url stringlengths 37 208 | title stringlengths 4 148 | author stringclasses 173 values | publish_date stringclasses 1 value | categories listlengths 0 12 | tags listlengths 0 27 | featured_image stringlengths 0 272 | content stringlengths 0 56.1k | comments_count int64 0 900 | scraped_comments_count int64 0 50 | comments listlengths 0 50 | scraped_at float64 1.76B 1.76B |
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https://hackaday.com/2008/06/26/msi-wind-under-fcc-review/ | MSI Wind Under FCC Review | Juan Aguilar | [
"Netbook Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"Asuseeepc",
"EeePc",
"fcc",
"intelatom",
"msi",
"msiwind",
"umpc"
] | Those of us who have been eagerly waiting to get their mitts on an MSI Wind can see some light at the end of the tunnel, as it is
currently under review for domestic sale by the FCC
. The Wind is MSI’s answer to Asus’s game-changing ultraportable, the Eee PC, and has slightly better specs. It features an Intel Atom 1.6GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM. It also has built in bluetooth and webcam. Check out a few shots of the Wind’s internal parts at jkkmobile or
grab them all from the FCC’s site
. | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "37842",
"author": "Narksos",
"timestamp": "2008-06-27T06:02:05",
"content": "I know Hackaday is trying some new things recently, and I feel that the site is just going downhill. I’ve been coming here for a long time because I’m interested in the full write ups for the hacks featured... | 1,760,377,804.714628 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/26/ironkey-usb-key-has-military-grade-encryption/ | IronKey USB Key Has Military Grade Encryption | Juan Aguilar | [
"firefox hacks",
"News"
] | [
"encryption",
"FIPS",
"firefox3",
"ironkey",
"linux",
"security",
"usb"
] | Plenty of USB storage keys are on the market, but Ironkey is
the first to use military level encryption
. Sold in 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB sizes, the key features a processor called the Cryptochip, which uses Public Key Cryptography ciphers linked to an online account to create encryption keys on the hardware. A Federal Information Processing standard 140-2 compliant true random number generator on the Cryptochip ensure that encryption keys are extremely secure and totally random.
Ironkeys come in different sizes, but there are also three different versions, each with unique features. The basic version has a very James Bond-esque feature to destroy the data on it in case of an emergency. The personal version is loaded with Firefox 3 with various addons that make browsing encrypted and anonymous. The enterprise version is made to order with no specific price on the IronKey site, just a form to order one built to your specifications. All of them support Windows, OS X, and a large amount of Linux distros, and they all come in tamper proof and water resistant cases with a brushed metal finish. We tend to think this level of security is overkill for the average person, but people can’t seem to get with our freewheeling approach to security; remember,
we leave our WLAN open
.
[via
LinuxDevices
]
permalink | 32 | 32 | [
{
"comment_id": "37819",
"author": "beesknees",
"timestamp": "2008-06-27T06:21:16",
"content": "who cares, this is not why the majority of your readers (or at least what I hope to be) come to this site. i know comments like these are getting old but seriously, this is extremely far from a hack and ... | 1,760,377,804.829939 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/26/new-nintendo-ds-homebrew-music-apps/ | New Nintendo DS Homebrew Music Apps | Juan Aguilar | [
"handhelds hacks",
"Nintendo DS Hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks",
"Portable Audio Hacks"
] | [
"dsmcu",
"dsmusic",
"homebrew",
"korgds-10",
"midi",
"music",
"nintendo",
"nintendods",
"proteinds",
"proteindscratch",
"reaper"
] | The Nintendo DS homebrew scene is heading into a heavily musical interlude with
a few new apps
. This is good news for anyone who liked
Protein DScratch
but wanted more options and functionality. More information after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOmxEuSwFjc&hl=en&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999]
The second is a program called dsmcu; it doesn’t make music itself, but is designed to control an external MIDI program or device via WiFi. As the name implies, it uses the mcu protocol to send and receive fader data, display live VU meters, control tracks and volume, and scrub. It is currently in beta and only works with
Reaper
and
DSMI
, but the developers are confident that they’ll get Logic and Pro Tools working with it soon.
We don’t expect you to use these as a substitute for
Korg DS-10
, the commercial Korg synth emulator for the DS. Rather, when used in along with it, these programs make the DS into a surprisingly potent tool for making and mixing music.
permalink | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "37818",
"author": "HaDAk",
"timestamp": "2008-06-27T07:53:14",
"content": "Aww, both videos are down. Did someone manage to get a mirror?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "63987",
"author": "FatFryat",
"timestamp": "2009-... | 1,760,377,804.623813 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/26/in-car-wifi/ | In Car WiFi | Juan Aguilar | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"chrysler",
"natetrue",
"portablewi-fi",
"portablewifi",
"router",
"routers",
"stompbox",
"wi-fi",
"wifi"
] | You may have already heard that Chrysler is planning to provide
in-car wireless internet access
to its vehicles. If not, expect to hear more about it later this year when the requisite hardware becomes a sales-floor option, or next year when it becomes factory standard for some cars.
We can’t say it’s a bad idea, it’s just not a new one. Plenty of
commercial portable routers
are available, but they still need a modem and data plan to provide internet access. For internet access and wireless routing, look to
[Nate True]’s cellphone-router combo
, which uses a spare Nokia cellphone and a highly modded Wi-Fi router running OpenWRT. [True] has made it easy by providing the instructions and necessary custom code, but it seems like a lot of effort for a relatively slow connection. We think the original
Stompbox
is still the most fun since it has the speed of commercial devices and an open x86 OS to modify.
permalink | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "37811",
"author": "RT (Panzer Time!)",
"timestamp": "2008-06-27T02:43:44",
"content": "It’s a-ok for nerds like us to build our own hardware and have this capability, but I’m worried about it becoming commercially available. We already have a huge enough problem with texters runnin... | 1,760,377,804.872843 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/26/arduino-environment-on-atmega644/ | Arduino Environment On ATmega644 | Juan Aguilar | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"atmega",
"atmega644",
"environment",
"microcontroller",
"porting"
] | Our friend [Zach Hoeken] at NYC Resistor is
porting the Arduino environment to an ATmega644 chip
. This doesn’t really add new functionality to the ATmega644 as it is already fully programmable, but it does add a user-friendly and familiar environment to the ATmega, allowing users to build their Arduino-based projects with more powerful hardware. The ATmega is, after all, the biggest DIP package AVR makes, featuring 64k flash and 4k RAM (both four times as much as an Arduino) and 32 I/O pins, which is 12 more than an Arduino. The video is only proof of concept, so we will let you know when [Zach] releases more details.
[via
NYC Resistor
]
permalink | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "37808",
"author": "deoryp",
"timestamp": "2008-06-27T02:26:05",
"content": "Arduino is just the software, and the popular chip happens to be the atmega168, but Arduino is designed to be run on any atmega family chip, even the atmega256x which is better than a 644. Arduino is the abs... | 1,760,377,804.950612 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/26/mr-modchip-ruling-released/ | Mr. Modchip Ruling Released | Juan Aguilar | [
"News",
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"britishlaw",
"copyright",
"copyrightinfringement",
"copyrightlaw",
"modchip",
"modchips",
"mrmodchips",
"piracy",
"xbox",
"xbox360"
] | In an unexpected development, [Neil Stanley Higgs], aka Mr. Modchips,
was cleared of his previous convictions
in British courts for selling modchips for the Xbox 360 as well as modded consoles.
Notably, the prosecution did not argue that he infringed copyrights, but merely facilitated copyright infringement by selling modchips that circumvent the Xbox’s ETM. Since the copyright infringement argument was not made, existing law continues to hold sellers of pirated games and owners of modded consoles responsible for infringing the copyrights of game developers, as they are the ones who illegally copy the software. Pirated game sellers’ violation of the law is plain to see, but owners are still held responsible the moment they place the pirated disc into the loading tray and boot it up. The infringement in these cases occurs exactly when any part of the pirated game is loaded onto the console’s RAM, as this is considered another illegal copy.
[Higgs]’s charges hinged on whether the Xbox’s piracy prevention methods were intended to completely prevent pirated games from being played or merely act as a hindrance. The court felt it was the latter, and so they reversed the charges.
[via
Xbox-Scene
via
Team Xecuter
]
[photo:
Raybdbomb
]
permalink | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "37802",
"author": "Dave",
"timestamp": "2008-06-27T00:43:12",
"content": "Awesome… Finally some justice. LoLOnce I pay for the Hardware Jack, Its mine, to do as I please…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37803",
"author": "ME... | 1,760,377,804.914894 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/us-and-china-host-majority-of-malware/ | U.S. And China Host Majority Of Malware | Eliot | [
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"badware",
"china",
"infection",
"malware",
"networkblock",
"stopbadware"
] | StopBadware.org
has released their
May 2008 Infected Sites Report
(PDF). They took their current list of 213K active badware websites and resolved the IP addresses. These addresses were used to determine the network block owner and country. The results could be skewed to networks Google scans more often, but they should give a decent overall picture. China hosts 52% of all the badware sites while the U.S. has 21%. There weren’t any other countries maintaining over 4% of the total. They also calculated the number of infected sites per capita, which China also led. Last year’s report resulted in several AS block maintainers cleaning up to the point that they don’t even make the top 250 this year.
permalink | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "37688",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2008-06-25T08:00:15",
"content": "i do not approve of this post.not a hack.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37689",
"author": "Lars",
"timestamp": "2008-06-25T08:46:50",
"cont... | 1,760,377,804.996021 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/24/getlofis-dub-siren/ | GetLoFi’s Dub Siren | Eliot | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"circuitbending",
"circuitbent",
"dub",
"dubreggae",
"dubsiren",
"getlofi",
"reggae"
] | GetLoFi
has always been one of our first stops when looking for circuit bending fun. Their latest project is
building this simple dub siren
from a noise making key chain. Dub sirens or rasta boxes are a signature sound in dub reggae. The base of this project is an eight sound keychain. Each pad is wired to an eight position selector switch. The pitch resistor is replaced with a linear pot. One push button is used to replace the original eight and another is used for mute. Plug the 1/4inch jack into a delay pedal and you’re ready to rock. Check out the video below to see this particular box in use.
permalink | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "37685",
"author": "dazed_maunder",
"timestamp": "2008-06-25T07:10:31",
"content": "loved it fack with it some more and youll have it",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37686",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2008-06-25T08:... | 1,760,377,804.585524 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/24/citibank-atm-pin-heist-mystery-continues/ | Citibank ATM PIN Heist Mystery Continues | Eliot | [
"News"
] | [
"atm",
"citibank",
"fbi",
"pin",
"pinheist",
"security",
"threatlevel"
] | For the last few months, the FBI have been investigating a breach of Citibank’s ATM transaction processing servers. We’ve seen credit card numbers get stolen before, but these compromised servers were used to collect card numbers and PINs as transactions took place. The group responsible hired people to write new cards and use them to make ATM withdrawals. The card makers would keep a percentage and launder the rest. This is just a very small part of story and the extent of the breach isn’t fully realised yet. Threat Level’s [Kevin Poulson] has the
whole story on this disturbing situation
.
[photo:
Bryan Derballa
]
permalink | 12 | 12 | [
{
"comment_id": "37675",
"author": "Lars",
"timestamp": "2008-06-25T08:48:36",
"content": "I usually just read Hack a Day – and love it. But lately I’ve been seeing a decline in quality with posts like this leaking in. So I feel I have to say that I don’t think these kind of articles belong on Hack ... | 1,760,377,804.762172 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/24/crawling-sql-injection-with-scrawlr/ | Crawling + SQL Injection With Scrawlr | Eliot | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"crawler",
"free",
"scrawlr",
"security",
"sql",
"sqlinjection",
"tool",
"verboseinjection",
"webcrawler"
] | Scrawlr
is the latest tool to come out of HP’s Web Security Research Group. It was built in response to the
massive number of SQL injection attacks
happening on the web this year. Most of these vulnerable sites are found through googling, so Scrawlr works the same way. Point it at your web server and it will
crawl all of the pages and evaluate the URL parameters
to see if they’re vulnerable to verbose injection. It reports the SQL server and table names if it comes across anything.
It only supports 1500 pages right now and can’t do authentication or blind injection. It’s still a free tool and a great way to identify if your site is vulnerable to automated tools finding you website via search engines.
[via
Acidus
]
permalink | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "37672",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2008-06-25T17:25:33",
"content": "i do not approve of this post.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37673",
"author": "Paulo Albuquerque",
"timestamp": "2008-06-25T18:47:34",
"co... | 1,760,377,804.668196 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/24/server-access-fail/ | Server Access FAIL | Eliot | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"access",
"dailywtf",
"DataCenter",
"fail",
"humor",
"restroom",
"stall",
"toilet",
"wtf"
] | Head over to The Daily WTF to find out about the building upgrade that made this data center
only accessible from the handicap stall of the women’s restroom
.
permalink | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "37669",
"author": "Sean",
"timestamp": "2008-06-25T03:02:34",
"content": "I bet lots of network admins are nervous pooers. This system works out perfectly for the lady Admin who doesn’t want her colleagues to know she’s doing her dirty business.“I uh.. Really need to check the cab... | 1,760,377,805.170448 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/24/open-source-data-recovery-tools/ | Open Source Data Recovery Tools | Eliot | [
"computer hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"backtrack",
"datarecovery",
"forensic",
"forensics",
"partedmagic",
"photorec",
"systemrescuecd"
] | InformationWeek has great article on
open source data recovery tools
. What type of tools you use will depend on the severity of the situation. You can use live Linux distros designed for recovery like
SystemRescueCD
or
Partedmagic
(the latter being more user friendly). Security tools distrubutions like
BackTrack
can also be helpful;
Helix
in particular was designed for forensics work. dd is a standard *nix tool for imaging drives, but something like
TestDisk
can help you repair partition tables for whole disk recovery. Most deletion operations don’t overwrite the data which means you can use file carving to capture the lost files.
PhotoRec
is able to find files in a number of common formats. Finally, if you’ve got some serious forensic work ahead of you there’s
The Sleuth Kit
and many other command line tools.
As an addendum, OStatic put together a list of
5 freeware tools for protecting your system
.
permalink | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "37666",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2008-06-25T17:26:49",
"content": "i approve of this post.not my cup of of tea, but there is meat to this one.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37667",
"author": "Récupération De Donn... | 1,760,377,805.216053 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/24/defconbots-sentry-gun-competition/ | DefconBots Sentry Gun Competition | Eliot | [
"cons",
"Robots Hacks"
] | [
"autonomous",
"defcon",
"defcon16",
"defconbots",
"gun",
"lasvegas",
"robot",
"sentrygun"
] | DefconBots
is returning again this year with their
shooting gallery robot competition
for
Defcon 16
. They’ve decided to leave the rules unchanged from last year. It’s a head to head competition between fully autonomous guns. The first gun to shoot all the targets on their side of the board wins. The rules aren’t very strict on design; as long as you use nonlethal nonmessy amunition and include a safety switch you’re pretty much good to go. The DefconBots site has a
reference design
to put you on the fast track to competing. Defcon 16 is August 8-10, 2008 in Las Vegas.
