As if Twitter weren’t already full of utterly bland, mindless codswallop, researchers from Hasselt University in Belgium are about to add the random, idiotic bleatings of a baby to the stream of nonsense. Worse, the baby won’t even know it is broadcasting its brainless, repetitive activities to the world.

Twoddler is a modified Fisher Price activity center, the kind that toddle rs have tweaked and poked for what seems like generations. The difference is that this one has its activities monitor ed by a computer and the activities are translated into Tweets. The example uses a baby called Yorin, and if he spends, say, a few minutes playing with a picture of his mother, this Tw eet will be forced on the world: “@mommy_yorin Yorin miss es mommy and looks forward playing with her this evening”. Further, if he an noyingly bangs on the bell, over and over, for far too long, the comput er will translate this to say &# 8220;Yorin is showing off his music skills with a new tune”.

The Twoddler uses sensors hooked up to an Arduino circuit and sends the information via the wireless ZigBee protocol to a nearby computer. This is where the signals are converted into human-readable (or at least parent-readable) “words” and sent off to the web using the Twitter API.

We imagine that these incessant, repetitive Tweets will swiftly become as annoying as the behavior which triggers them, negating the whole point of sending Yorin off to the day-care center. There is one advantage to Twoddler over having an actual toddler in the room with you. It may be a bit of a moral conundrum, but at least mom always has the option to un -follow her offspring.

Twoddler Project [Hasselt University via Mashable]

W hen PC lover Will Urbina was finally forced to switch to a Mac by market forces (he’s a video editor, and most everyone these days wants you to use Final Cut Pro), he didn’t give up easily. In fact, he spent the next few months kicking and screaming his way through a rather painful process, a process which finally gave birth to a mutant: The OS Xbox Pro.

Faced with “the distasteful choice of either setting foot in an Apple store” or buil ding his own, Urbina went the home-made route, building a PC into a first-gen Xbox Dev Kit he picked up for pennies, and then hackintoshing it. The case of the Dev Kit is taller than the retail box, which turned out to be helpful: Urbina wanted to match the specs of a $2,500 Mac Pro.

With some literal hacking and rebuilding, he managed to squeeze in four hard drives (a pair of 7200rpm, 500GB drives in RAID 0 conf iguration for Final Cut, plus slower 160GB drives for bot h OS X and Windows 7), external USB SATA, and Firewire port s and even a rather odd-looking Apple logo on the top. The hackintoshing aspect was taken care of by the amazing EFi-X dongle, a little plug-in widget that lets you install a retail copy of OS X onto any PC hardware.

Urbina made a few curious decisions, especially gi ven th at OS X 10.6 is moving towared moving much of its heavy lifting to the GPU, or graphics card. Because the case is so small (even an optical drive was left out), Urbina had to use a 300 Watt power supply, 100 Watts short of the juice needed for his chosen NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT card. Instead, he popped in a lesser card and beefed up the CPU to an Intel Core 2 Duo Q9550s. This reliance on the CPU to do the work clearly shows his PC bias. The specs:

In tel Core2 Q9550S @2.93GHz

Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3LR

Sparkle GeForce 9800http://www.willudesign.com/OSXboxPro/osxboxpro9.jpg GT

8GB Crucial Ballistix 1333MHzhttp://www.willudesign.com/OSXboxPro/osxboxprotopless1.jpg

Highpoint RocketRAID 26401

2x 160GB 5400rpm Seagate Momentus HDD

2x 500GB 7200rpm Seagate Momentus HDD

16GB 1.8” Super Talent MasterDrive KX SSD

EFiX USB V1

Not bad for $1,500. Urbina says that the equivalent Mac Pro would run to $4,500. We think it a little odd that a professional would go down such a route to build a work machine, though: If yo ur wages rely on a working machine, a hackintosh is a little scary. Still, thi s thing looks awesome, and wit h all that hardware inside such a tiny case, we imagine that the fans will stay true to the noisy, leaf-blowing Xbox original.

