It's only been a week, but news for PSP hacks are all around. Everyone's trying to squeeze every ability out of the PSP. (Other than the
Wipeout Pure Web Browsing trick,) Interesting hacks that I found so far are:
-
PSP Exposed: Taking Apart the PlayStation Portable-
PSP Official Videos Download-
How to get ebooks on your PSP-
Use non-Duo Memory Sticks in your PSP-
PSP Video 9 - free video conversion and management application(+
RSS) for PC video files (avi, mpeg, etc) to PSP video files.
There are sites that are trying to get Linux into PSP but, as far as I know, none has any success yet.
More updates to come, I'm sure.
update:
It's pretty interesting to see so many people visiting this post from google search. Everyone wants more from their PSP, i guess. Here's another hack (well, kind of)
-
MSN IM on PSP-
Movies for your PSP-
Engadget PSP hacks roundup-
Hacking PSP's save data image
Although Sony has yet to provide us with PSP web browsing software, there are already proofs that the unit can easily be used to look at webpages. Apparantly the new psp game, "
Wipeout Pure," comes with a
full featured web browser that is used to download updates. Normally it’s restricted for that purpose alone, since the "browser" only goes to its specified page ("
http://ingame.scea.com/wipeout/index.html" - no, you can't use any computer browser to access it; but, of course, you can always
spoof it.)
roto has shown the way to work around the restriction by spoofing, at your access point, the "ingame.scea.com" DNS and direct it to your own webserver; and stick in the page "/wipeout/index.html." Then when you hit download in Wipeout, it will load up your page with your own links instead! (The browser isn't exactly "full featured" since there are html tags and frames that won't work.)
Full story link is here. But it's
currently down so here's a
mirror link via yuppicide.)
via:
hack a dayupdate:
slashdotted, with lots of
mirrors going around ;)
update2: if you have no idea what the DNS detail is all about, fear not; people are setting up
portals and
how-to so that you can browse the web by just changing a few settings on your PSP (and not your access point and/or server)
today extra link:
-a
story to read for those who hate credit card fraud; which is everyone, right?
Lots of
article updates on podcast today.
-
New BBC article on podcast business model, with comments from
Dave Winer disagreeing. Obviously we are keeping eyes on what's going to happen. And come to think of it, it is actually good for us to have
Adam being the one behind this whole business thing. It would be a lot worse if it's someone else. Adam knows what the audience want, and he is the one who encourages people to advertise in a creative way and not the old-same boring 30sec radio format. Let's just hope money won't change
anything many things.
-
NASA finally has an info page on podcast after it has its feed up for
awhile now.
-
Clear Channel,
NBA, and
radio stations are getting on board with plans to podcast their own.
-In an unrelating topic, Yahoo! Mail has plan
increase its storage space to 1GB, matching it with Gmail's.
update: more interesting sites I found:
-Stever Robbins'
Tips for Mastering E-mail Overload-Flickr
Transparent Screens Pool-
Life Hacks from 43Folders Wiki
It is here! Finally people in the US can get their hands on the PSP. It's definately not a usual day. Every corner, people are lining up since early morning, to spend 300-400+ bucks for this portable gaming device. Game stores sold out their first shipment of the PSP weeks ago, with the preordering, so everyone's hoping to be one of many who are early enough to buy it from other electronic stores.
BestBuy opens early today, 8am instead of 10am, with 100s of people already in line. I arrived at my local Best Buy store around 7:30am and was surprised by the number of people who were already in line. I don't know about you, but this is the first time I see people lining up this early, this far, for gaming at my local level.
Of course, this is nothing compare to those who camped at a national level, like those who were camping day into night at
Metreon in San Francisco.
Time to look back at
PSP Japan release, and
the how-to we had our eyes on.
via:
Cnetupdate: I went in to Best Buy today(03/25/05, the next day) and it is, not surprisingly, already sold out. Obviously there have been reports saying that Sony won't have enough for the demand, which is exactly why so many people didn't mind sitting/standing in the cold waiting for stores to open.
