Tezzo's Technology Blog

"We handle a lot of different topics throughout the year, and our how-to guides come in a wide range of sizes and subjects, but the goal is always the same: to make it easy for you to accomplish something awesome. Here's a look back at our most popular how-to features of 2011." More at:  Mashable

Why buy an HDTV when you have a perfectly good screen right in front of you? Here's how to stream live TV to your PC. Everyone assumes that consumers want to stream Internet programs and media to the big high-def screen in the living room. Heck, these days the market is filled with  set-top boxes  dedicated to funneling Internet media to HDTVs. But what if you want to do the opposite, and stream live television to a smaller screen--the one connected to your computer? More at:   PCWorld

The top three connection issues and how to fix them. What’s the biggest difference between a wired and a wireless network? A wireless network is only as robust as its signal. In other words, setting up a Wireless-N network doesn’t always mean you’re going to get Wireless-N speeds. Poor signal strength and range, interference from non-network wireless devices, and the way your router broadcasts Wi-Fi signals can cause network slowdowns. If you’re ready to improve your wireless network but you’d rather not start from scratch with a new router, read on. We’ll show you exactly how to deal with the three biggest challenges. Overcoming poor signal strength and range Amplifi Wi-Fi Booster You can easily extend your existing network into hard-to-reach locations by installing an access point, which connects directly to your existing router and improves its wireless signal. Access points like D-Link’s  DAP-1525 Amplifi Wi-Fi Booster  require no additional setup or passwords to distribut

If you want to download YouTube videos without having to pay a fee, install a toolbar, or run a dubious browser plug-in, check out our handy guide to using YouTube Downloader HD . A free downloadable program, YouTube Downloader HD keeps things simple: You provide the URL of the video, select the video quality and format, and click the Download button. YouTube Downloader HD has a limited selection of output formats and can’t download from video sites other than YouTube, but it still shines with its adware-free installation, ability to download multiple videos simultaneously, and automatic conversion feature. More at:   PCWorld

"The iPad is a great device even when its offline, but like nearly all computing devices these days it is much greater when it’s connected to the web. For most of us, most of the time that means connecting via a WiFi network when possible. So it is terribly frustrating when an iPad won’t connect to a home WiFi network. So I thought I’d share some basic troubleshooting tips for when your iPad won’t connect to your WiFi network, and some potential quick fixes." See more at  iPad Insight :

Tired of paying for music? You can find a bunch of free songs hiding in plain sight in the iTunes Music Store. I get it: You want some free tunes, but you don't want to be sued by the RIAA or by copyright trolls. Fair enough. Unfortunately, totally free music is rare these days--er, totally free and legal music, that is. But you can find some free music, and you can grab it straight from the music player you're probably already using: iTunes. Yes, iTunes may be clunky, slow, and annoying, but it isn't entirely bad--especially once you know how to dig up free, legal music straight from the iTunes Music Store." More at:   PCWorld

It’s always been known that regular and normal is boring, and I pretty much follow that always throughout my life. Innovation and creativity makes life more fun and exciting, and the turn out becomes beautiful. Cutting out the philosophy and getting straight to the point, have you wondered, why not change the regular style of the labels that blogger gives, and make it more creative and animated. Using some of CSS3, I tried to customize my label section in my blog, which you can see in my home page. More here .

Is your Wi-Fi network at home password-protected? If not, it should be. You might not care if your neighbors use your Wi-Fi connection to surf the Web, but someone with more sinister motives could take advantage of your generosity (and lack of protection) to gain access to data stored on your home PCs. The easiest way to guard against Wi-Fi interlopers is to encrypt your Wi-Fi network. Afterward you'll have to enter a password whenever you connect to your Wi-Fi network, but that's a small price to pay for improved security. Most Wi-Fi routers support WEP, WPA, and WPA2 encryption standards. Be sure to use either the WPA or WPA2 encryption settings, which provide a much higher level of security than WEP encryption. Another safeguard is to set your router not to broadcast the SSID (your network's name). With SSID broadcasting disabled, your wireless network won't be visible to computers nearby, and only people who specifically know your network's name will be able

