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  • DIY Grid-It Clone Organizes Your Tech Gear in Style

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you’re looking for a customizable way to organize your cables and small electronics, this DIY Grid-It clone uses a series of elastic straps to hold everything in place. Grid-It is a commercial cable and device organizer that is, essentially, a stiff insert for your briefcase or bag that is wrapped in inter-woven elastic straps. You lift and slide the straps the secure your items in place creating, on the fly, customized organization for your cables and small devices. This DIY project recreations the Grid-It system using an old hard cover book as the foundation for the straps–it doubles the amount of usable space, provides a stiff cover, and (if you select a striking book) looks striking at the same time. Hit up the link below to check out the full DIY guide. DIY Project: Vintage Book Travel-Tech Organizer [Design Sponge via GeekSugar] HTG Explains: When Do You Need to Update Your Drivers? How to Make the Kindle Fire Silk Browser *Actually* Fast! Amazon’s New Kindle Fire Tablet: the How-To Geek Review

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  • Help with Collision Resolution?

    - by Milo
    I'm trying to learn about physics by trying to make a simplified GTA 2 clone. My only problem is collision resolution. Everything else works great. I have a rigid body class and from there cars and a wheel class: class RigidBody extends Entity { //linear private Vector2D velocity = new Vector2D(); private Vector2D forces = new Vector2D(); private OBB2D predictionRect = new OBB2D(new Vector2D(), 1.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f); private float mass; private Vector2D deltaVec = new Vector2D(); private Vector2D v = new Vector2D(); //angular private float angularVelocity; private float torque; private float inertia; //graphical private Vector2D halfSize = new Vector2D(); private Bitmap image; private Matrix mat = new Matrix(); private float[] Vector2Ds = new float[2]; private Vector2D tangent = new Vector2D(); private static Vector2D worldRelVec = new Vector2D(); private static Vector2D relWorldVec = new Vector2D(); private static Vector2D pointVelVec = new Vector2D(); public RigidBody() { //set these defaults so we don't get divide by zeros mass = 1.0f; inertia = 1.0f; setLayer(LAYER_OBJECTS); } protected void rectChanged() { if(getWorld() != null) { getWorld().updateDynamic(this); } } //intialize out parameters public void initialize(Vector2D halfSize, float mass, Bitmap bitmap) { //store physical parameters this.halfSize = halfSize; this.mass = mass; image = bitmap; inertia = (1.0f / 20.0f) * (halfSize.x * halfSize.x) * (halfSize.y * halfSize.y) * mass; RectF rect = new RectF(); float scalar = 10.0f; rect.left = (int)-halfSize.x * scalar; rect.top = (int)-halfSize.y * scalar; rect.right = rect.left + (int)(halfSize.x * 2.0f * scalar); rect.bottom = rect.top + (int)(halfSize.y * 2.0f * scalar); setRect(rect); predictionRect.set(rect); } public void setLocation(Vector2D position, float angle) { getRect().set(position, getWidth(), getHeight(), angle); rectChanged(); } public void setPredictionLocation(Vector2D position, float angle) { getPredictionRect().set(position, getWidth(), getHeight(), angle); } public void setPredictionCenter(Vector2D center) { getPredictionRect().moveTo(center); } public void setPredictionAngle(float angle) { predictionRect.setAngle(angle); } public Vector2D getPosition() { return getRect().getCenter(); } public OBB2D getPredictionRect() { return predictionRect; } @Override public void update(float timeStep) { doUpdate(false,timeStep); } public void doUpdate(boolean prediction, float timeStep) { //integrate physics //linear Vector2D acceleration = Vector2D.scalarDivide(forces, mass); if(prediction) { Vector2D velocity = Vector2D.add(this.velocity, Vector2D.scalarMultiply(acceleration, timeStep)); Vector2D c = getRect().getCenter(); c = Vector2D.add(getRect().getCenter(), Vector2D.scalarMultiply(velocity , timeStep)); setPredictionCenter(c); //forces = new Vector2D(0,0); //clear forces } else { velocity.x += (acceleration.x * timeStep); velocity.y += (acceleration.y * timeStep); //velocity = Vector2D.add(velocity, Vector2D.scalarMultiply(acceleration, timeStep)); Vector2D c = getRect().getCenter(); v.x = getRect().getCenter().getX() + (velocity.x * timeStep); v.y = getRect().getCenter().getY() + (velocity.y * timeStep); deltaVec.x = v.x - c.x; deltaVec.y = v.y - c.y; deltaVec.normalize(); setCenter(v.x, v.y); forces.x = 0; //clear forces forces.y = 0; } //angular float angAcc = torque / inertia; if(prediction) { float angularVelocity = this.angularVelocity + angAcc * timeStep; setPredictionAngle(getAngle() + angularVelocity * timeStep); //torque = 0; //clear torque } else { angularVelocity += angAcc * timeStep; setAngle(getAngle() + angularVelocity * timeStep); torque = 0; //clear torque } } public void updatePrediction(float timeStep) { doUpdate(true, timeStep); } //take a relative Vector2D and make it a world Vector2D public Vector2D relativeToWorld(Vector2D relative) { mat.reset(); Vector2Ds[0] = relative.x; Vector2Ds[1] = relative.y; mat.postRotate(JMath.radToDeg(getAngle())); mat.mapVectors(Vector2Ds); relWorldVec.x = Vector2Ds[0]; relWorldVec.y = Vector2Ds[1]; return new Vector2D(Vector2Ds[0], Vector2Ds[1]); } //take a world Vector2D and make it a relative Vector2D public Vector2D worldToRelative(Vector2D world) { mat.reset(); Vector2Ds[0] = world.x; Vector2Ds[1] = world.y; mat.postRotate(JMath.radToDeg(-getAngle())); mat.mapVectors(Vector2Ds); return new Vector2D(Vector2Ds[0], Vector2Ds[1]); } //velocity of a point on body public Vector2D pointVelocity(Vector2D worldOffset) { tangent.x = -worldOffset.y; tangent.y = worldOffset.x; return Vector2D.add( Vector2D.scalarMultiply(tangent, angularVelocity) , velocity); } public