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AirPlay On Linux

Frank — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 03:55:42 +0000

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

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

Instructions

Clone the git repository

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

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

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

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

[Link to Totem AirPlay Plugin]

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

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Review: eLocity A7 Android Tablet

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Link to eLocity A7]

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

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Oxygen Audio’s iPhone Car Deck

Frank — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 05:57:36 +0000

If your car doesn’t come with some sort of built in iPhone control then you know your limited to bluetooth or cable hook-up to enjoy the tunes on your phone. If you want to eliminate the need for all those wires then the O Car stereo deck from Oxygen Audio might be something to consider.

The unit turns your iPhone itself into your car stereo by allowing users to control of the stereo functions right from their iPhone; Internet radio stations, GPS navigation, Google maps and pretty much anything your iPhone can play or do. Your iPhone docks right into the head unit and melds right into your car’s dashboard.

For US$349, the O Car has pre-amp outs, 4×55 watts of power, FM/AM presets and supports the iPhone 3G/3GS/4. The price seems a little steep, but if you want to enjoy streaming apps like Pandora and don’t want all of the clutter on your front seat it’s one of you’re only choices.

Oxygen Audio’s iPhone Car Deck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

10 Weird USB Drives

Frank — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 04:17:43 +0000

With CES going on this week and the tech media flooding the blog-o-sphere with reports of new gadgets and technology I thought I’d brake the mundane stream of press releases and “first looks” at gadgets that might never make it to market.

Here are 10 really weird USB drives that are sure to make you laugh.

The sperm drive. When you pull this out of your pocket you are going to have people wondering exactly what you were doing with your hand in your pocket in the first place.

The typical food item converted to a USB drive. Just don’t try to eat it, no matter how much wasabi you add to it.

I guess this is where the name “Thumb Drive” originally came from. Kinda creepy actually.

For those that just can’t let go of old technology. I just hope this USB drive has a greater storage capacity than it’s case did.

The clothes pin drive is creative and different, plus it’s great for hanging your shirts up to dry.

Maybe when you pull the sperm drive out of your pocket you can pull this poop drive out of the other one. That should really get the conversation going.

It’s the old “Teddy Bear jammed it’s head into the USB port” trick. You can’t fool me!

Probably one of the weirdest ones on the list. Not sure why would would want a spoonful of cereal to have a USB drive attached, but then again this is the Internet.

The eraser drive is perfect for fixing mistakes, just don’t try to run out your red underlines in MS Word.

This humping dog drive is sure to get the ladies. Plug it in and it actually starts to hump the side of your computer.

10 Weird USB Drives originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Open Source HTPC’s That Don’t Suck

Frank — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 21:30:11 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Cheap WiFi Radio

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

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

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

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

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

Allegro Portable Internet Radio

Frank — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 05:04:12 +0000

Let’s face it, terestrial radio is all but dead. Who wants to wade through all the commercials and limited avalability of the FM or AM dial? I listen to internet radio all the time, when at work at my desk and even on my iPhone when in my car and this little baby while now complete my internet radio experience.

The Grace Allegro Wi-Fi internet radio can run for about 8 hours on six AA batteries and streams over 16,000 radio stations from the likes of Pandora, Sirius and Live365. Is has built in 802.11b/g/n support and even has an iPhone remote control app so you can change stations without walking up to the unit.

You also get MP3/WMA/Real Audio/WAV/AAC/AIFF codec support, alarm functions, built-in speaker, 4-line display, standard remote control.

The unit will cost you $170 and is available right now from Grace Digital Audio

Allegro Portable Internet Radio originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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10.6.2 Kills Off Atom CPU Support

Frank — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Looks like Apple is taking another step to put a nail in the coffin of the hackintosh community. Looks like the developer build of Mac OS 10.6.2 lacks support for Intel’s Atom processor which every netbook around uses and is very popular in the hackintosh community.

If this is a conscious move on Apple’s part and they let the build go live we might be looking at another cat an mouse game between Apple and the legions of hackers in the hackintosh world.

