Secret C64 Program Found on a Christian Rock Band’s Vinyl Record

How often do you find Easter eggs in old vinyl records?

It sure was a surprise for [Robin Harbron] when he learned about a Commodore 64 program hidden on one of the sides of a record from the 1985 album of Christian rock band Prodigal. The host of the YouTube …read more

Continue reading Secret C64 Program Found on a Christian Rock Band’s Vinyl Record→

InstaBeat Started Out Of Spite

[Tom] teaches electronics with this small programmable MP3 player, but it didn’t get its start as a teaching tool.

As all parents are sometimes required to do, [Tom] was acting as chauffeur for his daughter and his friends. When he played the Beatles one of his passengers informed him that …read more

Continue reading InstaBeat Started Out Of Spite→

Use Your Earbud’s Media Controls on Your Laptop With This Useful Dongle

[David] sends in his very nicely designed “Thumpware Media Controller” that lets your mobile phone headphones control the media playback on your PC.

We realize that some PCs have support for the extra pins on cellphone earbuds, but at least some of us have experienced the frustration (however small) of …read more

Continue reading Use Your Earbud’s Media Controls on Your Laptop With This Useful Dongle→

Laser-Based Audio Injection on Voice-Controllable Systems

In one of the cooler hacks we’ve seen recently, a bunch of hacking academics at the University of Michigan researched the ability to flicker a laser at audible sound frequencies to see if they could remotely operate microphones simply by shining a light on them. The results are outstanding.

While …read more

Continue reading Laser-Based Audio Injection on Voice-Controllable Systems→

Everything Makes Sound if You Try Hard Enough

Speaker cone materials can be a deep rabbit hole ranging from inexpensive paper to kevlar. We’ve all cut apart, or blown out, the cheapies to see their inner workings, but the exotic material list does not stop at audiophile-quality models. It can include mirrors, microwave ovens, and a European hacker’s …read more

Continue reading Everything Makes Sound if You Try Hard Enough→