After seeing how well Psystar did with its Open Computer, we think we'll just build our own Hackintosh rather than jump into this OpeniMac we've recently been hepped to. But who knows? Maybe you've been dying to send your hard earned money down to some shady Argentinean characters. In that case, this 2.53GHz machine should be right up your alley. Selling for $990 (or $1,330 with an LG 19-inch monitor), the base unit ships with 2GB memory, 320GB storage, and a 256MB ATI Radeon HD PRO. If you've got deep pockets, $1,710 will get you the OpeniMacPRO, a 3.0GHz machine with a 20-inch widescreen monitor and 4GB RAM. But seriously -- who knows where the money goes? And who knows whether you'll ever see the machine? One thing is for certain, however -- this case is as ugly as sin.

[Thanks, Santiago]

Not to be left out, iLuv's also brought out another internet radio / alarm combo and it looks exactly like you'd think it would. Only cooler. The iNT170's packing access to 15,000 radio stations and podcasts through its built-in WiFi, aka INTERNET (see photo). It's got two 2.5 watt jAura sound speakers, a dual alarm clock, plus a 3.5mm line-in if you need to plug in your PMP. The clock self-updates via INTERNET, so you'll never be able to use that Daylight Saving Time excuse for being late to work again (we recommend the "flooded basement" or "sick cat" in its stead), and you'll have the option to wake to INTERNET or regular radio in addition to the old standby buzzer. It's available now for $199.

It was fun while it lasted, but it looks like Sanyo's R227 WiFi radio is no longer that rarest of rare things: a Canadian exclusive, as the company has now announced that it'll be available in the US in January. The radio itself, of course, remains the same, with it still packing both WiFi and an Ethernet jack for a wired connection, along with a backlit LCD display, support for AAC, AIFF, MP3, WAV and WMA files stored on a networked computer, a stereo headphone jack, an FM tuner, and a pair of 2W RMS speakers. The one thing that has changed slightly is the price, which now comes in at a slightly more affordable $169.99.

[Via Electronista]

Charging your laptop could start to feel a lot more like work in the near future, if the folks at Easy Energy have it their way. They've just completed a protoype for the Yogen Max laptop charger, and though details are particularly spartan about the actual workings of the device, as you can see from the mock-up, it's going to involve a human foot pumping juice directly into your laptop. Unlike some other devices we've seen, the Yogen Max has no external battery, plus it's way more foldable and boasts a totally awesome font. The spokesperson from Easy Energy says they hope to bring the product to the consumer market sometime in 2009. If that girl in the background of the photo is any indication of how outlandishly fun the human-powered charger is to use, we sure hope it's available soon.

[Via Coolest Gadgets, thanks Ink Master]

The MSI Wind has certainly garnered a sizable following, but that's not to say it isn't without its share of problems, and the single, somewhat awkward trackpad button has proven to be a point of contention for many. One enterprising individual has now gone some way towards fixing that, however, with little more than a BIC pen and an Exacto knife. As you can see above, the pen supplies the springs that adds a bit more responsiveness to the now separate buttons, while the knife is used for some cutting that apparently has to be done just right. If you're looking to take things one step further, another MSI Wind forum user also recently discovered that you can order a replacement Synaptics touchpad from none other than ASUS itself which, as most Wind users are no doubt aware, is considered to be far superior to the Sentilic touchpad now included on the netbook. It apparently takes a bit of work to get it swapped in, but most anyone with a bit of modding skill should be able to handle it and, best of all, it only costs $8 (plus $5 shipping).

Read - MSI Wind Forums, "DIY two-button mousepad"
Read - MSI Wind Forums, "The $12 Touchpad Experiment"

Well, we heard that the Vivienne Tam-designed Mini 1000 was coming in December, and here it is, available to order on HP's site. The custom 10-inch netbook is, as expected, sporting a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom with 1GB of RAM, plus an up to 60GB hard drive -- a little smaller than the 80GB we initially heard about. The fashion-conscious laptop is less than an inch thick and has a starting weight of 2.45 pounds, and though it's not exactly an example of "understated elegance," those who want to start (loudly) classing up their act can do just that for a starting price of $699.

[Thanks, Matt]

It's an expectedly cryptic announcement, but it looks like the whimsical folks at Violet have finally seen fit to offer a follow-up to their original and less-than-affordable dal internet-connected lamp, with the all new dal:dal lamp apparently on track for a release early next year. As before, the lamp will change colors to relay different information, or, as Violet puts it, convert the "world's ebb & flow and endless stream of events into halos of living colours and audio micro-messages." No exact release date just yet but, according to GeekLifeBlog, it'll set you back €59, or about $75.

[Via GeekLifeBlog]

As William Gibson once wrote, "the street finds its own uses for things." Of course, the future he envisioned was populated by cut-throat characters with names like Dex Cowb0t, mercenary-types who made their money the only way they knew how: with custom cyberspace decks, hopped up on designer drugs like "splurge" and "spazz." What he never understood was that the only true measure of a technology is its ability to aid a bored populace in its pursuit of nostalgia and novelty. And by these standards, the Pico-ITX board might be one of the most important technological breakthroughs of its time (roughly 2007-2010 CE). Where would the hackers and case modders of our humble era be if it weren't for this guy? They wouldn't be shoving PCs into old Game Boy cases, that's for sure. Case in point: the Linksys Bt320g seedbox project places VIA's EPIA PX10000G mobo and a 320GB HDD in an old Linksys shell (and a 400GB HDD in a second router). The man responsible doesn't say whether or not this one was intended to thwart they copyright police in the event of a search and seizure, but on the other hand we're assuming that he isn't going to be seeding OpenOffice on the thing either. If retro computing's your bag, we've found a Timex Sinclair ZX81 case mod that should bring you considerable joy. Unfortunately the membrane keyboard's been disabled, but if you don't mind using a USB keyboard with a machine that originally sported 1KB RAM (at a whopping 3.25MHz), you might want to hit the read link and see how it's done.

Read - Linksys BT320G case mod
Read - Sinclair ZX81 turned into PC

Laptop Magazine's reviewed the ASUS Eee PC 1002HA we've been hearing so much about lately, and they're pretty impressed with what they're seeing. They gush over its looks, design and slimness, noting the similarity to the more expensive S101, and think the keyboard's decently comfortable. The reviewer found the 10-inch screen to be pretty cool for watching My Best Friend's Wedding on, though viewing at an angle was not necessarily awesome by any means. The 1002HA is a fast booter, and pretty speedy in general, with a strong WiFi connection. Where it really fails, however is in the fact that the two-cell battery (which ASUS claimed would last for five hours) made it only a sad 3 hours and 39 minutes, and the company isn't planning on offering an extended life model either, apparently. So much for watching My Best Friend's Wedding and Notting Hill back to back, huh?