Hot Gadget Hacks Posts
How To: Place & receive Internet calls on your Google Nexus S phone with SIP
If you've got Android 2.3 Gingerbread running on your Google Nexus S smartphone, try out this cool feature. Set up a SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) account, and you'll be able to make Internet calls over Wi-Fi. You'll be able to talk to anyone with VoIP.
How To: Stop Google from collecting your private information
When you use Gmail, Google Maps, Google Documents or any of the other Google products, you send trackable information about yourself to Google. By going in and configuring your account settings in Google Dashboard, it's possible to manage the information about yourself that you send them. This informative video shows how.
How To: How Much Does Your Smartphone Cost to Build?
Gizmodo's interactive breakdown of the iPhone 4, Blackberry Torch, Nokia N8, and Google's Nexus One examines the wholesale cost of hardware versus the end retail price, as well as how each company prioritizes each category below:
How To: Send Spam & Spot Fake Emails (Email Spoofing 101)
Spammers are the bane of every email user. No matter what you do, junk mail always breaks through the spam filters. And some of the best ones seem to come from legit companies, and that's because they aren't legit companies— they're spammers masquerading as legit companies.
Play Me (re: Electrocute Me) Like a Human Drum Kit
All hail artist, programmer and human electrocution music-machine, Daito Manabe. He's back, and better than ever: Read more about his process.
How To: Use a Mac computer and Pwnagetool to jailbreak an Apple TV
Apple TV, like most Apple products, places a lot of restrictions on users in the name of ease-of-use and control. If you want to assert your power and remove those restrictions, jailbreaking is your best option. This video will show you how to use a Mac and Pwnagetool to jailbreak your Apple TV and start using it the way you want to, not the way Apple wants you to.
How To: Make a 'Dizzy Robot' out of a battery, tin, and a pager motor
When you think of robots, you probably think of things that have more than three parts. Not this robot! If you want a robotics project to try that doesn't require an MIT degree, watch this video for instructions on how to build a 'Dizzy Robot' out of only some thin tin, a pager motor, a button cell battery, and this template.
How To: Use AirPlay in iOS 4.2 for the iPad and iPhone to throw content between device
AirPlay is one of the coolest new features in iOS 4.2, and represents the next step in Apple device networking. It allows you to "throw" content from one iDevice to another, including the iPad, iPhone, and AppleTV. This video will give you a quick primer on how it works.
How To: Jailbreak a 4.2.1 firmware iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad with Redsn0w 0.9.6b4
If you've downloaded the latest iOS version, 4.2.1, and haven't jailbroken your device yet, you've come to the right video. It will teach you how to use Redsn0w to jailbreak your device and install new firmware from here. Now you can whatever you want with your iDevice.
How To: Work with diodes, capacitors, potentiometers, photo cells, and power supplies
For most people, learning how to work with electronics is far from intuitive. Getting the diodes in your hands and working with them is the best way to go about it, and this video will teach you a great lab for learning about diodes, potentiometers, capacitors, photo cells, and power supplies.
How To: Learn about capacitors, diodes, voltage states, and potentiometers
Even basic electronics are pretty damn complicated. This video is near the end of Scotty's amazing series of electronics tutorials, and will teach you about adding a diode and a capacitor to a circuit, choosing a power supply, voltage states, and polarity.
How To: Build a basic circuit with LED lights and resistors
If you want an electrical circuit to send power to an object, like a light, you're going to need resistors. This video, part of an excellent series on basic electronics by Scotty, will teach you how to make a circuit with resistors and an LED light, a real function piece of electronics.
How To: Test a breadboard using a multimeter
If you want to start making a basic electronics project by placing power sources and such on a breadboard, you should make sure that the breadboard will work first. You can do this by using a multimeter to perform a continuity test on your breadboard, which this video will teach you how to do.
How To: Connect different laser diodes to a power supply
Lasers are one of the coolest things that you can build yourself from a pure sci-fi fantasy standpoint. They're not easy though, but this video will help you somewhat by describing different types of laser diodes and how to connect them to a power supply.
How To: Learn about resistance and Ohm's Law and how they help you work on electronics
Math scares a lot of would-be electronics lovers away from the field, and if you really hate math this is probably the video in this series where you stop. It will teach you how to use Ohm's Law to calculate resistance and how that applies to a basic circuit.
How to Learn basic electronics: electricity, a basic circuit, and breadboard
Welcome to part 2 of robotics teacher Scotty's introduction to electronics! the first video taught about the basic tools and components we need to start working with electronics. This one will cover the basics of electronics, from a primer on electricity and how it works to making a basic circuit and working with breadboard, the canvas of circuitry.
