tech.nocr.at » laptop

DIY: Boost Your Laptop’s WiFi

Frank — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 13:43:11 +0000

Even with the hardware of today you can still experience horrible wireless reception. Dead spots have become all too common and if your wifi access point happens to be on another floor, you know how much of a pain it can be to stream media when your signal sucks.

Sure you could go out and buy some massive transmitter that could cook bacon, but not only is it dangerous it’s also really expensive. By using some velcro, an MC card connector and a Dremel, you can create this Frankenstein of signal boosters for your laptop. You can easily ~~steal~~ borrow the wifi signal from your neighbours place.

If your not crazy about building something like this and want something easier then check out the wifi wok.

[Link to Hook Up]

DIY: Boost Your Laptop’s WiFi originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/02/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

FlipIt – Never Hog An Outlet Again

Frank — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 05:02:25 +0000

If you spend any time in hotel rooms then already you know how vauable a resource and outlet can be. If you don’t carry a power bar around with you your gadgets have to compete for the one or two outlets that may be free in your room. Nothing is more annoying that swapping around plugs just to make sure you charge up all of your gadgets.

FlipIt is a brilliant design to help you with just that. The idea it quite simple, a normal plug slips through the slots in the FlipIt, allowing both cords to be connected at the same time and using up only one outlet.

Currently they only offer a USB charging device, but hopefully we will see universal AC cords with this brilliant design at the end so we can charge our laptops or other devices.

For $15 you really can’t go wrong, head on over to their site to order one.

FlipIt – Never Hog An Outlet Again originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Review: eLocity A7 Android Tablet

Frank — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 04:18:35 +0000

I’ve been playing with this surprisingly fast Android tablet for about a week now and so far I am impressed. Stream TV’s eLocity Android 2.2 powered tablet might not be an iPad killer, but it sure puts up a good fight.

The solid 7-inch tablet is powered by NVIDIA’s dual core Tegra 2 processor, comes with Froyo out of the box, is rooted by default and can output a crazy amount of video formats at 1080p via it’s included HDMI port. Although it shows some impressive stats in the video arena, the eLocity does more than that. 4GB of internal storage, a USB port and a MicroSD expansion slot coupled together with the super beefy Tegra 2, the A7 acts more like a powerful computer in your pocket than a PMP.

Not only is the video playback smooth and crisp, this is the only Android device I have ever used that can actually do Flash well. Even when you are on a website with multiple Flash ads watching a video, the A7 came through without a single hiccup. Mix that in with the fact that the device is rooted out of the box, you have one powerful device that is open and free, unlike the “other” guy’s tablet. The only problem I have seen so far is the unit’s battery life. I’ve been able to get about 4 hours out of it with moderate use and only about 2.5 hours of video play. This is more than likely due to the processor as the dual core Tegra 2 could easily power a full size laptop.

The unit doesn’t come with the Android Marketplace out of the box, but a crafty hacker has already created an alternate ROM that offers the Marketplace as well as Ad Hoc networking support. The eLocity A7 is currently WiFi only, by using the Ad Hoc network you can tether your unit to an existing smartphone’s 3G connection. Stream TV is toying with the idea of partnering up with a carrier and offering a 3G model.

At time of print there still is no word on any accessories for the unit, but it does have an expansion port on the bottom that will probably be used for a dock at a later day. A dock would be greatly welcomed, the fact that it can do 1080p without a problem makes this device a perfect addition to your home theater setup.

If your looking for an alternative to the iPad and don’t want to pay a monthly cost for something like the Galaxy Tab, Stream TV’s eLocity A7 is perfect. Priced at $350 it’s a great deal for such a powerful little unit.

[Link to eLocity A7]

Review: eLocity A7 Android Tablet originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Ben Heck Show Is On The Air

Frank — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:14:31 +0000

You by now already know who Ben Heck is. We have featured his awesome mods time and time again here on tech.nocr.at. Ben now has his very own internet TV show. The Ben Heck Show started airing yesterday on element14 and is pretty cool. In his first episode, Ben builds an Xbox controller for a gamer who only has one hand and starts work on his Xbox 360 laptop mod which will be stretched out over a few episodes. Definitely a must watch.

