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  • Tesla Coil Fights Combines Electricity and Choreography [Video]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    We’ve seen quite a few Tesla-coil tricks over the years but never choreographed fighting between two guys balanced on Tesla coils. This definitely falls deeply into the don’t try this at home category–two guys in special suits are standing atop Tesla coils and directing the blasts of electricity at each other in a type of stylized combat. While their suits are clearly acting as Faraday cages to protect them from the electricity, we prefer our Faraday cages to be beefier and not attached directly to our skin. [via Obvious Winner] HTG Explains: Why It’s Good That Your Computer’s RAM Is Full 10 Awesome Improvements For Desktop Users in Windows 8 How To Play DVDs on Windows 8

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  • A Six Step Plan for Introducing Kids to Tabletop RPGs

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Introducing your kids, nieces and nephews, or other budding geeks to your geeky hobbies like role-playing games can be tricky. This handy plan lays out some simple steps to make RPGs fun for younger kids. Courtesy of Ryan Carlson over at Geek Dad, the six-step primer covers topics like simplifying the rules, varying task difficulty, fun character creation ideas, and ensuring there are adequate opportunities for in-game success. Hit up the link below for the full guide. Have a RPG-introduction success story or tip to share? Add to the conversation in the comments below. Running an Introductory Roleplaying Game for Kids [GeekDad] How To Use USB Drives With the Nexus 7 and Other Android Devices Why Does 64-Bit Windows Need a Separate “Program Files (x86)” Folder? Why Your Android Phone Isn’t Getting Operating System Updates and What You Can Do About It

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  • Tour the Cosmos with 100,000 Stars

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    The newest Google Chrome Experiment, 100,000 Stars, combines web technologies to serve up a 3D star map you can manually zoom about or sit back and enjoy a star tour. From the automated tour that explores the Milky Way with an ever increasing scale to manually moving about the cloud of stars using the zoom and pan feature, the interactive map makes it easy to explore the 100,000 closest stars to our Sun in style. Hit up the link to take it for a spin. 100,000 Stars [Google Chrome Experiments] Why Your Android Phone Isn’t Getting Operating System Updates and What You Can Do About It How To Delete, Move, or Rename Locked Files in Windows HTG Explains: Why Screen Savers Are No Longer Necessary

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  • Toolbox Mod Makes the Wii Ultra Portable

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Given the social nature of most Wii games, modifying a toolbox to serve as a Wii briefcase to make toting it to a friend’s house easy is only fitting. Courtesy of tinker SpicaJames, we find this simple but effective toolbox modification. James originally started his search by investigating getting a Pelican case for his Wii and accessories. When he found the $125 price tag prohibitive (as many of us would for such a side project) he sought out alternatives. A cheap $12 toolbox, a little impact foam, and some handy work with a pair of tin snips to cut out shapes for the Wiimotes, and he had a super cheap and easy to pack and unpack Wii briefcase. Hit up the link below to check out the pictures of his build. Wii Briefcase (translated by Google Translate) [via Hack A Day] Can Dust Actually Damage My Computer? What To Do If You Get a Virus on Your Computer Why Enabling “Do Not Track” Doesn’t Stop You From Being Tracked

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  • Google Rolls Out a New and Compact Navigation Bar

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Earlier this spring Google introduced the black navigation bar; now they’ve updated the bar to take up less space and be more useful. Although the black bar is useful in-so-far as it gives you quick access to Google services (useful, of course, only if you use those services) the new navigation bar–seen in the video above–includes an improved layout. Rather than use the bar space to spread out links which the user may or may not use the service links are now tucked into a mouse-over menu accessed by hovering on the Google logo. The majority of the space previously just taken up by links and the black bar itself is now a a search box. If you don’t already see the new interface, look for it to appear in your Google account within the next few days. Hit up the link below to read the official announcement. The Next Stage In Our Redesign [The Official Google Blog] HTG Explains: Understanding Routers, Switches, and Network Hardware How to Use Offline Files in Windows to Cache Your Networked Files Offline How to See What Web Sites Your Computer is Secretly Connecting To

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  • Recycle Old Hardware into a Showcase Table

