Apr 13

Dell Mini 9 hacked for 3G use with some difficulty

Posted in: diy, hack, Today's Chili

Folks discovered some time ago that Dell’s stock Mini 9 just wasn’t made for 3G, but that doesn’t look to have stopped MyDellMini forum member Jingo5, who saw an opening on the netbook’s motherboard and ran with it. As you might expect, however, that didn’t exactly prove to be the easiest course of action to take, with it involving a modified 855u Sierra USB adapter, a good deal of soldering, and a fair measure of skill to ensure that the whole thing didn’t backfire. He was also apparently able to pull an antenna off the LAN card to improve reception with little consequence, and even get it working under OS X using Sierra’s own 3G app. Feeling brave enough to try it yourself? Then hit up the read link below for the complete details.

[Via Hack a Day]

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Dell Mini 9 hacked for 3G use with some difficulty originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 09

DIY footswitch for Ableton Live frees up your hands, makes you dangerous onstage

Posted in: diy, hack, Music, performance, Today's Chili

When Ableton forum member AlexMC came across plans for a no-fuss, no-muss USB foot controller for the company’s world-renowned music app, he liked what he saw — but not so much that he couldn’t make a few changes his own self. By adding a sturdy wooden case, a 30 degree pitch to the top of the thing, some extra buttons, and some razzle-dazzle (that’ll cost you extra) he now has a device that sports twenty buttons and a bank switch (making for forty unique outputs total), useful for things like play / record on individual tracks, stop / fade, and of course, everybody’s favorite — tap tempo. The best part? He built this bad boy for ten bucks! The excruciating step-by-step plans and photos (including circuit diagrams and all that jazz) are yours when you hit the read link below — and you’ll be mashing up Katy Perry and the Cure live on stage, while jamming along on your keytar, in no time. But please, don’t mash-up Katy Perry and the Cure.
[Via Make]

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DIY footswitch for Ableton Live frees up your hands, makes you dangerous onstage originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 08

DoubleTwist nets $5 million in funding, debuts Windows version

Posted in: diy, hack, legal, Today's Chili

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise — money’s out there if your idea is good enough. Hot on the heels of Fusion-io’s grabbing of Series B funding comes this: news that doubleTwist has just acquired a solid $5 million to push forward on its all encompassing media venture. If you’ll recall, the project is being headed up by the notorious DVD Jon and DRM expert Monique Farantzos. In essence, the idea is to create a multi-platform media browser that can take media from just about anywhere and place it just about anywhere else, all without forcing you to figure out messy calculations like encoding and native resolutions. In related news, doubleTwist now shows screenshots and a video (after the break) of a Windows version, which is available today for download.

Read – DoubleTwist website
Read – Funding

Continue reading DoubleTwist nets $5 million in funding, debuts Windows version

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DoubleTwist nets $5 million in funding, debuts Windows version originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 07

Video: toddler-safe DIY remote control

Posted in: diy, hack, mod, remote control, Today's Chili, usb

No, this isn’t one of the editors at Engadget, although — judging by the way he conducts himself in this hands on video — we’ll probably drop him a line by the time CES 2010 rolls around. This DIY remote control consists of a USB number pad that’s been rehoused in a toddler-safe enclosure and outfitted with some rather large buttons. It looks like it’s just the thing for letting your little guy take control of Teletubbies, or Baby Einstein, or whatever it is the kids are into these days. Have a young one of your own? Hit the read link for the step-by-step instructions and thrilling in-progress photos. Video after the break.

[Via Hack A Day]

Continue reading Video: toddler-safe DIY remote control

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Video: toddler-safe DIY remote control originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 11:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 06

Video: 128GB SSD slotted into Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9

Posted in: diy, hack, Mini, mod, netbook, SSD, storage, Today's Chili, video

Considering just how cheap Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 gets on occasion, there’s practically no doubt that the SSD portion of this mod will run you more than the computer itself. For those wild and wacky DIYers who couldn’t honestly care less, jkkmobile has put together a video (along with a gallery of images) showing exactly how the process works. For what it’s worth, we’re told that the whole ordeal was a simple matter, but you can judge for yourself after jumping past the break and mashing play.

