Blancer.com Tutorials and projects – Page 66116 – Freelance Projects, Design and Programming Tutorials

Turn A Dead 360 Into A PC

Xbox 360 PC

Got a dead 360 laying around that you can’t fix? Turn that sexy piece of hardware into a fully functional PC. The guys over at Hack N Mod have posted a detailed mod which converts a 360 console into a fully functional PC. Best of all, no red ring of death on this one. Check out the video after the break.

The main challenge with an Xbox to PC mod is fitting everything inside the cramped space of an Xbox 360. The CPU and the power supply have different sizes and line up differently. Innovation is the name of the game as electric0ant shows through careful planning and his project illustrations. Check out a few below. The complete step by step is given on his project page.

Now if only someone could cram a fully functional quad core into an altoids tin, that would be awesome.

[Link to Resurrect a Dead XBox 360 into a PC]

Turn A Dead 360 Into A PC originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/07.

A Cell Phone For Grama

With the massive amount of multi-function “smart” phones out there people tend to loose the focus of what cell phones actually are; phones.

My mother couldn’t care less if her phone plays mp3’s or if it’s got a twitter client. All she wants is a phone and a super easy one to boot. As she starts to approach her twilight years (still love you mom), this generic brand mobile phone with oversize butons with a screen that can be read from across the room might just be perfect for her.

The oginal idea was to design a phone for seniors who aren’t very tech savvy, but you can also use it if all you want is a really simple cell phone.

SOS

The 6380 Senior Mobile Phone does actually carry a few handy features, including a flashlight, a massive “SOS” button on the back the can auto dial a pre-set number and emit a loud warning tone (if you think pocket dialing people is bad, just imagine this in your pocket), a phone book, SMS messaging, a calendar, alarm clock and an FM radio. The display is kept to a bare minimum with a massive font and, ready for this, a whopping 128×60 screen resolution.

The 6380 only works in the 900/1800 GSM bands, so it will work everywhere except for North America (sorry mom). If it’ll work on your home network, expect to pay $74.99 for one.

[Link to 6380 Seniors Mobile]

A Cell Phone For Grama originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/06.

MacHeist Nano Bundle: $154 In Apps 4 Free

MacHeist Nano

The guys behind MacHeist are at it again. This time they are offering $154 in apps for free. Yes I said for free as in speech and beer.

I’m not sure how the developers or the guys at MacHeist are making any money from this since it’s all free, maybe they are building up their mailing list or creating some hype for the next bundle they release. Who knows, but what we do you is you get the following 6 apps for free:

ShoveBox
WriteRoom
Twitterrific
TinyGrab
Hordes of Orcs
Mariner Write (only unlock after 500,000 people)

All you have to do is head on over to MacHeist.com, login or signup, and you’ll get your six free apps. The offer is only valid for the next 6 days, so hurry your ass over.

[Link to MacHeist nanoBundle]

MacHeist Nano Bundle: $154 In Apps 4 Free originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/06.

Google Voice Invites

Google Voice Invite

With all of the hoopla surrounding Google Wave most people have forgotten about Google’s last hot product, Google Voice.

If you haven’t heard of Google Voice, let’s look at wikipedia ….

The service provisions a U.S. phone number, chosen by the user from available numbers in selected area codes, free of charge to each user account. Inbound calls to this number are forwarded to other phone numbers of the subscriber. Outbound calls may be placed to domestic and international destinations by dialing the Google Voice number or from a web-based application.[2] Inbound and domestic outbound calls (including calls to Canada, Alaska and Hawaii [3]) are free of charge, while international calls are billed according to a schedule posted on the Google Voice website.

It’s an awesome service and it currently in closed beta. Much like gmail of many years ago, you can only join Google Voice if you have an invite, and I just happen to have 3.

The first three people who post a comment will get an invite. Make sure you use your real email since that’s the only way to send out the invite. Enjoy.

Google Voice Invites originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/06.

