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 |
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https://hackaday.com/2009/01/04/light-to-sound-converter/ | Light To Sound Converter | Eliot | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"5volt",
"alex",
"bpw34",
"ir",
"light",
"opamp",
"photodiode"
] | [Alex] built what he calls a
light to sound converter
. It reacts differently depending on the type of light: remote controls, light bulbs, TV screens, etc. A photodiode is used with an amplifier to pick up the light change. That signal is dumped through a dual opamp. He swapped in several different types of photodiodes and settled on the BPW34 intended for visible light. He’ll be incorporating this into a much larger project. | 21 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "57890",
"author": "Brownsy67",
"timestamp": "2009-01-04T19:23:09",
"content": "This could possibly be used to measure the wavelengths (frequency??) of different lights. Instead of having the output hooked up to a speaker, hook it up to an (ohm meter??) or something else that could m... | 1,760,377,699.57041 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/04/tiny-projector-teardown/ | Tiny Projector Teardown | Eliot | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"LED Hacks",
"Portable Video Hacks"
] | [
"3m",
"beam",
"beam splitter",
"dmd",
"flyeye",
"lcos",
"led",
"lens",
"make",
"micromirror",
"optoma",
"pk101",
"projector",
"teardown"
] | The team from Tech-On has taken the time to teardown two interesting microprojectors. The first model they tackled was the
Optoma PK101
. It’s based around a digital micromirror device (
DMD
) like those used in DLP. Separate high intensity red, green, and blue LEDs provide the light source. A
fly-eye style lens
reduces variations between images. They noted that both the LEDs and processors were tied directly to the chassis to dissipate heat.
The next projector was the
3M Co MPro110
. It uses Liquid Crystal on Silicon (
LCoS
) technology. The light source is a single bright white LED. The projector seems to have more provisions for getting rid of heat than the previous one. The most interesting part was the
resin polarizing beam splitter
. It not only reflected specific polarizations, but also adjust the aspect ratio.
[via
Make
] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "57882",
"author": "O Mattos",
"timestamp": "2009-01-04T17:37:26",
"content": "Nice find, but I don’t like the way the article is written in a journalistic fashion full of vague statements with the occasional well thought out quotes from “an engineer”. I’d prefer if the engineer jus... | 1,760,377,699.619883 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/04/game-boy-pocket-backlight/ | Game Boy Pocket Backlight | Eliot | [
"handhelds hacks",
"LED Hacks",
"Nintendo DS Hacks",
"Nintendo Game Boy Hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"backlight",
"backlit",
"benheck",
"binbin",
"ds",
"engadget",
"game boy",
"gameboy",
"led",
"nds",
"Nintendo DS",
"palmertech",
"video"
] | [palmertech] and [Bibin] have both completed backlight projects for the
Game Boy
Pocket recently. The most difficult part of the transplant is carefully removing the reflective backing on the LCD. After a thorough cleaning, a diffuser and backlight panel were added. [palmertech] used a
backlight salvaged from a DS
, while [Bibin]
built his own
using LEDs. You can see his backlight in the video embedded below. There’s a
disassembly video
too.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDBN_PSNUwM]
[via
Engadget
] | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "57866",
"author": "Alex ~",
"timestamp": "2009-01-04T15:17:27",
"content": "I think his name is “Bibin” eliot, not binbin.Shame his pictures aren’t showing up now though, his sounds good.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57867",
... | 1,760,377,699.726314 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/03/washing-machine-generator/ | Washing Machine Generator | Caleb Kraft | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"generator",
"wind power"
] | Building a generator can be a fun and fairly simple project. Getting a large DC motor however can sometimes be difficult. Here is a writeup on how to
make a generator from an old washing machine drive
. It looks like you might need to find a specific machine called the “Smart Drive” to follow their directions exactly though. If you happen to find one, or know of a unit with a similar motor, you can follow these directions to end up with a fairly decent wind powered generator.
[thanks TripleB] | 32 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "57821",
"author": "EdZ",
"timestamp": "2009-01-04T02:13:12",
"content": "I’ve heard of using smartdrive rotors for windmill generators before, but I’d honestly be more interested in using them as enormous stepper motors.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}... | 1,760,377,699.924352 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/03/the-malware-challenge/ | The Malware Challenge | Eliot | [
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"anthony lineberry",
"assembly",
"contest",
"debug",
"flexilis",
"malware",
"malware challenge",
"ollydbg",
"packer",
"reverse engineer",
"wireshark"
] | Our own [Anthony Lineberry] has written up
his experience participating in the
2008 Malware Challenge
as part of his work for Flexilis. The contest involved taking a piece of provided malware, doing a thorough analysis of its behavior, and reporting the results. This wasn’t just to test the chops of the researchers, but also to demonstrate to network/system administrators how they could get into malware analysis themselves.
[Anthony] gives a good overview of how he created his entry (a more
detailed PDF is here
). First, he unpacked the malware using
Ollydbg
. Packers are used to obfuscate the actual malware code so that it’s harder for antivirus to pick it up. After taking a good look at the assembly, he executed the code. He used
Wireshark
to monitor the network traffic and determine what URL the malware was trying to reach. He changed the hostname to point at an IRC server he controlled. Eventually he would be able to issue botnet control commands directly to the malware. We look forward to seeing what next year’s contest will bring. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "57828",
"author": "TJHooker",
"timestamp": "2009-01-04T03:10:19",
"content": "Once you know the structure of PE or ELF it’s pretty easy to unpack one, unless it’s some VM mutating packer with dynamic crypto like some commercial solution have now.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth... | 1,760,377,699.513859 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/09/intel-4004-internals/ | Intel 4004 Internals | Eliot | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"4004",
"bunnie",
"cmos",
"flylogic",
"intel",
"intel 4004",
"karsten",
"silicon"
] | The silicon wizards at Flylogic have certainly
posted an interesting chip this time around
. The
Intel 4004
was the first widely used microprocessor. The logic gates are much larger than you’d find in modern chips. The unique feature is that each gate is designed to make the most efficient use of the silicon instead of the standardized shapes you find now. They’ve uploaded a full image of the chip.
For an introduction to silicon hacking, we reccomend
[bunnie]’s talk from Toorcon
and
[Karsten]’s talk from 24C3
. You can find many more posts on the topic in our
silicon
tag. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "58489",
"author": "Haku",
"timestamp": "2009-01-10T00:29:58",
"content": "Looks like the map of a ZX Spectrum or C64 platform game.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "58503",
"author": "Anthony",
"timestamp": "2009-01-10T04... | 1,760,377,699.970802 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/09/30s-style-regenerative-receiver/ | 30’s Style Regenerative Receiver | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [] | [Des] sent in this really cool writeup on building a
Regenerative receiver using VFDs
.
Regenerative receivers
are basically short wave radio receivers that use positive feedback to more finely tune the signal. Though they can be built with modern components, [Des] wanted to try to make something that not only looked like it was made in the 30’s, but actually used the same technology. He utilized some VFDs in various places where vacuum tubes were needed. After building, [Des] found that the unit performed very well, better than his authentic 30’s radio that he compared it with. Those VFD’s seem to be everywhere recently. We did the story on
using them as amplifiers
, and and building
display drivers
for them too. | 11 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "58470",
"author": "Orv",
"timestamp": "2009-01-09T19:58:47",
"content": "Actually, the purpose of regeneration is not to provide finer tuning. What it actually does is provide more amplification. This allows weaker signals to be tuned with the same number of tubes compared to a di... | 1,760,377,699.667619 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/09/noiseaxe-minisynth/ | NoiseAXE Minisynth | Strom Carlson | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"noiseaxe",
"photoresistor",
"PICAXE",
"synthesizer",
"videos"
] | The
NoiseAXE
is a miniature synthesizer based on the Picaxe 08M microcontroller. Its operating principle is fairly simple: a conductive stylus touches the leg of one of eight resistors to play one of eight notes, while a photoresistor controls the amount of modulation, creating a variable vibrato effect. While the synthesizer’s output is rather limited (the NoiseAXE isn’t exactly a Yamaha DX7), it’s still a pretty cool little project; you could use its unique sounds to add that gritty analog touch to your next electro hit. Check out the video clip below to see and hear it in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi03V_I3Zpk]
[photo:
rarebeasts
] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "58480",
"author": "altpersona",
"timestamp": "2009-01-09T22:33:07",
"content": "If you hooked the touch leg upto infrared reciever diodes or the like you could make it convert the IR in a room to sound..arrange the IR diodes in a circle facing out.. so they dont all go off the same.... | 1,760,377,699.771044 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/09/atari-xbox-360-controller/ | Atari Xbox 360 Controller | Eliot | [
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"2600",
"atari",
"atari 2600",
"ben heckendorn",
"benheck",
"controller",
"Joystick",
"wireless",
"xbox",
"xbox 360",
"xbox 360 controller"
] | It’s amazing what [Ben Heckendorn] can manage to crank out in just five hours. This time it’s a wireless Xbox 360 controller
stuffed inside an Atari 2600 controller
. The guts are from a
Guitar Hero 3
controller. It’s a fairly compact board and [Ben] used thin ATA wire for the connections. While it doesn’t have all the buttons of a true Xbox controller, this 3600 controller has enough to make it useful in arcade games. The joystick portion was reused without any modification. Things like the guide button and ring of light are located underneath. | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "58468",
"author": "The Poolshark",
"timestamp": "2009-01-09T19:34:37",
"content": "Sweet!!!!! Now we can start getting the old Atari thumb syndrome again!!!!!!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "58494",
"author": "chris",
... | 1,760,377,699.450839 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/08/robot-that-shovels-snow-automatically/ | Robot That Shovels Snow Automatically | Strom Carlson | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"robot",
"shovel",
"snow",
"snow shovel",
"tool",
"tools",
"videos"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdEf60wcKcs]
Those of you that live in snowier climates will drool over the
I-Shovel
, a battery powered robot that shovels the snow off your driveway, saving you countless hours of backbreaking labor over the course of a single winter. Its inventors claim that, despite its relatively underpowered motor, it keeps the driveway clear even in heavy snowfall; the trick, apparently, is that the robot constantly monitors the amount of snow on the driveway and springs into action whenever a significant but manageable layer has built up. Unfortunately, the I-Shovel is still a prototype, but with any luck you’ll be able to actually buy one soon. If you’re impatient, of course, you could always try building your own.
[via
Toolmonger
] | 58 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "58384",
"author": "brian",
"timestamp": "2009-01-09T04:31:57",
"content": "But how does it deal with the massive pile left across the bottom of the driveway by the snowplow?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "58387",
"author": ... | 1,760,377,700.050622 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/08/how-to-digital-picture-frame-100-diy/ | How-to: Digital Picture Frame, 100% DIY | Ian | [
"home hacks",
"how-to"
] | [
"digital photo frame",
"digital picture frame",
"diy electronics",
"DIY Projects",
"electronics",
"lcd",
"microcontroller",
"pic",
"screen"
] | There are a ton of
digital picture frame tutorials
out there. Most are old laptops with crafty case reconfigurations that fit a photo frame profile.
We set out to build a 100% DIY, scratch-built digital picture frame. Our frame has a 12bit color LCD, gigabytes of storage on common, FAT-formatted microSD cards, and you can build it at home. We’ve got the details below.
Concept overview
The bitmap images are stored on common, PC-readable microSD cards. A PIC microcontroller reads the images over a three wire SPI bus. The PIC processes the image data and writes it to a color LCD over a unidirectional, 9bit SPI-like bus. A configuration file on the SD card defines the delay between images.
Hardware
Click for a full size schematic image
(PNG). The circuit and PCB are designed using the freeware version of
Cadsoft Eagle
. All the files for this project are included in the project archive linked at the end of the article.
Microcontroller
We used a Microchip
PIC24FJ64GA002
28pin SOIC microcontroller (IC1) in this project. We really like this chip because the peripheral pin select feature lets us put important features on the pins we want; this gives a smaller, simpler, more compact PCB. Each power pin has a 0.1uF bypass capacitor to ground (C1,2). The internal 2.5volt regulator requires a 10uF tantalum capacitor (C12). The chip is programmed through a five pin header, SV1. R1 is a pull-up resistor for the MCLR function on pin 1. Read more about this chip in our
PIC24F introduction
.
A 32.768kHz crystal (Q1) and two 27pF capacitors (C10,11) provide an oscillator for the real-time clock calendar (RTCC). These parts are optional, the initial firmware doesn’t use them. The RTCC could be used as part of a function that superimposes the current time on the screen. Buttons connected to the programming header could be used to set the time.
SD card
MicroSD
cards are completely compatible with regular SD cards, microSD cards can be used in an SD card reader/writer with an adapter. We
tested several microSD card holders
, and settled on one from SparkFun Electronics. The microSD card requires a bypass capacitor between the power pin and ground (C3). An LED indicates microSD read activity, but its also useful for general debugging (LED1, R2).
Color LCD 128×128 Nokia knock-off
This project is designed around
SparkFun’s $20 color LCD panel
. The LCD logic runs at 3.3volts and requires a decoupling capacitor (C4). The LED backlight requires a separate 7volt supply, and appears to have an internal current limiter because example designs don’t use external resistors.
The LCD has a separate input for the 3.3volt display supply. Many report noise in the display if this voltage isn’t clean. We used a ferrite bead (L1) and 0.1uF capacitor (C5) to filter the supply, and haven’t experienced any problems. This even worked on a dirty home-etched prototype. The ferrite bead type isn’t important, we used one left over from our
tiny web server project
.
The small connector is easy to solder on a professional board with a solder mask, but buy several as insurance. SparkFun has a PCB footprint for this part in their
Eagle parts library
, but the spacing between the pads is smaller than
Olimex
or
BatchPCB
will manufacture. We fudged it by decreasing the pad size to get more space between. Don’t depend on the connector to hold the LCD in place, use tape to hold it down. We used sticky-tack to attach the LCD temporarily.
We prototyped an LCD carrier board prior to sending the final design for manufacture. We recommend against using a ground fill under the connector without a solder mask.
Power supply
A 3.3volt supply, provided by an LD1117S33 (IC2), powers the PIC, microSD card, LCD logic, and LCD display. IC2 requires a 0.1uF bypass capacitor (C6) on the supply side, and a 10uF capacitor (C13) on the output. We used the same tantalum capacitor that we used for the PIC internal regulator.
The LCD backlight is powered by an LM317 adjustable regulator (IC3) configured to 7volts with 240 (R5) and 1100 (R6) ohm resistors. C7 and C8 are 0.1uF bypass capacitors for the LM317.
J1 is a SMD power jack for a common
2.1mm DC barrel plug
. C11 is a 10uF electrolytic capacitor that smooths any lag in the supply voltage. C11 has a maximum 16volt input rating, so the supply voltage is best kept under 12volts. 9-12 volts is probably the idea power supply range.
PCB
Click for a full size placement diagram
(PNG). L1, C5, and the LCD are on the opposite side. We can’t prototype two-sided boards in mom’s basement, so we sent this design to
BatchPCB
. Next week we’ll show you how we did it.
Partslist
Part
Description
IC1
PIC 24FJ64GA002
(SOIC)
IC2
LD1117S33
3.3volt regulator (SOT223)
IC3
LM317 adjustable regulator
(SOT223)
U$1
Color LCD 128×128 Nokia knock-off
–
Nokia knock-off connector
C1-8
0.1uF capacitor
(0805)
C10,11
27pF capacitor
(0805)
C12,13
10uF tantalum capacitor
(SMCA)
C14
10uF electrolytic capacitor
(SMD)
L1
ferrite bead
(0805)
LED1
LED
(0805)
Q1
32.768kHz crystal
R1
2000 ohm resistor
(0805)
R2
390 ohm resistor
(0805)
R5
240 ohm resistor
(0805)
R6
1100 ohm resistor
(0805)
SD1
microSD card holder
J1
2.1mm power jack
(SMD)
SV1
0.1” male pin header, right angle
Firmware
The firmware is written in C using the free demonstration version of the
PIC C30 compiler
. Learn all about working with this PIC in our
introduction to the PIC 24F series
. The firmware is included in the project archive at the end of the article.
FAT12/16/32 disk library
Microchip’s FAT 12/16/32 library
gives us easy access to files stored on SD cards. We gave a detailed description of this library in our
web server on a business card project
. If you’re having trouble reading a card with the library, check that it was formatted in a digital camera or using
Panasonic’s SD card formatter
.
Nokia 6100 LCD driver
SparkFun has a
basic 8bit color driver
(ZIP) for the Nokia 6100. We ported it to the PIC, and updated it for the 2byte-per-pixel
12bit color mode
. With a small amount of added complexity, the pixel write rate could easily be increased by using a different 12bit mode that delivers two pixels using 3 bytes.
The LCD uses a 9bit protocol, one bit more than most SPI hardware will handle. The first bit tells the LCD whether the next 8bits are data or a command. On the PIC 24F it’s impossible to manually bang in the first bit, and then use the SPI peripheral to send the remaining 8bits. We lose direct control of the pins when hardware SPI is enabled. The data entry has to be completely bit-banged, which dramatically reduces the screen refresh rate.
