tech.nocr.at » case

Alleged iPhone 5 Case

Frank — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 18:12:02 +0000

The closer we get to a product refresh of iPhone hardware the more the rumour mills start turning. Italian Mac site Macitynet has what it claims is a case for the possibly upcoming iPhone 5.

If these are genuine pictures then we can expect a phone that is not only wider and longer but also thinner. Gone is the boxy design with a back that appears to taper on the corners. Volume buttons also resemble the forth-gen touch and the mute button has been moved to the right side.

The new iPhone is expected to be announced at Apple’s annual September music event with an actual release of October.

You can check out all the pics of the alleded case at Macitynet.

Alleged iPhone 5 Case originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/09/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Tiny Computer Looks More Like A Card Reader

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

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

NVIDIA Tegra 2 Dual Core ARM Cortex A9 1GHz

Integrated ultra-low power GeForce GPU

1 GB DDR2-800 RAM

ATA SSD (up to 64GB)

WiFi 802.11n + BT

DMI 1.3 full-HD + DVI (dual head)

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

4 USB Ports

Serial Port

Full size SD and Mirco SD reader

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

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

[Link to TrimSlice]

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

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Contact

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

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

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

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

editors [at] tech.nocr.at

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

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

Beer Catapult Robot

Frank — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 04:03:34 +0000

Remember the beer shooting fridge we showcased a few weeks ago? Well this one works on the same principle only instead of using an air cannon to send it your way (or in your general direction) it uses a catapult.

The beer catapult robot will pull a cold one from the fridge, load it up in it’s catapult and fling it at you. What is really impressive is all the mechanics behind it. Nice and smooth motion and besides an Arduino which controls it’s movement, it’s all mechanics. Check out the video after the break of it slinging some beer.

[Link to Beer Catapult Robot]

Beer Catapult Robot originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Geohot 1 – Sony 0

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Fling iPad Joystick

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

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

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

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

[Ten One Desgins' Fling]

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

A Cane With A Hidden Punch

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

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

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

[Zap Cane]

A Cane With A Hidden Punch originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Nano Watch

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

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

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

[Incipio Linq Nano Watch Case]

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

NES Controller With Android

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

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

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

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

Iron Man 360 Mod

Frank — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 04:57:51 +0000

A 19 year old modder decided to take his love for Iron Man to new levels. He decided to take his 360, add some gold and red paint, add a custom arc reactor on the side of the case that mimics the ring on the front of the box and add some spit and shine. Voila, an Iron Man looking Xbox 360.

I wonder if his custom arc reactor RRoD’s as well. Check out the video below to see the unit in action.

Iron Man 360 Mod originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Gamepad For iPhone

Frank — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 05:15:40 +0000

The iPhone/iPod touch has quickly become a gaming favorite. There are tons of games for you to enjoy and best of all, it’s small and already in your pocket. The unit is great for games that require nothing more than touch like board games and trivia games, but when it comes to games that require a lot of movement or dexterity like a sports game it can be really hard to use.

Enter the iControlPad which is essentially nothing more that a massive case for your iPhone that adds some buttons and a few joysticks. This is for the hardcore gamer only, not really small and compact as you can see form the picture, but if you like gaming on your iPhone then this is for you.

There is one small downfall, it requires a jailbroken unit to work since it requires some software that is using private api’s that Apple won’t allow. No word on pricing or availability yet, but you can sign up for more info right on their site and be notified when it’s ready to ship.

Gamepad For iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

All In One MacBook Air

Frank — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:44:23 +0000

Remember the good old C64, the home PC that was all enclosed in a keyboard? Kinda like the first laptop sans screen. A crafty hacker has done just that. By using the guts of a MacBook Air, a thin Mac keyboard and Apple’s new trackpad he has created an all in one keyboard based Mac.

Not ‘quite’ there yet with the case. I have to add some small mounting points for the keyboard and trackpad to rest on and attach the left hand side of the case where the USB ports are. However everything is in its place, the motherboard is bolted down so it can’t move about and everything else is held in place in the most hack friendly method ever….black duct tape.

If you interested in the project you can visit the modder’s site here

All In One MacBook Air originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iControlPad: Gamepad For Your iPhone

Frank — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:13:06 +0000

Since the release of the iTunes app store the iPhone and iPod touch have really been pushed as the next great portable gaming platform. Game developers have really started to push the limits of the device but the one major stumbling block has only been the “touch only” interface.

The iControlPad looks to change all of that. It’s a case for your iPhone that offers dual analog nubs, a gamepad controller and of course a few buttons. There is also an internal battery that charges your iPhone while you play.

