Nook Color Tips (1)

. Why is everything on my screen so small?

- this is because the NookColor's stock LCD density is 169.333, which is pretty low (Galaxy Tab is 240). Unlike resolution, which is hardware-based, density is software-based and can be changed. If you search the market for LCD density, there are a couple apps that will do this--a free one that
won't survive a hard reboot, and a paid one that (supposedly) will.

If you want to make it permanent for free, you can edit your build.prop file. Again, use Root Explorer to open system/build.prop (BACKUP FIRST!), find the following two lines:
ro.sf.lcd_density.xdpi=169.33333
ro.sf.lcd_density.ydpi=169.33333

If you wanted your density to be 250, you'd replace them with the following single line:
ro.sf.lcd_density=250
Save the edited file, and reboot.Here are two of my Galaxy Tab-esque homescreens set to 250:

Now, jacking up your LCD density much above 200 will make your status bar look wonky and cut-off. One solution for this is to set it to 250, like above (by changing build.prop - I think the apps I mentioned only allow multiples of 20), which will make it look clean (as long as wifi is on).
The only problem there is that you'll lose your status bar clock and Notifications in portrait mode . . .

. . . the solution for THIS is to get two apps: hellostatusbar, and quick launch. Set quick launch to open hellostatusbar on a home- button double press, and it will display your Notifications.

Also note that raising the density can cut-off parts of the stock Barnes & Noble software (they're designed for the lower density), so this mod is probably better for people like me who use the Kindle app and ezPDF for reading.

Any other battery-saving tips?
In case you missed the rival xda threads arguing over who thought of it first, there was a potentially useful battery-saving trick in there:

Go back in Root Explorer, and in system/app, mount as r-w and rename Phone .apk and TelephonyProvider.apk to anything else (adding .bak onto the end would be fine).

Basically, you're removing android system files that may be wasting juice looking for a non-existent cell service. It's unsure if or how much this actually improves battery life, but it very well could, and it certainly won't hurt anything changing their names.

How can I prevent the Nook from automatically updating the firmware?

- Change the name of etc/security/otacerts.zip to anything else (doing this in Root Explorer works fine). So far, this had looked pretty solid in successfully disabling OTA updates.

Why won't YouTube play videos in HD?

For some reason, the YouTube that's installed from rooting won't do it. To get a version that plays HD:
- uninstall your current YouTube via Titanium Backup
- download this version from the Evo (credit aludal): http://db.tt/y5vVvI2
- rather than installing this one, rename it youtube.apk and copy it into system/app (w/permissions matching the other apk's in that folder)
It should be there now, ready to play HQ clips. If not, reboot first.