Arduino

If you're protecting treasured first edition comic collection with a combination lock, you may want to upgrade your security. traditional combo locks are about to be toast thanks to this new robot. The contraption is the creation of Samy Kamkar, the same hacker who brought us the pocket-sized KeySweeper, capable of sniffing keystrokes from wireless keyboards. With a little help from a 3D-printer and Arduino, Kamkar's device exploits a trick he discovered which allows anyone to crack a Masterlock in eight tries or less. The programmable motor is more efficient than any lock picker, opening the lock in seconds.

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Despite the prevalence of smartphones, few consoles and console games take advantage of this "second screen" available at our fingertips. Some games even have in-game phones that point to the fact, but don't always tie into the real world. While some games actually do use your mobile device as an extension of your game, GTA V isn't one of those. Well, at least not without this latest, still unpublished, hack. YouTube user " DIY Projects Planetleak" published a video showing how he controlled the game's in-game phone using, well, his iPhone.

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Following up on what it started last February, Microsoft is pushing through with the thrust to bring Windows 10 to even smaller and less powerful but more general purpose hardware. In short, it is targeting the development and hobby boards that hackers and makers have grown to love. As part of its attempt to remain relevant in the Internet of Things (IoT), it is starting an Insider Preview of what it calls Windows 10 IoT Core. Plus, it has just made sure that at least one edition of the OS is now labeled as "Arduino-certified".

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Nintendo has a history of releasing obscure, rarely used peripherals for its video game consoles and portables. In this instance, I'm talking specifically about the Game Boy Camera and Game Boy Printer, two accessories for Nintendo's original 8-bit handheld that, well, let you take small, lo-fi pictures and print them with the same quality as a cash register receipt. Well, a Russian artist must've used these as inspiration, because he's hacked together what basically amounts to be a Game Boy-photo-gun-printer.

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For many people who like to build things that use Arduino to operate one of the most difficult parts is making an app or software to control the project. A new program called Blynk has turned up seeking funding that promises to make creating the software to control your project the easiest part of the entire project.

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No, it isn't a combination of the popular microcontroller and Final Fantasy VII. Arduino Materia 101 is, instead, an almost foreseeable and completely expected merging of two of the hobbyist world's most popular toys: microcontrollers and 3D printing.

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The next generation in Arduino development appears to have been dished out this afternoon. With the Arduino Zero, the Arduino UNO has a new sibling - now with a whole new level of functionality. This new board is set to assist a new generation of engineers and developers, doing so with processing power and abilities that will enable waves of new devices.

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Flappy Bird may be dead, at least the original version of the ridiculously-addictive game, but that hasn't stopped the copycats and clones, including this real-world version dubbed Flappy Bird in a Box. The handiwork of Fawn Qiu, the Arduino-powered game sees a paper bird try to navigate a scrolling landscape of pipes, with the lid slapping shut if you hit one.

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DIY enthusiasts that make things that require electronics and software to operate will be familiar with the Arduino platform. That platform can be used to make just about anything you can dream up. A project has hit its funding goal and then some on Indiegogo that is for a board designed to make it easier for people new to Arduino hardware to make stuff.

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If you've ever wanted to make a cellphone for yourself out of parts from the likes of hack-friendly Aduino, now is the time. Though you're not going to be winning any beauty contests with this machine's aesthetic, you'll certainly be able to feel proud of your construction skills by the end of it all. Say hello to the first home-made smartphone - if you can call it that.

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Planning on bringing up your NERF gun game this summer and are simply stuck for what to do now that you've got the NERF Vulcan at home? Tired of actually pulling the trigger yourself? This week the folks at Instructables have decided it's high time NERF got automatic and made with the conjuring: full on rapid-fire motion-tracking toy projectile firing the likes of which won't be cheap, but won't produce regret, either.

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Augmented reality has blown up in 2012 thanks to Google's Project Glass, but a DIY eyepiece likened to a hearing aid for those without 3D vision shows there's more to wearables than recording point-of-view video. Gregory McRoberts' Borg-like DIY eyepatch augments his vision with senses humans wouldn't normally be blessed with: the ability to "see" temperature and precise distance.

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