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Don’t Like Hasselhoff? How to Make Your Own Plane!
Posted by Kristin Wenzel Categories: Internet, Misc. Tech, Mods / Hacks,
A couple of days ago, Andru posted directions for making a David Hasselhoff paper plane. Well, I got curious and poked around in Photoshop a bit, and here’s a “how to” for building your own paper plane blueprint with whatever you want on the wings. For the sake of demonstration, I used a picture of Jenna Jameson (don’t worry, it’s not a nudie picture) pulled from Google – who wouldn’t want a plane with Jenna posing on the wings?
- First, I took the original into Photoshop. Then, using the polygon lasso and trial and error, found the degree to which both sides of Hasslehoff’s head were rotated to the left and right, respectively. It’s 17°, by the way. It took a lot of guesswork.
- Then, I took my picture of Jenna and divided it in half, cut half of it (ctrl+x or apple+x) and pasted it into my frame containing hasslehoff. I then rotated it 180° and positioned it, and then rotated it 17° and lined it up perfectly. The same was repeated for the other half, except rotating it -17° (the opposite direction).
- After lining up both halves of the body with the airplane fold lines, I took the polygon lasso again, went to the bottom layer and lassoed the exposed hasslehoff-head, and deleted it. The result? An airplane blueprint with Jenna Jameson, not David Hasslehoff, on the wings.
You can of course use this with whatever image you’d like. Experiment! Send them in! Make one with the GearLive logo! Show your friends! That’s right, I did all the work so you don’t have to.
Full Size Diagram 
| Print Out Kristin’s Jenna-plane
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| David Hasselhoff Plane
If you want to be the opitome of cool while sitting in the back of the class, you need this. What better insult is there than beaning the teacher in the back of the head with an airplane bearing the visage of Michael Knight himself, David Hasselhoff? The answer is simple: None.
Read More | David Hasselhoff Site of Worship
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DVD Jon Cracks Google Video Viewer Software In Under 24 Hours
Posted by Devin Categories: Internet, Mods / Hacks,
DVD Jon, the Norwegian who created software to unlock copy-protection codes on DVD movies about 6 years ago, said he only needed one day to crack the Google video viewer that launched Monday. Keeping true to his word, Jon Lech Johansen posted the software on his “So Sue Me” website that he claims will modify the viewer, allowing it to play videos stored on any server. Google has not yet responded to any emails/messages left early Wednesday morning at its California headquaters, but I’m sure we’ll have their take on this by days’ end.
Read More | So Sue Me
Latest Gear Live Videos
This is one awesome mod. If you have a laptop just lying around, why not put it to use in your living room? With the help of Chris from GrynX, you can gut a laptop and use it to display your favorite photographs and hang it on the wall. What’s great about this mod is that with no hard drive and a wireless connection, this mod is virtually silent looks just like any other picture frames you have set up now. Check it out and be sure to tell us if you give this mod a try. Oh, and let us know if it, you know, impresses chicks.
Read More | GrynX
Spark Fun Mobile Rotary Phone Mini Review
Posted by Sparky Categories: Accessories, Smartphones, Mods / Hacks,
PT from MAKEzine and FlashEnabled has put together a mini-review of Spark Fun’s new rotary mobile phone. I’ve seen some hack projects similar to this, but this is the first commercially available one we’ve come across. I really do miss the old fashioned phones, and once a handset like this comes out that’s a bit cheaper I’ll go buy one for my desk at work. Ideally someone will make a commercially available Bluetooth version of this so it can just act as a headset for the mobile phone left in my bag.
DittyBot Offers Tiger Users A Way To Stream Music Wirelessly From iTunes
Posted by Devin Categories: Mods / Hacks, Portable Audio / Video,
Most of us already have an iPod and iTunes so we can listen to our favorite songs on-the-go, but those of you who use OS X Tiger and have a Skype account with SkypeOut, can now hear your favorite songs on your cell phone. Using a script called DittyBot, Mac users will now be able to email a song request and have the song sent to their phone in about a minute.
