Gizmodo: tricks

Every Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcut You'll Ever Need

John Herrman — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:53:58 EDT

Whether by force of tradition or out of respect for the keyboard-clinging power users out there, Windows 7 has more—and more useful—keyboard shortcuts than ever before. Like, enough that a definitive guide would be very, very useful. Oh!

Lifehacker, doing what they do best, has put together an incredibly helpful list of Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts, as well as a few new mouse tricks for good measure. Discovering a single new keyboard shortcut is enough to make a desk drone's day—I rank the time I happened across the Windows+M shortcut as one of the best moments of Junior high, right above not getting acne scars and right below that one time I touched a boob with my elbow—but this list, which is full of stuff like that, including fresh Windows 7 goodies, is a revelation. My favorite?

[O]ne of the best new hotkeys in Windows 7 is the fact that you can create a new folder with a hotkey. Just open up any Windows Explorer window, hit the Ctrl+Shift+N shortcut key sequence, and you'll be rewarded with a shiny "New Folder" ready for you to rename.

Oh, yes. [Lifehacker]

RC Car Mastermind Masami Hirosaka Parallel Parks With Style

Jack Loftus — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:30:00 EDT

The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.RC Car aficionado Masami Hirosaka does more with this little car in one minute than I'll hope to do with a real one in my entire lifetime. Notice he doesn't use the wall as leverage, either. [YouTube via Japan Probe]

Frozen Mentos and Coke Parlor Trick

Andi Wang — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:00:00 EDT

You've either seen the Mentos and Coke experiment on YouTube or you've destroyed your kitchen trying it yourself. Wired has come up with a parlor trick that'll surprise your friends with a delayed explosion time: Mentos, frozen in ice cubes.

Admittedly, I don't know many people who let their drinks sit long enough for their ice to completely melt, but Wired suggests using warm Coke to help speed up the process. Next time you get some strange looking ice in your drink, I'd suggest you start chugging. [Wired via Neatorama via BoingBoing]

How To Photograph Fire

Brian Lam — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:18:47 EST

Digital Photography School has a tutorial on how to photograph fire. Basically, spot focus on the flame and overexpose a few stops to compensate for the fire's brightness. [DigitalPhotographySchool via Lifehacker]

Mirage 3D Hologram Generator: It's All Optical, No Batteries Required

Charlie White — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 13:00:00 EST

Place an object in this bowl that looks like a black flying saucer, put its lid on top and all of a sudden you're looking at a 3D hologram that seems absolutely real, hovering there in space until you stick your finger through it. The Mirage 3D hologram generator uses an optical trick to make it seem like those objects are sitting on top of it.

Take a look at another picture of the hologram generator's optical illusion in action:

Its manufacturers say that this little frying pan-like thingamajig is manufactured to tolerances within a millionth of an inch. Sounds like a lot of precision for a $35.95 parlor trick. – Charlie White

Product Page [Eye Tricks, via Newlaunches]

Casio Magic Watch: Old Dog, New Tricks

Charlie White — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:38:15 EST

If you don't mind dressing up like a leisure-suit-wearing lounge lizard from the late '70s, this retro-looking Casio Magic Watch might find a place on your wrist.

Ace close-up magician Tomohiro Maeda has designed the five tricks installed on this sucker, letting you guess the number someone is thinking of, play con games, and engage in a trio of other distractions.

Once the novelty of the watch wears off, maybe you could take those included playing cards and learn some real close-up magic. Abracadabra, baby. – Charlie White

Casio Magic Watch - has many tricks [Newlaunches]

Elevator With No Floor? Go Ahead, Step Inside

Charlie White — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 11:11:14 EDT

Sometimes things aren't what they appear to be, and here's a case in point: the floor of this elevator car is painted to give the illusion that there's no floor at all. It's a trompe l'oeil that's realistic enough to convince the roadrunner that there is indeed a tunnel on the side of the mountain, not just a painting by Wile E. Coyote.

The artists sell the illusion really well, too, where there's even a sign warning you there's "work in progress." After a few people walk in, though, you'll be able to see the footprints, and the illusion might not be so convincing. But I'd still like to be the first one to step inside. Full-sized pics after the jump. – Charlie White

Elevator Floor Illusion [Hemmy.net, via Digg]

Bitman Video Bulb

johnb — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 17:30:22 EDT

Nothing special here, really. It's a little dongle that you put between a video source and a TV, patching through the RCA jack, which displays little 8-bit characters, aka Bitmen, that dance on your screen. However, think of the sheer mischief potential made available with this bugger. Plug it in, walk away, and watch as your grandma cries herself into oblivion as her stories are mauled by 8-bit dancing aliens.

Bitman Video Bulb [GadgetMadness]

Musical ChairsSofas

johnb — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 10:07:20 EDT

A German designer, who is well known for his unique musical inventions, has now placed a midi controller into a sofa. You use your buttocks to control the music. Each cushion of the couch contains three output controls for the midi system—leaning left, right, and back all produce their individual notes. A fourth musical note is optional depending on what you had for lunch. Bonus: Check out some of his other cool inventions including a Commodore 64 synthesizer.

MIDI Sofa [Music Thing]

Sandisk SD Wifi Card Finally Works

johnb — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 08:34:22 EDT

The buzz around the PDA community is that the Sandisk SD wifi adapter is really hit and miss and generally resulted in failure when working with iPAQs. Possibly because of this, Sandisk has decided to discontinue the adapter with another release rumored for later this year. Some guys over at the Daves iPAQ forums have confirmed that the older discontinued adapter does work and are also offering assistance and tips getting the WiFi setup. Good news for me! That kid in Starbucks watching live furry porn on the iPAQ? Yeah, it'll be me.

Hw6500 and Sandisk Wifi is a GO! [DavesiPaq]

Surf EVDO Via the Samsung i730 - Secret H/\x0r TR1Kz

johnb — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 12:20:19 EDT

Although Verizon says it's bad form to share anything with anything or anybody, it's possible to pair your i730 with a Bluetooth compatible laptop or USB cable for sweet EVDO browsing speeds. DavesiPaq has the skinny on how to hack through the multiple layers of security that the crack security team at Verizon HQ, hunkered down in their fortress deep in the mountains of New Jersey, applied to this lovely smartphone. An excerpt from the detail, hour-long instructions:

Set the username to: yourtendigitnumber@vzw3g.com and your password to: vzw and your dialup number to: #777

Dude? VZW? Why not 1234?

Surf on your laptop using the i-730 [DavesiPaq]

UPDATE - Big uproar over at DavesiPaq about this story...