Change the Direction of Your Fridge Door for Easy Access

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A well-arranged kitchen can make a huge difference in how efficient you are in that space. So if your fridge door often gets in the way, How To Be A Handyman offers a DIY guide to change the direction it opens.

Since your fridge is one of the most accessed parts of your kitchen, it makes sense to streamline its use. You shouldn't be having to work around the fridge's door, it should ideally seamlessly fit into your space, like opening up against a wall.

All you need for this project is a drill and the right screws. It might seem like a small inconvenience to go around a fridge door, but considering this project takes about 10-15 minutes and requires no major changes, it's well worth it. In essence, you will be unscrewing all the hinges of the freezer and main door, and then put the hinges on the other side—your fridge already has a space for them.

The full step-by-step guide at the blog offers all the details and photos you will need.

How To Change The Direction Your Refrigerator Door Swings | How To Be A Handyman via The Kitchn

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Deezer lifts music streaming cap; Galaxy S5 users get premium access

Taking its cue from competitors like Spotify and Rdio, startup company Deezer has made its music streaming services available for free to everyone, regardless of subscription plan.

The lifting of restrictions comes after nearly three years of imposing a listening limit for free users. Before, users were allowed up to only 10 hours of free access. Now, Deezer users can listen to and stream music without limit, but this privilege comes at a price: you will be hearing audio ads from time to time.

If you want to give Deezer a try, you can get it from the Google Play Store.

Six-month premium trial period

The company also partnered with Samsung Europe to provide 6 months of premium Deezer access for free to new owners of the Samsung Galaxy S5.

Deezer is also offering a 15-day trial to let you experience the full features of the service. Once you setup a new Deezer account on your Android device, you also instantly activate your 15-day free Premium+ access to Deezer, which grants you ad-free access both on your mobile devices and on the Web.

Ads will begin appearing only after the trial period, unless you opt to continue your Premium+ subscription for a monthly fee of EUR 9.99 (about US$13.88).

Added features

In addition to unlimited access for everyone, Deezer also announced new “smart” features generally meant to personalize the user’s music experience across devices. One such feature is Flow, which takes a look at your music library and your past streams, and, based on those, suggests music for you to try next.

Another “smart” feature is Playlist Radio, which lets you get help from Deezer Editors in creating playlists. Another feature is Artist Radio, which lets you listen smartly and without limits to music from your artist of choice.

Other updates to Deezer include improved advanced search, new music genres, and music discovery/exploration based on geographic region.

The company also launched the beta version of Deezer for Mac, which enables Mac users to merge their music with their Deezer libaries, thus allowing the music to be accessible on mobile devices, tablets, and desktops.

Do you use Deezer? Do you think that it has enough potential to sit beside — or even lord it over — other music streaming titans like Spotify?

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Region locking on the Galaxy S5 is a bit different than on the Note 3

How to access the Galaxy S3's secret service menu

Kris Carlon 2014-04-11T11:23:54Z1 hour ago

Kris Carlon

Putting down roots in Berlin after six years of traveling is a major step for Kris Carlon, who has spent more time living out of a tent lately than sitting at a desk. Kris comes to the AndroidPIT Editorial Team via a lengthy period spent writing on art and culture in Australia and other places he has lived. He joined the Android community while resurfacing in civilization back in 2010 and has never looked back, using technology to replace his actual presence in other people's lives ever since.

Some of you may not know that the Galaxy S3 has some cool hidden features that let you play around in ways far beyond what you normally would. We've already shared some simple hidden features of the Galaxy S3 but this time, we're sharing a built-in service menu that lets you test everything from your S3's pixels to your sensors and touch responsiveness. If you're the kind of nerd who likes to get under the hood of your smartphone, this is the menu for you.

The Galaxy S3 still has lots of life in it, but here's how you can run your own diagnostic tests on it. / © Samsung

So, how do you access the service menu? The diagnostic tool is primarily meant for service technicians, so it's easily available but not widely known about. Just go to your dialer and enter the following code to bring up the diagnostic tool: *#0*#

Just type *#0*# into the dialer to bring up the secret service menu screen (right). / © AndroidPIT

This will bring up the above service menu screen, with options ranging from color floods (so you can easily isolate dead pixels on-screen), to speaker performance, LEDs, cameras and vibration. Some of it is not exactly going to be useful on a daily basis, but for a one-off novelty it's kinda cool to see (and it's a nice little prank to play on a friend's phone too). Plus, if anything on that list starts causing you problems, you know exactly where to go to test it for yourself before shipping your S3 off for repair. Here's some of the tests in action.

