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Lifehacker
At last someone has developed a patch to expand the Apple TV's storage through its USB 2.0 port, using the internal hard drive to boot and one fat external 2TB drive to stockpile as many TV series, photos and porn movies as you want. Yes, Cupertino, resistance to hackers is futile, I'm afraid. The process is not difficult, as you will see after the jump.
Posted by jenneth at 11:17 AM on July 28, 2007
Apparently no one ever taught the "sticks and stones" rhyme to Navy Fire Controlman 2nd Class Petty Officer Russell Tavares before. Upon being called a "nerd" in an online trollfight, the irate 27-year-old jumped into his car and travelled 1,300 miles to burn his name-caller's trailer down. He has since been sentenced to seven years in prison for arson. [Boing Boing]
Posted by jenneth at 10:51 AM on July 28, 2007
iPod users that don't mind looking like a dorkus ignoramus should check out this video review of the myvu Personal Media Viewer. They're basically wraparound glasses that virtually project videos on your iPod to a larger size. Interesting, but I think I'd rather watch videos on the iPod's small screen and retain my dignity. [Shiny Shiny]
iFuntastic, the iPhone custom ringtone GUI app, is in version 2.0. They've added the ability to change carrier logos, and reorder the main menu's icons. [iPhonealley, thanks Mike]... Read More »
Hot on the heels of the wireless USB devices that hit this week is this ultra wide band port replicator dock for its slim R400. It has two USB ports on the front, two on the back, minijack audio out, Ethernet, and a DVI output. It uses UWB to hit 400mbits across all those ports. It's $500, and again, only compatible with the Toshiba R400 laptop.
Posted by jenneth at 10:32 AM on July 28, 2007
Lonely MySpace nerds beware: if a hot (or semi-hot/not-at-all hot-but-I-just-want-to-get-laid) babe starts trying to befriend you, chances are that she's actually a dodgy Russian dude called Gustav that's trying to rob you of your life savings. Just ask this gullible poor shmuck Danny*, who only cottoned on to the scam when he/she began trying to pull a Nigerian scam on him.
*probably not real name
[SMH]
Sometimes we just want to tell our Roomba what to do, but we can never find that frickin' remote. Well SK Telecom has decided to fix this problem, they are developing a cleaning-robot that is controllable via your cell phone. Not only can you decide where the little bot cleans, but you can also see what it's doing via the built in camera. More pics after the jump.
Posted by jenneth at 9:54 AM on July 28, 2007
Virgin Mobile has launched a wireless landline and broadband service that could see you kissing your costly line rental fees goodbye. For $60 a month, you get a free 3G/HSDPA modem, unlimited calls to national landlines, unlimited calls to Virgin Mobile users and calls to other mobiles and overseas for 45c a minute. While it works over the Optus HSDPA mobile network, it acts like a landline, and you can even port your existing home number to it so you don 't have to faff about with changing numbers.
But wait, there's more!
Posted by jenneth at 9:35 AM on July 28, 2007
After a long day at the office, nothing cools you down better than a fresh ... pair of socks? I'm not sure if the feet are exceptionally sweaty in Italy, but an Italian company has come up with a vending machine that dispenses many different styles and colours of socks. Sure to excite the retifists out there. [Crave]
First made in 1987, this Famicom-esque "Shooting Watch" counts how many times you can push a button in 10 seconds. Only 10,000 of these are being made in Japan (the only place they're being made), so if you like to eschew modern graphics for more spastic gaming, a big yellow bus will come by your Japanese house and sell this to you. Man above? 16 pps. [ITmedia via Kotaku]
You can't yet make energy out of thin air, but that doesn't mean there isn't untapped juice out there. Grad students at MIT have an idea to harness and transform a human stampede at, say, an office, train station, or mall into volts. They call such technology, which would take form as flooring made to turn physical vibration or movement into electricity, "crowd farming".
Posted by jenneth at 9:10 AM on July 28, 2007
According to research firm Gartner, SMS - which turned 15 this year - is on the way out and will eventually be replaced by mobile email.
"Once email becomes available more or less free of charge by default on your mobile handset, people will gravitate to that rather than just continuing to use SMS," Simpson said.
This is a machine gun violin concept by Wei Lieh Lee of the School of Visual Arts. Looks like someone resented their mandatory music lessons. [via the amazing Geekologie]
We're nuts about both clocks and fonts around here, so that's why the notion of these three Font Clocks grabbed our attention right away. But when we saw them, we were reminded of those ransom-note newsletters people were slinging around in the mid-'80s, just when Pagemaker and Macs gave them the ability to swap out lots of typefaces. Perhaps it is possible to have too much of a good thing.
Hate having to bring an unnecessary amount of hardware when you want to produce your next musical opus on the go? Need more than a Boss 303 drum machine? The Trinity Audio Group may have what you're looking for with their new linux-powered digital audio workstation.