Reading Bitmaps
There are a ton of
bitmap formats
. Windows compatibility keeps everyone using the ancient
Windows v3 format
. We created two C structs to read the V3 bitmap data.
Offset
Bytes
Bitmap file header
0
2
Always 0x42 0x4D (hex for BM)
2
4
File size (bytes)
6
2
Reserved, ignored
8
2
Reserved, ignored
10
4
Location in file of the first bitmap data
Bitmap files start with a 14byte file header. The first two bytes are the letters ‘BM’, indicating a bitmap. If the first two bytes are correct, the firmware loads the information header. The last four bytes indicate the beginning of bitmap data, but the current firmware just assumes it will begin at the end of the headers.
Offset
Bytes
Bitmap information header
14
4
Length of bitmap information header (40bytes for Windows V3 bitmaps)
18
4
Width (pixels)
22
4
Height (pixels)
26
2
Color planes, always 1
28
2
Color bits per pixel (1, 4, 8, 16, 24 and 32)
30
4
Compression method, we only read uncompressed (type 0)
34
4
Image data length
38
4
Horizontal resolution (pixels per meter)
42
4
Vertical resolution (pixel per meter)
46
4
Number of colors, ignored.
50
4
Number of important colors, ignored.
A Windows V3 bitmap information header is 40bytes long. The firmware verifies that the header length (offset 14) is 40, indicating a V3 bitmap. If the width (132), height (132), color depth (24), and compression (0) all check out, the image data is processed and output to the screen.
Offset
Bytes
24bit image bitmap data
54+(3n)
1
pixel n red value
54+(3n+1)
1
pixel n green value
54+(3n+2)
1
pixel n blue value
Bitmap images have uncompressed, 1:1 representations of pixel data stored in three byte sequences. The data starts at the lower right-hand corner of the image; first the red value, then green and blue. Wikipedia has a
complete bitmap walk through
.
If the color depth of a bitmap image (24bits) is greater than the LCD can display (12bits), we need to discard the least significant bits of color data. To convert from 24bit color to 12bit color, we just chuck half the color data; an 8bit value of 11110011 is pushed four bits to the right, giving 1111.
Firmware walk-through
Init PIC, SD, LCD.
Read config.ini, create if it does not exist.
Use first character of config.ini to set between image delay.
Look for images, open next image.
Read and check bitmap file header for proper format.
Read and check bitmap information header for version, size, color.
Read and display each pixel value. Adjust bit depth as needed.
Delay, then repeat from 4.
Preparing images
To keep this demo simple, the photo frame only displays the most common bitmap format. Images must be sized to 132x132pixels, with 24bit color.
Open a picture with an image editing program.
Draw a square selection box over the part of the image you want to use, usually using shift and drag.
Crop the image.
Size the image to 132x132pixels.
Save the image as a windows bitmap, 24bits of color depth.
Other image sizes and formats could be supported with a firmware upgrade (PNG, JPG), especially with a pin-compatible microcontroller upgrade to a
giant dsPIC 33F
.
Using it
Put images in the root directory of a FAT formatted SD card. Depending on the last device to format the card, it might need to be formatted with a digital camera or the Panasonic SD formatter.
Optional: make a config.ini file with a text editor. Enter a single digit, from 0-9, to set the between picture delay. Save the file. If you don’t create your own config.ini file, one will be created for you with a 1 second delay.
Put the card in the socket, and plug in the digital picture frame. Images will cycle on the screen with the defined delay.
Taking it further
We see a lot of potential in this simple digital picture frame. Many features can be added with a firmware upgrade, some are the basis for future hardware.
Display other image formats, scale images
Random fades and wipes
Display time and date over image, set with buttons connected to programming pins
Extend the configuration options in config.ini to include longer delays, fade or wipe type
Use a sub directory for images because there are some file limitations to the root directory of a FAT formatted SD card.
Add an ethernet connection for networked display updates.
Download:
dpf.v1.zip
It has moved
to here
.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKlQwLkeWdE]
[digg=http://digg.com/hardware/How_to_Digital_picture_frame_100_DIY] | 50 | 49 | [
{
"comment_id": "58363",
"author": "Gonzalo",
"timestamp": "2009-01-09T00:38:50",
"content": "Cool! however the costs of the parts are too high :(Here in Argentina only the pic might cost about 30 dollars.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "58364",... | 1,760,377,700.152623 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/08/bug-labs-introduces-new-bumodules/ | Bug Labs Introduces New BUGmodules | Strom Carlson | [
"handhelds hacks",
"Portable Video Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"3g",
"802.15.4",
"80211",
"audio",
"bluetooth",
"bug",
"bug labs",
"dlp",
"gsm",
"pan",
"projector",
"wifi",
"wlan",
"zigbee"
] | Bug Labs
, the company that makes modular electronics that allow you to build your own tech doohickeys quickly and easily, has
announced five new modules
: BUGprojector, a mini DLP projector developed in conjunction with
Texas Instruments
, which sounds very much like the
tiny DLP projector we posted about last week
; BUGsound, an audio processing module with four stereo input/output jacks, a microphone, a speaker, and builtin hardware codecs; BUGbee (
802.15.4
) and BUGwifi (802.11 and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR), which will let you connect wirelessly with your PAN and WLAN, respectively; and BUG3g GSM, for connecting to (you guessed it) 3G GSM networks. In conjunction with
Bug Labs’
existing series of modules, especially the highly versatile
BUGvonHippel universal module
, you’ll be able to create some pretty kickass gadgets. No word yet on pricing, although
Bug Labs
expects to ship by the end of Q1 2009. | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "58356",
"author": "rasz",
"timestamp": "2009-01-08T23:04:54",
"content": "I dont care about another GSM module that acts as a MS (module terminal), I want BTS.I read that AT&T and Verizon will be soon offering home SOHO GSM Base Stations for their DSL customers. Wonder if you could ... | 1,760,377,700.411193 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/07/plasma-thruster/ | Plasma Thruster | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"plasma",
"thruster"
] | Some of you probably have plans to build your own spaceships, we know we do. Well, the propulsion system can be a bit tricky, especially if you plan on using plasma drives. This breakdown and
build of a simple plasma thruster
should help you on your way. All you really need is some Argon, a large capacitor bank, and a custom nozzle. You’ve already got most of that right? As usual, be very careful. This is high voltage and very hot. | 34 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "58192",
"author": "grizball",
"timestamp": "2009-01-07T16:54:00",
"content": "neato! i’m gonna strap one to my bike!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "58196",
"author": "Max",
"timestamp": "2009-01-07T17:47:07",
"conte... | 1,760,377,700.243631 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/06/automated-plant-growing/ | Automated Plant Growing | Caleb Kraft | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"automated plant care",
"grow"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tnfcTAoggI]
The Cheap Vegetable Gardener sent us his
fully automated grow chamber project
. In the quest to have fresh strawberries year round, they’ve made some progress in the area of automating their plant care. The whole thing is controlled by a computer that can turn on/off the lights and adjust the temperature. It also takes snapshots and logs the environment conditions so you can chart it all out nicely. The automated watering feature isn’t done yet, but hopefully will be soon. | 29 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "58121",
"author": "RetepV",
"timestamp": "2009-01-06T21:51:32",
"content": "Man, this is a waste of time. You should come to the Netherlands to have a look at how Marihuana is grown. And you can get all the materials you need from the local growshop. :)",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,377,700.473687 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/06/make-a-plasma-cutter/ | Make A Plasma Cutter | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"plasma",
"welder"
] | For those unfortunate few of you who don’t already have a plasma cutter sitting around, [jandgse812] is here to help. He walks you through the process of
building your own plasma cutter from scratch
. Adding up the list of parts brings the total project to roughly $300. He has included visual diagrams for all the wiring as well as specific part numbers and where to get them. Be careful, this is potentially very dangerous, but also very cool. You may need to get a copy of the mission impossible theme to play whenever you use it. At least, that’s what [jandgse812] recommends. You can see a video of it in action after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY7P9v24HqE] | 22 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "58104",
"author": "Eric",
"timestamp": "2009-01-06T19:38:16",
"content": "He WAS selling these plans for about $20. I guess he changed his mind, looks pretty cool and lord knows most of us already have or can get these parts. MUST HAVE THIS.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1... | 1,760,377,700.361935 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/05/twitter-irc-server-tircd/ | Twitter IRC Server, Tircd | Eliot | [
"downloads hacks",
"News"
] | [
"api",
"cnelson",
"irc",
"irc server",
"ircd",
"perl",
"proxy",
"tircd",
"twitter"
] | tircd
is an ircd proxy for talking to the
Twitter API
. It should work with any standard IRC client. After running the Perl script, you authenticate to the IRC server using your Twitter username as your /nick. Join the room #twitter and the /topic will be set to your last update. Any message you type will update Twitter and the room’s topic. All of the people you are following show up in the room as users and post messages as they tweet. If you private message one of them, it will become a direct message on Twitter. Other commands work too: /whois to get a person’s bio, /invite to start following, and /kick to unfollow. The project is brand new and will be added new features in the future like Search API support. Follow
@tircd
for updates. | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "58045",
"author": "Andrew",
"timestamp": "2009-01-06T03:52:53",
"content": "“Bitches don’t know bout my soldering”freakin’ awesome xD",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "58047",
"author": "John Berube",
"timestamp": "2009-01... | 1,760,377,700.304186 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/05/parts-digital-proximity-sensor-sharp-gp2y0d02/ | Parts: Digital Proximity Sensor (Sharp GP2Y0D02) | Ian | [
"Parts",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"collision avoidance",
"electronics",
"gp2y0d02",
"ir sensors",
"object detection",
"parts",
"proximity sensor"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqOzmGNBgJE]
The GP2Y0D02 is an infrared
proximity sensor
with a detection field that extends 80cm. This type of sensor can be used to build collision avoidance systems for robots. We’ll demonstrate this sensor using a single resistor and a multimeter.
Sharp GP2Y0D02 fixed 80cm IR proximity detector (Digikey #
425-2064-ND
, $14.38).
Datasheet
(PDF).
The GP2Y0D02 requires a 5volt power supply (not shown). A 0.1uF bypass capacitor between power and ground (C1) is a good idea, but we didn’t use it in our demonstration. The
open collector output
(pin 1) pulls to ground when no object is detected, a 12K
pull-up resistor
(R1) holds the signal high when an object is detected.
In the demonstration we connected the output of the sensor to a multimeter. When nothing is in front of the sensor, the detector holds the output low (0.40volts). When we put a PCB in front of the sensor, the output changes to
high-impedance
and the pull-up resistor (R1) holds the signal high (5volts).
Why open collector?
An open collector output doesn’t toggle between high and ground, it toggles between ground and unconnected. The unconnected state, also called high impedance, exerts nothing on the output and allows the signal line to float. This is an undefined state for most microcontrollers that returns rapidly varying values, so we use a resistor (R1) to hold the signal high. The open collector output overcomes the small amount of current flowing through resistor to register the low state. Without this resistor, the output will never reach a proper high state.
Open collector outputs are useful when several sensors need to share the same microcontroller pin. Multiple sensors outputting high to the same microcontroller pin is generally considered a bad practice that can damage parts of a circuit. Multiple open collector outputs, however, can only switch to ground; a single resistor holds the signal high. In the case of multiple GP2Y0D02s, the signal will be high only when all connected sensors detect an object and switch to high impedance state.
Like this post? Check out the
parts posts
you may have missed. | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "58027",
"author": "Andrew",
"timestamp": "2009-01-06T00:33:50",
"content": "I love these parts tutorials/discussions. Keep ’em coming!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "58031",
"author": "cde",
"timestamp": "2009-01-06T01:... | 1,760,377,700.652215 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/05/homebrew-on-the-psp3000/ | Homebrew On The PSP3000 | Caleb Kraft | [
"News",
"Playstation Hacks",
"PSP Hacks"
] | [
"exploit",
"playstation",
"psp",
"psp3000"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KdIrzsi4IA]
[matiaz] has released an exploit which allows
homebrew on the PSP3000
. It takes advantage of a vulnerability when loading save games on a game called GripShift. You can see the PSP running unsigned code in the video.
[thanks wraggy] | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "58005",
"author": "Timothy",
"timestamp": "2009-01-05T20:29:44",
"content": "sick. That’s some good stuff",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "58009",
"author": "poisomike87",
"timestamp": "2009-01-05T21:19:21",
"content"... | 1,760,377,700.695265 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/05/7-color-hand-held-laser-projector/ | 7 Color Hand Held Laser Projector | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"Laser Hacks"
] | [
"blue ray",
"green",
"laser",
"white laser"
] | [rog8811] sent in this really cool hack where he used the optics sled from a PS3 as a foundation for a
7 color hand held laser projector
. Combining a green laser, a blue ray laser, and a red laser, he is able to produce a variety of color including white. There are step by step instructions on how to make a multicolored laser. He then goes even further, showing how to integrate this into a hand held projector with pre programmed patterns. You can see some examples of the
different colors and patterns in this video
. | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "57985",
"author": "AJ",
"timestamp": "2009-01-05T17:24:22",
"content": "Video no worky.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57988",
"author": "clockfort",
"timestamp": "2009-01-05T17:30:09",
"content": "video worky just ... | 1,760,377,700.596113 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/03/microwave-timer-switch/ | Microwave Timer Switch | Caleb Kraft | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"microwave",
"timer"
] | [Koil_1] knows he’s forgetful. In order to save himself from any undue harm, or possibly to keep from burning his house down, he felt he needed a timed power switch to run his soldering iron from. He realized he could
harvest the relays and timer circuit from a microwave
. This allows him to have presets for specific tasks. Considering the fact that you can get a used microwave for free or close to it most of the time, this was a great re use of something that might just go wasted otherwise. Great job [Koil_1]. | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "57815",
"author": "phishinphree",
"timestamp": "2009-01-04T00:25:56",
"content": "I could have used this the other night. Luckily my little fire starter didn’t live up to its name.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57818",
"a... | 1,760,377,700.794718 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/03/make-television-premiering-today/ | Make: Television Premiering Today | Eliot | [
"Misc Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"make",
"makezine",
"makezine.tv",
"pbs",
"public television",
"television",
"tv",
"video"
] | Make’s television series will be premiering on public television across the US over the next couple days. If it’s not
showing in your area
, you aren’t out of luck. All of the segments from the first episode have already been published online at
makezine.tv
. | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "57876",
"author": "Almost_There",
"timestamp": "2009-01-04T16:58:52",
"content": "My girlfriend got me a subscription to Make Magazine for my Birthday last year; the only thing I tried to make was “The Amazing Seebeck Generator” (http://makezine.com/15/seebeck/), which claimed you c... | 1,760,377,700.747508 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/03/automated-wire-cutter-and-stripper/ | Automated Wire Cutter And Stripper | Eliot | [
"classic hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"kit",
"oomlout",
"servo",
"thingiverse",
"video",
"wire",
"wire cutter",
"wire stripper",
"youtube"
] | Kit builder
oomlout
—we’ve featured
their servo bot
—needed to produce a lot of precut wires. After cutting and stripping more than their fair share, they decided to apply some heavy engineering to make things easier. They constructed a
machine to do the job for them
. It has three main components: a servo driven wire feeder to measure the length, a two servo wire stripper that uses an exacto blade, and finally a wire cutter made from snips and a drill motor. The machine is controlled using an Arduino. They’ve
published all the plans and code
to Thingiverse incase anyone else wants to build a similar machine for their own kit shop. A video of the machine is embedded below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2O7kGE34EA]
[via
Hack a Day Flickr pool
] | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "57805",
"author": "macegr",
"timestamp": "2009-01-03T22:43:05",
"content": "Awesome, but slow. Maybe someone can figure out a stripper device that takes only a second instead of 10 seconds.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57807"... | 1,760,377,700.954175 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/02/twittering-washing-machine/ | Twittering Washing Machine | Caleb Kraft | [
"home hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"twitter"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkMXpKmRXvU&fmt=18]
If you don’t have at least one twittering appliance in your household, you’re getting behind. The latest addition to the spread is a
twittering washing machine
. [Ryan] tells us that he kept accidentally forgetting to retrieve his clothing from the washing machine, resulting in smelly mildewy clothes. Now, his washing machine twitters to announce it is done. It also has a sign in the house that displays its status to help him remember. We’ve seen
unborn babies
and
toasters twitter
, what’s left? Remember those refrigerators that were supposed to let you know that you’re out of certain food? Why don’t we see a twittering fridge yet? | 34 | 34 | [
{
"comment_id": "57689",
"author": "XtaZy",
"timestamp": "2009-01-02T20:39:04",
"content": "I think the most interesting thing about this story is that the washer actually has 15 followers :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57693",
"author":... | 1,760,377,701.236221 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/02/rfid-dorm-room-door/ | RFID Dorm Room Door | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"dorm",
"lock",
"rfid"
] | [Max] sent us his
dorm room RFID controlled lock
. While RFID door locks are nothing new, his implementation is very slick. The entire unit is attached with suction cups to a mirror on the inside of the door. It looks like it could be removed and put elsewhere in a matter of seconds. That’s pretty slick. Much cleaner than the
touch sensitive dorm lock
we saw last year. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "57681",
"author": "Raged",
"timestamp": "2009-01-02T18:54:50",
"content": "I’m surprised they couldn’t find an easy way to also lock the door. ie the old string on the bottom of the knob to lock. You’d have to take into affect with slack, but I’m sure there’s ways around it.",
... | 1,760,377,701.001329 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/02/parts-i2c-digital-thermometer-tc74/ | Parts: I2C Digital Thermometer (TC74) | Ian | [
"Parts",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"electronics",
"i2c",
"microchip",
"parts",
"tc74",
"temperature",
"thermometer"
] | Microchip’s
TC74
is an inexpensive digital temperature sensor with a simple I2C interface. It has a resolution of 1 degree Celsius, and a range of -40 to +125 degrees. This is an easy way to add temperature measurement to a project without an
analog to digital converter
. We’ll show you how to use the TC74 below.
