6 tips to keep your emails secret

If David Petraeus couldn't keep his affair from prying eyes as CIA director, then what chance does an average person have? Experts say people underestimate how transparent digital communications have become.

"Hacking and spying went mainstream a decade ago," said Dan Kaminsky, an internet security researcher. "Everyone is reading everyone else'semails — girlfriends are reading boyfriends' , bosses are reading employees' — because it's just so easy to do."

Know adversaryPetraeus and his biographer , Paula Broadwell, may have thought the threat was their spouses. So, they reportedly did not send emails, but saved messages to the draft folder to avoid leaving a digital trail. But neither took steps to hide their computers' IP addresses.

Hide locationThey could have masked IP addresses using Tor, a popular privacy tool, or used a virtual private network , which adds a layer of security to public Wi-Fi networks.

Go off the recordChoose the "off the record" feature on Google Talk, Google's IM client, which ensures that nothing typed is saved or searchable in either person's Gmail account.

Encrypt messagesEmail encryption services , like GPG, help protect digital secrets from eavesdroppers. Without an encryption key, any message stored in an inbox or reached from the cloud will look like gibberish . Wickr, a mobile app, performs a similar service for phones, encrypting video, photos and text, and erasing deleted files for good.

Set self-destruct timerServices like 10 Minute Mail allow users to open an email address and send a message, and the address self-destructs 10 minutes later. Wickr also allows users to set a self-destruct timer so they can control how long a recipient can view a file before it disappears.

Drop draft ideaSaving emails in a shared draft folder is no safer than transmitting them. They are stored in the cloud. Even if they are deleted, email service providers can be compelled to provide copies.

Steps to Determine Email Sender’s IP Address and Location

This is the age of technology and today we use electronic mails more as compared to the old form of physical mails. When we receive an email from someone we can find out who is the sender of the email from the sender’s address but there is no field that can tell us what the location of the email sender is. Sometimes it becomes very important to determine the location of the email to check its validity as a person may be sitting in some country and claiming to be in another.

Thus it sometimes, is important to find out the approximate location (if not accurate) of the email sender. To be able to find out the location of the email sender we first need the IP address of the email sender or the IP route used by the email itself. Determining this is not very difficult and every different email service has its own way of finding this out. It can be like right clicking and checking the properties or the Full Headers.

If you are using Gmail primarily, then here is how to find the IP address of the sender and its location.

How to find the IP address of the Email sender in Gmail:

1. Open the email that you wish to find the IP address of.
2. From the drop down on right side, click the Show Original button

3. This will open a new window with lots of email information.
4. Now search for “Received: from”, you will see some IP address in the same line within square brackets like [XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX]

5. Now see for the last IP address of the page.

This will be the IP address of the sender or the route of the email used for delivery.

How to find the location of the email sender:

1. You can use the IP address noted above to find the location of the sender.
2. Visit this link, paste the IP in the Remote Address Field and click the Host Tracebutton.

3. Within few seconds, you would be able to see the location of the IP address on the Google Maps.

In the testing, I found this address to be more than approximation, if not accurate.

Note: Some email address might not be showing an IP address, this can be because they have protected their IP address from public display.

How to Create a Modular “Go Bag” System That Fits Every Need

We all love our go bags, but they don't fit every situation. You'll struggle to take a large backpack everywhere you go and a tiny bag can only fit a limited amount of stuff. While each bag has its own optimal uses, constantly transferring items just makes matters worse. The solution? Create a modular go bag system so you can swap items easily.
I have a ridiculous collection of backpacks, messenger bags, and everything in between. I've accumulated so many over the years—all favorites I can't bear to get rid of—that I don't even know how many I have. This didn't happen because I have a weird sort of bag fetish, but rather that no one go bag works in every situation. While I've reduced myself to three—a large backpack for when I need everything, a small messenger for basic needs, and a field bag for sports and exercise—I found that I kept forgetting what was in which bag when I had to move them around so often.

Choose Your Modules

When you need to move a bunch of stuff around, grouping it together is very important. Before you can create a modular go bag system, you need to know what those modules are going to be. What's a module exactly? It's just a container that holds a variety of items, often in an organized fashion. When you have a few of these, it's easier to transfer everything because there's less to move around. Everybody is going to have a different case, but here are some examples I've encountered:

