tech.nocr.at » mid

Eric Schmidt Stepping Down As Google CEO

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

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

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

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

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

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

DIY: Twittering Coffee Pot

Frank — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 15:44:57 +0000

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.

$8450 Speaker Cables

Frank — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 05:50:40 +0000

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.

Tap Tap Revenge Metallica For The iPhone

Frank — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:29:07 +0000

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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Use Chrome On Your Mac Now

Frank — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:22:59 +0000

Google CEO Eric Schmidt has already announced the arrival of Google’s web browser Chrome for the Mac in a couple of months, but if you can’t wait that long you can run a surprisingly stable early version of the fast browser right now. This isn’t even considered a beta yet so don’t start to cry if you run into any bugs.

Just a friendly warning. Although the early release seems pretty stable there are some things that still aren’t working properly or are lacking like certain privacy features. I wouldn’t go using this to do any online banking but if you want to use a browser that is super fast for general browsing it’s good enough.

You can also grab the nightly builds of Chromium which is the open source part of Chrome.

[Link to dev release of Google Chrome for the Mac]

Use Chrome On Your Mac Now originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

RAAL Coffee Can Sound

Frank — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:31:49 +0000

At first glance you might think that this is a small set of steel drums or maybe just two tin cans stuck together but in reality these metal cylinders will impress you with with the sound they put out.

Each cylinder has midrange drivers mounted at each end with a ribbon tweeter mounted between the cylinders that reflects off of the aluminum surface for omnidirectional output. The two units are mounted on an arm that resembles a desk lamp with a third cylinder on the floor which acts as a subwoofer.

Production for the unit starts in a few months and all the speakers including the arm will be sold as a kit. With a massive $4000 price tag this unit better impress.

RAAL Coffee Can Sound originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Linux Distros That Don’t Suck

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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More Dead Space, More Of Everything

Ryan Yewell — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 02:31:16 +0000

If you own an Xbox 360, PS3, or decent PC, and can appreciate top notch audio/visual production values in your video games (along with some solid gameplay and storyline), then you owe it to yourself to check out “Dead Space”, Electronic Arts’ new survival horror game.

Dead Space is getting scores in the mid to high 80′s on Metacritic, which doesn’t really tell the whole story, as EA has created one of the most stunning visual and audio experiences you’ll have in a video game this year.

BTW, for those that aren’t familiar with metacritic.com, it’s a site that mashes published scores of games, movies, music, etc. from mostly
well-known and respected sources into one overall “meta” score. When I worked at Electronic Arts, the metacritic score of a game was used as a measuring stick internally within the studio, so you can be rest assured that metacritic is highly regarded within the industry as an objective way of scoring a game, if you believe that’s possible.

Anyway, more to the point of this posting, in an interview with Variety, Dead Space executive producer Glenn Schofield mentioned how
EA is working on a Dead Space sequel (not all that surprising), and that the intellectual property (IP) that is “Dead Space” is getting shopped around for more comics, movies, and probably anything else EA can put its stamp on. This mandate isn’t only reserved for Dead
Space, of course, as Army of Two is another IP that is getting shopped around for other mediums and is likely getting a game sequel as well.

http://weblogs.variety.com/the_cut_scene/2008/10/army-of-two-seq.html

Why I find this interesting is that, as we move forward day by day, year by year, the gaming industry just keeps getting bigger, and our
entertainment is starting to truly spread into all kinds of mediums, from movies, to comics, to just about anything.

We’ve seen music move into games with Rock Band and Guitar Hero, we’re seeing game IP’s move into comics and movies, though the movies have been mostly disappointing so far (but anyone interested in a Gears Of War movie, no doubt it will arrive someday).

We’re on the cusp of what will soon be, if not already, a melting pot of all mediums, and Electronic Arts is poised to be a major player
(they are already the biggest software entertainment company in the world, if you don’t include those that also manufacture the hardware… Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

As the current generation of consoles create experiences and stories that rival that of TV/movies, we’ll see who becomes king of the hill
when it comes to consumer’s choices and consumer dollars (my bet is on the gaming industry).

More Dead Space, More Of Everything originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/28. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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The Streamerator

Frank — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 21:39:21 +0000

Make Magazine has always been an enjoyable source of fun and entertainment for all of the people who like to tinker with things, and now that they have KipKay working on all of their “Weekend Project” videocasts you know it’s going to be a fun filled weekend.

Take the Streamerator, the ultimate TP machine that launches streams of toilet paper in mid-air. Just in time for dorm raids as kids head back to school.

The Streamerator originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Sony’s PSP 3000

Frank — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:46:21 +0000

Sony has finally officially announced it’s latest PSP model, the PSP-3000. After earlier reports leaked onto the internet earlier this week, it was bound to come from the horses mouth sooner or later. The unit will look exactly like the PSP-2000, though it will feature an improved screen that has no glare and will operate better outside and has a built-in mic.

Nothing official has been release yet on pricing, but I heard a little birdie tell me that it should hit Europe in mid October with a price tag of $291.

