HOWTO: Put Linux On A ZipIt Handheld

March 28, 2005 by 19 Comments

Linux ZipIt

AiboHack of all places has come up with quite an interesting hack. Turns out someone actually can make good use of the $100 ZipIt Instant Messaging device. The ZipIt (in case you didn’t know) has built-in 802.11b WiFi, a really cheap 320×240 LCD screen, and the ability to IM with MSN, Yahoo!, and AOL Instant Messenger. Groovy, but what good is this to us if we don’t have a WiFi spot to use? Not much. So with a little tweaking and some re-flashing, you’ll be running a sub-2mb version of Linux in no time. Here’s what you’ll need:

  • A Zipit device you are willing to screw up

  • A Windows PC (Windows XP recommended)

  • A WiFi card, or WiFi access point, attached to the Windows PC

  • Optional: Linux PC or cygwin running on Windows PC (for compiling your own Linux ARM apps)

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Cut Sheet Metal With Your Homemade Laser

March 27, 2005 by 24 Comments

co2 lazer

i recieved an email from owen the other day:

fellow hackologists may be interested in a year and half long project of mine to build a computer controlled sheet metal cutting system. It uses a 100 watt CO2 industrial laser.

there are some videos on his site showing the co2 laser milling machine in action. it’s absolutely fantastic. just the control system itself is pretty intense. if you are interested in doing something like this, you should also check out his blog that chronicled the whole contruction.

i’m pretty sure i need one of these.

update: apparently i can’t spell (thanks pedant). i was thinking it was z for zippy.

Hackaday Links

March 26, 2005 by 1 Comment

dig robots? dig sex? dig this.

remember the bicycle wheel pov we were checkin out? well the iball can display any random crap you want basically

James Dean has nothing on this easy rider with QNX installed [john]

the french might be able to actually win a war sometime soon with this real solar death ray
melts steel in 3 seconds. [Alexis]

for you fancy caviar eaters out there, maybe this is your kind of teleprompter

it’s only a matter of time before somone steals your credit card with RFID embedded in it and gets their ass thrown in jail 3 seconds later, fool

if there were a superman fighting against credit card fraud, this dude would be it

learn how to wipe your hard drive and not your bank account

this replicator bot can make you anything. by “anything” we mean a plate or a pot.

by now you might have gotten your treasured psp so now is probably a good time to read about hacking it

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Hackaday On Your Playstation Portable

March 26, 2005 by 59 Comments

hackaday psp

the new psp game wipeout pure apparantly comes with a full featured web browser that is used to download updates.  normally it’s restricted for that purpose alone, but roto sent me a line this morning saying that it could be hacked to function as a general web browser with a little dns trickery.

just point the psp to a nameserver that you can control, make a dns entry for ingame.scea.com to go to your own webserver, and stick a /wipeout/index.html there.  when you hit download in wipeout, it will load up your custom page!

i’m told the browser supports javascript, so it wouldn’t be too hard to code up a quick address bar along with links to google, and (of course) your favorite site.

(thanks yuppicide for the link to the working mirror.  the author’s url is here but it’s currently down.)

update: just received some more detailed info from roto.  continue reading for more information.

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Sex Bots

March 25, 2005 by 84 Comments

robots in love
you’ll have to pardon me while i wax anthropomorhpic for a moment.  why is it that robots, designed or imagined, always exist solely to fulfill a purpose or pleasure for human beings?  don’t they have feelings too?  maybe it’s about time we made some robots whose sole purpose is to hook up with other robots, get a little freaky, and make some robot progeny.

in this article we’ll be exploring robot love.  i made a couple of simple lego mindstorms robots and programmed them to reproduce — i.e. they can swap code.  effectively, two robots come together, trade their genome, die, and two new robots are born in their place.

turn up the barry white.  get out your mindstorms.  let’s get it on.

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Cheap Diy Teleprompter

March 24, 2005 by 18 Comments

diy teleprompter

this hack is a prime example of how to make something useful out of something useless.

the $1 teleprompter:

  • 1 clear cd case cover

  • 6 cd cases

  • scotch tape

just set this contraption on top of a laptop screen and the clear cd cover reflects the laptop screen in your direction.  your webcam is positioned just behind the cd cover, so your line of sight is aimed directly at the camera.

several of you sent this in, but kris was the first.  thanks!

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