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December 31, 2007

O Rly owl scarf

I finally finished my last unfinished knitting project, this scarf with two O Rly owls on it. It's for my friend Justin, who asked for it special. One end says "O Rly?" and other other, "Ya Rly." I made a pattern you can download, as well, if you want to make it. - Link.

Wii homebrew apps now possible

A few days ago at the 24th Chaos Communication Congress a Wii hack was demonstrated that allows arbitrary software to run on the Wii console. Previously, the console was only available via the Gamecube emulation mode. This new hack will allow folks to write homebrew software that can take advantage of the Wii's full capabilities.

Here's a description of the hack from Tysoe_J in the WiiLi forums:

In pressed Wii games, there are two values that are put together to make the on-the-fly decryption key with which the Wii can actually execute the game. One in on the security ring of the manufactured disc, and one is stored by every Wii to decrypt data (the static key). What's happened here is they've got the "Lego Star Wars" game key simply from the disc, and they've got the FULL ("master") key used to decrypt ONLY Lego Star Wars game through dumping Wii memory (this was done by disabling some of the ATi bridge that locks out the RAM during Gamecube mode).
Now, this resulted in the "master" key for Lego Star Wars, and the "disc auth" key for it too. Reverse engineering this resulted in the generic Wii data key, thus allowing them to burn their own data under the disguise of LSW. Then, of course, a drive modchip was needed cos they can't press their own discs...

STILL, that's what's going on... Nintendo wouldn't be able to patch this with a firmware update. They'd have to change hardware keys and most DEFINITELY fix up the ATi lockout bridge too.

Wii Linux, open source Wii games - a lot of stuff should be possible now. Happy new year!

Nintendo Wii Homebrew "Hello World" - [via] Link
24c3 tweezer attack @ WiiLi.org forum - Link

Tube amp rebuild

I love old tube guitar amps. I wish I'd never gotten ride of mine. Here's a rebuild and mod of 1961 Kay 503A instrument amp.

Tube Amp Rebuild (and Mod) - Link

HOW TO - Fossilize your hamster

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This book looks great, here's the blurb from Amazon... -

How can you measure the speed of light with a bar of chocolate and a microwave oven? To keep a banana from decaying, are you better off rubbing it with lemon juice or refrigerating it? How can you figure out how much your head weighs? Mick O’Hare, who created the New Scientist’s popular science sensations Does Anything Eat Wasps? and Why Don’t Penguins’ Feet Freeze?, has the answers. In this fascinating and irresistible new book, O’Hare and the New Scientist team guide you through one hundred intriguing experiments that show essential scientific principles (and human curiosity) in action. Explaining everything from the unusual chemical reaction between Mentos and cola that provokes a geyser to the geological conditions necessary to preserve a family pet for eternity, How to Fossilize Your Hamster is fun, hands-on science that everyone will want to try at home.

Amazon.com: How to Fossilize Your Hamster: And Other Amazing Experiments for the Armchair Scientist: Books: Mick O'Hare, thanks David! - Link.

Hacking mice to better control cameras in 3D space

The "Three Blind Mice" project takes three old mechanical mice and connects them up to an AVR microcontroller to feed their input into a PC to control 3D graphics in VVVV. Nice hack with a how-to included.

Three Blind Mice - Link

Homemade Ms Pacman cocktail cabinet

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Christian sent in his homemade Ms Pacman cocktail cabinet, check out the 10 pages of build photos! - Link.

December 30, 2007

Best of CRAFT

Here are some of my favorite posts from the CRAFT blog this week:

Trombone Cozy - Link.
Knit Lobster - Link.
Fun with Casting Resin - Link.
Cassette Tape Business Card Case - Link.
HOW TO - Flat Pack Desk - Link.

Eavesdropping on Bluetooth headsets

Here's a short video in which Joshua Wright demonstrates how a Bluetooth headset can be hijacked, allowing audio to be captured or sent to the device:

Few users realize that Bluetooth headsets can be exploited granting a remote attacker the ability to record and inject audio through the headset while the device is not in an active call. SANS Institute author and senior instructor Joshua Wright demonstrates.

All that is necessary is knowing the device address, which can be easily sniffed, and the secret pin, which defaults to 0000. The headset audio is tapped while not in a call, so any room conversation the headset's mic can pick up can potentially be listened to remotely.

Figure mods at ComicCon '07

Cory Doctorow posted (to Boing Boing) an image and link to his Flickr set of photos he took at ComicCon of action figure modders and their cool creations.