Related:
[Aaron Rasmussen]’s sentry gun
we covered back in 2005
[photo:
Bre Pettis
]
permalink | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "37660",
"author": "Quinn Richter",
"timestamp": "2008-06-25T02:44:14",
"content": "Can i say scary!? I mean imagine a world with robots carrying guns and relying on sensors and hackable software to differentiate between good and bad. /scary",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
... | 1,760,377,805.403289 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/26/lamination-for-pc-board-etching/ | Lamination For PC Board Etching | Will O'Brien | [
"classic hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"diy",
"electronics",
"etching",
"pc board",
"PcBoard"
] | If you’ve ever tried ironing laser printed paper to transfer the toner, you know that it can be slightly frustrating. [Dave] sent in an
interesting twist
on this method. The laser printer is used to print onto paper from a magazine and then the board and paper are both run through a laminating machine six or seven times. From the
writeup
, it looks like this technique works great. (You’ll probably need a printer with a manual feed tray to get it to print on the magazine paper)
permalink | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "37785",
"author": "adam",
"timestamp": "2008-06-26T15:17:10",
"content": "I do this, but with matte photo paper. I didn’t get great results with magazine paper (or I didn’t have the right magazines). Anyways, I spent the money and bought Epson matte photo paper and it’s been working... | 1,760,377,805.4575 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/ems-synthi-aks-teardown/ | EMS Synthi AKS Teardown | Eliot | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"analog",
"analogsynthesizer",
"ems",
"matrixsynth",
"patch",
"synth",
"synthesizer",
"synthi",
"teardown"
] | Here’s another bit of analog synth pr0n for you: Initially sold in 1972, the EMS Synthi AKS was a portable modular analog synthesizer with a built in keyboard and sequencer. The
VCS 3
portion of the device had a unique
routing matrix pegboard
used to connect components together. [firegroove] has
opened up his precious machine
so that you can see all of the fine little bits that make it tick… and chirp.
[via
Matrixsynth
]
permalink | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "37784",
"author": "Aud1073cH",
"timestamp": "2008-06-26T10:39:23",
"content": "Wow – I got to play with the EMS Synthi A while I was attending school at American University. It was one of the most fun synths I’ve ever laid my hands on.Thanks for the nostalgia",
"parent_id": nul... | 1,760,377,805.357093 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/kawasaki-kz440-electric-conversion/ | Kawasaki KZ440 Electric Conversion | Eliot | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"battery",
"conversion",
"electric",
"electricmotorcycle",
"ev",
"motorcycle"
] | [Ben Nelson] didn’t even know how to ride a motorcycle when he started on this
electric conversion of a 1981 Kawasaki KZ440
. The engine wasn’t a loss since the bike was nonrunning when he purchased it for $100. The permanent magnet Etek motor was $500 and each of the four yellow top batteries were $160 (only three pictured). He says that the majority of the conversion work only took two weekends. The resulting, still street legal, ride averages 20 miles per charge with a 45mph top speed.
More electric motorcycles on Hack a Day:
Electric motorcycle
Electric (motor)cycle extra
Maker Faire 2008: Electric motorcycles
[via
Ecomodder
]
permalink | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "37773",
"author": "Miles",
"timestamp": "2008-06-26T06:21:16",
"content": "l approve this post.Sweet, l love electric motorcycles.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37774",
"author": "strider_mt2k",
"timestamp": "2008-06-2... | 1,760,377,805.507831 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/defcon-badge-hacking-contest/ | Defcon Badge Hacking Contest | Eliot | [
"cons",
"contests"
] | [
"badge",
"con",
"conference",
"contest",
"defcon",
"defcon16",
"hackercon",
"JoeGrand"
] | [Joe Grand] is designing the Defcon badges for the third year in a row. Just like the previous years, they’ll be
hosting a badge hacking contest
. This time around though, they’re going to start leaking clues in advance. Earlier contests were often frustrating because of the specialized equipment needed to talk to the microcontroller. Hopefully this year it will be a lot more accesible. The specs for the badge have not been released yet, but after last year’s 95 LED scrolling marque, we can’t wait to see what this year will bring. [Joe] has posted info on the
previous
two
badge designs and resulting contests.
permalink | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "37771",
"author": "tiuk",
"timestamp": "2008-06-26T08:06:41",
"content": "very interested to see how joe is going to top last year’s badges. so disappointed I won’t be able to make it this year.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "3... | 1,760,377,805.564565 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/hackit-the-bronco-table/ | Hackit: The Bronco Table | Eliot | [
"HackIt"
] | [
"brettdoar",
"broncotable",
"HackIt",
"makernight",
"siggraph",
"table",
"video"
] | While attending
LA SIGGRAPH Maker Night
, we got to talk to [Brett Doar] about his
Bronco Table
. The table is meant to make life more difficult by bucking off anything that’s set on top of it. Right now, it uses a tiny piezo mic to listen for the impact and then drives three leg motors in a random pattern. He envisions later generations either running away or following you intently when something is set on them.
The main problem with the current design is that you have to hit the table hard enough to make a noise the mic can pick up. The ideal solution would be able to detect anything, no matter what the material or how forcefully it was set down.
How would you detect objects being placed on the surface
(table doesn’t have to be wood)? | 31 | 31 | [
{
"comment_id": "37741",
"author": "Jinto",
"timestamp": "2008-06-26T05:11:14",
"content": "Wait for the video to finish. Click on the Japanese girls. Musical, choreographed (clean) fun!That, and I want one of those tables!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"com... | 1,760,377,805.853372 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/hacker-conference-videos/ | Hacker Conference Videos | Eliot | [
"cons"
] | [
"24c3",
"ccc",
"con",
"convention",
"defcon",
"hackercon",
"layerone",
"notacon",
"securityconvention",
"shmoocon",
"video"
] | Almost every security conference we’ve attended in the last year has uploaded videos from their speaker tracks. Explore the archives below, and you’re bound to find an interesting talk.
Defcon 15, Las Vegas, NV
ToorCon 9, San Diego, CA
24C3, Berlin, Germany
ShmooCon 2008, Washington D.C.
Notacon 5, Cleveland, OH
LayerOne 2008, Pasadena, CA
[thanks, Dan]
[photo:
ario_j
] | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "37739",
"author": "Iv",
"timestamp": "2008-06-26T10:59:47",
"content": "Hacker Space Fest, Paris :http://www.justin.tv/hackerspace/",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37740",
"author": "TheZeusJuice",
"timestamp": "2008-06-... | 1,760,377,805.60948 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/openmoko-freerunner-now-available/ | Openmoko FreeRunner Now Available | Eliot | [
"Cellphone Hacks"
] | [
"cellphone",
"freerunner",
"gsm",
"linux",
"mobilephone",
"openmoko",
"phone",
"wifi"
] | Openmoko
began selling Neo 1973 phones direct to developers last July. The phone is an open source project designed to ease development on mobile platforms. The Neo 1973 has since sold out, but a new Linux phone intended for the mass market has been released, the
FreeRunner
for ~$399. The screen is 640×480 with 3D acceleration and a 500MHz Samsung processor. The new phone has WiFi and 2.5G GSM support. It has some truly unique features like
USB host mode support
. You can find the
differences between the two phones here
. This new phone release should help strengthen the community since average users were discouraged from purchasing the original.
Pictures of the phone’s internals and a component diagram
can be found on the Openmoko wiki. We wish more manufacturers would explicitly tell us how to get console access.
[via
Slashdot
]
permalink | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "37733",
"author": "san",
"timestamp": "2008-06-26T04:00:44",
"content": "Gosh!! With that name who wants to use it. Don’t people make basic research on names? Moko in Spanish (moco) is bugger!! Same happened to a car and to many other things… Do a research, for God’s sake!",
"pa... | 1,760,377,805.781172 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/30/create-your-own-hdr-images/ | Create Your Own HDR Images | Will O'Brien | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [] | Hack-A-Day friend [Nathan] showed us some of his results creating his own High Dynamic Range images. Three normal Low Dynamic Range photos. One is under exposed, one is normal and the third is over exposed to capture the information needed. Then all three are used to create a single HDR image. Technically, the HDR image contains too much information to properly display, but even this limited version looks damn impressive.
You’ll need a tripod, a camera that allows you to adjust your exposure value and a decent CPU to do the processing. (This pic took a couple of minutes to render on a quad core cpu) You can check out the full HDR photo
here
and one of the original frames
here
. For the software side, you can use
pfstools
on the command line or
QtpfsGUI
for the graphics side – both are free and open source. [Nathan] suggests a camera with bracket mode and a remote shutter release for best results. If you’re all about theory, you can grab a white paper on the process
here
.
permalink | 18 | 18 | [
{
"comment_id": "38126",
"author": "Lordhedgie",
"timestamp": "2008-07-01T07:34:14",
"content": "Any Canon camera can have bracket mode if you install the Canon Hacker’s Development Kit (http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page)With updated firmware from the above site, you can set your cheap Canon to b... | 1,760,377,805.921463 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/30/wide-angle-lens-for-the-atc2k-video-camera/ | Wide Angle Lens For The ATC2K Video Camera | Will O'Brien | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"diy",
"video"
] | We just ordered up a new
ATC3K
video camera from Oregon Scientific for some, uh projects. (No, not our new porn site.) If you’ve got one of the older ATC2K cams, you can mod it a bit to avoid dropping another C-note on the new model. [Carlos] wrote up
his mod
to remove and replace the original narrow lens with a wide angle fisheye lens. The install requires some significant effort and some case modding – probably not a good idea if the waterproof feature is dear to you.
permalink | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "38124",
"author": "john.s948@mint.us.to",
"timestamp": "2008-07-01T08:18:08",
"content": "personally, i like my $20 puredigital hacked camcorder.but this thing takes sd cards, and it’s ready to go..",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,377,805.965782 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/30/tb-303-teardown/ | TB-303 Teardown | Juan Aguilar | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"electronicmusic",
"roland",
"synthesizer",
"takeapart",
"tb-303",
"teardown",
"tr-909"
] | Flickr member and owner of awesome stuff [Firegroove] brought us a
teardown of a Roland TR-909 drum machine
before, and now he brings us a new
photoset of a TB-303 synth teardown
. The machines comprise two thirds of the holy trinity of 80’s electronic music machines, so look after the break for more photos.
Here we see the main board with several knobs and switches still attached.
This is the underside of the board. Enjoy this photoset, because getting your hands on a TR-303 is nearly impossible. Still, that doesn’t mean you have to live a 303-free existence. Check out
[Ladyada]’s TR-303 clone, the x0xb0x
. You can purchase the DIY board from the site and get your synth-on now.
[via
Matrixsynth
]
permalink | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "38120",
"author": "Pent.",
"timestamp": "2008-07-01T04:30:24",
"content": "if he does a teardown of the TR-808 the universe will implode.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "38121",
"author": "Wade Rothermel",
"timestamp": "... | 1,760,377,806.009148 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/30/arduino-photolab/ | Arduino PhotoLab | Juan Aguilar | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"arduino",
"atmega",
"camera",
"cameraflash",
"photography",
"stopmotion",
"syringe"
] | Droplet photography
(link translated from French) often produces simple and beautiful images, but timing the exposure can be tricky. Snapping the photo too early or too late can cause you to miss the action, which only lasts a fraction of a second. EquinoxeFR (the people behind the
Asus WL500GP audio hack
) came up with a solution to this problem using a circuit with an ATmega168 running an Arduino environment. The circuit controls a syringe that contains a liquid and is triggered remotely to release a drop into a darkened chamber. A camera with the shutter open is attached to the chamber, and before the droplet hits, it crosses an IR sensor that triggers the flash to go off a few milliseconds later, capturing the unique crown shape of the impact. No schematic is available as yet, but comments at the bottom of the post suggest one will be coming soon.
permalink | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "38117",
"author": "Turkey",
"timestamp": "2008-07-01T06:36:58",
"content": "pretty complicated for only one picture…well done nonetheless",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "38118",
"author": "amk",
"timestamp": "2008-07-01T... | 1,760,377,806.055459 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/30/making-art-with-javascript/ | Making Art With Javascript | Juan Aguilar | [
"firefox hacks",
"Uncategorized"
] | [
"art",
"artwork",
"contextfreeart",
"drawing",
"firefox3",
"geometric",
"javascript",
"js",
"mozilla"
] | Mozilla coder [Aza] is connected to the past and the present: he wanted to celebrate the release of Firefox 3, but pines for the days when one could use small amounts of code to make compelling art. As a way of addressing both things, he has released
ContextFree.js
, a javascript port of [Chris Coyne]’s
Context Free Art
. Users can visit
Algorithm Ink
, where they can draw various compelling designs with just a few lines of script. ContextFree.js compiles the scripts and turns them into visually arresting geometric designs. Users can also browse through designs made by others, easily save them as JPGs, or even modify them by adding their own bits of code. What’s more, it’s not out of the question to use this to generate random images on a website, creating a unique visual experience for every single visitor. You all know what we want to see, though: JavaScript gurus working some real magic with this. Better yet, said gurus can play around with the core open-source code and make something truly their own on the most fundamental level. Definitely check out the video above to get an idea of how easy this is.
[via
Waxy
]
permalink | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "38112",
"author": "Scott",
"timestamp": "2008-07-01T02:45:29",
"content": "Is there a way to record this happening/convert it to a video file? I want to make a video of some of this different .js code excecuting and save it for use as a menu background/credit background on home made... | 1,760,377,806.26063 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/30/the-last-hope-schedule-finalized-preregister-now/ | The Last Hope Schedule Finalized, Preregister Now | Eliot | [
"cons"
] | [
"con",
"conference",
"conventions",
"conventionschedule",
"hackercon",
"hackerconvention",
"hope",
"lasthope",
"schedule",
"thelasthope"
] | The schedule for this year’s
The Last Hope
conference in New York City
has been finalized
, and there’s still time to preregister. Today is the last chance for overseas attendants to preregister, and the rest of you have until July 6th. A/V volunteers are still needed, so step up if you have the desire and skills.
The three-day conference will feature three tracks of scheduled talks, plus one track for unscheduled talks by registered attendees. You can view the full schedule
interactively
, in
wiki format
, or in
conventional format
. It takes place between July 18th and July 20th; hurry up and snag your tickets now. We’re interested in all the talks, but [Chris Seidel]’s talk on
biohacking
,
NYC Resistor’
s presentation about collaborative hardware hacking, and [Ray]’s demonstration on escaping high security handcuffs have us waiting in rapt anticipation. So who’s going? What are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.
permalink | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "38110",
"author": "RenderMan",
"timestamp": "2008-07-01T00:56:52",
"content": "I’m there and speaking. I’ll be either down on the mezzanine level with my feet up looking to chat about whatever, or across the street in the Blarney Rock Pub (out the w 33rd st doors and across the str... | 1,760,377,806.096132 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/30/cigarette-tin-amp/ | Cigarette Tin Amp | Juan Aguilar | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"audio",
"boombox",
"breadboard",
"ghettoblaster",
"mp3",
"music",
"radio"
] | We’re a little confused: [xXxMrCarlosxXx] built an
amp out of a cigarette tin
and calls it a Mobile Oppression Unit, but we thought all mobile oppression came in the form of
giant, invincible crab-shaped palaces
. In any case, or more specifically, in a repurposed Lucky Strikes case, he used an mp3 player, some speakers from a garage sale, and a bread board packing an
LM1877N-9 chip
“optimized for loudness” to construct a great-looking, compact boom box. Check out his Flickr stream at the read link and begin oppressing your neighbors with sheer volume today.
permalink | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "38105",
"author": "michaelb",
"timestamp": "2008-07-01T00:30:12",
"content": "I counter with this:http://xkcd.com/368/(Although modified a bit…)What would one use this for, unless it’s sole purpose IS to “oppress” people with loud music..I wonder if this, or similar, could be used i... | 1,760,377,806.146634 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/24/logicport-overview/ | Logicport Overview | Eliot | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"logic",
"logicanalyzer",
"logiclevel",
"logicport",
"nearfuturelaboratory",
"protocol",
"spi",
"ttl"
] | As promised earlier, the Near Future Laboratory has published an overview of the
Logicport Logic Analyzer
. They’re using the
Playstation 2 analysis
as an example. The Logicport uses “interpreters” to define protocols. It has I2C/TWI, SPI, RS232, and CAN 2.0A/2.0B, but you can build your own interpreter based on these. You can specify bit order and the format you want the data in. Slave interpreters can be used for specific tasks: with the PS2 they were used to just show the fifth byte, which is the actual button press.
