tech.nocr.at » light

DIY: Infrared Light Converter

Frank — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 05:12:30 +0000

Infrared lights can come in handy. Trying to be discreet when shooting video in a dark place is the first example that comes to mind. Purchasing dedicated IR lights can be very expensive. By using some old floppy disks or a roll of film you can convert an average flashlight or incandescent light bulb to be a very powerful infrared light source.

As you can see from the video above, video passes through the given materials almost flawlessly yet any light source passing through it is almost invisible to the naked eye.

You can find a full write up on the experiment and examples of creating your own infrared lights at lucidscience.com

DIY: Infrared Light Converter originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/02/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY: Wind-Up Cellphone Charger

Frank — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:18:18 +0000

Here is a great project that will keep your cellphone going when you have no outlet to charge it with. Ben Heck from the Ben Heck show took a cheap wind-up flashlight, added a small diode, resister and a female USB port to make a hand-crank charger for devices that charge via USB.

I wouldn’t recommend using this to completely charge your phone as it would take hours of continuous cranking to get it there, but you can easily get enough juice for a call on a cell phone with just a few minutes of cranking. Its perfect for emergencies.

[Link to The Ben Heck Show]

DIY: Wind-Up Cellphone Charger originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Kensington’s PowerLift Backup-Up Battery

Frank — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 22:33:09 +0000

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.

DIY: Camera Flash Softbox

Frank — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:15:10 +0000

Diffusing light is the key to warm, soft shots. If you do a lot of portrait photography then you know how valuable a softbox can be, but the cost can sometimes be prohibitive. You can add a white card to your flash to diffuse light, buy a diffusing cap for your flash or you can buy a Komplement collapsable fabric box from Ikea for a few bucks and build yourself one kick ass softbox.

Crafty hacker Thomas from Denmark picked up one of these fabric boxes (they come in various sizes, he used the 20cm x 20cm one), cut a hole in the side for his flash and using a flash cord had himself a cheap softbox.

He added some support to the cut-outs to hold his flash in place and as you can see from the pictures it collapses down nicely for stoarge.

This DIY camera softbox and the DIY FlashRing are a perfect addition to your photography toolkit.

DIY: Camera Flash Softbox originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

$2,220 HDMI Cable

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

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

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

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

[Link to $2,2200 HDMI Cable]

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

Electroluminescent iOS Charger

Frank — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 05:18:25 +0000

I can’t begin to count the amount of iPhone chargers I have. Multiple ones from Apple, knock off units I bought because I left them at home, I even have an awesome unit from iGo that can charge two USB devices from it’s internal battery. But I bet that none of them are as green or as cool as this unit.

The Visible Green Charger will reduce standby power by up to 85% when your iOS device is not in use. The awesome electroluminescent cord will light up and flow quickly to indicate that your iOS device is charged up to 65% and will slow down as the device’s battery starts to fill up.

The Visable Green Charger will retail for $40 when it hits store shelves later this month. Currently the device only supports iOS devices but the company behind the unit, Dexim, hopes to expand it to other gadgets that can take a charge through USB.

[Link to Visable Green Charger]

Electroluminescent iOS Charger originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Coolest DIY Lightsaber

Frank — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 00:41:00 +0000

Bradley Lewis of Sloth Furnace has created easily the coolest homemade lightsaber ever. Since we are still quite a ways away from having an actual lightsaber this will just have to do.

This saber is the brightest replica I have ever seen. It lights up almost instantly and has some sweet detail in it’s construction. Check out the video after the break of it in action. There is a complete gallery or pictures and videos over at SlothFurnace.

Coolest DIY Lightsaber originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Xtoaster360

Frank — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 05:50:40 +0000

I have seen many mods in my time, but I have never seen anything like this. Modder ncaruso11 yanked out the guts of his toaster and replaced them in epic fashion with the innards of an Xbox 360. Sure it ends up being a lot bulkier than your average 360, but how cool would it be to have a toaster sitting under your TV. If that doesn’t get the chicks I don’t know what will (alright so it won’t get you any chicks or toast actually).

How sweet is that, especially how he moved the interface status lights to the front on the toaster. ncaruso11 says “If I can sell this one then there are sure to be bigger and better ones in the future. Feel free to throw out any ideas.”. I just might consider bidding on this. I need a new 360 for the basement and best of all, I can tell my wife I’m just buying a toaster, and expensive one yes, but still a toaster.

Xtoaster360 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Pedal Powered Snow Plow

Frank — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 18:08:26 +0000

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.

A Cane With A Hidden Punch

Frank — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:45:32 +0000

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.

Carbon Fiber Toilet Seat

Frank — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 07:15:20 +0000

I’ve alway heard that adding fiber to your diet helps to regulate you, but i don’t think this is what the doctor ordered.

Carbon fiber is one of the great inventions of the 20th century. It’s light, strong and very durable. All things that you would look for in a toilet seat, no? Well maybe not the light part.

So if your the type that like the carbon fiber style/look you can shell out $280 for this carbon fiber toilet seat. My only concern is if you will be able to find matching towels and bathroom accessories.

[Via Dvice]

Carbon Fiber Toilet Seat originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Holy Surge

Frank — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:49:21 +0000

Although this is still a concept, this holy power bar might just work when you need a prayer to keep your gadgets from being fried by power surges. With a full 12 outlets, this will be perfect for oversized power bricks and adapters, it’s the catholic way!

If these actually make it to production, I’m sure the various archdiocese’s across the world will be lining up to buy them. You know that every church will want one to power their circa 1970′s PA system. It’s the holy way to power your sermon.

I’m going to stop making all sorts of jokes about this or I very well might be the way who gets hit by lightening.

Holy Surge originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

New Amiga On The Way

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

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

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

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

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

Affordable P1 Jr Pico Projector

Frank — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:10:12 +0000

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.

WiFi Door Opener

Frank — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:41:26 +0000

We have seen our fair share of door opening hacks. Remember the secret knock door lock? That was pretty awesome, but what if I tell you that you can unlock your door from any wifi device?

The guys over at Sunlight Labs have done just that. By using a WRT54GL and some creative hacking that have wired up their wireless router to buzz open their front door.