Posted by jenneth at 8:52 AM on July 28, 2007
Wa-hey, it's the weekend! (And you're sitting in front of the computer because..?)
Kazakhstani internet starting at the low price of $3,350 per month
Wawaweewah! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
Nothing Says Happiness Like a Slab of Rubber Forcing You to Smile
I could've used one of these in high school for the school photos.
First iPhone Class-Action Suit Against Apple and AT&T
Those yanks - anything for a quick buck!
Fantachrome Paint, Insta-Chrome
Don't let your kids near this one!
Email Typewriter for Luddites
Get your parents onto email with this thing.
The Blue Screen of Death Tattoo
This guy must work in IT support or something.
Oh, you've got a wristband for some cause? That's nice. Oh, this? Yeah, it says "ANGER." I've got six more just like it at home, each with their own deadly sin on it. Am I worried about Kevin Spacey attacking me in my sleep? No, why do you ask? [McPhee via Nerd Approved]
We're on the computer nearly 18 hours a day, so it's a miracle that we haven't developed carpal tunnel or RSI yet. If we did, we'll have one of these GripGlider Wristiciser wrist exercisers to relieve the pain. Just a few minutes a day doing "dozens of exercises" can take away your pain and get you back online and making inane comments at Fark with the best of them. [FeelGoodStore via Popgadget]
Yes, you read that right. In Borat's beloved homeland of Kazakhstan, the national internet service provider is charging $3,350 per month for DSL service. If you're ever in Kazakhstan and that seems a little pricey, dial-up is availible for $111 per month. If you need more speed, you can go all out and pay $22,032 for a 6Mbps cable connection. Rest assured that Borat has the 6Mbps connection while Nursultan Tulyakbay only has the dial-up...because he's still asshole. [Ars Technica]
Guess what we got today from an anonymous Chicago tipster...pictures that we believe to be of the Joker car from the new Batman movie, The Dark Night. And we immediately realized that it's not a car at all. It's a freakin' semi. Good call on the Joker's part, going all Terminator 2 with the setup (unlike the debunked Joker car).
TUAW's post on how to rip the 30-second track samples from iTunes for use on an iPhone is evil, brilliant and I love it. The secret: export a playlist from the iTunes store, download the MP4 sample clips, and upload them using iFuntastic.
The latest developer build of Leopard has a couple changes in the visual department that differentiates itself even from the WWDC build. Here are the notable changes:
• Google Talk support in iChat
• Full path view in Finder
• iPhone-like System Preferences icon
[ThinkSecret]
This multi-purpose charger bag seems like a solution in search of a problem. Never in our experience have we had to carry around only chargers in a bag. In addition, we haven't had any trouble keeping chargers separate with just a little bit of cord wrapping beforehand, making the six separate compartments a little iffy as well. But if you're doing a bit of traveling and want to carry around a semi-fashionable charger bag, well, here ya go. Honestly, we recommend the Chargepod if you're going to charge six things at once. [BuiltNY via Shiny Shiny]
With 13 servos controlling its eyebrows, eyes, eyelids and weird Angelina-Jolie-esque lips, Philips' iCat can play, chat with you and "explore human-robot interaction," all for your enjoyment. Until he puts that "I'm going to kick your ass and take your eyeballs off" face on. Then you should be happy that it's only 38 cm tall and actually has no razor-sharp claws. And then you smash it up with a big hammer. [iCat via Technoloy Review]
Look at this beautifully shaped building, designed by Dutch architects from the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). To be built in the heart of Mexico City by 2010, it's destined to be Latin America's tallest tower at 984.25 feet. It's a beefy structure with 160,000 square feet of office space, along with plenty of public spaces such as a museum, a gym, stores and restaurants. Check out the gallery below for more pics, and then we'll put the height of this building into context on the next page.
Oh man, I wish you didn't look so happy. It's not that I want you to be sad, it's just that you look so ugly when you smile. Your smile, frankly, sucks. Fortunately, it's a solvable problem. Simply stick this piece of rubber in your mouth that forces you to smile, and in a matter of days you're sure to have a smile that won't be so revolting to those around you. It's the Beauty Smile Trainer, yet another device that could only come out of Japan. Thanks again, Japan! [TokyoMango]
HTC Kaiser, the possible AT&T 8925, has just cleared the FCC. [PhoneScoop]
Is the Zune 2.0 getting delayed due to production problems? Is it possible for a product that hasn't even been announced yet to be "delayed"? If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? [Zune Scene]
These 1080p-capable Inteset media centers not only have a 7.1 channel surround sound, they have both Blu-ray and HD DVD support with a hybrid drive built right in. They also support Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS audio, which is great since you probably won't have enough cash left over after you buy this to get another media center. Couple that with two HDTV (over the air, not cable) and two SDTV tuners, and you've got a media center capable of replacing much of your current entertainment system. Having both Blu-ray and HD DVD, even in a mid-'90s styled box, is nothing to complain about. [Inteset via Cepro]
Do it yourselfers have a bit of a hassle keeping up with 64-bit, Dual Core, and all the different price ranges when buying CPUs for their machines. So much so, many people just buy pre-built systems to save time. But if you're still intent on building the fastest and cheapest systems for your money, head over to Computer Shopper's guide to buying the best CPU. They even have a section on laptops and what CPUs not to buy. [Computer Shopper]
Okay, we're starting to see a trend here. If a device turns into a commodity, start gussying it up with gold plating, or even solid gold. Is that what's happened with this Younous swing gold flash drive, holding 512 MB to 16GB of ordinary data underneath its seemingly extraordinary exterior? It's just 8.7mm thick, easy to carry in your pocket and flash around in front of everyone, making them think you're some kind of dot-com billionaire. Could this be another crazy-expensive gadget, like that $19,434 solid gold iPod shuffle we showed you last week?
