This is just cool. Very DIY.
Kai enjoys playing guitar (Hero). Or, rather, he wants us to play the guitar while he taps along on the other one. Every once in a while he will put the thing down and run to whichever of us is not playing and make sure we know that there is music and there are guitars.
So I've been in a posting slump recently -- not a whole lot of tech going on for me right now. I will collect my thoughts and get back to it, though, I promise!
When I planned on purchasing my iPod touch, I was really looking forward to hacking it when the smart people made that possible. As soon as I had bought it, however, it became clear that a hack was more than trivial, and perhaps wouldn't happen.
Well, the smart people have come through, and today I did a "jailbreak" on my iPod touch, and have added capabilities that allow it to replace my Palm m500 once and for all. Yay! At last I can make spur-of-the-moment reminders again, a la "Notes" on the Palm. I can also use it to SSH to remote servers, which, although somewhat limited, could help in a pinch.
I'm sure I'll post more later, but right now I'm just really excited.
Ingredients:
1 - 8-foot display
1 - mainstream computer with a good graphics card
1 - bottle of asprin
2 - really buff arms
Mix well, making sure to buff up the arms. Add multi-touch interface and stir.
Ok, my little cooking gimmick is not working out so well, but you really should look at this video. This certainly couldn't replace everything you do with your computer, but there are quite a few applications that normal people do every day that would benefit from using this (video editing, photo editing, Web browsing, to name a few).
I just saw this xkcd comic and laughed (LMAO, for those of you with the jargon skillz). I was then frustrated because I'm not sure who else I know would get it in its entirety. So I submit it to you, my three readers, to find teh funniez where you can. If you, too, find yourself ROFLYAO, let me know in the comments, so I can make sure to keep you up-to-date with similar funnies in the future.
This is a video of the way in which a really well-done game takes on a life of its own after the game has shipped. Their physics is apparently all-encompassing.
If you're not a fan of Halo, maybe this won't impress. But if you are, you'll love it.
:)
Nuclear power generation, that is. Look, I am not trying to say that I'm in any way responsible, but I've been saying since high school that nuclear power makes more sense than burning coal, or anything else, for that matter. Yes there is waste, but it is concentrated and you know where it is and can deal with it.
A while back, Wired ran a
story about China's "pebble-bed" reactors, which are basically meltdown-free. Now this article on O'Reilly's "Radar" blog offers up more information about how nuclear power can offer a better way to generate power into the future.
If you are a nerd or are in any way interested in space exploration and travel, you know about the Ansari X Prize.
Google is taking it one step further by attempting to spur private industry to invest in reaching the Moon with the Google Lunar X Prize. Check it out.
Way to go!
Remember that Mac OS-powered PDA everyone wanted after most of us had given up on the Newton? It has finally arrived. Think iPhone minus the phone and camera. Mine's on order, so I'll hold off reviewing what hasn't arrived yet, but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be the same undercarriage as the iPhone. Mac OS X at the core == hackable goodness (in a good way).
Photo via Ars Technica.
