Filed under: misc hacks

We've discussed MIDIboxes before (and once before that), but we've never really told you what goes into them or how to build one. We'll take you through the process after the break.

This particular MIDIbox by [Subatomic] is built on the MIDIbox SID specs originally conceived by [Thorsten Klose] (check out the great sound samples) and streamlined by [Wilba]. It uses a Commodore 64 case, 8 of its SID chips, and the power supply, but gets most of its other parts from various different sources. The Commodore's SID or Sound Interface Device, was one of the first sound chips available in a personal computer.


In the worklog, a SID module, the first of four, was built before anything else. Then [Subatomic] opened up the Commodore case and attempted to fit a number of modules into it. For the MIDIbox's power, he converted the original Commodore power supply to provide 14VDC and 5VDC, but learned much later that this would only give enough power for 4 SIDs, resulting in a mono MIDIbox. He continued by adding a power board and noting that with the core and SID modules and the audio mixer board, it's a tight but workable fit.

The next several steps involved designing and building the control surface. After creating a mockup and acquiring several components like knobs, LEDs, and a small LCD, [Subatomic] began building many of the necessary control surface PCBs, including the filter control PCB and a few others.

[Subatomic] went on by going through the painstaking process of creating backlights for the knobs. After that he acquired the custom-made front panel, created the LCD module, and attached it and several PCBs to the panel. The panel was then painted.

After a little work on the PSU and the rear I/O panel, [Subatomic] prepped some banksticks (external storage accessories; think USB stick forerunners with a female serial jack).


After finishing and gluing the LEDs to the knobs, the panel was finished. At this point Subatomic decided to scrap the SID, core, din and dout modules in favor of a single PCB that does everything. He cut the board to make it fit in the case, cut headers, added resistors, burned out the LCD, did a lot of spot-checking on the wiring, and then he finally added the SIDs to the board.


He soon zeroed in on the power supply problem that was only routing enough power to 4 SIDs by replacing the malfunctioning C64 PSU with a good one, after which the LCD was also replaced. The wiring diagram above shows how the remaining modules would be wired to the main board.

The only software work involved adding functions for 2 special buttons to the preexisting firmware and recompiling it. He realized that the MIDIbox was missing a mixed output jack, so he added than and made several minor cosmetic mods. With these final fixes, the MIDIbox SID was completed. If you're considering this project, be aware that it's a major endeavor with a lot of detail work that took [Subatomic] nearly 3 years to build, but the reward is a slick-looking, fully functional MIDIbox SID of your own.

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Filed under: misc hacks, daily

[Reinhard] has a great collection of DIY SCUBA projects. One interesting hack he put together is a soft start circuit to improve the life of the bulb in a flashlight. Despite LEDs getting cheaper, MR16 halogens are dirt cheap and put out some serious lumens.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: home hacks

Beer kegs are several things. They are expensive, heavy, but most importantly delicious. We found a nice guide for creating your own 3 liter beer keg. This is an inexpensive solution for homebrewers looking to keg their own beer.

The guide goes into detail on assembly and parts needed to create the bottle adapter. Most of the parts can be picked up locally or through MoreBeer.com. CO2 cartridges are used to pressurize the bottle. To keep everything cool you can use a standard water cooler with a few simple modifications. The 3 liter bottle is too tall for some coolers so you'll need to cut a hole in the lid. Add a piece of aluminum covered styrofoam to the top and bottom, toss in some ice, and your brew should stay cold for about 3 hours.

The author does note that this is not recommended for long term storage. So drink up!Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: news

RepRap, the self-replicating universal constructor has had our attention since it first started spitting out globs of shapeless goo, but its speculative potential turned in a real benchmark recently when a RepRap machine made parts for an identical machine in a few hours (a child, in other words), then the second RepRap successfully made parts for a third or grandchild machine.

