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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.

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.

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.

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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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.

Samsung Galaxy S Unlock

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

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

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

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

[Link to Galaxy S Unlocking Steps]

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

Old School GPS

Frank — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 04:19:32 +0000

Come on, we have all experience the dreaded “Satellite Lost” syndrome when using a GPS unit. A crafty hacker has created his own low-tech steampunk navigation system.

He soldered together a couple of brass tubes to a backplate and added a crystal face. Now all he has to do is print out step by step directions from Google maps and he will never have to worry about a lack of a clear sky view or even batteries. Plus, check out the resolution of that bad boy, perfect.

[Via Hack A Day]

Old School GPS originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Mini Arcade Machine

Frank — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 15:11:32 +0000

Master modder Marcelo Souza of São Paulo, Brazil has built one cool tabletop arcade machine emulator. This isn’t your average mame cabinet. Marcelo has added custom optical sensors to catch coin inserts and built the unit off of a Arduino board. Check out the video of the unit in action.

If you know how to read Portuguese you can head on over to Marcelo’s site and read up on how he built it. Looks like Marco will also be selling kits for those of you who might want to build your own!

Mini Arcade Machine originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Roll Your Own 3D Video For Under $300

Frank — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:53:08 +0000

You’ve gone out and seen Avatar and now your ready to summon your inner Cameron and shoot the next blockbuster 3D movie but you just can’t seem to come up with the millions of dollars needed to purchase the camera gear you would need, fear now more because you too can now create a super-duper 3D film for under $300 (how was my infomercial pitch there?).

Some great weekend hackers have put together a shopping list of materials needed to pull this off.

A couple Kodak Zx1 Digital Camcorders
L-Shaped bracket
Some nylon washers, wingnuts and screws
A basic tripod

I’m sure you could use other cameras and adjust the bracket to suit, but the concept is pretty simple. They have a full write up on how the pulled it off including all the editing that is needed to produce the stereo image. Check out the video after the break of some home made 3D footage.

Roll Your Own 3D Video For Under $300 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Drive A Car With Your iPhone, Again

Frank — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:25:06 +0000

A few weeks ago we showed you how some smart peeps got together to write some custom software and hardware to control a minivan via an iPhone. They did all of that for the Darpa Urban Challenge and all of it will probably never see the light of day. Now the guys over at Waterloo Labs have decided to jump into the whole “control a car with your iphone” thing with both feet and actually show us how they got their iPhone to control the steering, brakes and acceleration on a full size car.

I don’t suggest you actually go out and do this, especially not the surfing on the top of the car while controlling it with your iPhone. That could end up really bad for you. Check the video out of all the crazy action after the break.

Drive A Car With Your iPhone, Again originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

A Cell Phone For Grama

Frank — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:07:55 +0000

With the massive amount of multi-function “smart” phones out there people tend to loose the focus of what cell phones actually are; phones.

My mother couldn’t care less if her phone plays mp3′s or if it’s got a twitter client. All she wants is a phone and a super easy one to boot. As she starts to approach her twilight years (still love you mom), this generic brand mobile phone with oversize butons with a screen that can be read from across the room might just be perfect for her.

The oginal idea was to design a phone for seniors who aren’t very tech savvy, but you can also use it if all you want is a really simple cell phone.

The 6380 Senior Mobile Phone does actually carry a few handy features, including a flashlight, a massive “SOS” button on the back the can auto dial a pre-set number and emit a loud warning tone (if you think pocket dialing people is bad, just imagine this in your pocket), a phone book, SMS messaging, a calendar, alarm clock and an FM radio. The display is kept to a bare minimum with a massive font and, ready for this, a whopping 128×60 screen resolution.

The 6380 only works in the 900/1800 GSM bands, so it will work everywhere except for North America (sorry mom). If it’ll work on your home network, expect to pay $74.99 for one.

[Link to 6380 Seniors Mobile]

A Cell Phone For Grama originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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USB Boobie Warmers

Frank — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:26:10 +0000

I have seen my share of of really weird USB devices, but a set of breast warming pads that work off of USB? Just imagine plugging in your bra to your laptop as you are working at your desk.

I’m not sure how much good this will do you while your out and about, where keeping your boobies warm might be what you want, but then again you can always have a battery pack or solar panel on the back of your jacket to power it.

[Link to USB Breast Warmer]

USB Boobie Warmers originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Use Your iPhone To Control Your Car

Frank — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:11:47 +0000

You knew it was bound to happen. With the iPhone already having apps to control everything from your iTunes to a remote computer you knew that someone would come up with an app to control a car.

The Spirit of Berlin team have developed an iPhone app that remotely controls a minivan. They developed the app for the 2007 Darpa Urban Challenge, so the likelihood of you getting the app from the app store is slim to none.

The iPhone connects with the driving circuitry via WiFi and offers a button for gas and brake as well as a wheel to turn the vehicle. The camera mounted on the front of the minivan transmits video to the iPhone in real-time.

In the video below you can see the operator in the camera’s view on the iPhone. It seems that the top speed of the van is limited (thank God!). This is every big kids dream, a real live RC of an actual car, problem is that this can be extremely dangerous. Plus, WiFi? I hope that their is some sort of kill switch if the van goes out of range or else there can be some serious consequences. Check out the video after the break.

[Link to iPhone RC]

Use Your iPhone To Control Your Car originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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PS3 Smashing Into A TV At 80 KMH

Frank — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:26:44 +0000

What happens when you throw a Sony PS3 into a 46-inch Bravia KDL46X 3100 LCD TV? Total destruction. What purpose does throwing a gaming unit at a TV at 80 Km/h? Well I really don’t think it has anything to do with scientific research. Could it be a viral marketing video for Sony Australia’s new “buy a Bravia get a PS3″ campaign? I think so Sony, I see right through you.

Sit back and enjoy the video after the break. It sure beats smashing your Wii-mote into your TV.

PS3 Smashing Into A TV At 80 KMH originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Open Source DS Bluetooth Adapter

Frank — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:58:31 +0000

Gordan Savicic and Gottfried Haider of DSbrut have just released their open source bluetooth adapter for the Nintendo DS. The adapter will allow the DS to interface to other bluetooth devices like GPS units and keyboards. This should really open up the homebrew scene.

