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novice

Five important rules about your new smartphone

Did Santa bring you your first smartphone? Awesome! Now for the bad news: it probably didn't come with much in the way of an instruction manual.

You can figure out a lot of the features just by fiddling, but there are a few general concepts that might not seem clear. Have no fear: I'm here to help you learn the important smartphone basics.

1. Battery life will disappoint The hard truth: You'll be lucky to get a day or two of smartphone runtime before needing to recharge. Want to stretch battery life as far as possible? Start … Read more

11 iPhone tips for total novices

My very own mom just joined the ranks of iPhone owners. (Welcome to the party, Mom!) Much as I was excited to show her all the cool stuff (FaceTime! Apps! Visual voice mail!), I quickly realized she needed to walk before she could run.

In other words, she needed a course in Basic iPhone Operation. After all, she was accustomed to a simple flip phone with a physical keypad. Going from that to an iPhone is like trading a car for a 747: confusing, intimidating, and no doubt a little scary.

With that in mind, I put together this list of 11 tips for iPhone newcomers. If they seem overly obvious to you, well, you're not the target audience. But I'll bet you know someone who is, so feel free to share this with the iPhone newbies in your life. Trust me: they'll thank you!

1. When in doubt, go Home. Want to go back to the main screen, the one with all the icons? That's called the Home screen. It doesn't matter which app you're using or task you're performing--a single press of the Home button (the only physical button on the front of the iPhone) will return you to the Home screen.

2. Always turn your iPhone off before you slip it into your pocket.Although your iPhone will switch itself into idle mode (where the screen turns off but the phone stays on) after a designated period of inactivity, you should get in the habit of manually turning off the screen. Otherwise you might accidentally place a call or run a battery-draining app while slipping the phone into your pocket. So remember: when you're done using your iPhone, press the top button (aka, the Sleep/Wake button).… Read more

Intuitive puzzle program

Best Kakuro allows users to create and solve Kakuro number puzzles. The program's intuitive navigation makes it easy for even beginners to use.

We weren't familiar with Kakuro, but the program's built-in Help file explained the rules of the game. It's a little like Sudoku in that it involves determining which combination of numbers will add up to a given sum. Don't worry if you don't understand; it's a fairly simple premise, and it will make sense when you look at the game. The program lets users create and solve Kakuro puzzles, and … Read more