So how does this all work? Well, let’s start with the router. It’s a Linksys WRT54GL, a still-Linux-friendly descendant of the WRT54G, the router which jump-started the custom firmware scene. There are a lot of custom router firmwares available — DD-WRT, Tomato, Gargoyle — and they can all make your consumer-grade router do some professional-grade things. For this project I used OpenWRT, the system on which many of those other projects are based. It’s got a much steeper learning curve than those other distros — you definitely need to be comfortable with the command line — but it lets you build a custom firmware with exactly the components you want. With some tweaking I was able to create a firmware that included a stripped-down version of Python, but which still fit into the WRT54GL’s meager 2MB flash memory. (Like the Arduino, Python turned out to be overkill, but at the time I expected to need it — and it’s always nice to have it handy.)

Link to Door Opener Science Project

WiFi Door Opener originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Brushduino – Arduino Meets Toothbrush

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

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

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

Link to Brushduino

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

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Glow In The Dark Toilet Paper

Frank — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:10:07 +0000

How many times have you been in the bathroom taking care of business when suddenly the lights go out? Never you say? Well I have, once. Trust me, when you are caught in a situation where you are in complete darkness the only thing you want to know is where the toilet paper is, and when the lights are off you have no idea.

Enter the glow in the dark toilet paper. If you are ever caught in a situation like I mentioned above you will be thankful that you spend $8 a roll (ya that’s right, cleaning up you business with glow in the dark toilet paper is expensive).

You can grab you very own roll at I Want One of Those

Glow In The Dark Toilet Paper originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Photoshop On Your iPhone

Frank — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 05:41:54 +0000

10 years ago most of us would struggle with not only the cost of Photoshop but the cost of the hardware needed just to run it let alone do anything with it. Amazingly enough in todays day and age you can now carry Photoshop in your pocket.

Alright, alright, it’s not CS3 or anything it’s actually 1.0, but it’s still super cool on the geek factor scale. This demo was released to about 50 people who recently attended the Photoshop 20th anniversary event and will never see the light of day on the app store. Doesn’t mean that I want it, I want it bad!

Check the video out after the break of Photoshop in action on an iPhone.

Photoshop On Your iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Drive A Car With Your iPhone, Again

Frank — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:25:06 +0000

A few weeks ago we showed you how some smart peeps got together to write some custom software and hardware to control a minivan via an iPhone. They did all of that for the Darpa Urban Challenge and all of it will probably never see the light of day. Now the guys over at Waterloo Labs have decided to jump into the whole “control a car with your iphone” thing with both feet and actually show us how they got their iPhone to control the steering, brakes and acceleration on a full size car.

I don’t suggest you actually go out and do this, especially not the surfing on the top of the car while controlling it with your iPhone. That could end up really bad for you. Check the video out of all the crazy action after the break.

Drive A Car With Your iPhone, Again originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iSteady Shot: Camera Stabilizer For Your iPhone

Frank — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:01:06 +0000

If using your iPhone 3G S to shoot a movie is in your plans you will quickly learn that such a small and light weight device won’t be the easiest thing to keep stable. Gladly someone has got your problems covered.

The iSteady Shot is a camera stabilization unit for your iPhone 3G S. Although this won’t improve the video quality of the video that the iPhone produces, it will defiantly make it a lot smoother (check the video out after the break). It can be adjusted if your iPhone has a case and comes with a two-axis gimbal for real smooth 360 degree movement.

The unit will run you $149.99 and can be pre-ordered right now from their site.

iSteady Shot: Camera Stabilizer For Your iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

mPower Illuminator: A $250 Flashlight

Frank — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:59:06 +0000

You might be wondering why you would spend $250 on a flashlight, especially since you can pick up a cheap one at a dollar store for, well, a dollar. There are two reasons you would do so. One would be because you are filthy rich and really don’t care how much you spend and Two, hmmmm, well you decide for yourself.

The mPower Emergency Illuminator was designed by the Porsche Design Studio (so far not worth the $250).
It comes with what the company calls “groundbreaking battery technology”. The unit has dual battery barrel’s. One barrel holds you run-of-the-mill batteries and the other holds the “mPower Reserve Battery” that has a minimum shelf life of 20 years from activation. The user chooses when and where to active it. (still can’t see why I would pay $250)
A built in USB port for charging other gadgets (Maybe. Actually, nope. Still not worth it)

So as you can see, you’ll have to be filthy rich to justify this purchase, or just an idiot.

[Via DVICE]

mPower Illuminator: A $250 Flashlight originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

NCube: Portable Gamecube Goodness

Frank — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:46:38 +0000

I’ve seen my fair share of portable Gamecube systems, but this has got to be one of the slickest I have ever see.

Designed and hacked together by a Ben Heck apprentice, the NCube is a beautiful creation. The case is a seriously modded Datamax Kid’s Delight and the screen is an unmodded Zenith PSone display. The unit also has a 2-way switch so you can choose to run off batteries or AC, a memory card slot and a rear-mounted disc drive.

You can read up on the 90 hour journey to create this or just skip right down to the end of this article to see it in action.

[Link to NCube Design]

NCube: Portable Gamecube Goodness originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Enterprise Chandelier, For The Geeky

Frank — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:52:46 +0000

I know my wife would love to have me hang up this Enterprise chandelier in our dining room. She would love it so much that it would easily be grounds for her to divorce me. On the other hand, if your already single and your a hardcore trekie then this $189 USS Enterprise chandelier might just be perfect for your residence.

[Link to Enterprise Chandelier]

Enterprise Chandelier, For The Geeky originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

A Cell Phone For Grama

Frank — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:07:55 +0000

With the massive amount of multi-function “smart” phones out there people tend to loose the focus of what cell phones actually are; phones.

My mother couldn’t care less if her phone plays mp3′s or if it’s got a twitter client. All she wants is a phone and a super easy one to boot. As she starts to approach her twilight years (still love you mom), this generic brand mobile phone with oversize butons with a screen that can be read from across the room might just be perfect for her.

The oginal idea was to design a phone for seniors who aren’t very tech savvy, but you can also use it if all you want is a really simple cell phone.

