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The 10 Best Android Hacks
Barence writes "The Android vs iPhone debate will continue until the apocalypse, but there's no doubt Android wins on customability. PC Pro has listed its ten favorite Android hacks, which include the ability to open your garage door with your smartphone, install Ubuntu on your handset, and overclock your phone's processor. There's also instructions on how to replace your dashboard satnav with Google's version."
Well, if you make up words, I guess you get to define them to mean whatever you want. If "Android wins on customability," then iPhone wins on appleability.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
...what Apple always does.
They allow the "open market" to create everything imaginable, then cherry pick what's best and imply that they were the originators.
If you want cutting edge innovation, you need a Android phone.
(iPhone giving away personal details without my permission? Take that Apple!!)
My favourite android hack is when I set the alarm last year and it still works this year!
+1 IDisagreeSoHeMustBeATrollOrAnAstroturferOrAShill
The first rule is too restrictive, specially now when saving money matters more than harming humans. So the best android hacks usually pass around changing the weight or deleting one of the 3 rules, or putting a zeroth rule in front of them, even if requires capabilities that the positronic brain should not get without a serious hardware upgrade.
... but it could be nice to have anything usefull among those hacks, don't you think ?
In this war between Android and iPhone, the customer wins.
The "Droid Does" (multitasking) ad campaign spurred Apple to develop iOS 4.x, which allows multitasking. The first Droid smartphones got Apple off the dime with cut and paste. Customers continue to win here, no matter which phone they purchase
Personally I have an iPhone (4) and I like it. I had the original iPhone and retained it well past my contract with AT&T. I have a client who purchased a Droid Incredible and asked me to set up his email (from my server) on it. Took all of about a minute. I was very impressed by the phone and shall always retain that impression.
I think the real losers here are RIM with the Blackberry and the Palm WebOS smartphones. While Palm has innovated, they have been passed by and are now in a niche. RIM is trying to play "catch up" and the only real difference they offer in their phones is complete integration with secure Exchange Servers. They have lost utterly in the easy app purchase field.
Apple's biggest mistake so far in the United States has been the exclusivity contract with AT&T. Initially, it was a boon for Apple, but the Android smartphones are selling faster than the Apple smartphones because they are available on more networks. To the extent Apple stays with the phone company we all love to hate, they will lose market share versus the Android smartphones.
Gods don't kill people, people with gods kill people.
I was looking for hacks and all I found was uses... you would think slashdot would know the differences
saving money matters more than harming humans
Why either/or? I like saving money AND harming humans.
Overclocking is nice but dialing in the right voltage for your overclock is even nicer. There is an app for that http://www.appbrain.com/app/quickclock-advanced-overclock/com.jpapps.quickclockadvanced
I'm glad I held on to my WM 6.5 phone. Personally, I think having a phone you can hack is part of the fun of owning a smartphone.
Most people who look at my setup give a 'WTF is that?!?' expression. But it works for me, and that's what counts. (Yes, it's stable, I just had to un-HTC ware the freaking thing and it became stable, cooking my own ROM is was part of the fun)
My next phone will be Android based, because MS is too busy playing iPhone catch up to actually release a real smartphone. I'll most likely cook up my own Android ROM when the time comes.
Ok, in order:
1. Um, connect your Android video-out-capable phone to your in-car video. If the hack is replacing yoru in-car satnav system, you did that with the Android phone without the video. Now, hooking up YouTube to your in-car video, that's a hack. And illegal in many states.
4. Playing classic games on your Andriod? That's an *app*, not a *hack*. The controller hack is nice tho.
7. Installing root-only apps? How about "Getting root on your android"? After that, well, the apps come.
8. Controlling your Media Centre? Um, My Palm III did that. And that was before I *had* a mnedia centre.
10. "Get the latest Android versions, fast" What? If you're referrring to getting custom ROMs from those intrepid developers out there, fast is relative. Getting Froyo on my G1 took waiting for Froyo to be released into SDK, then waiting for it to be ported to the G1 (which required waiting for the DangerSPL), then waiting for a stable candidate, then finally the 2708 hack to make it useable long-term. Now, this is admittedly faster than waiting for the OPTA release, cause neither TMO, HTC, or Google will ever release any Android 2.x for the G1, but that's sort of like saying it was a clever hack to play DNF at PennyArcade before anyone else, since for all purposes DNF is a DNF, but the demo is not a release. Well, maybe not quite like that, but calling an alternative ROM release 'fast' is relative.
