From the garage to the living room, Geek House provides hackers with 10 PC-based hardware hacking projects that are not for the faint of heart Taking the DIY mentality to a whole new level, this book teaches techies how to hack, customize, and modify everything-from their sprinkler systems to the temperature of their barbecues Adventurous readers will feast on such projects as installing a bar code inventory system for DVDs or CDs, converting RS232 to wireless, scheduling recording from any television in the house, and creating a remote control finder Companion Web site includes the custom software and source code needed to power these geeky creations
This book is by the authors of PC Toys. The PC Toys projects are relatively easy to implement and spoon feed the reader all the material needed to complete the toys. I think this is an excellent book. I'm very comfortable with software and coding, but not that great with electronics. This book is more ambitious, provides good road maps for the different project areas, but the book is written with the intent of the reader branching out and developing their own solution. My interests are X-10 and Wireless based projects. The companion website provides alot of source code that can be tweeked, or rewritten for your own particular project. Negatives: not for beginers, could be insufficient for "experts". These statement may be contrary, but instructions lack detail for a complete novice. At the same time, if you have a particular interest in a given area, this book might not be providing you with anything new. Check out the contents before buying to ensure your going to get a book that gives you the amount of detail you need. A look at the contents page and a quick skim should help decide if it is right for you. If you liked PC toys, could manage the projects and want something more challenging the chances are you'll like this book. I think it's an excellent source of inspiration for projects.
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