• Storage Devices - Take all your portable external disks, whether they're hard drives or flash, and keep them together. Storage comes in wonderfully consistent, thin, rectangular shapes. Grouping it together for your bag takes little effort.
• Gadgets - The type of gadgets you use will vary. If you're not just carrying around a music player and a point and shoot camera, you might need multiple modules for activity-specific equipment like photography and audio recording. You'll have to decide what goes together and what doesn't, but remember not to split things up too much. The goal here is to reduce the number of items in your bag so you can swap them easily.
• Cables and Power - No gadget-based bag is complete without a diverse array of cables and charging equipment. Chances are a few USB chargers, or one massive multi-port brick, will handle all your needs on the go. You may also need a laptop charger, and those are notoriously difficult to store. MacBook adapters have a wonderful solution in Quirky's Power Curl, but PC laptops have options in the form of a small electronics travel case, mesh bag (with storage hook), or small packing cube (all of which we'll discuss later).
• Art Supplies - Group all your pens, pencils, charcoal, blending tools, paint brushes, watercolor set, and whatever else you might need to take with you for your on-the-go artistic needs. If your bags tend to focus on art supplies, you may want to create separate modules for each type.
• Files and Folders - Files and folders are generally the same size. You can keep them in one larger folder if you don't have too many, or you can simply strap them together with a book band.
• Books and Notebooks - Books and notebooks can also be bound together easily with just a band.
• Grab Bag - Some items just don't fit into any category but you still need to take them with you. When you can't figure out what else to do, create a "Grab Bag" module to hold onto your uncategorizable goods. Ideally these items will be small and easily managed. If not, you'll end up transporting a large mass of stuff with you most places and need very little of it. If you have a lot of miscellaneous things, consider what you can leave behind. When you need something for a special occasion, you can always toss it in the grab bag before you leave and remove it next time you remember.

Once you've decided which modules you need, it's time to figure out the best way to organize them.

Plan Your Organization Scheme

There are many ways to make a module compact and organized, but some options work better than others. Let's take a look at ways you can keep things compact and easily portable.

The GRID-IT

The Cocoon GRID-IT is one of our long-time favorite organization tools. When creating a modular system for your go-bag, it's almost indispensable. As you can see from the photo to your right, the GRID-IT is a rectangular board with a busy grid of elastic bands. Lift one up, put something under it, and it'll stay in place. Because there are bands everywhere, you can arrange the GRID-IT however you like. This makes for a very versatile storage tool that you can pull out of one bag and stick in another very easily.
The GRID-IT sometimes fails when items become loose and slip off. This happens if elastic bands become loose from being stretched out by a large item, then used to try and hold a smaller one, or if you just don't secure certain things very well. Cocoon does make GRID-ITs that come in cases or have protective neoprene wraps, however, so you can easily solve that problem by purchasing a protected version instead. You really only need this if you're planning on storing small, thin items (e.g. flash drives, pens/pencils).

The Mesh Bag

Mesh bags don't offer a lot of organization in themselves, but if you just need to keep track of a couple of items that won't get tangled up or lost if tosses in a single space they make for a great module. Many storage bags, like these or these, come with hooks on top. You don't necessarily want to just dump your storage bags into your go bag, so these hooks can help you secure them in place so they stay exactly where you want them.
Hooks require something to hook onto, of course, and not every bag offers anything like that out of the box. Often times you can use internal zippers (as the loop inside the zipper pull can usually secure a hook) but you can add places to attach these bags if you make some minor modifications. The easiest method is to use a clothespin to pin the bags on instead. If you want a more permanent adjustment that works with the hook, however, that's pretty simple as well. With a small sewing kit, sew on a small piece of rectangular fabric to the inside of your bag. Sew only the left and right edge, leaving the middle part open so you can hook your storage bags onto it.

The Packing Cube

Packing cubes are like the mesh bags mentioned above, but they allow room for larger items of greater volume. This tool was primarily designed for packing clothing, but works great for cables, power adapters, hard drives, and various other items you might stuff and stack in your bags. Thanks to handles along the edges, you can pull them out easily. They're really great when you need storage with a little more height and form than a bag can provide.

The Three-Ring Binder

A three-ring binder is a great way to organize small electronic components and a thin one will fit nicely in most bags. All you really need beyond that are sports card sleeves, as those provide a good amount of room for things like flash drives and cards, membership cards you don't want to keep in your wallet, sticky notes, and many other small things you don't want rolling around just anywhere in your bag.

The Folding Sleeve

Versatile storage is great, but sometimes you need a module that's pretty specific. While we'll discuss some options you can buy later in this section, you can save yourself some cash and get exactly what you need by making a folding sleeve.
What exactly is a folding sleeve? It's a series of simple pockets attached to each that form a long rectangle, and you can fold them up to fit neatly in your bag. (In fact, it's kind of like this mail sorter we featured a couple of years ago.) Making a folding sleeve is very simple. Just follow these steps:

1. Take a large piece of canvas (or other thick, sturdy fabric) and measure out the length of the sleeve. (Because it folds, you can make it longer than your bag.) Now measure the height of the largest item you're going to put in it. (Generally speaking, you don't want to include anything larger than a smartphone or portable hard drive.) The height of the canvas should be twice the size of this item, plus a little extra for wiggle room. When you have your measurements, cut the fabric accordingly.
3. Fold the fabric in half you have one really long sleeve that's half as tall. Take the top end of one side and fold a tiny little bit over to make a ridge, then sew it in place. Do the same for the other side. (You can use staples if you don't have a sewing kit to make a crude version like the one pictured in the examples, but sewing is definitely a better option.)
4. Sew all the way up on both sides of the canvas, but do not close the top. Clip any excess fabric along the edges (if necessary).
5. Turn your canvas inside out so that you have nice, smooth edges all over.
6. Measure each item you want to place in the sleeve and make marks vertically along the canvas. (Basically, map out the sleeve's compartments with a pencil.) Be sure to leave a little extra space so nothing fits too snugly or you won't be able to fold.
7. Sew a straight line up the sleeve in each place you marked. When you're done, you'll have several compartments for all your stuff.

