Now that the PS3′s key have been leaked, its open territory for homebrew and hacking. Many people have been wondering what type of action Sony will be taking to combat this so called “piracy”. We have seen how ruthless they are with the PS3′s little brother the PSP and it’s no doubt that they will be just as ruthless with the PS3.

Digital Foundry claims that Sony can take some drastic measures including remotely disabling a jailbroken or hacked PS3. Even if you have never signed up for a PSN account, the PS3 communicates with the Sony mother-ship each time it’s turned on. The initial boot-up call back is used to upload error logs and download updates to the “What’s New” modules. It also sends a list of recently run apps.

Just that capability alone gives Sony a lot of power. Will they remotely disable systems? Who knows, but if they start to do that they open the door for some serious legal action. You know when the first PS3 that someone paid hundreds of dollars for gets killed and their unit is clean, Sony will be in a PR nightmare.

Sony Could Remotely Disable PS3s originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2011/01/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Speaking at the Chaos Computer Club on Tuesday, a pair of researchers demonstrated a method of eavesdropping on encrypted GSM calls and text messages by using a few cheap pay-as-you-go cellphones and a variety of open source software.

The ability to listen in on cellphone calls has been available to law enforcement agencies for a while, but even if the average person could they would have to invest in about $50,000 of hardware to do so, until now. The modern day phreaking takes advantage of security flaws in the GSM network and puts the power within the reach of almost any tech-savvy user.

By using custom firmware that they built in a few cheap Motorola cellphones, they created a bunch of cell phone "sniffers" that send real time raw cell network data back to a computer via a USB connection. By sending a target phone an SMS, they were able to determine what random network ID number belonged to the target.

All that was left was to decrypt the raw information they captured. This was easily accomplished with the use of a 2 GB rainbow table.

I’m sure with time, the software and firmware that was used in the demonstration will make it’s way into the average Joe’s hands and we will all be doomed. It’s not really modern day phreaking, back then all of us were just curious. There is no other use for this besides grabbing peoples personal communications.

Eavesdropping On GSM originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/31. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Here is to wishing all our readers a happy and safe holiday season. May Santa stuff all the tech you have ever wanted in your stocking. As the new year approaches the tech.nocr.at team wishes you all the best in 2011.

We are revamping tech.nocr.at in the new year to bring you a fresh new spin on the world of technology. More reviews, gadgets, news, and hardware hacking tips to keep you going the whole year strong.

Be safe and enjoy.

Happy Holidays originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/12/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Why tech.nocr.at?

Founded in 2007, tech.nocr.at has quickly become one of the top blogs for tech news, hardware hacking, and obscure gadgets.  Our audience includes early adopters, gadget lovers, entrepreneurs, influencers, marketing, PR and advertising agencies. tech.nocr.at is also popular with bloggers, Twitter and Facebook users, an increasingly influential demographic.

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Advertising originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Now that mobiles phones have advanced to the point that they are great gaming machines why not have a proper game controller to enjoy them? That’s an itch that hacked Sk3tch just had to scratch. By hacking together an original NES controller, an Arduino and a blueSMRF Bluetooth module he was able to use the controller via bluetooth and even demo’s the hack by playing Super Mario Brothers 3 in an emulator in the video after the break.

He says that the mod it Alpha at best, but from the video it looks great to me. All he needs to do now if slap everything together in a nice case or better yet, find a way to put all of the components in the NES controller itself.

NES Controller With Android originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/09/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Is there anything an Arduino can’t do? Instructable user sketchk3tch built this Arduino Magstripe Emulator which can spoof a card reader into thinking a card has been swiped. I can’t even begin to list the possible uses for this tool. Can you say “Hollywood style hotel door hacking device”. Not that we are encouraging that type of behaviour, but it would be fun to write some code that would quickly cycle through all of the possibilities. Check out the video of it in action after the break.

Magstripe Hacking originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/08/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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We have seen our fair share of door opening hacks. Remember the secret knock door lock? That was pretty awesome, but what if I tell you that you can unlock your door from any wifi device?

The guys over at Sunlight Labs have done just that. By using a WRT54GL and some creative hacking that have wired up their wireless router to buzz open their front door.

So how does this all work? Well, let’s start with the router. It’s a Linksys WRT54GL, a still-Linux-friendly descendant of the WRT54G, the router which jump-started the custom firmware scene. There are a lot of custom router firmwares available — DD-WRT, Tomato, Gargoyle — and they can all make your consumer-grade router do some professional-grade things. For this project I used OpenWRT, the system on which many of those other projects are based. It’s got a much steeper learning curve than those other distros — you definitely need to be comfortable with the command line — but it lets you build a custom firmware with exactly the components you want. With some tweaking I was able to create a firmware that included a stripped-down version of Python, but which still fit into the WRT54GL’s meager 2MB flash memory. (Like the Arduino, Python turned out to be overkill, but at the time I expected to need it — and it’s always nice to have it handy.)

Link to Door Opener Science Project

WiFi Door Opener originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Cable testers can be super expensive, but if your trying to trouble shoot a cable drop or run then you know how valuable one can be.

Our favorite kids over at Instructables have a great how to on building your own on the super cheap. A quick trip to your local big box home improvement store and your favorite electronics store (hell even radio shack should it all) and a few bucks is all you will need to build this.

Besides your basic DIY hacking tools you will also need the following …

• 8 LED’s
• 20cm of Cat5 Cable
• 9V Battery Clip and Battery
• Wall Mount Box
• 2 RJ-45 Female Jacks
• 220ohm Resistor
• Female RJ-45 Mount Plate

Once you have all your components assembled head on over to Instructables and make your way through all the sets.

DIY RJ-45 Cable Tester originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2010/02/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Another week another bunch of stuff that we posted. In case you missed any of it we have everything from Videogame Alarm Clocks to Secret Knock Door Openers. Enjoy.