OS Xbox Pro product page [Will U Design]

See Also:

Psystar 'Rebel EFI' Patch Installs Snow Leopard on Any P CEFiX Dangles Hacki ng Dongle Before Apple’s Lawyers

The story keeps getting worse for Psystar, a small Florida-based startup that was selling Mac clones. In its court battle with Apple, a judg e recently found Psystar guilty of violating Apple’s copyrights. What’s more, the payoff for being a rebel was meager for Psystar: the startup sold only 768 sy stems, according to an economist App le hired to analyze Psystar’s business records.

On top of that, Psystar told investors that it projected it would sell between 1.45 million and 12 million machi nes in 2011. The small company opened shop in April 2008; Apple sued three months later. 12 million units? Talk a bout absurdly optimistic.

768 shipments is a puny number, but I’m not all that surprised. Back w hen I worked as an editor at Macworld, I remember how difficult it was for us to order a Psystar desktop for lab testing. Only after numerous attempts did our order go through; the process felt shady from start to finish. Also, I would imagine that the people who are nerdy enough to desire — and put up with — a PC hacked to run Mac OS X would take it upon themselv es to build a Hackintosh of their own (like Wired.com’s Charlie Sorrel and I did with our netbooks).

Plus, I can’t imagine man y would opt to throw money at a company that’s battling Apple’s legal sharks. That circumstance brought the longev ity of Psystar, and its ability to provide customer support, into question. Psystar’s spin for investors is even more bizarre: Psystar argued that its leg al battle with Apple would frighten off other potential competitors, thus insulating its success. However, plenty of businesses offering Hackintosh solutions have emerge d throughout the course of Psystar’s fight with Apple.

ComputerWorld, the first to report this story, happened upon a slide presentation containing the shipment projections, which Psystar showed to venture capitalists in 2008. Get the f ull story there.

See Also:

Psystar ‘Rebel EFI’ Patch Installs Snow Leopard on Any PCPsystar Marches Forward With Beefy Mac CloneApple, Psystar File to Protect Secrets Before Battling in Court …Judge Dismisses Mac Cloner Psystar’s BankruptcyMac Copycat Psystar Gets Ammo to Countersue ApplePsystar: Blu-Ray Hackintosh for Sale; MacBook Clones on the Way …Psystar: Apple Is Paranoid for Alleging Conspiracy

Photo: Psystar

The first two iPhones had terrible cameras, something Apple fixed with the 3GS. Those of us who like to complain can still find fault with the lack of an optical z oom lens. Those who don’t just whine go out and fix this for themselves.

Instructables member T-skware did just that, grabbing the lid of an old pickle jar, some lenses ripped from the eye-sockets of donor cameras, a suction cup and sundry old computer and Walkman parts. With these he m ade a suck-on carousel of ma cro lense s which will magnify close-up shots taken with the iPhone. He didn’t stop there: In the center of the spinning len s-disk is an LED lamp powered by a 3V battery. The results obtained by shooting through th is lens setup won’t replace you DSLR macro setup, but then, it is also essentially free (apart from the iPhone of course).

If you want to make your own, head over to the step by step instructions. You don’t even need an iPhone: With a few tweaks this should work with any cellphone cam.

iPhone Magnifying Camera Mod [Instructables]

See Also:

Breaking: iPhone 3GS Camera Doesn't SuckPro-Camera Adds Image Stabilization to iPhoneClarifi: Your iPhone is Ready for its Close-Up

When Apple dropped support for Atom processors in OS X 10.6.2, effectively killing Hackintosh netbooks, we knew that somebody would fix things. We didn’t kno w that it wou ld happen so fast.

Just over a week after the update, Russian hacker “Tea” has made a patched kernel specifically for the Atom CPU. Simply copying this to the root level of your drive and rebooting should make everything work just like it did in 10.6.1. Of course, if you are suffering the endless gray screen on boot that character izes the problem OS, then you’ll somehow need to get into the hard drive from the outside, perhaps by booting from the DVD or USB stick you used to hack your Mac in the first place.

