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31 Jul 20:24

A Macbook Air and a Thunderbolt GPU

by Brian Benchoff

GPU

When Intel and Apple released Thunderbolt, hallelujahs from the Apple choir were heard. Since very little in any of Apple’s hardware lineup is upgradeable, an external video card is the best of all possible world. Unfortunately, Intel doesn’t seem to be taking kindly to the idea of external GPUs. That hasn’t stopped a few creative people like [Larry Gadea] from figuring it out on their own. Right now he’s running a GTX 570 through the Thunderbolt port of his MacBook Air, and displaying everything on the internal LCD. A dream come true.

[Larry] is doing this with a few fairly specialized bits of hardware. The first is a Thunderbolt to ExpressCard/34 adapter, after that an ExpressCard to PCI-E adapter. Couple that with a power supply, GPU, and a whole lot of software configuration, and [Larry] had a real Thunderbolt GPU on his hands.

There are, of course, a few downsides to running a GPU through a Thunderbolt port. The current Thunderbolt spec is equivalent to a PCI-E 4X slot, a quarter of what is needed to get all the horsepower out of high-end GPUs. That being said, it is an elegant-yet-kludgy way for better graphics performance on the MBA,

Demo video below.


Filed under: macs hacks
31 Jul 20:09

Beach Closing

Beach Closing
31 Jul 20:09

Six Words

Ahem. We are STRICTLY an Orbiter shop.
31 Jul 20:07

Desperate times call for desperate measures

UPD: We have received a number of proposals that we are discussing right now. Chances are high that public The Old Reader will live after all

image

Since we launched first public version almost a year ago up until March 2013 we have been working on The Old Reader in “normal” mode. In March things became “nightmare”, but we kept working hard and got things done. First, we were out of evenings, then out of weekends and holidays, and then The Old Reader was the only thing left besides our jobs. Last week difficulty level was changed to “hell” in every possible aspect we could imagine, we have been sleep deprived for 10 days and this impacts us way too much. We have to look back.

The truth is, during last 5 months we have had no work life balance at all. The “life” variable was out of equation: you can limit hours, make up rules on time management, but this isn’t going to work if you’re running a project for hundreds of thousands of people. Let me tell you why: it tears us to bits if something is not working right, and we are doing everything we can to fix that. We can’t ignore an error message, a broken RAID array, or unanswered email. I personally spent my own first wedding anniversary fixing the migration last Sunday. Talk about “laid back” attitude now. And I won’t even start describing enormous sentimental attachment to The Old Reader that we have.

We would really like to switch the difficulty level back to “normal”. Not to be dreaded of a vacation. Do something else besides The Old Reader. Stop neglecting ourselves. Think of other projects. Get less distant from families and loved ones. The last part it’s the worst: when you are with your family, you can’t fall out of dialogues, nodding, smiling and responding something irrelevant while thinking of refactoring the backend, checking Graphite dashboard, glancing onto a Skype chat and replying on Twitter. You really need to be there, you need to be completely involved. We want to have this experience again.

That’s why The Old Reader has to change. We have closed user registration, and we plan to shut the public site down in two weeks. We started working on this project for ourselves and our friends, and we use The Old Reader on a daily basis, so we will launch a separate private site that will keep running. It will have faster refresh rate, more posts per feed, and properly working full-text search — we are sure that we can provide all this at a smaller scale without that much drama, just like we were doing before March.

The private site?

Accounts will be migrated to the private site automatically. We will whitelist everybody we know personally, along with all active accounts that were registered before March 13, 2013. And of course, we will migrate all our awesome supporters and people who donated to keep the project running (if you sent us bitcoins, please get in touch to get identified). Later this week your account will get a distinct indication whether it will be migrated to the private site or not. If you see that message and believe that it’s wrong, or if all your friends are getting migrated and you are left behind — please, drop us a line.

Give me my data!

You will have two weeks to export your OPML file regardless of our decision. OPML export link is located at the bottom of the Settings page — use the top-right menu to get there. All posts that you saved for later by using Pocket integration will obviously remain in your Pocket account.

