Audacity is a free, multi-track audio recorder and editor that runs on Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. You can use Audacity to record live audio through your computer microphone, an external mic, mixer or other line in input. For example, you can also use it to convert your records or cassette tapes into digital recordings. Depending on your sound card, Audacity can also capture streaming audio. It will let you edit WAV, AIFF, MP2, MP3 and various other types of audio files. You can cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together and dub over existing tracks …

Most smartphones now have an option called HDR, which is short for High Dynamic Range. When you take a picture in HDR, your smartphone camera actually shoots three pictures at three different exposures. Your phone then combines these photos to create one composite image that will be sharper and have more vivid colours.

Try HDR when are taking pictures of landscapes or when you are shooting into the sun or another bright light source. Don’t use HDR for any pictures where there is motion as moving objects will be blurred, unless you want this effect, say for instance when you …

I’m just back from an ABA conference and am following up with some of the people I met. That might mean a phone call or an email with a link to an article, and in some cases, it means sending a LinkedIn connection request.

LinkedIn makes it very easy to send a connection invitation. After searching a name, a simple click on a button creates a standard message: “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” and a second click sends it on its way.

While virtually effortless, these generic invites are far from ideal, …

For most photographers, a clean and unscratched lens is pretty much an obsession – and it is something that also is critical for getting sharp pictures.
Many smartphone users take an opposite tact and would rarely, if ever, clean their smartphone lenses. Needless the say, the design of most smartphones isn’t exactly conducive to having a clean lens. On many smartphones you are likely to touch the lens dozens of times a day in normal use.
Take a look at the lens on your smartphone, no doubt it will show a few finger smudges and perhaps even remnants of yesterday’s …

Most people don’t realize that you can use multiple address variations of your basic “yourname@gmail.com” Gmail address. Gmail lets you put a plus (“+”) sign and any combination of words or numbers after your name. For example, yourname@gmail.com can become yourname+contests@gmail.com or yourname+hydrobill@gmail.com.
All messages sent to any of these different address variations will end up on your inbox. The benefit of using address variations is that you can easily add a filter to label and/or archive messages in a particular way, depending on different address variations you have created. This can help you better manage the different types of …

It is a safe bet that the microphone on your desktop or laptop probably makes you sound like you are under water or in the next room most of the time. If you make a lot of call calls on Skype, regularly participate in Hangouts, or record music or podcasts, a decent can make a world of difference.
Lifehacker has a great post that reviews the five of the most popular mics in the $100 price range, as voted by readers of that blog. I and many of my colleagues use one or more of the mics mentioned in this …

Most people wouldn’t think of using keyboard shortcuts as they watch videos on YouTube. However, there are actually several really helpful YouTube keyboard shortcuts that everyone should know and use.

First, while watching a video, remember that you can pause it by pressing the Spacebar once. Press the Spacebar again to make the video play.

Second, you can increase or decrease the volume by, respectively, pressing the Up or Down keys.

Third, the Left and Right arrows will let you, respectively, rewind or fast forward through a video.

Lastly, the Home key will take back to the beginning of a …

I have , but nothing like a pending deadline to spur the procrastinators amongst us into action…
As of April 8, 2014, Microsoft will cease supporting Windows XP SP3 (Service Pack 3) and Office 2003 (SP3). After this date there will be no new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options or online technical content updates from Microsoft for either of these products. Your computer will still operate and Office 2003 programs will still run, but if you continue to use Windows XP or Office 2003, you will be more vulnerable to security risks including harmful viruses, …

All too frequently, we have all faced the frustrating “printer is low on ink” warning – usually when we are printing something urgent.
Do you need to immediately change
your cartridge? No. If, despite the low ink warning, you are still getting good quality print jobs (i.e., no fading or streaking), carry on printing. In most cases, you will be able to print a few, several or even more pages without problems. Change your cartridge only when the quality of your print jobs starts to decline.…

After spending money to buy a new TV, you want to do everything you can to get the best possible picture. One of the tempting additional purchases – often pushed on you by the salesperson – is an expensive gold-plated HDMI cable. They come in large fancy packages and with big price tags – up to $100.

Are they worth it? No – save your hard-earned money for something else. You will get a decent picture with the basic $20 cable. For longer runs – 3 or more metres – best to stay away from the real cheap no-name cables, …