How-To: Re-Download OS X Lion Even After You've Installed It

Like many of you, I purchased OS X Lion to upgrade from Snow Leopard. What many didn't know after downloading their fresh copy of OS X Lion via the Mac App Store was that after you've finished installing OS X Lion, the installation file (.dmg) automatically deletes itself from your hard drive so you can no longer access it to quickly re-install and save it on an external storage like a DVD or even a USB flash drive for a clean install, or just for safe keeping. Apple is said to start offering a hard copy of OS X Lion on a USB flash drive for $69, but that's not what we're here for. If you want a hard copy of your $30 OS X Lion you just downloaded, here's a quick and easy way to re-download OS X Lion straight from the Mac App Store.

Follow these steps:

1. Open up the Mac App Store

2. Hold down the "option" key on your keyboard, while still holding, click your "Purchases" tab.

3. You should now be able to click "Install" next to OS X Lion.

You will be asked to type in your Apple ID account information, and the downloading will start. You will not be charged again since you already purchased OS X Lion. After OS X Lion has finished downloading, do not install it and exit the installation window. Now you'll be able to burn a copy of the Lion Installer which should now be located in your Applications folder.

To access the bootable file inside the Lion Installer you would need to right click it, and select "show package contents". Then, go to the "SharedSupport" folder and there you will have the final file that you would need to burn called "InstallESD.dmg" with Disk Utility. Hopefully this method will help you until Apple finds out about this backdoor.

iPhone 4 Metal Edition (DIY)

If changing the back of your iPhone 4 to a different glass color cover was not enough, you might be interested in transforming it into metal or in this case brushed aluminum. The process is very easy and should take you no longer than a minute. These metal iPhone 4 back cover replacements have a slight bevel edges to them which actually hurt the cameras quality by applying a bit of black vignetting corners. Some people also noted that they have lost 1-2 bars of signal when using these metal backs on their iPhone 4. I only noticed this once in a while and it did not affect my WiFi signal at all. 

You can find these replacement back covers all over eBay and on CNN.cn for under $20, not a bad deal at all considering the fit and finish is pretty fantastic minus the fact that you will have a bit of camera quality issues because of the beveled design. This will also be compatible with the Apple Bumper case leaving almost no clearance as the metal back sits flush with the edges of the Bumper case. So when you lay your iPhone 4 on a table, the metal back will actually touch the surface. If you have some doubts about doing this yourself, watch the video below and see how easy this actually is!