You can test all of your sesors (left) and your display's dimming (right) / © AndroidPIT Galaxy S3 touch responsiveness test (left) and low frequency LCD test (right) / © AndroidPIT

Check out our list of secret Android codes (there's a link at the bottom for Samsung-specific codes too).

If you have root access and want to delve a little deeper into the internal settings of your Galaxy S3 you can also try out a cool little app called Note 2 Hidden Settings which simply places a menu skin over some of the other internal settings to be found in your Samsung device. It was made for the Note 2 but it works fine on other devices like the Galaxy S3 too.

Have you ever tried to repair your smartphone problems yourself? Did you know about service menus and Android codes before?

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Google expands ability to access app content from within Google Search, adds 24 new apps and global support

Last year Google began partnering with select app makers in order to bring an “Open in app” button within Google Search results on your Android devices. Basically this made it easy to search for something and then quickly jump directly into your favorite apps to view the content such as Wikipedia, Open Table and a few others.

Now Google is expanding its efforts to connect popular apps with its keyword search results, bringing the feature to English-speaking markets outside of the United States and adding 24 new apps partners including:

500px, AOL, BigOven, Bleacher Report, Booking.com, Eventbrite, Glassdoor, Goodreads, Huffington Post, Merriam-Webster, Pinterest, Realtor.com, Seeking Alpha, TalkAndroid, TheFreeDictionary, The Journal, TripAdvisor, Tumblr, Urbanspoon, Wattpad, YP, Zagat, Zappos and Zillow.

Although quite a few apps now support this feature, it’s interesting to note that both Facebook and Twitter are currently unsupported. What do you think, like the added convenience of being able to easily view content from you search results directly through your favorite apps? What other apps would you like to see bring support for this feature?

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Gain root access for HTC One M8 for Verizon via WeakSauce

Jacob Donley 2014-04-01T00:00:01Z15 hours ago

Jacob Donley

I'm not a developer or anything like that. I'm a consumer, just like you. I like to give my thoughts on Android products from the non-technical side. Yes, I do provide some of the technical specs and such, but really, I just want to give you the best news possible.

XDA developers Jcase and Beaups have rooted the HTC One M8 using an exploit they created called WeakSauce says XDA Developers website. The exploit comes with surprising speed so near to the HTC One M8 release.

Verizon HTC One M8 gets root access  © AndroidPIT

The HTC One M8 stole the headlines last week with its March 25 launch. The One M8 looks to have a bright future in the mobile industry this year, setting the precedent for other manufacturers. As with any new device release, developers begin to scour the known data looking for ways to root the device.

XDA reports that Jcase and Beaups have done just that with the Verizon HTC One M8 version. While they don’t have the physical device, they have proven that they are able to obtain root access on the software. XDA also states that WeakSauce will also work with last year’s HTC M7. It didn’t take long for developers to get to work on rooting the new device and accomplishing the goal.

What can rooting do for your phone?  © AndroidPIT

So for those who don’t know what rooting is, why is it such a big deal? Rooting allows the user to bypass security and customize the device. Many people root simply to get rid of all the carrier and manufacturer apps that get preloaded onto devices. Rooting isn’t for everyone. Someone who isn’t tech savvy might not want to explore this option and instead, go for a Google Play Edition device. Those who don’t want Vanilla Android (stock Android) could also stick with the carriers devices that come loaded with what is often called ''Bloatware''.

XDA’s news on now being able to root the HTC One M8 is a welcome surprise for those itching to root their M8 that they have preordered. While this root is only viable for the Verizon M8, it is very likely that developers are working on root options for the other carriers as well.

Do you plan on rooting your M8 when you get it? Be sure to tell us how the process worked for you.

Source: XDA

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SDFix Allows KitKat Users Full SD Card Write Access

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Android (root): As some Android users might recall, Google made a change to the way SD cards are handled in KitKat. Namely, apps have a very limited ability to store data on the SD card. SDFix removes this limitation for root users.

