Gadget Hacks: Page 280

Take $1.35 of thrift store bric-à-brac, toss in a few spare parts from your electronics drawer and mix it all up with an earnest desire to alienate your loved ones forevermore and what do you get? A booby-trapped Magic 8-Ball, that's what!

M4V video format is prevailed on Apple products, for instance, iPod, iPhone and iTunes Store. Apple uses M4V files to encode TV episodes, movies, and music videos in the iTunes Store, and some may be encoded with Apple's FairPlay DRM copyright protection. You need an M4V to DVD creation software to convert M4V files to DVD and create DVD disc. WinX DVD Author is one of the free and best M4V to DVD software.

Available for free in the Android Market, Google's Androidify turns your phone into a veritable Android Assembly Line.

The Newstweek might be the coolest new device of 2011 that no one is talking about. It's a pocket-sized device that allows you to access the data streaming through a wireless internet access point and change the news being read by fellow users at the hotspot, from any site, however you want. It allows you to do some amazingly inspiring and sinister things, like any really progressive technology, and this video will show you how to use it.

Asphalt5 is a racing game for the WebOS phone operating system, originally developed by Palm. If you want to play it (and you should) on your Nokia N900 handset there are some complications you're going to have to get through, and this video will show you how step-by-step.

If you're a loyal Nokia customer and proud owner of their N900 smartphone, you may be wondering how to get the most out of it since there's so much more info out there about Android and iOS platform devices. This video will show you how to download custom wallpapers, use tethering, free up RootFs, and change the LED pattern on your N900, among other things.

Looking to do a little Friendster account hacking? Well, this video will show you how to hack into anyone's Friendster account after getting their password. Friendster was Facebook before Facebook was around, and beleive it or not, people still use it! You'll need a little tool to do the work, which you can find here. After that, follow the steps and get into any Friendster account. Remember, hacking is illegal, so be responsible out there.

Every key on a telephone keypad has its own sonic signature, a sort of calling card composed of two distinct tones: one high, one low. While it's easy to tell the difference between the individual pitches in a single row—see, for example, this article on using your cell phone as a musical instrument—, it's often difficult to differentiate between notes within the same column. Unless, of course, you outsource the work to a computer! Which is what Uruguayan hacker [Charlie X-Ray] recently set out...

Instructable user samsmith17's solution for riding in the dark is a lot snazzier than your typical bicycle light:

If the whale tail cookies and edible undies weren't naughty enough, you've still got about 24 hours left before Valentine's Day to whip up one of F.A.T. artist Randy Sarafan's step-by-step clap-off bras. Inspired by the electronic singing panties and remote-controlled bras of the secret underworld of Syrian lingerie, Sarafan made a mission to "fast-forward lingerie technology in the West".

If you're considering getting the new Verizon iPhone, you may want to check out reliable teardown site iFixit. Although the exterior of the new phone may look the same as the old, the interior shows significant differences.

Getting your own blog is easier than what you can imagine. Thanks to WordPress. One need not be a techie to follow the steps mentioned below (though certain stages might require third-party advice).

Been hacked once? Twice? Maybe more? You thought abc123 was the only password that is both 6 characters wide and easy to remember? I have some suggestions in store for you. Just read on...

The iPhone 4 for Verizon is already old news, thanks to Sprint's unveiling of the Kyocera Echo smartphone last Monday.

No more Internet Explorer 9 Beta. Not today. Now you can explore the web with Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate (RC). It wasn't supposed to be released until tomorrow, February 10th, but it's been leaked a little early, WinRumors reports.

What you wear to school, work, or even to go shopping with the girls is an expression of who you are - your personality, tastes, and interests. So why wouldn't you also want to clothe your iPod, iPhone, or iPad in a unique wrapper?

You know how you can personalize your computer desktop by pinning any picture you want as the background? You can do the same thing with phones - well, iPhones. Since nowadays it seems everyone and their mother has an iPhone or iPod Touch, make sure your iGadget looks different than everybody else's by installing a theme.

If you've just gotten yourself an iPhone and are unfamiliar with what the hell Cydia is, here's a little breakdown: Cydia is a software application that lets you install applications and software packages on a jailbroken iPhone or iPod Touch.

Want to be able to hack into a computer remotely? This method takes a little extra time and cunning to set up, since you will need to first install the ShowMyPc program on your target computer. Once you have installed this program, however, you will be able to go to the website ShowMyPc.com and be able to see what your target has been up to. Even better, you can use that computer and the files on it as if it were your own desktop!

It's that time of year again when pizza boxes line the room and buffalo wings stain the couch.  When cases of beer sit in the cooler and the big screen TVs are fired up and properly calibrated.  When two of the best football teams vie for the championship title and the Vince Lombardi trophy.

Daito Manabe is awesome. Last we heard of him, he was setting up Japanese school girls with glow-in-the-dark grills. Before that, he was playing himself like a human drum kit. And before that, he was just plain old electroshocking himself. In his most recent appearance, he takes his electro-pulsed facial twitches to the stage, with fellow artist Ei Wada, before an audience at Berlin's Transmediale Festival.

