WonderHowTo

How to Build a Wireless Energy Transfer Array to Power Light Bulbs Without Plugging Them In

ChristopherVoute — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:15:10 GMT

In this article, I'll show you how to built a Wireless Transfer of Energy Transmitter. Simply put, this device will send electricity to a florescent light bulb and light it up, from up to three feet. The idea originally (at least, prominently) came from Nikola Tesla (read more about this amazing inventor here), who used his Tesla coils to transfer wireless energy to light bulbs in demonstrations (photo below). However, the circuit described in this article consists of a flyback transformer, not a Tesla coil. They are similar in windings (large ratio between secondary and primary coils) and operation (both step-up voltage). However, Tesla coils have air-cores (no core) and flyback transformers have Ferrite cores. The components for this project can be extracted from most tube TVs.

Tools and Materials

To build this device, you'll need:

An old tube TV (or, if you have the parts available, a flyback transformer, a power NPN transistors, a 220 ohm resistor rated at 1/2 a Watt, and a 27 ohm resistor rated at 2 Watts)
A florescent tube
A 2' piece of 13 gauge wire
A soldering iron
Flux-core solder
A protoboard or similar circuit mounting hardware
Wire cutters
Some screw drivers
Insulated wire
A volt meter

The Flyback

Once you've opened up your TV, you should first cut the large red wire connecting a suction cup to a large black "thing"; the flyback transformer. MAKE SURE you use insulated cutters! Now, using a large piece of insulated wire, discharge the flyback transformer by shorting the red wire to any ground. The flyback transformers tend to hold a charge, similar to that of a leyden jar. Its always a good idea and safety precaution to discharge them, even though its unlikely to be a lethal shock. Now, de-solder the flyback transformer from the TV circuit board. Once extracted, it should look like this:

Now for the tricky part, identifying the pins. Set your volt meter on "beep when shorted" and start testing the pins. Once your volt meter beeps, check out the resistance. If it's around .6-1, you've found your primary coil. Solder two wires to those terminals and leave them lose for later on. You now need to wrap a feedback coil, which consists of about 6 turns of insulated wire on the outer ferrite core. Once finished, it should look something like this:

The Circuit

The circuit itself is quite simple. An NPN transistor switches the electricity through the primary coil, depending on the input from the feedback coil. Imagine turning on and off a light, depending on if the light is on or off. In other words, when the light is off, you turn it back on again, but when its on, you turn it off. This creates a fluctuating magnetic field, which in turn generates electricity in the secondary windings. To learn more about electromagnetism and transformers, check out Electromagnetic Weapons. To build the circuit, extract the NPN transistor from the TV circuit (it should be the largest one on the board—keep the heatsink it's attached too as well). To check and identify the pins, turn your volt meter to the diode setting and follow these steps. Once you've identified the pins of the transistor, identify and de-solder the 220 ohm resistor, and the 27 ohm resistor. Finally, build the circuit below:

When finished, test it out CAREFULLY! The red wire should arc to a pin on the flyback transformer. This pin is the ground, note its location.

The Antenna

Take the copper wire and bend it into a large loop. This isn't critical—feel free too experiment with the shape of the antenna. Now, solder the red wire from the flyback transformer to the copper antenna. Mound the entire circuit, transformer and antenna on something (like a plank or box etc). Solder a long wire to the ground of the transformer (noted above) and attach that wire to a grounded conductor (like the ground on the average wall socket). Basically, the electricity travels from the transformer through the antenna, then out into the "air". In the dark, this will be seen as something called corona loss, a dark blue "haze" of sparks flying off the antenna (BE CAREFUL, these will shock you if you come to close).

Usage

To use the device, grab your florescent light and turn on the Wireless Energy Transfer device. When you bring the florescent light close to the antenna, the light should glow. If you're interested in other things to do with the device, hanging multiple florescent lights from very thin copper wires attached to the roof is quite amazing. When the device is turned on (and close to the florescent lights), they turn on! In the dark, it gives an ominous, floating light look. Great for Halloween displays or simply impressing the neighbors :)

Warnings

HIGH VOLTAGE is dangerous!! Don't electrocute yourself.
Soldering irons are hot! Don't burn yourself.
I am not responsible for any danger or harm you cause.

Via How to Build a Wireless Energy Transfer Array to Power Light Bulbs Without Plugging Them In on fear-of-lightning.wonderhowto.com.

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Weekend Homework: How to Become a Null Byte Contributor (2/10/2012)

Alex Long — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 18:04:23 GMT

We're officially seeking Null Byters on a weekly basis who are willing to take the time to educate the community. Contributors will write tutorials, which will be featured on the Null Byte blog, as well as the front page of WonderHowTo (IF up to par, of course). There is no need to be intimidated if you fear you lack the writing skills. I will edit your drafts if necessary and get them looking top-notch! You can write tutorials on any skill level, and about anything you feel like sharing that is related to tech, hacking, psychology and social manipulation—or whatever other life hacks you think mesh with our community.

Can I Help in Another Way?

This isn't exclusive to tutorials. Even if you simply post useful links and articles to the corkboard, you are doing the community a huge favor, because at some point, someone will need the information you have provided. Let's continue to make Null Byte the best forum ever by stuffing it with the latest and greatest hacking tutorials and topics.

If you have skills and want to share knowledge on any of the topics below, please leave a response in the comments with which topic you would like to write, post directly to the corkboard, or message me privately. If you have any additional ideas at all, please submit them below.

This Weeks Topics

Misc. social engineering—Throw Null Byte any social engineering experiences you may have, whether it be scoring something for free or getting private information, do tell. You should include detailed methods and the psychology behind why it works.
How to Make Good Study Habits—Studying is an essential part of becoming a hacker. So, if you're going to be spending hundreds of hours studying, it makes sense to find a good place to start, especially when the tips come from people with experience.
How to Make Home Made Acid—No, not the psychedelic drug acid. Teach the community how to make any type of high-powered acid for use when dissolving other materials. Should be thorough with safety tips included.
How to Make a Potato Launcher—A classic. Make a tutorial for the community on how to make the classic DIY "potato launcher". Basket loading and 80+ feet projection scores points.
How to Get Multiple IDs—Teach the forum what goes into the manipulation behind scoring multiple IDs.
Teach Your Wireless Router New Tricks by JTAGing—Give the community a good guide on JTAGing and flashing with the infamous DD-WRT firmware.
How to Push and Pull Files Over SSH—Teach the community how to use pipes in the terminal to push and pull files over the SSH protocol (secure network copying). Ex: SCP.
A Guide to a Healthy Brain—Go over methods to keep your memory fresh. You can include vitamins and activities that stimulate brain activity, growth and development. The brain is the most important organ, so keep it healthy!
Running a SIP Phone Server—Give us the rundown on what it takes to get a SIP phone server running so we can make VoIP calls. Would be great to give a little background on how VoIP works (how numbers are assigned, etc.)
Batch Image Converter in Python—Create a script in Python to covert a batch of images to a specified resolution, convenient for storing larger pictures, keeping them on phones, or emailing.