Now you can store that sleeve you made in your bag and fold it to whatever size you need (assuming its contents aren't excessively bulky).

The Module-Specific Organizer

Some modules may benefit from organizers designed for the items it carries. For example, the Neatnix Readytech Organizer is almost like a GRID-IT, cable sleeve, and packing cube all in one. If you have tons of SD cards, you can get an organizer specifcally for them. Before you decide to use a bunch of versatile solutions, look around for items that may be designed for the specific need you have in mind. Often times, something exists.

Choose the Right Bags

Chances are you have a few bags already if you've made it this far in the guide, but maybe you don't or maybe you don't know which bags will work best. For the most part, sticking to two or three bags is the way to go. A big bag and a small bag should fill two of the slots, and then any third bag should fill a specific need like photography or sports and exercise. Of course, you don't need to consider any luggage one of your bags. Travel is a different situation, although one that still benefits from your modular system.
Once you've chosen your bag types, there are a few things to consider before you start putting everything together. Are there pockets in the bags that you want to use? If you do, consider what might go in each bag that never needs to leave. This is the best use for pockets as they go against the point of your modular system. Also, if you have a lot of gadgets, you may want to consider a bag with solar charging built in (such as this one). Certain bags work better for different situations, too, as hiking and camping packs almost always have a space for a water bottle and tech bags have a padded area for your laptop. Consider your needs and choose appropriately or you'll be swapping bags often, and that's annoying and expensive. If you need some suggestions, the Wirecutter has plenty.

Put It All Together

You're almost done! You have your modular system set up but now you have to put it together. This doesn't require much more than stuffing your items in a bag and calling it a day. That said, since this system is brand new you should practice a little bit. Put each module in each bag and see how they fit together. Certain modules might need to go in first, so one doesn't get in the way of the other (e.g. packing cubes before hooked mesh bags), and you may want to have some modules more easily accessible than others. It should only take a few minutes to figure out, and now you can easily transport all your gear so that any bag can be your go bag.

Share Files between Different OS Computers on the Same Network

When it comes to sharing files and documents between computers having OS like the Windows, it is very easy to do so but if the computers are running on different OS then it is not that easy. Windows users can directly send the files to another machine with the same OS and so can Mac users do. But if you are working on a network having computers running on different OS then you know how difficult this is.

We found a tool called NitroShare using which you will be able to overcome this issue. It is a network file-sharing application that makes sending a file to another machine on the local network as easy as dragging-and-dropping. With just few simple clicks you can send any file across a network to any system connected and running any OS. Isn’t that cool?

Using the tool is very easy; however you may need to see the installation help to be able to install it. Just make sure that you install this tool on the machines you wish to connect (both send and receive the files). After you have installed the tool on the computers, you would see a mini computer icon on your desktop which is actually the computer connected to your machine. So whenever you wish to send a file to this computer, just drag and drop the file to this icon and you are done.

On the receiving end, you would see a confirmation window in which when you click Accept, the files would be accepted. There is another method too for the file transfer in which, you right click the file to be sent and select the option to send with NitroShare.

The application integrates with the operating system, using application indicators on Ubuntu and the system tray on Windows. The tool is available for free and both for Unix and Windows systems. Download it from the link below.

Download NitroShare

Edit A PDF On The Go

In the industry it is seen as something of a truism that technology defines the way that we work rather than the way we work defining technology.
For instance, innovations such as palm pilots and notebooks seemed to have been created to fit into the working methods and patterns of business yet they both failed. Then you have devices such as the iPad, for which there seems to be no identifiable need that take the world by storm and redefine how we conduct our day-to-day lives.

The evolution of the tablet computer – from the iPad to alternatives such as Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and offerings from companies such as Dell – has led to a world where many more of us are working on the move. The office is no longer the only place to get work done, or to hold meetings, it is simply a basecamp. For several people, the ‘office’ is now with them wherever they are.

Image credits
Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wfryer/6281755151/

So if you can take part in meetings, stay in touch with colleagues and review documentation on the move, why shouldn’t you be editing a PDF while on the train, or adding comments and bookmarks to a PDF file in the back of a cab? Thanks toapplications such as Smart Office, you have the opportunity to do work which would have previously required you to be stuck at the desk, wherever you happen to be. With the capability to edit and create PDF documents on your iPad, and then transfer to a desktop computer or laptop at a later date, the lines between mobile and static working are more blurred than ever.

You may find it hard to imagine yourself editing a PDF on a tablet but once you have tried it, and felt how intuitive it can be, you’ll be itching to try it out on your smartphone and with apps such as iPDFWriter and PDF Splicer available for iPhone (and with iPhone 5’s improved screen), it won’t be long until you’re editing PDFs in bed, at the golf course or even in a restaurant.

