The digiKID

digiKID on NewsCenter 6

Administrator — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 22:14:09 +0000

Last night I got interviewed by Kara Matuszewski at the Little Dog Coffee Shop in Brunswick, Maine. She asked me questions about using the PSP to wardrive, and what some of the other things that you can do with the PSP are.

I was worried because I felt like she was trying to make it look like kids with PSPs go around trying to hack into open wifi. But I showed her how you can use the PSP to scan for wifi access. Which you can do with anything that uses wifi just about. Anwyay you can see me on the Channel 6 news (NewsCenter in Southern Maine) on February 6th, 11pm edition. Someone tape it for me! It’s a school night.

-digiKID

Paint with anything!

Administrator — Tue, 24 Jan 2006 22:46:41 +0000

MIT Media Lab’s I/O Brush is a digital art tool which allows the exploration of colors, textures and movements found in everyday objects. What makes the I/O Brush unique is that the objects are not only sampled for color and texture but also motion over time, thus allowing the user to experiment with dynamic textures.

Most drawing tools/pens we use today allow only a one-way flow of ink, and we are oblivious to how the content of the tool came to exist inside. What if we could not only have control over the outflow of the ink, but also have influence on what goes inside? Indeed, old fountain pens served as both tools to pick up and release the ink, and paintbrushes still preserve that function. We bring back this tradition of a drawing tool as both an input and output device, but instead of picking up the liquid ink, I/O Brush lifts up and captures photons.

The brush houses a small video camera in its tip with a ring of white LEDs around it. Force sensors embedded inside of the brush measure the pressure applied to the bristles. When the brush touches a surface the lights around the camera illuminate the surface to be captured while the system grabs the frames from the camera and stores them.

The most fascinating aspect of the I/O Brush is it allows for artistic expression with materials that would be unavailable for use as an artistic medium. For example, the camera built in to the brush allows the user to capture the visual dynamics of a fluid, for example, a glass of sparkling water. If you were to apply sparkling water to a canvas the bubbles would be short lived but with the I/O Brush a its life is no longer would no longer be limited to limited to a fixed moment in time.

(We’ve mirrored the Quicktime movie of the I/O Brush in action via New England Indies for your viewing pleasure.)

[ from MEMAP.ORG ]

digiKID Show in Apple iTunes!

Administrator — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 10:05:24 +0000

Do you have iTunes? Want to listen to the digiKID on your iPod? Now you can using the digiKID Podcast in Apple’s iTunes.

[ Click here to Subscribe to the digiKID in iTUNES ]

Christmas!

Administrator — Mon, 26 Dec 2005 12:37:23 +0000

Santa brought me a copy of SSX on Tour! Dad got me Tony Hawk’s Underground REMIX.

So far these are the two best games I have played on my PSP. Dad likes them too. He really likes the music on both of them. I like the game play. If you have a PSP and haven’t tried these yet they are worth checking out.

-The digiKID

North America Firmware 2.6 Released

Administrator — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 21:57:51 +0000

Sony has released the latest update for its PlayStation Portable handheld in the U.S., including two major features that boost the system’s audio functions. The update can be installed directly through the PSP, model number PSP-1001, using the System Update feature while connected to the Internet. It also can be downloaded from Sony’s Web site to a memory stick and then installed, or can be run from an updated UMD disc.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication, version 2.0) functionality has been added for audio streams. PSP owners connected to the Internet can now easily check through Web sites for updated streaming audio content such as podcasts. The RSS function works only for streaming audio files, and for playback only.

Smaller additions include volume adjustment in the control panel of the LocationFree player, Chinese character font support for the Internet browser, and copy-protected video content downloadable directly to the unit’s Memory Stick Duo.

[ DOWNLOAD THE NORTH AMERICAN 2.60 FIRMWARE UPGRADE ]

Digital Blasphemy Wallpaper for PSP

Administrator — Sat, 17 Sep 2005 10:50:48 +0000

Digital Blasphemy, best known for their desktop computer wallpaper screens, has new wallpapers for your Sony PSP. Take a look.