In Case You Missed It: Week 44 Round Up originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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In case you missed anything last week; we have everything from Metallica on your iPhone right through to a $1200 Mouse. Enjoy

In Case You Missed It: Week 43 Round Up originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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In case you missed anything this past week, we have everything from cooling with mineral oil to video editing on your iPhone. Enjoy.

Gadgets

Asus Keyboard PC

Gaming

Cool Your Xbox With Mineral Oil
PS3 Smashing Into A TV At 80 KMH
Open Source DS Bluetooth Adapter
Black Wii For The Brits
Rock Band For iPhone Now Available

Hacking and Security

Remote Control That’s Impossible To Lose
DIY: Build A Solar Power Station
PS3 Laptop
Hard Drive Lock Pick

Mac

Dead: ZFS For The Mac
Rebel EFI: A Thorn In Apples Side
ReelDirector: Video Editing For Your iPhone

Tech News

Project Eagle Claw: Taking Out The Scammers
Skype And Chrome Go Portable
Microsoft’s App Lab
Windows 7: Will You Upgrade?
B&N Nook Officially Released
Super Fast Robot Hands

In Case You Missed It: Week 42 Round Up originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/25. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Gordan Savicic and Gottfried Haider of DSbrut have just released their open source bluetooth adapter for the Nintendo DS. The adapter will allow the DS to interface to other bluetooth devices like GPS units and keyboards. This should really open up the homebrew scene.

Almost two years in the making, we’re happy to finally release our DS Bluetooth adapter. The tiny Slot-1 cartridge allows you to hook up the Nintendo DS wirelessly with other devices such as GPS-receivers, robots and so forth. Today we’re making all materials of the project openly available, including the schematics and a GPL-licensed software library for the Nintendo DS, because we believe in open hardware design and want to encourage collaboration in the hardware hacking community.

In our design, we use a tiny ATmega168 microcontroller to make the Nintendo DS speak to the RN-41 Bluetooth SMD module by Roving Networks. Using this piece of hardware the Nintendo DS can scan its neighbourhood and establish connections to other Bluetooth devices (supporting SPP). The module can also be remotely connected to, allowing for a range of interesting applications. We also developed a software library for the Nintendo DS, making it easy to use this new Bluetooth interface.

[Link to Open Source Bluetooth DS Adapter]

Open Source DS Bluetooth Adapter originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Ever wish you could open your front door the same way you open your car door? With a small key fob? This crafty (maybe even lazy) college student did just that.

We are talking some serious ass hardware hacking required to pull this off, but it’s one fun project to build, maybe not the nicest looking, but cool never-the-less. As you can see from the video it works well. I just wonder how safe this is. I use to have a car with a key fob that opened a neighbors garage. It was funny as hell. I’d lock my car and his door would open, i’d unlock it and his door would close.

[Link to Add a key fob to your door]

DIY: Front Door Opener originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/10/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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I love to use Back Track as my all around security testing OS (If your not sure what Back Track is check out my little write up about it the other day). I also love to use Back Track on my EEE pc. It’s small, light, and has decent wifi range. Thanks to Larry Pesce that will soon change. He modded his Asus EEE 4G Surf with an external RP-TNC antenna connector. This will definitely increase the range when your out scoping open wifi’s.

Full details on the surgical procedure can be found here

EEE 4G External Antenna Mod originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/05/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Most people who own gadgets that are USB powered have a billion different charging cables. A USB cable to use with your computer, a few wall warts to change your stuff at home or at the office, a car USB charger, hell, some of us even have battery powered altoid tins to charge our iPod’s and Cell Phone’s. What about the poor folk who ride their bikes everywhere they go? Do we have something for you.

Now you can build this not so easy and somewhat complicated device that will charge your gadgets as you pedal around town. Originally created by a group of guys using a grant from MIT. The device, which was originally planned to charge your mp3 player as you run ended up evolving into a bicycle based charger.

If you want to attempt this yourself, you’ll need about $275 and some advanced knowledge of electronics. Although this project isn’t for the faint of heart, if you ride a bike all the time you can charge everything you have on you. Plus, it’s super green and allows you to do your part to help mother nature.

Pedal Powered USB originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/05/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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What in this world could protect your computer(s) or network better than a firewall? If you said not connecting your machine to the Internet your right, but most of us can’t live for more than a few minutes without being online. Hell, it gives me the shakes.

Now, here at the Frank residences we have multiple machines. A family machine, a MythTV box, various gaming consoles, a bunch of laptops, and a bunch of servers that preform various tasks. We also have multiple static IP’s to help out with the work load. It’s a lot of traffic coming and going, and although a basic Linksys or Dlink might do just fine, I was looking for something more flexible, something more powerful. I have gone through many open source firewall/router packages in the past and they all have their pro’s and con’s, but one the I have stumbled on and love is pfSense.

This project started in 2004 as a fork of the m0n0wall project, but focused towards full PC installations rather than the embedded hardware focus of m0n0wall. pfSense also offers an embedded image for Compact Flash based installations, however it is not the primary focus. It has a powerful packaging system that allows you to add additional functionality like a squid proxy server or Radius server to it’s already long list of features.

Right out of the box you get some neat features that you might only see in a massive commercial product.

• Outbound Load Balancing – If you have multiple Internet connections you can use the built in load balancing feature to bridge them together into one fat pipe.
• VPN – Built in OpenVPN, PPTP and IPsec servers for when you fell like calling home.
• Redundancy – Setup 2 multiple firewalls. In case one pfSense server dies, the other one will pick up the slack.
• Real Time Graphing – See exactly what’s going on with your traffic.

If you have a spare PC laying around and want the solid protection that a industrial grade firewall can offer then give pfSense a try. You really don’t need to be a BSD wizard to install it either. Download the iso, burn it to a cd, load the cd and choose install. All of the configuration and settings are changed via’s it’s intuitive web page.

