It’s increasingly rare, but still occasionally true: sometimes you just don’t have Internet access. Whether you’re on a plane or your grandparent’s place in the country, life occasionally brings all of us to places WiFi and 4G can’t reach. With a little preparation, however, you can have the data you need on your hard drive, waiting for you.

Bloated operating systems bogging your system down? Is waiting for software to load on an older computer ruining your entire freaking life? Try something lightweight. Crunchbang is a minimalist OS built on Debian Linux, but don’t worry if you don’t know what any of those words mean – it’s also easy to use and runs well even on older computers.

Waste your time the right way – shoot bubbles at similarly colored bubbles, in the hope of freeing the entire board of bubbles just long enough for more bubbles to show up. It’s called Frozen Bubble, and it’s more than a game. Actually, it’s not more than a game. It’s a game, and for a long time it was one of the best put together games for Linux. That’s not been true for a while – the platform has grown leaps and bounds for gamers since then.

Keep up with your favorites sports team, however you like. The new ESPN channel for If This Then That (ifttt) means you can easily set up SMS, email and even phone notifications for your favorite teams. You could even automate Twitter to send up updates every time your favorite teams scores, if you want – the only limit is your own imagination.

Control XBMC with your Android phone. Sure, you could buy a dedicated phone for your media center, but if you’ve got an Android smart phone or tablet there’s really no need to. Complete control can be at your fingertips right now. It’s only an app away. The XBMC wiki outlines a number of Android remote apps, some free some paid. I’ve tried out the free ones, and the results of my research are below.

Stop digging through your Android’s settings screen, just to switch that one setting on or off. Widgetsoid is a free Android app allowing you to create your own widgets, filled with switches that control otherwise obscure options on your phone or tablet. Whether you want to control your music, disable Bluetooth, lock your screen or unmount a USB connection, Widgetsoid allows you to create a toolbar for your homescreen with the controls you want – and nothing more.

Try out a simple word processor for Mac. Maybe you’re unwilling to fork out the funds for Apple’s Pages or Microsoft’s Word. Maybe you’re looking for something lightweight and speedy? Or maybe you just like the idea of using simple software to get things done. Whatever your reason, Bean is a great alternative word processor for Mac users everywhere. Bean is not a full-fledged replacement for Word or Pages – software it claims “try to be all things to all people”.

Don’t miss a moment of your favorite team, regardless of whether their games are broadcast in your area. A variety of sites around the web can serve you (legally questionable) streams of every live match you can imagine. Stop Googling only to find dead ends, malware and sadness. Go to these sites first and find what you’re looking for quickly so you can watch live matches online, right now.

Experience Twitter, Windows 8 style. The people who run the web’s water cooler just got around to putting together an app for Microsoft’s new platform, and it’s pretty great. Everything you love about Twitter – your timeline, your interactions and your ways of discovering new content – are all arranged in an easy-to-browse Metro app. There’s even a built-in browser, meaning you can read articles linked to without closing your timeline.

Are you thinking of switching from your Windows-based PC to a Mac? Learn everything you need to know in order to make that transition painless. Read “Switched: The Convert’s Guide to the Mac and OS X”. From MakeUseOf staff writer Tim Brookes., our latest guide explains how to use a Mac from the perspective of a lifelong Windows user.

Find hidden hilarity and otherwise odd stuff, built right into the operating system you’re using. They’re hiding in plain site, in software you use every day, and when you find them you’ll be delighted – it’s no wonder these hidden gems are called Easter Eggs. From a full version of Tetris hidden in the Mac version of emacs to a mysterious cow dwelling in Ubuntu’s default package manager.

It’s become an annual event: the fall of Bitcoin. You’ve probably read about it multiple times, and maybe even believe that the online, decentralized currency is already gone forever. It isn’t. Created by a mysterious, anonymous entity back in 2009 – when the recession was at its worst – Bitcoin is a completely digital currency with no central servers. Transactions are distributed across the network of users, and developers claim counterfeiting to be impossible. We’ve taken a deep look into this virtual, but oh-so-real, currency.

Bring the default games in Windows 8 back to the desktop. If Metro-style, full screen apps aren’t what you want when you play Solitaire, Minesweeper or Free Cell, you’re probably disappointed with Windows 8 – only fullscreen versions of these games are offered in Microsoft’s latest operating system. Some purists prefer their simple, desktop-based classics. If that includes you, keep reading.

Use an advanced text editor on your Mac, free of charge. TextWrangler comes complete with code highlighting for most major languages and a whole lot more – and it’s free. If you even occasionally edit any kind of code – even just HTML – this is worth having around. This is not a word processor – it offers no styling options whatsoever. This is a text editor, meaning it handles only plain text .

Don’t feel overwhelmed by passwords, or simply use the same one on every site just so you’ll remember them. Instead design your own password management strategy. MakeUseOf’s Password Management Guide, from author Mohammed Al-Marhoon, outlines tips and tricks you need to know to stay both secure and sane. This guide aims to educate you about the importance of proper passwords without overwhelming you.