Unix Scripting Tutorial

Here's a nice little scripting tutorial that covers some not-so-obvious ways to handle common tasks.

Google Earth

Check out Google Earth, a free program for streaming satellite images of earth and doing maps, local searches, etc. It's very graphically slick.

KXSplot Released! (NO MORE SWAPPING!)

The folks over at PSPHacker have a nice posting about the new directloader (no swapping memory sticks). This allows you to install and execute homebrew apps without removing your memory sticks (much safer if only to avoid the accidental launching of your 1GB memory stick as your finger slips off of it and the spring loaded mechanism shoots it across your car and under the seat! Don't ask how I know about that one...) Check it out, it's currently THE way to go for firmware 1.50 folks. No word on progress for 1.51/1.52 people.

Ultimate PSP Homebrew Guide / FAQ v0.1

Sorry for the lack of updates, all my free time has been spent playing with homebrew and emulators! :) Anyway, here is an excellent summary of the ever changing face of homebrew on the USA PSPs. The emulators are pretty exciting, but we need some robust utilities to emerge. How about someone porting MPlayer so we can have PSPMC (PSP Media Center for you XBMC fans)!

PSP v1.50 Swaploit Released!

PSP-Dev finally released their PSP 1.50 hack to play homebrew software. Here's the summary of the steps involved:

1. Download any homebrew app/game
2. Load up the MSwap Tool
3. Select the EBOOT.PBP you wish to use
4. Select an Output directory
5. Click "Generate files"
6. You're now left with two directories - MS1 and MS2
7. Copy the EBOOT.PBP from the MS1 directory to your first memory stick (MS) - X:\PSP\GAME\
8. Remove the first MS and insert the second
9. Copy the EBOOT.PBP from the MS2 directory into X:\PSP\GAME\"
10. Remove MS2 and insert MS1
11. Go to the Game menu on your PSP and select Memory Stick
12. Select the PSP-Dev Launcher
    
13. The moment PSP logo screen comes on, swap memory sticks
14. Vola! You're playing homebrew on your 1.50 PSP!

Classic Gaming Ads On Demand

You can now watch your favorite gaming ads, be it for a Vic 20 or Resident Evil 4 anytime you want thanks to this collection of over 2,400 videogame ads being hosted by GamePressure.

PSP v1.50 Launcher Picture?

Claims are being made that on 6/15/2005 there will be a hack made available that firmware version 1.50 PSPs will be able to run unsigned code. Apparently this hack does not work if you've upgraded to 1.51 or 1.52 (and there's currently no way to downgrade). I guess we'll see for sure on Wednesday.

This Guy Put the "Case" in "Case Fan"!

I wonder if this thing hovers above his desk when he plugs it in? With a box of spare case fans and a little too much time on his hands, this guy built a PC case using only fans! Well, he used some zip-ties too. Definitely worth a look if only to chuckle and imagine what this thing sounds like when powered up.

Debian 3.1 "Sarge" Released!

Some said it would never happen, but "Sarge" is now officially released, as Debian 3.1.

Apple Switching to Intel x86 Chipset!

In a surprising (to me, a non-Mac guy) announcement, Steve Jobs says that within 2 years, Apple will switch to Intel x86 processors and drop IBM's PowerPC line. It was not clear whether beige-box Intel x86 machines will be able to run Apple's new software, but this is still big news. I would think Apple could really exploit the new platform if their OS was robust enough with the diverse hardware base. My guess is that initially at least it will be limited to Apple-supplied hardware. This is one I'll have to keep my eyes on.

Logitech PlayGear Pocket Inserts

This thread on the official Sony PSP message boards (not sure if you have to be a member to view them) has 360+ pages of PlayGear Pocket inserts. A lot of them are hosted on sites that limit out on bandwidth (ie. you won't see them), but there are still hundreds to see and many of them are very nice. I'd not seen mention of this mammoth forum thread before today so I thought I'd pass it along to anyone else that happens to read this.

"Lost" Finale Just An Infocom Game

Here's a funny rendition of the TV show Lost as if it were an Infocom text adventure like Zork. Very clever. This is exactly like those games used to be.

Modern Technology In Vintage Products

Worth1000 has a funny photoshop gallery from a recent contest where they encouraged mixing modern technology into vintage products. There's some funny stuff there, go take a look.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Living in Oregon and wanting to bike to work as much as possible led me to an informative article covering biking with ponchos versus rain suits. The article points out many things that you may only find out yourself after spendy a lot of money on fancy fabrics only to end up "paddling in a plastic bag".

PSPMagazines.com

I wanted to specifically mention a site I ran across last week, PSPmagazines.com has a great compilation of PSP-formatted media. They're a little lopsided on the "I've got half naked chicks on my PSP" side of things, but it's a testament to what people will do with what they've got. The PSP has an image viewer, so they're creating specially formed JPEG magazines. It might sound lame, but if you plop a few on your memory stick (they're typically only a half dozen megs in size or smaller), the next wait at the bus stop or doctor's office waiting room might be a little more interesting than reading the 2 year old copy of Sports Illustrated handled by unknown horders of people sick enough to warrant seeing the doctor (yourself excluded of course). They have dozens of magazines available for download.

Wanna See Your PSP's Guts?

Head over to this Lik-Sang gallery for a bunch of PSP disassembly photos. I hope they were able to put the thing back together from looking at their pictures though... looks pretty complicated.

Dynarox claims PSP Loader Due Very Soon

More ISOs of PSP games have leaked onto the net and the group releasing them (Dynarox) claims a loader for playing ripped PSP games from the memory stick duo will be finished "In a really near future". The English could use some work, but if their code does I'm sure people will overlook it. In a way, I'm worried if the games get cracked this early in the product cycle. I imagine there will be a certain number of games (small ones) that will suffer horribly via poor sales if these guys are successful, but I'd imagine the games that take full advantage of the 1.85GB the UMD uses will see less of an affect. After all, it's not a great deal to buy a $350+ memory stick to be able to play a rip of a $40-$50 game. If the game's worth playing for more than 13 days, buy it. If not, rent it at Blockbuster and get the most out of their "no late fees" deal by renting it for a week and keeping it an extra 6 days. If you get 2+ weeks enjoyment out of a game, buy the damn thing.

PSPE 0.9 Released

The PSP emulator for Windows PSPE 0.9 has been released. Don't get excited, you can't play PSP games on your PC (yet). This is for testing out the homebrew software if you're stuck with a 1.50/1.51 firmware (like the rest of us in the US).

A Gamers' Manifesto

Here's a humorous look at what needs to change in gaming for the better of the gaming community. No punches were pulled in this Top 20 style list. Definitely worth the read!