Give it a whirl, you won’t be disappointed.

Industrial Strength Firewall, Poor Mans Budget originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/05/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2009 | Permalink | 4 Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, bsd, case, commercial, computer, console, ds, ea, fire, firewall, flash, Gaming, hack, hacking, id, ir, iso, laptop, led, links, linksys, live, loa, m0n0wall, Mac, machine, mythtv, nda, nes, network, online, open, open source, os, pc, pen, pfsense, power, rc, rim, rod, router, server, time, ui | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Think your keys are safe on your desk? Think again. Computer programmers at UC San Diego have created some software that can pose a serious threat. Dubbed “Sneakey”, it can analyze an image (not even a good one) of a key from almost any angle and create an exact replica. In the picture above, the team successfully reproduced a key using an image that was shot with a telephoto lens from 200 feet away.

“You only need to click a few control points in the image of the key and the ‘Sneakey’ program does the rest,” programmer Benjamin Laxton told a UCSD reporter, “It normalizes the key’s size and position so that each pixel then corresponds to a known distance. From this information the height of each of the key cuts can easily be computed and likewise the bitting code can be extracted.”

What can you do to protect yourself? Apparently not much. Keep your keys in your pocket at all times and you should be safe.

Duplicate Keys From An Image originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/11/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, cat, computer, control, ds, ea, hack, hacking, key, keys, lens, locksmith, os, photo, picture, pocket, rod, telephoto, time | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

A crafty hacker received a request to adapt a SNES controller to a PSP. The requester has limited use of one hand which made the PSP controls to difficult for her to use, but she had no problem playing with an SNES controller.

Born from that request is this clean mod. A port in the back of the PSP allows for the SNES controller to function. The neat thing is that the SNES cable and connector on the back also act as a “stand” for the PSP so you could comfortably sit back and enjoy your favorite PSP game.

[Link to SNES PSP Controller Mod]

Sometimes the PSP’s controller just, well, sucks.

SNES Controller Mod For The PSP originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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In true iPhone-Dev Team fashion, the iPhone 3G baseband has almost been cracked. What does this mean to the average user? Carrier independence. Cracking the baseband allows for hacked code to run at the telecomm level. This is exactly how the iPhone-Dev team brought freedom to the first-gen iPhone last year.

Sadly you still have to sign up for an AT&T contact on site before you can get your hands on the 2nd-gen iPhone, but with the ability of “ulocking” available, it shouldn’t be too long before we see used iPhones making their way onto Ebay.

[Link to iPhone-Dev Team]

iPhone 3G Baseband Almost Cracked originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/27. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Seems that all of those forensic based TV shows were right all along, police can track the make, model, and serial number of a printer just by looking at a piece of paper that came from that printer. Scary stuff. Good to know that the guys at the EFF are actually trying to do something about this.

You can help the project by sending in prints from your printer. The larger their collection, the larger the possibility of them cracking the code. You can visit the EFF’s printer dot project here

Is Your Printer Spying On You? originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/23. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Seems that every time you press a key on your keyboard a small burst of electromagnetic radiation is let out. So what you say? What if I told you that the radiation can be captured and decoded. Yes, some crafty hacker can sit near quietly and capture your key strokes without every touching or installing software on your machine.

11 different keyboards were tested and they were are vulnerable to at least one of the four different methods of attack. Tests have also shown that the data can be captured through walls and up to 65 feet away. It’s scary to think that someone could be be in the apartment beside you and logging everything you do without any type of attack. Think of it as a hack right out of the box.

They don’t list what keyboard are affect as they are finishing their paper on it, but as soon as get more info we will pass it on.

Wirelessly Eavesdropping On Keyboards originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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There have been many “Clocks” built out of old hard drives, but this one has to take the cake. Ian Smith this super cool clock from an old hard drive he had laying around. By using some tri-colour LEDs, a PIC microcontroller, and some simple vision techniques he has built something that not only functions as a clock but as a pie chart by the looks of it.

The platter has a slit cut through it so that as the disk spins the illumination of the LEDs shine through. Due to the speed (5400 RPM or about 90 revs a second) the eyes are tricked into seeing a colour. So by turning the LEDs off and on at just the right time you can make this thing display a clock, pie chart, or any other circular art you can think of.

[Link to LED Hard Drive Clock]

LED Hard Drive Clock originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Over 40 and wonder what the whole RockBand or Guitar Hero crazy is all about? Want to jump in but don’t know how to? Maybe you would be better off with Dan’s mish-mash of sound and electronics. This guitar has been stripped of all it’s internals and has a CPU and all sorts of cool audio circuitry stuffed inside. The Fender Bender is more machine than guitar.

You can even play the instrument with a custom made pick guard built from an old motherboard and some resistors.

[Link to Fender Bender]

RockBand For Those Over 40 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, audio, band, circuit, cpu, electronics, guitar, guitar hero, hack, hacking, id, ir, irc, Mac, machine, os, rc, rip, rock, rockband, sound, tor, tron, ui | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

If you have ever been to a club you can usually be assured to see some kind of light show (unless the clubs you frequent are in some back alley). Most of those light shows incorporate lasers to add to the experience. Now you can create your own laser show that will act to the music, albeit a small show, but great for your room.

Funky Alex has come up with a cool dual speaker laser X/Y mirror display that will bounce a laser around to the beat of the music. I’m sure if you had some bigger speakers and a longer throw you could probably have this display on an entire wall.

The vibrations from the 2 base speakers (with 1 mirror an each speaker) makes the laserbeam move with the music and the frequencies (audio).

