If you have bought older generation of iPods, you are in luck as Rockbox 3.0 firmware was just released to the public.

What does it do?  Basically it allows you to free yourself from iTunes and do a lot more with old equipment.

Since Apple has stopped developing the firmware for the older iPods (yes, they keep making new ones to make more money, how greedy!), this Rockbox provides users with alternative way to upgrade their old iPods.

I personally have the 40GB model of the iPod shown in the pic, I should be doing a short DIY write-up to tell you all how it went.

Looks like their site is down already but keep checkin’, it should be up later.

Rockbox’s developers say that the most important changes to the software won’t be particularly obvious to the average user. “The first players supported by Rockbox decoded MP3 files using a chip specifically for this purpose. This made things a lot simpler for Rockbox, but also limited the amount of formats supported to variants of MPEG audio. Newer players don’t use this approach, and as such, it was needed to expand Rockbox to do sound decoding in software on these players. This opens up the possibility of supporting a lot of different file formats, which is of course exactly what we did! “

via engadget, ostatic, Rockbox

Remember we made a new blog to cover tips and hacks for the Google Chrome?

Here’s a re-cap of interesting hacks and tips this week:

Resize your textbox - Google Chrome lets you resize any textbox of any website

Video of Story behind Chrome by development team - Listen to what Google Developers have to say on the Chrome browser.

Getting started with Chrome development - If you are thinking about making a new application for the Google Chrome, this is where to start.

Chrome Keyboard Shortcuts - Of course, you need to know keyboard shortcuts to browser fast on the Chrome.

How to run Chrome on Linux or Ubuntu - Here’s a simply DIY on how to run your Chrome browser in Linux/Ubuntu using Wine.

Over 50% of visitors on Chrome-hacks.net consist of Chrome users! - Wow, it’s really funny that Chrome fanatics are the main readers of this new blog.

How to use Chrome on USB Flash Drive - Here’s a simple download for having Chrome on your USB Flash drive for on-the-go.

Chrome might be ported to Android - Well, when Android cellphones hit the streets, there might be mobile Chrome on it.

For more tips, hacks, and news about the Google Chrome, please check out our new blog, Google Chrome Hacks Blog.

via Zedomax Blog Network

UPDATE on Google Chrome Tips Hacks Blog Posts:

Recap of Google Chome Tips Hacks Blog #1

Recap of Google Chrome Tips Hacks Blog #2

Recap of Google Chrome Tips Hacks Blog #3

OLPC has just announced that they will be using Microsoft XP operating system on their $100 laptops. This is ridiculous and does go completely against their original core values.

Continue reading ‘OLPC has joined Microsoft XP!’

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Wow, this is thing is AWESOME!!!

This guy could make a lot of money making this into a “world” travel virtual world.

Sun has been very successful in spreading Java to over 6 billion devices throughout the world. Well over a billion cell phone run Java. We in Sun Labs are interested in what comes next. In order to help make sure that the next generation of gadgets is based Sun technology, we developed Sun Small Programable Object Technology (SPOT). We’ve created an experimental platform to inspire developers to build the next great toy, sensor, communication device — who knows — using Sun technology. Our Sun SPOT devices make include a flexible hardware platform as well as the software and tools to make it easy to innovate, experiment, and prototype whatever a developer can imagine.

via hackedgadgets

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Here’s Dash, a company that makes in-car navigation opening their API for developers to develop apps for their navigation system.

Sounds like a great idea, it will work a lot better if they offered some prizes like Google (GOOG) has been doing with their Android and Apple (APPLE) with their iPhone.

Maybe I will apply for an API so I can integrate SiteHoppin into their Dash navigation systems and people will be site hopping on the go.

Tomorrow morning at O’Reilly’s Where 2.0 conference we’ll be announcing another first for the GPS category. We’re opening up our service to enable other companies and developers to provide timely and relevant Internet content to the car. Our goal is to get drivers the answers they need every day. We call these new partner-created applications, DashApps.

[via TechCrunch Dash]

My blogger friend Jason Striegel from Hackszine sent this cool graffiti tool.  It’s a webapp that let’s you spray paint any website.  In my case, I had to pick Google.com and graffiti Zedomax.com with gold spray paint:

Now, this is a really fun thing to do as your finished artwork stays on the site and you can also download it.

If you are on a guest computer and without Photoshop, this could easily be a simply tool for writing stuff over website screenshots, of course all in great gravy graffiti spray cans w/o cops busting you.  (There’s also some good rap music from Minneapolis group Atmosphere while you tag Google…)

Here’s a site that lets you crank out some graffiti any web site.  I was one of the developers on the project, so I’m trying to spread it around to all my blogger friends.  This was a promotion for the Minneapolis group Atmosphere, so you can tag the web while listening to some free tunes from their latest album.

via paintthatshitgold

Oh okay, this one might be on the borderline of legalness but its actual use is to make backups of your HD DVDs or Blu-Ray discs. They have free trial download so check it out here if you need it.

Slysoft says the new version of its AnyDVD programme allows users to make “backup security copies” of high definition movies.

The claim is a blow to Sony which developed the Blu-ray format.

The discs are protected by an anti-piracy system called BD+.

When it launched in 2007, developers boasted it would not be cracked for 10 years.

Sony declined to comment!

via MarcLironBlog

Lol… check out iPhone’s counter-attack on Google 10 million dollar prizes to Android developers.

Who will win? Definitely, iPhone is way ahead as far as technology and Google’s simply chippin’ away to their new venture.

The only thing I hope for? That, Apple gets their bandwidths straight and start getting on CDMA networks or even better, WiMax.

With all the telecommunications companies profiting off old outdated technologies in the US, WiMax might still be years away but at least somebody is trying.

Check out the Steve Jobs press interview over at Gizmodo for more info.

via Gizmodo

Well, I have never used these methods before, but I hopped onto it the other day so I might as well share it with the world.

There are 2 stumblebot sites, stumblebot.com and stumblebot.net.

Stumblebot.com is actually a software they sell for like $147, it’s sorta like those Craigslist automators.

It looks like it’d work pretty good. But I wouldn’t pay for it, I think StumbleUpon itself is becoming a big scam where people are making a lot of money from it.

The seconds site, I found while trying to sell my site on SitePoint. It seems like they listed this site right after I listed my sites. So, that’s how I found about these two.

I believe there’s even more sites out there where you can buy stumbles and reviews. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Anything that can be hacked will be hacked and you can only blame on the developers who didn’t think through everything beforehand. Anything that can not be hacked on the other hand, deserves a pat on the back.

If you ever try these sites, let me know if they work. Not that I’d use it, I rather go SiteHoppin w/o installing a toolbar.

Oh yeah, I just found StumblePorn too.  I tried it but it’s way too slow and sucks…