tech.nocr.at » camera

AirBeam: Security Cam For Your iPhone/iPad

Frank — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 06:55:49 +0000

If you have an iPhone or iPad and a Mac then you already have the making of a great security camera surveillance system. Enter AirBean; an app for your iPad or iPhone which turns them into a spy camera which can be viewed on your Mac desktop or laptop.

Setup is super easy — install the AirBeam app on your iOS device and the desktop version on your Mac. The desktop app automatically finds the streams and acts as your viewer allowing you to view each feed separately or view multiple streams at the same time. If you have an older iPad without a camera or an older iPod touch then you will only be able to listen to the audio, but it will still work. What if you don’t have a Mac? Don’t fret, you can use any iOS device to view the feed from another iOS device. The only catch is that all the devices must be on the same WiFi network.

This is some pretty sophisticated software. You can set it up as a motion alarm or trigger it off any audio alert. You can even set it up to notify you remotely so you always know what’s going on even when you are away from the house. The applications for this are virtually endless, like a modern day baby monitor (an expensive one albeit, but a cool one at that) or a surveillance device to see who might be snooping around your office when your not around.

You can pick up the iOS app for $3.99 from the app store and the desktop version is free. Definitely worth the money

[Link to AirBeam]

AirBeam: Security Cam For Your iPhone/iPad originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2012/01/24. 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.

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.

DIY: FlashRing

Frank — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:33:19 +0000

Adding a ring flash to your DSLR is a real nice way off adding a soft glow to your portrait images. Problem is that professional ring flashes can cost you a lot of money.

DIYPhotography.com has a simple solution if you want to play around with a ring flash but aren’t ready to commit the money to buying one, a cheap DIY papercraft ring flash that can be customized to any camera. Just plug in your camera and flash specs into the ring flash template creator, print out the pdf, then put it all together with come cutting and glue. A great way to get started.

DIY: FlashRing originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/05. 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.

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.

Modded PSP Includes LEDs, Camera And More

Frank — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 04:53:42 +0000

What do you get when you take a stock PSP Slim 2000 and add a second joystick, 32GB of flash memory, a second port for charging, and a built in camera? A usable PSP, that’s what.

Of course the unit is running custom firmware so you can easily run every emulator under the sun and make the PSP usable. Check out the video after the break of the modder explaining what he did.

Modded PSP Includes LEDs, Camera And More originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/03/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY ROV Submarine

Frank — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:54:00 +0000

This yellow submarine isn’t exactly the same one as John and Paul sang about but it is an extremely impressive DIY ROV submarine with built in camera.

Made completely out of PVC pipes with some pumps tossed in to help it move and sink, this project and easily be put together by anyone with some spare cash and time.

The entire sub is controlled by an Atmel Mega32 microcontroller. The video fee and system control is fed to the surface using a cable (they say that wireless video as well as leak detection and torpedos is a future add-on).

This is a great project that will bring you hours and hours of fun.

[Link to DIY ROV Submarine]

DIY ROV Submarine originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/03/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Awesome Rubik’s Cube Solving Robot

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Solar Powered Cellphone

Frank — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 05:05:07 +0000

Ever been caught with a dead cellphone and no source of juice anywhere to power that puppy up? Come on now, you know you have. Well, Sharp is ready to settle that problem once and for all.

By dropping your conventional backlit LCD and using a passive matrix LCD screen the SH6230C will use a lot less power than a conventional phone. The passive matrix screen can display the time and SMS/e-mail all the while using an incredibly small amount of power. Don’t count on too many features either. Besides offering your standard dumb phone features the only extra bell you get is a 5-megapixel camera, but if you spend a lot of time outdoors this phone should never leave you high and ~~dry~~ dead.

The phone will run on GSM networks and is set to make it’s debut in China sometime this month with a $500 price tag.

Solar Powered Cellphone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2010 | Permalink | One Comment | Read more in Gadgets | Explore more in: 2010, ac, camera, cell phone, cellphone, cellular, dead, display, door, dry, ds, ea, gsm, id, lcd, loa, mail, make, matrix, mobile, nda, network, pen, phone, power, rc, ring, sharp, small, sms, solar, tag, tech.nocr.at, time, ui | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

iSteady Shot: Camera Stabilizer For Your iPhone

Frank — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:01:06 +0000

If using your iPhone 3G S to shoot a movie is in your plans you will quickly learn that such a small and light weight device won’t be the easiest thing to keep stable. Gladly someone has got your problems covered.

The iSteady Shot is a camera stabilization unit for your iPhone 3G S. Although this won’t improve the video quality of the video that the iPhone produces, it will defiantly make it a lot smoother (check the video out after the break). It can be adjusted if your iPhone has a case and comes with a two-axis gimbal for real smooth 360 degree movement.

The unit will run you $149.99 and can be pre-ordered right now from their site.

iSteady Shot: Camera Stabilizer For Your iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

In Case You Missed It: Week 43 Round Up

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

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

Gadgets

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

Gaming

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

Hacking and Security

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

Mac

Tap Tap Revenge Metallica For The iPhone

Tech News

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

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

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

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.

