Collaborate Disseminate
Universal remotes are a handy tool to have around if you have many devices that would all otherwise have their own remote controls. Merging them all into a single device …read more Continue reading IR Translator Makes Truly Universal Remote
For the price of a toothbrush and a small motor with an offset weight, a bristlebot is essentially the cheapest robot that can be built. The motor shakes the toothbrush …read more Continue reading Random Robot Makes Random Art
Most of the hacks we see around these parts have to do with taking existing components and cobbling them together in interesting new ways. It’s less often that we see existing components gutted and repurposed, but when it happens, like …read more
Continue reading Magnetic Angle Sensor Mods Make Encoder Better for Blasting
We have to admit that in the hardware hacking universe, there aren’t generally too many chances to hack elevators. Well, at least not opportunities that don’t also include the risk of incarceration. But fortune favors the bold, and when he …read more
Continue reading Reverse-Engineering an Elevator Control Panel Results in Clicky Goodness
This essay makes the point that actual computer hackers would be a useful addition to NATO wargames:
The international information security community is filled with smart people who are not in a military structure, many of whom would be excited to pose as independent actors in any upcoming wargames. Including them would increase the reality of the game and the skills of the soldiers building and training on these networks. Hackers and cyberwar experts would demonstrate how industrial control systems such as power supply for refrigeration and temperature monitoring in vaccine production facilities are critical infrastructure; they’re easy targets and should be among NATO’s priorities at the moment…
Keeping a bird bath or a pond in your yard is a great way to add ambiance and style, but both of these things can be a haven for mosquitoes. Popular methods of getting rid of them are often with harsh pesticides, but [Shane] has brought us a more environmentally-friendly …read more
While almost everyone has a heater of some sort in their home, it’s fairly unlikely that the heat provided by a central heating system such as a furnace is distributed in an efficient way. There’s little reason to heat bedrooms during the day, or a kitchen during the night, but …read more
Iran has gone pretty much entirely offline in the wake of nationwide protests. This is the best article detailing what’s going on; this is also good. AccessNow has a global campaign to stop Internet shutdowns. TITLE EDITED TO REDUCE CONFUSION…. Continue reading Iran Has Shut Off its Internet
With all of the devices collecting information about our daily habits, what is the end result of the accessibility of so much consumer data? Data is unarguably ubiquitous and pervasive. Its impact pervades every facet of our daily lives. The simple ac… Continue reading The Cost of Ubiquitous Consumer Data
For [Turbo Conquering Mega Eagle], the question was simple: Do I spend 20 minutes slaving away in front of a bandsaw to cut a bunch of short brass rods into even shorter pieces of brass rod? Or do I spend days designing and building an automatic cutoff saw to do …read more
Continue reading Automatic Cut-Off Saw Takes The Tedium Out Of A Twenty-Minute Job