Sony’s PSP 3000 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/08/20. 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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White PS3 On It’s Way

Frank — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 15:38:50 +0000

With absolutely now added benefit outside of the aesthetic one, the ceramic white PS3 is on itâ€™s way to North America. According to an FCC filing that has surfaced, the white PS3 with matching controllers and a 40 GB hard drive should hit the market anytime soon.

This will put a dent into the PS3 case modding industry. I guess big box hardware stores will take a hit on the sales of metallic white paint.

Unknown yet as to the date of arrival or price, but if I had to guess Iâ€™d say mid March with a price tag of $399

[Via Engadget]

White PS3 On It’s Way originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/22. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Boost Your Cell Service For Cheap

Frank — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 02:20:22 +0000

Many a times I have cursed my cell phone and provider because of the ridiculously bad reception one can get. You know what I am referring to, youâ€™re walking in the middle of the street (okay, maybe on a sidewalk) on a bright and sunny day with no massive steel structures anywhere to be seen yet you can only manage to get a single bar or service.

Well, this little neat trick is going to help you get some boost out of your phone. Unfortunately you iPhone and Blackberry users arenâ€™t going to benefit from it. You need a cellphone that has an external antenna connector on the back of it. Itâ€™s the little connector on the back thatâ€™s covered with a rubber plug, yes that one. Check the video after the break.

[Via CrunchGear]

Boost Your Cell Service For Cheap originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Feature-Packed Flashlight

Frank — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 20:23:24 +0000

Just in case you ever need to change a flat tire in the middle of darkness, record it with night vision, and record the audio of the whole experience; then this one’s for you. The Flashlight DVR Compact by Swann gives you all that and a flashlight. You can record about 8 hours of video, audio, and stills onto it’s SD card. There is even a panic siren encase shit hits the fan.

The whole thing is encased in an aluminum alloy casing that will take a whole hell of a lot punishment. Having all of these gadgets in one device doesn’t come cheap either; $399 to get your fix

Feature-Packed Flashlight originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Pedal Powered Tennis Ball Launcher

Frank — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 01:37:07 +0000

Here’s an awesome hack for all of those tennis lovers. The pedal powered tennis ball launcher is built from a couple bikes and can launch tennis balls with the best of them (video after the break).

“Both cleanly powered and built from 2 recycled bicycles, scrap steel and wood, leaking 5 gallon water jug and a lacross stick, our pedal powered tennis ball launcher is a unique innovate or die entry. It allows players varying in skill levels to practice to be better at both tennis and cycling. The launcher is towed to the court on its built-in bicycle trailer. A bike is secured to it and functions to drive the device. Pedaling the cycle as one would on a trainer drives the two launcher wheels. The cyclist then aims and pulls the lever to launch balls to the hitter.”

Can you just imagine all of the fun you could have with this if you just started launching tennis balls in the middle of the road? Not that we are encouraging this type of behavior, but it would be quite funny.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBxUjBUdQ5o[/youtube]

Pedal Powered Tennis Ball Launcher originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

PSP To Get A Keyboard

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

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

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

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

Lenovo’s New MID

Frank — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 03:20:06 +0000

Leaked pictures of what possibly could be Lenovo’s new MID, or Mobile Internet Device, which looks quite like the old Atari Lynx portable gaming device. It looks like it has a horizontal PSP Xross Media Bar-like navigation, a wide body, and a touch screen. It can also play back video and audio and also has some fancy image drawing capabilities with internet browsing built in. Not sure what else it does but I’m sure we’ll be able to tell real soon.

Lenovo’s New MID originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

HTC Kaiser releases 10.26.07 in US

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

The HTC TyTN II P4550 (HTC Kaiser 120) (AT&T 8925) is a king among phones. And, instead of exclaiming about how sweet this phone is, I’ll let it speak for itself:
Processor: 400 MHz
RAM: 128 MB RAM
Storage: 145 MB
Expansion Slot: microSD, microSDHC, Transflash, SDIO
Cellular Networks Supported: GSM, CSD, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA
Wifi Support: 802.11 b/g
Camera: 3.1 Mega Pixel
Other features: Touchscreen, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS

the release date, or for that matter, if it was even going to be released in the U.S. of A. has been a very tightly held secret. NO MORE! The below image was sent in from a source that wishes to remain anonymous. It’s a screen cap from a internal ordering site.

HTC Kaiser releases 10.26.07 in US originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/09/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

SecURLs: Daily dose of security

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

There are tons of places to get RSS feeds and security information, including right here, but this site includes RSS feeds from security blogs around the world, and the latest security podcasts all wrapped up in a nice splashpage-like package.http://www.securls.com

SecURLs: Daily dose of security originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/09/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

I Hack Charities DOT org

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

Johnny Long of ihackstuff.com started a project that is unlike any other. A charity that hackers devote their time on humanitarian projects according to their expertise. What makes that different than any other humanitarian project? It involves hackers. The best of the best in security and IT.

Are you a hacker? Want to give back a little? Check out the site for more information.

iHackCharities.org

I Hack Charities DOT org originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/09/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Top 10 Windows Errors

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

I love it when Windows errors pop up when you least expect them. They guys over at Newlaunches.com have compiled a Top 10 list of the Biggest Windows Errors. If any of you have snaps of any Windows errors at the most inappropriate places drop us a line.

