About Ryan Dube
Ryan has a BSc degree in Electrical Engineering. He's worked 13 years in automation engineering, 5 years in IT, and now is an Apps Engineer. A former Managing Editor of MakeUseOf, he's spoken at national conferences on Data Visualization and has been featured on national TV and radio.
Latest Articles
The Internet Isn't Really Free - Who Is Censoring It & Why
In any free, democratic society, citizens take pride in the fact that they have free access to information. This is true in many countries, where citizens have won hard-fought battles for independence. It is something that is sacred here in the U.S. where I live. However, the idea that the Internet is completely free - a wide-open source of all sides of any argument - is actually a farce.
How To Use Microsoft Excel To Manage Your Life
It's no secret that I'm a total Excel fanboy. Much of that comes from the fact that I enjoy writing VBA code, and Excel combined with VBA scripts open up a whole world of possibilities. However, if you’re serious about using Excel to manage more of your life, then you should take the time to learn how VBA coding works. If you want to enhance your use of Excel, I invite you to follow along as I share a few of these designs.
Speed Up Typing And Other Tasks With Your Head Using Switch Via Cam [Windows]
Wouldn't it be really cool if you could wear a headset and use facial and head movements to control your computer? Blink a couple of times and press the enter key. Nod once and press the space bar. Speak, and the sentence appears on the screen. You've heard about mouse gestures to control a computer, but what about head or face gestures? Here at MUO, we've often covered interesting special effects that you can accomplish with a webcam, but how about combining the two concepts?
5 Tools To Super-Power Your Netflix Viewing Experience
I have to admit that I am a huge Netflix fan. I mean, I like Hulu and Amazon for my instant movies as well, but there's something about the convenience of streaming Netflix quickly and easily on all of my devices - my computer, our family Wii console, all of our smartphones and of course my Android tablet. We can watch movies everywhere - it's awesome.
Use Your Android Tablet To Boost Your Desktop Computer at Work
Android tablets have a ton of potential, with the ability to use bluetooth, wi-fi, awesome cameras on the front and back, a keyboard and mouse, and a small form-factor that make it highly portable. In my case there is no direct access to my 3G data account, but by tethering my phone, I can remedy that as well and get access to the Internet nearly anywhere in the world, even without a Wi-Fi network. It's cool, but how could I put it to practical use?
What Is the Windows 7 Reliability Monitor And How to Get The Most Out Of It
Embedded into Windows 7 is a useful reliability monitor that lets you not only visualize the current reliability level of your computer, but you can also see a historic log of how reliable your computer has performed over time. It is a great tool to research current software errors you may be experiencing. This tool also serves as a historic log and research tool for your Windows 7 reliability level over time.
7 Browsers That Are Better Than the Native Android Browser
I set out to get a handle on the latest available browsers out there that are better than the native ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich) Android browser. Some of the apps that made it to the top of this list have been covered here at MUO, and for very good reason. Over time, they've clearly become the leaders of the pack - the best of the best when it comes to a fully-functional mobile browser.
How To Convert & Resize Images In Bulk
If there is a single time-saving tip that I could ever offer to any writer, student, professional or anyone else that needs to produce documents with images, it's the ability to bulk-resize images.
Your Guide To Google Analytics
Do you have any idea where your visitors are coming from, what browsers most of them use, what search engines they use, or which of your pages is the most popular?
These Guys Didn't Back Up Their Files, Now Look What Happened
If there is anything I learned during those early years of working with computers (and the people that use them), it was how critical it is to not only save important stuff, but also to save it in different places. I would back up floppy drives to those cool new zip drives as well as the local PC hard drive. Never, ever had a single copy of anything. Unfortunately, even today, people have not learned that lesson.
9 Ways To Create a New Folder In Windows
Have you ever had the urge to find new and innovative ways to do something that is normally quite simple? The other day I was going to save a Word Document, and forgot that I hadn't created the folder where I wanted to save it yet. "No problem," I thought to myself, "I'll just right click and create a new folder right inside the save-as dialog window. Easy!" But then, when did that feature start anyway? I honestly don't recall. I'm sure some of you out there may know.
5 Best Android Apps to Turn UFOs Into IFOs
The next time you're out hiking the hills or strolling the city streets, make sure you have the following five apps on your Android phone or tablet, and you'll never have to worry about misidentifying a star, airplane or satellite as an UN-identified flying object ever again. You can turn those sightings into Identified Flying Objects!
5 More Cool Things You Can Do With Google Earth
In this article, I'm going to share five really cool features I found in Google Earth. These features are perfect if you're looking to build a new house or trying to find a place to live, going on an adventure somewhere and need to plot out accurate distances, want to send your friends impressive views of your area from a bird's eye view, or if you're a history or an astronomy buff.
How To Use SeaMonkey To Do More Online
From the developers of Firefox, SeaMonkey promises to provide you with access to all of your online needs - browsing and email primarily, although an IRC client and WYSIWYG web editor is also included. In my quest to consolidate desktop applications that chew up my precious memory as I'm trying to test other apps and blog at the same time, I thought I would give SeaMonkey a full-out test run and really dig into its features.
Schedule Your Applications For Worry-Free Productivity
How many people really make good use of scheduling tasks? I used to be obsessed with finding different PC automation applications that could time the launch of all of my critical applications throughout the day, turning my computer into a self-fueled workhorse. In this article I want to walk you through some of the things that I do to automate my day and increase productivity.
The Windows Command Prompt: Simpler And More Useful Than You Think
The commands haven't always stayed the same, in fact some have been trashed while other newer commands came along, even with Windows 7 in fact. So, why would anyone want to bother clicking the start button and typing "CMD" into the Run field? Let me show you why.
What Is DD-WRT And How It Can Make Your Router Into A Super-Router
In this article, I'm going to show you some of the coolest features of DD-WRT which, if you decide to make use of, will allow you to transform your own router into the super-router of your dreams. While DD-WRT isn't the only router firmware capable of turning your router into a wireless access point, it is certainly one of the easiest.
How To Protect Yourself From Government Cellphone Surveillance [Android]
Let's face it, these days the likelihood that you are being monitored by someone is rising all the time. I'm not saying that everyone, everywhere faces the threat of cellphone surveillance, but there are plenty of situations where you could be at risk without realizing it.
Join Enemies & Allies In A Blazing Tank Battle With NetPanzer [MUO Gaming]
I should start off here by saying that I've tested out a lot of networked games in my time online, and I think I would only recommend less than half of them. Usually it comes down to either game quality, or lack of participants. Sometimes it's just the fact that even though the game is awesome and there are lots of people online all the time, the game is set up so that long-time players can just sit there and massacre newcomers.