Comment A new means for laptop theft protection? (Score 1) 167
Can this tool be used as a means for laptop theft and loss protection?
Comment surveys of free and open source applications (Score 2, Insightful) 188
There is at least a small number of Linux applications for watches and heart rate monitors, as well as some free and open source tools for bikes, including applications and open hardware for data acquisition from exercise bicycles. You may find (yet little) information about appropriate data formats, too.
Introducing the Warpship 361
astroengine writes "Dr. Richard Obousy, a guy who has put modern science into the warp drive, has designed his very own warpship. Now, for the first time, he's shared it with the world. It might not be the sleek Starship Enterprise, but its structure has been optimized to harness local 'dark energy,' generating a warp bubble so faster-than-light velocities are possible." Now, the only question is: will the ship achieve faster-than-light travel ... or will the company hit those speeds once it has enough money from investors?
Comment Another List for Laptop, PDAs and Mobile Phones (Score 4, Informative) 229
There is also a comprehensive and international list of vendors which provide laptops, notebooks, PDAs and mobile phones with Linux pre-installed. This list is accompanied by a survey of laptop and notebook manufacturers which provide Linux pre-installed, a survey of mobile phones with Linux pre-installed and an overview of media players with Linux pre-installed (these manufacturers are marked with an asterisk).
Submission + - First Open Source Smartphone Discontinued (bernerzeitung.ch) 1
TuxMobil writes: "Bad news for freerunner fans, development of the first Open Source smartphone will be discontinued.
OpenMoko executive director Sean Moss-Pulz told at OpenExpo in Bern (Switzerland)
that the number of staffs will be reduced to be able to stay in business. OpenMoko
had high intentions: the offspring from Taiwanese electronic manufacturer First International Computer (FIC)
wanted to produce an Open Source smartphone. Not only with Open Source software pre-installed, but with
free drivers and open specifications of the hardware components. This would give programmers as well
as users complete freedom. Up to now the manufacturer has produced two models, the first has been sold 3,000 times and
the second one has been bought 10,000 times. Both models were targeted primarily to developers. From the beginning
OpenMoko had to fight with different problems. The smartphones came into market with a huge delay. Some series
came with construction defects. Also changes in the team slowed down the development. Software development
for the current smartphone will be continued but with less resources Moss-Pultz told. He still hopes the
community will support the Freerunner: "Buy the Freerunner, help to correct bugs and write new programms".
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/20/1551200
http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/25/1751228
http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/16/0037221
http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/24/1739200"
Bookmark Free DIY Printer Repair and Modding Guides Released from Repair4Printer (prweb.com)
Submission + - Free DIY Hard Disk Drive Repair and Data Recovery (prweb.com)
wehe writes: "Hard disk drive repair and data recovery usually requires special and expensive equipment, as well as expert knowledge. But for those who don't have the time, effort or money to get professional support, there is Repair4HardDisk, a new Web directory of hard disk drive-related sites, featuring free do-it-yourself repair and recovery guides for hard disk drives (HDDs) from a number of different manufacturers."
Bookmark Repair4HardDisk Launches, Providing Free DIY Hard Disk Drive Repair and Data Rec (prweb.com)
Comment HDD Domino and Modding Ideas (Score 1) 546
You may collect some more HDDs and arrange them into a domino game. See Youtube for videos if you need some tips. Repair4HardDisk has a collection of modding ideas for old or dead hard disk drives, for example making a clock from the platters. Here is a resource of modding ideas for USB sticks, too.
Submission + - Free Laptop Repair and Upgrading Service (repair4laptop.org)
wehe writes: "Repair4Laptop is now offering notebook computer users a valuable service free of charge. Send them a problem notebook computer and they will fix it. Their comprehensive online collection of guides for laptop repair, upgrades, cleaning and modding already constitutes a big repository of notebook computer repair information. But they want to make their collection even bigger and compile additional information to create even more free laptop repair guides covering different computer makers, models, or different repair techniques. Do-it-yourself laptop and notebook repair can be helpful, especially if professional service is expensive or too time consuming. In other cases, people might not want to reveal precious personal data on the hard disk, or they do hardware hacking just for fun."
Comment LinuxGuides for BlackBerrys (Score 1) 135
TuxMobil provides a survey of Linux compatibility and configuration guides for different Blackberry models. Currently only four guides are listed. Not much yet, but a start. But I guess the number of guides in the TuxMobil Linux and mobile phone section will increase soon.
Sending Secret Messages Via Google's SearchWiki 160
We discussed the advent of Google's SearchWiki when it was introduced a few days back. Now Lauren Weinstein offers a thought experiment in transmitting coded messages using SearchWiki, with a working example encoded into the results of this Google search.
Submission + - TuxMobil Surpasses 8,000 Linux Installation Guides (tuxmobil.org)
wehe writes: "TuxMobil, the largest current web directory of Linux and mobile hardware, has surpassed the milestone of 8,000 different installation guides in one place to help users install Linux on their laptop and notebook computers. Because of the growing interest in mobile Linux, the quantity of installation guides has increased rapidly during the past year — more than any other year since TuxMobil's inception in 1997. The installation guides are ordered by manufacturer, distribution and language, and these guides offer hands-on information for almost any laptop model ever produced. BTW: TuxMobil expects to reach its 10,000th guide in 2009."
Comment Blackberry Linux Connectivity (Score 5, Informative) 238
Just in case you want to connect a Blackberry to a Linux PC, here are some guides about Blackberry and Linux connectivity. Not much yet, but a start. There is also the beginning of a survey of Linux applications under GPL useful for the Blackberry.
Comment DIY Data Recovery for Broken HDDs (Score 4, Informative) 205
Just in case you don't want or don't need to order data recovery from a professional service, which is often expensive and takes time, here are some do-it-yourself guides for data recovery from broken hard disk drives. Of course you will not try these approaches if your data are really precious. But it you can afford to loose the data or you don't want to reveal them to others, these guides are worth a try to get the data resurrected.
