New about IT: April 2011

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Supplement Your Current Anti-Virus Software with the Microsoft Safety Scanner

Are you looking for a free supplemental scanner to work with your current Windows anti-virus software? Then the Microsoft Safety Scanner is the right app for the job.
The homepage provides an overview about the Safety Scanner, provides links to Help and Resources, and displays a list of the current Top desktop threats.

If you love new gear but not high prices then we’ve got some deals for you; grab some deeply discounted laptops, monitors and HDTVs, and free mobile apps in this week’s Geek Deals roundup.
We’ve combed the net and grabbed some fresh off the press deals for you to take advantage of. Unlike traditional brick and mortar sales internet deals are fast and furious so don’t be surprised if by the time you get

Add Tranquil Beauty to Your Desktop with the Waterdrops Theme for Windows 7

Sometimes beauty can be found in the most unexpected of places such as water drops on the petals of a flower. If you love the look of peaceful, beautiful backgrounds then you will definitely want to give this theme a try. The theme comes with eleven wallpapers full of water drop goodness for your desktop.
Download the Waterdrops Theme [Windows 7 Personalization Gallery]

Hack a DSLR for DIY Infrared Photography

DSLR sensors have a special filter for IR light; a little hacking is all it takes to strip away that filter and modify the camera for awesome infrared photography.
Jerry, over in the forums for the Home Shop Machinist, shares his crash course in converting an old Pentax DSLR into an infrared unit. He had an old DSLR laying around and decided, upon purchasing a new one, that the old one was destined for hacking greatness. By taking the camera apart, removing the infrared filter, and

How Smoke Detectors Work [Science]

Smoke detectors are a common household fixture so small as to be almost unnoticeable, yet inside is a host of interesting technology and scientific principles at work. Check out this great video from Bill Hammack–the Engineer Guy–to see how they work.

Build a “Truth Meter”; A Simple DIY Lie Detector [Electronics]

One element of lie detection, as carried out by lie detecting machines, is the measurement of galvanic skin response–how sweaty the questioned person becomes. This simple electronics project recreates that measure right in your workshop.

Are you ready for a different perspective on your desktop? Then get ready to view a small world that is larger than life with the Small World Theme for Windows 7. This terrific theme comes with 16 wallpapers showcasing how the world looks from an insect’s point of view!
Download the Small World Theme [Windows 7 Personalization Gallery]

Kung Fu Panda 2 Theme for Windows 7

Po, Master Shifu, and the Furious Five are back once again as a new evil in the form of Lord Shen emerges to take over China and possibly threaten the existence of kung fu itself. The theme comes with nine wallpapers to help bring Po’s latest adventures straight to your desktop.
Download the Kung Fu Panda 2 Theme [Windows 7 Personalization Gallery]

Prevent a Media Directory from Appearing in Android Gallery

The Gallery application on Android devices is a bit aggressive about scanning and adding directories. Have a directory you want to keep private? Use this simple trick to keep it out of the Gallery app.
If you want to use the Gallery app to show people pictures of your kid/dog/home remodeling project and not your girlfriend’s chest/drinking exploits/night at the club then this tip is for you. By default Android’s Gallery

Are Color Blind Gamers Left Out? [Science]

Color blindness affects a significant portion of the population (5% of men and %.5 of women); game developers are finally noticing and tweaking games so success doesn’t hinge on whether or not you can tell red from green.
The BBC shares and interesting article on the impact of color blindness and the enjoyment of video games. Roughly 1 in 20 men and 1 in 200 women are afflicted with some type of color blindness. Video games often

A life code [deviantART]

Turn a Webcam into a Motion Detecting and Email Notifying Security Cam

If you have an old web cam or two laying around you can convert them into a CCTV system that pushes email and growl notifications to you any time motion is detected in the area they are monitoring.
Sean, a DIYer from the UK, wanted to put his always-on-server to even more use. By linking a webcam to the server and setting up Yawcam (for the motion detection and email notification) on the server and a

Use High Voltage to Erase a CD like a Mad Scientist [Video]

You could throw your CDs in the shredder to erase them–if you want to be pedestrian and safe with your data disposal needs–or you could wide them down to the bare plastic with a massive blast of high voltage electricity.
YouTube user Photoinduction really loves playing with electricity and is always looking for new ways to put it to good use. In the video above he demonstrates how you can literally wipe the data layer right off a CD or DVD using a sustained burst of high voltage electricity.
Erase a CD with HV [YouTube via The Daily What]

Remove Backgrounds Automatically with a Free Photoshop Action

There are hundreds of ways to isolate an object or remove a background in Photoshop, and this is one of the absolute easiest. See how a quick download and some simple techniques can help you cut out images with ease.

