Xen On Intel Mac Mini

August 13, 2006 by 17 Comments

mac mini

The Scalable Computing Laboratory has posted instructions on how to get Xen running on a Intel Mac mini. Xen is an open source virtualization system that lets multiple guest operating systems run on the same processor. The Mac mini is small, relatively inexpensive, and because it supports VT instructions you can run WindowsXP without modification. This makes the mini a really good choice for a hardware virtualization box. The install does have some quirks. You need a distro that uses lilo to boot because of Mac mini’s lack of an A20 gate. Once installed you switch to a patched version of grub because that’s what Xen requires.

[thanks steve, the good steve]

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Cupric Chloride Etching

August 12, 2006 by 25 Comments

cupric chloride

Cupric chloride is generally considered a better etchant even though it is not as well known as ferric chloride. [Rolan Yang] has a photoset of the process. Cupric chloride is usually sold as a photography chemical. The best feature is that the solution can be regenerated so you won’t be disposing of nearly as much etchant. I found a great page detailing the process for the hobbyist.

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The Neverending Duster

August 11, 2006 by 55 Comments

neverending duster

Scott was tired of throwing money away on cans of compressed air (who pays for air?). He decided to build a compressed air can that could be recharged. The aerosaol can that he used should be able to handle at least 200psi. The travel DC air compressor is only good for 50psi so he doesn’t expect this to turn into a frag grenade anytime soon. It’s not nearly as powerful, but at least now it’s “as free as the air you breathe”.

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Record Cutter

August 10, 2006 by 24 Comments

record cutter

Here’s a pretty rough project for cutting records out of acrylic. It uses a standard turntable for the base. The carving head is a chisel shaped needle attached to a small speaker. Speaker movement is translated into needle vibrations. The head is hand cranked across the surface of the record. The final addition to the system is a vacuum hose to remove the acrylic threads. I wish they would have spent more time taking pictures of this thing than making flash animations.

[thanks vennox]

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Hacking U-Verse Set Top Boxes

August 9, 2006 by 48 Comments

uverse settopbox

U-Verse is AT&T’s fiber IPTV service. No matter how many set top boxes you have in your household AT&T limits the number of DVRs to just one. So, what hardcore countermeasure did they employ to lock down their users? They unplugged the hard drive! No. Really. You don’t even have to look at this article by Hack-A-Day reader [Chad Brantly]; just unscrew the the cover, plug the drive in, and you’re done.

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DIY Turntable

August 8, 2006 by 34 Comments

turntable

I always enjoy hackers who build items that have been mass produced for years. Take Charles Altmann’s DIY Turntable. Audiophiles would have to pay an arm and a leg to get something this unique. The base and platter are made from stacks of plywood. The spindle is a Harley-Davidson Shovelhead intake valve and guide. The motor drive is actually a stepper motor. Precision speed control is provided by computer generated sine waves. His homebuilt tonearm was what got him interested in building the entire table.

[thanks bp]

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Ultimate Garage Door Monitor

August 7, 2006 by 33 Comments

garage door monitor

Want your home automation system to know the exact position of your garage door not just whether it is open or closed? Then the ultimate garage door monitor is for you. There has got to be at least one person that needs that, right? Well for the rest of you it is a handy guide for how-to implement analog sensors (like this potentiometer) into your home automation by way of an analog to digital converter.

[thanks ledtester]

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