BUG: Introducing the first open source gadget

If you think, eat and dream open-source, then the following will surely bring you to nirvana.

At this year’s CES, a company named Bug Labs introduced a new concept gadget, the BUG. It’s a modular device that can be adapted to your unique needs and preferences, and can even take the place of many of your most essential electronics. In need of a phone, media player or digital camera? No problem, the Bug can do the job. What about a GPS, computer, lawnmower or light saber? You can count on the Bug. Ok, the Bug won’t really cut people in half or mow your lawn, but you get the idea… right?

The principle behind the device is simple. First, you start with a base module, the BUGBase, which is composed of a processor, some memory, a small display, a few input/output ports and a battery. Then, if you want your BUG to accomplish a new function, just add the correspondent module. Yes, we know, some of the smart phones out there can do all of the things we enumerated previously, but the beauty behind this concept is that the Bug is entirely open-source. This means if you are a DIY kind of person and have basic technical knowledge, you should be able to make your own modules and add them to the BUGBase.

There’s an added benefit: You don’t need to have a spendy contract with Cingular or another big-business wireless provider, one of the disadvantages of smart devices like the iPhone.

For the software side, all coding is made though Bug Labs’ SDK, which can be downloaded for no charge from their site.

Bug SDK - Screenshot #1 Bug SDK - Screenshot #1

One thing is for sure, the BUG isn’t for everybody, but if you’re a true computer or gadget lover, and have some Java skills in your background, then you’ll definitely want to get your hands on one of these. The base bundle sells for $549 and comes with the BUGbase and the BugMotion, BugLocate and the BUGcam2MP modules. You may find this a bit expensive, but hey, this shouldn’t stop the truly passionate geeks among you.



From KFC to Transformers robot!

By Mark O’Neill

Now this is talent I wish I had!  A Chinese boy who couldn’t afford his own Hasbro Transformers toy decided to make his own – out of a Kentucky Fried Chicken cardboard box!    He was apparently inspired after watching the recent movie.

Just follow the link to see how he put his robot together!

So next time you’re munching on that Big Mac, just remember that the box isn’t just for catching the special sauce that drips from your burger.  That box is actually a Transformer in the making!

Super-spies rejoice: Self-erasing paper!

By Rob Dunn
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

Eraser. You've seen em, you've used em. Xerox is making them obsolete!From the evil empire of Xerox (an old former employer), comes an interesting concept in the age of a “paperless society”: paper that actually erases itself after 16 hours!

The idea behind the self-erasing printer paper is to help eliminate the waste generated when people print off documents for a meeting or other purpose where the paperwork will get thrown away within hours (or minutes) of being printed. These are categorized as “daily use” print jobs – emails, web pages, etc. which are typically destined for a single viewing.

Of course, there are obvious benefits: Copier machine pranks would be fun again, inappropriate jokes could be printed, “stick-it-to-the-man” memos could be left on the boss’ desk, I could go on…

In all seriousness, this is fine and dandy, but how many jammed printers will we see after we send a few of these slightly dog-eared “reprints” through our Laserjets? How easily will the secretary down the hall print off the “big presentation” hand-outs only to find a stack of blank pages right before the meeting? How many additional resources will we devote to the printed page rather than attempting to re-think how we use paper in the office?

While I appreciate the idea of the “erasable paper” (yep, that’s the name Xerox is patenting, what the heck have I been using all these years!?) and its supposed green benefits, I just don’t think that this is the direction we should be taking with our apparent need for handling hard copy.

What are your thoughts? Shouldn’t we be working on a true paperless society, or will that day never come?



MacHeads: The unecessary movie

By Ilya Kochanov
Contributor, [GAS]

My article on arrogant Mac fans made as little impact as I predicted it would. It seems like the whole community has decided to fight back against my discriminatory work with a movie dedicated solely to the culture behind owning said brand of computer.

Agreed, there are sub-cultures for almost everything, but owning a computer shouldn’t be one. The film, MacHeads, chronicles the lives of people who compare MacWorld to Mecca. Cool, right? Obviously, a religious pilgrimage to a sacred memorial is the same as going to see a technology company unveil some new products.

