tech.nocr.at » ac

Charatter Bear Regurgitates Your Tweets

Frank — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 01:27:13 +0000

It can be a chore to keep up with your twitter feeds, countless hours of following people’s daily minutia can quickly chew up your day. This is where the Charatter bear comes in – it synchs with your Twitter account and reads back to you all of your incoming tweets and not on a small screen but out LOUD. How’s that for really annoying, especially if you follow 1000s of people.

The company behind the USB add-on says that sales are exploding. A simple app for your iPhone or PC translates all of your tweets into sound which is then sent to the Charatter bear. Although the novelty of the bear is cute, it can quickly turn annoying. Imagine a co-worker with this on his desk yelping out loud “LOL” or “WTF” every 20 seconds. If would easily drive you to destroying the poor USB bear.

If you lead a really lonely life and want a USB bear to keep you company (and drive you insane) you can pick up the Charatter bear for $28. You will also have to travel to an electronic retailer in Japan to pick one up.

Charatter Bear Regurgitates Your Tweets originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Shinobi III On Your iPhone

Frank — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:35:07 +0000

I spent many an hour and many a quarter on Shinobi back in the day and now I can spend just as much time (but not as much money) playing it on my iPhone.

Sega has just released the great Genesis/Mega Drive classic to the App Store. The controls as great and the game play is responsive, not much more you can ask for really.

You can grab the iPhone version for $2.99 or you can also grab it for the Wii Virtual Console, The Sega Genesis Collection for the PSP & PS2, Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection for the 360 & PS3 or on Steam.

Shinobi III On Your iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

flipSYNC II Charging Fob

Frank — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 02:37:54 +0000

I bet if you reached into your computer bag right now you could easily pull out multiple USB cables. You know what I mean, that birds nest of cabling consisting of multiple iPod/iPhone cables and USB mini variants.

Scosche aims to change that for you with their flipSYNC II fob. Much like the key fob of a car, the flipSYNC is a USB cable that folds up nicely into a keychain fob.

The currently offer two models; one with an iPod/iPhone 30-pin connector and one with dual miniUSB/microUSB. They are sleek, small, and durable and will run you $20 a piece. I already have a nice Lacie USB key on my key chain and will soon add one of these cool units.

[Link to flipSYNC II]

flipSYNC II Charging Fob originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/27. 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.

Tiny Computer Looks More Like A Card Reader

Frank — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 03:46:22 +0000

This is one small computer, actually it looks more like a memory card reader than a computer. Don’t be fooled by it’s incredibly small size, this thing is more powerful that my netbook. CompuLab’s TrimSlice packs one hell-of-a punch for such a small unit.

NVIDIA Tegra 2 Dual Core ARM Cortex A9 1GHz

Integrated ultra-low power GeForce GPU

1 GB DDR2-800 RAM

ATA SSD (up to 64GB)

WiFi 802.11n + BT

DMI 1.3 full-HD + DVI (dual head)

Stereo line-out, line-in, 5.1 digital S/PDIF

4 USB Ports

Serial Port

Full size SD and Mirco SD reader

The unit comes in a solid metal case that can take some abuse, doesn’t need a fan to keep it cool and uses only 3 watts of power. CompuLab will be gearing this unit to the HTPC market and hasn’t announced an OS for it yet, but I’m sure the modding community will jump all over this once it’s released. This would be great for a small server connected to your TV running something like XBMC or a MythTV frontend.

No official pricing has been announced yet, but CompuLab is aiming for a sub-tablet price and it should be shipping sometime in April.

[Link to TrimSlice]

Tiny Computer Looks More Like A Card Reader originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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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.

Angry Birds Plush Toys

Frank — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 03:03:54 +0000

You must be living under a rock if you haven’t heard of Angry Birds. The game is been one of the hottest mobile platform games ever pushing over 12 million installs to date. You can play it on just about every mobile phone platform and there is even talk of a movie about those damn birds and the pigs that try to steal their eggs.

An etsy seller from Manilla is selling 100% hand-swen Angry Birds characters made from felt for the true addicts . The detail of these plush toys is suburb with careful (and I’m sure painstaking) detail applied to their facial features. You can pick them up myook’s etsy page for only $12 each. Time to start building your collection.

[Via etsy]

Angry Birds Plush Toys originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

HowTo: RFID Cat Door

Frank — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:55:11 +0000

Sure you can go out and buy an automatic car door that opens when your cat gets near it, but that requires your cat to wear a special collar and you need to keep the batteries in the collar in check. Since most pet owners already have identification RFID chips injected into their cats, why not take advantage of them.

By using an Arduino and some inexpensive parts, Instructables user landmanr put together a cat door that reads the cat’s RFID tag within 4-inches and unlocks the door. The code can distinguish between different RFID tags and can act accordingly. It’s simple, effective and well built. All he is missing is an enclosure to protect the internals.

[Link to RFID Cat Door]

HowTo: RFID Cat Door originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Contact

Frank — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 05:44:58 +0000

Have a story you want to share with us? Sure, just follow these simple guidelines …

If you are a company wanting to show off a product or service please explain what it is you are offering. Our readers just love new and juicy technology. If you are a PR firm representing a company or product please include your contact info incase we have any questions. We will honour an embargo if you have one.
If you are a reader and want to pass on information or a breaking story the please let us know the url to the story or attach any relevant documentation. Include your name and email address to contact you if we have any questions. If you don’t want us to use you as a story to the story please indicate so.
Although we monitor the incoming desk pretty much all the time, we are human and we must sleep. If you send us a note at 4 a.m. and are wondering why we haven’t gotten back to you in 20 mins it’s because we are sleeping.

If your okay with the above then please send our editors a note at

editors [at] tech.nocr.at

If we like the story we will look into it and cover it on tech.nocr.at.

Contact originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Super Mario Bros – Backwards

Frank — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 02:52:46 +0000

As a true gamer you must have already finished the original NES version of Super Mario Bros. You have probably already finished it in a variety of ways like fastest game, collecting all the coins, or killing all the turtles. Why not try beating it in reverse as well.

Much like reading in the western world, the original game was played from left to right. Hacker JJ decided playing Super Mario Bros the traditional was was boring and went about reversing the horizontal deflection coil wires of an old CRT TV which produced a mirror image.

Play the game backwards wasn’t enough, he also swapped the buttons on his NES controller just to get the full experience. I wonder if this is how people play games in the UK

[Link to Backwards Mario]

Super Mario Bros – Backwards originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Bus Shelter Video Gaming

Frank — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 17:21:25 +0000

Waiting for a bus will never be boring again if you live in San Francisco. Yahoo has just installed giant touchscreen panels at 20 San Francisco bus stops. The giant multi-touch screens not only allow you to play games, but allow you to play against people at other bus shelters.

Top scores for each neighbourhood are kept and the bus shelter that rakes in the most points will will a block party featuring OK Go.

