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/2008/10/15/diy-rfid-implant/ | DIY RFID Implant | Kimberly Lau | [
"Lifehacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"amal graafstra",
"annalee newitz",
"implants",
"jonathan westhues",
"larry pesce",
"major malfunction",
"pauldotcom",
"rfid",
"rfid chip",
"rfidiots"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsk6dJr4wps]
[Quethe] implanted an RFID chip into his hand so that he can access his handgun safe without having to fumble around for keys or buttons. He’s also planning to do more with the chip, including installing readers so he can access his car without keys. [Quethe] claims that inserting the chip hurts less than drawing blood. From the video he’s apparently using livestock grade equipment for the injection. While we applaud his ingenuity, we’re not sure that the convenience of easier access to guns and cars is actually worth the trouble of putting a chip in your body.
We’ve covered quite a a few hackers that have chosen to chip themselves in the past. [Mikey Sklar] did it
back in 2005
after constructing a
pair of pants to block the signal
. [Amal Graafstra] ended up writing
RFID Toys
after implanting himself. [Larry Pesce] from the
PaulDotCom podcast
had his chip
cloned on stage
by [
Major Malfunction
] at ShmooCon. [
Annalee Newitz
] had her chip cloned by [
Jonathan Westhues
] while covering
RFID hacking for Wired
. It’s interesting to see the practice of DIY RFID chipping gaining traction, and, thankfully, all of the people just listed understand that it’s not a form of security.
[via
Boing Boing
] | 58 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "45828",
"author": "dirk",
"timestamp": "2008-10-16T00:31:42",
"content": "that is a giant needle.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45829",
"author": "Alex ~",
"timestamp": "2008-10-16T00:34:38",
"content": "Theres an ... | 1,760,377,742.774938 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/15/strunk-white-can-apply-to-programming/ | Strunk & White Can Apply To Programming | Kimberly Lau | [
"Lifehacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"e.b. white",
"elements of style",
"guide",
"programming",
"reference",
"william strunk jr"
] | The Elements of Style
by [William Strunk, Jr.] and [E.B. White] has long been a favorite of English majors and great writers. [James Devlin] suggests that it can also be a
good reference for programmers
. With just a few changes in wording, the same guidance that applies to good writing can apply to good coding. For example, [Strunk] and [White} emphasize the importance of structural design to writing. Replace “writing” with “programming”, and the principles are exactly the same: “Programming, to be effective, must follow closely the thoughts of the
writer
programmer, but not necessarily in the order in which those thoughts occur.” So keep this guide in mind next time you start a new project.
[via
Kottke
] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "45820",
"author": "MaDecue",
"timestamp": "2008-10-15T22:44:02",
"content": "Hmmm, while agree with the sentiment, none other the Kernighan and Plaugher wrote “The Elements of Programming Style” way back in 1978, when I was in college. It is highly recommended.As I recall, it uses ... | 1,760,377,742.323632 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/15/cambridge-autonomous-underwater-vehicle/ | Cambridge Autonomous Underwater Vehicle | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"cuav",
"mini-itx",
"submarine",
"telemetry",
"uav",
"unmanned underwatter vehicle"
] | The
Cambridge Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
, built for the
SAUC-E Challenge
, is a fantastic example of UAV construction. The competition is to build a UAV that can complete an underwater assault course. This baby has a full computer inside it, based off of the worlds smallest full featured x86 motherboard, the Pico-Itx. It has a 1GHz EPIA PX 1000 Board, 1 GB of RAM, Wireless Network capabilities and runs Ubuntu server 8.04.
The CUAV suffered from leaks which ultimately cost it the competition, but the information on the build is fantastic. They have detailed pages upon pages of information about the Mechanical, Electronic, and Software aspects of the design. They even went back in and added notes from what they learned during the competition. The project is also
outlined in much shorter form
on the mini-itx website.
[thanks Vesaines] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "45808",
"author": "Matt",
"timestamp": "2008-10-15T20:00:22",
"content": "Small point: these ‘bots are AUVs or in the military context UUVs. Never referred to as UAVs – those fly, not swim.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45810"... | 1,760,377,742.545724 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/15/fender-bender-weird-sound-guitar/ | Fender Bender, Weird Sound Guitar | Eliot | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Portable Audio Hacks"
] | [
"danwagoner",
"electricguitar",
"fender bender",
"flickr",
"guitar",
"music from outer space",
"weird sound generator",
"wsg"
] | [danwagoner] recently completed a
restoration of his very first electric guitar
. Instead of going the normal route, he modded it to be a
Weird Sound Generator
. The WSG is a popular kit sold by Music From Outer Space. His creation, dubbed Fender Bender, has a custom pick guard cut from an old motherboard. There are multiple knobs on the pick guard plus three buttons on the neck. | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "45802",
"author": "3-R4Z0R",
"timestamp": "2008-10-15T18:34:25",
"content": "A cool pickguard, I must say. Maybe I’ll do something similar once with my guitar… but I’ll leave it playable as a normal guitar.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"com... | 1,760,377,742.454099 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/21/flameless-jack-o-lantern-with-an-attiny13/ | Flameless Jack-o’-lantern With An ATtiny13 | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"attiny",
"candle",
"jack o lantern",
"pumpkin",
"random"
] | [aballen] wanted to light the jack-o’-lantern this year with something that didn’t actually require fire. After searching for a project that was cheap and yielded decent results, he ended up just
making his own
. This project utilizes an ATtiny13 and two LEDs, red and orange. The overall build is quick and simple with some very basic code for the flickering. If you really want it more enclosed, there is this similar project using a
cheap electric candle
. Of course, not everyone has the time or desire to make one that is this realistic. You could always just go the
easy way
, no microcontroller required.
Why limit it to just lighting up your pumpkin though? Lets take a stroll through Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories hallways and see the
Snap O Lantern
or the
dark detecting pumpkin
and the
Cyclonolantern
. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "46979",
"author": "avaviel",
"timestamp": "2008-10-21T20:13:49",
"content": "I see your context spell checker was turned off! “using a cheap electric candle. Of course” and not “using a cheap electric candle. Of coarse”Keep up the great work hack a day! Because I point our your erro... | 1,760,377,742.380092 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/20/bjork-teaches-you-about-electronics/ | Björk Teaches You About Electronics | Eliot | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"bjork",
"prototype this",
"television",
"tv",
"video",
"youtube"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75WFTHpOw8Y]
As we often suspected, [
Björk
] is quite the technical mastermind. In the video above, she teaches you about the ins and outs of her television. We think she’s making a strong bid as the next person to join
Prototype This!
Her hacking philosophy is the same as ours: “You shouldn’t let poets lie to you.” | 89 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "46747",
"author": "jjj",
"timestamp": "2008-10-21T01:59:14",
"content": "is it me or she is kinda hot?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "46752",
"author": "macegr",
"timestamp": "2008-10-21T02:07:50",
"content": "@jjj:... | 1,760,377,742.858963 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/20/eavesdrop-on-keyboards-wirelessly/ | Eavesdrop On Keyboards Wirelessly | Caleb Kraft | [
"News",
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"electronmagnetic",
"keyboard",
"sniffing",
"tempest",
"van eck",
"wireless"
] | [vimeo
http://vimeo.com/2007855%5D
Every time you press a key on your keyboard, a small burst of electromagnetic radiation is let out. This radiation can be
captured and decoded
. Though it only affects some models, this is pretty serious. They tested 11 different keyboards and they were all vulnerable to at least one of the four methods of attack. Tests have shown that the data can be read through walls and up to 65 feet away. That is pretty scary stuff. Someone could be setting up in the apartment or office right next to yours to listen to every keystroke you type. Check out the second video after the break.
[vimeo
http://vimeo.com/2008343%5D
They don’t give a list of what keyboards were affected. Their paper is currently being finished, and should be published soon. The possibility of this attack was suggested to us a couple years ago when we covered
old school Van Eck phreaking
.
[via
Engadget
] | 71 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "46712",
"author": "Xcorpio",
"timestamp": "2008-10-21T00:04:10",
"content": "Affected, not effected… on both counts ;-)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "46713",
"author": "Cactus",
"timestamp": "2008-10-21T00:06:12",
... | 1,760,377,743.038486 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/20/art-from-code-generative-graphics/ | Art From Code: Generative Graphics | Kimberly Lau | [
"downloads hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"actionscript",
"algorithmic art",
"art",
"flash",
"flex",
"generative art",
"graphics"
] | [Keith Peters]’ blog
Art From Code
is devoted to his beautiful graphics from computer source code, also known as
generative art
. Although [Peters] is
reluctant
to reveal his source code, algorithmic graphics can be created with the help of tools like
ActionScript
,
Flash
, and Flex. There are some
great
tutorials
that can start you on the path to making your own evocative art.
[via
Neatorama
] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "46705",
"author": "Adam Ziegler",
"timestamp": "2008-10-20T23:28:27",
"content": "Procedural textures:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.kkrieger",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "46708",
"author": "kurf",
"timestamp": "2008-10... | 1,760,377,742.256444 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/20/rovio-teardown/ | Rovio Teardown | Caleb Kraft | [
"LED Hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"led",
"rovio",
"wowee"
] | [Del] sent us what might be the first in an expected plethora of
hacks on the Wowee Rovio
. He was annoyed by the poor lighting for Rovio’s camera so he cracked it open and started hacking. He found there was just enough space for a couple LEDs in the head. The most difficult part of this was apparently running the wires for power into the main body of the rovio. He said it took him around 30 minutes just to snake the wires through the neck. The final result is best seen in the comparison pictures of rovio looking at Wall-E. | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "46703",
"author": "Del",
"timestamp": "2008-10-20T23:04:38",
"content": "Also see my text-mode UI for Roviohttp://code.google.com/p/asciirovio/I thought it was funny :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "46709",
"author": "kurf... | 1,760,377,742.671301 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/20/buy-an-oil-cooled-pc-for-11k/ | Buy An Oil Cooled PC For $11k | Caleb Kraft | [
"computer hacks",
"News"
] | [
"oil cooling",
"submerged"
] | For roughly $11,000 you cold have this
awesome oil cooled computer rig
. This system was designed specifically to be able to keep the electronics submerged in oil. The system uses SSD for storage, so everything can be submerged. Check out the pictures of the top panel, what is going on there?
If $11,000 is too much for you to spend, you could always do it yourself with an old aquarium, like
this one
, but be careful, that oil can get
pretty messy
. There is also a happy medium too, check out
this method
. Its nice, clean and not too expensive.
[via
DVICE
] | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "46682",
"author": "rawr",
"timestamp": "2008-10-20T20:25:40",
"content": "cold = could",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "46685",
"author": "Caleb Kraft",
"timestamp": "2008-10-20T20:57:31",
"content": "woops, thanks ra... | 1,760,377,742.623488 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/20/keyless-entry-using-touch-sensing/ | Keyless Entry Using Touch Sensing | Caleb Kraft | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"classic hacks",
"home hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"keyless entry",
"lock",
"touch sensor"
] | [Alex] sent us this slick little
keyless entry system
. He wanted a discreet way to trigger the door to unlock. Knocking was too loud, and would give away his secret access code. He decided that touch sensors would be the best. Initially he planned on using the doorknob itself, which would have been awesome, but it was just too much surface area for his touch sensor. Ultimately, he settled for a wire he could touch. An Arduino detects whether or not the correct code has been put in and initializes a high torque servo which turns the doorknob from the inside. In the video, after the break, you can see that it works fairly well.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU8Ej0c2R14]
One thing that is pretty cool about this is that it could be removed and reinstalled somewhere else in a matter of minutes. That’s good, since he’s in a dorm and would probably be in some trouble for damaging the door. It would be nice to see this put into an enclosure that hooked over the top of the door so it could be truly portable. | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "46660",
"author": "kyle007",
"timestamp": "2008-10-20T16:36:19",
"content": "Very nice project. Well documented. But how practical. A very creative Idea and I don’t know how. but using all this technology, could the touch sensitive sensor be wired to an unobvious piece of metal lik... | 1,760,377,743.102266 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/13/default-password-network-scanning/ | Default Password Network Scanning | Eliot | [
"downloads hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"default",
"defaultpassword",
"depant",
"hydra",
"midnightresearchlabs",
"mrl",
"nmap",
"scan",
"scanning",
"security"
] | Midnight Research Labs has just published a new tool.
Depant
will scan your network and check to see if services are using default passwords. It starts by performing an
Nmap
scan to discover available services on the network. It organizes these services by speed of response. Using
Hydra
it does brute force password checking of these services with a
default password list
. The user can supply an alternate list for the first phase or an additional list to be used in a followup check. Depant has many different options for configuring your scan and will certainly help you find that rogue piece of hardware on your network that someone failed to set up securely. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "45563",
"author": "cde",
"timestamp": "2008-10-13T23:29:17",
"content": "Brute Force != Password listBrute Force = a, aa, ab, ac .. c, ca, cb … hell, helm, heln, etc…Password List = user, name, username, etc, as the list dictates.If hello isn’t on the list, hello won’t be used at al... | 1,760,377,743.157744 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/13/controlling-a-doepfer-modular-synth-with-a-wiimote/ | Controlling A Doepfer Modular Synth With A Wiimote | Caleb Kraft | [
"digital audio hacks",
"News"
] | [
"doepfer",
"syth",
"wiimote",
"wimote"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHOS2zg-0nI]
The Wiimote has turned out to be very versatile indeed.
This video
shows someone using it to control his modular synth. There is not a lot of artistic jamming going on, but explains in fair detail how to set it up. If you want to see Isadore getting down,
check this out
.
[thanks Louis] | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "45558",
"author": "dandin1",
"timestamp": "2008-10-13T22:45:11",
"content": "The part with the nunchuck is like a sort of digital theremin!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45559",
"author": "dandin1",
"timestamp": "2008-... | 1,760,377,743.367579 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/13/mounting-an-external-antenna-on-eeepc-9000/ | Mounting An External Antenna On EeePC 900 | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"laptops hacks",
"Netbook Hacks"
] | [
"Asus",
"EeePc",
"eepc"
] | [Terry Porter]
added an external antenna to his EeePC 900
. Initially, he mounted it on the side of the unit, but found that the location caused it to no longer fit in its carrying case, and made plugging in USB or Ethernet cables very difficult. His resolution was to move the mount to the rear portion of the case. His professional looking mount is definitely worthy of some attention. Check out the project for a breakdown and some great pictures showing the necessary modifications to make it fit.
If you’re going to crack open your EeePC, you may want to just go all out and
add everything available
. | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "45545",
"author": "tom61",
"timestamp": "2008-10-13T18:52:54",
"content": "EEE PC 900, not 9000. Website is already not responding on top of it. :/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45547",
"author": "Caleb Kraft",
"timest... | 1,760,377,743.332448 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/13/parts-35mm-stereo-audio-jacks/ | Parts: 3.5mm Stereo Audio Jacks | Ian | [
"classic hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"Parts"
] | [
"audio connector",
"audio jacks",
"electronics",
"headphone plug",
"microphone plug",
"monday parts",
"parts"
] | 3.5mm stereo connectors
for headphones and microphones are almost mandatory for audio projects. X1 (left) is a simple plug with connections for the audio channels (pin 2,3), and ground (pin 1). X2 (right) has pass-through contacts (pin 2,3) that divert audio to an internal speaker when headphones aren’t connected.
Here’s a breakdown of the audio connectors illustrated above.
We found footprints for these parts, and several other SMD audio connectors, in the
con-cuistack
part library on the
Cadsoft download page
.
X1 3.5mm stereo audio jack
(Mouser #
161-3334-E
, $1.16) This is a simple stereo audio jack with no internal pass-through. Fits footprint SJ-3523 in the
con-cuistack
library.
X2 3.5mm stereo audio jack with internal pass-through
(Mouser #
161-3335
, $1.25) This is our favorite audio jack, but it looks like it’s going to be discontinued soon. Can anyone recommend an equivalent? Fits footprint SJ-3515 in the
con-cuistack
part library.
