How-To Guides from Gadget Hacks: Page 119

If you're a Twitter user, it's a safe bet to assume that you've used a hashtag. On all social networking sites that have the capability, such as Instagram, Facebook, and Google+, the pound (#) symbol is used to mark and designate specific keywords or topics in order to make it effortless for users to connect with one another.

Back when I was a kid, I didn't get many awards or trophies, aside from perfect attendance three years in a row. If only there was an award for procrastination. While there are apps out there for my iPhone like Clear and even the stock Reminders app, they still don't push me hard enough to get things done on time—or at all.

For someone used to the old-style HTC Sense, upgrading to an HTC One with Sense 5 is a pretty intuitive experience, but there's one thing that some users find obtrusively different. Blinkfeed, an app which aggregates newsworthy articles from various sources and pins them in a scrolling feed on your home screen.

It's that time of the year again when scores of students are flocking to stores for school supplies. Pens, pencils, books, and for math students, calculators.

BEATS by Dr. Dre started making their studio-style headphones and speakers over four years ago, which claim to help listeners actually "hear" music as it was intended by the artists, since commodity headphones and earbuds are known for producing lackluster results.

The stock Android app icons that come with your Samsung Galaxy S4 can vary wildly in shape and size, as they will with any out-of-the-box Android device.

It may not be as large as the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, but the Galaxy S3's screen size is still big enough to make iPhone owners cry themselves to sleep. The 4.8-inch AMOLED display with 720 x 1280 pixels makes the GS3 a great mobile companion—and an even better portable gaming device.

You may already know that you can build a functional circuit on a sheet of paper with the graphite from a pencil, but you'd probably never think of using it to fix an electronic device. This same principle can be used to bring back a bricked phone, but can also repair a damaged or corroded trace in a printed circuit board.

If you've never played with a Nexus 10 tablet, then you probably have no idea that your Nexus 7 actually has a different user interface. For some reason, Google decided it was better for the Nexus 7 to use a phone UI instead of a tablet one, but luckily for us, we don't have to accept that.

Your Nexus 7 may be a tablet, but it can also be used as a phone, thanks to the continued upswing of VoIP applications, which send voice and media messages over the Internet—not over a cellular network.

Watching videos on an Amiga computer without a web browser is really easy. Actually, you do need an internet browser to grab the links and the FFmpeg package. Once you have the links and have FFmpeg installed, then you can watch any videos streamed by YouTube without any browser.

For the most part, transferring files from your computer to your Nexus 7 (and vice versa) is a simple process. Just hook up your tablet to your computer with the USB cable and transfer. However, most of the time you'll need additional software on your computer to do this, and then, of course, you need the USB cable.

The sound I get when receiving a new text message is the camel from that Geico commercial yelling "Hump Day!" Sure, I could find a less obnoxious notification sound, but it makes me laugh every time, and that's important.

For this project, you will need a magnet, two AA batteries, two keys, a metal plate, and a copper wire coil.

Anyone who is familiar with Linux knows that to use your OS to the max, you will need to use the terminal every now and then. Whether it is to install a package or update the system or even delete a file.

It's no secret that Netflix streams different content based on location. Since your physical location in the digital world is simply a number, a simple switch of the DNS will make your digital "physical location" different.

One of the best features on the new Moto X is Touchless Control, which lets you verbally ask the device questions or perform tasks without ever touching or turning on the display, a feature that would do quite nicely on the Nexus 7, if it could handle it.

"Ain't No Sunshine" might just be a classic song to you, but for me and my Samsung Galaxy S3, it means so much more. For the most part, my GS3 does a decent job at automatically adjusting the brightness of the screen when I'm in normal lighting, but when I'm in little or no lighting, or there's just way to much, I usually have to switch over to manual to get the right balance.

While there's still no set date, Jelly Bean 4.3 is rumored to be released on the Samsung Galaxy S4 and other TouchWiz devices within the next couple of weeks (or months), presumably sometime after the upcoming Samsung Unpacked event.