Top 10 Biggest Windows Errors Via Newlaunches.com

Top 10 Windows Errors originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/09/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iPod Touch Factory Menu

Frank — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 18:48:49 +0000

A new iPod touch owner stumbles across a test/factory Menu which shows a bunch of status icons, most intriguing of all of them is the Bluetooth icon. Could the unit have the capability for bluetooth? Only time will tell as these units start to hit store shelves.

[via Gizmodo]

iPod Touch Factory Menu originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/09/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Outside – MMORPG of the year

Frank — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 13:27:03 +0000

Why spend the monthly charges on those expensive MMORPGs when you have “Oustide” which is free and possibly the MMORPG of the year.

All the features are so true too. Fully PvP rawr! The penalty of death sucks though – if you thought the experience point penalty in EverQuest was bad, think again

[via codefront]

Outside – MMORPG of the year originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/09/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

SuperCoder 2000

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

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

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

Ouch, I’ll stick to my qwerty keyboard.

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

Windows Error:

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

Not too long ago we posted about a roll your own windows error site that allowed you to do just that, create your own Windows Error dialog boxes. Here we see a truly genuine (no pun intended) Windows Error. I wonder if it will be fixed in the upcoming service pack?

Windows Error: originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/09/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

tech.nocr.at IT Helpdesk Policy

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

The IT department here at tech.nocr.at has taken up a new policy on help desk questions. I better get my fire retardant suit on before calling them

[Via flickr]

tech.nocr.at IT Helpdesk Policy originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/08/27. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Unlocked iPhones available in Hong Kong

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

Using the Turbo SIM method, a fully functional unlocked iPhone is now available for sale in Hong Kong. The shopkeeper will load up a Chinese of Japanese interface for you so that the interface will appear correctly. Full functionality remains intact after unlocking. SMS, calling, data, its all there.

Unlocked iPhones available in Hong Kong originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/08/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Apple’s collapsible connection patent

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

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

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

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

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

Skype on your iPhone

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

Shape Services has announced its IM+ Skype service for the iPhone. The service is actually web based in order to get around the lack of third-party application support, but otherwise works just like a regular client. You can chat, as well as do Skype to Skype calls, and you can even call regular phones if you have a SkypeOut account.

There is a catch, though. Unlike PC based calls, you’ll need to pay even if calling another Skype user: IM+ places the free VoIP call as usual, but then calls you back on your iPhone at SkypeOut rates. Still, if you are making calls abroad, it’ll be a lot cheaper, and the service is free while in beta testing.

Skype on your iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2007/08/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Bluetooth Adopts New Core Version

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

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

Other key enhancements include…

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

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

Link to press release

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

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

Cell Phone Stun Gun

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

Remember the Small Fry 1,000,000 Volt Mini Stun Gun we reported on a few weeks ago? Well, this one is just that one step better.

This cell phone in disguise is a high voltage stun gun delivering up to 900,000 volts of electricity to all the bad guys around (and yourself if you so choose). Only two buttons actually work on this unit, the LIGHT button activates a built in 12 LED flash light and the STUN button does just that. Remember, don’t get them confused.

Cell Phone Stun Gun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

New iPod Nano Clone

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

It was bound to happen. The crafty cloning masters in China already have a clone of the new stubby iPod Nano. The form factor is similar, but it is noticeably cheaper looking. Right now it’s only available in large quantities, so expect to find in on the shelves in Asia and other places

New iPod Nano Clone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iPod earphone charms

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

Here’s something that I’m sure will catch on like lightning, at least is should somewhere in the world.Â Charms for your earphones, what a brilliant idea, why didn’t I think of that.Â The first one’s to hit the market are Hello Kitty ones, no necessarily my first choice, but then again someone somewhere will eventually buy them.

iPod earphone charms originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Golden Disk – Just don’t drop it

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

Have designers really come to the end of their creativity? I mean, we have seen Prada Cell Phones and diamond encrusted iPod‘s, now a external disk unit that actually contains gold?

Ora-Ito, designing brain child behind the LaCie golden disk which is a 500GB storage unit says that the silhouette of the device has been inspired by flowing golden liquid. I’m sure it will be a focal point, but I’d be scarred as hell if someone stole it!

No pricing yet, but i’m sure it will cost a mint (no pun intended).

Golden Disk – Just don’t drop it originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

ZipZip USB Key

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

I remember a time when having a USB key was bleeding edge, when having a bulky thumb drive that held 32 or 64 MB of data was cool. I also remember having to also carry a drivers disk just incase I ran into a machine with an older operating system that wouldn’t recognize it.Â Now-a-days I must have 6 or seven usb key’s laying around, all of them without anything on them, but this little puppy is just too cool looking not to own.

The ZipZip is not only a USB drive but also a compatible LEGO block, a 2GB LEGO block no less.Â If my son ever got a hold of it i’d be searching through his massive LEGO collection for it, but then again, a great place to hide it as well.

ZipZip USB Key originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Custom Table has Electric Plugs Right in it.

