• iPod shuffle headphone remote reverse engineered
The headphone remote for the third generation iPod shuffle has a special chip that identifies it to the iPod itself. [David Carne] posted an in-depth report about the process he used to reverse engineering that protocol. He’s discovered that the remote uses a peculiar signal to identify it as authentic when the device powers up. [...]
• Propeller arcade
This arcade cabinet has been saved from a gruesome death. [Oldbitcollector] picked the broken rig up for $50 and is building a Parallax Propeller based arcade machine. This began back in October and he’s just dropped in a newly painted control panel to replace the NES controller seen above. He pulled the replacement screen out [...]

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• Internet controlled scrolling numitron
How’s this for a first microcontroller project: a ticker that pulls messages from the Internet and scrolls them on a set of numitrons. [David Barton] built this using an mbed microcontroller. Tapping an ethernet library he got this to pull data from his server by connecting directly to the cat5 cables. The display consists of [...]
• Spectrum analyzer wedged into a cellphone
[Miguel A. Vallejo] wanted a portable spectrum analyzer for the 2.4GHz ISM band. No problem, there’s modules for that are easy to interface with a microcontroller and LCD screen. But carrying around a black project box doesn’t exactly scream ‘cool’ so he fit his spectrum analyzer inside of a cell phone. This made a lot [...]

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Some people may want to grab this while they still can for free: WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe. Normally, it’s around $50 so this is a great deal. Check it out HERE! This “Give Away” event won’t last forever so jump on it asap!

Info: WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe is multi-functional video converter software, which supports converting all SD (Standard Definition) videos and HD (High Definition) videos. With this program, you don’t need to squeeze dozens of video converters into your hard drive which have limited functions separately.
It perfectly fulfills your needs in video conversion via 4 ways: convert videos to SD video formats (AVI, MP4, MPEG, WMV,etc), convert videos to HD video formats (HD AVI, HD MP4, HD MPEG, HD TS, etc), convert videos to fit portable devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod, PSP, PS3, Xbox, Blackberry, etc) and HD devices (Apple TV HD, PS3 HD, Xbox HD, Zune HD).

Please kindly note that when using our product, you need to log in PC with the “Administrator” ID or “Run as administrator” while using other IDs.

• Teletype machine from an electric typewriter
This project, by an unknown hacker, patches into an electric typewriter and uses it as a Teletype. An AVR ATmega168 microcontroller patches into the key matrix of the typewriter which allows it to artificially type. Now, data can be sent over a serial connection to the AVR for output on the typewriter.
We’re not quite sure [...]
• Keyboard Keepalive
We’re not going to debate the necessity of this one. [Todd] plays online games that will log you out after a few minutes of inactivity. To resolve this, he has created a circuit that mimics keyboard activity at a preset interval. While he notes that there is software for this, he points out that many [...]

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• PicAxe LEGO tank
[TomTheGeek] built a LEGO tank with a PicAxe controller. Locomotion is supplied by a Lego Power Function motor controller. He cut an LPF extension wire in half so that he could patch into the PWM signals without altering the motors themselves. You can make out the control circuitry and a small breadboard in the tank’s [...]
• USB host mode for Droid
There’s a simple hack to use your Motorola Droid phone as a USB host. It is a hardware-only hack that doesn’t require you to crack open your phone, root it, or even to change firmware (although device drivers in the stock Android image may be quite limited). The dongle above is used as a key [...]

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• Wireless painting
[Tom Shannon] uses science as part of his art. One of his methods when painting is to use this radio controlled paint pendulum. He gave an interview at his studio, which we’ve embedded after the break, and goes into detail about this device. It has six different reservoirs that hold the paint colors. Each gravity-fed [...]
• TPM crytography cracked
Trusted Platform Module based cryptography protects your secrets as well as your government’s secrets.  Well, it used to. [Christopher Tarnovsky] figured out how to defeat the hardware by spying on its communications. This requires physical access so it’s not quite as bad as it sounds, but this does reach beyond TPM to many of the [...]

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• Modded C64 eye candy
“Everyone needs a hobby,” they tell us. For the blogger mysteriously identified only as “R,” that hobby would be an almost fanatical nostalgia for the Commodore 64 computer.
At first we thought this was a fan community site, but apparently it’s all the work of a single person. [R] has tweaked, extended, repackaged and resurfaced this 1980’s [...]
• GuruPlug, the next generation of SheevaPlug
Meet GuruPlug, an all-in-one server that is now available for pre-order. This is the next generation of the popular SheevaPlug that features some added goodies. The base model sells for the same $99 and appears to have the same specs as the original but for $30 more, the GuruPlug Server PLUS moves to 2 Gigabit [...]

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The previous method of getting free Battlefield Bad Company 2 (for the PC) beta keys no longer works because the event ended. Do not worry though as a new method is available. Check out: New How to Get Free Battlefield Bad Company 2 PC Beta Keys and enjoy playing the game right away! The game does have bugs, but what beta game doesn’t? Many who have tested this game already have enjoyed it so get the game now!

I just finished watching the anime series called Great Teacher Onizuka. Surprisingly, it was great! Unfortunately, it was only 43 episodes long. It’s available both dubbed and subbed and actually has good dubbing, something that some animes lack. It was very funny and just overall a great watch. Here’s the plot (taken from AnimeNewsNetwork):

Onizuka is an ex-biker and gang leader who has one goal, to become the greatest teacher. He learns of the power and respect possible as an intern teacher, using his strength and connections to get his students to respect him. Now, graduated, he gets a job at a prestigious private school to handle their ‘problem class’ that made the past few teachers quit. He must handle a different sort of trouble when the trouble makers include some of the smartest kids in Japan who prefer a more cerebral approach to torturing their teacher. Onizuka must slowly win his students over and deal with their mistrust of teachers while handling the distrust of his fellow teachers.

I haven’t decided on a new anime to watch just yet…but I’ll mention it here when I figure it out (as always).

• Putting on a show in the rain
Let’s face it, walking around in the rain sucks. [Matth3w] is trying to add a little whimsy to an unpleasant experience by adding an LED matrix to his umbrella. The array contains 80 LEDs that are individually addressable. This is a mutiplexed array that relies on a MIC2981 source driver for the eight rows (or [...]
• Performance oddities
[Mario the Magician] wrote in to let us know that he makes Hackaday a priority every morning with his coffee. Well, so do we. He also included a link to his homepage when submitting this revelation. The juicy details that are as much of a fix as the caffeine in the coffee are missing from [...]

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