tech.nocr.at » ebook

Add A Solar Charger To Your E-Book Reader

Frank — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 04:06:46 +0000

E-Book readers have really revolutionized the world. You can now fit a virtual library in your briefcase or purse. Let’s not forget that it has gotten most of us geeks to go outside from time to time to read thanks to their awesome e-ink displays.

One of the key differences between an e-book reader and a good old fashion dead tree book is that you require electricity to power the reader. We’ll since you’re heading outside to catch up on some reading why not kill two birds with one stone?

Instructables user Flapke shows us how a simple hack to his Kobo reader yields some solar juice for the battery. Although the how-to mainly focuses on the Kobo, the concept is universal; Make some room in the back panel for some small solar panels, solder in a few capacitors and an IC and you’ll be rocking an e-book reader that never needs to be changed via a cable (if you do venture outside or read right by a window that is).

[Link to Solar Charginig E-Reader]

Add A Solar Charger To Your E-Book Reader originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/09/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Winner: iPod Nano Twiiter Contest

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

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

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

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

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

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

Motorola Tells Modders To Go Elsewhere

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Advertising

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

Why tech.nocr.at?

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

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

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

Social Media & tech.nocr.at

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

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

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

and of course the old faithful:

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

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

Nintendo DSi LL Here On March 28th

Frank — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:32:04 +0000

Nintendo fans rejoice, you too will be able to cash in on the DSi LL on March 28th of this year. The fuller DSi comes at you with a larger 4.2-inch screen and a full-size pen stylus as compared to the is original brother.

Nintendo has also added support for eBooks. Although you will be able to flip the unit sideways and use it in a traditional book format you won’t be able to read those book unless you plugin a special DS cartridge.

The new DSI LL will hit store shelves on March 28th for $190. The eBook system will come at a later date with a 100 Classic Books title shipping around June 15th.

Nintendo DSi LL Here On March 28th originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Nintendo DSi LL Here On March 28th

Frank — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:32:04 +0000

The new DSI LL will hit store shelves on March 28th for $190. The eBook system will come at a later date with a 100 Classic Books title shipping around June 15th.

Nintendo DSi LL Here On March 28th originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

B&N Nook Officially Released

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

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

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

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

[Link to Nook.com]

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

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Second Gen Flip MinoHD

Frank — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 06:06:12 +0000

Flip is set to release an upgraded version of it’s MinoHD pocket camcorder just in time for the holiday season. The second gen MinoHD features a brushed metal body, double the internal memory (8GB vs 4GB), a 2-inch LCD and an HDMI connection (sorry, no cable included).

The corners are now rounded giving it a sleeker appearance and the FlipShare software package has been tweaked to include direct uploads to Facebook in addition to the already available uploads to YouTube and MySpace.

You can get the new MinoHD in silver or you can opt for a custom finish for no extra charge directly from the Flip website.

Second Gen Flip MinoHD originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

B&N E-Reader Photos Leaked

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

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

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

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

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

Mamebook – Macbook Arcade Cabinet

Frank — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 03:45:19 +0000

Got an old Macbook laying around? Why not make your very own cocktail arcade cabinet with it. Crafty hacker Frederic Sebton decided to do something with the broken Macbook he had laying around. He crammed the internals into an Ikea Ramvik sideboard and with a little finessing and hacking he came up with this great arcade cabinet.

He’s got a detailed diary of what he did on the mamebook blog with detailed picture and accounts of what he went through to put it all together. You don’t really need a Macbook to make this work, an LCD and a CPU is all you really need. But this is a great starting place if your interested in building an arcade cabinet.

[Link to Mamebook]

Mamebook – Macbook Arcade Cabinet originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Asus N10 Pricing Confirmed

Frank — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:09:51 +0000

A couple weeks ago we talked about Asus’s next UMPC, the N10. While we reported that the price tag would probably be somewhere in the $500 to $600 range, well, we were wrong. The beautiful looking N10 is ready for pre-order for $850, not exactly in the budget notebook realm. I’m sure it’s an awesome machine that looks sleek and all, but at almost $1000 your might as well pony up a few more buck and get a MacBook or Thinkpad.