I’m actually surprised that something like this hasn’t happened yet. Living in the age of “always connected” and with interactive media already the norm, something like this should have happened a while ago. Kodos to you Yahoo, great idea.

Bus Shelter Video Gaming originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Duke Nukem Forever And Ever

Frank — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 05:13:03 +0000

Duke Nukem Forever is probably the best known game that has never been released, as a matter-of-fact, some don’t even think it was ever written.

Duke Nukem Forever was supposed to be a highly anticipated sequel to the 2D classic Duke Nukem, but most people have spent half of their life waiting for the release. Now we finally have a firm release date; May 6th 2010.

How well will a 2D 90′s first person shooter character hold up against the massive games of today? I don’t really know, but having built up 12 years of hype around the release, it’s definitely some big shoes to fill.

Here’s to sneaking a floppy into your workplace to play Duke Nukem on a 386. Now just sit back and wait for the release of Duke Nukem Forever 2

/me ducks

Duke Nukem Forever And Ever originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

XBMC Launches On Apple TV 2 & iOS

Frank — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 02:26:26 +0000

The second generation Apple TV suddenly looks a lot better as a home theater PC. XBMC, the open-source media center software that is the driving force behind projects like Boxee and Plex has just launched for jailbroken second generation Apple TVs.

The Apple TV iOS port uses Apple’s “VideoToolBox” private acceleration API. This gives XBMC access to the built-in hardware video acceleration included in Apple’s A4 chip, allowing for non-Apple approved HD video playback. You heard me correct, full 1080p video playback on the tiny $99 box. Video playback isn’t the only thing you get, most of the core apps that are in the Desktop or Xbox versions are there as well.

Since the second generation Apple TV runs iOS, developers didn’t stop there. They added an iPhone and iPod touch port which can be installed on jailbroken devices via Cydia. Not a remote application, a full blown XBMC system on your iPhone or iPad. The iPad version tends to be less frustrating to use than the iPhone version, but I’m sure they will work on that.

I hope Apple can see the benefit of XBMC on their devices, it would be an instant hit if it ever hits the App store.

[Link to XBMC for iOS]

XBMC Launches On Apple TV 2 & iOS originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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FlipIt – Never Hog An Outlet Again

Frank — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 05:02:25 +0000

If you spend any time in hotel rooms then already you know how vauable a resource and outlet can be. If you don’t carry a power bar around with you your gadgets have to compete for the one or two outlets that may be free in your room. Nothing is more annoying that swapping around plugs just to make sure you charge up all of your gadgets.

FlipIt is a brilliant design to help you with just that. The idea it quite simple, a normal plug slips through the slots in the FlipIt, allowing both cords to be connected at the same time and using up only one outlet.

Currently they only offer a USB charging device, but hopefully we will see universal AC cords with this brilliant design at the end so we can charge our laptops or other devices.

For $15 you really can’t go wrong, head on over to their site to order one.

FlipIt – Never Hog An Outlet Again originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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.

iDos Returns To The App Store

Frank — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 18:36:25 +0000

If you have been holding on to the original iDos app that was released last year before being yanked from the App Store you can breath a little easier now that it’s back.

The new version has been updated and simplified and comes with some freeware classics like Wolfenstein 3D and the original Duke Nukem (the awesome 2D version). Adding additional software isn’t as easy as before, but you can still move stuff into the /Apps/iDos/documents folder and run them from there.

Maybe it’s time to dust off the old floppies and find my copy of Renegade BBS. The first BBS completely self contained in a mobile phone, how cool would that be.

iDos Returns To The App Store 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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Kensington’s PowerLift Backup-Up Battery

Frank — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 22:33:09 +0000

I was just talking to someone from Steam TV Networks about the need for a sturdy dock that can hold up a tablet or phone, something that keeps the device propped up when using it to watch video. Kensington has release just such an item built for the iPhone.

Kensington’s new PowerLift is a sturdy dock that also contains a 1,200 mAh lithium-ion polymer backup battery. This bulky yet small unit is perfect for those long flights; prop it up on the fold out tray and you can enjoy countless hours of media goodness. 20 additional hours of music playback, 5 additional hours of video and even an extra hour and a half of FaceTime.

The unit also has a built in USB cable, perfect cable management, and it has some LEDs to let you know where the charging level is at. Its up for pre-order on Kensington’s site and will run you about $50.

Kensington’s PowerLift Backup-Up Battery originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

$249.99 For The 3DS Starting March 27th

Frank — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:49:12 +0000

If you have been holding back placing a pre-order for Nintendo’s upcoming 3DS then you will be happy to know that Nintendo has finally announced that the upcoming 3DS will be hitting North American shelves on March 27th and will run you $249.99.

The unit will be available in Aqua Blue and Cosmo Black and by June there should be about 30 titles for the unit including an updated version of PilotWings, Nintendogs+Cats, a new Kid Icarus and of course a 3D version of the Nintendo mainstay Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

$249.99 For The 3DS Starting March 27th originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Official Kinect SDK Coming Soon

Frank — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 06:02:03 +0000

Balmer let the world know during CES that Microsoft would be releasing an SDK for their popular Xbox 360 add-on the Kinect. Sources say that Microsoft may be preparing the release of the SDK sooner than they anticipated, in just a few months. “Sources familiar with the plans” told WinRumors that an official SDK and drivers are being prepped for a beta release “in the coming months,” potentially arriving with an upcoming XNA update dubbed the “Community Technical Preview.”

Ever since the release of the Kinect, hackers have been having a field day with it. Unofficial USB drivers for the Windows environment have already been developed and there are countless hacks out there from X-Ray vision to controlling World of Warcraft.

Now that Microsoft has acknowledged the popularity of the product and will be officially releasing the SDK maybe we might see another revolution in PC gaming, one that could rival the early 90′s.

Official Kinect SDK Coming Soon originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

AA Battery / USB Flash Drive

Frank — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 05:48:10 +0000

Are they batteries or are they USB flash drives? OR are they both? These clever batteries also double as USB flash drives. The neat thing is that they charge the battery side of the mutant while using the flash drive.

Now, the next time you need a flash drive you can reach for your batteries or the next time you need some batteries you can reach for your flash drives. I know, it’s like a modern day Spork!

At this point these are nothing more than a concept, a good one at that, but still a concept.

[Link via Yanko Design]

AA Battery / USB Flash Drive originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

U-Socket’s Now Shipping

Frank — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 04:07:12 +0000

For those of you who have been waiting patiently for their U-Socket’s to ship rejoice, they are on their way. FastMac’s U-Socet is a wall socket that offers your standard dual 110V outlets alongside dual USB ports to charge your multitude of gadgets.

For under $20 you can equip each outlet in your house with these valuable USB outlets. Imagine not having to cary around multiple USB bricks to charge your iPhone or Droid, simply plug the USB cable into any outlet and you are good to go.

