The Samsung Galaxy Nexus, using the Ice Cream Sandwich build of the Android operating system, FINALLY has the screenshot capability native to the device.

Simply hold the power button and the volume-down button at the same time for about 2 seconds, and "CLICK"...you have a screenshot!

It stores the file in your Gallery, in a special section called Screenshots. The file dimensions are 720 x 1280 px. The file size ranges depending on the contents of the screen. They can range from about 95 to 500K+. The file naming convention is thus: Screenshot_2012-01-25-14-59-32

This post is dedicated to all my iPhone-loving friends who are always hating on my Droid, who mock it for not being able to take screenshots. Problem solved.

Proof:  (click on it to see it full-size)

Linda - http://how.best-free-information.com - The "How" Blog

There is a VERY easy permanent fix that does not require an update to the operating system.

From the MAIN settings page, click Language & input.

Then uncheck the Spelling correction.

You will STILL have autocorrection, since it is built into the Android keyboard. Part of the slowdown is the system trying to autocorrect twice.

Simply uncheck the Spelling correction checkbox, and your typing lag problem will be fixed.

Enjoy!

Linda - http://how.best-free-information.com - The "How" Blog

So, how do you get the vanity URL in Facebook, like: "facebook.com/YourPage"?

Well, first, you login to Facebook using your account that has Admin permissions for the page.

Next, in the URL bar in your web browser, type this URL exactly:

http://facebook.com/username

DON'T replace 'username' with your username.  It's actually the exact word 'username' that needs to appear at the end of the URL.

That takes you to a screen where it lets you select your page, and assign it a new name.  It will let you check if the name has already been assigned first.  So the name you choose has to be unique.

Use caution...once you assign the custom URL for your Facebook Page, it cannot be changed.

Linda - http://how.best-free-information.com - The "How" Blog

For example, Sheet 1 has a bunch of data going down column A, and on Sheet 2, for whatever reason, you need to do a calculation and you want it across row 1.  Or vice versa.

It's been frustrating me for a long time to have to manually make the change.  But, I've found the way to drag a formula and have it transpose.  The code works for either kind of transposition (horizontal to vertical or vertical to horizontal).

Assume source data is in Sheet1, A1:E1

In Sheet2

Put in A1:
=OFFSET(Sheet1!$A$1,COLUMNS($A$1:A1)-1,ROWS($A$1:A1)-1)

Copy A1 down by as many rows as there are columns in Sheet1, i.e. down to A5

A1:A5 will return whats in A1:E1 in Sheet1

Basically, set the $A$1 value to whatever the SOURCE is (the top left cell of the source range).  So, if your source is in C26:M37, you would put:

=OFFSET(Sheet1!$C$26,COLUMNS($A$1:A1)-1,ROWS($A$1:A1)-1)

Then as you drag the formula horizontally or vertically, it will work.

Hope it helps!

Linda - http://how.best-free-information.com - The "How" Blog

So, I started searching around for solutions.

Many of the solutions I found required that I "hack" the about:config page. That's fine, I guess, but not everyone is comfortable doing such things. (Nor should they be.)

One of the big culprits is bad plugins. I LOVE me some plugins. That's one of the reasons I use FF so much. But, I found that I had some old ones that I didn't use any more. I cleaned them out. That helped some.

But THEN I encountered the one, simple solution.

AFOM

AFOM is a one-step, no configuration plugin that SERIOUSLY frees up memory. I regularly had memory usage of almost 1G. Seriously. 900,000+K. All the time.

I installed AFOM and it now hovers between 10,000K and 30,000K. All by itself. Nothing else done.

So, save yourself the time and hassle. Go to Tools, Addons, and search for AFOM. Read the reviews there, if you're nervous about it (glowing reviews), install it, and BOOYAH! Much better memory usage.

Enjoy your faster, less resource-intensive browsing!

Linda - http://how.best-free-information.com - The "How" Blog

Sometimes you just want to see the unread messages in gmail.

The trick is simple. Use this "search" in your gmail:

label:unread label:inbox

That will only display all of the unread messages in your inbox.

Drop the "label:inbox" if you just want to see all of your unread messages in all of your labels.

Hope that helps!

Well...almost seamless.

One of the common complaints is that only SOME of your outbound calls are going through Google Voice, EVEN IF you have the Droid configured to always dial using GV.

Notice two things:

1. on calls that do not use Google Voice, you will see the normal droid logo and the normal hangup button.
2. on calls that DO use GV, you will see a little notice telling you that it is being used, and showing you a number. It might not be your GV number...don't worry about the person you're calling not recognizing your number. Your GV number will still show.