DIY: Auto Tracking Sentry Gun

Sentry Gun

Every wanted to build you very own auto tracking sentry gun? No? Me either, but now that I take a look at it I do want to build one. Not one that fires bullets or anything, but one that would have a water gun on it to keep people out of my office.

If you’re like me and wanted to make one of these you would probably ran into the same issues I have. So to help all you poor suckers out the software we developed is open source and freely available on the website. The only reservation we have is that you make it a point not to hurt anyone or anything, we take no responsibility for anything.

The point of making it open source is to encourage joint development of the software and hardware possibilities.

If you follow the instructions properly you will end up with exactly what you wanted. After collecting all the hardware you will probably spend a long weekend putting it together. It doesn’t take a genius but it helps to be able to solder and do some basic handcrafts.

You can head on over to his website where he has detailed instruction on building one and all the software you will need to make it work.

DIY: Auto Tracking Sentry Gun originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/06.

Woops: 10.6.2 Doesn’t Kill Atom Support

Hackintosh

Woops, looks like 10.6.2 won’t kill support for the Atom chip after all. All you netbook hackintosh users can now breath a sigh of relief. We reported a few days ago that the latest developer build of Leopard had support for the Atom chipset removed. None of the Apple hardware uses the Atom chip so it looked like it was a direct attack at killing off the hackintosh community. Well, we were wrong.

It looks like Apple has added support for the Atom chip back in. Not sure why they did this in the first place. It could have been a mistake, could just be a temporary measure, but it can change again at any time. Apple is notorious for going to extreme measures to it’s OS off of non Apple hardware. Only time will tell. In the meantime, enjoy the latest developer build on your netbook.

Woops: 10.6.2 Doesn’t Kill Atom Support originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/06.

DIY: Arduino AppleTV Remote

Arduino Remote Control

Not happy with the limited ability of Apple’s remote control? Build yourself your very own by using an Arduino.

Besides the obvious fact that this will act as a remote control for not only your AppleTV but also your Mac, you can easily build projects to automate tasks via the remote control.

This is a great first step in adding some more functionality to Apple’s “Hobby” hardware. This is also great for remotely getting your AppleTV to work when your out of town and your wife can’t figure out how to work the damn thing. It’s to AppleTV what MythWeb is to MythTV. Awesome.

[Link to Instructables]

DIY: Arduino AppleTV Remote originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/05.

USB Boobie Warmers

Boobie Warmers

I have seen my share of of really weird USB devices, but a set of breast warming pads that work off of USB? Just imagine plugging in your bra to your laptop as you are working at your desk.

I’m not sure how much good this will do you while your out and about, where keeping your boobies warm might be what you want, but then again you can always have a battery pack or solar panel on the back of your jacket to power it.

[Link to USB Breast Warmer]

USB Boobie Warmers originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/05.

Secret Knock Door Lock

Knock Sensor Layout

Forget about all of those fancy RFID and Biometric door lock systems, build yourself a high-tech secret door knock lock.

By using an Arduino and a few other parts that were laying around, Steve Hoefer built a device that unlocks the door when it detects a certain knock pattern on the door. It works by listening and counting the time between knocks, and you can re-program the unit by simply holding down a button. Check out the video after the break of the Secret Knock Door Lock in action.

I wouldn’t depend on this to keep my place safe. It would be real easy for someone to hang out around the corner and listen to the knock and then they would know how to get in. The guys over at Hackszine have the right idea; incorporate a system where as you can use a series of one time knocks or incorporate a timestamp.

[Link to Secret Knock Door Lock]

Secret Knock Door Lock originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/05.

Hacker Hacks Jailbroken iPhone

Hacked Jailbroken iPhone

We all know the dangers of running a jailbroken iPhone. No tech support, the wrath of your carrier, and simple exploits as demonstrated by Dutch hacker. With a little bit of port scanning to find jailbroken iPhones with SSH running he sent users a message that read “Your iPhone’s been hacked because it’s really insecure! Please visit doiop.com/iHacked and secure your iPhone right now! Right now, I can access all your files.”

