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https://hackaday.com/2008/08/11/wiitendo-a-wii-in-an-nes-case/
Wiitendo: A Wii In An NES Case
Caleb Kraft
[ "Nintendo Hacks", "Nintendo Wii Hacks" ]
[ "gamecube", "nes", "nintendo", "wii", "wiimod", "wiitendo" ]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTs8c4r8m94&hl=it&fs=1] [Matt] has managed to cram a Wii into an old NES . The write up is fairly short, but does mention a few details. He installed some Game Cube controller ports and a Game Cube memory card. He’s added some external LEDs connected to the Wii’s power button. He put a lot of effort into this, as he said almost every area of the internal case needed some serious dremel action to make the Wii fit inside. He’s even promised a more detailed write up, so keep an eye out for that. You might also remember the Wii Laptop previously on Hackaday. [via Hack a Wii ] permalink
17
16
[ { "comment_id": "40399", "author": "max", "timestamp": "2008-08-11T19:56:59", "content": "looks good but no effort 4/10", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40400", "author": "Mike", "timestamp": "2008-08-11T20:16:23", "content": "True, n...
1,760,377,774.514983
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/10/miniature-balancing-robot/
Miniature Balancing Robot
rossfairgrieve
[ "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "balance", "electronics", "instructables", "robot", "stability" ]
It might not be as elegant or technologically-advanced as a Segway or a motorized unicycle , but this easily constructed 2-wheeled robot might be a fun project for a free afternoon. The heart of the balancing mechanism is an SPDT switch with a button cell attached that reverses the motor when the robot begins to tip in one direction. It’s not controllable and it tends to fall over quite a bit, but it’s a good starting point and could be refined by lowering the center of gravity or figuring out a simple way to change the motor speed based on how far the robot has tipped over. There are no accelerometers or tilt switches so the components could be sourced from a parts bin, and its simple design definitely leaves a lot of room for improvement. permalink
12
12
[ { "comment_id": "40387", "author": "octel", "timestamp": "2008-08-11T03:57:57", "content": "wow, that poor thing looks like it’s having a seizure :(", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40388", "author": "andrew", "timestamp": "2008-08-11T04:...
1,760,377,774.563439
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/10/defcon-16-covert-warballooning-flight/
Defcon 16: Covert Warballooning Flight
Benjamin Eckel
[ "cons", "News", "Wireless Hacks" ]
[ "covert", "defcon 16", "defcon16", "rick hill", "RickHill", "warballooning", "wireless" ]
Since last month, when the Defcon warballooning event was announced , [Rick Hill] finished building his rig and even got FAA approval for the flight. Just when everything seemed set, the Riviera Hotel management decided not to allow the takeoff from their property . So, naturally, [Rick] and his team rented a moving truck and covertly inflated the balloon inside. They launched it in an abandoned parking lot and drove through the Vegas strip. They were surprised to find that about one third of the 370 wireless networks they scanned were unencrypted. [photo: JoergHL ] [via /. ] permalink
6
6
[ { "comment_id": "40381", "author": "Droose", "timestamp": "2008-08-11T01:44:38", "content": "Nothing like private institutions retracting promises at the last minute. On a side bar, is there more documentation regarding the building of these balloons? May make for an interesting hack-a-day", "pa...
1,760,377,774.429162
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/10/free-parking-garage-access/
Free Parking Garage Access
Jason Rollette
[ "classic hacks", "Misc Hacks", "Transportation Hacks" ]
[ "garage", "parking", "parkinggarage", "proximity", "video" ]
This hack is an interesting twist that will allow you to get in or out of some parking garages when the attendant isn’t looking. Using something metal to trip the parking lot’s proximity sensor that is meant to let cars out automatically you can get into the garage or vice-versa without opening your wallet. A magnet from a hard drive might work a bit better because it is able to trip multiple types of sensors, but for this hack any kind of metal will work. This proximity sensor is a high–frequency oscillation type, so anything that attenuates, varies the frequency or stops the oscillation trips the sensor. When you can’t find a place to park, this hack will certainly impress your friends more than this method , but your street credibility could quickly turn into never lived down stories, if you end up driving over tire strips and ruining your tires, get a huge parking or trespassing ticket, or worse yet get your vehicle towed! permalink
21
21
[ { "comment_id": "40362", "author": "Wolf", "timestamp": "2008-08-10T23:57:51", "content": "lol, this my come in handy in the future", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40363", "author": "homer simpson", "timestamp": "2008-08-11T00:00:38", ...
1,760,377,774.617465
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/09/defcon-16-pacemaker-b-gone/
Defcon 16: Pacemaker-B-Gone
Benjamin Eckel
[ "cons", "News" ]
[ "defcon 16", "defcon16", "gnu radio", "GnuRadio", "pacemaker" ]
A collaboration of various medical researchers in the academic field has led to proof that pacemakers can be remotely hacked with simple and accessible equipment . [Kevin Fu], an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, led the team. [Kevin] first tried to get documentation from the manufacturers, believing they would support the effort, but they were not interested in helping. They were forced to get access to an old pacemaker and reverse engineer it. They found that the communication protocol used to remotely program the device was unencrypted. They then used a GNU radio system to find access to some of the machine’s reprogrammable functions, including accessing patient data and even turning it off. Although this was only done with one particular pacemaker, it proves the concept and should be taken seriously by the medical companies who produce these devices. If you are interested in the technical aspects, check out the paper the team released in May disclosing the methods . permalink
24
24
[ { "comment_id": "40340", "author": "voodoo-chile", "timestamp": "2008-08-10T05:01:20", "content": "That is a VERY old pacemaker; pacemaker technology changes drastically every 6 months, so everything they learned with that one is moot. Those pacemakers used a wired magnetic transducer placed direct...
1,760,377,774.343309
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/13/arduino-tux-plant-care/
Arduino Tux Plant Care
Caleb Kraft
[ "Arduino Hacks", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "arduino", "equinoxefr", "ledmatrix", "moisturesensor", "plant", "plantwatering" ]
Some of us need a little help keeping our green leafy friends happy. The Arduino Tux ( translated ) plant care system was built to make things a little easier. The author had a broken tux toy laying around and wanted to do something fun with it. He cut a hole in the front to mount an LED matrix and connected it all to an Arduino. A couple of metal rods serve as a resistivity sensor in the plant’s dirt. When you water the plant, tux flashes some hearts and a smiley face. As the moisture drops, tux gets less happy with the end result being a big frown. These are the same people who brought you the Arduino Photolab . [via Hack a Day Flickr Pool ] permalink
3
3
[ { "comment_id": "40505", "author": "ret", "timestamp": "2008-08-13T20:20:21", "content": "that’s a led matrix, not a lcd matrix. that’s ell-ee-dee, not lcd. led != lcd. repeat after me. ell-ee-dee. ell-ee-dee.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "405...
1,760,377,774.229438
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/13/black-hat-2008-nic-based-rootkit/
Black Hat 2008: NIC Based Rootkit
Eliot
[ "cons", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "blackhat", "blackhat2008", "clearhat", "covertchannel", "ids", "intelpro100b", "intrusiondetectionsystem", "ndis", "networkcard", "nic", "rootkit", "shawnembleton", "sherrisparks", "snort" ]
While Black Hat and Defcon have both concluded, we’re going to post a few more talks that we think deserve attention. [Sherri Sparks] and [Shawn Embleton] from Clear Hat presented Deeper Door, exploiting the NIC chipset. Windows machines use NDIS , the Network Driver Interface Specification, to communicate between the OS and the actual NIC. NDIS is an API that lets programmers talk to network hardware in a general fashion. Most firewalls and intrusion detection systems monitor packets at the NDIS level. The team took a novel approach to bypassing machine security by hooking directly to the network card, below the NDIS level. The team targeted the Intel 8255x chipset because of its open documentation and availability of compatible cards like the Intel PRO/100B. They found that sending data was very easy: Write a UDP packet to a specific memory address, check to make sure the card is idle, and then tell it to send. The receive side was slightly more difficult, because you have to intercept all inbound traffic and filter out the replies you want from the legitimate packets. Even though they were writing low level chipset specific code, they said it was much easier to implement than writing an NDIS driver. While a certainly a clever way to implement a covert channel, it will only bypass an IDS or firewall on the same host and not one on the network. [photo: Big Fat Rat ]
11
11
[ { "comment_id": "40494", "author": "Eric", "timestamp": "2008-08-13T18:39:48", "content": "… just another supporting reason for the physical security of your infrastructure!", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40495", "author": "Comm_Hawk", ...
1,760,377,774.195388
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/13/russia-vs-georgia-the-online-front/
Russia Vs Georgia, The Online Front
Nick Caiello
[ "News", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "attack", "conflict", "cyberattack", "ddos", "denialofservice", "dos", "georgia", "hackers", "hacking", "russia" ]
While we’re sure that just about everyone has heard about the conflict between Russia and Georgia, few have probably heard about the role of cyber attacks in the conflict. Shortly before Russia’s armed response, Georgian state web servers were attacked by individuals assumed to be Russian hackers. This attack almost completely obliterated Georgia’s online presence by shutting down the website for the Ministry of Defense , and the Central Government’s main site. The Russian attackers seem to be using some form of sustained DDoS to keep many Georgian sites offline. In an effort to preserve some web presence, the Georgian Government transferred [President Mikheil Saakashvili]’s site to a US hosting provider in Atlanta. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs even created a BlogSpot page after their website initially went down. While politically motivated DDoS attacks have not been rare in past months, this seems to be the first time where the attacking party can be clearly identified. This seems to be the start of a trend where the unconventional methods of cyber warfare are used to gain an advantage over the enemy. [photo: somefool ] permalink
19
19
[ { "comment_id": "40481", "author": "TJHooker", "timestamp": "2008-08-13T17:56:52", "content": "Most bot nets are Russian owned. Rustok.c was authored by a “russian hacker.”", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40482", "author": "Mr. Mediocre", ...
1,760,377,774.285906
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/13/possible-entrapment-scenario-in-hacking-case/
Possible Entrapment Scenario In Hacking Case
Kimberly Lau
[ "News", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "brian salcedo", "BrianSalcedo", "crime", "entrapment", "fbi", "hackers", "hacking", "secretservice" ]
[Brian Salcedo] made headlines a few years ago as a hacker who attempted to break into Lowe’s corporate network. He is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence , one of the longest sentences for a computer hacking offense. Recent events surrounding a different hacking case have revealed that the buyer he worked for, [Albert “Segvec” Gonzalez], was a Secret Service informant . [Salcedo] claims that were it not for [Gonzalez]’s threats, he would not have committed the hacking offense. While the Secret Service may not have even been aware of [Gonzalez’s] activity with other hackers, [Salcedo] could make a case of entrapment by arguing that [Gonzalez] threatened him as a government agent in order to make him plant the sniffer in Lowe’s network. permalink
3
3
[ { "comment_id": "40478", "author": "blizzarddemon", "timestamp": "2008-08-13T18:08:31", "content": "Im going to go out on a limb here and say I do beileve this is a case of entrapment. That Gonzolez informant was only supposed to help officials apprehend “current” hackers with criminal histories, no...
1,760,377,774.464522
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/13/motherboard-walls/
Motherboard Walls
Kimberly Lau
[ "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "decor", "decorating", "geek", "motherboard", "motherboards" ]
[Chris Harrison] and a friend created these motherboard walls for Carnegie Mellon professor [Scott Hudson]. According to [Harrison], he amassed over 150 pounds of motherboards, most of them off of eBay, to create this surreal project. Nearly every inch of the lab is covered with motherboards, of different lengths and varying shades of green, silver, and black. We think it’s pretty festive. [via Neatorama ] permalink
14
14
[ { "comment_id": "40465", "author": "wiccan2", "timestamp": "2008-08-13T16:23:08", "content": "This is realy cool, would consider creating something like this for my self. Though i would do one thing diferently, i would have to make them run, as a cluster maybe that would be realy cool.", "paren...
1,760,377,774.387213
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/12/autonomous-helicopter-learns-autorotation/
Autonomous Helicopter Learns Autorotation
rossfairgrieve
[ "Robots Hacks" ]
[ "autonomous", "autorotation", "flight", "helicopter", "stanford", "video" ]
Stanford’s autonomous helicopter group has made some impressive advancements in the field of autonomous helicopter control, including inverted hovering and performing aerobatic stunts. The group uses reinforcement learning to teach its control system various maneuvers and has been very successful in doing so. One of their latest achievements was teaching the bot the emergency landing technique autorotation . Autorotation is used when a helicopter’s engine fails or is disengaged and works by changing the collective pitch to use the airflow from descent to rotate the blades. The group has more flight demonstrations on their YouTube channel . [via BotJunkie ] permalink
10
8
[ { "comment_id": "40457", "author": "Brandon", "timestamp": "2008-08-13T05:12:34", "content": "Cool! The video got kind of boring after the first few landings though.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40458", "author": "Aud1073cH", "timesta...
1,760,377,774.93145
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/12/drive-a-robot-in-australia-over-the-web/
Drive A Robot In Australia Over The Web
Caleb Kraft
[ "classic hacks", "Robots Hacks" ]
[ "bp", "bpaustrailia", "robot", "solar", "solarpowered", "surveyer", "telepresence", "webcontrolled" ]
BP Australia has commissioned an online game where you get to drive robots around an obstacle course. Make no mistake, these are real robots. Actually they are modified versions of the Surveyor SRV-1 vehicles that are popular with research labs, and schools everywhere. Go to the website, get in queue and pray for no clouds. These babies are solar powered, so you’ll have to try to get in while its day time in Australia. The entire set is built in miniature, so you feel like you’re driving a tank around a city. [via Robots Dreams ] permalink
32
32
[ { "comment_id": "40427", "author": "kvmanii", "timestamp": "2008-08-12T23:07:47", "content": "Omg I totally want to do this…. There was a Clemson University student by the name David Shelato. Who designed a wifi robot ..:virtually:.. the very same concept here. Every since I found out about Indus...
1,760,377,774.807534
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/07/homeland-security-issues-policy-on-laptop-seizures/
Homeland Security Issues Policy On Laptop Seizures
Nick Caiello
[ "News", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "border", "dhs", "eff", "HomelandSecurity", "laptop", "search", "seizure", "without cause", "WithoutCause" ]
The US Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed a new policy that allows agents to seize laptops , or anything capable of storing information, “for a reasonable period of time”. Okay, so this seems normal; A government agency is declaring they may confiscate personal property. However, the strange part of this story is that under this policy, federal agents can confiscate these things without any suspicion of wrong doing or any reason what so ever. So what happens to your personal data after they seize your laptop? Apparently they share the data with federal agencies, and in some cases the private sector, as additional services such as file decryption or translation are needed. While this may seem like a major violation of privacy, it is important to note that this policy only applies to people entering the United States. However given the direction that our federal government is moving in the area of security, it wouldn’t surprise me if this policy will soon apply for domestic flights as well. [photo: postmodern sleaze ] [via eff.org ] permalink
40
40
[ { "comment_id": "40216", "author": "jp", "timestamp": "2008-08-07T22:37:06", "content": "and to keep them busy with decoding, deciphering and translating generate some enigmatic documents here:http://joerg.piringer.net/vy2ms/and store them on your laptop to make sure they don’t run out of work…", ...
1,760,377,775.039213
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/07/hacking-pleo-for-face-recognition-and-remote-control/
Hacking Pleo For Face Recognition And Remote Control
Caleb Kraft
[ "classic hacks", "Robots Hacks" ]
[ "facialrecognition", "pleo", "ugobe", "xbee" ]
GRIP, the Group for Interdisciplinary Psychology at the University of Bamberg have put together a couple tutorials on hacking the Pleo . For those unfamiliar, the Pleo is a small robot shaped like a dinosaur. Their goal was to make it cute and simulate emotion at a higher level than previously attained by consumer robots. Ugobe , the makers of Pleo encourage hacking of the unit and the controlling software. Look at the “developers” area of their site to download all kinds of tools to work on your Pleo. The two tutorials released by GRIP cover adding wireless communication with a PC and adding a higher resolution camera to the unit. The goal was to make the platform capable of doing facial recognition. The first tutorial is to replace the web cam. GRIP did a fantastic job of documenting this upgrade. There are tons of pictures, covering every step, 15 pages of them actually. The people at Ugobe have done a good job as well, its hard not to feel a tinge of sympathy for the poor guy as its getting disassembled. They have a few areas that have been updated as well, such as the fact that they later came back and built in a new power supply to avoid interference. The updates are in line with the instructions, as opposed to tacked on the end. That’s nice. Its always such a pain to get to the end of a tutorial to notice that the author posted a different and better way of doing an early step. The second and much shorter tutorial is where they add the communication with the PC. Using an XBee RF module, they patch into the Pleo’s serial port. This installation doesn’t require any modifications to the structure of the Pleo and only involves 2 wires being soldered. Once it is connected, you can send commands to the Pleo using Dino-MITE by BAUER Independents. GRIP has done a fantastic job on this tutorial. They ask that we also help them research our hopes and objections for future robotics by taking their survey . [thanks Martin Diruf] permalink
4
4
[ { "comment_id": "40215", "author": "fruehrentner", "timestamp": "2008-08-08T16:59:41", "content": "WOW!! I study at the Otto-Friedrich University in Bamberg and I never heard of that before ;o)Thanx for the update", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": ...
