Car PC Hacks by Damien Stolarz
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Car PC Hacks By Damien Stolarz ............................................... Publisher: O'Reilly Pub Date: July 2005 ISBN: 0-596-00871-6 Pages: 382 Table of Contents | Index A car PC or carputer is a car tricked-out with electronics for playing radio, music and DVD movies, connecting to the Internet, navigating and tracking with satellite, taking photos, and any electronic gadget a person wants in a car. All these devices are managed and controlled through a single screen or interface. The only place car PC enthusiasts can go for advice, tips and tools is a handful of hard-to-find Web sites--until now. Car PC Hacks is your guide into the car PC revolution. Packing MP3 players, handheld devices, computers and video-on-demand systems gives you a pile too heavy to carry. But add a car and put them together, you've got a powerful and mobile multimedia center requiring no lifting. The next time you give kids a lift, you won't hear, "Are we there yet?" Instead, expect "We're there already?" as they won't want to leave the car while playing video games from multiple consoles. Car PC Hacks is the first book available to introduce and entrench you into this hot new market. You can count on the book because it hails from O'Reilly, a trusted resource for technical books. Expect innovation, useful tools, and fun experiments that you've come to expect from O'Reilly's Hacks Series. Maybe you've hacked computers and gadgets, and now you're ready to take it to your car. If hacking is new and you would like to mix cars and computers, this book gets you started with its introduction to the basics of car electrical systems. Even when you're unclear on the difference between amps and watts, expect a clear explanation along with real-life examples to get on track. Whether you're venturing into car PC for the first time or an experienced hobbyist, hop in the book for a joy ride. Car PC Hacks By Damien Stolarz ............................................... Publisher: O'Reilly Pub Date: July 2005 ISBN: 0-596-00871-6 Pages: 382 Table of Contents | Index Credits About the Author Contributors Acknowledgments Preface Why Car PC Hacks? How to Use This Book How This Book Is Organized Conventions Used in This Book Using Code Examples Safari Enabled How to Contact Us Got a Hack? Chapter 1. Car Power Basics Section 1.1. Hacks 1-11: Introduction Hack 1. Understand Car Electrical Systems Hack 2. Prevent Electrical Fires Hack 3. Gauge Your Wires Hack 4. Connect Your Wires Hack 5. Calculate Your Car's Battery Life Hack 6. Upgrade Your Car Battery Hack 7. Add New Power Connectors Throughout Your Car Hack 8. Use a Huge Capacitor to Sustain Power Hack 9. Upgrade Your Car's Alternator Hack 10. Add a Second Car Battery Hack 11. Put Home Power Outlets in Your Car Chapter 2. Automotive Audio Entertainment Section 2.1. Hacks 1222: Introduction Hack 12. Get a Headful About Your Car Audio Hack 13. Install a New Head Unit Hack 14. Get Computer Audio into Your Head Unit Hack 15. Amp Up Your Computer Audio Hack 16. Make a Very Cheap AUX-in Hack 17. Reduce Your Audio System's Noise Hack 18. Control Your iPod with Your Car Stereo Knobs Hack 19. Tune Your PC for Radio Reception Hack 20. Record Radio Shows Hack 21. Listen to Email, Weblogs, and RSS Feeds on the Road Hack 22. Find Out What Was Playing on the Radio Chapter 3. Automotive Video Entertainment Section 3.1. Hacks 2340: Introduction Hack 23. Understand Video Connectors Hack 24. Choose Your Screens Hack 25. Install a Headrest Screen Hack 26. Install a VGA Touchscreen in Your Dashboard Hack 27. Install a Sun Visor Screen Hack 28. Install a Motorized Fold-out Screen Hack 29. Install a Fold-Down Ceiling-Mounted Screen Hack 30. Supersize Your Fold-Down LCD Screen Hack 31. Turn Your Laptop into a Fold-Down or Dashboard Screen Hack 32. Connect a Car PC to Your Factory Screen Hack 33. Install a Rearview Mirror Screen and Camera Hack 34. Boost Your Video Signal for Multiple Screens Hack 35. Customize Each Passenger's Video Hack 36. Tune in TV in the Car Hack 37. Receive Satellite TV While Driving Hack 38. Play DVDs with Your in-Car Computer Hack 39. Put Multi-Channel DVD Surround Sound in Your Car Hack 40. Install a Video Game Console Computer in Your Car Chapter 4. In-Car Computers Section 4.1. Hacks 4154: Introduction Hack 41. Choose an in-Car PC Hardware Platform Hack 42. Power Your Car PC Hack 43. Start Up and Shut Down Your Car PC Hack 44. Reduce the Boot Time of Your in-Car Computer Hack 45. Keep Your Computer on