The Complete Guide to Solid-State Drives

Adding a solid-state drive (SSD) to your computer is simply the best upgrade at your disposal, capable of speeding up your computer in ways you hadn't thought possible. The even better news: A good SSD is now cheaper than ever. But as with any new technology, there's plenty to learn. Here's everything you should know about your SSD, whether you're interested in upgrading or just like to know the ins and outs of your hardware.

What Is a Solid-State Drive (SSD)?

A solid-state drive (SSD) is a data storage device for your computer. In everyday use, it provides the same functionality as a traditional hard disk drive (HDD)—the standard for computer storage for many years. In fact, you wouldn't even know whether you're using an SSD or HDD if it wasn't for the differences in how they operate. HDDs store their data on spinning metal platters, and whenever your computer wants to access some of that data a little needle-like component (called the "head") moves to the data's position and provides it to the computer. Writing data to a HDD works in a similar fashion, where parts are constantly moving. SSDs, on the other hand, don't move at all. They store their data in blocks. When the computer wants some of that data, the SSD just says "okay, here it is." This is a simplified explanation, of course, but you might have noticed that the SSD's process seems a bit more direct and efficient. It is, and speed is the primary advantage of an SSD over a traditional HDD. This makes an SSD the single best upgrade for your computer if you're looking for a way to make it operate faster.

A new SSD can speed up your computer in several ways:

• Boot times will be significantly reduced.
• Launching applications will occur in a near-instant.
• Saving and opening documents won't lag.
• File copying and duplication speeds will improve.
• Overall, your system will feel much snappier.

SSDs have their downsides, however. For starters, an SSD won't hold as much data per dollar as an HDD. For the same $100, you could buy either a 120GB SSD or a 2TB HDD. That means you're paying about 83 cents for every gigabyte on an SSD versus five cents for every gigabyte on your HDD. That's a huge difference in cost, and the gap only grows as you compare larger drives. Luckily, it's not an all or nothing proposition. In the days of cloud storage and streaming media, SSDs provide plenty of space for most people. For those who need more storage than is affordable with an SSD, SSDs and HDDs can coexist on the same system (and we'll discuss those in depth a bit later), so you can enjoy the speed benefits of an SSD without sacrificing on storage.

In this post, we're going to walk you through everything you need to know about getting started with your first solid-state drive, from buying the one that suits you best to getting it set up and running most efficiently in your computer. We'll even take a look at a few advanced techniques for those of you who are ready to do even more with your super-fast storage device.

Choosing the Right SSD to Buy

Choosing the right solid-state drive for you isn't difficult, but the process can be a little overwhelming with so many brands available. In this section, we'll show you what you want to look for when choosing a drive and offer up a few recommendations that have worked well for us.

All SSDs are fast, and will feel like a great upgrade from a HDD, but when you're spending significantly more money on a drive that provides less storage you want it to be one of the best. You also want a reliably piece of hardware, and these are both fairly hard to gauge if you have little experience with the technology. Here are the qualities you want to look for in an SSD when you're shopping around:

• High maximum speeds: Max read speeds are around 400MB/second, and max write speeds are around 300MB/sec (note: that's megabytes per second). These numbers do not have to be exact. A little faster or slower won't make a significant difference.
• Good real-world speeds: The SSD manufacturers generally will not provide real-world read and write speeds, as they're guaranteed to be slower than the maximums. Fortunately, many online reviews contain speed test results. On Amazon, you can often find users who've posted screenshots of their test results (here's an example). Seeing this data can often be discouraging because the real-world rates are quite a bit lower. If the test results reveal read and write speeds of about 2/3 of the maximum (in the sequential and 512KB block tests) you're good to go. If you apply this to our maximum speeds above, that comes out to read speeds of about 265MB/sec and write speeds of about 200MB/sec. If you want to figure out if a more expensive SSD is worth the money, its real-world test speeds will be higher than 2/3 of its reported maximum capabilities.
• Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND flash memory: When shopping for SSDs, you'll run into two kind of memory: multi-level cell (MLC) and single-level cell (SLC). The primary difference is that MLC memory can store more information on each cell. The advantage here is that it is cheaper to produce, and SLC is often cost-prohibitive for the average consumer. The downside is a higher rate of error, but an SSD with error-correcting code (we'll discuss this momentarily) can help prevent these problems. (You can read more about MLChere.)
• SATA III Support: Most SSDs use the Serial ATA (SATA) interface, but not all use the latest version and this can limit the performance of your SSD. This is because SATA I can transfer data at 1.5 Gbps, SATA II at 3.0 Gbps, and SATA III at 6 Gbps. To ensure your SSD has enough bandwidth to transfer data as quickly as possible, you want it to be compatible with SATA III. You'll also want to make sure your computer is SATA III compatible as well. If not, SATA III-capable drives will still work as all versions of SATA are backwards-compatible. Just know that you may not get the most out of your SSD if your computer doesn't support the most recent SATA specification.
• ECC memory: Error-correcting code (ECC) memory does what the name implies: it provides your SSD with the ability to detect and correct common types of data corruption so you don't end up with unusable data on your drive. An SSD with ECC memory is more reliable. (You can read more about ECC memory here.)
• A history of reliability: Reliability is a very hard thing to gauge, but there are a few tricks you can employ to get a good idea. First, look for an SSD that is made by a manufacturer who has been in the business for a while (I like OCZ and Crucial). The technology is fairly new, so you don't want to go with just any company who has recently decided to jump on the solid-state bandwagon. Additionally, look at the rating each SSD receives in online shopping reviews. If it is rated a 3.5 out of 5.0 or higher, this is often points to a reliable drive. When the ratings are lower, you may want to look elsewhere. Even reliable companies make unreliable SSDs sometimes, so keep an eye on reviews to avoid buying a lemon.

