Key Coder

Key Coder is a useful tool for coding in actionscript, it provides the character keys for all the keys on the QWERTY keyboard excluding those on the num-pad.

http://goo.gl/efbbZ

Geek Test

InfoWorld, a news website dedicated to the decidely geeky-side of infomation technology, has posted it’s 2010 InfoWorld Geek IQ test. 

The quiz posits 20 multiple choice questions designed to cull the average users from the decidely hard-core tech gurus.  Hint: if you were once a fan of The Big Bang Theory, but stopped watching because you found their computer jokes too rudimentary, you may score well.  But watch out, as some of the questions may serve as a history lesson to anyone born after 1990.  It’s a fun quiz, as most geeks have a sense of humor:

[InfoWorld Quiz]

iOS 4.3 Launching Next Month?

According to a source for MacStories, the next release of iOS, 4.3, will be released on December 13th. This is surprisingly close to the release of the current version, 4.2.1, which just went public this week. Of course, the current release had a few delays due to bugs, so Apple may have been thrown off schedule by quite a bit.

The update will supposedly include needed bug-fixes and code maintenance, along with support for News Corp’s tablet-only publication, “The Daily”.

News Corp. has spent the last three months assembling a newsroom that will soon be about 100 staffers strong. The Daily will launch in beta mode sometime around Christmas, and will be introduced to the public on the iPad and other tablet devices in early 2011. It is expected to cost 99 cents a week, or about $4.25 a month. It will come out — as the name suggests — seven days a week.

An update to iOS would be necessary due to a possible change to iTunes’ back-end, in order to support a new recurring subscription model, which could also affect App Store application. (Changes in code would need to be made to add the necessary API.)

Optimistically, Apple may also be using this release to introduce the long-awaited iTunes cloud music service, though there are no additional rumors of this happening at this point.

[MacStories]

iPod Touch 4g Vibration?

Vibration hasn’t been included on the first, second, or third generation iPod touch devices, so it is strange that this wasn’t mentioned at the Apple Music Event on Wednesday. Regardless, it appears that the newest incarnation of the device will ship with vibration for use with notifications, such as incoming FaceTime video calls. Read on for more information, and evidence of this new feature.

Apple's Own Site

span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; font-family:Verdana;font-size:12px;">Here is the first piece of evidence, and it is on Apple’s very own website. Located on the Accessibility page for the iPod touch, you can scroll down to the ‘Video calling with FaceTime‘ and clearly see the following: “… If somebody wants to start a video call with you, you’ll receive an invitation — along with a vibrating alert — on your iPod touch asking you to join. …”

Of course, this could be the result of copy/pasting the info from the iPhone’s Accessibility page, which reads exactly the same. However, after multiple people from our forums chatting with Apple Experts, would the page still, after at least a day, read the exact same? You can’t tell me that all of Apple has been on coffee break for that long.

Mixed Messages from Apple Experts

Here’s where things get even more confusing. Instead of getting a straight, yes or no answer from anyone at Apple, many in the forums, including myself, have received very mixed messages. For example, this chat I had with an Apple Online Expert named

Tim.

• Tim: Hi, my name is Tim M. Welcome to Apple!
• Tim: Good Afternoon! How may I help you with your online shopping today?
• Me: Hi, I’ve got a question about the new iPod touch and something I read on your accessibility page.
• Tim: Certainly!
• Me: http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/features/accessibility.html under the ‘video calling with facetime’ it lists vibration as a feature. Is that true?
• Tim: Yes, that is correct- as a notification feature when you get a video call!
• Tim: Do you like that option?
• Me: Wow, that’s is insane. I didn’t think a vibrate would be able to fit. Now I’m very excited for my iPod to get here. I pre-ordered it just yesterday.
• Tim: Outstanding! Did you add the AppleCare plan to extend your warranty and get unlimited support for 2 years?

As you can see, this particular Apple ‘Expert’ believes that there is, indeed, a vibration motor used for notifications. However, in a VM to me, forum member Jawcl says the following: “Lol, I just talked to an Apple person on the phone. She said hold on and then she talked to the engineers for ten minutes and came back to say no it doesn’t have vibrate.”

