jimsy.net

Reevu's MSX1 helmet has been around in one form or another for years now, but the company has apparently be busily working on improving it all this time, and it's now finally let an actual production unit loose for an early review. As before, the helmet relies on an entirely mechanical mechanism rather than rear-view cameras, which webBikeworld says ends up functioning much like a car's rear-view mirror in practise, with the small mirror in front resting just outside the rider's line of sight. Most importantly, however, the site says that the helmet itself is "built like a tank," and is "good enough to stand on its own even if it didn't have the rear view system." Head on past the break for a quick video overview, and hit up the source link below for the site's complete review.

Continue reading Reevu lets loose updated MSX1 helmet with built-in rear-view system

Reevu lets loose updated MSX1 helmet with built-in rear-view system originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Apr 2010 10:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We'd love to say that many have tried, but really, the bona fide docking station market dried up years ago in every sector save for enterprise, and while a few companies have served up "universal" alternatives, none of them were particularly well-designed. Out of nowhere, Henge Docks has emerged in order to provide a solution to your MacBook docking woes, and we've got to say -- for a first try, the products being offered up here look mighty fine. Designed to work with most modern MacBooks as well as 13/15/17-inch MacBook Pros, these all-white stands hold your machine vertical while providing seamless access to desk-strapped peripherals (a monitor, iPod dock, mouse, heated USB blanket, etc.) It also uses Apple's own MagSafe adapter, and your optical drive is still flipped out if you need to access it. The 13-inch MBP model is available now for $59.95 to $64.95, while every other flavor is available for pre-order; check out a video after the break if you're having issues pulling the trigger.

Continue reading Henge Docks: finally, a well designed docking station for Apple's MacBook line

Henge Docks: finally, a well designed docking station for Apple's MacBook line originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's all too easy, when burdened down with work and stressed out, to let your to-do list get a little unruly. A sloppy to-do list, however, is a source of much stress and wasted effort. Whip your task list into shape. More »

You know what, the more we look at this thing, the less crazy we think it is. While the concept of mousing around your desktop on foot may appear foreign at first, we imagine we can get used to it after a while. Not that it's designed for lazybones like us anyway, as the wireless Toe Mouse concept is primarily intended to help out people with upper limb disabilities, who aren't able to navigate in the usual manner. Just to score some extra flair points, designer Liu Yi also points out it has a "streamline model that symbolizes the motorboat surfing the internet." So it's not just practical, it's also poetic. Click the source link for more pictures of this flip flop-inspired creation.

Toe Mouse! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Apr 2010 07:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Australian Macworld reports that it has received information claiming that Apple is set to release updated MacBook Pros and possibly MacBook Airs next Tuesday. The unidentified source of the claim is sai...

You can't deny, it's pretty metaphysically silly to be playing a board game your parents bought at a yard sale for $2 on a $500+ iPad, in conjunction with two or more $200+ iPhones. Mix in service plans, accessories, the price of the app ($10), and the bribes you'll have to pay your friends to join in on something so embarrassing, and you're really pushing the limits of common sense with Scrabble for the iPad. But we will say this: it is pretty cool. We just paired up a couple iPhones (running the free Tile Rack app) and joined in with the iPad over Bluetooth or WiFi (the app makes it unclear as to which particular wireless tech is doing the honors at the moment, but both work) and in moments we were swiping tiles up to the iPad with the best of them.

Surprisingly, it makes a game of scrabble go much faster, since the computer does all those difficult maths for you, but the experience isn't without its shortcomings. If you exit the Scrabble app to the home screen, or accidentally brush the "Menu" button on the iPad app, your game is completely gone. There isn't even a helpful warning like "are you sure you want to end this game you just invested an hour of your life into without even saving or something?" There not even an option to save a game and resume at later date. The app is more forgiving if you drop a connection with your iPhone, or lock the screen on the iPad for a moment, but we'd really appreciate it if EA rounded off some of these rough edges before we chuck the iPad across the room in a Scrabble-induced rage. Check out video playthrough after the break.

Continue reading Scrabble for the iPad: stir in some iPhones and it's the best $1,000 you ever spent on a board game

Scrabble for the iPad: stir in some iPhones and it's the best $1,000 you ever spent on a board game originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Apr 2010 15:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Adobe

I'm sure you've heard about reverse engineering and industrial espionage -- they are the bread and butter of a competitive tech industry! -- but I had no idea there were firms, such as Chipworks, that specialize in the process. They've just released glorious, revealing details of the Apple iPad's hardware, and a complete breakdown of the new, top-secret A4 processor. For the less-technically-minded, iFixit has a walkthrough for the reverse engineering, too.

