24Hz Sine Wave, Water & 24p Video

Probably my favourite of all the experiments on the channel (though this is ultimately very subjective), this trick of the camera is guaranteed to have a few people scratching their heads until they hear the explanation. Using a 24Hz sine wave in front of flowing water and a camera set to record at 24p (that’s 24 frames per second), it’s possible to achieve some seemingly physics-bending results.
Watch as simple tweaks to the sine wave seemingly cause the flow to reverse, pause and continue again. Bask in the glory of those who aren’t wise to the details of this incredible illusion (but tell them afterwards, please).

Moving Square Illusion

A very simple illusion, watch the video below as the box moves between squares of paper. Then marvel as the author reveals the illusion as something other than what you were seeing in the foreground, and realise how you can never quite see it in the same way again.
This is actually an old illusion, and the author admits that this time he wanted to make his own version. You could even try it out on your friends for real, if you want to look like a smart-ass.

Perspective “Anamorphosis” Illusions

If there’s one thing that brusspup is good at it’s illusions, specifically those that form a seemingly flat image from a certain perspective commonly known as anamorphosis. He’s done a good number of these, many of which he follows up with a behind-the-scenes video. The first below is a rope of Christmas lights that extends for quite a distance but makes for a very simple and small shape when viewed from the right angle:
The old school multi-coloured Apple logo is arguably cooler than the silvery version we’re stuck with now, and here’s an optical illusion using the old logo:
The technique works well in a variety of implementations like this chair illusion:
To silence the YouTube naysayers, here’s the video uploaded to show how it was done:
And another illusion involving a pool ball, his cat and an empty swimming pool:
Not forgetting the behind the scenes video, with more cat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMqYDH6TSG
TRON fans rejoice:
TRON fans disassemble:
And finally what better use of the technique than to celebrate the incredible volume of YouTube videos watched off-site every day:

Pendulum Wave Effect

This next video proves what scientists have known all along: pendulums are awesome, especially when arranged in a “Newton’s cradle” formation and set in motion to create beautiful swirling patterns:
Here’s the same effect casting an equally impressive shadow:
And here’s the original effect under normal light:

“Impossible” Illusions

Impossible illusions possibly provide the most brain-twisting of all, as logic dictates something is amiss but your eyes clearly see it for themselves. Of course, there’s always something tricking you here – usually perspective – like in the following “impossible balls” optical illusion:
Then there’s the impossible puzzle, complete with this template for you to print and try out yourself:
Finally, something to make and exhibit yourself – a gravity-defying bottle holder with instructions at the end of the video:


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How To Block Notification Area Ads On Android Phones


block notification ads androidHave you ever seen an advertisement in Android’s notification area? Some apps abuse theirnotification permissions to display advertisements when you aren’t even using them. The good news is that you can determine which apps are showing the annoying ads and block them from appearing.
Google is starting to crack down on apps that abuse notifications, but many apps still use them. The apps use Airpush or similar advertising frameworks to push ads to your device, making the app developers money with spammy ads while constantly distracting you.

Determine Which App Is Showing Notifications

It may not always be obvious which app is showing notifications. The icon next to the notification may help – for example, in the screenshot below, the icon is the same as the icon for the MySettings app installed on my device, so it’s clear that MySettings is the culprit.
block notification ads android
However, the icon may not always clue you in. If you need help determining which app is behaving badly, there are a number of apps you can try:
  • AirPush Detector: Detects apps that use known notification ad systems, including Airpush and similar ad networks..
  • Lookout Ad Network Detector: Scans your phone for common ad networks and categorizes them – for example, you can see which apps can display ads in the notification bar.
These two apps may not detect every advertising network out there. If you still can’t pin down the offending application, try the following app instead:
  • Addons Detector: Enable the Notification Monitor in this app and it will monitor the notifications that appear on your device, telling you which app displayed them.

