HACKER'S GUIDE: Modifying Samsung S630 IR Sensitivity

If you are young or you feel young, skillfully talented yet underpaid and you love photography so much especially the picture effects that only an expensive DSLR camera/lens can achieve (IR Photography), then this tutorial is likely to be yours!


DISCLAIMER: THIS TUTORIAL IS DEFINITELY NOT FOR BEGINNERS UNLESS YOU REALLY WANT TO TRY AND YOU ARE VERY CURIOUS. THIS SHOULD BE DONE BY SOMEONE WHO HAD EXPERIENCED SOLDERING WIRES OR ANY CIRCUIT COMPONENTS AND HAVE DISMANTLING EXPERIENCE IN ANY SORT OF GADGET/S. IT IS ALSO ADVISABLE TO USE CHEAP, OBSOLETE POINT-AND-SHOOT COMPACT DIGITAL CAMERA SO THAT IT WOULD NOT BE TOO HARSH ON YOU IF YOU DAMAGED THE DEVICE DURING THE PROCESS. THIS STEP BY STEP TUTORIAL IS ALSO ONLY APPLICABLE TO SAMSUNG MODEL S630 ALTHOUGH THE PROCESS OF MODIFYING THE IR SENSITIVITY APPLIES TO ALL AND THAT IS THE REMOVAL OF THE IR CUTOFF FILTER. THE COLOR OF THE IR CUTOFF FILTER ALSO VARIES TO EVERY MANUFACTURER. IN THIS CASE, WE WOULD BE REMOVING A "REDDISH" FILTER ALTHOUGH USUALLY FILTERS ARE "BLUISH" IN COLOR. LASTLY, DISMANTLING A DIGICAM IS REALLY HARD BECAUSE IT IS NOT DESIGNED FOR DISASSEMBLING SO DISMANTLE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! ANYWAY, GOOD LUCK...


So amazingly I had free time to work on this project and eventually finish it. Completed the project approximately 3 hours including dinner on my worktable. Anyhow, first thing to remember before doing anything else is to gather all the materials needed. It is also advisable to acquire the internal schematic diagram of the device if available. However in my case, I had to completely figure out the dismantling and everything myself because schematic, camera parts diagram is not available anywhere online.

GATHERING OF MATERIALS:

1) Any cheap and obsolete compact point-and-shoot digital camera. Fortunately in my case, since I was already fond of photography ever since I was a child, I've come to collect lots of systems from Joycam-to-Advantix-to-Digicam-to-Lomocam so acquiring an obsolete camera is no way a problem for me. I just dig in my stock room and there I have it!

2) Precision screwdriver. I have been collecting tools like these since high school for some reason. I'm just drawn to dismantling and reassembling stuff. I get thrill from it so the earlier you collect tools the better for you would be using one eventually in hacking projects like this. Although there are many precision screwdrivers available in the market, I personally like to use the one with rubber grip. It is also advisable to acquire a precision screwdriver with opt x 60mm, opt x 23/8in.

3) Soldering gun/iron. I've been using this since college. Well I guess you can tell the looks of the tip of this soldering iron. I think I may need to buy a new one but I can't dispose this for sentimental sake. Anyway, you would be needing a soldering gun/iron because you would desolder something in the dismantling process so it is very preferable that you do have soldering experience.

4) Soldering lead. Of course you can't solder without soldering lead and I always believe that the key to a good solder is through the soldering lead you would be using. I suggest you acquire the one from ALEXAN (shameless plug). They market one of the finest soldering lead in the country IMO. I was only able to visit two branches of ALEXAN, one in Raon and the other located at SM Megamall. If you would want to check newest robotic kits and components, I suggest you go to Raon branch for the store is bigger and components there are more complete.

5) Desoldering pump. A desoldering pump, colloquially known as a solder sucker, is a device which is used to remove solder from a printed circuit board. There are two types: the plunger style and bulb style. Well it's hard to desolder without this so I suggest for you to acquire one of these. And I'm using the plunger style.

LET'S START THE DISMANTLING PROCESS!

