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<channel>
<title>Hackszine: Hardware</title>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/hardware/</link>
<description>O&apos;Reilly&apos;s Hacks Series reclaims the term &apos;hacking&apos; for the good guys--innovators who explore and experiment, unearth shortcuts, create useful tools, and come up with fun things to try on their own</description>
<language>en-us</language>
<copyright>Copyright 2008, O'Reilly Media, Inc.</copyright>
<lastBuildDate>Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:38:28 -0800</lastBuildDate>
<pubDate>Sun, 28 Sep 2008 09:00:16 -0800</pubDate>
<generator>http://www.movabletype.org/?v=4.1</generator>
<docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
<itunes:author>O'Reilly Media, Inc.</itunes:author>
<itunes:subtitle>Clever solutions to interesting problems.</itunes:subtitle>
<itunes:summary>Hackszine Podcast</itunes:summary>
<itunes:owner>
<itunes:email>webmaster@makezine.com</itunes:email>
</itunes:owner>
<category>Technology</category>
<itunes:category text="Technology">
</itunes:category>
<itunes:category text="Technology">
  <itunes:category text="Gadgets" />
</itunes:category>
<itunes:category text="Games &amp; Hobbies" >
</itunes:category>
<itunes:category text="Science">
</itunes:category>
<itunes:image href="http://makezine.com/images/hackszine/rss_icon.jpg" />
<itunes:explicit>no</itunes:explicit>


<item>
<title>Zoom H2 microphone modification</title>
<itunes:summary> Berto Aussems wrote in again with another modification to the Zoom H2 recorder: Listening to soundrecordings made in the 360 degree surround pattern mode of the Zoom H2, I found out that the directional sensitivity is bad. Even the...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><object width="600" height="475"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DoXxJuPRBrQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DoXxJuPRBrQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="600" height="475"></embed></object></p>

<p>Berto Aussems wrote in again with another modification to the Zoom H2 recorder:</p>

<blockquote>Listening to soundrecordings made in the 360 degree surround pattern mode of the Zoom H2, I found out that the directional sensitivity is bad. Even the stereo recording sounds mono. The front/back channel separation is the same story. 
So I had to turn the microphones in 4 times 90 degree. With 2 crossed disk's on top of the H2, the directional resolution is now much better. Maybe there are other ways to get better results; this is one. I hope to have some discussion with other H2 owners about this theme.</blockquote>

<p>I'm not sure how much further you can push the recording quality of this little field recorder, but it's promising to see the results of warrantee voiding efforts like these.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoXxJuPRBrQ">Zoom H2 Microphone's Modification</a></p>

<p><strong>Previously:</strong><br />
<a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/09/zoom_h2_line_inputs_make_a_4_c.html">Zoom H2 line input hack - make a 4 channel field recorder</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/09/zoom_h2_microphone_modificatio.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/09/zoom_h2_microphone_modificatio.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/09/zoom_h2_microphone_modificatio.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/09/zoom_h2_microphone_modificatio.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Electronics</category>
<pubDate>Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:38:28 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Zoom H2 line input hack - make a 4 channel field recorder</title>
<itunes:summary> Berto Aussems wrote in from the Netherlends to tell us about his hack which replaces the microphones in the Zoom H2 recorder with 4 line inputs, perfect for 4 channel field recording. The Zoom H2 has gotten a lot...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><object width="600" height="338">	<param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" />	<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" />	<param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1725654&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=0&amp;show_byline=0&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=00ADEF&amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1725654&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=0&amp;show_byline=0&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=00ADEF&amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="600" height="338"></embed></object></p>

<p>Berto Aussems wrote in from the Netherlends to tell us about his hack which replaces the microphones in the Zoom H2 recorder with 4 line inputs, perfect for 4 channel field recording.  The Zoom H2 has gotten a lot of glowing reviews in its standard form, but converting it for line input gives you the flexibility to use external mics and direct input sources for a higher quality recording.</p>

<blockquote>The Zoom H2 is a popular portable soundrecorder. It records HQ audio on the 4 build-in microphones on 4 tracks. This hack makes it possible to switch over to  4 self made line inputs on the back of the device. With a few electronic parts for about 10 USD people can make a 4 channel fieldrecorder. 

<p><br />
This 3 minute instruction video shows the way you can make yourself a 4 track field recorder. I don't say its easy....but it can be done in an evening. Now I can record 4 channels from my computer audio interface when the softsynth is running.</blockquote></p>

<p>This is a pretty affordable modification and the device itself is just short of $200. It might be just the solution for a decent 4 track recorder on a budget, whether you're recording your garage band, environmental sounds, or interviews.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.vimeo.com/1725654">Zoom H2 modification; now with 4 line inputs!</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/09/zoom_h2_line_inputs_make_a_4_c.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/09/zoom_h2_line_inputs_make_a_4_c.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/09/zoom_h2_line_inputs_make_a_4_c.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/09/zoom_h2_line_inputs_make_a_4_c.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Electronics</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:10:20 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Beagle Board - ultra tiny, 2-Watt Linux system</title>
<itunes:summary> Hackszine pal Patti Schiendelman tipped me off to the Beagle Board, a spartan little embedded platform, perfect for all things hackable. It&apos;s based on the TI OMAP3 processor, which is packaged with 128MB of DDR RAM and 256MB of...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="beagleboard_20080818.jpg" src="http://www.hackszine.com/beagleboard_20080818.jpg" width="600" height="462" class="mt-image-none" style="" /></span></p>

<p>Hackszine pal Patti Schiendelman tipped me off to the Beagle Board, a spartan little embedded platform, perfect for all things hackable. It's based on the TI OMAP3 processor, which is packaged with 128MB of DDR RAM and 256MB of NAND Flash all on the single chip in the center of the board.</p>

<p>Instead of including things like ethernet and 802.11 on-board, they opted to keep the footprint small and only include the bare essentials: DVI for monitor output, SD/MMC for storage, audio in/out, and USB for device expansion. If you need any other hardware, just get a USB device that has a Linux driver.</p>

<p>Did I mention it's $150 and draws less that 2 Watts? This is definitely what you need for your next autonomous <strike>spy</strike> weather blimp.</p>

<p><a href="http://beagleboard.org/">BeagleBoard.org</a><br />
<a href="http://elinux.org/BeagleBoard">BeagleBoard Embedded Linux Wiki</a><br />
<a href="http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/beagleboard-149-linux-system">Linux Journal - The BeagleBoard: $149 Linux System</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/08/beagle_board_ultra_tiny_2watt.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/08/beagle_board_ultra_tiny_2watt.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/08/beagle_board_ultra_tiny_2watt.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/08/beagle_board_ultra_tiny_2watt.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:06:07 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Star Wars music played by a floppy drive</title>
<itunes:summary> I can&apos;t find any documentation for this, nor can I help posting it. I assume it&apos;s a hardware hack that manually controls the floppy drive&apos;s stepper motor, but it&apos;d make my day if this was done in software using...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><object width="500" height="405"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/X4SCSGRVAQE&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/X4SCSGRVAQE&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="500" height="405"></embed></object></p>

