GeekwithEnvy

Richard Vincenti Jr

How To Put Your iPhone in Field Test Mode

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Field Test mode can be handy if you’re knowledgeable about cell phone technology but it can also help you get a clearer picture of what your cell phone reception is like in a given area or perhaps you’re just somebody who just likes to tinker with things, either way here’s how it’s done.

If you’re iPhone has a recent version of iOS on it (4.1 and up), which covers most phones, then you should be able to access the Field Test Mode with most carriers.

To Access Field Test Mode:

Dial *3001#12345#* 

This will allow you to look at lot’s of otherwise hidden information about your phone and it’s connection to the network. For the average user, the most notable feature is the ability to look at your overall connection to the network.

The number is in dBm and is much more precise than just looking at a set of bars. As a general guideline anything below -100 is starting to get pretty bad, the lower the number the better and -35 or -40 is about as good as it gets.

 

 

Awesome New Way To Experience Google Street View

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An amazing little project by Teehan+Lax changes the way we use Street View by creating incredible “Hyper-Lapse” video from the images in google’s Street View database by stringing them all together. The end result is just plain awesome to look at.

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Even better, you can make your own version, although it will be a slightly lower quality version. All you need is a browser that supports WebGL, like Goole Chrome, Safari, Opera, or Firefox and then you can simply head here to set a start and finish point and make your “Hyper-Lapse” video.

Hyper-lapse photography – a technique combining time-lapse and sweeping camera movements typically focused on a point-of-interest – has been a growing trend on video sites. It’s not hard to find stunning examples on Vimeo. Creating them requires precision and many hours stitching together photos taken from carefully mapped locations. We aimed at making the process simpler by using Google Street View as an aid, but quickly discovered that it could be used as the source material. It worked so well, we decided to design a very usable UI around our engine and release Google Street View Hyperlapse.”

To Enable WebGL in Safari on the Mac (Safari 5.1 and Up):

  • In Safari, open the Safari menu and select Preferences.
  • Click the Advanced tab in the Preferences window.
  • At the bottom of the window, check the Show Develop menu in menu bar checkbox.
  • Open the Develop menu in the menu bar and select Enable WebGL.

Firefox (4 and Up) WebGL is on by Default

For Internet Explorer you can use this plugin.

New Zelda Preorder Shows Up at Walmart Among Others

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Nintendo has many projects in development right now and they are hard at work trying to get them finished and out to Wii U owners. Obviously, none of these titles have official names and many are not even set to be released any time soon.

Walmart, however, has decided that it’s time to get those pre-orders up on their site and they have done so with some names that leave little to the imagination while others are a bit more ambiguous. Either way it definitely helps build excitement and anticipation for new and upcoming Wii U titles, which the console desperately needs. I put together an article recently discussing Nintendo’s interpretation of the rather dismal launch of the Wii U.

Here are some of the titles that Walmart has put up pre-orders for:

  • Zelda 2 RPG Wii U
  • Mario 3D Wii U
  • Mario Kart Wii U

Next Xbox To Be Revealed in May

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We have been patiently waiting to hear details about Microsoft’s answer to the Playstation 4 and it looks like we will finally  get some details in May. The next-gen Xbox was supposed to be seen by the masses in April but instead it will be May 21st according to The Verge.

We actually know very little about the next-gen Xbox, codenamed Durango, but we do have an idea what’s in store for Xbox fans. It is likely that the software in the new Xbox will be very similar to Windows 8 and it’s possible that the console will require an “Always On” connection to the internet. That last bit has some gamers a bit on edge and even has them considering other consoles if Microsoft actually employs this strategy.

As always we will keep you in the loop when more details emerge about the next Xbox.

How to Upgrade Your Mac

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Apple’s latest line up of computers are extremely thin and compact, it’s amazing how much can fit in such a small form factor. All of this makes for an amazing design but it also has a downside.

To those of us who are more inclined to tinker with our machines, it can appear as if there’s almost no way to upgrade Apple’s latest and greatest. There is good news however. If you want to add some RAM or your own SSD to your Mac, then there’s probably a way to do it. You can even get step-by-step instructional videos on how to do it along with all the tools you will need.

All of this can be found at OWC (Other World Computing). OWC offers all kinds of options for upgrading your Mac, they sell the hardware and tools you will need to get the job done and all of it is reasonably priced so you can save some cash by doing it all yourself.

The upgrade projects can vary in skill level quite a bit, some of them are quite simple while others will require you to be pretty confident about tearing down your Mac. It’s safe to say that most of these upgrades are for the bold but if you’re not up to doing it yourself then in some cases OWC can do it for you.

All of their installation videos are available on their site but you can also view them on their YouTube channel. OWC also offers repair services for your iPad along with a ton of accessories and additional software.