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

Forget all of those “Tidy you wire’s up” how-to’s you’ve seen. You know which one’s I’m talking about, use zip ties and punch board to tame your cables. This custom Electric Table by Broberg & Ridderstale of Stockholm is your ticket, your entire desk is your outlet. You devices can be plugged in right where they sit, which makes for a lot less cable clutter. I hope some of the hotel chains clue in and start to pick these up.

Custom Table has Electric Plugs Right in it. originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Phillips Prestigo Tablet Remote: One remote to rule them all

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

If you ever lose this remote control, something is serious wrong with you. The Phillips Prestigo is about the size of three normal remotes smashed together, almost a throw back to the click wire remotes of the late 70′s and early 80′s.

The massive tablet-sized remote offers a bunch of physical instead of those wimpy soft buttons that plague so many universal remotes these days. The remote will control up to 15 individual units, and offers a colour LCD screen in the middle that offers access to a handful of user-configurable buttons.

No release date yet, but it’s expected to hit the shelves with a $150 USD price tag.

Phillips Prestigo Tablet Remote: One remote to rule them all originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

New iPhone Killer? Motorola ROKR E8 and E7 Leaked

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

I must say, this phone does look quite slick. The picture above is the new Motorola ROKR E8, it’s basically a thin bar shaped handset with a JAVA/Linux based interface. It is rumoured to have 2GB of integrated memory and a microSD memory card slot for expandability. With a 2-megapixel camera, touch sensitive keys, mini USB port and a standard 3.5 mm audio jack for music it’s set to be a slick unit.

Now the above might just be the one cell phone that will give the iPhone a run for it’s money. The E7 is expected to have a touch-screen TFT display with VGA resolution, a 5 megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom and xenon flash, GoForce 5500 graphics accelerator, GPS, Wi-Fi, and 2 GB of internal memory. Plus it’s only 14 mm thick. This might just be the perfect iPhone alternative.

New iPhone Killer? Motorola ROKR E8 and E7 Leaked originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Small Fry 1,000,000 Volt Mini Stun Gun

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

It’s small and packs a serious punch. It’s called the Small Fry and don’t mess with it. It can shoot out 1,000,000 volts and can easily barbeque someone. It comes with a rechargeable battery system (at least it’s environmentally friendly) and a safety button to prevent accidental discharges that could kill you. You can pickup this power house for $79.95

Small Fry 1,000,000 Volt Mini Stun Gun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Rumours: Zune 2

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

Gizmodo’s got shots up of the new Zune 2 and Zune Flash players. Not to sure if these shots are real or not, but the above image shows an 80GB version and 4GB and 8GB flash models. If these indeed are real, has Microsoft not learned it’s lesson with the original Zune? The iPod killer Not!

[Via Gizmodo]

Rumours: Zune 2 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

One slick 1080p Projector

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

Announced in Germany, the new Samsung SP-A8008 1080p DLP projector is a sight to behold.

The projector sports a 24fps film mode and a 2,000 hour, 300W lamp that’s capable of outputting about 1,000 lumens at a 10,000:1 contrast ratio. The device also sports some hefty ports: two HDMI, RGB for the PC, two component, S-Video and RS-232.

So far, there is no word on pricing or availability, but look for it on store shelves.

[Via akihabaranews]

One slick 1080p Projector originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Worlds Smallest 1080p Camcorder – Sanyo DMX-HD1000

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

It’s amazing how quickly technology moves, I remember not to long ago lunging a massive JVC camcorder that recorded stuff on VHS tapes, now Sanyo has introduced the worlds smallest 1080p camcorder, the DMX-HD1000. Recording video at 1080p at 60 fps it is using the magic of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 encoding to make it all happen, the DMX-HD100 fits perfectly in your hand. It’s got a nice 10x optical zoom lens, a fold-out 2.7 inch viewfinder, and a nice clean design to it. The only downside to this unit is that it records on to a 8GB SHDC memory card, and recording at 1080p it will only give you about 80 minutes of video.

It will hit the shelves in Japan sometime this September and will retail for about $1000 USD. Expect to see it in North America in either late 07 or early 08.

Worlds Smallest 1080p Camcorder – Sanyo DMX-HD1000 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Philips Power2Go – Charge your gadgets on the go

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

Philips just announced the Power2Charge and Power2Go chargers as part of their Power4Life line. These are USB based chargers, including the big mama-jama SCM7880 (pictured), can hold up to 60 hours of juice for all your usb needs. Charge your cell phone, iPod, Blackberry, and anything that charges via USB. It also has an LED on the front that will let you know how much juice there is left, and it also comes with six connector tips to hook all of those other gadgets that don’t charge via USB. So far only Europe for these bad boys, no word yet on it’s North America release. Philips

Philips Power2Go – Charge your gadgets on the go originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

MicPort Pro: Podcasting Dream

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

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

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

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

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

Trusty Handheld Lead Scanner

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

With all of these projects being banned here in Canada from China due to Lead contamination this portable Lead scanner might just be right up my alley. It’s gotten so bad that Toy r Us here is Canada recalled all baby bibs that were lined with plastic purchased in the past two years no matter what make or manufacture. That immediately prompted us here at home to toss all of our son’s bibs out and purchase new ones. The Lead scanner will test products for not only lead but also arsenic, cadmium, mercury, chrome, nickel and other hazardous metals. You can find more about the product here.