“Triggers” are used to signal specific activity. On the PS2, one was attached to the falling signal on the slave select line. This event means the master is about to start sending data.
The final area worth exploring is “measurements”. These can be frequency or arbitrary time intervals between events. The Logicport has multiple ground connections to eliminate noise from the signal and you’ll have to play with sample rate and logic level to get things running smooth. It’s nice to see how-tos written from the perspective of someone just getting started with the tool.
permalink | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "37604",
"author": "CuriousInventor",
"timestamp": "2008-06-24T15:12:05",
"content": "Using this would have been a lot easier than turning PICs into SPI-to-serial converters, which is what we did to research our ps2 interface guide:http://www.curiousinventor.com/guides/ps2For people... | 1,760,377,806.189694 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/23/efix-dongle-still-not-available/ | EFiX Dongle Still Not Available | Juan Aguilar | [
"News"
] | [
"apple",
"dongle",
"efix",
"installation",
"leopard",
"macosx",
"OsX",
"pc",
"usb",
"usbdongle"
] | Well, it’s June 23rd, and
still no dongle from EFiX
. Despite a new product page on the company’s site, the OS X installing dongle is still not available for purchase. The USB dongle is supposed to facilitate the installation of Mac OS X by booting the Leopard install DVD on PCs, but so far no one has been able to verify this claim as no one has one of these in their hands yet. We’ve been covering this story since the beginning, and we’ll be sure to let you know when you can actually buy one of these.
[via
Engadget
]
permalink | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "37588",
"author": "collin",
"timestamp": "2008-06-24T04:18:13",
"content": "wait, it installs os x? why is this important? :P",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37589",
"author": "winphreak",
"timestamp": "2008-06-24T04:41:... | 1,760,377,806.326353 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/23/air-hockey-robot/ | Air Hockey Robot | Juan Aguilar | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"9s08",
"airhockey",
"badatsports",
"coldfire",
"microcontroller",
"robot",
"robotarm",
"robots"
] | Don’t be ashamed, we suck at air hockey too. Luckily for us, we now have a robot opponent to blame or losing streak on. Engineers at Nuvation didn’t build this
air hockey playing robot
, they simply adapted a standard industrial robot arm for the task. It is controlled jointly by a
ColdFire processor
and a 9S08 microcontroller. An array of high power LEDs and a camera are positioned over the air hockey table, which captures the position of the puck. The robot reportedly wins 90% of its games, even against solid opponents. While this is more of project to show the power of ColdFire processors, we can’t help but think it will lead to a rash of unbeatable robot opponents. We’ve already been
robo-owned at foosbal
l; what’s next?
permalink | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "37580",
"author": "Archeious",
"timestamp": "2008-06-24T03:27:35",
"content": "Neat, I wish it was a bit more aggressive with its offensive moves.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37581",
"author": "yurijm",
"timestamp": ... | 1,760,377,806.56922 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/23/tube-amp-monitor/ | Tube Amp Monitor | Juan Aguilar | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"6dof",
"amplifier",
"audio",
"sparkfun",
"tube",
"tubeamp",
"tubeamplifier",
"tubes",
"voltage",
"voltagesecurity"
] | Sparkfun contributor [Pete] really loves tube amps, but he’s a very safety-conscious guy who doesn’t like being electrocuted. This is a problem, since tube amps are usually very high voltage, and a small mistake can be fatal. To deal with this voltage issue, he built a
tube amp with a control system built around a 6DOF v3 controller board
. The control system is there mainly in case of a failure, automatically shutting off the high voltage transformer in any such event. It has the added benefit of filtering any 60Hz noise from getting into the audio, which happened before he installed the control system.
In addition to regulating power, the controller board also monitors bias points in the output tubes and displays its diagnostics on an LCD. Aside from getting great sound from the tube amp, [Pete] made it look great too, installing colored LEDs under the tubes. We love his design: just because safety comes first it doesn’t mean cool-factor can’t come in a close second.
permalink | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "37575",
"author": "DIY Audio Projects",
"timestamp": "2008-06-24T02:15:43",
"content": "now that is a fantastic tube amp project",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37576",
"author": "miked_hater",
"timestamp": "2008-06-24T0... | 1,760,377,806.500926 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/23/olpc-dual-booting/ | OLPC Dual Booting | Juan Aguilar | [
"News"
] | [
"dualboot",
"dualbooting",
"gizmodo",
"oplc",
"sugar",
"sugarlinux",
"windowsxp",
"xo",
"xolaptop"
] | Gizmodo has the first ever
footage of an OLPC dual-booting
both its default OS, Sugar Linux, and Windows XP. The BIOS was not originally intended to boot XP, so it had to be modified for this to work. The XO’s screen flipper and directional buttons work in XP as well.
It’s not all good news, though: XOs are designed to be ultra-lean, packing a meager 256MB of RAM, which is hardly ideal to run XP. Booting it alone took an eternity, so we can’t imagine anyone doing anything practical with this. The machines will never ship with only XP installed.
permalink | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "37564",
"author": "Kt",
"timestamp": "2008-06-24T01:29:33",
"content": "Yeah, just pour that salt into the open wound Hackaday,.. Thanks a lot.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37565",
"author": "Jeff",
"timestamp": "2008... | 1,760,377,806.618855 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/23/xbox-360-modding-case-details/ | Xbox 360 Modding Case Details | Juan Aguilar | [
"Xbox Hacks"
] | [
"casemod",
"casemodding",
"casemods",
"cooling",
"lianli",
"xbox",
"xbox360"
] | If you’ve been wondering about what changes Lian-Li implemented in their commercial
XBox 360 casemod called the PC-XB01
, they’ve recently updated their product page.
The case does not add any new functions to the console, but it improves its efficiency on several levels. To deal with the noise produced by the DVD drive, they installed sheets of sound insulation foam around the drive, greatly reducing the sound it makes when it spins up. They did even more for temperature control, replacing the standard dual 70mm fans with a single 120mm fan that cools more efficiently and quietly. The case is also larger and features a frontside grate, allowing for vastly improved airflow. Lian-Li designers even left opening in the back for option water tubes in case you want to add a liquid cooling system.
[via
Xbox-Scene
]
permalink | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "37551",
"author": "digitalemu",
"timestamp": "2008-06-24T00:27:25",
"content": "Surely would kill the warranty on the 360, however this is a great idea. Would also give tons of room for customizations such as water cooling etc. Integration of the power supply into the box would be... | 1,760,377,806.671191 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/23/high-tech-coffee-tables/ | High Tech Coffee Tables | Juan Aguilar | [
"Misc Hacks",
"Multitouch Hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"bornrich",
"coffeetable",
"coffeetablepc",
"delightable",
"microsoftsurface",
"multitouch",
"nes",
"nintendo",
"pinball",
"surface",
"table",
"tables"
] | Time was, coffee tables were good for three things only: setting down your coffee, setting down your coffee table books, and maybe putting your feet up. To combat this perception, Born Rich has posted their
top ten list of high tech coffee tables
that are capable of these things and more.
For many of the tables on the list, more means integrated lights that react to the user in fun ways, like KLOSS’s
DeLighTable
, which creates light patterns on its surface in response to being touched or having objects placed on it. We can’t argue with the design behind such tables, but if the tech upgrades are practically useless, at least they should be genuinely compelling, like this
table that simulates endless space
, or the
embedded LED pong table
. Of course, the list also contains tables that consider utility first, doubling as media centers or embedding a multitouch surface.
Still, to us the best ones weren’t even on the main list, but in an honorable mention category: a sweet coffee table made from a pinball machine, and our very favorite,
a giant working NES controller
. We understand that these are not as aesthetically pleasing (arguably) or as useful as some the tables on the list, but our priorities are ingenuity first, then utility, then design.
[via
Neatorama
]
permalink | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "37547",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2008-06-24T01:08:01",
"content": "i do not approve of this post.it is a link to a top ten list of commercial products.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37548",
"author": "miked_hater",... | 1,760,377,806.708076 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/23/add-a-second-internal-hard-drive-to-your-laptop/ | Add A Second Internal Hard Drive To Your Laptop | Will O'Brien | [
"laptops hacks",
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"laptop",
"more",
"storage",
"TSA"
] | [Andrew] sent in something we’ve been considering for our 17 inch Dell. He squeezed a 100GB PATA notebook drive into the spare space in his Compaq laptop. He used a USB interface to provide the connection and added a toggle switch to conserve power when he doesn’t need the drive spun up. The mod would be even nicer if you added a keyboard activation switch like
[sprite_tm]’s keyboard light
.
permalink | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "37533",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2008-06-23T20:15:04",
"content": "i approve of this post.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37534",
"author": "CalcProgrammer1",
"timestamp": "2008-06-23T20:40:02",
"content": "... | 1,760,377,806.760118 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/23/non-destructive-breakdown-voltage-tester/ | Non-destructive Breakdown Voltage Tester | Will O'Brien | [
"classic hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"amateur",
"ham",
"power",
"radio"
] | This applies more to older vacuum technology than your average solid state hardware, but [Richard] put together an interesting project. It’s designed to test a component for
its breakdown voltage without destroying
it. The general idea of the ‘BVT’ is to increase the voltage applied to a device until some current leakage is detected. Of course, any device that includes notes on probable arc length in relation to kilovolts is awesome by definition.
permalink | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "37529",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2008-06-23T20:11:37",
"content": "i approve of this post",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37530",
"author": "Ali Raheem",
"timestamp": "2008-06-23T23:39:44",
"content": "beats ... | 1,760,377,806.808676 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/23/more-wiimote-hacking-from-johnny-lee/ | More Wiimote Hacking From Johnny Lee | Eliot | [
"Nintendo Hacks",
"Nintendo Wii Hacks"
] | [
"johnnylee",
"motion",
"motiontracking",
"nintendo",
"nintendowii",
"remote",
"wii",
"wiimote"
] | Our friend [Johnny Lee] has been quite busy traveling and moving to a new city. He hasn’t had time to put together any new videos because of this. He’s been doing more Wiimote research though and has put together an
extensive post about what he’s working on
and thinking about.
Right before the move, he put together a demo for throwable displays. The square pieces of foamcore have retro-reflective tape added to each of the corners. The Wiimote sees the orientation of the square and adjusts the projected image to fit perfectly; even when you pick it up and throw it. He used it to add a trail to an airhockey puck. Embedded above is an earlier project where he used the Wiimote to track a foldable display and project accordingly.
[Johnny] has also been working on 3D tracking with two or more Wiimotes. Since the Wiimote is camera based, stereo triangulation is simple. Check out the video below from the University of Cambridge that uses two Wiimotes for motion capture.
Have a look at [Johnny Lee]’s
full post
for even more Wiimote ideas.
permalink | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "37527",
"author": "Mike",
"timestamp": "2008-06-23T15:32:21",
"content": "Just when I thought there was nothing else to do with that wiimote, Johnny Lee surprises me. What next? Full on VR?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "3752... | 1,760,377,807.244201 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/22/eee-pc-1000h-dissected/ | Eee PC 1000H Dissected | Juan Aguilar | [
"computer hacks",
"Netbook Hacks"
] | [
"Asus",
"Asuseeepc",
"asustek",
"eee",
"EeePc",
"eeepc1000h",
"teardown",
"tweaktown"
] | The people at TweakTown completely
disassembled a new Eee PC 1000H
and documented the entire process. Aside from showing you the side effects of too much tech fetish and not enough regular fetish, the article reveals all the parts of the new Eee, with a few surprises inside. Although it’s an Eee PC, it’s very different from all of its predecessors.
One of the things the teardown shows is that several parts are far more modular than previous Eee PC models. The hard drive, for example, is a standard Seagate Momentus which is made for desktop systems; it can easily be swapped out. Another easily swapped component is the 1GB SIMM from ASint.
Although their (ahem) stripping process was a bit unconventional, a lot of interesting information was yielded from this teardown. Keep ’em coming, TweakTown, just be sure to clean off your tool when you’re done.
[via
Gizmodo
]
permalink | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "37518",
"author": "Yuffie",
"timestamp": "2008-06-23T07:52:42",
"content": "Desktop hard drives?simms?gotta love all these new ultraportables.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37519",
"author": "Jax184",
"timestamp": "200... | 1,760,377,807.477284 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/22/consumer-reports-releases-vintage-photos/ | Consumer Reports Releases Vintage Photos | Juan Aguilar | [
"News"
] | [
"consumerreports",
"oldphotographs",
"oldphotos",
"oldtechnology",
"photographs",
"photography",
"vintage"
] | Consumer Reports has just released this photoset of
vintage photos of consumer product tests
. It includes photos of conventional products like the one above (a portable hair dryer), but also some interesting tech that never took off, like a motorized scour pad and a record player for cars. The products depicted in the set are all from before the 1970s (and remember, a few machines from back then were able to do
some pretty impressive things
), so whether you’re into old tech for its own sake or you’re just looking for photography of really old tv consoles, get a look.
[via
Laughing Squid
]
permalink | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "37508",
"author": "mav",
"timestamp": "2008-06-23T06:07:47",
"content": "ok… umm…news about old stuff != hacksthis is getting REALLY old",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37509",
"author": "mav",
"timestamp": "2008-06-23T0... | 1,760,377,806.897894 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/22/mit-mobile-cloud/ | MIT Mobile Cloud | Juan Aguilar | [
"News"
] | [
"fiberoptics",
"fibers",
"installation",
"mit",
"mitmobileexperiencelab",
"thecloud"
] | The MIT Mobile Experience lab has just developed this ambitious
interactive installation called The Cloud
. Located in Firenze, Italy, The Cloud is a sort of sculpture with over 15,000 LEDs and several miles of fiber optics. The tips of the fibers glow, but they also change colors in response to human interaction, including touching it or standing near it. The Cloud uses a combination of proximity and touch sensors to achieve this. It also has two cameras and a microphone, which allows it draw input from various sources and output a much richer, more organic response.
[via
Cool Hunting
]
permalink | 15 | 15 | [
{
"comment_id": "37493",
"author": "JPElectron",
"timestamp": "2008-06-23T04:45:49",
"content": "what a waste of fiber optics and MIT students time. Maybe we should be “working” on real projects like net neutrality or saving our planet?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}... | 1,760,377,807.560998 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/22/midify-now-available/ | Midify Now Available | Juan Aguilar | [
"handhelds hacks",
"Nintendo DS Hacks",
"Nintendo Hacks"
] | [
"division6",
"gba",
"midi",
"midify",
"nds",
"nintendo",
"nintendods"
] | The people at Division 6 have begun selling Midify,
a board that add a MIDI port to an DS
and many other
Nintendo
handhelds. The board has 12 outputs, plus two for power and two for the MIDI port. Configuration and mapping are also very simple. This is the same board that was used to
add MIDI control to a microwave
.