Don’t forget to check out our previous
parts
posts. | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "45533",
"author": "starfight",
"timestamp": "2008-10-13T16:50:09",
"content": "i need one of those… or 2…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45536",
"author": "bearsinthesea",
"timestamp": "2008-10-13T17:05:25",
"conten... | 1,760,377,743.220968 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/12/playstation-tank-controller/ | Playstation Tank Controller | Eliot | [
"classic hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"AVR",
"linx",
"playstation",
"playstationcontroller",
"ps2",
"tank"
] | [stuart] wanted a more intuitive way to control his
rover platform
than the software solution he had been using. He settled on using a
Playstation controller with an AVR
to operate the rover wirelessly. He found a
couple
references
for talking to the controller using SPI on a PIC and adapted that for his ATMega88. The code is available on his site. He removed the rumble motors from the controller and stuffed the chip plus the transmitter package inside. The
Linx TX/RX pair
are mounted to pluggable boards so he can use them on other projects. A video of the tank in motion is after the jump.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL89b-lupu8] | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "45488",
"author": "Nathaniel",
"timestamp": "2008-10-13T04:29:21",
"content": "Yes!!! Dude I was waiting for this. Way to go!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45499",
"author": "strider_mt2k",
"timestamp": "2008-10-13T09:... | 1,760,377,743.263132 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/12/free-laundry/ | Free Laundry | Eliot | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"coinlaundry",
"dryer",
"fraud",
"laundry",
"washingmachine"
] | While waiting for his clothes to dry, our reader [xaio] decided to poke around and see how his building’s coin laundry system worked. It turned out to be ridiculously simple. All he needed to do was jumper the cable coming from each machine and they’d run without issue. We wonder why the relay box is so big. In any event, it could certainly benefit from a more secure installation. | 52 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "45455",
"author": "Ryan",
"timestamp": "2008-10-13T01:38:38",
"content": "Erm… great. Why are you guys posting this?! Get some cool hardware mods, some more audio stuff, or maybe some way to make an easy synth keyboard using a single oscillator, somethingcool. Most hackers aren’t to... | 1,760,377,744.003199 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/11/electric-bicycle/ | Electric Bicycle | Jason Rollette | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"Cyclone",
"DYI electric bicycle kit",
"electric bicycle",
"green"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wNo5SM2da4&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999]
[garygadget15] in the UK has an interesting
youtube page
showing an electric bicycle. On his page titled, saving money the “green way” he has replaced his commuter car with one of these electric bikes. He then videos the commute with both to
compare the results
. The DIY electric bicycle kit he uses is made by
Cyclone
comes in multiple wattage’s ranging from 180 watts to 1500 watts where they do a great job of showing the conversion steps. They’ve got enough detail that you could fab your own from salvaged parts if you felt like it. | 31 | 30 | [
{
"comment_id": "45365",
"author": "jimmys",
"timestamp": "2008-10-11T19:33:52",
"content": "I wonder if you can use the pedals to recharge the battery.How stable are these LIFEPO4 batteries when deep cycled?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "4536... | 1,760,377,743.851469 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/11/passively-cooled-computer/ | Passively Cooled Computer | Jason Rollette | [
"computer hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"computer",
"cooling",
"heatsink",
"passive",
"Passively cooled computer"
] | This came in on the
tipline
: [Ville ‘Willek’ Kyrö] wanted to build a fully
passively cooled computer
. That means no fans at all. He started with scrap aluminum heatsinks, ripped apart a cpu heatsink to get the copper heat pipes, and began surrounding the boards with heatsinks to form a case. Cooling down the powersupply was the hardest part, as it did not lend itself to the flat surfaces of heatsinks. Any passive case with powerful components will inevitably be huge and heavy; this one weighs over 20 kg. He says, “It might not have been worth it, but it sure was weird watching the computer boot up with no sound at all”. | 38 | 36 | [
{
"comment_id": "45337",
"author": "bokubob",
"timestamp": "2008-10-11T15:13:10",
"content": "Now, if he could only fit it into an 8 inch cube!-Jonathan",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45339",
"author": "Pekka Jääskeläinen",
"timestamp":... | 1,760,377,743.773605 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/10/gas-powered-vacuum-sucks-hard-anywhere/ | Gas Powered Vacuum Sucks Hard Anywhere | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"gas powered",
"gold prospecting",
"leaf blower",
"vacuum"
] | [mdavis19] found himself in the middle of nowhere, with no electricity, needing a strong vacuum. That happens to us all right? His solution was to hack together a
gas powered monster vacuum
. He found a shop vac at a yard sale and promptly discarded the motor and filter. Some minor modifications to a leaf blower and a plywood mount finished the job. He now has absolute sucking power as long as he has fuel. He describes how this is going to be used for gold prospecting, though it would probably work just as well on pet hair. If you’re going to use one around the house though, you may want to find a way to mount a filter in it, and wear ear plugs. | 36 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "45275",
"author": "twistedsymphony",
"timestamp": "2008-10-10T20:35:11",
"content": "Reminds me of the Gas powered Blenderhttp://www.weblogsinc.com/common/images/3060000000046118.JPG",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45277",
"... | 1,760,377,743.641949 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/10/android-hacks-roundup/ | Android Hacks Roundup | Patrick Lokken | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"google hacks"
] | [
"android",
"google",
"itunes",
"Jeffrey Sharkey",
"smart phone"
] | Our friend [Jeffrey Sharkey]
hacked
the iTunes remote control protocol
and produced his own version for
Android
, one of the smartphone OSes we
just covered
. He pored over dumped packets for a few days and wrote a client which is of course GPL’d. Besides that, he’s been busy winning the
Android Developer Challenge
. His app,
Compare Everywhere
, was one of the top 10 winners, netting him a cool $275,000. This ingenious bit of code deciphers barcodes scanned using a cell phone camera and then finds prices for that item at every nearby store that sells it.
The other winners wrote apps that do cool things such as
one-click cab ordering
,
locate missing children
, and
find parties
. Check out all 50 finalists and winners
here
. | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "45255",
"author": "Jinto.Lin",
"timestamp": "2008-10-10T16:51:27",
"content": "David Crowder Band! Illuminate is my favorite albums of theirs.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45274",
"author": "supershwa",
"timestamp": "... | 1,760,377,743.68932 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/10/vocal-mouse-control/ | Vocal Mouse Control | Caleb Kraft | [
"Medical Hacks",
"News",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"robot",
"speech control",
"voice",
"voice input"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXmccs4GIqI]
Absolutely fascinating. The University of Washington is developing a
vocally controled mouse interface
. We’ve seen vocal control of the computer before, but it is usally responding to specific commands and words to carry out tasks such as opening files. This system uses different vowels and sounds to create cursor motion. You can see the same system used in the video above to control a robot arm as well.
[via
BotJunkie
] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "45256",
"author": "Skitchin",
"timestamp": "2008-10-10T16:56:39",
"content": "Good luck. I can barely give vocal direction to humans telling them where I want them to click.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45257",
"author": ... | 1,760,377,744.051642 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/09/drawdio-kit-lets-you-make-music-while-you-draw/ | Drawdio Kit Lets You Make Music While You Draw | Kimberly Lau | [
"digital audio hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"adafruit",
"drawdio",
"ladyada",
"music",
"pencil",
"toys"
] | [blip.tv ?posts_id=1345490&dest=-1]
Drawdio
, designed by [Jay Silver], is a fun, simple toy that uses the conductive nature of pencil graphite to generate different sounds. When you use the Drawdio pencil to draw or write, you also simultaneously create music. The
entire kit
is available for sale at Adafruit Industries, or for the more adventurous,
separate components and parts
are listed. The circuit is fairly simple and we wonder what other devices people can come up with based on this theme. | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "45197",
"author": "dax",
"timestamp": "2008-10-10T06:02:03",
"content": "nifty doodad. I wouldn’t exactly call it “making music” :P",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45203",
"author": "univac",
"timestamp": "2008-10-10T06:... | 1,760,377,744.265595 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/09/gizmodos-guide-to-smartphone-oses/ | Gizmodo’s Guide To Smartphone OSes | Kimberly Lau | [
"blackberry hacks",
"Cellphone Hacks",
"iphone hacks",
"News"
] | [
"android",
"blackberry",
"cellphone",
"garnet",
"google",
"iphone",
"phones",
"smartphones",
"symbian"
] | Gizmodo’s in-depth look at smartphone OSes
provides you with the pros and cons of each, allowing you to make an educated decision, if you’re in the market for a phone that also has email, a web browser, a calendar, and a decent contacts manager. If you’re attracted to the open source Linux-based
Android by Google
, you’ll also have to keep in mind that there aren’t that many business features. Other contenders include the
Blackberry by RIM
, which is
great for email
, but is
completely closed
and proprietary. The
Apple iPhone
is very pretty but lacks some basic features. They cover Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Palm Garnet too. It’s certainly a handy guide since most people haven’t used all six. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "45208",
"author": "Moonlit",
"timestamp": "2008-10-10T08:24:26",
"content": "In a similar vein, here’s a roundup of emulators of those particular OSs – enjoy!http://hak5.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=10083",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"com... | 1,760,377,743.90722 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/09/palin-hacking-roundup/ | Palin Hacking Roundup | Kimberly Lau | [
"News",
"Roundup"
] | [
"david kernell",
"government",
"hacking",
"politics",
"sarah palin",
"security"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps71T3EcyWs]
[David Kernell], the 20-year-old son of Democratic politician [Mike Kernell],
turned himself in
for hacking into Vice Presidential nominee Governor [Sarah Palin]’s Yahoo! email account.
He was indicted
on one felony count of violating the
1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
. Although the charge would normally be a misdemeanor, the indictment invokes another statute, the
Stored Communications Act
to beef up its claim. Some lawyers are of the opinion that the
U.S. Department of Justice overreached in charging [Kernell] with a felony
. They claim that the government’s justification is flawed and relies on “circuitous logic”. [Kernell] has been released without bond, and instructed not to have any contact with [Governor Palin], her family, or any witnesses to the case. If convicted fully, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. We also discovered that this isn’t [Kernell]’s first time in trouble. In high school, he received detention for
guessing the password of the school server
and obtaining access to some lesson plans. | 49 | 49 | [
{
"comment_id": "45156",
"author": "brian",
"timestamp": "2008-10-10T01:54:24",
"content": "Ha! A McCain/Palin ad just below a Palin article, niiiice.The poor fool should have known better than to hack the account of a VP candidate. Goes to show that knowledge and wisdome don’t always go hand-in-h... | 1,760,377,744.363979 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/09/xkcd-inspires-youtube-feature/ | XKCD Inspires YouTube Feature | Kimberly Lau | [
"google hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"audio preview",
"festival",
"xkcd",
"youtube"
] | Who knew that a silly
comic strip could be so influential
? XKCD’s strip focusing on the
inanity of YouTube comments
inspired someone to actually add the Audio Preview feature to YouTube. It’s provided us with much amusement, especially where one commenter mentions that the “preview of my own post sounded moronic!”
Speech synthesis software is nothing new, of course. While it’s not the most sophisticated software, it’s an invaluable resource to those with disabilities, language learners, and others. This
tutorial on Festival
, a Linux-based text-to-speech software framework, would be a great place to start. You’re just moments away from finding out how stupid email, IM, and IRC sound read aloud. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "45153",
"author": "meowN",
"timestamp": "2008-10-10T00:58:19",
"content": "This made me very happy.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45154",
"author": "homergonerson",
"timestamp": "2008-10-10T01:07:33",
"content": "i... | 1,760,377,744.213412 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/09/buy-an-eee-box-get-a-free-virus/ | Buy An Eee Box And Get A Free Virus | Caleb Kraft | [
"Netbook Hacks",
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"Asus",
"eee",
"EEEBOX",
"EeePc",
"virus"
] | Some of the
Eee Box PCs have been shipped with viruses
on board and ready to go. The virus was sitting on the D: drive, labeled as recycled.exe. As soon as that drive is opened, the virus is unleashed on the other drives and removable media attached. Strangely, Microsoft has come to the rescue as their Malicious Software Removal Tool detects it and removes it. This was only on some models, and apparently mostly in Japan.
Before you denounce ASUS for this oversight keep in mind that they make things that we really want, such as the
touch screen Eee PC promised in 2009
.
[via
Gizmodo
] | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "45125",
"author": "henk",
"timestamp": "2008-10-09T20:35:32",
"content": "Not really denouncing Asus, but damn, those guys REALLY need to get their shit together.I’ve been hearing reports about internal documents ending up on driver CD’s and viruses on motherboard install CD’s and w... | 1,760,377,744.439143 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/09/wireless-accelerometer-controlled-rgb-led/ | Wireless Accelerometer Controlled RGB LED | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"home entertainment hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"Atmel",
"led",
"wii",
"wireless"
] | [Andlier] sent us this cool little project. He has built a
wireless accelerometer controlled RGB LED lighting system
. Based on what a mouth full that is, it sounds complicated right? The end result looks fairly intuitive. Simply pick up the controller and tilt your hand to change the color of the light.
The controller consists of an Atmel AVR168 microcontroller. He doesn’t specify what transceiver he is using, but if you look in the comments, he notes that he added an antenna to it to extend the range. The part that controls the LED is based off of an Atmel AVR169 microcontroller hooked to some
shiftbright LED
modules.
The range on it is around 20 meters. The transition between colors is very smooth, as you can see in the video below.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M07UJUg7yZo] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "45105",
"author": "speedphreak",
"timestamp": "2008-10-09T16:33:20",
"content": "Now put it (the controller) in a hamster ball and roll it around. Looks like the controller has to be kept in a certain position to maintain a color. Am I right or wrong there?",
"parent_id": null... | 1,760,377,744.547161 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/08/pelican-case-xbox-360/ | Pelican Case Xbox 360 | Eliot | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"ben heck",
"ben heckendorn",
"benheck",
"pelican",
"pelican case",
"xbox",
"xbox 360"
] | We were surprised
the last time
[Ben Heck] was building a
Xbox 360
laptop, yet here’s another one. Well, it’s not a
laptop
exactly, but an
Xbox 360 built inside of a Pelican case
. After receiving several requests for a similar device for people stationed overseas, he finally decided to try it out. The goal is to get all the components into the case so that the watertight seals are intact. It’s only partially complete right now and he notes that one of the major hurdles will be converting the
DVD
drive to top loading. The light ring and USB ports will probably be moved to the top surface, and the hard drive will be made removable. We look forward to the final writeup since there aren’t many tutorials on working with Pelican cases. | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "45059",
"author": "mike",
"timestamp": "2008-10-09T02:42:37",
"content": "The only other thing it needs is some sealed lead acid batteries and a solar panel with a charge controller so that the dudes over seas can play it in a tent or the back of a truck or anywhere else they might ... | 1,760,377,744.497789 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/08/access-controller-now-shipping-for-ps2ps3pc/ | Access Controller Now Shipping For PS2/PS3/PC | Eliot | [
"News",
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"benheck",
"benheckendorn",
"controller",
"game pad",
"pc",
"playstation 3",
"ps2",
"ps3",
"videogame",
"xbox",
"xbox360"
] | [Ben Heckendorn]’s
Access Controller is now shipping
. The controller is designed to be used with just one hand. It has six openings that the five control modules can be placed in. It’s easy to reconfigure depending on the player or game. While the prototype was built using Xbox 360 controller parts, this newly released unit is available for the PS2, PS3, and PCs. The Xbox 360 version is still being reviewed for final production. [Ben] says that in the coming weeks he’ll post a how-to for building your own modules. There’s always one empty slot and the bus like design should make this fairly simple. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "45053",
"author": "fucter",
"timestamp": "2008-10-09T01:17:47",
"content": "this is awesomeon a side note… “one handed typers” might enjoy this too… is there a more PC way to suggest people who are masturbating?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,377,744.596729 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/08/hacking-the-radio-controls-in-your-steering-wheel/ | Hacking The Radio Controls In Your Steering Wheel | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"Portable Audio Hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"car audio",
"dash",
"mp3",
"zune"
] | [Gabe Graham] sent us this step by step process of
building a dock for his Zune and hacking is steering wheel controls to work with it
. Like many of us, he was not happy with the performance of those little radio transmitters that hook to your mp3 player. He remedied the situation by mounting a dock for his Zune onto the console and patching into his stereo. The sound quality was great, but controlling it was a pain.
He had one button left on his steering wheel that was not needed for anything. He created a custom controller for the Zune that would issue different commands based on how long he held the button on the steering wheel. If the button was held for less than half a second, it would skip tracks, any longer and it would pause. Though he could possibly clean up the look of the LED sticking out of the console, the over all effect is quite well done. | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "45020",
"author": "twistedsymphony",
"timestamp": "2008-10-08T20:56:30",
"content": "awe-man… I was really hoping he had figured out and documented the protocol used to communicate directly to the zune port.He could have just as easily polled the pins on the dock instead the IR tran... | 1,760,377,744.776829 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/08/how-to-build-your-own-gyration-media-center-remote/ | How To: Build Your Own Gyration Media Center Remote | Joey Celis | [
"classic hacks",
"home entertainment hacks",
"how-to"
] | [
"dell",
"gyration",
"M2010",
"remotes"
] | Movea has just released
a version of
Gyration’s wireless remote control
for
Windows Media Center
computers. Other than the wireless mouse controls that the remote offers, one nice feature of the remote is the ability to control
Windows Media Player
(WMP) while your display is off.
The remote interacts with WMP, by downloading data to be displayed using it’s built in LCD screen. From here you can view songs by album or artist and even access your playlist. Prices for the remote range from $179.99 to $229.99 with an included keyboard.
After a little searching we found that Gyration had made a similar version of the remote for
Dell
that was packaged with the
Dell XPS M2010
Based on this and a thread by [BENZONATE]
on AVS Forum
we put together our own remote using the following parts:
Dell M2010 Premium Remote
Dell RH515 wireless card
Dell Thomson driver
(EXE)
USB Cable
We found our bare remote on
eBay for $19.99
. When we asked [Greg] at Gyration for some help on this project he explained to us that the M2010 remote will only bind (RF Connect) with the Dell RF module due to the way Dell has chosen to write its drivers; the remote will not work with any of their standard RF receivers. If you do buy the remote on eBay be aware that the remote will only work with the RH515 card.
While finding the remote was easy, trying to locate the RH515 was another story. After searching online and calling Dell’s business support staff we were able to locate and purchase the RH515 card for $10.99 including shipping on
Dell’s outlet site
.
Once we received our board we began to strip the wires on the included connector and paired it with our USB cable using the following:
Red/Green to Black
Yellow to Green
White to White
Black to Red
We wrapped the exposed wires in electrical tape, and then installed the Thomson driver on our computer. After plugging the board into an open
USB
slot, Windows quickly recognized the card and following the
M2010 remote’s instruction
for pairing the devices gave us a working gyration remote.
The remote’s basic Media Center functions work like any other remote, the gyration feature allows us to control the cursor as well as perform left and right clicks from the comfort of our couch. The best part is: the remote gives us the ability to select our music using the built in LCD screen.
We did experience some lag while scrolling down the list of songs, but this could have been due to our excessive button smashing. Other than the delay, the remote itself has performed great and all for less than the cost of the Movea remote.
[digg=http://digg.com/mods/Build_a_Gyration_Media_Center_remote] | 33 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "45015",
"author": "twistedsymphony",
"timestamp": "2008-10-08T19:58:07",
"content": "wow… I might just have to grab this, it’s cheap enough… it would be great at parties considering it’s RF I can control it from another room… sweet!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"repl... | 1,760,377,744.928695 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/07/scammers-introduce-atm-skimmers-with-built-in-sms-notification/ | ATM Skimmers With SMS | Kimberly Lau | [
"Misc Hacks",
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"atm",
"magstripe",
"scammers",
"scams",
"security",
"skimming"
] | You may want to be more careful where you put that ATM card. There are now
ATM skimmers with SMS notification
. ATM skimmers are placed over real ATM slots and
the information off the cards as they’re inserted
. The new models will send the skimmed information via SMS notifications to a phone that’s attached to a computer. This solves the problem of scammers needing to retrieve their skimmers without attracting the attention of police. ATM skimmer manufacturers have so far been really successful because of their commitment to security, from the paint they use to cover their skimmers to their exclusive clientele. The manufacturer of this particular model claims that none of their clients who’ve used this new ATM skimmer has been arrested, and they only accept business from “recommended” clients. We think it’s interesting and ironic how these criminals have adapted their security procedures to deal with institutions we wish were more secure. | 40 | 40 | [
{
"comment_id": "44931",
"author": "ali Raheem",
"timestamp": "2008-10-08T02:23:24",
"content": "HAHAHAHAHA!From the blurb provided by the makers:“The data received by your PC is being coded instantly to prevent it being used and accessed by unwanted persons.”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1... | 1,760,377,744.852081 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/07/yahoo-employee-accused-of-involvement-with-terrorists/ | Yahoo! Employee Accused Of Involvement With Terrorists | Kimberly Lau | [
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"muslims",
"politics",
"security",
"terrorism"
] | [Mohammed Mansoor Asghar Peerbhoy], a software engineer at Yahoo!’s Indian facility, has been
accused of involvement with one of India’s most-wanted terrorist organizations
, the Islamic Mujahideen. According to investigators, [Peerbhoy] wrote and sent emails just before and after terrorist attacks in Delhi, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and Jaipur in Rajasthan. [Peerbhoy] makes an unlikely suspect; he visited the U.S. on several occasions for work without suspicion, but authorities claim that he was a “mastermind” who hacked into wireless internet sites to send hostile emails. The local community and his family have rallied around [Peerbhoy], calling the arrest an attempt to “defame the Muslim community”. There are also claims that his arrest, and other similar arrests, were made to soothe political pressures and not based on any factual evidence.
