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

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

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

[Link to TrimSlice]

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

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Apple’s AirPlay is a great technology. It lets you stream music and video wirelessly to Apple products like iPods, iPhones and to the Apple TV. It also can be used to stream to Apple approved hardware like speaker docks, AV receivers and stereo systems. The problem with it, like most Apple technology, if your not on the “Apple approved” list your SOL.

The thought of AirPlay being supported in open source software is unheard of, until now. The Totem media player, which installs by default on most Linux distributions, now has an unofficial plugin that will let you stream media via AirPlay.

Instructions

Clone the git repository

git clone http://git.sukimashita.com/totem-plugin-airplay.git

Move the files you just cloned (make sure you create the appropriate directories if needed)

mv * ~/.local/share/totem/plugins/airplay

That’s it. Start up Totem, enable the plugin and start to enjoy streaming media from any other AirPlay capable device. Now that the open source world has nailed down the AirPlay standard, it shouldn’t be too long before we start to see it supported in things like XBMC or Android.

[Link to Totem AirPlay Plugin]

AirPlay On Linux originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2011 | Permalink | 5 Comments | Read more in Tech News | Explore more in: air, airplay, android, apple, apple tv, dock, ds, ea, id, iphone, ipod, ir, led, linux, loa, make, music, nda, nes, open, open source, os, pen, phone, plugins, rc, rod, stream, tech.nocr.at, technology, tor, video, wire, wireless, xbmc | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Waiting for a bus will never be boring again if you live in San Francisco. Yahoo has just installed giant touchscreen panels at 20 San Francisco bus stops. The giant multi-touch screens not only allow you to play games, but allow you to play against people at other bus shelters.

Top scores for each neighbourhood are kept and the bus shelter that rakes in the most points will will a block party featuring OK Go.

I’m actually surprised that something like this hasn’t happened yet. Living in the age of “always connected” and with interactive media already the norm, something like this should have happened a while ago. Kodos to you Yahoo, great idea.

Bus Shelter Video Gaming originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2011 | Permalink | 2 Comments | Read more in Gaming | Explore more in: ac, bus, ds, ea, game, games, Gaming, id, led, live, loa, lock, os, pen, ring, san francisco, shelter, tech.nocr.at, touch, video, video game, yahoo | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

The second generation Apple TV suddenly looks a lot better as a home theater PC. XBMC, the open-source media center software that is the driving force behind projects like Boxee and Plex has just launched for jailbroken second generation Apple TVs.

The Apple TV iOS port uses Apple’s “VideoToolBox” private acceleration API. This gives XBMC access to the built-in hardware video acceleration included in Apple’s A4 chip, allowing for non-Apple approved HD video playback. You heard me correct, full 1080p video playback on the tiny $99 box. Video playback isn’t the only thing you get, most of the core apps that are in the Desktop or Xbox versions are there as well.

Since the second generation Apple TV runs iOS, developers didn’t stop there. They added an iPhone and iPod touch port which can be installed on jailbroken devices via Cydia. Not a remote application, a full blown XBMC system on your iPhone or iPad. The iPad version tends to be less frustrating to use than the iPhone version, but I’m sure they will work on that.

I hope Apple can see the benefit of XBMC on their devices, it would be an instant hit if it ever hits the App store.

[Link to XBMC for iOS]

XBMC Launches On Apple TV 2 & iOS originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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

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

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

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

We apologize for the feedback we provided regarding our bootloader policy. The response does not reflect the views of Motorola.

We are working closely with our partners to offer a bootloader solution that will enable developers to use our devices as a development platform while still protecting our users’ interests. More detailed information will follow as we get closer to availability.

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

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

© tech.nocr.at 2011 | Permalink | 2 Comments | Read more in Tech News | Explore more in: ac, android, book, boot, bootloader, comments, commercial, ds, ea, ebook, facebook, follow, heat, htc, id, ir, led, loa, lock, mod, modder, motorola, number, open, open source, os, pen, rc, rip, rod, tech.nocr.at, time, tor, tube, ui, video, youtube | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

I was just talking to someone from Steam TV Networks about the need for a sturdy dock that can hold up a tablet or phone, something that keeps the device propped up when using it to watch video. Kensington has release just such an item built for the iPhone.

Kensington’s new PowerLift is a sturdy dock that also contains a 1,200 mAh lithium-ion polymer backup battery. This bulky yet small unit is perfect for those long flights; prop it up on the fold out tray and you can enjoy countless hours of media goodness. 20 additional hours of music playback, 5 additional hours of video and even an extra hour and a half of FaceTime.

The unit also has a built in USB cable, perfect cable management, and it has some LEDs to let you know where the charging level is at. Its up for pre-order on Kensington’s site and will run you about $50.

Kensington’s PowerLift Backup-Up Battery originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2011 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Gadgets | Explore more in: ac, backup, battery, cable, charging, dock, ds, ea, id, iphone, ipod, led, light, lights, loa, music, nes, network, os, phone, power, small, tablet, tech.nocr.at, time, ui, usb, video, watch | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

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

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

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

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

© tech.nocr.at 2011 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Gaming | Explore more in: 360, ac, avi, control, drive, ds, ea, evo, Gaming, hack, hackers, hacks, ical, ir, kinect, led, loa, microsoft, os, owl, pc, pda, rc, ring, rod, sdk, tech.nocr.at, update, usb, wind, windows, xbox, xbox 360, xbox360 | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

In probably the worst kept secret of 2010 and 2011 the Sony Xperia, or PSP Phone has seen more press time than any other product I can remember and it hasn’t even been officially announced or acknowledged yet. This isn’t new for Sony – remember the PSP Go or the PS3 Slim that hit the interwebs months before Sony announced them?

As we see in yet another video of the soon to be announced (we hope) Sony Xperia PSP Phone; it looks just the same as all of the other videos we have seen. The only difference is that this one is outside and not on some Chinese assembly line or in the basement of some blogger.

It’s no long hype Sony, everyone and their brother have seen this phone. Time to put up or shut up and give us some good Android/PSP goodness.

Yet More PSP Phone Leakage originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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

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

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

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

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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.