Bad news is that you will need to jailbreak your iPhone to use this since it’s not an official Apple licensed product, but the iControlPad is supported by some of the biggest devs like the boys that make all the cool emulators. If you’re interested in the device, you can can place a pre-order by signing up at their site.

iControlPad: Gamepad For Your iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2009 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Mac | Explore more in: ac, app store, apple, battery, case, control, controller, ds, ea, emulator, game, Gaming, iphone, iphone 3g, iphone 3gs, ipod, ipod touch, ir, itunes, jailbreak, loa, lock, Mac, make, mit, nes, phone, portable, rod, tech.nocr.at, tor, touch | 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.

NCube: Portable Gamecube Goodness

Frank — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:46:38 +0000

I’ve seen my fair share of portable Gamecube systems, but this has got to be one of the slickest I have ever see.

Designed and hacked together by a Ben Heck apprentice, the NCube is a beautiful creation. The case is a seriously modded Datamax Kid’s Delight and the screen is an unmodded Zenith PSone display. The unit also has a 2-way switch so you can choose to run off batteries or AC, a memory card slot and a rear-mounted disc drive.

You can read up on the 90 hour journey to create this or just skip right down to the end of this article to see it in action.

[Link to NCube Design]

NCube: Portable Gamecube Goodness originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Snegenes-P

Frank — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:54:31 +0000

What the hell is the Snegenes-P you ask? Snes + Genesis + NES – Portable. If you’re the hardcore 8 or 16 bit gamer and refuse to use one of those fancy handheld emulators like the Gemei X760+, then why not build yourself one of these?

Modder Trstn18 smashed together components from all his favorite consoles into this custom see-through case so that you can see all of the messy goodness. Coming in at 8.6-inches wide, 5.4-inches tall and 1-inch thick, it’s not really portable in my opinion. Powered by 6 2600mAh batteries, this beast should get you somewhere between 5 to 7 hours of game play on a single charge. It also has composite video and stereo outputs so you can enjoy all of your 8-bit goodness on your TV.

As you can clearly see, the back of the unit is a bit of a mess. I’m not too sure how comfortable this thing will be when you hold it with a massive cartridge sticking out the back.

[Via Ben Heck Forums]

Snegenes-P originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

In Case You Missed It: Week 44 Round Up

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

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

Gadgets

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

Gaming

Videogame Alarm Clocks

Hacking and Security

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

Mac

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

Tech News

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

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

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

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

In Case You Missed It: Week 42 Round Up

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

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

Gadgets

Asus Keyboard PC

Gaming

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

Hacking and Security

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

Mac

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

Tech News

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

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

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

Cool Your Xbox With Mineral Oil

Frank — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:52:17 +0000

You really have to be playing your Xbox non-stop to generate enough heat to justify submerging your Xbox motherboard into a non-conductive fluid such as mineral oil which B-rad used.

Besides the two obvious things that should never ever be submerged, the hard drive and dvd drive, every other component that was housed inside the Xbox case was submerged into a fish tank fill of mineral oil. Surprisingly enough, after he submerged his unit it ran on average 10 degrees cooler.

Maybe it’s worth while if you’re having a cooling issue, but one thing is for sure, having something like this out in the open will almost guarantee that you will never get laid.

[Link to B-rad's Xbox Tank]

Cool Your Xbox With Mineral Oil originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Portable Data Center

Frank — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:04:13 +0000

A pioneering Dell employee has create a prototype portable data center. This won’t be replacing any of the big shipping container data centers that the likes of Google or Sun are building, but this is a great start to of things to come. This would be great in a disaster recovery plan to bring systems back up on a temporary basis after a catastrophic event.

Pike has crammed two servers running dual-core, 2.5 GHz Intel processors (Harpertown), 32 GB of memory, 4 TB of disk space for storage, a power supply, a 5-port Gigabit Ethernet Switch and even some solid-state drives into a metal box. The box consumes about 325 watts, is relatively portable and provides enough performance to act as a DNS server or a data center for a small business

With those specs this thing would make one awesome war driving machine, lol.

[Via GigaOM]

Portable Data Center originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2009 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Gadgets | Explore more in: ac, briefcase, bus, case, cat, data cener, dell, drive, ds, ea, ethernet, google, id, intel, loa, Mac, machine, make, metal, nes, os, portable, power, proc, recovery, ring, server, small, space, switch, tech.nocr.at, tor, ui | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

NES Cartrige Casemod

Frank — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:30:16 +0000

What better to jam inside of an old NES game cartridge than, well, an NES. Okay so it’s not really an NES in there it’s an emulator but this mod does use the original buttons, plays NES and gameboy games, has an mp3 player, movie player, an FM radio reciever and best of all, the video out still works so you can hook it up and play on the big screen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJXPfznWLPU&feature=player_embedded

This is just one of the dozens of NES casemods we have featured here on tech.nocr.at but this is definitely one of the cooler ones we have seen.

