While advances in modern technology have allowed average people access to tremendous computing power as well as novel tools like 3D printers and laser cutters for a bare minimum cost, around here we tend to overlook some of the areas that have taken advantage of these trends as well. Specifically in the area of chemistry, the accessibility of these things have opened up a wide range of possibilities for those immersed in this world, and [Marb’s Lab] shows us how to build a glucose-detection lab in an incredibly small form factor.

The key to the build is a set of three laser-cut acrylic sheets, which when sandwiched together provide a path for the fluid to flow as well as a chamber that will be monitored by electronic optical sensors. The fluid is pumped through the circuit by a custom-built syringe pump driven by a linear actuator, and when the chamber is filled the reaction can begin. In this case, if the fluid contains glucose it will turn blue, which is detected by the microcontroller’s sensors. The color value is then displayed on a small screen mounted to the PCB, allowing the experimenter to take quick readings.

Chemistry labs like this aren’t limited to one specific reaction, though. The acrylic plates are straightforward to laser cut, so other forms can be made quickly. [Marb’s Lab] also made the syringe pump a standalone system, so it can be quickly moved or duplicated for use in other experiments as well. If you want to take your chemistry lab to the extreme, you can even build your own mass spectrometer.

youtube.com/embed/mPBcsChEdZM?…

hackaday.com/2024/11/08/a-tiny…

While rulers and tape measures are ubiquitous, they always seem to disappear when you need them. We know you’d never forget your safety glasses (safety first!), so what if they were also a measuring tool?

Starting by snapping pieces from a folding yardstick, [Simone Giertz] and [Laura Kampf] worked out a rough prototype before letting [Giertz] complete the project in brass. Some initial issues with the weight of the frames were alleviated by switching to a lighter weight plate material and using thinner frames and weight-saving holes near the ear pieces.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so we’ll let somebody else decide whether or not these will be the newest fashion craze. But it’s hard to argue with the timelessness of brass unless you have a copper allergy. We could definitely see a less expensive plastic version catching on in makerspaces for the PPE bin.

Want some other cool wearable gear? How about [Giertz]’s grocery bag hat, an evening gown with servo-driven flowers, or a shirt that reflects heat out the atmospheric window?

youtube.com/embed/3EoARmGYyVc?…

hackaday.com/2024/11/08/combin…

The chances are if you know someone who is a former Apple employee, you’ll have heard their Steve Jobs anecdote, and that it was rather unflattering to the Apple co-founder. I’ve certainly heard a few myself, and quick web search will reveal plenty more. There are enough of them that it’s very easy to conclude the guy was not a very pleasant person at all.

At the same time, he was a person whose public persona transcended reality, and his fan base treated him with an almost Messianic awe. For them everything he touched turned to gold, every new feature on an Apple product was his personal invention, every one of his actions even the not-so-clever ones were evidence of his genius, and anyone who hadn’t drunk the Apple Kool-Aid was anathema. You’ll still see echoes of this today in Apple fanboys, even though the shine on the company is perhaps now a little tarnished.

It’s easy to spot parallels to this story in some of today’s tech moguls who have gathered similar devotion, but it’s a phenomenon by no means limited to tech founders. Anywhere there is an organisation or group that is centred around an individual, from the smallest organisation upwards, it’s possible for it to enter an almost cult-like state in which the leader both accumulates too much power, and loses track of some of the responsibilities which go with it. If it’s a tech company or a bowls club we can shrug our shoulders and move to something else, but when it occurs in an open source project and a benevolent dictator figure goes rogue it has landed directly on our own doorstep as the open-source community. It’s happened several times that I can immediately think of and there are doubtless more cases I am unaware of, and every time I am left feeling that our community lacks an adequate mechanism to come through it unscathed.