Almost two years in the making, we’re happy to finally release our DS Bluetooth adapter. The tiny Slot-1 cartridge allows you to hook up the Nintendo DS wirelessly with other devices such as GPS-receivers, robots and so forth. Today we’re making all materials of the project openly available, including the schematics and a GPL-licensed software library for the Nintendo DS, because we believe in open hardware design and want to encourage collaboration in the hardware hacking community.
In our design, we use a tiny ATmega168 microcontroller to make the Nintendo DS speak to the RN-41 Bluetooth SMD module by Roving Networks. Using this piece of hardware the Nintendo DS can scan its neighbourhood and establish connections to other Bluetooth devices (supporting SPP). The module can also be remotely connected to, allowing for a range of interesting applications. We also developed a software library for the Nintendo DS, making it easy to use this new Bluetooth interface.

[Link to Open Source Bluetooth DS Adapter]

Open Source DS Bluetooth Adapter originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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NirLauncher – The Ultimate Thumb Drive Toolkit

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

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

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

NirLauncher is 100% free and is for Windows only.

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

Linux Distros That Don’t Suck

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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UPDATE – Beatles Make It Into Rock Band

Ryan Yewell — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:35:40 +0000

At the time of this post, further details were yet to be announced, but it appears official, Viacom and MTV Networks (owners of “Rock Band”) have licensed Beatle songs for their Rock Band game.

This is a pretty big deal, since even major players like iTunes don’t even have Beatle songs yet. In fact, no subscription/download service has landed the Beatles yet, so this is a first. I’d say this is just another sign that gaming is becoming a big deal.

Rock Band and Guitar Hero are currently battling it out in your living room and on your entertainment consoles, so this could help cement Rock Band as the winner, we’ll just have to wait and see.

As mentioned, I’ll have more details later today on as many of the specifics as I can (i.e. what songs, if they will be downloadable, or a stand-alone disc, etc.) At that time there should be official press releases from both MTV and the Beatles record label.

UPDATE: As promised, here are some more details on the Beatles Rock Band deal.

First and foremost (and maybe obvious), this project has the full blessing of, and input from, surviving members Ringo Star and Paul McCartney, as well as from Yoko Ono (on behalf of John Lennon) and Olivia Harrison (on behalf of George Harrison). Hopefully that means great vibes/design all around for when you’re playing Beatles music on your plastic instruments in front of your TV.

Also, the Beatles music will be in a stand-alone game (not via downloadable content, at least not for now) and most likely won’t be in your hands until sometime late 2009 (i.e. just in time the holiday season, surprised?)

The official press release states “the game will be an unprecedented, experiential progression through and celebration of the music and artistry of The Beatles”.

So, it appears the game will span the entire Beatles legacy, taking select songs from start to finish. As a bit of a side note, it looks like the music created by the members of the Beatles when they went into their solo careers will not be in the game, so no “Imagine” for us… At least not this time around. For those keeping score, the Beatles disbanded in 1970… Wow, nearly 40 years ago.

With all the hype, and legacy, that is the Beatles, I really hope Harmonix makes something at least borderline bleeding edge, because just slapping a coat of paint that is the Beatles onto a game design that is a few years old won’t do this project justice. We’ll all just have to wait to see how it turns out.

UPDATE – Beatles Make It Into Rock Band originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Laser Music Sequencer

Frank — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 04:04:46 +0000

If you have ever been to a club you can usually be assured to see some kind of light show (unless the clubs you frequent are in some back alley). Most of those light shows incorporate lasers to add to the experience. Now you can create your own laser show that will act to the music, albeit a small show, but great for your room.

Funky Alex has come up with a cool dual speaker laser X/Y mirror display that will bounce a laser around to the beat of the music. I’m sure if you had some bigger speakers and a longer throw you could probably have this display on an entire wall.

The vibrations from the 2 base speakers (with 1 mirror an each speaker) makes the laserbeam move with the music and the frequencies (audio).

You can find entire instructions on building your own including links to some software for your Mac to help you draw some cool effect on Instructables

Laser Music Sequencer originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

US Court Temporarily Stops RealDVD Sales

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

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

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

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

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

Send Your Idea To The MythBusters

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

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

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

Possible Pics Of The Blackberry Storm

Frank — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:05:48 +0000

Here are some pics of the Vodaphone-branded Blackberry Storm which is set to be on track for a November release in the States. According to BGR, the interface looks very “text based” for a phone that is supossed to be touchscreen based. If these shots are really they have really made this to look a lot like an iPhone. Plus, with the corporate world really behind the Blackberry product line, these units could sell like hot cakes.

If these pics are the real deal (BGR has been pretty accurate in the past), I would gladly toss my 8830 out and grab one of these. That is providing they come to Canada in the near future. Come on RIM, you are Canadian, help a brother out.

Possible Pics Of The Blackberry Storm originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/27. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Super Tiny Keyboard

Frank — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:36:38 +0000

This super tiny keyboard would be perfect for iPhone users if the iPhone actually had a USB port. Maybe someone could come up with a Apple 30-pin connector to USB adapter so that some of us could actually be productive on our iPhones. Enough with my rant, on to the product.

The “Super Tiny Keyboard” from Brando has it’s own built in USB zip-cord. Actual dimensions are 6.7 x 2.9x 0.6 and for only $25, it’s not that bad a deal if your current UMPC keyboard isn’t cutting it for you.

[Link to Super Tiny Keyboard]

Super Tiny Keyboard originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Windows 7 – Looks Just Like Vista

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

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

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

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

OS X 10.5.5 Available Now

Frank — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:56:33 +0000

Apple today released the 10.5.5 update to their Leopard OS. The update contains a long list of fixes for the core OS as well as app fixes like iCal, Mail, MobileMe, and Time Machine. Here’s a list of what’s included:

General

Includes recent Apple security updates.
Addresses stability issues with video playback, processor core idling, and remote disc sharing for MacBook Air.
Addresses an issue in which some Macs could unexpectedly power on at the same time each day.
Resolves a stability issue in TextEdit that could be found when accessing the color palette.
Improves Spotlight indexing performance.
Fixes an issue in which contacts might not sync properly with PalmOS-based devices.
Improves iPhone sync reliability with iCal and Address Book.
Includes improvements to Active Directory.
Improves Speech Dictionary.
Fixes Kerberos authentication issues for Mac OS X 10.5 clients that connect to certain Samba servers, such as Mac OS X Server version 10.4.
Includes extensive graphics enhancements.