Which SSDs meet these criteria? We've had a positive experience with the OCZ Vertex and Agility series of SSDs. Currently, you can find a OCZ 120GB SSD for $100 and a 240GB SSD for $180. But OCZ isn't the only company who makes fast and affordable drives. Crucial recently released a more budget-conscious set of SSDs in its m4 series, offering a128GB SSD for $105 and a 256GB SSD for $210. You'll pay a few dollars more, but you'll also get a few gigabytes as well. Going above 256GB on an SSD used to be a very expensive endeavor. While certainly not cheap, prices have dropped dramatically. OCZ now offers a 512GB SSD for $322. Even earlier this year you'd be lucky to find an SSD of that capacity for twice the cost.

These are the drives we can recommend from our own experience, but there are many other brands of SSDs available. If you want to shop around and weigh your options, keeping the criteria mentioned in this section in mind will help you find a good, reliable drive.

Dealing with the Limitations of Your SSD

One of the most common problems new SSD owners face is adapting their current systems to run on a much smaller drive. Most HDD owners are accustomed to having at least 500GB of storage, if not upwards of 2TB. Downsizing to 120GB or 240GB—the most affordable and popular SSD sizes—can be a tough job. Sacrifices will be necessary, but there are a ways you can make the process a little easier. Often times, you can even use a HDD as your secondary drive for additional storage. Let's take a look at your options.

Option One: Start Fresh and Copy the Essentials

When upgrading to an SSD, the most obvious option is starting fresh with a new install of your operating system. While this might require a little more of your time, you'll have everything configured perfectly when you're done. Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Install your operating system of choice on the new SSD.
2. Copy the contents of your home folder from your previous HDD to your new SSD. If you can't fit everything, start with the essential system files and settings, then migrate the media you have room for.
3. Go through the list of applications on your old HDD and install them on your new SSD. Run any updates, or save yourself some time by downloading the latest versions from their respective sources. Windows and Linux users can employ Ninite to get the latest versions of popular free software titles for their machines. OS X users can head to the Mac App Store to download the latest versions of their previous purchases.
4. Copy any important documents (or other files) you have room for on your SSD.
5. Put the old HDD in an external enclosure (like these), if you haven't already, and keep it handy for a month or two. This will help you see what files you use often and which ones you don't. If you find you're using something often, copy it to the SSD. If not, leave it on the external HDD for occasional access.

Again, this method requires more work but also handles the task of cleaning up your system at the same time. It may be more tedious, but it is an efficient way to solve two problems at once.

Option Two: Migrate Your Data from Your Old Hard Drive

If you don't want to start with a fresh installation of your operating system, you can always migrate your OS (and other data) to your new SSD. Chances are, however, that you're not going to be able to fit everything. That means you're going to have to start deleting files on your main drive until it is small enough to fit on your SSD. Because you don't want to lose that data forever, start by making a backup of your drive. Once you have a complete backup, you're ready to get started.

Windows users can follow our SSD migration guidefor the complete instructions. It comes across as a complex process, but shouldn't take too much time. You also won't have to reinstall Windows. Mac users can follow our MacBook SSD installation guide. While the guide focuses on installing an SSD in a MacBook Pro's optical disc drive bay, if you skip to the second half you'll find instructions on performing a data migration as well.

Bonus: Use an External Drive and the Cloud to Combat Storage Constraints

Regardless of the size of your SSD, it's never going to beat the storage capacity of a HDD. If you don't have a secondary hard drive installed in your computer, you're going to need to store your excess data elsewhere. An external HDD and the cloud are two of the best ways to get around the storage limitations of your SSD.

Unless you have enormous collections, an SSD with a 240GB (or higher) capacity should be able house your operating system, documents, music, and photos without issue. It's when you get into the business of music creation, video editing, professional photography, and other work that produces large files will you regularly run into a storage ceiling. An external drive is often the easiest solution, so you'll want to pick up one with a large-enough capacity to suit your needs. If you're looking for a portable drive, the Seagate GoFlex series is worth a look as it not only works with USB 3.0, but can be connected to other ports like Firewire 800 and Thunderbolt by way of adapter. This also provides you with some assurance of compatibility with future technology.

When an external drive won't do the trick, and you really need to downsize your space-hungry media collection, the cloud can come to the rescue. Most of the best solutions come from Google because they're both simple and free. Google Play Music allows you to upload your entire audio collection, and doing so will allow you to delete any songs you rarely listen to (or at least move them to an archival hard drive) while still maintaining direct access to them from anywhere you have an internet connection. Picasa can do the same thing for your photos. (Personally, I preferFlickr, but it isn't free.) When it comes to other data, you have plenty of options. Google Drive is great for various files, Simplenote for text, and Evernote for rich text and PDFs. It doesn't matter so much which services you use, but rather that you start making regular use of the cloud if you have heavy data needs that can't be adequately served by an external or secondary internal drive.

