Fees for terminating your Nexus One contract: up to $550 . The magic part is that Google and T-Mobile each charge you an ETF, meaning you have to pay back the ’subsidy’ to both companies. This suggests that one or the other is screwing customers, as the aggregate cost far exceeds the unsubsidized price of the handset. On the $180 discount price you get for buying a Nexus One with a two-year agreement, either Google eats the loss and T-Mobile shouldn’t be charging an ETF, or T-Mobile eats the loss (as is normal for carriers) and Google shouldn’t be charging an ETF. There is a precedent, however: carriers charge ETFs on data plans for 3G laptops that weren’t subsidized by *anyone* at the point of sale. [Consumerist]

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ETG: Early Termination Gouge

Brian Krebs’s “Krebs on Security” features an ATM skimmer that is chillingly well-camouflaged. After seeing photos of early, crude skimmers — devices that capture your card number and work in concert with a hidden camera that records you punching in your PIN — I assumed that I could rely on my own powers of observation to keep from falling victim to one. Now I don’t think I can be so sanguine. Be sure to follow some of the links in the post for some hair-raising examples of the form. This particular skimmer was found Dec. 6, 2009, attached to the front of a Citibank ATM in Woodland Hills, Calif. Would you have been able to spot this? This is fairly professional job: Notice how the bulk of the electronics fit into the flap below the card acceptance slot. Also, check out the tiny pinhole camera (pictured below), ostensibly designed to switch on and record the victim’s movements as he or she enters their PIN at the ATM. Would You Have Spotted the Fraud? ( via Neatorama ) Previously: Mouse nesting in ATM Boing Boing African ATM offers eight languages - Boing Boing Boing Boing: Fake ATM receipts for sale Citibank PIN/ATM fiasco “worst ever,” involves more banks - Boing … UK ATM cards' chips defeated with discount airfares - Boing Boing Ripoff: Visa/Mastercard's “Foreign transaction fee” - Boing Boing Boing Boing: Crook reprograms ATM in PA to think $20s are $1s

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ATM skimmer — could you spot it in the wild?

This copper mechanism from Macallan’s will turn your large, irregular chunk of ice into a perfect sphere, whose melting properties are somehow optimal for the consumption of Scotch (I drink neat Irish, when I drink at all, which is almost never). The Macallan Ice Ball Machine- 01.15.10 ( via Andre’s Notes ) Previously: Virtuoso cocktail shaker does his thing Boing Boing Halloween cocktail photos - Boing Boing Rube Goldberg cocktail-mixing machine - Boing Boing Desk/cocktail bar from 1947 - Boing Boing HOWTO make a snail out of a melted cocktail stirrer - Boing Boing

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Beautiful ice-sphere machine

Poor handwriting recognition was just the part that became industry legend. John Gruber explains why Apple’s first tablet computer didn’t do so well.

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On the Newton Messagepad

Richard sez, “For the discerning mad scientist: the list of items up for auction by the University of Delaware from a former Chrysler plant in Newark, Delaware. The university bought the plant after it closed, and apparently got the contents as well. The coolest items are probably the 6 axis robot arms, some still in line along assembly lines. There appears to be all kinds of milling equipment as well as other mysterious devices of unsure provenance. I am sure a machine expert would be able to make sense of all of it. The place is acres large (ed: literally — 3 million sqft), so I bet there are plenty of robot arms to go around. Oh to be an independently wealthy mad scientist with a large laboratory, perhaps under an extinct volcano, for this stuff. I suppose if there are any makers in the area they might want to check it out.” Former Assets of Chrysler / University of Delaware - 3 Million Sq. Ft. Automotive Fabrication, Assembly Plant & Distribution Center ( Thanks, Richard ! ) Previously: Haunting photo-essay on rotting buildings in Detroit - Boing Boing Real estate bubble bananas - Boing Boing Hidden Econopocalypse Admonition in Chinatown Sign - Boing Boing Artists buying cheap houses in Detroit - Boing Boing Dinosaur auction - Boing Boing Space history auction - Boing Boing

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Rustbelt collapse dividend: ginormous Chrysler plant and 3,000,000 sqft worth of gear up for sale

John sez, “I’ve been making using dismantled typewriter components. Each edition is made by sticking the sheet metal pieces to a magnetic plate then inking and printing like a woodblock.” typeset ( Thanks, John! ) Previously: Steampunk typewriter key jewelry — Boing Boing Gadgets - Boing Boing Trove of classic typewriter info - Boing Boing ASCII art from 1934 Boing Boing Boing Boing: Typewriter art Felt replica of a vintage Underwood Noiseless typewriter - Boing Boing

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Prints made from typewriter parts

Kevin Kelly shares my enthusiasm for the Perplexus, a 3-D maze toy. We’ve found the puzzle to be extremely addictive to anyone who gets started. Because it’s like a 3D video game without the electronics, the very physical nature of playing — turning it this way and that — is very satisfying. In addition, the maze is like a sculpture, the design of the route is geekily brilliant, and the elegance of the eternal return of the steel ball within the sphere is a stroke of genius. Perplexus has the glow of a work of art. It makes me happy just to pick it up. A couple of years ago I asked Michael McGinnis, the creator of the Perplexus, to write a Make story about how he designed and produced the toy. It turns out that the Perplexus has been a lifelong obsession. He now makes giant size Perplexii for museums. You can read the story and see photos of early prototypes here . After being out of production for a number of years, the Perplexus is back and available on Amazon . I love this toy. Brilliant 3D Maze: Perplexus

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Video of Perplexus 3D maze toy

Perplexed of late by people knocking loudly on the front door instead of ringing the doorbell, I finally asked the delivery man what was up. New New Years resolution: leave the house more often.

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The postman always rings ice

The Onion’s highlights from CES . The TI-101 Graphing Bassoon, at last!

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"Noise-postponing headphones"

Pachube’s free Data Logger for the iPhone looks like an interesting app for self-trackers who want to track their weight, calorie consumption, hours of sleep, mood, etc. Data Logger for iPhone enables you to store and graph any data of your choosing along with a timestamp and geolocation. You might use Data Logger to store electricity meter readings, to create maps of pollution or temperature sensor readings around your neighbourhood, or animal sightings around the city. You can also set up custom data feeds, with user-defined min and max values, tags, description and units. Data Logger for iPhone (Via Seth Roberts )

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Data Logger for iPhone