[Link to NES Casemod]

NES Cartrige Casemod originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Cocaine Dealers iPhone App

Frank — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:24:13 +0000

Okay so there really isn’t a specific app on the iPhone for your cocaine dealers out there (although i can imagine how any one of the million converter apps could come in handy). But there is this cleaver fake looking iPhone spotted in the Netherlands which is really a digital scale.

Now I have seem my fair share of fake looking iPhones but this one takes the ~~coke~~ cake. All jokes aside, and I have been waiting to make that one since I first laid eyes on this picture, drugs are bad. Stay away from them.

Cocaine Dealers iPhone App originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Industrial Strength Firewall, Poor Mans Budget

Frank — Tue, 12 May 2009 05:44:27 +0000

What in this world could protect your computer(s) or network better than a firewall? If you said not connecting your machine to the Internet your right, but most of us can’t live for more than a few minutes without being online. Hell, it gives me the shakes.

Now, here at the Frank residences we have multiple machines. A family machine, a MythTV box, various gaming consoles, a bunch of laptops, and a bunch of servers that preform various tasks. We also have multiple static IP’s to help out with the work load. It’s a lot of traffic coming and going, and although a basic Linksys or Dlink might do just fine, I was looking for something more flexible, something more powerful. I have gone through many open source firewall/router packages in the past and they all have their pro’s and con’s, but one the I have stumbled on and love is pfSense.

This project started in 2004 as a fork of the m0n0wall project, but focused towards full PC installations rather than the embedded hardware focus of m0n0wall. pfSense also offers an embedded image for Compact Flash based installations, however it is not the primary focus. It has a powerful packaging system that allows you to add additional functionality like a squid proxy server or Radius server to it’s already long list of features.

Right out of the box you get some neat features that you might only see in a massive commercial product.

Outbound Load Balancing – If you have multiple Internet connections you can use the built in load balancing feature to bridge them together into one fat pipe.
VPN – Built in OpenVPN, PPTP and IPsec servers for when you fell like calling home.
Redundancy – Setup 2 multiple firewalls. In case one pfSense server dies, the other one will pick up the slack.
Real Time Graphing – See exactly what’s going on with your traffic.

If you have a spare PC laying around and want the solid protection that a industrial grade firewall can offer then give pfSense a try. You really don’t need to be a BSD wizard to install it either. Download the iso, burn it to a cd, load the cd and choose install. All of the configuration and settings are changed via’s it’s intuitive web page.

Give it a whirl, you won’t be disappointed.

Industrial Strength Firewall, Poor Mans Budget originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/05/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2009 | Permalink | 4 Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, bsd, case, commercial, computer, console, ds, ea, fire, firewall, flash, Gaming, hack, hacking, id, ir, iso, laptop, led, links, linksys, live, loa, m0n0wall, Mac, machine, mythtv, nda, nes, network, online, open, open source, os, pc, pen, pfsense, power, rc, rim, rod, router, server, time, ui | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Pure Gold PC

Frank — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:56:56 +0000

We have featured many things that would explain why people with tons of money are really stupid. But it seems that every time I stumble across some new over priced useless piece of technology it beats the last.

Take this solid gold (yes solid, not plated) PC. I’m not quite sure how much gold is used in the case, but I am sure that it costs more than the internals, which are; an Intel Core 2 Duo, 100GB drive (WTF, solid gold and all you get is 100GBs?), 4GB of RAM, 8 USB ports, and 2 FireWire ports (and Apple wouldn’t put any in the latest MacBook).

No word on pricing either, but I’m pretty sure none of us could afford it.

Pure Gold PC originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Xbox G4

Frank — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 03:27:02 +0000

I have seen my fair share of PC case mods, but an Apple case mod, especially one that encompasses a Microsoft created case, awesome. Inside this Xbox 360 Elite lives a functional G4 powered by an old Powerbook G4 867MHz processor. Modder Phil Herlihy had some spare 360 cases laying around and thought he would put them to good use and turn one of them into a Mac.

Unfortunately there was no way to get the Xbox’s DVD tray to work since all Powerbooks came with a slot loading drive so he had to cut a slot in the front of the unit to get it to work.

I’m an avid broken Xbox 360 collector, trying to develop strategies for hacking and repairing once-thought dead consoles. I’ve got plenty of empty 360 cases around with nothing to do but gather dust. When it hit me, The PowerBook logic boards are tiny. Perfect for one of those cases. Even better with PSU integration.

[Link to Xbox G4]

Xbox G4 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: 360, ac, air, apple, avi, book, case, console, dead, drive, ds, dvd, ea, elite, g4, hack, hacking, id, ir, live, loa, Mac, microsoft, mod, modder, mods, os, pc, power, powerbook, proc, ring, tiny, tor, xbox, xbox 360 | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

BSG PC

Frank — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:27:38 +0000

This has to be one of the most detailed PC case mods I have seen in a very long time, and the fact that I am a huge BSG fan also helps. The Battlestar Galactica PC mod features everything you expect from the BSG show including a dock for the vipers and a front loading CD drive that is located behind a laser-cut transparent BSG logo, so you can actually see the dic spinning.