For the longest time Apple hasn’t really anything heavy at stopping people from installing their OS on non Apple hardware. With a move like this, which really doesn’t streamline the OS and looks like a blatant attack on the hackintosh world, I wonder how long it will take set community to find a work around. You can never keep the power of the people down (I just had to throw that one in there).

10.6.2 Kills Off Atom CPU Support originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

iPhone Safari Bug Could Cost You Cash

Frank — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:25:23 +0000

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

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

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

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

[Link to AppleSpot]

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

Apple Working On Radio App

Frank — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:31:56 +0000

Rumour has it that Apple is working on a radio app for the iPhone and the Touch. The app will be similar to what they developed for the iPod Nano. That includes the ability to pause like streams and to fast forward when you decide to resume.

Radio apps for the iPhone are nothing new. Wunder Radio is probably the one single app I use the most. It gives you the ability to listen to 10,000+ radio stations from around the world. I’m sure Apple will build in some sort of revenue model into this. Something like the ability to click on a song your listening to and it will then give you the option to purchase it from the iTunes store.

Apple Working On Radio App originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

4K TV Only $76,000

Frank — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:35:57 +0000

If you have been holding out on buying that new 1080p HD TV because you know that 4K TVs are only around the corner then your wait is over. It will definitely cost you though, around $76,000 to be exact.

This Sony 4K 56-inch TV sports a 3840×2160 resolution. Thats 4 times the size of full resolution HD TV. You could div up your screen into quads and still watch 4 HD streams at the same time. It might just be cheaper to purchase 4 HD TVs to be honest with you.

Like the title says only $76,000 and this could be yours, a bit pricy but just think of all the AV cred you’d build up with one of these in your Mom’s basement.

4K TV Only $76,000 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck

Frank — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:56:37 +0000

Following Linux Distros That Don’t Suck from earlier this year here is a comprehensive list of, you guessed it, more Linux Distros that don’t suck. Some of these are more obscure lesser known distros that are quite powerful and very useful. Some of these come from personal use some of them came from the great comments you readers posted the first time I did this.

Remember that this is just a personal list, nothing more, nothing less. I’m not trying to start a holy war since that’s what usually happens when you open something like this up. With that being said, let’s us know in the forums what your list of Linux Distros That Don’t Suck would be.

SLAMPP – A Slackware based Live DVD that can only be described as a one-stop server system. Right off the DVD your up and running with pre-configured services including an HTTP server, FTP server, DHCP server, DNS server and a whole lot more. This is the perfect Distro for those “I really don’t know when I will need a fully functional small network server” times. Best of all, you can run it all without ever having to install anything on the host machine.

Pardus – Pardus, which is the scientific name for the the Anatolian Leopard (watch out Apple), is a Turkish Linux distro which is extremely underrated. It’s wonderfully crafted and has a lot of polish to it. You can tell that the developers have really put a lot of time and energy making this not only run really well but also make it really sexy. I would easily recommend this distro to novices and experts alike.

CrunchBang – Think of CrunchBang as Ubuntu for the advanced. It offers speed and style as well at the bleeding edge of packages. It’s highly customizable and comes with the nimble openbox window manager. No bloated Gnome or KDE here. This is the perfect distro if you really like Ubuntu but don’t like how it’s geared towards linux n00bs.

Sabayon – Sabayon promises to transform your computer into a powerful Gentoo Linux system in under 5 minutes. It’s a livecd (with the option to install) of the uber geek popular Gentoo. It’s very powerful and very polished like you would expect from any Gentoo system, but best of all it still acts like an other Gentoo system allowing you to use portage to pull from the Gentoo repositories.

PC-BSD – Alright, I know it’s technically not Linux, it’s BSD based, but it tries really really hard to be Linux. If you are more of a BSD fan but like the Desktop functionality that a standard linux distro offers then PC-BSD is perfect for you. Much like any out of the box distro you can listen to music, watch some video, work with office documents and you can even install applications with a gui. Best of all, it’s a rock solid BSD core that powers everything.

