If you’re like me and you spend a huge portion of your day browsing the web then you understand how frustrating it is to have a slow, bloated browser that seems to be on its last leg. While some of that slowness can stem from issues unrelated to the browser, like ISP and computer hardware, there are some steps you can take to maximize browser speeds.

Internet privacy. Anonymity was one of the greatest features of the Internet in its youth (or one of its worst features, depending on who you ask). Leaving aside the sorts of problems that spring forth from anonymous interaction, such as the lack of consequences, Internet privacy and anonymity is important for preventing some serious crimes, like identity theft. And so when topics related to Internet privacy pop up, you’ll often hear of “private browsing” and “proxy servers”.

The GIF image format is one of the staples of the Internet, allowing for animations to be shared with other people who aren’t standing in the same room as you. It’s one of the oldest image formats to have become mainstream, but it’s still used regularly even today and creative people are pioneering new uses for GIFs, such as the cinemagraph. A cinemagraph is a GIF that is mostly a still image with one small section being animated.

USB drives are so pervasive in today’s world of technology, but when they first debuted, they revolutionized data exchange. The first USB flash drives had an 8MB capacity, which isn’t much by today’s standards, but a far cry better than the alternatives – the 1.44MB floppy or the CD that required permanent burning. Nowadays we have USB drives that are larger than traditional hard drives.

Back in the first days of the computer, the only way to interface with a terminal was through a keyboard, no mouse. Of course, back then, most operating systems ran on a command line interface so a mouse wasn’t really necessary. But nowadays, when we have mice available, a question is raised – are you using your mouse productively? The mouse gives us a great deal of control in two dimensions – selecting, dragging, tapping, double-tapping, and more.

Back at the end of 2012, just in time for New Year’s Resolutions, I wrote an article all about smartphone addiction. We created technology to serve us, yet so many of us – myself included – have fallen enslaved to our phones. Ever lose your phone for one moment and felt your heart jump out of your chest? That’s what I’m talking about. Don’t let your smartphone master you. Take control over your smartphone by avoiding these potentially harmful habits.

Amazon has its own set of flaws that send readers looking for an alternative that’s just as good. Looking to get away from Amazon, the Kindle, and DRM? Here are some of the best ebook reading apps that I’ve found on Android over the years. I’ve used each of them at some point in my life and I’ve been satisfied with all of them. Hopefully they work well for you, too.

The greatest aspect of the telephone? The fact that you can speak to anyone at a moment’s notice, even if they’re halfway across the world. Sit back and think about that for a second because it’s amazing. But there’s also a drawback: spammers can constantly attempt to reach you with texts and calls and you may feel helpless against the endless barrage.

For the majority of my life, Microsoft Word was the word processing tool to use if you were going to do any serious work. Sure, there were alternatives like Corel WordPerfect and later on OpenOffice, but Microsoft Word held a pretty tight grip as leader in that field. Since then, Google Docs shifted all of that into a cloud environment and has been quite successful. In the future, I truly see Google Docs taking over traditional desktop word processors.

To be honest, I never understood the big fuss over webcams and video chatting. Sure, it’s nice to chat face to face every once in a while, especially when you haven’t seen your significant other or family members for long periods of time, but other than that, I’ve always thought webcams weren’t a justified purchase. Until I learned you can use webcams for more than just chatting.

Have you ever been watching something on the TV or the computer, had to step out for a bit, but “a bit” soon turns into minutes, hours, maybe even days? You return to your screen only to see an image burned into the display and, no matter what you do, it just won’t go away. Sadly, it’s happened to me on a few occasions. Why do images get burned into displays? Why can’t manufacturers just prevent LCDs and plasmas from doing that?

There are many Android games that deserve praise, many of which are logic-based puzzle games like Move the Box and Unblock Me, although there are a few action games like Death Worm to seal the deal. I’ve found yet another fantastic logical puzzler that will calmly pick your mind and stump you regularly. It’s called Quell and it’s available on both Android (Free) and iOS ($1.99).

Who doesn’t love a skilled drummer? Beats are the heart of music and a great beat by a great drummer can absolutely transform the spirit of a song into something transcendent. I’ve tried learning how to drum on a few occasions in the past but always ran into an obstacle: drums are expensive. Luckily for any of you readers in that same boat, there are now a handful of fantastic resources on the Internet

Technology in the computer age has been plagued with unsecured features, security loopholes, and general oversights in software architecture. Flash drives can carry keyloggers. Browsers might have open backdoors. Windows constantly updates with security fixes. We have to take the good with the bad and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is one technological advancement that, too, comes with its share of drawbacks.

Who doesn’t love Internet radio? I was a slow adopter when it came to streaming online music, but now I’m a believer and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Fortunately, the technology has been continually advancing and now we’ve got a number of great mobile music streaming services. Jango Radio is one of them and it most definitely deserves your attention.