The 6380 Senior Mobile Phone does actually carry a few handy features, including a flashlight, a massive “SOS” button on the back the can auto dial a pre-set number and emit a loud warning tone (if you think pocket dialing people is bad, just imagine this in your pocket), a phone book, SMS messaging, a calendar, alarm clock and an FM radio. The display is kept to a bare minimum with a massive font and, ready for this, a whopping 128×60 screen resolution.

The 6380 only works in the 900/1800 GSM bands, so it will work everywhere except for North America (sorry mom). If it’ll work on your home network, expect to pay $74.99 for one.

[Link to 6380 Seniors Mobile]

A Cell Phone For Grama originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Nokia Kills The N-Gage – Are You Shocked?

Frank — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:45:57 +0000

You might want to sit down before you read this. Nokia has announced that they will be stopping all support for it’s plagued portable gaming platform, the N-Gage. Yes, I know, you might be saying “Dude, didn’t Nokia stop supporting this thing like years ago?”.

The move really isn’t a huge shock, the platform has been begging to be put out of it’s misery for a few years now. Although Nokia has officially announced that no further games will be published for the unit, it also said that it will continue to sell currently available games in the Ovi Store until September 2010.

Although purchased games will alway continue to work on the unit, any of the connected community features will also cease in 2010.

On a side note, anyone wanna buy a slightly used N-Gage? Cheap.

Nokia Kills The N-Gage – Are You Shocked? originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY: Build A Solar Power Station

Frank — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:36:06 +0000

Why lug around a generator when you could go green and build yourself a portable solar power station? Okay okay okay, so you’re not gonna the the juice out of this thing that you would out of say a 1500 watt gas generator, but if what you require is less than 400 watts of power then this is perfect for you.

The portable power unit has a solar panel that charges a 12 volt deep cycle battery which then in turn feeds a 400 watt inverter. This will also save you money in the long run. Besides the initial investment in the hardware there is no operating cost to use it. The only thing you require is sunlight, which last time I check is still a-plenty. Especially during the day.

[Link to Portable Power Station]

DIY: Build A Solar Power Station originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

B&N Nook Officially Released

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

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

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

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

[Link to Nook.com]

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

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PS3 Laptop

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

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

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

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

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B&N E-Reader Photos Leaked

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

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

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

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

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

Mini Lighter Cufflinks

Frank — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:21:23 +0000

Seriously, you’d have to be a cast member of the TV Show Madmen to be able to pull off something like these mini lighter cufflinks. Seriously, who smokes any more (besides me. I know I know). Not even the modern day super spy would want to be caught with these things, they’d opt for the mini laser cufflinks.

If you still think that walking around with something attached to your very flammable shirt that can easily catch fire since it carries flammable fluid inside, then you can head over to Etsy and pick them up for $40 off of YougNeek.

Mini Lighter Cufflinks originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Bedazzler – DIY Non-Lethal Weapon

Frank — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 03:18:08 +0000

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.

Your Very Own Tricorder

Frank — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:23:44 +0000

I’m a hardcore Trekie. I’d almost go as far as saying i’m one serious ass trek head, but i’m not sure if walking out in public with this $49.99 Tricorder replica, especially if i don’t want to be laughed at or beaten in public.

On the other hand if you plan on attending Comic-Con or a Star Trek convention then bringing this along to show all of the massive nerds it’s working sound effects and lights you should be alright.

If your cool with the later scenario, then you can pick this baby up from Amazon on June 4th 09 for a mere $49.99.

Your Very Own Tricorder originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/05/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

EEE 4G External Antenna Mod

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

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

Full details on the surgical procedure can be found here

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

USB Powered Tardis Micro Fridge

Frank — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:54:36 +0000

You must show your true colours when it comes to this gadget sitting on your desk. People from far and wide must know that you have a serious addiction to the Dr. Who series or else you will be ridiculed to no end.

If you are will to suffer the harassment then you will appreciate the famous time travelers phone booth turned fridge. The unit will hold a 12 ounce can f soda and comes with a flashing Tardis light with some sound effects. All this joy can soon be yours for the low price of $44.99 from Entertainment Earth

USB Powered Tardis Micro Fridge originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/11/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Margarator – Make Margaritas In Your Car

Frank — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 17:15:47 +0000

How many times you been cruising down the road when the craving for a nice tasty cold Margarita? I know I never have, but if I ever did the Margarator MSB-585 would come to save the day.

The blender was clearly created for on-the-go drinkers. IMHO, drinking and driving is a really bad idea. Making a drink while your driving in an even worse idea, but this 12V cigarette lighter powered blender could come in handy while your on a camping trip. Just don’t even get pulled over by the cops with one of these in your front seat plugged in, you’ll be in for a big surprise.

You can pick up your own Margarator for $110 from BarWare

Margarator – Make Margaritas In Your Car originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Laser Music Sequencer

Frank — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 04:04:46 +0000

If you have ever been to a club you can usually be assured to see some kind of light show (unless the clubs you frequent are in some back alley). Most of those light shows incorporate lasers to add to the experience. Now you can create your own laser show that will act to the music, albeit a small show, but great for your room.

Funky Alex has come up with a cool dual speaker laser X/Y mirror display that will bounce a laser around to the beat of the music. I’m sure if you had some bigger speakers and a longer throw you could probably have this display on an entire wall.

The vibrations from the 2 base speakers (with 1 mirror an each speaker) makes the laserbeam move with the music and the frequencies (audio).

You can find entire instructions on building your own including links to some software for your Mac to help you draw some cool effect on Instructables

Laser Music Sequencer originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Rock Band Smoke And Light Kit

Frank — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 03:19:05 +0000

Do you think that you are a? Play Rock Band day and night? Why not add to your experience with the Rock band smoke and light kit. Alright, so I agree with you, this is a stupid idea, but then again stupid people buy stupid things. Performance Designed Products will soon be selling a smoke and light effects kit that will synchronize with the music from Rock Band. Not too much more info but it seems that the kit is only available to Xbox 360 owners.