The Medallion was laser cut in separate layers and pieces, then glued together. Red LEDs were added behind the bird inset to illuminate the dvd drive and provide a nice backlit effect.

Check out all of the cool pics of it here.

[Via Bit-Tech]

BSG PC originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

New Macbook?

Frank — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 01:35:18 +0000

We all know how rumours start swirling around the internet when it comes to Apple. There hasn’t been a major product from Apple that hasn’t had its share or rumours. The iPhone, AppleTV, new iPods, they have all had their share of chat on the internet.

Apple is set to announce some new products tomorrow, and one of the hottest rumours to hit the net these past couple of days is the “brick” laptop. I suppose that the “brick” name might have come from the process of milling out the case from a solid piece of aluminum, hence the “brick”.

A few of the rumours sites over in China have posted various pics of these supposed “brick” Mac Books. What do you think? Real or Fake? I have posted a collection of these pics over on our forums, tell me what you think.

New Macbook? originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Turn An Old TiVo Into A HTPC

Frank — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:05:23 +0000

One of the toughest things about building a home theater PC is finding the right case, one that doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb in your media center. This guy gutted out an old TiVo he had laying around and jammed in all the components required to get a PC up and running. He added a copy of Ubuntu running XBMC to finish off the project.

Doesn’t look like it’s that hard to accomplish and might just be the perfect weekend project for someone who is looking to either build a HTPC or remodel one they already have running.

Turn An Old TiVo Into A HTPC originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Sync Files Across Platforms With Synkron

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

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

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

[Link to Synkron]

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

Put Your Old Gamecube To Good Use

Frank — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:28:13 +0000

This crafty UK hacker decided to put his old Gamecube to good use and cram a PC into it. It took him over a year to put it all together. It’s not exactly a powerhouse of a machine, but it is one of the cleanest casemods using a Gamecube I have ever seen.

PicoCube is based on the tiny Pico-ITX motherboard, one of the only boards that will actually fit in such a small space. I’ve also got an 100gb SATA hard drive in there, 1gb of RAM, along with a Pico PSU and 4 USB ports. You can see a slot for the DVD drive but with everything crammed in there, it wasn’t long before temps got too high and the unit shut itself down. I may replace the lid in the future or rework things on the inside.

[Link to PicoCube]

Put Your Old Gamecube To Good Use originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Real Files Suit Against Studios

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

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

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

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

Atari 2600 + Guitar Hero = Atari Hero

Frank — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 04:31:18 +0000

What happens when you smash an old Atari 2600 and a Guitar Hero guitar together? The Atari Hero of course. Conner over at Slippery Brick has done just that. This crazy casemod is a real beauty. The guitar is wrapped in a custom circuit board pattern, and in place of the strum bar is a tiny (i mean real tiny) LCD screen so you can enjoy all of that 8-bit action. If that wasn’t enough for you, he also embedded the fire button in the neck of the guitar and added a custom joystick and paddle controller right into the body.

It took Conner about 2 months to build this slick casemod and by the looks of it it was totally worth it. The unit plays any classic Atari 2600 game you can throw at it. The whole thing is powered by a couple AAs. I wonder how much game time you get with only two AAs powering an LCD and the Atari itself. Probably not that much.

Now if someone could only jam a 360 or PS3 into a Guitar Hero guitar so that you could play Guitar Hero on your Guitar Hero guitar. A boy can dream, can’t he?

[Link to Atari Hero]

Atari 2600 + Guitar Hero = Atari Hero originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Famicard – An NES Inside An NES Cartridge

Frank — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:58:30 +0000

Remember the Super Genintari which jammed 4 different classic game consoles into a single unit? Well, how about an NES system inside of an NES cartridge. The famicard is just that.

The unit includes a fill NES cartridge slot, joystick ports, and audio/video output all housed in a classic Zelda case. This is perfect if your a road warrior and want to take you classic games with you without the use of an emulator. Just don’t plug a famicard into a real NES, I heard the world would explode.

[Via Kotomi]

Famicard – An NES Inside An NES Cartridge originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Portable N64

Frank — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:15:36 +0000

It’s truly amazing that the hacking community in the benheck forums continues to provide quality hacks like this portable N64. Darth 64 is a portable N64 that uses parts from a N64, PSx, GameCube, and a Lazer Doodle (that’s the case).

List of features:

Psone screen with original backlight.
Flush mounted headphone jack.
5000maH Li-Poly batteries with quick charger and protection circuit.
Gamecube style joystick and d-pad.
Rear shoulder buttons and twin z buttons.
Cart slot relocation.

