9 Exciting Uses for Boring Cotton Balls
8:47 AM — Cottons balls may not be the most exciting bathroom product in the world, but there are some surprisingly useful things you can do with them. For example, a cotton ball soaked in peppermint oil can help protect your home from mice. Soak them in white vinegar instead and you've got DIY rabbit repellent for your garden. Use vaseline and you have an easy fire starter for ...more
The Trick to Hearing Your Friends Better at Loud Clubs & Concerts (And Having Them Hear You)
12:29 PM — You may not notice it when you're intoxicated and banging your head to the music, but when you're at a club or concert, your ears are getting seriously damaged. The noise level is usually above most people's pain threshold for sound, which begins around 120 to 140 decibels. At ...more
How to Disbable the Annoying Increasing Ringtone on Your Samsung Galaxy S4
8:09 AM — Samsung introduced a wave of seriously unique and innovative features on the Galaxy S4, including air gestures and weather sensors, but a lot of the features are actually just updated ones from the Galaxy S3. Unfortunately, one of those that returned was the dreaded increasing ...more
The Quickest & Easiest Way to Remove Backgrounds from Images Without Using Photoshop
Yesterday 1:29 PM — One of the very first Photoshop skills we learned in my tenth grade photojournalism class was cropping the background out of images. I hated it. It was extremely time consuming, and the magnetic lasso tool never seemed to want to cooperate with me. Nearly a decade later, the ...more
How to Access Files, Manage Apps, & Get Remote Camera Access to Your HTC One Wirelessly from Your Computer
Yesterday 12:49 PM — The first thing I do when I get a new phone is ditch the USB cable. At least, when it comes to data transfer. My brand new HTC One came with a USB cord that feels sturdy, but like any other cable, it will eventually fall apart from overuse. It will probably still charge just f ...more
How to Identify Missed Alerts by Notification Type Just by Looking at Your Samsung Galaxy S4
Yesterday 11:46 AM — Previously, if you missed a call or text on your old Samsung Galaxy S3, there was a white LED notification to let you know. It's a nice feature that most smartphones have, but wouldn't it have be nice to know what kind of notification it was before picking up the phone? Your ...more
How to Hack Your Morning Pancakes for a Less Sticky & More Delicious Breakfast
Mon 3:28 PM — Over 56 million Americans decided to skip breakfast this morning. That's 18 percent of the population. You're probably sick of hearing that the first meal of the day is the most important, but it's true—studies have shown that those who skip it consume more calories and fewer ...more
Hack Like a Pro: How to Conduct Passive Reconnaissance of a Potential Target
Yesterday 9:27 AM — Welcome back, my novice hackers! Most of my tutorials up until this point have addressed how to exploit a target assuming that we already know some basic information about their system. These include their IP address, operating system, open ports, services running, and so on. Several of you have written me asking how to find this information, so for the next few guide ...more
How to Silence Your Obnoxiously Squeaky Bed with 4 Easy MacGyver Style Fixes
Mon 2:43 PM — Any living creature will die if deprived of sleep for long enough. The longest documented occurrence of a person not fully sleeping and surviving is only 11 days. There is a rare disease where deep sleep is never achieved, affecting roughly 100 people worldwide. Patients usual ...more
How to Revert Back to a More Traditional Sense-Style Home Screen on Your HTC One
Mon 12:16 PM — The newer HTC One is arguably the best smartphone yet in terms of hardware, but its software moves considerably farther away from the stock Android experience. Even more so from HTC's own Sense. The biggest change from Sense 4+ to the newest Sense 5 is Blinkfeed, a scrollable ...more
11 Crazy Useful Things You Can Do with a Candle
Mon 9:16 AM — Originally made using whale fat, candles first appeared over 2,200 years ago as a means of illumination. From the 1st century up until the 19th century, candles were primarily made using beeswax or tallow, and aside from providing light, were used as a method of keeping time. Today, candles are made primarily of paraffin wax and are used more ubiquitously, marking your ...more