© tech.nocr.at 2011 | Permalink | 2 Comments | Read more in Gadgets | Explore more in: 3g, ac, android, battery, car, computer, dock, ds, ea, elocity, fast, flash, hack, hd, hdmi, heat, id, ipad, laptop, led, loa, make, mod, network, open, os, osd, pen, phone, pmp, pocket, power, press, proc, ring, root, stream, tablet, tech.nocr.at, tether, theater, time, tor, usb, video, watch, wifi | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Now that the PS3′s key have been leaked, its open territory for homebrew and hacking. Many people have been wondering what type of action Sony will be taking to combat this so called “piracy”. We have seen how ruthless they are with the PS3′s little brother the PSP and it’s no doubt that they will be just as ruthless with the PS3.

Digital Foundry claims that Sony can take some drastic measures including remotely disabling a jailbroken or hacked PS3. Even if you have never signed up for a PSN account, the PS3 communicates with the Sony mother-ship each time it’s turned on. The initial boot-up call back is used to upload error logs and download updates to the “What’s New” modules. It also sends a list of recently run apps.

Just that capability alone gives Sony a lot of power. Will they remotely disable systems? Who knows, but if they start to do that they open the door for some serious legal action. You know when the first PS3 that someone paid hundreds of dollars for gets killed and their unit is clean, Sony will be in a PR nightmare.

Sony Could Remotely Disable PS3s originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Last week we showed off some video of the yet to be announced PSP Phone (which has been dubbed the Xperia Play). Now we have stumbled on some video of the actual unit in action.

Funny enough the above video shows the unit running an Android app called ROM Buddy PSX, which is a PSOne emulator; which I doubt will be built into the phone. The game play looks real smooth and the controllers seem quite responsive, a definite plus.

Regardless, the more I see this phone in action the more I want one. I would scratch my Android itch and allow me to play my PSP games. Killing two birds with one stone.

PSP Phone Caught On Video originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2011 | Permalink | One Comment | Read more in Gaming | Explore more in: ac, android, bird, control, controller, ds, ea, emulator, funny, game, games, id, ir, led, loa, phone, psp, PSP phone, psx, tech.nocr.at, tor, ui, video, xperia | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Apple has removed the video player VLC from it’s App Store, so if you don’t already have it installed on your iPad or iPhone you’re out of luck.

Before you decided to send hate mail to Steve Jobs, you should know that Apple didn’t want to remove it. Rather, it’s a result of a single man’s crusade who coincidentally works for Apple’s competitor, Nokia.

Rémi Denis-Courmont (who is a lead contributor to the VLC project) launched a one man campaigned based on Apple adding DRM to their applications and thus violating the GPL’ed code VLC is released under. It’s important to know that Rémi acted alone and that VideoLAN, the group that’s responsible for the desktop version of VLC, had nothing to do with having Applidium’s VLC port for iOS removed. As as lead developer, Rémi was within the legal right to pursue the removal himself.

Denis-Courmont’s response to the removal of VLC from the App Store comes across quite snarky.

“At last, Apple has removed VLC media player from its application store. Thus the incompatibility between the GNU General Public License and the AppStore terms of use is resolved – the hard way. This end should not have come to a surprise to anyone, given the precedents.”

Thanks a lot for sticking to your principles, it sure out-weighs all the people who could have enjoyed the FREE app on their iPhone or iPad. Well done

Apple Removes VLC From App Store originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2011 | Permalink | One Comment | Read more in Mac | Explore more in: ac, amp, app store, apple, apps, avi, cat, cross, ds, ea, id, ios, ipad, iphone, ir, job, jobs, led, loa, mail, nokia, os, phone, steve jobs, tech.nocr.at, tor, ui, video, vlc | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

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

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

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

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

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

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

© tech.nocr.at 2011 | Permalink | One Comment | Read more in Tech News | Explore more in: ac, amazon, android, apple, appletv, avi, boxee, car, cat, cheap, control, cross, distro, drive, ds, dvd, ea, evo, experience, fire, firefox, frame, freevo, Gaming, gentoo, hard drive, homebrew, htpc, ical, id, internet radio, ir, led, linux, live, loa, make, media center, mod, music, mythtv, nda, open, open source, os, pc, pen, phone, picture, plugins, portable, power, proc, pvr, radio, rc, remote, remote control, rim, ring, service, stream, tech.nocr.at, time, tor, tube, ui, usb, video, vlc, watch, wind, windows, xbmc, xbox, youtube | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

You can use Twitter for just about anything these days and thanks to an Arduino you can now schedule your coffee from Twitter.

This is a simple hack and a great one if you have been wanting to play with an Arduino but felt a bit intimidated by it. The idea behind the project is to have the Arduino turn on an AC device; this doesn’t necessarily have to specific to the coffee pot. You could have it turn on a radio or TV or anything that connects to an AC outlet.

The code is pretty straight forward and you probably don’t have to do much changing to get it to work. Check out the video after the break of it in action.

[Link to Tweet-a-Pot]

DIY: Twittering Coffee Pot originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2011 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, arduino, coffee, diy, ds, ea, hack, id, led, loa, mid, outlet, radio, ring, tech.nocr.at, twitter, ui, video | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Instructables hacker Philysteak527 modified a Nerf gun, making it semi-automatic thanks to the modern marvel of compressed air. This mod isn’t for the faint of heart since it involves the design and manufacture of a bolt-action the fit’s the specific gun you are using.

Philysteak527 used some polyoxymethylene plastic and a CNC lathe to create the parts needed for the bolt. Toss in some brass fittings, a solenoid, tubing, and some electronics and your set. Check out the footage of it in action after the break. You will definitely be the big boy in the school yard with this. You might very well have the SWAT team called in as well.

[Link to Semi-Automatic NERF Longshot]

CO2 Powered Nerf Gun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2011 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, air, bra, cnc, design, ds, ea, electronics, gun, hack, id, instructable, ir, led, loa, mod, nerf, os, power, press, tag, tech.nocr.at, tron | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Hotlinking, inline linking, leeching, piggy-backing, direct linking or offsite image grabs. No matter what you call it 99% of the time it’s wrong. Bandwidth costs money. I spent sometime over the holidays examining my logs and noticed that there were a ton of sites hotlinking back to images we had posted. Worst of all, most of them were profiting off the images.