I'm not going to lie. I was Catholic. But one of my reasons for my faithful departure was having to tell my innermost secrets— my sins— to a silhouetted figure behind a latticed screen. With the creepy enclosed booth structure and separation of sinner and confessor, its anonymity was clear, yet deceiving. You always knew the priest and he always knew you. If I wanted total privacy, was there really a need for this intermediary to God?

Tired of clicking on interesting looking links in Facebook, only to discover that they are hidden behind a page you have to 'Like' before you can see? If you're surfing using Google Chrome, you can completely bypass this privacy setting. When you get to the page, go to the menu bar and click on 'Inspect Element.' Then you'll see the code for the page, and you'll be able to get around the block to see the page you want.

As if the world of high fashion wasn't weird enough, now it looks like casts are in this season. Fortunately, you don't need to break your arm or leg in order to get this hot new accessory - this video shows you a simple process for making your own fake cast at home. You can also use this if you need a cast for a film prop... or if you just want to wear it and get sympathy from other people.

Want a way to monitor who is coming onto your Facebook profile? You can use a third party app, the FBspace Tracker, to enable your profile to secretly log who is viewing you. Even better, FBspace Tracker lets you set up your profile with custom HTML code. This video shows you where you can download the app, then how to install it and set up your Facebook profile through the app. Make your profile not only unique, but secure as well!

This video is specifically for the C530 Slate cell phone from AT&T, though this procedure will probably work on similar models of phone. You can hack, or jailbreak, your phone to allow you to use third party apps or switch to a different service provider. You will need a non-AT&T sim card for this hack to work (T Mobile is shown in the video). Then turn it on, hit the unlock key and then enter in your unlock code. Make sure you get it right!

If your iPhone is a business tool for you, you'll want ways to send out mass e-mails, either to your customers or employees and coworkers. You can use the iEDL, or Email Distribution App, published by MerckTech, to set up a distribution list that will let you send out mass emails as often as you need. This video shows you all the ins and outs of this awesome little app. Expand your productivity and marketing reach for your business and personal projects!

With the Group Text app, you can easily set up a distribution list so you can send out text messages to large numbers of people at once. You can also set up form templates, which are useful if you tend to send out a similar text message each time. This short tutorial shows you how to set up the distribution list, and how to get the most out of your Group Text. You can even set up multiple distribution lists for different topics or texts!

You've all probably heard about Apple's attempts to thwart iPhone 4 users from opening up their own devices, thanks to their sly maneuvers in switching out everyone's screws with those funky pentalobular screws.  But one thing Apple will never learn— they will never have complete control.  Where there's a will, there's a way.  And if someone wants to fix their own iPhone or modify it slightly, they're going to do it, regardless of what screws bind it together.

Forget CNN.  Forget New York Times.  Forget BBC.  You can even forget the Washington Post.  And yes, the Wall Street Journal, too.  You no longer need these well-established and reputable news organizations to get your daily fix on what's happening in the world today.

INTRODUCTION:

If you were paying attention to the Rio Ad in the 4th quarter of the 2011 Super Bowl between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, you might have noticed the secret Angry Birds code behind the monkey on the wooden fence.

Back in the olden days, if a lock was, well, locked, you couldn't get in the door. At least, the average individual couldn't get in the door. But inventive and scheming folk (read: ye hackers of olde) devised crafty ways to pick lock keys and sometimes even created skeleton keys that opened any door or chest. This will let you unlock someones password on an ipod or iphone touch.

If you're like us and totally abuse that "replay" button on Taio Cruz's music video for "Higher," then you know just how important YouTube is for those neverending car rides home from school. But what happens when YouTube isn't working as well as you'd like? Or, worse yet, if the GPS on your iPhone breaks down right when you're in the middle of a freeway interchange?

Whether you haven't touched your iPod or iPhone for the longest time and have simply forgotten your passcode, or you want to have a little fun on your friend's (or frenemy's) iPhone, you have to unlock the gadget, and that means bypassing the passcode.

After years of false rumors and abandoned hopes, the day has finally come.  Verizon Wireless is finally getting the Apple iPhone!

If you can't get access to a wifi hotspot or an Internet connection with your PSP, you can use this method to get online. You will need access to a computer that is online, and a USB cord that can connect the computer to your PSP. Then, open up the command prompt on your computer, configure your IP and then add your PSP as a device on the network. This method uses the DNS method of getting to the Internet rather than having to hack a wifi connection.

A perfect project for the budding roboticist in you! This video shows you how to make a small robot gripper using basic household items. Press the button and make the robot's come together! You will need: a small blow torch or butane lighter, a glue gun, a dremel or rotary tool (along with several different bits), the free cutting pattern, a permanent marker, a micro servo, some small nails or pins, a small piece of Plexiglass and a paperclip. If you don't have access to a dremel, you can fake...

Paracord braiding is a popular technique used to make lanyards and ties for survival gear. There are many different techniques a braider can use - the most common are the rattlesnake knot and the square braid. This video shows you the nuances of both techniques, a few variations, and how you can decide when to use one or the other. You can also alter the appearance and tensile strength of your paracord braid by changing how tight you make your knots.

Grey's Anatomy fans— you have just gotten a better viewing experience— an interactive viewing experience.  But you need an Apple iPad to bask in the sweet delight of doctorly debauchery and do-goodery.