Photo by killough

Via Weekend Homework: How to Become a Null Byte Contributor (2/10/2012) on null-byte.wonderhowto.com.

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Winners of Minecraft World's Weekly Staff Choice Awards: Week 3

Kendra W — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:37:56 GMT

Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our tutorials, post to the community corkboard, and come play on our free server!

It's another Friday, which means it's time for the Weekly Staff Choice Awards. Last week's went great, with Gusse Fant's amazing Steam Fortress taking home the crown. This week, the staff here went around to all of the new builds and compiled a great list of the best for the week.

If you didn't win this week, don't fret! We will be doing the Weekly Staff Choice Awards every single week. If you would like to know what prizes will be given out for the Staff Choice Awards, check out the latest Weekly Challenge to see what perks you could win! The prizes given out for the the Weekly Staff Choice Awards will always be the same as the prizes for the Weekly Challenge.

For next week, if you would like to enter your build, please do so by posting a video, screenshots, and some information about your build to the community corkboard.

You can also message me (Maroselis) in-game if you would like to recommend someone else for that week! If I'm not in game at the time, just type "/mail send Maroselis [And your message here]" (without the quotes). Please try to include the coordinates of the build that you are recommending to make it easier for me to find it! Hit f3 in game to see your current coordinates.

Grand Prize Winner: Nickodeemus

As some of you may or may not know, Nickodeemus is actually a newcomer of WonderHowTo's Minecraft server! He didn't waste any time, as he got right to work on this brilliant creation. Nickodeemus created this outstanding mansion (elevator included), with it's own tram station that brings him to a secret underwater masterpiece. A lot of thought, time and patience must have gone into this creation, so congratulations Nickodeemus!

Click here to watch the video

Honorable Mentions: TehGeekFather, duggan93 & shadowbalrog

TehGeekFather created this small house made out of wool, stone brick and pine wood logs. The house has a little railroad station outside of it that leads right down to an abandoned mine!

duggan93 and shadowbalrog created a gorgeous, modern house complete with a little garden lounge area. It looks like the beginning of a city they're building... so I'll have to keep up with the future developments!

Prizes

1 Grand Prize winner - Contributor rank in game + Mob Disguise: Ghast!
Honorable Mentions - Contributor rank in game!

* Contributor rank in game allows you to change your gamemode (survival/creative), put yourself in godmode (/god), set 20 homes, claim 50 (16x16) plots and wear hats with /hat!

* Mob Disguise: Ghast allows you to turn into a Ghast! Do "/md ghast" in-game to turn yourself into a Ghast, and "/md" to turn back into yourself! You will even make the same sounds that Ghasts usually make!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the winners, I can't wait to see what all of you have in store for the Admins next week!

Don't forget to hop on the server this Saturday, Feb 11th at 4pm CST (2 PM PST / 5 PM EST) where we will be recreating this hidden passageway and sharing some of our tips and tricks to blending your doors in with the surroundings. If you need to convert the time to another time zone, try this handy convertor.

We use TeamSpeak3 for our tutorials; you can download it free here.

Our channel is: ts.wonderhowto.com.

Follow us on Twitter @MinecraftHowTo!

Via Winners of Minecraft World's Weekly Staff Choice Awards: Week 3 on minecraft.wonderhowto.com.

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Listen In: Live Social Engineering Phone Calls with Professional Social Engineers (Week 2)

Alex Long — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:01:10 GMT

Last week's social engineering phone calls were a blast. We made some friends, and even some enemies. We scored cheap food for some buddies, made some phone bills disappear, and even got a few people some free pizzas. So overall, it was a very successful night. In light of its success, I figured we'd all do another one!

Common Goals of Social Engineering Calls

Scoring needy people free food
Manipulating and extending warranties
Contracting and haggling cheap services (just for practice)
Tricking businesses into revealing personal information about customers
Leading retail companies on for a sale to try to reduce prices as low as possible

I hope that these calls will serve as a first-hand guide for everyone to learn more about social engineering. This will serve as a very rare link from the small underground world of the "Fone Phreaks" to you, in hopes of teaching you how a professional social engineer manipulates the human mind to their advantage with ease. This includes what fake names statistically work best, which scenarios, accents the manipulator uses and more.

Requirements

Skype account
IRC client

How Does This Work?

Every Monday night, until we feel like stopping, you can join the IRC channel for an invite to a Skype room filled with professional social engineers! If you're new to IRC, go here to learn how to set it up and use it. If you attend IRC and show interest, you will receive an invite to the chat and conference.

When Does It Start?

Every Monday starting 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST). If you need to convert the time to another time zone, just go to the Time Zone Converter.

PLEASE, arrive on time. You will be left out if you do not arrive on time.

Goals

I hope for this to teach you all about the threats and uses of social engineering in the real world. Upon finishing each call, we can post them to YouTube so the rest of the community can hear the devious tactics that went down.

You are free to try a call if you think you are up to it. You will see some really intense stuff and it's not for the faint of heart. Be prepared to hear businesses you interact with often gleefully handing out your personal information on a whim to a person without identity.

Feel free to sign up for calls below.

Be a Part of Null Byte!

Post to the forum
Chat on IRC
Follow on Twitter
Circle on Google+

Photo by ariel

Via Listen In: Live Social Engineering Phone Calls with Professional Social Engineers (Week 2) on null-byte.wonderhowto.com.

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5 Electrifying DIY Valentine's Day Projects to Score the Nerd Next Door

Justin Meyers — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:48:57 GMT

This coming Tuesday is Valentine's Day, and if you're like me, you're scurrying to do something special for your mate. The standard chocolates and flowers just isn't cutting it anymore, and you can only make so many homemade cards before it becomes banal and meaningless. So, what can you do that shows you put some work into it, while not breaking the bank?

Below, five easy (depending on your skill level) projects for the tech geek. Just make sure to get them done by the deadline of Tuesday, February 14th, 2012. Like an anniversary, this is definitely a day you can't forget.

Double Heart-Shaped Homopolar Motor

A homopolar motor may be one of the simplest electric motors, but sometimes simplicity is all you need to show you care on Valentine's Day. I think Hendrik Lorentz would agree. Just make sure you put a little heart in it—literally.

Using a speaker magnet and coins.
Click here to watch the video

Using a neodymium magnet.
Click here to watch the video

For this project, you only need a AA battery, two conductors (wires shaped into hearts), magnetic field (in this case, a speaker magnet), and commutator (some copper coins). Instead of the bass speaker and coins, you could simply use a neodymium magnet. Just be careful when it comes to dimpling the battery.

Click through for complete instructions.

Days Spent Together Counter

Always forgetting your anniversary? Well, Vegard Paulsen has the perfect thing for you. A lovely box that counts the days you've spent together. Not only does it make a great gift for your Valentine, but it will help you remember the day you hooked up.