You can pre-order it right now from Amazon for $99.99 as it won’t clutter store shelves until November 11th. rockstar

Rock Band Smoke And Light Kit originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

5 Cleaver Reuses For Your G4 Cube

Frank — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:44:34 +0000

You might not want to admit it, but you probably have a G4 Cube sitting in the closet or in the garage. They were a marvel for their day, not much by todays standards, but a marvel never-the-less. Unplggd has a great listing of 5 cleaver things you could do with your G4 Cube. How about a fancy light? Maybe your box of tissue needs a new home (we have a plushy mini-couch covering ours) or better yet, an aquarium.

Got any cleaver re-uses for an old G4 Cube (or any other classic piece of computer hardware)? Let us know in the comments.

[Link to 5 Clever Reuses For Your G4 Cube]

5 Cleaver Reuses For Your G4 Cube originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

California Scientists Design Working Tricorder

Frank — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:28:58 +0000

Scientists at the University of California have created what just might be a working tricorder like the ones used in the Star Trek TV series. They aren’t actually calling it a tricorder, but the Universal Detector is a catchy name never-the-less (and one that will avoid a lawsuit).

The device would use nano-technology to figure out what kind of contaminants are present on any surface that you point the device at. Essentially you should be able to point this thing at anything and figure out what it’s made of. The idea uses a back plate that is filled with nanoscale holes. When placed on a surface the back plate is zapped with laser light and the surface plasmons that form emit light with a frequency related to the materials touching the plate. The only problem is that, the device, while sound in theory, will need a system that can decode the light signatures it produces.

If your not willing to wait for this to hit the market than you could always get this tricorder that will run on your iPhone.

California Scientists Design Working Tricorder originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Thrustmaster’s Lightsaber Wimote Add-On

Frank — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:10:27 +0000

There have been quite a few lightsaber add-ons for your wimote’s before, but this one from Thrustmaster actually looks quite cool. The units are powered by three AAA batteries and have 17 blue or red LED’s for some glow in the dark fun. I’m not sure how much they will add to gameplay, but they will cause some fun when you swing it around and smash the light on the end table in your living room.

[Link to Thrustmaster]

Thrustmaster’s Lightsaber Wimote Add-On originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

24-Ct Gold Touch And Nano

Frank — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:05:36 +0000

The iPod is considered one of the worlds most stolen item, so let’s just up the ante and wrap it in 24-ct gold. For a mere $644 for your nano or $823 for your Touch you too can burn your money away and wrap your mp3 player up in 24-ct gold. They should sell big red lights that you could wear on your persons announcing to the world that you have more money than you know what to do with. With all of the staving children in the world and all.

[Via Gizmodo]

24-Ct Gold Touch And Nano originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DIY: Softbox

Frank — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 03:55:35 +0000

A Softbox is used to create soft diffused light by directing light through a white diffusing material. Photographers choose to use a softbox because it help to create a nice soft even light on a given object.

A Softbox can generally run you some serious coin, but with the help of this DIY project you can build your own to help you achieve that professional look next time you need to shoot something small.

The purpose of this project is twofold. First it allows for the testing of a new idea for mounting a DIY softbox to a light stand and secondly it lets me answer a question in the comments on my previous Large DIY Softbox about the best type of lining material to use when ‘doing it yourself’.

[Link to DIY: Softbox]

DIY: Softbox originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Chinavision’s Projector Cellphone

Frank — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 05:45:12 +0000

3M just announced that their MPro110 tiny projector would hit the market in late September. This was awesome news for people who are on the road a lot and have to lug around projectors to do presentations. But did you know that Chinavision is already selling a tiny projector? Built into a cell phone no-less.

The Projector phone is a tri-bank unlocked GSM phone that come with all of the features you would expect in a smartphone. Touch screen, camera, bluetooth, microSD card slot, and a 640×480 projector that claims to project images up to 46″ in width. Check the video out and judge for yourself just how good the image is.

The phone isn’t small by any stretch, and comes with the worst “wanna-be” iPhone OS I have ever seen. You get a 1800mAh battery which should provide you with up to 3 hours of talk time and about 2 hours of projector use. For $370 you really can’t go wrong if your on the road and traveling light means something to you.

[Link to Projector Phone via OhGizmo!]

Chinavision’s Projector Cellphone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Windows 7 – Looks Just Like Vista

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

Is it me or is Windows 7 looking a lot like Vista? In the latest Windows 7 M3 build, we see that there are some differences, but subtle at best. The ribbon interface is back, Libraries instead of My Documents, a simplified Start Menu, fewer UAC (User Account Control) alerts, and what seems to be a “light” version of Windows Media Player.

At first glance it looks like not much has changed. Maybe they should consider dropping the Vista background, that might help.

Windows 7 – Looks Just Like Vista originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Pop Can Solar Heater

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

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

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

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

Jerry And Bill Get The Axe

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

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

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

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

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

Portable N64

Frank — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:15:36 +0000

It’s truly amazing that the hacking community in the benheck forums continues to provide quality hacks like this portable N64. Darth 64 is a portable N64 that uses parts from a N64, PSx, GameCube, and a Lazer Doodle (that’s the case).

List of features:

Psone screen with original backlight.
Flush mounted headphone jack.
5000maH Li-Poly batteries with quick charger and protection circuit.
Gamecube style joystick and d-pad.
Rear shoulder buttons and twin z buttons.
Cart slot relocation.

You can read up on the whole process here.

Portable N64 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Rare Terminator Endoskeleton

Frank — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:02:56 +0000

Have you ever wanted to own your own Terminator? Well now you can, unless your name is John Connor that is. Sideshow Collectibles has produced 40 of these 6-foot Terminator endoskeletons. Made from Chromed metal and fiberglass and complete with futuristic blue LED lighting, this unit could be yours for a cool $20,000 via an Ebay auction.

If you are really a hardcore fan boy, then you might want to jump in auction and get your metal on.

[Link to Ebay auction]

Rare Terminator Endoskeleton originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

CrossOver Chromium Brings Chrome To OS X And Linux

Frank — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 04:48:57 +0000

The crafty open source developers at Codeweavers have beaten Google to the punch and release Mac OS X and Linux native versions of Google’s Chrome browser.