void applyForce(Vector2D worldForce, Vector2D worldOffset) { //add linear force forces.x += worldForce.x; forces.y += worldForce.y; //add associated torque torque += Vector2D.cross(worldOffset, worldForce); } @Override public void draw( GraphicsContext c) { c.drawRotatedScaledBitmap(image, getPosition().x, getPosition().y, getWidth(), getHeight(), getAngle()); } public Vector2D getVelocity() { return velocity; } public void setVelocity(Vector2D velocity) { this.velocity = velocity; } public Vector2D getDeltaVec() { return deltaVec; } } Vehicle public class Wheel { private Vector2D forwardVec; private Vector2D sideVec; private float wheelTorque; private float wheelSpeed; private float wheelInertia; private float wheelRadius; private Vector2D position = new Vector2D(); public Wheel(Vector2D position, float radius) { this.position = position; setSteeringAngle(0); wheelSpeed = 0; wheelRadius = radius; wheelInertia = (radius * radius) * 1.1f; } public void setSteeringAngle(float newAngle) { Matrix mat = new Matrix(); float []vecArray = new float[4]; //forward Vector vecArray[0] = 0; vecArray[1] = 1; //side Vector vecArray[2] = -1; vecArray[3] = 0; mat.postRotate(newAngle / (float)Math.PI * 180.0f); mat.mapVectors(vecArray); forwardVec = new Vector2D(vecArray[0], vecArray[1]); sideVec = new Vector2D(vecArray[2], vecArray[3]); } public void addTransmissionTorque(float newValue) { wheelTorque += newValue; } public float getWheelSpeed() { return wheelSpeed; } public Vector2D getAnchorPoint() { return position; } public Vector2D calculateForce(Vector2D relativeGroundSpeed, float timeStep, boolean prediction) { //calculate speed of tire patch at ground Vector2D patchSpeed = Vector2D.scalarMultiply(Vector2D.scalarMultiply( Vector2D.negative(forwardVec), wheelSpeed), wheelRadius); //get velocity difference between ground and patch Vector2D velDifference = Vector2D.add(relativeGroundSpeed , patchSpeed); //project ground speed onto side axis Float forwardMag = new Float(0.0f); Vector2D sideVel = velDifference.project(sideVec); Vector2D forwardVel = velDifference.project(forwardVec, forwardMag); //calculate super fake friction forces //calculate response force Vector2D responseForce = Vector2D.scalarMultiply(Vector2D.negative(sideVel), 2.0f); responseForce = Vector2D.subtract(responseForce, forwardVel); float topSpeed = 500.0f; //calculate torque on wheel wheelTorque += forwardMag * wheelRadius; //integrate total torque into wheel wheelSpeed += wheelTorque / wheelInertia * timeStep; //top speed limit (kind of a hack) if(wheelSpeed > topSpeed) { wheelSpeed = topSpeed; } //clear our transmission torque accumulator wheelTorque = 0; //return force acting on body return responseForce; } public void setTransmissionTorque(float newValue) { wheelTorque = newValue; } public float getTransmissionTourque() { return wheelTorque; } public void setWheelSpeed(float speed) { wheelSpeed = speed; } } //our vehicle object public class Vehicle extends RigidBody { private Wheel [] wheels = new Wheel[4]; private boolean throttled = false; public void initialize(Vector2D halfSize, float mass, Bitmap bitmap) { //front wheels wheels[0] = new Wheel(new Vector2D(halfSize.x, halfSize.y), 0.45f); wheels[1] = new Wheel(new Vector2D(-halfSize.x, halfSize.y), 0.45f); //rear wheels wheels[2] = new Wheel(new Vector2D(halfSize.x, -halfSize.y), 0.75f); wheels[3] = new Wheel(new Vector2D(-halfSize.x, -halfSize.y), 0.75f); super.initialize(halfSize, mass, bitmap); } public void setSteering(float steering) { float steeringLock = 0.13f; //apply steering angle to front wheels wheels[0].setSteeringAngle(steering * steeringLock); wheels[1].setSteeringAngle(steering * steeringLock); } public void setThrottle(float throttle, boolean allWheel) { float torque = 85.0f; throttled = true; //apply transmission torque to back wheels if (allWheel) { wheels[0].addTransmissionTorque(throttle * torque); wheels[1].addTransmissionTorque(throttle * torque); } wheels[2].addTransmissionTorque(throttle * torque); wheels[3].addTransmissionTorque(throttle * torque); } public void setBrakes(float brakes) { float brakeTorque = 15.0f; //apply brake torque opposing wheel vel for (Wheel wheel : wheels) { float wheelVel = wheel.getWheelSpeed(); wheel.addTransmissionTorque(-wheelVel * brakeTorque * brakes); } } public void doUpdate(float timeStep, boolean prediction) { for (Wheel wheel : wheels) { float wheelVel = wheel.getWheelSpeed(); //apply negative force to naturally slow down car if(!throttled && !prediction) wheel.addTransmissionTorque(-wheelVel * 0.11f); Vector2D worldWheelOffset = relativeToWorld(wheel.getAnchorPoint()); Vector2D worldGroundVel = pointVelocity(worldWheelOffset); Vector2D relativeGroundSpeed = worldToRelative(worldGroundVel); Vector2D relativeResponseForce = wheel.calculateForce(relativeGroundSpeed, timeStep,prediction); Vector2D worldResponseForce = relativeToWorld(relativeResponseForce); applyForce(worldResponseForce, worldWheelOffset); } //no throttling yet this frame throttled = false; if(prediction) { super.updatePrediction(timeStep); } else { super.update(timeStep); } } @Override public void update(float timeStep) { doUpdate(timeStep,false); } public void updatePrediction(float timeStep) { doUpdate(timeStep,true); } public void inverseThrottle() { float scalar = 0.2f; for(Wheel wheel : wheels) { wheel.setTransmissionTorque(-wheel.getTransmissionTourque() * scalar); wheel.setWheelSpeed(-wheel.getWheelSpeed() * 0.1f); } } } And my big hack collision resolution: private void update() { camera.setPosition((vehicle.getPosition().x * camera.getScale()) - ((getWidth() ) / 2.0f), (vehicle.getPosition().y * camera.getScale()) - ((getHeight() ) / 2.0f)); //camera.move(input.getAnalogStick().getStickValueX() * 15.0f, input.getAnalogStick().getStickValueY() * 