Optimize Your SSD for Optimal Performance

For the most part, there isn't much you have to do to optimize your SSD. It's already really fast and should do it's job without any adjustment. That said, you can achieve better performance and longevity with a few adjustments.

Enable TRIM

The very first thing you should do after installing and setting up your SSD is enable TRIM. What is TRIM, exactly? Wikipedia offers a concise explanation:

TRIM is a command [that] allows an operating system to inform a solid-state drive (SSD) which blocks of data are no longer considered in use and can be wiped internally.

Basically, it prevents your SSD from being overused. Just like any component, SSDs have limited lifespans. TRIM helps keep your solid-state disk alive a bit longer, so you want to have it enabled if your drive supports it. Here are instructions on how to find out and enable TRIM in Windows and OS X.

Enable or Disable Hibernation Mode

Mac users can skip this section, but Windows users will want to decide between enabling or disabling hibernation. Both choices offer distinct advantages and disadvantages. When enabled, your computer will resume from hibernation almost as fast as it does from sleep thanks to the speediness of your SSD. On top of that, you won't use any power when in hibernation mode (which is especially useful for laptop users). The downside is that hibernating will eat up some of your SSD's limited space and require additional writes to the drive (which shortens its lifespan a tiny bit). If you favor power savings, turn it on. If you want a little extra longevity and storage, turn it off.

Don't Defragment Your SSD

When data is stored on a drive, it often ends up in various parts that aren't all in the same place. This is called data fragmentation. It slows down HDDs because the drive's head needs to move from place to place to read all the little bits of information. This can be fixed using a process called defragmentation, which is built into recent versions of Windows (7 and higher) and OS X. Because the location of data on an SSD is pretty much irrelevant, as it can quickly access any of it regardless of where it is, defragging a SSD is not only unnecessary but bad for the drive as well. SSDs have a limited lifespan that's determined by how much they're used. While most will last as long as you'd ever need, defragmenting the disk involves reading and writing data unnecessarily and those actions will shorten your SSD's lifespan. OS X and Windows should know when you're using an SSD and turn off defragmenation automatically. That said, it's important to remember not to defragment your solid-state drive. It provides no real benefit and can shorten its life.

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You should now be well on your way to a better, faster computer with your solid-state drive. Most of us here at Lifehacker have been enjoying the benefits of SSDs for a few years now and can't imagine going back to a traditional hard drive. Despite the limitations and the cost, they're one of the best investments you can make. We hope you enjoy your SSD as much as we're enjoying ours!

A Beginner's Guide to Water Cooling Your Computer

Click to view I used to think a truly high
I used to think a truly high performance computer meant lots of fans and lots of noise. Then I discovered water cooling. If you really want to overclock your PC and push it to the brink of its power, water cooling is the best way to make that happen, while keeping the entire thing whisper quiet.

Music by Eric Skiff.

Why Water Cooling?

Water has a high thermal conductivity, meaning it absorbs heat very easily—even moreso than air. As such, it's a great candidate for cooling your system. Water cooling works by running water over each of your components, transferring heat from each part to a radiator that dissipates the heat and keeps the water cool—almost exactly like your car's radiator does. This lets you cool your processor, graphics card, and other hardware more effectively.

We've talked a bit about water cooling before, but prebuilt systems like the Corsair Hyrdo Series can only take you so far. They're certainly quieter than most air coolers, and they'll definitely give you lower temperatures than your PC's stock fan, but if you really want silence and low temperatures, a homebrew water loop is the best way to do it.

Water cooling is particularly useful for those that perform resource-intensive tasks like video editing and gaming. Not only will it keep your hardware cooler during heavy loads (my temperatures went down by nearly 10 degrees), but it gives you a ton of headroom if you decide to overclock your system, giving you the most power possible out of your components.

Water cooling isn't without downsides, however. Water cooling has long been an enthusiast-only endeavor, mostly because of its high cost and complexity. However, you can buy all-in-one kits that cut your cost in half, and eliminate the hours of research you'd otherwise have to do finding compatible parts. Below, we'll show you all the parts you need for a water cooling setup as well as how to put it all together. Check out the video above if you want to see it in action, then head to the how-to below for more detailed instructions.

