tech.nocr.at » keyboard

Jam A USB Hub Into Your Keyboard

Frank — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:45:43 +0000

Here’s a hack that isn’t only simple to do, but extremely practicle; Adding a USB hub to your USB keyboard.

Most people’s desks are already crowded and having a USB hub laying around can only add to that clutter. Michael decided to take apart a USB keyboard and a USB hub. He wired the USB cable from the keyboard into the hub and then wired one of the hub ports back to his keyboard. What he was left with was three free ports that he could place anywhere in the keyboard.

All that was left was finding a spot in the keyboard housing to cut to accommodate the three new ports. This is an unpowered hub, so you won’t be able to charge your iPhone or smartphone, but adding a powered hub is just as easy!

[Via Hack-a-Day: Adding A USB Hub To A Keyboard]

Jam A USB Hub Into Your Keyboard originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2012/01/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

A Look At Android 3.0 – Honeycomb

Frank — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 01:17:27 +0000

Google gave everyone a sneak peak of the next version of Android (Honeycomb) at CES earlier this year. Today they released the SDK for the upcoming tablet geared OS. Here’s a look at what we all can expect from Honeycomb.

The biggest change is the UI. Older versions of Android weren’t geared towards tablets, Honeycomb changes all of that. You will now have more space on your home screen to accommodate more widgets and icons. As you can see from the image above, you will be able to fit all sorts of things on your home screen(s)

Home Screen(s)

The layout of the screens look much like older versions. There is a new 3D look to all of it that might cause problems with older hardware, the new Tegra 2′s should be able to handle it without much effort.

Notification Bar

The notification bar has been moved to the bottom ala Windows and they have added some new buttons that work like the capacitive hardware buttons on most Android devices. They have also added a recent apps button that will show you the current state of apps running the background.

Keyboard

The new keyboard is a great improvement over the older iteration with larger reshaped keys. They also include keys like “Tab” which should make the transition for desktop users easier. Copy and Paste has also seen some change. Much like iOS, a long press will select a word and you can drag the selector to choose more text.

Over all it looks like a great improvement, especially if you are running 2.2 on a tablet currently (like I am). A welcome upgrade if I ever saw one.

A Look At Android 3.0 – Honeycomb originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/26. 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.

New Amiga On The Way

Frank — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:41:16 +0000

Looks like Commodore USA is just full of news this past week. It was just a few days ago that they announced the return of an updated Commodore 64 and now they are talking about the return of their 90′s mainstay; the Amiga. Looks like they will follow the same road as the new PC64 with cramming everything into the keyboard much like the old Amiga 1200, but according to the press release they are being mum on the hardware details.

Commodore USA has now taken a major role in not just supporting the future Amiga market with our many new products, but also in providing a new beginning for the enormous existing Amiga community. Our relationship with them, along with our support for the elegant, robust and lightweight AROS desktop operating system, will ensure that they and future customers will benefit from our new and exciting vision, and enable the legacy Commodore and Amiga culture to flourish. We look forward to bringing these new products to market, and welcoming a whole new generation of computer users to the Commodore and Amiga experience”
Read: Commodore USA Announce Plans To Relaunch Amiga Brand PC’s [Classic Computer Brands Making A Return, First The AIO Commodore PC64 & Now An Amiga Branded AIO Keyboard Computer] » TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities

As a former Amiga user who still to this day runs his Amiga BBS on an old 1200 I’m super excited about the news, but I hope they use something like OS 4 with it and not a Windows based system. We will keep a close eye on this and let you know if any other details surface.

New Amiga On The Way originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

All In One MacBook Air

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

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

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

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

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

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.

© tech.nocr.at 2010 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: 2010, ac, arduino, cable, coffee, ds, ea, green, hack, hacks, hd, ical, id, ir, key, keyboard, led, light, loa, Mac, machine, mit, nes, pen, tech.nocr.at, time, toast, toaster, toothbrush, tor, ui, white, wire | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

In Case You Missed It: Week 42 Round Up

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

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

Gadgets

Asus Keyboard PC

Gaming

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

Hacking and Security

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

Mac

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

Tech News

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

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

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

Asus Keyboard PC

Frank — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:14:53 +0000

The long awaited modern day Commodore 64 look-a-like is delayed once again. The Asus Eee Keyboard PC is a self contained pc inside of a keyboard. Remember the old Commodore 64, 128 and Amiga 500? Well this is essentially that with modern day hardware and options.

