4 Ways to Teach Yourself Terminal Commands in Linux

If you want to become a true Linux master, having some knowledge of terminal commands is a good idea. Here are four different methods you can use to start teaching yourself. Tip of the Day A great way to gradually learn more about terminal commands is to have a “Tip of the Day” style message appear each time you open up the terminal. These messages can tell you about useful commands, as well as advanced tricks for certain commands you may already know. You can easily set this up by going into your .bashrc file (located at /home/<user>/.bashrc) and add...

Read the full article: 4 Ways to Teach Yourself Terminal Commands in Linux

How To Stay Updated On The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics are almost here! If you’ve got a job or other responsibilities, you might not be able to catch a lot of the live broadcasts of your favorite events. That’s where the Internet comes in. Using the following apps and news feeds, you’ll be able to keep up with the action as it happens. Apps BBC Sport for iOS, Android and Kindle Fire The front page of BBC Sport’s Winter Olympics section is packed with the latest news stories, from athlete interviews to official statements from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). You can also access Games...

Read the full article: How To Stay Updated On The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics

Apple Droid, Edit Look Back, Bing Winter Olympics, Sochi Problems [Tech News Digest]

Today in Tech News Digest, Steve Wozniak talks of an Apple/Android mashup, Sony gives up on PCs, Amazon acquires a games developer, Facebook adds an ‘Edit’ option to ‘Look Back’, Bing wins gold for its Winter Olympics features, and Twitter tracks the multitude of problems occurring in Sochi. Woz Suggests Apple Builds A Droid Go home Woz, you’re drunk. http://t.co/pbzpldWnl7 — Rafael Jiménez (@rafael_j) February 6, 2014 Woz has suggested that a smartphone built by Apple but powered by Android isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. Steve Wozniak, who founded Apple with Steve Jobs a long, long time ago, pondered...

Read the full article: Apple Droid, Edit Look Back, Bing Winter Olympics, Sochi Problems [Tech News Digest]

4 TED Talks To Revolutionize Your Social Relationships

The best TED Talks are the ones that can plant seeds in your heart, which later grow into fruitful, life-altering changes. Here at MakeUseOf, we love TED Talks. We’ve done roundups before on talks related to creativity and inspiration, motivation and mental blocks, and brain psychology. Well, we have a few more for you to enjoy. These videos will provide insight into social psychology. Who are you? Why are you the way you are? What can we do to improve human interaction? Obviously these are deep topics but these talks are dense and good food for thought. Your Body Language...

Read the full article: 4 TED Talks To Revolutionize Your Social Relationships

How To Post Stack Overflow Questions From Android? Using The Official Client

Today I’d like to share one of the best ways to ask and answer questions when you’re not at your PC: The Stack Exchange app. Stack Exchange is a network of Q&A sites, the best-known of which is Stack Overflow – an excellent Q&A site which we mentioned as one of 10 websites that can help the beginner programmer with sample code snippets. It’s easy to explain what’s so good about the Stack Exchange app: It lets you ask questions. Yup, up until recently there was simply no good way to do this from a smartphone. There were apps for...

Read the full article: How To Post Stack Overflow Questions From Android? Using The Official Client

How to Make Your Own Uniquely Gorgeous Android Home Screen

A beautiful and well-planned home screen on your Android tablet or smartphone is not just cool to look at, but is also functionally efficient. This is why it’s a good idea to spend some time creating one for yourself. Last week, I decided to get myself a gorgeous home screen to replace the default one I had stuck with for so long. Here’s a detailed look at the whole process. If you follow it step by step, you can get the same eye-catching home screen for your device and learn to experiment with more design recipes. Step 1: Hunt For...

Read the full article: How to Make Your Own Uniquely Gorgeous Android Home Screen

Get Instant Winter Olympics Schedules And Medals Tally On Bing Search

Bing joins the Winter Olympics with a top of the page display of search results from the quadrennial sporting event that’s on in Sochi, Russia. Users searching for Winter Olympics events and news will get to see Olympic-related schedules and content at the top of their search results. Bing will also display a running tally of the medals won by participating countries. The “Winter Olympic Medal Tally” will help sports buffs track the countries, teams, and athletes who make it count on the podium with medals. To find Olympic event schedules, search with specific sport to see the scheduled events...

