The Isuzu Ascender was launched in 2003 as a seven-passenger extended-wheelbase model only. The smaller five-passenger version was first released in 2004. Both rear-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive variants were available. Power for the Isuzu Ascender air suspenisons came from a 4.2-liter, inline six-cylinder engine. It produced 285-291 horsepower (depending on year) and 277 pound-feet of torque. A four-speed automatic transmission was standard. Older models had the option of a 290-hp 5.3-liter V8. In 2005, the V8 was equipped with Displacement on Demand technology to improve fuel economy. But the V8 and seven-passenger Ascender were discontinued for the 2007 model year.

Trim levels were added and subtracted over time, as were equipment items. Generally, though, base Ascenders air suspension parts were sparsely equipped, while upper trims were borderline luxurious. Standard equipment included dual-zone manual climate control (with rear-seat controls), power locks and windows, power accessories and a CD player stereo. Available items included power mirrors and driver seat, power-adjustable pedals, keyless entry, cruise control, sunroof, leather upholstery, heated seats, driver memory functions, a six-CD changer and upgraded audio.

In road tests, we found the Isuzu Ascender to offer a comfortable ride suspensions and decent power. However, the Ascender’s handling was rather sloppy. Feedback to the driver was numb and slow. Buyers looking for an urban-oriented SUV might be disappointed and would be better off looking at more evolved midsize SUVs or crossovers. Off-road, the 4WD Ascender comes more into its own given its body-on-frame construction and low-range gearing. When your air suspension fails, not only are you looking at potentially astronomical repair bill, but there are major safety concerns as well.  A failed suspension system can cause serious injury in an accident.

People are searching the web for more information about Loose Diamonds For Sale.

Sometimes called conflict diamonds, A blood you a diamond that was mined in a war area that is sold the majority of the time to benefit war-torn areas especially in Central and Western Africa. US outlines a blood diamond as’…diamonds that come from areas controlled by forces or factions against bonafide and internationally recognized regimes, and are used to back military to those presidencies, or in contravention of the decisions of the safety Council.

Blood diamonds are mined on war sites, where many men where finished by sickness and plagues. Many of us are attempting to stop the sale of blood diamonds all around the planet. Blood Diamond sales became giant in the 1990′s with the conflict of Sierra Leone. In this time-frame in the 1990′s the blood diamond sales made up a projected 4% of speech, how we interpret the globe.

Learn as much as you can about loose stones diamonds

Today due to sales being banned in some areas, and the Kimberley Process, these diamonds take up around an approximate 1% of the worlds diamond sales. This majority of this small p.c.

is made from sales in the Republic of Congo who was postponed from the Kimberley Process, and Liberia and the Ivory coast who are under the United States Security Council Resolutions in wants to stop the extraction and trading of these diamonds. Highly engaged with annulling the difficulty, they started to work actually closely with the United Nations and other associations in efforts stop the extraction and trading of blood diamonds. In 2003 to get nearer to stopping sales life, by changing the diamonds, the Kimberley Process Certification was made. This system protects against blood diamonds entering the authorized diamond supply chain.

Learn as much as you can about small loose diamonds

Has your family chosen wherethey want to go on your summer vacation?  You are not alone, most families have not yet decided where they want to go.  It can be a very time consuming activity to discover that perfect vacation plan, so explore the choices for your Idaho tourism.  You will discover various options and it may not be an easy decision!

Good news, if you are thoughtful and appreciate the time to do some planning, it should make your summer vacation easy and one of those “family events” that you will treasure forever.  The most common mistake people experience is first selecting a “destination.”  The best vacations occur when you first choose “what you want to do”!  Do you want to go camping, surfing on a beach, playing and relaxing at a pool, or touring educational or historical attractions?  By choosing “what you want to do” to start with, you are off to the best start of selecting that perfect family vacation destination!