1) Remove all external screws. You should be able to gather up eight screws at the end of this step.


2) Carefully remove the lower cover, one from the LCD. There are a few latches that you needed to check to remove the entire cover.


3) Lift the LCD gently and release the flat ribbon. You may need to lift the black plastic latch to release the flat ribbon cable and remove the LCD from the device then unscrew everything from the metal part where the LCD was attached to.


4) Remove the remaining screw and then desolder the following below for you to lift the PCB board up. You can choose to desolder the connection between the board and flash but the process is a little complicated so I suggest you just lift the board up to unscrew the plastic casing and expose the lens part of the camera.


5) Carefully lift the board and unscrew the grey plastic board from the casing to remove the casing entirely and expose the LCD. Remaining screws are hidden somewhere but it's visible just twist, turn the camera you would be able to spot them.


6) Lightly remove the front cover. Be careful on removing the front cover especially when touching the cable connecting the flash and the board. The flash tube discharged and I was holding the thing and that hurts really (ouch! o_O).


7) Unscrew the flash from the lens and carefully take the lens out of the device.


8) Unscrew the CCD out of the lens.You would be able to gather up three screws at the end of this step.


9) From this point you would be able to see the IR CUTOFF FILTER just sitting on top of the CCD. Notice the "reddish" color of the filer.


10) Carefully remove the IR CUTOFF FILTER. It's just a translucent plastic like thing attached to a rubber and removing them off wouldn't be a problem. You just need to apply a little force. No need to worry if it breaks off because that's our goal anyhow.


CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU'RE HALF WAY THERE... Now, all you need to do is put everything back together which is the hardest part in my honest opinion.

Anyway...

Enjoy these sample output off my newly modified Samsung S630 digicam:





Night vision capable? Oh yes, I was able to test it using a temporary IR flashlight which is my TV remote control and it was able to detect the lovely purple light. See for yourself:

When Computer Monitors Go Down...

I have been thinking and observing this weird PC breakdown for a while now. First time I encountered this problem was in the office. A colleague reported a PC breakdown and sending this message to us all. After reading his e-mail, I just can't believe that this is a sudden machine breakdown since my experiences with troubleshooting PCs tells me it is NOT. Well, anyway I turned the reported PC on and yup, I got nothing on the screen. Monitor light is amber but I'm hearing beeps from its CPU so no problem on its main brain. I started dismantling the wires at the back and I happen to take the ethernet cable out of its PC port. After that I turned the PC on and to my surprise, I finally got some output.


I was really puzzled... but if this happens to you, you just needed to take out your ethernet cable and turn your PC on. I think there's some conflict with the NIC and the video card and this TS really works. No clear reason as to why this troubleshooting step works but as long as it fixes your computer, to hell with the reason.

I managed to use this troubleshooting step again yesterday when a neighbor experienced the same problem and my discovered troubleshooting step above works geniusly. I got the PC monitor back up and normal...

Proxy Sites for Nothing and Clicks for Free

I haven’t been able to update my blog since being a night-shifter. Well, am doing all my blogs at night so… bummer… Anyway, I am currently at the office, doing nothing (at the moment) but browsing under a web proxy. Hell! We have internet security which blocks popular sites like myspace, multiply, friendster, facebook.. sooo.. we had no choice but to find our way to sneak through. I have written below some cool web proxies for you to choose from just in case your office has this darn internet security too.

Well, just an overview for our newbie friends; web proxy is a proxy that focuses on WWW traffic. The most common use of a web proxy is to serve as a web cache. Most proxy programs (e.g. SQUID) provide a means to deny access to certain URLs in a blacklist, thus providing content filtering. This is usually used in a corporate environment, though with the increasing use of Linux in small businesses and homes, this function is no longer confined to large corporations. Some web proxies reformat web pages for a specific purpose or audience (e.g., cell phones and PDAs).

http://kc5150.com
http://www.silversurf.info/
http://www.proxypure.com/
http://www.cubeproxy.info/
http://seofm.info/
http://www.kamouflage.info/
http://www.ioop.info/
http://www.proxycharm.info/
http://www.thehider.com/

Have fun with these proxies and see yah in a short while. I’m going home today, in my province since it's my off. I’ll be posting lots of cool stuff once I’m home.. sooo stay tuned!

