To demonstrate the dangers of unencrypted wireless cameras, Kevin Rose and Dan Huard reveal how to build and use the first ever handheld auto-switching warspying device. Designed from the ground up, they take a helpful step-by-step process to go from the basic circuit construction to the complete warspying box design.
Tired of shelling out hard earned cash to download the program listings of your DVR? Want to backup your videos but don't want to deal with the hassle of DRMed files? Kevin Rose & Dan Huard show you everything you need to know about the free and open source PVR alternative, MythTV. Build yours today!
Say goodbye to the bank-breaking audio/video cables at your local electronics superstore. Save your money and build out your home theater DIY style. With a total running time of 45 minutes, Kevin and Dan talk to a broadcast engineer to demonstrate how to make your own high end A/V cables for a fraction of the cost and a "monster" savings.
Say goodbye to the bank-breaking audio/video cables at your local electronics superstore. Save your money and build out your home theater DIY style. With a total running time of 45 minutes, Kevin and Dan talk to a broadcast engineer to demonstrate how to make your own high end A/V cables for a fraction of the cost and a ""monster"" savings.
Podcasting has become the radio phenomenon of the modern age. Kevin Rose and Dan Huard explain why podcasting is so popular and they show how to set up a basic podcast environment from the hardware you'll need to the uploading process. Also, get an exclusive look into Leo Laporte's (of This Week in Tech fame) advanced podcast studio!
Kevin Rose is joined by John Todd, a well known, leading Asterisk expert, to introduce you to the amazing VoIP (Voice over IP) world of Asterisk, the open source voip telephony toolkit. In this episode, Kevin and John take you through the installation and configuration of this powerful tool, and show how it can be used to give anyone complete control over their phone experiences, such as voice over wifi, eliminating phone costs, choosing from hundreds of VoIP providers, creating your own voicemail and menus, and numbers that follow you..just to scratch the surface.
The 2006 Maker Faire presents the do-it-yourself community with thousands of finished projects and inspired ideas. For their inaugural expo, Systm host, Dan Huard enlists the help of DigitalLife's Patrick Norton to scour the showroom floors and find the best projects. For this episode, Pat and Dan make music through their fingertips, ride a self-powered unicycle, push a car to 100 miles per gallon, and even get an exclusive interview with Phil Torrone, senior editor of Make Magazine.
Patrick Norton and Dave Randolph take you through some of the more popular hacks and mods out there for the AppleTV. They have sorted out all the articles out there and have come up with a complete step by step procedure to help you get your AppleTV up and running with a larger drive, SSH, Xvid and a RSS reader.
Claw games are everywhere and there are almost as dark mysterious and full of questionable content as the Internet. Patrick, Dan and Dave take you through the inner working of a claw game and then combine the two greatest sins of modern time, games of chance and the Internet to create an internet enabled claw game
We take you through the second annual Maker Faire with Dan Huard and Jessica Corbin to find some of the most interesting projects out there. From two story houses on wheels to hooker shoes with LCD screens to cupcake cars we got you covered in a manor befitting what you would expect from Systm. Dan gets his hands on a car so small you can fit four of them in one parking space and Jessica takes us on a monorail built just for our four legged friends. For the climax of the episode Dan and Jessica take a ride on a mechanical giraffe.
DIGG, DIGG, DIGG, It's a circular world we are living in and what better way to show it off than with a Digg button that shows the Digg count of the Digg story you Digg on a giant Digg button display in the Digg offices by the cousin of Digg (Revision3's Systm) at diggthediggbutton.com
David Randolph and guest host Leah Culver stress test and then tear apart the iPhone immediately upon exiting the Apple store on launch day.
So you've heard about the DIGG button and P.O.V. toys, and maybe even LCD drivers. What drives them? How do they work? Why should you care? On this episode of Systm, we tackle that very question as Patrick and Dave take a look at AVR microcontrollers. What should be simple becomes an overly complicated project that only a super NASA engineer would even think of handling if the world's fate was hanging in the balance and Bruce Willis was our only hope. So sit back and enjoy the ride as we make an LED blink on and off.
Tired of getting reamed for using your Mother's antique end table as your own personal workbench? Well then pay attention as David Randolph and Patrick Norton show you how to make a quick and dirty workbench SYSTM style.
