nuxx.net
Making, baking, and (un-)breaking things in Southeast Michigan.

De-Lighting a Sandisk Cruzer Micro

September 7, 2007

SanDisk Cruzer Micro 4.0 GB from Costco (SDCZ6-4096RB) disassembled into its four major parts.
(Click for more photos…)

A few weeks back I received a coupon in the mail from Costco for $10 off (amongst other things) a 4GB SanDisk Cruzer USB flash drive. Yesterday at lunch my coworker Brian and I went up there and I picked one up for a total of $32.39 after tax.

After getting back to work and running the U3 Uninstall stuffs (I have no need for such portable apps) I started to become annoyed with the light on it. See, where the drive best plugs into my laptop the bright amber LED in it was generally shining up towards me. This LED is illuminated whenever the drive is connected, so there was pretty much a constant amber beacon, brighter than my laptop’s display, fighting for my attention. This had to go.

So, I started looking at the drive and grabbed a thin razor blade to use as a pry bar and started figuring out how to release the plastic latches along the edge of the drive. Despite accidently nicking the case once and tearing out out a couple of the retaining holes along the edge of the case I didn’t have much of a problem getting it open.

Inside I found exactly what I expected: a fairly large (1206, I believe) surface mount LED. After getting home I simply desoldered the LED and put it back together. The result? no more ugly, bright, distracting amber LED. Yay!

(All of the photos of the LED removal from the SanDisk Cruzer Micro 4.0 GB (photo gallery retired) can be found here (photo gallery retired), including shots of the top and bottom of the PCB.)

acquired thingselectronicsmaking thingsmoved from livejournal

x0xb0x Artwork Rip-Off

September 6, 2007

Wow, I just read on Matrixsynth, the synthblogger who posts all he can, that someone is selling x0xb0x artwork based on my design. You can see it’s… unique stylings here.

There is one on eBay for £25 which strikes me as absurd, because more than what I was charging for the artwork, red keycap, and postage to the entire world. Also, they are printed vinyl which tends to delaminate over time.

I guess I don’t care that much, but maybe if I get bored tomorrow I’ll try faxing over the paperwork to eBay to get the auction pulled.

I just can’t get over how ugly / low budget rip-off it is… Wow.

electronicsmaking thingsmoved from livejournal

PlayStation as CD Player: Sound

September 4, 2007

I think I’m starting to hear how the PlayStation, when used as a CD player, doesn’t sound that great… I’m listening to some stuff which I’d heard via Lossless on my iPod, and it just doesn’t sound as…. complex. It’s almost as if something is missing.

Next time I place an order with Mouser I’ll give some of the modifications people have talked about a go, but for now I’m thinking I’ll end up sticking with my iPod as an audio source for it.

electronicsmoved from livejournal

Charred Chili Relleno w/ Green Rice

September 1, 2007

Charred Chili Relleno w/ Green Rice

Danielle made these Charred Chili Relleno w/ Green Rice for us for lunch/dinner today. I stuffed the chilis and plated everything, but she actually did the prep work / cooking. They were very, very good.

The recipe used is basically this one from Food Network, with a few slight changes. (Veggie stock, there was enough rice that we served it on a bed of rice, etc.)

Except for the cheese it’s actually a vegan dish, and rather healthy. It’s quite tasty, too. Mmm…

Here is a photo of Danielle about to take a bite of the oh-so-tasty food. Mmm.

foodmoved from livejournal

PlayStation as CD Player, etc…

September 1, 2007

SCPH-1001 with CD Player Controls

Yesterday I threw together a quick write-up on how I modified my SCPH-1001 PlayStation to have CD player controls. There are also a bunch of photos from the project here (photo gallery retired).

I think it sounds better than any CD player I currently have, but I’m not so sure it’s that great. I’ve heard from a couple people that it’s not particularly great, but even if that is the case, for the $39.14 I spent on the whole project, it’s not bad.

Also, I’m thinking that I should purchase a Tenori-on. It’s being released in the UK in a few days and will likely cost about US$1200. I’m wondering if I should get one, both as a toy and as an investment…

electronicsmaking thingsmoved from livejournalmusic

Brazil: Criterion Anamorphic

August 31, 2007

Criterion Collection Re-Release of Brazil as Anamorphic Widescreen (Sample)

While looking up the wonderful Terry Gilliam film Brazil today I found out that in addition to the box set from the late 90s Criterion has (finally, in 2006) released a newly digitized anamorphic version. So, instead of going to see it at the midnight showing tonight at the Main, Danielle and I swung by Borders and picked it up.

I must say, it looks really, really good. I’m sure part of it was the upconverting DVD player (photo gallery retired) and shiny TV (photo gallery retired), but still… it’s a very, very nice transfer.

I went ahead and grabbed a couple of captures from it via VLC and posted them here in my gallery (photo gallery retired) for people to see.

acquired thingsmoved from livejournalmovies

Tonight’s Goals: Accomplished

August 31, 2007

Well, the goals for tonight I posted earlier were completed. I got the SCPH-1001 properly fitted with top-panel buttons which act as Play/Pause, Stop, Prev Track, Next Track, Rewind, and Fast Forward. I once again ripped into a SCPH-1080 controller in order to do this, but this time I learned from the past mistake and did things right.

I’ll write more about that later, I just wanted to share that things actually got done.

I was also able to add the power consumption information to the Millett Hybrid Maxed write-up, which makes it pretty much complete. I might make another one of these with a slightly different case (silver, wood end panels), and a different output stage. I’m not sure yet, though… next is for me to get back on to the Honda Music Link firmware rewrite thing. (That’s going to be a huge project…)

Anyway, now it’s bed time. Maybe tomorrow I’ll write up a project page about the SCPH-1001 modifications. I don’t think I’ll include much info about how it sounds (beyond “pretty good”) because I’d like to see some objective tests done on it, and I don’t have the facilities for that.

Yes. Bed. Goodnight. :)

electronicsmaking thingsmoved from livejournal