Android 4.1+

Google added a feature that allows you to block notifications from any app in Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). Once you know which app is abusing its notification permissions, you can change the app’s permissions from the app’s info screen.
To do so, open Android’s Settings screen, tap Apps to view a list of installed apps, and then tap the name of the app that’s showing notification ads. Uncheck the Show notifications checkbox next to the Uninstall button and the app won’t be able to display ads anymore.
block notification bar android

Android 4.0 or Older

If you’re using Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or an older version of Android, you can’t block an app from displaying notifications out-of-the-box.
However, you do have some options. Many push-advertising networks have an opt-out feature, although they don’t make it easy to find. For example, if the app that’s displaying ads is using Airpush, you can use the Airpush opt-out page to download an opt-out app or manually opt out. Note that Airpush isn’t the only push-advertising network, so the app displaying ads may be using another network – if you can determine the name of the network, you may be able to find an opt-out page for it.
block notification ads android
Of course, you can also uninstall the badly behaving app and find a better app – check out our list of the best Android applications for some great alternatives.
If you’ve rooted your smartphone or tablet, you can change an app’s permissions – Airblockeris an app that will block Airpush ads, but it only works on rooted devices. While we generallydon’t encourage blocking ads, we have to draw a line somewhere – blocking Airpush ads is no different than using a pop-up blocker. Both Airpush notification area ads and pop-ups are abusive and should not be rewarded.
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How To Video Chat Between An Android Phone And A PC


video chat android to pcChatting with mobile phones is nothing new. Folks have been using instant messaging on their mobile phones almost as long as there have been mobile phones.
Video chatting, on the other hand, is only really starting to take off in a big way now that mobile data networks are really starting to expand in bandwidth. Trying to squeeze streaming video from a 2 megapixel camera over a 2G mobile data line was one thing, but streaming 5 megapixel video through a 4G data network or higher is a whole different story.
When it comes to video chatting, you’re looking at a whole different set of choices. I’ve run through about 5 different apps that promise to deliver video chatting well, but narrowed it down to two that actually do.

Two Android Apps for Video Chatting

There is one particular app that deserves an honorable mention, because I’ve used it for so many years. I just assumed that Skype would make the very top of the list when it comes to video chatting because it has always outperformed my expectations when it came to voice chatting and conferencing.
Skype offers an app on Google Play that claims you can use it to make free Skype-to-Skype video calls, in addition to regular text chatting and voice of course.
However, when I installed the app and tried to initiate a video chat between my Android and our home PC (using two different accounts obviously), I had the hardest time to get the PC Skype app to see the video stream from the phone app.
video chat android to pc
The Skype application on my computer could see that my phone account was logged in and I could initiate a video call. The call initiated a regular chat, but the video stream remained blank.
Maybe there was something buried in the Skype settings on the desktop app that might have gotten the whole thing working, but in my book if it’s really that complicated to get it to work right, then it doesn’t belong on the list of best mobile video chatting apps.

 Video Chatting with Qik

A few years ago, Grant wrote about Qik, and I wrote about using it to integrate video into your blog. The truth is, Qik was not only one of the best video streaming apps back then, but it’s also a really cool way to have a video chat with family or friends when you’re on the road.
The Qik app will let you stream live video to the web instantly, but the app also includes a “Video Chat” option that you can use when you just want to stream privately to people and chat with them.
video chat android
I happened to already have another Qik account, so with the Qik web app I can just initiate a call with my home user account.
If you’re traveling and want to keep in touch with your kids or your spouse, just have then sign up with their own Qik account and they can chat with you right on the website.  They can also install the Qik Desktop app if you think you’ll be using this often.
video chat android
The web version is probably the fastest and most convenient way to stay in touch with others on the Qik network. Here I am connected from the website to my mobile that’s streaming live video to Qik in the other room.
video chat android
As you can see, chat is underneath the video stream on the site, and the chat comments show up under your picture on the phone.  One weakness of Qik is the text chat kinda sucks. On the other hand, it would be better to just set up your phone as a video/audio stream, and then use a second laptop to view the video stream of the person you’re chatting with.
Better-yet, if you’re using an Android tablet or phone with a camera on the face of the device, then you can just use the mobile for the video chat. No typing required.