Free music is often associated with illegal file sharing, but that's not the whole online music story. There are many music services that will let you stream tunes from to any Web connected computer free of charge (and if a mobile app is available, tablets and smartphones)—without breaking the law. For example, the Editors' Choice award-winning Slacker Radio (Free, 4.5 stars) is a service you should check out, especially if you're the type who likes to customize your listening experience. If niche genres such as anime and video game music are more your speed, AOL Radio (Free, 3.5 stars) is the lone mainstream streaming music service that caters to such nerd audiences. In addition, a recently announced Slacker Radio partnership means that AOL Radio will have one of the most stacked streaming music services today. Grooveshark (Free, 3.5 stars) adds peer-to-peer elements that let users upload their own MP3s to the service so that others can tune into their streams. Social

Slaying the Cable Monster: Why HDMI Brands Don't Matter For the vast majority of HDTV owners, a $5 HDMI cable will provide the same performance as a $100 one. You've probably experienced this when shopping for a new HDTV: A store clerk sidles up and offers to help. He then points you toward the necessary HDMI cables to go with your new television. And they're expensive. Maybe $60 or $70, sometimes even more than $100 (You could buy a cheap Blu-ray player or a handful of Blu-ray discs for that price!). The clerk then claims that these are special  cables.  Superior  cables. Cables you absolutely need if you want the best possible home theater experience. And the claims are, for the vast majority of home theater users, utter rubbish. The truth is, for most HDTV setups, there is absolutely no effective difference between a no-name $3 HDMI cable you can order from  Amazon.com  and a $120 Monster cable you buy at a brick-and-mortar electronics store. We ran five differen

The benefits of Blu-ray are crystal clear: Video from traditional DVDs contains fewer than 350,000 pixels, while 1080p HD video packs more than two million, which translates to sublime, high-resolution detail. If you want to make the most of your 1080p HDTV, you should upgrade to a Blu-ray player. And there's never been a better time to do it. The current crop of Blu-ray players offer stellar HD picture quality, fast disc-handling, and extras like integrated Wi-Fi, 3D  support , and audio and video streaming. These days you can find a well-rounded player that performs well for less than $200 if you do some smart online shopping. Still, there are a lot of choices out there. Here's what you need to consider when choosing the right Blu-ray player: Blu-ray Basics If you have a 1080p HDTV, you have the most to gain from Blu-ray, since a television with full HD is equipped to show every one of those glorious pixels. A couple of years ago when 1080p TVs were fetching a premi

1. Often there are multiple versions of the song you're looking for Even if song durations are a little different, if songs have the same track name and artist, Spotify groups songs together but highlights the most popular version. Click the little arrow just left of the artist column to expand it and pick the song from the specific album you like. Read more at Business Insider

Chrome Instant means your Web page is ready to read before you finish typing the address. This, its speed, minimalist design, and advanced support for HTML5 have been attracting more and more users to the browser. The latest version adds more security options and limited hardware acceleration. Google Chrome's speed at displaying Web pages is seemingly only matched by the speed with which its development team adds new features. With Chrome 12, Google has added a couple important security enhancements, and new 3D graphics capabilities. More at PC Mag

Reader Jay wants to know how many USB "splitters" he can use with his desktop. The system has four USB ports in the back and two in the front; Jay says he's already using one splitter, but needs two additional USB ports. Holy mackerel, Jay, how many devices do you have? (I'm a power user myself, and only four of my desktop's six ports are occupied.) To answer your question, yes, it's safe to add another splitter (which, although an apt description, is traditionally known as a USB hub). In fact, a PC is theoretically capable of accommodating up to 127 USB ports. However, the reality is a bit different. By "splitting" a USB port, you reduce the power available to the newly added ports. Whether or not that's a problem depends on the kinds of devices you plug in, but I strongly recommend using only powered USB hubs. They cost a little more, and force you to find yet another free AC outlet, but they virtually eliminate the issues that tend t