CentOS – Based on the rock solid RHEL, CentOS is one of the most reliable distros you will every find. It offers quick errata, package management that offers stable applications and has a very strong community behind it. They even get upstream fixes from RHEL. If you want a solid server based OS you can’t do much better than CentOS.

Slackware – The oldest of the bunch. Created in 1992, Slackware is the oldest surviving distro. It orginally came on 24 floppy disks as was built on top of kernel 0.99 and it was one of the hardest things to install. Thank God that things have changed. It’s now a highly technical and clean distro. No fancy tools for settings, you have to do everything by editing text files. You know what they say, if you learn Ubuntu you know Ubuntu. If you learn Slackware you know Linux.

There you go, another list of distros that don’t suck (according to me). You millage may vary. I really don’t want to start a holy war so I open it up to you to add to the list by visiting our forums and letting us know what you like.

More Linux Distros That Don’t Suck originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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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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Netflix and Samsung Blu-Ray Team Up

Ryan Yewell — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:00:04 +0000

Netflix and Samsung recently announced that two of Samsung’s Blu-Ray players (the BD-P2550 and BD-P2500) now have the ability to stream the Netflix service. Samsung and Netflix also plan to bring the movie/tv subscription service to more of Samsung’s consumer electronics in the future.

To make it happen, the Samsung Blu-ray player communicates with Netflix via its internet connection, then a Netflix interface appears onscreen. You sign into your account, enter an activation code, and you’ll then be able to stream “dvd picture quality movies and TV episodes”. According to their marketing material, there are currently over 12,000 movies and TV episodes to choose from on Netflix.

It remains to be seen how many people own an HD/Blu-Ray setup that would be in the market for streaming DVD-quality movies through a subscription based model like NetFlix. One might wonder if a consumer already has a Blu-Ray player, and an internet connection (and
computer), they might already be getting their DVD content from, ummm… “other” sources.

[Link to Press Release]

Netflix and Samsung Blu-Ray Team Up originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/27. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Imerge MS1 Media Server – 6 Terabytes Of Fun

Frank — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 03:24:56 +0000

Got a fetish for all the media you can handle? Well, the Imerge MS1 home media server might just be right for you. The Imerge MS1, when combined with a storage system like XiVA’s three and six terabyte disc arrays, will give you an amazing high-quality audio and video streaming solution over your network.

The unit comes with HDMI out that can play 1080p video, an audiophile-grade sound board with Wolfson Delta-Sigma 24-bit DACs, a night GUI, and more connectors than you can shake a stick at.

When you add that and the raid arrays which come with 8 500GB or 1 TB drive in a RAID-6 configuration (which will give you something insane like 1700 hours or 71 days of video), you’ll be forking out a ton of cash. $22,500 for the 3TB model and $24,500 for the 6TB model.

[Link to Imerge]

Imerge MS1 Media Server – 6 Terabytes Of Fun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Hunt Down Wi Fi Leeches With MoocherHunter

Frank — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 04:09:48 +0000

Last week we showed you how to screw with people who were stealing your Wi Fi signal by flipping their browsers and blurring their images. Today we show you how to hunt those Wi Fi moochers. The problem with leaving your Wi Fi unprotected is that malicious people can use it to download illegal files that can be tracked back to you. The best thing to do is lock down your Wi Fi to ensure that no one does something that you might be blamed for, but if you choose to leave it open and have a problem with a user or two taking advantage of it you can track them down and pay them a visit.

First thing you are gonna want to do is download MoocherHunter. MoocherHunter tracks the data that is being streamed from your unprotected Wi Fi right to their front door. The program is pretty straighforward to use and is part of a much larger wireless auditing toolkit called OSWA-Assistant which is chalked full of useful tools to make sure your Wi Fi is well protected.

Use this information wisely, don’t go out and do something stupid with it. Remember, this is to be used for personal research, not as an excuse to knock at someone’s door and start a fight.