[via
Matrixsynth
]
permalink | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "37491",
"author": "chad",
"timestamp": "2008-06-23T02:18:34",
"content": "That microwave hack was the most useless and entertaining hack yet. That’s what I come here for, thanks.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37492",
"auth... | 1,760,377,807.123477 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/22/motorcycle-throttle-bodies-for-your-car/ | Motorcycle Throttle Bodies For Your Car | Will O'Brien | [
"classic hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"god no",
"GodNo",
"just wrong",
"JustWrong",
"motorcycle",
"vroom"
] | [Dem_z] modded his Honda VTEC engine to use a set of
individual throttle bodies
from a 2001 Suzuki GSX-R motorcycle. The fuel injection bungs on the throttle bodies were epoxied shut and the bodies were only used to provide individual butterflies for each cylinder. This one doesn’t quite make our to do list, but it’s definitely a hack.
[bender386] caught
my blunder
first, so I’ll be sending him a bit of Hack-A-Day swag. In the meantime, here’s a little bonus: Check out this home built
anamorphic lens
. Native 2.35:1 projectors have started showing up, but they’re insanely expensive. By adding some image processing and a lens to stretch the projected image, you can get full width projection and use all the pixels on the projector.
permalink | 11 | 11 | [
{
"comment_id": "37482",
"author": "strider_mt2k",
"timestamp": "2008-06-22T15:04:55",
"content": "YOWZA!I’m circuit bending a 50-cent electronic guitar and feeling “differently-abled” by comparison!Go dude, GO!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "3... | 1,760,377,807.400084 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/22/evil-mad-scientist-laboratories-turns-2/ | Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories Turns 2 | Eliot | [
"News"
] | [
"anniversary",
"bristlebot",
"businesscard",
"candyfab",
"emsl",
"evil",
"evilmadscientistlaboratories"
] | Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories is celebrating their second anniversary. They say they’re now 20 millicenturies old. To celebrate, they put together
their greatest hits from the last year
. We enjoyed their
bristlebots
,
candyfabbing
, and
AVR business cards
and hope to see their work for many more years to come.
permalink | 0 | 0 | [] | 1,760,377,807.435043 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/22/ring-of-the-devil-vulnerability-patched/ | Ring Of The Devil Vulnerability Patched | Eliot | [
"News"
] | [
"devilring",
"door",
"entry",
"key",
"lock",
"ringofthedevil",
"toool",
"uhlmannzacher"
] | It looks like Uhlmann & Zacher have
developed a patch
to keep locks from being opened using a
ring of magnets
. In addition, the lock now logs successful entries without credentials in case something like this comes up again.
[via
Toool
]
permalink | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "37481",
"author": "Janez D.",
"timestamp": "2008-06-22T23:42:32",
"content": "Well, I guess small constant current into the motor did the trick..",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,377,807.708126 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/22/turn-signal-jacket-how-to/ | Turn Signal Jacket How-to | Eliot | [
"LED Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"bicycle",
"buechley",
"jacket",
"leah",
"leahbuechley",
"led",
"lilypad",
"wearable"
] | [Leah Buechley], whose work we’ve been covering since
way back when
, has built this lovely turn signal jacket. The project photos were posted in March, but she’s
just added a well illustrated project guide
. The jacket is based around a
LilyPad Arduino
, a lightweight Arduino board with radial pads designed to be used in wearable projects. You make your connections by sewing conductive thread through the pads. The how-to covers attaching the LilyPad parts properly and then insulating the wires with fabric paint after you’ve verified they work.
The guide has an interesting discussion about placing the power supply. The 4-ply silver coated thread used has a resistance of approximately 14ohms/foot. So, if you place the power supply one foot from the LilyPad, the two wires combine for 28ohms, causing a 1.4V drop. The power supply is only 5V, which means the LilyPad will be 3.6V. A voltage of 3.3V will cause the Arduino to reset. If your resistance is too high, you’ll have to add more thread.
The power supply on this jacket is under the collar. Each cuff has a single button plus an LED. The button will make the jacket flash the direction for 15 seconds (also indicated on the sleeve LED). If you press both buttons at the same time, it switches to night mode by flashing both directions at the same time to make you more visible.
permalink | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "37480",
"author": "twistedsymphony",
"timestamp": "2008-06-22T19:06:55",
"content": "neet hack. though I would recommend using RED yellow or orange LEDs to keep in compliance with the traffic laws of most states.White is reserved for headlights and reverse lamps, lights with element... | 1,760,377,807.515035 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/21/confessions-of-a-wi-fi-thief/ | Confessions Of A Wi-Fi Thief | Juan Aguilar | [
"News"
] | [
"bruceschneier",
"leech",
"schneier",
"wi-fi",
"wifi",
"wifisecurity",
"wifisharing",
"wifistealing"
] | A wry editorial on Time Magazine’s site about
tapping into your neighbors’ Wi-Fi
tells of how the author [Lev Grossman] stole internet access from his neighbors’ open networks for years. He finally decided to pay for his own connection, which he fittingly leaves on an open network. He makes the point that leaving it open is a violation of his TOS agreement, but he doesn’t seem particularly bothered by the notion of people tapping into his network.
[Bruce Schneier] takes an even stronger stance on the issue, suggesting that it is not only safe to leave your network open, but a matter of
politeness toward your guests
, similar to providing them with basic amenities. He also mentions that if your computers are not adequately secured, network security won’t make much of a difference. We tend to agree with [Schneier] on this: we also leave our network completely open.
That’s not to say [Grossman] doesn’t have a point about the unreliability of pilfered internet access, noting “I always seemed to lose connectivity just when I was about to send a crucial e-mail.” Sure, we leave our network open, but we have to pay for our internet access. We really can’t afford not to. One thing [Grossman] didn’t mention (neither did [Schneier], but he wrote his article before this happened), is that a Maryland
bill that would criminalize leeching Wi-Fi has been shot down
. The first legislation of its kind, the defeat of the bill mean citizens of Maryland are free to leech from open networks without fear of prosecution, but it sets a precedent that may influence future rulings.
permalink | 40 | 40 | [
{
"comment_id": "37445",
"author": "Jo",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T21:59:59",
"content": "Good to see the bill shot down.Government: Stay the fuck off my internet.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37446",
"author": "paul",
"timestamp": "20... | 1,760,377,807.632551 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/21/hmd-try-out-for-gizmodo-commenters/ | HMD Try Out For Gizmodo Commenters | Juan Aguilar | [
"News"
] | [
"cinemizer",
"comments",
"gizmodo",
"glasses",
"usertesting",
"ziess"
] | We had a decent response to
our HMD post
, but $400 might be a little too steep a price to pay for the
Zeiss Cinemiser glasses
. Luckily, Zeiss is offering registered Gizmodo readers
the chance to try them out
free for two weeks. All you have to do is comment on the Gizmodo post announcing the offer with a registered Gizmodo account, then fill out some information on
a form Ziess has set up
for this offer. Of course, you have to provide them with credit card information (just in case you break the glasses) and a great deal of feedback from the experience, but it’s far more preferable than shelling out $400 to find out you don’t like the glasses.
permalink | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "37442",
"author": "Haku",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T21:43:27",
"content": "I have owned/used 6 different pairs of LCD glasses and one thing that is missing from almost ALL reviews of any LCD glasses is how good the optics are combined with the viewing angle of the tiny LCD screen – s... | 1,760,377,807.673569 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/21/kt88-tube-amplifier/ | KT88 Tube Amplifier | Will O'Brien | [
"classic hacks",
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [] | Here’s a classic project for the weekend. This KT88 based
tube amplifier
is surprisingly simple. The parts count is low, but the sound produced by the amplifier is considered quite pleasing. For the budget conscious, there are several optional tubes that can be used in place of the primary KT88.
permalink | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "37440",
"author": "Br0",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T16:43:55",
"content": "I’d Like to know the end cost!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37441",
"author": "DIY Audio Projects",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T20:09:32",
"con... | 1,760,377,807.832381 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/21/rear-view-jacket/ | Rear View Jacket | Eliot | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"embedded",
"gizmodo",
"jacket",
"monitor",
"perception",
"thirdeye",
"wearable"
] | Is your popped collar so epic it emulates horse blinders? Are punk teens always skitching your coattails? Are you constantly moonwalking into power poles, trash cans, and the elderly? [Paul Coudamy]’s
Hard-Wear Jacket
solves all of these problems. It has a micro-camera embedded in the back of the neck and streams live video to a sleeve mounted monitor. The goal is to expand the perception of the wearer and how they interact with the environment. We know this is just a small step and doubt many people will be scrambling to never turn their neck again. It’s something interesting to contemplate though: how will people behave when brain taps allow their peripheral vision to have the same clarity as normal vision?
[via
Gizmodo
]
permalink | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "37430",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T08:37:49",
"content": "i do not approve of this post.there are no details in the article. none.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37431",
"author": "r0m3z",
"timestamp": ... | 1,760,377,807.872563 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/21/free-web-development-tools/ | Free Web Development Tools | Eliot | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"cms",
"design",
"editor",
"free",
"html",
"launchsplash",
"OpenSource",
"openx",
"ostatic",
"piwik",
"projectzero",
"webdev"
] | OStatic has a collected some great
free tools for web developers
. We talked about Quanta in an
earlier post
, but this article reaches beyond just HTML editors.
LaunchSplash
can be used to generate splash pages while you build. IBM, responsible for the Eclipse IDE, has built
Project Zero
to encourage web app development; even the IDE is web based.
OpenX
is an open ad server.
Piwik
is a free web analytics package. There are also quite a few
open source CMS’s
and sites collecting
open source designs
.
permalink | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "37429",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T08:35:14",
"content": "i approve of this post",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,377,808.000598 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/21/receipt-fail/ | Receipt FAIL | Eliot | [
"Wireless Hacks"
] | [
"fail",
"gnucitizen",
"receipt",
"security",
"wep",
"wifi",
"wireless"
] | Today’s fail comes courtesy of
GNUCITIZEN
‘s [pdp]. This would have made that
TJX WEP crack
much easier.
permalink | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "37412",
"author": "M@",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T08:01:27",
"content": "Ouch … pwnd",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37413",
"author": "Dave Vam den Eynde",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T08:04:12",
"content": "Why is this ... | 1,760,377,809.677157 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/20/3x3x3-led-cube/ | 3x3x3 LED Cube | Eliot | [
"LED Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"instructables",
"led",
"ledmatrix",
"matrix"
] | [portreathbeach] built this
simple 3x3x3 LED matrix
. It uses a PIC16F690 in a ZIF socket for the brains. Each layer has nine LEDs with the cathodes tied together. The anodes from each LED are connected to the LED below. The LEDs are multiplexed so that even though all layers appear to be on, they’re being addressed individually. He’s included software, so you can build your own animations. Video of the matrix in motion is after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8wd8xNDPFU&hl=en&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999]
permalink | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "37404",
"author": "amk",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T07:42:15",
"content": "seriously, what’s with the led-matrix obsession? the damn things are almost useless. unless you own a bar and need a scrolling marquee sign to advertise happy hour. but that’s so last season, just like neon.... | 1,760,377,809.719216 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/20/dance-floor-power-generation/ | Dance Floor Power Generation | Juan Aguilar | [
"Misc Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"climatechange",
"club",
"dance",
"dancefloor",
"dancing",
"green",
"music",
"nightclub",
"piezo",
"piezoelectric",
"piezoelectricity"
] | With concerns about the environment at an all-time high, do we roll up our sleeves and fix the situation or set our fears aside and dance the night away? [Andrew Charalambous], a nightclub owner in from Britain, doesn’t think we should have to choose, so he installed
a dance floor that harnesses power from dancers
into one of his clubs.
The dance floor uses piezoelectrics to collect the power: as clubgoers dance, electricity-producing crystals under the floor are compressed, producing a small current. The current is collect by embedded batteries, which in turn provide the power to lights, audio systems, and other parts of the club that consume electricity.
It’s certainly an interesting idea, but we’d like to know just how much power these floors are able to generate. Is this a gimmick or a genuinely practical solution? [Charalambous]’s club has adopted the somewhat hokey policy of forcing patrons to sign a pledge to be climate-conscious and do what they can to help the Earth, but that’s a small price to pay to earn green karma and have fun at the same time.
[via
io9
]
permalink | 17 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "37393",
"author": "tophiannan",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T05:51:43",
"content": "this concept has been around for a while. i read about it about a year ago in MIT’s Technology Review. It was developed for places like airports and concert hall floors. It actually does generate a decen... | 1,760,377,809.862852 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/20/how-to-make-an-rgb-combination-door-lock-part-2/ | How-To: Make An RGB Combination Door Lock (Part 2) | Will O'Brien | [
"classic hacks",
"cnc hacks",
"Featured",
"home hacks",
"how-to",
"LED Hacks"
] | [
"diy",
"doorlock",
"hardware",
"home",
"howto",
"keypad",
"laser",
"led",
"rgb",
"security"
] | In
part 1
we showed you how to build your own prototype RGB keypad. Today we’ll show off some new ideas we worked on to create the project and turn it from prototype to fully functional
battle station
er door lock.
To replace the old door strike with our new electric unit, we had to align it with the old one. Once it was set, we traced around the mounting plate with a pen and got to work. We grabbed a 3/8 inch bit and drilled out the width and depth of the hole to match the body of the strike. Then we cleaned up things a bit with a wood chisel until the hole was just big enough. The strike requires 12 volts to release, so we had to feed some wire to it. We dug up a fairly long drill bit and drilled through the wall and into the strike mounting hole.
The strike wiring is low voltage, so the wire doesn’t have to be anything special. We used some 18 gauge speaker wire – it’s cheap and we already had it in our parts bin. Pulling the wire is pretty easy. Just feed the wire through and grab the end with a pair of needle nose pliers. Since we had 50 feet of wire to work with, we pulled the wire over to our bench and did a quick soldering job to the strike leads. Once the connections were solid, we insulated them with electric tape. There’s no polarity to worry about, so just get things connected and ready to rock.
The strike has a thick mounting flange, so we had to remove some wood from the surface of the door frame. After some quality time with a hammer, flat headed screw driver, and a wood chisel, we managed to cut a decent mounting slot. Once the wiring was insulated, we pulled in the slack and mounted the strike with a pair of three inch screws.
We’ll be wall mounting the keypad, so we picked up an “old-work” two gang electrical box and a two gang blank wall plate. Mounting the box is pretty easy, but we’ll walk you through it.
To make the bezel, we laid out the buttons in CorelDraw and scaled up each button by a few percent. Once the size was correct, we rounded off the corners to match the buttons better.
After a few test fits made by cutting paper, we put the wall plate into our ever handy laser cutter. We realize that most of you don’t have one of these
awesome machines
– you can create your own with some careful drilling and dremel work (it might be easier to bribe the local sign shop with some beer). If you do have it laser cut, make sure you get a nylon wall plate and not a PVC plate. The fumes from burning PVC are toxic and air filters will not neutralize them.
When we test fit the new bezel, we found that the flex at the base of each button was impeded. It’s hard to see here, but the wall plate is only about 1/32 of an inch thick. Since it’s so thin, the buttons stick out too far.
