'Secure' USB Flashdrives

Recently, the dutch Tweakers website started with dissecting USB flashdrives. Their goal is to see if the so-called secure USB flashdrives are as secure as the manufacturer says they are. They reviewed the SecuStick, and a BioStick. The first protects the data with a password. The latter (two different versions were tested) uses biometrics (fingerprints) to secure your precious data (in combination with AES encryption). The full reports can be read here, (SecuStick) and here (BioStick). The dutch review can be read on the tweakers.net website (here, and here) along with interessting comments on the article. Conclusion of the articles: Some of these so-called secure USB flashdrives are not as secure as you might think. Oke, the data is 'secure' for the casual user. If real secrets (your private pron collection :-) ) are being stored on those USB flashdrives, you might want to consider using TrueCrypt (with a strong password, and keyfiles) to store your 'valuable' data.

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What to Get?

The Apple TV box is available at this moment. This devices allows you to stream music, and movies from iTunes on your TV. Downside is that you also need iTunes to host these files, since the Apple TV can only sync with iTunes. This also introduces a limitation. It's not possible to watch videos in a format like DivX, or XviD. iTunes doesn't support those (and therefor, the Apple TV won't support them either. It is possible to hack the Apple TV and add DivX/XviD support (and lot's of other nifty features like installing a hacked version of OSX). To achieve this, you need to open the Apple TV (byebye warranty). The other possibility is to get a Mac Mini, and strip it down mainly for media center purposes. Downside with the Mac Mini is that it's a bit more expensive. Currently I use my MacBook Pro as a media center (whenever I need it). But this is kind of a hassle with power, audio and DVI connectors. So I need a (relatively cheap non Windows based) dedicated setup for watching content on my TV. *SIGH*

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Webserver Upgrade

100Mbps is soooooo 1993, and fully insufficient in copying lot's of Linux images :wink: over my internal network. So, today I upgraded to Gigabit. Even with the purchased el-cheapo hardware (Intel Pro NIC's, and a 3COM 10/100/1000 switch) the speed increase is noticeable (70-80Mbps versus 300-350Mbps). Too bad that my DSL connection doesn't go that fast :-(

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Run OSX on the Apple TV

It's been a couple of days since the release of the Apple TV. Directly after its release it became clear that the device runs on a minimal version of OSX. It didn't take long for enthusiasts to open the Apple TV box, and add extra functionality (like SSH, DivX, XviD, etc). Even adding a much bigger harddrive is quite possible. These 'hacks' can be found on AppleTVHacks.net. Today, a new hack surfaced. It seems that Apple implemented some sort of limitation on running a full blown version of OSX... Well, that limitation didn't last very long. There's a short tutorial about running OSX on the Apple TV (including support for keyboard and mouse). This makes the Apple TV the cheapest Apple PC available (299 euros). You do need additional hardware to make this work (like special screwdrivers, an Intel Mac, some extra peripherals, etc.)

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Remote Annoyances

It's been a couple of days since I got my new home cinema set, and there are several annoyances with remote controls. My old home cinema components were also from Pioneer, so I guessed that the new remotes would be similar, but boy I was wrong. The new remote for the AV receiver has about 10 times as many buttons, with every at least 2 functions per button. The remote for the Pioneer DVR-545 lacks several key buttons on the remote;

• numeric keys for zapping
• buttons for going fast forward and reverse
• Audio and subtitle selection

If you need those controls (and I need them a lot), you have to slide the remote open, and use a SHIFT button to alter in movie settings (like the subtitles). Why not place these buttons on the surface? So newer doesn't mean better IMO

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Multiregion Pioneer DVR-545H

My latest DVD Harddisk recorder is a Pioneer DVR-545H. Since these things are still region locked I needed to do some searching on how to get the thing region free. In my early DVD years (when a simple DVD player costed about 700 euro), I bought lots of DVD's from Amazon in the USA. The reason for buying them at Amazon was that the prices were much lower, and they had a bigger collection to choose from. Every DVD player I bought afterwards had the possibility of making it region free. Mostly by a hardware modification, or with a hacked firmware. My latest acquisition had the possibility to make it region free by sending an infrared (IR) signal to the player/recorder All you need is a PC/Laptop with an IR out. On this page, you can get a 'kit' which makes your DVR-545H region free without hacking the firmware or making hardware modifications. Just one click on your laptop, and your Pioneer DVR reboots, and is region free. Note that the page is about another DVR from Pioneer. The nice part is that Pioneer standardizes their recorders, so it works on most of them. So again, no need to 'backup' my DVD collection to remove the region coding. And before I forget to mention it.... Use it at your own risk!!.

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New Home Cinema Set

My new home cinema set arrived today. Earlier I mentioned that I'd probably get me the Philips 42 inch TFT, but after seeing lot's of those screens work, I decided to get a Sony Bravia KDL-40W2000 (1080p). With a new screen, I also needed a new Home Cinema Receiver. This became the Pioneer VSX-2016AV-S. Together with a nice KEF iQ7 speakerset, and an active Klipsch subwoofer. Oh my god, this setup rocks....

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Sony Limits PS2 Compatibility on PS3

The great thing about the current game consoles is that people who have (owned) an older version still can play their games. most XBox games run on the XBox 360. Nintendo also offers great backwards compatibility on their Wii. Sony has to be the one company who differs. The current PS3 (sold in the US and Japan) offer backwards compatibility with PS2 games (to some extend). The PS3 which will be available in Europe will have a different 'engine'. This means that backwards compatibility is much less. Way to go Sony. This means that the current PS2 owners have to keep their PS2 as well.... I'm stil in the orientation phase in deciding which console (Xbox360, Nintendo Wii or the PS3) I should buy, when I get my new HD-TV. I guess that PS3 is dropping a few places with this strategy, cause older games come cheap and can still offer lot's of fun.

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Upgrading Core Duo MacBooks with Apple 802.11n hardware

AppleInsider reports that it seems possible to upgrade the older Apple Intel MacBooks (Pro). This is good news, because my MacBook Pro doesn't have the 802.11n adapter. The only problem is that I need to get the WiFi module from a Mac Pro system. I hope that these modules will become available for the older MacBooks (Pro). Cause this is the only thing keeping me from upgrading to the new Apple Airport Extreme. I have the 'manual', now I need the hardware to replace it....

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Muchas Pixels Rule

It has been a couple of days since I received my new Dell 24" widescreen TFT monitor. I must say that this is probably one of my best purchases in the last couple of weeks :-) . The desktop is huge. Lots of windows, and still there's space to put more stuff on it. Besides the large screen (1920*1200), it has USB, 7-1 cardreader and 5 or 6 video inputs (I lost track counting :-) ). There is only one regret..... I should have bought two

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