It's a painted wooden box with a red four-digit SSD (seven-segment display) installed in the lid, which keeps count thanks to a couple RF modules. Just don't expect it to help you remember your 28th anniversary.

Click through for a complete list of parts, the code, and the full instructions.

The L-O-V-E Box

Have another four-digit SSD laying around? Instead of counting the days of your love, simply spell it out. L-O-V-E. The parts list is less extensive than the project above, plus it'll only set you back a couple hours—just enough time to keep your mate away without arousing suspicion.

Even if you don't have a lot of circuitry experience, this is easy to do, as long as you know how to use a soldering iron.

Click through for the complete instructions and parts list by Kaas.

Flexible Electronic Heart Card

Okay, so Valentine's Day cards are NOT out of style. Hallmark would go bankrupt if that was the case. But when it comes to homemade valentines, instead of doodling a few hearts on a piece of paper, get high-tech using a really cool DuPont Pyralux flexible circuit board.

Click here to watch the video

Xander used 16 red LED lights mounted onto the flexible board, which was driven by a small microcontroller. The LEDs light up in a visual pulse harmonic array which can be timed to the beat of your own heart. Now how could that not be special? If you don't care about the flexible circuit board, you can use a standard PCB, but you're definitely sacrificing the cool effect.

Click through for more information.

Valentine Plasma Lamp

This is definitely the hardest project here, but it sure beats the standard heart-shaped gizmos, because it's not so literal. It's more symbolic of your continuing love, a spark that never dies.

Click here to watch the video

Nikola Tesla invented the original plasma lamp (then called the "Inert Gas Discharge Tube") after experimenting with high-voltage phenomena and high-frequency currents using an incandescent lamp and his Tesla coil. Bill Parker turned it into a novelty item we know today. Any fan of Tesla will surely take this valentine to heart.

For this specific plasma bulb project, you'll need some parts from a disposable camera, the right gas-filled light bulb, and a little bit of ingenuity. The red candlelight bulb used in this project is definitely cool, and the perfect color for Valentine's Day. If you want to be literal, you can try finding a heart-shaped bulb with the proper gas in it, but it might be hard to hunt down. I think this specific electrode looks enough like a heart as it is.

Also, you don't have to go the steampunk route. This is where your creativity comes into play. And be careful with this project. The bulb can get pretty hot, and you can even get shocked by static charge sometimes.

Click through for instructions by Steampunk Design.

Photo by zmetech

Via 5 Electrifying DIY Valentine's Day Projects to Score the Nerd Next Door on fear-of-lightning.wonderhowto.com.

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How to Sneak Past Web Filters and Proxy Blockers with Google Translate

Alex Long — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:00:40 GMT

Do you need proxy access, but cannot have it for some reason? The most common perpetrator behind the issue is the network you're trying to access the pages from. Some networks will block websites, then go as far as filtering out all of the web queries for terms like "proxy" because it can get around their filter. Quick web proxies can be used for tons of other things, though.

So, how do we hack our way around this little dilemma? Our answer lies in Google.

There are a few really clever ways that we can manipulate Google to be used as a proxy. It will unblock websites that are under firewall and even provide some anonymity (though not 100% anonymity). Even if you are barred from accessing a resource on the web, or a proxy, you still may need to use them for a legitimate reason. That's why we are here to help!

Requirement

Google account

The Hack

This method uses Google Translate. We use the Google translator as a tool to obfuscate and encode our URLs. This effectively takes us past most web filters so that we can access any page that we desire.

This exploit exists within the Google translate tools. The concept is rather simple; when a user selects "Translate from <any foreign language> to English", the page URL is becoming encoded and then the page is being re-translated into English, so it is readable for you. Check out my example of this proof of concept in the video below.

Click here to watch the video

The video showed us a few things.

Grab the link of the blocked page.
Paste it into the Google translate tool.
Paste converted link to friends, if desired.

Be a Part of Null Byte!

Post to the forum
Chat on IRC
Follow on Twitter
Circle on Google

Photo by deseretnews

Via How to Sneak Past Web Filters and Proxy Blockers with Google Translate on null-byte.wonderhowto.com.

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Making Electromagnetic Weapons: Directed Microwave Energy

ChristopherVoute — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:30:20 GMT

Welcome to Microwave Energy—the next part of my Making Electromagnetic Weapons series. For the Electromagnetic Pulse Generator, check out the last three articles (One, Two and Three).

I'm sure almost all of you have used a microwave at some point in your lives. As a child, I always found microwaves fascinating; the idea of heating food with invisible energy, and even creating lightning should the user accidentally microwave metal! However, microwaves are not only used for heating food. Microwave energy generally falls under the 2.4 GHz (Gigahertz band). This same band is used by many wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Microwaves consist of any wavelength between 300 MHz (0.3 GHz) and 300 GHz. The range (energy) depends on the "strength" of the wavelength.

Here's a visual representation of the electromagnetic spectrum:

Simple Cooking Appliance or Lethal Weapon?

Well, it really depends. In this article, I'll be going over the simple basics of a microwave weapon, since microwave energy is a huge topic. In its simplest form, any waveform transfer of energy starts with excited particles and ends with excited particles.

Inside a microwave, you'll find a large transformer (called a MOT or Microwave Oven Transformer), a large capacitor (rated around 1-2 kV; 1-100 uF), some high voltage diodes (for rectifying the alternating current from the transformer), a magnetron (the microwave emitter—I'll go into this later), and other electrical components for operating the main electronics.

In a Microwave Weapon (MW), the components can be as simple as a magnetron, a transformer, a diode, and a capacitor. Of course, the magnetron is certainly not that simple, consisting of several finely tuned "antennas" and other components. A basic illustration of how a magnetron works is pictured below:

The round "1" is an electron source, the area between the power source and the antenna is the electron "accelerator", and the antenna itself is a simple way of "amplifying" and broadcasting the electron energy at a specific frequency. When these "tuned electrons" hit an object (specifically water or metal), they excite the molecules and generate heat, or in the case of metal, electrical energy. This is why microwaves are so dangerous compared to EMPs. Microwaves not only wreck havoc on electronics, but also can harm living beings.

This is where I must issue a WARNING!!! Microwaves are extremely dangerous. They can PERMANENTLY HARM YOU! If you feel even the slightest uncertainty towards the physics, dangers, and overall understanding of microwaves, DO NOT construct a microwave weapon.

The Construction

The best way to create a homemade microwave weapon is with an old microwave. If you want to upgrade to a more powerful, long range device, it's practically impossible unless you have a physics lab with extensive measuring equipment. However, an average microwave puts out 1,000-2,000 watts of energy, quite enough for destroying electronics.

