The DSLR LCD screen once served as little more than a means to viewing photos you'd already taken in the comfort of indoor lighting. Now you can use it as a live monitor and capture photos and video. It still doesn't work too well outside. With some old hotel key cards, however, you can fix that problem on the cheap.

Photographer Maciej Pietuszynski put together this clever hack by taping together a bunch of old key cards with gaffer's tape. All you have to do is measure your screen and cut the cards to create a box for it, tape them together, and add a rubber band for easy attachment. For the full instructions, check out the post on DIY Photography.

Hotel Keys Don't Work? Make An LCD Hood! A Pictorial | DIY Photography

If you know your terminal basics, you know that mkdir creates directories—but it can do more. If you add the -p flag, you can create a directory with subdirectories in a single command and save yourself the trouble of quite a bit of extra typing.

Here's an example:

mkdir -p parentdir/childdir/etc

That command will create a new directory called parentdir with a subdirectory of childdir and another subdirectory inside of childdir called etc. You can make the chain go on forever if you want. Just type out the path you want to create, hit enter, and you'll have it with plenty of typing time saved.

6 Mac OS X Terminal Tips | Colmjude

The internet is full of wonderful memes so why shouldn't your desktop be, too? We searched high and low for wallpapers centered around these internet pop culture phenomena. Join in by setting you desktop to one of these many options.

For more meme-based wallpapers, check out our original collection.

The Internet

Download this wallpaper | The Paper Wall 1920x1329

Nyan Cat

Download this wallpaper | The Paper Wall 1366x768

Sir Grumpy Cat

Download this wallpaper | The Paper Wall 1920x1080

Trololo

Download this wallpaper | The Paper Wall 1715x1037

Why Not Zoidberg?

Download this wallpaper | The Paper Wall 2560x1600

I Know That Feel, Bro

Download this wallpaper | The Paper Wall 1920x1196

Do a Barrel Roll!

Download this wallpaper | The Paper Wall 1920x1080

Rage Guy

Download this wallpaper | The Paper Wall 2560x1600

Chubble Bubbles: Jurassic Park

Download this wallpaper | The Paper Wall 1920x1080

Forever Alone

Download this wallpaper | The Paper Wall 1920x1080

For more great wallpapers, check out our previous Wallpaper Wednesdays. Got any great wallpapers you'd like to share? Email me a link with "Wallpaper Wednesday" in the subject line. Submitting your own work is highly encouraged!

When you know how to do something, you have a skill. When you understand how something works, you can alter that knowledge and adapt it for your best uses. This gives you confidence and the ability to grow.

It's also the best piece of advice developer Matrin Rue received from his grandfather. He explains its importance:

If you simply remember how to do something, then all you can do is use it the same way over and over, but if you understand how it works, you can reason about it. Once you can reason about something in your mind you can contemplate why it is the way it is, you can apply your entire creative mind to making the most of it, and you can implement and question improvement – you own it intellectually.

Information only gets you so far. Learn how things work and you can expand upon them infinitely.

Understand How It Works | Martin Rue

Photo by Biter Big (Shutterstock).

Twitter finally added two-factor authentication and you should enable it right now. We probably don't need to tell you why, but just in case you forgot about social engineering hacks you want to enable this feature to protect yourself.

To enable two-factor authentication in Twitter, you first need to verify your phone number and email address. With that complete, follow these steps:

1. Visit your account settings page.
2. Select “Require a verification code when I sign in.”
3. Click on the link to “add a phone” and follow the prompts.
4. You’ll be asked to enter a six-digit code sent to your phone via SMS each time you sign in to twitter.com. (Note: That doesn't mean every time you access Twitter, but just when it requires you to sign in.)

For more information, check out the full post on Twitter, and be sure to enable two-factor authentication everywhere else, too!

Getting started with login verification | Twitter Blog

The latest release of Chrome (27), now available for download, adds Google's conversational voice search for Star Trek-style voice searching.

We're still exploring all the things it can do, but we've talked about some of it before, when Google announced it at I/O. It can understand where you are, look up events on your calendar, and even understand context—so if you ask it "Who is the president of the United States?" it'll answer Barack Obama, after which you can ask "How tall is he?" and it will understand who you're talking about.

The service isn't fully fleshed out yet, though. You can't start searches by saying "Google" just yet, and some other demoed features may not work, but much of it is up and running. If you're using Chrome, update your software and head to Google.com to check it out.

Google Now style voice search now live in Chrome stable channel | Android Central

You can have a lot of fun making music, but getting a good recording and arrangement of your song requires some work and knowledge. Last week we set up a home recording studio. This week we're going to start recording.

Note: This is primarily a video lesson and you'll get a lot more information from watching the video above. That said, the instructions below will suffice and you should hang on to them for reference.

