What do Cisco Switches and Lord of the Rings have in common?

While replacing a failed power supply in a Cisco 3750 Switch, we noticed a strange figure etched into the motherboard.

I guess Frodo Baggins is pretty good with networking, or maybe he just keeps the hacker orcs at bay.

Moded HanaHo "HotRod" Arcade Controller combined with modified PS3 controller guts and Arduino.

A while back I decided to gut one of the extra "Six-Axis" PS3 controllers I had, and set it up in such a way that I could either be used as a device to rapidly create custom controllers for various games, or as a "gateway" to control a PS3 with a computer/micro controller.



After gutting the controller, and soldering leads from all the buttons out to jumper wires, I created a little box to put it all in, and give me some basic controls for navigating menus and such, with the device itself.



In the picture above you can see the basic buttons on the device for Up/Down/Left/Right/X/O/Start/PS, the control buttons needed to do simple system navigation tasks, but not for actual playing.

The other things on the box are the tap points that I can connect external switches, or a micro controller to, and thus rapidly prototype new controllers, or experiment with computer based control.

The first thing I crafted using this box was a controller specifically made for Pinball, in particular the game "Zen Pinball" on the PS3.



This worked really well. It was crafted in one day using some thick plexiglass and a bunch of arcade buttons from one of my previous projects. I basically hooked up all the buttons to the tap points on top of the previous box, which was inside of the pinball controller.

The only real problem with this setup, was that it blocked all access to my taps into the controller, so essentially it was now ONLY a pinball controller, that could not be used for anything else unless disasembled.

So after some time I decided that wasn't good enough. I needed to still be able to experiment with controlling this thing through an Arduino or computer, AND play Pinball, and hell why not some fighting games, and clasic arcade titles.

So I broke out my trusty Hanaho Hotrod arcade controller. Opened it up, and added the PS3 Controller guts to it, wired it up, made a few holes to run wires out, and its ready for action.



Essentially I now have an awesome arcade style controller for the PS3, that also has the added functionality of tap points on the back of the unit, to plug in other external switches, or control via micro controller.

Ultimately I want to hook an Arduino to it, and program combos in fighting games, or the perfect timing in a golf game, etc etc...

An arcade control panel for PS3, with computer control, wooo!

The Other Side of the Digital TV Transition

Everyone has at least heard of it. The transition to digital television is coming fast. Well here is a peek into the other side of the equation, the upgrades that broadcasters have to do in order to comply with the new rules.

With all the fun stuff I get to have my hands in with my job, its easy to forget that most people don't get to ever get to see a lot of it.

With that in mind, I bring to you, the first, in what will hopefully be a series of videos, that at least give you a peek at the other side of things.

What Kind of Fish is this?

I have had this fish in an aquarium for about 6 years, literally since he was less then an inch long, and totally transparent. At the beginning I thought he was probably a Bluegill, then as he grew, he looked less and less like one.

I have done some looking around and found some pictures of "Green Spotted Sunfish" and they look pretty similar to him, so I have pretty much been referring to him as such.

But I really don't know for sure if that is what he is, and other people have come up with their own ideas as to what he is.

Any fish experts out there?