Video Chat with Paltalk Mobile

Of these two options for video chatting with your Android, I think Paltalk Mobile is my favorite. Paltalk Mobile is a high-quality IM app that runs fast on the mobile and includes a small video chat icon next to all of your online friends that have a Paltalk Mobile account.
how to video chat
Just click the video chat icon and you’re connected. The video chat with PalTalk ran really fast for me, with little lag, which was pretty impressive considering it was over 3G.
The tradeoff for that speed is that your transmitted video as seen on the desktop PC isn’t quite as high-resolution as a desktop webcam would be.
video chat android to pc
With that said, the stream runs fast, chatting is really easy and fun, and includes a highly-functional text chat if that’s what you prefer. Audio controls are located right on the text chat icon bar.
The Paltalk Messenger app would be the fastest and easiest way for your family to connect with you, and it runs just like a regular IM service right in the task bar.
how to video chat
If you’re on a business trip, just make sure your family has this running on your PC, and you can send them a chat request notification any time. Have a video chat from the hotel, say hi to your wife or husband and say goodnight to your kids. Being able to see them and talk to them really makes the trip much less painful.
By the way, an added feature of Paltalk is that it is very much an application that promotes chatting – as in chatting with strangers all around the world on a really wide range of topics.
how to video chat
So, if you have a concern about letting your young kids use such an app (which is a valid concern), then this video chatting option may not be best for you. If you’re looking for one of the fastest and easiest ways to use your Android to have a video chat with your friends though, this is one of the best options out there.
Are you into video chat, or do you still prefer text or voice? Are either of these your favorite, or do you have some other app you use to video chat with friends and family? Share your thoughts and insight in the comments area below.
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Want To Customize Your Android Device, But Not Sure Where To Start?


Android’s openness is one of its greatest strengths and makes it possible for most devices to be modified in a number of ways. Customizing your device can add new features and make it feel like it is, well, yours.
There’s just one problem. The Android modding community is naturally lead by tech-heads and programmers, two groups of people not known for their ability to communicate with the layman. If you ask them what your first steps should be they’ll tell you to unlock your bootloader, root your device and load a ROM. But what does that mean?

Bootloader

All electronic devices need fundamental firmware that allows the device to boot. This is often known as the bootloader. It is low-level software that starts the device when you press the power button. Most include fail-safes that restore a device to factory defaults in the event of catastrophic software failure.
Most Android devices come with a bootloader that will only start certain software, such as the ROM (see below) that shipped with the device. Replacing or modifying the original loader is usually required to install custom ROMs.
Some devices have encrypted bootloaders which are much more difficult to circumvent. If you read that a device is “locked” it usually means it is encrypted, which in turn means custom ROMs can’t be flashed until the encryption is circumvented.

Unlocking

As you might have guessed from the above section, unlocking a device is the process of cracking its bootloader so it can be replaced with another, open, bootloader. There are a lot of different ways to do this and the methods vary from device to device and sometimes even between different versions of the same hardware.
Not all devices can be unlocked. Obviously, a device that’s just been released usually cannot be unlocked for at least a few weeks because Android community members need time to find an exploit or crack that will work. Most phones are eventually unlocked, but that’s not always the case. A device must be unlocked before it can be rooted (see below).
You should note that the term “unlocking” is not very precise. It can be confused with the lock feature used to protect a device from unauthorized access. It also can be confused with phones that are “carrier unlocked,” which means a phone is sold without a contract and can be used with the carrier of your choice.