© tech.nocr.at 2009 | Permalink | One Comment | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, app store, apps, avi, bra, camera, car, circuit, computer, control, ds, ea, id, iphone, iphone 3g, iphone 3gs, ir, irc, itunes, live, loa, mini, mit, nes, pen, phone, rc, remote, remote control, slim, speed, switch, tech.nocr.at, time, tor, ui, vehicle, video, wifi | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

3D Video With One Camera

Frank — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:57:54 +0000

3D video has really started to make a strong comeback. I remember being a kid when the paper glasses with red and blue lenses were all the rage. Technology has changed a lot since then. The cost of creating 3D videos is so expensive that it prohibits the aspiring film maker from considering the option, but if you happen to have a CNC machine that you can access your on your way to brining that dream to life.

Gabriel, the crafty hacker, is using a SketchUp to plot the camera paths, a plugin to export those paths and automatically adjust them for perspective and a CNC machine to preform all of the movement. You take a pass at something for the left eye then the CNC machine takes a second pass at a different perspective for the right eye.

Simple eh, well it does have it’s drawbacks like the inability to shoot anything that’s moving. Although this isn’t the perfect setup, it does show you how creative some people can be. Maybe this would be perfect for stop motion 3D. Check out the two videos after the break. The first is the actually 3D video and the second shows a behind the scene on how the whole rig works.

[Link to 3D with CNC]

3D Video With One Camera originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Remote Control That’s Impossible To Lose

Frank — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:43:25 +0000

This is gonna be one of the easiest hacks you’ll ever do, at least from an electrical standpoint.

Most electronics like digital camera and cell phones have a loop attached to them so that you can slip a lanyard on to it which in turn makes it easier to find or harder to lose. This guy came up with a similar idea, albeit a tad too extreme in my opinion, but still an excellent way to ensure that his remote control never gets lost. Actually, by looking at the picture, he is now ensuring that his remote control will never move again, period.

If your not a blacksmith or if you don’t happen to have a massive I-beam laying around, this hack will probably cost you a lot more than a replacement remote control would cost.

[Link to Dad's Lost The Remote]

Remote Control That’s Impossible To Lose originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Bullets At 1,000,000 FPS

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

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

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

[Kurzzeit]

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

Nuclear Battery In Your Pocket

Frank — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:30:16 +0000

Yep, you heard me correctly, a nuclear battery. Researchers at the University of Missouri have created super tiny nuclear power sources that can be used as batteries. Dead gadgets and XBox 360 controllers will soon be a thing of the past.

The secret to these tiny power plants is the use of new liquid semiconductors instead of solid ones. Don’t think you can run out and pick a set up at Radio Shack just yet. The current focus is on powering nano electromechanical systems not your digital camera. Which in my opinion might be a good idea. We have all heard of cell phone and laptop batteries exploding, imagine if something goes wrong with one of these. You’ll have a lot more to worry about than burn wounds.

Nuclear Battery In Your Pocket originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2009 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Gadgets | Explore more in: 360, ac, batteries, battery, camera, cell phone, control, controller, dead, ds, ea, hack, ical, id, laptop, loa, nano, nes, nuclear, phone, pocket, power, radio, rc, ring, secret, tech.nocr.at, tiny, tor, ui, wrong, xbox, xbox 360 | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

DIY Image Stabilizer

Frank — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:03:59 +0000

A crafty Instructables users has figured out that by using a pair of spining hard drives you can create the same gyroscopic effect that the pros use to keep their cameras nice and steady. A camera stabilizer is perfect for taking those steady shots when your conditions might be less than favorable for doing so, like driving in a car or running (think paparazzi).

Although I wouldn’t say this is a beginners project, it’s not too hard to pull off and your materials list can probably already be found around your house.

Needed: 2 discarded harddisks (HDs)
Some old discarded computer, or parts
The part in the old computer which holds floppies en HDs at a 90 degree angle…
A wooden box or plywood etc..
A hand grip
One or two strips of aluminum
A camera screw
3 or 4 car USB phone chargers
A 12 V power source (lead acid cell, a discarded NiCd cell, or (rechargeable) batteries)
Some rubber washers and a piece of inner tire
Contact glue

A little bit of soldering experience, some free time and $50 in parts you too can build yourself this image stabilizer. Just remember, if you plan a career change and decide to become a paparazzi, everyone else around you will give you some weird looks if you run around with this thing.

[Link to Gyro Image Stabilizer]

DIY Image Stabilizer originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2009 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, air, batteries, camera, car, charger, computer, diy, drive, ds, ea, eff, experience, hard drive, hd, house, id, images, instructable, ir, loa, os, phone, power, rc, ring, rip, stablizer, tech.nocr.at, time, ui, usb, weird | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

DSi Here By Next Summer

Ryan Yewell — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:06:36 +0000

The latest Revision of the Nintendo DS, the DSi (with its main new feature being 2 built-in cameras, with a more multimedia focus of pics/music), is now available in Japan.

But all of us North Americans want to know, when can we get our hands on it? Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, has said in a Reuters press release that in 2009 “an autumn or year end launch would probably be too late”. So, by some simple deduction it looks like the DSi will land in North America sometime this upcoming summer.

[Via Reuters]

DSi Here By Next Summer originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/11/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Nintendo Unveils DSi

Frank — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:37:35 +0000

We all knew it was coming. It’s been one of the most talked about releases on the net, and last night made it official. The new DS, dubbed the DSi, will be 12% thinner (they got rid of the GBA slot), have two built in camera (one if reported to be VGA resolution), a bugger (3.25″) screen, and have built in music playback. You will also see an SD slot and some internal storage to enhance the multimedia experience. Nintendo

They will also be rolling out a “DSi Shop” to sell content. The unit will also have a browser application that is free. The store will work off the same point system as we have seen on the Wii.