Before you start to jump for joy, this is more a proof of concept that and actual production run browser. The developers don’t recommend that you run their port of Chrome as your main browser. In my testing with the Mac port of the browser I quickly noticed that it was missing that smooth look and shine that you get with the Windows version. This might be okay if you just want to test drive Chrome and don’t have a Windows machine, but not something you might want to use day to day.

Maybe this will light a fire under Google’s butt and speed up development of Chrome for other OSes. Then again, maybe not.

[Link to CrossOver Chromium]

CrossOver Chromium Brings Chrome To OS X And Linux originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

OS X 10.5.5 Available Now

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

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

General

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

Address Book

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

Disk Utility and Directory Utility

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

iCal

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

Mail

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

MobileMe

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

Time Machine

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

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

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iPhone Modem App

Frank — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 06:00:32 +0000

iPhone Modem, a jailbroken app for your iPhone, promises 10 second iPhone tethering. The app, which can be download to jailbroken phone via the Cydia application repository, allows you to tether your iPhone to your Mac so that you can use the EDGE or 3G of your phone to surf the internet. I don’t own an iPhone, so I can’t really say if this work as advertised, but if it does it would offer yet another functional use of your iPhone.

You might want to be careful with this one. If AT&T is watching, they can come down on you hard for using something like this, but for casual and light surfing this would be perfect.

iPhone Modem App originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To: Make An Invisible License Plate

Frank — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:38:28 +0000

Here is another take on using IR lights to blind a camera, this time a photo-radar camera no-less. I’m not really sure on how well this would work for you, and it’s probably highly illegal, but if you want to try it for your own educational purposes go ahead.

All you really need are some LED flashers, some IR lights, and a bit of soldering skill. If you put this together and it actually does blind a camera, remember that it doesn’t blind the naked eye and might arouse some suspicion from any law enforcement agency.

How To: Make An Invisible License Plate originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Portable Packman

Frank — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:02:18 +0000

Pacman, the video game of my youth. I spent many an hours (and money) at the local coffee shop when I was a kid trying to master this game (I don’t think I ever did). sam_thornley over on the benheck forums came up with this great little project. It uses the guts of a JAKKS Namco TV arcade stick and the composite video signal is hooked up to a 2.5-inch screen with a CCFL backlight.

Four AA batteries are in a regular project box gives this portable gaming adventure 2.5 hours of play. There currently is no sound, but he says that the TV games’ sound pales to the original anyway.

Portable Packman originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

LucasArts Planning A Wii MotionPlus Lightsaber Game

Frank — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:33:26 +0000

According to gaming site Joystiq, The Star Wars factory is looking to follow up on The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels with another lightsaber game, this time using the Wii MotionPlus accessory.

According to the Q-man, now that the company has access to the tech for development purposes, it wants to make the bestest lightsaber game ever. Might we suggest it be called: Star Wars: Lightsaber Duels – This Time It’s Not All Spazzy, Really!

[Via Joystiq]

LucasArts Planning A Wii MotionPlus Lightsaber Game originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Better Cell Service With Cell Rangers

Frank — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:49:21 +0000

We have all suffered it, bad call quality, poor reception, limited or no service. Fear no more (we hope that is), Cell Ranger to the rescue. Cell Ranger is a company that focuses on enhancing your wireless service (once again, we hope). The company just released two cell signal boosters called Cell Ranger Stix and Cell Ranger Port for computer and automobile users.

Both units feature a microprocessor that receives then analyzes cellular signals. It then selectively amplifies the wireless signal based on real time signals conditions to provide the best reception. It claims that this will offer users a more constant signal, fewer dropped calls, and faster data access, all this within a 6 foot radius to the unit.

The units are compatible with any wireless carrier in both the U.S. and Canada except for iDEN networks (sorry Nextel). The units will work with any car’s cigarette lighter or on any computer’s USB port.

Each unit will run for $150.

Better Cell Service With Cell Rangers originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Charge Your Batteries While You Walk

Frank — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:21:21 +0000

Everyone has seen solar gadgets that provide juice to electronics or charge batteries up, but these units require you to be in a good source of sunlight for hours on end just to get a bit of juice. While some people might be outdoors most of the day, the majority of people aren’t in the woods for hours on end.

This little gadget put a spin on the idea of alternate energy. The M2E Power charges up a set of batteries by using kinetic energy. Strap this little unit to your belt while your walking or running and it will collect energy from your movements.

There still is no news on availability or pricing, but this is a great idea on harnessing some of that kinetic energy you produce every day.

[Link to M2E Power]

Charge Your Batteries While You Walk originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

MobileMe Gives You Another 60 Days

Frank — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:45:03 +0000

I’ve been a big proponent of Apple upgrading it’s .Mac service. Once I heard that they were revamping it to the MobileMe system I was ecstatic, boy was I wrong. After many fumbles and screw-up Apple came out and gave all users a 30 day extension for their troubles. I guess they still haven’t fixed all of the kinks since they are now giving another 60 day extension to paid users.

That’s a total of 3 months worth of free service. I’m sure that is costing Apple millions of dollars, not to mention the stock hit that it will take in the morning.

I’m not sure why it’s so hard for a company that has been held in the highest light for doing no wrong by geeks everywhere to screw up a project so badly. Why is it so hard for them to just get it right the first time? They did it with the iPod, the iPhone, and even the iMac. Maybe they should have called the service iMobileMe, that might have made it work.

MobileMe Gives You Another 60 Days originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Captian Kirk’s Chair

Frank — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:36:44 +0000

Need to assert some authority over your bridge, or if you don’t happen to own a Constitution Class starship you could also assert some authority over your living room with this Captain’s chair straight out of the original Star Trek series.

It looks remarkably similar to the original prop from the ’60s TV series. The makers have outfitted the chair with some authentic sound effects and blinking lights, it even comes with some sampled dialog you can play back. Now if it only had a button to order phasers set to kill so that you can wipe out those annoying friends who come over and stay to long.

No details on pricing but we do know it should be available sometime in 09.

