GeekSugar

Geek Tip: Take Cleaner Screenshots

GeekSugar — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:32:18 PST

Being able to take screenshots is useful for many reasons, but no matter how practical your reasons, your shots can still be clean and aesthetically pleasing.

If you're a Mac OS X Leopard or Tiger user, you probably know to take screenshots with Shift + Command + 4, which gives you a little cross hair icon to select the area to take a screenshot of. Take that further and press that combo, and then hit the space bar. Instead of a cross hair icon, you'll get a little camera icon.

This enables you to take a perfect shot of one single application (even if it's buried under layers of windows). The resulting screenshot, like the one pictured here, gives you perfect edges, that cool shadow effect, and zero messiness.

Geek Tip: Easily Take Screenshots With Your iPhone

GeekSugar — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:00:59 PDT

Taking screenshots on the old iPhone was a difficult task, requiring you to perform a preference hack then do some tricky moves with buttons just to get a screen grab. But thankfully on your iPhone 3G (and if you've updated to the 2.0 firmware update for an older iPhone), it's so much easier and doesn't require any hacking into your new, pristine toy.

To take a screenshot on an iPhone 2.0 (that's "two dot oh" to you, ma'am), all you have to do is hold down the Home button while pressing the Sleep/Wake button. Your screen will flash and presto, you have a screenshot. You can find your shot in your iPhone's photo app for easy download to iPhoto or Windows photo program. Simple. Like the iPhone itself, no?

Fresh Start Resolution: Master Time Management

SavvySugar — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:53:00 PST

It's a New Year and a new you! We're detailing 12 helpful tips to start off the year right, whether it be to advance your career or increase your financial cushion. We've already given you advice on kicking your daily deal habit, quitting your caffeine addiction, and reassessing your savings account; here's another way to start afresh in 2012.

Managing your time not only allows you to be more productive but also frees up precious minutes for you to spend however you'd like. To make 2012 your most organized, exciting year yet, adopt these five helpful habits.

Consider your to-do list a schedule. A simple checklist is a great start, but it's important to gauge the time frame for each item, too. Mark each of your tasks with an estimated start and finish time, taking into account any variables that may slow you down. Next, think of ways to make your schedule more exciting. Drawn to color? Use highlighters to create categories. Need some incentives? Brainstorm a mini reward for each task completed, like a phone date with your best friend or a new song download.
Plan ahead and be thorough. It's smart to lay out your exercise gear the night before a morning workout, but take it one step further by filling your water bottle, charging your iPod, packing your purse, and leaving your gym shoes by the door. Other ideas: fill out forms online before appointments and use your phone to snap screenshots of maps or directions. Small steps like these will have a huge payoff, adding several minutes for you to fill as you please.

Read on for more time management tips .

3 Ways to Hide Your Online Shopping From the Boss on Cyber Monday

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:21:55 PST

Black Friday is a thing of the past - today is all about finding your holiday deals and savings online with Cyber Monday! Over half of Americans will be secretly shopping online at work today and throughout the holiday season, which puts you at risk for being reprimanded for browsing the virtual racks, or in some cases (seven percent according to a new study), even fired for holiday shopping at work. If you must hit the Cyber Monday sales on the boss' dime today, do so with caution. Here, a few tips to keep your online shopping habit a secret from the higher ups in your office.

Toggle screens - Quickly toggle between open applications with the Alt + Tab (for PC) or Open Apple + Tab (for Mac) keystrokes. This will allow you to quickly switch from your open web browser and work applications when you hear the boss tromping down your aisle.
Use your desktop wallpaper - Take a screenshot of an important spreadsheet, document, or collection of open applications and set it as your desktop wallpaper. Commence shopping. If someone approaches, use the keystroke of Windows + D on your PC or F11 on your Mac to switch focus to your desktop, which will conveniently be populated with your busywork instead of a photo of your boyfriend, dog, and/or kids.
Fake an Excel spreadsheet - If you're tweeting or Facebooking your finds, don't forget to keep that on the down low too. Applications like Spreadtweet and ExcellBook keep your social networking under wraps by disguising your feed as an excel spreadsheet.

