url stringlengths 37 208 | title stringlengths 4 148 | author stringclasses 173 values | publish_date stringclasses 1 value | categories listlengths 0 12 | tags listlengths 0 27 | featured_image stringlengths 0 272 | content stringlengths 0 56.1k | comments_count int64 0 900 | scraped_comments_count int64 0 50 | comments listlengths 0 50 | scraped_at float64 1.76B 1.76B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/06/diamond-thermal-paste-update/ | Diamond Thermal Paste: Update | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"arctic silver",
"ceramique",
"diamonds",
"dow",
"heat sink",
"thermal paste"
] | The need to conduct laboratory-style experiments runs deep in some people. [Freddyman]
built an apparatus to test out several commercial and homemade thermal pastes
, including the DIY
diamond thermal grease we reported on last month
. He setup each experiment in the middle of an air conditioned room, ran the heat sink fan for 30 minutes to equalize the temperature, then turned on the DIY heat generator that the paste and heat sink were connected to. He’s got a lot of data from tests he ran with the eight thermal conductors; air (using no paste),
Arctic Silver 5
,
Ceramique
,
Dow thermal fluid
, pure silicone oil, silicone and diamond slurry, Dow fluid with diamonds, and the Inventgeek.com remake.
One of the big problems with DIY paste is the air bubbles that are introduced into the slurry as you mix in the diamonds. All of the homemade pastes except one were put in a vacuum chamber in an attempt to remove tiny bubbles. The one that wasn’t put in the vacuum performed the worst of all the thermal conductors. In all cases, the commercially available products performed quite well while the DIY solutions delivered mixed results. | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "92266",
"author": "heatgapho0d0o",
"timestamp": "2009-09-06T18:17:29",
"content": "I find this very interesting because on my next gaming rig (i7) was thinking of reproducing the diamond paste…I’m not so sure now.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,377,598.381794 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/06/diy-mechanical-scale/ | DIY Coffee Table Scale | Jake W | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"balance",
"coffee table",
"Guus",
"scale",
"weight"
] | [Guus] screwed together
this coffee table which doubles as a scale
. No welding was required to put it together – just some bolts, pulleys, miscellaneous fittings, and an original design. The weight is indicated through the (unlabeled) position of the counterweight arm. Currently it is limited to measuring 10kg (22 pounds), but can easily be boosted by adding a heavier counterweight. It looks pretty robust, maintenance-free, and fitting for any living room workshop’s weighing needs. [Guus] is also the proud inventor of the
rock radio
, and he is working on creating
Man-Y-Man
: a modular play system allowing children to create up to 1520 unique creatures. | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "92262",
"author": "Pete",
"timestamp": "2009-09-06T17:20:51",
"content": "It appears that this “scale” can tell you if something weighs more than or less than 10kg. Also, for personal interest I would like to see a graph of the spring rate that you would use for calibration.",
... | 1,760,377,598.439594 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/04/farewell-hack-a-day/ | Farewell, Hack A Day | Eliot | [
"News"
] | [
"@sweetums",
"anniversary",
"eliot",
"eliot phillips",
"robotskirts"
] | Now, on the eve of Hack a Day’s fifth anniversary, seems like an appropriate time to announce my resignation. Site founder [
Phillip Torrone
] published the first post,
a red box
, on September 5th, 2004. On May 7th, 2005 I took over editorial duties at Hack a Day by publishing one of my favorite projects:
[Jonathan Westhues]’ proximity card spoofer
. Since then, I’ve run Hack a Day with a number of great contributors over the last four years: [
Fabienne Serriere
], [
Will O’Brien
], [
Ian Lesnet
], and current senior editor [
Caleb Kraft
] just to name a few. I’ve enjoyed watching the site grow, powered by the constant stream of
tips from readers
. Whether we were
turning hard drives into molten goo
or putting our hardware designs into production, it’s been a lot of fun. With all the new talent we’ve brought on recently, I have confidence that Hack a Day will continue to be a great resource in the future.
You’ll be able to find me online running my personal blog
RobotSkirts.com
and on Twitter as
@sweetums
. In real life, I’ll still be attending hacker conferences, like the upcoming
ToorCon in San Diego
, and local Los Angeles tech events like
Mindshare
and the weekly
Hacker Drinkup
.
In closing, I’d like to thank you, the readers, for all the support you’ve given us over the years. If it weren’t for all the tips, personal projects, and ideas you’ve sent us, we’d never have made it this far. Thank you.
[photo:
Viss
] | 89 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "91873",
"author": "Whydon Tchablowme",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T20:58:46",
"content": "No, Eliot, you can’t leave! You’re our only hope!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91874",
"author": "Thiago",
"timestamp": "2009-09-0... | 1,760,377,598.697177 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/04/hard-core-nintendo-dsi-hacking/ | Hard Core Nintendo DSI Hacking | Caleb Kraft | [
"Nintendo DS Hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"dsi",
"microscope",
"nintendo",
"solder"
] | So, you hacked your DSI did you? Let me guess,
you ran a flash cart
. No? You probably
added some LEDs
then right? No? You must be pretty hard core, did you
add a NES controler
? No? Well what did you do?
We still have no idea what this guy is doing. But he is doing it very meticulously. We found
[Micah Dowty]’s photo stream on flicker
and we were instantly pulled in. He has done some extensive modifications to his DSI. He has spread its innards for all to see and begun hacking. It appears as though most of this is for memory dumps and direct access to the RAM in the unit, but frankly we just want to stare at these pictures. | 25 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "91848",
"author": "jamieriddles",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T19:33:41",
"content": "wow.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91856",
"author": "apocas",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T20:11:40",
"content": "damn thats some serio... | 1,760,377,598.607399 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/04/how-a-storoage-company-builds-their-own/ | How A Storage Company Builds Their Own | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"debian",
"hard drive",
"hdd",
"jfs",
"raid",
"storage"
] | Want 67 Terabytes of local storage? That’ll be $7,867 but only if you build it yourself. Blackblaze sells online storage, but when setting up their company they found the only economical way was to build their own storage pods. Lucky for us they
followed the lead of other companies
and decided to share
how they built their own storage farm
using some custom, some consumer, and some open source components.
Each pod is a standalone
HTTPS-connected
storage unit with 45 hard drives in it. Nine SATA port expanders connect to 4 SATA controller cards on the mainboard. The system boots from a 46th hard drive into 64-bit
debian
. Drives are running
RAID 6
and using the
Journaled File System (JFS)
. Our first thought when reading this was about the heat generated by those drives. A custom case houses all of this hardware and includes 6 big fans to take care of the cooling.
[Thanks Dave] | 28 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "91809",
"author": "Hackius",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T18:20:45",
"content": "I did the exact same thing for a company on a contract on a slightly smaller scale (20 TB/unit). They needed all that storage for huge video files.It’s simple really but it’s an elegant writeup.",
"pare... | 1,760,377,598.757855 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/04/why-we-dont-need-phone-numbers/ | Hackit: Why We Don’t Need Phone Numbers | Mike Szczys | [
"HackIt",
"Phone Hacks",
"Rants"
] | [
"cell phone",
"landline",
"network",
"phone",
"phone numbers",
"telephone",
"voip"
] | [digg=http://digg.com/software/Why_we_don_t_need_phone_numbers]We’re starting to think that phone numbers are deprecated; it may be time to integrate how we connect telephones with the new digital millennium. To get a firm grasp on this topic it is important to take a look at the reason we started using phone numbers, why we still use them, and the why’s and how’s of transitioning to a new system.
History of phone numbers
Telephone numbers started out as a way of physically addressing a telephone extension. Whether connected by an operator at a switchboard or through a magnetic exchange, each number corresponded to the hardware switch that connected the handset you were trying to ring. This
originally started
with named exchanges such as Pennsylvania-6-5000. The geographic location of the extension was shown in the name and this system gradually transitioned over to area codes and prefixes.
Continued usage
The proliferation of cell phones means that numbers are no longer tied to a physical location but are routed to the nearest tower to which each wireless phone is currently connected. So why have we continued to use telephone numbers? Backwards compatibility is paramount.
Cell phones overtook land lines years ago
but there are still millions of people connected to the telephone companies’ wired networks. Most of the phones used on these land lines rely on the touch tone system to function. Even the advent of
Voice over Internet Protocol
implements the same system of connecting calls by dialing a number.
What works better than phone numbers?
How many different phone numbers does your family have? Many households have a home phone, a cell phone for each family member, and a work phone for each adult. What if all of these numbers were addressed similarly to how the
Domain Name System
works for internet addresses? Something like this:
phone://famiy.johndoe2155.voice/john_at_home
phone://family.johndoe2155.voice/jane_at_home
phone://www.your_company’s_domain.com/customer_service
This can be accomplished in the near future. All cell phones and many land line phones already have the ability to store numbers so that you only have to enter them once. Cell phones can already input web-style addresses and a firmware upgrade would allow for a new system of addressing and storing voice connection information. Service providers like Comcast and Charter are already providing phone service that utilizes VOIP, paving the way for dialing from your computer. For legacy hardware an inexpensive interface box similar to the
digital cable converter boxes
could be implemented. The new box would have a keyboard and character LCD and be rolled out in the same way that
caller ID boxes
were.
Conclusion
No one wants to change their telephone number and be in the position of trying to inform everyone who might ever call them. This is why
laws were enacted to allow you to keep your telephone number
if you change carriers. If each family owned their “voice domain”, changing carriers, cities, or even countries would be as simple as editing the domain registration. Transitioning to a new system of dynamically addressed telephone extensions is the next logical step in voice communications. Although it would be a change for billions of people, it is possible and worth taking a look at.
[photo credit
Projekt Runeberg
] | 72 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "91783",
"author": "DarwinSurvivor",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T17:40:45",
"content": "Except then we would run into the same BS system that ISP’s try to force on their customers. Most families would end up with “phone://family.telus.net/home” and the new “numbers” would once again be ... | 1,760,377,598.545852 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/04/variable-range-sprinkler/ | Variable Range Sprinkler | Devlin Thyne | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"green hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"sprinkler",
"variable range sprinkler"
] | [vimeo
http://vimeo.com/6409575
w=470&h=352]
[
Pete
], a
musician
, and the guy behind SparkFun’s
pogobeds
and
locking footprints
has a sprinkler hack. He wanted to keep his dog, Choppy, happy with a green lawn while also keeping his sidewalk water free. To solve this problem, he hacked his sprinkler and hose to adjust the sprinkler’s range. He uses an
Arduino
to read a potentiometer signifying the direction that the sprinkler is facing and a servo to adjust a hose valve that controls the sprinkler’s water flow. Be sure to check out the video above to see it in action. | 14 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "91778",
"author": "sly",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T17:23:28",
"content": "how to shoot a square pattern with a round pattern device.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91781",
"author": "Odin84gk",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T1... | 1,760,377,598.92805 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/04/mini-mame-cabinet/ | Mini MAME Cabinet | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"arcade",
"i-pac",
"mame",
"mini cabinet"
] | [luis] added to the
collection of
MAME projects
we’ve covered with his mini MAME cabinet build. This is his 5th mini cabinet and features a 5″ PlayStation LCD screen, a joystick, four control buttons, player 1 and 2 start buttons, speakers, and a lighted marquee. The controls are interfaced through an
I-PAC
and the system running the whole thing is a mini-ITX board with an Atom processor and two gigs of RAM. The
build log is in Spanish
and takes us all the way from a cardboard prototype to the finished particle board cabinet full of high quality artwork.
Gameplay starts about 5:30 into the video. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "91779",
"author": "B",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T17:23:59",
"content": "Where can i get one? Hoe much $$???",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91793",
"author": "strider_mt2k",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T17:50:32",
"conte... | 1,760,377,598.268152 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/04/tap-controlled-metronome/ | Tap-controlled Metronome | Jakob Griffith | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"metronome",
"PIC 16F",
"tap"
] | [Adam] and his buddy [Matthew] sent in their tap-controlled metronome, or as they prefer, “
metronome with an attitude
.” Using the piezo speaker you can tap patterns and rhythm into the memory and it will repeat it back to you in loop. The two buttons allow you to speed up or slow down the beat which is indicated by an led array. As per their request, we mention its entirely on a PIC 16F, not an Arduino. Perhaps the most interesting part we found that’s definitely worth checking out was their
amazingly detailed build process
. Check out a quick video of the metronome in action after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-vJAlJf0Gk] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "91769",
"author": "pod",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T16:58:29",
"content": "lovely :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91772",
"author": "John Smith",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T17:04:24",
"content": "The pattern repeating... | 1,760,377,598.320816 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/06/toyaanisqatsi-time-lapse-control-using-lego-parts/ | Toyaanisqatsi: Time Lapse Control Using LEGO Parts | Phil Burgess | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"animation",
"arduino",
"filmmaking",
"gears",
"lego",
"motion control",
"photography",
"processing",
"stepper",
"Technic",
"time-lapse",
"timelapse"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm1fFQfGc9M&feature=player_embedded]
A simple panning motion can add impact to the already-dramatic effect of
time lapse photography
. To accomplish this, frugal cinematographers sometimes build [Rube Goldberg] contraptions from clock motors, VCR parts or telescope tracking mounts. Hack a Day reader [Stephan Martin] has
assembled a clever bargain-basement system
using an Arduino-driven stepper motor and a reduction gear system built up from LEGO Technic parts, along with some Processing code on a host PC to direct the show.
