“How To” collection
Simplify your digital life with comprehensive step-by-step tutorials and instructional guides for modern technology. Learn how to optimize your software configurations, manage cloud services, and master new devices with these easy-to-follow technical walkthroughs.
HTD Tech Briefs
View all →August 22, 2011
How To Easily Remove, Replace & Install an Apple iPhone 4 Battery
I have done quite a few installs and hardware replacements in my time, but never have I found an easier project than to replace the battery of an iPhone 4. As with many of my previous iPhones, I tend to blow through the batteries pretty quickly. Some of the signs that you have an aging battery are: battery drains faster…
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August 4, 2011
How to Get Hostnames to Resolve over a Mac OS X VPN Connection
Yesterday I ran into a little issue. I tried to use my Cisco VPN client on my Mac after having upgraded to Lion. For some reason, it was not working. I did find some ways to correct that (the Error 51 issue) and how to migrate your Cisco setting over to the native Mac OS VPN client, but that will…
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July 22, 2011
VIDEO – How to Re-Download Mac OS X Lion & Create Bootable Install DVD & USB Thumb Drive
Yesterday I wrote a post "How To Re-Download Mac OS X Lion & Create a Bootable Install DVD" and it seems to be helping a lot of people out there. So, sometimes it is even more helpful to create a video that explains the process, so I quickly put one together. Also, a few users were wondering how to create…
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July 21, 2011
How To Re-Download Mac OS X “Lion” & Create a Bootable Install DVD
In my excitement yesterday about the release of the new Macintosh operating system called "Lion", I downloaded and installed the new OS without thinking about creating a bootable DVD since Lion is the first Apple OS to NOT come on DVD but rather be distributed via the App Store. You will also be able to order a USB stick from…
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June 24, 2011
How To Use Chrome Instant Search to Test Twitter Status Updates & Use Reserved Characters via Web Intents
Back in May, I wrote a post on "How to Pre-Populate Twitter Status Update the NEW Way via Links & Web Intents". Essentially, Twitter updated the method for creating a link to "tweet" using their new Web Intents platform. Many developers (e.g., of WordPress plugins) and other designers are updating their code to support this new (and better) way of…
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June 9, 2011
How To Get the UDID/UUID of your iOS Device – Even In A Panic
Most iOS developers know that in order to "activate" your iOS device (e.g., iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) to use the latest beta of iOS 5, you need to have your UDID/UUID officially registered with Apple in their Development center. I learned this the hard way as I had not recorded it and had installed the iOS beta 1 and was…
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May 18, 2011
How to Pre-Populate Twitter Status Updates the NEW Way via Links & Web Intents
About a year and a half ago, I posted a "How To" article to teach people on how to tweet out messages from your website via a URL or web link. Unfortunately, that method no longer works as of a few days ago. Twitter has updated the process for doing this. However, I now have the NEW way to do…
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May 13, 2011
How to Write & Blog Efficiently with Free Tools like Evernote, DropBox, Picasa & Live Writer
A while ago, I wrote a blog post about how I do blogging. That was over a year ago. Times have changed, tools have evolved and processes have gotten better, at least for me. I still believe that how your blog or write is extremely personal in nature and what may work for me, might not for others. I would,…
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April 22, 2011
How To Fix “The Required File Cannot Be Found” Error When Syncing an iPhone or iPod Touch
Every since I had to restore my iPhone 4 from a backup, I have been having a pesky error message popping up each and every time I would sync my iPhone with iTunes on my Mac. It cryptically said "The iPhone [insert your iPhone name here] cannot be synced. The required file cannot be found." Nothing more. No error message…
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March 18, 2011
How To Resolve Error 29 on the iPhone 3GS: Update Error Caused by Battery Replacement – CONFIRMED
This past weekend, I tried to upgrade my old iPhone 3GS to the latest version of iOS (version 4.3). Unfortunately during the upgrade process, I ran into a "little" issue, that of the fact that my iPhone 3GS got stuck in a recovery loop and kept failing during the upgrade/update process with an Error Code 29. I documented the issue…
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March 16, 2011
IMPORTANT: Enable SSL on your Social Media Accounts NOW! – Twitter and Facebook
As hacking into people's accounts has become a "clear and present danger", it's important to note TWO quick and easy configuration settings that you can now enable within both Facebook and now Twitter that can make your Social Media account just a bit more secure. While it won't protect you from other types of hack attacks, phishing or other social…
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March 1, 2011
PBS Kids Show “Design Squad Nation” Hopes to Bring Out the Engineer in Kids
This past weekend, my 7 and 9 year old daughters and I were introduced to an interesting new show that is on PBS Kids called "Design Squad Nation". But we didn't watch it on TV, instead, we headed over to the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, California to meet with the co-hosts of the show, Judy Lee and Adam…
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