The folks over at Lifehacker have blogged about practical technology for a long time and now they have their own show. This episode especially will help anyone learn about technology that saves time, money, and frustration. Enjoy!
Some of the most common (and easily fixed) problems many people experience involve their wireless network. Maybe you’d like to set up better security, perhaps the network keeps disappearing on you, or maybe you’d just like to know how to set the whole thing up in the first place. Fortunately, Lifehacker has great tutorials on all kinds of technological problems and projects, including Know Your Network: The Complete Guide. Check it out and if you still have questions, let us know and we’ll help you out!
Ever feel like your attention is being pulled in ten different directions when browsing the web? If you do, Kevin Purdy at Fast Company has some tips to help. My personal favorite is the Readability Bookmarklet, allowing you to instantly scrub any page of distractions. Check out the effect on Fast Company’s article below.
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In this half-hour podcast, the folks at Freakonomics cast a critical eye on Twitter and question how social it actually is. When you follow thousands or even hundreds of people, are you really listening to them? And for the social media junkies, will following people back in fact make you more popular?
Find out what they discovered by listening to the podcast, then let us know what your thoughts are in the comments. Does Twitter make you feel more connected, more alone, or somewhere in between?
Social Media Citations :: If you have friends who keep inviting you to weird games on Facebook or don’t know what to keep to themselves on Twitter, you could let them know with one of these social media citations. Just try to be nice when dishing these out. 
Why Mainstream Social Networks Complicate Our Identities :: An interesting read about, well, the title says it all.
Vizualize.me Creates an Infographic Resume for You in One Click :: If you’re on LinkedIn, this cool tool can create a visual timeline of your work experience to help your resume stand out from the crowd.
Start Google Plus Combines Google+ with Facebook and Twitter :: Love Google+, but don’t really want to manage 3 different social networks? This may help.
Google+ Ultimate Allows Design Customization for Google Plus :: If you want more freedom in choosing how Google+ looks and works for you, Google+ Ultimate will get the job done.
Ever wanted to set up your own website? Whether you’re an individual, small business, or non-profit, it’s easier than you probably think – and just because it’s free, doesn’t mean it has to look janky (*cough*, Google Sites) or crash all the time (*cough*, Tumblr).
If you really want to create a good-looking, flexible website, the best free option I know of is WordPress.com. You don’t need to know any HTML or CSS, but already being comfortable creating documents in a text editor will help.
For an easy, 3-step tutorial to help you plan, create, and customize your website, check out One-Hour Websites. I built it with my wife, to help non-profits create their own websites, but it’s just as useful for small businesses and individuals. Check it out and comment there or here if you have any questions!
Book reviews are a great tool, but I don’t always want to know what other people are saying about a book, before I actually read it. That’s where Amazon’s Highlights come in. Amazon keeps track of how many people have highlighted a passage on Kindle e-readers, then shows you the parts that were highlighted the most.
Here’s how to find the most popular highlights for most, popular books. (Warning: I don’t recommend doing this for fiction – it would probably ruin the story for you.)
Step 1
Go to kindle.amazon.com and search for a book that you’re interested in.
Step 2
Click on the book that you want to learn more about.
Step 3
Scroll down a little to the Highlights section, find something that blows your mind, and buy the book to learn more.
Do you have other tricks for finding great books, or getting more out your books? Share your wisdom in the comments below.
If you already geek out over your technology, but never really studied computers in great depth, you may be wondering how you can learn more. So here’s a great way to identify gaps in your knowledge and learn a little more, every day, for free.
James Messer is the IT professional and instructor behind ProfessorMesser.com. He’s put up hundreds of videos on his website, explaining how all kinds of technology works, and giving a lot of practical tips along the way. Whether you want to know what kind of wireless security you should use (and why), or even how to troubleshoot problems with your motherboard, he’s got a short video to help you out.
But hundreds of videos can be a little overwhelming. That’s why I recommend signing up for Professor Messer’s Daily Pop Quiz. Every day in your email, you’ll get a new, multiple choice question. Once you try to figure out the answer, you can click through to the site to see if you were right. If you were wrong, just guessed, or feel you could still learn more, there’s always a short explanation and a video to help fill that gap in your techknowledge.
Do you have any tips for learning more about your tech? How do you make sure you keep learning more, or even just keep up? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!
Backing up can be a pain and maintaining multiple copies of your files can be confusing. But…it’s also incredibly painful when you lose your dissertation, client database, or favorite photos.
That’s why I’m talking about Dropbox today. It’s the most easy-to-use and easy-to-setup backup solution I know of – and it’s free for up to 2GB (plenty for most folks’ important files). Watch the video below for an explanation in plain English.
So what kinds of disasters does Dropbox protect you from?
If you’re not backed up yet, now’s the time. Download Dropbox and never have to worry about losing your most important files again. If you still have questions or need help setting it up, leave a comment below or check out Dropbox’s great help pages.