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Thursday, July 03, 2008

Machine Collective reveals modular prototyping platform

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/324979154/

While Bug Labs may have brought modular gadget kits to the forefront, you won't find us kvetching about yet another formidable opponent. Machine Collective has just launched a website to showcase its modular prototyping platform, which essentially consists of a number of interchangeable I/O modules "designed to work with development platforms such as Arduino and Wiring." Needless to say, the possibilities for DIYers and electrical engineers are pretty much endless here, though you'll have to "wait a few weeks" before excitedly beaming in your order and credit card information.

[Via MAKE]

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GEAR4 BlackBox micro uses your table to enrich bass notes

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/325076234/

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio

GEAR4's BlackBox Bluetooth speaker is splendid for those with ample room in their abode, but where will you turn for lavish sound when space is an issue? Bose? Pish posh. The newly introduced BlackBox micro (sadly) ditches Bluetooth in exchange for a sole 3.5-millimeter auxiliary port, but it does include an integrated SFX gel base in order to use any flat surface to "provide rich bass sounds." Beyond all that fanciful stuff, you'll find another traditional driver kicking out mids and highs, and there's even a USB port for powering it with whatever computer you've got nearby. Look for this one to sneak into stores this August for £20 ($40).

[Via Pocket-lint]

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Casio touts "Blanview" transmissive LCD for outdoor use

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/325076231/

Filed under: Displays

Casio sure seems to be confident in its new transmissive LCD panel, so confident that it apparently thinks it can make it with a name like "Blanview." The big innovation here, Casio says, is that it's managed to develop a new system that pulls outside light into the LCD panel to make the transmissive LCD usable outdoors without backlighting, eliminating the need for so-called "semi-transmissive" LCD panels that are more commonly used today. What's more, it says this new method also increases the transmittance of the panel by about 30% and cut its power consumption for outdoor use by upwards of 50% compared to current panels. Unlike some other promised LCD technology, it also seems like this one is actually fast approaching commercializtion, with sample panels ranging in size from 2.7- to 6.5-inches set to begin shipping this month.

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Drobo gets dev community and SDK beta: run UPnP, BitTorrent, and any other servers you want

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/325128816/

Filed under: Storage, Networking

Looks like Data Robotics just started up their Drobo Developer Community (DDC) and SDK program, kicking off on their eventual goal to let users develop their own apps and servers for their Drobo storage device. For the first "DroboApp" and proof-of-concept, they've already whipped up a working UPnP / DLNA server for streaming audio and video content directly from the Drobo to compliant devices (like the Xbox 360 and PS3, for example), and they hope the early beta offering will spur the community into developing drop-in servers for things like iTunes music and AFP, Rsync, FTP, web, BitTorrent, and anything else you can think up. (One Linux developer has already ported the Drobo Dashboard app to Linux using the SDK).

The DroboApps themselves are compiled for Linux, stored on the Drobo, added via drag and drop into a simple directory on the file system, and run on the Linux-based DroboShare hardware (meaning you won't be able to take advantage of DroboApps with a bare Drobo). Exciting stuff for the storage geeks in the house, especially those looking for some of the extensibility of Microsoft's Windows Home Server platform

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ASUS Eee PC 900 gets livened up with touchscreen

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/325283070/

Filed under: Laptops

If you're tired of waiting for ASUS to offer a touchscreen option for the Eee PC 900 (or you're the proud owner of an existing unit), jkkmobile is happy to show you their shortcut to touchy-feely nirvana. As we've seen on all those other Eees, installing the touch panel into the 900 doesn't seem to be extraordinarily difficult for those with a few mods under their belt and a reliable Chinese parts supplier. For those who'd prefer to simply watch from the sidelines, you can peek the video after the break and lots more photos in the read link.

