Category Archives: hacks

Hacking home automation X10 devices over power lines

X10 home automation devices control household systems over AC power lines. In the past their online pop-up ads were pervasive and hard to avoid and these devices are fairly common today. Researchers Dave Kennedy, aka Rel1k, and Rob Simon, aka Kc57, revealed two X10 hacking devices at the recent Defcon 19 conference in Las Vegas. […]

Tokyo Hackerspace’s Geiger counter project update

Tokyo Hackerspace has continued to evolve their DIY networked Geiger counter project. Our friend Takyen, forum member and Thermal Tweeter case designer, has been involved in this project. Here’s an update via Make: We joined up with Safecast (RDTN at the time) and since then, almost all the core members of Safecast Japan are now […]

The single NPN transistor audio preamp

Hack a Week’s new project this week is a single NPN transistor audio preamp: Here’s a great little project that goes well with the LM386 audio amp. It’s a good first time transistor project because it’s simple and demonstrates the common emitter class A amplifier circuit with only six components in the signal path.

Square credit card reader hack: the sound of money

At the recent Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, hacker Adam Laurie revealed a flaw in the Square credit card reader hardware/software that allows the injected emulation of credit card data to fraudulently obtain funds. This discovery highlights the importance of robust financial security. He inserted a different wire into the iPad’s headphone jack, […]

DIY aerial drone spoofs cell towers, hacks wifi + Bluetooth

You’ve probably seen aerial surveillance drones. You also probably know that GSM towers can be spoofed to fool unsuspecting users into connecting and having their phone security compromised. Well at this year’s Blackhat conference recently held in Las Vegas, security researchers Mike Tassey and Richard Perkins demoed their Wi-Fi Aerial Surveillance Platform (WASP) capable of […]

Steampunk record player

The eccentric thinkers at asciimation have developed a phonograph using the Arduino. In the steampunk tradition, the turntable is steam powered and made from scrap parts. The speed is controlled by the Arduino using six magnets and a coil as a pickup. They use the PID controller library in controlling the servo based on the […]

Add auto turn-off to a cheap multimeter

Florin was tired of wasting batteries every time he forgot to turn off his multimeter. He hacked together an auto-shutdown: I bought this multimeter(Minipa ET-870C) a while ago for $17, great value. I got it because its nice to have around multiple meters for when you wanna measure both input and output voltage/current. I believe […]

USRP 101: unlocking wireless PC locks (and freeing dolphins)

We’ve been interested in the Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP) SDR and the associated open source GNU Radio software for some time, but the $1500+ cost has kept the project on the back burner. Nevertheless, we always like a good story about RF hacking with the USRP. Corey and Max saw a wireless USB Proximity […]

Maker Shed kit lets you connect iPhone to Arduino — no jailbreaking!

MAKE announces the availability of the Redpark Breakout Pack for Arduino and iOS. This kit includes the only Apple-approved serial interface cable having a DB9 serial connector on one end and the iPhone connector on the other. As MAKE describes it: Exclusively in the Maker Shed, the Redpark Breakout Pack for Arduino and iOS makes […]

Radare2 open source reverse engineering software

Radare2 is an open source tool to disassemble, debug, analyze and manipulate binary files. Edd at Canthack has posted a detailed example demonstrating use of Radare2 to reverse shellcode. You may also want to check out the Radare talks and docs pages for more information on this tool. They have a 152 page book covering […]

Quick and easy wireless using R/C and PIC 18F452

Chris from PyroElectro writes to inform us of his new wireless project: It takes a standard hobby R/C radio transmitter/receiver system and interfaces it to a PIC microcontroller to control a Motor and LED brightness. Named the Quick and Easy Wireless system for it’s off-the-shelf style. Project details including schematic and C code can be […]

Digital camera hacked into near-infrared camera

The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science(PLOTS) provides this detailed tutorial on hacking a Canon Powershot A490 digital camera to allow it to record images in the infrared light spectrum. The mod involves opening the camera and removing the infrared light filter. To view only infrared light, replacing it with a piece of exposed […]