Hackaday Podcast Hackaday

This week, it was Kristina's turn in the hot seat with Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams. First up in the news -- the results are in for the 2024 Home Sweet Home Automation contest! First and second place went to some really gnarly, well-documented hacks, and third went to the cutest pill-dispensing robot you'll probably see before you hit the retirement home. Which was your favorite? Let us know in the comments.

Then it's on to What's That Sound. Kristina failed once again, but you will probably fare differently. Can you get it? Can you figure it out? Can you guess what's making that sound? If you can, and your number comes up, you get a special Hackaday Podcast t-shirt.
Then it's on to the hacks, beginning with a DIY cell phone sniffer and a pen that changed the world. Then we talk bullet time on a budget, the beautiful marriage of 3D printing and LEGO, and, oh yes, flexure whegs. Finally, we get the lowdown on extender probes, and posit why it's hard to set up time zones on the Moon, relatively speaking.
Check out the links over at Hackaday if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

Elliot and Dan got together to enshrine the week's hacks in podcast form, and to commiserate about their respective moms, each of whom recently fell victim to phishing attacks. It's not easy being ad hoc tech support sometimes, and as Elliot says, when someone is on the phone telling you that you've been hacked, he's the hacker. Moving on to the hacks, we took a look at a hacking roadmap for a cheap ham radio, felt the burn of AM broadcasts, and learned how to program old-school EPROMs on the cheap.
We talked about why having a smart TV in your house might not be so smart, especially for Windows users, and were properly shocked by just how bad wireless charging really is. Also, cheap wind turbines turn out to be terrible, barnacles might give a clue to the whereabouts of MH370, and infosec can really make use of cheap microcontrollers.
Head on over to Hackaday to check out the links or leave us comments!

What were some of the best posts on Hackaday last week? Elliot Williams and Al Williams decided there were too many to choose from, but they did take a sampling of the ones that caught their attention. This week's picks were an eclectic mix of everything from metal casting and plasma cutters to radio astronomy and space telescope budgets. In between? Some basic circuit design, 3D printing, games, dogs, and software tools. Sound confusing? It won't be after you listen to this week's podcast.
Check out the links on Hackaday if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

Before Elliot Williams jumps on a train for Hackaday Europe, there was just enough time to meet up virtually with Tom Nardi to discuss their favorite hacks and stories from the previous week. This episode's topics include the potential benefits of having a dual-gantry 3D printer, using microcontrollers to build bespoke note taking gadgets, the exciting world of rock tumbling, and the proper care and maintenance required to keep your World War II battleship in shape.
They'll also go over some old school keyboard technologies, DIP chip repairs, and documenting celestial events with your home solar array. By the end you'll hear about the real-world challenges of putting artificial intelligence to work, and how you can safely put high-power lithium batteries to work in your projects without setting your house on fire.
Check out the links over on Hackaday if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think in the comments!

This week, Editor-in-Chief Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos convened once again to give the lowdown on this week's best hacks. First up in the news -- it's giga-sunset time for Gigaset IoT devices, which simultaneously became paperweights on March 29th. And all that Flipper Zero panic? It has spread to Australia, but still remains exactly that: panic.
Then it's on to What's That Sound. Kristina failed again, although she was in the right neighborhood. Can you get it? Can you figure it out? Can you guess what's making that sound? If you can, and your number comes up, you get a special Hackaday Podcast t-shirt.
Then it's on to the hacks, beginning with the terrifying news of an xz backdoor. From there, we marvel at a 1980s 'butler in a box' -- a voice-activated home automation system -- and at the idea of LoRa transmissions without a radio. Finally, we discuss why you don't want to piss off Trekkies, and whether AI has any place in tech support.
Check out the links on Hackaday to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!

It was Dan's turn behind the mic with Elliot this time as we uncovered the latest from the world of hacking, and what an eclectic mix it was. It was slightly heavy on machining, with a look at mini-mills that are better than nothing, and a DIY DRO that's A-OK. We also kicked the nostalgia bucket over -- whatever that means -- and got a new twist on the old "65-in-1" concept, found hidden code in 80s music, and looked at color TV in the US and how it got that way. We've got ample alliteration about grep, thoughts about telling time on the Moon, and what does Canada have against the poor Flipper Zero, anyway?
Head on over to Hackaday for all the linky-links.