Category Archives: Technology

New Radio

Posted on by

So I got a great deal on an XM Radio MyFi. It’s basically an XM radio Walkman. Granted here on Long Island, it’s not that usefull, but in the city it’s great. Major metropolitan areas have land-based repeaters, kind of like cellphones do, to provide coverage where satellite reception is low or impossible. The main reason I wanted these units though is because they can time shift, and more importantly, be programmed to record at specific times.

Often when I listen to Opie and Anthony, I wind up hearing the same bits during their replay since I catch the same parts of the show, so now I’ll be able to record the show, and during all my driving or hanging out @ home, I’ll be able to listen to the entire show, stopping it when I get out of the car and resuming it when I get back in.

Unfortunately, I will be cancelling my XM subscription. At least for 30 days while O&A are suspended. I bought XM radio specifically to listen to O&A because I want to listen to over the edge radio. They were suspended for just what I wanted the service for, so I expect that XM will give me a refund for the 30 days. If not I think I’ll cancel my subscription for the month that O&A is off the radio. The music channels are good, but not worth paying for and I’m not really a Ron & Fez fan.

Playstation Portable Hacked

Posted on by

I’ve recently reached a milestone in my life which I have been working on for approximately 5 years. Since Jillian’s opened two locations in Farmingdale and Westbury, I have been a fan of playing video games and winning small prizes. As Jillian’s was bought by Dave and Busters, I was worried that saved tickets might be lost, but D&B was good enough to honor the previous company’s vouchers. with about 15,000 tickets from Jillian’s as a start, I began saving up for the big prizes. 2 weeks ago, I secured a Playstation Portable for 41,000 tickets (and thanks to a donation of 7000 tickets from Casey, picked up GTA: Vice City too!)

There’s a lot of web sites out there that you can download home-brew or even actual games for the PSP, but in order to play them, you need a really old version of the PSP software. Even my PSP had a fairly recent version so I had to hack it to get the capability. I researched a few sites online and will get more technical below, but mainly, I was able to revert back to the older software and then upgrade to a hacked version of the newer software. Now I am able to play current games that I buy or download, home-brew games and even Playstation 1 games that are ripped from CD and prepared for the PSP.

 

I picked up a Sony Playstation Portable from Dave & Busters with the 2.71 firmware on it. It also has a TA-082 motherboard which for the longest time could NOT be hacked. There’s infinite warnings on websites saying NOT to run certain firmware updates on a TA-082 system, but some of them are outdated and pre-date the newer hacks which work properly. If you have one of these motherboards, be cautious, but once you downgrade it seems that you’re in the clear.

I found a TA-082 friendly downgrader that could bring me down to version 1.5 of the firmware, but I had to install the Home brew Enabled, HEN-D. Once I installed HEN and the system settings displayed version 2.71 HEN-D, I was able to downgrade the system to 1.5. Once at 1.5 I was able to run most (but not all) downloaded and home brew games. Some games wouldn’t run, including those I had on UMD (Universal Media Disc) but that was fixed by running DevHook.

DevHook is a great application that emulates different firmware versions. While my base system was 1.5, I could emulate up to version 3.11 and access any resources necessary on my PSP. There were some bugs, such as if I didn’t pick the right emulation, I couldn’t use Wi-Fi and some of the Playstation games wouldn’t run properly

Research found that 2.71 could be downgraded to 1.5 after installing HEN, a Home brew Enabler. I installed HEN (I think it was HEN-D) and then ran the downgrader. I admit I was sweating as my PSP reverted to tex-only mode and went through it’s reboot cycle. After a short amount of time, the PSP reboot and started up. System settings showed version 1.5. I was successful in downgrading the PSP!

I installed 2 versions of DevHook so I could emulate various different revisions of the firmware (depending on what I wanted to run). The newer versions couldn’t support the Wifi, but the older versions that could, weren’t new enough to play GTA:VC.

The next step was to install a hacked firmware. After chatting with a few people online, they recommended that I not go for the most recent version but a slightly older one that was more reliable yet had all the features I wanted. I installed Firmware 3.03 Open Edition Revision C (3.03 OE-C).

The hacked PSP now gives me a few benefits:

* Recovery Mode
I could recover if future hacks/updates fail! Previously, if there were any problems downgrading or upgrading firmware, I could render my PSP useless, and since Sony does not warranty a hacked PSP, I would have a $200 paper weight.

* Play ISO images of UMD games.
I could download games from UMDs (Universal Media Discs) or the Internet and play them straight off the memory card. This is much better than carrying around a handful of UMDs and having to switch them each time.

* Play ripped PS1 Games
I can download or rip my old Playstation CDs and encode them to be played on the PSP.

PSP TA-082 2.71 -> 2.71 HEND -> 1.5 -> 3.03 OE-C!

Cheap Bluetooth Recommendation – the Cardo Scala 500!

Posted on by

If you’re looking for a Blue-tooth headset for your phone, STOP! I have recently tried out a bunch of them and have found the best ones NOT to be the expensive ones.

My first headset was a Cardo Scala 700. The reviews for it were great except that it was a bit uncomfortable. The performance on it was outstanding but I agree, it wasn’t the most ergonomically pleasing. It did have an adjustable earpiece which was not bad once adjusted right, but it took a while to get it right and the in-ear portion pressed against the bones in your ear which was fine unless pressure was applied to it (i.e. hitting the buttons). The size is small and it comes with a great belt pouch for carrying it around. I didn’t have it in the pouch and I lost it.

