Big Red Button

[Killdrath]

Found this while surfing. The product is over a year old, and as far as I can tell was not sold int he US, but would be fun to have.

Couldnt be TOO hard to make one, could it? Wonder what it would take to make the button programmable? Supposedly it incorporated a 4-port USB hub as well.

http://forevergeek.com/images/usbselfdestruct.jpg

[DaJe]

Actually, you can buy it on ThinkGeek.


http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/accessories/9116




http://www.thinkgeek.com/images/products/zoom/doomsday_hub.jpg



The secret to the USB Doomsday Device is very simple - it has three levels of failsafe protection. In order to arm the Device, you first need to activate switch one. Then, you need to activate switch two. Then (and stay with us here, because this is where it gets a little crazy), you need to activate switch three. Switch three is a key switch, and only authorized personnel should have a copy of the key. Once all three switches are turned on (in order) the Main light will glow red. This means the Device is armed and very dangerous.

All that is left to do is flip back the plastic shield and press the red button for an explosive sound effect. But what really happens when you press the button? We're not sure. Perhaps 15 kittens explode; perhaps your bank account lowers by a fraction of a cent; perhaps you start an interplanetary war trillions of parsecs away by blowing up the caravan of Queen Knorb'l. But one thing is clear - before pushing the button, you must ask yourself, "Do I feel lucky, punk? Well...do I?" Because, who knows, the explosion you hear from the USB Doomsday Device might just be the sound of your brain vaporizing.

Oh yeah, and you can also use the USB Doomsday Device as a 4 port USB hub. No one will mess with you with this baby on your desk.

[Killdrath]

Heh. I just stumbled upon it while looking for retro or steampunk-ish switches for my project.

[Quakken]

That's pretty cool. You could program it (if it has the capabitlity) to do something dramatic and life-altering in a game. It could be like, delete your character in WoW type of thing. Actually, having to have a key to delete a character? pretty nice... pretty nice...

[simon275]

Yeah maybe you could have it so when you hit the big red button a macro or batch file runs perhaps. Which could start a program or format your main partition.

[Omega]

Big red button, windows key, then u twice.

;)

(Or windows key then L twice)

[Quakken]

Damn you omega!!!

I admit, I tried it.

Good thing firefox has the whole "restore session" thing so I could come right back on here to tell you that I'm angry. (you made my download restart!)

This insolence cannot be tolerated. Call on the dazed starving weasels, and the hilarious rabid chipmunks.

[xRyokenx]

God DAMNIT! How did I fall to that crap too? ugh, I'm way out of it today. I don't know whether to -rep you for lost work or to +rep you for almost a good laugh, ugh.

[Omega]

aha

see, if you wait after the first time you hit u, then you'll see the window with the option to cancel it.

[xRyokenx]

Yeah, I was thinking right after I hit it that I should've looked to see what it did first, but oh well, heh heh.

/Durr!

[Spawn-Inc]

ya that would be easy to make, i would make it the power button or reset. its just three switchs wired in series to give power to the main red button. just need to find some nice looking switchs and wire them up to a big red button. i think i would do 3-4 toggles, two key switchs and a big red button under plexi.

[Airbozo]

hehe suckers!

Nice one Omega!

[Omega]

ya that would be easy to make, i would make it the power button or reset. its just three switchs wired in series to give power to the main red button. just need to find some nice looking switchs and wire them up to a big red button. i think i would do 3-4 toggles, two key switchs and a big red button under plexi.

That's actually one of my ideas for a mod, a multi-stage arming system to boot the computer, definately going to have a key switch too, so people can't dick with it unless I'm there.

[Spawn-Inc]

ya need to scavenge some old pc's with barrel key locks. now that i think of it resident evil comes to mind. in resident evil 4 there is a puzzle with a dial on it that only turns 3 or 4 turns. you could make it either the same as the game or a different sequence.

xu_qNSGnv4M

if you go to 2:48 in the video you see him solve the puzzle. then once the doors open up you could have the power button & reset. if your really concerned about security you could have two keys that have to be turned at the same time (less than a 1/4 of a second) otherwise its goes into lock down. if i was doing a case mod i would really look into it more.

[Xpirate]

Big red button, windows key, then u twice.

;)

(Or windows key then L twice)

Keyboard shortcuts rule! The world has become too dependent on mice.

[Omega]

Keyboard shortcuts rule! The world has become too dependent on mice.

The only reason why I have a mouse is because getting accurate shots in FPSes with the keyboard only is hard as ****.