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Unchained Reaction: Reality TV For Hackers

Frank — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 06:35:35 +0000

Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame will star in a new reality TV show on the Discovery Network titled: Unchained Reaction. Adam and Jamie will team up as judges for the six part series which pits two teams against each other to build Rude Goldberg style contraptions. From the press release:

Discovery Channel announces UNCHAINED REACTION, a new series executive produced by Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman of MYTHBUSTERS. The duo also serve as judges for the six-part series, which pits two teams of varying backgrounds against each other to build an elaborate chain reaction contraption. But they’re not creating a mere string of dominoes – teams must utilize ingenuity, innovation and know-how to build contraptions on a massive scale. UNCHAINED REACTION is set to premiere on Discovery Channel in March 2012.
Each week, two teams made up of artists, rocket scientists, animatronic specialists, engineers and even your average Joe, are provided with identical sets of tools and materials and given five days to complete a series of mechanisms based on a specific theme. It’s the ultimate build-off pressure cooker, where refined mechanical movements, pyrotechnics and large-scale destruction are encouraged. Making a refrigerator a pendulum? Totally possible on UNCHAINED REACTION. Catapults? Flying saucers? Guillotines? Anything goes as long as they trigger the next link in the chain.
Teamwork and outside-the-box thinking are what it will take to be the UNCHAINED REACTION winner, as teams compete to see who can achieve the most impressive build in such a short time. Each week, Jamie and Adam are joined by a new guest judge to decide which team impressed them the most with their innovation, energy and how much spectacle they can create.”

Sounds like it will be a hit with modders and hardware hackers. About time we geeks get some decent reality TV to watch

Unchained Reaction: Reality TV For Hackers originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2012/01/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

RIM: Balsille And Lazaridis Out; Heins In

Frank — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:17:14 +0000

After almost a year of investor backlash, Research In Motion is shaking up the top of their food chain. Jim Balsille and Mike Lazaridis, co-founders and co-CEO’s will be stepping down while the current COO, Thorsten Heins will be stepping in.

RIM has been battered and bruised while trying to keep up with the top dog, Apple, and the plethora of Android devices that are littering the smart phone world. The once mighty and powerful Research In Motion has been dragged to third place in the phone wars. Severe backlash from investors who have been trying to force the co-CEO’s out, or at the very least produce something to catch up with Apple and Google, has finally caught up with the co-founders.

First order of business for the new CEO, hire a Chief Marketing Office to polish up the damaged brand. Heins isn’t ruling out licensing out the new Blackberry 10 OS in hopes of bringing honour back to the once top brand. As for the outgoing CEOs? Balsille will become “vice-chair of the board with special duties to examine innovation.” and Lazaridis will become a traditional director.

I sure hope it’s not too late for our Canadian sweetheart.

RIM: Balsille And Lazaridis Out; Heins In originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2012/01/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

5 Must Have Rooted Android Apps

Frank — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 05:45:45 +0000

If you rock and Android device then you already know about the multitude of apps that are at your finger tips. For the sake of keeping you safe, manufacturers ship Android locked up without access to the full potential of the device. By throwing caution to the wind and rooting your device you open up a whole new world of apps, apps that can take your phone from a surfing and messaging device to a computer in your pocket.

Go ahead, unlock the full potential of your phone the install these 10 apps then you will quickly wonder why you haven’t done it sooner.

Titanium Backup Pro – This is hands down the most complete backup solution for your Android device. It allows you to easily backup and restore all of your apps, system settings, Market downloads, contacts, SMS/MMS text messages, and more. It has built in scheduling so you can schedule your backups and can even sync those vary same backups to Dropbox. If you want a powerful “set it and forget it” backup solution then this is the only way to go.

Root Explorer – This is the ultimate file manager. Just like the name says, you can explore, edit, mount, delete, and do everything else to your filesystem. If you have been looking for a way to get rid of that bloatware on your phone then look no further. Remember, this is a very powerful app and can cause some serious damage so be careful with it.

Widget Locker – This is a lock screen replacement that gives you control. Widget Locker allows for multiple sliders that can be customized to launch directly into an app like the Messaging or Dialler App. You can also add Widgets or app shortcuts directly to the lock screen bringing the power of your phone directly to your lock screen.

Tasker – Tasker allows you to perform sets of actions based on contexts like events or gestures. You can have your phone do all sorts of things based on conditions. For example, you can have a menu of your favourite media apps pop up when you plug in your headphones or you could set your phone to silence every time you have a calendar event. Its like a powerful scripting language for your phone. Although you don’t need root access to run Tasker, its probably one of the most versatile and powerful applications in the market.

Rom Manager – If you flash custom ROMs on your rooted device then Rom Manager is a must have. You can make NAND backups of your device, manage your collection of ROMs, receive notifications of ROM updates and more. There is no glitz and flash in this app, just ease of use and power.

These are only a few of the great apps for rooted Android devices. Let us know in the comments what your favourites are.

5 Must Have Rooted Android Apps originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/09/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Dude Plays Super Mario Kart In Real Life

Frank — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 04:49:03 +0000

I have spent many hours playing Super Mario Kart on my kids DS. This French dude has taken it to the next level by playing the game in real life. French humorist Rémi Gaillard drove a real go-cart through city traffic while dressed as Mario.

As you can see from the video, Mario tosses banana peels at the cars following him and collects power-ups. He even stopped at a grocery store to pick up some extra bananas.

If your considering giving this a try, don’t. Super Mario had a run in with some local traffic cops who weren’t too happy, not to mention, bumping a car in real life with a go-cart will get you killed.

Dude Plays Super Mario Kart In Real Life originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/02/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Sony Gets Geohot’s Hard Drive

Frank — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 05:07:37 +0000

Seems like the Sony V. Geohot saga continues. According to Wired, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston has order George Hotz to hand his computer over to Sony so that they can search his hard drive. This comes after the court’s previous decision to grant Sony a temporary restraining order against Hotz.

Geohot’s attorney objected to the order saying “by allowing Sony access to Mr. Hotz’s computer they would be able to see the contents of his client’s files”. Judge Illston replied with “That’s the breaks”.

“Here, I find probable cause that your client has got these things on his computer,” Illston said. “It’s a problem when more than one thing is kept on the computer. I’ll make sure the order is and will be that Sony is only entitled to isolate … the information on the computer that relates to the hacking of the PlayStation.”

Sony sure is throwing it’s massive might behind their case against Hotz. One must wonder if they just want to make an example out of him in an attempt to deter other would be hackers from hacking their products. I’m not sure what they expect to achieve; we all know that once something is on the internet it lives forever.

Sony Gets Geohot’s Hard Drive originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/02/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

RoboEarth: More Evidence Of Skynet

Frank — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:14:03 +0000

Remember the SkyNet like hand we featured earlier this week? Well here is more evidence that SkyNet is upon us.

RoboEarth is a project being worked on by Phillips, the University of Eindhoven, Stuttgart, München, Zaragoza & Zurich. Its goal is to have a central location of instructions and navigation for robots. Robots can then download these instructions and execute them. They have managed to get the TechUnited AMIGO robot to download all the information it needed for a specific task and then carry out the task autonomously.

As you can see from the video, the task was quite simple; serving a drink to someone, but, if I remember my Terminator mythology this is exactly how SkyNet started. Yikes!

RoboEarth: More Evidence Of Skynet originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/02/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Bing Piggybacking Off Of Google’s Results

Frank — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:24:53 +0000

Bing just got caught with it’s hand in Google’s cookie jar. Some Google employees decided to create a honeypot of sorts. They found a search term that returned no matches on both Google and Bing, created a “honeypot” page manually that returned results for the term, and they then had a bunch of people click the top link using IE with with Suggested Sites and the Bing toolbar.

Within two weeks a handful of the 100 or so “honeypot” results started to pop up in Bing. So it seems that Bing has decided to take a few shortcuts on the back of Google’s work. Nice one Microsoft.

Bing Piggybacking Off Of Google’s Results originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/02/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Scientists Develop Terminator Like Hand

Frank — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 20:51:50 +0000

Scientists at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics at the German Aerospace Center have developed a robotic hand that resembles the hand of the T-800 robot from the Terminator movies. Scarily, the robotic hand’s strength and durabliity is right out of the Sci-Fi franchise.

The hand has five articulated fingers that are powered by a web of 38 tendons which in turn are each connected to an individual motor in the forearm. The robotic hand can control it’s stiffness and the web of tendons allow the hand to absorb violent shocks. So much so that it survived a 66 G impact from a baseball bat.

As you can see form the video above, the hand seems to be able to take a beating. You heard it here first kids, the dawn of SkyNet is upon us.

Scientists Develop Terminator Like Hand originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

A Look At Android 3.0 – Honeycomb

Frank — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 01:17:27 +0000

Google gave everyone a sneak peak of the next version of Android (Honeycomb) at CES earlier this year. Today they released the SDK for the upcoming tablet geared OS. Here’s a look at what we all can expect from Honeycomb.

The biggest change is the UI. Older versions of Android weren’t geared towards tablets, Honeycomb changes all of that. You will now have more space on your home screen to accommodate more widgets and icons. As you can see from the image above, you will be able to fit all sorts of things on your home screen(s)

Home Screen(s)

The layout of the screens look much like older versions. There is a new 3D look to all of it that might cause problems with older hardware, the new Tegra 2′s should be able to handle it without much effort.

Notification Bar

The notification bar has been moved to the bottom ala Windows and they have added some new buttons that work like the capacitive hardware buttons on most Android devices. They have also added a recent apps button that will show you the current state of apps running the background.

Keyboard

The new keyboard is a great improvement over the older iteration with larger reshaped keys. They also include keys like “Tab” which should make the transition for desktop users easier. Copy and Paste has also seen some change. Much like iOS, a long press will select a word and you can drag the selector to choose more text.