The retail site says that delivery time is about three to four weeks. The sooner they can crack the big box home improvement store’s like Home Depot the sooner everyone will have USB jacks-a-plenty to charge gadgets.

[Link to U-Socket]

U-Socket’s Now Shipping originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Yet More PSP Phone Leakage

Frank — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 19:29:58 +0000

In probably the worst kept secret of 2010 and 2011 the Sony Xperia, or PSP Phone has seen more press time than any other product I can remember and it hasn’t even been officially announced or acknowledged yet. This isn’t new for Sony – remember the PSP Go or the PS3 Slim that hit the interwebs months before Sony announced them?

As we see in yet another video of the soon to be announced (we hope) Sony Xperia PSP Phone; it looks just the same as all of the other videos we have seen. The only difference is that this one is outside and not on some Chinese assembly line or in the basement of some blogger.

It’s no long hype Sony, everyone and their brother have seen this phone. Time to put up or shut up and give us some good Android/PSP goodness.

Yet More PSP Phone Leakage originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Steve Jobs Taking A Medical LOA

Frank — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 17:47:41 +0000

The almighty Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, is taking an unexpected Medial leave of absence from the company he co-founded. In an email sent out to all Apple employees today Jobs said …

Team,
At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.
I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple’s day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.
I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.
Steve

This isn’t the first time Jobs has taken a leave of absence due to his health, I just hope this is just a leave to get some rest and catch up on some reading. Tim Cook will head up the day-to-day operations and I’m sure Jobs will be in the loop of all the decisions and vision. Get well soon Steve.

Steve Jobs Taking A Medical LOA originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY: Quiz-O-Tron 3000

Frank — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 19:16:27 +0000

Instructables modder RoysterBot has a dilemma over the holidays, build a quiz system for a party he was headed to. He needed the buzz-in buttons to be sturdy and responsive so his obvious choice were Staple’s “Easy Button’s”. Super easy to hack, all he needed to do was add an Arduino and some custom software and the project was complete.

The custom Arduino software is super responsive and locks out other players once someone has buzzed in. This ensures that multiple people can’t buzz in and avoid arguments ensuing as to who buzzed in first. Now you can play [Insert Favorite Game Show Here] with all your friends.

[Link to Quiz-O-Tron 3000]

DIY: Quiz-O-Tron 3000 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

HiJack: Cheap iPhone Accessories

Frank — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 18:55:22 +0000

Engineers at the University of Michigan have put together a prototype device that can be powered and communicate via the audio jack on an iPhone. Currently if you want to create an accessory that is to be used with the 30 pin connector on the iPhone you must pay a licensing fee to Apple as well as a percentage of the profit made on said device. Using the audio jack for accessories will save money as there will be no need for licensing or proprietary hardware.

The parts used to build the device cost a total of $2.34 (in bulk), and the audio port can deliver several milliwatts at 3 V and offers bidirectional communications at a data rate of 8.8 kbaud. You won’t be able to run any data-hungry applications, but this should be more than enough to transfer text or a remote signal. The developers envision small, low-powered sensors for thing like element detection or moisture sensors. Check out the video of a prototype ECG sensor for the HiJack.

[Link to HiJack]

HiJack: Cheap iPhone Accessories originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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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.

iOS 4.3 Jailbreak Already Available

Frank — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 03:35:53 +0000

The iOS 4.3 SDK has only been available for one day and it’s already been jailbroken. A new version of the famous PwnageTool can now jailbreak iOS 4.3. This just solidifies the fact that Apple can’t patch the limera1n venerability that groups like the iPhone Dev Team and the Chrome Dev Team are using.

The masterminds behind the hack are speculating that Apple might fix the venerability in the upcoming CDMA iPhone that Verizon will be selling starting February 10th of this year. It’s a new phone with a new radio, it would be real easy for Apple to address the exploit in a hardware revision. The same could be said for the rumoured iPad 2, but new hardware that fixes old problems also brings with it new problems.

The cat and mouse game will continue and my money is on the dedicated community that has worked so hard to bring the jailbroken openness to a set of devices that should have been open from the very start. Way to go guy and keep up the good work.

iOS 4.3 Jailbreak Already Available originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Seas0nPass: 2nd Gen Apple TV Jailbreak

Frank — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 03:04:33 +0000

The guys over at fireCore have just released Seas0nPass, an application that will jailbreak your second generation AppleTV. Seas0nPass requires you to tether your AppleTV briefly during boot in order to preform the jailbreak by loading custom IPSW files onto your AppleTV.

fireCore is a name that is synonymous with AppleTV hackers. The group also released aTV Flash, unlocking software for the first generation AppleTV that added additional functionality like XBMC and a browser.

Seas0nPass is open source and free and only works on the second generation AppleTV, so don’t try using it on your iPad or iPhone. It currently only works with OS X 10.6 or later and a Windows version is currently under development.

Remember, jailbreaking an Apple device can lead to rendering your device useless if you don’t know what your doing. By the looks of it over at fireCore’s website most people seem to agree that jailbreaking the second generation AppleTV is riskery than other Apple devices. If your okay with the risk you can grab Seas0nPass here.

Seas0nPass: 2nd Gen Apple TV Jailbreak originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Review: eLocity A7 Android Tablet

Frank — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 04:18:35 +0000

I’ve been playing with this surprisingly fast Android tablet for about a week now and so far I am impressed. Stream TV’s eLocity Android 2.2 powered tablet might not be an iPad killer, but it sure puts up a good fight.

The solid 7-inch tablet is powered by NVIDIA’s dual core Tegra 2 processor, comes with Froyo out of the box, is rooted by default and can output a crazy amount of video formats at 1080p via it’s included HDMI port. Although it shows some impressive stats in the video arena, the eLocity does more than that. 4GB of internal storage, a USB port and a MicroSD expansion slot coupled together with the super beefy Tegra 2, the A7 acts more like a powerful computer in your pocket than a PMP.

Not only is the video playback smooth and crisp, this is the only Android device I have ever used that can actually do Flash well. Even when you are on a website with multiple Flash ads watching a video, the A7 came through without a single hiccup. Mix that in with the fact that the device is rooted out of the box, you have one powerful device that is open and free, unlike the “other” guy’s tablet. The only problem I have seen so far is the unit’s battery life. I’ve been able to get about 4 hours out of it with moderate use and only about 2.5 hours of video play. This is more than likely due to the processor as the dual core Tegra 2 could easily power a full size laptop.

The unit doesn’t come with the Android Marketplace out of the box, but a crafty hacker has already created an alternate ROM that offers the Marketplace as well as Ad Hoc networking support. The eLocity A7 is currently WiFi only, by using the Ad Hoc network you can tether your unit to an existing smartphone’s 3G connection. Stream TV is toying with the idea of partnering up with a carrier and offering a 3G model.