Microchip TC74 digital temperature sensor (
Octopart search
, starting at $0.88)
The TC74 comes in five pin through-hole and surface mount packages, see the
TC74 datasheet
(PDF). We couldn’t find a
Cadsoft Eagle
footprint for any version of this part, if you know of one please link to it in the comments.
Different versions of the TC74 are calibrated for specific voltages, but all work from 2.7-5volts. The TC74A5 we used is most accurate when operating at 5volts, but we powered it from a 3.3volt supply. The I2C connection needs 2
pull-up resistors
to hold the bus high (R1, R2), 2K-10K should work. C1 is a 0.1uF decoupling capacitor.
We used the
Bus Pirate universal serial interface
in I2C mode to test drive the TC74, but the same principals apply to any microcontroller. We powered the TC74 from the Bus Pirate’s 3.3volt supply, and used the on-board pull-up resistors to hold the I2C bus high.
Command
Value
Select temperature register
0x00
Select configuration register
0x01
The TC74’s write address is 0x9a, and the read address 0x9b. It has two, one-byte registers. Register address 0 holds the temperature reading, register 1 holds the configuration settings.
Configuration register
Bit 6 of the configuration register is 0 at power-on, and changes to 1 when the first valid temperature reading is available. Bit 7 is writable, and puts the TC74 in a power saving standby mode. Reading the register involves two steps: use a partial write command to select the register, then use the read command to retrieve the value.
I2C>{0x9a 1}
210 I2C START CONDITION
220 I2C WRITE: 0x9A GOT ACK: YES
<–write address
220 I2C WRITE: 0x01 GOT ACK: YES
<–select config register
240 I2C STOP CONDITION
First, we select the configuration register with a partial write command. This doesn’t actually write a value, it selects the register to read and write. { creates the I2C start condition, followed by the TC74 write address (0x9a) and the select configuration register command (0x01). } issues the I2C stop condition and ends the transaction.
Now we can read the contents of the register.
I2C>{0x9b r}
210 I2C START CONDITION
220 I2C WRITE: 0x9B GOT ACK: YES
<–read address
230 I2C READ: 0x40
<– register value (01000000)
240 I2C STOP CONDITION
I2C>
The read address (0x9b) returns the one byte register value (r). The configuration register value, 0x40 or 01000000, shows that the device is out of standby (bit 7=0), and a valid temperature reading is available (bit 6=1).
The TC74 has a low-power standby mode. Enable it by writing 1 to bit 7 of the configuration register.
I2C>{0x9a 1 0b10000000}
210 I2C START CONDITION
220 I2C WRITE: 0x9A GOT ACK: YES
<–write address
220 I2C WRITE: 0x01 GOT ACK: YES
<–select config register
220 I2C WRITE: 0x80 GOT ACK: YES
<–value to write (01000000)
240 I2C STOP CONDITION
I2C>
The register is written with single three-byte command. First we send the write address (0x9a), followed by the register to select (0x01), and finally the value to write (0x80). Only bit 7 of the configuration register is writable, the values of bits 6-0 are ignored.
Read the register again to verify that the command worked.
I2C>{0x9a 1}{0x9b r}
210 I2C START CONDITION
<–first command sets register
220 I2C WRITE: 0x9A GOT ACK: YES
<–write address
220 I2C WRITE: 0x01 GOT ACK: YES
<–config register (1)
240 I2C STOP CONDITION
<–end first command
210 I2C START CONDITION
<–begin second command
220 I2C WRITE: 0x9B GOT ACK: YES
<–read address
230 I2C READ: 0x80
<– register value (10000000)
240 I2C STOP CONDITION
<–end second command
I2C>
The register value, 10000000, now shows that the device is in standby (bit 7=1). Notice that bit 6 is now 0, no temperature data is available.
Clear bit 7 to exit standby, then wait for bit 6 to return to 1 before reading the temperature register.
I2C>{0x9a 1 0b00000000}
210 I2C START CONDITION
220 I2C WRITE: 0x9A GOT ACK: YES
<–write address
220 I2C WRITE: 0x01 GOT ACK: YES
<–select config register
220 I2C WRITE: 0x00 GOT ACK: YES
<–value to write (00000000)
240 I2C STOP CONDITION
I2C>
Temperature data is ready when the configuration register value returns to 0x40 (01000000).
Temperature
The temperature register is read in two steps. First, a partial write command selects the temperature register (0), then a read sequence returns the contents.
I2C>{0x9a 0}{0x9b r}
210 I2C START CONDITION
220 I2C WRITE: 0x9A GOT ACK: YES
<–write address
220 I2C WRITE: 0x00 GOT ACK: YES
<–select temperature register
240 I2C STOP CONDITION
210 I2C START CONDITION
220 I2C WRITE: 0x9B GOT ACK: YES
<–read address
230 I2C READ: 0x18
<–grab one byte
240 I2C STOP CONDITION
I2C>
The temperature is an integer value of degrees Celsius, negative numbers are represented as a
twos complement
. Positive values from 0 to 127 degrees Celsius are simply represented by that value. Negative temperatures have bit 7 set, and range from -1 to -65 (255-128), see table 4.4 on page 8 of the datasheet. The hexadecimal value 0x18 is equal to 24 in decimal, so the temperature reading is 24C (
75F
).
Like this post? Check out the
parts posts
you may have missed. | 18 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "57670",
"author": "Ty Johnson",
"timestamp": "2009-01-02T17:07:18",
"content": "Cool! i can think of a lot of stuff to bolt this thing to.cpu heatsink, inside the freezer (because no one likes hard-as-a-rock ice cream!), my modded surround amp… thanx for the write up!",
"parent_... | 1,760,377,701.11806 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/01/iphone-3g-unlock-released/ | IPhone 3G Unlock Released | Eliot | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"iphone hacks",
"Mac Hacks"
] | [
"apple",
"apple iphone",
"cellphone",
"cydia",
"iphone",
"iphone 3G",
"iphone dev team",
"yellowsn0w"
] | As promised, the iphone-dev team has
released yellowsn0w
. You can install/uninstall via Cydia. It works fine with the latest firmware too. This sentence is filler. | 23 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "57560",
"author": "tripmine",
"timestamp": "2009-01-01T21:07:29",
"content": "this comment is filler",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57564",
"author": "hockeytree",
"timestamp": "2009-01-01T21:46:21",
"content": "thi... | 1,760,377,701.172142 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/01/pouring-a-beer-via-iphone/ | Pouring A Beer Via IPhone | Caleb Kraft | [
"home hacks",
"iphone hacks"
] | [
"beer",
"iobridge",
"iphone",
"new year"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtUyzQBNT3k&eurl=&feature=player_embedded]
[Steve] sent us his new years project, a
remote beer server controlled by his iPhone
. He has built a frame from construx and used
ioBridge
to connect it to his iPhone. He states that he “wanted to make a project that allows for the perfect pour and take out all of that physical work”. Seems like it could use a little adjustment to be a bit less foamy. Maybe an additional frame to adjust the angle of the glass as it is poured. | 30 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "57547",
"author": "Jamie",
"timestamp": "2009-01-01T20:26:24",
"content": "Cool project, but that is a terrible pour.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57555",
"author": "BigD145",
"timestamp": "2009-01-01T20:55:03",
"... | 1,760,377,701.350328 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2009/01/01/hacking-the-myvu/ | Hacking The MyVu | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"home entertainment hacks",
"Portable Video Hacks"
] | [] | [Conundrum] shares with us his
MyVu hacking experiences
. The
MyVu personal display
seems like it would be a great foundation to build some decent 3d display goggles, it is fairly small and has a screen for each eye. This opens up the door to possibly driving them independently for 3d. Those giant helmets we used to use were not anywhere near as stylish as these. Apparently, some quick hacking can double your resolution or even possibly supply 3D imagery! The details are pretty sparse, but it appears as though he has gotten some of these mods functional and tested. Lets hope he posts some more information, we’re definitely interested. We normally wouldn’t post something with so little information, but we’re hoping this encourages him to give us more.
[thanks andre] | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "57533",
"author": "jcwren",
"timestamp": "2009-01-01T18:51:12",
"content": "Years ago, there used to be a scanning LED HUD-type display that mounted on the arm of a pair of glasses. It was VGA resolution, 16 red scale, and supposedly looked like a 60″ screen at 5 feet.I never saw a... | 1,760,377,701.290139 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/31/laughing-man-in-processing/ | Laughing Man In Processing | Eliot | [
"downloads hacks",
"Video Hacks"
] | [
"ghost in the shell",
"laughing man",
"opencv",
"processing"
] | The Laughing Man
is the antagonist from the anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. During each of his public appearances in the series he manages to hack all video feeds/cyborg eyes in the vicinity to obscure his face with the logo above.
[Ben Kurtz] had been watching the series recently and realized he could
put together a similar effect using Processing
. The interesting bit, and what makes this more fun than a simple demo, is that he’s using the
OpenCV
library. OpenCV is a open source computer vision library. [Ben] uses it to handle the facial recognition in
Processing
and then apply the image.
It’s only 100 lines and we wonder what other fun tricks could be employed. Here’s a
Hack a Day skull
you can swap in for the logo.
[thanks
dakami
] | 50 | 46 | [
{
"comment_id": "57445",
"author": "Ben Keller",
"timestamp": "2008-12-31T20:13:44",
"content": "I did the same thing (albeit a bit more kludgey) this summer using the same OpenCV library and python. Check it out athttp://code.google.com/p/warai/, or athttp://bespokeblog.wordpress.com/2008/07/27/la... | 1,760,377,701.435127 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/31/snes-cartridge-wallet/ | SNES Cartridge Wallet | Caleb Kraft | [
"News",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"nes",
"nintendo",
"snes",
"wallet"
] | [gamemaster87] put together this
SNES wallet
. It isn’t just a wallet, it also has internal lighting and theme music. He harvested LEDs from Christmas lights, switches and battery compartments from an old all in one joystick, and the sounds from a holiday card. There’s a Plexiglas window to show off his ID and a belt clip, because you wouldn’t want this thing in your back pocket. Match this up with the
SNES clock
,
NES bike tail light
, and the
NES security system
and you’ll be the king of the nintendorks. | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "57473",
"author": "ngth",
"timestamp": "2009-01-01T01:34:29",
"content": "What’s with the lights and music addition? Seems like a lot of trouble for just keeping your ID/cash handy. I would entrust my wallet a lot more than having the items hanging in a compartment on a belt clip.",... | 1,760,377,701.479895 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/31/home-made-macintosh-for-under-240/ | Home Made Macintosh For Under $240 | Caleb Kraft | [
"Netbook Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"hackintosh",
"msi wind",
"OsX"
] | [Steve] sent in this great step by step writeup on
how to load Macintosh OSX onto an MSI wind
. The MSI wind can be found pretty cheap, roughly $140. It has a 1.2Ghz Atom processor, SATA, and 6 USB ports. Its a pretty decent system for the price. Add a hard drive, DVD ROM and some RAM and you ‘ve got a complete system. You might have to update the bios to install the new operating system, there are more details about that on in the writeup. The only real drawback is that you have to run the USB in 12mbps mode instead of 480mbps.
There are lots of little tips to keep you from hitting roadblocks, so follow the steps closely or you’ll have to redo it. Since downloading the modified version of OSX is probably illegal, [steve] suggests that you go buy a copy of OSX just to try to balance it out. | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "57418",
"author": "BLKMGK",
"timestamp": "2008-12-31T17:05:47",
"content": "I would REALLY like to setup an OSX PC, something beefier than this one, but hardware selection is a real chore so I’ve held off. I just might be tempted to do this though as cheap as it is! Would love to se... | 1,760,377,701.534096 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/31/refillable-co2-cartridges/ | Refillable CO2 Cartridges | Caleb Kraft | [
"Tool Hacks",
"Uncategorized"
] | [
"co2",
"compressed air"
] | For those who use these little cartridges, you know how quickly the price can add up. [steve] takes us through the process of
adding a valve to a spent cartridge
so it can be refilled. Over all, it doesn’t seem too difficult, and [steve] offers lots of tips to increase longevity and reliability. It isn’t very often that we show a hack here that doesn’t involve some kind of electronics, so take a break from the resistors and microprocessors for a moment and enjoy.
[thanks Wolf] | 27 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "57413",
"author": "Davandron",
"timestamp": "2008-12-31T16:24:47",
"content": "Interesting hack; hope they still work in devices (the neck looks long).Reminds me of the post last year(?) about a guy adapting a 20lb bottle so he didn’t have to use those 16 gram cartridges.",
"par... | 1,760,377,701.669621 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/30/quick-robotic-base-for-netbook/ | Quick Robotic Base For Netbook | Caleb Kraft | [
"computer hacks",
"Netbook Hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"base",
"netbook",
"parallax",
"robot"
] | This is a great example of how marketing should be done.
TeleToyland
and
RoboRealm
(currently down) have teamed up together to show you how to build a
quick and easy robot base for your netbook
. The build process is fairly in depth, including part numbers and links to various places to buy them. They are using RoboRealm software to control the robot, utilizing two web cams for sensory input. This should get you well on your way to having an autonomous netbook wandering around your house. | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "57328",
"author": "Jeremy Mikkola",
"timestamp": "2008-12-31T00:03:12",
"content": "http://www.xkcd.com/413/?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57332",
"author": "epicelite",
"timestamp": "2008-12-31T00:34:07",
"conten... | 1,760,377,701.597152 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/29/light-therapy/ | Light Therapy | Caleb Kraft | [
"News"
] | [] | [Boris] wanted to help ease his sister’s
seasonal affective disorder
. The most common way to do it is with fairly expensive light boxes. [Boris]
built one of his own instead
. Now his sister can blast her sadness away with over 10,000 lumens of CFL happiness. This is pretty much the same method one would use to create a
ring light
for photography. | 40 | 40 | [
{
"comment_id": "57124",
"author": "Jack",
"timestamp": "2008-12-29T18:44:28",
"content": "Or you could use this method to grow plants indoors…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57127",
"author": "Bhima",
"timestamp": "2008-12-29T19:12:05"... | 1,760,377,701.948001 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/29/parts-precision-humidity-and-temperature-sensor-sht1x7x/ | Parts: Precision Humidity And Temperature Sensor (SHT1x/7x) | Ian | [
"Parts",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"2 wire interface",
"bus pirate",
"electronics",
"interfacing",
"monday parts",
"parts",
"sensirion",
"sht11",
"sht1x",
"sht71",
"sht7x"
] | Sensirion’s
SHTxx
is a digitally interfaced humidity and temperature sensor. Accurate humidity measurements usually require careful analog design, but the SHTxx moves all that complicated stuff into a single chip. Through-hole (SHT7x) and surface mount (SHT1x) versions are available, we used the surface mount SHT11 with +/-3% accuracy. We’ll show you how to use the SHTxx below.
Sensirion SHT1x/SHT7x precision humidity and temperature sensor (
Octopart search
, starting at $25).
This isn’t a cheap sensor. Octopart lists
a few places to buy it
. Several smaller hobby electronics stores carry it; Hobby Engineering has it for $29 (#
H01509-01C
). We found compatible PCB footprints in
sht10_11_15.lbr
and
sht11.lbr
on the
Cadsoft library download page
. Pin connections for the different package types are in the datasheet:
SHT1x
(PDF),
SHT7x
(PDF).
The SHTxx has a two-wire serial interface that requires pull-up resistors (R1,2), values between 2K and 10K should work. Sensirion recommends a decoupling capacitor (C1) only if the sensor is powered over a length of wire, but we think it’s always a good idea to include one.
We’ll demonstrate the SHTxx using the
Bus Pirate universal serial interface
in raw2wire mode with Hi-Z outputs. The SHTxx is powered from the Bus Pirate’s 3.3volt supply. The Bus Pirate’s on-board pull-up resistors hold the bus high, eliminating the need for external resistors R1 and R2.