<p>I can't find any documentation for this, nor can I help posting it.</p>

<p>I assume it's a hardware hack that manually controls the floppy drive's stepper motor, but it'd make my day if this was done in software using standard I/O requests. Either way, the 3.5 inch FDD finally serves an important function again.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4SCSGRVAQE">Star Wars Floppy Disk</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/06/star_wars_music_played_by_a_fl.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/06/star_wars_music_played_by_a_fl.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/06/star_wars_music_played_by_a_fl.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/06/star_wars_music_played_by_a_fl.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Sun, 08 Jun 2008 18:50:07 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Helmer render cluster: 186 Gflops in an IKEA cabinet</title>
<itunes:summary> I usually get all excited about tiny, noiseless, low-power PC hardware, but I have to admit that this 24 core, 186 Gflop render cluster built into an IKEA Helmer cabinet is pretty inspiring. Most cool is that when it&apos;s...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="helmer_renderfarm_20080523.jpg" src="http://www.hackszine.com/helmer_renderfarm_20080523.jpg" width="500" height="375" class="mt-image-none" style="" /></span></p>

<p>I usually get all excited about tiny, noiseless, low-power PC hardware, but I have to admit that this 24 core, 186 Gflop render cluster built into an IKEA Helmer cabinet is pretty inspiring. Most cool is that when it's not overburdened and jumping to swap, it's still a reasonably efficient setup for its performance specs:</p>

<blockquote>The most amazing is that this machine just cost as a better standard PC, but has 24 cores that run each at 2.4 Ghz, a total of 48GB ram, and just need 400W of power!! This means that it hardly gets warm, and make less noise then my desktop pc.

<p>Render jobs that took all night, now gets done in 10-12 min.</blockquote></p>

<p>Janne opted for modifying the Helmer cabinet instead of using standard PC cases because the 6 cases would have cost about as much ass the motherboards and CPUs. Most of the modification involved cutting holes for airflow, power supplies, and cabling, but it looks like the Helmer's drawer dimensions accommodate the ATX motherboards almost perfectly.</p>

<p>I'm not all that familiar with the software behind 3D rendering (anyone care to point us to some howtos?), but Janne is using a batch management system called DrQueue that looks quite useful for a lot of distributed applications. It takes care of distributing jobs between the clsuter's nodes, allowing you to manage and monitor each of the nodes remotely from a central interface. Pretty cool stuff.</p>

<p><a href="http://helmer.sfe.se/">Helmer render cluster</a><br />
<a href="http://drqueue.org/cwebsite/">DrQueue</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/05/helmer_render_cluster_186_gflo.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/05/helmer_render_cluster_186_gflo.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/05/helmer_render_cluster_186_gflo.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/05/helmer_render_cluster_186_gflo.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Fri, 23 May 2008 19:48:43 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Shredz64: Guitar Hero for C64</title>
<itunes:summary> Toni Westbrook authored a new C64 game called Shredz64, bringing the best game of all time to the best computing platform of all time: You can use the real Guitar Hero controller using the PSX64 PS2-to-DB9 converter which Toni...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="shredz64_20080327.jpg" src="http://www.hackszine.com/shredz64_20080327.jpg" width="500" height="558" class="mt-image-none" style="" /></span></p>

<p>Toni Westbrook authored a new C64 game called Shredz64, bringing the best game of all time to the best computing platform of all time:</p>

<p><object width="500" height="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WyCMM6e1Lbo&rel=0&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WyCMM6e1Lbo&rel=0&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="500" height="400"></embed></object></p>

<p>You can use the real Guitar Hero controller using the PSX64 PS2-to-DB9 converter which Toni also created.  This takes the game controller input and maps it to the appropriate up, down, left, right and potentiometer lines for the Commodore.</p>

<p>Shredz64 uses the internal SID audio processor to play any of your favorite SID tunes.  In addition to the built-in songs, you can import new SID files and even create new levels by editing note tracks (using the game controller, naturally).</p>

<p>I'm speechless.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.synthdreams.com/shredz64.php">Shredz64</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/03/shredz64_guitar_hero_for_c64.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/03/shredz64_guitar_hero_for_c64.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/03/shredz64_guitar_hero_for_c64.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/03/shredz64_guitar_hero_for_c64.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Retro Computing</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:32:30 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>iNoteBook: repurpose an old laptop</title>
<itunes:summary> It seems like I end up updating my laptop every couple of years, but as cool as new hardware is, sometimes the challenge of finding a new use for the old machine is more interesting. The iNoteBook mod is...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="inotebook_20080325.jpg" src="http://www.hackszine.com/inotebook_20080325.jpg" width="500" height="375" class="mt-image-none" style="" /></span></p>

<p>It seems like I end up updating my laptop every couple of years, but as cool as new hardware is, sometimes the challenge of finding a new use for the old machine is more interesting. The iNoteBook mod is a classic example, transforming a broken, screenless iBook into a stealth desktop machine.</p>

<p>What's your favorite laptop reuse project? If you've got one, please share in in the comments.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.applefritter.com/node/1597">The iNoteBook</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/03/inotebook_repurpose_an_old_lap.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/03/inotebook_repurpose_an_old_lap.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/03/inotebook_repurpose_an_old_lap.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/03/inotebook_repurpose_an_old_lap.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Mar 2008 19:56:41 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>From Nand to Tetris in 12 Steps</title>
<itunes:summary> Shimon Schocken gave a really interesting Google Tech Talk titled From Nand to Tetris in 12 Steps. In the video, he describes a course where students design a complete virtualized computer system from scratch, building from the humble nand...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><embed style="width:500px; height:400px;" id="VideoPlayback" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=7654043762021156507&hl=en" flashvars=""> </embed></p>

<p>Shimon Schocken gave a really interesting Google Tech Talk titled From Nand to Tetris in 12 Steps. In the video, he describes a course where students design a complete virtualized computer system from scratch, building from the humble nand gate, to a functional cpu and memory architecture,  to compiler software and an operating system, all culminating in a simple game that runs on the virtual hardware.</p>

<blockquote>The hardware projects are done in a simple hardware description language and a hardware simulator supplied by us. The software projects (assembler, VM, and a compiler for a simple object-based language) can be done in any language, using the APIs and test programs supplied by us. We also build a mini-OS. The result is a GameBoy-like computer, simulated on the student's PC. We start the course (and this talk) by demonstrating some video games running on this computer, e.g. Tetris and Pong.