-more
pics and reviewupdate 03/26/05: Definately they are all gone, including some of the most anticipated games too. I went around about 7 stores in my area today, trying to find the Ridge Racer PSP (no idea why my local Best Buy didn't have it on Thursday) and they all are gone. All stores have signs posted "
due to high demand, the PSP is currently out of stock." None of the 7 stores have Ridge Racer nor Metal Gear Acid (I guess they are the top 2 games among early-adopter gamers right now.) Only 1-2 stores have a few Lumines left, but most of the other games are still available. Now lets hope the next shipment isn't so long away. (It's scary to think that
1,000,000 of $250+game$ units can go this quickly. And oh, it seems like
all online stores are out of it(PSP) too.)
correction 03/31/05: Ok it's been a week and the numbers are in. It's been reported that PSP sales aren't that spectacular. Only 300,000+ are sold with 200,000- leftovers in a number of stores. A lot of media have been reporting that, while PSPs have been flying off the shelves in gaming/electronic stores, there are quite a lot left over in general-lower-end-gaming stores like Target. Personally I didn't find evidence of that in my area, but I guess nationwide is diffferent.
New security aleart for today. I'm sure we all heard about "
Phising"(pronounced "fishing" - it's when you are lured into typing sensitive information [username/password/SSID/etc.] by fake emails and/or bogus webpages[ie. bait] ) but now there's a new thing that's even worse called "
Pharming." Although it is harder to fake, once it's done not many people would care to notice it.
"Pharming is simply a new name for a relatively old concept: domain spoofing. Rather than spamming you with e-mail requests, pharmers work quietly in the background, "poisoning" your local DNS server by redirecting your Web request somewhere else."What does it mean in plain english? It means that when you type something like www.citibank.com, you might get directed to a fake site that looks exactly like the official site. And, obviously, the info you give to the site are actually being sent to the "pharmer" instead. There isn't exactly a fix for this, since it's all about DNS redirecting and not the users' "fault." There is
a way to work around it though, but it requires too much hassle for an average user. Just be on a look out when you type sensitive information on the internet.
via:
Cnet
"The only way to do it right is to do it with 100% honesty"
I switched on my radio this morning because I ran out of podcasts to listen to. Interestingly I found
Ryan Seacrest playing
Dr. Phil on
KIIS. (I never knew he does that btw.) A girl called in and talked about how she's in a relationship with a guy, but she senses that the guy is wanting to take the relationship further than she wants. She said that he is a "very nice" guy and all, and she said that she's nice too, but she doesn't want to hurt him by breaking up--and she still wants him to be his companion friend in the future.
Now Seacrest pointed out 3 very intriguing points. He said, "now when we[guys] are being nice to you, you don't want us." And yea that's strangely true. I guess the good does die young... Then they started talking about why... The reason ended up being "he's not the one" and things started to make sense to me. [For you girls readers, the whole topic is very puzzling to guys, ok? We thought it's you girls are supposed to be the ones who want long term relationship. I mean, it's a big punch in the crotch when you are told "I need to break up with you because you are
too nice."]
The whole point of the call was to ask how she should break up with him nicely. "The only way to do it right is to do it with 100% honesty," said Seacrest and I agree. "Breaking up is all about ego, but don't embarrass him." Yup! If I'm in a relationship I'd like to know what's fucking happening too.
It's been a strange week. No, I'm not mad at no one; it's just been a relieve revelation to me since in the past week I kept bumping into people who want to ask me advice about relationship and honesty. Definately a light bulb on top of my head went on bright this morning when I listened to the show. (Though still I'm switching back to podcasts tomorrow :P )
btw,
imho a person is never "too nice." If you really think that way then it means that you haven't spent enough time with him/her. We learn good, and sometimes fake, things about people when we first meet them. Just hang in there if you really want to know the bads about someone :P
Adam Curry has launched his newest company with Ron Bloom. The company is apparently called
Boku Communications.
