Turn your Android phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot

                One of the coolest things you can do with a rooted phone is to set it up so it shares its 3G Internet connection with other devices in the area via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. This gives it the same role as one of the connection-sharing devices now sold by a number of carriers, but requires no additional hardware. If you've rooted your phone, check out Wireless Tether, tetherWiFi or similar apps to set up this most valuable mod. Once they're running, any Wi-Fi-enabled device – from an iPad or iPod touch to a notebook computer or smartphone – will be able to get online wherever you have good enough coverage.

                                                   <<<TEAM UTH>>>

Root your Android phone......

                                            If you want even more control over your Android phone, you'll need to 'root' it – bypass the user controls built into the operating system to give you 'super-user' status (so you can do whatever you like with it). Once you have super-user status, you can do things like back up and restore complete system images using ROM Manager; tweak the speed of your phone's CPU using SetCPU; and get full system-level file access usingRoot Explorer.

You can block ads with a firewall-based filter like AdFree Android; and take Android screenshots using an app like ShootMe – which grabs the screen when you shake or yell at your phone – or PicMe, which lets you see and control your device from a desktop computer. This last capability alone may be all the motivation many people need to jump in and start rooting.

The exact procedure varies slightly from phone to phone, and your best bet is to Google "how to root" followed by the name of your phone. As an example, here's how to root LG's Optimus S (via www.lg-phones.org):

1. Ensure you have the Android SDK, Java and LG's phone drivers installed.
2. Plug the phone into your PC via USB.
3. Make sure the phone isn't set to mount as a USB drive, but is set to charge-only.
4. Make sure USB Debugging is enabled via Settings > Applications > Development > USB Debugging.
5. Launch the SDK manager.
6. Run CMD and type:

cd c:/Name-of-your-SDK-tools folder
adb push rageagainstthecage-arm5.bin /data/local/tmp/rageagainstthecage
adb shell
chmod 3755 /data/local/tmp/rageagainstthecage
cd /data/local/tmp
./rageagainstthecage

7. Now, wait a moment while your phone disconnects and the ADB session finishes. Type adb shell and you should see a # symbol rather than the usual $. This signifies that you have super-user rights.

Some phones can be rooted using a series of keypresses. As another example, here's how to root Samsung's popular Galaxy S smartphone (via TechLivez.com):

1. Download the Update.zip file from here or, if your phone is running v2.2 'Froyo', get it from here.
2. Turn on Mass Storage on your phone by going to Settings > About Phone > USB Settings > Mass Storage.
3. Connect your phone via USB and turn on the USB storage by tapping USB Connected on the top menu.
4. Transfer the Update.zip file you downloaded to the root folder of the device (for example, G:\).
5. Shut down the phone and unplug the USB cable.
6. Simultaneously press the Home, Volume-Up and Power buttons for a short time until the phone boots into Android System Recovery mode.
7. Use the Volume button to choose the apply sdcard: Update.zip option and press Home to select it.
8. The update will apply the rooting procedure and reboot the phone.

To confirm that you have super-user capabilities, download the app Terminal Emulator, start it up, and type su at the command line. The system will ask if you want to allow root access; tap Allow and note that you have an icon called 'Superuser permissions' on your home screen.

Expose Android's hidden settings

As in any desktop operating system, there are a wealth of options buried in Android phones that can't even be directly controlled using built-in functions.

Trust Android developers to find them – and Spare Parts to put them at your fingertips. Spare Parts offers access to a range of features such as controlling the speed and type of window animations; adjusting the size of onscreen fonts; changing screen rotation animations; and providing detailed statistics on battery usage. This last point can be particularly important so you can see just where that precious power is going.

Create Start menu on Windows 8 taskbar

Put a quick-and-dirty Start menu on the taskbar

Particularly high on the list of things that annoy people about Windows 8 is the omission of the Desktop's Start menu. Microsoft did its best to stomp it to death -- but it didn't quite succeed. In the Windows 8 cheat sheet I showed you how to use free or paid add-on programs to get the Start button and menu back.

If don't want to use third-party software to get a Start menu, you can build your own quick-and-dirty one in no time. You won't get the full traditional Windows Start menu with Search button, recently run apps, the Control Panel, your network and so on. Instead you get a menu that lets you browse through applications and launch them.

First make sure that you can view hidden files in File Explorer, as outlined in the tip above.

Now right-click the Desktop's taskbar and select Toolbars --> New Toolbar. From the screen that appears, navigate to

C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu

where username is your account name, and click the Select Folder button. That will place a Start Menu toolbar on the far right of the taskbar. Click its double arrow to display a variety of folders (such as Programs and Computer) that you can browse through until you see the item you want; click it to launch it.

Here's your quick-and-dirty Start menu. Click to view larger image.

To make the Start Menu toolbar go away, right-click the taskbar and select Toolbars, then de-select the Start Menu listing.

Windows 8 God Mode [simple way to centralized access to all the administrative options ]

Put "God Mode" in easy reach

You wouldn't know it by looking at the Desktop or Start screen, but Windows 8 practically bristles with settings you can customize. The problem is that they're scattered throughout Windows 8, and it can be time-consuming to track them down individually.

However, there is one way to find them all in one place: You can use what some people call "God Mode." While the term "God Mode" has a powerful ring to it, the truth is it's not a separate mode that you put Windows into. It's really a hidden folder that gives you fast access to many settings spread out across Windows 8. It's easy to put that folder right on the Desktop.

First, make sure that you can view hidden files in File Explorer, the system navigation app that in earlier versions of Windows was called Windows Explorer. Run File Explorer, click the View tab, and check the boxes next to "Hidden items" and "File name extensions" in the Ribbon at the top.

Then right-click the Desktop and select New --> Folder. That creates a folder on the Desktop named "New folder." Rename the folder:

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

The GodMode folder on the Desktop.

The folder icon changes, and it has the name GodMode.

(Note that the "GodMode" text isn't what turns the folder into a special folder; instead, it's that long string of letters and numbers inside the curly brackets. You can use any text you want before the period just ahead of the opening bracket, and it still points to the same folder and everything works the same.)

Double-click the icon, and you'll launch a folder filled with dozens of actions, tools and tweaks, from "Change Automatic Maintenance settings" to "View update history." They're organized by category. Expand or shrink each category by clicking the small triangle next to it. Each category displays a number next to it, showing how many settings there are in it.

"God Mode" offers a plethora of settings and actions. Click to view larger image.

To start any action or tweak, double-click it in the list. In some cases you'll follow a wizard, in other cases you'll need to fill in dialog boxes, and in yet other cases you'll be sent to the Control Panel or another Windows location to do the work.