andy's been in a tizzy:
Oblivion is the fourth title in the best-selling Elder Scrolls series, and brings the role-playing game (RPG) genre to new heights with its combination of freeform gameplay and cutting-edge graphics. If you're an intelligent gamer looking for more than the usual, b...
May 11, 2006 Wine has been amongst man’s greatest pleasures for at least 10,000 years, having played a prominent role in the Phoenicean, Greek, Egyptian and Roman civilisations. Initially, the bitterness of wine spoilage was masked by flavouring the wines, and many different methods have been used to prevent spoilage, such as topping wine containers with olive oil, leather tied with vine, clay stoppers, oily rag closures and most successfully, cork. But cork is inconsistent and still has an unacceptable spoilage factor and ever since French microbiologist Louis Pasteur discovered wine spoilage was caused by microorganisms, the search has been on for the ideal closure system. We recently wrote about
the Zork wine closure system, and now there’s another. Vino-Seal is a new glass closure developed by Alcoa as an alternative to traditional corks and synthetic stoppers for wine. With a design similar to a decorative decanter stopper, Vino-Seal uses an inert o-ring to provide a sterile seal, preventing contamination or oxidation. Whitehall Lane Winery of Napa Valley will be the first to use the new glass closure commercially...
FastMac Painted Mac Mini
Like the painted harlots that once danced for David, these Mac minis bring shame unto the house of Jobs. For it is said that when a mini colors itself or lengthens its neck to be more beautiful, it is a harlot and drives men to lust after her. FastMac even includes a special putty knife to remove your old cover. Starting at $69.95—more lust!—FastMac can paint up the top of your mini in a few days and there’s even a beige model with rainbox Apple logo for that retro feel.
Product Page [FastMac]
Re-Improved Colbert transcript (now with complete text of Colbert-Thomas video!)
Sun Apr 30, 2006 at 11:04:01 AM PDT
UPDATE: Dan Froomkin, in his May 1, 2006 "White House Briefing" column in the Washington Post, writes, "Daily Kos blogger Frederick seems to have the most extensive transcript of Colbert’s talk." A nice recognition to receive from an outstanding journalist.
I've taken the existing transcripts I've seen of Stephen Colbert's brilliant monologue at the White House Correspondents Dinner, and the actual footage (complete video available at Democratic Underground and Google Video; more links to it here and here), and edited the transcripts (correcting spelling and punctuation, adding mistakenly omitted words, etc.) to produce the following improved transcript. I have now also transcribed all of Colbert's Press Secretary "audition video." Continue below the fold with me.
STEPHEN COLBERT: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Before I begin, I've been asked to make an announcement. Whoever parked 14 black bulletproof S.U.V.'s out front, could you please move them? They are blocking in 14 other black bulletproof S.U.V.'s and they need to get out.
Wow. Wow, what an honor. The White House correspondents' dinner. To actually sit here, at the same table with my hero, George W. Bush, to be this close to the man. I feel like I'm dreaming. Somebody pinch me. You know what? I'm a pretty sound sleeper -- that may not be enough. Somebody shoot me in the face. Is he really not here tonight? Dammit. The one guy who could have helped.
By the way, before I get started, if anybody needs anything else at their tables, just speak slowly and clearly into your table numbers. Somebody from the NSA will be right over with a cocktail. Mark Smith, ladies and gentlemen of the press corps, Madame First Lady, Mr. President, my name is Stephen Colbert and tonight it's my privilege to celebrate this president. We're not so different, he and I. We get it. We're not brainiacs on the nerd patrol. We're not members of the factinista. We go straight from the gut, right sir? That's where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. I know some of you are going to say "I did look it up, and that's not true." That's 'cause you looked it up in a book.
Next time, look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that's how our nervous system works. Every night on my show, the Colbert Report, I speak straight from the gut, OK? I give people the truth, unfiltered by rational argument. I call it the "No Fact Zone." Fox News, I hold a copyright on that term.
I'm a simple man with a simple mind. I hold a simple set of beliefs that I live by. Number one, I believe in America. I believe it exists. My gut tells me I live there. I feel that it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and I strongly believe it has 50 states. And I cannot wait to see how the Washington Post spins that one tomorrow. I believe in democracy. I believe democracy is our greatest export. At least until China figures out a way to stamp it out of plastic for three cents a unit.
In fact, Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong, welcome. Your great country makes our Happy Meals possible. I said it's a celebration. I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq.
