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The ultimate guide to rooting, jailbreaking, and homebrewing your devices: Android, iOS, Windows RT, and WebOS [Updated 2/4/2013]

Locutus February 4, 2013 76
The ultimate guide to rooting, jailbreaking, and homebrewing your devices: Android, iOS, Windows RT, and WebOS [Updated 2/4/2013]

Is your phone feeling a bit boring? Does your tablet need more customization? Sometimes, your devices don’t feel personal enough. Other times, it can be bogged down by needless bloatware and other cruft. Free it with one of several free tools!

Currently this guide can help with all Android, webOS, and iOS devices

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[Windows 8] Learn about your neighborhood by reading Wikipedia on Explora

Locutus September 30, 2012 0

What are some cool or interesting places to visit in your area? If you’re new to the area, you probably don’t know–but with Explora, you can find out. Explora lets you view Wikipedia articles on local businesses, neighborhoods, and more, while in the process, you learn about your world.[...]

What

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[Windows] Keep track of files and add the date to the end of filenames with Append Date

Locutus September 30, 2012 10

Many computer users deal extensively with files every day. However, they often loose track of which exact version of a file something is, or when it was created. With Append Date, that’s not an issue: this little program lets you append the date to any filename with the click of [...]

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[Windows] Attachments too big? Split them with Split Byte

Locutus September 29, 2012 7

Email, for some bizarre reason, still has an upload limit of around 25-50MB. It’s slowly getting better, but you still can’t send very large attachments to certain people. If you need to email something to someone, try splitting the file with Split Byte.[...]

What is it and what does it

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[Windows 8] Pop the bubbles or die trying in Bubble Star

Locutus September 29, 2012 0

Bubble Star is a free game on the Windows Store that offers 100 levels and  ”hours of fun”–and it’s not just talk. It’s for real. Bubble Star, which is essentially Frozen Bubble with powerups, is a great game to play for a few minutes at a time, eventually working your [...]

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[Android] Switch between apps using your proximity sensor with Smartswitcher

Locutus September 29, 2012 1

On each and every device there is a fast way and a slow way to launch and open apps. On most phones, users generally go to the home screen, find the app they’re looking for and get on with the day. However, if they’re doing this 10 times a day [...]

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[Android] Open any app you want with just a double-tap of the home button with Home2 Shortcut

Locutus September 29, 2012 0

The Galaxy S III lets you open its Siri knockoff S Voice with a simple double click of the home button. However, there’s no way to get this to apply to an app of your choice, and no way to bring this functionality at all to other devices. Now, with [...]

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[Android] Want an iPhone but without buying a new device? Fake iPhone 5 is here for you

Locutus September 29, 2012 2

Are you an Android user desperately wishing you had a beautiful, revolutionary iPhone 5? The awesome Fake iPhone 5 homescreen is a must-install for you. It brings that beautiful iOS style to your device with minimal work.

What is it and what does it do

Main Functionality

Fake iPhone 5 [...]

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[Windows] Monitor CPU usage, memory usage, and computer temperature from your system tray with Perfgraph

Locutus September 28, 2012 2

Keeping tabs on your CPU and memory usage is a must for anyone who likes to keep their system in tip-top shape. If you’re one of those people, try Perfgraph. It’s a free program that adds a surprisingly minimal chart to your taskbar that can show CPU, memory, network ping [...]

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[Windows] Test USB drives for actual storage capacity with H2testw, because knockoff USB drives lie

Locutus September 28, 2012 6

“$12 for a 64GB flash drive?! Send me 20!” 

Cheap thumb drives and hard drives off of Ebay and from street vendors can often be of dubious quantity and quality, even if they claim to work when you plug them into your computer. H2testw is a program that one ups [...]

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[Windows 8] Watch and listen to YouTube videos with Youtube Player

Locutus September 28, 2012 0

The internet is all about sharing photos, videos, music, and much much more. A large part of this is entirely YouTube, the online video sharing site that has become a home for high quality (and low quality) videos produced by everyone and their dog. Youtube Player brings that great content [...]