Take a peek at the tools and equipment Patrick Norton and David Randolph have acquired over the years as they walk you through the must have gadgets every geek should have on their workbench.
Circuit Boards, nearly every modern electrical device uses them, but how do you make your own? David Randolph and Patrick Norton show you the path to success using ACID!
In this episode, Patrick and David show off some antennas, attempt 1 and 10 mile wifi links, and learn why more power doesn't always mean more distance.
What uses more energy: tech toys, or AC that runs 24/7? On our first EcoSystm David and Patrick run an energy audit on everything from a desk fan to an HDTV, and take a close look at how ugly our energy bill is when we read the fine print.
Calculating resistance and power isn't hard... and, as David explains, knowing Ohm's Law and the Power Triangle can be darn useful when you're designing a project, sorting out power supply issues, or want to keep from burning your car down.
It was Taser week on YouTube, which inspired David and Patrick to look at the tech behind electroshock weapons, from cattle prods to Tasers. It's a good reminder that Amps kill, not Volts. PS - be careful when you fry foil with a DIY camera taser.
In our biggest failure since the WiFi Episode, Systm trys to power an iPod with Lemons and create a Lithium Ion battery fire. Find out what exactly a battery is... and why we want a battery tech breakthrough in the worst way.
Diesels get better mileage than gas engines. Biodiesel has a lower carbon footprint and supports farmers. Great reasons to dump a gas engine and run biodiesel. Want a better reason? Exxon made 36 Billion last year... you don't have to buy gasoline.
Taking on the deep abyss with such courage and the fortitude of a modern day Columbus, Brendan White and Dave Randolph launch their R.O.V. into the shallow end of the kiddie pool.
It's Halloween again, instead of trick or treating, why not stay home and surprise the kids looking for treats with a shot of silly string at the back of their heads. Joey Rabier shows you this quick and easy mod to drive the neighborhood kids batty, just don't blame us if your house gets
A month of MAME? Absolutley. David has a dream of building a superior classic arcade game emulator, so we're building a full size cabinet from the ground up. Get your quarters!
Our arcade sized MAME case is taking a bit longer to build than we expected. So we’re spending a second episode building our classic arcade emulator. In part II: plastic wood, cutting vent holes, and lots of sanding!
Buttons! Trackball! TV! Coin Door! Speakers! Our arcade sized MAME case is on track. We've got template help for the buttons... and tips on not getting shocked by the TV!
Our MAME Arcade Cabinet is alive! Dave walks you thru wiring the controls, Brendan has the word on which OS to run, along with lots of info on configuring MAME on your fave OS!
On this episode of SYSTM, the month of MAME comes to a conclusion as the cabinet gets a healthy coating of paint and elbow grease courtesy of Joey, plus Patrick Norton and Brendan White answer a few of your MAME related questions. It was fun while it lasted.
We've been stockpiling your comments and questions for a couple months... Alternative Hydrogen Generation. Potato Guns. You need a load to measure current. Building a Radar Jammer...
Today we turn a 7805 Voltage Regulator and 4 AA batteries into a very simple Power Supply to charge anything that runs off USB. Breadboarding circuits are fun!
On this episode of (Eco)Systm, we venture out and take a tour of the Wired Magazine/Living Homes Exhibit in LA. This collaborative effort will redefine what we typically think of when we hear of "Prefab" construction. While not in the price range for most of us, this home does offer some options that we all can all take part in.
Car + Hydrogen = Better Mileage? We're not quite ready to drop the cash on one of those under hood mileage boosters being sold all over the web.. but using water electrolysis to produce Hydrogen sounded like a good first step!
Live video broadcasts from a cell phone? On the flight home from CES 2008 we realized watching Robert Scoble walking and streaming live video with Qik was way cool... and something we wanted to play with on Systm.
Have we painted a notebook? Sure. PC Case? Absolutely. Various and sundry DIY projects? Yup. Ryan and Nik want some help painting laptops and PC cases... so we've got a collection of basic tricks to get the best quality when rattlecanning your project.
We've got half a day of wiring to build the Wireless Access Truck out of an EVDO modem, a Wilson Electronics Cell Phone Booster, a 12V Mini ITX PC and a WiFi adapter... Hit it.
Whether it's the PC in our Wireless Access Truck, a massive 1000W amplifier or an extra power plug for a cell phone, the same rules apply... ignore 'em, and you could turn your car into a fire hazard... or just blow out its electrical system.