15.0f); if(input.isPressed(ControlButton.BUTTON_GAS)) { vehicle.setThrottle(1.0f, false); } if(input.isPressed(ControlButton.BUTTON_STEAL_CAR)) { vehicle.setThrottle(-1.0f, false); } if(input.isPressed(ControlButton.BUTTON_BRAKE)) { vehicle.setBrakes(1.0f); } vehicle.setSteering(input.getAnalogStick().getStickValueX()); //vehicle.update(16.6666666f / 1000.0f); boolean colided = false; vehicle.updatePrediction(16.66666f / 1000.0f); List<Entity> buildings = world.queryStaticSolid(vehicle,vehicle.getPredictionRect()); if(buildings.size() > 0) { colided = true; } if(!colided) { vehicle.update(16.66f / 1000.0f); } else { Vector2D delta = vehicle.getDeltaVec(); vehicle.setVelocity(Vector2D.negative(vehicle.getVelocity().multiply(0.2f)). add(delta.multiply(-1.0f))); vehicle.inverseThrottle(); } } Here is OBB public class OBB2D { // Corners of the box, where 0 is the lower left. private Vector2D corner[] = new Vector2D[4]; private Vector2D center = new Vector2D(); private Vector2D extents = new Vector2D(); private RectF boundingRect = new RectF(); private float angle; //Two edges of the box extended away from corner[0]. private Vector2D axis[] = new Vector2D[2]; private double origin[] = new double[2]; public OBB2D(Vector2D center, float w, float h, float angle) { set(center,w,h,angle); } public OBB2D(float left, float top, float width, float height) { set(new Vector2D(left + (width / 2), top + (height / 2)),width,height,0.0f); } public void set(Vector2D center,float w, float h,float angle) { Vector2D X = new Vector2D( (float)Math.cos(angle), (float)Math.sin(angle)); Vector2D Y = new Vector2D((float)-Math.sin(angle), (float)Math.cos(angle)); X = X.multiply( w / 2); Y = Y.multiply( h / 2); corner[0] = center.subtract(X).subtract(Y); corner[1] = center.add(X).subtract(Y); corner[2] = center.add(X).add(Y); corner[3] = center.subtract(X).add(Y); computeAxes(); extents.x = w / 2; extents.y = h / 2; computeDimensions(center,angle); } private void computeDimensions(Vector2D center,float angle) { this.center.x = center.x; this.center.y = center.y; this.angle = angle; boundingRect.left = Math.min(Math.min(corner[0].x, corner[3].x), Math.min(corner[1].x, corner[2].x)); boundingRect.top = Math.min(Math.min(corner[0].y, corner[1].y),Math.min(corner[2].y, corner[3].y)); boundingRect.right = Math.max(Math.max(corner[1].x, corner[2].x), Math.max(corner[0].x, corner[3].x)); boundingRect.bottom = Math.max(Math.max(corner[2].y, corner[3].y),Math.max(corner[0].y, corner[1].y)); } public void set(RectF rect) { set(new Vector2D(rect.centerX(),rect.centerY()),rect.width(),rect.height(),0.0f); } // Returns true if other overlaps one dimension of this. private boolean overlaps1Way(OBB2D other) { for (int a = 0; a < axis.length; ++a) { double t = other.corner[0].dot(axis[a]); // Find the extent of box 2 on axis a double tMin = t; double tMax = t; for (int c = 1; c < corner.length; ++c) { t = other.corner[c].dot(axis[a]); if (t < tMin) { tMin = t; } else if (t > tMax) { tMax = t; } } // We have to subtract off the origin // See if [tMin, tMax] intersects [0, 1] if ((tMin > 1 + origin[a]) || (tMax < origin[a])) { // There was no intersection along this dimension; // the boxes cannot possibly overlap. return false; } } // There was no dimension along which there is no intersection. // Therefore the boxes overlap. return true; } //Updates the axes after the corners move. Assumes the //corners actually form a rectangle. private void computeAxes() { axis[0] = corner[1].subtract(corner[0]); axis[1] = corner[3].subtract(corner[0]); // Make the length of each axis 1/edge length so we know any // dot product must be less than 1 to fall within the edge. for (int a = 0; a < axis.length; ++a) { axis[a] = axis[a].divide((axis[a].length() * axis[a].length())); origin[a] = corner[0].dot(axis[a]); } } public void moveTo(Vector2D center) { Vector2D centroid = (corner[0].add(corner[1]).add(corner[2]).add(corner[3])).divide(4.0f); Vector2D translation = center.subtract(centroid); for (int c = 0; c < 4; ++c) { corner[c] = corner[c].add(translation); } computeAxes(); computeDimensions(center,angle); } // Returns true if the intersection of the boxes is non-empty. public boolean overlaps(OBB2D other) { if(right() < other.left()) { return false; } if(bottom() < other.top()) { return false; } if(left() > other.right()) { return false; } if(top() > other.bottom()) { return false; } if(other.getAngle() == 0.0f && getAngle() == 0.0f) { return true; } return overlaps1Way(other) && other.overlaps1Way(this); } public Vector2D getCenter() { return center; } public float getWidth() { return extents.x * 2; } public float getHeight() { return extents.y * 2; } public void setAngle(float angle) { set(center,getWidth(),getHeight(),angle); } public float getAngle() { return angle; } public void setSize(float w,float h) { set(center,w,h,angle); } public float left() { return boundingRect.left; } public float right() { return boundingRect.right; } public float bottom() { return boundingRect.bottom; } public float top() { return boundingRect.top; } public RectF getBoundingRect() { return boundingRect; } public boolean overlaps(float left, float top, float right, float bottom) { if(right() < left) { return false; } if(bottom() < top) { return false; } if(left() > right) { return false; } if(top() > bottom) { return false; } return true; } }; What I do is when I predict a hit on the car, I force it back. It does not work that well and seems like a bad idea. What could I do to have more proper collision resolution. Such that if I hit a wall I will never get stuck in it and if I hit the side of a wall I can steer my way out of it. Thanks I found this nice ppt. It talks about pulling objects apart and calculating new velocities. How could I calc new velocities in my case? http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CC8QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoitweb.uncc.edu%2F~tbarnes2%2FGameDesignFall05%2FSlides%2FCh4.2-CollDet.ppt&ei=x4ucULy5M6-N0QGRy4D4Cg&usg=AFQjCNG7FVDXWRdLv8_-T5qnFyYld53cTQ&cad=rja