Since you know “what you want to do” – you can sort through the various tourism destination locations and discover those appealing attractions that you hope to go see or do.  By spending a short time planning, you can also find those destinations that have a number of attractions that are interesting to both you and your whole family.  Online destination guides are available that can help you choose comprehensive information about events that are more comprehensive than a vauge attraction name and address.   Once you know “what” you want to do and “where” you want to go, a legitimate high quality online Idaho destination guide will provide you a comprehensive article describing each attraction to help you make an informed decision about what you want to do and where you want to go.

Here are three Idaho vacation possibilities that you might want to consider:

Idea #1: Serenity is Canoeing on the Salmon River. The Salmon River, also called the River of No Return by Lewis and Clark, is located in Idaho and flows for 425 miles before it connects with the Snake River. It is a very popular place to go for those who love canoeing, kayaking and rafting.

Idea #2: Art Lovers Will Enjoy the Art Museum of Eastern Idaho in Idaho Falls. Opened in 2002, the Art Museum of Eastern Idaho has a lot to offer art lovers who come and visit. Located in Idaho Falls, the museum is one of the top attractions in the area. The museum is a nonprofit organization.

Idea #3: Lewis and Clark Canoe Camp Historical Site – Lapwai, Idaho. Idaho is known for its wilderness beauty so if you are looking for a great place to spend some time with nature and still learn some things about how it used to be then you will be interested in seeing this site. It was here that Lewis and Clark’s Expedition finally reached navigable waters after enduring months of hardship crossing the Bitterroot Mountains.

As you can see, you have a significant choice of options available to you when it comes to selecting that perfect family vacation escape.  Enjoy your time to plan carefully what you want to do and where you want to go.  Select a quality travel guide to help you discover those perfect Idaho vacations.  And you will know that you will experience a wonderful vacation with a lifetime of stories.

Now, before you start thinking that I’m full of myself, let me explain what this is really all about.

In a blog post I made, I talked about the need for your site to actually be related to the links that point to it. One example I gave was coolest baby on the planet search phrase, versus the miserable failure search phrase.

In the past, searching for “miserable failure” brought up a completely unrelated web page. Due to Google’s new algorithm that does away with the “Google bomb” or “link bomb” effect, that is no longer the case.

My post discussed why this doesn’t work anymore.

In one of the comments on that post, Alex Newell suggested that I setup a site and try to get it to rank for the phrase “coolest baby on the planet”, using the site to test various linking strategies and methods, etc.

Thus my the cutest baby on the planet site was born.

What I am attempting to prove is that by following the directions Google gives in its Webmaster Guidelines, you can rank a site for a keyword phrase using 100% “white hat” methods.

In the pages of the site you will see outlined the methods I am using, and the progress I am making in implementing each of the steps from Google’s guidelines.

As of right now, the site is ranked #1 in Google for “the cutest baby on the planet”, but I also want to be ranked #1 for “the cutest baby in the world”, so I’m still working on it.

Have you been struggling with weight loss for years. The same I guess for many other people out there with the same weight problem that I had.

When we get over our thirties our waist just seems to get a life of it’s own. I used to get so sick and tired of all the lack of energy and discomfort that being overweight brings. And once you have added that extra weight, you will be hard pressed to try and get rid of it. The more you try to lose, the more you will in fact add on in weight.

There has to be a fundamental change in lifestyle for weight loss to take place and to become permanent. That is why I recently went on a quest to find the best life changing diet out there. Here are the three top ones that I have found to work best.

My best one that did wonders for me in the end was Weight Loss Diets Review. I loved the combination of exercise and diet that the system provides for. I literally lost inches around my waist in the first month already. My energy levels were up (I used to exercise in the mornings and my energy levels remained high throughout the day.

Another diet that had a marked difference for me was the Carb Rotation Diet. I have over time realized that my body does not like / tolerate carbs that well. Carbohydrates (especially bread and pasta) gives me a bloated stomach and lets me pick up weight like nothing. Therefore I tend to stay away from carbs which is very sad because I do love that pizza and pasta now and then. That is where the carb rotation diet made the worlds difference for me as I could rotate my carbs and actually have some at some times.

