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Toyota Prius camper conversion

Posted by Andrey Malskiy Categories: Mods / Hacks, Transportation

prius camper conversion

The Toyota Prius has become an icon in the hybrid world. From celebrities praising the second generation Prius, to Toyota growing a single car into a family of vehicles, the Prius has come a long way. Though, for some, it hasn’t come far enough. The Japanese conversion company Campinn has decided to take the Prius down the Frankenstein route.

The Prius Camper debuted at the Tokyo Auto Salon, consisting of one part Toyota Prius hatchback and one part truck camper. Made of fiber-reinforced plastic that extends the car’s length to 196 inches and its height to about 82 inches, it makes the Prius look as if it has a cancerous lump growing on it. The interior amenities are limited to a skylight, a sleeping area up top, and a convertible sofa bed on the bottom. Though I’m not sure how useful and versatile this thing is, people will now have the option of camping in a hybrid. However, the most convenient feature of the Prius camper is its back door, allowing the owner an escape while people laugh at the monstrosity.

Read More | Autoblog

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Hack uses front-facing camera adds 3D display to iPad 2

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Mods / Hacks

No, it's not an iPad 3 rumor. Rather, some innovative people from the Engineering Human-Computer Interaction Research Group have rigged the 2D display of the Apple iPad 2 for a glasses-free 3D perspective.

Using a feed from the front-facing camera coupled with some clever software hacks, the group was able to create what it calls the Head-Coupled Perspective (HCP).

"It is based on [an] efficient head-tracker that uses the front-facing camera of the device," said a description on the group's Web site. "We use an off-axis projection in order to adapt the perspective of the 3D scene according to the head's position of the user. Such spatially-aware mobile display [is able] to improve the possibilities of interaction."

Click to continue reading Hack uses front-facing camera adds 3D display to iPad 2


Sony sues PlayStation 3 fail0verflow hackers

Posted by Drea Avellan Categories: Culture, PlayStation 3, Sony

sony ps3 hackers fail0verflow

However popular  hacking or moding consoles has become, one thing remains true -- it's Illegal. A fact Sony is not willing to overlook. Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA ) is suing 21 year-old hacker George Hotz (AKA "geohot") and more than 100  members of fail0verflow, who contributed to the release of the PlayStation 3's root key. However, this is not new to Sony. Last year Hotz published an exploit for the PlayStation 3, but it wasn't until this year that the hackers released a complete "jailbreak" of the system. "SCEA charged Hotz and the others with violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, plus breaches of California copyright law, breach of contract, and other violations. SCEA also asked the court for a temporary restraining order preventing the plaintiffs from posting any code, including the so-called Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm keys, encryption keys, dePKG firmware decrypter, or other tools."  Restraining order? Ouch. 

This restraining order has been set in motion to prevent Hotz to post the jail break information on this website. But we all know this never works, right?

Read More | Games Industry

Turn your Windows Phone 7 into a USB mass storage drive

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Cell Phones, Microsoft, Mods / Hacks, PC / Laptop, Software

windows phone 7 usb drive

Looking to add media to your Windows Phone 7 device by simply dragging and dropping? The second week of WP7 reveals a new hack that a quick registry modification will fix. After you complete just three entry modifications in your Windows registry, you'll be able to use your WP7 as a USB mass storage device. This will only work on the computer where the registry changes were made, but it's better than nothing, right? Check out the link below to learn how to edit your PCs registry.

Read More | Windows Phone Central

Microsoft Kinect hacked to work with Linux

Posted by Patrick Lambert Categories: Accessories, Mods / Hacks, Video Games

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Just a few hours ago a video surfaced on Twitter that showed the Microsoft Kinect sensor working on a PC running a Linux open source driver, just 3 hours after the European launch. The driver manages to read the input from both the video and the depth camera on the Kinect, making the information available to PC software. This was done using an open source driver now available online. Of course, this has no immediate use for you and me, but it's the first step that can lead to many cool things. Ever since Kinect was announced, people have commented that it could be used for a myriad of scenarios, such as a cheap motion capture device for animators, or a security system, which could recognize familiar faces and block intruders. Now that it's been demonstrated that the system can indeed be hacked into and linked to a normal PC, expect more code to be written to take advantage of these features in the coming months.

