Competent Machines Search Results

How To: Make Your Own Soda Pop at Home with a DIY Carbonation Kit

Even if you're not a hipster with your own self-sufficient garden, making your own edibles at home can be pretty cool. And while it's obviously easier to pick up a bottle of 7-Up at the store, there's something undoubtedly fun about making your own. For those addicted to their fizzy drinks, DIY soda is a great way to save some cash and make their drinks healthier with natural flavors and sweeteners, instead of something like corn syrup or aspartame.

How To: Install Windows 8 Preview on Your Mac from a Bootable Flash Drive

With the release of Windows 8 right around the corner, if you plan on buying it (or just want to see what it's all about), it's a good idea to take advantage of the free trial before you shell out any money. If you're an Apple user who doesn't have a deep-seated disdain for Microsoft products, this tutorial will show you how to install the Windows 8 preview to try it out on your MacBook. First things first, you'll want to download the Release Preview on Microsoft's website (make sure to save ...

How To: Upgrade to Mountain Lion from Leopard (OS X 10.5 to 10.8)

Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8) is out today, available in the Mac App Store for just $20. Unfortunately, installing Mountain Lion requires that you already have a Mac running Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) or Lion (OS X 10.7). If you're currently running a Leopard system, you're out of luck, and need to pay $29 to upgrade to Snow Leopard, and then an additional $20 to upgrade again to Mountain Lion. That sounds like way to much trouble to me. But why exactly is Leopard incompatible? Turns out it's not—m...

How To: Refinish hardwood floors in your home

In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to refurnish hardwood floors. Using a drum or belt sander, begin by cutting 36 grit abrasive. Then remove all the old finish marks and scratches from the main body of the floor. Using an edge sander, do the same thing. Now vacuum the floor and then repeat the process once again with both sanding machines, except use 50 grit abrasive this time. For the third time, use 80 grit abrasive and 100 grit abrasive for the fourth time. Remember to vacuum each t...

How To: Write an effective letter of recommendation

Letters of recommendation are important in the business world. If you have been asked to write about a coworker, student or friend, check out this tutorial. Takes you through a step-by-step process you can use to produce a professional-looking and highly effective letter of recommendation. Includes how to structure your letter, how to personalize it for your candidate, and how to make it convincing to the recipient.

How To: Check your own blood pressure

In this Diet & Health video tutorial you will learn how to check your own blood pressure. Checking blood pressure is a very important part of your personal health routine. Using machines that are widely available, you can easily and quickly check your blood pressure. The target figure will be 140 over 90. The other parameter is the pulse rate. If you are higher than these figures, you need to take a second opinion and consult your GP. Wrap the arm band around the upper arm above the elbow. Pl...

How To: Flash an Xbox 360 Hitachi v0078fk Drive

Already an impressive gaming machine, the Xbox 360 can be modified to play a wider variety of games. This instructional video demonstrates how to flash your Xbox 360 to play downloadable games from the Internet. This method only works on the Hitachi v0078fk drive and will void your warranty, but think of how cool it would be to pull this off.

How To: Make an overall style tank top

How to make an overall style tank top: To make an overall style tank top, find a tank top you like. Make an incision in the strap to where the overall strap would be. Take a buckle and sew it on. You may also use a desired fabric by tracing your tank top shape onto the fabric, cut it out and sew it all together. For a shortcut, cut an extra piece of fabric and sew it directly onto the tank top strap, before you sew the shoulder seams, and attach the button accordingly. Sew the overall tank to...

How To: Reset your frozen Apple iPod

This is a video good for people who have problems with their Apple iPod. It uses simple steps in order to tell you how to successfully reset the iPod to its default state. Though it works primarily on the older models, viewers will learn which buttons on the machine allow you to completely reset the system in case of a system freeze or other problems. These easy to follow instructions will allow even people who have problems with technology to clean their system and get the iPod back to full ...

How To: Make a Left 4 Dead dedicated server

If you don't want to shell out the money to rent a dedicated server in order to host a Left 4 Dead game server, follow this tutorial on how to create one on your home computer. Keep in mind that if you intend on letting other people play it, you will need a fast connection to prevent lag.