To solve both problems, we created a sub-bezel. We used the same laser template, but expanded each hole a bit further. The 1/8 inch acrylic provided perfect depth for the buttons and the larger holes in the sub-bezel provide an area for the buttons to flex.
“Old-work” boxes are designed to be installed into existing drywall. You just have to cut a hole for the box and when the screws are tightened, these tabs will flip up to grip the inside of the wall.
Once the hole’s cut, just insert the box and check the fit. Don’t tighten the screws just yet – we’ll be pulling it back out for a quick mod. Since we’re mounting all the hardware on the other side of the wall, we drilled a hole into the workshop side to run the keypad wiring.
It just happens that Spark Fun’s PC Board is the same width as the 2 gang box. In order to fit the bezel flush, we need to trim back the edge of the box.
You can use your favorite tool, but we grabbed our rotary tool and a small drum sanding bit. Then we ground the edge of the box down to allow for approximately two times the thickness of the keypad PC board. (You might want to adjust this depending on your bezel design.)
The final fit is just about perfect. The edges of the drywall keep the board from shifting while the box supports the board from behind.
Now that the bezels are ready to go, mark your wiring so you can identify it post install. We used some colored electrical tape and noted the connections. Since we used Cat-5, you could easily use RJ-45 connectors to add some modularity. We didn’t need it, so we just pulled the wires through to the workshop side.
To finish up the key pad, we installed the PC board, the keypad, the acrylic sub-bezel, and finally the keypad. Everything actually floats under the keypad. The design has worked perfectly for the past few months – with one exception. One visitor pushed too hard and popped the PC board back into the wall box. If needed, you can add a support strut of some kind behind the PC board.
To create a permanent board for the keypad, we laid everything out in
Eagle
. Since we wanted to try out some interesting etching ideas, we used extra wide traces and expanded the pads to provide plenty of copper.
After making the keypad bezel, we wanted to try some new tricks with the laser cutter. We coated some copper clad PC Boards with spray paint and let it harden for a few days.
To We exported the design from eagle and sent it to the Epilog via CorelDraw. In order to remove all of the paint, we had to run the etching jo
b twice on the laser. Here, the laser is mid way through the second run.
Even after two jobs, a fine residue was still on the copper. Lightly scrubbing the board with acetone (nail polish remover) removed the left over residue. The traces remained intact and the copper was bared for the etching solution.
Radio Shack doesn’t bother to carry ferric chloride anymore, but we wanted local chemicals. We picked up some muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid), hydrogen peroxide, a cereal container air pump, bubble block, and some hose. The acid is readily available at the hardware store. We suggest finding the smaller container – it’s the perfect amount for a one time fill.
Etching the board is the usual show. The bubbles help agitate the solution around the copper and speed up the process.
The finished etch came out pretty decent, if slightly over-etched. Holding the board up to a light is an easy way to check for top/bottom layer alignment. The board was slightly over-etched, but after spending a couple of weeks mucking around with the process, we decided that it was time to get on with it already.
To drill the board, we used a #59 tungsten carbide drill bit. Instead of a drill press, we manually ran our CNC mini mill to drill the board. We only broke one bit and that was when we fat-fingered a direction key.
One more quick check and the board looks perfect. The milling machine made it easy to keep the holes in line for the build.
Finishing the build is pretty easy (the red wire going over the board was a quick design fix). We added jumpers for all of the Arduino connections and soldered the Cat-5 from the keypad directly to the new board. We won’t bore you with step by step soldering pics. If you prototyped the circuit, you should be intimately familiar with the thing by now. If you need some help soldering, be sure to check out our
introduction to soldering
.
The bezel’s built, the PC Board etched, the circuit soldered, and the keypad’s installed. The only thing left to do is enjoy the new keypad… or develop more code and teach it some new tricks.
We promised to explain the code a bit, so we’ll give you a quick walk through. The meffect keypad code (available
here
) was written to simplify the keypad routines for the project. The first several lines initialize the various variables we’ll need to make things work. We added comments regarding pin assignment to help simplify wiring and help people change things around as needed.
The code to drive the digital potentiometer comes directly from
this tutorial
.
The setup() function is run one time when the controller is powered on or reset. Variables are set and i/o pins are set to their initial states as needed.
The loop() function is the never ending loop where the controller will perform a few tasks. The main order of business is to read the button states for input. Second, the potentiometers are set and each LED is lit temporarily, based on the values in the matrix defined for each LED state. If no action is detected, then the values are set by an effect function. However, if an action is detected, the effect is halted and the button color is set based on the number of inputs keyed in. Next, the loop counts all the button presses that are detected. If the lock exceeds the defined number (in this case, 20) then the pad glows red, state is reset and it locks the user out for about 30 seconds. The final test is the actual lock code. If the keypad state matches the predefined code, then the pad glows green and the door lock is opened for about 5 to 10 seconds.
The code is pretty simple, but the framework is there to produce a more secure lock. The easiest way to up your security would be to create a rolling fade effect and possibly blip the LED color when a key press is detected. Probably the coolest feature of the lock is that you can program it to behave and lock in any way you want. | 19 | 19 | [
{
"comment_id": "37383",
"author": "Brandon",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T07:43:29",
"content": "Cool! I’ve been working on homebrewing a CPU from Logic gates here lately, so this might be a good exercise to try out to warm up my soldering again. I’m thinking I’ll open up this program I found, called “... | 1,760,377,809.774024 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/20/robot-clarinet/ | Robot Clarinet | Juan Aguilar | [
"Misc Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"artemisorchestracompetition",
"clarinet",
"embeddedsystems",
"linux",
"music",
"nicta",
"roboclarinet",
"robot"
] | Australian research group NICTA in association with the University of New South Wales won the
2008 Artemis Orchestra Competition
with their
robot clarinet player
. The competition challenges participants to design embedded systems that can play unmodified instruments. NICTA took first prize with their roboclarinet, due mainly to the complexity of the robot’s “mouth.” It uses two servo motors to act as a surrogate tongue and lips, vibrating the reed of the clarinet in a way consistent with human playing. The keys of the clarinet are pushed by a series of brass plungers. All of the robot’s functions are controlled by a computer running Linux. If great sound or novel technology are not enough for you, then the project is at least worth a look for the robot’s attractive, slightly steampunk-esque look. Watch it in action after the break.
[via
LinuxDevices
]
permalink | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "37380",
"author": "TBJR6",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T05:04:15",
"content": "Quite epicIm just wondering how they make the seals?the clarinet is an instrument that requires bare fingers to play",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "3738... | 1,760,377,810.077206 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/toms-rgb-mood-lamp/ | Tom’s RGB Mood Lamp | Eliot | [
"LED Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"atmega",
"atmega8",
"led",
"microcontroller",
"moodlight",
"rgb",
"serial"
] | [Tom] has been refining a
board that drives a high power RGB LED
for applications like this moodlight. It’s based around an ATmega8 microcontroller. The goal was to make an RGB LED easy to work with: It can cycle between colors in standalone mode. You can control it via a serial interface. It also has a pin header to hooking up three potentiometers for manual color mixing. Boards aren’t available yet, but he’s already posted a build tutorial. The board looks straightforward enough that it shouldn’t be too hard to layout if you really want to.
permalink | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "37728",
"author": "David R",
"timestamp": "2008-06-26T03:37:53",
"content": "ATmega8 a bit overpowered for controlling 3 LEDs. It’s a cool hack, maybe I’ll build one using the smallest mcu I can (and use SMT…IMO there’s no point to using PDIP if you’re gonna go to the trouble of mak... | 1,760,377,809.945893 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/ubuntu-released-for-mids/ | Ubuntu Released For MIDs | Eliot | [
"News"
] | [
"atom",
"linux",
"linuxdevices",
"mid",
"nokia",
"ubuntumid",
"ubuntumobile",
"umpc",
"unbuntu"
] | Ubuntu MID edition
has been released for handheld Mobile Internet Devices. It’s targeting devices based on Intel’s A100/110 and the new Centrino Atom platforms. Successors to the UMPC, MIDs are usually small formfactor and have a touchscreen, plus a physical keyboard. UMPC portal has a examples of
devices that are currently supported
by this release, inluding plamtops like the Kohjinsha SH6. This release is only for x86 devices, so don’t expect it to be ported to the ARM based Nokia N800/810. The user interface is based on the
Hildon framework
and we’re glad people are attempting to think beyond a standard UI. We hope they plan on punching up the use of the color brown in the final though; it just wouldn’t be an Ubuntu release without it.
[via
Linux Devices
]
permalink | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "37723",
"author": "Ptr",
"timestamp": "2008-06-26T04:11:45",
"content": "Now if we can get this running on a Eee PC that has been moded with a touch screen.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37724",
"author": "jojmoj",
"ti... | 1,760,377,809.813522 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/charter-abandons-packet-monitoring-advertising-plan/ | Charter Abandons Packet Monitoring Advertising Plan | Eliot | [
"News"
] | [
"ad",
"advertising",
"charter",
"chartercommunications",
"nebuad",
"packet",
"packetinspection",
"traffic"
] | Charter Communications has announced that it will no longer be attempting to target advertising
based on user actions
. The original strategy would have involved inspecting the contents of every packet sent or received by the customer. This usage pattern is associated with a specific IP and relevant ads are
displayed on sites using NebuAd
when that IP visits. NebuAd doesn’t directly share the IP, but we’ve seen in the past, even with obfuscation, a user’s search patterns alone have been known to
give away their identity
. The majority of all internet traffic is plaintext, but endusers have an expectation of privacy. User backlash is what eventually caused Charter to back down, but that doesn’t mean companies like NebuAd are going to be any less common.
[via
EFF
]
[photo:
mattdork
]
permalink | 3 | 3 | [
{
"comment_id": "37720",
"author": "hannes",
"timestamp": "2008-06-26T01:43:00",
"content": "as miked will say…",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37721",
"author": "CalcProgrammer1",
"timestamp": "2008-06-26T03:48:34",
"content": "YAY!... | 1,760,377,809.626389 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/wireless-arcade-stick/ | Wireless Arcade Stick | Eliot | [
"Peripherals Hacks"
] | [
"arcade",
"arcadestick",
"controller",
"playstation",
"ps2",
"streetfighter",
"wireless"
] | [astralpancakes]
wireless arcade stick project
looks like a great place to start if you want a simple project. Well constructed arcade sticks can cost $100+, but with all the MAME cabinet builders, the parts have become easy to acquire. The stick has a rigid wooden case with a metal faceplate. All of the component connections are soldered to the pads of a Logitech wireless controller. [astralpancakes] built this specifically to play Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike.
permalink | 2 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "37719",
"author": "illwill",
"timestamp": "2008-06-26T17:53:07",
"content": "Wheres the write up and where to get the parts?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "114789",
"author": "Damon Grapes",
"timestamp": "2010-01-04T16:... | 1,760,377,810.039428 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/iphone-20-adds-secure-wipe/ | IPhone 2.0 Adds Secure Wipe | Eliot | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"iphone hacks"
] | [
"apple",
"appleiphone",
"erase",
"forensics",
"iphone",
"random",
"securewipe",
"security"
] | AppleInsider is reporting that
iPhone Software v2.0 will add a secure wipe feature
. The screenshot above shows the text “This will take about an hour.” added to the normal erase feature. This time is used to overwrite data to the disk multiple times. The need for secure phone erasure came to light after a researcher was able to
recover personal information from a refurbished iPhone
using
forensic tools
. Since then, a few people have published techniques for obliterating personal data using either
the GUI
or the more thorough
command line method
. Remote wipe has also been added to the new firmware in case the phone is stolen. We’re happy to see security being made easily accessible to nontechnical users and expect that remote wipe will become standard on laptops in the future.
permalink | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "37714",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2008-06-25T23:43:26",
"content": "at the request of many of you i will limit future postings. i will only post if i have something to add to the original post.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_i... | 1,760,377,809.90671 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/nano-gps-logger/ | Nano GPS Logger | Will O'Brien | [
"classic hacks",
"gps hacks"
] | [
"diy",
"gps"
] | This is a nice, compact gps logger that’s built around a PIC16F872 and some eeprom chips. It was designed for a particular GPS receiver, but should be easily adaptable to others since the unit ouputs standard sentences at 4800 baud. Full schematics and board layout are available on the
project page
.
permalink | 14 | 14 | [
{
"comment_id": "37704",
"author": "fabien",
"timestamp": "2008-06-25T15:31:16",
"content": "as a big hackaday fan, I’m very surprised and happy to find out the nano logger I’ve done here :)Note: it’s build around PIC16F876, not PIC16F872.— Fabien",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replie... | 1,760,377,810.391032 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/25/build-a-twitter-client-with-fluid/ | Build A Twitter Client With Fluid | Eliot | [
"Mac Hacks"
] | [
"fluid",
"fluidapp",
"ssb",
"twitter"
] | The
Fluid Site Specific Browser
(SSB) is one of our favorite pieces of kit for Leopard. You can use Fluid to give web services you use constantly like Gmail, Facebook, Wikipedia, or Pandora their own icon and a browser tailored to that site’s specific workflow. Fluid based on WebKit and has plugin support among
many other features
. Embedded above is [Eric Eggert] showing how to
create a reasonable Twitter client
using it. The initial setup is identical to any other Fluid app: point it at
https://twitter.com/
. The clever bit is leveraging Fluid’s GreaseMonkey style userscripting support. He created a userscript to
autorefresh
. A second userscript is used to
strip off all of the extraneous page elements
leaving just the text field and the timeline. Every time you get a new message it generates a growl notification and you can even attach it to the status bar. Best of all: it
avoids all API limitations
since you’re accessing through the web interface.
permalink | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "37698",
"author": "J03P",
"timestamp": "2008-06-25T10:22:34",
"content": "I cannot help but wonder about the safety of this.greasemonkey’s functionality proved vulnerable at least a few times, where I believe, javascript on the original page was able to hijack its higher privileges,... | 1,760,377,810.493537 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/20/backtrack-3-final-is-out/ | BackTrack 3 Final Is Out | Juan Aguilar | [
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"backtrack",
"backtrack3",
"backtrack3final",
"linux",
"linuxdistro",
"midnightresearchlabs",
"remote-exploit"
] | OpenSuse
and
Ubuntu
are perfectly serviceable Linux distros, but we’ve had a soft spot for
BackTrack from the very start
. Good news for us, since yesterday was the long awaited
release of BackTrack 3 Final
. It uses the same 2.6.21.5 kernel as before (to maintain WiFi injection compatibility) and Nessus is still out, but it is not without a great deal of other improvements. Its forensic capabilities are better than ever, largely due to included apps like a
fully functional version of SAINT
and a
special version of Maltego
made just for BackTrack. The
download is free
, but Remote-Exploit is asking users not to distribute it without notifying them first, because they’re trying to keep track of the number of downloads.
[via
Midnight Research Labs
]
permalink | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "37373",
"author": "Cyanflux",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T05:25:21",
"content": "I tried out the second beta a while back, but couldn’t manage to get X to start (I think it didn’t include the video drivers my laptop needed, although bt2 works on it). Anyone know if they changed anythi... | 1,760,377,810.433387 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/20/finding-sensitive-data-with-freeware/ | Finding Sensitive Data With Freeware | Juan Aguilar | [
"News",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"ccn",
"darkreading",
"dataloss",
"datalossprevention",
"dlp",
"find_ssn",
"freeware",
"OpenSource",
"opensourcesoftware",
"security",
"spider",
"ssn"
] | When an organization’s network grows to a certain size, its difficult to keep track of every single piece of sensitive information like credit card numbers or social security numbers. In order to find and secure this data, companies often turn to data loss prevention (DLP) services. This is not a viable option for many organizations, though, as DLP services can often be expensive and time-consuming to deploy.
