OMG, NYC MTA on PSP

This one seems kind of obvious, but hey I haven't seen one yet. I also couldn't find one with google. So here ya go.

A NYC Subway Map for the SONY Playstation Portable (PSP.)

Fun, safe and crystal clear. (in fact you could even take the resolution down to save precious memory stick space.)

WARNING:
I am fairly sure I should say you may not use this map. It is not to be downloaded by clicking Here and dropped into a PHOTO folder on your PSP. It should also not be viewed using the magnifying glass (found when you push the triangle button.) And finally you should not use the Joystick to navigate thru the map.

Ok, that should satisfy the boys in legal.

Enjoy.

UPDATE: This map was obtained from www.nycsubway.org and was designed by Michael Calcagno.

Self Serving Caption Contest

"Red Sox vow not to shave 'till winning another series."

Do you know what a caption contest is? Probably, they are all over the web. The picture is provided and the readers write a caption. There is a popular one using cartoons in The New Yorker.

Why am I suddenly doing a caption contest? Because I saw this funny picture and came up with a funny caption. A blog is often a place to stroke ones ego and my ego is going blind.

Got a caption? Leave it in the comments. Thank You BooNYC for sending me the pic link. And somebody tell Rob G. to look at dave's blog today.

UPDATE: THIS GUY is hands down the best caption writer ever. Check out a few. Good luck stopping.

Hey Steve, C'mon already. (or i got an itch that needs to be scratched)

UPDATE: Now that there are rumors a Apple Phone MIGHT be coming. I look at this thing again and realize the Nano portion should be spun around so you wouldn't have to open it to use the player (hecne the blue arrow.)

You get the idea folks.
1000 songs, 1000 contacts, 1000 dollars... I don't care just make it already.

When the ROKR came out with it's 100 songs I was one of many who said "Wait a minute, an iPod Nano and a RAZR glued together would have 1000 songs and still be smaller than the ROKR."

So I have designed the fon+nano. Yes, it is a phone with iTunes, but more importantly it keeps the two gadgets separate. This design gives you your "iPod" the way you've grown to love it AND a phone.

Though I would like the two devices to work together when I push the "Hey, check out this new Hermano song I am listening to right now" button.

UPDATE: Looking at my design again i realize the Nano portion of the device should be flipped so that the closed Phone it just a Music Player.

Games People Play

Take a look at this picture and tell me what you think.

If you think "What are those?" Then perhaps you are at the wrong blog.

Now if you thought "OMG! All the buttons needed to build a control panel for Stargate Defender!" Then we should hang. (Lord knows we probably have the spare time. )

But seriously folks if you did know what those buttons are then you should take a looky here... Gametap.com. These guys are gonna provide thousand of old school (and not so old school) games via the internet by subscription. Ok, you are all like "meh, big deal." Well it just may be a big deal. Think of it as cable for video games. Ya know, like Nick at Night or Cartoon Network or AMC. Its a way to put video games into syndication after they have run their (often way to short) course. I think it could be huge.

Only time will tell of course, but if you'd like to get in on the bottom floor now is the time. Gametap is now taking names (and email addresses of course.) Sign up and you may get to walk the bleeding edge of the technology razor. By playing old video games? YES I SAY!

If you'd really rather just build your own arcade style Stargate Defender there is info HERE that will surely help. (Richie Rock I am talkin' to you!")

Pepsi, Pepsi, Pepsi, Pepsi

Pepsi Machine
Originally uploaded by lowereastside.

Okay, this story isn't really new, but I am betting it will be new to many of you. A post on I-Hacked.com shows you how to make an unsuspecting Pepsi machine your little play thing. Before telling you how, the author states:

"The author of this article and/or I-Hacked.com cannot be held responsible for any act(s) any person(s) has (have) done as a result of reading this article."

And I would like to reiterate the same sentiment.

The basic idea is this, with the right combination of button pushes one can place the Pepsi machine into an administrative mode where they will have the ability to... view sales information, run a diagnostic and more. This particular hack doesn't have a "free soda" button combo, but I am sure without much effort someone will find a mode to change the cost of each beverage.

The interesting thing here is it reminds us that manufacturers only have so many buttons to work with. So they program button combos for operations other than those listed plainly on the buttons. Did you ever call the cable company with a problem and they say "hit MENU, MENU, GUIDE, 2, 4, 3" or something along those lines. Same thing here "Pepsi, Pepsi, Aquafina, Diet, Diet."

Yes, there is a similar hack for Coke machines. And thats not all. Elevators have buttons too right? So?... guess what. Hacks. If you have Google (and I know you do) then I bet you can find out how to put your elevator in express mode and skip everyone else's stop to get to yours.

So in closing, those of you with children (congratulations Walking Spanish and Adam M) don't be so quick to reprimand when the little bstrds start wailing on every bunch of buttons they can get their hands on. They are button phreaking.

