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July 31, 2009

Hacking parking meters

Pt 2081
Our pals released a very interesting presentation about smart parking meters at the Black Hat Briefings USA, Las Vegas, Nevada, yesterday... Good presentation to review on how they figured out the security (or lack of) on parking meters...

Throughout the United States, cities are deploying “smart” electronic fare collection infrastructures. In 2003, San Francisco launched a $35 million pilot program to replace approximately 23,000 mechanical parking meters with electronic units that boasted tamper resistance, payment via smart card, auditing capabilities, and an estimated $30 million annually in fare collection revenue. Other major cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, and San Diego, have made similar moves. This presentation details our evaluation of electronic parking meters, including hardware disassembly, smart card protocol emulation, and silicon die analysis.

July 18, 2009

How-To: Read George Orwell's 1984 on your Kindle

Sany2305
Citizen! If you bought a copy of George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-four," (1984) for your Kindle it was deleted. It appears that the publisher changed its mind about digital versions (update, they were never allowed to publish them in the first place) and Amazon reached in and removed it from your reader. Sorry for the inconvenience! So, what to do? Let's assume you're going to go on a nice trip, like Australia, and you really wanted to read 1984 - once you get there, you can easily reload your Kindle with a copy of 1984. "Little Brother" will show you how...

Read full story

July 9, 2009

Urban planter

Interesting urban design pops up in Toronto. A really creative approach to guerrilla gardening. The planter is made from layers of old advertising flyers!

June 28, 2009

AIDG: water solutions

AIDG is a NonGovernmental Organization (NGO) that helps provide low technology solutions to help address environmental and health needs to people living in communities without great access to the systems that many of us consider requirements.

Here are a few of their water-based initiatives:

Solar Hot Water:

XelaTeco, with support from AIDG's wonderful interns, recently installed a solar water heating system and water tower for La Guarderia, a childcare center in Llanos del Pinal, Guatemala. La Guarderia was started by two non-profit organizations, Pop Wuj and Jóvenes Juntos, who saw the need for daycare and after school homework assistance in a community plagued by poverty, domestic violence and alcoholism.
Jóvenes Juntos requested the hot water system to promote healthy hygiene practices amongst the children served by center, particularly in the cold winter months. The presence of hot water is expected to reduce the occurrence of skin ailments, such as scabies and other rashes. This segment of the project was funded by AIDG.

Ram Pump:

As the water runs downhill from the source to the ram pump, it gains force and velocity. When this velocity reaches a determined point, the water closes a valve in the ram pump known as the "impulse" or "waste" valve. The force of the water against the now closed impulse valve causes pressure to build inside the pump. The water sends high-pressure shock waves in all directions (the "water hammer," or "ariete" in Spanish, from which the pump gets its Spanish name, "Bomba de Ariete"). These shock waves open another valve, the delivery check valve, and water squirts through reaching altitudes of up to ten times greater than the vertical distance from the water's source to the pump. An air vessel installed in the pump acts as a kind of regulator which keeps the flow at the top steady, instead of delivered in bursts, as the pump internally functions

Sand Filtration:

Properly managed sand filters remove 96%-98% of water borne pathogens such as E. Coli and Giardia, producing a positive significant impact on the health of target users. The greatest effect is expected for young children, who are extremely susceptible to diarrheal diseases caused by exposure to contaminated water. Diarrheal disease causes approximately 2 million deaths per year among children in developing countries.

The World Health Organization has some good documentation on sand filtration technology.

To find out more about AIDG, check out their blog and their photos.

June 25, 2009

How-To: Seed bombs

if you want to liven up a local vacant lot or other area but don't have easy access for guerilla gardening, make some seed bombs and throw them over the fence.

