Gearfuse

I’ve fooled around with most of the major operating systems and Ubuntu is easily the most adaptive. It’s just made for users to fuck around with. So projects like this are possible, if not encouraged.

This Ubuntu wizard used a script to make the computer open and close the CD drive over and over again. But for what reason, you might be asking yourself? The main drive behind this invention, much like any innovation, was laziness. He didn’t feel like rocking his baby to sleep so he let his computer do it for him. The momentum of the drive keeps the baby rocking, just make sure the drive’s motor doesn’t burn out.

Link (Thanks Eran!)

Sheesh. What the fuck is this brick? I know I start my new construction job next week but I didn’t expect to be subjected to these kinds of materials. Apparently this thing can not only be used to lay down the foundation of a building, but also for open source and retro-gaming. It has an 800×480 pixel display, a bunch of retarded buttons and Linux. Sounds good enough for playing old SNES and Genesis emulators, but why not just pick up a Nintendo DS and be done with it all?

Just sayin’.
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For all the iPhone owners out there, I don’t know how you can live without copy and paste functionality. Lucky for you, there’s OpenClip:

A non-profit, open source implementation of copy and paste for the iPhone, OpenClip uses an area of the filesystem to enable participating apps to share the contents of a common clipboard. A small number of apps have pledged support, and until Apple has its own version this may come in handy from time to time.

And it’s just as awesome as you’d expect. It blends in almost seamlessly with the iPhone interface. It’s even open source, so you know it’s going to take off like a rocket if enough people start using it. Hit the link below to visit the OpenClip website.

Link (via)

Last month, we spoke about the World of Warcraft bot program Glider and how Blizzard is taking legal action against the developers. Now it’s seeking an injunction against making the program open source. Sound odd? It might, but it’s a smart move.

You see, Blizzard has to protect both copyrights and intellectual property. Glider infringes upon both and the creators of the bot, frightened from a huge lawsuit, could easily release the code so that their special project will live on forever. Blizzard knows this and isn’t having any of that crap and thus, they’re asking the courts to prevent Glider from going open source. Some are up in arms over the fact that Blizzard might gain control and/or ownership of someone else’s code. I say you get what you get for messing with a multi-billion dollar cash cow.

Link

I’ve got a problem and it’s with my former employer Michael Arrington. It’s not a personal problem at all, it’s just that he’s not making sense when it comes to his little Firefox Tablet he’s trying to build. Oh, and be warned – the page is bogged down by a gazillion comments, which brings me to my main point:

Michael Arrington owns a blog network, not a hardware distribution company. I have no doubt in my mind that the man is gifted enough to create a piece of a hardware that’s related to the Internet somehow. My main issue is that TechCrunch thinks its little Firefox Tablet can be manufactured for around $200. Wait a second, did I say $200? Oh right, that’s what was originally said and then changed to $300 later on. So already the price dispute is becoming bullshit.

If the price for the tablet exceeds $400, it’s a pointless effort. You can scoop up an Eee PC, Dell E Mini or iPhone for cheaper and they’ll all do a lot more than just browse Firefox. I know you love web apps Michael, but take a breather for a second and think about all of this.

You claim you want a touchscreen and a built-in webcam all for ~$300? Ridiculous. I assume you’re trying to profit off this – after all, why else would you even go for it? After browsing around, I found 12-inch touchscreens online for around $300. I realize that buying in bulk could lower that, but you’re forgetting the guts of this thing: CPU, RAM, and your 4GB SSD you requested. Bro, for $300, you are not getting this. I don’t care if you go as open-source as possible. There is just no way in hell TechCrunch is going to produce a touchscreen Internet browser to run web applications for $200 $300.

The specs he’s asking for, specifically, are:

Here’s the basic idea: The machine is as thin as possible, runs low end hardware and has a single button for powering it on and off, headphone jacks, a built in camera for video, low end speakers, and a microphone. It will have Wifi, maybe one USB port, a built in battery, half a Gigabyte of RAM, a 4-Gigabyte solid state hard drive. Data input is primarily through an iPhone-like touch screen keyboard. It runs on linux and Firefox. It would be great to have it be built entirely on open source hardware, but including Skype for VOIP and video calls may be a nice touch, too.

Don’t forget the competition from existing Internet tablets like the Nokia N800, Michael.x

Finally, you ask your readers for help in building it. When your product is finished and goes to market, how will these people be fairly compensated for their work? That’s what I really want to know. I could go on and on for hours about this but I think I’ve summed up the flaws in Arrington’s idea quite nicely. Hey, if he succeeds in pulling it all off and shoving it in my face, more power to him. I’d buy a $200 Firefox Tablet.

There are plenty of software-based guitar solutions for guitarists but how many of them are open source? Very little, to be quite frank. Enter OpenStomp, an open source FX pedal solution for developers and players. The model above, the Coyote-1, can hook up to Windows so parameters can be edited on the fly. Sounds a lot like a MIDI-based solution that users can dive further into.

It may be open source but it still can’t turn you into Eddie Van Halen if you just plain suck. Remember, practice makes mediocre.

Link (via)

Linux is pickup up pace. Apple Macs are picking up even quicker. Maybe its people’s increasing frustration with the obstacles presented by Windows. It doesn’t really matter why, right now Microsoft had better deliver with Vista in a few days.

With some odd timing, Dell has started to ship mainstream desktops without Windows preinstalled. Not only does this save the consumer a few bucks, but you now can choose to install Linux to the pre-formatted hard drive without dealing with getting rid of Windows first.

These desktops are set up with a base configuration of an Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (C521N) or 2.8 GHz Intel Pentium 4 (C521N)processor, 512MB RAM (C521N) or 1GB RAM (E521N), 250GB hard drive, and a choice of a Radeon X1300 (C521N) or a GeForce 7300LE (C521N) for graphics. They start at $624. Check Dell out next week to jump on this nice option from a major PC seller. — Nik Gomez

Dell ships mainstream desktops Windows-free [Electronista]