The problem: I had a wire running from my main router to my living room. I was afraid my kid was going to trip over it, and I was dreading having to run the wire along the roof cleanly. So I started asking around to see how I could get a secondary router to act as an access point (act as a receiver and pick up a wifi connection) and then distribute hard wired connections to my Blu-ray player, Xbox 360, Xbox, and Laptop which is hooked up to my TV.

The solution: DD-WRT, an alternative firmware (hack) for your router will take care of this for you.  In this case I hacked a Linksys WRT54g v 6.

Step 1: Download files for your supported router here.

Step 2: Flash your router, see instructions here (specific to WRT54G). If you have a different router when you search using the link in Step 1 (above) it will give you directions specific to your router.

Step 3: Adjust Settings to get Router to act as a Client Bridge. See here:

To test the performance I had a blu-ray HD movie streaming from Netflix, while streaming a movie from my home PC using XBMC on the original Xbox, and using the Xbox360 to play NBA Live 10 online. I was surprised to see that everything was functioning without a hiccup. I even used Tversity (which acts as windows media center server on XP) to stream videos to my xbox 360 from my home PC.

Another benefit of doing this is extending your wifis reach throughout your home. Most people use DDRT for that reason.

I just wanted to share some of these neat services Google has made available. Make sure to add the numbers in this post to your address book so you would be more likely to use it.

Text 411
Simply text message your search query to 466453 (“GOOGLE” on most devices) and we’ll text message back your results. So what are some specific examples of what type of information is available?

Flight Status
Simply text your flight number to 466453 (‘GOOGLE’ on most mobile devices), and the status information will be sent back to you. Or text a specific airline name, and Google will send back the main phone number to call. So an example would be: Flights: ua 14

Weather
Simply send the following text to 466453 (‘GOOGLE’)
Example: (W)eather: w nyc
so w + your zip would also work

Pizza spot locator
Simply send an SMS to “GOOGL” or “46645″ with say “Pizza and your ZIP Code”

Here are some other examples, some are more useful than others:

This entry on theappleblog.com provides a nice comparison chart of the various Twitter Apps out there. My Favorite so far is TwitterFon. Its stable, straight forward, and has the most useful features i.e. search. I will do another post explaining why you should get into twitter and how to get started.

I was checking out E-bays version of Craigslist today and came across this ad which stated:

I am Giving away my PS3
Price: Free

Location: New York Manhattan
Date Listed: May-02-08

I just don’t use it anymore since I got my Xbox360 and just want to get rid of it. You can pick it up anytime.

You can e-mail me directly.

takemyplaystation3@gmail.com

So being Naive, I emailed right away and got back the following (auto-response) email:

Image via Wikipedia

I blogged earlier about the Nyko Perfect shot peripheral for Nintendo Wii. I mentioned how it was the hottest item out and hard to find. Well I just got this e-mail right now from NewEgg.

Dear Valued Newegg Customer,

Thank you for shopping at Newegg.com!

You recently requested auto-notification for item # N82E16878112013 — WII ACC NYKO 87030 PERFECT SHOT RTL.

We are pleased to inform you that, at the time of this mailing, the item you are looking for is in stock and available at our online store. To jump directly to the product’s page, please click the link below (or copy & paste it into your internet browser):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=78-112-013

Keeping you in the know,

Newegg Customer Care
http://www.newegg.com

—

Also try using this link for free shipping.

Gina Trapani, Editor of Lifehacker.com gets interviewed on the Attack of the Show on G4tv.

The Nyko Perfect Shot for the Nintendo Wii is the hottest Wii accessory out. It retails at only $14.99. The problem is, it is sold out everywhere. Well, I just received an alert from Buy.com saying they have it available (whoops spoke too soon) and on sale for 12.99 (plus shipping). The other day I noticed GameStop.com had it in stock (Status is back to backordered today), so I ordered 2! Now I just have to find out which Shooter titles are 2 player. I used Coupon code: SAVER to get free shipping. These babies are going for $25-30 on ebay (if you must have it and dont mind paying extra).

Read IGN’s review here.

Source: WikipediaWired.com put up an article stating Adobe Photoshop Express will now be free. It’s a web-based photo-editing tool, It’s range of functionality is similar to Google’s picasa (which is desktop based). It’s not as robust as the actual photoshop, I think its kind of misleading to even put the photoshop name on this. I’m not saying its not a good product, its just a different product. It looks like it utilizes a mix of Flash (go figure) and AJAX. I wonder if Adobe AIR was used at all to create this.. hmmnn. P.S. I am using Zemanta to do this post!

I can’t wait to try this out, it looks fast too. This will save bloggers alot of time and will make blogging more enjoyable.

Zemanta WordPress Plugin Teaser from zemanta on Vimeo.