I hope I’m not coming off as if I hate Mac fans. No, I love them. But why the hell wouldn’t anyone make a movie about owning a damn PC though? How about a movie wherein the lives of people who have Logitech keyboards are explored?

MacHeads, really?

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Botnets: When your computer falls in the wrong hands

What is a botnet, how do botnets work, and how can you protect yourself against them?

If more people asked themselves these questions, botnets wouldn’t be a problem in the first place.

Interested in seeing first-hand what kind of attacks botnets can perpetrate, and want to know how to defend against them? Here is a video series produced by our friends at Watchguard Wire that can teach you what you need to know in order to stay one step in front of the botnet zombie horde.

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Nigerian Princes beware!

By Ilya Kochanov
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

What with everyone’s personal information being so readily available on the internet, you’ve probably received mail from an obscure Nigerian prince wanting to transfer millions of dollars into your bank account. Perhaps you’ve even struck some incredibly large inheritance from a relative you didn’t even know you had. That, my friends, is the infamous 419 scam.

There are plenty of things to do upon receiving such an email… You can give in and have your identity stolen then violated like some analogy which I can’t figure out at the moment, or fight back and have said scammer do something ridiculous to induce much hilarity for weeks to come.

419eater.com has been counter-scamming people who try to steal your identity for a while however, their most recent shenanigans are the best we’ve ever seen. Some guy receives a 419 asking for bank info and after calmly refusing to give anything away, informs the scammer that he is paying $100 per-page of hand written content for some government project. The scammer then proceeds to hand write all 293 pages of the first Harry Potter book. Ha!

If you read the accompanying material in 10 page intervals you’ll see that there was a small army of people who helped write this stuff.

Harry Potter & The Well of Scammers

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Google Earth lets you feel the need for speed!

By Mark O’Neill

The hidden flight simulator in Google Earth is not a new feature. But I had to delay trying it out as my computer last year was as fast as a constipated rabbit. However I now have a new computer so with the soundtrack of Top Gun playing in my head, I decided to go all Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards and feel the need for speed.

After trying it out, I have to say this is one of the coolest, if not THE coolest feature Google has ever given us. In fact, it’s so good I am seriously considering buying a joystick. I haven’t used a joystick for a computer game since my Commodore 64 days back in the 1980’s. The only drawback is that there is no sound in the flight simulator so you can’t hear the roar of the engines or Kelly McGillis screaming in delight at her naval aviators.

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EA Donates Original SimCity to OLPC Program

By David Peralty
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

SimCity ClassicWith the One Laptop Per Child initiative, America is finally getting technology in the hands of people around the world that barely have access to fresh, clean water. And what does Electronic Arts contribute to the OLPC Program? The original 1989 edition of SimCity. Now people in third world countries that get access to the inexpensive laptop will be able to build a pixelated, virtual city which could have a bigger population than the real city they live in.

While I do think its great that the video game maker decided to give away a free game to the program, couldn’t they have at least given a slightly more up to date version like SimCity 2000?

I should note that the OLPC’s are not the most powerful machines in respect to video graphics and screen resolution, so maybe it was the best game they could get working on the machine. As a child, this game sparked my imagination for hours, and lead me into a Sim-madness as I played nearly all of their other properties, from SimAnt, to SimCity 3000.

From the press release:

OLPC will begin distributing laptops in countries such as Uruguay, Peru, Mexico, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Haiti, Cambodia and India by the end of 2007. The idea to connect SimCity with OLPC came from internet pioneer, activist and OLPC advisor John Gilmore who knew the game’s history and recognized its potential relevance to the not-for-profit project. Not long after its 1989 release, SimCity became a phenomenon, winning more than 24 domestic and international awards. The game soon made its way into more than 10,000 classrooms as an educational tool and became part of the annual Future City Competition, a contest that still runs in seventh and eighth grade classrooms today.

What do you think, was this a smart and helpful move? I suppose it will help them get their branding to a new, untapped market long before other gaming labels have a chance to.