Unfortunately we won’t be seeing the DSi in North America until sometime in 09, but if you live in Japan you can grab a black or white unit on November 1st.

Nintendo Unveils DSi originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Are These The New DS Screens?

Frank — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 04:00:18 +0000

There have been a lot of rumours flying around the internets about a new Nintendo DS lurking around the corner. We have seen rumours of a built in camera and even GPS, but if these leaked shots are accurate, then it quashes the rumours of a wide screen unit hitting the market. The only difference I can see is they are going from a 3 inch screen to 3.25 inches.

Could these be accurate? Quite possibly. The internet is a wonderful marvel of information. Only time will tell.

Are These The New DS Screens? originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

T-Mobile G1 – First Official Android Phone

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

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

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

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

Chinavision’s Projector Cellphone

Frank — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 05:45:12 +0000

3M just announced that their MPro110 tiny projector would hit the market in late September. This was awesome news for people who are on the road a lot and have to lug around projectors to do presentations. But did you know that Chinavision is already selling a tiny projector? Built into a cell phone no-less.

The Projector phone is a tri-bank unlocked GSM phone that come with all of the features you would expect in a smartphone. Touch screen, camera, bluetooth, microSD card slot, and a 640×480 projector that claims to project images up to 46″ in width. Check the video out and judge for yourself just how good the image is.

The phone isn’t small by any stretch, and comes with the worst “wanna-be” iPhone OS I have ever seen. You get a 1800mAh battery which should provide you with up to 3 hours of talk time and about 2 hours of projector use. For $370 you really can’t go wrong if your on the road and traveling light means something to you.

[Link to Projector Phone via OhGizmo!]

Chinavision’s Projector Cellphone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY: WiFi Robot

Frank — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 05:01:46 +0000

Jon Bennett has created a WiFi controller robot that can be controller via the internet or from a computer up to 500m away. The robot is built from an RC car that he picked up at a thrift store, a Linksys WRT54GL router running the Open-WRT firmware, a network camera. The bot can be powered by two different type of micro-controllers: the PIC microprocessor or an Arduino. You can use whichever one your are more comfortable with. If you follow Joe’s guide, it shouldn’t cost you that much to put together. Check out the video after the break of the bot in action.

The goal of this article is to give a high-level overview of the project and provide some implementation details of the software and electronics. It is not meant to be a step-by-step how-to guide, but there should be enough information for someone with motivation and some background knowledge in electronics and software to be able to make their own Wifi Robot. All of the source code is being released under the terms of the GNU GPL v2, so by all means, use the code, and improve it!

You sure could have a lot of fun with this project. Maybe at some image processing code so that it can figure out where the sidewalk ends and can make it’s own decision to turn right or left.

[Link to WiFi Robot]

DIY: WiFi Robot originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, arduino, camera, car, computer, control, controller, diy, ds, ea, electronics, firmware, follow, hack, hacking, id, ir, led, links, linksys, make, network, open, os, owl, pen, power, proc, rc, robot, router, tor, tron, ui, video, wifi, wrt54g | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Tiny Projector

Frank — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 05:45:05 +0000

3M is reportedly close to rolling out a super tiny, portable digital projector. This tiny unit could be used to project pictures, powerpoint slide shows, ~~pr0n,~~ movies, or whatever else you might want to slap on a wall or screen.

The lucky guys at Popular Science got their hands on the MPro 110 and reported that after plugging a DVD player into the device they were able to project a movie up to 11 inches wide on various pieces of furnature and walls.

When the projector hits the shelves it will cost $359 and will have the ability to connect up a laptop, digital camera, iPod, and any other mobile device that outputs and image. At that price this would be a perfect item to keep in your bag so that when on the road you could easily show a presentation or lay back in your hotel room and watch a movie on the wall. Although, at 11 inches you would need to have everyone huddled around the screen in order to actually watch anything. Let’s hope that this is just a start in the right direction.

Tiny Projector originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

A USB Stick That Increases Your Ports

Frank — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:24:46 +0000

Almost every laptop user has faced this problem at one time or another. You plug in your USB mouse and thumb drive only to be out of ports for your camera or iPod. Well, someone at RiTEK must have also run into this stumbling block because they have the perfect product for you. The Yego USB Flash drive is not only a conventional USB thumb drive,but it also acts as a mini USB hub. It not only free up the port that it used, but also give you an additional port as well.

If security is your concern then the Yego can lock it’s ports and only let in the person with the right password. We’re not talking file-by-file encoding, we are talking the entire flash drive is encoded with a password. It’s got an LED indicator that let’s you know which port is operating and even comes with a power save mode.

It’ll work with all flavours of your favorite OS and can be picked up in sizes from 128MB right up to 8GB

RiTEK

A USB Stick That Increases Your Ports originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

RFID Poker Table

Frank — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:47:44 +0000

Have you ever wanted to host your own World Poker style tournament like the one on TV? With all of the bells and whistles including letting people see who’s got what, well now you can. This might not be affordable for the average “Guy’s Poker Night”, but I can see this being a hit at bars and clubs.