Root

Android is based on Linux. The deepest level of access available in any Linux operating system is root access. A user with root access can change anything in the system at any time and has access to all features.
Android devices generally do not ship with root access. It’s not necessary for typical functionality and denying root access both improves security and makes modding more difficult. Manufacturers see both as positive results, but many custom ROM features and custom apps won’t work without root enabled.
Obtaining root access is known as rooting. It’s usually achieved by running custom software that exploits vulnerability in the target device. Though potentially complex, some devices enjoy excellent developer support via apps like SuperOneClick. Again, I advise checking the XDA Developers forums for your specific device. That’s where you will find the latest and greatest rooting techniques for your Android.
Most Android customizations, including custom ROMs, require a device that has been rooted.

ROM

ROM is an example of an acronym that’s taken on a life of its own. It is shorthand for read-only memory, a type of computer memory that can store data for long periods of time but can’t be written to (either due to limitations of the hardware or the software running on it). ROM is where a device stores system files critical to its operation.
In the Android community, however, a ROM is a piece of software loaded into your device which replaces the original Android system files. A custom ROM is a customized version of the Android operating system. There are many different versions available from different teams and independent coders. A ROM is not read-only but it does serve as the basis for all of Android’s functions and features.
A comparison to Linux distributions is apt. Linux is an operating system that has many different versions, most of which are crafted by independent programmers or teams. Android, which is based off Linux, is similar. The main difference is Google, which acts as a central driving force and develops the main fork of the operating system. No organization of similar clout exists in the Linux ecosystem.

Flash

The term flash is confusing since it might be mistaken for Adobe Flash, which is unrelated. Flashing is instead the term used to describe the installation of a custom ROM.
When you flash a device you install a new ROM on it. This usually consists of loading the ROM file onto a memory card, wiping out the existing ROM installation via the device’s recovery menu and then loading the new ROM.
Exact instructions are more complex, of course, so you should check out the XDA Developers Flashing Guide. You also should check out the XDA Developers device forums. You can usually find device-specific instructions there.

Brick

A device that’s been bricked has been made useless because of a problem that prevents it from starting. It’s literally as useful as a small plastic-and-glass brick.
Not all bricks are the same, however. A “soft” brick occurs when a device starts but does not completely load Android. It may be a reboot loop (where the device keeps shutting off and restarting, over and over again), display error message or have some other issue. Most soft bricks can be recovered by resetting the phone to factory defaults or using its built-in recovery mode.
A device that does not even begin to boot is called a hard brick. A device with a hard brick has experienced a fundamental failure which may even include damage to the phone’s memory. It’s rare, but it does happen, and replacing hardware in the device is the only way to fix it.

AOSP & AOKP

AOSP stands for Android Open Source Project. It’s the project maintained by Google that allows anyone, including both manufacturers and individuals, to build their own version of Android and distribute it.
Downloading the source is easy. Understanding it and using it is hard. You won’t be able to do much with it unless you’re a decent programmer, but it’s nice to know that it’s available. Most importantly for our purposes, a ROM that is “AOSP” or “based on AOSP” tries to closely adhere to the original version of Android, and offer a “pure” Android experience, as close as possible to the one you get with a Google device like the Nexus S phone.
AOKP is shorthand for Android Open Kang Project, the name of a popular open-source custom ROM. The AOKP ROM is a heavily modified version of the original Android ROM, with lots of tweaks added in. It is often used as a basis for other ROMs, so you will sometimes see lists of ROMs with “AOKP” used as a headline. It is unrelated to AOSP but commonly confused because of the similarities in the acronyms.
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Take Handwritten Notes Online Or Offline With SuperNote For Android


This is a great advantage for a note-taking app, but what if you just want a simple notepad-like app for your Android smartphone or tablet that just stores the notes on the device itself and doesn’t need to sync anything? Some people who use Android tablets do so in an environment where Internet access isn’t available most of the time. These people typically try to find apps that don’t really require Wi-Fi or 3G Internet access. In my particular case, I just wanted a simple note-taking app that I could use in meetings to replace the old-school notepad.
I tested out a number of device-based Android note apps like this, and eventually settled on the one that I consider the best of the best, called SuperNote. Don’t bother checking Google Play for the app – it was originally rolled out with the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime as part of the Android 3.2.1 Honeycomb update. Other devices running the latest Honeycomb have the exclusive SuperNote app.
It is very cool, and in many ways it actually blows even Evernote out of the water when it comes to interpreting words drawn right onto the tablet and placing those words into the document as a clean sentence. It is surreal to use at first, but once you get into it, it just becomes second nature.