One of the reasons Asus held back the release of the Eee Keyboard PC was to further develop it with 720p/1080p HD output. This cool gadget will turn out to be the perfect Home Theater PC. I only hope you can cram a pci card in there so you can add your own DVB-T or DVB-S video capture card.

With still no official announcement as to when you will be able to pick up your very own Eee Keyboard PC here at the very least is a taste of the unit in action.

Asus Keyboard PC originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Open Source DS Bluetooth Adapter

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

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

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

[Link to Open Source Bluetooth DS Adapter]

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

© tech.nocr.at 2009 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Gaming | Explore more in: ac, avi, bluetooth, bra, car, cart, cat, control, controller, design, ds, ea, Gaming, gps, hack, hacking, homebrew, id, ir, key, keyboard, loa, make, mod, network, nintendo, nintendo ds, open, open source, os, pen, rc, remote, robot, tech.nocr.at, tiny, wire, wireless | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

iPhone Keyboard, Sort Of

Frank — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:12:18 +0000

Not quite ready for mass production or very easy to build, but if you really really really have a problem typing on your iPhone or iPod Touch you can build one of these “keyboard for your iphone” adapters.

By using an Arduino, a 9 volt battery, an iPhone breakout board, and a PS/2 keyboard, Ben Kurts built this keyboard adapter for his iPhone. The Arduino reads the keyboard input and converts it to a serial signal which is then pulled in by the iPhone via VNC. Not exactly a clean way to get it done but you can be rest assured that you’ll be one of the few people around who has an external keyboard for his/her iPhone or Touch.

iPhone Keyboard, Sort Of originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

B&N E-Reader Photos Leaked

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

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

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

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

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

Wirelessly Eavesdropping On Keyboards

Frank — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:02:19 +0000

Seems that every time you press a key on your keyboard a small burst of electromagnetic radiation is let out. So what you say? What if I told you that the radiation can be captured and decoded. Yes, some crafty hacker can sit near quietly and capture your key strokes without every touching or installing software on your machine.

11 different keyboards were tested and they were are vulnerable to at least one of the four different methods of attack. Tests have also shown that the data can be captured through walls and up to 65 feet away. It’s scary to think that someone could be be in the apartment beside you and logging everything you do without any type of attack. Think of it as a hack right out of the box.

They don’t list what keyboard are affect as they are finishing their paper on it, but as soon as get more info we will pass it on.

Wirelessly Eavesdropping On Keyboards originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

T-Mobile G1 – First Official Android Phone

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

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

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

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

Super Tiny Keyboard

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

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

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

[Link to Super Tiny Keyboard]

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

HTC Dream Photos Leaked

Frank — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:27:04 +0000

Engadget seems to have gotten their hands on some snaps of what seems to be the HTC Dream. It also seems to match up with the FCC documents of the premier Android device that made the rounds of the net a few weeks ago.

The unit comes with both a touch screen and a keyboard, but at the expense of making everyone happy it looks quite clunky. Here’s hoping that I am wrong.

HTC Dream Photos Leaked originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

360 Chatpad On A PSP

Frank — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:57:22 +0000

Just because the Xbox 360 Chatpad box says that you need an Xbox 360 to make it work doesn’t mean that it won’t work on a PSP, with a bit of skill that is. All it takes is some patience and the willingness to try something different.

“Hey all talk a look at my Microsoft Xbox360 Chatpad connected to my PSP Phat and Slim. Thanks to Jean over at ps2dev.org and this project that he developed we can all have nice keyboards connected to our PSP’s. My PSP’s are running CFW 4.01 M33-2, a special version of piKey and a custom flash on the Chatpad. Text input is a breeze and it works with the Sony OSK (on screen keyboard) and the Danzeff OSK under AFKIM. It does not work with PSPWrite and other ZX-81 applications because they are not compiled to do so but Jean is working on a compatible drive to make them work natively.”

