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Eric Schmidt Stepping Down As Google CEO

Frank — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:49:43 +0000

In a bit of a shocker, Eric Schmidt announced today that he would be stepping down from his CEO role at Google.

Why would someone at the helm of such a super power decide to step down? Simple, Larry and Sergei have grown up and are ready to lead Google. The company is as strong as ever. The stock price is up 32% in the last three months, the search end of the business is as strong as ever and in Q4 of 2010 the company made $8.4 billion in revenue.

Larry Page was once CEO, before Schmidt. In 2001, three years before going public Schmidt was named to the post. Wall Street dislikes young CEOSs and being only 29 at the time, Page wasn’t thought to be ready to lead Google. Schmidt was the perfect choice, a former computer scientist who made a name for himself while at Java, and was to later be CEO of Novell. During his his decade long tenure, Schmidt ran the company with Larry and Sergei at his side, never making a single decision with out them.

So now the Schmidt is gone and we may possibly never see Jobs back at Apple, will the two companies kiss and make up? You never know. One other possibility is Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt getting together to start a new company. I know it’s a far stretch and I’m hoping that Job’s medical LOA isn’t anything serious, but together, no matter what they did, would be awesome.

Eric Schmidt Stepping Down As Google CEO originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Official Kinect SDK Coming Soon

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

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

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

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

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

Steve Jobs Taking A Medical LOA

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

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

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

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

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

$2,220 HDMI Cable

Frank — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 20:39:57 +0000

We’ve seen the $1200 Mouse, the $150 Outlet, and the $8450 speaker cable and now was can add the $2,200 HDMI to the list.

Before the cable holy war starts over this, let me just state that the signal that passes over an HDMI cable is 100% digital. Unlike an analog signal it won’t degrade unless it’s over a very long distance. This “coffee” cable is only 40-feet, a far cry from a long distance. I understand that some materials conduct an electrical signal better than others, but since you can get a comparable cable for about $50 online trying to justify $55 a foot is crazy.

If you light your cigar’s with $100 bills or line your cat’s litter box with $20′s you still shouldn’t spend all this money on an HDMI cable.

[Link to $2,2200 HDMI Cable]

$2,220 HDMI Cable originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

10 Weird USB Drives

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10 Weird USB Drives originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Open Source HTPC’s That Don’t Suck

Frank — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 21:30:11 +0000

In our next installment of Distros That Don’t Suck we will be looking at open source HTPC software. Sure you can load up VLC or even use Windows Media player, but having a dedicated solution with a UI that is made for a TV is a lot easier and pleasing. I’ve left the PVR-centric software like MythTV and Freevo off the list since their main purpose is to act as a PVR. I’ll be reviewing open source PVR software by itself at a later date.

XBMC – The Xbox Media Center Project started as homebrew software for the original Xbox gaming system and has since been ported to Linux, Windows, OSX, AppleTV and even as a standalone Linux based LiveCD/LiveUSB image. It offers a clean UI, intuitive interface and can play just about anything you throw at it. It offers a plugin system with a huge repository of community plugins to enhance the experience. It’s real easy to setup and it’s configuration is portable across operating systems. If you have an old Xbox laying around this makes a great HTPC that is powerful and best of all cheap.

MediaPortal – This is a Windows based HTPC software so technically it’s not 100% open source since it requires Windows and doesn’t offer a Linux port. If offers everything you would expect in HTPC software; Video streaming, DVD playback, Internet Radio, Picture Gallery and it’s own plugin system. You will need a compatible TV Tuner card to enjoy PVR features and to watch TV but it’s not needed to run the software. If you are a Windows fan and are looking for an alternate to Windows Media Center this is as close as you can get without the cost.

Element – Element is an open source HTPC system that comes pre-loaded with XBMC and the ability to play back just about any media locally or over the Internet. Element also has it’s own framework for offering add-on modules that allow you to play content from services like Hulu, Cooliris, Boxee, Clicker, Amazon on Demand and Youtube. They have adapted the UI’s of popular open source software like Firefox and Pidgin so that it fits the TV experience better than their native desktop versions. They also offer an Android app that allows you to use your Android phone as a remote control; definitely a neat idea for the times you can’t find the remote anywhere.

GeeXboX – A Gentoo based fully functional media center that can be run from LiveCD, LiveUSB, or be installed on a hard drive. GeeXbox is a very lean distro that doesn’t require a lot of processing power so it’s perfect for older hardware. It uses Enna as it’s primary media center application to play your music, videos or look at your pictures. This is the perfect distro for the no-frills experience when you just want to play your media and aren’t looking for any additional functionality.

Open Source HTPC’s That Don’t Suck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Angry Birds, For Real

Frank — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 04:23:12 +0000

As if playing Angry Birds on your [Insert Mobile Device Name Here] wasn’t bad enough, someone in Guangzhou, China has decided to create a real life version of the addicting game.

Quite addicting in it’s own right, but Angry Birds physically in your living room? I dunno, unless of course the small blue birds can split into three when you touch them as they are flying, now that would be cool.

Angry Birds, For Real originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/04. 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.

Android On Your iPhone

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

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

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

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

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

Doorbell Control

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

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

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

Nicholas has a complete write up on his site here.

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

New XBMC Beta Released

Frank — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:14:42 +0000

The latest beta of the awesome XBMC (Windows, OS X, Linux, AppleTV) code-named Dharma has been released and is packed with wonderful new features. Probably the most notable one is built in functionality to make sure that all your plugins and skins are updated automatically and the ability to play back BlueRay movies.

The list is way to long to list, so head on over to their milestone page to find a complete breakdown of everything that has been added or updated.

[Via XBMC Blog]

New XBMC Beta Released originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Mini Arcade Machine

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

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

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

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

Handheld Gamecube Mod

Frank — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 03:10:58 +0000

Sure, we have seen our fair share of game console mods here at tech.nocr.at, but never one so shinny (just look at all those finger prints!).

The sweetest part of this whole mod is how Techknott hid the optical drive behind the flip-up LCD screen. The whole mod looks comfortable to use, just wish the finish was something other than chrome so you don’t have to be constantly cleaning it. Check the video out of it in action after the break.

Handheld Gamecube Mod originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/03/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Brushduino – Arduino Meets Toothbrush

Frank — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:59:12 +0000

You knew it was bound to happen. We have seen Arduino’s used in everything from toasters to coffee machines and now we see the Brushduino. The cool hacks knows when you are brushing via an accelerometer that you attach to your toothbrush. By knowing what your doing the unit will tell you when it’s time to move to the next section of your mouth.

