Maybe  I made one two many comments about the Xbox 360 and its reliability issues. Maybe I made one two many anti-Xbox wallpapers. Or maybe I was just one of the very fortunate few who got to experience the Yellow Light of Death.

So my roommate was on my PS3 playing the Wet demo, when suddenly my system randomly decides to turn off. I go to turn it back on, it beeps at me, and then displays a yellow light. I had not seen this before, so I decided I would leave the system off for a while to let it cool down (although I have never had any overheating issues previously). I tried it again about 30 minutes later, and the stubborn yellow light returned. After spending hours researching the issue, all I was able to find was that it was a “hardware failure”. Some websites said to try removing the hard drive;  so I took my drive out, and turned on my PS3 again. Yellow Light graced me with its presence again, what a surprise. Knowing that I likely would not be hearing any good news, I decided to call Sony. Sony declared the unit broken, and the only was forme to send it to them for the low price of 200 bucks (I have had my 60 gig PS3 since launch, so it was out of warranty). Not only would I have to pay this 200 dollars, it would take a few weeks for the it to be fixed and sent back to me. I decided for $299 I could just go out and buy a new 120gig PS3 slim, and have a full year warranty on it. This seemed like the smarter investment. However, I still had a game stuck in my now useless PS3. I was told there was no way to manually eject it, and that it could also only be removed if I sent it to them. At this moment, I hung up on Sony, and took matters into my own hands.

RIP my 60 gig PS3. It had to be done. At least I was successful at removing the disc without damaging it.

I am now an owner of a 120 gig PS3 slim.

I saw this video on Youtube a while back, and recently saw it again on youritronics. It’s a pretty interesting video, even though it is likely fake. Its supposed to show how two guys hack into an office buildings light controls and turn it into a giant Space Invaders game. I thought you would enjoy it nonetheless, so check it out!

Due to the popularity of my boosting wifi signal strength posts, I thought I would bring you guys another.

I will be discussing two methods in this post. The first of these solutions won’t cost you anything (a plus if you are a poor university student like I am). On the other hand, if you are one of those “professional” poker player who love to play poker outside on your hammock at the very far side of your huge backyard, option two might be worth the few bucks.

Okay, for the poor blokes like I, go grab a soda and drink it. If you’re a true computer nerd you probably already have a near empty can sitting on your desk (perhaps on your USB beverage chiller). Thanks to the guys at youritronics, I do not need to explain the construction process; you may watch the video below instead.

If you have somehow taken it upon yourself to paint both sides of the can, or you just didn’t pay attention and you painted the inside of the can, start over. This method should give you a slight db boost, similar to that of the paper and tin foil parabolic reflector I wrote about previously.

For those who have some bucks to spare ($25 per year if you want to get specific), head on over to sveasoft.com and check out their Talisman software. This is replacement firmware for your router, which uses state of the art compression to add a bunch of new features. The two that will concern you, hence the topic of this article, are “wireless speed and power boost”. If you want to learn more about the features of the firmware, check out the website above. The basic version of the firmware should be sufficient, unless you are interested in mesh networking or turning your router into a hotspot. This version of Talisman claims you will receive up to a 1000 mw boost, which equates to a 30 dB gain. This is more than double any of the other methods discussed on my site to date. The software will work for a wide range of wireless routers, including ASUS, Belkin, Linksys, and Netgear. For a full list click here.

We have all been a part of this recent hype on OLED and 0.1 mm thick TVs, however, we should also turn our attention to the audio side.

A 0.25 mm thick loudspeaker – looks like fancy tinfoil - has recently been designed by the University of Warwick. The technology is supposedly lightweight and cheap to manufacture. The thinness of the speaker allows it to be both flat and flexible; giving them the ability to be slipped inside ceiling tiles, placed inside cars, or even painted and hung on a wall.

The University of Warwick Audio Technologies calls the speaker a Flat, Flexible Loudspeaker (FFL). The technology is currently aimed at being used in public places, such as passenger terminals, where announcements could be made louder and clearer. These FFL’s deliver planar directional sound waves, which project sound much further than traditional speakers.

Marketing companies are currently researching the use of the speakers as part of advertising posters –living and talking Harry Potter pictures like the ones in the movie may soon become a reality!

Source

All of us have experienced spotty wireless connections at some point. Too many times have I wanted to toss my PS3 controller across the room because of those nasty red connection bars while playing Call of Duty. Thankfully, there are a few good ways that you can easily achieve increased signal strength and stability.

NOTE: I strongly recommend you use only one of these solutions at a time, using more than one will put tremendous stress on your router and WILL significantly reduce its lifespan. Use these solutions at your own risk, I am not responsible for any damage you may cause to your router.

Solution 1

If you are not very tech savvy or generally prefer a quick-fix approach, Solution 1 is for you. All you have to do is steal one of your moms aluminum foil pans (the bigger the better), and simply stand it up behind your PC/PS3/360. Thats it, your done! Sounds stupid, but it works. The pan will concentrate the signal around your device, resulting in roughly a 10% boost in signal. If you want to take things further (or if your mom needs her pan back), you may want to adopt solution 2 or 3.

Solution 2

Solution 2 involves creating your own antenna out of paper and aluminum foil. I wrote an article on this a while back, check it out here. You can expect a 12dBi gain with one antenna. To further increase this gain you need to either use more than one antenna, or increase the size of the antenna.

Solution 3

This solution is the most advanced of the three, however it has the potential for the greatest gain in signal strength. First things first, you will need to download and install Tomato Firmware (you will need either 7-zip or WinRAR to unpack the files). Tomato Firmware is replacement firmware for your router (see compatiblity list), featuring an easy to use GUI, bandwidth usage, and many customization options. Once you have installed the firmware, you will need to go to your default gateway (192.168.1.1 for Linksys). If you do not know your default gateway, go to START -> RUN -> type CMD and hit OK. Command Prompt will open, type ipconfig and hit enter. Your default gateway will be in the list of results. Once you have entered your default gateway and logged in to the firmware, go to Advanced -> Wireless. Look for the field “Transmit Power” (value should currently say 42mW or so). This value can be increased up to 251mW, but your router will likely turn into molten plastic. I recommend a 10-20% increase in the value, so about 5-10 mW. Thats it!

If you run into any problems read over the readme.htm file or check out the FAQ’s.

NOTE: The FCC has guidelines with regards to the strength of wireless signals, thus increasing your signal may be breaking them. 

Click here for two more methods of increasing your wireless signal!