Pixelhum

There seems to be an increasing trend for media players (both hardware and software) to leave out the ‘stop’ button. They have a ‘play/pause’ button, ‘next’ and ‘previous’ track buttons, but no stop. iTunes, iPods, and my new iAudio5; none of them have a ‘stop’ button. I know the pause button does pretty much the same job, but it’s still different. It’s not quite as final ‘stop’ is it? It gives the impression that the music will start up again at some point in the future. What if I don’t like what’s playing? What if I just don’t want to listen any more?

So come on, stop leaving out the ‘stop’ button and put it back in it’s rightful place. Next to ‘play’.

The Optimus Keyboard is a keyboard in which every key has it’s own little LCD display, which means that each key can show exactly which function it will invoke when pressed. It can show any keyboard layout - such as qwerty or Dvorak, Russian or French - or it can show tool shortcuts for Photoshop or key layout for a game. It also has a group of ten configurable buttons to the left of the main keys.

I think it’s a fantastic idea and would probably buy one in an instant.

(from Engadget)

Well, the parts for my media box project arrived last week so I spent the weekend putting it together and configuring Ubuntu Linux to perform media box type duties. The Software side is far from complete, but the machine build went smoothly and is documented here.

Here’s all the components laid out on the table, ready:

I listed the components on a previous post but I’ll list them again here:

• VIA EPIA MII 12000 Mini-ITX Mainboard
• 512Mb Crucial DDR RAM
• Travla C137 Case with 120W PSU
• Seagate 7200.7 200Gb HD
• Panasonic Slimline slotload DVD/CDRW drive

So without further ado, let’s get this machine together…

First the harddisk will be installed, I didn’t get enough pictures of this, but basically there is a tray in the bottom of the case that catches on one side and is secured with a couple of screws on the other. Space at the plug end is a little bit limited, especially considering the way the IDE cable is wired into the plug, but it went in fine with no real difficulty.

And from another angle:

This shot shows one of the fans nicely. It’s not the quietest of fans, although there is very little motor noise therefore it’s not particularly annoying.

The next thing to go in is the Mainboard. That was easy enough, the four risers that the board requires are already installed in the case so all we need to do is fit the backplane and screw the board down:

You can see some IDE cable origami going on already where I’ve connected up the harddisk. I actually managed to connect it to the secondary IDE channel, not that it mattered really and it made wiring up both drives a little easier. I’ve also connected the ATX power connector and the front panel connectors to the mainboard, although the case only has connectors for power LED, HDD LED and power switch.

The last thing to go in is the DVD/CDRW drive. This screws into a frame that fits in the top part of the case. Two things I had to be careful of here; the screws that hold the drive in place are very small, and very easy to lose, as I almost discovered! Also, it’s a bit tricky getting the drive properly lined up with the front of the case.

You can see more IDE cable origami where I had to cunningly fold the DVD drive IDE cable to get it to fit, and to get the plug the correct way round for the drive.

It’s a bit packed in there! This shot shows you how I had to fold the IDE cable to fit.

Now everything is in, I can put the lid on, and relax with a glass of red wine:

As you can see I wasted no time getting Ubuntu onto it! I’ll post another article later detailing the software setup I use.

Yay! The parts have turned up for my media box. I’m building a machine to sit next to the TV and Hi-Fi, solely to store and play music and video. At some point I’ll add a Digital TV card so the machine can do TiVo like duties for us.

Anyway, here’s what I ordered:

• VIA EPIA MII 12000 Mini-ITX Mainboard
• 512Mb Crucial DDR RAM
• Travla C137 Case with 120W PSU
• Seagate 7200.7 200Gb HD
• Panasonic Slimline slotload DVD/CDRW drive

The mainboard has everything I need on it, plus a couple of bonuses. A CompactFlash slot means I could get it booting off a memory card instead of harddisk, possibly speeding everything up and making it more of a ‘switch on and off’ device. A PC-Card slot means I can add a wireless card at some point (to avoid wires and keep the other half happy!).

I intend to run the whole thing on GNU/Linux, probably Ubuntu given my recent good experience with it. I’ll post more later, possibly with pictures!

I like my Sony Ericsson T630, but, as I’m due for an upgrade, I’ve been scouting round to see what I can get instead.

After a brief flirt with the idea of an S700i, I noticed that Sony Ericsson have announced a new model that fits my ideals much better. I was never keen on the idea of having a phone with moving parts, especially ones that involve some kind of electrical connection. I remember too well the fiasco with the Nokia 7110 and it’s wholly unreliable sliding mechanism.

The K750i appears to be essentially a K700i with a better camera, and a memory stick slot. The ability to store a couple of albums worth of music on a memory stick seems like a great feature, and I can imagine using this phone to play music on the move. Also, the memory stick makes having a 2 megapixel camera on the phone a much more viable proposition.

Of course, it helps that I like the styling as well!