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  • How can I get ddclient to work with freedns?

    - by Rob Fisher
    I use the dynamic DNS service at freedns.afraid.org for my 12.04 server. I had assumed that the protocols would be standardised and that ddclient would just work, but apparently not. I get this message in /var/log/syslog: ERROR: Invalid update URL (2): unexpected status () I tried to use the updated version of ddclient from the alternative PPA described in this answer, but then I hit this error: FATAL: Error loading the Perl module Digest::SHA1 needed for freedns update. FATAL: On Debian, the package libdigest-sha1-perl must be installed. And when I try to install that package, I get this: E: Unable to locate package libdigest-sha1-perl Which leads me to this bug report, which apparently has no solution. How to proceed?

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  • 16 Over The Top Video Game Mods [Video]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    This roundup of video game mods includes such gems as My Little Ponies in Skyrim and Batman in Doom. One of the more entertaining videos in the mix? Randy “Macho Man” Savage as a Skyrim dragon. Hit up the link below for the full roundup at Neatorama. The 16 Funniest and Coolest Video Game Mods Ever HTG Explains: Why You Only Have to Wipe a Disk Once to Erase It HTG Explains: Learn How Websites Are Tracking You Online Here’s How to Download Windows 8 Release Preview Right Now

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  • Trulia Adds Commute Time Calculator to Their Neighborhood Heat Maps

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Trulia–a popular real estate site well known for their neighborhood heat maps covering crime, school locations, and property values–now shows commute times in heat map form; see instantly how far away your potential new place is from where you want to work. Accessing the commute heatmap is just like any of Trulia’s other top-down views. Search for your city, hit up the map, and select which heatmap overlay you want to view. Trulia [via Flowing Data] How to Make Your Laptop Choose a Wired Connection Instead of Wireless HTG Explains: What Is Two-Factor Authentication and Should I Be Using It? HTG Explains: What Is Windows RT and What Does It Mean To Me?

