I drove to city hall today in a motorbike and noticed just how much time I spent waiting at red lighted but otherwise empty intersections. I tell you, it sucks that I have to wait so much until the light changes on its own or until a bigger car comes by (for which the red almost instantly goes green). Infuriating! I must’ve wasted about 25% of my trip waiting on empty intersections gnashing my teeth but unable to run the red light because of traffic cameras.

So a little research led me to some very interesting little known hacks that will help me get the green light everytime! You want to save gas and truckloads of time? Do yourself a favor and read on.

First off, some disclaimers

The knowledge put forth here are purely academical in nature. We have researched the methods and gadgets herein described and tickle your fancy with some rather interesting possible applications. However, we reiterate that these are simply for academic purposes and that they should NEVER be used for anything illegal.

Now that those are out, you know that the information that comes next oughta be good. =)

How traffic lights work in the U.S.

Here in the good ole US of A, traffic lights work on a queueing system that puts premium on traffic density and waiting time. How would the traffic lights “know” that there are more cars on your side of the intersection or that you have waited longer than anyone else? It’s the same system they use in Mickey D’s drive-thru, where they embed a loop of wire that detects any nearby electromagnetic field (everything with matter emits an electromagnetic field of sorts, but the wires for these usually detect those coming from machinery like cars, trucks, etc). Meaning, a machinery of sorts that is bigger than the size of your small coupe or about the size of your regular sedan will trip it.

Someone on the net figured out how they can activate or trigger the device even if you are using a small car or even a motorcycle! The mechanism is simple - you just attach some powerful neodymium magnets to the underside of your cycle perpendicular to the road and you are set.

The above condition is all good for smaller vehicles, but still do not let you change red lights to green. It simply allows smaller vehicles to register as bigger ones and let them note that a big vehicle is on queue.

Pedestrian influence

Pedestrians also exert some control over traffic signals via pedestrian buttons such as these.

This photo is NOT by actiononline.biz

Getting the green

For real control over the traffic lights from a moving vehicle, one has to turn to a little-known feature of US traffic lights. Most intersection lights have an infrared scanner that allows emergency vehicles to pre-empt traffic light scheduling systems. Meaning, ambulances, fire trucks, and police vehicles emit an infrared signal that the sensors catch - which will make them turn green for the said emergency vehicle almost instantly! These are MIRTs or mobile infrared transmitters.

Of course, using a MIRT is almost always strictly for emergency vehicles (check with your local laws before using one as it could be illegal in some states). But human ingenuity always finds a way! There is this guy who discusses how to make one from scratch and there is another guy who teaches you how to use a normal universal remote to do the same job.

Getting away with it

This photo is NOT by actiononline.biz

Of course, there is one big problem: getting caught. Most heavy traffic intersections have traffic cameras that take pictures of cars getting into intersections and most of them can capture the tell-tale IR beam that comes from your remote control or MIRT.

So the solution then is not to actually use MIRTs, or, turn to methods of hiding your face (via heavilly tinted windows) and hiding your plate number via reflectorized license plate sprays.

Parting shot

We reiterate that this is purely academic conjecturing at methods of saving gas and time by making sure you always get a green light. These techniques and gadgets should NEVER be used for anything illegal.

Please use this knowledge wisely, if everyone has the technique and uses it indiscriminately then it would mean utter road chaos. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, eh?

This first video shows an algorithmic way of opening the lock. This process involves three phases. First phase involves getting the 3rd number of the combination while second and third phases involve getting the first and second numbers of the combination respectively. Now check below the second video.

The steps involved on the second video are quite similar to the one shown earlier but this one shows how you can get the third, first and second numbers real quick. In my opinion, the process is much simpler and more organized than the other.

This final video is the easiest and fastest way to pick a master combination lock. Unlike the former videos, this does not involve any computations and trials. You can use an aluminum can, a softdrink can, a soda can, or a Coke can.

From the three videos shown, do you agree that the brute force method using the drinks can is the best way to open the master combination lock?

NEC released its new Valuestar W line of all-in-one PCs in Japan. Available in 22 and 19-inch models, these PCs use a Water-Cooling Technology that is already common in computers nowadays. Hardware specifications are Core 2 Duo E4400 processor, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT graphics, a 500GB hard drive and, apparently, a Blu-ray burner / HD DVD reader, with a digital/analog TV. It’s obviously a high-end PC thus you can expect it to be pricey. If you think that it is pricey, you haven’t seen anything yet. Some people push it to the limit to spend more just for more overclocking speed.

The Water-Cooled PC was blogged earlier on Engadget. In relation to the cooling system of the Valuestar W line, would it be better if they use the cooking oil cooling system (which some think doesn’t really work) or use liquid nitrogen in cooling the processor? I think the liquid nitrogen is a cool idea but expensive and will only add up to the cost to your already high-end computer.

I wonder if NEC will use these alternative cooling system on their next release. If so, which would you prefer, the cooking oil, water or liquid nitrogen?

