BP Oil Blunders

June 5, 2010 by Jakob Griffith 255 Comments

We received a very interesting “hack” today from our good friend [Jonny Dryer] that really got us thinking, but first a little background.

For those that live only inside of a box on top of a mountain (we know who you are), there was an explosion of a British Petroleum oil rig about 40 miles southeast of Venice, LA. Being proclaimed by Carol Browner as “probably the biggest environmental disaster” – stated a month after the accident.

And the oil is still spewing. Now, we’re not ones for criticizing how this event is being handled; no, we left it to the experts.

Back to our point, [Jonny Dryer’s] sent us his plan for slowing the oil spill, by using liquid nitrogen, pretty genius if you ask us. And we were wondering what possible solutions other readers had come up with? Share your thoughts on this situation in the comments.

Parallax RFID Reader For Ten Bucks

May 29, 2010 by Devlin Thyne 102 Comments

We received a tip about Radio Shack putting Parallax’s RFID reader on clearance for around $10. The only reference we could find that indicated Radio Shack sold the reader was a review page. The reader originally sold for around $50 in the stores, so getting it for $10 made it worth a curiosity trip to a local Radio Shack. The store we visited did not have the reader marked down in the drawer, but it rang up for $9.97. It is too bad that the reader was so expensive in the first place, otherwise Radio Shack might still be selling them at full price. This is by no means a promotion, we just though we would share the information in case you were interested in getting one yourself. If Radio Shack is out, you could always build your own reader.

The reader we purchased only came with one tag, perhaps that is why the they have been on clearance. Hooked up to an FTDI USB to serial cable, it would repeatedly send out the tag’s number whenever it was in range. We tried an HID-labeled card and a tag of the kind that can be found in books and DVD cases. Neither worked with the reader, but we’ll keep looking.

Thanks to [bluewraith] for the tip.

Home DNA Lab Tools

May 28, 2010 by Mike Szczys 22 Comments

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

[Jeri Ellsworth] stopped by Pearl Biotech’s booth at Maker Faire and took a look at their open source DNA sequencing work. It is by no means a grab-and-go solution for anyone, but from what we’ve seen in the video they’re breaking down those laboratory walls and letting us in to dabble at this work (assuming you’ve got a few hundred bucks to burn). There is a community for info and help that you can check out at BioCurious, and Pearl Biotech has gel box kits available (or the details if you care to source parts yourself), traditionally an extremely expensive part of the process. You’ll still need a centrifuge and a heating/cooling device to separate the strands but as you can see in the video, these can be hacked together rather easily.

We’re glad that [Jeri] shot and posted this clip. She does a great job of explaining projects, whether it’s someone else’s like this or her own, like the transistor fabrication method.

[Thanks Shazzner]

Unlocking The Crippled Potential Of An Unmanaged Switch

May 26, 2010 by Mike Szczys 35 Comments

[Sprite_TM] outgrew the features of the cheap unmanaged TL-SG1005D switch he was using on his home network. Instead of buying a new and much more costly switch he cracked the cheap one open and found that the RTL8366SB chip inside possessed the ability to work harder but was crippled for sale as a low-end model. It wasn’t as easy as that oscilloscope firmware upgrade we saw a while back. He had to add an AVR ATmega88 to send I2C commands to the switch. Turns out that the I2C protocol wasn’t standard and after much head scratching he found some Linux drivers for the chipset that gave him enough info to send the configuration commands he needed. Now he’s go the managed switch he needed for his VLAN for the cost of a microcontroller and some wire.

BAMF2010: CMT 380X Blackbird

May 23, 2010 by Phil Burgess 44 Comments

Okay, we lied, we totally want one of these too. The CMT 380X Blackbird is one wicked hybrid car!

Looking like it just rolled off the set of the next Batman film, the Blackbird is the brainchild of Electronic Arts Chief Creative Director [Richard Hilleman]. Starting from a kit car base — the Factory Five Racing GTM chassis — [Hilleman] created a unique 230 horsepower drive train combining a 30 kilowatt diesel turbine and 24 KWh lithium polymer battery pack.

As a purely plug-in electric car, the Blackbird has a range of 85 miles. In hybrid mode, range is extended to 500 miles. The car can accelerate from 0 to 60 in about 7 seconds. Come decelerating, the car makes use of regenerative braking.

It’s strictly a one-off for the time being, but several companies have approached [Hilleman] about possibly commercializing the design. A couple more choice pics follow the break…

Continue reading “BAMF2010: CMT 380X Blackbird” →

Hack A Day Store Now Open

May 22, 2010 by Caleb Kraft 53 Comments

Since the beginning of the universe we’ve been getting requests for stickers, shirts, coffee mugs, etc. Well, several of the writers have the ability to produce this stuff in their homes. The boss liked that and gave us his blessing to start selling Hack a Day stuff.

In the interest of keeping the cost as low as possible, right now the store is located inside of my personal online store. The only products we have right now are stickers, since I make them myself. Though if enough of you pester him, maybe [Devlin] will make up a batch of those Hack a Day badges.

Please be patient with the store. It is fairly untested and tossing this many people at it at once is somewhat frightening. If you have any problems at all, please contact me (caleb@) and I’ll take care of it. You can get to the store by clicking the new button on the right of the screen, labelled “store”. You can see a few more pictures after the break.

Note: Thos of you who are outside of the US, please just contact me directly. I have to figure out your shipping outside the system. Don’t go fill out an order.

Continue reading “Hack A Day Store Now Open” →

Bay Area Maker Faire Blasts Off Saturday

May 21, 2010 by Phil Burgess 22 Comments

It’s crunch time at California’s San Mateo Event Center, where crews are busily assembling rocket ships, singing Tesla coils and animatronic giraffes and dragons in preparation for the 2010 Bay Area Maker Faire, taking place this weekend.

Returning for its fifth year, Maker Faire, if you’ve not had the pleasure, could be described as 50 percent science fair, 50 percent county fair and 50 percent Burning Man reunion. And if that doesn’t seem to add up, you’re right — it’s sensory overload, a hands-on, warranty-voiding explosion of futuristic technology, down-to-earth crafts and nine dollar pulled pork sandwiches.

If you’re planning on attending, hit up their web site for all the information on tickets and hours, recommendations for parking or — perhaps most importantly — public transit options. The event has been growing every year, even disrupting traffic on nearby U.S. Route 101, so you’ll want to set out early or research alternative options. We’ll be posting goings-on from the event as it unfolds, connectivity permitting.