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https://hackaday.com/2011/01/11/speed-up-web-browsing-in-linux/ | Speed Up Web Browsing In Linux | James Munns | [
"Software Hacks"
] | [
"browser",
"cache",
"chrome",
"fedora",
"firefox",
"linux",
"Nagios",
"ram",
"ramdisk"
] | In modern computer systems, the biggest bottleneck of information tends to be in communicating with the hard disks. High seek times and relatively slow transmission rates when compared to RAM speeds can add up quickly. This was a necessary evil back when RAM space and costs were at a premium, but now it is not uncommon to see 4GB of RAM on laptops, and even 12GB on desktops. For users whose primary computer use is browsing the internet (either for work, writing articles, or lolcats) and have some extra RAM, moving the browser cache to the RAM from the hard disk is a definite option for increasing speed.
In Linux systems (specifically Fedora and Ubuntu systems), this can be achieved for Chrome and Firefox by creating a larger ramdisk, mounting the ramdisk after boot, and then setting the browser of choice to use that ramdisk as a cache. The necessary commands to do this are
readily available
(
internet archive
) on the internet, which makes life easy. Using ramdisks for performance boosts are not exclusive to browsers, and can be used for other software such as
Nagios
for example.
We have previously covered a tool called
Espérance DV
for moving cache to RAM in Mac OSX, and for any Windows users feeling left out, there are ways of making Firefox
bend to your will
. Obviously you will see an increase in RAM use (duh), but this shouldn’t be a problem unless you are running out of free RAM on your system. Remember, free RAM is wasted RAM. | 46 | 40 | [
{
"comment_id": "301344",
"author": "osgeld",
"timestamp": "2011-01-11T15:45:27",
"content": "this should help a lot on my work pc! never mind its like 30 people on a 1mb dsl linethat seems to be the biggest bottleneck in my experience, at least when it comes to web browsing",
"parent_id": null,... | 1,760,377,305.547702 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/10/halloween-hangover-talking-heads/ | Halloween Hangover: Talking Heads | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"Halloween props",
"haunted mansion"
] | Here’s a Halloween prop leftover; [Chris] built
his own version of singing heads
from Disney’s Haunted Mansion on his porch for last year’s ghoulish decor. A projected image of actors singing a spooky song gives each of the four Styrofoam mannequin noggins its own digital life. There’s an optical sensor on the porch stairs that is tripped by unsuspecting candy-seekers. An Arduino monitors the sensor and uses AutoHotkey to start the video clip on a netbook. Check out the video after the break to see the finished display do its thing after dark. | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "300772",
"author": "Thopter",
"timestamp": "2011-01-10T23:42:21",
"content": "Nice setup. A little out of sync though",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "300821",
"author": "silivrenion",
"timestamp": "2011-01-11T00:44:29",... | 1,760,377,305.23973 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/10/outside-air-cooled-pc/ | Outside-air Cooled PC | Mike Szczys | [
"computer hacks"
] | [
"dryer",
"duct",
"scotch brite"
] | [Brian] came up with an interesting PC cooling setup. He lives up north where it’s chilly in the winter. Using a bit of dryer ductwork and he was able to harness the outside air to cool his box. The system uses a window insert along with a dryer hood to suck in the outside air with a PC fan. We hope the air is adequately warmed, as it is exhausted into the room. Join us after the break for more pictures of his setup.
Below are the duct fitting he used. This includes a hood for outside, a damper which closes with gravity, some scotch brite pad to act as a filter, a flexible duct, and a quick connect.
The next three images show the construction of the window insert. The filter and hood are on the outside of the board, and the quick connect on the inside. Although [Brian] shows a damper in his parts image, we’re not sure where that is actually installed. We think it would be best for this damper to have a servo actuator, as gravity won’t be enough to keep the wind from forcing it open. | 120 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "300674",
"author": "evilspoons",
"timestamp": "2011-01-10T21:40:42",
"content": "Condensation much? I’m gonna see if this guy’s computer still works in a few months…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "952600",
"author": "... | 1,760,377,305.990526 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/10/diy-air-gap-flash-saves-at-least-seven-grand/ | DIY Air Gap Flash Saves At Least Seven Grand | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"air gap",
"bullet",
"camera axe",
"flash"
] | Did you know that a standard camera flash is much too slow to capture high quality images of bullets? A relatively long flash duration results in blurred images of the bullet. By building
this air gap flash a bullet can be frozen in mid-air
, producing some stunning results. There is an element of danger here, and not from the bullet. This flash uses a 35,000 volt capacitor to produce the mini-bolt of lightning which serves as the light source. The unit can be built for a few hundred dollars, which sounds like a heck of a deal if commercial models really do start at $8k and go up from there.
Now that the photographer has a super-fast flash,
a camera axe
takes care of the timing… which is everything. | 27 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "300652",
"author": "Spork",
"timestamp": "2011-01-10T20:59:41",
"content": "35kv is extremely dangerous, but I have to give [ribblem] credit for the build. That is amazingly well built without professional equipment. The photos are also great.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1... | 1,760,377,305.473343 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/10/555-based-am-radio-transmitter/ | 555 Based AM Radio Transmitter | Mike Szczys | [
"Radio Hacks"
] | [
"555",
"am",
"transmitter"
] | Bust out that 555 timer and use it to
build your own AM radio transmitter
. The circuit that [Rtty21] is using only needs the timer chip, an NPN transistor, three caps, three resistors, and a potentiometer. It generates an amplitude modulation signal around the 600 kHz range which you will be able to pick up with any normal AM radio. From the comments on the article it seems you’ll get around 30-40 feet of range out of the device. We don’t see this as a competitor for
the FM spy microphone
, but maybe you can use it as a diy baby monitor. | 33 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "300565",
"author": "T80",
"timestamp": "2011-01-10T18:57:41",
"content": "Seems like something my airsoft group would enjoy. When ever we can build something rather than flat out buy it, we do. Having a short distance transmission, paired with a radio to pick it up would be a fun li... | 1,760,377,305.616326 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/10/beer-catapulting-fridge/ | Beer Catapulting Fridge | Caleb Kraft | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Beer Hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"beer",
"catapult"
] | We’re not sure where the fascination to have your libations flung at you came from, but we can’t say we’re entirely against it. This
beer catapult robot
(dead link try
Internet Archive
) will pull a cold one from its gullet and fling it to you, or in your general direction. While he doesn’t have the source code available for the Arduino bit, we’re OK with that. We’re more interested in the mechanisms at work here and there are plenty of pictures of his set up. It seems very similar in design to
this one we covered back in 2007
, which also appeared on” The Late Show with David Letterman”. Join us after the break to see the thing in action.
[thanks Springuin]
[vimeo =http://vimeo.com/17582889] | 21 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "300508",
"author": "Jesper",
"timestamp": "2011-01-10T16:30:36",
"content": "cool stuff. Cant you make the “sling” and the elevator load at the same time? Seems stupid to do it linearly... and whats up with the light beer. 2 launching fridges, 2x bud light :|",
"parent_id": null... | 1,760,377,305.887919 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/09/reverse-geocache-features-ui-and-is-reprogrammable/ | Reverse Geocache Features UI And Is Reprogrammable | Mike Szczys | [
"gps hacks"
] | [
"gps",
"puzzle",
"reverse geocache",
"usb"
] | Here is yet another offering in the Reverse Geocache puzzle arena. We’ve been getting a lot of tips about these projects but
this one in particular stuck out from the others
. [Mure] packed in a bunch of features, starting with the LCD screen seen above. You can just make out the single red button near the bottom of the image which is used to traverse the menu. The octagonal box has an octagonal PCB inside that includes a USB connector. As you can see in the video after the break, this can be used for charging the batteries, and communicating with the internals. An accompanying program is used to generate puzzle data, which can then be programmed via that USB connection to set a new puzzle location. This functionality certainly protects against accidental lock-outs which were a problem with
the last puzzle we looked in on
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bt4NVdbd2Ek&w=470] | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "299921",
"author": "flapjackboy",
"timestamp": "2011-01-09T20:32:01",
"content": "Geometry fail. That’s a HEXagonal box.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "299924",
"author": "echodelta",
"timestamp": "2011-01-09T20:39:32",... | 1,760,377,305.32471 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/09/oled-displays-and-small-microcontrollers/ | OLED Displays And Small Microcontrollers | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"boost converter",
"octal buffer",
"oled",
"screen"
] | If you’ve ever thought of utilizing a small and inexpensive OLED display in your project [Rossum] has
the details you need to get started
. In the past we’ve seen him take
a tour of available LCD screens
and this is much the same, detailing his look at three different models. In the video after the break each is connected to a driver board that he made. The boards have two important components, the first is a boost driver for the 12-16V input the screens need, the second is an octal buffer necessary if you are using a 5V microcontroller. These take care of the hardware considerations, making it simple to drive them with a chip of your choosing.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHNqnbSxd6c&w=470] | 22 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "299888",
"author": "nes",
"timestamp": "2011-01-09T18:58:45",
"content": "I can only seem to find LD50T5128M based oleds on Taobao. Any word whether these support SPI too (datasheet for the display suggests parallel only), or do you have a link for the LD50T6160 ones you used?",
... | 1,760,377,305.680577 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/09/data-logging-football/ | Data Logging Football | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers",
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"accelerometer",
"compass",
"football",
"gyroscope",
"nerf",
"xmega"
] | [Ben Kokes] threw together
a hardware package to capture data from a football
. In the center of a Nerf football he made room for an accelerometer, gyroscope, and an electronic compass. All three can capture 3-axis data and, along with the LEDs ringing the circumference, they’ve controlled by an XMEGA192 microcontroller.
This makes us think back to a time when baseballs with a built-in speed sensor first hit the market… does this hack have mass marketing potential? Perhaps, but only if the $225 sensor price tag were greatly reduced. When we first started reading the description we hoped that [Ben] had coded an interpreter that would render 3D playback video from the data. He hasn’t done that, but from the data graphs he did assemble we don’t think that functionality is out of the question. We’ll keep our fingers crossed. | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "299842",
"author": "paido",
"timestamp": "2011-01-09T17:02:42",
"content": "Very nice project! I ever wanted to do one like this but in a european football ball. Anyway I saw that the Z axis and Y axis are not helpfull (the X yes) because the ball doesn’t have orientation and you ca... | 1,760,377,305.280323 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/08/steam-cycle-feels-like-your-pants-are-on-fire/ | Steam Cycle Feels Like Your Pants Are On Fire | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"bicycle",
"firebox",
"steam engine"
] | Usually we don’t like to feature projects that have zero build details, saving them instead for
a links post
. But this
steam-powered bicycle
is too… peculiar to pass up. In between the rider’s legs is the
firebox
that contains a wood-fueled fire. Watch the clip after the break and you’ll find just how noisy this contraption can be. In addition to the mid-range “chug-a chug-a” there’s also the constant whistle we’d attribute to the pressure regulator. It’s surprising that the whole bike doesn’t heat up, but it must not be all that bad since the test pilot isn’t wearing asbestos pants. All kidding aside, it looks like this beast has no problem getting up to a running pace (based on the movements of the camera) and that’s thanks to a renewable energy source.
We’d be much more comfortable seeing this in
a mechanized tandem
form factor since we just can’t get over having a fire between our legs.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiJeHHGqSSw&w=470]
[Thanks Frogz] | 54 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "299323",
"author": "CBob",
"timestamp": "2011-01-08T21:24:59",
"content": "While not as loud or as fast as the pulse jet bikes, I still want one.(firebox placement might need some work tho)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "2411... | 1,760,377,305.412939 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/08/pic-spectrum-analyzer-uses-fast-fourier-transform-routine/ | PIC Spectrum Analyzer Uses Fast Fourier Transform Routine | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"18f4550",
"lm386",
"pic",
"spectrum analyzer"
] | [Simon Inns] just rolled out his latest project,
a PIC based spectrum analyzer
. He’s using a
Fast Fourier Transform
routine crafted in C to run as efficiently as possible on the 8-bit chip. The video after the break shows that the results are quite pleasing, with just a bit of noticeable lag between the sound and the waveform representation on the graphic LCD. We found his notes about using an audio amplifier chip to be interesting. He utilizes the properties of an LM386 to move the input signals from a range of -0.5V to +0.5V into a very ADC friendly range of 0-5V.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJiUaGdABmI&w=470] | 29 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "299268",
"author": "Trollicus",
"timestamp": "2011-01-08T19:15:39",
"content": "It never seems to end, Fourier’s failed attempts to predict the weather have so many functions in real-world applications. They are useful for voice recognition engine management even in models used to p... | 1,760,377,306.151192 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/08/developing-an-electronic-board-game/ | Developing An Electronic Board Game | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"atmega328",
"catch phrase"
] | [Zach] enjoys playing the game Catch Phrase, but the complexity of the words makes this game a no-go for the little ones. We remember that the game used to be mechanical, using paper disks with the words on them. Those would be easy to recreate with your own dictionary set, but since it has transitioned to an electronic unit that option is out the window. So [Zach]
decided to build his own version of the game
that lets you use custom word sets after drawing inspiration from
another Catch Phrase hack
.
He’s calling it AVRphrase since it uses an AVR ATmega328. You’ll also find five buttons, a piezo buzzer, and a character LCD included in the design. He saw the project all the way through to the end, having a PCB manufactured, and installing it in a project box. A demonstration of the finished game can be seen after the break. [Zach] ended up with 9 working units at a cost of about $30 each.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgQYeQkNT_c&w=470] | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "299186",
"author": "Nick",
"timestamp": "2011-01-08T17:15:57",
"content": "Nice, this is the kind of stuff I want to see, perfect for your own project inspiration. A breadboard full of goodness there.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_i... | 1,760,377,306.038639 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/07/creating-art-from-an-old-christmas-tree/ | Creating Art From An Old Christmas Tree | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"christmas tree",
"fiber optic",
"RF",
"star"
] | So you manged to get a great deal on a fake tree during the after Christmas sales, but what should you do with your old one? If it was lighted with fiber optics you can reuse the strands to
create your own star map
. [Mr Trick] shows how to disassemble one of these trees, grouping the fibers by length. He built a wood frame, then covered it with a layer of cardboard and another of black fabric. From there the painstaking process of routing the fibers in a way to looks convincing starts.[Mr Trick’s] final product uses multiple LED light sources and even includes RF control.