Over all it looks like a great improvement, especially if you are running 2.2 on a tablet currently (like I am). A welcome upgrade if I ever saw one.

A Look At Android 3.0 – Honeycomb originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Winner: iPod Nano Twiiter Contest

Frank — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 03:27:07 +0000

Congratulations to @MikeFancy on Twitter, he won the tech.nocr.at Twitter contest and a shiny new iPod nano is on it’s way to him. When we informed him that he was randomly chosen from the list of re-tweeters, he posted this to his twitter account:

“I won an iPod Nano, just because I follow @technocrat_blog! A great surprise after getting a $1,500 repair bill for my van!”

Maybe we should have been giving away a gift certificate to a mechanic instead. I hope he enjoys his new little toy

Soon we will be digging through our draws to see what we can come up with next. Not sure on the contest theme yet, maybe a Facebook challenge, or another Twitter contest. Let us know what you think we should do for our next give-a-way and what you would like to see us give away (let’s keep it reasonable folks).

Winner: iPod Nano Twiiter Contest originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

AirPlay On Linux

Frank — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 03:55:42 +0000

Apple’s AirPlay is a great technology. It lets you stream music and video wirelessly to Apple products like iPods, iPhones and to the Apple TV. It also can be used to stream to Apple approved hardware like speaker docks, AV receivers and stereo systems. The problem with it, like most Apple technology, if your not on the “Apple approved” list your SOL.

The thought of AirPlay being supported in open source software is unheard of, until now. The Totem media player, which installs by default on most Linux distributions, now has an unofficial plugin that will let you stream media via AirPlay.

Instructions

Clone the git repository

git clone http://git.sukimashita.com/totem-plugin-airplay.git

Move the files you just cloned (make sure you create the appropriate directories if needed)

mv * ~/.local/share/totem/plugins/airplay

That’s it. Start up Totem, enable the plugin and start to enjoy streaming media from any other AirPlay capable device. Now that the open source world has nailed down the AirPlay standard, it shouldn’t be too long before we start to see it supported in things like XBMC or Android.

[Link to Totem AirPlay Plugin]

AirPlay On Linux originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Eric Schmidt Stepping Down As Google CEO

Frank — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:49:43 +0000

In a bit of a shocker, Eric Schmidt announced today that he would be stepping down from his CEO role at Google.

Why would someone at the helm of such a super power decide to step down? Simple, Larry and Sergei have grown up and are ready to lead Google. The company is as strong as ever. The stock price is up 32% in the last three months, the search end of the business is as strong as ever and in Q4 of 2010 the company made $8.4 billion in revenue.

Larry Page was once CEO, before Schmidt. In 2001, three years before going public Schmidt was named to the post. Wall Street dislikes young CEOSs and being only 29 at the time, Page wasn’t thought to be ready to lead Google. Schmidt was the perfect choice, a former computer scientist who made a name for himself while at Java, and was to later be CEO of Novell. During his his decade long tenure, Schmidt ran the company with Larry and Sergei at his side, never making a single decision with out them.

So now the Schmidt is gone and we may possibly never see Jobs back at Apple, will the two companies kiss and make up? You never know. One other possibility is Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt getting together to start a new company. I know it’s a far stretch and I’m hoping that Job’s medical LOA isn’t anything serious, but together, no matter what they did, would be awesome.

Eric Schmidt Stepping Down As Google CEO originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Motorola Tells Modders To Go Elsewhere

Frank — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 04:43:27 +0000

Android by it’s nature is an open source platform, a platform that is open to anyone and any changes as long as they comply with the Apache 2.0 license. So why have manufacturers like Motorola and HTC spent so much time fighting against people modding or creating their own ROMs? That might be a question that will go unanswered for a while, but today a rep from Motorola spoke out publicly and quite harshly against a custom ROM user on YouTube – leading Motorola to apologize to the Android community by way of their Facebook page.

Motorola has taken some heat from the Android community for including locked bootloaders on their devices. Today, a modder voiced his displeasure with Motorola’s policy via a comment to a YouTube video on Motorola’s channel, somebody using Motorola’s account wrote:

if you want to do custom roms, then buy elsewhere, we’ll continue with our strategy that is working thanks.

If you have ever spent any time reading YouTube comments then you would know that a comment like that wouldn’t be well received. A number of anti-Motorola discussions started to pop-up like weeds today all over the Internet in response to the YouTube comment which lead Motorola to apologize to the community via their Facebook page.

We apologize for the feedback we provided regarding our bootloader policy. The response does not reflect the views of Motorola.
We are working closely with our partners to offer a bootloader solution that will enable developers to use our devices as a development platform while still protecting our users’ interests. More detailed information will follow as we get closer to availability.

A Tiger’s stripes never change and neither will Motorola’s. I’m sure we will never see them “enable developers to use our devices as a development platform” or see “More detailed information”. I stand behind the fact that companies who use open source software in a commercial product should allow it to be open and free, not locked down.

Motorola Tells Modders To Go Elsewhere originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Reminder: iPod Nano Giveaway

Frank — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 17:37:52 +0000

Remember, we are giving away a shiny new iPod Nano to a random twitter follower/retweeter. All you have to do to enter is follow us at @technocrat_blog or re-tweet one of our tweets to be entered. One re-tweet per tweet (go ahead and try to figure that one out) per day and a follow will count.

Let me break it down for you; you can re-tweet any of our tweets once a day, multiple re-tweets of the same tweet per day won’t count. Following us also adds you into the mix, but un-following and re-following doesn’t count. Now that I have made a mess of the way the contest works you can read up on the full details here.

Good luck to everyone.

Reminder: iPod Nano Giveaway originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Geohot 1 – Sony 0

Frank — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 02:44:40 +0000

You must be living under a rock if you didn’t hear about Sony filing suit against fail0verflow and Geohot for their distribution of the PS3 jailbreak firmware. The first step in Sony’s legal battle involved a temporary restraining order (TRO) against them to stop the distribution of the code. That TRO case was heard earlier today in California and it was tabled as the Judge wasn’t satisfied that she had juristiction to rule on the matter since Geohot actually hacked the PS3 in the state of New Jersey.

Sony based their decision to file suit in California on the fact that PayPal, Twitter, and YouTube are all based there. Twitter and YouTube were used to spread the code and they claim that Geohot received donations via PayPal. The Judge said that Sony’s basis was absurd and if that logic were true then anyone who uses any of the websites mentioned in the world would fall under his juristrisction.

For the time being Geohot has put the code back up on his site, but in reality the damage is done. We all know that once you put something on the Internet it lives forever. Sony might just be trying to save face and they very well might succeed with their TRO, but what will they do about the rest of the world? Get TRO’s against every Internet user?

Geohot 1 – Sony 0 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Open Source HTPC’s That Don’t Suck

Frank — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 21:30:11 +0000

In our next installment of Distros That Don’t Suck we will be looking at open source HTPC software. Sure you can load up VLC or even use Windows Media player, but having a dedicated solution with a UI that is made for a TV is a lot easier and pleasing. I’ve left the PVR-centric software like MythTV and Freevo off the list since their main purpose is to act as a PVR. I’ll be reviewing open source PVR software by itself at a later date.

XBMC – The Xbox Media Center Project started as homebrew software for the original Xbox gaming system and has since been ported to Linux, Windows, OSX, AppleTV and even as a standalone Linux based LiveCD/LiveUSB image. It offers a clean UI, intuitive interface and can play just about anything you throw at it. It offers a plugin system with a huge repository of community plugins to enhance the experience. It’s real easy to setup and it’s configuration is portable across operating systems. If you have an old Xbox laying around this makes a great HTPC that is powerful and best of all cheap.

MediaPortal – This is a Windows based HTPC software so technically it’s not 100% open source since it requires Windows and doesn’t offer a Linux port. If offers everything you would expect in HTPC software; Video streaming, DVD playback, Internet Radio, Picture Gallery and it’s own plugin system. You will need a compatible TV Tuner card to enjoy PVR features and to watch TV but it’s not needed to run the software. If you are a Windows fan and are looking for an alternate to Windows Media Center this is as close as you can get without the cost.

Element – Element is an open source HTPC system that comes pre-loaded with XBMC and the ability to play back just about any media locally or over the Internet. Element also has it’s own framework for offering add-on modules that allow you to play content from services like Hulu, Cooliris, Boxee, Clicker, Amazon on Demand and Youtube. They have adapted the UI’s of popular open source software like Firefox and Pidgin so that it fits the TV experience better than their native desktop versions. They also offer an Android app that allows you to use your Android phone as a remote control; definitely a neat idea for the times you can’t find the remote anywhere.

GeeXboX – A Gentoo based fully functional media center that can be run from LiveCD, LiveUSB, or be installed on a hard drive. GeeXbox is a very lean distro that doesn’t require a lot of processing power so it’s perfect for older hardware. It uses Enna as it’s primary media center application to play your music, videos or look at your pictures. This is the perfect distro for the no-frills experience when you just want to play your media and aren’t looking for any additional functionality.

Open Source HTPC’s That Don’t Suck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Follow/ReTweet iPod Nano Giveaway

Frank — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:23:21 +0000

Twitter is such a wonderful thing. It’s a great way to spread information quickly and effectively and it’s also great for handing out shiny objects

We happen to have a shiny new 6G iPod Nano in a box that we are itching to give away to one of our readers. Either follow @technocrat_blog or retweet one of our tweets from now until 11:59 Friday, January 21st 2011 and we will pick someone at random who will walk away with the nano.

The winner will be picked on Saturday, January 22nd 2011 and be notified by direct message on Twitter and have their twitter username posted here on tech.nocr.at. We’ll pay the shipping but you’ll be on the hook for any custom charges if you live outside of Canada.

What are you waiting for, retweet and remember to tell all your friends.

