Boolean search logic illustrated in Venn diagrams can help you visualize what you are searching for. If you think this sounds suspiciously like mathematics, you’re spot on. But don’t let that discourage you! It’s pure and simple logic, demonstrated with pretty and very simple diagrams, and so it’s easy. I promise! And I have fun examples to prove it.

The only case in which you won’t need any search logic, is when you search for only a single word, like Earth.

What Is Boolean (Search) Logic?

In a search query, Boolean logic helps us define the logical relationship between multiple search terms. The operators used to express the relationship are AND, OR, and NOT. Any number of boolean search terms can be connected with these operators to refine your search results. Let’s look at each operator separately.

OR

• search results will contain either one or several or all of the search terms
• best used when you want to pull together results on similar topics

Example: Wind OR Fire

The Venn diagram above reveals that a search for Wind OR Fire will show results for Wind, Wind AND Fire (overlapping areas), and Fire.

Example: Earth OR Wind OR Fire

Likewise, this diagram demonstrates that all boolean search terms by themselves, as well as overlapping content will be shown when connecting the terms with OR. And here is a chance to earn a Like including 5 bonus points if you can tell me who those folks in the center are.

Here are the numbers for Google’s search results for the three search terms and the OR combinations shown above:

• Earth: 1,280,000,000 results
• Wind: 909,000,000 results
• Fire: 2,090,000,000 results
• Wind OR Fire: 2,980,000,000 results
• Earth OR Wind OR Fire: 4,210,000,000

As you see, in the case of a Google search, the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts; it’s actually smaller. But since there is redundancy, i.e. overlapping areas, as can be seen nicely in the Venn diagrams above, that makes sense.

Instead of OR you can also use the vertical bar | character when performing a Google search.

NOT or rather -

• exclude keywords from your search
• best used when your search is ambiguous

Caution: While NOT is a valid term in Boolean logic, Google doesn’t appear to operate with this term. Instead of NOT, you should use the - character. Note that there is no space between the dash and the keyword you want to exclude.

Example: Wind NOT Fire or Wind -Fire

The Venn diagram above depicts the results in theory. Below are the actual numbers:

• Wind: 909,000,000 results
• Fire: 2,090,000,000 results
• Wind NOT Fire: 377,000,000 results
• Wind -Fire: 1,810,000,000
• and just for fun… Fire -Wind: 5,010,000,000 results

The numbers will vary, depending on which Google domain you are using (my browser defaults to Google.ca) and obviously they also change over time. However, the results above are nothing short of confusing. Let’s say that Google doesn’t necessarily give us all the results, so those numbers are not a reliable source of information. Looking at the first page of results, however, can give you an idea of whether or not your search worked.

Actually trying to understand the results quickly reveals that Google tends to think for you, rather than with you. For the majority of users that’s good because they don’t know what they are doing. Google appears to serve results based on its “experience” rather than the search terms and operators used in the query. This actually is a little disturbing, but good to be aware of. So let’s continue with the theory…

AND

• search results will contain all search terms
• results where one of the terms is missing will be excluded
• best used when you want to retrieve only those results where the search terms overlap

Example: Earth AND Wind AND Fire

Once more, the numbers:

• Earth: 1,280,000,000 results
• Wind: 909,000,000 results
• Fire: 2,090,000,000 results
• Earth AND Wind AND Fire: 80,500,000
• and just for fun… Earth Wind Fire: 86,800,000

At least Google cooperates with this boolean search operator. Mind you that AND typically is the default operator in search engines. So whenever you type in more than one keyword, the search engine will automatically connect them with the AND operator. Hence Earth Wind Fire in theory will yield the same search results as Earth AND Wind AND Fire.

Processing & Nesting

You can connect multiple search terms with different operators. But since Boolean logic operates based on mathematical principles, the order in which you connect your keywords will have an effect on your results. To influence your results, it helps to understand how the terms are processed. Per default, keywords are processed from left to right.

Example: Earth AND Wind OR Fire

If you want to change the order in which your keywords are processed, you can of course literally change the order. You can also enclose a set of search terms and operators in parentheses, i.e. nest them. Processing will still be left to right, but the nested elements will be treated as one unit.

Example: Earth AND (Wind OR Fire)

This result looks quite different, doesn’t it?

Conclusion

It’s generally good to know how Boolean search logic works when you are working with search engines, at least if they strictly adhere to those operators. Apparently, Google does not, meaning a simple search will often get you exactly what you need, without having to think about it. If you do want to be sure that Google does what you want it to do however, use Google’s Advanced Search. The field all these words corresponds to the AND operator, any of these words equals OR, and none of these words works like NOT. Now you should be able to narrow down your searches a lot better – in theory.

If you desire to become a real power user, I recommend reviewing our article on how to master Google search operators, or how to reduce irrelevant results, or which tricks to use when you don’t know what to search for , or simply review Google’s list of search operators.

Have you ever had trouble getting Google or another search engine find what you were looking for?

The post Become Better At Finding Stuff With Search Engines: Boolean Search Logic Explained appeared first on MakeUseOf.

It happens all the time. People forget their password, accounts get hacked, or Facebook decides they have violated the Terms of Service and bans them. And when they try to recover their account, they realize that phone numbers or email addresses they once provided for a potential security check are long out of date. So what can they do to recover their Facebook account?

The Problem

Facebook is notorious for its impersonal customer support. Instead of offering a human to talk to, they prop their online Help Center with admittedly excellent instructions on how to recover your account – in theory. Unfortunately, many cases are special and can not be solved with an automated system. Consequently, Facebook must have been overwhelmed with people trying to contact them in person and cases that required proof of identity. Users have been frustrated with the lack of human assistance and report that it took Facebook weeks to process documents and unlock their accounts.

To address this dilemma, Facebook has now introduced a security feature that let’s your close friends help you recover your account. Facebook previously announced a featured called Trusted Friends, which was available during an initial testing period from October 2011 until early 2012. What they have released now is an overhauled version, which lets you designate friends as Facebook trusted contacts ahead of time, rather than selecting them only when you can no longer access your account. Making your friends confirm your identity is a smart move on Facebook’s part!

How To Add Facebook Trusted Contacts

Trusted Contacts can be added and changed anytime via Security Settings. Click Edit next to Trusted Contacts and click Choose Trusted Contacts.

Then type in the names of friends you trust. For example I have added my sister and friends I am regularly in touch with through Facebook or otherwise.

Next you need to enter your password to confirm the changes.

When you have successfully completed this step, your Facebook trusted contacts will show up under Security Settings. You can edit or remove them anytime.

How To Recover Your Account with Trusted Contacts

From the Facebook Homepage, click Forgot your password? on the top right. Then find your account via your email address, phone number, username or full name. When using your own full name, you may also have to enter a friend’s full name, so Facebook can find the right account. Once it does, Facebook will offer to send a link to reset your password to your email address(es). Since I found my account using my Gmail address, it also offered me the use of the Google account to reset my password.

Click No longer have access to these? if you cannot access your email. You will then be asked to confirm an email address you can access, although that won’t be necessary to recover your account.

In the next step you can reveal your trusted contacts. You need to personally contact three of them, ask them to visit https://www.facebook.com/recover so they receive your recovery codes, collect these codes, and enter them in the form to recover access to your account.

Words Of Caution

Choose your trusted friends wisely. In some places hacking a person’s account is a kind of sport. If you have three close friends who know each other and could potentially team up to play a mischievous trick on you, reconsider. Who can you really trust?

Ask yourself…

• Who would you trust with the key to your apartment?
• Who can you get in touch with outside Facebook and without access to your email account?

The above are your minimum requirements. If you know three or more people who qualify and don’t know each other or would never play a mean trick on you, you have found the perfect candidates to be added as Facebook trusted contacts.

Conclusion

Trusted Contacts are a last resort to recovering your account and probably the most dicey one. And just like any other recovery option, you have to keep them current. What if your friendship ends, your friend stops using Facebook, or cannot be reached for a significant amount of time? Frankly, I think it’s easier to enable Facebook Two Factor Authentication and make sure your backup email addresses and phone numbers are up to date. However, having yet another extra security net doesn’t hurt, but I wouldn’t rely only on Trusted Contacts.

Other Ways To Secure Your Facebook Account

Don’t forget the other basic ways of securing your Facebook account:

Double-check your General Account Settings. Make sure your primary email address is current and add secondary email addresses. Set a secure password. Check your Mobile Settings and add another mobile phone number. Set up Facebook Login Approvals and install the Code Generator on your Android. And finally add Trusted Contacts.