“It’s basically all LED’s. There are 6 white LED’s that correspond to the six regions of the mouth that I want to highlight, there are four green LED’s for showing progress and there’s a speaker I pulled out of some broken toy that’s there to entertain the children while they brush. The multi-strand wire connected to the three analog inputs on the Arduino also supplies 3.3v and ground to the accelerometer. The cable itself is an old ADB keyboard cable from my old Mac SE/30 from back in the day. It’s been laying in my junk box for ages. There are also some current limiting resistors for the LED’s and a bunch more of that lovely AWG30 solid core wire I like so much.”

Link to Brushduino

Brushduino – Arduino Meets Toothbrush originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Turn Any NAS Drive Into A Time Machine Drive

Frank — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:20:08 +0000

Time Machine is a great built-in feature in OS X. When Apple first announced that they would be offering the ability to backup and restore your files and system with the ease of use that we have come to know and love from Apple I was ecstatic. Then I found out that you had to have a physical drive connected to your machine to utilize it, or you’d have to purchase an expensive Apple made NAS product (Time Capsule) to use it without a physical drive connected to the machine.

Many hacks have been released that allow you to use any NAS drive as a Time Machine drive. All you really need to do is some shell code and create a sparse image, but now someone has taken all of the dirty work away from you and released a simple AppleScript that will get you up and running with any headache’s.

[Link to Time Machine NAS AppleScript]

Turn Any NAS Drive Into A Time Machine Drive originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Cup Communicator

Frank — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:19:19 +0000

When I was a kid you communicated with two tin cans connected with a string, and that was the early 80′s for God’s sake. If you want to relive your childhood with a modern twist (some of us supres our childhood memories of have a Sega system while everyone else had moved on to the NES) then check out these walkie talkies that are designed to look like paper cups connected by string.

The design of the Cup Communicator is focused on the gesture of use and the relationship between the users and object. I aim to explore the potential of the product as a medium for interaction and reassess the way we use technology.
The form and function of the Cup Communicator refer to the ‘two-cans and string’ children’s toy and the physical factors involved with that device. This typology and its associations remind us of the magic and playfulness of our first communication devices.

Not exactly the form you’d want for this type of function, but it will definitely turn heads.

[Link to Cup Communicator]

Cup Communicator originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Fuel Cell Charger

Frank — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:25:28 +0000

We have all heard about how fuel cell technology will revolutionize the world of power since they are instantly recharged with a small shot of methanol. Toshiba finally releases a practical fuel cell charger for real world geek use; a gadget charger.

Toshiab’s Dynario charger uses as little as 50 ml of methanol to recharge itself in about 20 seconds. This really is the first stab for them at consumer commercial fuel cell chargers and they have only created 3000 units that they plan to sell for $328, plus another $34 for 5 cartridges.

This is still a far cry from being affordable for common use, but it is a first step in easing power issues for all of us geeks.

[Link to Toshiba's Dynario]

Fuel Cell Charger originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Build An Annoying Beeping Thing

Frank — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:24:30 +0000

I’m always up for a good practical joke, especially the kind that involves electronics and can drive people mad. Get your soldering guns out kids, this is a good one.

The Annoying Beeping Thing is a simple circuit board that is powered by a single 9-volt battery and outputs a high-pitched whining sound through a tiny speaker or piezo buzzer.

As you can see from the pictures above it’s hidden inside of a transformed but this thing is so tiny that you can practically hide it anywhere. Make sure you don’t let the joke run on too long as it might really get on someone’s nerve who might not think it’s all that funny. Check out the video after the break of it’s construction and to hear it in action.

[Via Make]

Build An Annoying Beeping Thing originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Install 59 Apps Quickly And Easily

Frank — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:30:15 +0000

With the recent release of Windows 7, many people have to slug their way through installing their applications. This can easily be a tedious and time consuming adventure. Thankfully Ninite does a lot of the heavy lifting for you.

Ninite allows you to install up to 59 different pieces of software for you, with little or no interaction from you. All you have to do is head on over to the Ninite website, select which programs you want and download the installer. It’ll start the process of loading your machine up with the software. Best of all, it will automatically say “No” to installing any extra toolbars or annoying add-on programs.

[Link to Ninite]

Install 59 Apps Quickly And Easily originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Electronic Guitar Shirt

Frank — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:50:20 +0000

When only wear a shirt with a picture of your favorite instrument when you can actually play it? The Electronic Rock Guitar Shirt from the clothing masters at ThinkGeek isn’t just a picture of a guitar, it’s actually a real instrument that allows you to play your favorite tunes right on the shirt. The shirt works via touch sensitivity and come with a magnetic pick that even allows you to strum. All sounds that the shirt produces were recorded on a real guitar and you even get a tiny amp that clips on to your belt. Check out the video after the break.

Just don’t fall asleep with the shirt on as it can easily wake you up if you start tossing and turning. Either that or you might stumble on some great new musical style.

[Link to Electronic Rock Guitar Shirt]

Electronic Guitar Shirt originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

3D Video With One Camera

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

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

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

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

[Link to 3D with CNC]

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

Sucker Alert: Wattgate 381 “Audio Grade” Socket

Frank — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:23:22 +0000

Wow, there really is a sucker born every minute, but is there anyone out there stupid enough to spend $147 on a so called “Audio Grade” electrical socket?

The Wattgate 381 and claims to bring you crystal clean sound. I’m no electrician but doesn’t the quality of your sound actually come from the components inside your amplifier? WTF does electricity flow have to do with it? It’s not like this is some surge suppressor that cleans your power and makes sure that you don’t have power fluctuation. It’s a freaking socket.

I’m sure this will go perfectly with the $400 Monster Cable you bought and that $500 Denon Ethernet Cable.

If your stupid enough to buy one, you can pick it up here

Sucker Alert: Wattgate 381 “Audio Grade” Socket originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Remote Control That’s Impossible To Lose

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

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

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

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

[Link to Dad's Lost The Remote]

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

Bullets At 1,000,000 FPS

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

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

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

[Kurzzeit]

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

Nuclear Battery In Your Pocket

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

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

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

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

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

Hack A Master Lock

Frank — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 04:35:36 +0000

We all remember those Masterlock pad locks we had in high school. Some of us even remember trying to figure out how to get the combination for them. Some people would try everything from listening carefully to clicks right to pulling hard on it while spinning the tumbler hoping to feel a click.

