Author Archives: robertwilkie

A $200 decent 3D printer?

This looks interesting, a cheap (2-3 hundred in kickstarter when it comes out) 3D printer that looks pretty robust.  Its suppose to sell for $3-400 after kickstarter.  Which puts it in the printrbot range.  But it looks like it might … Continue reading

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Reverse Engineering a bank security token

OK I am not sure if this is cool or scary.  Cool that the author reverse engineered the android app to get how the token was generated, and build code to use a cheap TI Stellaris to generate its own. … Continue reading

Posted in android, Cheap, Security, TI | Comments Off on Reverse Engineering a bank security token

Random numbers with AVR

Interesting article where the author created a library to run on an AVR Tiny for random number generation. http://hackaday.com/2014/02/10/the-two-component-random-number-generator/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+hackaday%2FLgoM+%28Hack+a+Day%29

Posted in Arduino, Cheap, Security | Comments Off on Random numbers with AVR

Serial port motor controller

Neat little hack to control motors via a serial port (without a board in-between).  Could be useful for robot projects in the future. http://hackaday.com/2014/02/10/controlling-motors-without-a-microcontroller/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+hackaday%2FLgoM+%28Hack+a+Day%29

Posted in robots, Tinkering | Comments Off on Serial port motor controller

Xerox PARC gets spy grant

Well a grant to do research for the military.  Sounds like some interesting tech.  Odd thing is its PARC that got the grant.  Not so much Xerox (PARC is a spin off from Xerox now, I think Xerox just owns … Continue reading

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Work at Xerox, you get fleas

This was a bizarre story.  Apparently one of Xerox’s locations in Salt Lake City had a flea infestation, so bad that 2 folks went to the doctors.  Its pretty cold in Salt Lake this time of year, so I am … Continue reading

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Nice simple storage bins

If I ever have allot of time on my hands, this would be some storage bins to build. http://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-hardware-storage-bins/?ALLSTEPS

Posted in Misc-Life | Comments Off on Nice simple storage bins

Yeah after…10 years? USA to get EMV cards

Took long enough.  But it seems US customers will be getting EMV cards (Europay, Mastercard, Visa).  Basically its a smartcard with chip/pin authentication.  Its been in europe for some time now, but USA has been stuck on mag stripe cards … Continue reading

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Hack your car

Came out of Defcon last year (video just came up).  Anyways, basically you hack the car via the CAN bus. http://jalopnik.com/hackers-can-take-over-your-car-with-this-simple-26-dev-1519896807/@barrett?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+gizmodo%2Ffull+%28Gizmodo%29

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Oh yeah, this is the way to plow the driveway

I love this robot, its a nice build to plow out the driveway.  And it seems to work pretty well. Down side, I think I could pay for a lifetime of snowplowing contracts for the cost of materials for this … Continue reading

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