I’m banking that these are probably the next things added to jackets
Author: Eliot1332 Articles
Power Over Ethernet
Power over ethernet lets you add a DC voltage source to the unused pairs in your ethernet cable. This power can be used to power devices that are poe compatible by just plugging the cable into them. Other devices can be powered by using a “tap” to break the DC pairs back out of the cable. POE is a good choice for powering devices in remote locations. A router can be placed on a roof right next to its high-gain antenna, reducing signal loss, without having to run a separate AC line. Plugging the DC “injector” into a UPS will keep dedicated VOIP phones functioning during a power outage. Terry Schmidt has written a nice guide covering the theory behind scratch building poe injectors and taps. It also has photos and descriptions of other peoples projects along with tips on how to keep from turning your router into a pile of plastic goo.
How They Hacked Paris
Ugh, I feel dirty just posting a picture of her. The Washington Post has an excellent story about how T-mobile was hacked, which eventually led to Paris Hilton’s account being compromised. I hope you aren’t too surprised when you find out it was just simple social engineering… I mean really simple. No sweet ‘sploits, no DDOS, just an attack at the weakest link of a sprawling corporation: the staff. I hope companies take this article to heart and teach their employees how to be more secure. Of course if your staff hates you you’re still screwed.
Distributed Bittorrent
The RIAA/MPAA empire has been tearing down tracker sites left and right; making tracker operation a risky proposition. Distributed tracking guarantees the torrents on these sites will be available even when the site tracker is down. Distributed tracking also makes publishing content easier. Instead of posting a .torrent file to a tracker site you can publish to a distributed tracker. Then you just post the .torrent file on your blog/fan site/forum. You don’t even have to go that far. Azureus can generate a “magnet:” link for any bittorrent file it is currently tracking. Anybody can open that link in their Azureus client and the .torrent file will be retreived directly from the database. I think this system will be great for people publishing their original works since they won’t have to provide lots of bandwidth or rely on someone’s flakey tracker. Recently support was added to the official client and many more will probably follow. Azureus explains the magic after the jump. Give it a read if you’re not too busy downloading crappy RotS cam movies. (EDIT: I guess there is a workprint out there, so the quality is probably pretty good)
WRT SD Card Mod
I was mildly interested in the serial port mods (add a gps, lcd, serial console), but this is just awesome. Now you can add as much Secure Digital flash storage as you want to your WRT54G. This requires soldering six wires plus a custom driver. The added space could come in really useful for storing logs or large dump files from kismet. You could just plug the thing into the wall and let it sniff packets all day. It could also be a small file server running bittorrent while you’re out of the house with your laptop. Most important of all: SD support means you’ll be able to share memory cards with your Playstation 3 and that’s a top priority right?
[thanks darkpadden via LinksysInfo.org]
Synergy KM Switch
Synergy is a cross-platform keyboard-mouse switch. It’s also one of the most well-named pieces of software out there. Here’s why: I had a laptop running XP with a nice usb keyboard and mouse plugged into it. To the right of that, I had a laptop running Linux. Both computers are on a wireless network. Using synergy I can slide the mouse off of the right edge of the screen and onto the Linux laptop’s XWindows screen with no lag. In the process it transfers keyboard control over to the other system too. You can even cut and paste between systems. This is a great solution for using your desktop keyboard with your wireless laptop or if your laptop is sitting in the living room you could easily use its mouse and keyboard to control your home theater pc. Set up is simple, scales easily, and works with OSX, too.
Circuit Bending Guide
Circuit bending is the art (as opposed to science) of modifying audio toys to produce musical instruments. By creatively shorting circuits, adding switches and pots you can create a truly unique musical object. The hobby is incredibly easy get started in; just roll down to your local thrift store and pick up some old speak ‘n’ spells and start poking around. This comes with all the usual disclamers i.e. don’t hook house current up to your body. If you’re careful though you’ll soon be hearing the wonderful sounds of a know-it-all speak ‘n’ spell in agonizing pain. Sound like fun? Have a look at Anti-Theory’s great guide to everything you need to know to get started with circuit bending.
There is also an interesting gallery show over at Crown Dozen.
