To funnel water intelligently from a dripping pipe into a bucket. It is hard to tell from the photo, but I cut a hole in the side of the bottle.

Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200.

Well, though this isn’t a startling discovery, I found out you can start up any of the GUI apps just by running them from a commandline while ssh’d into the iPhone. Just follow these instructions to install ssh, then run bash. With bash running, just cd to a directory:

# cd /Applications/Calculator.app

and run the program:

# Calculator

There is no user interaction available, I’m afraid. Then again, perhaps there is*… In order to quit the app, you have to shut down the ssh session.

*pure wild speculation, I have no connections inside Apple : (

I was asked to repair a laptop of a co-workers — the screen was cracked. It was for a 15” PowerBook G4, the aluminum variety. I had had prior experience with this sort of surgery, having replaced a hinge on my Powerbook G4, the titanium varietly. However, that surgery didn’t go nearly as well, since the Titanium PB’s LCDs were glued to the LCD, making replacement virtually impossible.

However, all indications on the net implied the aluminum PowerBooks LCDs were not glued to the bezel, making cosmetic replacement possible.

So began my journey. Having instructed my co-worker to purchase an LCD from a 3rd party seller (Bliss Computers), I proceeded to remove the LCD and make sure the cables were intact. Using the excellent disassembly guides from ifixit, I had all the information I needed to remove the LCD housing from the laptop. From there I was on my own.

The basics of the display assembly are somewhat obvious. Two screws on the bottom of the LCD housing have to be removed. There is a dark grey plastic piece between the front bezel and back case of the LCD -> indicating two separate aluminum parts. ifixit carries these two parts, further indicating the nature of the assembly. That is, there must be some sort of plastic clip holding the bezel on.

What seemed the safest and easiest way to separate the assembly was to take a pocket knife and *carefully* press and pry to work the clips away from the bezel. The two shots below show the knife technique and the “clips” in the outer frame. Be careful not to bend the clips outward too much — there is the possibility the outer shell will deform.

Canon 20D — Use a knife with a decent bit of heft - just don’t mar the plastic/aluminum.

Canon 20D — These are the clips that hold the front bezel onto the PowerBook LCD.

Once the parts are separated, the next goal is to remove the connectors and proceed to remove the LCD from the frame. I don’t have any good shots of the inverter board, but below is a pretty picture of the LCD connector.

Canon 20D — Gratuitous LCD connector shot. I think this cable is a LVDS, though I am not sure, and didn’t look the specs up.

There are several of the screws shown below that need to be taken out. Once they are removed, the only other thing to do is to detach the LCD front, bottom from the back of the bezel. It is held on with double-sided tape.

Canon 20D — There are several of these small black screws to remove from the LCD before it can be removed.

Canon 20D — Warning!!!!

This is what you should see just before removing the LCD:

Canon 20D — Gratuitous LCD shot.

At this point, you should test the new LCD before reassembling the screen. It’s better to test first, otherwise you may find out you need to take the screen apart a second time.

Canon 20D — It works!!! It’s always important to test a part before reassembling a laptop. Otherwise… you may end up taking it apart a second time. The LCD bezel hasn’t been pressed together yet.

The last part of our operation is to change the color of the Apple. Since we’re in there, we might as well have some fun. This particular person wanted a red apple with green leaf. I got some colored gels normally used in theatre lighting, and got to work. The Apple in these laptops is a solid piece of clear frosted plastic, with a white diffuser foam taped to the back of the screen (which, if you think about it, adds a millimeter or two to the case thickness). Instead of permanently destroying the Apple by using a sharpie, I just taped the gels to the apple.

Canon 20D — Ahhh! The diffuser for the Apple logo.

Canon 20D — Just slip a knife in the middle of the foam tape. Carefully slice this and an adjacent side to get to the Apple.

Canon 20D — It’s helpful to have some “helping hands” when doing this surgery. To keep the gels in pace, I used scotch tape — the useful life of the tape should outlast the useful life of the LCD backlight. Then, slit some double-stick tape in half and use that to “repair” the foam tape you slit earlier on.

At this point, shine a light through the back to check your work (if you decide to color the apple). Once you are satisfied, repeat the steps backwards, check the LCD a second time to make sure it works, and reassemble the PowerBook.

Canon 20D — Green and red Apple Apple Logo! Colored with gels normally used in stage lighting.

I have some additional photos on my Flicr PowerBook G4 Al 15″ LCD disassembly photoset.

Whoa! Long title.

Ok… Where to begin. Everyone has done this, at least those who are fortunate to own a MINI. Two immediate mods one attempts is the Euro Parcel Shelf, and installing an Aux In. The Euro Shelf sits below the steering wheel, and replaces the knee bolster. It adds a tiny bit of room to hold small items. Perfect for a CD, garage door opener, or any other such item that is small in height. The Aux Input provides a mini stereo jack (1/8″) input for an iPod or any audio device with a headphone port (or line out).