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[Android] Visit and learn about local attractions by taking an adventure with Field Trip

Locutus September 28, 2012 1

The world around you is filled with thousands of places to visit and dozens of guide books to those very places. Ditch the printed word and go with Google’s new app Field Trip. It offers extremely localized places to visit nearby without straying too far from what you’d like.[...]

What

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[Android] Play with sand and fire in the free sandbox game Burning Sand 3

Locutus September 28, 2012 1

The world of sandbox games–games in which you can modify the world around you–is an awesome one. What about games actually about sand? Turns out, they’re pretty awesome too. Burning Sand 3 is a free game that lets you combine 60 different elements in various ways to create a cool [...]

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[Android] Slide into finish and collect precious diamonds in The Gem Hunt

Locutus September 28, 2012 0

It’s an age-old classic: the game where you slide across the ice, unable to stop until you hit a wall, trying to get to the ending spot by bouncing off of things. The Gem Hunt brings this all to Android, but instead of ice, it’s a very slippery dino.[...]

What

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[Windows] Open Firefox and Firefox Portable at the same time with TwinFox

Locutus September 27, 2012 7

One of the coolest things about Firefox is that it’s available in both installable and entirely thumbdrive-based portable editions. If you’re a user of the portable version, however, you might find it annoying that you can’t run the installed version at the same time as the version located on your [...]

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[Windows] Open frequently used applications and files quickly with the free dock Winstep Nexus

Locutus September 27, 2012 4

Handy as Windows 7′s taskbar may be for launching all of your favorite apps and programs, it’s still not perfect. There’s still no official way, after three years, to dock specific files on your taskbar–only programs, and within their jumplists, files. Winstep Nexus is a beautiful dock that, along with [...]

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[Windows 8] MetroPuzzle is a simple, fun puzzler that makes you think

Locutus September 27, 2012 0

So few games released today are slow, relaxing puzzlers. That’s what makes MetroPuzzle stand out: rather than being all about rushing as fast as you can, it makes you stop and think. It’s all about the relationships between the blocks themselves, and trying to remove the central white shape by [...]

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[Android] Study on the go with the handy formula reference app Formulae

Locutus September 27, 2012 1

Quick! What’s the chemical formula for Aspartic acid? No? How about the formula for the definition of an integral? Formulae is a free app for Android that brings a handy quick reference guide to chemistry and mathematics to your device in an easy to read format–and with it, you can [...]

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[Android] Combine Dropbox, Google Reader, Google Drive, and more into one single feed with Hojoki

Locutus September 27, 2012 0

txt

What is it and what does it do

Hojoki brings together dozens of online services and combines them into one huge stream, allowing you to view updates to every service at once and work even faster. It lets you collaborate using Google Drive, Dropbox, and more, all from a [...]

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[Android] Create new expandable notifications for yourself with Notif

Locutus September 27, 2012 0

Android 4.1 “Jelly Bean” ushered in only a few major changes. One of those changes? Expandable notifications. While seemingly not a very big deal at first glance, these allow you to view whatever information you need without even leaving whatever you’re doing. Notif is a free app that extends that [...]

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[Windows] Help your concentration and sleep better with White Noise Sleep System

Locutus September 26, 2012 2

Extraneous noise can be very distracting–it’s our brains trying to pick patterns out of the background. White noise can help. Random frequencies that combined create the sound from an old CRT TV on the wrong channel, white noise contains no patterns, and thus is impossible for our brains to use. [...]

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[Windows] Back up, transfer, and restore your Gmail inbox and archive with GMVault

Locutus September 26, 2012 5

A lot of people use Gmail to manage their day-to-day lives. But what happens if Gmail were to suddenly get wiped off the face of the earth, or if Google were to close down your account? It’s important to keep backups of your emails for the sake of your data’s [...]

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[Windows 8] Watch full-screen TED talks with TEDTalks HD

Locutus September 26, 2012 0

Ever seen a TED video? If not, then you don’t know what you are missing. TED – which stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design – is a nonprofit organization that organizes TED conferences and talks where people give speeches on ideas or inventions they have. They’re amazing to listen to, and [...]

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[Android] Try to keep up with the simple but awesome game Tap! Tap Faster!

