Tiny Wooden Laptop Packs Raspberry Pi

May 28, 2019 by Lewin Day 8 Comments

Building a handheld Raspberry Pi rig is practically a hacker rite of passage these days. Off-the-shelf parts keep getting better, and we’re now starting to see affordable compact LCD screens with decent resolution become common. [MakeFailRepeat] got his hands on a HyperPixel screen, and decided to whip up a neat project with it.

The result is a charming little laptop, packing a 4″ screen with 800×480 resolution. Input is via multi-touch, as well as an integrated keyboard. The frame of the laptop is wooden, with a 3D printer supplying parts for the hinge mechanism. To round out the aesthetics, the top of the device was given a decorative copper inlay. Power management is via a UPS hat, which allows the device to switch seamlessly between battery and mains power.

A project like this is a great way to learn a wide range of valuable skills. It involves woodworking and 3D design, as well as the basic configuration of a single board computer. They come in all shapes and sizes, like this tiny RetroPie handheld, or this slick laptop build. Video after the break.

Continue reading “Tiny Wooden Laptop Packs Raspberry Pi” →

Please Meet ‘Capability Inquiry’, Part Of The MIDI 2.0 Standard

May 28, 2019 by Maya Posch 23 Comments

It may have passed you by in the news, but the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) has recently unveiled more details about the upcoming MIDI 2.0 standard. Previously we covered the prototyping phase start of this new standard. The original Musical Instrument Digital Interface standard was revealed all the way back in August of 1983, as a cooperation between companies including Moog Music, Roland, Yamaha, Korg, Kawai and others. It was the first universal interface that allowed one to connect and control all kinds of musical instruments.

Over the years, MIDI has seen use with the composing of music, allowing instruments to be controlled by a computer system and to easily share compositions between composers. Before MIDI such kind of control was limited to a number of proprietary interfaces, with limited functionality.

The MMA lists the key features of MIDI 2.0 as: Bidirectional, Backwards Compatible, and the enhancing of MIDI 1.0 where possible. Using a new technology called MIDI Capability Inquiry (MIDI-CI), a MIDI 2.0 device can exchange feature profiles and more with other 2.0 devices. 1.0 is the fallback if MIDI-CI finds no new functionality. MIDI-CI-based configuration can allow 2.0 devices to automatically configure themselves for their environment.

Suffice it to say, MIDI 2.0 is a far cry from the original MIDI standard. By transforming MIDI into a more versatile, bidirectional protocol, it opens new ways in which it can be used to tie musical devices and related together. It opens the possibility of even more creative hacks, many of which were featured on Hackaday already. What will you make with MIDI 2.0?

See a brief demonstration of this feature of MIDI 2.0 in the below video:

Continue reading “Please Meet ‘Capability Inquiry’, Part Of The MIDI 2.0 Standard” →

Routing IP Over Instant Messages Is Possible Yet Impractical

May 28, 2019 by Lewin Day 15 Comments

Telegram is an instant messaging app, well known for its focus on security and encryption. It’s used by government officials, journalists, and the paranoid, and can also handle VoIP calls, in addition to its text messaging capability. [PiMaker] wondered if all this encryption could be put to good use, and decided to try and route IP over Telegram, as you do.

The project is called Teletun, and it works! It uses telgram-cli, a command line interface for the instant messaging network. The actual IP routing is handled with a Python script, and [PiMaker] recommends that in use, the user should “pray to the gods for mercy”. Reports are that bandwidth is limited, but latency can go as low as 100ms, which suggests Telegram is indeed a fairly instant messenger.

Tunneling over instant messaging services is good practice for any aspiring hacker, but likely to be unwieldy for any practical purpose. If you can think of one, other than irritating the intelligence agents tapping your communications, throw it down in the comments below. Otherwise, consider other oddball ways to (ab)use Telegram.

Keep The Kids Entertained With A Time Machine

May 28, 2019 by Tom Nardi 3 Comments

We often hear it said that today’s kids don’t go out and play as much as they did in the past, but honestly, it’s hard to really blame them. Have you seen some of the games they have now? It’s going to take something a little more exciting than a game of stickball to get them off the couch when they’ve got 4K and VR game systems to play with.

Which is exactly why [Bobek] is building his kids a time machine. Not a literal one, of course. The Flux Capacitor technology required has yet to be mastered. But it does allow the player to “travel” through time through videos which are played by punching in specific codes they have to unlock by solving puzzles in the real world. Then again, keeping keeping kids active and mentally engaged might as well be “going back in time” in some people’s eyes.