[Link to getting your Chatpad working on your PSP]

360 Chatpad On A PSP originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

IOGEAR: Wireless USB to VGA Kit

Frank — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:20:21 +0000

IOGEAR is set to release a Wireless USB to VGA kit next month. The unit will offer you 30 feet of wireless video feed to any monitor or TV that has a VGA input. Why would you want to run your monitor wirelessly you ask? Well, maybe you want to watch that web stream on your fancy big screen TV, this way there are no cables cluttering your path. Add a wireless mouse and keyboard to the mix and you can hide your PC away in some closet.

The unit currently will only work with Windows XP or Vista, but for those that don’t care you will be able to pick one up next month for $229.95

IOGEAR: Wireless USB to VGA Kit originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/27. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Split Keyboard

Frank — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:16:20 +0000

A keyboard with a built in Wacom, awesome. Alright, so it’s not exactly a Wacom that sits nestled between the QWERTY and YUIOP keys, but it does act as an independant desktop display with pen-based input capabilities.

According to the manufacture, the design is “said to provide benefit in keeping your wrists in a more neutral position, so why not take advantage of that empty space between the QWERT and the YUIOP to get some more work done.”

Although the patents for the technology date all the way back to 1994 to 1997, the guys over at Ergonomic Keyboards now say “Shipping in 2008″ on their website, which coincidently looks like it was built sometime between 1994 and 1997

Split Keyboard originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

A PS3 Laptop Not By Ben Heck

Frank — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 13:56:51 +0000

Here’s another Playstation 3 laptop, and surprisingly enough, it wasn’t slapped together by our beloved modder, Ben Heck. This mod features a 17″ 720p HDTV, 320GB Hard Drive, built in speakers, and a keyboard.

Now if a modder could only shrink my 360 down to the size of an actual laptop, then I’d be so impressed that I would actually buy one. Would make portable gaming so much fun.

A PS3 Laptop Not By Ben Heck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Best Of The Week – Jun 22-29

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

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

EeePC Keyboard Backlight for $15

Frank — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 03:00:11 +0000

I’m a huge fan of my EeePC. So much so that I am actually writing this post on my 4G right now. The one thing that drives me bananas with the unit is the lack of a keyboard light, and when you are in a dark room trying to type, well you can just imagine.

Popular Science has a great article on adding a keyboard backlight to a EeePC for under $15

As we showed you in our May 2008 issue, Asus’s Eee PC has quickly become a favorite of hardware hackers around the web. Here, we offer the first installment of our Eee PC School series. Check back in the coming weeks for more tiny ultraportable tweaking.â€”Eds.
What good is that portable PC if you canâ€™t type anywhere and anytime? With its ultra-compact keyboard, even touch typing pros will be hard-pressed to avoid frequent mistakes on when the lights go out. To say itâ€™s a frustrating exercise in futility to locate the miniature F3 key in the dark is an understatement. Oops, you just lost WiFi contact by accidentally hitting F2.
Clearly, a keyboard backlight like those found in higher-end laptops is the answer to your nocturnal Eee PC typing woes. And for less than $15, such a backlight can be installed with minimal fuss.

EeePC Keyboard Backlight for $15 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

A Pen That Sends SMSs For You

Frank — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:02:18 +0000

Writing out an SMS message can be painful at best, especially if your on a cellphone that doesn’t have a qwerty keyboard. Predictable text is great, but you still take forever trying to get your message across in 150 characters or less.

This is why the D-Scribe is such a great invention. It’s a pen that digitizes what you write, converts it to plain text and sends it off as a text message. No more thumb cramping and no more funny word choices from poorly designed predictable text systems.

Unfortunately it’s only a concept at this point, but if someone actually produces this i’d own 3 of them.

[Via Yanko Design]

A Pen That Sends SMSs For You originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Sony XPERIA

Frank — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 03:53:30 +0000

Sony just launched a new line of phones dubbed the XPERIA. Looks like they are aimed directly at phone such as the Sidekick and Ocean.

The unit has a full QWERTY keyboard, a 3-inch touchscreen, WiFi connectivity, 400MB of storage onboard, and microSD expansion support. It runs on a modified version of Windows Mobile, which depending on how implemented can either make it or break it.

Look for it to hit local carriers later this year.