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  • 555 Footstool Turns Tech into Mad Scientist Decor

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you just can’t find the appropriate footstool for your laboratory, this laser-cut footstool styled to look like the ubiquitous 555 Timer should fit the bill. At Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories they were in search for the perfect footstool. Never ones to do something halfway they set out to build a footstool shaped like the famous integrated circuit design the 555 Timer. The project involved computer design, CNC routers, laser engraving, lots of plywood and glue, and paint. Hit up the link below to see pictures of the entire build process. 555 Footstool [Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories] How To Encrypt Your Cloud-Based Drive with BoxcryptorHTG Explains: Photography with Film-Based CamerasHow to Clean Your Dirty Smartphone (Without Breaking Something)

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  • Google Announcing New Gmail Interface For Apple iPAD Users

    - by Suganya
    A great news to all the iPAD customers. In addition to their new Apple’s product, iPAD consumers also get an additional bonus of new Gmail Interface along with the iPAD. The iPAD’s large multi touch screen allows us to now check Gmail in jus fraction of second The new Gmail interface for iPAD has two pane with the E-Mail header on the left side and the actual conversation on the right side. Though this new pane slightly reminds us about the Microsoft’s Outlook version, the look and feel of Google’s makes us feel that its new to the market. In addition to this Gmail feature, all the other Google web app features are also incorporated in the new iPAD. This new Gmail Interface looks cool and I am sure that Google would be soon delivering its next new astonishing Interface for us. Awaiting Google’s next market hit CC Image Credit :Joseph Scott Join us on Facebook to read all our stories right inside your Facebook news feed.

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  • Curiosity’s Self Portrait

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    One space enthusiast couldn’t wait for NASA to release an official on-Mars portrait of the rover Curiosity, so he took 55 partial self-portraits sent back by the rover and stitched them all together into the first complete on-planet photo we’ve seen of Curiosity. Courtesy of Stuart Atkinson, the photos are stitched together from images collected over the initial portion of Curiosity’s mission. Hit up the link below to check out the full size image. Curiosity [via Wired] 6 Start Menu Replacements for Windows 8 What Is the Purpose of the “Do Not Cover This Hole” Hole on Hard Drives? How To Log Into The Desktop, Add a Start Menu, and Disable Hot Corners in Windows 8

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  • Xbox Live Traffic Light Tells You When It’s Game Time

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Why log on to see if your friends are available for a game of Halo 3 when you can glance at this traffic-light-indicator to see if it’s go time? Courtesy of tinker and gamer AndrewF, this fun little hack combines a small traffic light, an Arduino board, and the Xbox live API to provide a real-time indicator of how many of your friends are online and gaming. When the light is red, nobody is available to play. Yellow and green indicate one and several of your friends are available. Hit up the link below to check out the parts list and project code. Xbox Live Traffic Lights [via Hack A Day] HTG Explains: How Antivirus Software Works HTG Explains: Why Deleted Files Can Be Recovered and How You Can Prevent It HTG Explains: What Are the Sys Rq, Scroll Lock, and Pause/Break Keys on My Keyboard?

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  • 24 DIY Softbox Designs for Cheap and Flexible Photography Lighting [DIY]

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you’re looking for just the right softbox for your budget and photography needs this collection of 24 great softbox designs is bound to have the perfect fit. At DIY Photography they hosted a DIY softbox contest. Out of the 70 entries they culled it down to the top 24 designs and rounded up the photo tours and build guides for you to browse. You can build the foamcore and CFL model seen in the photo above by following the build guide here. Hit up the link below to check out all the other designs that range from full body softboxes to on-camera softboxes. How To Build 24 DIY Softboxes [DIY Photography via Make] HTG Explains: Photography with Film-Based CamerasHow to Clean Your Dirty Smartphone (Without Breaking Something)What is a Histogram, and How Can I Use it to Improve My Photos?

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  • DIY Tablet Stands Prop Up Your Tablet On-The-Cheap

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    You shelled out a pile of money for your tablet computer already; skip the expensive stands and prop things up with a DIY model. Unpluggd shares a roundup of 5 DIY stands. The best part about the roundup is that three out of the five require no more DIY action than simply buying the product and using it in an unconventional way. Hit up the link below to check out their tablet-stand solutions. Have a clever solution of your own to share? Let’s hear about it in the comments. The Best of the DIY Tablet Stands [Unpluggd] Use Amazon’s Barcode Scanner to Easily Buy Anything from Your Phone How To Migrate Windows 7 to a Solid State Drive Follow How-To Geek on Google+

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  • D Bitly Shortens Links on Android Phones

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you share a lot of links from your Android phone (or would share more if it was easier) D Bitly is an unofficial Bitly client that makes short work of URL shrinking. Not only can you shorten URLs with D Bitly but you can also access your URL shortening history at Bit.ly. Shared a link via IM or email earlier in the day and want to share it right now from your Android device? You can pull it up and one-click share it from D Bitly. Want to shorten a new URL? You can shorten it, share it, and add it to your shortened URL history. Hit up the link below to grab a free copy and take it for a test drive. D Bitly [Android Market via Addictive Tips] HTG Explains: Photography with Film-Based CamerasHow to Clean Your Dirty Smartphone (Without Breaking Something)What is a Histogram, and How Can I Use it to Improve My Photos?