You can find entire instructions on building your own including links to some software for your Mac to help you draw some cool effect on Instructables

Laser Music Sequencer originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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I have seen my fair share of PC case mods, but an Apple case mod, especially one that encompasses a Microsoft created case, awesome. Inside this Xbox 360 Elite lives a functional G4 powered by an old Powerbook G4 867MHz processor. Modder Phil Herlihy had some spare 360 cases laying around and thought he would put them to good use and turn one of them into a Mac.

Unfortunately there was no way to get the Xbox’s DVD tray to work since all Powerbooks came with a slot loading drive so he had to cut a slot in the front of the unit to get it to work.

I’m an avid broken Xbox 360 collector, trying to develop strategies for hacking and repairing once-thought dead consoles. I’ve got plenty of empty 360 cases around with nothing to do but gather dust. When it hit me, The PowerBook logic boards are tiny. Perfect for one of those cases. Even better with PSU integration.

[Link to Xbox G4]

Xbox G4 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Looks like we are being told to be afraid of hackers again, this time they are going after our cellphones.

Security experts at Georgia Tech are telling us that hackers could soon turn their attention toward creating botnets out of our cellphones. With more and more smartphones making their way into consumers hands and with every generation of phone becoming more powerful it’s a serious possibility.

These botnets could be used to send spam or other malicious attacks. A user could go out searching for ringtones for their phone only to download something with a nasty payload that could take your phone and turn it into a zombie. Now before people start panicking, this is all speculative at this point, but quite possible. Remember that most cell companies have yet to plug the hole in the bluetooth stack that leaves your phone vulnerable to a snarfing attack.

It’s a scary though to have millions of infected phones that are almost always on and just waiting for a command. I wonder what a DDOS attack vie edge or 3g would do.

Is Your Cell Phone Safe From Hackers? originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/16. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Last week we showed you how to screw with people who were stealing your Wi Fi signal by flipping their browsers and blurring their images. Today we show you how to hunt those Wi Fi moochers. The problem with leaving your Wi Fi unprotected is that malicious people can use it to download illegal files that can be tracked back to you. The best thing to do is lock down your Wi Fi to ensure that no one does something that you might be blamed for, but if you choose to leave it open and have a problem with a user or two taking advantage of it you can track them down and pay them a visit.

First thing you are gonna want to do is download MoocherHunter. MoocherHunter tracks the data that is being streamed from your unprotected Wi Fi right to their front door. The program is pretty straighforward to use and is part of a much larger wireless auditing toolkit called OSWA-Assistant which is chalked full of useful tools to make sure your Wi Fi is well protected.

Use this information wisely, don’t go out and do something stupid with it. Remember, this is to be used for personal research, not as an excuse to knock at someone’s door and start a fight.

Hunt Down Wi Fi Leeches With MoocherHunter originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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This has to be one of the most detailed PC case mods I have seen in a very long time, and the fact that I am a huge BSG fan also helps. The Battlestar Galactica PC mod features everything you expect from the BSG show including a dock for the vipers and a front loading CD drive that is located behind a laser-cut transparent BSG logo, so you can actually see the dic spinning.

The Medallion was laser cut in separate layers and pieces, then glued together. Red LEDs were added behind the bird inset to illuminate the dvd drive and provide a nice backlit effect.

Check out all of the cool pics of it here.

[Via Bit-Tech]

BSG PC originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/13. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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One of the toughest things about building a home theater PC is finding the right case, one that doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb in your media center. This guy gutted out an old TiVo he had laying around and jammed in all the components required to get a PC up and running. He added a copy of Ubuntu running XBMC to finish off the project.

Doesn’t look like it’s that hard to accomplish and might just be the perfect weekend project for someone who is looking to either build a HTPC or remodel one they already have running.

Turn An Old TiVo Into A HTPC originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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In todays age of smart phones we all have an old cell phone laying around somewhere. Some of us might even have 3 or 4 laying around cluttering up their desks and work spaces like I do. So why not turn one of them old brick units into a functioning Skype phone, it’s not like you will use it for anything else.

JFDuval on Instructables lays out how to do just that. Now, you won’t get any wireless action out of this unit and some soldering skills are required, but from what the author says you should get some great sound quality out of the device.

[Link to SkypeCell]

DIY: Turn An Old Cell Phone Into A Skype Phone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Have you ever had someone leach off your Wi Fi? You could always encrypt it or use any multitude of tricks to hide your network, but why would you do that when you can have some serious fun with them. Blur their images, or flip them upside down to get them really scratching their heads.

Essentially what you need to split up your net block so that you have a trusted block and an untrusted one. That coupled along with a few snippets of code will lead you to a wealth of possibilities. Imagine all the fun you could have with those neighbors who decide not to pay for their own access and ride the carpet on your hard earned dollars. Plus, it’s a whole lot of fun.

[Link to Upside-Down-Ternet]

Baffle WiFi Leeches With An Upside-Down-Ternet originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Are you afraid of the black helicopters flying overhead? Maybe you owe the IRA IRS a bunch of money and want to keep your financial records from prying eyes. Well, if you answered yes to any of the above then the USB phone jack is for you. Sure you could hollow out a book and place your USB stick inside, but most cops are on to that trick. A much better idea would be to wire a USB cord to the phone plate and making a USB cord with a phone jack terminal at one end, you will be able to access your secret data and nobody will be the wiser. Instructables has a great write up on how to build your own.

[Link to USB Phone Jack]

Hide Your Data With A Fake Phone Jack originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Commercial laser cutters can cost anywhere from $10,000 right up to millions of dollars. Although there isn’t much info on how this crafty hacker went about building his very own 30 watt laser that can cut through steel, the Australian maker is answering questions in the comment section of the video. Maybe if we all ask really really really nicely he might put together a page detailing all the steps he took to put it together.

My 30 watt ULS powered Laser table with 54x30x9 dimensions. Still a few things to add like a rotary attachment and a martensitic stainless steel top.