Microwaves tend to "fly in all directions" unless they are directed. However, this is what the antenna does—directs the microwaves. In my experimentation, I discovered that a slight cone-shaped metal funnel has the best microwave-focusing ability. I was able to fry an old cell phone from up to 10 feet using three magnetrons and one funnel. This constitutes to about 6,000 watts (W) of directed energy, quite an accomplishment for 15 bucks spent at a thrift store. The circuit diagram for each individual magnetron looked something like this:

On a basic level, the circuit consists of a transformer, a voltage doubler (diode and capacitor) and a magnetron. The three MOTs draw lots of power, so I had to hook everything into a thick, direct mains line. The magnetron itself looks like this:

There are two large magnets that "direct" the electrons as they pass through the antenna. Also, the device has a heat sink to cool off. There are many other components and function aspects of the magnetron that are very complicated, but interesting. If you're curious, check out the information in this article.

Once finished, the entire apparatus should look something like this:

The waveguide (or metal funnel cone) guides the microwaves in a linear direction, and allows them to be focused in a specific direction. Once directed, the microwaves can generate electrical current in any conductive metal they encounter. How much electricity they generate is determined by the distance from the magnetron and the power of the output. The microwave gun will also disrupt wireless communications (depending on their frequencies) and excite water molecules.

Warnings

MICROWAVES ARE VERY VERY DANGEROUS. DO NOT attempt to build this device unless you are very very confident in your understanding of the dangers, correct practice of safety, and legal concerns.
HIGH VOLTAGE! Microwave Transformers can easily kill you! Treat then with respect! Remember... Fear of Lightning.
DO NOT use this device on anything or anywhere where it violates FCC rules or any other legal constraint!
I am not responsible for any damage, harm, or legal trouble you get yourself into.

Photo by darkgovernment

Via Making Electromagnetic Weapons: Directed Microwave Energy on fear-of-lightning.wonderhowto.com.

Related:

How to Bypass a Local Network Proxy for Free Internet

ChristopherVoute — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:51:14 GMT

Have you ever been away from home or on holiday and noticed an open network connection? FREE INTERNET! But then you find out that every search or page redirects you to an "enter password" or "signup here" page. Well, there are ways around this.

In this article, I'll show you how to bypass a local network proxy.

On a simple networking system, users would connect, enter passwords, get a local IP, and be able to connect to the internet through the proxy. But how does the machine know which computer is what? This is the key—the MAC address. The network logs the MAC address of the authenticated device and allows connectivity until either timeout or until they sign out.

The Exploit

To complete this exploitation, you'll need a Linux distro with networking and injection drivers, Aircrack-ng, and a program called Macchanger.

1) Open up Terminal and throw your card into monitor mode:

airmon-ng start wlan0 (or whatever your card's name is)

2) Now, start airodump-ng and observe the devices connected to your victim network:

airodump-ng mon0

3) Note your victim's network MAC address (or BSSID). Then, on the device list in airodump-ng, check out what the MAC addresses of the connected devices (to your network) are. Look for one with a lot of packet "acceptance" and "power" (meaning it's close by), and select and copy the MAC address of the device (NOT the access point BSSID). If you're confused, take a look at the photo below:

4) Disable all interfaces with:

ifconfig wlan0 down and airmon-ng stop mon0

5) Finally, fake the MAC address of the device you chose:

macchanger -m XX:XX:XX:XX:XX (the victim's MAC) wlan0

6) Start up Wicd or similar tool and connect to your victim's network. If all goes well, you should have internet access!

Warnings

Hacking is illegal! This is for educational purposes only.
I am not responsible for any damage, harm or legal trouble you get yourself into.

Via How to Bypass a Local Network Proxy for Free Internet on null-byte.wonderhowto.com.

Related:

How to Protect Your Door with High Voltage

ChristopherVoute — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:04:22 GMT

In this article, I'll show you how to create a simple yet effective way of scaring off intruders. Of course, there are methods around this approach, but it's great for office pranks and general fun. The project requires a little background knowledge in electronics and circuitry, like reading schematics and using a soldering iron.

Materials and Tools

To build this project, you'll need:

A soldering iron
Flux-core solder
Insulated magnet wire (copper wire, it can be extracted from a solenoid)
A disposable camera (Kodak works best)
Aluminum tape
Some screwdrivers (depending on the disposable camera screws)

Step 1 Dismantle camera / discharge capacitor

First, dismantle the disposable camera and discharge the capacitor. Using the photo below, locate the large, black battery-like cylinder and cross the two prongs with a screwdriver. This is for safety purposes, since the capacitor can hold a charge for long periods of time and electrocute you if you complete the circuit with your fingers.

Step 2 Create the circuit

The circuit is quite simple, consisting of the transformer, transistor, resistor, capacitor and diode from the camera circuit. Follow these steps to create the circuit, or use the schematic below (the circuit could easily be made on a protoboard or standalone).

Step 3 Solder capacitor to transformer

Finally, desolder the tiny yellow capacitor from the disposable camera circuit. Then, solder it onto the transformer.

Note: I built my circuit standalone, it looked something like this:

Step 4 Attach magnet wires

Now that the circuit is finished (make sure you install a switch into the circuit!), it should easily operate on the average AA battery, or 1.5 volts. And now you can apply it to your door! The tricky part is getting the victim to complete the circuit with their hand and release the power stored in the capacitor through their hand. Attach two 5-inch pieces of magnet wire to the positive and negative high voltage outputs of your transformer circuit. It's easy to remove the insulation from the magnet wire with a soldering iron, because it just melts off.

Step 5 Place the aluminum tape

Cut some aluminum tape (two tiny 1-inch by 1/8-inch strips) and stick each one on the doorknob, like so:

Note: The picture only shows one side. Also, if your doorknob doesn't look like mine, or is round or another shape, the concept is simply to place the aluminum strips in a place on the handle where the victim would touch both, thus completing the circuit.

Step 6 Attach wires to aluminum strips

Now, take one of the wires you cut earlier and attach it to ONE of the aluminum strips. You can easily attach the wire to the aluminum by bending over a portion of the tape, and wrapping the wire around it. The idea here is to create a "circuit" out of your doorknob, so that when someone attempts to open it, the circuit is completed and electrocutes them. There are many ways to do this, just experiment. :)

Take the OTHER wire and do the same procedure, only to the other aluminum strip.

If you get stuck, or are confused, feel free to contact me or comment.

Step 7 Mount the voltage circuit

Now, mount the voltage circuit on the other side of the door with some tape or similar adhesive. The entire circuit, including the battery, should be very tiny and almost invisible. The wires from the aluminum strips should easily wrap around the door itself, since they are very thin and there is usually some leniency in distance between the door and the door frame.

Step 8 Test it!

Test it out! The voltage from the capacitor isn't lethal (unless seriously misused), but should deliver a startling blast of voltage sure to leave the victim's arms tingling! Most people don't look at a doorknob before they open a door, especially if it's one they go through often. It's better to disguise the silver tape if your doorknob isn't silver—there are many ways to do this. Use your imagination! :)

The circuits used in this article are also used in the High-Lighter Stun Gun and Coil Gun. Check them out if you're interested in other high-voltage projects!

Warnings

HIGH VOLTAGE!!!! NEVER work with large amounts of electricity unless you are experienced with safety and the dangers of electricity!
Soldering irons are hot! Don't burn yourself.
Pranking people can result in anger and/or lawsuits! Don't get yourself thrown in jail—use common sense.
I am not responsible for any damage or harm you cause.

