I often make what I call the "Two buck challenge" to people. Such a challenge is often centered around eating something especially disgusting in return for a trivial amount of my money. Yeah, I'm basically looking for someone to voluntarily become a tool for a laughable amount of cash.

However, most of my challenges are actually doable. For example, I might offer $2 to eat a can of seasoning at a restaurant, or perhaps drink a half glass of fat drippings from some meat. Pleasant? No. Possible? Yes.

However, take a look at this ancient relic of a sandwich that a friend found in the fridge at his all-male office. I think there's more mold than sandwich, but who can tell?

So, when this sandwich was found by one office dweller, they made a variant of the two-buck challenge, but adjusted to try to compensate for the exceptionally disgusting food involved. As you can see from this board, the stakes have been raised and several people from the office decided to chip-in and boost the reward pot so that any mold-munching freak might actually make a decent pile of coin.

Moldy sandwich challenge rewards

Did anyone take the challenge? Sadly, no. The sandwich remains, bordering between life in this world and in the next, much more moldy, decaying afterlife. Are you up for the challenge?

This is a neat project that actually looks fairly powerful! Using only an ATmega644 microcontroller and an AD725 RGB-to-NTSC converter for major components, the Uzebox game console is a build-and-program-yourself project that is pretty simple, but also very impressive in the resulting product.

Hardware-wise, the console offers 4K of RAM and 64K of program space, with four channels of wavetable sound. Control inputs are setup for NES pads, but you could choose any similar input scheme since those old pads were just switches and not the complicated serial/analog stuff on modern commercial consoles.

The software is interrupt-driven, which prevents the programmer from having to count cycles, so it's not quite as challenging to program as an Atari 2600, but should still be fun. You can access up to 256 colors thanks to the resistor-ladder DAC setup while the AD725 handles the heavy lifting to convert the signal to a standard TV-compatible NTSC signal.

Overall, it looks like you write some code that results in a very NES-class game. For example, look at the video of Tetris running on the Uzebox below and you'll see that it's definitely capable of NES-class games.

Not too shabby for an ATmega644 running at 28MHz! If you want to learn more or build your own, check-out the Uzebox retro video game console project. If you build one, let me know how it goes - I'm thinking I might take the plunge and try it myself!

[Thanks]

Yeah, yeah - I can hear you long-time readers pointing-out that I bashed all the hype on the original iPhone a year ago, but now I bought one (albeit the 3G update)? Yep, I did and so far I love it. But this isn't a review about the iPhone 3G.

It seems that many of the iPhone cases are a design that leaves the screen wide-open, for example, those rubber backing type cases that go for about $15-30. That's great for the back of the phone, but if I'm throwing it into my pocket which may have some coins or other items in it, I'd prefer a bit of protection for the screen as well.

The other most common type of case covers the back and screen, but these usually use an ugly plastic window that, well, frankly looks like crap when it get partially stuck to the screen. One of the primary great things about the iPhone is the nice, bright, high-res screen, after all.

So, I was on a mission to find a decent "folio-style" case. The DLO HipCase Folio is what I've been using on my iPod Touch since I bought it and it's an awesome case. It's sturdy, fits well, protects the precious Touch inside, and looks good to boot. If you have an iPod Touch, I highly recommend this case.

The iPhone is a bit thicker than the Touch, though, so it can't use the same case. Oh, I tried, but it's just about 1/8" too thick to comfortably slide into that DLO case.

Searching for iPod cases that have the flipping screen cover and magnetic "latch" wasn't too easy. There just aren't that many of them out there to choose from yet. A friend at work sent me the link to the PDO Flipp iPhone 3G case and since they were running a special for free shipping and I found a coupon code for 10% off, I decided to try it out.