Apps, Apps, & More Apps; An Infographic Look at Mobile Applications

Mobile apps are more popular than ever with individual apps boasting download counts in the millions and application sales breaking into the billions of dollars; take a peek at the phenomenon with this app-focused infographic.

Google Video Shutting Down; Rescue Your Orphaned Videos Before 5/13

Google Video is shutting down its hosting services as of the end of this month; users will be able to download their old videos until May 13, 2011.
Google Video’s fate has been in limbo since 2006 when Google bought YouTube–since 2009 they stopped

CraigsEasy Converts Craigslist Searches to Image Galleries

If you spend most of your Craigslist time filtering to show only pictures and then checking out those listings with pictures attached, CraigsEasy will save you the leg work by converting any Craigslist search into an image gallery.
Visit CraigsEasy, add the bookmarklet to your bookmark toolbar, and then any time you want to view a set of Craigslist search results in an easy to browse image-gallery format, you just click the bookmarklet. Watch the video above to see it in action and then visit the link below to grab a copy for your browser.
CraigsEasy [via Unpluggd]

How to Change the Virtual Machine Boot Device in Virtual PC

If you’re trying to install an OS or are testing out boot disks, you might be wondering how to change the boot device. Here’s the quick and easy technique to change it.

Smart Video Enlarger is a free Google Chrome Extension that automatically scales YouTube videos to the size of the browser window–or slightly smaller if you prefer to read the video comments along with the video. By default the videos enlarge to 100% but you can select a ratio from 30-100% in order to allow for comment reading. It’s a nice feature but most people will likely leave it at 100%. Smart Video Enlarger is free and works wherever Google Chrome does. Hit up the link below to grab a copy. Curious about the video in our screenshot? You can watch it here.
Smart Video Enlarger [Google Chrome Extensions via Make Use Of]

Visualize How Your Tax Dollars are Spent at The Data Viz Challenge

It’s Tax Day; curious where all your tax dollars go? Thanks to this year’s Data Viz Challenge you can look at dozens of interesting data visualization tools to see just where your money is going.
Earlier this year Google launched the Data Viz Challenge–a five week competition that challenged developers to visualize how federal income tax is spent. Watch the video above for a sneak peek or follow the link below to see the grand prize winner, the runners up, or browse through dozens of additional entries.
Visualize Your Taxes; The Data Viz Challenge 2010 [Data Viz Challenge via The Official Google Blog]

How To Save, Share, Download, and Install Custom Photoshop Actions

Photoshop Actions, you may remember, allow users to do record and replay complex tasks with no programming skill. But exporting, sharing, and installing downloaded actions can be confusing. Here’s simple instructions on how you can do all three.

Have a huge folder of images needing tweaks? A few hundred adjustments may seem like a big, time consuming job—but read one to see how Photoshop can do repetitive tasks automatically, even if you don’t know how to program!

Boost Networking Performance by Installing Tomato on Your Router

Your newly purchased router has a ton of potential, but unfortunately the manufacturer usually downplays the capabilities by only enabling limited features. Here’s how to unleash some of those features with an open source firmware.

Internet Explorer 10 Will Not Work on Vista or XP

This week we learned how to break down the anatomy of a phishing email, “understand data latency problems with gaming, use a laptop screen as a second monitor, & ID your computer’s components”, convert a hard drive or flash drive from FAT32 to NTFS format, understand the science behind cooking with

PWN3D – The Ultimate FPS Game [Humorous Video]

These gentlemen are really excited about their new super realistic first-person shooter game. Once a third friend joins them it is game on, but does the game get just a bit too realistic? Say goodbye to the living room!