I started my diet quest with Eat Stop Eat and it started me on the right track to educate myself on the basics of healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. It formed the foundation of my weight loss diets and steered me in the right direction. So I strongly suggest you get the basics of nutrition and diet under the belt before you start any weight loss diet as you will know that what is being preached is the truth or not. It helps you to distinguish between fad and gimmicks and what will really make you lose weight.

I hope these diets will help you on the way to achieving permanent and long lasting weight loss and that you will no longer experience the yo yo effect and the heartache of losing weight, just to pick it up again. These diets work and they work well. If you go with Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle, you can not go wrong.

Web Marketing

If you are looking for ways to keep your garden watered without wasting too much time and money, you have probably gone through a lot of options in your mind. Maybe you have considered a sprinkler, a hose, or a good old-fashioned watering can. All of these methods might be convenient, but most of the time you will end up wasting water on plants that do not need any more. If you live in a drought stricken area like I do, you know that every bit of water counts. I ended up getting a drip irrigation system. I have not regretted this decision at all.

When you install a drip irrigation system, you can choose one of two varieties: above ground and below ground. The above ground version drips small amounts of water continuously onto the ground, and allows it to soak in such as the 4 pot wilma system self watering grow kit. It is all regulated from a pressure controller, which ensures that the water just comes out at a drip instead of a spray or a stream. These pressure regulators are very inexpensive. The whole drip system can be set up with a pressure regulator and a garden hose with holes poked in it (although it is ideal for you to get a pipe designed for this type of use, I have found that the hose method works acceptably).

The underground system is a bit more of a pain to install and maintain. But if you are really into the aesthetic aspect of your garden and do not want any visible watering system, then you might consider it worth it. It is essentially the same as the above ground version, only a small trench is dug for the hose or pipe prior to any planting. This allows the water direct access to the roots for the most watering efficiency. Plus, you can impress your neighbors by having a beautiful garden without ever going outside to water it! They will be baffled.

To choose between the two systems, you need to take several things into account. Do you have the same plant layout year round? If it is always changing, you probably will not want to bury your hose. It can be a pain to dig it up and re-align it with all your new plants every year or so. Even if your plant layout never changes, you need to consider how much you really mind seeing a hose in your garden. If it really bothers you to the extent that you are willing to work for a few hours to get rid of it, then by all means bury it. But otherwise I would suggest staying above ground if for nothing else than the convenience of repairing and rearranging.

One of the main advantages of the drip irrigation system is its efficiency. Instead of spraying large amounts of water willy-nilly like a garden hose does, it makes the most of your precious water by putting it exactly where it is needed. It can also provide your garden with constant watering, instead of just having to go thirsty whenever you are not around to water it.

So if you are looking for an easy, cheap, convenient, and efficient alternative watering method, you should go out to the gardening store today and purchase the necessary items to install a drip irrigation system. I think you will be surprised at how much easier it is to maintain a garden after you have it.

I’m the number one fan of rice. I take pleasure in it for breakfast. It tastes really good when I put some raisins and cream on it. My mouth waters just the thought of it with crunchy snowpeas and steamed carrots for dinner.

But a rice that’s too sticky really puts me off. Here’s what I hate the most: Chewing undercooked rice, with brittle bits getting stuck in my teeth. Praise the Lord for giving us Aroma rice cookers. These cookers allow you to cook yummy rice. Why are these rice cookers such a hit with rice lovers?

They’re easy to use

The simplicity and ease of use of the Aroma cookers is what make me love them. They make the art of rice cooking less difficult. With the plastic rice paddle and nice measuring cup, your job is reduced to just measuring water and rice. And then leave your rice cooker to the job. Cleanup is also fast and easy.