Think this project is large and time-consuming? Check out
the same idea built into a bedroom ceiling
. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "298775",
"author": "Eirinn",
"timestamp": "2011-01-07T23:50:41",
"content": "Ceiling cat finds this tribute to be acceptable.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "298817",
"author": "Daid",
"timestamp": "2011-01-08T01:01:41",... | 1,760,377,306.087234 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/07/iphone-tilt-motion-controller/ | IPhone Tilt Motion Controller | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks",
"iphone hacks"
] | [
"analog",
"arduino",
"Joystick"
] | Here’s a mounting system that adds
mechanical tilt control to the iPhone
(link dead, try
the Internet Archive version
). It uses two servo motors to rotate along the X and Y axes. An analog joystick is used along with an Arduino to control the movement of the apparatus. As you can see in the video after the break, this works quite well when playing accelerometer-based games. But adding a joystick isn’t the end-goal of the project. [Shane] plans to point a camera at the iPhone and use image recognition to play games automatically. That sounds like a big bite the chew but
we’ve seen this work with Guitar Hero
so we’re optimistic. | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "298648",
"author": "bluewraith",
"timestamp": "2011-01-07T21:13:08",
"content": "I can see automated ball labyrinth in this guys future. I love how the mounting is so clean.Now then, how about a controllable stylus on the top as well, ala etcha-a-sketch.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,377,306.290883 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/07/a-look-back-at-defcon-18-badges/ | A Look Back At DefCon 18 Badges | Mike Szczys | [
"cons"
] | [
"badge",
"defcon",
"joe grand"
] | As he does every year, [Joe Grand] gave
a talk explaining the development process for Defcon 18 badges
. We looked in on these when
details started trickling out back in July
. They feature a neat bit of tech in the form of an LCD that acts much like ePaper. It doesn’t take any electricity to hold the image, only to change the display. This is a valuable feature for a battery powered device and allowed him to get about 9 days of juice out of a CR2032. This year’s badges also used laser-etched Aluminum as a substrate.
We’ve embedded the talk after the break and found it interesting enough to watch the entire hour. If you’re more interested in the hacks that came out of the badge, we’ve put together
a playlist of videos
[Joe] took while at the conference.
[Joe Grand] starts about nine minutes into the video
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5NnvpFVILc&w=470]
[via
Dangerous Prototypes
] | 7 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "298698",
"author": "wutbadge",
"timestamp": "2011-01-07T21:34:01",
"content": "I wonder if joe grand can explain why there are never enough badges every fucking year. $150 isnt worth it for the talks, and it sure as shit isnt worth it for a piece of laminated plastic and a weak ass ... | 1,760,377,306.194506 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/07/fixing-the-rovio-battery-charging-circuit/ | Fixing The Rovio Battery Charging Circuit | Mike Szczys | [
"Repair Hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"battery",
"charge",
"diode",
"rovio"
] | [Chris] was unhappy with the battery performance of his Rovio. It seems that he’s not alone, so he set out to reverse engineer the battery charging circuit to see if there was a fix. Boy is there,
what he found
is the diode above, apparently installed backwards when compared to the silk screen diode symbol. Now it’s entirely possible that the silk screen is wrong and this was fixed during assembly. We think that’s unlikely because if the closer of the two diodes was supposed to have the same polarity as the one next to it there should have been room to install them both in exactly the same orientation. [Chris] pulled out a soldering iron and changed the diode to match the silk screen. That fixed his problem and he’s now getting better performance than he ever has.
[
From our comments section
] | 24 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "298552",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2011-01-07T17:29:45",
"content": "Ha, nice catch. Even knowing what to look for, it still took me a second, since the “long leg” is reversed from the other diode also.I guess the markings really are useful, eh?",
"parent_id": null,
"d... | 1,760,377,306.349899 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/07/ces-where-are-they-now-ces-of-course/ | CES: Where Are They Now? CES Of Course! | Greg R. Jacobs | [
"ipod hacks",
"News"
] | [
"ces",
"iphone",
"ipod"
] | CES is a time for showcasing the latest and greatest innovative products. While the crowd milled around the iLounge there was one company who stood out amongst the rest. [Mike] from CableJive is making his debut on the biggest stage for innovation this year. Many of you will remember [Mike] from a post back in 2006, where he was fed up of with all of the good docks being for the apple products exclusively. He set out to fix this and, when talking with him, attributes his success to the
coverage Hack a Day did on his project
. CableJive has become so popular that he has hired staff that help him produce his products. All detailed information for their products can be found at their
website
. The finished product is displayed after the break. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "298532",
"author": "medwardl",
"timestamp": "2011-01-07T16:48:11",
"content": "proprietary tech is annoying good to see people making workarounds.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "298547",
"author": "Tux",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,377,306.241392 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/07/internet-enabled-drip-coffee/ | Internet Enabled Drip Coffee | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"coffee",
"drip",
"python",
"tweet",
"twitter"
] | A fresh pot of coffee is never more than a tweet away with
the Tweet-a-Pot
. It works in much the same way that
our Troll Sniffing Rat
does. For that build we used a Python script to monitor our comments, and this does the same except that the script read tweets through the Twitter API. It watches for a specific hash tag (#driptwit) and when found it sends a serial command to an Arduino. The microcontroller then writes a digital pin high to actuate a relay, powering up the coffee maker.
Sure, you have to preload the pot with grounds and water, but what do you expect,
automatic coffee roasting
and
brewing
? That’s quite a bit more work. | 23 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "298423",
"author": "Claudio",
"timestamp": "2011-01-07T14:08:56",
"content": "An entire arduino to switch a relay? Now if that’s not a pointless hack …Ok, make it (a tiny bit) useful then: have the pot tweet back once the coffee is ready, ditto for empty jar (hey, re-fill me now!)",... | 1,760,377,306.659585 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/06/ces-microsoft-hacks-up-next-os-as-soc/ | CES: Microsoft Hacks Up Next OS As SOC | Greg R. Jacobs | [
"News"
] | [
"ces",
"microsoft",
"vegas"
] | With the
Pre-CES Keynote
made by [Steve Ballmer], the announcement came that the next iteration of their operating system being available in SOC specific form. This will lead to windows being able to run a very diverse hardware set in a much more efficient manner than it does right now. Microsoft displayed 4 different versions of what the next generation prototypes are from 4 different manufacturers but there has been no work done yet on the GUI for SOC as [Ballmer] was very clear to mention that more than a couple of times. Some photos of the prototypes can be found after the break!
The picture below is Intel’s iteration of System on a Chip.
These next three photos are from Snapdragon, Texas Instruments OMAP and Nvidia’s Tegra Platform all using an ARM processor: | 76 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "297930",
"author": "Derrick",
"timestamp": "2011-01-06T21:44:00",
"content": "I can imagine the DRM now – “Piracy detecting, disabling Windows SOC.”This could be really awesome, it has potential – I just don’t see it coming through.Also, whaddya mean “Next Three Photos”? I only see ... | 1,760,377,306.60145 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/05/hacking-a-hack-electric-hybrid-geo-metro/ | Hacking A Hack: Electric Hybrid Geo Metro | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"generator",
"geo metro",
"hybrid",
"plug in",
"propane"
] | [Ben Nelson]
turned his electric Geo Metro into a plug-in hybrid
. But wait, where’d he get an electric Geo Metro? It seems that we’re one hack behind [Ben], who
converted the vehicle to all electric
back in 2008 using a forklift motor and some batteries. This time around he’s following the
Chevrolet Volt’s
example by adding a backup generator. Instead of going with a gasoline power he added a tank of propane and the generator from a Recreational Vehicle. This won’t put out enough juice to drive while the generator is running, but you can use it to extend your traveling range by pulling over for a nap while it tops off the batteries. | 54 | 48 | [
{
"comment_id": "296890",
"author": "theodore",
"timestamp": "2011-01-05T15:28:45",
"content": "please tell me that he does not run that in the car!and carrying a propane tank in the car is bad news too. but way to go for the electric home brew crowd.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"re... | 1,760,377,307.030511 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/05/flaming-guitar-hero/ | Flaming Guitar Hero | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"fire",
"guitar hero",
"propane",
"ps2",
"solenoid"
] | [Chris Marion] knew he wanted to play with fire, or more accurately with fireball spewing valves, but he need a good project in which he could use them. Inspiration finally struck and he built this controller that
matches fireballs to the fret buttons on a Guitar Hero controller
. There’s quite a lot that goes into this but we think that he hit a home run. The basic components are a manifold with electronically actuated valves, another manifold for the pilot lights, and a modified Guitar Hero controller.
To interface the controller he used an Arduino along with [Bill Porter’s]
PS2 library
to read signals from the buttons. But the real labor intensive part of the build came with the manifold. There’s a hardware store’s worth of fittings and flexible copper pipe that go into that assembly. In the end this all came together in just one week.
[Thanks Bill] | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "296819",
"author": "Lloir",
"timestamp": "2011-01-05T14:04:42",
"content": "thats awesome!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "296828",
"author": "ferdie",
"timestamp": "2011-01-05T14:13:46",
"content": "were is the vid... | 1,760,377,306.712946 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/04/solar-monsters-you-know-for-kids/ | Solar Monsters… You Know… For Kids! | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"kid",
"kit",
"solar",
"soldering"
] | Teaching kids to solder using kits is a fun time, but most of these beginner kits are a bit mundane. Not this one, it’s
a solar-powered monster project
. The components and their wiring connections are printed on a sheet of paper along with a background for that particular monster. The base of the paper is glued to a block of wood and at each solder junction there’s a copper nail. This way the kids can line up the components, check the picture to make sure the polarization is correct for each, then solder onto the large and stable nail head. As you can see in the video after the break, when the solar cell collects enough electricity the transistor triggers a motor to spin the monster.
But don’t get the idea that kits are
only
for kids. If you haven’t tried your hand with SMD soldering yet,
this kit is for you
.
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/18368866] | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "296400",
"author": "Hirudinea",
"timestamp": "2011-01-04T23:56:53",
"content": "The layout reminds me of a “Boradcast your Podcast” transmitter.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "296438",
"author": "b3ans",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,377,306.763835 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/04/broken-laptop-recovered-using-an-arduino/ | Broken Laptop Recovered Using An Arduino | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"converter",
"crossover",
"ftdi",
"serial"
] | We see Arduino boards used in a lot of projects but we’ve never thought of using one as a USB crossover cable. That’s basically what [Jack the Vendicator] did to get his broken laptop running. When his video card stopped working he found himself unable to access the laptop. Newer machines don’t have a serial connector, which could have been used for a serial terminal, so he was at a bit of a loss since neither SSH nor VNC were installed. But he thought he might be able to
use the Arduino as a serial terminal connector
over USB. He plugged the Arduino into the laptop, and connected a USB serial converter from his desktop computer to the Arduino’s serial pins. In effect he’s just taking advantage of the FTDI chip, translating those signals back into USB on either end. Once he booted the headless laptop it took just a couple of blindly typed commands to get SSH running in order to regain control. | 64 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "296305",
"author": "Anonymous",
"timestamp": "2011-01-04T21:14:29",
"content": "Because USB-SATA/IDE adapters are for the weak?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "296316",
"author": "Aaron",
"timestamp": "2011-01-04T21:21:2... | 1,760,377,306.945666 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/04/getting-started-with-the-parallax-propeller/ | Getting Started With The Parallax Propeller | Noah Dunker | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"parallax",
"propeller"
] | The folks at [gadget gangster] have been working on an excellent set of tutorials for
getting started with the Propeller
chip itself, the open-source Propeller Platform Modules and the Spin programming language that’s used to control things. All of the basics and a growing selection of more advanced topics are covered in gorgeous detail, with most of the tutorials containing helpful photographs and screen shots, source code listings and video walk-throughs to help you understand what the authors are talking about.
Parallax is not new to the microcontroller game. Almost two decades ago, their BASIC Stamp embedded microcontroller was the springboard for many tinkerers. The Parallax Propeller is an easy-to-use microcontroller that’s been gaining popularity for a while now. Several Propeller support modules have hit the market recently, providing power supply and interface functions to the Propeller similar to how the popular Arduino platform interfaces with AVR microcontrollers. | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "296272",
"author": "spiritplumber",
"timestamp": "2011-01-04T20:24:15",
"content": "http://robots-everywhere.com/portfolio/navcom_ai/Have an open source navigational AI to go with it. This has been used on boats, planes, rovers.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies"... | 1,760,377,307.239731 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/04/foldaway-photo-booth/ | Foldaway Photo Booth | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"photo booth",
"plywood",
"wedding"
] | For his wedding [Dave] wanted to have a photo booth but the $1k rental price was really getting him down. Instead,
he decided to build his own
. This cost less money and he gets to keep the booth once the festivities have concluded. He started by designing the assembly in Sketchup, taking into consideration the portability requirements that allow this to fit through doorways. What he came up with is a unit made from one sheet of plywood that folds up via piano hinges and takes about eight minutes to set up (video after the break). But where the design really shines is the all-in-one electronics module seen modeled on the right. It houses the monitor and the computer in one compact and rugged package.
If you like this you should also check out
the suitcase photo booth
and one other
wedding-prompted build
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNGg821bC7c&w=470] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "296281",
"author": "Daid",
"timestamp": "2011-01-04T20:39:48",
"content": "http://daid.mine.nu/instructabliss/?url=http://www.instructables.com/id/Designing-a-DIY-Talking-Twittering-etc-etc-Pho/For you viewing pleasure. (Photo galleries are starting to worki on some instructables, b... | 1,760,377,307.077341 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/04/dome-light-led-retrofit/ | Dome Light LED Retrofit | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"dollar store",
"dome light",
"voltage drop"
] | One of the bulbs in the dome light of [Pete’s] car burnt out. These were a bit hard to get at for replacement so
he thought he’d try something that would last longer
, and have no problem standing up to the vibrations that go along with automotive electronics. But plug-in LED replacements cost more money than he was willing to spend. Luckily there was a dollar store next door to the auto part shop, so he bought three LED touch lights for the dome and cargo bulbs.