Action figures set - Link

Related:

Mashing up your own action figures - Link
Hand-made action figures... made LIVE! - Link

Hacked Bop-it tambourine

Some classmates (Byron Lahey and Ryan Brotman) and I just finished up a project where we used wireless handheld electronic devices to control Max/MSP instruments. It's called sGloTaT (sensor Glow-object Trumpet and Tambourine):

The sGloTaT sonic environment allows participants to originate sound by moving physical objects. It encourages novice users to play by naturally gesturing with two tangible user interface objects emulating a trumpet and tambourine. In this sound space, movements by the users generate visual feedback projected on the floor in the form of a three-dimensional rendering of a cone.

Byron built one of the objects from polycarbonate tubing, and I hacked a Bop-it toy for the other controller. Both contain an Arduino mini, BlueSmiRF, and a two-axis accelerometer. The glowing and IR-reflective tape helps the objects be sensed by our motion tracking infrastructure in the SMALLab environment at Arizona State University. You can watch the overview video, download our paper, and look at photos of the objects in progress - Link.

HOW TO - Make a pack flat plywood desk

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Drocko writes -

Recently I was in the market for a new desk.

I wanted to make a desk that was able to be disassembled and packed flat, made from few and easily obtainable supplies with simple tools.

The desk can be created from the following supplies:
1 4'x8'x3/4" A-1 plywood sheet
2 4' 3/8" steel rod
2 3/8" nuts
2 3/8" wingnuts
8 washers
8 screws
Some woodglue

You will need the following tools:
Tape measure
Circular saw (for other saw for making large cuts in the plywood)
Screwdriver
Coping saw (for cutting the notches)
Several clamps

I also recommend a squaring device such as a speed square.

HOW TO - Make a pack flat plywood desk - Link.

Hacking the Western Digital MyBook World Edition

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Makefan writes -

This page provides information on how to hack your MyBook World Edition, so as you can improve performance and add new features. MyBook is powered by ARM9 microprocessor, it has 32MB of SDRAM and boots from internal hard drive. The system partition has 2.8GB (only 260 MB is occupied). This means that you have a lot of resources for various improvements.

Hacking the Western Digital MyBook World Edition - Link.

Pipe robot doesn't smoke a pipe

This robot, designed by Jeff Terrell consists of dense PVC plastic piping for the body, its head moves 180 degrees left and right, and a strip of red LEDs under his mouth light up when it is speaking. The bot also uses a head mounted video camera and tracking software to integrate computer vision. We just hope that it's AI isn't too good so that it makes its way back to the sewers to find the rest of its pipe-made body.

My Robot Project - Link [via]

Phone line controller

Phonecontroller Pic
Trax writes -

It might be "yet another" «device» controller that operates over phone-line, but this one works for sure :) The task was to build a device that connects to the phone line and has a relay as an output switch. It should also sense if the connected «consumer» is turned-on or off and report to the administrator at the other end of the phone line. The administrator would then call-in the device, log in with the password, and check the state of «consumer», turn it on or off, change password or some other settings. Current version has only one relay.

Phone line controller - Link.

December 29, 2007

MCU for desktop plasma globe

A German hacker dusts off his plasma globe from the '80s and hooks it up to an ATMega8 MCU and serial PC interface so that he can tune it.

Large plasma Globe Tuning - [via] Link
Build site (in German) - Link

Laser projector

Instructables user echo_anomie posted a nifty howto for creating a very simple portable laser projector. With a bright enough laser, you can project an image across long outdoor distances and there's never any need to adjust focus.

When it's all assembled, you just drop photo slides in the path of the beam and they are projected wherever you have the thing aimed. It'd be interesting to try this with some kind of LCD in place of the slide. This should let you project eerie green videos on skyscrapers around town.

Laser Image Projector - [via] Link

Students unveil eco-product prototypes

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Neat selection of eco-product prototypes, pictured here, a solar powered bottle sorter -

The assignment was wide open: Design something based on the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle, and develop it into a prototype product. The results ranged from simple mechanical devices to complex electronic machines, but all served that central purpose in original ways.

To meet the challenge, seven teams of 18 students in this year's 2.009 Product Engineering Processes class, taught by David Wallace, came up with a wide variety of ingenious ideas, which they presented last week at a packed session attended by about 150 outside engineers and product developers.

Students unveil eco-product prototypes - [via] Link.

DIY Picaxe toothbrush timer

Picaxe Toothbrush 1
Chipwich writes -

We built a beeping flashing toothbrush timer like the one on the Philips SoniCare toothbrush for just a few dollars and plenty of experience and fun.

DIY Picaxe toothbrush timer - Link.

Diamond iPhone adds bling to your conversations

This diamond iPhone was made with 420 cut diamonds and sports a total of 5.65 carats. Pretty crazy way to embellish technology that might be getting a major upgrade in the months ahead. We just wonder how many iPhones could be bought for the amount the diamonds are worth.

Amosu Luxury and Customised Mobile Phones - Link, [via]