If it's got a 386 processor and 32MB of RAM, and you can find a pair of Ethernet cards, you can turn that Junk PC into a serious Firewall to protect your network.
Got five minutes? You can make any USB Thumbdrive waterproof with epoxy and a popsicle stick! Your USB Flash Drive need never fear the washing machine again if you waterproof it... if you've got ten minutes and a popsicle stick, you can do this!
Cheating At Guitar Hero: An introduction to show controllers, by David Randolph
Command the respect and admiration of others and build a robot.... that destroys other robots!
There's nothing wrong with potato guns... we love sparking up Right Guard as much as the next geek. But compressed air, now that makes for a seriously fun cannon.
300 yard tennis ball hucks? No problem. Your questions about calculating barrel to air chamber ratios, finding fittings and what exactly Schedule 40 is? No problem. David's new Versalaser? Problem: he's out sick!
A fabulous mink wrapped notebook? Automotive paints, laser etching and water bubble finishes? It's one of our odder episodes of Systm.
3 clever hacks: save on gas, use Mentos and Mt. Dew to create an emergency light and a way to harness the power of photons to create free energy.
Cut and past your way to better WiFi reception? It costs pennies and takes the fabrication skills of a kindergartner... then bend a 6dBi Omni and a 10dBi directional out of copper wire!
Get an up close and personal view of the latest toy in our toolbox. Whether it's ceramic, wood or acrylic this thing can cut or etch near anything!
Back in the day, only the foolhardy overclocked a PC. Today? It's practically expected for home builders. We walk you thru the basics of getting free performance from your processor.
On David Randolph's final episode we go deep inside the thermal management on a $5000 PC, install a watercooling kit on the $500 and fabricate a fan adapter with the VersaLASER.
Gas is over $4.00 a gallon all over San Francisco, so this episode is all about proven methods to get more MPG from your car, from changing the air filter to giving up on using your brakes.
Adding thermal imaging to your car is a lot easier than you might think... think car stereo plus some light fabrication. Seeing further in the dark? That's priceless.
You don't need yards of copper pipe to make liquor. Julia Nolan, a chemical engineer, shows us how to distill alcohol the easy way.
We show you how to replace an expensive iPhone/iPod dock with a small, cheap and very portable cable.
The diyMod skips the headphone amp in your iPod to get pure audio straight from the source... this is one of the toughest mods we've ever attempted!
Back in episode 48 we showed you how to water cool your PC. Perfect if you want to overclock your system. But what happens when we bolt on a car radiator to that very same water cooling system?
It's back to the PC parts store and a late delivery for this episode of Systm, thanks to a few well placed drops of coolant between our mobo and CPU.
Not counting the motherboard we fried, dropping our CPU temp 10 degrees Celsius cost us $21.30 per degree in parts. I think we've got all your water cooling questions answered!
iPod? Camcorder? Notebook? Our Portable Power Pack will keep 'em running, plus we figure out if an AC Inverter or a DC/DC Converter is more efficient!
CNET's Tom Merritt answers the great VMWare vs. Parallels question. Which is best for running Windows applications inside of OS X? Watch the show and find out!
Patrick takes you through the steps of adding Blu-Ray playback to your Home Theatre PC, and highlights the issues you need to be aware of before you take the plunge.
If you're just itching for an excuse to reuse that retired desktop PC or laptop sitting in your closet there here's your chance. Today we'll be looking at the basics of installing FreeNAS, an open-source DIY NAS. So instead of spending money on off the shelf options why not save yourself some cash and make use of the stuff you already have and get a super customizable network storage device to boot.
Master Robot Builder David Calkins reveals the basics of putting together and programming your very own android. Plus find out what happens when we combine Patrick and non-dairy creamer.
With the sudden interest in hands-free operation of cellphones while driving Pat though it would be cool to take it one step further and use a speakerphone instead. Speakerphones are louder, easier to understand and sport that retro-Charlie's Angel cool geek chic that no in-ear handsfree system can match.
Dolby’s wizards reveal the three key tips to getting the best multichannel audio out of your home theater
Don't have a lot of money for a new Home Theater PC? No problem. Mythbox is open source, free and runs great on a cheap PC. It's perfect for a HTPC if you're on a budget!