Continue reading Video: 128GB SSD slotted into Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9

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Video: 128GB SSD slotted into Dell’s Inspiron Mini 9 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 06

Ben Heck’s Commodore 64 laptop mod: like 1982 without the feathered hair

Posted in: hack, mod, Today's Chili, video

Benjamin J. Heckendorn seems unusually enthused by his latest hack’n mod, calling the Commodore 64 laptop “probably one of, if not my favorite project I have done.” That’s saying something from the man who brought the “Benheck” finesse hammer down upon just about every modern and classic PC / game console and accessory you can think of. The C64 lappie features a C64C motherboard, a Gamecube power supply, and special 1541-III DTV device that emulates a floppy drive using a FAT-32 formatted SD card — all while keeping true to the beige 8-bit spirit of the original. And if we’re not mistaken, he’s controlling it with an Atari joystick seen in the video posted after the break. Then again, there could be an Xbox 360 controller hiding in that joystick knowing Ben.

[Via Nowhereelse]

Continue reading Ben Heck’s Commodore 64 laptop mod: like 1982 without the feathered hair

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Ben Heck’s Commodore 64 laptop mod: like 1982 without the feathered hair originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 04:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 05

Savory for Kindle 2 automates PDF and EPUB conversions, doesn’t make James Patterson any more enjoyable

Posted in: app, e reader, hack, kindle, mod, Today's Chili

We’ve seen surprisingly few Kindle 2 hacks ’round these parts, and therefore few apps that run on the beloved e-reader itself. One notable exception is Savory, which monitors the device’s Documents directory for files sporting either the .epub or .pdf extensions — when one of these guys rears its ugly head, it’s converted to a Kindle filetype. The only hitch is that the program (as currently available) chokes on image-based PDFs — according to the author, images in PDFs are fine, as long as there is some text to extract. Sure, the software doesn’t do anything that Amazon doesn’t already do for free — but it does make the conversion quick and painless. Ready to give it a go? Hit the read link for the files, and you’ll be mere moments away from all those terrific Left Behind books someone scanned and posted on The Pirate Bay. You’re welcome.

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Savory for Kindle 2 automates PDF and EPUB conversions, doesn’t make James Patterson any more enjoyable originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Apr 2009 03:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 04

Power Glove granted infinitely more power, bluetooth, and accelerometer in honor of 20th birthday

Posted in: hack, Hacks, nintendo, Today's Chili

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Nintendo PowerGlove, and yes, birthday cakes are in order. To celebrate, game designer Matt Mechtley has augmented it with Bluetooth and accelerometer chips for a more modern take on the hand peripheral — think of it as a more assimilated version of the Wiimote-embedded glove we covered in 2006. If you’re interested in following in his footsteps, instructions are available at Instructables and in the video form after the break — jump to 10:50 if you want to see it in action both with a test program and a brief glimpse at virtual boxing.

Read – Product page
Read – Instructables How-to

Continue reading Power Glove granted infinitely more power, bluetooth, and accelerometer in honor of 20th birthday

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Power Glove granted infinitely more power, bluetooth, and accelerometer in honor of 20th birthday originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 02

MacBook secondary LCD mod instructions available, napkin not included

Posted in: Apple, diy, hack, macbook, mod, Today's Chili

If you, like many, lurved the secondary LCD MacBook mod then why not give it a go? Eddie Zarick has posted a tutorial listing everything you need including the $200 Century Plus One sub-monitor. The instructions are by no means exhaustive, but if your deftness with a soldering iron is equaled only by your Apple fanaticism then this is the job for you.

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MacBook secondary LCD mod instructions available, napkin not included originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 06:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 02

iPhone OS 3.0 beta 2 gets the jailbreak treatment

Posted in: Apple, hack, Hacks, iPhone, iphone 3g, Iphone3g, ipod touch, IpodTouch, jailbreak, Today's Chili

The jailbreakers have managed to keep their speed record intact. Just one day after Apple releases an update to the iPhone OS 3.0 beta, QuickPwn updates its wares to support the new firmware. According to the related writeup, it should work with all iPhone / iPod touch models. After going through the jailbreaking process, you’ll need to open icy and follow a few more steps to finish the job. As usual, download at your own risk, and for now, crack is for Windows users only.

Update: The Dev Team has chimed in with the usual list of caveats and warnings. If nothing else, you’ve now got tacit verification that this release of QuickPwn isn’t some malicious hack.

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iPhone OS 3.0 beta 2 gets the jailbreak treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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