shooting in monochrome." You're just using an in-camera processor to process the sensor image when post-production in Photoshop can produce a far better result.
How To Give Your Hard Drive and RAM Regular Check-Ups byWill GreenwaldonOct. 8, 201014 Comments
Hardware failure is a horrible thing to experience. One moment you're using your computer as usual, the next moment the entire system is down. You crack the box open to determine what's wrong, and you find out after extensive diagnostics and trial-and-error that your hard drive just died or a stick of RAM is shot.
A gray card is a neutral balance tool. Instead of basing color adjustments on white or black objects, neutral balance determines the best adjustments using the average of all the light in an "average" scene. The 18% gray card will let the camera and any post-production software know what color levels the overall exposure should produce. White balance using a white object can produce mixed results, because any overexposed image will appear white.
How To Determine if You Need an Aftermarket CPU CoolerbyMatthew BragaonOct. 7, 201044 Comments
Anyone who's ever owned a MacBook knows that these things get hot — and we mean hot. However, they're built with some of the fastest fans on the market which work to keep temperatures in check, even under heavy load.
Sadly, the same can't always be said of all desktop CPU coolers. Some fans dissipate heat better than others, while others coolers can leave your PC woefully toasty — especially when pushing your processor past stock speeds.
Have You Checked Out Our Awesome How-Tos Archive?byNorman ChanonOct. 7, 20109 Comments
Hey everyone, Norm here. Just wanted to give you a quick update on some behind-the-scenes updates on the site. Many of you may be new to Tested (welcome, Live Live Show viewers!), and we want to make sure you don't miss out on some of the sweet feature stories and how-to guides we have stashed in our archives. For the longest time, our How-To section wasn't working properly--you could only see the 10 most recent posts. Our Top Men have since worked their mojo on the system, and now you can easily access almost 200 How-To stories we've written and shot in the past 6 months. So go ahead and check them out! Additionally, we want your help with two site features that we want to utilize more -- Quick Links and Overheards. Will explains what those are in this forum post, and we encourage you to submit your suggestions for awesome links and Twitter posts you encounter in your day-to-day surfing. In fact, you can send your tips directly to me at norman [at] tested.com. Don't be a link hoarder--share the wealth!
Check out our How-To archive. Step 2: Submit your interesting links and Twitter posts! Also, we want to see your wish list for future How-To stories in the comments below! What specific guides do you want to see us write about or shoot?
Skype for Android: What You Can and Can't Do with ItbyRyan WhitwamonOct. 7, 201017 Comments
It took some time, but Skype for Android is now available in the Android Market for all users to download. Until recently, Verizon Wireless had the exclusive on Skype for the Android platform. Avid Skype users were disappointed to see an exclusive on such a widely used service. As such, its appearance in the Market is welcome, but there are some strange choices in the included feature set.
How To Buy the Right Camera Bag for Your DSLR GearbyWill GreenwaldonOct. 6, 20106 Comments
Photographers carry around a lot of gear. If you're a casual snapshooter, you might keep a compact digital camera in your pocket. If you're an amateur photo hound, you might keep an entry-level SLR with your preferred lens around your neck. If you're a serious photographer, you'll probably be dragging around four digits worth of camera bodies, lenses, flashes, and other equipment.
How To Easily Edit and Convert Recorded Video to Any FormatbyWill GreenwaldonOct. 5, 201014 Comments
Digital videos come in dozens of different flavors. Containers, codecs, resolutions, audio streams, and other data combine into the video files we watch every day. There's MPEG-2, there's MPEG-4, there's QuickTime, there's Flash video, and just looking at the file names probably won't tell you what you need to know to work with them. You can use GSpot to determine what's inside the video file and how it was created, but if it's the wrong format you're still out of luck. That's where MPEG Streamclip comes in. MPEG Streamclip is a free application that can convert nearly any video file into nearly any video file format--assuming you have the proper codecs installed.
