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Soda machine controlled by iPhone app
Recent MIT comp sci grad Chris Varenhorst found a cheap soda machine on Craigslist a while back, and he decided to do what any self-respecting computer science student would do nowadays: hook it up to the Internet. He created wiring to make the machine believe it had credits whenever a circuit was connected, and then wired that to an Internet service. He also created an iPhone app that sent messages to the server, so he could press a button from anywhere and make the machine dispense a cold drink. Unfortunately, he says he would sometimes press the button while out and about, and come back to his apartment to find a warm beer sitting in the machine. He's graduated now and moving out, so Varenhorst and his roommates decided to sell the machine on eBay, with part of the funds going to charity. It sold for just $76 (not too surprising -- who really needs a soda machine sitting around their house?), but the project itself is very cool.
Soda machine "hack" yields extra beverages
C'mon, we've all wondered just what it'd take to nab an extra snack or soft drink from that soulless, computerized vending machine, right? Even if you haven't pondered such mischievous thoughts, you've probably muttered to yourself more than once how the robo-fridge took your money and didn't give you a tasty treat. So this "hack" goes out to you with a bone to pick, here's how to turn the tables on those carbonated money snatchers. In a video documentary shot by two (intelligently) undisclosed individuals, they trick one of those fancy conveyor belt-equipped pop boxes into thinking it has failed at dispersing the requested beverage. Once it believes that you're fuming mad and only moments away from striking the machine, it simply returns your money while the drink remains on the belt. If you haven't figured out the rest, you simply reinsert your recently refunded coinage, and repeat the process until the belt runs out of room (or you hear someone coming). While this one may not be not founded on more idealistic principles, we can bet it sure feels good to know if we really wanted to be, we could finally be on the duping end of the ever-dubious soda machine confrontation -- now, somebody give this a whirl on one of those iPod / digicam vending machines. [Read link possibly NSFW.][Thanks, RedBull Runner]