Captian Kirk’s Chair originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Custom iPhone Light-Up Apple Logo

Frank — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:48:30 +0000

With Apple selling upwards of 3 million iPhones already I bet you are looking for that extra little way to stand out in a crowd. Why not light up the Apple logo on the back of your iPhone. iPhones.ru has a teaser of an iPhone hack that causes the Apple logo on the back to light up whenever the screen is turned on. Details are still sketchy, but it looks to me like the hack involves replacing the metal backplate with an LED equipped one; custom software also allows you to select the brightness of the glow independently of the screen brightness.

I’m not sure if the are going to be selling kits to let you do this at home, but if they do we will let you know.

Custom iPhone Light-Up Apple Logo originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Tun A $4 Flashlight Into A Torch

Frank — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:25:36 +0000

I absolutely love Kip Kay’s tutorials, they are quick, effective, and fun to do. Take this simple hack. With a $4 flashlight and a super powerful bulb you can make yourself a super powerful flashlight, much like the one’s you would spend $80-$100 on.

Best of all, this hack can be done without any soldering skills. This would be a perfect project to work with a kid and introduce him/her to the world of hacking and tweaking. Give the project a shot and let us know if you can improve on it, you never know, maybe you’ll beat the guy who hacked together a flashlight that’s as powerful as a star.

Tun A $4 Flashlight Into A Torch originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

In Car Mircowave

Frank — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:28:27 +0000

Because putting on make-up and texting on your cell phone isn’t enough while you drive, you can now heat up your burritos too!. Maplin, which is something like a British Radio Shack, has rolled out a portable microwave oven that can be run from your car’s lighter socket. This might just be perfect for tailgaters and truckers, not to be strapped into your front seat so that you can heat up yesterdays leftovers while you are driving.

The instruction manual reads … “It is advised that you start the vehicle prior to using the microwave to improve cooking times and prevent the car battery from becoming discharged.” Translation: This sucker uses a lot of juice.

You can pick it up right now for around $180

Maplin

In Car Mircowave originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To Speed Up WordPress With Nginx And WP Super Cache

Frank — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:43:16 +0000

Edit: Fixes suggested in the comments have been applied to this howto

We recently moved tech.nocr.at over to a bunch of VPSs in order to achieve some decent load balancing and speed. Even though SliceHost isn’t a sponsor, I’d like to give them a quick plug. SliceHost is easily the greatest VPS provider bar none. You pick the Distro you want, you tweak it, you set it up, all ports are available, you do as you wish. If you setup multiple VPS with them you can even have private IP’s between them in order to load balance or cluster. Prices start as low as $20/month. If you use them, click this link so that I can get some referral love. Now on to the article..

WordPress can be a blessing and a pain at the same time. It’s great for displaying dynamic content yet it’s displaying that exact dynamic content that can put a massive stress load on your system. WordPress’s query routines aren’t exactly the best. Let’s not even go into how much of a hog Apache can be, but for running dynamic content and prettying up your url’s, mod_rewrite can’t be beat. By using WP Super Cache to help reduce the load on your SQL queries and by placing Nginx in front of Apache as a reverse proxy, you’d be amazed and how quickly your site will load and respond, even enough to withstand a digg of slashdot effect.

Here’s what you are going to need.

This how-to system assumes that you have your Webserver running under a debian style distro like Ubuntu, but It can easily be modified for other distros like Fedora or CentOS.

Assuming that you already have WordPress running under Apache the first thing we are going to do is install the Wp-Super-Cache plugin and active it under your plugin folder of your WordPress installation. Pay close attention to the installation steps in the included readme.txt file, you have to follow each step properly in order to ensure proper caching.

Wp-Super-Cache creates static html files of your pages lessening the load on your SQL queries. Once you have it running and working let’s move on to our next step, reconfiguring Apache.

Apache can be a resource hog, especially when it has to span multiple child processes in order to serve up content. We are going to have to do some tweaking to apache’s conf file so that it will work behind Nginx.

Open up your /etc/apache2/ports.conf file

sudo nano /etc/apache2/ports.conf

We need to change Apache from port 80 to 8080 as Nginx will be server content to the real world via port 80.

Listen 8080

Next we are going to turn KeepAlives off on Apache since Nginx will be dealing with all of the actual browser connections. This will ensure that all of the child processes in Apache die quickly and don’t hang around chewing up memory

Find the KeepAlive entry in your /etc/apache2/apache2.conf file and set it to off

KeepAlive Off

Now that we have made the needed changes in apache we need to restart it so that they take effect.

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Next we are going to install Nginx which is a powerful and extremely lightweight http server that is perfect for reverse proxying or load balancing to backend servers like Apache.

sudo apt-get update | sudo apt-get install nginx

Once nginx is installed we are going to need to modify it’s config file located at /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

Your conf file should look like this.

user www-data;
worker_processes  2;
 
error_log  /var/log/nginx/error.log;
pid        /var/run/nginx.pid;
 
events {
	worker_connections  1024;
}
 
http {
	include       /etc/nginx/mime.types;
	default_type  application/octet-stream;
	access_log  /var/log/nginx/access.log;
	sendfile        on;
	tcp_nopush     on;
	keepalive_timeout  3;
	tcp_nodelay        on;
	gzip  on;
	include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*;
}

Now we need to move on to the actual site config file for our Nginx setup

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/default

Your file should look something like this (replace domain.com of course)

server {
        listen   80;
        server_name  domain.com www.domain.com;
        error_log   /var/log/nginx/domain.com.error.log;
        access_log  /var/log/nginx/domain.com.access.log;
 
# Main location (path to you blog, relative to your domain root)
        location / {
            proxy_pass         http://127.0.0.1:8080/;
            proxy_redirect     off;
 
            proxy_set_header   Host             $http_host;
            proxy_set_header   X-Real-IP        $remote_addr;
            proxy_set_header   X-Forwarded-For  $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
 
            client_max_body_size       10m;
            client_body_buffer_size    128k;
 
            proxy_connect_timeout      90;
            proxy_send_timeout         90;
            proxy_read_timeout         90;
 
            proxy_buffer_size          4k;
            proxy_buffers              4 32k;
            proxy_busy_buffers_size    64k;
            proxy_temp_file_write_size 64k;
        }
 