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you have a plethora of old hardware laying around, especially motherboard and expansion cards, this obsolete-hardware-to-table hack is just the ticket for your office or geek cave. The table’s design is simple. They took a regular coffee table, affixed old mother boards to it and then, over the motherboards and elevated by acrylic standoffs, they put a heavy sheet of acrylic to serve as the table top. You could replicate the design with any sort of old hardware that is interesting to look at: memory modules your company is sending off to be recycled, old digital cameras, mechanisms from peripherals headed for the scrap heap, etc. Hit up the link below to see more photos of the table. Circuit Table [Chris Harrison] How to Make and Install an Electric Outlet in a Cabinet or DeskHow To Recover After Your Email Password Is CompromisedHow to Clean Your Filthy Keyboard in the Dishwasher (Without Ruining it)

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  • Hurricanes Since 1851 [Visualization]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Much like you can map out volcanic eruptions to create a neat pattern around the Pacific Ring of Fire, you can also map out hurricanes and tropical storms. Check out this high-resolution visualization to see the pattern formed by a century and a half of storms. Courtesy of UXBlog and data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the above projection shows the path of tropical storms around the equator (the perspective, if the map looks unfamiliar to you, is bottom up with Antarctica and the lower portion of South America in the center). For a full resolution copy of the image and more information about how it was rendered, hit up the link below. Hurricanes Since 1851 [via Cool Infographics] How To Get a Better Wireless Signal and Reduce Wireless Network Interference How To Troubleshoot Internet Connection Problems 7 Ways To Free Up Hard Disk Space On Windows

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  • DIY CFL-Based Photography Light Is Bright and Cheap

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    This DIY build combines a bunch of off-the-shelf hardware parts for a cheap–both to build and run–continuous lighting studio lamp. The build guide is heavy on details regarding the construction of the body but light on wiring details so you’ll definitely want to brush up on your basic socket wiring skills before tackling it. Otherwise, it’s a great guide to building an inexpensive continuous lighting setup. Build A CFL Based Continuous Light Source [DIY Photography] How To Be Your Own Personal Clone Army (With a Little Photoshop) How To Properly Scan a Photograph (And Get An Even Better Image) The HTG Guide to Hiding Your Data in a TrueCrypt Hidden Volume

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  • Rasbperry Pi Mod Offers One Button Audiobook Playback

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    How do you design an audiobook player for an elderly book lover who doesn’t want to wrestle with new technology? Simple and with a single button interface is a great place to start. This clever and thoughtful build comes to us courtesy of tinker Michael Clemens. His wife’s grandmother, in her 90s, is visually impaired but still loves to take in books via audiobooks. In an effort to make modern MP3 audiobooks accessible to her, Michael built a dedicated audiobook reader based off Rasbperry Pi and programmed it to use a single button. The system boots, loads the audiobook it finds on the attached USB drive, and loads up its track position from memory. Press the button to resume play or, for a refresher, hold the button for four seconds to start the track over. While you may not be in the market for a one-button audiobook player for an elderly relative, the same simple design could be easily adopted, via new scripts, to another function. Hit up the link below to read more about the build. The One Button Audiobook Player [via Hack A Day] How To Play DVDs on Windows 8 6 Start Menu Replacements for Windows 8 What Is the Purpose of the “Do Not Cover This Hole” Hole on Hard Drives?

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  • Legend of Zelda: Pot Smasher [Video]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Admit it, your favorite part of playing The Legend of Zelda games is wantonly smashing the crap out of unsuspecting pots. When we play games in The Legend of Zelda franchise, we like to think that we’re single handedly keeping the entire Potters’ Guild of Hyrule employed. [via Geeks Are Sexy] Secure Yourself by Using Two-Step Verification on These 16 Web Services How to Fix a Stuck Pixel on an LCD Monitor How to Factory Reset Your Android Phone or Tablet When It Won’t Boot

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  • What You Said: How Do You Sync Your Files Between Your Devices?

