We’ve seen a laptop and a tablet that are both powered by the Raspberry Pi. Tyler Spadgenske completes the gadget trinity with the Tyfone, a 2G cellphone based on the versatile computer.
The Tyfone has a 3.5″ TFT touchscreen, an AdaFruit FONA GSM module, a 5MP Raspberry Pi camera and a 3D printed case. It can make and receive calls and SMS messages, and take pictures. It’s operating system appears to be based on Linux, with a custom user interface that Tyler made in Python. Prepare to be underwhelmed!
So what if it’s clunky, slow and can’t access Facebook? It’s a cellphone that you can put together on your own! This is some MacGyver steeze. Head to Tyler’s Instructables page to find out how to make a Tyfone.
YouTube continues to innovate. Today, Google announced a new feature that will delight millions of its users around the world: support for 360-degree video. Although the YouTube team is still working...
This is the dark and ridiculous side of the candy world. Yes, this massive 26 pound gummy python will squeeze you from the inside out, assuming you can get enough of it in your belly to do so.
This $150 candy snake contains over 36,000 calories and is 8-feet-long. Is it food or is it art? I have no idea, but I wouldn’t try to swallow it all in one bite. It has some really nice details, like intricate eyes, blended coloring, ridged coils, and thousands of individually carved scales.
It is so detailed that I’m just hoping I don’t find a half digested gummy-rat in it’s belly.
In case you’re not familiar with Google’s Chromecast, it’s a small device that plugs into any display with an HDMI and a USB port to let you stream videos, apps and more from your laptop or mobile device to the display. Security consultant Dan “AltF4″ Petro came up with a Python program that lets you hijack any Chromecast and make it play a YouTube video of your choice.
Dan called his program the RickMote Controller, because he chose to have it load Rick Astley’s infamous music video when it hijacks a Chromecast. He installed it on a Raspberry Pi, which he then placed in a custom 3D printed case. Here’s a quick demo of the RickMote Controller:
The program works by taking advantage of Chromecast’s user-friendly setup, which can only be done over Wi-Fi and appears to be very insecure. Like our phones and laptops, Chromecasts can remember a Wi-Fi network’s SSID and password so you won’t have to manually enter them every time you want to use the device. The problem arises when a Chromecast is disconnected from that one Wi-Fi network that it knows.
Instead of waiting to be reconnected with that exact same network or for a prompt from the user, upon disconnection a Chromecast will go back into its insecure user-friendly setup mode and will once again look for anyone that will give it an Internet connection. In theory, this allows you to easily re-enter new network details, like when you change your router or password. But that also gave Dan the opening that he needed. He presented his idea at last year’s ToorCon. You can skip to around 9:13 for a summary of the hack.
In case you didn’t watch the video above, Dan said that in theory, a Chromecast will remain under his program’s control as long as their connection holds, making it a semi-permanent hijacking. As a workaround, Dan suggests that Google modify Chromecast’s network setup mechanism. For example, by adding a button on the device that needs to be pressed before it can connect to a new network, or by making it so that it will only look for networks on startup. Head to Bishop Fox for more on the RickMote controller.
Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones made a wisecrack about the members of Monty Python who are currently enjoying a reunion concert. He said that they were wrinkly old men who were trying to relive the...
Did you know that you can use your Wi-Fi network as a lookout? Pescimoro Mattia’s WiFinder is a short Python script that continuously scans your Wi-Fi network. When a new device joins the network, it will display a message on your computer, hopefully buying you enough time to erase your browsing history. Or at least Alt-Tab to the desktop. Or run to the bathroom. Whaaaat? I don’t know what you’re talking about. No, you sound guilty. Here’s the Wi-Fi logo!
You can download WiFinder from Pescimoro’s Github page. You’ll also need Python and Nmap to run the script. As Hack A Day readers have pointed out, it would’ve been better if WiFinder checked for MAC addresses, that way you can also pinpoint exactly who violated your me time. It goes without saying that you’re also toast if the intruder doesn’t have a device that can connect to your network. But it’s not like Pescimoro is in the NSA; he made WiFinder while working on his Python skills.
The Monty Python reunion shows will start on July 1 in the London O2 stadium. The last show on July 20 will be broadcasted live to 450 movie theaters in the UK and 1,500 theaters around the globe....
Two 20-year old students of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Goa, India are working on a device that aids in learning Braille. Sanskriti Dawle and Aman Srivastav’s Project Mudra – mudra means “sign” in Sanskrit – is a device powered by the Raspberry Pi, with custom software made using Python.
The current Project Mudra prototype has six pins that stand for the dots on a Braille block. Its software has a couple of modes. One mode lets the user dictate a letter or a number through a headset. The user’s voice will be sent to Google’s speech API to be identified, after which the appropriate pins will be raised to form the Braille character for the spoken letter or number. This approach allows the user to learn at his or her own pace. In the second mode, Project Mudra recites a set of characters through an audio ouput – say, the letters of the alphabet – while moving the pins accordingly.
Sanskriti and Aman are also working on a third mode that will test the user’s aptitude. In that mode, Project Mudra will form a Braille character, which the user will have to identify through voice input. By once again tapping into Google’s speech API, the device will be able to identify if the user’s answer is correct. You can skip to around 1:30 and again at about 5:00 in the video below to see the Project Mudra prototype in action.
Sanskriti and Aman presented Project Mudra at the 2014 PyCon and are currently working on improving their device.
A whopping 18.2-foot (5.5 meters) Burmese python was caught in Florida on Tuesday. Officials said that the nonvenomous constrictor was spotted by Water Management District workers on a levee, 25...
Evan’s Neighborhood Pizza is a little restaurant in Fort Myers, Florida that appears to be your ordinary pizzeria. But there is more than meets the eye…or palate! Among some of the types of pizza the...
