Gizmodo: smashing

The Wrong Way to Handle MacBook Repairs

Jason Chen — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:00:21 EDT

Backstory: Some guy sends his MacBook into Apple for under-warranty repair. Apple says there's spill damage. Guy claims there isn't. Apple sends it back. Guy smashes MacBook with a sledgehammer.

Seriously? You think Apple, or any other reputable company, would lie about spill damage? You could have asked for photographic evidence of the damage, and if that was vague enough, worked your way up the support chain until someone gave you the repair for free. To us, it's obvious that this guy actually did spill something on his laptop and tried to lie his way through Apple to get a free repair. – Jason Chen

Man Teaches Apple To Not Repair His Macbook By Smashing It With Sledgehammer [Consumerist]

German Chicks in Bikinis Smashing Gadgets

Jason Chen — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:30:24 EDT

You have to have a certain special kind of fetish to enjoy watching German ladies in bikinis destroy gadgets with a scowl on their face, but if anyone fits the bill, we're sure they're in our readership.

These sets of videos belong to Bikinirama, three German ladies that enjoy swimwear and destroying electronics equally. The video above shows them demolishing a PowerBook, but there's monitors, CD players and record players as well. No ball breaking, but that's probably more of a hobby than something they need to be paid for. – Jason Chen

Bikinirama [via Fake Steve via Wired]

How To Disable the RFID Chip in U.S. Passports

Travis Hudson — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 16:26:22 EST

Beginning January 1 all United States issued passports will include a little RFID chip that has all of your delicious information embedded. The passports with said RFID chips are clearly marked on the front, and the RFID chip is in the back. There is only one fool-proof method to destroying the RFID chip to prevent those RFID-hacking hobos from taking your information: bash in the chip with a hammer. This is really the only method that won't destroy the rest of the passport. Some of the other methods that definitely won't work includes washing, microwaving or stuffing the passport down your pants (sorry, Jason, RFID signals penetrate the pants).

Oh, I forgot to mention: tampering with a passport is punishable up to 25 years in prison, so proceed with your own risk. – Travis Hudson

How To: Disable Your Passport's RFID Chip [Wired]