"BoKu is in the process of expanding its podcasting system into a network that is enabling thousands of producers to cost-effectively create compelling content to fit the needs and desires of millions of users, with marketers benefiting from the connection."There isn't yet much detail that I know, but I will surely let you know when further details are revealed. It seems that one of their first project is going to be
PodShow.com. I'm a little behind on the
Daily Source Code listening (about a few days behind) so there might be things that I miss. I actually have mix feelings about Adam stepping into the commercial realm >.<. Hopefully he's not going to be doing something stupid but to actually benefit people. At least I like the slogan: "Click - Hear" (which sounds like an overused internet phrase of "click here.")
via: the (also mix-feelings) newly designed
ipodder.org; Adam just puts the PodShow ad too high in the hierarchy, making the site to be too much promoting the ad (where, I believe, the whole purpose of ipodder.org is to be
a community directory for people who's looking for a podcast to listen to.)
update:
- Adam has posted a
DSC talking about Podshow.com, from what I understand they are trying to make PodShow.com to be a central site joining the 3 groups of podcasters, listeners, and advertisers. Adam said that part of it will be a podcast directory with commercial elements in mind, and there will be voting/rating elements involved like
PodcastAlley.com. We don't know yet about how exactly they are going to be making money out of it though (but I guess it will mainly be asking from advertisers since the site already promises a number of free elements for podcasters and listeners.) It surely is a site to keep eyes on for how things will turn up.
- Ron Bloom also was on Fox News.
Russell has the mp3
here. (tho he didn't talk much about the company, but just podcast in general)
- via:
Investor's Business Daily:
"PodShow.com is similar to Weblogs Inc., a network of some 75 niche-interest blogs operated by Jason Calacanis. He supplies software for production, promotion and marketing, and shares advertising revenues with writers."
A Small Update
- A new
podcast article in Forbes-
CBC Radio adds another podcast: "
Quirks and Quarks" - its weekly award-winning science show
-
Gracenote knows when you pop in a CD and/or rip one, even legally
-
Lawrence Lessig, the
Creative Commons inventor, talks about the importance of the concept and its applications on C-SPAN, supported by Library of Congress (RealMedia, click the top red "Watch" botton to watch... Lovely mix-ups around 34:22min ;) )
-
FOX News:
"No matter what you think Michael Jackson did or didn't do in the past, this family has set him up... I do know that the boy's mother and her now-husband invented the story of the family's kidnapping."I have to admit; FOX News isn't one of the first news sources I normally check, but the current MJ hype in the media today is
way out of control. Everyone I know who said they know Jackson personally all say that he is innocent. I don't want to get into a long argument, but all media are presenting news as if he is guilty (obviously
because the story sells itself a lot better that way.) What happens to "innocent until proven guilty"? I know it's fun that people joke around, but fairness in reporting is important too. (
update: more new
link)
via:
curry.comupdate:
Interestingly we now see mainstream media starting to implement podcast with their current medium:
- SciFi Channel now has
Battlestar Galactica Podcast where you can listen to "exclusive commentary" by it's executive producer, Ronald D. Moore, together with watching the show.
-
Virgin Radio UK's
"The first UK radio station to produce a daily podcast"
Sometimes you just wonder how song writers came up with these words :)
(I Ain't) Missing YouEvery time I think of you, I always catch my breath
And I'm still standing here, and you're miles away
And I'm wonderin' why you left
And there's a storm that's raging through my frozen heart tonight
I hear your name in certain circles, and it always makes me smile
I spend my time thinkin' about you, and it's almost driving me wild
And there's a heart that's breaking, down this long distance line tonight
*I ain't missing you at all,
since you've been gone away
I ain't missing you,
no matter what my friends (/I might) say
There's a message in the wire, and I'm sending you this signal tonight
You don't know how desperate I've become
And it looks like I'm losing this fight
In your world I have no meaning, though I'm trying hard to understand
And it's my heart that's breaking, down this long distance line tonight
*
And there's a message that I'm sending out,
Like a telegraph to your soul
And if I can't bridge this distance,
Stop this heartbreak Overload
I ain't missing you,
I ain't missing you, I can lie to myself
And there's a storm
That's raging through my frozen heart tonight
via:
Coverville #54 @ 15:59 min, with David Wilcox's cover of (the original version by)
John Waite. (For those who are first time Coverville listeners; don't mind Brian's occational pause. He's still isn't well and had to mute his mic once in a while, when he had to cough)
Media Expectation
It's true that you need to expect the worst from media as an interviewee. I've been fortunate enough to be part of a TV program last week (most of you won't know, it's just a small local thing.) For the past few months I've been hearing people whining about how the media always get their facts wrong and they are suckers for fact checking; well guess what, it's true... It was true, still true, and will be true. Before this, I've learned to expect that there will always be something wrong in an article, or a segment, that you are interviewed for... but it does hit you harder when it happens to you personally. They get little, but significant, things like my age wrong; things that they could easily call me back to confirm it with me instead of running the story just the way they
heard it from someone. It's also safe to expect that they will use the worst part of the materials you have offered. The
good part of the interview that I
personally like was cut out, and only left with the parts that I wish they aren't there.
