A Tippek Boxból: Kindle mint Raspberry Pi képernyő, iPod vezérlődobozok és Easy Six Degrees Kevin Bacon

Hey guys! I found this web site and figured it was right up your alley: this dude combined a jailbroken Kindle with a Raspberry Pi board to create a tiny computer that uses the e-ink display on the Kindle as its screen. Pretty neat stuff… obviously nobody is going to run out and swap their netbooks for this setup but it’s a really neat proof of concept. I’m keeping an eye on it because an old Kindle with a low-power e-ink screen has a lot of potential as a display for all sorts of home projects (like a jukebox or weather station).

I’ve been researching a way to set up my iPod in my car while enjoying big buttons for control and a nice big readout so I don’t wreck myself trying to read the tiny font on the screen. I found this guy’s tutorial where he built a control box for the iPod Touch that gives it the nice fat buttons and display I’m looking for. I’m a bit new at the whole hardware hacking thing but I figure over a couple weekend I could build this thing.

OK, so this is probably going to be the goofiest tip you get this week, BUT, did you guys know that Google now kicks back movie stars’ “Bacon Number”? If you’ve ever obsessed about the whole Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game, it’s a fun little Easter egg. Just type in “bacon number (some star’s name)” into Google and it’ll spit back not just the Bacon Number but who is in the chain and what movies they were in.

Maybe if you quietly check your smartphone under the table at the pub you could win yourself a pint or two.