In order to accommodate the large amount of air traffic that will be flowing into China for the forthcoming 2008 Olympics, the Chinese government has commissioned a new multi-billion dollar airport terminal. The construction is slated to be completed by February 2008, just in time for the summer games. Designed by Foster + Partners, this new structure is the most technologically advanced airport in the world. Foster + Partners claims that this airport will provide a defining passenger experience as well as a level of operational efficiency and sustainability not found anywhere else. Beijing’s new international airport terminal will be the gateway to the city as it welcomes athletes and visitors from around the world to the twenty-ninth Olympiad in 2008.
A new trailer for Pixar’s upcoming Wall-E just hit the web, and as far as I’m concerned, I think it looks awesome. The story of Wall-E revolves around a robot who wants to make more of its life than be a lowly robotic trash compactor. What is really going to be unique about the film is that it’s not going to have any dialogue at all. Enjoy the show!
This project will help you change a cheap wireless router into a wireless receiver for your Xbox 360. The total cost of this project can be as low as twenty or thirty dollars, compared to the one hundred dollars Microsoft wants for their little wireless dongle.
* This tutorial assumes you already have a wireless router to send out wireless access to the Xbox 360.
Parts Needed:
Xbox 360, any version
Three Feet or more of Cat 5e Cable (Ethernet Cable)
Wireless Router
DD-WRT firmware
With the Nintendo Wii and the PlayStation 3 having built in wireless access, it has always been shameful to tell others I know that the old version of the Xbox 360 doesn’t have the same feature. If the inexpensive Nintendo Wii can have it built in, why can’t the Xbox 360?
Well with a change of the firmware on a vast variety of wireless routers, we can enable a feature that much more expensive wireless routers have by default: becoming a wireless receiver.
Before we begin, an explanation of the DD-WRT firmware is needed.
From the DD-WRT Wiki:
DD-WRT is a third party developed firmware released under the terms of the GPL for many 802.11g wireless routers based on a Broadcom chip reference design.
In the most basic of terms, DD-WRT replaces the router’s administration software, and allows access to a variety of different advanced features.
Purchasing the Proper Wireless Router
So first we will need to acquire a wireless router that allows use of this software. You can pick one up from eBay for around twenty or thirty dollars. Even better, you can purchase routers that already have the DD-WRT firmware installed, so if you are not into going the more advanced route, it is all set for you. These routers sometimes cost a little more as they sometimes come with a 1GB SD memory card inside, allowing you to use the router almost like a mini-server. That is overkill for what we need, but if you check out the router compatibility list for DD-WRT, you can surely find a router that will suit your needs.
Please note that the WRT54G, which is one of the cheapest and most famous linksys router around, works perfectly for this and can usually be found on Amazon.com for around $45 (or even less in the “used products” section).
I suggest purchasing a router of the same brand you are already using to send out your Internet signal, but if that isn’t possible, you might come across issues in getting the two wireless routers to talk to each other later on. I have used a variety of different brands and have yet to have any issues.
Installing DD-WRT
Once you have the router, we can begin the next step. Download DD-WRT from their website. Make sure you are using the right version for your wireless router, as stated in the DD-WRT version required list on the supported devices page.
The next step can look incredibly complicated and confusing, but if you spend a little bit of time reading the DD-WRT wiki, they have organized the information rather well.
A word of warning though. If you have never updated the firmware on a device before, you may not want to proceed with this project. Incorrect flashing procedure can cause your newly purchased router to no longer function.
I won’t go over all the installation instructions here, as it can be quite different depending on which router you have purchased. Check out the installation instructions on the DD-WRT wiki. They also give you tips on what you can do if the installation goes wrong.
Thankfully, the installation is usually quite easy, as most wireless routers have a system built in for upgrading the firmware, and this system can be used to install DD-WRT.
Setting the Router as a Receiver
Using your Ethernet cable, connect your computer to the router that is using the DD-WRT software. Browse to 192.168.1.1 using a web browser. It will ask for a user name and password. The user name will be root and the password will be admin. If you are using an older version of the DD-WRT software, you may not need to enter a user name.
Once you are in the DD-WRT administration panel, you will be able to change settings. What we need to do is change the router into what is known as client mode wireless. This will allow the router to receive Internet signal from whatever other wireless router you are using and share it out through the Ethernet ports on the back.
Again, this can be quite a lengthy list of instructions, and is totally dependent on your current network configuration, but the DD-WRT wiki to the rescue again, with a great list of tips, tricks, and numbered instructions on how to get it all to work.
The basic idea though is to get the DD-WRT router to get an IP address from your other wireless router connected to the Internet and then bridge that connection over to the devices we want to connect to the Internet.
Once you have gone through all the steps, your computer should be able to get Internet from the DD-WRT router. If you have not been able to get Internet access, DD-WRT has a great forum filled with knowledgeable people that are willing to help you out.
Connecting to the Xbox 360
If you have access to the Internet on your computer, then it is time to plug the connection into your Xbox 360. Move the DD-WRT router next to your Xbox 360, connect the Ethernet cable from the router to your Xbox 360’s Ethernet port.
Turn on your Xbox 360, and it should receive a connection. If you have made it to this stage then pat yourself on the back. You now have hopefully saved yourself enough to buy a few games from the Xbox 360 Marketplace, and have the ability to connect to the service and download them.
