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Hardware Hacking
The authors' explanations of many of the terms and concepts used in the book are very good. For example, the description of "power" on page 20 is the best description of the term that I've ever heard or read. From first-hand experience trying to explain this concept to others I wish I'd known such a lucid explanation -- it explained the concept much better than longer, dryer text would have.
Another positive point to this book is the pace and order of the book. It starts with part one, which is an overview of working with hardware; part two is a collection of hacks that one can do on different devices. If, like me, you never really did any thing with the Atari, you could skip those chapters and still proceed with the book. This book is easy to carry because there the authors frequently provide directions to other resources rather than trying to cram everything into this one book.
Like I said, I'm not too interested in Atari hacking, but the idea presented in this book (in an Atari-centric context) for a standard power connector is good for other things too. This is one of the biggest strengths of this book: The examples themselves are highly specific, but the thinking behind them can easily be generalized.
The first part of the book briefly explores tools that are going to be used later in the hacks and how to use them. However I found it a bit odd that the authors tell you to use a heat gun and heat-shrink tubing, but do not list these items in the tools section.
The fun really begins in part two with the actual hardware hacking. I have never really done anything with hardware before. It seems like whenever I took something apart I could never get it back again, and that those times that I did get something back it would never quite work as it should again. Those experiences have taught me to not mess with things I shouldn't and, this is why I think it's great that part two begins with the ubiquitous and cheap CueCat. I had a couple of these lying around and didn't really care about them so I jumped right in, following the many clear explanatory photos.
Starting with something like this gave me the confidence that I can take stuff apart, and if I'm careful, it will go back again.
The order of chapters seemed a bit odd in part two, though. A book must be arranged in some type of order, and my gut feeling is that it should be by order of difficulty. The second part started off great, going over tools and then the CueCat, but then it seems like the chapters that follow are tossed in at random. This could be from my lack of hardware experience, or that the chapters were designed to be random. This fact really didn't distract from anything though. Just don't expect a linear progression.
I was able to appreciate the integration between the hardware and the software. Hardware Hacking also goes over the software side of the hardware involved.
One of the areas I wish they had given more attention to was in the chapter on the Macintosh where they are hacking a CRT monitor. I believe that the safety warning should probably be a bit bolder, especially considering the earlier, prominent advice about static energy and grounding.
The authors have used part three as a technical reference, including some frank talk about Linux vs. Windows in chapter six. Sure, many people like Linux better, however you have to take into consideration who will be using the system. In a system the whole family uses, it has to be user-friendly enough for the whole family to use.
If changing hardware to better suit your needs sounds like something you would like to try, but you don't know how and are worried about what might happen, then this book may just be able to convince you go for it, along with enough information to make your next warranty-voiding attempt a success.
You can purchase Hardware Hacking from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Sample chapter here if you're interested (.pdf). That's Joe's intro chapter. I did the HTPC chapter (the Linux vs. Windows Chapter 6 mentioned.) :)
If for nothing else, this book is good because the authors mention heat shrink tubing. Good lord do I hate electrical tape. As a "tool" it's a shitty one.
.. same book, but reviewed by someone different. I didn't read today's review and I'm too lazy to do a search (Slashdot's search engine sucks), but wasn't this same book reviewed by someone else not too long ago?
I seen his name, instinctivley picked the book up, and read a few chapters, spent nearly an hour leaned up against the shelf and Barnes and Noble. I guess they have chairs there for a reason...
It's a pretty good read, but it's not quite for the 'Tech TV' crowd, it's actually kind of advanced and detailed.
Actually for relatively small scale projects, and working with embedded controllers (from "basic stamps" to 8/16/32-bit controllers, ie. 8051 and such) I've found that Circuit Cellar is a pretty good magazine. They've had articles on wireless apps, robotics, and other stuff with a focus on hardware and practical details. A pretty fun read if your into tinkering with hardware (disclaimer - I'm speaking as a EE, so your definition of "fun" may differ).
And Bookpool cheaper still:d ware+hacking
http://www.bookpool.com/.x/ierdixxv34/ss/1?qs=har
Disclosure Note: I wrote part of the book, and the deal the publisher has with Bookpool sometimes results in slightly higher royalties for me. They do often have the best price, though.
