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Book Review

Hardware Hacking Projects For Geeks

Reviewed by Justin Vinnedge

 

IMAGE: Hardware Hacking Projects For Geeks CoverThis book was one of those that I most looked forward to reading. This would be my first experience getting away from software hacking and getting into the world of physical hacking.

Well, I was not disappointed. This book covered a lot of ground in a very short time. It is written for hardware hackers of all abilities. They start out very basic explaining how to read schematic diagrams and how to use a soldering iron. They also explain how to use some basic everyday hand tools.

The first few projects are very easy (even for the novice hardware hacker). The very first project is building a circuit board that has a switch, which will light up an LED. The book quickly moves onto more advanced (and fun) projects such as building a laptop battery power extender. This will let you run your laptop off of everyday ordinary D-cell alkaline batteries. That was one of my favorite hacks. However, my absolute favorites would be the making of a wearable computer, and making a Wi-fi antenna out of an old Campbell’s soup can. The wearable computer was a fully functional computer that you would strap various parts of to your body. The monitor covered only one eye, so you could still see what was going on around you.

The soup can Wi-fi antenna was very cool too. It could transmit data over 300 feet. It could also be interfaced with any normal computer. A cool idea would be to make the wearable computer and hook it up to the Wi-fi antenna. Warwalking would never be the same! They also had instructions on how to build a wi-fi antenna out of an old Primestar satellite dish. This antenna could transmit data up to ten kilometers. The only downside was that it was extremely directionally oriented. So, it would not be much use for identifying wireless networks in your area. However, it would work great for transmitting data to and from your buddies. They also had projects like hacking a Furby to make it say what ever you want. That one really did not interest me that much.

Another really cool project was making a water-cooling system for your processor, allowing it to be overclocked even higher than normal. Do you still have any original Apple Macintosh’s lying around? Well then why not convert them into a fish tank? This book covers all kinds of cool geek fish tanks. They even tell you how to make a web enabled fish feeder, so all you have to do is type “Feed” and BAM your fish are fed (although you should remember to secure it; you don’t want your fish to be overfed by some cracker!). They also show you how to build a web enabled toaster and coffee machine. Mmmmm--command line coffee--The toaster is capable of burning specific patters onto the bread, like the weather report or what ever you want.

Nervous about physical security at the office? Then why not build a cubicle IDS? This book gives detailed instructions on how to set up a cubicle IDS, as well as how to make “rule sets” for it, which let it determine what actions are malicious and which are not. The most over the top project in my opinion is the car mounted video periscope. This lets you see up over the traffic to determine what is causing all the hold up. The book also includes code when necessary (its O’Reilly folks) to save you the trouble of writing it your self. I would definitely recommend this book to any one who has an interest in electronics or an interest in hacking.

Hardware Hacking for Geeks, by Scott Fullam. 1st Edition January 2004, O’Reilly. 348 pages, $29.95.


Justin (also known as n3w7yp3) is a computer hacker who spends most of his time in the Underground waiting for the next good hack.

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