Using SuperNote to Take Notes on a Tablet

To be honest with you, SuperNote was one of those native apps that I saw on the Prime when I first started using it, launched it quickly once, figured it didn’t really look like anything special and then moved on.  I had no idea that I had just blown off one of the best tablet note-taking apps available today.
It wasn’t until months later, after I couldn’t really find a non-online note-taking app that I decided to take another, more thorough look at SuperNote. When you first launch SuperNote, it really doesn’t look amazing. You’ll see a blank notepage, a pace for “notebooks” on the left, similar to Evernote, and I figured that’s it. Boy was I wrong.
android notes

When you start up a new Notebook – which is used to contain all of the individual note pages that you create, you have the choice to make it a “Notebook” or a “Paintbook”. In both cases you can set up the page color, and in the case of the Notebook you can also set up the font size.
android note taking app

At first glance, note pages look pretty standard. I thought the lined page was kind of odd, considering that when you type your notes using the docked keyboard or the onscreen keyboard, you’ve just got your basic notepad-type text file.
android note taking app
It wasn’t until I put my finger to the screen and started really trying to understand how the drawing feature worked that I realized just how wicked cool this app really is. I thought that the drawing feature was to sketch pictures into the note page, but every time I drew a shape, it got shrunk down and placed into the next text line. I thought to myself, “How annoying!”
A few moments later, I realized what was happening. Basically, the application lets you use your finger – or even better, a stylus – to hand-write each word in the sentence. Forget the on-screen keyboard or even needing an attached keyboard, just pick up your stylus and write up your notes by hand. Each word gets resized and aligned so that it fits right between the line width for the line your cursor is on.
android note taking app
Once I realized what was going on, I really started flying with my note-taking. This is very cool. Not only can you quickly jot down notes just like you would with a regular sheet of paper, but if you feel like the notes aren’t quite clear enough, you can set the line width between three different darkness settings. Just adjust it to your liking.
A nice feature is that you can adjust the “Scribble recognition speed”. This applies to how long the Supernote waits before it takes the word you wrote and applies it to the next spot in the line. If you take a long time to move on to the next letter in a word, you might want to slow down this wait time so that it doesn’t grab partial words before you’re done writing them. Once you adjust this speed to match your writing style, hand-writing notes using Supernote just becomes amazingly intuitive and fast.
android note taker

You can also quickly change the color of the text – typed or drawn – with the quick color-changer tool in the toolbar menu. The menu also has tools that let you adjust the line thickness and the line spacing.
Text not enough? You can also insert lots of other things into your  notes as well – including annotations, photos, images from your gallery, video captures, and even voice recordings.
 I thought it would be kind of cool to see if I could take a snapshot with my tablet camera from right inside the note-taking app, and then draw on the photo itself. That was surprisingly easy – you just choose “take photo” from the menu, snap your photo and it gets inserted right into your note. It brings you into the “paintbook” mode where you can edit your photo before it gets inserted into the note.  Set the paintbrush to whatever colors you like and start drawing!
android note taker
I handed over the reigns to my daughter for a few minutes and let her draw on my face. She’s quite the Picasso.
android note taker

Once I got started building my “Notebooks” inside of SuperNote, it really started becoming a lot more apparent to me just how useful and valuable this note-taking app could be. I sorted out all my pics and drawings into a specific notebook just for those. I listed my home projects and to-do lists in its own folder, and so on. Now you can organize all of those notes that you used to just scribble on loose papers that ended up scattered all around your desk. Keep all those little scribbles and critical facts stashed right in your tablet or smartphone, set up so that you’ll be able to find them later.
android notes