Follow/ReTweet iPod Nano Giveaway originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Windows Phone 7 NES Emulator Barred

Frank — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 05:12:48 +0000

Looks like Microsoft is “pulling an Apple”; barring an emulator of the classic 8-bit video gaming system NES. Matt Bettcher has put some hard working into getting this emulator to work (video of it running after the break) and Microsoft has just shut him down.

Matt is looking to drum up community support in hopes of changing Microsoft’s mind, and in the meantime he will be releasing his project into the open source world. Come one Microsoft, every device with a screen and an input device should have an NES emulator.

Windows Phone 7 NES Emulator Barred originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Open Source Firewall/Routers That Don’t Suck

Frank — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 15:07:18 +0000

Following our list of Linux Distros That Don’t Suck, More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck and Even More Distros That Don’t Suck, we are going to start to narrow our lists to a specific role.

In this installment of our “Distros That Don’t Suck” we are featuring routers/firewalls. Sure you can use your default DLink or Linksys hardware router to preform these tasks but why not bring it to the next level with much more control and features like VPN and bridging?

NOTE: The contained list includes projects that are 100% free and open and don’t charge for additional components or functionality. There are plenty of projects that offer a lite or free version of their solution but charge you for more advanced features.

pfSense – pfSense is a FreeBSD based stateful packet filtering firewall with a whole slew of features. Besides your basic NAT/Firewall capabilites, pfSense offers packages that can enhance it’s feature set like a transparent virus proxy for web surfing and Snort for sniffing packets. pfSense also comes with PPTP, IpSec and Open VPN support baked in and support for OpenBSD’s CARP hardware failover which allows you to have two boxes configured as a failover group. I’m been using pfSense for a few years now and love it. It’s an enterprise grade product with an easy consumer interface. Definitely my favorite.

m0n0wall – Another FreeBSD based stateful packet filtering firewall which is what pfSense is based on. It’s pretty much has the same feature set as pfSense with a few minor exceptions. It’s really stable and is one of the older distros in the firewall/router game. m0n0wall will run on pretty low end hardware and offers an embedded option so you can run it on embedded hardware like an ALIX board. A great option if you want something you can set and forget.

IPCop – Originally a fork of the SmoothWall project, IPCop is a Linux based stateful firewall built on the netfilter framework. IPCop offers a simple update mechanism to install updates and offers many addons that add additional functionality like QoS and virus checking. Geared toward the home or SOHO user, IPCop offers a highly configurable firewall/router that can run on almost and hardware you have laying around.

DD-Wrt – If you don’t have a spare computer laying around to power your router/firewall and would like to take advantage of a hardware WLAN you already own then DD-Wrt is right up your alley. A fork of OpenWRT, DD-WRT is a Linux based alternative firmware suitable for a long list of WLAN routers. If your hardware router is supported a simple firmware upgrade to DD-WRT will add a lot of the same functionality to your hardware that most of the distros in this list offer. A great way to mod existing hardware to squeeze every last bit of performance out of the unit. May I suggest the Linksys WRT-54G-L.

Zeroshell – Zeroshell aims to provide an easy to install and maintain Linux based firewall distribution. Zeroshell is powerful enough for an enterprise load but surprisingly easy to configure with complete set of options like VPN, QoS and VLAN support. Based on Linux and available as a LiveCD or Compact Flash image, Zeroshell falls into the “easy and powerful” category. Great for someone who doesn’t want to screw around too much and just wants something that works.

I’m sure I have missed other great projects that offer a firewall or routing. If you know of a distro that should be in our list let us know in the comments.

Open Source Firewall/Routers That Don’t Suck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Top 10 Of 2010

Frank — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:51:37 +0000

Another year is almost behind us and thanks to our dedicated and loyal readers our 3rd successful year bringing you the latest in gadgets, gaming, technology and the bizarre.

We have brought the monkeys in (by monkeys we mean a crafty worded perl script) and have compiled the the most viewed posts here on tech.nocr.at. This list doesn’t just contain posts from 2010, it contains the top ten most viewed posts this year regardless of when they were created.

Without further ado, tech.nocr.at’s top 10 posts of 2010:

Let us know in the comments what were your favorite posts of 2010.

Top 10 Of 2010 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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VLC For Android

Frank — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 05:51:46 +0000

The one app I use the most on my iPhone and iPad is VLC. It makes watching video on my portable devices a lot easier to do since I don’t have to spend a bunch of time converting video and soon all you Android fans will enjoy it as well.

Sure there are other video playing options for all you Android users but has there ever been a better video player than VLC? It will play anything you throw at it, at least on the PC side.

Keep an eye out for it in the Android Marketplace.

VLC For Android originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Happy Holidays

Frank — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 06:30:26 +0000

Here is to wishing all our readers a happy and safe holiday season. May Santa stuff all the tech you have ever wanted in your stocking. As the new year approaches the tech.nocr.at team wishes you all the best in 2011.

We are revamping tech.nocr.at in the new year to bring you a fresh new spin on the world of technology. More reviews, gadgets, news, and hardware hacking tips to keep you going the whole year strong.

Be safe and enjoy.

Happy Holidays originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Even More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck

Frank — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:39:16 +0000

Following my first two distro lists; Linux Distros That Don’t Suck and More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck, I bring you the long awaited third installment in my distro lists; Even More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck.

As a fore-warning, this list is just what I have used in the past and what I have experience with. I know that talking Linux is like talking religion, everyone has one and not everyone likes the other guy’s. With that in mind you are free to comment and hammer me about my list, just know that it’s only my personal experience here.

Mint – What can I say, it’s Ubuntu done right. If what you are looking for is a solid desktop replacement OS, one the whole family can use then look no further. Based on Debian and Ubuntu, this distro comes with everything you need to get going and it looks sexy as well. It’s got full multimedia support right out of the box and it’s super easy to use. Perfect for grandma.

ZeroShell – This distro is awesome. I have used this multiple times on embeded devices and it’s always come through for me. It’s fully administered via a web page and it offer’s a host of network services like Load Balancing, UMTS/HSDPA 3G modem connections, QoS and Lan-to-Lan VPN just to name a few. If you need a solid industrial all around firewall/gateway this should be at the top of your list.

Tiny Core – If you think Damn Small Linux is bloated then Tiny Core is for you. At a whopping 10MB with a full desktop, this has to be the smallest release I have ever seen. If 10MB is too big for you, you can grab a 6MB version that is console only. This is an awesome distro if you want to start small and build on it. Perfect for those older systems.

Elive – Based on Debian, Elive looks to provide a complete desktop replacement while offering eye-candy with minimal hardware requirements. I have this installed on an older laptop that my daughter uses. She loves to work with multimedia and this distro scratches her itch perfectly. It’s runs well on older hardware while still looking good. If you like to work with video, 3D or audio then you should give this distro a once over.

Mythbuntu – It’s really not a distro per-say, it’s a custom roll of Ubuntu with MythTV built it. For years I used KnoppMyth for my MythTV needs and only recently did I switch to Mythbuntu. If you don’t feel like building your HTPC from scratch take a look at this, you won’t be disappointed.

Tinfoil Hat – For the truly paranoid. As their website says “The Illuminati are watching your computer, and you need to use morse code to blink out your PGP messages on the numlock key.”. This distro is perfect for those who fear for their privacy. It’s compiled with static libraries and ships on a single floppy.

LegacyOS – This was formally known as TeenPup which is based on PuppyLinux. The main purpose of this distro is to ensure a smooth user experience on hardware that’s 5-10 years old. If you have an old machine laying around and are looking for a decent suite of software then look no further. Don’t plan on doing any intense processing with it but basic usage it’s great.

As always this is a list of distros I have experience with, this by no means is a “perfect” or “greatest” list. It’s just stuff I have used and like, feel free to let me know what you think in the comments.

Even More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2010 | Permalink | 3 Comments | Read more in Tech News | Explore more in: 2010, 3d, 3g, ac, audio, bra, comments, computer, console, debian, distro, ds, ea, embeded, experience, fire, firewall, follow, htpc, id, ir, key, laptop, led, linux, live, loa, lock, Mac, machine, messages, mini, mod, mythtv, network, os, pc, personal, privacy, proc, ring, rock, service, small, switch, tech.nocr.at, time, tiny, ubuntu, ui, video, watch, zeroshell | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

New Amiga On The Way

Frank — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:41:16 +0000

Looks like Commodore USA is just full of news this past week. It was just a few days ago that they announced the return of an updated Commodore 64 and now they are talking about the return of their 90′s mainstay; the Amiga. Looks like they will follow the same road as the new PC64 with cramming everything into the keyboard much like the old Amiga 1200, but according to the press release they are being mum on the hardware details.

Commodore USA has now taken a major role in not just supporting the future Amiga market with our many new products, but also in providing a new beginning for the enormous existing Amiga community. Our relationship with them, along with our support for the elegant, robust and lightweight AROS desktop operating system, will ensure that they and future customers will benefit from our new and exciting vision, and enable the legacy Commodore and Amiga culture to flourish. We look forward to bringing these new products to market, and welcoming a whole new generation of computer users to the Commodore and Amiga experience”
Read: Commodore USA Announce Plans To Relaunch Amiga Brand PC’s [Classic Computer Brands Making A Return, First The AIO Commodore PC64 & Now An Amiga Branded AIO Keyboard Computer] » TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities

As a former Amiga user who still to this day runs his Amiga BBS on an old 1200 I’m super excited about the news, but I hope they use something like OS 4 with it and not a Windows based system. We will keep a close eye on this and let you know if any other details surface.

New Amiga On The Way originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

New XBMC Beta Released

Frank — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:14:42 +0000

The latest beta of the awesome XBMC (Windows, OS X, Linux, AppleTV) code-named Dharma has been released and is packed with wonderful new features. Probably the most notable one is built in functionality to make sure that all your plugins and skins are updated automatically and the ability to play back BlueRay movies.

