Mini-Review: Visual Land V-Bop 4gb model VL-867

I just bought the 4gb model without the micro-sd slot for only $39.99 U.S. and have to say I am very happy with it. It is seen just like a flash drive (very important to me), has an FM tuner, displays text files and pictures and has voice record that really seems to kick butt. The only 2 things I would change would be to add shuffle for the .mp3's and the ability to play the radio through the built-in speaker... the mp3's play just swimmingly through it, but for some reason, the radio won't... not a deal breaker by any means anyhow. If you are in the market for a player that won't set you back a whole lot and won't tie you to itunes, this is a well made player for a pretty great price.



.8" Color TFT Screen
Display Resolution
208 x 176
Digital Audio Formats Supported (Playback)
MP3, WMA
Digital Video Formats Supported (Playback)
AMV
Photo Formats Supported
JPEG, GIF, BMP
Memory Type
Flash Memory
Memory Installed
4GB (up to 1,000 Songs, or 12,000 Images, or 12 Hours of Video)
Frequency Response
20Hz - 20KHz
Signal-To-Noise Ratio
85 db
Built-In FM Tuner
FM Stereo Radio
Audio Amplifier (EQ)
Integrated Audio Amplifier
DSP (EQ) Modes
Normal, Classic, Rock, Pop, Jazz
Voice Recorder
Voice Recording up to 1500 Hours
Audio Input
Built-in Microphone
Ports and Connectors
(1) USB Connector Port; (1) Headphone Port
Interface Type
USB 1.1/2.0 Interface
Included Software
Drivers & Utilities
Included Accessories
Headphones, Protective Skin, Wall Charger
Included Cables
USB cable
Battery
Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery
Battery Life
Up to 12 Hours of Audio Playback; Up to 3 Hours of Video Playback
Dimensions
55mm x 70mm x 7mm
Weight
2.1 oz.

I just ran across this really disturbing article on Hack-a-Day.com (great site) about listening to the rf interference generated by keyboards as far away as 20 meters, even through walls.

Tin-foil hat time....

Compromising Electromagnetic Emanations of Keyboards Experiment 1/2 from Martin Vuagnoux on Vimeo.

Compromising Electromagnetic Emanations of Keyboards Experiment 2/2 from Martin Vuagnoux on Vimeo.

Star Trek in HD on CBS.com!!

Only a few episodes so far, but lets hope more will follow.

Here is the link.... http://www.cbs.com/hd/?show=star_trek_remastered

Linux Games and resources

This is just a quick list of games/game sites avaliable for linux.

• http://whdb.com/2008/top-25-linux-games-for-2008/ A list of the 25 top linux games for 2008.
• http://www.linux-gamers.net/ linuX-gamers.net is one of the biggest linux-gaming communities with an integrated multi-gaming-clan. On this page you will find latest Linux gaming related news, a big moderated forum, a huge HOWTO collection and other information about the community and the clan.
• http://www.happypenguin.org/ An online database of many games around.
• Straight from Linux Reality site.... Quake 2, Quake 3, OpenArena, Unreal Tournament, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, FreeCiv, LinCity, LinCity-NG, Micropolis, OpenTTD, Frozen-Bubble, Enigma, Fillets-NG, Pingus, Neverball, Neverputt, Supertux, Abe’s Amazing Adventure, Secret Maryo Chronicles, Trip on the Funnyboat, TuxKart, SuperTuxKart, Armagetron, GLTron, Tuxracer, PlanetPenguin Racer, Extreme Tux Racer, Battle for Wesnoth.

Ubuntu Linux related stuff..

• The main Ubuntu page.
• http://www.ubuntugeek.com/ Has lots of tutorials, tips and articles.
• While not strictly ubuntu relates, I find the following useful... http://www.linuxhq.com/ http://www.linuxguruz.com/ http://www.linuxforums.org/ http://www.linuxquestions.org/ http://www.linuxclues.com/ http://www.howtoforge.com/

Ubuntu Cheat Sheet - Upload a Document to Scribd

Apress Beginning Ubuntu Linux 3rd Edition Jun 2008 - Upload a Document to Scribd

How to Make a Double Dovetail Puzzle

I once saw this puzzle and linke it so much I had to make one for myself.... Here are the directions. How to Make a Double Dovetail Puzzle

Lockpicking Resources

Many people that are interested in puzzles are also interested in lock-picking. Although no expert, I am no execption. The following is a small collection of links I've found around the web that might be of interest.

Scott

• http://www.wikihow.com/Pick-a-Lock Has nice graphics and a video showing how it is done.
• http://www.lockpicking101.com/ Has FAQS, VIdeo and lots of links.
• Hacking BMW locks
• Here is how to make shims out of soda cans.

Lock Picking (THIS IS INSANE!!) - Click here for more amazing videos

If all movies had cell phones...

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Obfuscated TCP

Obfuscated TCP is a transport layer protocol that adds opportunistic encryption. It's designed to hamper and detect large-scale wiretapping and corruption of TCP traffic on the Internet.