RepRap does not fully assemble copies of itself, but produces the 3D-printed plastic components necessary to assemble another copy. It has also successfully produced other plastic goods like sandals and coat hooks. [Dr. Adrian Bower] is the leader of the RepRap team, and he will be exhibiting its capabilities at this week's Cheltenham Science Festival.

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Filed under: robots hacks

Yesterday we looked at the Pac-Man Roomba casemod. In the video, creator [Ron Tajima] expressed interest in seeing Roombas participate in real life games. So we did some digging around and found some used in an interesting augmented reality game. From Brown University, these modified Roomba Create units play various games, like tag, with an underlying goal of developing smarter robots.

The setup consists of a Java powered client/server arrangement. The game server coordinates the Small Universal Robot Vehicles (SmURVs) and builds a database of events for future use. Players can also control the robots through a Java telepresence client.

The units themselves are made up of the iRobot Create with a Mini-ITX computer strapped to the top. They run Linux and communicate over WiFi with the server and players. They also have an IR emitter used in the games to "shoot" other units.

Gameplay has the server acting as the referee and humans only acting as instructors. The humans come into play when the robots are unable to respond based on their existing database of decision making policies. Through the client, players are able to see exactly what the robot sees with the addition of 3D overlays. Future plans for the game include removing the camera view and replacing with nothing but these overlays. One of the final goals of the project was to create a 24/7/365 gaming experience similar to what is found in MMOs and Xbox Live applications today.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: news

You've no doubt heard that the site hosting Metasploit, the exploit framework, was hacked earlier this week, but what you may not have heard is that it was done using a layer 2 attack. Though Metasploit.com was not actually cracked, a server on the same VLAN was compromised and used to ARP poison the gateway. ARP poisoning is a method of sniffing data by sending a false ARP message to an Ethernet router to associate the hacker's MAC address with a valid IP address from a genuine network node. From there the hackers were able to mount their MITM attack and show the image above instead of Metasploit's website. This problem could have been avoided if the ISP was using fixed ARP entries, which is what [HD Moore] had to do to get the site back online. [Richard Bejtlich] points out that even though most people have been focusing on application security lately, fundamental attacks like this still happen. If you're doing a good job protecting yourself, you can still be at the mercy of the security of 3rd parties when operating in shared hosting environments.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: peripherals hacks

Chances are you've never wondered what your goldfish is trying to say, but if you have (or if you just want a project), check out this DIY hydrophone.

You will need a computer microphone, vegetable oil, plastic wrap, scissors, solder, and a small unused plastic bottle. Solder the mic capsule to an appropriate length of cable and test. The entire assembly can then be submerged in vegetable oil inside a plastic bottle. Yes, vegetable oil. Seal the bottle and you're done.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: home entertainment hacks, daily

[David] took some interesting steps to put together his own Slingbox-ish setup. He used a Mac mini running Quicktime Broadcaster to capture the stream from a Firewire video camera which his cable/satellite receiver is plugged into. You'll have to use an OS X machine, but that's not too difficult these days. Broadcaster is about the simplest way to capture from Firewire and stream. We're using it in our own office to multicast the signal from a Canadian satellite box.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: robots hacks

[Ron Tajima] fashioned a Pac-Man casemod for his Roomba using 448 LEDs and a SH2 MPU control unit. It features the correct arcade sounds and even the death animation. The bot has Bluetooth access thanks to his previous Wiimote hack. He hopes to use this platform to create a real world version of the game.



For more Roomba hacking, check out the Hacking Roomba book and our previous Roomba related posts.

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Filed under: news

[Rich] over at Securosis takes us through some of his browser paranoia exercises. He uses different browser profiles for different types of web activities. Based on potential risk, various tasks are separated to protect from CSRF attacks and more. Everyday browsing with low risk passwords is done in one. RSS reading with no passwords is done in another. He runs his personal blog in a browser dedicated just to that.

For high risk research, he uses virtual machines to further minimize any potential nasty code getting through. Very high risk sites are browsed through a non-persistent read-only Linux virtual machine. While these techniques can be less effective if the entire OS is comprised, they can still provide a few layers of additional security.

