How To: Use an old smartphone or tablet as a security camera

We bet there will be many of you who have an old smartphone or tablet that is lying almost useless simply because either it under performs, is outdated hardware or there are no more updates available for it. Some might even have devices with a partially damaged display screen or few other minor issues such as the low battery, scratched display, tarnished body etc. The resale value of these phones is simply too low to even be sold off and hence they get left in the closet. Why not bring them out and breathe some new life into these devices? You can make use of your old smartphones and tablets in many ways.

How to: Build a budget Ivy Bridge PC

Media playback, social networking, office suites, image viewing – an entry-level PC is ideal for such tasks. Building such a PC with the latest-generation components isn’t possible when a new platform has just launched. However, you have multiple options when entry-level and mid-range processors and chipsets are available in the market. The top-end Intel Core i7-3770K was the first to appear on shelves, followed by the Intel Core i5-3570K. A few more Ivy Bridge processors are yet to arrive,

How to - Send and receive SMSes via your Android phone on your PC

While most of us would have moved to Google Talk and other messaging apps, such as Whatsapp, there might still be many others around who depend on the traditional text messaging service present on every device out there - SMS. Not all phones support Whatsapp or any of the other fancy apps and many people still don't use data connectivity on their phones. SMSes can be painful if you’re working - you need to turn on the phone,

How to - Access the blocked web

Since we all know that DoT has implemented orders to curb piracy via torrents, P2P sharing software and large file hosting portals, most Internet service providers have started practising a mega block on major torrent search engines and file hosting sites, such as Torrentz, The Pirate Bay, Kickass Torrents, Torrent Hound, Rapidshare, Mediafire, Hotfile and many others. Obtaining torrents and other files from these websites has now become a difficult task, but there are many other routes that you can take to gain access to these websites and download the files that you need.

How to - Duplicate yourself in a photograph

Cameras are great fun to play around with and when combined with a good image manipulation programme, there are tonnes of tricks you can employ to add all sorts of effects to your photographs. Here, we'll show you how to shoot and duplicate many images yourself into a picture in about 10 minutes. Here’s a glimpse of what we’re trying to do.