Ifttt

Use IFTTT to get breaking news, score updates from ESPN

If you're looking to combine a bunch of unrelated Web services with each other and come up with a concoction of triggers and alerts to intertwine your online life, look no further than If This Then That (IFTTT).

The site, as we've previously told you, allows you to set triggers based off of various services such as Facebook, local weather, Instagram, package tracking, and many others -- 60 channels in total. Those triggers will then carry out an action on another channel, ranging from calling your phone to adding a line to a Google Drive spreadsheet. When you … Read more

Control your lights using Siri and a WeMo Switch

There are plenty of creative hacks you can use to control a random appliance or two in your house with Apple's Siri, but most of them take some level of programming and hardware expertise to accomplish.

I've come up with a less tech-savvy way to use Siri to control a lamp, or anything that plugs in. You'll only need to know how to give Siri a command after everything is set up.

To get started you'll need a Belkin WeMo Switch and an IFTTT (for "if this, then that") account. Provided by the WeMo … Read more

Make Instagram pictures display properly on Twitter

You've probably noticed, or read, by now that Twitter and Instagram aren't really getting along all that well. Twitter originally blocked Instagram users' access to their Twitter friends. Then last week Instagram began disabling its integration with Twitter Cards, completely removing support as of yesterday.

Now, when you or someone you follow sends an Instagram photo to Twitter, you'll only see a link to the photo (as you can see in the screenshot above). In the past, you'd see the entire photo directly in your Twitter timeline when using any official Twitter app or the Web … Read more

How to get the best deal on a previous-generation MacBook

Today might just be the perfect day to start shopping for a new MacBook.

And by "new" I mean "old." At today's WWDC, Apple announced new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models, meaning there's soon to be a glut of previous-generation systems -- new, used, and refurbished alike.

The question is, where can you score the best deals? Yesterday's MacBooks are already gone from the Apple Store, so don't expect any bargains there (with one exception -- see below). But if you know where to look, you might just be able to … Read more

Get alerted when the free App of the Week is posted in the App Store

A few weeks ago Apple started offering an app in the iOS App Store as a free App of the Week. The initial app was Cut the Rope: Experiments HD, followed by Snapseed, and this week it's Monsters Ate My Condo.

All three have been great apps, with plenty more sure to come. Missing out on a chance to grab an app for free can be frustrating, and remembering to check the App Store each week isn't always going to happen. Instead of trying to remember, or setting a weekly reminder, let an IfThisThenThat (Ifttt) task alert you … Read more

How to get alerted of new Netflix 'watch instantly' titles

We previously told you about IfThisThenThat (ifttt) when it was in a closed beta, and had a limited selection of channels and triggers.

Fortunately, the list of channels and triggers is growing by the day.

Using an RSS feed, you can bring in a lot of other sites and services that aren't currently available as a channel on ifttt. One example of a service you can bring into ifttt via RSS is Netflix.

Before we begin, sign up for an ifttt account if you don't already have one. After you have an account, sign in and follow the … Read more