You need to prop your laptop or tablet up at a comfortable angle but you’re not too excited about the idea of spending a lot of money on a stand. Fair enough, this study cardboard stand should do the trick.
It’s not pretty–although if you have access to a laser cutter and acrylic it could be–but it gets the job done. Hit

LaCie USB Key available here.
Flash drives are such handy devices when you’re trouble shooting computers. You can run operating systems off them, stash portable apps on them, transfer data between machines, backup old data before system instability wipes it, and more. The simple flash drive has opened up a world of trouble shooting tips and tricks

Stoneage House [DesktopNexus]

Build a PVC Didgeridoo to Jam Out like an Aborigine [Weekend Project]

If the warm weather has you itching to open the garage door and get tinkering, this PVC didgeridoo–a 1,500 year old aboriginal instrument–is a fun (and noisy) way to kick off a summer of tinkering.
Didgeridoo’s are an ancient instrument that is at minimum 1,500 years old–probably much older but the first rock art depicting the use of one appears around 500 AD. The instrument is essentially just a resonance tube the player uses to generate music that sounds like a deep and rhythmic humming. You can hear a traditional

Friday Fun: Blockgineer

After another long week at work it is time to relax and have some fun. This week’s game puts your thinking to the test as you construct a course to get the balls from the starting point to their targets at the end of the course.

Microsoft Word has a zillion features, and even after using it for a while, you’re always finding something new. The Navigation Pane is a great feature that lets you easily skip between sections, but even more useful is the ability to use it to reorganize your documents.

If you’ve got a hard drive formatted with the FAT32 file system, you might have found that you can’t copy large files to that drive. So how do you fix that, and convert the file system over to NTFS? Here’s how.
Scratching your head? Here’s the deal: the FAT32 file system, which most external drives are still shipped with, can’t handle files larger than about 4 GB in size—which means most full-length movies and anything

How to Properly Clean Your Camera Lens [Video]

Everybody is familiar with the most rudimentary of lens cleaning techniques–a swipe with a clean sleeve–but what about giving your lens a thorough and lens-friendly cleaning? This detailed video shows you how to get the cleanest lens around.

Daisies [DesktopNexus]

Friday, April 15, 2011

Gmail Rolls Out “Don’t Forget Bob” and “Got the Wrong Bob?” Features

Yesterday Gmail graduated two features from Gmail Labs to the general set of Gmail features–”Don’t Forget Bob” and “Got the Wrong Bob?”–that help you ensure you’re emailing everyone and that they’re the right people to email.

If your hard boiled eggs always turned out with dull yolks and shoe-like-whites–don’t hang your head in shame, mine often do–this science-based exploration of perfectly boiled eggs is for you.
Food blog Serious Eats shares a detailed examination of what makes for the perfect soft and hard boiled egg.

When you’re putting audio tracks together, you’ll often notice that there are discrepancies between them. Using Audacity, you can easily change the tempo of a song independently of the pitch, or vice-versa, to better suit your project.

We’ve always been big proponents of open source software, but lately we’ve noticed a disturbing trend: open source software is being wrapped in crapware-laden installers and Google / Bing / Yahoo ads designed to trick people. Here’s the details.
If you Google (or Bing) for any number of open source applications, the first result will be an ad at the top

Mortal Kombat – The Secret Character Tryouts [Video]

Did you ever wonder what it would be like if your favorite video game characters such as Mario, Link, and others auditioned for roles in the Mortal Kombat games? Then here is your chance to see what it could have been like if they had made the cut!
Mortal Kombat Secret Character Tryouts Ep.1 (MK Fatalities Machinima) [YouTube]

Download the Latest Firefox Aurora and Nightly Builds, Get the Channels Newsletter

This week Mozilla’s new browser channels went live and we have the links to help you get the version(s) you want most. We also have the link for the new official homepage where you can sign up for the newsletter as well as links to blog posts from Mozilla with detailed information about the new channels.

You’ve got an ebook reader (or a laptop or netbook with ebook reading software) now you just need some free books to put it to good use. Read on as we show you the best places to score free books online.
There are quite a few places where you can pay for books online such as Amazon’s Kindle bookstore, Barnes and Nobles’ Nook bookstore, and the Google eBookstore—among many other options—but what about scoring free books? Let’s take a look at some of the more popular free book destinations online. Each entry includes information about the site and what kind of ebook formats the site natively supports.

Flash drives loaded with diagnostic apps, portable tools, and other goodies have become a significant part of most geeks’ computer fixing tool kits. What’s in your kit?
Photo by Russell Jones; check out his great guide to DIY armored flash drives here.

Are you tired of downloads displaying in a separate window when using Firefox? Then say goodbye to that extra window and shift it over to a tab with the Downloads in Tab extension.