Now mathematically we know that their are 64,000 possible combinations but what I didn’t know is by using this simple formula above (go ahead and click on it to take a closer look) you can drop that number to 100 or less. I agree it’s not the stuff that most professional lock picks have but it sure beats trying all 64,000 possibilities.

Hack A Master Lock originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

The Pirate Bay Relocates To A Nuclear Bunker

Frank — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:29:11 +0000

The Pirate Bay was forced to move outside of Sweden this past Friday. Their first move was to the Ukraine but that ended up being short lived and now have found a new residence inside of a Nuclear Bunker.

The CyberBunker is a former military nuclear warfare bunker located in The Netherlands. The bunker was built by NATO in the 1950′s as a place for people to survive a nuclear war (I’m sure it was for the politicians and not the common folk). Once the threat of nuclear war went away so did the need to keep it running. It was sold to it’s current owners and is now used as a web hosting data center.

CyberBunker is fully equipped with EMP shielding and has an air filtration system that will keep out any Nuclear, Biological or Chemical agents.

The Pirate Bay Relocates To A Nuclear Bunker originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck

Frank — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:56:37 +0000

Following Linux Distros That Don’t Suck from earlier this year here is a comprehensive list of, you guessed it, more Linux Distros that don’t suck. Some of these are more obscure lesser known distros that are quite powerful and very useful. Some of these come from personal use some of them came from the great comments you readers posted the first time I did this.

Remember that this is just a personal list, nothing more, nothing less. I’m not trying to start a holy war since that’s what usually happens when you open something like this up. With that being said, let’s us know in the forums what your list of Linux Distros That Don’t Suck would be.

SLAMPP – A Slackware based Live DVD that can only be described as a one-stop server system. Right off the DVD your up and running with pre-configured services including an HTTP server, FTP server, DHCP server, DNS server and a whole lot more. This is the perfect Distro for those “I really don’t know when I will need a fully functional small network server” times. Best of all, you can run it all without ever having to install anything on the host machine.

Pardus – Pardus, which is the scientific name for the the Anatolian Leopard (watch out Apple), is a Turkish Linux distro which is extremely underrated. It’s wonderfully crafted and has a lot of polish to it. You can tell that the developers have really put a lot of time and energy making this not only run really well but also make it really sexy. I would easily recommend this distro to novices and experts alike.

CrunchBang – Think of CrunchBang as Ubuntu for the advanced. It offers speed and style as well at the bleeding edge of packages. It’s highly customizable and comes with the nimble openbox window manager. No bloated Gnome or KDE here. This is the perfect distro if you really like Ubuntu but don’t like how it’s geared towards linux n00bs.

Sabayon – Sabayon promises to transform your computer into a powerful Gentoo Linux system in under 5 minutes. It’s a livecd (with the option to install) of the uber geek popular Gentoo. It’s very powerful and very polished like you would expect from any Gentoo system, but best of all it still acts like an other Gentoo system allowing you to use portage to pull from the Gentoo repositories.

PC-BSD – Alright, I know it’s technically not Linux, it’s BSD based, but it tries really really hard to be Linux. If you are more of a BSD fan but like the Desktop functionality that a standard linux distro offers then PC-BSD is perfect for you. Much like any out of the box distro you can listen to music, watch some video, work with office documents and you can even install applications with a gui. Best of all, it’s a rock solid BSD core that powers everything.

CentOS – Based on the rock solid RHEL, CentOS is one of the most reliable distros you will every find. It offers quick errata, package management that offers stable applications and has a very strong community behind it. They even get upstream fixes from RHEL. If you want a solid server based OS you can’t do much better than CentOS.

Slackware – The oldest of the bunch. Created in 1992, Slackware is the oldest surviving distro. It orginally came on 24 floppy disks as was built on top of kernel 0.99 and it was one of the hardest things to install. Thank God that things have changed. It’s now a highly technical and clean distro. No fancy tools for settings, you have to do everything by editing text files. You know what they say, if you learn Ubuntu you know Ubuntu. If you learn Slackware you know Linux.

There you go, another list of distros that don’t suck (according to me). You millage may vary. I really don’t want to start a holy war so I open it up to you to add to the list by visiting our forums and letting us know what you like.

More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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10,000 Hotmail Passwords Leaked

Frank — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:07:36 +0000

According to reports online with confirmation from Microsoft, Over 10,000 Windows Live Hotmail passwords were posted to pastebin earlier today. The accounts are genuine and look like they are mostly Eurpean users who use the @hotmail.com, @msn.com and @live.com domains. More specifically the leaked accounts include usernames that begin with ar to bl.

If your a Windows Live user now might be a good time to go and change your password. Actually, it is good practice to regularly change your passwords. What are you still doing here? Go change your password now, but before you do, click on an add and help a brother out, lol.

10,000 Hotmail Passwords Leaked originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

PSP Go Gets Patrially Owned

Frank — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:33:34 +0000

What’s the thing been out for? 4 or 5 days? and it already has been partially owned. This has to be a record somewhere.

It looks like your typical save game exploit, but it also seems that it doesn’t allow enough access to the hardware yet to install something like custom firmware. If the great team of modders working on the PSP go keep this up we should have some custom firmware roll out in the next few weeks, hopefully.

Check out the video of the exploit in action below.

PSP Go Gets Patrially Owned originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Nintendo DS On Your Mac Or PC

Frank — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:11:11 +0000

DeSmuME is a Nintendo DS emulator for the Mac and for the PC that gives you the full functionality of the DS; buttons, touchscreen interface and even the Wi-Fi connectivity. It’s feature packed and allows you to play both Homebrew games and ROM images. It also offers some extra features that are not available on a physical DS like taking screenshots, creating movies from game play, loading cheat codes and even saving your game play.

It’s 100% free and can be downloaded from here. You might also want to check out NDS Homebrew for an impressive collection of homebrew games and applications.

Nintendo DS On Your Mac Or PC originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Office Archery

Frank — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 07:12:14 +0000

Cubical warfare, the best way to pass the time while you droll out mindless repetitive tasks in the office. John Austin’s book, MiniWeapons of Mass Destruction details how to fortify your work space with small-scale weaponry from basic office supplies.