Locutus September 26, 2012 0

Fast-paced games are common, but simple ones are few and far between. Fun, simple ones? You’ll have better luck winning the presidency. However, Tap! Tap Faster! is one of those apps that manages to break the mold. Though the concept behind it is incredibly simple, it manages to suck you [...]

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[Android] Bouncing Marble is a physics/puzzle game involving obstacles and barriers

Locutus September 26, 2012 0

Are you looking for a fun physics game that makes you think of bouncing angles, speeds, and more in your head? At first glance, Bouncing Marble looks promising, but if you take a closer look, you’ll notice it’s not actually all that fun.[...]

What is it and what does it

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[Android] Create and download infinitely customizable widgets with Ultimate Custom Widget

Locutus September 26, 2012 0
[Android] Create and download infinitely customizable widgets with Ultimate Custom Widget

Chances are, your home screen is either a messy haven of your favorite apps jumbled together to let you launch them quickly or a beautifully arranged screen designed from the ground up to look beautiful. If you’re the latter, I’ve got some great news: rather than relying on some custom [...]

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[Windows] Help scientists unravel the mysteries of protein folding with Folding@home

Locutus September 25, 2012 3

Did you know that, around the world, there are numerous projects to use home computers as distributed supercomputers? There are, and Folding@home is one of the most famous ones. Created by scientists at Stanford University, it lets your computer join a vast network that allows them to study the science [...]

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[Windows] Download and upload to remote fileservers (FTP, SCP, SFTP) with WinSCP

Locutus September 25, 2012 2

There are tons of people who use FTP clients every day. Graphic designers use them to upload completed designs. Web programmers use them to upload finished scripts and programs. Whatever you use them for, try WinSCP. It’s a free and popular client that does not only FTP, but SFTP [...]

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[Windows 8] Read the latest issue of Popular Science with the free PopSci app

Locutus September 25, 2012 1

Popular Science is a cool magazine, and has made a great switch over into web magazine form. It has an official Android app, an iOS app, and now, a Windows 8 app. It rolls all of the latest stories and headlines into one big, beautiful app that lets you read [...]

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[Android] Get a beautiful set of new wallpapers every day with BetterThanExpected Wallpapers

Locutus September 25, 2012 0

The internet is a beautiful place filled with even more beautiful photography. Channeling the Internet’s amazing photographic skill into your small tablet or smartphone, however, is near impossible without BetterThanExpected Wallpapers. It’s a free live wallpaper that automatically downloads and fades wallpapers from Reddit, one of the Internet’s largest [...]

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[Android] Monitor folder creation on your SD card with SDCard Watcher

Locutus September 25, 2012 1

Try mounting your Android phone on your computer. You’ll be amazed by how many random folders there are named after apps that you thought you uninstalled ages ago. This is due to how Android works, but with the help of the free app SDCard Watcher, you can see what [...]

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[Android] Stop missing important calls and texts and get periodic missed call and text notifications with Missed Call Reminder

Locutus September 25, 2012 0

If you for some reason miss a call and don’t notice it–say you’re in a meeting or have your phone on silent–you won’t notice it until you turn on your phone’s screen and notice the icon in your notification tray. This can lead to calls being returned hours later than [...]

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[Windows] View detailed information about the elements of the periodic table with pElement

Locutus September 24, 2012 5

There is tons of information known about each and every element known to mankind, but accessing it is another story. Most of it is scattered by the winds throughout the internet, some appearing on Wikipedia’s info boxes but most hidden throughout the mountains of text one might expect to find [...]

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[Windows 8] Get a beautifully-animated, wonderfully-futuristic disk scanner with Disk Falcon

Locutus September 24, 2012 9

The future is of technology awesome, according to movies such as The Minority Report and Avatar. (The future itself, not so much.) But those futuristic computer interfaces are actually somewhat possible today–through the use of animated computer graphics and some clever design, the team of developers at Sad Cat Software [...]

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[Windows] Edit your Windows Vista or 7 bootloader with Visual BCD Editor

Locutus September 24, 2012 0

Is your computer prompting you to choose between Windows 7 and some version of Windows you got rid of many years ago? That’s actually an issue with your bootloader, but luckily, with Visual BCD Editor that’s easy to fix. Visual BCD Editor is a free program that lets you edit [...]

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