While the photography is a bit crude (using just a webcam), [Stephan’s] underlying motion control setup might interest budding filmmakers with [Ron Fricke] aspirations but Top Ramen budgets. What’s more, unlike rigid clock motor approaches, software control of the camera mount has the potential for some interesting non-linear, fluid movements. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "92267",
"author": "Tater",
"timestamp": "2009-09-06T18:35:24",
"content": "Really well done, I’m impressed, I may just use something based on this for an upcoming project. Thank for the post.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "922... | 1,760,377,598.87943 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/05/take-command-of-your-bash-prompt/ | Take Command Of Your BASH Prompt | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"bash",
"linux",
"prompt",
"shell"
] | [Joshua] has put together
a list of BASH prompt customizations
. The command prompt is used in a command-line interface to show that the system is ready for the next command. Often times this is nothing more than a user name, host name, and working directory:
mike@krusty:~$
[Joshua’s] customization examples can be used to color code the information in your prompt, change what information is displayed, and make the prompt respond differently when an invalid command is typed. A
BASH prompt reference
is helpful in deciphering what each of these commands do. The easiest simplification is to understand that non-printing characters (such as color codes) are surrounded in escaped square brackets. For example, line 1 is the sequence for Red, line 2 is the sequence for Dark Grey, and line 3 sets a simple prompt to display in Red and all text after that to be in Dark Grey:
\[\e[0;31m\]
\[\e[1;33m\]
PS1="\[\e[0;31m\]\u@\h:\w\$ \[\e[1;30m\]"
Above you will notice an added notification that we typed an invalid command. This prompt is produced with the following code:
PS1="\`if [ \$? != 0 ]; then echo \[\e[33m\]---=== \[\e[31m\]Oh noes, bad command \[\e[33m\]===---; fi\`\n\[\e[1;30m\]XX \[\e[0;32m\]Hack a Day \[\e[1;30m\]XX\n\[\e[0;37m\][\[\e[1;31m\]\@\[\e[0;37m\]] \[\e[0;32m\]\u@\h \[\e[0;37m\][\[\e[1;34m\]\w\[\e[0;37m\]] \[\e[0;32m\]\$ \[\e[0m\] "
We use the shell a lot and this transforms the prompt from something we mostly ignore into a useful tool. Typing a command in the shell will change the prompt for the current session only. If you want a more permanent change, add the line to the bottom of your ~/.bashrc file.
[via
Digg
] | 32 | 31 | [
{
"comment_id": "92151",
"author": "bandwaggon",
"timestamp": "2009-09-05T22:37:14",
"content": "BASH, so… avergage. If you wanted better promtage, you’d most likely be using zsh. Its really a shame more people dont know of the wonders that zsh has, so many people dragooned into mediocrity.",
"p... | 1,760,377,599.002368 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/05/harry-potter-marauders-map-realized/ | Harry Potter Marauders Map Realized | Jakob Griffith | [
"gps hacks",
"handhelds hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"08m",
"gps",
"harry potter",
"map",
"marauders map",
"PICAXE",
"python",
"swarm robotics",
"wireless"
] | After reading about
cheap wireless for microcontrollers
, [Leigh] left a comment about his
Marauders map
. Much like the Harry Potter version, whoever holds the ‘map’ is able to see the location of the ‘marauders’ within certain bounds. Unlike the magical version however, each person being tracked needs to hold a PICAXE 08M, GPS, and 433.92MHz transmitter: while the map needs a computer running his Python script and a receiver of the same frequency. It has the potential for locating people, but we feel it might be better off in a
swarm
robotics
setup. | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "92143",
"author": "Chris KC8UFV",
"timestamp": "2009-09-05T21:46:55",
"content": "This is strangely similar to the APRS standard, just using part 15 devices, instead of part 95",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "92144",
"author... | 1,760,377,599.115625 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/05/programmable-spring-actuator-legs/ | Programmable Spring Actuator Legs | Caleb Kraft | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"leash",
"relex",
"robot"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g79mOSvSsE]
This
proof of concept
shows an interesting way of making robotic legs. They are using
programmable spring actuators
to make these legs function as though they had a “reflex”. The builder pulls the robot along on a leash. As the leg reaches its limit of backward motion, a signal is sent from the shoulder down to the knee that lifts it, causing it to return to the forward position. A signal is also sent to the opposing shoulder to suppress the lift reflex, keeping them from both stepping at the same time. The resulting motion is very organic feeling. We’re curious how this could be implemented in a robot which moves under its own power.
[via
makezine
] | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "92084",
"author": "soggy pretzels",
"timestamp": "2009-09-05T16:13:22",
"content": "although it is an obvious innovation, i cant help but think how pathetic and helpless it looks.like a dog with no hind legs.i almost cried tears of pity for the poor thing.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,377,599.195862 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/05/arduino-email-alert/ | Arduino Email Alert | Zach Banks | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"alert",
"arduino",
"email",
"ethernet",
"notify",
"pop",
"pop3"
] | The Arduino makes a great platform for
alert systems
because it doesn’t need additional parts, other than an
LED
or
motor
. [Torchris] made
email notifier
, and used an Ethernet shield to make it standalone. The Arduino polls your POP server seeing if there are unread emails. POP is an incredibly simple protocol, even simpler than HTTP; this made it easy to communicate with, even with little processing power. He hopes to add a servo or
serial display
to present the data better, but his current system seems to work well. Video of it in action after the break.
[youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1nG-naOe2s%5D
[via @
littlebirdceo
] | 18 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "92074",
"author": "Jack",
"timestamp": "2009-09-05T14:43:01",
"content": "Maybe It could tell another arduino to wake you up or it could read your email for you and then make some sort of decision as to whether it is worth your while. Jk of course. It is pretty interesting however I... | 1,760,377,599.0599 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/04/multi-screen-video-with-ipod/ | Multi-screen Video With Ipod | Mike Szczys | [
"iphone hacks",
"ipod hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"iphone",
"ipod touch",
"MultiVid",
"osc",
"playback",
"sync"
] | [
Marco Tempest] has developed some software called MultiVid that allows synchronized video across multiple iPhone or iPod Touch devices. For this to work, all of the devices must be connected to the same WiFi network. Playback can be controlled from any one of the iPhones/iPod Touches or from the Mac running the controller software. There is of course the option of connecting to larger monitors through a video output cable. The app also supports OSC. We’ve embedded the example video as well as a video detailing the software setup after the break.
The client software is available at the
apps store
and controller software can be
downloaded from [Marco’s] website
. Both are free which is our favorite price point.
[vimeo
http://vimeo.com/6288279%5D
Example video of MultiVid in action
[vimeo
http://vimeo.com/6315983%5D
How to setup and use MultiVid
[Thanks
tommEE
]
Update 9/6/09:
We contacted Marco because this app was MIA from the App Store. He responded promptly to let us know that his app is “still in approval limbo”. He’s going to contact us when it is approved and we’ll be sure to pass on the update to you. | 25 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "91962",
"author": "Cliff",
"timestamp": "2009-09-05T01:33:18",
"content": "Nothing for Windows?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91977",
"author": "36Chambers",
"timestamp": "2009-09-05T03:13:56",
"content": "This cou... | 1,760,377,599.622458 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/04/mozilla-fennec-alpha-3-for-windows-mobile-released/ | Mozilla Fennec Alpha 3 For Windows Mobile Released | Brett Haddock | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"downloads hacks",
"News"
] | [
"browser",
"fennec",
"mozilla",
"windows mobile"
] | Mozilla
released
the latest alpha version of their new mobile browser Fennec for Windows Mobile. It brings many new
features and fixes
, such as improved startup time and a caching system to help scrolling on a page. They have also added support for a wider range of screen resolutions, and for those of us running an HTC Touch Pro support for zoom via the directional pad has been included in this release. Being an alpha release, it’s still a bit on the buggy side, but is very a promising browser for mobile phones. The final release should give other browsers a run for their money. | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "91945",
"author": "Arkenklo",
"timestamp": "2009-09-05T00:02:20",
"content": "I’m standing in salute, this is the very first blogpost pro-beta. Words cannot express the epicness of this very moment. May your trips in finalized state across the vast oceans of the intarweb bring happi... | 1,760,377,599.551908 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/04/80-gig-drive-inside-a-game-boy/ | 80 Gig Drive Inside A Game Boy | Mike Szczys | [
"Nintendo Game Boy Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"external drive",
"game boy",
"hard drive",
"hdd",
"nintendo",
"usb"
] | [_n3o_] put together a nice external storage mod by
fitting a 2.5″ drive into a broken Game Boy
. This mod fooled quite a few people because it appears that the device still plays games with the drive stuffed inside of it. Sadly, this is not the case. The reflective backing has been removed from the screen and replaced by a piece of paper with a graphic printed on it. The LED from the hard drive was moved to the battery indicator for the Game Boy for added realism. There is no build log for this project but [_n3o_] did give
a short explanation of it in a forum post
. You can see two more pictures of the project after the break.
Update:
Take a look inside too! | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "91762",
"author": "Ronald",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T16:25:02",
"content": "I am sure despite all his hard work on this, some people will gripe that it woul only be cool if the gameboy worked. BUT, I think this is a great example of using something broken to make something you need ... | 1,760,377,599.683913 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/03/nes-on-zipit/ | NES On ZipIt | Jake W | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"emulator",
"nes",
"nintendo",
"port",
"z2",
"zipit"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwxGQhtf4uU]
Going
even further back in time
than 4th gen, [Kevin] tipped us off to
this project
by [Hunter Davis]. It is a collection of software mods for
Zipit’s Z2
instant messenging device. Some of them include allowing it to run (ports of) the
Fluxbox window manager
,
FCE Ultra NES emulator
, and (most impresively) the Java framework. The next leap in development, a SNES emulator optimized for the Zipit, is in the works. The Z2 runs Linux out of the box. This means you no longer
have to reflash the device
to add software, such as
DOSbox
(also introduced to the Zipit by [Hunter Davis]). Be sure to check out the video demo of FCE Ultra on the Z2 above. | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "91639",
"author": "googfan",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T01:20:36",
"content": "1stuhh, you already posted this…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91642",
"author": "davisr",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T01:34:18",
"content":... | 1,760,377,599.994033 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/03/arduino-muon-detector/ | Arduino Muon Detector | Zach Banks | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"detector",
"diy",
"electronics",
"geiger counter",
"maxmsp",
"muon",
"radiation"
] | [
Sebastian Tomczak] was borrowing a
homeade muon detector
from his friend, and managed to hook it up to his computer through an Arduino. The detector itself uses 3 fluorescent tubes to detect radiation. Three separate tubes are used in order to filter out terrestrial radiation; cosmic radiation will fall in-line with the tubes and pass through at least two of them, whereas terrestrial radiation will only hit one. There is some basic circuitry to amplify the signal and then perform the OR operation.
[Tomczak] used an Arduino to take the raw data and feed it into his computer. He then used Max/MSP to analyze the data and filter out background noise, leaving only the cosmic ray data. He didn’t mention what he was going to use the data for, though. Maybe he’ll hook it up to a
synthesizer
.
Related:
Digital Geiger counter
[via @
littlebirdceo
] | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "91618",
"author": "arcnemisis",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T00:28:51",
"content": "maybe hack a day is worth reading again after all..not because there is a arduino but because there is a quality project after all.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,377,599.745946 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/03/700-lumen-led-bike-lamp/ | 700 Lumen LED Bike Lamp | Mike Szczys | [
"LED Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"bike",
"lamp",
"led",
"light"
] | We’ve seen
bright bike lamps
before. This one caught our eye because it needs a heat sink while in operation. [700lumenLED] built a
super bright light for his bike
that features an aluminum enclosure and heat sinks to protect the LEDs against overheating. Some nice work was done
incorporating the 12v battery into a bike bottle
with the power switch and a dimming potentiometer attached to the bottle cap. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "91599",
"author": "sly",
"timestamp": "2009-09-03T23:23:04",
"content": "now there’s a bright idea1st pun :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91612",
"author": "epicness",
"timestamp": "2009-09-04T00:06:06",
"content"... | 1,760,377,599.486391 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/03/simple-pop-up-notifications/ | Simple Pop-up Notifications | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"libnotify",
"linux",
"notify-send",
"popup"
] | [Kristofer] shares a tip on
a simple way to add pop-up notifications to Linux scripts
. The package libnotify allows you to use the command “notify-send” to pop up a message when you need it. The syntax is simple enough, just place your message in quotes after the command like so:
notify-send "Go read hackaday.com"
There are a lot of other options that go along with this command such as adding an icon and setting how long the message will be displayed. This would be great for projects that interface through scripts, displaying messages as events happen. For Ubuntu, installing this package was as simple as “sudo apt-get install libnotify-bin”. | 24 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "91589",
"author": "DarwinSurvivor",
"timestamp": "2009-09-03T22:42:57",
"content": "How is this a hack? This is a simple command line utility that has been around for years doing exactly what it was meant to do.This is the GUI version of “print ” for linux.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,377,599.814072 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/03/top-10-iphone-apps-for-electronics-hackers/ | Top 10 IPhone Apps For Electronics Hackers | Caleb Kraft | [
"downloads hacks",
"iphone hacks"
] | [
"electronics",
"formula",
"iphone",
"led",
"resistor"
] | There are so many apps available for the iPhone, one might even say there are a plethora. We would like to take a moment to help you find a few that might help with your hacking projects. Ever have problems remember a formula when you need it? Need to track the acceleration of your brand new rover? How about beginners needing help remember resistor codes. Well, there’s an app for that. Check out our suggestions after the break.
Here at Hack A Day, we are strong believers in frugality. We think most hackers are. With that in mind, lets start off with our recommendations of free applications to get the job done. These are in no particular order.
The iPhone camera: Not only is this free, its already on your iPhone. yeah, we know its not a great camera, but it is indispensable. Taking apart a project? Snap some pics along the way so you can refer back to them when you reassemble. Project ready for testing? Document it quickly and easy with pictures. Project burst into flames on the tarmac? Snap a pic for posterity. We love the camera.
Electrical toolkit
: Even the most experienced hackers need a little help sometimes. Need to find the SCR Firing angles this app can help with that.
Electronics toolkit
: Another app meant to help us find the missing pieces to a circuit. This one has some different circuits than the Electrical toolkit above.
iResist
: Maybe you never committed the resistor codes to memory, or maybe you’re a beginner just learning. Either way, this appears to be a pretty useful application. Simply select the appropriate colors and it will tell you the value of your resistor.
ResistorCode
: Another resistor code application. This one has the ability to do up to 6 band resistors. We listed both because some people really have a preference between the text selection or color selection. We like the more robust feature set of this one.
LED resist
: Who hasn’t been left scratching their head when wiring LEDs? This handy little app will help you figure out what resistance value is needed to keep those LEDs functioning optimally.
Runkeeper free
: Runners have been raving about this one for a while now. It will track your time, distance, GPS location, and speed. You can view your path on a google map. We’re not exactly sure what project would merit this, but it just seems perfect for tracking rovers or measuring experimental vehicle performance.
