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#twatch Open Hardware Networked LCD Screen

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the fun-little-hacks dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Dangerous Prototype's #twatch is a DIY network appliance that displays real-time topic trends from Twitter. It can also show system statistics, RSS feeds, mail notifications, and more using a TCP server on port 1337 that accepts commands from LCD control programs like LCD Smartie (Windows) and LCDproc (Linux). Everything you need to build your own is on the project's page. We've covered this hardware hacker's work previously."

10 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. #twlame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Best way to monitor twitter is to pipe to /dev/null.

  2. Port 1337 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Port 1337? Seriously? Stop being cute, and use a standard port number.

    1. Re:Port 1337 by fluffy99 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Gotta admit it is a bit of a marketing ploy. Too bad about picking a port that's likely to be blocked at the firewall or conflicting with p2p software.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_TCP_and_UDP_port_numbers
        1337/TCP PowerFolder P2P Encrypted File Synchronization Program Unofficial
        1337/TCP WASTE Encrypted File Sharing Program Unofficial

      From http://isc.sans.org/services.html
        Shadyshell 1337/tcp #[trojan] Shadyshell

  3. Port 1337 by Hadlock · · Score: 3, Insightful

    using a TCP server on port 1337

    Did all of slashdot just get trolled? April isn't until next year...

    --
    moox. for a new generation.
  4. Wow. by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 4, Funny

    #twatch

    I'll be first in line to pay for the #TWAT CHannel!

    1. Re:Wow. by arielCo · · Score: 2, Funny

      #twatch

      I'll be first in line to pay for the #TWAT CHannel!

      It's been available since 1997, free of charge ;)

      --
      This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
  5. Been there, done that, too banal. by Animats · · Score: 4, Informative

    As a steampunk project, I've restored a Teletype Model 15, which, running uncased so you can see the insides, is an impressive piece of machinery. I have this connected to a program that polls any desired collection of RSS feeds and prints any new items that come in. Running off Reuters or the NPR news feed, it emulates a classic news ticker.

    I've tried giving it a list of Twitter RSS feeds. Works fine, looks stupid. For each new twit, the motor winds up to speed, 50 pounds of machinery grinds into life, and with much clattering and banging, the machine hammers out some banal twit on a long roll of yellow paper. Twitter content is just too lame for this. Hooked to the Reuters feed, at least you get the feeling that you're keeping up with what's going on in the world. Not with Twitter.

    (Incidentally, Twitter's server-side RSS implementation sucks. RSS feed servers are supposed to accept a query with a number obtained from the previous query, and if the numbers match, it means nothing changed and no new text is transmitted. Twitter implements that so badly that every poll results in transmitting the entire RSS content again, even if nothing changed. Most other RSS feeds, such as Reuters, more or less get this right.)

  6. Re:Hmm. by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    As much as I hate to say it.... because twitter has a very open API and there are a ton of programs for any OS that interface with it.

    I'm setting up some home automation. Nothing fancy, just garage door open/closed. Temperature in a few rooms. HVAC status.

    I could write a ton of stuff from scratch for reporting & control... or just make a private twitter account "my_house" and subscribe to it. I can get a text message every X minutes with the temp. A text message when the garage door cycles. I can easily text back commands.
    @my_house 'heat on 75F'.

    They've already taken care of the interface between phones, e-mail, blackberries, iphones, etc.

    With this tool I can have a cheap display at my desk at work or even in my own house for the temperature, HVAC status, etc.

  7. Re:Note to self by mambodog · · Score: 2, Informative

    Fun fact: port 1337 is also the default port used by encrypted filesharing app WASTE

  8. Re:Hmm. by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 2, Informative

    1-Wire for the temp sensors.

    A co-worker got the 8-relay I/O board over one wire. I went with a super4 relay board: http://www.emx.net.au/super4usbrelay.htm

    Their software is a bit shaky so I rewrote it using the open source driver for the usbserial.

    If you're starting out from scratch, Maxim will let you get a few 'samples' of each temp sensor.

    http://thediysite.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=4