How to Improve Note-Taking on Your Nexus 7 Tablet by Adding Handwriting Recognition
Sun 12:31 PM — Writing longhand may boost learning and goal achievement, but that doesn't mean squat if you don't have pen and paper on you. For me, I'm usually on the go when I have a note or idea to jot down, and I don't always have writing materials in my pocket. Who does? But what I do ...more
How to Get Ambient Weather Readings Instantly Using Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2's Built-In Sensors
Sat 8:00 AM — The new Samsung Galaxy S4 may be the only phone to include temperature and humidity sensors, but your Galaxy Note 2 has a few weather-detecting features of its own. Firstly, it has a barometer, which measure atmospheric pressure that can help alert you to a possible nearby ra ...more
How to Customize iOS App Icons Without Jailbreaking Your iPhone
Sun 8:47 AM — Apple sells more iPhones than there are babies born in the world. In fact, they've done so in at least four financial quarters over the last 18 months. Last year alone, they sold over 125 million iPhones, just under the 135 million estimate of child births globally. While extremely popular, the one major drawback of an iPhone is its heavily guarded OS and lack of custo ...more
9 Ingenious Uses for Your Spare Contact Lens Cases
Sat 8:00 AM — There are over 38 million people who wear contact lenses in the United States, but nearly a quarter of those never replace their contact lens case. If you're one of those folks, you proba ...more
How to Make a Miniature Bow and Arrow from Household Items
Sat 7:59 AM — Here's a step-by-step tutorial guide for how to make a miniature bow and arrow out of household objects. Plus, flaming arrows! Step 1: What You Need Popsicle stick Dental floss Cotton swab Q-tip Step 2: How to Make It! Watch the video for the directions. Video: .
How to Stop Android Lag in Its Tracks on Your Nexus 7 for a Super Smooth Tablet
Fri 1:37 PM — Lag has been a serious issue on Android devices since the very beginning. Even the Nexus 7's quad-core processor can't stop it from happening. That's because the pauses and long responses are coming straight from the Android OS itself, not the hardware. In part articles, I've ...more
How to Flash a Custom ROM onto Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and Enhance Your Android Experience
Fri 10:47 AM — The new Samsung Galaxy S4 just received an update to Android 4.2.2, so why is it that my Galaxy Note 2 is still running an older version of Jelly Bean? It felt like yesterday that my device was finally updated to 4.1.2, but why even bother since 4.2 has been around since last ...more
How to Turn Your Samsung Galaxy S4 into a Personal Ambient Weather Station
Fri 8:06 AM — The new Samsung Galaxy S4 has something no other phone has ever had before—weather sensors. Older devices like the Galaxy Nexus, S3, Note, and Note 2 do have a atmospheric pressure sensor, aka a barometer. However, they do not have a thermometer or hygrometer like the GS4 does ...more
Hack Like a Pro: Getting Started with BackTrack, Your New Hacking System
Fri 8:55 AM — Welcome back, my fledgling hackers! In one of my recent articles, I showed you how to install BackTrack as a dual boot system on a Windows computer. In this tutorial, I will walk you through BackTrack, giving you a tour of the most salient features for the hacker-to-be. As you can see in the screenshot above, I've installed the most recent version of BackTrack, version ...more
How to Root Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Using ODIN for Windows (So Easy Your Grandma Can Do It)
Thu 2:14 PM — Just like the recently rediscovered Star Wars ruins in the Tunisian desert, there are tons of hidden treasures in your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 just waiting to be unearthed. Rooting enables you to install custom ROMs, exclusive features from other devices, add Wi-Fi tethering, ov ...more
How to Totally Maximize the Battery Life of Your Samsung Galaxy S4
Thu 9:42 AM — The battery in the Samsung Galaxy S4 may pack 500 more milliamps per hour than the old S3 battery, but that doesn't necessarily mean more battery life. High-powered devices need lots of juice, and the S4 is definitely more powerful than its predecessor. The new battery can han ...more
How to Hack Your Resume to Fool Keyword-Hunting Robots & Land Yourself More Interviews (The Evil Way)
