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Dec 14

Barnes & Noble Nook torn down and rooted — but still respected

Posted in: Android, barnes and noble, barnes noble, BarnesAndNoble, hack, hacking, Hacks, mod, nook, Today's Chili

Barnes & Noble might be pitching the Nook to the literary set, but it turns out the Android-based dual-screen reader is pretty hacker-friendly as well: both the OS and filesystem are stored on a microSD card. That means the newly-formed crew at nookdevs has already managed to root what they describe as the “generic” Android 1.5 build that’s hidden under the Nook’s navigation UI, and they say the device can do “everything a rooted Android phone can do.” That’s certainly intriguing, especially since the Nook has a data-only AT&T 3G modem and WiFi to go along with that capacitive touchscreen and E Ink display — can you say “potential”?

[Thanks, Andy]

Barnes & Noble Nook torn down and rooted — but still respected originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink RobotSkirts | source nookdevs, nookdevs Twitter | Email this | Comments

Dec 12

Most Popular Photography Hacks of 2009

Posted in: camera, diy, Hacks, photography, Photos, pictures, Today's Chili, top

Whether making your own lens hood to create custom bokeh, breathing like a sniper to get a blur-free photo, or angling your body to look the best in pictures, we shared some great photography hacks this year.

Software and Photoshop tricks are great, but they’re a poor substitution for doing things in-camera. Over the last year we shared a variety of hacks for taking better photos, looking better in photos, and ways to get professional results without spending your rent money on camera accessories.

Create Your Own Bokeh for Beautiful Photo Effects

What’s a bokeh you say? It’s that oh-so-wonderful fuzziness in the background of photographs with a shallow depth of field and accompanying starry highlights. You can create you own bokeh effects with a little craftiness.

Position Your Tongue Properly to Look Good in Photos

We live in a culture of oversharing, so odds are someone, somewhere will be snapping and posting photos taken of you at various events. To help ensure you look your best, heed where you position your tongue.

Take Better Pictures by Treating Your Still Camera Like It’s Video

People often lament that they “just missed it!” upon seeing they failed to capture a pivotal moment in the action. You can avoid missing the action by treating your still camera like a video camera.

Avoid Mediocre Portraits with These Tricks

You have a camera and a willing subject, but you’re not sure how to break your portraits out of the flat blandness that plagues many snapshots. Avoid boring compositions with these tips.

Set Up a High Speed Photography Studio in Your Garage

Many a photography enthusiast has assumed the equipment necessary is far too expensive for quality high speed photography captures. A high speed capture studio on the cheap can be had with this handy guide.

Create Abstract Light Art by Snapping a Camera-Toss Photo

Making abstract wallpaper and gorgeous slow-exposure shots doesn’t require a bunch of design apps or photography lessons. Learn how to literally toss your camera to make abstract light art.

Be A Better Photographer On Vacation

Whether you head 30 or 3000 miles away, you’ll want to bring back great photos of your vacation. The New York Times posts questions and answers on how to achieve great vacation photos.

Take Better Self-Portraits

Taking a good self-portrait is both a handy skill and a way to expand your photographic repertoire. Save your next profile picture from the camera-held-at-arms-length cliche with these tips.

DIY Tennis Ball Photography Stabilization Unit

DIY web site Instructables details how to make an image stabilizing unit to supplement your steady hand using a tennis ball and a few nuts and bolts.

Shoot Better Nighttime Pictures

Daytime photo tricks don’t always translate when you’re trying to capture the perfect night shot. The Photography Bay web site outlines tips for taking a stellar post-sunset shot without relying on a tripod or expensive flash system.

Be More Photogenic by Forgetting About the Camera

When the camera comes out, a lot of people instinctively declare that they look awful in pictures. Learn how to be more photogenic and put your best face forward.

Breathe Like a Sniper to Take Better Photos in Low Light

Steady hands are critical to taking low light photographs. Breath like a sniper to make sure you snap the shot when your hand is least jittery.

Create a Basic Ring Flash

If the DIY Fiber Optic Ring Flash we wrote about required too many specialist parts for your taste, check out this much simpler remix. The construction is easy and done with common household items.