You send a text message from your mobile phone to your POP email account. Your text message should contain the keywords of a song title (and possibly an artist name) that you want to hear. DittyBot finds that email (he checks Mail every 45 seconds) and copies the song name into a text file. The song name is then copied into iTunes and a playlist is created from your search. Next, DittyBot loads Skype (the Internet telephony app) and begins calling your mobile phone. Your mobile phone rings and when you pick it up, you should hear your song start playing in all its compressed glory. DittyBot will play your selection to you over your phone until you hang up. Mind you, this all should happen within 1 minute of sending your song request (depending on the speed of your POP server). Sometimes it’s even quicker!
DittyBot is an Apple Automator Workflow and there is a pretty good amount of setup involved, so make sure you pay close attention to the directions.
Read More |Plastic Bugs
Now this I like. Not that it will change any of my, um, habits or anything. It is basically an interface that trys to keep you conscious of exactly how much illegal content you are downloading, with a robust statistics system. If you want to know how much money you owe based on your practices, just check CrimeWire. It will even give you an allowance of sorts if you punch in your wage, basically telling you that since you only make $5.50 an hour, you shouldn’t feel guilty about downloading a maximum of 18 songs per day, or something to that effect. CrimeWire is a skin for the LimeWire P2P client.
Read More | The CrimeWire Project
QuickerTek: Providing Custom-fit High Gain Antennae for Mac Systems
Posted by Kristin Wenzel Categories: Mods / Hacks, PC / Laptop, Wireless / WiFi,
Quickertek is a company I’m keeping my eye on, after reading about their after market antennae built to fit the PowerBook and iBook. Their line of products includes not only range-extenders but also directional and omni-directional antennae that are made to fit your iBook, PowerBook, or any other Apple computer (even the tiniest 12” Aluminum PowerBook G4, the site boasts). And best of all, the parts are made specific to the computer you have, so it seems that their antennae aren’t the typical “one-size-fits-all” nonsense that tends to leave notebook users out in the cold.
First to catch my eye:
QuickerTek’s Whip Pro antenna gives AirPort, Extreme and Express users that extra boost in signal strength, stability and range. A stronger signal-to-noise ratio grabs and holds wireless signals better. You can use the PC Card [PCMCIA] slot and the antenna at the same time for maximum mobile options.
Rock the hell on. A boost to signal strength and mobility is always welcome on this geek girl’s PowerBook. It’s about darn time someone came up with some better after-market antenna options for Mac users, and these seem to fit the bill perfectly - especially all the solutions specific to PowerBook/iBook users, who are typically offered very little when it comes to wireless add-on parts. These products look fantastic and I’m already coveting the WhipPro Antenna for the Aluminum PowerBook G4 15”.
Another thing that piquéd interest is their iBook antenna, which mentions directional antenna add-ons:
The first antenna for all Apple iBooks with AirPort wireless capability, including AirPort Extreme. Get 5.5dBi of power and improve your wireless range and signal strength. iBook users get connections for other QuickerTek external antennas such as directional antennas for war-driving
Well, I know what I want for Christmas. If I can get my hands on one of these babies, I’ll let you know how it goes over, everyone. The prices are somewhat steep but the products seem well made and semi-custom, so I wouldn’t mind if I had the cash. At just shy of $100 for the PowerBook and iBook 5.5dBi version, and $70 for the 2dBi version, I’m sorely tempted.
Read More | Quickertek via TUAW
A lot of mac users have noticed that Spotlight can seem to take over the system, constantly indexing and reindexing for better search ability. This can cause the system to run slow, and frustrate even the biggest fan of Spotlight as a search tool. Never fear, Mac users, our friends over at MacGeekery have come through again with tips and tricks on how to make Spotlight chill out a bit and give your system a break.
Read More | MacGeekery.com
Heat is a computer’s sworn enemy. We have all battled against this element, trying to pump out every last frame out of our PC’s for an eternity. Now, this case modder took his fight a little too far. While most of us have about two, four, maybe six case fans, his case is comprised entirely of 80 cm fans. In theory, you would think this design would freeze your CPU, however, the difference is not much. That leaves us asking - what’s the point? Check out the pictures and guide on his personal web page.
Read More | Peteredge’s PC Case Mod
