iTrip for iPod nano – neat hack…
I really like Griffin’s iPod accessories, mostly because I think they have the best hackers. The new iPod nano iTrip looks like an excellent piece of engineering, but if you look close at the screen they’re not only use the FM add-on in dock mode (screen says disconnect) – the image which is normally a blinking O with a line through it is replaced with a Griffin logo. Digging in the firmware you find these things, but they’re doing this via the dock connector. Nice hack. I hope to take one apart soon. [via] Link.
The main light source of the future will almost surely not be a bulb. It might be a table, a wall, or even a fork. An accidental discovery announced this week has taken LED lighting to a new level, suggesting it could soon offer a cheaper, longer-lasting alternative to the traditional light bulb. The miniature breakthrough adds to a growing trend that is likely to eventually make Thomas Edison’s bright invention obsolete. Thanks Rob! 
If you’re really in to creating and viewing your own panoramic movies VRmag has a lot of good articles, resources and movies (I found the free Windows based pano maker I was looking for there) – the site also uses a a panoramic movie to navigate the site as well. Not exactly how you’d navigate most sites, but quite appropriate for the pano-fans out there. 
This is interesting – Konami and Sony are doing 3D glasses for the PSP and they appear to work with more than just games – since the PSP does web, you could make 3D web sites and your own 3D images to view…3D game playing will be possible with “Metal Gear Acid 2,” scheduled for release on Dec. 8 in Japan. The goggles, to be hooked up to the game console, can also be used to view images other than those of video games. 
John Wiseman rounds up all the details from the Darpa 2005 Grand Challenge and then some. If you’re curious on how the computer driven cars were able to finish the course, along with the comparisons from last year, videos and the course data file – check it out. [
Looks like the Robosapien folks will be adding the Segway balancing technology to their product offerings. Press snippet – WowWee Ltd, parent company of WowWee Robotics, the #1 consumer entertainment robotics company, and Segway Inc., maker of the Segway Human Transporter (HT), today announced they will co-develop a range of WowWee products that will incorporate Segway Smart Motion technology. The best part of this will be picking up a fairly low-cost toy robot that uses Segway Smart Motion, and making something with else with it. 
I’ve been meaning to post this up since I am reminded about it in all the airports I’ve been in lately – On page 96 of the October 6 Rolling Stone, MAKE was named “Hot Magazine” in Rolling Stone’s yearly hot list. It’s on stands now, for another week or so.