Behold: A Cheap PS3 Universal Remote

I don’t know about you, but I’m not really ready to shell out a few hundred bucks to buy a universal remote that supports the PS3. Logitech’s Harmony series remotes are really nice, but if you want PS3 support, you’ll have to buy a special infrared adapter on top of the remotes to make them work with your setup.

Fortunately, you won’t have to do that anymore, thanks to SMK-Link, a U.S. hardware manufacturer that specializes in remotes of all kinds. At $50, The Blu-Link PS3 Universal Remote supports both Bluetooth and infrared devices. That’s pretty cheap considering that harmony remotes cost from $60 to $500, and that you’ll have to pay another extra $60 for the special adapter if you want to make them work with the PS3.

Blu-Link Universal PS3 Remote – Top Features

  • Control PS3™: Built-In Bluetooth™ radio for controlling Sony PlayStation© 3
  • 6 Devices in one: Replace up to six different remote controls
  • Large Library: Pre-programmed to support numerous models of TVs, VCRs, DVDs, DVRs, surround sound systems, cable, satellite and set top boxes
  • Learning Remote: Learn codes from other remote controls

Ergonomic

  • Compact Design: Sleek shape is easy to hold
  • DVR Friendly Layout: Frequently used buttons are centrally located

Advanced Controls

  • Blu-Ray and DVD Control: Specific buttons to control top menu, popup menu, angle, audio channel and subtitle features of movies
  • Advanced PS3™ Buttons: Dedicated buttons such as triangle, circle, square, X, Select, Home and Start for maximum control of PlayStation© 3

Powerful

  • Non-Volatile Memory : Settings are stored in non-volatile memory so they aren’t lost when batteries are changed.
  • Augmented Learning: Start with a pre-programmed device code and customize it by learning

[Blu-Link Universal Remote Control for PlayStation 3 – $49.99 on Amazon.com]



Study: Bloggers Are Happy

Ok, maybe not “happy” but at least happier than they used to be. According to “Measuring the Happiness of Large-Scale Written Expression: Songs, Blogs, and Presidents“, a research report from Peter Dodds and Christopher Danforth, two mathematicians from Vermont University, the general mood of bloggers seems to be in an upward trend since 2005.

Starting August 2005 to June 2009, the two researchers have collected keyword density throughout the blogosphere for terms starting with “I Feel”. Then, they charged the results inside an application that analyzed the terms and ranked them from 1 (I feel bad, miserable, suicidal) to 9 (I feel awesome, great, triumphant,)

The result didn’t really surprise anyone. The happiness factor varied greatly within a year, sharply going up and down during holidays (Christmas, Valentine day, etc.). Maybe a bit more surprising is that the happiest day throughout the study is the day when Obama got elected.

In any cases, the final results are encouraging; the happiness curve is up 4% compared to what it was in 2005.

If you want to see how your emotional state compares to others from around the globe, check out We Feel Fine, a data collection engine that harvests human feelings from the blogosphere, and if you’re curious about the study, it is currently available online via this page.

[Picture Source: icanhascheezburger]

British museum aims to revive 1951 computer

It’s probably a safe bet that many GeeksAreSexy readers have brought an old computer back from the dead at some point. But a museum in Britain is trying to do it with a 58-year-old machine.

If the plan comes off, the Harwell computer will become the oldest working electronic computer in the world. Staff at the National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park, a site best known for its work cracking the encryptions of the German Enigma machine during the second world war, are hoping to raise £112,500 (around US$180,000) to fund the restoration.

Unlike today’s machines, Harwell wasn’t designed for speed; one test found a human with a calculator could initially keep pace with the computer. The advantage of the machine was that it could keep that pace continuously without mistakes (unlike humans, it didn’t get bored), at one stage running for 10 days.

Instead of memory chips, the computer used 900 gas-filled tubes, each of which represented either a one or a zero. That gave it a memory equivalent to 112.5 bytes (one eighth of a kilobyte). Rather than a hard drive, it stored information on a paper tape, which was also how instructions were inputted.

The machine was built for the Atomic Energy Research Establishment but later used as a teaching tool in a college before going into a local museum in 1973. It’s spent most of the past three decades in storage but has been kept in relatively good condition.