Sony XPERIA originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

USB Time Waster

Frank — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:46:15 +0000

Here is just what everyone needs, a useless USB toy to take up hours and hours of your time. Iâ€™ll give it credit, itâ€™s a lot of fun. The USB boxer adds some fun to itâ€™s on screen game. Punches are controlled on the keyboard while the boxer throws his best at the speed ball.

Unfortunately you can only pick it up in bulk (minimum order of 12) for â‚¤29.99 each here

USB Time Waster originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

The Most Expensive Cell Phone

Frank — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:29:45 +0000

I love coming across these ridiculous gadgets. Do people really spend insane amounts of money on gadgets this stupid? Todays insanely priced gadget is $1.2 million cellphone. The diamond encrusted cellphone has 120 carats worth of diamonds and no qwerty keyboard.

$1.2 could easily help out with an entire village in a third world country. People should be ashamed to even have something so outrageous on the market.

The Most Expensive Cell Phone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Use An NES Controller On Your PC

Frank — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:00:36 +0000

Hacked Gadgets has a great how to in their forums on getting an original NES controller wired into your PC. Why would you want to play Castlevania with the keyboard when you could smash some buttons on the original NES controller?

â€œInstead of just playing the old NES games on a PC using a keyboard or modern joystick why not wire in one of the original NES joysticks and play the games like they were meant to be enjoyed! He wired the joystick into the parallel port and wrote some custom interface software using Free Basic.â€

There is a complete write on including all the software you need to get it going here.

Use An NES Controller On Your PC originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To Make A Roll Up Keyboard

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

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

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

Link to making your own roll up keyboard.

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

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.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Mac | Explore more in: ac, AVR, bra, cat, circuit, computer, control, controller, drive, ds, ea, hack, ical, id, ir, irc, key, keyboard, keys, Mac, mac 512k, mac mini, make, mini, mod, monitor, mouse, nda, os, os x, pen, proc, rc, rim, scale, signal, speakers, tor, ui, usb, useless, white | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Maxed Out Mac Requires A Mortgage

Frank — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 05:21:57 +0000

Since Apple announce earlier this week new Desktop machines, and since I’m due a new Desktop to work on, I figured what the hell lets hit the Apple store online and see what I could build.

They offer so much, so many options, so many toys, so many bells and whistles. I figured let’s load this baby up, I mean let’s really see what type of bang we can get. I was floored when my sub-total hit over $23,000, that’s about the same cost we paid for our Xserve and XRaid unit combined!

I know I was dreaming, but I really did want to see how far I could push the envelope, how much Apple greatness could I get in a single box. So you must be asking, what the hell do you get for $27,000? I’m so glad you asked because here’s the list of all the goodies.

Two 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon (8-core)
32GB (8 x 4GB)
Mac Pro RAID Card
4 x 300GB 15,000-rpm SAS
NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 1.5GB (Stereo 3D, two dual-link DVI)
2 x Apple Cinema HD Display (30â€³ flat panel)
2 x 16x SuperDrives
AirPort Extreme card
Quad Channel 4Gb Fibre Channel PCI Express Card
Apple USB Modem
Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard
Mac OS X
Mac OS X Server (Unlimited-Client)
iWork â€˜08 preinstalled
Final Cut Express preinstalled
Aperture 1.5 preinstalled
Logic Express preinstalled
Canon PIXMA MX700 Office All-in-One Printer
AppleCare Protection Plan for Mac Pro

I really don’t think this one is going to get by the wife.

Maxed Out Mac Requires A Mortgage originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Mac | Explore more in: 3d, ac, air, apple, car, comb, display, drive, ea, gag, hd, id, intel, ir, key, keyboard, led, loa, Mac, mac pro, machine, mit, mod, mouse, nes, office, online, os, os x, pc, press, printer, raid, server, skin, tor, toys, ui, usb, wire, wireless, xserve | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

PSP To Get A Keyboard

Frank — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 02:55:15 +0000

Sony is just on a roll, First the announce Skype for the PSP then a GPS unit and now a Keyboard. We’ve all seen third party keyboards for the PSP, but it now appears that Sony is crafting their own first-party keyboard. Gamespot reports that the design hasn’t been finalized yet (the image above is a well crafted fake), but that the keyboard should arrive in the middle of 2009.