DIY: 30 Watt Laster originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Adding OS X to his MSI Wind wasn’t enough so he took it one step further and added the ever so familiar glowing Apple logo to the back of the screen. A dremel, six white LEDs, some tape and aluminum foil was all this crafty hacker needed to mod this into a MacBook Mini.

Maybe Apple should take some pointers and actually give us an OS X UMPC. Either that or someone should just get it working on an HP 2133 so that I can use that instead of my big and bulky MacBook Pro.

[Via Gadget Lab]

MSI Wind Modded Into A MacBook Mini originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/03. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Helix 2 has been released (not 3 as the graphic say). Helix is a great collection of computer forensics tools. You can find out all sorts of juicy information with this toolkit. Winlockpwn allows you to break Windows security, Volitility processes data our of raw memory, and a whole slew of others.

This is the ultimate toolkit that all security experts should have in their CD kit.

[Link to Helix 2]

Helix 2 Released. 2 Not 3 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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The UMPCs are become hot little machines to turn into hackintoshes. The latest victim is the Dell Inspiron Mini 9. Loaded with a slipstreamed version of OSX (in a similar manner as the MSI Wind). To top it all off, the ethernet, wireless, and sound work.

If you have a Mini 9 and want to get OS X running on it then UneasySilence has everything you need.

I just wish some crafty hacker could come up with a kernel that would run on the HP Mini Note. I have been banging my head for months trying to get OS X on it.

Dell Inspiron Mini 9 Running OS X originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/02. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Ever feel the need to check your surroundings for radiation? Me either, but if you ever have then this somewhat complex DIY project is right up your alley.

The geiger counter is a pretty simple device to detect radiations. Many forms of radiations from radio elements (alpha, beta, gamma) can be detected but it is more sensitive to beta and gamma radiations. The Geiger-Muller tube is a simple device, it’s a tube filled with a gas with two electrodes. A high potential is applied betweens electrodes. When a ionizing particle arrived, it create a temporary conductive path between electrodes. The resulting current can be detected by an electronic amplifier.

[Link to USB Geiger Counter via Make]

DIY: USB Geiger Counter originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/10/01. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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This crafty UK hacker decided to put his old Gamecube to good use and cram a PC into it. It took him over a year to put it all together. It’s not exactly a powerhouse of a machine, but it is one of the cleanest casemods using a Gamecube I have ever seen.

PicoCube is based on the tiny Pico-ITX motherboard, one of the only boards that will actually fit in such a small space. I’ve also got an 100gb SATA hard drive in there, 1gb of RAM, along with a Pico PSU and 4 USB ports. You can see a slot for the DVD drive but with everything crammed in there, it wasn’t long before temps got too high and the unit shut itself down. I may replace the lid in the future or rework things on the inside.

[Link to PicoCube]

Put Your Old Gamecube To Good Use originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/30. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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What happens when you put a Wi-Fi dongle and a Wok together? The Wok-Fi of course. My favorite how-to site Instructables has a write up on mashing up a dumpling strainer and a Wi-Fi dongle. The writer claims to have gotten a boost of 60% when using this. Plus, everyone can whip out a cantena. Imagine driving around with a Wok out your window. Imaging the geek-cred you’d get with this at the next Hope conference.

[Link to Wok-Fi]

DIY: Wifi Wok originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/29. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Been hacking up various old NES units just to get a hold of the controller connectors for your mod projects? Look no further because for the very first time you can buy the controller connectors by themselves. Parallax has just released a 7-pin socket connector that is compatible with the classic NES. For just $2 a piece you can now start the process of jamming your classic NES in everything from a toaster to a pack of smokes (now that would be impressive).

[Via Make]

NES Controller Sockets originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/27. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Gaming | Explore more in: ac, connector, control, controller, ea, Gaming, hack, hacking, ir, make, mod, nes, nintendo, press, proc, smoke, time, toast, toaster, tor | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

A Softbox is used to create soft diffused light by directing light through a white diffusing material. Photographers choose to use a softbox because it help to create a nice soft even light on a given object.

A Softbox can generally run you some serious coin, but with the help of this DIY project you can build your own to help you achieve that professional look next time you need to shoot something small.

The purpose of this project is twofold. First it allows for the testing of a new idea for mounting a DIY softbox to a light stand and secondly it lets me answer a question in the comments on my previous Large DIY Softbox about the best type of lining material to use when ‘doing it yourself’.

[Link to DIY: Softbox]

DIY: Softbox originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/26. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Got an old Macbook laying around? Why not make your very own cocktail arcade cabinet with it. Crafty hacker Frederic Sebton decided to do something with the broken Macbook he had laying around. He crammed the internals into an Ikea Ramvik sideboard and with a little finessing and hacking he came up with this great arcade cabinet.

He’s got a detailed diary of what he did on the mamebook blog with detailed picture and accounts of what he went through to put it all together. You don’t really need a Macbook to make this work, an LCD and a CPU is all you really need. But this is a great starting place if your interested in building an arcade cabinet.

[Link to Mamebook]

Mamebook – Macbook Arcade Cabinet originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Gaming | Explore more in: ac, arcade cabinet, blog, book, cabinet, cpu, ea, ebook, Gaming, hack, hacking, id, ikea, lcd, led, Mac, macbook, make, mame, nes, picture, rc, ui | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Rockbox, the open source replacement firmware for many mp3 players (see all supported players here) quietly release it’s first major update in over 3 years. Included in the update is support and stability for more mp3 player, playback support of more file types, last.fm support, album art, games, and tons more.

With this new release comes a streamlined installation tool called RockboxUtility that works on Mac, Windows, and Linux. It makes installation simple. So if you have an old mp3 player laying around that you want to breath new life into, Rockbox is for you.

