Month: December 2005

Hack-A-Day Extra

December 21, 2005 by 9 Comments

xbox front

I posted the first part of my Xbox 360 iPod dock build on Engadget yesterday. Unfortunately commenting was still off when it went up due to maintenance so I haven’t gotten any feedback yet. Just three Digg stories that aren’t going anywhere.

The response to my job posting has been pretty incredible. I was only expecting to to get one qualified person but this decision is going to end up being really tough.

Team Hack-A-Day has completed another million points bringing the total up to 7M. We’ve also managed to shake loose our previous overtake threats. Spotted on the forum: [omniboggle]’s vertical rackmount case, [PocketLnt]’s THaD flash intro.

More links after the jump.

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Gameboy Linked Hardware Sequencer

December 21, 2005 by 16 Comments

sequencer

Thanks to Create Digital Music for pointing me to the awesome work of Gijs Geikes. This is his latest sequencer creation. It is designed to get its clock signal from Little Sound Dj running on a Gameboy. The sequencer controls plugin modules that are attached to a parallel port. Here’s a great sample of the output. He’s got schematics on his site, which are easy to comprehend when compared to his bizarro board etching. One of the plugins is an earlier project: The Tape Sequencer. Have a listen to that too.

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NES Controller For Pocket PC

December 20, 2005 by 9 Comments

nes pocket pc

As an emulator enthusiast Oscar was frustrated by the button placement on his Pocket PC. He decided to adapt an NES controller to the PDA. The iPAQ had four buttons plus a D-pad like the controller so he just needed to find a way to translate between the two. The answer came from a Belkin IR keyboard. In addition to the regular QWERTY keys it had the hardware buttons too. He stripped out the necessary board from the keyboard and connected the NES buttons. He left the battery and an IR extension outside of the case because the signal was too weak from a distance. I wonder if it would be possible to use something like [leadingzero]’s NES remote and just translate the button presses since the signal would be stronger. I know it would work with LIRC in Linux, but I’m not sure if there is something similar for Pocket PC.

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Want To Write How-tos For Engadget?

December 20, 2005 by 7 Comments

Engadget

I’m hiring a new ‘How-to’ editor for Engadget. We’re looking for someone who can contribute at least 2 how-tos a month. Original how-tos can cover hardware, software, and anything in between. We’ve covered software how-tos like streaming with VLC and setting up Synergy. We definitely want someone who isn’t afraid of a soldering iron and can do things like building WiFi antennas and embedding sensors in clothing.

To apply for the position you need to:

  1. Post a ‘fresh’ how-to article in the style of Engadget with pictures/screenshots somewhere  on the internet (like a free blog from Blogger).

  2. Write a sample post for a ‘found’ hack (like the Hack-A-Day daily feature).

  3. Send both links, a little info about yourself, and 5 additional how-to ideas through the tip form before 1PM EST Dec. 27th. Use the subject ‘Engadget writer’.

For inspiration: here are how-tos we’ve done in the past. For additional inspiration: this is a paid position.

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RFID Based Spatial Address Book

December 19, 2005 by 12 Comments

rfid

The march of reader hacks continues and I couldn’t be happier. [Timo] has been experimenting with a prototype Nokia 3220 Near Field Communication phone. The phone features an RFID reader/writer (and an odd logo that seems to combine a Dreamcast with RSS). The phone’s Service Discovery application reads RFID tags that it encounters. The read data can trigger a variety of actions: dial a number, send a pre-defined SMS, or load a URL. Timo placed an array of RFID tags under the surface of his desk. He then recorded different actions to each tag and placed a corresponding Post-It note liable on the desk surface above each tag. So, by resting the phone on “call Jack” the phone would load the number. When he walks into the office he can set the phone down on “I’m in the office” and a text message will be sent. He’s got some interesting thoughts on this system. It made him very aware of where he had to set the phone when he didn’t want it to do anything. Timo also wonders how your acquaintances would feel if they found themselves ranked across your desktop.

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Playstation 2 Controller ADC

December 18, 2005 by 12 Comments

ps2

[Paul Skinner] sent in an interesting project that he has been working on. The goal is to use biofeedback (heart rate, skin temperature) for sound control. The Playstation controller offers multiple analog inputs so Paul decided to modify one to use as an analog to digital converter. Before tearing the controller down he connected the controller to Max/MSP to make sure he could read the inputs. The majority of the project was spent building amplifiers for the skin temperature and other sensors. Once the amplifier circuit was constructed Paul built several Max/MSP patches to use the data.

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Count Accumulator For Radiation Levels

December 17, 2005 by 11 Comments

carl

This hack was put together by reader [Forrest Cook]. He was wondering if there were any radioactive materials in his rock collection. This is an add-on box for a 60s era Victoreen CDV700 Geiger counter. Vintage gieger counters don’t actually count; they use an analog meter with an integrator circuit to do short term averages. Forrest’s box plugs into the headphone jack of the Geiger counter and does true digital counting with a Motorola microprocessor. The signal could also be sent to a computer with a little modification. He did find a handful of radioactive rocks, but nothing that was serious enough to worry about.

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