Goblin Techie – Technology and Gadget Blog

Acer Aspire One HSDPA 3G Mod

March 24th, 2009 admin

acer aspire 3G

Since owning the Aspire One (Linpus Edition), I’ve been thinking of getting an 3G modem so I can go online anytime. But with the MOD made by tnkgrl, I just might save some extra bucks. Unfortunately my soldering skills are non existing. I’m sure seasoned modders would love to give this a try.

This MOD is brought to you by Tnkgrl. All the information, videos and text belongs to her. Visit her site at http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com

DISCLAIMER: If you’re not experienced doing precision soldering with a fine-tipped, temperature-controlled iron, using soldering wick & flux, as well as proper magnification, then I suggest you avoid this mod. I’m not responsible if you damage anything. In fact, one of my SIMs was destroyed in the making of this mod.

Materials Needed

Right-angle, 9 mm height mini-PCIe connector
Push-push, 6 pin SIM holder
Multi-band antenna with cable and U.FL connector
Unlocked mini-PCIe 3G (HSUPA/HSDPA/EDGE/GPRS) card

Video Instructions of Aspire On 3G HSDPA MOD

Instructions Here

Solder the mini-PCIe connector. By default there’s no power to the connector until you install this jumper.
Chances are you’ll have to modify the SIM holder to match this pinout. Be creative! If you’re lucky to find the right SIM holder, just solder it on and email me the manufacturer/part #. I’d like to thank JKK for providing me with a physically (but not electrically, oops) compatible SIM holder. By default there’s no power to the SIM holder, until you install this jumper.
If you completely dismantle and insulate this antenna, it fits next to the WiFi card under the palm rest inside the screen lid (see update below)…
Inside the Sierra Wireless/AT&T AirCard 875U or 881U USB modem there’s a mini-PCIe 3G card. Who knew? If you’re looking for a reasonably priced, unlocked 875U or 881U, go here or there.
You’ll have to tape pin 20 on the mini-PCIe 3G card. Once again, I’d like to thank JKK for this tip. File the plastic cover of the wireless switch so it can slide both the right and to the left (see update below). That’s it, you’re done

Full Details here:
http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/modding-the-acer-aspire-one-hsdpa/

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Posted in Netbook fix and tips | 2 Comments »

Dell Adamo – Macbook Air Clone

March 24th, 2009 admin

The Dell Adamo Ultra Slim laptop sports stylish, edgy and avant garde look. Dell is really eager to go on head to head collision with the Macbook Air.

While it’s touted to be as the slimmest laptop, it looks clunkier compare to Macbook Air. It doesn’t help that it’s still ridiculously overpriced. Maybe they’re trying to dodge the title “Poor Man’s Macbook Air clone”. With the current recession blues looming around they really need to reconsider the price.

What makes this more interesting is that the laptop’s battery isn’t replaceable. You’ll have to send it back to Dell to replace it. In case windows freezes on you, good luck waiting 5 hours for the battery to drain out so you can reboot.

CNET’s Dell Adamo Hand’s on Review video

Dell Adamo Specs

Dell Adamo Colors:

Pearl – Silver aluminum with unique etching and pearl finish
Onyx – Onyx aluminum with brushed finish

Style

Ultra slim .65-inch profile
13.4-inch widescreen 16:9 HD display with edge to edge glass
Elegantly matched external peripherals

Craftsmanship

Machined, torion tested aluminum chassis
Backlit scalloped full-sized keyboard
Cool quiet solid state drive
Ultra-compact power adapter

Performance

1.4 GHz/1.2 GHz Core 2 Duo Processor with Centrino technology
Geniune Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack
4GB/2GB 800MHz DDR3 Dual channel Memory
Wireless N, Bluetooth 2.1, one RJ-45 lan port and optional Mobile Broadband
More than 5 hours of battery life on a full charge.

Source:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/20/dell-adamo-hands-on-and-video-unboxing/

Official Site:
http://www.adamobydell.com/

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Tags: ultra slim notebooks
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Adsense Interest Based ads – Good or Bad?

March 24th, 2009 admin

I got this curious email from google adsense one day. Incidentally I was wondering why the sudden drop of my adsense earnings. Probably I was just having a bad day.

Hi,

We’re writing to let you know about the upcoming launch of interest-based advertising, which will require you to review and make any necessary changes to your site’s privacy policies. You’ll also see some new options on your Account Settings page.

Interest-based advertising will allow advertisers to show ads based on a user’s previous interactions with them, such as visits to advertiser website and also to reach users based on their interests (e.g. “sports enthusiast”). To develop interest categories, we will recognize the types of web pages users visit throughout the Google content network. As an example, if they visit a number of sports pages, we will add them to the “sports enthusiast” interest category. To learn more about your associated account settings, please visit the AdSense Help Center at http://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/topic.py?topic=20310.

Here I was working my bum off optimizing my ad placement to make the ads appear relevant to my content. Then out of the blue Google comes up with this brillant idea that will make ads irrelevant to the content.

How To Opt out/Disable Interest-based Ads
Upon logging in to your adsense account, look for the Interest-based Ads Preference. By default the Interest-based Ads were enabled. However it was discussed at the forums, despite disabling it, there’s no guarantee that google will stop serving interest based ads.
interest based adsense

Who will be at disadvantage?
Specialized niched sites would be greatly affected the most and the Made for adsense sites. Niched sites rely greatly on search engine traffic since they target only one topic. For instance you run a site that’s all about medieval costumes. Then a surfer who previously browsed swimsuit would see that the ads on your site would be about swimwear. So the surfer might not click on the ads since what she wants is something related to what she’s looking for like medieval costumes.

Who will benefit the most at Interest based ads?
High Traffic News sites, Youtube and other general interest site will definitely benefit from this. These sites caters to all demographics but it’s difficult for them to determine what ads to show. By determining the surfer’s browser history and cookies, adsense then will show ads based on their interest.

What needs to be fixed?
While there’s nothing wrong with the interest based ads, it should be available in the channel options .The publisher should have complete control of what kind of ads they want on their site.

How do users opt out of interest based ads?
Let’s face it, not all surfers are web savvy and some couldn’t be bothered to disable the interest based ads. But at least they gave the users the option to opt out.

Here’s the link on how to opt out
http://www.google.com/ads/preferences/

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Project Wonderful – Not everyone wins

March 23rd, 2009 admin

projectwonderful

What is Project wonderful

Project wonderful is an online advertising auction where prospective advertisers can choose adspace available and bid how long they want their ads displayed on projectwonderful adblock on their chosen site. If you’re a advertiser running a campaign, it would be a pain to monitor if you’ve been outbid.

Since my other blog was very new that time, I barely earned anything at my adsense so I decided to try it. For about a month I earned few cents here and there so that keeps me motivated enough to keep going. I kept building traffic hoping that I could increase my cost per day charge without scaring advertisers away.

After 7 months of placing Project Wonderful on my other blog, it has earned a whopping *insert sarcasm* 9.44 dollars flat. Meanwhile my adsense on the same blog has reached more than 100 dollars.
projectwonderful stats

What needs to be improved?
The major problem of Project wonderful is that advertisers can withdraw their ads anytime they want. I’ve got some advertisers pulling out their ads after 5 hours which means I will only earn .0083 cents. It was a mess seeing different irrelevant ads changing every 10-15 hours. If only Project wonderful will grow some balls and get the ads locked for a day. It’s pretty much useless if somebody did bid for the adspace for $10 then cancelled their ad after few hours.

What is the minimum payout and add funds?
$10 is the minimum withdrawal via paypal and $5 dollars for minimum deposit of funds.

What Publisher is suited for Project Wonderful?
Webcomics is definitely a winner in the publisher side. They get tons of pageviews everyday and advertisers loves its whether it’s targetted traffic or not.

Verdict
As an advertiser, Project wonderful offers great advantage since you can create as much campaigns without breaking the bank.

For a content rich publishers, Adsense is still the best!

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Tags: Adsense Alternatives, Online Ad auction
Posted in Goblin News | No Comments »

Incredible Console Mod – The making of Super Nintoaster

March 23rd, 2009 admin

nintoaster

In case you guys are wondering what does this toaster do? Believe it or not, this unusual gadget can play old nintendo games. As complicated as it looks, the mod would be easy for those who knows a bit of electronic wirings and circuitry.

Don’t get too excited folks, this little toaster can’t make your toasted bread. I kinda wish that one can toast the bread while playing the game. However it’s a bit unfeasible since you need NASA quality heat proof items to keep the SNES system from being fried.

Parts used in making the Nintoaster