After cracking them open he found that the LEDs were wired in parallel. He needed to put these in series in order to take advantage of the voltage drop. After de-soldering the bulbs he measured the characteristics of one, then calculated the voltage drop and resistor value using a worst case scenario of 14V to avoid damage to the light when the engine is revving high. From there he cut the traces on the board and rewired them. The reworked module fits nicely and as you can see in the image, gives a more pleasing light color than the orange of the stock bulb. | 25 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "296212",
"author": "alan",
"timestamp": "2011-01-04T18:11:20",
"content": "just go tohttp://www.superbrightleds.com/they have any shape and size bulb for most 12v car bulbs.look in your manual which bulb sizes go where and you’re good to go.theres no real reason to have to hack a to... | 1,760,377,307.140625 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/01/light-testing-facility/ | Light Testing Facility Tour | Caleb Kraft | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"testing"
] | Here’s a fun
video tour of a light testing facility
. Admittedly, its not as fun as watching
cell phones get abused
, but it is interesting. The video is only about 6 minutes long, and is mostly a narrated slide show, but is full of information. There’s plenty to learn about the bulbs themselves, as well as the testing procedures. What you can see above is a box full of LED testing units. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "294526",
"author": "BiOzZ",
"timestamp": "2011-01-02T00:35:46",
"content": "i wonder if they even use lights in there warehouse XDalso looking directly in to lightbulbs all day must be a headache-ing job",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"commen... | 1,760,377,307.178664 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/01/calc-is-high-tech-for-1970s-homebrew/ | Calc Is High-tech For 1970’s Homebrew | Mike Szczys | [
"classic hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"calculator",
"retro"
] | Just one look at that banner image and you’ve got to be thinking “that’s old”!
This 1970’s era home made calculator
used a 4-function calculator IC that was quite advanced for its time. The only problem is that the chip couldn’t do anything other than calcuations, which left it up to the maker of this dinosaur to get the display and keypad working. Circuit boards were made by drawing on copper clad with resist marker. These controlled the VFD digits for the IC’s output and also fed it the user inputs.
[Thanks Brian] | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "294342",
"author": "Chris",
"timestamp": "2011-01-01T18:27:01",
"content": "SO COOL! I wish they would have torn it down a bit further.. Can’t blame them though as I’d be afraid of hurting it too.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": ... | 1,760,377,307.298385 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/01/cell-phone-endurance-tests/ | Cell Phone Endurance Tests | Greg R. Jacobs | [
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"drop test",
"endurance",
"N8",
"nokia",
"testing"
] | Gone are the days when a phone would last you a lifetime and enter the days of glass covered mobile phones built to be sexy and sophisticated. With these new phones come new testing methods. Companies like Nokia are still dedicated to making the best phones possible and making them durable through vigorous testing.
The example shown in the article
, is simulating a phone dropping from a shirt pocket onto the floor. Nokia claims to use 200 endurance tests encompassing temperature, extreme usage (
use this button pusher
for you own test), physical drops, and exposure to humidity on each new model in their product line. Makes one wonder what other companies are using for their endurance tests. There’s video of the Nokia N8 Drop Test is after the break, and don’t forget to leave a comment if you know about other interesting test methods.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcfvRfJeLPQ&w=470] | 31 | 31 | [
{
"comment_id": "294280",
"author": "Crack-A-Day",
"timestamp": "2011-01-01T16:22:31",
"content": "I’ve always felt that Nokia phones were particularly durable. My previous handset was thrown out of a moving vehicle, dropped numerous times, submerged in water and baked or frozen when forgotten outsi... | 1,760,377,307.36313 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/31/christmas-light-controller/ | Christmas Light Controller | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks",
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"16c475",
"christmas lights",
"optoisolator",
"TRIAC"
] | We get a lot of tips about Christmas light controllers but rarely do they contain the kind of juicy detail that [Vince Cappellano] included with his setup.
His video explaining the controller
he built is embedded after the break and it’s not to be missed.
We think there’s a lot of good design invovled in this porject. First off, he’s got eight physical channels, each with optisolation and a triac for 256 levels of power control. But he was able to double the control to sixteen virtual channels if you’re using LED lighting. That’s because on those strings half of the LEDs are reverse biased compared to the rest. By adding sensing circuitry to the incoming AC, he can switch the triacs to only send positive or negative voltage through the LED strands, which produces the additional virtual channels. And did we mention that he did all this using wire wrapping and point-to-point soldering?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP0twADv4S0&w=470] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "293929",
"author": "osgeld",
"timestamp": "2010-12-31T22:26:50",
"content": "ok cool projectbut guys, enough with the amazement of construction methods, how else was he going to do it? clap his hands?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_i... | 1,760,377,307.568748 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/31/building-a-security-access-panel/ | Building A Security Access Panel | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"keypad",
"rfid",
"serial converter",
"usb"
] | It turns out that
hacking together a security keypad
is remarkably simple if you know what you’re doing. [Don] needed to add a keypad with an RFID reader on it. He had
previously built a USB RFID reader
and thought he could integrate those concepts into the new unit.
He once again started with a serial to USB converter and removed the voltage converter IC for later use since he doesn’t need TTL levels for this project. The keypad is a USB product and it turns out there’s a hub inside. With plenty of space inside for the serial converter PCB and a blank spot at the top where he mounted the RFID reader, he adding a few passive components to wire it up and connect it to the hub. The only connection is the original USB cord but the PC will detect both the keypad and the converter. | 14 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "293905",
"author": "IJ Dee-Vo",
"timestamp": "2010-12-31T21:22:52",
"content": "Nice work.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "293915",
"author": "Sariel",
"timestamp": "2010-12-31T21:55:46",
"content": "wicked awesome."... | 1,760,377,307.489682 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/31/shutter-remote-for-ricoh-cameras/ | Shutter Remote For RICOH Cameras | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"remote",
"ricoh",
"shutter",
"usb"
] | [Toby] wanted to have a remote shutter trigger for his RICOH GR III camera. This brand doesn’t have a dedicated port for remote operation but a bit of
research allowed him to build his own trigger
. The camera’s USB port is used for triggering but not using the USB protocol. Instead, a pulse pattern on the 5V line identifies the half-press, full-press, and release states of the shutter button. From there it was just a matter of wiring up a circuit centering around an Arduino that leaves room for a lot of expansion into realms like
photo automation
. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "293910",
"author": "mjrippe",
"timestamp": "2010-12-31T21:37:17",
"content": "That’s THREE Arduinos in a row – watch the TSR* go crazy!!!*Troll Sniffing Rat",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "294119",
"author": "BiOzZ",
"ti... | 1,760,377,307.608042 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/31/arduino-emf-sensor/ | Arduino EMF Sensor | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"emf",
"led",
"mega",
"meter"
] | As a biomedical equipment technician [Adam Outler] equipment needs to be in top working condition. The emergency room staff were complaining about erroneous noise on the electrocardiogram and it’s his job to fix it. He suspected EMF interference so as a quick first step he decided to throw together
an EMF detector using an Arduino
. It uses a bank of LEDs as an indicator bar to reflect the EMF picked up by the red antenna. In the video after the break [Adam] checks a room for possible sources of interference, treating the recharging circuit from the emergency lights as the most likely culprit. Since the ECG is many times more sensitive to EMF than the Arduino, this turns out to be a quick and easy way to make sure he’s not barking up the wrong tree.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcFQZP5CyoM&w=470] | 23 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "293800",
"author": "macw",
"timestamp": "2010-12-31T18:06:54",
"content": "If the ECG is way more sensitive, isn’t that just a guarantee that this arduino thing will never be able to detect all the sources of potential interference?Every time I see something like this I want to conn... | 1,760,377,307.824109 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/04/giving-a-canoe-lawnmower-power/ | Giving A Canoe Lawnmower Power | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"canoe",
"lawnmower",
"motor"
] | There’s the quiet serenity of paddling through the backwoods in a canoe, and then there’s this. It’s
a lawnmower motor powered canoe
that comes complete with steering wheel, throttle, and a stereo system. To keep the craft balanced the driver rides in the front seat while the motor is hanging off the stern of the boat. The biggest trick is not swamping the thing while getting the motor running, but future plans do include adding an electric starter. There is a kill switch for safety and it appears that top speed will not cause any stability issues. It’s hard to tell for sure from the video after the break, but it sure does seem to be loud!
[Thanks Rob] | 23 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "296178",
"author": "Karl",
"timestamp": "2011-01-04T17:24:47",
"content": "Now, if he vented the exaust into the water like a real outboard does, that should quiet it down a bit.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "296187",
"aut... | 1,760,377,307.87812 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/04/hackaday-sort-of-going-to-c-e-s/ | Hackaday Sort Of Going To C.E.S. | Caleb Kraft | [
"News"
] | [
"c.e.s.",
"ces",
"vegas"
] | We have decided that C.E.S. just really isn’t as much of a hacker mecca as we would have wished. Sure there were brilliantly shining walls of new 3d televisions and cellphones and camcorders as far as the eye could see, but there was mainly just tons of marketing for very little innovation, and much less hacker-centric gear than we had hoped. We
had fun
and
tried to keep things interesting
, but just couldn’t justify sending people from all over the country to Vegas for a week this year.
[
Greg
] had planned on going anyway, so we’ll still get a few updates when he finds the bits that interest us. He should also be snapping pictures and tossing them on
twitter
throughout the show. Be sure to let him know what you would like to see. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "296271",
"author": "Okian Warrior",
"timestamp": "2011-01-04T20:23:59",
"content": "I think that’s a perfectly appropriate decision to make. Unrelated, I also think it’s the right decision.CES has always been mostly a marketing orgy.There’s tons of gatherings that have more innovati... | 1,760,377,307.751436 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/04/timelapse-photos-for-all/ | Timelapse Photos For All! | Greg R. Jacobs | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"timelapse"
] | Find yourself wanting to do some timelapse but lacking the equipment? Why not build your own time lapse rig as seen in
instructables how to
by [Constructer]. To accomplish this, all you will need is a little wood, screws, a motor, and some batteries. The how-to says you can add extra voltage to speed up the rate of taking photos, or conversely reduce voltage to slow it down. We especially like the simplicity of this mechanical approach. No timers, no programming, only a motor. One downfall of this simplistic approach, however is that your “gap” between pictures will increase as your battery dies.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkMj3JoKdXg&w=470] | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "296177",
"author": "loans",
"timestamp": "2011-01-04T17:23:43",
"content": "RE the dying batteries, since most time lapse photos are planned and take place in a location of the photographer’s choosing, simply picking a wall-wart of the appropriate voltage would solve that issue.",
... | 1,760,377,308.188792 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/03/more-bike-controlled-google-travelling/ | More Bike-controlled Google-travelling | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"bicycle",
"bike",
"bike computer",
"google earth",
"Joystick"
] | This is becoming such a popular hack we figure someone needs to come up with a name for it like Google-travelling or Google-cising (exercising with Google). It’s
a bike controller for Google Earth
. [Braingram] broke out his road bike, setting it up in the trainer in front of his laptop. If you already have a computer with a cadence sensor this will be a snap. These measure the crank rotation using a magnet and reed switch. So as not screw up his summer biking [Braingram] spliced into the sensor while leaving it attached to the bike computer. From there it is read by an Arduino which also monitors an analog joystick attached to the handlebars. A little bit of Python scripting and you’ll be ready to go.
Be sure to check out some of the other variants like
using an exercise bike
, or
adding a wearable display
. | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "295653",
"author": "ZuneZune",
"timestamp": "2011-01-04T00:27:19",
"content": "Google Earth for the win :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "295683",
"author": "Anonymous",
"timestamp": "2011-01-04T01:14:23",
"content"... | 1,760,377,307.930389 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/03/driving-an-8-digit-split-flap-display/ | Driving An 8-digit Split Flap Display | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"12f683",
"pic",
"split flap"
] | [Markus] got his hands on a split-flap display and
built a controller for it
. These sometimes can be found on really old alarm clocks, but [Markus] was a lucky-duck and managed to acquire this large 8-digit display which previously made its home in a railroad station. They work like a Rolodex, mounting flaps around a cylinder for a full alpha-numeric font set.
A PIC 12F683 was selected to control the display, using optoisolation to separate the 42V display motors from the driver circuit. From the video after the break we think he did a wonderful job of getting this working. It only takes six I/O pins to control and the sound and look of the digits scrolling leaves us quite jealous.
So what’s he got in store for it? The first thing he did was use it to count down to the New Year.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYhlQDS03KM&w=470] | 28 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "295628",
"author": "Andrew F",
"timestamp": "2011-01-03T23:16:16",
"content": "I wonder how he knows where zero is, if the display is reset, does he manually have to reset zero?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "295631",
"auth... | 1,760,377,308.097293 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/03/controlling-real-objects-using-minecraft/ | Controlling Real Objects Using Minecraft | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"led",
"minecraft",
"twitter"
] | Most augmented reality takes images of the real world and superimposes virtual data on top of them. [Michael Winston Dales] went a different direction, using the virtual world of
Minecraft to control objects in the physical world
. In the video after the break you can see him use switches that he built inside the game to turn the LEDs pictured above on and off. You’ll also notice that in-game sign instructing a player to stand in one spot to Tweet. Since Minecraft is written in Java there are some mods that allow you to hook onto in-game events. [Michael] does just that, triggering his own scripts to send data to an Arduino, or use a Twitter API. Now this something that should be used with
the Minecraft ALU
. It takes the sandbox method of gaming to a new place, doesn’t it?
