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Alerts on our connected Android devices can sometimes pick the worst moment to sound off. For instance, when you're in the middle of working with raw meat in the kitchen or carrying in 10 bags of groceries at once -- these are prime opportunities to get alerts... right? Yeah, not really. So why not just have your device read the alert to you? That's exactly what SpeakMe does.

The capability to read notifications out loud is available on most versions of Android. However, that option also reads each menu item, each action -- and everything in … Read more

Many Web sites collect data about you on each visit. This data is used for serving ads that meet your interests, or finding out which demographic is frequenting a specific type of content. In an effort to help you protect your online privacy, Google has added a new feature to Chrome: Do Not Track.

It's important to remember that this option is not going to protect you from Web sites that ignore the Do Not Track request, but it is a small step in the direction of protecting your personal details online. Read on to find … Read more

The Internet is full of interesting things. Because of this, it's likely that you bookmark Web sites so you can easily find them later. Unfortunately, if you bookmark too many, it can be easy to lose track of each one.

If you're a Chrome user, Bookmarks Tagger has your bookmark organization needs covered. With this extension you can add tags to each bookmark making it easier to find. Using tags is a more efficient way to locate what you're looking for, especially in the case of Web sites having names that are long or unrelated to their … Read more

Our nation faces a decision that could tear us apart.

Yes, the choice between running Windows 8 in Metro view or the traditional desktop view is what we must wrestle with.

Fortunately, there is a compromise to bridge this heated divide. By using a dual-screen setup, you can run Metro and desktop views simultaneously on the same machine.

In the How To video above, I'll walk you through the process of connecting a second monitor to your Windows 8 machine and adjusting just a few settings to achieve the ultimate dual-interface Windows 8 experience.

To cut to the chase, … Read more

Isn't it annoying when you load a Web page and audio starts playing without warning? Usually it's a background music track or an advertisement video, but it always seems to happen at the worst time: when your volume is the loudest. Maybe you just finished watching a movie on Netflix with a lot of whispering and suddenly your ears are being assaulted by loud noises.

Instead of policing your volume levels before each Web browsing session, why not just disable those plug-ins from loading content unless you say it's OK? Here's how to disable plug-ins from … Read more

Twitter has added several new e-mail alert options, and these new settings are creating more e-mail traffic for you. Some of these notifications are useful, like an update about new followers or a direct message, while others are just an annoyance.

All of these new options are enabled by default and if you normally access Twitter from a mobile device, you may have missed the opportunity to disable them before the e-mail started coming. Thankfully, reducing the amount of unnecessary e-mail from Twitter is fairly simple through its Web interface.

To access Twitter's e-mail notifications, just log in to … Read more

Feeling lost in Windows 8's Desktop mode? Not sure how to get back to the Start screen? It's simpler than you think. We've got three ways to get you back home to the colorful safety of Metro's tiles.

Use the Charms, Luke. Open the Charms bar, Windows 8's new superpowered sidebar. If you're on a touch screen, you can do this by swiping in from the right edge. If you've got a mouse, move the cursor to the upper-right-hand corner of your screen. Wait a moment, and the Charms will appear. Move the … Read more

Facebook recently added a list of emoticons to help you express yourself a bit more than text characters permit. The full list can be used in chat or private messages, and some of the less complex ones can be used in comments on wall posts.

Trying to use any of them in a wall post that you created (not commented on) will just end up looking like this:

Using them the way Facebook intended (for now, at least), looks more like this:

Here's the full list so you can express yourself to your friends:

Do … Read more

As someone who likes any excuse to tinker and build stuff, Halloween is my favorite time of the year.

Last year I had some fun creating a custom spooky sound effects board, and showed you how to add some cheap portable speakers to your decorations. This year I'm stepping things up with a basic tutorial on "keybanging."

Don't worry, keybanging isn't as gross or violent as it sounds. The term was introduced to me in volume 30 of Make Magazine. A "keybanger" is a rudimentary prop controller that can be used to automatically … Read more