Category: To be used for Evil

DIY Nitrogen Laser

Nitrogen/air laser Everyone is talking about this today. I remember first read about a free nitrogen laser in the Scientific American Experimenters Handbook when I was a teenager. I was more into building a Van de Graff machine but I could still appreciate a laser that didn’t need any complex lasing fluids or expensive tubes or one of those ultra cool multi Joule flash lamps. Ahh.. Such day dreams those made up… Oh yeah, about the laser. Pretty much is uses a great whopping spark to excite the nitrogen atoms in the air to a higher state and in turn that liberates ultraviolet radiation. Cool, eh? Hubert’s page has all sorts of cracking info on how that darn thing works, the kid did his homework Looks like you could build one for less than $50 easy. The 10KV power supply could be obtained from a TV or you might even be able to get away with using one of those cheesy air ionizers you find in second hand shops. Or you could buy one from Information Unlimited. (Weird, I Googled ‘high voltage power supply’ and saw the link, I had no idea those guys were still around! Very cool!)

Hubert’s laser page: Air laser

And if that don’t do it for ya, check this one out you laser pervs! Home built nitrogen (N2) laser 

Millimeter Wave Active Denial System

Ouch! The effect of this device is to make it feel like your being melted.

The ADS shoots a beam of millimeters waves, which are longer in wavelength than x-rays but shorter than microwaves — 94 GHz (= 3 mm wavelength) compared to 2.45 GHz (= 12 cm wavelength) in a standard microwave oven.

I wonder if I can get one in a flashlight form factor… 

 

Say Hello to the Goodbye Weapon

 

 

Myspace Worm Using Quicktime HREF Track

Apple Quicktime

Just great. For a long time I have been trying to figure out a way not to let Quicktime spawn web pages. Not only is it annoying but now it can get you phissed: 

It begins with a QuickTime file being embedded in a Profile page. If the user “runs” the file (simply visiting the infected page is enough to trigger the attack in most cases), it uses the HREF function to activate some JavaScript.

Allowing JavaScript from a movie file….whoops.

When this happens, the profile page is “infected” and pastes a fake overlay of options onto the profile page – the most serious of which is (of course) the fake login button. If your page has been affected, you will see a strange, blue navigation bar such as this on your page. If this is the case, you will need to clean out your profile and check if any of your friends have also been infected – if they are, you will continue to be reinfected…most likely via the friends list itself. We have seen reports of users complaining that even when they’ve removed the fake navigation bar from their page, it comes right back if one of their friends is infected – so it looks like the friends list is being exploited in much the same way the Orkut worm used a similar feature to spread. Except in this case, the only option to fix the problem is get your friend to remove the infection code from their page, or remove your friend from your list indefinitely.

Going back to the fake login, if you enter your details, you have officially been Phished.

Myspace Worm Using Quicktime HREF Track

How To Convert Christmas Lights to Run on Batteries

Battery Christmas Lights: How to convert Xmas lights to run on batteries/DC 

Just as Christmas rounds the corner the notion of LED Christmas lights shows up on the shelves of popular stores. Those things are juts too inviting not to hack up, eh? I mean you get like 70 LEDS or various colors in pre-wired sockets. How cool is that? The obvious hack is to ween them off from AC power and let them suck on batteries. The hack listed below is pretty much for the always on non-flashing LED or old fashioned incandescent bulb strings but I’m betting that the ones with the cycle controllers can also be hacked. I’ll be doing this in a few days, I’ll let you know how it works out. Try the hack out and have fun bending them to you will. Muhahaha!

Battery Christmas Lights: How to convert Xmas lights to run on batteries/DC (regular or LED)

Blu-Ray Laser Pointer

Blu-Ray pointerI got an email from the boys over at Hacked Gadgets this morning about some horrendous things being done over at Wicked lasers. The laser guys have decided to do a little modding of a brand spanking new Blu-Ray equipped DVD player. They ripped out the laser diode assembly and placed it in an easy to abuse aluminum housing, just the right size to take to parties, shopping, and trade shows, etc. The purple beam (405nM at 23 mW) is bound to make lasting impressions with whomever you blind, er, I mean show it to…

Hacked Gadgets – Making the Sonar Blu-ray wicked laser

Laser safety 

The Sparkmuseum

Influence machine
Here are some fantastic examples of equipment from the heady days of electrical experimentation, lots of beautiful photos of static devices, crystal radios, and vacuum tubes. For the past 35 plus years John Jenkins has been collecting various examples of early wireless sets, electrostatic devices, books and just about anything else related to the discovery of electricity. Much of his collection can be seen in the American Museum of Radio and Electricity in Bellingham Washingtion.

I’ve been fascinated by antique electrical aparatus like leyden jars and electrophorus. And sites such as these can give valuable tips on how these devices were created. With all the digital cameras, smart cards, and wifi communications its nice to be able to look back on a time where things were simpler and new discoveries were frequent.

Sparkmuseum – Antique Wireless And Scientific Instruments