Tag Archives: Hacks + Mods

Researchers Send Secure Passwords via the Human Body

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A team of electrical engineers and computer scientists from the University of Washington have teamed up to create what they say is a much more secure way to transmit passwords. Currently, most passwords are sent via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi where they can be captured by hackers and possibly cracked. The UW team has devised a method that sends those secure passwords through your body rather than the air.

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The process uses low-frequency signals generated via fingerprint sensors and touchpads on already available consumer devices. Those signals are sent through your body and delivered to whatever device you touch. Data rates of 50 bps from touchpads and 25 bps with fingerprint sensors have been recorded. While that’s not exactly fast, it’s enough to move short strings of data around.

The team says that the technique can unlock doors or activate medical wearables. Testing has seen the system work on people of different sizes and heights, while moving or standing still.

Exploding Galaxy Note 7 GTA V Sticky Bomb Mod

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Samsung has not had an easy time lately, what with their exploding smartphones and washing machines, but the good news is that the worst seems to be behind them. Mostly. The Internet will make sure that the tale lives on though, via YouTube clips like this one. Here, the Galaxy Note 7 is put to good use in a fun Grand Theft Auto V mod, as a sticky bomb. Seems appropriate.

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It all starts with a visit to the weapons store. There sits a shiny new Galaxy Note 7. After that, Modded Games shows us how it can be used to create all kinds of fiery chaos. Samsung surely won’t find this funny, but at least they can be thankful that real-life Note 7 owners have not come to any serious harm.

Maybe Samsung has a future creating weapons.

[via Phonandroid via Phone Arena]

Adam Savage Converts a Honda Ridgeline Into a Movie Theater

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Seriously, is there anything that Adam Savage can’t do? He is always amazing us with his projects. His latest build is a collaboration with Honda, in which he and the Tested crew converted a Honda Ridgeline pickup truck into a portable movie theater.

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It is an awesome off-roading movie theater, perfect for camping. The inflatable movie theater packs up for travel and deploys on-site at the campground whenever you need it. Forget roughing it. Enjoy a movie while you are in the great outdoors. It’s reminiscent of the failed Kickstarter project for Hitch Theater, but Adam’s seems to be much easier to set up.

This video is the first in a series where members of the Tested team modify the Ridgeline to meet the requirements for their craziest camping desires. I wonder what they’ll do next.

[via Laughing Squid]

Pi Cart Crams a Retro Gaming Emulator Inside the Carcass of a NES Cartridge

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I have very vivid memories of schlepping around the local Target store back in the ’80s and coming across the Nintendo Entertainment System display with the robot that moved the spinning thingies around to open doors in some lame ass game on the screen. I thought it was awesome and begged my mom long enough that she put it in layaway, and my brother and I got the system and a single game for Christmas that year.

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The robot was perhaps the worst bit of game engineering in history; it always dropped the spinny thingies and generally pissed me off. I also recall blowing on the cartridges every time something went wrong. Now a gaming geek named Zach has taken one of those old Nintendo cartridges, gutted it and crammed a Raspberry Pi Zero and USB hub inside.

The Pi Zero runs RetroPie, and can play over 2,000 different retro games. I think we had like 25 games to choose from in the early days of Nintendo gaming.

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You can build your own quite easily by following the step-by-step instructions over on Howchoo. Check out the video to see what it’s all about.

Guy Builds Killer Water Gun: Super Duper Soaker

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Can you believe that the Super Soaker has been around for 25 years? They’re generally pretty tame, but there was some controversy when it came out because some people were filling them with bleach. That’s scary enough, but nothing compared to what this custom built water gun can do.

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This is a pressurized water cannon built by YouTuber Asp. Instead of firing a stream of water, it sends out a huge blast of H2O, which can do some serious damage, like put you in the hospital and potentially kill you kind of damage.

CDs are tough. Go ahead and try to break one with your hands. Well, this water cannon instantly shatters one into tiny shards. Now imagine that is your body. Your hand. Your eye. Not a pretty thought. This guy may be on his way to being a water-based super villain.

[via Rocketnews24 via Gizmodo]

Guy Plays Drum Machine with His Crotch

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Looking for the latest in fashion and technology? Check out these Electric Sexy Drum Pants. Their name is completely self explanatory, though the sexy part is questionable. This is a pair of pants with a drum controller pad in the crotch. Making music with these pants requires hitting yourself below the belt repeatedly.

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They were created by Japanese multimedia artist and experimental pop music composer Kaoring Machine. This guy’s mom complains because he spends all day in his room, “playing the drums”. I guess he marches to the beat of a different drum.

Toward the end of the video he actually looks like he may be typing the great American novel on his nuts, rather than drumming, but who knows? Are you doing a drum solo or are you just happy to see… yeah, I don’t even want to know.

[via Dangerous Minds via Geekologie]

Guy Makes Axe with Gummy Bear Handle

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Yep, this axe has a handle filled with gummy bears. Why? Why not? It was made by Peter Brown of YouTube channel Shop Time. The dude clearly likes gummy bears.

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He first made a mold for the axe handle, then filled it full of gummy bears and resin. Then he attached the axe head. Pretty simple. Actually, it’s not. Especially the part where “gummy residue” gets stuck to the outside of the axe handle, and you have to hand-apply resin to cover it up.

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It certainly makes a pretty axe handle. Not that a man needs a pretty axe handle. If you want to try and make one yourself you can check out a step-by-step pictorial of the build here. Good luck if you are chopping wood in the forest and a bear wants to eat your large stick of gummies, Pete.

[via Popular Mechanics via Geekologie]

Octant: A Robot Band with a Human Leader

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Have you ever heard of a band called Octant? You will. These guys are gonna be big. By “guys” I mean robots. Yes, Octant is a band that is comprised of robotic musical instruments. A man named Matt is their leader. All hail Matt. That’s what the robots say, not me.

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Matt is “half technician and half lead singer”. Check out the band right here on a recent episode of GoPro Music. Matt built his entire band of musical instruments that are each controlled by robots.

Their music is pretty good. Very catchy. There are more examples below, and you can listen to the band’s music on Matt’s website if you want to hear more.

[via Laughing Squid]

Game Boy Controls a Drone: Nintendrone

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Get that old Nintendo Game Boy out of the attic folks. It just got a new modern use. Gautier Hattenberger has figured out a way to control a drone using the old handheld gaming brick. Now he’s flying with power!

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Hattenberger posted his plans on the Paparazzi UAV Blog, but be aware that it is not a simple thing to do. No one has ever done it before now. To get it to work, he turned the Game Link into a USB controller using a Arduino and FTDI semiconductor combination. That allowed it to hook up with his laptop and control the drone software.

The code is over at GitHub if you want to try this yourself. Maybe you can play Super Mario Land and fly your drone at the same time.

[via Hack A Day via Gizmodo]

Simone Giertz Invents a Pokémon GO Helmet

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Simone Giertz makes some pretty crazy inventions, and this time she is going after the Pokémon GO craze. How would you like to play the game without using your hands, so that they’re free to do other stuff, like flip people off for stealing your Pikachu? Well, she created a cool helmet that will let you do that and more.

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Simone created what appears to be the world’s first Pokémon GO helmet. The device holds your smartphone in front of your face. This leaves your hands free to punch people getting in the way of your catch.

Sadly, she has no plans to cash in on this device, so if you want one, you’ll have to make your own.