I believe in pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. I believe it is possible -- I saw this guy do it once in Cirque du Soleil. It was magical. And though I am a committed Christian, I believe that everyone has the right to their own religion, be you Hindu, Jewish or Muslim. I believe there are infinite paths to accepting Jesus Christ as your personal savior.
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe it's yogurt. But I refuse to believe it's not butter. Most of all, I believe in this president.
Now, I know there are some polls out there saying this man has a 32% approval rating. But guys like us, we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in "reality." And reality has a well-known liberal bias.
So, Mr. President, please, pay no attention to the people that say the glass is half full. 32% means the glass -- it's important to set up your jokes properly, sir. Sir, pay no attention to the people who say the glass is half empty, because 32% means it's 2/3 empty. There's still some liquid in that glass is my point, but I wouldn't drink it. The last third is usually backwash.
Okay, look, folks, my point is that I don't believe this is a low point in this presidency. I believe it is just a lull before a comeback. I mean, it's like the movie "Rocky." All right. The president in this case is Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed is -- everything else in the world. It's the tenth round. He's bloodied. His corner man, Mick, who in this case I guess would be the vice president, he's yelling, "Cut me, Dick, cut me!," and every time he falls everyone says, "Stay down! Stay down!" Does he stay down? No. Like Rocky, he gets back up, and in the end he -- actually, he loses in the first movie.
OK. Doesn't matter. The point is it is the heart-warming story of a man who was repeatedly punched in the face. So don't pay attention to the approval ratings that say 68% of Americans disapprove of the job this man is doing. I ask you this, does that not also logically mean that 68% approve of the job he's not doing? Think about it. I haven't.
I stand by this man. I stand by this man because he stands for things. Not only for things, he stands on things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message: that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound -- with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.
Now, there may be an energy crisis. This president has a very forward-thinking energy policy. Why do you think he's down on the ranch cutting that brush all the time? He's trying to create an alternative energy source. By 2008 we will have a mesquite-powered car!
And I just like the guy. He's a good Joe. Obviously loves his wife, calls her his better half. And polls show America agrees. She's a true lady and a wonderful woman. But I just have one beef, ma'am.
I'm sorry, but this reading initiative. I'm sorry, I've never been a fan of books. I don't trust them. They're all fact, no heart. I mean, they're elitist, telling us what is or isn't true, or what did or didn't happen. Who's Britannica to tell me the Panama Canal was built in 1914? If I want to say it was built in 1941, that's my right as an American! I'm with the president, let history decide what did or did not happen.
The greatest thing about this man is he's steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday. Events can change; this man's beliefs never will.
As excited as I am to be here with the president, I am appalled to be surrounded by the liberal media that is destroying America, with the exception of Fox News. Fox News gives you both sides of every story: the president's side, and the vice president's side.
But the rest of you, what are you thinking, reporting on NSA wiretapping or secret prisons in eastern Europe? Those things are secret for a very important reason: they're super-depressing. And if that's your goal, well, misery accomplished.
Over the last five years you people were so good -- over tax cuts, WMD intelligence, the effect of global warming. We Americans didn't want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out. Those were good times, as far as we knew.
But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works: the president makes decisions. He's the Decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put 'em through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know - fiction!
Because really, what incentive do these people have to answer your questions, after all? I mean, nothing satisfies you. Everybody asks for personnel changes. So the White House has personnel changes. Then you write, "Oh, they're just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic." First of all, that is a terrible metaphor. This administration is not sinking. This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg!
Now, it's not all bad guys out there. Some are heroes: Christopher Buckley, Jeff Sacks, Ken Burns, Bob Schieffer. They've all been on my show. By the way, Mr. President, thank you for agreeing to be on my show. I was just as shocked as everyone here is, I promise you. How's Tuesday for you? I've got Frank Rich, but we can bump him. And I mean bump him. I know a guy. Say the word.
See who we've got here tonight. General Moseley, Air Force Chief of Staff. General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They still support Rumsfeld. Right, you guys aren't retired yet, right? Right, they still support Rumsfeld.
Look, by the way, I've got a theory about how to handle these retired generals causing all this trouble: don't let them retire! Come on, we've got a stop-loss program; let's use it on these guys. I've seen Zinni and that crowd on Wolf Blitzer. If you're strong enough to go on one of those pundit shows, you can stand on a bank of computers and order men into battle. Come on.
