RSSArchives: January 2008
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January 14, 2008
Giant online parts catalog
Boing Boing Gadgets points us to this story in the NYTimes about a consumer electronics/appliance parts broker that also has a retail website:
The Times profiles Partsearch, a company that acts as an inventory broker between manufacturers and repair technicians."The items most frequently broken or lost, he said, include laptop batteries, projection television lamps, refrigerator water filters and dryer timer knobs (so you're not alone).
"Mr. Laumeister said his company is in the midst of a seasonal surge, as consumers break, lose or wear out their holiday gift gadgets. Also helping sales recently, he said, are environmentally aware customers looking to keep their older electronics items out of the dump. A precarious economy, of course, helps. 'When the economy slows down, people fix their old stuff,' he said."
Even cooler, Partsearch operates its own web-based retail site for consumers called Partstore.com
Partsearch and Partstore.com: Giant Parts Catalog for DIY Repair - Link
When Gadget Parts Break or Get Lost [NYTimes.com] - Link
Posted by Gareth Branwyn |
Jan 14, 2008 04:00 PM
Toolbox |
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Ramen noodle sculptures
Artist Sang-Wook Lee builds Korean style structures... from thousands of packs of ramen noodles - Link (video).
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 03:00 PM
Arts |
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Making Things Talk @ ETech 2008
Making Things Talk author Tom Igoe will be presenting a workshop at ETech 2008 using one of the projects from the book: a networkable pong game controller:
Making Things Talk, the new book by Tom Igoe, shows you how to build devices that can talk to each other (and to other devices) over a network. Led by the author, this workshop draws on some of the projects in the book and gets you started mixing microcontrollers, networks, sensors, software, and the real world.You'll learn about the Arduino microcontroller board and programming environment; find out how to get Arduino to talk to other devices, including computers running the Processing programming environment; and you'll put this all together to build a physical pong controller for a networked game of pong.
This workshop is limited to 30 people. The materials fee ($75) allows you to go home with an Arduino microcontroller board, a variety of components including LEDs, resistors, and sensors; and a copy of Making Things Talk.
Making Things Talk @ ETech 2008 1:30pm Monday, 03/03/2008 -- Link
ETech 2008: use Maker discount code et08mkb for 20% off -- Link
Making Things Talk
Programming microcontrollers used to require an expensive development environment costing thousands of dollars and requiring professional electrical engineering expertise. Open-source physical computing platforms with simple i/o boards and development environments have led to new options for hobbyists, hackers, and makers. This book contains a series of projects that teach you what you need to know to get your creations talking to each other, connecting to the web, and forming networks of smart devices. Review and buy it now! - Link.
Posted by Brian Jepson |
Jan 14, 2008 02:00 PM
Events |
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Dorkbot DC/Make: DC meeting, Wednesday, Jan 16
This Wednesday (7 PM - 9 PM ET) is the January meeting of Dorkbot DC and the inaugural meeting of Make: DC, a new project building group inspired by MAKE magazine. We will likely be holding several joint Dorkbot DC and Make: DC events throughout the coming year.
During this first joint meeting, we'll be building LED cubes based on on the Make: Weekend Projects podcast. See the Dorkbot DC website for details on what tools and hardware to bring. If you don't have the require components, you can still come and help out. There's *a lot* of soldering to do.
We'll be meeting at the lovely Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences, 6th & E Streets, NW, Washington, DC 20001, (202) 334-1201.
This event is co-sponsored by The Maker Store.
Dorkbot DC + Make: DC Inaugural Joint Workshop! - Link
Make a pocket LED cube - Weekend Projects Podcast - Link
Posted by Gareth Branwyn |
Jan 14, 2008 02:00 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Events |
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RFID + induction + cooking
Jeff writes in -
This CookTek "Incogneeto" cook top was displayed at NAFM in late 2007. It's capable of heating to 190 deg F through any sort of counter top (granite, composite etc) without causing damage to the counter itself. Because of RFID technology, These units also do not require special markings to determine where the cook top is under the counter. There isn't much information available on the internet at the moment, the product has only been available to purchase for about a week.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 01:00 PM
News from the Future |
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Old TV becomes a bar!