Address Book

Addresses stability issues that may occur when creating a Smart Group.
Resolves a printing issue with address cards containing information that spans more than one page.

Disk Utility and Directory Utility

Improves reliability when rebuilding a software mirror RAID volume in Disk Utility.
Improves reliability of server status displayed in Directory Utility.

iCal

Updates iCal to more accurately handle repeating events.
Improves performance when choosing meeting attendees.
Resolves an issue in which the “Refresh All” option may be dimmed (“grayed out”) in the contextual menu for certain calendars.
Fixes issues with read-only calendars.
Addresses an issue that prevents an invitee from moving an event to a different calendar.
Resolves an issue with syncing published calendars.

Mail

Addresses performance issues related to displaying IMAP messages.
Resolves an issue with SMTP settings for AIM, Compuserve, Hanmail, Yahoo!, and Time Warner Road Runner email accounts.
Addresses stability issues that may occur when dragging a file to the Mail icon in the Dock.
Addresses an issue with the “Organized by Thread” view in which the date does not appear when the thread is collapsed.
Resolves an issue in which RSS feeds could temporarily disappear from the sidebar.
Improves Mail robustness when sending messages.
Improves reliability when saving drafts that have attachments.

MobileMe

Improves overall sync reliability.
Improves Back to My Mac reliability.

Time Machine

Improves Time Machine reliability with Time Capsule.
Addresses performance issues that may affect initial and in-progress backups.
Fixes an issue in which an incorrect alert message could appear stating that a backup volume does not have enough free space.
Time Machine can now back up iPhone backups that are on your Mac, as well as other items in (~/Library/Application Support).

OS X 10.5.5 Available Now originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Save A Genius Playlist

Frank — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:37:26 +0000

One of the neat new features in iTunes 8 is the “Genius” playlist builder. Basically, it creates playlists from the songs in your library or from the iTunes store. What’s the big deal with that you ask? Well, it does this based on a track you select from your library. So, in short, you pick a song and iTunes uses some voodoo to pick 25 other songs that it thinks you might like based on your “seed” song. Got it? Good.

In this post we will show you how to save your Genius playlist in iTunes.

First, pick the track you want to use as your “seed” track. Next, click on the Genius button (it looks like the nuclear atom icon above), it’s located in the bottom right-hand corner of iTunes.

Tada, you playlist is now created. You can now go ahead and tweak the playlist to your liking. At the top you’ll see the “seed” track that the playlist is based on. Next to that is a drop-down menu which lets you select the number of songs to include. You can pick from 25, 50, 75, or 100.

You can also exclude any individual song you might not want to listen to by deselecting the gray checkbox next to it. When you’re happy with what you’ve got, click on “Save Playlist” in the top right-hand corner. Your new playlist will now appear with all your other playlists.

Save A Genius Playlist originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iPhone Document Scanner

Frank — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 05:15:35 +0000

Here’s a neat cardboard iPhone document scanner rig. Cincinnati design student Kyle A Koch designed this cleaver contraption that suspends your iPhone just the right height to have it snap shots of paper documents, essentially turning the whole thing into a document scanner, sort of.

Now that we can snap stills of our hardcopies why can’t someone just create a barcode scanner for the iPhone. We have Delicious Library for the Mac that already does something similar, what is so hard about it?

[Link to Cardboard iPhone Rig]

iPhone Document Scanner originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY: PSX to USB

Frank — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:40:05 +0000

Here’s a great project to make use of your old PSX controllers that you might have laying around the house. Izuna posted some details on building a micro-controller that is using an ATmega8 chip to convert the signal from a PSX controller to USB.

Sure, you can buy an extensor and cut the cable, but you can also buy a PSX to USB adapter for cheap if you want. This is not the point, the point here is make something yourself (and if you have the rights tools beforehand, this is cheaper than buying the adapter [At least I think it is in Brazil]).
[…]
The circuit is very simple, the Atmega8 do all the work, there is just some resistors and zeners to meet the standards for USB protocol, the oscillator crystal and some filtering caps

[Link to USBJoy]

DIY: PSX to USB originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Lian Li’s Xbox 360 Case

Frank — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:37:24 +0000

Sick and tired of the heat issue in your Xbox 360 that cases the evil red ring of death? Why not jam your 360 internals in one of these beautiful Lian Li cases specifically designed for the 360. The custom case, which will run you $150, promises silent vibration-free operation and a cooler running gaming experience.

The Lian Li PC-XB01 is shipping now and should be at your favorite Lian Li distributor.

Lian Li’s Xbox 360 Case originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY Flamethrower

Frank — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:05:32 +0000

For the love of God kids, don’t, and I mean don’t try this at home. Everett Bradford has been working on a Pyro like system (just like the one from X-Men) for his final project for a mechanisms class (what ever happened to building volcanos and the such?). This thing looks quite dangerous, but it does do a nice job of imitating the fire throwing ability of Pyro from X-Men.

The Pyro System is my final project for a mechanisms class in the spring of 2008. It gives me the power that the X-Men character Pyro has

UPDATE: Seems that the second video went missing. I have correct the post and you can now see the flamethrower in action

DIY Flamethrower originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Howto: Improve Skype Quality

Frank — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:24:32 +0000

Ever run into bad sound quality while using Skype? Well, you might want to try the following if other reasons like blocked ports or p2p background processes aren’t to blame. Delete the shared.xml file which contains host cache information which is nothing more than a list of Skype super-nodes and host pairs that are needed for Skype to run.

It can be that the info stored in the shared.xml file is not optimal for the connection you have which can have a direct impact on sound quality. Look at it like this, why would you want to be routed half way across the world to call a friend who lives up the street?

Don’t worry about deleting the file, Skype just rebuilds that list during the next startup.

Windows users can find the shared.xml file in Documents and Settings\Username\Application Data\Skype, Mac Users can find it in ~/Library/Application Support/Skype/shared.xml, and Linux gurus can find it in /home/Username/.Skype/shared.xml

This is still no guarantee that this will clear up your sound issues, but it does offer a pretty good chance.

Howto: Improve Skype Quality originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

11 WordPress Plugins For Professional Bloggers

Frank — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 04:35:13 +0000

In a world filled with enough plugins to make your head spin, it can be quite frustrating looking for that right plugin to do that job your after. Most bloggers have spent countless hours sifting through google or wordpress.org looking for a plugin to do something they are after but just can’t come up with the name that they need.