They come in many sizes

Aroma has rice cookers that come in many sizes. Aroma’s Pot-Style Rice Cooker has a traditional Japanese design. It comes in different cup sizes ¬- 3, 7, 9, 10, and 15. Aroma’s Cool-Touch model can be as small as a 4 cupper and as big as a 15 cupper. The commercial ones offer 24-cup and 30-cup cookers. Singe persons as well as couples should get small Aroma rice cookers. The larger Aroma rice cooker models are perfect for people with big families.

They match with almost any kitchen design

I have a limited kitchen space and buying bulky appliances is not a good idea. Good thing I have my Aroma rice cooker. Aroma designs their rice cookers to save valuable space.

They’re versatile rice cookers

Their versatility is what makes the Aroma rice cookers popular. Not only do they cook great rice, they can also steam veggies, seafood, and poultry. They can also cook soups and stews. They actually do many other cooking tasks. They’re spacious inside and include steaming trays, saving time and energy when making your perfect meal.

They’ve lower price tags

They are surprisingly very affordable relative to other popular brands like the Zojirushi rice cooker. The Aroma rice cookers may be cheaper but they do just fine in a very competitive world. ¬Three-cup version costs around $14 and the 30-cup version costs $129. They make great gifts for family and friends.

What a year, beginning of the year OIL was approaching $200, and now in the month of October, oil has dived down to $60 per barrel…what the!  And throw in the financial crisis … thanks to the so called ‘know all’ fat cats – the world is tittering on global disaster.  Now is the time to tighten up our pockets and one of the best way to start is with the car.  And with so many water for fuel options around … let’s look at 3 of the popular ebooks going around -

Water4Gas eBook, RunYourCarOnWater and Gas4Free -

Below are 2 excerpt reviews of each product found online from ‘Ezinearticles’ -

Water4Gas eBook

1. “The website had purported claims of 40-60% mpg improvement, some guys getting 60 mpg. I thought to myself, “yeah right”. I read the claims and then found out they met every Saturday. So I decided to attend a get together and blow the whistle on this scam, I mean a car running on water – give me a break! Okay, the car doesn’t really run on water, but it utilizes the HYDROGEN element of water and converts it to gas.” – Jason Calvin

2. “Your only real worry is whether some of the claims of water4gas are legitimate. Well, tell me this, if they were trying to sell you a product that did not work, would they offer a money back guarantee? I am guessing not. Well, that is exactly what water4gas does. You have 60 days to test out the technology for yourself or you get a complete refund. I think this should soothe your concerns about whether water4gas really works.” – Peter Johnston

RunYourCaronWater

1. “But to correct the understanding of most folks, the water is not burnt as a fuel. So it is not exactly right scientifically and factually to use the term “water fuel”. Rather, this water is broken down by a electrolyzer into HHO, commonly called Brown’s gas to aid the combustion of gasoline. The engine still requires gas to power it.” – Davion Wong

2. “First, let us categorize what is not a water powered vehicle. Steam engine is one example here because it uses the water as an agent to transmit heat energy. It usually has a heat source that uses fuel of some kind. The crower six stroke cycle, wherein in water is injected into the cylinder walls for cooling purposes and increasing compression ratio, is also another. Hydrogen fuel powered vehicles also fall into this category. Although water is the main ingredient for producing hydrogen; these are made in industrial plant by using electricity. In this case, the car ultimately receives its energy from the plant and the hydrogen just acts as the carrier of this power.” – Gary Varga

Gas4Free

1. “It is an externally built system that can be inserted into a car to make hydrogen fuel. The end result is that you would be powering your car with a mixture of gasoline and water. This technology has actually already been found many years ago, but was never really commercialized due to its potentially serious impact on the oil industry.” – Judd Marshall

2. “Who can actually use Gas4free? I know that you will be very skeptical about the idea. Now, Gas 4 free is not that hard to do, in fact it was a 100% effective, easy solution that you can install without having to make any modification to your car’s engine. It can convert your car or trucks into an HHO machine within minutes.” – Mandy Clover

There you have it – key point here is, water is not the source that runs your car.  Water is one of many sources that are used to produce Brown Gas (HHO) , which then is used to power up your car, improve your car’s performance and save costs!   It’s a great way to save your fuel costs but more importantly, help to reduce ‘Green House’ gas emissions!