Construction:
The Flipp is made from a nice, soft leather much like the DLO case. It's slightly padded and feels good in your hand. It has a subtle leather "texture" on it, which looks nice unlike one of the other cases (which is sold in the Apple Stores) that has a hideous shiny alligator-skin pattern embossed on it - yuck! The interior is lined with a black velour type "fuzz" which will not scratch the iPhone. The edges and seams are stitched nicely and don't have any hanging threads or any other visible quality issues.

It features a belt clip that is strong and appears to be well attached. The clip rotates, so you can orient your phone to point whatever direction you prefer. The cover is held-shut by two strong embedded magnets, one on each side of the iPhone's button.

Various cut-outs on the Flipp case allow you to connect to the headphone jack, dock connector, push the volume buttons on the side, and let the speakers in the iPhone play.

Fit:
Unlike some cases which I've read reviews of where the iPhone sits loosely inside, the Flipp's fit on the phone is slightly snug. That will keep it from accidentally sliding-out, which is something my old DLO case wasn't perfect at.

The cut-outs for the speakers and dock connector align well. The volume button cut-outs are just barely large enough. Actually, even with my phone pressed all the way down into the case, the top 1/16" or so of the volume "up" is covered with the thin leather. This doesn't appear that it will be a problem, but it may have been better for PDO to make one single cut-out for the volume and ringer-mute switch than to try to make them separate.

The camera cut-out is one thing that doesn't align very well. Because the case is leather and there are slight variances in the shape/etc., my iPhone sits just a tad off-center which places the camera lens out of alignment with the matching hole in the case. It's a simple matter to push the iPhone over slightly when you take a photo, but for those who snap lots of photos using their phone, it might be annoying. More on this below.

The magnets that hold the flip shut are strong and I don't anticipate any issues with unexpected openings. Closing the flap gives a satisfying muted "snap" as the magnets pull it shut.

Use:
I like that I can connect the dock connector without removing the iPhone from the case. The headphone jack is readily accessible and other than the minor issues I described above regarding the alignment of the volume and camera holes, the case is quite nice. It definitely makes the iPhone 3G chunkier, but you have to expect that when you're enclosing it in padded leather.

The flap/folio design is great in my opinion because it provides protection for the screen, but it moves completely out of the way when you want to see and touch that big, beautiful screen. It's the best of both worlds for me. Someone who takes pics with the built-in camera, though may not like the folio design as the flap folds over and will cover the lens unless you hold it up with your hand. For me, I'll probably just pull the iPhone out of the case when I need to take a photo, but if you're like a teenage girl who takes photos of everything every minute of the day, the folio design won't be for you.

Because of the added thickness when the iPhone is in the case, you very likely won't be able to put it into any kind of dock without removing the phone. I have a set of Logitech speakers which I don't have a dock adapter in, hence making the opening very large, but with the belt clip, I still can't put the iPhone into the speakers while it's in the PDO Flipp case. Adding any kind of case will probably affect many docks, so that's just common sense, but I figured it was worth noting anyway.

Conclusion:
The PDO Flipp is a nice folio-style case for the iPhone 3G. It is well constructed and will offer good protection for the iPhone without looking silly like some of those bright pink rubber cases. The screen is easily accessible and you can actually touch the screen, which I think is better than the cases with a permanent plastic window. The Flipp comes with a free screen protector also, which is a nice bonus, although I haven't tried it yet and I'm not sure that I will need it.

The Good:

• Quality construction and materials.
• Access to all buttons and ports on the iPhone 3G.
• Rotating, strong belt-clip.
• Competitive price (other similar cases are $10 more).
• Snug fit keeps the iPhone in place.

The Bad:

• Makes your iPhone 3G a bit thicker.
• Camera cut-out may be an issue.
• Volume button cut-out is too tight.

Overall, I think this case is a good purchase for someone wanting a nice leather folio-type case for the iPhone 3G. It's well-made, nice to look at, and very reasonably priced at $30 in a field of extremely over-priced iPhone 3G accessories. I'm personally happy with it and think it's one of the better options for this style of case at this time.

