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Generate AM Radio Broadcasts With Your Monitor
tessellation writes: "Tempest for Eliza is a program that uses your computer monitor
to send out AM radio signals. You can then hear computer
generated music in your radio." Here is your big chance to disrupt free thinking radio programs in your neighborhood.
.ogg files would sound so much better out of that AM radio. :-P
This isn't the first time something like this has appeared on slashdot. Way back in the day ('99) there was an article about a guy who was using the radio interference from his motherboard to do the same sort of thing.
I used to bulls-eye womp-rats in my pants
For many years during the cold war, the NSA had
been nervous about natural radiations emanating/broadcasted by VDTs and electrical wiring. So much so that many government sites were constructed with TEMPEST safeguards with thick concrete walls, wiremesh shielding and isolated electrical works. Even then, VDTs, type writers, phones, and other electrical devices were never placed close to walls adjacent to the outside of the enclosed space.
Read the Van Eck document.
http://www.shmoo.com/tempest/emr.pdf
Read the TEMPEST page
http://www.eskimo.com/~joelm/tempest.html
Actually, quite a few of the games for the TI-86 have music. Mario does, and I believe Tetris does also. (at least the versions I had). I've since gone to the TI-92+, and haven't tried it with that. On the 86, I heard rumors that you could tune it with an AM radio, but you could also plug headphones straight into the data port (with an adapter to go from the 2mm to the 3mm plug) and hear the sound great. Someone actually wrote a program to play music that way, though you can't fit much music into the memory on the 86. Pretty crappy quality too. You can probably still find the programs and info on ticalc.org or somewhere. It's been a couple years, so I don't remember where I first found out about it.
Great. We could piss off the RIAA and the FCC, all at once.
Seriously, though, I doubt you could get a strong enough signal out of it for a decent broadcast (and if you can, you're probably glowing in the dark already). You'd be better off just bolting a big chunk of metal to the roof and doing things the old-fashioned way.
(Do not sign anything.) -- Fell, Planescape: Torment
While the instructions say to use a shortwave radio tuned to 10MHz, I found that a regular broadcast-band AM radio worked fine. Just chop a zero off of the frequency, and tune in somewhere around 1000. (1030 was what my tuner said, at the point where the "music" was most plainly heard).
Spooky stuff, this.
Kid-proof tablet..
I recall hearing something once about the homebrew computer club @ Cal back in the 70's doing something like this using an Altair and a radio to play The Beatles' classic, "Fool on the Hill". It was judged the most interesting and useful thing anyone had managed to do with an Altair yet. I am glad that over 20 years later programmers are dedicated to making our computers just as useful and practical.
]Hello Eliza.
Hello.
]I don't feel very good.
Why is it that you don't feel very good?
]Well, my monitor is talking to my radio.
Are you concerned about your monitor talking to your radio?
]Well, yes. It's not supposed to work that way.
Why isn't it supposed to work that way?
]Shut up Eliza.
Why do you want me to shut up?
]Because you are a stupid worthless computer program.
I sense much anger in you. Perhaps you should seek medical help.
]Oh, what do you know?
What is it about what I know that interests you?
]ARRRRRRGGGHHH!!!
I don't understand what you mean by ARRRRRRGGGHHH!!!. Please try again.
]quit
OK. Goodbye.
]
SIGFEH