Asus N10 Pricing Confirmed originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

GIFAR Image Vulnerability

Frank — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 04:33:01 +0000

Researchers at NGS Software have developed a method to embed malicious code into a picture. When the picture is viewed, the malicious code embed in the picture could send the attacker the credentials of the viewer. Social sites like Facebook, Myspace, or Digg are particularly at risk, but the researches say that any site which includes log ins and user uploaded pictures could be vulnerable.

The attack is a simple mashup of a GIF picture and a JAR. The code in the JAR is compiled and then combined with the info from the GIF. The GIF fools the browser into opening the image as a picture but the Java VM recognizes the JAR part of the file and runs the code.

The researches claim that there are multiple ways to deal with this hole. Web apps could continuously check for hybrid files and filter them, but they say that this really needs to be dealt with at the browser level. This could not only put images at risk, but nearly all browser content.

More details on the GIFARs will be presented at Black Hat this week in Las Vegas.

GIFAR Image Vulnerability originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Macworld Keynote

Frank — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:59:46 +0000

Just like was expected the blog-o-sphere went crazy over the Macworld keynote by Steve Jobs. Almost every blog was live-blogging the event, live-blogging the live blogs, and live blogging the live blogging of the live blogging (you get the idea).

This is why I wanted to wait until all of the mass hysteria over the keynote was done and over with before I weighed in on what happened. Unfortunately the iPhone coming to Canada didn’t happen as I thought it would. I guess the whole ComWave Apple trademark dispute still hasn’t been resolved. Apple has a lot of money, and money can always buy you what you want.

Here’s my lonely take on the 4 things SJ talked about.

Time Capsule: A brilliant idea in my opinion. Time Machine has become the single feature of Leopard that made the upgrade worth-while. A built in backup solution that just works and works well, is something that every major operating system was lacking. Time Capsule takes it one step further. You no longer need to have a dedicated drive connected to each of your machines to preform backups, with the Time Capsule (essentially a airport extreme with a built in hard drive) backups can now be done over the network. With a 500gb and 1tb model set to ship, you should be able to backup all of your macs without a problem. I wonder how long it’s going to take some crafty hackers to create an open source version of this so that we don’t have to be limited to the dedicated unit.

iPhone and iPod Touch: Nice features but in my opinion stuff that should have been there from the beginning. An SDK was long over due, and the basic iPhone apps like Mail should have been on the iPod touch right out of the gate. Plus, what the hell is the deal with the $20 charge for the touch features? Just because they can call anyone they are being penalized. I really thought the Canadian thing would go through, but I’m sure they still have a stickler with ComWave which has been using the name iPhone here well before Apple introduced the product.

AppleTV and Movies: This was probably the single rumour that had been floating around that was correct. We all knew that Apple was planning on getting it the Movie rental business. Revamped AppleTV’s and free firmware upgrades for current AppleTV owners will bring Movie rentals right to your TV without the need of a computer. The AppleTV upgrade will allow you to purchase or rent movies directly from it’s interface without having to use iTunes on a separate computer. You can also subscribe to podcasts and videocast right on the unit. Fox also announced that they will be shipping DVD’s with embedded digital copies of the movie so you no longer need to rip em to watch them on your iPod.

Macbook Air: I want one, i want one, and i want one. Now that i got that out of the way. The worlds lightest laptop. I don’t know how that justify doubling the price when you move to a solid state drive, but it’s one hell of a jump from $1700 to $3000 based on a hard drive choice. I wonder how many will flock to purchase these units.

I was expecting something completely out of left field, which we didn’t get. Call me crazy but I think this was one of the most over hyped Macworld keynotes I have ever seen. Yes the Air is nice toy but it’s still just a notebook.

Macworld Keynote originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Mac | Explore more in: ac, air, amp, apple, appletv, apps, avi, backup, backups, blog, book, bus, cat, computer, drive, ds, dvd, ea, ebook, firmware, hack, hackers, hard drive, hysteria, id, iphone, ipod, ipod touch, ir, itunes, job, jobs, key, laptop, leopard, light, live, loa, lock, Mac, macbook, macbook air, machine, mail, mit, mod, movie, nes, network, notes, open, open source, os, pen, phone, rc, rental, ring, rip, rod, rumour, sdk, steve jobs, time, time capsule, time machine, touch, ui, video, watch | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

8hands: Destop Client For Social Networks

Frank — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:37:54 +0000

Social network has really changed the way we all use the Internet. Keep up with your friends, see what everyone’s up to, share a photo with you Aunt half way across the world, even find friends you haven’t been in contact with for years. The only problem is that you spend hours combing through various websites just to catch up with everyone. Enter 8hand; which is a desktop application for social networks.