Interface
The SHTxx communicates over two wires using a simple serial protocol. The protocol isn’t compatible with I2C, but a single SHTxx can exist on a bus with I2C peripherals.
Command
Code
Measure Temperature
000
00011
Measure Relative Humidity
000
00101
Read Status Register
000
00111
Write Status Register
000
00110
Soft reset
000
11110
Five commands control the SHTxx, these are outlined in the table. The first 3 bits are the address (always 000), the remaining 5 bits are a unique command code.
Reset
Start a transaction by clearing any partial commands or data from a previous use. A minimum of nine clock ticks while data is high will clear the SHTxx interface. The Bus Pirate syntax to for this is
-^:9
; data high (-), 9 clock ticks (^:9).
Commands to the SHT11 begin with a unique start condition. Like an
I2C start condition
, this is the only time when the data signal changes with the clock signal high. This illegal condition causes the chip to prepare for a new command. The SHTxx start condition is different than I2C, allowing both types of devices to exist on the same bus.
The Bus Pirate code to generate an SHTxx style start condition is
-/_\/-\
; data starts high (-), clock up (/), data goes low (_), clock low (\), clock high (/), data goes high (-), and a final clock low transition (\) ends the sequence.
A soft reset is a good idea because it puts the chip in a default state. Prior to the first temperature or humidity conversion, we send the soft reset command.
RAW2WIRE>-^:9 -/_\/-\ 0b00011110 !
<–command
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA OUTPUT, 1
<–clear interface
4xx RAW2WIRE 0x09 CLOCK TICKS
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA OUTPUT, 1
<–start condition
4xx RAW2WIRE CLOCK, 1
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA OUTPUT, 0
4xx RAW2WIRE CLOCK, 0
4xx RAW2WIRE CLOCK, 1
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA OUTPUT, 1
4xx RAW2WIRE CLOCK, 0
420 RAW2WIRE WRITE: 0x1E
<–soft reset code
4xx RAW2WIRE READ BIT: 0
<–acknowledge
bit, OK
RAW2WIRE>
First, we clear the interface (-^:9), then send the start condition (
-/_\/-\).
The reset command (0b00011110=0x1E) follows. The SHTxx acknowledges (acks) commands by pulling the data line low for one bit after a command is transmitted. We read one bit (!) to get the acknowledgment status; 0 is success, 1 signals an error.
Temperature
Now we can read the temperature
.
This happens in two steps, with a delay for the temperature conversion.
RAW2WIRE>-^:9 -/_\/-\ 0b00000011 !
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA OUTPUT, 1
<–clear interface
4xx RAW2WIRE 0x09 CLOCK TICKS
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA OUTPUT, 1
<–start condition
…
4xx RAW2WIRE CLOCK, 0
420 RAW2WIRE WRITE: 0x03
<–start temperature conversion
4xx RAW2WIRE READ BIT: 0
<–ack bit, OK
RAW2WIRE>
First, we send a start condition and the temperature conversion command (00000011=0x03). The SHTxx replies to a successful command by pulling the data line low for one bit (ack). After the ack bit, the data line goes high until the conversion finishes.
RAW2WIRE>.
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA INPUT, STATE: 0
<–data low when done
RAW2WIRE>
When the data line goes low, the temperature conversion is finished. ‘.’ is the Bus Pirate command to read the data state without a clock tick. Now we can grab the result.
RAW2WIRE>r_^ r_^ r_^
430 RAW2WIRE READ: 0x17
<–data byte 1
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA OUTPUT, 0
<–data low
4xx RAW2WIRE 0x01 CLOCK TICKS
<–send ack bit
430 RAW2WIRE READ: 0xCC
<–data byte 2
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA OUTPUT, 0
4xx RAW2WIRE 0x01 CLOCK TICKS
430 RAW2WIRE READ: 0x0C
<–crc
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA OUTPUT, 0
4xx RAW2WIRE 0x01 CLOCK TICKS
RAW2WIRE>
Each byte read (r) requires an I2C style acknowledgment bit with the data low. We do this with the _^ sequence; data low (_), one clock tick (^).
The first two bytes are the temperature reading (0x17cc), followed by a CRC (0x0c). The raw value (0x17cc=6092) is converted to degrees Celsius using the equation and coefficients on page 9 of the datasheet. Temperature readings are 14bits by default:
T = -39.7 + 0.01*
X
21.22C
= -39.7 + (0.01*
6092
)
Humidity
Humidity conversions are started with code 00000101 (0x05 hex).
RAW2WIRE>-^:9 -/_\/-\ 0b00000101 !
<–command
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA OUTPUT, 1
<–clear interface
4xx RAW2WIRE 0x09 CLOCK TICKS
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA OUTPUT, 1
<–start condition
…
4xx RAW2WIRE CLOCK, 0
420 RAW2WIRE WRITE: 0x05
<–start humidity conversion
4xx RAW2WIRE READ BIT: 0
<–ack bit, OK
As before, a ninth acknowledgment bit is low if the SHTxx processed the command.
RAW2WIRE>.
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA INPUT, STATE: 0
<–data low when done
The data line goes high and then returns low when the humidity conversion is done.
RAW2WIRE>r_^ r_^ r_^
430 RAW2WIRE READ: 0x05
<–data byte 1
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA OUTPUT, 0
<–data low
4xx RAW2WIRE 0x01 CLOCK TICKS
<–ack bit
430 RAW2WIRE READ: 0x80
<–data byte 2
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA OUTPUT, 0
4xx RAW2WIRE 0x01 CLOCK TICKS
430 RAW2WIRE READ: 0x46
<–crc
4xx RAW2WIRE DATA OUTPUT, 0
4xx RAW2WIRE 0x01 CLOCK TICKS
RAW2WIRE>
A complete conversion generates a three byte response. The first two bytes are the raw humidity reading (0x0580=1408), the final byte is a CRC (0x46) that can be used to verify data integrity.
Humidity readings have 12bits of resolution by default, convert to humidity using this equation:
RH = -2.0468 + 0.0367(
X
) + (-0.0000015955*(
X
^2))
46.46%RH
= -2.0468 + 0.0367(
1408
) + (-0.0000015955*(
1408
^2))
Conclusion
This isn’t a cheap sensor, but it doesn’t require careful analog design like the
Honeywell HIH series
. Have you worked with a humidity sensor?
Like this post? Check out the
parts posts
you may have missed. | 21 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "57136",
"author": "Joshua",
"timestamp": "2008-12-29T19:50:48",
"content": "First thing which comes to mind is growing purple haze under controlled circumstances x’DApart from that, awesome post ^^9/10",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_... | 1,760,377,701.769461 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/29/unique-method-of-home-automation/ | Unique Method Of Home Automation | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"automation",
"vnc"
] | [leevonk] sent us this
quick and dirty home automation set up
. Using photo resistors and your computer screen, you can drive as many relays or actuators as you want. [leevonk] is simply using changes in brightness on his computer screen to set off relays. This makes it easy for someone who has no programming knowledge and a tight budget to set up some automation. You could even do remote automation by connecting to your pc via
VNC
. Be careful taping things to your screen, wouldn’t want to damage it. | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "57118",
"author": "DarkFader",
"timestamp": "2008-12-29T17:43:37",
"content": "I don’t think people with a “tight budget” have enough screen space left.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57119",
"author": "nubie",
"timesta... | 1,760,377,701.998892 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/29/passive-multidimensional-input/ | Passive Multidimensional Input | Nick Caiello | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Multitouch Hacks"
] | [
"inexpensive",
"instrument",
"intimate control",
"multitouch",
"music",
"randall jones",
"synth"
] | [vimeo 2433260]
Any musician who has ever used a computer to create music will tell you that while this technology is more than capable of producing great music, it is always a much more intimate experience to create by physically playing an instrument. In an effort to bridge this gap, [Randall Jones] has built a passive multidimensional interface that uses multitouch input to create an
intimate experience
that rivals that of a traditional musical instrument. While this concept may seem very complicated, the interface is made of only copper strips, rubber, and wood. At $50, this interface was designed to be inexpensive and appears to be very easy to use. As seen in the video, this interface can be used as anything from a drum to a multitouch synthesizer.
[via
Make
] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "57108",
"author": "lando",
"timestamp": "2008-12-29T16:40:31",
"content": "this seems like a pretty kool project and at just $50, thats awesome.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57110",
"author": "Morden",
"timestamp": "2... | 1,760,377,702.263266 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/28/25c3-hacking-the-iphone/ | 25C3: Hacking The IPhone | Eliot | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"cons",
"iphone hacks",
"Mac Hacks"
] | [
"25c3",
"apple",
"apple iphone",
"ccc",
"iphone",
"iphone dev team",
"musclenerd",
"planetbeing",
"pytey",
"yellowsn0w"
] | [googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=713763707060529304]
As promised in their
yellowsnow demo
, [pytey], [MuscleNerd], and [planetbeing] from the
iphone-dev team
presented at
25C3
on their work
Hacking the iPhone
. The team originally formed in 2007 and this is the most comprehensive presentation on how the
iPhone
was compromised to date. You can find the full talk embedded above.
They opened with a few stats about how popular their software is. Our favorite by far is that at least 180 people with Apple corporate IPs update their phones using the dev-team’s software on a regular basis. From there the talk was split into two sections: jailbreaking the S5L application processor and unlocking the S-Gold baseband processor.
The phone relies on a chain of trust to guarantee that only Apple’s code is being run on it. All of userland is signature checked by the kernel. The kernel is checked when loaded by iboot. The iboot image is checked when loaded by LLB. LLB is loaded from the NOR by the lowest piece of code, the bootrom. That’s where things fall apart; the bootrom does not check the signature of the LLB. To take advantage of this, the team found what they describe as a classic stack buffer overflow in DFU mode. DFU is Device Firmware Upgrade mode, a state that the phone can be forced into after the bootrom loads. Their exploit forces the certificate check to return ‘true’. They are then able to patch all of the subsequent signature checks out of the phone’s system.
The baseband processor proved to be much more difficult simply because it doesn’t have any sort of recovery mode; bricking a phone was always a possibility. The S-Gold is a complete system-on-chip and has a unique ID on each phone. The NOR also has a unique ID on each phone. These two IDs are used to sign the secpack, which in turn enforces the SIM carrier lock. These unique IDs are why you can’t just take an officially unlocked phone and copy the secpack off of it to unlock another phone. Everything else is identical: the firmware, the baseband, the bootroom are all the same. On the second generation iPhone, the bootrom checks the bootloader. The bootloader then verifies the bootrom before checking and then loading the firmware. The firmware enforces the carrier lock. The team decided that it wasn’t worth attempting to break the chain of trust. The SIM unlock code they developed is divided into two sections. The first part is the actual software unlock. They patch the firmware while it’s running in RAM. Their patch modifies the firmware’s decision tree about whether to enforce the carrier lock. The second half is the exploit that allows them to inject the code. The team knows that Apple can and probably will patch the exploit hole, but their RAM patching code will always work, so it’s just a matter of finding another hole to apply it through. In order to do a permanent unlock solution (like on the first generation iPhone), they’d need to analyze the actual bootrom code.
The team mentioned several things Apple did that actually helped them in their efforts. Security was gradually rolled out, so they were able to look at things that would eventually be hidden. The firmware was initially unencrypted. Earlier versions trusted iTunes, something they could easily modify. All userland apps originally ran as root meaning any application exploit gave root level access.
The iphone-dev team has truly put in a tremendous amount of effort and we look forward to the yellowsn0w release on New Year’s Eve.
[digg=http://digg.com/apple/Hacking_the_iPhone_9] | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "57039",
"author": "UlliBre",
"timestamp": "2008-12-28T22:21:13",
"content": "Video of the presentation can be downloaded fromftp://81.163.138.188/CCC/25C3/(possibly only during the congress)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57054... | 1,760,377,702.307533 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/28/25c3-power-line-communication/ | 25C3: Power Line Communication | Eliot | [
"cons",
"home hacks"
] | [
"25c3",
"ccc",
"faifa",
"homeplug av",
"hub",
"intellon",
"network",
"plc",
"power line communication"
] | [Florian] and [Xavier Carcelle] started the day at
25C3
by
covering power line communication
.
PLC
technology is not widespread in the US, but has gained popularity in countries like France where it’s included in set-top boxes. PLC lets you create a local network using the AC wires in your wall. The team started exploring PLC because despite being newer technology, it had a few principles that made it similar to old networks. There’s no segmentation in the wiring, which means it behaves like a layer 2 hub. You get to see all of the traffic unlike a switched network. Most power meters don’t filter out the signal, so it’s possible that you might see your next-door neighbor’s traffic on your line. [Florian] reports having seen all the traffic in a six-story building just by plugging in. The wiring also acts as a large antenna so you could employ tempest attacks.
The technology involved is certainly interesting, but they found a lack of tools to work with it. They wrote
FAIFA
to fill this gap. It’s currently a command line tool for probing and configuring Intellon-based PLC devices (Intellon is the majority chip supplier for PLC). You can query devices and it even has a sniffer mode. Sniffing may not seem interesting since devices that support the
HomePlug AV
standard use encryption, but they’re all shipping from the factory with the same default key. In the future, they hope to build their own open source FPGA based PLC device to take even more control of the system. | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "57008",
"author": "Brian",
"timestamp": "2008-12-28T19:00:22",
"content": "Actually, a hub is a layer 1 devices.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57033",
"author": "g3n",
"timestamp": "2008-12-28T21:49:46",
"content":... | 1,760,377,702.051017 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/28/25c3-state-of-the-art-wearable-computing/ | 25C3: State Of The Art Wearable Computing | Eliot | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"cons",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"25c3",
"ccc",
"kai kunze",
"wearable",
"wearable computing"
] | [Kai Kunze] from the
Embedded Systems Lab
at Passau came to 25C3 to talk about
Cyborgs and Gargoyles: State of the Art in Wearable Computing
. There have been a lot of homebrew wearable computing solutions, but [Kai] covered specifically projects that could see everyday use in the real world.
The first was a prototype system they built for use in hospitals. The doctor wore a belt buckle sized linux computer under his coat which was attached to an RFID reader on his wrist. He would read the patients RFID wrist band, which would display their chart on the screen. He could then scroll and select using a capacitive sensor built into the coat. Notes could be taken using a bluetooth headset. The system kept the doctor’s hands free for examining the patient while still providing as much information as possible. They actually ran this system for 30 days in a hospital.
The next example was a joint project with the car manufacturer Skoda. Quality assurance (QA) testing can be a long process with many more steps than assembly operations. The team attached sensors to the worker to determine where the worker was in relation to the car and to get direct measurement of the object being tested. The use of wearable technology meant they got more data than they normally would with standard QA testing and they could quickly prompt the worker if they missed a step.
[Kai] identified a couple projects that would make developing your own system much quicker.
Context Recognition Network Toolbox
helps you identify what actions are being performed. They’ve used it to build systems like an automated kung-fu trainer that can recognize poses. There’s also a
context logger app
for the iPhone that can be trained using accelerometer data to recognize different activities. He also suggested a program developed with Zeiss for
visually prompting workers as they performed tasks
. In testing, it was 50% faster than text instructions and 30% faster than voice.
One of the more bizarre/interesting ideas we saw was a
phone locator based on resonance
(PDF). Designed for a Symbian device, it would play a sound and then record the result that had been modified by the surroundings. Each surface had its own signature so you could query the phone and it would report where it was i.e. on the desk, on the sofa, in the drawer. This resonance sampling can also be employed using the vibration motor.
The final point [Kai] touched on was privacy. If you’re wearing a sensor, you’re potentially giving away personal data. He showed an example of how systems could be designed to keep this information to users. The first part was a camera recording the movement of people in a room. It could identify where the faces were, but not who they were. One of the participants had an accelerometer recording their movements. That user could use the camera’s data to figure out his own movement in the space by correlating the data, but no one else would see the full picture. | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "57029",
"author": "dan",
"timestamp": "2008-12-28T21:22:13",
"content": "“a phone locator based on resonance” – Batman, anyone? ;)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57083",
"author": "Mikotoke",
"timestamp": "2008-12-29T09... | 1,760,377,702.215557 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/30/jacobs-ladder/ | Jacob’s Ladder | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks"
] | [
"high voltage",
"jacob's ladder",
"spark gap",
"tesla"
] | [jandgse812] shows us how to
build a Jacob’s Ladder
from mostly household parts. The bulk of the instructions for this project are included in the downloadable document, there is a downloadable video as well. Be sure to follow to the end where he shows us a much safer and possibly better looking revision. The Jacob’s Ladder has become standard fair for any mad scientists laboratory. If you plan on having a workshop suited for world domination, it absolutely must have one of these in it. Be careful though, the high voltage can be deadly. | 28 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "57300",
"author": "tony",
"timestamp": "2008-12-30T20:47:19",
"content": "I’ve thought about making one from an ignition coil, but I think a neon sign transformer works better. And they usually use some sort of flyback topology with the transformer to make sure the current stays bel... | 1,760,377,702.117861 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/30/25c3-nokia-exploit-stops-all-inbound-sms/ | 25C3: Nokia Exploit Stops All Inbound SMS | Eliot | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"25c3",
"ccc",
"fh",
"nokia",
"s60",
"symbian",
"tobias engel"
] | [Tobias Engel] released a
serious Nokia vulnerability today
. By using a specially crafted SMS message, you can block the recipient from getting any future SMS messages. The attacker changes their Protocol Identifier to “Internet Electronic Mail” and then uses any email address 32 characters or more in their message. The recipient will receive no indication that they got the message and no other messages will be allowed until the phone is factory reset.
