MAKE | 2006 July

Cement Topped Workbench

Cement

Another workbench mod… this time with concrete!

My girlfriend and I decided to take your workbench and modify it some for our purposes. I thought you might be interested in seeing your handiwork being inspirational!

The first change was doing away with the top sheet over hang your design has. The second change was adding a second support beam for the shelf. We also added some cross beams to stabilize the top a bit more.

After we got the basic frame together we poured some self-leveling underlayment (concrete) on top for fun. Since we planned on getting this thing really wet with our aquarium adventures it sounded like a good idea. I don’t think we could put down enough sealant to keep the plywood from warping or rotting.

We then spray painted the frame Home Depot Orange and gray (to match the concrete). There’s pictures and such on my blog, here are the relevant links: Part 1 and Part 2.

Posted by Bre Pettis | Monday July 31st, 2006 10:40 PM

Categories: DIY Projects, Weekend Projects | 4 Comments

Richard Feynman Video

When Richard Feynman was in school he would daydream a lot. I remember a story he told in his autobiography about being in a class in school looking at water running from a faucet and thinking about the curve that water makes as the stream gets thinner. Because he was totally obsessed with math and the natural world, he figured out the equation that would describe that curve.

Feynman also had a lock-picking habit. If someone he knew couldn’t open a safe, he’d go lock himself in the room with the safe and crack it in a few minutes and then sit there reading the paper for an hour so that people wouldn’t know how easy it was.

I’ve read transcripts of these interviews, but it’s really great to see them! I think every maker can relate to trying to put two sticks together to reach a banana! [via]

Posted by Bre Pettis | Monday July 31st, 2006 10:19 PM

Categories: MAKE Video | 4 Comments

MAKE 07 – Shipping soon, subscribe yet?

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MAKE 07 hit the printing press today (Backyard biology – including three DNA-based experiments. Other projects include putting a video camera in a model rocket, an easy-to-make Stirling engine, and a home mushroom growing lab) and it will be shipping in the next couple weeks — so MAKEZine.com/blog readers, we have a special code if you’re not a subscriber yet – get MAKE for one year for $29.95 (USA) + free digital edition with this code CMAKE – Link.

::In PBS-style pledge voice:: If you like the dozens of posts here on MAKE each day, the forums, video tutorials, photo pools, projects, how-tos & everything else – subscribe and keep us going…besides, it’s cheaper than the newsstand.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Monday July 31st, 2006 9:12 PM

Categories: Announcements | 11 Comments

Display fun

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Irregular Shed writes – “One Epson DMD-206 display – the ones normally used on tills in supermarkets – hacked to be connected to a PC via its serial port, and hooked up to an IBM Thinkpad running Xubuntu Linux (Ubuntu with Xfce – because this is an old laptop). Why? Because I can =) “ – Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Monday July 31st, 2006 8:32 PM

Categories: Computers & Mobile | 1 Comment

TV Remote control decoder kit

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Looks like if you’re a member of the ARRL you can order this kit, I’ll see what I can dig up… – “The ARRL Amateur Radio Education and Technology Program has cooked up a packaged project that detects and decodes the infrared messages from a TV remote. You probably have a number of them around the house. In fact, remote controls have become so important that when they are misplaced there is a sense of panic.” – Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Monday July 31st, 2006 7:45 PM

Categories: DIY Projects, Electronics, Kits | 1 Comment

Bleep Labs photos

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Bleep labs added some “making of” photos to the MAKE pool of anthropomorphic synthesizer monsters – the Thingamagoop. – Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Monday July 31st, 2006 6:50 PM

Categories: Electronics, Music | No Comments

BadApple – Sync any MP3 with iTunes…

Use iTunes to sync your MP3s with non-iPods – “BadApple is a free plug-in for iTunes which allows you to sync your music library to any MP3 player (not just an iPod). After downloading and installing the software, you will have a “Sync to MP3 player” link you can click on from within iTunes. This will sync all tracks to a MP3 player. BadApple will work with a wide range of MP3 players such as the Creative Nomad, Dell DJ, Oakley Thump, Archos and more. Any unit that mounts as a USB mass storage device should work well with BadApple. You can even sync to a network drive. “ – Link. I’ll try it out later – or if a Maker out there wants to check it out and post any feedback in the comments, that would be cool too.