Hackers steal $2M from Citi ATMs

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Hackers broke into Citibank's network of ATMs inside 7-Eleven stores and stole customers' PIN codes, according to recent court filings that revealed a disturbing security hole in the most sensitive part of a banking record.

The scam netted the alleged identity thieves millions of dollars. But more importantly for consumers, it indicates criminals were able to access PINs - the numeric passwords that theoretically are among the most closely guarded elements of banking transactions - by attacking the back-end computers responsible for approving the cash withdrawals.

The case against three people in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York highlights a significant problem.

Hackers are targeting the ATM system's infrastructure, which is increasingly built on Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT, Fortune 500) Windows operating system and allows machines to be remotely diagnosed and repaired over the Internet. And despite industry standards that call for protecting PINs with strong encryption - which means encoding them to cloak them to outsiders - some ATM operators apparently aren't properly doing that. The PINs seem to be leaking while in transit between the automated teller machines and the computers that process the transactions.

"PINs were supposed be sacrosanct - what this shows is that PINs aren't always encrypted like they're supposed to be," said Avivah Litan, a security analyst with the Gartner research firm. "The banks need much better fraud detection systems and much better authentication."

It's unclear how many Citibank customers were affected by the breach, which extended at least from October 2007 to March of this year and was first reported by technology news Web site Wired.com. The bank has nearly 5,700 Citibank-branded ATMs inside 7-Eleven Inc. stores throughout the United States, but it doesn't own or operate any of them.

That responsibility falls on two companies: Houston-based Cardtronics Inc. (CATM), which owns all the machines but only operates some, and Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv Inc. (FISV, Fortune 500), which operates the others.

A critical issue in the investigation is how the hackers infiltrated the system, a question that still hasn't been answered publicly.

All that's known is they broke into the ATM network through a server at a third-party processor, which means they probably didn't have to touch the ATMs at all to pull off the heist.

They could have gained administrative access to the machines - which means they had carte blanche to grab information - through a flaw in the network or by figuring out those computers' passwords. Or it's possible they installed a piece of malicious software on a banking server to capture unencrypted PINs as they passed through.

What that means for consumers is that their PINs were stolen from machines that showed no signs of tampering they could detect. In previous PIN thefts, thieves generally took steps that might draw notice - sending "phishing" e-mails, for example, or installing false-front keypads or even tiny cameras on ATMs.

Getting the PINs is a key step for identity thieves. It lets criminals encode stolen account information onto blank ATM cards and withdraw piles of cash from compromised accounts.

Don Jackson, director of threat intelligence for SecureWorks Inc., said he has seen an "alarming" spike in the number of attacks on back-end computers for ATM networks over the past year.

"This was fairly large, but I don't think it's anything out of the ordinary - these kinds of scams go on every day," Jackson said. "What makes this case unique is the sheer luck of happening upon these guys and catching them red-handed. But there are a whole lot of other ATM and PIN compromises going on that aren't reported."

The alleged plot is outlined in court papers supporting the prosecution of three people - Yuriy Rakushchynets, Ivan Biltse and Angelina Kitaeva. They were indicted in March on two counts each of conspiracy and fraud. Prosecutors say their activities generated at least $2 million in illegal profits.

Defense lawyers for all three people did not return calls for comment, and it was not clear where they had been living. The main defendant, Rakushchynets, was described as having Michigan and Florida's driver licenses in a February FBI affidavit for an arrest warrant.

Citibank, part of Citigroup Inc. (C, Fortune 500), has declined to comment on the technique or how many customers' accounts were compromised. It said it notified affected customers and issued them new debit cards.

"We want our customers to know that, consistent with legal requirements, we do not hold them responsible for fraudulent activity in their accounts," the bank said in a statement.