Here at tech.nocr.at we run nginx as a front-end proxy to WordPress. Stopping hotlinking in nginx is as simple as adding a small snippet of code in your sites-enabled file. Add the following code inside your server statement.

location ~* ^.+\.(jpg|jpeg|gif|png)$ {
  root   /path/to/webroot;
  valid_referers none blocked server_names ~(yourdomain.com|google.|yahoo.|bing.);
  if ($invalid_referer)  {
  return 403;
  }
}

The above will allow images to be displayed if they come from your domain, google, yahoo and bing. If you have other sites you might want your images to be linked from just add them in the valid_referers statement. If someone tries to hotlink to one of your images they will receive a 403 error. If you wish to have a different image displayed instead of the 403 error, letting them know they are hotlinking, then you must replace the return 403; line with this:

rewrite  ^  http://yourdomain.com/hotlink.jpe;

Notice how the image file ends in .jpe? If it were you end in .jpg it would end up in a loop and never be displayed. Simply create the image you want to use and change it’s extension to .jpe before you upload it to your web host.

Hotlink Prevention In Nginx originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2011 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, band, cat, display, ds, ea, error, follow, google, holidays, hotlink, id, images, ir, led, leech, loa, lock, mini, nginx, os, pen, press, root, server, small, tech.nocr.at, time, wordpress, wrong, yahoo | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

First is was fail0verflow crippling the PS3 security and now Mathieulh has revealed that he has found the KIRK encryption/decryption keys that are used to sign PSP code.

What does all of this mean? Much like the PS3 keys that were discovered last week during a presentation at the CCC, any piece of software for the PS3′s little brother the PSP can now be signed as if it was actually from Sony. Sony and the PSP homebrew community have been playing a cat and mouse game for years and it now looks that it will all come to and end.

Homebrew for the PSP can now be signed with the proper keys and therefore make it look like legitimate software. No more custom firmware or loaders needed in the near future, a homebrew modders dream come true.

PSP Keys Hacked originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2011 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, cat, ds, ea, encryption, fail, fail0verflow, firmware, game, hack, hacked, homebrew, ir, key, keys, led, loa, make, mod, modder, mouse, ps3, psp, ring, rip, security, sony, sony ericsson, tech.nocr.at | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

We talked about a Japanese newspaper reporting on the details of the new PSP Phone last week and now we have stumbled across some nice and clear video of the unit running. YouTube user “xxmajstor” displays this Android powered beatuty. More reason to drop my iPhone and move to the new PlayStation Phone

This video is of the Sony Ericsson ZEUS-Z1 “PlayStation Phone”. The unit looks like it has L and R shoulder buttons and a volume control right in the same location as the PSP-Go. The slide out features some game controls including the reported “touch strip”. If the video wasn’t enough, pay close attention to the presence of a PlayStation controller icon on the screen.

Video Of The Playstation Phone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2011 | Permalink | One Comment | Read more in Gaming | Explore more in: ac, android, cat, control, controller, cross, display, ds, ea, game, id, iphone, japan, led, loa, nes, newspaper, os, phone, playstation, playstation phone, power, psp, PSP phone, rip, sony, sony ericsson, tech.nocr.at, tor, touch, tube, video, youtube, zeus-z1 | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Sure, you can control modern day video equipment like you Slingbox or satellite receiver via the web, but what if you have some old school gear that can only accept commands via good old fashioned Infa-Red? Instructables hacker nmcclana has put together a small embedded web server that transmits IR signals (Video after the break).

The Web Clicker, as it’s called, uses a Propeller Platform USB and E-Net Module and can play back any recorded IR command via an AJAX web interface. The unit is small, sleek and uses next to no power. You can purchase most of the componets pre-built or you can live on the wild side and download the PCB designs and etch the boards yourself.

This can be used to control anything that accepts and IR signal, not just a TV or DVR. You could add IR modules to just about anything these days so this project would be great for home automation.

[Link to Instructables]

Control Your TV From Your Phone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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After discovering James Whelton’s SpringBoard.plist hack for the 6G iPod Nano, Steve Throughton-Smith decided to play around with his Nano to see what else he might find.

Steve may very well have stumbled on some kind of DFU-like recovery mode, much like the recovery mode that allows customized firmware (or jailbreaking) to be injected into the iPhone/iPod touch.

Discovered what may be DFU mode: hold down the restart buttons until you get a black screen (it reboots twice) and iTunes sees the device and alerts you.

Afterwards, modified iRecovery to work with the iPod nano (had to add its DFU/Recovery USB ID) and allow it send files, and tested with some files I had extracted from the iPod nano 6G firmware

It seems that people are getting closer and closer to a working jailbreak for the Nano. I might just get back video playback on my Nano sooner than I thought.

iPod Nano Recovery Mode originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Don’t have a snowblower? Need some exercise? The pedal powered snow plow might just be what the doctor ordered. Custom built by Craig, this three wheel bike with a wooden plow is perfect for scraping up that light covering of snow.

The custom 3-wheel bike with sidecar was made years ago, a replica of a bike my childhood friend had. Last winter I added a snow plow accessory. Up to 1 inch of snow doesn’t make it worthwhile to fire up my big 8HP snowthrower. And shoveling my 90′ long driveway by hand can be too much. So my bike plow makes it easy to make a few runs up and down the driveway to make 2 or 3 piles that can then be easily hand shoveled off to the side. A lever pulls up or lets down the plow with a rope and pulley. Pulling the lever all the way back cantilevers the rope and pivot point so it locks in place. The plow blade is hinged with a bungee cord, so hitting a discrepancy in the road allows the blade to flop and give like a real plow. The bike can turn on a dime so raising the plow and returning up the adjacent path is quick and easy. I can do ‘reverse’ by pushing down on the front wheel with my foot to roll it backwards.Totally useless with larger snow falls, but the light ones make snow removal fun. (yes, my neighbors do think I’m odd)

A wonderful way to get the job done without pumping exhaust from a snow blower into the environment.

Pedal Powered Snow Plow originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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

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

[Zap Cane]

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

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With more and more people using Android based phones it’s not a surprise that we are starting to see more and more viruses for these devices. The greater the market share the more appealing an OS is to malware and virus writers.

The newest nasty on the block is called Geininmi. Geininimi latches onto Android applications that use portals outside of Google’s Marketplace. It expands the range of said applications permissions and sends the info it collection to parts unknown. Security firm Lookout speculates that it may be trying to build a botnet and with the insane amount of Android phones out there it’s bound to be one massive botnet.

Pay close attention to the permissions that are requested by any application you install. If an app asks for permission to your contact list and it has nothing to do with your contacts you probably shouldn’t install it. As we all know, 90% of people who get infected don’t use common sense to protect themselves. Don’t become one of these victims.