Has your Facebook account ever been hacked and how did you recover it? How do you make sure this never happens (again)?

The post Add Facebook Trusted Contacts To Ensure You Can Recover Your Account appeared first on MakeUseOf.

This actually wasn’t our first meet & greet with readers on Google Hangouts. Several months ago Jackson ran a spontaneous and open-to-all Hangout on which James and I joined him. It was a very good learning experience and really helped me in preparing this second attempt.

The Invitation Process

My public invitation contained a brief form, based on which I chose participants. Given the short notice and the specific time zone, the response was not overwhelming, but I still couldn’t invite everyone who responded to the form. I picked nine readers who seemed enthusiastic to join and most of whom I had seen commenting on MakeUseOf before.

In my personal invitation to the Hangout, I was very clear about expectations. My intention was to avoid people talking over each other, being rude, or trying to control the conversation. The trick with these expectations is that you should never mention what you don’t want people to do because you risk planting an idea in their head, which might have an undesired impact. Just try not to think of pink elephants for a moment. So instead of making a list of rules, I shared with them how I envisioned our get together. Now I have to admit that I don’t know whether this actually worked or whether we just have the most awesome readers on this planet; I will leave that up to your own judgement.

The Participants

Unfortunately, not everyone could make it in the end. However, the smaller size of the group allowed everyone to participate more and we could cover a broader range of topics.

The readers who joined me were (left to right in image below):

• Alex from the US, college student majoring in web design.
• Kay from Germany, working in the test department of a European mobile operator.
• Nazim from France, high school student, music composer, and writer for the French website Fandroid.
• Paul from the US, retired Marine and self-employed in IT support.
• Rajaa from India, freelance IT consultant.
• Siddhant from Singapore, middle school student.

We had quite a range in terms of age, origin, and professions, which made for interesting conversations.

When & How Did You Discover MakeUseOf?

One of the things I am really interested in is how people discover MakeUseOf. With five loyal readers being my guests, I made this my kick-off question. Kay was the first one to take the chance and share his story.

Kay’s employer was looking to do more innovative stuff and while looking for resources online, Kay found MakeUseOf. With time, it became his first stop for inspiration.

If you surround yourself with innovative stuff – software, hardware, whatever – you will be much better in creating your stuff, it’s very inspiring. – Kay

Nazim found MakeUseOf two years ago while searching for Windows application reviews. He read a few articles and found the website so attractive that he subscribed to our RSS feed.

Actually I’m now reading [the feed] every day. In the two years, I read every article of MakeUseOf. – Nazim

Nazim appreciates the diversity of articles and the comprehensive nature of each of our articles.

Alex discovered MakeUseOf in 2008 and has been visiting it on a daily basis since.

Rajaa doesn’t remember how he came across MakeUseOf, but probably through Facebook about a year and a half ago. What attracted him was the variety, ranging from Windows to mobile environment. What really got him hooked was the Q&A section, where he has been an active volunteer in answering questions.

It gives a lot of satisfaction if you can help someone. – Rajaa

When I ask them what they feel is missing, Rajaa brings up MakeUseOf’s lack of a mobile app, a question that has come up occasionally on MakeUseOf Answers. Rajaa recommends us to look into this environment to make it easier for people to follow feeds. Alternatively, he says we could plug our feeds into Pulse.

What Gadgets Do You Have?

Alex, Nazim, and Kay show off their gadget collection. Alex uses one of the first Nook eReaders and Nazim recommends the Nexus 4 as one of the best Android phones. Kay loves his Samsung Galaxy Note II phablet because his hands are quite big. Rajaa has an entry level Android with a QWERTY keyboard, which he prefers over touch input. Kay and Alex chime in that they prefer keyboards too, and Kay wishes that a new Android with a keyboard would come out. Alex says his last two phones had a QWERTY keyboard and points out that if you really need a keyboard, you can just attach a Bluetooth keyboard. He refers to one of his favorite MakeUseOf articles, which was about turning your smartphone into a desktop replacement.

Who Are Your Favorite Writers?

Since we are on the topic of writers, I wonder whether they like anyone in particular. Alex is careful to say that he is not paying attention to the writers (obviously he isn’t!) and immediately adds that everyone has good articles, so nobody stands out.

Rajaa on the other hand openly confesses that he is biased towards Saikat because he is from India. He has also been enjoying articles from Kannon and, as he says, obviously James. Rajaa feels that James is our most technically sound writer, which is of course reflected in his articles.

Being our resident über geek and a routine podcast host, I asked James to stand by for emergency support in case things go awry. So I have him on GTalk and the moment Rajaa’s statement is aired, I receive a very happy comment from him.

Rajaa continues that he really enjoys the opinion polls and the We Ask You section hosted by Yaara and Dave Parrack. He bemoans that it has become harder to find those articles since we removed their dedicated URLs (category or tag).

Like Alex, Kay admits that he doesn’t follow authors, even though he has written articles himself for several magazines. Nazim explains his impression that everyone on the team has their niche.

So I ask them whether there is something that unites our writing and makes our articles recognizable as MakeUseOf articles.

I think it’s the whole group combined that gives [MakeUseOf] the power. I even think it’s better if no one stands out. – Kay

Like Nazim, Kay thinks everyone has their specialty. He compares it to his work of reviewing mobile phone features and says it would be awful if he started writing about topics he isn’t comfortable with.

On Gadgets & Technology

After receiving so much MakeUseOf related feedback, I switch to more general topics that I hope are close to our geeks’ hearts. Last year Ryan wrote an article on Why You Never Forget Your First Computer, which received a flood of engaged comments, so I ask them about their first computer and their favorite gadget.

We also discuss the challenges of IT support.

I have to learn what [my customers] want and learn to get them what they want with their equipment, if it’s possible. – Paul

Paul recommends Soluto and we learn that he is an alpha tester for them, helping with developing the application. Erez has reviewed Soluto for MakeUseOf.

From IT support, we move on to discussing the future of operating systems, Cloud security, software licensing and subscription models, innovation at Apple, and much more. If you would like to see the whole conversation, you have the chance to watch it on YouTube.

Just a small note: Matt Smith, who manages our Rewards section, confirmed that hardware rewards are in fact available for all countries. We changed back our policy for both Rewards and Giveaway contests, to be open to participants worldwide again.

Conclusion

It was incredibly rewarding and inspiring to host such a knowledgeable and geeky group of people. In review it would have been nice to have a co-host to take care of the chat and some technical details. Sometimes it was hard for me to focus on the conversation. For next time, I’m hoping our YouTube channel will be properly set up, that we will give readers more of a heads-up for participating. We will promote the event more beforehand and maybe take in live feedback from a bigger audience.

Finally, I want to express my gratitude to Alex, Kay, Nazim, Paul, Rajaa, and Siddhant for joining me. It was a pleasure to have all of you in this hangout! I very much appreciate your patience while I was prototyping what will hopefully become a regular event at MakeUseOf. Thank you very much!

The post MakeUseOf Hangouts: When Geeks Talk Turkey appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Note that name your price albums can be downloaded for free by entering 0 in the price field. That said, we strongly recommend you to donate a few dollars for music you enjoy!

You are welcome to submit your music, send suggestions with free albums you have discovered, or request genres I haven’t covered in a while. For all Sound Sunday related inquiries, please contact Tina @ this domain.

EP: THE DEADSTATION. – Episode 01: Like Peering Into The Deepest Ocean Abyss.

Genre: progressive rock, hard rock, power metal, progressive metal

Picking up where we left last week, we are starting into this edition with a progressive metal band from Boston. From their Facebook page: “THE DEADSTATION is a finely-tuned mixture of heart-stopping vocals, progressive riffing/drumming, epic orchestral elements, and pitch-black ambiance. (…) They present their work to listeners as “episodes” from a fictional dystopian TV channel called “The Deadstation”, with each song title representing a different scene from that episode.”

Episode 01: Like Peering Into The Deepest Ocean Abyss. is a free download from Bandcamp.

EP: Tetrafusion – Horizons EP

Genre: alternative rock, progressive rock, avant-garde, metal, progressive metal, jazz

From their Bandcamp profile: “Tetrafusion is a Louisiana-based progressive metal band established in 2006. The band’s mix of complex, technical metal blended with a highly-intellectual melodic structure offers an eclectic brand of progressive rock and metal pushing the edge of contemporary music today.”