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/18326611] | 14 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "295601",
"author": "Adrian",
"timestamp": "2011-01-03T22:42:51",
"content": "Very nice. How did you hook into the minecraft code?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "295605",
"author": "-HMav",
"timestamp": "2011-01-03T23:01... | 1,760,377,308.147696 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/03/rc-pontoon-from-a-toy-car/ | RC Pontoon From A Toy Car | Mike Szczys | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"boat",
"car",
"pontoon",
"rc",
"styrofoam"
] | [Kevin Sandom]
built this boat
using a radio controlled toy car. The two pontoons are recycled from Styrofoam packaging material using some thick wire to connect them and provide a framework for the propulsion and control circuitry. The motor itself is a hobby outboard, which really only required [Kevin] to develop a method for steering. He walks us through the build process in the video after the break, where we find out that the original toy has a pretty bad design flaw. It seems the car used four AA batteries to drive the motor, but one of the four batteries was also used separately from the other three to power the control circuitry. Running that battery down faster than the others shortens the life of the whole.
This is considerably easier than the
underwater ROV hacks
we’ve seen before. We do think that it would make for a fun weekend project, and we’d bet you’ll get some weird looks for piloting what appears to be garbage around a pond.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmQ8cSK8f0c&w=470]
[Thanks Rob] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "295545",
"author": "mark",
"timestamp": "2011-01-03T19:38:29",
"content": "As for garbage in the pond, see the bottle-based RC “Footie” sailboats:http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1294350",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_... | 1,760,377,308.237947 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/06/drill-based-kinect-camera/ | Drill-based Kinect Camera | Mike Szczys | [
"HackIt",
"Kinect hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"drill",
"gumstix",
"Kinect",
"overo air",
"ryobi"
] | [Brett Graham] and [David Cox] are taking the Kinect out into the world thanks to this handheld hack they call
the Drill of Depth
. Apparently, the Kinect wants 12V at 1A which is quite easy to provide with a rechargeable power tool like this Ryobi drill. The setup features a 4.3″ touchscreen display, connected to the Gumstix Overo Air that is running Linux. They claim that there’s a “legitimate scientific reason” for building the device but they’re not sharing it yet.
So what would you use this for? We wonder if it would be possible to roll a GPS into the mix, then use post processing from the captured data to recreate the environment in a virtual setting? Imagine if a weekend spent walking around campus and processing the results let you model your University and make it an add-on level for your favorite game. Or perhaps this could be paired with a regular camera to generate high-quality 3D skinning data for Google Earth. That’s what we came up with, what do you think? | 42 | 38 | [
{
"comment_id": "297897",
"author": "assi9",
"timestamp": "2011-01-06T20:32:08",
"content": "I bet you could use it to scan someones full body (in 3d) and then save it for security purposes, gaming, etc… like a 3D laser scanner for cheap.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
... | 1,760,377,308.313301 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/06/making-punch-card-programming-a-snap/ | Making Punch Card Programming A Snap | Mike Szczys | [
"classic hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"ibm",
"keypunch",
"punch card",
"trs-80"
] | About thirty years ago [H. P. Friedrichs] pulled off a hack that greatly
improved the process of programming with punch cards
. At the time, his school had just two IBM 029 keypunch machines. One of them is shown in the upper right and it uses a keyboard to choose which parts of each card should be punched out. This was time-consuming, and one misplaced keystroke could ruin the card that you were working on. Since you had to sit at the machine and type in your source code these machines were almost always in use.
But wait, the school acquired a dozen of the TRS-80 computers seen in the lower left. They were meant to be used when teaching BASIC, but [HPF] hatched a plan to put them to task for punch card generation. He built his own interface hardware that connected to the expansion port of the new hardware. Using his custom interface a student could create a virtual card deck that could be rearranged and revised to correct mistakes in the source code. The hardware then allows the virtual deck to be dumped in to the punching machine. This broke the bottleneck caused by students sitting at the punch card terminal.
We think that [HPF] sent in this project after seeing the antiquated hardware from that
1970’s calculator
. These hacks of yore are a blast to revisit so don’t be afraid to
tip us off
if you know of a juicy one. | 47 | 44 | [
{
"comment_id": "297809",
"author": "jeicrash",
"timestamp": "2011-01-06T17:44:25",
"content": "Stuff like this always makes me think I was born in the wrong age of technology. To be on the ground floor of innovations like this are almost unheard of now days. At least in such a useful manner.",
... | 1,760,377,308.395232 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/06/kitchen-island-makes-a-mean-cocktail/ | Kitchen Island Makes A Mean Cocktail | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"bartender",
"cocktail",
"kitchen"
] | [John Creswell] built a heck of an
automatic bartender in a kitchen island
. The image on the left shows a top-down view of the inside of the cabinet. There’s a mini-fridge where the liquids are stored, and around the perimeter of the cabinet [John] mounted sixteen pumps to get the beverage up into your cup. Drinks are dispensed from the lighted serving fixture on the right by selecting your preferred cocktail from a computerized menu. According to his writeup the project was finished about five years ago, making us wonder if he’s tackled any upgrades such as adding support for smartphones.
[Thanks Zack] | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "297727",
"author": "Dan",
"timestamp": "2011-01-06T14:10:03",
"content": "Funny, About five years ago, I was at his house and saw this thing in action. Very sharp guy. If I recall correctly, he had just switch from trying to use windshield washer pumps to these ones in the picture... | 1,760,377,308.457407 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/05/quiet-dust-extractor-from-scavenged-materials/ | Quiet Dust Extractor From Scavenged Materials | Joseph Thibodeau | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"Cyclone",
"dust",
"filter",
"noise",
"protection",
"safety",
"soundproofing"
] | As with many of the projects covered on hackaday, [bongodrummer]’s
Dust Sniper
came about because of a lack of effective commercial solutions, in this case to the problem of quiet dust extraction.
Workshops are generally full of dust and noise, both of which take their toll on the human body. This is why safety regulations exist for noisy and dusty workplaces and–as [bongodrummer] rightly points out–we have to take precautions in our own home and community workshops. Hearing protectors, dust masks and safety goggles are integral, but reducing the amount of dust and noise in the fist place is paramount.
Using mostly scavenged materials [bongodrummer] did a quality job building the Dust Sniper–and all for a bill of materials totaling £20. It has an integrated work surface, automatic switches on 2 vacuum lines to sync up with power tools, a cyclonic air filter that prevents clogging the HEPA filter and reducing suction power, inlet and outlet soundproofing, and a plain old power outlet for good measure.
Whether or not you’re interested in building an integrated workbench/extractor system like this one, we recommend you check out the details of the cyclone filter and the sound reducing components. Not only are they an interesting read, but they could be useful to apply in other projects, for example a
soldering station with fume hood
.
We think it would be really neat to include more cyclones in our projects. Stick around after the break to see [bongodrummer]’s prototype cyclone filter in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o850ATauMDM&w=470] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "297157",
"author": "Chris Muncy",
"timestamp": "2011-01-05T23:37:10",
"content": "http://daid.mine.nu/instructabliss/?url=http://www.instructables.com/id/Dust-Sniper-quiet-extractor-system/For your reading ease (thanks again daid)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replie... | 1,760,377,308.507547 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/05/make-the-wedding-ring-speak-to-her/ | Make The Wedding Ring Speak To Her | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"edison cylinder",
"ring",
"wedding"
] | It’s a nice touch to engrave a heartfelt message on a wedding band, and my couples choose to do so. But you can say a lot more with a 20 second audio message. That’s exactly what [Luke Jerram] did by
etching an audio track into this ring
. He uses his custom-built hardware to playback the message, which you can see in the video after the break. The ring is an Edison Cylinder, which works just like a modern record player except that the media is on a spinning drum (the ring) instead of a rotating disk. We wonder if this would sound a bit better with
a high-end cylinder player
.
While you’re on [Luke’s] page you might as well take a look at his
image projecting ring
as well. It has a color image slide on one side and a projection lens on the other. Wacky!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWdAE09VVZw&w=470] | 41 | 40 | [
{
"comment_id": "297117",
"author": "me",
"timestamp": "2011-01-05T22:18:17",
"content": "Nice but what the hell is the message saying…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "297118",
"author": "hmm",
"timestamp": "2011-01-05T22:18:28",
"co... | 1,760,377,308.581238 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/05/rovio-headlight-hack-looks-stock/ | Rovio Headlight Hack Looks Stock | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"headlight",
"led",
"rovio"
] | Even the most thorough inspection may not raise the alarm that this Rovio has been
hacked to include LED headlights
. [Adam Outler’s] super clean work puts the two light sources on either side of the camera for maximum effect. It may not provide as many Lumens as
our external headlight hack
, but we were never all that excited about the black project box that housed it. [Adam] built the circuit on a scrap of perfboard, using a transistor to connect the LED pair to the battery, with the original LED power wire going to the base in order to switch the transistor. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "297110",
"author": "David",
"timestamp": "2011-01-05T21:52:42",
"content": "Too bad it doesn’t fix the faulty battery charging circuit that it is tapping in to.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "297124",
"author": "TheMoogle",... | 1,760,377,308.749944 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/05/cnc-cake-decorator/ | CNC Cake Decorator | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"cake",
"decorator",
"frosting",
"python"
] | The
AutoFrost CNC cake decorator
is the result of a student project a Olin College of Engineering. [Tara Krishnan] and her classmates designed and built the hardware, as well as a Python interface that is used for drawing the design you want printed in frosting. The X and Y axes are controlled by stepper motors, with manual adjustments for the Z axis. The software has setting for the size of the cake, making it a bit more versatile than
the last mechanized decorator we looked at
. The GUI also allows for multiple colors which are applied one at a time, with the machine pausing for an operator to switch out the colored frosting container. All in all a nice build, but the next rendition should look to get rid of that second Arduino. We can’t think the code is complex enough to warrant two of them. Check out the demo video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhHnZVnXiF4&w=470] | 32 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "297020",
"author": "CodeAsm",
"timestamp": "2011-01-05T19:09:11",
"content": "Arg I hate Sony.Nice build btw, Now I want some cake :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "297021",
"author": "SlurmMcKenzie",
"timestamp": "2011... | 1,760,377,309.0607 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/03/flower-with-pcb-pot-and-led-blossoms/ | Flower With PCB Pot And LED Blossoms | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"ATmega88",
"flower",
"magnet wire",
"rgb"
] | [Johannes Agricola] recently held a workshop at the Peace Mission in Goettingen, Germany where
he shared his RGB LED flowers
. The small round PCB hosts an ATmega88 microcontroller which is running the V-USB stack so that the unit can be controlled by a computer. Each flower blossom is an RGB LED connected with four enameled wires which, when twisted together, make up the stem of the flower. [Johannes] took tons of pictures during the assembly while offering soldering advice along side the illustrations. The PCB is single-sided helping make this a great project for someone trying out surface mount component soldering for the first time. Or if you want something a little more free-formed try out this
lemon-juice powered LED flower
. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "295494",
"author": "Bill Porter",
"timestamp": "2011-01-03T17:11:53",
"content": "Hehe, what is the appeal of LEDs and flowers? I made an LED flower many years ago.http://www.billporter.info/led-flower/Though I love the complexity of the control circuit on this one.",
"parent_id... | 1,760,377,308.798974 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/02/hackaday-links-january-2-2011/ | Hackaday Links: January 2, 2011 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"18F2550",
"pci express",
"steering wheel"
] | DIY driving controller
It looks like this steering wheel, shifter, and foot pedal were all made from string and garbage. That being said,
you can see it works quite well
. The setup just pushed keys on the keyboard, which reminds us of the junky plastic add-ons for the Wii remote. [Thanks Toumal]
Taping PCI express
[Pseudolobster’s] company was putting together point-of-sale machines for a retailer. They had surplus computers which really brought the price down but ran into a snag when adding the second monitor. The boxes wouldn’t play nicely with PCIe 16x. His solution was to scotch tape pins 19-82 on the cards, effectively turning them into PCIe 1x… and it worked! No link here but we wanted to share the trick anyway.
USB character display
[Simon Inns] shows how to
add a character display to a PC case
. We’ve seen him work with these PIC 18F2550 controllers
several times before
but we like how nicely this piggy-backs the display board seen in green. | 29 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "295047",
"author": "Osgeld",
"timestamp": "2011-01-02T22:07:12",
"content": "tape on the pins is kind of common in the macintosh world, apple’s 1-2x agp card’s had power running through them for the monitors, and utilized a couple pins for detection, so what happens when everyone go... | 1,760,377,308.869895 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/02/would-you-entrust-your-dslr-to-this-diy-underwater-enclosure/ | Would You Entrust Your DSLR To This Diy Underwater Enclosure? | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"photography",
"underwater",
"water proof"
] | Next time you head off on that underwater adventure take your camera along with you. [Jkcobabe] shows us
how to build a waterproof camera enclosure
using just a few components. The box is meant to be used to keep your stuff dry while camping, and the lens housing is made using plumbing fittings from the a home building center. There is a rail system that allows you to mount the camera securely inside, with a flexible button on the outside to actuate the shutter. If anything this is well designed and built, but we might still stick to using disposable cameras under water. Then again, the
pros build their own enclosures
so we’ll keep our fingers crossed for
that $2500 camera
as you try to capture that perfect shot.