Jesse Jackson is here, the Reverend. Haven't heard from the Reverend in a little while. I had him on the show. Very interesting and challenging interview. You can ask him anything, but he's going to say what he wants, at the pace that he wants. It's like boxing a glacier. Enjoy that metaphor, by the way, because your grandchildren will have no idea what a glacier is.
Justice Scalia is here. Welcome, sir. May I be the first to say, you look fantastic. How are you? [After each sentence, Colbert makes a hand gesture, an allusion to Scalia's recent use of an obscene Sicilian hand gesture in speaking to a reporter about Scalia's critics. Scalia is seen laughing hysterically.] Just talking some Sicilian with my paisan.
John McCain is here. John McCain, John McCain, what a maverick! Somebody find out what fork he used on his salad, because I guarantee you it wasn't a salad fork. This guy could have used a spoon! There's no predicting him. By the way, Senator McCain, it's so wonderful to see you coming back into the Republican fold. I have a summer house in South Carolina; look me up when you go to speak at Bob Jones University. So glad you've seen the light, sir.
Mayor Nagin! Mayor Nagin is here from New Orleans, the chocolate city! Yeah, give it up. Mayor Nagin, I'd like to welcome you to Washington, D.C., the chocolate city with a marshmallow center. And a graham cracker crust of corruption. It's a Mallomar, I guess is what I'm describing, a seasonal cookie.
Joe Wilson is here, Joe Wilson right down here in front, the most famous husband since Desi Arnaz. And of course he brought along his lovely wife Valerie Plame. Oh, my god. [looks horrified] Oh, what have I said? I -- Je- minetti (sp?). I am sorry, Mr. President, I meant to say he brought along his lovely wife Joe Wilson's wife. Patrick Fitzgerald is not here tonight? OK. Dodged a bullet.
And, of course, we can't forget the man of the hour, new press secretary, Tony Snow. Secret Service name, "Snow Job." Toughest job. What a hero. Took the second toughest job in government, next to, of course, the ambassador to Iraq.
Got some big shoes to fill, Tony. Big shoes to fill. Scott McClellan could say nothing like nobody else. McClellan, of course, eager to retire. Really felt like he needed to spend more time with Andrew Card's children. Mr. President, I wish you hadn't made the decision so quickly, sir.
I was vying for the job myself. I think I would have made a fabulous press secretary. I have nothing but contempt for these people. I know how to handle these clowns.
In fact, sir, I brought along an audition tape and with your indulgence, I'd like to at least give it a shot. So, ladies and gentlemen, my press conference.
BEGINNING OF "AUDITION TAPE"
Colbert shows a video of a mock press conference. It opens with an empty podium. Colbert's head rises from behind the podium until Colbert is standing at the podium. He addresses the assembled Washington press corps.
COLBERT: I have a brief statement: the press is destroying America. OK, let's see who we've got here today.
COLBERT (acknowledging various reporters): Stretch! (David Gregory nods)
Sir Nerdlington! (reporter nods)
Sloppy Joe! (reporter nods)
Terry Lemon Moran Pie! (Terry Moran nods)
Oh, Doubting Thomas, always a pleasure. (Helen Thomas smiles)
And Suzanne Mal -- hello!!
(Suzanne Malveaux stares at Colbert, looking unhappy. Colbert mimics putting a phone to his ear and mouths "call me.")
REPORTER: Will the Vice President be available soon to answer all questions himself?
COLBERT: I've already addressed that question. You (pointing to another reporter).
REPORTER: Walter Cronkite, the noted CBS anchor, . . .
COLBERT (interrupting): Ah, no, he's the former CBS anchor. Katie Couric is the new anchor of the CBS Evening News. Well, well, how do you guys feel about that?
You, tousle-haired guy in the back. Are you happy about Katie Couric taking over the CBS Evening News?
DAN RATHER: No, sir, Mr. Colbert. Are you? (Laughter)
COLBERT: Boom! Oh, look, we woke David Gregory up. Question?
DAVID GREGORY: Did Karl Rove commit a crime?
COLBERT: I don't know. I'll ask him.
(Colbert turns to Rove) Karl, pay attention please! (Rove is seen drawing a heart with "Karl + Stephen" written on it.)
GREGORY: Do you stand by your statement from the fall of 2003 when you were asked specifically about Karl, and Elliott Abrams, and Scooter Libby, and you said "I've gone to each of those gentlemen, and they have told me that they are not involved in this." Do you stand by that statement?
COLBERT: Nah, I was just kidding!
GREGORY: No, you're not finishing. You're not saying anything! You stood at that podium and said . . .