<p><br />
Building a working computer from Nand gates alone is a thrilling intellectual exercise. It demonstrates the supreme power of recursive ascent, and teaches the students that building computer systems is -- more than anything else -- a triumph of human reasoning.</blockquote></p>

<p>It looks like most of the course materials are available online. The necessary hardware emulator and simulator software is open source and available from Shimon's website.</p>

<p><a href="http://www1.idc.ac.il/tecscourse/">CS101 Digital Systems Construction</a><br />
<a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7654043762021156507">Video - Building a Modern Computer from First Principles</a> [via <a href="http://www.slash7.com/articles/2008/3/19/f4t-in-the-educational-system">Slash7</a>]</p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/03/from_nand_to_tetris_in_12_step.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/03/from_nand_to_tetris_in_12_step.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/03/from_nand_to_tetris_in_12_step.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/03/from_nand_to_tetris_in_12_step.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Science</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:02:56 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>HOWTO: Make a roll-up keyboard</title>
<itunes:summary> Making a flexible, &quot;roll-up&quot; keyboard from a standard USB keyboard is a lot easier than I would have expected. Rolling your own is about as simple as removing the membrane from inside an existing keyboard and gluing key labels...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="rollupkeyboard_20080127.jpg" src="http://www.hackszine.com/rollupkeyboard_20080127.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></p>

<p>Making a flexible, "roll-up" keyboard from a standard USB keyboard is a lot easier than I would have expected. Rolling your own is about as simple as removing the membrane from inside an existing keyboard and gluing key labels in the appropriate places.</p>

<p>Aside from having a portable full-size keyboard, and the additional geek-cred that your workspace will attain, it also seems like this is much easier to clean. Considering what a biological cesspit of a petri-dish most keyboards are, this may have a beneficial health impact for you too.</p>

<p>Make your own Roll-Up Keyboard - <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/SY53T68FBQ33UAC/">Link</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/01/howto_make_a_rollup_keyboard.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/01/howto_make_a_rollup_keyboard.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/01/howto_make_a_rollup_keyboard.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/01/howto_make_a_rollup_keyboard.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:04:08 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>OS X on the Asus Eee PC</title>
<itunes:summary> We&apos;ve posted about installing Ubuntu and Vista on the little Asus Eee PC, so to round things off, here&apos;s a guide for installing Leopard. Using a few tools of the hackintosh trade, Dan from Uneasy Silence was able to...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="eee_osx_20080121.jpg" src="http://www.hackszine.com/eee_osx_20080121.jpg" width="500" height="399" /></p>

<p>We've posted about installing Ubuntu and Vista on the little Asus Eee PC, so to round things off, here's a guide for installing Leopard. Using a few tools of the hackintosh trade, Dan from Uneasy Silence was able to get OS X running on the little lappy.</p>

<blockquote>So, ever since I got the eeePC I've loved how easy it is to tinker with. Since I'm not a Linux guy, I dumped the Xandros preload and opted for Windows XP so I could you my EVDO USB datacard and blogging software easier, but I wondered could I install OSX on it? And, after trial and error - you can!</blockquote>

<p>One thing that Dan mentions is that Leopard is a bit pokey on the Eee. He opted to run OS X 10.4.8 instead, and it sounds like it performs quite a bit better.</p>

<p>Load OSX 10.5 Leopard on the eeePC - <a href="http://uneasysilence.com/archive/2007/11/12654/">Link</a><br />
Vista on the Eee PC - <a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/12/vista_on_the_eee_pc.html">Link</a><br />
HOWTO - Install Ubuntu on the Asus Eee PC - <a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/howto_install_ubuntu_on_the_as.html">Link</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/01/os_x_on_the_asus_eee_pc.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
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</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/01/os_x_on_the_asus_eee_pc.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/01/os_x_on_the_asus_eee_pc.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Mac</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 21 Jan 2008 21:35:46 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Add Bluetooth to your iPod</title>
<itunes:summary> fstedie came up with a nice hack for adding internal Bluetooth audio support to your iPod: 1st Ever Bluetooth-Enabled iPod! If you&apos;re like me, you&apos;ve often asked yourself why Apple has not added native Bluetooth capability to their iPod...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="btipod_20080104.jpg" src="http://www.hackszine.com/btipod_20080104.jpg" width="500" height="499" /></p>

<p>fstedie came up with a nice hack for adding internal Bluetooth audio support to your iPod:</p>

<blockquote>1st Ever Bluetooth-Enabled iPod!

<p>If you're like me, you've often asked yourself why Apple has not added native Bluetooth capability to their iPod line up. Even the iPhone only supports mono Bluetooth!</p>

<p>Sure, there are numerous adapters that plug into the iPod's dock connector to give you wireless music, but they are clunky, they come off easily, can't use them with your case and you have to charge them separately!</p>

<p>So, here is my way to add "native" internal Bluetooth support to your 4G iPod. The same method may be used with other iPod versions, I leave that up to you.</blockquote></p>

<p>The hack essentially involves disassembling a small Bluetooth audio adapter and wiring it directly to the iPod mainboard. Audio input is tapped from the headphone jack and draws power directly from the iPod's battery, giving you a completely wireless and dongle-free audio device.</p>

<p>Check out the picture above, though, and you'll also notice fstedie has replaced the iPod hard disk with a CF card. He has an instructable for that, too. I mentioned Mark Hoekstra's hack to create an iPod-to-CF adapter last year, and it looks like these are now more readily available and can be ordered online. Pretty cool little iPod hacks, I must say.</p>

<p>Add Internal Bluetooth Capability To Your iPod - <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Add-INTERNAL-Bluetooth-Capability-To-Your-iPod/">Link</a><br />
Convert your 4th Gen iPod to use Flash Memory - <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Convert-your-4th-Gen-iPod-to-use-Flash-Memory/">Link</a><br />
iPod CF and SD Card Capability - <a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/05/adapting_to_your_ipod.html">Link</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/01/add_bluetooth_to_your_ipod.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
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</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/01/add_bluetooth_to_your_ipod.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/01/add_bluetooth_to_your_ipod.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>iPod</category>
<pubDate>Fri, 04 Jan 2008 20:18:03 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Laser projector</title>
<itunes:summary> Instructables user echo_anomie posted a nifty howto for creating a very simple portable laser projector. With a bright enough laser, you can project an image across long outdoor distances and there&apos;s never any need to adjust focus. When it&apos;s...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="laserprojector_20071229.jpg" src="http://www.hackszine.com/laserprojector_20071229.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></p>

<p>Instructables user echo_anomie posted a nifty howto for creating a very simple portable laser projector. With a bright enough laser, you can project an image across long outdoor distances and there's never any need to adjust focus.</p>

<p>When it's all assembled, you just drop photo slides in the path of the beam and they are projected wherever you have the thing aimed. It'd be interesting to try this with some kind of LCD in place of the slide.  This should let you project eerie green videos on skyscrapers around town.</p>

<p>Laser Image Projector - [<a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/12/portable_laser_image_proj.html">via</a>] <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Laser-Image-Projector/">Link</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/12/laser_projector.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/12/laser_projector.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/12/laser_projector.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/12/laser_projector.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Photography</category>
<pubDate>Sat, 29 Dec 2007 10:00:00 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>HOWTO - add a touch screen to the Asus Eee PC</title>
<itunes:summary> jkmobile added a touch screen to his Eee PC and he&apos;s posted a video showing how to do it. He was able to find a properly sized after-market touch panel that could be fitted on top of the stock...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="eeetouchscreen_20071222.jpg" src="http://www.hackszine.com/eeetouchscreen_20071222.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></p>

<p>jkmobile added a touch screen to his Eee PC and he's posted a video showing how to do it. He was able to find a properly sized after-market touch panel that could be fitted on top of the stock screen just behind the bezel. It then connects to the PC using a USB connection, which he was able to completely hide by soldering the connector directly to the motherboard's USB pins.</p>

<p>I wasn't aware that these touch panels were readily available. It looks like this mod could be easily adapted to just about any laptop model. Cool stuff.</p>

<p>Add a Touch Panel to Asus Eee PC - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8-BbOWVgXg">Video</a>, <a href="http://jkkmobile.blogspot.com/2007/12/how-to-add-touch-panel-to-asus-eee-pc.html">Link</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/12/howto_add_a_touch_screen_to_th.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/12/howto_add_a_touch_screen_to_th.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/12/howto_add_a_touch_screen_to_th.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/12/howto_add_a_touch_screen_to_th.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Sat, 22 Dec 2007 19:15:47 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Essential hacker stocking stuffers</title>
<itunes:summary> Like most of us, you&apos;ve probably got some last-minute shopping to take care of. Or maybe there&apos;s a special someone in your life who keeps asking you for gift ideas and you need to start dropping hints to avoid...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="stockingstuffers_20071221.jpg" src="http://www.hackszine.com/stockingstuffers_20071221.jpg" width="500" height="331" /></p>

<p>Like most of us, you've probably got some last-minute shopping to take care of.  Or maybe there's a special someone in your life who keeps asking you for gift ideas and you need to start dropping hints to avoid another button down and a neck tie. Whatever the reason, here's a quick and dirty hacker gift guide with a variety of gift ideas that should put a smile on someone's face.</p>

<p>Make sure to add your own favorites to the list in the comments area and pass it along. I'm focusing primarily on smaller items that are available in local stores, but feel free to toss in whatever you think is important and shouldn't be missed.</p>

<p><b>Reading Material:</b><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://store.makezine.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=059651428X">Make: The Best Of</a> - a killer collection of the best 75 projects from our favorite magazine.</li><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Book-Boys-Conn-Iggulden/dp/0061243582">The Dangerous Book For Boys</a> - this is a great book for sharing with your kids. Chock-full of essential information like how to tie knots, play poker, use a compass, build a tree house, and relate to girls.</li><li><a href="http://store.makezine.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=9780596514938">Knoppix Hacks, 2nd Edition</a> - the swiss army knife for your computer.</li><li><a href="http://store.makezine.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=0596526857">Illustrated Guide To Astronomical Wonders</a> - ideal for anyone who's interested in knowing their way around the universe.</li><li>Also check out other books from the O'Reilly Hacks Series - <a href="http://store.makezine.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=33">Link</a></li></ul></p>

<p><b>Gadgets:</b><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://eeepc.asus.com/">Asus Eee PC</a> - this ultra-tiny Linux laptop is just starting to appear in stores - <a href="http://www.google.com/custom?domains=hackszine.com&sitesearch=hackszine.com&q=eee+pc&sa.x=0&sa.y=0&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BFORID%3A1&client=pub-1711976718738240&forid=1&channel=7181752107&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&hl=en">Hacks</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRT54G">Linksys WRT54GL Router</a> - the L in the GL stands for Linux. It's a $60 router that can be customized to do more than it's thousand dollar big-brothers - <a href="http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&client=pub-1711976718738240&channel=7181752107&cof=FORID%3A1%3BGL%3A1%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BLC%3A%230000ff%3BVLC%3A%23663399%3BGFNT%3A%230000ff%3BGIMP%3A%230000ff%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3B&domains=hackszine.com&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&q=wrt&btnG=Search&sitesearch=hackszine.com">Hacks</a></li><li><a href="http://www.wdmybook.com/">Western Digital MyBook World Edition External Hard Drive</a> - any extra storage is really nice to have, but this network-available drive contains mirrored RAID storage and a mini Linux computer that can run a web and database server - <a href="http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&client=pub-1711976718738240&channel=7181752107&cof=FORID%3A1%3BGL%3A1%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BLC%3A%230000ff%3BVLC%3A%23663399%3BGFNT%3A%230000ff%3BGIMP%3A%230000ff%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3B&domains=hackszine.com&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&q=mybook&btnG=Search&sitesearch=hackszine.com">Hacks</a></li><li><a href="http://www.apple.com/iphone/">iPhone</a> or <a href="http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/">iPod Touch</a> - did I really put that here? - <a href="http://www.google.com/custom?domains=hackszine.com&sitesearch=hackszine.com&q=iphone+OR+ipod+touch&sa.x=0&sa.y=0&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BFORID%3A1&client=pub-1711976718738240&forid=1&channel=7181752107&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&hl=en">Hacks</a></li><li>Broadband Mobile Card from <a href="http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneOverviewByDevice&deviceType=Wireless%20PC%20Cards&lid=//global//phones+and+accessories//wireless+pc+cards">Verizon</a> or <a href="http://www.sprint.com/NASApp/onlinestore/en/Action/DisplayPhones?filterString=Data_Cards_Phone_Char&id12=UHP_PhonesTab_Link_MobileBroadbandCards">Sprint</a> - they are getting super <br />
popular, and heck, they are cheaper than an iPhone.</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N95">Nokia N95-3</a> - the winner of our <a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/ask_the_readers_whats_the_best.html">most hackable mobile phone</a> survey - <a href="http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&client=pub-1711976718738240&channel=7181752107&cof=FORID%3A1%3BGL%3A1%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BLC%3A%230000ff%3BVLC%3A%23663399%3BGFNT%3A%230000ff%3BGIMP%3A%230000ff%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3B&domains=hackszine.com&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&q=n95&btnG=Search&sitesearch=hackszine.com">Hacks</a></li></ul></p>

<p><b>Toys:</b><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Air-Hogs-Havoc-Laser-Battle/dp/B000Y15UL4">Air Hogs Havoc Heli Laser Battle</a> - remember the Picco-Zs and their clones from last year?  Here's two of them in a single package, enhanced with a trigger that let's you zap your friend's heli down.</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lama_v4">E-Sky Lama V4 Helicopter</a>- Yeah, I'm crazy for helicopters right now.  The counter-rotating models like this one are about $100, ready (and easy) to fly, and very hackable.</li><li><a href="http://www.robosapienv2online.com/">WowWee RoboSapien V2</a> - fun for the kids. More fun with a soldering iron - <a href="http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&client=pub-1711976718738240&channel=7181752107&cof=FORID%3A1%3BGL%3A1%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BLC%3A%230000ff%3BVLC%3A%23663399%3BGFNT%3A%230000ff%3BGIMP%3A%230000ff%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3B&domains=hackszine.com&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&q=robosapien&btnG=Search&sitesearch=hackszine.com">Hacks</a></li></ul></p>

<p><b>Gear:</b><br />
<ul><li>2GB or larger micro SD card, plus various SD and USB adapters - perfect for scooting files around, the size of a finger nail, and you can put a full Linux distro, anti virus software, or a <a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/10/running_puppy_linux_inside_os.html">Puppy Linux virtual machine</a> on it - <a href="http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&client=pub-1711976718738240&channel=7181752107&cof=FORID%3A1%3BGL%3A1%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BLC%3A%230000ff%3BVLC%3A%23663399%3BGFNT%3A%230000ff%3BGIMP%3A%230000ff%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3B&domains=hackszine.com&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&q=%22sd+card%22&btnG=Search&sitesearch=hackszine.com">Hacks</a></li><li><a href="http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=78">Mini Multimeter</a> - always handy.</li><li>Bike Multitool - a good one will pack allen and hex wrenches, screw drivers, and a knife into a pretty small package. Perfect for voiding warrantees in a pinch. Oh, and there's a chain tool, too - <a href="http://www.crankbrothers.com/multi19.php">Link</a>, <a href="http://www.topeak.com/2007/products/tools/aliendx.php">Link</a></li><li>Soldering Tools - whether it's a new Weller or just a pair of helping hands, it'll be welcome in any stocking - <a href="http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/categories.php?cPath=46_49">Link</a>,  <a href="http://www.amazon.com/AMERICAN-SCIENCE-SURPLUS-HELPING-SOLDER/dp/B0001ZYH4O">Link</a></li></ul></p>

<p>What have we missed here? Add your wishes to the comments. Then find a completely non-tacky way to get this list into the hands of someone who wants you to be a happy hacker.</p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/12/essential_hacker_stocking_stuf.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/12/essential_hacker_stocking_stuf.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/12/essential_hacker_stocking_stuf.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/12/essential_hacker_stocking_stuf.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Electronics</category>
<pubDate>Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:03:23 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Aleutia E1: 8-watt Linux box</title>
<itunes:summary> After so many years of successively bigger, faster, hotter, less reliable, power hungry computer hardware, I&apos;m really tickled to see that a lot of manufacturers are testing the waters with something altogether different. There&apos;s the OLPC, the Asus EeePC,...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="aleutia_20071130.jpg" src="http://www.hackszine.com/aleutia_20071130.jpg" width="500" height="341" /></p>

<p>After so many years of successively bigger, faster, hotter, less reliable, power hungry computer hardware, I'm really tickled to see that a lot of manufacturers are testing the waters with something altogether different.  There's the OLPC, the Asus EeePC, and now the Aleutia E1, a little mini desktop that sips 8 watts and is packaged with a flexible solar panel.  </p>

<p>200Mhz might hurt a bit for crunching a kernel, but with a lightweight linux distro and window manager, you can still have a really responsive interface for general PC use.  The big deal is that it has no moving parts, including a CF card for a hard drive and zero fans due to its low power consumption.</p>

<p>It might be a fun exercise to use these recent devices as a reference model and attempt to source the cheapest configuration for a DIY low-power, small footprint, zero noise, solid storage system.  If you add a mirrored raid configuration, you'd have the ideal desktop system for the majority of PC users.  </p>

<p>Tiny Linux PC uses just 8 watts of power, can be solar powered - <a href="http://www.gadgettastic.com/2007/11/29/tiny-linux-pc-uses-just-18-watts-power-can-be-solar-powered-the-aleutia-e1/">Link</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/aleutia_e1_8watt_linux_box.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/aleutia_e1_8watt_linux_box.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/aleutia_e1_8watt_linux_box.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/aleutia_e1_8watt_linux_box.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Fri, 30 Nov 2007 20:43:33 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Recovering a dead external hard drive</title>
<itunes:summary> What do you do when good hard drives go bad? Tell me if this sounds familiar. You spend a year or two filling up an enormous external hard drive, and just as you start thinking it might be a...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="externalhd_20071125.jpg" src="http://hackszine.com/externalhd_20071125.jpg" width="500" height="372" /></p>

<p>What do you do when good hard drives go bad?  Tell me if this sounds familiar.  You spend a year or two filling up an enormous external hard drive, and just as you start thinking it might be a good idea to buy another enormous drive to back up your data, you boot your computer and hear a heart-stopping sound from your disk: thuck... thuck... thuck... thuck... @#$%!!!!</p>

<p>I had a huge amount of data go dark on me two weeks ago.  I suppose I reached the end of the grieving process this weekend, because my mind started to clear up and it occurred to me that maybe all was not lost.  After all, there are a lot of electronics in those external hard drives, separate from the drive itself.  Inside your typical external hard drive is just a normal 3.5 inch internal hard drive plus the electronics necessary to power everything, control the drive, and provide USB or Firewire connectivity to the host computer.</p>

<p>So, voiding the warrantee, I pulled the enclosure apart and replaced the suspect drive with a working EIDE drive I had lying about.  Sure enough, when I turned things on, the drive I knew to be good started clacking away.  At this point, I was pretty sure my data was still safe and sound, but being that I didn't have a machine handy that could mount an XFS formatted disk, I couldn't verify things for sure until I could get the disk connected back to my iMac.</p>

<p>Most computer stores sell really cheap (approx. $30) hard disk enclosures which you can just slap an EIDE disk into to create an external Firewire or USB drive.  I ran to my local store, picked one up, and I'm happy to say that I just recovered 320GB of data that I had just about given up on.</p>

<p>If you own an external drive that's failed on you, make sure to test the drive and enclosure before you throw it out.  It's quite possible that your data is still intact and you can save yourself a couple hundred bucks and a lot of trauma by just replacing the enclosure.</p>

<p>At the very least, you might have a bad disk but a working enclosure that you can use to make a new external disk.</p>

<p>On a side note, until today I only owned a single external drive.  Being that there's only one data point, I can't say a whole lot for sure, but I keep thinking that I'm just a random person with a 100% enclosure failure rate.  Until I hear otherwise, I remain suspicious that this might be a fairly common failure point.</p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/recovering_a_dead_external_har.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
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</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/recovering_a_dead_external_har.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/recovering_a_dead_external_har.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:24:01 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>HOWTO - Fix a &quot;Red Ring of Death&quot; Xbox 360</title>
<itunes:summary> The photo above is taken from a Wikipedia entry titled Xbox 360 Technical Problems, which describes a hardware failure issue that is not uncommon for Xbox 360 owners. The general problem is that the array of solder joints that...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="xboxreddeath_20071116.jpg" src="http://hackszine.com/xboxreddeath_20071116.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></p>

<p>The photo above is taken from a Wikipedia entry titled Xbox 360 Technical Problems, which describes a hardware failure issue that is not uncommon for Xbox 360 owners.  The general problem is that the array of solder joints that attach the GPU and CPU to the motherboard can break overtime due to heat expansion during normal use.  This is actually quite similar to an issue with many early model iBooks, and the fix is similar: you find a clever way to re-fuse the electronics back onto the motherboard.</p>

<p>Brian Whitfield wrote in about his own experience:</p>

<blockquote>So ... all the Xbox 360 owners out there have one thing in common. We all dread to wake up and turn on our 360 only to find the 3 "Red Lights of Death" (RoL). That happened to me the other day, and I started to panic. Christmas time is soon, and I have absolutely no money to spend to fix up my 360. So I started looking for tutorials on how to fix this problem (as my Microsoft is off warrenty since I bought it off eBay).

<p>I came across this lots of these "Towel Trick" tutorials. So I watched a couple videos on YouTube and read a bunch of blogs (I never knew so many people had soo much time on their hands), in any case, I figured I'd give it a shot. Now for those who don't know, the "Towel Trick" (TT) is where you turn on your Xbox 360 and then wrap it in a towel and leave it on for a certain amount of time (most tutorials say 10 mins, but I only left mine on for like a minute to a minute and a half). I turned off my Xbox and then unwrapped the towel and turned it on, and it worked. I played for a good 3 hours and no problems.</p>

<p>Today, I went to use my Xbox 360 and yet again, I received the 3 RoLs. So I did the same thing, and it worked again. Now most people will say this is stupid and overheating something only causes more damage to it. Well it might, but if the Xbox works, you can save yourself $140 (which is what is cost to send and have Microsoft repair it without warrenty). I can't believe something this simple worked. I was reading online somewhere (not saying this is entirely true, but hey, worth mentioning) that the reason for the 3 RoLs, is because of the solder between the GPU and the board. Supposedly, if you heat up the 360 enough, the solders melt a bit back into position. Again, not saying that is true, but good enough reason for me.</p>

<p>As long as my Xbox 360 works, I will probably continue to use the "TT", cause let's face it, everyone would rather have a more damaged Xbox 360 that works, then a minor damaged one that doesn't.</blockquote></p>

<p>If the towel trick works for you, awesome.  For most people, though, it sounds like it's a very temporary fix.  To get the job done right, you need to liquify those solder joints and allow them to make a more solid connection.  </p>

<p>In the case of the similar iBook issue, Mark Hoekstra from GeekTechnique was using a can of sterno atop the GPU to heat things up.  That route, while demanding some sincere applause, freaks me out too much.</p>

<p>YouTube user twitch88 has a video showing how to use a heat gun to get the same effect.  It requires a little extra equipment, but the process is a bit more controllable that an open flame.  To each his own, though (and send me a pic if you are brave enough to try the sterno trick and it works).</p>

<p><b>References:</b><br />
Towel Trick Info @Engadget - <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/15/towel-trick-provides-temporary-fix-to-xbox-360s-red-ring-of-d/">Link</a><br />
Fix the Xbox 360 With a Heat Gun (video) - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5nfmJTQJr8">Link</a><br />
Xbox 360 Technical Problems - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_technical_problems">Link</a><br />
Fix an old iBook's video problems... with fire! - <a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/09/fix_an_old_ibooks_video_proble.html">Link</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/howto_fix_a_red_ring_of_death.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/howto_fix_a_red_ring_of_death.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/howto_fix_a_red_ring_of_death.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/howto_fix_a_red_ring_of_death.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Xbox</category>
<pubDate>Fri, 16 Nov 2007 19:43:57 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Give one (XO laptop), get one, and get free T-Mobile access for a year</title>
<itunes:summary> T-Mobile just announced that when you participate in the &quot;Give One, Get One&quot; program (donate an XO laptop to a child in a developing country for $400, get one of your own), you&apos;ll get a year of free Wi-Fi...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="xolaptop.jpg" src="http://hackszine.com/xolaptop.jpg" width="425" height="525" /></p>

<p>T-Mobile just announced that when you participate in the "Give One, Get One" program (donate an XO laptop to a child in a developing country for $400, get one of your own), you'll get a year of free Wi-Fi at T-Mobile hotspots:<br />
<blockquote><br />
The Give One Get One philanthropic campaign puts laptops into the hands of children in the developing world. For a limited time - from Nov. 12 to Nov. 26, 2007 - people can donate $399 for two laptops. One laptop will be given to a child in the developing world. The other laptop will be sent to the donor along with information on how to activate the one year of complimentary T-Mobile HotSpot service.<br />
</blockquote><br />
We're hoping to see a lot of cool and fun hacks come out for this uber-gadget when lots of hackers and kids get their hands on them - <a href="http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20071102005824&newsLang=en">Link</a> <i>[<a href="http://wifinetnews.com/archives/008033.html">via</a>]</i></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/give_one_xo_laptop_get_one_and.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/give_one_xo_laptop_get_one_and.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/give_one_xo_laptop_get_one_and.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/11/give_one_xo_laptop_get_one_and.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 05 Nov 2007 11:25:55 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Make a power outage sensor and reboot devices remotely</title>
<itunes:summary> Dingolishious tipped us off to a cheap way to receive power outage notifications, as well as remotely power-cycle electronics. Our remote wireless site keep being unplugged or having the circuit trip from some combination of cleaning devices. I took...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="ippower_20071004.jpg" src="http://hackszine.com/ippower_20071004.jpg" width="500" height="408" /></p>

<p>Dingolishious tipped us off to a cheap way to receive power outage notifications, as well as remotely power-cycle electronics.</p>

<blockquote>Our remote wireless site keep being unplugged or having the circuit trip from some combination of cleaning devices. I took a spare UPS and asked if we could get a $200 SNMP card for it so we would know when the power was off. Boss asked me if we could do it for less. 

<p>My solution: $70 IP Power 9200 delux. The IP Delux has 4 voltage input sensors, 4 current sensors and 8 web controlled switches. There is a 5v wall wart plugged into the switched part of the UPS running to a input. When the power goes out the ups kicks in running the POE and the wall wart turns off pin 1 on the IP Delux which sends me an email. </p>

<p>The added bonus is that the POE is now switched so if a AP on one wireless segment locks up I can go in one of the others and power cycle the POE remotely. IP Delux even hosts WAP so I could do it from the cheapest of cell phone web browsers.</blockquote></p>

<p>I like the idea, and it's a cheap way to monitor power status with a bottom-end UPS.  Take a normal "wall wart" 5vDC adapter, plug it into an outlet, and the 5 volt output raises and lowers the input logic pin on the IP Power or your own homebrew monitoring electronics - <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dingolishious/1485014471/">Link</a>.</p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/10/make_a_power_outage_sensor_and.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/10/make_a_power_outage_sensor_and.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/10/make_a_power_outage_sensor_and.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/10/make_a_power_outage_sensor_and.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:41:42 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>HOWTO: Power Over Ethernet on a Linksys WRT54GL router</title>
<itunes:summary> With a little quick soldering, you can convert your Linksys router to receive it&apos;s DC power through the ethernet uplink instead of through a separate power cable. This is incredibly useful if you want to place your router above...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="linksyspoe_20070813.jpg" src="http://hackszine.com/linksyspoe_20070813.jpg" width="500" height="420" /></p>

<p>With a little quick soldering, you can convert your Linksys router to receive it's DC power through the ethernet uplink instead of through a separate power cable.  This is incredibly useful if you want to place your router above the ceiling or in a location that is inconvenient to get power to.</p>

<p>After the conversion, the 12v DC from the power adapter is sent along the unused blue and brown ethernet pairs.  You'll be able to place your router over 500ft from the switch without the voltage dropping below the 5.5v that the router needs to operate.</p>

<p>HOWTO: WRT54GL DIY Internal POE! (Google cache) - <a href="http://72.14.253.104/search?hs=sUq&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.linksysinfo.org%2Fforums%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D54169&btnG=Search">Link</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/howto_power_over_ethernet_on_a.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/howto_power_over_ethernet_on_a.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/howto_power_over_ethernet_on_a.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/howto_power_over_ethernet_on_a.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 13 Aug 2007 19:50:18 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Tiny hackable computers</title>
<itunes:summary> I&apos;ve been a big fan of the Mini-ITX systems, using them in the past as silent, dual-purpose, storage and wireless router servers as well as a set-top media system for playing back transcoded DVDs. So I&apos;m pretty excited to...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="picoitx_20070811.jpg" src="http://hackszine.com/picoitx_20070811.jpg" width="500" height="375" /></p>

<p>I've been a big fan of the Mini-ITX systems, using them in the past as silent, dual-purpose, storage and wireless router servers as well as a set-top media system for playing back transcoded DVDs.  So I'm pretty excited to see the positive reviews that are starting to pop up for VIA's new Pico-ITX motherboard, which seems to offer just about everything you need (assuming you aren't a graphics junkie) in a 10cm by 7.2cm package that draws less than 16 Watts.  General purpose, super small, low power, and it will run a standard OS.  I can't wait to see what people will be doing with these things.</p>

<p>What's your favorite small form factor PC hardware?  Got a favorite micro hack?  Please share it in the comments.</p>

<p>First Look: VIA PX10000 Pico-ITX Motherboard @ geek.com - <a href="http://www.geek.com/first-look-via-px10000-pico-itx-motherboard/">Link</a><br />
VIA EPIA PX 10000 Pico-ITX Review @ mini-itx.com - <a href="http://www.mini-itx.com/reviews/pico-itx/">Link</a><br />
Gameboy PC (pictured above, translated) - <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fascii.jp%2Felem%2F000%2F000%2F033%2F33315%2F&langpair=ja%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools">Link</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/tiny_hackable_computers.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/tiny_hackable_computers.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/tiny_hackable_computers.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/tiny_hackable_computers.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Sat, 11 Aug 2007 17:22:44 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Make your own multitouch displays and software apps</title>
<itunes:summary> Multitouch display technology has been gaining a lot of visibility recently, both with Microsoft&apos;s Surface interactive tabletop displays and the iPhone&apos;s slick gesture-based interface. Ignoring some of the particulars, the guts behind this technology is relatively simple, and you...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="multitouch_20070731.jpg" src="http://hackszine.com/multitouch_20070731.jpg" width="500" height="286" /></p>

<p>Multitouch display technology has been gaining a lot of visibility recently, both with Microsoft's Surface interactive tabletop displays and the iPhone's slick gesture-based interface.  Ignoring some of the particulars, the guts behind this technology is relatively simple, and you can make you own multitouch interactive display for little over the cost of a projector (the most expensive part of this setup).</p>

<blockquote>An acrylic panel is edge lit with infrared leds. When your finger comes in contact with the acrylic, it scatters infrared light out the back where it is visible via infrared camera. As long as nothing is touching the acrylic, very little of the light escapes, instead just reflecting around inside. Image processing takes care of detecting tips of fingers and relaying their location to application software. Since the camera "reads" the whole display in parallel, it is easy to detect multiple fingertips at once, even those belonging to multiple users. All this sensing goes on in the infrared spectrum, leaving us free to utilize the visible spectrum to display interactive software.</blockquote>

<p>So, a sheet of acrylic, some LEDs, a projector and a webcam and you're in business.  Below is an example of this setup in action:</p>

<p><embed style="width:500px; height:415px;" id="VideoPlayback" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-2694120787531469486&hl=en" flashvars=""> </embed></p>

<p>As you might imagine, there's a lot of software that translates the infrared fingerpresses that the webcam sees into a usable operating system or application interface.  You're not entirely on your own with this.  There's an image processing library called Touchlib which will handle passing your C++ app screen touch events. The community of Touchlib developers seem to be pretty active and have put together a number of open source, sample applications which can help you get started.</p>

<p><b>References:</b><br />
DIY Multitouch Dsiplay @ Instructables - <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/EJIXKOEF3ER7VN5/">Link</a><br />
Touchlib - <a href="http://www.whitenoiseaudio.com/touchlib/">Link</a><br />
Natural User Interface Group (multitouch developer community) - <a href="http://www.nuigroup.com/">Link</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/07/make_your_own_multitouch_displ.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/07/make_your_own_multitouch_displ.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/07/make_your_own_multitouch_displ.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/07/make_your_own_multitouch_displ.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:07:14 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>HOW TO Erase Your Hard Drive</title>
<itunes:summary> bbum runs down some great ideas for removing all traces of your data from an old hard drive: Me? I take dead drives apart. They have amazingly powerful magnets inside, along with all kinds of very useful screws, washers,...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="plattersmashysmashy.jpg" src="http://www.makezine.com/blog/plattersmashysmashy.jpg" width="500" height="274" /></p>

<p>bbum runs down some great ideas for removing all traces of your data from an old hard drive:</p>

<blockquote>Me? I take dead drives apart. They have amazingly powerful magnets inside, along with all kinds of very useful screws, washers, nuts, coils, and other fiddly bits.

<p>The platters, obviously, contain the data and they should be destroyed. I run one of the magnets over them upon removal and then keep a stack of the platters around as they have proven to be incredibly useful! The platters have been used for everything as clamp pads for gluing stuff to spacers to level a table or work surface to being used by my son as part of a bug house.</blockquote></p>

<p>But the best of all has to be the one shown in his photo shown above: "Set up a high speed photog kit and drop a pinball on it!" <a href="http://www.friday.com/bbum/2007/03/17/erase-that-hard-drive/">Link</a></p>

<p><strong>Related</strong>:<br />
<ul><li>Hard drive belt buckle - <a href="http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/11/hard_drive_belt.html">Link</a><br />
<li>HOW TO Make a Hard Drive Clock - <a href="http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/08/how_to_make_a_h_1.html">Link</a><br />
<li>PC Hacks - <a href="http://store.makezine.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=0596007485">Link</a></ul></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/03/how_to_erase_your_hard_drive.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/03/how_to_erase_your_hard_drive.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/03/how_to_erase_your_hard_drive.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/03/how_to_erase_your_hard_drive.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Sun, 18 Mar 2007 15:27:24 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>AirPower - find places to plug in when you travel</title>
<itunes:summary> Jeff has a great power Wiki for when you travel and need to juice up your laptop - This wiki is dedicated to helping you find power while travelling at airports around the globe. We also have a Flickr...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img src="http://hackszine.com/261068080_b421586105.jpg" height="375" width="500" border="0" hspace="4" vspace="4" alt="261068080 B421586105" /><br />
Jeff has a great power Wiki for when you travel and need to juice up your laptop -</p>

<blockquote>This wiki is dedicated to helping you find power while travelling at airports around the globe. We also have a Flickr group to share photos - <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/airpower/">http://www.flickr.com/groups/airpower/</a> please link back to this Wiki if you post a photo.
</blockquote>

<p>AirPower Home - [<a href="http://consumerist.com/consumer/airports/recharge-your-batteries-for-free-at-airports-238871.php">via</a>] <a href="http://wiki.jeffsandquist.com/default.aspx/AirPower/AirPower%20Home.html">Link.</a></p>

<p>Pictured here, power @ the N gate in SETAC by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/travelinlibrarian/261068080/in/pool-airpower/">Travelin' Librarian.</a></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/airpower_find_places_to_plug_i.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/airpower_find_places_to_plug_i.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/airpower_find_places_to_plug_i.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/airpower_find_places_to_plug_i.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 22 Feb 2007 13:04:56 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Cool off your Macbook with smcFanControl</title>
<itunes:summary> Previously Dale had mentioned his Macbook was getting hot, here&apos;s a tool to manually control the fan to cool that puppy down... Let&apos;s you set the minimum speed for each fan individually. Adjust fan speed until the Macbook(Pro) is...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p>
<img src="http://hackszine.com/MAKE_362.jpg" height="263" width="349" border="0" hspace="4" vspace="4" alt="Make 362" />
<br />Previously Dale had mentioned <a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/powerbook_fever.html">his Macbook was getting hot</a>, here's a tool to manually control the fan to cool that puppy down...
</p><ul>
<li>Let's you set the minimum speed for each fan individually.</li>
<li>Adjust fan speed until the Macbook(Pro) is finally comfortable on your legs again</li>
<li>Auto apply mode to set the new fan-speeds after a restart</li>
<li>Sourcecode included! Extend it and change it to your needs</li>
</ul><p>
smcFanControl - <a href="http://81.169.182.62/~eidac/software/page5/page5.html">Link.</a>
</p><p>
<strong>More:</strong>
<br />Updated version, smcFanControl 2.0 - <a href="http://81.169.182.62/~eidac/software/smcfancontrol2/index.html">Link.</a>
</p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/cool_off_your_macbook_with_smc.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/cool_off_your_macbook_with_smc.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/cool_off_your_macbook_with_smc.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/cool_off_your_macbook_with_smc.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Mac</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Feb 2007 05:34:56 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>RAID Tip: Which Drive Crashed?</title>
<itunes:summary> In Building the Perfect PC, 2nd Edition, authors Robert Bruce Thompson and Barbara Fritchman Thompson suggest a way to tell which drive is which in a RAID array: use a felt-tip marker to label each end of the cable...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img alt="bpc2_0430.jpg" src="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/bpc2_0430.jpg" width="500" height="333" /></p>

<p>In Building the Perfect PC, 2nd Edition, authors Robert Bruce Thompson and Barbara Fritchman Thompson suggest a way to tell which drive is which in a RAID array: use a felt-tip marker to label each end of the cable (no stripes for drive 0, one stripe for drive 1, and so forth).<br />
<a href="http://radar.oreilly.com/brady/">Brady</a> was perusing one of the <a href="http://www.igniteseattle.com/2007/02/ignite-deux-the-speaker-schedule/">Ignite</a> speaker <a href="http://www.embracingchaos.com/">Leo Parker Dirac's blog</a>, and came across a different approach:<br />
<blockquote><br />
If you're building a RAID array for your home, or somewhere else that isn't super-industrial-strength enterprise, here's a tip.  <strong>Get each hard drive as a different brand</strong>.  That way it's <em>way</em> easier to tell them apart. </blockquote><br />
For more details, including another good reason to do this, read Leo's full entry <a href="http://www.embracingchaos.com/2007/01/setting_up_a_ra.html">here</a>.</p>

<p><br />
<strong>Related:</strong><ul><li>Building the Perfect PC, 2nd Edition -- <a href="http://store.makezine.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=0596526865">Link</a><li>Building the Perfect PC Figures: Extra Crisp --<a href="http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/building_the_pe.html">Link</a><li>PC Hacks -- <a href="http://store.makezine.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=0596007485">Link</a><br />
</ul></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/raid_tip_which_drive_crashed.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/raid_tip_which_drive_crashed.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/raid_tip_which_drive_crashed.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/raid_tip_which_drive_crashed.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 14 Feb 2007 09:13:03 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Stream Music to Airport Express Without iTunes</title>
<itunes:summary>You don&apos;t need to use iTunes to stream audio to an Aiport Express. You can use the Windows Media Player, WinAmp, Rhapsody, etc... oAEP - Stands for ovesen.NET Airport Express Player. This small application records the music and sound played...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.makezine.com/blog/oaep.jpg" align="right">You don't need to use iTunes to stream audio to an Aiport Express. <a href="http://www.ovesens.net/default.asp?PageId=8">You can use the Windows Media Player, WinAmp, Rhapsody, etc</a>...<br />
<blockquote>oAEP - Stands for ovesen.NET Airport Express Player. This small application records the music and sound played by your pc and streams it to an Airtunes enabled Airport Express. It has never been this easy streaming music and sound to your Airport Express without using ITunes.</p>

<p><br>Yes, you red correctly. You can use Media Player, WinAmp or another music player with your Airport Express.</blockquote></p>

<p>Source included. Neat, this means you can also stream formats iTunes doesn't, like Ogg Vorbis (well, <a href="http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20021103065300430">with a plug-in you can</a>).</p>

<p><strong>Related:</strong></p>

<p> <ul><li><a href="http://nanocrew.net/software/justeport/">JustePort</a></ul></p>

<p><em>(Thanks, <a href="http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/01/stream_music_to.html">Phil</a>!)</em></p>]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/01/stream_music_to_airport_expres.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/01/stream_music_to_airport_expres.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/01/stream_music_to_airport_expres.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2007/01/stream_music_to_airport_expres.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Music</category>
<pubDate>Tue, 23 Jan 2007 08:34:04 -0800</pubDate>

</item>

<item>
<title>Add Bluetooth to a Dell Notebook</title>
<itunes:summary> I recently ordered a refurbished Dell E1505, and I was bummed out that it didn&apos;t come with Bluetooth. But it turns out that even if it didn&apos;t have Bluetooth in its Build-To-Order configuration, you can add it after the...</itunes:summary>
<description>
<![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjepson/296624062/" title="E1505 Bluetooth Step 3"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/103/296624062_919fd63d9f.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="E1505 Bluetooth Step 3" /></a></p>
<p>I recently ordered a refurbished Dell E1505, and I was bummed out that it didn't come with Bluetooth. But it turns out that even if it didn't have Bluetooth in its Build-To-Order configuration, you can add it after the fact. I posted a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjepson/sets/72157594373891160/">photo set that shows you how to do it</a>. I'm pretty impressed with how easy Dell made this: no tools required (the <a href="http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=341-3510">module</a> is compatible with other models, so check the <a href="http://support.dell.com/support/systemsinfo/documentation.aspx">service manual</a> if you've got a different Dell).]]>
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2006/11/add_bluetooth_to_a_dell_notebo.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558" /&gt;Read More&lt;/a&gt;]  
[&lt;a href="http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2006/11/add_bluetooth_to_a_dell_notebo.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558#comments" /&gt;Comments&lt;/a&gt;]
</description>
<link>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2006/11/add_bluetooth_to_a_dell_notebo.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</link>
<guid>http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2006/11/add_bluetooth_to_a_dell_notebo.html?CMP=OTC-7G2N43923558</guid>
<category>Hardware</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 13 Nov 2006 11:33:38 -0800</pubDate>

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