Such organizations are not entirely without options: a recent article on Dark Reading lists
several DLP tools
authored by teams from various universities, all free to download and use. Programs like The University of Texas at Austin’s
Sensitive Number Finder
and Virginia Tech’s
Find_SSN
were designed to find pieces of data on computers and servers formatted in ways typical to sensitive information (xxx-xx-xxxx for SSNs, for example). This approach can often lead to false positives, so some measure of human control is required. They are also incapable of scanning application servers or other forms of data in transit. Cornell’s
Spider
can scan various application server types using different protocols. When used in conjunction, all of these apps can help secure your data without the expense of outsourcing the job.
permalink | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "37372",
"author": "Standard Mischief",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T07:46:50",
"content": "^(?!000)([0-6]\\d{2}|7([0-6]\\d|7[012]))([ -]?)(?!00)\\d\\d\\3(?!0000)\\d{4}$My google-fu is mighty, here is a RegEx library website:http://regexlib.com/grep is still freely available, right?",
... | 1,760,377,810.802582 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/20/rgb-etched-box/ | RGB Etched Box | Juan Aguilar | [
"LED Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"box",
"etchedpcb",
"ladyada",
"lamentconfiguration",
"moodlight",
"pcb",
"pcbs",
"rgb",
"rgblights"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG4PWZyR4Sk&hl=en]
[Dine909] brings us this simple
glowing box made out of five etched PCBs
. The PCBs control RGB LEDs inside the box, which is also filled with clear glass beads. The four walls are connected to a base controller board that has a Cypress PSoC chip for color mixing. There’s no writeup, and even though it looks a lot like
the Lament Configuration
, it should be a lot easier to build; any transportation to other dimensions it provides will be strictly figurative.
[via
ladyada
]
permalink | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "37367",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2008-06-21T01:26:27",
"content": "i do not approve of this postyoutube video of an led is lame. even if its rgb.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37368",
"author": "vinnie",
"times... | 1,760,377,810.843425 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/20/nintendo-drumaxe-controller/ | Nintendo DrumAxe Controller | Juan Aguilar | [
"home entertainment hacks"
] | [
"8bit",
"circuitbending",
"drumaxe",
"nes",
"nescart",
"nescartridge",
"nescontroller"
] | We can’t remember the last time a new cart or peripheral for the NES was released, but [Tony Amendolare] at ElektroKraft has just changed that. In conjunction with Nesdev.com, [Amendolare] created
Super Synth Drums
, a NES-compatible cartridge that turns button presses on the NES gamepad into drum sounds synthesized by the NES’s sound chips. To complement his software, he created the Sonic DrumAxe, a controller that looks a bit like a potato gun and is played like a guitar.
The Sonic DrumAxe controller uses a PIC microcontroller to drive a serial to parallel shift register. It has six touch sensors on the neck and one large one on the thick end. Unfortunately it requires custom inputs on the NES console, so it can’t be used with an unmodified NES.
[Amendolare] wrote the Super Synth Drums in 6502 assembly language. He puts the software onto carts using a NES console that has been modified to read and write to cartdridges. The software can be controlled with either the DrumAxe or with standard controls. [Amendolare] also did most of his demoing on a clone Yobo Machine, and it worked perfectly.
If you’d like to get in on the 8-bit circuit bending action, ElectroKraft is selling Super Synth Drums for about $49. This does not include the Sonic DrumAxe, but [Amendolare] told us that he’ll be selling a full package- cart, DrumAxe, and modded NES- on eBay later today. We’ll give you the link as soon as we get it; keep in mind that part of the proceeds of all sales are going to a children’s hospital and a charity to feed the hungry.
UPDATE: [Tony] just sent us a link to his
eBay auction for the DrumAxe set
. Again, this includes the cart, the DrumAxe, and the modded NES.
[via
GetLoFi
]
permalink | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "37362",
"author": "miked",
"timestamp": "2008-06-20T23:51:40",
"content": "i do not approve of this posti can’t tell from juan’s description or the site whether where to get the drumaxe. all the hack goodness appears to be in the software, but that is only available on the cartridge... | 1,760,377,810.593455 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/20/waterproof-usb-for-underwater-cameras/ | Waterproof USB For Underwater Cameras | Will O'Brien | [
"classic hacks",
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"camera",
"scuba",
"underwater"
] | Underwater camera housings work great – but they are prone to humidity, dirt and dust problems if you open them more often than needed. In order to download the images off of his digital camera between dives, [Matt] decided to
add a waterproof external USB port
to his housing. He had an extra 5 pin strobe bulkhead installed by Ikelite (makers of excellent housings). Then he spliced on a mini-usb cable for the camera and spliced a standard USB end onto a strobe cable. During dives, the port is closed with an o-ring sealed cap.
permalink | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "37353",
"author": "Hal Hockersmith",
"timestamp": "2008-06-20T16:22:46",
"content": "YeeGods. Got enough electrical tape up there. Three simple words: heat shrink tubing.Other then that this hack is purely practical. Makes you wonder if the company wont start doing this themselves."... | 1,760,377,810.712772 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/19/playstation-2-controller-analysis/ | Playstation 2 Controller Analysis | Eliot | [
"Playstation Hacks"
] | [
"controller",
"digitallogic",
"logic",
"logicanalyzer",
"logicport",
"playstation",
"playstation2",
"spi"
] | The people at Near Future Laboratory are trying to
spoof the behavior of a Playstation 2 controller
using just a microcontroller. They wrote some initial code using the
controller info found here
, but decided the best way to figure out what was going on, was to probe the interface. They’re using a
Logicport
, which features 34 channels plus two clock channels. They only need six channels because the PS2 implements an SPI protocol plus an ACK line. The post is just a preliminary investigation, but will give you a little insight into how the Logicport works and why you might find it useful.
permalink | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "37349",
"author": "dax",
"timestamp": "2008-06-20T07:14:41",
"content": "wow, that logicport dealio is pretty incredible for computer eng-based stuff. way beyond my league of desire to understand/use, so I’ll stick with my simpler and more mechanical-based life ;)Sounds pretty usefu... | 1,760,377,810.632323 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/19/ice-on-mars/ | Ice On Mars | Eliot | [
"News"
] | [
"ice",
"mars",
"phoenix",
"phoenixlander"
] | It’s official: the
Phoenix Lander has discovered ice on Mars
. A few days ago, the lander exposed some bright white chunks of material while retrieving a soil sample. These spots have since disappeared over the following days, suggesting they’ve melted. An additional trench found a hard layer at the same depth as the original ice.
The spacecraft team has been dealing with some data storage issues as well and will be pushing a software patch soon.
permalink | 22 | 22 | [
{
"comment_id": "37327",
"author": "oscinis",
"timestamp": "2008-06-20T05:07:27",
"content": "not melted, but sublimated. transformed straight from solid ice to gas.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37328",
"author": "Steven",
"timestamp"... | 1,760,377,810.769552 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/19/neutering-the-apple-remote-desktop-exploit/ | Neutering The Apple Remote Desktop Exploit | Eliot | [
"Mac Hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"appleremotedesktop",
"applescript",
"ard",
"ardagent",
"exploit",
"OsX",
"slashdot",
"tuaw"
] | Yesterday, Slashdot reported a
privilege escalation vulnerability in OSX
. Using AppleScript you can tell the ARDAgent to execute arbitrary shell script. Since, ARDAgent is running as root, all child processes inherit root privleges. Intego
points out
that if the user has activated Apple Remote Desktop sharing the ARDAgent can’t be exploited in this fashion. So, the short term solution is to turn on ARD, which you can do without giving any accounts access privileges.
TUAW has an illustrated guide
to doing this in 10.4 and 10.5.
permalink | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "37295",
"author": "Preston",
"timestamp": "2008-06-20T01:08:54",
"content": "BREAKING NEWS: APPLE NOT AS SECURE AS IT’S MORONIC USERS ASSUMED!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37296",
"author": "Mikoangelo",
"timestamp": ... | 1,760,377,810.672826 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/19/wiretapping-and-how-to-avoid-it/ | Wiretapping And How To Avoid It | Juan Aguilar | [
"Cellphone Hacks",
"News"
] | [
"bug",
"cellphone",
"surveillance",
"voip",
"wireless",
"wiretap",
"wiretapping",
"wiretaps"
] | No matter who you suspect is plotting your doom, you’ll need need to know the way wiretapping works in order to learn their plans and shield yourself from their surveillance. Luckily, ITSecurity has posted
a comprehensive
article about wiretapping
, including information on how to wiretap and how to find out if someone is wiretapping you.
One of the more intriguing methods of wiretapping the articles discusses is a service by a company called
FlexiSPY
. It works by covertly installing a program onto the target’s cellphone. Once installed, the spying party can listen to anything going on in the room the target is in by calling the phone. It won’t ring, vibrate, or give any indication that it is transmitting audio data.
Some of the more hack-oriented methods involve tapping into a landline, using special software to record VoIP calls, or buying a wiretapping kit. Of course, countermeasures, are also discussed, but some of the links they provide are a little more
informative on the topic of defense against wiretapping
.
permalink | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "37289",
"author": "DigitalMind",
"timestamp": "2008-06-20T00:02:55",
"content": "As a phone technician, I have to agree. It’s SOOO easy to spy on any landline when you have the will to do it. (And in my case, when I have all the tools to do it easily)This article was interesting fo... | 1,760,377,811.120194 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/19/check-washing-vulnerabilities/ | Check Washing Vulnerabilities | Will O'Brien | [
"classic hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"banking",
"security",
"shred everything",
"ShredEverything"
] | [vector] sent in some of his other work, but I found his posts(
part 1,
part 2
,
part 3
and
final thoughts
) on check washing experiments pretty interesting. His results should be enough to make you think twice about writing checks. He tested a few different pens and tested them on real check using Acetone and Alcohol as solvents.
permalink | 9 | 9 | [
{
"comment_id": "37280",
"author": "herbicide",
"timestamp": "2008-06-19T15:15:07",
"content": "There are pens with ink designed to foil cheque washing, most notably the Uniball Signo 207 (recommended by a certain Mr K. Mitnick IIRC)MacTech of EDCF did a comprehensive ink durability test herehttp://... | 1,760,377,811.16106 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/19/the-price-of-his-toys-returns/ | The Price Of His Toys Returns | Juan Aguilar | [
"News",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"carkit",
"carkits",
"cars",
"kitcar",
"thepriceofhistoys"
] | We’re big fans of
scratch built transportation
and got some great news earlier this month: After a long hiatus,
thepriceofhistoys.com
has returned and is ready to serve up all the news about kit cars and home-built cars that you could want. For those who don’t know, kit cars are sets of car parts that require assembly often lacking drivetrain components, which must be acquired from donor vehicles. Aside from kit cars, home-builds, and the occasional custom job, many of the cars the site discusses are also for sale.
Kit cars can be pretty fun on their own, but many of the builds featured on the site spice it up further by adding varying levels of customization. This
Tornado McLaren M6 GTR Replica
, for example, uses a 3.5L V8 Rover engine and some custom body work to improve visibility. Another fascinating and rare kit uses a Beetle’s chassis and features
a body that looks like a Beetle crossed with a Porche
. Of course, none of these are as practical
cutting a Geo Metro in half for improved milage
, but to car kit builders, practicality holds a very low place on their list of priorities.
permalink | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "37275",
"author": "Shannon",
"timestamp": "2008-06-19T19:19:29",
"content": "I was wondering why my hits went WAY up today! Thanks for mentioning the relaunch.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37276",
"author": "joel",
"t... | 1,760,377,811.457471 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/18/decaffeinatid-simple-security-log-monitor/ | DecaffeinatID: Simple Security Log Monitor | Eliot | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"irongeek",
"security",
"windowsxp",
"xp"
] | Irongeek put together a
simple program for monitoring network shenanigans
when you’re on an untrusted network like the coffee shop. It sits in the Windows Systray and notifies you about a variety of events. It alerts you when it sees the MAC address of the IP gateway change. It watches the security log and warns you of any attempted or successful logins. The firewall log is also monitered. Try it out and send him any bug reports/feature requests you might have.
permalink | 11 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "37266",
"author": "Ricky",
"timestamp": "2008-06-19T06:38:41",
"content": "For the Firewalllog setting in Vista, open the start menu and type Windows Firewall. Click to open “Windows Firewall with Advanced Security” (not “Windows Firewall”). In the right pane, click Properties. Then... | 1,760,377,811.223102 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/18/hardware-fail/ | Hardware FAIL | Eliot | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"fail",
"graphicscard",
"hardware",
"NVIDIA",
"nvidia7800",
"photobasement"
] | This forum post from 2005 has us at a loss for words. Please educate your loved ones. Only you can prevent senseless hardware mutilation.
[via
PhotoBasement
] | 35 | 35 | [
{
"comment_id": "37232",
"author": "Brock",
"timestamp": "2008-06-19T06:23:19",
"content": "/me shakes head.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37233",
"author": "adam",
"timestamp": "2008-06-19T06:26:06",
"content": "I’ve heard of non-... | 1,760,377,811.346097 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/18/atari-7800-portable/ | Atari 7800 Portable | Eliot | [
"handhelds hacks"
] | [
"7800",
"atari",
"atari7800",
"benheck",
"console",
"portable"
] | Ben Heck has just wrapped up his latest project, a
portable Atari 7800
. He had meant to do this a long time ago, but lacking experience, the complex looking circuit board scared him off. It features a seven inch display, rechargeable batteries, combination driving and paddle controllers, plus AV out. The console was built by request and just like his other pojects: he’s not shy about showing you how it’s put together. Look for a making-of coming soon.
permalink | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "37231",
"author": "killerpiggypie@gmail.com",
"timestamp": "2008-06-19T05:26:45",
"content": "this tickles my inner child",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,377,811.641083 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/18/firefox-3-vulnerability/ | Firefox 3 Vulnerability | Eliot | [
"firefox hacks",
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"0day",
"browser",
"ff3",
"firefox",
"firefox3",
"tippingpoint",
"webbrowser",
"zdi",
"zeroday"
] | TippingPoint’s Zero Day Initiative
reported a critical vulnerability affecting Firefox 3.0
yesterday. It includes the 2.0 versions as well. It’s unreleased and Mozilla is working on a fix already. Whatever the exploit is, it does require the user to visit a malicious site or click a link to executed. It came in 5 hours after the FF3 release, but since it affects previous versions, we wonder if the researcher was just sitting on it to be first. The
Zero Day Initiative
pays researchers for the exploits they submit.
permalink | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "37227",
"author": "Wwhat",
"timestamp": "2008-06-20T08:32:00",
"content": "I love how MS always has those excuses, and now mozilla too it seems, ‘you are only affected by this hole in the browser if you visit sites’, yeah right, that’s comforting and a perfect excuse.",
"parent_... | 1,760,377,811.379818 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/18/adobe-airs-most-install-worthy-apps/ | Adobe Air’s Most Install-worthy Apps | Juan Aguilar | [
"News"
] | [
"adobeair",
"air",
"rias",
"richinternetapplicat...",
"runtime",
"snackr",
"twhirl"
] | Lifehacker has listed the
top 10 apps that make installing AIR worth your time and effort
. Among them are social networking widgets, RSS readers, and other utilities. As you may know,
AIR is a set of cross-platform runtimes
that allow developers to create rich internet apps that work on various different operating systems. The runtime environment is just as straightforward to install as any other ( JRE, for example).
