Hackaday Podcast Episode 283: Blinding Lasers, LEDs, and ETs [Hackaday]

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Hackaday Editors Elliot Williams and Al Williams reflect on the fact that, as humans, we have–at most–two eyes and no warp drives. While hacking might not be the world’s most dangerous hobby, you do get to work with dangerous voltages, temperatures, and frickin’ lasers. Light features prominently, as the guys talk about LED data interfaces, and detecting faster-than-light travel.

There’s also a USB sniffer, abusing hot glue, and some nostalgia topics ranging from CRT graphics to Apollo workstations (which have nothing directly to do with NASA). The can’t miss articles this week cover hacking you and how you make the red phone ring in the middle of a nuclear war.

Check out the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

As always, please download the file to archive in your doomsday bunker.

Episode 283 Show Notes:

News:

• Tickets For Supercon 2024 Go On Sale Now!
• Taco Bell To Bring Voice AI Ordering To Hundreds Of US Drive-Throughs

What’s that Sound?

• Al was unsuccessful, but if you know the correct answer, submit it and you could win a limited edition Hackaday Podcast T-shirt.

Interesting Hacks of the Week:

• Getting A Laser Eye Injury And How To Avoid It
  • Saving Your Vision from Super Glue in the Eyes
• Detecting Faster Than Light Travel By Extraterrestrials
• Programming Tiny Blinkenlight Projects With Light
  • You Can Use LEDs As Sensors, Too
  • Photoresistors Provide Air Gap Data Transfer, Slowly
• Need A USB Sniffer? Use Your Pico!
  • Hacking A $100 Signal Generator
• Pixel Art And The Myth Of The CRT Effect
  • All About CRTs
  • Linux Fu: The Old School Terminal
• Over-molding Wires With Hot Glue And 3D Printed Molds

Quick Hacks:

• Elliot’s Picks:
  • An ESP Makes A Bicycle Odometer
  • Tiny Trackpad Fits On Ergonomic Keyboard
  • Get Your Glitch On With A PicoEMP And A 3D Printer
  • RC Car Gets Force Feedback Steering
• Al’s Picks:
  • 1000 Picks Make For A Weird Guitar
  • Homebrew Relay Computer Features Motorized Clock
  • Apollo Computer: The Forgotten Workstations

Can’t-Miss Articles:

• Hack On Self: Sense Of Time
• Radio Apocalypse: HFGCS, The Backup Plan For Doomsday