For a long time, FunnyHacks.com has been my outlet for stuff I've been doing. But I've been finding the brand has been becoming increasingly limiting, and for a while it ...............
The new site design has been up for about a week now. Quite a lot has changed, both under the hood, and cosmetically. This is a multi-part series about the ...............
FunnyHacks.com is a collection of weird, unusual, and interesting hacks. To kick things off, here are a couple of my favourite posts, and some recent ones: ...........................
This is different from what I normally post on this site, but my wife and I had a couple of years where life threw everything at us, and we spent ...............
I'm currently learning Kubernetes and have been building a cluster using Vagrant.The purpose of this exercise is- To have a quickly buildable platform which I can ...............
Last week I posted this videoI was working towards another goal and wanted to check a couple of concepts that I wanted to use, so I tested them with ...............
calibrate multiple touch and non touch screens on a single linux system."This is to address the issue on multi-display Linux desktops where the touch panel is automatically calibrated to ...............
Beatpulse is a very simple app to get an accurate heart beat source so pull requests are welcome, play way you use it is by
pressing a
button every ...............
The privacy policy for InstantPulse is really simple. **Nothing is transmitted or stored.** Quite literally nothing. Not even between sessions. And I have no plans to add such functionality. But ...............
Intro Chrooting to provide a desktop environment on a mobile device is not a new concept, but it is still with it's challenges. This post is about the various successes ...............
Over the last while it has been becoming increasingly apparent that I'm simply trying to do too much. So let's address that.This post covers- Where is ...............
So.... What happend? It all began a few months ago when the phone company I was with hiked up their pre-pay prices yet again. It was now very expensive to ...............
I'm nearing the end of my sabbatical, and I did stuff! Here's an ultra short summary of what I did.Polishing projects This phase was to get my open source ...............
Today we bring another unreleased episode from the archive to show you how to charge a phone that is too flat to charge. Overview The basic idea of this is ...............
Today I dig up another unreleased FunnyHacks episode from the archive. This one is about a fly swat that I've turbocharged with an electric drill. This episode really hits on ...............
Today I show you why it matters which lead is connected first when jump-starting a car, and why it's not obvious if you have an electronics background. The answer is ...............
Today I show you the semi-working prototype of the final tablet.While I made prototypes of many parts, this was the only one bringing everything together, and there was still ...............
Today I show you an adapter I made that converts a tablet into its own mouse. This is basically the insides of a mouse, with a drastically shortened cable and ...............
Today I reassemble a doorlock that was replaced after our flat was burgled. The result surprised me! Verifying the results To confirm my results, I compared this lock to a ...............
Today I show you how to create install macros. Install macros are macros that run at install time. They are used for configuring your application. If you are in a ...............
The default output of Achel is designed for the user, and thus not wise to pipe directly to another application. However there are facilities to pipe to other applications, and ...............
Today I show you how to refine results in Achel and all Achel based applications. The repository is at https:github.comksandomachel. The documentation is at https:github.comksandomacheltreemasterpackages-availableManipulationsdocs ...............
Today I answer questions about running a laptop off AA batteries.It seems to be necessary to remind you that as with all hacks, don't do this on anything you ...............
Today I show you how to use manageAchel. **NOTE That `manageAchel` is now `achelctl`**, although both are installed and point to the same file for the time being. The repository ...............
Today I show you what semantics are and how to take advantage of themit.The gist of it is being aware of the type of data that is currently being ...............
Today I tell you how to contribute to the various projects. If you simply want to add functionality, the simplest thing is to create an achelRepo If you'd like to ...............
Today I show you how to use collections.Collections provide a sane way of interacting with persistent data. The idea is that when you need it you request it. If ...............
Today I show you how to create a template for outputting stuff in Achel.The repository is at https:github.comksandomachel. The documentation is at https:github.comksandomachelblobmasterdocsprogrammingcreatingATemplate.md ...............
Today I show you how to create a unit test in Achel.I found this episode particularly interesting because it shows the unit testing mentality in action. The repository is ...............
Today I show you have to remove functionality via repoParms that was previously added to a profile. The important thing to understand is that while removing functionality in repoParms will ...............
Today I show you how to manipulate repo parms, which is what defines which packages and repositories should be used in which profilesapplications. If you're wanting to create a repository, ...............
Today I show you how I pimped up a granny stroller to help me out during a tough time in my life. I broke my collar bone, which meant I ...............