Stupid list. Mostly apps, not hacks. Show me the RAM stack hack for the G1 and I'm nominating it for #1.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
"... but it could be nice to have anything usefull among those hacks, don't you think ?" - by Jimpqfly (790794) on Monday January 03, @08:25AM (#34742856) Homepage
Ask & ye shall receive (per my subject-line above):
ANDROID OS allows for the usage of custom HOSTS files, & that's how you stop botnets from communicating "back to mama" (it's C&C botnet servers), OR, your even getting infected in the 1st place:
DO THE FOLLOWING (after obtaining a good reputable solid HOSTS file, like mvps' -> http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm )
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1.) Get ahold of the "Android Debugging Bridge" (ADB) & install it
2.) Mount your system mountpoint as READ + WRITE (as powerful of priveleges as you need is this)
3.) Using the PULL command, copy the file over from your PC (or even on your ANDROID if its there already) using PULL & overwrite the etc. folder's copy of HOSTS
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DONE!
(Yes, it's THAT simple... &, it works!)
APK
P.S.=> This came from the recent article here on /.:
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Android Trojan Found, Spreading From Chinese App Stores:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1930156&cid=34713952
Where you add in these botnet C&C servers for that malware into your custom HOSTS file, like so:
---
0.0.0.0 www.widifu.com
0.0.0.0 widifu.com
0.0.0.0 www.udaore.com
0.0.0.0 udaore.com
0.0.0.0 www.frijd.com
0.0.0.0 frijd.com
0.0.0.0 www.islpast.com
0.0.0.0 islpast.com
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To BLOCK THEM OUT, & what YOU CAN'T TOUCH, CANNOT HARM YOU OTHERWISE!
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Which notes there is a malware out there "in the wild" NOW, for ANDROID OS (which also proves LINUX can get malware too, because ANDROID OS is a Linux variant)... & this trick/tip/technique can stop this particular malware that way.
Additionally:
By obtaining & loading a regularly updated HOSTS files from reputable & reliable sources that regularly update theirs, such as this one by MVPS.ORG -> http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm You can stay safer online vs. other known threats too, AND GO FASTER TOO - by far... apk
I read the garage door opener and was excited to see how it worked. It involves hooking a Linux box up to your door opener that is connected to the internet. That is kind of lame , certainly in environments where it would be impossible to put a pc in essentially a outdoor setting and I would suspect it wouldn't be that hard to do on other smart phones.
Seriously? That's an important feature? For how many percent of users?
A couple examples:
If these are the best hacks they can come up with, well... color me unimpressed. Seriously, there must be more exciting things you can do with Android than this.
Comment fail. Overuse of ALL-CAPS and bold typeface, it makes your post damn near unreadable.
Try it again, but try to write like a grown-up with something useful to say. Experience tells us that most people who shit all over our displays like you did have nothing to say -- they need the bold and all-caps to get attention, because their ideas themselves have little merit.
So please clean up your text, people like me might actually consider your ideas if it didn't look like an unstable person wrote them.
And, FWIW, I do think you're unstable, from exchanges we've had in the past, and from exchanges you've had with others. But that's not the point -- the point is no one will take you seriously (well, among those who still *might* take you seriously) if you write like a lunatic.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
The garage door opener is labeled as "brilliant" by the article, but frankly I was hoping for something more inspired than networking to a PC-controlled garage door. A real hack would be to modify the firmware so that the cellphone antenna would send the right rolling code directly to the existing radio receiver in the garage door opener. Then there's no need for special "don't accidentally open the garage door if I'm in Japan" type safeties in the software.
What do you mean they cut the power? How can they cut the power, man? They're animals!
Well, I don't just *THINK* you're off-topic here: I KNOW YOU ARE!
To wit:
"And, FWIW, I do think you're unstable, from exchanges we've had in the past, and from exchanges you've had with others" - by Red Flayer (890720) on Monday January 03, @02:07PM (#34746144) Journal
Is that "on topic"? Answer = NO!