Horizons EP is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

EndAnd – Mechanics & Energetics of Stilt-Running

Genre: alternative, rock, experimental rock, hard rock, hardcore punk, noise rock

From their Facebook page: “Disarmingly human and emotionally charged noise/garage rock from the heart of Brooklyn, New York, EndAnd have been gaining feverish word-of-mouth lately thanks to the release of the uncompromising Adventures of Fi in Space, which saw the band getting recommended by publications such as Large Hearted Boy and Those Who Dig.”

Mechanics & Energetics of Stilt-Running is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

EP: Totem Provoc – Selftitled

Genre: punk, rock

The members of Totem Provoc discovered each other at a cultural center in Piracicaba, Brazil. Clandestino was the space where they started to experiment and founded Totem Provoc. The band band seeks a universal sound that gives rise to a gloomy and sensual energy. Mission accomplished.

Totem Provoc is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

The Dead Ends – Mind Your Head

Genre: alternative, indie, rock, emo, grunge

This three piece alternative rock band formed in 2009. With roots in Auburn, Alabama and Nashville, Tennessee, they currently reside in College Park, Maryland.

Mind Your Head is a free download from Bandcamp.

Beaumont Livingston – Heavens & Fantasies

Genre: rock, desert rock, psychedelic rock, stoner rock

Stoner Rock straight from Italy. “Brilliant fuzzy guitar tones buzz around your head like a swarm of bees angry because you fucked with their hive. The cymbals crash and ride as the underlying rhythm spews you into the psychedelic vortex of riff-filled glory.”

Heavens & Fantasies is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Across Tundras – Electric Relics

Genre: americana, drone, rock, psychedelic rock, blues, progressive rock

From the album page: “Electric Relics is our humble offering placed at the crossroads of past, present, and future tense. Age-old energies and 3 phase electric power intersect to reveal hidden truths of bygone times, modern mysticisms, and sound the alarm for uncertain days to come. We walk through this shadowy land in search of a spark to light the fire and illuminate the depths of consciousness.”

Electric Relics is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Grey Gordon – Sleepless

Genre: indie, acoustic, folk, pop, punk, emo

From Grey’s Facebook page: “I picked up a guitar and wrote some songs. Demoed them. They weren’t bad. I’m still playing them, plus some others.”

Sleepless is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

The Stormalongs – …they call me Destruction

Genre: alternative, rock, rock & roll, garage rock

From their Bandcamp profile: “The Stormalongs began like a mythical tale: they came from deep within the woods, and learned to forge their rock from pure inspiration. Years later, these talented young men convened in the urban sprawl and laid their fire down. The sound of human thunder slamming against the walls of modern life.”

.?.?.?they call me Destruction is a free download from Bandcamp.

EP: LAMBS – Selftitled

Genre: rock, rock & roll, stoner rock, psychedelic rock, shoegaze

LABS is a summer psych rock band from Cambridge, Ontario. LAMBS is their remastered 2013 demo EP. From their Facebook page: “For those of you who have already downloaded, thank you for the love and support! It means so much when you go for something different and people respond to your creative vision. Download the professionally mixed and mastered version by Kevin Carafa (Recording Engineer) now. What a difference a separate set of ears can make, it definitely has a larger, warmer feel with improved clarity. (…) Thanks for sharing & thanks for listening!”

LAMBS is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

EP: The Blue Stones – Selftitled EP

Genre: alternative, blues, rock, soul, garage rock

From their Facebook page: “The Blue Stones are a blues/rock/alternative duo from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. (…) Our goal is simple: To provide accessible material to a large demographic while continuously striving to create innovative, original, and enjoyable music that we are passionate about.”

The Blue Stones EP is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Deep Elm – Sample Our Bands

Genre: alternative, indie, emo, rock, post rock, punk rock

From their Bandcamp profile: “With nearly 200 releases in its discography, fiercely independent Deep Elm Records continues to build a better label – one that operates for glory, not gold. We see our label being about people coming together, meeting, singing and sharing that experience with each other…those are the times that we remember forever. It’s about the power of music and the bands that create it. Indie ’til death…”

Sample Our Bands is a free download from Bandcamp.

And More…

Enjoyed one of these albums? Pay it back and share this article or the albums you liked. If you really appreciated a particular album, please donate to the respective artist, so they can continue releasing great music.

New to Sound Sunday? Past editions of Sound Sunday are available here.

Are you using ifttt? Check out these recipes for receiving notifications of new Sound Sunday releases to GTalk and Pushover for mobile devices. Thank you @Vampie!

Feel free to get in touch with me [tina at makeuseof dot com] to share free material, suggestions, and feedback or simply add your comments below.

The post 12 Free Music Albums: The Rock Edition [Sound Sunday] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

At the same time energy prices are rising. There are a number of energy saving tips you can do to control your energy bill and none of them cost you any money. Once you understand how electricity gets wasted and where you can step in, you can cut your bill and save money.

Turn It Off When You Don’t Use It

Devices consume electricity for as long as they are turned on. Hence, turning them off will save energy. So far so obvious. But here’s the catch: many devices continue to suck energy even when you think they are turned off! Up to 75% of electronics’ total electricity use is due to so-called phantom or vampire loads.

Almost all home electronics and kitchen appliances are guilty of using electricity when turned off. Some of the biggest offenders are chargers that continuously draw power, even while not in use. A good sign that your charger is wasting your money is if it is warm, although it is not charging anything. Even worse are devices that go into Standby, rather than turning off. There is a simple trick to completely turn off these devices and cut out phantom loads: unplug them.

Most households have over a dozen electronic devices. Unplugging all of them separately can be a bit tedious. However, if you have a power strip, you can group devices that you want to turn off collectively, for example your PC, monitor, and printer. Then simply switch off or unplug the entire strip after you have shut down the computer and kiss vampire loads goodbye. You can do the same with your TV setup and kitchen appliances and plug electronics you need to be always on, such as the fridge or your WiFi router, into a separate power outlet. Switching off power strips will cost you a few seconds each day and, depending on your current bill, can save you hundreds of Dollars a year. To me that’s worth it.

Customize Windows Power Options

Every Windows computer comes with power options. You can customize the power plan to change the time after which the display is dimmed, turned off, or when the computer goes to sleep. You can even control the default display brightness. There is great potential for saving energy in these settings. Remember that a computer running in low-power mode not only uses less energy, it also runs cooler and will thus last longer. For more details, refer to the following article: Windows 7 Power Options And Sleep Modes Explained

And when you know you will be out of the house for a while, shut down your computer or at least hibernate it.

Note that screen savers do not reduce your monitor’s energy use! Moreover, it is generally not true that equipment lasts longer if it is never turned off. This may theoretically be true for single components like the hard drive, but in reality other factors like heat and actual use cause a lot more damage than turning devices on and off. Besides, you will probably want to buy a new device before your old one breaks naturally. This brings us to…

What You Need to Know When Buying Electronics

Buying new and energy efficient devices can save a lot of energy and significantly cut your electricity bill. However, replacing a perfectly functional device just because it uses a little more electricity is neither a good economic nor a good ecologic decision. First, the bulk of the ecological cost of an electronic device arises during its production and recycling, i.e. all the material and energy resources needed to produce, transport, and physically or chemically break it up into usable components during the recycling process. Second, you have to spend a big amount money before you start saving small amounts or energy and money. So please think twice before you go ahead and buy something new.

When you do buy a new electronic device, look for energy labels, like the ENERGY STAR for office equipment or the EU Energy Label for household appliances. ENERGY STAR labelled products for example use around half the electricity of standard equipment. Moreover, these devices must offer a low-power mode in which they use 15 Watts or less. Get informed about equivalent labels in your area. A little more money paid for an energy saving device can save you many times the investment in the long run.

When you buy a new computer, consider buying a laptop. Laptop battery life is a significant factor for consumers and thus manufacturers have optimized the energy use of hardware components. Consequently, laptops are much more energy efficient than desktop PCs and use considerably less electricity.

Likewise, ink-jet printers consume up to 90% less energy than laser printers and TFTs require only 25% of the energy an old CRT monitor needs.

Whatever computer you buy, don’t buy a stronger hardware than you really need. High resolution screens draw high amounts of energy, as do strong processors and graphics cards.

Finally, watch out for 80 PLUS certified power supplies and manufacturers.

