Chad's News

Setting the BIOS password on your laptop may seem like a smart idea, but it turns out that you can easily reverse engineer the password from information displayed by the laptop. The linked article has scripts that will do this for a variety of manufacturers and models. Of course, it’s not that difficult to reset the BIOS password using other methods—my motherboard, for instance, has a jumper that will reset the BIOS settings to their defaults.

Link: http://dogber1.blogspot.com/…
(via Lifehacker)

Wi-fi networks have an identifier, known as the SSID. The default setting for many routers is to broadcast the SSID—thus making it easier to find and connect to the network, but most wireless security tutorials recommend disabling the SSID broadcast. Lifehacker, however, suggests this may be more trouble than it’s worth. Any hacker with a minimum amount of knowledge can easily determine the SSID, regardless of whether or not it’s being broadcast.

Link: http://lifehacker.com/…

For those who value their online privacy, the linked article has tips on how to delete your online presence.

Link: http://www.wikihow.com/…
(via The Consumerist)

UNIX and Linux users have long been familiar with file system links, both symbolic and hard, which act for most purposes as if they were the files they point to. Windows came late to the game with shortcuts, that are akin to symbolic links but only really work in Windows Explorer. Microsoft, however, has seen the error of its ways and added true links to Windows starting with Vista. The linked article explains how to create them via the mklink tool.

Link: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/…

Google Chrome is blazingly fast, but I find it annoying that the browser exits when the last tab is closed. Now there’s an extension, named Last Tab Standing, to prevent that from happening.

Link: https://chrome.google.com/…
(via Lifehacker)

Have an old record collection that you’re afraid to play because they wear down over time? This article gives step-by-step instructions on how to inexpensively create playable copies of your records. That way you can keep the master copies safe and pristine but still play the music all you want.

Link: http://mikesenese.com/…
(via Lifehacker)

Users of Google services such as Gmail, Reader, and Voice can now sign in to multiple accounts at the same time and via the same browser window. This is especially useful for those who have more than one gmail account. Unfortunately you’re currently limited to a maximum of 3 simultaneous sign-ins. The linked article has more details as well as links to the official Google announcement and the help pages that explain how to use the feature.

Thanks to Josh for this topic.

Link: http://lifehacker.com/…

If you want to view 3D television at home it’s not necessary to shell out big bucks for new HDMI 1.4 cables. High Speed HDMI 1.3 cables, which many people already own, can support all HDMI 1.4 features except the HDMI Ethernet Channel. It’s the HDMI 1.4 protocol that’s required for 3D television.

Link: http://blogs.consumerreports.org/…
(via The Consumerist)

The nice thing about Apple products is that they’re easy to use. Apple is the master of user interface design. The bad thing about Apple products is when you need to do something they don’t expect you to do. Case in point: I moved my iTunes directory to a different hard drive, removed the old hard drive, and then expected everything to work.

I was able to change the directory in iTunes, no problem, but my library still thought most of the songs were on the old hard drive. I figured I could export the library, make changes, and then import it, but I was wrong. You can export via iTunes, but you can’t import—go figure…. After some investigation, I found the “iTunes Music Library.xml” file (a text file) and changed its entries to reference the new drive. That didn’t work either. After launching iTunes, it un-did the changes.

I learned that iTunes stores the library information in a file named “iTunes Library.itl”, which uses a proprietary binary format and cannot be easily edited. The XML file is generated from the library.

A web search found the linked article, which discusses how to restore an iTunes library from the XML file. The secret is to replace “iTunes Library.itl” with an empty file. iTunes will then recreate the library from “iTunes Music Library.xml”.

Link: http://hifiblog.com/…

The linked article explains how to replace the firmware in your low-cost router, transforming it into a full-featured device. The author used DD-WRT, which supports Linksys and many other brands.

Link: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/…

It’s possible to fix water-damaged books, photos, and documents by putting them in the freezer while they’re still wet. They’re essentially freeze-dried by the dehydrating effect of the frost-free freezer. Note that even though the Lifehacker article says to place the book in a plastic bag, you should not seal the bag—the sublimated water vapor has to have somewhere to go.

Link #1: http://lifehacker.com/…

Link #2 (PDF): http://ccaha.punkave.net/…
(via Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts)

So you have a game console that you don’t need anymore. Thinking about selling it on eBay, donating it to charity, or perhaps giving it to a friend? The linked article explains how to remove personal information that may be stored on the console’s hard drive.

Link: http://arstechnica.com/…