Hasta La Gadget!

Piet De Vaere read about a hack made by Steve Hoefer, in which Steve made is to he could unlock his door using a secret knock. Piet was becoming annoyed that he had to take out his keys to unlock his gate, so he decided to mimic Steve’s project to solve his first world problem, except he decided to make a secret doorbell code.

Piet calls his project Janus: The gatekeeper. When Piet rings his doorbell, Janus intercepts the input and compares it with the prerecorded unlock sequence. If the input matches, then the gate opens. If not, a bell rings. Skip to 0:24 to see Janus at work, then to 0:52 to see his brain, which is based on a mehduino.

Head to Piet’s blog for more details on Janus. For obvious reasons Piet doesn’t recommend rigging Janus on your main door. It would be cool and more secure if you can pair it with another layer of geeky gatekeeping, perhaps voice activation. Or you can use it to beef up your current gate and make it so it won’t unlock unless you use your key and enter the secret doorbell code.

[via Hack A Day]

I wouldn’t be surprised if millions of Pokémon fans have been wishing for years for a MMO version of their beloved game. Nintendo may soon have more reason to consider making such a game. And I’m not talking about the impending release of World of Warcraft’s Mists of Pandaria expansion and its Pet Battle System. I’m talking about a fan-made effort called PokéMMO.

PokéMMO is a Windows MMO based on the Gameboy Advance version of Pokémon Fire Red. Currently in its alpha stage, the game is a lot like most MMOs, but with the beloved monsters and battling system. The picture above says it all. If you’re a Pokémon fan, the trailer below might make you faint with joy. Skip to about 1:10 to see its gameplay.

This game redefines the meaning of PvP. Head to PokéMMO’s website to sign up and play for free. Again, the game is still in alpha so expect a lot of bugs and missing content and features – this FAQ highlights some of them.

[via Geekosystem]

We’ve featured some mechanical versions of arcade games in the past, but I think this is my new favorite. That’s because this real-world version of Donkey Kong is actually controlled by an NES gamepad. That just makes it that much more awesome.

Builder Martin Raynsford built this Arduino-controlled analog version of the arcade classic using a bunch of laser-cut wood parts, and a mechanism that fires a barrage of ball bearings down the ramps in lieu of tiny flaming barrels. And since the balls are magnetic, they stop Jumpman in his tracks if he fails to jump over them.

As you can see in the video clip below, the game is still a work-in-progress, as Jumpman is just hanging out in the middle of the game field and can’t really move around yet. But Raynford’s goal is to make the game fully-functional with time, and I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product, which he plans on showing off at next year’s UK Maker Faire. I’m curious to know how he’ll pull off the barrel-smashing sledgehammer.

You can check out more details of the build and mechanism over on Martin’s blog.

[via Kotaku via Engadget]

Before the silly X-2 and the XIII trilogy, the Final Fantasy franchise was known for rebooting itself with each iteration. Each game had a different battle system than the one that came before it and featured different characters as well. This decision lent the series a rich universe and opened our eyes on the possibilities of turn-based combat, but it also meant that our favorite characters would be left out when the next game came along. Which is why I’m very excited about this fan made mod of Final Fantasy VI (Final Fantasy III to the West), which brings together heroes and villains from the different Final Fantasy games.

Spanish is the first language of the unsung hero who is making this mod, so pardon me if I don’t get some of the details right. The modder calls the game Final Fantasy El Origen (Final Fantasy: The Origin), and it will include 14 playable characters from various FF games. It will have its own story and new skills for the characters. The game is based on the SNES version of Final Fantasy VI, which the modder chose because of the wide availability of SNES emulators, meaning a lot of people will be able to play the mod when it’s finished.

AUROOOONNNN Sorry. Aside from the playable heroes, other characters will also make cameos in the game. Check out the gameplay below:

Head to the mod’s website for more pictures and information. The modder also uploaded a trailer on YouTube, which has more information for those who can understand Spanish. I hope the modder succeeds in finishing the game. And I hope he includes a scene where Sabin teaches everyone how to suplex a train.

[via it8bit]

Now that I’ve got my new iPhone 5, I either have to wait for some new docks to come out, wait for my Apple lightning-to-30-pin adapter to show up sometime in October, or buy a dock that supports AirPlay and don’t worry about charging while docked. This dock solves absolutely none of that, but I still like it.

What you’re looking at here is an iPhone dock that’s made out of an old rotary-dial telephone. It’ll charge your phone via either USB or your Apple wall adapter (not included). Remember those? Heck, I don’t even have a landline anymore. But it’s still kind of a fun way to charge up your iPhone or iPod Touch, plus it’s got a pair of 3w speakers built in. Yes, that’s right, this thing is a stereo.

These docks are made by Bryan Sharp over at Rotary Revival, and they come in a variety of colors and phone styles (basically whatever old junk phones Bryan can source), and some even have a wireless remote with pause/play and volume controls. They sell for $125 to $199 (USD) over on Etsy.

It’s too bad the rotary dial doesn’t do anything. It’d be cool if you could use it to adjust volume or change tracks. But before I demand Bryan adds that feature, I just want my 8-pin Lightning connector.