[The Ben Heck Show]

Ben Heck Show Is On The Air originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Cheap WiFi Radio

Frank — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 03:56:33 +0000

Looking for a cheap way to stream your tunes all around the house? Then look no further than this cheap DIY WiFi radio.

Video blogger Tinkernet shows us how to build one by using an Asus WL-520GU and a USB sound adapter, and best of all it will cost you less than $50. The video shows the steps involved in putting it all together using Windows. If you want to use a different OS then simply visit MightyOhm for detailed step by step instructions.

I always have my laptop connected to my stereo, now, when I build one of these I can just stream directly to my stereo. Best of all, I can control it from my iPhone!

Cheap WiFi Radio originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Even More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck

Frank — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 03:39:16 +0000

Following my first two distro lists; Linux Distros That Don’t Suck and More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck, I bring you the long awaited third installment in my distro lists; Even More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck.

As a fore-warning, this list is just what I have used in the past and what I have experience with. I know that talking Linux is like talking religion, everyone has one and not everyone likes the other guy’s. With that in mind you are free to comment and hammer me about my list, just know that it’s only my personal experience here.

Mint – What can I say, it’s Ubuntu done right. If what you are looking for is a solid desktop replacement OS, one the whole family can use then look no further. Based on Debian and Ubuntu, this distro comes with everything you need to get going and it looks sexy as well. It’s got full multimedia support right out of the box and it’s super easy to use. Perfect for grandma.

ZeroShell – This distro is awesome. I have used this multiple times on embeded devices and it’s always come through for me. It’s fully administered via a web page and it offer’s a host of network services like Load Balancing, UMTS/HSDPA 3G modem connections, QoS and Lan-to-Lan VPN just to name a few. If you need a solid industrial all around firewall/gateway this should be at the top of your list.

Tiny Core – If you think Damn Small Linux is bloated then Tiny Core is for you. At a whopping 10MB with a full desktop, this has to be the smallest release I have ever seen. If 10MB is too big for you, you can grab a 6MB version that is console only. This is an awesome distro if you want to start small and build on it. Perfect for those older systems.

Elive – Based on Debian, Elive looks to provide a complete desktop replacement while offering eye-candy with minimal hardware requirements. I have this installed on an older laptop that my daughter uses. She loves to work with multimedia and this distro scratches her itch perfectly. It’s runs well on older hardware while still looking good. If you like to work with video, 3D or audio then you should give this distro a once over.

Mythbuntu – It’s really not a distro per-say, it’s a custom roll of Ubuntu with MythTV built it. For years I used KnoppMyth for my MythTV needs and only recently did I switch to Mythbuntu. If you don’t feel like building your HTPC from scratch take a look at this, you won’t be disappointed.

Tinfoil Hat – For the truly paranoid. As their website says “The Illuminati are watching your computer, and you need to use morse code to blink out your PGP messages on the numlock key.”. This distro is perfect for those who fear for their privacy. It’s compiled with static libraries and ships on a single floppy.

LegacyOS – This was formally known as TeenPup which is based on PuppyLinux. The main purpose of this distro is to ensure a smooth user experience on hardware that’s 5-10 years old. If you have an old machine laying around and are looking for a decent suite of software then look no further. Don’t plan on doing any intense processing with it but basic usage it’s great.

As always this is a list of distros I have experience with, this by no means is a “perfect” or “greatest” list. It’s just stuff I have used and like, feel free to let me know what you think in the comments.

Even More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2010 | Permalink | 3 Comments | Read more in Tech News | Explore more in: 2010, 3d, 3g, ac, audio, bra, comments, computer, console, debian, distro, ds, ea, embeded, experience, fire, firewall, follow, htpc, id, ir, key, laptop, led, linux, live, loa, lock, Mac, machine, messages, mini, mod, mythtv, network, os, pc, personal, privacy, proc, ring, rock, service, small, switch, tech.nocr.at, time, tiny, ubuntu, ui, video, watch, zeroshell | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

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.