[photo:
josemurilo
] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "44896",
"author": "monster",
"timestamp": "2008-10-07T23:10:58",
"content": "ten bucks says when he “hacked into wireless internet sites to send hostile emails” he really went to starbucks with his laptop and chatted on AIM",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
... | 1,760,377,744.988998 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/07/mozilla-labs-to-launch-location-based-browser-plug-in-geode/ | Geode, Mozilla Labs’ Location-based Browser Plug-in | Matthew Murphy | [
"downloads hacks",
"gps hacks",
"News"
] | [
"geode",
"gps",
"location",
"location base",
"mozilla",
"mozilla labs"
] | Mozilla Labs
has launched yet another new project, this one a
location based plugin for Firefox
. Geode will let users to take advantage of location data embedded within a web page. Like [MG Siegler] at
VentureBeat
, we wondered what the point of a location-based desktop browser was, since most cell phones are now GPS-enabled.
TechCrunch
and CNET’s
Webware
, cite the example of a user who is looking for a place to eat while out of town. Using Geode, his favorite restaurant review site would know automatically to display eating establishments in the locale he is visiting. As
semantic
information permeates more and more of the web, we’re certain that we’ll see many more uses for a tools like Geode. Geode’s uses Skyhook’s Loki technology, which determines position base on what WiFi access points it sees just like the
Eye-Fi
. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "44941",
"author": "super, f. Esq.",
"timestamp": "2008-10-08T03:48:22",
"content": "Can’t see the use. Yeah if you’re looking for local things, (you already know stuff within blocks of your locale).The whole point of the net is to know what’s beyond. I usually search stuff from Japa... | 1,760,377,745.042357 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/07/space-elevator-a-real-possibility/ | Space Elevator A Real Possibility | Kimberly Lau | [
"News"
] | [
"carbon nanotube",
"nanotube",
"physics",
"science",
"space elevator"
] | The
space elevator may be a very real possibility
within our lifetimes. Previously the stuff of science fiction novels, scientists and engineers around the world will continue their
discussion at a conference in Japan
this November. The
space elevator’s
basic design would include a cable that is anchored to the Earth’s surface, and on the other end, tens of thousands of kilometers away, a counterweight for balance. The space elevator could be used to solve many different problems, from nuclear waste disposal to powering homes with solar panels.
The technology driving the development of the space elevator is the
carbon nanotube
. Its lightweight properties and tensile strength, over 180 times stronger than steel cable, make it the ideal cable for the space elevator. Currently there are several logistical problems, which range from designing a carbon nanotube strong enough to support the elevator to finding an ideal site to design and build the elevator, which would require international consensus and input. Several organizations are working on space elevator designs, and NASA is holding a
$4 million Space Elevator Challenge
to encourage designs. | 55 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "44891",
"author": "epicelite",
"timestamp": "2008-10-07T22:33:17",
"content": "Can I go to space now?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44892",
"author": "spadefinger",
"timestamp": "2008-10-07T22:33:32",
"content": "“... | 1,760,377,745.197234 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/07/prevent-drunk-emails-with-the-mail-goggles-feature/ | Prevent Drunken Emails With Mail Goggles | Kimberly Lau | [
"google hacks",
"Lifehacks"
] | [
"drinking",
"drunk",
"drunk dialing",
"email",
"Gmail",
"google",
"mail goggles"
] | Google introduced a new Labs feature named
Mail Goggles
. If you turn it on, on late night weekends, the feature will ask you to perform some math problems before you can send an email. We’re not sure how widespread a problem drunk emailing is, but maybe the delay will allow you to sober up and realize when you’re about to CC your entire company on a rant about your boss, or your adventures with the cute guy or girl in the office. It’s enabled for late nights on the weekends, but once you’ve turned it on, you can adjust the time in the General settings. | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "44888",
"author": "spadefinger",
"timestamp": "2008-10-07T22:28:10",
"content": "it does nothing for those of us who drink on no ones schedule but our own. and only a novice drinker can’t do basic math when inebriated. <> “for lightweights only” <>",
"parent_id": null,
"dept... | 1,760,377,745.105931 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/07/install-gps-in-your-dell-mini-9/ | Install GPS In Your Dell Mini 9 | Caleb Kraft | [
"computer hacks",
"gps hacks",
"handhelds hacks",
"Netbook Hacks"
] | [
"dell mini",
"dellmini",
"EeePc",
"gps",
"portable",
"ultra portable"
] | [acabtp] has already started
hacking on his Dell Mini 9
. He wanted to add
GPS
functionality, but didn’t want a dongle or anything external. After ordering the smallest GPS unit he could find, he found a place to wire it in internally. The end result had no bearing on the external looks of the computer. I wonder if he used the
modification guide dell released
?
Marketed as direct competition for the EEEPC, we’ll probably start seeing a lot more hacks for these.
We’ve already seen
the EEEPC taken hacked more than we ever expected.
[thanks strider_mt2k] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "44885",
"author": "Cris Abbott",
"timestamp": "2008-10-07T21:50:21",
"content": "Sweet… I’ve been wanting to do something like this with my TP x61 tablet ever since i got it… found the perfect space where the intel speed boost chip is, now i just have to make the custom board",
... | 1,760,377,745.418704 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/07/inexpensive-powerful-router-based-robot/ | Inexpensive Powerful Router Based Robot | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"robot",
"telemetry",
"wifi",
"wrt54g"
] | [Andrey Mikhalchuk] Has posted some great instructions on
how to build an inexpensive router based robot
. Starting with a Linksys WRT54GL, he takes us through the process of disassembling and modifying it to directly control servos. He has put together a custom version of
OpenWRT Linux
that you can download from his site. After testing to make sure everything is functional, he goes through a quick and dirty chassis build. As you can see from the picture above, there are lot of household items thrown in there such as rubber bands and zip ties. After adding a camera mounted on two servos for x y movement, he fine tunes it and lets it go.
This project looks fairly simple, cheap, and fun. It may look familiar as it is very similar to our
Wifi Robot
post from August.
[thanks Matt] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "44863",
"author": "mike",
"timestamp": "2008-10-07T18:41:03",
"content": "His site appears to be loading slow, so if anybody’s got a mirror that would be cool.Just looking at the pic above, I wonder what kind of traction the bot gets on tile floor. It looks like it has grooves cut ... | 1,760,377,745.36746 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/06/boxee-on-the-apple-tv/ | Boxee On The Apple TV | Eliot | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Mac Hacks",
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"alpha",
"apple",
"apple tv",
"atv",
"boxee",
"gpu",
"patchstick",
"usb",
"xbmc"
] | [blip.tv ?posts_id=1333256&dest=-1]
Boxee
, the social
XBMC
, is now easy to
install on your Apple TV
. We first covered Boxee in June when the
alpha was released
. It’s great to see how much the project has advanced to this point. To install on the
Apple TV
, you first download a USB “patchstick” creator. The program puts a
mac
partition on the drive and copies over the necessary files. You reboot the Apple TV with the stick installed and it patches in both Boxee and XBMC. When you restart the the device it will have two new menu items and the rest of the system will be intact. [Dave Mathews]
shows the entire process
in the video above. He notes that they’re currently not taking advantage of the GPU, so 1080p is a little too much for the system. | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "44740",
"author": "Rick Bodey",
"timestamp": "2008-10-07T03:52:52",
"content": "Wow I need an inviteboxeeinvite AT whizkid.endjunk.comThx everyone",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44793",
"author": "Tophat",
"timestamp": ... | 1,760,377,745.46235 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/06/quantum-cryptography-in-band-attack/ | Quantum Cryptography In-band Attack | Eliot | [
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"makarov",
"photon",
"qkd",
"quantum",
"quantum cryptography",
"quantum mechanics",
"vadim makarov"
] | Quantum cryptography
is an emerging field, but low install base hasn’t kept researchers from exploring attacks against it. It’s an attractive technology because an attacker sniffing the key exchange changes the quantum state of the photons involved. All eavesdroppers can be detected because of this fundamental principal of quantum mechanics.
We’ve seen theoretical side-channel attacks on the hardware being used, but had yet to see an in-band attack until now. [
Vadim Makarov
] from the University of Science and Technology in Trondheim has
done exactly that
(
Internet Archive
). Quantum key distribution systems are designed to cope with noise and [Makarov] has taken advantage of this. The attack works by firing a bright flash of light at all the detectors in the system. This raises the amount of light necessary for a reading to register. The attacker then sends the photon they want detected, which has enough energy to be read by the intended detector, but not enough for the others. Since it doesn’t clear the threshold, the detectors don’t throw any exceptions. The attacker could sniff the entire key and replay it undetected.
This is a very interesting attack since it’s legitimate eavesdropping of the key. It will probably be mitigated using better monitoring of power fluctuations at the detectors.
[via I)ruid] | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "44718",
"author": "therian",
"timestamp": "2008-10-07T01:41:45",
"content": "I lost my photon, I send it and it newer returned back :(",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44738",
"author": "MRE",
"timestamp": "2008-10-07T03:... | 1,760,377,745.564764 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/06/use-a-psp-as-an-extended-display/ | Use A PSP As An Extended Display | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"handhelds hacks",
"Playstation Hacks",
"PSP Hacks"
] | [
"extra display",
"psp"
] | Follow along with this project and you could
use your PSP as a display
for your computer. The software, available for download on the site, gives you a 960×544 display. The data is compressed, sent to the
PSP
, then decompressed for display. Though that sounds clunky, the video after the break shows it working pretty smoothly with some
Winamp
visualization. Only 32 bit Windows XP or older is supported currently.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqX-8ckC6J4]
[thanks carlos] | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "44668",
"author": "Ryan",
"timestamp": "2008-10-06T21:43:55",
"content": "Wow! I guess my age old PSP has a use…well if I wasn’t using 64bit vista it would have a use..",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44680",
"author": "John... | 1,760,377,745.514705 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/06/parts-microsd-memory-card-holders/ | Parts: MicroSD Memory Card Holders | Ian | [
"News",
"Parts"
] | [
"card connector",
"card holder",
"electronics",
"microsd",
"monday parts",
"parts",
"sd card"
] | SD cards add cheap persistent memory to your project, but the holder takes a lot of board space. A smaller option is the
microSD
flash format. MicroSD cards are compatible with regular SD cards, and most come with a free adapter. We looked at four holders for our
mini web server
. Which should you choose? Read about our experience below.
Here’s a breakdown of the microSD card holders illustrated above:
Alps
SCHA1B0100
$1.27 – Can you see pins through the holes in the first holder? They ‘re hard to see, and almost inaccessible. We didn’t find this holder very useful for prototyping.
JAE
ST6S008V4AR1500
$1.46 – This is another model with pins located at the front, but these are further forward for easier access. It’s still going to be a pain to solder, avoid if possible.
SparkFun
PRT-00127
$3.95 – Finally, a holder with pins at the back. This is a fairly easy-to-solder part, but it’s not ideal. The soldering tabs are very small and slightly recessed under the shield. It’s also the most expensive microSD holder we’ve seen. SparkFun has a
Cadsoft Eagle
footprint for this part in
their library
. We think Molex
538-502702-0891
($3.58) is probably very similar. We used this holder with the mini web server.
Alps
SCHA2B0300
– $1.27 – The long pins along both sides of this holder are easy to solder. The holder is reversed, meaning the card inserts upside-down. Reversed holders seem weird on an all surface mount board, but they fit nicely in through-hole designs. There’s no Eagle footprint yet, but we’ll send an SCHA2B0300 to the first person who
makes one
; here’s the
datasheet
(pdf).
Check out our previous
parts
posts:
0.1uF decoupling capacitors
, the
LM317 adjustable regulator
, and
tactile switches
. | 23 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "44650",
"author": "Matthew",
"timestamp": "2008-10-06T19:38:22",
"content": "Does it have to be Cadsoft Eagle? I’ve used this part before and have the footprint for ExpressPCB.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44652",
"author... | 1,760,377,745.63464 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/06/killer-zombie-drone-is-awesome-and-recycled/ | “Killer Zombie Drone” Is Awesome And Recycled | Caleb Kraft | [
"News",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"drone",
"military",
"radio controlled",
"telemetry",
"uav"
] | Usually, when someone mentions military drones, we think of something much smaller and less intimidating than this monster. This is an Airforce
Phantom II, retrofitted to be a computer controlled killing machine
. Able to carry 18,000 pounds of stuff that goes boom, a single computer can control up to 6 of these in formation.
Sounds scary doesn’t it? Actually, though these are capable of being offensive, they are mainly used for target practice. These are decommissioned units that have been fixed up and modified to be radio controlled.
[via
BotJunkie
] | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "44642",
"author": "Dave",
"timestamp": "2008-10-06T18:45:19",
"content": "This is not new. I worked on QF4’s in the 70’s at the Naval Missile Center at Point Mugu, CA.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44644",
"author": "cde"... | 1,760,377,745.697818 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/05/avr-attiny25-usb-hit-counter/ | AVR ATtiny25 USB Hit Counter | Jason Rollette | [
"classic hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"ATtiny25",
"MAX7219",
"multiple 7-segment display",
"USB hit counter",
"USB on AVR"
] | [Bob] has a
USB page hit counter
that uses an ATtiny25 to run a
MAX7219
which drives eight 7-segment displays. It is easy to implement
USB on an AVR
using just firmware, eliminating the need for any USB to RS232 conversion. The host software is written in Delphi and sits in the Windows tray. The code examples seem simple enough to expand upon into your own display programs. | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "44530",
"author": "...",
"timestamp": "2008-10-06T04:55:38",
"content": "I wonder what that display looks like now that he is on HAD…In any case, that is a nice project. Simple, clean. Although I would have rather seen it done with a 24 pin part and the displays multiplexed in sof... | 1,760,377,745.743233 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/05/sanguino-atmega644p-board/ | Sanguino ATmega644P Board | Jason Rollette | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"arduino",
"ATmega644P",
"Atmel",
"rapid prototyping",
"reprap",
"Sanguino"
] | The
RepRap project
, which is a printer that can make components using
rapid prototyping technology
, and it is designed so that it can eventually self replicate. Has released a new
breakout board for the Sanguino
that provides access to all the pins as screw terminals. The Sanguino is an Arduino compatible board based on the ATmega644P chip. You can populate the full board with all the components and have a fully functional single board. You could populate only the screw terminals and plug your Sanguino, and use it as a breakout board as well. The
board design
is released on
Google Code
. | 23 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "44467",
"author": "amk",
"timestamp": "2008-10-05T22:57:01",
"content": "So I searched google for Sanguino, figuring it was something I should learn about. First result? This post. There’s not a whole lot of info out there, can anyone recommend a source?",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,377,745.804147 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/05/ardupilot-pro-autopilot-drone/ | ArduPilot Pro Autonomous Drone | Jason Rollette | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"gps hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"autonomous",
"autonomous drone",
"Autopilot",
"drone",
"gps",
"Predator drone",
"uav"
] | We wrote about [Chris Anderson] before when he released the
Arduino based autopilot
. He has since crashed his
first Predator UAV
, due to an underpowered motor and poor control of the v-tail only steering. He has since released a
pro version
of the autopilot controller, and is modifying this
UAV Predator drone kit
to work with it. One ATMega168 processor handles flying and the other handles
GPS navigation
, but because they work together, it results in a fully autonomous drone. He also has a
BlimpDuino version
we have covered before. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "44457",
"author": "jimmys",
"timestamp": "2008-10-05T22:14:36",
"content": "Sweet. but for me it’s not the platform, it’s the sensor modules.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44458",
"author": "derwin",
"timestamp": "2008... | 1,760,377,745.852178 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/04/blinkenlights-stereoscope-goes-live-in-toronto/ | Blinkenlights’ Stereoscope Goes Live In Toronto | Eliot | [
"Misc Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"blinkenlights",
"bre pettis",
"ccc",
"guest post",
"stereoscope",
"tim pritlove",
"toronto"
] | We’re happy to present this guest post from History Hacker’s [
Bre Pettis
]. Today [Bre] catches up with the
Blinkenlights
team, who turn entire buildings into displays. Their current project is
Stereoscope
which goes live in Toronto, Canada today.
Earlier this week, I posted about the
beginnings of the blinkenlights project
. It started in 2001 in Berlin, but now Seven years later, in May 2008, blinkenlights is back. The City of Toronto asked the blinkenlights team if they would be interested in joining another Nuit Blanche (as they did in Paris in 2002). Short on time and with a lot of ambition, they decided to redesign and push the envelope on the project to make it wireless for The Toronto City Hall since there would be 960 windows split up in two towers. In the above photo, you can see Stereoscope in all its glory.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/YWuu7AIcSGI]
I can’t help it, this is such an awesome project. I need to know more! I asked Tim to break it on down and give up the details.
What’s the story of the stereoscope project?
After having had a variety of new attempts around Europe that didn’t work out (due to either financial reasons or building owners that withdrew their support in the last minute) it took six years until we could come up with a new project (not counting two small Blinkenlights reprises at the original location).
But in May 2008, the City of Toronto asked us if we would be interested in joining another Nuit Blanche (as we did in Paris in 2002) in October 2008. There was really not much time left, so we immediately started working on this baby with a few really tough deadlines to be met. Especially because we did not want to go with the same technology we used back in 2002. The Toronto City Hall was even bigger than the Bibliothèque nationale de France (960 vs. 520 windows), split up in two towers and we also wanted to push the envelope a bit.