“The inspiringly-named Video Poker Table makes this possible. Beneath it’s perfectly ordinary looking exterior is a fairly impressive collection of electronics that uses RFID technology to track the movement of playing cards around the table, and superimpose this information on a video feed that’s generated automatically from 4 cameras in the table. We play with a standard deck of KEM cards that have been tagged with 52 RFID ’smart labels’ – thin and flexible enough that while they’re plainly visible they don’t affect the way the cards shuffle, deal or handle on the table. This game data, along with the camera feeds, is transmittted to a Windows PC via a USB cable and processed by a software application I wrote. The end result is a live, fully edited video feed of all the action, with pretty good quality graphics that show players’ hole cards, the board, and context-sensitive statistics during play. At the end of the game, the video is chopped up into individual segments, one segment per hand played, named according to the players in that hand and their cards, compressed and uploaded to a web server that players can later access to browse and play back individual hands. All of this happens automatically without any human intervention.”

If you even dare to build your own then you can get info on the project here

RFID Poker Table originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, air, cable, camera, car, cat, ds, ea, electronics, game, graphics, hack, hacking, ical, id, ir, live, loa, make, mit, nda, os, pc, pen, poker, press, proc, rfid, rim, ring, server, shuffle, tag, technology, text, tron, ui, usb, video, wind, windows | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

How To: Make An Invisible License Plate

Frank — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:38:28 +0000

Here is another take on using IR lights to blind a camera, this time a photo-radar camera no-less. I’m not really sure on how well this would work for you, and it’s probably highly illegal, but if you want to try it for your own educational purposes go ahead.

All you really need are some LED flashers, some IR lights, and a bit of soldering skill. If you put this together and it actually does blind a camera, remember that it doesn’t blind the naked eye and might arouse some suspicion from any law enforcement agency.

How To: Make An Invisible License Plate originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

USB Pen Charger

Frank — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:45:16 +0000

With almost every gadget from your cell phone to your camera being charged via a USB connection, why not have the ability to charge these gadgets in your pocket, your shirt pocket to be exact.

The charging pen is a fully functional ballpoint pen that can also function as a cell phone and usb charger. It only needs a single AA battery to provide your phone or iPod with an extra 100 minutes of usage. It comes with a variety of connectors to charge almost any cell phone or USB device.

You can pick up the One Battery Mobile Charger Pen at the Gadget4all store for $19

USB Pen Charger originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Nokia N85

Frank — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:59:48 +0000

Yummy Yum!. Nokia has just unveilled the N79 and N85 (pictured above). The N85 has a 2.6″ AMOLDED screen, GPS, 5 megapixel camera, is N-Gage compatable, 8GB of microSDHC storage, WiFi, and a battery that claims to go for 28 hours when listening to some tunes.

The N79 replaces the N78, similarly bumping the cam to the big five em-pees with a dual-LED flash, GPS, 4GB microSDHC storage, WiFi, swappable back covers, and a 24-hour music playback battery life.

These are all good and great but when will we actually see something that will knock off the iPhone?

Nokia N85 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Rear View Mirror TV

Frank — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:20:04 +0000

Who really needs to see the cars behind them anyway? Thanks to this alarming new trend in China, rear view mirrors will soon display TV or GPS maps instead of the constant need for checking behind you for that car that just might slam you from behind.

Models range from a basic LCD monitor to an advanced touch screen with Bluetooth integration (for dialing your “hands-free” phone of course). While some models do offer integration with backup camera so you can actually see what’s behind you, and most act as a basic mirror when turned off, why the heck I ask do you want one of these in your car unless you plan on having it turned off while your driving?

The real scary thing is that these aren’t just some one off item. Check out CnBuyNet and you’ll find an entire page of these things raging in price from $50 to $100. Long go the days of people using the rear view mirror to apply make-up, now you have to deal with them watching Survivor too.

Rear View Mirror TV originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Anti-Paparazzi Glasses

Frank — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:39:54 +0000

Sure, if your being chased by an angry mob of paparazzi or if your afraid of big brother watching you you might need some diversion tactics like an IR hat or these anti-paparazzi shades.

If your in need of said diversion tactic then building these puppies is a snap. Attach two small but powerful IR LEDs to two pairs of wires, one wire per LED. Then you attach the LEDs to the glasses and voila, blinding shades, for those with cameras that is. You might want to attach a simple on/off switch and not but leaving the wires hanging like the video suggests.

Anti-Paparazzi Glasses originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/07/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Best Of The Week – Jun 22-29

Frank — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:10:18 +0000

Best Of The Week – Jun 22-29 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Paintball Sentry Gun

Frank — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:11:10 +0000

Do you live in a rough part of town? Been thinking about getting a dog or a security system to help protect your house? Maybe you should think of getting this Paintball Sentry Gun. Just turn this baby on and you will be totally protected. By the time you get back you might see a few kids in your neighborhood tagged with paint.

It’s really amazing how quickly this puppy responds and how actuate it is.

Paintball Sentry Gun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Dalek Security Camera

Frank — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:17:51 +0000

Here is a great addition for all of you home security/Dr. Who fans. The Dalek security camera features a tiny pinhole spy cam. It might look like a toy at first glance, and most people won’t give it a second thought.

Guys, if your girl friends of wives come home with a Dalek statute for you be wary, it might be spying on you.

