May 18

Do-it-yourself wireless tethering for your DSLR

Posted in: diy, hack, mod, nikon, Today's Chili, wifi

You know what kinds of projects we especially love? The kind that save you seven hundred bucks, for starters. That was photographer and bon vivant Pete Tsai’s inspiration when he bought a $40 wireless USB dongle, a AA battery pack, and an angled USB adapter, with the idea of using it to tether his Nikon D300 to his laptop. According to the modster, Nikon’s Camera Control 2 software doesn’t seem to have any problem with the device, and the whole setup offers “very fast” transfers (about four seconds for a fine Jpeg, or eight seconds for RAW+ fine). Apparently this bad boy more than does the job of a Nikon’s WT-4a wireless transmitter, which sells at around $800. Are you a photographer on a budget? Hit that read link for all the red hot details.

[Via Wired]

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Do-it-yourself wireless tethering for your DSLR originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 18 May 2009 10:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 07

PSP 3000 hacked, with homebrew soon to follow

Posted in: hack, homebrew, mod, psp, sony, Today's Chili

The intersection of PSP 3000 and Hack St. has thus far been a pretty lonely little place, so we’re pleased to announce that the ChickHEN project is definitely gaining some momentum. According to one extra special YouTube video, hacksters are now able to run the TIFF exploit and boot into a homebrew enabler environment on a PSP 2003 and a PSP 3000 running 5.03 firmware. The code is seen surviving a reboot, and both the system software and MAC address can be changed. While not ready for prime time yet, this does pave the way for emulators, PSP uCLinux, and all of those other things that keep all you homebrew fans happy at night. Video after the break, if you dare.

[Via Technabob]

Continue reading PSP 3000 hacked, with homebrew soon to follow

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PSP 3000 hacked, with homebrew soon to follow originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 May 2009 11:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 07

DIY coilgun gives clever hobbyists the risk of permanent injury

Posted in: diy, mod, Today's Chili

What’s not to love about coilguns? They bring together electromagnetics and DIY-ing for what may be our favorite juvenile pastime: shooting things. The bad boy pictured above was put together by a Mr. Daniel Eindhoven for €100 (that’s about $133). A semiautomatic single stage gun that boasts a 14 shot capacity, the weapon’s capable of firing a 42 gram projectile at speeds up to 110km/h, with a charge time of 8 seconds when plugged into mains power (or if you’re on the go, the internal batteries will light up in about 90 seconds). It also sports a digital voltage display and a laser pointer. Just as we predicted when we saw the Nerf chain gun, the inter-office arms race is definitely on. Be careful! One more pic after the break.

Continue reading DIY coilgun gives clever hobbyists the risk of permanent injury

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DIY coilgun gives clever hobbyists the risk of permanent injury originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 May 2009 10:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 05

PSP mod adds mouse, a touch of class to Sony’s beloved handheld

Posted in: diy, hack, mod, mouse, psp, sony, Today's Chili

Not all input devices are created equal. Some of us long for that old coin-op console joystick every time we bring up GalagaREMIX on the iPhone, while others can’t imagine engaging in a first person shooter without the aid of his or her trusty mouse. To that end, PSP hacker TokyoDrift (not his / her real name) has wired an old PS2 mouse into his portable’s serial port, by way of an ATMEL ATmega8 chip-sporting breadboard. The various PSP buttons can be mapped to the mouse’s buttons or scroll wheel, and scaling and sample rates are adjustable. We know there are plenty of you out there that can’t wait to try this one out for yourself — so hit the read link, peruse the forums, and get inspired.

[Via SlashGear]

Continue reading PSP mod adds mouse, a touch of class to Sony’s beloved handheld

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PSP mod adds mouse, a touch of class to Sony’s beloved handheld originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 May 2009 10:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 04

Video: YBox2 DIY widget box grows a VGA port

Posted in: diy, hack, mod, Today's Chili, video

It’s been far, far too long since we’ve heard anything on the YBox front, so it’s with great pleasure we pass along the first major YBox2 mod that we’ve come across. The modders over at adafruit industries have discovered that adding a VGA output to the DIY set-top-box (not to mention adding stereo audio support) is relatively simple, and there’s even a video to prove it. If you’ve been itching to get your hands dirty with an Altoids box, you owe it to yourself to hop on past the break and mash play.