Find Out How Much You Can Save

But you don’t have to rely on a label alone, you can also compare yourself. Check the wattage of devices on their data sheets and compare several models. For example you could compare your current TV with various models you are interested in. The website energy.gov has a list of typical wattage of household appliances and explains how you can calculate the yearly energy use and cost yourself.

Conclusion

You can save a significant amount of money every year by turning off devices that are not in use and preventing phantom loads. Additional energy can be saved by adjusting your computer’s power options and turning it off wisely. Finally, when buying new devices, a bit of research and upfront investments in energy efficient devices can save a lot of electricity and money in the long run.

Do you know how much electricity your household uses and what your potential for saving is?

Share and discuss your own energy saving tips and numbers in the comments and maybe I will reveal my numbers, too.

Information resources: Blackle, Energy.gov, Energy Star
Image credits: Energy Saving via Shutterstock, Unplugged via Shutterstock, Power Strip via Shutterstock

The post Energy Saving Tips For Buying & Using Electronics appeared first on MakeUseOf.

What do you do when you depend on your laptop; to look up information, submit work, and meet deadlines? Well, I am here to tell you that you will survive. A broken screen certainly isn’t the end of the world and it’s less pain than a broken hard drive in any case.

A laptop is such a compact unit that breaking one part makes the entire device useless. Yet it’s built in a modular fashion. Hence, many of its parts can be fixed or upgraded, including the hard drive and RAM. With the broken screen it’s not that easy, but it can still be repaired. But that’s not the only solution.

Your Options

When your laptop display breaks you have several options. You can attach the device to an external monitor, fix the display, or buy a new laptop. If you have read my feature story on consumption and electronic waste, you already know what I did.

Attaching An External Monitor

I needed to work and I dreaded working from my old netbook, so I decided to attach an external monitor to my laptop. I first had to go out and buy one, but I had wanted a second monitor anyway, so that wasn’t a big deal. Using an external monitor is a quick fix that buys you time. At the very least, it lets you examine whether the rest of the laptop is really OK.

If you don’t have a spare monitor at home, you may be able to borrow one from a friend, buy it second hand, or get a good deal from a local store; TFTs aren’t that expensive. You might even find a free one via local classifieds like CraigsList. If you do decide to buy a new TFT, be sure to invest in a model that will be of use to you, even if you end up repairing the laptop or getting a new one later on.

Repairing The Broken Screen

Now that the screen is busted, you have nothing to lose. After attaching an external monitor, you will probably find that the display is in the way. At least that was my experience, so I removed it…

…and used a beheaded laptop for a short time. Suddenly, the webcam became much more useful! I think they should build laptops with webcams that can be pulled out. I really enjoyed having a webcam on a string.

When you remove the display, don’t be afraid, but be careful. Try not to break anything and document your every step. This will help you put the thing back together.

Take special note of how cables are wired, e.g. cables for the screen, the webcam and antennas. Also don’t forget to write down in which order you removed the parts, where you released screws (if any), and which ones went where. Finally, be sure to keep all the parts together and store them in a safe location.

To be honest, I neglected to document the dis-assembly. While reassembling the display, it happened twice that I figured out mistakes several steps down the line, meaning I had to go back and do them all over again. That’s enervating because breaking something as you’re putting in the new display would be a real drama.

But before you can think of putting everything back together, you first have to find a replacement display. I thought this would be hard, but in the end it wasn’t. Look at the back of the broken screen for a model number. Mine was LP156WF1 and it was an LG Display. You can use that number to search for a spare part.

Using the model number I searched on eBay and found several merchants that sold brand new displays. The price for my Full HD 15.6″ display was €77 (ca. US$100) plus shipping. In the US you will get a better deal. I ordered and within two days the display arrived.

If you were smarter than me and documented the dis-assembly, the reassembly will be a breeze. It will still take some time; just be patient and don’t forget to breathe. In the end, you will have your old laptop back!

Buying a New Laptop

Personally, I think it’s drastic to buy a whole new laptop if you just have a broken screen. Since my laptop was only a year old, this wasn’t an option at all. However, if your laptop is old and you really wanted to replace it anyways, go for it.

Before you trash the old one, note that you can salvage several valuable parts that still work, for example the hard drive or RAM. Whatever is left over after you removed the useful parts, should be recycled. Electronic waste contains a bunch of rare materials that do not belong onto the landfill or into an incinerator. Please recycle!

Take Home Message

A broken laptop display can be repaired and it is not that hard. Even girls can do it!

What was the last electronic device you successfully repaired and was it worth it?

The post Busted – How To Deal With a Broken Screen On Your Laptop appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Stickers are giant emoticons, which you may know from other apps like LINE, Path, or WeChat. They come in themed sets and new ones can be downloaded from a dedicated store. Stickers are not meant to integrate with text; instead they are sent individually with a single tap. To see the new features, you need to run the latest version of Facebook (Messenger) app. Go to the App Store or Google Play Store and update if necessary.

Disclaimer: Since I don’t own an iOS device, I focused on how these new features work on Android.

How Chat Heads Work

Anyone who chats a lot via Facebook and likes to multitask, will love Chat Heads. When a new message from a friend comes in, their avatar will pop up on the side of your screen. You can tap the Chat Head to open the conversation without leaving the current app. If a Chat Head is in the way, you can move it to any position on either side of the screen.

To remove a Chat Head, drag it onto the X that pops up at the bottom of your screen when you tap and move it. You actually don’t have to drag it all the way, you can just briefly swipe it in the right direction and it will disappear.

In the unlikely event that you are not fond of this feature, you can disable it. Open Facebook Messenger, go to Settings and open Notifications. Un-check Chat Heads and you will never be distracted by friendly avatars again.

And by the way, if you cannot get enough of Facebook Chat Head style notifications, you can also enable them for SMS/MMS. Go back to the Settings main menu and open SMS/MMS Settings. Check enable text messaging and you’re all set.

How To Use Stickers

Stickers are available as separate sets of emoticons from the Facebook chat line. Tap the smiley icon next to the Send button to view your sticker sets. From the Sticker Store, you can presently download several free sets to enhance your sticker collection.

Note that stickers work different than smileys. You don’t send them along with a text message, rather you send them by themselves. When you tap a sticker, it is automatically sent and any message you entered into the chat line will vanish.

In case you can’t yet see the smiley that opens stickers, you might want to try a trick. In the chat line, click the empty space to the left side of the + icon. Since the feature is fully functional on my phone, I’m not able to verify how exactly this works, but some sources say the hack is only available from Chat Heads. Please let us know whether or not the hack works for you.

Verdict

To be honest, I’m not very fond of the stickers. I hardly ever use exotic smileys or other emoticons, so I don’t see myself using stickers. But if you enjoy emoticons and if you’re a little childish (no offense!), you will probably adore stickers.

Chat Heads, on the other hand, are awesome! While I don’t chat much on Facebook, I enjoy any feature that allows me to multitask better. Regular notifications are just distracting, and I cannot see the full message and respond without having to switch apps. Chat Heads change that. Besides, I think the feature is super sleek; great design and smooth animation.

While both features add a little spice to Facebook’s mobile app, they aren’t an epiphany and certainly won’t draw in more users. However, Chat Heads is a very cool feature and will definitely help to retain people who are already using Facebook. If you are one of them, also check out these chat hacks.

What do you think? Have Chat Heads or stickers changed the way you use Facebook?

The post Chat Heads & Stickers – Check Out The New Features on Facebook Messenger [Weekly Facebook Tips] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Well, would you like to hang out with me? Do you have time this Friday, May 10th, at 5pm London, UK time? Are you a regular MakeUseOf reader? Do you know how Google+ Hangouts work? Do you have a working microphone and camera? And would you like to chat with me about MakeUseOf, how you use technology, and what your expectations as a reader are? If you answered yes to all of these questions, you’re a perfect candidate for our first Google-powered Hangout!

Please fill in this short form by this Thursday 8am London, UK time to let us know you would like to join. 9 people from as many different countries and age brackets as possible will be invited to join me. Participants will be announced Thursday. Everyone else is welcome to watch the Hangout On Air. Watch the comment thread for the URL.

If you cannot make it to this Hangout, you are welcome to fill in the form anyway and let us know what would be a better time for you in case we repeat this and what you would like to chat about. You can also leave your comments below.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

The post Invitation: Join a MakeUseOf Hangout appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Note that name your price albums can be downloaded for free by entering 0 in the price field. That said, we strongly recommend you to donate a few dollars for music you enjoy!