Claymore Mines, Ruler Bow’s and even a Ping Pong Zooka (Not sure if your workplace has a ping pong table. If it does, drop me a message and see if you can get me a job. Couple all of this weaponry and the Office Supplies Solar Oven you too can be a white shirt survivalist.

Link Via Wired.

Office Archery originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

VMWare Fusion 2.06

Frank — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 03:53:56 +0000

VMware rolled out another update today to their uber popular virtualization software for the mac, Fusion. The update, which was officially released yesterday, includes multiple fixes for running Fusion in a 32-bit Snow Leopard environment. Besides the usually assortment of bug fixes the release also includes enhancements for better 3D performance on Macs with Nvidia cards who run Snow Leopard.

Registered Fusion users can grab the hefty 289 MB update here. Users should note that VMWare Tools on the guest OS doesn’t upgrade automatically when you install the update. You will have to install the tools for the menu bar manually.

VMWare Fusion 2.06 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

EEE 4G External Antenna Mod

Frank — Mon, 18 May 2009 03:52:51 +0000

I love to use Back Track as my all around security testing OS (If your not sure what Back Track is check out my little write up about it the other day). I also love to use Back Track on my EEE pc. It’s small, light, and has decent wifi range. Thanks to Larry Pesce that will soon change. He modded his Asus EEE 4G Surf with an external RP-TNC antenna connector. This will definitely increase the range when your out scoping open wifi’s.

Full details on the surgical procedure can be found here

EEE 4G External Antenna Mod originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/05/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Linux Distros That Don’t Suck

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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E3 Revamp

Ryan Yewell — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:30:24 +0000

Well, it’s official. This year’s E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) will try and recapture some of the glory days before it was drastically downsized/neutered in 2007. If you were to talk to most industry professionals, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who actually like the redesigned format of the the last two E3′s, which is probably the main reason for this re-redesign.

The official press release of the upcoming E3 2009 states:

changes include increased booth sizes, increased qualified audiences, and an intensified focus on reinforcing the high-octane growth, innovation, and capitivating entertainment that are driving the computer and video game industry.

More details will be released in the coming weeks. The event will take place June 2-4, 2009, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. For more info, go to www.e3expo.com.

Who knows, maybe this will be the start of the return to E3′s glory years, but many think those days are gone forever.

E3 Revamp originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Evo “Smart Colsole” Is Linux Based

Frank — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:08:55 +0000

When was the last time you say a gaming console released that didn’t come from one of the big three? A while a bet. So you might be happy to know that Envizions Computer Entertainment will be releasing the Evo “Smart Console”. The interesting spin on this new console is that it’s nothing more than a Linux-based computer. It’s not a new concept, Linux has been powering many desktop products from your WiFi router to your Tivo, but gaming?

The unit includes an overclocked Athlon 64×2 5600 processor and an ATI Radeon 3200 graphics card. Development will be geared specifically to the Evo unit so no built in MAME emulator or anything of that nature, but this does open up the world of Linux gaming development.

The new console is set to ship on November 20th with a hefty price tag of $600

Evo “Smart Colsole” Is Linux Based originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

New MacBook Pro Or Wannabe MacBook Pro

Frank — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:15:00 +0000

I agree with all the Mac faithful in this world. We need a new MacBook Pro (now that I just purchased a fully loaded on a few weeks ago) but this has to be one of the worst photoshop jobs I have ever seen. Bad clone stamping everywhere, janky right corner, the dock seems to be in the trackpad (what the hell is that all about) and the ever too-convenient iSight self portrait. But, if this was real (minus all of the non-symmetrical stuff)I would consider buying one. Get to it Apple.

Now that I come to think of it, this would be a perfect shot for an episode of You Suck at Photoshop.

New MacBook Pro Or Wannabe MacBook Pro originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Portable Apps For Your Mac

Frank — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 05:01:38 +0000

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For the longest time we have seen portable apps for Windows. You know; the kind of applications you can drag onto a USB stick and have them run directly from the stick and never, and I mean ever, have to install anything on any machine that you may run them on. Now with U3 technology (sorry kids, it’s only available for Windows) installing and creating portable apps has even become easier.

I did a segment on the Lab With Leo show earlier this year on just that, portable apps for your Mac.

Freesmug have an awesome list of great OS X apps like Word Processor, FTP clients, IRC clients, and more. They also have a few paid versions of portable Mac exclusive apps like Mail.app, Ical, and Addressbook so that you can keep all of your setting in synch.

theplaceforitall.com – This has two of the greatest portable apps that I use all of the time, versions of the popular web browser Firefox and the email client Thunderbird. Both of these are compiled for both the Mac and Windows, so it doesn’t matter what OS your on, you can run them both and you will maintain all your settings across both platforms.

Because of the complex way that some settings are stored in the Mac operating system it’s hard to come by or even create portable apps, but I’m sure it won’t be too long before that wall comes tumbling down.

Portable Apps For Your Mac originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Pop Can Solar Heater

Frank — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 16:21:12 +0000

This is an ingenious idea. Used old pop cans to heat your house. The Pop Can Solar Heater is a simple idea and will work quite well to heat your house. Plus, a lot of the content is recycled so your helping the environment as well as your pocket book.

” The Cansolair Solar Max 240 consists of a four by seven solar collector (28 Square feet, or 2.6 square meters). Solar Max 240 has 15 vertical columns of cylindrical shape, making the actual surface exposed to the sun greater than 2.6 square meters.The same cylindrical shape allows the Solar Max to receive solar radiation for a longer period due to the angle of incidence of the sun hitting the solar panel. Peak BTU performance was observed during the noon hour period in October 2001 wherein the temp rise was 50 to 54F degrees resulting in a 9000 to 9720 Btu or 2636 to 2847 Watts. Peak BTU performance will actually increase in colder weather due to the rise in temperature between input and output temperature and a lower angle of incidence. The Solar Max 240 has a quick response rate of 8 minutes from the appearance of sun to “cut-in” based on 100 degree F output temperature. Solar Max 240 uses the most conductive black paint available for solar collectors. Solar Max uses a lexan outer cover which allows sunlight in and is resistant to the elements.”

Pop Can Solar Heater originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Jerry And Bill Get The Axe

Frank — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:25:36 +0000

Farewell Jerry and Bill, we barely knew thee. Just when I was actually getting analytical and trying to break down the hidden messages in the ads, Microsoft goes and pulls the plug on the whole $300 million campaign. Microsoft has decided to go with a slightly different advertising campaign. In place of Jerry and Bill they will be taking a direct shot at the Apple “I’m a Mac” ads with a Microsoft engineer who resembles John Hodgman.

