Teardown 2019: A Festival of Hacking, Art, and FPGAs
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/teardown-2019-a-festival-of-hacking-art-and-fpgas/
As hackers approached the dramatic stone entrance of Portland’s Pacific Northwest College of Arts, a group of acolytes belonging to The Church of Robotron beckoned them over, inviting them to attempt to earn the title of Mutant Saviour. The church uses hazardous environments, religious indoctrination, a 1980s arcade game and …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/teardown-2019-a-festival-of-hacking-art-and-fpgas/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/teardown-2019-a-festival-of-hacking-art-and-fpgas/
As hackers approached the dramatic stone entrance of Portland’s Pacific Northwest College of Arts, a group of acolytes belonging to The Church of Robotron beckoned them over, inviting them to attempt to earn the title of Mutant Saviour. The church uses hazardous environments, religious indoctrination, a 1980s arcade game and …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/teardown-2019-a-festival-of-hacking-art-and-fpgas/)
Neural Network Smartens Up A Security System
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/neural-network-smartens-up-a-security-system/
It’s all well and good having a security camera recording all the time, but that alone can’t sound the alarm in the event of a crime. Motion sensing is of limited use, often being triggered by unimportant stimuli such as moving shadows or passing traffic. [Tegwyn☠Twmffat] wanted a better security …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/neural-network-smartens-up-a-security-system/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/neural-network-smartens-up-a-security-system/
It’s all well and good having a security camera recording all the time, but that alone can’t sound the alarm in the event of a crime. Motion sensing is of limited use, often being triggered by unimportant stimuli such as moving shadows or passing traffic. [Tegwyn☠Twmffat] wanted a better security …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/neural-network-smartens-up-a-security-system/)
A Briefcase Pentesting Rig For The Discerning Hacker
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/a-briefcase-pentesting-rig-for-the-discerning-hacker/
In the movies, the most-high tech stuff is always built into a briefcase. It doesn’t whether whether it’s some spy gear or the command and control system for a orbiting weapons platform; when an ordinary-looking briefcase is opened up and there’s an LCD display in the top half, you know …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/a-briefcase-pentesting-rig-for-the-discerning-hacker/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/a-briefcase-pentesting-rig-for-the-discerning-hacker/
In the movies, the most-high tech stuff is always built into a briefcase. It doesn’t whether whether it’s some spy gear or the command and control system for a orbiting weapons platform; when an ordinary-looking briefcase is opened up and there’s an LCD display in the top half, you know …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/a-briefcase-pentesting-rig-for-the-discerning-hacker/)
LED Music Visualizer Bespeckles Your Bedroom
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/led-music-visualizer-bespeckles-your-bedroom/
When it comes to wall-mounted ornamentation, get ready to throw out your throw-rugs and swap them for something that will pop so vividly, you’ll want to get your eyes checked. To get our eyes warmed up and popping, [James Best] has concocted a gargantuan 900-RGB-LED music visualizer to ensure that …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/led-music-visualizer-bespeckles-your-bedroom/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/led-music-visualizer-bespeckles-your-bedroom/
When it comes to wall-mounted ornamentation, get ready to throw out your throw-rugs and swap them for something that will pop so vividly, you’ll want to get your eyes checked. To get our eyes warmed up and popping, [James Best] has concocted a gargantuan 900-RGB-LED music visualizer to ensure that …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/led-music-visualizer-bespeckles-your-bedroom/)
Spice With A Sound Card
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/spice-with-a-sound-card/
In years gone by, trying out a new circuit probably would have meant heating up a soldering iron. Solderless breadboards have made that even easier and computer simulation is easier still, but there’s something not quite as satisfying about building a circuit virtually. [Thedeuluiz] has a way to get some …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/spice-with-a-sound-card/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/spice-with-a-sound-card/
In years gone by, trying out a new circuit probably would have meant heating up a soldering iron. Solderless breadboards have made that even easier and computer simulation is easier still, but there’s something not quite as satisfying about building a circuit virtually. [Thedeuluiz] has a way to get some …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/spice-with-a-sound-card/)
The Power Of Directional Antennas
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/the-power-of-directional-antennas/
AM broadcasting had a big problem, but usually only at night. During the day the AM signals had limited range, but at night they could travel across the country. With simple wire antennas, any two stations on the same frequency would interfere with each other. Because of this, the FCC …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/the-power-of-directional-antennas/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/the-power-of-directional-antennas/
AM broadcasting had a big problem, but usually only at night. During the day the AM signals had limited range, but at night they could travel across the country. With simple wire antennas, any two stations on the same frequency would interfere with each other. Because of this, the FCC …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/03/the-power-of-directional-antennas/)
E-Book Reader Gets Page Turn Buttons, Is None The Wiser
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/e-book-reader-gets-page-turn-buttons-is-none-the-wiser/
Most e-book readers don’t have physical page turn buttons. Why? They just don’t. Virtual page turns are accomplished with a tap at a screen edge. Determined to reduce the awkwardness of one-handed use, [Sagar Vaze] modified a Kobo e-reader with two physical page turn buttons as a weekend project.