In theory, the advantage of open-source software is that it provides choice. If something offends you about a project you can switch to an alternative, or if you are a software developer you can simply fork it or write your own competitor. Both of those points you’ll still see trotted out by open source developers when they face criticism, yet both of them are increasingly fantastical. The scale of many large pieces of software means that there is an inevitable progression towards a single dominant project, and the days when all users of open source software were capable of writing it are long gone if they ever existed at all. In many cases the reality of large open source projects is one of lock-in just as much as in the proprietary world; if you’ve put a lot of effort into adopting something then you’re along for the ride as the cost of changing your path are too significant to ignore.

So how can we as the open source community deal with a rogue emperor in a project we rely on? In some cases the momentum can eventually gather enough to generate an alternative path, you will probably come up with the same examples I’m thinking of as I write this. But all too often either a loyal Praetorian Guard of developers protect their leader, or a firm grip on the non-open-source IP surrounding the ecosystem keeps the problematic figure in place despite all attempts to move forward. Perhaps it’s time not to consider the problem after it happens, but before.

A central plank of the open source community lies in the licence. It sets down the framework under which the software can be used and shared, and there are a huge number of choices to reflect the varying ideals of software developers. It’s a great system in what it sets out to do, but I feel there’s an aspect of open source software it fails to address. Perhaps as well as considering how the IP is regulated, a licence should also commit the project to a system of governance, much in the manner that a country will have a constitution. If this constitution is written to maintain good governance and combat the threat of a rogue emperor it could only make for more stability, and since any code contributions would be made under its terms it would be very difficult for someone intent on breaking that governance structure to remove.

One thing is for sure, it’s becoming wearisome to find afresh every few months that a piece of software you use every day is associated with problematic people or behaviours. Something needs to be done, even if it’s not quite my suggestion here. What do you think? Tell us in the comments.

hackaday.com/2024/11/08/the-ro…

With Superconference 2024 in the books, Dan joined Elliot, fresh off his flight back from Pasadena, to look through the week (or two) in hacks. It was a pretty good crop, too, despite all the distractions and diversions. We checked out the cutest little quadruped, a wireless antenna for wireless communications, a price-tag stand-in for paper calendars, and a neat way to test hardware and software together.

We take the closest look yet at why Arecibo collapsed, talk about Voyager’s recent channel-switching glitch, and find out how to put old Android phones back in action. There’s smear-free solder paste application, a Mims-worthy lap counter, and a PCB engraver that you’ve just got to see. We wrap things up with a look at Gentoo and pay homage to the TV tubes of years gone by — the ones in the camera, for the TV sets.

html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/…
Where to Follow Hackaday Podcast

Places to follow Hackaday podcasts:

• iTunes
• Spotify
• Stitcher
• RSS
• YouTube
• Check out our Libsyn landing page

Download the zero-calorie MP3.

Episode 295 Show Notes:

News:

• Voyager 1 Fault Forces Switch To S-Band

What’s that Sound?

• Fill in this form for your chance to win. Be specific!

Interesting Hacks of the Week:

• Rapid Prototyping PCBs With The Circuit Graver
• Zinc Creep And Electroplasticity: Why Arecibo Collapsed
• Little Quadruped Has PCB Spine And No Wiring
• Hardware-in-the-Loop Continuous Integration
• Reusing An Old Android Phone For GPIO With External USB Devices
• Portable Solder Paste Station Prevents Smears With Suction

Quick Hacks:

• Elliot’s Picks
  
  • Random Wire Antenna Uses No Wire
  • PicoROM, A DIP-32 8-Bit ROM Emulator
  • Split-Flap Clock Flutters Its Way To Displaying Time Without Numbers

  
  

• Dan’s Picks:
  
  • Word Of The Day Calendar Is Great Use Of E-Paper
  • Use PicoGlitcher For Voltage Glitching Attacks
  • Clever Circuit Makes Exercise Slightly Less Boring

  
  

Can’t-Miss Articles:

• I Installed Gentoo So You Don’t Havtoo
  
  • Handbook:Main Page – Gentoo wiki

  
  