The Hodgman look-a-like will greet you and say “Hello, I’m a PC, and I’ve been made into a stereotype”. What will come next is a collection of everyday PC users from fashion designers to celebrities who will talk about how much they like using computers that run Microsoft operating systems and software (I bet none of them have ever used Vista).

I’m no fan of Microsoft, but one thing the Jerry and Bill ads were doing was creating a buzz again about Microsoft. It got me talking, and I hate Windows. Now I know why I don’t like Microsoft, just as they get a good thing going, they go and screw it all up.

Jerry And Bill Get The Axe originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

OS X On An Eee PC

Frank — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:10:35 +0000

We have covered installing OS X on an Eee PC 701 in the past, but this great guide compiled by the guys over a Wired makes running OS X on the 701′s bigger brother, the 901 and 1000, a breeze. Why would you want to install OS X on an Eee PC? The question your should be asking is “why not”!

While many would question why you’d want to go to the trouble of installing OS X when there are many Windows and Linux distributions available out of the box? Maybe you’re looking for a challenge. Installing OS X on non-Apple hardware provides plenty of chances to flex those (very metaphorical) geek muscles.

[Link to Installing OS X on your Eee PC]

OS X On An Eee PC originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Beer Keg Guitar Amp. Beer Not Included

Frank — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:05:35 +0000

This one is set to definitely impress your friends, if your in college that is. For a mere $119 you too can get your very own 20 watt Heineken mini keg amp. How cool is that.

You can use it as a practice app or on the street when playing a jam looking for some cash (although, I think the presence of the keg on the street will probably attract winos looking for something to drink). You don’t have to plug a guitar into it, you can plug basically anything into it, even your MP3 player.

[Link to Beer Keg Amp]

Beer Keg Guitar Amp. Beer Not Included originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

10 Things You Can Do With A 360

Frank — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:18:43 +0000

Physical hacks are great but that requires a screwdriver and some form of mechanical instinct. So for those people who don’t fall under that type of user TechRadar has a great list of “10 things you never knew you can do with an Xbox 360″. For example did you know that you could do the following:

Connect your Xbox 360 to two screens at once
Play your own music in original Xbox games
It can write its own blog
Play Xbox 360 games online for free – without a Live account
Interact with your Xbox 360 music
Connect your Xbox 360 to a wireless network without an official adaptor
Play music from your iPod
Reset your Xbox 360 video settings
Play any media file, plus online videos on your Xbox 360
Use any HDMI cable and still get digital surround sound

Check out their detailed post on how to do any of the above.

10 Things You Can Do With A 360 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

OS X 10.5.5 Available Now

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

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

General

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

Address Book

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

Disk Utility and Directory Utility

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

iCal

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

Mail

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

MobileMe

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

Time Machine

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

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

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Oscilloscopes Hacked To Run Tetris

Frank — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:53:03 +0000

Sure, you could always use a scope to do some trouble shooting or displaying various electrical signals, but why would you ever want to do that when you could play tetris on a machine that costs a1000x the cost of an original GameBoy.

Created by engineer Lars Pontoppidan, this hack essentially uses the ATMega 32 micro-controller so that you can play the classic block stacker on an oscilloscope. The addition of an Atari digital joystick to control the game is a nice touch. Check out the video after the break.

Oscilloscopes Hacked To Run Tetris originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Save A Genius Playlist

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Meet The Peek

Frank — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:00:24 +0000

Meet the Peek, a $100 device that will deliver you your email anywhere you can get cell coverage for $20/month. Think of it as a poorman’s Blackberry. This looks like the perfect device to pick up for some fun hacking projects.

OS – Peekux
CPU – CPU is an embedded 104Mhz ARM7 that is part of the Texas Instrument Locosto chipset
Bands – US Triband GPRS (800, 1800, and 1900 Mhz)
Data – GPRS (Packet Data standard in GSM)
Memory – 8MB of user memory
Display – 2.5 inches (320 x 240 pixels (QVGA), 65k colors)
Dimensions – 4.0 x 2.7 x 0.4 in (102 x 68 x 10mm)
Weight – 3.8 ounces (109 gm)
Battery Life – 4-5 days under typical usage

I hope they decide to roll out this device in Canada. I’d love to get my hands on one and make it do something it’s not supposed to do.

Meet The Peek originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iPhone Keeps Pic Of Everything You Do

Frank — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 02:21:22 +0000

So it seems that the iPhone and iPod touch is leaving a trail of what you’ve been up to, even if you don’t want it to. Do you know (and love) all of those cool swooshing transition effects that happen when you hit the home button or switch pages in Mobile Safari? Well that’s your problem right there. Seems that the iPhone takes a snap shot of your screen to produce those nice transition then it deletes them… the thing is, it don’t really delete them, more like a quick delete without an overwrite. Anyone with physical access to your iPhone and some hacking skills can build a trail of what you have been doing based on those screenshots that haven’t been deleted.

This can be a serious problem if people have access to your physical unit, but most people who find an iPhone or iPod touch would be more interested in selling it or using it for their own personal use. But since the hack has been demonstrated, it would be nice if Apple could pony up and fix the problem. This way if you even have your phone confiscated by law enforcement agencies you would be embarrassed by all those trips to dateanerd.com

iPhone Keeps Pic Of Everything You Do originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

RFID Poker Table

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

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

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

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

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

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Design An OS for $20-$100

Frank — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:21:16 +0000

I’m not one for ridiculously funny things, but this ad that I spotted on Get A Coder has got to be one of the most pathetically funny requests I have ever seen.

I need someone to program me a new OS (Operasting System) that looks different than Ms Windows XP etc. but has the same style. It does not need to run on a mac but all the other PCs. It’s supposed to have a stylish look with clear edges etc. And ITS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE JUST A REDESIGNED WINDOWS as I’m going to sell that operating system later on.
These are some important points :
It should have ALL THE FEATURES that Windows Xp Professional has.
ALL the files that run on Windows XP ust also run on the BlueOrb OS.
It must have a very user-friendly interface (like MS WINDOWS XP)
When it gets Installed, the user needs to insert a serial number.
It HAS to be HACKER SAFE!
It must be quick and good looking.