We’ll keep you posted on additions to this story.

Android Trojan: Geinimi originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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What do you get when you mash together a fake white iPhone 4, and HTC Aria and an old Game Boy? You get this cool yet useless mashup.

Hacker Goteking hollowed out and old Game Boy and dropped in his Aria. Wait, now it looks like he also has a fake white iPhone in there as well.

Alright, I’m utterly confused now as to what this does, maybe this video below can explain what Goteking is up to with this unholy creation

Nope, I’m still completely lost, but as someone who is always trying to make things do what they are not suppose to I can appreciate the work that was done here. Granted, the LED matrix in the fake iPhone is pretty cool.

[Link to Goteking's GB/HTC/iPhone Mutant]

iPhone HTC GB Mutant originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Have you looked at the qlocktwo word clock yet? It’s a sleek time piece that displays the time using words. The only problem with it is that it costs well over $1000, not really an affordable way to tell time.

scottbez1 put together an affordable version of the qlocktwo by using an Arduino and a whole bunch of LED’s. The whole thing should cost you just under $70 and the full build plan is up on Instrctables.

Inspired by drj113′s great instructable on making a word clock , I wanted to make my own. After seeing the (extremely overpriced) commercial “qlocktwo” word clock, I decided to borrow its smooth glossy black design while basing the innards of my clock on drj113′s design.

[Link to Sleek word clock]

DIY: Word Clock originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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By using Bluetooth technology, the UnityRemote box takes orders from your iPhone and transmits those commands via IR to any IR device in view including your TV, cable box or satellite reciever.

The app that you install on your iPhone to control IR devices not only allows you to send single commands but allows you to create macros (called “actions”) that will follow a set of pre-programmed commands to your device. For example, you can set an action to turn on your TV, change it’s input to your Blu-ray, turn on your Blu-ray player and start playing a disc.

Since the iPhone doesn’t come with a built in IR transmitter, this adds more functionality to your already multi-functional device. Reminds me of the old days of IR Commander on my Palm.

The UnityRemote box will you about $100

Turn Your iPhone Into An IR Remote originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Another year is almost behind us and thanks to our dedicated and loyal readers our 3rd successful year bringing you the latest in gadgets, gaming, technology and the bizarre.

We have brought the monkeys in (by monkeys we mean a crafty worded perl script) and have compiled the the most viewed posts here on tech.nocr.at. This list doesn’t just contain posts from 2010, it contains the top ten most viewed posts this year regardless of when they were created.

Without further ado, tech.nocr.at’s top 10 posts of 2010:

1. Baffle WiFi Leeches With An Upside-Down-Ternet
2. Super Genintari – 4 Game Stations In One
3. Even More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck
4. WiFi Door Opener
5. How To Speed Up WordPress With Nginx And WP Super Cache
6. Hunt Down WiFi Leeches With MoocherHunter
7. Sega Gen Mobile
8. DIY: iPod Shuffle Cable
9. How To: VGA Over Cat-5
10. Secret Knock Door Lock

Let us know in the comments what were your favorite posts of 2010.

Top 10 Of 2010 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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We have talked about the awesome TV-B-Gone device before, you know, the device that can turn off any TV within distance. The only downside to it is that all people have to do it turn then back on. I know that you can just turn them back off but that would just be suspicious. What if you could jam the IR of the TV once you turn it off? Now you can.

The guys over at hackedgadgets.com sell just that, an IR jammer kit. Created by Alan Parekh, the unit will jam any infrared remote controlled device. It works across all 6 of the major IR frequencies and corrupts the data that is being sent by normal remote controls.

If your ambitious you can build your own from scratch or you could order a kit here and just slap it all together.

[Via HackedGadgets]

IR Jammer originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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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.

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Playing Dr. Who in a game is cool, but playing one while using a Sonic Screwdriver is even better. Later this fall the Wii will be getting a title called Doctor Who: Return to earth and the BBC has teamed up with a peripheral maker to create a Sonic Screwdriver Wii controller.

Playing the game which will feature the likeness of the current Doctor (Matt Smith) and his sidekick Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) should be fun whilst holding the infamous Sonic Screwdriver. I bet it would be even better if you could get a Tardis in your living room as well.

[Via Official Nintendo Magazine]

Sonic Screwdriver Wiimote originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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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.

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The awesome heat-seeking Nerf gun won Make’s Gadget Freak Design Contest. The mod consists of a Nerf Vulcan Blaster hooked up to a few Devantech TPA81 Thermal Sensors and is controlled by an ATMega 168 processor.

The unit acts exactly as it should, it tracks you via your heat signature and fires nerf bullets at you. No word yet on whether chaffs/flares will work to confuse it, but one thing is for sure, the Disintegrator Rubber Band Gatling Gun could use this heat-seeking mod.

Currently you can’t buy the mod at your local Toy’s R Us, but you can head on over to the creators website and build your own.

Heat-Seeking Nerf Gun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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As someone who grew up in the 80′s there is nothing more I love than some good old 80′s cartoons like G.I. Joe and Transformers. As an older fellow I also have a great appreciation for modern geeky art like steampunk creations. What happens when I find someone who mashed the two together? I run out and try to purchase it.

The Encline Design team did just that, created a very detailed steampunk version of the famous Autobots leader Optimus Prime, best of all is the fact it transformers into a steam engine.

The paint scheme looks awesome; while still maintaining Optimus’s Red and Blue, they managed to add just the amount of buff to it to make it realistic to the steampunk style.

Make sure to check out their site for some more picture and some other great steampunk designs.

Steampunk Optimus Prime originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Here’s an awesome idea. Let’s take some homemade Play-Doh, change the recipe around a bit and make it conductive. You could make all sorts of cool circuits, like say wrap some of it around a cell phone to act as an insulator and then try to bring it on a plane. As someone who once shut down a major airport with a home made battery powered usb charger I don’t recommend bringing the cell phone wrapped Play-Doh experiment on a plane.

Squish Circuits, as they are refereed to, were developed at the University of St. Thomas by undergrads Samuel Johnson and AnnMarie Thomas and essentially are nothing more than homemade Play-Doh recipes that make the Doh either conductive or insulate.

With a small battery pack and something else that can use that power like a small motor or an LED you could make tons of fun circuits.