Use Composition Rules to Take Better Photos

Photography is a creative art, no doubt, but creative doesn’t mean doing everything willy-nilly however you want. Use these basic rules of composition to give your photos an extra boost of visual appeal.

DIY Beauty Dish Enhances Your Portraits

Beauty dishes are great flash modifiers for portrait photographs, but even a cheap model will set you back at least $100. Skip it—a surprisingly effective DIY beauty dish costs less than $20.

Create Stunning High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photos

Gizmodo’s John Mahoney explains how to take high dynamic range (HDR) photos so that the results of your photograph more accurately recreate what you were seeing when you snapped the shutter.

Create Studio Quality Photos Using Natural Light

You don’t need a blockbuster budget to get high-quality light for your portraits. By coaxing the sun to help in your photographic endeavors, you can create stunning portraits on a tiny budget.

Make a DIY Photography Light Box with K’Nex

Lightboxes aren’t just for the professionals any longer. Using them to illuminate your Craigslist and eBay listings can help make a sale, and amateur photogs can get professional-looking shots with one. Create your own using K’nex and a little know how.

Take Great Panoramic Pictures with Any Camera

Panoramic software has come a long way toward making panoramic images child’s work. Great software or not, there’s no substitution for good source material. Take better panoramic pictures with these tips

Take Better Pictures by Studying Studio Layouts

Whether you’re interested in learning more about lighting to add to your photography skill set or you’re just curious how proper studio lighting works, this handy guide will provide some photo-enhancing insight.

DIY Tilt-Shift Photography Lens

Tilt-shift lenses create a great miniature effect on photographs of everyday things. The problem? These specialized lenses are insanely expensive (think $1,000 range). This video from Make demonstrates how to make a DIY tilt-shift lens on the cheap.

Take Awesome Sunset Photographs

Sunsets are one of nature’s more spectacular displays, and a good one is worth preserving with a photograph. Take pictures that will capture the perfect dusk moment with these photography tips.

Create a Flash Diffuser Using An Empty Cigarette Packet

The right flash can make or break your shot. Unfortunately, not all built-in flashes are created equal. DIY web site Instructables demonstrates how to create a worthy on-the-spot flash diffuser using an empty cigarette packet.

Make a DIY Macro Lens from Old Binoculars

A high-end macro lens for your camera can easily run upwards of a thousand dollars, but you can make a super-simple macro lens for a few bucks out of old binoculars.

Have a favorite photography-related hack from 2009 that wasn’t featured here? Let’s hear about it in the comments.

Dec 03

DIY arduino Christmas lights spectacular turns bad taste into… art

Posted in: diy, hack, Hacks, mod, mods, Today's Chili

We’ll freely admit to having a love / hate relationship with Christmas lights and decorations. The sheer gaudiness of it all often turns our “bah humbug” nature inside out, revealing the awe struck “inner child” we hear so much about from people like Martha Stewart and Oprah. Regardless, an artful DIYer’s taken the outdoor Christmas lighting game to the next level. Making use of an ioBridge IO-204 module, an Arduino Wave Kit, an Arduino Duemilanove board, solid state relays, and the Oracle Application Express for connectivity, he was able to get his internet controlled light and music show on the road. Check out the final results — which feature 3,300 mini lights, 3 spotlights, an LED Rope, 4 LEDs, and one magical reindeer — in the video after the break. Hit the source link for full instructions if you want to get in on the holiday action yourself.

Continue reading DIY arduino Christmas lights spectacular turns bad taste into… art

DIY arduino Christmas lights spectacular turns bad taste into… art originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | source My Electronics Notepad, Instructables | Email this | Comments

Dec 02

Phone-O-Matic Puts DSLR Lens on iPhone

Posted in: Hacks, iPhone, Today's Chili

4149861932_e61c7a0862

Bhautik Joshi is the curious type, and likes to learn by doing. So when he started to wonder if he could hook up an SLR lens to an iPhone, the obvious thing to do was to try it. The resulting behemoth is the Phone-O-Scope, a monstrous mingling of an iPhone, a Canon lens and a sprinkling of plumbing supplies.

