Author: Eliot

1332 Articles

PSP Firmware Guide

October 3, 2005 by 32 Comments

psp
If [Fluke]’s comment is correct, then the Sony PSP 2.01 firmware is already in the wild. Here is a handy Hack-A-Day guide so you can tell at a glance whether you should upgrade your firmware. All you have to do is compare the firmware version number to the previous release:

  • If the first digit has changed (1.5 -> 2.0) then Sony has gotten around to adding a major feature that should have been available since the product’s initial release (web browser). Thanks to the magic of firmware upgrades manufacturers can leave lots of features out of product launches.

  • If the second digit has changed (1.0 -> 1.5) then Sony has released the hardware in your country. The games aren’t region-locked so there is really no reason for the launch delay.

  • If the third digit has changed (2.00 -> 2.01) then Sony has decided that you’ve been having entirely too much fun with your hardware without their help and are determined to re-break it.

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Hackaday Links

October 2, 2005 by 7 Comments

First a request: I know some of you have had some experience hacking together Greasemonkey scripts. Jim Hanas over at Hanasiana has a quick project he needs help with. Go ask him for the details.

The Nano cases keep rolling in: Here is [Atonomie]’s leather Nano case. Use the template to get a head start on your own case.

More CSS/Javascript/Ajax fun:
CSS/Javascript chat room [wtanaka]
Custom Ajax homepage [Andrew]
[ondras]’s universal SQL & er-diagram designer

[Biggs] built a remote shutter release for his 350D out of a mouse.

Custom Slim Devices control boxes by [chrisla]

[colin]’s super cheap laptop cooler

A ton of laptop photo frames [rob]

[eitan]’s Zen Micro Altoids case

Magnetic levitation demonstrator

[Jonathan Zornow]’s guide for abusing iDVD

Cheat sheet for getting a human operator [hazar via In4mador]

The tip line

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GBA Variometer

October 2, 2005 by 12 Comments

vario

Variometers are used by para/hang gliders to measure their vertical climb/sink rate. This data helps pilots find and catch thermals. The software runs on a flash ROM cartridge and captures flight data. The data from up to 50 stored flights can be recalled later. The altimeter is a simple pressure transducer that plugs into the link port on the Gameboy Advance.

[thanks Sean2e]

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Rocket Altimeter Project

October 1, 2005 by 7 Comments

rocket

This project is a really simple accelerometer based altimeter. The assembled board only weighs 10grams; the power supply is an additional 6grams. The data collection is done by a Basic Stamp II. It records 1 second before and 11 seconds after it detects the initial launch thrust. On their first launch they got some legitimate looking data (it would have been nice if they had an inclinometer to compare it to). The second launch resulted in a catastrophic engine failure on the pad. It’s a shame they couldn’t do more testing, but at least they’ve got video. Schematics and source code natch.

The photo above is from a recent BoingBoing post on high power rocketry.

Hackaday Links

October 1, 2005 by 12 Comments

The folks over at Remote-Exploit were recently dropped from Google Adsense and need funding. Why should you be concerned? They’ve recently rolled the excellent Auditor and WHAX live cds into a new distro called Backtrack. Why am I concerned? The were dropped for “Hacking/cracking content”. [thanks Michael Schade]

Luminosity Monstrosity You too can create blindingly bright light fixtures. [henny]

[doctordubb]’s experience building an LCD projector from a slide projector.

Add access LEDs for each of your hard drives. [carpespasm]

Atomic clock wristwatch [h-tech]

[Bucky] built a laptop tray for his PT Cruiser.

Put an icon on your desktop for really quick suspends using [Chris]’s instructions.

[Joe Pestro]’s CSS/Javascript desktop demo

[strider_mt2k] has been having some trouble holding onto his Micro, so he added a safety tether.

Explore Hack-A-Day [via]

The tip form

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Hackaday Links

September 30, 2005 by 8 Comments

The comments on PSP downgrading keep growing. If you had trouble before, you might want to check back to see if some light has been shed.

Make a Nano lanyard from a firewire cable. [sentinel]

Restore your Nano’s original shine. [Mrgreen]

[DarkJimmy] made some Hack-A-Day buttons.

Check out [JunkToArt]’s models built from PCMCIA cards and hard drives.

PS2, GameCube, XBox all in one box Looks like two optical drives too many. [via]

Extensive list of wardriving tools [via]

We love your links. We can’t post everything, but feel free to complain if we don’t post your link that goes nowhere, [Andrew] (did you mean the first link you sent in?)

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