What You'll Need

We're using this XSPC Raystorm RS240 all-in-one kit, which costs about $150. You can buy your parts separately if you choose, but know that the cost can jump up to $300 or more. The parts you'll need include:

• A Waterblock: This is the block that you mount on the hardware to be cooled. In this guide, we'll just be cooling our processor, but you can also find waterblocks for your graphics card, chipset, and other components. Note that while waterblocks for RAM and hard drives exist, they're not really necessary and won't give them much of a performance boost—water cooling is most useful for the processor and graphics card.
• A Radiator and Fans: The radiator, coupled with its attached fans, is what actually keeps the water cool as it flows through your loop. Radiators come in multiple sizes, usually designed for a certain number of fans. The larger and thicker the radiator, the more effectively it will be able to dissipate heat. Our radiator is a 240mm fan (meaning you can attach two 120mm fans to it), but you can get smaller one-fan radiators or large 4-fan radiators. If you have a large enough case, you can mount them inside your computer, but smaller cases will usually require you to mount them externally.
• A Reservoir: Your reservoir is what holds the liquid in the loop, and makes bleeding out bubbles easy. Most reservoirs require you to mount them inside your case using provided hardware, though some (like the one we're using) are designed to mount inside your 5.25" external drive bays.
• A Pump: Your pump is, obviously, what pumps the water in your loop. You can buy an external pump or a pump that attaches to certain reservoirs. In our case, we're using a pump that's built-in to our reservoir.
• Fittings: You'll need two fittings for each component in your loop—the waterblock(s), the radiator(s), and the reservoir. These are what actually allow you to connect them to one another with tubing. You can use barb fittings, which are just a spout, or compression fittings, which contain a second piece you screw on for a super tight fit. They're better looking, but more expensive.
• Tubing: Your tubing is what connects each component together, and it comes in multiple shapes and colors. When you buy tubing, make sure its inner diameter (ID) and outer diameter (OD) are compatible with the inner diameter and outer diameter of your fittings. Usually this means they should be the same size, but in some cases your tubing can be slightly smaller than your fittings if you want a tight fit.
• Coolant and Additives: Lastly, you'll need a coolant, and you'll have to buy this separately even if you get a kit like the one mentioned above. You can buy all sorts of coolants with different properties, but we're partial to distilled water. It's just as effective as anything else, but it's super cheap, available at any grocery store, and has less of a chance of causing problems. You'll also want some additives for your coolant, which can include but are not limited to:
  • A biocide, which keeps algae and other gunk from growing in your loop. PT Nuke is a popular brand. Alternatively, you can use a small piece of silver called a kill coil, since silver acts as a natural biocide. This is nice because it doesn't require you to add extra liquid to your coolant.
  • An anti-corrosive, which is only necessary if you have multiple metals in your loop. Our loop contains a copper waterblock and a copper radiator, so we don't need this. But, if you used a copper block with an aluminum radiator, for example, you'd want an anti-corrosive like Fesser Base in your coolant.
  • A drop or two of dish soap, which acts as a surfactant and can help you get rid of bubbles in your loop.
  • Coloring, which we don't recommend using. Color additives have a tendency to gum up the works, so if you want color, we recommend getting some colored tubing instead.

If you're buying all your parts separately, make sure to triple check that everything is compatible. If you're unsure, ask around on forums like Tom's Hardware or Overclock.net. I also highly recommend checking out DazMode's complete guide to water cooling on YouTube, as its incredibly informative on the finer points of each component.

How to Put It All Together

Once you've decided on all your parts, it's time to put everything together. The process is a little involved, and can be pretty scary at first—but as long as you go slow and follow the instructions, you should have a safe water loop running in no time. Again, to see the process in action, check out the video at the top of this post.

Step One: Plan Out Your Loop

Before you do anything, look inside your case and plan out how your loop is going to work. Figure out where you can mount your reservoir and pump using the included hardware, decide where your radiator is going to sit, and in what order you'll connect all the parts.

Your reservoir should sit right before your pump in the loop, so the pump never runs dry. If your reservoir isn't built for a drive bay like ours is, you'll need to either mount it on your case with the included hardware, or find a spot to velcro it in place. The hard drive cage is often a good candidate for this.

Once you've figured out where all the parts go, decide how you're going to run your tubing. From the pump, you can go to your radiator, then your waterblock, then back to the reservoir. Alternatively, you can go to the waterblock first, then to your radiator and back. Neither provides a clear performance improvement over the other, so do whatever looks good to you and fits easily.

Keep in mind you may have to tweak this setup once you actually start connecting your tubing, but at least get a good idea of where you expect everything to go.

Step Two: Rinse Out Each Component

Next, collect all your hardware and rinse it out. For your waterblock, tubing, and reservoir, this is as simple as just running some distilled water through it and dumping it out. Your radiator, however, is a bit more complicated. Radiators can often come with a bit of debris left over from manufacturing inside, so you'll want to give it a very thorough rinse before you hook it up.

To do this, heat up some distilled water and pour it into your radiator, filling it up about two thirds of the way. Plug up the holes, and then shake it vigorously for a minute or two. Dump the water back out into a bowl, and you may find that a lot of debris comes out with the water. Repeat this process until the water comes out clear.

Step Three: Install Your Hardware

Now that everything's clean and ready to go, install your main components. The waterblock will mount to your CPU the same way any other cooler would: Add a small dab of thermal paste to the CPU, set the cooler on top, attach the backplate to the back of your motherboard, and screw it into place. When you screw it in, make sure to only give each screw a few twists at a time, moving in a star pattern so that pressure is applied evenly to your processor.