Joshi started off with the “optical coupler”, the device to get the light from one place to another. In this case the coupler was a trio of lenses from an old CD player, stuck together with putty and wrapped in paper to make cylinder. This unit works as a nice macro lens, but for the Phone-O-Matic it is there to bend the light from the back of the SLR lens into a shape more acceptable to the tiny iPhone camera.

After some measuring (using cardboard tubes and rubber bands), Joshi made a proper tube from PVC pipe couplings (threaded, to allow for focus adjustment), a rear lens-cap and a cheap iPhone case. The lens unit was secured to the case in the old fashioned way: a handful of duct-tape.

The Phone-O-Matic isn’t going to turn your iPhone into a DSLR, but the results are great — more Holga than Canon 5D MkII, although as Joshi points out, this is most likely the result of using CD player lenses. It’s also rather impractical — if you have space for this getup in your bag, you have space for a real camera. Still, that’s not the point. The point was to see if it could be done, and it can.

Dec 01

Apple, Mac Cloner Agree to Settle Lawsuit; Psystar Still Kicking

Posted in: Apple, desktops, Hacks, Law, mac os x, Today's Chili

Mac cloner Psystar claims it has entered a partial settlement with Apple, which will prevent Psystar from selling PCs preinstalled with the Mac operating system. However, Psystar isn’t completely surrendering.

As part of the settlement, the Mac cloner said it will pay Apple an amount of damages that has yet to be specified. In the Monday filing, Psystar argued to exclude Rebel EFI, a $50 piece of software that the company started selling in October, from any potential injunction. Rebel EFI is a program that enables owners of some Intel PCs to install Mac OS X onto their systems.

An excerpt from the court document [pdf] filed Monday by Psystar follows:

Psystar and Apple today entered into a partial settlement that is embodied in a stipulation that will be filed with the Court tomorrow. Psystar has agreed on certain amounts to be awarded as statutory damages on Apple’s copyright claims in exchange for Apple’s agreement not to execute on these awards until all appeals in this matter have been concluded. Moreover, Apple has agreed to voluntarily dismiss all its trademark, trade-dress, and state-law claims. This partial settlement eliminates the need for a trial and reduces the issues before this Court to the scope of any permanent injunction on Apple’s copyright claims.
….
The summary judgment in this case turned on the manner in which Psystar assembled its Open Computers. It turned on such things as the use of the Psystar imaging station and what this Court found to be the creation of multiple copies and derivative works of Mac OS X along the way…. None of these same facts is involved in Rebel EFI. Rebel EFI is entirely a software product. It does not involve the assembly by Psystar of any computers…. Nor does Rebel EFI contain or include Mac OS X. A Mac OS X DVD does not even accompany sales of Rebel EFI. Rebel EFI consists solely of Psystar software available for sale and download through Psystar’s website. In particular, whether sales of Rebel EFI are lawful or not depends on whether Psystar’s end users have a defense under 17 U.S.C. § 117. This issue has not been litigated in this case at all. Psystar’s end users do not engage in commercial use of Mac OS X and their use would qualify as use for “internal purposes” even under the standards articulated by Apple in its summary-judgment briefing. If Psystar’s end users are protected by § 117, then Psystar cannot be violating the DMCA by selling Rebel EFI because Rebel EFI, as used by the end users, does not facilitate infringement.

In short, Psystar wishes to continue providing a DIY solution for owners to make their own Mac clones, thereby shifting the responsibility (i.e., breaking Apple’s End User License Agreement) onto the consumer.

However, it’s unlikely this workaround will pan out for Psytar. In 2008, Wired.com reported on a company called Open Tech, which said it would sell PCs bundled with instruction kits for consumers to install Mac OS X themselves. However, Carole Handler, an intellectual property lawyer with Wildman Harrold, told Wired.com that Open Tech would be subjecting itself to contributory infringement of Apple’s end-user agreement.

“Making the user instead of the company the perpetrator of any violation will not avoid the issue of a new company’s contributory infringement and/or vicarious liability for what it facilitates and enables the user to undertake,” Handler said in an e-mail interview. “This kind of workaround is not a bar to Apple bringing contributory infringement or vicarious liability claims.”