Everyone can probably name their favorite plugin. The trick is to name the plugins that are worth installing, ones that can actually add something useful to your blog. Remember, plugins tend to slow down wordpress blogs, so it’s a good to keep an eye on performance and only activate what you actually need.

Once we switched tech.nocr.at over to wordpress some time ago we too spent countless days tweaking and installing plugins, looking for the right combination to do the job. So here I present to you, the list of must have plugins for any pro-blogger. All of them are installed and activated right here.

The List

Of course, these plugins don’t make your blog an instant success, but they do add some important and needed feature to a blog. Concentrate on content if you want to attract readers and let the plugins do their jobs and help you along the way.

Must Haves

The following plugins should be install on any blog no matter what type of content you have or how popular your blog is. No exceptions.

Akismet
This one is a no brainer, I mean, who the hell wants spam on their site?
WP-Super-Cache
Once one of your posts hits the front page of Digg or you become popular on StumbleUpon you are going to be thankful of this puppy. This plugin stores a static file of each page in html, which is easier to show than dynamic content. It lowers the processing of PHP and the database hits that can kill you.
All in One SEO Pack
Want to have your site indexed properly on search engines? Let this puppy take all of the hard work off of your hands.

SEO & analytics

Google Analytics for WordPress
Probably the worlds most used analytics package. Install this one and you will be greeted with more stats than you can handle.
WP-UserOnline
Does exactly what it says, tells your how many people are on your site right now. Even gives you referring URL’s and spiders too.
Google XML-Sitemap Generator
Search engines just love sitemaps, especially google. This plugin will create a XML-Sitemap for you automatically and keep it up-to-date.

RSS Plugin

Feedburner Feedsmith
Feedburner is probably the industry standard for rolling out your feeds. This plugin will ensure that any link on your site to your RSS feed is redirected to your feedburner account.

Comment Plugins

Move Comments
This plugin in will give you the ability to move comments from one post to another. Keeps your commenters on track.
CAPTCHA
Just incase Akisment didn’t get em, this one will help you out.

Miscellaneous Plugins

Related Posts
Shows a number (set by you) of posts that relate to this post a users is one. This is a great plugin for giving people a choice of similar content on your site and having them dig deeper.
Maintenance Mode
If you ever need to tweak or upgrade your system, this plugin will allow your to show a static HTML page telling people that you are down for some upgrade and tweak love. The best part is if log in, you can still access your site to test those tweaks and upgrades.

Well there it is, this list of wordpress plugins that are must haves. There is always room for improvement though. If you have a must have plugin in that we should know about then let us know.

11 WordPress Plugins For Professional Bloggers originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Pens That Make Their Way Back

Frank — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:35:10 +0000

Do you hate it when someone comes by and asks to borrow your pen only to never have it come back? I have a drawer full of cheap bic pens for that exact reason. I can guarantee that when you lend this pen out it will make it’s way back. Instead of shocking someone of squirting ink like your standard gag pen, these ones are branded with certain businesses that can potentially ruin someone’s reputation if they are caught with them.

If pen’s with names like Stuffed With Love Taxidermy or Howie’s House of Hair don’t ensure that you get you pen back then ask for something as collateral, like their car, or youngest son. It might be excessive but it will leave you with one hell of a bargaining chip.

8 “Borrow My Pen?” pens will run you $6.99 from Perpetual Kid

Pens That Make Their Way Back originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

3G, GPS, MobileMe, Oh My

Frank — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:30:22 +0000

After all of the rumours (what else is new) the 3G iPhone is finally here.

Hits the shelves on July 11th (in Canada too!)
$199 for 8GB, $299 for 16GB
Black, with a white 16GB model
GPS

In a clear action of trying to play catch up to Google, Apple also announced a suite of software that will be revolutionary. (If they decided to roll it out in 2002). MobileMe is a much needed update to the .Mac system. MobileMe will let users log into a website using a billion dollar url; me.com, to access their email, address book, and calendar for a mere $99 a year, you know, much better than Google’s $0 a year charge.

On the plus side it will now be compatible with Windows, errr, oh yeah, Google’s bee there and done that too. Sounds like it should me meh.com and not me.com

For all of you hardcore, here’s the official Apple press release …

SAN FRANCISCOâ€”June 9, 2008â€”AppleÂ® today introduced the new iPhoneâ„¢ 3G, combining all the revolutionary features of iPhone with 3G networking that is twice as fast* as the first generation iPhone, built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs the hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK. In the US the new iPhone 3G is priced at a stunning $199 for the 8GB model, and just $299 for the 16GB model.** iPhone 3G will be available in more than 70 countries later this year, beginning with customer availability in 22 countriesâ€”Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the USâ€”on July 11.

â€œJust one year after launching the iPhone, weâ€™re launching the new iPhone 3G that is twice as fast at half the price,â€ said Steve Jobs, Appleâ€™s CEO. â€œ iPhone 3G supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync right out of the box, runs the incredible third party apps created with the iPhone SDK, and will be available in more than 70 countries around the world this year.â€

iPhone 3G gives users ever faster access to the Internet and email over their cellular network with quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA for voice and data connectivity around the world. iPhone 3G supports Wi-Fi, 3G and EDGE networks and automatically switches between them to ensure the fastest possible download speeds. The new iPhone 3G also makes it easier to multi-task with simultaneous voice and data communications, so with iPhone 3G you can browse the web, get map directions, or check your email while you are on a call.
iPhone 3G includes the new iPhone 2.0 software with both the iPhone SDK and key enterprise features such as support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to provide over-the-air push email, contact and calendar syncing as well as remote wipe and Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to corporate networks. The iPhone SDK allows developers to create amazing applications that leverage the iPhoneâ€™s groundbreaking Multi-Touchâ„¢ user interface, animation technology, accelerometer and GPS technology on the worldâ€™s most advanced mobile platform.