The list is way to long to list, so head on over to their milestone page to find a complete breakdown of everything that has been added or updated.

[Via XBMC Blog]

New XBMC Beta Released originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

A New Commodore 64?

Frank — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:35:05 +0000

The original Commodore 64 was a complete game changer in the personal computer realm. No personal computer of it’s time could come close to it. Countless games, dedicated users and the most innovative demo scene made it, IMO, the greatest computer of all time. I cut my teeth on one, learned to code in assembly on it and even ran a BBS for years and years off of one. Now it looks like it’s making a comeback, sort of.

The original 64 was put to be in 1994 and after being dead for over 15 years, it seems that the hardy 64 will rise again, sort of.

Commodore USA will release a new version of the classic called the PC64. It won’t be an 8-bit machine like it’s name-sake but instead will house modern day components in the classic shell. The unit will be powered by an Intel Atom processor, come with 4GB of DDR3 Ram, include a 1TB SATA drive and have HDMI output.

I’m just disappointed that we won’t see a good old 1541 or 1581 disk drive. No work on pricing but it should be available by the end of the year.

A New Commodore 64? originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Tardis at MIT

Frank — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 04:49:22 +0000

Imagine waking up and seeing Dr. Who’s most famous accessory, the Tardis, sitting on the roof of a building. A bunch of pranksters managed to put a Tardis on top of building 7 at MIT. I’m not sure how they were able to sneak a big blue police box on the roof, but koodos to them for doing so.

MIT has always been famous for pranks so this one will fit right in even if it’s probably one of the coolest one the campus has ever seen.

The only thing that would be the icing on the cake would be to have Matt Smith walk around campus and attend some classes.

Tardis at MIT originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Social Media & tech.nocr.at

Frank — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 05:10:20 +0000

Now that I am finally convinced that social media is not a fad I have decided to bring tech.nocr.at into the current century. I have received many an email from readers wondering why we aren’t on Facebook or why we aren’t on Digg? I have been a big believer of twitter over the past year or two but never really saw the point of any other site.

Well, let me be the first to admit I was wrong. You can now follow tech.nocr.at through a variety of social media:

and of course the old faithful:

If you would like to see us elsewhere (perhaps there is some small regional networking site that we would be perfect for), drop us a line and we will consider adding it. Otherwise, all of he officially supported tech.nocr.at social networking sites can always be accessed from the top of the right sidebar

Social Media & tech.nocr.at originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/27. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Samsung Galaxy S Unlock

Frank — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:20:40 +0000

Users of the Samsung Galaxy S will be glad to hear that unlocking the unit is now easier than ever (alright, there are a lot of steps, but it’s easy to follow) and best of all, the unlock codes are right on the phone. This currently works on the the TMobile Vibrant and AT&T Captivate units as well as the international versions.

Just as a quick warning, check with your local laws to make sure unlocking a phone is legal. I know that laws in certain countries have quickly caught up with legalizing unlocking phones, but if you live in North Korea this might get you sent to a labour camp for the rest of your life.

I haven’t tried this myself since I don’t own a Galaxy, but from what I have heard this works quite well and it’s quite painless.

[Link to Galaxy S Unlocking Steps]

Samsung Galaxy S Unlock originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Real Life Flinstones House

Frank — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:21:47 +0000

This real life house looks like something straight out of the Flinstones. The house which is located in Portugal uses two gigantic stones for it’s main structure linked with a concrete mix.

I’m sure it has an awesome insulation value since this boulders are ridiculously thick, but on the flip side, home renovations on this unit would be a bitch.

Real Life Flinstones House originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Verizon and Google: Bed Mates

Frank — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 04:05:51 +0000

Earlier today Google and Verizon issued a joint policy statement surrounding net neutrality or what they refer to as a “Policy Proposal for an Open Internet”. I can’t even begin to lay out how wrong this is.

First, what the hell Google? Were you not one of the champions of an open a free internet? Did you not side with the masses in fighting for an internet that remained free from multiple tiers? What happened? Sleeping with Verizon will only lead to morning after regret.

Sure, you both state that this keeps the wired world free from your tyranny and it will only effect wireless networks. That’s like opposing fascism then coming around and saying it’s okay to be fascist in rural areas but not urban ones.

This does nothing more than open Pandora’s box, today wireless, tomorrow we will only get Google content on Verizon and Yahoo content on AT&T. WTF? Can you say AOL all over again.

I’m not sure how much money was exchanged or what drugs were smoked when you two got together but I sure do hope that the FCC and policy makers realize how detrimental this can be to the free and open internet we all enjoy.

Verizon and Google: Bed Mates originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Exchange To Google Apps

Frank — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:04:09 +0000

Microsoft slaves rejoice, you can now migrate your entire company’s database of contact, emails and calendars from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps. The tool, which is a small download from Google, works with both Exchange 2003 and 2007.

You do need to be a Google Apps Premier or Education Edition customer, but other than that it’s free and easy to use.

Microsoft’s set of web apps are just around the corner, I wonder if Google rushed this out the door in order to start putting a dent in the Microsoft corporate armour.

Exchange To Google Apps originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/03/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Awesome Rubik’s Cube Solving Robot

Frank — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:36:56 +0000

I know that there are 100′s if not 1000′s of websites and applications that will help you solve the almighty Rubik’s Cube, but how cool is having a Lego robot built with the Mindstorms kit do it for you.

By using a Lego webcam and some homebrew software, the CubeStormer scans the Rubik’s Cube and can solve it in about 20 turns. “20 turns, I can do that with my eye’s closed” you might say, but can you not only solve a Rubik’s Cube in 20 seconds, can you also preform those 20 turns in a few seconds? Check of the video after the break of the CubeStormer in action.

Built entirely from lego elements with a lego web camera to scan the faces of the cube, The solve engine (algorithm) running on the computer is provided by the incredible “Cube Explorer” software which also provides the colour recognition required to determine the exact location of each coloured square.

Awesome Rubik’s Cube Solving Robot originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/03/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Happy Birthday BBS

Frank — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 05:13:20 +0000

Just a few days ago, Feb 16 to be exact, in 1978 Ward Christensen and Randy Suess launched the first ever Bulletin Board System in Chicago.

Many people belive that the BBS was the predecesor to the modern internet, a crude form I will agree but a much more enjoyable form of social interaction online per say. If your not familiar with how a BBS works let me give you a crash course. Back in the day we use to have these devices connected to our computers called modems. They allowed us to connect phone lines to our systems so that we could call other computers and interact in a message based way. BBS’s offered the world of information; files, messaging and even games (called door games).

Many people think that the BBS is dead, they couldn’t be more wrong. BBS’s are still quite active and alive with thriving communities and best of all, no spam or trolls (alright, so there are still stupid people in this world, even on BBS’s). bbs-scene.org is a great place to find out more about BBS’s and how you can participate.

Come join us in Web 0.2, I still love it (and run a system myself!)

Happy Birthday BBS originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Boxee Set To Roll Out A Set-Top Box

Frank — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:05:07 +0000

Ohh you Americans with your awesome ability to watch full episodes of TV shows via Hulu and Boxee. Us Canadians are only stuck with the ability to watch our Canadian programming in some crappy player on some crappy Canadian broadcasters website. Actually it really isn’t all that bad, but then again, you have Boxee, we have awesome beer. You can always use a VPN is you really wanted to use it.

Boxee just announced that it will be releasing a set-top box that will run their fantastic software. There really isn’t much details on the upcoming device but then again all it really has to do is have a hard drive inside and HDMI out, no? It’s what’s inside that counts, the Boxee software.

Hopefully one day we will see Boxee up here in Canada with having to go through hoops to use it and with a connected device that costs oh let’s say under $200 to power it, you might never need cable or satellite again.

[Link to Boxee Box]

Boxee Set To Roll Out A Set-Top Box originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Hackintosh Atom Fix In The Works

Frank — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:37:34 +0000

Fear not hackintosh faithful; according to Gizmodo, the hacker who is the driving force behind netbook hackintosh builds says that the kernel will be fixed for the Atom processors. “It’ll just take a few weeks.”

If you might have slipped with your netbook and upgraded to 10.6.2, you can still downgrade your kernel to get you back up and running again.

[Via Gizmodo]

Hackintosh Atom Fix In The Works originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

In Case You Missed It: Week 44 Round Up

Frank — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:22:01 +0000

Another week another bunch of stuff that we posted. In case you missed any of it we have everything from Videogame Alarm Clocks to Secret Knock Door Openers. Enjoy.

Gadgets

A Cell Phone For Grama
USB Boobie Warmers
Fuel Cell Charger
Batteries For The Web 2.0 Generation

Gaming

Videogame Alarm Clocks

Hacking and Security

DIY: Star Trek Bluetooth Communicator
Turn A Dead 360 Into A PC
DIY: Auto Tracking Sentry Gun
DIY: Arduino AppleTV Remote
Secret Knock Door Lock
DIY: Digital Mixtape
Build A Real Working Tricorder, Sort Of
Build An Annoying Beeping Thing

Mac

MacHeist Nano Bundle: $154 In Apps 4 Free
Hacker Hacks Jailbroken iPhone
10.6.2 Kills Off Atom CPU Support
iPhone Safari Bug Could Cost You Cash

Tech News

Google Voice Invites
Woops: 10.6.2 Doesn’t Kill Atom Support

In Case You Missed It: Week 44 Round Up originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2009 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Tech News | Explore more in: 10.6.2, 360, ac, alarm, alarm clock, apple, appletv, apps, arduino, arm, atom, batteries, beep, bluetooth, bug, bundle, case, cash, cat, cell phone, charger, clock, communicator, cpu, dead, diy, door, ds, ea, fuel cell, game, Gaming, google, google voice, gun, hack, hacking, hacks, id, invite, iphone, jailbroken, knock, loa, lock, Mac, macheist, mixtape, nano, open, os, pc, pen, phone, remote, roundup, safari, secret, security, sentry, star trek, tap, tape, tech.nocr.at, tor, tracking, trek, tricorder, ui, usb, video, web 2.0, weekly | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Google Voice Invites

Frank — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:37:09 +0000

With all of the hoopla surrounding Google Wave most people have forgotten about Google’s last hot product, Google Voice.