1,760,377,774.96678
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/06/black-hat-2008-pwnie-award-ceremony/
Black Hat 2008: Pwnie Award Ceremony
Eliot
[ "cons", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "award", "blackhat", "blackhat2008", "dankaminsky", "kapersky", "pwnie", "pwnieaward" ]
The first night of Black Hat briefings concluded with the Pwnie Award Ceremony . The awards reward achievements in security… but mostly failures. Notably, this was the first year anyone accepted an award in person. Hack a Day took home an early victory by producing a MacBook mini-DVI to VGA adapter (pictured above). The ceremony was fairly straight forward after that. Best Server-Side Bug went to the Windows IGMP kernel vulnerability . It was a remote kernel code execution exploit in the default Windows firewall. The Best Client-Side Bug went to Multiple URL protocol handling flaws like this URI exploit . Mass 0wnage went to WordPress for many many vulnerabilities. Most Innovative Research went to the Cold Boot Attack team. Lamest Vendor Response was won by McAfee for saying XSS can’t be used to hack a server . The Most Overhyped Bug went to [Dan Kaminsky] for his DNS vulnerability . Most Epic FAIL was won by the team behind Debian for shipping the OpenSSL bug for two solid years. Lifetime Achievement Award was won by [ Tim Newsham ]. Finally, the Best Song was by Kaspersky Labs for Packin’ The K!, which you can find embedded below. permalink
9
9
[ { "comment_id": "40209", "author": "Viper007Bond", "timestamp": "2008-08-07T06:29:05", "content": "I’m confused about WordPress — how can you consider vulnerable 3rd party code (plugins) manually installed by the user a vulnerability of WordPress itself? Especially more so if the user opts not to ke...
1,760,377,775.082355
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/06/black-hat-2008-fastrak-toll-system-completely-broken/
Black Hat 2008: FasTrak Toll System Completely Broken
Eliot
[ "cons", "Security Hacks", "Transportation Hacks" ]
[ "blackhat", "blackhat2", "california", "con", "dot", "ezpass", "fastrak", "hackercon", "lawson", "nate", "natelawson", "security", "toll", "tollbooth", "transponder" ]
FasTrak is the electronic toll collection system used by the state of California. Motorists can purchase a toll transponder for ~$26 and link the serial number with a debit account to have their tolls deducted automatically. Today at Black Hat in Las Vegas, security researcher [ Nate Lawson ] presented not just the privacy problems with FasTrak, but why absolutely no transaction from the tag should be trusted. On the privacy side, FasTrak claims that all the collected data is anonymized and not kept for long (they won’t tell you how or how long). The court system still subpoenas the data from time to time, so there must be something of use in there. As AOL taught us , user behavior is incredibly hard to anonymize. In addition to the toll booths, the transponders are also polled at all offramps for the statistical traffic data presented at 511.org . [Nate] initially purchased a transponder to explore these privacy concerns. The transponder is an RFID device with a receive and transmit antenna, a low powered Texas Instruments MSP430 microcontroller , a long life battery, and a large analog demodulation section. Usually the firmware on the microcontroller can not be read via a JTAG cable, because the manfacturer will burn a fuse to prevent it. This was not the case with the three year old tag he purchased. A more recently purchased tag did have the fuse burned. Flylogic repackaged that silicon so it could be read back; the firmware turned out exactly the same. The transponders and readers perform no authentication. Someone could wander through a parking lot with an RFID reader and pick up the ID of every tag in the lot. They could then write their own transponder with the stolen IDs. Here’s the really bad part: the transponders support unauthenticated over the air upgrading. You can force any transponder to take on a new ID. An attacker could overwrite every tag passing a certain intersection and cause havoc in the toll system. Some have suggested that there are IDs in the system that are unbilled, since they’re assigned to administrators; these would be especially attractive to thieves. How do we fix this system? Here’s the problem: the system is defined by California law. An update to the way things are done would take legislative action. [Nate] suggested one possible check that could be implemented to determine if the system was being exploited at this time: When a tag read fails now, the system takes a picture of your license plate so a human can determine what account it belongs to. The system could be updated to randomly take photos of cars that were reading correctly just to make sure the ID belongs to the car pictured. As for the privacy issues, [Nate] is hoping to develop a timer circuit so you can power up the transponder only during the time you’re passing through the toll plaza. In the end though, none of the transactions with these FasTrak transponders can be trusted. [photo: 24thcentury ]
35
35
[ { "comment_id": "40177", "author": "jeremy", "timestamp": "2008-08-07T00:45:03", "content": "We have all read ‘Little Brother’ by Cory Doctorow, right? :-)", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40178", "author": "pepe prawn", "timestamp": "200...
1,760,377,775.293647
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/06/black-hat-2008-dan-kaminsky-releases-dns-information/
Black Hat 2008: Dan Kaminsky Releases DNS Information
fabienneserriere
[ "cons", "Misc Hacks", "News" ]
[ "Black Hat", "black hat 2008", "blackhat", "blackhat2008", "conference", "Dan Kaminsky", "dankaminsky", "dns", "DNS cache poisoning", "DnsCachePoisoning" ]
[Dan Kaminsky]’s much anticipated talk on his DNS findings finally happened at Black Hat 2008 in Las Vegas today. [Dan] has already uploaded the complete slides from his talk as well as posted a short summary to his site. New information in the slides since our previous coverage includes “Forgot My Password” attacks and new attacks on internal network vulnerabilities as a side of effect of DNS cache poisoning. [Dan]’s talk today was over capacity; our shot of the conference room overflow is shown above. permalink
0
0
[]
1,760,377,775.11627
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/06/black-hat-2008-eff-coders-rights-project-announced/
Black Hat 2008: EFF Coders’ Rights Project Announced
jimmierodgers
[ "News", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "blackhat", "blackhat2008", "conference", "eff", "legal", "security" ]
The EFF has just announce the creation of the Coders’ Rights Project website at the Black Hat conference . The sites’ main goal is to centralize legal information for coders, and to help protect important security work from legal actions that may be taken against them with the DMCA and other legal black holes. While this is in no way a fully comprehensive list of everything you need to know, it looks like a good place to start, and provides a few FAQs for suggestions on how to stay in the legal clear as much as possible. At numerous points the documents suggest you speak with a lawyer, if you have any deeper questions, which you absolutely should. This can be very helpful if a person or group finds a security risk, and wants to publish it, or just wants to start looking into possible security risks. permalink
0
0
[]
1,760,377,775.228493
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/06/hybrid-headphone-amplifier/
Hybrid Headphone Amplifier
Caleb Kraft
[ "classic hacks", "home entertainment hacks" ]
[ "amplifier", "diyaudio", "headphone", "headphoneamplifier", "mosfet", "tubeamp" ]
[Rogers Gomez] has posted up this hybrid tube based headphone amplifier over at DIY Audio. Being a fan of tube amplifiers, but wanting something with lower voltage and lower cost, he put together this little system out of spare parts he had lying around. He wanted it to have as few parts as possible and be able to power his 32 ohm Grado headphones. He states that he’d built several YAHA amps, and a Szekeres Mosfet follower and was curious how they’d sound together. He was pleasantly surprised with the resulting quality. There are less than 30 individual components involved in the project. The complete parts list and schematics are available from the site. He notes at the very end, to unplug your headphones when powering up as there is a surge that could damage them. That might be good to know at the beginning just in case you get eager to test it out. [Thanks, Gio] permalink
4
4
[ { "comment_id": "40173", "author": "diy audio projects", "timestamp": "2008-08-07T01:21:54", "content": "you are welcome.The project does look interesting. Most will likely have a 12-13V power supply kicking around so you can do this real cheap. I have tried the szekeres mosfet follower:http://diy...
1,760,377,775.366453
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/09/fun-with-barbie-karaoke-machines/
Fun With Barbie Karaoke Machines
Patrick Lokken
[ "classic hacks", "cons", "iphone hacks", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "barbie", "bending", "digital audio", "DigitalAudio", "iphone", "karaoke", "pro tools", "ProTools", "synthesizer" ]
[Peter Edwards] at Casper Electronics built a modular synth and integrated it with the Barbie karaoke machines we saw at Notacon last April. The complete unit consists of 25 modules which are wired together using banana cables. He’s using this homebrew step sequencer to control the bent karaoke machines which then feed into the rest of the synthesizer. If you’d like to bend your own barbie karaoke machine, [Peter] was kind enough to post schematics and instructions for his bends. permalink
0
0
[]
1,760,377,775.331073
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/09/defcon-16-mit-boston-transit-presentation-gagged/
Defcon 16: MIT Boston Transit Presentation Gagged
Patrick Lokken
[ "cons", "Security Hacks", "Transportation Hacks" ]
[ "convention", "defcon", "defcon16", "hackercon" ]
[ Zack Anderson ], [ RJ Ryan ], and [ Alessandro Chiesa ] were sued by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority for an alleged violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act after copies of their presentation slides were circulated at Defcon 16. The slides give an eye widening glimpse into the massive security holes present in the Boston subway system. There are at least 4 major security flaws in the subway, which allowed them to get free subway rides by finding unlocked, back door routes into the subway, spoofing magnetic and RFID cards, and attacking the MTBA’s network. Judge Douglas P. Woodlock has issued a gag order, stopping the trio from giving the presentation at Defcon or disclosing sensitive information for ten days. However, the MIT school newspaper, The Tech , has published a PDF of the slides online. The research culminated in the trio warcarting the MTBA’s headquarters and being driven off by police. permalink
13
12
[ { "comment_id": "40330", "author": "Shadyman", "timestamp": "2008-08-10T04:41:56", "content": "Warcarting! I love it!", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40331", "author": "Eddie", "timestamp": "2008-08-10T05:24:20", "content": "“We have...
1,760,377,775.44736
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/09/black-hat-2008-google-gadgets-insecurity/
Black Hat 2008: Google Gadgets Insecurity
Kimberly Lau
[ "News" ]
[ "black hat 2008", "blackhat", "blackhat2008", "google", "google gadgets", "GoogleGadgets", "hackercon", "security" ]
Black Hat presenters [Robert “RSnake” Hansen], CEO of SecTheory, and [Tom Stracener], security analyst at Cenzic , criticized Google in their presentation “Xploiting Google Gadgets” . [Hansen] and [Stracener] say that there’s currently no way for Google to confirm whether Google Gadget creations contain malicious content or not; this leaves the application vulnerable to a wide range of hacking ugliness such as data poisoning, worms, and theft of data. [Hansen] himself isn’t exactly on the friendliest terms with Google. He’s got a bit of a contentious history and he claims that Google has threatened legal action against him. Nevertheless, if what was presented is true and accurate, then Google has a huge security issue that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. Google has not yet commented on the situation. permalink
2
2
[ { "comment_id": "40328", "author": "Matt Cutts", "timestamp": "2008-08-10T10:08:46", "content": "(Disclosure: I’m a software engineer at Google.)I think the AP story about this had more info from Google:“Google disputes Hansen’s characterization of its vetting process for gadgets.The company said in...
1,760,377,775.485095
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/08/black-hat-2008-whats-next-for-firefox-security/
Black Hat 2008: What’s Next For Firefox Security
Kimberly Lau
[ "firefox hacks", "News", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "blackhat", "blackhat2008", "firefox", "security", "threat modelling", "ThreatModelling", "window snyder", "WindowSnyder" ]
Mozilla security chief [Window Snyder] made some surprising announcements about Firefox Next , Mozilla’s next major browser overhaul. In her chat at the Black Hat security conference, she introduced three new initiatives that focused on threat modeling, training, and vulnerability metrics. For the threat modeling initiative, she’s hired Matasano Security consultants to review Firefox’s code for weaknesses and recommend mitigation tactics to protect the browser from hacker attacks. This isn’t inherently unusual; what is abnormal is that the information, once the work is done, will be revealed to the public. The training initiative will have IOActive trainers working with Mozilla engineers on secure computer programming practices. At the end, according to [Snyder], online versions of the classes will be released to the public, along with the class materials. The last initiative revolves around security metrics, and is already in progress. Essentially, the project will ideally take the focus off of patch-counting and provide a better assessment of security and vulnerability issues. [Snyder] says “We’re in the early phase, working on incorporating feedback from the rest of the industry.” She also reveals some more Firefox developments, including possibly incorporating NoScript into the core browser and implementing protected mode, but they’re still a long way from becoming standard features. permalink
23
23
[ { "comment_id": "40306", "author": "cb", "timestamp": "2008-08-09T02:56:25", "content": "Whoa, noscript in the core? That would be seriously awesome and bypass some of the dance the extension has to do to get it to work (though ff3 improved things). I wonder if they’re going to make adblock+ feature...
1,760,377,775.577117
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/08/black-hat-2008-french-hacking-failure/
Black Hat 2008: French Hacking Failure
Patrick Lokken
[ "Misc Hacks", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "convention", "defcon", "defcon16", "defcon2008 blackhat", "Defcon2008Blackhat", "hackercon" ]
French reporters at Black Hat crossed the line when they sniffed fellow reporters’ login info on the designated “safe” wired network. Proud of their handiwork, they were nabbed when they tried to get their spoils posted on the wall of sheep , which is used to publicly post attendees credintials. It turns out that monitoring communications without informing one of the parties involved is a felony, so although it is legal to sniff convention goers’ login info with their knowledge, hacking reporters covering the event is a no-no. An FBI agent we ran into commented that in his experience, they’d probably just turn it over to the local US attorney’s office to see if they wanted to proceed with an investigation. We’re in the Defcon press room today and there’s still a buzz about these “sleazy” French reporters. We’re tunneling through our cell connection like any sane person at a security conference. permalink
19
19
[ { "comment_id": "40287", "author": "Ken", "timestamp": "2008-08-09T03:37:42", "content": "I would think they’d be appreciative of someone discovering a security vulnerability and reporting it before more damage can be done. But instead they kick them out of the conference and may be considering pres...
1,760,377,775.639246
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/08/usb-wall-charger/
USB Wall Charger
Caleb Kraft
[ "Cellphone Hacks", "classic hacks", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "cellphone", "charger", "ipod", "motorola", "usb" ]
[rbhays] did this sweet little hack back in 2006. He took a Motorola cellphone wall charger and modified it into a USB wall charger . He needed to charge his iPod, but misplaced the original charger. A replacement would have cost him $30. So he did what any respectable hacker would do, he cut up something else to make it work for him. He had one sitting around that was equipped with a mini USB end. He checked it out and it was the perfect voltage. Some commenters below the project noted that their motorola charger had a higher voltage rating than his. Those would still work, but would require some extra steps to bring the voltage down. After some careful soldering, and a bit of super glue, he’s left with a perfectly good wall charger. He can charge most things that only use the juice from the wall. Some things refuse to charge though, such as Zunes. There was another project by [Cvesey] that claims to charge Zunes as well. While wall chargers may be available fairly cheaply now, many of us have some of these cellphone chargers just sitting around. Now we have a use for them. permalink
20
20
[ { "comment_id": "40269", "author": "mike sty", "timestamp": "2008-08-09T00:16:51", "content": "That’s actually amazing because I have almost exactly the same phone charger, and the end that connects to the phone is broken. I posted on the instructables forums asking if this would make a suitable USB...
1,760,377,775.692368
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/07/new-e-passports-cloned/
New E-Passports Cloned
Benjamin Eckel
[ "News" ]
[ "e-passports", "pkd", "rfid" ]
Within an hour, Jeron Van Beek was able to create a successful clone of Britain’s new E-Passport . All he needed was a £40 card reader, two £10 RFID chips, and a small, improvised script. Although the exact details were not specified, it looks like he read the ID on the real passport using the RFID reader, then he wrote it to the two blank chips and put them in the fake passports. There is also a flaw which may allow outright forging of the passports. Nearly all of the 45 countries using the system have not yet registered with the Public Key Directory, which was put in place to make forging impossible. The government is claiming that this hack is a hoax, but recent reports have shown that these RFID systems were never secure . No matter what the actual truth is about these hacks, it can certainly be said that the ability to clone or forge these passports would be a devastating security issue for every country involved. [Photo: Digital World Tokyo ] [via The Guardian ]
17
17
[ { "comment_id": "40253", "author": "John Harrison", "timestamp": "2008-08-08T05:42:58", "content": "It has been a few years since I worked on the passport cards and many of the specifics aren’t fresh in my mind, but it is my recollection that there was very little effort made to protect against clon...