Trusty Handheld Lead Scanner originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Red One: Out the door this Friday

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

The much-anticipated Red One video camera will begin to ship the initial 25 units this Friday. They cost a cool $17,000 each, but with an 11.4 megapixel sensor and the ability to capture up to 60 fps, double that of high end HD camcorders, $17,000 isn’t that bad a deal.

The modular based design works in its favor as well, enabling users to add different rigs, lenses, and other accessories according to your needs – allowing you to capture images in a lower quality. Currently, directors such as Peter Jackson and Steven Soderbergh are already using it.

If you want to purchase one for us to use on Digital Underground.tv, please feel free to do so.

Red One: Out the door this Friday originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To: Portable Cell Phone Jammer

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

Have you ever wanted to shut those people up who ride on the bus or subway with you? You know, the people who decide that everyone around them should be annoyed by their conversations. Here’s an awesome project that let’s you build your very own personal cell phone jammer. This project is recommended for advance hobbyist only. There is quite a bit of tiny soldering involved.

An internal lithium-ion battery provides up to 2 hours of jamming (two bands, such as cell) or 4 hours (single band, such as cordless phone, GPS, WiFi, bluetooth, etc). The battery is rechargeable via a mini-USB connector or 4mm DC jack (a common size). Alternately, 3 AAA batteries may also be used.

Please remember that this is for educational purposes only, FCC and CRTC regulation make this type of device highly illegal.

Link to article

How To: Portable Cell Phone Jammer originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Vili X2 AIO PMP

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

I’m on the road quite a bit. I love my iPod Video for that exact reason; I can bring movies, TV shows, and music with me in my back pocket, literally. This little bad boy looks like it could just be my next replacement for my iPod (blasphemy). Viliv has just released their X2 AIO, their new portable media player. It comes with a 4.3-inch screen, GPS, and e-dictionary. Two flavours for your liking are available a 30 GB version ($583) and a 60 GB ($636) version. It’s just too bad it’s only available in Korea. Any readers who live in Korea want to pick it up for me and send it my way?

Vili X2 AIO PMP originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Another reason people have too much money

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

Last week we told you about the blinged out iPod shuffle which went for a ridiculous amount of money, today we bring you another reason that some people in the world have way too much money and don’t really know what to do with it.

The LG Prada Phone is a 24ct gold plated phone with a sleek black case, touchscreen, pre-loaded content, a bunch of accessories, and an exclusive case. You can grab this gold-plated LG KE850 Prada Phone from Amosu for about $1000 USD. Now I don’t feel so bad for spending $299 on my Blackberry 8830!

Another reason people have too much money originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Cassette Mp3 Player: Smart, Very Smart

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

You can easily walk into any electronics store in the Western world and pickup a cassette tape adaptor to connect your mp3 player to your car stereo (why do you still have a cassette player in your car?). But this gadget wins the award for ingenuity. Not only will this gadget let you play your MP3s through your old school cassette player, but the cassette is the MP3 player.

Chinavision’s MP3 Cassette Player is a self-contained digital audio media player that just happens to slip inside of your tape deck for easy playback through your car stereo. It’s not very feature packed might I warn you, only plays MP3s and has no on-board storage (you’ll have to add your own memory card through the players SD/MMC slot), but at least you can easily just slide it in to your car’s cassette player. Ahhhh, mix-tapes all over again.

Cassette Mp3 Player: Smart, Very Smart originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Bluetoothbrush concept

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

I’m surprised that this concept hasn’t hit the market sooner. Erik Hernandez and Kevin O’Leary designed a Bluetooth-powered electric toothbrush, which features a hands free design.

I’m not quite sure if you’re supposed to chat with other Bluetoothbrush users who are around you or not. I’m sure that the unit will have some serious water resistance applied to it.

[Via UberGizmo]

Bluetoothbrush concept originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Windows home server pricing leaked

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

Amazon.com today listed two HP MediaSmart Windows Home Server systems on their site.

The two models being offered are, the HP EX470 and EX475, both have a 64-bit 1.8GHz AMD Sempron and have 4 slide-out drive bays that use standard SATA drives; the EX745 come preloaded with two 500GB drives already installed. Systems will run about $596 and $745 respectively. Both systems will come preinstalled with the Windows Home Sever operating system.

Network analysts have always believe that the home networking market is too complex for many consumers, the hope here is that these products will take some of the difficulty out of setting up a home network.

If making home networking easy is the goal here then why would they install a Microsoft based product? Why not install something simple that work and is free like FreeNAS?

Windows home server pricing leaked originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iCube iRec – Direct Video Recording to your iPod

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

I’ve mentioned in the past about how I love my iPod Video while I’m on the road. It’s a one-stop source of entertainment for those lonely nights in hotel rooms. One of the downsides to getting video on the darn thing (apart from purchasing it from iTunes, which isn’t available up here in Canada) is the amount of time you spend converting the video over using something like VisualHub.