[ VISIT DIGITAL BLASPHEMY FOR YOUR PSP ]

Messsenger Probe Flyby of Earth

Administrator — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 17:29:44 +0000

The Mercury-bound MESSENGER spacecraft captured several stunning images of Earth during a gravity assist swingby of its home planet on Aug. 2, 2005. Several hundred images, taken with the wide-angle camera in MESSENGER’s Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS), were sequenced into a movie documenting the view from MESSENGER as it departed Earth.

Comprising 358 frames taken over 24 hours, the movie follows Earth through one complete rotation. The spacecraft was 40,761 miles (65,598 kilometers) above South America when the camera started rolling on Aug. 2. It was 270,847 miles (435,885 kilometers) away from Earth – farther than the Moon’s orbit – when it snapped the last image on Aug. 3.

The movie is in 368x208 16:9 .MP4 (PSP compatible) format. If you are viewing the digiKID mini site on your PSP (formatted for viewing on the PSP web browser) you can download it directly to your PSP using the wireless internet connection.

[ DOWNLOAD FILM IN 16:9 PSP .MP4 FORMAT (1.8 MB) ]

Konfabulator for the PSP?

Administrator — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 17:32:12 +0000

Dear Sony,

Want to make the PSP the hottest item beyond portable gaming for this Christmas?

Allow Yahoo to release Konfabulator for the PSP and allow people to develop their own PSP Konfabulator apps.

Charge them (the developers) a $1 fee, per purchased widget through your PSP portal site store, and allow the developers to charge $5-$25 for their PSP Konfabulator widgets.

You won’t be able to make PSPs fast enough to meet the demand.

Best regards,
digiDAD

VIDEO: Superman vs. The Mechanical Monsters

Administrator — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 17:13:31 +0000

The digiKID presents the free feature film pick of the week. Max Fleischer’s Superman battles to save Lois Lane in “Superman and the Mechanical Monsters”.

This film is no longer copyrighted and has become part of the public domain. The movie is in 320x240 .MP4 (PSP compatible) format. If you are viewing the digiKID mini site on your PSP (formatted for viewing on the PSP web browser) you can download it directly to your PSP using the wireless internet connection.

[ DOWNLOAD FILM IN PSP .MP4 FORMAT (23 MB) ]

How to serve your iTunes library to your Sony PSP using WiFi internet

Administrator — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 17:09:47 +0000

The Sony PSP is a remarkable device. However, it does have shortcomings, especially if you compare it to an iPod as a portable music player. The three most noticeable negative points are its weight, battery life and storage capacity. Lets face it, you’re not going jogging with your PSP. However, the PSP has other features that make it stand out. But if you are using your Sony PSP to listen to music on the go, storage capacity is the biggest problem. I soon filled it with songs from my iTunes library (that weren’t DRM protected AAC formated songs). What if I wanted to get more songs from the playlist when I was at the public library, or at the coffee shop? I couldn’t take ALL my iTunes music with me on my PSP. A 1 gigabyte memory card costs in the range of $100, a 2 gig memory card costs over $300. I wondered “Wouldn’t it be great if I could just delete some songs and and ad new songs from my iTunes library, wherever I was using the WiFi internet connection?” It can be done, for a small cost (about $22 U.S.)

Three things are required. A Mac running at least OS X 10.3, a spiffy little shareware application called Dot Tunes and a PSP with the 2.0 firmware upgrade.

Dot Tunes looks at your iTunes library and generates a simple web page based on Album or Artist listings that can be accessed across the internet. Once you have generated the web page, it’s a simple matter of bookmarking the page in Safari and syncing that bookmark to your web browser on your PSP. You can then access your itunes library with the Dot Tunes web interface and easily navigate to a specific song by artist or album listing. Dot Tunes’ simple web based interface is ideal for navigating to a song from the tiny screen of your PSP’s web browser. You can then download the song to your Music directory on your PSP.