You can read up on the whole process here.

Portable N64 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

New DS Rumour

Frank — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:45:28 +0000

IGN has speculated to a new DS hitting store shelves some time in the first quarter of the new year. The third coming of the popular handheld gaming system will include dual touchscreen (one of them being widescreen). If that’s the case we are looking a major hardware refresh, a nice one at that too.

Don’t get a woody looking at the above picture, that’s just IDN’s mockup of what the unit might look like.

New DS Rumour originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iPod Fridge

Frank — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:27:03 +0000

Many people have tried to capalize on the iPod fame with various adapters, docks, and cases, but a fridge with an iPod dock, tell me it isn’t so. Slovenian appliance manufacture Gorenje has designed this combination fridge-freezer with a built-in iPod dock, including speakers. Allowing you to listed to music or podcasts while cooking.

They launched their product at the 2008 IFA fair in Germany this weekend and there is no information yet on availability or pricing, but you can be sure that this will be a hot item with people who have to much money and no idea what to do with it.

iPod Fridge originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To: Make A Metal Detector

Frank — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:17:35 +0000

Most kids are absolutely fascinated with electronic projects of some sort, take me for example, when I was a kids all I wanted to do was build radio receivers and play with my metal detector. That being said, I really wished that I knew about building this many years ago. This just seem to be more fun when you use your own two hands to put something together.

This simple and crude metal detector will work, not well, but it will get the job done, plus if the radio you use has an ear phone jack you can avoid annoying everyone around you. Then again, if someone on the beach looked at you walking up and down with a radio and calculator taped to a CD case and all of that taped to a broom handle, well, annoying them should be the least of your worries.

How To: Make A Metal Detector originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Mac Mini Mods

Frank — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:11:20 +0000

Japanese modder Hideo Takano has designed 7 sweet Mac Mini casemods. Each mod is quite clean and looks slick. I personally love the Mac Mini Pro

It’s a dead ringer for it’s bigger brother. What about the Logo block? I just wish we could stack them and build a massive cluster.

You can head on over to Mac Mod Lab to see all of the creations, btw, the site’s in Japanese only.

Mac Mini Mods originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

TV-B-Gone Goes Pro

Frank — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:37:08 +0000

Makers of the uber-geek popular TV-B-Gone (which is a keychain device that allows you to turn off all TV’s in the immediate area with a single button) have beefed up their units and are now offering an extra-strength version of their gizmo which can turn off almost any TV set from hundreds of feet away.

Nestled inside of a case that’s made to look like an iPhone, the TV-B-Gone SHP (Super High Power) will shut off about 90% of all TV’s worldwide with the push of a button. The unit features 8 ultra-powerful infrared emitters that are sure to knock out any TV within hundreds of feet. Image all of the fun you could have inside of BestBuy with this unit. Check out the video of the unit causing some havoc.

TV-B-Gone Goes Pro originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

NES PC Casemod

Frank — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:20:18 +0000

Here’s another NES mod, not quite like the “Wii in an NES” mod that we featured a few days ago, but this “PC in an NES” mod is a stealthy and slick one never-the-less. At first glance you would see nothing more than the beloved 8-bit gaming system some of us grew up with, but under the hood you will find a fully functional Windows PC load with emulators so that you can play original NES games and games from other consoles.

The modded console hides a four-port USB hub that snaps cleanly to the original NES expansion port on the bottom, allowing for a variety on non-NES controllers to be connected as well as having the original NES controller ports rewired to work with the PC’s USB system. To really keep this modded system truly old school, the unit can only be connected via composite video, maintaining that old-school blurry image that concealed some of the graphic flaws of older games.

To get an idea what went on with the design, you can read up on the mod here.

NES PC Casemod originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/17. 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.

Wii In An NES Case

Frank — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:27:17 +0000

A crafty hacker has crammed his Wii into an old NES case. The write up is quite brief and he promises a more detailed write up at a later date, but it does include a few key details. He installed some old Game Cube joystick ports and a Game Cube memory card. He has also added some external LEDs that are connected to the Wii’s power button. He says that almost every area of the case needed some serious hacking in order to make the Wii fit

Link

Wii In An NES Case originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/12. 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.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | 2 Comments | Read more in Tech News | Explore more in: ac, amp, avi, blog, bra, case, comb, comments, digg, ds, ea, follow, generator, google, hp, ical, id, ir, job, jobs, led, make, mit, mod, nda, nes, number, online, os, pen, plugins, press, proc, rc, ring, rss, security, seo, stumbleupon, switch, switched, tech.nocr.at, time, tor, tweaks, ui, wordpress | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Proper Electronic Enclosures

Frank — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 20:28:48 +0000

Picking the right enclosure for your next DIY electronics project can be daunting at best. Sparkfun electronics has a great write up about how to go about getting the right case for your project.