Now there’s no need for a computer when it comes to getting videos on your iPod. MacWay’s iCube iRec lets you connect an analog video source (VCR, DVD Player, Cable Box, etc.) to it at a touch of a button it will convert and record the video directly to the iPod. You can also tweak your settings to maximize the quality or minimize the size of the file.

iCube iRec – Direct Video Recording to your iPod originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Blinged Shuffle

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

Not necessarily the one object that I own that I’d want to completely encrust in diamonds, but I guess if your willing to spend $41,800 USD on a shuffle that has 430 diamonds and is plated in 18 carat gold you really don’t care do you. Even the ear buds get some bling. At that cost I’d get me some sure headphones and not put up with those crappy iPod headphones. Just imagine the extra weight with all them rocks!

Blinged Shuffle originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

A basic server for under $100

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

If your looking for a second computer to run some basic tasks around the house like a small web server or a file server and don’t want to hack your way into a Slug box then look no further than this compact system from Data Evolution Corporation.

The decTOP computer system comes with 128MB of RAM, a 10GB hard drive (both of which are upgradeable), and is powered by a 333MHz AMD processor. If your looking for a rendering machine or cluster node this isn’t for you but it’s more than powerful enough to run a firewall appliance or a file server for the home. It’s got built in VGA, Ethernet, USB, and even has audio.

This bad boy comes without an OS on it but this simple tutorial shows you how to slap Ubuntu on it. Best of all, you can pick this puppy up for $99

[Via Lifehacker]

A basic server for under $100 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

DigialDJ’in – Denon’s DN-HC4500

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

Many moons ago I spinned a few records on some old Technics 1200′s. When I saw this bad boy I just had to jump on it.

Goodbye vinyl, Hello MacBook. Denon unveils the DN-HC4500 Media Player and Controller, â€œfirst USB / MIDI audio interface designed exclusively for computer performance club and mobile DJs.â€ No longer will we be forced to have various computer parts (or entire computers) spliced into our decks. The DN-HC4500 features both PC and Mac support, 24-bit processing, BU4500 drive support, real time displays, touch-sensitive jog discs (for all your scratching needs), and comes integrated with Reflex LE software. And it looks sexy. Incredibly so.

$540 USD for this puppy, but it sure beats having to spend all the cash on records.

DigialDJ’in – Denon’s DN-HC4500 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Emgeton Mini One – Windows Powered iPhone Clone

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

The Mini One iPhone clone is coming out at the end of this year. The most notable point is that it has a 720×480 display, which is quite amazing for a 3.3 inch size. Emgeton (a Czech company) claims that this phone is powerful enough to record (and compress) video at 30 frames per second.

It’s powered by Windows Mobile 6, which makes me ask: since when does Windows Mobile look so sexy !? This doesn’t look like Windows Mobile. Interesting fact: the display shows Asian characters, hinting at a possible first release in Asia.

Other specs:

GSM
Touch-screen
MegaPixel Camera
BlueTooth
TV Out

Emgeton Mini One – Windows Powered iPhone Clone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

MAME On The iPhone

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

You all knew that it was bound to happen. A developer using the alias Kaisersoze has successfully ported an initial build of the arcade emulator MAME to run on the iPhone.

As is still the case with all homebrew stuff for the iPhone (Apple, will you wake up already!) you’ll have to do some hacking to get it up and running. You’ll also need to know your way around a compiler since you can only pick up the source code and compile it yourself for now.

MAME On The iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

New iPod won’t work with Linux

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

Seems like the kids at Infinite Loop have decided to stomp out any third party applications messing with the iPod, including Linux. The iTunes DB now contains a couple of encrypted hashes that validate the information in the music list; this essentially fingerprints the iPod/iTunes pairing and prevents apps from modifying the DB without access to the hash key, any software that attempts access will now show up with 0 songs.

This is truly unfortunate for the people out there that prefer to manage their music collections with something like Winamp on a PC or with libgpod on Linux. Maybe it’s time to hold back on any upgrades until the software catches up!

New iPod won’t work with Linux originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

UNI – The Modular Computer

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

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

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

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

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

Tokyo’s Sewer System – Awesome

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

Yesterday I was chatting with Rob about some news that came across the Japanese wire regarding the iPhone. So after stumbling across the internets for some more info on the story I stumbled across these amazing pics.

So this might look like it’s something that Mr. Alex Lindsay over at the Pixelcorps might have whipped up in XSI or Maya but it’s actually Tokyo’s underground sewer system. Wow!

Tokyo’s Sewer System – Awesome originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Microsoft kills Skype

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

Well not technically, Microsoft’s Windows Update caused a reboot of a substantial amount of Skype’s authentication servers.

“Normally Skype’s peer-to-peer network has an inbuilt ability to self-heal, however, this event revealed a previously unseen software bug within the network resource allocation algorithm which prevented the self-healing function from working quickly.” — Skype Heartbeat Blog – Mr. Villu Arak

Some of you may of heard over the weekend about the Russian Hackers who claimed ownership of Skype being down. They even went to the extent of posting supposed exploit code, which Slashdot trolls ripped to shreds.

Microsoft kills Skype originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

tech.nocr.at on your cell phone

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

FeedM8, the mobile feed reader created by Wattpad, has officially launched today.