    # Static files location
        location ~* ^.+\.(htm|html|jpg|jpeg|gif|png|ico|css|zip|tgz|gz|rar|bz2|doc|xls|exe|pdf|ppt|txt|tar|mid|midi|wav|bmp|rtf|js)$ {
            root   /;
        }
	# if the requested file exists, return it immediately
	if (-f $request_filename) {
	break;
	}
 
	set $supercache_file '';
	set $supercache_uri $request_uri;
 
	if ($request_method = POST) {
	set $supercache_uri '';
	}
 
	# Using pretty permalinks, so bypass the cache for any query string
	if ($query_string) {
	set $supercache_uri '';
	}
 
	if ($http_cookie ~* "comment_author_|wordpress|wp-postpass_" ) {
	set $supercache_uri '';
	}
 
	# if we haven't bypassed the cache, specify our supercache file
	if ($supercache_uri ~ ^(.+)$) {
	set $supercache_file /wp-content/cache/supercache/$http_host/$1index.html;
	}
 
	# only rewrite to the supercache file if it actually exists
	if (-f $document_root$supercache_file) {
	rewrite ^(.*)$ $supercache_file break;
	}
}

The above (especially the if statements) help Ngnix pass the static html files that are created by WP Super Cache directly to the users thus freeing up Apache to do nothing more than handle the dynamic requests.

Now it’s time to restart Ngnix and get the whole ball of wax working

/etc/init.d/nginx restart

What we have essentially done is taken the load of serving static files like images, css, and js files off of apache and passed it on to Ngnix which runs a lot faster and leaner than apache for serving static content. All requests for any dynamic content like php still gets passed on to apache. Clean and simple.

In closing let me mention that this is just what works for me, i’m sure that there might be a better way to use WP Super Cache and Ngnix to speed up WordPress, but what you see above has really helped with the load on both of the tech.nocr.at front-end web servers.

How To Speed Up WordPress With Nginx And WP Super Cache originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Homebrew Flashlight As Powerful As A Star

Frank — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:50:39 +0000

Interested in lighting up your own soccer field? Why not send morse code to any visiting aliens with The “MaxBlaster”. A 38 million candle power flashlight that is just as powerful as a miniature star when seen from a distance. Dutch optics engineer Ralf Ottow started the project by taking apart a commercial flashlight, inserting a mercury arc bulb, and added a custom designed reflector to the mix. I’m no engineer, but I’m sure this puppy will blind you or at the very least burn you if you get too close.

If you interested as to how Ralf went about building this flashlight on steroids you can visit this link on Popular Science that will explain everything.

Homebrew Flashlight As Powerful As A Star originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

USB Drive Watch

Frank — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:18:47 +0000

What better way to make sure you take that USB drive with you than have it also be your watch, unless you also forget you watch all the time, then your screwed. The Timeless Watch, which was designed by Ondrej Vaclavik, seamlessly integrates a hidden USB drive that also serves as the watch’s clasp. Perfect for getting your data across the border and through the TSA.

The watch is lightweight and requires no batteries as it charges up via USB. It’s not available for sale just yet and we have no word on how big the drive will be, but I guess you could always build your own from some spare parts.

You can see more pictures of the unit over at Ondrej Vaclavik’s site.

USB Drive Watch originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Tesla Coil Guitar Amp

Frank — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:56:03 +0000

I’ve been to many concerts that featured some incredible light shows. I was even at a Metallica concert here in Toronto that has some wicked flames going on stage, so much so that you were smacked in the face with an intense heat wave, but having shooting arcs of electricity onstage by using a tesla coil as a guitar amp just rocks.

It’s a match in Metal Heaven. Now, if he could only make it bigger and louder I’d go see him in concert.

Tesla Coil Guitar Amp originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

PS2 Hack Simulates Fatigue

Frank — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 05:20:44 +0000

I’ve sure seen my fair share of console game controller hacks, but never one like this. The guys at Near Future Laboratory have been working on a hack for a PS2 controller that will making gaming more “realistic” by simulating fatigue. By wiring in the ever versatile Arduino platform to the PS2 controller’s DualShock 2 analog stick and some crafty code they were able to tweak the output signal ever so slightly so that the longer you play, the slower your character moves.

Crazy, yes I know, but if they could only cause you fatigue the longer you play … What am I thinking, maybe they should give all of us bigger boosts of energy so that we can play longer!

Link – Near Future Laboratory

PS2 Hack Simulates Fatigue originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Best Of The Week – Jun 22-29

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

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

Optoma Pico Projector

Frank — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 03:08:29 +0000

I love my iPod but most people have the same complaint – you love having portable video but can’t stand watching said video on a tiny screen. There just must be a light at the end of the tunnel real soon. Optoma’s Pico Projector, which is now in the prototype stage, is a mini projector for your cellphone, iPod, or other portable video device.

The Optoma is the first pico projector with DLP technology which should offer us a decent picture. Only time will tell is this product will be a success, but it should would be cool to display some video on a hotel wall or on the back of a food tray on an airline.

Optoma Pico Projector originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

EeePC Keyboard Backlight for $15

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

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

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

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

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

The Best Of 2600

Frank — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:35:18 +0000

The guys over at my beloved 2600 magazine have decided to publish The Best of 2600. It’s a collection of articles from the 20+ years of its name sake magazine. With great articles on lock-picking, phone phreaking, social engineering, and other hacking topics that will keep you informed and entertained.

Founded in 1984, 2600 was one of the major forces in getting the current hacking scene going. They published articles on how to phone phreak and followed the plight on one Kevin Mitnick.

The best of 2600 will be released this coming July.

The Best Of 2600 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Hot-Spot Shoe

Frank — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:22:04 +0000

This is one of those silly “I should have thought of this concepts”. A Step in the Right Direction is a prototype for a new shoe that detects Wi-Fi signals as you are walking. The shoe has integrated electronics under the tongue flap that is triggered via a pressure sensor so that it begins a scan of any W-Fi signals in the area. The wearer is then notified via LEDs on the outside of the shoe if there is a signal.

My kids have running shoes that light up every time they step, at least with this shoe the LEDs are actually useful. Now if they could incorporate some kind of GPS and logging system that you can then download via USB or Wi-Fi we’d have a complete worldwide layout of Wi-Fi hot-spots.