Have you ever had those days when you just cannot seem to find relief?, and, no, matter what you do, the symptoms just keep on accumulating. Before you know it, you would have spent half the day in the bathroom, or, you would have had to call in sick to work. Following a few doctor visits, you have finally been informed that you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). As relieved as you might initially find yourself with this announcement, you will now need to learn how to control it. The positive element in this is that this is not a terminal condition. It has been reported that more women than men will come down with Irritable Bowel Syndome.  These days, reports tend to demonstrate that approximately, 20 percent of the adult population experience IBS symptoms. IBS is known as the most well-known chronic health disorder in America, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Irritable Bowel Syndome is a condition that is characterized as having stomach spasms, cramping, abdominal pain, gas, nausea, bloating, constipation and diarrhea. Nonetheless, these symptoms will not lead to a more serious condition or disease, however painful they might seem. But it is important to understand that this is a chronic condition that, if not attended to, can control a person’s life. The condition can sometimes make it extremely tough for a person to work, travel short or long distances or even attend certain social events. Also, attacks can rise sometimes very suddenly, at any time, morning or evening, and have been known to even sometimes happen while people were sound asleep. At times, mental or emotional stress can stimulate colon spasms causing an individual’s IBS to flare up. About, 70 percent of people suffering from IBS are not receiving any kind of medical treatment for their symptoms.

There is no real cure for Irritable Bowel Syndome, as it is known to be a brain-gut dysfunction. Though it is incurable, this condition can still be controlled by diet, exercise and lowering your overall stress. Trying to gain control through your diet will be an initial step, especially, since your stomach and intestines will be playing a direct role. Because everyone’s body reacts differently to different foods, it might be difficult to establish strict guidelines. Nonetheless, foods high in fat, insoluble fiber, caffeine, coffee, carbonation or alcohol might be problematic. On the other side, foods with soluble fibers will be the single greatest dietary aid for preventing IBS. Soluble fibers are not found in foods you would typically think of as containing fiber, as soluble fibers will make it possible to stabilize the intestinal contractions whilst simultaneously working to soothe and regulate the digestive tract. One of the keys to living with IBS is knowing how to control the symptoms, thus not enabling your symptoms control you.

Important Note: While the information contained in this article is provided in good faith, we always recommend you consult a qualified doctor or physician. Your doctor can provide you professional advice for your particular situation.

http://www.bright-notion.com

When I spend about half a grand on a cell phone, I’m thinking . . . “i want to get my money’s worth!”

That’s how I feel, anyway — which is why I made it my business to put my new iPhone through the paces from jump street by scouring the web’s most serious iPhone resources for the most useful power tips/ tricks available. The result is this collection of 16 iPhone power tips that will help you get even more enjoyment out of your new favorite toy! Some of these, granted, you’ll need to Google to get the current URL. But, if you want, you can just click the link for the complete article with photos and videos.

1. Unstick a Stuck Slider: if you’re iPhone’s slider ever gets stuck — as in, it simply refuses to do anything when you try to slide it, usually because you want to make the iPhone up to use it — here is a fix from iPhone Atlas (www.iphoneatlas.com): press the Home button once before attempting to move the slider for the first time.

2. Make Skype calls: Up-front disclaimer: We’re not talking about free, voice-over-IP (VOiP) Skype calls here. We’re talking about making SkypeOut calls, which are not free but can drastically reduce the cost of making international calls on your iPhone. Matter of fact, SoonR lets you access Apple Mail files, mailboxes, and contacts. It also lets you grab documents from your Mac for viewing on iPhone, including PowerPoint presentations and all that kinda’ good stuff.

