So at work today I was looking around for some cool keyboard mods. Instead of finding any I found this custom case that is optimized for testing and swapping hardware. Its a cool concept and maybe one day when I have a boat load of free time I'll look into making one. The site has a decent step by step of how the case was created with pictures that follow the build. It's not a bad read. I mean all in all its a custom case with easy access and no real bells and whistles.
So every guy who was a kid watching the movie "Honey I Shrunk The Kids" was looking for a remote controlled lawn mower. I mean c'mon it doesn't get much better than mowing the lawn while standing on the porch. Terry created a remote controlled lawn mower and posted it on hackaday here. It's pretty freaking cool, I mean seriously who doesn't want a remote controlled lawn mower that you can send after the neighbors dog for taking a dump on your lawn or peeing on your mailbox. Only problem is this remote controlled lawn mower doesn't have the servo controlled pop up flag, and its not as pretty as the one in the movie. If your bored and feel like taking a trip back into the 90's I would take a look. You can also view more information on the lawnmower and a disclaimer (which is freakin hilarious) here.
The hack actually uses an old electric wheelchair, you know the kind that all the old people go hot roddin down the sidewalk on. The article shows some cool pictures on how to hack the wheel chair controller. Theres some custom PCBs and stuff as well. All in all an awesome project, and such a great idea. I'd totally make one if I had a lawn.
There is even a youtube video of this thing. I could be so lazy with one of these. I mean you sit there in a lawn chair drink your beer and play with a remote controlled lawn mower. Anyone have a better way to spend a Sunday?
I found a great tool for those of us that choose to (or are forced to) use ASP rather than PHP to build our web applications. The DynuEmail ASP Component boasts a large number of email creation functions making it very simple to send an email through a mail server without much difficulty. They have a free version the only downside is you cannot redistribute it and it does not come with the source. If your looking for a free email component and don't really care about the source here is your bread and butter.
The component is very easily setup to send emails. It covers all the basic email functionality without the need for all the complicated configurations and setups. All you need is an SMTP server. Once you have an SMTP server you can actually use this Component to direct emails from your domain but any address, even addresses that are not created on the server such as no-reply@test.com. That way you don't have to worry about incoming email responses, they will just be denied.
If your into ASP and building websites I would definately take a look at DynuEmail here.
For the past few days I have been looking into web security and the two most common attacks on a web application. Cross-Site scripting and SQL injection still top the list at numbers 1 and 2 respectively. Both of these malicious attacks can open up servers and data to damage and or the leakage of personal information.
Preventing these attacks is not as hard as one may think, but it is very easy to overlook many of the flaws in a web applications design. If you are a developer or just a hobbiest you may want to take a look into these two issues and make sure that your site is not open to these types of attacks.
If you have any questions or just want to talk web security feel free to contact me at firewire@geeksinside.com and I will see if I can answer them for you.
S1axter and I are going to be competing against each other in a contest to see who can make the most secure application. We have not yet defined the rules but if you want to jump in and throw out some ideas please post some comments. We are going to post after the rules before we start the contest and then post the results afterwards including the hacks that worked. Every site is different considering the style of the developer and the design of the application.
Here are some informative sites where you can find out more about these attacks and how to prevent them.
So I was surfing the net today when I got home and I found this cool modded keyboard. I have always been a fan of modded keyboards. One of these days I plan on making my own custom keyboard. Until then check out this cool keyboard project from the guys at steampunkworkshop.com. You can view the full article here http://steampunkworkshop.com/keyboard.shtml.. They made a custom brushed aluminum frame to house the keys and created typewriter style keys from buttons. Yeh buttons like the kind you put on a shirt. Looks good for a bunch of guys that apparently hung around in home ec to much.
I am an avid fan of the Nintendo Wii just because of the gameplay. Truthfully the graphics arn't as good as a PS3 or the other new systems but at $700 less than the PS3 and way better gameplay who cares. Seriously if you don't have an HDTV does it really matter anyway. So back to the point. They are finally making Guitar Hero for the Nintendo Wii and the screens of what the guitar could look like are nice. It looks like you pop the Wii-mote into the Guitar Hero controller and your ready to go. Playing Guitar Hero on the Wii has another plus. ITS FREAKIN WIRELESS no need to pay extra cash for wireless controllers. If your a Guitar Hero fan check it out at URL http://wii.ign.com/articles/783/783421p1.html.
firewire posted on Wed. June 27th 2007 at 12:38 PM PST.