That’s just one of the many instances where these so called Experts have come back with very mixed messages regarding this feature.

Of course, I’ve reached out to Apple PR regarding this, and have yet to receive a reply. So that is a dead-end.

Pictures

This is where everything gets a little bit more concrete. Thanks to the FCC for tearing apart an innocent iPod touch 4G, we got a look at its innards. At first glance, you can’t see much. But, looking a little bit closer, like matt912836 did, we see something a little out of place.

The ‘Vibrate Motor’ was added by matt912836, but the original picture can be seen here. For comparison’s sake, here’s some other vibration motors found in cell phones:

The above vibrate motor, from what I can gather, is mostly seen in Samsung phones. Having an old, beaten up, and non-booting Verizon Samsung Alias on hand, I proceeded to tear it down, limb from limb. And, of course, I found a part resembling this:

From what I can tell, this type of vibration motor is extremely good for small spaces, where parts and components are jam packed to make the device as thin as possible, à la iPod touch 4G. From my experience with the Alias, the vibration isn’t the most aggressive, although it definitely isn’t terrible. If that component in the iPod touch is a vibration motor, and does perform like the one to the right, then I’d say that this is something interesting, and possibly extremely useful to some.

Something else to note is that this vibration motor may be locked down to being notifications-only. It may not be available for third-party developers to utilize, at least not at first. In other words, you may not get vibration on the iPod touch 4G like you would on a Dualshock 3, iPhone 4, or Xbox 360 controller.

Of course, this is still a rumor. However, from those three pieces of information and evidence, it isn’t impossible to jump to the conclusion that that mystery component is, in fact, a vibration motor. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time Apple included something that they didn’t advertise.

via [iPTF]

Spy Party [UPDATE]

A while back we posted about a neat little game, Spy Party. We've done some more digging and found that it was playable at PAX, the people there loved it. (PAX is a three day festival for tabletop, videogame, and PC gamers with tournaments, concerts, and other interesting things. [PAX Website] )

You can follow SpyParty on Twitter and Facebook. You can also visit the SpyParty website HERE

Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries Free Download

Microsoft has made Mechwarrior 4: Mercenaries available for free download

Download it here: http://goo.gl/im7A

iPod Touch 4g Specs

iPod Touch 4th Generation Hardware Technical Specifications

• 960x640 Retina Display at 326 ppi
• Apple’s A4 Processor
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• HD Video Recording (720p) 30fps max
• VGA Quality Photos (960x720) Back Camera 
• 40 Hours Audio Playback, 7 Hours Video
• Thinner Design

(We’ll have comparative photos of the iPod Touch 4g, iPhone 4, and a standard DSLR camera as soon as we can get our hands on an iPod Touch 4g)

iTunes 10 Tweak

Relocate Window Controls (Mac only)

The traffic light controls on iTunes 10 have been flipped vertically in order to save space and make the program more streamlined, but many users don’t like this change. Luckily, there is a quick fix to put them back to where they belong.

Just type the following into the Terminal and hit enter.

defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -boolean YES

If you want to change it back, trade “YES” for “NO”.

via CNET

New iTV?

AppleInsider has found evidence of an unknown device lurking in the USB configuration files of iOS 4.1.

“According to people familiar with the matter, the latest beta of iOS 4.1, due to ship in the coming weeks, includes three new “Configuration Descriptors” within its USB configuration files — all of which pertain to devices that list “Apple, Inc.” as their “manufacturer” — as can be seen in the screenshot below.”

“Finally, and most intriguing, is a previously undiscovered mention of a mysterious device listed only as “unknownHardware.” Although the configuration files tag this device with a unique Apple product ID of 20547, it’s textual descriptor is similarly listed as “Unknown- Add device descriptor info for this device.”

The unknown device has an Apple product ID in the 20,000s, suggesting that will be the reincarnation of the Apple TV, which is rumored to be compatible with the App Store. (Making this theory even more likely.)