Though we do love the free applications, sometimes things just merit a little payment. We really only found 2 apps that we thought could be useful enough to pay for when it comes to hacking.
Formula Pro
: We don’t care how l337 of a hacker you are. You simply can’t know everything. This application is a compendium of the most common formulas needed for Engineering, Optics, Thermodynamics, Electronics and much more. There are over 680 formulas out of the box, with features like the ability to modify and save formulas or even add your own. At 1.99, this is a steal.
Accelleration 3d detector
: This feature rich acceleration detector will log and chart in 3d your acceleration information. You can even download the results to your computer for inspection. Though we have concerns about the destruction of our iPhone, this just seems like it would be a great tool in a pinch for finding out some acceleration data.
Lastly, we understand that no project goes perfectly. Sometimes you are so frustrated and your brain is so fried, you just can’t function. It is times like these that
Bubble Snap
comes to the rescue. There are no rules, just the soothing pleasure of popping bubble wrap. Careful though, your kids or significant others might get addicted to this one and steal your phone.
Well, those are our favorites. What do you use? Did we miss any? The iPhone is supposed support accessories with the latest iteration, are there any must have accessories for the hacker?
[digg=http://digg.com/apple/Top_10_iPhone_apps_for_electronics_hackers_Hack_a_Day] | 32 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "91569",
"author": "captain obvious",
"timestamp": "2009-09-03T21:39:11",
"content": "I absolutely agree about bubblesnap. best tool ever.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91574",
"author": "jimmys",
"timestamp": "2009-09-... | 1,760,377,599.939956 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/03/look-at-your-gerber-files-with-gerbv/ | Look At Your Gerber Files With Gerbv | Devlin Thyne | [
"hardware",
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"gerber",
"gerbv",
"pcbs"
] | Tired of making kindergarten macaroni art PCBs? Check your
Gerber
files before you send them off to a fab house with a Gerber file viewer.
Viewplot
, GerbTool’s
Viewer
, and FAB 3000
Free DFM
are all free versions of for-pay software to view your Gerber files. If you use Windows and demo software, these are nice options. If not, you can use
gerbv
. Allied with
gEDA
, Gerbv is free, open source software that you can use to view all of your RS-274X Gerber files and Excellon-type drill files. Still being worked on with an active development group, gerbv does not have all the bells and whistles, it does have the ability to delete objects. Check it out after the break.
“You should always check before shipping or you could wind up with holes in the wrong spots. While you’re at it, a little-known feature is that you can also delete stuff!” -[
zach banks
]
To start, make sure you have gerbv version 2.1.0 or later installed with
cairo
.
Copy and paste the following lines into a text document and save it however you like:
*
%FSLAX24Y24*%
%MOIN*%
%ADD10C,0.250*%
D10*
X00000Y00000D02*
X10000Y00000D01*
X10000Y10000D01*
X00000Y10000D01*
X00000Y00000D01*
X05000Y05000D03*
M02*
You will now have a simple Gerber file you can view and play with. Open it in gerbv either through the command line or by starting gerbv and then choosing “Open Layer(s)…”
You should now see a rounded rectangle with a dot inside on the right side of the screen.
If it is not already highlighted, click on the arrow button at the top of the screen to enter object selection mode.
Click around, you should be able to select the various Gerber objects present. You should also be able to draw a selection window to select groups of objects. Pick an object, in this picture it shows the center flash (the dot) selected. Hit the delete key, and you should get a window that pops up asking if you really want to delete that object. Go ahead and delete that object, that is why you have been provided the little Gerber file.
You should now see the flash gone. If not, you should check to make sure you are in the correct layer. You can now save the revised Gerber file.
Of course, this is just a sample of what you can do with deleting objects in gerbv. Hack away! | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "91567",
"author": "dudebro",
"timestamp": "2009-09-03T21:35:20",
"content": "Did anyone else read the title as “Look at your Gerbil Fly with Gerbfly.” ?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91575",
"author": "dext3r",
"timest... | 1,760,377,599.865884 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/03/ubuntu-9-04-on-kindle-2/ | Ubuntu 9.04 On Kindle 2 | Mike Szczys | [
"handhelds hacks",
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"amazon",
"kindle",
"linux",
"ubuntu"
] | [digg=http://digg.com/linux_unix/Ubuntu_Jaunty_on_Amazon_s_Kindle_2]Having read books on a Palm device for years we were excited when Amazon came up with the Kindle. Our problem is that if you’re going to carry around a portable device it should
do a whole lot more
than just display text from a few books. [Jesse Vincent] managed to get
Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope running on the Kindle 2
. This opens up endless possibilities to run whatever you want on this hardware.
The new functionality was presented in a talk at
OSCON 2009
. Be warned, [Jesse] has a very high geeky-hacker level. Make sure you have a tech dictionary and Google at the ready when you watch the video embedded after the break. His talk starts at about two minutes in and runs for five minutes total.
[blip.tv ?posts_id=2411095&dest=-1]
[via
Gizmodo
] | 36 | 36 | [
{
"comment_id": "91536",
"author": "googfan",
"timestamp": "2009-09-03T19:23:44",
"content": "1stProbably the lowest power netbook in the world",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91544",
"author": "Universal",
"timestamp": "2009-09-03T20:16... | 1,760,377,600.162499 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/03/guitar-hero-strum-bar-as-guitar-kill-switch/ | Guitar Hero Strum Bar As Guitar Kill Switch | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Playstation Hacks"
] | [
"guitar",
"gutar hero",
"kill switch",
"playstation"
] | [Ray] had a Guitar Hero controller for PlayStation 2 sitting around. Because he moved on to playing the game on Xbox 360, he decided to cannibalize the older controller for its parts. He removed the strum bar and
fit it inside of a mid-1980’s Peavy Patriot
electric guitar. Once wired up, it works as a kill switch; it stops all sound from making it to the amp whenever the strum bar switch is actuated. Don’t miss hearing this effect in the video after the break and keep sending in those
Guitar Hero mods
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6VsLi84WnE]
[Thanks Sebastian] | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "91516",
"author": "McSquid",
"timestamp": "2009-09-03T17:44:07",
"content": "damn work computer for having a broken sound card. i LOOKS sweet. gotta wait til i get home to hear it though",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91517",
... | 1,760,377,600.223243 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/03/single-tube-nixie-clock/ | Single Tube Nixie Clock | Caleb Kraft | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"nixie",
"pic",
"tube"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-7QAWshEXo]
This
single tube nixie clock
cought our eye today. After receiving an IN-8 tube from a friend, [Trax] wanted to find some project to show it off. He decided on an art piece that doubles as a clock. Tastefully mounted in a simple wooden box with a pretty inlay, the tube is lit from below with a green LED that pulses every second. A single button, located on the back, out of view is pressed to request the time. You can see the time being displayed on the video above. To see the guts and read about how he’s using the PIC16F84’s built in clock to keep track of time, check out his site. Even though this is a Nixie, it reminds us of the
Decatron kitchen timer
we saw recently.
[via
Hacked Gadgets
] | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "91498",
"author": "chicosoft",
"timestamp": "2009-09-03T16:04:28",
"content": "Very cool indeed. Where do i find that kind of tubes?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91503",
"author": "Tomasito",
"timestamp": "2009-09-03T... | 1,760,377,600.276655 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/02/neo-geo-case-mod/ | Neo-Geo Case Mod | Jake W | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"Case mod",
"genesis",
"neo geo",
"sega"
] | What do you get when you cross a Neo-Geo and a Sega Genesis? A
pretty vintage case mod
. [Brett] used a variation of
the 16-bit console
(known as the Mega Drive II) as the base of
his project
. With an original Neo-Geo motherboard and a few other components (such as a power indicating LED), the ‘Geosis’ was born. [Brett] removed a few of the unnecessary parts from
the mobo
, like the power-amp, and set it up to work with a regular 5V DC wall adapter. The PCB also had to be clipped so it would fit into the Mega Drive chassis.
Though it may not be the case, some Neo-Geo motherboards in circulation have been salvaged from arcade machines. An enclosure would be essential for protecting them during standalone use – something [Brett] plans to do a lot. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "91360",
"author": "Bakamoichigei",
"timestamp": "2009-09-03T02:18:04",
"content": "Clarification: NEO-GEO MVS motherboards come from arcade cabinets. The NEO-GEO AES is the home version. They take different cartridges. (The one pictured is an MVS cart)",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,377,600.59394 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/02/build-an-analog-tv-station/ | Build An Analog TV Station | Zach Banks | [
"Video Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"analog tv",
"fcc",
"omgimontv",
"tv",
"tv station",
"tv transmitter"
] | With the transition to
digital TV
, the FCC has abandoned the old analog format. Luckily, you can take advantage of this and
set up your own analog TV station
. The FCC has a tool on their site to see what channels are open in your area to broadcast in. To broadcast, you need a TV transmitter, but cheap short-range models can be
found on eBay
or
made at hom
e [pdf]
. Once you have a transmitter, you can pump in a video source, either your own content or videos from youtube. One group,
OMGimontv
is showcasing popular youtube clips on channel 14 in New York. On their site,
users can vote
for what clips they want to see. Although this isn’t as simple as
making a radio station
, it still has a lot of potential.
[via
BoingBoing
] | 51 | 44 | [
{
"comment_id": "91336",
"author": "refujee",
"timestamp": "2009-09-03T01:21:20",
"content": "isn’t this illegal?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "938639",
"author": "BGJMV",
"timestamp": "2013-01-13T10:41:29",
"content"... | 1,760,377,600.538584 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/02/direct-to-pcb-inkjet-printing/ | Direct-to-PCB Inkjet Printing | Phil Burgess | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"direct",
"diy",
"inkjet",
"pcb",
"print"
] | Full Spectrum Engineering has offered up a
tutorial for their inkjet direct PCB kits
that repurpose direct-to-CD capable inkjet printers (such as the Epson R280) to print etch-resistant ink straight onto copper clad board. This is easier and less error prone than some
iron-on
methods, especially for two-sided boards. Just print (no need to reverse the design), dry on a hot plate or in a toaster oven for a couple minutes, and your board’s ready for
etching
!
Homebrew methods exist for all of this, but for those who would rather move ahead with their design than spend time scrounging for the required bits,
the kits
offer a pretty good value. They can also meet you halfway…say if you’re only lacking access to a laser cutter and just want the CD stencil…all of the parts are available individually or as a complete set: the resist ink cartridge, the stainless steel board-holding stencil, and a supply of double-sided copper clad boards precisely sized for the stencil (3.5 by 2.5 inches). The small board size is well within the limits of the freeware
Eagle Light Edition
software.
Concerned about gunking up your nice inkjet with non-OEM ink? You can dedicate hardware to the job without breaking the bank. Many of the compatible printers are of the “free printer after rebate” bundle variety that can now be found inexpensively on Craigslist or eBay. | 33 | 33 | [
{
"comment_id": "91351",
"author": "ellisgl",
"timestamp": "2009-09-03T01:37:20",
"content": "I wonder how well it does double sided pcbs.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91352",
"author": "ellisgl",
"timestamp": "2009-09-03T01:38:23",
... | 1,760,377,600.450889 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/02/repurpose-an-unused-portable-cd-player/ | Repurpose An Unused Portable CD Player | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"art",
"cd",
"portable"
] | [Ariel] liked the look of the
Muji wall mounted CD player
. He set out to build his own, posting a
how-to that documents his project
. The custom paperboard case contains a portable CD player, two portable speakers with amplifier, and a pull-string switch to turn it on and off. With mp3 players sending portable CD players the way of the dodo, and with the proliferation of powered mini-speakers this is a thrift-store build waiting to happen.
[via
Boing Boing Gadgets
] | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "91324",
"author": "googfan",
"timestamp": "2009-09-03T00:19:14",
"content": "Now all it needs is a few leds.Does anyone else think that hackaday should have a comment rating system? like the thums up thumbs down of youtube?o yeah, first comment twice in a row.",
"parent_id": nul... | 1,760,377,600.380611 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/02/gmail-without-the-cloud-tips-for-next-time/ | Gmail Without The Cloud: Tips For Next Time | Mike Szczys | [
"google hacks"
] | [
"Gmail",
"imap",
"labs",
"outage",
"pop"
] | Yesterday’s Gmail service outage is a
hot topic on just about every news site
right now. For so many of us that have always taken the reliability of Gmail for granted it was a real shock to lose all of the functionality of the web based system. Now that we’ve learned our lesson, here’s a couple of tips to help you out the next time there’s an outage.
Setup POP and IMAP access now
Your Gmail can be sent and retrieved via IMAP or POP. These protocols were still working through the outage yesterday but unfortunately you need to use the web interface to enable them. Even if you are not going to use a separate email client regularly, now is the time to
set this up so it works for you during the next outage
.
Use Offline Gmail
Yesterday’s outage prevented most users from even logging into the Gmail interface and when they could, the compose message feature was not functioning properly. Offline Gmail, a feature of
Google labs
, allows you to access the Gmail interface offline. This doesn’t mean that you will be able to send and receive during an outage because this feature still uses the web interface for that. What it does mean is you will be able to read emails that you have cached locally and compose messages to be sent as soon as Gmail is back online. Take a
look at what Offline Gmail is all about
and see if it will get you through next time. | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "91311",
"author": "googfan",
"timestamp": "2009-09-02T23:47:01",
"content": "I tried to buy something on craigslist yesterday… I lost the buy because of a broken server????",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91314",
"author": "... | 1,760,377,600.855747 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/02/simple-automatic-led-lamps/ | Simple Automatic LED Lamps | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"AVR",
"hall effect",
"led",
"lighting"
] | [woody1189] put together some
automatic lighting
for his closet. Nine LEDs are grouped into three lamps and controlled by a
hall effect sensor
. He prototyped this on an Arduino and then migrated over to an ATtiny85. Although the current implementation could be accomplished without a microcontroller, we’d love to see some firmware improvements such as an auto shutoff for when you forget to close the closet door. The hall effect sensor seems to
pop up in a lot of projects
so make sure you get a few of them with your next parts order. Video of this in action after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqfRXRa9yWc] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "91313",
"author": "amishx64",
"timestamp": "2009-09-02T23:49:36",
"content": "Why wouldn’t he just use a switch instead of a hall-effect sensor? That way no power would be wasted monitoring the hall sensor and powering the Arduino. Seems kinda silly to me. Especially in this case wh... | 1,760,377,600.732586 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/02/fire-horn/ | Fire Horn | James Munns | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"butane",
"fire",
"flamethrower",
"horn"
] | Artist [
Ariel Schlesinger
] has managed to replace an
air horn
‘s compressed air tank with butane fuel. This hack manages to change the pitch of the horn slightly, as well as making one very noisy flamethrower. While not as
impressive
as
other
flamethrowers
, this would probably take the cake for most achievable. Currently the site
containing the how-to
is down, but we would have to recommend not doing this at home anyway. Video after the jump.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWGI7OxNppY]
[via
todayandtomorrow
] | 28 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "91297",
"author": "vikki",
"timestamp": "2009-09-02T22:45:19",
"content": "+10 points for ingenuity, -50 for playing with it indoors.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91301",
"author": "sean",
"timestamp": "2009-09-02T23:... | 1,760,377,600.798949 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/02/twitter-remote-control/ | Twitter Remote Control | Jake W | [
"home hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"facebook",
"ibm",
"joost",
"patent",
"remote",
"television",
"twitter"
] | We’ve already brought you a homemade Twitter-enabled
washing machine
, and
toilet
, but now a new innovation is being brought to the table by a bigger player.