“8hands is a desktop client that displays all the latest updates from all of those sites as well as media updates from your YouTube and Flickr contacts. All you have to do is download and install 8hands and you’ll almost never need to visit a web page to keep up with all of the latest news from your friends. If you want to hit up one of those web sites though, all you have to do is click the icon for the service you want to visit and 8hands will pull up a web browser.”

8hands supports up to 20 different social networks including all of your favorites like Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook. For a public beta 8hands is a pretty good solution for your social networking need. This way you can lessen the network and add more social.

Link

8hands: Destop Client For Social Networks originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

13 way to get your Facebook account suspended

Frank — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 04:16:10 +0000

Having your profile suspended on Facebook seems like it’s more common then it should be. Apparently if you “poke” too many people your a very bad person (not to mention slightly perverted).

Check out this great article on 13 ways you can avoid having your Facebook profile suspended (or even deleted).

Link: 13 Reasons your Facebook account will be disabled

13 way to get your Facebook account suspended originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/10/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Apple’s collapsible connection patent

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

Apple is expected to introduce a widescreen ultra-portable laptop in the coming months. A new design patent has revealed that it may contain a c collapsible connection receptacle on the back to house all of the I/O ports.

Under the design proposal, the ports maintain their original form whether the connection system is in an open or closed position. When the connection system swings to the closed position, the ports also swing with it such that they are flush with the mobile device.

At some point later this year or in the early New Year, Apple is expected to introduce its first ultra-portable notebook in quite some time. Rumor is that it will lack an optical drive, include on-board NAND flash, and have a 13-inch widescreen LED backlit display.

Apple’s collapsible connection patent originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/08/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Best of the week – Aug 6 – 12

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

iPhone unlocked, almost (frank)
Flashlight that will make you puke (frank)
Daily Free File – Coconut Battery (mike)
NES controller for your iPod (frank)
NES on your iPhone (frank)
Multi-Touch Macbook (frank)
Blackjack, Save $840 a year (mubix)
Facebook source code leaked (frank)
Robotic Bartender (frank)
Laptop battery hack (frank)

Best of the week – Aug 6 – 12 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/08/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2007 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Tech News | Explore more in: ac, battery, book, control, controller, ea, ebook, facebook, flash, flashlight, Gaming, hack, hacking, images, iphone, ipod, jack, laptop, light, lock, Mac, macbook, make, nes, os, phone, rc, robot, security, touch, unlock | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Facebook source code leaked

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lab with Leo: 100th Episode Party

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

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

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

Hope to see all of you there!

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

Apple Now Thirds Biggest Laptop Vendor

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

I was at the local Apple store in Yorkdale mall here in Toronto yesterday to pickup a replacement power supply for my Mac Book Pro when I noticed that almost everyone walking around in the mall was caring a box with a shinny new MacBook or MacBoook Pro. This came to me thinking about the rise in popularity of the Mac.

Today I find out that market researcher NPD release notebook sales figures and put Apple in third place overall, HP and Toshiba take number 1 and 2. The numbers are for brick-and-mortar store sales only, not taking into account online sales.

One of the serious possibilities for the increase in sales is that the Mac is the only machine that will run all major operating systems: OS X, Unix, Linux, and Windows. Even if you’re not a big OS X fan, the Mac is the perfect machine for running Vista.

Apple Now Thirds Biggest Laptop Vendor originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Apple’s market share hits 17.6 percent

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

With all of the iPhone hype over shadowing Apple’s primary financial source, their notebooks and desktops, consumers are clearly still interested in the company’s bread and butter. Data from one market research firm shows Apple’s notebook business broke 17 percent while another research firm says that Apple is now in third place among computer manufactures.

Dell comes out on top with HP coming in a close second of total unit sales. Apple takes number three; Gateway and Acer round out the top five.

Only 10.6% of tech.nocr.at users use a Mac (including me), while 82.9% use Windows and 5.7% of you use Linux. Amazingly 0.02% of you use an Amiga (okay come out and show yourselves). Where are the other 7 percent of the Mac users? Maybe they are running BootCamp or VMWare Fusion.

Apple’s market share hits 17.6 percent originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.