By the looks of things, [Bobek] still has a little work to do on the project, but it’s far enough along that we can get an idea. Inside the bottom of the heavy duty plastic case he’s installed an ATX power supply and a Raspberry Pi 3, and an top of that, there’s a metal plate that holds the power button, an RGB backlit keyboard, and a Vacuum Florescent Display.

After powering on the system, the kids punch in the codes they’ve earned on the keyboard. If accepted, it starts the corresponding presentation which goes over the sights and sounds of the time period they’ve unlocked. In the video after the break you can see [Bobek] test the device with a small display hanging off the end of an HDMI cable, but presumably the system will eventually get an integrated display. The kids could also plug it into the TV, but at that point you might be going full circle.

We’ve seen several examples of hackers creating their own electronic gadgets to keep their children entertained. The line might be a little blurry, but we’d rather see kids use their imagination to “fly” a spaceship in their bedroom than play Roblox on their phone.

Continue reading “Keep The Kids Entertained With A Time Machine” →

One Arduino Handheld To Rule Them All

May 28, 2019 by Tom Nardi 9 Comments

There’s nothing quite as annoying as duplicated effort. Having to jump through the same hoops over and over again is a perfect way to burn yourself out, and might even keep you from tackling the project that’s been floating around in the back of your mind. [Alain Mauer] found that he’d build enough Arduino gadgets that were similar enough he could save himself some time by creating a standardized piece of hardware that he can load his code du jour on.

He’s come to call this device the Arduino Nano QP (which stands for Quick Project), and now it’s part of the 2019 Hackaday Prize. [Alain] doesn’t promise that it’s the perfect fit for everything, but estimates around 85% of the simple Arduino projects that he’s come up with could be realized on QP. This is thanks to the screw terminals on the bottom of the device which let you easily hook up any hardware that’s not already on the board.

The QP board itself has the ubiquitous 16×2 character LCD display (complete with contrast control trimmer), seven tactile buttons arranged in a vaguely Game Boy style layout, and of course a spot to solder on your Arduino Nano. All of which is protected by a very slick laser cut acrylic case, complete with retained buttons and etched labels.

We’ve seen no shortage of handheld Arduino devices, but we have to admit, something about the utilitarian nature of this one has us intrigued. We wouldn’t mind having one of these laying around the lab next time we want to do a quick test.

Continue reading “One Arduino Handheld To Rule Them All” →

This Week In Security: Zombieload, And Is Your Router Leaking?

May 28, 2019 by Jonathan Bennett 8 Comments

Do you know what your router is doing? We have two stories of the embedded devices misbehaving. First, Linksys “Smart” routers keep track of every device that connects to its network. Right, so does every other router. These routers, however, also helpfully expose that stored data over JNAP/HNAP.

Some background is needed here. First, HNAP is the Home Network Administration Protocol, designed to manage routers and network devices. Originally designed by Pure Networks, HNAP is a SOAP based protocol, and has been part of security problems in the past. You may also see the term JNAP. It seems that JNAP is the JSON Network Administration Protocol, identical to HNAP except for using JSON instead of SOAP.

The odd part is that this is an old problem. CVE-2014-8244 was disclosed and fixed in 2014. According to the writeup at Badpackets.net, the problem was re-discovered as a result of observing active network attacks targeting JNAP. When Linksys was informed of the rediscovered problem, they responded that the problem was fixed in 2014, and devices with updated firmware and default settings are not accessible from the public internet. The presence of over 20,000 devices leaking data casts doubt on their response. Continue reading “This Week In Security: Zombieload, And Is Your Router Leaking?” →

Wireless LEDs Aren’t A First, But You Can Make Your Own

May 28, 2019 by Brian Benchoff 25 Comments

Wireless LEDs. That’s what [Scotty Allen] found in Japan, and if you find something you just have to replicate it.

[Scotty] found these wireless LEDs in a display stand for model makers and gunpla. Because you don’t want to run wires, drill holes, and deal with fiber optics when illuminating plastic models, model companies have come up with wireless LEDs. Just glue them on, and they’ll blink. It requires a base station, but these are wireless LEDs.

After buying a few of these LEDs and sourcing a base station, [Scotty] found the LEDs were three components carefully soldered together: an inductor, two caps, and the LED itself. The base station is simply two coils and are effectively a wireless phone charger. Oh, some experimentation revealed that if you put one of these wireless LEDs on a wireless phone charger it’ll light up.

The next step is of course replication, so [Scotty] headed out to Akihabara and grabbed some wire, resistors, and LEDs. The wire was wrapped into a coil, a LED soldered on, and everything worked. This is by no means the first DIY wireless LED, as with so many technologies this too hit fashion first and you could buy press-on nails with embedded wireless LEDs for years now. Check out the video below.

Continue reading “Wireless LEDs Aren’t A First, But You Can Make Your Own” →