To top it all off his budget is $20-$100. If you interested in building this OS place a bid on his job bid page

Design An OS for $20-$100 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Rebooting Linux Magically

Frank — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:23:46 +0000

If you have ever had a filesystem fail on you in Linux then you are quite aware of that “bottom of the pit” feeling you get in your stomach, especially if you are remote to the server and have no physical access to it. What to do if the system can’t load the reboot or shutdown binaries to reboot your system and have fsck save your butt.

magic SysRq key is a feature built in to the kernel that lets you preform a number of interesting operations inculding rebooting a system. You can issue keystrokes to the magic SysRq device in /proc so you can send a hard reboot directly to the kernel with no disk access required.

[Link to Linux Journal article on rebooting via SysRq]

Rebooting Linux Magically originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iPod 2 iPod Transfer

Frank — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:06:44 +0000

Have you even run into a friend who has a song on their iPod that you have been dying to find? Unless you’ve got some time and they have their computer with them then your SOL, unless you have the iPod 2 iPod Transfer Device handy.

This device allows you to quickly and easily transfer music, video, and pictures from one iPod to another iPod without the use of a computer. It automatically recognizes when you plug in iPods (either Mac or PC formatting) on either end, and it can transfer a three-minute song in five seconds and a 30-minute video in three minutes. The device can also transfer any files when the iPods are set to “disk drive” mode. Its rechargeable battery provides up to 1 1/2 hours of operation during transfers, and includes an AC adapter that recharges the device in four hours; iPods are recharged while connected.

You can pick up this piece of pleasure at Hammacher Schlemmer for $99.95

iPod 2 iPod Transfer originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Freedom Stick – Freedom From Firewalls

Frank — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:13:42 +0000

The Freedom Stick is exactly what it’s name implies, freedom form firewalls that are placed in countries like Chine or the one in Italy that has been erected to block p2p users from the Pirate Bay.

The project has been brought forward by the CCC (Chaos Computer Club) and is basically a version of TOR and Firefox that can run on a USB stick. The aim is to provide every internet user with the opportunity to surf the Net without fearing censorship or prosecution.

It was designed with ease of use in mind and can easily be run by people with little or no computer skill. Download the archive for the CCC’s Chinese Wall page and unpack the contents to a USB key. If you have autostart enabled the system will launch the Vidalia Control Panel and Firefox which will allow any user to sure the net using the anonymity of the TOR network.

Freedom Stick – Freedom From Firewalls originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY: USB Switched Power Strip

Frank — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 19:26:23 +0000

Instructable user toymotorhead cobbled together this USB controller power strip to ensure that his devices turned off automatically when he shut down his computer as well as turn them on once he turned his computer on. All-in-all he spent about $30 on the contraption.

The unit consists of a solid state relay, some fuses, and some transient voltage surge suppressing diodes. The unit is also isolated from the motherboard to protect his computer from any unwanted nasty power spikes. The unit current just switches the power supply off and by by measuring the current of the usb connection and doesn’t use any fancy software to control the unit.

It’s a fairly easy project to build, but remember, your working with some high voltage here so make sure to take all precautions necessary so you don’t fry yourself.

[Link to building a USB switched power strip]

DIY: USB Switched Power Strip originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/18. 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.

We’re Hiring

Frank — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:00:58 +0000

It’s time to go out and hunt for some new and fresh ~~meat~~ talent, but we won’t just hire anyone off this street. Here’s what you will need if you want to write for us:

A deep knowledge of technology and the blog-o-sphere.
A passion for gadgets and gaming. Not just your old NES or V-tech cordless phone, I mean a hardcore eat and sleep passion.
A fantastic mastery of the ~~English language~~ opinion Controversy.
An underlying need to make our site better and more informative, or the basic feeling that we suck and you think you could make us better.
An ethical disposition and the willingness to follow some basic rules

Here’s what you get:

You’ll get read by over 85,000 unique visitors a month (Hey what did you expect, we are growing)
You’ll get to play with gadgets from various companies trying to convince you their stuff doesn’t stink.

If you think you got what it takes, send us the following with the subject “job” to “editor” at “tech” dot “nocr” dot “at”:

Two sample articles in the style of writing you would use on the site
A short paragraph on why you’re suited for the job.
Pay expectations (err, we have no money right now, but as the readership grown so will your end of it)

We’re Hiring originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Thanko’s USB Padlock

Frank — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 12:14:48 +0000

A low-tech solution to a hi-tech problem, I love it. Japanese accessory maker Thanks has come up with a physical padlock for anything with a USB end on it. Sticks, connector cables, mice, you name it, if it has a usb end on it, the it can be protected.

Other than making access to the USB device difficult, it really doesn’t offer much else on security, but for $7 what do you expect. People who live outside of Japan will have to hope that they put it up for sale on their English online shop.

When it does, you can enter “rarmono5″ as a coupon code and get an additional 5% off.

Thanko’s USB Padlock originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

11 WordPress Plugins For Professional Bloggers

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

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

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

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

The List

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

Must Haves

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

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

SEO & analytics

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

RSS Plugin

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

Comment Plugins

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

Miscellaneous Plugins

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

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

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

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3G, GPS, MobileMe, Oh My

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Retrieve Any File Via Email

Frank — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:03:24 +0000

The Murphy Mac weblog explains how to retrieve any file on your Mac using a simple AppleScript with Mail.app. Once you get it setup you can send an email to your home machine with a keyword in the subject and the full path to the file you want and the script will automatically email the file to you.

I know there are other ways like Back To My Mac or iDisk, but using email is a bullet proof way to get the file anywhere you can get email, which is almost anywhere.

Link to Retrieving a remote file via email

Retrieve Any File Via Email originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To Make A Jib

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

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

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

Link to making your own jib

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

How To Make A Roll Up Keyboard

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

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

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

Link to making your own roll up keyboard.

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

Chewing Gum Spy Cam

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

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

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

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

It can be all yours for just $103.47

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

New Exciting Features For The Blackberry

Frank — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:20:17 +0000

RIM (you know that tiny company in Canada) announced some highly anticipated features today for their flagship product, the Blackberry. Many of these new features make it easier to work and collaborate with your coworkers.

Iâ€™m a heavy blackberry user so Iâ€™m excited to see all of these new features. Now if RIM would only make the screen bigger, give me a touch screen, synch with iTunes, and make the unit skinnier iâ€™d be happy. Either that or Apple should just get a Microsoft Exchange connector for the iPhone.

