You’ve seen it on the movies, and you have heard about it online but do you actually know how easy it is? The access panel is normally left unlocked and unprotected on the run of the mill road sign. The major ones on the high way normally have a small lock on them so you are out of luck.

Either way you should never do this, it is just a cool thing you can tell your friends the next time you see it on a movie.

The inside of a control panel looks like the following:

What you need to do is locate the black control pad, it has a black curly cord and a key pad. It looks like the following:

Once you get access to the key pad, it is easy as scrolling to “Instant Text” typing what you want and selecting “Run w/out Save”

If it ever asks for a password try “DOTS”, this is the default password.

If the password does not work, try typing “DIPY” while holding “Ctrl” and “Shift”, this should reset the sign and allow you to use “DOTS” as the password.
[via: i-hacked]

The google team has released an impressive video on the best way to configure gmail on your iPhone. No the best way is not choosing the default “Gmail” option when setting up your account, it actually is better to set it up manually. You will want to do this if you use gmail and…

• When you read mail it does not show it as being red when you sign into gmail
• When you “delete” mail it actually deletes it on gmail instead of archiving.

Well in light of todays XKCD, many people have asked me how to make their mac’s talk to them. It is actually surprisingly simple and you don’t have to install any extra software or pay a dime to do it! All you have to do is open up “Terminal” and type: say “what you want to say”. Now if you have seen this comic you will know he was in a predicament where he did not know how to change to volume, if somehow you ever get in this situation you can change the volume by using: osascript -e ’set volume [1-10, 10 being the loudest]‘ .

So if i want to change the volume to max and have the mac say “Help! I’m locked outside!” I would open up terminal and type:

• osascript -e ’set volume 10′
• say “Help! I’m locked outside!”

Sadly, this is a true story atleast i learned about the OS X say command.

Not every application gets the credit it deserves, especially the free ones as generally they don’t spend money on advertisement.  Therefore the only way for people to find out about them is by word of mouth.  Here are 3 applications for OS X that we think you may enjoy:

1. App Cleaner

So, maybe you just downloaded a new app, and it didn’t meet you demands? Well, you know some apps install hidden and hard to find plug ins, patches, etc. So it’ll run efficiently. Well, with AppCleaner you simply drag the application into its interface, and it will find all hidden and hard to find data that came with it, so you can trash the App and it’s “cling ons” with it! Also, it’s “SmartDelete” function (which can be activated in it’s “Preferances” menu, allows it to detect when a single app is thrown in the trash, and will search for it’s “cling ons” and will offer to throw them in the trash too.

2.Growl!

While Growl isn’t a full fledged App, it’s purpose is awesome. Growl is a notification system for other Apps! Many big and small publishers have been making Growl support, so some of the Apps you have now might even have Growl support. With Growl, Apps are able to send small but handy pop up messages to you, telling you maybe when a download is done in Limewire, or when someone IM’s you in Adium! It’s extremely helpful with people who keep multiple apps up at a time and don’t want to keep track of them. The only downside is that Growl must be supported with the App, so some Apps will not work with Growl. Some apps that DO work with Growl are: FireFox, Adium, Skype, Thunderbird, VLC, Stuffit Expander, Coda, and more. You can check all the Apps that are supported here

3. Jing

Some people like making YouTube videos, and recording the screen on your computer. Now, with the “Jing Project” you can record the screen, take a quality screen shot of a certain part of the screen, or the whole thing! Lastly, it can automatically upload you pictures to their server so you can sent a quick URL to a friend via AIM or on a forum!

Need help with any of these applications? Or want more? Let us know in the forums!

If you’re getting a little tired with your windows theme, you’re not the only one. Don’t you wish you could use anybody’s theme? There are a lot of talented designers out there and it’s likley that one of their themes will catch your eye. Sadly, windows isn’t designed to let you use just any theme. So to get the full range of theme options, you will need to do some patching, which I will explain below.

Patching Your System

1. Make a System Restore Point (if you don’t know how to so this, see the Microsoft Help Page.)
2. Download theme patcher software
   

   • Windows Vista: Download the VistaGlazz program to patch your system. (Note: If you have installed Vista SP1 you will need to download VistaGlazz Beta 1.1 as 1.0 will mess up your SP1 system.
   • Windows XP: Download Uxtheme Multi-Patcher and run the program. When installed, restart the system.

Finding/Adding new Themes

1. Find a theme that you want to use. A good place to look is deviantART.
2. Extract the theme’s .zip file to the Desktop.
3. The folder that you must move the files to is C:/windows/resources/themes extract the .theme file to this folder (not in it’s own subfolder.
4. Move the .msstyles file into it’s own subfolder in /themes/. This folder name needs to match the .msstyles file (so exampletheme.msstyles would need to be in /themes/exampletheme/) Capitalization matters!
5. If the theme came with a ShellStyle.dll it must be in a new subfolder themes/exampletheme/shell.
6. Under the themes tab, choose your newly installed theme. If you cant see it check to see if you followed all of the steps and named the files correctly.

And you’re done! This patch enables any 3rd party windows theme. Here are some great themes to get you started. Happy modding!

• Windows 7 PDC Style for Windows Vista by ~giannisgx89
• Luna Element Style for Windows XP by ~tornado5
• Pristine OS by ~MoshinNaqi

We had covered hacking the AppleTV some time ago, well it is now a new year and we will update our guide! We will be showing you how to install a software called Boxee on your AppleTV, this will be 100% free and allow you to use Hulu(popular tv streaming site) along with play any video file you can imagine! I myself have a NAS(network attached storage) loaded with a bunch of TV Shows/Movies and my AppleTV streams off of that!

What You Need

• Apple TV(update to the latest version)
• USB Drive atleast 512mb(all data will be erased)
• OSX or Windows
• Boxee Account (Ask in Forums for an Invitation)

How To

1. Download AppleTV USB Creator
   OS X People: Want ATV-USB-Creator
   Windows People: Want ATV-Win
2. Unplug all USB Drives from your computer. This step is to ensure you select the correct thumb drive and do not erase data on the wrong drive.
3. Insert a USB Drive. All data on this drive will be erased.
4. Open up the AppleTV USB Creator
5. All settings should be set up automatically.
6. Click the Create Using button, this will now take some time as it will download an appletv update from apple and then patch it with Boxee, and then throw it on your usb drive.
7. Once it is done take the thumb drive out of your computer and place it in the back of your AppleTV
8. Remove the power cord from your AppleTV, wait 5 seconds, plug it back in.
9. You should see tux sitting on an appletv when you boot up and Text will scroll across the screen.
10. Once it stops scrolling it will either say something about shutting it down or “ssh frontrow@appletv.local ….” unplug the power cord again
11. Take out the USB Drive
12. Plug the thumb drive back in and you are all set
13. You will need to go to Boxee > Update and Select boxee before you can launch it, this will download and install the software.  Also select the Launcher Option.  It is a wise idea to do this on a monthly basis to ensure you stay up to date.
14. You can launch Boxee by going to Boxee > Boxee.
15. When it asks for a username and password use your boxee information if you don’t have it ask for a Boxee invitation in the forums!

If you want a video demo of installing one can be found here http://blog.boxee.tv/2008/10/06/how-to-video-boxee-on-apple-tv/