DVD Thermometer

dvd thermometer

Reader [alberto ricci bitti]’s DVD thermometer is a temperature sensing infrared remote that controls a DVD showing the temperature. Since the box doesn’t get any feedback from the DVD player, it stops and starts the disc to make sure it is at a known state. The brain of the device is a Motorola MC68HC908QT4, an 8-pin microcontroller. Communication with the Maxim DS1621 temperature sensor I2C bus is done in software. Even if you don’t want to build a gaudy thermometer the article features a lot of interesting information. It covers reverse engineering the remote, emulating an I2C bus, and creating a programmable pulse generator instead of bitbanging.

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Hack Media: Security Podcasts

Do you want to listen to four and a half hours of security podcasts? Well, you don’t have to because I did. Here are the highlights from podcasts released this last week:

Security Now! #27 How Local Area Networks Work, Part 1 37:09 If you don’t know the difference between DHCP and static IP, then this is the podcast for you! Next week promises to be a little more interesting when they get into the problems with ARP.

CyberSpeak Feb 18 76:36 has some pretty good news coverage, but the real highlight is the interview with Bruce Potter from The Shmoo Group that starts after 20:00. If you don’t know about the group and the work they’ve done, this is a good intro.

LiveAmmo: Digital Forensics and Hacking Investigations, Part 2 46:54 Woof. If you are persuing digital forensics as a career then this would be a great start. Otherwise, avoid, unless you want to know what particular subsection of a law you are violating.

SploitCast #006 36:26 probably has the best atmosphere of these podcasts (and it’s the shortest). The team covers the recent news of a phishing site using a valid SSL cert. You could probably wait till next week when they talk to Lance James to get all of the details. I will say that the Web 2.0 discussion is about as inane as arguing which year the millennium starts. They do earn some extra points since my mom doesn’t read Schneier.

Blue Box #16 69:00 is all about VoIP and naturally the best produced. I don’t follow VoIP very closely, so the news roundup for the first 20 minutes was really interesting. If you aren’t doing enterprise VoIP then this podcast isn’t for you.

Each of these had some high points (even LiveAmmo). They could all do better if they were shorter. I would say that CyberSpeak was my favorite this week, but I don’t want to encourage another 76 minute podcast. What podcasts do you recommend?

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