March 2007 – Page 3 – Street Tech

March 14, 2007

Chris Anderson’s LEGO NXT Autopilot

Chris Anderson, the big hat at Wired, has been pursuing some fun geekery on his blog, The Long Tail. He wants to start a 3D Robotics League, and in that vein has launched a project to build an under US$1,000 UAV. As part of that, last night, he bodged up a prototype of a LEGO NXT Autopilot using the new Hitechnic Gyro Sensor and a compass sensor. He plans to upgrade the compass to Bluetooth GPS. He may also have to add a ultrasonic sensor to handle landings. Still, pretty freakin’ cool.

In other LEGO Mindstorms NXT news, another builder used the Hitechnic gyro sensor to make an NXT faux Segway. Check out this video.

March 13, 2007

More iPod Tips and Tricks

Hackszine has an item on a simple way of bringing a “dead” iPod back to life. Certainly worth a try. The piece also has links to several other pieces offering other iPod resuscitation tricks.

March 13, 2007

How-To: Upgrade or Replace an iPod HD

Command-Tab, a recommended site of “mac geekery,” has an excellent how-to piece on replacing the hard drives on various models of iPods. Includes a list of supported Pods and what HDs will work with them.

March 13, 2007

Cool NDS Robot Kit

Engadget hipped me to this robot kit that turns your Nintendo DS into the brains of a three-wheeled robotic platform. The kit costs US$100 and comes with three servos, the platform, wheels, battery, cable, and all hardware. You do need the DSerial2 board to connect the servos to your DS. With your RoboDS, you can do things like hook up a webcam so that people can drive it over the Web. The prototype of the bot has been set up this way. You can drive around the builder’s basement, watch other people drive, and chat with other would-be builders. Kits will allegedly be available on April 7th.

March 13, 2007

Printer Hacks Round-Up (Yee-Haw!)

Printers have always fascinated me. Maybe that’s because I was trained in printing and co-ran a small print shop. So I can relate to that romantic Franklinian idea of the power of “the press.” Now we each have one of these engines of liberty on our freakin’ desktops!

Anyhoo… I’m surprised there aren’t more printer hacks out there. Many of the hacks that have made their way online have been featured on Hack-a-Day. Yesterday, they did a round-up of projects they’ve covered so far and some new ones.

I wish there was a book on printer hacks, but I guess it wouldn’t have a very large audience.

March 11, 2007

Confessions of a Sprint Sales Rep

The Consumerist continues to coax the confessions out of wireless carrier sales reps, now putting Sprint under the harsh lights, in a room with one table, one chair, and all the time in the world to sift through the guts that get spilled. Highlights:

•Get the Sprint Employee Referral Offer: “Get on the SERO plan! Sprint Employee Referral Offer. It’s a nice little plan designed specifically for friends and family of Sprint employees. They require that you have an email address of a Sprint employee, but that’s simple to get. Remember that business card the sales rep gave you, or should have given you if they’re were good. Take that name and use it, john.x.doe@sprint.com. To see the plans themselves or sign up, go to www.sprint.com/sero ($50/1250 minutes/7pm nights/unlimited vision)”

•Get a big discount for working for a big company (or saying that you do): “Get a discount because you work for the man! Are you an employee of a major organization? Tell Sprint you work for them then! You’ll get anywhere from 7-28% off of your monthly bill. Tip, Chase bank employees get the highest discount (I believe it was 28%). Even if you don’t work there, they don’t ask for proof that you do. ”

Previously, on Street Tech:

Cingular and VerizonRep Tips
T-Mobile Rep Tips

March 11, 2007

Massive Multi-Screened Displays

At first I thought this was a joke, but it’s not. CineMassive sells multi-screen display systems, from two-screeners to six. They even have portable multi-screen units for mobile computers. This sorta screen real estate don’t come cheap. You could certainly do your own for cheaper, but it wouldn’t have the NORAD charm of this monster. It actually does make me sort of wistful for the time I had a dual display on my desk.

March 9, 2007

Game Theory Supports Net Neutrality

Fascinating post on Slashdot:

“‘A world without net neutrality is one devoid of intellectual development’ said Sir Tim Berners-Lee in a presentation to congress last week. Well, now there’s a computer model that uses game theory to back that forecast up. Developed at the University of Florida, the model shows that everyone looses if the IPs get their way — even, eventually, the IPs.”

March 9, 2007

High Definition Hair?

A “high definition” Christian ministry? “High definition” hair? How about “high-def” bark on fireplace logs? Fridge magnets? And you thought “high-definition” was a TV display standard. In this week’s photo essay on CNet, they offer a…ah… high-def look at the many commercial applications of this already shop worn buzzword.

March 9, 2007

T-Mobile Purchasing Tips from Ex Rep

The Consumerist is working up to a complete set of tips for purchasing phones and services from the major wireless carriers. The latest is “11 Confessions of a T-Mobile Sales Rep.” A sampler:

• Shop at the end of the month. T-mobile has a quota system for reps. They’ll be more generous at the end of the month. “Go in to purchase service during the last 5 days of the month. This is the time that is most crucial for store reps and their managers…

• Upgrade over the phone, not in a store. At T-Mobile, reps don’t get paid much for upgrades and don’t care if you get a deal on a phone. Upgrade over the phone to get the best deal…

Read the rest of the piece.

Previous post on Verizon and Cingular tips.