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Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

Ugliest Product in Technology History

October 9th, 2007 by iDunzo

PCWorld have posted a top ten of “The Ugliest Products in Tech History“.

While the Zune might not really be the worst design ever, it somehow seems right to have the dung-colored box at number one, although maybe “number two” would have been more appropriate:

Somewhere along the way, though, Microsoft forgot to include the iPod’s sexy design, opting instead for a boxy plastic casing and a spectacularly unflattering brown color.

The other selections, however, are mixed.

Sure, Nintendo’s Virtual Boy deserves its place, and the Furby should have been euthanized long ago, but Motorola’s DynaTAC?

The $4,000 phone is a beautiful, sleek (and huge) icon. And how could any geek not love the stripped down honesty of the acoustic coupler modem?

You know the rules by now. Which is the real ugliest gadget ever?

I’ll start: The TiVo remote. It might work great, but it looks like a cheap dog toy. Answers in the comments.

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Mythbuntu: Turning Ubuntu Into A DVR System

October 8th, 2007 by iDunzo

Mythbuntu has released a new 7.10 beta, based on the Ubuntu 7.10 beta, which features a number of enhancements and new features.

Mythbuntu is an Ubuntu derivative optimized for setting up a standalone MythTV DVR system.

The project is not part of Canonical, nor is it officially affiliated with Ubuntu.

MythTV is a popular open source DVR solution that works well for converting an old PC system into a DVR box.

Mythbuntu allows users familiar with Ubuntu to easily set up a lightweight MythTV installation.

Programs not necessary for MythTV, such as OpenOffice, Evolution, and the full Gnome desktop, are omitted from Mythbuntu.

Version 7.10 is still a beta, but the release notes provide the following list of new features:

Xfce based setup. No more openbox, it’s not even installed on the disk
Network Manager included.
VNC can be installed from multiple locales on disk
ubuntu-mythtv-frontend isn’t used at all.
Lots of additional features for mythbuntu-control-center.

The Mythbuntu Installation can also be performed directly from an existing Gutsy installation now via Firefox.

For more details and complete list of new features and bugfixes, check out the Mythbuntu release notes.

If you’d like the give Mythbuntu a try, you can download it from the site or via your favorite bittorrent client.

tag Posted in Open Source + Software + Technology + Videos | comment 1 Comment »

Google Maps Takes To The Subways

October 4th, 2007 by iDunzo

Google Maps has rolled some of the Google Labs public transit features into the main Google Maps page.

The new feature, previously available only through the Labs page, adds a new link to your Google Maps search results and shows you how to reach you destination via public transport.

Obviously the feature only works if your city happens to have decent public transportation and the routes have been added to Google’s index.

Driving directions are still the default view for search results in Google Maps.

To see what transit systems are included in Google Maps, take a look at the Google Labs page.

If you city isn’t currently part of Google’s listing, keep in mind that the company is always adding more transit systems.

In the past few weeks it has added San Francisco’s BART system, Santa Clara’s Valley Transportation Authority, and more. The public transport feature includes numerous listings in Japan.

The new public transport options on Google Maps include some nice features like adding time of day to see when trains are scheduled, and a price comparison between the cost of transit fares and the cost of driving.

You’ll also find links to the relevant public transit website (when available).

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Powertune: Gibson’s Self Tuning Guitar

October 3rd, 2007 by iDunzo

Guitar maker Gibson has a history of innovation. The company is responsible for the Humbucker pickup and the legendary Les Paul electric guitar.

Now it is selling the Self Tuning Guitar, which actually has servo motors on the headstock to turn the tuning heads.

The Powertune system, developed over 10 years by German company Tronical, uses a set of piezo-electric pickups to determine the pitch of each string.

These are separate from the regular guitar pickups, which rely on the string vibrating in a magnetic field to cause a current.

The information for the pickups then goes off to the computer brain, which sends its instructions up the strings to the tuning pegs.

The system comes pre-calibrated for concert pitch, but you can tune one string yourself and have the guitar set itself around that.

Best of all, the Powertune can store custom tunings, from alternative open-string tunings for slide guitar to, well, anything you like.

A quick flick of the knob between songs will switch smoothly between them. The rig is an add-on for existing guitars, and will cost $900.00 USD.

And of course, guitar purists are already whining that “real” musicians should be able to tune their own instruments.

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Linux Driver Project Gets A Shot In The Arm From Novell

October 2nd, 2007 by iDunzo

Linux’s biggest downside remains the lack of driver support for peripheral devices of all stripes, but there’s good news: a new project from Novell is offering to write free drivers for any manufacturer that’s willing to show their specs.

The project itself is not new, it was announced last year by the main developer, Greg Kroah-Hartman, a programmer at Novell.

However, late last week Kroah-Hartman posted an update to his blog and announced that Novell has moved him onto the project full-time.

I never imagined that so many different people would offer to help out. There is a real need for a place where developers can find a “real” project to work on in the Linux kernel.

The Kernel Janitors project is a great place to start out, but what to do from there? It turns out that over 100 different developers offered up their services.

Clearly this was a huge untapped group of talented people who wanted to help out.

This is great news for Linux fans and will hopefully mean much better device support for your favorite distribution.

Something to note, while Kroah-Hartman and crew are willing to sign NDAs for the actual device details the companies hand over, all of the code generated will be GPLv2 and can thus be rolled into the Linux kernel.

There’s an announcement on the Linux Driver mailing list with more details, or you can check out the Linux Driver Project website for more information.

Via: Linux Watch

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