As rumored, the IDs point to the iPod Touch getting a major overhaul, as well as the iPad. (Cameras, anyone?) For a closer look at when these Apple product IDs actually mean, check out this post at the Boy Genius Report.

[AppleInsider]

Sprint iPod Touch Case

Remember the Yosion Apple Peel case from yesterday? It seems that Sprint has the same idea, and is planning to release a 3G case for the iPod Touch. (This wouldn’t be the first time they stuck it to Apple and AT&T either.)

It’s unknown what the initial or monthly cost will be, but it would need to be dirt cheap to keep it competitive. It would also be nice if you could just buy a data plan and only use Skype to make calls, making it even less expensive.

Stay tuned for more updates.

[FCC]

Apple Makes Giant Multi-Touch Trackpad

Apple has just released a multitouch trackpad for desktop computers, and it has full multitouch support for quickly navigating through windows. If you’ve always wanted the Macbook’s glorious multitouch trackpad on your desktop, then this is the accessory for you.

The largest Multi-Touch trackpad ever.

Magic Trackpad is just like the trackpad on the MacBook Pro — but bigger. It’s made with the same advanced touch-friendly and wear-resistant glass surface. But with nearly 80 percent more area, it’s the largest Multi-Touch trackpad made by Apple. So there’s even more room for you to scroll, swipe, pinch, and rotate to your fingers’ content. And since the entire surface is a button that clicks, you can use it in place of a mouse.

I absolutely love my Macbook’s trackpad, and would drop $69 for one of these in an instant if I had a desktop. It’s available now for Macs running the lastest version of Snow Leopard. There is no word on Windows support yet.

[Apple]

Engadget has found an interesting accessory from a Chinese company called Yosion that turns your iPod Touch into the phone it has always wanted to be.

Powered by an Infineon baseband chip, this adapter not only offers voice calling and text messaging (presumably requiring a jailbroken iPod Touch for the apps; GPRS not possible yet), but it also doubles up as an 800mAh battery and provides 4.5 hours of call time or 120 hours of standby juice.

It’s unknown whether or not it will ever be available stateside, but it could potentially allow users to buy cheaper cell plans without a two year contract or carrier lock-in. Hit the source for a video of it in action.

Update: I dug around a little, and found the Yosion forums, which have a bit of chatter about the accessory if you’re looking for more info. (Google translate is a must-have, unless you speak Chinese.)

[Engadget]

Does Apple Learn From Jailbroken Developers?

Many of the features that are new to iOS4 seem to have originated from jailbroken applications and utilities. Has Apple been adopting the ideas of jailbroken developers and implementing them into firmware updates? Or, are these features that were likely to be implemented at some point anyways? It’s your call.

1. Folders

Folders, which allows you to group similar applications together, is a non-jailbroken copy-cat of Categories, which is available on Cydia for jailbroken devices.

2. Rotation Lock

Double-tap the home button and you’ll find a new Orientation Lock button. By tapping this button, your device is now locked in portrait mode. No more awkward positions when you’re lying in bed — you weren’t the only one. Nevertheless, jailbroken users have had this utility for quite some time through SBSettings/Rotation Inhibitor.

3. Home Screen Wallpapers

You’re 3 years late on this one, Apple.
—

4. Battery Percentage

iOS4 allows you to see the exact percentage of battery life remaining on your device. While this is much more accurate than the battery icon next to it, it’s something jailbroken users have been able to do for years.

via [iPodTouchFans]

iOS4 App Section in iTunes

iTunes now has an iOS4 section for featured apps that take advantage of iOS4’s new capabilities. Check it out! Apps include Canabalt, Instapaper, Articles, and a ton more.

