The Fat Man and Circuit Girl Forum http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/ This is an XML content feed of; The Fat Man and Circuit Girl Forum : Last 10 Posts Copyright (c) 2006-2008 Web Wiz Forums - All Rights Reserved. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:32:02 +0000 Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:25:19 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 9.55 30 forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/RSS_topic_feed.asp The Fat Man and Circuit Girl Forum http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/uploads/38/banner.png http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/ Current and past shows, Discussions and more : Laser sound effects http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=336&PID=3638#3638 Author: noianoia
Subject: Laser sound effects
Posted: Jul-29-2010 at 4:25pm

ive been trying to do this, but i cant get it to work.
im using a normal laser from a pen, and a phptp diode i got from my friend, so cant tell you what its made of, but its quite reflective.
i cant see the schematic monty is linking to, so if anyone could send it to me i would be forever thankful.
i already made it so i can transfer sound over the light to the diode, which is in circuit with a aa battery directly in to the amp. the sound transfer works perfectly, but i dont get any modulated sounds.. why is that?
im doing this as a very important project, so any help would be MUCH appreciated 

please send the schematic or any helpful notes here or to niz (a) jenkamusic.dk

thanks in advance!!
]]> Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:25:19 +0000 http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=336&PID=3638#3638 I need help! : Laser Sound Effects ( can't get it to work) http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=730&PID=3637#3637 Author: noianoia
Subject: Laser Sound Effects ( can't get it to work)
Posted: Jul-29-2010 at 12:18pm

ok, so ive seen the movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnKfjBnDduI
where monty aline a HEnE laser with a photodiode to hear the modulations in the photon stream.
i been trying to re-do it, and i jsut cant get it to work. im NOT using a HeNe laser, im using a normal laser pen, as i was sure the concept of the laseres "resonance" is the same, but as its not working im beginning to doubt. im not sure im using a silicon diode either(got it from a friend,so cant check it, but its a very reflective diode, so again in theory, it should work.

can anyone explain me why its not working? is it the laser? is it the diode?
i really need this to work as its part of my bachelor project.
so im wlling to compensate who ever helps me to get this working!

best regards
noia
please reply here or at niz  (a) jenkamusic.dk
thanks :)
 

]]> Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:18:37 +0000 http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=730&PID=3637#3637 Just putting it out there : "Modular" computers http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=627&PID=3636#3636 Author: Quark
Subject: "Modular" computers
Posted: Jul-28-2010 at 8:40am

thats exactly what jery did. she replaced a williams arcade board(i.e. all the chips and traces on it) by a single FPGA chip. you should lookup 'fpga' on wikipedia.]]> Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:40:57 +0000 http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=627&PID=3636#3636 Don't even ask me what I just did! : Game on a chip http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=579&PID=3635#3635 Author: bug-me-not
Subject: Game on a chip
Posted: Jul-25-2010 at 4:49pm

Think it would be possible to turn this into a wireless mouse hack? my SilverCrest is looking a bit dull compared to the rest of my kit, and hasn't received much attention...]]> Sun, 25 Jul 2010 16:49:38 +0000 http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=579&PID=3635#3635 Just putting it out there : ged rid of your glasses http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=726&PID=3634#3634 Author: fatman
Subject: ged rid of your glasses
Posted: Jul-24-2010 at 6:54pm

I think it's a freakin' _great_ idea!!
 
Put your flat monitor on a hinge or a track or something, and start experimenting!!
]]> Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:54:04 +0000 http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=726&PID=3634#3634 Introduce Yourself : hello world http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=729&PID=3633#3633 Author: fatman
Subject: hello world
Posted: Jul-24-2010 at 4:30pm

Thanks for posting...
I like your hack!! 
 
Enjoy your travels.
Remember to pack.
 
and please log on
when you get back.
 
-fat
]]> Sat, 24 Jul 2010 16:30:56 +0000 http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=729&PID=3633#3633 Introduce Yourself : hello world http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=729&PID=3632#3632 Author: snoegnud
Subject: hello world
Posted: Jul-22-2010 at 6:28pm


Hi, I'm Mikael. (And yeah, the handle "snoegnud" does spell "dungeons" backwards.. What can I say. I once needed a character name for a game of DnD very quickly and got stuck with it. Anyway, moving on..) I'm from Finland and my current job/career can be described with the words "dealin' burgers". Well, not really, but it's not that far from it. Although to be honest, I sometimes quite enjoy having a somewhat simple blue collar job instead of being, say, in software development (which is propably what I ought to be doing).


Well then, how did I get here? I blame the C64.