You can find both the conductive and insulating recipes here.

Homemade Conductive Play-Doh originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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The original Commodore 64 was a complete game changer in the personal computer realm. No personal computer of it’s time could come close to it. Countless games, dedicated users and the most innovative demo scene made it, IMO, the greatest computer of all time. I cut my teeth on one, learned to code in assembly on it and even ran a BBS for years and years off of one. Now it looks like it’s making a comeback, sort of.

The original 64 was put to be in 1994 and after being dead for over 15 years, it seems that the hardy 64 will rise again, sort of.

Commodore USA will release a new version of the classic called the PC64. It won’t be an 8-bit machine like it’s name-sake but instead will house modern day components in the classic shell. The unit will be powered by an Intel Atom processor, come with 4GB of DDR3 Ram, include a 1TB SATA drive and have HDMI output.

I’m just disappointed that we won’t see a good old 1541 or 1581 disk drive. No work on pricing but it should be available by the end of the year.

A New Commodore 64? originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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How about your very own aerial surveillance drone that is launched from it’s own mailbox? I know your probably calling me crazy right now for even thinking of it, but it’s true!

The ScanCam 200 is exactly what you want for security surveillance of your property. The unit is a small quad-rotor UAV drone that comes with it’s own climate controlled hangar. The unit can be remotely launched and even set to come back and land right where it took off from.

The unit sends live video back so you can see what it sees. The unit is completely autonomous and navigates itself from one preset point to another. While the unit is docked in it’s mailbox looking hangar, the unit recharges itself until it’s called back into action.

Aerial Surveillance Drone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2010 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Gadgets | Explore more in: 2010, ac, avi, control, dock, drone, ds, gates, id, led, live, loa, mail, remote, security, small, tech.nocr.at, tor, uav, video | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

I’m not about to open the debate about expensive audio cables. There are definitely two camps when it comes to expensive cables; One run by Monster Cable and the other run by everyone else and these $8450 speaker cables prove which side is right!

These baby’s are made of “Solid PSS Silver” and feature “Dual Star-Quad Geometry”. WTF is that? Ohh, I know, it’s bullshit talk so that people with way too much money can be fooled into buying these. They are currently on sale at Amazon for $6800, maybe you should run out and buy two! Check out the following comment from a satisfied user on Amazon:

If there is one cable I would whole-heartedly trust to my Chimera-hunting needs, this would be the cable. No other cable has the tensile strength to properly and efficiently garrote a lycanthrope, asphyxiate an Esquilax or even gag a mermaid. Last week, using my trusty AudioQuest K2 (retrofitted with lead weights, bright orange latex paint and a generous coating of crushed glass stolen from the window of an abandoned church at midnight), I managed to snuff 3 golden unicorns in swift succession!

Pros: Quickly tears through scales, fur, bone, and adamantium with ease
Coils and uncoils from hip holster (optional) quickly and quietly
For a product fabricated from 1,000 Onyx Dragon fetuses, the price is unbelievably reasonable!

Cons: Shipping from the R’lyeh took far too long
Doesn’t come in 10′ lengths (which would be perfect for hydra, cerberii and other multi-headed creatures)
After every use, I can feel 6 ounces of my soul slipping from my core into the ether. But this may be due to the fact that I prefer to work without gloves. YMMV.

Overall, I would recommend that any hunter buy one, nay, two, of these immediately, and experience the difference that upgrading to the K2 will make in your next quest!

If you want one you can get it here, otherwise, I’ll sell you a version that’s just as good for a mere $4000

$8450 Speaker Cables originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Projector technology has really come a long way from the days of lugging 30 lbs projectors around. In recent years we have seen the advent of some really small units but nothing that was ever affordable, until now.

Claimed as “the world’s smallest LCOS pico projector” the P1 Jr comes with it’s own battery, external AV connectors so you can hook up a DVD player or iPhone and it has an SD card slot so that you can use it’s built in mp4 player to watch some video.

With it’s 10 lumen LED light source you are only going to be using this thing in a very dark room, but for $119 you really can’t ask for much.

[ AAXA Technologies P1 Jr Pico Projector ]

Affordable P1 Jr Pico Projector originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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What do you get when you take a stock PSP Slim 2000 and add a second joystick, 32GB of flash memory, a second port for charging, and a built in camera? A usable PSP, that’s what.

Of course the unit is running custom firmware so you can easily run every emulator under the sun and make the PSP usable. Check out the video after the break of the modder explaining what he did.

Modded PSP Includes LEDs, Camera And More originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/03/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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As a male who owns a home with a lot of grass there is nothing more I hate then cutting the grass on a hot sweltering day. Since my son is only three and he can barely reach the mowers handle I’m SOL with getting him to do it.

Maybe I should build this awesome radio controller Arduino powered lawnmower? I can just sit in a lawn chair and drink a beer while the Lawnbot 400 does all the heavy lifting for me. I would quickly become the envy of all the males who live on my street. Check out the video of it in action after the break.

This instructable will show you how to make your Arduino into an R/C interface that you can use for just about anything requiring remote control. I will also show you how I built an R/C lawnmower using my Arduino, a cheap R/C transmitter and receiver pair, and a couple of electric-wheelchair motors from Ebay. I have used this interface to control anything from basic LED’s to Bipolar stepper motors, mini-robots, lifeless R/C cars from the thrift store, and even a 100lb lawnmower (all with appropriate motor controllers). It is very flexible and easy to change and very simple to set up.

[Link to Lawnbot build tutorial]

Arduino Powered RC Lawnmower originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/03/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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This yellow submarine isn’t exactly the same one as John and Paul sang about but it is an extremely impressive DIY ROV submarine with built in camera.

Made completely out of PVC pipes with some pumps tossed in to help it move and sink, this project and easily be put together by anyone with some spare cash and time.

The entire sub is controlled by an Atmel Mega32 microcontroller. The video fee and system control is fed to the surface using a cable (they say that wireless video as well as leak detection and torpedos is a future add-on).

This is a great project that will bring you hours and hours of fun.

[Link to DIY ROV Submarine]

DIY ROV Submarine originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/03/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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

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

Link to Brushduino

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

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You’ve gone out and seen Avatar and now your ready to summon your inner Cameron and shoot the next blockbuster 3D movie but you just can’t seem to come up with the millions of dollars needed to purchase the camera gear you would need, fear now more because you too can now create a super-duper 3D film for under $300 (how was my infomercial pitch there?).