[iTunes]

iPhone 4 Features

iPhone 4 Features

• Retina display
• Thinner design
• FaceTime video chat
• Forward facing camera
• LED flash on rear facing camera
• Multitasking (iOS 4 feature)
• HD video recording
• iMovie
• 5.0 MP Camera
• Wallpapers
• Folders
• Faster processor
• 512 MB RAM

The iPhone 4 is available in black and white like the previous iPhone models have been, but this time the front of the iPhone is also changed depending on the color.

iPhone may be coming to Sprint

An anonymous Best Buy employee has confirmed that the iPhone will be moving to other carriers, most notably that of Sprint. The employee noted that there has been no news of an iPhone built to use Verizon’s network, though Apple’s revolutionary smart phone may very well be moving away from AT&T. While there is no hard evidence that the claim is valid, the amount of information (and products) leaking out of the typically locked down Apple may be an indicator that this is true.

A formal announcement of the migration to other carriers could come at the upcoming WWDC 2010, the developers conference from the 7th to 11th of June. Steve Jobs has been confirmed to be keynote presenter.

Next-gen iPod Touch photos leaked

Once again, an iDevice prototype has been leaked. This time, an iPod touch – with a camera. It’s not known how it was acquired, but it’s clear that Apple needs to do something about all these leaks.

Tinh Tế, to whom we owe thanks for the second iPhone 4G leak, have gotten hold of a prototype next-generation iPod touch, now sporting the long-awaited camera.

The serial number of the Camera part indicates 2.0 megapixels, but this could easily change as newer models are developed. Running a diagnostic mode, no internal specs are known as of yet.

It’s fairly safe to say that we’ll be seeing Camera-equipped iPod touches in the near future! As before, we’ve got a video in action, and more images after the jump.

The back, showing some hardware details.

via iPodTouchFans

Android on iPhone

A member of the iPhone Dev Team (the hackers who jailbreak the iPad and iPhone) has successfully installed Google’s Android OS on an iPhone. It’s an early version of the hack, so it’s a little buggy, but it’s definitely working as you can see in the video below. Currently, it only runs on the original iPhone but it’s just a matter of time before it’s running on the 3G and 3Gs.

Oh, and did we mention that you can dual boot the iPhone OS and Android? You can! That means you’ll be able to use all of the 38,000 Android apps (some of which are banned from the iPhone) as well as your old iPhone apps.

BREAKING: iPhone 4g Pics

You know all those supposedly leaked photos we’ve seen in the last few days? Yeah, well it turns out this is a real Apple unit, sporting a front-facing camera, better battery, micro-sim, and an entirely new design. Gizmodo seems to have gotten some hands-on time with it and they have posted a gallery.

iPhone 4.0 OS Features

Some of the new features in the 4.0 iPhone OS are:

• Multitasking (Double-Tap home button, you can run up to 4 apps simultaneously)
• BlueTooth Keyboard
• 5X Digital Zoom
• Change Homescreen wallpaper
• SMS Reminders
• Sync IMAP Notes
• Tap-to-Focus Video
• Web Search Suggestions
• Find & Delete Mail Search
• Larger Fonts for Mail
• Wake on Wireless
• Changeable image size in mail messages
• Background Audio
• VoIP (AT&T is going to hate Skype)
• Background location
• Local Notifications
• Faster App Switching
• Folders*
• Enhanced Mail Application
• Can have 2,160 apps installed instead of 180
• iBooks for the iPhone (With Free Winnie The Pooh)
• In-App encryption
• Game Centre
• MultiPlayer Matchmaking & Invite Friends Option
• iAd
• HTML5

Incompatible with 1st gen iDevices, 2nd gen will have limited features.

Woah, they even changed some of the icons for the default apps.

Pandora radio is now fully background-aware so you can exit the app and still listen to music!

Multitask with 4 different apps at once! Amazing

Skype behaves just like your standard calling in the new OS! Same style notifications too (Note: You can also receive skype calls when your phone is locked) You can also exit the app and run another one, just like standard calling.

The enhanced mail application has a unified inbox & better searching

*Folders is just like categories for those of you that have jailbroken your iPhone/iPod Touch

NOTE: iPod Touch users still have to pay, free for iPhone users

iPhone 4.0 OS SDK

iPhone 4.0 OS SDK will ship later this summer.