USB Boobie Warmers

Frank — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:26:10 +0000

I have seen my share of of really weird USB devices, but a set of breast warming pads that work off of USB? Just imagine plugging in your bra to your laptop as you are working at your desk.

I’m not sure how much good this will do you while your out and about, where keeping your boobies warm might be what you want, but then again you can always have a battery pack or solar panel on the back of your jacket to power it.

[Link to USB Breast Warmer]

USB Boobie Warmers originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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

Windows 7: Will You Upgrade?

Frank — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:02:59 +0000

With Windows 7 officially released, will you be getting up early to purchase your copy?

It has been a long time coming (I really don’t count Vista as a usable operating system), a stable a somewhat decent OS from Microsoft. Let’s be honest, the form and function of the new OS from the boys at Redmond is no big secret. Reviews and betas of Windows 7 have been around since January of this year, hell, I’ve been running it on my HP laptop for the past few months, but the question is will the general public bite? Will they head out in mass to grab their copies and upgrade their systems?

Let’s take a quick look at your options. If you purchase a new machine instead of upgrading your current computer you’ll get away with a free copy, that’s your best bet. If you decide to not go down that route you’ll be dishing out on the high end, $319 for the Ultimate edition and not that much more less for any of the other usable versions of Windows 7. I think they have completely missed the boat again. With Apple selling a single complete version of Snow Leopard for $29 how can anyone justify paying over $300 for an operating system?

It’s not a big secret that I’m not a big fan of Microsoft, but I will give them credit. Windows 7 has a lot of the look and feel of Vista with the stability of a 2000 or XP. They tried to bring their UI into the 21st century with Vista and it failed miserably. It ran sluggish and had it’s issues, but this time I think they have a winner. Welcome back to the game Microsoft, you can now join the usability ranks of OS X, Gnome and KDE.

What will you do? You gonna run out and pick up your copy of Windows 7 today? Let us know in the comments.

Windows 7: Will You Upgrade? originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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PS3 Laptop

Frank — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:25:09 +0000

Our favorite gaming console modder, Ben Heck, is back at it again. We have already seen his Xbox 360 Elite Laptop mod and more recently his NES Cartridge mod and now his brings us this super sexy PS3 Laptop mod.

As light or as small as a netbook it is not but it’s still impressive how he managed to integrate a 17-inch HD display into the whole thing. Ben says that he could have made it smaller but wanted to use as large a screen as possible while still making it portable. Check out the video of the PS3 Laptop below.

PS3 Laptop originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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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.

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Industrial Strength Firewall, Poor Mans Budget

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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New Macbook?

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

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

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

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

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

DIY Pong Clock

Frank — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:10:56 +0000

This great geek Pong Clock comes to us via the Make Flickr photo pool.

User Funnypolynomial decided to put an old laptop to a good use and build his very own Pong Clock like we have seen floating around the net this pas week.

I rescued an old Thinkpad ages ago and began a project to install it in a picture frame. The original idea was to have it running things like Conway’s Life and the Mandelbrot set. But then I saw the Pong Clock on a blog and decided to just do that instead.

Interested? You can check out the photo pool and a video of how it was made.

DIY Pong Clock originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Tiny Projector

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

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

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

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

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

A USB Stick That Increases Your Ports

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

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

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

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

RiTEK

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

How To: Prevent Airplane Seats From Reclining

Frank — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:02:47 +0000

Picture this: you’re sitting in coach on a discount airline (you know us bloggers are starving artists) when you decide to pull out your laptop to get some work done only to have the person in front of you decide to recline their seat and smash your screen into your hands. If this has ever happened to you then Evan from F.A.T. has figured our this hack to keep the person in front of you from doing just that.