What You'll Need in This Lesson

If you participated in last week's lesson, you should have all the equipment you need to get started. If not, read last week's lesson first before preceding. We're not going to make equipment recommendations here, but you should know what equipment you're going to need to participate in this lesson:

• Your computer with the DAW software of your choice installed (we'll be using Cubase)
• A digital audio interface (with 48v phantom power) hooked up to your computer
• A microphone connected to your digital audio interface, most likely via XLR cable
• An instrument (e.g. a guitar, your voice, etc.)
• About 20-30 minutes of your time

Once you've got everything ready, boot up your DAW software and let's get started!

Get to Know Your DAW's Interface.

Interface elements vary between different DAWs, but they embody the same ideas. We'll use Cubase to demonstrate here, but if you're using something else you should find things are pretty similar. Let's take a look at the common parts you'll need to know about.

The main project window is where you'll do a lot of your work. This window lets you interact with your instruments and sounds as well as bring up individual channel settings as needed. You can do a lot more, too, but those are the basics.

The mixer (in Cubase, this is the first of three mixers) looks like a hardware mixing board in a lot of ways. You can adjust the levels of individual tracks, open their channel settings, monitor the master output, and keep a general eye on what's going on with your mix as it plays.

The transporter does what you probably expect: it transports you around your project. This is where you press record, stop, and play, but also where you can toggle the metronome, set time signatures, loop your project, and get information about where you currently are in your project.

The VST instruments panel isn't something you really need to know about until the next lesson, but it's simply where you add virtual instruments to your project.

When you click the little "e" button next to an audio track you get its channel settings. You can add input (track-specific) and send (multi-track) effects here, use the built-in EQ, and adjust gain.

Those are the main elements of the interface you need to know about. Read on to learn how to set up your first project!

Set Up Your First Project

You already know how to record audio if you know how to push a button, but digital audio workstation (DAW) software requires some setup before that big red circle will actually capture an audio signal. Although we'll be using Cubase to set up our project, most DAW software works in similar ways. If you're not using Cubase, you should be able to follow along just fine but will need to look in slightly different locations for menu items and certain buttons. Here's what to do:

1. To get started, create a new project by selecting New Project in the File menu. Select "Empty" as a project type. Cubase will ask you where to save it, so pick one and wait for everything to load.
2. Before you can start recording, you need to make sure Cubase (or whatever DAW you're using) can find your interface and the mics (or whatever else) you have hooked up to it. Go to the Device menu and choose VST Connections.
3. From there, click the Inputs tab and set the first mono input to your first microphone. Repeat this process for any additional microphones or inputs (e.g. electric guitars).
4. Click the Outputs tab and you should see a pair of stereo outputs. Set the first one to your left speaker and the second one to your right speaker.
5. Now that your inputs and outputs are properly routed, close VST Connections and go to the Project menu. Choose Add Track -> Audio.
6. When the new track window appears, create one track and set its configuration to mono. Because we're just recording from a single microphone in this lesson, you don't need a stereo track. In fact, you'll rarely choose stereo even when recording from two microphones because you'll likely prefer to have the channels separated. This provides you with greater control over where they're placed in the recording (i.e. where it sounds like the recorded voice or instrument is) and the character of the sound. When you're done, click Add Track.
7. By default, the new track should have its record enabling toggle button lit up red. You'll see this beneath the track name. If it isn't lit, click on it to enable recording on this track.
8. Also by default, your track should be set to your first microphone. If not, take a look at the panel on the left side of the main project window and you'll see input and output settings. The output should be set to Stereo (which is the default name for Cubase's stereo output) and then input should be set to whatever you named your first microphone (usually Mono In by default, but this can vary). If you see No Bus that means nothing is connected to this audio track, so click on No Bus and change it to the name of your first microphone.
9. Using the transporter—which is the thin horizontal window strip with lots of tools and buttons on it—press the record button. You'll see the recording start. Talk, sing, or play an instrument into the microphone and the waveform of your audio will appear in real time.
10. When finished recording, press the stop button on the transporter.

That's all there is to it! You've just recorded your first bit of audio. It probably sounds bad, but that's likely due to a need for EQ, higher gain (increase in the amplitude of the frequency so it sounds louder), or some other problem. We're not going to worry about that just yet because you're still getting used to how your DAW works. We'll tackle mixing individual audio tracks and the entire mix in a later lesson, though you can get a preview if you watch the video above.

Want to learn more? Join us next Tuesday at 5:00 PM PT for our next lesson: playing and recording virtual instruments. Don't forget to bring your MIDI keyboard!

We love hackintoshes—the OS X-compatible computers you build yourself—but finding a compatible build requires some effort. Hackintosh master tonymacx86 offers up the latest working builds so you know the machine you'll build will work.

Tonymacx86's CustoMac buyers guide gets regular updates nowadays, but if you've been thinking about a hackintosh you'll get a good deal on parts this May. Why? Tonymacx86 explains:

It is currently a transitional period between Intel's 3rd generation "Ivy Bridge" and 4th generation "Haswell" Core i CPUs and their corresponding new chipset. Because of this, retailers are beginning to clear old inventory to make way for the new stuff. For those interested in super deals, it is now a very good time to build systems based on our well-established recommendations.