Tea himself didn’t actually test out th is kernel (which is the very low est level of the OS) on 10.6.2, but some brave (desperate?) folks at the Insanely Mac forums tried it and it apparently works fine.

My Wind Hackintosh is still running the previous version of OS X 10.5 Leopard. I see no reason to updat e it, especially with all these shenanigans.

Kernel mach_kernel 10.2.0 for netbooks based on Intel Atom [Tea Blog]

Patched mach_kernel 10.2.0 for Atom-based netbooks, Dirty bithack [ Insanely Mac]

See Also:

Confirmed: Snow Leopard Update Kills Atom HackintoshesSnow Leopard Update Blocks Intel Atom, Kills HackintoshesSnow Leopard Update Will Not Kill Hackintoshes

In Cory Doctorow’s latest novel, Makers, one of the main characters puts together an amazing little hack using a bunch of Boogie Woogie Elmo toys. These hav e been stripped of their fur and let l oose on a tiny electric Smart Car. Reprogrammed to know how to drive, they collectively take the car for a spin: one on the “gas”, one on the brakes, one on the wheel and so on. They can talk and liste n, so they call commands to each other, becoming one big many-armed robot.

Now, some thing similar has happened in re al life. For $140, you can buy a naked Chumby (or “Chumby Guts”). The Chumby is a plushie internet box which displays web-info on its little screen, and Chumby G uts come without the soft skin of the original.

On (limited) sale at the Maker Shed, Chumby Guts are pretty ideal for the beginnings of a hacking project. You might not be able to make them drive a car for you, but the 3.5-inch LCD tou ch screen, Wi-Fi, USB ports and assorted other gubbins have the advantage of being made to work together, and that you can pretty much reconfigure them however you want. My fogged, early morning brain can only think of building the screen into my fridge door as a podcast, music and widget device, but I’m sure y’all can do better. $140.

Chumby Guts product page [Make]

Cory Doctorow’s Makers [Craphound]

See Also:

Chumby Guts, Get Yer Chumby Guts!Worth the Wait: Chumby Lands at a Desk Near YouChumby to License its Software to Other GadgetsChumby Desktop Media Player

When not puffing on his pipe, petting his sociopathic parakeet or growing a rather creepy-looking mustache, gadget blogger and ex-Wired.com writer John Brownlee likes to tinker. This morning he sent over some pictures of his latest, a $1 keychain for the iPod Shuffle.

Brownlee chose the previous (and many say superior) generation Shuffle with the clip and buttons, but it would work with any tiny MP3 player that has a jack socket. All you do is take an old pair of headphones (Brownlee bought a pair of junky earbuds from his local Berlin dime – or Euro cent – store), chop off the jack, leaving a big enough length of cable to tie a secure knot and affix it to a keyring. In the picture above, you see the keychain jack disconnected and set behind the iPod. Of course, you’ll need to keep a working pair of headphones for actual listening, and you won’t be able to leave the player on the keychain while you’re doing it (but then, that’s what the Shuffle’s clip is for).

Brownlee went one step further, and after trimming the excess cable he took a break from his pipe-smoking and used the lighter to melt the knot, sealing the connection permanently in plastic. It’s certainly not the prettiest hack, but it is undeniably ingenious, and a great way to keep the Shuffle and your keychain together in your pocket. We’re a little worried about scratches to the anodized aluminum body of the iPod, but as there is no screen, this would be purely a cosmetic problem.

UPDATE: Brownlee informs me that the Apple ‘buds wrapped around the iPod provide ample protection against scratches, and that the Shuffle’s jack socket is a very snug fit: “After a week, it hasn’t popped off once” he tells us.

We’re also happy that the picture includes Brownlee’s rather excellent Snowy-in-a-spacesuit figurine, the companion of which (Tin Tin in detective overcoat) apparently resides on his better-half’s keyring.

Benjamin Moody spent two months trying to crack the programming code of his TI-83 graphing calculator, a process that involved finding the prime factors of enormous numbers. When he was done, he posted instructions on a calculator-hacking website, so that others could do things like make their calculators play Tetris, Whac-a-Mole, or serve as primitive e-book readers and music synthesizers.