(And, Yes, I remember also: Where you tried to stop me from posting, & I made YOU look like the off topic FOOL YOU ARE, easily... remember that? I am SURE YOU DO!, based on your b.s. & off topic reply here, chump!)...
When you:
---
1.) Get a PHD in Psychiatry to your name/credit
2.) Get a license to practice it also
3.) Have performed a formal examination of myself in professional settings as to my mental condition
?
---
THEN, you can talk
(Otherwise, you look like the STUPID ASS you are!)
So - instead of trying to "discredit me/troll me", with your blatantly off topic delusions of grandeur that you indeed, are capable of offering your "snap prognosis" to others on their mental condition, Dr. Quack (the "sidewalk psychoanalyst" of /., lmao!)
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"Comment fail. Overuse of ALL-CAPS and bold typeface, it makes your post damn near unreadable.... So please clean up your text, people like me might actually consider your ideas if it didn't look like an unstable person wrote them. - by Red Flayer (890720) on Monday January 03, @02:07PM (#34746144) Journal
You by way of comparison? You are guilty of 3 "fails" You effete off-topic chump that you are w/ delusions of grandeur above on psychiatry, & now again on English:
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1.) You are not an "expert" on English or writing whatsoever - show us a PHD in English to your name (not that it'd matter: Even IF you had one? It's YOUR PROBLEM, because you cannot gather the meaning of my words from w/in the framework of the context they were used in - indicative of your need for "remedial reading" help for you!)
2.) You do NOT own this place - thus, I do not take YOUR orders, chump... get it?
3.) You ARE OFF TOPIC! Period...
---
So, go away "powerless mod"... lmao: Remember THAT? Yea, you sure looked STUPID then, didn't you, trying to BLOCK ME FROM POSTING?? LMAO! I got around your WEAK b.s. so easily, it wasn't even FUNNY!
APK
P.S.=> You were TOO STUPID to try to "match wits" with me then, & you're TOO STUPID & off topic, now... period! apk
My favourite android hack is when I set the alarm last year and it still works this year!
My alarms didn't ring on the 1st of January, actually. Android 2.1 on a Samsung GT-i5800 (Galaxy 3). Anyone else experienced the same problem?
I guess it says a lot about the users these gadgets are marketed towards that while an iphone article would use the rhetoric "10 simplest and best apps for your phone that would make you look super suave and impress your friends by you swiping your finger across the screen and then fancy looking useful stuff will happen", android would use a rhetoric as "10 most advanced hackk$$ for your phone that make you look super smart and impress your friends by hooking it up to a keyboard, typing a lot and getting lots of text scrolling very fast on your screen while you explain that you are now root" ..
LMAO @ - funny that, as "off topic" as YOU are "powerless mod", that ALL YOU HAVE IS AN OFF TOPIC REPLY ON YOUR PART, & AN EFFETE MOD DOWN, rather than disputing any points I had made to others here?
Hahahaha...
APK
P.S.=> This is dedicated, to you, "powerless mod":
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THE "DOWNMOD SQUAD":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd85Qim_Z6A
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I can see it now!
The white guy @ the start (Michael Cole) is getting loaded with malware and tracking him online, & he's SICK OF IT. He runs into the black guy (Clarence Williams III), who also tells him he's feeling the same & sick of it. Then, Michael Cole says "She's feeling that way too" as Peggy Lipton comes rushing onto the scene.
They tell one another about HOSTS files & other methods to protect against that (or using HOSTS file to do other useful things for you)... & who comes "popping outta the woodwork"? CAPT. TROLL!
Complete w/ his effete "down moderation" w/ no technical justifications behind it (as TIGE ANDREWS comes into the scene, lol)...
HOWEVER: He needs a "thought balloon" that says:
"I can't let others know how to stop my bogus machinations in maliciously scripted websites &/or adbanners. I have to either TROLL THIS, or down mod it and run!"
LMAO!
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Downmods? Hey - they're not very useful & only show that's ALL you've got in "retaliation"... figures... apk
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1932574&cid=34744394
Enjoy (it actually WORKS, & for better online speed, AND security!)