Ubuntu isn't just a cool sounding name, but pegs itself as the world's favorite free operating system. It gained its popularity for being lightweight, fast, and visually appealing, and now that great look and speed can be placed right on the lock screen of your Samsung Galaxy S3.

There have been those times in everyone's life when we have kept our phones on silent mode and forgotten where we kept it. Well, if you have an Android powered phone there is a way by which to find your phone by ringing, just when you want it, even when it is kept on silent mode.

There are many impressive features on a Samsung Galaxy Note 2, but just like any other smartphone on the market, the most used one is the camera. How many times did you take a picture today? Or admire all the selfies in your gallery? Or upload a video to Instagram, Vine, or Snapchat?

Apple may have unabashedly lifted their upcoming "Control Center" from Android devices, but visually speaking, it's an awesome take on Quick Settings that would look pretty good on a Samsung Galaxy S3.

There are very few things Android users would want to borrow from Apple's iOS, but let's move beyond the fanboy/girl biases and admit that Apple actually does a few things pretty well. One of those things is looks, and the new iOS 7 looks pretty amazing to me.

Controlling the screen rotation on your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 is one of the easiest things you can do. Just slide down the Notification tray and you have instant access to the Screen Rotation toggle in the Quick Settings menu.

Anyone who uses a computer on a regular basis probably knows how to access the task manager to check system resources and usage stats. However, on a Samsung Galaxy S3 or other Android device, it may not be so obvious. There's no equivalent to Control-Alt-Delete, but it's still fairly easy to monitor running processes and battery usage.

From a very early age we have an intrinsic obsession with things that float. Why do you think we love balloons and bubbles so much? So, it's no surprise that our smartphones are being invaded by floating features.

I know what you're thinking. Why spend time talking about another flashlight application when there are literally thousands of them scattered throughout Google Play?

When you're using vacuum power, moving water, or compressing air, it's more than likely being done with some sort of pump. I'll be needing a pump for some of my future projects, so in this tutorial, I'll be showing you how to make your own customizable PVC hand pump that will let you do all three.

On the new Moto X smartphone, the only thing you have to do to activate the virtual assistant is say "Okay, Google Now." That's it. You don't have to press a button or tap on the display at all. It's always ready for your voice commands via its "Active Listening" feature, making it a truly hands-free experience.

The new Moto X is still a couple of weeks from being released here in the United States, but that doesn't mean we can't play around with a few of its cool features.

We have all had buyer's remorse. It's an inevitable fact of life that we get things only to want another. For those of us with a Samsung Galaxy S3, some of those new Moto X features are probably looking pretty tempting.

According to a new study, the majority of smartphone users check their devices 150 times a day. While that number may seem incredibly high at first glance, the influx of notifications and amount of social media apps available reduce the initial shock and make the number seem not so preposterous after all.

I never really get tired of staring at the beautiful Halle Berry wallpaper on my Samsung Galaxy S3, but occasionally she needs a break. There are literally thousands of different wallpapers to choose from, but since the new Moto X just came out, its stock wallpapers are ripe for the picking.

I'm constantly browsing the web, taking pictures, and playing games on my Samsung Galaxy Note 2, but there's one thing that I'm always doing—playing music. No matter what I'm doing on my smartphone, I'm always playing my music in the background at the same time.

When you forget you charger,you can use this dynamo charger to charge the phone with your hand. I convert the dynamo LED flashlight into charger just adding bridge rectifier, capacitor and USB female plug.

Using a phone that hasn't been updated is like playing NBA 2K10 in 2013. Everything works fine, but you're missing all those new features and current rosters.

Nine times out of ten, when you pick up your Samsung Galaxy Note 2, you already know what app you're going to be using. If you only have Swipe to unlock enabled, finding that app is as easy as swiping and locating the app on your Home screen or in the app drawer.

"What's the point of having a Nexus 7 for drawing if all of the drawing apps suck?" That's what my girlfriend said after buying her new Nexus 7 tablet. She draws a lot and was hoping to hone her doodling skills on it, but she's right—most of the drawing apps available on Google Play aren't that great.

With the introduction of Vine and the subsequent Instagram update, abbreviated video sharing has come to the masses, to be experimented with in an unprecedented way.