Read the full article: Get Instant Winter Olympics Schedules And Medals Tally On Bing Search

How To Enter The BIOS On Your Computer

Inside the BIOS you can change basic computer settings, like the boot order, system time and date, or which hardware components are enabled; that’s why the BIOS is also referred to as ‘Setup’. Entering the BIOS just takes a simple key stroke at the right moment while the system is booting. To save you the guesswork, we have compiled the different ways you can enter the BIOS. As mentioned above, entering the BIOS is pretty simple. Unless your computer came with UEFI, e.g. on a new Windows 8 laptop, you just need to boot your computer, wait for the right...

Read the full article: How To Enter The BIOS On Your Computer

Synata Offers A Better Way To Search Through All Your Online Stuff

What’s the most common thing you do online? Chatting? Emailing? Writing? Sharing? Not quite. One of the most common actions done online by anyone is searching. We search Google, we search Gmail, we search our computer and cloud storage for files, we search our phone for contacts…it’s all just an endless search. Synata (beta) is a free (for individual use) Web app and Chrome extension that wants to make this endless search easier. Keep on reading, I’ll show you how. What Is Synata? Similar to CloudMagic (our review), FindIt (our review) and other apps, Synata aims to alleviate the pain...

Read the full article: Synata Offers A Better Way To Search Through All Your Online Stuff

Add 40+ New Layout Features To WordPress with Shortcodes Ultimate

Add pull-quotes, spoiler warnings, column layouts and much more to WordPress. Shortcodes Ultimate makes it easy. WordPress-powered blogs can be enhanced by all manner of plugins, many of which introduce new features. Installing and updating additional features can be time-consuming, however – which is where a plugin like Shortcodes Ultimate comes in. What Are Shortcodes & What Makes Them Ultimate? Shortcodes are small snippets of text that you can introduce into a blog post, page or PHP file to add new features. These features will be coded into a separate file that you don’t need to access – all you...

Read the full article: Add 40+ New Layout Features To WordPress with Shortcodes Ultimate

Isn’t It About Time You Rediscovered Stargate? [Stuff to Watch]

Everyone shut up about the coolest HBO show, and instead turn your attention to one of the greatest series the sci-fi world has ever known: Stargate.

Read the full article: Isn’t It About Time You Rediscovered Stargate? [Stuff to Watch]

Do You Agree That Windows XP Needs To Die? [We Ask You]

Windows XP was quite the operating system in 2001. It was also pretty good in 2007. Now, in 2014, it’s not so great. It’s old, outdated, and not able to handle much of what a modern computer user will throw at it. And yet Windows XP is still being used on around 30 percent of PCs. And 3 million ATMs around the world. Is it time for Windows XP to be euthanized? Age Is No Barrier We want to know, Do You Want Windows XP To Die? Windows XP has, unfathomably, remained popular long after its best days were declared...

Read the full article: Do You Agree That Windows XP Needs To Die? [We Ask You]

5 Clever But Simple Ways To Find Inspiring Writing Prompts Online

There is nothing more frustrating for a writer than staring at a blank screen, a blinking cursor, and having nothing to write. Luckily, all it takes is logging on to the Internet where you can find an endless source of inspiration. There’s no limit to the writing prompts you can find online to inspire you. No matter what your preferred style of writing or genre may be — you can find inspiration on social networks, in email newsletters, on photography sites and more. When it comes to find inspiration for your creative writing, MakeUseOf has already offered up some great...

Read the full article: 5 Clever But Simple Ways To Find Inspiring Writing Prompts Online

Be On The Bleeding Edge of Linux with Fedora Rawhide

Open source software moves at a a blazing pace – bugs are fixed, new features are added, and performance is (usually) improved. But your current Linux distribution may very well prevent you from trying out those improvements until the next time there’s a stable distribution release. That could be half a year away or longer! Don’t wait around to try the latest versions of software – try Fedora Rawhide instead. Why Rawhide? Trying out brand new software can be pretty useful – or just plain fun. Most of the time, you would want to try new software for new features....