APK
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1932574&cid=34744394
APK
P.S.=> Sorry to be so "direct" & re-replying to you, but the trolls (& I suspect malware makers as well) are downmodding my post to try, I imagine, to "bury it" from your view here, & yes: It really works, & for better speed and security online (not only on a PC, but also ANDROID phones too, which is where I've done it) + is VERY EASY to implement really - too easy, in fact, 3 steps... apk
Would it have helped to have the alarm set for 2011 insteaf of 2010? Or did you do this test in your time machine?
Cheers!
FTA: "Satnav’s only the tip of the iceberg. Connect your phone to access your music collection, read your Twitter feed, check the latest headlines or perform any other function on your dashboard"
As a motorcyclist I really hope I'm not anywhere near a car driver reading their Twitter feed or the latest headlines on their dashboard! It's bad enough when they're sending SMS or changing the song! Yes I know they probably mean that you should do this when stationary but to be honest for most of the drivers I see this means "while at the lights or in traffic". The last thing they need is more distraction.
I posted a generally polite response as to why so many of us think you're unstable, and how you could address that.
It was advice.
And instead of taking it like a man and considering whether or not there were valid points, you go off the deep end with another rant written in a style sure to make other continue to consider you, as I do, a complete loon.
What are you talking about, you crazy cunt? Then, as now, you had no idea of how slashdot works.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
period!
you know there's a key for that.
"Wow, you're really fucking crazy, aren't you?" - by Red Flayer (890720) on Tuesday January 04, @05:58PM (#34759578)
No, but you're obviously delusional, thinking you're "the sidewalk psychoanalyst of /." (with no degree no less, the "self-appointed sidewalk psychoanalyst of /.", lol), with you constantly calling myself 'crazy' & what-not/etc., here, repeatedly...
Well, to that, I can only use my "std. reply to trolls that think they're psychiatrists":
When you:
---
1.) Have a PHD to your name in psychiatry
2.) Have a license to practice psychiatry
3.) Have performed a formal analysis of myself in a professional environs
---
THEN, you can talk...
Otherwise? Well, you know... lol!
---
"I posted a generally polite response as to why so many of us think you're unstable, and how you could address that." - by Red Flayer (890720) on Tuesday January 04, @05:58PM (#34759578)
You mean 'ALL OF YOU WANNABE PSYCHO-ANALYSTS'? To that, again, I can only refer you to the above... you need it.
---
"It was advice." - by Red Flayer (890720) on Tuesday January 04, @05:58PM (#34759578)
Ahem: I don't accept advice from non-professional wannabes like yourself... get it (for the 2nd time now already if not more)?
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"And instead of taking it like a man and considering whether or not there were valid points" - by Red Flayer (890720) on Tuesday January 04, @05:58PM (#34759578)
That's a laugh & 1/2: "Valid Points", from a screwball wannabe psychiatrist, like YOU? Please - you're making me laugh...
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"you go off the deep end with another rant written in a style sure to make other continue to consider you, as I do, a complete loon." - by Red Flayer (890720) on Tuesday January 04, @05:58PM (#34759578)
I don't even consider you @ all... you're nothing/nobody, period. Why? Well, again: Refer to the above... "take it like a man", yourself.
---
"you crazy cunt?" - by Red Flayer (890720) on Tuesday January 04, @05:58PM (#34759578)
Man - All you ever do, is call others names... so, if ANYONE is "unstable" here, it's you - learn to keep your cool, fool.
(Of course, in the real world, I am SURE you are "meek as a mouse" because if you were ever in front of me talking the way you are? I'm actually QUITE certain it'd be a different story...)
APK
P.S.=> RedFlayer, face it - you're a "non-entity", and your "foaming at the mouth" replies, replete with profanity? Hey - your replies only makes you look even STUPIDER than you do already - & I am laughing, hugely, @ your antics! Grow up... apk
On a fine summer evening, when I had run out of budget for exotic astro-gear, and blinded by the light pollution in my neighborhood, I made this app / hack to help me guide my telescope with the sensors on the phone alone.
(for those who are new to telescopes, a separate device using encoders that does the same thing, though with more accuracy, can cost several hundred dollars)
you know there's a key for that. by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 04, @06:34PM (#34759996)
So that's what a douchebag says.