iPhone 3G includes the new App Store, providing iPhone users with native applications in a variety of categories including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel. The App Store on iPhone works over cellular networks and Wi-Fi, which means it is accessible from just about anywhere, so you can purchase and download applications wirelessly and start using them instantly. Some applications are even free and the App Store notifies you when application updates are available. The App Store will be available in 62 countries at launch.
Additional features available with the iPhone 2.0 software include the ability to do real-time mapping and track your progress with GPS technology, mass move and delete multiple email messages, search for contacts, access a new scientific calculator, turn on parental control restrictions for specified content, save images directly from a web page or email them to your iPhone and easily transfer them back to your photo library on your MacÂ® or PC. iPhone 3G delivers an amazing 10 hours of talk time on 2G networks and 5 hours using 3G, with up to 5 to 6 hours of web browsing, up to 7 hours for video playback and up to 24 hours for audio playback.

iPhone 3G takes advantage of MobileMeâ„¢, a new Internet service that pushes email, contacts, and calendars from an online â€œcloudâ€ to native applications on iPhone, iPodÂ® touch, Macs and PCs. With MobileMe email, messages are pushed instantly to iPhone, removing the need to manually check email and wait for downloads, and push keeps contacts and calendars continuously up-to-date so changes made on one device are automatically updated on other devices. With iPhone, you can even snap a photo and post it directly to a MobileMe Gallery to share with friends and family.
iPhone 3G will be available in the US on July 11 for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 8GB model and $299 (US) for the 16GB model in both Apple and AT&Tâ€™s retail stores and requires a new two year contract with AT&T for qualifying customers. iPhone 2.0 software will be available on July 11 as a free software update via iTunesÂ® 7.7 or later for all iPhone customers. For further information about iPhone 3G pricing and availability in the US and internationally, visit www.apple.com/iphone.

*Based on 3G and EDGE testing. Actual speeds vary by site conditions.
**Based on iPhone 3G (8GB) and first generation iPhone (8GB) purchases. Requires new two year AT&T rate plan, sold separately.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

3G, GPS, MobileMe, Oh My originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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iTunes Movies Come To Canada

Frank — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:12:21 +0000

Looks like American and UK iTunes users won’t be the only ones who have access to purchase or rent movies from iTunes, Canadians have also joined the bunch. The Canadian iTunes store now have over 1,200 movies to buy, 200 of which you can purchase.

With a 48 hour viewing window available for people who choose to rent it leads us to believe that the US window might increase as well.

I just started my first movie rental download, Cloverfield. Weighing in at just under a gig it might take a little while before I can actually watch it.

For those of you Canadians who are interested. the pricing is as follows…

CAN$9.99 to purchase catalog titles
CAN$14.99 to get recently released movies
CAN$19.99 to purchase new movies
CAN$3.99 for renting a library title (a dollar more for HD)
CAN$4.99 for new release rental (a dollar more for HD)

iTunes Movies Come To Canada originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Ybox2: Set Top Box In An Altoids Tin

Frank — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:05:42 +0000

The Ybox2 is the latest version of a programmable IP-connected set top box which fits entirely in an Altoids box.

The system can be programmed to display widget-like channels on your TV via a library of freely available software. The unit even has a built in IR sensor so you can change the widgets with a remote control.

The Ybox2 connects to your network via itâ€™s built in 10BaseT ethernet port and outputs video to your display using a composite connector. At the heart of it all is a programmable Propeller 32-bit multiprocessor, built in speaker, and a multicolour status LED.

You should be able to build the entire thing for about $50, which is half the cost of the original Ybox. You can find all the details, including schematics, parts list, and source code on deep darc

Ybox2: Set Top Box In An Altoids Tin originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To Make A Roll Up Keyboard

Frank — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:15:59 +0000

Now you too can be uber-elite with your own roll up keyboard. Itâ€™s quite simple, all you really need to do is remove the membrane from your run of the mill usb keyboard and stick some letters on it (in the appropriate places of course).

Besides having a full sized keyboard, and the owws and ahhs youâ€™ll get from your fellow geek, this might have health benefits as well. Considering most keyboards are a biological cesspool of gems and bacteria. This one will be super easy to clean and disinfect.

Link to making your own roll up keyboard.

How To Make A Roll Up Keyboard originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Best Buy Admits To Selling Infected Picture Frames

Frank — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:59:55 +0000

If you bought a picture frame for yourself or a loved one at Best Buy over the holiday season you might have gotten more than you bargained for. Apparently they came with a factory installed virus that is a threat to Windows machines if connected via the included USB port. The frames that had the malicious code are able to spread to any connected Windows PC, but Best Buy isnâ€™t recalling the infected products.

“A limited number” of the 10.4-in. digital frames sold under the in-house Insignia brand were “contaminated with a computer virus during the manufacturing process,” according to a notice posted on the Insignia site last weekend. The frame which carried the part number NS-DPF10A has been discontinued and all remaining stock have been pulled off the shelf. Best Buy has not specified the number of virus-loaded frames that has been sold but it said in a second notice posted on the Insignia site, that it is continuing to investigate and is “connecting with our customers who may have been impacted.â€

According to Best Buy, the virus that is on the frames is an older one than is easily detected by any up-to-date antivirus software. The name of the virus hasnâ€™t been released but they said that itâ€™s a non-replicating Trojan rather than a self-propagating worm.

Best Buy Admits To Selling Infected Picture Frames originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

$10 Super Duper WiFi Antenna

Frank — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 02:55:10 +0000

There are sometimes that a single bar of WiFi service isnâ€™t going to cut it. You can see the access points near you, but the signal is just too weak to get you any access. Before you go out and spend $100â€™s for pringle can like antennas give this $10 alternative a spin.

Items needed: some 35-mm foam (like the kind desktop and laptop PCs usually come with), some solid-core copper wire, a small brass plate, and multiple BNC connectors. Then follow the directions in the video and youâ€™ll have a super powerful directional antenna that should get you better gain that that external antenna your card came with.

Remember, this works as a directional antenna so you need to have it pointed in the right direction to get a strong signal. Just sweep it around slowly until you can lock down a super signal then surf away!

$10 Super Duper WiFi Antenna originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Improve Your Cell Phone’s Battery Life

Frank — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:09:05 +0000

Cell phone batteries generally fail on you when you need them most. You know, when your on the road traveling and can only charge your phone at night when you get back to your hotel room.

Wikihow has a great article on how to make your cell phone battery last longer. You can increase time between charges by turning the phone off at night when you go to bed, not using the vibrate function on your phone, and not searching for a signal when there obviously isn’t one to be found. You can prolong the life of your battery by fully charging a new battery before you use it, keeping the battery cool by not leaving your phone sit out in your purse in an overheated car, and by cleaning the battery contacts on both the battery and on the phone itself.