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  • POV Christmas Tree Is a Holiday-Themed DIY Electronics Project

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you’re looking for an electronics project with a bit of holiday cheer, this clever POV Christmas tree combines LEDs, motors, and a simple vision hack to create a glowing Christmas tree. POV (or Persistence Of Vision) hacks rely on your visual circuit’s lag time. By taking advantage of that lag POV displays can create the illusion of shapes and words where there are none. In the case of this Christmas tree hack a spinning set of LED lights creates the illusion of a Christmas tree when, in reality, there is just a few LEDs suspended in space by wire. It’s not a beginner level project by any means but it is a great way to practice surface mounting electronics and polish up your PCB making skills. Hit up the link below for the full tutorial. POV Christmas Tree [Instructables] HTG Explains: Do You Really Need to Defrag Your PC? Use Amazon’s Barcode Scanner to Easily Buy Anything from Your Phone How To Migrate Windows 7 to a Solid State Drive

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  • HTTP Basic Auth Protected Services using Web Service Data Control

    - by vishal.s.jain(at)oracle.com
    With Oracle JDeveloper 11g (11.1.1.4.0) one can now create Web Service Data Control for services which are protected with HTTP Basic Authentication.So when you provide such a service to the Data Control Wizard, a dialog pops up prompting you to entry the authentication details:After you give the details, you can proceed with the creation of Data Control.Once the Data Control is created, you can use the WSDC Tester to quickly test the service.In this case, since the service is protected, we need to first edit the connection to provide username details:Enter the authentication details against username and password. Once done, select DataControl.dcx and using the context menu, select 'Run'. This will bring up the Tester.On the Tester, select the Service Node and using context menu pick 'Operations'. This will bring up the methods which you can test:Now you can pick a method, provide the input parameters and hit execute to see the results.

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  • newly added files don't sync down

    - by poolie
    I added some files into my Ubuntu One/My Files folder on my desktop machine. I can see them in the U1 web ui. My laptop is connected to the same U1 account, and in the Ubuntu One preference pane I can see it's connected to the account. However, my new files never download. In syncdaemon.log I can see it checking a bunch of other existing files, and then the file ends with many repetitions of 2011-01-04 11:05:42,277 - ubuntuone.SyncDaemon.Main - NOTE - ---- MARK (state: <State: 'READY' (queues WORKING_ON_METADATA connection 'Not User With Network')>; queues: metadata: 1; content: 0; hash: 0, fsm-cache: hit=5086 miss=69) ---- I do have a working network connection. What do I do now?

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  • FireFox 6 Super Slow? Cache Settings Corruption

    - by Rick Strahl
    For those of you that follow me on Twitter, you've probably seen some of my tweets regarding major performance problems I've seen with the install of FireFox 6.0. FireFox 6.0 was released a couple of weeks ago and is treated as a 'force feed' update for FireFox 5.0. I'm not sure what the deal is with this braindead versioning that Mozilla is doing with major version releases coming out, what now every other month? Seriously that's retarded especially given the limited number of new features these releases bring, and the upgrade pain for plug-ins that the major version release causes. Anyway, after the FireFox updater bugged me long enough I finally gave in last week and updated to FireFox 6. Immediately after install I noticed terrible performance. Everything was running at a snail's pace with Web pages loading slowly and most content actually slowly 'painting' the page. A typical sign of content downloading slowly. However these are pages that should be mostly cached on my system and even repeated accesses ran just as slow. Just for a reality check I ran the same sites in Chrome (blazing fast) and IE (fast enough :-)) but FireFox - dog on a stick. Why so slow Boss? While complaining lots of people recommended to ditch FireFox - use Chrome, yada yada yada. Yeah, Chrome is fast and getting better but I have a number of plug-ins that I use in FF that I can't easily give up. So I suffered and started looking around more closely at what was happening. The first thing I noticed when accessing pages was that I continually saw accesses to the Google CDN downloading jQuery and jQuery UI. UI especially is pretty heavy in size and currently I'm in a location with a fairly slow IP connection where large files are a bit of an issue. However, seeing the CDN urls pop up repeatedly raised a flag with me. That stuff should be caching and it looked like each and every hit was reloading these scripts and various images over and over again. Fired up FireBug and sure enough I saw something like this on a repeated hit to my blog: Those two highlights are jquery and the main CSS file for the site and both are being loaded fully and taking a while to load. However, since this page had been loaded before, these items should be cached and show 304 requests instead of the full HTTP requests returning 200 result codes. In short it looked like FireFox was not caching ANY content at all and constantly reloading all page resources. No wonder things were running dog slow. Once I realized what the problem was I took a look in the about:config settings and lo and behold a bunch of the cache settings were set to not cache: In my case ALL the main cache flags were set to false for some reason that I can't figure out.  It appears that after the FireFox 6 update these flags somehow mysteriously changed and performance took a nose dive. Switching the .enable flags back to true and resetting all the cache settings tote default reverted performance back to the way it's supposed to be: reasonably fast and snappy as soon as content is cached and accessed again  from cache. I try not to muck with the about:config settings much (other than turning off the IPV6 option) but when there are problems access to these features can be really nice. However, I treat this as a last resort so it took me quite some time before I started looking through ALL the settings. This takes a while, not knowing what I was looking for exactly. If Web load performance is slow it's a good idea to check the cache settings. I have no idea what hosed these settings for me - I certainly didn't explicitly set them in about:config and while in FireFox's Options dialog I didn't see any option that would affect global caching like this, so this remains a mystery to me. Anyway, I hope that this is helpful to some, in case some of you end up running into a similar issue.© Rick Strahl, West Wind Technologies, 2005-2011Posted in FireFox   Tweet (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();