Via How to Protect Your Door with High Voltage on fear-of-lightning.wonderhowto.com.

Related:

Things to Do on WonderHowTo (02/08 - 02/14)

Justin Meyers — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:47:55 GMT

WonderHowTo is made up of niche communities called Worlds. If you've yet to join one (or create your own), get a taste below of what's going on in the community. Check in every Wednesday for a roundup of new activities and projects.

Thanks to all of our active moderators and contributors from this past week: Christopher Voute, Mr. Unknown, Cerek Tunca, Rex Gordon, and Adrian Rossiter.

As always, we would like to remind lurkers on site: WonderHowTo is a community effort, and the site belongs to all of you. The more knowledge we can pool together, the more we can learn from each other. With that said, join in. Write a tutorial. Post to a World. We are a curious bunch, and we want to see what you've got to share!

Below, this week's highlights: Making electron spirographs with an old CRT television, relieving a painful jellyfish sting, picking deadbolt locks, chatting anonymously online, and more!

Challenges and Workshops

Minecraft World's Weekly Workshop — Have some in-game goodies to hide? Join our official Minecraft server this weekend for a step-by-step tutorial on building hidden passageways using piston doors and redstone. Make sure you're there on Saturday, February 11th at 2 PM (PST) / 5 PM (EST). More details here. If you still haven't joined the server, see how to get whitelisted.

Minecraft World's Weekly Challenge — If you can't make the workshop, at least participate in the weekly server challenge! This week's theme is a continuation of "Buildings Throughout Time", focusing on Ancient Greece. Post your very best crafted Greek antiquities to Minecraft World's community corkboard for a chance to snag some server perks. More info here.

Astronomical Observing News — Stay current on what's going on in the skies above with Cerek Tunca's weekly Astronomy World feature, AON. This week, make sure to snag a look at the comet Garradd while it's peaking. Click here for a full rundown of the stargazing events for February 7th through February 13th. And join the World to share your astrophilic knowledge.

Community Byte — Both newbie and veteran programmers are welcome to join Null Byte's weekly community coding projects. Coding sessions instructed by Sol Gates take place every Monday and Wednesday at 5 PM (PST) / 8 PM (EST). HackThisSite missions instructed by Alex Long take place every Friday at the same time. This week's mission—hacking for animal rights activists. Meet up in the Null Byte IRC at the appropriate time! More details here.

Weekend Homework — Looking for another way to get involved with Null Byte? Then check in every Friday for Alex Long's Weekend Homework. Know how to make moldable explosives? Can you hot-wire a car? Got the secret to hacking voicemail passwords? Then share your knowledge! Simply message Alex or post your article directly to Null Byte's community corkboard.

Null Byte's Community Contest — Want to get your hands dirty with a custom-built program? Try out Null Byte's newest activity—a contest to see who can code the best hacking tool. Winner gets bragging rights. Program choices include a spider, email bomber, silent port scanner, and more. Winner will be announced next Wednesday, February 15th, so get coding! Details here.

How-To Projects

The beauty of jellyfish is unmistakable. So is their poisonous sting. If you've just brushed up against a jellyfish, Yumi of Secret Tips from the Yumiverse shows you the best way to relieve that irritation. And no… it does not include urine. Click to enlarge, or click through to view.

Never have a secret communication intercepted by the enemy again! Below are three super easy recipes for making invisible ink to encode your messages, along with the decoding instructions. Click to enlarge, or click through to view.

Christopher Voute charges up his Fear of Lightning World again this week with three electrifying projects. First up, he schools us on the theory behind EMP generators in the third part to his Making Electromagnetic Weapons series (also see parts 1 and 2). Then he shows us how to make a simple touch-triggered relay and some amazing electron spirographs using an old cathode ray tube, as seen below.

Click here to watch the video

And that's not all Christopher's been up to. He also gave all of us Null Byters the code for a handy IP change notifier program. Made with Python, it can send you text messages whenever your IP address has changed. Check it out.

Miss last Saturday's Minecraft Workshop on building suffocation traps? As a followup, Kendra W has put together a nice, detailed step-by-step article on something even better—an inescapable pitfall trap. Contact admin Kendra or mod Andrew Osborne if you're interested in co-instructing a future workshop or taking on a topic of your own.

Mr. Unknown of Wire Storm Technologies always has your security in mind. His latest articles include keeping your Windows 7 desktop organized, securing your computer with Norton DNS, and chatting online anonymously using Cryptocat.

Null Byte admin Alex Long is still blasting out the hacking tutorials. This past week he showed us the art of lock picking with padlock soda can shims and deadbolt picking techniques. Also, how to lock down your Android phone, getting free text messages for life, and more! Check out the blog roll for a full rundown.

Are you interested in building old school robots? Then keep an eye on Rex Gordon and his Robot Realms World. He'll be detailing the entire process behind his ongoing robot build, Magnus, as well as teaching us a thing or two about drive systems and proper power requirements for your robots. Stay tuned for more. And feel free to ask any questions in the forum!

I Made It

Adrian Rossiter of antiprism.com posted a great link to Mario Marín's incredible polyhedra models and sculptures, which are constructed out of everyday items like compact discs, straws, egg cartons, etc. See more here.

Everyone on the Minecraft server has been working hard and building some really cool stuff. There are too many projects to show off here, and below showcases just a few of the ones posted to Minecraft World's community corkboard. And don't forget to start erecting some Ancient Greek buildings for the Minecraft challenge this week.

Got Something to Share?

If you've got a relevant How-To, a source of inspiration, or a finished project, post it to the corkboard in one of the applicable Worlds above. If your project is unrelated to these areas, you can publish a How-To article directly on WonderHowTo, or you can start your own World if you've got the passion—or just post directly to the WonderHowTo company corkboard.

Got a question? Comment below or email jmeyers@wonderhowto.com.

Photos by M Jaeger, wired, Emma Hack, ITN, bdsecurity, Marín, MJ/TR, QuinnDombrowski

Via Things to Do on WonderHowTo (02/08 - 02/14) on blog.wonderhowto.com.

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Minecraft World's Weekly Workshop: Building Hidden Passageways Like Never Before

Kendra W — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:49:22 GMT

Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play on our free server.

Have you grown tired of the standard "Mojang Doors" that are vastly overused? Are you interested in learning an alternative piston door method? Well, this week's Saturday workshop will show you a unique and inspiring way to hide your hidden treasures! This workshop will be centered around creating a hidden passageway using pistons in a way you've never seen before.

We have a tutorial area set up with a warp, so when the tutorial starts we will let everyone know which warp to use. Throughout the tutorial, we will invite everyone to try out new piston doors of their own, or you can simply follow along step-by-step if you're new to using redstone.

If anyone has experience creating redstone piston doors, we would love you to join us in teaching the rest of the server. Please leave a comment on this thread with what you can bring to the table!