There's been a sad setback for Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space tourism company today: an explosion during a rocket motor test killed two people and injured another four. It's not clear exactly what happened, but sometime earlier today the nitrous oxide motor exploded on a remote pad at the Mojave Air and Space port, mangling an 18-wheeler and spewing debris hundreds of feet. It's not known who was killed or what effect this will have on Virgin Galactic's future, but we'll keep you updated. [CNN]
Still no relief to your Transformers fever? Then how about this Transformers PlayStation controller, part of the "real gear" line of T-former toys that are set to come out next month. We showed you a couple of these before, but other entries in the line are watches, digital cameras, and Bluetooth headsets. We just hope all of them have their Transformers affiliation symbols in their crotch, because that's totally the first place we look when we check out robots. [Kotaku]
A few of our commenters have mentioned how much fun it might be to drive one of those Google Streetview camera vehicles, and this just might be their big chance. Immersive Media, one of the companies associated with the data collection project for Google, is looking for a "GeoImmersive Data Producer" to get on the road and grab a few million 360° pictures. Hey, if you're spending your days cruising around anyway, this might be a way to pick up a few bucks. Check out the details, after the jump.
One of the main selling points of Blockbuster online vs. Netflix is the fact that you can take your online mailers into brick and mortar Blockbuster stores and exchange them for in-store movies. In fact, that's the reason we give when we recommend people choose Blockbuster over Netflix. It's too bad that they're now totally cutting the plan off at the knees and limiting $17.99 plan to only FIVE free in-store exchanges a month, and charging $1.99 per exchange after that.
It was bound to happen. It seems that a guy called Trujillo has been the first to file a class-action suit against Apple and AT&T because of the iPhone. The reason? You guessed, it's the battery. Read all about this dumbtastically stupid lawsuit, including the entire complaint text, after the jump.
Fastidious types are frequently wearing suits or otherwise fussy, wrinkle-prone clothes, so they'll probably like this Aluminum Folding Travel Hanger from Kikkerland Design, letting them hang up stuff wherever they go, just like their mommies told them to. This lightweight hanger collapses into an improbably small size, slipping into its little drawstring-equipped carrying case.
Oki Japan has developed software that brings iris recognition security to existing cell phones. Before now, biometric security has meant either hugely expensive military systems or cheap, novelty peripherals. This new development is part of a growing number of practical and affordable solutions. The software can be used to add another layer of security on any device that has a camera of at least 1 mega pixel and is claimed to only give one false positive for every 100,000 scans. [Digital World Tokyo]
What if a Segway didn't require you to a hold onto its stalk and look like a dork? That's the idea of the Handsfree Transporter, a Segway clone invented by Ulrich Kahlert that's so close to its original, the two may end up in a courtroom. Meanwhile, this transporter leaves the hands free to do lots of creative things.
The horrifically-named Cosmic Muffin is an old Boeing 307 Staroliner airplane that's been converted into a luxury yacht. Why? That's a question for the ages, my friend. All I know is that a couple of dudes named Dave Drimmer and Jeff Gibbs are gut renovating the thing and turning it into some sort of dork waterpalace. And people say the rich throw their money away on frivolous things!
A Sony patent has just been unearthed for a device that combines the PSP with a Dual Shock PS2 controller, allowing for better, more comfortable control when playing the PSP. The connection could be wired or wireless, the PSP could be tilted for viewing angle and an external processing unit could even add additional functionality. Obviously the idea is no longer coming to fruition since Sony has moved on in the product line, but the same thing could be done with a PSP Slim and SIXAXIS. Hit the jump for the abstract.
Chroming is an expensive industrial process that requires resources that are beyond most of our time, budgets and attention spans. But what if you could just spray a coat of chrome onto you favorite object? Now. You. Can.
Sony is updating its SZ5 laptops to SZ6 designation. The laptops have Santa Rosa chips, 13-inch LED backlight LCDs, and up to 200GB hybrid HDDs (which have 256MB of flash). [