This is great news for the hombrew community since creating homebrew apps that require input was painful since you were required to use the onscreen keyboard with the keypad and buttons. We might very well see an IRC client for the PSP that is actually usable.

PSP To Get A Keyboard originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Become a GMail Jedi

Frank — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:17:50 +0000

The guys over at askthepcguy.com have a great write up on become a GMail master. They go through all of the tricks on using labels, filters, keyboard shortcuts, vacation auto-responders and even touch on the new IMAP support that GMail now offers. If your a GMail addict then this is a must learn set of guidelines on how to improve your Gmail Zen.

Link to the article

Become a GMail Jedi originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Archos SSH Access

Frank — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 05:51:40 +0000

UPDATE: My bad on the whole touch screen issue, what I was thinking was keyboard, but it came out as touch screen Â

Seems like some crafty hackers have found an exploit on the Archos 605. GFT, which stands for Go Fighting Tabby, will gain you root access on your Archos 605, 705, or 604. By using the GFT technique you can install ARCwelder which will allow you to ssh into the Archos and run unix commands from a shell.

So far the exploit only work with the 1.7.13 firmware, but I’m sure now that root access has been achieved on the unit, and since it’s Linux based, it will only be a matter of time before homebrew apps are running on this nifty unit. If only it had a touchscreen

Archos SSH Access originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Blackberrys new angular design

Frank — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 03:57:01 +0000

Looks like someone at RIM is trying to get us all to learn yet another new keyboard layout. As if the Half-Qwerty system that the blessed Perl came to offer it looks like a new angular design will keep all of us thumb typers guessing.

A new patent filed by the company reveals the weird angular keypad that it claims will make inputing text easier. The patent also reveals that this might well become an onscreen keyboard of the touchscreen BlackBerry. Ohh Joy.

Blackberrys new angular design originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/12/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iPhone firmware 1.1.1 may break soft unlocks

Frank — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 08:22:44 +0000

We all know that firmware 1.1.1 for the iPhone is due any moment now. Looks like it will bring iPhone users an International keyboard, some extra settings for the Home button, the likely WiFi iTunes store update that is in the iPhone touch, and an update to the modem functionality.

Rumour is that the open-source soft-unlock actually patches the Modem Firmware to do it’s thing, which means that if the Modem firmware gets an update it’s very likely that it’s game over for the current round of unlocks.

It’s not the least bit surprising. Apple is taking a neutral stance against hacks, but I’m sure that AT&T has been all over Apple to break the unlocks that are floating around. This is costing AT&T money, and I’m sure that they will keep up with the pace of unlocking ala Sony with the PSP firmware.

iPhone firmware 1.1.1 may break soft unlocks originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/09/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

SuperCoder 2000

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

The SuperCoder 2000 is the perfect keyboard for coders, come on, how many keys do coders really need? I wonder what this post would have looked like if I used the SuperCoder 2000?