[Sagar] …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/e-book-reader-gets-page-turn-buttons-is-none-the-wiser/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/e-book-reader-gets-page-turn-buttons-is-none-the-wiser/
Most e-book readers don’t have physical page turn buttons. Why? They just don’t. Virtual page turns are accomplished with a tap at a screen edge. Determined to reduce the awkwardness of one-handed use, [Sagar Vaze] modified a Kobo e-reader with two physical page turn buttons as a weekend project.
[Sagar] …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/e-book-reader-gets-page-turn-buttons-is-none-the-wiser/)
E3D’s Love Letter to Toolchanging 3D Printers
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/e3ds-love-letter-to-toolchanging-3d-printers/
It’s been just over a year since E3D whetted our appetites for toolchanging printers. Now, with the impending release of their first toolchanging system, they’ve taken the best parts of their design and released them into the wild as open source. Head on over to Github for a complete solution …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/e3ds-love-letter-to-toolchanging-3d-printers/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/e3ds-love-letter-to-toolchanging-3d-printers/
It’s been just over a year since E3D whetted our appetites for toolchanging printers. Now, with the impending release of their first toolchanging system, they’ve taken the best parts of their design and released them into the wild as open source. Head on over to Github for a complete solution …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/e3ds-love-letter-to-toolchanging-3d-printers/)
Project Egress: [Fran] Makes a Latch
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/project-egress-fran-makes-a-latch/
[Fran Blanche] is on the team of elite hackers that has been offered a chance to contribute to [Adam Savage]’s Project Egress, a celebration of the engineering that got humanity to the Moon 50 years ago this month. By the luck of the draw, she landed a great assignment: building …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/project-egress-fran-makes-a-latch/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/project-egress-fran-makes-a-latch/
[Fran Blanche] is on the team of elite hackers that has been offered a chance to contribute to [Adam Savage]’s Project Egress, a celebration of the engineering that got humanity to the Moon 50 years ago this month. By the luck of the draw, she landed a great assignment: building …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/project-egress-fran-makes-a-latch/)
Hacked Calipers Make Automated Measurements a Breeze
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/hacked-calipers-make-automated-measurements-a-breeze/
Now, digital calipers with wired interfaces to capture the current reading are nothing new. But the good ones are expensive, and really, where’s the fun in plugging a $75 cable into a computer? So when [Max Holliday] was asked to trick out some calipers for automating data capture, he had …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/hacked-calipers-make-automated-measurements-a-breeze/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/hacked-calipers-make-automated-measurements-a-breeze/
Now, digital calipers with wired interfaces to capture the current reading are nothing new. But the good ones are expensive, and really, where’s the fun in plugging a $75 cable into a computer? So when [Max Holliday] was asked to trick out some calipers for automating data capture, he had …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/hacked-calipers-make-automated-measurements-a-breeze/)
MIDI-Gurdy, MIDI-Gurdy, MIDI-Gurdy Man
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/midi-gurdy-midi-gurdy-midi-gurdy-man/
The hurdy gurdy is the perfect musical instrument. It’s an instrument with a crank, and a mechanical wonderment of drone strings and weird chromatic keyboards. No other musical instrument combines the sweet drone of bagpipes with the aural experience of an eight-year-old attempting to play Hot Cross Buns on a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/midi-gurdy-midi-gurdy-midi-gurdy-man/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/midi-gurdy-midi-gurdy-midi-gurdy-man/
The hurdy gurdy is the perfect musical instrument. It’s an instrument with a crank, and a mechanical wonderment of drone strings and weird chromatic keyboards. No other musical instrument combines the sweet drone of bagpipes with the aural experience of an eight-year-old attempting to play Hot Cross Buns on a …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/midi-gurdy-midi-gurdy-midi-gurdy-man/)