Some great weekend hackers have put together a shopping list of materials needed to pull this off.

• A couple Kodak Zx1 Digital Camcorders
• L-Shaped bracket
• Some nylon washers, wingnuts and screws
• A basic tripod

I’m sure you could use other cameras and adjust the bracket to suit, but the concept is pretty simple. They have a full write up on how the pulled it off including all the editing that is needed to produce the stereo image. Check out the video after the break of some home made 3D footage.

Roll Your Own 3D Video For Under $300 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Cable testers can be super expensive, but if your trying to trouble shoot a cable drop or run then you know how valuable one can be.

Our favorite kids over at Instructables have a great how to on building your own on the super cheap. A quick trip to your local big box home improvement store and your favorite electronics store (hell even radio shack should it all) and a few bucks is all you will need to build this.

Besides your basic DIY hacking tools you will also need the following …

• 8 LED’s
• 20cm of Cat5 Cable
• 9V Battery Clip and Battery
• Wall Mount Box
• 2 RJ-45 Female Jacks
• 220ohm Resistor
• Female RJ-45 Mount Plate

Once you have all your components assembled head on over to Instructables and make your way through all the sets.

DIY RJ-45 Cable Tester originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Just a few days ago, Feb 16 to be exact, in 1978 Ward Christensen and Randy Suess launched the first ever Bulletin Board System in Chicago.

Many people belive that the BBS was the predecesor to the modern internet, a crude form I will agree but a much more enjoyable form of social interaction online per say. If your not familiar with how a BBS works let me give you a crash course. Back in the day we use to have these devices connected to our computers called modems. They allowed us to connect phone lines to our systems so that we could call other computers and interact in a message based way. BBS’s offered the world of information; files, messaging and even games (called door games).

Many people think that the BBS is dead, they couldn’t be more wrong. BBS’s are still quite active and alive with thriving communities and best of all, no spam or trolls (alright, so there are still stupid people in this world, even on BBS’s). bbs-scene.org is a great place to find out more about BBS’s and how you can participate.

Come join us in Web 0.2, I still love it (and run a system myself!)

Happy Birthday BBS originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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With all the hype surrounding the “maybe possibily” release of the Apple tablet, other possible tablet like devices have been over shadowed. Take this uber sexy looking Innovative Converged Device called the Vega.

The Vega will be offered in 7, 11 and 15-inch models and will all run Android 2.0 software. The largest of the bunch will have a 15.6-inch resistive screen that supports a resolution of 1366 x 768, come with a Tegra processor, 512MB DDR DRAM, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi (no N), and Bluetooth 2.1. The built-in 512MB NAND Flash storage can be expanded via MicroSD cards. It’ll weigh about 45 ounces and have a battery life of around 4 hours.

Look for them to hit tier one cell phone carriers sometime in early 2010. No pricing is available on them yet, but the company does say that they intend to let them go for little cost, so it looks like the carriers might be subsidizing them.

Vega Tablet With Android 2.0 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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People build all sorts of cool things with Arduino. Take the Twittering Doorbell or the Bedazzler but how about something as simple and useful as a clock? And an eye catching one at that!

The clock build requires a few simple materials; a laser printer, some LED’s and a few connectors. The instructions are super easy to understand and the only artistic skill you will need is knowing how to use a stencil (as you can see from the picture above).

Being an Arduino project, you will also get the source code from the project website to get you clock going. Along with the code you’ll also get a detailed PDF schematic and a template for the stencil. With the holiday season right around the corner, making a few of these and giving them to your geeky friends might just be the perfect gift idea.

[Link to Instructables]

DIY: Cool Arduino Clock originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Miss the good old Analog TV days? If so, you can build you very own low-power analog television transmitter and join the underground. I’m not too sure on the legality of it, but now that all the networks (at least in the US) have vacated the analog spectrum you might not be harassed.

Tired of the blocky, JPEG-like resolution of digital television? Do you long for the days of RF modulation and regulated-yet-unregulated content? Do you simply have the desire to toss your converter box out the window and make use of those rabbit ear antennae that are just lying around? If so, then you might be interested in becoming a savior of analog television! This Instructable will show you how to create your own fully-fledged low-power analog television channel, with any video source(including your computer) as a source of content.

We created one that went live the minute analog tv went dead. We’re still the only analog station in NYC, but please join us in making more!!

[Link to Instructables via Make]

DIY: Pirate TV Station originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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How could a week go by without us talking about some sort of Star Trek reference or gadget? Now if you really want to be singled out as a dork show your love for Star Trek why not build yourself this bluetooth Star Trek communicator? I’m not talking about those wussy TNG communicators, I’m talking about the old school plastic molded with mesh screen original series communicators. (Check out the video after the break).

Makezine has a great detailed write up on build your very own super geeky handset.

I thought it would be fun to have a Star Trek: The Original Series Bluetooth communicator for a cellphone. I worked with Dave Clausen to hack one together from a toy Star Trek communicator, a Bluetooth module, and a microcontroller.

If you pair this us with a phone that does voice dialing then you could easily walk around town with you phone nowhere to be seen. Imagine all of the beatings looks you will get as you walk down the street talking into this iconic device.

[Link to Make a Star Trek Bluetooth Communicator]

DIY: Star Trek Bluetooth Communicator originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Got a dead 360 laying around that you can’t fix? Turn that sexy piece of hardware into a fully functional PC. The guys over at Hack N Mod have posted a detailed mod which converts a 360 console into a fully functional PC. Best of all, no red ring of death on this one. Check out the video after the break.

The main challenge with an Xbox to PC mod is fitting everything inside the cramped space of an Xbox 360. The CPU and the power supply have different sizes and line up differently. Innovation is the name of the game as electric0ant shows through careful planning and his project illustrations. Check out a few below. The complete step by step is given on his project page.

Now if only someone could cram a fully functional quad core into an altoids tin, that would be awesome.

[Link to Resurrect a Dead XBox 360 into a PC]

Turn A Dead 360 Into A PC originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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With all of the hoopla surrounding Google Wave most people have forgotten about Google’s last hot product, Google Voice.

If you haven’t heard of Google Voice, let’s look at wikipedia ….