Continue reading ASUS Eee PC 900 gets livened up with touchscreen

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NVIDIA says "significant quantities" of laptop GPUs are defective, stock tumbles

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/325418750/

Filed under: Laptops

If you're the type to watch the late stock tickers, you might have noticed that NVIDIA's stock just took a pretty big hit, down 24 percent to $13.56 -- that's because the company just informed investors that "significant quantities" of previous-generation graphics chips have been failing at "higher than normal rates," and that it's lowering its Q2 estimates due to pricing pressure. NVIDIA will be taking a $150M to $250M charge against earnings next quarter to cover the cost of repairing and replacing the affected chips, but didn't specifically announce what products were defective, just that they include GPUs and "media and communications processors." Laptop makers have apparently already been given an updated GPU driver which kicks in fans sooner to reduce "thermal stress" on the GPU, and NVIDIA says it's talking to its suppliers about being reimbursed for the faulty parts. That's great and all, but we'd really rather know which chips specifically are failing -- if you're serious about playing in the big leagues, you better come clean, guys.

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Roku serves up Netflix Player source code

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/325438046/

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Hope you're not too sleepy, you hacker you, 'cause we've got a juicy one coming your way. No sooner did we find that the Netflix Player would be streaming content from other players in the industry later this year than Roku opens up the source code vault. You heard right -- the GPL code has now been posted for the world to see, meaning that there's just one link standing between you and umpteen delicious tarballs. Mmm, tarballs.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

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Linksys announces WRT610N simultaneous dual-N band router

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/325452291/

Filed under: Wireless, Networking

Linksys, er, sorry, that's Linksys by Cisco, is announcing the WRT610N this morning, a new simultaneous dual-N band router that enables it to use 802.11n WiFi on both 5 and 2.4GHz at the same time. This means, of course, that your higher throughput, shorter-distance devices can get the highest-speed 802.11n access at the same time as the rest of your devices can get the usual, more compatible 2.4GHz access they look for. It's on sale now for $200.

Gallery: Linksys announces WRT610N simultaneous dual-N band router

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Use Google Talk for iPhone in Firefox & Other Desktop Browsers

Source: http://www.labnol.org/internet/voice/use-google-talk-for-iphone-ipod-in-firefox-desktop-browser/3790/

iphone google talk

Google today launched a new version of Google Talk for iPhone and iPod Touch that includes no new features but looks slightly more pleasing than the regular Flash based Google Talk gadget.

If you like to use the new iPhone version of Google Talk gadget on a desktop browser or your Firefox sidebar, just use the following links.

For Google Accounts / Gmail users: http://talkgadget.google.com/talkgadget/m

For Google Apps: http://hostedtalkgadget.google.com/a/mydomain.com/talkgadget/m

Use Google Talk for iPhone in Firefox & Other Desktop Browsers - Digital Inspiration | FAQ | RSS

Hot Tatra

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yankodesign/~3/324683407/

The last ten years has seen the resurrection of legendary auto brands like the Maybach, Bugatti, Healey, Mini and recently announced Alpine car brand. Tatra Motors, the third oldest car company on the planet behind Daimler Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot was the inspiration for this new concept design by Czech magazine AutoDesign&Styling. They asked designer Mike Jelinek to create this concept vision of the Tatra of the future. The result is the 903 Concept, a fuel cell luxury sportscar with innovative aerodynamic solutions. Jelinek adds, “The water drop shaped back refers to one of the most characteristic values of Tatra, the aerodynamics – same as covered rear wheels.” At present, Tatra only produces heavy trucks, but the this latest commissioned concept may get enough people excited to convince them to relaunch their passenger car line. Fingers crossed.

Designer: Mike Jelinek

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Italian True Love

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yankodesign/~3/325112687/

I must admit, I am not really a fan of either Italian sport car maker Lamborghini or Italian fashion house Versace. Individually I find them both a little too macho, tacky, Euro-trashy. But when these two design powerhouses recently combined forces and delivered this stunning “Versace edition Murciélago LP640 Roadster by Lamborghini”, I was amazed. I guess the old adage “two wrongs don’t make a right” has officially been discredited. This machine is HOT! It has a certain raw sex appeal that only two sets of Italians can deliver. Versace tastefully applied their signature Versace Greek Key motif in all the right places making for a nearly perfect marriage of the Capulets and the Montagues, let’s hope no one dies this time around.

[ Via: Yatzer ]

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Wednesday, July 02, 2008

EverNote Web Clipper Now Captures Complete Web Pages

Source: http://www.labnol.org/software/organize/evernote-web-clipper-save-complete-web-pages/3746/

EverNote, the world's favorite note taking application, has a new web clipper that enables you to capture full web pages including text, images and hyperlinks. This works in IE, Firefox and Safari.

evernote web clipper

To install the new EverNote Web Clipper, simple drag this bookmarklet - Clip to EverNote - into the bookmarks toolbar of your web browser.

If you have the Evernote web clipping on your machine already, there's no need to reinstall that as Evernote will auto-upgrade that according to Philip.

A similar service is offered by Iterasi as well – it also enables you to archive & save copies of any web page with a single click. So is Evernote some sort of threat to Iterasi?

I did a test run on some websites like BBC, New York Times, Mozilla, etc using both Evernote and Interasi and feel that Iterasi is much more reliable that Evernote. In many cases, Evernote simply refused to clip a web page while Iterasi worked just perfect.

evernote-error

That said, Evernote offers you OCR function so you can even search for text that may printed or even handwritten in pictures & screenshot images that were captured along the web page.

EverNote Web Clipper Now Captures Complete Web Pages - Digital Inspiration | FAQ | RSS

How to Download PowerPoint Presentations from SlideShare

Source: http://www.labnol.org/internet/office/download-powerpoint-presentations-from-slideshare-as-flash/3758/

How do you take out PowerPoint presentations from SlideShare and view them offline on a large TV screen in the living room or on a computer that's not connected to the Internet?

slideshare download

While you can easily download lot of good presentations from SlideShare in their original PPT or PDF format, the following workarounds will help if you quickly need a presentation for which the download option is disabled.

Option A: Do a Dry Run - The idea here is that you flip through all slides of a SlideShare presentation on your laptop in 'full screen mode' while still connected to the web.

Now you can safely unplug and view the presentation in offline mode anywhere (even on a TV screen) because all slides are already available in the browser cache.

Option B: Download Flash Slides – This option is for people who want to download complete slides of a private presentation without having to flip through each of them.

For this trick to work, you either need URL Snooper or Firebug if you are on Firefox.

slideshare amazonaws

a. Open URL Snooper, type s3.amazonaws.com/slideshare in the "Keyword Filter" box and press the "Sniff Network" button.

b. Now open any presentation inside SlideShare and URL Snooper will show you a series of SWF links each corresponding to slides of that presentation.

swf slides

c. Copy all the links to the clipboard and paste them in your download manager like FlashGet or Orbit.

Once you have all the SWF slides on the hard drive, you can view them in Adobe Flash Player one-by-one but if that sounds tedious, just create a new PowerPoint presentation and insert the Flash files on different slides.

firebug swf

For this trick to work in Firefox, enable Firebug while loading the presentation and switch the Flash option under the Net tab.

How to Download PowerPoint Presentations from SlideShare - Digital Inspiration | FAQ | RSS

Visualize Units of Measurement Without Getting Technical

Source: http://www.labnol.org/internet/tools/visualize-units-of-measurement-without-getting-technical/3761/

visualize units Someone just told you that he has a farm in the countryside that spreads across two acres.

This would have much easy for you to visualize had you known that an acre is roughly the equivalent size of nine basketball courts or three Olympic-size swimming pools.

convert units

Enter Sensible Units - a web based unit conversion service that helps you visualize complex units and measurements using real and more sensible objects like CDs, golf ball, Harry Potter books, elephants or even AA batteries.

So 10 kilometres are like putting 23 Empire State building on top of each other, 100 meters is like 12 double-decker buses standing end to end while 100 GB is the same as 62 installations of Windows XP or 12 Windows Vista installations.

Visualize Units of Measurement Without Getting Technical - Digital Inspiration | FAQ | RSS

Best Of June 2008

Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yankodesign/~3/322080232/

Every month we take a look around and select some of the most interesting designs that was showcased here. Below you'll find the most popular designs we've tracked over the last 30 days - an overview of designs you shouldn't have missed in June 2008.