I have to say that after playing around with all of the other Android note apps on the Android Market, I was shocked to discover that my favorite note-taking app of all ended up being the native app right on the native Honeycomb OS. So, if you’re in the market for a new tablet and note-taking is a key feature, I propose that you may want to look for a tablet with Honeycomb Android 3.2.1 or later. You’ll be glad you did.
Have you ever used the Honeycomb SuperNote app? What’s your take on its features and ease-of-use? Do you take your digital notes by hand? Share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below.
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Installing Custom Rom And Updating Baseband


HI Friends again I am here to help u out for installing custom rom in Ur X8 or W8, I am also a W8 user and tried hard to root and install custom rom in my mobile without damaging my mobile. Everybody said that there is a risk in rooting and installing custom ROM, but it seems there is no fear (for me).

Ok let’s start, So U will need a USB cable, Flash Tool 0.2.9.1, Xperia X8 Driver(included in Flash Tool), Java JDK 6.

So start preparing Ur mobile for Installation of custom ROM, first of all back up all the data for example contacts, messages, notes etc. If u have not rooted the mobile yet then U can do it with the help of the tutorial. Go to Application>development and activate USB debugging by touching on that. Install all the above mentioned software to Ur Pc; you can see my rooting tutorial here.

After rooting U have to update to the latest Baseband which will allow u installing custom ROM s.
Update your phone to latest baseband before installing new ROMs.[current for W8 - 015]
Kernel and baseband are related to each other, so if you have baseband 006, you'll have 2.0.2.A.0.24 kernel, and with baseband 015 you'll get 2.1.1.A.0.6 kernel.
To check baseband -  Settings > About Phone > Baseband version. 

























To update Baseband download the latest baseband here

To upgrade the baseband open Extract the downloaded Baseband file and copy the .ftf file to the firmware folder of Flash Tool. After that open Flashtool.exe and click onFlash and select the .ftf file firmware and click OK. Wait for some time a pop up will appear when the process will be started as shown below. But don’t click on that cancel button.



Unplug the USB cable from the phone . turn off the phone . after turning off press and hold the back key of ur phone and insert the usb cable in the mean time . The Green LED will appear , and on the pop up message click on Ok button.
It will show a message that “Found at USB/……..” , just wait for some time.
If the  “Start Flashing” message appear everything is ok …

When last message appears unplug /plug USB cable. Restart the phone and after the restart the baseband must have been upgraded.

Connect the phone after the phone starts and click on the Xrecovery , it will start installing Xrecovery , and it will show a message that successfully installed Xrecovery , after the installation click on optimize . the phone will restart and will be optimized for xrecovery.  


Then download custom ROMS from here .




To install custom Rom Copy custom ROM update file to SD card.
Copy the zip file you have  downloaded to your SD card, make sure it is the one you want to install.
OK, everything is ready, you get 75% process complete. now disconnect the phone with your PC, power off your phone, press the power button, then repeatedly press the “back” key after the white “SONY” text show up. your phone will enter xRecovery, top line of the screen shows “FreeXperia X8 Recovery 001″ . Now be careful, don’t press the “home” key if you do not know what is going on.
To Back up your current system Use the volume up and volume down key to move the highlight option, use Home key to select the option, use Back key to Return.
Now follow this to back up your current system to the SD card, “Back up and restore” -> “Back up”, this may take over 3 minutes, wait for the process to complete. Then press Back key to return to the main menu.
Before installing custom ROM  Wipe your X8 / W8's default ROM and install custom ROMNow select the “Factory Reset (full wipe)” to clear user data, then enter “Instal custom zip”, enter “choose custom zip from sdcard”, volume key move your selection, find out the custom rom zip file, and press Home key, the installation process will start, wait for 3 minutes when it shows “install from sdcard complete”, press Back key to return to top menu, select “Reboot the phone”, now enjoy your brand new custom rom.
Important Note : If you fail to update your Xperia X8 / W8, you can simply enter xRecovery, select “Backup and Restore”, select “Restore”, restore the whole system you backup before.
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