1,760,377,776.204706
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/03/new-from-sparkfun/
New From SparkFun
Eliot
[ "Arduino Hacks", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "arduino", "fm", "fmreceiver", "lilypad", "muscle", "nanomuscle", "temperature", "temperaturesensor" ]
SparkFun is rolling out interesting things to play with every week. They’ve added a NanoMuscle actuator that uses a shape memory alloy to lift nearly 70 times its own weight. Their LilyPad collection has expanded to include small momentary switches and a thermistor type temperature sensor . Lastly, they’ve got an FM receiver module . It just needs an antenna and uses I2C or SPI for control. permalink
3
3
[ { "comment_id": "39998", "author": "blizzarddemon", "timestamp": "2008-08-04T07:15:03", "content": "Wow, those muscle fibers make me wanna drool. They say they can lift 70grams, but I wonder if you can increase that by using abunch of them at the same time?", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, ...
1,760,377,775.925991
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/03/aboutconfig-hacks-for-firefox-3/
About:config Hacks For Firefox 3
Kimberly Lau
[ "firefox hacks", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "aboutconfig", "firefox3", "hacks" ]
Blogs DNA has some great suggestions for tweaking the Firefox 3 about:config file . Customize Firefox 3 to your particular preferences with hacks to reduce the number of auto-complete list in your URL bar, extend spell check to forms, and disable blinking text. All it takes is a few simple modifications to the about:config file. By editing the about:config file, you can have a Firefox 3 that is faster, less bloated, and more tailored to your browsing habits. Do you have any suggestions for tweaks to Firefox 3? [via Digg ] permalink
9
9
[ { "comment_id": "39990", "author": "Andrew Pollack", "timestamp": "2008-08-04T06:36:00", "content": "I can photoshop! The giveaway is a list of more than 10 most recently closed tabs — and not a porn site in the bunch.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment...
1,760,377,776.011775
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/03/apple-newton-dev-kit/
Apple Newton Dev Kit?
Eliot
[ "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "apple", "applenewton", "messagepad", "pda" ]
[phooky] picked up this bizarre bit of dev hardware three years ago and isn’t really sure what it is. It has lots of general purpose switches, LEDs, and audio jacks. The processor is a StrongARM chip in a ZIF socket. It has two serial ports, a CF, and PCMCIA slot too. Commenter [Glen Raphael] says it looks a lot like the early prototype development boards for the Apple Newton which also used a StrongARM chip. It’s definitely an interesting piece of history. Make sure you check out the full item on NYC Resistor . permalink
3
3
[ { "comment_id": "39987", "author": "Lynn", "timestamp": "2008-08-04T04:00:02", "content": "He probably got it at Goodwill Computer Works in Austin Texas. Check out their vintage/rare systems, etc at the museum if you are ever in town.http://www.austincomputerworks.org/index.html", "parent_id": ...
1,760,377,775.967336
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/03/getting-around-the-great-firewall-of-china/
Getting Around The Great Firewall Of China
Kimberly Lau
[ "News", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "china", "great firewall", "great firewall of ch...", "GreatFirewall", "GreatFirewallOfCh...", "vpn" ]
[Zach Honig] is a photographer in Beijing covering the Olympics. In light of recent allegations of the Chinese government installing monitoring software and hardware in foreign-owned hotels, the necessity of protecting one’s information has become vital and urgent, especially for journalists and photographers. [Honig] provides some suggestions for circumventing the infamous Great Firewall of China ; surfing the internet through a secure VPN connection and using a proxy such as PHProxy will allow users to visit websites that have been banned within China. Such simple tricks could mean the difference between not being able to find necessary information, and the ability to surf the internet freely and openly. [via Digg ] permalink
15
14
[ { "comment_id": "39978", "author": "Carlyle", "timestamp": "2008-08-04T02:55:22", "content": "Better idea: Don’t travel to China at all.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39979", "author": "nathan", "timestamp": "2008-08-04T06:04:19", ...
1,760,377,776.152982
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/03/laser-etching-printed-circuit-boards/
Laser Etching Printed Circuit Boards
Eliot
[ "classic hacks", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "epilog", "etch", "etching", "laser", "laserpcb", "macetech", "pcb" ]
While we hope you enjoyed our How-To: Etch a printed circuit board , toner transfer certainly isn’t the only way to get the job done. [Garrett] from macetech has recently been playing around with using an Epilog laser to etch PCBs. He started by applying a thin even coat of flat black spray paint to the copper board. The laser is used to remove paint in areas that you want the copper removed. Once that’s done, you proceed with etching as usual. He eventually removed the paint mask using acetone. The result has very fine, sharp traces, but most people that have tried this agree that using spray paint is less than ideal. permalink
23
22
[ { "comment_id": "39966", "author": "SuperJdynamite", "timestamp": "2008-08-04T01:06:09", "content": "Maybe using layout fluid would work better. It’s designed to put a thin even film on metal which you then scribe into to mark cut lines. It typically has a complementing remover liquid that takes i...
1,760,377,776.106238
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/02/more-defcon-16-events-announced/
More Defcon 16 Events Announced
Eliot
[ "cons", "News" ]
[ "con", "conference", "davix", "defcon", "hackerspace", "nist", "quantum", "quantumcomputing" ]
Defcon keeps announcing more and more interesting events for next week’s conference. A free workshop is planned for the soon to be released DAVIX live CD . DAVIX is a collection of tools for data analysis and visualization. They’ll be running through a few example packet dumps to demonstrate how the tools can help you make sense of it all. [ Thomas Wilhelm ] will be driving out from Colorado Springs in his Mobile Hacker Space . He’s giving a talk Sunday, but will be giving presentations a few hours every day at the van . Some researchers from NIST will be setting up a four node quantum network and demonstrating some of the possible vulnerabilities in the system. Finally, as part of an EFF fundraiser, Defcon will feature a Firearms Training Simulator . Conference attendees will participate in drills designed to improve their speed, accuracy, and decision making skills.
1
1
[ { "comment_id": "119936", "author": "wifi security", "timestamp": "2010-01-27T01:23:10", "content": "at last the information i needed thank you.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] } ]
1,760,377,776.048927
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/02/red-bull-flugtag-portland/
Red Bull Flugtag Portland
Eliot
[ "Uncategorized" ]
[ "banjo", "flugtag", "flying", "flyingmachine", "portland", "redbull", "redbullflugtag", "spaceballs", "video" ]
Off all the competitions for poorly performing human powered flying machines, the Red Bull Flugtag is one of our favorites. Honestly, it’s the only one we can think of, but that doesn’t mean we’re any less enthusiastic about giving flight to half baked ideas. Today was the Portland round of the international event. Teams have to submit an application for their craft in advance. The vehicle can have a maximum wingspan of 30 feet and a weight with pilot of 450 pounds or less. Power is from muscle or simply gravity. The vehicle also has to be easily retreivable so they can get it out of the water. Judging isn’t just for distance, but for creativity, too. Flickr users [ pdx-kate ] and [ Jabin ] have uploaded images and video from the day: The winner was Team Yakima’s big wheel that flew 62 feet . Second place went to Greased Lightning at 55 feet. Third was the FreeBallin sneaker which you can see in flight here . The People’s Choice award went to the Space Balls Winnebago , which we unfortunately can’t find a very good picture of. You can read more about each individual entry on the results page . Embedded below is the video of the current US record holder: a banjo that went 155 feet in Nashville. The next US event will be September 6th in Chicago. permalink
9
9
[ { "comment_id": "39956", "author": "Matt_", "timestamp": "2008-08-03T10:18:37", "content": "Umm, the banjo fell straight into the water, then the glider kept going.Hmm, maybe everyone should just set gliders on top of their contraptions…", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }...
1,760,377,776.24492
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/05/defcon-16-badge-details-released/
Defcon 16: Badge Details Released
Eliot
[ "cons", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "badge", "conference", "defcon", "defcon16", "freescale", "hackercon", "ir", "JoeGrand" ]
Defcon will once again be one-upping the sophistication of the conference attendee badges. Wired has just published a preview of this year’s badge . The core is a Freescale Flexis MC9S08JM60 processor. The badge has an IR transmitter and receiver on the front plus eight status LEDs. On the back (pictured below), there is a mode select button, CR123A battery, Data Matrix barcode, and an SD card slot. You can add a USB port to the badge and upload code to it using the built in USB bootloader. All the dev tools needed will be included on the conference CD or you can download the IDE in advance . The low barrier to entry should lead to some interesting hacks. In previous years, you needed a special dongle to program the hardware. There is no indication as to what the badge does out of the box. Releasing the badge early is a first for Defcon and the one pictured isn’t the attendee color, but we’re sure someone will still come up with a clone. Now comes the fun part: What do you think the best use of this badge will be? Would Defcon be so cavalier as to equip everyone in the conference with a TV-B-Gone ? I think our favorite possibility is if someone finds a security hole and manages to write an IR based worm to take over all the badges. Defcon 14 introduced the first electronic badge which blinked in different patterns . Defcon 15 had a 95 LED scrolling marquee . [Joe Grand] will be posting more specific Defcon 16 badge details to his site after the opening ceremony. Check out more high resolution photos on Wired . [Photo: Dave Bullock ] permalink
16
15
[ { "comment_id": "40078", "author": "Eddie", "timestamp": "2008-08-05T22:53:21", "content": "This should prove to be interesting. It’s a shame I won’t be able to attend this year.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40079", "author": "Michael Wit...
1,760,377,776.299837
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/05/how-to-the-hackers-soldering-station/
How-To: The Hacker’s Soldering Station
Adam Harris
[ "classic hacks", "how-to" ]
[ "extractor", "fume extractor", "fumes", "hackaday", "how-to", "howto", "soldering", "soldering iron", "solderingiron" ]
A good soldering station and fume extractor is a must for anyone interested in hacking and modding, but not everyone can afford the expensive professional models on the market. This How-To and the tips within it will guide you through the process of building an inexpensive homebrew fume hood complete with built-in time and temperature controlled soldering station and all the soldering tools you need. We’ll begin by building the solder fume hood. Yes, we said “hood”, not just “extractor”. While there have been some nice fume extractors hacked together, this system integrates all of your soldering tools into and around the fume hood. The purpose of a fume hood is to draw solder fumes away from the person soldering. Besides the health risks, these fumes are really annoying as they follow that pesky law of the universe: “No matter where you happen to be sitting, solder fumes will float directly towards your face.” To start, let’s gather materials: Part Supplier Cost 18 Gallon clear Rubbermaid Container (about 18″x18″x16″) Super Store $7.00 4″ Metal Fan Super Store $5.00 12″ Fluorescent Under-Cabinet Lamp Super Store $9.00 Surge Protector Super Store $3.00 Activated Carbon Filter Super store or Online Electronics Boutique $3.00 Small Sheet of Acrylic (7″x15″) (optional) Scrap Free Once all the materials are gathered, we can begin cutting the plastic of the Rubbermaid container. To cut this material, use a plastic scoring tool. When you make your cuts, make sure to repeatedly score the line you want to cut until the blade goes all the way through the plastic. Do not try to score it and snap it like acrylic. This material has a bad tendency to crack in places you didn’t intend. If your plastic cracks, all is not lost. Since the plastic is soft, you can weld the cracks back together by touching it with the tip of a high temperature hot glue gun. First, we need to cut a hole for the fan in the top of the hood. Take off the cover of the fan and use it to make a hole slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the fan cover in the top center of the hood. The fan is actually going to hang from the top of the hood and pull the fumes out of the hood when turned on. Once the big hole is made, drill smaller holes for the screws used to hold the fan together. With the nuts on the outside, screw the fan assembly to the top of the hood. To reattach the top cover of the fan, use some scrap solid core wire or twist-ties to connect the spars on the top cover to the spars on the bottom fan assembly. We used only three twist ties as this is plenty to keep the fan cover in place. Now we are ready to mount the light. Mark a good place to attach the light in the back top of the hood. It is likely that the mounting screws that came with the lamp are too long. Additionally, the lamp might get too hot. To prevent the lamp from melting the plastic, we cut about five half-inch spacers out of some of the plastic cut off earlier. To make life easier, pre-drill holes in the center of each of the spacers. Use a couple of the spacers on the inside to lower the lamp away from the top of the hood, and then use a few on the outside to cover the sharp points of the protruding screws. Alternatively, encapsulating the screw points on the outside of the hood with hot glue works just as well. Next, cut the main window of the fume hood. Ours goes all the way across the front and is about 7 inches high. It’s a good idea to start with a smaller hole and expand it to see what feel comfortable for you to use. Make sure it is easy to reach the top back wall of the hood. This is where the controls will go later. At this point, you can use zip ties to attach the active carbon filter to the top of the fan. Plug the fan and the light into a powerstrip. Make sure the fan and the light are turned on so you can turn the entire hood on and off from the strip. Plug in the soldering iron and you are ready to go. The adjustable base of the fan is used here to hold the excess wire from the soldering iron; keeping it out of the way. A slightly more advanced option for the front is to cut another smaller window (about 6.5 by 13.5 inches) just above the first one and add a piece of acrylic. This greatly improves visibility. Make sure to cut the acrylic about a half inch larger than the window to give yourself a surface to glue. Attach the acrylic on the inside of the fume hood with hot glue. To improve your soldering iron set-up, you can get a professional soldering station. But why spend $50 on a temperature controlled soldering station when you can build your own for cheaper! Afrotechmods has a rough guide to building a great adjustable temperature soldering station . To install this soldering station into the fume hood, simply cut a hole in the back of the hood large enough to stuff the dimmer and the socket through it from the front side and small enough to make sure the mounting holes still have some plastic to mount to. The box will be attached to the back of the hood, but the faceplate needs to be on the inside. You’ll notice that there is a different knob on the dimmer switch. We used a scrap knob with a flat bottom (comes complete with cool numbers) on the dimmer switch instead of the stock knob. Regardless of what soldering station you use, if it doesn’t have auto turn off (which is good for fire prevention), put a grounded AC appliance timer inline with the iron. These timers allow you to automatically turn on or off any AC appliance at any time you want within a 24 hour period, but don’t rely on it to keep your iron turned off, as it will turn it back one every 24 hours. It’s better than nothing and is a cheap option, as they run between 5 and 10 bucks at local hardware and super stores. The one we use has increments of about 15 minutes. Setting it for 30-45 minutes works well. For some reason, the designers of these timers want to take up all the plug space they can by placing the plug practically in the center on the back of the timer. Luckily, the scrap dimmer knob we found has a low profile, and allows the timer to plug in with little interference to the dimmer. A better option is to get an aquarium timer . These are designed with a better form factor and generally only cover one socket. Many cheap soldering irons come with a sponge to clean the tip. If you think about it, it’s not really the best idea to use a sponge to clean your soldering iron; it works, but it also cools down the tip of the iron every time you clean it. If you are doing delicate work and clean your tip once every couple of soldering points, this can lead to cold solder joints and bad connections. Professionals use a flux covered wire mesh to clean the tip. This method draws off the solder and uses flux to clean the tip. Every now and then, you just kind of stab the mesh with your iron a couple of times to clean it off. The problem is that this method costs around $10. Instead of buying some job specific wire mesh, just use a copper coated scourer to clean your soldering iron tip. Usually used for cleaning pots and pans, these little guys can be picked up at your local grocery store for $1 or so a pack. The copper mesh isn’t coated with flux, but the copper itself will draw the excess solder from the tip of the iron. Do not get the steel scourers, as they are only good for cleaning dishes. A great addition to our ti p cleaner is the use of a simple $1 “locker organizer” picked up from the dollar aisle of the local super store. Just shove the scourer into the organizer to keep it from sticking to the iron. The magnet on the bottom will also weigh it down enough to keep it on the table when you make spastic stabs at the scourer in frenzied hacking sessions. Surface mount soldering is becoming more common amongstl hackers and hobbyists. This work is notorious for being one of the most tedious and annoying practices known to man. Of course, having the right tools for the job helps. The cheapest surface mount rework stations cost upwards of $100. In the past, our own [Will O’Brien] showed how to make your own surface mount reflow iron . A reflow iron or pen isn’t the only tool you need for surface mount soldering. Sometimes you’ll need a hot plate or oven . For smaller jobs we’ve found that using a candle warmer can be useful. We got ours for $5 from a super store. The plate might not get completely hot enough to melt the solder by itself, but it does help a lot when you use a soldering iron or a reflow iron by decreasing the time and effort it takes to warm the joints. The sweet spot on these warmers is usually directly in the middle of the black steel plate. Simply place a PCB in the center of the candle warmer and allow it to raise the temp of the solder joints. Use a reflow pen or soldering iron to heat the particular joint you want the rest of the way. It will take a lot less time to melt the solder this way. This is especially useful when placing surface mount parts, but can also be useful when taking them off of a PCB. Placing all of these components together inside the fume hood, the Hacker’s Soldering Station is complete. With this project we set out to make a simple, cheap solder fume hood complete with a time and temperature soldering station. We ended up with a great soldering station and fume extractor set up. In fact, this has now replaced one of the WLC100 soldering stations we usually use.
