Category Archives: hacks

Propeller software USB host

Beth from scanlime has posted this code for creating a USB host in software on the Parallax Propeller. Beth got interested in this concept while considering whether USB WiFi and Bluetooth modules could be interfaced to the Propeller. She wanted to see if a USB host controller could be implemented entirely in software on the […]

Open source program reveals iPhone tracker data

Reportedly since the release of iOS4 Apple has had software on iPhones allowing their location to be tracked and logged for statistical purposes. Here’s an open-source application that maps the information that your iPhone is recording about your movements. It doesn’t record anything itself, it only displays files that are already hidden on your computer. […]

Logic Sniffer used in IDE bus sniffing and hard drive password recovery

Open Sesame on Prezi dop3j0e needed a way to recover the password on his ThinkPad’s hard drive after the laptop’s fingerprint scanner died (in which the password was stored.) Luckily, the drive’s IDE had 16 5V data lines just like the inputs on the OpenBench Logic Sniffer. He wired the Logic Sniffer to the lines […]

Converting an Arduino to 3.3V

When Arduino debuted, most sensors and other interfacing devices ran on 5 volts. Nowadays Xbee radios, accelerometers and other new devices run on 3.3 volts. Here’s a short tutorial from Adafruit showing how to hack your 5 volt Arduino board to run on 3.3 volts. It’s a simple procedure involving replacing the voltage regulator and […]

Networked infrared remote control receiver

IgorPlugUDP is an ethernet-enabled infrared receiver. This is an old hack that kmmankad brought up in the forum. What makes it really cool is that the ethernet is bitbanged using nothing but the bare pins of an ATMEGA168. It is transmit-only, it cannot receive network packets, but that’s enough for a lot of projects.

Microsoft demos a Kinect-driven armchair

Microsoft demoed a Kinect-driven armchair at the MIX11 conference in Las Vegas. This proof of concept device controls a motorized platform armchair using hand gestures. The source code for this project will reportedly be made available with Microsoft’s release this Spring of its Kinect for Windows SDK which will open up development using Visual Basic, […]

Easy toner transfer PCBs with hacked laminator

When you make PCBs with the toner transfer method, you have to spend around 10 minutes per board sweating over a hot clothes iron while the toner melts to the PCB. Ahmad Tabbouch though a laminator might be an easier solution, but the default temperature is too low.  This tutorial shows how to hack a […]

Lampduino 8×8 RGB matrix floor lamp

Lincomatic documented his Lampduino, an 8×8 RGB Matrix Floor lamp build. This past weekend, I finally finished building my 8×8 RGB matrix floor lamp.  I call it Lampduino.  A Processing sketch running on a host computer controls Lampduino via a USB connection.  When turned on without a computer, it automatically displays a soothing plasma simulation. […]

555 based FPGA/CPLD debugging oscillator

Randomgarfield from fromorbit posted the above video, depicting his use of a 555 timer as a small oscillator tο clock CPLDs whіƖе debugging a small state machine. I needed a variable slow speed clock to help me debug a design I’m creating with a bunch of CPLDs. Given the current focus on the venerable 555 […]

Vienna hackerspace autoposts realtime project videos

It seems like every hackerspace has their own means of communicating status messages to their members. The hackers at MetaLab in Vienna have put together a rather novel way of letting the world know they have completed a project. While some hackerspaces simply notify their members that they are open for business, they take things […]