Blog I.T.

How to hack an elevator

"The designers of some elevators include a hidden feature that is very handy if you're in a hurry
or it's a busy time in the building (like check-out time in a hotel). While some elevators require
a key, others can be put into "Express" mode by pressing the "Door Close" and "Floor" buttons at
the same time. This sweeps the car to the floor of your choice and avoids stops at any other floor.
This seems to work on Most elevators that I have tried! Most elevators have the option for this to work,
but on some of them the option is turned off by whoever runs them. This is a rather fun hack, so the next time you are on an elevator, give it a try, you have nothing to lose, And this concludes Hacking Elevators 101!

Elevators that have been tested and worked on:
Otis Elevators (All But The Ones Made In 1992),
Dover (Model Numbers: EL546 And ELOD862),
And Most Desert Elevators(All, But Model Numbers ELD5433 And ELF3655) "

The Future of Computer Displays?

This is pretty cool. Interactive tiles that act as seperate and independent but linkable displays. It just has to be seen. Just click the pic and be amazed. See more images and an mpeg of it *HERE* OR click the picture above.I could spend hours messing with these! 

Learn HTML and Build Your Own Site!

These days just about anyone can build a website with a wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) program but it can be very helpful for you to be able to edit your own HTML(Hyper Text Markup Language) code.
There are alot more things that you can learn like xhtml,css,and xml to name a few, but HTML is a great place to start. Head on over *HERE* (loads a little slow sometimes) in order to start your introduction into the world of creating and editing your own websites!

101 Reasons to use Mozilla Firefox

Here are 101 reasons to use Mozilla Firefox over IE and most any other browser out there! Here's the 1st top ten: Read them all HERE.

1. Tabbed browsing

   Lets you display more than one site in a window using multiple tabs. You can open a new tab by selecting Navigator Tab from the New submenu of the File menu (or press Ctrl+T). You can also open a link in a new tab by using the right-click menu. You will find configuration options in the Tabbed Browsing preferences panel.

   Note that CrazyBrowser is a different product than IE.

2. Popup blocking

   Block all those popup ads. To disable popup windows, select Advanced and then Scripts & Plugins from the Preferences window. Then uncheck the box that reads "Open unrequested windows".

3. Prevent scripts from doing various things

   You can prevent scripts from moving windows, closing them, changing the status bar and setting cookies. To change these settings, select Advanced and then Scripts & Plugins from the Preferences window. Then uncheck the desired boxes.

4. Site Navigation toolbar

   Displays content from the <link> tags provided by a document, allowing one to navigate to various parts of a site.

5. Sidebar

   The sidebar provides a number of tabs by default, and others can be added by the user.

6. Can add custom panels to sidebar

   Custom sidebars can be implemented in HTML or XUL and can be installed from a remote site without much hassle. Sites can add sidebars using the window.sidebar.addPanel() function.

7. More control over text zooming

   Can zoom text to any size. IE only supports five sizes and has no keyboard shortcut that I could determine. For sites that use fairly small fonts, having more larger sizes in necessary for those without perfect vision.

   Note that using the mouse isn't a keyboard shortcut.

8. Can zoom any text, even that with fixed pixel sizes

   Can zoom text no matter what units were specified, an often cited issue with IE.

9. Can select from multiple stylesheets provided by page

   When a page provides multiple (or alternate) stylesheets, one can select between them by choosing from the Use Style sub-menu in the View menu.

10. Page info dialog

    Provides additional information about encoding, MIME type, referrer and meta tags. Some of this information is also available in IE's properties dialog although it isn't as detailed and the window isn't resizable.

11. Detailed form/link/media info dialog

Tech Head Tip: Stopping Messenger Pop Ups

To remove the ability for anyone in the world to pop up messages on your computer,
you can disable the Messenger service.

(Danversion1 one says,"Windows XP Pro w/SP2 has Messenger service turned off by default.") -Nice.