So we came up with the idea of going mostly wireless to save setup time. Although being a much bigger installation, we will probably need only half the time to set everything up – if things won’t go wrong of course.
What makes the stereoscope special?
The facade of Toronto City Hall is special in many ways. First there are two separate towers: both of different height and width. Both facaces are split in two parts of unequal size because there are mechanical floors in the middle without windows.
Even more important the towers have a curved structure and all the windows are faced inwards. This makes it impossible to see all the windows at the same time regardless from where you are. All our previous installations presented just one single screen very much like the screens we are used to on our computers.
Blinkenlights is not about building displays. It’s about participation of people and interpretation of architecture. So we try to “speak the language of the building.” To compensate for the difficult viewing angles, we promote a fluid appearance: things move slowly – what you can’t see now you will see in a few moments. This all also underlines the strange spatial appearance of the facade – hence the name Stereoscope (”spatial view”). We’ll see how this all turns out – we never know how are installations will feel before. It’s going to be a surprise to us as it is to the casual viewer.
How hard was it to create an iphone app?
The idea to create an application for a mobile device is as old as our project. But in 2001/2 there was nothing on the horizon that could do that. The iPhone however is the device we have been waiting for.
First of all we wanted this app to be useful to everybody. So we focused on a simulator that provides a real time view of what is going on. Everyone can load the app and tune in live – wherever they want (as long they have Internet access of course). The foundation for this we had in our code for a very long time – as we have been using IP packets for frame distribution inside our installation all along it just took a copy to be streamed to individual applications that could display the data stream on some kind of visualizer.
The blinkensim program of our original toolkit did that. An intelligent proxy – the blinkenproxy – enhanced this to an on-demand model: the proxy constantly receives the data stream from a single source and re-distributes the stream to every simulator that asks for a copy. We hope our infrastructure scales well enough to handle demand.
For Stereoscope we enhanced our protocol in many ways: each packet is realtime-stamped so the simulator can display the time the stream was generated – either in real time or as a playback from an archival copy. We also added support for multiple screens as Stereoscope supports the notion of individual subscreens and virtual matrixes and more.
We wanted the application to be really, really beautiful to look at. So we put together a team of gifted 3D and 2D graphic artists and two excellent iPhone/Mac-Programmers: the Coding Monkeys from Munich, known for their collaborative text editor SubEthaEdit and the useful Circulator iPhone application. They all joined forces and the result is a pretty outstanding little app that allows to view the building from any angle or predefined viewpoints while it fluidly displays the data stream coming from our central server.
Due to the strange distribution model and the long approval times of the iTunes App Store we might not be able to add more functionality. Every update usually needs a week to show up which is really bad for such a time critical piece. We have tons of more ideas on how to turn this app into a location-aware controller allowing for collaborative painting and other nice ideas. We’ll see how it turns out in the end. Project Blinkenlights is always work in progress and we will keep the data stream running after we have to take down the installation itself so that we can continue to play and experiment with a virtual building for future installations.
What’s broken so far? Has anyone been hurt?
Setup is going really well and we are confident to be ready in time. No casualties so far, knock on wood.
Are you going to port the old movies to the new project and are you specifically going to show a video of a woman dancing in greyscale?
We’ll show a medley of old and new stuff. The new multiple-layer core of our software allows multiple movies and games to run at the same time, target different subscreens and such. There are more new features in the code than I think we can make use of in just two weeks. We’ll see.
Concerning the dancing woman, I was just being told the original data is locked in a computer that is wrapped in plastic standing in a cellar in a small house in the Australian outback. I guess we won’t make it in time to revive that particular animation.
But we want to go for new original content anyway. There is a capable set of tools available for the Mac. We have built an infrastructure to use Quartz Composer to create animations for Stereoscope and we hope experienced designers will use it to create cool stuff. There is a stand-alone 3D simulator for the Mac as well (not yet as beautiful as the iPhone version but we’re working on that).
There will be additional tools for Mac and Windows like a Blinkenpaint-style editor for smaller movies and an updated blinkensim simulator for Linux and BSD Unix. There are third-party tools for as well that we will list on the website.
Is there anything else people should know about the project?
All of our hardware and software will be out in the open. The wireless dimmer technology will be released under a Creative Commons license and the new code will be either BSD or GPL licensed. We are still thinking of Project Blinkenlights as an open platform and something that should evolve and grow. We’d like to see both software and hardware hackers to take up on the work we have done and come up with new ideas and extensions.
We really hope we are not again running into such a long phase of inactivity and will be able to pursue a followup project sooner than later. It might be a nice idea to go ahead with a virtual representation of former installations but I guess it is the real world where it gets interesting as stuff needs to be tangible for people. Nothing beats reality.
Want to be involved? The
iPhone app
is a tool for people to watch in real time and it can also be used as a testing app when developing animations.
What the blinkenlights team are most interested in is that people create funny animations for the building. They provide an
extensive toolset
now including a Quartz Composer based development environment on the Mac and a library for Processing that works cross-platform.
They are busy setting up the submission form now and will post more background on everything. So everybody who is interested in participating to
subscribe to the blinkenlights blog
.
They are also working on a Java based Game API for people who like to code little apps to interact with people calling in with their mobile phones.
If you’re not following
Tim on Twitter
, you should! He recently
twittered
that they had ordered pizza and the pizza delivery guy couldn’t find the building so they made the building light up with the words, “Pizza Here!”
[photo:
antenne
] | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "44369",
"author": "RenderMan",
"timestamp": "2008-10-05T01:45:16",
"content": "w00t, I’m going to be in town and nearby.Where would one go to find the control booth to chat up the, well, controllers?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id... | 1,760,377,745.977687 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/04/avoiding-os-fingerprinting-in-windows/ | Avoiding OS Fingerprinting In Windows | Eliot | [
"downloads hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"ettercap",
"fingerprint",
"fingerprinting",
"nmap",
"obscurity",
"os",
"os fingerprinting",
"p0f",
"satori",
"security cloak",
"security through obscurity",
"TCP",
"tcpip"
] | [Irongeek] has been working on
changing the OS fingerprint of his Windows box
. Common network tools like
Nmap
,
P0f
,
Ettercap
, and
NetworkMiner
can determine what operating system is being run by the behavior of the TCP/IP stack. By changing this behavior, you can make your system appear to be another OS. [Irongeek] started writing his own tool by checking the source of
Security Cloak
to find out what registry keys needed to be changed. His OSfuscate tool lets you define your own .os fingerprint file. You can pretend to be any number of different systems from IRIX to Dreamcast. Unfortunately this only works for TCP/IP. Other methods, like
Satori
‘s DHCP based fingerprinting, still work and need to be bypassed by other means. Yes, this is just “security through obscurity”, but it is something fun to play with. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "44421",
"author": "happypinguin",
"timestamp": "2008-10-05T15:53:10",
"content": "The best way to change your windows fingertip is to replace it with linux. 100% guaranteed.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44423",
"author": ... | 1,760,377,746.082915 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/04/another-ikea-linux-cluster/ | Another IKEA Linux Cluster | Eliot | [
"computer hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"cabinet",
"cluster",
"helmer",
"ikea",
"ikea cluster",
"linux",
"linux cluster",
"tim molter"
] | In a bit of serendipity, reader [Tim Molter] had decided on the IKEA Helmer cabinet for his new cluster right before seeing the
previous IKEA cluster we covered
. He and his coding partner recently completed building their
own version of the IKEA Linux cluster
. The cabinet was $30 and holds six headless boxes. Each board has a quad-core AMD processor for a total of 24 cores. They also feature 1GB of RAM and an 80GB laptop SATA drive. The latter was chosen because of space limitations in the case. [Tim] describes the Helmer cabinet as being almost perfect. The power supply lines up with the top edge of the drawer and the motherboard fits with a millimeter to spare. Power buttons were added to the front plus slots for airflow. It looks like a really clean installation and at $2550, incredibly cheap for the processing power. | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "44357",
"author": "Edward Nardella",
"timestamp": "2008-10-04T23:41:46",
"content": "Why people keep putting in a hard drive for each node is something that baffles me.Otherwise nice build. Off to look at the details.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
... | 1,760,377,746.031018 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/04/space-tech-helps-athlete-attain-world-record/ | Space Tech Helps Athlete Attain World Record | Kimberly Lau | [
"Medical Hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"alpha magnetic spectrometer",
"athletics",
"cern",
"disability",
"iss",
"paralympics",
"space tech",
"wojtek czyz"
] | German athlete [Wojtek Czyz] set a new world record
for the long jump at the
Paralympics 2008
in Beijing, with the aid of his space tech enhanced prosthetic leg. He jumped a record 6.5 meters, 27 centimeters more than the previous record. Prior to switching to his new prosthetic leg for athletic competitions, he was prone to breaking the prosthesis when he performed to the best of his abilities. [Czyz] and his trainer met with
ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme (TTP)
technology broker
MST Aerospace
to assess the most important parts of the prosthesis. According to [Dr. Werner Dupont], MST Aerospace Managing Director, the crucial element was the connection angle, or L-bracket. Working with German company
ISATEC
, they developed a new L-bracket using a much lighter and stronger material from the
Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS)
, which is an instrument that will be installed on the
ISS
to study extraterrestrial matter. We find it interesting and pretty cool that space technology can help enhance a disabled athlete’s performance, and think that this could lead to interesting possibilities, even for those who aren’t athletes.
[via
Boing Boing
] | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "44342",
"author": "D",
"timestamp": "2008-10-04T22:12:18",
"content": "Of course he jumped farther, he’s got a spring attached to one leg.I’m all for disabled (differently abled, if you prefer) athletes being able to continue in their sport. But if a non-disabled athlete strapped sp... | 1,760,377,747.781289 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/04/techspansion-closes-its-doors/ | Techspansion Closes It’s Doors | Joey Celis | [
"downloads hacks",
"News"
] | [
"audialhub",
"mac",
"media converter",
"visualhub"
] | Techspansion
, creators of the popular media conversion programs VisualHub and AudialHub, have called it quits. Company founder [Tyler Loch] explains that the decision to stop the development of these popular Mac based utilities was due to personal reasons.
Unlike the numerous media converters available for Windows based computers, there are only a handful of good media conversion applications on the Mac and Techspansion’s applications were some of the best.
VisualHub makes it easy to convert one video format to another, while AudialHub does the same for audio files. We found AudialHub very useful when converting WMA files for import into iTunes as the Mac version of iTunes does not have the ability to convert WMA files like its Windows counterpart.
Registered users who don’t have a copy of the latest build will find direct download links removed from the Techspansion website. All is not lost as one very enthusiastic individual has made the downloads available at
The Pirate Bay
. | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "44341",
"author": "pascal",
"timestamp": "2008-10-04T22:06:54",
"content": "huh, they closed down the company, and the software just goes away?! they could at least have open sourced it… (Netscape died very nicely this way, and see what rose from its ashes…)",
"parent_id": null,... | 1,760,377,747.721704 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/04/xbox-360-battery-pack-teardown/ | Xbox 360 Battery Pack Teardown | Eliot | [
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"aa",
"Atmel",
"nimh",
"sanyo",
"teardown",
"wireless",
"wireless controller",
"xbox",
"xbox 360"
] | Reader, [Fox9p3400], opened up an Xbox 360 controller battery pack so we could all see what goes into one. It contains two Sanyo 2100mAh NiMH AA rechargeables (Model HR-3U 1.2V). In addition to that, there is an Atmel microcontroller (not pictured) and the copper temperature probe you can see above. He has
more pictures on Photobucket
. | 26 | 25 | [
{
"comment_id": "44343",
"author": "BronzeG3",
"timestamp": "2008-10-04T22:36:20",
"content": "SDA and SCL look like an I2C bus. Anyone probe those lines to see what is being sent?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44354",
"author": "error404... | 1,760,377,748.130086 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/01/autonomous-hovering-drones-invade-germany/ | Autonomous Hovering Drones Invade Germany | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"autonomous",
"copter",
"helicopter",
"hovering",
"humboldt",
"quadcopter",
"quadrocopter"
] | We welcome the swarm of
autonomous hovering robot overlords
being made by students at
Humboldt University
. The goal of this project is to build an autonomous hovering platform that is controlled via adapted insect behavior. Navigation comes from monitoring real time inputs, such as air pressure and optical sensors, not by predefined paths and GPS coordinates. Some examples of this adapted behavior are: navigation via
polarized sun light
like African ants, and
optical flow
similar to bees.
You can
see the platforms in action on Spiegel Online
, but unless you understand German, you won’t get much else out of it.
If any of this seems familiar, it’s because we covered
CCCamp 2007
, which was near Berlin and had some very similar quadcopters. While the large quadcopter platforms have been around for a while and are steadily coming down in price, there are some new alternatives out there that are quite tempting. Anyone want to build some autonomy into this
little baby
?
[thanks fh] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "44117",
"author": "Befread",
"timestamp": "2008-10-02T02:19:00",
"content": "Well as long has they aren’t programed to attack picnics. But seriously what’s the big freaking deal.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44118",
"auth... | 1,760,377,748.001165 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/01/escape-from-berkeley-by-any-non-petroleum-means-necessary/ | Escape From Berkeley | Kimberly Lau | [
"contests",
"News"
] | [
"alternative fuels",
"cars",
"contest",
"road rally"
] | Escape From Berkeley (By Any Non-Petroleum Means Necessary)
is an
alternative-fueled
road rally that starts October 10th and ends October 13th. The rally begins in Berkeley, California, and finishes in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Sahara. Contestants are required to use any fuel other than petroleum, and using only those fuels scavenged “for free” along the way. Fuel cannot be purchased. Judges will present awards for both artistic and technical achievements. If you want to get in on the action, there are a number of ways to participate, from
registering your vehicle
to
volunteering
for the event or even
sponsoring the route “by the mile” or by landmark
.
[via
Laughing Squid
] | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "44091",
"author": "Spork",
"timestamp": "2008-10-01T20:57:06",
"content": "I’d have to drive up there first, wasting fuel. I don’t think this would work out too well.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44092",
"author": "spawn"... | 1,760,377,747.676724 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/01/announcing-the-ruckingenur-challenge/ | Announcing The Ruckingenur Challenge | Caleb Kraft | [
"contests",
"News"
] | [
"reverse engineering",
"ruckingenur",
"zach barth"
] | Back in August,
we posted
a fantastic reverse engineering game called Ruckingenur II created by [Zach Barth]. Apparently he got an overwhelmingly positive responce as well as many requests for a level editor. [Zach] decided to
open this up as a contest
, giving wonderful prizes and fame to the winner. Go read the rules and send him some entries. We can’t wait to see what you come up with.
[thanks Zach] | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "44081",
"author": "Spork",
"timestamp": "2008-10-01T19:33:31",
"content": "awesome! I love this game.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44085",
"author": "xitdis",
"timestamp": "2008-10-01T20:02:17",
"content": "This s... | 1,760,377,747.825065 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/01/remote-access-programs-are-good-security-for-laptops/ | Remote Access Programs Are Good Security For Laptops | Kimberly Lau | [
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"crime",
"laptops",
"remote access",
"security",
"vnc"
] | Don’t be [Gabriel Meija], the criminal pictured above.
He stole [Jose Caceres]’ laptop
, but didn’t realize that [Caceres] had installed a remote access program to track the activity on the laptop. Although the first few days were frustrating, as [Meija] didn’t seem to be using the laptop for anything but porn, [Caceres]’ luck turned when he noticed that an address was being typed in. [Caceres] turned the information over to police, who were able to find [Meija] and charge him with fourth-degree grand larceny. It’s not the first time that tech-savvy consumers have relied on remote access programs to capture the criminals who’ve stolen their computer equipment, and it certainly won’t be the last, as the technology becomes more readily available to consumers.
[via
Obscure Store and Reading Room
] | 28 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "44080",
"author": "jermsmit",
"timestamp": "2008-10-01T19:17:58",
"content": "All my systems have some form of dial home, remote ware so I can track and gain access to them once more. However, if the criminal in this case was smart; he would have reinstalled the operating system of... | 1,760,377,748.064033 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/01/44-of-second-hand-mobile-devices-contain-sensitive-data/ | 44% Of Used Phones Contain Sensitive Data | Caleb Kraft | [
"blackberry hacks",
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"blackberry",
"cell phone",
"mobile"
] | In a recent study,
researchers were able to garnish
all kinds of sensitive data from second hand mobile devices. Of the units tested, 44% contained information such as salary details, bank account information, business plans, personal medical details, personal insults, and
address book data
. Next time you get a used device, take a good look around. You never know what you may find.
[via
Zero Day
] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "44052",
"author": "darkbhudda",
"timestamp": "2008-10-01T15:12:29",
"content": "When I had my mobile in for repairs I got a temp phone. The previous owner hadn’t deleted anything from it. I resisted the temptation to check it all out for some time, but finally I was curious. This... | 1,760,377,748.180751 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/01/arduway-a-mini-segway-using-the-arduino/ | Arduway: A Mini Segway Using The Arduino | Jason Rollette | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"News",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"Arduway",
"lego",
"Lego NXT",
"segway"
] | [
Joe L
] sent in the
Arduway
on the
tipline
. It is a robot made of Arduino and
Lego NXT components
based on the Segway. A software library to control LEGO NXT motors and a few sensors he used is available on
SourceForge
.
This robot does a good job of balancing itself while moving forwards and backwards.
There is a YouTube video of it in operation after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tw9Jr-SPL0Y&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "44047",
"author": "Alex ~",
"timestamp": "2008-10-01T14:13:30",
"content": "Thats pretty damn cool really.Wonder if it could be upscaled to a full segway…(Also looks like sometime didn’t resize their comp in after effects.)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
... | 1,760,377,747.953675 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/30/picbasic-complex-led-matrix/ | PICBASIC Complex LED Matrix | Jason Rollette | [
"Misc Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"led matrix",
"microcontroller",
"pic",
"PIC16F628",
"PICBASIC",
"PICBASIC complex LED matrix"
] | This
PICBASIC complex LED matrix
solution was developed by [Olivier de Broqueville] to drive a matrix of LEDs. Using some cheap transistors, common red LEDs, and a PIC16F628, he is able to drive a 6×6 LED matrix. This project is very well documented and has everything available including: circuit board layouts, schematics, PICBASIC source, VB computer interface program, and parts list. | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "44021",
"author": "amk",
"timestamp": "2008-10-01T04:47:41",
"content": "interesting. it would probably be more efficient charlieplex that matrix which would not require the transistors and would actually use fewer pins.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
... | 1,760,377,748.230849 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/14/prototype-this-premiers-tomorrow/ | Prototype This Premiers Tomorrow | Eliot | [
"News"
] | [
"cable",
"discorvery channel",
"JoeGrand",
"prototype this",
"television"
] | Discovery Channel’s new show
Prototype This
premiers tomorrow night at 10e/p. Every week the team will construct a new piece of unique machinery. The schedule for the first six episodes has already been published.