June 24, 2009

Flashback: Make yourself invisible (online)

In MAKE Volume 15, we ran a simple 5-step project on how to acquire a bulletproof, anonymous online identity. Every day this knowledge seems to get more relevant. The article was authored by Publius, who "prefers to write anonymously about anonymity." Published in August of 2008, the intro reads:

In May of this year, a judge ordered Facebook to turn over the identity of someone who created a fake profile of a high school official. Other school officials have sued over fake MySpace profiles. Not all judges take free speech rights seriously; even fewer high school and university administrators do. Setting up an anonymous blog or website is the obvious way to protect yourself from being punished for speaking out, but is this legitimate? And if so, how can you accomplish it?

Anonymous speech has a long and distinguished history. It was part of the political debate leading to the rift with Great Britain; revolutionaries relied on it to conceal their identities from the Crown. The tradition continued with the Federalist Papers, which presented arguments for ratifying the U.S. Constitution. They were published in the 1780s under pseudonyms including "Publius." The authors of the Anti-Federalist Papers, who predicted that the Constitution would lead to a tyrannical central government, used aliases including "Federal Farmer."

Internet anonymity is something of a high-wire tightrope act: one tiny technological misstep, and you're doomed. Fortunately, technologies for anonymous website publishing are both secure and, finally, easy to use. You can create an anonymous or pseudonymous persona that's proof against not just random busybodies, but attorneys armed with subpoenas too. (You should be familiar with relevant state and federal laws, of course, and do nothing illegal.)

Want to know how? Check out the full article in our Digital Edition.

You can still pick up a back issue of MAKE, Volume 15, our Music issue, over in the Maker Shed!

June 19, 2009

Street sign chair

I like this simple perch attached to a street sign by Ken Mori. When not in use, it rotates to vertical, to advertise it's proposed use. Via Urban Prankster.

June 17, 2009

Guerilla artist residencies in DIY megastores

Via WMMNA, Regine writes:

Encastrable is a series of guerrilla art residencies held inside gardening and DIY megastores in the Paris area. At no cost at all, the young artists have at their disposal a huge array of material that they can grab, move, superimpose, and organize onto temporary installations and sculptures. Authorization of the manager of the establishment is obviously never requested.

If I worked at Home Depot, I sure wouldn't like cleaning up after these guys, but they make some neat-looking stuff.

BART swing photos

Check out the collection of photos from the use of this swing on at BART train in San Francisco. Fun! Via NOTCOT.

More:

Swing skirt

June 16, 2009

Traffic barrel monster

You may have seen this already, but this traffic barrel monster made me smile. Rawr!

June 1, 2009

"Slacking is killing the DIY industry"

Tech and culture jammers monochrom were selling this awesome T-shirt at Maker Faire.

New monochrom shirt: "Slacking is killing the DIY industry"

May 26, 2009

Newspaper box planters

As we see more and more empty, abandoned street newspaper boxes, Posterchild converted this one into a lovely planter with a simply-shaped plywood insert.

May 8, 2009

Counting to a Billion by Che-Wei Wang

I really like Counting to a Billion by Che-Wei Wang. It uses an Arduino and a speech module to count up to 1 billion, and then it stops. The real question is, how long will it take? Will it even make it? I'm not sure, but it's a cool experiment.

Counting to a Billion is a device created to fulfill the desire to count. The electronics consists of a microcontroller, a speech module, and a speaker powered by a rechargeable battery. There is no/off switch. The voice begins counting at one, two, three and continues counting up until it reaches one billion at which point in time it will stop.

More about Counting to a Billion by Che-Wei Wang

In the Maker Shed:

Arduino Family
Make: Arduino

May 7, 2009

Urban prospecting detector finds oil in the city

Artist and electronics hound Jon Cohrs made this tool for urban prospecting. He writes:

The project, called the Urban Prospector, is basically a modified metal detector outfitted with a combustible gas sensor that can be built for under 100 dollars. By scanning the surface of your neighborhood, you will be able to determine pockets of oil and other toxins. Until recently, oil prospecting has been a field left to the professionals because it requires sophisticated tools for detection. But in much the same way gold prospecting empowered people to find small nuggets of profit, urban prospectors now have the potential to find small nuggets of oil near oil spills, abandoned gas stations, and industrial sites. Given the current high cost of oil, these urban spills or potential gold mines are waiting to be tapped.