The pictures and details are juicy -- you can even order a bunch of die photos! -- but ultimately, there isn't anything exciting under the hood. The iPad is merely a large iPod Touch, with almost identical hardware in places. Chipworks calls the iPad 'a giant battery with a tiny [circuit] board attached to it' -- and looking at the picture above, you can see why!

So, no real news here I'm afraid, unless you're trying to mollify a Mac fanatic. What you're paying for is a large touch-screen and a giant battery -- you are not buying a piece of 'magic', but simply a large iPod Touch. The devil, as always, is in the software. It would not be the first time that Apple has shoehorned some fantastic software into a shiny, but otherwise lackluster hardware package.

In my opinion, the coolest part of this story is that Chipworks tears apart of bleeding-edge technology to produce full, reproducible schematics of a device's circuitry. Nothing is sacred!

Reverse engineering confirms Apple iPad is 'a really big iPod Touch' originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 06 Apr 2010 08:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple - iPod Touch - IPad - AppleIpad - iPod

Filed under: Design, Windows, Open Source

The aptly-named Paint.Net PSD Plugin is one of those pieces of software which pretty much spells it all out right in the name. It's a plugin...for Paint.Net...(wait for it)...which lets you open files saved in Photoshop's PSD format.

Download the zip archive, dump the included PhotoShop.dll file into your Paint.Net FileTypes folder (usually c:\program files\Paint.Net\FileTypes), and you're ready to rock. Pretty well anything in the PSD for which Paint.Net has an implementation will load just fine. Saving is another story, so you'd best stick to Paint.Net's native .PDN file when you're done working.

If you don't have Photoshop, the plugin is a handy for looking at PSDs your friends might send you to look at. It's also a nice way to transition yourself to a free alternative if you no longer require Photoshop.

Thanks to FreePSD.com for the template I experimented with -- it's been so long since I used Photoshop on one of my systems that I can't even find any of my old PSDs...

Paint.Net plugin lets you view and edit Photoshop PSD files originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AdobePhotoshop - Download Squad - Paint.NET - Image editing - Graphics

Filed under: Internet, web 2.0

The folks at BaseKit think that the process of website creation is due for an overhaul -- and boy do I agree! The time for writing code in an editor, creating artwork in another app and uploading it all bit-by-bit is OVER. The folks at BaseKit pose a good question: why don't we make websites online, in the browser?

There are some nascent attempts, like the cheap-and-cheerful approach of Google Sites, but nothing that comes close to the simple, graceful beauty of BaseKit. For a start, you can import Photoshop PSD files! I can't begin to describe the pains I've been through, as a web designer, trying to implement PSDs in valid HTML and CSS -- but now BaseKit can do it for me, and the code it generates works in all modern browsers. It takes a little getting used to -- you need to name one of your layers 'Header', for example -- but overall, the process is very quick and very smooth. Check out the video on their homepage, if you want to see the PSD import in action.

Even if you don't want to import PSDs, there's lots of other shiny bits to lure you in. The interface is beautiful, like a marriage of everything good about Web 2.0. There is dragging and dropping, resizing, AJAX and widgets up the yin yang -- forms, date pickers, star ratings, imported Flickr and Twitter feeds -- it's all there. If you want to see what's possible, check out their showcase. You'll also notice there's no Flash (but they're working on including it... damn).

If I haven't won you over yet, I've saved the best, beardy-pleasing morsel for last: it generates W3C-compliant code!

Right now you have to sign up for a beta key -- and there are certainly some beta bugs that need ironing out -- but I will try to get some keys to hand out in the next few days over on our Facebook page!

BaseKit is a web app that generates websites from Photoshop PSD files originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BaseKit - Facebook - HTML - Twitter - Download Squad

Filed under: Utilities, Windows

'use WMI moniker and SystemRestore class
set SRP = getobject("winmgmts:\\.\root\default:Systemrestore")
CSRP = SRP.createrestorepoint ("My New Restore Point", 0, 100)

Now that it's this simple to do, I really have no excuse for not playing it safe. Though I probably ought to pin this to my taskbar so it's nice and obvious...

Create System Restore points in Windows 7 and Vista with two clicks originally appeared on Download Squad on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows 7 - Windows Vista - Microsoft Windows - System Restore - Taskbar