Cardtronics said it is cooperating with authorities but otherwise declined to comment. Fiserv spokeswoman Melanie Tolley said the intrusion didn't happen on Fiserv's servers.

"Fiserv," she said, "is confident in the integrity and security of our system."

(Information taken from CNN)

How to Start Your Own Game Company

As I have told you on my previous posts, I have been a biiiigggg fan of games since Atari and.. to one point.. thought of making my own someday. Well, this someday I think is right now. I have been browsing the web to seek help so that I could start my own game company and hence, I saw this site which is really helpful turning your ideas to reality. The site is called Guidelines for Starting a Game Company by Peter Larsson.

Fundamental Structure (Your Ideas!)

Reading his post makes me optimistic but 'lots' of work are needed to be done. Second paragraph says that the idea is creating your own game with original characters, original story and above all unique gameplay. Of course who would want to play an imitated game in the first place? No one will take an interest on checking your game out if it wasn't original. Always keep in mind that you should try to make something 'unique' in your game to bring peoples attention to it - don't just imitate everyone else or no one will become interested in it.

Recruiting Righful People

Of course it is always easy and fast to create a game via group and how to recruit would be your main question. Well, if you yourself are already an A+ programmer then good for you. It is much easier to recruit back-ups if you are the lead programmer. However, if you are not a slightest programmer and all you have is the main story and the characters then what I would suggest is for you to join 'other' group. It is hard to create your 'own' game company if all you have is the external side of developing a game. By far, from reading Peter's guidelines and from checking it out myself, GameDev.Net and CGTalk is a nice place to form your group.

Always have in mind that when recruiting someone you should check the individual's background and work.


Developing Your Game

If you want the project to be successful I wouldn’t recommend you to start from scratch, instead use an existing game- or rendering engine as this makes it possible for you to focus on the things that are unique in your game, e.g. gameplay and AI. There are a lot of existing engines out there, both free and commercial ones, check out DevMaster.net for a list of popular engines. Personally I’d recommend OGRE which at the time of writing is the most popular open source rendering engine.

Getting a Contract

This is what you’ll need to start the actual company and continue development for a living, but first you need to have something to show up. Developing a playable demo (i.e. alpha or beta version) and submitting it to various publishers might help you get a contract but you’ll also need to have a detailed documentation, not just about the game itself but also an economical plan and a project plan together with a motivated team who’s able to finish the project.

However, there are some things that you should think about before submitting a game to any publisher. Try to impress the game testers, it has to be something new or special to stick out from the majority, otherwise you might never get a contract. The gameplay is also very important, no matter how great your game looks – no one will play it if it isn’t fun. So make sure to fix obvious bugs and let people playtest your game before you submit it.

THANKS A LOT PETER LARSSON FOR THE TIPS. For more information regarding their project you may visit the URL below:

http://hem.bredband.net/_petlar/

How to Start Your Own Technology Company

I have been thinking of starting my own company even if I have no slightest idea how to. Just guts, just guts and the urge to have millions of money. Hey, I'm just being practical, we really need money to survive. Anyway, I found this website which is really helpful on getting you straight up with your dream: How to Start Your Own Technology Company.

The site helps you to prepare and it has also a step by step instructions and requirements to realizing your dream. These are called 5 steps before making the leap.

my dream office...
#1 Test the business viability of what you want to do...

It is one thing to have a great idea for a product, or have sweet skills that would add a lot of value to potential clients. But it is quite another to fully build a product and—more importantly—make money on that product, or sustain and grow a services company over the long term.

You need to sit down and honestly assess the financial viability of what you want to do. This involves asking some really hard questions:

*Who will buy your products or services, and why will they be compelled to?
*What is your unique value proposition?
*What kind of resources—people, infrastructure, and money—will building this company require?
*How much income will there be, and when will the income start flowing in?
*How long can you personally go without making any money?
*Are you willing to decrease your standard of living, if necessary, to make this work?

