Jason O'Grady's Blog

Warning: A hard reset removes all information from your device and returns it to its factory-fresh state. All contacts, messages, emails, third-party applications, etc. will need to be reinstalled after performing a hard reset.

To perform a hard reset on the HTC Droid Incredible do the following:

• From the Home screen tap Menu > Settings > Privacy > Factory data reset.
• Follow the on-screen prompts to complete.
• This process will take 5-10 minutes.

Almost all copiers made since 2002 have a hard drive buried inside, which stores images of every document that is scanned or copied.

You can easily reset any nüvi and return it to factory new condition. This process is sometimes called a factory restore because it deletes all custom POI and favorites that have been stored on the device. This has been confirmed to work on the nüvi 700, 800, 1200, 1300 and 1400-series models.

• Power off the nüvi
• Press and hold the bottom-right corner of the touchscreen
• Power it on
• A prompt will ask you “are you sure you want to delete all user data?”

Choose wisely young jedi, there’s no undo

Another neat trick: You can access about a dozen pages of nüvi diagnostics by pressing and holding on the battery icon for three seconds.

I’m looking for a good pair of speakers for my home entertainment system.

I’ve got a TiVo HD XL with Comcast CableCard hooked to a plasma screen. I got my TiVo upgrade from WeaKnees.com, incidentally.

A friend (who’s a professional audio engineer) told me a few things about speakers and my quest:

• Speakers are localized. U.S. speakers sound different than German, UK and Japanese speakers. Each sounds different and U.S. OEMs tend to emphasize bass.

• Surround sound systems (5.1, 7.1, 9.1) are over-rated and generally are a waste of money. A pair of really good speakers is much better than lots of cheap speakers.

• It’s better to “go old school” and hook up a component amplifier with two quality speakers.

• Most of the big speaker brands (Bose, Infinity, Harmon Kardon, JBL, and their ilk) are contract manufactured abroad. Probably in a factory like this. Not that that’s bad or anything, it’s just that the speakers sound good and not great.

• He recommended that I find a small speaker company that doesn’t contract manufacture abroad, because they try harder and are hungrier. JL Audio appears to make some of their speakers in Miramar Florida.

Based on his advice I’m looking for a really good pair of speakers (ideally less than $500) that are made in the U.S. that I can connect to my amp (a Kenwood KR-V8540).

Any advice?

Update: Here’s a good list of loudspeaker manufacturers from Wikipedia.

Telegraph UK reports:

Barack Obama will ride in an all-new Cadillac Presidential Limousine after his inauguration as the 44th President of the United States today.

He will use the vehicle, nicknamed the Beast, on the 1.7-mile journey from the Capitol along the parade route to the White House. It reportedly has armour eight inches thick, tear-gas cannons and Kevlar-reinforced tyres that resist attack. For security reasons, most of the details remain confidential.

Leftlane News adds some technical details about the president’s new ride noting that its “curb weight certainly exceeds 10,000 pounds thanks to all the armoring.”

One of the most annoying things about my Toyota Prius is the it beeps constantly while in the reverse gear. As in, it beeps the entire time you’re in reverse. If you’re like me, you just drove your new Prius home and you’re Googling for a fix. Look no further, my friend.

The second Prius hack (below) to disable the seatbelt beeping is meant to serve as a convenience feature only. I often put something heavy (non-human) on the passenger seat and the Prius will beep annoyingly to remind (my computer bag mostly) that it needs to wear its seatbelt. Obviously, you should always wear you seatbelt for safety reasons. As the sticker I recently saw on a UHaul said “Don’t get caught dead sitting on your seatbelt.”

To disable the reverse beeping on your Prius (tested on the 2008 model):

1. Without your foot on the brake, turn on your Prius and make sure you are in ODO mode (not Trip A or B). Power off the Prius
2. With your foot on the brake, turn on the Prius. As soon as the ‘Ready’ light is lit, press and hold the ODO button for at least 10 seconds.
3. Keeping the ODO button pressed, move the shifter to Reverse and release, then press the Park button again. At this point, ‘b- on’ should appear on your dashboard display.
4. You can now let go of the ODO button, and each press of the ODO button toggles between ‘b-on’ and ‘b-off’. To disable the reverse beep, simply set it to ‘b-off’, the power off the Prius.

And to disable each of the front seatbelt warning beeps, follow these instructions:

1. Be sure someone is sitting in the seat which seatbelt beep you wish to disable.
2. Without your foot on the brake, turn on your Prius and make sure you are in ODO mode (not Trip A or B). Power off the Prius
3. With your foot on the brake, turn on the Prius. As soon as the ‘Ready’ light is lit, press and hold the ODO button for at least 10 seconds.
4. Keeping the ODO button pressed, insert the seatbelt that you wish to disable the beep for. At this point, ‘b- on’ should appear on your dashboard display.
5. You can now let go of the ODO button, and each press of the ODO button toggles between ‘b- on’ and ‘b-off’. To disable the reverse beep, simply set it to ‘b-off’, the power off the Prius.

These instructions may work for earlier model years as well, although 2006 and earlier models may require no one be in the seat which seatbelt is being disabled.

(Tip: Cotton)

The Iqua Sun (BHS-603) is the first solar-powered Bluetooth headset in the world. It Looks very cool and is available for US$72.99 from Buy.com.

More solar products at iqua.com.

(Tip: Ryan Kaplan)