You can pay big bucks for tech gear with some edge (seriously, we see a lot of cases) or just make your own with the supereasy studded iPhone case DIY from Cristina of Fuji Files.

The only tools needed are a basic silicone iPhone case that can be purchased online for as little as $4 and half-inch spikes, also available online. Follow the how-to on creating a fashion-forward phone accessory at Fuji Files!

It's a new month, which brings fresh opportunities to capture the world around you. This month, we'll be offering up daily photo challenges for you to seek out and share with your photo-loving community. It doesn't matter how you capture them. Use your DSLR, your smartphone, your old 35mm, or a pocketcam! Our subject today: light source.

How you interpret the subject is up to you! Just upload your pics to our Cool Capture community group on Instagram or Twitter with the #CoolCapture hashtag or post them to our Facebook page. We'll have a new challenge for you every day this month to test your skills, so be sure to keep checking back for more.


Source: kristykorcz

Neglecting to clean your cell phone is a nasty tech habit to break this year. Cell phones have been proven to carry bacteria, germs, even feces. Yes, feces. If there's one new routine to create for yourself this Spring, it's keeping that smartphone shiny and clean. Your health will thank you. Check out a few of our tech-friendly tips to clean that gadget, below.

• Cleaning your touch screen smartphone is kind of like cleaning your LCD monitor — you don't want to use any harsh chemicals or, even more damaging, water. Using a tried-and-tested cleaner like iKlear ($21) will ensure you won't damage your phone's sensitive bits. Use the included microfiber cloth (or one of your own) and shine that baby up.
• If you don't want to spring for a special formula, a 40/60 alcohol-to-water mixture on solid phone parts and keyboards should be OK for your devices (use a damp cloth and/or cotton swab for small and hard-to-reach places). However you do not want to use any sort of alcohol, ammonia, or harsh cleaning agent on touch screens.
• If you're in a pinch and want to quickly rid your phone of dirty crevices and fingerprints, use a piece of Scotch Tape to peel away dirt and dust in between keys, and rid your phone of fingerprints. Perfect for when you're at the office (without a microfiber cloth), but unfortunately it won't help the germ situation.
• Serious germaphobes can ensure a clean device with the UV Cell Phone Sanitizer ($50), which wipes your device clean of 99.9 percent of strep, E. coli, salmonella, listeria, and H1N1 viruses in three minutes flat. Just drop it in once a day for germ-free surfing and calling.

In the mood to refresh your tech life? Here's nine more bad tech habits to break this Spring!

Forget to put a lens cap back or even worse — lose it — and you're setting yourself up for the potential heartache of photos tainted by a dusty, scratched lens. Keep your lens safe and your photographs top-notch by making your own version of this too-cute camera lens pouch from Melissa of The Polka Dot Chair.

With a hook that snaps onto the camera strap, finally solve the case of the missing lens cap. Check out The Polka Dot Chair for the step-by-step directions on this weekend DIY that doesn't require too much sewing experience.