Category: Random Ramblings

Anything that catches my fancy as a topic I want to cover. Truly random crap.

PlayStation 1 emulator for the PSP

(via Engadget)

What’s a hacker going to do with a new gadget? The thing to do now-a-days seems to be either try to get Linux to run on it or get an emulator to run on it. In the case of the PSP, a hacker going by the name Yoshihiro has released a beta of PSX-P, a PlayStation 1 emulator for the PSP. There’s even a YouTube video showing off the emulator. So the hacking community has apparently beaten Sony to the punch on releasing a PS1 emulator for the PSP.

Now for the bad news on this. Some research on the released binary have shown that PSX-P is based on the PCSX emulator, which has been released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). While this means the software can be used for a derivative work like PSX-P, it also means that PSX-P cannot legally be released without also making the source code available as well. Furthermore, PSX-P also contains code from P.E.Op.S. and SDL, two other GPLed software packages. This means that you might have trouble finding the PSX-P binary until source is released, as many people in the emulator community believe strongly in the GPL and will not provide software based on GPL code until the source for the derivative software is also provided.

Additionally, the emulator currently only runs about 10 frames per second. So more tuning and tweaking will be necessary to get this to at least 30 FPS, with even higher framerates desireable to allow for more complex games which might otherwise slow down too much to be playable. And finally, you’ll need to track down SCPH1001.BIN, the PS1 BIOS, in order to use the emulator. To actually play a game, once you have the BIOS you will need to rip your PS1 CD to an ISO image to put on a memory stick.

So there are some obstacles to using this emulator, assuming you can track it down. But if you get it, you can be the first geek on your block playing all the cool PS1 titles on your PSP.

[tags]PlayStation 1 emulator for PSP, Play your PS1 games on your PSP[/tags]

What I’m working on

Since things have been slow around here lately, I thought I’d put up a
little bit about things I’m working on now. Posting-wise, I’ve got some
information on the recently released PlayStation 1 emulator for the PSP,
plus a travel security tip that I think is rather handy. I’m now trying
to standardize on a different posting style which I hope will lead to
faster page loads and more content available in a brief format while
still making it easy to see full stories on things that interest you.

I’m still trying to catch up on all the recent techie and gaming news
that I want to pass along. After being in a time crunch that forced me
to drop site updates for a few days, I find myself with still over 1000
web articles I want to review to see if there are more interesting
things I want to post. I expect to be mostly caught up within the next
week, but I’ve been wrong about that before.

I’m using some new site tools to help me better see what visitors are
doing on the site, as far as reading articles and following links. I
must admit I was surprised at how few people are following links away
from my site. Perhaps I’m putting too much detail in my stories? I
welcome feedback on what I can do to improve posts here or the site
overall.

As I get new things working over the next few days, please feel free to
leave comments here or in any other post with your suggestions.
Hopefully most of what I do won’t change the front-end function of the
site. But let me know anything you see or want to see.

US travelers will be allowed to carry liquids on planes again

This is a small step forward away from security theater ploys that don’t do anything to actually make us safer. I’ve already written a lot about how improbable the original liquids on a plane attack was, but many people don’t believe what I’ve written or what I’ve linked to that others have written. Apparently someone in the government has taken some time to find out the feasability of actually bringing down an airplane via liquid explosives and found it’s probably not that easy and that even if it were attempted, it would take a bit more liquid than people typically carry on board.

Because of these findings, the government has relaxed the no-liquids ban to instead be a limited liquids rule with the allowance of small amounts of brought-from-home liquids as well as beverages purchased inside airport screening from “trusted” shops.

The new rules were announced during a late-morning news conference at Reagan National Airport. The previous, stricter ban was instituted last month after a plot to bomb jets flying into the United States was foiled.

Continue reading “US travelers will be allowed to carry liquids on planes again”

1000 page per minute printer

(via Engadget)

I am always skeptical of extreme claims such as this recent announcement from 2 Israeli researchers, but I am also hopeful that this will come about.

The innovative printer head created by engineers Moshe Einat and Nissim Einat works in a similar way as a liquid crystal display (LCD). But while an LCD emits tiny pixels of light, collectively forming the picture on your laptop or television, their print head emits pixels of ink. Their basic design is small, but it can be reproduced and the copies combined into one large printer head.

“Unlike traditional printer heads that are small and have to move back and forth across the page, our print head can be enlarged into one that is the size of a sheet of paper or larger. One can think of it as an ‘ink-emitting screen’,” Moshe Einat told PhysOrg.com. “This means it could print one page almost instantly, and hundreds of pages in just seconds.”

Traditional disclaimers apply here. The printer is not expected to be commercially available for another 2 years. In 2 years, we’ll hear that the technology is turning out to be harder to develope than originally expected, and it will be another 2 years before super high speed printers are available. A couple years after that, we’ll start seeing shipping products, but while fast, they will run at 1/10th the predicted speeds. At least, that’s what the skeptic in me sees.

It really is neat technology. It’s just now a question of can this be made and shipped anytime soon? I just know that most big breakthroughs in tech tend to be harder to deliver than originally expected.