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Earlier this week we asked you to share your tricks and techniques for keeping files synced between your different devices. Now we’re back to highlight how you do it. Overwhelmingly, you do it with Dropbox. Despite the proliferation of different platforms there has been little inroads made into any sort of universal syncing. We heard from quite a few different readers and by far the most popular option was to use Dropbox to ensure that you could get the music and documents you wanted whether you were on your desktop, laptop, netbook, iPhone, or Android device. In the same breath however, nearly all of your added on an additional service. The real message, it would seem, is that there simply isn’t a service good enough to meet all of the needs most users have, all of the time. The most common response to our Ask the Readers question was “Dropbox and…”; this pattern is illustrated nicely in the following quotes. Kim writes: Dropbox for all kinds of things. (Would also use Sugarsync, but it doesn’t support Linux.) Lastpass for passwords. Xmarks for bookmarks, although I’m going to try Firefox Sync soon. Evernote for things like shell commands I might want someday. Google Beta for music, once I get it uploaded. I have an Amazon account too, but Google gives you more space. Gmail. Michael finds himself in a similar situation and writes: How to Make and Install an Electric Outlet in a Cabinet or DeskHow To Recover After Your Email Password Is CompromisedHow to Clean Your Filthy Keyboard in the Dishwasher (Without Ruining it)

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  • Poner aplicaci&oacute;n Asp.Net en modo OFFLINE