By placing a big zip tie between two tray table supports you can prevent the seats from reclining. The only downside I can see to this is if both people recline their seats at the same time, that would cause some issues. What you should really be worried about is what the TSA will say to you when you try to bring big zip ties onto the plane with you.

How To: Prevent Airplane Seats From Reclining originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

New Commodore Laptop, Yes I Said Commodore

Frank — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:56:18 +0000

With Asus having such great success with their UMPC the eeePC, why not have everyone jump into the game? Commodore (the machine that brings me such great memories of my hacking youth) seems to be jumping into the small laptop market. This tiny laptop was spotted at IFA. Not much is known yet about the machine, but I so want one. I’d put a C64 emulator on it and run around playing Summer Games or better yet, run my old Color64 BBS on it.

I think I just want to be spotted walking around with a laptop that bares the Commodore logo on it. Imagine the geek-cred you’d build with this in your backpack.

UPDATE

We have had some of the specs of the unit sent to us. They include:

10-inch screen
1.6GHz VIA C7-M processor
80GB hard drive
1GB of ram
built-in WiFi
optional Bluetooth

The specs are very similar to HP’s mininote and around the same price point of $600

[Via Crunchgear]

New Commodore Laptop, Yes I Said Commodore originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Gadgets | Explore more in: ac, asus, avi, bbs, bluetooth, c64, commodore, drive, ea, eeepc, emulator, game, games, hack, hacking, hard drive, hp, id, ir, laptop, Mac, machine, mini, mod, pc, pda, proc, ring, small, tiny, tor, ui, update, walking, wifi | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Portable Theater

Frank — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:54:20 +0000

The Portable PC Theater is a beautiful design by South Korean industrial designer Jin Woo Han. It consists of a computer and an LCD projector, all in one. This is perfect for people like me who spend a long time on the road and in hotels, who would want to watch a video on a laptop when you can point this masterpiece at a white wall in your room and have your very own theater.

No word yet on this idea hitting the market, but if it does I would pick one up.

Portable Theater originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/27. 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.

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.

Sub $100 Blu-Ray Drives By Xmas

Frank — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:18:48 +0000

Looks like we all might just have Blu-Ray drives in our PC’s come Christmas. Sony and HP have jointly said that by this coming holiday season Blu-Ray drives for desktops should be under $100. Laptop models should be about $150 OEM. This is the perfect marketing strategy for ensuring universal adoption of the Blu-Ray standard.

Remember, this units are readers only, you will be also to burn DVD’s and CD’s with these units but not Blu-Ray discs. Imagine being able to take your HD movies with you when you travel, brilliant.

This sure beats the $500 I had to dish out some 15 years ago to get a first generation CD burner.

Sub $100 Blu-Ray Drives By Xmas originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Xbox 360 Elite Laptop

Frank — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:40:03 +0000

Looks like Ben Heck is at it again. The portable Xbox 360 features a Halo 3 theme, is based on the Elite’s internals, offers a 120 GB hard drive, new 65nm CPU, and a special DMI-to-DVI connector which keeps the signal digital all the way to the 17-inch screen.

Bundled in the uber-hack is a built in Xbox Live camera and WiFi, so itâ€™s truly as portable as you can get. I need me one of these for those long road trips. It sure beats watching cable when your stuck in some hotel room.

Xbox 360 Elite Laptop originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

$10 Super Duper WiFi Antenna

Frank — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 02:55:10 +0000

There are sometimes that a single bar of WiFi service isnâ€™t going to cut it. You can see the access points near you, but the signal is just too weak to get you any access. Before you go out and spend $100â€™s for pringle can like antennas give this $10 alternative a spin.

Items needed: some 35-mm foam (like the kind desktop and laptop PCs usually come with), some solid-core copper wire, a small brass plate, and multiple BNC connectors. Then follow the directions in the video and youâ€™ll have a super powerful directional antenna that should get you better gain that that external antenna your card came with.

