HackingFAQ

If you are like me, you probably have a bunch of tools already stacked into your Firefox search box. From doing a Google search to scanning Wikipedia, the search box on Firefox is very versatile, and just as we would expect any Mozilla product to be, it has great third-party support. One thing you can add to your box is a Gmail link that allows you to quickly send emails to people. As you can see in the picture above, all you do is make sure the Gmail icon is selected and then you just enter the email address you wish to contact. Click on the search button and you will be taken to a Gmail Compose Message page in only a matter of seconds (depending on how fast your PC is).

To download, go to this page and click on the Open Search plug-in Mail button (right below the gigantic “Change the Plug-in” button). Like I mentioned before, just make sure that the Gmail icon next to the search box is selected when you want to use this tool.

Useful for making video tutorials or gaming video montages is Debut. This freeware program records whatever you see on your screen (as pictured above) or video through your webcam. It also makes video sharing easy by allowing you to automatically send it through email or upload it onto an FTP server. Plus, you can save the file in one of the many popular file formats that it offers. [Windows only]

If you aren’t interested in saving your webcam feed, then another great program for desktop recording is Jing. You can save video or pictures and upload onto blogs, IM softwares, or email.

Download: Debut or Jing

Alliance

Available on all platforms (Windows/Mac/Linux) is Alliance, a free, open-source p2p program that allows you to create special networks available only to friends or others that you let into the network. This is good for several reasons: one, all security and privacy concerns over file sharing is eliminated because you are in charge of your own network with trusted members, and two, because if you want to share games, movies, or music with friends, it can be done in a simple way.

Check it out here: Alliance

As most techies will say, “Google is your friend!” So, why not get more acquainted with him? There are plenty of little filters and mini-applications that Google has installed in its search system, but the thing is, they don’t tell you about all of them. Here are some of my favorites which are very useful to the Google Search user.

“boston celtics“ - quotations - this is something very simple that is a must know if you google something. Typing boston celtics alone could give you anything from the basketball team (what we want) to some Irish website that has to do with Celtic history or to the Scottish Celtic soccer team. Putting in the quotations, though, forces google to only bring up results that have boston celtics together.

as_qdr=d - sort search results by date - as you can see in the image above, Google has a special feature that not many people know about but should use. First, do a normal search and once you get to the results page, add as_qdr=dto the end of the URL in the address box. Just click enter and there you go, a new filter box. This is useful if you are looking for an article or blog posted a few days ago, for example.

= - calculator - Google search has a built in calculator where entering in 1253+1518 will get you the special calculator box. If you do something like 1-800-234-2818, Google will think it is a phone number, so to bypass this, just add an = sign to the end (1-800-234-2818=) and you will get -3851.

books - full book texts - Google has a wonderful new service that stores many of the greatest books of all time. If the book’s copyright has expired (usually meaning it is over 60 years old), you can probably find it on books.google.com. Partnered with Boston University and several other institutions, more and more books are added a day and in an easy to read format. To take advantage of this, type in books before the name of the book. Many times it isn’t necessary as Google should immediately tell you if they have that book in their database, but having books before your search is always the best way to be sure.

define: - definitions - I usually use Dictionary.com to get my definitions for words, but the problem with that site is that it has one of the slowest loading times for any website I have ever seen. The great thing is that google has its own dictionary service and of course, its as fast as your internet connection allows it to be. Just type in define: before the word you are looking for and click search.

time new york - world time -Entering in time before a city name will get you a Google response with the current time of that location.

san francisco tokyo - airline flights and travel agencies - Just type in your two destinations with no special words or characters and Google’s search will show you the a departure date you could buy a ticket on and then it will give you the returning date. You can edit the departure and returning date right from the Google box and then below you can click one of the links to be forwarded to their purchase page.

So you’re using Vista and you happen to be an administrator…

- you try to force log someone off through the Task Manager but Vista says you don’t have the rights to do so…
- you’re in the command prompt and you try to punch in some commands but Vista won’t let you…
- you try to install a program but Vista forgets that you are an administrator

What do you do?! No, don’t smash your computer with your golf club or press delete on your monitor’s driver. Just, “hack”. In other words, you want to run the elevated commmand prompt. It is a pain to get into, mainly because you have to run it every time, but hey, that’s Vista.

Only one step:

Find the Command Prompt. The easiest way to do this is just type in cmd in the Start Search box. Before opening it, right click the command prompt icon and select Run as administrator.

Now, if you are someone who has to deal with this problem on a more regular basis, you can create a desktop shortcut that with a double-click of the mouse can get you into elevated command prompt mode. Sound elite, eh?

1. Right click your desktop, and select New > Shortcut.

2. In the text box that should appear, type cmd and then hit Next.

3. Give your icon a name, for example, Elevated Command Prompt or 1337 m0d3. Hit Finish.

4. Right click the new icon on your desktop and select Properties. Go to the Shortcut tab and then click Advanced.

5. Check the box called Run as administrator and then hit OK > OK.

Any questions or comments? Feel free to exchange them in our forums or in the comments below.

Have you ever been stuck in a position where you forgot the password to your laptop? With the help of Vista’s wonderful Password Reset Disk tool you no longer need those nasty third party recovery tools. In XP, you are required a floppy disk, but Vista has incorporated other media devices for such a use. (Many people have learned the hard way the CDs do not work, only different types of removable media!)

This works on every version of Microsoft Vista, but only on the computer that the utility was initially run on, and no other computer. It may also be a safe bet to keep the disk in a safe distance to you most of the time, because it will give anyone direct access to your computer/account.

Read More…

If there is one person that we all have on our enemies list, it must be the guy over at Microsoft who came up with “User Account Control”. The program is meant to protect you from intruders accessing your computer’s special files but what it is really doing is asking for you to throw your PC out the window. What’s worse is that even Administrators need to go through this process. So, do yourself a favor, turn it off. Here’s how:

The easy way:

Control Panel > User Accounts and Family Safety > User Accounts > Turn User Account Control on or off. Now just uncheck the box, and either restart now or later.

Through msconfig:

In the Start Menu’s search box, type msconfig, run it, (beware, you will see the UAC pop up!) click the Tools tab, scroll down till you see Disable UAC, highlight it and click the Launch button. Reboot now or later.

Through the Registry:

In the Start Search box type regedit, go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\EnableLUA

and enter a value of 0. Reboot.

Congratulations, you now gave Mac users one less thing to brag about.

Also, click here to read about how to bypass more of Vista’s user restrictions on Administrators.

Ripping DVDs is no longer any harder than ripping a CD. With DiscInsert (Windows only) you can either play or download the DVD in your drive. This fancy-to-the-eye program is simple to use and is one of the best free DVD ripping softwares out in the market.

Download it here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/discinsert/

If you have Windows and a problem waking up in the morning, your luck has changed. With iSnooze your iTunes can be modified to act as an alarm clock, playing any song you want at whichever time of the day. iSnooze will start off playing a playlist you previously set up, with the volume slowly escalating, and eventually stopping once you touch your keyboard or move your mouse. Only problem is, you’ll have to keep your computer and your speakers on throughout the night, there is no boot up sequence for this free program.

Check it out here: http://ita.progoth.com/