Dalek Security Camera originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

HP iPaq 900 Set To Ship

Frank — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:56:50 +0000

The HP iPAQ 900 will ship starting on Jun 30th. The long over due “Blackberry Looking” unit will be powered by Windows Mobile 6.1, have a tri-band UMTS/HSDPA and quad-band GSM/EDGE radios. In addition, GPS navigation, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and a 3 megapixel camera.

This unit sure looks like a Blackberry, but will it function like a Blackberry. Probably not.

HP iPaq 900 Set To Ship originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY Slingbox

Frank — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:32:20 +0000

Creative hardware hacker David laid out some steps on hacking together your own Slingbox. Using a Mac Mini, an old DV camera, and Quicktime Broadcaster he is able to capture the stream of his cable box with the DV camera then send it over to the Mac Mini via firewire, then using Quicktime Broadcaster he can multicast the single to any computer that has quicktime.

It’s not the easiest or prettiest thing to get going, but it works. There are a few down sides to the project like not being able to change the channel remotely like you can with a slingbox, but if you have the hardware just laying around it works quite well. If you can get your hands on a quicktime streaming server you’d be able to send the signal out on the internets as well!

Link to DIY Slingbox

DIY Slingbox originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

HTC Touch Pro

Frank — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:17:21 +0000

HTC has just unveiled their new HTC Touch Pro. It looks like one hot unit with all sorts of neat things packed into a small unit.

2.8” VGA display
Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional with HTC TouchFLO 3D interface
3.2 megapixel camera
512MB internal memory
288MB RAM
microSD memory card slot
GPS navigation
TV output (WooHoo)
Bluetooth connectivity
GPRS/EDGE/HSDPA/HSUPA connectivity

It looks like a money dropper to me.

HTC Touch Pro originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Use IR LEDs To Defeat Security Cameras

Frank — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:04:27 +0000

Hereâ€™s a neat trick that will always make sure that your face stays off those pesky public cameras. Mount an bunch of IR LEDs on you, possible in the brim of your hat. These will produce a powerful white light that wonâ€™t be seen by people passing by but will blind those pesky pubic cameras that invade your privacy.

Use IR LEDs To Defeat Security Cameras originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Thanko USB Charger

Frank — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:43:40 +0000

Thanko has just release their new USB charger that will charge almost everything from cell phones right up to gaming consoles. It comes with a huge handful of adapters to charge almost any gadget. You can even charge the battery on your video or still camera by simply removing the battery and adjusting the terminals on the Thanko charger to match the battery.

Itâ€™s got all of the standard indicators to let you know when stuff has been fully charged. The Thanko USB charger can be picked up in Japan for about $18.

Thanko USB Charger originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Build Your Own Witness Camera

Frank — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:39:08 +0000

Looking to beef up security around the house or office? Looking to catch them kids who are messing up the front of the house? Why not build your very own Witness Camera?

“The Witness Camera is a combination of a VGA CMOS camera, a passive-infrared movement sensor, a 1 GB SD-card (or bigger), and an AVR Mega32 microcontroller implementing a solid-state time-lapse recorder. It is a compact, complete, self-contained surveillance system designed with home users in mind. It can be installed in minutes wherever there is a mains plug, and it is affordable because of it is built using an handful of inexpensive parts.”

[Link via Make]

Build Your Own Witness Camera originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Apple TV Gets Skype

Frank — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:42:17 +0000

For those of you looking to add Skype to your Apple TV then look no further. The unofficial Skype client for the Apple TV is out. Iâ€™m sure they have some serious bugs to work out like the fact that there is no microphone of web cam on the Apple TV (minor details for Skype, lol), but if they can get a usb microphone and web camera to work with the AppleTV then they would be set.

Apple TV Gets Skype originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To Make A Jib

Frank — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 14:26:33 +0000

Joren has slapped together a great DIY article for all of you aspiring directors on building your very own low cost jib arm.

â€œI don’t know if the proper name is jib arm, boom, or crane. Like everything else in the world, there are at least three names for this. The basis for this design is a four-link system so no matter what the angle of the actual arm is at, the camera “basket,” as I call it, is always parallel with the ground. However, I designed a way to tilt the camera up and down, so you can get bird’s eye shots that change to be low angle shots, etc. Basically, I tried to anticipate any need I might have of a jib arm and make it as versatile as possible.â€

Link to making your own jib

How To Make A Jib originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Nikon D60 Leak

Frank — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:17:28 +0000

Since the arrival of the interweb itâ€™s pretty hard to keep a secret, unless your Apple of course who threatens their employes so that any leak is quashed. Either that or they sick their insanely huge team of lawyers on you that you just give up.

Nikon is set to release itâ€™s new D60 DSLR at PMA. The D60 features a similar body design to the D40, a 10.2 megapixel sensor, Nikons famous 3D colour matrix metering system, active D lighting for adjustable shadow detail, and some form of dust prevention that chambers the air sway from the imagining sensor.

I love my old D70. Maybe itâ€™s time to invest in the D40!

Nikon D60 Leak originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Chewing Gum Spy Cam

Frank — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:00:45 +0000

Remember all of those spy camera ads that we all saw as kids in the back of comic books? Okay, so only a few of us can remember that far back. This mini video and audio spy camera throws me back to my days of being a youth.