Here's the usual culprit: Area Codes!

If you have contact phone numbers that are stored as 7 digit, Google Voice does not know how to dial them. They do not yet have a default area code to prefix the call if it does not have a 10-digit number in the contact list.

So, even if your Droid is set to dial using Google Voice every time, for contacts without 10-digits (the area code + number), the call will go through your normal phone.

Hope this helps some of you who may be facing this frustration! I love my Droid Incredible, but it was a pain trying to figure out why it wouldn't dial with Google Voice every time.

Linda - http://how.best-free-information.com - The "How" Blog

Then I got a Droid Incredible. Tons of options on how to dial folks, but nothing like what I wanted.

I wanted one-touch dialing to my top 25 favorite people.

Well, it took me a while, but I finally figured a way. It's a bit clunky to setup, but once it's done, it works beautifully.

First, create a folder by touching a blank spot on one of your home screens and holding it. After a few seconds, you will get a menu pop up. Choose Folder, then New Folder. This adds a blank folder to that home page.

Oddly, you can't create Direct Dials within the folder. You have to create them outside the folder and drag them in.

From the page with the folder, find a blank spot, and touch the screen and hold it again. This time, select Shortcut, then Direct Dial. Choose the person you want to create the shortcut, then select which contact number. This will add a one-touch dial to the spot on your page.

Then you can touch and HOLD that icon until it is surrounded by a green circle (and you'll feel a slight vibration), and then you can drag that icon into the folder.

Repeat.

Oh...naming the folder isn't intuitive either. But if you open the folder, then touch-and-hold the title (which says "Folder"), it will give you the option to rename it. This way you can have folders on your home page (like "Clients", "Vendors", "Family"), and have your one-touch direct dial buttons gathered.

One-touch to open the folder, one-touch to dial the person.

This is made easier if they are linked through Facebook...and their picture shows up as the icon. You know exactly who you are dialing!

The Droid Incredible really is incredible, once you figure it out!

Linda - http://how.best-free-information.com - The "How" Blog

This is not always best. And if you are using Camtasia Studio to edit the video, it does not read the MP4 format that Flip Video uses.

Before December 2009, Flip Video's software, called FlipShare, used to convert and compress the videos to a WMV or MOV format. However, with the firmware upgrade at that time, they got rid of the conversion. They compress it, but leave it as an MP4 format.

After pestering Flip Video's support staff for a day, I finally got in touch with a knowledgeable tech who explained all of this. And, on the down-low, recommended I use Koyote's free video converter (found at http://www.koyotesoft.com).

I downloaded the converter and saved the video from the MP4 format on the device itself into a host of formats on my local drive. WMV works well, as does AVI (and of course, AVI has better quality).

So, if you're using Camtasia and are extremely frustrated about not being able to edit your Flip Videos, give Koyote's video converter a try, or any other free converter to move it from the MP4 format to a workable one.

Linda - http://how.best-free-information.com - The "How" Blog

Readers see the official-looking message, are worried by the message, and immediately click on the link to take action, like dispute false charges on a credit card, or try to get an account re-opened that has been temporarily closed. Keep in mind that there really are no false credit charges, or the account has not been closed. But readers are worried, so they click to fix the situation.

They will be taken to a very official-looking site…one that looks exactly like the real site of the business the scammers are copying. For example, if the scammer claims that your PayPal account has been temporarily suspended and that you need to 'click here' to login and correct the situation, the screen to which you will be taken will look just like the official PayPal site. There, the reader 'logs in', by entering their login and password onto the screen. Once that information is sent, the scammer then has captured the reader's login and password. (The form was not really a login form, but a form to store the login and password into the scammer's database for use later.)

So, how can you avoid these clever phishing scams?

It is simple.

Never, never, NEVER click on a link from an email.

Let's assume that you received an email that looks like it is from your specific credit card company, stating that some fraudulent charges have been detected and they need you to 'confirm' that the charges are not yours. DO NOT CLICK from the email!!

If you are really worried about the contents of the message, why not just call the Customer Service number on the back of your card? Or login directly (NOT through clicking a link) to the site. All of the financial institutions, or places like PayPal and eBay, have internal messaging systems. If they want you to receive an important message, they send it to that mailbox, too.

Protect yourself from phishing scams…never, ever, click on a link from within an email message to respond to a business message.

Linda - http://how.best-free-information.com - The "How" Blog