You can see a demo video here
. This affects many different varieties of S60 phones and no fix is known.
[Thanks fh] | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "57292",
"author": "Luddite",
"timestamp": "2008-12-30T20:00:48",
"content": "Sweet – would somebody please send me one?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57293",
"author": "kamanashi",
"timestamp": "2008-12-30T20:15:33",
... | 1,760,377,702.172483 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/30/25c3-cheap-swarm-robotics/ | 25C3: Cheap Swarm Robotics | Eliot | [
"Robots Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"formica",
"msp430",
"pager",
"robot",
"swarm",
"swarm robot",
"vibration"
] | The
Formica project
was our favorite presentation at
25C3
. The goal is to build open source swarm robots as cheaply as possible. The team ended up building 25 robots in an assembly line fashion. With enough lead time, the price could get as low as £15 each. Each bot has two direct drive cellphone vibration motors with tiny neoprene wheels. They’re controlled by an
MSP430
microcontroller. The only really specialized chip is a charge controller so the bots can charge without any intervention. They have copper skis on the front that touch the ground plane plus antennas to contact Vcc. On top of the bot are three IR detectors for both navigation and for transferring firmware updates between bots. A reflective sensor is on the underside for detecting “food”. It looks like a great design and any easy way for anyone to start researching swarm robotics. | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "57273",
"author": "Bhima",
"timestamp": "2008-12-30T18:06:30",
"content": "reminds me of MIT ants… and those are at least 10 years old.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57312",
"author": "dan",
"timestamp": "2008-12-30T22... | 1,760,377,702.353119 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/30/25c3-hackers-completely-break-ssl-using-200-ps3s/ | 25C3: Hackers Completely Break SSL Using 200 PS3s | Eliot | [
"cons",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"25c3",
"alex soritov",
"berlin",
"CA",
"ccc",
"certificate authority",
"collision",
"hacker",
"hacker conference",
"hype",
"jake apelbaum",
"md5",
"playstation",
"playstation 3",
"rapidssl",
"sha",
"sha-1"
] | A team of security researchers and academics has broken a core piece of internet technology. They made their work public at the
25th Chaos Communication Congress
in Berlin today. The team was able to create a
rogue certificate authority and use it to issue valid SSL certificates
for any site they want. The user would have no indication that their HTTPS connection was being monitored/modified.
This attack is possible because of a flaw in MD5. MD5 is a hashing algorithm; each unique file has a unique hash. In 2004, a team of Chinese researchers demonstrated creating two different files that had the same MD5 hash. In 2007, another team showed theoretical attacks that took advantage of these collisions. The team focused on SSL certificates signed with MD5 for their exploit.
The first step was doing some broad scans to see what
certificate authorities
(CA) were issuing MD5 signed certs. They collected 30K certs from Firefox trusted CAs. 9K of them were MD5 signed. 97% of those came from
RapidSSL
.
Having selected their target, the team needed to generate their rogue certificate to transfer the signature to. They employed the processing power of 200 Playstation 3s to get the job done. For this task, it’s the equivalent of 8000 standard CPU cores or $20K of Amazon EC2 time. The task takes ~1-2 days to calculate. The tricky part was knowing the content of the certificate that would be issued by RapidSSL. They needed to predict two variables: the serial number and the timestamp. RapidSSL’s serial numbers were all sequential. From testing, they knew that RapidSSL would always sign six seconds after the order was acknowledged. Knowing these two facts they were able to generate a certificate in advance and then purchase the exact certificate they wanted. They’d purchase certificates to advance the serial number and then buy on the exact time they calculated.
The cert was issued to their particular domain, but since they controlled the content, they changed the flags to make themselves an intermediate certificate authority. That gave them authority to issue any certificate they wanted. All of these ‘valid’ certs were signed using SHA-1.
If you set your clock back to before August 2004, you can
try out their live demo site
. This time is just a security measure for the example and this would work identically with a certificate that hasn’t expired. There’s a
project site
and a much
more detailed writeup than this
.
To fix this vulnerability, all CAs are now using SHA-1 for signing and Microsoft and Firefox will be blacklisting the team’s rogue CA in their browser products. | 78 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "57271",
"author": "epicelite",
"timestamp": "2008-12-30T17:49:04",
"content": "Well lets hope bad people cannot afford 200 PS3’s.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57274",
"author": "James",
"timestamp": "2008-12-30T18:06:... | 1,760,377,702.436756 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/30/card-shuffling-machine-failure/ | Card Shuffling Machine Failure | Eliot | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"card",
"deck",
"deck of cards",
"glacial wanderer",
"hobby robotics",
"rube goldberg",
"shuffle",
"shuffle machine",
"video"
] | Breaking from his usually routine of winning at everything, [Glacial Wanderer] has posted one of his projects that didn’t actually work. It’s a
Rube Goldberg style card shuffling machine
. He wanted something that was visually interesting while still randomizing the cards. A blower would be mounted to the top to mix the cards similar to a lottery ball machine. The cards would then drop into a chute that would make sure all of the cards were oriented correctly before being presented to the user. After building the first prototype, several problems were apparent. The first of which was the fan not being strong enough. His interest was waning and it looked like the time he’d have to invest in fixes was growing quickly, so he decided to cut his loses. He still posted about the prototype in hopes that it could help someone else exploring this sort of machine. A video of the mechanism can be found below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZX2rwFTqlE] | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "57263",
"author": "Kyle McDonald",
"timestamp": "2008-12-30T16:36:18",
"content": "It seems like the only real problem is the single-card-selecting mechanism…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57266",
"author": "speedphreak",
... | 1,760,377,702.59915 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/30/25c3-ctf-dominated-by-iphone-dev-team-hackmii/ | 25C3: CTF Dominated By Iphone-dev Team, HackMii | Eliot | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"cons",
"iphone hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks",
"Nintendo Wii Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"25c3",
"ccc",
"ctf",
"hackmii",
"iphone",
"iphone dev team",
"nintendo",
"nintendo wii",
"wii"
] | While we had been excited about
25C3’s CTF competition
, we couldn’t even venture a guess as to who would win. It seems the
iphone-dev
team weren’t satisfied to just give
an amazing talk
. They teamed up with the Wii hackers from
HackMii
to
win the competition
. You can see their progress during the eight hour competition above in red. It’s impressive to see hardware hackers jumping over to network security AND completely killing at it. | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "57253",
"author": "TJHooker",
"timestamp": "2008-12-30T15:31:15",
"content": "They probably learned routing algorithms and buffer overflows way before they started reverse engineering firmware; they’d have to actually.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
... | 1,760,377,702.639275 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/29/steam-powered-spud-gun/ | Steam Powered Spud Gun | Caleb Kraft | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"potato",
"spud",
"steam"
] | [googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1469285450334085432&ei=9EhZSd_XIJHEqQK6mO2rDQ&q=steam+powered+potato+pistol]
[robbtoberfest] put together this cool looking
steam powered spud pistol
. Made from household materials, like a lighter and some copper pipe, this spud gun builds pressure in its little bitty boiler to expel the projectiles. It seems as though he’s using a cork to supply a seal, so why bother with potatos? At roughly 2 minutes between shots, its not the quickest, but it sure is cool. Good job [robbtoberfest]. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "57158",
"author": "NetCrash",
"timestamp": "2008-12-29T22:46:20",
"content": "Realy cool!!!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "57160",
"author": "wizzard1",
"timestamp": "2008-12-29T22:52:48",
"content": "he should use... | 1,760,377,702.747376 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/27/in-flight-insect-photo-rig/ | In Flight Insect Photo Rig | Caleb Kraft | [
"News"
] | [] | This amazing looking set up is for
photographing insects in flight
. While this is similar to
a past project we covered
, this one seems to have several improvements. There are no longer any arms that you have to position on either side of the insect. This system uses an additional lens, picture at the top, to detect the reflected laser light off of an insect. Requiring only 40 microseconds to determine if the insect is in focus, capturing a flying wasp shouldn’t be too hard. You can see four lasers in the pictures, two are IR and used for focus, the other two are simply to help the operator target their bugs.
[thanks Woeka] | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "56913",
"author": "Adam Ziegler",
"timestamp": "2008-12-27T21:58:08",
"content": "Umm… examples of what it can do?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56917",
"author": "Cyrozap",
"timestamp": "2008-12-27T22:16:20",
"con... | 1,760,377,702.701657 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/27/25c3-solar-powering-your-gear/ | 25C3: Solar-powering Your Gear | Eliot | [
"cons",
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Solar Hacks"
] | [
"25c3",
"atmega8",
"AVR",
"ccc",
"con",
"eeprom",
"kill a watt",
"nokia",
"peltier",
"script",
"solar",
"solar panel",
"solar power",
"thinkpad"
] | The
25th Chaos Communication Congress
is underway in Berlin. One of the first talks we dropped in on was [script]’s
Solar-powering your Geek Gear
. While there are quite a few portable solar products on the market, we haven’t seen much in the way of real world experience until now.
[script] selected a four segment folding solar panel after some research. He pointed out that solar is currently more of a necessity technology than money saving since the panels can be very expensive. For connectors, he recommended ones that were safe, polarized, and difficult to short, like the
RIA connect
230 series he used. Most of the device plugs were easily purchasable, but some had to be salvaged from old AC adapters. A key component of his setup was the
adjustable voltage regulator
. It’s based on the LTC3780 buck-boost controller which is 98% efficient and can be adjusted from 4V to 25V.
[script] covered some of the problems he ran into in use. The first was an Nokia that refused to charge until a resistor was added to reduce the current delivered. Less sensitive devices like portable
peltier
fridges will work without any issue. For laptop use, he ran into problems with demand spikes killing the power delivery. He added a large cap normally used in car audio systems to make power delivery more consistent. Laptops can consume as little as 15W during normal use, but when they’re charging the battery, the draw can jump to 50W. On his ThinkPad, he was able to turn off charging to prevent this. He monitored the performance of the panel by building a
Kill A Watt
style device using an ATmega8 to measure current and voltage and log it to EEPROM.
In conclusion, [script] stated that he was happy with his experience, but that it was still impractical to use the portable panel in anything other than direct sunlight. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "56891",
"author": "anonymitee",
"timestamp": "2008-12-27T16:55:17",
"content": "I first found out about the Congress with some random Google-ing and stumbled across a lot of videos from last year. Anyone know when and where these videos may be available for this meet?",
"parent_... | 1,760,377,702.851206 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/27/nintendo-sixtyfree-lite-r-portable-n64/ | Nintendo Sixtyfree Lite-R Portable N64 | Eliot | [
"handhelds hacks",
"Nintendo Game Boy Hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"benheck",
"handheld",
"infolithium",
"n64",
"nintendo 64",
"sifuf",
"vacuum",
"vacuum formed",
"videogame"
] | Nothing says Christmas like
Nintendo 64
and benheck forum member [SifuF] has a treat for you. His
Nintendo Sixtyfree Lite-R
stuffs all the guts of at
Nintendo 64
into a compact handheld package. It features dual joysticks and triggers. The display is a
PSone
screen with all of the extra board trimmed away. The part that really makes this project shine is the case. It’s vacuum-formed 2mm sheets of polystyrene. Another nice touch was the volume and screen brightness. They’re adjusted by holding down start and then using the other buttons. It doesn’t have internal batteries, but can run off of a 7.2V Infolithium.
[via
Engadget
] | 27 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "56869",
"author": "roshamboe",
"timestamp": "2008-12-27T13:48:29",
"content": "thats friggin sick, i want one",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56873",
"author": "ula",
"timestamp": "2008-12-27T14:41:56",
"content": "i... | 1,760,377,703.199718 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/27/parts-8bit-io-expander-pcf8574/ | Parts: 8bit IO Expander (PCF8574) | Ian | [
"Parts",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"bus pirate",
"electronics",
"i2c",
"input",
"io expander",
"output",
"pcf8574",
"texas instruments",
"ti"
] | Sometimes a project has more sensors, buttons, or LEDs than your microcontroller has pins. The
PCF8574
is an easy way to add 8 low-speed input or output pins to a microcontroller. A configurable address lets multiple PCF8574s exist on the same bus, so two microcontroller pins can control dozens of IO pins. We’ll show you how to use this chip below.
TI PCF8574
I2C 8bit IO expander (Mouser #
595-PCF8574N
, $1.86)
We found PCB footprints for this chip in
i2c.lbr
and
micro-phillips.lbr
on the Cadsoft Eagle
library download page
. The PCF8574 is controlled with the 2 wire
I2C protocol
, so we used our
Bus Pirate universal serial interface
to demonstrate this chip. The same basic operations will apply to any microcontroller.
The schematic shows our simple test circuit for the PCF8574, here’s the
datasheet
(PDF). We powered the chip with 5volts, and used a 0.1uF decoupling capacitor (C1) between the power and ground pins. R1 and R2 hold the I2C clock and data bus at 5volts. We’ll use an LED to test the chip’s output features; P0 is connected to LED1 through current limiting resistor R3 (330+ ohms). P6 and P7 are tied to known states so we can easily test the chip’s input capabilities.
The PCF8574’s I2C address is 0100xxxy, with three bits (x) determined by the state of the address pins A2-0, and a final bit (y) that sets the read (1) or write (0) mode. Many PFC8574s can share an I2C bus by using different address pin settings. Since we tied the address pins to ground, the write address is 01000000 (0x40).
Output
The LED on P0 is controlled by writing a 1 (on) or 0 (off) to bit 0 of the byte following the write address.
I2C>{0x40 0b00000001}
<–command
210 I2C START CONDITION
220 I2C WRITE: 0x40 GOT ACK: YES
<–write address
220 I2C WRITE: 0x01 GOT ACK: YES
<–output value
240 I2C STOP CONDITION
I2C>
{
issues an I2C start condition, followed by the write address, 0x40. The output value, 0b00000001, sets P0 high and the remaining bits low. } sends the I2C bus stop condition, ending the transaction. When the corresponding bit is set high, the LED turns on.
To turn the LED off, repeat the sequence with the corresponding output bit set to 0.
I2C>{0x40 0b00000000}
<–command
210 I2C START CONDITION
220 I2C WRITE: 0x40 GOT ACK: YES
<–write address
220 I2C WRITE: 0x00 GOT ACK: YES
<–output value
240 I2C STOP CONDITION
I2C>
With P0 now set to ground, the LED turns off.
Input
Pins set to output high can also be used as inputs (datasheet page 1). In the example, P6 is held high (+5 volts) and P7 is held low (ground), but these could also be buttons, sensors, or other digital logic. The other pins are left floating and don’t represent valid data.
I2C>{0x40 0b11000000}
<–command
210 I2C START CONDITION
220 I2C WRITE: 0x40 GOT ACK: YES
<–write address
220 I2C WRITE: 0xC0 GOT ACK: YES
<–output value
240 I2C STOP CONDITION
I2C>
First, we set the desired input pins to output high by writing 1 to the corresponding bits in the output value. Bits 6 and 7 set P6 and P7 to output high.
Now, we can read the pin. We did this operation with the Bus Pirate’s output set to binary mode so that the pin values are immediately obvious.
I2C>{0x41 r}
<–command
210 I2C START CONDITION
220 I2C WRITE: 0b01000001 GOT ACK: YES
<–address
230 I2C READ: 0b01000000
<–pin state
240 I2C STOP CONDITION
I2C>
{ issues an I2C start condition, 0x41 is the read address, and r reads one byte from the device. } sends the I2C bus stop condition, ending the transaction.
The reply, 01000000, represents the state of the input pins. The most significant bit is 0 because P7 is tied to ground. The next bit is 1 because P6 is held high The other bits (0) are garbage data.
This is far from the only IO expander IC. Have you used another chip?