AlpineButterfly writes in -
A good friend of mine offered up an old style cabinet TV.. and for some reason it called out to become a bar! Thank you Sally! This project is an experiment in MANY ways. It's the first time I tackled grouting. First time I've cut glass. First time I sewed a curtain. Because of all these firsts... I was scared to invest moula and the result is that it is also recycled in many ways! The TV insided have been brought away to stay out of a land fill. The shelves, are mostly pieces of old mdf board that have been in the attic since my move... (they weren't deep enough so I ended up gluing multiple ones together). The MP3 player drawer... is a cigar box, found somewhere. The speakers, which you can't seen.. we also an attic find.Old TV becomes a bar! - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 12:00 PM
DIY Projects |
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Voltaic solar bag
The Voltaic "Generator" solar panel laptop bag can generate up to 14.7 watts, not bad! - [via] Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 11:00 AM
Gadgets, Green |
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"Easy Button" whoopee cushion
El_roboto_loco writes -
This instructable shows how to take an Easy button, lift the audio from it, then take an electronic whoopee cushion and lift the audio out of that, and then combine the two sound clips using the free sound editor, Audacity, while adding some special effects. Then we'll take the new sound track and record it into a sound module. Finally, we'll put all of that, along with the speaker from the Easy button, into a new button made by combining the Easy button with parts from a WalMart button, which is actually a wall lamp."Easy Button" whoopee cushion - Link.
Related:
Make an "Easy Button" musical interface - Link.
Easy Button Hack - Link.
Easy Button with recordable audio - Link.
Circuit bending is easy - Link.
Home(re)made "Masters of the Universe He Man" alarm clock - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 10:00 AM
DIY Projects, Instructables |
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Mercury flyby today
Spacecraft Messenger is doing a drive by today on Mercury -
Right around noon today, if all goes as planned, a spacecraft called Messenger will swoop past the planet Mercury and begin two days of unprecedented picture-taking and data-collecting.Mercury flyby - Link.The flyby, the first visit to Mercury in more than 33 years by an emissary from Earth, will mark a key moment in a NASA mission that will ultimately place the first satellite into orbit around the tiny planet that sits closest to the sun.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 09:10 AM
Science |
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The adjustable voltage regulator
Neat adjustable voltage regulator, Rason writes -
Many amateurs have stopped by their local Radio Shack store and have noticed the famous LM317T adjustable voltage regulator. But, did you know that all voltage regulators are adjustable? Yes, any IC voltage regulator can be adjusted to a higher voltage than its fixed voltage by just adding a couple of resistors.The adjustable voltage regulator - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 09:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics |
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Maker movement gaining recognition
Tim over on O'Reilly's Radar rounds up some recent coverage on the "Maker movement", he writes -
There have been a number of stories in mainstream media recently recognizing the "Maker movement" exemplified by our own magazines Make: and Craft: and online sites like Etsy and Instructables. (Disclosure: O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures is an investor in Instructables.) This past week's article in Business Week, Arts and Crafts Find New Life Online is a great example. (There was also a great article in the NY Times a few weeks ago, entitled Handymade 2.0.) The Business Week article cites Etsy, Instructables, and Make, as well as fashion design sharing sites BurdaStyle and StyleShake.Maker Movement Gaining Recognition - Link &
Related:
- Adafruit Industries (Open source hardware) - Link.
- Buglabs (open source hardware platform) - Link.
- Open source hardware @ MAKE - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 08:00 AM
Open source hardware |
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Stainless steel mouse
Thecontaminated writes -
With a bit of free time at your disposal you can redesign all your computer accessories from scratch. And I ain't talking about some crappy modifications - adding switches here and lights there. I'm talking real hard core stuff.Stainless steel mouse - [via] Link.It is stainless steel (stainless steel 18/10 to be precise) right down to its interiors! Even the connector has been cast from steel. This mouse mod is based on Microsoft's IntelliMouse Optical and is USB+PS/2 compatible.
It took the creator nearly 8 months to make this thing. It would be really tough to top that. And as far as its workability is concerned, creator claims that it is ergonomic and fully functional. With all the steel this thing is obviously heavy but its novelty and bling is sure going to add a glint to all the eye cast on it.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 07:00 AM
Computers, DIY Projects, Electronics |
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Bent objects
Terry Border makes these cute little sculptures from everyday objects and paperclips...[via] Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 06:00 AM
Arts |
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Vinyl making a comeback?