IBM
is working on a tweeting television remote, which would allow the user to inform the world what they are watching. Although unfiltered reporting could create awkward situations, the combination of America’s love for television and
Twitter
is sure to yield interesting results. They also mentioned that it could be configured to report to other sites, such as
Facebook
or
joost
. Any ideas why IBM would have in such a
patent
are welcome in the comments. More info can be found
here
and
here
. | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "91284",
"author": "medix",
"timestamp": "2009-09-02T21:33:37",
"content": "large corporation with (nearly) unlimited funding + new idea they think may be big = why not patent?I would imagine that this could be used to provide better statistical information on show ratings (what vie... | 1,760,377,600.949085 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/02/real-time-searching/ | Real Time Searching | Caleb Kraft | [
"google hacks"
] | [
"bing",
"google",
"search engine",
"wave"
] | With the fresh competition of Bing, we are reminded that search engines haven’t changed much since Google came along. Bing has made some nice advancements, like video previews, but still has a way to go to be truly different than Google. [Long]put together
this prototype of a real time search system
based off of
Bings API
. He was inspired by
Google Wave
which we hope to see soon. Wave is primarily for communication, redefining how email and messaging would work. We can’t help but think that Google probably has some cool stuff in the secret vaults for searching too. [Long]’s project seems like a decent start, but like the
goodtimes.searchengine
, we think it needs some work. What happened to the cool video previews? More importantly, why can’t we turn off the parental filter? | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "91260",
"author": "tMH",
"timestamp": "2009-09-02T19:06:21",
"content": "It’s kind of slow when you’re searching for things that aren’t very common.I did a search there and a search for the same thing on Google. It took about 2 seconds to find it, but Google reported (0.09 seconds).... | 1,760,377,600.896304 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/02/internet-40th-birthday/ | Happy Birthday Internet: 5 History Videos | Mike Szczys | [
"News",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"arpanet",
"birthday",
"imp",
"internet"
] | National Geographic has pegged September 2, 2009 as the 40th anniversary of the Internet. They do not cite their source and
our source doesn’t make the same claim
. But, August 30, 1969 is the
date the first Interface Message Processor was delivered
to the
Arpanet
. The IMP is what allowed different computer networks to talk to each other and so it follows that September 2 is probably an acceptable date to celebrate.
To commemorate this glorious day we’re sharing some of our favorite History of the Internet videos.
Start with the National Geographic video
and then take in the geeky, the new, the old, and the simple.
The Geeky:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2QdEj8UjBc]
[Ethan Zuckerman]
walks us through the history as only a geek could. This video starts off with a picture of the guys who invented the IMP which is what facilitated the first information transfer between networks (the Internet). “The Internet as we know it came into being in 1969”.
The New:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hIQjrMHTv4]
A fairly brilliant video presentation of how the Internet developed from several smaller networking projects. Accessible to experts and novices alike.
The Old:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwQYyUoOA7w]
A CBC news report on “The growing phenomenon of: Internet” made in the pre-broadband days. It’s interesting that “the” is missing when they refer to “The Internet”. At 3:25 you can see a lengthy description of what those new-fangled emoticons are all about.
The Simple:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv0XCaUkfNk]
A short animated video that explains IP addresses and how a computer connects to the internet through a service provider. | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "91237",
"author": "louis ii",
"timestamp": "2009-09-02T17:08:51",
"content": "correction:“it follows that September 2 is probably an acceptable date”(it currently says “August”)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91240",
"autho... | 1,760,377,601.006791 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/02/beertroller-brewing-control-system/ | BrewTroller Brewing Control System | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"beer",
"beertroller",
"brewing",
"extreme brewing",
"Sanguino"
] | BrewTroller is an
open source brewing control system
based on the
Sanguino
. Targeting home beer brewers, this project gathers some of the best features from other DIY brewing controllers and packages them into a hardware and software setup so it’s accessible to those without the skills to design their own. It can interface with 4 heat controllers, 32 pumps/valves, 6 temperature sensors, 3 volume sensors, and 1 steam pressure sensor. The system displays information through a 4 line LCD. It can be used to monitor and maintain temperature during
mashing
, boiling, and chilling. If you have a more advanced setup that involves automatic valves, it can control those for you with almost limitless reconfigurability through every step of the brewing process.
We thought it was pretty hard core that at least
some of the kits shipped with hand made PCBs
. At the very least, it shows that it is possible to
make this board yourself with the provided PCB layout
.
[Thanks Julius] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "91234",
"author": "Jack",
"timestamp": "2009-09-02T17:06:03",
"content": "arduino+beer=win",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91236",
"author": "Jack",
"timestamp": "2009-09-02T17:07:15",
"content": "first comment total... | 1,760,377,601.050258 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/02/peggy-zilla/ | Peggy-zilla | Caleb Kraft | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"led",
"life",
"peggy"
] | For some, a peggy 2.0 is pretty cool, but simply not impressive enough. [MonsieurBon] felt this way and simply
built a larger LED rig
for his
peggy2.0
. It still uses the brains of the peggy, but the LED array is a custom built cabinet, using ping pong balls as diffusers. Another interesting modification is that they added a midi port to the setup to generate music based on what LEDs are lit. They say it creates some nice background generative music during the game of life. You can see a video of the system in action after the break.
It looks like they weren’t the only ones with this idea. The
u:moon project
is very similar, meant to be hung from a balloon. There seems to be an issue with the gallery on his page though, so you might want to go to his
picasa gallery
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu5ORo3Im1g]
[via
EMSL
] | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "91202",
"author": "3rix",
"timestamp": "2009-09-02T14:27:58",
"content": "That’s quite cool.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91235",
"author": "louis ii",
"timestamp": "2009-09-02T17:06:35",
"content": "I smell an ar... | 1,760,377,601.194119 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/01/blackberry-download-limit-remover/ | Blackberry Download Limit Remover | James Munns | [
"blackberry hacks",
"Cellphone Hacks",
"downloads hacks"
] | [
"blackberry",
"browser",
"download",
"limit"
] | On the standard
Blackberry
Web Browser, there is a fixed file download limit of 2.3MB. Many users avoid this by installing a 3rd party browser (such as
Opera Mini
, for example), but there is still that bitter taste for having an extra web browser around just to download decently sized files. This limit seems to be imposed by a certain
WAP
port
that the Blackberry is set to use by default, which blocks any file greater than this. Fortunately, [0mie]
has found a way
to reconfigure the default Blackberry Browser to use a different port without this restriction. Step by step walk through, links to the file required, and screen shots of large file downloads are provided. [0mie] claims that this hack works on a number of different phones and OS versions, and we are sure he would appreciate a wider audience to test this with.
[Note: This hack seems to use a Chinese provider as a proxy, so there may be privacy issues, etc. As always, hack at your own risk.]
[digg=http://digg.com/mods/How_to_Remove_the_Blackberry_download_limit_Hack_a_Day] | 66 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "91069",
"author": "McSquid",
"timestamp": "2009-09-02T01:48:34",
"content": "@henchmenMaybe you have and it just showed up as “cannot be displayed” as i suspect is the case with me.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91110",
"a... | 1,760,377,601.28017 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/01/lubuntu-9-10-alpha-image-available/ | Lubuntu 9.10 Alpha Image Available | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks",
"Netbook Hacks"
] | [
"linux",
"lubuntu",
"lxde",
"netbook",
"ubuntu",
"xfce"
] | The
alpha version of Lubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
is now publicly availabile. The project brings together Ubuntu and LXDE, the
Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment
. This combination makes for a lighter version of the most popular Linux distribution. Both Xubuntu (which utilizes the
Xfce desktop
) and Lubuntu are meant to run well on lower resource computers such as netbooks. With the ISO smaller than 400mb and using quite a bit less system resources Lubuntu looks promising.
Right now it looks like the
original
backup ISO link is down
. If you can’t wait,
try this torrent
.
[via
Softpedia
] | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "91038",
"author": "sj",
"timestamp": "2009-09-01T23:26:44",
"content": "For a light ubuntu, I’d suggest using crunchbang, or just installing the server version and the packages you want by hand, thats what I do.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,377,601.333212 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/01/homebrew-carputer/ | Homebrew Carputer | Jake W | [
"hardware",
"laptops hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"avbrand",
"carputer",
"google maps",
"traffic cams"
] | Though not from scratch, [
Avbrand
] integrated a powerful set of tools into his Subaru station wagon. The system was compiled from off the shelf electronics, such as a Compaq notebook,
3G USB modem
, touch screen, and an assortment of other peripherals. It is based around Windows XP, though most of the
carputer
-specific applications, such as backup camera integration,
Google Maps – based car tracking
, and
automatic volume control
had to be custom coded by [Avbrand] himself. Perhaps the single most impressive and useful feature of the system is synchronization with
highway traffic cameras
. The system streams video of segments of the highway before [Avbrand] gets to them, allowing him to make more informed navigational choices. He documents it pretty well
on his website
. | 26 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "91006",
"author": "CamelToeJoe",
"timestamp": "2009-09-01T21:39:15",
"content": "Hi! First!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "91009",
"author": "napalm",
"timestamp": "2009-09-01T21:49:41",
"content": "Wow! that is a b... | 1,760,377,601.394088 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/01/zelo-the-improbable-wooden-trike/ | Zelo, The Improbable Wooden Trike | Phil Burgess | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"bicycle",
"bike",
"birch",
"laminate",
"recumbent",
"trike",
"wood",
"woodworking"
] | The earliest bicycles were made from wood. Nearly two centuries later, some garage tinkerers still turn to this most traditional of materials for their own creations, since
welding one
requires experience and tools beyond the reach of many. Resembling
Gilligan’s Island
props,
the resulting bikes
are both artistic and great fun, but not very practical for real use; often heavy, ill-fitting or lacking durability.
[Boris Beaulant’s] birch laminate
Zelo
, on the other hand, has cleaner lines than anything you’d see in an IKEA showroom. Not content with an ordinary two-wheeler, he’s tackled a three-wheeled recumbent trike, which requires even finer tolerances. Two months and over 1,300 miles later, the trike is still rolling strong through the French countryside, proving its mettle as legitimate transportation and not just a garage novelty. [Beaulant’s]
build log
(Google translation
here
) offers some insights into the development of this masterpiece, starting with prior woodworking projects (furniture, rolling toys and a children’s bike) and finding clever solutions to problems such as creating a mold of his own back for a custom-contoured seat. | 11 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "90998",
"author": "ken",
"timestamp": "2009-09-01T21:23:05",
"content": "Bravo! I’m in favor of anything the gets people moving under their own power. This one is beautiful to look at, too.I disagree with the sentiment that “welding [a bicycle] requires experience and tools beyond... | 1,760,377,601.735288 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/01/firefox-master-password-recovery-tool/ | Firefox Master Password Recovery Tool | Matt Schulz | [
"computer hacks",
"downloads hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"brute force",
"cracking",
"firefox",
"firemaster",
"master password",
"password"
] | It’s great in this day and age that browsers can remember our passwords for us, allowing us cross-site security without the hassle of memorizing a million different random passwords. It’s great, that is, until we forget our master password. Fret not, though; there is a solution. The folks over at Lifehacker
show us how to use FireMaster
to recover forgotten or misplaced Firefox master passwords. Perhaps a better solution is to just store those tricky passwords
where nobody will find them
. | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "91013",
"author": "ehrichweiss",
"timestamp": "2009-09-01T21:56:38",
"content": "Yeah, if I lost my password, it’d only take me like 6million days to recover it..I’ve got a password length of 9 and mixed alphanumeric characters throughout.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,601.51765 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/01/circuit-board-instrument/ | Circuit Board Instrument | Jakob Griffith | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Portable Audio Hacks"
] | [
"cd",
"circuit bending",
"instrument",
"music"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8UzSVFUIc0]
[
Moldover
] decided to change up the way CDs are packaged for his album release. Yes, you still get a CD with some pretty
sweet music
, but the case can also play sounds. He custom printed a circuit board containing some LEDs, buttons, photoresistors, and what looks to be a piezo transducer which all combine to produce a strange whine like noise. But with the included headphone jack, he shows it can be used to produce some very interesting music – reminds us of
circuit bending
.