The service provisions a U.S. phone number, chosen by the user from available numbers in selected area codes, free of charge to each user account. Inbound calls to this number are forwarded to other phone numbers of the subscriber. Outbound calls may be placed to domestic and international destinations by dialing the Google Voice number or from a web-based application.[2] Inbound and domestic outbound calls (including calls to Canada, Alaska and Hawaii [3]) are free of charge, while international calls are billed according to a schedule posted on the Google Voice website.

It’s an awesome service and it currently in closed beta. Much like gmail of many years ago, you can only join Google Voice if you have an invite, and I just happen to have 3.

The first three people who post a comment will get an invite. Make sure you use your real email since that’s the only way to send out the invite. Enjoy.

Google Voice Invites originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Every wanted to build you very own auto tracking sentry gun? No? Me either, but now that I take a look at it I do want to build one. Not one that fires bullets or anything, but one that would have a water gun on it to keep people out of my office.

If you’re like me and wanted to make one of these you would probably ran into the same issues I have. So to help all you poor suckers out the software we developed is open source and freely available on the website. The only reservation we have is that you make it a point not to hurt anyone or anything, we take no responsibility for anything.

The point of making it open source is to encourage joint development of the software and hardware possibilities.

If you follow the instructions properly you will end up with exactly what you wanted. After collecting all the hardware you will probably spend a long weekend putting it together. It doesn’t take a genius but it helps to be able to solder and do some basic handcrafts.

You can head on over to his website where he has detailed instruction on building one and all the software you will need to make it work.

DIY: Auto Tracking Sentry Gun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Remember the good old days? When you wanted to impress a girl you’d spend all night creating her a mixtape? No, you don’t? Maybe I’m just old.

Justin Cole wanted to relive the good old days while still using modern day technology so he decided to mash together a digital tape adapter and a flash drive.

My new design uses a small mp3 player that I disassembled and placed inside a cassette tape adapter for an iPod. This allows for mp3′s to be played back through a tapedeck. This has all of the ease and technology of an mp3 player with the retro coolness of a mix tape.

[Link to Digital Mixtape]

DIY: Digital Mixtape originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Here’s one thing you don’t hear of too often, a serious bug in Apple’s iPhone version of Safari that could end up cost you, the user, some serious cash.

Although it’s not a very common bug but thanks to someone who probably spend countless hours trying to poke a hole in Apple’s mobile device, all iPhone users might avoid being hit with extra operator costs.

Estonian Apple site AppleSpot discovered the bug in question. If an iPhone user visits a site which uses Motion-JPEG (usually found on websites that show live feeds of web cams) in Safari, Safari will continue to use up bandwidth even after it’s closed. Safari is one of the few apps on the iPhone that is allowed to run in the background. So let’s say you have a web page up that uses Motion-JPEG streams and even if that site is in another tab or worse yet, Safari has been closed, the stream will continue and if your on a mobile carriers network then bandwidth will continue to rack up.

Now just imagine you were traveling outside your home country where you would be nailed with international data roaming charges and you decided to visit that sexy nurse pay live stream nature wildlife live cam, you could easily rack up some serious charges. The guys at AppleSpot have claimed to rack up over 740 MB in silently streamed bandwidth in one hour of testing. That would cost something like $3,000 in international roaming charges. Yikes!

[Link to AppleSpot]

iPhone Safari Bug Could Cost You Cash originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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In case you missed anything last week; we have everything from Metallica on your iPhone right through to a $1200 Mouse. Enjoy

In Case You Missed It: Week 43 Round Up originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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The Nintendo DSi just got a whole lot bigger. The DSi XL was officially unveiled yesterday by Nintendo. The new handheld is a lot bigger, which is one of the things that fans have been asking for. Instead of dual 3.25-inch displays the bigger brother will now come with 4.2-inch displays. It might not sound like a lot, but if you do the math that’s close to 30% bigger. The unit weighs 314g which is 100g more than the DSi and the overall size is 161 x 91.4 x 21.2 mm.

Besides the size and the new battery that claims to offer 13-17 hours of game play when minimum brightness is used, everything else stays the same. The DSi XL will cost about $220 in Japan where it will be available November 21st. The rest of us shmucks will hopefully see the unit sometime in 2010. It would have been nice to have this unit in time for the holiday season, but like most decisions that Nintendo makes wil releases, North America is always last.

Nintendo DSi Get’s Bigger originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Yes, you read it right, a remote controlled tissue box. You never know when you might need to blow your nose and feel way to lazy to get up and get the tissue box that’s like 2 feet away. Actually, now that I come to think of it, how many people actually keep their tissue boxes on the floor? I mean wouldn’t this thing need to be rugged if you say, keep your tissue box on a end table or on the coffee table? I’m just asking here.

If you do keep your tissue box on the floor and are interested in purchasing this remote controlled unit it costs $25, it has a maximum range of 8m and it’s 250x65x123mm so make sure your kleenex box fits inside. Oh yeah, and it’s only available in Japan.

Remote Controlled Tissue Box originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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So I went to the Metallica concert the other night here in Toronto (it’s my 15th time seeing them live. Yes, if you are asking, I am a fan!) and decided that maybe I was having an early mid-life crisis and wanted to walk down the path of my early life as a dedicated hardcore Metallica fan. As a dedicated fan I scoured the band’s website to catch up on the happenings with the metal legends and stumbled upon their iPhone app, TapTap Revenge: Metallica.

Tapulous, the company famous for it’s addictive line of TapTap games has worked with the band to release a Metallica themed version of it’s TapTap Revenge games aptly called: TapTap Revenge: Metallica. The dedicated version of the game allows users to poke through 10 tracks of some of the bands most famous songs like “Enter Sandman” and “One”.

The game gives you the option to play in a fast-paced arcade mode where you are challenged with bombs and other objects. Career Mode allows you to work your way through the track list and there is even a Bluetooth battle mode that allows you to challenge other players via Bluetooth.

I’ll be honest, if your not a hardcore Metallica fan you might not enjoy this, but if you consider yourself a member of the Metal Militia then what are you waiting for? It’s only $4.99, it’s worth it if not for the music alone.

[Link to TapTap Revenge: Metallica]

Tap Tap Revenge Metallica For The iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Since you can’t walk into to your favorite weapons store and pick up a phaser just yet, hacker Luke decided to build his own. He picked up a toy phaser from Amazon for about $20 ripped out the internals only choosing to reuse the trigger, top switch and battery pack.

