“HTD Tech Tip” collection
Solve common technical frustrations with quick, actionable “Tech Tips” and expert software workarounds. This series provides fast solutions for optimizing your devices and resolving minor technical glitches in seconds.
HTD Tech Briefs
View all →July 13, 2010
Laptop Got Stolen? Send PREY Out to Find It, for Free!
I'm sure that many of you have heard of the Find My iPhone service for MobileMe that helps you locate missing iPhones or iPads. Or the equivalent on Windows Mobile phones called My Phone. And I'm sure you know about LoJack that helps you locate stolen cars. LoJack also offers a service for computers as well, for a price. There…
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June 22, 2010
How To Get 48 Applications in the iPhone Dock using iOS4
Quite possibly my favorite new feature coming out of Apple's iOS4 iPhone software update is that of folders. I had maxed out the number of screens on my iPhone and every time I added new applications, I either had to delete one that I didn't use much or had to use the Search functionality to launch it. It was a…
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April 30, 2010
13+ Ways to Extend your iPad’s Battery Life
I have now been the lucky owner of an iPad for a little over an week now, and each day I'm becoming yet more attached to it. But this article is not about my "love affair." It's more about keeping the love running as long as possible, namely getting the most out of the iPad's battery, which isn't too shabby…
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January 4, 2010
Fix Mail.app Search Issues and Speed Up Apple Mail with This Simple Script
Today I was trying to find an email in my Apple Mail and went to my usual trustworthy internal mail search function only to find that the "Entire Message" field was grayed out for all of my accounts. Granted, I use a mixture of POP3 and IMAP account and my main IMAP account has about 8400 messages in my inbox…
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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 →August 24, 2009
If You Aren’t Using DropBox, You Are Really Dumb!
Honestly, DropBox has got to be one of the best services I have ever come across, and if you don’t have DropBox account by the end of this article, I will be shocked. DropBox’s service offering is incredibly straight forward and simple. It is a file sharing and back-up program and system that allows you to sync the personal files…
Read more →July 1, 2009
5 “Hidden” iPhone 3.0 Firmware Tricks
I have been playing around quite a bit with my new iPhone 3GS and the apps and firmware therein. I can't say enough positive things about the release so I wanted to write about a few items that people might not know about because they are buried away or not immediately apparent. I'm sure there are many people who have…
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 →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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March 23, 2009
10 Things To Consider When Buying a Netbook
Netbooks are all the hype right now. The size and price points are extremely attractive, especially during a recessive economy when money is tight. Also, for those of us who do lots of blogging, these devices are simply the best, boasting portability and very long battery life. So, what's not to love? If you decide that you must get one,…
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February 17, 2009
HTD Tech Tip #7: Fix Broken Firefox Toolbars
Today I ran into a rather odd issue. All of a sudden, all of my Firefox buttons that were from 3rd party plugins were missing and could not be added via the "customize" option. Very weird! I did a quick amount of research and saw that other manifestations could include: Bookmarks not saving properly Size and position of the browser…
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December 10, 2008
HTD Tech Tip #6: Putting your Cell Phone on Tinfoil Means No Speaker Interference
Have you ever heard the electronic buzzes and tones (called TDMA noise) that come from your computer speakers when your iPhone or other cellular phone is in close proximity? Typically this happens when your phone is downloading data or about to receive a call. It is EXTREMELY annoying. That is part of the reason why, if you use an FM…
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