Some features:

• In-app SMS
• Date Formatters
• Automated Testing
• Performance Profiling Tools
• Carrier Info
• ICC Profiles
• Quick Look
• Draggable Map Annotations
• Embed PDF Metadata
• Image I/O
• Full Map Overlays
• Block-Based Animation
• Date Formatters
• iPod Remote Control Accessories
• Power Analysis Tools
• Half-Curl Page Transitions
• And More!

iPhone 4G Concept

Windows 7 on iPad

Imagine you’ve traveled to another universe for a moment where Apple and Windows have switched roles entirely. The result? Windows 7 on the iPad. Using the same methods we showed you for running Mac OSx on the iPad, this user utilized a VNC desktop-sharing client which allows him to control a Windows 7 computer using the iPad. A neat trick for now, but perhaps we’ll see it for real when the iPad is hacked.

Mac OSx on iPad (With Flash!)

Well…sort of. It’s actually an app called Desktop Connect which allows you to connect via VNC to share another computer’s desktop. A perfect shortcut for those who would rather have seen OSX on the iPad instead of a variation of the iPhone OS and don’t want to wait until it’s hacked.

It’s really easy to setup and you pull up an onscreen keyboard as well. It’s not perfect though. It’s pretty difficult to use an OS made for precision mouse clicking and attempt to control it using your large, stubby fingers. More iPad hacks to come! – subscribe so you don’t miss out.

iPhone 4.0 OS Update Confirmed

On April 8th (That's 3 days from now) Apple will be unveiling their 4.0 OS for the iPhone/iPod Touch. It's amazing to see thing just so soon after the iPad's launch, but hey, we're not complaining.

More details will be posted here shortly

Apple iPad Jailbroken

The iPhone Dev Team is at it again. Using the same methods which allowed them to jailbreak the iPhone, these hackers were able to jailbreak the iPad within a day of its launch. The exploit known as “spirit” allowed root access into the iPad’s OS and file system.

The video shows that the jailbreak provides a root shell with what appears to be full access to the iPad file system. The video walks shows connection to the iPad via ssh, exploration of the OS and kernel version information, a view of running processes, moving applications out of the iPad’s applications directory (and then restarting Springboard via the shell to show the results) and finally, rebooting the iPad via the jailbroken root shell.

Chances You'll Drop Your iPad

Remember: Flowcharts never lie

Hyundai puts Equus Owners Manual on iPad

Hyundai isn't a name most buyers instantly associate with luxury or higher-end hardware, though those in the know put the Genesis and its new big brother on par with Lexus' best offerings--at a bargain price. And to sweeten the deal, the 2011 Hyundai Equus--the new flagship sedan--gets a "tablet computer" app (unofficially confirmed as an Apple iPad) for an owner's manual, and a free iPad to read it on.

The WiFi-enabled iPad is also used to schedule service appointments and keep track of the car's history. It's a taste of the future, integrating technology into the car in a new and more involving way.

That's not the only way Hyundai leverages technology to make the Equus unique, though: a lane departure warning system uses haptic technology to warn the driver through the seatbelt in addition to a chime and warning light. Smartcruise control enables easy long-distance driving, while stability control, vehicle stability management and a full array of nine airbags enhance safety.

The car itself is Hyundai's first foray into full-size luxury sedans for the U.S., powered by a 4.6-liter Tau V-8 engine rated at 385 horsepower on premium fuel and 378 horsepower on regular unleaded. It's a rear-drive only vehicle, so those needing all-weather duty might need to look elsewhere, but it'll have driving dynamics that front-drive alternatives don't.

A six-speed automatic transmission with manual-shift mode delivers the power to the rear, jetting the big sedan to 60 mph in under 6.4 seconds. Hyundai is comparing the car to the Lexus LS460, Mercedes-BenzS550 and the Audi A8 on the numbers.

Leather and Alcantara interior upholstery complement real wood trim and a full array of heated, electronically adjustable and massaging interior components. An electronically-controlled air suspension levels the ride and softens the road no matter if the car is loaded with passengers or on a solo commute.