Mind Controlled Car, October 15
Boxing Robots, October 22
Traffic Busting Truck, October 29
Get Up and Go, November 5
Waterslide Simulator, November 12
Six-Legged All Terrain Vehicle, November 19
We
initially reported
on the show in August because it featured
Defcon
badge designer [
Joe Grand
].
UPDATE:
[Joe] will be posting all of his
schematics, source code, development notes, etc
. | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "45732",
"author": "Jack",
"timestamp": "2008-10-15T02:15:49",
"content": "I don’t normally watch TV at all, but I will totally tune in for this.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45736",
"author": "Andrew Robinson",
"times... | 1,760,377,748.41776 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/14/microcontroller-powered-missile-launch-controller/ | Microcontroller-powered Missile Launch Controller | Joshua Wright | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Tool Hacks"
] | [
"launch",
"microcontroller",
"model rockets",
"pled"
] | [Josef Jahn] has posted a detailed guide on building
a microcontroller-based launch box
. Constructed from an Atmel ATMega168 and powered by a 12V rechargable lead gel battery, the launch box is fully portable and includes a number of safety features. Going the extra mile on what could essentially be a simple push button launcher, he added three safety switches, a sixty second after-launch timer and a beautiful (not to mention rare)
PLED
display complete with dramatic status messages. Check out a video of the launcher in action after the break.
[youtube=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=w8lEuGlq2-0] | 37 | 36 | [
{
"comment_id": "45696",
"author": "James Harrison",
"timestamp": "2008-10-14T21:33:09",
"content": "Oh god. Want this so much. Just want to hook it up to EVE Online or something. Looks like my next project hath been decided… :p",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
... | 1,760,377,748.361603 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/14/how-to-make-an-e-paper-clock-and-hack-esquire-magazine/ | How-to: Make An E-paper Clock From Esquire Magazine | Ian | [
"classic hacks",
"how-to",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"e-ink",
"e-paper",
"e-paper clock",
"eink",
"epaper",
"esquire",
"esquire cover",
"hack esquire e-paper cover",
"recycling"
] | If you’ve never heard about electronic paper, crawl out from under that rock and read up on the
Sony Reader
and the
Amazon Kindle
. E-paper is a flexible display made of color-changing beads that mimic ink-on-paper for easy daylight reading. The revolutionary thing about e-paper is that after it’s set, it stays that way without additional power.
This sounds great in theory, but
Esquire’s cover
is the first time everybody can afford to hack an e-paper display. We took the cover into the Hack a Day lab to document, test, and hack. In the end, we recycled it into something useful that anyone can build. We’ve got all the details on how the display works and what it takes to use it in your own projects. Read about our e-paper clock hack below.
Background
The Esquire e-paper cover hit big on the net, but was
quickly panned
. NOTCOT has beautiful
scans of the circuit board and e-paper
. Popular Science posted instructions for
reading the code with a PICkit2
. [Slaxter]
verified that the PIC chip can be read
, and that the code protection fuses are off. [Matt] manipulated the e-paper cells directly with
skillful soldering and an Arduino
. So far, there hasn’t been a lot of interest in repurposing the e-paper, or reprogramming the existing microcontroller.
E-paper panels
The actual e-paper panels, manufactured by
E-Ink
, aren’t that exciting. Each panel has a set of predefined segments, 11 on the front panel and 3 on the rear Ford advertisement. This isn’t a matrix that we can reprogram into an e-reader. [just_mike] has a great set of
ultra close-up shots of the individual beads
that make up each segment.
Each e-paper segment has an individual connection, and a connection that’s shared with other cells on the panel. The segments become white or black depending on the direction of current applied to the cell. When common is low, any segment that is also connected high will darken. When common is high, each cell connected to ground will clear. The PCB uses 16 volts from five 3.3volt batteries to switch the cells, but [Slaxter] showed that 5volts was sufficient with his Arduino project.
Performance testing
We made several observations about the e-paper operating specifications.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6GTFvNjRCk]
First, it takes nearly 0.5 seconds to completely darken or clear a cell. In the video you can see the partial states created by switching the e-paper too fast. We’re not quite sure of the optimal change time, but between 0.25 and 0.5 seconds seems to be the minimum.
This also raised questions about the maximum change time. Does it damage the e-paper to apply current for longer than necessary? Does the e-paper continue to consume current as long as it’s applied, wasting the batteries? We took special care in our code to return all outputs to ground after a change to avoid a continuous current through the panel.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hix9-h5UuSc]
Clearing and darkening must be done separately. It takes two complete operations to fully refresh the screen; one to clear old segments, one to darken new segments. A smart programmer will think they can save a cycle when only adding or removing items, and not doing both. This is true to some extent, but continuous manipulation of one cell without refreshing adjacent cells causes color ‘creep’. In the video, a flashing background without updates to any other segments quickly drives the inactive segments to a mid-state between dark and light.
Driver board
The driver consists of an eight-pin Microchip
PIC12F629
, two
4094
shift registers
, and some supporting components.
Click here for a full size pin diagram of the e-paper driver board
(PNG).
Batteries
Esquire
invited hacks of their cover
with the rather lame suggestion of replacing the batteries. This makes sense, the covers were
shipped all over the world in refrigerated containers
to help extend the battery life. Even with that effort, Esquire says that the batteries will last a few months.
Batteries 1-5 are in series and provide a 15-16volt switching current for the e-paper. The sixth battery provides 3volts for the PIC. No word yet on which batteries die first. If you want to ‘replace’ your batteries, you’ll need to desolder the old ones, and provide a 5-16volt e-paper supply, and 3volt microcontroller supply, at the points indicated.
We eventually had to replace our microcontroller battery because we abused it a bit during development. A button battery holder with 20mm pin spacing will fit the existing holes. Mouser #
534-106
will probably work, but this is unconfirmed.
4094 shift registers (IC1, IC2)
The shift registers switch the e-paper segment controls at 16 volts.
The two 4094 ICs are shift registers setup to cascade data from IC1 to IC2. This simple shift register is a slight variation on the 74HTC595 we used in our
graffiti wall
. The main difference is that the 4094 strobe line is normally low, and briefly pulled high to put new values on the output pins. We noticed that the 4094 requires long clock and strobe pulses. This could be due to lazy drive circuitry between the PIC and the 4094, or just the nature of the
4000 series
.
4094 segment output map
IC
Output
Address
Connection
1
Q1
0x01
FRONT_BOX_SYMBOL_DNA
1
Q2
0x02
FRONT_BOX_GUY
1
Q3
0x04
FRONT_BOX_FIREWORKS
1
Q4
0x08
FRONT_ON_THE_WEST_COAST
1
Q5
0x10
FRONT_THREE_HOURS_LATER
1
Q6
0x20
FRONT_ESQUIRE
1
Q7
0x40
FRONT_BOX_GIRL
1
Q8
0x80
FRONT_NOW
2
Q1
0x100
FRONT_BEGINS
2
Q2
0x200
FRONT_21ST_CENTURY
2
Q3
0x400
FRONT_BACKGROUND
2
Q4
0x800
FRONT_COMMON
2
Q5
0x1000
BACK_COMMON
2
Q6
0x2000
BACK_LEFT
2
Q7
0x4000
BACK_CENTER
2
Q8
0x8000
BACK_RIGHT
12F629
Click here for a full size schematic drawing
(PNG). An eight pin PIC12F629 drives the 4094 shift registers that control each e-paper segment. Two pins are unused (GP4, GP5).
The MCLR feature is enabled with resistor R8. The design doesn’t include a diode to protect the PIC from the 13volt programming current. Microchip recommends this, but there’s no other sensitive ICs sharing the circuit so perhaps the designer felt a resistor was sufficient protection.
Three pins drive the data, clock, and strobe lines of the 4094 (GP0, GP1, GP2). The 4094 has to be interfaced at the same voltage it switches, 16 volts, so the PIC switches the interface pins through transistors. As far as we can tell, the 4094 control lines are pulled high with a resistor. The PIC switches a transistor on, and it pulls the line to ground.
The interface to the 4094 is backwards
. A PIC high pin is seen as low at the shift register, and low is seen as high. The interface won’t work unless reversed.
The programming pins are brought to a header at the top of the PCB. We soldered standard .1″ pin header into the holes provided (Mouser #
571-41033290
). The two programming pins, PGD and PGC, are shared with the circuitry that drives the shift registers. We were able to read the device with an ICD2 debugger. We couldn’t reprogram it though, probably because of the shift register driver. Has anyone had success? Regardless, the shared pin arrangement makes it impossible to do in-circuit debugging on this device.
PIC pin connections
Pin
Name
Connection
1
VDD
+3.3volts
2
GP5
—
3
GP4
—
4
GP3
MCLR (program VPP)
5
GP2
4094 Strobe
6
GP1
4094 Clock (program clock)
7
GP0
4094 Data (program data)
8
VSS
Ground
Tap the board
It’s easy to tap into the board and use it with your favorite microcontroller. All but one of the required interface signals are already brought to a header. The strobe line can be tapped through the via indicated by the arrow. You don’t want the PIC to interfere with your new controller, so remove it or deactivate it by severing the power pin.
Interface library
Our first effort to drive the board involved our
PIC24F
-based
mini web server
. It was handy, and the PIC24F is easy to work with. We perfected our interface library on a low-power MSP430. Both versions are in the
project archive
(ZIP), but the MSP430 version of the library is more mature.
The library includes a software
bit-bang
routine, functions for interfacing the board, and address definitions for the segment and common lines. Options in esquire_eink.h enable a bit-bang delay and set its length; we found the 4094 lazy and in need of a lengthy clock pulse. The initBang() function sets the direction of the pins, and should be changed to suit your microcontroller. Call it, or set your IO pins to output elsewhere:
bangInit(); //set bitbang pins to output
The setSeg() function sets the passed segments dark (1) or clear (0):
setSeg(FRONT_BOX_GUY+FRONT_BACKGROUND, 1); //set(dark) these segments
setSeg(FRONT_21ST_CENTURY,0);//clear (light) these segments
The setSeg() function includes a color change delay defined by EINK_DELAY in esquire_eink.h. At the end of the delay it returns the shift register pins to ground. We want to avoid damaging to the e-paper or wasting the batteries, though we don’t really know if this is necessary.
One thing we noticed about setSeg() was that manipulating single cells causes adjacent cells to regress toward a mid-color. We developed the setDisplay() function to combat this by fully refreshing the display every time. setDisplay() includes a pause for each change, and then returns the shift register outputs to ground. Just pass the segment arrangement for a fully refreshed display:
setDisplay(FRONT_ESQUIRE+BACK_LEFT);//XX dark, everything else clear
You can access the shift registers directly with the bangIt() function, but consider returning the shift registers outputs to ‘0’ after the e-paper color change is complete. You could damage the e-paper or cause excessive current drain if you leave it on, if that’s actually ‘a thing’.
bangIt(0b1110000000000000);//all back panel segments on
pause();//wait for the color change
bangIt(0x0000);//return all outputs to ground
To port the library to your microcontroller, just check the pin configurations in esquire_eink.h, and the pin setup function bangInit() in esquire_eink.c. Keep in mind that the pin directions are reversed by the interface transistors.
Putting it to use, an e-paper clock
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kluFFU90qnI]
We wanted to do something useful with the first cheap consumer e-paper panel. It had to be something pretty easy so that lots of people can recycle this cool piece of technology. We couldn’t resist doing what so many do with
old display tech
: make a clock. Schematics, firmware, and art templates are in the
project archive
(.zip).
There’s so few segments on the e-paper that we can only partially represent the time. Six segments show time, each fades to reveal the time to the nearest ten minutes past the hour. We also flash eye-candy on the non-time segments of the panel. Here’s the custom bezel we created. This bezel, and a template to make your own, are included in the
project archive
(ZIP). We printed our bezel mirrored so the ink is protected from scratches.
Hardware
We were inspired by the low-power properties of e-paper to use
Texas Instruments’ MSP430 line of 16-bit microcontrollers
. With the right configuration, the MSP430 draws so little power that it’s only limited by the shelf life of a battery. We can even give the original designers a run for their money, and see if we can make a lower power device.
The best thing about the MSP430 is that you can buy a kit with a
USB programmer/debugger and breakout board for only 20 bucks
. It comes with
a free C compiler limited to 4K
, but the F2013 only has 2K of memory. This is a complete development tool, no soldering involved. Learn more about
working with the MSP430 in this how-to
.
This schematic shows how we connected our MSP430 to the e-paper driver board.
Click here for a full size version
(PNG). The 47K resistor, MSP430, and an LED (not shown) are included on the breakout board.
We added a 32.768KHz crystal to keep time (Q1). Normally, we’d also add some capacitors to form an oscillator, but the MSP430 has built-in adjustable capacitors on P2.6 and P2.7.
We also added a
button
between P1.4 and P1.2 (S1). The internal
pull-up resistor
on P1.4 holds the button high, and we grounded it through P1.2. This isn’t the best arrangement, it would probably be wise to also connect P1.2 to ground.
We slid the MSP430 breakout board over the power and ground pins of the programming header. You can connect the clock and data pins to the header too, but we decided to route them all from the vias underneath. Remember to remove the PIC so it doesn’t interfere with signals from the MSP430.
Parts
Number
Cost
Esquire e-paper cover
—
—
MSP430 ez430 development kit
ez430USB
$20
32.768KHz crystal
815-AB26T-32.768KHZ
$0.27
Push button
642-mjtp1250
$0.16
Firmware
The clock software is written with the free demo version of the TI/IAR Kickstart C compiler included with the ez430 programmer.
The MSP430 is very low power. It uses just 220uA at 1MHz, but less than 6uA when sleeping. The key to long battery life is to keep the chip asleep as much as possible. Our clock code is written with this in mind.
We use timer_a with the 32.768khz crystal to create an interrupt twice each second. The first interrupt triggers code that configures the segments to be displayed, sends these values to the e-paper, and then sleeps for the next 0.5 seconds. While the MSP430 sleeps, all the ‘off’ segments have time to clear. The next interrupt flips the common lines the other way with a simple
XOR
, outputs the values, and goes to sleep for another 0.5 seconds. Next time the cycle will begin again. We don’t bother to reset the shift registers to the ‘0’ position because the refresh is constantly in flux. Segment creep isn’t a problem because we refresh every segment each cycle.
A button press triggers an interrupt that advances the time to the next 10 minutes. To set the clock, wait until the time is a factor of 10 minutes past the hour and press the button to show the correct time. A small debouncing routine ensures that only one hit is detected per button press.
Taking it further
There are some lingering questions about the e-paper panels that would be nice to answer. What is the optimal change time? Will continuous current damage the segments or waste battery power? Why did the designer use a full 16volts to trigger the panels when only 5volts are required?
Everything you need to build the clock and interface the Esquire cover is included in the
project archive
(ZIP). It should be possible to interface any microcontroller with the Esquire e-paper cover using the interface library and three IO pins. In a future project we plan to build a custom driver board for the unused e-paper module. | 30 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "45685",
"author": "Syliss",
"timestamp": "2008-10-14T20:35:02",
"content": "Okay wait it says clock, but all i see is more paper no real time?!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45688",
"author": "Wonko The Sane",
"timest... | 1,760,377,748.843153 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/14/wiimote-guitar-effects-control/ | Wiimote Guitar Effects Control | Caleb Kraft | [
"digital audio hacks",
"News"
] | [
"guitar",
"wiimote"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmuggHx_H5Y]
[Rob Morris] sent us this video of his
Wiimote based guitar effects
. Similar to our post yesterday about
using the Wiimote to control a synth
, he is using changes in orientation to effect the sound. He starts off with simple pitch modulation, but later in the video he’s doing, uh, we’re not sure but its kind of cool. | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "45677",
"author": "Michael",
"timestamp": "2008-10-14T19:40:17",
"content": "AWESOME! Really really well done!!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45690",
"author": "SOOPERGOOMAN187",
"timestamp": "2008-10-14T21:06:00",
... | 1,760,377,749.149256 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/14/fm-stereo-transmitter/ | FM Stereo Transmitter | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"fm transmitter",
"transceiver",
"transciever"
] | Reader [Mike Y] responded to our “
What are you working on?
” post with his
stereo FM transmitter project
. If you’ve ever used an FM transmitter for your portable audio, you know that even the best consumer level ones can be difficult to make sound decent.
He obtained an NS73M FM Transmitter module from Niigata Seimitsu Company, but it required a controller to handle pre-emphasis, modulation level, frequency, and power level. He decided on an Arduino which would also control his LCD.
His results were quite good, with decent range and superb audio quality. His total cost thus far is $35, but he still needs to put it in an enclosure. You can find complete schematics as well as source code and helpful tips on his site. You may also want to check out the
regulations on broadcasting
(pdf) as well. | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "45667",
"author": "Squinch",
"timestamp": "2008-10-14T17:58:37",
"content": "Looks like a great project, but he states that it compares favorably in cost to the Ramsey kit that sells for $45. His costs $35 (15 for FM module, 15 for arduino, and 5 for LCD module), not $80.",
"pa... | 1,760,377,748.759032 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/13/maker-faire-austin-is-this-weekend/ | Maker Faire Austin Is This Weekend | Eliot | [
"cons",
"News"
] | [
"austin",
"con",
"convention",
"faire",
"make",
"makerfaire",
"makerfaireaustin"
] | Maker Faire Austin
is happening this weekend, October 18 & 19, 2008 at the Travis County Expo Center in Austin, TX. Maker Faire is a showcase of all things DIY. You’ll see robots, sculptures, live performances, and other wonders including many of the projects we cover here every day. We enjoyed our
time in San Mateo earlier this year
and the show keeps getting better and better. You can see
photos from previous events on Flickr
. If you’ve got a chance to go, take it. | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "45587",
"author": "Patrick Jones",
"timestamp": "2008-10-14T01:18:34",
"content": "I was at fry’s and got my ticket today, im effin excited!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "45648",
"author": "John",
"timestamp": "2008-10... | 1,760,377,748.620139 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/13/columbus-day-what-are-you-working-on/ | Columbus Day: What Are You Working On? | Eliot | [
"Misc Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"columbus day",
"holiday",
"ir",
"ir camera",
"irilluminator",
"welding",
"welding goggles"
] | Wow, Caribbean Conquest Day is such a dull holiday. If it’s a holiday at all: we’re at work today and you probably are too. We decided to post what we’re working on in hopes of breaking out of our holiday slump. Pictured above are two IR illuminator boards we assembled this weekend. We bought the
kits from BG Micro
. We’re planning on testing their
camera blocking ability
once we come up with a ~13V portable power source.