[tags]1000 page per minute printer, Super high speed home printers on the horizon[/tags]

Radar activated speed bumps

(via TechEBlog)

How do you slow peopleradar_1_clip.jpg down without disrupting the travel of those obeying the speed limit? You create speed bumps that pop up only when someone is speeding.

Speed bumps do a good job of penalizing non-speeders as much as speeders, and they typically force drivers to travel well below the speed limit. With that in mind, inventor Gwyn Harvey came up with a radar-activated speed bump design that would only deploy to slow drivers traveling at an unreasonable speed.


Sounds like just the thing for many neighborhoods. Of course, they cost more than traditional speed bumps.

[tags]Radar activated speed bumps, Slow down or the speed bumps will get you[/tags]

House vent cover decoration

I wouldn’t normally believe a story like this, but I’ve found Snopes to be reliable enough to trust something is real when confirmed on Snopes.

If you run into trouble with your neighbors, perhaps building vent covers on the side of your house that look like this isn’t the best thing you can do.  On the other hand, I’m sure it feels good for a little while to let everyone know how you feel.

utahhouse1_small.jpg

[tags]House vent cover art, Don’t like how I build – enjoy my vent covers[/tags]

Authorize the NSA to spy on you

(via 27B Stroke 6)

Do you feel that the NSA violating the civil rights of Americans under illegal authorization from President Bush isn’t quite enough protection of your rights and privileges as an citizen of the US? If that isn’t enough for you, then you might find yourself interested in filling out this consent form for NSA surveillance (in pdf format).

Executive Order 12333
Consent Agreement
Signals Intelligence Coverage

I _____________ (full name) _________________________ title ________________, hereby consent to the National Security Agency undertaking to seek and disseminate communications to or from or referencing me in foreign communications for the purpose of ___________________.

This consent applies to administrative messages alerting elements of the United States Signals Intelligence System to this consent as well as to any signals intelligence reports which may relate to the purpose stated above.

Except as otherwise provided by Executive Order 12333 procedures, this consent covers only information which relates to the purpose stated above and is effective for the period: _______________.

Signals intelligence reports containing information derived from communication to or from me may only be disseminated to me and to __________________. Signals intelligence reports containing information derived from communication referencing me may only be disseminated to me and to [names of departments and agencies, e.g., DoD. CIA. etc] except as otherwise permitted by procedures under Executive Order 12333.

(SIGNATURE)
(TITLE)
(UNCLASSIFIED until completed. Classify
completed form based on information added,
but not lower than CONFIDENTIAL.)

Feel free to use this to let your government legally spy on you while we wait for updates to the law so the President is instead just given authorization to ignore the 1978 FISA.

[tags]NSA surveillance authorization, Give the NSA legal clearance to listen to your phone[/tags]

Online publishers attempting to reduce number of visitors

Why would any web site actively work to drive away visitors? That might not be exactly what the authors say in this Scientific American article about web sites trying to control search engine links into their site, but if you think about it, that’s what is actually happening.

Global publishers, fearing that Web search engines such as Google Inc. are encroaching on their ability to generate revenue, plan to launch an automated system for granting permission on how to use their content.

The article briefly mentions how book publishers have similarly attemted to get Google to stop directing surfers to their site. So what the online content creators and book publishers in question are doing is telling the search engine companies to stop linking to their content, and instead just link to people and companies who don’t mind outside links to what they have to say. By removing themselves from the search engine results output, I’m predicting a huge loss in readership for sites following this line of thought.

Since I don’t ever get enough traffic here, I am putting forward my public wish now to have all search engines link to my site whenever possible. I would prefer to get all surders who would otherwise be directed to one of these sites that doesn’t want visitors or traffic.

[tags]Content producers want to stop search engine companies from sending them visitors[/tags]

New Tesla statue in Niagara Falls

(via boingboing)

tesla-coil-discharge-med.jpgFirst, let me say that there is absolutely no evidence to support the conjecture that if one were to approach and touch this statue, massive balls of lightning would shoot forth from statue to the person approaching. Absolutely no evidence, folks.

That out of the way, what a nice way to honor the man who lit the world – a statue in memory of Nikola Tesla was recently (July 9, 2006) unveiled in Queen Victoria Park, Niagara Falls. Sure, most folks will see it and have no idea who he is, but my readers are smarter than the average bear, I am certain. So next time you visit Niagara Falls (on the .ca side, please, as no equivalent statue yet exists state-side), drop by and say hello to ol’ Nikki.

teslastatue-med.jpgNikola Tesla designed the first hydroelectric power plant at Niagara Falls, New York which started producing electrical power in 1895. This was the beginning of the electrification of the United States and the rest of the world. Today, Tesla’s AC electricity is lighting and powering the globe. Nikola Tesla is the genius who lit the world.

Now, the inventor of alternating current has a permanent tribute overlooking the Horseshoe Falls at Niagara Falls, Canadian side.


Pictures of the unveiling and a bit of the backstory on Tesla’s importance in Niagara Falls on the Tesla Society’s page about the unveiling.

[tags]Tesla statue, Tesla memorial statue[/tags]