DVR, HD Tuner, Blu-ray and more... Our fave HDTV expert, PCMag.com's Robert Heron, joins us with a host of tricks for turning Vista's Windows Media Center into a great Home Theater PC
Using the power of digital photos, common web tools and photo sharing sites we show you how Cassidy Curtis is documenting the changes to living breathing cities that's accessible to almost everyone with the click of a mouse.
Learn how this high school student did the Segway one better... by building his own self balancing scooter!
1080p projectors still cost mounds of cash: in the long awaited conclusion of our Home Theater Month, David and Patrick build one up from a Lumenlab DIY Projector Kit.
What does origami have to do with technology?
Lighting a tech project with Electroluminescent material can look super professional, but it's easy to damage it or shock yourself. Learn how to safely add EL to any tech project in this episode of Systm!
Your router gets a major upgrade with the free Tomato Firmware: monitor bandwidth consumption, boost your WiFi signal, make major QoS tweaks, track the results with shiny graphics... and more!
Synthesizers are cool, but the theremin is the original electronic instrument. We show you how to build one, and a master theremin player shows you what you can do with it.
Use a free download to turn a laser level and a netcam into a highly accurate 3D scanner... all you need is a corner and a printer to make it all work!
Selling your old computerr? Donating it to charity? Learn how to permanently wipe your hard drives, with and without a blow torch!
Make your own Brain in a Jar and a Giant Robot Spider - guaranteed to creep out your friends and frighten your neighbors!
Dave and Pat break down the basics of RFID technology and show you how to put it to use by building an RFID beer safe!
More on Router Firmware, EL, Wiring Robots, Wardriving, Data Sanitizing... and your ideas for future episodes: growing pot, building lightsaber replicas and DIY headphone amps!
Ready to build your first robot? A sumo robot is a great place to start, and we've got the complete how to from David Calkins!
Watch us hack a Nintendo 64 into a portable gaming system complete with screen, speakers and battery power: Full Nintendo anywhere you go!
Learn to solder by building yourself the most excellent Chu Moy headphone amp. It sounds great but cheap enough to give away as holiday stocking stuffers.
Death to fruitcakes! We show you how to burn them in the fireplace, blast them into outer space on a toy rocket, or turn them into a functional doorstop or arty stained glass. Spare your friends and family the shame of...
Forget about paying for a new camera: this simple firmware hack gives Canon PowerShot cameras a real kick the pants!
Want to play your video collection on any media extender, console or Apple TV? Step one is to get your movies off of the DVDs and onto your hard drive! Part 1 of our DIY Video Jukebox Series
More storage and a performance boost? Upgrade your hard drive without having to re-install anything!
In today's episode, we're going to help you build three USB battery power supplies so you never run out of power for your favorite gadgets!
Set up a personal media server, it's easy, and you'll have access to your favorite tunes and movies no matter where you go!
Now that you've got your movies encoded, we show you how to distribute them over your home network.
Security, safety, ease of repair, USB Flash Drives are more than just storage, they're a great way to run your safe copy Linux or Windows on -any- machine that can boot from USB!
Want access to your files stored at home? How about hosting a home web server? Static IPs are expensive, if you can even get one. We set up Dynamic DNS instead!
PCMag's HDTV expert, Robert Heron, teaches us top notch HDTV calibration tricks using tools anybody can afford!
Luke, Darth and Obi-Wan's Lightsabers were pieced out of junk piles. David shows you how to build exact replicas and an original design from The Custom Saber Shop. Then he picks a fight with Patrick.
UPS Hack! Take the tiny battery out of your Uninteruptible Power Supply and replace it with a car battery: you get to run your UPS for a lot longer, and potentially melt your face!
The most disgusting PC hack ever! We build a computer inside an aquarium, and then fill it full of mineral oil, to see if full-on liquid immersion cooling will work better than air or water cooling. Watch as we take PC modification to the next level and put a PC in an aquarium, complete with a ship wreck and fake plants.
Is your rig the fastest it can be? Join us as the folks from Extremetech.com show us the best tips, tools and techniques for benchmarking your PC!
Build your very own high quality sealed subwoofer in just a fraction of the time it would take to build a traditional box. It's all about Sonotube, the toughest cardboard you'll ever meet!
From the inverter you plug into, to battery banks used to store energy, a Hamster Wheel Powerd PC has a lot in common with other alternative energy sources like Solar, Wind, Water or Bicycles!