That’s what we’re doing. What have you been working on lately?
(If anyone can find a source for the welding goggles in the picture, we’d love to hear it.) | 50 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "45567",
"author": "Sp`ange",
"timestamp": "2008-10-14T00:04:31",
"content": "http://www.harborfreight.comwill probably have some goggles like that, but I don’t see why a pair of cheap, dollar store swim goggles would work too. You’d just have to modify them so you get a little airfl... | 1,760,377,748.702925 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/03/build-a-solar-dehydrator/ | Build A Solar Dehydrator | Kimberly Lau | [
"home hacks",
"Solar Hacks"
] | [
"eric knutzen",
"kelly coyne",
"solar dehydrator",
"solar energy"
] | [Erik Knutzen] and [Kelly Coyne], authors of
The Urban Homestead
, are really into all things green and sustainable. In their blog, Homegrown Evolution, they discuss
building their own solar dehydrator
using plans from the February/March 1997 issue of
Home Power Magazine
. The dehydrator is designed by
Appalachian State University’s Appropriate Technology Program
. If interested, you can check out or buy other
solar dehydrator designs
. This seems like a great, cheap alternative to buying an expensive electric dehydrator, and you get some great advantages, like low-cost dehydrating, solar energy, and beef jerky whenever you want it. Plus, the authors point out, for most of these designs, if you remove the top box and you stick it next to a window, you’ve got a solar heater. It’s now a dual-purpose device. | 18 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "44288",
"author": "KillaWho",
"timestamp": "2008-10-04T02:39:53",
"content": "Wow this is smart xD, I’m going to try to make one of these.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44290",
"author": "Insipid Melon",
"timestamp": "... | 1,760,377,748.945696 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/03/hack-a-day-is-always-hiring/ | Hack A Day Is Always Hiring | Eliot | [
"classic hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"blog",
"blogging",
"hack",
"hackaday",
"hacking",
"hiring",
"job",
"jobs"
] | We’re always looking for people to contribute posts daily and help expand the site. We’ve added a handful of contributors in the last couple months, which you can see in our new
How-tos
.
This is a paid, freelancing position that requires professionalism, consistency, and reliability. We want to hear from people that are passionate about software/hardware hacking and growing Hack a Day. To apply, send the following to
jobs@hackaday.com
A short bio about yourself
3 example daily posts written in the style of Hack a Day
3 software or hardware how-tos you’d like to see. For examples of work we’ve done in the past, look
here
,
here
,
here
, and
here
.
A couple sentences on how you would improve the site either through features or content
Any additional reasons why you would make a good fit for Hack a Day
Do not send any attachments. Having your own blog you can show off is a definite plus.
[photo:fbz] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "44287",
"author": "pip",
"timestamp": "2008-10-04T02:24:56",
"content": "Just out of curiosity how does hackaday make money?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44289",
"author": "macegr",
"timestamp": "2008-10-04T02:42:05",... | 1,760,377,748.887461 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/03/animated-led-eyes-for-halloween/ | Animated LED Eyes For Halloween | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"LED Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"costume",
"eyes",
"halloween",
"led"
] | [Matt Daughtrey] sent us this sweet little project he’s doing for Halloween. He’s building some
animated LED eyes
. He says that the whole thing is 3 individual LMDriver platforms, another project he’s working on. There isn’t any info available about that, but he does expand a little. He states that each display module uses an Atmega169 with some heavy multiplexing. The eyes really don’t look that impressive sitting on the bench, but watch the video to see how cool they really are.
We noticed that the back of the boards appear to have
http://www.embeddedether.net
on them. Unfortunately that site seems to have been grabbed by a domain squatter. | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "44272",
"author": "aez",
"timestamp": "2008-10-03T20:03:29",
"content": "can we buy this or not? :)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44276",
"author": "Teyson",
"timestamp": "2008-10-03T21:41:24",
"content": "Looks ve... | 1,760,377,749.101582 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/02/how-to-networked-graffiti-wall/ | How-to: Networked Graffiti Wall | Ian | [
"classic hacks",
"how-to",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"daft punk table",
"diy",
"electronics",
"graffiti",
"graffiti wall",
"internet",
"internet graffiti wall",
"large low resolution display",
"llrd",
"mini web server",
"tcpip"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8KprTVbHD4]
Wondering what we did with our
web server on a business card
project from last week? It’s powering a giant LED graffiti wall. Animations can be user-submitted using the
online designer
. You can
watch a live feed
of user animations as well. The online interface runs on the
Google App Engine
for maximum scalability and resilience.
In today’s How-to we cover all the ins and outs of building your own networked graffiti wall.
Concept overview
Graffiti sequences are designed online with the
JavaScript animation designer
. Finished sequences are validated and stored in a database; we made database backends for PHP/MYSQL and Google Apps (Python). Sequences are syndicated from a simple
datafeed API
. Our
mini web server
retrieves animation sequences from the feed, and caches them on an SD card. Finally, the sequences are displayed on a giant LED matrix.
Large, low resolution displays
Our graffiti display is a 1 meter square, 5×5 matrix of LEDs. It’s inspired by the
Daft Punk coffee table sold by Habitat
a few years ago. The Daft Punk table spawned many DIY replicas, including this excellent Instructable on
building a Daft Punk table
. Over time, the trend morphed into several permutations, such as our
“Daft Punk table” wall-hanging
. Given the range of big, blinking furniture, we sought a better term than “Daft Punk table”. We came up with “large, low resolution display” or LLRD for short (pronounced ‘lard’).
The original Daft Punk table flashed randomly, or in time to music. [Mathieu Roncheau]’s
replica table
stored animation sequences in an EEPROM. Our first design took this a step further by storing the animation files on a FAT formatted SD card. Now, we’ve put the designer online so that we can fetch user-submitted animation sequences over the internet.
Online interface
Graffiti animations for the LLRD are created with a simple JavaScript sequence maker. Watch a
live feed
of user-submitted animations, or
try it yourself
. The graffiti sequence designer and data backends written, for PHP/MYSQL and Google App Engine, are included in the
project archive
.
The JavaScript graffiti sequence designer is easy to use:
Click the boxes to toggle the LEDs shown in each frame of your animation.
Use the arrow buttons to navigate between frames.
The backup and restore tools provide an easy way to save your sequence locally in a text file.
“Add text frames” inserts character frames using a bitmaped font. If you hate the default font, just create a new one:
Click the ‘edit font’ button to load the existing font.
Make your modifications.
Click ‘update font’ to replace the default font with the new frames.
The
font
array is a lookup table of bitmaps for the
ASCII characters
between space and Z (ASCII characters 32 to 90, ” !”#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ”). To add a new font permanently, just paste the updated fontset in the JavaScript code following the ‘font=’ variable. The “font format” option in the backup box will generate variable formatted bitmaps that are ready to paste over the existing font.
When you’ve completed an animation, enter your name in the author box and press submit. The sequence code will be generated and sent to the server.
The online JavaScript-based graffiti designer is inspired by an offline version by [Mathieu Roncheau]. [Mathieu]’s Delphi source code and executable are
archived here
. Our JavaScript-based designer has a few extra features, is browser-based, and it doesn’t require you to run an unknown .exe file. Even though it’s intended to run on the web, the designer will also work from a local copy on your computer.
The script will work for any arbitrary matrix, just change the
dptRows
and
dptCols
variables to the dimensions of your LLRD.
The live viewer uses asynchronous HTTP (AJAX-ish) requests to show a streaming feed of user-submitted graffiti animations. It will try to set a cookie so that it can start with fresh sequences each time the page loads. If you don’t allow the cookie, it ‘ll just start over at 0 on your next visit.
Sequence bitmap format
The sequence builder outputs each column as an ASCII formatted bitmap. The bitmap for each column is separated by a space, and each full frame is terminated with a
line feed
(nr). This format was defined by [Mathieu Roncheau]’s PC sequencer program, we kept it to maintain backwards compatibility.
Bitmap data is zeroed on the upper left hand corner of the frame. The top cells of each column are bit 0, and the bottom cells are bit 4. It seems more logical to follow standard mathematical notation and use the bottom left cell as the origin, but we didn’t design the specification.
The value for each column is found by treating lit LEDs as 1 in a binary number, and converting to decimal. For example, the first column above is 10000 binary, or 1 decimal. The last column is 11111 binary, or decimal 31. You can verify our conversions using an
online binary-decimal calculator
.
Note that the column bitmaps are represented by ASCII equivalents of the actual decimal values. Numeric digits are encoded according to the
ASCII standard
, which is the actual value plus 0x30h. Further, multi-digit numbers are stored as individual characters; 24 in the example is stored as 0x32h,0x34h.
Server side
The backend is a simple piece of software that accepts animation sequences, does some validation, and saves them to a database. Stored sequences are accessible from the datafeed API.
Backend
We wrote two versions of the backend; both are in the
project archive
. The first is a simple PHP/MYSQL backend for low volume online LLRDs, the other is a
Google App Engine
/Python version that should be able to handle a bunch of Hack a Day readers.
It’s really easy to write a backend for your favorite platform. Change the graffiti designer’s submit form action to point at your backend; both versions currently POST to
backend.php
. Now, catch the ‘author’ and ‘seq’ variables on your server and save them to a database.
Our backend performs a bit of validation to prevent attacks on the system. We implemented checks in phases so they don’t waste too many resources. First, the overall size of the submission is checked to make sure its within reason. Next, the sequence is split into individual frames and each is checked for form. If it passes validation, it’s saved to the database.
Feed API
Sequences are accessible through a simple
datafeed API
. The API has two variables:
http://graffiti-me.appspot.com/feed.php?
max
=1&
last
=0
max
– the maximum number of sequences to send.
last
– the last sequence read, only newer data is sent.
The datafeed begins each animation sequence with the character ‘#’, followed by an ID number and line feed. ‘#’ is an invalid bitmap value that alerts clients to the beginning of a new sequence. Clients can use the ID number with
last
variable of the API to get fresh sequences on each pull.
Hardware
Mini web server
We used our PIC24F mini web server as a TCP enabled client for this project. Read our previous articles to learn how to
build the web server
.
Daft punk table
[mrgalleta] has a great
construction tutorial
for the actual table part of a Daft Punk table replica. An LLRD can take many forms, though, such as our wall-hanging.
Most of Daft Punk table replica designs are controlled by a
74HCT595
(pdf) output expander and
ULN2803A
(pdf) transistor array. The driver board from
this Instructable
combines both into an easy-to-etch, through-hole PCB. Each driver board has two 74HTC595s, or 16 outputs; we needed two driver boards for our 25 cell LLRD.
The 74HCT595 is a serial output expander that’s controlled by an SPI-like interface. An update is initiated by dropping the
latch
line. The state of each LED (on or off) is put on the
data
line, followed by a pulse of the
clock
. Bits are put on the output pins once the latch signal returns to high. Data cascades from the data-output pin of one 595, to the data-input of the next. Read this
74xx595 tutorial
for a detailed look at interfacing this device.
It’s important to note that we used the 74
HCT
595, and not the 74
HC
595. The “HCT” part works over a wide range of voltages, including the operating voltage of the mini web server: 3.3volts.
The 74HCT595 sources current, meaning we could probably run a single LED directly from each output at 3.3volts. Since most LLRDs have 2-8 LEDs per cell, operating between 5 and 24volts, we employ a ULN2803A transistor array to switch the larger load. The ULN2803A sinks current, rather than sourcing it; it switches the ground connection of the LEDs, rather than the power.
Our LLRD has two LEDs per cell, running at 20mA with a 5 volt supply and 56ohm resistor. We soldered the LEDs around a piece of cardboard, rather than etching 25 tiny circuit boards.
Connections
A 5 wire connection between the mini web server and the driver boards controls the LLRD.
Server
LLRD
Description
V+
Vsys
3.3volt supply for the 595s.
GND
GND
Shared ground connection.
RA0
Data in
Data signal.
RA1
Clock
Clock signal.
RB15
Latch
Latch signal.
—
Vled
LED power supply.
Firmware
Our firmware is written in C using MPLAB and the Microchip C30 demo compiler. Learn more about programming and working with the PIC24F in our
introductory tutorial
. Two firmware versions are included in the
project archive
. The first just reads all *.seq sequence files from the SD card, the second version adds the Microchip TCP/IP stack for internet connectivity. Learn more about the Microchip SD card and TCP/IP libraries in our
mini web server tutorial
.
All graphics functions, including the TCP client, can be found in
graffitigfx.c
. The TCP client is based on the generic TCP client example that’s included with the TCP/IP stack. We followed Microchip’s cooperative multitasking approach and broke our code into small segments that share CPU time with the rest of the TCP/IP stack.
The client periodically connects to the datafeed and requests new sequences. New sequences are parsed for ID numbers, and appended to a temporary file on the SD card. The last ID detected is written to the very end of the temporary data file, and is appended to the
last
variable of the URL on subsequent datafeed requests. We record the ID at the end of the file to avoid repeated writes to the same sector on the SD card. Hopefully wear leveling inside a 1GB SD card is sufficient to avoid problems for the first few decades of use. If no network connection is available, the device plays any *.seq files in the root directory of the SD card.
A parser function decodes frames and sends them to the LLRD. The parser is fairly robust to errors. Bad data that makes it past the backend validation routine will be rejected at the device level without ill effect. If a few corrupt frames do manage to display, it’ll hardly be noticed amongst the other abstract patterns playing on the wall.
#define GFX_USE_TCP_CLIENT //include the TCP client
#define GFX_TCP_ONLY //only do TCP and read temp file, don't read other files on the SD card.
#define GFX_CLEAR_TEMP_ON_RESET //optionally delete the temp file on reset. good for Google App Engine...
Three defines at the beginning of
graffitigfx.c
control which features are included at compile time. GFX_USE_TCP_CLIENT compiles the firmware with the TCP client enabled, comment this definition for a SD card only version of the firmware. GFX_TCP_ONLY ignores any .seq files on the SD card, and only plays sequences downloaded from the web. The GFX_CLEAR_TEMP_ON_RESET option will delete the temporary sequence file on each reset; this is helpful for databases that have non-sequential record IDs, like
Google’s datastore
. In the future, these definitions could be changed to variables that are set by a configuration file on the SD card.
Taking it further
Our simple firmware is a stable starting point for an online graffiti wall. While we were working on this project we came up with a ton of additional features that didn’t make it into the prototype.
Display IP address on startup.
A configuration file on the SD card that sets the datafeed url, refresh frequency, and other variables.
A telnet or web interface for remote configuration.
A TCP server for direct access to the display; push animation frames from a remote PC.
A mail client that reports errors and status information.
Progress messages during startup and sequence downloads. SD card not present/full errors.
Scrolling Twitter feeds.
Your thoughts?
Don’t just read about this project,
contribute some frames to the graffiti wall
.
Next time we’ll introduce our final PIC24F project, an ethernet backpack for the tiny
$20 color Nokia LCD knock-off from SparkFun Electronics
.
[digg=http://digg.com/mods/How_to_Networked_graffiti_wall_Hack_a_Day] | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "44222",
"author": "scott",
"timestamp": "2008-10-03T04:27:54",
"content": "it think it’s worth it just for the 5×5 tetris, that was awesome",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44225",
"author": "Mak",
"timestamp": "2008-10-0... | 1,760,377,749.27821 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/02/amazingly-cheap-dual-channel-scope/ | Amazingly Cheap Dual Channel Scope | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"Atmel",
"scope",
"usb"
] | [Jacques] sent us this little project he has been working on. It is an
amazingly cheap USB 2 chanel scope.
The total cost of the project was around 5 Euros. It is based off of an
Atmel Tiny45, has 2 analog inputs, and can supply 5 Volts to a breadboard. He has listed the bill of materials as well as downloads for the source code, plans, and display software. | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "44195",
"author": "TD-er",
"timestamp": "2008-10-02T22:55:26",
"content": "According to the datasheet (page 126) of the ATTINY45, the max sample-speed is “up to 15 ksps at maximum resolution”Datasheet:http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/doc2586.pdfStill a very nice pro... | 1,760,377,749.206726 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/02/helix-v20-released/ | Helix V2.0 Released | Caleb Kraft | [
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"bootable",
"forensics",
"hacking",
"helix",
"security"
] | Helix 2.0 has been released
. Helix is a collection of various tools for electronic forensics. Just like on TV, you can use this to find all kinds of information on a computer. Some of the useful tools added were Winlockpwn a tool for breaking windows security, Volitility which processes data out of the raw memory, and several other tools that are beyond our comprehension.
You’ve undoubtedly noticed that the title says Helix V2.0, but the image and header of the Helix site say 3. We have no idea why. Look at the download info to see that it says V2.0.
[Via
Midnight Research labs
] | 20 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "44175",
"author": "arthur92710",
"timestamp": "2008-10-02T19:51:37",
"content": "humm the servers must be crowded. download is going at only 11.5kb/s. or its just a problem at my end anyone can confirm?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment... | 1,760,377,749.334398 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/02/system-admin-steals-20000-items-from-work/ | System Admin Steals 20,000 Items From Work | Caleb Kraft | [
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"security",
"steal",
"theft"
] | Over the course of 10 years, [
Victor Papagno]
stole 19,709 pieces of equipment
from the Naval Research Laboratory. He began taking stuff home in 1997 and had so much that he had to store some in a neighbors house. The report says that no secret technological information was taken. Some items listed were CDs, hard drives, floppy disks, adding up to an estimated value of 1.6 million dollars.
He could face up to two years in prison for this.
