We have seen some very cool car hacks in the past but this iPhone Controlled Mazda RX-8 by Jonathan Oxer takes the cake. Using a wi-fi connected iPhone the user can connect to a computer in the car which is connected to the net using a separate internet connection. With this setup the user can now open doors, start the engine, monitor all of the car stats such as RPM and if that isn’t enough you can even see where the car is on a Google map.

"The car’s webserver provides a password-protected web interface optimised for full-screen display on an iPod Touch or iPhone running the SOPOD full-screen browser. The web interface has three screens: 1) Control, which provides a top-down view of the car with buttons for start, stop, lock, unlock, accessory power, and boot release; 2) Telemetry, which displays real-time data acquired from the engine management system such as RPM, vehicle speed, coolant temperature, throttle position, etc; and 3) Location, which uses a Google Maps mashup to display the current location of the vehicle on a map using current GPS data."

Thanks for the tip stagueve

Using an Parallax ultrasonic sensor, an Arduino and a computer this Ultrasonic Cat Water Dish Monitor project will allow you to monitor the cat dish level from anywhere. I think a cool upgrade would be monitoring and record the time and frequency of usage and temperature. It would be cool to see an increase of water drinks as the temperature in the house got warmer. Have a look at this page for the current water level.

"Alright, so I’ve had this done for a little while - all I had to do was flip the switch on it.  So here is the current setup:

1. Arduino waits for serial communication from computer connected by USB.  Upon request from the computer, it will take a water level reading and send it back.
2. The computer, an NSLU2 reflashed with Debian, sends a request every hour at “0″ minute for the current water level.  It takes that level and creates a text file, the text file is then uploaded to the hosted web server by way of the “scp” command.
3. The web server runs a script every hour on the “1″ minute to read the uploaded text file and update the index.html file at www root."

If you are having problems with the sensitivity of the volume control of your iPhone have a look at this hack. Like the author of the hack you may want to wait until you need to open your phone since performing the fix will void your warranty.

"The volume buttons are housed on the back plate along with the gyroscope?, mute button, headphone socket and power-off button. It quickly became apparent why Apple was reluctant to fix it - all the above are a single connected package, so you replace them all if any one went bad. "

If you are into automated weapons of medium destruction and automation here is a cool hack you are sure to enjoy. It uses an ioBridge to allow a Wiimote to control a remote airsoft gun. Since there is a camera on the contraption you are able to hunt from anywhere in the world (as long as you have a high speed internet connection).

"Building from my previous creation I connected my wiimote to a servo via some python and my ioBridge 204 module, only this time I replaced the coilgun with a remotely triggered airsoft gun! Now there are no more issues with reloading a weapons system half a world a way after each shot!"

Thanks for the tip Hans.

The prize this week is a hard drive enclosure. This contest will run for one week (March 28 - April 2, 2009) . Ending time is based on central standard time. To enter, identify the item pictured above and give an example of what can be done with it.

Please do not give the answer in the comments.

Send an email to contest @ hackedgadgets.com with "Name the Thing Contest" as the subject, and the message body consisting of:

• The name of the item in the above picture
• An example of what the item pictured above can be used for

The winner will be chosen at random from all of the correct entries.

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Added April 4, 2009

The item to guess was a magnetron tube

The winner is Eric W. (There were 38 entries)

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Below is a picture of the prize.

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Expressive Machines Musical Instruments has developed an interesting drum system that can play many notes at the same time and much faster than humans could. Not sure how they kept the budget to $200 though.

"Troy Rogers, Steven Kemper and Scott Barton compose for their mechanized instruments with the goal of exploring new "temporal, timbral, dynamic and harmonic possibilities." The result sounds like no humans we’ve ever heard. These Ph.D. students built the instruments on their own dime, constructing Madi for a mere $200 in materials.

We are a group of composers seeking new modes of acoustic sound generation. Our goal is to develop and compose for instruments that maximize temporal, timbral, dynamic, and harmonic possibilities. This quest has led us to create robotic musical instruments."

Via: Wired

I don’t use Outlook as my mail reader but if I did this would be a cool hack to shutdown computers (or launch other programs). I could see this to be useful to perform backups on demand without having to log into the actual computer. It isn’t very secure but it is a good example of security through obscurity.

Via: Tugatronica