What the hell is phreaking?! Wiki it!

Whats Your Vector Victor? (or bloggers love to write about themselves)

So those guns I threw together to make that Nintendo controler post kept taunting me. "Make something with us... make something with us." So I took the opportunty to teach myself to use "paths" in PhotoShop and was amazed how versatile an image suddenly becomes when it has been designed as a vector graphic. I will be expecting an "I told you so" from many including... Benny, Greg, Mike S, Jamie, Patrick and Kuff Daddy. Probably many more. I am kicking myself for not trying sooner.

Those of you unfamiliar with half a dozen terms in this post need only be familiar with one wikipedia

Take The Heat Nintendo

Nintendo Controller
Originally uploaded by lowereastside.

The new Nintendo Revolution controller was revealed today and I know most of you don't give R.O.U.S.'s ass about it, but I do. And if you read my last post you know why. It is innovative and opens up possibilities. Yet all the comments threads I am reading are full of people laughing at it and calling it the "death of Nintendo." This has solidified my opinion that most gamers are not geeks. And that many geeks are posers.

Yes the controler is weird looking and nothing like you are used to. BUT...

Without mutation there can be no evolution.

PS. I made the graphic to make the point that independant controlers for each hand makes sense and is closer to reality.

"The Touch Screen That Touches Back" (or how DaveHimself is affected by technological advances.)

TouchBackScreen
Originally uploaded by lowereastside.

What we have here is a touch-screen. That's one of those screens with pictures of buttons on it that you can push. You know, the ATM, the ticket kiosk and most importantly the touc-screen we use to keep 3 jacks and discard a pair of 3's in a ludicrous attempt at 4 of a kind. Well this screen here has a new trick. Its called Tactile Feedback. When you touch this screen it is capable of sending back info in the form of "tactile force." So it could vibrate or thump or even resist the push of your finger tip. Hence "The Touch Screen That Touches Back" headline that everyone is using.

This post is not so much about the pictured touch-screen as it is about how a geek like me reacts to advancements like this. Stop now and ask yourself what you thought about this new technology as you read. Maybe it was something along the lines of "That's cool, I guess" right? Well when I read it I said "holy crap that is amazing." Not because its hard to do though I am sure it ain't easy. It's that its an amazing and thought provoking advancement in the exchange of information. Since the invention of the CRT in 1897 (if you count plain old indicator lights even earlier) we have been looking to bits of light for info for over 100 years. We have since added millions of lights, color, and animation, but until now the info has only been addressed to one of our senses. Even when we started touching the screens we simply aimed for what we saw. Now a second sense, touch, has been added to the information that "leaves" a screen.

The next phase of a geek's reaction to this is to imagine all of the uses of the new technology. At first glance applications should seem scarce. That is normal, the tech is brand new, but you just keep thinking and things start popping into your head. First the obvious ones. When you push the right button you can feel a friendly "buzz" and when you push the wrong button you get an annoyed "thump." What makes a buzz "right" and a thump "wrong" you ask? Why the manufacturer thats who. The same way the guys who make your computers and your operating systems decided "bing" means correct, yes and finished. While "bong" means incorrect, not allowed or uh-oh.

So now your mind is racing, just what is this tactile feedback really capable of. Could it make touch-screen use accessible to the blind. Could it eliminate all that damn boop boop beep beep you hear while waiting inline at the "cash ma-scene." Hey, there's another benefit, button feedback helps the deaf. (When we push the wrong key we get "bonk," but they don't.) A DJ unit could send the beats per minute to your finger when your ears are busy. Eventually I would say we will get a whole lot of info coming thru our screens and into our fingertips. Don't believe me? Ask video gamers how important "force feedback" is in the games they play and just how much information is relayed to their sense of touch via their "Dual Shock Controllers."

This post was inspired by this story in: Gizmag

((it is also where the picture was stolen)

New Links

MoxieGrrrl
Originally uploaded by lowereastside.

Walking Spanish over at WHITEBELTS recommended MoxieGrrrl.com.

Both are available in the links on the right.

Here is another link: crooks and liars

You Go Joel!

Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop
Originally uploaded by lowereastside.

A few month's back my favorite freelance Technology writer, Joel Johnson
(NYC), left my favorite blog, Gizmodo. He has since started writing articles for Wired News.

Last week he decided to drop what he was doing and head to New Orleans. He is headed there to help "to establish wireless communications networks in the Gulf Coast region."

He has rounded up a team of geeks and is putting them to good use.

Read his post from Gizmodo and see if you can help.

You'd be surprised how much more The Salvation Army, The Red Cross and every other relief organization can get done once their cell phones and laptops are re-connected.

BY THE WAY: Joel is working closely with this guy: Michael "Interdictor" Barnett. You will be hearing alot about this "geek" who stayed in harms to become (like it or not) a hub for the dissiminating of information on the web.