If you haven’t heard of Google Voice, let’s look at wikipedia ….

The service provisions a U.S. phone number, chosen by the user from available numbers in selected area codes, free of charge to each user account. Inbound calls to this number are forwarded to other phone numbers of the subscriber. Outbound calls may be placed to domestic and international destinations by dialing the Google Voice number or from a web-based application.[2] Inbound and domestic outbound calls (including calls to Canada, Alaska and Hawaii [3]) are free of charge, while international calls are billed according to a schedule posted on the Google Voice website.

It’s an awesome service and it currently in closed beta. Much like gmail of many years ago, you can only join Google Voice if you have an invite, and I just happen to have 3.

The first three people who post a comment will get an invite. Make sure you use your real email since that’s the only way to send out the invite. Enjoy.

Google Voice Invites originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Woops: 10.6.2 Doesn’t Kill Atom Support

Frank — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:13:26 +0000

Woops, looks like 10.6.2 won’t kill support for the Atom chip after all. All you netbook hackintosh users can now breath a sigh of relief. We reported a few days ago that the latest developer build of Leopard had support for the Atom chipset removed. None of the Apple hardware uses the Atom chip so it looked like it was a direct attack at killing off the hackintosh community. Well, we were wrong.

It looks like Apple has added support for the Atom chip back in. Not sure why they did this in the first place. It could have been a mistake, could just be a temporary measure, but it can change again at any time. Apple is notorious for going to extreme measures to it’s OS off of non Apple hardware. Only time will tell. In the meantime, enjoy the latest developer build on your netbook.

Woops: 10.6.2 Doesn’t Kill Atom Support originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

In Case You Missed It: Week 43 Round Up

Frank — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:35:51 +0000

In case you missed anything last week; we have everything from Metallica on your iPhone right through to a $1200 Mouse. Enjoy

Gadgets

Remote Controlled Tissue Box
Electronic Guitar Shirt
Sucker Alert: $1200 Mouse
Sucker Alert: Wattgate 381 “Audio Grade” Socket

Gaming

Nokia Kills The N-Gage – Are You Shocked?
Nintendo DSi Get’s Bigger
Quickdev16: SNES Developers Cart
Soccer Hero

Hacking and Security

Use Your iPhone To Control Your Car
Mr. Wake – The Uncatchable Alarm Clock
Crush Your Cans With Electricity
3D Video With One Camera
DIY: Tesla “Spooky Spirit” Radio
Phaser Boasts 300mW Laser
iPhone App To Crack Combination Locks

Mac

Tap Tap Revenge Metallica For The iPhone

Tech News

XBMC on ARM
Install 59 Apps Quickly And Easily
Water Drops At 2000 FPS

In Case You Missed It: Week 43 Round Up originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2009 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Tech News | Explore more in: 3d, ac, alarm, alarm clock, apps, arm, audio, camera, car, cart, case, cat, clock, comb, control, diy, ds, dsi, ea, gag, Gaming, guitar, hack, hacking, id, iphone, ir, kde, laser, led, loa, lock, Mac, metal, metallica, mouse, n-gage, nes, nintendo, nintendo ds, nintendo dsi, nokia, os, phaser, phone, radio, rc, remote, remote control, rip, roundup, security, shirt, snes, soccer, sucker, tap, tap tap revenge, tech.nocr.at, tesla, tissue, tron, ui, video, water, weekly, xbmc | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

XBMC on ARM

Frank — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:55:23 +0000

The most awesome guys over at the XBMC project have posted a teaser showing how far along the have come on the ARM port of their media player (Check the video after the break). You can clearly see the package boot up and even play back HD video. There looks like there is still some tweaking to be done on image rendering, but it looks like it’s almost there.

The hardware they used is a Beagleboard which runs a 600 MHz ARM processor, puts out HD via a DVI port, has OpenGL acceleration and best of all, sells for about $150. You can easily connect the 3″ x 3″ (wow, that’s insanely small for an HD media device) to a network by using a USB WiFi dongle.

The port is still a ways away from being stable, but from all of the work they have been doing there shouldn’t be too much more of a wait.

[Link to XBMC on ARM]

XBMC on ARM originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Install 59 Apps Quickly And Easily

Frank — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:30:15 +0000

With the recent release of Windows 7, many people have to slug their way through installing their applications. This can easily be a tedious and time consuming adventure. Thankfully Ninite does a lot of the heavy lifting for you.

Ninite allows you to install up to 59 different pieces of software for you, with little or no interaction from you. All you have to do is head on over to the Ninite website, select which programs you want and download the installer. It’ll start the process of loading your machine up with the software. Best of all, it will automatically say “No” to installing any extra toolbars or annoying add-on programs.

[Link to Ninite]

Install 59 Apps Quickly And Easily originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Water Drops At 2000 FPS

Frank — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:45:51 +0000

High speed video can be so much fun. Watching something that we normally take for granted on high speed film can really be amazing. Remember the bullets that were shot at 1,000,000 fps? Normally when we see a bullet being fired it happens in the blink of an eye, but when it’s slowed down you can actually see how the impact happens.

Take this video of a water droplet hitting a container full of water. You can actually see the droplet bouncing thanks to a thin layer of air which separates the drops from the water surface. Check out the video after the break.

Water Drops At 2000 FPS originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/27. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

In Case You Missed It: Week 42 Round Up

Frank — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 05:49:12 +0000

In case you missed anything this past week, we have everything from cooling with mineral oil to video editing on your iPhone. Enjoy.

Gadgets

Asus Keyboard PC

Gaming

Cool Your Xbox With Mineral Oil
PS3 Smashing Into A TV At 80 KMH
Open Source DS Bluetooth Adapter
Black Wii For The Brits
Rock Band For iPhone Now Available

Hacking and Security

Remote Control That’s Impossible To Lose
DIY: Build A Solar Power Station
PS3 Laptop
Hard Drive Lock Pick

Mac

Dead: ZFS For The Mac
Rebel EFI: A Thorn In Apples Side
ReelDirector: Video Editing For Your iPhone

Tech News

Project Eagle Claw: Taking Out The Scammers
Skype And Chrome Go Portable
Microsoft’s App Lab
Windows 7: Will You Upgrade?
B&N Nook Officially Released
Super Fast Robot Hands

In Case You Missed It: Week 42 Round Up originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2009 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Tech News | Explore more in: ac, amp, apple, asus, band, bluetooth, case, chrome, control, dead, diy, drive, ds, ea, editing, fast, Gaming, hack, hacking, hard drive, id, iphone, ir, key, keyboard, laptop, loa, lock, Mac, microsoft, mineral oil, nook, open, open source, os, pc, pen, phone, portable, power, ps3, rc, rebel efi, remote, remote control, robot, rock, rock band, roundup, rss, scammer, security, skype, smash, solar, tech.nocr.at, tor, ui, video, weekly, wii, wind, windows, windows 7, xbox, zfs | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Project Eagle Claw: Taking Out The Scammers

Frank — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:31:11 +0000

Looks like the Nigerian government is actually doing something to stop email scammers that are giving their country a bad name. Project Eagle Claw is an effort to shut down Nigerian scammers. The project has netted 18 people and shut down 800 sites.

Previously the government would use “Cyber Raids” and petitions (WTF, how do you bust someone via petition?) to deal with scammers. Now they are going full out commando style and busting people left, right, and center. They say that when they are all done up to 5000 scam emails will be offline.

Someone in Hollywood should make a kick ass action movie depicting some elite commando group that’s sent in to Nigeria to take out these scammers.

[Via Ars Technica]

Project Eagle Claw: Taking Out The Scammers originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Skype And Chrome Go Portable

Frank — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:13:34 +0000

The guys over at PortableApps.com have been turning out great portable apps for years now. Apps that you can easily put on a USB flash drive and run from any machine. All of the software that they offer is open source, until now that is.

PortableApps has decided to add a handful of closed source apps like Skype and Chrome to their list of offerings. Project lead John T. Haller offered a number of reasons for the move, ending with “it’s the right thing to do. Keeping an open platform and allowing all software to compete on a level playing field just makes sense.”

Besides fan favorites Chrome and Skype, Free Commander, SpyDLLRemover and 2x Terminal were added. IcoFX, XMPlay and a few others are expected soon.

[link to PortableApps.com]

Skype And Chrome Go Portable originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Microsoft’s App Lab

Frank — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:01:04 +0000

I’ll give Microsoft credit, when they want to be funny they are funny. The Windows Mobile Dev team released this video giving everyone a sneak peak from their super secret application development lab of the upcoming apps that will be released on the new Windows Marketplace.

I love the under-tone of poking fun at Apple’s ridiculous app approval process. They talk about some of the apps that have been rejected like the “You Are Here GPS App” and my personal favorite the virtual handsake app called the “Germaphobe”. I’d pay $0.99 for it.

Microsoft’s App Lab originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Windows 7: Will You Upgrade?

Frank — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:02:59 +0000

With Windows 7 officially released, will you be getting up early to purchase your copy?

It has been a long time coming (I really don’t count Vista as a usable operating system), a stable a somewhat decent OS from Microsoft. Let’s be honest, the form and function of the new OS from the boys at Redmond is no big secret. Reviews and betas of Windows 7 have been around since January of this year, hell, I’ve been running it on my HP laptop for the past few months, but the question is will the general public bite? Will they head out in mass to grab their copies and upgrade their systems?

