If you like having lots of bells and whistles attached to your computer, we’ve got you at least partially covered here. Using a microcontroller and a homemade solenoid inside a desk bell, Instructables user Meseta walks you through how to create a USB-based dinging notification system. The bell can be used to notify you of new email, instant messages, or perhaps when you make a sale. One of the things that I really like about this project (I guess you could say it rings my bell) is that the bell still works when you tap the button on the top. So if there are any bellhops out there that want to get into electronics-making, this is the project for you!

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• HOW TO – Make a physical email notifier
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