Amazon is offering the PDO Flipp case for $24 right now, which is an even better deal than I got. And, here is the manufacturer's page for the PDO Flipp iPhone 3G case.

Here are some photos I took. Sorry for the "1 per line" format - I don't know how to get this stupid Wordpress caption thing to not do that (if you know, please leave a comment!)

PDO Flipp case for iPhone 3G box front

PDO Flipp case for iPhone 3G box backside

Flipp case for iPhone 3G box side

Flipp case box bottom

Flipp case next to my iPhone 3G

Flipp case opened with the cardboard iPhone inside

Back of the opened Flipp case

iPhone 3G inside the Flipp case

Side view of the iPhone in the case

Top view of the opened case

Top view of the opened case

Bottom view showing the dock and speaker cut-outs

Side view showing the volume and mute switch cut-outs

Showing the camera cut-out slightly out of alignment

The problem is puzzling and annoying. You try to File->Quit in Leopard's Mail application and it just sits there. If you wait long enough, it might quit on its own, but typically, you must do a Force Quit.

I tracked the issue down to something to do with IMAP accounts. When I had Mail configured for only POP access, it would quit on-demand any time. However, as soon as I added just one IMAP account, Mail again refused to exit cleanly. Clearly, there's something wrong with Apple's IMAP implementation in Leopard and they aren't exactly jumping to fix it.

Anyway, I found a "fix" that worked for me. I now have six IMAP accounts setup in Mail and when I try to quit, it exits within a second or two, cleanly. This may or may not work for you, and make sure you have a backup just in case -- although this shouldn't cause any problems, you know the standard "do this at your own risk" disclaimer applies.

1) Exit Mail and make sure it has fully quit (use Force Quit if required).
2) Run these commands from a Terminal:


sqlite3 ~/Library/Mail/Envelope\ Index vacuum;
sqlite3 ~/Library/Mail/Envelope\ Index vacuum index;
sqlite3 ~/Library/Mail/Envelope\ Index vacuum subjects;


You can just cut and paste the lines exactly as-is.

3) Open Mail, wait for any of the initial inbox checking to complete, and test quitting.

I suspect that if you have lots of mail stored on the server that it will still take a few seconds to shut everything down, but in my case with very little existing mail, Mail now closes in about 1-2 seconds.

Hopefully Apple will release an update at some point in the near future, but there are reports of this happening all the way from Leopard 10.5.1 through the 10.5.4 that I'm running.

Please post below if this helps you so everyone can gain from the experience.

We've come a long way since 1987, which was the year the incredible Commodore Amiga was introduced. The Amiga was literally ahead of its time with 4096 color graphics, stereo sound, built-in speech synthesis and of course, a graphical user interface. Remember that back then, the IBM PC compatibles had mono or four-color CGA graphics, a PC speaker that still to this day only goes "beeeep!" and a pricetag that was at least 5X the Amiga. Yeah, I'm one of "those guys" who hated IBM clones back then and frankly, I still stand by that - they sucked back then - admit it

Anyway, there's a GPL open-source hardware project out there called the Minimig which incorporates a fully Amiga 500 compatible design onto a Xilinx Spartan3 FPGA housed on a 12cm x 12cm board. The board includes PS2 keyboard and mouse connectors as well as the obvious video-out and sound. Being an open-source project, you are free to take the design and hack it however you see fit, and several people have done exactly that and created a board that fits into a standard ATX case, a board you can buy that's pre-built, and more. Pretty cool in my opinion!

Check-out more about the Minimig Amiga 500 project and if you are up to it, build your own or even contribute to the project to help fix the remaining minor bugs. After that, you can get back to your game of Lemmings!

Commodore Amiga 500 System w 45 disks 520 Mem exp

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Here's another fine photo to go in with my Geo Metro Rice Racer, Roof Scoop Rice Racer, and even Big Crime in Little Fort Collins Colorado.