[Thanks Ferdinand] | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "90963",
"author": "mess_maker",
"timestamp": "2009-09-01T19:30:48",
"content": "Great idea! Good luck, Moldover :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90976",
"author": "nope",
"timestamp": "2009-09-01T20:06:40",
"conte... | 1,760,377,601.776451 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/31/custom-cable-management/ | Custom Cable Management | Jakob Griffith | [
"home hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"cable management",
"coat hangers",
"ikea"
] | You would be hard pressed to find a hacker who doesn’t have in some form a rats nest of wires and cables behind their computer desk. [Antoine] decided to tackle the problem and came up with his custom built
cable management system
. There is little info, but he does say his setup uses Ikea Antonius coat hangers and some hollow tube. Its quick and wont leave a residue like some cable solutions, so long as you don’t mind a screw hole or two. We especially like how if you need to change your setup you wont have to re-zip tie everything. | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "90696",
"author": "herbgphoto",
"timestamp": "2009-08-31T21:28:29",
"content": "We did something similar over athttp://teksandwich.com/2009/07/diy-cable-management/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90700",
"author": "SheeEtti... | 1,760,377,601.57837 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/31/i-swarm-robot-update/ | I-Swarm Robot Update | Mike Szczys | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"autonomous",
"i-swarm",
"piezo",
"piezoelectric",
"robots",
"solar",
"swarm"
] | Back in October
we reported on the I-Swarm robotics project
. [Travis] sent us some more information. These tiny robots are programmed optically and are able to respond to programming commands via an infrared signal. Locomotion is facilitated with piezoelectric actuators and the power to the units provided through a solar cell. It is not clear that this project is still ongoing as the
I-Swarm web page
lists a project termination date of 6/31/2008. That being said, the video embedded after the break was posted two days ago showing swarm movement and detailing the programming, testing, and hardware specifics.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zul0y5yPOKM]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ9n3UmSdg4]
[via
Hizook
] | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "90695",
"author": "Nicholas Overstreet",
"timestamp": "2009-08-31T21:12:17",
"content": "Maybe it’s the terrible compression from youtube, but to me the first video looks like the little robot is being moved around by fishing string…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"rep... | 1,760,377,601.690545 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/31/internet-enabled-furby/ | Internet Enabled Furby | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"ethernet",
"furby",
"xport"
] | [edwindertien] sent us his project to
connect a Furby to the internet
. The original Furby controller was replaced with an Arduino which in turn was given ethernet connectivity via a
LANTRONIX XPort
serial ethernet module. This assigns the Furby an IP address which can then be accessed through a script or via a web interface. Now we want to see someone combine this idea with the
arduino that sings “Daisy Bell”
to make the ultimate in creepy new email notifiers. | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "90683",
"author": "rachael",
"timestamp": "2009-08-31T19:24:41",
"content": "Like taken out of userfriendly :) the horror!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90684",
"author": "DarwinSurvivor",
"timestamp": "2009-08-31T19:3... | 1,760,377,601.640931 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/31/gameboy-foot-controller/ | Gameboy Foot Controller | Caleb Kraft | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Nintendo Game Boy Hacks"
] | [
"8bit",
"chip music",
"circuit bending",
"gameboy"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQdqudTzyBs]
[Joey] sent us a link to the newest version of his
Gameboy foot controller
. In the video above, you can see how he uses it to control the loops in the background while he plays his guitar through an 8-bit filter. That is an old video, using the previous version. He tells us that several gameboys were used in the construction. At one point, he had to replace the guts because the music was so loud it knocked his equipment over and destroyed it. We can’t help but feel just a tiny bit of excitement as memories of renting a NES cartridge for the weekend fill our heads when we hear these riffs. His music isn’t too bad either. There is a growing crowd of people that support “chip music”. You can see what looks like a decent sized gathering enjoying a show with a little bit of a history lesson after the break.
[
This video, and the original version of the controler
were posted about a year ago, good catch commenters]
[vimeo =
http://vimeo.com/4482791%5D | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "90641",
"author": "chicosoft",
"timestamp": "2009-08-31T14:39:11",
"content": "WTF?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90644",
"author": "FunkyB",
"timestamp": "2009-08-31T15:02:28",
"content": "Anyone have any idea wha... | 1,760,377,602.011794 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/30/cheap-wireless-for-microcontrollers/ | Cheap Wireless For Microcontrollers | Jakob Griffith | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"bluetooth",
"microcontroller",
"reciever",
"transmitter",
"wireless",
"xbee"
] | Everybody loves microcontrollers, including the
Arduino
, allowing you to create whatever you imagine. That is unless you want to hack together something wireless. Originally you had to rely on the expensive
XBee
protocol or other wireless options, but no longer.
Hobby Robotics
found an extremely cheap
transmitter
and
receiver
and wrote a quick guide for
wiring them up to an Arduino
. Now your wireless projects can come to life, as long as you are within 500 feet and don’t mind 2400bps; minor trade offs compared to the gains of wireless freedom. Final note: You aren’t limited to Arduino, we would love to see someone modify this to work with a
PIC
or other microcontroller. | 44 | 44 | [
{
"comment_id": "90581",
"author": "KNfLrPn",
"timestamp": "2009-08-31T03:55:13",
"content": "I used these things a couple years ago for a project at work for the same reasons: very cheap and simple. You just apply high to a pin on the transmitter and it sets the pin on the receiver high.A note tho... | 1,760,377,601.965741 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/30/lego-ipod-hacking-robot/ | Lego IPod Hacking Robot | Zach Banks | [
"ipod hacks",
"Linux Hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"apple",
"brute force",
"ipod",
"iPodLinux",
"lego",
"lego mindstorms",
"Lego NXT",
"linux",
"linux4nano",
"nanotron 3000",
"robot"
] | The
Linux4nano project
has been working to port the Linux kernel onto the iPod Nano along with other iPods in general. Although the
iPodLinux project
has had luck with some older iPods, newer models protect firmware updates with encryption. One of the ways they plan on running code on the device is through a vulnerability in the notes program; it causes the processor to jump to a specific instruction and execute arbitrary code. To take advantage of this, they first need to figure out where their injected code ends up in the memory. Currently, they are testing every memory location by painstakingly loading in a bogus note and recording its effect. Each note takes about a minute to test and they have tens of thousands of addresses to check over several devices.
Although they’ve cracked the 2G Nano, they still have a lot of work ahead of them. To make it easier, they’re working on automating it with button-pressing Lego Mindstorms-based robots. Dubbed
Nanotron 3000
, this line of robots can press the 3 buttons needed to test the iPod. Ideally, these robots should be able to go through over 23,000 addresses a day, which is much more efficient than doing it by hand. With luck, they’ll crack it soon.
Related:
iPhone Linux
[via
NYC Resistor
] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "90567",
"author": "frg",
"timestamp": "2009-08-30T23:20:24",
"content": "“nanotron 3000” i like the sound of that XD",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90569",
"author": "bort",
"timestamp": "2009-08-30T23:55:09",
"cont... | 1,760,377,601.884126 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/30/your-music-in-rock-band/ | Your Music In Rock Band 2 | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"midi",
"rock band",
"xbox 360"
] | [Peter Kirn] over at Create Digital Music takes an in depth look at the process of
adding your own music to Rock Band 2
. This involves using
REAPER audio production software
, uploading your work via the
XNA Creators’ Club
, and then playing the fresh track on an Xbox 360. Both REAPER and the XNA Club cost money, and the total price comes out somewhere between $100-$160. The process is now in closed beta but a wider beta is expected in September followed by a full release in October. | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "90531",
"author": "me",
"timestamp": "2009-08-30T16:14:30",
"content": "Commercial hack FTW!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90537",
"author": "Hardwire",
"timestamp": "2009-08-30T17:56:31",
"content": "now can it do... | 1,760,377,603.609516 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/01/snow-leopard-ditches-real-math-for-fake/ | Snow Leopard Ditches Real Math For Fake | Mike Szczys | [
"Mac Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"binary",
"math",
"OsX",
"snow leopard",
"storage"
] | We’ve always felt that hard drive manufacturers were dirty crooks because of their use of
fake math to make drives sound bigger
than they actually are. Here’s a quick refresher for those who need it: Because digital information consists of 1’s and 0’s (two possible settings), digital architecture revolves around powers of 2. Long ago, when nomenclature was setup for measuring data the term kilobyte was adopted to represent 2 to the 10th power bytes (base 2, aka real math). The problem here is that 2^10= 1024 and when laymen hear the root “kilo” they think 1000 which is 24 byes less (base 10, aka fake math). So, if you have a 500,000,000 byte drive, base 10 math would call that a 500GB drive, but base 2 math would call that 476.8GB.
We understand why hard drive manufacturers use the base 10 system; larger sounding drives sell better. Now we find out that OSX 10.6
Snow Leopard is using base 10 math to calculate storage space
. While base 2 math is the standard storage measurement for operating systems it may at first be difficult to understand why Apple would change to a base 10 system. But think about it once more, doesn’t Apple have a lot to gain if all the storage-containing-hardware they sell sounds bigger than it actually is?
[via
Gizmodo
]
Update:
Force Snow Leopard to
calculate storage in base 2
[via
Gizmodo
] | 173 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "90942",
"author": "asd",
"timestamp": "2009-09-01T18:57:36",
"content": "1kb _is_ 1000 bytes",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6196393",
"author": "John Galt",
"timestamp": "2019-11-20T06:17:26",
"content... | 1,760,377,603.92244 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/01/arduino-ph-meter/ | Arduino PH Meter | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"adc",
"arduino",
"glas electrode",
"pH"
] | [Carlos] sent us his project that
uses an Arduino as a pH meter
. In order to sense the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, a
glass electrode
is connected to the ADC of the Arduino through a fairly
complicated calibration, amplification, and filtering circuit
. Admittedly, it may not be cheaper or as accurate as some commercial models, but it is an open project and can be interfaced with a computer via USB. | 14 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "90929",
"author": "Agent420",
"timestamp": "2009-09-01T17:39:48",
"content": "arduinos on acid ;-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90930",
"author": "threepointone",
"timestamp": "2009-09-01T17:44:37",
"content": "th... | 1,760,377,603.970943 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/01/arduino-hang-man-hangmanduino/ | Arduino + Hang Man = Hangmanduino | Caleb Kraft | [
"Arduino Hacks"
] | [
"game",
"gaming",
"hangman"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCa8F8fbHLQ]
We saw this
nifty little toy
today and thought you guys might get a kick out of it. Its called the Hangmanduino, and as you can probably tell from the name, it plays
hang man
. This was an exercise in simplicity, you’ll notice there is only a single control for the entire game. We thought that the design was pretty cool, especially the single control. We weren’t surprised to see that this is actually the very same control
we featured previously
. You can download the code yourself from his website, if you want to make one of your own.
[via
Flickr
] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "90908",
"author": "Jack",
"timestamp": "2009-09-01T16:02:07",
"content": "Arduino=Amazing",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90911",
"author": "Ryan Leach",
"timestamp": "2009-09-01T16:09:46",
"content": "YAAH – Yet ano... | 1,760,377,604.217333 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/09/01/tiny-gsm-alarm-system/ | Tiny GSM Alarm System | Gerrit Coetzee | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"classic hacks"
] | [
"alarm",
"electronics",
"gsm",
"microcontroller",
"pic",
"PIC16F84A",
"security",
"sms. siemens"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W746qoZsrEs]
We’ve covered this
sort
of
thing
before, but there is something to be said for the simplicity of
this tiny GSM alarm system
by [trax]. The alarm system is designed to send the owner a text message when a sensor is triggered. This alarm only works with Siemens phones, but it shouldn’t be
too hard to find one
. The alarm is configured via a dip switch on the board and can also be armed and disarmed by text. The brains of this system is a PIC16F84A. The code and schematics are included at the bottom of the page.
[Thanks Dario] | 21 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "90901",
"author": "markii",
"timestamp": "2009-09-01T14:20:48",
"content": "loaded with options on just 1 kb, cool!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90916",
"author": "tjhooker",
"timestamp": "2009-09-01T16:26:50",
"c... | 1,760,377,604.272106 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/31/starfish-pbx-goes-publi/ | Starfish PBX Goes Public | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"asterisk",
"open source",
"pbx",
"starfish",
"telephone"
] | Starfish PBX takes the very popular
Asterisk telephony platform
and adds an open source, fully functional web management interface. Asterisk allows you to be your own
private branch exchange
; think of it as your own telephone company. You can setup extensions in your home or office, configure an intercom system, implement a hold system with music, manage voice mail, and integrate Voice over Internet Protocol.
Starfish PBX
, available in alpha release today, aims to make Asterisk available to a wider user base by simplifying the interface used to setup and maintain the system.
[via
Digg
] | 23 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "90722",
"author": "incognito53",
"timestamp": "2009-08-31T23:32:21",
"content": "it would appear starfish-pbx.org has suffered the digg-hackaday effect… server is overloaded",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90726",
"author": ... | 1,760,377,604.099354 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/31/update-foundation-pc-cooling/ | Update: Foundation PC Cooling | James Munns | [
"computer hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"follow up",
"foundation",
"overclocking",
"pc",
"water cooling",
"WaterCooling"
] | [gigs], whose
foundation-based PC cooling project
we covered earlier, has posted his
initial test results
. There was a large debate going back and forth in the comments as to whether or not this would work, and hopefully this should clear most of it up. He used a 150W fish tank heater to simulated his system’s heat output, and used a quiet fish tank pump to keep the water flowing. Over 8 hours, he was able to maintain a constant temperature 16° C (61° F). While not quite frigid, this would definitely provide ample cooling for normal operation with some headroom for overclocking.
Chart of results after the jump.
[thanks to gigs for getting back with real data so soon] | 30 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "90712",
"author": "pete",
"timestamp": "2009-08-31T22:44:46",
"content": "Glad that all that effort did at least pay off somewhat. Hope his gonna stack them racks !",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90714",
"author": "justDIY"... | 1,760,377,604.038628 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/31/hacking-the-smart-tweezers/ | Hacking DMM Tweezers | Caleb Kraft | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"DMM Tweezers"
] | These Tweezers are pretty cool tools for anyone doing SMD components. We
tried them out
and found them very pleasant well made. They are able to identify components and take readings easily with one hand. One thing they are missing, however, is the ability to measure voltage. The people over at Openschemes decided to see if there was a way around that. As it turns out, the chip used in the unit already has the capability to measure voltage. They take us through the process of
modding the unit to be able to take advantage of this un utilized feature
. From the outside, the only difference is a new switch to set the mode to voltage. Great job guys.