Thu 11:18 AM — If you thought humans were reading your résumé, think again. Robots do, and their one solitary objective is to systematically crush the hopes and dreams of those who don't make the cut. Instead of paying a few humans to read thousands of résumés over a couple weeks, many companies use computer programs that can do the job in less than an hour. In fact, at least 90 perce ...more
How to Set Exotic Photo Spheres as Panoramic Live Wallpapers on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2
5/15 9:22 AM — "We all want to escape our circumstances, don't we?" Benedict Cumberbatch may have been talking about acting, but the sentiment rings true for all of us at some point or another. Whether it's work, school, or just boredom at home—we all wish for an escape sometimes. If only. ...more
How to Turn a Plastic Garbage Bag into a High-Flying DIY Kite
5/15 9:22 AM — Where one sees plastic garbage bags, I see living creatures soaring high in the windy skies—and you can too. The choice is completely yours. But, wouldn't it be nice to spare one trash bag the indignity of holding waste? With a little dental floss, string, some wooden dowels, ...more
How to Remove Pandora's Evil—Skip Restrictions & Ads—On Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2
5/14 1:56 PM — I couldn't help but notice the parallels between the evils of Pandora's Box and the annoying parts of Pandora Radio. While the Pandora from Greek mythology was devilishly curious and musically talented (the reason Pandora was named after her), her box was filled with all the e ...more
Forget Remembering! Schedule Recurring Texts, Emails, Tweets, & Facebook Posts on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
5/13 4:31 PM — I'm sorry your mom hates you now, but it's pretty hard to forgive someone who forgets to say "Happy Mother's Day." Your poor ole ma could've spent anywhere from 10 to 20 hours popping you out, so the least you could do is set aside two minutes every year to say thanks. If you ...more
How to Make Water Freeze into Ice Instantaneously
5/14 10:23 AM — Have you ever seen water freeze instantly? This "Quick Clip" shows some of my personal experiences with making instant ice using a bottle of water supercooled in a freezer. Video: . To get this "instant ice" effect, I put unopened bottles of water in the freezer for anywhere between 90 to 115 minutes. The water gets supercooled (below freezing), but does not actually fr ...more
Hack Like a Pro: How to Grab & Crack Encrypted Windows Passwords
5/14 8:46 AM — Welcome back, my neophyte hackers! Several of you have written me asking how to crack passwords. The answer, in part, depends upon whether you have physical access to the computer, what ...more
How to Completely Back Up Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 Using Kies, Helium, or the Note 2 Toolkit
5/13 1:17 PM — An average of 140,000 hard drives crash in the United States each week, according to online backup service Mozy. Additionally, 70 percent of Americans have lost a laptop, smartphone, or tablet, and the average person now loses 1.24 devices each year—less than half of which are ...more
How to Play Almost Any Retro Video Game on Your Nexus 7 Tablet
5/12 12:18 PM — Arcades, Nintendo, Sega, and 16-bit graphics ushered in a new level of gaming that was leaps and bounds ahead of the early Pong days. I remember loading quarters into the machines and playing 2D fighting games until all my money ran out. When I wasn’t in school, you could usua ...more
12 Painting Hacks for Your Next Home Painting Project
5/13 9:06 AM — Raw onions are commonly associated with bad breath, but when it comes to wet paint, instead of creating toxic smells they help remove them. If you just painted inside your home, slice a few raw onions in half and place them alongside the walls to absorb noxious fumes. Just make sure to discard onions afterwards, as they would be poisonous. And onions aren't the only ki ...more
Stop Running Over Plastic Bags! And More Small Tips for Keeping Your Car Running Smoothly
5/12 12:35 PM — Approximately 380 billion plastic bags are used in the United States every year. That’s more than 1,200 bags per U.S. resident and more than 54 times the number of people who live on the ...more
How to Get Rid of Plant-Eating Pests Using 100% Natural Solutions from Your Home and Garden
