Author Archives: David

Hidden Tethering App in App Store! Hurry!

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tetherIf you have an unlimited data plan (AT&T), and don’t want to jailbreak your iphone, act fast, because there is an app in the App store that has tethering as a hidden feature. Somehow this app flew under Apple’s radar.

The app is called FlashArmyKnife and you can get it by clicking here.

Some quick instructions to access the hidden tethering feature in Windows 7:

  1. Open the Network and Sharing Center
  2. Set up a new connection
  3. Choose “set up wireless ad-hoc network”
  4. Create the network
  5. On the iphone, go to WiFi settings and choose the new network you made
  6. Open the FlashArmyKnife app on the iphone
  7. This is where you start to access the hidden feature: open the calculator part of the app, then press: 1642, M+, C, 1452, M+, C, 1943, M+
  8. Now go to the web tab in FlashArmyKnife and load any site
  9. Back in the iPhone Wifi settings, open the network details. If you see an IP address, take note of it, and you’re on to the next step. If you don’t see an IP yet, try entering the digits again into the calculator (step 7) and loading a site.
  10. To set up the computer, go to Internet Options, then click the connection tab and then “LAN Settings”
  11. Click the checkbox for Proxy server, and enter the IP that you saw on the iPhone. Use 6667 for the port.
  12. Click the “Advanced” button and then uncheck “use the same proxy server for all protocols” option.
  13. Enter the IP again for the socks address, with port 6668. Click okay out of everything.
  14. Back on your phone, open the app again and back to the calculator. Press “C” and then put this string in again: 1642, M+, C, 1452, M+, C, 1943, M+
  15. You should be all set! Just keep that app running, and turn off the autolock on your iPhone, and you should be able to tether away!

Some more help can be found in this video or this link.

How to nuke someone’s DropBox

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dropboxDoes your worst enemy have a Dropbox account? This nasty trick may be your path to digital revenge, if your revenge is worth 800 dollars. This information is for hypothetical argument.  Do not do this in real life.

  1. Go get a DropBox for Teams account.
  2. Invite your enemy to the Team account… they will be enticed by the 1+ TB space. If they don’t accept the invite, you’re SOL.
  3. After they accept the invite, log in and revoke their access to your team. This will delete not just their team account, but their entire personal dropbox account as well! 

This is not a bug, hack or exploit, but rather a documented function of how this is supposed to work. Use at your own risk…. if your revenge is really worth $800.

Last-minute Christmas Gift for a nerd: WoW Monopoly

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WoW MonopolyStill looking for a last-minute gift for that special nerd in your family? World of Warcraft Monopoly is on sale right now, and there’s still time to ship it in time for Christmas.

With “g” as the currency and Chance card that say things like “You’ve wiped the group! Pay 50g!”, this is sure to be every WoW-player’s wet dream.

$13.99 at Amazon

 

Top Ten Worst Songs of 2012

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Fans of the Youtube user ADoseOfBuckley and his Musical Autopsies will love this 2012 year-end round up. If you have 20 minutes to kill, watch this. It’s worth it. Unless you like Nicki Minaj.

We agree with the entire list <SPOILERS BELOW>:

  1. 4 way Tie for the #1 worst song of 2012:
    1. Nicki Minaj – Starships
    2. Nicki Minaj – Stupid Hoe
    3. Nicki Minaj – Beez in the Trap
    4. Nicki Minaj – Pound the Alarm
  2. Rihanna ft. Chris Brown – Birthday Cake
  3. Flo Rida – Whistle
  4. fun. ft. Janelle Monae – We Are Young
  5. Madonna ft. Nicki Minaj and MIA
  6. Juicy J. ft. Lil’ Wayne and 2 Chainz – Bandz A Make Her Dance
  7. Future – Turn on The Lights
  8. Toby Keith – Red Solo Cup
  9. Justin Bieber ft. Big Sean – As Long As You Love Me
  10. Bella Thorne – TTYLXOX

 

Sign up for eFax, get harassing calls from 323-860-9200

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eFax is a ScamLast night I signed up for a free trial of eFax. I only needed to receive one fax, so the free trial seemed like a good option.