According to the museum, the oldest currently functioning computer was built in 1956, though older models have been rebuilt with modern parts. The plan is to restore the Harwell machine using original spare parts which staff have managed to track down.

To fund the restoration, the museum is looking for 25 companies or wealthy individuals to pay £4,500 ($7,300) each as sponsors. The restoration is expected to take around a year, during which the machine will be on public display wherever possible.



How to Make a 1-Up Super Mushroom

All you need to make your very own 1-up super mushroom is a bit of creativity, a raddish, and a knife. That’s it!

[Source: GamOVR]

Tip of the Day: Don’t Fart During Surgery

While this isn’t really tech related, it was simply too hilarious to pass up. Here’s a very good reason why you should avoid farting during surgery:

[Via Buzzfeed]

NASA’s Tour of the Cryosphere

NASA has just released an amazing video exploring the effect of global warming on the Cryosphere, that part of our planet where water can be found in solid form for most of the year. The animation was built using high definition visuals coming from thousands of satellites and it looks absolutely fantastic. Check it out:

[Picture source: Flickr (CC)]

Red ring of death: Almost one in four XBox 360’s fail

It’s fair to say the “red ring of death” is the most notorious hardware failure in the console industry of recent years. But a new study concludes that even if you throw out that specific problem, the Xbox 360 is still the most unreliable of today’s generation of consoles.

According to SquareTrade (PDF), a whopping 23.7% of Xbox 360s suffer some form of malfunction (not including accidental damage) in the two years after purchase. Without the red ring of death issue, that figure is 11.7%.

That’s still ahead of the PlayStation 3 which is right on 10% and the Wii at just 2.7%. SquareTrade says the latter figure compares well with most consumer goods, not just consoles.

It’s worth noting the figures come from claims by people who have specifically bought third-party warranties from SquareTrade. The company believes some customers affected by the red ring of death may have taken the problem directly to Microsoft rather than claimed on their policies. With this in mind, it estimates the real failure rate of the Xbox 360 could be as much as 35%.

The study authors also looked to see what happened when they adjusted the figures to take account of the fact that Wii users tend to spend less time using the console than those with the Xbox 360 or PS3. They found the gap narrowed, with the PS3 becoming almost as reliable as the Wii, but the Xbox 360 remained the most unreliable by some distance.

The only specific problems where the Wii performed worse than its rivals were power issues and problems with the controller. Given the more active way users handle the Wii controller, that shouldn’t be a major surprise.

Some of the difference in reliability may be explained by the fact that the Wii is a much simpler device technologically; indeed, some faults on the other machines may not relate to games playing. It would also be interesting to know the failure rates on peripherals such as the Wii balance board which don’t appear to be covered by the study.

Still, even if you throw out the red ring of death as a one-off design blunder, you are still left with the fact that a new Xbox or PS3 has a one in ten chance of failing in the first two years. For companies of the stature of Microsoft and Sony, that’s a pretty shoddy record.

Birth of the Internet

It was 40 years ago today, September 2, 1969 that scientists connected two computers at UCLA with a 15-foot cable, and had the machines communicate with each other. The test data was meaningless, but the breakthrough eventually led to the formation of the internet. However, there were plenty of other milestones. Which date should we consider the birthday of the internet?

September 2, 1969: First two computers communicated with each other.

Oct 29, 1969: Data sent via computer to a remote location.

1971: The first email was sent.

Jan 1, 1983: ARPANET adopted the standard TCP/IP protocol.

March 1989: Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web.

April 22, 1993: Mosaic became the first web browser.

Roads and Crossroads of Internet History has even more milestones, going back to the installation of the trans-Atlantic cable in 1866. Which date should we designate as the birthday of the internet? Then again, we could just celebrate all of them -any excuse for a party!

Non-Dairy Creamer Cannon

In the following clip, The Mythbusters test if they can create a ‘creamer’ cannon using non-dairy creamer, compressed air, and a flare. Watch how they create one of the scariest-looking explosions ever on the show. And as they note at the end of the video, please don’t try this at home! :)

[Via TechEblog]