High-tech components also play into the entertainment system: a 17-speaker, 608-watt 7.1-channel surround sound system with HD Radio, XM Satellite Radio and iPod/USB inputs all available.

The best part for the family that's not looking to take out a second mortgage to buy a new luxury sedan: the Equus will launch later this summer under $50,000. For more on the Equus, check out our first drive report here.

[Hyundai]

Slashdot April Fool’s Day Page

Slashdot has a pretty cool April Fool’s Day page setup

Check it Out

Overpriced HDMI Cables

Fun Google Maps Locations

Throughout our travels on Google Maps we have come across a black hole and a picture of a spaceship. It’s amazing what Google knows…

Black Hole | Spaceship

Google, Now in 3D

Google Maps has added a new feature in Street View, 3D Street View. Unfortunately, since I have lost my 3D glasses I will not be able to test the new street view for a while.

But on top of all that, Google books also has a 3D option. Reading in 3D? I honestly don’t know if I could stand that…

Comment and let us know how they work!

Google now Topeka?

Read the full story here

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/different-kind-of-company-name.html

Broadband Plan

Sick of slow Internet connections? The federal government hears you.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Monday unveiled some details of its broadband plan, which aims to speed up Web connections and make high-speed Internet available to more Americans.

The commission plans to use educational programs and an expansion of broadband Internet infrastructure to give 90 percent of Americans high-speed Internet access at home by 2020.

Currently, only 65 percent of Americans have high-speed Internet access at home, which the FCC says is a detriment to economic growth. The proposal will make the U.S. "the world's largest market of high-speed broadband users" and will create jobs, the FCC says in a news release.

The plan would also lower health care costs and improve home energy efficiency by making information available digitally, the FCC says.

Other details of the plan remain unclear. The FCC will release its entire proposal at a meeting Tuesday.

The FCC also wants to speed up overall connections, which are often criticized as slow by global standards.

Its goal is to give 100 million households access to Internet connections that transfer 100 megabits of data per second.

The average U.S. Internet speed today is much slower -- only 3.9 megabits per second, according to the Internet monitor Akamai.

The U.S. has only the 18th fastest Internet connections in the world, behind countries like South Korea, which leads the world with 14.6 megabit-per-second data transfer rates, Akamai says.

Each community in America also will get access to at least one "ultra-high-speed" connection at a library, school or military base. Those connections will reach speeds of 1 gigabit per second, the FCC said in the news release.

The country's broadband plan was required as part of President Obama's 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which allocated $7.2 billion to broadband-related initiatives.

The FCC's upcoming broadband plan will be "revenue neutral," according to an executive summary of the plan released Monday. The FCC will auction off 500 megahertz of spectrum to pay for some expenses, such as extending broadband networks to rural areas.

Other programs will be paid for with improved efficiencies, the FCC said.

The plan has been delayed, and it is criticized by some as doing too little.

Speaking at South by Southwest Interactive, a technology conference in Austin, Texas, Derek Turner, the research director for the nonprofit group Free Press, said the broadband plan does not do enough to reduce the cost of high-speed Internet connections, which he said is the biggest barrier to adoption.

Still, he said, he is hopeful that the federal government can address the issue.

"I'm actually very hopeful for some positive outcomes," he said at the conference, "because I've seen stranger things happen in Washington."

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski framed the plan as a boost for the economy.

"The National Broadband Plan is a 21st century roadmap to spur economic growth and investment, create jobs, educate our children, protect our citizens, and engage in our democracy," he said in an FCC news release.

"It's an action plan, and action is necessary to meet the challenges of global competitiveness, and harness the power of broadband to help address so many vital national issues."

The plan places some emphasis on the mobile Internet and indicates that the U.S. wants to be a leader in that emerging space.

via CNN

Man Arrested at Large Hadron Collider claims he's from the future

A would-be saboteur arrested today at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland made the bizarre claim that he was from the future. Eloi Cole, a strangely dressed young man, said that he had travelled back in time to prevent the LHC from destroying the world.