Let’s take a quick look at your options. If you purchase a new machine instead of upgrading your current computer you’ll get away with a free copy, that’s your best bet. If you decide to not go down that route you’ll be dishing out on the high end, $319 for the Ultimate edition and not that much more less for any of the other usable versions of Windows 7. I think they have completely missed the boat again. With Apple selling a single complete version of Snow Leopard for $29 how can anyone justify paying over $300 for an operating system?

It’s not a big secret that I’m not a big fan of Microsoft, but I will give them credit. Windows 7 has a lot of the look and feel of Vista with the stability of a 2000 or XP. They tried to bring their UI into the 21st century with Vista and it failed miserably. It ran sluggish and had it’s issues, but this time I think they have a winner. Welcome back to the game Microsoft, you can now join the usability ranks of OS X, Gnome and KDE.

What will you do? You gonna run out and pick up your copy of Windows 7 today? Let us know in the comments.

Windows 7: Will You Upgrade? originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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B&N Nook Officially Released

Frank — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:30:16 +0000

Barnes and Noble today officially revealed today their e-book reader, the Nook. So what does it have to offer? It measures 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches and it weighs only 11.2 ounces. It comes with two screens, a 6-inch grayscale e-in display and a 3.5-inch colour touchscreen that sits just under the main screen. It’s got 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi connectivity as well as AT&T 3G support. It comes with 2GB of internal storage (that doesn’t sound like a lot, but in reality that should hold about 1500 ebooks), microSD card support for additional storage, what they claim is a battery that only takes 3.5 hours to charge and will give you 10 days of usage, headphone jack, USB connectivity and MP3 player support.

Not only does the Nook let you read your favorite books but it also lets you take notes, highlight passages, listen to music, and create your own screen savers. They will also offer e-book lending and free Wi-Fi when your inside a Barnes and Noble store.

All of this sounds like a Kindle killer but there is one small problem. Not only do we not have Barnes and Noble stores here in Canada, it doesn’t look like the device which can now be pre-ordered for $259 will be offered to us Canadians. Looks like i’ll have to make a trip into Buffalo to pick mine up once they hit store shelves.

[Link to Nook.com]

B&N Nook Officially Released originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Super Fast Robot Hands

Frank — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:02:04 +0000

I was blown away when I first saw this video. This robot hands moves so quickly that they had to slow the play speed of the video just so you can make out what the robot is actually doing.

This is just more proof that someone somewhere is building SkyNet and these robots will be taking over the world. Remember the lesson we all learned while watching BSG? Forget the upcoming zombie onslaught, we have to be worried about these fraggin robots.

Super Fast Robot Hands originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

B&N E-Reader Photos Leaked

Frank — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:03:24 +0000

Pictrues and some suspected specs of the upcoming Barnes & Noble e-book reader have already started to make their way through the interwebs. The upcoming eBook (seems that’s what it will actually be called) will have a 800×600 6-inch monochrome e-ink monitor and a 480×144 colour LCD that will be used for browsing book covers and other content. The smaller screen will also double as a keyboard.

If your holding out on an e-reader because your waiting for a colour screen you out of luck here but the dual screen and one of them being a colour touch pad is a neat idea. E-Ink does have it’s advantageous like no eye strain while reading. The unit will have a light at the top to make it easier to read in low light environments.

This device looks like it will give the Kindle a run for it’s money. Here is to hoping that they offer this one here in Canada. (Yes, I’m pissed over the Kindle still not being available here).

B&N E-Reader Photos Leaked originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Unlock Your Car With Your iPhone

Frank — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 03:22:56 +0000

Car alarm company Viper (which is owned by Directed Electronics) is unveiling a new app for iPhone users that will let customers control certain aspects of their Viper SmartStart-enabled vehicle from their iPhone or iPod Touch.

The app, which is called Viper SmartStart, acts as a virtual keychain which can do things like lock/unlock your car, open then trunk, enable the alarm or start your car. The app uses the iPhone’s data connection which allows you to control your car from anywhere you have a 3G or EDGE connection.

The only problem I have with this app is what do you do when your somewhere that doesn’t give you 3G or EDGE service like an underground garage? If you can deal with that then you can pick up the app for free. As for the SmartStart module for your car, well that’s gonna run you $499 for a new install or $299 for users who already have a Viper alarm system installed. You will also have to pay for a subscription to Viper’s SmartStart service.

Sounds like too costly for nothing more than a glorified key fob. I’ll keep the little box on my keychain and save the loads of cash.

Unlock Your Car With Your iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Bullets At 1,000,000 FPS

Frank — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 05:11:37 +0000

I’m not a big gun fan but watching a bullet is some metal at 1,000,000 frames per second slowed down to 30 frames per second is quite amazing.

To put in perspective how fast the camera was that created this video lets do some math. Video is typically shot at 30 frames per second. This video was shot at 1,000,000 frames per second that’s over 41,000 times the speed of regular video. When slowed down to the regular 30 fps you get this super slow video that shows every little detail of the bullet. Quite amazing.

[Kurzzeit]

Bullets At 1,000,000 FPS originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

The Pirate Bay Relocates To A Nuclear Bunker

Frank — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:29:11 +0000

The Pirate Bay was forced to move outside of Sweden this past Friday. Their first move was to the Ukraine but that ended up being short lived and now have found a new residence inside of a Nuclear Bunker.

The CyberBunker is a former military nuclear warfare bunker located in The Netherlands. The bunker was built by NATO in the 1950′s as a place for people to survive a nuclear war (I’m sure it was for the politicians and not the common folk). Once the threat of nuclear war went away so did the need to keep it running. It was sold to it’s current owners and is now used as a web hosting data center.

CyberBunker is fully equipped with EMP shielding and has an air filtration system that will keep out any Nuclear, Biological or Chemical agents.

The Pirate Bay Relocates To A Nuclear Bunker originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck

Frank — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:56:37 +0000

Following Linux Distros That Don’t Suck from earlier this year here is a comprehensive list of, you guessed it, more Linux Distros that don’t suck. Some of these are more obscure lesser known distros that are quite powerful and very useful. Some of these come from personal use some of them came from the great comments you readers posted the first time I did this.

Remember that this is just a personal list, nothing more, nothing less. I’m not trying to start a holy war since that’s what usually happens when you open something like this up. With that being said, let’s us know in the forums what your list of Linux Distros That Don’t Suck would be.

SLAMPP – A Slackware based Live DVD that can only be described as a one-stop server system. Right off the DVD your up and running with pre-configured services including an HTTP server, FTP server, DHCP server, DNS server and a whole lot more. This is the perfect Distro for those “I really don’t know when I will need a fully functional small network server” times. Best of all, you can run it all without ever having to install anything on the host machine.

Pardus – Pardus, which is the scientific name for the the Anatolian Leopard (watch out Apple), is a Turkish Linux distro which is extremely underrated. It’s wonderfully crafted and has a lot of polish to it. You can tell that the developers have really put a lot of time and energy making this not only run really well but also make it really sexy. I would easily recommend this distro to novices and experts alike.

CrunchBang – Think of CrunchBang as Ubuntu for the advanced. It offers speed and style as well at the bleeding edge of packages. It’s highly customizable and comes with the nimble openbox window manager. No bloated Gnome or KDE here. This is the perfect distro if you really like Ubuntu but don’t like how it’s geared towards linux n00bs.

Sabayon – Sabayon promises to transform your computer into a powerful Gentoo Linux system in under 5 minutes. It’s a livecd (with the option to install) of the uber geek popular Gentoo. It’s very powerful and very polished like you would expect from any Gentoo system, but best of all it still acts like an other Gentoo system allowing you to use portage to pull from the Gentoo repositories.

PC-BSD – Alright, I know it’s technically not Linux, it’s BSD based, but it tries really really hard to be Linux. If you are more of a BSD fan but like the Desktop functionality that a standard linux distro offers then PC-BSD is perfect for you. Much like any out of the box distro you can listen to music, watch some video, work with office documents and you can even install applications with a gui. Best of all, it’s a rock solid BSD core that powers everything.

CentOS – Based on the rock solid RHEL, CentOS is one of the most reliable distros you will every find. It offers quick errata, package management that offers stable applications and has a very strong community behind it. They even get upstream fixes from RHEL. If you want a solid server based OS you can’t do much better than CentOS.

Slackware – The oldest of the bunch. Created in 1992, Slackware is the oldest surviving distro. It orginally came on 24 floppy disks as was built on top of kernel 0.99 and it was one of the hardest things to install. Thank God that things have changed. It’s now a highly technical and clean distro. No fancy tools for settings, you have to do everything by editing text files. You know what they say, if you learn Ubuntu you know Ubuntu. If you learn Slackware you know Linux.

There you go, another list of distros that don’t suck (according to me). You millage may vary. I really don’t want to start a holy war so I open it up to you to add to the list by visiting our forums and letting us know what you like.

More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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NirLauncher – The Ultimate Thumb Drive Toolkit

Frank — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:12:28 +0000

For those of you who love to carry with you everything you might ever need to fix a friends system NirLauncher is the right product for you.

You get over a 100 utilities included right out of the pop and it even gives you the ability to tweak it and add more. You can easily build one killer flash drive with everything you might ever need to fix (or dare we say it, sniff) someone else’s machine. If you more into the later of that bracketed comment you might be better off picking up the awesome security based distro Back Track.

NirLauncher is 100% free and is for Windows only.

NirLauncher – The Ultimate Thumb Drive Toolkit originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Ubuntu 9.10 Beta

Frank — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 06:31:40 +0000

The world’s most popular Linux Distro just got a bit older. Ubuntu 9.10 code named Karmic Koala is quickly reaching it’s maturity date of October 29th when a full stable release will go out.