While some might argue that it can almost replace a full-fledged computer, the iPad was designed to be simple. Even if you have very little tech savvy, you can probably pick up Apple's latest tablet and master most of the basic features in a matter of minutes. And the longer you spend swiping your way around the touch-based iOS operating system, the more you'll learn. Like it is with any OS, though, there are just some things that aren't obvious. You could (gasp!) pore through the 22-chapter iPad 2 User Guide (it's got three appendices too), to make sure you're not missing out on anything, but where's the fun in that? After a couple of months of testing and using the iPad 2, we've learned some cool tricks and we want to share them with you. In the slideshow, you'll find general tips that apply to multiple applications, along with those specific to Safari, Maps, iPod, and Photos. More at: PCMag.com

"Browser hijacking" is a type of online fraud. Scammers use malicious software to take control of your computer's Internet browser and change how and what it displays when you're surfing the web. If you keep your computer updated with the latest security software and updates, and practice safe Internet browsing you're already doing a lot to keep the hijackers away. But if you are already the victim of a hijacked browser there are several ways you can combat online fraud, free your browser from the hackers, and restore its settings. Don’t know if your browser has been hijacked? Read about the signs in What is browser hijacking? Help restore a hijacked browser and boost browser security The following six tips can help restore your browser's settings: Stop cascading pop-up windows. If endless pop-up windows appear on your screen, you'll probably want to stop them first. To do this in Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, or Windows 2000

Every year at this time, PCMag takes a look at what is worth installing on your PC— software that's totally free that does the job as well as, if not better, than the big boys. That's not to say programs from Microsoft, Adobe, and hundreds of other developers aren't worthwhile, but you should always be aware of your options, especially when they're free. With that in mind, we're here again to gather the best of the freebies. First, we re-examined our picks from last year's story (The Best Free Software of 2010) to ensure they're still worth installing and that they're still freeware. Of course, we also took a look at all of the great free software announced in the last 12 months. More at PC Mag

You don't need to pay a pro to calibrate your new HDTV. You don't even need to spend $40 for a special disc. All you need is a DVD or Blu-ray Disc with the THX Optimizer feature, like Terminator 2: Judgment Day Skynet Edition Blu-ray disc, and a $2 pair of blue glasses to turn your expensive screen from an out-of-the-box testament to visual mediocrity into a glorious example of cinematically accurate color and light. Step 1: Turn on your HDTV and let it run for about 30 minutes. For the best color accuracy, you want the screen to warm up a bit. This is more of an issue for plasma screens than LCDs, but it's still a good practice for getting the most accurate calibration. Step 2: Access the THX Optimizer. For most THX-certified DVDs and Blu-ray discs, the THX Optimizer feature should be located in the Set-Up menu. More at PC Mag

Without question, your router is one of the most useful and convenient tech devices you own. But many of you probably view it as one of the biggest sources of frustration, anxiety, and downright anger. The fact is, setting up a home router—and keeping it running—is still more complicated and demanding of tech knowledge than the average user would like it to be. Part of the problem is that routers do so much more than average user can understand. A router performs two primary functions. First, it routes data packets between networks. Second, it serves as a wireless access point, sharing the inbound Internet connection with all devices on a home network. A router is the central figure in a home network, connecting the vast Internet with our comparatively, tiny (yet increasingly sophisticated) private networks. That's a complex set of responsibilities for a small, inexpensive device to perform. Most routers manage to do all these job reasonably well for the vast majority of the time

Blogger now offers you the ability to present your content in several new and exciting ways.  These dynamic views will work on your blog if all of the following are true: Your blog is public. Your readers don’t need to sign in to view your blog. Your blog has feeds fully enabled. In the  Settings | Site feed  tab, you have enabled either  Full  or  Jump Break  for your Post Feed. You have not disabled dynamic views. In the  Setting | Formatting  tab, the option for  Enable Dynamic Views  is set to  Yes. If any of the above conditions are not true, users who attempt to access dynamic views for your blog will instead be taken to a landing page and redirected to your original blog in a few seconds. If all of the above conditions are true, your readers can access the dynamic  views  for your blog by simply appending  /view  to the URL. For example, our own blog, Blogger Buzz, is available at  http://buzz.blogspot.com . To see this blog in the new dynamic views, users would instead vi

