It might not look like much, but the switch used as this feature image has more to offer than one would think judging by appearances. In this article, we will be converting a “stupid” switch into a “smart” switch for the purposes of controlling a connected GE Light Bulb over Z-wave and discuss why you’d want to look for a stupid switch for smart devices in the first place.
Your Warranty Is Void.com Posts
Everyone knows that I love a bargain. That love for bargains is intensified any time networking gear is involved. Imagine my excitement when I found a bunch of the above pictured Cisco access points on Ebay for around $8 a pop because the lid won’t stay on. Unfortunately, my excitement was tempered a bit when I found out that these were designed to work with a controller and weren’t stand alone units. Undeterred by this disappointment, I researched and found a way to get these things to operate on their own as standalone units and freed them from the hive mind! In this article, we will cover converting the Cisco AIR-AP1131AG-A-K9 from “Lightweight”(controller-based) to “Autonomous”(standalone) and will even cover how to put them back in “Lightweight” mode if you want later on.
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The Raspberry Pi Foundation announced a new arrival to their existing line of awesome little credit-card sized computers. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on one and give it a go. In the article (with pics!) below, I’ll cover what’s changed, what’s stayed the same, and what you can expect from everyone’s favorite mini machine.
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Buying networking equipment off of Ebay can be one of the most rewarding and frustrating challenges you may ever face. Of course, being able to identify and fix issues with newly purchased hardware may mean the difference between having purchased a $500 firewall for $11 and some parts versus buying another piece of crap for $11 that will live out its life in the back of the parts closet. In this article, I’ll cover how to replace the power supply to a Cisco PIX 506E firewall with a standard computer power supply.
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Quite some time ago, I posted an article on how to build a basic Minecraft Server which served to get you up and off the ground with multiplayer gameplay. It’s been two years since that article was posted and there have been so many advances in the Minecraft Server realm from administration changes (now you have a fancy GUI) to core game changes that allow for the modification for just about everything gameplay related. Popular alternative servers (Bukkit, Tekkit, Feed The Beast, etc..) allow for mods to be used which can drastically expand your Minecraft experience. This howto will detail the process going from a basic Debian server installation to a fully fledged vanilla Minecraft server with a browseable map. Read on for the full article, it’s pretty long but we have a lot to cover.
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The challenge for this year’s Halloween party was to find a “B-rate” superhero or villan. No superman, spiderman, ironman, or other mainstream nonsesne here. We had to come up with something unique and not-mainstream, so my answer was clear. I present to you the Arduino powered Jagerbomber, complete with countdown timer. This costume served me quite well, winning both the party’s “Best Male Costume” and later on at work, “Best Costume” so I’m sure it’ll give you some good ideas for next year! Remember, only 363 Days till Next Halloween!
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The (albeit crooked) image above is a basic environmental monitor I built for the server rack that I keep my house’s servers in. This project features network connectivity via an Arduino Ethernet shield, an HTF3223 humidity sensor, a TMP36 temperature sensor and a Sparkfun serial LCD for a decent monitoring station that is self-reliant. Read more for build details and the code to get it all working.
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We managed to unearth an old IBM RS/6000 server at work and decided that since the machine didn’t work, it was time for it to go away. Right off the bat, one of the things I noticed about this machine was that it had a diagnostic LCD panel in the bezel presumably for showing POST error codes and warnings. Since the machine was going to the scrap heap, I decided to relieve it of the LCD and managed to get it to work on an Arduino with minimal effort. Read on for pictures and a wiring pinout.
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Have a giant Arduino powered killbot, but can’t fancy being right next to it when you unleash it on the unsuspecting populace? Want to change the mood-lights in your dorm without having to get up off the couch? Why not use IR remote controls to do the walking for you? In this article, I will be covering how to use the IRremote Library written by Ken Shirriff for the Arduino to control a seven segment display as a proof of concept. Killbot not included.
33 CommentsOk, so here’s the deal. I’ve been on the fence about whether or not to black out my site in formal protest of SOPA but…
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