We shudder to think of the total cost of all the post its, CDs, and floppy disks we’ve taken home over the years.
[via
NetworkWorld
]
[photo:
Blude
] | 32 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "44144",
"author": "sean",
"timestamp": "2008-10-02T15:02:29",
"content": "thats a crazy ammount to get away with, especially from the navy, makes you wonder how secure we really are",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44145",
"a... | 1,760,377,749.448032 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/18/psp-firmware-500-hacked/ | PSP Firmware 5.00 Hacked | Eliot | [
"handhelds hacks",
"Playstation Hacks",
"PSP Hacks"
] | [
"firmware",
"firmware hack",
"gizmodo",
"homebrew",
"psp",
"sony psp"
] | We remember the halcyon days of firmware 1.00 for the
PSP
. It was wide open to run any code you wanted. Once the handheld game console was released outside Japan, Sony locked it down and began an arms race to prevent any sort of homebrew usage of the device. Nearly four years later and we’re at firmware 5.00. The hackers are on top of their game though. It’s only been a couple days since the official release and a
custom firmware has already been published
. Sony has traditionally supported development on their home consoles and we hope they’ll take that approach on their next portable instead of this stupid back and forth.
[via
Gizmodo
] | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "46321",
"author": "Chris",
"timestamp": "2008-10-18T22:46:29",
"content": "They (the manufacturer) will always loose this race eventually.Why do they do it ? – well you can only conclude that after you have paid for the hardware they still consider themselves the owner.Theres a numb... | 1,760,377,749.379343 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/18/commercial-self-balancing-unicycle/ | Commercial Self-balancing Unicycle | Eliot | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"electric unicycle",
"enicycle",
"focusdesign",
"selfbalancing",
"unicycle",
"uniqecycle",
"video"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-9mYCXNshQ&fmt=18]
Focus Design sent us a video of their
self balancing unicycle
(looks like they’re taking on
Focus Features
too). The electric machine moves at 8MPH and lasts 1.5hrs on a single charge. It only weighs 24.6lbs. They say that new riders only need about 2hrs. practice. They’re building ten units to start for $1500 each.
Electric unicycles are nothing new to our community. We’ve long been fans of [Trevor Blackwell]’s
electric unicycle
. [Trevor] spent several months learning how to ride a regular unicycle before he could properly debug the electric version. There are several other designs out there: The
Einrand-Fahrzeug
has a wide wheel to make balancing easier. The
eniCycle
includes a steering mechanism. The
Uniquecycle
has a brushless motor in hub for a compact design. We did a roundup back in July that covers these plus
many other motorized unicycle concepts
. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "46276",
"author": "SurferPR",
"timestamp": "2008-10-18T20:42:57",
"content": "God… I have seen some pretty useless expensive stuff before but this one takes the cake!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "46279",
"author": "epicel... | 1,760,377,749.699247 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/17/iphone-controlled-rc-car/ | IPhone Controlled R/C Car | Caleb Kraft | [
"iphone hacks",
"News",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"iphone",
"nerd kit",
"nerdkit",
"radio controlled",
"radiocontrolled",
"rc"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2EJ2kouK7U]
Is controlling an R/C car with its own remote too mundane for you? Do you feel the need to involve a web server and an iPhone in the process?
This project
might just be perfect for you. By connecting the R/C controller to a microcontroller board, and feeding it signals via a website from your iPhone, you can control the car as if you had the original controller in your hand. In case you missed it, he’s lugging a laptop, a circuit board, and the original controller along with him. They do make a few improvements though, such as speed control by using pulse width modulation. I guess that makes up for having to lug the computer around too.
[thanks Humberto] | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "46068",
"author": "blackspyder",
"timestamp": "2008-10-17T22:15:30",
"content": "Need this to complete my Doctor Horrible costume for Halloween. Muahahahaa.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "46078",
"author": "_Matt",
"tim... | 1,760,377,749.656522 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/17/tiny-arduino-ethernet-board/ | Tiny Arduino Ethernet Board | Eliot | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"AVR",
"ethernet",
"library",
"sgk",
"spi",
"tcpip",
"w5100",
"wiznet"
] | [sgk] built this
tiny ethernet board
to be used with the Arduino. It’s based on a
WIZnet W5100
chip. The chip handles all of the TCP/IP communication and you talk to it via SPI. It’s compatible with the standard Arduino
ethernet library
. [sgk] hand soldered these boards including the 80pin LQFP main chip. His next project is to put the AVR and W5100 all
on the same board
. It sounds like he’ll use components larger than 1005 though. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "46024",
"author": "Odin84gk",
"timestamp": "2008-10-17T19:35:51",
"content": "I know it’s not in the hacking spirit, but you could buy an actual module for $15.90 from the chip company. Its not certified Arduino, but who cares.http://www.ewiznet.com/goods_detail.php?goodsIdx=114",
... | 1,760,377,749.500345 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/17/led-pov-hard-drive-clock/ | LED POV Hard Drive Clock | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"computer hacks",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"clock",
"led",
"light emitting diode",
"POV"
] | [Ian Smith] sent us this
POV display made from an old hard drive
. It works by flashing some LEDs under the platter, which has a line cut in it. Since the platter spins at roughly 90 rotations per second, we perceive a solid image. He was inspired by [Alan Parekh]’s
project
, but did several things differently. Mounting the LEDs was much simpler in this project as he had a strip of RGB LEDs that came with adhesive tape on the back. He also used a small magnet and a hall effect sensor to measure full rotations instead of an IR beam sensor. Check the video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1asNB0te0o]
As you can tell, its pretty loud. He says that he would like to enclose it with a plexiglass front to keep the noise down. You can get the schematics as well as lots of nice instructions from his site. He also make some recommendations of other projects to look at, such as
another POV LED hard drive clock with a big touch screen
. | 29 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "46009",
"author": "Savador",
"timestamp": "2008-10-17T18:38:23",
"content": "Nice man =)",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "46012",
"author": "pokey",
"timestamp": "2008-10-17T18:48:14",
"content": "Awesome! I think I ... | 1,760,377,749.978804 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/16/prototype-this-schematics-posted/ | Prototype This Schematics Posted | Eliot | [
"News"
] | [
"discovery",
"discovery channel",
"grandideastudios",
"joe grand",
"prototype this",
"video"
] | As promised, [Joe Grand] has
uploaded the schematics
from his part of last night’s episode of
Prototype This
. The device monitors the driver of a demo derby car and shuts it off if he becomes too enraged. He’ll be posting schematics for every episode as they’re released. The really interesting thing is that he scanned all of his development notes too. If you missed the episode, you can
watch it on Discovery’s site
. You can also grab a version that doesn’t idiotically force you to watch in full screen browser window
from The Pirate Bay
.
UPDATE:
[Joe] has been
responding to your comments
. | 26 | 26 | [
{
"comment_id": "45946",
"author": "macegr",
"timestamp": "2008-10-17T01:25:12",
"content": "I wish this part had been covered more in the TV episode. It was barely mentioned, and flicked in front of the screen a few times. Possibly because I suspect the development and production of this board was ... | 1,760,377,749.765757 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/10/16/psp-3000-autopsied/ | PSP 3000 Teardown | Caleb Kraft | [
"handhelds hacks",
"News",
"Playstation Hacks",
"PSP Hacks"
] | [
"psp",
"psp3000",
"sony"
] | If you absolutely feel an incessant need to see the innards of every new piece of equipment out there, you’ll probably be excited to see that the
PSP 3000
has been disassembled and photographed
. Apparently there isn’t much new here. The screen has been replaced with one that has 5 times the contrast ratio, twice the color range, and a refresh rate that is twice as fast. Other than that, there’s a built in microphone and a mystery “PS” button.
[via
Engadget
] | 51 | 50 | [
{
"comment_id": "45926",
"author": "Ryan",
"timestamp": "2008-10-16T22:43:15",
"content": "A new psp? Why? Although that meas price drops on the old onces which means I can get one for cheap and mod it. Or use the screen or something. I’m sure it’s probably got some good parts though.",
"parent_... | 1,760,377,749.855173 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/30/a-parallax-nes-controller-connector/ | NES Controller Connectors For Sale | Jason Rollette | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"News",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"make",
"nes controller",
"NES controller connector",
"NES hack",
"nintendo",
"nintendo connector",
"parallax"
] | If you weren’t looking forward to trying to find a
NES Four Score
just to rip connectors out of it or were reluctant to cut the ends off your NES controllers and use different connectors for your NES hack, you’re in luck. Parallax has released an
NES controller connector (7-pin, male)
that is compatible with the
Nintendo
controller. They also provide the
socket pinout
. It’s interesting to see a product like this come out so long after the original console, a testament to the popularity.
[via
Make
] | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "44013",
"author": "roboguy",
"timestamp": "2008-10-01T01:59:43",
"content": "Geez, I made a robot controller with a Super Nintendo controller and a Parallax Basic Stamp II a while ago…I wonder if they are copying me?:-))",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}... | 1,760,377,749.908286 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/30/6-pcs-in-one-clear-case/ | 6 PC Render Farm In One Clear Case | Jason Rollette | [
"computer hacks",
"News"
] | [
"Case mod",
"casemod",
"render farm",
"Server farm"
] | Normally case mods are all show and no go, but [
Fredrik Perman
] and [Michael Stabile] took their old render farm and made it a working showcase for the front lobby. This is a perfect combination of function, beauty, and practicality. It is a great conversation piece, allows easy working access, and provides a tremendous space savings in
one sweet looking wall-mounted case
. The frame is aluminum, the back consists of sheets of polished diamond plate, with a clear acrylic sheet for a cover. The case sides are left open to allow the blue LED fans to circulate air. Cooling a render farm crammed in a closet can be quite difficult, but isn’t a problem with this open design. This build is also much prettier and maybe more manageable than the setup in ExtremeTech’s
Build Your Own Render Farm
article.
There are a few more pictures after the break. | 13 | 13 | [
{
"comment_id": "44003",
"author": "michael",
"timestamp": "2008-10-01T00:28:30",
"content": "wooo number one. thats a nice case modd, seen some wall pc’s before but this takes the cake",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44006",
"author": "Mark... | 1,760,377,750.119575 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/30/cloning-and-modifying-e-passports/ | Cloning And Modifying E-Passports | Caleb Kraft | [
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"e-passport",
"passport",
"rfid"
] | [googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3185369830560352967&hl=de]
[THC/vonJeek] have released an application that allow you to
backup and modify E-Passport data
. Check out the video of Elvis checking in at the airport. Apparently there is no way for the machine to know if the passport has been tampered with.
[via
Schneier
] | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "44008",
"author": "Man On Fire",
"timestamp": "2008-10-01T01:11:13",
"content": "I bought an RFID proof wallet for mine. haven’t tested it to see if it works yet though.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "44016",
"author": "Jim... | 1,760,377,750.249211 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/30/buy-a-camera-on-ebay-get-spy-pics/ | Buy A Camera On EBay, Get Spy Pics | Caleb Kraft | [
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"mi6"
] | This is a picture of MI6 headquarters. The people in that building are quite curious how a camera loaded with super mega secret stuff
was auctioned off on eBay
. Well, maybe they are more curious as to whom was doing the selling and how they acquired the camera. They’re investigating it now. | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "43989",
"author": "Möbius",
"timestamp": "2008-09-30T21:15:02",
"content": "Who, not whom. Who.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "43990",
"author": "Nomadiq",
"timestamp": "2008-09-30T21:18:27",
"content": "Maybe MI6 w... | 1,760,377,750.170487 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/30/cheap-xy-table-using-hobby-servos/ | Cheap XY Table Using Hobby Servos | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"cnc hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"cnc",
"mill",
"servo",
"xy"
] | [CarlS] wanted to build a
low cost x y table
for display on
teletoyland.com
. He realized that to keep cost low, he could use hobby servos instead of stepper motors. Exact precision wasn’t a big issue here, so the hobby servos would be perfectly acceptable.
Though Linear hobby servos are available, he decided that the cost was prohibitive. He used normal hobby servos, but had to modify their internals to get the exact amount of travel necessary. Many people modify the hobby servos for continuous rotation, but this would cause a loss in the ability for exact positioning. Instead, he replaced the potentiometer that measures the position of the servo with a 10 turn potentiometer. This allowed him 10x the travel.
Using timing belts and drawer guides, he constructed the frame and motion assemblies. The timing belts were chosen for their cheap price and no slip construction and are pulled by custom built pulleys.
The unit is controlled via some PHP scripts, that he doesn’t expand on, via a serial connection to a SSC-32 board. The servos connect directly to the the SSC-32. Go ahead and give it a try, or watch the video to see it in action.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLkY4V-H80w] | 6 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "43987",
"author": "macegr",
"timestamp": "2008-09-30T21:03:30",
"content": "I like this idea a lot. With a good PWM generator, you could actually get decent resolution and speed for X-Y positioning tasks. Not so much for plotting and machining, but maybe pick and place operations li... | 1,760,377,750.211049 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/30/ps3-eye-as-a-webcam-on-windows/ | PS3 Eye As A Webcam On Windows | Caleb Kraft | [
"Multitouch Hacks",
"News",
"Peripherals Hacks",
"Playstation Hacks"
] | [
"all seeing eye",
"camera",
"eye",
"multitouch",
"ps3",
"ps3eye",
"touchlib",
"webcam"
] | The NUI Group has been working hard to
bring the PS3 Eye to windows
. From the factory, this device has pretty impressive specs, but no windows drivers. After a bit of hacking, they’ve developed a driver for it and released it on their forums. The main reason they are so interested in it is that it can capture full frame at 60 frames per second, making it perfect for multi touch sensing. Now that they’ve got it working with windows, they’re working on a custom PS3 Eye filter for
touchlib
.
[via
PS3 Fanboy
, thanks vor] | 12 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "43961",
"author": "jared",
"timestamp": "2008-09-30T14:19:29",
"content": "$20 for a linux driver!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "43962",
"author": "rasz",
"timestamp": "2008-09-30T14:28:12",
"content": "I wonder if... | 1,760,377,750.30045 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/29/parts-01uf-decoupling-capacitors/ | Parts: 0.1uF Decoupling Capacitors | Ian | [
"classic hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"Parts"
] | [
"capacitors",
"decoupling capacitors",
"electronics",
"monday parts",
"parts",
"smd",
"smt",
"surface mount",
"through hole"
] | Most
IC
s need to be
decoupled
from their power supply, usually with a 0.1uF capacitor between each power pin and ground. Decoupling is usually used to remove noise and to smooth power fluctuations. Every project will need a few decoupling capacitors; our
mini web server project
has three ICs that require a total of 11. This can be an expensive part to buy in singles, so it’s crucial to stock up online. Read more about our favorite bulk through-hole and surface mount decoupling capacitors after the break.
The capacitors we selected should be sufficient for most projects. All three parts are rated for 50volts, far more than most digital circuits. We used cheap 20%
tolerance
parts because it’s not critical that decoupling capacitors be exactly 0.1uF. Higher or lower tolerance capacitors will also work, but there’s no advantage to using high quality decoupling capacitors. Here’s a breakdown of the 0.1uF capacitors pictured above:
C1
through-hole 0.1uF capacitor
, such as Mouser #
594-K104M15X7RF53L2
, ($4 per 100 ) – This cheap 0.1uF capacitor will fit almost any design that calls for through-hole decoupling capacitors. Leads are spaced 2.5mm apart, and fit footprints such as C-EU025-025×050 in the default
Cadsoft Eagle
rcl
library. Part number -L2 has straight legs,
-K2
has an outside kink as shown in the picture.
C2
1206 SMD 0.1uF capacitor
, such as Mouser #
77-VJ12Y50V104K
, ($4 per 100) – You might be tempted to try 1206 size parts in your first surface mount experiments. We urge you to skip 1206 and head right on down to 0805. 1206 parts have very little cost benefit over through-hole parts because they’re no longer an industrial favorite. 0805 is just a bit smaller, but costs half as much. Fits Eagle footprint C-EUC1206 in the default
rcl
library.
C3
0805 SMD 0.1uF capacitor
, such as Mouser #
80-C0805C104M5R
, ($2 per 100) – An 0805 capacitor fits between two pins on a through-hole DIP chip, and aligns nicely with pins on an surface mount SOIC chip. All our new designs, surface mount and through-hole, incorporate this dirt-cheap decoupling capacitor. Fits footprint C-EUC0805 in the default Eagle
rcl
library.
Check out our previous
parts
posts on the
LM317 adjustable regulator
and
tactile switches
. Are there any parts you’d like us to cover? | 30 | 29 | [
{
"comment_id": "43886",
"author": "cde",
"timestamp": "2008-09-29T20:49:29",
"content": "Fits between two DIP pins? So, that means that depending on the dip chip’s pinout, you could theoretically solder the decoupling cap right onto the chip’s two pins.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,750.36871 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/29/hack-your-rear-projection-tv-to-be-bigger/ | Hack Your Rear Projection TV To Be Bigger | Caleb Kraft | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"News"
] | [
"projection",
"rearprojection",
"rp",
"rptv"
] | Want to get a bigger tv but can’t afford it? If you Have a
rear projection TV
, why not just get a bigger screen?
That’s exactly what was done here
. They dismantled the old TV, mounted it and enclosed it theater style, with curtains. They then mounted a new screen in front of it and voala, bigger TV. He doesn’t talk about how much brightness was lost, but there had to be some. The final picture looks great.
[thanks BonMul] | 21 | 20 | [
{
"comment_id": "43875",
"author": "Ben",
"timestamp": "2008-09-29T19:40:00",
"content": "That is a great hack! Presumably it’s now 1/4 of the intensity, but with a screen that size you probably want a cinema feel anyway, so you’re going to have the lights down to watch.",
"parent_id": null,
... | 1,760,377,750.432115 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/29/the-pinnacle-of-modern-robotics-bar2d2/ | The Pinnacle Of Modern Robotics: Bar2D2 | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"bar",
"bartender",
"DiyRadio"
] | [Jamie Price] directed us to this
photostream of the build for Bar2D2
. Though it isn’t
the first
bartender bot
we’ve covered
. It very well could be the best executed. Bar2D2 can travel around the party dispensing bottles of beer, shots, and even cans. The construction looks fantastic. You can follow along in the photostream from the very beginning. It is currently radio controlled and can party for about 8 hours per charge. The next planned upgrade is a system that allows you to choose a mixed drink from a database and Bar2D2 will mix it up.