This morning, at 7:30am I started receiving calls from (323) 860-9200. I didn’t answer any of them, and each call resulted in a voicemail about 30 seconds in length, of someone in a call center breathing.

I don’t know what this is about, but there is absolutely no reason for this company to be calling me at 7:30am roughly 10 hours after I signed up for a FREE 30 day trial.

My amusing chat with them this morning:

You are now chatting with ‘Stanley K.’
Stanley K.: Hello, David. Welcome to online Fax support. I am Stanley Kox, your online Live Support Representative. How may I assist you?
David: I’ve been receiving repeated phone calls from an eFax number this morning, since signing up for my free trial. 
David: What is prompting these early morning (7:30am) phone calls from your company?
Stanley K.: I absolutely understand your concern and sincerely apologize for the difficulty that you have encountered.
Stanley K.: We need to make verification to make sure that the accounts belong to the customer or not.
Stanley K.: If the account does not belong to you then we go ahead and close the account to avoid any future issues.
David: So, you need to do this in addition to all of hte information and valid credit card information I’ve already provided? 
David: no other company in the world that I’ve ever dealt with does this
Stanley K.: We are sorry, that you received the calls in the early morning.
Stanley K.: We will make sure that it will not happen again.

I think I’ll just cancel. It isn’t worth the early morning wake up call!

Malibu Mocha Sectional (and other Big Lots furniture) Install Tips

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We found a few good deals recently for new some living furniture at Big Lots. Purchased items were the Simmons Malibu Mocha 2-Piece sectional (with four pillows). We also picked up the matching ottoman (SKUs: 810052897, 81005289).

The “install” just included attaching the feet to these units, but if you’re like us (we couldn’t remember the last time we used the drill), you might find this task a small challenge. Here are some tips/warnings for anyone searching for information on this:

  • Don’t bother looking for instructions or a manual. There isn’t one! You should have 4 feet and 8 screws per sectional unit though. Make sure those are with the unit.
  • There are no pre-drilled holes.

Tools you will need: 

  • Needle-nose pliers
  • A drill
  • 1/8″ drill bit
  • A Phillips-head screwdriver bit
  • An extender for the drill (the holes in the feet are quite deep) – you may not need this if your drill bits are long enough.
  • We also used a razor to cut a few things (keep reading)

After lots of trial and error, this process worked best for us:

  1. Carefully remove plastic and cloth wrapping. Use the needle nose pliers to pull out any staples that are holding the cardboard or cloth on. Once the wrapping is off, inspect the edges and corners of the bottom of the unit to look for any other staples sticking out that you may have missed. Yank em out.
  2. Now, look at the corners of the unit. You will need to pre-drill holes into the wood near the corners of the unit. This was complicated for us because there was some extra cotton jammed between the wood and the gray fabric on about 50% of the corners. You won’t be able to drill/screw through this cotton. It twists around the bit and just locks everything in place. Again, not all corners had this problem, only about half of them.
  3. For the corners that you feel padding between the bottom cloth and wood: use a sharp razor, make a small cut in the gray fabric, and use the pliers to pull out the extra padding jammed down there. When you’re doing it, it will look like you’re pulling a lot of stuff out, but don’t worry… its not even supposed to be there.  Just make sure you’re not pulling it out of the sides. We ended up with about a handful of cotton (when compressed) for each corner that had this problem.
  4. Once you confirm that there is nothing between the wood and the gray fabric on the corners, its time to install the feet.
  5. We found this very easy to do with two people. One person holds the foot in place, the other drills and then screws. Be sure to set the feet in a few centimeters to hide the lip of the plastic from the top, but also make sure that you keep the feet on the wooden edges, or else the foot will slip inside when weight is applied.
  6. While the unit is on its side, and the other person is holding the foot and providing support from the other side of the unit, pre-drill your hole with the 1/8″ bit. Reverse the drill direction, pull it out. Attach the screwdriver bit and screw the screw in tight.
  7. That’s it! Do that for all corners. The ottoman uses the exact same process.

