Geek Republic » hacks

Bypass Wikipedia SOPA Blackout

Matt — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:43:17 +0000

While I agree that spreading the word about SOPA and PIPA is a great idea, I definitely do not agree with a complete blackout of the most widely used reference site. If I were running Wikipedia, I would have made it so users would have to click a button to continue to their information. Wikipedia itself has said that this is not a total blackout, as they are still making the site completely accessible to mobile users. Of course, who wants to look up that information on a tiny screen? (Unless you have a tablet of some sort.) Sort of changing information in Firefox to access the mobile version, I stumbled across a much easier way. I found it on a Dropbox users page and the site is HERE. However, here is the jist of it. Wikipedia is just using some CSS to cover the page you need. With a little javascript, that CSS can be blocked. So you just drag the javascript link on the DropBox site into your booklet or bookmarks on Firefox, and when you get to the wiki with a SOPA/PIPA blackout, just click it and it takes care of the hard work for you!
Enjoy, but do not forget the dreadful, evil thing that is hanging over our heads.

Weekend Project – Car Charging Bluetooth Headset

Matt — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 02:37:38 +0000

I’ve been driving around Minnesota breaking their law about talking on cell phones while driving for a while now. With the advent of my home state Wisconsin doing the same now, I figure I’d better start cracking down on my wayward ways. I used to use a bluetooth headset for a while, but one thing always kept bugging me. Every other day or so, the headset would run out of charge while I was in the car. I’d have to take it in to charge and more often than not, I’d forget to bring it back with me into the car. (Same thing as lunches, paperwork, and my identification badge.) So now that I have to drive through 2 states every day, it’s about time that I start using bluetooth AND charging it in the car.

So here is what I had to work with. I’ve been given a Jabra GN Netcom headset along with a small compact base. There was a larger base available, but I couldn’t see the need for it. The output on the ac adapter lists output as 5-6v with a max of 5W (6v .3A). A car’s voltage system is 12v and I already have an adapter to USB. Easy enough, USB operates at 5v with 500-900ma. Quite frankly, that is close enough for me. I simply spliced the cable onto a usb end and there we have it, success. Now I just need to dig out the usb car adapter, mount the small base in my car with removable adhesive and I will be all set.

Recover/Gain Administrator Credentials in Windows

Mike Nathan — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:56:20 +0000

Forum member RaZ0R put together a little tutorial to demonstrate how one would gain Administrator privileges on a Windows machine from within a limited user account.

In a few easy to understand steps, you can go from a limited account to power user in minutes. This can be helpful if your administrator profile happens to be come corrupted, or if you just need to quickly get administrator access, for whatever reason.

Obviously, use this on computers that you own, on which you are permitted to have administrator access!

MyVu Personal Video Viewer Hacked to Allow Input From Any Video Device

Mike Nathan — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:03:32 +0000

For those of you unfamiliar with the MyVu Personal Video Device, it resembles a set of sunglasses with video screens and a pair of headphones built in. It’s a great little product, but forum member RetroPlayer did not like the fact that his MyVu was tethered only to his iPod. He decided he wanted to liberate the mini-theater to allow it the ability to connect to any video player with a standard CINCH/AV output, aka an “RCA Output”.

He poked around for a bit, then finally ended up calling MyVu in order to try talking to an engineer. Surprisingly, he was put through to one, and the engineer was quite accommodating. He gave RetroPlayer a ton of information, which helped him overcome some issues he was having.

The hack works well, but isn’t quite complete yet. RetroPlayer has posted schematics and all the details of his project, but has stated that he will continue working on it, taking it from the breadboard to an actual adapter.

Always on USB Charging Port for Your PC

Mike Nathan — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:25:53 +0000

Forum member Cerberus (aka Geek-Republic’s Jim) posted a tutorial on how to rig up an always-on USB charging port for your PC using a spare USB port, a resistor, and a few pieces of wire.

It requires a small bit of soldering know-how, but anyone who has used an iron at least one time can pull this off. It is a great option for someone looking to reduce clutter while saving energy, since it enables and USB device to charge while your PC is turned off without the need for yet another wall wart.

Comcast Remote Hack

Matt — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 19:44:19 +0000

I have this obsession of controlling all my audio video equipment from the comfort of my couch. I have a remote for my TV, audio system, cable box, Xbox 360, original Xbox (soon to include the power on hack) and PS2. Oh, I even have a remote controlled A/V switch which is pretty cool but not in use at the moment.

The real trick here is to get as many devices working with 1 single remote as best as they can. That means turning the TV, audio receiver, and cable box on and off at will with the push of a single button.

It’s easy with the remote that comes with my Comcast DVR. It has space for three devices. Here’s the real catch though, I don’t want to have to switch buttons to change channels and the volume. This is where channel lock and volume lock come into play. By default, whenever you hit the volume buttons and channel buttons it activates that feature on the cable box. Now you are able to unlock it and switch to that device to use it but that requires more button pressing that I don’t like.

One of the features of the remote is that you can re-lock channel lock and volume lock to any TV you desire. Tv’s only? Yes, my research last year indicated that only the device button for the TV and the cable box can become volume locked. The solution to this is to swap the aux button with the TV button and vice versa. The nice thing is Comcast tells you how to do this. Well, partially. There really is no explanation or reversal instructions given.

This should not harm your remote nor void any warranty, but I do not take responsibility if it does.

Press the TV device button.
Press and hold Setup until the light blinks twice in fast succession.
Now press 9-9-2. The light should blink twice again.
Press the TV device button and then press the AUX device button.

Congratulations, The TV button is now controlled by the AUX button as well as the TV button.

Now, we are going to do the same for the AUX button:

Press the aux device button then press setup until the light blinks twice in fast succession.
Press 9-9-2, the light should blink twice again.
Press the AUX button and then the TV button

Congratulations, the auxiliary device can now be programmed to respond to commands used after the TV button is pressed and vice-versa. Do so by pressing the device you want to setup, pressing the setup button until you get the lights to blink twice and then enter the 4 digit device code.

Now on to volume lock.

Press the TV button, which is now your re-mapped AUX button.
Press and hold the Setup button and wait for the lights to flash twice.
Now press 9-9-3 and the lights should blink twice indicating a correct code.
Now press the device button again that you previously hit. You should see flashing lights yet again.

Awesome, now you have a remote that works like mine, very cool and less buttons to press.