Hardware Hacking: Have Fun while Voiding your Warranty

by Joe Grand, Ryan Russell, Joan C Barth, et al.

Book Overview

"If I had this book 10 years ago, the FBI would never have found me!" -- Kevin Mitnick This book has something for everyone---from the beginner hobbyist with no electronics or coding experience to the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932266836
• ISBN13: 9781932266832
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Syngress
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 2.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.2" x 1.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Major Hardware Hacks for the Hacking Inspires

The book contains 15 amazing projects that range from the truly useful to the legendary and wacky. You'll learn how to connect toasters and coffeemakers to a network; upgrade radio-controlled cars and talking toys such as the Furby; and build car-mounted periscopes and home video arcades. You'll see how to turn a classic Mac machine into an aquarium and harness ordinary batteries to power your laptop. You'll learn how to build an intruder-detection system for your office cubicle and how to track remote objects as they move around. There's even a project for hacking a 12-story building to use its windows as elements of a huge display screen. Each project includes step-by-step instructions that even a novice hacker can follow, while also providing the necessary detail to satisfy an experienced hacker. The knowledge gained by building each project can easily be applied to your own projects. If you are unfamiliar with basic electronics, you'll find sections that teach you how to use the tools of the trade; you'll also learn how to read schematics and do basic soldering. So, whether you're an electronics hobbyist who likes to learn by doing, a software hacker who wants to learn how the other half lives, or a neophyte who has only dreamed of hacking, "Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks" will inspire you to tinker with all kinds of gadgets and gizmos, and will serve as a jumping-off point for new and clever hacks.

A "how to" book for the computer savvy

Hardware Hacking: Have Fun While Voiding Your Warranty shows just how to take an ordinary piece of computer equipment and transform it into something bigger, better, faster, and more fun. This compendium of tips, tricks and techniques ranges from modifying a standard Apple USB Mouse in a glowing UFO Mouse; create an arcade-style Atari 5200 paddle controller for retro video games; boot PlayStation 2 code from the memory card or adapt PlayStation 2 for homemade game development; design, build, and configure Windows or Linux-based Home Theater PC; remove proprietary barcode encoding from CueCat, and so much more. Clearly a "how to" book for the computer savvy (and one which the industry probably wishes didn't exist!), Hardware Hacking is a veritable and highly recommended repository of interesting things to do with "off the shelf" components!

Outstanding Book from the TRUE hacker's viewpoint

I received this book today and can only say "Wow!" This book embodies the true meaning of hacking, a term that has been used and abused for so long it's TRUE meaning has been completely distorted.Joe Grand, and the other authors, have taken many everyday items that many of us have laying around the house and demonstrated ways to modify and improve them...this is hacking. Moreover, after reading this book and trying some or all of the hacks out, you will want to start investigating other items you have that could possibly be modified and improved. A book that both informs AND stimulates thought? Absolutely. Finally, authors that understand what hacking is, and aren't afraid to admit it...in fact, they embrace it. Five stars, an absolutley fantastic read.

DON'T GIVE APPLE ANY MORE OF YOUR $$$$

I was so [mad] at Apple for their iPod battery replacement policy, that I decided to replace it myself. You can get the batteries cheap from lots of different places. I'm pretty good at tinkering with things but I was worried that I might really do damage to my iPod. I was totally psyched when i saw this book covered how to replace the battery on your own. I had found a couple of pretty cheesy things on the internet, but nothing like this. The photos are really detailed and professional looking and the instructions are incredibly clear. I got the book just for the battery thing, but there's lots of other very cool stuff for the iPod in there. I've also now build my own home theater PC system using a lot of the info. from this book.

Unbelievably Cool, but is this stuff Legal?

I got my copy of this two days ago, and have read the whole thing once, and the iPod and Playstation hacks about a dozen times. The authors obviously know what they are doing, and there is even a couple of chapters that give the basics Electrical Engineering and Using the Right Tools. If you have a drwer full of gadgets, and aren't afraid of breaking stuff, this is a lot of fun.