[Link to Rockbox]

Rockbox 3.0 Sneaks In originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Although this is quite stupid and extremely dangerous, it is quite cool to watch. Let this guys take the risk while you sit back and watch it via YouTube. This 24kj capacitor bank is configured for 4500v @ 2400uf and packs one hell of a bang. The unit is charged up using microwave oven transformers and is set to release all of it”s stored energy through a triggered spark gap.

Remember, don’t try this at home. It could very well kill you.

Capacitor Bank Discharge – One Big Bang originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/24. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Jon Bennett has created a WiFi controller robot that can be controller via the internet or from a computer up to 500m away. The robot is built from an RC car that he picked up at a thrift store, a Linksys WRT54GL router running the Open-WRT firmware, a network camera. The bot can be powered by two different type of micro-controllers: the PIC microprocessor or an Arduino. You can use whichever one your are more comfortable with. If you follow Joe’s guide, it shouldn’t cost you that much to put together. Check out the video after the break of the bot in action.

The goal of this article is to give a high-level overview of the project and provide some implementation details of the software and electronics. It is not meant to be a step-by-step how-to guide, but there should be enough information for someone with motivation and some background knowledge in electronics and software to be able to make their own Wifi Robot. All of the source code is being released under the terms of the GNU GPL v2, so by all means, use the code, and improve it!

You sure could have a lot of fun with this project. Maybe at some image processing code so that it can figure out where the sidewalk ends and can make it’s own decision to turn right or left.

[Link to WiFi Robot]

DIY: WiFi Robot originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/21. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Seems that install Linux on computers is so yesterday. Now everyone wants to put OS X on their machine (I still run Linux on my MacBook Pro, go figure). The latest computer to fall into the hackintosh realm is the MSI Wind. A crafty hacker on this forum has laid out everything you need to do in order to get OS X running on your Wind.

I wish someone would get OS X running on my Hp 2133 mini-note. No luck as of yet with it.

OS X On A MSI Wind originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Quite some time ago we showed you how to open a padlock with a pop can. This little trick is nothing more that using a shim to release the pin. This time around, thanks to this great Instructables project, we will show you how to make your padlock shim-proof so that people can’t get into your locker or shed (or anything else you might use a padlock for).

With all those shims out there spawned by that I’ble, we need some means of preventing people from using them to gain access to our valuables. These only take a second or two each to make and won’t cost you anything… Just like the shims… You better be quick those shims are easy to make and the criminals are coming to violate your padlocks..

[Link to Making Your Padlock Shim-Proof]

Make Your Padlock Shim-Proff originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/20. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Remember all the fun you had as a kid playing with that Laser Tag system your parents got you from Consumers Distributing? Well you can now relive all of that excitement including point the laser at someone’s eye with the DIY Laser Tag system.

The homebrew system uses a few cheap laser pointers stuffed into a toy gun and a PIC16F628A micro-controller that connects up to a peizo transducer which produces different beeps. It even has a 5 pin header on the device that can be connected to a programmer fo in-circuit programming.

[Link to DIY Laser Tag System]

DIY: Laser Tag System originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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This is an ingenious idea. Used old pop cans to heat your house. The Pop Can Solar Heater is a simple idea and will work quite well to heat your house. Plus, a lot of the content is recycled so your helping the environment as well as your pocket book.

” The Cansolair Solar Max 240 consists of a four by seven solar collector (28 Square feet, or 2.6 square meters). Solar Max 240 has 15 vertical columns of cylindrical shape, making the actual surface exposed to the sun greater than 2.6 square meters.The same cylindrical shape allows the Solar Max to receive solar radiation for a longer period due to the angle of incidence of the sun hitting the solar panel. Peak BTU performance was observed during the noon hour period in October 2001 wherein the temp rise was 50 to 54F degrees resulting in a 9000 to 9720 Btu or 2636 to 2847 Watts. Peak BTU performance will actually increase in colder weather due to the rise in temperature between input and output temperature and a lower angle of incidence. The Solar Max 240 has a quick response rate of 8 minutes from the appearance of sun to “cut-in” based on 100 degree F output temperature. Solar Max 240 uses the most conductive black paint available for solar collectors. Solar Max uses a lexan outer cover which allows sunlight in and is resistant to the elements.”

Pop Can Solar Heater originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/19. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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It’s truly amazing that the hacking community in the benheck forums continues to provide quality hacks like this portable N64. Darth 64 is a portable N64 that uses parts from a N64, PSx, GameCube, and a Lazer Doodle (that’s the case).

List of features:

• Psone screen with original backlight.
• Flush mounted headphone jack.
• 5000maH Li-Poly batteries with quick charger and protection circuit.
• Gamecube style joystick and d-pad.
• Rear shoulder buttons and twin z buttons.
• Cart slot relocation.

You can read up on the whole process here.

Portable N64 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/18. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | One Comment | Read more in Gaming | Explore more in: ac, backlight, batteries, car, cart, case, cat, charger, circuit, cube, ea, forums, game, gamecube, Gaming, hack, hacking, hacks, id, ir, irc, jack, joystick, light, n64, phone, phone jack, portable, proc, psx, rc, ui | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

I own 4 different iPods. An iPod Video, a 1st gen Nano, an iPod Touch, and my beloved 2nd gen shuffle. Why you ask? They all serve different purposes. I use my Touch for Video, my Video for my entire collection, my nano for my wife, and my shuffle for my driving or running. You can imagine the plethora of cables one has to carry to satisfy this obsession.

That’s why sometime ago I decided to slim down what I needed. Now, my Touch, Video, and Nano can all use the same cable, but my shuffle required something different. So I built this super tiny USB dongle that would do just that, replace the bulky shuffle dock. Video after the break.

Here’s what you will need ..

• USB Type A connector
• 4 Pole 3.5mm Connector
• Wire
• Soldering Iron
• Patience

Connect the shortest length possible of wire between the points listed in the above diagram.

