With the gas prices these days, it makes sense that you do your part to help cut down on energy costs.

Here’s a couple tips for green commuting:

1. If you drive an SUV or anything that guzzles gas more than 20MPG, you should really either get a smaller vehicle for commuting or take public transportation.

2. If you want to have fun while saving gas, try getting yourself a motorcycle such as the Suzuki GSX-R1000 pictured above, you will get 50MPG+ on every commute to work while being able to cut through dense traffic.  (In California, it’s legal to drive between cars, of course, this isn’t super safe but pretty safe if you are in a dead-stop traffic.)  This is the method I used to use when I had a 9 to 5 (8 to 5 actually) job.

Electric cars are great but they still get you stuck in traffic with its massive body, a bike is probably the most efficient way to get around without having to spend more time in public transportation or dead-stop traffic.

3. Public transportation is great for saving some money and you can relax while going to work.  Even better, get a netbook equipped with a broadband card then you can surf the web while going to work.  Map out the shortest public route using Google’s bus route feature.  (I use this on my Blackberry on the go if I am taking buses in San Francisco and works great for real-time adjustments)

4. Move to an urban area with lots of people and public transportation, preferably a metrolpolitan city such as San Francisco or New York.  If you are going to live in LA, you will have to suffer the consequences of bad traffic and long travels between “anything”.  Avoid cities where you must drive a lot or in constant traffic.

Metropolitan cities dense with population usually means short walking distances to most things in life such as groceries, retail shops, etc…etc…  On an average, people in big cities save more energy since a big percentage of people use transportation and are also more green-conscious.

I have to admit to living in a suburban neighborhood where it took 5 miles to get to 7-eleven or even a gas station, that’s a big waste anytime you want to do something.

If you really feel you can’t be a city slicker, you will need to get the Suzuki Gixxer man…

5. If you job can be done from your home computer, ask your boss if you can work from home at least once a week.  Everybody’s doing this and if your boss says no, he’s called an A-hole.

6. If you do drive your car, make a short to-do list of where and what so you get everything done efficiently.

7. Turn your electronic devices off when not in use such as the cable box, lights, etc…etc…

8. STAY AWAY FROM TRAFFIC whenever possible.  Always schedule yourself to stay out of rush traffic hours.

I used to go to work 5 in the morning just so I could avoid traffic, you should too since early bird eats the worm.

Well, I am sure there’s more stuff you can do, it’s really common sense and trying to help earth will also help your life.

Here’s a cool DIY on how to turn your rear projection TV (or DLPTV) into a 100-inch cinema screen by ripping the front of your TV and adding a bigger screen further away.

I do like it but I assume that the video quality will degrade when doing this so don’t blame me because everything gets bigger after this hack.

I bought Sony KDFE50A10 rear projection TV that has 50″ screen. After an year or so, I started to feel like the screen size is shrinking, really, ask any one who has a big screen TV. I wanted to buy a projector and have 100″ screen. But with more than $2500 already invested, the WAF (Wife Approval Factor) is zero. So, I have been thinking to convert this RPTV into a rear projector, but I couldn’t find any help on the net.

via hackaday, DIY PAGE

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Check out this DIY on how to use your tow hook as a digital camera mount.  This will be good for those of you speed racers out there who can’t get enough digital footage of your own car.

Now, I’d like to see someone put this on a Tow Hook on a SUV to get some backdoor footage too.

What this is good for: autox, backroads, a camera you don’t care that much about.
What is it not good for: on the track (you need the tow hook operational duh!), in the dirt (might work, but the camera might die), snow (see dirt).

Warning: Some people have claimed that in an accident the tow hook will prevent the airbags from deploying properly. I haven’t tested this, be warned that this may or may not be the case and there is some risk involved with this.

via make, DIY Page

Here’s a cool Dyno Wreath you can make.  Of course, it’s not Christmas yet but your children will still love the fact that you made a special, custom wreath just for them.

I call it the Dino Wreath. Clever, yes? In any case, if you’re bonkers for brontosauri, here’s the Patented Living Small Do It Yourself Dino Wreath Guide. Note: This project has a difficulty rating of SUPER EASY.

via livingsmall

Here’s a really cool hack that shows you how to control a Nikon or Canon digital camera using Nintendo DS.

A funny cool thing happens once the camera is controlled by what is essentially a instant-on computer. Where the Canon 5D can do a bracket of three shots, spread two stops apart, and the latest 1DS MKIII series can do a nine shot bracket, the “DS-DSLR” can do any number of shots, and if I don’t like the way it does it, I can rewrite the software to do it better.

The DS can run in bulb-mode as well, so I can do automated exposures of several minutes beyond the thirty second limit of tethered laptop software, as well as allow for sensor cooling between bursts. This will come in handy when the Astrotrac I ordered from Richard Taylor at the P.A.T.S. show last week finally arrives from the U.K.

via hackszine, Hack Page

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That’s right, someone decided to make a V8 engine out of Legos.

It’s not gonna run your car anytime soon but still, it’s a fantastic Lego project.

via hackedgadgets

For those of us who are anti-Windows and anti-Mac, we will benefit from learning how to make Ubuntu run super fast.