[Thanks Troy] | 24 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "295023",
"author": "CutThroughStuffGuy",
"timestamp": "2011-01-02T21:16:11",
"content": "The other DIY option mentioned was TIG welded 6061 aluminum for the body and he machined the port mount out of 7075 aluminum.This is a thin plastic box with some 200 and under PSI rated plastic ... | 1,760,377,308.994594 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/02/classic-game-emulation-on-the-dockstar/ | Classic Game Emulation On The Dockstar | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"DisplayLink",
"dockstar",
"emulator",
"fluxbox",
"linux",
"nes",
"usb"
] | [Hunter Davis] is playing games like Contra, Monkey Island, and Quake 3 by
running them on a Seagate Dockstar
. We were shocked after seeing how well these run in the video after the break. [Hunter], who
used the ZipIt for game emulation
in the past, added a couple of hardware peripherals to get everything running. For sound he picked up an inexpensive USB sound card which was no problem to get up and running. Next he picked up a USB to DVI adapter and fired up
the Linux USB DisplayLink driver
. With the peripherals running he loaded up Fluxbox and the rest was history. Not bad for
a small network storage adapter
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwVwFHDA5iE&w=470]
[Thanks Kris] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "295001",
"author": "CutThroughStuffGuy",
"timestamp": "2011-01-02T20:30:41",
"content": "Relevant Link:http://ahsoftware.de/dockstar/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "295003",
"author": "oler",
"timestamp": "2011-01-02T20... | 1,760,377,310.811426 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/02/reverse-geocaching-christmas-gift-box/ | Reverse Geocaching Christmas Gift Box | Mike Szczys | [
"gps hacks"
] | [
"box",
"christmas",
"geocache"
] | This is the
reverse geocache box
that [William Dillon] built as a Christmas gift this year. He started with an interestingly shaped wooden box from the craft store. The clasp to keep it shut uses a servo motor on the lid with a wooden arm that grasps a screw on the base. As with the
original geocache box
, the
Frustratomatic
, and the
smaller geocache
, the box is designed to open only when in the correct geographic location thanks to the GPS module inside. That was a problem for [William] when a bug in his firmware locked the box during development while the key location was 1000 miles away. Luckily the box uses hinges that are attached from the outside with screws. We wonder how feasible it would be to use the mounting screws from the LCD screen to implement a coded emergency entry, using one as ground and the others as paths to microcontroller pins. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "294973",
"author": "st2000",
"timestamp": "2011-01-02T19:40:59",
"content": "So (what you are saying is) if William was a bit better at building boxes – he would have had to walk 1000 miles to debug this project?Funniest thing hackaday has ever posted (well, probably).",
"parent... | 1,760,377,311.220423 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/02/512-led-cube/ | 512 LED Cube | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"AVR",
"cube",
"latch",
"solder"
] | Get out the soldering iron and clear your schedule, it’s going to take you a while to assemble this
8x8x8 LED matrix which contains a total of 512 LEDs
. We’ve looked in on
a 3x3x3 cube
, and [Chr], who is responsible for this one, has assembled a 4x4x4 cube before, but this one is quite a leap in complexity. It isn’t just physical assembly problems that increase with scale, you’ll need to consider a power supply too since one layer of a 3x3x3 cube would need at 90 mA, but a single layer of the cube above requires 640 mA to light all of the diodes. Multiplexing is handled per-layer, controlled by ICs which share 8 data lines and are latched by a shift register. This means the display only requires 11 microcontroller pins for addressing. It is striking how well [Chr] explains the design process, and how cleanly he builds the driver circuits on protoboard. There’s a lot to look at and a lot to learn, not to mention the stunning results which can be seen in the video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mXM-oGggrM&w=470]
[Thanks Vadim] | 72 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "294893",
"author": "Scott_T",
"timestamp": "2011-01-02T17:13:16",
"content": "Neato, I’d like to see conways life game on it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "294906",
"author": "Alex Rossie",
"timestamp": "2011-01-02T17:... | 1,760,377,311.00653 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2011/01/01/beer-shooting-dorm-fridge/ | Beer Shooting Dorm Fridge | Caleb Kraft | [
"Beer Hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"beer",
"cannon"
] | When we first heard the parts list for this project, we weren’t too impressed. It has an iPhone connecting to an IObridge etc… But then we heard the next, and most important part, an
air cannon and an assortment of beer
. We were sold. As you can see in the video after the break, a fancy iPhone interface lets you select your beer, then dispense it into the cannon for delivery. The next step is to aim using a web cam mounted at the cannon and let ‘er rip! The beer is fired across the room and into your hands. We suspect that the amount of cranial injury, holes in the drywall, and shattered glass will greatly increase in frequency as the night goes on. Awesome.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVyLuosZ1rY&w=470] | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "294388",
"author": "Casey",
"timestamp": "2011-01-01T20:05:52",
"content": "That’s great, except for the beer selection.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "294391",
"author": "Sheff",
"timestamp": "2011-01-01T20:09:56",
... | 1,760,377,311.367758 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/31/fabricating-a-music-controlled-stoplight/ | Fabricating A Music-controlled Stoplight | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"sketchup",
"stoplight",
"traffic light",
"welding"
] | [Andrew] built himself
a stoplight that flashes along with the music
. Unlike the
traffic signal we checked in on a year ago
, this one’s not a reused municipal fixture. [Andrew] imported a 3D model into Sketchup, printed out the results, and traced them onto
Bristol board
to make his templates. He cut out the parts, used a brake for the bending, then a combination of spot and MIG welding to complete the housing. Off to his school’s spray booth for priming, baking, and painting for a perfect finish.
The internals are what you’d expect. Each light source is made up of a cluster of LEDs controlled by an Arduino. Music synchronization is handled by a Processing script that [Andrew] wrote, which you can see in action after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtpZ0L81oBo&w=470] | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "293742",
"author": "megadeth",
"timestamp": "2010-12-31T16:27:13",
"content": "Stop. HammerTime!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "293768",
"author": "sM10sM20",
"timestamp": "2010-12-31T17:13:21",
"content": "Great fa... | 1,760,377,311.111975 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/30/gsm-hacking-with-prepaid-phones/ | GSM Hacking With Prepaid Phones | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"cons",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"ccc",
"gsm",
"rainbow table"
] | Want to listen in on cellphone calls or intercept test messages? Well that’s a violation of someone else’s privacy so shame on you! But there are black-hats who want to do just that and it may not be quite as difficult as you think.
This article sums up a method
of using prepaid cellphones and some decryption technology to quickly gain access to all the communications on a cellular handset. Slides for the talk given at the Chaos Communications Congress by [Karsten Nohl] and [Sylvain Munaut] are
available now
, but here’s the gist. They reflashed some cheap phones with custom firmware to gain access to all of the data coming over the network. By sending carefully crafted ghost messages the target user doesn’t get notified that a text has been received, but the phone is indeed communicating with the network. That traffic is used to sniff out a general location and eventually to grab the session key. That key can be used to siphon off all network communications and then decrypt them quickly by using a 1 TB rainbow table. Not an easy process, but it’s a much simpler method than we would have suspected.
[Thanks Rob] | 32 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "293335",
"author": "HACKY",
"timestamp": "2010-12-30T23:04:41",
"content": "Wow… a 1 TB rainbow table. Never heard of it, but it sounds impressive…Did I read that you could read someone’s text messages and these messages will eventually arrive at the recepients’ phone? That’s very n... | 1,760,377,310.91737 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/30/ps3-hacking-start-to-finish-ccc/ | PS3 Hacking Start-to-finish – CCC | Mike Szczys | [
"cons",
"Playstation Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"ccc",
"key",
"otheros",
"ps3",
"sony"
] | Well it looks like the
Play Station 3 is finally and definitively cracked
. FailOverflow’s Chaos Communications Congress talk on console security revealed that, thanks to a flaw on Sony’s part, they were able to acquire the private keys for the PS3. These keys can be used to sign your own code, making it every bit as valid (to the machine anyway) as a disk licensed by the media giant. We’ve embedded the three-part video of the talk, which we watched in its entirety with delight. We especially enjoy their reasoning that
Sony brought this upon themselves by pulling OtherOS support
.
We remember seeing a talk years back about how the original Xbox security was hacked. We looked and looked but couldn’t dig up the link. If you know what we’re talking about, leave the goods with your comment.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEFMAP0mTvY&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8ohOy8_XO4&w=470]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eag0VyRTld8&w=470]
[Thanks BoBeR182 via
The Register
] | 94 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "293239",
"author": "lsowen",
"timestamp": "2010-12-30T20:43:58",
"content": "The talk is called “17 Mistakes Microsoft made in the Xbox Security System”. Extensive info, including videos of the lecture, can be found athttp://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/17_Mistakes_Microsoft_Made_in_the... | 1,760,377,311.312737 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/30/lightsaber-boasts-detachable-blade-and-crystal-chamber/ | Lightsaber Boasts Detachable Blade And Crystal Chamber | Mike Szczys | [
"Toy Hacks"
] | [
"lathe",
"lightsaber",
"star wars"
] | [Bradley W. Lewis] continues to amaze us with
this Return of the Jedi Lightsaber build
. You’ll remember his fine work from his previous
Episode IV replica
. He’s taken the parts that turned out well for him and expanded upon them. In the demonstration after the break you’ll see the new version has a removable blade (which happens to house 90 LEDs). Just like the last time he’s got a Hasbro sound board and a speaker to add the Jedi-like sound effects. But there’s another trick up his sleeve. Two parts of the grip slide apart on a spring-loaded assembly to reveal the crystal that gives the weapon its sting. And as we found out the last time, [Bradley] really knows how to share his work in the build log.
Oh, and the drawings above? Well, someone who plans this meticulously obviously knows what they’re doing.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3xxuGeLZcg&w=470] | 23 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "293221",
"author": "delaylaylay",
"timestamp": "2010-12-30T19:48:32",
"content": "I could feel the joy welling up within me as I read this.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "293222",
"author": "NatureTM",
"timestamp": "201... | 1,760,377,311.172096 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/30/adding-a-serial-port-through-an-rj45-connector/ | Adding A Serial Port Through An RJ45 Connector | Mike Szczys | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"ethernet",
"rj45",
"router",
"rt-n12",
"serial port"
] | [Mike Lu] likes to add serial ports to his routers to use for debugging but he didn’t want to drill holes in his new RT-N12. After a bit of head-scratching he thought about
repurposing the four unused wires on one of the RJ45 Ethernet connectors
. This would allow him to interface with the necessary signals and still have the option of using that port for a network connection. The first step was to build the circuit to output the correct serial levels and connect it to the unused pins on the jack. Next, to separate serial and Ethernet on the outside of the router he build a short adapter cable.
This is an elegant solution if you’re looking for zero case modifications. But if you don’t mind a few inconspicuous holes we love
the serial port used on this Dockstar
. | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "293166",
"author": "Pedro",
"timestamp": "2010-12-30T18:18:04",
"content": "“This is an eloquent solution”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "293172",
"author": "alankilian",
"timestamp": "2010-12-30T18:28:07",
"content... | 1,760,377,311.063055 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/30/lego-pinhole-camera/ | Lego Pinhole Camera | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"film",
"lego",
"nxt",
"pinhole"
] | [Bshikin] built
a pinhole camera out of Lego pieces
(
translated
). It is a fully automated unit thanks to the integration of the NXT pieces. It took a bit of careful calculation to get the film spacing adjusted to match the focal length, and quite a bit of tape was necessary to keep light out of the film chamber. But in the end, it’s an amazing build that takes decent pictures. The software has settings for film size and speed, and takes care of exposing and advancing the frame at the click of a button. See for yourself after the break.
If you hunger for some more camera building goodness check out this
SLR hand crafted from scratch
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqZrUQkX-SM&w=470]
[Thanks Vasili] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "293134",
"author": "noonv",
"timestamp": "2010-12-30T16:51:09",
"content": "habr go on! :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "293229",
"author": "walt",
"timestamp": "2010-12-30T20:12:35",
"content": "wait. so there’s a... | 1,760,377,310.856173 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/29/ipod-nano-6g-closer-to-being-crack/ | IPod Nano 6g Closer To Being Cracked | Mike Szczys | [
"ipod hacks"
] | [
"6g",
"ipod",
"irecovery",
"nano"
] | [Steven Troughton-Smith] figured out
how to push signed firmware through to the iPod Nano 6g
. This is accomplished by modifying
iRecovery
to recognize the device on the USB after forcing a recovery mode reboot. So no, this doesn’t mean that it has been cracked since it checks the firmware you push and reboots if it’s not approved. But if you can figure out how to craft a custom image that passes the check you can call yourself a jailbreak author.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_c8VM7lVo4&w=470]
[Thanks RavK via
NanoHack
] | 32 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "292642",
"author": "GotNoTime",
"timestamp": "2010-12-29T19:05:59",
"content": "The author just added the USB VID/PID for a 6G Nano in recovery mode to the iRecovery utility. Its not exactly a major breakthrough…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,377,311.535437 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/29/custom-made-industrial-hookah/ | Custom Made Industrial Hookah | James Munns | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"Hooka",
"Hookah",
"industrial",
"Narghile",
"Shisha",
"steampunk"
] | Since their invention in the 1500s, Hookahs have always been a way for craftsmen to show off skills by creating ornate, elaborate, and functional pieces of art. This still holds true
today
, as easily seen above. Found on the
Hookah subreddit
, this pipe was pieced together by recycling an old vodka bottle, as well decorating and re-purposing a number of plumbing items. Some finishing touches such as LEDs and gears to the base, as well as a set of turn-valves to the hose plugs give this hookah a very distinctive look.