Read More | Open Source Kinect driver

30 reasons to jailbreak your iPhone

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Mods / Hacks, Software

So, you've heard all about this iPhone jailbreak stuff, but haven't ever taken the plunge? The folks over at ReadWriteWeb have put together 30 reasons why you might wanna consider it. While the team "jailbreak" might sound a bit scary, what you are basically doing by jailbreaking your device is enabling the ability to install apps that aren't in the App Store because Apple wouldn't accept them for one reason or another. In the video above, for example, you get a look at FolderEnhancer, a tweak that allows you to put as many apps into a folder as you'd like, swipe between pages in a folder, and even put folders inside of other folders.

Another of our personal favorites, BiteSMS, makes the list as well, and it's basically SMS the way Apple should have implemented it in the first place. You can reply directly from the notification, send an SMS from anywhere (without having to go into the actual Messaging app,) and much more. There are other tweaks that enable things like FaceTime over 3G (removing the Wi-Fi-only restriction,) and the fantastic SBSettings, which gives you access to toggle a bunch of buried iPhone features off and on from anywhere.

Head on over to ReadWriteWeb for the full list.

Read More | ReadWriteWeb

Dreamcast VMU case for iPod Nano

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Accessories, Apple, Mods / Hacks, Portable Audio / Video, Video Games

ipod nano dreamcast vmu

There’s still a bit of Dreamcast nostalgia left around in the air circulating from it’s recent 11th anniversary and revival on Xbox Live and PSN. So what else can you do to pay tribute to that great system that died before its time? How about encasing your new in the VMU? It may be a bit bulky in comparison to the nano, but its a cool way of showing off your Sega pride and general geekery. Imagine the look on peoples’ faces when you pull a VMU out of your pocket and nonchalantly start touching the screen and playing music. Priceless.

Check out the video after the jump.

Click to continue reading Dreamcast VMU case for iPod Nano

Read More | Kotaku

War Machine decal for MacBook add another level of geekery

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Design, PC / Laptop

War Machine Macbook Decal

Not to be outdone by the Iron Man Macbook decal, War Machine now has one of his very own. You can get one for any or , 13-, 15-, or 17-inch models. Available now on Etsy.

Read More | Etsy

Fletch Creations Combo-sensing Super-Tips LED Inserts

Posted by Finnian Durkan Categories: Accessories, Design, Mods / Hacks

Pen Spinning Super-tipsWhile scrolling through tech websites earlier today I came across something pretty cool: a website called Fletch Creations. Fletch Creations is producing Combo-Sensing inserts for Super-Tips pens. For the uninitiated, Pen Spinning (or ‘pen mawashi’ in Japan where the pastime has been popular since the 1970’s) is a form of contact juggling involving the deft manipulation/spinning of a pen in various combinations.

What Fletch Creations has done is to create a neat little LED insert that fits into Super-Tips pens—the pens preferred in most Pen Spinning circles—that has 3 lights that can be lit up in succession increasingly complex patterns depending upon the speed and combinations that the spinner is able to achieve.  Whereas I struggle to get more than one blinking LED to light up, highlighting my Lobster Boy-like manual dexterity, my high-school friend Chris is able to produce a better light-show than Timothy Leary ever saw on one of his best hallucinogen benders. Needless to say the color combos he was able to achieve were pretty impressive and emphasized the extent to which you can take pen spinning.  Fletch Creations has come up with an original idea that can add enjoyment to an already entertaining medium.  It may also allow me to appear a lot hipper when conversing with my Vampire Weekend-listening teenage relatives.  “So, you kids dig this internets thing right?  I really enjoy that Friendster…”  Well, there may be no helping me but anyone else should see a definite up-tick in their street-cred.  Check ‘em out.

Read More | Fletch Creations

iPhone runs Windows 95, we’re scared

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Microsoft, Mods / Hacks, Software, Videos

Oh yes, my friends, the can run Windows 95. Sure, it’s not as easy as downloading it from the App Store or anything, but still, you’ve gotta give mad props to a dev who can work this kind of magic on a jailbroken iPhone. Check out the video above for a glimpse of both the past and the future. Hold us.

[via Gizmodo]


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