Maybe it's just the way people are--being critical about themselves when they are on a spotlight? I don't know. Does anyone ever like the way their interview turnout in an article and/or segment of a show?
...
The past week I've been digging up old friends from old contact book, looking for someone to
connect with and maybe catch up with what I have missed. As expected, everyone was too busy with their life (and I totally understand that, most of the time I'm busy too.) I wonder why is it so hard to find a person to talk to when
you are the one that wants a talk? I mean
really really talk. What are the chances of 2 person being in the "mood for talking" at the same time? All I get from people were their new IM(instant msging) IDs. I hate IM. I am a big disbeliever of IM-ing. I don't understand how people talk with IM. People always do something else when they are IM-ing so how can you really talk, but just having a chit-chat? There's a big void of emptiness when you wait 2 minutes for someone's reply. I know I have people's (really honest) attention when they read/reply email... but it seems like no one, but me, uses email any more.
You know what the big ironic thing at the end of the story is? Right now I'm the one being busy, and now someone's IM-ing, wanting to talk to me. /sigh. I just need someone who's in sync with me. Lucky enough I have blog as another outlet, so I can talk whenever I want... to whoever wants to read (yes, that's YOU.)
A quick plug for another friend of mine who has a blog, if you are looking for another good blog to read; make sure you stop by and check out:
Tsai and her glam life.
It's been awhile since I do news update. I'm not sure why exactly I stopped doing it but I would guess I was too busy with my other works and ran out of time in a day to read all the news like I used to. I noticed a rather significant drop in the number of visitors but I guess it's ok. I'm not sure blogging on a more personal level is a step upward or a step downward. At least change
can be a good thing. I'd love to do daily blogging on news like I used to, but I can't if I... umm... can't.
I still want to keep the news on podcast up-to-date tho... so here they are:
-
More NY Times
articles- Steve Garfield:
Sometimes it's not all about money (as well as his mentioning soon-to-be-opened
free hosting for podcasters)
-
Vatican is podcasting
-
libsyn can host your podcast for you; for a price, that is
-
"[Radio] revenues [for Viacom] were flat... as more people turned to commercial free stations and portable music players..."- Podcast
cartoonOn a little off-topic:
-
Steve Fossett's made the historic flight
- Congrat to Adam Curry for having
"a model student", "wonderful young lady" daughter :P
I just saw 2 of the greatest movies I've seen in awhile:
Million Dollar Baby (obviously) and
Hotel Rwanda. From the 2 of them, I would recommend people to see Hotel Rwanda (since Million Dollar Baby already has enough push by the Oscar.) It's a great (real life) story and, unlike how many people might think, it's not depressing at all. All of the people in the "developed countries" really need to see this film. You watch the trailer and you might think it's a story about killings, but it's actually more of a story about hope for a change/difference. If you want to really understand more about the world, if you want to be more of a human, you need to see Hotel Rwanda.
-Go see Million Dollar Baby if you feel that you are tired about your life, or whatever you are doing.
-Go see Hotel Rwanda if you think you have a problem in your life--thinking that your life is a misery. (and/or if you live in 1st-/2nd-world country)
2 down, 1 to go... and I already got the Ray DVD. Just looking for some free time to enjoy. ;)
"Winners are simply willing to do what losers won't" and you know what?
"I think I did alright" ;)
© photo via United Artists
update: I just finished watching Ray. Jamie Foxx definately deserves the Oscar. The film was a little too long for me, maybe because I watched it as "Extended Version." If you are watching the movie by DVD for the first time, don't make the same mistake I made. Watch the original version since the extended version is nothing but the film
interrupted by deleted scenes. The added scenes distract you more than help, and you should watch the deleted scenes separately. The flow of the story is totally distroyed in the "extended version." But overall I love the fim; lots of great shots that I like. It could've even been nominated for best picture imho.
