GeekwithEnvy

How To

How To Skip Activation on The Samsung Galaxy S3 and Samsung Fascinate

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samsungGalaxyS3

Sometimes you find yourself wanting to use a phone for Wi-Fi, gaming only, or maybe you just need to access content on an old phone but you can’t seem to get past the activation screen.

There has to be a way to make an “un-activated” phone more useful. Well, there is, and it only requires a secret key press combination to get you past the activation screen.

Obviously, you will not have the “full” functionality of the phone, but at least you don’t have to use it as a paperweight.

For the Samsung Galaxy S3 press this key combination:

  • Bottom left corner
  • Bottom right corner
  • Bottom left corner
  • Bottom right corner
  • Volume up

* TIP: You should be on the language selection screen when entering the key combination.

For the Samsung Fascinate:

  • Enter the emergency dialer
  • Dial *#83786633
  • Press Send
  • Press Home Key

 

 

How To Put Your iPhone in Field Test Mode

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iphoneFieldServiceSS

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.

 

 

How To Make Homemade Ninja Turtle Ooze

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Who wouldn’t want to have a little glowing ooze around the house? I came across this awesome video that shows how you can make your own Ninja Turtle glowing ooze.

Interesting Fact:
Did you know that the UK version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was named Teenage Mutant “Hero” Turtles? The name was altered due to strict guidelines that were in place that deemed the word “ninja” to be too violent.

Mac Startup Keys / How to Reset your NVRAM

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Often we need to access specific features on our computers when things go wrong or if we start tinkering around with our hardware configurations. Sometimes you just want to see how things are running or maybe your just curious. Either way, here is a list of different key combinations that you can use to access special features built into your Intel Mac.

All of these key combinations should be pressed as soon as you hear the startup sound when turning on your Mac. You will want to keep these keys pressed until your Mac performs the requested function.

 

AppleWirelessKeyboard for Mac Startup Keys

Resetting NVRAM

(Having issues with your startup disk, screen resolution, audio issues? Resetting the NVRAM may help resolve these issues. )

Press Option-Command-P-R until you hear startup sound a second time.

Want to start your Mac with bootable media, USB thumb drive or DVD? 

Press “C” during startup.

Eject Removable Media

Press Eject, F12, or hold the mouse or trackpad button.

Safe Boot (similar to Windows Safe Mode)

Hold “Shift” during startup.

Verbose Mode (Let’s you see what’s happening during boot-up instead of the Apple Logo)

Press Command-V during startup.

Single User Mode ( As the name suggests, it’s boots into a single user and without a GUI)

Press Command-S during startup.

OS X Recovery System

Press Command-R during startup.

Startup Manager (  A GUI that allows you to choose which volume to boot with)

Press “Option” during startup.

Apple Hardware Test ( As the name suggests, it tests your hardware and reports issues)

Press “D” during startup.

Target Disk Mode (Turn a Firewire connected Mac into a external Hard drive)

Press “T” during startup.

NetBoot (Allows you to boot from a Network  “Default Boot Image”)

Press Option-N during startup.

NetBoot (Allows you to boot from a Network “Use Compatible”)

Press “N” during startup.

 

 

How to Show Hidden Files in OS X

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HiddenOSXFiles

Sometimes you need to access files that are normally hidden by default, but these files can sometimes be critical to the proper operation of the operating system and are therefore hidden for a reason. This means that it isn’t always easy to “unhide” these files as developers want to try to prevent less experienced computer users from deleting things accidentally. However, if you’re a geek then chances are you know exactly what you’re doing and you need direct access to hidden files in OS X.

Fortunately, “unhiding” files in OS X is very easy. Just open Terminal and enter the following command.

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

If you find you no longer have the need to view hidden files, you can hide them again by adding a “NO” at the end of the command.

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles NO

Once you have entered either one of these commands, you need to relaunch Finder in order for the changes to take effect.

Relaunching Finder

One of the easiest ways to relaunch Finder is to hold down the “Option” Key and then click and hold the “Finder” icon. You can also hold down the option key and “Right-Click” the Finder icon. You should see the option to relaunch. After you relaunch Finder, you should see your changes take effect.