In this article I’m using Windows 7. You’ll need a Blu-ray optical drive. They’re the same size as a DVD drive. You can easily swap a DVD drive with a Blu-ray drive on your desktop computer. Not only will it play Blu-ray discs, but also DVDs and CDs. I found mine on Newegg.com for under $100. First download and install the latest version of DVDFab. It lets you remove Sony’s proprietary copy protection on Blu-ray discs....

If you are running Android 2.2 (Froyo), toggling the 3G network connection for your phone is quick and simple. You can significantly improve battery life, with the only catch being that you’ll need to reconnect before you check emails or your Google Voice. If your home, work, or car has a WiFi connection then you can always set your phone to connect to that as well. I’ve found that the WiFi connection uses about half as much battery as the 3G one....

Disappearing WhatsApp Messages There are a few things we should clear up first. If you think that this will turn WhatsApp into some kind of Snapchat replacement, think again. WhatsApp (which has a dark theme now) has approached the issue differently. Namely, once you enable the feature, WhatsApp messages will disappear after an interval of seven days. This will happen whether the messages are sent to a person or a group....

You can easily change the background color for a Word document. So, of course, you can do the same in Google Docs. And so that you can spruce up your documents on the go, we’ll show you how to change the background color in Google Docs on your mobile device as well as online. How to Change Background Color in Google Docs It’s super easy to change the background color in Google Docs online....

Go to Settings on your iOS device. Tap on General. Under General, go to Passcode Lock. You will have to enter your passcode. Now, you can select Turn Passcode off. This is more ideal on an iPad, because most of us keep them at home or may not lose it as easily as we do a smartphone. For my iPhone, I prefer to go to Require Passcode and set it for After 1 Hour....

The reason Xbox One doesn’t come with native disc playback support is the same reason it’s not in Windows 10 for the desktop. Microsoft killed off DVD playback support several years back with Windows 8, citing the global decline of physical media sales and the rise in popularity of video streaming services. We’ve shown you how to bring DVD and Blu-ray playback for Windows 10, and here we’ll show you how to do the same with your Xbox One console....

That small difference was enough to make me pay for a premium RTM membership for a year. But now my membership is up and I don’t feel like shelling out again for RTM. So I cooked up this workaround that helps me see which day of the week my Toodledo items are due. Basically, what I do is organize my tasks by context and ignore the folders (which I was doing anyway)....

Split Microsoft Excel Data The most obvious example of when you might want to split Microsoft Excel Data from one column to more is when names are involved. In the following two examples, the first and last names are in the same cells, but we want to change this to two. Text to Columns Using the Microsoft Excel Text to Columns tool, we want to take the first and last names listed in column A and split the information into two new columns, B and C....

Now don’t get me wrong, I think this is a great tool however, like any powerful tool – if your not educated on its use, it can go from being a useful tool to a dangerous one. I’ve talked about this in the past and yes, facial tagging is a bit of a sore subject with me due to the wide-open terms of service agreements being used by Facebook, Google and a few others published by the largest social media sites out there....

How to Translate Word Documents Before we begin, note that you’ll need to be connected to the internet for the translation service to work. When you receive a foreign language document, you can easily convert all or parts of the document into your native language. Below is a document in Spanish about airports. That’s about all I know, so we will translate it to know what it says in my native language, English....

Disable Suggested Apps Windows 10 Start Menu There are a couple of ways to turn off or manage these suggested apps. If you see one, right-click on it and select an option from the context menu. If you don’t want to see the app being displayed, select Don’t show this suggestion.To completely turn off the Suggested apps section, select Turn off all suggestions. The other way to get rid of Suggested apps is to head to Settings > Personalization > Start and turn off “Occasionally show suggestions in Start....

Earlier we talked about some of the highlights in the new Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) beta, and many gave it a try. But, IE9 is still in beta so if you need a stable web browser then IE9 is still not an option. Normally uninstalling a program on your computer is simple, however in the case of IE9 you can’t uninstall it. What this guide will cover is reverting back to Internet Explorer 8....

For example, you can add a 3D animal to your book report in Word, a building to your company spreadsheet in Excel, a medical instrument to your health presentation in PowerPoint, or an emoticon to an email in Outlook. Along with adding an eye-catching 3D image, you can format it to see a particular angle, make it larger or smaller, or align it perfectly on your page or slide....

But what if you just need a simple way to locate specific data? Filters in Excel give you easy ways to find the data you want. Especially useful in data-heavy spreadsheets, filters can be quickly applied and just as easily removed when you’re finished with them. Data for Filters in Excel Filters in Excel apply to columns. This doesn’t mean that you can’t use a filter if you don’t include an entire column....

Step 1 – Opening Picasa 3 Although you can upload and begin editing your photos directly from your browser using the Picasa Web Albums site, I keep all my photos organized on my system using the Windows Picasa client from Google. The client is great, and you can sync your photos up to Picasa Web Albums quickly, which makes it perfect for managing home photos and displaying them on the Internet (securely of course....

If you try to add a POP account, you just get the following message telling you to ask your email provider to switch to IMAP or EAS. Good luck getting your ISP to make the switch! Use Outlook.com for POP Email Accounts Log in to your Outlook.com account and click Options (gear icon) and select More Mail Settings. From the Options screen click “Your Email Accounts” under Managing Your Account....

You’ll see these visual effects when you move from one slide to the next. Using the proper slide transitions can help create a more professional and enjoyable slideshow overall. Microsoft PowerPoint offers a healthy selection of slide transitions. From simple and subtle to fun and whimsical, you can pick the exact type of transition that best fits your presentation’s tone and message. If you want to use slide transitions in PowerPoint, here’s what you’ll need to do....

A Simple Task-er There have been many rumors about Google meaning to add some sort of automation to Android. The Rules feature was showing in some previews but had never actually made it into final versions of Android. Well, Android 10 has started including it for some Pixel devices. Pixel 4 devices have started receiving it recently and some users have reported seeing it on older models, as well. What you should not expect is a version of Tasker....

WiiMote as a Windows 7 Device Using your WiiMote as a Windows input device is made possible due to the work of Carl Kenner, a tree-hugging geek (those terms are meant endearingly) who developed GlovePIE, as well as the work of Office Labs, who put together a GlovePIE script that turns the WiiMote into a pointer/mouse with gestures that work in PowerPoint’s pptPlex add-on. To start, you’ll need a computer with a Bluetooth receiver—either built-in or as a USB dongle....

Sure, you can ask someone to share a Wi-Fi password on your iPhone, but now there’s a new option. Apple introduces the ability to view saved Wi-Fi passwords on your phone or tablet. This feature allows you to find and view saved network passwords easily. Here’s how it works. How to View Saved Wi-Fi Network Passwords on an iPhone or iPad To find the saved Wi-Fi passwords on your phone, use the following steps:...