Many people install the aux input in the shelf - this is a simple as:

Drilling three 2mm pilot holes

Drilling a 10mm hole in the middle

Mounting the plate with the two screws provided, and then attaching the aux input to the plate - NOT to the plastic. The input was designed to fit on the metal plate provided, not plastic - a 10mm hole is larger than the Aux Input input end. Therefore, the Aux Input should pass completely through the plastic if the plate is off.

However, I decided to step it up one level further, as some people have ventured, and installed my garage door opener into the shelf. Why? Coolness factor. Plus I was not about to spend $200.00 for something I could put together in an hour.

To install the garage door opener, I needed parts:

Misc stranded wire (22 AWG)
Automotive fully insulated quick disconnects
Garage door opener
SPST NO Momentary Pushbutton switch
Orange LED
Misc heat shrink tubing
Zip ties galore, and those sticky mounting plates

I purchased the switch at the local electronics store, Purchase Radio. I doubt they do mail order, and I’m sure it’s not worth the time trying to order a switch from them. You could always call and ask.

Switch specs:

Made by NTE

SPST
Momentary, Normally Open
Part number: 54-385

Data Sheet (for some reason, the switch is grey, but the description says red, probably placed a grayscale image in the PDF):

http://www.nteinc.com/switches/pdf/pg18.pdf

The pushbutton required a .72″ diameter hole! Very close to the edges of the blanking plate. I was tempted to use a vandal proof switch, but they cost around 15.00 a switch! And didn’t come in red.

Why an Orange LED? The MINI has Orange/Amber interior lighting, and an orange LED matches it perfectly. I used a 3mm ORANGE LED, but could have used a 5mm LED. I stuck with the smaller size of the original door opener. I purchased the LED from:

LSDiodes Optoelectronics

who are not terribly expensive when you consider Radio Shack and Digikey per LED pricing plus tax. Shipping was fast and professional. The only regret I have is not sanding the LED so it was diffused. If I have to take the blanking plate out in the near future, I will sand the LED. I may even upgrade to a 5mm.

Canon 20D. The switch looks like a miniature version of an arcade game button. Pretty cool. I haven’t made a decal/sticker yet to say something like “Tacks” or “Oil Slick” but will…

Canon 20D

If I were to redo it, I’d put the LED at top (I may just flip the panel next time I’m doing some work inside the MINI) so I could see it when I press the button! It looks cool at night, and amazingly works very very well.

“What?”, you say incredulously, doubting my sanity. But yes, I suggest we adopt a new measurement system.

Based on the iPod

Yes, I know, what I am saying is silly, perhaps even foolhardy. But take a look at history, as J J O’Connor and E F Robertson see it:

The earliest weights seem to have been based on the objects being weighed, for example seeds and beans. Ancient measurement of length was based on the human body, for example the length of a foot, the length of a stride, the span of a hand, and the breadth of a thumb. There were unbelievably many different measurement systems developed in early times, most of them only being used in a small locality. One which gained a certain universal nature was that of the Egyptian cubit developed around 3000 BC. Based on the human body, it was taken to be the length of an arm from the elbow to the extended fingertips. Since different people have different lengths of arm, the Egyptians developed a standard royal cubit which was preserved in the form of a black granite rod against which everyone could standardise their own measuring rods.

Why not use the iPod as a universal form of measurement, since someone is more likely to have an iPod with them than a ruler? Not only that, but an iPod conveys length, depth, and width in one quick glance.

We could even return to the days of the Egyptians, where we make a special trip to visit the granite iPod, and receive a blessing from Pharaoh Jobs. There we would make sure our iPod was up to date with the current size standard.

Since we would be starting out with a totally new measurement system, we could unify all measurement systems! Forget units of mass or weight - specify how many iPod Click Wheels it would equal. Or take length. Is it a foot? A meter? Or 5.5 iPod mini’s? Certainly the last measurement makes the most sense. But don’t take my word for it - check out Engadget or Gizmodo. Quite often they’ll have an iPod on top of the latest gadget, for easy size comparison. Soon enough, there will be an official iPod size rating, sort of like the insane Dell laptop-milk gallon comparison used to convey how much their laptops weighed.

I’ll be putting instructions inline, as some people might not have Acrobat or another type of PDF viewer.

Sapphire what??? The Sapphire XVIII was one radio (of many) found in VW’s throughout their aircooled days. A place to see more pictures of these radios can be found here: Volkswagen Radios The “hacking” I did consisted of rearranging some wires, and adding a line in so I could use my iPod with this radio. Sure it’s mono, but hey—I’m driving a car from 1973. Plus it has pushbuttons—a real novelty to me!

I’ve attached a PDF explaining what I did to hack the radio to install a line in. It’s not true line in, but is much better than the cassette adapter I was using before.

Sapphire XVIII Hacking