Snapchat Person Verification Defeated In <100 Lines Of Code

January 22, 2014 by James Hobson 53 Comments

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[Steven Hickson] woke up this morning to an article about the new person verification system Snapchat has implemented. Thirty minutes later he cracked it to be solved by a computer, in less than 100 lines of code (GitHub).

First a little background. About a month ago, 4.6 million Snapchat users had their information compromised by a security hole. In an attempt to bump up security, Snapchat has implemented a new person verification method to ensure new accounts aren’t created by computers.

The method? Picking out a white ghost from a series of nine images. Kind of like a cute, less annoying Captcha. The problem? It’s a terrible way to prove you are a person. It took [Steven] only 30 minutes to write a program that uses simple thresholding, SURF keypoints and FLANN matching to find the ghost. In his tests, he’s found the ghost with 100% accuracy. He also muses that there is an even more efficient way to do it, he was just too lazy to do it.

Nice try Snapchat.

Reviving A Stubborn Laptop Battery

January 19, 2014 by James Hobson 42 Comments

We’ve all gotten bored of certain toys and left them on the shelf for months on end. But what do you do when this prolonged period kills the batteries? Well if you’re [Andrew] you take apart the battery pack and bring it back to life!

[Andrew] picked up one of those Panasonic Toughbooks awhile back and although it’s hardly a top of the line laptop specs-wise, it does have some pretty cool features: it’s shock-proof, splash-proof, and extreme-temperature-proof. It even had a touch screen before touchscreens were cool. Despite its durability, however, the laptop was left to sit for a bit too long, and the battery pack no longer accepted a charge.

[Andrew] quickly disassembled the battery pack and began measuring the cells with his trusty multimeter, assuming just one cell had gone bad. Curiously though, no cells reported 0V. What he did find was that each cell and sub-pack reported 2.95V, which is 0.05V below the “safe operating limits” of typical lithium ion cells. Continue reading “Reviving A Stubborn Laptop Battery” →

Hackintosh Mac Pro Replica Using A Trash Can

January 16, 2014 by James Hobson 68 Comments

An anonymous German case modder decided to poke fun at the new Mac Pro… by making his own Hackintosh Pro out of a trash can!

For whatever reason the German forum it spawned in is a little bit secretive, but [Dschijn] of tonymacx86.com got permission to share the build on the creator’s behalf — and it is absolutely glorious.

The beautiful exterior is a Authentics Lunar 6L trash can, painted a vibrant pink — complete with a fake Apple logo. Inside is a Gigabyte Mini ITX motherboard, a Haswell i3 processor, a Radeon 7750, an SSD, a HDD, an ATX power supply, and an undisclosed amount of RAM. True to the Mac Pro, it features a central airflow design, with a fancy hand-crafted intake grate on the bottom.

While its technical specs fail to impress, it is remarkably similar in size to the real deal, varying by just under an inch.

[via Ars Technica]

Custom Workbench Computer

January 11, 2014 by James Hobson 28 Comments

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[Michael Solar] recently bought a house with his wife, and now with his first garage he’s started building his workshop man-cave. First order of business was a workbench — second, a computer built into it.

He started with an old Dell tower, but found it took too much space underneath the work bench — so he set to downsizing it. Using pine boards he created a stepped wooden enclosure that utilizes the space under the front lip of the work bench. He’s mounted the motherboard using standoff pins and created cutouts in the back for the power supply and outputs. It features three intake and two exhaust fans — currently without filters, although he plans on adding them soon, otherwise he’ll end up with a sawdust filled computer!

It’s a rather simple project, but it gives a great introduction into making your own custom computer case, and provides some handy lessons learned near the end. It might not be a flashy case mod like this heavy metal computer desk, but it is certainly functional and robust!

Case Modder Builds LCD Window; Causes LSD Flashbacks

December 31, 2013 by Adam Fabio 46 Comments

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[Chris, aka Mosquito’s Mods] is well-known for some awesome PC case mods. He’s outdone himself this time with an embedded LCD panel as his case window. This use of an LCD is becoming common on arcade games and slot machines. [Chris] was inspired by an arcade game he saw at a local Dave & Buster’s. He started with an off the shelf 16″ USB LCD monitor from AOC. [Chris] then stripped off the back light, diffuser, and reflectors. Left with the bare panel and polarizers, he then created an LCD sandwich of sorts. First a layer of 2mm acrylic. Then the LCD and panel, along with 4 strips of acrylic forming a frame around the LCD. The frame strips are in blue in the image after the break. Continue reading “Case Modder Builds LCD Window; Causes LSD Flashbacks” →

Fubarino Contest: Bluetooth Control For PC PSU

December 27, 2013 by Mike Szczys 6 Comments

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[Mike] wanted to have remote control of the power on his computer. But Wake-on-LAN wasn’t really all that interesting to him. Instead he set out to build this Bluetooth controller which manipulates the motherboard directly (PDF).

Having been a winner of the Trinket Contest he based the project on that board which is seen on the left. There is also an RN-42 Bluetooth module and a couple of TI TS5A3157 analog switches. Once the prototype is finished the entire thing will run off of standby power and be located inside the case of his computer. The breadboard version just switches a couple of LEDs, but that will end up connecting to the pins for the power buttons once installed.

The video after the break shows off the easter egg. The device is controlled by [Mike’s] custom Android app. Every 42nd time he sends a power command the device calls back with our URL.

This is an entry in the Fubarino Contest for a chance at one of the 20 Fubarino SD boards which Microchip has put up as prizes!

Continue reading “Fubarino Contest: Bluetooth Control For PC PSU” →

Re-purposing An Old Laptop Display

December 26, 2013 by Phillip Ryals 12 Comments

[Tim] found himself with a laptop that had a good 18.4″ screen, but otherwise didn’t run properly. It would be a shame to throw that away, so he decided to salvage the screen by turning it into a standalone monitor. This isn’t exactly new, as he did what many people have done and looked to eBay for an after-market LCD controller board. The real beauty is in the enclosure he built. [Tim] had some scrap wood available from a previous project, so he set about designing a new frame for the monitor, and a very nice adjustable stand, as can be seen in the photo above.

One nice detail is in the control panel buttons. The LCD controller comes with a separate board housing the controls, and while he made a mistake mounting it initially, he ended up with a nice set of oak buttons that match the frame perfectly. He then built a nice backing out of styrene that holds the screen in place as well as housing the electronics.

Overall, it’s a nice looking project, and it is always nice to see electronics re-purposed rather than ending up in a landfill. We can’t help but think this would be a great frame for building a picture frame or a wall-mounted PC as well.