The Dell Mini 9 is one mod-friendly netbook. First people hacked OSX support. Then, someone figured out a way a rig a working GPS unit into the system. And now? A user named Deldotb of the myDellMini forums has turned the screen into a functional touchscreen.

They did it by strapping on one of those eBay touch panels and loading the appropriate Ubuntu drivers. It seems rather easy to do, the only negative being the loss of a USB port. Below is a video they made to show off the discovery. What’s next for the little netbook that could? Minesweeper?

Homebrewing, or "amusement terrorism" as it’s known is certain circles, has always been a thorn in the side of Nintendo. It’s cited as the main reason the big N waited so long to transfer over to disc format in the first place. They have a paranoia about it that borders on the schizoid. So, when the homebrewing community set up stock in the Wii, we all knew it wouldn’t be long before their homes were foreclosed and their adorable kittens were kicked out on the street.

That time has come. A Wii System Update released last night blocks new installations of the Homebrew Channel and anything existing therein. Previous installs are unaffected but you won’t be able to get anything new and, as any homebrew enthusiast will tell you, that’s half the fun.

However, this increased vigilance on the part of Nintendo could be in response to a a program making the rounds called the Wii Backup Loader, which lets people run pirated Wii games right on the system. Still, it’s kind of sad given that a great percentage of the homebrew software available does nothing illegal. Oh well. They’ll figure something else out. They always do. The homebrewers will outlive us all.

The Sony PSP just received its fifth major firmware upgrade the other day. The upgrade, among other things, allows users to access the PlayStation store to download goodies directly on to the popular portable. Well, it remained hack free for a paltry two days before the illustrious "Dark_Alex" hacked into it. He changed the code to make it safe for homebrew enthusiasts to receive the update without losing programs or data. Wait, that doesn’t sound very dark. Next he is going to hack it so it helps old ladies cross the street and retrieves cats from trees. Thanks Alex!

Looks like the smartphone with a real keyboard is getting its own custom software–just like that other smartphone without a real keyboard. Nothing works perfectly yet, as with all software hacks (and all software, for that matter). I love competition, and this is a step in the right direction.

Media players in personal computers are the current vulnerable spot which can allow unauthorized access to your computer. So says David Thiel, senior security consultant with iSEC Partners, at a recent Black Hat hacker conference.

"The actual potential for attack is reasonably severe because nobody cares about actually playing videos from YouTube or playing music on Web pages – you can’t get music to stop playing at you," he said. "Because this stuff is launched automatically, I think the impact could be significant."
"This is the next logical place to attack," Moss said. "People know not to open strange documents, but they click on MP3s all day long."

The hope is now that these findings have been published, the companies will find the flaws in their players and patch them quickly.