1. Click Start->Settings ->Control Panel
2. Click Performance and Maintenance
3. Click Administrative Tools
4. Double click Services
5. Scroll down and highlight "Messenger"
6. Right-click the highlighted line and choose Properties
7. Click the STOP button
8. Select Disable or Manual in the Startup Type scroll bar Click OK

Great Geek T-Shirts

Haven't updated for a few days thanks to the busy and hectic 4th of July! We made it all in one piece and I'm getting some great tidbits and cool sites for you guys to check out.

Check it out all you tech heads,geeks and hax0rs. Jinx.com has some awesome tech related t-shirts available as well as sweaters,stickers and other shwag. I've bought from them and have been happy with every shirt I have purchased from them. So dont be shy, try not to be nervous, just ask Jinx.com for their super geeky service!!!!

How to Choose a Computer Case

  These days more and more people who are really into their pc's are putting their own computers together or have at least thought about building their own pc. This is a good article on how to choose a computer case and will help you to make a more informed decision. Good stuff. Read More

Control Programs That Run on Startup

The best way to prevent a program from running at Startup, is to check the program's own options for a way to prevent this.  Most good quality programs will provide an option for this. 

If you can't find the option there, click Start, Run and enter MSCONFIG.  Go to the Startup tab, and uncheck the item there.  This method is not always 100% successful.  An example is a program that you do use, but you don't want running automatically.  Some programs will check to see if the program's own options say it should run at Startup. If the program thinks its supposed to load at startup, it will re-create the autorun entry.

Give Firefox A Speed Boost

You've all seen the Firefox speedup trick, but this makes it go even faster. Really speeds it up.Firefox is a web browser with great features like tabbed browsing,skins,themes,improved security over IE,and extensions like rss readers. Don't have Firefox? Get it Here. Ok? Good. Now go read the tip on how to speed it up over Here.

Free 32mb Thumbdrive from IBM!!!

IBM.com Is giving away a free 32mb thumbdrive! Just register and sign a few forms and they will send it out to you. No guarantee you'll get one but it's worth a shot! Get it HERE

(Some people are saying that this is or might be a scam it is not. If you check the SSL Certificate you'll notice that it is from IBM.com. If you get one or not is entirely up to them.)

Home Brew Air Conditioning

My husband got a tooth pulled so this is his wife Nora filling in! I came across this story and thought I would share it with you guys. How to make fast home air conditioning for about $25 bucks! I think this is pretty inventive. Read more.

USB Memory Drive Projects & Tips

The USB memory key appears well on its way to replacing the floppy drive completely; as flash memory prices have dropped, these devices have become cheap enough that anyone can afford them. This, coupled with the easy support of such drives in Windows XP, has made them an extremely attractive device for anyone that needs to move files from place to place. USB memory drives are not just geek toys anymore! Read More

Hard to Find Game Accessories

Lik-sang.com is a great website where you can find hard to find products and accessories for all video game consoles old and new.  From rare arcade sticks,pads, to vga out cables for your Xbox or memory cards for your old Dreamcast, it's all there!  Lot's of people have had really good experiences with them so head on over there if you are looking for hard to find games and accesories. Lik-sang.com

Half Of Businesses Still Use Windows 2000

"An AssetMetrix study shows that half of business are still running Windows 2000 four years after the release of Windows XP, and that usage of Windows 2000 has only decreased by 4% since 2003. Microsoft will officially stop supporting Windows 2000 by the end of this month, offering one last update rollup later this year. Windows XP's slower adoption illustrates Microsoft's difficulty in competing with the popularity of its own software platform, and makes it more difficult for Microsoft to convince people to upgrade when Longhorn is released late next year."

Tech Head Tip: Locking Your Desktop

Suppose you leave your workstation and someone else comes up and decides to use your pc "really quick." So they decide to close the spreadsheet you've been working on for the last two hours just to see if the joke of the day had come into their hotmail inbox yet. Frustrating? Yes. Preventable? Definitely!   Before you leave your workstation,lock them out of the desktop using a quick shortcut. WARNING: Don't do this if you don't know your windows logon password!!! You will be asked for it to get back in!!!

Here's How:

Hold down the Windows key and the L key (WinKey+L) simultaniously.

You can also create a shortcut icon on your desktop using the command: rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation
Right-click somewhere on the desktop
Select New | Shortcut and type: rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation