Turn Your Mac Into A Jedi Weapon

Your Mac laptop is your trusty computer. If you install this software called MacSaber, it'll also turn your machine into a Jedi weapon. Using the motion sensor on your machine, it will sense the movement and make authentic lightsaber sound effects. Essential for Mac-loving Padawans.

How-to Backup Your Original XBox360 Games

Now that the instructions for modifying the XBox360 firmware is out in the wild, those with the courage to actually do that will want to start making backups of their 360 games in case anything happens to them. This link will bring you to a guide that is written to help you make backups of your original xbox360 games. Why make backups? Well, there's the problem of scratches and othe malfuctions that may happen.

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Cork'd: A site for wine aficionados

Cork's is a website where users can freely catalog, rate and review wines. It's like a online database for wine that you can use. The site is still new so it may take some time for the database to expand and include more variety of wine. Anyway, it's free and all you need to do is sign up to use the service.

Installing a Dualboot Homebrew Firmware Mod on the Xbox360

If you're prepared to tinker with the Xbox360, then this tutorial on XBox-Scene will tell you how to get two fireware chips on the console so that you can switch between the original DVD firmware and the special firmware for the TS-H943 DVD drive. Note: This may not be legal depending on how you view it so proceed with caution.

singapore: a free php-driven image gallery

What is Singapore? Yes, it's the sunny island republic near the tip of the Malayan Peninsular. But singapore, on the other hand, is an open source image gallery. According to the website, it's an

...open source, multilingual, template-driven image gallery web application... quite a mouthful! It is written in PHP and is licensed under the GNU General Public License.

What makes singapore different from the hundreds of other similar scripts is that it was originaly conceived for displaying photographic art in an aesthetically pleasing fashion using a clean, uncluttered interface. Now, though, its powerful templating system allows you to display your images in pretty much any way that takes your fancy.

Well, it's quite amusing to find that someone actually names their product after Singapore.
Link

Free version of Avid video editing software

Those who have worked in pro-video editing environment will know that Avid is widely used in the video editing world. However, Avid may be too expensive for home users. It is therefore a good thing that Avid has a free version for those who just want a simple way to edit their video. This software called Avid Free DV can be downloaded from the Avid site and versions are available for Mac OS and Windows.

Tools for Getting Things Done

The Getting Things Done, or GTD, system seems to be quite popular with the tech set. It's therefore no suprise that there are plenty of software or online tools to help organise your life with the GTD system. This webpage has a list of GTD tools that your can try out and start getting your life in order.
Link

Documentary on piracy available for download

Is downloading films and music piracy? It all depends. To explore this issue, here's a 2-hour documentary that discusses music & movie piracy. It covers issues like DRM, the DMCA, why people pirate, and what everyone thinks of it. It features interviews with industry execs, copyright lawyers, pirates, consumers, artists, the government, and everyone that's ever said anything about piracy in Canada. Best of all, it's available free for the download. You may need to use the torrent file to get the film due to the massive demand for the file.

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Creative Commons tunes on Jamendo

If you're looking for legal music to fill your MP3 player, head down to Jamendo. It has plenty of Creative Commons licensed music for your to grab by direct download or via BitTorrent. So in your search for new music, you might just want to check out more than 1,000 albums that they have. You can also write your own reviews, and participate in community forum discussions. Nice.
Link

Bloodspell: A machinima fantasy film

Think machinima, ie. films made with a game rendering engine, and you'll think of short films. Of course, Scotland's Strange Company is going beyond the short film with its feature-length fantasy-adventure machinima film. Offered under the Creative Commons license, this film is released in various episodes and is suppose to be quite good. Spell-binding indeed!

New Google tools are all about search

On the official Google Blog, the folks in everyone's fave search company annouced 4 new Google products all based around search. They are Google Co-op, Google Desktop 4, Google Trends and Google Notebook. Of the four items, probably the most fun is Google Trends where you can compare 2 or more search terms and look at the search trend over the years. With it, now you can know if "good" or "evil" has grown or decline in popularity over the years.

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ted: The torrent episode downloader

If you want an automatic way to grab specific shows using a RSS feed, you can check out this free application called ted. It will save you time to track new episodes of your fave shows from torrent sites.

3tunes - Time shifting Pandora

If you've used Pandora, you'd know that it's a pretty cool service that suggests and plays you tunes from a genre or artist that you like. So what if you've heard something from the Pandora stream that you like? Well, now you can save it for your later listening pleasure with an app called 3tunes. It's free and is in early alpha, but what it does is cool, allowing you to grab music with the track info and save them. Nice.

Keeping tabs of E3 with torrents

Can't be there for the biggest gaming event of the year? Don't worry. There's a Bittorrent tracker site that's called Titanium Torrents and it is is dedicated to video game media. You can get the latest E3 videos here. The videos for the last year's Nintendo and Microsoft press conference are there now and hopefully, it'll be updated with more trailers and stuff from this year's E3.

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Satisfaction of a Boss

"Boss battle". Tell that to a gamer and he'll certainly be able to tell you a memorable incident during a boss fight where the experience is so intense that it becomes part of his own gaming myth. On Wired News, there's an article that looks at the attraction of bosses in games. Essential read for gamers before you go taking on another boss in your next game.

It's like bosses are the SATs of the game world: "It's a culmination," Byron notes. "It's not asking you to suddenly learn new skills. It's asking you to remember everything you've learned." You're aiming for that "aha" moment when, desperate for some way to topple the boss, you suddenly hit upon a clever new way to apply your powers -- and the insurmountable becomes manageable.

That's one of the best feelings ever -- and it's also one we rarely get in everyday life. The enemies we face in our contemporary world are so much more ambiguous and internal, and half the time it's ourselves. We try to find a meaningful job, to hack through a bad relationship, to blunder through the red tape of money and taxes. Even our modern literature of struggle has been blunted. The Greeks and Romans imagined their lives through metaphors of heroes facing down arcane monsters; we read The Corrections or Indecision or A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

City Guides for iPod

Your iPod can do more than be a musical companion when you're traveling. When you install CityGuides, you get info about the location that you're visiting right there on your handy music player. There are 300 cities for you to choose from so before you get on your plane, you can load up this useful and free app.
Link

Star Wars + Lord of the Rings = Star Lords

What happens when you put Star Wars and Lord of the Rings together, and then mix it up in a pot filled with disco goodness? Well, you get the video Star Lords. This is a video mash-up of the two epic movies into a 6-minute plus clip. The music track "Its Just Begun" by Jimmy Castor Bunch is then thrown into the mix and you have the characters from the films are seen to boogie. Fun to watch.
Link

Watch 70 TV stations on the Net

This site called Channelchooser has put together a page which has a collection of 70 channels that you can watch from your browser. Some of the channels include Game Network, Horror Channel, Comedy Channel, Sci-Fi Channel, Lifestyle Network, and even 8 Adult channels. Are they illegal? Well, it's up for debate.

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Top Azureus Plugins Revealed

The Azureus bittorrent client is a feature rich application. If not for the fact that it can be a resource hog, I would spend more time using this client. However, if you have plenty of processing power to spare, then using Azureus may not be such a bad thing, since it allows plugins that can enhance your BT experience.

Zeropaid.com has an article that is useful for those want wants to venture into the plugins territory. It features some of the best plugins available for Azureus include one that will give you a 3D representation of your downloads. Nifty.
Link

Amusing screenshot of Green Card application on CNA

When browsing on the Channelnewsasia.com website, I stumble across something quite amusing and I've captured a screenshot of what I saw.

On a page where the General Election news is reported, there is a banner ad on top of the screen that belongs to a Green Card Lottery Application site. The story is about Singapore not needing full-time MPs. So since we don't need full-time MPs, one can chose to get a US Green Card instead?

Seriously, I know it's just a coincidence, but it is just amusing and doesn't seem appropriate.

FIFA World Cup info on your iPod

Here's another use for your iPod. If you're a footy fan and an iPod user, and you are eagerly waiting for this year's World Cup, then head to Coolgorilla.com to grab this World Cup 2006 Guide. The guide contains useful stuff like the full schedule, info on teams and players, stadium details, and plenty more. In the words of the folks at Coolgorilla,

This game will transform your iPod into an interactive football encyclopedia. It unleashes the power of your iPod by using a clever system of menus so that all the information you want is only a few clicks away. Astound your friends with your knowledge of the beautiful game.

Beautiful indeed.
Link

Fold - another web-based desktop

Add another AJAX-based webpages to your list. This one called Fold is a portal or start page that claims to be a "desktop in a browser". It looks pretty cool as you can put "containers" with News feed, HTML, notes, and even Flash content on this "desktop". It's in beta now but it sure looks promising.

Ponyfish RSS Feed Builder

Have you ever wanted to track a blog but then finds that it does not have a RSS feed? Ponyfish is a tool that'll help you with this problem. It's a free web-based tool that lets you create a RSS feed from almost web page. The concept is simple and it'll help you to get your blog cravings even though the site does not have RSS.

Smarter way of formatting

Many folks are moving to open source office suites because they don't want to pay for MS Office. While that is a good thing, the problem arises when it comes to compatibility between the documents created in the two software.

On the linked site, there's an article titled "Smart formatting for better compatibility between OpenOffice.org and MS Office", on how you can better format your documents so that when you move them around, the formatting doesn't change too drastically. There're plenty of tips on how you should format documents and they are sure handy even if you don't switch your office suites.

Wiki for song lyrics

There seems to be a Wiki for everything these days. Of course, only useful wikis will attract attention and this wiki for song lyrics will certainly be useful for many music lovers. Great if you want an ad-free environment to look for the words to your fave tunes.

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Rallies at Hougang compared

The Singapore General Election is in full swing. One of the most exciting things during elections is the rallies. What is interesting is that the media does not seem to fully or accurately show the number of people who are present at those rallies. I found these two photos on two different blogs. Click on the links to see the photo.

Photo One

This is taken from sgrally.blogspot.com and is suppose to be a rally by the PAP. The field is suppose to be muddy as the rally was held after a rain.

Photo Two

This one is from Yawningbread.org. It's a rally by the Workers' Party.

Compare the two pictures and you can tell the difference in the size of the crowd. Draw your own conclusion.

Blogging with Xbox360

Want to start a blog but you're too lazy to stop playing the Xbox360 to actually start one? Here's the solution for you. On the 360voice.com page, you can give your 360 a voice. Just enter your Gamertag and it'll generate a blog from your gamerfeed that details what you've been doing on Xbox live. Pretty cool.

ajaxOS coming soon

AJAX is proving to be popular on Web 2.0-type websites. Now, it sees like AJAX is to be applied to an operating system. Called ajaxOS, it is a fully functional AJAX-aware operating system. The most exciting feature in ajaxOS is the ability to store to a remote server, with full access to file navigation on this remote server as well as your computer's hard disk. Sounds cool? Then check out the demo.

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Site for Users Manual/Guide

So, you've accidentally thrown away your manual with the packaging? Fear not. This site called UsersManualGuide.com collects together plenty of User Manuals ranging from aircons to even microwave. Of course, next time, don't just throw away your manual, keep them in a safe place.

Thinkfree: Online Office suite

AJAX-based office suites running online is all the rage. Now, there's another one to add to the list. Thinkfree Online claims to be the "best online office on earth" with the ability to create MS-compatible word files, spreadsheets, and even presentation files. They've also thrown in a gigabyte worth of file storage space. It's now in beta so we'll have to wait and see how it shapes up in the future. But it sure sounds good.

New Media & politics in Singapore

New Media, politics and the law. These three elements are certainly a potent mix when you consider that they push the limits of what is acceptable into uncharted territories. Cherian George, an academic in Singapore, has a blog that looks at issues in this areas. This description on the site summarises what the blog is all about.

Since the mid-1990s, technology (mainly but not only the internet) has allowed individuals and groups to have their say in ways hitherto impossible. The government has been playing legislative catch-up, but loopholes remain for small independent producers. Many of the rules are new and untested. This site is an attempt to clarify the terrain. Please note that I am not a legal expert, and some of my interpretations may be incorrect.

Good read if you are interested in the development of law and the new media in Singapore.

Google Calendar Notifier available as a Firefox Extension

Since the release of Google Calendar, it has become quite popular for those who wants an online shared calender. Now, there's a Firefox extension that'll notify you of your upcoming events even if you're not looking at the calendar itself. Pretty useful if you use Firefox and like to enhance the function of your browser with extensions.

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Star Wars lightsabre fight with the Revolution controller

Some folks who are Star Wars-cum-Nintendo fans have put together a cool and funny video that features a lightsabre fight using the controller of the Nintendo Revolution as weapons. Go look see, it brought a smile to my face.

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Fans sharing music are not thieves

For too long, folks from RIAA have branded those who share their music files as thieves. It's a good thing that some important musicians from Canada are standing up and speaking out against that view. Musicians like Barenaked Ladies and Avril Lavigne have formed the Canadian Music Creators Coalition to, among other things, support fans being sued by the Big Four Organized Music cartel. In their first white paper, the artists say, "Fans who share music are not thieves or pirates. Sharing music has been happening for decades." Way to good!

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DiggUpdate v2.0 Released

If you're using a Mac and you want to really be updated with what's happening on Digg.com, here's a hnady software called DiggUpdate for the Mac and it will instantly keep you updated of new Digg stories from your menu bar. Nice, and it's free and open source.

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Watermelon squares

Cubic melons? Yes, you're right. But at 50 clams for one, I'll think twice about buying one.

6 Year old drummer

A 6 year-old drummer was spotted at Orchard Road. He plays the drums quite well for a kid. Cool kiddo.

XboxMediaCenter Widget

If you use OS X and have a modded Xbox, this may be of interest to you. There is a Mac OS X Dashboard Widget available that allows you to send media URLs to the XBMC web server for streaming. Incredible, the usefulness of XBMC and a modded Xbox.

Build a Mac Mini Media Center

This site is called the Media Center Macintosh Project and it is useful for those who want to turn their Mac Mini into a Media Center-type computer. All you need is a Mac Mini (quite obvious), extra hard disk space, and a TV tuner (in this case an Elgato EyeTV EZ).

Intel Mac Benchmarks compared

Interested in knowing how well Intel Macs running Windows compare against other machines? Macologist has posted plenty of benchmarks comparing Macs with other computers and you can see how well they do, especially in games.

Six cool Quicksilver plugins

43 Folders has something that will be of interest to Quicksilver users. If you want to tap into the power of this nifty free app, check out the 6 plug-ins for QS, including one that will let you upload images to Flickr.

I want a Freeware Utility to...

There are quite a number of freeware lists out there. This list on econsultant is rather unique because it's not just a plain list. It presents the freewares by what you would want to do. There are more than 300+ items for you to try out. Neat.

Media on a Senator's iPod

iPac is a project that seeks to send US senators iPods loaded with Creative Commons and other free content. If you're interested in getting these free content, you can check out the website in this link. The only problem is that it seems that the site is loading pretty slowing. Maybe plenty of folks are interested in getting the same free stuff.

One Legged DDR

So you think those kids in the arcade are great at Dance Dance Revolution? You haven't seen nothing yet. In this video, the guy doing DDR has only one leg! Ok, so he has the help of two crutches, still it's amazing that he has the spirit and passion to play DDR even with his disability. I'm amazed.

Simply Google: Google services on a page

Want to see all the Google services on a single page and start searching things you want? There's a page called Simply Google that lists all the services that Google provides and also various boxes where you can enter your search term depending on which part of Google you want to search. Just to throw in a few other things, you can also search on IMDB, Wikipedia, among others.

The Most Controversial Game Ads

GamePro has a feature looking at some of the most controversial game ads that were ever ran. Some of them are quite amusing and one does wonder what those creatives were taking when they thought of those ideas. In any case, you can see all of them on the site.

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Secure Windows on a Mac

Now that you can use Boot Camp to run Windows on a Mac, you also have to accept that if you run Windows, your Mac will be open to attacks from all the viruses, spyware, and other nasty stuff. CNET has come up with a guide that will certainly be useful for Mac fans who wants to use WinXP on their Macs. Useful read.

Crazy USB stuff

This is a crazy German site. It's a site showcasing some wacky things that has a USB plug attached to them. Some of the things which they have added a USB plug to include a tie, a syringe, and get this... a bra?

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Singapore in E3 = success?

Gaming is big business. That's why Singapore is trying to gain a foothold in this area, and one of the main thrusts helping to put Singapore on the map is the island's participation in this year's E3. But does having a presence in E3 means that we are going to make a mark?

On GameAxis, there is a piece looking at the milestone of having a Singapore Pavilion at E3. However, it's not just a fluff, PR-type piece celebrating this achievement, but a thoughtful look at what it means. Worth reading if you're interested in gaming in Singapore.

The day when I feel proud of the fact that there’s a Singapore Pavilion at E3 is the day when I shown genuine admiration for products created by our local developers that meet my high expectations, and that of other game journalists around the world. That’s not to say that it has to be a AAA title, because even a modest title the likes of British indie developers like Introversion who were inspired enough to create Darwinia is good enough for me, just as long as they are creating games with a lot of heart and innovation, and not with financial figures first and foremost on their mind.

Digg Tools to check out

Using Digg is fun. To enhance your usage of Digg, here's a large list of various digg tools/links collected from around the web. Check it out if you want to get more involved in the Digg experience.

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Comparison of Legal Music Downloads

If you need some advice on where to legally get your music besides the famed iTunes Music Store, check this out. TechCrunch compares iTunes and its competitors. In the comparison, the Russian semi-legal Allofmp3 wins on all counts, but number of songs. They also offer the highest quality. Other stores reviewed include BuyMusic, MSN Music, Napster, Rhapsody, Walmart and Yahoo. Too bad they are not Singapore-based music download stores.

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Using Boot Camp

MacWorld has this article that runs you through the process of installing and running of WinXP using Boot Camp. It seems really really simple to do. The article also has some comments on running games. Comments are actually quite positive and someone has also tried running Half-Life 2 on an iMac. Performance-wise, they run great. Another reason why my next PC purchase might very well be an iMac, since I CAN PLAY PC GAMES ON IT!

My bro, Copperblue, has also posted picts of the installation of WinXP on a MacBook Pro. Sweet.

Generate your own Dummies book cover

You know those "For Dummies" books? Well, those can be really useful and well, you can see it everywhere and they cover plenty of topics under the sun. Sure, they may not have some more wacky topics, that's why you can use this fun tool to generate your own Dummies book cover, and hope that one day, someone, maybe even yourself, can write such a dummies book. You can also send the cover to your pals from the site. In the spirit of fun, I've generated my own wacky "Dummies" book. Enjoy!

Windows on a Mac is here

It's official. With the news of hackers booting Windows on a Mac, Apple has come out of the woodwork to announce that they will make available something called Boot Camp. It is something that is now in beta and will enable WinXP to run natively on Intel-based Macs. There's even a page on the Apple site that gives you instructions on how to install WinXP using the beta of Boot Camp. Hmmm... with this amazing news, I may not even have to think of getting another PC machine and just get a Mac.

Best home made lightsaber duel ever!

The best thing in Star Wars has to be the lightsaber duels. In this video, two guys have probably created one of the best, if not the best lightsaber duel ever. It's well choreographed and it's about 5 minutes long. It's just amazing what some imagination and a whole lot of Star Wars fanaticism can do.

Your own Web 2.0 homepage

Netvibes is really, really cool. It uses Web 2.0-type tech and it allows you to create your own personal page. On the page, you can add RSS feeds, pictures from Flickr, Gmail notification, and plenty more. You've got to try it to believe how amazing this thing is.

TiddlyWiki - your personal web wiki

TiddlyWiki is a really interesting thing. It's what the folks who did it call "a reusable non-linear personal web notebook". It's written in HTML, CSS and also JavaScript and it can become your own wiki. Based on a tutorial, you can even save the entire wiki as a single file can carry it with you on a USB stick. Well, the best way to describe what TiddlyWiki does is just to quote what is on the site. It's quite cool.

A TiddlyWiki is like a blog because it's divided up into neat little chunks, but it encourages you to read it by hyperlinking rather than sequentially: if you like, a non-linear blog analogue that binds the individual microcontent items into a cohesive whole.

ajaxSketch: Sketching in a browser

First there's ajaxWrite. Now, the same folks that brought you that are bringing to you ajaxSketch. It allows you to do flow charts and simple drawings within your browser. Seems like the days of an AJAX-based presentation software may not be such a wild dream after all.

Online Feed Readers compared

Feedlounge... Newsgator... Rojo... and my fave Bloglines. These are online feed readers and they help many to keep track of their RSS feeds anywhere they are, as long as there is a Net connection. Techcrunch has done a comparison table of these web-based readers and if you don't know which to go with, check this out. Me? I'm sticking with Bloglines.

Find music with Audiri

The RIAA backlash has begun. Audiri is a site that can help you look for music. You can bypass RIAA such that you can connect to the artistes themselves. The site's philosophy is

...to help you find music you like, easily. This means organizing music conveniently into genres, advanced search functionality, and a radio suggest system that can optionally play songs based on what our computers think you will like.

Sounds good for music lovers indeed.

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So many Linux distros, so little time

There are many, many Linux distros out there. If you don't believe, check out the listing of Linux distros and open source apps that is on the OSDir.com site. There're plenty of distros you can try out, and screenies that you can check out.

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List of today's April Fools Jokes

Yes, it's April Fools. If you want a full list of the hilarities that various websites and media Wikipedia has concocted, head to Wikipedia. Using the power of user-edited content, it has a list of all of the big pranks that have happened, and the list is still growing. Oh, and no, this is not an April Fools post.

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Jiving your site with Gizoogle

Want to sound like you're speaking jive? You can use the site called Gizoogle to translate your words into jive. Just enter the webpage that you want translated and you'll get your text translated. Well, I've tested this and this is what this post will be like if it is written in jive.

Wizzy ta sound like you're speak'n jizzy? You can use tha site called Gizoogle ta translate yo words into jizzy. Just shot calla tha webpage that you wizzy translated n you'll git yo text translated. Wiznell, I've tested this n this is what this post wizzy be like if it is written in jive.

Forum on the 2006 Singapore General Election at NUS

The blog called "Rojak or the melting pot" has a great coverage-cum-commentary of what happened at the Election forum held at NUS. If you're interested in all the action that is leading up to this year's GE, you may want to read this. It's a great read.

World largest video games collection

Want to know what it feels like to have all the games that you want to play in your house? On the VintageComputing.com site, you can find an interview with someone who might possibly have the world largest game collection. There're pictures too of games stacked on shelves and all over the floor. Believe me, that's a lot of games. Head over to see if you don't believe.

Desktop wallpapers for the Designer-type

Wallpapers are a dime a dozen. A large number of wallpaper are simply crappy. Great looking wallpapers, are however a little harder to find. Joey Interactive has put together a list of sites with kick-ass looking backgrounds for your desktops. Check them out if you are in the mood for changing the look of your computer workspace.

Full length Zelda movie by fans

A Zelda fan site is taking their love of the Zelda series to the extreme by working on a full length feature film with a plotline that's based of the Ocarina of Time game. The site has a trailer up and according to the site, the film is "nearing the final stages of production, with just animation and CGI left to complete." More power to these Zelda fans and do check out the trailer.

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DRM is Killing Music

I love this... 'nuff said. Yes, I stole it from here.

Election rules for the Net in US

With S'pore's General Elections around the corner, it's important to note that when it come to political campaigning, the Net, at least for S'pore, is not a free for all. Interestingly, the US has also come up with regulations to do with political speech and ads on cyberspace. Just another note that there's no such thing as "free", even on the Internet.

Sashimi goodness

Sashimi goodness
Originally uploaded by Gremlink.

My wife brought me to this obscure Jap resturant which is in the building behind Orchard Point. Never expected a place like this to have such nice and tasty Jap food.

Chelly in a jelly

Chelly in a jelly
Originally uploaded by Gremlink.

We see those funky and funny mis-spellings on Japanese signs and we laugh. I actually never expext to see one of such signs in Singapore.

I actually saw the sign at a Jap confectionary shop. The sign says that they are selling "seasonal sweet chelly covered with lightly sweetened jelly". Must be jolly good kind of cherries.

tvRSS: TV Syndication via RSS

If you're looking for a way to keep up with the torrents of some TV shows, tvRSS is a good place to start as it brings together the links for various TV shows that you can subscribe as RSS feeds. Nice use of RSS.

Composing Word docs without Office

Web-based apps have come a long way. This one is simply amazing because it has the potential to replace your Office applications. AjaxWrite is a word processor that you can use in your browser. You can compose your document, and choose to save it as Word, text, and even rich text format. So it you have a perpetual connection to the Internet, you can throw away your MS Office suite. Will we be seeing an AjaxExcel or AjaxPowerpoint soon?

Performing diagnostic on your iPod

If you're wondering what else you can do with your iPod, here's a list of ways that you can run diagnostics on your iPod. These are probably the ways Apple use to find out if there's another wrong with the player before it ships or when you send it in for repair. Included are things like the way to test your scroll wheel to scanning the hard drive. Try them out, if you dare.

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Looking inside Windows Vista

Want to know what Windows Vista is all about? Well, CNET is carrying a story that's written by the Gamespot folks on everything you need to know about the new Microsoft OS. It is written from a gaming perspective so if you're a gamer, you'd be doing yourself a favour to read this and prepare for the big upgrade to Vista come next January.
Link

Finding music with Google

The Google search engine is indeed powerful. With the right search tips, you can actually tailor your search to look for specific MP3s. The page has tips on how you can do that. It's quite simple really... just use this:

intitle:index.of "mp3" +"U2" -htm -html -php -asp "Last Modified"

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LEGO aircraft carrier

This is just so amazing! It's an aircraft carrier that's built from LEGO bricks. The size of that thing is enormous very amazing.The pictures even show some of the interior of the ship, and there're all the minifigs staff running the craft too. See these pictures in the link below.

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Build your own Home Theater PC

If you're tired of waiting for a PC that can be used as a Media Center, why not build your own? Here's a step-by-step text and picture guide explaining how to set up every aspect of a home theater PC. It covers everything from hardware to software. Try it out if you're the handy, techy sort.

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Sneak peek at Windows Vista

Want to know what the new Windows OS looks like? Here's a site that has screenies of almost everything you could be curious about the OS.

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SXSW conference where MPAA was blasted

One of the panels at the recent SXSW conference is one on The Future of Darknets. Apparently, according to the Powazek website, it became a MPAA bashing session when the MPAA rep on the panel was introduced.

What followed was an hour-long firing squad as one audience member after another directed angry questions her way. The feeling of pent-up frustrations with the movie biz was palpable, especially as her claims of flexibility and excitement within the MPAA to find "creative new solutions" to the problems raised by the audience rang more and more hollow, the more times she repeated them.

It'll be interesting to be actually at the conference to hear what happen and thanks to the power of podcasting, you can as the audio file is made available. Some video clips are available too.

XP-on-Mac, it's true!

I mentioned previousle that some folks have got WinXP to boot on Intel Macs. Seems like this has been confirmed to be true. In fact, the method to perform this amazing feat is now on the On Mac site. Also, the folks who did this is also about $14,000 richer. Once this thing is stable and proven to be easy-to-use, maybe it's time to start considering an Intel Mac as a viable system to replace my Windows-only systems.

In case if you still don't believe that it is true, CNET has done an interview with Nederkoorn, the fellow who organised the contest to get WinXP to boot on a Mac.

Find Music from TV and Movies

Sometimes when you watch a TV series or movie, you'd hear a tune that's so catchy and wonderful that you wonder what that piece of music is. Well, now you have a resource that'll help you identify that tune. Tunefind lets you search for a particular TV series and list the songs played during a certain episode. Handy.

DRM sucks battery life

Is your MP3 player not playing as long as it should? It's probably because of the DRM. According to tests conducted by CNET, if you buy music with the PlayForSure DRM or Apple's FairPlay DRM, you'll find that your music won't last as long on your MP3 player because battery life is reduced by up to 25%. Seems like we consumers are getting the short end of the stick with this whole DRM thing. Stick to ripping your CDs (which is actually illegal in Singapore) or grab your music from non-DRM music source. Yes they are out there if you look hard enough.

Windows XP Is Now Bootable On Intel Macs

If the news is true, Mac users can now boot Windows XP on Macs with the Intel chips. When Apple started shipping the Intel Macs, users have wanted the ability to dual boot so that they can load Windows XP and OS X on these machines. To encourage the search to achieve this, On Mac took donations and is offering up the money to the first person to be able to boot WinXP on the Mac. Now, it seems that someone has done it. Read the linked story for more info. It seems, though, that we'll have to wait for the instructions to appear before we can really say that it's true.
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Massive collection of LEGO instructions scans

Want to see what all the LEGO instruction booklets are like? This site has all the scans of LEGO booklets you ever dreamt of. You can probably spend your time browsing through the scans and wishing that you have the actual sets to play with.

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IPTV: A Primer

IPTV could very well be the next big thing for TV content. In the not so far future, you'll be able to get most of your programming from IPTV. So what's IPTV? Ars Technica has a great intro to what this technology is and what it means for consumers. Read and learn.

Using Google to seach files

Hackers are so innovative. Using some special searches, these folks are able to search for specific files (and file types) using google. on this G2P site, you can find music, files, using an interface that's quite easy to use. You can actually already do such searches in Google now, but this gives the search a easy to use interface. Search away...

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13-floppy disk RAID

Want a RAID array? Do it with floppy disks. 13 of those, to be exact. On the linked site, you can see pictures and also a video of how someone building a RAID storage with floppy disks and 6 USB hubs. It's pretty amazing what bored students can do.

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The Firefox Superbrowser

Firefox is a great, great browser. One of the best things that it can do is that it can use extensions. These babies can add functionality to your browser and make using Firefox really fun. This guy on Splasho has decided to make his own Superbrowser by loading 100 of the most popular extensions at the same time. The result is a cool, cool browser with plenty of functions, but a toolbar that probably takes up a large percentage of your screen, and a right-click context menu that is one of the longest that I've seen. The best thing is, the app remains stable. Mind blowing.

Sync iTunes with non-iPod player on a Mac

Previously, I highlighted that you can use a non-iPod player with iTunes on your Windows machine with iTunes Agent. Now, you can do the same thing on a Mac. With this software, you can sync yout iTunes songs into a PDA's memory, a removable hard disk, and one of those MP3 players that will be recognised as a hard disk when you insert it into your Mac (Creative players, anyone?). It's pretty useful for those who wants to use iTunes but don't have an iPod.

The zen of presentation: Gates vs Jobs

Those of you looking for some tips on improving your presentation may just want to take a look at the article posted on the Presentation Zen site. It compares the contrasting presentation style of the head honchos of Microsoft and Apple. I believe those who want simplicity will get something out of this.

Caught the Shuffle bug

Caught the Shuffle bug
Originally uploaded by Gremlink.

I finally caught the Shuffle bug, a year after its release and probably at the end of the product's cycle. I used to think that the iPod shuffle is an overhyped product. I still think so, but the way it integrates with iTunes makes its usage a no-fuss experience.


Caught the Shuffle bug
Originally uploaded by Gremlink.

Since I was looking for a cheap flash-based music player, and one that works with iTunes, my choice is pretty straight-forward. Now, I am the proud owner of a 1GB Shuffle that can withstand some amount of rough handling. Hey, I can now go jogging with a music player that can withstand shock. It's great.

I've also found a really useful page on MacDevCenter.com with great tips and tricks on how to get the most out of the Shuffle.

Real Life Simpsons Intro

If you've seen The Simpsons, you'd know what the intro to this popular animated series looks like. But what will it look like if the Simpsons are not animated characters but real life actors? Someone has done the intro to this TV series as a real life video and it's amazing how well they've managed to pull it off. Check it out on YouTube. It's really cool!

RIAA Radar: Check if an album is by RIAA labels

The RIAA has done some silly things. If you want to do something about it, for example boycott the buying of albums released by labels who are members of RIAA, you can use this website called RIAA Radar to search for albums and see if that album is from a RIAA member. This will help you to make informed decisions about your music purchase. Great for the activist in you!

Top 10 Strangest Lego Creations

You can use LEGO to build almost any thing. On the Techeblog site, they have listed the top 10 strangest creations made from LEGO bricks. From BrixPod's classic iPod Shuffle case to a LEGO Harpsichord, these are all amazing LEGO creations. Amazing and strange, but true.

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Use normal MP3 players with iTunes

Seems like there is now a way to use your generic MP3 player with iTunes. This software called iTunes Agent enables you to use a non-iPod device with iTunes, "just" like an iPod. In fact, any device that will show up on your Windows machine as a "removable drive" can be configured to be synchronized with iTunes. Neat.

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Are gadgets getting too costly to fix?

It seems like trying to get your damaged gadget repaired is so expensive that you'd do better by buying a brand new one. Is there a conspiracy going on in the tech world that force consumers to buy new gadgets rather than repairing them? Someone please tell me.

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Australian government report warns of dangers of DRM

A special committee in Australia formed to look into copyright and DRM issues has released a report that actually recommended that the existing DRM and copyright regime should not be as harsh and have to be balanced against public rights. It is a refreshing thing to hear considering that corporations are pushing for restrictive DRM measures that will end up screwing us, the consumers in using digital media. It's a pretty long report but it should be read if you're concerned about DRM issues.

Are Games Addictive?

Gamasutra has a great and well-thought out article on whether games are really "addictive".

To keep this article in perspective, we're talking about games. Recreation. Stuff that people do for fun. Even if it were possible to remove the proverbial nicotine, or addictive ingredient, would we want to? If it takes the fun out of games, then the answer is probably no. We still have responsible players who count on us for quality entertainment. But who knows? Perhaps laborious, calculated efforts to create that “healthier” game will help one developer to produce the most exciting game ever. In any case, there are people who do seem to have serious problems with gaming, but there are also people who watch too much TV, or spend too much time reading. Do these other media forms face criticism, or a looming threat of legislation? Not really.

Addiction is complicated. To revisit the introduction's caveat: this article isn't intended to transform you into a trained clinician. Instead, it's meant to shed some light on the very basics of addiction. It also shows why some of the research deserves to be viewed with a critical eye. Some people do have problems with games; that's getting harder to discount. What we can do, as game creators, is understand that a problem exists, and try to understand research advances as they occur.

Why Windows Vista Won't Suck

ExtremeTech has an article on why Microsoft's next OS won't suck. It takes apart the marketing hype and goes into quite a bit of detail on the various features that operates under the hood of the upcoming OS. Thankfully, the details in the article are not so complex that you'll turn into a space cadet. Great read for everyone, especially if you plan to find reasons to upgrade when Windows Vista comes out later this year.