Most new batteries donâ€™t suffer from the same pitfalls that their predecessors did like charging memory, or burn out when overcharged, but most of the tricks in the article can help you squeeze the most juice out of that battery.

[Via DIYLIFE]

Improve Your Cell Phone’s Battery Life originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Worlds Smallest Bluetooth Adapter

Frank — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 14:37:18 +0000

This thing is tiny, I mean super small tiny. How tiny is it you ask? So tiny that when you plug it into a usb port it just looks like a cover for the port.

Brandoâ€™s miniature Bluetooth adapter that works with Windows ME right through to Vista as well as all flavours of OS X. The unit supports A2DP as well as all the standard Bluetooth goodness like PAN, up to 7 device support, and is good for about 33 feet of range.

This is the perfect addition to anyone who wants to add bluetooth support to their Asus EEEPC. If you are afraid of cracking open your EEEPC and adding an internal bluetooth adapter just pop this puppy in and youâ€™ll get all the bluetooth goodness and still maintain that sleek ultra portable style.

The adapter goes for about $24 and can be picked up through Brando

Worlds Smallest Bluetooth Adapter originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To: Upgrade Your Old Mac To Run OS X

Frank — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:22:24 +0000

Now that the 24th anniversary of the Mac is upon is, and now that Macworld is literally just around the corner, why not a fun and cool hack to get that old 512k Mac you may have lying around or sitting in the closet put to good use?

The hack allows you to still use the original Mac 512k keyboard and mouse, and by using an Atmel AT90USB162 to create a standard USB HID device the keyboard and mouse appear as standard USB devices, as will any modern USB deviceYou don’t even have to spend countless hours coding drivers for the custom micro-controllers that make it all work, it’s available right on the site.

[Via Hackaday]

â€œThis is a Macintosh 512k which I upgraded to run OS X by replacing the innards with a modern Mac Mini and various supporting components, including a grayscale CRT monitor, an LS-120 floppy disk drive, and a microcontroller-based USB device that interfaces the Mini to the original keyboard and mouse. Why? Mainly because I wanted to experiment with creating a custom USB device. Also I guess I wanted to waste hundreds of dollars and countless hours building a semi-useless computer with a 9 inch black and white screen and no arrow keys.
The most interesting part of the project for me was the circuit that allows the old original keyboard and mouse to be used with the Mini. It is based on an Atmel AT90USB162 microcontroller, which is basically a standard AVR ÂµC with a special coprocessor dedicated to USB signaling. It comes with a C library that makes it relatively easy to create USB devices like HID keyboards and mice, speakers, storage devices, etc.â€

How To: Upgrade Your Old Mac To Run OS X originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Ikea LCD Monitor Setup

Frank — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 04:44:52 +0000

I love IKEA. When I was single I don’t think there was a single piece of furniture in my apartment that wasn’t purchased at IKEA, hell we built most of the set we use on Digital Underground.tv from stuff at IKEA. That’s why I love to see a good hack now and then with IKEA stuff.

Using a shelf track, some hooks, and a shelf this crafty hacker put together a slick LCD setup for his desk. Not only did he keep the desk free of any monitors or cables, but he was also able to score some book space from the deal as well. Bravo.

Link

Ikea LCD Monitor Setup originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Entertainer – New Linux Based Media Center

Frank — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 23:00:07 +0000

It looks like the Media Center space just got a bit more crowded. With already tons of Windows based Media Center software available and only a handful of decent Linux based ones floating around, Entertainer plans to change all of that.

Unlike software like MythTV or Freevo, Entertainer is strictly a Media Center based application that has no DVR or PVR like functionality, essentially you can not record or pause live TV. What Entertainer has going for it is it’s slick UI and what seems to be incredible ease of use.

Features so far:

Video Playback: You can easily play a multitude of video formats right from your harddrive. Entertainer also crawls the internet for metadata on your video.

Music: Standard music play back functionality with playlists, search be genre, artists, etc. It will also go out and get the cover art and lyrics for you (I smell some Karaoke fun!)

Pictures: Look at the 100′s of thousands of pictures in your library (Oh Joy)

RSS: Read your RSS feeds (like tech.nocr.at) right from the couch.

Over all it seems like a nice clean packaging of what most computers can do already. What they should start doing is adding some PVR features so that they can give Freevo and MythTV a run for their money.

Entertainer – New Linux Based Media Center originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Change Your OS X Boot Logo

Frank — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:05:41 +0000

Windows users have been able to change their boot logos for some time, now if you use a Mac you too can change that dull grey Apple into something vibrant and colourful. BootXChanger allows you to change the default boot image on Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5. To change your default image simply open BootXChanger and drag your new image into then window and hit apply.

It’s just that simple, plus it’s 100% free as in beer.

Change Your OS X Boot Logo originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Bluetooth iPod Hack

Frank — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 03:45:06 +0000

I’m just a sucker for a good iPod hack since it’s the 2 most used device I own (Yes, the first is my crackberry). If your willing to put your iPod’s life in peril then this hack is for you. Actually, it’s not that bad, a steady hand and some decent soldering skills is all you really need to cram a Jabra A120S music bluetooth adapter into your iPod for wireless listening fun. The full write-up on how to go wireless on your iPod is over on Instructables.

Happy Hacking!

Bluetooth iPod Hack originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Cinema Display Dock Patent

Frank — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:47:03 +0000

Looks like the guys over at Gizmodo have dug up a brand new patent from Apple that shows off yet another truly innovative design from the company. The patent application describes a modified Cinema Display with a slot that would house a portable computer (maybe the new slimmed down MacBook everyone’s been talking about?). The key to the patent is the idea that the laptop would be concealed by the Cinema display once docked.

It’s yet another brilliant design concept form the minds at Apple. If we don’t get a new ultra slim laptop at this years MacWorld the thickness of this design is going to be huge, but on the flip side it removes the need for a docking station and extra wiring. I want one.

Cinema Display Dock Patent originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Poor Mans 3d Scanner

Frank — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 20:40:29 +0000

Don’t have $4000 + to purchase a high end 3d scanner? Using a simple web cam, a free (as in beer) piece of windows software and a laser line level you too can achieve the same stunning results. The David Laserscanner does just that. Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

- A camera (e.g. web cam)
- A hand-held line laser
- Two plain boards in the background
- A Windows PC
- DAVID-Laserscanner software (free)

Once you’ve got your equipment together, print off the calibration sheets that are included with the David Laserscanner software and apply them to you 2 plain boards.

