• TI-nspire hacked
The regulars at the United T1 forums keep them coming, this time hacking the Texas Instruments Nspire graphing calculator. We enjoy seeing the exploits that unlock the backend of these types of devices. The difference this time is that the hacking continues even though Texas Instruments has shown that it intends to protect the security [...]
• Trailer side indicator lights
[Imsolidstate] is working to add side clearance lights to a trailer. These orange clearance lights are illuminated when the vehicle’s headlights are on to increase a long trailer’s visibility. They also blink along with the turn signals on the back of the trailer. A standard 6-pin lighting harness doesn’t support this functionality so the trick [...]

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O&O Software is currently offering their O&O Defrag 10 Professional Software for free! Basically, you have to Sign Up Here and then wait for the key to arrive in your email inbox. Very simple and easy. I used O&O Defrag for ages, but stopped doing so after some later updates made it not work as well. However, that is not to say this version is bad as I haven’t used this one. Check out O&O Defrag 10 Professional today!

• Update: Realtime 3D for you too!
[Kyle McDonald] has kept himself busy working on 3D scanning in realtime. He’s posted a writeup that takes us through the concepts, tools, and assembly of a DIY 3d scanning camera. You should remember a preview of this method posted earlier this month, but now it’s time to build your own. You’ll need a camera, [...]
• RFID meets Open Sound Control
Have you been working on a MIDI controller that uses RFID to identify and control different instruments? No? Neither have we but now we’re going to have to look into it. That’s because [Martin.K] has done a lot of the work for us. His nfOSC package links an RFID reader to the Open Sound Control [...]

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• Panoramic scanner camera
[Photodesaster] put together a panoramic digital camera using a scanner and some miscellaneous parts. You may remember seeing something like this about six months ago and originally about five years back. The parts used here work together nicely. The sensor board from the scanner is mounted to a metal plate along with a 50mm lens. [...]
• Ikea Dioder hack
[Joseph] wrote in to tell us about his Ikea Dioder hack. The Dioder is a lighting system with a silly name from Ikea. It is basically 4 RGB LED bars that are connected to a controller that will cycle their colors in different manners. They aren’t individually addressable, and at $50 aren’t really that great [...]

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Gearbox, the creators of Borderlands, are releasing yet another dlc (downloadable content) for their Borderlands game. It’s called Moxxi’s Underdome Riot. This new add-on pack provides access to the Moxxi Underdomes where you can challenge some of your previous foes in the game. A trailer for the game can be seen Here. Something interesting written by Gamespot — “The add-on pack also introduces a new bank mechanic for storing found objects, as well as the opportunity to acquire two new skill points as quest rewards.” — This may make the DLC worth getting for those who are already level 50, the maximum level. The XBox 360 edition will be released on December 29th and the Playstation 3 version will be released on January 7th. Unfortunately, no release date is available for the PC version, which I am waiting for.

• Hackaday at CES
Hackaday is going to the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. This year’s show runs January 7-10 and we’re going to use every minute to scout out hacking’s past and future. We’re looking for hacks from the past that have made it into new, commercially available electronics. We also want to get a look [...]
• Shadow buttons
This art installation uses buttons made of light. A projector fills up the walls and ceiling of a room while a webcam monitors the pattern for changes. When the luminosity of a given area changes due to a shadow, a midi event is triggered. The software that controls the system is written in C# and [...]

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• Zilog in a matchbox
Now you can have a Zilog computer in the form factor of a matchbox. The RamBlade is a tiny PCB that uses a Parallax Propeller IC to implement the CP/M language. The OS is stored on a microSD card, with a four-pin serial interface (3V3, GND, SO, SI) that allows operation via a terminal program.
Smaller [...]
• Freerunner with Android, new case, battery
[Dennis] got snowed in after the biggest storm in the history of the state hit. Like any good hacker he didn’t let the time go to waste. He decided to dig out his Neo Freerunner to give it a decent battery and a new OS.
The original battery for the Freerunner has a controller board integrated [...]

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• Office prank: death from above
Unsuspecting office workers beware. You may already be in the cross-hairs of a ping-pong ball launching robot. This covert robot hangs out on the other side of a suspended ceiling, waiting for its operator to unleash the fury. When put into action a hatch in a ceiling tile is raised and balls are launched at [...]
• Does your phone have a GOOG-411 button?
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If you like to rip DVD’s, then this is a good deal for you. The creators of Free Fast DVD Ripper Pro are offering the software for free in a limited time promotion. The details of the promotion can be read Here. This is a pretty good deal seeing as how the software is normally $40. Also, if you have an iPod or PSP (or even a Zune), then you can use this program to output the DVD files to be compatible with the aforementioned devices. Enjoy!

I was too busy yesterday to post “Merry Christmas” but today I shall do it instead — Merry Christmas! I hope you guys did not get coal and that you actually got some pretty cool stuff. I know I sure did. I also know that it rained here on Christmas, which was pretty annoying, but whatever. Adios!