[via
Hacked Gadgets
] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "90710",
"author": "Tom G.",
"timestamp": "2009-08-31T22:36:37",
"content": "I was looking on Ebay for similar tweezers.The expensive ones go for ~120, with a precision within 1-2%.The cheap $40 ones have a precision within 5-10%.For $5, you can buy tweezer probes which connect to yo... | 1,760,377,603.664537 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/29/bokode-a-new-barcode/ | Bokode, A New Barcode | Jakob Griffith | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"barcode",
"Bokeh",
"Bokode",
"MIT Camera Culture Group"
] | The
MIT Camera Culture Group
utilized
Bokeh
, an effect where the lens is purposely placed out of focus, in order to vastly improve current 2D barcode technology. Dubbed
Bokode
, the team claims that an off the shelf camera can read data 2.5 microns from a distance of over 4 meters, compared to today’s average barcode reader’s maximum distance of only a foot or so. What looks most interesting is the ability to produce a smoother and more accurate distance and angle calculations (relative to the camera): allowing for a better
augmented reality
. It also seems to be more secure than
traditional 2D barcodes
, that is of course until the hacker community gets a hold of it.
[Thanks Talin] | 32 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "90462",
"author": "sean",
"timestamp": "2009-08-30T02:28:44",
"content": "personally i don’t expect to see this in a supermarket anytime within my lifetime, all the UPC does is point to a location in the database, so this goes overboard (plus if there is a problem with either the sc... | 1,760,377,604.168669 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/29/c64-visual-debugger/ | C64 Visual Debugger | James Munns | [
"downloads hacks"
] | [
"c64",
"commodore 64",
"console hack",
"debugger",
"emulator"
] | Root Labs
wrote about ICU64, a
Commodore 64
emulator with a couple unusual features. The most special of these is the ability to show the entire working RAM of the system. Each RAM address lights up when accessed. The user can also zoom in or change the values at each address if they want. This sounds complicated, but the demo videos demonstrate the power of these abilities. This would also serve as a great primer on lower-level code’s
memory management
.
Unfortunately [
mathfigure
], the author of ICU64, hasn’t released this out to the public yet, but should be released soon.
ICU64 has been released!
[thanks to mathfigure for following up with this]
Videos after the jump.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjcvR5McmSg&hl=en&fs=1&]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inWsuWEy3mQ&hl=en&fs=1&] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "90433",
"author": "ErikTed",
"timestamp": "2009-08-29T22:27:50",
"content": "Holy crap this is awesome. I wish i had this capability for AVR programming.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90444",
"author": "axdus",
"timest... | 1,760,377,603.717002 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/29/ubuntu-developer-week/ | Ubuntu Developer Week | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"developer",
"open source",
"ubuntu"
] | Next week, August 31 through September 4, is Ubuntu Developer Week. If you’ve always wanted to help out with an open source project but didn’t know how to get into it, this is your chance. The week consists of 25 one-hour sessions held interactively through IRC and led by some of the best of the Ubuntu development team. Participate in as many or as few sessions as you want. Check out the
Ubuntu Developer Week page
or their
fancy brochure
(PDF) for more information.
Want to see what it’s all about before committing to a live session? You can
view the IRC logs from the January sessions
. In addition to ‘Getting Started’, you may find the ‘Packaging 101’ and ‘Launchpad Bug Tracking’ session notes interesting. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "90428",
"author": "linus",
"timestamp": "2009-08-29T21:47:55",
"content": "Another reasons why Ubuntu is the best distro.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90506",
"author": "zetsway",
"timestamp": "2009-08-30T07:17:14",
... | 1,760,377,604.314669 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/29/center-brake-light-led-retrofit/ | Center Brake Light LED Retrofit | Mike Szczys | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"brake light",
"car",
"led"
] | [Matt] wanted to
increase the intensity of the center brake light
on his car. The factory installed light uses a 20w incandescent bulb and although aftermarket LED replacements are available, he decided to take the retrofit on himself. Using the Fresnel lens from the light assembly as protoboard, he mounted a row of 10mm LEDs along with their current limiting resistors. He then broke the glass from the original bulb, removed the filament, and soldered directly to the two electrodes. This way the bulb socket can still be used to connect to the car’s electrical system. | 26 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "90396",
"author": "sly",
"timestamp": "2009-08-29T18:35:10",
"content": "heh… I made one out of a old Nintendo r.o.b. and mounted that to the rear deck in the car. of course, that car didn’t have a high mount brake light to begin with. I also wired directly from the brake light sw... | 1,760,377,604.649641 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/28/ms-pac-man-ipod-charging-cover/ | Ms. Pac-Man IPod Charging Cover | Jakob Griffith | [
"ipod hacks"
] | [
"charging dock",
"ipod",
"pac-man"
] | iPod chargers definitely are a unique entity on anyone’s desk. Allowing you to stand your iPod upright, charge, and maybe play a video at the same time, but they aren’t exactly beautiful. [russm313] got the brilliant idea of
disguising his iPod
(and charger) as a miniature Ms. Pac-Man arcade cabinet. Unlike some other
small cabinets
we’ve seen, it is just cover and can’t actually be played. But the idea is still original and the process is so simply we’re surprised it hasn’t been done before; just cardboard, glue, and some other small items are needed and you have a work of art. All that is left is figuring out how to adapt it for the iPhone. Check out his iPod playing a video of game play for a more authentic look, after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf0ta-M6ai4&feature=player_embedded] | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "90235",
"author": "Philippe",
"timestamp": "2009-08-29T02:03:56",
"content": "Cool!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90264",
"author": "36chambers",
"timestamp": "2009-08-29T03:44:15",
"content": "Not an entirely orig... | 1,760,377,604.791221 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/28/beef-up-your-ups/ | Beef Up Your UPS | Mike Szczys | [
"home hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"battery backup",
"uninterruptible",
"ups"
] | [Surferdude] was unhappy with the decreasing life of his aging
uninterruptible power supply
. He decided to
beef it up using marine batteries
. He extended the battery connections outside of the UPS case using #10 wire and swapped the two 12 volt gel cells with the heavy duty lead-acid batteries. Doing so upgraded the device from 20 amp-hours to 84 amp-hours at a cost of about $160. If you’re thinking about taking this on yourself,
pay attention to the countinuous output rating of your UPS to prevent a fire risk
. | 54 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "90223",
"author": "bobdole",
"timestamp": "2009-08-29T01:15:46",
"content": "ugh… instructables… no thanks, not clicking.I’m really unimpressed with ‘ibles lately, they’ve been crippling the site unless you pay them money.. to the point where you can’t effectively read the articles,... | 1,760,377,604.7365 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/28/xmpp-and-home-automation/ | XMPP And Home Automation | Matt Schulz | [
"Android Hacks",
"g1 hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"actionscript",
"android",
"G1",
"home automation",
"jabber",
"java",
"javascript",
"xmpp"
] | [Matthias] from Intuity Media Lab put together a nice bit on
controlling office lights with XMPP
from his Android phone. In the article, he explains the components involved in the project, why he chose XMPP, and lists everything you need to replicate it. The project makes use of a wide variety of tools and libraries, weaving together code from multiple languages to achieve its goal. Overall, his project is a welcome change in a world
full
of
Twitter
–
based
solutions
. | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "90250",
"author": "TheKhakinator",
"timestamp": "2009-08-29T02:46:57",
"content": "not a hack, it doesn’t tweet and there’s no arduinos :/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90255",
"author": "cyanide",
"timestamp": "2009-0... | 1,760,377,604.588788 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/28/wireless-electricity/ | Wireless Electricity | Mike Szczys | [
"green hacks",
"Video Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"batteries",
"electricity",
"tesla",
"witricity"
] | [ted id=619]
[Eric Giler] has a
talk available over at TED
that discusses and demos delivering electricity without wires. Called
WiTricity
, these methods were
developed by a team at MIT a few years ago
who were working off of the concepts of
Nicolai Tesla
. The facts shared about our current energy delivery system are a bit shocking; we’ve spent over $1 trillion in infrastructure and produce more than 40 billion disposable batteries each year.
The demonstration in the video starts about 6:30 into it. At first we see a flat panel television powered wirelessly from about 6 feet away, then the T-Mobile G1 powered from the same distance. The thought of new TVs coming with WiFi and WiTricity standard would mean just hanging it on the wall with no cords to run. We can also image cellphones that have a battery only for backup purposes when you were not near a transmitter.
The power transfer occurs between two coils that resonate at the same frequency and only that frequency. This remind us a bit of Orson Scott Card’s
fantasy communications device from the Ender’s Saga
. | 78 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "90209",
"author": "therian",
"timestamp": "2009-08-29T00:25:57",
"content": "It just make me mad. All this pretending that they find something new when they using 100 years old technology",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "470335... | 1,760,377,604.908325 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/28/tiny-light-seeking-robots/ | Tiny Light-seeking Robots | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"AVR",
"light seeking",
"photoresistor",
"robot"
] | [Alex]
continues to
delight us
with his
projects
. His third-generation
tiny Braitenberg vehicle
, a light seeking robot, is a big improvement over its predecessor, the
mini Braitenberg vehicle
. He’s moved from an Arduino based design to using the AVR ATtiny25v, replaced the breadboard with a PCB, and reduced the parts count. We think it was a great idea to use shrink tubing to shield the back of the photo-resistors from ambient light. Don’t miss the
video of these little guys chasing a flashlight
beam after the break.
[vimeo
http://vimeo.com/5664333%5D | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "90206",
"author": "alaysias",
"timestamp": "2009-08-29T00:08:12",
"content": "great video! i love how they follow the light. kudos to alex for making the braitenberg vehicle even smaller [and rid of arduino]",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"c... | 1,760,377,605.124057 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/28/apple-tv-with-boxee-and-more-update/ | Apple TV With Boxee And More Update | Mike Szczys | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Mac Hacks"
] | [
"apple",
"apple tv",
"boxee",
"ssh",
"xbmc"
] | In November,
we covered installing Boxee on AppleTV
using atv-usb-creator. [Danny] has written a tutorial on
installing Boxee, XBMC, NitoTV, SSH access, and external USB hard drive support
. His method installs most of the software via the USB patch stick, then uses the SSH support to enable the external drive and install
NitoTV
. The tutorial lists a Mac running OSX 10.4 or newer as a prerequisite but there is now a Windows version of atv-usb-creator.
According to their Google Code page
Linux support for this package is on the way.
[via
AppleTV Hacks
] | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "90197",
"author": "/b/tard",
"timestamp": "2009-08-28T23:44:22",
"content": "She’s trolling!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90296",
"author": "David",
"timestamp": "2009-08-29T06:39:38",
"content": "@/b/tard:I thoug... | 1,760,377,605.025716 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/28/xr-noise-box/ | XR-NOISE Box | James Munns | [
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"audio",
"function generator",
"noise",
"scratch",
"synthesizer",
"xr-2206"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l5DOGn_rFw&hl=en&fs=1&]
[denha] has assembled a noise box he calls the
XR-NOISE
using an
XR-2206
multi-waveform
function generator
. The output has an impressive number of controllable settings, and uses a set of LEDs to indicate sound level and rate. The XR-NOISE uses 1/4″ jacks for both in and out, and can also be controlled by the tap-sensitive mic located on the front of the box. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any further documentation or schematics to provide context, but it seems that
this function generator chip
has also been used for other audio hack projects as well, including a
scratch-synth
using resistive pressure sensors.
[via
MatrixSynth
] | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "90196",
"author": "colecago",
"timestamp": "2009-08-28T23:40:26",
"content": "Once you get past him f’ing with the camera, its actually pretty enjoyable.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90205",
"author": "davisr",
"times... | 1,760,377,605.168906 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/28/tradewars-2002-lives/ | Tradewars 2002 Lives | Mike Szczys | [
"downloads hacks"
] | [
"ASCII",
"scripting",
"tradwars"
] | Are you growing tired of playing all those high-framerate first person shooters? Perhaps you long for the days of blocky graphics and text-based play. You’re in luck because
Tradewars 2002
is still around. Many of you will remember this 1980’s
BBS based
game, playing a limited number of turns per day in an effort to rule the galaxy.
The game may be around, but the way you play it has changed drastically. The advent of custom scripts that interface directly with the game system makes this more of a who can write a better script rather than who is better at the game. A hacker’s challenge if you will.
Using programs like
TWX Proxy
or
Swath
, scripts can be written and executed to perform just about any task you wish.
Mapping out the galaxy
, automatically
trading for profit
(cashing), automatically
colonizing planets
, and much more can all be done automatically. The most advanced script writers have produced advanced team scripts that several people run at once to coordinate team based strategy and hunting scripts that try to anticipate where enemies will end up so they can be ambushed.
There are plenty of
resources
for
learning to play
the game
, the
basics of the
scripting languages
used, and finding
servers to play on
. Dust off your coding skills and get down to some ASCII graphic goodness. | 20 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "90192",
"author": "peter",
"timestamp": "2009-08-28T23:21:53",
"content": "Its stuff like this that got me turned off of this and other games. I used to play this game almost religiously back in the day. However once the scripts started showing up it just took the fun out of the gam... | 1,760,377,605.079987 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/28/arduino-augmented-reality/ | Arduino + Augmented Reality | Caleb Kraft | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"augmented reality",
"pachube"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxr8oaRUq6k]
In this video you can see the marriage of Arduino data collecting units and Augmented reality systems. Set up by the people at
pachube.com
, a site for sharing sensor information from your location, this is an interesting idea. We can see that each unit has its own pattern, so it can have the data it is collecting superimposed on it in 3d. While this is really cool looking, we’re still trying to figure out what the use of this is? Who is going to be wandering around their office with a camera hooked to a computer? Maybe this is meant more for phones, so you can get quick readings off of the units without having to go access their logs. Since we know how much you guys absolutely love the Arduino, we though you might also be interested in this
larger than life portrait
we saw floating around.