Join us this Saturday, February 11th at 5 PM (EST) / 2 PM (PST) where we will recreating this hidden passageway and sharing some of our tips and tricks to blending your doors in with the surroundings. If you need to convert the time to another time zone, try this handy convertor.

We use TeamSpeak3 for our tutorials; you can download it free here.

Our channel is: ts.wonderhowto.com

Follow us on Twitter @MinecraftHowTo!

Via Minecraft World's Weekly Workshop: Building Hidden Passageways Like Never Before on minecraft.wonderhowto.com.

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Community Contest: Code the Best Hacking Tool, Win Bragging Rights

Alex Long — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:47:59 GMT

Here's something fun for the Null Byte community to do—a coding competition!

This week, I wanted to get everyone involved by offering you all a nice library of possible program types to choose from and try to code. At the end of this competition, all of the submitted programs will be reviewed by the community and myself. The coder that receives the most votes will be dubbed THE BEST.

These tools are going to be hacking-based (of course) and should center around simplicity and speediness. Please submit code in its cleanest state possible. Check out what is available for coding below, then pick your poison.

Available Program Types

Web Crawler / Spider - Make a bot that maps out websites quickly and exports them cleanly into a text file. Maybe add pause and resume features, or some other spiffy features.
Email Bomber - Create a classic script that loops sending emails. Try to get creative and fancy with your bomber, because this one's seen a lot.
SMS Bomber - See above, except this is for SMS bombing.
Voicemail Bruteforcer - Code a tool that actually bruteforces peoples voicemail PINs.
Backdoor / RAT - Code a backdoor tool that will allow returned remote access to a box that you have rooted. This should allow shell commands.
Crypter / Binder - Create a tool that binds and hides files within one another. These are helpful for distributing viruses and malware.
Web Directory Fuzzer - This tool needs to be able to effectively toss "garbage" at a server until it randomly guesses existing directory names. Good for mapping unknown pages.
Silent Port Scanner - Make a simple port scanner that does a very silent SYN stealth scan. It should allow very intuitive control over what ports are scanned.

How Does This Work?

Goal

Simply code a tool and submit the program's source code via a link to a hosting site of your choice. Just post your link in the comments below or on the community corkboard, including a proper description. Preferred language is Python, but you can code in anything that you choose.

When Does It Start?

If you're reading this, it's happening.

When Does It End?

The winner will be announced next Wednesday, February 15th. Good luck!

Project Goals

Here are some of my hopes for the community with this week's projects:

Get more users to ask friends to join and idle in IRC.
Get more people to learn how to program.
Learn how to apply realistic hacking techniques.
Teach people problem solving techniques to apply in real-life situations.

Be a Part of Null Byte!

Post to the forum
Chat on IRC
Follow on Twitter
Circle on Google+

Image by nakedsecurity

Via Community Contest: Code the Best Hacking Tool, Win Bragging Rights on null-byte.wonderhowto.com.

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How to Make Invisible Ink

Yumi Sakugawa — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:26:47 GMT

Need to pass along an important message on paper without having it accidentally discovered by your archenemy? Using very common household products, you can easily whip up an invisible ink recipe and write out your secret message with the solution. All the recipient needs to do is heat up the paper using a stovetop of light bulb, or brush the surface of the paper with a simple iodine mixture to read the message.

Illustrated below are three simple methods for making your own invisible ink. Spy glasses not included.

Click on image below to enlarge.

Via How to Make Invisible Ink on thesecretyumiverse.wonderhowto.com.

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Astronomer Creates "Meteorito" Wine That's Out of This World—Literally

Justin Meyers — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:15:53 GMT

What happens when you combine a passion for astronomy and a love of wine? Cabernet that's out of this world. Literally. It's called Meteorito, and has a berry, nutty flavor with just a hint of iron and nickel. The wine was made by oenophile and amateur astronomer Ian Hutcheon, who runs his own vineyard and established an observatory in Chile called Centro Astronomica Tagua Tagua.

Meteorito is a Cabernet Sauvignon infused with the 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite measuring three-inches long, believed to have crashed about 6,000 years ago in the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile where it was found. The small space rock was submerged with 25-day fermented Cabernet grapes in a wooden barrel for 12 whole months. After that year, it was blended with another batch of Cabernet to make about 10,000 liters, to be sold at just over 11 bucks.

The inspiration?

Hutcheon said, "The idea behind the project was to blend my passion for both astronomy and enology in a real, physical way rather than just a symbolic one, and give everybody the chance to touch an element of space and taste particles of the birth of the solar system via a very good handcrafted wine."

Hopefully the taste is a little light on the metallic side, because I'm sure the rusty flavor might space you out. A wonder how it'll effect Cabernet Sauvignon's normal tannic taste? Surprisingly, I'd say a lot, since his grapes were planted on top of an old gold mine. Though I can't see how a single small meteorite could effect 10,000 liters.

Gimmick? Definitely. But a very cool one at that.

Photo by Wine Wild West

Via Astronomer Creates "Meteorito" Wine That's Out of This World—Literally on astronomy.wonderhowto.com.

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Astronomical Observing News (02/07 - 02/13)

Cerek Tunca — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:54:26 GMT

The comet Garradd is almost at its peak now, plus there's plenty more events going on this week, so be sure to observe!

Until March: The Garradd comet has almost reached its absolute highest magnitude! This comet is bright and easy to follow, so be sure to check it out!

February 7: Io transit, full moon
February 8: Io eclipse, Europa and Ganymede transits
February 9: Venus-Uranus conjunction
February 11: Moon at perigee (367,919 kilometers)
February 12: Spica-Moon conjunction
February 13: Io and Europa Eclipses

Below I have defined some of the events I will be notifying you about over the course of this repeating feature:

Transit—When an astronomical object passes in front of another, like one of Jupiter's moons passing in front of Jupiter.
Occultation—When one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer.
Moon Phases—It can be fun observing different phases of the moon. These are what fraction of the moon is dark. It is also fun observing the dark side.
Conjunctions—Two (or more) bright objects in one field of view! This is when two or more astronomical objects are relatively close. Sometimes it is cool to see planets or bright stars pass by or behind the moon.
Apogee or Perigee—This is when the moon is closest or furthest away from Earth. Not really for observing, but it can be interesting to view the moon when it is large and small.
Meteor Showers—Easily observed by the naked eye or by binoculars.
Comets—Not very often do these come around, but are amazing to watch.
Lunar and Solar Eclipses—Mainly these are lunar eclipses, but if you get to see a solar eclipse you are very lucky! This is when an astronomical object passes into a shadow of another. This could be Jupiter's moons passing into its shadow, or vice versa.
Solstices—This is when the Earth wobbles, or from Earth this is how the northernmost or southernmost point the sun is at. There are two each year. This is mainly for information.
Equinoxes—This is when the earth is in the middle of its southernmost and northernmost position and it is equal. Again, this is mainly for knowledge.
Declination of Moon—This is when the moon's path around the Earth is slightly tilted up or down. The declination is the furthest up or down it will go.