They give a great layout of how to get those holes for switches and button just right. They even explain how to add some plastic standoffs to secure your PCB down is the mounting holes in your case don’t line up. This is definitely a keeper for all of you DIY electronic fanboys.

Sparkfun’s Boxing It All Up

Proper Electronic Enclosures originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Knight Rider PC Mod

Frank — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 03:39:43 +0000

Remember K.I.T.T. ? Yes that Trans-Am that the Hoff use to drive. The one that talked and had all of them futuristic looking gauges. By todays standards it looks crappy, but this awesome case mod brings all the goodness right back.

Knight Rider PC Mod originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Protect Your PC With A Magnet

Frank — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:12:46 +0000

Did you know that you could protect your PC or most other devices that use a power source from being powered on with nothing more than a magnet? All you need is a reed switch, a magnet and some duct tape. This is of course a basic protection and someone who really wanted to access it could simply remove the switch or replace the power unit in the PC, but this will protect you from people who want to casually access your machine.

Itâ€™s as simple as installing a reed switch inline with your motherboards power button cable and then taping the reed switch to the inside of the front panel of your case. Now when you press the magnet against the case at the position where you placed the reed switch the power button the PC will turn on.

Check this video out for an exact science behind the whole idea.

Protect Your PC With A Magnet originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Handheld Gaming Powerhouse

Frank — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:55:50 +0000

I love me my portable gaming (yes the English was bad on purpose). I always have my DS and PSP stuffed into my backpack (along with every other portable gadget I own) just incase I am stuck somewhere and I have to kill some time.

I can already play NES and Gameboy games on my PSP if I choose by way of some crafty home-brewed software, but what I canâ€™t do is play them in the park on a nice sunny day without killing my battery.

This portable gaming device not only plays games from the three classic Nintendo systems, it runs on the power of the sun (hence my whole park and sun analogy above). Right out of the box this unit can handle NES/Famicom, Gameboy and Gameboy colour titles, as long as you can get the ROMs onto an SD card which the unit uses to store the games. Iâ€™m sure if you use Google in a crafty manner you too can figure it out.

Along with all the retro-gaming fun, the Mobile Power Station plays most popular audio and video formats. The unit features a 3.5â€ colour display, 2GB of built in memory and an SD slot for up-to another 2GB. Did I also mention that the unit can also display (or speak) e-books, has a built in voice recorder, and even a tiny LED flashlight. Heck, it even has a USB out so that you can use the solar cells to charge other USB devices.

What are you waiting for? Grab one from Chinavision for $123.

Handheld Gaming Powerhouse originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Gadgets | Explore more in: ac, audio, avi, battery, book, car, case, chinavision, display, ds, ea, emulator, flash, flashlight, game, gameboy, games, Gaming, gba, gbc, google, handheld, house, id, led, light, mobile, nes, nintendo, os, portable, power, psp, solar, time, tiny, tor, ui, usb, video | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

White PS3 On It’s Way

Frank — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:38:50 +0000

With absolutely now added benefit outside of the aesthetic one, the ceramic white PS3 is on itâ€™s way to North America. According to an FCC filing that has surfaced, the white PS3 with matching controllers and a 40 GB hard drive should hit the market anytime soon.

This will put a dent into the PS3 case modding industry. I guess big box hardware stores will take a hit on the sales of metallic white paint.

Unknown yet as to the date of arrival or price, but if I had to guess Iâ€™d say mid March with a price tag of $399

[Via Engadget]

White PS3 On It’s Way originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Life Size R2D2 Mod

Frank — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:29:31 +0000

I have seen many mods in my time, but this life size R2D2 computer case mod has to take the cake.

An 80 gallon drum, some paint, a Webber BBQ grill, a dremel, some fans, and obviously the internals from a computer, and a Vapochill cooling unit that is rated at a chilling -52 you too can build this 100 lbs bad boy.

This is what I call hardcore dedication. Iâ€™m not sure how long a project this would take but from experience I’d be willing to say this cost a pretty penny and took a few months to put together.

If you are a hardcore Star Wars fan than this oneâ€™s for you. Unfortunately my home office is as tiny as tiny can be and I only have room for my laptop otherwise I’d consider building this, but only consider.

There is a pretty detailed gallery of pictures on the process here, but no details on how to build your own. From all of the pictures I’m sure you could figure it out if you had the will and a shit-load of free time.

Life Size R2D2 Mod originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To: Unlock A DVD Case

Frank — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 14:20:53 +0000

Ever purchase a DVD at your local Blockbuster and get home only to find out that the guy behind the counter forgot to remove the locking mechanism off the DVD case? You know that strip of plastic that runs down the side of the opening?