Per the usual, the CustoMac buyer's guide offers super cheap builds for only a few hundred dollars and extremely powerful builds that can rival a Mac Pro. When you've chosen all your parts, be sure to check out our always up-to-date guide to building a hackintosh so you can get it up and running.

Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide May 2013 | tonymacx86

Back in March, Best Buy and Target upped their game and decided to start matching the prices from online retailers such as Amazon. That's a pretty sweet deal overall, you should know about the caveats before you rush to your local store in hopes of a deal.

Target's price matching works like you'd hope: if you find a lower price before you go in you get a discount, but if you realize you overpaid during the following week you can go back and get a discount. At Best Buy, you have to know about the better price prior to purchasing any given item. Does this make sense? Not really, seeing as Best Buy doesn't charge a restocking fee for returns. If you wanted to, you could return the item and then re-purchase it with the discount.

Although Target offers more flexibility with the timeframe, the number of retailers they're willing to acknowledge is pretty slim. They'll only match lower prices on Target.com (yes, they undercut themselves a lot), Amazon.com, Walmart.com, BestBuy.com, ToysRUs.com, and BabiesRUs.com. Best Buy, on the other hand, matches 19 online retailers: Amazon.com, Apple.com, Bhphotovideo.com, Buy.com, Crutchfield.com, Dell.com, Frys.com, hhgregg.com, HP.com, HomeDepot.com, Lowes.com, Newegg.com, OfficeDepot.com, OfficeMax.com, Sears.com, Staples.com, Target.com, TigerDirect.com and Walmart.com.

Both Target and Best Buy also have a few other caveats. You can't price match an unlimited number of identical items, as both stores limit you to just one. Both stores have their own paragraph-long list of exclusions, too, which cover mobile phones, service plans, and a variety of other things. If you want to learn more about these restrictions and other rules, check out the online price matching policies from their respective stores.

Target Low Price Promise and Best Buy Low Price Guarantee

The web becomes more and more capable each day, finding ways to replace what you do on your desktop. In the very near future you'll talk to your web apps, enjoy complex animation without the drain of Flash, and maybe even plug in your guitar. These features and more already exist, and they're coming to the broad internet this year.

Thanks to the quick iteration of browsers like Chrome and Firefox, what developers can easily accomplish with their sites grows by the day. At Google I/O last week, I had the pleasure of sitting in on Google engineer Eric Bidelman's session The More Awesome Web (you can view the presentation here) and learned about what we can expect from web developers—and what we as web developers can do ourselves—with the latest features of HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. Even if you're not a developer, what's up next for the web is pretty exciting. Here's a look at some of the coolest features you'll see in web apps this year.

Note: Not all browsers currently support the technologies discussed in this post, so you may need Chromium to try out any linked examples.

Plug Your Guitar into a Web Site

Yes, you will plug your guitar into a web site. Chrome already offers a web audio API that allows developers to access a user's audio input (with permission) by writing very little code. While not terribly exciting in itself, the amazing stuff happens after grabbing that signal.

Audio processing on the web is kind of mind-blowing. Developers can now detect pitch—which could lead to web-based pitch correction/auto-tuning—and add effects to live or recorded audio (e.g. vocoders). You can even plug your guitar into a web site and add effects. The web audio API can also do simple things like record audio notes. What once took an app now takes a tiny amount of code written for the web.

Automatically Translate Your Speech into Another Language

We've been able to talk to the web for a little while now, but with a number of limitations. For the most part, voice search was as good as it gets. With the latest speech recognition abilities in Chrome, developers can make use of this technology to do much more.

For example, what if you could say something in English and see it translated into Spanish, French, Italian, or a variety of other languages on the fly? You can. With access to the speech recognition API, developers can take what you say and use that text for a variety of purposes. Running that text through a translation service is just one of them.

Easily Share Your Screen

Plenty of web apps allow screen sharing, but they require quite a bit of work to make it happen. Some ask you to download software, others try to make it work with plug-ins like Flash or Java. Soon you'll see screen sharing offered directly by your browser using HTML5, bypassing a lot of the heavy lifting required by other technologies. If you're running Chromium, you can try it now. Other browsers will have to wait a little while before simple screen sharing is widely supported.

Enjoy Live-Rendered Animations with Complex Imagery

Although not the most outright exciting feature for the end user, we'll all come to appreciate the complex animation possible in the browser as developers implement new possibilities. By now you might be familiar with the SVG format, which offers a way of drawing scalable vector graphics using XML code. This format not only makes it possible to create images without files that load quickly, but also scale those images to pretty much any resolution without pixelation. In its own right, SVG is amazing. When you add animated masks using clipping paths, you get some pretty cool effects. The code is easy to write and will allow developers to add compelling and interesting motion elements to their sites.

The Future

These are just the highlights. Smaller, less flashy improvements are on the way as well and new technologies will likely surface in the latter half of 2013. The web is growing in awesome, incredible ways this year. As the years progress, we'll be doing even more than we expected in our browsers.

Title image remixed from an original by Ralph Bijker.