51
41
[ { "comment_id": "40053", "author": "strider_mt2k", "timestamp": "2008-08-05T14:25:20", "content": "One of my biggest problems with this project is the too small square filter tacked onto the round fan.the air will simply go out the gaps, rendering the filter absolutely meaningless.I have a few other...
1,760,377,776.454274
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/04/magnetic-stripe-card-spoofer/
Magnetic Stripe Card Spoofer
Adam Harris
[ "Misc Hacks", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "card", "card reader", "CardReader", "magnetic", "magnetic card", "magnetic strip", "MagneticCard", "MagneticStrip", "reader", "spoof" ]
https://hackaday.com/wp-…medium.jpg?w=450
After building a USB magnetic stripe reader , [David Cranor] has found a way to fool a magnetic stripe reader using a hand-wound electromagnet and an iPod. The data on a card is read and stored on a computer, then encoded as a WAV file using a C++ program. The iPod plays the WAV file with the data through a single-stage opamp amplifier connected to the headphone jack. The amplifier is used to drive the electromagnet. Video embedded after the jump. By no means is this a new idea. There have been a lot of mangetic stripe projects and software . This project in particular references the 1992 Phrack article “ A Day in the Life of a Flux reversal ” by [Count Zero]. Don’t get your hopes up just yet on strolling through high security installations using this little device. It can only replay the data from a card that has been recorded. If you don’t have a known working card, it won’t get you very far. [via Hackszine ] permalink
25
25
[ { "comment_id": "40032", "author": "MrGlass", "timestamp": "2008-08-05T07:12:15", "content": "Major malfunction was working on something very similar a couple of years ago. He showed an early prototype at Defcon 14.Also, he pegged the correct inspiration for this hack: terminator 2 (john connor uses...
1,760,377,776.576628
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/04/the-gifar-image-vulnerability/
The GIFAR Image Vulnerability
Benjamin Eckel
[ "cons", "News", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "blackhat", "GIF", "gifar", "jar", "ngs", "picture", "vulnerability" ]
Researchers at NGS Software have come up with a method to embed malicious code into a picture . When viewed, the picture could send the attacker the credentials of the viewer. Social sites like Facebook and Myspace are particularly at risk, but the researchers say that any site which includes log ins and user uploaded pictures could be vulnerable. This even includes some bank sites. The attack is simply a mashup of a GIF picture and a JAR (Java applet). The malicious JAR is compiled and then combined with information from a GIF. The GIF part fools the browser into opening it as a picture and trusting the content. The reality is, the Java VM recognizes the JAR part and automatically runs it. The researchers claim that there are multiple ways to deal with this vulnerability. Sun could restrict their Virtual Machine or web applications could continually check and filter these hybrid files, but they say it really needs to be addressed as an issue of browser security. They think that it is not only pictures at risk, but nearly all browser content. More details on how to create these GIFARs will be presented at this week’s Black Hat conference in Las Vegas. permalink
7
7
[ { "comment_id": "40025", "author": "BigD145", "timestamp": "2008-08-05T03:40:29", "content": "i was hoping the Black hats wouldn’t be on this axis.interesting. i know you can hide text in blank pixels, but this is new to me.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "co...
1,760,377,776.508357
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/04/make-television/
Make: Television
Adam Harris
[ "News" ]
[ "magazine", "make", "make magazine", "MakeMagazine", "makezine", "public television", "PublicTelevision", "submissions", "television", "video" ]
Make Magazine , famous for the Maker Faire , among other things, has announced a new project called Make: television . The show will be coming to public television stations throughout the USA starting early 2009. The big news is that you can submit 2 minute long videos of your projects to be included in the show’s Maker Channel segment. The bigger news is that if your video is selected, they’ll send you a $50 gift certificate from the Maker Shed and a free year of Make Magazine. permalink
2
2
[ { "comment_id": "40023", "author": "tony", "timestamp": "2008-08-05T02:56:12", "content": "cool", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40024", "author": "Coniferous", "timestamp": "2008-08-05T09:30:04", "content": "This. Is. Great!People te...
1,760,377,776.940001
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/04/build-a-simple-bat-detector/
Build A Simple Bat Detector
Caleb Kraft
[ "classic hacks", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "bat", "batdetector", "batman", "bats", "echolocation", "sonar", "ultrasonic" ]
[Tony Messina] had been fascinated with bat’s echolocation since he was a kid. After he retired, he decided to act on this fascination and built a simple bat detector . The simple bat detector uses frequency division to lower the bat’s chirping to a frequency we can hear. For example, if a bat is calling at 91kHz the system will divide it by 16 and put out 5.7kHz. The system is digital, so all amplitude is lost. You’ll just hear clicks like a Geiger counter. Being digital has its advantages though. Unlike similar analog devices that have to be tuned to a small frequency range, the simple bat detector can detect a much wider window. [Tony] has supplied step by step directions on how to assemble the simple bat detector, along with plans for two different models. He not only encourages people to build there own, but seems to really enjoy seeing their work. He’s posted several images of other people’s builds (pictured above) on his site. [suneth] has taken this idea in a slightly different direction with his Ultrasonic Batgoggles . Built for a school project in Arts, Media, and Engineering, they actually block your vision so you can try to use echolocation to navigate. You don’t hear the echoes, the processor deciphers that for you. You hear a beep that varies in speed based on the distance you are from an object. On the plus side, you will look totally awesome wandering around trying not to bash your nose on stuff. [via only hacks ] permalink
8
8
[ { "comment_id": "40015", "author": "BigD145", "timestamp": "2008-08-05T00:48:11", "content": "damn. i just stick my head out the door. if a bat is doing the sonar bounce off my head, i hear it.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40016", "author...
1,760,377,776.673889
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/03/cnc-wood-router/
CNC Wood Router
Eliot
[ "cnc hacks", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "cnc", "cncrouter", "cnczone", "engraver", "hobbyrobotics", "router" ]
[GlacialWanderer] has published the first pictures from his CNC machine build . It’s a three axis gantry style machine that he intends to route and engrave wood with. He’s posted a detailed cost breakdown: $1800. He estimates spending 30 hours researching on sites like CNCzone . The build time for the mechanical side was around 50 hours. The electrical system hasn’t been hoooked up yet, so look for that in a future post. It looks like an incredible machine already, so we can’t wait to see what’s next. permalink
16
16
[ { "comment_id": "40001", "author": "budy500000", "timestamp": "2008-08-04T09:58:16", "content": "overall i like the machine but the z axis looks like it will require a 5″ long router bit to function", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40002", "a...
1,760,377,776.624581
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/06/remote-controlled-pill-bot/
Remote Controlled Pill-bot
jimmierodgers
[ "News", "Robots Hacks" ]
[ "adhesive", "carnegie mellon", "CarnegieMellon", "medical", "robot" ]
The NanoRobotics Lab at Carnegie Mellon University has come up with a medical robot that can be swallowed , and is then able to be controlled from outside the body. The device has small arms with adhesives that can attach to slippery internal surfaces, which has previously proven difficult. Once inside the body, it can be used to view damaged areas, deliver drugs, as well as biopsy questionable tissues, and possibly even be used to cauterize bleeding wounds with a small laser. The device could be stopped, and even reversed to get a better look at areas that may have gone unnoticed otherwise. This would be a major advancement in diagnosing intestinal problems, and could lead to potentially life saving treatments. Did we mention that it has lasers? [via Neatorama ] permalink
12
12
[ { "comment_id": "40164", "author": "badmojo", "timestamp": "2008-08-06T20:58:25", "content": "Cool, wheres the plans? I wanna build one and put it in my dog.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40165", "author": "James", "timestamp": "2008-0...
1,760,377,776.816077
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/06/autonomous-swarm-at-large/
Autonomous SWARM At Large
chriskiick
[ "Robots Hacks" ]
[ "autonomous", "burningman", "burningman2008", "makerfaire", "orb", "sphere", "swarm" ]
SWARM has been showing up at a number of places . Until now, the mysterious spheres have been under human control. However, the SWARM has taken the first steps to autonomous control . The SWARM is a kinetic art project consisting of several large self-propelled metallic spheres that interact with each other and their environment. Each orb in the swarm is fitted out with a processor, GPS, accelerometers, and Zigbee wireless communications. The entire project is open source. Slated to appear at the 2008 Burning Man festival, the orbs will use their GPS to wander within a specified area, keeping themselves “in bounds”. Here’s the plot of one orb exploring a soccer field. Burning Man attendees will most likely see the whole SWARM in full autonomous operation. permalink
9
9
[ { "comment_id": "40155", "author": "Doug", "timestamp": "2008-08-06T14:11:15", "content": "My toes!", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40156", "author": "mesoiam", "timestamp": "2008-08-06T15:35:07", "content": "They should let them loo...
1,760,377,776.860825
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/06/more-on-gifar/
More On GIFAR
Kimberly Lau
[ "News", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "blackhat", "blackhat2008", "gifar", "gnucitizen", "hacking", "jar", "pdp", "security", "zip" ]
[pdp] provides some perspective on the news regarding the GIFAR attack developed by researchers at NGS Software. As he explains, the idea behind the attack, which basically relies on combining a JAR with other files is not new. Combining JAR/ZIP files with GIF/JPG files will create hybrid files with headers at both the top and bottom of the file and allow them to bypass any image manipulation library as valid files. While tightened security and more stringent file validation practices are advisable, the problem is larger than just a vulnerability in browser security. ZIP is an incredibly generic packing technology used everywhere, from Microsoft files to Open Office documents, and of course, in JAR files. He closes with, “any file format that is based on ZIP, you allow your users to upload on your server, can be used in an attack” [photo: Jon Jacobsen ] permalink
9
9
[ { "comment_id": "40148", "author": "TJHooker", "timestamp": "2008-08-06T10:12:36", "content": "I’d bet people are racing to use this to do root kit droppers already for bot nets. If someone used this with a modified Rustock.C, most windows users would never know.", "parent_id": null, "depth"...
1,760,377,776.901832
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/06/laptop-containing-33000-clear-users-information-stolen/
Laptop Containing 33,000 Clear Users Information Stolen
Nick Caiello
[ "News", "Security Hacks" ]
[]
Security 101: Never put unencrypted sensitive information on a laptop and expect that it’s safe. Especially if you are the TSA. Recently, the TSA announced that a laptop was stolen from San Francisco International Airport containing “ pre-enrollment records of approximately 33,000 customers ” for the Clear Trusted Traveler Program . For $100 per year, the Clear Program enables travelers to get through airport security faster by showing TSA officers their Clear Registered Traveler Card and going through a special security line. While this program has no doubt saved many people valuable time getting through security, there are about 33,000 people who are now asking the question “Who has my personal information?” [via schneier on security ] Edit: It looks like the laptop was found, however it is still unclear if the information on the laptop was compromised. In addition to basic personal information (Name, Address, Birthday, etc.), the laptop also contained drivers license, passport, green card information about clear users. You can check out the story here . Credits to [AudioCraz-Z] for the link. permalink
17
17
[ { "comment_id": "40131", "author": "Bobdiya", "timestamp": "2008-08-06T07:28:08", "content": "A little late on the story…they found the laptop in the airport. Perhaps it was misplaced, and then reported stolen? In any regard, it doesn’t excuse the lack of encryption.", "parent_id": null, "de...
1,760,377,777.166736
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/05/diy-kidney-machine-saves-girl/
DIY Kidney Machine Saves Girl
Adam Harris
[ "News" ]
[ "design", "doctor", "health", "hero", "heroes", "heroic", "kidney", "kidney failure", "KidneyFailure", "medical" ]
When the tool you need doesn’t exist, you must make one. That’s exactly what [Dr. Malcolm Coulthard] and kidney nurse [Jean Crosier] from Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary did two years ago. When a baby too small for the regular dialysis machine (similar to the one pictured above) needed help after her kidneys failed, the kind doctor designed and built a smaller version of the machine in his garage, then used it to save six-pound baby Millie Kelly’s life. Since then the machine has continued to be used in similar emergency situations. [Photo: NomadicEntrepreneur ] permalink
17
17
[ { "comment_id": "40116", "author": "tony", "timestamp": "2008-08-06T04:03:54", "content": "That is kick ass. making babies is fun, but saving them is pretty cool too.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40117", "author": "clark", "timestamp"...
1,760,377,777.078055
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/05/vista-on-a-ps3/
Vista On A PS3
Caleb Kraft
[ "computer hacks", "Playstation Hacks" ]
[ "emulation", "microsoft", "ps3", "qemu", "sony", "vista", "vlite", "windows" ]
Apparently you can run pretty much anything on a PS3. [mopx0] has managed to get Vista running on his PS3 . He used Qemu 9.0.1 to install Vista on a PC. He says it takes “about a day or so”, after using Vlite to speed it up, so be patient. You then make an image of the install and copy it to your PS3. Don’t worry though, your hard work will be rewarded by a speedy 25 minute boot time when you’re done. Even though it is extremely slow, to the point of being nearly unusable, its good to see people pushing the boundaries of our hardware’s intended use. [via PS3scene ] permalink
16
16
[ { "comment_id": "40100", "author": "crossbox", "timestamp": "2008-08-06T01:32:35", "content": "What song is that", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40101", "author": "2hochn", "timestamp": "2008-08-06T01:35:28", "content": "He used Qemu...
1,760,377,777.252226
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/05/deogen-tiny-monitor-tester/
Deogen, Tiny Monitor Tester
Caleb Kraft
[ "classic hacks", "home entertainment hacks" ]
[ "attiny", "AVR", "crt", "deogen", "monitor", "monitortester", "vga", "vgatester" ]
Deogen is a small, self contained device for testing monitors. It was designed back in 2000 to reduce the amount of space and effort required to test monitors in a computer shop. The initial design used an AT90S1200 microcontroller to generate test patterns for the monitors. Being about the size of a portable CD player, it was much easier to take to any monitor and plug in for testing. Version two of the device, pictured above, is much smaller, being about the width and height of a credit card. The depth is slightly larger than a 9 volt battery. Compared to the last vga test project we ran, this one is tiny. The unit boasts a decent set of features, such as; eight test patterns at four different resolutions, battery or DC power, and small form factor. The processor of version two is an ATtiny2313 at 20MHz, and controls the H sync and V sync signals directly. The RGB is converted to analog using a resister network. The power circuit is custom made for low power consumption, though they note that a 78L05 equivalent unit could be used in its place. The plans for the PCB and the software are available from their site. Head on over and check out some pictures of it in action. [Thanks, Philip Fitzgerald] permalink
5
5
[ { "comment_id": "40094", "author": "0xtob", "timestamp": "2008-08-06T00:56:37", "content": "Microcontrollers with VGA? Reminds me of the brilliant Craft by LFThttp://pouet.net/prod.php?which=50141", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "40095", "au...
1,760,377,777.115112
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/02/iphone-dev-team-progress-update/
Iphone-dev Team Progress Update
Eliot
[ "Cellphone Hacks", "iphone hacks", "News" ]
[ "3g", "apple", "appleiphone", "baseband", "firmware", "iphone", "iphone3g", "iphonedev", "iphonedevteam", "ripdev", "unlock" ]
The iphone-dev team hasn’t been resting on their laurels since releasing the iPhone Pwnage Tool 2.0 nearly two weeks ago and decided to update everyone on their progress . Despite the iPhone 2.0 jailbreak , there still isn’t a way to unlock a 3G phone. They’ve managed to do other things like downgrade a 3G to an older baseband firmware, which demonstrates their ability to bypass security checks and run unsigned code on the baseband. A nice side effect of all the downgrade work is that they’ve perfected the percautions they take to prevent bricking. The team has been following threads about using SIM proxy devices for unlocks as well, but concluded that the devices are a kludge at best and reliability can vary wildly depending on the phone’s location. They also pointed out the fine work that RiP Dev has been doing on Installer 4 which will help you install software that isn’t from the AppStore. permalink
3
3
[ { "comment_id": "39953", "author": "Dan", "timestamp": "2008-08-03T02:14:34", "content": "I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again guys, enough with the Jesus Phone “hacks” please. Its a closed source , proprietary product that I’m sick to death of hearing about, and it is more of a status symbol tha...
1,760,377,777.202657
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/02/stickduino-usb-stick-arduino-clone/
StickDuino, USB Stick Arduino Clone
Eliot
[ "Arduino Hacks", "classic hacks", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "arduino", "hardwareclone", "pcb", "smd", "stickduino", "usb" ]
The Arduino hardware clones keep rolling in. This weeks entry into the modern dev board’s roster is the StickDuino . The board is designed to be fully hardware compatible and plugs directly into your USB port. The StickDuino uses all SMD components. The creators know that this can make assembly more difficult so they’ve space the components out, opted for larger pads, and collected some links to SMD tutorials . The board feature two more analog inputs than the Diecimila and it has a jumper so you can switch it to 3.3V. All around it looks like a great product; frankly we love anything with full board layouts. permalink
7
7
[ { "comment_id": "39946", "author": "firetech", "timestamp": "2008-08-02T22:25:17", "content": "Nice! Keep the arduino articles coming!Can we get a quick link on the right for the arduino articles?", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39947", "aut...
