Modding the Xbox in 10 Minutes
Xbox modification has come a long way in the past couple years. With the introduction of the TSOP mod, potential modders no longer had to shell out money for a modchip; rather just bridge two points on the Xbox motherboard. Now one doesn’t even have to open up his Xbox. Welcome to the world of soft modding. Using code exploits in certain games, a user is able to load a phony gamesave that will boot into a Linux based operating system and allow a user to mod his Xbox… in under ten minutes. Link.
Keith writes “Found this in the current issue of my daughter’s Highlights magazine: “A six-foot tube of lipstick, a bulldozer, a jukebox–these are just a few of the things kids have built from cans. Across the country, kids compete to construct amazing works of art and help put a dent in hunger.” The winning entries from the 2005 competition are pretty amazing. My favorite is the 3,160 can model of a breaching shark. Very cool. The tornado too. Heck, they’re all cool! Be sure to check out the slide show of past entries as well. There’s a great entry of an Etch A Sketch made from large Hunt’s Tomato cans–complete with artwork on the screen–that looks to be about 7 feet tall!” 
A business called “Robot Village” has opened in Manhattan — basically a robot store where you can buy, rent and even learn to build robots. The store also throws robot theme parties for you, and sells all manner of robot-related gear. The Robot Village is even planning a BATTLEBOT CLASS. [
All electronic devices send out eletromagnetic waves, so does your monitor – and your monitor does it all the time at very high frequencies. High enough for your short wave AM radio. All you have to do is display the “correct” image on your screen and your monitor will emit the “right” signals. Tempest for Eliza displays pictures on your screen. One for each note in the song. 
William writes “Radio Shack has made the 
Two German students have invented a beer mat, or coaster, that uses sensor chips to determine when the beer glass it supports is empty and then radios the bartender for a refill. One of the students interviewed for the story suggested that lifting mugs from sensing mats could double as a voting system during karaoke competitions. [