You are welcome to submit your music, send suggestions with free albums you have discovered, or request genres I haven’t covered in a while. For all Sound Sunday related inquiries, please contact Tina @ this domain.

EP: Perspectives – DEMO 2011

Genre: punk, hardcore, melodic hardcore

From their Facebook page: Perspectives is a group of friends playing meaningful music with as much as energy as we can muster. We want to make friends and connect with as many people possible.

DEMO 2011 is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Lost In Kiev – Motions

Genre: rock, post rock, post metal, post hardcore

From their Last.FM profile: Inspired by their travels in the songwriting process, the musicians of Lost in Kiev want to remain as free as possible. Since it is impossible for them to stick only to the label “post-rock” to which they are clearly attached (stretched length of the titles, melancholic tracks), they juggle with various styles, from a foggy groovy trip-hop to a heavy post-hardcore via an epic metal.

Motions is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

The Boring – Let The Captain Sink

Genre: hardcore, punk, melodic hardcore

From their website: Here are The Boring, a 5 pieces punk-hardcore band from Colmar, eastern France. (…) We play fast, we scream loud and make crappy jokes! And we’re not satisfied of it. We want more ! We’ll do more ! We’re working more !

music merch
Let The Captain Sink is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Noisefight – Downward Spiral

Genre: punk, hardcore, melodic hardcore

From their Facebook page: The band was formed in February 2010. by young musicians with a desire to develop their ideas and enthusiasm to contribute Croatia and Pula punk-rock scene by their own original arrangements. Noisefight presented themselves to the audience at early beginning, performing on the Festival of “Media Mediteranea” with several other bands. Inspired by music of bands like Bad Religion, Rise Against, Ignite, and similar, are trying to make interesting and creative music and present it to the audience carried by energy and good cheer that are manifested in the texts of original songs.

Downward Spiral is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

EP: The Recovery! – This One’s For The Lovers…

Genre: punk, pop, rock, metal, hardcore

The Recovery! are a heavy rock & Roll band from Glasgow in the UK. The five lads have received rage reviews from several music magazines and radio shows. Tom Aylott (Rock Sound Magazine): Forged from heavy roots, the band manage to intertwine melodic and punk sensibilities under some enviably heavy segments in their stride (…).

This One’s For The Lovers… is a free download from Bandcamp.

polaroids – i still have dreams,

Genre: indie, punk, pop, emo, hardcore, melodic hardcore

New Jersey’s Polaroids play melodic hardcore loaded with energy. The driven sound is contrasted with quieter passages, filled with guitar solos and percussion instruments.

i still have dreams, is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

EP: Gatherer – Postcards

Genre: punk, hardcore post hardcore, post punk

Gatherer is a five piece hardcore band from New Jersey. They are presently crowd-funding their debut album Caught Between a Rock and a Sad Place via an indiegogo campaign. Two weeks left to help an independent band self-release their music.

Postcards is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Lay It On The Line – Crowhurst

Genre: punk, rock, hardcore, post-hardcore, melodic hardcore

From their homepage: We are 4 gentlemen who enjoy making music and have done since we did our first show in 2012. We, so far, a demo, an EP and a mini album and a split EP with Arizona from Belgium as of May 2013. We thank anyone massively for taking an interest in our band.

Crowhurst is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

EP: Loyalist – Train Tracks EP

Genre: rock, metal, metalcore, hardcore, melodic hardcore, screamo

From their Facebook page: Loyalist is a six piece melodic metalcore group from Toronto, Canada. The band started based on the concept of two guitarists, Adrian Hawryschuk and Connor Robinson. The pair began writing material and recording pre-production which served as the basis for the now ‘Train Tracks EP’. (…) With goals in sight, you can expect big things in the future from Loyalist.

Train Tracks EP is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

The Silent Divine – All In On Nothing

Genre: rock, metal, metalcore

From their Facebook page: Arising from the Denver music scene in 2010, The Silent Divine presented to the public their ground-breaking demo; including songs such as Wicked Lies (…) and Fade Away. (…) The Silent Divine has expanded on their sound in every direction, adding life into a genre that has become watered down by carbon copies. The Silent Divine has proved that they are a force to be reckoned with, as their music appeals to metal fans and non-metal fans alike.

All In On Nothing is a free download from Bandcamp.

And More…

Enjoyed one of these albums? Pay it back and share this article or the albums you liked. If you really appreciated a particular album, please donate to the respective artist, so they can continue releasing great music.

New to Sound Sunday? Past editions of Sound Sunday are available here.

Are you using ifttt? Check out these recipes for receiving notifications of new Sound Sunday releases to GTalk and Pushover for mobile devices. Thank you @Vampie!

Feel free to get in touch with me [tina at makeuseof dot com] to share free material, suggestions, and feedback or simply add your comments below.

The post The Amalgamation of Rock, Punk, Metal & Hardcore [Sound Sunday] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Since Gmail comes with so many in-depth features, some hidden and some available as browser add-ons, it can be used in ways that are not immediately obvious. We previously elaborated on alternative uses like writing a diary, keeping your diet, or organizing books and movies. Much has happened since then and we found that Gmail can handle some seriously challenging tasks now.

Maintain Inbox Zero by Pairing Filters with Aliases

Filters are fine and dandy, but they require a lot of manual intervention and sometimes fail. Each new subscription and every outdated filter means more emails will default to your inbox until you are bothered enough to fix or set up a new filter.

Enter Gmail aliases. Instead of filtering emails by their content, use a unique email address for different purposes and set up filters based on the aliases emails were sent to.

You can create Gmail aliases on the spot, simply by adding +xyz to the part before the @ sign. For example email sent to tina+feedback@thisdomain.com or tina+offer@thisdomain.com will arrive in the inbox of tina@thisdomain.com .

Now each time you sign up for something online or hand out your email address, decide where you want those emails to go and use the respective alias. By combining aliases with filters, your email will automatically get sorted and you won’t have to worry about a cluttered inbox anymore.

Aliases can be used in many other creative ways :

• Manage an Email To Do List
  Send yourself emails to your To Do List alias, which is filtered to your To Do List label.
• Cloak Your Private or Work Email Address
  Add the respective email address as forwarding address (> Settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP ). Then auto-forward email sent to a specific alias to this email address.

Auto-Answer Emails with Canned Responses

Essentially, canned responses are saved snippets of text that you can insert into your emails. Instead of typing the same stuff over and over again, you ‘can’ it once and subsequently dish it out whenever needed. The person on the other end receives the information they needed faster and you gain time, too. Find a great walk-through for setting up Gmail canned responses and auto-responders here.

Canned responses are great for manually pasting standard bits of text where you need them, but there are more clever things you can do with them! Paired with filters and aliases, canned responses can answer your email without you intervening at all. Here are a few ideas:

• Out Of Office Reply
  Set up an auto-responder to let people know you are on vacation and when they can expect to hear from you. You can target any incoming email with a new filter or add a canned response as action to existing filters.
• Email FAQ
  Create filters for specific keywords in which the action is to send a matching canned response, for example to share requested information or answer a common question.
• Automated Chat
  Set up filters for common phrases, such as how are you, what do you think, or other things some people frequently ask or tell you and let them auto-respond with canned responses. Admitted, this is a silly idea, but could make for a good joke.

Manage Customer Relationships and Projects

Why use an additional service if you can meet all your CRM and PM needs within Gmail? Plenty of browser add-ons can turn Gmail into a productivity beast that will make other established tools look dated. My favorites are Boomerang and Streak, both available for Chrome.

With Boomerang you can schedule emails and reminders. You can make archived emails return to your inbox when you need them, send emails on a specific date, and make sure you are reminded of an email you sent whether or not the recipient has replied in the meantime. It’s a great tool for managing projects with deadlines and following up on conversations. You could even automate emails with Birthday wishes, so you will never forget. The add-on is available for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari and the free version is limited to 10 emails per month.

Streak on the other hand is a full-fledged project management add-on for teams. It offers templates for the most common types of projects, but you can also set up custom ones. With multiple people collaborating, each from their own inbox, you can assign tasks, have a colleague follow up on a support request, or collectively move projects from start to finish.

Another great tool that belongs into this category is ActiveInbox. Unfortunately, I haven’t been using it myself (yet). However, it does look impressive. See for yourself:

The free version of ActiveInbox offers all key features, except for deadlines, notes, GCal integration, and saving / syncing preferences.

