PINs, passwords, secure entry systems; just about everything you access these days needs some form of passive authentication code. Heck, even that Wi-Fi router in your basement uses a mega 63-character password for enabling secure access. Before you know it, you’ll even need a password just to go to bed at night.

More often than not, these security code systems require you to enter a lengthy 8- or more digit alphanumeric sequence. And creating powerful, unique, protective passwords can be a tough challenge for most people. What you need is some sort of portable, automatic, press-the-button-and-read-the-password device. Pass Key is an attempt at satisfying this requirement.

Ambient technology is the current rage for presenting information in a unobtrusive and, sometimes, sublime manner. Information suited for an ambient format ranges from complex number-laden data streams to simple one- or two-digit numbers. The idea here is that you can glean the same information by simply looking at the color of a cube, rather than consulting a sensor's text output.

If your DIY tinkering tends to lean toward the programming side, there's a good chance you're familiar with AVR microcontrollers. There's also a good chance that you may have been confused when, right out of nowhere, Atmel (the company who designed the AVR family) changed the AVR in-system programming (ISP) interface from 10 pins to 6 pins. Even worse, Atmel’s terrific USB ISP programmer, the AVRISP mkII uses only the modern 6-pin interface. No legacy support for your older AVR-related hardware here, folks. So what’s a poor budding AVR programmer to do?