Don’t forget to catch up on any
parts posts
you may have missed. | 28 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "56851",
"author": "hex4def6",
"timestamp": "2008-12-27T08:50:20",
"content": "That’s an interesting IC, but I question its usefulness, when something like a PIC18F25J10 is $2.08 on mouser. With something like that, not only do you get 21 high speed gpios (vs the 8 this ic provides),... | 1,760,377,705.503809 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/26/weep5-a-wii-zapper-on-steroids/ | WeeP5 A Wii Zapper On Steroids | Caleb Kraft | [
"Nintendo Hacks",
"Nintendo Wii Hacks"
] | [] | This is the
WeeP5
, a fully functional Wii controller gun that looks like an MP5. [TheOreos] found the original zapper attachments to be lacking in several areas. His solution was to build a controller, integrated into an existing gun design with all the buttons exactly where he wanted them. He picked up a toy MP5 and sacrificed a Wiimote for the cause. He did a fantastic job, it looks great and, according to him, works well too. He may want to consider putting an orange tip on it though, just to keep from
spooking the police
. | 28 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "56703",
"author": "Dowser",
"timestamp": "2008-12-26T18:35:51",
"content": "Lovely job.But please edit the article and remove the comment regarding the orange tip.The *only* effect the orange-tip law on toy-gun’s will have is criminals painting their real gun’s orange and shooting c... | 1,760,377,705.208772 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/26/usb-servo-squirter/ | USB Servo Squirter | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"nerdkit",
"pwm",
"servo"
] | Here is a great project for learning how to control servos. They’ve made a
USB controlled squirt gun
using the
USB NerdKit
, a pump and a servo. This is a great tutorial to learn about
PWM
and controlling servos. The tutorial is very thorough, with great pictures and a video of it all , which you can see after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1pai3vhnsY]
[thanks Humberto] | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "56847",
"author": "Edd",
"timestamp": "2008-12-27T07:17:48",
"content": "Nice kit. I’ll be looking forward to buy it.I’m a total newbie when it comes to this but how does it compare to Arduino and others like it ?I would like to play with LED related projects.",
"parent_id": nul... | 1,760,377,705.052967 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/25/hackit-what-did-you-get/ | Hackit: What Did You Get? | Eliot | [
"Android Hacks",
"Cellphone Hacks",
"g1 hacks",
"google hacks",
"HackIt"
] | [
"adp1",
"android",
"cellphone",
"christmas",
"connectbot",
"G1",
"gift",
"ssh",
"t-mobile",
"t-mobile g1",
"xmas"
] | It’s the season of gift giving. Did you get anything interesting/hackable? What will you work on next?
We gave ourselves an
Android Dev Phone 1
(
ADP1
). We hadn’t really considered getting a
G1
until the ADP1 was announced… It’s actually a lot of fun to use as our primary phone. Our favorite app so far is
connectbot
, the SSH client. The interface is really smart, way better than
all of the iPhone clients
.
What did you get? | 88 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "56598",
"author": "kd5uzz",
"timestamp": "2008-12-26T07:11:03",
"content": "Dell Mini 9 :-)I’m not too sure I’ll be doing any hacks to it; although I’d love to add a WAN card.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56601",
"author"... | 1,760,377,705.361943 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/25/surviving-a-hacker-conference/ | Surviving A Hacker Conference | Eliot | [
"computer hacks",
"downloads hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"25c3",
"ccc",
"dynamic",
"dynamic forwarding",
"hacker conference",
"hacker convention",
"hackercon",
"hardware",
"security",
"security4all",
"ssh",
"tunnel"
] | With another hacker conference looming in front of us, it’s time to start thinking about hardware security. Hacker conventions have the most hostile network you’ll ever encounter. [Security4all]
points out
that
25C3
already has an
extensive page on securing your hardware
. It starts from the ground up with physical security, BIOS passwords, and locking down bootloaders. There’s a section on securing your actual OS and session. Finally, they cover network usage. It mentions using
SSH for dynamic forwarding
, which we feel is a skill everyone should have. We’ve used it not just for security, but for bypassing brainless bandwidth restrictions too. There’s also the more trick
transparent version
. Every piece of data you bring with you, you risk losing, so they actually recommend just wiping your iPhone and other devices before attending. It’s important to remember that it’s not just your own data at risk, but everyone/thing you communicate with as well. | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "56602",
"author": "Anonymous",
"timestamp": "2008-12-26T07:19:50",
"content": "I think the best tip I can offer to someone going to a hacker conference is this: Bring a friend. I had never been to a hacker conference before when The Last Hope started coming near, and I wanted to go.... | 1,760,377,705.130332 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/25/how-to-properly-dispose-of-fruitcake/ | How To Properly Dispose Of Fruitcake | Eliot | [
"News",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"bicycle",
"bike",
"boeing",
"colorado",
"compress air",
"contest",
"fruitcake",
"manitou springs",
"omega 380",
"slingshot",
"spud gun",
"SpudGun",
"video"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tsgz3G0E1c]
While doing serious fruitcake research, (no, really) we stumbled across the
Great Fruitcake Toss
held every January in Colorado. The particular entry above caught our eye. Omega 380 was built by a group of Boeing engineers and currently holds the distance record of 1,420feet. It’s a large compressed air cannon. All pressure is human generated using an exercise bike turning a pump. Apparently the team’s first contest entry was a classic surgical tubing slingshot. It eventually broke down during a very cold year, so they switched to this newer design. You can see more videos on the
Operation Fruitcake
blog. | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "56584",
"author": "buffalobill",
"timestamp": "2008-12-26T04:38:14",
"content": "that’s the best way to regift fruitcake to the earth. I’m glad Boeing engineers care enough to give back to the planet. That and that’s one sweet air cannon!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,705.547346 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/25/nyc-cctv-scouting/ | NYC CCTV Scouting | Eliot | [
"downloads hacks",
"Security Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"babywatch",
"camera",
"CCTV",
"crimewatch",
"dvr",
"new york",
"ny",
"nyc",
"nypd",
"nypost",
"sousveillance",
"total recall",
"ups",
"webserver"
] | On a recent trip to New York City, [sherri] noticed the abundant “NYPD Security Camera” signage. She Ò on her little
sousveillance
tour and did some digging to learn more about the system. According to a
recent NY Post article
, the city intends to have 2,000 cameras installed by 2009. Each unit has at least two cameras, an onboard DVR, battery backup, a webserver, and wireless connection. The
CrimeEye
product line is manufactured by Total Recall—the people who brought you
BABYWATCH
. While the company site doesn’t list any specs, we found a price list that was
provided to New York State
. Each unit lists for $28-39K. They can have image sensors up to 2 megapixels, hold 30fps video for 5-15days, and transmit wirelessly on the 4.9GHz public safety band.
[sherri] wonders what systems are in place to guarantee the security of the camera network and to make sure the data is handled properly. We’ve seen bad implementations of
cameras with webservers
in the past. She suggests a third-party system to verify security, operation, and storage. Right now there’s no reason the government won’t use footage for invasive data mining. As a publicly funded system monitoring public areas, we see no reason why the video streams from these devices shouldn’t be widely available.
[Thanks Tendency] | 18 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "56581",
"author": "anon",
"timestamp": "2008-12-26T04:22:15",
"content": "So, jam the wireless frequency so it can’t call for help, then cut the power, then loot the pieces.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56583",
"author": ... | 1,760,377,705.267111 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/25/working-with-vfds/ | Working With VFDs | Eliot | [
"classic hacks",
"LED Hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"4000",
"4094",
"40xx",
"7400",
"74xx",
"digital logic",
"display",
"lcd",
"led",
"logic",
"nixie",
"nixie tube",
"spritesmods",
"sprite_tm",
"vfd"
] | We love old display technology, like
Nixie tubes
, but they’re often difficult to work with because they require higher voltages than digital logic. Vacuum florescent displays (
VFD
) fall into this category. While not necessarily “old”, they are becoming far less common than LCDs. The main benefit of a VFD is that it actually produces light directly; it doesn’t require a backlight. You’ll find these displays on various players and appliances: CD, DVD, VCR, microwaves, stoves, car headunits, and others.
[Sprite_tm] had written off some VFDs, but recently
revisited them with renewed interest
. He started by testing what sort of voltage would be required to drive the display. It took 3V for the filament plus 15V to drive the grids. There are VFD controller chips available, but he wanted to get this working with what he had on hand. He had experience with older
40xx
series logic, which can be powered by much higher voltages than 5V
74xx
. His final schematic has three 4094 serial to parallel chips with an ATtiny2313 controller. A 5V power supply is dropped to 3V with diodes to drive the filament while a boost converter brings it up to 15V for the 4094s that switch the segments. While the code is specific to this display, it would be a great place to start your own project. | 12 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "56573",
"author": "twistedsymphony",
"timestamp": "2008-12-26T00:17:17",
"content": "Really cool stuff, I love VFDs.. totally underrated display tech in my opinion…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56578",
"author": "Josh",
... | 1,760,377,704.936226 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/24/reprap-motherboard/ | RepRap Motherboard | Eliot | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"atmega",
"atmega644",
"ATmega644P",
"AVR",
"motherboard",
"motor controller",
"reprap"
] | When the
RepRap
team found themselves pushing the limits of the
Arduino
, they started looking for alternatives. They found it in the ATMega644P. It has four times
the memory and four times the RAM
compared to the ATMega168 used in the standard Arduino. It also has 32 I/O pins. They ported the Arduino software to the microcontroller and started producing
Sanguino
boards. Now that the base design is nailed down, they’ve begun expanding it to their specific purpose. Pictured above is a
prototype RepRap motherboard
. While the Sanguino is barebones, this board has onboard connectors for all of the RepRap’s motors, so you can just plug it in. It is also designed to support the future Generation 3 electronics. Probably the most interesting feature is the SD card slot. The goal is to eventually have a board that can run the RepRap without a host computer if necessary; it will manufacture designs directly from the flash card. | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "56479",
"author": "bbot",
"timestamp": "2008-12-25T02:38:38",
"content": "it’s got IDC connectors for all the motor controllers, not the motors themselves. the motherboard doesn’t have any of the stepper driver electronics needed to actually drive a stepper, or the dc motor stuff fo... | 1,760,377,705.001929 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/24/pelican-case-xbox-360-2/ | Pelican Case Xbox 360 | Eliot | [
"Portable Video Hacks",
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"airtight",
"ben heck",
"ben heckendorn",
"benheck",
"casemod",
"laptop",
"pelican",
"pelican case",
"video",
"waterproof",
"watertight",
"xbox",
"xbox 360"
] | [Ben Heck] has put the final touches on his
Pelican case Xbox 360
. This prototype was constructed for use by troops stationed overseas. When he
announced the project in October
, he already knew some of the hurdles he would face. An industrial Velcro style product is used for all component mounting so the air/water-tight seal of the case remains intact. He sanded the surface so that it would stick better. [Ben] mentions that he ended up using less Velcro than he planned on because it held so well. Not being able to cut the case meant the DVD drive had to be converted to top-loading. The tray movement limit switches have been relocated so they now respond to lid position. He regrets not being able to motorize the lid, but let it go since this is still just the first attempt. Extra copper was added to all of the heat sinks to improve cooling. This Xbox is for sale and he’d love to hear from anyone that wants to put it into production. The write-up has a ton of pictures and you can see a video of it below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CoZ8i3O3qs] | 26 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "56441",
"author": "Maria399",
"timestamp": "2008-12-24T18:40:17",
"content": "Interesant, dat nu vrei sa adaugi putin umor siteulqui tau :P? O poza haioasa cu animale care se schimba in fiecare zi.Daca da, da click pe numele meu",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies"... | 1,760,377,705.42842 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/24/giant-led-lamp/ | Giant LED Lamp | Caleb Kraft | [
"home hacks",
"LED Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"lamp",
"led"
] | [guyfrom7up] must really really love LEDs. When he needed some lighting, which would obviously be LED powered, he chose to actually
build a giant LED
. Well, he didn’t actually build a giant functional LED, but rather an LED shaped diffuser for some high powered LEDs. He takes us through the process of first creating a wooden model, using that to create a mold, then forming the final diffuser. The final product is very well done, and instantly identifiable by any geek.
[thanks Brian] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "56437",
"author": "sidthetaff",
"timestamp": "2008-12-24T17:56:33",
"content": "nice, can’t beat a bit of geek chic!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56438",
"author": "tony",
"timestamp": "2008-12-24T18:15:41",
"cont... | 1,760,377,705.625446 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/23/mbta-drops-lawsuit-against-mit-subway-hackers/ | MBTA Drops Lawsuit Against MIT Subway Hackers | Eliot | [
"News",
"Security Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"charliecard",
"eff",
"fpga",
"gnu radio",
"mbta",
"mifare",
"mifare classic",
"mit",
"physical security",
"rfid",
"security",
"subway",
"subway hackers"
] | The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) has dropped its federal case against three MIT researchers, “the subway hackers”. This happened in October and now the EFF brings news that the students will be
working with the MBTA to improve their system
. The overall goal is to raise security while keeping expenses minimal.
This whole mess started in August when a gag order was issued against the
students’ presentation at Defcon
. It’s a shame no one ever saw it because it covers a lot of interesting ground. A
PDF of the banned slides
is still online. They performed several attacks against both the subway’s fare system and physical security. Our favorites by far were using
GNU Radio
to sniff the RFID card’s transaction and bruteforcing
Mifare Classic
with an FPGA. | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "56286",
"author": "Aaron",
"timestamp": "2008-12-23T16:24:26",
"content": "From what I remember, the students went to the MBTA and they didn’t want to listen to them in the first place. Now they want to work together and improve the security. Finally the MBTA woke up and got their... | 1,760,377,706.307424 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/23/finally-a-quiet-xbox-360/ | Finally, A Quiet Xbox 360 | Eliot | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"amd",
"Case mod",
"jann strom",
"lian li",
"microsoft",
"noctua",
"nostua nh-u9d0",
"opteron",
"quiet",
"silent",
"silent pc",
"xb01",
"xbox",
"xbox 360"
] | Frustrated by the constant din of his
Xbox 360
,
[Janne Ström] took action
. The original case wouldn’t have near enough room for the additional cooling that needed to be installed, so he picked up
Lian Li’s XB01
case replacement. He followed the
illustrated disassembly guide
to get the
Xbox
stripped down to just its motherboard. He then began fitting his coolers of choice: two massive
Noctua NH-U9D0
units originally intended for
AMD
Opterons. The asymmetric heat sinks are intended for applications like this where dual sockets could make other devices difficult to place. Clearly the hardest part of the installation was applying an appropriate amount of thermal compound and then slowly tightening the hold down screws to guarantee even pressure. The resultant system ended up being quieter than the first camera he attempted to record it with and the attached power supply. You can see a video of it below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl-h1AQsZEc]
[via
Engadget
] | 25 | 24 | [
{
"comment_id": "56276",
"author": "twistedsymphony",
"timestamp": "2008-12-23T15:25:23",
"content": "great hack … except a majority of the Xbox 360’s noise doesn’t come from the fans but rather the DVD drive…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "562... | 1,760,377,706.707978 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/23/free-issue-of-hackin9/ | Free Issue Of Hackin9 | Eliot | [
"downloads hacks",
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"dead tree",
"download",
"free",
"hackin9",
"magazine",
"paper",
"taosecurity"
] | Until midnight tonight, you can
download a free copy
of the 1/2008 issue of security magazine hackin9. It’s 84pages, 10.5MB, and requires you to provide an email address they don’t verify.
[via
TaoSecurity
] | 9 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "56266",
"author": "Anon",
"timestamp": "2008-12-23T14:15:41",
"content": "This is what services like dodgit.com and mailinator.com are made for.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "6690523",
"author": "Shohrux",
"t... | 1,760,377,706.356426 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/22/wap-controlled-home-automation/ | WAP Controlled Home Automation | Eliot | [
"computer hacks",
"home hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"apache",
"home",
"home automation",
"java",
"microcontroller",
"opto-isolated",
"pic",
"relay",
"wap"
] | [Josh] sent in a
home automation project
he did a little while ago. It has a total of eight switched outlets. The main focus of the project was WAP access for remote control from any cellphone. The control box is based on a design by [Ashley Roll] for
controlling eight servos using a PIC
microcontroller. A listener app written in Java monitors the control web page and sends signals to the board via serial port. He used opto-isolated 240V solid state relays for each of the outlets. All the pieces are available on the site and he might even do a custom control board design if there is enough interest. | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "56220",
"author": "amk",
"timestamp": "2008-12-23T05:19:24",
"content": "Job well done Josh. Although this strikes me as being more of an appliance control system, turn the lamp on and off remotely, that kind of thing. An automated system does things without user interaction.",
... | 1,760,377,706.587911 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/22/wiimote-driven-motion-effects/ | Wiimote Driven Motion Effects | Eliot | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Mac Hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks",
"Nintendo Wii Hacks"
] | [
"cdm",
"emotion",
"ir",
"nintendo",
"nintendo wii",
"whiteboard",
"wiimote"
] | [vimeo 2515709]
Check out the video above by [Adrien Mondot] for a extensive demonstration of eMotion being used with a Wiimote.
eMotion
is a physics based visual tool for the
Mac
. It’s designed to enhance performances by reacting to real world motion. Its grounding in physics makes the resultant motion appear more natural than if they were arbitrarily generated. The video above combines eMotion with the output of
Wiimote Whiteboard
, a low-cost interactive white board that uses the Wiimote camera plus IR light pens. While the video takes place in a small area, we can see how this could be scaled to a much larger space with IR lights mounted to performers.