If you are wondering if an Apple iPhone can be unlocked and made to run as an open line phone that can run any SIM card, like TMobile or Verizon or many even SIM cards in other countries like Smart, Globe, Sun, Orange. An earlier announcement iPhoneSIMfree.com made on Engadget that they can unlock the Apple iPhone from AT&T within 48 hours. And true enough they were able to prove it to them sending back Engadget’s iPhone that was unlocked and Engadget tested on running a T-Mobile SIM.

Watch video demo of Engadget using their unlocked AT&T iPhone below:

As mentioned on Engadget on the install

• The unlock process took only a couple of minutes. From our end it was totally painless.
• Once you put your new, non AT&T SIM in the device, you have to go through the usual activation process. This can, of course, be done by anyone anywhere with the right tools (like iASign or iActivator)
• We tested with an active T-Mobile SIM — after the hack was finished and we reactivated we immediately got full bars and the T-Mobile carrier info popped up in the top bar.
• Everything is otherwise the same, except the menu system now has a couple more options. The root menu has Carrier settings where you can select your preferred network if you don’t want to roam.
• The General -> Network menu now has an EDGE network settings area where you can input your carrier’s APN and username / password. We put in our T-Mobile info, and were immediately online. (Apparently these hidden menus were added in the 1.0.1 update, they tell us. How convenient!)
• Visual voicemail isn’t in the cards — sorry. That was, of course, to be expected because it’s a special AT&T network-specific feature right now. When you hit the voicemail button you are taken immediately to your carrier’s default voicemail line though, and that works just like it would on any other phone.
• Everything is confirmed as working on a non-AT&T network: SMS send / receive, internet (including Safari, Mail, Google maps, etc.). YouTube doesn’t work out of the box, but that’s to be expected. If you’re not on AT&T you have to manually activate YouTube — here’s the guide on how to do that. (YouTube is the only app you have to activate like this.)
• We know, it’s kind of crazy, but this isn’t a hoax.
• No, sorry, you can’t have our unlocked iPhone.

Now the title of my blog post is: “How to unlock an Apple iPhone on AT&T and run any carrier SIM card.” Ok so how to do it? I will give two steps.

1. Go to iPhoneSIMFree.com
2. Make them an offer.

Planning on buying a new computer this Christmas to replace that old computer you are using right now? I know computers can be a bit expensive, and if you missed out on the Thanksgiving sale and is tired of your problematic, erratic computer you have right now and getting a new computer for yourself will be a good present for yourself this Christmas, you can still save some amount with online coupons & discounts from NCNatural. They have nearly all the good brands you need. Discount coupons for Gateway, Dell, and HP are available on their website. Be a laptop, or desktop, PDA or latest music player, there is a coupon good for what you need. If Gateway, Dell and HP are not your preferred computer brands, NCNatural also has discount offers for Tiger Direct which carries a wide variety of computers and consumer electronics. Check them out.

But this time, Tom’s Hardware Guide tries something else. Playing high graphics video games and taking off processor cooling. Some processors survive. Some processors burned and even burns out the motherboard as well. They did the test on Intel and AMD processors. I guess the people used to fixing their computers already know the result of which brand will burn up into smoke. Watch the video.

CPU - Cooling. - video powered by Metacafe

Interesting Results

• Intel Pentium 4/2000, Socket 423 with Intel 850 Chipset
  Temperature: 29^oC/84^oF
  Slowed down computer and CPU survived.
• Intel Pentium 3/1000, Socket 370 with Intel 815 EP Chipset
  Temperature: 38^oC/100^oF
  Application froze and CPU survived.
• AMD Athlon 1400, Socket 462 with Via KT133A Chipset
  Temperature: 370^oC/698^oF
  Application crash and CPU and motherboard up in smoke.
• AMD Palomino 1200, Socket 462 with VIA KT266 Chipset
  Temperature: 298^oC/568^oF
  Application crashes, thermal diode fails and CPU up in smoke

I find it interesting to know that the Intel processors heat just rose to near the temperature of having a fever. Fevers occur at 37^oC and above. While AMD processors are way beyond the boiling point of water at 1atm(760mmHG) atmospheric pressure, which is 100^oC.

So what processor will you buy from now on? I know what I will buy. Still an AMD! I am currently using an AMD Athlon 3000+ 64bit processor, simply because the price to performance ratio is still better to me than Intel processors. Although I did have a temperature problem before since AMD processors need a very large heatsink and processor fan, they can become very heavy too. And with an upright casing, my heatsink was being pulled by gravity causing it to have a very small space between the heatsink block and the processor. Thus heating up the processor. But the motherboard had a safety feature of killing the power when a certain temperature threshold is met and I believe all modern motherboards have this feature. But for the purposes of demonstration above, the people at THG disabled it. So with the motherboards of today, I am not worried of leaving my computer on without any fear of burning down the house. And the problem I had was solved with some thermal grease and tightening up the heatsink block.