There may be more to come. When these are included, I will explain what they are.

Via Astronomical Observing News (02/07 - 02/13) on astronomy.wonderhowto.com.

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Crush Your Opponents in Minecraft PvP: How to Build an Inescapable Trap with Redstone

Kendra W — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:15:16 GMT

Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our advanced tutorials and come play on our free server.

This past weekend, our Weekly Workshop focused on building a suffocation trap. But today, we're going to be covering a different type of redstone trap in Minecraft—one with a 100% success rate (perfect for PvP servers).

Step 1 Layout

This is going to be your base before placing anything. It will give you a general idea as to where the pistons, redstone, redstone repeaters, and stone will go.

We will use stone blocks in this tutorial to show where the redstone will be placed.

Step 2 Sticky Pistons

Place the 8 sticky pistons exactly as seen below. This will be the inside piston floor (imagine the chest at the back middle).

Add the two stone pillars (3 blocks high) just like in the picture below, and add 6 more sticky pistons as shown. Remove the 6 grass blocks as well, so it doesn't break the pistons later on.

Step 3 Repeaters / Stone Blocks

Add 3 redstone repeaters 1 block down from the back of the pistons. Don't change the delay—just leave it! Add sticky pistons facing inward to the path, on top of the stone pillars you just made in Step 2. Place 3 stone blocks directly behind the repeaters, so the stone blocks are equal to the repeaters (as shown at the far left of this screenshot below).

Do the exact same thing on the right side as you just did to the left.

Step 4 Doorway / Pressure Plates

Add the "entrance" just like shown in the picture below. Remember to add the pressure plates directly in front of the sticky pistons on the stone pillars. If you do not place them exactly as I have them, your pressure plates will not work.

Add your floor to the sticky pistons in the back. For this tutorial, I used stone bricks. You will only be placing 1 stone brick on each sticky piston for a total of 8 stone bricks.

Step 5 Redstone / Redstone Torches

Now you can start adding your redstone. On the "steps" behind the stone pillars, do not add redstone to the bottom step. Instead, you will add a redstone torch 1 block up from the bottom step.

And as usual, do the exact same thing to the opposite side. You will notice the sticky pistons activating and pushing forward... this is a good thing!

Step 6 Hook Up Inside Floor to Front Redstone Repeaters

We will now be powering the inside floor sticky pistons by placing redstone and connecting it to the front redstone repeaters.

Below, a closer image of how the redstone is to be placed. Don't forget, you need to do this to both sides!

You will need to add more stone like I did above, in order to power the top piston. Once you add the 7 extra stones, place a redstone torch behind the sticky piston. The redstone behind the stone will power this torch once the pressure plate is stepped on.

Step 7 Final Step for Redstone!

Behind the redstone torch you placed beside the repeaters, you will need to place more stone. Behind the redstone torch and down 1 block, place 4 stone blocks. On top of these 4 stone blocks, place 4 redstone. This redstone will connect both sides so that once the pressure plates are activated, both sides will activate.

Overview of last step:

Step 8 Camouflage

Now, to make your trap less conspicuous. Cover all of the redstone with grass so it looks more like a hill. Be sure to make a hollowed out hill so that you don't block any of the redstone!

You can go back and replace any of the stone with another block type to fit your design needs.

Add trees and tall grass to make it blend together better!

Be sure to test out your trap several times, because depending on whether you want to kill the intruders or just trap them, you may need to add more to it! When they fall through the trap, do you want them to die in lava? Do you want them to be trapped in there for good until you return from a night of mining? Do you want them to fall to their death so that you can steal their items after they die? It's up to you—anything is possible!

Trap Overview

Here's a video of the trap in action. No escape!

This trap guarantees your victims demise!
Click here to watch the video

The new Weekly Workshop will be be announced on Wednesday, so be sure to check back! If you have a suggestion for this week's Workshop, leave a comment below. We'd love to hear your ideas!

We use TeamSpeak3 for our tutorials; you can download it free here.

Our channel is: ts.wonderhowto.com

Follow us on Twitter @MinecraftHowTo!

Via Crush Your Opponents in Minecraft PvP: How to Build an Inescapable Trap with Redstone on minecraft.wonderhowto.com.

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How to Score Free Game Product Keys with Social Engineering

Alex Long — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:40:24 GMT

Lost the product key for your game? If you have to reinstall the game and don't have that key anymore, you're out of luck, especially if you didn't "buy" the game. But never be in fear of losing product keys again with today's Null Byte, where we'll be practicing a little bit of mind-kung fu.

Social manipulation is a huge part of learning how to hack and defend from hackers, because the human element is always the weakest chain in the fence. Since it's such an intense and fun subject, we might as well get hands on with it. And that's exactly what's going on here today—practicing our social engineering elite skills.

Our targets vary—game retailers, their employees, and the system behind it are all things we need to manipulate in order to prove this concept.

Note: These skills and concepts are taken from live social engineering hacks that we perform at Null Byte on a weekly basis.

Warning

This is illegal, without question. This tutorial is here merely as an informational how-to showing people how easy it is to manipulate and be manipulated.

Requirements

Calm and strong persona
Pen and paper to write down important information
Telephone

Step 1 Call the Game Retailer

Call the game retailer that you purchased the game from and get ready to lie through your teeth. When the employee answers the phone and greets you, brace yourself for battle and start talking.

Tips

Do research on your target ahead of time, i.e. location of headquarters, etc.
Call from a phone that isn't your own.
Think of a creative story in case something backfires and hang up.

Example script:

"Hi, my name is Roy Walters from the Infinity Ward shipping office in <insert location>. I'm calling because of a defective shipment that's been brought to my attention by the logistics team from <location of IW HQ>. The game was (pretend to look at a clipboard or something) <insert game here> and we need to verify that the games are indeed from the defective batch. I need you to grab a copy and read off the bar code on the back of the case."

Watch in amusement as they likely comply with your seemingly harmless demands.

Step 2 Run with Your New Information

Now we need to social engineer the key code out of them. Be careful not to sound too weird. You need to sound smooth and calm. If something goes wrong, be persistent for a minute and act a bit stressed. Say the boss is breathing down your neck. Most people will be more than willing to help out if you don't rage at them.

You: "May I have the UID code located on the <UID location> (do your research!)?"

Them: "Okay, Just a sec... It's XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX."

You: "Alright, hold on, let me check that real quick (make typing sounds on your keyboard for authenticity)."

You: "Weird, it looks like we're okay, but just to make sure, can you read the key off for me? It's located at <location here>."

Them: "Okay, the game key is XXX-XX-XXXX-XXXX."

Roll out with your profit. This could be extremely helpful in a situation where you possess a game, but no longer have a product key. However, this is indeed illegal—and very morally wrong.

Be a Part of Null Byte!

Post to the forum
Chat on IRC
Follow on Twitter
Circle on Google

Images by thebuzzmedia, adptc

Via How to Score Free Game Product Keys with Social Engineering on null-byte.wonderhowto.com.