As always, we at Hackaday do not recommend or promote smoking, no matter what goes into the bowl of the hookah. However, whether you smoke or not, the final product is worth appreciating. Be sure to check out the higher resolution pictures after the break. | 44 | 44 | [
{
"comment_id": "292621",
"author": "engineer01",
"timestamp": "2010-12-29T18:12:07",
"content": "You might want to check in to what the gland seals on those valves are packed with, they can react chemically to different substances. So while they may be safe for tap water which is particularly stab... | 1,760,377,311.812132 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/29/a-tricycle-built-for-plowing/ | A Tricycle Built For Plowing | James Munns | [
"green hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"plow",
"snow",
"tricycle",
"trike"
] | What do you get when you combine two bikes, a couple levers, and a home made wooden shovel? Why, a light duty tricycle plow, of course! [Craig] of Firefly Workshop cobbled together
this contraption
to assist him in shoveling his 90′ driveway when a few inches fall. More convenient than a normal shovel, and much more environmentally friendly than his 8 Horsepower snow blower, this trike looks like it could actually make shoveling the snow fun. Not really much more here than meets the eye, we just wish we had a video to share of this sweet ride in action. | 27 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "292593",
"author": "colsolare",
"timestamp": "2010-12-29T17:22:20",
"content": "Creative, yet I imagine it only works with the first few inches :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "292597",
"author": "Andy Lippitt",
"times... | 1,760,377,311.611308 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/29/bringing-the-shark-to-the-bee/ | Bringing The Shark To The Bee | James Munns | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"capture",
"Freakduino",
"FreakLabs",
"libpcap",
"packet",
"wireshark",
"xbee",
"zigbee"
] | Wireshark, a tool recognized universally as being one of the best network analyzers available, has long been used by legitimate network professionals as well as a shadier crowd (and everywhere in between). While useful for analyzing both wired and Wi-Fi traffic, monitoring 802.15.4 protocols (such as Zigbee) have not been a common use in the past. [Akiba] of FreakLabs has brought us
a solution
which works around the normal limitations of Wireshark’s libpcap base, which does not accept simple serial input from most homebrew setups that use FTDI or Arduinos to connect to
Zigbee
devices
. Using named pipes and a few custom scripts, [Akiba] has been able to coax Wireshark into accepting input from one of FreakLabs Freakduino boards.
While there are certainly professional wireless analyzing tools out there that connect directly into Wireshark, we at Hackaday love showing off anyone who takes the difficult, cheap, out of the way method of doing things over the neat, expensive, commercial method any day. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "292561",
"author": "iToast",
"timestamp": "2010-12-29T15:47:17",
"content": "Guard your robots! The hackers are coming! They have wireshark on zigbee!!! They will make your robots rebel and attack!!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id... | 1,760,377,311.912753 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/28/jumbo-size-new-years-countdown/ | Jumbo Size New Years Countdown | James Munns | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"christmas",
"hour",
"lights",
"New Years",
"Newyears",
"power"
] | New Years celebrations tend to get bigger and bigger every year for most people, and [Brian] takes no exception. In order to top his lighted tree of a few years ago, he has concocted a 40’x40′ set of
Seven-Segment displays
made out of Christmas lights, hung from nearby trees. These displays would start counting down the minutes an hour before the ball drop, and be synchronized with music. Also in the spirit of a New Years party, the music he has chosen is in the form of a
Power hour
. The control board [Brian] is using also comes with two extra outputs, which he plans to use for the most exciting possible additions: Fireworks and Flamethrowers.
Be sure to check back after New Years to see a video of the device in action. Be sure to Hack, Drink, and Party Responsibly out there. | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "292168",
"author": "M4CGYV3R",
"timestamp": "2010-12-28T22:28:28",
"content": "The Power Hour is a terrible idea for a New Years drinking game. Especially at Midnight.Enjoy the vomit and alcohol poisoning with your huge 2-digit display…jeez.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,311.859942 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/28/perfect-shots-every-time/ | Perfect Shots Every Time | Caleb Kraft | [
"Beer Hacks"
] | [
"alcohol",
"drink",
"shot"
] | A shot is a shot right? Well, not really. Usually we see a sloppy shot poured of a single type of alcohol and, depending on our current standing with the bartender, may or may not be full to the brim. The
Pousse-Cafe
makes an art out of your drinks by perfectly layering several liqueurs. Not only will it measure them out perfectly, but it is voice controlled as well. There are 3 liqueurs to choose from, as they were going for a specific, visually appealing drink (otherwise, why bother?). Judging from the pictures it looks like it’s using an arduino in conjunction with a laptop for control.
You can see a video of it in action after the break.
[via
Gizmodo
]
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/16873949] | 23 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "292108",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2010-12-28T20:09:38",
"content": "I’m actually building a bigger version of this that accepts 1 liter bottles. Big difference for my system is that the solenoids only pass air and not liquid so they don’t need to be cleaned.",
"parent_id"... | 1,760,377,311.97318 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/28/singing-with-plasma/ | Singing: With Plasma! | James Munns | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"plasma",
"spark",
"speaker"
] | While there are many ways to produce audible sound, Plasma Speakers have to be one of the coolest. Usually very complex and expensive, we received a tip for a beginners guide to making one of these
impressive novelties
. Handily included are a set of schematics (one very simple schematic, the other with a few artistic illustrations). There are also a set of warnings, which include sound advice to mind the heat generated by the MOSFETs, as well as making sure that your input signal isn’t too strong. The finished product is fun to listen to, so be sure to check out the example video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUqNSrAid6E&w=470] | 44 | 44 | [
{
"comment_id": "292036",
"author": "grenadier",
"timestamp": "2010-12-28T17:58:18",
"content": "2 in one day, cool!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "292039",
"author": "DerAxeman",
"timestamp": "2010-12-28T18:02:28",
"content": "I lo... | 1,760,377,312.180764 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/28/accidental-led-fabrication/ | Accidental LED Fabrication | Mike Szczys | [
"chemistry hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"cat's whisker diode",
"led",
"silicon carbide"
] | [Grenadier] had a piece of silicon carbide sitting around that he
planned to use when making a primitive diode
called a
Cat’sWhisker Diode
. While probing he noticed that one of the crystals threw off a bit of light. He popped it off and used JB Weld to attach it to a brass plate. The peculiar thing is that it generates light when power is run through it both forward and reverse biased. So what’s going on here? According to
an informed discussion on the phenomenon
there’s actually a pair of diodes in series but with their polarity reversed. | 36 | 31 | [
{
"comment_id": "291920",
"author": "grenadier",
"timestamp": "2010-12-28T15:28:07",
"content": "Yay!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "291926",
"author": "bluewraith",
"timestamp": "2010-12-28T15:33:13",
"content": "The most exciting ... | 1,760,377,312.101191 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/27/mit-inspired-impromptu-segstick/ | MIT Inspired Impromptu SegStick | Greg R. Jacobs | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"SegStick",
"segway"
] | If many of the readers out there longed for a Segway for Christmas but Santa didn’t bring you one, you are in luck. The aptly named
Seg-Stick
by [scolton]
is a great way for cheap transportation. It uses a broomstick, along with two DeWalt cordless drills to power this bad boy on 6” wheels. Like
articles
done before on Hack a Day this is an awesome although rudimentary example of the things that can be made with a short amount of time, some determination, and a few power tools. Great job [scolton]. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "291570",
"author": "CRJEEA",
"timestamp": "2010-12-28T00:39:50",
"content": "Small if significant suggestion…add a set of switches one under each foot to stop it moving around when you don’t have both feet firmly on board and just allow enough movement to allow it to balance (: sa... | 1,760,377,312.024999 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/27/build-a-fusion-reactor-in-your-home/ | Build A Fusion Reactor In Your Home | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"fusion"
] | At first we were pretty skeptical of this
home made fusion reactor instructable
. However, we’ve seen
home made fusion reactors
before, so it is technically possible, we guess. The construction alone is interesting enough to warrant a few moments of looking.
We’re not experts, so pardon us if we can’t tell you exactly what is going on, but we can appreciate the craftsmanship involved with the build. The vacuum chamber specifically is quite nice.
We know that some of our commenters probably have more experience here. Tell us, does this thing look legit? | 55 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "291488",
"author": "Jane",
"timestamp": "2010-12-27T21:12:49",
"content": "Yep, its legit. Its impressive that he was able to weld the chamber correctly, takes a lot of skill to make the quality of welds required.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,377,312.266929 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/27/santa-pede-challenge-take-two/ | Santa-Pede Challenge: Take Two | Caleb Kraft | [
"contests",
"News"
] | [
"bbb",
"contest",
"santa"
] | We are going to give the
Santa-Pede Challenge another try
. This time, you have till the end of January to do something (make it walk/crawl/scoot) with a dancing santa (or dancing musical holiday toy). As you can see
in my example
, it doesn’t have to be complicated or efficient in any way.
Here are some issues and questions we would like to address:
1. Many of you suggested a banner of some type to remind you.
Great idea, we were waiting for some other features to be added, but we’ve just gone ahead and popped them in. You can see the featured items at the top of the right hand column.
2. Some pointed out that the “Buy Break Build” title isn’t very hack-ish since we often preach up-cycling.
yeah, we really think you should find these santas anywhere. The alliteration is fun though isn’t it?
You can get all the rules by
going to the original post
. Just note that the last date for entries will be January 31. | 36 | 34 | [
{
"comment_id": "291466",
"author": "TopHat",
"timestamp": "2010-12-27T20:03:38",
"content": "Santa-Pede! … an no, thats not the old guy in the park dressed as santa watching your kids.. Mine is on my bench ready for breaking :D (mechanical santa that is..)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,312.390148 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/27/led-lighthouse-simulator/ | LED Lighthouse Simulator | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"attiny85",
"led",
"lighthouse",
"pwm"
] | This Christmas [Bill Porter] decided to show his parents that those college dollars were well spent.
He upgraded the custom lighthouse light
which he originally designed in high school for their garden fountain. He even went so far as to craft some retail-worthy packaging for the gift.
We think it’s a wonderful design, on a custom PCB and based around an ATtiny85. A real lighthouse has a spinning lens to aim the beam of light. When the lens sweeps across your viewpoint there is a sudden flash and he’s recreated that effect using PWM. Take a look at the video after the break and you’ll see what we mean.
Also, during development he was plagued by a startup glitch
which we got majorly sidetracked reading about
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABZqw6FgMRQ&w=470] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "291555",
"author": "polossatik",
"timestamp": "2010-12-28T00:04:55",
"content": "no comments yet? Is the troll filter set on “turbo”? :)lovely done, especially the packaging is such a nice touch. That’s where most projects fail (not excluding any of mine) the time spend afterwards t... | 1,760,377,312.315723 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/27/building-a-germanium-fuzz-face-guitar-pedal/ | Building A Germanium Fuzz Face Guitar Pedal | Mike Szczys | [
"Musical Hacks"
] | [
"fuzz",
"germanium",
"guitar",
"pedal"
] | Rock in the new year with
a guitar pedal you built yourself
. [Doug Kovach] took the time to share his project with us in the video after the break. He starts with a bit of history of the artists that have used fuzz pedals similar to this one. It seems great guitarists have been hacking since way back. [Doug’s] rendition uses the warm sounds of germanium transistors in a design that produces professional results. But if you need something a little bit less serious
try the stomp-box
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKTMcqworKQ&w=470] | 24 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "291365",
"author": "George",
"timestamp": "2010-12-27T16:30:31",
"content": "Is it just me or do I spy, with my little eye, a connector not connected to *anything*?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "291375",
"author": "qwerty"... | 1,760,377,312.468952 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/27/tardis-tree-topper/ | Tardis Tree Topper | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"dr. who",
"tardis",
"tree topper"
] | If your holiday tradition means waiting until Christmas to decorate the tree, it’s not too late. Build yourself
Dr. Who’s Tardis as a tree topper
. [Hybrid Blue] just finished the project, with includes illumination which you can see in the video after the break. The structure is made from balsa wood, painted, then filled with Arduino driven RGB LEDs. It’s sure to please the time lord in your family.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1lbCjkjTAg&w=470] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "291334",
"author": "isama",
"timestamp": "2010-12-27T15:23:57",
"content": "the real question is, is if bigger on the inside?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "291344",
"author": "CRJEEA",
"timestamp": "2010-12-27T15:43:48... | 1,760,377,312.528449 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/26/hackaday-links-december-26-2010/ | Hackaday Links: December 26, 2010 | Mike Szczys | [
"Hackaday links"
] | [
"555",
"business card",
"christmas tree",
"ritewing"
] | Obligatory tech tree
It’s hard to let a Christmas go by without looking in on a geeky Christmas tree project. Luckily, [Peter Davenport] decided to share his
Arduino and LCD shield tree
.
Blinking USB dude
If you’ve got a 555 timer and some commonly salvageable components give this
blinking LED man
a try. The version above is USB powered but that’s just to take advantage of the 5V regulated power.
Propeller business card
[Jay’s]
business card
is packing quite a punch with this Propeller microcontroller. We love seeing electronics design in cards (however unrealistic the price and portability may be), and this is a big processing upgrade compared to
the Tiny85 based offering
.
Flying high in NYC
We leave you with
a spectacular view of New York City
. This breathtaking footage is just as fascinating as
the first videos we saw from these folks
. | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "290947",
"author": "localroger",
"timestamp": "2010-12-26T22:41:18",
"content": "Saw that RC vid I think via ./ and while it’s ultra cool possibly not much of a hack, more of a professional production with lots of experience, testing, planning, and involvement by the authorities so ... | 1,760,377,312.635844 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/26/upgrading-an-old-polaroid-land-camera-for-35mm-rolls/ | Upgrading An Old Polaroid Land Camera For 35mm Rolls | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"film"
] | Ok, we recognize that this is a bit of an odd upgrade, since many would probably think that a digital upgrade would be more appropriate. However, we found this interesting anyway. [Marker1024] has taken this old Polaroid land camera and
modified it to accept a standard 35mm roll
. His list of materials may sound fairly MacGyver-ish with foil and sculpey, but his results look to be well done and fairly sturdy. We have to say that the aesthetics of the camera itself are quite appealing and we could see carrying one of these around. As interesting as the writeup is though, we can’t help but wonder what the pictures look like that came out of it! | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "290873",
"author": "Quin",
"timestamp": "2010-12-26T19:07:41",
"content": "It is a nice looking upgrade, but I just have something against destructive upgrades of old cameras. Feels like throwing out books; usable books, not penny dreadfuls.And allow me to second the “show us the pi... | 1,760,377,312.583827 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/25/versaloon-can-program-hardware-from-several-manufacturers/ | Versaloon Can Program Hardware From Several Manufacturers | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"icp",
"isp",
"jtag",
"programmer",
"stm32",
"versaloon"
] | Versaloon
is an open source, USB connected project, that centers around an
STM32 processor
and provides a standard JTAG pinout. Above you see the Nano version which has a 10-pin JTAG connector, but there is also a 20-pin option on the Handy model. Great, another JTAG programmer. Well this can do a bit more than that. With a bit of help from the software it has been turned into a programmer for ten different types of hardware. Obviously this should be able to program anything that works with the JTAG protocol, but the script adapts it to work as an In System (or In Circuit) Programmer too. So far
the list of programming targets
includes STM32, LPC1000, LPC900, STM8, AR8, MSP430, and a few others.