    - by Jason Ulloa
    Una de las opciones que todo aplicación debería tener es el poder ponerse en modo OFFLINE para evitar el acceso de usuarios. Esto es completamente necesario cuando queremos realizar cambios a nuestra aplicación (cambiar algo, poner una actualización, etc) o a nuestra base de datos y evitarnos problemas con los usuarios que se encuentren logueados dentro de la aplicación en ese momento. Muchos ejemplos a través de la Web exponen la forma de realizar esta tarea utilizando dos técnicas: 1. La primera de ellas es utilizar el archivo App_Offline.htm sin embargo, esta técnica tiene un inconveniente. Y es que, una vez que hemos subido el archivo a nuestra aplicación esta se bloquea completamente y no tenemos forma de volver a ponerla ONLINE a menos que eliminemos el archivo. Es decir no podemos controlarla. 2. La segunda de ellas es el utilizar la etiqueta httpRuntime, pero nuevamente tenemos el mismo problema. Al habilitar el modo OFFLINE mediante esta etiqueta, tampoco podremos acceder a un modo de administración para cambiarla. Un ejemplo de la etiqueta httpRuntime <configuration> <system.web> <httpRuntime enable="false" /> </system.web> </configuration>   Tomando en cuenta lo anterior, lo mas optimo seria que podamos por medio de alguna pagina de administración colocar nuestro sitio en modo OFFLINE, pero manteniendo el acceso a la pagina de administración para poder volver a cambiar el valor que pondrá nuestra aplicación nuevamente en modo ONLINE. Para ello, utilizaremos el web.config de nuestra aplicación y una pequeña clase que se encargara de Leer y escribir los valores. Lo primero será, abrir nuestro web.config y definir dentro del appSettings dos nuevas KEY que contendrán los valores para el modo OFFLINE de nuestra aplicación: <appSettings> <add key="IsOffline" value="false" /> <add key="IsOfflineMessage" value="Sistema temporalmente no disponible por tareas de mantenimiento." /> </appSettings>   En las KEY anteriores tenemos el IsOffLine con value de false, esto es para indicarle a nuestra aplicación que actualmente su modo de funcionamiento es ONLINE, este valor será el que posteriormente cambiemos a TRUE para volver al modo OFFLINE. Nuestra segunda KEY (IsOfflineMessage) posee el value (Sistema temporalmente….) que será mostrado al usuario como un mensaje cuando el sitio este en modo OFFLINE. Una vez definidas nuestras dos KEY en el web.config, escribiremos una clase personalizada para leer y escribir los valores. Así que, agregamos un nuevo elemento de tipo clase al proyecto llamado SettingsRules y la definimos como Public. Está clase contendrá dos métodos, el primero será para leer los valores: public string readIsOnlineSettings(string sectionToRead) { Configuration cfg = WebConfigurationManager.OpenWebConfiguration(System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironment.ApplicationVirtualPath); KeyValueConfigurationElement isOnlineSettings = (KeyValueConfigurationElement)cfg.AppSettings.Settings[sectionToRead]; return isOnlineSettings.Value; }   El segundo método, será el encargado de escribir los nuevos valores al web.config public bool saveIsOnlineSettings(string sectionToWrite, string value) { bool succesFullySaved;   try { Configuration cfg = WebConfigurationManager.OpenWebConfiguration(System.Web.Hosting.HostingEnvironment.ApplicationVirtualPath); KeyValueConfigurationElement repositorySettings = (KeyValueConfigurationElement)cfg.AppSettings.Settings[sectionToWrite];   if (repositorySettings != null) { repositorySettings.Value = value; cfg.Save(ConfigurationSaveMode.Modified); } succesFullySaved = true; } catch (Exception) { succesFullySaved = false; } return succesFullySaved; }   Por último, definiremos en nuestra clase una región llamada instance, que contendrá un método encargado de devolver una instancia de la clase (esto para no tener que hacerlo luego) #region instance   private static SettingsRules m_instance;   // Properties public static SettingsRules Instance { get { if (m_instance == null) { m_instance = new SettingsRules(); } return m_instance; } }   #endregion instance   Con esto, nuestra clase principal esta completa. Así que pasaremos a la implementación de las páginas y el resto de código que completará la funcionalidad.   Para complementar la tarea del web.config utilizaremos el fabuloso GLOBAL.ASAX, este contendrá el código encargado de detectar si nuestra aplicación tiene el valor de ONLINE o OFFLINE y además de bloquear todas las paginas y directorios excepto el que le hayamos definido como administrador, esto para luego poder volver a configurar el sitio.   El evento del Global.Asax que utilizaremos será el Application_BeginRequest   protected void Application_BeginRequest(Object sender, EventArgs e) {   if (Convert.ToBoolean(SettingsRules.Instance.readIsOnlineSettings("IsOffline"))) {   string Virtual = Request.Path.Substring(0, Request.Path.LastIndexOf("/") + 1);   if (Virtual.ToLower().IndexOf("/admin/") == -1) { //We don't makes action, is admin section Server.Transfer("~/TemporarilyOfflineMessage.aspx"); }   } } La primer Línea del IF, verifica si el atributo del web.config es True o False, si es true toma la dirección WEB que se ha solicitado y la incluimos en un IF para verificar si corresponde a la Sección admin (está sección no es mas que un folder en nuestra aplicación llamado admin y puede ser cambiado a cualquier otro). Si el resultado de ese if es –1 quiere decir que no coincide, entonces, esa será la bandera que nos permitirá bloquear inmediatamente la pagina actual, transfiriendo al usuario a una pagina de mantenimiento. Ahora, en nuestra carpeta Admin crearemos una nueva pagina asp.net llamada OnlineSettings.aspx para actualizar y leer los datos del web.config y una pagina Default.aspx para pruebas. Nuestra página OnlineSettings tendrá dos pasos importantes: 1. Leer los datos actuales de configuración protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) { if (!IsPostBack) { IsOffline.Checked = Convert.ToBoolean(mySettings.readIsOnlineSettings("IsOffline")); OfflineMessage.Text = mySettings.readIsOnlineSettings("IsOfflineMessage"); } }   2. Actualizar los datos con los nuevos valores. protected void UpdateButton_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) { string htmlMessage = OfflineMessage.Text.Replace(Environment.NewLine, "<br />");   // Update the Application variables Application.Lock(); if (IsOffline.Checked) { mySettings.saveIsOnlineSettings("IsOffline", "True"); mySettings.saveIsOnlineSettings("IsOfflineMessage", htmlMessage); } else { mySettings.saveIsOnlineSettings("IsOffline", "false"); mySettings.saveIsOnlineSettings("IsOfflineMessage", htmlMessage); }   Application.UnLock(); }   Por último en la raíz de la aplicación, crearemos una nueva página aspx llamada TemporarilyOfflineMessage.aspx que será la que se muestre cuando se bloquee la aplicación. Al final nuestra aplicación se vería algo así Página bloqueada Configuración del Bloqueo Y para terminar la aplicación de ejemplo

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  • Computer-controlled Lights and Music Synced into Christmas Rock Spectacular

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    This spectacular computer controlled and synchronized lighting display combines thousands of feet of LED lighting, multiple controllers, and a rock medley to great effect. The above display started life as the personal Christmas light display of Sioux Falls, ND resident Joe Noe. When Noe moved, he donated his display to a local mall in order to preserve the tradition of people stopping by to see it and making donations to the Make-A-Wish foundation. The local mall, Western Mall, expanded the display and added in even more LEDs and controllers. The end result is an impressive display synced to a Christmas rock medley by UK musician Richard Campbell. [via Mashable] Secure Yourself by Using Two-Step Verification on These 16 Web Services How to Fix a Stuck Pixel on an LCD Monitor How to Factory Reset Your Android Phone or Tablet When It Won’t Boot

