Geeknews » Hacks n Tweaks

BitTorrent To The Rescue

Patrick — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:35:26 +0000

I’ve been downloading torrents for many years, and have come to know many handy tips and tricks. One that I learned a while back, but had never had an opportunity to utilize, is correcting and repairing hefty sized files using your client’s hash of that file. Yeah, it may sound complicated, but its actually pretty simple. If you have a slow connection and downloaded something like the newest ISO of Ubuntu, then when you went to burn the image to a disc it’s corrupted for some reason…Don’t pull your hair out! No need to download the file again; with some creative copying and a hash check, you can be back in business in no time at all.

Read this detailed article HERE to get the skinny on this procedure. Be sure to backup anything you plan on testing this with, as the method can be a bit shaky at times. Good luck!

Finding a Lost iPhone With a Bluetooth-Enabled Car

Andy — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 05:05:53 +0000

I found this great little anecdote on the Seattle PI’s ‘Seattle Tech Report’ column today. It’s recounted by Eyejot and WhatCounts CEO David Geller.

This is a really neat trick, or maybe we could call it a “passive hack”?

DIY – Colored Balls For Your Blackberry Pearl

Patrick — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 05:42:53 +0000

I’ve seen several different DIY posts for changing the LED color of the Blackberry Pearl trackball. Some informative, some not very much so. After some experimentation on my own, I managed to make a simple modification to my Blackberry Pearl 8130 trackball to change the LED color. I must say it looks rather nice, and adds some flair to an otherwise drab looking smartphone.

My Blackberry Pearl 8130:

Before attempting this mod, I would recommend that you power off your phone! First step is to remove the trackball assembly. Use a pair of tweezers to hook into a small slot in the chrome retainer ring, located directly above the #2 key on the keypad. Gently pry up the ring until the ring pops loose, and remove it, exposing the trackball assembly underneath.

Set aside the chrome ring, in a safe place. It is plastic, so make sure not to bend or break the catches on the underside. Use the tweezers to remove the trackball assembly – it’s self contained, so don’t worry about it falling apart. Set the assembly aside along with the chrome ring. Now you should see this:

Now comes the easy part! The LED that lights up the trackball is on the lower right, indicated in the picture by the bright red circle. Grab yourself a fine tipped permanent marker (I used a Staedtler Lumocolor fine tip in Red) and lightly coat the LED in your chosen color. As a side note, you can apply several coats of the same color to achieve darker shades of the same color to your desire. Just make sure you give a few minutes to dry between each application. I applied four coats to give myself a nice scarlet red color. After your final coat dries, put everything back together! Make sure you settle the trackball assembly in all the way, and align the Chrome ring in the socket the same way it was when you removed it.

That’s it! Turn your phone on, and you should see something like this:

Congrats on your newly modded phone I personally really like the dark red color because it gives me that “HAL 9000″ type feeling! Now if you want to change the color, follow the same steps as before, and use a q-tip with a light application of rubbing alcohol to gently remove the marker ink. Let dry, and apply the new color of your choice.

If you try this, be sure to tell us about your experience!

EDIT- Many People have suggested using the “Blingball” or “Color Pearl” apps for the Blackberry Pearl. The model 8130 does not possess the polychromatic LEDs necessary for those apps to function correctly or at all. That’s why I wrote this DIY in the first place. Carry on

Brilliant Gmail & Analytics Hints, Hacks and Secrets

Andy — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 07:27:43 +0000

Essential tips to turn you into a gmail power user by techradar.com. OK, the list starts out weak but picks up steam as it goes along for some pretty interesting tips.

And speaking of tips/hacks on GOOG products, check out Google Analytics Plugins, Hacks and Tips Collection at Grokdotcom.

Routerbots

Andy — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:12:44 +0000

At MAKE, I stumbled across this great hack to convert a typical Linksys wireless router into a robot. Andrey Mikhalchuk’s blog has the gory details.

DIY d12 Handbag (of Holding)

Andy — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:05:48 +0000

Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories are at it again. This time enticing us with the step by step instructions for you to make your girl her own d12 handbag, that really looks like a d12!

Here’s some of my other favorites from the Evil Mad Scientists I’ve blogged about before:

- How to Make a BristleBot

- Teardown process of a nixie tube

- Lego Abominations

Illuminated Keyboard Hack

Andy — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:29:12 +0000

I just love this one. Why isn’t every geek building it? [metacafe 1351961/illuminated_keyboard_hack/] Related posts:Laser Flashlight Hack! Lawsuits in 3..2.. Digital Camera Hack, Reusing Your $20 ‘throwaway’ Camera Hack a Day T-Shirt Design Contest Related posts:

Mysterious Lightbulb Hack

Andy — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 07:25:08 +0000

[metacafe 975794/mysterious_lightbulb_hack] Related posts:Digital Camera Hack, Reusing Your $20 ‘throwaway’ Camera Laser Flashlight Hack! Lawsuits in 3..2.. Hack a Day T-Shirt Design Contest Related posts:

Make a Burglar Alarm For $5

Andy — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 05:00:16 +0000

Not cheap, just frugal. [metacafe 893141/5_dollar_burglar_alarm] Related posts:iPod Alarm Clock ‘Green’ Robot Hits The Waves, Runs On Ocean Heat Wake Up And Diffuse This Bomb Related posts:

Quickly Lock Your Windows PC

Andy — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 07:05:16 +0000

For years I’ve been using the Windows+L key combination to lock my workstation. Recently I stumbled across this neat trick. Create a shortcut on your quick launch toolbar that will lock the workstation for you.

Steps:

1. Right click on your deksotp and select New, Shortcut
2. Paste this text in – rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation
3. Click next and type a name for the shortcut, like maybe Lock
4. Click Finish
5. You can right click on your new shortcut and change the icon (there is a lock icon as part of the collection in %SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll)
6. Drag the icon to your taskbar

Voila!