COLBERT (interrupting): Ah, that's where you're wrong. New podium! Just had it delivered today. Get your facts straight, David.
GREGORY: This is ridiculous. The notion that you're going to stand before us after having commented with that level of detail and tell the people watching this that somehow you've decided not to talk. You've got to . . .
(Colbert is seen looking at three buttons on the podium, labeled "EJECT," "GANNON" and "VOLUME." He selects the "VOLUME" button and turns it. We see Gregory's lips continue moving, but can't hear any sound coming out.)
COLBERT: If I can't hear you, I can't answer your question. I'm sorry! I have to move on. Terry.
TERRY MORAN: After the investigation began, after the criminal investigation was underway, you said . . .
(Colbert presses a button on the podium and fast-forwards through most of Moran's question.)
MORAN (continuing): All of a sudden, you have respect for the sanctity of a criminal investigation?
COLBERT (seen playing with rubber ball, which he is bouncing off attached paddle): No, I never had any respect for the sanctity of a criminal investigation. Activist judges! Yes, Helen.
HELEN THOMAS: You're going to be sorry. (Laughter)
COLBERT (looking vastly amused, mockingly): What are you going to do, Helen, ask me for a recipe?
THOMAS: Your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands (Colbert's smile fades) of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime.
COLBERT (interrupting): OK, hold on Helen, look . . .
THOMAS (continuing): Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is, why did you really want to go to war?
COLBERT (again interrupting): Helen, I'm going to stop you right there. (Thomas keeps talking.) That's enough! No! Sorry, Helen, I'm moving on. (Colbert tries to turn her volume off, but the knob falls off his controls.)
(Various reporters start shouting questions at Colbert.)
COLBERT (agitated): Guys, guys, please don't let Helen do this to what was a lovely day.
(Reporters keep shouting at him.)
COLBERT (putting his fingers over his ears and shouting in a high-pitched voice): Bllrrtt! No, no, no, no, no. I'm not listening to you!
Look what you did, Helen! I hate you!
(Helen Thomas glowers at Colbert.)
COLBERT (frantic): I'm out of here!
(Colbert pulls back the curtain behind him, desperately trying to flee. He says, "There is a wall here!" The press corps laughs. Colbert has difficulty finding a door from which to exit the room, echoing Bush's experience in China. He finally finds the door and hurries through it.)
COLBERT: It reeks in there! Ridiculous! I've never been so insulted in my life! Stupid job.
(Colbert continues walking away. We hear sinister-sounding music playing. We see Helen Thomas walking behind Colbert.)
(Colbert looks behind him, sees Thomas, and starts running.)
(Colbert trips over a roller skate. He yells "Condi!" We see a close-up of Helen Thomas' face, looking determined and angry. Colbert, increasingly panicked, gets up and continues running, running into a parking garage. He reaches an emergency call box, and yells into it.)
COLBERT: Oh, thank God. Help me!
ATTENDANT: What seems to be the problem, sir?
COLBERT: She won't stop asking why we invaded Iraq!
ATTENDANT: Hey, why did we invade Iraq?
COLBERT: NO!!! (runs toward his car)
(We see Helen Thomas, still walking toward him.)
(Colbert reaches his car, and fumblingly attempts to open it with his key. He is in such a desperate hurry that he fumbles with the keys and drops them. When he picks them up, he looks back and Helen is even closer. In his frantic rush, Colbert just can't get the key into the lock.)
(Just as his anxiety is getting completely out of control he suddenly remembers that he has a keyless remote -- so he just pushes the button on the keychain and the car unlocks immediately with the usual double squeak noise. Colbert jumps in and locks the door, and continues to fumble trying to start the car. He finally succeeds, and looks up to see Helen standing in front of the car, notepad in hand.)
COLBERT: NO!!! NO!!!
(Colbert puts the car into reverse and drives off, tires squealing. Thomas smiles.)
(Colbert is shown taking the shuttle from Washington, D.C. to New York. A car and driver are waiting for him at Penn Station. The uniformed man standing alongside the car opens the door and lets Colbert in.)
COLBERT: What a terrible trip, Danny. Take me home.
(The driver locks the doors, turns around, and says, "Buckle up, hon." IT'S HELEN THOMAS!!!)
COLBERT (horrified face pressed against car window): NO!!!
END OF "AUDITION TAPE"
STEPHEN COLBERT: Helen Thomas, ladies and gentlemen. Mr. Smith, members of the White House Correspondents Association, Madame First Lady, Mr. President, it's been a true honor. Thank you very much. Good night!