[via
littlebirdceo
] | 23 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "90110",
"author": "Pongo1471",
"timestamp": "2009-08-28T15:39:42",
"content": "Iv been wondering how much longer it will be untill we see augmented reality games, from what i remmember the army are working on a version, last i saw they had a pic straped to a set of binoculars with a... | 1,760,377,605.235591 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/28/usb-gameboy-cart/ | USB Gameboy Cart | Zach Banks | [
"handhelds hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"cart",
"cartridge",
"diy",
"electronics",
"gameboy",
"homebrew",
"microcontroller",
"pic",
"sd card",
"usb"
] | [Jose Torres] sent in his latest attempt at creating a custom Gameboy game cartridge. We’ve
featured
his
projects
before, and he’s come a lot closer over the last 2 years. He’s aiming to create an easy interface for homebrewers that doesn’t require any other special equipment. In this revision, he’s using a
PIC
and a
memory controller
to interface between an SD card and the Gameboy. The cart also has USB support for uploading files to the SD card and reprogramming the PIC. Because it’s just USB mass storage, it will work on almost any modern OS. He’s currently testing the device, but hopes to be selling them soon for $40. | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "90105",
"author": "Konrad",
"timestamp": "2009-08-28T14:46:44",
"content": "Really cool :-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90111",
"author": "tyco",
"timestamp": "2009-08-28T15:41:38",
"content": "is there a write-u... | 1,760,377,605.298128 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/27/ubuntu-repository-crash-course/ | Ubuntu Repository Crash-course | Mike Szczys | [
"Linux Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"linux",
"repositories",
"ubuntu"
] | [blip.tv ?posts_id=2542951&dest=-1]
[Alan] has just posted an
Ubuntu screencast
that will take you through a crash course in the
Ubuntu repositories
. If you are new to Ubuntu this will give you a much better grasp on how software repositories are handled.
The different types of updates are discussed: Security updates fix bugs that cause a system vulnerability. Updates (generic) are for bug fixes that aren’t a security threat. Proposed updates are for testing before an update hits the ‘updates’ section. Finally, backports are updates from a newer version that have been ‘
backported
‘ so systems running older versions of Ubuntu can have the benefit of newer features and fixed bugs.
He also provides some tips on selecting package sources (main, universe, restricted, and multiverse), and choosing the fastest mirror to reduce download times. This screencast is just part one and we hope to see
3rd party repositories
,
personal package archives
, and
repository caching
covered in future installments. | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "89958",
"author": "Sean",
"timestamp": "2009-08-27T19:53:51",
"content": "great, uh… hack. yeah.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "89961",
"author": "regomodo",
"timestamp": "2009-08-27T20:05:26",
"content": "I’m not u... | 1,760,377,605.499564 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/27/fedora-rawhide-nightly-builds/ | Fedora Rawhide Nightly Builds | Mike Szczys | [
"downloads hacks",
"Linux Hacks"
] | [
"fedora",
"linux",
"livecd",
"nightly builds"
] | The devs over at the
Fedora Project
are hard at work on the development version: Rawhide. They’ve just setup automated nightly builds of the liveCD which can easily be downloaded and
tested on a CD, DVD, USB drive, virtual machine, or separate partition
.
Rawhide will be released as Fedora 12 upon completion. With this version you have a choice of Gnome 2.28 or KDE 4.3 for your desktop. There is also
improved power management
,
expanded support for mobile broadband
,
easy bug reporting
, and many more
new or improved features
. So roll up your sleeves,
download last night’s build
, and help test some open source software.
[via
Download Squad
] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "89920",
"author": "PocketBrain",
"timestamp": "2009-08-27T17:54:23",
"content": "Okay, so why am I stuck on Fedora 10 on my thumb drive? Going to download and try this out.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "89928",
"author": ... | 1,760,377,605.358033 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/27/bliplace-led-toy/ | Bliplace LED Toy | Caleb Kraft | [
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"burning man",
"led"
] | [blip.tv ?posts_id=2542286&dest=-1]
These wearable LED toys called
Bliplace
are freshly made and headed to
Burning Man
. They’re pretty much just a sound reactive toy, but [Tanjent] decided to go pretty in depth in the design. They are 1″ wide octagons with 3 super bright LEDs and a microphone. The microphone is sampled at 4400 hz by the ATTiny25v and the signal is split into high and low frequency streams. The center LED is low frequency, the sides are the high. They can run a full week on a battery. He’ll be handing out 350 of them at Burning Man, then releasing the source code, boards, and kits after that. | 28 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "89889",
"author": "Hackius",
"timestamp": "2009-08-27T15:35:00",
"content": "How on earth is he powering them?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "89890",
"author": "Christopher",
"timestamp": "2009-08-27T15:39:28",
"con... | 1,760,377,605.561837 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/27/reprap-wedge/ | RepRap Wedge | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"cnc hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"3d printer",
"mendel",
"prototype",
"rapid",
"rapid prototyping",
"reprap"
] | Generation 2.0 of
RepRap, the self replicating 3d printer
, is approaching realization.
Code named “Mendel”
, the new design will be wedge shaped rather than a box which offers a few benefits. The overall design is smaller than the original RepRap but the printable area is larger. This means more functionality with less building material. With each new generation of this project the assembly gets easier and total parts price drops making the RepRap available to a much wider audience.
The RepRap blog
has put forth some design specs
, a
picture of the assembled prototype
, and has
links for general assembly information (ZIP)
. We won’t see a finished version of this released for a few months but so far it looks like a big leap forward. | 36 | 36 | [
{
"comment_id": "89895",
"author": "Matthew",
"timestamp": "2009-08-27T16:08:07",
"content": "Sweeeeet.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "89899",
"author": "Atooser",
"timestamp": "2009-08-27T16:33:30",
"content": "No Arduino, no hack.... | 1,760,377,605.78558 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/26/foundation-cooling/ | Foundation Cooling | James Munns | [
"computer hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"cooling",
"overclocking",
"pc",
"slashdot",
"water cooling"
] | Overclockers are always trying to come up with
new
,
colder
, and quieter ways to keep their PCs cool. [gigs] was so dedicated to this, he decided to
lay 6 meters of copper pipe
to use as a radiator in his new house’s foundation. As of now, the foundation is laid (copper pipes and all), and the forum posts come complete with
finished slab
pics, though there is no house to speak of yet.
[via
Slashdot
] | 67 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "89741",
"author": "Manky",
"timestamp": "2009-08-27T01:22:31",
"content": "I get the feeling this won’t work as well as he thinks. Mainly due to concrete being a relivitly poor conductor of heat and it will hold some of the heat in. Now if he went into the soil that might be differn... | 1,760,377,605.876895 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/26/experimental-search-engine-display/ | Experimental Search Engine Display | Caleb Kraft | [
"google hacks"
] | [
"bing",
"google",
"search engine"
] | goodTimes.searchEngine
is an experimental set up to display search engine results. Be sure you’re using Firefox or IE, because it isn’t working with chrome right now. [Gordon] pointed us to it and asked for our feedback. We had a pretty quick list of improvements we would like to see, such as the category changes not popping up in new windows, or the new windows appearing on top for that matter. Or most importantly, a way to transition from the fancy preview window to a new tab or window. We are curious to hear your thoughts on this. What would make it better? Is it even needed? Is he building a tool to fix a problem that isn’t there? With Bing showing some nice new features over google, would
something like this be of more use
? | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "89713",
"author": "Xeracy",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T21:58:53",
"content": "wow, i like it. It keeps the ads out, it provides a workspace for sorting through the pages you want to quickly sort through, without the time of opening or switching tabs. it would be nice to see a button o... | 1,760,377,605.706785 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/26/ps3-slim-teardown/ | PS3 Slim Teardown | Zach Banks | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"News"
] | [
"ifixit",
"ps3",
"ps3 slim",
"teardown"
] | The new PS3 Slim has just been released, and ifixit has already
posted a teardown
. First, they easily removed the included 120GB hard drive, suggesting that upgrading it shouldn’t be too hard. In order to get inside the cover, however, they needed to use a security Torx screwdriver. In the end, the Blu-ray drive turned out to be the bulkiest component, followed by some surprisingly gigantic fans. Hopefully this means that Sony won’t have to deal with
overheating issues
.
Related:
Nintendo DSi Teardown | 23 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "89708",
"author": "toges",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T21:41:19",
"content": "i really wish the ps3 mod community would start putting more work into it. the xbox backing has been awesome but no one’s done much with the ps3. am i missing something?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth":... | 1,760,377,606.248588 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/28/push-potentiometer-from-spares/ | Push Potentiometer From Spares | Caleb Kraft | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"button",
"potentiometer"
] | In an effort to simplify his interface, [danwagoner] cobbled together this
push potentiometer
. It utilizes a potentiometer mounted directly above a push button with a spring mounted around it. This way the user has only one item to deal with. They can twist the knob and press down on it to push the button. We love seeing people come up with ways of creating their own items instead of buying something. This was fairly inventive and reminds us of the
LED buttons
we saw back in January. Great job [danwagoner]. | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "90100",
"author": "catzburg",
"timestamp": "2009-08-28T14:12:31",
"content": "cute!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90119",
"author": "Agent420",
"timestamp": "2009-08-28T16:19:24",
"content": "perfect input device f... | 1,760,377,606.049068 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/27/energy-efficient-fridge-hack/ | Energy Efficient Fridge Hack | James Munns | [
"green hacks",
"home hacks",
"News"
] | [
"efficient",
"energy efficiency",
"fridge",
"green",
"solar"
] | We’ve already covered a
pipe bomb
mini-fridge
this week, but inventor [Tom Chalko] provides us with today’s fridge hack. He noticed that
chest-style
(laying down, see above) freezers were more energy efficient when compared to normal stand up refrigerators at the same size, despite the colder temperatures involved.
This is largely due to the fact
that these chest-style freezers keep cold air in like water in a bowl, even if the lid is open. He has written a
very
thorough report on his findings
(pdf), as well as a detailed walk through of the manageable task of converting a chest-style freezer into a chest-style fridge. In the end, his fridge only used 103 Wh of electricity on the first day to reach and maintain between 4° and 7° C (39° to 45° F), and he noted that 30% of that was just getting it up to temperature. After that, the fridge only turned on for roughly 90 seconds an hour, making it a very quiet fridge as well. | 39 | 38 | [
{
"comment_id": "90020",
"author": "Insipid Melon",
"timestamp": "2009-08-28T01:16:32",
"content": "Unfortunately this doesn’t really scale well for those of us with families (or planning to store lots of leftovers).However, regarding the underlying idea–that you save energy costs when you minimize ... | 1,760,377,606.002854 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/27/vonage-on-iphone/ | Vonage On IPhone | James Munns | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"iphone hacks",
"News"
] | [
"iphone",
"iphone apps",
"voip",
"vonage"
] | Vonage
has promised to release
an official iPhone app
to compete with other providers such as
Skype
, and it is currently working its way through Apple’s well documented approval process. Unfortunately, this app would most likely come with an initial cost and/or subscription fee, though
a way has been figured out
to retrieve Vonage’s SIP authentication information, which would allow use of the Vonage network over other iPhone SIP Clients such as
Fring
. This solution does still contain the Wi-Fi only clause, but we have ways of
making
you
talk
, iPhone. This could also possibly be used on other platforms with SIP clients such as Android or WinMo. | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "90061",
"author": "eric",
"timestamp": "2009-08-28T07:02:56",
"content": "well documented? i guess it will be soon if the fcc does their job.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "90066",
"author": "ghrayfahx",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,377,605.925988 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/27/simple-low-tech-attack-on-credit-unions/ | Simple, Low-tech Attack On Credit Unions | Brett Haddock | [
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"banks",
"low-tech hack",
"malware",
"NCUA",
"social engineering"
] | The National Credit Union Administration is warning all Credit Unions about malicious hackers and a low tech attack by mailing branches CDs with malware on them.
Using a somewhat dated but still effective
Social Engineering
attack, a package designed to look as though it was mailed by the NCUA is sent to the branch. The package contains CDs with the attacker’s malware on it, and an accompanying
letter
(PDF) which informs the branches, ironically, about phishing scams. The letter directs the personnel to review the “training material” on the enclosed CD. Once branch employees proceed as directed, the malware is executed and gives the attackers access to the branch computer systems. Credit Unions seem to be targeted because they tend to be smaller local associations rather then larger banks with higher budgets for computer security.
When people think computer security, they usually envision high tech systems comprising of long passwords, expensive hardware, and updating software with the latest security patches. However, as famed social engineer and hacker Kevin Mitnick once said, “There is no patch for stupidity”.
[via
threat post
] | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "89993",
"author": "Jack",
"timestamp": "2009-08-27T22:26:55",
"content": "I think a simple low tech attack would be a gun. Or a knife. all depending. Maybe if the cd’s were distributed by an arduino controlled system or something it would be much more impressive. Definitely needs mo... | 1,760,377,606.189068 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/27/phasma-insectoid/ | Phasma Insectoid | Caleb Kraft | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"insect",
"isprawl",
"steam"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iYZVz8l0Nk]
When we saw the video of the
Phasma insectoid robot
above, we immediately thought of
the iSprawl
. After checking out their site, it turns out that the two are connected in some way, we’re not sure how, maybe just inspiration. The Phasma gives us a little more insight into the construction of the bot. The photos are highly detailed so you can see how the drive works, using the sliding cables to extend the “feet”. It seems quite agile in the video. The drive system, working off of a single cam seems like it would be easy to
convert to steam
. We would love to see that.
[via
the pink tentacle
] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "89972",
"author": "cyanide",
"timestamp": "2009-08-27T21:01:51",
"content": "pretty cool.now make it autonomous and give it a geiger counter.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "89975",
"author": "tobias",
"timestamp": "2009... | 1,760,377,606.334094 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/27/diy-3d-gets-a-nod-at-siggraph/ | DIY 3D Gets A Nod At SIGGRAPH | Phil Burgess | [
"Laser Hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"3d",
"3d scanner",
"3d scanning",
"scanner",
"scanning",
"siggraph"
] | Among the courses at this year’s
SIGGRAPH
(an annual technical conference and showcase of the latest in computer graphics research) was an introduction to 3D scanning that covers all the bases: mathematical foundations, two different build-your-own hardware approaches, and how to process and render the resulting datasets. The presenters have assembled all the course materials on a
top-notch web site
featuring slide shows, complete source code, and an extensive
round-up with links
to both commercial and homebrew 3D scanning gear. The simplest of these methods requires nothing more than a webcam, halogen light source, and a stick!
SIGGRAPH and 3D scanning have been
highlighted
many
times
on Hack a Day, but we’re swelling with pride now seeing an academic venue give a favorable nod to the DIY hacking community (on their links page). Okay, so Hack a Day isn’t called out by name, but just wait’ll next year!