Seems like every couple years a vinyl comeback article makes the rounds, maybe it's really going to happen! -
From college dorm rooms to high school sleepovers, an all-but-extinct music medium has been showing up lately. And we don't mean CDs. Vinyl records, especially the full-length LPs that helped define the golden era of rock in the 1960s and '70s, are suddenly cool again. Some of the new fans are baby boomers nostalgic for their youth. But to the surprise and delight of music executives, increasing numbers of the iPod generation are also purchasing turntables (or dusting off Dad's), buying long-playing vinyl records and giving them a spin...Vinyl Gets Its Groove Back - TIME - Link....Big players are starting to take notice too. "It's not a significant part of our business, but there is enough there for me to take someone and have half their time devoted to making vinyl a real business," says John Esposito, president and CEO of WEA Corp., the U.S. distribution company of Warner Music Group, which posted a 30% increase in LP sales last year
Related:
Recording vinyl to digital - Link.
Convert vinyl records to MP3s... - Link.
Glasses made from vinyl records - Link.
HOW TO - Copy a vinyl record - Link.
Make your own vinyl record? - Link.
HOW TO - Convert vinyl to CD - Link.
Ripping Vinyl with GNU/Linux - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 05:00 AM
Music, Retro |
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SMD Soldering (surface mount device soldering)
SparkFun has a great SMD Soldering lesson (part of their learn how to make a Simon kit class) - Link.
Related:
HOW TO - SMD soldering (Surface mount devices) - Link.
HOW TO - Salvage surface mount components - Link.
Surface mounting with hand-soldering tools - Link.
SMT Soldering time lapse - Link.
Quick helper for surface-mount soldering - Link.
HOW TO - Make a surface mount soldering iron - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 04:00 AM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Kits |
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Turn your home entertainment center into a relic from the past
This "Juke Box Entertainment Center" costs about $200 and makes it pretty obvious how old your media collection is by showcasing up to 104 CDs, 80 DVDs, VHS tapes, and your small, 27 inch TV. We like the homage to the past, but we wonder if its compact design makes it a bit difficult to find anything.
Juke Box Entertainment Center - Link, [via]
Posted by Jonah Brucker-Cohen |
Jan 14, 2008 04:00 AM
Music |
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Noisy instrument
Jun Murakoshi's "Noisy instrument"-
What has not been done by using rapid prototyping technique? My answer is making sounds. It must be difficult to make music but it could be possible to make noise. When you put a seashell on your ear, you can hear something strange noise. It is noise but it makes us feel good. This product is a wearable instrument for listening the noise like seashell makes.Noisy instrument - [via] Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 03:00 AM
Arts, Wearables |
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DIY Magnet sculpture
MAKE Flickr photo pool member Cmorris32839 made a really DIY magnetic sculpture - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 02:00 AM
Arts, DIY Projects |
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The afterlife of cellphones
Here's a good follow up to our last post about consumption (Artist Chris Jordan) - The NY Times on where cell phones go when they die...
Americans threw out just shy of three million tons of household electronics in 2006. This so-called e-waste is the fastest-growing part of the municipal waste stream and, depending on your outlook, either an enormous problem or a bonanza. E-waste generally contains substances that, though safely sequestered during each product's use, can become hazardous if not handled properly when disposed. Those products also hold bits of precious metals like silver, copper, platinum and gold.The afterlife of cellphones - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 01:00 AM
Cellphones, Green |
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Running the numbers, portraits of consumption
Chris Jordan's incredible gallery of consumption culture (this skeleton is made from 200,000 packs of cigarettes) artist's statment -
This new series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 426,000 cell phones retired every day. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. My underlying desire is to emphasize the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.Running the numbers - Link.My only caveat about this series is that the prints must be seen in person to be experienced the way they are intended. As with any large artwork, their scale carries a vital part of their substance which is lost in these little web images. Hopefully the JPEGs displayed here might be enough to arouse your curiosity to attend an exhibition, or to arrange one if you are in a position to do so. The series is a work in progress, and new images will be posted as they are completed, so please stay tuned.
Related:
Cellphones - and portraits of mass consumption - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 14, 2008 12:00 AM
Arts, Culture jamming |
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MAKE @ The NYC Toy Fair 2008 - Covering DIY!HOW TO - Build the arms of assistance.
MADE in Japan - Part I.
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