Check out his Instructable on converting an old metal detector to sense combustible gas.

May 4, 2009

Dumpster swimming pool

Oliver Bishop Young has been converting dumpsters in the UK into more interesting things like a ping pong table, a marsh, and my favorite, this swimming pool. (Thanks, Matt!)

More:

Dumpster hot tub

April 24, 2009

Maker Revolution this weekend in Cambridge

Jimmie has this followup on his announcement for Maker Revolution in Boston this Saturday and Sunday:

The event can pretty much be summed up as a two day extravaganza of makers, hackers, and artists getting together to share cool things they've made, and how to make them. There will be installation art pieces, workshops, and talks. You'll be able to both see an Arduino in use for an art piece, purchase one, and even learn how to use it. There will be workshops as well, so you can learn to circuit bend, or build your own TV-B-Gone with the inventor, Mitch Altman. The Makerbot will also make an appearance, and Bre Pettis will be on hand demonstrating rapid prototyping and how it can change your life.
A number of Boston area makers and artists will also be presenting,
showing off some of the their works. This is a good way to find out
about things going on in the area, and how you can become involved.
From building music and sound installations, to designing your own
video games, and even trying a shot of your own DNA. There is sure to
be at least one art piece or talk that you will find interesting. It
is also very conveniently located just a few minute's walk from the
Kendall T stop.

Watch here for updates! If you are going, add your photos to the MAKE Flickr pool.

Posted by Chris Connors | Apr 24, 2009 12:00 PM
Announcements, Arduino, Arts, Computers, Crafts, Culture jamming, DIY Projects, Education, Electronics, Events, Gadgets, How it's made, Kids, Makers, Music, Open source hardware, Robotics, Science, Something I want to learn to do... | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

April 19, 2009

Maker Revolution

Maker Revolution is an event put on by Willoughby and Baltic on April 25 and 26, 2009 in Boston

Join Willoughby & Baltic April 25 & 26 for the Maker Revolution. As part of Cyberarts Boston, the two-day event will focus on do-it-yourself art and technology and will include art, performances, presentations and hands-on workshops. This event is free and open to the public. WHAT: The Maker Revolution: Willoughby & Baltic present at Microsoft Startup Labs WHERE: One Memorial Drive (accessible from the Kendall T and Main St.) WHEN: April 25 and 26: Saturday 1 to 6, Sunday 1 to 6

Mitch Altman, Bre Pettis and Jimmie Rodgers will present recent projects, and there should be plenty more fun to be had.

April 18, 2009

WEEE Man teaches with technojunk

Image from WEEE Man

WEEE Man is a massive pile of technojunk brought out of the netherworld of the e-waste stream.

As an educational project, the WEEE (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment) Man site provides useful resources for teachers and students. Their overview is a good place to start on the big picture of the project.

Objectives of the WEEE Directive

to increase reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery, leading to a reduction in the amount of waste going to landfill or incineration

to improve the environmental performance of all operators involved in the life cycle of electrical and electronic equipment

to set criteria for the collection, treatment, recycling and recovery of WEEE

making producers responsible for financing most of these activities - private householders are to be able to return WEEE without charge

Collin wrote about WEEE Man a few months ago, and there have been features on Treehugger, Hackaday, Neatorama, and Trifter.

Have you made a WEEE boy or WEEE girl? Do you think you could do something to make a change? Give it a try, and tell us about your ideas for solutions in the comments.

April 13, 2009

Flatulance-twittering chair

Randy Sarafan made a chair that tweets his toots. Uses all the staples: Arduino, XBee, Python, Twitter. And it's open source, check the Instructable!

Helping a lost bot in NYC

Here's a fun little social experiment. Its creator, Kacie Kinzer, explains:

Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city (NYC) with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal.

Tweenbots