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  • Pancake.io Is a Dead Simple Way to Host a Web Site from Your Dropbox Account

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Pancake.io is a web-based app that makes it dead simple to use your Dropbox account as as simple web host. Signup for an account and Pancake.io creates a folder in your Dropbox. You can modify the page in one of two ways: you can simply put files into the folder and use the simple template provided by Pancake.io to share them or you can edit the template (located in the Pancake.io folder) to customize the page. Hit up the link below to read more about Pancake.io and take it for a test drive. Pancake.io [via ReadWriteWeb] HTG Explains: How Hackers Take Over Web Sites with SQL Injection / DDoS Use Your Android Phone to Comparison Shop: 4 Scanner Apps Reviewed How to Run Android Apps on Your Desktop the Easy Way

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  • Awesome Mod Adds Cooperative Multiplayer to Super Mario 64

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    The lack of multiplayer action in Super Mario 64 bothered one game modder so much he hacked the game to include cooperative multiplayer as well as online play. Check out the video to see it in action. To play the new version of the game you’ll either need a jailbroken Wii (so you can load a homebrew WAD file) or an N64 PC emulator. You can grab the WAD file for the Wii here or the necessary files for the PC emulator here. For more information about other great mod projects from the author of this mod, hit up the link below. Super Mario 64 Multiplayer 1.0 [via Press The Buttons] What Is the Purpose of the “Do Not Cover This Hole” Hole on Hard Drives? How To Log Into The Desktop, Add a Start Menu, and Disable Hot Corners in Windows 8 HTG Explains: Why You Shouldn’t Use a Task Killer On Android

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  • Prevent Changing the Screen Saver and Wallpaper in Windows 7

    - by Mysticgeek
    Sometimes you might not want users to have the ability to change Screen Savers and Wallpaper on Windows 7 workstations. Today we look at how to prevent them from changing either one or both. You might administer computers in your home or small office and find it annoying when users continuously change the wallpaper and Screen Savers to something obnoxious. A lot of times they might be inexperienced users and download these so-called “wonderful and free” Screen Saver/Wallpaper packages from shady sites that include loads of Spyware. Preventing users from changing them is another helpful tool to avoid wasteful time spent switching things back. Prevent Changing Screensavers & Wallpaper Using Group Policy Editor  Note: This method uses Group Policy which is not available in Home versions on Windows 7. Open the Start Menu and enter gpedit.msc into the Search box and hit Enter. When Local Group Policy Editor opens, navigate to User Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Control Panel \ Personalization. Then in the right column double-click on Prevent changing desktop background. Now check the radio button next to Enabled, then click OK. Back on the Group Policy Screen, double-click on Prevent changing screen saver. In the next screen select the radio button next to Enable, click OK, then close out of Group Policy Editor. Now when a user goes into the Personalization section, the Desktop Background hyperlink is now grayed out and inactive. Notice the message One or more of the settings on this page has been disabled by the system administrator at the bottom of the section. If they click to change the Screen Saver, an error message will pop up letting them know the function is disabled. Prevent Changing Screensavers & Wallpaper Using a Registry Hack You can also make a couple Registry changes to prevent users from changing the Wallpaper & Screen Saver…which will work on Home versions of Windows 7. Before making any Registry changes make sure you back it up first. Open the Registry by typing regedit into the Search box in the Start menu and hit Enter. First we’ll start with the Wallpaper. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System and create a new String Value and name it Wallpaper. Then modify the Value data to point to the location of the Wallpaper you want it to always be. Where in this example it’s our main wallpaper on our local drive…then click OK. Now let’s make sure they can’t change the Screen Saver. In the same Registry location, we need to make a new DWORD (32-bit) Value. Give it the Value name of NoDispScrSavPage and the value data of “1” and click OK. Close out of the Registry and restart the machine or simply log off then back on again for the changes to take effect. Results For the Wallpapers, a user can still go in and see the selections, however if they try to change it to something else… It will just go back to the Personalization screen and no changes will be made, as we set the value to only be the background we specified. If the user tries to make a change to the Screen Saver, the hyperlink will be grayed out and inactive, and the message One or more of the settings on this page has been disabled by the system administrator will be displayed at the bottom of the section. Conclusion If you’re tired of users changing the Wallpaper and Screen Saver, and want another way to help avoid Malware, locking down these settings can help a lot. Again, before making any changes to the Registry, make sure to back it up. These settings should work in Vista and XP as well. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Save 1-4% More Battery Life With Windows Vista Battery SaverCustomize Your Windows Vista Logon ScreenEnable "Ubuntu Style" Logons in Windows VistaManage the Delete Confirmation Dialog box in Windows 7Dual Monitors: Use a Different Wallpaper on Each Desktop TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips Acronis Online Backup DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows Fun with 47 charts and graphs Tomorrow is Mother’s Day Check the Average Speed of YouTube Videos You’ve Watched OutlookStatView Scans and Displays General Usage Statistics How to Add Exceptions to the Windows Firewall Office 2010 reviewed in depth by Ed Bott