Your two boards must form a perfect 90 deg right angle, this is key to the scanning process.

Next, point your webcam at your calibration boards and turn off any image enhancements that your camera might have (i.e., ambient light boot, auto exposure, etc).

Next we fire up the David Laserscanner software and auto calibrate our calibration boards. You must have as bright a room as you can get for this step, you almost want a complete washed out look for perfect calibration.

Once your done grab your line laser and turn all of the lights off, you want to make sure that the room is a pitch black as possible, all we want the camera to do is see the laser. Then, at a high angle, slowly pass your line laser over the object from top down, repeat the scan until you have a solid mesh form of your object.

Export your scan into an .obj format and load it up into your favorite 3d modeling program and enjoy.

Although it does take a while to get a decent scan out of the thing it sure is cheaper than some of the solutions out there. If you have the interest and some free time, it is a definite check out item.

Poor Mans 3d Scanner originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/12/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Bluetooth Adopts New Core Version

Frank — Unknown, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The board of directors over at the Bluetooth Special Interest Group announced the adoption of Core Specification Version 2.1+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate). The new spec is set to make device set-up faster and increases batter life of bluetooth devices.

Other key enhancements include…

Improved Pairing – The new pairing process enables all consumers to quickly setup their bluetooth devices. “Man in the middle” protection eliminates the possibility for an undetected middle man intercepting information.

Enhanced Power Optimization – The 2.1+EDR upgrade offers further optimized power consumption through a feature called Sniff Subrating which increases current battery life by up to five times in many devices like mice, and keyboards.

Link to press release

With all of these new snazzy improvements porn via bluetooth is only a step away.

Bluetooth Adopts New Core Version originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/08/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Golden Disk – Just don’t drop it

Frank — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Have designers really come to the end of their creativity? I mean, we have seen Prada Cell Phones and diamond encrusted iPod‘s, now a external disk unit that actually contains gold?

Ora-Ito, designing brain child behind the LaCie golden disk which is a 500GB storage unit says that the silhouette of the device has been inspired by flowing golden liquid. I’m sure it will be a focal point, but I’d be scarred as hell if someone stole it!

No pricing yet, but i’m sure it will cost a mint (no pun intended).

Golden Disk – Just don’t drop it originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Asustek BC-1205PT Blu-Ray Drive

Frank — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

The Asustek BC-1205PT Blu-ray drive speeds up next generation DVD recording, capable of burning in data at 12X DVD+/- write, 4X DVD+/-R (dual layer) and 5X DVD-RAM speeds. This is made possible by a SATA interface that offers users with five times faster data transmission rates compared to DMA33 standards. You will be able to access your Blu-ray media at data transmission speeds of up to 4.5MB/s, which is roughly triple the speed of standard DVD transmission. Unique features include Asustek’s very own DDSS2 (Double Dynamic Suspension System 2) that minimizes vibration caused by the spindle motor and resonance between components, Liquid Crystal Tilt for enhanced pick up head accuracy during recording and playback of discs with uneven curvature and thickness and Smart Laser Driver for stable recording quality. No word on pricing and availability though.

Asustek BC-1205PT Blu-Ray Drive originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Robotic Bartender

Frank — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Now this is what I call tre cool. The MyFountain is a computerized bartending machine that sits on top of your bar and can automatically dispense booze, mixed drinks, soft drinks, beer, and wine with the press of a virtual button ala iPhone.

The virtual bartender comes preloaded with a library of mixed drinks or you can set all the proportions for your own deadly cocktail, there’s even an online drink recipe generator that will help you along the way.

A small fridge sits under your countertop holding dozens of types of alcohol and mixers. It’s also got lines for water, carbon-dioxide, wine, and beer. It also automatically sanitizes the drink lines with hot water when your done. The system also offers password protection to keep people from enjoying happy hour at your place.

My only concern is will it listen to all of my sob stories like my bartender does.

Digital Beverages is still wrapping up all of the small details and expects to have them on the market sometime in the Spring of 2008. Expect to spring $2500 USD for the unit.

[Via technabob]

Robotic Bartender originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

USB Mini Battery for instant power

Frank — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Like I’ve said in the past, there is nothing like a good solid usb charger to help you along the way when you have no electrical outlets available to you to charge all that electronic goodness, which is why the USB Mini Battery from Brando gives you portable, instant power whenever there is no power outlet in sight. It is compatible with the iPhone, a variety of smartphones, digital cameras, cellphones, portable media players, the iPod, MP3 players, CD players, and even portable game consoles like the PSP and Nintendo DS and DS Lite. Just make sure there is a USB charging cable compatible with the device you’re going to charge before picking the USB Mini Battery up. The li-ion battery has a capacity of 2200mAh, and measures 70mm x 35mm x 21mm, making this an essential portable item to bring on your travels. It retails for $36 a pop.

USB Mini Battery for instant power originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Unmaker Laser Gun

Frank — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

This past weekend I spent some time fighting crabgrass around the house with a propane torch, if I had $53,700 laying around I could have purchased this cool backpack laser from Clean Laser which would have done a much better job.

This little puppy is used to restore old buildings. Clean Laser System’s backpack laser cleans without chemicals, pumping out a 20W programmable beam to vaporize contaminants like paint, grease and rust. Simultaneously, the laser is safer to use on many surfaces since it’s non-abrasive and will not leave a foreign residue.

Unfortunately you can’t go around zapping people like you do in Halo since the laser isn’t that powerful, but hey you can dream can’t you? Just imagine cutting someone’s car cleanly in half when they cut you off!