Some of the locking mechanisms used by the big box locations will actually destroy the DVD if you try to pry it open, much like the ink security tags that clothing stores use. Unless you have one of the fancy gizmos at home like they have at the stores your S.O.L.

“The secret is two very powerful magnets. From reading the sales literature for the locks, these magnets are supposedly only available to sooper-seekret authorized personnel. What they don’t tell their customers is that these magnets are also available inside every junk 3.5″ hard disk drive made in the last 15 years. They are part of the head seeking motor.”

Link to How To

How To: Unlock A DVD Case originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Briefcase Machine Gun

Frank — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 03:04:16 +0000

Just for the record, I am one of those people who are against automatic or semi-automatic weapons, being from Canada it’s just a Canadian thing, but on the other hand this is one cool weapon (Video after the break).

The briefcase machine gun is something out of every espionage or spy movie you have ever seen, essentially a MP5K machine gun mounted in a briefcase. Weighing in at 4.4 pounds and 13 inches long, the briefcase may look typical, but it packs one hell of a punch. This looks to be geared to the military or law enforcement, not the type of brief case you want to be caught with walking around town or trying to get through airport security with.

[Via techeblog]

Briefcase Machine Gun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Feature-Packed Flashlight

Frank — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 20:23:24 +0000

Just in case you ever need to change a flat tire in the middle of darkness, record it with night vision, and record the audio of the whole experience; then this one’s for you. The Flashlight DVR Compact by Swann gives you all that and a flashlight. You can record about 8 hours of video, audio, and stills onto it’s SD card. There is even a panic siren encase shit hits the fan.

The whole thing is encased in an aluminum alloy casing that will take a whole hell of a lot punishment. Having all of these gadgets in one device doesn’t come cheap either; $399 to get your fix

Feature-Packed Flashlight originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

$20000 Blackberry Case

Frank — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 23:53:51 +0000

CES is full of wonderful gadgets and gizmos and from time to time it’s also full of truly weird and stupid knick knacks. Take this 3.5 carat Blackberry case that will run you a cool $20,000. Forget about encrusting your crackberry in diamonds or dipping it in gold when you can wrap it up in bling.

Once again, we have regions of this world with extreme poverty and people are actually spending money on stupid ass things like this. If you got it spend it I guess, I know I don’t got it.

$20000 Blackberry Case originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Cordless Drill Battery Charger

Frank — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 18:23:12 +0000

Here’s a great video showing you how you can use your cordless drill as a hand crank charger for batteries. You just never know when your stuck in the woods and need to charge up your batteries for your flashlight. Looks like I will be putting my cordless drill in the truck of my car just in case something like this is needed, lol.

[metacafe]http://www.metacafe.com/watch/967302/crank_charge_your_batteries/[/metacafe]

Cordless Drill Battery Charger originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

G5 Clock Hack

Frank — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:46:11 +0000

I knew that the case to my old G5 was more than just a cheese grater. This super cool hack turns your old G5 desktop into a digital clock, an alarm clock no-less. No drilling is needed (hence the comment above about it being more than just a cheese grater) and if you live in crammed space you can toss your old alarm clock out the window.

Link to How-To

G5 Clock Hack originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/04. 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.

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ZipZip USB Key

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

I remember a time when having a USB key was bleeding edge, when having a bulky thumb drive that held 32 or 64 MB of data was cool. I also remember having to also carry a drivers disk just incase I ran into a machine with an older operating system that wouldn’t recognize it.Â Now-a-days I must have 6 or seven usb key’s laying around, all of them without anything on them, but this little puppy is just too cool looking not to own.

The ZipZip is not only a USB drive but also a compatible LEGO block, a 2GB LEGO block no less.Â If my son ever got a hold of it i’d be searching through his massive LEGO collection for it, but then again, a great place to hide it as well.

ZipZip USB Key originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Another reason people have too much money

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

Last week we told you about the blinged out iPod shuffle which went for a ridiculous amount of money, today we bring you another reason that some people in the world have way too much money and don’t really know what to do with it.

The LG Prada Phone is a 24ct gold plated phone with a sleek black case, touchscreen, pre-loaded content, a bunch of accessories, and an exclusive case. You can grab this gold-plated LG KE850 Prada Phone from Amosu for about $1000 USD. Now I don’t feel so bad for spending $299 on my Blackberry 8830!