The phaser contains two laser diodes which were pulled from a 6x BD-R burner. I sure hope that the burner was broken since purchasing a unit just for the sake of pulling the diodes out to put in a toy gun is very expensive. The two diodes are mounted on a swiveling carriage which can be turned 180 degrees to switch between the diodes. A boost driver is used to bump up the 3v that the batteries provide to 7v to drive the diodes.

Although you won’t be killing Kingons with this unit it does make one cool looking toy. Remember, don’t go firing it in peoples eyes, that will hurt. Check out the video after the break.

Phaser Boasts 300mW Laser originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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

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

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

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

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

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I’ll give Microsoft credit, when they want to be funny they are funny. The Windows Mobile Dev team released this video giving everyone a sneak peak from their super secret application development lab of the upcoming apps that will be released on the new Windows Marketplace.

I love the under-tone of poking fun at Apple’s ridiculous app approval process. They talk about some of the apps that have been rejected like the “You Are Here GPS App” and my personal favorite the virtual handsake app called the “Germaphobe”. I’d pay $0.99 for it.

Microsoft’s App Lab originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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You guys remember Psystar, don’t you? Psystar was the company that openly sold hackintosh systems, complete with a beige box PC and OS X pre installed. Well looks like they have dealt another painful blow to the kids in Cupertino.

Rebel EFI is Psystar’s latest attempt at sending Steve Jobs off of the deep end. For $49.99 the company claims that their Rebel EFI software “allows for the easy installation of multiple operating systems” including OS X on plain old PC hardware. The software can also detect hardware on your system that is compatible with OS X.

There are always risks involved with running hackintosh systems. Apple can decide to roll out an update to OS X at anytime that will break this functionality and let’s not even get into the legal issues surrounding running an Apple OS on non Apple hardware.

If you want to see it for yourself you can grab a trial copy of the software off of their site that will run with a two hour time limit.

[link to Rebel EFI]

Rebel EFI: A Thorn In Apples Side originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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

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

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

[Link to Nook.com]

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

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Those lucky kids across the pond in the UK will be getting the limited edition black Wii on November 6th, bundled with Wii Sports Resort no-less. Nada for us Wii loving fans here in North America. Just more proof that Nintendo does not love you.

The limited edition bundle will include a Wii-mote, nunchuk, MotionPlus peripheral, Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort. We here on our side of the Atlantic will be getting the black Controller Pro though.

That’s okay Nintendo, if we want a black Wii we can just spray paint our current units. Not as if it will look good or anything like that and don’t even get me started on the possibility of streaking. Come on Nintendo, can’t we just get the black Wii too. Pretty please?

Black Wii For The Brits originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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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.

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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.

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Why would you want that sleek modern looking iPod or Archos portable media player when you can have this 1970′s styled Q10 from MyRacer? Just look at that volume knob that sticks out, just like your parents old record player.

Don’t let the retro look fool you. This old school media player supports all the major formats you would expect like divx, xvid, mp3, aac and even wmv. It comes with 4GB of internal storage and a 3-inch touchscreen.

No idea on pricing yet but expect to pay 2009 dollars for this one.

70′s PMP originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Car alarm company Viper (which is owned by Directed Electronics) is unveiling a new app for iPhone users that will let customers control certain aspects of their Viper SmartStart-enabled vehicle from their iPhone or iPod Touch.

The app, which is called Viper SmartStart, acts as a virtual keychain which can do things like lock/unlock your car, open then trunk, enable the alarm or start your car. The app uses the iPhone’s data connection which allows you to control your car from anywhere you have a 3G or EDGE connection.

The only problem I have with this app is what do you do when your somewhere that doesn’t give you 3G or EDGE service like an underground garage? If you can deal with that then you can pick up the app for free. As for the SmartStart module for your car, well that’s gonna run you $499 for a new install or $299 for users who already have a Viper alarm system installed. You will also have to pay for a subscription to Viper’s SmartStart service.

Sounds like too costly for nothing more than a glorified key fob. I’ll keep the little box on my keychain and save the loads of cash.

Unlock Your Car With Your iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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This $32 USB device can easily cause some great laughs or it will cause you to be beaten senseless. Plus this flash drive looking USB device into an unsuspecting users computer and your victims computer will look like it’s possessed. Random mouse movements, caps lock turing itself off and on, or random garbled text and phrases. The Prankster also features a time delay switch so that you have time to make a getaway before all of the mayhem begins.

Although the unit is annoying it will never save a document or close out of anything. Still, make sure you know your victim well enough to know that he or she won’t be calling in the cops to investigate some terrorist action being performed on their computer.

You can try to pick this unit up (they are currently sold out) at Thumbs Up!

USB Prankster originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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I grew up playing 8 bit games. Gaming systems like the NES and good old fashion arcade games really allowed you to separate the men from the boys, not these fancy games the kids now-a-days have.

When I stumbled across the Gemei X760+ I was elated and over joyed. Come on now, it starts with an X and has a + in the name. Once I found out that it also has a whole bunch of emulators that played such classics from the NES, SNES, Genesis, GB GBA and arcade classics I was sold. Then I stumbled across the fact that you can also play video and mp3′s and you could even pump it all out to a TV via it’s TV out port, well, I wanted 2 of them. All this joy for only $81. Go get yours now.

Gemei X760+ Multi Platform Portable Gaming System

Gemei X760+ Portable 8 Bit Gaming originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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No, this isn’t the original Bedazzler stud rhinestone machine but an open source non-lethal weapon. Modeled after The Dazzler (a $1 million sea-sick flashlight), the Bedazzler can be built for under $250 and will easily cause nausea, dizziness, headaches, flash-blindness, eye pain and vomiting. Based on that don’t be an idiot and point it at people, use it in self defense situations only.

This is a great Arduino project for all of you out there who really love blinking LEDs. All of the schematics and PCB files are up on Instructables

Mad props to ladyada for the deisgn.

Bedazzler – DIY Non-Lethal Weapon originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Why would you use that simple and easy to use device called a microwave to heat up your lunch when you can build you very own solar oven using some basic office supplies? Well if your the MacGyver of the office this simple and easy how to is right up your alley.

I’m sure using this to heat up yesterdays left-overs will easily take up your entire lunch break but it is a simple and easy hack and probably a hell of a lot better for you than using a microwave.

Link to Office Warrior Solar Oven

Solar Oven From Office Supplies originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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