If you have never used Linux Ubuntu is one of the easiest distro’s to use. It’s quick and easy to install plus it’s probably the most Windows like experience you will get if your coming from a machine running a Microsoft OS. If you are a Linux n00b then you might want to wait till it comes out of beta before you dive in.

Link to Ubuntu 9.10 beta

Ubuntu 9.10 Beta originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

$150,000 In Amazon Fiasco

Frank — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:32:25 +0000

We have all heard of the fiasco Amazon caused when they took it upon themselves to reach into peoples Kindle and delete books. Well it has finally come around to bite them in the ass. When Amazon decided to wipe purchased copies of 1984 from peoples devices they also took a kids homework with them.

What did this kid do about it? Naturally what anyone who has grown up in the age of the internets, sue Amazon. Although Amazon has decided to settle out of court it ended up paying out $150,000 to make this go away, by far the most expensive homework assignment ever.

That’s not all. To top it all off and to really seal this deal as a win for the little guy, Amazon will not be allowed to do anything similar again. Here’s what the statement says:

Amazon will not remotely delete or modify such Works from Devices purchased and being used in the United States unless (a) the user consents to such deletion or modification; (b) the user requests a refund for the Work or otherwise fails to pay for the Work (e.g., if a credit or debit card issuer declines to remit payment); (c) a judicial or regulatory order requires such deletion or modification; or (d) deletion or modification is reasonably necessary to protect the consumer or the operation of a Device or network through which the Device communicates (e.g., to remove harmful code embedded within a copy of a Work downloaded to a Device).

Good on them. This should teach some of the other massive companies out there that they can’t just do what they want when they want.

$150,000 In Amazon Fiasco originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Linux Distros That Don’t Suck

Frank — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:44:43 +0000

I, much like every other hardcore geek on the face of the earth, have multiple linux based distro iso’s laying around. Some of them are for testing and some of them contain tools that I use on a daily basis. I have had many people email me about the best distro out there. The only answer I have for them is “depends on what you want to do”. I have spent sometime working on a list of Linux distros and what they are good for.

Now, before I start. Discussion distro’s with people is like discussion religion. Everyone has one and everyone feels something different towards other people who aren’t of the same faith. I just want to remind everyone that this list is just what I see, and how I feel about each distro. It’s definitely not a “what’s right and what’s wrong” type of list. Enjoy.

Knoppix – The one that started it all. Knoppix was the first major LiveCD based distro to hot the scene and open up a whole new world of bootable operating systems. This is probably the best known and most complete LiveCD distro out there. It contains everything you need to act as a full production replacement system. Word Processing, graphics editors, media players, browers, mail clients. You name is, Knoppix has it.

SystemRescueCD – This one I keep with me all the time. SystemRescueCD is a massive collection of tools to help you get out of a bind. It aims to provide an easy way to carry out admin tasks on your computer, such as creating and editing the partitions of the hard disk. It contains a lot of system tools (parted, partimage, fstools, …) and basic tools (editors, midnight commander, network tools). It is very easy to use. Plus, it can also be booted via a USB flash drive. A must for anyone’s collection.

Dynabolic – Billed as a complete media distro, dyne:bolic is shaped on the needs of media activists, artists and creatives as a practical tool for multimedia production: you can manipulate and broadcast both sound and video with tools to record, edit, encode and stream, having automatically recognized most device and peripherals: audio, video, TV, network cards, firewire, usb and more; all using only free software!. Just boot off the CD and your ready to go.

BackTrack – The king of all penetration testing and security distros. If you’re worried about security or exploits then this is the one for you. With more than 300 different up-to-date tools which are logically structured according to the work flow of security professionals. This structure allows even newcomers to find the related tools to a certain task to be accomplished. New technologies and testing techniques are merged into BackTrack as soon as possible to keep it up-to-date.

NimbleX – This is one of my favorite all around LiveCD based distros. It’s full featured but a lot smaller than something like Knoppix. With everything you need to act as a Desktop replacement in a 200 MB CD image, what more can you ask for.

Gentoo – The hardcore Linux distro. What makes Gentoo unique compared to other distros is the need to manually compile every part of the OS. I know that their are gui installers now and pre built packages for the mindless, but having the ability to tweak and optimize every aspect of the OS will not only give you a stable system, but one hell of a quick one too. Mind you, all of this compilation could easily take you days before you have a base system, especially when you make Xorg and a windows manager like KDE or gnome.

Debian – My day to day OS. Debian is one of the oldest and most stable distros around. The core to a bunch of other distros like Knoppix and Ubuntu. If your looking for something that will give you no headaches and carries a very stable branch of applications, Debian is the distro for you.

Ubuntu – Ubuntu is Debian to the next level. It’s a fork of Debian that has quickly become the most popular Linux distro in the world. It’s easy to install, easy to use, and is probably the best Windows replacement OS that is Linux based. Ubuntu’s software repository contains applications that are more recent than say Debian, but the down side to that is the fine edge you walk on when it comes to stability.

Fedora – The big boy on the block, and by big boy I don’t mean popularity, I mean in size. Fedora comes chalked with what seems like every application ever made. Although to some this might be nothing more than bloat, to others it’s a full and complete experience. Install Fedora and you pretty much have every open source application that is useful at your finger tips. If you have never experienced Linux before this is a great distro to get your feet wet with.

I know there are other great distro’s like Slackware, DSL, and OpenSUSE, this list is just a collection of distro’s that I find useful or that I have had experience with. Feel free to add your recommendations in the comments.

Linux Distros That Don’t Suck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/05/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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GFI Backup – Free Backup Software

Frank — Fri, 15 May 2009 04:31:56 +0000

We all know we should do it. We have all said it enough times. Backup backup and backup. There is no better way to ensure that all of your pictures or documents will carry on if you don’t back them up. Well you really have no excuse now do you.

GFI Software just launched a free backup and recovery client for home users. The app gives PC users a few different options to safe guard your data like synching it with a remote location via FTP. Most other backup software uses propirtary compression algorithms which forces you to use their software to restore a backup. Not with GFI Backup Home Edition, it uses the uber popular zip format to store backups.

Give it a whirl, what’s the worst that can happen, you don’t like it?

[Link to GFI Backup Home Edition]

GFI Backup – Free Backup Software originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/05/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Still here, somewhere

Frank — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:28:15 +0000

I have to be blessed with some of the best readers on the internets. I vanish from time to time as life calls me and tech.nocr.at still manages to get all of these amazing readers time and time again.

Where did I go this time? Well, as some of you might know, my passion, the place that I cut my teeth, was the bbs (bulletin board system) world and I have been working feverishly at getting my second bbs up and running. Besides the almighty Diskshop BBS I have also managed to setup a second BBS, Hysteria. I have also been contributing to the Enthral (which the BBS software that powers Hysteria) code base. Enthral is a great new BBS package for *nix/bsd systems.

I’m gonna start getting back into the swing of things over the next few days, bare with us as we get setup and ready to bring you the wacky, the new, and the shinny of the technology world.

Still here, somewhere originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/05/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Netflix and Samsung Blu-Ray Team Up

Ryan Yewell — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:00:04 +0000

Netflix and Samsung recently announced that two of Samsung’s Blu-Ray players (the BD-P2550 and BD-P2500) now have the ability to stream the Netflix service. Samsung and Netflix also plan to bring the movie/tv subscription service to more of Samsung’s consumer electronics in the future.

To make it happen, the Samsung Blu-ray player communicates with Netflix via its internet connection, then a Netflix interface appears onscreen. You sign into your account, enter an activation code, and you’ll then be able to stream “dvd picture quality movies and TV episodes”. According to their marketing material, there are currently over 12,000 movies and TV episodes to choose from on Netflix.

It remains to be seen how many people own an HD/Blu-Ray setup that would be in the market for streaming DVD-quality movies through a subscription based model like NetFlix. One might wonder if a consumer already has a Blu-Ray player, and an internet connection (and
computer), they might already be getting their DVD content from, ummm… “other” sources.

[Link to Press Release]

Netflix and Samsung Blu-Ray Team Up originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/27. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Raise A Glass To Pownce

Frank — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 17:27:03 +0000

One of the greatest things about being a geek is the ability to tinker and toy with stuff without having to ask “Why?”. Some of the best “Why?” projects involve alcohol. Toss in a dash of social networking and you get a Pownce beer pouring robot.

It begs the question, “Why would you build a beer pouring robot thats activated by Pownce?”, because you can. Which leads me to my next question, “Why am I not surprised you’re single?”.

Raise A Glass To Pownce originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

3DS Max Now Owns Softimage

Ryan Yewell — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:38:48 +0000

You’ve probably heard of 3DS Max, the software suite that creates a lot of the visuals you see in games these days (and other media). You may have heard of Softimage as well, another software suite that is used in making games (and film/television). Well, Autodesk (maker of 3DS Max) just bought up Softimage’s business for the price tag of $35 million.

Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment, states in the official press release that both products will “help us accelerate the work of our Games Technology Group, as we build the next-generation of real-time, interactive 3D authoring tools for games, film and television.”

Not sure if this is good news or not. Competition is healthy, but having the best of both worlds (and hopefully not the worst of both) being used in our entertainment mediums could be cool…

Autodesk plans to keep Softimage in the market, and continue to develop for it. Of course they also plan to take some of the Softimage technology and put it in their own product, 3DS Max. It remains to be seen how Autodesk will keep the 2 product lines both distinct and innovative.

You can tell that Autodesk senses some apprehension out there, and Marc Petit concluded the press release with these words, to calm those who use Softimage products… “we know users invest a lot of time and energy into mastering their favorite 3D product. To all 3D artists out there, I want to tell you that we understand your passion for the creative tools you use daily, and that with Autodesk, you can choose your passion.”