FeedM8 uses patent-pending technology to enable content to be accessed and read on your cell phone. This allows content creators to wash their hands from creating multiple feeds to support a multitude of various mobile platforms. FeedM8 also let’s you search for content with short codes, and will also modify the content and graphics to work with your screen size and network bandwidth. Registering for a Publisher account also lets you join in on some revenue sharing on the advertising, earning 60% from ad splits and referrals.

Be sure to get tech.nocr.at on your phone! Point your phone here

tech.nocr.at on your cell phone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Lightning Bolt Hits Plane

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

Bet you thought that a lightning bolt hitting a place would cause mass destruction, nope. Here’s a snap of a plane getting hit by a lightning bolt while taking off from the Osaka Airport. Lightning is not dangerous to commercial airliners, as the electricity flows around their aluminum skin. It’s real easy for us on the ground to look at the scientific fact that no one would get hurt, try telling that to the people on the plane, I would have soiled myself.

[Via Gizmodo]

Lightning Bolt Hits Plane originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Apple and NBC get divorced

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

Seems like NBC is getting a bit greedy, okay they are very greedy. Apple today released a press release noting that they and NBC would be parting ways. Apple stated that they have decided not to carry NBC’s upcoming season of shows since the contract would expire during the middle of the television season leaving iTunes users hung in the middle of a series.

NBC wanted to raise the price per episode to $4.99, let’s lay this out; $4.99 per episode, most TV shows usually run a 22 episode season, so $4.99 x 22 = $109.78. Are they on crack? You can buy most seasons for about $50 on DVD, a much higher quality that iTunes offers.

This is typical of old media, see an opportunity and then rape the consumer for it.

Apple and NBC get divorced originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Built for Blackberry Software

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

I’m a pretty serious Blackberry junkie. When I roll out of bed the first thing I do is pick up my 8830 to check my day, email, and the website, hell I’ve even posted to tech.nocr.at from my little beauty. Email, contacts, and calendar isn’t the only thing available to us power users though, RIM has launched Built for Blackberry where you can find all sorts of helpful and time wasting apps to help you along your day. It’s very well organized so you won’t waste any time digging through all the apps that are available. If you own a Blackberry, this one’s for you!

Built for Blackberry Software originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

The Coca Cola Media Player Has Encountered a Problem

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

I’m sure i’ll get e-mail about me being a mac fan boy, but this one is just way too funny. This photo is from flickr and should a giant Coke billboard in Piccadilly Circus, London, and it’s underlining error message.

I’ll quote the guys at The Gadget Lab on this one…

Sing after me: “I’d like to buy the World a Mac…”

The Coca Cola Media Player Has Encountered a Problem originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Red Light Runners

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

I know this technically isn’t a tech story, but it’s just way too good to pass up. I can bet you after you watch this clip you will never run another red light again (Video after the jump). This traffic light is fixed with some sort of device that will hit you car if you run a red light. Brilliant.

Red Light Runners originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Mouse Danger in Vista

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

I understand that the UAC in Vista is supposed to be a good thing. It’s suppose to keep everyone secure and safe. I think they might have stretched that paranoia just a tad too far.

Mouse Danger in Vista originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Windows on the USS Enterprise

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

This has to be the funniest thing I have seen in quite a while. Here’s the main reason they never ran Windows on the USS Enterprise.

Windows on the USS Enterprise originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Vista Powered Super Nintendo

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

Now this is what I call a serious case mod. Some guy in Japan has taken his old Super Nintendo (known as the Super Famicom over there) and turned it into a Windows PC.

He started off with an MSI Axis 945GM bare-bones system and jigged it to fit into the Super Nintendo’s case. He even relabeled the game cartridge (which houses the hard-drive) to look like it contains the Windows install. Very nice.

Now all he has to do is get a Super Nintendo emulator running on it so that we can play some Donkey Kong Country.

[via Akihabara News]

Vista Powered Super Nintendo originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Build your own laser listening device

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

This is one of those “it works, and it’s scary” hacking projects. Build your own laser listening device for about $3. Video after the jump.Via Funditor

â€œIn a microphone, sound waves (differences in the pressure of air) cause a diaphragm to vibrate back and forth, altering its resistance to an electric current. When an electric current passes through said diaphragm, the output forms a complex signal that can then be reinterpreted by speakers or a recording device as sound. The device shown here works in a very similar way. Sound bounces off of a window, causing minuscule vibrations (acting like the microphone’s diaphragm). When a laser is trained on the window, its reflection will vibrate with the sound. The laser’s reflection, if converted to an electrical signal can now be recorded as sound. I will outline how I made my own (cost me $3, hope yours is the same or less) – the technically savvy among you will spot the countless variations possible on this basic idea.â€

Build your own laser listening device originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Learn to Hack

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

Every blog about security needs to post an article like this, as sort of a RTFM reference. Without further ado:

First and foremost, hacking is knowing how something operates inside and out, and then making it do something that it wasn’t intended on doing. Now, that could be anything from exploiting DCOM on an unpatched machine, to adding LEDs to your DefCon 15 badge. And if you are like most hackers, you have already stopped reading so here are some videos to get you started:

Virtual Training Enviroment at Cert.org
Learn Security Online’s Videos
Youtube entries by SANS

Also you have podcasts such as Hak.5, Pauldotcom Security Weekly and many others, that publish new content on a monthly or weekly basis.