Shame on Big Lots for a) making this more difficult than it needs to be, and b) Not providing instructions for those of us that aren’t very handy 🙂

UPDATE (11/5/2013): We’ve had this couch for one year now, and it has held up just fine.  We have a large dog that likes to sleep on it, as well as some father-in-laws spending a few nights on it.  There is no sagging, or obvious “favorite” spots.  The dog hair from our German Shepherd-ish dog comes off with a vacuum attachment. Several folks were asking if the hair gets tangled in the micro-suede fiber, and from what I’ve seen, this isn’t the case. Here’s the best I can do for a closeup shot of the couch pre-vacuuming. Click to enlarge.

Malibu Mocha Couch Dog Hair

And here’s the monster responsible for all this hair, and probably the one who spends the most time on this unit:
Dog on Malibu Mocha Couch

Brother printers require all color cartridges to print black and white

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Dear Brother,

What is wrong with you? Why do I need to purchase $70 dollars worth of color ink to print a black and white text-only document?

I own a MFC-J415W and would recommend it to nobody. The Multifunction center works well for scanning and copying, but it has one fatal flaw: In the event that you run out of Yellow, Magenta, or Cyan, the entire printer shuts down and prevents printing until all ink is replaced.  Minor inconvenience? Well, when the LC61 series ink packs cost over $70, I call it a scam.

Don’t believe me? Look what their support had to say:

6:44 PM Paul: Hello, David. Thank You for contacting Brother Chat Support. Just a moment while I review your issue.
6:44 PM Paul: I understand you concerns and I will be more than happy to assist you with your issue today.
6:45 PM David: ok
6:45 PM Paul: I have a solution I can provide you with which will guide you through step by step instructions to help resolve the issue you are having. May I send you the link with these instructions now?
6:45 PM David: okay
6:45 PM Paul: http://host220.brother.com:8080/sap/bc/bsp/sap/zsdb/display.htm?SOLUTION=200000026643
6:45 PM Paul: Please follow these steps to assist with your issue, was there anything else I can assist with today?
6:46 PM David: this does not address my issue.
6:47 PM David: The printer is reporting “can not print” due to no yellow ink. I am attempting to print in black and white.
6:47 PM Paul: If the message cannot print is on the display the ink cartridge will need to be replaced before you can continue printing.
6:47 PM David: But I am printing black and white. Why do I need to buy yellow ink for that?
6:48 PM David: isn’t there a way to print using the black cartridge?
6:48 PM Paul: Your Brother machine is designed to stop ALL printing operations (printing from the pc, printing received faxes and printing copies or reports) when any of the ink cartridges are empty. This is to ensure the life of the print head and maintain premium print quality. If the unit were to continue printing, print jobs and cleaning cycles would suction air from the dry cartridge and damage the print head. Even if you print in black only or change the print settings to MONO or GRAYSCALE to avoid printing in color, the programmed cleaning cycles would still suction the dry cartridge, because they are programmed to clean ALL the ink nozzles. The only way to continue printing is to replace the empty ink cartridge or cartridges.
6:49 PM David: thanks. I’ll buy a new printer, as that is much cheaper than replacing ink on this one.
6:49 PM Paul: Thank you for contacting Brother. Have a great day. If you need additional assistance with your issue, please contact us back though chat.

So, there’s my advice: go buy another printer. It is WAY cheaper than replacing the color ink on this one every month or so.

Update (5/24/2015): Alternatively, as someone pointed out in the comments, you can buy these cheap generic replacement cartridges for about 9 dollars from Amazon.

 

Walmart.com Cancels ALL SWTOR pre-orders

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Like the procrastinator that I am, I didn’t pre-order SWTOR (Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG) in time to get it from my usual source, Amazon.  This left me with only several options to get my hands on a copy of the Collectors Edition. I chose Walmart and I chose poorly.

On October 21 I made my purchase. They mailed my early access game code, and I’ve already registered it with my account.  They changed my card the FULL amount of the game at that time.

Without having received email notification, or ANY kind of notification for that matter, I saw that my order has been cancelled on Wamart.com.  How nice.

