Winston's Humble Site

So, I had an interesting experience with technology today. I disassembled and iPod, having never owned one in my life, and having never taken a box cutter to an electronic device before with destructive intent.

… Okay, so maybe I lied about the second, but the first part is true.

My friend had a first generation iPod nano (ca. 2005) that had a broken Hold switch, rendering the entire device useless to input. He entrusted it to me, knowing full well that I’d have an equal chance of fixing it as i would breaking it (smart man…). Using only Youtube videos, I embarked on my adventure.

The iPod is a pretty awesome piece of engineering, even the first generation. It’s engineered with a remarkable level of precision, with tightly mapped chips and ingeniously thought out solutions to minimize complexity/bulk. This is purely speculative, since I never bothered finding/reading technical documentation on it, I’m pretty sure they used copper foil as a grounding contact for the clickwheel instead of having to design something more complex to connect to the motherboard. And they also used open contacts to connect to a simple speaker glued to the inside of the metal backplate, sparing the need for wiring… or it could just be a round heatsink.

But anyways, my steps taken:
1) Remove backplate by inserting knife between metal backing and bottom connector plate.
2) Unscrew motherboard, 3 screws.
3) Pry battery from front face cover, pry LCD screen from front face cover. Pull out ribbon cable for click wheel from motherboard.
4) Remove the motherboard/screen/battery assembly. Pull LCD from motherboard, there are clips holding it in place.
5) Once the hold switch is revealed, solder in a grounding bridge to bypass it.
6) Reverse steps, except bending in the case clips that hold the iPod together.

The entire operation is straightforward, but the complexity and tininess of it all add up to a big headache. But it’s all still rather fun, and satisfying when you figure out that you didn’t brick it. I’d definitely give this a try if you had nothing to lose.

I have to say, Microsoft has a bunch of smart people doing some great things. But one of the features in Windows 7 I’m not too fond of is Libraries. A Library is pretty much a way to organize multiple folders without physically moving, or changing any of them. Let’s say you keep your Documents on your computer in two or more folders. Opening and vieweing documents in all your folders is a bit of a hassle. So instead, what you can do, is add all those folders to a single “Library” and view them all as if it were one folder. It’s kind of like making a shortcut to the original folders, but with the added benefit of being able to browse them all simultaneously.

When you open Windows Explorer (a link is provided on your taskbar), you are taken to a folder of your Libraries. However, I’m a control freak. Thus, by default, that’s not good enough for me. I want to be able to view my personal folder, not some virtual collection of files that Microsoft has deemed pertinent to the average user. To accomplish that, you have to finagle the Windows Explorer shortcut to take you to the right place. There are descriptions of how to change the Windows Explorer shortcut to take you to “My Computer,” but few detail how to get things a little less generic than that.
The actual procedure is fairly simple, just slightly time-consuming. The basic steps are similar to those found here: http://www.leonmeijer.nl/archive/2009/02/10/140.aspx, though I’m pretty sure he’s missing a comma after “/e.”

The extra step requires going into the Registry (type regedit into the start menu search), and locating the right folder address (that odd ‘:::124fe700DisgustinglyWeirdAddress’-looking thing). You’re looking for an entry named UserFilesFolder. Copy and paste the Parsing Name into the target for your Windows Explorer Shortcut after the “/e” tag, replacing the latter half the previously mentioned link’s instructions.

Assuming no sneaky syntax errors are made, your shortcut should now open up your personal folder. Drag, drop on your taskbar, and enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIud4KHWA9E

Took me long enough to get this up. It’s only a a minute and a half of your life that you’re losing. If you didn’t want to read my Hack write-up out of laziness, this video/slide show is for you.

For awhile now, I’ve been eying illuminated keyboards with envy. They’re cool, and they make typing in the dark a wee bit easier. With all of winter break to work with, I decided I’d try making my own. With a budget of $0. That’s right. ZERO. Everything I needed I found at home. Here’s my woeful tale.

Click for Project Album

Materials Used:
Generic Keyboard
Fiber Optic Tassel (salvaged from an old toy from the circus years ago)
LED (de-soldered and removed from a light-up pen)

I began by locating a usable keyboard. It just so happens I had an old one lying around, from ~2003. Its design allowed me a little more flexibility around how I would implement my evil plans. The first step was deciding where I would place my LED and fiber optics.

After some hasty planning, I had to prepare the keyboard for surgery. I removed the circuit board with the Num Lock, Caps Lock, etc. indicators and de-soldered the LED for the Scroll Lock. No one uses it anyway. I would use the scroll lock button to turn on my illumination LED instead of the indicator LED.

After disfiguring the plastic slightly, I threading the fiber optics through a slit I made (I folded the tassel end in newspaper to keep the strands together).

The tassel end, I glued down, to keep the under side clean. I had to put a pair of pliers and a hand vacuum on it to keep it from popping up before the glue was dry.

Then came the tedious part. Placing and securing each and every strand of fiber. This took scotch tape, Elmers glue, and more patience than should be spent on something so frivolous.

Some of the keys needed to be reshaped because the fiber optic bundle was too thick. In reality, the uneven edge is hardly noticeable, and it even opens up more gaps for light to shine through.

The de-soldered Scroll Lock Indicator socket needed to be connected with the LED I was using. Wires from an ancient headphone set were sacrificed to make this happen.

The end product: a surprisingly intact keyboard with a little more flair for the useless, that’s even still unique in daylight. And I did achieve my budget of $0.