At time of print there still is no word on any accessories for the unit, but it does have an expansion port on the bottom that will probably be used for a dock at a later day. A dock would be greatly welcomed, the fact that it can do 1080p without a problem makes this device a perfect addition to your home theater setup.

If your looking for an alternative to the iPad and don’t want to pay a monthly cost for something like the Galaxy Tab, Stream TV’s eLocity A7 is perfect. Priced at $350 it’s a great deal for such a powerful little unit.

[Link to eLocity A7]

Review: eLocity A7 Android Tablet originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Sony Could Remotely Disable PS3s

Frank — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:30:24 +0000

Now that the PS3′s key have been leaked, its open territory for homebrew and hacking. Many people have been wondering what type of action Sony will be taking to combat this so called “piracy”. We have seen how ruthless they are with the PS3′s little brother the PSP and it’s no doubt that they will be just as ruthless with the PS3.

Digital Foundry claims that Sony can take some drastic measures including remotely disabling a jailbroken or hacked PS3. Even if you have never signed up for a PSN account, the PS3 communicates with the Sony mother-ship each time it’s turned on. The initial boot-up call back is used to upload error logs and download updates to the “What’s New” modules. It also sends a list of recently run apps.

Just that capability alone gives Sony a lot of power. Will they remotely disable systems? Who knows, but if they start to do that they open the door for some serious legal action. You know when the first PS3 that someone paid hundreds of dollars for gets killed and their unit is clean, Sony will be in a PR nightmare.

Sony Could Remotely Disable PS3s originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY: Camera Flash Softbox

Frank — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:15:10 +0000

Diffusing light is the key to warm, soft shots. If you do a lot of portrait photography then you know how valuable a softbox can be, but the cost can sometimes be prohibitive. You can add a white card to your flash to diffuse light, buy a diffusing cap for your flash or you can buy a Komplement collapsable fabric box from Ikea for a few bucks and build yourself one kick ass softbox.

Crafty hacker Thomas from Denmark picked up one of these fabric boxes (they come in various sizes, he used the 20cm x 20cm one), cut a hole in the side for his flash and using a flash cord had himself a cheap softbox.

He added some support to the cut-outs to hold his flash in place and as you can see from the pictures it collapses down nicely for stoarge.

This DIY camera softbox and the DIY FlashRing are a perfect addition to your photography toolkit.

DIY: Camera Flash Softbox originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

PSP Phone Caught On Video

Frank — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:24:10 +0000

Last week we showed off some video of the yet to be announced PSP Phone (which has been dubbed the Xperia Play). Now we have stumbled on some video of the actual unit in action.

Funny enough the above video shows the unit running an Android app called ROM Buddy PSX, which is a PSOne emulator; which I doubt will be built into the phone. The game play looks real smooth and the controllers seem quite responsive, a definite plus.

Regardless, the more I see this phone in action the more I want one. I would scratch my Android itch and allow me to play my PSP games. Killing two birds with one stone.

PSP Phone Caught On Video originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY: Mini MAME Cabinet

Frank — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 01:47:14 +0000

We have showed you in the past how you can build your own MAME arcade cabinet, but if you are lacking space for a monster arcade machine this mini MAME cabinet would be perfect for you.

Modder Ed had an old netbook lying around and decided to slap this together as a Christmas gift for some family members. Using an Asus eeepc 901, some Happ Controls buttons and a joystick, and an iPac 2 Player controller Ed drafted up some plans and started cutting.

The mini cab runs Maximus Arcade which an awesome front-end for multiple game emulators, not just MAME. It makes running a cab a snap; it installs on Windows and does everything for you including auto starting and hiding the Windows interface.

Check out the video of the mini MAME cabinet in action. I don’t have the space for a full size cab in my house with all the kids toys but I defiantly have space for this.

DIY: Mini MAME Cabinet originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Apple Removes VLC From App Store

Frank — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 21:24:25 +0000

Apple has removed the video player VLC from it’s App Store, so if you don’t already have it installed on your iPad or iPhone you’re out of luck.

Before you decided to send hate mail to Steve Jobs, you should know that Apple didn’t want to remove it. Rather, it’s a result of a single man’s crusade who coincidentally works for Apple’s competitor, Nokia.

Rémi Denis-Courmont (who is a lead contributor to the VLC project) launched a one man campaigned based on Apple adding DRM to their applications and thus violating the GPL’ed code VLC is released under. It’s important to know that Rémi acted alone and that VideoLAN, the group that’s responsible for the desktop version of VLC, had nothing to do with having Applidium’s VLC port for iOS removed. As as lead developer, Rémi was within the legal right to pursue the removal himself.

Denis-Courmont’s response to the removal of VLC from the App Store comes across quite snarky.

“At last, Apple has removed VLC media player from its application store. Thus the incompatibility between the GNU General Public License and the AppStore terms of use is resolved – the hard way. This end should not have come to a surprise to anyone, given the precedents.”

Thanks a lot for sticking to your principles, it sure out-weighs all the people who could have enjoyed the FREE app on their iPhone or iPad. Well done

Apple Removes VLC From App Store originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Video Camera Hot Wheels Car

Frank — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 06:41:03 +0000

I’ve tried really hard to stay away from all the CES stuff that has been flying around the inter-webs but this story about Mattel cramming a camera into one of their 1:64 scale Hot Wheels car was too good to pass up.

The idea is for people to get a first person view of what it would be like if you could ride inside a Hot Wheels car. Each car comes with enough memory to capture 12 minutes of VGA video that can be downloaded to your computer via USB or viewed on the tiny screen located on the underside of each car. With such limited memory using this as a spy camera is out of the question, unless something happens really quickly.

They should be available this fall for about $60. I’m sure the novelty of using it to record video will wear off quickly, leaving you with a very expensive small metal car.

[Link via Oh Gizmo!]

Video Camera Hot Wheels Car originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

10 Weird USB Drives

Frank — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 04:17:43 +0000

With CES going on this week and the tech media flooding the blog-o-sphere with reports of new gadgets and technology I thought I’d brake the mundane stream of press releases and “first looks” at gadgets that might never make it to market.

Here are 10 really weird USB drives that are sure to make you laugh.

The sperm drive. When you pull this out of your pocket you are going to have people wondering exactly what you were doing with your hand in your pocket in the first place.

The typical food item converted to a USB drive. Just don’t try to eat it, no matter how much wasabi you add to it.

I guess this is where the name “Thumb Drive” originally came from. Kinda creepy actually.

For those that just can’t let go of old technology. I just hope this USB drive has a greater storage capacity than it’s case did.

The clothes pin drive is creative and different, plus it’s great for hanging your shirts up to dry.

Maybe when you pull the sperm drive out of your pocket you can pull this poop drive out of the other one. That should really get the conversation going.

It’s the old “Teddy Bear jammed it’s head into the USB port” trick. You can’t fool me!

