“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 →January 20, 2010
How I Write a Blog Post. How Do YOU Do It?
Sure, this sounds like a very boring and subjective topic. I assure you, it really is. But I'm writing this on the odd chance that someone out there might find it useful. I have been blogging now for several years, starting back in 2005. And during that time, I have tried out several methods and tools that have gotten me…
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January 11, 2010
How to Remove an Old Microwave & Install a New Panasonic Microwave (Model: NN-SD277WR)
Most people don't think of a microwave as a gadget, but I guess if it plugs in, has buttons and a display, it excites me a bit. But before I go in a major analysis of popcorn pop timing (or burning), I wanted rewind back. Here's the story. I had a microwave that was on its last legs, the outer…
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October 22, 2009
How to Pre-Populate Twitter Status Updates Via Links
We all know that getting information out via Twitter is helpful to your brand or company, but what if you want to have your website or blog readers do it for you? Or perhaps you want to get a standard message out or include a keyword or two through the use of hashtags (#). NOTE: As of May 2011, this…
Read more →September 18, 2009
How To Make iPhoto or Picasa Recognize your Camera Again
Recently, I tried to download some photos from a small, older and somewhat, war-scarred point & shoot digital cameral (HP Photosmart M632) which I carry around in my backpack wherever I go. I had taken some photos and video at a tradeshow and wanted to work on a blog post for it. Unfortunately, when I plugged in my camera, absolutely…
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September 8, 2009
How to Set Up an Inexpensive Outdoor Home Theater
Everybody has some sort of a main viewing room or area of the house where there is a larger TV and comfortable seating where families and friends gather to watch movies, TV shows or play video games. The big screen TV has become a digital fireplace of sorts or a congregation point in the house. With hectic schedules governing our…
Read more →August 28, 2009
Fix Its: Merge Two BlackBerry Calendars into One & AT&T’s Visual Voicemail Activation for the Bold
AT&T pushed out new firmware and a desktop application update for the BlackBerry Bold this week, supposedly with a new Visual Voicemail (similar to the iPhone). But somewhere in the process of the upgrade, I found that a second calendar was activated which wasn't syncing to Microsoft Outlook. The fix that I detail below allows you to merge multiple BlackBerry…
Read more →July 14, 2009
The DO’s and DON’Ts of Customer Service in a Social Media Age
How many times have you had a bad customer service experience? More than 50% of the time? I will bet that you think that it's much higher than that even. Most of us tend to remember poor customer service experiences than good ones. It's easier to gripe and complain about someone NOT doing something to your satisfaction than it is…
Read more →June 23, 2009
How to Fix Apple Mail Not Saving Passwords – Keychain First Aid
Recently I was plagued with having to repeatedly enter and re-enter my passwords on some of my email accounts using Apple Mail. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. I would get asked to enter when sending email from a certain account as well as when trying to receive email from a completely different email account.…
Read more →June 22, 2009
Restore Missing iPhone Applications after 3.0 Firmware Upgrade
I was excited like many others to get the new Apple iPhone firmware 3.0 update last week. Installation was not an issue for me, even after coming from a jailbroken 2G (original) iPhone. That is, until I started looking for some of my applications. For some odd reason, there were several of my applications that had just disappeared. I finally…
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June 1, 2009
Save Money By Creatively Exercising At Home
We are all feeling the pinch of the Recession. It is causing us all to cut back on things that we don't need, subscriptions we don't use, products that are just luxury items and memberships that aren't helping. Who am I to talk though. Between work, family and this blog, I hardly have time to brush my teeth! My daily…
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June 1, 2009
Save Money By Creatively Exercising At Home
We are all feeling the pinch of the Recession. It is causing us all to cut back on things that we don't need, subscriptions we don't use, products that are just luxury items and memberships that aren't helping. Who am I to talk though. Between work, family and this blog, I hardly have time to brush my teeth! My daily…
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May 5, 2009
Mother’s Day Gifts Made Easy with Adobe Elements 7 Suite
If you are reading this blog post now, it means you are a procrastinator or are reading this after Mother's Day. Since I'm writing this just a few days before Mother's Day, I'm the procrastinator. But no worries, what I'm going to write about here is an easy way to make a memorable gift for Mom using Adobe Photoshop Elements…
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