1,760,377,777.291198
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/01/exposing-poorly-redacted-pdfs/
Exposing Poorly Redacted PDFs
Eliot
[ "News", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "acrobat", "google", "googlemaps", "larrypage", "pdf", "screencast", "video" ]
Privacy watchdog group, National Legal and Policy Center has released a PDF detailing Google founder Larry Page’s home ( dowload PDF here ). They used Google’s Maps and Street View to assemble all of the information. Google is currently involved in a lawsuit resulting from a Street View vehicle traveling and documenting a private road. This PDF was released in response to Google stating that “complete privacy does not exist”. For some reason the PDF is redacted with black boxes. We threw together a simple screencast (click through for HiDef) to show how to easily bypass the boxes using free tools. You can simply cut and paste the hidden text and images can be copied as well-no need to break out Illustrator. This sort of redaction may seem trivial, but the US military has fallen victim to it in the past .
19
19
[ { "comment_id": "39933", "author": "matt", "timestamp": "2008-08-02T06:10:58", "content": "isn’t the most secure way to redact a document the following?a) print it out. (on a printer without the yellow dot tracking feature)b) cut out the parts you don’t want anyone to see.c) scan it back in.looks li...
1,760,377,777.495723
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/01/new-features-on-wikiwatcher/
New Features On Wikiwatcher
Benjamin Eckel
[ "News" ]
[ "beaverscope", "checkuser", "poormanscheckuser", "virgil", "virgilgriffith", "wiki", "wikimedia", "wikipedia", "wikiscanner", "wikiwatcher" ]
Wikiwatcher has just officially released their new tools . We covered their announcement at The Last HOPE just last month. The 2.0 version of Wikiscanner is not ready just yet. Poor Man’s Checkuser exposes the IPs of quite a few user accounts. There is a wealth of data here which can be used as a base for your own tools. Potential Sockpuppetry is a good example of using this data; it shows what IPs are associated with multiple accounts and could be run by the same person. It takes data from the Poor Man’s Checkuser and arranges it by organization and IP range. Beaver Scope keeps an eye on edits coming out of all specific locations on MIT campus. The author used this list of MIT IPs to monitor MIT’s activity during the Caltech-MIT pranking season . It is able to pinpoint exactly which building an article is being edited from. The team hopes to see people develop new tools from the Poor Man’s Checkuser data. permalink
2
2
[ { "comment_id": "39931", "author": "TheBlunderbuss", "timestamp": "2008-08-03T09:17:15", "content": "Those new features? Yeah the links are broken.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39932", "author": "bhelx", "timestamp": "2008-08-03T10:06...
1,760,377,779.089803
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/01/msi-wind-extended-battery/
MSI Wind Extended Battery
Benjamin Eckel
[ "laptops hacks", "Netbook Hacks" ]
[ "battery", "cells", "laptop", "msi", "msiwind", "subnotebook", "wind" ]
[The Tech Guy] shows us how he added cells to an MSI Wind’s battery . This hack is extremely simple but it may be difficult to get the battery back into your laptop. Also, we’re not too sure how stable it is, and you can definitely forget about taking this thing through an airport . It would be really nice to start seeing people fabricate custom enclosures. Until then, this hack is best reserved for people completely desperate for extended battery life. [via hypatiadotca ] permalink
13
13
[ { "comment_id": "39921", "author": "joshua hall", "timestamp": "2008-08-01T22:31:57", "content": "This is nothing new, In Santa Monica,ca. USA (the unofficial cell phone capatiol) We call hacked battery packs “Ball and Chain batteries”. I had enough cell phone batteries tied together to give 24 hour...
1,760,377,779.334204
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/01/tablo-fabric-gesture-controller/
Tablo, Fabric Gesture Controller
Caleb Kraft
[ "Multitouch Hacks", "News", "Peripherals Hacks" ]
[ "conductivefabric", "gesturecontroller", "multitouch", "tablo", "witchofagnesi" ]
[Adrian Freed] posted this interesting fabric gesture controller called Tablo. It uses a stretchy conductive fabric, laid over a framework to create a curve known as the Witch of Agnesi . Holding the center of the fabric up is an inverted bowl covered with sections of conductive material. The whole thing is wired to a microcontroller that measures the resistance fluctuations when you press on the fabric. It is capable of measuring displacement and pressure as well as being multitouch. They mention that the simple interface allows it to be used as a foot input as well as a hand input. We’d love to see a video of it in action. permalink
8
8
[ { "comment_id": "39913", "author": "klintor", "timestamp": "2008-08-01T21:27:20", "content": "DISTRACTION PENIS", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39914", "author": "Stuart Grimshaw", "timestamp": "2008-08-01T21:27:48", "content": "What...
1,760,377,779.267264
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/01/essential-bluetooth-hacking-tools/
Essential Bluetooth Hacking Tools
Kimberly Lau
[ "Cellphone Hacks", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "bluetooth", "hacking", "hacks", "security", "tools" ]
Security-Hacks has a great roundup of essential Bluetooth hacking tools. As they point out, Bluetooth technology is very useful for communication with mobile devices. However, it is also vulnerable to privacy and security invasions. Learning the ins and outs of these tools will allow you to familiarize yourself with Bluetooth vulnerabilities and strengths, and enable you to protect yourself from attackers. The list is separated into two parts – tools to detect Bluetooth devices, and tools to hack into Bluetooth devices. Check out BlueScanner , which will detect Bluetooth-enabled devices, and will extract as much information as possible from those devices. Other great tools to explore include BTCrawler , which scans for Windows Mobile devices, or Bluediving , which is a Bluetooth penetration suite, and offers some unique features like the ability to spoof Bluetooth addresses, and an L2CAP packet generator. Most of the tools are available for use with Linux platforms, but there are a few you can also use with Windows. [via Digg ] permalink
9
9
[ { "comment_id": "39909", "author": "Chris", "timestamp": "2008-08-01T22:35:02", "content": "Attention: Due to a change in the German Law against Cybercrime (§202c StGB) I can no longer offer this software and any infmormation about how to use it. I will no longer answer mails regardings this tool. ...
1,760,377,779.449718
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/30/warballooning-at-defcon/
WarBallooning At Defcon
Benjamin Eckel
[ "cons", "News" ]
[ "defcon", "drone", "kismet", "kismetdrone", "sniffing", "warballooning", "wifi", "wifisniffer", "wifisniffing", "wrt", "wrt54g" ]
[rocketman] has posted about a new event at Defcon dubbed WarBallooning . They are using a Kismet drone (a modified WRT54G), a webcam, and a few high gain antennas. The balloon will be launched at about 15 stories and will be remotely fed targets chosen directly by the Defcon participants. The the directional antenna will be mounted to the camera so pan and tilt can be controlled. The Kismet CSV files will be available for everyone after the event. If you are interested in WarDriving or building you own high-gain antennas, we suggest you check out this WiFi biquad dish antenna mounted on a car . If cars are too boring, or you do not have one, you could always go WarSailing or WarFlying . Yes, the permutations are endless. [photo: JoergHL ] permalink
3
3
[ { "comment_id": "39807", "author": "TheSkorm", "timestamp": "2008-07-31T03:51:20", "content": "Don’t forget warriding and warwalking. Both of which that drone gets more time to scan for aps, usually getting a much higher AP count than wardriving.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies...
1,760,377,779.48761
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/30/esquires-hackable-e-paper-display/
Esquire’s Hackable E-paper Display
Eliot
[ "News" ]
[ "digital", "eink", "epaper", "esquire", "esquiremagazine", "magazine", "paper" ]
In celebration of there 75th year, Esquire magazine’s October issue will feature an e-paper cover. The display will be about 3mm thick flexible paper with four shades of gray and some animated text and images. The backside will also have a display featuring a Ford ad for the new Flex. The Ford ad is essentially subsidizing this whole production. The cover isn’t finalized yet, but Boing Boing Gadgets was able to get a few more details about it from deputy editor [Peter Griffin]. The battery isn’t anything exotic and they fully expect people to break the device open and do what they want with it. It will unfortunately still require you building your own controller, but at least you get two revolutionary displays to play with for the cost of a magazine. If you’re wondering what Esquire is, they apparently showed George Clooney 2 Girls 1 Cup . So they’ve got that to celebrate too. permalink
29
29
[ { "comment_id": "39780", "author": "pelrun", "timestamp": "2008-07-31T03:51:37", "content": "Now if only I could get my cotton-picking mitts on one down here in Australia somehow… :S", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39781", "author": "ted", ...
1,760,377,779.405391
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/30/robot-red-snapper/
Robot Red Snapper
Caleb Kraft
[ "News" ]
[ "autonamous", "fish", "redsnapper", "robot", "robotfish", "snapper" ]
Engineers at the University of Kitakyushu have built this red snapper robot . Intended for wildlife surveys, this robot sports an array of sensors as well as a hand painted silicon body. It is decidedly more realistic looking than the Robofish and the Essex University robot fish . They say that the life like construction will aid in getting information about natural behavior of sea animals since it won’t stand out. It features a “unique” propulsion system that allows it to swim like a real fish. More information on that system would be nice. You can see more pictures of it here , but the descriptions are all in Japanese. The team is also developing a manta ray. We’ll have to be patient though, they haven’t released any media on that one. permalink
8
8
[ { "comment_id": "39772", "author": "Christopher Finke", "timestamp": "2008-07-31T00:23:06", "content": "Ahhh, a red snapper. Mmmmm, very tasty.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39773", "author": "tommy", "timestamp": "2008-07-31T00:28:36"...
1,760,377,779.050767
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/30/bubbloo-interactive-floor-display/
Bubbloo Interactive Floor Display
Caleb Kraft
[ "News" ]
[ "Bubbloo", "display", "frustratedtotalinternalreflection", "interactive", "interactivedisplay", "interactiveprojection", "projection", "reactrix" ]
Bubbloo is an interactive display at the Denver Art Museum. They appear to be embracing a more interactive approach to displaying some of their art and information. One of their displays, shown above, features a pair of projection systems working together to make a game. As you pop the bubbles, the artwork is displayed. You can see it definitely helps keep the kids amused. While the technology used isn’t exactly new , its a good example of how effective interactive displays can be. Even if they are just there to distract the kids so the parents can look at art. The floor projection systems don’t seem as though they would be that difficult to make. We’ve seen interactive projection displays using Wiimotes made in peoples homes, but what about one of these? How would you handle the input without an accessory like a light pen or reflective tape? The Wisdom Well uses Frustrated Total Internal Reflection and rear projection. Reactrix , a manufacturer of these systems uses infrared sensors as well as some kind of floor sensor. [Lawrence Lau] has made one , but didn’t post any information. If you make one and let us know. permalink
5
5
[ { "comment_id": "39768", "author": "JayPetey", "timestamp": "2008-07-31T00:48:11", "content": "Ok, I’m very noob here in the “hacking” world… but… You can project light, which goes to say you can project IR light as well, right? Well isn’t that how most touch screens work… you pretty much saturate a...
1,760,377,779.524367
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/30/teenager-invents-vehicular-antitheft-system/
Teenager Invents Vehicular Antitheft System
Kimberly Lau
[ "Cellphone Hacks", "News" ]
[ "antitheft", "car", "cellphone", "mobilephone", "security", "theft", "vehicle" ]
We are very inspired by the story of [Morris Mbetsa], an 18-year-old Kenyan who’s invented the “Block & Track” , an antitheft and tracking system for vehicles that’s phone-based. [Mbetsa] has no formal training, but he’s been a lifelong inventor and tinkerer. [Mbetsa] combined voice, DTMF , and SMS text messaging technologies with cellphone based services to allow the owner to control the vehicle’s electrical system remotely. The owner, using his cellphone, can take control of the ignition, and disable it at any time. Other features include the ability to lock the car remotely, and the capability of dialing into the car and listening in on any conversations taking place within the vehicle. [Mbetsa] is currently looking for funding to take his invention to the next level; we’re eager to see what he’ll come up with next. [via Digg ] permalink
31
31
[ { "comment_id": "39744", "author": "carl", "timestamp": "2008-07-30T17:10:40", "content": "Isn’t this called ONSTAR?", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39745", "author": "lwr", "timestamp": "2008-07-30T17:32:10", "content": "Sounds like...
1,760,377,779.586196
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/30/nintendo-entertainment-system-hacks/
Nintendo Entertainment System Hacks
Kimberly Lau
[ "Misc Hacks", "Nintendo Game Boy Hacks", "Nintendo Hacks" ]
[ "hacks", "nintendo", "nintendo entertainme...", "NintendoEntertainme..." ]
MetaFilter has a nice roundup of various NES hacks . You might have seen these before, but it’s great to see them all in one place. Our personal favorite is the NES in an NES cartridge , and who could forget the NES controller coffee table ? Don’t forget to check the comments for more interesting NES hacks . We think there’s just something about the original Nintendo Entertainment System that inspires people to go all out with creativity and playfulness. We’re willing to bet that you probably have an old system at home gathering dust, just waiting to be modded and hacked. We’d love to hear what you have done, or will do to it. permalink
5
5
[ { "comment_id": "74872", "author": "Brandon", "timestamp": "2009-05-14T00:13:26", "content": "I was wundering could who ever made the portable nes system it’s awesome. Could you send me some instrutions on how to make please. My msn isbrandon.hendry@gmail.comthanks see ya…", "parent_id": null, ...
1,760,377,779.224833
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/30/shell-case-your-flash-drive/
Shell Case Your Flash Drive
Will O'Brien
[ "classic hacks", "Peripherals Hacks" ]
[ "usb" ]
[Aki] sent in his collection of projects. We like his bullet shell cased USB flash drive and his take on our friend , the simple parallel port based logic analyzer . The flash drive uses a B style USB connector, mounted inside a big freakin’ bullet shell. The logic analyzer is the classic version, but uses a rather nice unix compatible piece of software that supports up to 1mhz sampling rates. permalink
3
3
[ { "comment_id": "39742", "author": "techyguru", "timestamp": "2008-07-30T20:40:03", "content": "I’ve seen some cool flash drive cases but I like this one.Like you said it’s a little inconvenient to not have a usb-a connection on it but it’s more geek art than practical anyways.Now I think you should...
1,760,377,779.624711
https://hackaday.com/2008/08/01/electric-screwdriver-robot-hand/
Electric Screwdriver Robot Hand
Jason Rollette
[ "classic hacks", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "grabber", "hand", "pincher", "robot", "rov" ]
Here’s an interesting grabber hand built for use on an ROV . This grabber is a novel use of a very common and extremely cheap electric screwdriver, that is probably found in everyone’s toolbox. It is also a great way to reuse that small electric screwdriver you have kicking around that uses proprietary batteries that are not worth replacing. Many of the ROV’s covered previously could benefit from such a powerful device built from very common materials off his parts list. Because the screwdriver was extremely cheap the designer chose not to completely seal the housing. It seems like this simple design that could be used in many robotic projects and by simply changing the jaws could yield other creative uses. The first thing that comes to mind is to upsize this hack into something bigger and stronger. Either way, you might not want to get your fingers in there. permalink
1
1
[ { "comment_id": "39908", "author": "Wolf", "timestamp": "2008-08-01T21:18:48", "content": "The viability of this thing would depend heavily on how long motor lasts under water. Also, this could benefit alot from double hinge design that keeps the gripping surfaces parallel.Those things aside, this i...
1,760,377,779.890619
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/31/breakthrough-in-water-based-energy-storage/
Breakthrough In Water Based Energy Storage
jimmierodgers
[ "Misc Hacks", "News" ]
[ "energy", "photosynthesis", "renewableenergy", "solar", "solarpower" ]
[ Daniel Nocera ], working with the MIT Energy Initiative , has come up with a method to easily and cheaply store energy generated from solar electricity with water. The method uses two catalysts of non-toxic and abundant metals to separate the water into both oxygen and hydrogen. These gases are then stored, and later recombined in a fuel cell to generate power. The process was inspired by photosynthesis, and helps to make sources such as solar power viable around the clock. Current storage technologies are both expensive and inefficient, so technologies like solar are only useful when the source is available. This will allow homes to cheaply and easily store power generated through solar and other technologies. While this is only part of the solution towards the current energy problem, it could go a long way towards decreasing our use of non-renewable sources. When combined with other new breakthroughs in the field , you can easily imagine more homes coming off the grid. Check out the short video after the break. Click To Play permalink
43
43
[ { "comment_id": "39865", "author": "michaelb", "timestamp": "2008-08-01T06:44:09", "content": "Yeah, but how do large companies make a profit? (end sarcasm.) I believe Nikola Tesla had an idea of transmitting free energy, though, I could not see that ever happening as no one can make a profit out of...