Probably one of the weirdest ones on the list. Not sure why would would want a spoonful of cereal to have a USB drive attached, but then again this is the Internet.

The eraser drive is perfect for fixing mistakes, just don’t try to run out your red underlines in MS Word.

This humping dog drive is sure to get the ladies. Plug it in and it actually starts to hump the side of your computer.

10 Weird USB Drives originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/06. 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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DIY: Twittering Coffee Pot

Frank — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 15:44:57 +0000

You can use Twitter for just about anything these days and thanks to an Arduino you can now schedule your coffee from Twitter.

This is a simple hack and a great one if you have been wanting to play with an Arduino but felt a bit intimidated by it. The idea behind the project is to have the Arduino turn on an AC device; this doesn’t necessarily have to specific to the coffee pot. You could have it turn on a radio or TV or anything that connects to an AC outlet.

The code is pretty straight forward and you probably don’t have to do much changing to get it to work. Check out the video after the break of it in action.

[Link to Tweet-a-Pot]

DIY: Twittering Coffee Pot originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY: Bike Powered USB Charger

Frank — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 04:43:33 +0000

Here’s a perfect project for the upcoming summer; a bike powered USB charger to keep all of your gadgets charged while you ride.

The USB bike generator works by placing a rotating wheel against the rim of the rear wheel with a heavy spring. The attached wheel turns a stepper motor to generate an AC current that is changed to DC via a rectifier (which is nothing more than 4 diodes). The DC power is then feed into a USB car adapter to charge your gadgets.

It’s a really simple project that produces great results, best of all, it’s really cheap to build and put together.

[Link to USB Bike Generator]

DIY: Bike Powered USB Charger originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

CO2 Powered Nerf Gun

Frank — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 13:24:53 +0000

Instructables hacker Philysteak527 modified a Nerf gun, making it semi-automatic thanks to the modern marvel of compressed air. This mod isn’t for the faint of heart since it involves the design and manufacture of a bolt-action the fit’s the specific gun you are using.

Philysteak527 used some polyoxymethylene plastic and a CNC lathe to create the parts needed for the bolt. Toss in some brass fittings, a solenoid, tubing, and some electronics and your set. Check out the footage of it in action after the break. You will definitely be the big boy in the school yard with this. You might very well have the SWAT team called in as well.

[Link to Semi-Automatic NERF Longshot]

CO2 Powered Nerf Gun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Fling iPad Joystick

Frank — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 19:54:30 +0000

It’s no surprise that the iPad has taken off as a mobile gaming platform. The only downside to all that mobile gaming is the lack of a physical joystick. Virtual on-screen keyboards are okay for certain games but if you are into any type of sports or driving games using the virtual joystick can be a major pain. Ten One Designs aims to change all that with Fling, a tactile game controller for the iPad

You simply stick it onto the screen of your iPad using its removable suction cups, and you end up with a real analog stick. It’s made our of transparent flexible resin so you can see through it, accept when you are using your thumb on it but the same can be said for the virtual joystick.

The unit will run you about $25 and comes with its own microfiber case that can be used to clean the screen. Ten One is accepting pre-orders of the Fling starting January 6th.

[Ten One Desgins' Fling]

Fling iPad Joystick originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Beer Shooting Fridge

Frank — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 05:10:43 +0000

At first glance this might look like your average beer fridge, one that could possibly be in any dorm room in the country. If you take a closer look (or watch the video after the break) you will see that it’s actually an air cannon powered beer launcher.

A fancy iPhone interface allows the user to choose a beer and load it up in the cannon for delivery. Next, you aim the cannon with the help of it’s built in webcam. When you have chosen your beverage and aimed it in the right direction you click fire.

You better be good at catching, getting hit the head with a full beer being launched from an air cannon will hurt, I promise.

Beer Shooting Fridge originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY: Snail Mail Notifier

Frank — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:17:44 +0000

How did we ever live without push notifications? Email, SMS, IM; we get notified each time one of them is updated. What about our old analog world? Make Magazine show’s us just how we can get push notifications for an older form of mail, snail mail.

This awesome project uses an Arduino to trigger a prowl notification. The project can be adapted for any use like a garage door or door bell. A little electronic know-how is needed and if you want the prowl notifications to work you will need a PHP server. You can do away with the need for a server if you opt to have it send you an email or direct twitter message instead.

[Via Make Magazine]

DIY: Snail Mail Notifier originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Hotlink Prevention In Nginx

Frank — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 05:52:59 +0000

Hotlinking, inline linking, leeching, piggy-backing, direct linking or offsite image grabs. No matter what you call it 99% of the time it’s wrong. Bandwidth costs money. I spent sometime over the holidays examining my logs and noticed that there were a ton of sites hotlinking back to images we had posted. Worst of all, most of them were profiting off the images.

Here at tech.nocr.at we run nginx as a front-end proxy to WordPress. Stopping hotlinking in nginx is as simple as adding a small snippet of code in your sites-enabled file. Add the following code inside your server statement.

location ~* ^.+\.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png)$ {
  root   /path/to/webroot;
  valid_referers none blocked server_names ~(yourdomain.com|google.|yahoo.|bing.);
  if ($invalid_referer)  {
  return 403;
  }
}

The above will allow images to be displayed if they come from your domain, google, yahoo and bing. If you have other sites you might want your images to be linked from just add them in the valid_referers statement. If someone tries to hotlink to one of your images they will receive a 403 error. If you wish to have a different image displayed instead of the 403 error, letting them know they are hotlinking, then you must replace the return 403; line with this:

rewrite  ^  http://yourdomain.com/hotlink.jpe;

Notice how the image file ends in .jpe? If it were you end in .jpg it would end up in a loop and never be displayed. Simply create the image you want to use and change it’s extension to .jpe before you upload it to your web host.

Hotlink Prevention In Nginx originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

PSP Keys Hacked

Frank — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 02:54:40 +0000

First is was fail0verflow crippling the PS3 security and now Mathieulh has revealed that he has found the KIRK encryption/decryption keys that are used to sign PSP code.

What does all of this mean? Much like the PS3 keys that were discovered last week during a presentation at the CCC, any piece of software for the PS3′s little brother the PSP can now be signed as if it was actually from Sony. Sony and the PSP homebrew community have been playing a cat and mouse game for years and it now looks that it will all come to and end.

Homebrew for the PSP can now be signed with the proper keys and therefore make it look like legitimate software. No more custom firmware or loaders needed in the near future, a homebrew modders dream come true.

PSP Keys Hacked originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Video Of The Playstation Phone

Frank — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 01:51:02 +0000

We talked about a Japanese newspaper reporting on the details of the new PSP Phone last week and now we have stumbled across some nice and clear video of the unit running. YouTube user “xxmajstor” displays this Android powered beatuty. More reason to drop my iPhone and move to the new PlayStation Phone

This video is of the Sony Ericsson ZEUS-Z1 “PlayStation Phone”. The unit looks like it has L and R shoulder buttons and a volume control right in the same location as the PSP-Go. The slide out features some game controls including the reported “touch strip”. If the video wasn’t enough, pay close attention to the presence of a PlayStation controller icon on the screen.