How To: Quilt with perfect seam allowance

Here is a tutorial on getting a perfect 1/4" seam allowance for quilt piecing. The sewing machine foot will sometimes have a groove to allow you to make a perfect quarter inch seam automatically. If you don't have one of these, there are a few ways to make your own quarter inch seam guide.

Hacker Fundamentals: A Tale of Two Standards

If you read my article on the OSI model, you got a good overview on communications from that model's perspective, but how does that relate to TCP/IP? We're going to take it a step further, getting into the idea behind the two address concept. How does an IP address and a MAC address work together? If you want to hijack sessions and all sorts of lulz like that, you need to understand these concepts. Let's get into it, mates!

How To: Walkthrough Iron Man 2 on the Xbox 360

With the success of Iron Man in 2008, a video game adaption quickly hit the market, so it's no surprise that when Iron Man 2 came out this year, that a video game would follow close behind. Sega released Iron Man 2 in a variety of gaming formats, including the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, along with iPhone and other mobile devices. The story of the game takes place after the plot of the film, except the iPhone game, which mimics the movie's plot.

How To: Load Kali Linux on the Raspberry Pi 4 for the Ultimate Miniature Hacking Station

In 2019, the Raspberry Pi 4 was released with specs including either 1 GB, 2 GB, or 4 GB of memory, a Broadcom BCM2711B0 quad-core A72 SoC, a USB Type-C power supply, and dual Micro-HDMI outputs. Performance and hardware changes aside, the Pi 4 Model B runs Kali Linux just as well, if not better, than its predecessors. It also includes support for Wi-Fi hacking on its internal wireless card.

How To: Top 10 Browser Extensions for Hackers & OSINT Researchers

While modern browsers are robust and provide a lot of functionality, they can be unlocked to do some pretty spectacular things with browser extensions. For hackers and OSINT researchers, these tools can be used to defeat online tracking, log in to SSH devices, and search the internet for clues during an investigation. These are a list of my top ten favorite browser extensions for hackers — and how to use them.

How To: Spy on Network Relationships with Airgraph-Ng

What if you could easily visualize which access point every Wi-Fi device nearby is connected to in a matter of seconds? While programs like Airodump-ng can intercept this wireless information, making it easy for hackers to use and understand is another challenge. Fortunately, a tool called Airgraph-ng can visualize the relationships between Wi-Fi devices from only a few seconds of wireless observation.

How To: Use the Koadic Command & Control Remote Access Toolkit for Windows Post-Exploitation

Koadic allows hackers to monitor and control exploited Windows systems remotely. The tool facilitates remote access to Windows devices via the Windows Script Host, working with practically every version of Windows. Koadic is capable of sitting entirely in memory to evade detection and is able to cryptographically secure its own web command-and-control communications.

How To: Write an XSS Cookie Stealer in JavaScript to Steal Passwords

JavaScript is one of the most common languages used on the web. It can automate and animate website components, manage website content, and carry out many other useful functions from within a webpage. The scripting language also has many functions which can be used for malicious purposes, including stealing a user's cookies containing passwords and other information.

NR50: The People to Watch in Mobile Augmented Reality

While the world is only recently becoming aware of its existence, augmented reality has been around in some form or another since the '90s. In the last decade, with the advancement and miniaturization of computer technology — specifically smartphones and tablets — AR has become far more viable as a usable tool and even more so as a form of entertainment. And these are the people behind mobile AR to keep an eye on.

How To: Grab All the Passwords

This is a short explanation and tutorial on how to grab saved passwords from Google Chrome, ideally from a meterpreter session. The idea behind this is to understand how saved passwords work and how to keep them safe. Let's have some fun :D Understanding Google Chrome Saved Passwords

Hack Like a Pro: How to Hack into Your Suspicious, Creepy Neighbor's Computer & Spy on Him

Welcome back, my neophyte hackers! Have you ever had a neighbor that you're certain is up to no good? Maybe you've seen him moving packages in and out at all hours of the night? Maybe you've seen people go into his home and never come out? He seems like a creep and sometimes you hear strange sounds coming from his home? You know he's up to no good, but you aren't sure what it is exactly.