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  • NASA Releases Highest Resolution Photo of Mars Ever Seen

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Whether you’re in the mood for a high-resolution extraterrestrial wallpaper or just want to take a very close peek at the surface of Mars, this 23096 x 7681 resolution image ought to do the trick. Courtesy of NASA and Oppurtunity–the Mars Exploration Rover seen in the photo–the panoramic image was captured during the last Martian winter, between the Earth dates of December 21, 2001 and May 8, 2012. Hit up the link below to grab a full-resolution copy as well as read more about the geologic formations seen in the picture and the activities of the rover. ‘Greeley Panorama’ from Opportunity’s Fifth Martian Winter [Nasa] 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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  • 3D Printed Records Bring New Tunes to Iconic Fisher-Price Toy Player

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Have an old toy Fisher-Price record player your kids aren’t exactly enamored with? Now, thanks to the miracle of 3D printing, you can create new records for it. Courtesy of Fred Murphy, this Instructables tutorial will guide you through the process of taking music and encoding it in a 3D printer file that will yield a tiny plastic record the Fisher-Prince record player can play. Check out the video above to see the finished product or hit up the link below to read the full tutorial. 3D Printing for the Fisher-Price Record Player [via Make] How to Get Pro Features in Windows Home Versions with Third Party Tools HTG Explains: Is ReadyBoost Worth Using? HTG Explains: What The Windows Event Viewer Is and How You Can Use It

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  • DIY Weather-Aware Umbrella Stand Signals Stormy Weather

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    This clever DIY project adds ambient weather notification to your umbrella stand–simply walk by it on your way out the door to get a subtle reminder to take your umbrella. The clever setup involves a hobby board, motion detection, and LEDS to a rather clever end. As you walk by the semi-translucent umbrella stand all of it is mounted in, it lights up to indicate the weather conditions. Blue indicates the forecast for the day shows no sign of rain, green indicates rain, and red indicates thunderstorms. Check out the above video to see the hardware involves and the stand in action; hit up the link below for the full build guide including code. DIY Umbrella Stand Hack with Rain Alert [via Make] How To Delete, Move, or Rename Locked Files in Windows HTG Explains: Why Screen Savers Are No Longer Necessary 6 Ways Windows 8 Is More Secure Than Windows 7

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  • 32 Stunning Movie Tributes in LEGO

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    These impressive Sci-Fi LEGO tributes are an impressive combination of time, money, and a whole lot of LEGO bricks. Read on to see everything from Death Star hangers to adorable robots. Over at Dvice, a SyFy channel blog, they’ve rounded up 32 impressive movie tributes crafted entirely in LEGO bricks. The model seen above, for example, is composed of 30,000 bricks and is over six feet on a side. Planning on building your own? You’d better have $2,300 to blow on bricks and six months of spare time to invest. Hit up the link below for more LEGO tributes. 32 Fan-Built LEGO Tributes to Science Fiction [Dvice] 8 Deadly Commands You Should Never Run on Linux 14 Special Google Searches That Show Instant Answers How To Create a Customized Windows 7 Installation Disc With Integrated Updates

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  • Convert a Door Peephole Viewer into a Fisheye Camera Lens

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    Commercial fish eye lenses are a niche product and carry a hefty price tag; if you’re looking to goof around with fish eye photography on the cheap, this $6 tutorial is for you. Courtesy of Dave from Knobtop–a thrifty DIY photography video blog–this hack uses dirt cheap parts (the whole build is composed of a PVC pipe reducer and a door peephole lens) to bring you fun fish eye photography on a budget. Check out the video above to see the build and the results, then hit up the link below to check out the notes on the video for more information. Fisheye Lens for $6 [via DIY Photography] HTG Explains: What Is Two-Factor Authentication and Should I Be Using It? HTG Explains: What Is Windows RT and What Does It Mean To Me? HTG Explains: How Windows 8′s Secure Boot Feature Works & What It Means for Linux

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  • Banned Children’s Toys from Christmases Past

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    What could possibly go wrong giving a child a nuclear science kit that includes highly poisonous materials inside? Everything of course, which is why that particular toy only lasted a single holiday. Buzzfeed reports on some of the toys of holidays past that were quickly pulled off the shelves. In regard to the nuclear kit pictured here, they write: Only available from 1951–1952, this science kit for CHILDREN included four types of uranium ore, a Geiger counter, a comic called Dagwood Spits the Atom, and a coupon for ordering MORE radioactive materials. One of the four uranium ores included was Po-210 (Polonium) which, by mass, is 250,000 times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide. “Merry Christmas, Kevin, here’s that giant box of poison you asked for.” Hit up the link below for more entries, including some pulled from the shelves as recently as 2007. 8 Banned Children’s Toys From Yesteryear [BuzzFeed] Our Geek Trivia App for Windows 8 is Now Available Everywhere How To Boot Your Android Phone or Tablet Into Safe Mode HTG Explains: Does Your Android Phone Need an Antivirus?

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