So I haven't found to much interesting on the net lately. I was looking around for something cool and ran into this google earth blog that had some interesting small google earth hacks. This guy created a image layover for Jupiter and has some links for a site that contains details on other planets. Neet concept but not the craziest hack. I know guys like s1axter may get a kick out of playing with it for awhile. So take a look if its your thing.
Yah we all know that Doom has been around since the start of the "Gamers" era and your all probably sick of hearing about it. I figured since this wasn't about the game really and just a crazy PC mod that it was ok.
This guy spends his time making crazy computer systems, and by crazy I mean modded to the extreme. So I guess he decided to do a Doom 3 mod. All I can say is wow this guy has some amazing talent. Its more a work of art than a mod. With functional steam vents air locks and a feel like it came directly out of the game itself he definitely did an amazing job.
I don't really have much time to talk about it and I will probably edit this post later so that I can talk about it more but you can view the final beast here. If you would like to read through the entire post you can view that here.
firewire posted on Thu. June 14th 2007 at 03:50 PM PST.
Lately I have been thinking about getting into a few hobbies that I used to do when I had some free time. I started looking into getting setup to start building and flying RC planes again. So I started surfing the net and found some cool information. For anyone who wants to get into flying RC planes here is a good site ( http://www.cs.umd.edu/~dml/misc/rc.html ) that lets you know some basics plus where to find more information about specifics.
I also found this crazy plane that a guy made. He also created blueprints so that other people such as myself can purchase them. He sells a number of different blueprints that he created. The 55% scale 202 that he made is just outrageous and I would definitely check it out. Here is the link http://www.aero-sports.com/whplans/giles202-55.html.
For anyone in the San Diego area there is a swap meet coming up in a few weeks that you may want to check out. Apparently it has a good showing and lots of great equipment thats new and used. It's also located at San Diego's biggest RC airfield. You can get more information here.
I'm not quite sure whether I want to build a decent scale plane from blueprints (which will take a great deal of time and money for equipment) or go with something simple to start back up such as an ARF (Almost Ready To Fly) Kit.
Either way getting started again will cost about $400 for a basic trainer with a radio, servo's, engine, and all the basic tools to get started. Needless to say this is not a cheap hobby but it can be one hell of a good time.
firewire posted on Fri. June 8th 2007 at 10:50 AM PST.
So I sit here pondering about getting a new system and using my current system as a file/game server. I'm not quite sure what I want to get or build. I have a limited budget and don't know whether I want to go Mac or stick with a PC. PC's are just becoming more and more bloated and the whole issue with Mac's before was the lack of software (this is no longer the case). The other issue is now Mac's are much more expensive and I just cant put that kind of money up for a new box at the moment. I mean c'mon I just got a new apartment and still don't have anywhere for more than 3 people to sit. What kind of host doesn't even give his guests a place to sit?
Anyways getting off topic here let me know what you think Mac or PC and look at the whole picture, power, cost, and reliability. I am a power user so I need something with some kick to it. I am just not sure whats the best for the buck these days. Add a comment and let me know what you think.
So at work today I was looking around for some cool keyboard mods. Instead of finding any I found this custom case that is optimized for testing and swapping hardware. Its a cool concept and maybe one day when I have a boat load of free time I'll look into making one. The site has a decent step by step of how the case was created with pictures that follow the build. It's not a bad read. I mean all in all its a custom case with easy access and no real bells and whistles. 
So every guy who was a kid watching the movie "Honey I Shrunk The Kids" was looking for a remote controlled lawn mower. I mean c'mon it doesn't get much better than mowing the lawn while standing on the porch. Terry created a remote controlled lawn mower and posted it on hackaday 
I found a great tool for those of us that choose to (or are forced to) use ASP rather than PHP to build our web applications. The DynuEmail ASP Component boasts a large number of email creation functions making it very simple to send an email through a mail server without much difficulty. They have a free version the only downside is you cannot redistribute it and it does not come with the source. If your looking for a free email component and don't really care about the source here is your bread and butter. 
So I was surfing the net today when I got home and I found this cool modded keyboard. I have always been a fan of modded keyboards. One of these days I plan on making my own custom keyboard. Until then check out this cool keyboard project from the guys at steampunkworkshop.com. You can view the full article here 