Hereâ€™s a quick wrap up of what to expect.

Download and edit Microsoft Office documents: BlackBerry users have been able to download and view Office documents, thanks to the Documents to Go suite, but soon BlackBerry users will be able to edit these attachments as well.
Free-busy calendar lookup: This will give you the heads up before you schedule a meeting to see whoâ€™s free.
HTML and Rich Text Email rendering: Rich text emails will now maintain their formatting on the smartphone, including bold, italic, tables, bullets, or whatever formatting your co-workers throw at you.
Integration with corporate IM and Presence applications: By utilizing Lotus Sametime and Microsoft Live Communications Server, you can use the “click to call” feature to engage with co-workers and IM Session “convert to call” automatically takes an IM conversation and makes it a voice one.

New Exciting Features For The Blackberry originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Build Your Own Gears Of War Lancer, Sort Of

Frank — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:16:25 +0000

Wanna build your very own Lancer just like the one in the Gears of War game? Okay so it’s not technically a real weapon, but the plastic chainsaw moves, the unit lights up and it really does fire nerf bullets (Video after the break).

All you’ll need is a toy chainsaw and a nerf gun and you too can pretend to go on a violent rampage. Just don’t get any ideas and walk out in public with the unit since law enforcement would probably shoot you on the spot if they ever saw you with it.

[Via Joystiq]

Build Your Own Gears Of War Lancer, Sort Of originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Super Tiny Listening Device

Frank — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:52:06 +0000

A few weeks ago we reported on the super robot that claimed to be undetectable except it was like 2 feet long, youâ€™d have to be blind not to notice that elephant in the room.

Now this little gizmo is the smallest GSM listening device known to man. If works off of quad band GSM which allows you to use it virtually anywhere in the world. At a tiny 43 mm x 34 mm x 17 mm you could practically place it anywhere and make it undetected.

If you want to monitor something over the long run you better find a way to get it some juice; A single charge will give you a good 6 hours of listening and 6 days of standby time.

At a whopping Â£1,495 it isnâ€™t cheap either.

Super Tiny Listening Device originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

MVIX MX-780HD – Medica Center With Torrent Client

Frank — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:00:08 +0000

Mvix’s new MX-780HD Media Center not only has all of the basic features you would expect for a dedicated media center like a multitude of supported video and audio formats, streaming capabilities from your computer via either Wi-Fi or ethernet, internet radio capabilities, and HiDef support in the form of 720p, 1080i and 1080p format, but it also has a built in torrent client so that all you pirates, errr I mean video podcast lovers can get your content without the need of a separate computer.

Although the MX-780HD isn’t listed on there site yet, here’s a look at what the MX-780HD will offer.

Supported Video Formats: DivX, XviD, DVD (ISO/VOB/IFO), MPEG, VCD(DAT), WMV(WMV-9), ASF(WMV-9), TP, TS, TRP
Supported Audio Formats: MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, PMC, AC3, M4A, DTS decoding (down-mixing / Pass though)
Supported Image Formats: BMP, JPG, PNG
Subtitle Support: SMO, SRT, SUB
Video Out: HDMI, Composite, S-Video, Component Audio Out: RCA, Digital Coaxial
Optical TV System: NTSC, PAL, Auto
HD Support: 720p, 1080i, 1080p
Networking: 802.11b/g (WEP/WPA), 10/100 Ethernet, NDAS
Internal Disk: 3.5â€ IDE or SATA
USB: Slave (for connecting to computer) and Host (for additional storage)

If your crafty enough you can already hack an AppleTV and get a pretty decent torrent client on it. Only time will tell if the price is right when they announce a price and shipping date.

MVIX MX-780HD – Medica Center With Torrent Client originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Control Your Computer With A Wii Remote

Frank — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:10:51 +0000

Probably the hardest thing to find this past holiday season was a Nintendo Wii, believe me I looked. Even now that the holidays are over it’s still really hard to get your hands on one. With all of the crazy fanaticism over the Wii and it’s Wiimote game play why not build your own? Okay so your not actually going to be build a Wii per-say, but you can easily build a system to take advantage of the Wiimote and all it’s cool functions like waving it around like your trying to spray paint something.

This crafty hacker put together a simple plan to build his own Wii sensor and interface it with a PC so that he could play PC games using the Wiimote. Best of all you can do all of this for about $50.

With a simple piece of hardware you put together (they have very detailed intructions on their site) and some custom software that’s free to download to interface your Wiimote to your PC you’ll be ready to take you Wii-like experience on the road (if you have a laptop that is). They have even created a bunch of games that specifically take advantage of the Wiimote.

Now if I can only convince my wife that it’s the same!

Link to all you need.

Control Your Computer With A Wii Remote originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

ZFS For Your Mac

Frank — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:16:00 +0000

What is zfs you might ask? It’s a new filesystem that was developed by Sun for the Open Solaris OS. Why should you be excited about it on a Mac? Let’s take a step back first. A while ago there was a rumour that ZFS was going to be included in Leopard. While the CEO of Sun told people that it was true, it turned out to be just that, a rumour.

So here it is (an unstable version as of yet); the ZFS project. ZFS is a superior file system; it provides simple administration (think no more fsck), transactional semantics, end-to-end data integrity, and some serious scalability, and it’s here for your Mac. We strongly remind you that it’s still in its testing stages, so keep it off any machine with critical data, but if, no when ZFS for the Mac matures it will be a great benefit for any user.

[Via Download Squad]

ZFS For Your Mac originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To: Upgrade Your Old Mac To Run OS X

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

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

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

[Via Hackaday]

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

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

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20 Signs That Technology Rules Your Life

Frank — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:56:24 +0000

Your out for dinner with friends or family and your crackberry goes off. Do you feel a compulsive urge to see who it is? Must you be one with the Internet at all time? We have all done it; we have all at one point or another had technology rule our lives. For some people technology is a must, I bet most people could not remember what they did with their time before computers were around.

Here are 20 sure-fire ways to know if technology is ruling your life. If you qualify for any of them (some of us, including me, qualify for almost all of them) then maybe some fresh air would be in order. Either that or you need to aim for achieving all of them. That would make you an uber hardcore geek.