If the numbers aren’t looking very promising in the short term, do you have a source for a loan or other type of cash infusion?
How much of your time will making the company successful require?
The trick of this process is that your estimates will almost certainly be way off. First-time entrepreneurs almost universally underestimate their costs and overestimate their income. When starting my company, we did a pretty good job estimating costs but our estimates on revenues were way off the mark. Despite our both being senior, experienced designers with robust networks, we essentially did not make any money—just covered costs—for the first six months. We began making good money again shortly thereafter, but we were lucky to do so. With any new venture, especially if you are creating a products company, expect to not make any money for a fair stretch of time, unless you are infused with cash from some outside source. That probably means a loan, either from a family member or with a bank. In some cases, you might even have an idea worthy of angel funding or venture capital. In any of these cases, be ready for the possibility of needing outside cash right up front.

Also, building a company is an extremely time-consuming process. You will probably never work harder than when you are trying to get started, established and settled. Go into this with your eyes wide open, and be prepared to work very long hours—often doing things outside of your skill set that you are not particularly good at or interested in doing. If you’re not willing to throw all of yourself into making this happen, chances are the business is not viable.

#2 Decide whether you want to run your company solo, or enlist the help of business partners...

Once you’ve decided that you want to move forward, the most important decision you will make is defining your initial management team. In most cases, you could probably run a small company without other partners. However, working with other partners can really accelerate your growth, not to mention make work more enjoyable.

For example, even though my business partner and I are unified in our love for and philosophy about design, our skill sets are actually very different. Andrei is a dyed-in-the-wool interface designer, and was the UI design lead on the core Adobe product suite for years. He is the best in the business at what he does. On the other hand, my background is varied and includes not only design, but also marketing, business consulting, and corporate management. This proves a perfect fusion, as Andrei provides the leadership for our core design practice and I plan, sell and run the company. Even though in a different situation I could very capably provide the leadership for a core design practice, the fact is Andrei is just better and more experienced at doing that. And we benefit from that unique expertise. On the other hand, Andrei does not have the experience or particular interest in the business side of things, so my role in ably leading those things is of great benefit to him. It is an ideal match.

Some companies have more than just two partners. That can enable even more diverse skill sets to participate in running the company, or get different people with similar skill sets working together to take the organization farther. Having other people leading the charge just makes life easier; you are able to get more done, focus more on the things you are good at and enjoy, and balance out doing the things that no one enjoys.

But with more decision makers comes more complexity. There are times when Andrei and I really struggle to come to agreement on major decisions that affect the company. If there were more people involved it could be even more difficult. And while that sort of consensus decision-making process works for some people, it would not be a good fit for me, given the speed with which I like to grow and make decisions. So part of figuring this out is really knowing yourself. There are many people who aren’t comfortable negotiating any decisions, even with just one other person. And that’s all right—they can just start their own company, and hire other people to work with and for them instead of sharing ownership and management.

There is not one correct answer. It is a question of personal preference, specific context, and understanding what it will take to achieve your goals.

#3 Set and articulate a vision...

Achieving success begins with a clear understanding of exactly what your definition of success is. Once you’ve got your management team together, you need to all sit down (most likely many times, at least sometimes over food and drink) and figure out what your company is, and what you are trying to achieve.

Defining your company is a matter of both market approach and internal structure and organization. In your market approach, you need to figure out both what you are going to be selling, and how you are going to position it in the marketplace. This takes a real understanding of your interests and skills, what the market is looking for, and how to build an approach to market that allows you to successfully sell your products or services.

On the internal side, you need to have a shared understanding of both how things will be structured and run today, and how that model will scale in the future based on different growth trajectories. This might sound like a complicated and difficult process, but it’s really just a matter of loosely thinking about—and ultimately agreeing on—a basic plan for scaling and changing over time. Most likely, even this plan will change as the growth of the company happens in ways that no one quite expected. But by beginning from a point of shared agreement, it makes it that much easier to adapt and adjust when things change.