These contact points can be small and quite tricky so take your time with doing so.

Once you have soldered up the contacts use a multimeter to make sure that there are no shorts between the contacts. You want to make sure that no solder has spilled between the contacts, this would be bad and could cause a short and kill your ipod.

Use some heat shrink tubing to clean the whole thing up and make it look professional.

DIY: iPod Shuffle Cable originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | 4 Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, cable, car, connector, diy, dock, ds, ea, hack, hacking, heat, id, ipod, ipod touch, ir, led, make, nano, os, ring, shuffle, slim, small, time, tiny, tor, touch, ui, usb, video, wire | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

This great geek Pong Clock comes to us via the Make Flickr photo pool.

User Funnypolynomial decided to put an old laptop to a good use and build his very own Pong Clock like we have seen floating around the net this pas week.

I rescued an old Thinkpad ages ago and began a project to install it in a picture frame. The original idea was to have it running things like Conway’s Life and the Mandelbrot set. But then I saw the Pong Clock on a blog and decided to just do that instead.

Interested? You can check out the photo pool and a video of how it was made.

DIY Pong Clock originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/17. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Sure, you could always use a scope to do some trouble shooting or displaying various electrical signals, but why would you ever want to do that when you could play tetris on a machine that costs a1000x the cost of an original GameBoy.

Created by engineer Lars Pontoppidan, this hack essentially uses the ATMega 32 micro-controller so that you can play the classic block stacker on an oscilloscope. The addition of an Atari digital joystick to control the game is a nice touch. Check out the video after the break.

Oscilloscopes Hacked To Run Tetris originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/15. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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The iPhone Dev Team strikes again. If you really want to run jail-broken apps on your 2.1 iPhone or iPod touch, the iPhone Dev Team has just released PwnageTool and QuickPwn for 2.1 devices.

The Dev Team has worked around iTunes 8 without having to patch the program, so jail-breakers can try the new tool without any fear of having to alter iTunes in any way.

The is one caveat: this does NOT work with the new iPod Touch 2g, it will only work with iPhone and first gen iPod Touches only. Maybe in the coming future the Dev Team will have a fix for you Touch 2g owners. Why not, they have been able to do everything else already.

PwnageTool And QuickPwn For 2.1 originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/14. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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By using an open source replacement firmware you can turn your $60 Linksys WRT54G into a feature rich router that would easily be worth over $600. All with variants of the OpenWRT firmware.

The DD-WRT firmware is a third party developed firmware released under the terms of the GPL for many 802.11g wireless routers based on the Broadcom chipset. No special hacking is needed. If your supported device is listed then you can simply download the firmware for your router and by using the web based upgrade feature found on every router you can flash it to accept the new feature rich dd-wrt firmware.

The list of feature os too long to mention, but for a quick tease you will have VLAN, VPN Server, and QOS available to you, just to name a few.

If you are looking to really bring out the best in your WiFi router or if you are like me and like to tweak ever possible setting then the dd-wrt firmware is for you. You can check their page for a complete list of supported hardware

[Link to DD-WRT]

DD-WRT: Bring Out The Best Of Your WiFi Router originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Meet the Peek, a $100 device that will deliver you your email anywhere you can get cell coverage for $20/month. Think of it as a poorman’s Blackberry. This looks like the perfect device to pick up for some fun hacking projects.

• OS – Peekux
• CPU – CPU is an embedded 104Mhz ARM7 that is part of the Texas Instrument Locosto chipset
• Bands – US Triband GPRS (800, 1800, and 1900 Mhz)
• Data – GPRS (Packet Data standard in GSM)
• Memory – 8MB of user memory
• Display – 2.5 inches (320 x 240 pixels (QVGA), 65k colors)
• Dimensions – 4.0 x 2.7 x 0.4 in (102 x 68 x 10mm)
• Weight – 3.8 ounces (109 gm)
• Battery Life – 4-5 days under typical usage

I hope they decide to roll out this device in Canada. I’d love to get my hands on one and make it do something it’s not supposed to do.

Meet The Peek originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/12. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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So it seems that the iPhone and iPod touch is leaving a trail of what you’ve been up to, even if you don’t want it to. Do you know (and love) all of those cool swooshing transition effects that happen when you hit the home button or switch pages in Mobile Safari? Well that’s your problem right there. Seems that the iPhone takes a snap shot of your screen to produce those nice transition then it deletes them… the thing is, it don’t really delete them, more like a quick delete without an overwrite. Anyone with physical access to your iPhone and some hacking skills can build a trail of what you have been doing based on those screenshots that haven’t been deleted.

This can be a serious problem if people have access to your physical unit, but most people who find an iPhone or iPod touch would be more interested in selling it or using it for their own personal use. But since the hack has been demonstrated, it would be nice if Apple could pony up and fix the problem. This way if you even have your phone confiscated by law enforcement agencies you would be embarrassed by all those trips to dateanerd.com

iPhone Keeps Pic Of Everything You Do originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/11. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Here’s a great Instructable that will allow you to monitor a network without the need to purchase any expensive equipment. It’s real simple to put together and will cost you less than $20 in parts at your local big box home improvement store.

Companies like Network Optics make incredible taps, for all sorts of media, but if you have 10/100 home network then for $18 in parts from home depot you can make a tap and send the output to snort/tcpdump/wireshark and see if any data is leaking that should not be.

[Link to Making A Passive Network Tap]

DIY: Passive Network Tap originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/10. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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I love hardware mods. The idea of taking one thing and then using your imagination and hands to make it unique unlike anything else truly is an art form. This crafty hacker took an old NES and put it inside of a toaster. I just hope nobody at his place tries to actually toast bread with it. Video after the break.

I had an awful lot of people suggesting that my previous project (the Super Genintari/Leviticus) looked like a toaster. I then discovered that I had an extra NES and toaster laying around and knew what had to be done.