[via
CDM
] | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "56210",
"author": "Harvie",
"timestamp": "2008-12-23T02:37:31",
"content": "These people are doing magic ;o)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56223",
"author": "dustin",
"timestamp": "2008-12-23T05:43:56",
"content": ... | 1,760,377,706.965001 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/22/digital-clock-building/ | Digital Clock Building | Eliot | [
"classic hacks",
"home hacks",
"LED Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"digital clock",
"latch",
"led",
"multiplex",
"multiplexing",
"pic",
"punkky"
] | [punkky] has been documenting his adventures building digital clocks. They each use six 7-segment LED displays, but he’s been gradually changing how they are built. The
first version
used a CMOS BCD-to-7-sement latch on each display, which is tied to a PIC16F627a. For the next run, he
added multiplexing
, so he could drive all the segments using just thirteen pins. He’s posted a final schematic with code and details of
how the clock timing actually works
. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "56213",
"author": "error404",
"timestamp": "2008-12-23T03:14:56",
"content": "Pfft :P The PIC is cheating! We had to do it with 74xx logic and a 12VAC transformer alone!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56214",
"author": "kha... | 1,760,377,706.222759 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/22/cast-concrete-rgb-lamp/ | Cast Concrete RGB Lamp | Caleb Kraft | [
"home hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"lamp",
"led",
"light"
] | [matthew venn] shows us how to create this
cool RGB LED lamp
. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but some good information on casting the base out of concrete. The body of the lap is formed by two thin rods folded in half, stuck in holes in the base, with a lycra sleeve slid over them. The final effect is quite nice and can be controlled by 3 knobs recessed in the front of the base. Information on the actual circuit used is very limited, as there are so many tutorials out there for that, but he does show how he mounted it all, and plans on releasing the source code soon. | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "56194",
"author": "andrew",
"timestamp": "2008-12-22T22:15:41",
"content": "i really like the concrete base with metal side panels and knobs — looks very nice. great job!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,377,706.264744 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/21/scratch-built-air-muscles/ | Scratch Built Air Muscles | Eliot | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"air muscle",
"jelengar",
"muscle",
"pneumatic",
"robot",
"shadow",
"shadow robotics"
] | We first talked about air muscles in 2005 while lusting after
Shadow Robotic’s dexterous hand
. The pneumatic devices are known for being lightweight and compliant. They’re designed to be used in robot arms and legs. [
jelengar
] stumbled across this
guide to building your own air muscles
. We’re not exactly sure what the original source is since it reads like a machine translation. The core is a piece of silicone tubing used in aquariums. It’s sealed at one end with a bolt. Braided electrical sheathing is slid over the tube and secured using multiple wraps of 24gauge wire. They say to test it using 20psi, but there’s no mention of what the limits are. | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "56055",
"author": "Solenoidclock",
"timestamp": "2008-12-21T16:35:16",
"content": "http://www.imagesco.com/articles/airmuscle/AirMuscleDescription02.htmlThere is your source.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56056",
"author":... | 1,760,377,706.408257 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/20/securing-your-data/ | Securing Your Data | Eliot | [
"computer hacks",
"firefox hacks",
"iphone hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"firefox",
"ie",
"iphone",
"keepass",
"lifehacker",
"security",
"truecrypt"
] | Lifehacker has published an overview of some of the many ways
you can secure your data
. The post was prompted by recently released browser vulnerabilities: first
IE
, then
Firefox
. They cover techniques far beyond just browser security, like how to
properly wipe your iPhone
. They mention disk encryption go-to
TrueCrypt
along with password management tools like
KeePass
. They also suggest using temporary credit cards to mitigate the impact of fraud.
[photo:
Rija 2.0
] | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "56015",
"author": "TJHooker",
"timestamp": "2008-12-21T01:45:57",
"content": "DEP and group policies on windows are exhaustively underrated. DEP on windows is actually better than ProPolice and the the stuff in Fedora 10 and the latest GCC. Ask anyone who knows what a canary value i... | 1,760,377,706.542132 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/20/hacked-cell-phone-blood-analyzer/ | Hacked Cell Phone Blood Analyzer | Caleb Kraft | [
"News"
] | [
"blood test",
"LUCAS",
"phone"
] | Lensfree Ultrawide-field Cell-monitoring Array platform based on Shadow
or LUCAS for short is an amazing new hack by a researcher at UCLA. This quick little hack involving only some wire, a filter, and an LED might revolutionize blood testing. This hacked camera replaces a unit that is usually the size of a refrigerator and very expensive to run. This is a pretty amazing achievement and should serve as inspiration for hackers all everywhere.
[thanks to everyone who sent us this link] | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "55989",
"author": "Mikotoke",
"timestamp": "2008-12-20T20:02:11",
"content": "Excellent work, this can change blood testing as it is today, once more, good job guys!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "55991",
"author": "superno... | 1,760,377,706.641187 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/20/xbox-360-controller-update/ | Xbox 360 Controller Update | Caleb Kraft | [
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"arcade",
"xbox 360"
] | [erdbeerfetischist] sent us an
update on his arcade controller
for the Xbox 360 (
translated
). While this isn’t an amazing feat, the original was in a
pizza box
. We thought you would all be happy to know that he built a hard enclosure for it. We dig the transparent top too. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "55993",
"author": "localroger",
"timestamp": "2008-12-20T20:47:13",
"content": "sounds like he’s planning to put artwork under the plexi, but that will still look cool, just in a different way. very nice hack, and a good example of what you can do with entry-level skillz.",
"pa... | 1,760,377,707.016501 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/20/flash-for-jailbroken-iphones/ | Flash For Jailbroken IPhones | Eliot | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"iphone hacks",
"Mac Hacks",
"Portable Video Hacks"
] | [
"apple",
"apple iphone",
"cydia",
"gizmodo",
"iphone",
"jailbreak",
"jailbroken",
"safari"
] | Hackers are continuing to outpace Apple with feature additions. The team at iMobileCinema has created a flash plugin for the Mobile Safari browser. It’s a beta release and still a bit buggy. This app is only available to people who have jailbroken their iPhones. You just need to add
d.imobilecinema.com
to your sources in
Cydia
to get the package to appear. While it can crash from time to time, it’s certainly better than no support at all.
[via
Gizmodo
] | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "55971",
"author": "KelvinAlf",
"timestamp": "2008-12-20T17:13:55",
"content": "this is great now if apple tries to shut them down we’ll see a huge fight breakout:P",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "55974",
"author": "jelthi",
... | 1,760,377,707.064195 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/20/netbooks-slow-thanks-to-microsoft/ | Netbooks, Slow Thanks To Microsoft | Eliot | [
"computer hacks",
"laptops hacks",
"Netbook Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"kerfuffle",
"licensing",
"microsoft",
"microsoft xp",
"netbook",
"ulcpc",
"xp"
] | [nico]
pointed out something
that didn’t seem to get any air-time during the
recent netbook kerfuffle
. Part of the original TechCrunch complaint was that netbooks are underpowered. This is a direct result of Microsoft’s Ultra Low Cost PC (ULCPC) licensing program. If manufacturer’s don’t stick to Microsoft’s restrictions, they can’t purchase XP at a discount ($26-32), which is the only way to get XP since they no longer sell it. These rules are why you can’t buy a netbook with more that 1GB of RAM.
[photo:
secretlondon123
] | 54 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "55962",
"author": "sean",
"timestamp": "2008-12-20T16:05:47",
"content": "this is a very enlightening and interesting thing to point out… but I personally couldn’t care less about the techcrunch troll.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_... | 1,760,377,707.154104 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/20/nanotouch-lucid-touchscreen-navigation/ | NanoTouch, Lucid Touchscreen Navigation | Eliot | [
"handhelds hacks",
"News",
"Portable Video Hacks"
] | [
"engadget",
"lucidtouch",
"merl",
"mitsubishi",
"nanotouch",
"new scientist",
"newscientist",
"TouchPad",
"touchscreen",
"video"
] | The fine folks at Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs (MERL) are
demoing a new touchscreen system
that may make small devices easier to use. An extension of their LucidTouch technology, NanoTouch has a small screen on the front and a touchpad on the back. Their test unit features a 2.4inch screen. The screen displays where the user’s finger is on the back touchpad as if the display was transparent. The user’s finger no longer obscures the screen surface, so it’s much easier to hit small buttons. In testing, researchers showed that targets just 1.8mm across were easy to hit. That’s much smaller than the
iPhone’s
touchscreen keyboard. Here’s a video
demonstrating the new device
.
[via
Engadget
] | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "55986",
"author": "tony",
"timestamp": "2008-12-20T19:23:33",
"content": "very cool",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56000",
"author": "Kyle McDonald",
"timestamp": "2008-12-20T22:10:49",
"content": "What if my finger... | 1,760,377,706.928565 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/22/no-solder-eeepc-701-upgrades/ | No Solder EEEPC 701 Upgrades | Caleb Kraft | [
"computer hacks",
"Netbook Hacks"
] | [
"4g surf",
"700",
"701",
"Asus",
"EeePc",
"netbook"
] | [luke] has put together a set of
EeePC upgrade instructions for those who suffer from solderphobia
. If you have the EeePC 700 or 701, also known as the 4G surf, you can upgrade the storage, add bluetooth, and a touch screen without having to solder a thing. Those models don’t have the built in camera, so they have an unused internal USB port. With some crafty taping and careful placement, you can upgrade as easily as [luke]. We’ve really seen the EeePC mature, the product line has
expanded quite a lot
. For those who don’t mind a little solder, there have been
tons of hacks
for the EeePC. | 14 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "56180",
"author": "Neil_J",
"timestamp": "2008-12-22T18:19:26",
"content": "If you’re afraid of soldering, please turn in your geek card. Seriously, no excuses :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56181",
"author": "ngth",
... | 1,760,377,708.186106 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/21/iphone-3g-unlock-video/ | IPhone 3G Unlock Video | Eliot | [
"Android Hacks",
"Cellphone Hacks",
"g1 hacks",
"iphone hacks",
"Mac Hacks"
] | [
"25c3",
"3g",
"apple",
"att",
"ccc",
"iphone",
"iphone 3G",
"iphone dev team",
"iphone-dev",
"iphone3g",
"qik",
"sim",
"ssh",
"t-mobile",
"unlock",
"veency",
"video",
"yellowsn0w"
] | To appease people waiting for the
iPhone 3G unlock
, iphone-dev team member [MuscleNerd] did a
live video demo
this afternoon. The video shows him removing the AT&T SIM and putting in a
T-Mobile SIM
. After the switch, the phone shows no connectivity. He then runs “yellosn0w” in an SSH session with the phone. The phone then unlocks without needing to be rebooted and the signal bars appear. The final test shows the phone receiving a call.
The target for this release is New Year’s Eve and it doesn’t support the most recent baseband. Well be attending the
25C3 talk
hosted by [MuscleNerd] and other team members. The VNC screen you see in the video is thanks to [saurik]’s
Veency
. | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "56136",
"author": "luke",
"timestamp": "2008-12-22T04:17:17",
"content": "“baseband is vulnerable”? that sounds so pointlessly “technical”…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56161",
"author": "Mikotoke",
"timestamp": "2008... | 1,760,377,707.196558 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/21/bug-labs-releases-bugvonhippel-universal-module/ | Bug Labs Releases BUGvonHippel Universal Module | Eliot | [
"handhelds hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"adc",
"bug",
"bug labs",
"bugvonhippel",
"dac",
"engadget",
"eric von hippel",
"gpio",
"i2c",
"usb",
"vonhippel"
] | Bug Labs
makes hardware modules that can be combined to create your own custom gadgets. They’ve just released what we consider the most useful module:
BUGvonHippel
. Unlike the previous single purpose modules, the BUGvoHippel is a universal interface. The bus features
USB
, power/ground, DAC/ADC, I2C, GPIO, SPI, serial, and more. BUG applications are written in
Java
using a custom IDE.
The $79 module is named after MIT professor Eric von Hippel, who wrote
Democratizing Innovation
. You can find an interview with him below.
[blip.tv ?posts_id=1603449&dest=-1]
[via
Engadget
] | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "56123",
"author": "gschool",
"timestamp": "2008-12-22T02:55:10",
"content": "Bad ‘acting’.Sad.. Interesting module though.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56124",
"author": "localroger",
"timestamp": "2008-12-22T02:56:20... | 1,760,377,708.132958 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/21/tor-hardware-privacy-adapter/ | Tor Hardware Privacy Adapter | Eliot | [
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"anonymize",
"anonymous",
"daughtercard",
"ethernet",
"gumstix",
"hdd",
"janus",
"janusvm",
"openvpn",
"privacy adapter",
"tor"
] | The Janus team have published a
preview of their new Privacy Adapter
. It’s a small two port router. You just plug it in-line between your computer/switch and your internet connection. It will then anonymize all of you traffic via the
Tor
network. You can also use it with
OpenVPN
. The hardware appears to be a
Gumstix
computer mounted to a daughtercard with two ethernet ports. It will have a web configuration just like a standard router. This looks like a great plug-n-play privacy device. The only improvement we would suggest is adding auto-detect so a crossover cable isn’t required.
Janus is responsible for
JanusVM
, a virtual machine designed to protect your privacy with technologies like Tor and OpenVPN.
[via
@hdmoore
] | 33 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "56108",
"author": "Man On Fire",
"timestamp": "2008-12-22T00:43:39",
"content": "tor’s privacy is over-rated, but I must admit it’s better than nothing.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56109",
"author": "Jose Torres",
"t... | 1,760,377,707.265377 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/21/removing-fisheye-distortion/ | Removing Fisheye Distortion | Eliot | [
"digital cameras hacks",
"downloads hacks"
] | [
"fisheye",
"photoshop",
"script",
"warp"
] | Reader [alex] had a commercial plugin for fisheye lens correction and
wondered exactly what kind of magic was behind it
. Was it actually doing line detection? He dropped in a square grid to see what it spit out. The warped result indicated that the transformation was completely independent of the photo’s content. Using this result as a guide he was able to create a similar transform using Warp and save it as a script. The script generates almost identical results and now he knows exactly how little magic is involved. | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "56100",
"author": "Wwhat",
"timestamp": "2008-12-21T23:54:41",
"content": "What a llama, can’t spell, won’t use a spellchecker, won’t cap the i and worse of all won’t release the script, I hope he gets what he deserves..Doesn’t matter though because there are countless free plugins... | 1,760,377,707.316576 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/21/gas-powered-blender-2/ | Gas Powered Blender | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"blender",
"gas powered",
"weed eater"
] | We aren’t sure what [stubman] needs to blend, but whatever it is, it must require some serious power. [stubman] put together this industrial looking
gas powered blender
. While gas powered blenders certainly aren’t a new thing, he did add a nice touch with an electric starter. While maybe not as cool looking as
some we’ve previously covered
, this one would look good in any shop. Why are gas powered blenders so popular? Why not gas powered pencil sharpeners or gas powered can openers? We’ve seen a
gas powered vacuum
! | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "56075",
"author": "BigD145",
"timestamp": "2008-12-21T20:11:04",
"content": "It looks like someone is still stuck in the age of cheap gas. I’d be more impressed by a steam powered blender.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "56077",... | 1,760,377,707.570805 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/21/pen-based-input-improvements/ | Pen Based Input Improvements | Eliot | [
"Multitouch Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Tablet Hacks"
] | [
"gonzalo ramos",
"hci",
"human computer interaction",
"johnny lee",
"multitouch",
"pen",
"pen input",
"tablet",
"video"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcE3XBytN-U]
Lately we’ve been focusing on
multitouch
technologies, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t interesting research going on in other areas of human-computer interaction. [Johnny Lee]
posted a roundup
of some the work that [Gonzalo Ramos] and others have done with pen based input. The video embedded above shows how pressure can be used to increase control precision. Have a look at his post to see how pen gestures can be used for seamless workspace sharing and how pen rolling can give additional control. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "56047",
"author": "EdZ",
"timestamp": "2008-12-21T15:11:50",
"content": "That’s a very impressive demonstration. I wonder how they linked pressure to zooming in the last few image demonstrations without the benefit of the clutching mechanic used with the sliders.",
"parent_id": ... | 1,760,377,707.908219 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/19/the-future-of-annoyance/ | The Future Of Annoyance | Eliot | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"caps lock",
"CapsLock",
"garrett mace",
"keyboard",
"macetech",
"phantom",
"stealth",
"thinkgeek",
"usb"
] | [Garrett] posted about ThinkGeek
updating the Phantom Keystroker
to support random capslocking. You may remember that [Garrett] built the
Stealth USB CapsLocker
for April Fool’s day. The tiny device would randomly turn on the victim’s Caps Lock. This update to the commercial product has inspired him to refresh his own design. He suggests few possible options: random inserts, erratic volume control, or random sleeps. He’s also planning on making it more accessible to hacking. What would you add? | 44 | 44 | [
{
"comment_id": "55883",
"author": "blizzarddemon",
"timestamp": "2008-12-20T02:46:58",
"content": "Random Alt-F4 keystrokes, to the annoyance of windows users. : P",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "55884",
"author": "c",
"timestamp": "200... | 1,760,377,707.693886 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/19/uk-raid-seizes-1800-flash-cartridges/ | UK Raid Seizes 1,800 Flash Cartridges | Eliot | [
"handhelds hacks",
"News",
"Nintendo DS Hacks",
"Nintendo Game Boy Hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"cart",
"copyright",
"ds",
"flash",
"flasht cart",
"homebrew",
"joystiq",
"nintendo",
"Nintendo DS",
"police",
"raid"
] | South Wales Police raided a store in Cardiff
seizing 1,800 Nintendo DS flash carts
. The devices can be used for playing pirated games or running
homebrew
software. In the UK, the carts are illegal under the Trademarks and Copyright Acts. The 21-year-old suspect had imported the devices and was selling them both online and in-store. He had over 1,000 devices in his home. Many of them packed and ready to ship. Official statements by the Entertainment and Leisure Publishers Association claim that the hardware irreparably damages the
DS
handhelds.