My second headset was a Motorola H700. Cute headset. Small. Very comfortable. People complained about my voice and I couldn’t hear anyone if there was any background noise. My hearing isn’t the best, and it just didn’t get that loud. I traded it in the next day.

It’s replacement was, believe it or not, the lower model, Motorola H500. It was a bit bigger, but certainly not as sexy as the H700. Performed a lot better though. My biggest complaint is that it sat on your ear and didn’t have a very good grip. It would occasionally wiggle and pivot away from my ear. The audio was louder than the H700 but still nowhere near as loud and clear as the Cardo Scala. Also, like the H700, it did not protrude into your ear at all, so at times I had to press it against my ear to hear in noisier situations.

After a game of DDR at Dave & Busters, I managed to lose this headset. I was a bit disappointed at the time, but one thing I always stood behind was the fact that things happen for a reason. It wasn’t the end of the world. The day before, I had gotten a great offer for a different Cardo Scala model for only $20. Now I had the chance to take advantage of it.

I received my Cardo Scala 500 the other day, and it’s been an absolute pleasure! It’s a bit bigger than the Cardo Scala 700 but much MUCH more comfortable. So far I have not had any trouble hearing anybody on it. I was able to listen to Opie and Anthony at work during my lunch break with background noise and the television on. Nobody has complained about how I sounded, and so far I was told It was clear. The earpiece extends slightly into your ear, but not as much as to be uncomfortable. It’s an absolute pleasure, and it is the cheapest headset of all the ones I tried. The only downside I found so far is that it doesn’t come with the nifty (There’s that word again) belt pouch, but I may just order one for $5 from Cardo direct.

Check Froogle for good prices.

How to get Windows Vista at Target for $0.02

Posted on by

For only $0.02, You to can buy THIS:

 

Yes, That’s a picture of the box from Windows Vista (Both Home Premium and Ultimate Upgrade). I picked both of those up from Target for $0.01 each. That’s ONE CENT each! I have had experiences where Target had products mismarked so I brought the tag up to the counter and actually got the discounted price, so I brought the Display Box for Vista along with the shelf tags reading $0.01 and asked an associate what the policy was on mismarked items (Wal-Mart gives you off the mismarked price if they actually mis-label a price!). He followed me back and upon seeing the tags advised me that the tags were the price of the “Display Boxes” but the real software was [insert price here…Hint, Above $200].

I chuckled and asked if I could buy the box. “Knock yourself out” he said as he walked away. So I did what any good person would do. I took the displays and the tags up to the register. I figured I’d get a few laughs and maybe kicked out, but no. The girl at the register scanned the shelf tags after failing to find a bar code on the package itself and sold me the displays for $0.02. I laughed, handed her two pennies, and took my bag with the Microsoft Displays.

I don’t think I could have laughed any harder on my way out! They sold me the store displays for pennies… Literally! Now, I do wonder what would have happened if I took a real copy of Windows Vista up, advised the clerk the price was different on the scanner and the shelf. Would she have rung up the $200 Windows Vista for only $0.01? I did get a Slip & Slide from Target once for $1.50 because the shelf label read it (though it scanned at $10 and change, they adjusted it for me). Too bad I’m an honest person or I might have tried it and they would have been down $200 in one shot.

Hmmm Maybe I could head down to Target with $20 and buy a few shopping carts worth of Displays 🙂 Maybe even some with working units build into them. lol

Where are you at?

Posted on by

After reading an article about what tech toys our former presidents would be playing with today, I figured I’d place a marker on my LiveJournal and note what my current pleasures are for comparison in a few years.

The original article is at http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/19/what-tech-would-the-presidents-rock-in-2007/

OS
Currently running a combination of Windows XP Pro SP2 and Ubuntu Linux (6.06-LTS Server and Workstation)

Computer
Main PC is a P4 3.06Ghz Laptop

Media Player
Pocket PC Device (See below) – Does not subscribe to the iPod theory (No need for a portable music player, though I stockpile MP3s from any and all CDs I can!)

HD Format
Love the concept, but not willing to shell out the big bucks for the slightly better quality picture. In time, the costs will come down and thats when I’ll jump on the bandwagon. Being an early adopter has financial disadvantages which I’m not willing to accept right now.

Carrier
SprintPCS, Love EVDO! and the pricing is now becoming reasonable along with the coverage!

Console
Still stuck in the 80’s. Fav is the classic NES, though I do sport a PS2. I’d probably chose the PS3 over XBox and Wii though the hefty price tag deters me from that purchase. I’m not much of a gamer, so in time, when I can pick one up for under $200 I might make the investment, but for now it would just be a waste of money.

Vehicle
Supercharged 6cyl 2-door sedan…Pontiac Grand Prix GTP. Would consider a new one or waiting for my love, The Firebird, to be re-released.

Handheld
Referring back to the carrier, the UT Starcom 6700 (Released for SprintPCS as a PPC6700) gives me a 600Mhz ARM processor (factory underclocked at 415Mhz) with Bluetooth, Wifi, GPRS, EVDO, a MiniSD slot (with a 2GB chip popped in), IR, touch screen, and even a slide-out keyboard! I can do everything from make calls, listen to music, watch TV (Slingbox rocks!), and surf the Internet right from a small device that sits on my belt.

I’ll set this post as a memory on LJ and review it again in a year or two and see what’s changed.