Remember, this works as a directional antenna so you need to have it pointed in the right direction to get a strong signal. Just sweep it around slowly until you can lock down a super signal then surf away!

$10 Super Duper WiFi Antenna originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Life Size R2D2 Mod

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IR Speeds Hit 1Gbps

Frank — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 00:09:10 +0000

Truth be told that the IR (Infared) port on my PDA’s and old laptops never saw much use since it was painfully slow to actually do anything via IR, and with Bluetooth and WiFi dominating the wireless transfer airwaves why would anyone bother with that old IR technology? KDDI R&D Laboratories are about to change the way you look at IR with it’s new technology that enables the IR transfer speed to hit a whopping 1Gbps shattering the old theory that you could only get 4Mbps out of it. Not only that, but they achieved the 1Gbps in a stable environment. KDDI claims that they can transfer an entire music CD in under a second.

I sure hope that can retrofit this new technology into my old hardware. Infared never looked so good.

IR Speeds Hit 1Gbps originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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.

Macworld Keynote

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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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Turn A Windows Mobile 6 Device Into A WiFi Router

Frank — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:01:14 +0000

Every wanted a GPRS-Uplinked WiFi router? WMWifiRounter will do just that. The utility that you run on your WiFi-capable Windows Mobile 6 device will turn it into a GPRS-uplinked WiFi router. It sets up your WiFi link in ad-hoc mode and starts a DHCP server in order to hand out ip addresses to neighboring machines. Your laptop will then see a new WiFi network called WMWifiRouter, and connecting to it will send all of your network traffic through your WM6′s phone and GPRS connection.

In the old days you had to tether your device to a laptop to achieve the same results, now you call pull it off without any additional hardware. All you need is your phone and a cell connection.

WMWifiRouter – Link

Turn A Windows Mobile 6 Device Into A WiFi Router originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Cinema Display Dock Patent

Frank — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 22:47:03 +0000

Looks like the guys over at Gizmodo have dug up a brand new patent from Apple that shows off yet another truly innovative design from the company. The patent application describes a modified Cinema Display with a slot that would house a portable computer (maybe the new slimmed down MacBook everyone’s been talking about?). The key to the patent is the idea that the laptop would be concealed by the Cinema display once docked.

It’s yet another brilliant design concept form the minds at Apple. If we don’t get a new ultra slim laptop at this years MacWorld the thickness of this design is going to be huge, but on the flip side it removes the need for a docking station and extra wiring. I want one.

Cinema Display Dock Patent originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Make your own Mac Tablet

Frank — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 03:42:56 +0000

Can’t wait for the modbook to hit the store shelves? Jealous of seeing all of those PC lovers show off there super cool Tablet PC’s? Crafty c4l3b over on Instructables has posted a cleaver how-to on crating your own Mac Tablet. All you need is an old mac laptop and a cheap wacom intuos2 tablet and hacked together you’ll get your very own modbook, okay well not quite that portable but it should serve you quite well.

Link to Instructables

Make your own Mac Tablet originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Apple’s collapsible connection patent

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

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

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

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

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

Best of the week – Aug 6 – 12

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

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

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

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Great Laptop battery hack

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

The one thing I love about the web is the amazing things you stumble across and the many things you learn. I stumbled across this laptop battery hack when I was trying to figure out what to do about the dead battery on my old Toshiba laptop that my wife and kids use from time to time. Forget about forging over $100+ to get a replacement battery, this little video will show you hoe to do it for less that half of that. Not only will you look good by saving money, but it will make you a hero for doing it yourself.

Great Laptop battery hack originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/08/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Hacker Conference: Before

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

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

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

DO:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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416GB Solid State Drive

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

BitMicro just announced the new E-Disk Altima, it squeezes 416GB into a laptop friendly 2.5 inch enclosure. The drive will operate 24/7 and can withstand temperatures between -40 to 185 while keeping a sustained read/write speed of 100MB/sec.

