2010 Charger - RFID alarm disable and unlock

So, pretty much the same thing as the last video I posted with the Focus and whatnot. This time it is with a 2010 Dodge Charger. Stepping up in the world. Next up will be keyless entry with a deadbolt. something I have also been meaning to do for quite a while. 

I will also be breaking the Arduino out and getting some love on in that department... Maybe even start working on some Raspberry Pi at some point as well. Anyway, enjoy!

Ford Focus RFID Keyless Entry

So yeah. I finally finally finished the keyless entry mod for my car. I had been meaning to do it for quite sometime. I haven't done any mods in a while so I was hesitant. My arm was pretty badly disabled in an incident that landed me in the hospital for a month. I had to go through several MRI scans, which some people claim will fry your chip. Check my previous post for proof that this isn't the case. My tag was an EM4102 12mm x 2mm that I got from Trossen Robotics (see previous posts for info on my implant).

This is going to be a complete breakdown of what I did to get everything to work right. So this post will likely be quite lengthy. We'll start with the parts list (after the jump)

Testing out the implant after a while...

It had been a while since I had done anything with my RFID implant. Since I was planning on working on a project, I figured I might as well test it out.

Success.

-Nexus

Canvas and Mesh Backpack Review

Alright, so I just recently bought a 14" ultrabook (maybe a review on that at some point) and decided to go all out and buy accessories for it. One of the things I got since I am a bag whore is a new pack for it to ride around in if I ever decide to take it with me somewhere. I bought the bag through Amazon (Link here) and used my prime account to get it in just a few days. Here's what I think about it.

I'm a guy about 6'0 and the size of this bag isnt so small that its going to look weird over one shoulder. But it is indeed smaller than something like a Jansport bag's typical size.

On the front there are 3 zippered pouches and 1 smaller velcro pouch. On either side are mesh pouches that might possibly fit a 20oz Mtn dew bottle or something. I have two glasses cases, one for my actual glasses and the other is filled with various flash drives and stuff like usb otg adapters and whatnot. they fit perfectly in these pouches.

The inside has one big open area and a second smaller pocket type section as well as a zippered pouch on the back. Which brings me to the back... The back itself as well as the straps are foam padded and would work great for protecting a tablet or notebook. I have a 14" widescreen ultrabook that I bought this for. It fits perfectly inside with about an inch and a half left to close the bag. I keep the ultrabook inside a neoprene padded sleeve. Its a snug fit, but all of it fits in there with enough room left over for my wireless mouse, charger, cords, and any other crap i feel like throwing in.

All in all, this bag looks great. it's exactly as depicted and i think is going to last me a long time. The material and zippers seem to be durable and only time will tell how well it stands up to the beating im going to give it. One last thing... When I opened the box, there was a tag attached to the bag with a card.. On one side it said 'Made in China' and had a barcode... The other side had a picture of a sun and the words: 'It's Feasible!' on it.... This made me laugh my ass off. I think someone over in the manufacturer's shop was playing with Google translate a bit too much...

The trouble with smart watches

It's almost the end of 2013. The Galaxy Gear has been released along with the Note III. Other companies have already set the smaller stage for Samsung's head-first plunge into wearable computing. But are these true gadgets or just gimmicks?

To explain my position; I have a Motorola Motoactv. I've had it for about 6 months now. I used it for about 2 months and then went back to using my Ipod nano 6th gen on its little watch band. The Moto just didn't have enough battery life or community support. There is only one rom developer actively putting stuff out for it. Now look at my nano. It's not really a smart watch, but what it does do is play music and tell the time flawlessly. And it looks sexy doing it. I've been wearing one with my headphone cord snaked up my arm and out the top of my shirt for over a year now. Music is awesome. It has become a necessity for me to do my job well. I work faster when I am blasting dubstep to my heart's content. But what if I wanted more? (and I do).

Whew, almost lost it there!

Site was down for a few days. This is what I get when I forget to renew my domain. We're good for another year and I am working very hard to rearrange some portions of my life so that I can apply more time and attention to this site. It has been my hobby for the last several years and I have been neglectful. Hopefully you will start seeing more and more fresh posts up here.