Fellow browser paranoia sufferers may want to consider Firefox plug-ins like NoScript and memory protection from Diehard.
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Filed under: misc hacks

Do you remember the solenoid concert that used a sequencer to control several solenoids striking different surfaces? Musician David Byrne has taken the concept and executed it on a much larger scale with his "Playing the Building" installation in an old municipal ferry terminal in New York. Devices that bang the girders, rattle the rafters, and blow through the pipes of the building are attached to the only object inside, a weathered pipeorgan. Every key is wired to different device in the building, each producing a unique sound. Attendees are invited to fiddle with keys of the organ to produce sounds from the building's various materials, thus playing the building like an instrument. Here's a video from the installation.

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Filed under: news

Monitoring medical patients remotely 24 hours a day has always proven to be a difficult proposition due the size of the wireless sensors attached to the patient's body to relay vital signs. A team from Queen's University Belfast has come up with a solution that utilizes the creeping wave effect. The effect applies to electromagnetic waves as they come into contact with solid objects. While the majority of the waves are absorbed by the object, a small amount move along the surface of the object before they continue their path.

Since most of the signal sent by conventional biosensors is absorbed by the patient's body, the signal must be strong enough to compensate. The antennas designed by the Queen's University team, though, focus their broadcast laterally instead of inward and outward, maximizing the amount of waves that will travel along patients' bodies via the creeping wave effect and minimizing the amount that are absorbed. These antennas are up to 50 times as efficient as conventional antennas of the same size, broadcasting a stronger signal with less power.

The applications to the wireless body area networking, attaching multiple biosensors to patients' bodies, field are obvious, but this technology could be used in other ways. Since the creeping wave antenna is small and wearable, it could conceivably be used to boost low power communication to PDAs, cellphones, or any other portable wireless product.

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Filed under: news

German engineering firm Festo has created this flying manta ray. Dubbed the Air_ray, it's a balloon made of an aluminum-vaporised "PET foil". Inflated with helium, the Air_ray's propulsion system is a flapping wing drive. Each wing has alternating pressure and tension flanks that are attached to an internal set of ribs. The flanks are connected to a remotely controlled servo motor. When pressure is applied to either of the flanks, the wing bends in the opposite direction. By alternating pressure on the flanks, the wings beat. The servos are powered by two 8V LiPo accumulator cells.

The total weight of the Air_ray including the balloon, propulsion system, power supply, and helium is 1.6Kg. Festo has more specs in this PDF.

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Filed under: misc hacks, tool-hacks, daily

Gun issues aside, [Justin]'s been CNC milling his own gun parts for quite a while. We've been a fan of his work simply because of the technical challenge that this sort of milling presents. Even if you're anti-gun, you should check out the work he's been turning out. Pictured is one of his early projects: a 92fs Beretta frame in the process of being milled from a solid block of aluminum. Our friend the gun nut is insanely jealous of his AR45 lower project.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: misc hacks

Earlier today, we looked at DIY ballistic glass, so we decided to look into DIY ballistic gel as well. Anyone who watches Mythbusters is probably already well familiar with their extensive use of this wonderful gel. Turns out the stuff is beyond easy to create at home. With some gelatin molds (and firepower) you could have a lot of fun with it.

To get started, pick up a box of gelatin powder from your local supermarket. Using 8 oz. of the powder and 2 quarts of cold water, stir together until the consistency is thick and all powder moist. Then, place the mixture in the fridge to chill for two hours. You will then need to heat the mixture until melted; be sure the liquid does not exceed 130 degrees. Finally, apply a layer of nonstick spray to your favorite mold or tupperware, and pour the mixture in. Allow to set in the fridge for 36 hours before use.

If you want even more DIY ballistics, check out this nice guide to creating your own chronograph, for measuring bullet velocity. After the break are videos on making and, of course, shooting the final product.



