Morgan's Blog

Another day… another thing microwaved.

Morgan — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:48:38 +0000

I donated a crapload of stuff to Is It A Good Idea To Microwave This? a long time ago. They have microwaved 4 of my items so far and will be doing a lot more. I’m on a roll

Here’s another one of my donations – a couple neon flicker bulbs. Turned out pretty cool.

On a related note, I have donated 3 good ideas and 1 sh**ty idea to the microwave show so far. Here’s the latter, courtesy of yours truly.

The Microwave Guys used my light bulb… again!

Morgan — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:39:10 +0000

Well, the microwave guys decided to use one of my gigantic light bulbs again… check out what happened. Pretty awesome, although their “express” episode cut out a bunch of the footage.

A Look Inside the Progressive MyRate Device

Morgan — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:38:16 +0000

My folks just received a Progressive MyRate device. Apparently it’s supposed to lower your insurance rates if you drive safely… or something. Curious, I decided to take it apart to see what makes it tick. Let’s just say that I was very surprised about how hackable this device could be in the near future.

The MyRate device is based around an Atmel AT91SAM7S256 processor running at 16 MHz, which includes 256 KB of embedded flash and 64 KB of onboard RAM. However, that just scratches the surface of this device’s hackability.

Next to the Atmel CPU is another fine Atmel product, an Atmel AT26DF161A 16MB flash chip.

There is one more Atmel chip on this board hiding under the connected daughterboard. I could only make out the Atmel logo on it without desoldering (which I may do later to figure out what this chip is).

There’s a white CSS-J4B20 buzzer on the top as well. What this is supposed to alert you to is completely up in the air at the moment.

There is also a 64 KB Oberthur SIM card. What data this stores (other than standard stuff) is unknown at the moment, as I don’t have a SIM card reader.

Turn the device over and there’s a cell phone module: a Telit GE864-QUAD with an antenna stuck on top with some double sided tape.

Now for the really interesting stuff. There is a 4-pin header on the top side of the device. Since the processor supports JTAG, it’s safe to assume that this is a JTAG header with the VCC and GND pins missing. Maybe?

Most of the chips used in the MyRate device, except for a mystery Atmel chip hiding out under the daughterboard.

A view of the MyRate device's cell phone antenna and possible JTAG header.

The SIM Card and spacer from Progressive's MyRate device.

Are there really JTAG pins on the MyRate device?

A Telit GE864-QUAD cellular phone module on the MyRate device.

A side view of the MyRate device, showing the onboard fuse and Atmel chips as well as some power filtering components.

Another side view of the MyRate device, showing the cell phone module, antenna, buzzer, and power filtering components.

The MyRate device's board and plastic case.

Weekend Server Outage

Morgan — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:43:32 +0000

The server was out this weekend due to a bricked router. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused. It works now and has successfully been unbricked.

iPod Nano 5G Giveaway

Morgan — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:57:07 +0000

Check out this video!

iPod Nano 5G Giveaway on YouTube

Various Technical Issues

Morgan — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:50:27 +0000

The server was out yesterday due to some modem issues… apparently it wasn’t receiving enough power and shut down. Also, service was interrupted for about an hour today because of a DNS change… it should be back by now.

The Microwave Guys used my light bulb!

Morgan — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 05:52:56 +0000

Wow. I’m really impressed. The guys over at Is It A Good Idea To Microwave This decided to use my gigantic mercury vapor/metal halide light bulb for the Season 6 finale… check it out, rate, comment, and favorite! Hopefully the microwave guys will use some of my other items for Season 7. Anyway, this episode ROCKS!

New Twitter Account

Morgan — Tue, 12 May 2009 23:14:28 +0000

I have a new Twitter account as of today: internalDrive. Please make sure to follow me to receive the latest updates when I am not blogging. Thanks!

April Fools!

Morgan — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:09:46 +0000

That blog post about me permanently shutting down the server was fake. April Fools to all you iD server connoisseurs!

Armagetron Server Shutdown Pending [April Fools]

Morgan — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 07:00:19 +0000

Well, I just got a cease-and-desist letter from Comcast saying that I can’t operate this server anymore due to bandwidth usage… wow am I mad. Anyway, it’s been a pleasure. This server is scheduled to shut down permanently tomorrow. I’m sad to do this, but Comcast will terminate my service if I disregard this warning. All that will be left are those fake iD servers other students create over the summer. Anyway, I scanned the letter and posted a video about it on YouTube… if you want to see it click here.

This is Morgan, permanently signing off.

Update: April Fools!