Many years ago, instead of studying something important, I surffed the web on some Commodore related stuff, when I came across some random geek party pics. One of them was a pic of a young woman hugging a C64 full of autographs. After the initial "hey, she's cute" reaction, I continued reading. Her name was Jeri something and as I read further my jaw dropped as it turned out that she had designed the C64DTV's internals. (Previously I just thought of the C64DTV as just some company's emulator based product.) Sure, I knew others had done new versions of disk drives or built ethernet adapters for the old bread box etc, but this was a full C64 on a chip and it was made to be hackable!  That put her instantly on my personal list of heroes and there is not much she can do to get off it. (Except maybe by burning a few more C64:s :)

Sometimes later, once again feeling nostalgia and browsing through some Commodore stuff, I found out that Jeri was also behind the C-One (which is still sold here in Europe with the MiniMig expansion, I think). Googling Jeri to find out what else she might have possibly done lead me in spring 2009 to the FMCG show. Not exactly a new C64, but again, it was/is something interesting!

I'm rarely able to watch the live show due to the time difference, but I've enjoyed the recorded shows. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what I like about it. It's a combination of things, different topics, the relaxed attitude, learning new stuff, humor and actually doing something instead of just talking about it - and also encouraging others to do so as well. It's a big *thumbs up* from me.


So, did I bring a hack?

Well, it's an old one, simple and not much of a hack, really. Despite all that, I hereby present you: The PC keyboard's Atari-style joystick connector. (Quite a mouth full.) "When playing emulator games with a keyboard just doesn't feel right."






According to the file date these webcam pics of the work in progress are from 2004.  I don't think they sold the USB-versions of the Pro Competition joystick back then, so I went DIY. The port's wires were soldered directly to the microcontroller of the keyboard. So, when connected the joystick would press certain keyboard buttons. Sadly not the arrow keys, though. They didn't have a single common "ground wire".






More recently I've just started playing around with a few Arduino boards and future plans..? Hmm. I've come to the conclusion, that a CNC machine or  RepRap-style 3D-printer would be an awesome project to do. The ability to use CAD-designed custom parts would open totally new DIY possibilities.  But all of this is still very much in the "planning" phase.



Edited by snoegnud - Jul-23-2010 at 4:58am]]> Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:28:15 +0000 http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=729&PID=3632#3632 I need help! : Hacking a playstation http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=728&PID=3631#3631 Author: melchior
Subject: Hacking a playstation
Posted: Jul-20-2010 at 7:04pm

Ok, apologies for what's probably a long and vague post...

You've probably seen some consoles which have been hacked down into handhelds.  I figure the very small PSone would make a great project - its about 20x14 cm, though pretty thick once a screen is added.  Most of the height comes from the CD drive; if I could remove the CD drive it might only be 1 cm tall Smile  My plan is to replace the CD with an ISO file on an SD card, and emulate the raw data that would normally be output by the CD drive.

After a lot of digging I managed to find a schematic for the board, plus a few datasheets for useful bits like the CD motor driver, and websites with some low-level stuff about data formats etc.

I think I'd be fine on the software side, but my hardware skills are pretty basic.  I've traced all the outputs from the CD drive but none of them seem to carry the actual data, and the schematic seems to confirm this.  I'm obviously making stupid mistakes somewhere...  A scope would be invaluable but I don't have the money.

Am I being too ambitious?  If anyone has experience in reverse engineering anything remotely like this, any general advice in how to approach this would be great.  And if anyone has poked around with playstations that would be even better.
Alternatively, tell me to get real and give up Tongue
]]> Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:04:13 +0000 http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=728&PID=3631#3631 Geeky Stuff You've Been Into : Webcam Telescope http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=727&PID=3630#3630 Author: Pyrofer
Subject: Webcam Telescope
Posted: Jul-20-2010 at 4:25pm

I modded a quickcam onto the eyepiece of my 3" Telescope, I live in London so looking at the sky is pointless. Instead I aimed it at a major landmark and tourist spot.
The London Eye.

Check it out at http://www.pyrofersprojects.com/blog/london-eye-webcam/

Do remember its UK time so check when its light!
]]> Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:25:24 +0000 http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=727&PID=3630#3630 Just putting it out there : "Modular" computers http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=627&PID=3629#3629 Author: dracosilv
Subject: "Modular" computers
Posted: Jul-17-2010 at 7:08pm

I know of a guy out somewhere, that made a dedicated microcontroller to replace a specific chip that was uncommon/hard to find.

Basically I was thinking how hard would it be to create a few programmed microcontroller chips (just for experimentation and playing around mainly) that perform a simple instruction/or instructions.
]]> Sat, 17 Jul 2010 19:08:36 +0000 http://forum.fatmanandcircuitgirl.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=627&PID=3629#3629