Sprucing Up A Bell & Howell Model 34 Oscilloscope
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/sprucing-up-a-bell-howell-model-34-oscilloscope/
We’ll admit it, in an era when you can get a four channel digital storage oscilloscope with protocol decoding for a few hundred bucks, it can be hard not to see the appeal of analog CRT scopes from decades past. Sure they’re heavy, harder to use, and less capable, but …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/sprucing-up-a-bell-howell-model-34-oscilloscope/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/sprucing-up-a-bell-howell-model-34-oscilloscope/
We’ll admit it, in an era when you can get a four channel digital storage oscilloscope with protocol decoding for a few hundred bucks, it can be hard not to see the appeal of analog CRT scopes from decades past. Sure they’re heavy, harder to use, and less capable, but …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/sprucing-up-a-bell-howell-model-34-oscilloscope/)
Understanding Elliptic Curve Cryptography And Embedded Security
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/understanding-elliptic-curve-cryptography-and-embedded-security/
We all know the usual jokes about the ‘S’ in ‘IoT’ standing for ‘Security’. It’s hardly a secret that security in embedded, networked devices (‘IoT devices’) is all too often a last-minute task that gets left to whichever intern was unfortunate enough to walk first into the office that day. …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/understanding-elliptic-curve-cryptography-and-embedded-security/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/understanding-elliptic-curve-cryptography-and-embedded-security/
We all know the usual jokes about the ‘S’ in ‘IoT’ standing for ‘Security’. It’s hardly a secret that security in embedded, networked devices (‘IoT devices’) is all too often a last-minute task that gets left to whichever intern was unfortunate enough to walk first into the office that day. …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/understanding-elliptic-curve-cryptography-and-embedded-security/)
Raspberry Pi Catches The Early Bird
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/raspberry-pi-catches-the-early-bird/
If you live in an area with high bird activity, setting up a bird feeder and watching some hungry little fellows visit you can be a nice and relaxing pastime. Throw in a Raspberry Pi with some sensors and it can also be the beginning of your next IoT project, …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/raspberry-pi-catches-the-early-bird/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/raspberry-pi-catches-the-early-bird/
If you live in an area with high bird activity, setting up a bird feeder and watching some hungry little fellows visit you can be a nice and relaxing pastime. Throw in a Raspberry Pi with some sensors and it can also be the beginning of your next IoT project, …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/04/raspberry-pi-catches-the-early-bird/)
How Not To Get Paid for Open Source Work
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/how-not-to-get-paid-for-open-source-work/
[Avi Press] recently made a Medium post sharing his thoughts on a failed effort to allow for paid users of an open source project. [Avi] is the author of Toodles, a tool to help organize and manage TODO items in software development. Toodles enjoyed unexpected popularity, and some of its …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/how-not-to-get-paid-for-open-source-work/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/how-not-to-get-paid-for-open-source-work/
[Avi Press] recently made a Medium post sharing his thoughts on a failed effort to allow for paid users of an open source project. [Avi] is the author of Toodles, a tool to help organize and manage TODO items in software development. Toodles enjoyed unexpected popularity, and some of its …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/how-not-to-get-paid-for-open-source-work/)
Salty? Tip Canister to Rage Quit Games
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/salty-tip-canister-to-rage-quit-games/
Do you long for a more pronounced way to rage quit video games? Smashing buttons comes naturally, of course, but this hurts the controller or keyboard. You can quit your longing, because [Insert Controller Here] has an elegant solution that’s worth its salt.
