Ever trip over a power cord and launch your laptop across the room? Me either, but that’s probably because of my laptop’s MagSafe breakaway magnetic power adapter. If your laptop doesn’t have one, check Lifehacker’s guide for a DIY version.

You’ll need an existing power cord and about $32 in materials:

• Neodymium Ring-Shaped Magnets (enough to cover your adaptor plug with some overhang)
• Wire Studs (to fit into the power socket)
• Steel Washers (asst. sizes, make sure your magnets will STICK to them)
• Thin Copper Foil (Note: aluminum duct tape has too much resistance)
• Electrical Tape
• Two-Part Epoxy Adhesive
• Nail(s)
• Calming Incense (to keep you sane while working with the fiddly bits)

The process of modifying your existing power cord actually seems rather easy, but please follow the instructions closely and don’t poke any wall outlets with the nails. [Instructables via Hack a Day via Lifehacker]

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This DIY Magnetic Power Adapter Will Keep Your Laptop Safe [DIY]

HTC have turned on their widget listings within the Android Market today. Four are listed so far and it shows just how far HTC have travelled – the hardware, the GUI and now extra software for the GUI and the OS itself.

Although these are fairly simple right now it’s always a big “want” of new HTC Sense users – they want extra plugins / widgets for their sexy new interface, so this marks a promising start and we’ll keep an eye on how things are developing.

By the way – I love the instructions on the “Dice” App. It states, “Tap the dice first, and simply shake (do not throw!)”, yeah – no chucking your phone about. Oh, and please ignore the comments in these apps that state “Doesn’t work on my phone” etc etc – these are Sense widgets, so you need to ADD them as widgets onto your Sense UI – don’t launch them direct as they won’t work!

Read on and add your comments

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HTC Begins to offer widgets via Android Market

Enjoy your Apple TV? Not so fond of your data picking up and vanishing whenever it darn well pleases? Then you’ll probably want to force your Apple TV to update to 3.0.1… assuming you’ve already upgraded it to 3.0, of course. According to the engineers in Cupertino, this update prevents content “from temporarily disappearing until re-synced,” and we’re guessing that most of you would rather keep your content around if possible. Tap the read link for all the instructions, and whatever you do, don’t make any sudden movements.

[Via TUAW]

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Apple TV 3.0.1 update prevents data from ‘temporarily disappearing’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 18:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple TV 3.0.1 update prevents data from ‘temporarily disappearing’

I know the week’s barely started, but I’ve already got the freakishly scary weekend project I want to take on. Some folks have put together instructions to build a completely automatic, autonomous sentry gun and holy crap is it awesome.

All the instructions, from how to build the firing mechanism to the open source control software, are available on the site below and while the video clip leaves a bit to be desired for lack of an actual gun (water or otherwise), I still think this is one kickass project. I can’t wait to build one and duck while it shoots paintballs at anything that moves. [Sentry Gun via Boing Boing]

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This DIY Automated Sentry Gun Looks Terrifyingly Easy To Build [DIY]

After careening into a wall outside of Rankin, PA, one Street View photographer has been trapped, and condemned to send dispatches from a horrifying hellscape, forever. This is the highly empirical theory that the internet, and I, am sticking with.

As per the instructions by the gentleman on Reddit who found this anomaly, “click forward.” And as per my instructions, click forward again. And again, and again, and again. Again!

Then sputter a little prayer in Latin, exorcise your laptop, slaughter a baby goat, whatever you have to do to help this man escape this fiery, oddly typographical abyss, which never ends. (Except for when it does, somewhere around East Pittsburgh.) [Reddit]

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Stray Google Street View Driver Doomed to Map Hell For All of Eternity [Street View]

That Microsoft / T-Mobile tag team has been doing a pretty decent job of cleaning up the disaster area left by the Sidekick data loss, and now the first item on the recovery menu is ready for collection. Sidekick users can hit up the My T-Mobile webpage to download their contacts and then restore them either to their Sidekick or whatever device they’ve replaced it with. Extensive how-to instructions are available at the read link, which also furnishes us with the reassurance that “Microsoft/Danger continues its efforts to recover pictures, calendar entries and to-do lists, which may be available in the future.”