The URL directs people to Paypal and requests €5 in exchange for instructions that explains how to remove the hack. How did the Dutch hacker get in? All jailbroken iPhones have a default root password, if you forget to change it your left wide open to this kind of attack.

This is more of an annoying attack than anything else. With root access to the phone a lot more could have been done. Remember, if you jailbreak your phone, for the love of God, change the root password.

Hacker Hacks Jailbroken iPhone originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/05.

DIY: Digital Mixtape

Digital Mixtape

Remember the good old days? When you wanted to impress a girl you’d spend all night creating her a mixtape? No, you don’t? Maybe I’m just old.

Justin Cole wanted to relive the good old days while still using modern day technology so he decided to mash together a digital tape adapter and a flash drive.

My new design uses a small mp3 player that I disassembled and placed inside a cassette tape adapter for an iPod. This allows for mp3’s to be played back through a tapedeck. This has all of the ease and technology of an mp3 player with the retro coolness of a mix tape.

[Link to Digital Mixtape]

DIY: Digital Mixtape originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/05.

Fuel Cell Charger

We have all heard about how fuel cell technology will revolutionize the world of power since they are instantly recharged with a small shot of methanol. Toshiba finally releases a practical fuel cell charger for real world geek use; a gadget charger.

Toshiab’s Dynario charger uses as little as 50 ml of methanol to recharge itself in about 20 seconds. This really is the first stab for them at consumer commercial fuel cell chargers and they have only created 3000 units that they plan to sell for $328, plus another $34 for 5 cartridges.

This is still a far cry from being affordable for common use, but it is a first step in easing power issues for all of us geeks.

[Link to Toshiba’s Dynario]

Fuel Cell Charger originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/04.

10.6.2 Kills Off Atom CPU Support

Hackintosh

Looks like Apple is taking another step to put a nail in the coffin of the hackintosh community. Looks like the developer build of Mac OS 10.6.2 lacks support for Intel’s Atom processor which every netbook around uses and is very popular in the hackintosh community.

If this is a conscious move on Apple’s part and they let the build go live we might be looking at another cat an mouse game between Apple and the legions of hackers in the hackintosh world.

For the longest time Apple hasn’t really anything heavy at stopping people from installing their OS on non Apple hardware. With a move like this, which really doesn’t streamline the OS and looks like a blatant attack on the hackintosh world, I wonder how long it will take set community to find a work around. You can never keep the power of the people down (I just had to throw that one in there).

10.6.2 Kills Off Atom CPU Support originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/04.

Build A Real Working Tricorder, Sort Of

Working Tricorder

No self respecting trekkie would ever be caught dead without his or her tricorder. So if your that much a trekkie or have no friends and find that people of the opposite sex are repulsed by your presence, why not kill sometime and build yourself a real working tricorder?

The words “Real” and “Working” are someone deceiving. See, if you really want this thing to “Sort of work” then you’ll need to sacrifice an iPhone. Also, the term “Working” only refers to what the iPhone can do, like send email or surf the web. If you cool with giving up your iPhone to make it look like you have a working tricorder then go nuts, but might I suggest getting some fresh air or professional help from a doctor as well!

[Link to Building A Real Working Tricorder]

Build A Real Working Tricorder, Sort Of originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/03.

Videogame Alarm Clocks

SNES Alarm Clock

Every hardcore gammer should alway emerge him or herself with gaming at all times. Games on your phone, games on your PDA, games on your computer, games on your tv and even gaming to wake you up. The guys over at the TechEBlog have put together a pretty cool collection of “Alarm Clocks Made From Video Game Consoles”.

My personal favorite is the Xbox 360 with built in space for your kleenex. I sure hope whoever made that one picked up a dead system to build it with. If not, that can easily be classified as the most expensive alarm clock anyone person should own.

If you know of any other cool things made from video game consoles, let us know in the comments or in the tech.nocr.at forums

[Link to Alarm Clocks Made From Video Game Consoles]

Videogame Alarm Clocks originally appeared on tech.nocr.at on 2009/11/03.