Itâ€™s basically a run of the mill spy camera, but what makes it unique is itâ€™s camouflage. The camera is shielded in a chewing gun wrapper that will conceal all of your sneaky work. Itâ€™s might be hard to explain to people why you want them to stair directly into a stick of chewing gun while they are talking, but itâ€™s a start.

It doesnâ€™t ship with a wrapper since it might be ruffle some feathers with the chewing gun manufactures, but you can easily pick up some gun for next to nothing.

It can be all yours for just $103.47

Chewing Gum Spy Cam originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

BugLabs Now Open For Business

Frank — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:55:06 +0000

The BugLabs store in now ready for business. For those of you who donâ€™t know what Bug Labs is all about itâ€™s a modular â€˜snap it togetherâ€™ computer base. Essentially you mix and match various components like an LCD screen , motion sensor, camera, or gps receiver.

I can only imagine the sheer about of hacks that will quickly surface for this platform. I canâ€™t wait until I get my hands on these â€œlogo for grown-upsâ€ components

Link to BugLabs
Link to BugLabs Store

BugLabs Now Open For Business originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Semi-Pro Light Kit For $75

Frank — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 04:34:52 +0000

A quick trip to your local big box hardware store and a few bucks and you too can turn that spare room into a professionally lit ~~porn~~ natural model studio you have always dreamed of having. That is of course, if you have some camera equipment to go with it. Itâ€™s going to be pretty hard to convince any woman that you are a famous fashion photographer if you donâ€™t have some big camera mounted on a tripod.

For about $75 you can slap together some work style flood lamps, some foil-covered windshield heat protectors and some daylight tinted bulbs, thatâ€™s a lot cheaper than the $1000â€™s you could spend on some professional gear. The results? Youâ€™ll get about 90% of the quality youâ€™d get from a pro kit (if done properly) for less than a fifth of the price.

The guys at shuttertalk.com have a complete breakdown on assembly this diy light kit. If you are on a budget, this canâ€™t be beat.

Semi-Pro Light Kit For $75 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To Make A Cheap Camera Stabilizer

Frank — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 15:36:08 +0000

There is nothing worse than watching a video that shakes so bad it makes you seasick or having to take that perfect still photo and only end up with massive blur. Well, if you happen to have some string, a bolt, and a washer lying around then you to can make a super cheap/super effective camera stabilizer Best of all, total cost will be around $1.

How To Make A Cheap Camera Stabilizer originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Add On Lenses For Your Phone

Frank — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:29:46 +0000

Imagine this, your walking down the street and you see Britney Spears doing some crazy and outrageous think (I know it’s hard to imagine Britney Spears doing anything stupid). You know if had a picture of this incident tabloids would pay you thousands, but all you have is your lonely cell phone with it’s built in camera that takes horrible pictures. Well if you had the Mobile Phone Telescope for your phone you’d be able to take those pictures and laugh all the way to the bank.

I know, the likelihood of that ever happening is slim to none, plus who cares about Britney Spears anyways. The Mobile Phone Telescope is a tiny add on lens that attaches to your Motorola cell phone that allows you to compensate for the short comings of the built in lens. It won’t turn you into Ansel Adams but it will help.

Coming in at $19, i’ve spent more than that on stupider gadgets.

Add On Lenses For Your Phone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Build your own Bullet Time Rig

Frank — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 22:11:39 +0000

Graffiti Research Lab has posted a set of step by step instructions on how to make your very own bullet time rig ala la Matrix on Instructables. They designed it for a Hip Hop video (Link to video)

Now it’s not cheap, you still need to have over 20 cameras to make it work, but if you really want to pull it off, this is the perfect way to do it for as little money as possible.

Build your own Bullet Time Rig originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Build your own Camera light

Frank — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:23:26 +0000

With more and more point and shoot cameras having video functionality lighting can quickly become and issue. Now you could spend $60-$80 purchasing a light unit that slips into the hot-shoe or one that screws on the bottom, but why do that when you can build one for about $2. The guys over at ProdMod have a posted a very detailed how-to on building your very own camera light for cheap.

This baby houses 3 led’s and runs off a couple AA batteries and will last for 16 straight hours plus it provides a hell of a lot of light.

Link to detailed how-to

Build your own Camera light originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Modbooks begins shipping

Frank — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 00:38:44 +0000

The first fully functional Apple-authorized tablet Mac, the Modbook from Axiotron, which is highly anticipated will begin to ship soon. The Modbook integrates a Wacom digitized pen-sensitive LCD slate style display making it easy for designer and artists to preform all of their work with ease. The Modbook will come preloaded with Leopard and will be powered by either a 2GHz or 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Other goodies include an iSight camera, an integrated 24x DVD combo drive, and built in GPS. With a 13.3″ display and higher contrast ratio people will be able to see the screen from virtually anywhere.

The unit will retail for $2,290US.

Modbooks begins shipping originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/01. 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.

HTC Kaiser releases 10.26.07 in US

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

The HTC TyTN II P4550 (HTC Kaiser 120) (AT&T 8925) is a king among phones. And, instead of exclaiming about how sweet this phone is, I’ll let it speak for itself:
Processor: 400 MHz
RAM: 128 MB RAM
Storage: 145 MB
Expansion Slot: microSD, microSDHC, Transflash, SDIO
Cellular Networks Supported: GSM, CSD, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA
Wifi Support: 802.11 b/g
Camera: 3.1 Mega Pixel
Other features: Touchscreen, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS

the release date, or for that matter, if it was even going to be released in the U.S. of A. has been a very tightly held secret. NO MORE! The below image was sent in from a source that wishes to remain anonymous. It’s a screen cap from a internal ordering site.