Conclusion

With Gmail you can do so much more than sending and receiving emails. It’s a versatile tool, which can be adapted to your needs. If there is an insane or creative use you can think of, there will be ways to make it happen.

How do you tap the full potential of Gmail? Have you discovered any cool uses for Gmail that I didn’t address above?

The post 3 Unusual Uses For A Gmail Account appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Home was recently released globally and hit 500k downloads within two weeks of its US release. The average rating on the Google Play store, however, is barely over 2 out of 5 stars. It is not known how many people continued using Facebook Home after trying it. Judging by the feedback, however, it sounds like many have ditched it right away; even people who gave it a good rating

So should you try Facebook Home if you have one of the compatible devices? What can you expect and what should you watch out for? Let me take you through the pros and cons of Home to help you make up your mind.

New Home Screen

Facebook Home takes over your home screen; all of it. When you turn on your phone, you will see a full screen photo from the latest update on your News Feed with the current time at the top and a list of general notifications from your Android apps below. I noticed that this does not work for all notifications, including Gmail.

Quick tips:

• tap a notification to view it
• swipe a notification to the side to clear it

The Cover Feed

A moment later, the notifications screen will turn into a slideshow of your friends photos, overlaid with their status updates; the cover feed. You can jump in and manually thumb through your visual News Feed, which will show Like and Comment buttons and counts at the bottom. Your own profile picture at the bottom acts as nav button to switch to Facebook Messenger, your Android apps, or the last used app.

Quick tips:

• single tap switches between the two views shown above
• double-tapping Likes the current post (doesn’t work for un-liking)
• swipe downwards from the top of the screen to make the Android status bar show or turn it on by default via Facebook Home Settings

So far, so intuitive.

App Launcher

When you switch to Apps by dragging your profile picture to the respective field, you actually stay within Facebook (Home) for the moment. At the top of the page are buttons to post your own status update, add a photo, or check in. Additionally, you will see up to five App Launcher screens, which are cluttered with apps previously located on your old home screens. Confusingly, my apps appeared in a somewhat random order and some apps were overlaid. The left-most screen let’s you scroll through all your installed apps alphabetically, from top to bottom.

Quick tips:

• you can have up to five App Launcher screens; drag an app to each screen
• from an App Launcher screen, swipe top down or bottom up to return to your cover feed
• scroll to the bottom of All Apps and click More… to  temporarily return to your old home screens, including widgets and folders

Chat Heads

For those of you who love to chat, this is probably the most exciting new feature. When you receive a new text or Facebook chat message, it pops up on top of whatever application you are using that moment, along with the profile picture of the friend talking to you. Fortunately, this feature is also native to the recently updated Facebook Messenger on both Android and iOS.

My Verdict

It’s simple, slick, and not for me. I can see how people who are massively into Facebook and don’t use widgets will enjoy it, but for me it’s just too much Facebook. It would work as a lock screen(saver) on steroids, but when pressing the Home button, I really want my personalized home screens with widgets and folders and all those things this oversimplified app doesn’t offer.

What Other People Say

While many people commend the slick design and smoothness, battery life seems to be an issue. This can possibly be fixed by setting the default medium data use to low via Facebook Home Settings.

Several reviews also bemoan the lack of features, especially a proper lock screen and widgets. Yet others love the simplicity in navigation. The reviews are extremely mixed, but overall people agree that Facebook Home does what it promises to do.

What is quite irritating, however, is that Home effectively turns your smartphone into a Facebook device. Try to make a phone call; it has become surprisingly hard. You actually need to go to All Apps and find the Phone app. If you do occasionally use your phone to call someone, add the app to an App Launcher screen. Ideally, Facebook should allow users to add a shortcut to the lock screen.

So Should You Try It?

If after reading this article you still haven’t made up your mind, you should definitely try it. In the end, your experience will also depend on how interesting your News Feed is. And remember that you are fully in charge of what that looks like.

If you already tried Facebook Home, let us know what you thought of it!

The post Facebook Home Hijacks Your Android Phone – Should You Let It? [Weekly Facebook Tips] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Not sure whether you can upgrade hardware all by yourself? Don’t worry, it’s probably not as complicated as it may seem. While not every part of a laptop is easily accessible, the laptop RAM is often super-easy to exchange. Check whether your laptop has an access hatch for the RAM on its back or whether the back cover or keyboard is easy to remove to expose the RAM. If it’s not instantly visible, consult the manual or the manufacturer website. Once you know how to physically access the RAM, the hard part is to figure out how much RAM you need, and which type of RAM is compatible with your laptop. So let’s go over the basics and see what you really need, before we dive into the actual handicraft.

What is Laptop RAM and Do I Need More?

RAM stands for Random Access Memory. It is also known as physical memory; virtual memory is explained in the next paragraph. RAM is used to temporarily store information of running processes and tasks. The more RAM is available, the more processes can run simultaneously.

Performance issues occur when the available RAM is exhausted. To free up memory for active processes and tasks, the system starts to write excess data, i.e. information of idle processes or tasks, to the hard drive (virtual memory). When the user returns to an idle process or task, the system must first free up RAM, then fetch the data of the requested item from the hard drive and load it into the RAM. Since hard drive read/write speeds are significantly slower than RAM read/write speeds, the user experiences lag.

If you frequently experience lag when you want to switch from one program to another, adding laptop RAM will probably give your system a significant boost.

How Much RAM Do I Need?

This depends on what you do with your computer and the amount you can add is limited by the type of operating system you have.

All 32-bit Windows operating systems support a maximum of 4GB RAM. Windows 7 Home Basic 64-bit is limited to 8GB RAM, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit can use a maximum of 16GB RAM. All other 64-bit versions of Windows 7 support up to 192GB RAM. The regular edition of Windows 8 64-bit is limited to 128GB RAM, while the Professional and Enterprise editions both support up to 512GB RAM. A full overview can be found on this Memory Limits for Windows Releases page.

Now that you know the maximum RAM your operating system supports, let’s find out what you currently have. In Windows, click the keyboard shortcut [CTRL] + [SHIFT] + [ESC] to open the Task Manager. Switch to the Performance tab and check what it says under Physical Memory (MB). Total indicates the amount of RAM currently installed on your system.

If your total RAM is less than what your system supports, you have room to upgrade. And if your RAM is maxed out, you have reason to upgrade. Keep the Task Manager open and see how your RAM performs over time as you continue using your computer.

You can assess how much information is written to virtual memory using the Performance Monitor. In Windows 7, go to START, type perform into the search field, and open Performance Monitor. Under Monitoring Tools, click Performance Monitor, then click the green + symbol to add another variable. Pick Paging file from the list and click the Add >> button at the bottom. Click OK and watch. This will give you an idea how much RAM you really need.

Generally, 2-4GB should suffice for normal web browsing and text editing. 8GB if you run multiple programs simultaneously and/or keep a lot of browser tabs open. More only if you run memory-intensive programs.

What Type Of RAM Do I Need?

Before you can upgrade your memory, you need to figure out which type of RAM is compatible with your laptop. The most convenient way to look into your laptop and determine what will fit, is to use Crucial’s Memory Advisory or System Scanner Tool. For the first you need to enter laptop manufacturer and model, while the former is an executable that scans your system and automatically determines matching hardware. Both tools are available from the Crucial homepage.

Kingston offers a similar service for searching the right type of memory. You can search by system/device, memory part number, or memory type. Unlike Crucial, Kingston actually had my laptop model listed and recommended a compatible module.

If you are unsure about your laptop model, I recommend running Crucial’s system scanner. It will show you what type of memory stick you are using right now and recommend a new module based on that. My laptop, for example, has one 4GB memory stick, thus one of the two slots is available.

Crucial’s system scan detected a DDR3 PC3-10600 RAM stick and offered a respective module. The result came with several notes about things to keep in mind. Kingston on the other hand determined that a DDR3 1333 MHz RAM stick is compatible with my model’s memory slots, but didn’t provide further details or recommendations.

The key pieces of information here are DDR3 PC3-10600 and 1333 MHz. A wrong type of RAM (e.g. DDR2 instead of DDR3) won’t fit into your laptop. And to get optimal results, be sure to buy a RAM with a matching clock rate (identical MHz count to the one you already have). Also keep in mind that laptop RAM modules are significantly smaller than those for desktop computer, hence they are called SO-DIMM for small outline dual in-line memory module. Don’t accidentally buy the wrong type of DIMM.