Unmaker Laser Gun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Build your own laser listening device

Frank — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

This is one of those “it works, and it’s scary” hacking projects. Build your own laser listening device for about $3. Video after the jump.Via Funditor

â€œIn a microphone, sound waves (differences in the pressure of air) cause a diaphragm to vibrate back and forth, altering its resistance to an electric current. When an electric current passes through said diaphragm, the output forms a complex signal that can then be reinterpreted by speakers or a recording device as sound. The device shown here works in a very similar way. Sound bounces off of a window, causing minuscule vibrations (acting like the microphone’s diaphragm). When a laser is trained on the window, its reflection will vibrate with the sound. The laser’s reflection, if converted to an electrical signal can now be recorded as sound. I will outline how I made my own (cost me $3, hope yours is the same or less) – the technically savvy among you will spot the countless variations possible on this basic idea.â€

Build your own laser listening device originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Facebook source code leaked

Frank — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Looks like someone has leaked out the source code for the Facebook main index page on a blog called Facebook Secrets. There are really only two possible ways that this got out into the wild. The first is that it was leaked out by a developer, or the more likely option that there just might be a security hole at Facebook which can’t be good news for the millions of people who are on it, including me. Taking a quick look at the code and verifying some of the paths that have been referenced, I can say with some certainty that this seem real and a recent version of the main Facebook page.

There are some serious issues that can arise from this. The first is that this code can be using by people to better understand how Facebook works, or for the malicious purpose of finding further security hole or bugs that can be exploited. Once an attacker starts to gain entry into the workings of a system he or she can easily locate, if any, bugs or exploits that can lead to even more headaches.

This leak can’t be good news for the guys at Facebook. It raises some questions about the security of user information. If main code can be leaked then there is a possibility of anything happening. Facebook has become such a large and profitable outfit that it virtually has a bulls-eye on it much like myspace did to attackers

[Update] Facebook has made an official response to the leaked code on TechCrunch:

I wanted to clarify a few things in your story. Some of Facebook’s source code was exposed to a small number of users due to a bug on a single server that was misconfigured and then fixed immediately. It was not a security breach and did not compromise user data in any way. The reprinting of this code violates several laws and we ask that people not distribute it further.
Thanks to you and the TC readers for helping us out on this one.
Brandee Barker
Facebook

Not sure if this is the “legal” or “pr” answer to what happened, but I’m sure that we’ll be finding out if there is anything to come of this leaked code in the next few days or weeks.

Facebook source code leaked originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Lab with Leo: 100th Episode Party

Frank — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

The wacky kids in Vancouver that produce the Lab with Leo TV show are having a meet-up to celebrate their 100th Episode. If you’re local to the area you should make the trek out and meet the cast and crew of the Lab. If you are wondering, yes Leo Laporte will be there, as well as the entire crew of the show; Matt, Kate, Sean, Ryan, and the bunch. I have also been told by the powers that be that Victor Lucas from Electric Playground, Alex Lindsay, the guys from Tiki Bar TV, and me, Frank Linhares.

Where: The Alibi Room – 157 Alexander St, Vancouver, BC
When: Thursday Sept. 6th – 7pm – 10pm
RSVP here on Facebook

Hope to see all of you there!

Lab with Leo: 100th Episode Party originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Nokia launches mobile social networking site

Frank — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Shortly after buying media sharing site Twango, Nokia launched a closed beta of a brand new mobile networking site.

Mosh, short for Mobile Sharing, allows users to share media and applications from their mobile phones. It’s also got some really cool features like the ability to tag and share content with other people and create collections of content, like clouds.

The site will be free to users and won’t be limited to Nokia handset owners. Anyone with a WAP compatible device or standard browser will be able to access the system. However, if you do have a Nokia device you can download an application that will offer quicker access to Mosh. You will also be able to access the site from your computer avoiding costly mobile data charges associated with downloading content on your phone.

In order to upload content, a user must first register, although anyone can view the content. Registered users can upload individual items with a maximum size of 100MB. Nokia hasn’t specified the monthly upload quota but said it is generous and “higher than any user will probably need.”

Nokia launches mobile social networking site originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

New Phone-less Ipod

Frank — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

The biggest media hype of this summer is now over and Apple has come through in a big way (Pics after the Jump)Apple today at their big media circus offered us the following:

iPod Shuffle now comes in project red
New fat Nano’s with 201 ppi screen. Video as well. 4gb – $149, 8 gb – $199
iPod classics as well – 80 gb $249, 160 gb $349
Ring tones for your iPhone – $2.50 a pop
iPhone price cut – down to $399 from $599
Phone-less iPhone – Essential a new iPod without iPhone. Same great features including Wifi and the whole shebang. 8 gb – $299, 16 gb $399
iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store
Deal with Starbucks to purchase music at their shops via Wi-Fi

Although there were a lot of innuendoes around the Beatles, sad to say still no announcement about any of the library being sold on the iTunes store, sorry.

New Phone-less Ipod originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Handbrake 0.9 Out The Door

Frank — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

One of my favorite video converting application for the Mac, Handbrake, has just been upgraded to 0.9.0. New in this version is a â€œre-envisionedâ€ interface for the Mac OS X and a completely rebuilt UI for Windows. Picture quality has also been improved quite a bit through some neat new effect; filters and deinterlacing techniques. Overall speed has also been bumped up, and you no longer have to customize encoding settings if you want to convert video for the iPhone, thanks to new presets that make you life easier.

In total nearly 300 changes were made for the new version, so head on over and give it a whirl.

Handbrake 0.9 Out The Door originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iPhone unlocked, almost

Frank — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

The almighty iPhone is quickly crumbling under the pressure that hackers world wide have been putting on it. The iPhone Dev Team has been able to extract the content of the radio memory. They now have the main key to truly unlocking the iPhone and making me one happy Canadian with a full working iPhone. I know it’s a far cry from the one week I said it would take on TWiT 104, but it’s a start.

We are pleased to announce that another big milestone toward the unlocking has been reached.
Just a couple of days ago we managed to extract the full content of the NOR memory (from the S-Gold2), which is the main key to achieving a true unlock. Releasing this dump would be of course illegal and risky, as it contains personal information and copyrighted code. That said, we’re going to release the NOR Dumper binary to enable everyone else to continue working on the iPhone’s unlocking. We’ll release the source code at a later date when we feel it is mature enough to do so.â€¨ We hope you’ll all enjoy this important step and we of course welcome any donations to encourage or to help us achieving the final goal. Please be assured that any donations are wisely spent, otherwise you can slap us
DOWNLOAD: http://www.deadbeef.cn/NORDumper.tar.bz2
To run this, copy it to /usr/bin and set the executable flag with chmod.â€¨add Disabled to /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.CommCenter.plist and reboot.â€¨run: NORDumper dump.bin
Stay tuned, — the dev team

If you wanna keep your ear to the ground your going to want to hit up their irc channel here

iPhone unlocked, almost originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.