• Capturing Light In A Vacuum: The Magic Of Tube Video Cameras

hackaday.com/2024/11/08/hackad…

[TenTech]’s Fuzzyficator brings fuzzy skin — a textured finish normally limited to sides of 3D prints — to the top layer with the help of some non-planar printing, no hardware modifications required. You can watch it in action in the video below, which also includes details on how to integrate this functionality into your favorite slicer software.
Little z-axis hops while laying down the top layer creates a fuzzy skin texture.
Fuzzyficator essentially works by moving the print nozzle up and down while laying down a top layer, resulting in a textured finish that does a decent job of matching the fuzzy skin texture one can put on sides of a print. Instead of making small lateral movements while printing outside perimeters, the nozzle does little z-axis hops while printing the top.

Handily, Fuzzyficator works by being called as a post-processing script by the slicer (at this writing, PrusaSlicer, Orca Slicer, and Bambu Studio are tested) which also very conveniently reads the current slicer settings for fuzzy skin, in order to match them.

Non-planar 3D printing opens new doors but we haven’t seen it work like this before. There are a variety of ways to experiment with non-planar printing for those who like to tinker with their printers. But there’s work to be done that doesn’t involve hardware, too. Non-planar printing also requires new ways of thinking about slicing.

youtube.com/embed/85FJl5P0AoU?…

hackaday.com/2024/11/08/fuzzy-…

Un'operazione internazionale coordinata da Eurojust e Europol ha interrotto il traffico di grandi quantità di cocaina dal Sud America a vari porti marittimi italiani.
In totale, 29 sospetti appartenenti a una rete criminale guidata da cittadini albanesi sono stati arrestati in Italia e in Albania.
Allo stesso tempo, in Francia, Romania e Spagna sono state effettuate perquisizioni per raccogliere informazioni e potenziali prove. Il successo delle indagini è il risultato di una squadra investigativa congiunta a lungo termine (JIT/SIC), sostenuta e finanziata da Eurojust.

Il gruppo criminale era attivo nella distribuzione all'ingrosso di droga sul mercato italiano. Le droghe illecite erano nascoste in contenitori con frutta esotica su navi che arrivavano nei porti europei del Sud America. La rete era capeggiata da due fratelli albanesi. L'operazione è culminata in una giornata di azione che ha visto l'arresto di 29 sospetti (27 in Italia, 2 in Albania). Gli investigatori della Struttura speciale anticorruzione e anticrimine organizzato dell'Albania, nonché della Guardia di Finanza italiana a Pisa e della Procura della Repubblica a Firenze, sono stati supportati dagli esperti di riciclaggio di denaro di Europol per individuare il flusso economico gestito dai criminali.

Dall'inizio delle indagini nel novembre 2021 e fino alla giornata di azione, alcuni membri sono stati arrestati mentre commettevano attivamente reati. Nello stesso periodo sono stati sequestrati oltre 2 000 kg di cocaina, 20 kg di marijuana e 46 kg di hashish. I criminali avevano messo in piedi un elaborato sistema di riciclaggio di denaro.

L'indagine è stata supportata da comunicazioni intercettate tra organizzazioni criminali, che hanno usato lo strumento di comunicazione mobile criptato SkyECC.
Su richiesta delle autorità italiane, Eurojust ha organizzato diverse riunioni di coordinamento tra tutti gli organi investigativi per preparare l'azione internazionale. Un centro di coordinamento è stato istituito presso la sede di Eurojust all'Aia per sostenere le ricerche e gli arresti in corso nei cinque paesi interessati. Eurojust ha inoltre assistito all'esecuzione degli ordini investigativi europei in Francia, Romania e Spagna e ha chiesto assistenza giudiziaria in Albania. I mandati d'arresto sono stati diffusi in tutto il mondo attraverso INTERPOL, grazie alla 3a divisione del Servizio Centrale per la Cooperazione Internazionale di Polizia.

#Eurojust #Europol #JIT #SIC #trafficococainaviamare #INTERPOL #Albania #guardiadifinanza #skyecc

@Notizie dall'Italia e dal mondo