A tiny video of some of the best bits of the Colbert speech I know I'm harping on this a bit, but it really is extraordinary.
ABC.com's full episode streaming allows you to watch TV shows online for free Obviously the model is advertising funded. It's a pretty sweet angle because they can stop people skipping adverts. I don't think it's the model that 'wins', but it should sit nicely as one of the two or three along with season pass downloads...
There's a command in World of Warcraft that tells you exactly how long you've played with your active character and how long you've been playing at your current level. All you have to do is type /played into your chat prompt to find this information out. If you're a regular player of the game, I think you should go and do that now. Don't worry. We'll wait. It's sort of important.
I've had World of Warcraft for almost exactly six months now, which - coincidentally - is pretty much exactly how long I've been working at Yahoo. I bought the game in my week between jobs, while I was supposed to be recovering from the BBC and thinking around my personal projects. Buying WoW pretty much killed off that idea straight away. I think on one day I played from around nine am until three the following morning. The week evaporated in moments.
So I typed in /played over the weekend and I got back the figure of fifteen days and four hours for my main character - another nine hours for my second. Fifteen days solidly. That's three hundred and seventy three hours of immersion in Nordrassil when I could have been doing something else, something more useful.
Let me give you some context there. Imagine playing WoW was my second job, which is how it has felt at times. Thinking in terms of eight hour days and five day work weeks, I've played the game for roughly two and a half months. And that's on top of the day job. It's no wonder that the weblog has slipped. More alarming still is that even though I've played it for that length of time, I'm still only level 51.
The question then, is how to stop. And not how to stop in the simple, "I've got a problem" kind of way. Let's be clear - my day job has not suffered, my relationships are just as screwed up as they normally are, but no worse. But I'm starting to resent playing as much as I'm keen to get up to level sixty. I regularly get this sense of time passing just a little too fast, and even though I know that the time I spend playing WoW is not time that would immediately translatable into rebuilding Barbelith or learning how to develop in Rails, I'm increasingly aware that I want to stop wanting to play, even if I am prepared to let that process of detachment be a gradual one associated with some sense of completion.
Let's pretend for a moment that the option to 'just stop' isn't interesting or practical. I have this idea for a way to bring in some kind of honest scrutiny from outside about the time I spend playing WoW. It's pretty simple, and also pretty cool. World of Warcraft has a set of APIs and can have mods developed for it using a language called Lua. There are a great many of these mods - mostly concerned with giving people better access to spells or dealing with the Auction Houses, but the ones I'm most interested in are the ones that fuel sites like Thottbot that capture information about what you're doing in game and dump them to a central server - almost like a gaming version of last.fm - creating aggregate value out of the smallest of engagements. The aspect I'm most interested in is the fact that they can communicate outside the game to servers in the real world. Which makes me wonder why there doesn't appear to be much in the way of weblog integration or posting mods.
What I want is a badge of some kind I can put on my site that exposes to the world how long I've been playing, and how long recently. I think maybe by putting this in public I can start to adjust my own perceptions of what is an appropriate amount of time to waste in this manner. Just a little badge - a strip or a button that I can deposit on the page that means I get occasional raised eyebrows and comments on IM or when I'm down the pub. Anything really that exposes me to the judgement of the masses. Does anyone know of such a plug-in? If I (grudgingly and a long time after the fad died) invoked the Lazyweb - could anyone write one?
(The thing that this whole experience has driven home to me is the difference between illusory value - fighting for artificial scarcity - and actual utility. I wouldn't be feeling in the slightest bit ashamed of the way I played in game if I knew that one of the reasons I was doing it was the repopulation of the Amazon rainforests, or to help improve - or even perform - cancer screenings. It's the sense of enjoyable work and creativity with no intellectual or physical byproduct either than a slight headache. There's something fascinatingly wrong with that.)
Bruce Willis and Mos Def star in this action drama about a weary cop (Willis) transporting a perp (Mos Def) 16 blocks to court, but getting shot at along the way by corrupt cops who want them dead.
Nintendo's Wii steals show at expo
Thu May 11, 2006 7:39pm ET
By Kemp Powers
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research) new Wii video game console, considered the underdog in the console wars because it lacks the high-definition graphics and multimedia features of its rivals, is stealing the show at this week's Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show.