Snapped by one of my buddies, this confused Corolla seems to think it might be a Mustang. Or something.

Look closely at the hood and notice the not-so-small hood ornament. I'm not sure if it's bolted-on or just glued, but I've got to admit it's a strange placement for a Mustang type ornament. I wonder perception this guy is trying to achieve -- maybe it's funny like having a set of bullhorns on the hood. Then again, he might be serious and thinking it actually looks cool.

Whatever the case, this is more proof that even a smallish homogenized town like Fort Collins, CO has its share of weird automotive modders and nuts. Click below for a larger version.

It seems that my computer use has primarily become using the Internet these days. As such, I have quite a list of sites that I search on a regular basis, such as Wikipedia, Amazon, and Ebay. In the past, I'd go to their website by typing the URL (or finding a bookmark) and then locate the search box, which is sometimes at the top and sometimes on the left and sometimes on the bottom, and then execute my query.

I'm guessing that many of you also perform this particular activity quite often.

So, what do I do now that is so wonderful and great?

When I want to search Wikipedia for Star Trek, I just enter "wi star trek" in my FireFox URL box and BAM! I go directly there. If I want to search Ebay for a new iPod, I just enter "eb ipod" in the URL box and once again, I'm directly at the search results on Ebay. No more loading their main page and hunting for the search box.

Here's how you can do something similar. We'll use Wikipedia for an example.

1) Go to the URL you want to create the quick-search for. Right-click IN the search box and select "Add a keyword for this search" as seen here:

2) A dialog box will pop-up. Give the quick-search bookmark a name which can be anything you like. In the "Keyword" field, these are the characters you'll type in the URL box to initiate the search (in my example above, the "wi"). I like to place these bookmarks in their own folder in my Bookmarks which happens to be called Quick Search. You can organize them however you like.

3) Click Add. Now, you can try it out! In your URL box, enter the keyword you chose, a space and then the search terms you want. Here, I'll do "wi star trek":

4) Enjoy your search results with lots less clicking, waiting and loading. Now, go create quick-search links for any site that has a search input field. I use wi for Wikipedia, eb for Ebay, and am for Amazon.

Hopefully this FireFox tip is helpful. I use it all the time and love being able to jump directly to the search results of frequently-used sites.

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Surely you have seen a plasma globe: they are the glass spheres of varying sizes that have colored electrical arcs dancing around in them. You can touch the globe to affect the movement of the lightning. Yeah, you remember

The standard mode of operation for a plasma globe is either "on" or "pulse to audio" which is supposed to result in some kind of music-synchronized disco effect (which honestly, never worked that great in my experience).


Well, it appears that you can alter the frequency of the power supply feeding the high voltage into the globe to create various effects. Combine that with a microcontroller, and you can have a flexible, easily modified programmable plasma globe which you can experiment with and zone-out to when the mood strikes you.

In the video below, the color of the lightning can be changed from green at low frequencies to purple at high frequencies. The movement and behavior of the electricity changes with the frequencies as well. Using an ATmega8 microcontroller, the guy created a system that can be programmed and adjusted via a computer interface, but will also download the programs and settings to the microcontroller allowing un-tethered operation. Pretty cool!

Just make sure that you're careful around the high voltage supply so you don't zap yourself!

Read more about the microcontroller controlled plasma globe.

Thanks Hacked Gadgets.

Anyway, I will endeavor to find something worthy of a post over the next few days, but for now, please stick with me as I navigate this new life course for a little while

Just a quick post this time as my Spanish isn't anywhere near good enough to figure-out what they're saying. Perhaps Steve will chime-in.

Anyway, this pyramidal tree displays a mock version of the classic arcade game Pac Man on its four sides. The graphics are slightly animated, so you'll see a ghost bouncing around, but due to the nature of the maze, the game is not actually playable.

Check-out the video of the Pac Man Christmas Tree below.

Now what gaming geek wouldn't want a tree like that?!