The LHC successfully collided particles at record force earlier this week, a milestone Mr Cole was attempting to disrupt by stopping supplies of Mountain Dew to the experiment's vending machines. He also claimed responsibility for the infamous baguette sabotage in November last year.

Mr Cole was seized by Swiss police after CERN security guards spotted him rooting around in bins. He explained that he was looking for fuel for his 'time machine power unit', a device that resembled a kitchen blender.

Police said Mr Cole, who was wearing a bow tie and rather too much tweed for his age, would not reveal his country of origin. "Countries do not exist where I am from. The discovery of the Higgs boson led to limitless power, the elimination of poverty and Kit-Kats for everyone. It is a communist chocolate hellhole and I'm here to stop it ever happening."

This isn't the first time time-travel has been blamed for mishaps at the LHC. Last year, the Japanese physicist Masao Ninomiya and Danish string-theory pioneer Holger Bech Nielsen put forward the hypothesis that the Higgs boson was so "abhorrent" that it somehow caused a ripple in time that prevented its own discovery.

Professor Brian Cox, a former CERN physicist and full-time rock'n'roll TV scientist, was sympathetic to Mr Cole. "Bless him, he sounds harmless enough. At least he didn't mention bloody black holes."

Mr Cole was taken to a secure mental health facility in Geneva but later disappeared from his cell. Police are baffled, but not that bothered.

Disable Driver Signing in Windows 7

If you want to turn off device driver signing in Windows 7 completely, do the following.

Hit the Win+R keys together to open the run dialog. Type gpedit.msc to open the local groups policy editor.

Expand ‘Administrative Templates’ (it’s under ‘User Configuration’). Expand ‘System’. Click ‘Driver Installation’.

In the right panel, double click on ‘Code Signing for Device Drivers’.

Choose ‘Enabled’ in the window that appears. In the underlying options, choose ‘Ignore’. This disables drivers signing in Windows 7, and now you can install unsigned drivers in Windows 7.

Click Apply, OK. Restart your computer to install unsigned drivers.

USB Memory Support for the Xbox 360 coming April 6th

On April 6th, Microsoft will be releasing a system update over Xbox LIVE for your Xbox 360 that will allow USB flash drives to be used for storing profiles, game saves, demos and more. I’ve been testing this feature out for a few weeks, and I have to say it’s really great. Once you take the system update on April 6th, you’ll be able to connect your USB flash drives to your console and head over to the memory section to configure your new storage device. Once you do that, the system will conduct a one time performance and integrity check to confirm the drive is working properly. You will then be able to configure how much storage to use on the device, up to 16 GB. The remaining space on the flash drive will be accessible by your PC or Mac. USB Hard drives may work, but like flash memory, you’ll only be able to use up to 16GB of space. Since performance on flash based USB storage is usually better, I highly recommend using flash based instead of spinning media like a hard drive… It’s just going to give you a much better experience.

Microsoft has also enhanced the memory management functions, so you’ll be able to have better control on what you want to copy or move between storage devices.

A couple of points:

• You can have 2 devices connected to the console at a time, enabling up to 32GB of simultaneous storage.
• The system won’t just configure the device once it is connected to the console. You’ll need to head to the memory area in system settings, select your USB Device, and choose from Configure Now (Format and Configure the Full Device), or Customize (you can choose how much memory you want configured for Xbox360 from the free space on the device.)

While any flash drive can be used, Microsoft is partnering with SanDisk to release an Xbox 360 branded USB flash drive in May that comes pre-configured out of the box and ready to go.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2

For those of you that haven't heard yet. Lucasarts is making a sequel to The Force Unleashed.

Tonight at the Spike TV Video Game Awards the sequel to the popular Star Wars game The Force Unleashed was announced.

The accompanying trailer showed the main character from the first game return cloaked in a dark robe and enter a large arena. Here he came face-to-face with a Rancor and lightning sprung from his finger tips.