The wait to try out the Wii at E3 pushed past four hours on Thursday afternoon, while the wait for hands-on time with Sony Corp.'s (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) PlayStation 3 was barely 30 minutes. Both consoles will hit the market later this year, though the Wii is expected to cost much less than rival consoles.
The Wii (pronounced "we") uses a motion-sensor enabled controller that looks like a TV remote and allows users to direct action on the screen by wielding it like a sword or swinging it like a baseball bat, tennis racket or golf club.
"It's basically a whole different thing from anything I've seen before," said Josef Faulkner, who had been waiting in line for three hours to get his hands on Wii. He still had an hour to go. "This is definitely the biggest thing here."
Faulkner and other attendees agreed that the unique controller is what is drawing people to the Wii.
Unlike other next-generation consoles, Wii doesn't sport high-definition graphics or make any promises of being a multimedia entertainment hub, but it promises a unique, fun experience new to video games.
And while the company insists that Wii is not a direct competitor to powerful new game consoles like the upcoming Playstation 3 and Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Xbox 360, there is no doubt that it has stolen much of other consoles' thunder.
"You have to play (Wii) in order to understand what it is," said Don James, Nintendo's executive vice president of operations. James said the company knew that lots of people would be drawn to Wii, but he was surprised by the sheer numbers. He said that after 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time (22:00 GMT) they had to stop allowing people into the line because there was no way they would be able to see the console before the convention center closed three hours later. Continued...
Taking the easy way out leads to quick results, but minimal long-term success.
It's time to clear up some misconceptions
Anything can have a great marketing campaign, even a piece of plastic
Do nothing but work, play PC games, sleep and eat? Now you can DO IT ALL with a single piece of furniture: the European Computer Bed -- a computer desk/dining room table that folds into a bed/couch.
Soccer star David Beckham's BMX X5 was stolen recently by thieves who USED A LAPTOP to hack the car's wireless electronic lock system. Security experts say this kind of theft is on the rise and, in fact, part of a growing RFID HACKING UNDERGROUND. (props to Engadget)
How-To: Design your own iPod super dock (Part 4)
Posted May 10th 2006 6:26PM by Will O'Brien
Filed under: Features, Portable Audio
In
part 1 we designed a PC board interface for our iPod dock connector. In
part 2 we designed the schematic to provide all of our inputs and outputs. For
part 3 we created the circuit board for the actual dock. Today we are building it! That's right, today your very own iPod super dock becomes complete, and you'll be able to impress... literally one, maybe two people with your skills. But oh, how impressed they'll be!
For today's how-to you'll need:
- Laser printer
- Staples basic gloss photo paper (Item #471861)
- Clothes iron
- Nail brush
- Safety gear (goggles, gloves, etc)
- Copper clad pc board
- PC Board Etchant
- Acetone
- Synthetic abrasive scrubbing pad
Before we get started, you'll want our
latest zip file. [update: the latest file is up! --Will] It contains the library, schematic and our board layout. First we'll print out our board pattern using a laser printer. We're going to use heat to transfer the laser toner from the paper to our PC board. Laser printer toner contains plastic, so it will resist etching chemicals. Make sure you know which way to insert the paper in your printer to print on the glossy side.
Load up the board in EAGLE and hit the layers button. Unselect everything and choose Top, Pads, Vias and Dimension.
Now print the board. For the top layer, we'll need to mirror the print, choose solid and black as well. Now hit layers again, deselect Top and select Bottom. Print again, but deselect the mirror option.
Now you should have the top and bottom patterns on two pieces of the gloss paper.
Cut down the PC Board to the size of the board layout. A couple quick sharpie marks are sufficient. The saw pictured is a printers saw, originally made to cut lead lettering for a printing press.
Get rid of the rough edges on the board by rubbing it on a piece of sandpaper or with a fine file.
Rub the faces of the board with a scrubbing pad. Steel wool can work but a synthetic pad is better.
Lastly wipe the board down with some acetone. Nail polish remover is mostly acetone. Let it dry and don't touch the copper surface with your fingers, handle the board by the edges.
Place the two patterns face to face. If you don't have a light table, Hold them up to a florescent light and line up the board edges. When the dock connecter appears almost solid black, you've got it right.
Cut around the patterns, leaving at least an inch or two around the edges. Double check your alignment and lay them on top of an ironing surface. An ironing board is a bit flimsy, so we use the back of a legal pad on top of the workbench.
Place your prepped pc board between the two patterns and put your preheated iron, on the setting just below steam on top of the papers and board. Let the iron heat it up for about 5 minutes, then press down firmly for 30 seconds or so. Then work the tip of the iron over the entire board to ensure good transfer. Carefully flip the board over and repeat the process for the other side.