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Awesome Trick with Prepaid "GoPhones" Nabs You Free Text Messaging for Life

Alex Long — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:32:52 GMT

You might be sitting there thinking that I'm crazy, but the truth is you're only partially right. You can get free text messaging for life, all for a cheap, one-time fee. But, how can that be possible? An exploit in AT&T's prepaid GoPhones is the culprit behind this sweet, oh-so rare opportunity for exploitation. The exploit grants a lifetime of free texting, assuming that the company stays afloat from now until the end of time.

Right now, the cheapest prepaid GoPhone runs for about $20. So, with the cards, you could go to Wal-Mart and pick up a phone and a card for under $50 and have an emergency phone for life.

Requirements

AT&T GoPhone
Unlimited texting card
$20 "Go" calling card

Step 1 Phone Activation

First, we need to prepare our GoPhone for activation.

Follow the instructions that come with the phone to activate it.
When you are prompted for a service plan type, pick the one that is described as "when you make outgoing calls, you will be charged".

Step 2 Activate the Cards

Make sure you use the following order when activating the service cards.

$20 card
Unlimited texting

Once activation is complete, so long as you make sure that your friends don't call you, and you do not make any outgoing calls, your phone will always have money on it. Thus, assuring that our unlimited texting card never runs out. Be careful on the road!

Be a Part of Null Byte!

Post to the forums
Chat on IRC
Follow on Twitter
Circle on Google+

Photos by swp, pocketables

Via Awesome Trick with Prepaid "GoPhones" Nabs You Free Text Messaging for Life on null-byte.wonderhowto.com.

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How to Make a Simple Touch-Triggered Transistor Relay

ChristopherVoute — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:59:12 GMT

In this article, I'll show you how to make a simple touch-triggered switch. This is very useful for various electronic projects, from a simple bedside light to a flat panel touch keyboard. The circuit can vary in switching power depending on the transistors you use. For example, if you're looking into creating a 120V light that turns on when touched, you'd need two powerful transistors and an isolation relay. However, a simple flashlight that turns on when touched would only take a couple of standard NPN transistors.

Materials and Tools

To build the circuit, you'll need two standard NPN transistors, such as 2N3055 or similar. Also a 200k resistor and breadboard/protoboard to mount the final product on. In terms of tools, it's nice to have a powerful, fine-point soldering iron, but any will do. You'll also need some flux-core solder and some wire cutters.

Here's a photo and pinout of the 2N3055:

Note: This transistor is quite large and intended for larger higher voltages than a smaller NPN transistor. However, the smaller NPN transistors work just fine if you're simply wanting to turn on and off an LED. 2N3904 is a small, handy transistor for this purpose; see the photo and pinout below:

And the resistor:

The Circuit

The circuit consists of two NPN transistors, arranged in what's called a "Darlington pair". In a circuit diagram, it looks something like this:

The collectors are joined together, and the emitter of transistor 1 connects directly to the base of transistor 2. When the voltage reaches the saturation point on TR1's base, it switches on TR2, and "completes the circuit". However, this is just a part of the full schematic. The resistor and load also come into play, as depicted below:

Depending on your input voltage and transistors, the circuit should "turn on" whatever you add into the circuit (load). As you can see from the circuit, it's necessary to "bridge" the gap. However, this is only when you're using battery power. If the circuit is run from a transformer into the main, the light should turn on simply by touching the 200k resistor. This is because your body is already grounded when the circuit is powered by the main, and completes the circuit through the resistance of skin.

If you're interested in other electronic projects, check out Making Electromagnetic Weapons: The EMP Generator and How to Make a High-Lighter Stun Gun

Warnings

Soldering irons are hot!! Don't burn yourself.
Don't overheat the transistors or resistor! It can be damaging.
If working with main power, don't electrocute yourself! AC main power is a lethal level of voltage!
I am not responsible for any damage or harm you cause.

Via How to Make a Simple Touch-Triggered Transistor Relay on fear-of-lightning.wonderhowto.com.

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Minecraft World's Weekly Server Challenge: Buildings Throughout Time #2

Kendra W — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:26:59 GMT

Welcome to Minecraft World! Check out our tutorials, post to the community corkboard, and come play on our free server!

Weekly Challenge: Week 3

Though these Weekly Challenges are not required, they were created in order to help our builders on the server get out of any artistic blocks. We want these Weekly Challenges to inspire you to create something magnificent! We also want you to post your tips and tricks, as well as your build! You can do so by clicking HERE and posting to the community corkboard.

The idea behind the Weekly Challenges is to share your quick tips and tricks related to the topic at hand with the community. Every week is something different, so be sure to check the Blog every Monday!

Without further ado, this week's Weekly Challenge is... Buildings Throughout Time: Ancient Greece!

Use /warp Challenge1 to be taken to the designated building area for this week's challenge.

We're looking for your creations to revolve around Ancient Greece, so be sure to do some research before getting started! There are so many options with this week's challenge, so I can't wait to see what you guys and gals come up with!

Rules

Submissions should be created in the designated area in the server. Use /warp Challenge1 to be taken to the area.
Admins will extend the Cyan border at /warp Challenge1 if you need more room.
Be sure to put a sign in the front of your creation telling who helped you with the project, what it is, etc. The more information we have, the better!
In order for your entry to count, it MUST be something you created on the WonderHowTo server.
Do not claim a build as your own if you did not create it—we will know!
If you worked with someone on a project, please mention their name as well and what they contributed.
Post your tutorial, creation and/or tips to the community corkboard in order to be considered for each week's contest.
You cannot submit the same creation more than once to the corkboard.
For all Weekly Challenges, you cannot use a previous entry you've already submitted in the past.
You CAN enter BOTH the Weekly Challenge and the Weekly Staff Choice Awards in the same week.
Winners will be announced next Monday at 12 p.m. PST / 3 p.m. EST!

Prizes

1 Grand Prize winner - Contributor rank in game + Mob Disguise: Ghast!
Honorable Mentions - Contributor rank in game!

* Contributor rank in game allows you to change your gamemode (survival/creative), put yourself in godmode (/god), set 20 homes, claim 50 (16x16) plots and wear hats with /hat!

Winners of Weekly Challenge: Week 2

GRAND PRIZE WINNER:

Woodspeople and her amazing Middle Age-inspired home, complete with sign narrations throughout!

Click here to watch the video

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Luigiandmario17 and his charming house, windmill and guard tower!

ShadowBalrog, Silverbug12, Sproga2 and their amazing Medieval-style castle!

Congratulations to the winners! You guys really went above and beyond this week!

Tips

If any of you ever have any suggestions for next week's Challenge, post them in the comments below! We'd love to get your opinion!

Good luck, and have fun! Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Don't forget, use - /warp Challenge1 to be taken to the designated area to create your weekly challenge build!

Follow us on Twitter @MinecraftHowTo!

Via Minecraft World's Weekly Server Challenge: Buildings Throughout Time #2 on minecraft.wonderhowto.com.

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