1,760,377,780.218669
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/31/securing-dns-on-osx/
Securing DNS On OSX
rossfairgrieve
[ "Security Hacks" ]
[ "apple", "dankaminsky", "dns", "dnsattack", "mac", "OsX", "terminal", "vulnerability" ]
It’s been a few weeks since [Dan Kaminsky] announced the nature of the DNS vulnerability and allowed 30 days of non-disclosure for patches to be applied before details of the exploit went public. Unfortunately, the details were leaked early and it didn’t take long for a functional exploit to be released into the wild . Since then, many ISPs have taken steps to prevent their users from falling victim to the attack, and BIND, the widely-used DNS protocol implementation, was updated to minimize the threat. Even then, there were reports of a version of the attack being actively used on AT&T’s DNS servers . Mac OSX uses a BIND implementation but as of yet, Apple has not released a patch updating the system (Microsoft, on the other hand, patched this up on July 8 ). As a result, machines running OSX are at risk of being exploited. Individual users are less likely to be targeted , since the attacks are directed towards servers, but it’s not a smart idea to leave this vulnerability open. [Glenn Fleishman] has published a way to update BIND on OSX manually , rather than waiting on Apple to patch it themselves. It requires Xcode and a bit of terminal work, but it’s a relatively painless update. When we tried it, the “make test” step skipped a few tests and told us to run “bin/tests/system/ifconfig.sh up”. That allowed us to re-run the tests and continue the update without further interruption. [Fleischman] warns that people who manually update BIND may break the official update, but he will update his instructions when it happens with any possible workarounds. Unfortunately, this fix only works for 10.5 but alternative, yet less effective methods may work for 10.4 and earlier. If you’d like to know if your preferred DNS servers are vulnerable or not, you can use the DNS checker tool from Doxpara. As an alternative to your ISP’s DNS servers, you can use OpenDNS , which many prefer for its security features and configuration options. permalink
5
5
[ { "comment_id": "39860", "author": "sPiTfIrE-K1LL", "timestamp": "2008-08-01T05:29:20", "content": "why would you want to run DNS on a Mac, anyways? (Yes I know it’s Apple, not Mac).Windows is for gamingLinux is for serversMac is for looking pretty", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "repli...
1,760,377,780.023327
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/31/unmouse-cheap-multitouch-prototype/
UnMouse Cheap Multitouch Prototype
Caleb Kraft
[ "Multitouch Hacks", "News", "Peripherals Hacks" ]
[ "microsoftresearch", "multitouch", "multitouchmouse", "pressuresensitive" ]
A Microsoft research team has delivered a prototype called the UnMouse that could really be a big hit. This unit is a mouse pad sized sensor that is multitouch and pressure sensitive. It is flexible and thin enough to roll up. The article mentions that the construction of the device is “dirt cheap”. This is very exciting; is this the next mouse? The idea of having low cost multitouch input is very enticing. While there are many ways to do multitouch right now, most are limited by their large size due to projector/camera setups or high cost such as the iPhone. A portable (fits in your laptop bag) pressure sensitive multitouch input device is something that a lot of people have been craving for a while. Just imagine the uses. Audio engineers could create new interfaces on the fly. You could draw a key map on piece of paper and just lay it on top. Graphic designers could use different sized and shaped brushes. Gamers could make their own ergonomically comfortable gaming layouts. How about covering one in Velcro and attaching buttons to it? permalink
11
11
[ { "comment_id": "39849", "author": "Hockeytree", "timestamp": "2008-08-01T01:47:01", "content": "Using that to control midi software, or just as an instrument by itself would be pretty damn impressive…", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39850", ...
1,760,377,779.979288
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/31/russian-homemade-telescope/
Russian Homemade Telescope
Caleb Kraft
[ "News" ]
[ "barnaul", "eclipse", "observatory", "telescope" ]
In the Russian city of Barnaul, some enthusiasts are gathering their resources to revive a home made telescope and observatory. Built by [Mikhail Levchenko], in the mid 70’s, the telescope is quite impressive. [Levchenko] kept his hobby somewhat of a secret so as not to arouse the suspicions of his neighbors, but its pretty hard to hide a tower as tall as a house with a domed observatory on top. The telescope itself has a 16 inch glass lens that provides 500x magnification. His hobby would turn out to have a pretty big impact on the town. People would come to him hoping that his telescope could tell their fortunes. Not a believer in horoscopes, he tried to educate people with lessons in astronomy and physics. One man was said to have given up drinking after seeing Saturn. [Levchenko] passed away in 2002 and his observatory fell into disrepair. Local thieves tried to steal pieces for scrap and the whole structure has sunken somewhat. Some of those who were inspired when young by [Levchenko] have decided to renovate it for the eclipse . Barnaul will be a prime location for viewing. The total renovation and possible relocation will cost around 2 million dollars. In the past, we covered a high powered telescope made by some girl scouts , and this $40 USB telescope looks fun too. permalink
4
4
[ { "comment_id": "39845", "author": "Eugene", "timestamp": "2008-08-01T02:44:27", "content": "The picture appears to be of a reflecting telescope not a refracting telescope and would use a parabolic mirror instead of a lens.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "com...
1,760,377,779.931672
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/31/british-hacker-to-be-extradited-to-us/
British Hacker To Be Extradited To U.S.
Kimberly Lau
[ "News" ]
[ "army", "britain", "british", "GaryMckinnon", "hacker", "hackers", "military", "terrorism", "usarmy", "usgovernment" ]
British computer hacker [Gary McKinnon] lost his final appeal to block his extradition to the U.S. He stands accused of hacking into almost 100 U.S. military and NASA computers from his girlfriend’s aunt’s house in London over a four year period by the U.S. government. If convicted of the crimes in a U.S. court, he could face up to 70 years imprisonment. [Gary McKinnon] freely admitted to hacking into the computers, but claimed that he did it out of curiosity, not out of malice or any terroristic aims. He was looking for information on UFOs. The U.S. government claimed that in addition to hacking into the computers, he also stole 950 passwords and erased important files. [McKinnon’s] next move will be to appeal to the European Court , and if unsuccessful, he will have no other option but to stand trial in the U.S. court system. permalink
26
26
[ { "comment_id": "39820", "author": "Jerome Demers", "timestamp": "2008-08-01T01:08:19", "content": "Kudos!", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39821", "author": "BigD145", "timestamp": "2008-08-01T01:29:27", "content": "The moon is a UFO...
1,760,377,780.330489
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/31/hacking-animatronic-elvis/
Hacking Animatronic Elvis
Will O'Brien
[ "classic hacks", "home entertainment hacks", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "creepy" ]
[Scott] shot us a tip about some progress on hacking those creepy [Elvis] heads produced by Wowee. The head uses a flash cartridge to store all the data used for the motion/audio control. The cartridge uses NAND flash, so a quick solder job to an XD flash card reader yielded a useful dump of the memory cartridge – which happened to be fat32 formatted. There’s still plenty of work to do, but it seems that it’ll be trivial to replace the data with custom audio and motion commands. permalink
12
12
[ { "comment_id": "39809", "author": "Frollard", "timestamp": "2008-07-31T15:35:02", "content": "According to the writeup – its formatted fat16…", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39810", "author": "mike", "timestamp": "2008-07-31T17:19:30", ...
1,760,377,780.141996
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/29/hackit-crap-modding/
Hackit: Crap Modding
Eliot
[ "HackIt", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "animatronic", "elvis", "gear", "HackIt", "hand", "musicbox", "parts", "robot", "woot" ]
When Boing Boing Gadgets posted about this $13 robot hand music box , we immediately thought “OH EXPLOITABLE!”. Over the years, we’ve acquired quite a bit of cheap trash just operating under the assumption that we would turn it into something else. Most of our acquisitions are Woot ‘s fault. Just this morning we were dismayed to find out that the purveyor of cheap electronics had already sold out of animatronic Elvis heads . Now that would have been fun. We’ve purchased things like Tony Hawk helmet cams, jumbo remotes, Bluetooth headphones, Gyration mice, IMFree chatpads, and many other items of questionable use thinking that some day we’d use it. How about you? What sort of irrational purchases have you made and what would you do with a $13 mechanized hand? [Just as we were wrapping this up, Woot posted a $49 HMD ; you better believe we bought that.] permalink
30
30
[ { "comment_id": "39713", "author": "Marty Capella", "timestamp": "2008-07-30T04:07:21", "content": "Like everywhere else in the US, my electric company, Southern California Edison, subsidizes compact fluorescent light bulbs for sale at local markets and hardware stores. My two favorite recent subsi...
1,760,377,780.394377
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/29/digital-wall-harp/
Digital Wall Harp
Caleb Kraft
[ "digital audio hacks", "Misc Hacks", "Peripherals Hacks" ]
[ "infrared", "instrument", "IRsensor", "midi", "miditron", "music" ]
[Alison Lewis] has posted this fantastic digital wall harp project at My Home 2.0. They built an infrared MIDI instrument into a wall, using a MidiTron and some IR sensors. It all connects to a computer running a MIDI sequencer via a MIDI to USB converter. The project was built for a family home. They wanted something musical that they could play as easily as waiving their hand. They got it! Simply run your hand under the sensors and play some music! [via Instructables ] permalink
2
2
[ { "comment_id": "39711", "author": "thomas", "timestamp": "2008-07-30T06:58:58", "content": "Honestly guys, this is not a hack.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39712", "author": "kvmanii", "timestamp": "2008-07-30T22:31:31", "content...
1,760,377,780.526579
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/29/nyc-soldering-championships-tonight/
NYC Soldering Championships Tonight
Eliot
[ "contests", "News" ]
[ "ignite", "ignitenyc", "nyc", "nycresistor", "solder", "soldering", "solderingiron" ]
The NYC Soldering Championships are happening tonight at Ignite in M1-5. It looks like there might still be some slots open if you want to compete. You can bring your own iron, it’s all through-hole, but you can’t use helping hands. Good luck, and we can’t wait to see how this inaugural event turns out! [photo: Nick Bilton ] permalink
4
4
[ { "comment_id": "39708", "author": "BigD145", "timestamp": "2008-07-30T05:24:03", "content": "Does that mean I can use my teeth and/or lips? Word of caution: be very cautious when using your mouth and don’t breathe.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id"...
1,760,377,780.257062
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/29/the-liquid-display/
The Liquid Display
Will O'Brien
[ "classic hacks", "Peripherals Hacks" ]
[ "shiny" ]
[Nicolas] sent in his liquid display project .Think of it as the opposite of a fountain display. Instead of water, it releases bubbles into a flat panel filled with liquid. There aren’t many details on the site, but it’s a nice twist on an classic concept. He also created an odd sort of liquid interface. Touching the liquid in any of the three chambers in front causes changes in the reaction of the display. permalink
3
3
[ { "comment_id": "39705", "author": "Todd Grigsby", "timestamp": "2008-07-29T22:07:46", "content": "Great use of tech. This immediately made me think of an upscale restaurant/jazz bar/coffee shop with long panels lining the walls. Minus the liquid interface, this has immediately marketable applicat...
1,760,377,780.562919
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/29/medeco-high-security-lock-picking/
Medeco High Security Lock Picking
Eliot
[ "cons", "News", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "barrywels", "blackbag", "highsecurity", "highsecuritylock", "jonking", "lock", "lockpick", "lockpicking", "locksport", "medeco", "medecoder", "nde", "toool" ]
Despite, Hack a Day seeming to be fairly lock heavy lately, we’ve yet to cover a major story from The Last HOPE . At the conference, [Jon King] talked about vulnerabilities in Medeco locks and presented his Medecoder tool. Medeco is really what makes this story interesting; unlike the EU, the US has very few high security lock manufacturers. You pretty much have to use Medeco and it’s found in many government agencies. The Medeco locks have a vertical row of six pins arranged like most pin tumbler locks. Unlike your average lock, the rotation of the pins is important. When the key is placed in the lock, it not only moves the pins to the correct height, it also rotates them to the correct orientation. A sidebar blocks the cylinder unless the pins are rotated properly. Each pin has three possible orientations. They’re biaxial as well, which means the pin’s offset point allows for three more possible positions. [Jon King]’s Medecoder tool helps deal with the sidebar issue. Each pin in the lock has a groove running up the side. When the pins are in the correct orientation, these grooves are all perpendicular to the lock body and the sidebar can slide into place. [Jon]’s Medecoder tool is a thin piece of wire with a sliding scale to help you position these grooves correctly. To pick the lock, you first set all the pins to the correct height. Then, using the Medecoder you find each pin’s individual groove. All Medeco locks have the pins at the same distance from the lock face. The scale on Medecoder indicates where the pin currently is and where the pin should be. You can see [Jon] using this technique to open a lock onstage at The Last HOPE in under three minutes. This pin vulnerability has been known in Medeco locks since 1974. With the recent release of the Medecoder, Medeco has started manufacturing ARX pins again . ARX pins don’t have the groove cut all the way to the keyway, so they can’t be manipulated by the tool. As we mentioned earlier, unlike software companies, physical security companies have no perceived obligation to patch their install base … even if they’ve known it was broken in some form for 30 years. The latest issue of NDE has just been released and features a full write up on the Medecoder . It also details the different kinds of ARX pins that have been developed. [photo: blackbag ] permalink
11
8
[ { "comment_id": "39701", "author": "TBare", "timestamp": "2008-07-29T17:03:29", "content": "I’m so jealous! i wish i could have gone to the last hope. :(at any rate, isn’t it amazing that even though vulnerabilities like this are known, nothing is being done about them. I work for a company that dea...
1,760,377,780.655264
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/29/found-artifacts-from-the-future/
Found: Artifacts From The Future
Eliot
[ "News" ]
[ "artifacts", "deadtree", "found", "futurism", "infoporn", "metafilter", "waxy", "wired" ]
MetaFilter is reporting that Wired magazine (available on paper) has killed one of our favorite features . Found: Artifacts From the Future was a back page that asked artists and designers to create possible future products. While the magazine generally had a positive view, even in its sloppy use of infoporn, Found always seemed to have a comforting cynicism. Products appeared helpful on the surface, but still exhibited modern pitfalls: Even if you took the big leap to get a Bluetooth implant , it still required a two year contract. The Responsibeer could tell exactly how drunk you were, but did nothing to prevent localized debauchery. A Smart Windshield provided info on unsafe drivers… while obscuring your view. The short of it is: Found was our kind of futurism. It was excited about new technology while emphasizing all the frustrations we currently have trying to get consumer products to do what we want. It’s sad to see something that got people thinking beyond the now go away. MeFi has conveniently assembled links to all the online Found features . [via Waxy ] permalink
11
11
[ { "comment_id": "39690", "author": "PocketBrain", "timestamp": "2008-07-29T16:14:43", "content": "Aw for crying out loud, it’s one of the things that WIRED does best, exploring the social aspects and consequences of advancing technology, mixed with style. This was a flagship feature. I hope they c...
1,760,377,780.609565
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/28/simple-xbox-360-rapid-fire-mod/
Simple Xbox 360 Rapid Fire Mod
rossfairgrieve
[ "Xbox Hacks" ]
[ "gaming", "rapid fire switch", "RapidFireSwitch", "xbox", "xbox360", "xboxlive" ]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/Gjzm1A5-GMk&w=470] Back in May we mentioned AcidMods’ spitfire mod that enabled rapid fire (amongst other things) and was undetectable by Xbox Live. The parts list was quite low, needing just a PIC16F84A and a few other components, which led to third parties selling controller mod kits on eBay. The AcidMods team has figured out a new way to enable rapid fire using just a momentary switch and the necessary wire to hook it up. All you need to do is wire in the switch between the ground on the controller LED and the middle pin on the trigger. The only caveat is that because it’s hardwired to the LED, you can only use the mod on the particular port you’re using the controller on. The reason it’s so simple is because the Xbox 360 controller uses pulse width modulation to “dim” the LED on the controller, creating a rapid high/low signal. When the momentary button is depressed, it routes this rapid high/low signal to the trigger input on the controller, which is then input to the Xbox 360. Hit the read link for a couple more videos explaining this hack. While this modification is undetectable by Xbox Live, it does create an unfair advantage in multiplayer gaming and could result in your account being banned. [via Xbox-Scene ] Related: Xbox 360 Hacks , Xbox Hacks permalink
166
50
[ { "comment_id": "39678", "author": "davis", "timestamp": "2008-07-29T06:11:40", "content": "Nice hack made simpler! I wonder why he puts so much emphasis on this not being fake though..", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39679", "author": "Gh0...