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Filed under: news

Last week we talked about a single rumored arrest over the OiNK torrent tracker. Since then, there's been a confirmed report of 6 arrests. The arrests appear to be the result of users uploading pre-release music to the now defunct site. For some time, police have had access to the OiNK user records minus the passwords which are thought to be stored as a salted MD5 hash. It seems British authorities can force these individuals to reveal passwords under something called the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

The Phoenix Mars Lander (pictured above) has found what might be a large piece of ice directly underneath it. This week the lander will scoop up a sample, melt its contents and test the various gases it releases. Twitter users can watch the mission's progress in semi real time by following the MarsPhonix account. Lastly it looks like the official website for this mission was defaced through a SQL injection attack.

We already reported the world's largest GPS drawing as a hoax. It has however inspired a few to look closer at the concept of position based art and others have already created authentic works. Our friends over at BoingBoing even made a little flash application to create your own "Unimpressive GPS Art". Upon hearing of the hoax we were quick to draw up a brand new proposal for DHL using Google maps.Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: cons

Kenshoto held qualifiers for the DefCon's Capture the Flag competition last weekend. The top seven finishers: Routards, Pandas with Gambas, Guard@MyLan0, Shellphish, Taekwon-V, WOWHACKER, PLUS, and last year's winners, 1@stPlace, will be invited to participate in the final this August in Las Vegas.

The qualification started Friday night at 10PM EDT with an email (Subject: M0rt4g3 y0ur \/14gr4 up 2 3 1nch3$) being sent to all 451 registered teams. Connecting to the game server displayed a Jeopardy style score board. The five available categories were Binary Leetness, Forensics, Real World, Potent Pwnables, and Trivia, with point values from 100 to 500. Only one question was opened to start. The first team to answer that was allowed to select the next question to open and then any team could try to answer it. Participants were warned about the difficulty of the 500 level questions and the entire Real World category. At the end of everything, four questions still remained locked at the end.

If you're interested in what type of questions the contest had, check out the write up on NOPSR.US, which has all the files and solutions. Non-qualifiers can still participate in DC949's OpenCTF.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: misc hacks, daily

[Glenn] hasn't put up action shots, but he did write up how he made his own "Bulletproof" glass. The idea is simple: make a composite sandwich of Acrylic and Polycarbonate plastic. Automotive grade uses a combination of glass and Polycarbonate. Great, now we've got one more thing on my list of stuff to shoot.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: pcs hacks

We've featured hacks for the Eee PC 701 before, but nothing so easy as this touchscreen kit.

This kit includes everything needed: the touchpanel, a USB controller card, and the correct connectors. The touchpanel is placed inside the frame in front of the screen. The controller is plugged in line with the USB webcam. This mod can be completely installed in 9 steps, the hardest of which involves removing a few screws. This is great solution for first-time modders, but if you're not afraid of a little solder and prefer a bit more challenge, check out jkkmobile's original touchscreen hack. He even hints that he's successfully added touch to his Eee 900 as well.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: home hacks

Aside from having a very cool name, parasitic power is an innovate way to recapture already spent power. This power can come in the form of wasted heating or cooling of a building for example. Last week the Southern Methodist University activated the first commercial Green Machine from ElectraTherm. The unit recycles residual heat from the building into electricity. So far, the 50kW Green Machine has exceeded expectations. The company also says owners can recoup the units cost after about three years.

Pictured above is a Parasitic Wind Turbine built as an experiment to see if any useable energy could be captured from a standard home air conditioning unit. Although not listed on the website, the 6 phase 90 V 4.0 the motor used here is available from Skycraft or auction websites like eBay. Using the rotor of a standard box fan and placing it at a 45 degree angle yielded the best RPM.


Lastly, these applications of parasitic power remind us of an art project by Michael Rakowitz from 1998. Rakowitz created temporary homeless shelters that were inflated by a building exhaust vents. The air flow from these vents provided both structure and heating for the shelters. They also served to draw attention to the homeless housing situation and encourage cities to think of new ways to address the problem.Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments