Technical How-To Pages

Converting Data From One Format To Another

How to convert PAL DVDs to NTSC, create and burn your own DVDs, and do other video conversions.

• Extract with dvdunauthor, convert with ffmpeg, create new DVD with dvdauthor.
• Or, convert with tovid, create metadata with makexml, create new DVD with makedvd.
• Disassemble and repair a DVD/VHS multi-player deck.

How to copy and burn DVDs, even those with CSS encryption and copy protection, using free software and free operating systems.

• Copy the DVD file system with dvdbackup.
• Burn with k3b or cdrecord.
• Finding and removing rootkits from Sony DVDs.

How to download videos from YouTube and convert them to XviD and DivX with mencoder.

How to extract MP3 audio from a Video File.

How to convert audio files from WMA or FLAC to MP3.

How to rotate digital camera movies by 90° and convert them to DVD.

How to modify a flatbed scanner to scan X-Ray films.

How to use BitTorrent magnet links with Firefox and Chrome.

Storage media longevity and failure rates — CD/DVD, magnetic disk, flash RAM.

Audio / Video and Data Cables

HDMI cables and connector pinouts.

SVGA cables and connector pinouts.

EIDE / PATA / SATA / USB / floppy cable pinouts.

The Samsung Galaxy S2 Smartphone

How to install CyanogenMod on the Samsung Galaxy S2.

How to take a screenshot on the Samsung Galaxy S2.

How to set custom ringtones, alarms and notification sounds on a Samsung Galaxy S2.

SIM unlocking the Samsung Galaxy S2.

How to connect the Samsung Galaxy S2 to Linux or OpenBSD.

Building And Fixing Things

Install your own DSL line.

Repairing a Tektronix 2445A oscilloscope.

How to build your own oscilloscope probes.

How to fabricate circuit boards, transferring the pattern with a laser printer and mixing your own etching solution.

Repairing a Cisco Catalyst 2900 XL Ethernet switch.

How to build a 50Ω RF load and power meter.

Some Vaguely Steampunk Projects

• How to Interface a Soviet Багта-50 1955 rotary-dial telephone with the GSM network and VoIP
• A Fully Metered Power Controller and Lamp
• How to Control a Stereo with a 250-volt 100-amp Double-Pole Knife Switch
• An Intentionally Archaic Lamp

Surface-mount technology (SMT) construction — building the NC2030 QRP HF transceiver.

Motorola DCT 2000 set-top box diagnostics.

Network and telecommunication cables — Cisco T1 serial cables, Cat 5 Ethernet cables, fiber, telecommunication punchdown blocks.

How to repair a backpack.

How to brew your own beer.

How to recover a digital camera that has been submerged in liquid.

Build a box to measuring AC power usage.

Radio topics — Ham radio, construction and repair, propagation, frequencies, etc

Metal Treatment

• How to remove bluing (an anti-corrosion surface treatment) from steel.
• How to parkerize steel (apply an anti-corrosion and lubricating phophatized surface treatment).
• Assembling an M1 Garand from parts.

Construction / modification / repair references, and parts vendors

Data Recovery

Attempting to recover data from QuickDisk media.

Recovering deleted pictures from digital camera memory.

External disk drives and the "Click of death".

Technical Writing

Some thoughts about writing technical material.

HTML and Webmaster Tools

• HTML Tools — Validation, Color definitions, Unicode, etc
  • How to do Search Engine Optimization
  • Browser and Display Greyscale Test Page
• How to analyze Apache logs in detail with basic UNIX commands
• Using Google AdSense within XML/XHTML

3-D Data Collection and Analysis

Structured-light range sensor design and calibration.

Data collection and analysis

• Range maps
• Archival data format
• Calculating surface normals and curvatures
• Software for range map analysis
• Integrating data from multiple viewpoints
• Adaptive local extrema detection

Applications

• Archaeology
• Biology (morphometrics) and paleontology

Links to other sites

• CableWholesale.com has a nice archive of technical articles about cables, connectors, how to choose and use them, etc.
• DVD hacking — http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks
• Linday's Technical Books — a great source of reprinted technical books — http://www.lindsaybks.com/
• A recommended resource to help you get school grants.
• Free on-line journal on Postscript and PDF
• Nice free PDF astronomical charts:
  • http://www.midnightkite.com/starcharts.html
  • http://observe.phy.sfasu.edu/SFAStarCharts/SFAStarChartsAll.pdf

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