Boingboing has a post about Pinatas fashioned after popular cartoon characters and sold by small-time street vendors are the subject of a new legal crackdown by big entertainment companies including Disney. Bummer, but don’t fret- if you really want that Nemo or Winnie the Pooh Pinata Disney Online’s Family Fun shows how to make your own. [via] Link.
DVDFab Decrypter (Win) is a simple version of DVDFab Express. It copies entire DVD movie to hard disk, and removes all the protections (CSS, RC, RCE, Macrovision, UOPs and Sony ARccOS) while copying. Good for when you need to make backups of your DVDs or put a copy of the movie you bought on another device, just like we can with CDs. Link.
The Nerd Vittles staff will be taking a breather for a bit to recharge our batteries. But, in the finest college tradition, we’re leaving you lots of homework. Here’s a listing of what we’ve built thus far in our Mac mini ISP-In-A-Box project. So, while we’re taking it easy, pick out a few projects you haven’t tried and knock yourself out. Any Mac running at least Mac OS X v10.3 aka Panther is a suitable candidate for these projects. Many also have been tested with Tiger. Link.
Today’s stylish PCs may perform billions of calculations a second and store tens of billions of bytes of data, but for many, they have got nothing on the 32, 48 or 64-kilobyte machines that were the giants of the early 1980s. This renewed interest in old-school computing is more than just a trip down memory-chip lane. Early computers are a part of our technological heritage, and also offer a unique perspective on how today’s machines work. And within growing collections of original computers and home-made replicas, and the anecdote-filled web pages and blogs devoted to them, lies the equipment and expertise that will one day help unlock our past by reading countless computer files stored in outmoded formats. [via] Link.
Great article on Digital SLRs- Digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras are the standard tool for serious photographers. With the recent introduction of cameras such as the Nikon D70s and the Canon Digital Rebel XT the market for digital SLR cameras has expanded tremendously. A point-and-shoot compact digital camera can offer reasonably good image quality but a digital SLR, which usually looks a lot like an old standard 35mm film camera and may use the same lenses. Link.
KnoppiXMAME is a bootable CD/DVD image with hardware automatic probing and configuration for playing MAME games. No games are included, but they can be added to the ISO image, as well as new versions of X-MAME, gxmame, and the Linux kernel. If you’re interested in carrying around a CD that can boot just about any computer and turn it in to a retro arcade machine, check this out. Link.
I had no idea honey can last forever. Certain items in your house practically scream “toss me” when their prime has passed. That mysterious extra white layer on the Cheddar? A sure sign it needs to be put out of its misery. Chunky milk? Down the drain it goes. But what about that jar of olives or Maraschino cherries that has resided in your refrigerator since before the birth of your kindergartner? Or the innumerable nonedibles lurking deep within your cabinets and closets: stockpiled shampoo and toothpaste, seldom-used silver polish? How do you know when their primes have passed? Link.
