Weird Tech Fixes

If you've ever dropped an electronic device into water, especially a cell phone, you know how tramatic it can be.  But from my past experiences with flash drives going through the washer, watching users on XtremeSystems spill watercoolant in their computers, and wanderings about the Internet, it's not always a loss.  Electronics are usually very good at surviving a dunk every once in awhile as long as you let them dry before turning them on again.  A tip that the New York Times gives is to put the aqautic victem into a jar of rice so that the rice will absorb the water and quicken the drying process.   After seeing that article I had some more to add.  If you actually read this blog maybe you can add some of your own tech fixes in the comments. 

A suggestion for the bright camera flash is to take a clear film canister and affix it to the flash to diffuse it.

For keeping the cell phone cool, also remember that the lower rating for temperatures isn't just for show. The battery will drain even quicker with the cold that Iowa winters bring.  I have a friend who after a long day at work had to trudge through the snow to get back to his apartment.  He was wearing gloves, but just holding his iPod, the battery had drained before he got back making for a very cold boring trip.

Also, if you have a disk that has more than just dirt but has a lot of surface scratches you can try and use toothpaste to mend minor scratches. I saw this on a forum a long while back when I couldn't get my Warcraft 3 cd to install. You need a fluoride based toothpaste because it works on the same principle that basically you are polishing your disk instead of your teeth and filling in some of the scratches. You do NOT want to use something that has crystals in it or something similar because they will end up scratching the disk more, just the plain white paste. You put small dabs at the center of the disk and use your fingers to spread it out from the center. From there just polish it in and use a damp cloth to get the rest of the toothpaste off. It worked well enough for me to install the game again, but if you try it it's at your own risk. 

Since then Blizzard (the makers of the game) have created an online distribution site where you can buy or register your old games and then download them from the site using their torrent client.