More info at http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?id=12022457&siteID=123112]

3DS Max Now Owns Softimage originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Mobile Firefox Alpha

Frank — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 03:09:20 +0000

The first Mobile Firefox Alpha codenamed fennec is up for download on Mozilla’s site. Currently, the only mobile device that it actually runs on is Nokia’s N810 tablet, but you can play with it on Windows, OS X and Linux. I’m sure it will only be a short amount of time before we start to see this thing complied to run on everything from an iPhone (I hope) to a Blackberry (I REALLY Hope).

If you download and play with the alpha let us know how you made out in the forums

Mobile Firefox Alpha originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Join The tech.nocr.at Forums

Frank — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:52:06 +0000

You asked for it so we brought it to you. The tech.nocr.at forums are live and functioning. Drop by and discuss anything that is on your mind. Think of it as an extended version of our comments but only cooler. Got a hack or mod that has been vexing you? Maybe you don’t know what cell phone to buy, or you have a great tweak for Windows that you want to share with the world. It’s all there for your enjoyment.

You can hit the forums up at http://tech.nocr.at/forums. Don’t forget to tell a friend.

Join The tech.nocr.at Forums originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Sync Files Across Platforms With Synkron

Frank — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:55:56 +0000

Looking for a simple way to synchronize files or folder across multiple platforms, if so then Synkron is for you. Synkron is a power file-syncing app that synchs files and folders across Windows/Mac/Linux platforms. You can sync multiple folders, schedule automatic synchs, and even has restore capabilities incase a file has been accidentally overwritten during a sync.

Synkron is a local sync tool, so your files never pass through any third party server. It also supports filtering by extension and also has a file and folder blacklist system. Best of all it’s free.

[Link to Synkron]

Sync Files Across Platforms With Synkron originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Judge Upholds Ban On RealDVD

Frank — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:41:34 +0000

Remember that temporary ban imposed on RealNetworks by a judge last week on their RealDVD software, you know the one that RealNetworks was sure to win, well they didn’t. The temporary injunction on the sale of RealDVD will go on indefinately. The following sentence by the judge seems to have sealed the fate of RealDVD:

I’m not satisfied that in fact this technology is not in violation of the DMCA.

My fear is that this type of ruling might be leveraged by the music studios as well. If you can’t copy a video disc then maybe you can’t copy audio disc as well.

Judge Upholds Ban On RealDVD originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Prevent Druken Emails With Mail Googles

Frank — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 01:55:21 +0000

Google Labs has introduced a new feature that might help you prevent that email you want to send when you really shouldn’t be typing. Mail Googles will ask you to preform some basic math questions before you can send an email. By default it is set for late nights and weekends, the time you are most likely to be inebriated (although you can tweak the settings if you are the type to drink all day) and send messages that you might regret when you sober up!

[Link o Mail Googles]

Prevent Druken Emails With Mail Googles originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

US Court Temporarily Stops RealDVD Sales

Frank — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 03:07:52 +0000

Remember the “Legal DVD copying software” that RealNetworks released last week? Yeah, well, a US court judge has ordered RealNetworks to suspend sales of RealDVD until Tuesday so that he can sort the whole mess out.

RealNetworks sued a bunch of movie studios to demonstrate in court that the software doesn’t infringe on copyrights, and now the studios have sued back claiming that this software circumvents the digital copy protection on the DVD’s known as CSS.

Although RealDVD isn’t a real DVD ripper per say, it’s keeps the DVD’s CSS intact and adds even more DRM to the file so that it can only be watched on a single computer. If you don’t mind those restrictions then you will have to wait until Tuesday to see what the Judge says. If you want your DVD ripped now in a way that allows you to watch the movie any which way you please then I suggest something like Handbrake to help you along.

US Court Temporarily Stops RealDVD Sales originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

StumbleUpon Goes Bar-less

Frank — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:52:18 +0000

I have to give a plug to StumbleUpon which brings this site so much traffic.

One of the major stumbling (no pun intended) with StumbleUpon is that you need to install a toolbar to enjoy all of the great social like experiences it offers. Well, you can now enjoy all of the great websites that StumbleUpon has to over without the need of any add-ons. They just rolled out a new version of the site that works right in your browser. A javascript toolbar will now show up in your browser window that offer the same functionality as their browser based add-on version.

You can rank and stumble across areas that might interest you like News, Art, Computers, Music, and Technology. The list goes on and on. You can still use the toolbar if you like, but it’s no longer necessary.

StumbleUpon Goes Bar-less originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Send Your Idea To The MythBusters

Frank — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:57:08 +0000

Are you a fan of the uber geeky and cool show MythBusters? If so then here is your chance to send them some of your ideas. Adam and Jamie are using YouTube (as in the video above) to reach out to their fans and ask for ideas for the show. You can reply to the video above or in the MythBusters forum. I think we should get them to test the myth that WiFi access point cause harm. Alright, so it’s not a myth, but it would shut a co-worker up who drives me nuts on a daily basis about how back WiFi network are for your brain.

Send Your Idea To The MythBusters originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Real Files Suit Against Studios

Frank — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:19:19 +0000

Well that didn’t take long at all. Within an hour of making its new RealDVD software available for sail, RealNetworks filed suit against all of the major movie studios and the DVD Copy Control Association. According to Real’s press release, the suit “asks the court to rule that RealNetworks Home Entertainment Inc.’s RealDVD software…fully complies with the DVD Copy Control Association’s license agreement.”

Hollywood sources confirmed that the MPAA plans on filing their own suit asking a federal court to stop RealNetworks from distributing the RealDVD software. Real has a real good case here because the software doesn’t break the DVD’s encryption when copying the DVD to the hard drive. It even adds a second level of DRM.

Real Files Suit Against Studios originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

California Scientists Design Working Tricorder

Frank — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:28:58 +0000

Scientists at the University of California have created what just might be a working tricorder like the ones used in the Star Trek TV series. They aren’t actually calling it a tricorder, but the Universal Detector is a catchy name never-the-less (and one that will avoid a lawsuit).

The device would use nano-technology to figure out what kind of contaminants are present on any surface that you point the device at. Essentially you should be able to point this thing at anything and figure out what it’s made of. The idea uses a back plate that is filled with nanoscale holes. When placed on a surface the back plate is zapped with laser light and the surface plasmons that form emit light with a frequency related to the materials touching the plate. The only problem is that, the device, while sound in theory, will need a system that can decode the light signatures it produces.

If your not willing to wait for this to hit the market than you could always get this tricorder that will run on your iPhone.

California Scientists Design Working Tricorder originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Roll Your Own Error Messages

Frank — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:24:23 +0000

Have you ever actually run anything on the windows platform? Have you ever been puzzled by messages like these:

Across my stumbles of the great and vast internets I ran across the coolest website that can easily take hours away from your life. Atom Smasher‘s Make your own Error Message website is a great place to unwind and have fun with those pesky window pop up messages. You can create your own wacky windows error message, right down to what the buttons say and if they are grayed out or not.

Spook your co-workers with these gems and you’ll get hours of laughs. Enjoy

Roll Your Own Error Messages originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

T-Mobile G1 – First Official Android Phone

Frank — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 02:27:08 +0000

It’s official and it’s here (okay, not in Canada just yet). The first official smart phone running the most anticipated OS since the iPhone, Google’s Android. With a beautiful screen and full QWERTY keyboard, what more can you ask for. Read on for all the details and watch the video for an in-depth look at the OS. Then decide what you think.

Screen – 3.17″ 65K colour touchscreen that runs is HVGA (480×320)
Battery - 5 hours of talk time, 130 hours of standby time
Camera - 3.1 MP
Networks - GSM/GPRS/EDGE/Wi-Fi/UMTS/HSDPA and built in GPS
Storage - 1GB MicoSD pre-installed, Support for up to 8GB
Dimensions - 4.60″ x 2.16″ x 0.62″

T-Mobile G1 – First Official Android Phone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Clips Of Windows 7 In Action

Frank — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:31:09 +0000

Yesterday we gave you a tiny glimpse of what Windows 7 will look like based on the latest M3 build.. Today we bring you two tiny videos demonstrating Windows 7′s updated Start button animation and it’s new powerful integrated calculator. Don’t knock the calculator, with history lists and date-to-date measurements it looks like a calculator I might actually use.

Clips Of Windows 7 In Action originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Windows 7 – Looks Just Like Vista

Frank — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 05:01:21 +0000

Is it me or is Windows 7 looking a lot like Vista? In the latest Windows 7 M3 build, we see that there are some differences, but subtle at best. The ribbon interface is back, Libraries instead of My Documents, a simplified Start Menu, fewer UAC (User Account Control) alerts, and what seems to be a “light” version of Windows Media Player.

At first glance it looks like not much has changed. Maybe they should consider dropping the Vista background, that might help.

Windows 7 – Looks Just Like Vista originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

XBMC ‘Atlantis’ Beta 1 Released

Frank — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:01:27 +0000

The uber cool open source media center application Xbox Media Center (XBMC) has just release the first beta of XBMC Atlantis for all platforms (Windows, OS X, Linux, Xbox, and even on a live cd or thumb drive). Don’t let the beta status scare you, these guys are really close to brining this to production. Mac OS X users get a pretty benefit out of their release, integrated iTunes and iPhoto support. This could easily replace Front Row on every Mac, even replace your AppleTV if you have a Mac Mini laying around.

XBMC is free as in beer and works on all platforms. It’s still in beta so if you experience a bug here or there report it, but it’s been running real smooth on my machine.

[Link to XBMC]

XBMC ‘Atlantis’ Beta 1 Released originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Latest Microsoft Ad Without Jerry And Bill

Frank — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 03:14:18 +0000

There it is, the latest Microsoft ad without Jerry (Bill Gates is in this ad). Simple and sweet. I just hope they didn’t dump the entire $300 million into this ad. I could have put it together for them in Final Cut.

Latest Microsoft Ad Without Jerry And Bill originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.