Then a lawyer from Texas Instruments visited his house to hand-deliver a cease-and-desist letter.

The Wall Street Journal reports on the hackers who really love their Texas Instruments calculators (subscription required), and the TI lawyers who are trying to shut them down. It’s a fascinating story, and our hats are off to the WSJ for finding it. However, what we really wanted to see were some screenshots and videos of the games these guys are creating. So look what we dug up in the TI hacking forums:

(Above screenshots from the forum on Robot War, a game being developed by TI hackers.)

And if you want to know more about how these guys hack their TI’s, check out WikiTI, the UnitedTI forum, and this page on overclocking your TI calculator.

Are you a calculator hacker? Point us to some more cool mods in the comments below, or send us e-mail.

Photo credit: laffy4k/Flickr

Apple has won an important round of its legal battle against Psystar, a Florida-based startup that has been selling Mac clones for over a year.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled late last Friday that by selling PCs hacked to run Mac OS X, Psystar has violated Apple’s copyrights. Alsup also ruled that Psystar violated anti-circumvention provisions in the Digital Millenium Copyright act.

Psystar in April 2008 opened its business selling non-Apple PCs hacked to run Mac OS X. Its first offering was a desktop system called the “OpenMac,” which cost $400 — about $2,400 cheaper than Apple’s Mac Pro. Apple filed suit in July 2008, alleging that Psystar was committing copyright, trademark and shrink-wrap license infringement.

“Psystar’s use of Mac OS X has been in excess and has violated Apple’s copyrights,” the judge wrote in his 16-page order.

Apple’s end-user agreement for Mac OS X reads, “You agree not to install, use or run the Apple Software on any non-Apple-labeled computer, or to enable others to do so.” In his Friday, Alsup noted that Psystar did not modify Mac OS X, but instead installed the software used to circumvent settings on non-Apple PCs to install Mac OS X. Alsup said this action constituted “facilitation of circumvention” and was a violation of Section 1201(a)(2) of the DMCA, which states the following:

(2) No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof, that -

(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title;
(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title; or
(C) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that person with that person’s knowledge for use in circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.

Though Apple has won this portion of the case so far, the Cupertino, California company still has a long road ahead if it wishes to destroy the entire “Hackintosh” industry. In an article summarizing Apple’s battle with Psystar, ArsTechnica’s Jacqui Cheng cites Fred von Lohmann of Electronic Frontier Foundation, who said there are plenty of workarounds still available to hack OS X, which are not repeating Psystar’s offenses.

“While the ruling is a serious setback for Psystar, I don’t see it having much impact beyond the facts of that case,” von Lohmann told Ars. “On a number of important points, the outcome was driven by Psystar-specific factors, such as Psystar forfeiting one of their strongest defenses by failing to plead it in time. Moreover, my understanding is that the commercial ‘hackintosh’ industry has moved on to selling software that enables the user to bring their own PC and OS X DVD, rather than selling a pre-installed solution like the one at issue in the ruling.”

An example of a Hackintosh solution is a dongle with the Mac OS loaded, which ships with PCs, effectively turning them into sort-of Mac clones, which Wired.com reported in November. A lawyer told Wired.com such a device would face legality issues with regard to copyright, because the device would copy the Mac BIOS and put it in a chip. However, it would likely require another long legal battle with Apple, since the circumstances are different.

Meanwhile, plenty of open-source DIY solutions for consumers to install Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware are still available on the web. Thus, it’s unlikely Apple will put an end to the Hackintosh era anytime soon.

Apple and Psystar are scheduled for a final briefing on Dec. 14 to declare any monetary relief Apple may receive as a result of the hearing.