Soak the board in soapy water for at least 15 minutes. Scrubbing the back of the paper with a nail brush can help soak it a bit faster.
Once the paper is thoroughly soaked, carefully peel it off. Don't force it, just gently pull. Soaking the remnants and further gentle scrubbing with eventually get the paper cleaned off the board.
Use a fine tip sharpie to touchup areas where the transfer didn't stick or the trace looks thin.
This is where most of our first-timers will turn away -- and where it gets interesting. We'll be working with some caustic chemicals. Safety gear is cheap, so get some. Heavy chemical resistant gloves are handy. If you want disposable, get nitrile. (Latex doesn't do any good around acids.) We snagged a new pair of sealed vent chemistry goggles at the university bookstore for $2.25 and a simple apron was a mere $5. If you decide to work with acid, keep baking soda around to neutralize any spills.
A chemical etchant is needed to remove the extra copper from the board. Ferric chloride can be bought at RadioShack, but it's opaque, and sort of slow to etch if it's not heated. We tried one of the trendier etching cocktails - hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide. 3% hydrogen peroxide can be had at any grocery store. 31% hydrochloric acid is available at the hardware store under the label of muriatic acid. It's used for pool maintenance and etching concrete.
Here we're prepared to start etching. We have baking soda, water, acid, peroxide, a cereal container, a containment bucket to catch spills, an air pump to agitate the solution and our board. We drilled one mounting hole in the board and strung a strand of wire from some CAT5 through the hole. The air pump will agitate the solution during etching. The acid has some serious fumes, so we've set up shop outdoors. A folding plastic table is ideal, since it too is chemical resistant.
Carefully measure out the chemicals. The easiest mixture to use is two parts hydrogen peroxide to 1 part hydrochloric acid. For safety, pour the acid into the peroxide, not the other way around.
Once the mix is prepared, lower the board into the etching solution. It will begin to turn green almost immediately as copper is oxidized from the board.
Even thought the solution is clear, give it an inspection, here it's just a couple of minutes from completion.
When it's finished, rinse the board with water. Once it's rinsed and dried, get out your acetone again and gently scrub all the etch resistant material off the board. A gentle run down with the scrubbing pad will get everything shiny.
Carefully inspect the board and remove any shorts that may have snuck in. We used a routing bit with our dremel to remove excess copper from a few locations.
Drilling out all the pins and vias takes time, and a few sacrifical drill bits. The ringed bit is a resharpened tungsten carbide bit from
Drill Bit City.
Fitting each connector takes some patience and a decent collection of drill bits. The IC socket has a couple of extra pins, so we just trimmed the leads for the last two. Soldering the connectors is standard fare.
Getting the two sides of the dock to line up perfectly is a challenge. It's ok as long as they're pretty close. One side was out of alignment by almost a pad width. We added some solder to the leads, then tweazed them in place and soldered each pin individually. Be careful not to install the dock connector upside down, like we did in this photo.
Our nearly completed dock. We didn't install our MAX232 yet because our shipment of capacitors is apparently sight seeing in Singapore. The audio out from the RCA connectors sounds fantastic, even without sheilding. And at this point what you mount it in and how you fashion it is entirely up to you. Go ahead, make the hi-fi you really wanted from the Hi-Fi.
November 29, 2005
When we first wrote about aerogel, we treated it as somewhat of a technological novelty.
Aerogel is 99.8% air and 1,000 times less dense than glass yet it can withstand high temperature, delivering 39 times more insulation than the best fibreglass. This exotic substance was invented in the 1930s but has been
refined by NASA in recent times for the purpose of catching space-dust. Now it has been recognised that aerogel’s unique properties are in fact very applicable to some of man’s greatest challenges. Its unique nanostructure offers higher electrochemical surface areas, better mass transport, reduced or eliminated ionic contamination and price competitiveness – in short, lower cost and higher performance compared to current membranes on the market, making it ideal as a high performance electro-catalyst for fuel cells, non-electro-catalysts for emissions control, and aerogel materials for energy storage. ..
T-Mobile's SDA is a highly connected data device wrapped in the garb of a music phone. Yes it has dedicated music controls, but it also has WiFi, Bluetooth, and EDGE data as well. The QVGA display certainly doesn't hurt, either.