Currently the drive is marketed to the Military. A cost effective 640GB solid state drive isn’t going to be cheap anytime soon, especially with most available NAND memory on the market already being scooped up by Apple.

416GB Solid State Drive originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Inflight USB: Power for you gadgets from an audio jack

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

The Inflight USB Power Unit connects directly to the headphone jack found in most commercial airlines. The unit passes power to your gadgets via a USB connection. It would be better if every seat had a power jack (Air Canada’s A320 does!), but instead we are stuck with audio jacks. It uses and ingenious trickle charge system to charge it’s own internal batteries before passing on the power to your device, and it works best if the audio jack is playing some loud music.

Now this little unit won’t power your laptop or anything that is big, but it’s perfect for your iPod, cell phone, or PSP. The basic unit will draw you for about $35, and you can purchase iPod and mini B connectors.

Inflight USB: Power for you gadgets from an audio jack originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Yoggie Pico Firewall

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

We all know how necessary it is to have some form of virus or spyware protection on our computers, we also know how great a hit they can be to processor performance when we are stuck using a slow laptop. The Yoggie Pico offloads those security requirements to a small USB dongle that serves as a mini firewall. Powered by Linux and a dedicated processor, the Pico uses 12 built in security applications including anti-virus and anti-spyware and only requires a tiny thin client installed on the actual computer.

By using a low level driver to re-direct all the network traffic to the Pico, before Windows and the TCP/IP stack see it, means that any attacks on your computer will hit the Pico before it has a chance to affect your computer. This actually provides a physical separation between your machine and the internet (or network your connecting to, think free internet hotspot).

It’s $179 plus $30/year for updates, it isn’t exactly cheap but if you prefer paying for anti-virus and anti-spyware rather than using free versions, this might be great for you.

Yoggie Pico Firewall originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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MicPort Pro: Podcasting Dream

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

If you’re like me you probably own a metric ton load of microphones from all of those podcasts you might do (okay I realize some of you might not do podcasts). I’ve been known to drop a pretty penny on microphones and other gear, hell I even own a mic that I paid over $500 for (I know I’m crazy).

One of the problems with having a studio pro microphone is the inability to make it very portable. Pro mics usually use an XLR type connector and I have yet to run across a laptop that has an XLR input. Because of the lack of XLR inputs you usually have to carry a pre-amp and some sort of firewire or USB breakout box to make it all work, way to much when you are trying to travel light.

CEntrance has all the angles covered with its new, self-contained, XLR input, USB-based MicPort Pro. The idea behind the device is quite simple: It takes any XLR microphone (or input) and converts it to a self-powered, single channel, 24-bit / 96Khz audio interface – all you have to do is plug it in with its supplied USB cable. You can get it now for $149.95.

MicPort Pro: Podcasting Dream originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

UNI – The Modular Computer

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

Richard Choi had developed a modular computer concept called UNI. In UNI, every important functional part of the PC is separated and broken up into individual modules. Whenever you want to upgrade your computer all you have to do is buy the required module and plug it in.

The designer has also named each module with an easy to understand name. For example, the â€œThinkâ€ module is where the processor resides. While the â€œStoreâ€ module houses the hard drive.

I love the idea of easy and simple upgrading, but with me leaving my power supply to my laptop at home at least 3 or 4 times a month I can only imagine how many times I’d leave the “Input” or “Store” module behind.

UNI – The Modular Computer originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Changing traffic lights

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

I’m a bit of a skeptic about these whole “Making elevators come fast” or “Changing Street lights quickly” kind of hacks. KipPlay has brought us some interesting videos in the past that have been quite useful, like the Laptop Battery Hack and the Hack Your Remote Control video, but this one leaves me guessing so I put this to you to see if this hack actually works. I haven’t been able to get it to work in the streets of Toronto but maybe some of you out there might get it to work in your town(s). Post your success in the comments section.

Changing traffic lights originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Apple Now Thirds Biggest Laptop Vendor

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

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

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

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

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