Read the full article: Be On The Bleeding Edge of Linux with Fedora Rawhide

Nadella Named, Facebook Filmed, Foursquare Fueled, Korea Kinected [Tech News Digest]

Today in Tech News Digest, Satya Nadella is (finally) named as the new CEO of Microsoft, Facebook turns 10, Twitter eyes a move into e-commerce, Foursquare’s data is coming to Windows, Google Now lands on Chrome Beta, and it’s revealed that Kinect is guarding the border between North Korea and South Korea. Satya Nadella Named New Microsoft CEO first commitment as CEO…i won’t wait 4 years between tweets! — Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) February 5, 2014 Satya Nadella has finally been named the new CEO of Microsoft, after months of speculation and shortlisting, and a week since the news leaked. Nadella...

Read the full article: Nadella Named, Facebook Filmed, Foursquare Fueled, Korea Kinected [Tech News Digest]

Nadella Named, Facebook Filmed, Foursquare Fueled, Korea Kinected [Tech News Digest]

Today in Tech News Digest, Satya Nadella is (finally) named as the new CEO of Microsoft, Facebook turns 10, Twitter eyes a move into e-commerce, Foursquare’s data is coming to Windows, Google Now lands on Chrome Beta, and it’s revealed that Kinect is guarding the border between North Korea and South Korea. Satya Nadella Named New Microsoft CEO first commitment as CEO…i won’t wait 4 years between tweets! — Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) February 5, 2014 Satya Nadella has finally been named the new CEO of Microsoft, after months of speculation and shortlisting, and a week since the news leaked. Nadella...

Read the full article: Nadella Named, Facebook Filmed, Foursquare Fueled, Korea Kinected [Tech News Digest]

‘Google Now’ Available For The Chrome Beta Browser

Google is starting to roll out its “Google Now” feature to its Beta browser, for Windows, Mac, and Chrome OS. If you use “Google Now” on your smartphone, ensure you are signed into the browser with your Google account and have notifications turned on on the desktop. After all that, you will then begin to see the notifications begin to pop up on your desktop. To view your notifications at any time, just right-click on the bell icon at the bottom of your browser. This will then bring up any existing notifications you might have : These notifications will sync...

Read the full article: ‘Google Now’ Available For The Chrome Beta Browser

Is Windows Taking Forever To Shut Down? Try This!

Shutting down Windows seems like it should be a simple process. You’re just turning your PC off; how hard can it be? Yet there’s more to shutting down then just cutting the power. System processes must end, data must be saved, and unneeded information must be removed from memory. Usually, this process takes just a few seconds, but the complex series of steps that take place behind the scenes can sometimes trip over itself. The result is a system that never actually shuts down, or takes an extremely long time to do so. Here are the reasons why your Windows...

Read the full article: Is Windows Taking Forever To Shut Down? Try This!

LibreOffice 4.2 Brings Major Changes To The Popular Microsoft Office Alternative

The Document Foundation has released the latest version of its office productivity suite. LibreOffice (Version 4.2) offers better performance and better interoperability with MS Windows, and further lays claim to its title of the best free office suite for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The hardest work has gone into Calc with GPU-enabled power enhancements that should help it to handle big datasets and importing complex XLSX spreadsheets. Document interoperability with Microsoft OOXML, particularly for DOCX, as well as legacy RTF, has been improved. Abiword documents and Apple Keynote presentations get their own import filters too. Open LibreOffice with...

Read the full article: LibreOffice 4.2 Brings Major Changes To The Popular Microsoft Office Alternative

Open Source AMD Graphics Are Now Awesome, Here’s How To Get Them

The AMD proprietary driver on Linux is fast but buggy, and the open source driver has now become awesome – here’s how to get the open source driver with the new performance improvements. Why Use Open Source Graphics Drivers? Users of non-Intel graphics have historically had to use the proprietary graphics drivers provided by AMD and Nvidia to get the performance they’d expect. This is still the case for Nvidia users, as the open source “Nouveau” driver is severely limited; however, AMD users now actually have a choice. Recent releases of the Linux kernel plus the AMD open source graphics...

Read the full article: Open Source AMD Graphics Are Now Awesome, Here’s How To Get Them