Right now, many folks in the SWTOR forum thread created about this are calling it a computer glitch that will be rectified by the 9th, but we shall see.

I ordered another copy just now through Newegg.com, but I don’t have high hopes for either situation – how can Newegg still have copies to sell? Are they going to do the same thing?  Will update as I get more info.

 

Steam Hacked

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Looks like Steam was hacked last night.  Usernames, passwords, purchase history, encrypted credit card data, the whole deal.  Hopefully the fallout from this isn’t too bad. The Gawker thing was bad enough.

Dear Steam Users and Steam Forum Users:

Our Steam forums were defaced on the evening of Sunday, November 6. We began investigating and found that the intrusion goes beyond the Steam forums.

We learned that intruders obtained access to a Steam database in addition to the forums. This database contained information including user names, hashed and salted passwords, game purchases, email addresses, billing addresses and encrypted credit card information. We do not have evidence that encrypted credit card numbers or personally identifying information were taken by the intruders, or that the protection on credit card numbers or passwords was cracked. We are still investigating.

We don’t have evidence of credit card misuse at this time. Nonetheless you should watch your credit card activity and statements closely.

While we only know of a few forum accounts that have been compromised, all forum users will be required to change their passwords the next time they login. If you have used your Steam forum password on other accounts you should change those passwords as well.

We do not know of any compromised Steam accounts, so we are not planning to force a change of Steam account passwords (which are separate from forum passwords). However, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to change that as well, especially if it is the same as your Steam forum account password.

We will reopen the forums as soon as we can.

I am truly sorry this happened, and I apologize for the inconvenience.

Gabe.

LEGO Universe MMORPG to shut down

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Just received notice in my inbox this morning that Lego’s push into the MMORPG market will be no more, as they are shutting down the servers on Jan 31, 2012, only 1 year a few months after opening.

Although this was a fairly functional MMORPG, this game was designed for children, plain and simple. The only interesting aspect of it was the Lego piece collecting and personal properties where you had the ability to create whatever you could imagine. And now everyone eagerly awaiting SWTOR can look forward to swarms of these kids invading their servers.

This is the email received this morning:

Hello Adventurer, today we are very sad to announce that LEGO® Universe will be closing on January 31, 2012. This was a very difficult decision to make, but unfortunately LEGO Universe has not been able to attract the number of members needed to keep the game open.

We realize how sad this will make the many players who have enjoyed LEGO Universe and we are committed to providing open communication with both kids and parents as we transition through this difficult time. We understand this is a challenging change and apologize for not being able to give parents forewarning before the general announcement.

We are thankful to have had the opportunity to share this adventure with an amazing community of players. We hope you will continue to enjoy LEGO Universe for the last few months. As a thank you, if you are a paying subscriber on December 31, 2011, we will provide you the full game for the final month for free.

Again, we want to thank the fantastic community of players who made LEGO Universe such a vibrant, fun and creative experience.

Sincerely,

The LEGO Universe Team

The Details:

  • The game will be turned off on January 31, 2012 at midnight (EST).
  • All current subscribers (1, 6 or 12 month plans) who still have active subscriptions on December 31 will receive a refund for any remaining game time remaining after December 31 as well as free play from January 1, 2012 until January 31.
    • For example, if you purchased a 6-month subscription on September 1, 2011 (which would expire on February 29, 2012), you would be refunded $16.66 for the 2 months following December 31.
  • We will begin processing all refunds on February 1, 2012. All refunds will be made to the credit card used for the original subscription.
  • If your subscription expires before December 31 you will need to purchase an additional 1 month subscription by December 31 in order to get the free game play in January (again, any unused game time as of December 31 will be refunded.)
  • LEGO Universe game cards can only be used until December 1st 2011. Unused game cards after December 1st can be converted to LEGO Shop @Home gift cards for the same value.
    • Please note: Details on how to convert unused game cards will be posted on December 1.
  • You can continue to enjoy the free to play zone until January 31, 2012 but your last chance to convert to a paying subscription is December 31, 2011.