Button Mapping For All

May 15, 2010 by Mike Szczys 36 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G–u63Gka_0]

[Tim] came across a Kotaku story about a handicapped gamer who’s starting an Internet petition for button mapping features in all games. First of all, watch this guy play Modern Warfare 2 with a stock control, he’s got some mad skills. We’d normally be looking for a hardware solution like this PS3 Frankenstein controller or a controller emulator to do the job. There’s also the mix-and-match controller that Ben Heck sells. But we’re inclined to agree that button mapping is a useful feature for everyone, especially if you’re in [Chuck Bittner’s] shoes. We still miss the console and macro capabilities of the original Quake… oh why didn’t that functionality make it into console gaming?

Using IPad SIM With An IPhone

May 14, 2010 by Mike Szczys 27 Comments

[Aaron Nelson] tipped us off about a simple hack to use an iPad SIM with an iPhone. You won’t be able to use the iPhone as a phone, but the relatively cheap $29.99 for unlimited Internet was his goal. He used an old plastic gift card to cut out an adapter for the iPad’s micro SIM so that it will fit into the iPhone’s SIM cradle as seen above. From there he used a web service via the WiFi connection to enter “Broadband” as a custom APN.

Cat Door Unlocks Via Facial Recognition

May 14, 2010 by Mike Szczys 50 Comments

Faced with critters trying to get in and a cat that loved to show them her latest kill, the folks at Quantum Picture came up with a system that unlocks the cat door based on image recognition. As you can see above, it uses a camera to capture the profile of anything approaching the cat door. That image is compared to stored positive identification sets, making up a feline positive identification protocol. Don’t think this is necessary? In the writeup there’s a couple of images showing the outline of a skunk. Sounds like this system is a necessity.

We wonder if this lucky cat also has an Internet enabled cat feeder?

[Thanks Stephen]

Biopunk Watch: Time, Temperature, Gaming

May 14, 2010 by Mike Szczys 17 Comments

[Matthew Garten] built this watch based on an Arduino. The face is a small color display which allows you to choose to show time in digital, binary, or analog formats. In keeping with the recent trend here on Hackaday he has a glove-based add-on that has temperature sensors in the fingers; for Firefighters or those with nerve damage to their fingers (we’re thinking Darkman). For entertainment in any situation he’s included a trackball and the ability to play breakout or draw in 16-bit color. Details are scarce but apparently he’ll be sharing more soon. For now, watch the video after the break and think of ways to shrink this down into a nice package like the Pong Watch enjoys.

Continue reading “Biopunk Watch: Time, Temperature, Gaming” →

Wii Remote Connectivity For Android Devices

May 13, 2010 by Mike Szczys 42 Comments

[Pikipirs] developed an app that lets you connect a Wii remote to an Android phone. After the break you can see it used with a Sega emulator. The button presses seem very responsive, making for a nice gaming addition if you care to carry around the Wiimote in addition to your phone. It certainly seems to work better than the Wii remote + iPhone hacks we’ve seen. Pick it up from the Android store or download the APK from the thread linked at the top. This is an alpha version so don’t be shocked if it’s buggy.

Continue reading “Wii Remote Connectivity For Android Devices” →

OpenGL On The Didj

May 13, 2010 by Mike Szczys 13 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfXI0crLTBc]

[Losinggeneration] managed to get a homebrew OpenGL application working on the Didj. It’s nice to see the community driven work advance on this device but something else also caught our attention from the forum post. Another poster pointed out that [losinggeneration] has files in one of his directories called “glquake-didj” and “glquake-didj.dbg”. We hope that means a working version of Quake is on the way for the hackable handheld.

[Thanks JJ Dasher]

Transistor Fabrication: So Simple A Child Can Do It

May 13, 2010 by Mike Szczys 60 Comments

If manufacturing printed circuit boards has become too easy you should try your hand at producing transistors. [Jeri Ellsworth] put together a collection of videos outlining the process. These go way beyond the IC fabrication we saw from her in the past. It doesn’t take much, a 1000 degree oven with steam option, silicone wafers, and a variety of chemicals. We’ve embedded the instructional video as well as two demonstrations of her N-style FET after the break. Continue reading “Transistor Fabrication: So Simple A Child Can Do It” →