Here’s some great tips on minimizing processes to make your Ubuntu run faster than ever:

1. Remove Network Manager if you do not need it “sudo apt-get remove network-manager”. If possible give yourself a static IP in /etc/network/interfaces like so:

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 192.168.1.150
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 192.168.1.100
broadcast 192.168.0.255
gateway 192.168.1.1

Having a static IP helps with boot time as your machine doesn’t have to communicate with the router/dhcp server as much to obtain an address.

2. Also remove firestarter or whatever graphical firewall frontend you’re using. Learn to control iptables at boot up and shutdown. It’ll be much snappier.

3. Install bum, “sudo apt-get install bum” and run it with root access. Shut off all unnecessary services. If you’re not sure about a service research it before shutting it off. Also, install sysv-rc-conf. Run the application as root. This will allow you to control, in an easy way, what services start at which run level. It’s like bum, but more detailed. Be very careful with which services you are removing from which run-level. If you don’t know what you’re doing here, research it or don’t touch it. After you do this you may want to reboot to make sure you didn’t break anything.

4. Turn off usplash in grub. (Mind you, you’re bootup won’t be as pretty as the splash will go away).

• vim /boot/grub/menu.lst
• on the kernel line delete the words “splash” and “quiet”
• Reboot to see the changes.

5. If you have a dual core processor, you can decrease your boot time with concurrency.

• sudo vim /etc/init.d/rc
• and find the line CONCURRENCY=none and change it to: CONCURRENCY=shell
• Reboot to see the changes. (tired of rebooting yet?)

6. Remove some TTYs

I could easily do this by editing /etc/inittab and then commenting the extra TTYs there. With the new upstart mechanism in place, things are a little different.

You have to edit /etc/default/console-setup file. This file defines how many ttys should you get.

Change ACTIVE_CONSOLES=”/dev/tty[1-6]” to the number of consoles you want. Lets say, 3 ttys, then change it to “/dev/tty[1-3]“.

And then goto /etc/event.d/ and change the ttyx files that you DONOT want. Edit them and comment lines starting with “start on runlevel”. So, in this case, you’ll comment the start line in tty4..tty6 files.

Rebooting shoud minimize the number of consoles for you. Worked for me!! Good luck, NOTE: Even though you’ve reduced the tty number, X is still on Alt-F7. Again, go ahead and reboot to make sure you didn’t break anything.

more via tuxtraining

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Here’s a nice example of how hackers can easily freeze memory of the computer to retrieve the encryption key.

Abstract Contrary to popular assumption, DRAMs used in most modern computers retain their contents for seconds to minutes after power is lost, even at operating temperatures and even if removed from a motherboard. Although DRAMs become less reliable when they are not refreshed, they are not immediately erased, and their contents persist sufficiently for malicious (or forensic) acquisition of usable full-system memory images. We show that this phenomenon limits the ability of an operating system to protect cryptographic key material from an attacker with physical access. We use cold reboots to mount attacks on popular disk encryption systems — BitLocker, FileVault, dm-crypt, and TrueCrypt — using no special devices or materials. We experimentally characterize the extent and predictability of memory remanence and report that remanence times can be increased dramatically with simple techniques. We offer new algorithms for finding cryptographic keys in memory images and for correcting errors caused by bit decay. Though we discuss several strategies for partially mitigating these risks, we know of no simple remedy that would eliminate them.

via hacknmod, Hack Page

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I have to admit to playing FIFA on the PS3 and it’s a lot of fun.  Of course, it was my friend’s PS3 so I didn’t have much chance to practice but here’s a cool PS3 video tutorial that shows you how to master all the important skills you need to beat your friends.

Advanced tricks and juggling for Fifa09 for Playstation 3.

Additional info:

0:10-0:20
Kick Ups
Works only when standing

0:20-0:39
Around The World
Also only when standing still, the timing on the rotation of the RS is important.

0:40-0:55
Laces Flick - Overhead Flick
Instructions appy when player facing away from the camera.

0:55-1:01
Rainbow Flick
Timing on last RS flick is the most important thing. Instructions apply when player facing away from the camera.

1:02-1:15
Rainbow Variation
Timing on last RS flick is the most important thing. Instructions apply when player facing away from the camera.

1:16-1:32
HTW - Hop the World
Holding the L3 button is the only difference from the ATW.

1:33-1:52
Flick up for a bicycle kick
Instructions apply when player is facing the camera. (Overhead kick effective when done on the 16m line)

1:52-1:59
Flip-Flap/Elastico
Works when standing and when jogging.

1:59-2:09
Hocus Pocus
Awesome trick!
2:10-2:23
Step Overs
Works best when standing still, especially if you’re trying to do more then one.

2:24-2:40
The Zidane Pirouette
Can be done both while standing still, and when jogging. Probably the most effective feint when done correctly.

2:40-3:03
Fake Shot
Doesn’t work on the keeper! Effective when playing against a real person online etc..

3:03-3:15
Ronaldinho Sombrero Flick
Instructions apply when player facing away from the camera.

3:15-3:24
Heel Flick
Most effective when running next to your opponent, not to get past.

3:25-3:30
Blanco Hop
Effective when… you wanna look like an idiot.

3:30-3:42
Standing Lob Pass
When the normal through ball just isn’t good enough for ya!

3:44-3:58
Showing off!

via sports2forex