[Via MAKE]

Continue reading Video: YBox2 DIY widget box grows a VGA port

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Video: YBox2 DIY widget box grows a VGA port originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 11:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 04

Students create CRT emulator, hope to recapture that analog gaming vibe of yesteryear

Posted in: Displays, game, Games, gaming, LCD, LED, mod, mods, Today's Chili, video games, VideoGames

The retro gaming insurgence seems as strong as vinyl these days, but you don’t see as many people looking for a CRT monitor to complete the set. More likely, they’re playing a HD remake or the original title on a digital screen in more detail than the developers ever anticipated or intended. A group of Georgia Tech students are looking to change all that by modifying open-source Atari 2600 VCS emulator Stella to give players that good ole fashion analog vibe. As highlighted by associate professor Ian Bogost, key attributes such as color bleed, “burned” afterimage, RF-engendered signal noise, and texture created by the phosphor glow have been imitated here in recreating the effect. Hit up the gallery below for pictorial examples while we wait anxiously for video and / or the mod itself to rear its blurry head.

Gallery: Students create CRT emulator, hope to recapture that analog gaming vibe of yesteryear

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Students create CRT emulator, hope to recapture that analog gaming vibe of yesteryear originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 May 2009 06:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 30

Rovio finds new purpose in life with fire extinguisher mod

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

The Rovio may not have inspired quite the same level of modding as something like the Robosapien, but it’s far from completely lacking in the department, and RoboCommunity member Colt45 looks to have delivered one of the more impressive hacks to date with this new and improved fire extinguisher bot. As impressive as that top-mounted CF2ClBr fire extinguisher and remote-controlled nozzle is, however, the real standout piece may actually be the software, which apparently uses a machine vision app that can recognize fire and automatically extinguish it when necessary (assuming it remains around candle size). Unfortunately, there’s no how-to for building your own just yet, nor is there any word of a planned face off with a Flame-o-Sapien, though you can be sure we’ll let you know as soon as that happens.

[Via SlashGear]

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Rovio finds new purpose in life with fire extinguisher mod originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 06:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 28

Samsung Eternity retrofitted within NES controller, has never looked better

Posted in: controller, diy, hack, mod, nintendo, phone, Retro, samsung, Today's Chili, video

Not that we’ve never had the pleasure of seeing an NES phone mod before, but there’s just something especially elegant about this one. The not-at-all-ancient Samsung a867 Eternity was chosen by one Taylor Merrill to be shoved inside of a now-defunct Nintendo Entertainment System controller. The result, naturally, is what you see above — er, half of it, anyway. For a look at the whole thing in its entirety, hop on past the break and mash play. Per usual, we take no responsibility for damage dealt to your retro game consoles, existing handsets or pride should you attempt to replicate.

[Thanks, stagueve]

Continue reading Samsung Eternity retrofitted within NES controller, has never looked better

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Samsung Eternity retrofitted within NES controller, has never looked better originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 25

Video: surviving Pleo loses remaining autonomy, gets controlled by Wii Nunchuk

Posted in: diy, hack, mod, remote control, RemoteControl, Today's Chili, video, wii, Wireless

Aw, how timely. Shortly after the Pleo lineage fell victim to economic pressures, an all-too-cute video has surfaced showing a remaining creature being controlled by a Wii Nunchuk. In reality, the underlying abuse here is quite sad — for those unaware, Pleo was designed to be entirely autonomous, and the first step to regaining control over it is to implement a “Pleo Stunner” in order to shock him into silence. From there, an XBee-based solution is used to tap into his control system and override every single instinct the poor sap ever had. If you’re into this type of sadistic torture (or you’re just an aspiring dictator), check the read link for all the instructions you need to fulfill your own evil desires. For those just interested in a good chuckle, the vid’s after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Video: surviving Pleo loses remaining autonomy, gets controlled by Wii Nunchuk

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Video: surviving Pleo loses remaining autonomy, gets controlled by Wii Nunchuk originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Apr 2009 08:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 24

Modder brings Virtual On’s dual sticks to the Xbox 360 on the cheap

Posted in: mod, modding, Today's Chili, xbox, xbox 360, Xbox360
Modder brings Virtual On's dual sticks to the Xbox 360 on the cheap

Most fighting games are pretty badass, but fighting games that feature giant robots? Overwhelmingly badass. Such was Virtual On, one of Sega’s most beloved (and seemingly most quickly forgotten) franchises, where two anime-themed (and frequently Saturn-wearing) virtualroids duked it out in full 3-D and blew our minds with great graphics and a humbling dual-stick control scheme (push both forward to run ahead, apart to jump, together to crouch, etc.). With the game making its triumphant return to action on the Xbox 360, a Japanese gamer has created the above monstrosity by wedging a couple of candy packages onto the controller’s analog sticks, then wiring up weapons buttons. With a little paint they’d almost pass for the arcade’s controller, but we’re not entirely sure that thin plastic would hold up to repeated deploys of Grys-vok’s ICBM attack.

[Via Joystiq]

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Modder brings Virtual On’s dual sticks to the Xbox 360 on the cheap originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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