"When it comes to choosing a Web browser today, you're spoiled for choice. Major new releases Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox 4 have brought these two big name browsers to near parity with upstart Google Chrome and longtime innovator Opera. The current crop of surfing software all include plenty of speed, minimized interfaces for a better look at that site you're browsing, and support for the emerging HTML5 standard markup language. Each brings a unique twist, though. The new browser from Microsoft, Internet Explorer 9, adds hardware acceleration for graphics-intensive sites and arguably the best privacy tool to prevent tracking of your Web activities by marketing sites. Firefox offers a Panorama view of your tabs and a refreshed version of what's still the most powerful set of customizations, along with the ability to sync bookmarks, history, settings, and more" More at PC Mag

"It’s one of life’s little unwritten laws — like toast always falling butter-side down — that when you get your headphone cables out, no matter how neatly you put them away, you’ll inevitably be faced with a pile of wire spaghetti. Don’t let those cable gremlins get the best of you. Employ a headphone cable management solution that is both effective and adorable. We’ve found 10 fun options for you that won’t break the bank, and will help you store your headphones neatly, keep them tidy on the go, or both." More at: Mashable :

I've talked to a lot of digital photographers who are disappointed with basic photo editing tools because they don't always have the intended effect. Take sharpening tools, for example: Somewhat counterintuitively, sharpening doesn't sharpen blurry pictures. But you can increase your subject's apparent sharpness by blurring everything else. This is also an awesome trick for adding a sense of depth to your photos. A long time ago, I mentioned four ways to get a deep depth of field in your photos. This week I'd like to focus on one of those techniques in particular: blurring the background of your photo using layers. More at: PCWorld-Dave Johnson

"With Chrome, Google single-handedly set off a revolution in the Web surfing software on several fronts: Its blazingly fast JavaScript performance kicked competitors like Firefox (Free, 4.5 stars), Internet Explorer (Free, 4 stars), Safari (Free, 4 stars), and Opera 11 into a speed race. Chrome also started the trend of minimizing the application's window to let the Web page shine unimpeded, which has influenced the user interface design of all those competitors. If you want a fast and fluid Web experience, Chrome can't be beat, and it's updated more frequently than any other browser, too, at version 9 after just two and a half years." More at: PCMag.com :

A top-notch MP3 player is only half of the audio equation. No matter what your budget, we've got advice on picking the best headphones to maximize your listening experience.  These days, some people happily spend more than half a grand on a new tablet or portable media device with an estimated lifespan of around three years, yet the question I'm asked most often is still, "What's the cheapest pair of headphones I can buy that don't completely suck?"  Headphones, earbuds, and earphones (I'll describe the difference between them in a bit) are generally viewed as the least essential link in the musical chain—the part you can easily skimp on. In reality, your headphones are the  most  important link in that chain: A quality pair has a larger impact than the player itself on how your tunes will sound. Also, if well cared for, they will long outlive your planned-to-be-obsolete tablet, phone, or MP3 player. And you don't have to break the bank, either. For

It's hard to imagine a modern home or business network without a wireless router, but that doesn't mean it's easy to pick the right router. Our guide can help you choose the best one for your network. You'd think that hardware as ubiquitous as the wireless router would be easier to choose, configure, and manage; you'd think that, by now, manufacturers would all be delivering dead-simple hardware that worked right out of the box, no matter what the RF environment in your office. Well, routers  are  better,  faster , and simpler than ever (at least the good ones are). But you still need to be an informed customer if you want to pick the right router for your needs. And you'll still need to know some (mostly) simple tricks to get the most out of your router, even if the basic setup has become pretty simple. Our guide can help you on both counts. More at:  PCMag.com

Networking a new tech toy has become the modern equivalent of the dreaded "some assembly required." But setting up a secure, robust network isn't hard—if you know what you're doing. Since you're a PCMag.com reader, chances are you got a shiny new tech toy as a holiday gift. Maybe it was an 802.11n wireless router, a NAS device, a new Netbook, or an iPad. One thing all of these devices have in common: they need to be attached to your home network. The introduction of a new piece of hardware is the perfect time to set up or reorganize your home network. For many people, this is the most painful part of the tech experience. Let's face it, networking a new piece of tech you got for the holidays is the latter-day "some assembly required." No matter what networking hardware makers tell you, setting up your home network involves more than just purchasing and plugging in a router. But that doesn't mean that it has to be a nightmare, either. You  can  s