Here is a summary of what you need to know:

• Type of RAM, i.e. DDR, DDR2 or DDR3
• Amount of MHz supported by your laptop
• Physical size (SO-DIMM for laptops)

Obviously, both Crucial and Kingston offer these free tools because they want to sell you their respective RAM modules. And both manufacturers offer good deals and high-quality hardware. However, with the information gathered from their tools, you can safely shop at eBay or Amazon or your local electronics store. I purchased my Kingston 8GB RAM kit from Amazon.

Theoretically, I could have upgraded to 8GB RAM by adding on additional 4GB module. However, this can cause performance issues due to RAM incompatibilities. In the worst case, your system won’t boot or one of the modules won’t be recognized. If you want to keep the original RAM module and if you are not comfortable with adjusting settings in the BIOS, you need to find a second module of the exact same make, i.e. same frequency, latency, and voltage. Because it’s too easy to mess this up and because changing BIOS settings to fix incompatibilities can be complicated, you will often hear the recommendation to buy a completely new memory kit and remove the old memory stick. It’s the easiest and safest choice.

How Can I Fix BIOS Settings In Case I Have a RAM Mismatch?

If you have two laptop RAM modules with mismatched frequency, latency, or voltage, your BIOS will harmonize the settings and default to the lower value. That’s if it recognizes both modules or boots at all. To prevent a loss in performance, you can overclock your RAM. Do this at your own risk!

Before you add the new RAM, boot into your BIOS and check whether you can adjust RAM latency, frequency, or voltage. If that is not possible, find out whether you can upgrade your BIOS.

If RAM settings can be changed, set the higher values of the two modules. Again, you are overclocking the RAM at your own risk! Particularly increasing the voltage can damage the hardware. Save and exit the BIOS and proceed as described below.

How Do I Add New RAM Modules?

Once you hold the new RAM modules in your hands, there is no escape. Now you must lay hands on your laptop and add the new hardware. The exact procedure will depend on your individual laptop model. I previously demonstrated how to salvage hardware from an old HP Compaq nw8440 and showed you where the RAM modules sit and how to release them.

Today, I will briefly show you how to do the same with a Sony Vaio VPCCB laptop. If you have a different laptop model, I recommend visiting the manufacturer’s website to find a manual or instructions for your device. Before you take apart your laptop, make sure it is turned off, unplug the power cable, take out the battery (if it’s removable), and ground yourself.

Locate the removable plastic cover that covers the RAM compartment. There are typically two compartments; the larger one holds the hard drive. Release the screw of the smaller cover and remove it. This should expose one or two RAM slots of which one or both can be filled. To release the module, pull back both sides of the frame on its left and right.

To insert a new RAM module, slide it into the slot in a ~45° angle, be sure it really sits in the slot, then push it down. In my case, the upper slot would resist the RAM module until I had found the right angle first. With the lower one, however, the module just slid in as I pushed it in and down simultaneously.

You know that you inserted the modules right when the little notches on the sides of the RAM module align with the small protrusions of the frame.

And that’s it! Put the cover back on, tighten the screw, and boot your computer.

You can enter the BIOS before you boot into Windows to check whether the RAM was recognized and whether there are any additional options you can enable. My new RAM was recognized fine and there were no extra options to choose from.

Conclusion

The procedure of upgrading the laptop RAM is straight forward, technically easy, and can give your system a huge performance boost. Since most users max out the RAM before the CPU reaches capacity, a memory upgrade is usually smarter and equally effective as getting a new computer. And besides, it’s a lot cheaper and you don’t have to worry about migrating your data.

Have you ever upgraded computer hardware yourself and what was your experience?

Image credits: Snail on Keyboard via Shutterstock

The post How To Upgrade A Laptop’s RAM, Step By Step appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Note that name your price albums can be downloaded for free by entering 0 in the price field. That said, we strongly recommend you to donate a few dollars for music you enjoy!

You are welcome to submit your music, send suggestions with free albums you have discovered, or request genres I haven’t covered in a while. For all Sound Sunday related inquiries, please contact Tina [tina at makeuseof dot com].

EP: Frigid – Dust & Debris

Genre: alternative, indie, blues

Frigid is the solo project of Joffrey Dumas. The artist from Montréal writes on his Facebook profile: I was dead but I’m back to life… Under my spell the world is alright!

Dust & Debris is a free download from Bandcamp.

Dirtwire – Selftitled

Genre: electronic, americana, blues

From their Bandcamp profile: David Satori and Evan Fraser met at California Institute of the Arts where they studied World Music and Composition. There they formed The Funnies (psychedelic liquid space funk) then after moving to the SF Bay Area, Evan joined Hamsa Lila (hypnotic world groove) and Stellamara (Eastern European) while David helped form Beats Antique, (electronic) & it became the force that it is… Now Dirtwire!

Dirtwire is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

The Blue Stones – How’s That Sound?

Genre: alternative, blues, rock, soul, garage rock, psychedelic rock

From their Bandcamp profile: Hailing from Windsor, Ontario, The Blue Stones duo provide an edgy blues rock sound with accompanying alternative rock accents. The duo have been featured at Canadian Music Week; NXNE; FAM Fest; Shores of Erie Winefest and Orangeville Blues & Jazz Fest. In the last year, they’ve opened for acts such as The Stone Foxes, Current Swell, Justin Nozuka, Fitz and The Tantrums, Joel Plaskett and more.

How’s That Sound? is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Thot – Remixed by

Genre: alterantive, ambient, industrial, electro, rock, post rock

From thot’s Bandcamp profile: Spreading his universe with protagonists such as electrical thistles, speaking hills or mute windmills, Thot cleverly mixes rock and electronic music, industrial and acoustics sounds, freeing itself from any codes and turning stages upside down.

Remixed by is a free download from Bandcamp.

Lendrone – UNO

Genre: experimental, instrumental, synthesizer, rock

Lendrone are Jorge, Andrés, and Juan from A Coruña, Spain. UNO is their debut album, which was prefaced with a selftitled EP, also available from Bandcamp.

UNO is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Rhett Price (w/ Josh Knowles) – Rhett & Josh

Genre: instrumental, pop, rock

From his Facebook profile: I’m Rhett. I play violin and I have HUGE dreams. Rhett and Josh have been busking at the Boston Subway. They have built a following with their violin interpretations of popular music.

Rhett & Josh is a free download from Bandcamp.

Black Chamber – Selftitled

Genre: electronic, instrumental, jazz, jazzy hip hop

From their Facebook page: Black Chamber is a Portland, Oregon-based trio playing music that blends the improvisational sounds of modal jazz with the moods and rhythms of downtempo electronica.

Black Chamber is a name your price download from Bandcamp or free from MediaFire.

EP: Child Actor – Partner

Genre: indie, electronic, pop, r&b

Child Actor is an American indie duo formed in 2012.

Partner is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

Mean Deep – Selftitled

Genre: acoustic, indie, electronic, pop, rap

From Mean Deep’s Bandcamp profile: Classically trained sarod & tabla player, palm-wine guitarist, singer, beat maker, percussionist, multi-instrumentalist, producer.

Mean Deep is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

EP: Aural Method – Let Us Face the Evening Skies with Child-Like Eyes

Genre: ambient, inspirational, soundscape, post-rock

From his Facebook profile: My name is Matthew. I play guitar for a living. This is my solo project. I write (or at least direct) all the music you will hear from it. I get friends to play the instruments I can’t.

Let Us Face the Evening Skies with Child-Like Eyes is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

GOLD – Rebirth

Genre: electronic, ambient, synth

From their Facebook profile: Properly claiming a 2012 genesis, the Los Angeles based LEGION OF DOOM collective draws a diverse group of producers closer together with a single creative goal. Spearheaded by founder and prolific musician GOLD, the group cum label began as an umbrella for fellow crafters ATLAS, RVW KOLLVGE, VVDS and Artificial Intelligence to rally under before quickly expanding to encompass a total of 15 members.

Rebirth is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

And More…

Enjoyed one of these albums? Pay it back and share this article or the albums you liked. If you really appreciated a particular album, please donate to the respective artist, so they can continue releasing great music.

New to Sound Sunday? Past editions of Sound Sunday are available here.

Are you using ifttt? Check out these recipes for receiving notifications of new Sound Sunday releases to GTalk and Pushover for mobile devices. Thank you @Vampie!

Feel free to get in touch with me [tina at makeuseof dot com] to share free material, suggestions, and feedback or simply add your comments below.