It was also announced that the game will arriving some time in 2010. A voice over from Yoda closed the trailer with these words of wisdom:

"Uncertain your future is. Find yourself, you must."

Flying Spaghetti Monster

You can now get a flying spaghetti monster bumper sticker for your car.

LINK

Why didn't we think of this???

This is just one of those things that makes you wonder "Now why didn't I think of this?"

Project Dogwaffle

I was browsing the internet and I recently stumbled upon a neat little program called Project Dogwaffle. Project Dogwaffle (PD for short) is a very powerful (and free!) "painting" program. This program allows you to paint without the mess and the fumes of regular painting.

Project Dogwaffle has an amazing way of painting by using optipustics. Under the optipustics settings window you can set properties of your paintbrush to achieve effects of moss, grass, explosions, etc. or you can turn optipustics off and just paint with a regular brush.

The picture included on the right was painted using Project Dogwaffle's optipustics functions. With it we were able to create a very nice explosion, something that would have taken much longer to create using traditional methods in Photoshop.

An incredibly handy feature of Project Dogwaffle is that you can export the graphics to edit them in another program (Photoshop for example).

Download: http://www.thebest3d.com/dogwaffle/free/

Android Tablet gives iPad run for the Money

Notion Ink demoed its final version of the Android tablet called Adam prior to Mobile World Congress 2010. In the video cofounder Rohan Shravan shows off some awesome hardware innovation.

It was demonstrated in an area outdoors which was partially shaded and fully exposed to bright sunlight. This was done to show how wonderfully the tablet adapts in either condition; beautiful LCD display in normal lighting and crisp monochrome display in direct sunlight.

Unlike the Apple iPad, Adam has a camera that conveniently swivels 180 degrees. Imagine the use cases: turn towards yourself to have video chats, turn away 90 degrees to record a lecture or seminar while working simultaneously, turn another 90 degrees to take a picture of someone in front of you. Let’s not forget to throw in multi-tasking capabilities.

Another interesting feature places the touch pad on the back, very interesting to control touch screen operation without looking. The Adam tablet also features 3 USB ports, one HDMI out port for full HD in 1080p, eco-friendly using a tenth of the power, and boasting 24 hours of battery life(more than 10 hours viewing full high definition video).

Notion Ink plans to customize the Android operating system it will ship with, plus open up the API for developers to write apps for the larger screen. Although the final software was not ready for the demo, they noted they will have split screen virtual keyboards to allow typing with thumbs on the tablet. Look for it in June 2010 with a price point of $327-$800.

Below are side by side specs compared with the Apple iPad courtesy of Technoholik. See more exclusive photos at Technoholik’s Flickr stream.

	Apple iPad	Notion Ink Adam
Screen	9.7 inch 4:3 IPS LCD (1024×768)	10 inch Transflective LCD Pixel Qi screen (1024×600)
	1024×768 pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch (ppi)	Low power full color black & white mode
OS	iPhone OS 3.2	Android, Unbuntu, Chromium
CPU	Apple A4 processor	nVidia Tegra 2
		Dual Core 1GHz + Graphic
Internet Browser	Safari	Firefox, Chrome
Outputs:	VGA, Dock connectors (extra)	HDMI, 3x USB
Video Out	720p	1080p
Camera	No	Yes, 3 Megapixel with Autofocus
Battery	Up to 10 hours of surfing the web on Wi-Fi, watching video, or listening to music	16 hours, 160 hours on backlight off mode
Wireless	Wi-Fi, 3G (HSPA/GSM), Bluetooth	Wi-Fi, 3G (HSPA/GSM), Bluetooth (US Edition)
Weight	1.5 pounds	1.7 pounds
Other:		RF, ambient light sensor. AGPS, Proximity sensor, accelerometer, Touchpad
Multitasking	No	Yes
Adobe Flash 10.0 support	No	Yes
Storage	No	Yes, (SD Card slot)
Price	$499-$829	$327-$800
Availability	April/May	June/July

via Android Tapp

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