Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Ah, bugger. Just days after Apple Core began offering its aTV Flash on a foolproof USB stick, the outfit has officially pulled the software. Apparently there have been a few “questions arising regarding the fair use of a particular file present on the aTV Flash, and conflicting opinions as to whether or not it falls under the fair use category.” In order to keep itself off of the hot seat, it has “proactively” (and voluntarily) discontinued offering the product “until further notice.” Not all hope is lost, however, as Apple Core is currently working with the party in question to resolve the dilemma, and it should be keeping us all in the loop as discussions progress. Oh, and in case you’re curious — all current orders were canceled and refunded.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Maybe because it’s spring, season of green, here in the Northern Hemisphere. Or maybe because of climate change or the parlous state of the world’s finances — unless you’re a citizen of, say, Saudi Arabia. But the sudden interest in ecoproducts and other greenmatter is pretty astonishing.

Here’s an entry that could hardly be more homely. Blogger DLTK lists 101 things to do with an empty cardboard toilet paper roll.

Most of these are kid items, like making bowling pins for a birthday party game. But a few are suitable for a kid-free household that’s nonetheless undergoing both greenmindedness and frugality.

For example, pencil cups. Wreaths (using 14-16 rolls per each, which is a lot of TP for a kid-free household. My condolences.)

Or what about holiday-themed napkin rings? Although that raises a perhaps insoluble issue in parts of the world overrun with applicances. Which is more ecologically sound: paper napkins? Or cloth napkins that must be laundered in hot water (and possibly, horrors, dried in a fuel-slurping dryer)?

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Filed under: Desktops

People have been stuffing PCs in all kinds of things they don’t belong in for a while now, but this Linux cluster creatively packed into an Ikea Helmer filing cabinet might be the first time we’ve seen furniture actually modded into a useful case. Sure, it looks like an ordinary filing cabinet, but it’s packing six machines with Intel Core 2 Quad processors on Gigabyte S-series mobos with 8GB of RAM each, allowing it pump out 186 Gflops — enough to complete a render job that takes a 2.66Ghz quad-core Mac Pro nine hours in just 64 minutes. Yeah, that’s quite a filing cabinet. Hit the read links for tech specs, instructions, and updates on Helmer II.

[Via Make]

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