01 01 01 00 01 10 10 00 01 10 01 01 00 10 00 00 01 01 00 11 01 11 01 01 01 11 00 00 01 10 01 01 01 11 00 10 01 00 00 11 01 10 11 11 01 10 01 00 01 10 01 01 01 11 00 10 00 10 00 00 00 11 00 10 00 11 00 00 00 11 00 00 00 11 00 00 00 10 00 00 01 10 10 01 01 11 00 11 00 10 00 00 01 11 01 00 01 10 10 00 01 10 01 01 00 10 00 00 01 11 00 00 01 10 01 01 01 11 00 10 01 10 01 10 01 10 01 01 01 10 00 11 01 11 01 00 00 10 00 00 01 10 10 11 01 10 01 01 01 11 10 01 01 10 00 10 01 10 11 11 01 10 00 01 01 11 00 10 01 10 01 00 00 10 00 00 01 10 01 10 01 10 11 11 01 11 00 10 00 10 00 00 01 10 00 11 01 10 11 11 01 10 01 00 01 10 01 01 01 11 00 10 01 11 00 11 00 10 11 00 00 10 00 00 01 10 00 11 01 10 11 11 01 10 11 01 01 10 01 01 00 10 00 00 01 10 11 11 01 10 11 10 00 10 11 00 00 10 00 00 01 10 10 00 01 10 11 11 01 11 01 11 00 10 00 00 01 10 11 01 01 10 00 01 01 10 11 10 01 11 10 01 00 10 00 00 01 10 10 11 01 10 01 01 01 11 10 01 01 11 00 11 00 10 00 00 01 10 01 00 01 10 11 11 00 10 00 00 01 10 00 11 01 10 11 11 01 10 01 00 01 10 01 01 01 11 00 10 01 11 00 11 00 10 00 00 01 11 00 10 01 10 01 01 01 10 00 01 01 10 11 00 01 10 11 00 01 11 10 01 00 10 00 00 01 10 11 10 01 10 01 01 01 10 01 01 01 10 01 00 00 11 11 11 00 10 00 00 00 10 00 00 01 00 10 01 00 10 00 00 01 11 01 11 01 10 11 11 01 10 11 10 01 10 01 00 01 10 01 01 01 11 00 10 00 10 00 00 01 11 01 11 01 10 10 00 01 10 00 01 01 11 01 00 00 10 00 00 01 11 01 00 01 10 10 00 01 10 10 01 01 11 00 11 00 10 00 00 01 11 00 00 01 10 11 11 01 11 00 11 01 11 01 00 00 10 00 00 01 11 01 11 01 10 11 11 01 11 01 01 01 10 11 00 01 10 01 00 00 10 00 00 01 10 10 00 01 10 00 01 01 11 01 10 01 10 01 01 00 10 00 00 01 10 11 00 01 10 11 11 01 10 11 11 01 10 10 11 01 10 01 01 01 10 01 00 00 10 00 00 01 10 11 00 01 10 10 01 01 10 10 11 01 10 01 01 00 10 00 00 01 10 10 01 01 10 01 10 00 10 00 00 01 00 10 01 00 10 00 00 01 11 01 01 01 11 00 11 01 10 01 01 01 10 01 00 00 10 00 00 01 11 01 00 01 10 10 00 01 10 01 01 00 10 00 00 01 01 00 11 01 11 01 01 01 11 00 00 01 10 01 01 01 11 00 10 01 00 00 11 01 10 11 11 01 10 01 00 01 10 01 01 01 11 00 10 00 10 00 00 00 11 00 10 00 11 00 00 00 11 00 00 00 11 00 00 00 11 11 11

Ouch, I’ll stick to my qwerty keyboard.

SuperCoder 2000 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/09/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Bluetooth Adopts New Core Version

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

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

Other key enhancements include…

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

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

Link to press release

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

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

Multi-Touch Macbook

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

Patent filings usually aren’t that big a deal, but when Apple steps up to the plate with goofy and innovative designs people generally pay attention.

The latest filing for Apple to become public is the “Wide touchpad on a portable computer” (It’s a continuation of an earlier patent filed in early 2004). Much like the iPhone, touchpad computing might just be around the corner for your next MacBook.

Special sensors will determine the positioning of the hands and fingers relative to the touchpad and software will figure out your intentions:

Whether you are just typing and the touchpad should be disabled,
Are you using a finger to move the cursor and other fingers are just accidentally resting on a touchpad
Are you trying to manipulate objects on the screen with several fingers and Multi-Touch should be enabled
Etc;

With the success of the iPhone touch screen keyboard this might be a great advancement in the way we use our computers. Imagine being able to switch keyboard layouts on the fly, or the ability to switch to software keyboard shortcuts right on the display. Only time will tell.

Multi-Touch Macbook originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Boot Camp turns 1.4

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

If you thought Apple was done after releasing the ultra cool new iMacs they weren’t. Today they sneaked out an updated version of Boot Camp brining Boot Cap up to 1.4. As you might recall, Boot Camp is Apple’s utility that allows you to repartition your Mac’s hard drive and dual boot Windows and OS X. Here’s what Apple says has been updatedâ€¦

Support for the MacBook Pro’s backlight keyboard
Apple Remote Pairing
Updated graphics drivers
Improved Boot Camp driver install
Improved international keyboard support
And more!

Boot Camp requires OS X 10.4.6 or later and the latest firmware for your Mac. Remember, the software is still in beta, but then again, so is Gmail.

Via TUAW

Boot Camp turns 1.4 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.