Wireless headphones can be a wonderful way to help clear up the clutter inherent in most desktop PC systems. However, after plugging a wall wart in, and the headphone jack into the computer, the number of wires used has actually doubled. After [Parker] found an old set of JVC 900 Mhz wireless headphones (and a generic 900MHz transmitter), he cracked open the case to see what he could do with them. Realizing that the transmitter used a 12V DC source, he powered it with an unused floppy connector (which provides +12V, +5V, and two ground lines). He also wired…

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Projects involving Conway’s Game of Life and utilizing a Nokia 3310 screen are quite popular with electronics hobbyists. [Droky] put these two together and went one step further by adding capacitive sensors to control the Game of Life. His work is a great example of how to use the Atmel QTouch capacitive sensor (QT100a datasheet). This chip does the heavy lifting that we’ve seen in other touch sensitive solutions. It operates from 2V-5.5V, requires only three capacitors and a resistor, has a one pin active high output, and sells for around $1 in low quantities. One thing [Droky] overlooked…

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Friendster has been slowly losing grip of their social network dominance to Facebook who, like a game of risk, has been steadily increasing its reach in countries around the globe. Bernard Leong recently posted about the growth of Facebook in Southeast Asia and while the most recent world map of social networks shows Facebook running into some trouble in Asia, some numbers are beginning to suggest that they are at least gaining some ground.

So what numbers are these based on? The latest numbers, as presented by Bernard Leong, are based on Alexa ratings which appear to be somewhat wrong…

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It is pretty obvious to everyone that the newspaper industry is in a tiny bit of trouble. They have thus far failed to reach the rapidly changing landscape of news, online news at that. They must do something to keep our interests up, or end up flailing on the ground. Microsoft and Google among others have recently entered the picture with solutions to the problem and some fresh eyes from a digital perspective.
Leading edge tech companies enterend the picture with a plea from the Newspaper Association of America on how they can monetize content online through transactions or…

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Many people acknowledge the amazon Kindle as the king of e-readers. However, as the Sony PRS-600 and 300 are about to be released, the challenge has began. Although the details are not that elaborate yet, there are things that have already been confirmed. First, the existence of the devices has been established by Sony. Then some details about what they offer were also given. This is what should make Amazon a little bit concerned about the situation.
As a consumer, the price would be your utmost concern. Kindle 2, which is known for being an older model ever since Kindle…

The Blind Juggler is a robot that juggles or bounces balls in a controlled manner without any sensory input. It is basically just a linear actuator with a paddle on the end to smack the ball back into the air as it returns to the ground. The crazy thing is, it is doing this based purely on pre programmed math. There are no sensors telling it to make any adjustments. While we could envision this functioning, we would never have expected it to be as stable as it is. You can see in the video above that they can…

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We were a little surprised when we learned the Mazda RX7’s high beams were controlled by ECU, compared to typical cars using just a toggle switch. Ubermodder [Trent Bruce] realized how much of a pain in the rear end this can be if the ECU ever burns out, meaning no brights. By using a D-Flip Flop setup in a toggle configuration, he is able to control his once lost high beams. He also points out that if you plan to do any other electronic modifications to the RX7, you should be sure to pay attention to the unusual ground…

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A key group of U.S. senators was “very close” to agreement on healthcare reform, one of its members said on Sunday, suggesting Congress was nearer to meeting President Barack Obama’s goal of passing a reform bill this year. “We think we are very close to an agreement,” said Senator Kent Conrad, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and part of the “Gang of Six” bipartisan group that is trying to forge consensus, on “Fox News Sunday.” Lawmakers have struggled to find common ground in the debate over healthcare reform, hampering Obama’s efforts to push through his…

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