5/11 10:38 AM — Navigating through row after row of plants, my tiny fingers would reach into the leaves to pluck all the vile little creatures from their homes and deposit them into a can of gasoline. Potato bug duty, my least favorite gardening chore. Growing up, my family had a small garden ...more
How to Make Perfectly-Sized, Uniform Patties for Sliders & Mini Burgers Without Getting Your Hands Dirty
5/11 9:37 AM — There is no such thing as a pulled pork slider. In fact, there is no such thing as a pork slider. Or a chicken slider. Or turkey or fish. The term "slider" actually means a lot more than just a hot miniature sandwich, and if it's not beef, it automatically missed the first cut ...more
10 Broken or Worn Out Things That Can Be Made into Something Useful
5/11 9:51 AM — Despite the tremendous increase in recycling programs across the states, 136 million tons of municipal solid waste still ends up in landfills. So, the next time you throw away something, conjure up your DIY spirit and ask that trash, "Are you really trash, or just the beginning of my next ingenious project?" If your favorite umbrella gets broken beyond repair, salvage ...more
Divide & Conquer: How to Keep Apples, Bananas, Tomatoes, & Other Fruits Fresher Longer
5/10 1:31 PM — Ethylene is an invisible, odorless, naturally occurring gas that aids in the ripening process of fruit. As a fruit produces more ethylene, it begins to create enzymes which help break dow ...more
How to Root Your HTC EVO 4G LTE Using TWRP & SuperSU
5/10 12:24 PM — Your HTC EVO 4G LTE has been lying to you. It will tell you when you're connected to a 4G network, but it will say 3G even if you're connected on 1X, which is a 2G CDMA network! This issue is just one of the many things you can fix after rooting, which allows you to take full ...more
How to Get Google's Latest Play Store Redesign on Your Nexus 7 Tablet Right Now
5/10 8:19 AM — What's the most installed Android app in the world? Facebook? Gmail? Maps? While those all have well over 100 million installs, the one that takes the cake—and always will—is Google Play. I’ve been an Android user ever since the G1, when Android was unpolished, buggy, and the ...more
The Real Story Behind Rooting the Samsung Galaxy S4—And Its New Secured Kernel
5/10 9:13 AM — Rooting a mobile device may not be a big deal these days, but not being able to root definitely is. Even the Library of Congress, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and White House can agree on that. Since the release of the Samsung Galaxy S3, the international electronics giant has been seen as a friend to the SoftModder community. One reason ...more
How to Make Your Car Read Texts Out Loud the Moment They Arrive on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2
5/9 3:35 PM — Last month, Alexander Heit drifted into oncoming traffic after being distracted from the road. His sudden correction forced his vehicle to roll and flip over. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital shortly thereafter. All because of a freaking text message. He was only 22 ...more
How to Make the Scariac (A Poor Man's Variable Power Controller)
5/9 12:31 PM — Mixing water and electricity is extremely risky and potentially lethal, yet that's exactly what I did with the Scariac. In its simplest form, the Scariac is just a glorified version of two wires in a bucket of water, but it's actually one of the cheapest power controllers you ...more
The Easiest Way to Unlock the Bootloader on Your HTC EVO 4G LTE or Other HTC Smartphone
5/9 9:56 AM — Nearly two years ago, Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, confirmed that the company would no longer be locking bootloaders. Whether or not they've actually lived up to this claim is debatable. Any p ...more
Hack Like a Pro: How to Install BackTrack 5 (with Metasploit) as a Dual Boot Hacking System
5/9 8:55 AM — Welcome back, my hacker novitiates! Many of you have written me that you're having difficulty installing and running Metasploit on a variety of platforms. No matter if you're using Mac, Linux, or Windows, I strongly recommend you install BackTrack as your secondary OS, a virtaulization system, or on an external drive. This particular Linux distribution has many hacking ...more
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How to Disbable the Annoying Increasing Ringtone on Your Samsung Galaxy S4
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