One problem in being a network administrator for these types of setups is when it comes to a point that you really need to diagnose a server network appliance you need to connect a monitor to it to see what is going on. And you need to connect a keyboard and mouse to control the server appliance. Although there are systems with remote monitoring and remote access tools, there are really some instances where you need to connect to the server, isolated and directly in some cases.

When this is done, you either unplug the server and bring it to your service station where you have your video monitor and input devices, the keyboard and mouse, or you have a push cart of your monitor, keyboard and mouse that you push around in data centers to easily bring them to the network appliance you need to diagnose in server farms.

An easy solution to this cumbersome method of connecting to servers is the KVM2USB. The KVM2USB by Epiphan Systems, Inc. is a small device, probably as small as a paperclip box, where you plug it into your laptop computer’s USB port and it also has cables connecting to your server’s KVM ports. See KVM2USB Technical Specifications for more specific details on this device. It will run on-screen emulation of the server screen right through your laptop screen. Making this process more easily convenient.

Before the photographers start reacting, let me tell you that I personally still believe photography needs a lot of talent into it. But one thing I can say is the camera’s today are just getting better that makes photography easier not only for professional photographers, but for common people as well. I am no professional photographer, and I am in no authority to really speak about professional photography, but one thing I can say is that with digital photography of today, this already changes a lot of things. No more film developing, and no more film that cost money goes to waste. With memory cards that can go as high as 2.0GB or even more, you can take thousands of photos, that you can simply do a trial and error shot, shoot as many photos you want of a single subject not worrying of film wasted. If you do not like the photo, simply delete it. If ever you want to do film developing magic tricks in digital photography, there are many photo editing softwares to choose from including the very popular Adobe Photoshop. And with the very high resolutions generated from 6 megapixels or higher, zooming in by software, cropping and rotating will still give you relatively good looking photos.

But sure, amateurs like me may still not know a lot about photography, from lighting, angles of shots, focus on subjects and what filters to use, but once you have all the proper equipment, without the worry of spending too much money on film and given enough time to spend, you can do a trial and error and just shoot and shoot and experiment what photos come out best.

The time Sony PSP, people just lined up at every store that sells it and it was all gone on the second day. A friend of mine was looking for one in the second day and all the big shops did not have it anymore and we had to buy from smaller not-so-popular stores that had 1 left. He was lucky. Wow, that surely makes Sony real happy. Imagine having a company and just releasing the product and onced release it is sold out already?

Now the Sony Playstation 3 is coming out on November 19, 2006 in the US. The PS3 may have the same effect, once it is released, it’s sold out and I am sure video game addicts out there want to get a hold of it once it comes out and does not want to wait for the next supply to come. It would be best to preorder the Sony Playstation3. Unfortunately I cannot seem to find a preordering place to buy the PS3 but the best you can is going to Amazon and they have an alert notification service that will inform you right away if the product is available already. This is not really a prepurchase Playstation 3, but even if you cannot pre-purchase it, at least you are still ahead of the advance buying of the Sony Playstation 3. You can get alerts from Amazon, you can simply click here.

I personally use a Nokia 6600 and a Palm Treo 600. Why 2 phones? My Nokia 6600 has a Philippine SIM card from Smart Telecoms while my Palm Treo 600 has a US SIM card running T-Mobile. Although both have global roaming capabilities, I maintain business contacts in both the Philippines and the United States. It is more economical for the Filipinos to contact me through my Philippine SIM card phone and my US contacts through my US SIM card phone.

Checking Email

On my Nokia 6600, email checking is normally done through the inbox that is also used in SMS (Text Messaging). You have to configure it, to work which is nearly the same in configuring any email software. But reading main within the default inbox is not that convenient. Although my Nokia 6600 also has a WAP browser as part of the Symbian OS, and also a WWW browser powered by Opera, I will need to visit a WAP site or Website that will support my email. Although this can be done… once I go back to my Treo 600, it is a different story. I use Mail and this has caused me problems with undeletable blank mails, and MsgAgent has even been working better.

Looking for the Best Mobile Email Solution

I came across emoze and it claims to be user-friendly, and I decided to give it shot. Runs on Symbian OS, Palm OS and Windows Mobile for the PocketPC. So I went to their site to try it out. The software is free. One thing I found out, is it actually needs your PC for it to run. It is still a computer that checks the mail for you. Then the emoze PC connector software sends it to the Emoze Global Service Network (EGSN) and this is what is picked up by your Emoze mobile client which runs on your cellphone.

I use Thunderbird instead of MS Outlook, and the Thunderbird version of the PC connector is not available yet. Aside from that, the Palm OS version is also still coming soon. But at least I was still able to check it out on the Nokia 6600 and it was cool. Definitely something I will look forward too when the Palm OS version is out and when the PC connector for Thunderbird is out as well.