Hunt Down Wi Fi Leeches With MoocherHunter originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Running OS X

Frank — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:50:23 +0000

The UMPCs are become hot little machines to turn into hackintoshes. The latest victim is the Dell Inspiron Mini 9. Loaded with a slipstreamed version of OSX (in a similar manner as the MSI Wind). To top it all off, the ethernet, wireless, and sound work.

If you have a Mini 9 and want to get OS X running on it then UneasySilence has everything you need.

I just wish some crafty hacker could come up with a kernel that would run on the HP Mini Note. I have been banging my head for months trying to get OS X on it.

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Running OS X originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Rockbox 3.0 Sneaks In

Frank — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 03:21:06 +0000

Rockbox, the open source replacement firmware for many mp3 players (see all supported players here) quietly release it’s first major update in over 3 years. Included in the update is support and stability for more mp3 player, playback support of more file types, last.fm support, album art, games, and tons more.

With this new release comes a streamlined installation tool called RockboxUtility that works on Mac, Windows, and Linux. It makes installation simple. So if you have an old mp3 player laying around that you want to breath new life into, Rockbox is for you.

[Link to Rockbox]

Rockbox 3.0 Sneaks In originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Xbox 360 Wireless Interface

Frank — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 04:04:11 +0000

A crafty hacker on the benheck forums decided that building a portable Xbox had been done so instead he decided to build a wireless video interface for his Xbox 360. The device acts more like a “thin client” and streams whatever his Xbox is playing. The unit has a 1.2GHz A/V receiver and the guts of a wireless controller. It’s powered by two 2600mAh batteries running at 7.5V and even has it’s own built in charging circuit.

It’s a crafty build and great for playing Xbox games while wondering around the house. Plus, it will keep your girl friend/wife off your back for hogging up the TV.

Xbox 360 Wireless Interface originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Airfoil 3.1: Stream Audio To Front Row

Frank — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 19:09:24 +0000

Front Row on the Mac has to be one of the slickest “Media PC” like experiences that a user can have, but when Front Row 2.0 hit the scene Apple mysteriously removed the ability to stream audio to it. Will Apple release an update that will restore the streaming functionality? Who knows, but in the meantime there is a solution that we can all jump on.

The great Mac folks over at Rogue Amoeba have released Airfoil 3.1 which works around the streaming problem in Front Row. Airfoil will let you send any audio to multiple Airport Express units and keep the audio between them in sync. The latest release also allows you send audio from any source to an AppleTV. The functionality doesn’t end there; you can send any audio from your Mac to another computer (Mac or PC) on your local network via the Airfoil Speakers program which is bundled with the download. You can also watch videos on the built-in Airfoil Video Player.

All of this streaming goodness can be your for $25 right here.

Airfoil 3.1: Stream Audio To Front Row originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

IOGEAR: Wireless USB to VGA Kit

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

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

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

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

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.

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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DIY Slingbox

Frank — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:32:20 +0000

Creative hardware hacker David laid out some steps on hacking together your own Slingbox. Using a Mac Mini, an old DV camera, and Quicktime Broadcaster he is able to capture the stream of his cable box with the DV camera then send it over to the Mac Mini via firewire, then using Quicktime Broadcaster he can multicast the single to any computer that has quicktime.

It’s not the easiest or prettiest thing to get going, but it works. There are a few down sides to the project like not being able to change the channel remotely like you can with a slingbox, but if you have the hardware just laying around it works quite well. If you can get your hands on a quicktime streaming server you’d be able to send the signal out on the internets as well!

Link to DIY Slingbox

DIY Slingbox originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/06/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

MVIX MX-780HD – Medica Center With Torrent Client

Frank — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:00:08 +0000

Mvix’s new MX-780HD Media Center not only has all of the basic features you would expect for a dedicated media center like a multitude of supported video and audio formats, streaming capabilities from your computer via either Wi-Fi or ethernet, internet radio capabilities, and HiDef support in the form of 720p, 1080i and 1080p format, but it also has a built in torrent client so that all you pirates, errr I mean video podcast lovers can get your content without the need of a separate computer.

Although the MX-780HD isn’t listed on there site yet, here’s a look at what the MX-780HD will offer.

