Jul 10

Adafruit’s Citizen Engineer comic book / SIM card reader kit

Posted in: hack, mod, Today's Chili

The gang at Adafruit Industries are on a mission — and they won’t rest until every man, woman, and child on this planet has access to the DIY and open source electronics they crave. The most recent project of theirs, Citizen Engineer: SIM Card Hacking, is a comic book that both serves as a primer on GSM and SIM cards and tells you how to build a SIM card reader. And if that weren’t awesome enough, if you purchase the title for $35 they’ll throw in the reader kit — either enabling your thirst for knowledge or jump-starting you on your path towards a new life as a hacker / fixer for the Russian Mafia. Video after the break.

Continue reading Adafruit’s Citizen Engineer comic book / SIM card reader kit

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Adafruit’s Citizen Engineer comic book / SIM card reader kit originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 06

Modder places USB flash drive in Atari 2600 cart, amuses geeks world o’er

Posted in: hack, mod, Today's Chili, usb, usb drive, UsbDrive

Well, kids, if you like your USB drives with a little style, a little kitsch, and far too large to be carried conveniently, a gentleman named Robotic Evil, Inc. has just the thing for you. The evil one is hard at work as we speak, taking 2GB thumb drives and placing them in the artifacts of genuine geek nostalgia. Really, who wouldn’t want to receive a hand-assembled computer peripheral in the shape of an Atari game cartridge or an NES controller? These things cost $29.99 (add another $5 for shipping and handling) and they’re available at this dude’s Etsy store. Check out the NES controller / drive yourself after the break.

[Via BoingBoing]

Continue reading Modder places USB flash drive in Atari 2600 cart, amuses geeks world o’er

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Modder places USB flash drive in Atari 2600 cart, amuses geeks world o’er originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 06

Stand-up console plays Nintendo DS and Sony PSP games, somewhat defeats the purpose

Posted in: console, DS, hack, mod, nintendo, psp, sony, Today's Chili

Depending in your level of geekness, an extravagant mod can be pretty cool. And arcade consoles are damn near always really cool. But making a stand-up console game out of your beloved Nintendo DS? That is pretty amazing. And throwing in a Sony PSP for good measure — well, that might just elevate your project to a work of art. We don’t have too many technical details on this bad boy (after all, the hacker is in Japan — and there is a bit of a language barrier) but you we think the video of the thing really says it all — if not in so many words. Peep it for yourself after the break.

[Via Technabob]

Continue reading Stand-up console plays Nintendo DS and Sony PSP games, somewhat defeats the purpose

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Stand-up console plays Nintendo DS and Sony PSP games, somewhat defeats the purpose originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 02

Apple patching nasty iPhone SMS vulnerability

Posted in: hack, iPhone, iphone 3g, Iphone3g, security, Today's Chili

Given the hype surrounding Apple’s iPhone, we’re actually surprised that we haven’t seen more holes to plug over the years. In fact, the last major iPhone exploit to take the world by storm happened right around this time two years ago, and now — thanks to OS X security expert Charlie Miller — we’re seeing yet another come to light. Over at the SyScan conference in Singapore, Mr. Miller disclosed a hole that would let attackers “run software code on the phone that is sent by SMS over a mobile operator’s network in order to monitor the location of the phone using GPS, turn on the phone’s microphone to eavesdrop on conversations, or make the phone join a distributed denial of service attack or a botnet.” Charlie’s planning to detail the vulnerability in full at the upcoming Black Hat conference, but Apple’s hoping to have it all patched up by the end of this month.

[Via HotHardware]

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Apple patching nasty iPhone SMS vulnerability originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 02

Shadowy modder gives Eee PC a risky back alley trackball implant

Posted in: Apple, ASUS, diy, hack, mod, netbook, Today's Chili

Remember that guy who uber-hacked his Eee PC with a GPS, Bluetooth, draft-n WiFi, FM transmitter, SDHC card reader, modem, USB hub, 2GB RAM? Well, we got one more for him. This enterprising gentleman, fed up with suffering through the three-finger scroll of his Eee PC 901, integrated the trackball of his Apple Mighty Mouse into the netbook’s palm rest. Of course, this took some time and effort: in the end, the trackball leads had to be unsoldered from the mainboard, the trackball itself soldered to the mainboard, and the whole shebang installed under the surface of the netbook itself. But you know what? It works. That is, until the Mighty Mouse itself craps out — as they have been known to do. Still, it’s all in a day’s work for a heroic modder. Right? Hit that read link for the step-by-step, but not before you peep the vid after the break.