Bio-diesel Made from Sewage
Posted by CowboyNeal on Friday May 12, @07:42AMfrom the gas-that-really-smells dept. 
tito writes
"A New Zealand company has successfully turned sewage into modern-day gold. New Zealand Herald is reporting that a Marlborough-based Aquaflow Bionomic yesterday announced it had produced its first sample of bio-diesel fuel from algae in sewage ponds. It is believed to be the world's first commercial production of bio-diesel from 'wild' algae outside the laboratory - and the company expects to be producing at the rate of at least one million litres of the fuel each year from Blenheim by April."
THG is proud to present the newest installment of our graphics card buyer's guide. Split into three parts covering several boards each, the buyer's guide covers two AGP cards and 23 single-card solutions. On the ATI side, we look at the Radeon X1300, X1600, X1800, and X1900 families, while the NVIDIA camp features the GeForce 6800 GS, 7600, 7800, 7900 GT, and 7900 GTX boards.
andy wants this:
The JBL Radial is a high-performance entertainment dock that was built specifically for the iPod. It delivers powerful high and mid-frequency sound, and distortion free bass in a single 60 watt device. Both black and white versions come with chrome accents, adding to the iPod sophistication. You use the Radial's RF smart remote to control the iPod. The system comes witha quartet of aluminum-domed full range drivers for an exceptional audio experience.
The Lian Li
PC-777 computer case takes after the unorthodox form of a sea shell. Made from light aluminum, it comes with a whooping 7 PCI slots and a couple of 12cm fans as a cooling solution. It is certainly a drastic departure from traditional box-shaped towers, but will it catch on in today's small and compact age?
What's the most outrageous thing ever to be powered by a USB port? Well, this USB-powered dance floor takes the cake.
Clint has decided to top this effort of his by adding in video game functionality in the next iteration. Well necessity is the mother of invention but this just totally blows our minds away!
What’s better to go with your magnetic USB hub than a magnetic power strip that can be controlled via PC? The power strip plugs into your PC using USB and has an extra USB connector so it doesn’t eat up a port. Now, you can shut off lights, monitors, heaters and iPod speakers from your PC. No more reacharounds! USB Power Bar that Turns Peripherals On & Off [Everything USB]
Ah, the little plant/potter geegaw known as the Chia Pet. I don't know what meteor the plant came from, but aren't those planters cute? Relive the cuteness with Chi Pet (not affiliated with the Chia Pets of Joseph Enterprises) in your Dashboard. This little widget provides a couple of days of fun as you click the droplet to "grow" your pet's fur. Neglect the pet, and the plant dies. Nobody said life was easy, even for a bunch of pixels. To be honest, the growth cycle isn't that great. [From CoolOSXapps]
Bricksmith is a cool app that let's you tinker with a set of virtual Legos on your Mac. How cool is that? Plus, it is now a Universal Binary so Intel and PowerPC Macs can join in the fun, natively. Check out the tutorial to see all the cool stuff you can do with Bricksmith. Bricksmith is donationware, so if you find yourself heavily using it kick in a few bucks to support the project.
A few months ago, I mentioned Web Inspector, a WebKit alternative to the Firefox Web Developer extension. Now there's another Web Developer-esque tool available for Safari: the Safari Tidy plug-in.
Now this is sweetness. IO2 Technology has the coolest sounding display I have ever seen called the 
Real men don’t care much about refrigerators, right? Now they do, with Ten50 Design refrigerators which will satisfy that he-man sensibility with a variety of biker-chic designs. Get yourself an outdoorsy look, or go for that fire-and-ice motif with the flames on front. The art department at Ten50 will even help you design your own unique artwork. Better save up your money, though, they’re about a quarter the cost of a Harley, starting at $4795 for a 30-inch fridge.
To be American means that it’s your inalienable right to visit a foreign country and get upset at the locals for not knowing English. If, for some reason, you wish to learn their strange tongue, bring along your iPod and load up iLingo. It’s software (well, in as much as a bunch of sound files with a menu structure makes something software) designed to make learning that new language you’ve always wanted to learn but never had the time, um, fun. Yeah. There’s two packs, a Euro 2.0 pack, which includes French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, and an Asia 2.0 pack, which includes Cantonese, Japanese, Korean and Mandarin Chinese. The audio files were all recorded by native speakers, so there’s no worry of sounding like a dork when trying to pronounce words. Available now, iLingo, which only works with iPods with a dock connector, costs $49.95 for the Euro version and $39.95 for the Asia version. Now go forth and make Uncle Sam proud.