Video Of The Playstation Phone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Coolest DIY Lightsaber

Frank — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 00:41:00 +0000

Bradley Lewis of Sloth Furnace has created easily the coolest homemade lightsaber ever. Since we are still quite a ways away from having an actual lightsaber this will just have to do.

This saber is the brightest replica I have ever seen. It lights up almost instantly and has some sweet detail in it’s construction. Check out the video after the break of it in action. There is a complete gallery or pictures and videos over at SlothFurnace.

Coolest DIY Lightsaber originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Control Your TV From Your Phone

Frank — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 06:23:50 +0000

Sure, you can control modern day video equipment like you Slingbox or satellite receiver via the web, but what if you have some old school gear that can only accept commands via good old fashioned Infa-Red? Instructables hacker nmcclana has put together a small embedded web server that transmits IR signals (Video after the break).

The Web Clicker, as it’s called, uses a Propeller Platform USB and E-Net Module and can play back any recorded IR command via an AJAX web interface. The unit is small, sleek and uses next to no power. You can purchase most of the componets pre-built or you can live on the wild side and download the PCB designs and etch the boards yourself.

This can be used to control anything that accepts and IR signal, not just a TV or DVR. You could add IR modules to just about anything these days so this project would be great for home automation.

[Link to Instructables]

Control Your TV From Your Phone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Xtoaster360

Frank — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 05:50:40 +0000

I have seen many mods in my time, but I have never seen anything like this. Modder ncaruso11 yanked out the guts of his toaster and replaced them in epic fashion with the innards of an Xbox 360. Sure it ends up being a lot bulkier than your average 360, but how cool would it be to have a toaster sitting under your TV. If that doesn’t get the chicks I don’t know what will (alright so it won’t get you any chicks or toast actually).

How sweet is that, especially how he moved the interface status lights to the front on the toaster. ncaruso11 says “If I can sell this one then there are sure to be bigger and better ones in the future. Feel free to throw out any ideas.”. I just might consider bidding on this. I need a new 360 for the basement and best of all, I can tell my wife I’m just buying a toaster, and expensive one yes, but still a toaster.

Xtoaster360 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iPod Nano Recovery Mode

Frank — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 19:47:29 +0000

After discovering James Whelton’s SpringBoard.plist hack for the 6G iPod Nano, Steve Throughton-Smith decided to play around with his Nano to see what else he might find.

Steve may very well have stumbled on some kind of DFU-like recovery mode, much like the recovery mode that allows customized firmware (or jailbreaking) to be injected into the iPhone/iPod touch.

Discovered what may be DFU mode: hold down the restart buttons until you get a black screen (it reboots twice) and iTunes sees the device and alerts you.
Afterwards, modified iRecovery to work with the iPod nano (had to add its DFU/Recovery USB ID) and allow it send files, and tested with some files I had extracted from the iPod nano 6G firmware

It seems that people are getting closer and closer to a working jailbreak for the Nano. I might just get back video playback on my Nano sooner than I thought.

iPod Nano Recovery Mode originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Pedal Powered Snow Plow

Frank — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 18:08:26 +0000

Don’t have a snowblower? Need some exercise? The pedal powered snow plow might just be what the doctor ordered. Custom built by Craig, this three wheel bike with a wooden plow is perfect for scraping up that light covering of snow.

The custom 3-wheel bike with sidecar was made years ago, a replica of a bike my childhood friend had. Last winter I added a snow plow accessory. Up to 1 inch of snow doesn’t make it worthwhile to fire up my big 8HP snowthrower. And shoveling my 90′ long driveway by hand can be too much. So my bike plow makes it easy to make a few runs up and down the driveway to make 2 or 3 piles that can then be easily hand shoveled off to the side. A lever pulls up or lets down the plow with a rope and pulley. Pulling the lever all the way back cantilevers the rope and pivot point so it locks in place. The plow blade is hinged with a bungee cord, so hitting a discrepancy in the road allows the blade to flop and give like a real plow. The bike can turn on a dime so raising the plow and returning up the adjacent path is quick and easy. I can do ‘reverse’ by pushing down on the front wheel with my foot to roll it backwards.Totally useless with larger snow falls, but the light ones make snow removal fun. (yes, my neighbors do think I’m odd)

A wonderful way to get the job done without pumping exhaust from a snow blower into the environment.

Pedal Powered Snow Plow originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Eavesdropping On GSM

Frank — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 05:30:07 +0000

Speaking at the Chaos Computer Club on Tuesday, a pair of researchers demonstrated a method of eavesdropping on encrypted GSM calls and text messages by using a few cheap pay-as-you-go cellphones and a variety of open source software.

The ability to listen in on cellphone calls has been available to law enforcement agencies for a while, but even if the average person could they would have to invest in about $50,000 of hardware to do so, until now. The modern day phreaking takes advantage of security flaws in the GSM network and puts the power within the reach of almost any tech-savvy user.

By using custom firmware that they built in a few cheap Motorola cellphones, they created a bunch of cell phone "sniffers" that send real time raw cell network data back to a computer via a USB connection. By sending a target phone an SMS, they were able to determine what random network ID number belonged to the target.

All that was left was to decrypt the raw information they captured. This was easily accomplished with the use of a 2 GB rainbow table.

I’m sure with time, the software and firmware that was used in the demonstration will make it’s way into the average Joe’s hands and we will all be doomed. It’s not really modern day phreaking, back then all of us were just curious. There is no other use for this besides grabbing peoples personal communications.

Eavesdropping On GSM originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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A Cane With A Hidden Punch

Frank — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:45:32 +0000

Just because someone is using a cane to help them walk doesn’t mean that they are defenseless. This not so innocent looking cane packs one massive punch, about a million volts to be exact. If you are some low-life who like to pick on the disabled beware, the next time you pick on someone who you think will be easy prey you might just end up roasted.

The unit comes with a stylish carrying case, charger and a built in flashlight so you can see who you are roasting. The unit will set you back about $90 and is illegal in some states.

[Zap Cane]

A Cane With A Hidden Punch originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/30. 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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Android Trojan: Geinimi

Frank — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 14:01:00 +0000

With more and more people using Android based phones it’s not a surprise that we are starting to see more and more viruses for these devices. The greater the market share the more appealing an OS is to malware and virus writers.

The newest nasty on the block is called Geininmi. Geininimi latches onto Android applications that use portals outside of Google’s Marketplace. It expands the range of said applications permissions and sends the info it collection to parts unknown. Security firm Lookout speculates that it may be trying to build a botnet and with the insane amount of Android phones out there it’s bound to be one massive botnet.