Hot-Spot Shoe originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Use IR LEDs To Defeat Security Cameras

Frank — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:04:27 +0000

Hereâ€™s a neat trick that will always make sure that your face stays off those pesky public cameras. Mount an bunch of IR LEDs on you, possible in the brim of your hat. These will produce a powerful white light that wonâ€™t be seen by people passing by but will blind those pesky pubic cameras that invade your privacy.

Use IR LEDs To Defeat Security Cameras originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Hack A Coke Machine

Frank — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:10:00 +0000

The internet is full of fun and weird information. Take the claims that many people have made about hacking all sorts of things from electricity meters to traffic lights. I found this video on hacking a coke machine of all things. Iâ€™m not sure if this even works, seems like a gimmick for page views if you ask me, but iâ€™ll let the views decide.

You task, if you choose to accept, is to go out and try this, see if it works and report back. Good luck, and remember, this can be considered illegal!

Hack A Coke Machine originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

USB Traffic Light

Frank — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 14:35:34 +0000

You can easily file this one under â€œMost useless USB gadgetâ€. The USB traffic light is more than just a set of traffic lights (I sure hope so). Its exactly what I need, a reminder of all of the traffic I must deal with on my way home from work. Besides the frustrations you also get

4-port USB 2.0 Hub
USB Traffic Light as status indicators (Busy, Out To Lunch, Available)
10 Seconds Voice Recording and Playback
Monitor Cleaner
Memo Pad/Name Card Clipper

Iâ€™m not very clear on the monitor cleaner aspect, but if you have $25 burning a hole in your pocket itâ€™s yours.

USB Traffic Light originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Hand Cranked MP3 Player

Frank — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:03:10 +0000

For all of you who want to walk the bleeding edge of technology and help save the environment the Eco Media Player is for you. The worlds first crank-powered MP3 and video player will leaving you wondering what to do with all of your USB chargers. A play on the many AM/FM radio out there that operate on crank power, the Eco Media Player might just be the perfect addition to your survival kit since it also sports an AM/FM radio and flashlight. What will you do with all those free hours waiting to be rescued? Watch a video of course.

The player can store up to 500 songs and have a SD slot for memory expandability. Cranking it for a minute will produce 40 minutes worth of MP3 goodness. The unit also has a mini-USB which can help charge up other devices like cellphones.

You can pick it up for $275

[Via DVICE]

Hand Cranked MP3 Player originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DYI Photo Snoot

Frank — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 04:00:48 +0000

Although a snoot might seem like someone who is rich and wealthy in reality itâ€™s a photographers secret weapon when creating dramatic lighting. Weather you want a dramatic highlight or an eerie vignetting effect, a snoot can help limit the spread of light from a flash.

With some gaffer tape and some cardboard you can easily put together your very own snoot.

[Link to making your own snoot via Make]

DYI Photo Snoot originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

10.5.2 Is Here

Frank — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:00:28 +0000

The latest release for Macâ€™s latest OS, Leopard, is now available. The Update fixes a whole slew of bugs and quirks which have been plaguing the OS.

After installing 10.5.2 itâ€™s also recommended that users install the 48.9 megabyte Leopard Graphics Update 1.0 to fix some other issues that will speed up you system.

While you can visit Appleâ€™s site here to get a full list of bug and security fixes, these are the highlights:

Resolves Airport issues that result in kernel panics when running certain programs
Updated Stacks option adds “folder view” for all of us annoyed at seeing a document or file instead of our folder of choice.
You can turn off menu bar transparency (that should thrill many) and overall menu translucency has been reduced.
Fixed an issue where set-up assistant could randomly start up
Adds a menu bar option for accessing Time Machine
Additional RAW and iSynch support for new devices

All in all a worthy update.

10.5.2 Is Here originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Make A Remote Phone Ring Indicator

Frank — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:43:17 +0000

Do you work in an â€œopen conceptâ€ environment? Is your floor just a sea of cubicles that contain a workstation and a phone? If you have ever walked away from your desk and wondered if that ringing phone was yours then this hack is for you.

“You leave your cubicle to get a cup of coffee. You get a few feet and hear a phone ring. Is it yours? You dash back and nope, not yours. You head back for the coffee and hear a phone ring again… Alan Vogel has a gadget that solves that aggravating problem. His Remote Telephone Indicator turns on a light above the cubicle when your phone is the one ringing. While employers may not look kindly on opening up phones and adding wires, the gadget is relatively simple. It senses when your phone is ringing and sends a signal to the light posted high above your cubicle. Even from a distance, you can see that your cubicleâ€™s phone is the one thatâ€™s ringing.”

Link – Make a remote telephone ring indicator [Via Make]

Make A Remote Phone Ring Indicator originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/02/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To Start A Fire With Air

Frank — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:30:19 +0000

This is one of those things that everyone should just have in their car for unforeseen emergencies. A fire-piston will allow you to start a fire anywhere at anytime without the use of a lighter or matches.

“The principle of increasing temperature by method of compressing air is explained by the adiabatic process in which the internal energy of a gas must increase when a mass of air is rapidly compressed or the volume of a mass of air is rapidly decreased. The resulting increase in internal energy results in a temperature rise sufficient to light an ember, just like the pressure produced by an ice skater’s blade is sufficient to increase the internal energy of the ice which turns ice under the blade into water.”

Link to making your own fire-piston

[Via Make]

How To Start A Fire With Air originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Nikon D60 Leak

Frank — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:17:28 +0000

Since the arrival of the interweb itâ€™s pretty hard to keep a secret, unless your Apple of course who threatens their employes so that any leak is quashed. Either that or they sick their insanely huge team of lawyers on you that you just give up.

Nikon is set to release itâ€™s new D60 DSLR at PMA. The D60 features a similar body design to the D40, a 10.2 megapixel sensor, Nikons famous 3D colour matrix metering system, active D lighting for adjustable shadow detail, and some form of dust prevention that chambers the air sway from the imagining sensor.

I love my old D70. Maybe itâ€™s time to invest in the D40!

Nikon D60 Leak originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.