If you have a big enough case, you can mount the radiator just by mounting it on the vent your fans usually go, then screwing the fan to the radiator itself. If you have a larger case, you'll likely mount it in the bottom. If neither of those are an option, you'll need to mount it externally using the brackets that come with it.

Mount your reservoir and pump using velcro or the mounting hardware that come with them. If you have a bay reservoir like the one we're using, just slide it into place and screw it into the sides like you would a DVD drive.

Step Four: Connect Your Tubing

Now that everything's in place, it's time to connect it all with your tubing. Screw your fittings into each component, making sure they're good and tight before you continue so you don't spring a leak. I like to screw them in finger tight, then give them a small turn with a wrench or pair of pliers to make sure they're snug.

Now, start connecting your tubing. Slide one end of your tubing over a fitting, then measure how much tubing you'll need to connect it to the subsequent component in the loop. Mark it with your finger, and cut the tubing with a pair of scissors. Cut it as straight as you can. Connect that end of the tubing to the next component, and repeat this process with each piece of hardware. Make sure you're connecting the tubing to the correct fitting each time—your blocks, pump, and reservoir should each have a designated inlet and outlet. It won't matter which holes you use on your radiator.

You may find during this step that the tubing makes too sharp a turn, and kinks. This is bad for your water flow, so you need to return to the planning stage and see if there's a way to make that bend without a kink—sometimes giving yourself some extra tubing solves the problem, but other times you'll need to connect your components in a different order. To disconnect tubing from your fitting, you may need to slice it with a razor blade where the two connect—pulling them off is often very hard to do.

Step Five: Fill Up Your Loop

Once everything's connected, it's time to fill up the loop. Some people recommend removing the loop from your case and testing it on its own, but I prefer to just test it inside the case. If you test it outside the case, you can still spring leaks by moving it back in, so it doesn't give you a ton of extra security against leaks. As long as you do everything slowly and correctly, you shouldn't have a problem—just make sure to put some paper towel down inside your computer, and if you do spring a leak, plug it up, empty out your loop, and give your computer 24 hours to dry off. Most of your hardware will be fine, even if you get a little water on it.

Before you fill up, you'll need to jump your power supply. This lets you test the pump and the fans without actually turning on the computer itself. Disconnect the 24-pin cable from your motherboard, and connect the green wire to the black wire using a paper clip, as shown above. Some kits also come with a small adapter to serve this purpose.

Next, add your liquid additives to your water, if applicable. Grab a funnel and put it in the reservoir's fill port. Carefully pour your water in, filling the reservoir almost to the top. Some may empty into the tubing, which is okay. Once the reservoir is filled up, flip the power switch on the back of your computer and let it run for a second. When your reservoir gets about halfway down (1/3 of the way if you're using the XSPC pump/reservoir combo), turn the computer off before the pump runs dry. It's very important to make sure your pump never runs dry, as this can permanently damage your pump in a matter of seconds. Once you've let a little water out of the reservoir, fill it up to the top again. Repeat this process until the water level in your reservoir stays constant. Double check your loop for any leaks, and if everything's okay, you have yourself a working water loop!

Step Six: Test for Leaks and Bleed Out Air Bubbles

The last step is to let the entire loop leak test for 24 hours. Let it run and check back frequently to make sure it isn't leaking anywhere. During these 24 hours, you should also find that a lot of the bubbles in your loop will bleed out. You may need to tip, shake, or jiggle the case to help this process along, as well as tap or pinch the tubing. Don't worry if you have a few small bubbles left over, they'll go away in time. Again, a drop or two of dish soap can help bleed out the bubbles as well.

Once the system proves to be leak-free, you can turn it off, reconnect your 24-pin motherboard cable, close everything up, and start using your computer. You should find that your computer's temperatures are much lower, and that you can run the fans at much lower speeds, keeping everything much quieter. You'll need to empty out the loop and rinse out the hardware about every 6 months, but for now, you're ready to overclock your processor, do some serious gaming, or just bask in the silent hum of your computer's new cooling system.

Further Reading

If you're ready to give water cooling a try, that's great! I highly recommend doing a bit of extra research, so you know everything backwards and forwards before you start. Here are some other great guides that should help you learn more about the process:

• Overclock.net's Water Cooling Guide for Beginners: A basic introduction to water cooling, good for those still deciding whether they want to get into it and what kind of parts are available.
• Overclockers' Beginner's Guide to Water Cooling Your PC: This guide goes through some less-talked-about points, like water cooling without a reservoir and choosing the perfect case.
• Tom's Hardware's Beginner Guide for Water Cooling Your PC: A good guide with lots of pictures for each step of the process
• Clunk.org's Water Cooling Guide for Beginners: A very, very detailed guide to picking parts and each step of the process.

I also high recommend these two video guides:

• DazMode's Complete Water Cooling Guide: This is a great run-through of the different parts you can buy and the pros and cons of each.
• NCIX Tech Tips' Ultimate Water Cooling Guide: This guide is awesomely over-the-top, so while certain parts may not apply to the beginner, it has a fantastic demonstration on the actual filling procedure.

And, of course, we have a few water cooling gurus around here that know their stuff, so feel free to ask questions in the comments below.

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