Determining what you are trying to achieve is a much less practical exercise, and is certainly not rooted in anything that is likely to actually happen. After all, did Google intend to be a media company? Did Ideo intend to be a management consultancy? Did Razorfish intend to be an enterprise brand experience company? The point here is to set a goal, something to shoot for and aspire to. This will help to guide all of your planning and decisions. And my recommendation is to be bold. One of my favorite quotes is the old adage, “If you shoot for the stars and fall short, at least you will reach the moon.” Stretch yourself, and see how far you can grow.

#4 Create a powerful identity...

This is probably the easiest part for design professionals. Once you’ve figured out your strategic market approach, you need to design the basic identity elements that will be the initial foundation for the company’s brand. Here is a short checklist of things to create:

Must-haves

*Logo
*Positioning statement
*Web site
*Business cards
*Digital letterhead/document templates
*PowerPoint/Keynote templates and sales presentation

Nice-to-haves

*Printed letterhead
*Return address stickers
*Sales/product sheets

Only for the well-heeled

*Printed brochure
*Printed envelopes
*Logo folders

People will make judgments on the perceived quality of your company, products and services based on the quality of your identity and collateral materials. Take these seriously. Get them right.

#5 If you are creating a services firm, try to start with clients you already have...

The final point I want to make in this first part is a last reality check for you, especially those who are selling services instead of products. Selling services is hard, especially if your company does not have a portfolio or proof of past work. It’s best to start as an informal independent consultancy with a nice stream of clients and later scale up into a more formal company. Take the time to gather some clients, then make the larger investments in building the infrastructure of a formal company. It is extremely difficult to sell services with no clients and no portfolio. Take the time, be systematic, and start at a point where you are positioned to succeed.

Part 2 of this series will get into some practical specifics of getting started, including the stuff everyone hates (but has to deal with) like legal and accounting.

THANKS A LOT FOR THE TIPS DIRK! For more information about Dirk Knemeyer, please visit the URL below:

http://www.digital-web.com/about/contributors/dirk_knemeyer

Finding the right laptop for you...

I just hate it when someone compares ASUS EEE PC to MacBook Air. It seems pointless... why? Number one, of course MacBook Air will reign supreme talking about functionality. Number two, Mac is Mac... and so on. First, let me just clarify something; why would someone even compare ASUS EEE PC to MacBook Air in the first place when ASUS already claimed that their EEE PCs are for beginners? Are you getting my point here? When someone approaches you and asks you which laptop am I going to buy, are you just going to advise him to buy the most expensive one for 'price' tells everything? Of course not! Well, I just wanted to share out some view point I have when choosing a laptop for someone or for yourself.

These questions below are the information you needed to find out for someone wanting to buy a new laptop:

1) What is your PURPOSE? Is it just for surfing... am I going to edit pictures and videos here... am I a programmer... what sort of application programs am I going to install on this laptop... You need to know what kind of purpose you have.

2) How much do I have? If I saved enough money then why not go for something that is functional yet affordable. Although this is still situation-based.

3) Of course you still need to know about the laptop’s specs. Again depends on the purpose of the laptop. If you’re just going to write stuffs, and you don’t know anything about editing images, music, and video then why go for an expensive laptop which caters these features. Why not just buy something like an ACER Aspire Series. You see, you don’t need to worry about having the finest processor for this guy here is mainly for multitasking. A higher memory laptop would be much better. Another thing you need to be aware of is the battery life.

Now, a credit to ASUS EEE PC, if you are just for surfing and you need to always check something online, school work spreadsheets, documents, this thing here is perfect for you. It is quite portable and very affordable.


Moreover, it’s funny that I find some people saying the EEE touchpad suck, the keyboard are too small… well what do you expect from a 7 inch laptop? If you think you are going to complain in the long run about the touchpad, the small screen, the keyboard, then I would never suggest this laptop for you. You should go with a 12 inch laptop if you still want portability. Moreover, if portability really matters to you then I suggest you go with this. You’ll never regret it because I never did.. Yet, if you have enough money to buy expensive laptops, then I would go for either SONY Vaio or MacBook Air.

By the way, I find ASUS EEE PC 900 series the next best thing. I can't wait to hold one right now...