Google Chromecast: Bringing Streaming Media from your Phone or PC to Your TV

Google Chromecast: See it, Stream It

Cast Your Media from Your Phone and PC to Your TV

Today, we have a sponsored post, brought to you by Best Buy, talking about the latest model of the Google Chromecast.  For those unfamiliar with the Chromecast, it is a small dongle designed to turn any HDMI compatible TV into a Smart TV, bringing internet capabilities to your favorite television set.  

Similar to a Roku or Fire TV stick, the Chromecast plugs into an HDMI port on your TV, and allows you to access online content through a "regular" TV.  However, the Chromecast also allows you to stream media from a PC, Tablet, Smartphone, or other mobile device to that television set, a feature the other streaming devices do not have.

Once you have plugged the Chromecast into the HDMI port on your TV, you use your phone, tablet, or computer to cast your favorite TV shows, movies, music, sports, games, and more to the TV you already own. Chromecast works with your iPhone®, iPad®, Android device, Apple® computer, Windows laptop or Chromebook. 

Chromecast is designed to make the most of the apps and entertainment already on your phone. Shows, movies, live TV, YouTube, photos and more are all just a tap away from all of your family’s devices.  Chromecast also lets you use popular apps, like Netflix and Hulu, without having to have an app-capable TV.  And you get all of this for $35.

Reader View in Firefox

Reader View: A Firefox Feature for a Cleaner Web Page

Reader View Strips Out Everything But the Content
It Also Can Read the Content Aloud to You

In the early days of the World Wide Web, browsers did not support a lot of fancy stuff.  Animated GIFs and Blinking Text were about the most sophisticated design elements available. But as the web matured and browser technology advanced, the average web browser was able to support a whole slew of features. Not only did we start seeing multi-columned web pages, we started seeing pop-ups, ads, and a lot of clutter.  This is fine on a lot of web sites, but sometimes we just want to read the main content, without a lot of distracting elements.  Sometimes, we yearn for the early days of the web, when information was presented cleanly, and in a decent sized font.  Reader view is here to help a user achieve that look.

What is Reader View?

Reader view, also referred to as Reader Mode, is a feature that strips away all extraneous content, leaving you with just the "guts" of the page.  It strips away things like menus, buttons, ads and background images, leaving you with just the main content. It also changes the page's text size, contrast and layout for better readability.

To demonstrate, I zoomed our last post to 50% in both "regular" and "reader" modes. Then I took screenshots.

Here it is in "regular" mode:

RoboForm: Absolutely the Best Password Manager

My FAVORITE Browser Utility!
Stores Log-ins and Fills Forms Quickly and Easily

Never Lose a Username or Password Again

  

RoboForm Review:

Password Managers:

It seems as if people have issues with lost passwords on a daily basis. I cannot believe there are people out there who still are not using password managers. There are many password managers from which to choose, some free and some paid, and some are most definitely better than others.

What is a Password Manager?  Simply put, it is an application that stores a database of your username and passwords.The better ones also include form-filling capabilities, so you can enter your information into a log-in form with a single click.  Most will also generate strong passwords for you. They are basically electronic safes for your digital personal information.  They are handy-dandy little things, especially in light of all the usernames and passwords a typical person needs to remember these days.  And having to reset passwords can be a real PITA, especially when you are short on time.  That is why if you're not using a Password Manager, I suggest you choose one and start using it immediately.

But don't pick just ANY Password Manager.  This IS your Personal Information, after all.  You don't want to trust the WRONG software with such valuable data.  You need to ensure the one YOU pick is secure and not easily hacked.