The post Free Music Buffet: Pick Your Favorite Albums & EPs [Sound Sunday] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

However, before you invest in external speakers, try some quick & easy DIY solutions to significantly improve the sound your mobile produces. These super simple hacks make do with basic household items. Imagine your friends faces when you produce some ace sound with nothing but a salad bowl.

Method

To compare the sound, I first built all DIY speakers I was going to test and marked a spot on the table where I would set them up, with the original speaker being the reference point. The speaker of the Samsung Galaxy Note II sits in the bottom left on the backside of the phone.

I compared sound volume and quality. Quality is described as objectively as possible, but obviously comes down to personal taste. As does the music selection I used.

To gauge the volume, I placed a sound level meter (Android app) at a distance of about 1m and around 30cm above table level. The speaker level of my Samsung Galaxy Note II was set to around 75%. The reference point for measuring the volume is at 2:40 in the song Sun by Two Door Cinema Club. With the phone lying flat on the table and the speaker pointing upwards, the reference volume at this point of the song was 68 dB.

Bowl

The most simple DIY smartphone speaker alternative is a plain bowl. Don’t underestimate the size and material of the bowl itself. I tested several different ones, including a bamboo and a plastic salad bowl, as well as smaller ceramic and metal bowls.

The winner in terms of volume was the medium-sized metal bowl, which was 5 dB louder. Note that amplification increases when the phone speaker faces the bottom of the bowl.

The best quality was produced by the larger bamboo bowl. Compared to the plain speaker, the sound was richer and had gained significant depth. It’s the best quality sound of all DIY speaker alternatives tested.

Summary

Sound Volume: 73 dB (+5 dB)
Sound Quality: richer and significantly more depth

Alternatives: Other vessels you could try are a large glass or vase or maybe a bucket.

Inspiration: Bowl as iPhone Speaker, Glass as Smartphone Speaker

Rolled Up Magazine

This was the most difficult to produce speaker. I used a cutter knife to carve out the slit for the phone. The result was disappointing, both in terms of volume and quality. The gain was only 3 dB, even when turning the opening towards the sound level meter. The quality is definitely much better than the phone lying flat on the table, but it the music sounded slightly muffled, as if listening to loud music through closed doors.

…

Summary

Sound Volume: 71 dB (+3)
Sound Quality: improved, but slightly muffled

Alternatives: Instead of a magazine, you could also take a toilet paper roll or a plastic pipe.

Inspiration: CocaCola

Toilet Paper Roll & Cups

Similar to the magazine speaker, but slightly enhanced is the toilet paper roll with plastic cups on either side. When placed in the right direction, those were clearly the loudest DIY speakers, even though I used very small and thin cups. I imagine the result will be even more impressive when using larger and more sturdy cups. This will probably also improve the quality. The sound was rather flat, with very little depth.

Sound Volume: 72dB / 76 dB (+4 / +8)
Sound Quality: improved, but very flat

Alternatives: Use a longer paper roll and bigger cups for a better quality sound.

Inspiration: Wildfire Creative DIY Smartphone Speakers

Potato Chips Tube

This is definitely the most ridiculously looking smartphone speaker design. To stabilize the tube, I cut off two rings from a toilet paper roll, taped them to the bottom of the tube, and inserted a pencil on either side. Worked much better for me than taping paper clips to either side.

Despite looking and smelling very unique, this was the best package. It wasn’t the loudest speaker or the one with the best quality sound, but it was fairly loud and produced a fairly good sound. And it wasn’t just louder, but actually sounded better without stuffing in toilet paper. Although you could argue that the music gains more of a club sound with the extra layers of fabric reflecting the sound.

Sound Volume: 70 / 74 dB (+2 / +6)
Sound Quality: richer, more depth

Alternatives: You can use any other paper roll or pipe, just seal off one end.

Inspiration: Mashable DIY Pringes Speakers

More DIY Speakers

If you search around a little, you will find many more DIY speakers and variations of the above. One of the most simple ones that only requires a toilet paper roll wasn’t doable with my huge phone. However, you could just roll a sufficiently large piece of paper or cardboard into a horn shape. Others are designed for the iPhone, like the Whirlwind foldable horn speaker or the iPhone SoundFrame. To create stereo sound, you could channel your headphones into a pair of cups.

Verdict

It doesn’t take much to improve the volume and quality of your smartphone speaker sound. However, cheap household items obviously won’t be as good as a set of proper speakers. Nevertheless, testing various DIY speakers is a cool project to figure out what sound you like best.

Have you tried any of those DIQ speakers and which one sounded best to you?

Image credits: Sound Speaker via Shutterstock

The post Making Your Own Smartphone Speakers – MakeUseOf Tests appeared first on MakeUseOf.

On the other hand, it is possible to replace the CAPS LOCK key with a character or function you use a lot. What are keys and shortcuts that are missing on your keyboard? Or maybe there are keys you wish were in a more convenient location. It’s time to remap your keyboard and put all those neglected keys to good use, starting with how to use the CAPS LOCK key.

Before you go ahead and fix an entire keyboard key by key, note that there are other alternatives for optimizing the keyboard layout, especially if you are dealing with a foreign keyboard. This article is written for Windows users. If you are on a Mac, check out these articles on how to remap your Mac keyboard for more geek power and learn everything about Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts.

Map Backspace To CAPS LOCK Key Without Rebooting

Most tools that let you remap the keyboard edit the registry. Hence, for the changes to come into effect, you need to reboot the computer. That’s OK if you want to make permanent changes, but not always practical.

Keymapper is a portable app for coders. It applies a global keyboard hook whenever the CAPS LOCK key is pressed and throws in a Backspace in its place. So instead of SHOUTING, you will be deleting what you just wrote.

Map A Useful Key To The CAPS LOCK Key

Install a tool like SharpKeys to remap your CAPS LOCK key. Note that SharpKeys requires Microsoft .NET Framework 4 to run.

Open SharpKeys (hint: it’s in the RandyRants.com folder in All Programs) and click Add in the bottom left. Select Special: Caps Lock as a From key and pick a desired key. Whatever you select, CAPS LOCK will adopt the behavior of that key. Click OK to confirm your selection.

Once back in the main window you can either add another remap combo or complete the procedure by pressing the Write to Registry key in the bottom right.

This is when you will have to log out or reboot your computer for the changes to come into effect. To undo changes made with SharpKeys, launch the program, delete the respective entries in the list, click the Write to Registry button and restart your computer.

When you log back in, hitting the key that once used to trigger the CAPS LOCK will now produce a character or function of your choice.

Turn Your CAPS LOCK Key Into a Hotkey

Is there a program you open all the time or a website you visit frequently, MakeUseOf for example? When writing, I constantly open IrfanView for pasting screenshots. So we will turn the CAPS LOCK key into a hotkey for opening this app. You could also make it a hotkey for Google.com and thus turn it into a search key à la Chrome OS.

First you need to map another key to the CAPS LOCK key because you cannot assign CAPS LOCK itself as a hotkey. Use the method described above to remap the key and pick a key that doesn’t do anything as To key, for example Function: F10.

Once the CAPS LOCK has been taken care of, you can create a shortcut which will open the desired file, folder, program, or website. The shortcut can live anywhere on your computer and you can also use existing shortcuts. Let’s create a shortcut on your Desktop. Right-click the Desktop, go to New and click Shortcut.

In the Create Shortcut window, browse to the desired item, click Next, name the shortcut, and click Finish. To point the shortcut to a website, simply type in the complete URL, e.g. http://www.makeuseof.com/

To link the shortcut with your new hotkey, right-click it and select Properties. Under the Shortcut tab, click into the Shortcut key field and press your CAPS LOCK key. This will paste in the key that was mapped to your CAPS LOCK key, in this example F10.

Click OK to save and try it. Pure awesomeness!

This procedure was adopted from How-To Geek, who have also explained how to manually remap keys in the registry.

You can also use a program called AutoHotkey to assign Hotkeys. Lifehacker has created a nifty website-based tool to easily create your own custom AutoHotkey script for remapping keys on your keyboard.

Conclusion

Following the instructions above you can finally put your CAPS LOCK key to good use. Moreover, you can apply the method to any other key on your keyboard and increase your productivity manifold. Now all you need is a good way to repaint your keys.

Are you finally becoming a fan of your keyboard? It’s good to know that you could operate Windows with your keyboard alone should your mouse break or go missing.

Which keys did you retire and how are you using them now?

The post Isn’t It Time You Made Use of Your Caps Lock? appeared first on MakeUseOf.