As you can see from the pictures, Bar2D2 is the life of the party, attracting
pretty
girls
and
cheesy sci-fi tv pirate astronauts
too. | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "43869",
"author": "rivetgeek",
"timestamp": "2008-09-29T18:24:57",
"content": "I’ll take the one on the right. The robot is pretty cool too I guess.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "43870",
"author": "Greg",
"timestamp":... | 1,760,377,750.479297 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/28/a-remote-controlled-rgb-light-bulbs-lamp/ | A Remote Controlled RGB Light Bulb Lamp | Jason Rollette | [
"home hacks",
"LED Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"light",
"remote",
"rgb",
"RGB Flood Light",
"TRIAC"
] | RGB just got a lot brighter by using
3x60Watt flood lights
instead of an LED. The bulbs are driven via TRIACs and the whole thing uses a remote control to change the levels of the three bulbs. It is also able to store these levels for later recall. The IR receiver was taken from a dead TV set along with its remote control, or a universal remote set to a Phillips TV can be used. The source code and
schematic
for this project are available. | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "43795",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2008-09-29T01:54:18",
"content": "this is interesting but the first thing i noticed was that there are flood lamps housed in what looks like a cardboard box. then there is huge disclaimer about the dangers of ac electricity, but the circuit i... | 1,760,377,750.57677 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/28/control-media-center-with-programmable-ir-receiver/ | Control Media Center With Programmable IR Receiver | Jason Rollette | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"attiny13",
"ir receiver",
"IR remote",
"media center",
"microcontroller",
"remote control receiver"
] | This
IR receiver
based on ATtiny13 microcontroller is used to control a Media Center box via a remote. The circuit is powered by 20 pin ATX connector pin 9 “+5VSB” because it is the only pin that is powered when the computer is off, or in standby. The receiver is programmed to accept the codes from the remote by holding down the switch while pressing the remote button. The circuit can use “Girder” or “PC remote control” as controlling software on the Media Center. | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "43825",
"author": "Wwhat",
"timestamp": "2008-09-29T09:40:20",
"content": "“The circuit is powered by 20 pin ATX connector pin 9 “+5VSB” because it is the only pin that is powered when the computer is off”Must be a 80’s computer since all computers made the last decades have a jumpe... | 1,760,377,750.528205 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/28/diy-vertical-axis-wind-turbine/ | DIY Vertical Axis Wind Turbine | Jason Rollette | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"DYI",
"generate power",
"PVC blades",
"wind generator",
"Wind turbine"
] | This
vertical axis wind turbine
(VAWT) uses five 3” PVC pipes cut in half for blades rotating on three kids bicycle wheels to spin an
Ametek 38 volt motor
or a
wind blue alternator
. The whole thing spins in a frame that is a 12 feet high and 2 foot square box that is able to sit on his deck. In total it cost him about $125 plus time, a bit more if you use the wind blue alternator.
Video of the vertical turbine in action after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCHoKt7AUIU&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999] | 33 | 31 | [
{
"comment_id": "43788",
"author": "TheBlunderbuss",
"timestamp": "2008-09-29T00:16:14",
"content": "One cool feature of this design is it turns when the wind is from any direction. A traditional Dutch-style windmill needs a rudder or other mechanism to turn the vanes to the wind, where this design ... | 1,760,377,750.769868 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/28/upgrading-the-cisco-pix-506e/ | Upgrading The Cisco PIX 506E | Jason Rollette | [
"Misc Hacks",
"News",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"Cisco PIX",
"CPU swap",
"PIX 506E",
"PIX 525",
"router",
"Router upgrade"
] | [Albert] read the
Cisco PIX Wiki
, and discovered that the motherboard of the PIX 506E is the same as the PIX 525, which has a 600Mhz Coppermine Pentium III CPU. So he took his Cisco PIX 506E and
upgraded it
by swapping out the Celeron 300Mhz, with a Pentium III 600Mhz and populating the second PC100 RAM slot inside. The system only shows 448Mhz instead of 600Mhz, but it does recognize the PIII, and there are no problems. The CPU load has dropped to 0% after the CPU swap, and RAM upgrade. | 37 | 37 | [
{
"comment_id": "43778",
"author": "BigD145",
"timestamp": "2008-09-28T22:26:34",
"content": "Is it really being underclocked and how much cooler does it run?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "43779",
"author": "STrRedWolf",
"timestamp": "... | 1,760,377,750.89581 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/28/email-notification-via-an-rgb-led/ | Email Notification Via An RGB LED | Jason Rollette | [
"LED Hacks",
"News",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"4d-micro-USB module",
"Email notification",
"Gmail",
"led",
"PICAXE",
"python",
"RGB LED"
] | This
project
provides LED feedback when an email is received. It uses a
4d-micro-USB module
from Dontronics to interface serially and provide power to a Picaxe 08M. The PIC can control color and brightness of a RGB LED. The feedback is given by seven colors of the LED. The code is python script and picaxe basic, which he’s posted. | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "43752",
"author": "DarkFader",
"timestamp": "2008-09-28T17:52:08",
"content": "doesn’t look like a bunny yet",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "43754",
"author": "A.",
"timestamp": "2008-09-28T17:53:28",
"content": "Nic... | 1,760,377,750.954253 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/25/arcade-button-monome-moanonme/ | Arcade Button Monome: Moanonme | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"digital audio hacks"
] | [
"arcade button",
"arduinome",
"digital music",
"johan larsby",
"led matrix",
"moanonme",
"monome"
] | [Johan Larsby] built this
pretty cool Monome clone
. He was starting with a kit to build an
Arduinome
, but had issues getting his LED matrix to work correctly. After digging around in some old parts and hacking together some custom LED arcade buttons, he ended up with the Moanonme. Be sure to check out the video after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDU4idUm0Ms&hl=en&fs=1]
[via
Create Digital Music
] | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "43434",
"author": "Solenoidclock",
"timestamp": "2008-09-25T20:26:24",
"content": "Lol “moan on me”",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "43436",
"author": "AbuMaia",
"timestamp": "2008-09-25T21:04:56",
"content": "that gu... | 1,760,377,751.073347 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/25/arduino-solenoid-concert/ | Arduino Solenoid Concert | Ian | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"digital audio hacks",
"Misc Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"arduino",
"concert",
"electronics",
"music",
"pure data",
"relays",
"solenoids"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_hiz-Kx0kM]
[jay] reminded us of this old video of solenoids banging rhythms on furniture and household objects. There’s no schematic, but in the video it looks like an
Arduino
drives a bunch of
solenoids
through
relays
. The PC interface is run on
Pure Data
, an open source programming environment for audio, video, and graphic processing. Thanks [Jay]. | 21 | 21 | [
{
"comment_id": "43422",
"author": "isa de leener",
"timestamp": "2008-09-25T18:58:29",
"content": "THIS IS SO COOLITS LIKE SOME BRAZILIAN MUSIC",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "43423",
"author": "Jingo",
"timestamp": "2008-09-25T18:59:30... | 1,760,377,751.405042 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/24/underwater-rov-2/ | Underwater ROV | Caleb Kraft | [
"classic hacks",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"rov",
"telemetry"
] | [SpaceShipOne] has built this very nice looking
under water ROV
. It is still a work in progress, but nearly complete. This ROV is a fairly simple construction. most of the body parts are held together using zip ties. There’s no microcontroller and no custom boards. He’s using a radio control transceiver that was intended for airplanes to control some standard speed controllers and servos. For thrust, he pulled the motors out of some bilge pumps and fitted them with propellers. He’s only tested it once, but promises videos from the lake soon. He mentions [Jason Rollette] several times since [Jason] has done both
simple
and
complex
designs in the past. | 23 | 23 | [
{
"comment_id": "43325",
"author": "Andrew Cooper",
"timestamp": "2008-09-24T21:57:06",
"content": "Not to disparage his efforts, but this is not unique. There is a nationwide competition for high school student to build ROV’s with the same technologies (PVC and bilge pumps). A great experience, t... | 1,760,377,751.017494 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/24/ps3-ecc-algorithm-reversed/ | PS3 ECC Algorithm Reversed | Caleb Kraft | [
"News",
"Playstation Hacks"
] | [
"ecc",
"ps3"
] | The ECC is the protection that keeps the PS3 from booting with a custom flashed rom.
These folks managed to reverse the code
. This means that they can now generate custom ones to allow the rom to boot. They haven’t gotten very far with that side of it yet, but they did manage to rescue a broken PS3 with it. They had one that had a bad flash, they were able to re write the code in it and it booted right up.
[thanks, vorgravy] | 28 | 28 | [
{
"comment_id": "43305",
"author": "Edward Nardella",
"timestamp": "2008-09-24T19:25:28",
"content": "Kudos to you, still not interested in a ps3 till I gets me a descent controller for it.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "43306",
"author": "... | 1,760,377,751.152217 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/09/23/how-to-windows-media-center-on-a-leopard-network/ | How-to: Windows Media Center On A Leopard Network | Joey Celis | [
"home entertainment hacks",
"how-to"
] | [
"apple",
"howto",
"htpc",
"leopard",
"mac mini",
"mce",
"media center",
"microsoft",
"mini",
"plex",
"server",
"windows"
] | We’ve been using
Microsoft’s Media Center
for a few years now and have grown to like it a lot. We’ve also noticed that more and more Apple computers have shown up on our home network and decided it was time to get everything working together smoothly. Follow along as we walk you through the hoops we jumped through to get everything cooperating.
To make things really easy, we could have ditched Media Center and used Macs all around. One thing that the Macs lacked was a complete 10’ interface for the television. Sure, you have
Plex
,
Front Row
, and
EyeTV
available; while each has their merits none of them were able to give a user a complete single TV viewing experience like Microsoft’s Media Center.
MCE, as it’s commonly referred to, can play back DVDs, music, videos, and broadcast TV all from one interface using a single remote. We wanted to build a home network that would centralize all our media, provide
Time Machine
backups for the Apple computers, and also act as a bittorrent client and print server.
We knew we could easily set up another Windows machine to act like a server, but Time Machine only supports writing to Mac formatted drives. There is information out there that shows
how to get around this
, but we didn’t want to risk our backups using unsupported methods.
Running a NAS box
was out as well for the same reason.
A
1TB Time Capsule
could have been the answer to our problem since that would support Time Machine backups, and we could plug in a FAT32 formatted USB drive for the Windows computer. The issue here would be with the
4GB file size limitation
, as most of the HD shows recorded are between 6-15GB. We would need a file system that would support larger file sizes like
NTFS
or
HFS+
.
We decided to base our server on a Mac running Leopard. All the drives would be Mac formatted to deal with the large file sizes and this would allow native Time Machine backups. As long as we enabled SMB support in Leopard, the Windows computers would be able to read and write to the Mac drives without any issues.
Since this would be a fully functioning computer we can configure it as a print server as well as a bittorrent client. Our list is rather simple and shows that it doesn’t take much to get a mixed computer network up and running.
Hardware
Mac desktop
Client computers running Leopard and Windows Media Center
4 hard drives
USB printer
Software
Tweak UI
Tweak MCE
Transmission
Reader Notifier
Microsoft Remote Desktop Client
Additional setup information
Working home network
Static IP assigned to the server and MCE computers
Wired connection from the router to the server and MCE computers
Media Center computers should be setup with the same admin login and password and have auto login enabled.
DVD movies ripped using the VIDEO_TS structure
Since our server would mainly be used to host the network drives, we really didn’t need the latest and the greatest computer. Our digital media hub is a
first generation 1.42 GHz PPC Mac mini
complete with 1GB of Ram, an 80GB hard drive, bluetooth and AirPort Extreme.
We used 3 375GB Seagate drives that we had laying around, each in their own FireWire enclosure. We also picked up a 500GB Iomega FireWire drive on clearance to act as our Time Machine disk. The reason we
went with FireWire over USB
was a matter of processor load. Since USB required the CPU to dictate where the data went unlike FireWire’s peer to peer method we felt it was best to unload as much strain from the CPU as possible.
We also thought about using a Power Mac G4/G5 but liked the size of the Mac mini. Even with the 4 external drives, the whole thing fits nicely in our bookshelf. Whatever Mac you decide to use, just make sure it meets the
minimum specifications to run Leopard
.
After the initial OS install and updates, we started on formatting the drives one by one. Using Leopard’s Disk Utilities we formatted each external drive as
GUID Partition, Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Next each drive was given a logical name in the order they were installed under the mini:
HDD001
,
HDD002
,
HDD003
, and Time Machine.
HDD001
would serve as one of our DVD drives, as well as the drive used to keep our shared music, photos, and torrents, so we created the following folders:
My DVDs
,
My Music
,
My Pictures
, and
Torrents
.
HDD002
would be only used for DVDs, so that drive only had one folder labeled
My DVDs
. That left
HDD003
to serve as the drive for recording MCE shows, so a folder labeled RecordedTV was created. No folders were made on the Time Machine drive as each Mac connecting to it would be making their own folder when doing their backups.
We then proceeded to create the different user profiles that would be accessing the drives. To make it easier on ourselves we used the same admin login and passwords from the MCE computers, but instead of making them part of the Admin group we made them part of the
Standard
user group. Since we used the same login for each MCE computer we only had to make one user on the server. For the Mac computers we used individual login names and password that were in use on the computers themselves and gave them only sharing accounts.
From here we moved onto enabling file sharing setting, adding each of the 4 drives, and assigning the different users to each drives. The reason why we created different logins for the Mac accounts instead of using one generic one like the MCE account was to give different access to each user. Some only needed Time Machine access while others needed access to other drives. With the different accounts we were able to specify which accounts had access to which drives. Since we wanted to be able to map drives under Windows we enabled SMB support for the MCE user by clicking the
Options
button.
We also wanted to log into the computer remotely since this setup would be running without a monitor, keyboard or mouse connected directly to it. By enabling the
Remote Management
service we can now manage the computer via another mac or a computer running a
VNC client, like on an iPhone
.
Our Mac came with a built in WiFi card that we used as a secondary WiFi access point when guests come to visit. It’s an easy way to get them online without us having to give out the password to our main WiFi connection.
Under Internet Sharing we selected the
Ethernet
as the connection we wanted to share and
Airport
for the guest connection. Under the Airport options we gave it
a different SSID
than our main connection. Now when guest visit, we can remote into the server and enable the connection, when they leave we disable the service.
The last things we wanted our server to do was automate the download of torrents. This required the installation of Reader Notifier and Transmission. Reader Notifier works with
Google Reader
and will automatically download the torrent file based on our RSS subscription to our torrent directory. Transmission was then set to automatically monitor this directory for new torrent files, once Reader Notifier downloads the torrent, Transmission starts downloading.
If we wanted to add a new torrent feed we just have to add it to Google Reader. Because Transmission is set to monitor the torrent directory if anyone manually places a torrent file in that directory from any computer the download will start automatically as well.
Both 2005 and Vista versions of MCE do not support writing to a network attached drive. With a few changes in the registry, via TweakMCE, we corrected this and added a few enhancements along the way.
We started by locating the 3 media center services and stopping them for the time being. One at a time we double clicked each service and under the Log On tab changed the default setting to the “This account box” and entered in the admin name and password for the computer.
With the services still stopped we launched TweakMCE and navigated to
TV > Storage Location For Recorded TV
and replaced the current path with
the UNC path
to our new server (\\OSXServer\HDD003\RecordedTV). We did this as well to the
Watched Folder For Recorded TV
.
In order to take advantage of having our DVDs stored on the server we also enabled the
My DVDs
option under the
DVD
menu of TweakMCE.
After saving each of our changes and exiting out of TweakMCE, we proceed to map each of the network drives we would be using making sure to use the same user name and password and selecting the reconnect at log on option. This will ensure that the drives will always be reconnected in case of reboot.
We then rebooted the computer and once back, launched MCE. Under the
Videos
menu we added the new drives making sure to include the 2
My DVDs
folders as MCE will use this information to populate the new
My DVDs
menu on the home screen. Adding the network paths to the
My Music
and
My Pictures
directory also allowed the MCE computers to have access to the same content.
Like the server, we wanted to manage these computers remotely so we enabled the
Remote Desktop Service
. Microsoft makes a free client for the Mac and XP MCE/Pro has the remote client built in. Except for the different codecs needed to playback the various files that we wanted no further configurations were needed.
Setting up the Mac was rather quick since we would be connecting to another Mac for the drives. After launching Finder, we located the server to the left of the window. Selecting the server, we entered the shared user name we created on the server saving our login information to the keychain.
Enabling Time Machine to use a network drive is the same as selecting a locally connected drive. In the Time Machine preference screen select the
Change Disk
option to display all the connected drives. After selecting the drive labeled
Time Machine
we exited the screen, no hacks needed.
Unlike a Windows computer, OS X won’t automatically mount network drives on reboots. If we fail to mount the drives, Time Machine wouldn’t be able to perform it’s backups.. The easiest way we found was to create an Automator script at login to mount the drives.
Our first step was having Automator call out each drive we wanted to mount via IP. Once we had specified which drives we wanted, the next step was to have Automator connect to the server to mount the drives. Once we had verified that it was connecting to the correct drives, via the
Run
button, we saved it as an application and placed it in our applications folder. We then added this to the login items for each user we wanted to have access to the drives. Now on login, the script will automatically run and connect to the drives.
With our server now up and running, the MCE computers can now access the drives for movies, music, pictures, and share recorded shows. If our living room computer records an episode of Battlestar Galatica, all the MCE computers in the house can access it. Also, with MCE we now have access to all our DVDs anywhere in the house.
Because we chose to go with a Mac as a server, the Macs on our network can now back up wirelessly with Time Machine and share a printer as well.
If we had to do it over again, we would have gone with an Intel based mini as it comes with the Gigabit ethernet unlike the G4’s fast ethernet. In addition to that we should have gone with larger drives and tried Leopard’s built in software RAID. Other than that, we are please with our new home network.
[digg=http://digg.com/television/Running_Media_Center_with_an_OSX_server] | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "43218",
"author": "Brent",
"timestamp": "2008-09-24T03:23:42",
"content": "Very cool and a great write-up.Still, I’d recommend one use SageTV to do this since SageTV can do more than Windows Media Center and it supports XP, Vista, Mac and Linux out of the box.",
"parent_id": nul... | 1,760,377,751.342331 |
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