[Thanks Fahrzin] | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "89987",
"author": "stinkymonkey",
"timestamp": "2009-08-27T21:54:17",
"content": "I saw a thing a while back where someone used a 3d object and placed it in a bowl of milk slowly adding dropper after dropper of milk and taking pictures/scanning it rendered a perfect 3d scan…",
"... | 1,760,377,606.293998 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/27/nterfacing-a-digital-rotary-switch/ | Interfacing A Digital Rotary Switch | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"electronics",
"optical encoder",
"pic",
"rotary",
"rotary switch"
] | [hw640] has put together a well written and detail packed explanation of
how to interface with a digital rotary switch
. These
digital opto encoders
have just two outputs with four possible logic levels (00, 10, 11, 01). The relative position of the switch is insignificant but the direction of rotation is what matters.
The short and dirty: Each of the switch’s 2 output pins is attached to a pin change interrupt on the microcontroller. Every time the switch moves it generates either a rising edge or a falling edge on one of the two pins; both edges cause an interrupt. By checking which pin caused the interrupt, then comparing the logic levels of the two pins after that interrupt, we can determine the direction the switch was rotated.
Although this explanation uses a
PIC
and code written in
PicBasic Pro
the concepts are discussed in the abstract and would easily be adapted to an
AVR
or another microcontroller of your choice. | 19 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "89955",
"author": "googfan",
"timestamp": "2009-08-27T19:46:00",
"content": "ive always hated those things1st",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "89957",
"author": "Rlyeh_drifter",
"timestamp": "2009-08-27T19:51:03",
"co... | 1,760,377,606.442219 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/25/htpc-inside-a-cellular-phone/ | HTPC Inside A Cellular Phone | Mike Szczys | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"home entertainment hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"Case mod",
"htpc",
"xbmc"
] | Reader [Jani] always wanted to
throw a PC into an old school cell phone
. He based this around the extremely small
Commell LS-371 motherboard
which measures just 146×101 mm (~5.9×4 in). He found room behind an existing access door for a DVI connector and audio in/out. He even incorporated an OLED screen, secondary sound card for “speakerphone”, and a WiFi connector into the handset. Things start to get interesting when he decided the SSD was too large and needed to be removed from its case. The one thing that seems to be missing here is an IR receiver for a remote but since he plans on running XBMC, he may already be setup to use another option such as an
iPhone to act as a remote interface
. | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "89486",
"author": "missingNo",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T00:08:03",
"content": "So he ruined a valuable, rare device?… what an idiot.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "89505",
"author": "andres",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T01... | 1,760,377,606.38656 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/25/single-can-mini-fridge/ | Single Can Mini Fridge | Jakob Griffith | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"beverage",
"cold",
"fridge",
"mini fridge",
"peltier",
"refridgerator",
"single"
] | What looks like a potential WMD, requires a huge power supply, and has several fans and wires dangling off the sides? Why a
mini fridge
of course! Your cubical buddy at work may have a
Perfect Coffee Mug
, or a
USB powered fridge
but it wont be as large of a caliber as [CaptPikel’s]. Little information about it is out thus far, but an Instructable is promised. We do however know that it uses 3 peltier coolers (assumed to be 60watt each) and can cool down to 46F while being underpowered! If only it held just a
few more cans
. | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "89500",
"author": "dirk",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T01:08:02",
"content": "55 watts to cool one can?He doesn’t mention what kind of time frame that takes, but that seems a little obnoxious.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "89504",... | 1,760,377,606.496787 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/25/arduino-based-synthesizer/ | Arduino Based Synthesizer | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"dac",
"synthesizer"
] | [Jacob] is working on his final project for the
Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design
. Based around Arduino, the quality and quantity of his
build notes
make this a fascinating read and there are
several examples to listen to
.
The project features a brilliant idea for input: He uses a 1/8″
TRS connector
(mini-jack) whose tip is the input to the DAC of the Arduino. There are conductive pads in the shape of a keyboard that you touch the tip of the connector to in order to complete the circuit. Alternatively, the other two conductors on the connector deliver power and ground for easy interface with external controllers. He built an
example controller that uses an LED and photoresistor
to alter the signal returning to the Arduino. Put your hand in front of the light and the sound changes.
[via
Arduino: blog
] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "89490",
"author": "Fate",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T00:31:15",
"content": "Brilliant? Or just a rip off of a Stylophone?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "89492",
"author": "Ben Ryves",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T00:34:41",
... | 1,760,377,606.643412 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/25/blackberry-storm-2-teardown/ | BlackBerry Storm 2 Teardown | Matt Schulz | [
"blackberry hacks",
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"blackberry",
"cellphone",
"leaked",
"mobile",
"photos",
"piezoelectric",
"storm 2",
"teardown"
] | Photos of the BlackBerry Storm 2, both inside and out, have been leaked.
Engadget provides us with the specifics
, going into detail about the four large piezoelectric pressure sensors that sit underneath the screen. It looks as though the screen will still function as a button, just without the physical movement of the
previous model
that received mixed reviews. For a better explanation of the technology behind the phone’s innovative screen,
here’s a video describing it
in more detail and
a writeup over at the CrackBerry forums
. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "89572",
"author": "Tim",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T09:01:56",
"content": "a) Engadget don’t go into any detail.b) That video is useless. It doesn’t explain anything.c) The crackberry page says the screen *does* move. This means it probably isn’t PZT because that is very rigid.My gues... | 1,760,377,606.683497 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/25/google-maps-adds-arterial-traffic-monitoring/ | Google Maps Adds Arterial Traffic Monitoring | Matt Schulz | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"google hacks",
"gps hacks"
] | [
"google",
"google maps",
"mobile maps",
"mobile phone",
"traffic",
"traffic monitoring"
] | Traffic monitoring has been available on Google Maps for some time, but has been limited to highways and major roads. According to the
Google LatLong blog
, traffic tracking support is now available for smaller surface roads in
select cities
. The data is gathered through mobile phones running My Location. Anybody wishing to help out can sign up their phone and
opt into My Location
to participate in the anonymous data collection. Now you won’t have to gamble on whether or not your back road alternative route is congested when there’s construction on the freeway.
Dash
tried something similar with their two-way traffic reporting, but we’re guessing that Google’s version will have even better performance thanks to a rapidly increasing install base. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "89463",
"author": "macegr",
"timestamp": "2009-08-25T22:23:14",
"content": "This is incredible…I happen to live in one of the cities and a lot of my local streets now have live traffic monitoring. Good stuff….",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"... | 1,760,377,606.738604 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/25/fritzing/ | Fritzing, Go From Prototype To Product | Mike Szczys | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"downloads hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"design",
"pcb",
"schematic",
"software"
] | Fritzing
is an open source project designed to help you move from a prototype to a finished project. Aimed at those basing their projects around Arduino, you start by building your physical prototype, then recreate it with Fritzing software’s graphical editor. From there you can generate a schematic, PCB artwork, and PCB production files.
[thanks CH] | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "89459",
"author": "zetsway",
"timestamp": "2009-08-25T22:14:07",
"content": "Awesome, thanks. I’m going to try this right now.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "89462",
"author": "an4rk",
"timestamp": "2009-08-25T22:23:02"... | 1,760,377,606.840683 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/25/passwords-on-floppy-disk/ | Passwords On Floppy Disk | Mike Szczys | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"floppy",
"password"
] | [Wehrdo] has posted a
guide with an extremely low-tech solution to password management
. He literally put the passwords on a floppy disk in the form of paper glued to the magnetic film. For those that still have some floppy disks around, this is a zero cost hack. We wouldn’t recommend this for state secrets, but for those prolific forum registrations it’s a great idea. | 24 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "89439",
"author": "BigD145",
"timestamp": "2009-08-25T20:41:38",
"content": "It’s not a hack, but I do like the idea.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "89445",
"author": "Andrewr05",
"timestamp": "2009-08-25T21:08:15",
... | 1,760,377,606.954155 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/26/propeller-platform/ | Propeller Platform | James Munns | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"microcontroller",
"propeller",
"prototype board"
] | [nmcclana] has posted an
assembly walkthrough
for an Arduino-style prototyping board for the 80 MHz, eight core
Parallax Propeller Microcontroller
. While not board compatible with Arduino shields like the ARM-based
Maple board we covered
, it does have that familiar layout, and provides access to all 32 I/O pins, and the 3.8″ x 2.5″ footprint was kept in mind to allow easy creation of
shields
modules that can be designed using
ExpressPCB’s
miniboard service. The Platform Kit also has the advantage over other Propeller kits such as
SchmartBoard’s offerings
, which require soldering of surface mount parts. Kits are available at
Gadget Gangster
, and ready for
your next design
that needs
a little more
sauce
than the Arduino can offer. | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "89706",
"author": "pelrun",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T21:37:00",
"content": "A ‘little’ more sauce? It’s a whole shipping container full of barrels of more sauce! :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "89720",
"author": "localrog... | 1,760,377,606.89533 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/26/diy-bench-vice/ | DIY Bench Vice | Mike Szczys | [
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"toolmonger",
"vice",
"wood"
] | A bench vice can be one of the most used tools in your workshop. For those that don’t have a workshop [Matt]
built a vice that clamps to a table
. He used scrap wood,
MDF
, threaded rod, washers, nuts, and wing nuts. Cheap, easy to build, and very useful!
[via
Toolmonger
] | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "89686",
"author": "amishx64",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T21:03:15",
"content": "If that were my vice, it sure wouldn’t last long.Good for holding PCBs I guess though.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "89688",
"author": "Spadefin... | 1,760,377,607.013261 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/26/hard-rock-radio/ | Hard Rock Radio | Mike Szczys | [
"digital audio hacks",
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"cement",
"radio"
] | [Guus] sent in his project where he
put a radio inside of a rock
. He started with a 1970’s car stereo and encapsulated it in cement by wrapping it in duct tape, building a wooden form around it, and pouring in the wet cement. Three ports are included on the back for power, antennae, and speaker. He included
an outline of how he did this
but we’d love to hear some tips on how he made it
look like a rock and not just a brick of concrete
. | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "89670",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T19:50:14",
"content": "“but we’d love to hear some tips on how he made it look like a rock and not just a brick of concrete.”um, it does look just like a brick of concrete – a badly deteriorated brick of concrete.interesting idea. ... | 1,760,377,607.252326 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/26/wifi-mapping-with-a-smartphone/ | WiFi Mapping With A Smartphone | Brett Haddock | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"iphone hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"apple iphone",
"gps",
"iphone",
"mapping",
"smartphone",
"wifi"
] | Not so long ago, mapping WiFi required a laptop, GPS, a big antenna and Kismet/NetStumbler. Today’s smartphones have replaced even this task. For those of us running a GPS and WiFi equipped Windows Mobile phone,
WiFiFoFum
is an excellent and simple solution, as well as a great companion for installing an AP.
Start up WiFiFoFum, put your phone on the dash and let it collect the locations of the APs you find while driving around. You can then save the file in several formats: XML, txt, Wi-scan, POI Database, MemoryMap, Netstumbler, and even as a KML File for Google Earth/Google Maps. We have also found it to be a really handy tool for setting up WiFi in a large area, to help find the best home for the router which provides the best coverage. WiFiFoFum is also available for the
iPhone
via the App Store. | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "89662",
"author": "Zach",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T19:21:35",
"content": "Just a few issues with the iPhone application. (These issues are a restriction of the hardware or software)-This will only find access points that have broadcast ENABLED.-Only filters for WEP and AD HOC netwo... | 1,760,377,607.066404 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/26/twitter-as-a-botnet-command-center/ | Twitter As A Botnet Command Center | Matt Schulz | [
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"botnet",
"command center",
"infostealer",
"jaiku",
"malicious",
"malware",
"tumblr",
"twitter"
] | The folks over at
Arbor Networks
were browsing Twitter and discovered something very strange: a Twitter account seemingly posting gibberish. At least, that’s how it appeared at first. Upon closer investigation, they discovered that the profile was posting base64 encoded links to PKZIP archives. When they extracted the contents and unpacked the contained DLL and EXE files, they discovered that the account was posing links to malware that would post user information back to certain URLs. The article was also updated to show that the scheme wasn’t limited to Twitter, but also affected users on Jaiku and Tumblr. It’s a bit scary to see that all malware isn’t as
blatantly obvious as we usually would think
it to be. | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "89659",
"author": "Skitchin",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T19:06:19",
"content": "I’ve found twitter and other blog accounts which were being used to push out the latest spam marketing emails. Guess I should be more vigilant in reporting them.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,607.430442 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/26/open-frame-digital-clock/ | Open-Frame Digital Clock | Caleb Kraft | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"tube"
] | Here’s an interesting project from several years ago. The clock design itself isn’t too noteworthy, but the construction is definitely inspired. You’ll notice that there is no breadboard or PCB, the
frame actually is the circuit
. The tubes he’s using are Numitron tubes, which aren’t as high voltage as
Nixies
or even
VFD
s. This means that there is only 12V maximum going through the exposed rails. He discusses some possible future upgrades such as LED or Nixie or VFD, but since this project is a few years old, who knows if he is still working with it.
[thanks Agent420] | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "89630",
"author": "Agent420",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T15:49:04",
"content": "i love weird clocks ;-)numitrons are also cool, you can drive them directly from 5V ttl or ucontroller io. you get the tube look without a lot of hassle, and there not as over-exposed as nixies.i remember... | 1,760,377,607.38521 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/08/26/spiderbot-emulates-spider-man/ | SpiderBot Emulates Spider-man | Gerrit Coetzee | [
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"cable",
"grappler",
"launcher",
"robot",
"spider",
"spider-man",
"spiderbot"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBikHgnt16E]
Spiderbot moves with four magnetic grapplers
that it can launch, detach, and aim according to it’s path planning algorithm. While the robot is definitely not a final product and is quite a bit away from moving with the same grace and speed as our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, it is definitely one of the more interesting locomotion experiments out there. The video has some nice slow motion footage of the main mechanisms as well as screen captures of the path planning.
[Via
BotJunkie
] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "89622",
"author": "Chris",
"timestamp": "2009-08-26T14:38:25",
"content": "Amazing, they’ve managed to take things like robots and spiderman and make them incredibly boring…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "89624",
"author": ... | 1,760,377,607.566057 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.