Though slightly different, Psystar’s solution could also be considering aiding the consumer to break Apple’s EULA, which reads, “You agree not to install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so.”

Psystar, a company based in Florida, opened its Mac clone business in April 2008. Three months later, Apple filed a lawsuit alleging Psystar was committing copyright, trademark and shrink-wrap license infringement. Judge William Alsup in November ruled that by selling PCs hacked to run Mac OS X, Psystar had violated Apple’s copyrights.

Additional details regarding the settlement will be filed today, according to Psystar.

See Also:

Photo: Psystar

Nov 30

3D Video-Conferencing With Cheap USB Webcams

Posted in: Hacks, Today's Chili

foureyes3d-screengrabbed

The best hacks are often the simplest. FourEyes3D is one of these, and it takes a pair of standard webcams and uses them to make a stereo video, letting you beam your ugly mug in three glorious dimensions to anyone who can be convinced to watch.

Hook up the cams and the software (Mac-only) combines the two feeds into one stereoscopic image. The trickiest part is the actual positioning of the cameras, as the developer tells us: “The finicky part is mounting your matched pair of generic USB webcams 90 millimeters apart (the same distance apart as your own eyes).”

Best of all, you don’t need any fancy displays to view the 3D video. All you need is to send mom a pair of red/cyan specs and she can peek at your z-axis over your next iChat video call. This is because the stereo images from the cameras are converted to the old 1950s-style, headache-inducing anaglyph method. I think this would be a lot of fun, especially on my weekly family Skype calls. Just whether it would be $30 worth of fun is another matter, but there is a demo available.

FourEyes3D Product page [b-l-a-c-k-o-p]

Nov 26

“Hacked”: Tethering the iPhone 3G on ATT

Posted in: Hacks, iPhone, iphone 3g, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on June 18, 2009 by CyberNet.

iphone 3g tethering att.png When Apple announced that the iPhone would be capable of tethering a computer to the Internet a lot of customers in the U.S. shrugged their shoulders because AT&T wasn’t on the list of carriers who were ready to roll the service out. So even though the iPhone 3.0 software (released yesterday) supports tethering all AT&T customers won’t be able to take advantage of it, well, not in a legit way that is.

AT&T has pretty much just shot themselves in the foot because now this has started to make people look for a way to utilize the functionality without needing to Jailbreak their device. And they have done it. 9to5Mac has already posted instructions for an extremely simple 3-step process that will fully enable tethering on the iPhone 3G (and presumably the iPhone 3GS?). Plus you can choose whether you want to tether via Bluetooth or through the USB cable where your iPhone will be charged at the same time.

Sounds great, huh? There are a few things you should know before trying this out:

You’ll need a Mac in order to get your iPhone ready for tethering. BUT once your iPhone has been setup this will also work on any Windows machine as long as you have iTunes installed. I tested it out on a Windows XP computer, and there were absolutely no problems accessing the Internet. If you do some searching you might find instructions on how to prep your iPhone using a Windows machine.
You’ll likely have problems accessing your visual voicemail after applying the changes, and I eventually found that downloading the ICC file from here and using that instead fixed both. So I recommend using that file instead of the one from 9to5Mac. Reading through the comments on 9to5Mac will also tell you how to revert the changes if you want to go back to how it was.
There’s no confirmation whether AT&T can recognize that you’re tethering, which means there is a possibility you’ll be charged extra.

I gave this a whirl despite the risk of seeing extra fees on my phone bill next month, and the results were rather spectacular. When stationary at my house I could get download speeds of about 2.3Mbps, and while rapidly moving on a train I consistently got between 0.9Mbps and 1.2Mbps.

There’s a very good chance that once AT&T finally lets people tether their devices that there will also be a hefty fee associated with it. I only tether a few times each month, and there’s no way that I’d ever pay for tethering if it was more than $10 a month since it’s not something I see as vital. So hopefully this “hack” will remain in working order, and any charges will stay clear of my bill. If that’s the case this trick is perfect for me.