The Salty Rage Quit Controller is simple. …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/salty-tip-canister-to-rage-quit-games/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/salty-tip-canister-to-rage-quit-games/
Do you long for a more pronounced way to rage quit video games? Smashing buttons comes naturally, of course, but this hurts the controller or keyboard. You can quit your longing, because [Insert Controller Here] has an elegant solution that’s worth its salt.
The Salty Rage Quit Controller is simple. …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/salty-tip-canister-to-rage-quit-games/)
Project Egress: Casting the Hatch Handle
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/project-egress-casting-the-hatch-handle/
Every door needs a handle, even – especially – the door of a spaceship. And [Paul] from “Paul’s Garage” got the nod to fabricate the handle for the Apollo 11 Command Module hatch being built as part of Project Egress.
For those not familiar with Project Egress, it’s a celebration …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/project-egress-casting-the-hatch-handle/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/project-egress-casting-the-hatch-handle/
Every door needs a handle, even – especially – the door of a spaceship. And [Paul] from “Paul’s Garage” got the nod to fabricate the handle for the Apollo 11 Command Module hatch being built as part of Project Egress.
For those not familiar with Project Egress, it’s a celebration …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/project-egress-casting-the-hatch-handle/)
Fly a Pi On Your Next Model Rocket
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/fly-a-pi-on-your-next-model-rocket/
From time to time, we see electronics projects for model rocket instrumentation. Those who have been involved in the hobby for many years may remember when 8-bit microcontrollers like the PIC16F84 were the kind of hardware you might fly on a mission. These days, however, there’s little reason not to …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/fly-a-pi-on-your-next-model-rocket/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/fly-a-pi-on-your-next-model-rocket/
From time to time, we see electronics projects for model rocket instrumentation. Those who have been involved in the hobby for many years may remember when 8-bit microcontrollers like the PIC16F84 were the kind of hardware you might fly on a mission. These days, however, there’s little reason not to …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/fly-a-pi-on-your-next-model-rocket/)
Building A Smart Speaker From Scratch
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/building-a-smart-speaker-from-scratch/
Smart speakers have proliferated since their initial launch earlier this decade. The devices combine voice recognition and assistant functionality with a foreboding sense that paying corporations for the privilege of having your conversations eavesdropped upon could come back to bite one day. For this reason, [Yihui] is attempting to build …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/building-a-smart-speaker-from-scratch/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/building-a-smart-speaker-from-scratch/
Smart speakers have proliferated since their initial launch earlier this decade. The devices combine voice recognition and assistant functionality with a foreboding sense that paying corporations for the privilege of having your conversations eavesdropped upon could come back to bite one day. For this reason, [Yihui] is attempting to build …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/building-a-smart-speaker-from-scratch/)
How To Turn A Chainsaw Into A Chopsaw
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/how-to-turn-a-chainsaw-into-a-chopsaw/
If you’re doing a lot of metal working, a chop saw is a great tool to have. It’s an easy and quick way to do a lot of neat, clean accurate cuts. [Making Stuff] wanted to do just that, but didn’t have a chop saw lying around. Instead, an old …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/how-to-turn-a-chainsaw-into-a-chopsaw/)
https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/how-to-turn-a-chainsaw-into-a-chopsaw/
If you’re doing a lot of metal working, a chop saw is a great tool to have. It’s an easy and quick way to do a lot of neat, clean accurate cuts. [Making Stuff] wanted to do just that, but didn’t have a chop saw lying around. Instead, an old …read more (https://hackaday.com/2019/07/05/how-to-turn-a-chainsaw-into-a-chopsaw/)