3. Know Where to Go for the 411: Lucky for you, the world has gone iPhone crazy. That means there a lot of excellent sources of info on the latest iPhone developments out there on the web. Bad news: there’s a lot of crap, also. Here’s a short list of our favorite iPhone info sites:

- modmyiPhone.com
– iPhoneFreak.com
– iPhoneAlley.com
– The Unofficial Apple Weblog’s iPhone page
– Gizmodo’s iPhone coverage
– iPhoneAtlas.com

While you’re checking these sites, keep in mind that some sites you might already be visiting on a regular basis have really done a super job of becoming iPhone-friendly, including Digg.com, Amazon.com, FaceBook.com, and Netvibes.com!

4. Play Great Games: You know what Jack says about all work and no play! Not that the web surfing you’re doing on your iPhone is all work-related, yeah right? Games — most of which are free — are starting to pop up for the iPhone, and we’re sure there will be more where those came from. For now, you can just launch the Safari browser when your iPhone and visit these hot game sites:

- MacMost’s collection of iPhone games, including classics like solitaire and minesweeper (free, MacMost iPhone Games).

- mynuMo has 4 iPhone games, including iWhack — a whack-a-mole knockoff where the mole’s replaced by a headshot of Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer — and Blackjack (also free, myNuMo iPhone Games).

- iGiki’s games, which include Hangman and Canyon Crawl — aren’t free, but then, they’re only a buck a pop and might be just what you need when you get tired of the freebies (99 cents per game pack for 99 days, iGiki Games).

- PopCap’s Bejeweled, (free, PopCap Bejeweled).

5. Beat a Shortcut to your Fave iPhone Apps: Handy iPhone apps, like Leaflets (free, Get Leaflets) and Applists (free, Get Applists) put most iPhone apps your fingertips, but if you want to build your own list, just collect the apps you tend to use the most into the same bookmarks folder in Safari on your computer. Then, the next time you sync your iPhone, using iTunes, be sure to check “Sync Safari Bookmarks” on the info tab, under Web browser.

6. Rehang the Wallpaper: If you’re up for a bit of iPhone hacking, you can take any image you find anywhere on the web and turn it into a custom wallpaper.

But there is a much easier way: Download a 320×480 pixel image for free from a variety of online sources, saving them all in the same folder on your Mac. In iTunes, with your iPhone docked, select your iPhone, click the Photos tab, select the radio button next to “Sync Photos From…,” then from the drop-down list, select “Choose Folder…”

Next, browse to the folder you just created, then click “Apply” in the lower-right hand corner. Finally, on your iPhone, go to Settings, Wallpaper, Photo Library to hang your new wallpaper!

7. Take Self-Portraits Because the iPhone camera shutter’s button is a “soft” (i.e., onscreen) button, it’s a bit tricky to take self-portraits with it since you have to turn the phone around so you can no longer see the button. Here’s the solution: with the camera feature selected, place your finger on the camera icon and turn the phone around so you’re facing the lens. Then, smile pretty and let go of the shutter button! You’ll hear the telltale “click” — and, you’ve just taken a self-portrait!

8. Reveal Secret Features: When Apple released the first firmware update for the iPhone on August 1, 2007, it did so with little fanfare, and attributed most of the updates to “security fixes.” The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg discovered a few new non-security-related features on his side phone after the update including:

- Greater capacity in the iPhone module’s Favorites list (used to be 20, is now 50).
– Ability to automatically blind carbon copy (BCC) yourself on all e-mails sent, where previously, your only option was to CC yourself, which alerted your recipients what you were up to…
– Compatibility with some car adapters and external speakers, originally created for the iPod. For more iPhone and tech tidbits, visit Walt’s blog.

9. Just Ditch the Camera Altogether: On the other hand, if you know you’ll never use the iPhone’s camera, you can just remove it altogether. (If you work for or with certain government agencies, you’re iPhone may actually be considered “contraband” on their property because they don’t want you taking secret photos of Bigfoot, Elvis, or (believe it or not) alien spaceships!