Continue reading Shadowy modder gives Eee PC a risky back alley trackball implant

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Shadowy modder gives Eee PC a risky back alley trackball implant originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 02

SUPERTENDO portable SNES hack elevates an artform to something impressively commercial

Posted in: hack, mod, Today's Chili

Yeah, we’re all been-there-done-that with portable SNESs these days, but we’ve never seen it done like this. Marshall posted his creation, dubbed the “SUPERTENDO,” to Ben Heck’s forums, which seems to imply (along with the looks) that he took some queues from similar designs already floating around those parts. What really sets this one apart, however, is the vacuum-formed chassis and the instant “make me an offer” move to a sale — being owned by a major faceless media conglomerate ourselves, we like to see a guy who’s out for a buck. A quick hands-on Video is after the break.

[Via benheck.com]

Continue reading SUPERTENDO portable SNES hack elevates an artform to something impressively commercial

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SUPERTENDO portable SNES hack elevates an artform to something impressively commercial originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 01

Frustratingly long secret code enables totally useful landscape email on Pre

Posted in: Email, hack, palm, palm pre, PalmPre, pre, Today's Chili, webos

It’s one thing to bury something like developer mode — a mode that the average Pre user will never need — behind a cute-but-exhausting throwback Konami code, but it’s quite another to hide useful stuff that way. A PreCentral tipster discovered that entering “RocknRollHax” on the keyboard (and yes, capitalization is important here) while in the email app enables the previously missing capability to use it in landscape mode; presumably Palm hid it from end users because they thought it was too buggy or weird for mainstream use, but it certainly works alright for us. Worst part is that the code needs to be re-entered each and every time the email app starts, so you’d better really want it — but at least you don’t have to root to get it.

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Frustratingly long secret code enables totally useful landscape email on Pre originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 29

Hack: use Google Voice to add visual voicemail to your G1, Dream, or Magic

Posted in: Android, Features, hack, Today's Chili

With home screen widgets, an on-screen keyboard, great notification management, and hands-down the best Gmail experience of any platform, Android 1.5 finally makes it easy (or easier, anyway) to love Google’s foray into the mobile world. Of course, if you’re coming from an iPhone — as some users inevitably will be — there are a few features that’ll be sorely missed as you make the transition. For us, a biggie was visual voicemail, and after a little trial and error, we found a cool way to add it into our device without even leaving the Google ecosystem — and even better, it’s totally free. Head on over to Engadget Mobile to find out how to do it.

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Hack: use Google Voice to add visual voicemail to your G1, Dream, or Magic originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 29

Stock-looking MMS support hacked onto 2G iPhone

Posted in: Apple, hack, iPhone, Today's Chili

Way back in the heady days of 2007, there was an iPhone without 3G data (hard to believe, we know, but trust us — we were there). This iPhone, though revolutionary in some ways, was marred by the love-hate relationship its users suffered for missing out on some very basic features that they’d grown used to on mobiles of yore. One of those missing features, of course, was MMS — and now, some two years later, here we are with a truly integrated MMS experience courtesy of the all-powerful hacking community. Granted, there have been MMS apps available for ages, but there’s a difference: this is the same action 3G and 3GS owners are getting in conjunction with OS 3.0, which Apple curiously decided to hold back from original iPhone owners. As you might imagine, getting this going on your own phone is marginally more complicated than downloading from the App Store, so here’s the question, you non-upgraders: just how badly do you want it?

[Thanks, Paul]

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Stock-looking MMS support hacked onto 2G iPhone originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 28

Device judges your pulse and Tweets its findings to your parents and Ashton Kutcher

Posted in: diy, hack, Today's Chili, twitter

What’s creepier than automatically informing Twitter every time your unborn child kicks his mother’s womb? Giving all your Twitter followers a live feed of your heartbeat, including canned messages to announce your death in case you cease pumping Cheeto-infused blood through your goth-nerdy veins. This Japanese DIY project has open source schematics and is designed to bypass a PC and send the news of your heart hiccups directly the internet. Check out the appropriately dramatic video after the break.

Continue reading Device judges your pulse and Tweets its findings to your parents and Ashton Kutcher

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Device judges your pulse and Tweets its findings to your parents and Ashton Kutcher originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Jun 2009 11:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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