Over the past several weeks we’ve read reports about the PS3 Jail breaking solution via USB whereby the jailbreak tricks the console into thinking it’s in debug mode and thus gives you access to the device like never before.

The PS3 jailbreak would allow the use of illegal games as well as homebrew games to be played on the console.  In addition, the hack also blocked mandatory updates from Sony which could overwrite the hack and secure the device once again.

Jail breaking like this is nothing new, in fact we’ve heard about it with the iPhone for [literally] years.  However, with the PS3 it was a bit different.  It was different because the PS3 has been a platform which has remained unbroken or un-hacked [if that's a word] for nearly a decade.  That is a feat no other gaming company has

If you’ve been to this site before, you know we are a fan of USB Steampunk.  We just received word there is a new kid on the block who’s doing some cool USB steampunk.

This design is coined “Steampunk Scorpion USB.”

WWWorks is the profile name over at Etsy and he’s done some nice work on his first release.  What I like about the style of this design is the lack of gears you so commonly see with USB steampunk.  Rather, WWWorks put some detail into the design on the brass.

So here is a bit of detail about WWWorks.  Based in Budapest Hungary WWWorks is a computer IT guy by day and a craftsman by night.  Trying to break away from the

Mitsubishi is paving the way for hi-end 3D TVs with their recent announcement of a 40, 46 and 55 inch HD set.  The specifications are impressive but it seems there might be a disconnect on what they are making verse what people want.

Lets start with the specifications.  Given the sizes above, you also have an internal 1TB hard drive, ten Diatone system speakers, a USB slot, a SD slot and HDMI connectivity and a pair of 3D glasses.

The following might be just my take on the situation, but I’ve found most folks like their DVR [hard drive] to be separate than their TV so that if something goes wrong, you don’t need to ship the entire thing back.  It also seems that with a USB port on the HD TV, you can now just attached storage.

I also find it funny that you spend  between $3K and $6K for the above, and they supply you with 1 pair of 3D glasses.  I’ll chalk this up to bad reporting from the original article and assume at least a 4 pack comes with the set.

Finally – is it just me, or does it seem

Iomega is charging forward with USB 3.0 technology integrated into all their products.  Despite the fact that recent reports [In-Stat] indicate USB 3.0 will be slow to adaption throughout 2011 and 2012.

Iomega says the change will not cost consumers a penny more in retail cost, but will deliver faster transfer speeds.  USB 3.0, as we’ve reported, has a theoretical max of 5Gbps but we’ve only seen 70MB/s as best performing drives at the moment.

Iomega continues their promise of better performance with not only speed performance, but now a “drop spec” of up to 7 feet before you can expect any kind of damage or malfunction with the device.

Iomega’s drives come in 500GB and 1TB size starting at just $119.

John from LinuxSlate.com figured out the Dell Streak connector for sync and charging is nothing more than a PDMI connector.  So John made a nice little USB hack to eliminate the need for Dell’s expensive accessory kit in exchange for a quick DIY mod with a miniUSB cable.

The USB hack allows you to connect the Dell Streak to a PC for synchronizing with your computer, or simply charging the device from any USB charger [or port].

The modification also allows the unit to appear as a normal mass storage device or removable memory.

All of Apple products are designed as a “less is more” philosophy where a user just “knows” how to use the product when they hold it or see it.  The Apple Trackpad is no exception.  Great looking product that works exceptionally well and is bare bone minimum on design features.

One of the beautiful elements of the Trackpad is the wireless freedom you get from using the product.  For the wireless product you need juice.  The Trackpad does this via batteries.  However, some get tired of replacing the batteries [like it's that hard] and did a simple USB hack to power the Trackpad.  This hack is not used for communication, that is still done through Blue-tooth, but this is only for eliminating the need to swap batteries or constantly recharge them.

To accomplish the hack, remove the pad’s batteries, strip a USB cable down to the red and black power wires and attach them to a battery-sized wooden dowel. Finally, push the dowel inside the pad’s battery compartment and presto! It works.

Granted this is a USB hack even my 7 year old could do [less the wire stripping] and I’d recommend making something a bit more elegant.

I think we can all agree there are not enough USB laser ducks out there.  To help solve this problem we came across a nice USB laser duck tutorial to take any rubber ducky and turn it into a zombie, creepy laser duck.

I don’t think Ernie will be to pleased to hear the news.

The USB hack is fairly simple and the ideal project for a young kid looking to do something cool for the first time.  All you need is a USB cable, rubber duck and some diodes.

You’ll need to solder the diodes to the USB cable, then mount the laser eyes correctly and securely into the rubber ducky.  If the concept doesn’t make sense, you can jump over to Instructables and get the play-by-play.

I think one way to increase the coolness would be stuffing the entire USB cable into the duck body.  Either that, or take another Instructable where you can increase the laser intensity to pop balloons, burn paper and more… but do it with a bit of caution and common sense.

Video.