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  • The Making of Middle Earth [Video]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    The Lord of the Rings movie franchise was filmed in stunning New Zealand locations. The Hobbit continues that tradition; check out this mini-documentary to see the scouting process and take a sneak peek at the film. The Making of Middle Earth [via Mashable] How to Factory Reset Your Android Phone or Tablet When It Won’t Boot Our Geek Trivia App for Windows 8 is Now Available Everywhere How To Boot Your Android Phone or Tablet Into Safe Mode

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  • The Great Ball Contraption: A Massive Automated LEGO Construction

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    This massive LEGO construction combines 17 distinct modules into a lengthy factory-like conveyance system for five hundred LEGO balls. The variety and creativity of the methods employed is, dare we say, dazzling. Slotted robotic arms? Screw lifts? Handshake object transfers? Catapults that shoot baskets? The sheer number of creative and novel solutions LEGO builder Akiyuky employs to move the balls through his machine left us mesmerized for the whole seven minute video. Akiyuky’s LEGO Blog (Google Translate Interpreted)[via Make] How To Create a Customized Windows 7 Installation Disc With Integrated Updates How to Get Pro Features in Windows Home Versions with Third Party Tools HTG Explains: Is ReadyBoost Worth Using?

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  • DIY LEGO Settlers of Catan Board Mixes Two Geeky Hobbies in One

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    While Settlers of Catan (a modular board game) and LEGO (a modular building system) seems destined to fit perfectly together, the execution of a functional Catan board out of LEGO bricks is tricky. Check out this polished build to see it done right. Courtesy of LEGO enthusiast Micheal Thomas, this Settlers of Catan build overcomes the problem of fitting the numerous modular Catan board pieces together by using an underlying framework to provided a preset pocket for each tile. The framework also doubles as a perfect place to lady down the roads and settlements pieces in the game. Currently the project is listed in LEGO Cuusoo–a sort of LEGOland version of Kickstarter–so pay it a visit and log a vote in support of the project. You can also check out the Michael’s Flickr stream to see multiple photos of the build in order to get ideas for your own Settlers of Catan set. LEGO Settlers of Catan [via Mashable] How to Use an Xbox 360 Controller On Your Windows PC Download the Official How-To Geek Trivia App for Windows 8 How to Banish Duplicate Photos with VisiPic

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  • Battery management doesn't recognize removal of power supply

    - by Jason
    I have a Lenovo Y460p running Ubuntu 12.04 (64-bit). The battery does charge normally, but unplugging the power supply only very briefly shows the correct battery indicator. After about 1 second, it reverts to the charging indicator. If the power supply is connected the power statistics show: "Supply Yes" "Online Yes" If it is not connected it shows: "Supply Yes" "Online No" My problem is almost exactly like the one in this post: Ubuntu 11.10 power management does not recognize removal of power supply The only exception is that my system does not dual-boot with Windows. This is Ubuntu only. The computer in the other post is a Lenovo as well; not sure if that has anything to do with it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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  • Set Up Anti-Brick Protection to Safeguard and Supercharge Your Wii

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    We’ve shown you how to hack your Wii for homebrew software, emulators, and DVD playback, now it’s time to safeguard your Wii against bricking and fix some annoyances—like that stupid “Press A” health screen. The thing about console modding and jailbreaking—save for the rare company like Amazon that doesn’t seem to care—is companies will play a game of cat and mouse to try and knock modded console out of commission, undo your awesome mods, or even brick your device. Although extreme moves like bricktacular-updates are rare once you modify your device you have to be vigilante in protecting it against updates that could hurt your sweet setup. Today we’re going to walk you through hardening your Wii and giving it the best brick protection available Latest Features How-To Geek ETC The 50 Best Registry Hacks that Make Windows Better The How-To Geek Holiday Gift Guide (Geeky Stuff We Like) LCD? LED? Plasma? The How-To Geek Guide to HDTV Technology The How-To Geek Guide to Learning Photoshop, Part 8: Filters Improve Digital Photography by Calibrating Your Monitor Our Favorite Tech: What We’re Thankful For at How-To Geek Snowy Christmas House Personas Theme for Firefox The Mystic Underground Tunnel Wallpaper Ubunchu! – The Ubuntu Manga Available in Multiple Languages Breathe New Life into Your PlayStation 2 Peripherals by Hooking Them Up to Your Computer Move the Window Control Buttons to the Left Side in Windows Fun and Colorful Firefox Theme for Windows 7