10. Get the Official Mod Tool: If you’ve already had to send your iPhone back to Apple for warranty repair or replacement, you may have already discovered something different about the replacement iPhone. First off, it comes in a much thinner box. Second, it comes complete with the “official iPhone SIM card removal tool”: a paperclip! Yup, Apple actually supplies a paperclip with all replacement iPhones, along with instructions for using it to open the SIM card slot and insert your card!

11. Buy Spare Parts: If you’re the type who simply can’t resist trying to take your iPhone apart, here’s where to go to find replacement parts when you go too far: iPhone Parts. Sources of mine told me that Apple charges $300 for a replacement screen, but you can get one from iFixIt for only $199.95.

12. Kill that Annoying GSM Buzz: If you hear a buzzing sound, while using an iPhone cassette adapter in your car stereo, such as Monsters iCarPlay — which claims to be iPhone-compatible (but doesn’t appear anywhere on Monster’s website) — Gizmodo offers a low-tech solution: aluminum foil… Yup, just take a little bit of Reynolds Wrap and wrap it around the cable closest to your iPhone. Doing so eliminates the need to switch to “Airplane mode,” which would be a viable solution if it didn’t send your incoming calls to voicemail!

13. Find Wi-Fi Hotspots in Your Neighborhood: JiWire makes it easy to find the nearest hotspot when your iPhone — so you can rescue yourself from the slow-moving hell that is AT&T’s EDGE data service. Surf on over to iphone.jiwire.com on your iPhone and fill in your location. If you’re a cheapskate (like me), check the box for “Search Free Hotspots Only.”

14. More Wi-Fi Performance Enhancements: Apple has a potentially useful collection of WiFi related iPhone tips in a regularly-updated knowledgebase article on its website. Suggestions include fixing problems like paid WiFi connections that drop off suddenly, weak WiFi signals, and WiFi connections that revert to EDGE due to issues with WEP passwords, or problems with Mac address filtering.

15. “Hack” Your iPhone!: Disclaimer: this tip isn’t for everybody. Some of these “hacks” (i.e., self-made modifications to the iPhone’s default behavior) are intended for people who have experience changing the way their computers behave by accessing the underlying code governing such behavior. You’ve been warned.

- For Macs: iFuntastic and Installer.app.
– For Windows: Installer.app or iBrickr.

Once you’ve installed one of the above helper apps, you can try an ever-expanding array of iPhone mods. With iFuntastic, for example, you can add your own custom ringtones, rearrange the Home screen, and change the AT&T logo. Installer.app goes even further, letting you install and play Nintendo games that feature tactile feedback! The good folks at Gizmodo.com make it easy for Mac users to take advantage of this newfound power over their iPhones with a handy tutorial (visit their site and search for install apps iPhone).

Windows users can also use a helper app called iBricker to modify their iPhone, install custom ringtones, and install third-party apps. But, if all you care about is adding custom ringtones, you might want to try Efiko’s iPhoneRingToneMaker ($10).

16. Just Don’t Be a Sucker!: While searching for the latest iPhone apps, you could run across some websites that’ll offer you instant access to hundreds of the latest apps — all for one-time membership fee of $49.95. These sites include, but are not limited to, www.iphonenova.com, www.iphonecyclone.com, and www.iphonedownloadpro.com. Problem here, is that these sites (IMHO) are scams.

I ponied up $50 for membership to iPhoneNova, for example, which claims to be the “World’s First iPhone Download Service.” Guess what it really is? It’s a BitTorrent-like site for downloading illegal content you can view on your iPhone or iPod.

But, your $50 membership only gets you a BitTorrent client called Tomato Torrent and links for you to download two more already-free apps that help you convert existing videos and ripped DVD content to be viewed on your iPod/ iPhone. You also get links to a mere five (5) web-based iPhone games and a huge, poorly-organized list of illegal movie downloads like “The Simpsons” and “Transformers.” Nuff said; as Napoleon Dynamite would say, “…What a Rip-off”!