Snackr
and
Twhirl
, are both staples here at Hack a Day HQ for tracking news. We’ve also heard good things about Google Analytics Report Suite, which can be really useful for tracking site traffic. Still, we’re inclined to think that our audience could write software that’s at least as creative or useful. If you think you’re up to it,
download the Adobe AIR SDK
and get crackin’.
permalink | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "37220",
"author": "vampyre",
"timestamp": "2008-06-19T05:54:33",
"content": "this is pretty weak. perhaps you guys should change the name of this site to “what ever we can think of post about”. if this software had been modified to do something it wasn’t meant to do , then, maybe it... | 1,760,377,811.419991 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/18/sonicwall-still-hates-us/ | SonicWALL Still Hates Us | Eliot | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"blocked",
"panera",
"proxy",
"sonicwall",
"ssh"
] | In case you’ve ever wondered, “why don’t I ever run into those Hack a Day scamps at the Panera?” It’s because SonicWALL thinks we’re a “Hacking/Proxy Avoidance Systems” and the more inexplicable “Usenet News Groups.” We’ve gotten many reports from readers over the years about getting blocked by various vendors’ proxies. Do you have any trouble viewing Hack a Day from your school/work? What “service” are they using? We use ssh’s
application level dynamic port forwarding
to get around most systems when we’re on the road. | 34 | 34 | [
{
"comment_id": "37193",
"author": "mike",
"timestamp": "2008-06-19T04:50:23",
"content": "yeah, i hate that. When I’m at school hackaday is always blocked.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37194",
"author": "mike different mike",
"times... | 1,760,377,811.606058 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/18/make-your-own-guitar-pedal-with-beavis-board/ | Make Your Own Guitar Pedal With Beavis Board | Juan Aguilar | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"beavisaudio",
"beavisboard",
"breadboard",
"breakoutbox",
"guitar",
"guitarpedal",
"pedal"
] | Beavis Audio has recently released
the Beavis Board, a kit to help fledgling guitar pedal builders
. The kit addresses four typical problems in this endeavor: learning to solder, dealing with breadboards, sourcing parts, and making sense of schematics. By including a breadboard/psu/switch combo and tons of other parts as well as informative and easy to read schematics, all of these problems are alleviated, allowing eager builders to get to work right out of the box.
The kit costs $249 and we’re guessing it’s a little too “entry level” for most of you. It has a
highly informative manual in PDF format
. You could use that to get ideas and then source your own parts. Have any of you built a guitar pedal specifically for prototyping?
[via
Music Thing
]
permalink | 12 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "37184",
"author": "Dean",
"timestamp": "2008-06-19T03:11:37",
"content": "i for one am interested in this sort of thing. it’s not too “entry level”. i hope you don’t have sour grapes about some complainers. it takes a while for readers to adjust to change, and it takes a while for w... | 1,760,377,811.686973 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/18/tr-909-teardown/ | TR-909 Teardown | Juan Aguilar | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"303",
"808",
"909",
"drummachine",
"matrixsynth",
"roland",
"sequencer",
"teardown",
"tr909"
] | Flickr user [firegroove] recently had to take apart his Roland TR-909 drum machine in order to fix it, and he photographed the entire teardown, offering
detailed pictures of the TR-909’s internal parts
. The TR-909 is legendary as one of the first fully programmable drum machines that could store entire songs, and its legend is only boosted by its scarcity: only 10,000 were ever made. If you can’t afford or simply refuse to tear yours apart, look after the break for a few more photos from inside.
This is a shot of the largest PCB in the TR-909, which contains all of the console knobs.
In this closeup of the board that hold the 16 step buttons, you can clearly see the TC5565P-15 chip in the center, which is a generic memory chip. It is probably one of the most replaceable parts in the whole machine. A few other chips specific to the TR-909 can also be seen.
We would have liked to see a little more description of what each part does. That said, it’s great to see the inside of this machine, which would have been a tall order given the rarity of it and the value a typical owner attaches to it. If you’re interested in getting a feel of how a TR-909 sounds, check out
ReBirth RB-338
: it’s a retired program that modeled the analog hardware to emulate the functions and sounds of a TR-909, as well its sister drum machine, the TR-808, and the eminent TB-303.
[via
Matrixsynth
]
permalink | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "37183",
"author": "Pent.",
"timestamp": "2008-06-19T03:08:56",
"content": "There’s also a decent flash TR-909 simulator athttp://lab.andre-michelle.com/fl-909.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,377,812.228603 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/18/animatronic-stuffed-animals-stripped-bare/ | Animatronic Stuffed Animals Stripped Bare | Juan Aguilar | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"animatronic",
"animatronics",
"elmo",
"kottke",
"stuffedanimal",
"stuffedanimals",
"teardown",
"toys"
] | For those who have ever wondered what Chicken-Dancing Elmo’s mechanical parts look like without the fur and the chicken costume (and who among us hasn’t?), [Matt Kirkland] posted the photos above, along with several other animatronic, walking, talking and other
mechanical stuffed toys stripped of all their fur and stuffing
. These before and after shots were ostensibly taken for unspecified “research purposes,” but if you ask us, any research that takes a knife to Elmo is the most valid kind.
[via
Kottke
]
permalink | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "37179",
"author": "califrag",
"timestamp": "2008-06-18T23:26:16",
"content": "reminds me of my childhood, opening up every toy and electronic device I could get my hands on “just to see what it looked like inside”.The stubborn ones that did not have screws or other easy-opening proc... | 1,760,377,812.861332 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/18/high-power-led-blinking-circuit/ | High Power LED Blinking Circuit | Juan Aguilar | [
"LED Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"blinkingled",
"christmaslight",
"christmaslights",
"circuit",
"led"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNDu56oGNck]
Evil Mad Scientist Labs brings us this
easy to make LED blinking circuit
. The idea is to put a LED in series with a small blinking incandescent bulb from a string of Christmas lights. The bulb has an internal bimetallic strip that bends out of shape when it heats up, cutting the circuit. when it cools enough, it returns to its original shape and closes the circuit again, making the bulb and the LED turn on. Both lights have short period of sustained light when they are initially powered up since the bimetallic strip is still warming up.
The project uses a 5W blue LED, the aforementioned bulb, and a 6V battery pack loaded with 3 AAA batteries. The battery pack and the lights are all attached to a small section of perforated board. Duplicating this project should be easy and provide a very bright LED, but to make a 5W LED shine its brightest, a larger bulb and a heatsink will be necessary. | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "37173",
"author": "sackofcatfood",
"timestamp": "2008-06-18T23:15:26",
"content": "The light is clever, and saves you the need for a resister, but unfortunately your “immortal” diode circuit is now mortal. :p(And of course the auxiliary light might be annoying… if it suited your pur... | 1,760,377,812.267286 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/18/pic-controller-cable-tracer/ | PIC Controller Cable Tracer | Will O'Brien | [
"classic hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"microchip",
"pic",
"uc"
] | [Kevin Gorga] submitted this PIC controller based wire tracer to a project contest last year over at
circuit cellar
.A 125Khz signal is injected to the target cable and a pickup coil is used to detect the field and identify the wires location. You can grab the full project schematics and code
here
. The rest of the entries are pretty sweet, so be sure to check
them out
.
permalink | 3 | 2 | [
{
"comment_id": "750313",
"author": "RBMK",
"timestamp": "2012-08-23T19:01:22",
"content": "The links are dead. Is there any way to get the schematic?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "2799451",
"author": "Charlie Nelson",
"timestamp": "20... | 1,760,377,812.070708 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/17/hacking-firefox-menus/ | Hacking Firefox Menus | Will O'Brien | [
"firefox hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"browsing",
"firefox",
"web"
] | [Nick] sent in his quick hack for
getting rid of extra menu options
in Firefox 3, like the ever useless ‘Work Offline’ option. (OK, maybe modem lovers like it…) If you’re tired of seeing cluttered menu choices that you never use, [Nick]’s simple trick of editing the XML formatted XUL files in Firefox to clean things up. There’s some risk involved, but it’s nothing that a quick re-install can’t repair. The writeup includes a basic introduction to the XML tags, so you can probably do it. You can use a text editor right? (Just don’t forget to have the installer or a backup copy handy before you start playing around.)
permalink | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "37165",
"author": "Matt Oliver",
"timestamp": "2008-06-18T07:39:48",
"content": "Is there any word on if this is possible on a Mac? I perused Firefox’s package contents and am unable to uncover anything in resemblance to a .jar file.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"rep... | 1,760,377,812.349085 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/17/dash-express-now-twittering/ | Dash Express Now Twittering | Eliot | [
"gps hacks"
] | [
"api",
"dash",
"dashexpress",
"gps",
"twitter"
] | Here’s a quick hack to satiate our
appetite for location aware applications
. The
Dash Express
is a GPS unit with cellular and WiFi radios so it can do two way communication. Out of the box it can download maps and traffic on the fly. A little while ago they
opened up the API
so the device could receive info from other web services and owners could give feedback, like reporting speed traps live. The handy hack embedded above
publishes your location to Twitter
; we would have preferred it hit an actual location service like Brightkite. This just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to possible applications. We wonder what the adoption rate of the Dash Express will be, since the iPhone also has a touchscreen, GPS, and of course a cellular connection.
We’ve got a Dash Express in the lab and it’s based on the
OpenMoko
design. What sort of tomfoolery would you like to see us do with it? What do you think the killer app for the Dash Express will be?
[via
Gizmodo
]
permalink | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "37160",
"author": "Andrew Cooper",
"timestamp": "2008-06-18T06:34:28",
"content": "What about a crash cam/incident recorder? If the thing sits on the dash and has a little memory add a camera to it and an accelerometer to record a few seconds of video before and during an accident.... | 1,760,377,812.426782 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/17/eee-pc-901-teardown/ | Eee PC 901 Teardown | Eliot | [
"computer hacks",
"Netbook Hacks"
] | [
"901",
"Asus",
"bittech",
"eee",
"EeePc",
"eeepc901",
"engadget",
"teardown"
] | The folks from bit-tech have done us a great service by
tearing open the Eee PC 901
. Under the keyboard is a large metal plate that acts as the processor’s heat sink. The 4GB SSD card is not soldered to the board this time around. There is some empty space labeled IDE3 and solder points that say 3GCard, which definitely deserve further investigation. The oddest thing they found was a button with no indication to its purpose. It looks like a good machine and we hope to see
more Eee PC hacks
in the future.
[via
Engadget
]
permalink | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "37155",
"author": "sean",
"timestamp": "2008-06-18T08:19:35",
"content": "I want to know what that button does!!",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37156",
"author": "coco",
"timestamp": "2008-06-18T08:44:06",
"content"... | 1,760,377,812.307362 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/17/worlds-oldest-computer-music-unveiled/ | World’s Oldest Computer Music Unveiled | Juan Aguilar | [
"News"
] | [
"computermusic",
"digitalmusic",
"edvac",
"manchesterbaby",
"manchesterssem",
"music",
"recording",
"univac"
] | Fans of
music made with obsolete technology
are in for a treat:
recordings of a Ferranti Mark 1 computer playing Baa Baa Black Sheep and In the Mood
were recently released, and they are thought to be the oldest recordings of computer generated music in existence.
The Ferranti Mark 1 is a commercial version of Manchester University’s SSEM computer (aka Baby), which preceded several more well known computers like UNIVAC and EDVAC. It was one of the first computers that didn’t require a great deal of hardware rewiring to perform different tasks, making it ideal for this sort of purpose. It is not known whether the program was written to play these songs only or for more diverse composition and playback, but the author, [Chris Strachey] was known to be a friend of the legendary [Alan Turing]. The recording was released as part of the Manchester SSEM’s 60th anniversary celebration.
permalink | 5 | 5 | [
{
"comment_id": "37150",
"author": "Captain Dubious",
"timestamp": "2008-06-18T07:25:25",
"content": "I remember when I was working at MD Anderson in the Biomathematics Department back in the ’80s. The systems adminstrator for the hospital was regaling me with tales of some of the old mainframe sys... | 1,760,377,812.385869 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/17/anonymizing-clothing/ | Anonymizing Clothing | Juan Aguilar | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"anonymizer",
"anonymous",
"camouflage",
"gasmask",
"hood",
"hoodie",
"hoodies",
"invisibility",
"invisibilitycloak",
"security",
"securitycamera"
] | Though much of [citizenFinerran]’s intent in designing
a suit that camouflages the wearer from security camera footage
was philosophical, it is designed with a very tangible purpose in mind. The suit does not provide true camouflage (to say nothing of true invisibility), but it does create enough moving visual obstructions to make the wearer completely anonymous on film. More details on this and other invisibility cloaks after the break.
The idea is remarkably simple: [citizenFinerran]’s suit is made of a jumpsuit fashioned from fiberglass screening with several blank ID cards halved and glued to the suit. The cards are not glued on firmly, but hang in a way that allows them to move as the wearer walks. The motion of the cards creates a visual effect that appears as pixelation on surveillance footage. Though the designer referenced and “imitated” several different methods of creating the pixelated appearance, all of those methods were actually implemented via software on the camera, not by an external hardware solution.
The closest thing to a working invisibility cloak
in current development is the work of a team of students and professors at the University of Tokyo. It uses a a coat made of retro-reflective materials, a camera behind the wearer, and a projector. The digital camera captures the scenery behind the wearer and projects it onto the front, creating a form of camouflage on an opaque surface that resembles true invisibility. It’s not without limitations, though, as the projector would have to move with the person wearing the coat to achieve mobile cover. Even then it would only work on one side of the coat, leaving the other side completely exposed. Not really feasible unless a full body display was created.
If evading cameras is the goal, we feel a far more elegant fix is simply to
cover your face with a hood
or
a gas mask
. In addition to keeping your identity secret, a hood actually lines up with the philosophical imperatives behind [citizenFinerran]’s project very well, and it’s less likely to get you beaten up.
permalink | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "37142",
"author": "RT (Panzer Time!)",
"timestamp": "2008-06-18T04:09:14",
"content": "This reminds me about the textfile about robbing ATMs that I read a long time ago. It mentioned a rumor that wearing an aluminum-foil headband could somehow confuse the security camera. somethin... | 1,760,377,812.502968 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/17/mozillas-first-public-release/ | Mozilla’s First Public Release | Eliot | [
"downloads hacks",
"firefox hacks"
] | [
"browser",
"coderush",
"firefox",
"firefox3",
"mozilla",
"multifirefox",
"netscape",
"webbrowser"
] | [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZTJbsUcdeU&hl=en&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999]
In honor of
Firefox 3.0 download day
, Waxy.org has posted
the full Code Rush documentary
. It spans March ’98 to April ’99, as the Mozilla team publishes the first source code and then the eventual AOL acquisition of Netscape. Embedded above is a short clip of [Jamie Zawinski] pushing the code live at 10AM on March 31, 1998. The hour documentary is well worth watching.