Episode 1 of New Prequel “Mortal Kombat: Legacy” Web Series [Video]

Ever wonder what it was that made your favorite Mortal Kombat characters be who they were? This awesome new web series from Warner Bros. backs up the clock to before the original movie’s tournament and lets you see the events that shaped each of the characters.

IE10 Platform Preview Shows Off Next Generation CSS and HTML Tricks

Internet Explorer 10 Platform Preview is now available for download and offers a peak into what’s coming next in the world of CSS and HTML 5. Check out this demonstration video to see the new code in action.
Although the download itself is intended for developers, any geek can enjoy seeing what’s in store for future web browsers. Watch the video above to see some of the new features like CSS gradients, flexible and effective

If your Android phone’s battery seems to have less zip in its step than it used to it may be in need of recalibration; BatteryCalibration revitalizes the battery on rooted Android phones.
Download the app, run it, and let your battery reach a full charge. The application kills your old battery stats

The battle between the birds and pigs for possession of the eggs and final victory is nothing less than epic. If you love Angry Birds, then we have the perfect theme for your Windows 7 system.

Desktop Fun: Weather Customization Set

Sometimes when you are stuck inside, a peek outdoors at the weather can be absolutely refreshing. But if your life is just too hectic and you can not go to the weather, then bring the weather to you with our Weather Desktop Customization set.

How to Add Powerful Multitasking to Your Linux Terminal

Multitasking on the command-line can be really confusing for beginners who use Screen. Using Byobu puts a host of system stats available at a glance while making it easy for newbies to work without memorizing hard-to-remember keybindings.
GNU Screen is a godsend for most people who are working in terminal. It allows you to spawn multiple

The folks over at the iTOK Blog have put together a chart comparing Macs and PCs based on features such as stability, affordability, speed, software compatibility, and more. Here is your chance to weigh in on the matter of who you feel does it better. To view the entire graphic visit the link below…

Wall Warts, You likely use them everyday without giving them much of a second thought. What exactly goes on inside those chunky black wall chargers that turns AC current into a nice DC trickle for your favorite electronics? Read on to learn more.

UFO [DesktopNexus]

OpenSignalMaps Offers Real World Cell Coverage Maps

What your cellular providers claims is their coverage area and what their actual coverage area is can be two different things. OpenSignalMap offers a glimpse into the real world coverage of multiple cell providers.
Hit up the site, plug in the zip code you want to survey, and then check out the coverage either via tower

If you’ve got a handful of RSS feeds you like to keep a close eye on throughout the day, Fresh Feed is a lightweight menubar RSS reader that parks itself right in the Mac menu bar.

Recently we featured a beautiful Cosmic Fringe theme for Windows 7 and today we have matching themes for Chrome and Iron to share with you.

Who needs the regular zodiac charts when you have one specially made for geeks. Which sign of the geek zodiac are you? Are you a Treasure Hunter, a Wizard, a Pirate, or maybe even a Time Traveler? Check the chart to find your sign!

Has your digital picture or music library become so large that you have a hard time sifting through them to load up your devices? Well, why do yourself what your computer can do for you? With a simple customizable script, you can easily have Windows pick random files from one folder and copy them to another.

How Loud Is Too Loud; Understanding dB [Infographic]

How loud is too loud? Check out this infographic to take a look at some of the loudest sounds on earth–KISS concerts included–and their effect on your hearing.
The above infographic, courtesy of SonicElectronix, outlines what dB levels lead to hearing loss, what some of the loudest sounds on earth are, and the signs of hearing loss. Want to read more about dB levels and see examples of things at the loud and soft end of the scale? Check out this chart of sound pressure levels courtesy of Wikipedia.
How Loud Is Too Loud [via Daily Infographic]

Stupid com-computer Tricks: How to Display the Windows Version on the Desktop

Have you ever noticed during all the beta releases of Windows, there’s always a Windows version on the desktop in the lower right-hand corner? Here’s how that “feature” is enabled or disabled.
Obviously this isn’t terribly useful, which is exactly what makes it a Stupid Geek Trick. Either way, it’s a good learning experience to better understand how your OS works.

Pages

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Friday, April 22, 2011

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Monday, April 18, 2011

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Daisies [DesktopNexus]

Friday, April 15, 2011

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Monday, April 11, 2011