You’ve bought and sold things on eBay.
You carry your laptop with you wherever you go (or you wish you could).
Your kids photo are no longer in your wallet but are set as your wallpaper.
You no longer use a watch but check the time on your cellphone.
You have a thumb drive on your persons at all times.
You have had an online affair.
All of your friends know you by your username or avatar.
The only funny thing you’ve seen in months is the lol cats
You no longer purchase greeting cards; you send them via email.
Instead of reading a physical paper you read it on your pda.
You Google urls instead of actually typing them in.
You are – or have been – a member of a Google group.
You no longer debate real people but frequently do it in online forums.
You watch TV shows on your computer instead of watching them on a TV
Between your TV and Internet access you would rather lose your TV.
You can’t remember the last time you used a pen and paper.
You’ve watched Bill Gates on the Daily Show but never seen a full episode.
When you hear the word “Spam” you don’t think of food.
You have become an expert in a field thanks to Wikipedia.
You would rather text someone instead of calling them.

Have I missed any? Feel free to add to the list in the comments.

20 Signs That Technology Rules Your Life originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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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.

RFID Clothing

Frank — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:17:07 +0000

Sorting your laundry might just be a thing of the past. I can’t even count the number of things I have ruined in the wash because I didn’t pay attention to the care tag. You know, hot items in cold water, cold items in hot water, vodka instead of water, (I could go on and on).

The clothTag concept might just be right up my alley. Using RFID technology the tag can communicate with RFID enabled washing machines, dryers, irons, presses, and even dry cleaning equipment. All settings on the various machines will be automatically adjusted based on the information stored in the tag, you literally have to do nothing, just toss your stuff in the machine and shut the lid.

As RFID technology becomes more and more popular, I’m afraid to say it’s going to dumb all of us down, the less and less we have to do the lazier we become.

RFID Clothing originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Quickly Install Open Source Software

Frank — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:30:28 +0000

Here is two great pieces of software to make sure that you are getting the best open source replacement software you can get your hands on. WinLibre (for Windows) and MacLibre (for the Mac) allow you to install and update some of the best open source software available for the two platforms. This is great if you are setting up a fresh system and want to grab all of the cool apps that you need like Firefox or Thunderbird. You can also run the application periodically to check for any updates or to install newer versions of the software you already have installed.

Both applications are free and available for their respective operating systems.

Quickly Install Open Source Software originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Time Machine Over The Network

Frank — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:33:23 +0000

One of the most useful additions to Leopard that I use religiously is Time Machine. One of the only problems I have with it is that I must have a physical disk connected to my Mac in order to use it. Now I have a massive 3TB worth of network storage at home, why can’t I use that for my backups? Enter iTimeMachine which lets me do just that. This simple 2 button utility makes your shared network drives shown up in Time Machine’s possible backup destinations list.

Now I warn you now, it’s not the most user friendly application. You need to mount your share, fire up Time Machine, fire up iTimeMachine, quit Time Machine, go into Time Machine’s setting in the System Preference panel, change the the disk to your network share, then restart Time Machine. Are you dizzy yet?

It took me a few attempts before I got all of the voodoo and rubber chicken waving down pat, but it did work. It’s not perfect, but if your like me and want to use your network storage for your Time Machine backups it’s all you’ve got.

iTimeMachine

Time Machine Over The Network originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Guinness Book Of Gaming Records

Frank — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:10:06 +0000

Think you’ve got the fastest time in Mario Brothers? Think your Madden skills are all that? Sure you can boast to all of your friends on the internets about your fame, but there has never been a method of officalizing your video game dominance. Until now.

The Guiness World Records company recently announced that they would begin releasing a “Gamer’s Edition” of their records books on a yearly basis, the first which should be available early February this year. The book will focus on completion times, gameplay elements, and sales records. Maybe all of those countless hours of mindlessly game play might just pay off and make you a Guinness World record holder.

Check out their interactive preview.

Guinness Book Of Gaming Records originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To: Delete Duplicate iCal Events

Frank — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:33:43 +0000

Don’t you hate it when a crazy sync happen between your iPhone, iPod, Entourage, Blackberry, and iDisk. Next thing you know you have every appointment in your iCal 6 times. John Maisey offers a neat utility that will go through your iCal and delete duplicate events in your iCal. Available in Tiger and Leopard flavour, this will defiantly keep you from pulling your hair.

How To: Delete Duplicate iCal Events originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

RAID Primer

Frank — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 16:44:32 +0000

Now that some of us got shinny new external hard drive units that support RAID I figured we might as well go through a basic RAID primer for all so everyone know the difference between 1, 0, and 5, I know it gets confusing.

With technology advancing at lightening speeds what was once only available to higher end users or server based environment is now available to the average user. RAID is the best way to ensure that you have some form of redundancy for your data. RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 1+0 all of this can be very confusing.

RAID (Redundant array of independent disks, formerly redundant array of inexpensive disks) is in short a failover system for hard drives. A certain number of hard drives (2-4) work together as one logical drive. If anyone of those disks fails at any time none of the data is lost, you simply have to replace the failed drive and the system will automatically rebuild the array.

RAID comes in many flavours.

RAID 0 (also known as a stripe set or striped volume). This is essentially a JBOB (Just a bunch of disks) configuration and provides no data redundancy and is not recommended for maintaining data integrity. Essentially you add up the space of two hard drives (or more) and it will show up as a single big drive.

RAID 1 creates an exact copy or mirror of a set of data. This is great for ensuring that data integrity is maintained because if any disk fails the other one immediately takes over and is completely transparent to the user.

Raid 5 uses stripping to both provide performance and redundancy. By using a min of 3 disks you can achieve super fast speeds and complete data redundancy, as long as only one drive dies. If multiple hard drives fail you will lose all your data. You generally get 75% of your total drive capacity in order to maintain speed and redundancy.

Bottom line is if your external storage unit supports RAID then don’t be afraid to use it, you’ll eventually come to a point when a hard drive fails, and believe me they do, and you’ll be thankful that you have some form of redundancy available to ensure your data hasn’t been lost.

RAID Primer originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/12/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

GSM Phone Line Interceptor

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

This tri-band phone and room interceptor is capable of monitoring just about any landline call, regardless of whether they are incoming or outgoing and transmitting conversations to your location via GSM. It is smart enough to detect voices in a room automatically, using its extremely sensitive microphone to transmit the ongoing conversation. The internal li-ion battery has a 72 hour standby time and a talk time of 3 hours per charge.

This is some scary ass sh%t, almost CIA/NSA style equipment. I give it a thumbs up and think that everyone paranoid person should own one.

GSM Phone Line Interceptor originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/09/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.