Pay close attention to the permissions that are requested by any application you install. If an app asks for permission to your contact list and it has nothing to do with your contacts you probably shouldn’t install it. As we all know, 90% of people who get infected don’t use common sense to protect themselves. Don’t become one of these victims.

We’ll keep you posted on additions to this story.

Android Trojan: Geinimi originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iPhone HTC GB Mutant

Frank — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 03:05:44 +0000

What do you get when you mash together a fake white iPhone 4, and HTC Aria and an old Game Boy? You get this cool yet useless mashup.

Hacker Goteking hollowed out and old Game Boy and dropped in his Aria. Wait, now it looks like he also has a fake white iPhone in there as well.

Alright, I’m utterly confused now as to what this does, maybe this video below can explain what Goteking is up to with this unholy creation

Nope, I’m still completely lost, but as someone who is always trying to make things do what they are not suppose to I can appreciate the work that was done here. Granted, the LED matrix in the fake iPhone is pretty cool.

[Link to Goteking's GB/HTC/iPhone Mutant]

iPhone HTC GB Mutant originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

PS3 Private Key Hacked

Frank — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 21:11:08 +0000

During the Chaos Communications Conference 27C3, hackers calling themselves failOverflow gave a presentation in which they claim to have the private key used by Sony to authorize code to run on the PS3. This essentially would give full control of PS3 systems without the need of a USB device

The group plans to show off a demo tomorrow at the conference and they say they will explain more about their discovery when their website launches. This hack isn’t designed for piracy but to enable software to be authorized to run on the PS3. Essentially this would open up the homebrew market and allow Linux to run on the PS3 regardless of firmware version.

PS3 Private Key Hacked originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY: Word Clock

Frank — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 20:17:35 +0000

Have you looked at the qlocktwo word clock yet? It’s a sleek time piece that displays the time using words. The only problem with it is that it costs well over $1000, not really an affordable way to tell time.

scottbez1 put together an affordable version of the qlocktwo by using an Arduino and a whole bunch of LED’s. The whole thing should cost you just under $70 and the full build plan is up on Instrctables.

Inspired by drj113′s great instructable on making a word clock , I wanted to make my own. After seeing the (extremely overpriced) commercial “qlocktwo” word clock, I decided to borrow its smooth glossy black design while basing the innards of my clock on drj113′s design.

[Link to Sleek word clock]

DIY: Word Clock originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Turn Your iPhone Into An IR Remote

Frank — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 07:48:30 +0000

By using Bluetooth technology, the UnityRemote box takes orders from your iPhone and transmits those commands via IR to any IR device in view including your TV, cable box or satellite reciever.

The app that you install on your iPhone to control IR devices not only allows you to send single commands but allows you to create macros (called “actions”) that will follow a set of pre-programmed commands to your device. For example, you can set an action to turn on your TV, change it’s input to your Blu-ray, turn on your Blu-ray player and start playing a disc.

Since the iPhone doesn’t come with a built in IR transmitter, this adds more functionality to your already multi-functional device. Reminds me of the old days of IR Commander on my Palm.

The UnityRemote box will you about $100

Turn Your iPhone Into An IR Remote originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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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PSP Phone This Spring

Frank — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 05:00:48 +0000

We have been hearing about Sony’s Playstation Phone for quite a while now, and today Asahi Shimbun which is one of the largest newspapers in Japan reported that the device which is supposedly based on the PSPgo will be released in the coming spring.

If you believe the report the units will hit the US and European markets first. The phone is also reported to have a smaller form factor than the PSPgo and will be build by Sony Ericsson.

I hope that it’s gaming capabilities won’t be based on the PSPgo. Only being able to download really sucks.

PSP Phone This Spring originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iPod Nano Hack

Frank — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 06:47:50 +0000

By booting up his iPod Nano with a modified SpringBoard.plist file hacker James Whelton was able to remove an app from his screen and replace it with a blank space (Video after the break).

Now this isn’t quite a jailbreak like hack, but it is a small start in the right direction. Today we can remove an app, tomorrow we might be able to add a new one and a week from now we might be able to write our own iPod Nano apps and cause Apple to open a whole new app store dedicated to the nano. Alright so maybe that’s pushing it a bit far, but just think if we could modify the sleep settings of the unit. Yes, we could finally have that iPod Nano watch we have all been waiting for.

iPod Nano Hack originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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.

Skype Video On Your iPhone

Frank — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 05:31:55 +0000

Sure you have facetime on your iPhone, but wouldn’t it be cool to have video support for Skype on your iPhone? After all, there are only 6 facetime users in the world and billion of Skype users.

Seems that a document that was released a bit too early points to Skype’s CES announcement as being video support for iOS devices with cameras. I’d be willing to bet that the supposed upcoming iPad 2 will also have a front facing camera.

I wonder if the mobile carries will allow these video calls to cross their network or if it will be wifi only, never-the-less this will be a great way to make a video call when your on the go.

Skype Video On Your iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Android On Your iPhone

Frank — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 06:37:25 +0000

I love my iPhone 4, don’t get me wrong, but the old additive of the grass is always greener on the other side alway creeps up. Both the iPhone and an Android based device have their pros and their cons. Unless you can justify dishing out some big bucks monthly for an iPhone and Android based phone, your stuck with one or the other.

But, if you own an iPhone, you might be able to dual boot both the iPhone iOS and Android. Lifehacker has put together some easy steps to dual boot iOS and Android on your jailbroken iPhone.

Much like any time you try to put a square peg in a round hole it comes with it’s drawbacks. A few critical things don’t work and it runs quite slow, but as time goes on I’m sure they will work out the kinks and when that happens you might be able to run Android as smoothly on your iPhone as you can run Windows on your Mac.

Android On Your iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/27. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Doorbell Control

Frank — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 23:51:42 +0000

Do you find that your doorbell system lacks that little bit of luster? Tired of it doing nothing more than ringing when pressed? Hardware hacker Nicholas Skinner felt the same way and decided to do something about it. By using the Synapse RD Engine which is easily scriptable by using Python he took his door bell to the next level. His doorbell now does all these cool things:

Sense Bell Press – Allowing for triggering of other events on press, such as additional remote ringers in other parts of the house, computer popup notification and possibly cameras / camera display (e.g. via scart triggering on TV) etc in the future.
Disable Bell Ringer – From either a remote physical switch or PC (for periods when we do not want to be disturbed by doorstep salesmen).
Ring Bell – Allowing the bell to keep ringing for a certain minimum duration even if the button is just pressed quickly to save missing callers who do not hold in the button for an adequate duration.

Nicholas has a complete write up on his site here.

Doorbell Control originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

NoseDial App

Frank — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 23:39:37 +0000

We have all done it. Drive down the highway with a coffee in hand, the other hand fumbling with the iPhone trying to call someone. Alas, we are now saved by a simple $0.99 app that will let us make that call with our nose!