You can do your own comparison shopping, of course:
http://isbn.nu/1932266836/shipover/
Your best deal usually depends on shipping.
Table of Contents
A good book to pick up is _The Art of Electronics_ by Horowitz and Hill. It goes over a lot of circuit theory and digital computer architecture. It's straightforward and easy to read. I recently checked it out from the library and it covers a lot of things I've learned in my theory classes. It gives many examples of good circuit design ideas and bad ones. I may end up buying a copy to keep as reference.
$cat
From the Publisher:
Which makes me ask, is there a chapter on your potential liability under the DMCA? --
Drinkers Purgatory
Only Women Bleed (Sex, Sharia remix)
Check this out some time: XGameStation.
This may have been posted to Slashdot before, but it is worth bringing up again since its been at the "Pre-Orders Coming Soon!" stage to quite some time now.
This is Andre LaMothe's little project (little?), that when it comes to fruition will be a bad-assed tutorial on not only hacking together your own computer but all the neat programming that goes into getting it up and running as a fully functional console game system.
Anyway, I can't wait to get my hands on one (not that my apartment floor is an ideal workspace to build one), so hopefully the more eyeballs that go to the site will perhaps play a small part in getting the very ambitious project out the door.
I guess, the book reviewed here will be a great way to gain a foothold on the skill necessary for the XGameStation.
Previous replies have pointed out that your formula is wrong. I would also like to point out that not everybody knows the definition of "work" used in physics, and many people have trouble grasping it when it's explained. You may know that work = force * distance, but do you know, conceptually, why this particular formula is how physicists decided to define the word "work"?
My high school physics teacher warned his students of the pitfalls of trying to use this term as if it were intuitive with the following example. When you lift a weight, you do a certain amount of work. When you hold the weight in place at a certain height, are you doing work? Most people will answer "yes", because it's hard to hold the weight there, so they feel that they would be doing some "work" by doing so. The proper answer, from a physics perspective, is "no", because while you're applying a certain force to the weight to hold it up, the distance through which you move it is zero, so that work = force * 0 = 0.
Just a little reminder that the physical definitions of common terms can't always be used intuitively. By the way, if I remember correctly, the answer to the question I posed in the first paragraph is that force * distance has the same units as energy, so that work can be seen as a quantity of energy being transferred.
I found the meaning of life the other day, but I had write-only access.
Actually, the "Tools of the Warranty Voiding Trade" chapter at the beginning of the book serves as a -guideline- for the various tools needed for hardware hacking and modifications in general. There are 3 sections, ranging from beginner to advanced. We obviously can't list all possible tools in this section (since not all hacks use the same tools), as it is meant to give the reader an overview to the types of tools that are necessary.
However, each hack within each chapter of the book lists the -specific- tools needed to succeed (like your ingredient list). This way, you'll know exactly what you need for the hack and won't be halfway through wondering where you can buy widget X.
Joe
To be honest, I quickly skimed the writeup because I was in a rush to see if I could manage to get a fp. At least I didn't troll. I was actually suprised I wasn't modded down. In any case its not the best review. I also went down to B&N and reviewed the book myself. Its not good. The Cue cat is "hacked" to remove the unique identifier. The Atartis are "Hacked" to modify their controllers ( 2600 is rotated 90 for lefties, they modify a nintendo (NES) controller to work with it, make a 5200 paddle wheel, and replace a red led with a blue one. Other chapters are equally disapointing. The one on Tivo replacements is a simple myth tv howto and a section on doing the same on windows. The Terrabyte drive was by far the coolest hack, but I wouldnt' consider it very cool simply because of the high cost of the supplies. For some unknown reason the last chapters are on Operating system archetecture ( where they reveal that drivers are used to control hardware!) and an intro to programming (variables are used to store data in memory!). Craptacular. On the front their is a quote from mitnik that makes absolutely no sense he's quoted to the effect "If I had this book ten years ago, the FBI never would have caught me". WTF? Was he captured using the UID of the Cue Cat? Or maybe it was because he couldn't use the right handed 2600 controler! So unless you want to build a terrabyte firewire raid drive, I wouldn't reccomend it.
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.