We recently went through a few ways to break into a Windows PC without the password, and it turns out it’s just as easy to break into a Mac too. Here’s how to do it and keep yourself protected. More »
Blog Archives
How to Break Into a Mac (And Prevent It from Happening to You) [Passwords]
Posted on November 4, 2010
Use Ctrl+Shift+Click to Open Programs as Administrator in Windows 7 [Windows 7]
Posted on July 21, 2010
Windows 7: Everybody knows that you can right-click any application to launch it as administrator, but what you might not know is there’s an even quicker way you can trigger administrator mode. More »
Google Translate URL Generates Instant Text-to-Speech MP3 Files [Tricks]
Posted on December 15, 2009
Need a quick MP3 file of a certain saying to goof on a co-worker? Whatever your needs, Google Translate can be used as an impromptu text-to-speech converter, providing a handy MP3 file of your chosen words.
It’s not an official offering, but when Google Translate wants to provide you the spoken version of your translation, as it has done since last month’s upgrades, it calls up a URL—translate.google.com/translate_tts—with something like q=Lifehacker+is+occasionally+more+goofy+than+productive appended at the end. Anyone can enter that URL on their own and attach their own search string. As an example, click on the link below to hear the text-to-speech work (or be prompted to download an MP3, depending on your browser setup):
translate.google.com/translate_tts?q=Hey+Lifehacker+types+it+is+nearly+2010+so+get+down+with+it
The service is, unfortunately, limited to 100 characters, and is English only at this point, and may or may not disappear if it sees heavy use/abuse. For the time being, enjoy Google Translate’s help in telling your coworkers just how you feel in robo-speak, or narrating your slideshows, or crafting a killer computer-sung track.
Google’s Text-to-Speech Converter Service [Google Blogoscoped]
Get Quick Access to Windows 7′s Jump Lists From the Keyboard [Windows 7]
Posted on October 1, 2009
When we showed you how to master Windows 7′s new Jump Lists feature, there was one extremely useful tip that we left out: you can also access them from your keyboard.
The Into Windows blog points out a built-in shortcut key in Windows 7 that opens up the Jump Lists for the first 9 taskbar icons—just like you can use Win+1, Win+2, etc to cycle between open windows on the taskbar or launch an application, you can use the Win+Alt+1 shortcut key combination to open up the Jump List for the icon in that position in the taskbar.
In the example screenshot, using Win+Alt+4 opened the Jump List menu for Microsoft Outlook, since it's sitting at the fourth position on the taskbar—or you could have used Win+Alt+1 to open up the Jump List for Windows Explorer. It's an excellent way to more quickly access one of the best underhyped features in Windows 7 and access recently used items more easily.
Keyboard Shortcut To Quickly Open A Jump List In Windows 7 [Into Windows]
Learn to Throw a Knife [Fun]
Posted on August 29, 2009
You won’t ever actually need this skill, hopefully, but learning how to throw a knife and hit your mark definitely leaves you with a feeling of action hero accomplishment. Here’s how to do it the right way.
Wired’s How-To Wiki states that the key to a good throw, aside from selecting a well-balanced knife, is the grip:
From 12 feet, you’ll throw a full-spin rotation. Grab the knife by the handle, as you would a hammer, but keep your thumb along the top edge for stability and to prevent over-rotation.
Unlike say, learning to fold a paper star, this isn’t the kind of thing you should just leap into, of course. In addition to their tips, Wired has several in-depth resources to share, like KnifeThrowing.info.
Even if you're not planning on taking up the art of knife throwing any time soon, you can still enjoy the following video. This clip is pulled from the show Time Warp—think Mythbusters meets high-speed videography—and shows off some pretty slick weapons throwing in slow motion. Jump to 1:50 to see them in action.
Have a cool skill or trick you’re dying to share? Throw a link in the comments below to show it off.
How-To: Throw a Knife [Wired]
Re-Enable Ctrl+Alt+Backspace for Ubuntu 9.04 [Linux]
Posted on May 18, 2009
Linux only: The latest version of Ubuntu disables the easiest way to restart X Windows—but the Ubuntu Geek blog has instructions to easily enable the shortcut key combination again.
Normally using the Ctrl+Alt+Backspace shortcut key combination will immediately restart the X server and bring you back to the login prompt—an extremely useful tool when testing xorg.conf changes for your display setup—but the latest version of Ubuntu has removed this ability to prevent new users from accidentally triggering a restart. The Ubuntu Geek guide explains how to very quickly set the behavior back to defaults—simply install the dontzap package and use the following command:
sudo dontzap --disableHit the link for the explanation, or if you want the opposite for an older version of different distribution of Linux, I’ve written an article on how to disable the Ctrl+Alt+Backspace shortcut combination from restarting X.
Do you find the ability to quickly restart X a useful tool or a too-easily-triggered annoyance? Tell us in the comments.
Howto Enable Ctrl + Alt + BackSpace in Ubuntu Jaunty [Ubuntu Geek]
How to Stop Windows from Shutting Down [How To]
Posted on April 30, 2009
Reader John writes in with a tip to prevent Windows from continuing a shutdown operation—very useful for those times you want to shutdown but you accidentally chose restart.
John's tip is nothing new to the more tech-savvy readers—you can simply use a switch to the built-in shutdown.exe utility to actually tell the system to abort the shutdown. You'll have to create a new shortcut pointing to the utility, which is normally located in your Windows folder so you'll need to modify the path accordingly.
C:WINDOWSsystem32shutdown.exe -a
The -a switch tells Windows to abort the shutdown, so you’ll need to hit the shortcut quickly if you want to stop the shutdown in time. It’s a very simple tip, but it’s the type of trick that could come in handy under certain circumstances.Thanks, John!
If you want to prevent Windows from restarting because of automatic updates, check out previously mentioned ShutdownGuard—or you can learn how to shutdown, restart, or sleep Windows Vista from the keyboard.