[Thanks, Abe G.]

Filed under: Cellphones

T-Mobile posts Sidekick contact recovery instructions originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile posts Sidekick contact recovery instructions

When I was a kid I saw The Day After, which left me having nightmares about nuclear bombs exploding in the horizon, and looting supermarkets for chocolate bars. Maybe that’s why I’m itching to buy this dirty bomb emergency kit.

The $250 kit description says:

Detects radiation and significantly removes radioactive material from human skin and other surfaces after a dirty bomb attack or other radiological events.

It includes:

• Our proprietary and patent-pending Quick Decon Mass Effect™ solutions for Radiation Decontamination. These water-based liquids come in convenient-to-use color-coded 32 oz. bottles with accompanying trigger sprayers (2). Our solutions are made from cosmetic-grade, FDA-approved materials and are not radioactive before use.
• One quart (32 fl oz.) for Transition metals such as Cobalt, Cesium, Strontium and Thallium. See chart for all radioactive elements.
• One quart (32 fl oz.) for Actinides such as Uranium, Plutonium, Technetium and Radium. See chart for all radioactive elements.
• 2 RADTriage™ Personal Radiation Detectors
# Decontamination Rad-wipes (45 per package)
• Vinyl gloves for use during decontamination process (4 pairs)
• Rad-Waste Bags (2)
• Radioactive Material Caution Labels (2) for use with Rad-Waste Bags
• Radiacwash Towelettes (6)
• N95 Particulate Face Masks (4)
• Instructions for Use
• Instructions in PDF format
• Downloadable Material Safety Data Sheets
• MSDS for Transition Metals Solution
• MSDS for Actinide Solution
• Chart of Problematic Radioactive Elements showing Actinides and Transition Metals
• A convenient and sturdy yellow hard-plastic carrying case easily identifiable as the Dirty Bomb Emergency Kit™ by its yellow and purple label

After reading all that, somehow I have the feeling that I won’t need one of these in the case any dirty bomb explodes near me. I would just run around like a headless chicken, waiting for the people in the rad suits to arrive and get me into a bag. [Nukepills via Defense Tech]

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Dirty Bomb Emergency Kit Appeals to the Paranoid in Me [Nukes]

Microsoft let loose with a crop of new ads for Windows 7, and they’re actually not bad, aside from that weird line about “waiting for a spaceship” in the first one.

They focus on the new UI elements (Aero Shake, new Start Bar, themes), which is probably smart given that Windows 7’s main competition, Snow Leopard, has barely any visible changes from its predecessor. I like the emphasis on Windows 7’s bright shiny colors, too. Will the ads convince people to go out and buy the OS? Who knows; I’m not really sure there’s a lot of mainstream enthusiasm or knowledge about upgrading an OS. But these ads probably won’t hurt matters. Check out a couple more over at CNET. [CNET]

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Microsoft’s New Windows 7 Ads: Colorful! [Ads]

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Sanwa 400-PRJ001, an USB powered Pico projector.

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KX-TG9382T Panasonic first Bluetooth enabled landline phone.

Instead of commenting on your looks this mirror will tell you about the local weather and how your stocks are doing. Everything you need to make it is sold as a kit . “Take that extra PC you have lying around and turn it into an Interactive Magic Mirror.

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DIY Magic Mirror

by Mark Hassendo With cash being tight nowadays, perhaps the solution to giving your car a brand new look will be to indulge in several car spray painting. If the mechanics of it are in good shape, but the body is not so hot, then painting it may be the perfect answer. Its a great money saver, but even more so if you do it yourself as opposed to getting it professionally done up. You could do it if you read the basics and follow the instructions for car spray painting. It’s fundamental thou

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6 Steps To Paint Your Car – How To Paint A Car

by Freddie Disclen It gets reasonably boring when you’re driving down the expressway and you see all the same colours of cars. Sure they are different makes and styles, but color wise they’re all the same and dull. And then every once in a while some thing very dynamic stops beside you. It’s one of those cars that has been painted with a customise design. To paint a car is one thing but to custom paint it is a whole new thing. At the least when you went to buy your car you had a couple more

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What Are The Best Custom Paint Designs on Cars – Spraypainting