If you’re unsure about moving from FF2 to 3,
MultiFireFox
still works perfectly fine with the new release.
permalink | 1 | 1 | [
{
"comment_id": "37141",
"author": "brad",
"timestamp": "2008-06-18T01:28:30",
"content": "i got the firefox 3 beta a while back, but i felt i had to download it again to help with the record",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
}
] | 1,760,377,812.459985 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/16/high-profile-hackers-get-their-day-in-court/ | High Profile Hackers Get Their Day In Court | Juan Aguilar | [
"News"
] | [
"charges",
"criminalcharges",
"cybercrime",
"GaryMckinnon",
"grgoryking",
"hackers",
"hacking",
"lsdigital",
"prosecution",
"robertmatthewbentley",
"silenz",
"solo"
] | The court cases against high profile hackers
[Gary McKinnon], [Gregory King], and [Robert Matthew Bentley] all had major developments last week, with [King] and [Bentley] sentenced to time in prison and [McKinnon] in a tenuous
state fighting extradition.
Both [King] (aka Silenz) and [Bentley] (aka LSDigital) will serve time for crimes related to botnets, but where [King] used one to stage DDOS attacks, [Bentley] used them to create spam. [King]’s botnet had 7,000 nodes, and though the court did not release the size of [Bentley]’s botnet, all of his bots were computers in the Rubbermaid company. [King] agreed to a two-year sentence, while [Bentley] was sentenced to 41 months.
[McKinnon] (aka Solo) who is of British origin, may serve up to 60 years in prison for mounting the
“biggest military hack ever” on U.S. government computers. Between 2001 and 2002, he allegedly hacked into 97 computers in U.S. military and NASA networks. To be charged in American courts, though, he would have to be extradited first, and his extradition appeal to British courts is currently pending
.
permalink | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "37087",
"author": "some dude",
"timestamp": "2008-06-17T07:44:03",
"content": "“…[king]’s botnet had 7,00 nodes…”7,000, perhaps?",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37088",
"author": "Louis",
"timestamp": "2008-06-17T08:04:0... | 1,760,377,812.600362 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/16/xb-browser-for-anonymous-browsing/ | XB Browser For Anonymous Browsing | Eliot | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"anonymous",
"browser",
"downloadsquad",
"tor",
"xb",
"xbbrowser",
"xerobank"
] | Download Squad
highlighted the
xB Browser
today. It’s a product offered by XeroBank and is the successor to the TorPark project. The browser anonymizes your browsing using the
Tor network
and doesn’t remember passwords, sites visited, or any other personal information. Scripts and plugins are disallowed by default, since they could be
used to identify you
. Remember that Tor just anonymizes; you’re still
at the mercy of the exit nodes
when it comes to security.
That’s just the free version though. Subscribers to XeroBank have access to an anonymous mail server and VPN service. If you’re a subscriber your bowser session is tunneled through XeroBank’s pool of servers and not the Tor network. We think they should have maintained a separate product name since this distinction isn’t clear outside of the FAQ.
permalink | 8 | 8 | [
{
"comment_id": "37081",
"author": "RT (Panzer Time!)",
"timestamp": "2008-06-17T06:16:29",
"content": "I dunno… seems like subscribing to a commercial service might defeat the purpose.I don’t see what’s so bad about using a rexx script to download the html and then open it in arachne, with the comp... | 1,760,377,812.825804 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/16/twittering-teddy-bear/ | Twittering Teddy Bear | Juan Aguilar | [
"Arduino Hacks",
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"animatronic",
"animatronics",
"arduino",
"bear",
"bluetooth",
"talkingbear",
"teddybear",
"twitter"
] | This may be the deathblow that kills
Nabaztag
: using text-to-speech software, this
animatronic bear speaks a Twitter stream aloud
and in real time.
The gurus at My Home 2.0 made the bear talk by replacing its integrated circuit board with an Arduino loaded with custom software. A Bluetooth audio adapter was added as a channel for the bear’s voice, and a circuit with an H bridge chip was added to address power issues. The Arduino translates the income audio signal into movement. From there the process moved to the computer that feeds the bear audio data, they parse the Twitter stream and use OSX’s built in “say” command to generate the voice stream that’s sent to the bear via Bluetooth.
permalink | 4 | 4 | [
{
"comment_id": "37077",
"author": "micah",
"timestamp": "2008-06-17T06:30:20",
"content": "careful to all animals(never washing spiders down the plughole),keep in contact with old friends(enjoy a drink now and then),will frequently check credit at(moral) bank (hole in the wall),favors for favors,fo... | 1,760,377,813.045304 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/16/robot-chairs/ | Robot Chairs | Juan Aguilar | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"chair",
"hubofx1",
"rfid",
"robot",
"robotchair",
"selfassembly",
"tekeaseat",
"wl16"
] | Chairs may be among the most useful inventions known to humanity, but that doesn’t mean that a clever engineer or two can’t improve on the idea. As proof, we offer you this list of robotic chairs that do much more than provide a place to put your rear in.
You may have already heard of the
“take a seat” chair designed for libraries
. Each chair has an RFID card reader inside. When the chair is activated, it follows the user holding the card around the library, providing an ever-present place to sit while searching through the stacks. When the user leaves, the chair returns to its docking station to power up and wait for the next patron.
Perhaps you’re saying, “I don’t want a chair that follows me, I want one that follows other people while I’m in it.” Say no more: we found not one, but two walking chairs. The first
legged chair, dubbed the WL-16
, was designed jointly by a team at Tokyo’s Waseda University and a Japanese robotics company called Tmsuk. It uses two legs composed of several rams and a plate that acts as a foot. It is capable of maintaining its balance under the shifting weight of a rider and walking up a flight of stairs with a relatively gradual grade. It is radio controlled, but the joint team is working on installing a joystick controller on the chair.
The second
walking chair we found, the Hubo FX-1
, appears far more substantial: it also has legs, but they look a lot more like human legs with their knee and ankle joints. It also stands at an impressive 2 meters high, and is capable of lifting as much as 220 pounds. It is controlled with a joystick by the rider, but relies on various built-in sensors to maintain its balance and an awareness of the local terrain. Its designers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology have not yet been able to build one with internal power, but they are attempting to fix that in the next model.
If those chairs are too functional and not artistic enough for your taste, check out this
self-assembling chair
by students at Cornell University. The chair is able to collapse into many pieces, then the pieces move toward each other, reassemble, and stand up as fully functional chair once more. It serves no practical purpose, but the concept of self assembling parts is intriguing. If you know of any other chairs that do neat tricks, let us know. | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "37071",
"author": "Dan",
"timestamp": "2008-06-17T04:49:12",
"content": "I have to say, the first one seems to be the most practical out of the four designs shown here. And the best part is that the applications are not just limited to a library! Beware the swarms of robotic chairs... | 1,760,377,813.133107 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/16/gaming-with-real-world-data/ | Gaming With Real-world Data | Juan Aguilar | [
"News"
] | [
"2dgames",
"drivingsim",
"drivingsimulator",
"earth",
"flash",
"flightsim",
"flightsimulator",
"googleearth",
"googlemaps",
"map",
"simulator"
] | We were pretty excited by the prospect of
location-aware software and its ability to pull map data into its functions
, but what do you get when build software on top of a map-based service? Well, one possibility is 2D gaming on real maps.
Geoquake developed a
2D driving sim that uses a Flash app to interact with Google Maps
. The game lets players enter any location in the world and drive around in various different vehicles. It was made by using Flash and the
Google Maps API for Flash
. Unfortunately, there is no collision detection or any other form of distinguishing topography from roads, so it’s a little more like flying over the area than driving on it.
For intentional flying, there is
this flight simulator that works with the Google Earth browser plugin
. It does exactly what you would expect, allowing users to fly a somewhat crudely rendered airplane using very simple controls over any location on (Google) Earth. If there’s anything you don’t like about it, though, you are free to edit it by using
the author’s API and polygon editor
. The simulator is Windows-only.
We know these are really simple, but bear in mind that these are the first games to incorporate real, semi-live map data. We’re sure there will be more games like these, but given the availability of the tools used to build these games, we wouldn’t be surprised if people took it upon themselves to make them more complex, visually rich, and fun.
[via
Waxy
] | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "37065",
"author": "Alex Dodge",
"timestamp": "2008-06-17T01:58:24",
"content": "The Google Earth flight sim is not just for Windows. I can run it on my mac.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37066",
"author": "biojae",
"t... | 1,760,377,813.087711 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/16/dont-talk-to-the-police/ | Don’t Talk To The Police | Eliot | [
"Misc Hacks"
] | [
"cops",
"defense",
"defenseattorney",
"fifth",
"fifthamendment",
"pleadthefifth",
"police"
] | As builders of
improvised electronic devices
, we’re worried that we may find ourselves
running afoul of the law
. Lucky for us, we’ve got the advice of Regent University Law Professor James Duane on using the 5th amendment. He runs through many examples where saying anything at all, truth or otherwise, can get you into trouble. Embedded below is the other side: Officer George Bruch discussing some of the interview techniques he uses.
[via
Sean Bonner
] | 17 | 17 | [
{
"comment_id": "37050",
"author": "RT (Panzer Time!)",
"timestamp": "2008-06-17T02:18:57",
"content": "Wow… this has been very informative.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37051",
"author": "Carpespasm",
"timestamp": "2008-06-17T03:06:2... | 1,760,377,813.233794 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/16/electric-recumbent-bicycles/ | Electric Recumbent Bicycles | Juan Aguilar | [
"cnc hacks",
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"bicycle",
"bike",
"bikes",
"electric",
"electricbike",
"electricrecumbent",
"electricvehicle",
"ev",
"recumbent",
"recumbentbicycle",
"recumbentbike",
"recumbents.com"
] | If you liked our post about
bikes and skates with weed whacker engines
but want more power and more challenge, we have good news. We’ve found some great instructions on adding motors to recumbent bicycles, which we’ll take you through after the break.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5FvNcK2kPQ]
The first project we found is
the E-cumbent by [Matt Shumaker]
. [Shumaker]’s ongoing project uses a power unit he constructed out of RC airplane electronics: the motor, the controller, a servo tester, and a battery eliminator circuit connected to 14 lithium polymer cells plus several CNC milled parts. The power drive connects to a sprocket mounted on the left side of the rear wheel. The bike is constructed with two reduction stages; the second stage has a freewheel that allows the rider to pedal while the motor idles, use the motor and pedal power combined, or use motor power alone. [Shumaker] also built a display console onto the handlebars, which shows trip information, MPH, and information on battery usage.
[Warren Beauchamp] designed a somewhat more simple
electric recumbent he calls the Cuda-E
. This design uses a 450 watt motor from a Mongoose pedal/electric motocross bike. It doesn’t just take the motor, though: it uses the entire rear subframe. The recumbent uses the motocross bike’s single pivot rear suspension, which attaches the rear and front subframes with a pivot and and a shock absorber. The motor is powered by a 24V lithium phosphate battery pack, but like the last project, [Beauchamp]’s recumbent can use any combination of pedaling and motor power.
A third project we found is by [Dana Barlow]
, and it really whet our appetite for more detail. [Barlow] chose to use parts from the same kind of motocross bike [Beauchamp] did, but unlike him, [Barlow] did not leave the motor in its original place on the rear subframe. Instead, he moved it to just above the freewheel, freeing up the space for a larger wheel to be used. [Barlow]’s bike is also distinct from the last two in that it uses remote steering: the handlebars and the suspension fork are on two different shafts. Unfortunately, very little information on the process was in the write-up.
All of these projects were found on
Recumbents.com
, which is a great one-stop resource for information on buying, building, riding, and racing recumbent bicycles. | 6 | 6 | [
{
"comment_id": "37047",
"author": "Snazz",
"timestamp": "2008-06-18T07:27:42",
"content": "Ah, this is exactly the hack I’ve been looking for.",
"parent_id": null,
"depth": 1,
"replies": []
},
{
"comment_id": "37048",
"author": "dravin21",
"timestamp": "2008-06-30T21:45:... | 1,760,377,813.428791 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/16/twitter-security-cam/ | Twitter Security Cam | Juan Aguilar | [
"digital cameras hacks"
] | [
"curl",
"motion",
"motiondetection",
"motiondetector",
"securitycamera",
"twitter",
"webcam",
"wget"
] | It seems that people keep coming up with ingenious things to with Twitter.
Reminding you to water your plants
is relatively inventive, but for shear practicality, [Shantanu Goel]
created a security camera using a webcam
, a few freeware apps, and a Twitter account.
To make this work,
install Motion
on a system running Linux. As its name suggests, Motion is a free motion-detecting application that monitors movement in a webcam’s field of view. Once installed, it should be configured to take a snapshot of the event whenever something moves; with the locate option turned on, it draws a square frame around the area where motion occurred. The program includes http server functionality, so the photos can be viewed from a remote location. When all of that is properly configured, motion can be set to trigger
cURL
,
Wget
, or
[Goel]’s Perl script
to post a message to Twitter about the event. From there the Twitter account can be configured to send text messages to a phone, creating a virtually instant notification of motion sensed by the webcam.
[via
Hackszine
]
permalink | 10 | 10 | [
{
"comment_id": "37043",
"author": "Geekner",
"timestamp": "2008-06-16T21:51:02",
"content": "How about taking this one step further? Add a bluetooth dongle to the computer running the webcam. Set it to automatically connect to your cell phone. Whenever the bluetooth is not associated, allow it to r... | 1,760,377,813.387387 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/16/geo-metro-halved-for-better-mileage/ | Geo Metro Halved For Better Mileage | Eliot | [
"Transportation Hacks"
] | [
"aerodynamics",
"dougheffron",
"fuelefficient",
"geo",
"geometro",
"metro",
"mpg",
"prius"
] | [Doug Heffron] modified this 1989 Geo Metro way back in 1993. Gas prices had just started breaking $1.00/gallon and he wanted to show manufacturers how to build a fuel efficient vehicle in such troubling times. The car already got 58mpg (Prius: 46mpg), but [Doug] decided he could do better with some aero modifications. The car was converted to tandem seating and stripped of any extra weight. In its final form, it got 75mpg, but then gas prices stabilized and it was laid to rest in a shed. You can find out more about the car and see
photos from the build on its site
(painful resizing).
[via
Autoblog
]
permalink | 16 | 16 | [
{
"comment_id": "37028",
"author": "James",
"timestamp": "2008-06-16T21:53:05",
"content": "I’ve seen the unmodified versions of these things after a highway crash, and I seriously question his definition of “safe”.If you look up the average highway fatality stats before and after CAFE standards wen... | 1,760,377,813.181217 | ||
https://hackaday.com/2008/06/16/ring-of-the-devil-electric-lock-exploit/ | Ring Of The Devil Electric Lock Exploit | Will O'Brien | [
"Security Hacks"
] | [
"lockpicks",
"physical security",
"PhysicalSecurity"
] | [Barry] got his hands on an
interesting electronic lock pick
. The ‘Ring of the Devil’ is made of aluminum and has four magnets inside. By rotating it against an electric lock, (like the one in our
RGB keypad lock How-To
) the magnetic force can cause the electric motor inside the lock to turn and unlock. More details and commentary are on [Barry]’s
site
.
permalink | 7 | 7 | [
{
"comment_id": "37023",
"author": "Ryan",
"timestamp": "2008-06-16T19:41:22",
"content": "The software update could eliminate some of the threat of this attack. However, only if the lock’s controller is still receiving power.Without more detailed descriptions of how this lock operates, I assume th... | 1,760,377,813.344884 |
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