Here is the catch. The PSP is picky about what media is in what directory on your PSP. When you select a song to download it will ask where to save it. If you want to play the song you’re downloading you will need to save it in the Music directory under a pre-existing playlist folder. So simply navigate to your music folder, enter into a pre-existing play list folder and hit save. You will also need to rename the extension of the file from .m4u to .MP4 for the PSP to recognize it. You do not need to rename the extension of a .MP3 file.

Now you can delete old songs and ad new ones on the go, anywhere you have access to a WiFi connection on your PSP. An interesting feature is that if you subscribe to podcasts in iTunes 4.9, you can include the podcasts in Dot Tunes sorted by the Artist (creator) or Album (name of the show) and they will appear in the listings in Dot Tunes on your PSP.

Keep in mind that your Mac will be acting as a web server, to serve your Dot Tunes page to you across the web. You will need to make sure that your Mac will ‘Wake for Ethernet network administrator access’ under your Energy Saver preferences if you have it set to sleep after being idle. You will also have to make sure that the port your Dot Tunes page is being served on is on an open port, not blocked by your ISP, and not blocked by your Mac’s or your router’s firewall. You may also want to password protect the connection to prevent anyone from helping themselves to your non-DRM protected iTunes libraries.

Enjoy!
-digiDAD

North America Firmware 2.0 Released

Administrator — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 13:43:41 +0000

Sony has stated that this update is for customers who own the PSP™ (PlayStationPortable) model number PSP-1001 K. DO NOT update your PSP™ system through this Web site if you own a different model of the PSP™ system. There is no guarantee of proper operation with other models of the PSP™ system. If you attempt a network install and already have Japanese Firmware 2.0 installed you will not need to perform the update. You can now access Sony’s North American PSP Web site from the PSP bookmark in the PSP web browser. (Previously, only the Japanese and Korean versions were available.)

[ DOWNLOAD THE NORTH AMERICAN FIRMWARE UPGRADE ]

We are not alone!

Administrator — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 13:42:41 +0000

Check out the Filip Boys. Joey and Ray are the Filip Boys, bringing you the latest news and information from the world of handheld gaming in the form of a Vidcast (TV on the internet.) They bring video shows featuring news, reviews, tips and tricks from the world of the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS. Check them out!

[ VISIT THE FILIP BOYS WEB SITE ]

The digiKID Show 8.22.05

Administrator — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 12:05:38 +0000

Welcome to the first episode of the digiKID Show. In this episode Brad demonstrates wardriving with the Sony PSP and how sync it to your desktop computer using Nullriver’s PSPWare shareware application.

[ DIGIKID SHOW IN QUICKTIME 7 (h.264) ]

[ DIGIKID SHOW IN PSP .MP4 ]

PODCAST: DIGIKID 8.22.05

Administrator — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 11:38:57 +0000

LISTEN TO THE digiKID PODCAST 8.22.05
An audio podcast version of the digiKID Show. In this podcast Brad demonstrates wardriving with the Sony PSP and how sync it to your desktop computer using Nullriver’s PSPWare shareware application.

VIDEO: Disorder in the Court

Administrator — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 03:21:28 +0000

The digiKID presents the first free feature film pick of the week. Larry, Curly and Moe come to your Sony PSP as the Three Stooges in “Disorder in the Court”.

[ DOWNLOAD FILM IN PSP .MP4 FORMAT (40 MB) ]

Invasion from Space

Administrator — Sun, 21 Aug 2005 23:41:36 +0000

This is a stop motion animation created by the digiKID along with two of his friends. They made heavy use of Apple’s iMovie ‘04 to create most of the special effects. They used Boinx’s iStopMotion to create the animation. It is in .MP4 format and will also play on a Sony PSP.

We hope you enjoy it.

-digiDAD

[ DOWNLOAD INVASION FROM SPACE PSP VIDEO ]

PODCAST: DIGIKID 8.19.05

Administrator — Sat, 20 Aug 2005 03:14:01 +0000

LISTEN TO THE digiKID PODCAST 8.19.05
Introducing The digiKID Podcast. Brad (a.k.a. The digiKID) introduces himself, his mission and his web site.