NoseDial is easily is the weirdest iPhone app I have ever come across. For less than a buck this app will create some big icons on your screen of contact and allow you to use your nose to select them. I know that there are people out there that have a limited ability of use with their hands, but to dial with their nose?

You will still have to unlock your phone with your fingers and actually tap the icon of the app to load it, but I guess it’s a step in the right direction.

NoseDial App originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Carbon Fiber Toilet Seat

Frank — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 07:15:20 +0000

I’ve alway heard that adding fiber to your diet helps to regulate you, but i don’t think this is what the doctor ordered.

Carbon fiber is one of the great inventions of the 20th century. It’s light, strong and very durable. All things that you would look for in a toilet seat, no? Well maybe not the light part.

So if your the type that like the carbon fiber style/look you can shell out $280 for this carbon fiber toilet seat. My only concern is if you will be able to find matching towels and bathroom accessories.

[Via Dvice]

Carbon Fiber Toilet Seat originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Yikes: Build A Fusion Reactor

Frank — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 16:21:19 +0000

I’ve tried a few thing to cut our electricity cost. I’ve priced out both a solar and wind powered system to power all of the computers we have in the house that run around the clock. I’ve also added timers everywhere to help with the soaring cost of electricity in our neck of the woods. One think I haven’t considered is building our own fusion reactor. Now that I come to think of it, I’m not even gonna consider this.

Besides the obvious fact that this is ridiculously dangerous and potentially fatal to you and your neighbors this could easily land you in jail for a very long time. If you willing to take this insanely stupid risk then there is a write-up over at Instructables to show you just how to put it all together. The parts list if far from your average run to Radio Shack, so be warned. Like a neutron radiation detector, deuterium gas and our course, a large lead shield.

Remember, if I haven’t said it yet, THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS and shouldn’t be done. You can probably follow the build to get a grasp of how fusion reactors work, but putting this together will easily have a few black helicopters landing on your front lawn real quick.

[Via Instructables]

Yikes: Build A Fusion Reactor originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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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.

Rubber Band Gatling Gun

Frank — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:43:02 +0000

Do you remember the Disintegrator that shot 40 rubber bands per second? Well how about a rubber band gatling gun that shoots 100 bands a second? It will cost you $500 but if you have money to burn or are just crazy then it will be perfect for you.

The unit weighs nearly 20 pounds and even has varying length barrels for different size rubber bands. It comes with it’s own stand so that it can be used as a turret (can you say arduino hack to turn this into a sentry) and works off of crank power.

Just keep in mind that at $500 you could go out and buy a real gun but if you live somewhere where guns are frowned upon this is perfect for you.

[Rubber Band Gatling Gun]

Rubber Band Gatling Gun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Nano Watch

Frank — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 18:05:11 +0000

You knew it was bound to happen. Ever since Apple announced the new redesigned iPod nano everyone has been referring to it as a watch and now you can turn it into one. I’ve been using the new nano for about a week now and love it. It’s perfect for the gym and it really motivates you to reaching that 10,000 step-a-day goal, and with this wrist watch band from Incipio this might make the perfect all the time watch.

Keep in mind that you will have to change your ipod daily and be okay with hitting the sleep button every time you want to check the time. If your okay with all that then you can pick them up in a variety of colours for $24.99 and they should be ready to ship sometime in October.

[Incipio Linq Nano Watch Case]

Nano Watch originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

IR Jammer

Frank — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 04:04:25 +0000

We have talked about the awesome TV-B-Gone device before, you know, the device that can turn off any TV within distance. The only downside to it is that all people have to do it turn then back on. I know that you can just turn them back off but that would just be suspicious. What if you could jam the IR of the TV once you turn it off? Now you can.

The guys over at hackedgadgets.com sell just that, an IR jammer kit. Created by Alan Parekh, the unit will jam any infrared remote controlled device. It works across all 6 of the major IR frequencies and corrupts the data that is being sent by normal remote controls.

If your ambitious you can build your own from scratch or you could order a kit here and just slap it all together.

[Via HackedGadgets]

IR Jammer originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Advertising

Frank — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:02:45 +0000

Why tech.nocr.at?

Founded in 2007, tech.nocr.at has quickly become one of the top blogs for tech news, hardware hacking, and obscure gadgets. Our audience includes early adopters, gadget lovers, entrepreneurs, influencers, marketing, PR and advertising agencies. tech.nocr.at is also popular with bloggers, Twitter and Facebook users, an increasingly influential demographic.

Sponsorships and Direct Ads

For advertising opportunities or for upcoming sponsorship opportunities, please contact our Advertising Department via email

Site Advertising Opportunities

tech.nocr.at offers a variety of advertising zones that may be purchased by CPM, the week or a month buyout. Our pricing is competitive and our Media and Advertising Kit offers a full profile on tech.nocr.at including key demographics and analytics. To receive your copy, contact us.

Advertising originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/09. 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.

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Heat-Seeking Nerf Gun

Frank — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 04:38:29 +0000

The awesome heat-seeking Nerf gun won Make’s Gadget Freak Design Contest. The mod consists of a Nerf Vulcan Blaster hooked up to a few Devantech TPA81 Thermal Sensors and is controlled by an ATMega 168 processor.

The unit acts exactly as it should, it tracks you via your heat signature and fires nerf bullets at you. No word yet on whether chaffs/flares will work to confuse it, but one thing is for sure, the Disintegrator Rubber Band Gatling Gun could use this heat-seeking mod.

Currently you can’t buy the mod at your local Toy’s R Us, but you can head on over to the creators website and build your own.

Heat-Seeking Nerf Gun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Holy Surge

Frank — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:49:21 +0000

Although this is still a concept, this holy power bar might just work when you need a prayer to keep your gadgets from being fried by power surges. With a full 12 outlets, this will be perfect for oversized power bricks and adapters, it’s the catholic way!

If these actually make it to production, I’m sure the various archdiocese’s across the world will be lining up to buy them. You know that every church will want one to power their circa 1970′s PA system. It’s the holy way to power your sermon.

I’m going to stop making all sorts of jokes about this or I very well might be the way who gets hit by lightening.

Holy Surge originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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.

NES Controller With Android

Frank — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:31:18 +0000

Now that mobiles phones have advanced to the point that they are great gaming machines why not have a proper game controller to enjoy them? That’s an itch that hacked Sk3tch just had to scratch. By hacking together an original NES controller, an Arduino and a blueSMRF Bluetooth module he was able to use the controller via bluetooth and even demo’s the hack by playing Super Mario Brothers 3 in an emulator in the video after the break.

He says that the mod it Alpha at best, but from the video it looks great to me. All he needs to do now if slap everything together in a nice case or better yet, find a way to put all of the components in the NES controller itself.

NES Controller With Android originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.