But you could…

For those who would like to start the usual “VC, funding, mentor” or “charge for the damn thing” mantras — please, spare it. We’re not in the Valley where it might be super-easy, and, after all, not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur. We just love making a good RSS reader.

We really want The Old Reader to be a big and successful project, with usable free accounts. But this is not possible to achieve with what we have, so unless someone resourceful takes over the project and brings it to the next level, it is not gonna happen. We had over 2 000 new registrations after the blackout last week. This is amazing and sad at the same time.

If anyone is interested in acquiring The Old Reader and making it better, we are very open and accepting proposals at hello@theoldreader.com. We would be waiting for them for two weeks, supporting and maintaining The Old Reader as usual. Please don’t write us if you don’t have resources to maintain a site used by tens of thousands of people every day, or if you don’t know how you would improve The Old Reader. And please spare our time if you just want to buy the domain name and park a bunch of silly ads there — it’s not going to happen.

We value our community very much, and we will either pass the project to somebody who we know is going to take a good care of it, or we will switch it to private mode.

What next?

From one point of view, it’s not a big deal: “RSS is obsolete”, nobody died, we don’t owe anybody anything, you name it. Also, there are a lot of good readers around to choose from, a large part of them is smaller than The Old Reader and had not experienced growing pains of 80 000 daily active users in no time. But for us, it’s heartbreaking.

I will finally get back to work on my small studio — Bespoke Pixel — which has been run by my awesome partner all this time. Dmitry will keep being bright young software developer, making scalable and beautiful projects. Our team will stay together, and will keep working on making the private version of The Old Reader awesome.

We feel great responsibility for the project. We’d rather provide a smooth and awesome experience for 10 000 users than a crappy one for 420 000.

Sorry, each and everyone if we failed you. You are an incredible, supportive and helpful community. The best we could possibly hope for.

All the love,
Elena Bulygina and Dmitry Krasnoukhov

31 Jul 15:43

StarMade: MINECRAFT EVE ONLINE

by Cara Ellison

MINECRAFT EVE ONLINE
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31 Jul 15:27

Support Boobjam, A Game Jam About Boobs

by Cara Ellison


Lovely friend and colleague at Unwinnable Jenn Frank is not only one of my favourite writers about games, but she is also compassionate and intelligent and has come up with a great idea. Instead of complaining about the portrayal of breasts in games, why don’t we make more games about them? Specifically, why don’t we make games about all the different ways that we encounter them, and not just as some jiggle physics in Dead or Alive?

Read on for more details on the Boob Jam. (more…)

31 Jul 04:12

How To Extend Your Wi-Fi Network With An Old Router

by Adam Dachis
TheDanger

looks at mong

When you upgrade to a faster, better router, don’t throw out your old one. You can turn it into a repeater that will carry your Wi-Fi signal to the dark corners of your home. More »
   
 
 
30 Jul 14:25

Zoom Zoom Zoombies: DayZ In Arma 3

by Nathan Grayson

Even zombies can't help but stop to admire higher-res textures.

Dean “Rocket” Hall has no plans to port DayZ into Arma 3‘s shiny new MAXIMUM GRAPHICSABILITYROCKABILLY engine, but fans? Well, they’re free to do as they please. And so, the Zoombies mod was born. It is, for all intents and purposes, the DayZ Arma 2 mod transferred directly into Arma 3. Same models, weapons, and systems, but with lots of sleek, seductive makeup for the zombies and glorious goodies like a streamlined inventory. Sounds like quite the thing, huh? It’s not quite DayZ Standalone, but bravo nonetheless.