Today I show you how to create a macro in Achel.The repository is at https:github.comksandomachel. The documentation is at https:github.comksandomachelblobmasterdocsprogrammingcreatingAMacro.md ...............
Today I show you how to create a package in Achel. The repository is at https:github.comksandomachel. The documentation is at https:github.comksandomachelblobmasterdocsprogrammingcreatingAPacakge.md ...............
Today I show you how to define bastion hosts that you tunnel through to get to your destination hosts. "*A bastion host is a special purpose computer on a network ...............
This used to be hard. Now it's easy. Today I show you how! The reason that this is hard without the wizard is that the repo parms are required to ...............
Today I'm joined by my co-host Tim to discuss the risks and basics of making a teddy bear communicate what a computer is doing. This episode has serious risks. As ...............
Today I show you how to debug web pages that don't look right when colouredWeb is applied. The repository is at https:github.comksandomcolouredWeb. ...............
Today I show you how to get hosts into mass. General - Finding documentation. Import - Entering credentials. - Where the credentials are saved. ...............
Today I talk about how to add functionality into another application. (Think plugin.)This tutorial uses repoParms, which is documented here That should be your first port of call for ...............
Today I show you how to fine tune colouredWeb to get the result you need. Bright and Dark themes You can switch between bright and dark themes with `--cwBright` and ...............
Today I show you how to do all the day-to-day stuff to really take advantage of doneIt for time tracking. Add tasks Tasks are what you do. I've found that ...............
Covering more of the basics of using mass. * Recap what it is. * Recap installingusing cluster SSH. * Using screen with mass. * Uploading and downloading with mass. * ...............
If you want to make Achel available system wide, ie not just to your current user, here's how to do it.The easiest way is to take the one liner ...............
Here I make a defective torch useful using a simple modification to stop the straps from falling off. In the original design it's very easy for the strap to slide ...............
ColouredWeb generates and installs a custom stylesheet that re-colours the internet to make it easier for people who are sensitive to particular colours to use the internet. Here is an ...............
Well over a year ago I introduced mass which is a tool for managing large numbers of servers. It's come along way in that time, and it's well and truly ...............
Achel is a programming language that I have been working on for the past 13 years (I said 12 in the video, it has been a long time!) There has ...............
Getting the videos done took much longer than I expected, namely because I had a lot more in my head than I realised, which lead to me recording over 6 ...............
As mentioned here FunnyHacks is coming back. We're now days away.The last few weeks have been spent doing documentation, discovering little things that needed tidying and generally making this ...............
FunnyHacks season 3 is back. I'm taking a break from work to pursue my passions for a few months. As a result, FunnyHacks is going to getting love. I've got ...............
So the moment of truth has arrived?.... (It has)The quest began with a chocolate biscuit that reminded me of a biscuit from my childhood. A year later, having memorized ...............
This week, I've put the text to music. I haven't got the timing completely right, so if you finish the text before the music runs out, just read the text ...............
**read in batman voice** The quest is nearing its end. But first we must eliminate more wrong biscuits. Biscuit! WHERE IS SHE?... it! **2** PS: I just re-read this... It ...............
This week the epic journey continues, but slightly differently. This post is a timed release. So if I've done it right, it will appear just a couple of hours before ...............
The next time I did it, it went a little like this: For the last couple of weeks, my world has been likenhttp:www.youtube.comwatch?v=n7CNR2bAh3Y~!content!~feature=youtu.be~!content!~t=12s. nHense no biscuits... ...............
One of the perks of where I work is a few goodies sitting in the corner of each room waiting to be nibbled on from time to time.One when ...............
Every morning I look up at the ceiling and see a fuzzy representation of the world below. Light hits the objects and bounces off in various directions. Some of it ...............
As I look through the photos I've selected, I realise that there is a lot of distraction in there. This is kind of mis-representing the trip. It was a really ...............
A few days ago I started playing with the idea of trying to post to facebook from a fresh windows 95 VM using only software that I could aquire from ...............
Mass is a tool for manipulating lots of servers concurrently. Open up an SSH terminal to each server that maches your request, do the same with cluster SSH upload a ...............
This is the first installment of the footage I took of our trip to the Shuttleworth museum. I've got loads more footage, so tell me what interests you the most ...............
This is one of my more impressive looking builds. Not the most complex by any means, but it certainly looks cool. Where ever I take it, I get lots of ...............
