Category Archives: Geekery

SLA (Sealed Lead Acid) Battery pack for Vivitar 285HV

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Time for Strobist problem solving 101!

If you are anything like me, you hate wasting money and time with AA batteries in your flashes. You probably also hate the long recycle times that you experience while firing your battery powered flashes. Well, I feel your pain. So I have built a battery pack for my Vivitar flashes that allows me to pump some big power into my little flashes. I have seen several DIY battery packs on the net and when attempting one of my own I combined much of what I saw and liked into my own design.

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Microsoft Courting iPhone Developers… Has Apple gone too far?

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bad apple

Just over one year ago Apple announced the App Store and told developers that their new platform was going to offer developers the ability to make applications that could do almost anything! As we sit here a year later we now know that is not the case as Apple rejects apps based on what can only be described as murky rules that change based on what apps are submitted such as in the case of Google’s VOIP app.

After speculation that AT&T asked that Google’s app not be allowed onto the app store the matter is being further investigated by the FCC. None-the-less this is not sitting well with the one demographic that Apple should care the most about. iPhone owners…

There are countless blogs spewing rants about Apple and how the company rejected an App offering a feature that they were looking forward to. This creates unrest in an otherwise extremely loyal base of customers. Even worse is the moths of development that many of the coders have spent on working on apps that seemingly meet Apple’s rules only to get rejected for what seems to be emotional reasons on the part of Apple and their partners.

Now enter Microsoft, with a new way for angry and confused iPhone developers to recycle their code by porting their software to windows Mobile. This move from Microsoft allows them to play catch up with other mobile platforms and creates good will with App Store developers by allowing them to salvage months of work and effort spent on software previously rejected by Apple. Microsoft has also announced that their app store offering will be available for older versions of Windows Mobile giving cross-over developers access to a new user base of over 30 million windows Mobile devices.

So i guess we will see if this move from Microsoft enables a change of heart in Apple’s hard line dealings with App Store developers…

read more: Microsoft Courting iPhone Developers — Windows Marketplace For Mobile — InformationWeek.

Jabra introduces stereo Bluetooth headset, speakerphone | CTIA show

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Ok, i am a bit smitten with the new round of wireless, Bluetooth stereo headsets coming out. especially ones that offer high quality background noise reduction like the pair in the image below from the good folks at Jabra. However so long as the iPhone does not support playing audio through Bluetooth i suppose i will have to watch as the new Jabra HALO headset drifts by into the hands of better equipped consumers running WINDOWS MOBILE! sheesh.

Jabra HALO Stereo Bluetooth headset

Jabra introduces stereo Bluetooth headset, speakerphone | CTIA show – CNET Reviews.

As my poor little Jawbone 1 ages and begins to fall apart i think that the only acceptable replacement for it will have to be one of the sleek new modles that are coming out from Plantronics (As i think that hte new Jawbone is a bit girly…)

-Joe

Full Bluetooth support comming to Jailbroken iPhone users

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site_logogifFor those of you out there that have not been watching the iPhone Bluetooth development team for the past few months they have really made progress and are approaching the completion of their Bluetooth app for the iPhone. This app is planned to add the missing Bluetooth sigs to the iPhone such as AD2P (high quality Audio), OBEX (file transfer) and perhaps even DUN (dial-up networking). Drop by their site and download a copy of SweetTooth their GUI interface for the first phase of the Bluetooth hack. it is available now for those of you with jailbroken iPhones via Cydia Installer.

Cheers!

Visit their site at: http://ibluetoothproject.com/

Adding Bluetooth to your Acer Aspire One Netbook!

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The other day I was surfing around on the net on my new Acer Aspire One and found the coolest hack for it over at Tnkgrl’s Website this hack was aimed at one of the few Achilles heels of the Acer Aspire One “no Bluetooth.” Now, granted it is easier than ever to get Bluetooth working on a laptop with Bluetooth dongles getting smaller and smaller however if you want to keep the exterior of your laptop clear of debris and use a mouse or perhaps tether with your cell phone you need to find another way. This is where the following hack comes in to play!

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