(more…)

30 Jul 06:13

Aussie Start-Up Launches 'Anti-Energy' Drink

by Chris Jager
Koala Karma is a “relaxation beverage” billed as the antitheses of energy drinks like V and Red Bull. In place of caffeine, guarana and other alertness-boosting ingredients, the drink comes with a chilled-out mix of passionflower, hops, chamomile, tryptophan, valerian and magnesium citrate. More »
   
 
 
30 Jul 06:11

No Balloons For You! Helium Prices Set To Skyrocket

by Chris Jager
A worldwide shortage of helium will cause prices to inflate by as much as 3000% over the coming decade, scientists have warned. And you thought children’s parties were expensive now… More »
   
 
 
22 Jul 05:51

Atari Auction Implies New Chris Taylor’s Total Annihilation

by Jim Rossignol


Everything is in place for Chris Taylor to make a sequel to Total Annihilation, thanks to Wargaming picking up the Total Annihilation IP in a recent auction of Atari properties. Taylor, of course, came under the armoured umbrella the World Of Tanks company when they purchased Gas Powered Games earlier this year. By connecting the inevitabilities, we can see what needs to happen here. Wargaming also picked up Masters Of Orion, while Rebellion got Battlezone (I predict a speculative nostalgia Kickstarter there) and Stardock got the Star Control IP.

Thanks, Kevin.

22 Jul 05:50

OMG! It's real!

by Lydia Marks
Via
18 Jul 02:46

Evolution in action.

by Lydia Marks
18 Jul 01:26

The Medical Checkups You Should Get For Each Decade Of Your Life

by Alan Henry
We’re all busy people, but if there’s one thing you should always make time for, it’s to get to the doctor for regular checkups and age-appropriate preventative tests. But it can be difficult to know which types of tests you should ask your doctor about at what stage of your life. This graphic breaks it down nicely. More »
   
 
 
17 Jul 22:45

SimCity Leads Depart EA To Go Indie, Grade Jelly

by Nathan Grayson

I was going to begin this post with a lament of “Oh, SimCity,” but then I discovered that Adam had already done that in our most recent piece on the fallen city-building empire. Describes the dismal set of circumstances surrounding the game rather perfectly, though, doesn’t it? Nearly everyone’s agreed that EA’s overly simplified, always-on catastrophe – which is said to be the subject of Syfy’s next disaster flick, SimCitynadovolcanoavodcado – botched its landing, and now it seems that a trio of its own developers agree. Fortunately, instead of leaving games altogether and becoming doctors/lawyers/mathletes like their mothers wanted, former creative director Ocean Quigley, lead architect Andrew Willmott, and lead gameplay engineer Dan Moskowitz have formed an indie studio called Jellygrade. Their first project is – what else? – a simulation.

(more…)

17 Jul 22:31

Ant Candy

by Conner Flynn

If you are looking for some candy with a bit of protein in it, look no further than Ant Candy…made with real ants! How many times have ants ruined your day? Maybe they got in your pants or ruined a picnic. Well, now you can have some revenge. Ant Candy is made from real ants. [...]
17 Jul 22:28

Geek Toys : Game of Thrones Stark Shield Limited Edition Prop Replica

Follow Robb Stark into battle and fight for the north with this House Stark direwolf collectable infantry shield. This steel collector's edition shield is a detailed replica of the House Stark shields from the HBO Game of Thrones TV show. Each limited edition shield is crafted from high-quality materials and includes a wall mount for display. $299.99
17 Jul 04:47

Sorry Wilson.

by Lydia Marks
Via
17 Jul 04:13

Discovery: Cow's Milk.

by Lydia Marks
17 Jul 02:03

Presented without comment.

by Lydia Marks
Via
17 Jul 01:54

Good Old Race Milk

wtf,milk,bikes,funny,cows

Submitted by: Unknown

Tagged: wtf , milk , bikes , funny , cows
16 Jul 22:43

World Beer Map Highlights The Most Popular Brew So You Can Drink Like The Locals

by Angus Kidman
TheDanger

VB? Really?

We recently showed you how to order a beer in different languages across Europe. This map is a useful complement: it shows the most popular beers across the globe, suggesting options to order as you roam the planet. More »
   
 
 
16 Jul 11:17

Star Wars Darth Vader Lunch Bag with Sound

by James Kelly

“Brown Baggin’ It” will never be the same. The Star Wars Darth Vader Lunch Bag with Sound should be cool enough to even convince Google staffers to bring a lunch to work…or at least to bring the lunch bag The insulated Darth Vader lunch bag resembles Lord Vader’s helmet and features a push button sound [...]
12 Jul 05:57

