Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Any Dishwasher Hackers Out There?
New submitter writes: I just replaced my dishwasher with a basic, inexpensive Sears model. It works fine, but only has 3 different wash cycles. I'm betting that the code to manage more cycles (as in more-expensive models) is already in the microcontroller and just needs inputs to select it. Is there any information available on this? Beyond dishwashers, have you done any useful hacks to household appliances more generally? I'd probably support a Kickstarter project that adds nice wireless notifications to my oven, clothes washer, and dishwasher.
Thats what the ominous 'they' want you to think but corporate megacorps have been known to intentionally cripple hardware in the past. All I want to say to our would-be dishwasher hacker is try not to draw the attention of the dishwasher manufacturers, or before you know it they'll be finding a way to put DRM on dishwashers.
Ethanol is an effective solvent for a wide range of materials.
I've tried consuming various quantities of ethanol before washing dishes. In my experience it doesn't help at all.
back porting xbox 360 games to xbone?
Uh, no. They built a software emulator, the hardware is extremely different and there is not a hidden 360 CPU in the XBone.
I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
Rigol oscilloscopes. One minor software change and now your 50Mhz scope now magically works at 100Mhz.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
Check out a documentary called "The Lightbulb Conspiracy" on planned obsolescence. They find a Canon or Epson printer with a chip inside that counts the number of prints made, and after some arbitrary number will throw an unrecoverable error essentially telling you it's time to buy a new printer. By the end of the movie, they've reset the chip without any hardware modifications and the printer continues printing just fine.
Pretty much every single modern jet engine installed on current build airliners works this way. The hardware is the same, but the thrust limit is controlled by either the software version loaded in the EEC, or an "identification plug" which plugs into the EEC and acts as a switch to tell it which software limits to use. For example, the CFM56-7B which powers current production Boeing 737NGs is available in thrust ranging from 19,500 lbs to 27,300 lbs. The hardware is the same. The ID plug and the price is what makes them different. Pictures of the rating plug and how it works on a 737 here: http://nandang-smart.blogspot.... http://www.sjap.nl/cfm56-7-hyb...
That 'unrecoverable' error is telling you the waste ink system is saturated. Sure, you can reset the error if you know the trick. About a hundred or so power cycles later you'll discover that ink is leaking out of your printer and onto your [once] nice desk. They didn't do this to dick you, it is an engineering compromise. They could build in a replaceable waste ink system (as they do in higher end printers) but doing so would put the printer beyond the price point.
Printer companies want you to keep your printer as long as possible. They are not in the printer selling business; they sell their printers at cost or at a loss. They are in the ink selling business. Which printer you buy it for really makes no difference to them.