Most Popular How-To Guides of 2010 [Video]
Photo remixed from an original by Matt Katzenberger
How to Downgrade Your iPhone 3G[S] from iOS 4 to iOS 3.1.3
When Apple released iOS 4, it brought a lot of great features (like multi-tasking) to iOS devices. Unfortunately for iPhone 3G owners, the update slowed their devices to a crawl (and subsequent releases showed little improvement). Some people had luck speeding things up with a few tweaks, but many of us found we were better off downgrading from iOS 4 back to iOS 3.1.3. (If you're one of the lucky few who found their 3G's iOS 4 performance satisfactory and are yearning for more, here's how to enable multitasking and home screen wallpaper on the 3G and iPod touch 2G.
How I'd Hack Your Weak Passwords
While not exactly a straight how-to, security expert John Pozadzides' explanation for how easily he'd hack your weak passwords was a good reminder how important password security is. That's why we also showed you how to set up an easy, any-browser password solution.
How to Back Up and Play Your Wii Games from an External Hard Drive
Apart from video game makers' fear of piracy, there's no good reason why you shouldn't be able to store your Wii games on a hard drive and skip all the optical disc clutter and the hassle of swapping out discs every time you want to play a different game. Our guide to backing up and playing Wii games from an external hard drive puts all your games a few clicks away, cover art and all. As an added bonus, see our guide to hacking your Nintendo DS for easy backups and single-cartridge playback.
How to Ditch Big Brother and Disappear Forever
In an internet world, it may seem impossible to drop off the grid. During this year's Evil Week, we took a closer look at what it takes to ditch Big Brother and really disappear.
Make Free VoIP Calls from Google Voice
Google Voice is one of our favorite communication tools. Apart from the obvious (it creates one phone number that rings all your phones), you've got tons of clever ways you can put Voice to use. Perhaps the best involves setting up Google Voice with the right provider for unlimited free VoIP calling. Quick bonus: Don't forget about all the awesome ways you can take advantage of free calling in Gmail.
How to Boost Your BitTorrent Speed and Privacy
Whether you use BitTorrent to deliver the latest Linux distribution or to fulfill your entertainment needs, our guide to boosting your BitTorrent speed and privacy will get your downloading faster and obscure your downloading habits from prying eyes.
How to Build a Hackintosh Mac and Install OS X in Eight Easy Steps
We've walked through how to install OS X on non-Mac PC hardware—commonly referred to as a Hackintosh—a couple of times before, but with video walkthroughs of every step of the process, it's never been easier to build a Hackintosh Mac and install OS X.
We've walked through how to install OS X on non-Mac PC hardware—commonly referred to as a Hackintosh—a couple of times before, but with video walkthroughs of every step of the process, it's never been easier to How to Run Mac OS X in VirtualBox on Windows
We've had lots of fun running OS X on non-Mac hardware, but if you'd rather keep your regular Windows installation and occasionally run OS X in a virtual machine, our guide to running OS X in VirtualBox on Windows will get you up and running.
How to Turn Your iPod touch into an iPhone: 4G Edition
The latest iPhone and iPod touch are nearly identical devices, apart from the inconvenient fact that the latter isn't actually a phone—but that's never stopped us before. With the right tools, you can turn an iPod touch into an iPhone, saving considerable money in the process.
How to Reboot Your Sleep Cycle and Get the Rest You Deserve
Can't remember the last time you went to sleep and woke up feeling rested? Our guide to rebooting your sleep cycle may be able to help you get the rest you need.
How to Quit Facebook Without Actually Quitting Facebook
As Facebook's popularity grows and its maze of privacy options grow more complex, the social network has undergone a lot of scrutiny for the way it handles (or rather, doesn't handle) its users' privacy. Our guide to quitting Facebook without really quitting Facebook helps you stay connected without sacrificing your privacy.
How to Tether Your Android Phone
Tethering your computer to your phone's data plan is great, providing you with an internet connection on your computer anywhere you've got a signal. But the process depends to an extent on your Android phone. When we first showed you how to tether your Android phone, we detailed how to root your phone to enable tethering. For an easier route, you can use tethering apps like PDAnet, Tether, or EasyTether. Before you do tether, here's what you'll want to know first.
How to Get Started with Usenet in Three Simple Steps
Usenet is an old-school, online bulletin board that's also remarkably adept at downloading really big files really quickly. In most cases it's faster than BitTorrent, more secure, and extremely reliable. So if you haven't already, here's how to get started with Usenet in three simple steps.
The Ultimate Start to Finish Guide to Your XBMC Media Center
XBMC is easily our favorite open-source, hackable media center application. We detailed how to build a silent, standalone XBMC media center on the cheap last year, but our start to finish guide to your XBMC media center is sort of like our XBMC bible, and includes our building guide, our step by step or turning it into a video game console. and a whole lot more.
How to Transform Your Windows Desktop with an Amazing Windows Phone 7-Style HUD
Fancy the look and feel of the Windows Phone 7 interface so much you wouldn't mind having it on your desktop? This quick and simple guide will transform your Windows Desktop into a Windows Phone 7-style HUD in just a few clicks.
How to Manipulate People
It's nice to be honest with people and avoid using dirty tricks to get them to bend to your will. Luckily our guide to manipulating people is less about the manipulation and more about spotting it to avoid ending up the gullible victim.
Set Up a Geeky Media Center that Non-Geeks Can Actually Use
The catch to that awesome media center you set up in your home theater? It may be powerful, but no matter how streamlined you made it, it's unlikely most of your loved ones have ever used something like it before. Make things easier on them: Set up a geeky media center non-geeks can actually use.
The Step-by-Step Guide to Digitizing Your Life
If your analog media is collecting dust—or you wish it were—our guide to digitizing your life aims to save it from obsolescence.
Recover Data Like a Forensics Expert Using an Ubuntu Live CD
Whether or not you've gone entirely digital, you've still got a considerable amount of data stored on your hard drive. But hard drives crash and files can be accidentally deleted. Our guide to recovering data like a forensics expert will help you get it back.
How to Install Android on an iPhone in Six Easy Steps
Don't feel like choosing between an iPhone or Android? Install Android on your iPhone and get the best of both worlds. It's not a perfect port yet, and as of this writing it works best on an iPhone 3G, but it's a helluva start.
And there you have it—one year of our best how-tos in one fell swoop. Have a favorite that isn't winning any popularity contests? Let's hear about it in the comments. And if you're still hungry for how-to, take a gander at the most popular how-to guides of 2009 and 2008.