If you don’t mind the risk of getting charged for tethering, and you have access to a Mac, check out the instructions.

P.S. I took the screenshot above to show you what the iPhone displays when you’re tethered.

Related Posts:

Why I Jailbroke My iPhone 3G

WrapUp: Installing KDE 4.1 on Ubuntu, iPhone Tethering, and More

If the iPhone was Free…

iPhone as a SideShow Competitor? I Think So!

Available Today: 16GB iPhone & 32 GB iPod Touch

Nov 24

Sony VAIO X ultraportable gets the Hackintosh treatment

Posted in: hack, Hacks, mod, mods, netbook, sony, Today's Chili, vaio

The Vaio X, aside from being thin and light, is notoriously difficult to mod — simply put, there’s not much room in there to play around! Besides, when you’ve spent well over a grand for a machine, you’re not necessarily going to be gung-ho about digging in with your soldering gun. Still, when InsanelyMac forum member Asama was struck by inspiration (in the form of a Vaio P OS X image) he followed his heart — and, much to the world’s amusement, it installed on the Vaio X with few complications. Sure, it wasn’t a flawless operation: the WiFi card is unsupported (as you probably guessed) but, that said, this is definitely an item of note for all the Hackintosh freaks in attendance. Indeed we’re looking forward to seeing Psystar get sued over a similar hack at some future junction. Get a closer look after the break.

Continue reading Sony VAIO X ultraportable gets the Hackintosh treatment

Sony VAIO X ultraportable gets the Hackintosh treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink GadgetMix | source InsanelyMac | Email this | Comments

Nov 23

iPhone camera mod for magnification: because you can

Posted in: camera, cellphones, hack, Hacks, iPhone, lenses, mod, mods, Today's Chili

We’ve thought before how nice it might be to have some powers of magnification on the iPhone’s cam… but are we going to go out and mod our unit? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean we can’t admire someone else’s work. Taking various lenses and attaching them to the lid of a jar, the modder quite carefully built a contraption that looks a little “hobo Steampunk” to us, but we’re still fairly impressed with this little gadget. Hit the read link for full, detailed instructions and more photos if you’d like to make one of your own.

iPhone camera mod for magnification: because you can originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Wired | source Instructables | Email this | Comments

Nov 23

New Worm Attacks iPhones, Targets Mobile Banking

Posted in: Hacks, iPhone, Phones, Today's Chili

2659619029_d09a3bb557_b

A second iPhone worm is in the wild, and unlike the jokey Australian worm authored by hacker prankster Ikee two weeks ago, this one is dangerous.

Unlike Ikee’s hack, which merely rick-rolled owners of infected iPhones, the new Dutch variant targets customers of the bank ING. When triggered, the worm redirects users visiting the banking site to an address in Lithuania which shows a fake login screen for ING online banking. It is essentially a phishing attack run on compromised iPhones.

The panic that will inevitably spread from this story is unjustified. First, if you are a regular iPhone customer you are safe, even if you are in the Netherlands. This is because, like the Ikee hack before it, the new worm will only work on a jailbroken, or hacked iPhone. Further, you will have to explicitly install SSH remote access, and then you will have to leave the root password at its default, which is alpine.

If that means nothing to you, you don’t have any reason to worry. If that does mean something to you, shame on you! You should go change that password right now.

And don’t forget, you’ll also need to live in Holland and to be a customer of the ING bank for this to work. This could explain why this “security breach”, according to the BBC, has only affected a few people: “The number of infected phones was thought to be in the hundreds rather than thousands.” And how does it spread itself? “The worm could jump from phone to phone among owners using the same wi-fi hotspot.”

While we shouldn’t ignore the threat of malware to our increasingly powerful and connected mobile devices, neither should we panic. The news of a genuine iPhone-killing piece of software seems to be treated with the same glee as news of a virus for the Mac. Thankfully, none yet exist.

New iPhone worm can act like botnet say experts [BBC]

Malicious iPhone worm [F-Secure]

How To: Change Your iPhone’s Default SSH Password [Cult of Mac]

See Also: