Tech
MacBook inhabits a Linksys router after ill-advised casemod
Dec 9th
Apple products are known far and wide for their design. Linksys products, on the other hand, are not. That’s why this latest laptop mod strikes us as a little odd. When a technically-proficient gentleman named Tyler wanted to get his hands on “a working, genuine” Mac as cheaply as possible, he did what any self-respecting (and frugal) geek would do: he scrounged New Egg and eBay for MacBook parts. Why he would then turn around and cram ‘em into an old router is, quite frankly, beyond us. Had he asked, we would have suggested something a bit more classy: perhaps a flashing pyramid? Why not a Timex Sinclair ZX81? Or maybe even a toaster? That said, this achievement — while puzzling — certainly seems to have been pulled off with not a little technical skill. If you’re curious to see how it all went down (including copious step-by-step pics) hit the source link. And prepare to scratch your head in wonderment.
Zune HD getting magenta and purple flavors on December 1st
Nov 29th
Not enough variety in your Zune HD color palette? How about a friendly dab of magenta and purple to mix up the proceedings? Microsoft’s Zune Store is now showing some grayed out selectors for purple and magenta color options for the player, which will apparently be available on December 1st – just in time for something or other. No word on whether these will be available for both 16GB and 32GB versions, but pink already representing on the 32 gigger, we’d really hope Microsoft would spread the love down to the cash strapped.
Apple’s Mac mini tops chart of ‘green’ computers
Nov 28th
The sust-it website, which provides rankings of energy usage and annual energy cost for thousands of appliances, home entertainment devices, and computers, has announced that Apple’s Mac mini fills the top four spots for the most efficient desktop computer in their latest listing.
The 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Mac mini is at the top of the chart, sipping just .94W when turned off (power still goes to circuits monitoring the power status of the computer), 1.71W when in sleep mode, and just 12.6W when turned on but in an idle mode. sust-it calculated the energy cost per year for the mini (without a monitor, of course) as US$5.51 when calculated with the average US electrical rate. It’s interesting to note that this model is no longer produced by Apple, and that the new 2.26 GHz mini is even more energy efficient. Apple’s ownenvironmental report for the mini shows that the revised model uses only .80W when turned off, 1.39W in sleep mode, but 13.4W while in idle mode.
Not surprisingly, other Apple models were near the top of the charts in both the laptop and all-in-one computer categories. The 1.86 GHz MacBook Air was barely edged out of first place in the laptop category by the HP Pavilion DM3. Although the two laptops had identical annual energy costs (US$2.39), the HP model had lower sleep and off power consumption than the MBA.
In the all-in-one category, the top iMac came in 6th behind eMachines, Acer, Asus, and MSI all-in-ones. Although the sust-it site is citing an iMac model that is no longer produced, even the new iMacs would be a bit behind the list-leading eMachines EZ1601.
If the power consumption and CO2 footprint of your computer is of concern to you, the sust-it site is a good place to make comparisons. Be aware, however, that due to the fast-paced changes in the computing world, the lists may be inaccurate at any particular point in time. In addition, it doesn’t appear that sust-it looks at the total lifecycle energy consumption of the computers, something that Apple provides in their environmental reports for each model. When energy consumption and CO2 production are factored from raw materials at the beginning of production to recycling of an obsolete machine, Macs may very well lead the pack in all categories.
OS Xbox Pro is the hottest hackintosh ever
Nov 27th
Warning: some NSFW lyrics on the music in the video above.
What do you get when you combine an old Xbox with OS X and some Mac Pro level hardware?This monstrosity. Built by Will Urbina, the OS Xbox Pro is a hackintosh casemodded into an original Xbox dev kit, with some crazy hardware under the hood, including a pair of 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550s, an NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT card, 8GB of RAM, an 16GB solid state drive, and four traditional hard drives — one boots Windows 7, the other one does OS X (Snow Leopard, we believe — he bought a copy retail), a Ubuntu install in there somewhere, and two other sweet hard drives for video editing.
And here’s the wacky thing: Total material cost of the system is under $1500. That, combined with the video above, almost makes me want to spend a month of weekends trying to do something like this myself (aside from, you know, fitting it into a dev kit Xbox thing — although fitting it into an old Macintosh might be a fun build, too). At any rate, awesome build for sure.
iPod Meister
Nov 26th
I don’t know about everyone else, but all of my CDs have been in a storage building or the garbage for a few years now, turns out iPodMeister has been offering their services for about the same amount of time.
The equation is simple, you send them your CDs, DVDs and BluRays, they send you an iPod (nano,touch,classic), check for an iPhone (so you can activate/register it) or a hard drive.
Not only do they turn the non-biodegradable box loads lurking in your basement in to something of money or an iPod, but for a little more they’ll digitize all of your music and send it back to you on DVDs. Shipping is free, to and from, they’ll send you a label, you mail them a box. The only real stipulations are no scratches, complete cover art, and original jewel case (dusty, scratched or otherwise), no bootlegs, liquidations, etc. And BluRay discs count double.
You can find a full list on unaccepted items on their website.
The rates range from 150 to 600 CD/DVDs. They’re a New York based company open from 8am to 8pm, Monday through Sunday, if it all sounds too good to be true, hit them up:
877.IPOD.CDS (877.476.3237)
or
promo@ipodmeister.com
And visit them at www.ipodmeister.com
iPodMeister was founded by a group of musicians and students after we made the following discoveries:
• Selling CDs to a used record store is usually a humiliating experience and a waste of time and energy.
• CDs that are almost worthless in the U.S. often fetch higher prices abroad.
• Many people in the U.S. have “gone digital” and switched entirely from CDs to digital music. The overwhelming majority of people in many other countries still like to listen to CDs (see chart on left). Many people in developing countries won’t be able to spend $200 or $300 for an iPod for years to come.
• CDs do a lot of damage to the environment when thrown into the garbage. They are difficult to break down and there are no ways to recycle them.
• Many people are reluctant to part with their CDs even though they are just collecting dust and taking up space. It is easier to declutter if one knows that one’s CD collection will be appreciated again.
*http://www.ipodmeister.com/aboutus.htm
Xbox 360: Elegant Edition
Nov 26th
Xbox 360 Elegant Edition shows Microsoft how it’s done
You know, we’ve pretty much all been enamored with the Zune HD’s industrial design, but one unintended consequence for Microsoft was that it made its console look even more childish and toylike. It was inevitable, then, that a group of industrious Swedes would take up arms against this injustice and right the world with their Elegant Edition mod. Featuring three 120mm cooling fans, an aesthetic borrowed straight from the 1980s, and absolutely no shame about its bulk, this mod is cooler than the original in both the literal and colloquial sense. We’ll accept no arguments to the converse. Better still, if you’re willing to part with some cold hard cash, these fellas will build one for you too.
Buffalo busts out its first 12x Blu-ray burner, powered by USB 3.0
Nov 26th
Sure, your computer doesn’t have a USB 3.0 plug, and there’s no such thing as a 12x Blu-ray disc for mass consumption just yet, but we shouldn’t let those pesky details get in the way of progress. Buffalojust announced the BR-X1216U3, which is the “world’s first” (er, not exactly, but anyways…) 12x Blu-ray burner, and which incidentally pulls off its wondrous feats through the power of USB 3.0. Of course, it’s backward compatible with USB 2.0, for burn speeds up to 7x, but with 12x on the table that’s just slumming it. The drive is out now in Japan for 39,100 yen (about $448 US).
Microsoft roadmap pegs Windows 8 release for 2012, or just after the world’s end
Nov 24th
It’s somewhat hard to believe that we’re already talking about Windows 8 given that Windows 7 just hit the shelves two months ago, but you know the engineers at Microsoft are already planning ahead. According to a roadmap constructed over at Microsoft Kitchen — based around whispers heard through the grapevine on the eventual release of the next Windows Server — the next iteration of Windows is tentatively pegged for release in the year 2012. Of course, a three-year window between Windows 7 and the next version is totally believable, but we wouldn’t go planning your end of the world party with the assumption that a new OS will be the main attraction. Or you could, but then you might be disappointed, which would be a sucky way to go out.
BlackBerry Bold 9700 now on sale to all at AT&T: $200 on contract
Nov 22nd
T-Mobile (along with a number of overseas carriers) have had RIM’s BlackBerry Bold 9700 for some time now, and while we knew that the handset was shipping to those who AT&T considers “special” and “irreplaceable,” the rest of the collective masses have simply had to sit on the sidelines and wait. Thankfully, that whole bout with patience is over, as the Bold 9700 is now available to order directly from the operator’s website for $199.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate and your John Henry on a 2-year agreement. So, anyone forcing Santa to come early this year, or what?
Warner’s DVD2Blu trade-in swaps Blu-rays for your DVDs, Leland Gaunt approves
Nov 22nd
After baptizing the remaining HD DVD faithful, Warner has moved on to teaching new Blu-ray converts the five pillars of faith with a trade-up program. Send in your old DVDs (just the box art won’t cut it this time around, better buy some blanks and get to ripping if you still enjoy Training Day on long car trips), $7.95 – $9.95 per movie plus $4.95 for s&h (orders over $25 ship for free) and expect HD versions back in 4 – 5 weeks. Is it worth it? Depends on how many of the 55 flicks on the approved list you own (included after the break) but for most you’re probably better off keeping the ones you have and eyeing budget bins carefully, nabbing catalog flicks like Harold & Kumar for less than $15 without any mail-in shenanigans shouldn’t be too hard for the truly thrifty.
DVD2BLU: Eligible Titles
Title DVD2Blu Price
10,000 B.C. $9.95
Rush Hour 3 $9.95
Full Metal Jacket $9.95
Pan’s Labyrinth $9.95
Ocean’s Thirteen $9.95
Christmas Story, A $9.95
Elf $9.95
We Are Marshall $9.95
Speed Racer $9.95
Body of Lies $9.95
The Golden Compass $9.95
The Orphanage $9.95
Superman Returns $9.95
The Searchers $7.95
Blazing Saddles $7.95
2001: A Space Odyssey $7.95
History of Violence $7.95
A Clockwork Orange: Special Edition $7.95
Risky Business $7.95
Scanner Darkly $7.95
The Wedding Singer: Totally Awesome Edition $7.95
Alexander Revisited $7.95
Michael Clayton $7.95
Swordfish $7.95
Rumor Has It $7.95
American History X $7.95
Final Destination $7.95
Beetlejuice $7.95
Taking Lives $7.95
Wyatt Earp $7.95
The Fugitive $7.95
The Aviator $7.95
Eraser $7.95
Dirty Dozen $7.95
Collateral Damage $7.95
Last Samurai $7.95
Dark City, Director’s Cut $7.95
Rio Bravo $7.95
Training Day $7.95
Gods and Generals $7.95
The Shining: Special Edition $7.95
The Perfect Storm $7.95
Pride and Glory $7.95
Constantine $7.95
The Lost Boys $7.95
Journey to the Center of Earth (2008) $7.95
Wedding Crashers Uncorked (Unrated) $7.95
Any Given Sunday (Director’s Cut) $7.95
Bucket List, The $7.95
Superman II: Richard Donner Cut $7.95
Harold and Kumar Go To the White Castle $7.95
An American in Paris $7.95
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation $7.95
Deliverance $7.95
Dumb and Dumber (Unrated) $7.95