Ripped all the main guts out of the toaster and replaced them with an NES board, some orange LEDs, AC adapter and controller ports. Kept the front lever functional as the main power on/off switch and the crumb tray just for fun. Composite audio/video jacks are on the rear of the unit. The temperature knob does nothing.

[Link to Nintoaster]

NES In A Toaster: The Nintoaster originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/09. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Every night I fall asleep listening to my iPod, and every morning I wake up with it dead as a door nail. This cleaver hack actually came to me via my wife. She said “You put USB ports in everything else, why not the alarm clock”. So I did. As you can see from an old episode of The Lab With Leo some time ago I demonstrated exactly how you go about adding some powered USB ports to your alarm clock to keep everything from your cell phone to iPod fully charged.

Here’s what your gonna need.

• Alarm Clock with an internal power supply of 9–12V DC
• PCB Mounted USB Port
• +5V Fixed Voltage Regulator (7805)
• Multimeter

First thing you want to do is open up your alarm clock and make sure that the internal power supply is giving out 9–12V DC using your multimeter.

Once we have satisfied those requirements, your going to want to find a suitable location to house the usb port, something that will not interfere with the internal componets of the alarm clock once you put it back together

With the USB port mounted you are going to want to wire the USB port and the 7805 as per the instructions that come with the voltage regulator. Make sure to leave enough slack with regards to wiring if you ever need to open the alarm clock back up again.

Voila, power to your usb device via your alarm clock.

DIY: Add USB Ports To Your Alarm Clock originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | 2 Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: 7805, ac, alarm, alarm clock, arm, cat, cell phone, clock, dead, diy, door, ds, ea, fix, hack, hacking, house, id, ipod, ir, iso, lab with leo, lock, make, open, os, pc, pcb, pen, phone, power, ring, tag, time, tor, ui, usb, volta, wire | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit

Most photo buffs know they key to get a great shot of something up close is to use a macro lens. Unfortunately not every one has big bucks to spend on a piece of glass to achieve this. This is why the Pringles can macro tube hack is perfect for those on a tight budget. The Photocritic blog has a great how to on building your own macro tube so you can take seriously crisp shots of tiny things.

So, you like the idea of doing macro photography, but you think you can’t afford it? Think again – with less than £1 worth of equipment, a little bit of sweat and tears (and blood, if you, like me, are a bit on the clumsy side), and you can build yourself a surprisingly good macro lens. Don’t believe me? Well, have a look at the article, and think again!

[Link to building a Pringles macro tube]

DIY: Pringles Can Macro Tube originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/08. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Have you ever wanted to host your own World Poker style tournament like the one on TV? With all of the bells and whistles including letting people see who’s got what, well now you can. This might not be affordable for the average “Guy’s Poker Night”, but I can see this being a hit at bars and clubs.

“The inspiringly-named Video Poker Table makes this possible. Beneath it’s perfectly ordinary looking exterior is a fairly impressive collection of electronics that uses RFID technology to track the movement of playing cards around the table, and superimpose this information on a video feed that’s generated automatically from 4 cameras in the table. We play with a standard deck of KEM cards that have been tagged with 52 RFID ’smart labels’ – thin and flexible enough that while they’re plainly visible they don’t affect the way the cards shuffle, deal or handle on the table. This game data, along with the camera feeds, is transmittted to a Windows PC via a USB cable and processed by a software application I wrote. The end result is a live, fully edited video feed of all the action, with pretty good quality graphics that show players’ hole cards, the board, and context-sensitive statistics during play. At the end of the game, the video is chopped up into individual segments, one segment per hand played, named according to the players in that hand and their cards, compressed and uploaded to a web server that players can later access to browse and play back individual hands. All of this happens automatically without any human intervention.”

If you even dare to build your own then you can get info on the project here

RFID Poker Table originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/07. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Here’s a neat cardboard iPhone document scanner rig. Cincinnati design student Kyle A Koch designed this cleaver contraption that suspends your iPhone just the right height to have it snap shots of paper documents, essentially turning the whole thing into a document scanner, sort of.

Now that we can snap stills of our hardcopies why can’t someone just create a barcode scanner for the iPhone. We have Delicious Library for the Mac that already does something similar, what is so hard about it?

[Link to Cardboard iPhone Rig]

iPhone Document Scanner originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/06. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Here’s a great project to make use of your old PSX controllers that you might have laying around the house. Izuna posted some details on building a micro-controller that is using an ATmega8 chip to convert the signal from a PSX controller to USB.

Sure, you can buy an extensor and cut the cable, but you can also buy a PSX to USB adapter for cheap if you want. This is not the point, the point here is make something yourself (and if you have the rights tools beforehand, this is cheaper than buying the adapter [At least I think it is in Brazil]).
[…]
The circuit is very simple, the Atmega8 do all the work, there is just some resistors and zeners to meet the standards for USB protocol, the oscillator crystal and some filtering caps

[Link to USBJoy]

DIY: PSX to USB originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/05. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

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Here is another take on using IR lights to blind a camera, this time a photo-radar camera no-less. I’m not really sure on how well this would work for you, and it’s probably highly illegal, but if you want to try it for your own educational purposes go ahead.

All you really need are some LED flashers, some IR lights, and a bit of soldering skill. If you put this together and it actually does blind a camera, remember that it doesn’t blind the naked eye and might arouse some suspicion from any law enforcement agency.

How To: Make An Invisible License Plate originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2008/09/04. Reproduction of content not allowed without consent.

© tech.nocr.at 2008 | Permalink | Comments | Read more in Hacking And Security | Explore more in: ac, camera, cat, ea, flash, hack, hacking, infrared, ir, led, light, lights, make, os, photo, rc, ring, time | Add to del.icio.us | Stumble it | Reddit