-Nexus (Jair)

initial windows 8 review

i was VERY EXCITED to start playing with win8 when i got my beta copy back on the 22nd

but one thing became clear very quickly , windows 8(or "metro" depending on witch blog your reading)
is built to revolve around a slew of apps and services that don't exist yet

the new app/tile interface MIGHT be very cool....... if all the tiles worked properly,
and as of yet the apps market is incredibly sparse(91 unpaid apps as of the time of this post)

i recently bought a wholesale lot of ekan "A pads" and found out upon receiving them that the android market had been chopped down to virtually nothing due to Chinese censorship
(buying anything "hong kong direct" has its risks)

my win 8 experience thus far has been much the same as that , this could be very cool......except half the stuff to make it cool is missing"

i'll post a follow up in a while ,as i don't think its fair to review this as-is..........

but so far this is NOT EvilPat approved 

the email app clunky and not especially responsive

the people app is nearly exactly like the Xbox Facebook app,with the added functionality to add twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn

the maps app is powered by bing maps,with all the built in lack of functionality that that implys

the desktop is largely unchanged, with the glaring exception of the missing start menu,witch makes getting to the control panel or any other sub-level function a pain

overall ,I'm left with a feeling that this is not even ready for beta.


more to come 

Otterbox Defender for iphone

I love my new iPhone. That's all there is to it. The thing does everything i need it to. Especially now that I've got my new media box (review coming soon). The problem is that it is an investment. One you really want to protect. One drop and your entire music library, email, and phone are gone. That's where this bad boy comes into play.

The Otterbox Defender is not cheap. You can find them online for a decent price, but retail will set you back about $50. This is the best investment you could ever make.

The case comes with 3 layers of protection: an inner ABS plastic shell, a built in screen protector, and an outer rubber casing. I have seen videos of this thing literally being dropped 3 stories onto pavement with the phone in it. No damage at all. I have (purposely) dropped my phone from 6 feet or so at least 3 times to prove that this thing does its job. Not a dent or scratch to be seen. The rubber casing does a great job of absorbing shock, plus it has covers for the dock port, vibrate rocker, and headphone jack. The power button and volume buttons are still easy to press without having to be forceful.

I won't belabor the point. It's fantastic and as soon as i have another 50 to spend I am getting another one. If you have a device that they make a case for and you don't have one of these, get one.

New toys!

Ive got me a whole group of new toys! I am going to work on doing a review for each one of them. Look forward to seeing them in the near future:

iPhone 4
Otterbox Defender case for iphone
Hannspree 32" LED HDTV
Sony SMP-N100 Streaming Media Player

My apologies

I am sorry for not putting anything new up in a while. I have recently moved and am currently without internet. I have been using my Optimus as a wifi AP to get the small bursts of connection i need to keep me from going insane. But never fear! dd-wrt and an linksys wrt54g router (or, i should say... my army of them) will help me figure out a way to get online. Even if i have to wire one up to my car battery and repeat an open signal from down the street. I'll git'r done.

You would think that I would have all this extra time to dream up some insanity that explodes, shocks, or unlocks things, but I actually haven't. The weather here has been terrible, so I cannot work on the remote controlled power wheels, and I have temporarily shelved my LITV project until i can get some stable internet to continue my research. That and the fact that I am very limited on fundings at the moment, makes it terribly hard to do any gadgeteering. All will become normal again soon, and then I will be able to sort out the madness in my head and weave it into the homespun cloth that is the basis for my ideas.

So a Jair wants another voice here...

First thing first. SNOW!!!! Woohoo!

Okay seriously. Jair wanted a post about something....and he'll probably go all hater on me later.

A Challenge for Jair!!

• Build a Bot that will find its way through a course, from start to finish and back.
• Upon returning to the start the first bot will transmit a route to a second bot.
• The second bot must then travel the course with only the route provided by the first bot.

Think you can do it?

--Xon

world's first transparent head-mounted display with Wi-Fi

It's got almost the same "dollar store sunglasses" look as most other head-mounted displays(although for my money it looks much cooler than sony's
hmz-t1 ,also droping this month in japan)
but What sets it apart, is the introduction of the first transparent lenses for see-through viewing. As such, you can enjoy your media in private while still maintaining an awareness of your surroundings.

The screen resolution is just 960 x 540 pixels, but it appears to the viewer as a giant 320-inch display positioned about 20 meters away. The mobile viewer is proportioned so it can fit over proscription glasses and it comes with a small control unit that runs Android 2.2(droid blaster on this thing should be very cool) and features Wi-Fi connectivity, six-hours of battery life, detachable headphones, and 1GB of internal storage augmented by a bundled 4GB SDHC card with support for 32GB
(why does no one ever ship the card you'll need with this stuff? honestly, why even bother with a 4gig?) .

The Moverio BT-100 will be on sale in Japan starting November 25th for a suggested price of ¥50,000 (about $643).

now for the obvious (to me anyway) question .....

will someone please make some augmented reality games for this,NOW?

We're Looking for Posters!

So for the most part, it has always just been Patrick and I posting on the site. Every time I've tried to get some help, it falls through on me. I've sent a couple requests to friends who may be interested in posting, I'm not sure if they will or not.

We could really use a couple more people to keep content fresh on the site. If your're interested, drop me an email at jair2k4@techno-holics.com and we'll set something up.Each of us has a specialty, so to speak. Let me know what yours is!