See Also:

Psystar ‘Rebel EFI’ Patch Installs Snow Leopard on Any PCPsystar Marches Forward With Beefy Mac CloneApple, Psystar File to Protect Secrets Before Battling in Court …Judge Dismisses Mac Cloner Psystar’s BankruptcyMac Copycat Psystar Gets Ammo to Countersue ApplePsystar: Blu-Ray Hackintosh for Sale; MacBook Clones on the Way …Psystar: Apple Is Paranoid for Alleging Conspiracy

Updated 8 p.m. EDT: Google has released the source code for Android 2.0, according to Android developer Cyanogen.

In TV ads, Verizon is trying to sell its new Google-powered phone by highlighting everything the “Droid Does” that the iPhone doesn’t. But the Droid will be able to do much more than Verizon is telling you. For example: free tethering, iPhone-like multitouch and CPU overclocking.

Similar to the jailbreak community hacking the iPhone, there’s a group of Android developers determined to grant any Google-powered phone free access to every feature imaginable. And they’re able to accomplish this task more legitimately than underground iPhone hackers, since Android’s source code is completely open to developers.

That gives developers an end-run around carriers, like Verizon, that might have their own ideas — like charging a $15 to $30 monthly fee for tethering.

The source code for Android 2.0, aka Eclair, hasn’t been released by Google yet, so a custom build for the Droid isn’t yet available. But customized versions of the OS already exist for previous Android phones, and given the open source nature of Google Android, it’s inevitable a modified firmware bundle will arrive in the near future.

Ever since the birth of the Android platform, developers have been working on a process called “rooting,” which gains administrative rights to a device. That allows developers (and users) to have complete control and to utilize all the features found in the Android platform. Now independent developers bundle features such as tethering, overclocking and multitouch into custom OS builds that are available free for download. Firmware mods makes it easy for a regular Android user to have it all.

What exactly does that mean for Droid customers, or owners of any Android phone for that matter? You’ll be able to install modified firmware onto your smartphone and gain access to everything Android is capable of — without paying extra fees on top of your cellphone bill — so long as the hardware can technically support it. For example, you won’t have to pay $30 for Verizon’s official tethering plan so long as you install a free mod that includes the feature.

Earlier Android phones — the T-Mobile G1 and MyTouch 3G — have already been hacked to support Google Maps Navigation, which is supposed to be a Droid-exclusive feature. Thanks to the folks at the XDA Developer forums, all that G1 or MyTouch owners have to do is reinstall an updated version of Google Maps and change configuration settings.

Some manufacturers and carriers are already embracing the direction of open customization with all the available and upcoming Android devices that are hitting the market. For example, T-Mobile’s official development forum allows developers and consumers to discuss step-by-step directions on rooting an Android device. T-Mobile customers who have gone this route enjoy the perks of data tethering, for example, without an additional cost.

You can assume that Verizon, a company which just doubled its early termination fee, won’t look as kindly on the idea of customers rooting their devices and tethering for free.

Of course, changing the way a device operates from a manufacturer’s specifications always comes with a risk, and an Android phone is no exception. There are warnings about “bricking” your phone, which renders a device unbootable, and this commonly happens after installing a custom build of Android. Although it is considered a rare occurrence, a quick Google search brings up many results of Android users asking for help or wondering if their phone is, in fact, bricked.

And don’t think a carrier or manufacturer will offer any assistance with issues caused after modding their device, a clear violation of most Terms of Use. When someone discovers a way to root the Droid, Verizon doesn’t have to take the T-Mobile route of turning a blind eye to these changes. It could retaliate by terminating contracts and voiding warranties.

With all that said, just when can we expect a mod for the Droid, for those willing to take on the risks? Google has not announced when it would release Android 2.0’s source code, but Android engineer Jean-Baptiste Queru has said it’ll happen eventually.

“There are a number of things that need to happen before any Open-Source release can happen, and those haven’t all happened for Eclair yet,” Queru wrote on the official Google Groups page. “For all I know all of those things will eventually happen. The overall process for any such release routinely takes a few weeks depending of course on the size of the release, and Eclair is a big release.”

See Also:

Why I’m Not Getting a Droid TodayVerizon to Offer Tethering for Motorola DroidGoogle Muscles Android Developer, Offers Olive Branch

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com