One of the most useful gadgets created in the modern world is the in-car video player, because in the words of one dad, "It keeps those kids from bugging me with 'Are we there yet?!'" So when the in-car player of PBS' Robert X Cringely broke down, he decided to whip up a nifty replacement: an in-car media server.

What (or WTH) does this have to do with the PSP, PSPUpdates readers may ask. The PSP becomes the new in-car TV, hooking up to the in-car server as though it were a LocationFree player. So if you're tired of playing games during a long car trip and want to watch a movie - except they don't fit in the Memory Stick and your local store doesn't stock UMDs anymore... you get the idea.

Bob took for his server a Norhtec MicroClient Jr. PC... from Thailand (tip: he also says that the cheapest non-Windows PCs around are most often found in Thailand. Just a hint.). It only cost him around US$ 190 to get the box with Wi-Fi capability, and a USB slot for an external storage device, such as a 4GB flash drive. Fanless it was, but at least it's robust enough to survive the horrors of riding in a car with boys, he says.

The server runs off Puppy Linux, which can boot off a CD or, in Bob's case, a CompactFlash card. It can run off the 12 volts of a car battery. It's a bit smaller than a Mac Mini, which makes it PERFECT for fitting under the car seat. A godsend for Bob, now the kids don't bug him with endless "Are we there yets".

Which brings this story to another interesting tidbit about the PSP. The PSP Bob used was a gift from the kids' Grandma, "who had no idea that two-year-olds don't get such things for their birthdays, and when they do get them they try to flush them down the toilet. Though not advertised as such, the PSP is EXTREMELY water-resistant."