The app is a run-and-done affair, modifying the way that the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission is handled by the system. From that point on, apps with that permission can read and write to anywhere on the SD card, not just its own siloed folder. It's not the best workaround, and it should be noted that there is always a security concern when you're running apps that modify how permissions are handled. However, if you're one of the people affected by this mild-to-infuriating inconvenience, the trade-offs may be worth it.

SDFix | Google Play Store via Android Police

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Twitter Says It Is Standing By Its Users In Turkey, Hopes To Have Access ‘Returned Soon’

Help appears to be at hand for advocates of free speech in Turkey, where Twitter access has been cut off after the Prime Minister accused it of helping people spread false information about him. Twitter has announced that it is standing by its users and working on restoring access soon.

Today, the site and its users in the country saw a huge wave of support from around the world, as people rallied around the social network to protest the blockade. The Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdoğan, said he wanted to “wipe out” Twitter and other sites that have been critical of him and a corruption scandal that has been brewing.

In Turkey, the blockade has had many loopholes for those who want to find them. People have been using SMS messages to post to the site — Twitter’s recommended route — while others have used a workaround by changing their DNS addresses, typically using Google’s DNS and OpenDNS — a route that has become a meme in itself.

Graffiti over symbols of the state and sides of building indicating DNS routes that Turks could use to get around the clumsy ban quickly went viral:

The ban on Twitter usage, weak and porous as it was, was implemented gradually. Its lifting will also likely take place in pieces. That means when and if Twitter comes back online it may not be for everyone. “I constantly talk to my friends & family. It’s still blocked and everyone is using openDNS to access Twitter,” Turkish expat Halil Kabaca, CEO and Founder at Novarum Software & Consulting, told us by email.

We’ve heard that there may also be a protest planned over the Internet blocks.

With Twitter inaccessible for many, we’ve heard people are going to Eksisozluk.com, another popular social site, to communicate more. But the fact that Twitter has such a high international profile, and has been such a touchpoint around other political conflicts has very much amplified this story.

“It is a pretty big deal over here. Everybody is talking about it (ironically, on twitter),” Berna Yildiz, a foreign trade manager for BEM Berk, told us in an email today after we noticed she was Tweeting from Turkey (using a DNS workaround, it turns out). “There was a time they have banned YouTube and it stayed that way for a looong period. But even then, the president said ‘you can find a way, I use YouTube.’ [But] Erdoğan is using Twitter to create a diversion. Nothing else. There have been new regulations to spy on and restrict internet usage a month ago. Because of the tapes released about his corruption.”

Turkey is unfortunately not a stranger to blocking shenanigans. “Turkey is one of our largest traffic sources in Europe,” David Ulevitch, the founder and CEO of OpenDNS, tells us. “This isn’t the first time they’ve blocked sites.” He notes that sites like WordPress in the past have also been blocked. “Using OpenDNS and our dnscrypt client that encrypts DNS is advised.”

If you need to change your DNS settings to get around the ban, or any future ban, or to speed up your access if it happens to feel slow, head here if you are a using a Mac, and here if you are on a PC. Those instructions will help you use either Google’s Public DNS, or OpenDNS. If one doesn’t work for you, try the other.

Twitter has about 10 million users in Turkey, and this blockade has had the exact opposite effect on awareness of the country’s political situation and those who are opposed to it, even if usage has definitely dropped in the country itself.

According to Sysomos, there have been 8.5 million tweets in total in Turkey from 12 AM ET March 19 – 10 AM ET March 21, compared to only 1.2 million tweets in Turkey from 12 AM ET March 21 – 10 AM ET March 21.

Around 1 million of those tweets can be attributed to the fact that the Twitter website is blocked, but users can still send tweets via SMS, Sysomos said.

However, in the last 7 days, worldwide tweets that mentioned both “Turkey” and “Twitter” went from a steady 200 per day to 80,000+ per day on March 20 and March 21. In other words, the effect of the ban has backfired. Instead of silencing dissent, it has given it new voice, and momentum.

Image: composite with photo by Flickr user Jeremy Vandel under a CC by 2.0 license