Metro: Last Light - $0.01 PC Steam Key via Best Buy

by Anthony
Looks like a pricing error. It requires a fake US address in order to purchase, but the code is emailed. Note also that you can use an Australian credit card, but not an Australian PayPal account.
10 Jul 22:05

DekkoScan Takes Pics And Builds Minecraft Worlds

by Craig Pearson

staring eye
Yes, I am reporting on an iPhone app, but one that has interesting implications for the PC version of Minecraft, as well as science-fiction. While drifting through the Reddit rapids this morning, I happened upon DekkoScan and did a double-take. It’s a phone app that allows you to take pictures of objects and turn them into Minecraft maps, which seems like something that should already exist. It’s currently awaiting Apple’s approval (aren’t we all), but soon you’ll be able to photograph anything and cram them into Minecraft. Great! Now I have to worry about a wizard taking my photo and turning me into a hill in Minecraft. The horror of being hollowed out, chipped away, or reformed into a penis statue is creeping me out.
(more…)

10 Jul 21:59

How To Practise Safe Sexting Without Resorting To Digital Abstinence

by Eric Ravenscraft
The rule with sexting is that if you don’t want everyone to see photos of you, don’t send them to anyone. This is good advice, but it’s also an “abstinence only” approach. If you decide to go through with it, there are ways to protect yourself. More »
   
 
 
10 Jul 04:37

Health Warning: Your Smartphone Can Explode In Your Pants

by Chris Jager
Most modern smartphones are thin and light enough to comfortably fit inside your pants pocket. However, this can occasionally turn into a grievous error (complete with grievous bodily harm), as a woman in Switzerland recently learned to her sorrow… More »
   
 
 
09 Jul 22:47

Home & Office : TrueClean Towels

Face goes here, butt goes there. Drying your body after your shower is all well and good, but after smearing your face onto your towel, are you sure your butt wasn't there yesterday? You can never be sure. Until now! Face goes in one spot, your... other bits... go down there. $19.99
09 Jul 22:24

Hack It: In-refrigerator egg monitoring

by Mike Szczys

hack-it-egg-sensor

Here’s a concept piece that monitors the eggs in your refrigerator. It’s still in development and we don’t think the general public is ready for digital egg monitoring quite yet. But we love the concept and want to hear from you to see if you could develop your own version.

What we know about the device is that — despite the image which makes smart phone proximity seem important — it connects to the Internet from inside your fridge. It will tell you how many eggs you have left, and even tracks the date at which each entered your refrigerator.

So, what’s inside this thing and who can build their own the fastest? We’ll cover some specs and speculate a bit to get you started: There’s a light sensor to detect when the door opens and an LED below each egg to illuminate the oldest. We think the light sensor triggers a microcontroller that uses each of the egg LEDs as a light sensor as well. If the threshold is too low then there is indeed an egg in that cup. We also like the fact that the tray has fourteen slots; as long as you don’t buy eggs until you have just two left you’ll always have room.

If you build one we want to know. We’re thinking 3D printed cups, low-power microcontroller, but we’re kind of stumped on the cheapest WiFi solution. Leave your thoughts in the comments.

[via Reddit via NY Daily News via Mind of Geek]


Filed under: cooking hacks
09 Jul 08:28

Asus Nexus 7" Tablet 32GB Wi-Fi $199 Delivered @ DSE

by theearth
Asus Nexus 7" Tablet 32GB Wi-Fi $199 Delivered @ DSE

Hi

Bargain of the evening is here

Please enjoy

Asus Nexus 7" Tablet 32GB Wi-Fi $199 Delivered or in store @ DSE

Offer starts online 5pm AEST today and in store tomorrow

Need to add to cart for $199 price to show

Powered by Cortex-A9 NVIDIA Tegra Quad Core processor, the Asus Google Nexus 7" Tablet 32GB browses the web at blazing speeds, providing a snappier response time and better performance when multi-tasking.

Key Features
• 7 Inch Powerful Tablet
• Cortex-A9 NVIDIA Tegra Quad Core processor
• IPS 350 nits
• 1280 x 800
• 9hrs battery life
• Android OS (Android Jelly Bean)
• 802.11 b/g/n