[via
Joystiq
] | 46 | 45 | [
{
"comment_id": "55877",
"author": "macegr",
"timestamp": "2008-12-20T02:02:33",
"content": "No Canon DSLR timelapse control for the UK, apparently!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "55879",
"author": "xteraco",
"timestamp": "2008-12-20T02... | 1,760,377,707.867462 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/19/ds-50d-timelapse-examples/ | DS + 50D Timelapse Examples | Eliot | [
"digital cameras hacks",
"Nintendo DS Hacks",
"Nintendo Game Boy Hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"canon",
"ds",
"dslr",
"hd",
"high def",
"Nintendo DS",
"panocamera",
"steve chapman",
"time-lapse",
"timelapse",
"vancouver"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwKHABKL_dY]
We covered [Steve Chapman]’s
Nintendo DS control for his Canon DSLR
in September. He’s since improved the software so that it has a timer for sunset/sunrise amongst other things. He also shot about
30GB worth of timelapse images
while in Vancouver and assembled a couple test videos. He’s still working out the processing to take full advantage of the 15megapixel images. We look forward to future results since YouTube is now using a
much larger player for high def content
. | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "55923",
"author": "zer0",
"timestamp": "2008-12-20T07:59:53",
"content": "wow imagine, that could be used as a portable, short term surveillance. especially useful once the zombie apocalypse happens.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_i... | 1,760,377,708.085325 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/19/t-mobile-g1-teardown/ | T-Mobile G1 Teardown | Eliot | [
"Android Hacks",
"Cellphone Hacks",
"g1 hacks",
"google hacks"
] | [
"adp1",
"android",
"cellphone",
"compass",
"cpld",
"dev phone 1",
"G1",
"htc",
"phonewreck",
"sim",
"t-mobile",
"t-mobile g1",
"teardown",
"vibration",
"xilinx"
] | In our
Dev Phone 1
excitement last week, we somehow overlooked phoneWreck’s
teardown of the T-Mobile G1
. The complex slider mechanism is certainly worth looking out. One of the major oddities they point out is the inclusion of two vibration motors. One is mounted next to the SIM on the mainboard. While the other is mounted in the frame next to the earpiece. We wonder what was gained/solved by using two. The phone also includes a digital compass module. We’d like a more detailed explanation of how the Xilinx CPLD is used. From this
article in 2006
, it seems HTC uses them to generate custom clock signals and switching off devices for power management. | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "55916",
"author": "charlie",
"timestamp": "2008-12-20T05:57:50",
"content": "surprised about the compass. those can be pretty expensive. neat article.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "55956",
"author": "omikun",
"timest... | 1,760,377,707.958402 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/19/android-adds-a2dp-avrcp-bluetooth-and-more/ | Android Adds A2DP, AVRCP Bluetooth And More | Eliot | [
"Android Hacks",
"Cellphone Hacks",
"g1 hacks",
"google hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"a2dp",
"adp1",
"android",
"android dev phone 1",
"avrcp",
"bluetooth",
"cupcake",
"dev phone 1",
"dun",
"framework",
"G1",
"google",
"javascript",
"kernel",
"linux",
"squirrelfish",
"t-mobile",
"t-mobile g1",
"usb",
"usb gadget framework",
"webkit"
] | While working towards
open-sourcing Android
, the team continued to work on new features in their own private development branch. These have now been
published publicly in the “cupcake” branch
. There’s a lot of interesting new features and bug fixes included. We’ve got a rundown of many of the significant additions after the break.
The A2DP and AVRCP
profiles
were both added to the Bluetooth stack. This means support for stereo headsets and remote control. Dial Up Networking wasn’t added, but preliminary work was done on USB Gadget Framework support, which means future devices could appear to the host device as just an ethernet interface.
The browser has been bumped up to the November release of WebKit with the optimized JavaScript engine
SquirrelFish
. Copy/paste in browser and a 5x draw speed improvement were also added. The trackball now does accelerated scrolling.
Hardware accelerated video recording and playback, an often noted oversight in the initial
T-Mobile G1
release, finally show up. A framework for an on-screen keyboard and predictive text are being worked on. Android lets you run background processes and users will be pleased to know there’s a process manager now. Finally, a new Linux 2.6.27 kernel and the least explained addition “basic x86 support” round out the branch.
While there are many good improvements here, there is no indication as to when G1 users will see them or when
Android Dev Phone 1
(ADP1) owners will be able to build the release themselves. [Disconnect]
points out
that there were some other gems included in the branch that aren’t in the announcement like
mounting an encrypted e2fs volume
which could enable installing apps on the SD card.
[photo:
tnkgrl
]
[via
GotOnTheInter.Net
] | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "55866",
"author": "Taylor Alexander",
"timestamp": "2008-12-19T23:18:37",
"content": "Awesome. Reading this makes me practically salivate. I want a good android device with AT&T 3G dammit! I’d almost buy a dev phone, but i really want 3G. I had it for years on my various phones till... | 1,760,377,708.00162 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/19/wifi-streaming-radio/ | WiFi Streaming Radio | Eliot | [
"digital audio hacks",
"home entertainment hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"Asus",
"AVR",
"lcd",
"mpd",
"openwrt",
"radio",
"router",
"serial",
"streaming",
"streaming router",
"wifi",
"wl-520gu",
"wrt"
] | [Jeff] is continuing to work on his
WiFi streaming radio project
and is now into
part 7
. The reason it’s taken so long is because he’s bothering to document every single piece of the system instead of assuming too much of the reader. The core of the system is an Asus WL-520GU wireless router. It is supported by
OpenWRT
and has a
USB port
for use with an external audio card.
mpd
, Music Player Daemon, is used for playback. This latest part features adding an LCD display for the current track. The router board already has points for the serial port, so it’s just a matter of adding an AVR to talk to the LCD. The next step is building a simple user interface and then boxing everything up. You can view a video of the display below.
[flickr video=http://www.flickr.com/photos/mightyohm/3113563145/] | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "55852",
"author": "Mark K",
"timestamp": "2008-12-19T20:37:27",
"content": "Yay! di.fm!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "55871",
"author": "dizzey",
"timestamp": "2008-12-20T00:16:11",
"content": "I have been thinkin... | 1,760,377,708.045483 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/19/parallax-christmas-light-show/ | Parallax Christmas Light Show | Caleb Kraft | [
"home hacks"
] | [
"basic",
"christmas"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btUh–1xbls]
[iboucher] wanted to do some crazy Christmas light choreography. Finding the cost of the off the shelf system to be way too much, he set out to
build his own
. After a visit to eBay to pick up some cheap 1 amp relays, he was ready to get started. Using a Basic Stamp2 that he had laying around, he was able to put together a fairly complete 16 port system. Great job [iboucher]
[via
Hacked Gadgets
] | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "55846",
"author": "blizzarddemon",
"timestamp": "2008-12-19T20:01:16",
"content": "Thats a badass Merry Christmas : D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "55848",
"author": "EdZ",
"timestamp": "2008-12-19T20:14:35",
"cont... | 1,760,377,708.271964 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/19/modifying-rc-frequency/ | Modifying R/C Frequency | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"car",
"frequency",
"radio controlled",
"rc"
] | Cheap radio controlled toys can provide countless hours of amusement, especially when friends have one too. You can’t always plan ahead enough for everyone to have a different frequency and sometimes, it just isn’t an option anyway. There is a solution, and it isn’t very difficult. [frickelkram] takes us through the process of
changing the frequency
that the toy runs on. He starts with the simplest way, which involves replacing one piece in the controller and simply adjusting the receiver. He notes that this often fails as the receiver just isn’t built to be adjusted easily. He continues to show how to get it done even if the first method fails. | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,377,708.222722 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/18/machining-custom-robot-parts/ | Machining Custom Robot Parts | Jason Rollette | [
"cnc hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"Robots Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"cnc",
"humanoid",
"mill",
"robot",
"servo"
] | Robot Magazine
has a great article about
how to machine custom robot parts
. In this article [Matt Bauer] shows the basics of making custom robot parts and skeletal brackets for his
humanoid robot creations
using a CNC mini-mill. He uses a custom jig overlay designed to make cutting thin sheet stock much easier and to protect his equipment. This template concept creates a platform for many other custom parts going forward. [Matt] includes the .nc g-code files as well as a “how-to” PDF in a
ZIP file
. | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "55774",
"author": "dax",
"timestamp": "2008-12-18T21:54:45",
"content": "the article focuses more on the tooling jig, which is a definite requirement for any serious machining. Very clean and professional article!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,377,708.547161 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/18/nandhopper-1-bit-noise-synth/ | Nandhopper 1-Bit Noise Synth | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"nand",
"noise",
"synth"
] | Sometimes, a little bit of noise can be fun. This little
noise synth called the Nandhopper
, is a quick simple project to get started. The parts list is pretty short, mainly material for the sensors and a
4093 Quad, 2-input Schmitt trigger and NAND gate
. You end up with an easy to use, fairly small 1-Bit synth. If you don’t know what a 1-Bit synth sounds like,
watch the demo video
. Sure, it just sounds like noise to us, but that’s music to some people. | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "55767",
"author": "Ben",
"timestamp": "2008-12-18T20:17:14",
"content": "A great little project for those of us who love the sound of tape being ripped off the roll!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "55771",
"author": "emperor... | 1,760,377,708.499437 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/18/7400-series-logic-simulator/ | 7400 Series Logic Simulator | Caleb Kraft | [
"downloads hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"boolean",
"electronics",
"simulator"
] | Atanua is a real time logic simulator
to help people learn some of the basics of electronics. Focusing mainly on logic, as opposed to power, this is a fantastic tool to learn with. They have done a fantastic job of making it easy to use as well as good looking. We can see this as being a must have piece of software for any hacker. There is a free version available as long as you aren’t using it commercially.
[Thanks ellisgl] | 31 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "55747",
"author": "Pistol shrimp",
"timestamp": "2008-12-18T17:31:35",
"content": "Cool I liked making electronic stuff on garry’s mod, now I can go 1 step further :D",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": [
{
"comment_id": "584800",
"author": ... | 1,760,377,709.083571 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/17/wii-nunchuck-controlled-servo-bot/ | Wii Nunchuck Controlled Servo Bot | Caleb Kraft | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"robot",
"serb",
"servo bot",
"wii nunchuck"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qlukl5fLi7s]
[Stuart.Mcfarlan] is back. This time he has
added Wii Nunchuck control to his servo bot
. You may recall servo bot, or SERB,
from a few weeks ago
. Now the little bot can be controlled by either the joystick, or the gyroscope in the Nunchuck. Too bad its wired though, wireless is the next step right? | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "55656",
"author": "fractalrock",
"timestamp": "2008-12-17T20:44:48",
"content": "this isn’t a ‘bot’, it is a remote controlled vehicle. It isn’t autonomous in any way that I can see. Really cool hack though…so i guess the nunchuck controller really does have a good use.",
"par... | 1,760,377,709.019463 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/17/7012/ | Measuring Current Through USB | Caleb Kraft | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"current",
"usb"
] | [gmgfarrand] wanted to be able to
measure the current being pulled through his USB
. He realized that even though he could just cut open the wire and measure at any point, a permanent tool for this would be quite useful. This is a simple modification that shouldn’t take long. All you need is a spare USB cable and an enclosure. He ultimately filled his enclosure with glue to keep everything in there and solid. lets hope his soldering holds well. | 29 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "55650",
"author": "Vincent (gmgfarrand)",
"timestamp": "2008-12-17T20:04:50",
"content": "When you solder as sloppily as me and use solder in excess, you sometimes need the epoxy! :)Thnx!!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "55651"... | 1,760,377,708.825861 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/17/900000-volts-at-your-fingertips/ | 900,000 Volts At Your Fingertips | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"high voltage",
"tesla",
"van de graaff"
] | [Nickademuss] has put together these great instructions on how to
build a 900,000 volt Van De Graaff generator
. For those unfamiliar,
Van De Graaff generators
produce massive amounts of static electricity. They are usually the things you see in science centers that make people’s hair stand on end. [Nickademuss] put a lot of effort into this, he created 3D models and diagrams for many of the steps and gave a very detailed step by step breakdown. | 14 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "55632",
"author": "happypinguin",
"timestamp": "2008-12-17T17:18:50",
"content": "/* Holly crap! */Project_to_do_in_future ++;",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "55634",
"author": "J",
"timestamp": "2008-12-17T17:23:06",
... | 1,760,377,708.654257 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/15/ps3-home-hacking/ | PS3 Home Hacking | Eliot | [
"downloads hacks",
"Playstation Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"home",
"joystiq",
"playstation",
"playstation home",
"playstation3",
"proxy",
"ps3",
"virtual",
"virtual world"
] | Last week Sony launched the public beta of
Home
, their virtual world for the PlayStation 3. It wasn’t met with much fanfare and has proven to be quite buggy. Many were less than charmed by
scarcity being ported to the virtual world
. Others took it upon themselves to
hack the service
. Connections between the user’s home console and Sony’s server are unencrypted. You can sniff the requests and responses off the wire and modify them live. It seems you need the console to establish the initial connection, but after that you’re free to use builtin tools like Download.jsp, UploadFileServlet, and Delete.jsp to modify any file on the host server. You can also
set up a proxy server to modify content
, but that will only affect what your console sees.
[photo:
nic0
]
[via
Joystiq
] | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "55285",
"author": "dustin",
"timestamp": "2008-12-15T12:05:03",
"content": "awesome! now i can change all those ads to something id actually look at.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "55290",
"author": "Frollard",
"timesta... | 1,760,377,708.712706 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/14/wearable-xbee-morse-code-keyer/ | Wearable XBee Morse Code Keyer | Eliot | [
"Wearable Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"kate hartman",
"lilypad",
"nyc resistor",
"nycresistor",
"rob faludi",
"wearable",
"xbee"
] | NYC Resistor hosted a wearable wireless workshop today. It was taught by [Rob Faludi] and [Kate Hartman]. They brought along their recently released
LilyPad XBee breakout boards
. The goal of the class was to use the digital radios to build
wireless communication gloves
. Above, you can see the conductive thread sewn into the fingertips to key the device. The signal is transmitted to the other glove, which flashes an indicator LED so you can communicate using Morse code. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "55280",
"author": "melt",
"timestamp": "2008-12-15T10:41:04",
"content": "That’s great, but why does it need an entire microcontroller and stuff to transmit morse over radio, when a little transmitter/receiver chip will do the same job with less bulk?",
"parent_id": null,
"d... | 1,760,377,708.763801 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/14/leather-keyboard/ | Leather Keyboard | Caleb Kraft | [
"News"
] | [
"das keyboard",
"leather"
] | Do you know what’s better than a
Das Keyboard
?
A keyboard covered in leather
. The smooth texture and probably squeaky action must be highly sought after since they are asking $548 for one. If you want the key labels etched in, you can get it for $603. We know that our holiday shopping just got a little easier.
[via
Gizmodo
] | 27 | 27 | [
{
"comment_id": "55232",
"author": "_matt",
"timestamp": "2008-12-15T02:22:27",
"content": "Needs moar numpad.GIHAGISHITAMONODEHAARIMASEN DETSUI’m guessing that’s qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnm in Japanese?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "55238",
... | 1,760,377,708.888486 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/12/14/gamecube-with-built-in-screen/ | GameCube With Built In Screen | Caleb Kraft | [
"News"
] | [
"game cube",
"gamecube"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMc6pNemats]
In light of our recent rash of
Nintendos stuffed
into
other Nintendos
, we are happy to show a Nintendo mod project that breaks form and makes something marginally useful. [Sami] added an
LCD to his GameCube
, and made it look good too. Attached to the top of the GameCube, it hinges at the side allowing for you to close it all up for transport or storage. Great job [Sami]. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "55185",
"author": "Andrew",
"timestamp": "2008-12-14T18:13:59",
"content": "Actually I bought something exactly like this. It had a cold cathode backlight, and I didn’t know anything about electronics, so when it stopped working, i tightened all the screws. Now I know those were POT... | 1,760,377,709.129469 |
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