Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks by Scott Fullam, O鈥橰eilly, $29.95, 拢20.95 ISBN 0596003145 Reviewed by Will Knight
WHO would have thought you could connect a toaster to the internet in a weekend, build yourself an extra laptop battery for a few dollars, and turn a whole building into a giant computer display in what鈥檚 left of your spare time?
These are just some of the ingenious electronic hardware 鈥渉acks鈥� revealed in Scott Fullam鈥檚 Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks. Though not ideal for someone who isn鈥檛 prepared to void the warranty on a few household appliances, Fullam provides an excellent introduction to practical electronics, as well as a whole lot of fun.
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Projects increase in complexity as the book progresses, but the construction methods, circuit schematics and software code are all presented in a way that should be simple enough for a novice to understand. There are also plenty of useful photographs to help the reader along.
Be ambitious and surprise yourself: before long, you鈥檒l have built a video periscope for your car and 鈥� one up on the famous Cambridge coffee pot watcher 鈥� a coffee machine that automatically reports its readiness via the web.