HTC Kaiser releases 10.26.07 in US originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/09/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Best of the week – Sept 10 – 16

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

iTunes Movie Rentals? (Frank)
iPhone: User racks a $4,800 bill (Frank)
How To: Add RAW support to low end Canon camera (Frank)
Mouse Danger in Vista (Frank)
Hacking an Alarm Clock (Frank)
Un-Portable Nintendo DS (Frank)
Urine Powered Batteries (Frank)
DS gets VOIP (Frank)
iPhone firmware 1.1.1 may break soft unlocks (Frank)

Best of the week – Sept 10 – 16 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/09/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2007 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Tech News | Explore more in: ac, alarm, alarm clock, arm, batteries, camera, clock, ds, ea, firmware, Gaming, hack, hacking, images, iphone, ir, itunes, lock, Mac, mouse, movie, nes, nintendo, nintendo ds, phone, portable, power, rc, rental, security, unlock, vista, voip | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Rumour: Blackberry Pearl 2

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

Boy Genius Report is reporting that the new Blackberry Pearl 2 will be rolling out to Sprint around the US Thanksgiving.

The new Blackberry will have integrated GPS but will lack the WiFi most people were hoping for. A CDMA version of the Curve is also planned for release some time during the first quarter of 08.

With the release of the iPhone blackberry has been scrambling to create a device that will match the sexiness of the unit, but with lack of WiFi and lack of a camera I think they might just come up short with this unit.

Rumour: Blackberry Pearl 2 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/08/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Nintendo Mouse

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

Is there anything the awesome NES controller can’t do? This awesome little hack project can be done with a cheap old mouse and an old NES controller. I wonder what else you could stuff in an NES Gamepad. An MP3 player? A camera? An entire cheese pizza?

Nintendo Mouse originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/08/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Hacker Conference: Before

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

So, you are getting ready for your first Hacker conference, you have no idea what to expect. Here is what I did, and I’ll tell you how it worked out: What I should have brought and what I shouldn’t have, etc.

I should precursor this by saying, this may be my first trip to Defcon, but this is by no means my first hacker con. I have gone to and assisted with ShmooCon two years running. So here is my list of DO’s and DON’Ts for the con you go to:

DO:

1. Bring at least one extra pair of clothes. You never know when you can be pushed into a pool unexpectedly.
2. Bring a laptop. Most people will recommend against it, but if you properly prepare your laptop, you’ll be glad you have one if you need it.
3. PREPARE you laptop.
a. Wipe it
b. Reload it with your choice of OS
c. Choose the SLOW formatting/partitioning options
d. Pick a different user name than you usually use
e. PICK A DIFFERENT PASSWORD THAN YOU USUALLY USE
4. Bring an extra charger or power supply for every electronic you have (USB cables that charge as well, will do)
5. Check out the weather patterns for the area the con is held. Dress accordingly, but remember, hotels have AC and heat.
6. Offer the free space in your hotel room up on boards, you’ll not only meet new people and interesting people. But be wary of thieves.
7. Carry a light bag. If you check to huge bags of luggage, make sure you stuff a small one in the fold, a small back pack will suffice.
8. Leave extra room in your bags. Hacker conferences are to hackers, what Disney Land is to little kids.
9. Bring a disposable camera. Yes it’s crappy quality, but if you loose it, or it’s stolen, meh, no big deal. Loosing a Canon EOS1D because you turned around for a split second sucks, even more so if it is a company camera.

DO NOT: (For each of these I have reitterated the fact that you should not do them. Just in case anyone gets confused)

1. DO NOT run up to “Hacker celebrities” and start acting like they know you. They are not from Hollywood and might not react kindly. Kevin Mitnick is used to it, run up to him all day.
2. DO NOT connect to Wireless of any kind around this cat (Render Man):
3. DO NOT expect to see everything you want to see. It is impossible and there is no right or wrong answer to what you should be doing.
4. DO NOT bring anything back from the conference that could get you stuck in Vegas. Lockpicking kits are one example of such items. Know the laws of where you are traveling from and to. Trust me, it is very hard to explain to whoever is paying for your travel (even if it is just your pocket book) why you have to pay an extra $200 just to adjust your flight because you had a nice little chat with the authorities.
5. DO NOT connect to ANYTHING personal. This means instant messengers of all types, your blog, personal email, your bank account.
6. DO NOT CONNECT TO WORK EMAIL. OWA IS OFF LIMITS

and lastly, DO NOT miss out on the night life. If you’re a geek/hacker, these are your people. And, if you can’t make it to Defcon, here are some other conferences that you can look into:

Black Hat
Interz0ne
Outerz0ne
Notacon
PhreakNIC
ToorCon
ShmooCon
SummerCon
Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE)

One final DO: Do what you want, it’s your money, your time. You should have fun.