How To: Learn about the tools and components used in basic electronics
Electronics are the most important new thing people have created in the last hundred years, and learning how to use them will make you much more able to function in modern society. If you want to learn about electronics without going to a class or anything so formal, this excellent video series will teach you everything you need to know to get started. This video, the first in the series, will teach you about the basic tools and components you'll need to work on electronics projects, includin...
How To: Use the Google Body Browser for a Crash Course on Human Anatomy
Forget backpacking through the Himalayas— Google lets you enjoy the vistas from the comfort of your own home with Google Earth. Forget about snorkeling on your next trip to the Bahamas— you can go under the sea without even getting wet with Google Ocean. Forget about stargazing with your portable telescope— Google Sky brings a million stars to your fingertips. Forget about that application to NASA— you no longer have to be an astronaut to enjoy the terrain of nearby planets, thanks to Google ...
How To: Beat level 20 of Angry Birds Seasons with three stars
Beat the twentieth level of Angry Birds Seasons with three stars! On December 1st, Rovio released their version of an advent calendar—Angry Birds Seasons (aka "Angry Birds Christmas"). Each day leading up to the Christmas holiday, a new level will become available to Angry Birds enthusiasts worldwide. Stuck? No problem: YouTube's 23hathman has pledged to post a three-star walkthrough for each of the game's levels. In this, the December 20th installment, we learn how to beat level 20.
How To: Root the New Nexus S Smartphone Running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
It was bound to happen. And just as anticipated, it took less than a day before someone successfully rooted the new Nexus S smartphone from Google and Samsung.
News: DIY Instant Indoor Skydiving
If you're like me, just the idea of skydiving triggers nearly-pee-in-the-pants petrification. But with a little imagination, plus Google Image Search and a projector, and all of us ninnies out there can pretend to do the real thing:
How To: Use the Word Lens iPhone app for real-time translations
Augmented reality takes another step forward with the new Word Lens iPhone application. This nifty little application is compatible with the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPod Touch. This is how it works - just take a snapshot of any text, and it'll automatically translate it from English to Spanish and vice versa. Take it with you when you travel! This video shows you the best way to use it.
News: Air Guitar + Kinect Hack = Pure Awesomeness
Thanks to Microsoft’s XBOX 360 motion-detecting system, Kinect, the world is becoming a play place for sci-fi style virtual reality. One of the latest hacks demonstrates the next best thing to regular old air guitar... virtual reality air guitar: Artist Chris O'Shea explains how it works:
How To: Beat level 17 of Angry Birds Seasons with three stars
Beat the seventeenth level of Angry Birds Seasons with three stars! On December 1st, Rovio released their version of an advent calendar—Angry Birds Seasons (aka "Angry Birds Christmas"). Each day leading up to the Christmas holiday, a new level will become available to Angry Birds enthusiasts worldwide. Stuck? No problem: YouTube's 23hathman has pledged to post a three-star walkthrough for each of the game's levels. In this, the December 17th installment, we learn how to beat level 17.
How To: Remove, Block & Unblock Facebook Applications
Facebook is powerful and affluential, even when it comes down to its applications. But some applications are just downright annoying! With the new layout and other changes affecting Facebook recently, you can take ease in the fact that blocking and unblocking Facebook applications is still as easy as before.
How To: Solve the last five levels of Odyssey mode in the game Osmos
The solution to the solar levels (the last few levels in the Odyssey portion of the hit iPad game Osmos) is given in this video tutorial. The trick to these levels is just to go with the flow along your epicycles and orbits.
How To: Beat level 16 of Angry Birds Seasons with three stars
Beat the sixteenth level of Angry Birds Seasons with three stars! On December 1st, Rovio released their version of an advent calendar—Angry Birds Seasons (aka "Angry Birds Christmas"). Each day leading up to the Christmas holiday, a new level will become available to Angry Birds enthusiasts worldwide. Stuck? No problem: a number of YouTube users have pledged to post a three-star walkthrough for each of the game's levels. In this, the December 16th installment, we learn how to beat level 16.
News: Massive Gawker Hack Reveals the Web's Most Stupid Passwords
This past Sunday, a group called Gnosis launched a massive hacker attack on Gawker media, one of the web's most popular blog networks (Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Jezebel, io9, Jalopnik, Kotaku, Deadspin and Fleshbot). 1.3 million registered users' passwords were compromised, and 188,279 of them were decoded and made public. The biggest takeaway? Many Gawker denizens use downright dumb passwords. (Guess they didn't see their own Lifehacker's story on avoiding such a thing.)