1,760,377,780.829698
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/28/lock-picking-and-security-disclosure/
Lock Picking And Security Disclosure
rossfairgrieve
[ "Security Hacks" ]
[ "bumping", "key", "lock", "lockbumping", "lockpicking", "lockpicks", "locks", "medeco", "security", "slate" ]
Slate is running an interesting article about taking new security approaches to lock vulnerabilities. In the past, lock makers such as Medeco have been able to quietly update their product lines to strengthen their security, but as movements such as Locksport International gain popularity and lock picking videos on YouTube become dime a dozen , lock makers can no longer rely on security through obscurity. It’s no question that an increased interest in this field helps lock manufacturers to create more secure products, but because patching these flaws often means changing critical features of the lock, it becomes a very expensive game of cat-and-mouse. Traditional lock picking has employed the use of picksets, like the credit card sized set given out sold at The Last HOPE , but more recent methods of lock hacking have used bump keys or even magnets . However, as manufacturers make their locks less susceptible to picking and bumping, not even high-security locks will ward off someone determined enough to create a copy of the key, either by observing the original or using impressioning, as [Barry Wels] covered in a recent talk at HOPE 2008. permalink
5
5
[ { "comment_id": "39673", "author": "Tom", "timestamp": "2008-07-29T01:54:20", "content": "dont forget dental tool hacking for lock pickinghttp://inventgeek.com/Projects/lockpick/Overview.aspx", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39674", "author":...
1,760,377,780.702334
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/28/how-to-etch-a-single-sided-pcb/
How-To: Etch A Single Sided PCB
Jason Rollette
[ "how-to", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "acid", "circuit", "circuitboard", "copper", "etch", "etching", "how-to", "muriaticacid", "pcb", "peroxide", "protoboard" ]
Making a PCB is very simple; it does not consume a lot of time and the results look professional. After reading this How-To and watching the step by step video, you will be able to make your own PCB in your workshop using just a few inexpensive materials. Many people use protoboard and point-to-point wire everything, but needing multiple copies of the same circuit is the reason that forces many away from using protoboard. After making your first circuit board, you might not point-to-point wire anything again! For your first circuit board, one goal is to keep the circuit single sided so you can etch using single sided copper clad. This will allow you to gain some experience before moving on to double-sided. If you need topside traces, simply run a few jumper wires on the top. There are many complete circuit layouts you could try like the Hack a Day design challenge winner . Here is a list of materials you will need to produce a single-sided board. With the exception of the copper clad and PCB drills, everything on this list is easily obtained at your local store. Materials: Muratic acid , common household hydrogen peroxide, safety goggles, good quality magazine pages (cut to 8×11), laser printer, single sided 1 ounce copper clad, a plastic container the board will fit in, soft plastic brush, clothes iron, lacquer thinner, rubber gloves, paper towel, tin snips, drill or rotary tool, PCB drill bits, Scotch Brite scrubbing pad, good ventilation, 5-gallon plastic pail full of water. Now, here is how you do it: Print the bottom side layer on a piece of paper from a high quality magazine. Use one actual page from the magazine, the thicker and shinier the magazine paper the better, but do not use the cover. You must use a laser printer, not an inkjet. If your printer uses ink cartridges and not toner cartridges, it will not work. If you do not have a laser printer, you can work around this by printing to white paper and using a photocopier set to the darkest setting to copy the layout to the magazine paper. If the paper jams in the printer, you are not using a thick-enough magazine page. Again, do not use the magazine covers, as they do not work. Magazine pages are used because they work well, and they are cheap! The reason they work is because the paper is very glossy and the toner does not adhere well to the glossy pages. The printing used on the magazine page is ink and it does not come off, but toner does. Toner is actually a plastic polymer, and different toners may yield varied results. In our experience, a genuine HP toner cartridge was used with great success; an Office Max brand yielded poor results. The sole purpose of the toner is the protect the copper below it from etching away, you only want the uncovered areas to etch. Next, wash your hands to remove any oils. Keep handling to a minimum once the pages are printed and do not touch the laser printing with your fingers; this could get oils on the printing. Keep pages as flat as possible. Very carefully, remove the copper clad from the packaging. Do not touch the copper surface for the same reason as above. You can cut the copper clad to size using a tin snip if needed. Use the Scotch Brite scrubbing pad to gently buff the surface (Scotch Brite is a popular brand of of plastic scrubbing pad meant to emulate steel wool). Do not use steel wool because it will embed steel into the copper. Clean off the residual dust with a slightly damp paper towel. Find a hard, very flat, sturdy, heat resistant surface. Empty the water out of the clothes iron and set the iron on the hottest setting. Allow the iron to get hot. This is both side of a piece of copper clad. Place the blank side facing down and copper side facing up. Align printing/paper onto copper clad board with the printing facing the copper. Do not allow it to move. Firmly press the iron onto the back of the magazine paper, sandwiching it between the copper clad and the iron. Pressing hard without moving the iron, hold the iron perfectly still for one full minute. Do not move the iron at all during this minute, and push hard, really hard! Then, for four more minutes, slowly move the iron around making sure to put a lot of pressure on the paper, but not allowing the paper to slide on the copper. When done, let the board fully cool before you move it at all. This will allow the toner to adhere to the copper and prevent you from being burned. Put the board in cold water and let soak for five minutes. After five minutes, try to peel the wet paper from the board leaving only the toner/print from your laser printer. Only the toner should be left adhering to the copper. If the paper does not come off easily, let it soak in the water for a while longer. If necessary, rub with your finger to remove any paper, leaving only the toner. It’s ok if there are a few excess paper fibers stuck to the toner. If you find not every trace adhered to the copper clad or it is misaligned, use lacquer thinner and paper towel to clean the toner from the copper board and start over. If the traces look good then move on. Inspect the traces carefully, however, because what you see now will be your finished product. In a well-ventilated area with a fan, add 2-cups hydrogen peroxide to a plastic container. Gently pour in 1-cup Muriatic acid, to create the etching solution. Always wear goggles, gloves, and do not inhale the fumes. Do not use any metal containers, measuring cups, stainless steel sinks, or tools with this mixture as this mixture will aggressively etch metal. Acid safety, think “triple A”, for Always Add the Acid, it’s whatever is in the container that will end up splashing. This etching solution, while made with common chemicals, should command respect. It is dangerous to yourself and surroundings, treat it with respect. Ferric Chloride is another common etching solution, it is not a safer solution to use, both are equally dangerous. Put the board copper side up in the plastic container filled with etching solution. Use a soft plastic brush to gently wipe the board. You will notice the copper begin to dissolve. It takes about 3-4 minutes to get all the exposed copper dissolved. You just have to watch to make sure it is gone in all areas between the traces. Do not leave the board in the etching mix for too long as the traces will dissolve under the toner that is protecting them. Wearing rubber gloves, take the board out of t he etching solution and inspect it to see if all the exposed copper is dissolved. If it’s not, put the board back in and use the plastic brush to brush over this area. If it is dissolved, rinse the board under water for one minute washing it clean. Dry the board with a paper towel. At this point, the solution is used-up because of all the copper that has been dissolved within it. Dispose of the solution by diluting it in a 5-gallon pail of water. When mixed with the 5-gallon pail of water, the acid level and copper content was well below test limits in the water sample we sent out to be analyzed (restrictions in your area may differ). You may further reduce the amount of copper in the solution by not etching areas of the board that are not required. Consider adding ground planes in large open areas, and using less etchant when making smaller boards. Use lacquer thinner (paint thinner and acetone do not work well) and a paper towel to remove any toner left on top of the copper traces. Tinning prevents the copper from oxidizing, which can make it hard to solder to in the future. If you choose, you can tin all the traces with solder and a soldering iron now. This actually makes drilling much easier because it helps to center the drill bit. Make sure to clean off excess flux if you do this. You could use Tinit to chemically plate the copper. Here is a different tutorial describing its use. Drill all the holes for the through-hole parts using the correct size PCB drill bit and rotary tool. Drill large mounting holes with a normal drill. PCB drill bits are carbide and made to drill through fiber glass that would quickly dull standard bits. There are a few very common sizes of bits and these are often sold in packs. We use .0260″ for IC holes and .0310″ for resistors and caps. Print out the top side silkscreen layer on magazine paper and iron this onto the top side, using the same processes as above. Again, run under water and peel off the paper. Now you have the component ID’s on the top side. Here is a different video using essentially the same method: You can make really nice PCBs of your own circuit design using this simple method, and we look forward to seeing your future projects using this method coming in on the tip line . Look for more How-Tos like this one in the How-To category .
82
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[ { "comment_id": "39641", "author": "Jonathan", "timestamp": "2008-07-28T16:08:34", "content": "Why tin the traces? This seems like a big waste of time", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [ { "comment_id": "1839636", "author": "Robert", "timestamp": ...
1,760,377,780.930266
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/28/wiimoteless-ir-whiteboard/
Wiimoteless IR Whiteboard
Will O'Brien
[ "classic hacks", "digital cameras hacks", "Peripherals Hacks" ]
[ "ir", "whiteboard", "wii" ]
[Eduard] sent in his IR webcam whiteboard project . He wanted something like the Wiimote version , but without the expense of a Wiimote. He added some film negative to the camera to reduce the amount of visible light picked up by the CCD. (He notes that you might need to pull the IR filter from your camera to get a decent signal.) The pen is the usual IR LED with a power supply. To do the actual work, he wrote a custom application in Java. permalink
9
9
[ { "comment_id": "39632", "author": "M4CGYV3R", "timestamp": "2008-07-28T19:00:05", "content": "That’s awful complicated for something that can be done for $40 and a few minutes downloading and installing. What I hope to see(or submit if I get it working) is a whiteboard with different colored ‘marke...
1,760,377,780.983835
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/28/solder-paste-fridge/
Solder Paste Fridge
Eliot
[ "Misc Hacks", "Tool Hacks" ]
[ "cooler", "flickr", "hotair", "reflow", "smd", "solder", "solderpaste", "solderstation" ]
MightyOhm’s laboratories have recently decided to start tackling more surface mount work. As part of this upgrade to SMD hot air reflow stations, they’re handling a lot of solder paste. Solder paste is happy at less than 50degF and above freezing, and [Jeff] didn’t want to chance that lead infiltrating his Manwich, so he built this solder paste fridge . The main unit is a standard 12V peltier based travel cooler. He attached a surplus PID controller with a K-type thermocouple to maintain the temperature while preventing the cooler from being always on. The only adjustment he really had to make was adding a bleed resistor to force the MOSFET to turn off. You can find more pictures of his project on Flickr. permalink
4
4
[ { "comment_id": "39629", "author": "reza", "timestamp": "2008-07-28T22:06:12", "content": "Overkill for solder paste. I get my solder paste in small tubes from Zephyrtronics, and they have a formulation (they say) that works well at room temperature. I’ve stored the small tubes for months out in t...
1,760,377,781.029072
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/28/rc-duck-decoys/
RC Duck Decoys
Eliot
[ "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "decoys", "duck", "duckcam", "duckdecoy", "instructables", "movieplot", "movieplotthreat", "rc", "rcduck" ]
https://hackaday.com/wp-…decoy1.jpg?w=450
Here’s something for those of you who always wanted your projects to attract more shotgun blasts. [courtney] built two RC duck decoys . The decoys were only $10 to begin with and the RC submarines were an additional $20 at RadioShack. The construction is fairly clever, using a heat gun to conform the duck body to the submarine. We think the most surprising bit is that this has been done many times over: RC duck with rocket launcher , RC duck cam , and someone is producing commercial ones . Whatever you end up putting in your remotely operated duck, we’ll be sure to include it in our next movie plot threat entry . permalink
6
6
[ { "comment_id": "39624", "author": "kamu", "timestamp": "2008-07-28T12:30:22", "content": "That is fantastic. All it needs is some basic AIif see moving object larger than a duck:haul ass in the opposite directionThen you could leave it at your closest park with a pond.", "parent_id": null, ...
1,760,377,781.085074
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/28/monitoring-home-energy-consumption/
Monitoring Home Energy Consumption
Kimberly Lau
[ "home hacks" ]
[ "energy", "energy conservation", "EnergyConservation", "home automation", "HomeAutomation", "smart meters", "SmartMeters", "technology" ]
Power monitoring and home automation systems are coming to mainstream consumers. The New York Times covers the latest technologies (annoying login required) that improve and monitor energy efficiency in the home. As energy use and costs continue to increase, companies are popping up to offer cheaper solutions that will help consumers monitor energy usage, and decrease it simultaneously. Companies like Zigbee offer wireless protocols to track usage, and “ smart metering ” systems can communicate with appliances to reduce unnecessary energy usage. Home automation systems can be set up to control a single system, such as a home theater, or multiple systems throughout a home, like audio, lighting, and temperature. Control4 offers controllers that will allow consumers to regulate their lighting, blinds, and temperature in their homes. Smart meters such as Echelon’s NES system offers users some great features, such as the ability to provide automated reads of electric and gas meters, and enabling load shedding during peak consumption periods, by controlling appliances like air conditioners and water heaters. By allowing the consumers to determine and control how much energy they use, they can successfully reduce their energy consumption levels a significant amount, but whether it’s worth the cost of investment remains to be seen. Although the prices of home automation systems have dropped from over $30,000 to about $5,000, it’s still much more than most consumers can afford. We’ve covered home automation tools before. We like them because they’re still way more affordable than the offerings available, and the technology is more transparent. If you’ve got a creative and cheap solution to monitoring energy consumption, we’d love to hear it. [via Waxy ]
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9
[ { "comment_id": "39615", "author": "AKMA", "timestamp": "2008-07-28T10:43:36", "content": "[…. monitoring and home automation systems are coming to mainstream consumers. The New York Times covers the latest technologies (annoying login required) that …]surely, you must have heard of “bugmenot.com”?...
1,760,377,781.136892
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/28/synchronizing-fireflies-ng/
Synchronizing Fireflies NG
Eliot
[ "LED Hacks", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "attiny", "attiny13", "fireflies", "firefly", "led", "mote", "motes", "rgb", "rgbLED", "sync", "tinkerlog" ]
[Alex] from Tinkerlog has revisited an old project with Synchronizing Fireflies NG . Fascinated by how fireflies blink at same rate and synchronize with each other, he built a digital version. Each board has an RGB LED and a phototransistor or photoresistor. A ping-pong ball is used as a diffuser. The blink rate is controlled by an ATtiny13v. The board power can be daisy chained, but each firefly mote operates independently of the others. The microcontroller has a fixed flash rate and monitors for other flashes. It attempts to sync by flashing earlier. The color of the LED expresses how satisfied the firefly is with its current sync. You can see a video of eight fireflies attempting to self organize embedded below. permalink
9
9
[ { "comment_id": "39606", "author": "TheBlunderbuss", "timestamp": "2008-07-28T08:45:55", "content": "There’s something about this hack that is really appealing to me.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39607", "author": "Inkwina", "timestam...
1,760,377,781.181469
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/27/sonar-controlled-usb-missile-launcher/
SONAR Controlled USB Missile Launcher
Will O'Brien
[ "classic hacks", "Peripherals Hacks", "Robots Hacks" ]
[ "pic", "usb" ]
Check out this add on for that cheap USB missile launcher we know you bought last year. It uses ultrasonic sensors to provide sonar feedback for the aiming system . A PIC 18F455 drives a servo to aim the sensor and massage the signal from the sensor. It still depends on a PC application to put everything together. If you’d rather play with faster hardware, keep your eyes open for this years defcon bots contest . permalink
5
5
[ { "comment_id": "39601", "author": "Sean T.", "timestamp": "2008-07-27T19:07:43", "content": "Just modify that USB missile launcher to trigger a solenoid when it fires the “missile”, mount a loaded Glock with the solenoid on the trigger and you’ve got a decent intruder (or cubicle vandal) eliminator...
1,760,377,781.224502
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/26/rgb-led-cylinder/
RGB LED Cylinder
Benjamin Eckel
[ "LED Hacks", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "cylinder", "led", "nycresistor", "rgb" ]
[Dave Clausen] from NYC Resistor sent in his open source RGB LED cylinder . We have seen many cubes in the past (even one that display low-res 3D video ) so a cylinder is certainly a new concept and the RGB LEDs are a nice upgrade. The LEDs are wired in a 5-way multiplexed grid using four TLC5940NT s (16 channel LED drivers with internal PWM hardware) so each light is individually addressable. The best thing about this project, of course, is that he has source and EAGLE schematics availbale for download and both are licensed under Creative Commons. [via NYC Resistor ] permalink
9
9
[ { "comment_id": "39592", "author": "Br0", "timestamp": "2008-07-27T07:06:33", "content": "diggin’ it. Im glad the guy presenting the hack wasnt completely a social failure.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39593", "author": "michaelb", "t...
1,760,377,781.40158
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/26/boxee-available-for-ubuntu/
Boxee Available For Ubuntu
Benjamin Eckel
[ "News" ]
[ "apple", "boxee", "linux", "mediacenter", "OsX", "ubuntu", "xbmc" ]
The Boxee blog has recently announced that they have finally released a Linux version . So far, only Ubuntu 7.10 through 8.04 support is available. We covered Boxee when they released their alpha version a few months ago. One of the unique things we found about it was the added social layer that allows the user to share their viewing and listening information on various social networking sites. This XBMC based media streamer has won a lot of praise lately and we are excited to finally see it step into the Linux platform. Up until now, Boxee was strictly run on OSX 10.5 and thus bound to Apple’s hardware configurations. Once they get a stable version running, it will be extremely easy for anyone to build a media streamer from an old PC with various hardware configurations. permalink
8
8
[ { "comment_id": "39584", "author": "miked", "timestamp": "2008-07-27T05:56:59", "content": "not a hack", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39585", "author": "bhelx", "timestamp": "2008-07-27T11:06:16", "content": "Yeah, not a hack. You g...
