Mark your calendars! The schedule has been updated to allow for more government holidays.

There will be no school the following days:

• February 20th- Presidents’ Day
• July 5th- Day after Independence Day
• October 8th- Columbus Day
• November 12th- Veteran’s Day

These are in addition to the regularly scheduled holidays.

While most people think that hackers came with computers, in fact Nevil Maskelyne was wreaking havoc on wireless signals in 1903. Instead of using computer code, Maskelyne used Morse code and instead of wreaking havoc on personal computers, his target was Guglielmo Marconi.

Marconi

In June of 1903, Marconi’s assistant John Ambrose Fleming was going to hold the first public demonstration of Marconi’s long range wireless communication system at the Royal Institution’s lecture hall in London. Marconi was set to send a message from Cornwall. As Fleming was setting up the demonstration, the apparatus began tapping out a message. At first it was just the word Rats repeated over and over again followed by several messages and limericks derogatory towards Marconi and his associates. After the messages ceased, Marconi’s intended messages came through.

Marconi's Assistant John Ambrose Fleming

Why Marconi? Maskelyne was a stage magician and hobby inventor. His interest in wireless technology worked his way into his stage show, using electricity and wireless signals to “read minds” and ignite gunpowder across the stage. Marconi held several very broad patents on wireless technology that made Maskelyne unable to draw profit from any of his inventions. Also Marconi had made some powerful enemies in the Eastern Telegraph Company, who laid cable for telegraphs and felt threatened by Marconi’s wireless technology. The ETC hired Maskelyne to spy on Marconi.

So how did Maskelyne interrupt and hijack the signals? The signals were sent using pulses of short and long bursts of energy- Hertzian waves. When the Eastern Telegraph company hired Maskelyne to spy, he set up a 50-meter radio mast on the coast to intercept ship to shore messages. It proved even easier to intercept the messages as Maskelyne was able to receive messages on a 25 foot aerial. Marconi bragged that his system was superior because it was secure– sending messages on specific wavelengths. Maskelyne’s untuned broadband receiver  picked up on all of Marconi’s signals.  For the presentation hack, all Maskelyne had to do was set up a simple transmitter and a Morse code key nearby. Luckily, his father owned a music hall in the neighborhood. After that, it was just a matter of sending the messages at the right time.

Maskelyne could have gotten away with the stunt anonymously, but instead he took to the newspapers to claim responsibility for the act as well as attack Marconi. His hack highlighted flaws in the so called secure transmission and dealt an ego crushing blow to Marconi.

Nevil Maskelyne- Gentleman Hacker

The faculty and staff of Hamilton Tech would like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

More and more companies are looking to hire applicants that can speak another language. This is especially true in the medical field where effective communication can be a matter of life or death. Don’t speak another language? Why not learn one to add to your marketability? There are lots of ways to learn a new language: books, classes, cds or podcasts you can listen to while driving. Duolingo is a free online application (currently is is in beta, but you can sign up to test it) that uses a game-like platform to learn a language. Why is it free? Because as you are learning the language and translating sample text, you are also translating web pages originally written in the language you are learning. The end result is you learning a language and greater access on the internet. Currently Spanish and German are offered and according to the website: French, Italian, and Chinese are coming later.

Check out their informative (and entertaining) video:

So what are you waiting for? Sign up to test it out today and add to your skillset and help out the internet!
Adios!

Like the Smartboard in the electronics classroom? Have an extra remote for your Wii gaming system laying around? Why not make your own multi touch smart board that can be projected anywhere: on a wall, on a table. Maybe you could even make one for your favorite teacher. The setup also works to turn a LCD screen into a touch screen.  Watch this video and see how:

What you need to get started:

• Projector
• Wii Remote Controller ($25)
• LED Pen ($10+ pre-assembled / build custom)
• Bluetooth Adapter (~$10, various vendors)
• Presentation Software – Smoothboard ($29 for registered copy, demo free)
• Other considerations: mount for Wii Remote

For more information, check out the source

On this day,  December 13th, in 1816 Werner von Siemens was born in Lenthe Germany. He was the fourth of fourteen children of a tenet farmer. He was never able to finish school and in order to pursue an education in engineering he joined the Prussian army. Here he was able to have 3 years of artillery and engineering training.

The army was in need of a quick and reliable means of communication. In 1947, von Siemens constructed a pointer telegraph, which used a needle to point to letters as opposed to Morse code. This began Siemens and Halske Telegraph Construction Company. The small workshop grew larger over time developing electrically triggered railroad warning bells, water meters, and seamless insulation. The company was later responsible for laying submarine telegraph as well as establishing telegraph systems in England and Russia.  The company continues today as Siemens.

Werner von Siemens’ scientific research included discovering the dynamo-electric principle, which led to electricity being  a source of power. Other patents developed include the first electric railway, first electric street lights, first electric elevator, and the first electric streetcar.

Today, Werner von Siemens is known for being the namesake of the SI (siemens) unit of electrical conductance. He also coined the German word for electrical engineering: elecktrotechnik. Today, the company that von Siemens founded is known as a leader in energy, healthcare, industry, and infrastructure.

Happy birthday Werner!

Coding Students and Alumni!

The next AAPC meeting will be held December 13th at 6pm. The meeting will be held at Trinity in Moline on the third floor in the board room this month.  Current and past students are invited to attend.

Sharpen those pencils, it’s time for a new class! Welcome to Hamilton Tech’s newest class of EET students who will begin class on December 7th.

Most people know Hedy Lamarr as an actress, once dubbed “The Most Beautiful Woman in the World,” but few know about her contributions to technology, despite their use of technology she helped developed on a daily basis.

Her movie credits include: Samson and Delilah, Zeigfeld Girl, Algiers, White Cargo, and the Female Animal.  Her invention credits include an improved stoplight; a tablet that dissolved in water, creating a cola drink; and most notably patent for a telecommunications system that used frequency hopping to help create a more secure method of radio guiding torpedoes.

She enjoyed science as a young girl, and despite pursuing acting instead, alway kept a natural curiosity and even installed a drafting table in her house. When World War II hit, Lamarr felt compelled to help out the Allied cause. Her focus became torpedoes, which were very powerful but very hard to control. Radio guidance was key to controlling them, but signals were easy to jam. Hedy Lamarr, with the help of  composer George Antheil developed frequency hopping, where the signal would hop seemingly randomly from frequency to frequency, thus preventing jamming efforts. Lamarr and Antheil’s design involved a piano roll which alternated between 88 different frequencies.  They received U.S. patent number 2,292,387 on her “secret communications device” and submitted it to the US Navy who subsequently filed the patent away for many years. It wasn’t until the Navy was developing a sonobuoy that they resurrected the patent (after it had expired). Today frequency hopping is used in all sorts of communication applications. Cell phones, bluetooth, GPS, and any other technology that communicates wirelessly.

In 1997 the Electronic Frontier Foundation awarded Hedy for her contribution to technology. She was house ridden at the time and accepted the award over the phone saying, “It’s about time.”

Source: NPR 

Not sure what to give someone for Christmas? Like to tinker and take pictures? Popular Science recently posted step by step instructions on how to build your own digital picture frame out of an old laptop. The coolest part about the picture frame? It automatically syncs up with your Flickr account through a wi-fi connection, so the pictures are always current.

Supplies Needed:

Old Laptop

Frame

Wireless Card

Slickr Software (free)

The process involves taking apart the laptop to isolate the screen and rearranging (using hot glue!) the rest of the computer components to fit inside the frame. The end result is pretty impressive.

The full instructions can be found here

The finished product

Are you making any of your gifts this year?