How To: Beat Angry Birds level 3-15 with three stars
One wonders whether these are gambling junkie pigs locked up in the basement of this large building covered in dice. Oh well, best blow them up anyway after watching this video and learning how to beat level 3-15 of Angry Birds with three stars.
How To: Beat Angry Birds level 3-13 with three stars
Your target in level 3-13 of Angry Birds is not so much a pig fortress but a series of pig-defended hilltops. Still no problem for a properly trained bird army. Watch the video for a guide to beating level 3-13 with three stars.
How To: Beat Angry Birds level 3-6 with three stars
Awww look, the piggies made a little train to pull other little piggies along. If only it would actually move, they might survive your attack. This video will show you how to beat level 3-6 of Angry Birds with three stars and stop the pigs dead in their tracks. Which they can't really make since they don't have feet... NEVER MIND!
How To: Beat Angry Birds level 3-14 with three stars
Level 3-14 of Angry Birds is sort of abstract, almost like a cubist painting. Oh Rovio, you're so good at game design. This video will show you how to beat level 3-14 with the full three stars, earning you the love and respect of all the other birds for sure.
How To: Beat Angry Birds level 3-8 with three stars
This is a straight up green pig castle. Your Angry Birds must be well-paced to take this thing down. Fortunately, this video will show you just where to but your birds to beat level 3-8 of Angry Birds for an iPhone or Android phone.
How To: Get three stars on level 3-18 of Angry Birds for the iPhone
Want to beat level 3-18 of Angry Birds with three stars? Learn how with this quick video walkthrough. While this guide is geared toward iPhone and iPod Touch users in particular, the basic technique will, of course, be the same for the Android version of the game. For all of the details, and to learn how to defeat Theme 3, Level 18 of Rovio's Angry Birds for yourself, take a peep.
How To: Beat level 15 of Angry Birds Seasons with three stars
Beat the fifteenth level of Angry Birds Seasons with three stars! On December 1st, Rovio released their version of an advent calendar—Angry Birds Seasons (aka "Angry Birds Christmas"). Each day leading up to the Christmas holiday, a new level will become available to Angry Birds enthusiasts worldwide. Stuck? No problem: YouTube's 23hathman has pledged to post a three-star walkthrough for each of the game's levels. In this, the December 15th installment, we learn how to beat level 15.
How To: Hack Battery-powered Christmas Lights Into Laptop Holiday Decorations
Christmas is the time to splurge— not just with presents and food— we're talking decorations. It's that time of year when verdurous fir trees take up half of your living room, when waving elf figurines silhouette your front windows, when Rudolph flies from the rooftops, Santa in tow. But more than anything else, it's a time when those Christmas lights double tour elctrical bills, dancing to the "12 Days of Christmas" for the whole neighborhood to see.
HowTo: Hack the New Facebook Profile Page With Your Face
Inspired by the French artist who was the first to "hack" the new Facebook profile page, tons of creative copycat versions have begun to surface (scroll all the way down). But the sickest version by far is this video + image mashup/remix created by Stinson Design: Below, learn how to hack your own profile with images (you'll have to figure out the video part on your own):
How To: Beat level 14 of Angry Birds Seasons with three stars
Beat the fourteenth level of Angry Birds Seasons with three stars! On December 1st, Rovio released their version of an advent calendar—Angry Birds Seasons (aka "Angry Birds Christmas"). Each day leading up to the Christmas holiday, a new level will become available to Angry Birds enthusiasts worldwide. Stuck? No problem: YouTube's 23hathman has pledged to post a three-star walkthrough for each of the game's levels. In this, the December 14th installment, we learn how to beat level 14.
How To: Build a simple one-string electric guitar called a Diddley Bow
If you've ever seen It Might Get Loud, you probably remember the part where Jack White makes a one-string guitar out of household scraps. This type of guitar is called a Diddley Bow, after Bo Diddley, and is about the simplest and easiest electric guitar you can make. Watch this video to learn how.
How To: Build a blue laser ray gun that will burn things magnificently
If you've ever seen Goldfinger you've probably wondered when we're going to get access to lasers that could cut a man in half. This might be it. Watch on to learn how you can, with some electrical engineering skills, make a DIY blue death ray laser gun that will cut through all kinds of stuff. No word on whether it works on British secret agents.