Another reason people have too much money originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Dailymotion releases iPhone site

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

Those wily mobileers at Engadget Mobile send a pointer to Dailymotion‘s new iPhone-specific site. No matter how you feel about iPhone-specific websites, watching videos on the iPhone is always fun, and since Dailymotion has taken the time to encode the content in Quicktime, it’s actually possible here without a special player (unlike most other vid sites, which use Flash). Of course, if your iPhone is activated normally, you could just be watching YouTube, but for those of you running around without SIMs in your iPhones (ahem, Erica), this is an option for your video watching needs. {mosadsense4joomla ad_layout=”D”}

Unfortunately, even though I wasn’t able to browse around the site on an iPhone, I did browse it in my usual Safari browser, and while the content played fine, it looked as though it was sized incorrectly– only part of the Quicktime video showed up. Some video is better than no video, I guess.

Dailymotion releases iPhone site originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

MAME On The iPhone

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

You all knew that it was bound to happen. A developer using the alias Kaisersoze has successfully ported an initial build of the arcade emulator MAME to run on the iPhone.

As is still the case with all homebrew stuff for the iPhone (Apple, will you wake up already!) you’ll have to do some hacking to get it up and running. You’ll also need to know your way around a compiler since you can only pick up the source code and compile it yourself for now.

MAME On The iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Google to offer refunds to video customers

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

Last week we reported that Google was shutting down it‘s paid Goggle Video operation. Goggle preceded to send out emails to customers who purchased video’s from Google’s site explaining that they were getting out of the paid video game and offering a coupon that varied in value (depending on how many video’s you purchased) to use with Google checkout.

Google has now apologized for the way it shut down the paid video service and said that it will refund their credit cards and allow them to watch their videos for another 6 months.

“When your friends and well-intentioned acquaintances tell you that you’ve made a mistake, it’s good to listen. So we’d like to say thank you to everyone who wrote to let us know that we had made a mistake in the case of Google Video’s Download to Own/Rent Refund Policy vs. Common Sense,” the company wrote.

It’s now offering credit card refunds to “everyone who ever bought a video” from Google Video, and people who already received Google Checkout refunds will be able to keep them as well. It will also allow people who bought or rented videos to keep playing them for another six months.

“We won’t be offering the ability to buy additional videos, but what you’ve already downloaded will remain playable on your computer,” the company said.

Google opted for the Checkout refunds because the company thought it would entail fewer steps and offer “a better user experience,” it said. People who want the credit card refunds will need to fill out an online form to make sure Google has their current credit card details.

[Via InfoWorld]

Google to offer refunds to video customers originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Idiot from Pennsylvania sues Google for $5 Billion

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

Dylan Stephen Jayne of Pennsylvania has decided to sue Google for 5 Billion dollars (cue Auston Power music).

The premise of his complaint revolves around the following assertion;

“I, Dylan Stephen Jayne, plaintiff, has [sic] a social security number that when the social security number is turned upside down in its entirety it is a scrambled code that does spell the name GoogleÂ®.”

Mr. Jayne must have put a lot of thought in the case. The five pages, all hand written, further implicates Google is responsible for compromising the safety of his identity, as they persist on using his social security number in coded form. For good measure, Mr. Jayne accuses Google of not doing enough to fight terrorism, nor having any respect for his civil liberties.

Idiot from Pennsylvania sues Google for $5 Billion originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Vista Powered Super Nintendo

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

Now this is what I call a serious case mod. Some guy in Japan has taken his old Super Nintendo (known as the Super Famicom over there) and turned it into a Windows PC.

He started off with an MSI Axis 945GM bare-bones system and jigged it to fit into the Super Nintendo’s case. He even relabeled the game cartridge (which houses the hard-drive) to look like it contains the Windows install. Very nice.

Now all he has to do is get a Super Nintendo emulator running on it so that we can play some Donkey Kong Country.

[via Akihabara News]

Vista Powered Super Nintendo originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DS gets VOIP

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

It’s quite strange how the DS lacks plenty in the arena of hardware is comparison to the Sony PSP, but homebrew programmers have managed to put it’s limited resources to good use. So far homebrewers have already turned the DS into a MIDI controller and even a web browser and now VoIP is available. Thanks to a simple piece of software from clever hacker samuelv you can now use your DS as a phone, as long as you have a SIP account that is.

There is already a respectable amount of users on this platform at the moment, so you can expect future revisions to further tweak things for the better. Just in case you get bored of chatting with your friends, there is always this thing called “games” which can be found in abundance for the little handheld console that could.

DS gets VOIP originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Xbox Mini

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

I’ll give Sony some credit, the slim PS2 was a great addition to their line. They dropped quite a bit of bulk and weight from the original PS2. Now some guy over on the Xbox-Scene forums started to work on what will hopefully one day be the finest Xbox casemod of all time. The Xbox Mini case that he fabricated is a thing of beauty, reducing the ugly black behemoth that was the original Xbox into a tiny little package.

It’s unclear if and when he’ll finish this project, but hopefully he will. If only Microsoft had designed something like this and released a low-cost Xbox Mini when the Xbox 360 came out, they might have taken some business away from the Wii.

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