Google Rolls Out Gmail For iOS

Kristy Korcz — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:20:41 PDT

Google officially announced its Gmail app for the iPhone and iPad this morning. Now, instead of running your Gmail account through the native mail app on your iOS device, you'll have all your folders, labels, and priority inbox at your fingertips. You can upload pics, get threaded conversations, and keep your inbox organized with the ability to archive, label, star messages, and report spam, even search your emails with an improved search function, and see your inbox on a split screen when you're using the iPad.

The design is clean and simple, so get a closer look at some screenshots in the gallery. Tell us - what do you think of the new Gmail app?

Update: Google has pulled the Gmail app from the iTunes App Store, saying that it was pushed with a notification bug. Google is working to fix the problem.

What the New Windows 8 Experience Will Look Like

Kristy Korcz — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:55:47 PDT

Microsoft's Build conference is happening right now in Southern California. Right off the top, president of the Windows division, Steven Sinofsky, gave developers a preview of what the next generation of the Windows operating system will look like. Available soon for desktops, mobile, and tablet devices, we got a quick look at the tablet that is said to launch soon, along with a walk-through of how Windows 8 will operate. First impressions of Microsoft's "metro style" UI are that it's pretty, and pretty impressive, especially when used on a tablet. Take a look at what to expect in this stylish OS in the gallery!

Watch the Official Kinect Star Wars Trailer

Kristy Korcz — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 07:35:30 PDT

The press conferences may be over, but that doesn't mean that E3 excitement is winding down just yet. If you were as pumped as we were to see Kinect Star Wars make its debut during the Xbox media briefing on Monday, then you'll be even more pumped to watch the official trailer. Check it out here, and head over to our Facebook page to see some gameplay screenshots!

Joel Madden Shares Adorable Photos of Harlow and Sparrow in His Good Charlotte Photo Diary

Allie Merriam — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 07:32:21 PDT

Joel Madden has been touring the world with his band Good Charlotte, and he recently shared his photo diary in Paper magazine. He's currently off in Germany for a few shows and will wrap things up with two concerts in the UK. Joel and his band are nearing the end after stopping in places like London - where he met up with a favorite doorman at the Connaught hotel - Amsterdam, and Budapest. One of Joel's sweetest pictures was a shot from just before he left LA, where he spent a special day with his kids, Harlow and Sparrow, as well as wife Nicole Richie. Joel captioned the shot with, "Saying goodbye is always hard. On my last day in LA before leaving on tour, I always try and take my wife and kids somewhere fun. This was taken on the Ferris wheel at Santa Monica Pier. Best day ever." He also shared a screenshot of his video-chatting with Harlow, which he called, "the very most important part of my day."

Download of the Day: Fotoboard

Kristy Korcz — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 05:48:36 PDT

iOS photo fiends will love Fotoboard (Free), the app that sorts, files, and manages all your images on the iPad. At first glance, the app looks great with its sleek wooden background, but Fotoboard is packed with photo management features like the ability to wirelessly share your iPad images between your Mac, PC, and other iOS devices, build and manage albums, see photos that were taken on certain days thanks to a timestamp calendar function, and share your images amongst Facebook and Twitter friends with ease. It's likely that you'll never go back to the iPad's built-in photo folder, but then again, with features like this, why would you?

Check out more screenshots of Fotoboard in the gallery, and if you've got a cool download you want to share, post it in our Download of the Day group or send us a message on Twitter and Facebook!

White iPhone 4 Shows Up in Best Buy Inventory, Set For April 27 Release

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 05:31:41 PDT

We've heard it all before: the white iPhone 4 is coming. But this time, we may actually have a solid release date: April 27. According to new inventory screenshots, the white iPhone 4 will be sold at Best Buy this Wednesday for $600. There are unconfirmed details about the models - said to be coming in both 16GB and 32GB flavors - as well as carriers - AT&T is a sure bet, while the availability of a Verizon CDMA variety is still unknown.

Though, I'm guessing that everyone who wants an iPhone probably already has one (or is waiting for an upgraded iPhone 5), and at this price, I'm wondering who will throw down? Tell me - are you buying a white iPhone 4 when it's released?