What to do if your mobile phone gets wet.

What to do if your phone is not waterproof

So your non-waterproof mobile phone just somersaulted into the floodwater. Or perhaps you accidentally dropped it in the sink or—gasp—the toilet! All hope is not lost. We show you the proper first-aid solution to a wet handset.

But first, a few reminders: 

1. As tempting as it may be to find out if the phone still shows signs of life, never turn it on immediately. Doing so may short-circuit the device.

2. Don't use a hair dryer to dry the mobile phone; you may end up frying its delicate internal components.

3. In case you need to disinfect the hardware, apply only alcohol on its surface.  

The dos of saving your wet mobile phone:

1. Lay the phone on a towel and quickly take it apart. Remove its rear cover, battery, SIM card/s, and microSD card.  

2. Use the dry area of the towel to gently wipe away as much water as you can from the gadget's casing while trying not to move it too much. 

3. Use a vacuum cleaner to draw excess water out of the handset. However, avoid holding the vacuum cleaner too close to the unit. 

4. Place the mobile into a bowl of uncooked rice. Let it sit there overnight. Doing so will absorb moisture from your phone. Putting it inside a resealable plastic bag, alongside packets of desiccant material such as silica gel, is another effective alternative. 

5. Use a cloth or towel to wipe off dirt and all remaining liquid from the handset. 

6. Insert the battery and turn on the mobile phone. Assuming that doesn't work, connect it to a charger and try again, only this time without the battery. If that does the trick, then you probably need to replace the water-damaged battery. In case your device remains unresponsive or is behaving weirdly, then it's time to bring it to an authorized service center and have it repaired there. 

Best of luck! 

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How to jailbreak your iPhone, iPod, or iPad

                                 

If you own at least one iPhone, iPod, or iPad, then you've probably come across the curious act known as jailbreaking. 

In geek terms, jailbreaking something is the process of exploiting a bug or system flaw on an iDevice to eliminate Apple-imposed restrictions and gain privileged access. In other words, you get access to resources that would be otherwise unavailable on your stock Apple product.

Heck, jailbreaking even allows you to completely change the way your iDevice looks and functions and make it more like—dare we say it—an Android.  

Obviously, the biggest tradeoff to any jailbreak method is that it voids your warranty from Apple, which means the company—and by extension, the store you bought your iDevice from—are no longer obliged to uphold any warranty claim, much less repair your hardware if it ends up being a very expensive paperweight.  

It may also lead to performance issues, but this one's more of a consequence to pulling the trigger on apps, extensions, or themes too quickly without waiting for feedback first.  

>>READ ALSO: How to turn your Windows laptop into a hotspot

If all of this sounds compelling and reasonable to you, then you may want to stick around as we guide you through the process of liberating your iOS device from Apple's ironhanded constraints with the help of Evasi0n, our jailbreak software of choice.

The latest version of Evasi0n is compatible with iPhone, iPod, and iPad models running iOS versions 6.0 through 6.1.2.  

Before going any further, we highly suggest that you do three things to make your jailbreaking experience as problem-free as possible:  

1. If you're using a Windows-based machine, download and install Apple iTunes. Back up your iPhone, iPod, or iPad using the said software (you'll also need it to jailbreak your iOS hardware, anyway). Alternatively, you can use iCloud to back up your device;  

2. Temporarily disable your hardware's passcode lock; and

3. Refrain from using both your device and iTunes while Evasi0n is running, unless told otherwise.  

With that out of the way, let's proceed to jailbreaking your iOS hardware.  

1. Connect your device to your desktop or laptop via a USB cable.  

2. Download Evasi0n here: http://evasi0n.com. Run the software and click the "Jailbreak" button.  

3. The whole process takes about 5 minutes to complete. Midway through the jailbreak, it will ask you to unlock your device and tap the "Jailbreak" shortcut on your home screen. Do exactly that.  

4. Evasi0n will continue jailbreaking your hardware. When it's done, hit the "Exit" button.  

5. Unlock your device again. This time, tap the freshly installed Cydia app on your home screen. Cydia lets you find and install software packages and tweaks on your iOS hardware. Its initial run may take some time, so be patient. After Cydia completes the initialization process, you'll be sent back to the home screen.  

6. Re-launch Cydia and choose the "Hacker" filter so as not to hide some Cydia tweaks from being shown.  

That's it! Enjoy your jailbroken iDevice!

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