This same trick can be used to enable other devices to have a wireless connection, including a second computer somewhere in the house that you can’t easily put a wire to. I know this post will require a fair bit of reading on your part, but once it is complete, it is a great feeling. I spent less than forty dollars on the project, a savings of around sixty dollars plus tax, which I was then able to put into getting Zuma and a few other games for myself and the wife.
David Peralty, a full time problogger for the last two years, writes about making money online to fund his geek living over on eXtra for Every Publisher.
If you had problems sorting through the different kinds of display technologies in the past, here’s news that may discourage some of you even further.
Sony announced yesterday that in early December, they will launch a new television featuring organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology. This technology is already being used in many products that have a short life span, such has cell phones, but this will be a first in the world of large displays.
The greatest part about OLED technology? It allows manufacturers to produce screens that are only about 3mm thick, barely more than a sheet of paper. In addition, the contrast rate tops everything currently on the market: 1,000,000:1.
But Sony’s new TV, the XEL-1, also has a few bad sides. If you’re interested in getting one, you’ll have to shell out $1740 for the 11-inch version, and at that price, Sony is apparently losing money! This is almost as much as what you would pay right now for a 40-inch LCD! In addition, the lifespan of each screen is of only 30,000 hours, about half of what you can get out of a regular LCD TV.
These television sets will be released exclusively in Japan in December 2007. No word is out yet as to when the technology will be offered in Europe or America.
Do you guys remember Soundwave, the poor Decepticon that has been left out of the Transformers movie? Here’s yet another video making fun of our favorite evil transforming tape deck. Enjoy!
As of this month, the first round of Windows Vista Ultimate Extras have been sent out to customers “lucky” enough to have purchased the highest caliber of Microsoft’s newest operating system. These supplemental downloads are available through Windows Update and are described as “Cutting Edge Programs, Innovative Services and Unique Publications.” With Vista Ultimate running at $320 and Vista Home Premium at $220, are these updates worth it to the average Joe?
Sometimes, we have to make mistakes to learn from them, and it seems that asking people to send their text to be published on [GAS] was one huge mistake. We just changed the rules of the contest and now allow you to publish your article on your own site. Not only will this help you get additional content for you and your readers, but will also give you a linkback from us and a chance to win one of 6 fantastic prize packages.
I’m strongly encouraging everyone to read the rules again and see if the updated contest is now more attractive to your eyes.
Nissan has recently come out with this ad presenting “The Rogue,” a cross-over Sports Utility Vehicle, navigating around downtown Los Angeles like a marble in a wooden labyrinth game. This is a great commercial, and we think you should watch it!
This is the first submission we’ve received for our “How to” contest. It is titled: “How To Have The Worst Blog Contest Ever.” You’d think the guy is making fun of us – but not really. Read the article, and you’ll understand.
Blogging competitions are becoming more commonplace these days. Having a contest can often lead to increased popularity and not to mention it will help you build a better blog reputation. But it is not easy to have a successful blog contest that has easy marketability. Focusing on the negative may help you understand the do’s and don’ts of having a blogging competition. So listen up bloggers, if you want your contest to fail miserably – keep the following ideas in mind.
First, do not give away any cool prizes like electronics, unique logo designs or even cash. You should just look around your house and I am more than sure you will find something every blogger would want. If that fails, there is a little place we bloggers call the dollar store. It does not matter what the prize is, people really do not care too much about the prizes anyway – people enter contests for the experience. You could also just promise a prize and then simply not give one away, nobody will know.
Second, make your contest as hard to enter as possible. Any people who decide to enter should be required to write about how great you are. Maybe make them post a photo of you or a quiz about your blog. Also, please do not be shy to sell extra contest entries to people directly through PayPal… now that is classy.
Third, at the end of the day it is your blog contest and you can change it whenever you feel like it. If you want to change the competition end date, prize offer or any other specific contest information for that matter, you should just go ahead and do it. Nobody will ever care, especially considering how most bloggers are naturally simple-minded and really would not notice any changes like that.
It’s about time a major name in the world of online merchants started selling DRM-free music! Amazon MP3, a division of Amazon.com, just launched, and so far, the service looks very promising.
The store already offers 2 million titles, and as its name implies, the songs are in MP3 format. Amazon MP3 media files are not protected by DRM, so users can play them on any media player they wish, and copy and share them at will.
Music tracks currently sell for $0.89 and $0.99, and albums go for either $5.99 or $9.99
My guess is that with this new service, Amazon is trying to directly compete with iTunes, the number one online music store on the net. iTunes currently has around 70 percent of the online song market in the United States, but I’m sure Amazon MP3 will bring that percentage down a bit.
This project will help you change a cheap wireless router into a wireless receiver for your Xbox 360. The total cost of this project can be as low as twenty or thirty dollars, compared to the one hundred dollars Microsoft wants for their little wireless dongle.
If you had problems sorting through the different kinds of display technologies in the past, here’s news that may discourage some of you even further.
As of this month, the first round of 
Blogging competitions are becoming more commonplace these days. Having a contest can often lead to increased popularity and not to mention it will help you build a better blog reputation. But it is not easy to have a successful blog contest that has easy marketability. Focusing on the negative may help you understand the do’s and don’ts of having a blogging competition. So listen up bloggers, if you want your contest to fail miserably – keep the following ideas in mind.
It’s about time a major name in the world of online merchants started selling DRM-free music! 
, a division of Amazon.com, just launched, and so far, the service looks very promising.