Today also marks the day of the newest release of Hak.5. In this release I do a guest segment on anonymous enumeration or information gathering. The following are links to all of the sites that I cover in this segment, plus a few more that I don’t:

The main portion of the segment is over Evolution by Paterva. Downloadable at MegaUpload: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=11LK7HH3 The windows version at least. If the Linux version creeps up, I’ll let you know.

Domain Dossier w/ Service (Banner) scan
http://www.centralops.net/

Submit a file to be virus scanned by 17+ different scanners to help identify the virus, and to see which pick up the virus
http://www.virustotal.com/

Submit a file to be analyzed by the CWSandbox software. It even can give DNS lookup information and network connectivity requests
http://research.sunbelt-software.com/Submit.aspx

Using known transforms, this site give you a great bit of detail about any particular site, based on the details gleaned from the source
http://www.builtwith.com/

Great site that has a lot of tools. My favorite being “File-Info” in which the serversniff servers download and hash dump a file of your choice with the option to attempt a string dump. (Couple this with Virustotal.com, and the CWSandbox link, you will know everything there is to know about a file, without ever having to have it on your box.
http://www.serversniff.net/

An online front end for NMAP. It is restrictive so that you can only scan the IP you are coming from. However, this is form information that is being passed.
http://www.nmap-online.com/

Probably the best whois site on the planet.
http://www.whois.sc/

The default site that everyone know for looking up information on anything with a host name or IP
http://www.dnsstuff.com/

A good amount of tools that the other sites have, but centrally located
http://www.network-tools.com/

Network Query Tool
http://www.windowspms.com/

Can’t go anywhere without Sam Spade
http://www.samspade.org/

Learn to Hack originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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How To: Solder

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

We have thrown quite a few projects your way that either involves some basic soldering or some serious ass soldering. I thought giving some of those people who don’t feel to comfortable soldering a decent walkthrough on how to do so. I’ve dug up two great tutorials on how to solder. Instructables has a great Soldering 101 tutorial that’s great if you have never picked up an iron before. For those of you who can breeze through the basics we also have a more technical guide to soldering as well.

How To: Solder originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iPhone goes poof during Unlocking

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

Looks like someone wasn’t all that careful when trying to preform a hardware unlock on an iPhone. All they did was remove 3 screws and PUFF, the dreaded blue smoke..

Story: We were so happy, all the software part was done, so we started opening the iphone. The antenna cover was a bit tricky but eventually it came off. Then we started to open the metal cover (after taking out the 3 screws) and PUFF, up it went in smoke, I think my colleague must have touched something. It literally went up in black smoke. I was so hot that when I tried to pick it up I burnt my fingers. So, this is for sure the most difficult part of the whole process. I don’t know what he did, as I had just stepped out of the room to fetch something when I heard a scream, they got such a fright.

iPhone goes *poof* during Unlocking originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

26.25 Gigaflop Super Computer – $1256

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

I always feel the need to speed up the process of backup my my dvd’s and encoding them with DVD:RIP, I’m sure this bad boy would make it fly. Calvin College student Tim Brom built, from scratch, a 26.25 gigaflop supercomputer that runs off of a single wall outlet for about $1200. The supercomputer, called Microwolf, has 4 microATX motherboards, each with a dual core CPU and 2 gigs of ram, all connected with an 8-port gigabit switch. The entire thing also includes a DVD drive and a 250 gb hard drive, and runs Ubuntu.

Unfortunately the unit isn’t for sale, but if you want to build your own, there’s a complete write up on his website.

26.25 Gigaflop Super Computer – $1256 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To: Roll your own solar bag

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

I’m all about making sure that all of my gadgets get the juice they need, whether it be in my car, on a plane, or even on the beach, yes the beach. The guys at Talk2MyShirt have a great two-part piece on how to make your own solar-powered device charging bag. A great thing to have if you spend many hours out doors. Next I’m going to work on building a solar charger that will use the glow of my monitor to charge my cell phone.

How To: Roll your own solar bag originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To: VGA over Cat-5

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

If you have ever thought about moving your computer into another room because of the noise the system makes here’s a great little hack to save you some bucks on those very expensive long runs of VGA cabling.

All you’ll need is some Cat-5 cable (which is cheaper than a bunch of VGA cables) and a couple VGA ends. This will save you some bucks and allow for a much cleaner run of cables.

How To: VGA over Cat-5 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To: Add RAW support to low end Canon camera

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

This is a great how-to on making a cheap Canon digital camera with a firmware mod much more powerful.

If you have a point-and-click digital camera made by Canon, you may be able to turn on all sorts of features usually reserved for more expensive SLRs. That includes live histograms, depth-of-field calculation, under and overexposure highlighting, and — best of all — shooting your pictures in RAW. The secret is CHDK, an enhanced, free software replacement firmware.

How To article.

How To: Add RAW support to low end Canon camera originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

How To: Hide a beer fridge at work

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

This is probably the most ingenious way I’ve ever seen when it comes to hiding something in your office, a beer fridge to boot.

Any other tricks that people use to hide things in the office? Let us know.

How To: Hide a beer fridge at work originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.