Hacker Conference: Before originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/08/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2007 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, air, amp, blog, book, cable, camera, car, case, cat, charger, ds, ea, email, gag, hack, hackers, heat, id, images, ir, kevin mitnick, laptop, light, loa, lock, mail, make, mit, os, personal, pocket, power, rc, ring, rip, small, space, split, time, tor, tron, usb, vega, wire, wireless, wrong | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

New iPhone Killer? Motorola ROKR E8 and E7 Leaked

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

I must say, this phone does look quite slick. The picture above is the new Motorola ROKR E8, it’s basically a thin bar shaped handset with a JAVA/Linux based interface. It is rumoured to have 2GB of integrated memory and a microSD memory card slot for expandability. With a 2-megapixel camera, touch sensitive keys, mini USB port and a standard 3.5 mm audio jack for music it’s set to be a slick unit.

Now the above might just be the one cell phone that will give the iPhone a run for it’s money. The E7 is expected to have a touch-screen TFT display with VGA resolution, a 5 megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom and xenon flash, GoForce 5500 graphics accelerator, GPS, Wi-Fi, and 2 GB of internal memory. Plus it’s only 14 mm thick. This might just be the perfect iPhone alternative.

New iPhone Killer? Motorola ROKR E8 and E7 Leaked originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 1999 | Permalink | One Comment | Read more in Gadgets | Explore more in: ac, audio, audio jack, camera, car, cell phone, display, ds, ea, flash, gps, graphics, ical, iphone, jack, java, key, keys, linux, memory card, mid, mini, motorola, music, nda, os, osd, phone, picture, rc, rumour, tor, touch, ui, usb, vga | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Red One: Out the door this Friday

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

The much-anticipated Red One video camera will begin to ship the initial 25 units this Friday. They cost a cool $17,000 each, but with an 11.4 megapixel sensor and the ability to capture up to 60 fps, double that of high end HD camcorders, $17,000 isn’t that bad a deal.

The modular based design works in its favor as well, enabling users to add different rigs, lenses, and other accessories according to your needs – allowing you to capture images in a lower quality. Currently, directors such as Peter Jackson and Steven Soderbergh are already using it.

If you want to purchase one for us to use on Digital Underground.tv, please feel free to do so.

Red One: Out the door this Friday originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Emgeton Mini One – Windows Powered iPhone Clone

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

The Mini One iPhone clone is coming out at the end of this year. The most notable point is that it has a 720×480 display, which is quite amazing for a 3.3 inch size. Emgeton (a Czech company) claims that this phone is powerful enough to record (and compress) video at 30 frames per second.

It’s powered by Windows Mobile 6, which makes me ask: since when does Windows Mobile look so sexy !? This doesn’t look like Windows Mobile. Interesting fact: the display shows Asian characters, hinting at a possible first release in Asia.

Other specs:

GSM
Touch-screen
MegaPixel Camera
BlueTooth
TV Out

Emgeton Mini One – Windows Powered iPhone Clone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Worlds Tiniest Single Chip Camera

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

So Tiny: World’s Smallest Single Chip Camera Is REALLY Small

TDC‘s new OV6920 CameraChip is the world’s smallest CMOS chip at just 1/18-inch (1.4mm). This means that the attached camera setup is just 3.2mm in total size or in layman’s terms never change outside of your own bedroom again.

Shooting at a low resolution of 328 x 250, the chip is configurable for NTSC output and can automatically control color saturation, exposure and gain. Sipping from a low 3.3V DC power supply, the chip will be useful in low power applications from medical pills to spy gear to toys. While the practical applications for tiny cameras are limitless, technological breakthroughs like this just reinforce the inevitable future: We will all be on camera all the time…and that Futurama’s fabled UltraPorn is on its way. [TDC via therawfeed]

Worlds Tiniest Single Chip Camera originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

TokBox – Instant Video Chat

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

Toxbox is a free service that lets you talk with your friends over live video. It allows you to setup a video chat in seconds. I was able to get up and running in literally minutes. I was prompted to invite someone to the chat via email. They click the link and can participate even without registering. Controls are nice and simple – volume, mute, or kill the camera. You can even embed the windows on your own website.

This is a great way to have a video chat with someone if you’ve had problems getting iChat’s video to work behind a firewall, or if both parties are on different platforms. Great idea, great system. Thumbs up from my end.

TokBox – Instant Video Chat originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

New standard for Memory Cards

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

Some of the industry heavy weights in flash based memory have come together to standardize removable memory cards and the technology embedded in them. Micron Technology, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Spansion, STM and TI have passed the chore on to JEDEC Solid State Technology Association with the new spec to be called Universal Flash Storage or UFS. The goal is for higher speed for larger files, less access times, and a reduction of power.

The company claims that while 90 minutes (4GB) takes 3 minutes today to access, UFS will take only a few seconds. Handhelds, digital cameras, and other consumer electronics will be able to handle the new technology which should be finalized in 2009.

New standard for Memory Cards originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To: Build a Night Vision System

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

Here’s a great and cheap way to create your own Night Vision system for your video camera. You will need some cellophane and an old digital camera to pull it off, but once you do it’s quite impressive.

How To: Build a Night Vision System originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To: Add RAW support to low end Canon camera

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

This is a great how-to on making a cheap Canon digital camera with a firmware mod much more powerful.

If you have a point-and-click digital camera made by Canon, you may be able to turn on all sorts of features usually reserved for more expensive SLRs. That includes live histograms, depth-of-field calculation, under and overexposure highlighting, and — best of all — shooting your pictures in RAW. The secret is CHDK, an enhanced, free software replacement firmware.

How To article.

How To: Add RAW support to low end Canon camera 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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