During Engine Cranking Hack 46. Turn On Your Car Computer Before You Start Your Car Hack 47. Boot Your Car Computer on a Schedule Hack 48. Choose an in-Car PC Software Platform Hack 49. Install Windows on a CompactFlash Card Hack 50. Power Your Portable Devices in the Car Hack 51. Install USB Ports in Your Car Hack 52. Build an in-Car PC Hack 53. Build an in-Car Macintosh Hack 54. Install a Mac Mini in Your Car Chapter 5. Car PC Interface Options Section 5.1. Hacks 5561: Introduction Hack 55. Control Your Car PC with a Keyboard and Mouse Hack 56. Control Your Car PC with a Handheld Remote Hack 57. Control Your Car PC with a Touchscreen Hack 58. Car-Enable Clunky Applications Hack 59. Listen to What Your Car Computer Is Saying Hack 60. Control Your Car PC with Voice Recognition Hack 61. Find More Ways to Control Your in-Car Computer Chapter 6. Wireless Connectivity and in-Car Internet Section 6.1. Hacks 6268: Introduction Hack 62. Get Online in Your Car Hack 63. Make Your Mobile Phone Hands-Free with Your Car PC Hack 64. Transfer Data to and from Your Car PC Hack 65. View Real-Time Traffic Data on the Road Hack 66. Videoconference from Your Car Hack 67. Use GPS on Your Car PC Hack 68. Find WiFi Hotspots on the Road Chapter 7. In-Car Applications Section 7.1. Hacks 6975: Introduction Hack 69. Plug into Your Car's Built-in Computer Hack 70. Put a Video Jukebox in Your Car Theater Hack 71. Choose Your in-Car Navigation Software Hack 72. Play Thousands of Games by Emulating Video Game Consoles Hack 73. Use CENTRAFUSE as Your Car PC Frontend Hack 74. Use Neocar Media Center as Your Car PC Frontend Hack 75. Use FrodoPlayer as Your Car PC Frontend Colophon Index Credits About the Author Contributors Acknowledgments About the Author Damien Stolarz is an entrepreneur who has spent over half his life making computers talk to each other. He cofounded Static.com (now http://www.akimbo.com) in 1995, and in his long tenure as Chief Technology Officer he led the development of numerous technologies, including a direct-dial online service, networked multiplayer games, and peer-to-peer cost-reduction software for video streaming. In 2002, he left to start Robotarmy Corp. (http://www.robotarmy.com), a software consultancy and R&D house that develops large-scale media delivery software, amongst other secret projects. In 2004, Damien founded CarBot, Inc. (http://www.carbotpc.com), which designs and manufactures in-car entertainment computers and accompanying software. Damien is the author of Mastering Internet Video (Addison-Wesley). He holds a B.S. in Computer Science/Engineering from UCLA. Damien loves email and is good about responding. You can reach him at [email protected], and you can find a link to his online journal at http://www.damienstolarz.com. Contributors The following people contributed to Car PC Hacks: Terran Brown [Hack #52] is a Project Manager at a leading international outsourcing company working with large Blue Chip customers. He has worked in the IT industry for eight years in various technical roles in wide-area networking and server support. His technical background led to his interest in car PC technology, and he is now one of the more recognized enthusiasts from the U.K. His web site is http://www.letscommunicate.co.uk. David Burban [Hack #60] is a high school junior in Los Angeles. He taught himself VB, but after a brief hiatus from programming, he matured on to Delphi. He now enjoys programming in Delphi in his spare time. Besides making NaviVoice and GammaControl, David Burban has also created software for showing car PC information on text LCD displays. His web site can be found at http://www.whipflash.com/vamr/. Lionel Felix [Hacks #4, #24, #29, #52, and #53] has worked in IT Systems Strategy for 10 years, designing and building enterprise networks and data centers. He has been tinkering with cars, car stereos, and computers since before he could drive or get online without adult supervision. He is currently consulting on various enterprise IT projects and providing IT executive coaching, and he continues to do terrible things to innocent vehicles and computers. He can be reached in his garage or at [email protected]. Zoran Horvat (a.k.a. Zorro) [Hack #63] has more than 20 years of experience in the IT industry. He started developing software applications on the legendary Commodore C64. For 14 years he worked as a Software Engineer, Architect, and Project Manager. Now Zoran works as a freelancer, developing applications in C#, Visual Basic, C++, and Java, as well as web applications in DHTML.