Technology
Controlling a Parallel Port with Perl
I was looking for something else, but then found this and figured it might come in handy for something- here’s how to control the parallel port with Perl using a module called Device:ParallelPort. Device::ParallelPort is a Perl API that allows low level access to the parallel port of most computers. It does this by using a number of drivers, which can be customized and added to, including Linux (direct and parport), Win32, Script, Dummy, and more. It also contains a number of direct access devices including an example printer and a relay controller card. Link.
How to Make a Suit Case PC
Clever! I wonder if this would allowed on a plane. This is a tale of my new daily-use computer. It’s a full-function pc, running Windows XP Pro, with an amd athlon xp 3200+ cpu, 768 mb of ram, 3 monitor ports, plenty of usb ports, and a built in 10/100 switch. And it’s a suitcase. It has a handle. It has two latches. I take it to work with me every day, and take it home every night. All it doesn’t have is a CD Drive. Here is its story. Thanks Chris! Link.
iStain: DIY iPod Theft Deterrent
Hadley sent this article in by Gregory Ng– With all this crazy talk about people stealing iPods, we at Apple Matters say, If you can’t stand the thought of someone stealing your iPod, follow these simple steps and rig your pride and joy with the iStain. The iStain equips your iPod with the best in theft deterrent technology. Borrowing the principles of dye packs used in banks, the iStain will literally catch your assailant red handed. Link.
In the Make photo pool Adam Thornton posted a really cool how to on making a 20th century cocktail. Besides it being a useful step by step, Adam used the Comic Maker application “Comic Life” from 
Most Popular Movies and Books on Social Networks
Here’s a really cool way to make a list of movies and books that are most popular among the people who are connected to you at Google’s Orkut. The author describes how he used Perl to construct a list of movies and books that are cited most in the profiles of the people who are at a maximum distance of 2 from him on Orkut. Having such a tool handy offers an interesting way to discover popular movies and books. I wish all social networking sites had this and NetFlix queues. Link.
Widget Hacks
Here’s how you change the Phone Book Widget on Apple’s new Mac OS X Tiger to use Google Maps instead- Hes Nikke on macoshints says…“Mapquest is an aging mapping system and doesn’t fit in with the new shinyness in Tiger. Thats why I made the phone book widget use Google Maps instead”. Link.