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  • Methods to Manage/Document "one-off" Reports

    - by Jason Holland
    I'm a programmer that also does database stuff and I get a lot of so-called one-time report requests and recurring report requests. I work at a company that has a SQL Server database that we integrate third-party data with and we also have some third-party vendors that we have to use their proprietary reporting system to extract data in flat file format from that we don't integrate into SQL Server for security reasons. To generate many of these reports I have to query data from various systems, write small scripts to combine data from the separate systems, cry, pull my hair, curse the last guy's name that made the report before me, etc. My question is, what are some good methods for documenting the steps taken to generate these reports so the next poor soul that has to do them won't curse my name? As of now I just have a folder with subfolders per project with the selects and scripts that generated the last report but that seems like a "poor man's" solution. :)

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  • This Week in Geek History: Zelda Turns 25, Birth of the Printing Press, and the Unveiling of ENIAC

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Every week we bring you interesting highlights from the history of geekdom. This week we take a look at The Legend of Zelda’s 25th anniversary, the Gutenberg press, and the unveiling of primitive super computer ENIAC. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC Should You Delete Windows 7 Service Pack Backup Files to Save Space? What Can Super Mario Teach Us About Graphics Technology? Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is Released: But Should You Install It? How To Make Hundreds of Complex Photo Edits in Seconds With Photoshop Actions How to Enable User-Specific Wireless Networks in Windows 7 How to Use Google Chrome as Your Default PDF Reader (the Easy Way) Reclaim Vertical UI Space by Moving Your Tabs to the Side in Firefox Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles – An Awesome Game for Linux and Windows How Star Wars Changed the World [Infographic] Tabs Visual Manager Adds Thumbnailed Tab Switching to Chrome Daisies and Rye Swaying in the Summer Wind Wallpaper Read On Phone Pushes Data from Your Desktop to the Appropriate Android App

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  • This Week in Geek History: HAL Goes Live, First Alien Moon Landing, First Fighter Jet Ejection Seat

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Every week we bring you interesting facts from the annuals of Geekdom. This week in Geek History saw the birth of HAL, the first landing on an alien moon, and the first real-world test of a fighter jet ejection seat. Latest Features How-To Geek ETC HTG Projects: How to Create Your Own Custom Papercraft Toy How to Combine Rescue Disks to Create the Ultimate Windows Repair Disk What is Camera Raw, and Why Would a Professional Prefer it to JPG? The How-To Geek Guide to Audio Editing: The Basics How To Boot 10 Different Live CDs From 1 USB Flash Drive The 20 Best How-To Geek Linux Articles of 2010 Calvin and Hobbes Mix It Up in this Fight Club Parody [Video] Choose from 124 Awesome HTML5 Games to Play at Mozilla Labs Game On Gallery Google Translate for Android Updates to Include Conversation Mode and More Move Your Photoshop Scratch Disk for Improved Performance Winter Storm Clouds on the Horizon Wallpaper Existential Angry Birds [Video]

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  • Electronic Door Lock Uses QR Codes As Keys

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    We’ve seen magnetic cards and RFID cards used as keys before, but QR codes? Check out the video to see how a group of Cornell University students developed a visual key card. Rather than use magnetic stripes or RFID proximity antennas, their build relies on decoding a passkey stored in a QR code–check out the above video to see it in action and hit up the link below for more information. QR Code Door Lock [via Hack A Day] How To Create a Customized Windows 7 Installation Disc With Integrated Updates How to Get Pro Features in Windows Home Versions with Third Party Tools HTG Explains: Is ReadyBoost Worth Using?