This is a tablet that I've built from an old Asus Eee 701 I've wanted a tablet for years. My motivation for building one instead of buying one was that ...............
Simply put, this is a box to put on the back of your bike and be seen. The response from this one has been amazing. If you were to only ...............
One of the biggest challenges of capturing 3D footage is getting the footage syncronised. Sure, you can do it in post production. But on most cameras, you have granularity of ...............
So in my previous post I listed out the basic ideas of choosing a camera. Now I'm going to show you some clips that I have made using the cameras ...............
This weekend, I headed out to the local forest to sprint around the tight winding tracks and here is the result. The photos attached are just a small handful of ...............
Last night the moon was the closest to the earth that it has been for something like 16 years. Quite a few people have shown interest in this, so here ...............
Slow mo footage of an RC car in puddles and on shingle. This is simply having fun with a radio controlled car to demonstraight the concepts discussed in 3DMount ...............
Recording 3D footage on two 2D cameras can be quite challenging. In this episode I go through the technical details of making it happen. Adjustment I found making things loose ...............
In this episode we are really starting to get somewhere! This was a lot of fun and I hope to get out there again before I leave NZ. We have ...............
Today I walk you through the technical details of building the home made parachute.This is a stupid thing to do, so if you have not yet gone over the ...............
Most work on this site is licensed under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0) license which should allow you to do most of what you'd like to do. (Most ...............
This is the first of at least a couple of compilation videos of our progress as we play with different ideas. We've taken literally hours of footage, so these compilations ...............
The basic idea As a kid I always wanted to make a parachute. I kept jumping off hedges using a tiny sheet with the hope of sailing down. The ...............
All of the talky and technical episodes for FunnyHacks are available in 3D. Every such episode has been edited and rendered in 2D, 3D and 3D anaglyph (coloured glasses). For ...............
We're still compiling the information to go here. But in the mean time you can contact me here: You're already here And Tim's address is..... oh oh! I'll get back ...............
Hi! This is me: At the age of 6, my dad taught me the basics of electronics, and I've been trying to electrocute myself ever since. This blog began from ...............
I imagine the normal navigation will be easier, so this is primarily intended for search engines. But hey, if it's usful to you as well, great :) The title photo ...............
All hacks involve risk. Usually it's breaking what ever it is you are hacking, but often there are other risks which we need to take into account as well such ...............
In 2010 I released this short film to demo some concepts I had shown in an earlier FunnyHacks episode: I made a couple of ringtones for it: * Sheep - ...............
I went down south to help my sister sell cookies, and to my surprise, I got given the coolest job in the world... My task was to destroy a room ...............
The basic idea Modifying a phone so that it can take headphones. The hardest bit about this hack is making it all fit in the phone... So it's not ...............
A big thankyou to david at for featuring this episode!The basic idea So you've done all the little optimisations to make your laptop last an extra half hour. Wireless ...............
The basic idea In this episose I power a camera and phone using a 3 battery batterypack. This hack is basically the next step after in getting the contacts ...............
The basic idea Hook every audio source to every audio output in an easily switchable way. Series vs Parallel Choosing whether to hook things up in series or parallel ...............
You may remember the car that could drive on the ceiling. It didn't last very long. So now I've turned it into a boat.This episode was filmed out in ...............
Someone driving you up the walls? Get some space and drive on the ceiling instead! In this episode, I show you how to drive an RC car on the ceiling. ...............
Radio Controlled models are a ton of fun, but sooner or later they end up auditioning for the trash can. This hack comes to the rescue to salvage all those ...............
The basic idea Imagine your phone is ringing and you can't find it. Probably the last thing you want is for it to be quietly driving away from you. ...............
In 2008 I traveled around the word. This was an amazing time in my life, so at the end of it, I put a video together of a few highlights: ...............
I loooooooooooove Brazil! The people, the wild life, the fresh fruit! I've been twice and hope to go many more times. I made a few really basic videos while I ...............
Canada had beautifully wild weather while I was there. Plus spending time with friends is always good! ;)This is a video of one of those really cool flukes that ...............
This remains one of my favourite hacks. It didn't make it into the show simply because I blogged about it before I started the show. It's really simple: find out ...............
pHi there,p pIt's so cool to see you're subscribed to one of the old feeds. bThey still existb, but have moved due to technical limitations.p pIt would be lovely to ...............
For now and the foreseeable future, this site does not use cookies. It has specifically been designed that way. Any third party tools, for example a YouTube or Vimeo embedded ...............