Save yourself the hassle of rebuilding your system in the event of a catastrophic disk failure, by creating a custom recovery disc... and learn about Rescue CDs and Slipstreaming while you do!
Tired of not having enough power points in your car to keep your phone charged, your GPS on, and your DVD/monitor combo playing? Change all that by adding additional 12 volt power outlets to your car.
Systm hits the 100th episode, and to celebrate we decided to light up our cake with a DIY flame thrower!
It's been super hot this week in San Francisco, which has the Systm crew thinking of home made ice cream, but using Liquid Nitrogen instead of a boring old ice cream maker!
Learn how to use microcontrollers to control just about anything as we build a device that raises a flag every time you get a new email!
Although the modern beer keg has been with us since the 1960's the technology surrounding it has advanced much. Sure the materials might be different, and the gas mixture more suited to wide variety of ales, brews and beer, but really it's still a big metal cylinder that's heavy and difficult to control access to. So we figured we put a few 21st century bits of technology on the thing and turn it into a mobile and easily controlled beer dispenser.
Back in January, in Video Jukebox Part 2, we showed you how to build a movie server with TVersity and iTunes. This week, we build a MediaTomb, a free, open source media server that works great with the PS3, and just about any other media rendering box that is UPnP MediaServer compatible! It currently won't work with the Xbox 360... for that we still recommend TVersity! The hardware requirements are minimal, many folks run it on a NAS box such as Western Digital's MyBook World Edition with no problems!
Get to your home PC when you're on vacation, whether to download copies of the baby pixs, some fresh music, or upload a bunch of pictures you want off your camera! Bypass network blocks at the office so you can run Twitter or browse to any website! Fix Dad's PC... even when it's three states away! Call us enthusiastic, but we're all about setting up remote access using remote control software on this episode of Systm! There are a number of ways to do this... commercial tools, open source tools like VNC, and even something that Microsoft already stuffed inside some versions Windows XP, Vista and 7. This is different from DynDNS , walked you through a few months ago... that allows you to find your home server no matter what IP address your ISP assigns you. Many of the services we're talking about today already have this ability built in. There are tons of commercial applications to do this. They usually charge a monthly fee, but can save you lots of work setting things up. We talk the following applications, and tell you which ones are the best deal and why: pcAnywhere GoToMyPC.com LogMeIn.com We also walk you through setting up free tools, such as the Remote Desktop Connection tool that have been built into many versions of Windows since XP. That includes the basics of port forwarding, which you'll need to set up in your router for most DIY remote connection tools. Finally, we get our geek on and walk you thru setting up VNC , aka Virtual Network Computing on your machine. On Windows, we like UltraVNC the best.... you can use it via a remote viewer, or any browser that has Java installed. Want to get even more geeky? Try setting up VNC viewers that run on your iPhone or Android powered phone!
Building a robot requires many skills: metal working, soldering, drilling, and of course programming. It also means investing in the right tools and materials. It also requires a ton of trial and error as you piece your way through a build. Sound like too much work? Or maybe too expensive? Want the fun of getting into robotics -and a solid introduction to robot programming without committing to most the above? LEGO just might have the answer. LEGO's Mindstorm NXT is a robotics kit that mixes the traditional LEGO bricks, Technics pieces, with sensors, motors and NXT programmable brick. Using the included pieces and a PC users can create any number of robotic creations. Dave, our resident robotics mavin, works full time for LEGO Education, and shares his insight to help you create your first robot using the Mindstorms NXT kit.
We love a good FreeNAS... who doesn't? A Network Attached Storage box solves a problem lots of folks have: there's never enough space for all your data. Whether your storing documents, digital photos, music, movies or games you'll always need and want more space. FreeNAS is a great free too for building a NAS... but today's build, LimeTech's unRAID softare adds a nifty twist. If one of your storage drives dies, it can replace the lost data. All you need is a machine with an Ethernet card that can boot off a USB thumbdrive, and the free free unRAID software. For a comprehensive list of your hardware options, check out the compatibility list. For tons of helpful unRAID ideas, tips and tricks, check out: Getting Started with unRAID and unRAID Server Community.
Kevin Rose gives us a first look and overview of the ipod nano and then starts takes it apart.
Dan Huard and Dave Randolph walk through the steps to get OSX up and running on the apple TV