We had some trouble finding an actual picture of this hardware. If you’ve got one, snap a picture and leave a link to it in the comments along with your thoughts on the device.
[Thanks Geekabit] | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "290392",
"author": "andrew",
"timestamp": "2010-12-25T21:16:33",
"content": "What’s an AR8?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "290393",
"author": "elektronisk",
"timestamp": "2010-12-25T21:19:31",
"content": "AVR8.",
... | 1,760,377,313.03059 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/25/a-hackers-marginal-security-helps-return-stolen-computer/ | A Hacker’s Marginal Security Helps Return Stolen Computer | Mike Szczys | [
"cons",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"defcon",
"ssh",
"vnc"
] | Gather round and hear the story of how a hacker outsmarts a criminal. [Zoz] was robbed and they got his desktop computer. Gone, right? Nope. Because of a peculiar combination of his computer’s configuration, and the stupidity of the criminal, he got it back. He shares the tale during
his Defcon 18 talk
(PDF), the video is embedded after the break.
[Zoz’s] first bit of luck came because he had set up the machine to use a dynamic DNS service, updated via a script. Since the criminal didn’t wipe the hard drive he was able to find the machine online. From there he discovered that he could SSH into it, and even use VNC to eavesdrop on the new owner. This, along with a keylogger he installed, got him all the information he needed; the guy’s name, birth date, login and password information for websites, and most importantly his street address. He passed along this juicy data to police and they managed to recover the system.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4oB28ksiIo
[Thanks Ferdinand via
Gizmodo
] | 76 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "290311",
"author": "ChrisE",
"timestamp": "2010-12-25T18:04:16",
"content": "Awesome story!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "290312",
"author": "Ib",
"timestamp": "2010-12-25T18:05:43",
"content": "Simply an Epic disp... | 1,760,377,313.117652 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/25/crash-course-in-html-manipulation-from-a-shell-script/ | Crash Course In HTML Manipulation From A Shell Script | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"libwww-perl",
"script",
"shell"
] | Automating something involving data from the Internet can be confusing when it comes to pages generated by user input. For instance, let’s say you want to scrape data from a page that loads after using a search box. [Andrew Peng] posted
a quick and dirty example to help you write your own scripts
. The example he used checks stock on one of the websites he frequents. His process outlines finding the link that all searches are submitted to, establishing the method used to send the search string, and grabbing the resulting data. He parses it and sends off an email if it finds what he’s looking for. But this could be used for a lot of things, and it shouldn’t be a problem to make it alert you in any way you can imagine. Maybe we’ll use this to
add some functionality to our rat
. | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "290289",
"author": "Aaron",
"timestamp": "2010-12-25T16:20:19",
"content": "Wow. And people bitch at me for writing Perl scripts?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "290290",
"author": "Derek",
"timestamp": "2010-12-25T16:23... | 1,760,377,313.175509 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/24/kodak-zx3-teardown-and-tetris/ | Kodak ZX3 Teardown And Tetris | Chris Nelson | [
"digital cameras hacks",
"handhelds hacks"
] | [
"Kodak ZX3",
"tetris"
] | [Sprite_TM] was given a
Kodak ZX3 to play with
by a forum he moderates. The Kodak ZX3 is a waterproof HD camcorder in a cell phone / mp3 player form factor. After opening up the camcorder, he did some poking around with a scope and was able to locate a serial port on the board. It quickly became apparent that the system uses a proprietary kernel called PrKernelV4 rather than an open source alternative. Not letting the proprietary kernel get him down, he exploited the system by simply modifying a file called “autoexec.ash” on the sd card. He now has a Tetris clone easily launched from a previously unused menu icon. See it in action after the break.
[youtube=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuC3rB-6RM0&feature=player_embedded&w=470
] | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "289986",
"author": "CRJEEA",
"timestamp": "2010-12-24T23:33:21",
"content": "Well done (: nice work. Interesting to see what else could be ported to this device. Under water wifi enabled security camera or something for the robotics enthusiast?If I come across one going cheap I sha... | 1,760,377,313.226983 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/24/reading-nand-flash-chips-without-removing-them/ | Reading NAND Flash Chips Without Removing Them | Mike Szczys | [
"Microcontrollers"
] | [
"breakout",
"flash",
"nand",
"smartmedia"
] | Here’s an interesting method of
reading data off of a NAND flash chip
. Often we see these chips desoldered in order to read and write data, but not this time. This method uses hacked adapters to match the pin pitch of the various chips. Above you see parts of a breakout board cut down to use as wedges. These are
drag soldered
to the pins of the chip, then the appropriate breakout pins were connected to a Smartmedia card reader, which can read NAND chips. There is also an example showing the flexible connector cable for a DVD rom used as the adapter to solder to a smaller chip. We still looks pretty tricky, but it might be less labor intensive than relocating the flash chip like we saw on that
Sega Game Gear hack
, as long as you only need to read or write the data once.
[Thanks Laurdy] | 25 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "289900",
"author": "zeropointmodule",
"timestamp": "2010-12-24T20:48:15",
"content": "cool!now can someone use this to kludge together a wifi xd card please?in theory it is possible but i have never seen one.also could be worthwhile making a pcb which has an xd port on one end and a... | 1,760,377,313.283655 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/24/tis-the-season-to-decorate-bags-with-el-wire/ | ‘Tis The Season To Decorate Bags With EL Wire | Mike Szczys | [
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"backpack",
"el wire",
"shoulder bag",
"tron"
] | We hope you’ve already got parts on hand for your holiday projects because shipping might be a little slow at this time of year. But if you’ve got a bag and some unused EL wire here’s a one-day project you should try. Make yourself a Tron-inspired
shoulder bag
, or
backpack
.
On the right, [PT] is doing fantastic job of modeling with his electroluminescent offering. This is another Adafruit offering that holds your hand each step of the way from designing, to sewing, to wiring it up. This will go great with
that glowing unitard he’s been working on
.
[Alan Yates] has also done a spectacular job with his Tron backpack seen on the left. He picked up his EL wire on clearance at a place called “big-W” after Christmas last year. They were selling 3 meter segments (each with their own inverter) for just $3. We’re happy he got a deal and even more pleased that he found a use for it.
[Thanks Drone] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "289938",
"author": "Pete",
"timestamp": "2010-12-24T21:53:21",
"content": "One problem with this stuff is that the solid core wire that the phosphor is on kinks like…solid core wire. Even tiny imperfections are extremely noticeable when lit up.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth":... | 1,760,377,313.334862 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/24/gaming-on-an-ibm-xt-using-an-nes-controller/ | Gaming On An IBM XT Using An NES Controller | Mike Szczys | [
"computer hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"controller",
"ibm",
"nes",
"xt"
] | [Frode] felt that using the keyboard for gaming on his old IBM XT computer was simply too noisy. He came up with a much quieter way to game by
building an XT adapter for an original NES controller
. If you haven’t explored the communication protocol used by the NES peripherals this is a great way to learn. Inside you’ll find a CMOS shift register that captures button states when it receives a latch signal. With that in mind [Frode] came up with a circuit to gather the bits from the controller, and generate input commands using the XT keyboard protocol without using a microcontroller. All of this is explained in the demo after the break.
Most of the NES controller hacks we see
permanently alter the hardware
. It’s nice to see one used without cracking it open.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfOzZSU_dO8&w=470] | 27 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "289792",
"author": "different Colin_B",
"timestamp": "2010-12-24T15:48:26",
"content": "On the second line, you need an “e” in “quiter” to make it “quieter”. Otherwise, nobody will know what you are talking about at all…Anyway, this is neat-o enough.",
"parent_id": null,
"d... | 1,760,377,313.397447 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/23/repairing-a-broken-rc-ceiling-fan/ | Repairing A Broken RC Ceiling Fan | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks",
"Repair Hacks"
] | [
"capacitor",
"ceiling fan"
] | The ceiling fan in [Steve Vigneau’s] bedroom started giving him trouble. It is normally operated using a remote control but that functionality had become pretty spotty. He cleaned the contacts on the remote but still had troubles that could only be fixed by power-cycling the fan itself. When it finally died
he set out to repair the unit himself
. Above you can see the controller board from the fan. It was a bit too complicated for [Steve] to troubleshoot so he figured why not just stop using the remote control and make it work with a couple of switches? A bit of research led him to some basic fan schematics that he used for a reference. He need to remove a couple of capacitors and wire them up with one switch for the fan and another for the light. Sure, there’s no settings for speed or direction, but [Steve] thinks he doesn’t need to change them and always has the option to add them in the future. | 22 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "289357",
"author": "Urza",
"timestamp": "2010-12-23T21:08:46",
"content": "I actually had a similar problem a week or two ago – remote controlled ceiling fan stopped responding to the remote. Cleaned the contacts on the remote and it was still pretty spotty, so I threw a small strip... | 1,760,377,313.452158 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/23/cobbling-together-a-cnc-mill/ | Cobbling Together A CNC Mill | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"cnc",
"dremel",
"mill",
"stepper"
] | [Howard Matthews] never throws anything away, and because of it he was able to
build this CNC mill using parts that he already had on hand
. He pulled stepper motors out of broken stage light, precision rod and bearings from old dot matrix printers, and other various bits from his junk bin. We’ve seen [Howie’s] handi-work before, and this project is just as fun as
his Land Rover’s replacement speedometer
. Some highlights include manufacturing the nuts for the precision rod, and building a rail system for the bed of the machine. The latter looks a bit suspect, as any milling debris on the rails will cause you Z-axis problems, but now that he has bootstrapped a working mill perhaps he’ll machine an upgrade.
Update:
Fixed the link, added video after the break.
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/17556602] | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "289272",
"author": "CirCit",
"timestamp": "2010-12-23T17:36:55",
"content": "Links?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "289275",
"author": "CirCit",
"timestamp": "2010-12-23T17:38:20",
"content": "probably should behttp:... | 1,760,377,313.572809 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/23/teensy-can-school-you-at-guitar-hero/ | Teensy Can School You At Guitar Hero | Mike Szczys | [
"Playstation Hacks"
] | [
"guitar hero",
"opencv",
"Teensy"
] | [Johnny Chung Lee] put together
a system that is perfect at playing Guitar Hero
. He’s using the PlayStation 2 version and, as you can see above he’s combined a controller connector and a Teensy microcontroller board to communicate with the console using its native SPI protocol. This custom guitar controller receives its signals via USB from a computer that is monitoring the video from the console and calculating the controller signals necessary for perfect gameplay. [Johnny] wrote an OpenCV program that monitors the video, removes the perspective from the virtual fretboard, and analyzes color and speed of the notes coming down the screen.
As you can see after the break it works like a charm. It’s fun from a programming standpoint, but if you want a hack you can actually play maybe you should
build your own Banjo Hero
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7EEmrwZs5E&w=470] | 25 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "289139",
"author": "StopTheMadness",
"timestamp": "2010-12-23T15:59:27",
"content": "I don’t even understand why someone would do this yes it shows creativity and talent with micro controllers. But why cheat?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"c... | 1,760,377,313.514493 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/22/guerilla-guide-to-cnc-machining/ | Guerilla Guide To CNC Machining | Mike Szczys | [
"cnc hacks"
] | [
"guide",
"machining",
"milling"
] | [Ian] wrote in to tell us about the
Guerilla Guide to CNC Machining and Resin Casting
. He came across it in the reference links to another project and says he wish he knew about it a long time ago. We took a look and there’s a mountain of useful information in the guide, which is written by [Michal Zalewski]. We won’t pretend that we’ve read the whole thing, there’s days worth of information here. But we will. The range of topics includes types of milling machines, milling materials, software options and use, safety, and the list goes on. Bookmark this (don’t forget
the second volume
), it might be just the thing to get you through the holiday with your family. | 17 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "288730",
"author": "Renton",
"timestamp": "2010-12-23T00:11:48",
"content": "Great Find!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "982350",
"author": "Galen",
"timestamp": "2013-03-21T09:08:25",
"content": "Yeah... | 1,760,377,313.628131 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/22/didnt-see-the-lunar-eclipse-make-one/ | Didn’t See The Lunar Eclipse, Make One! | Greg R. Jacobs | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"eclipse",
"lunar"
] | Last night was a lunar eclipse meaning that most people would have been out gazing up at the sky watching it. For some the eclipse evaded them using cloud cover, but instead of giving up, they got innovative. [Garrett] decided to
build a moon simulator
to keep track of the eclipse using a few spare parts and some quick code. The parts that were required for this project includes an Arduino UNO, a singular ShiftBrite Shield, a ShiftBar, ChronoDot and a Satellite Module 001. This is the perfect project for the Arduino to be used in because he had to toss it together very quickly and it is meant to be a temporary solution. If he were to make this permanent, we would guess that he would make a smaller and more cost effective version of the electronics. He documents his experience on Macetech.com in more detail and the outcome is pretty amazing. Code is yet to be posted but hopefully it is forthcoming soon as well as a video of the simulator working. | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "288694",
"author": "macegr",
"timestamp": "2010-12-22T22:37:23",
"content": "Correct…I wouldn’t dedicate any of these parts permanently. Possible to do on a small proto board with an ATTiny44 and RTC, plus three transistors to control the 100mA LEDs. More advanced moon clocks have d... | 1,760,377,313.849642 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/22/bi-color-led-matrix-clock-uses-point-to-point-construction/ | Bi-color LED Matrix Clock Uses Point-to-point Construction | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"18f4550",
"8x8",
"led",
"matrix",
"pic"
] | [Daniel] wanted his child to stay in bed until a semi-decent time each morning. The problem is the kid doesn’t know how to read a clock, so [Daniel]
built him a clock
. Yeah, doesn’t make much sense to us either, but we’ve used our own shaky premises for projects so who are we do judge?