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  • DIY Internet Radio Maintains Controls and Interface of Vintage Case

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Updating an old radio for modern inputs/streaming audio isn’t a new trick but this DIY mod stands out by maintaining the original controls and interface style. Rather than replace the needle-style selector window with a modern text-readout or cover-flow style interface, modder Florian Amrhein opted to replace the old rectangular station selector with an LCD screen that emulates the same red-needle layout. Using the same knob that previously moved the needle on the analog interface, you can slide the digital selector back and forth to select Internet radio stations. Watch the video above to see it in action and hit up the link below for the build guide. 1930s Internet Radio [via Hack A Day] HTG Explains: Does Your Android Phone Need an Antivirus? How To Use USB Drives With the Nexus 7 and Other Android Devices Why Does 64-Bit Windows Need a Separate “Program Files (x86)” Folder?

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  • Improvements to Joshua Bloch's Builder Design Pattern?

    - by Jason Fotinatos
    Back in 2007, I read an article about Joshua Blochs take on the "builder pattern" and how it could be modified to improve the overuse of constructors and setters, especially when an object has a large number of properties, most of which are optional. A brief summary of this design pattern is articled here [http://rwhansen.blogspot.com/2007/07/theres-builder-pattern-that-joshua.html]. I liked the idea, and have been using it since. The problem with it, while it is very clean and nice to use from the client perspective, implementing it can be a pain in the bum! There are so many different places in the object where a single property is reference, and thus creating the object, and adding a new property takes a lot of time. So...I had an idea. First, an example object in Joshua Bloch's style: Josh Bloch Style: public class OptionsJoshBlochStyle { private final String option1; private final int option2; // ...other options here <<<< public String getOption1() { return option1; } public int getOption2() { return option2; } public static class Builder { private String option1; private int option2; // other options here <<<<< public Builder option1(String option1) { this.option1 = option1; return this; } public Builder option2(int option2) { this.option2 = option2; return this; } public OptionsJoshBlochStyle build() { return new OptionsJoshBlochStyle(this); } } private OptionsJoshBlochStyle(Builder builder) { this.option1 = builder.option1; this.option2 = builder.option2; // other options here <<<<<< } public static void main(String[] args) { OptionsJoshBlochStyle optionsVariation1 = new OptionsJoshBlochStyle.Builder().option1("firefox").option2(1).build(); OptionsJoshBlochStyle optionsVariation2 = new OptionsJoshBlochStyle.Builder().option1("chrome").option2(2).build(); } } Now my "improved" version: public class Options { // note that these are not final private String option1; private int option2; // ...other options here public String getOption1() { return option1; } public int getOption2() { return option2; } public static class Builder { private final Options options = new Options(); public Builder option1(String option1) { this.options.option1 = option1; return this; } public Builder option2(int option2) { this.options.option2 = option2; return this; } public Options build() { return options; } } private Options() { } public static void main(String[] args) { Options optionsVariation1 = new Options.Builder().option1("firefox").option2(1).build(); Options optionsVariation2 = new Options.Builder().option1("chrome").option2(2).build(); } } As you can see in my "improved version", there are 2 less places in which we need to add code about any addition properties (or options, in this case)! The only negative that I can see is that the instance variables of the outer class are not able to be final. But, the class is still immutable without this. Is there really any downside to this improvement in maintainability? There has to be a reason which he repeated the properties within the nested class that I'm not seeing?

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  • Red Dot Scope Makes Sighting In Long Lenses a Snap

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you’ve ever used a high power lens, you know how tricky it can be to sight a distant subject as the field of view through the lens is so tiny. This hack takes care of that problem by using a zero-magnification red dot rifle scope. Chris Malcolm enjoys photographing birds and other wildlife with high power lenses. The problem, when shooting with huge 500mm lens and other high power lenses, is that they’re practically telescopes and acquiring a fast moving target like a bird using a through-the-lens technique is very tricky. Malcolm’s solution hinges on mounting a zero-magnification red dot rifle scope in parallel with the lens. His mock up is a bit unpolished (although we can understand not wanting to run out and buy a brand new black scope just for the experiment) but works great to get him on target. Hit up the link below to read more about his build, how be created the rail mount for the scope, and why he opted to mount it to the barrel of the lens and not the hot shoe mount on the camera. 500mm Reflex Lens with Red Dot Sight [via DIY Photography] Make Your Own Windows 8 Start Button with Zero Memory Usage Reader Request: How To Repair Blurry Photos HTG Explains: What Can You Find in an Email Header?

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