1,760,377,781.266511
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/26/adeona-an-open-source-laptop-tracking-system/
Adeona: An Open Source Laptop Tracking System
Kimberly Lau
[ "laptops hacks", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "adeona", "laptops", "open source", "OpenSource", "schneier", "security", "theft", "tracking" ]
Adeona is an open source internet-based laptop tracking system that is free to use. It’s available for Linux, OSX, and Windows XP/Vista. After installation, Adeona will submit at random intervals, anonymously encrypted updates on the computer’s location to servers on the Internet, specifically to OpenDHT , a free storage service. The information is kept on the servers for one week. If your laptop becomes lost or stolen, you can use the retrieval tool to access information about where your laptop was last used: the external IP address, internal IP address, and nearby routers. If your laptop is a Mac, you can also download isightcapture to grab a picture of the thief. Adeona is designed to protect against common criminals who may not have much technological knowledge, and does not have any protections against events such as disk wipes. The open source nature of Adeona’s system means that there’s ample opportunity to improve upon the release or add extensions. Here’s one user who really likes what he sees. [via Schneier ] permalink
24
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[ { "comment_id": "39580", "author": "klintor", "timestamp": "2008-07-27T03:22:32", "content": "My laptop is a Dell, but it’s got a built-in webcam (as do many, MANY windows lappies). Is there a free open source app for that?Also, not a hack.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": []...
1,760,377,781.351907
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/26/five-plugins-and-tips-to-secure-your-wordpress-blog/
Five Plugins And Tips To Secure Your WordPress Blog
Kimberly Lau
[ "Security Hacks" ]
[ "plugins", "security", "tips", "tricks", "wordpress" ]
How do you protect your own blog from getting hacked? There’s never a foolproof answer, but with some added tools and caution, you can make your website a little safer from getting into harm’s way. Cats Who Code has five plug-ins and tips you can use to protect your WordPress install. Some of the tips are common sense advice that can apply to anything related to technology – such as making backups often and using strong passwords. Others include suggested plugins that can help you verify whether your WordPress install has any security holes , or small tricks to hide the version of WordPress you’re using. Do you have any useful plugins or tricks to share to keep your blog safe from hackers? [via Digg ] permalink
3
3
[ { "comment_id": "39578", "author": "Jordan", "timestamp": "2008-07-27T02:21:53", "content": "Hey thanks for that post. That will help a lot for WordPress security.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39579", "author": "twistedsymphony", "tim...
1,760,377,781.489469
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/26/honeybike-bicycle-thief-honeypot/
Honeybike: Bicycle Thief Honeypot
Will O'Brien
[ "Cellphone Hacks", "classic hacks" ]
[ "shocking" ]
[liseman] decided to build a honeypot for bicycle thieves . He mounted a pay as you go cell phone and a gutted stun gun inside a water bottle. When the phone is dialed, the stun gun is activated thanks to a tap on the vibration motor inside the phone. He also installed some tracking software on the phone so the bike can be traced when stolen. Location of the stun gun probes depends on certain assumptions: will the thief ride off on the bike, or simply toss it in the back of a truck. (Check your local laws if you’re contemplating doing this yourself.) permalink
18
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[ { "comment_id": "39561", "author": "pascal", "timestamp": "2008-07-26T16:06:05", "content": "oh, now that’s evil. no matter how expensive the bike was — it’s clearly disproportional to shock the thief while they’re possibly riding the bike. I imagine it’s quite easy to be run over by a car when you ...
1,760,377,781.614609
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/25/surveillance-as-art/
Surveillance As Art
Benjamin Eckel
[ "digital cameras hacks", "News", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "camera", "CCTV", "obesity", "RCA", "surveillance", "wemakemoneynotart", "wmmna" ]
The Target Project is a graduate project from the Royal College of Arts in London. It is designed to make us question our relationship with surveillance technology and CCTV . This is a particularly meaningful demonstration for a country like Britain which is said to contain up to 4.2 million CCTV cameras or roughly 1 for every 14 people . This project has two demonstrations on their site. The first is dubbed the RTS-2 (Racial Targeting System). This system is essentially a camera which follows faces and is able to analyze and interpret the person’s race. The second is SOLA. This system is able to quickly scan someone and calculate their body mass index then publish this information to the web. Both systems achieve their goal by blatantly pointing out a line in which more surveillance does not equate to more security. They also show the wealth of personal data that can be obtained about a person by a simple camera. [via we make money not art ] permalink
8
8
[ { "comment_id": "39556", "author": "Solenoidclock", "timestamp": "2008-07-26T04:16:53", "content": "Lol bigotcam.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39557", "author": "dave", "timestamp": "2008-07-26T08:02:13", "content": "Music video m...
1,760,377,781.654302
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/22/name-that-ware/
Name That Ware
Eliot
[ "contests", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "board", "bunnie", "bunniestudios", "hardware", "isa", "namethatware" ]
Last month we mentioned [bunnie]’s Name that Ware competition where participants try to guess the functionality of a random bit of hardware. We thought you might want to see another example; pictured above is the June 2008 ware provided by [xobs]. You can see a high res version here and an image of the daughter card as well. Be forewarned that someone has already posted the solution in the comments. At first glance there are quite a few interesting bits: board is copyright 1991, the 8-bit ISA connector doesn’t have any data lines connected, just power, and it’s got a lot of analog circuitry. Take a guess and then check out the comments on [bunnie]’s site to see the solution. permalink
5
5
[ { "comment_id": "39436", "author": "Enrico Fermi", "timestamp": "2008-07-23T20:23:21", "content": "god, you people need to look at amiga dual time base corrector cards more often… oy!", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39437", "author": "Steve ...
1,760,377,781.698504
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/22/home-made-pcb-drill-press/
Home Made PCB Drill Press
Caleb Kraft
[ "Misc Hacks", "Tool Hacks" ]
[ "dremel", "drill", "drillpress", "pcb", "rotarytool" ]
[yellowduck] took some fantastic initiative with this home made PCB drill press . Many people have a rotary tool already. Just add some scrap wood and four hinges. The drill press isn’t perfect; it pivots a little as it lowers. This shouldn’t be a problem for drilling printed circuit boards though. The PCB should be thin enough for the pivot to have little effect. After some test runs, he added a lamp for better lighting and intends to add a return spring and foot switch. It’s definitely a better solution than drilling multiple holes with a hand drill. permalink
10
10
[ { "comment_id": "39426", "author": "diy audio projects", "timestamp": "2008-07-23T01:28:08", "content": "How about mounting the dremmel to a pipe and then using a smaller vertical pipe or dowel as a guide? It will take up less space an not pivot.Gio", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "rep...
1,760,377,781.740937
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/22/annoy-your-friends-with-high-pitched-noise/
Annoy Your Friends With High Pitched Noise
Caleb Kraft
[ "Misc Hacks", "News" ]
[ "annoy", "highfrequency", "highfrequencysounds" ]
[Hungry_Myst] has put together this fantastic device to annoy your friends . It randomly emits high pitched sounds, then stops for a while to make it very hard to locate. He has added an extra level of annoyance by putting the noise in vicinity of 17KHz thus making it almost undetectable by people over the age of 30. The fact that not everyone in the room can hear it makes people go even crazier trying to find it. The parts list is fairly short, and the directions concise. One thing that is fantastic about this article is that he encourages people to improve it. That alone is not a huge deal, but he mentions in several areas specific additions that would make it more user friendly: on/off, pitch control, and delay control. Related: [jay]’s Picaxe based Brain Assailant permalink
32
24
[ { "comment_id": "39407", "author": "David Major", "timestamp": "2008-07-22T23:46:40", "content": "This could be even better with 2+ of them spread through the room with really long intervals between beeps.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39408",...
1,760,377,781.817611
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/22/1-wire-barometer/
1-wire Barometer
Will O'Brien
[ "classic hacks", "Misc Hacks" ]
[ "1-wire", "barometer" ]
[David] put together this rather nice 1-wire barometer . An MPX4115 measures the pressure while an SMD DS2438 mounted to an 8 pin DIP socket provides the 1-wire interface. The writeup includes a nice description of the board layout and wiring, making this project accessible to just about anyone with a decent tip on their soldering iron. permalink
4
4
[ { "comment_id": "39403", "author": "Dowser", "timestamp": "2008-07-22T15:00:22", "content": "If you don’t have a decent tip on your soldering iron, get a pre-made TAI8570 fromhttp://www.aagelectronica.com/aag/index.html?target=p_21.htmlor some other place.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, ...
1,760,377,781.861167
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/21/rewalk-suit-for-paraplegics/
ReWalk Suit For Paraplegics
Benjamin Eckel
[ "News" ]
[ "argo", "exosuit", "poweredexoskeleton", "powersuits", "rewalk" ]
We here at Hack a Day are really interested in power suits , so the ReWalk suit for paraplegics immediately caught our attention. By using unique robotic control algorithms, the suit works with the user rather than for the user. This allows the user to experience the sensation of walking autonomously and a chance at a normal life. Argo, the design company, also claims that a suit like this will end up saving the user money considering the high price of medical and transportation equipment. The core design is not entirely new. It has a batterypack and DC motors placed at the joints. The wearer uses crutches and the sensors and software monitor upper body movement to predict when and where the user wants to move their leg. [via Medgadget ] permalink
20
20
[ { "comment_id": "39383", "author": "tony", "timestamp": "2008-07-22T02:24:49", "content": "Congrats to Argo if that works as well as the video would have you believe. This is the kind of technology we should be exploring. Not sophisticated weapons systems to destroy life.", "parent_id": null, ...
1,760,377,781.926549
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/21/hackit-designing-a-web-tablet-for-200/
Hackit: Designing A Web Tablet For $200
Benjamin Eckel
[ "HackIt" ]
[ "HackIt", "n800", "nokia", "nokian800", "pepperpad", "tablet", "techcrunch", "webpad", "webtablet" ]
TechCrunch is asking its readers to help them design a web tablet costing just under $200 . They claim that there does not yet exist a cheap and usable web tablet designed for things like browsing, web conferencing, mail, chat, and VoIP. Here are some of the specs they are asking for: thin as possible touch screen (except for power button) WiFi video camera and low-end speakers 4 Gigabyte hard drive 1/2 Gigabyte of RAM Linux and Firefox (in kiosk mode) no desktop interface We are not completely sure that this device does not exist in some form. Tablets have been around for a while and many cover most of these features. Consider the Nokia N800 or the Pepper Pad . We also think the TechCrunch readers, who generally concern themselves with what they can buy rather than what they can make, are not really the best crowd for this job. Considering our reader’s abilities to do things on the cheap, we thought we would pose the question ourselves with our own spin. What old and cheap hardware could you re-purpose to create this product? permalink
34
33
[ { "comment_id": "39353", "author": "knoopx", "timestamp": "2008-07-22T01:28:49", "content": "well i do neither know any of them but would be nice to own one like this!", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39354", "author": "Some Guy", "timest...
1,760,377,782.149084
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/21/nes-crammed-into-a-light-gun/
NES Crammed Into A Light Gun
Caleb Kraft
[ "handhelds hacks", "home entertainment hacks" ]
[ "duckhunt", "lightgun", "nes", "superjoy" ]
[GonzoMPM-1] Has gutted an NES knock off called Super Joy III and crammed it inside of a light gun . Inspired by a daughter that loves duck hunt, he wanted to consolidate the package and make it more portable. He’s managed to pull off some nice finish, it look almost professional in the picture above. The unit is powered by 3 AAA batteries in the handle. The game system works just fine, and he claims that the controls are actually more responsive now. The light gun works as well if you have a CRT television around. You many notice that there is no cartridge slot. There really isn’t a need for one in this mod. The Super Joy III comes equipped with 76 games on the board. He notes that he can make an external cart at some point, but may leave it off in favor of the compact design. While he acknowledges that this is not a completely self contained gaming device, we feel it earns honorable mention for being cool. [via technabob ] permalink
3
3
[ { "comment_id": "39350", "author": "D", "timestamp": "2008-07-21T22:08:53", "content": "Don’t try to take your game on a plane…", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39351", "author": "DarkFader", "timestamp": "2008-07-23T13:36:58", "conte...
1,760,377,782.187718
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/24/behead-your-laptop/
Behead Your Laptop
Will O'Brien
[ "classic hacks", "laptops hacks" ]
[ "laptops", "mac", "recycle" ]
[Mark] sent in this nice trick for breathing new life into an old laptop . [Sarc] had a tibook with a broken LCD. It was still usable with an external monitor, so he simply removed the broken LCD. The tibook (and MacBook) uses a magnetic sensor to monitor the LCD position. To put the machine in the right mode, he taped a magnet in place to make the machine think that the display was in the closed position. To really clean things up, he mounted all the hardware under the desk and used a wireless keyboard and mouse with the machine. permalink
19
19
[ { "comment_id": "39488", "author": "strider_mt2k", "timestamp": "2008-07-24T14:15:05", "content": "Not too shabby at all!I like the tricking the machine with a magnet part too. (old tricks are the best tricks)I’ve removed the broken LCD panels from three otherwise fine laptops in the past for makesh...
1,760,377,782.073079
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/23/build-a-robonova-i/
Build A ROBONOVA-I
Eliot
[ "Robots Hacks" ]
[ "davidcalkins", "hitec", "robogames", "robonova", "robot", "servo", "systm", "video" ]
On the latest episode of Systm , they talk to [David Calkins], founder of the RoboGames competition, about humanoid robotics. The robots featured in the episode are Hitec’s ROBONOVA-I . The ROBONOVA is about a foot high and has 16 servos with support for up to 24, all connected to an Atmel controller. The episode is quite long: At around 15 minutes, they demonstrate the programming enviroment. You can program it traditionally or pose the bot to work out the motions. At 30 minutes, [David] mentions that next year’s competition will allow airsoft weapons to be attached, but bots have to be controlled from a first person perspective. If you’re interested in one of these kits, they have a ROBONOVA special of $900 or as low as $500 for educational institutions (that’s us, right?). Now is the perfect time to get one since you’ll have nearly a full year to prepare for RoboGames. Related: You’ll hear builder [ Matt Bauer ]’s name mentioned several times. [via BotJunkie ] permalink
14
14
[ { "comment_id": "39474", "author": "brokenlcd", "timestamp": "2008-07-24T05:46:34", "content": "“next year’s competition will allow airsoft weapons to be attached”The robot revolution is just a stone’s throw away…", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": ...
1,760,377,782.439565
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/23/dns-exploit-in-the-wild/
DNS Exploit In The Wild
Eliot
[ "News", "Security Hacks" ]
[ "cache", "dankaminsky", "dns", "druid", "exploit", "hdmoore", "matasano", "metasploit" ]
We’ve been tracking Metasploit commits since Matasano’s premature publication of [Dan Kaminsky]’s DNS cache poisoning flaw on Monday knowing full well that a functional exploit would be coming soon. Only two hours ago [HD Moore] and [I)ruid] added a module to the Metasploit Project that will let anyone test the vulnerability (with comment: “ ZOMG. What is this? >:-) “). [HD] told Threat Level that it doesn’t work yet for domains that are already cached by the DNS server, but it will automatically wait for the cached entry to expire and then complete the attack. You can read more about the bailiwicked_host.rb module in CAU’s advisory . For a more detailed description of how the attack works, see this mirror of Matason’s post . You can check if the DNS server you are using is vulnerable by using the tool on [Dan]’s site . [photo: mattdork ] permalink
4
4
[ { "comment_id": "39470", "author": "ejonesss", "timestamp": "2008-07-24T14:46:40", "content": "does the exploit affect the dns servers running the internet or just home systems?", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39471", "author": "Mark", "...
1,760,377,782.227562
https://hackaday.com/2008/07/23/simple-tracking-in-3d-space/
Simple Tracking In 3D Space
Caleb Kraft
[ "Arduino Hacks", "Misc Hacks", "Peripherals Hacks" ]
[ "3d", "3dtracking", "arduino", "capacitivedistancesensing", "wii" ]
[kylemcdonald] has posted this how to build a simple 3D tracking interface . Using 6 resisters, some wire, aluminum foil, an Arduino, and a cardboard box, he was able to do 3D capacitive sensing. Coupling that with Processing , he was able to overlay an interface using augmented reality. The video above shows a 3D tic tac toe application. While it seems less than perfect, its pretty amazing for how simple it is. Seen anything similar to this out there? What applications would be fun with this? permalink
19
19
[ { "comment_id": "39454", "author": "mike", "timestamp": "2008-07-23T21:45:52", "content": "3d tic tac toe……..sweet. Thats going to be the next big craze like the rubix cube or sudoku.", "parent_id": null, "depth": 1, "replies": [] }, { "comment_id": "39455", "author": "Bjonn...
1,760,377,782.490189