He used a bi-color 8×8 LED matrix as the clock display. What caught our eye is the point-to-point soldering he used for the three strip boards that make up the device. Note the use of a drill-bit to break the traces when needed. Each board has its own purpose; the matrix drive, the logic board, and the power board. A PIC 18F4550 lets [Daniel] control the clock via USB, and takes care of lighting up the hour as a red number when it’s time to sleep, and a green one when it’s okay to arise. There’s a flashing pixel for seconds, and a binary readout of minutes along the bottom.
We’ve asked [Daniel] to post a schematic and an image of the clock face when displaying the time. No word yet but we’ll keep our eye on it. In the mean-time, check out this
clock that uses an RGB 8×8 LED matrix
. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "288540",
"author": "jc",
"timestamp": "2010-12-22T19:38:52",
"content": "The clock is nice, but the near-amazement by H.a.D that it uses point to point is… disturbing. P-t-P is probably the most common form of construction short of laying out a PCB.I can point to a whole gallery of... | 1,760,377,314.307732 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/22/add-explosive-power-to-your-hi-five/ | Add Explosive Power To Your Hi-five | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Wearable Hacks"
] | [
"explosion",
"glove",
"high-five",
"wav"
] | It’s been a while since there was any advances made in the field if celebratory high-five-ing. [Eli Skipp] just finished her contribution, moving the art forward by
adding the sound of explosions to her high-fives
. Ignore the audio sync problems in the video after the break to see her Arduino and Wave Shield based offering. It uses a flex sensor to detect a high-five and has a bit of software filtering to avoid misfires when moving your hand or setting it down on a flat surface. It may look a bit ridiculous right now because of the bulk, but we could see a sleeker, cheaper version hitting toy and novelty stores everywhere.
Less useful than
a sign-language translating glove
, but easier to code and some would say more fun too.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWu-PcpwFcE&w=470] | 58 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "288408",
"author": "Stephanie",
"timestamp": "2010-12-22T17:07:25",
"content": "That is fekkin awesome! 0.0",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "288411",
"author": "Fer",
"timestamp": "2010-12-22T17:13:53",
"content": "Tr... | 1,760,377,314.667455 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/22/alarm-and-wake-up-light/ | Alarm And Wake Up Light | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"alarm",
"clock",
"lamp",
"msp430"
] | On the shortest day of the year wouldn’t it be nice to wake up to a bright room? This
alarm clock with an integrated wake-up light
is one way to do just that. It has some nice features, like a wood veneer that allows the seven-segment display to shine through, but hides it when the display is turned off. There’s also a feature to adjust the color based on ambient room temperature (another way to dwell on how cold it is in your bedroom).
A CC1101 RF chip came to the party, but we can’t figure out what it’s purpose is in this circuit. If you can shed some light on its involvement please do so in the comments.
[Thanks Eric] | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "288342",
"author": "Daid",
"timestamp": "2010-12-22T15:32:14",
"content": "Radio guess… DCF77?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "288345",
"author": "simpleavr",
"timestamp": "2010-12-22T15:36:43",
"content": "the proje... | 1,760,377,314.143179 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/21/clamp-sensor-power-monitoring/ | Clamp Sensor Power Monitoring | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"google power meter",
"Monitoring",
"power consumption"
] | [Bill Porter] has joined in the pursuit of an inexpensive yet effective way to monitor his power usage. He calls his project
the Not So Tiny Power Meter
, and shared both his successes and follies involved in seeing it through to implementation. There are problems; sizing issues with enclosures and his PCB, issues with noise when measuring low-current signals with the clamps, and even some wireless communications issues. But it looks like he’s got the system running despite these hurdles. Right now it streams data wirelessly so that he can display the current energy consumption, but he plans to add Google Power Meter functionality next.
We’ve seen commercial units using the same sensing principles that have been
hacked to show data online
. | 45 | 39 | [
{
"comment_id": "287639",
"author": "byohazrd",
"timestamp": "2010-12-21T21:27:00",
"content": "In before all the “Woah High Voltage!” hubbub.Anyway, I like the wall display.I’ll take any useful thing to hang on the wall instead of another DIY clock.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"rep... | 1,760,377,314.386329 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/21/this-hack-really-pushes-our-buttons/ | This Hack Really Pushes Our Buttons | Mike Szczys | [
"clock hacks"
] | [
"alarm clock",
"button",
"rube goldberg"
] | Yep, if you’ve got a button that needs pushing,
this is one way to do it
. [Travis] combined an old alarm clock with a car door-lock actuator and minimal logic circuitry to make this happen. When the alarm time is reached, the adjustable actuator comes down to press whichever button has been placed under it. In the video after the break he’s using it to schedule the start time for his Roomba, make his coffee, heat his pizza, or pointlessly press the clock’s own snooze button (classic). We think this is just begging to be used with a Rube-goldberg setup, perhaps to topple to
d
ominos that other robot took the time to set up
. Oh wait… that shows up in the video too. Fantastic!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emaWr7aDaEE&w=470] | 29 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "287544",
"author": "Nick McClanahan",
"timestamp": "2010-12-21T19:17:08",
"content": "Good job on the ‘ible, plenty of photos. Might have to take a trip to the pick-n-pull. I had that exact same alarm clock in High School…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []... | 1,760,377,314.088232 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/21/macro-photos-using-an-under-light-rig/ | Macro Photos Using An Under-light Rig | Mike Szczys | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"macro",
"snowflake",
"tripod"
] | [Aki Korhonen] wanted to tighten up his macro photography setup. He already had the camera for the job, but wanted a fully adjustable target platform that he could easily light. What he came up with is
a jig to hold the camera and fine tune the subject
of each photo. It uses a frame with a piece of glass whose distance from the lens is adjusted by turning a knob. Below the glass a reflective surface redirects light from an LED flashlight up through the platform, lighting the snowflakes he’s shooting. A fixed LED source is in the plans for the next rendition.
Take a look at the overview of his setup in the quick clip after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKtiY1gp-DI&w=470]
[via
Hackaday Pool
] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "287462",
"author": "Kaboof",
"timestamp": "2010-12-21T17:08:24",
"content": "Isn’t a LED light bad for photography? Cause of the colors…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "287467",
"author": "ridden",
"timestamp": "2010-12-... | 1,760,377,314.023472 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/21/how-to-be-a-dinosaur-for-christmas/ | How To Be A Dinosaur For Christmas | James Munns | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"dino",
"dinosaur",
"ebay",
"mocap",
"pleo",
"robot"
] | Well,
this metal suit
might not make you a dinosaur, but it would be perfectly possible for you to play one on your computer. Retailing on eBay for a mere $2,397.99 OBO (plus Freight for a 350 pound box), this device was made and used for the motion capture of Ugobe’s
Pleo Robot
. With the right external components (no word on what those are), it would be perfectly possible to get this suit up an going back on Motion Capture as all the onboard electronics are included. This setup would be perfect for anyone planning an animated dinosaur movie that needs some reference movements, or for any mad
scientist
engineer who needs a control rig for a 40 story robotic dino of death. The possibilities are endless!
[eBay via
Engadget
] | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "287440",
"author": "CutThroughStuffGuy",
"timestamp": "2010-12-21T16:02:28",
"content": "Why hello there giant ad for something that hasn’t sold on ebay for months and months.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "287445",
"author... | 1,760,377,314.499117 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/21/german-engineering-produces-an-overcomplicated-scarecrow/ | German Engineering Produces An Overcomplicated Scarecrow | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"motion",
"pir",
"scarecrow",
"stereo"
] | This
electronic scarecrow
keeps the birds away and makes your neighbors hate you at the same time. That’s because its way too loud, even if the next house is far away. The conrad.de folks that brought us
the climbing bike storage
device are at it again, putting together car audio and strings of lights as part of the bird-shoo-ing technology. In the video after the break you’ll see that they’re using a PIR motion sensor to switch power to an automotive amp and head unit. The speakers, strings of lights, and spinning doo-dads are all hidden under a black cape. When an unsuspecting bird tries to feast on the crops, the scarecrow unfolds its arm Dracula-style and raises a ruckus. We don’t expect to see this at a local farm, but maybe for next Halloween?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLXn–oxvAk&w=470]
[via
Neatorama
] | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "287376",
"author": "Crazor",
"timestamp": "2010-12-21T13:27:14",
"content": "Best part is it says “Attention, please fly on!” when opening it’s arms ;)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "287378",
"author": "YaBa",
"timestam... | 1,760,377,314.441411 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/19/keep-your-kids-in-line-with-a-time-clock/ | Keep Your Kids In Line With A Time Clock | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"clock hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"reader",
"rfid",
"rtc",
"tag",
"time clock"
] | When the cat’s away the mice will play, but a least
you’ll know when they came home if you use this time clock
. It’s called the Kid-e-log and [John Boxall] developed it to help a friend who wanted to keep track of their teenage children’s after school activities while they were still at work. He figured having them punch a time clock would at least let you know if they came straight home as they were supposed to. An RFID tag was issued to each (no, they didn’t
implant the tags
) and used to record the time. To keep fraud to a minimum the hardware has a battery back-up for its real-time clock, and the tag read events are stored to EEPROM for retention between power cycles. This doesn’t prevent common tricks like taking the reader with you, or sending your tag with a sibling, but it’s a start. See it in action after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45E-Otpule4&w=470]
[Thanks Panikos] | 68 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "286422",
"author": "teqo",
"timestamp": "2010-12-19T18:18:15",
"content": "How about adding some TSA-like pornoscanner capabilities, to add insult to surveillance…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "286425",
"author": "Steve",
... | 1,760,377,314.584478 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/19/lifehackers-top-ten-of-2010/ | Lifehacker’s Top Ten Of 2010 | Mike Szczys | [
"Roundup"
] | [
"2010",
"lifehacker"
] | The end is near and Lifehacker is looking back on
their favorite how-to articles from 2010
. We found at least half of these interesting, including the hidden HTPC, lockpicking, and micro-TV-b-gone showcased in the image above. But you can also find tips on using your WRT54G router, stacking malted beverages, and making things glow through chemistry. If your heart goes out to our plague carrying house-mates there’s a no-kill mouse trap. They’ve even included a hack to add a USB port to your car… an article which
we covered back in 2009
. Enjoy! | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "286386",
"author": "Whatnot",
"timestamp": "2010-12-19T16:15:27",
"content": "I’m curious in regards to the glowing thing, can you make things glow electrically or chemically but in the IR region? I mean without being hot, the RC kind of IR frequencies, I’m pretty sure you have stuf... | 1,760,377,314.709935 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/18/santa-pede-challenge-the-conclusion/ | Santa-pede Challenge: The Conclusion | Caleb Kraft | [
"contests",
"News"
] | [
"bbb",
"santa",
"santa-pede"
] | At the end of October we announced the Buy, Break, Build series kick off with “
The Santa-pede Challenge
“. The goal was to get your hands on one of those annoying dancing santas, tear it apart, then use its parts to build something that walks. We got our hands on some cool prizes and even got [Phillip Torrone] to be a guest judge. Join us after the break to see just what we came up with and maybe have a few laughs.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkHBkN5YLvc&w=470]
So, as you can see in the video, this contest was a complete failure. We didn’t get a single entry. I quickly tossed this horribly lame attempt together in about 30 minutes. I’ll show some pictures of what I did, just for fun. It really doesn’t technically “walk” so much as it creepily scoots across your desk making you question your life decisions.
Here’s the beginning of the disassembly. Nothing amazing here. You can see that his lower half is a solid plastic piece (not jointed or motorized).
Here is the basic breakdown of what I did. I cut off the feet, Removed the servo that made his hat flip back and forth, and melted the middle piece to for the leg things. There is a wire that went into santa’s arms. This was too thin and flexible to be useful for much of anything so I just tossed it in the parts bin.
I couldn’t find the attachment for my propane torch, so I had to resort to some pretty questionable tactics. I wouldn’t recommend using a space heater to get your plastic soft for most projects. It did get the job done though. After putting this piece back on, all I had to do was tweak the newly created “legs” until it pulled itself forward. Its pretty pathetic, I know. It was meant to be the joke entry that made all the others look good.
What we would like from you, are ideas. What contest ideas do you have? What would you compete in? What item can you think of that has tons of hacking potential for a variety of skill levels? | 66 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "286077",
"author": "brett",
"timestamp": "2010-12-18T23:21:08",
"content": "I can not believe that I missed this.I actually got some animated santas from last year I have been trying to find time to do something with.bummer will have to watch better for these challenges",
"paren... | 1,760,377,314.795836 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2010/12/18/making-msata-work-with-mini-pci-express/ | Making MSATA Work With Mini PCI Express | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks",
"Tablet Hacks"
] | [
"joojoo",
"mini pci express",
"msata",
"ssd"
] | [Trucki] wanted to upgrade the internal storage on his JooJoo. There’s an mSATA connector inside but devices that use that protocol are hard to come by and when you do they’ll cost you and arm and a leg. He knew he could get solid state drives cheaply that use the mini PCI Express standard, which is mechanically compatible with mSATA. So he set out to
alter a mini PCI Express device to work with the mSATA protocol
. This entails swapping the transmission lines and rearranging the voltage traces on the connector. To handle the TX- and TX+ lines he desoldered their decoupling capacitors and realigned them to trade their signals. For the 3.3V lines he had to cut the feed and solder jumper wire to the correct pads.
This is some nice work which let him add a 32 GB drive for just sixty Euros. Since the device only comes with a 4 GB SSD an upgrade is almost mandatory if you’re planning to
install an alternate OS on the Joojoo
. | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "286055",
"author": "strider_mt2k",
"timestamp": "2010-12-18T22:20:43",
"content": "Niiice!Super jump in storage and a very cool hack = WIN",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "286064",
"author": "rasz",
"timestamp": "2010-12-... | 1,760,377,314.842333 |
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