Supported Video Formats: DivX, XviD, DVD (ISO/VOB/IFO), MPEG, VCD(DAT), WMV(WMV-9), ASF(WMV-9), TP, TS, TRP
Supported Audio Formats: MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, PMC, AC3, M4A, DTS decoding (down-mixing / Pass though)
Supported Image Formats: BMP, JPG, PNG
Subtitle Support: SMO, SRT, SUB
Video Out: HDMI, Composite, S-Video, Component Audio Out: RCA, Digital Coaxial
Optical TV System: NTSC, PAL, Auto
HD Support: 720p, 1080i, 1080p
Networking: 802.11b/g (WEP/WPA), 10/100 Ethernet, NDAS
Internal Disk: 3.5â€ IDE or SATA
USB: Slave (for connecting to computer) and Host (for additional storage)

If your crafty enough you can already hack an AppleTV and get a pretty decent torrent client on it. Only time will tell if the price is right when they announce a price and shipping date.

MVIX MX-780HD – Medica Center With Torrent Client originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Stream PC Games To Your PS3

Frank — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:05:02 +0000

A new interesting piece of software just cropped up called StreamMyGame which essentially does just that, streams Windows games over a LAN to other Windows or Linux boxes. The interesting part is the Linux aspect since you can install Linux on your PS3 then you can stream the games to it as well. It looks like a very optimized version of VNC and any game is currently supported.

I’m not sure how well a super graphics intensive game would be over ethernet, but it’s a neat concept.

[Via Engadget]

Stream PC Games To Your PS3 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Watch Full Length TV Episodes Online

Frank — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:46:49 +0000

Fancast allows you to watch full length episodes of your favorite TV shows. Fancast essentially aggregates all of the available full length TV shows that are already offered by the big networks, but Fancast takes things one step further, taking it beyond the video streaming by integrating movies and other services. Fancast shows directs you to iTunes or Amazon where you can purchase the product your watching (hey, these guys need to make money somehow).

I warn you now, it can be a tad confusing to navigate around, but it will give you your TV fix.

Fancast

Watch Full Length TV Episodes Online originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/01/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

Microsoft puts the smack down on AutoPatcher

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

AutoPatcher.com has been a safe haven for Sysadmins who don’t know how or want to deploy a WSUS “Windows Server Update Services” server (and all the headache that comes along with it). For those who don’t know, AutoPatcher was a portable “Windows Update”+. You could literally take it around on a thumb drive, (or the Switchblade) and get your machines up and patched. So, this way, if you have more than one computer at home, you no ling have to wait for each to download all the updates from Microsoft. Another instance where AutoPatcher came to the rescue? What if you have a network that isn’t connected to the internet, like a lab or private network? Neither Windows Update nor WSUS have a modular version that is as streamlined as AutoPatcher was. Something tells me that the recent release of “The Microsoft Catalog” has something to do with it. Antonis Kaladis posted the take down notice on their site. You can sign the petition that the Neowin community started (petition)

Microsoft strikes again.

Update:
Neowin posted two great articles, one says how you can help fight back.
Microsoft Remains Silent on AutoPatcher
Community fights back for AutoPatcher

Microsoft puts the smack down on AutoPatcher originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

One big storage unit

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

I’m all about big storage. You know how the old saying goes, you can never have enough money and you can never have enough disk space.

The Lanner NS04-3100 is a 4-Bay Media Storage server. The box allows you to share media files such as music, pictures, and video. The unit has 4 internal SATA drive bays and supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and JBOD across all drives. User’s can select their required level of data integrity for their personal requirements.

Some of the features include â€¦

DHCP and FTP Server: Easy network integration
UPnP AV and iTunes Server: Stream music directly to iTunes or network media device
OS Support: Windows 2000/XP/Vista, Linux and Mac OS X
System backup and restore: Optional software package for business orientated clients

Although the unit hasn’t started shipping yet Lanner says that it should be on shelves by next quarter.

One big storage unit originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 1999/11/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.