Top 10 Chumby Widgets

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 09:05:36 GMT

For those that are not sure what a Chumby is, basically it is a smart linux based ambient device which runs widgets to complete various functions. It does basic things like alarm clocks and calenders but the real fun is in the advanced widgets for social networking. Here are my top 10 Chumby widgets which you should check out on your Chumby one or classic. I put together a Chumby hubpage if you need more information about the device itself.

Since the Chumby is something your normally use in the morning when waking up the widget list here keeps that in mind ;-)

Best Chumby Widgets

Engadget Widget

Owning a Chumby makes you a serious gadget geek so it goes without saying that

Loading Speed Cameras on Garmin Sat Nav

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:35:41 GMT

Loading speed cameras on your Garmin GPS device is actually very easy but before we jump into that lets just understand how it works first.

Speed Camera Database

The databases are compiled from user submissions, when people spot speed camera locations they submit the data which is eventually compiled into POI database. Garmin devices natively support POI (Point of Interest). Since most countries have strict laws about speed trap placement the camera locations are fairly static and as such having a database of the camera locations helps you prevent 90% of them. For example in South Africa the Metro Police requires special permission for Speeding cameras and has to apply for these in court (NPA), they cannot do any trapping without this permission. As a warning they take chances and vary the location slightly and in some rare cases have

Samsung Secret Codes and Hacks

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 17:06:03 GMT

The Samsung Secret Codes like is one of the longest you will come across and it lets you control nearly every feature of the phone by using the codes to access hidden menu functions and options as well as some standard functions which may be hidden deep in the menu trees. As always the standard *#06# will display the IMEI number.

The following codes work on all current Samsung phones;

Code

Function

*#9999#

Displays the Software Version, some units use *#1111#

*#0001#

Displays the Device Serial Number

*#1234#

Displays the Firmware Version

*#2222#

Displays the Hardware Version

*#9998*246#

Motorola Secret Codes and Hacks

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:22:26 GMT

Motorola Secret codes use a pause in them which I will represent with which means you need to hold until a box appears, the codes will allow you to access the field test and engineering hidden menu locations on your Motorola device.

As always the standard *#06# can be used to display the IMEI number on the handset, the following codes are available from the phone line, changing the 1 to a 0 at the end of each line will reverse or disable the changes made using these Motorola secret codes.

Code

Function

^ 0 0 5 1 ^

Adds the phone book option to the main menu of you Motorola

Sony Ericsson Secret Codes and Hacks

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:02:21 GMT

There are only two well known Sony Ericsson secret codes which allow you to access any hidden menus on the device and from what I can tell most of the newer models no longer include a lot of the options from the older phones however if you have the modern access codes just send them to me in a mail and I will add them here.

The standard *#06# which displays the IMEI number and then a menu accesible via the directional pad or joystick, simply enter the following sequence on the main menu screen.

-> <- <- <- *

This will open a menu with a large variety of options based on your model of phone, some of the possible menus available here include;

Software Information, Configuration Information, Sim Lock Status,

Improving Garmin Map Rendering Performance

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:29:59 GMT

If you are not happy with the display speed of maps while driving you can try some of these tricks for improving Garmin map rendering performance which make a noticeable difference on most units especially the older models.

Firstly the most common cause for jerking map panning on a Garmin GPS unit is slow loading from the SD card, now this does not mean you have to go out and buy a new SD card, you can rather change where the maps are stored to improve performance. You will need to use Mapsource or the Map installer provided by Garmin to achieve this. The older units do not have much built in storage so it is unlikely that you will be able to load the entire mapset on the device.

The solution is to add dense or

Blocking Websites for Free with pfSense

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 14:03:38 GMT

Blocking websites at home or in the office does not have to cost a fortune and can be done for free if you are using pfSense for a router. There are several approaches and each has some flaws;

DNS Website Blocking

You can override external DNS by adding a redirect entry for the website you want to block, in actual fact this works with any solution and not just pfSense, you simply add the host you want to block for example facebook.com and then give it an IP address that goes nowhere 0.0.0.0 or you could redirect it to a page hosted somewhere inside your network information the user that the page has been blocked. In pfSense this can be done in the DNS forwarder which is available under the services menu.

The problem with this method is that firstly you are not stopping users from bypassing your block in any way and

iPhone Secret Codes and Hacks

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 08:27:25 GMT

IPhone Secret codes are available here, these codes will work on the iPhone 3 or 4, most of them are actually service codes which do not work in all countries and regions.

*3001#12345#*

Enters Field mode which allows you to access most of the hidden settings and functions of your iPhone

*#06#

Display the IMEI of your iPhone, as always this is the standard code for all brands of phones.

*225#

Displays the account balance for postpaid contracts

*777#

Displays the account balance for prepaid accounts

*646#

Displays the

Blackberry Secret Codes and Hacks

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 06:26:40 GMT

Blackberry secret codes for hidden menus work a bit differently to all other manufacturers since you don't use the *#code# sequence but rather activate most of the codes by holding the ALT key. As always it is right to point out that these are not some magic Blackberry hacks just the codes to access the hidden menu systems which people commonly refer to as the Blackberry secret codes. To use these codes you just have to enter the key sequence as specified.

Hidden Functions (HOLD ALT)

Code

Function

ALT+NMLL

Changes the signal meter from the standard bars to a decibel display, entering the code again will revert back to the bars

ALT+LSHIFT+H

The Techinical

Android Secret Codes and Hacks

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:06:07 GMT

Android secret codes and hacks are fun and even useful if you need to troubleshoot some problems on your phone, but they are not as impressive at most other phones since the phones can already do pretty much everything but there are still some codes which are not always general knowledge. Obviously these codes are not really secret and don't do anything amazing but since people commonly refer to them as secret codes it seems fair for me to do the same.

Entering these codes on android devices should work regardless of the hardware platform.

Code

Function

Description

*#06#

IMEI

Standard IMEI command if you are trying to find

Netlife

Top 10 Chumby Widgets

Loading Speed Cameras on Garmin Sat Nav

Samsung Secret Codes and Hacks

Motorola Secret Codes and Hacks

Sony Ericsson Secret Codes and Hacks

Improving Garmin Map Rendering Performance

Blocking Websites for Free with pfSense

iPhone Secret Codes and Hacks

Blackberry Secret Codes and Hacks

Android Secret Codes and Hacks