Make: Online: Computers Archives

Archive: Computers

March 16, 2010

Featured Maker: Nicholas and Felice

We hit independent Oregonian jewelers Nicholas and Felice's Pi Pendant and Pi Earrings for Pi Day this last Sunday, but, as you can see from these pics, they've got cool handmade jewelry for geeks of all flavors. If you're a chemist, for instance, you might appreciate their Atomic Symbol for Silver Necklace, shown above, either as jewelry or as a gorgeous (and attractively labeled) silver specimen for your elements collection.

And a little something for the ladies (who also happen to be bad-ass electrical engineers): Diode Symbol Sterling Silver Earrings

And, finally, for just about anyone who's geeky enough to be operating the computer required to read this blog in the first place (and who, you know, has pierced ears), these awesome HTML "head" tag earrings, to remind you and others where you keep your meta-data.

Nicholas and Felice live in Philomath, Oregon, with their two sons, and have been supporting themselves and their family as independent craftspeople for almost 20 years. If you're interested in how their jewelry is made, check out these photos they just posted to the Makers Market blog showcasing their CNC die-making setup.

MSI Hackintosh tablet mod

Check out this slick tablet mod from alexbates. Chopped and channeled 1.6 GHz MSI Wind U100 sporting 120GB HDD and 2GB RAM. [via engadget]

March 14, 2010

NES cartridge harmonicas

Ebay seller nes_harmonica is offering three of these old Nintendo cartridges that have been modded to contain working harmonicas. Why the heck would you do that? Turns out it's kind of a retro in-joke for NES enthusiasts. OhGizmo's Andrew Liszewski explains:

If you grew up in the 80's and played video games, at one point in your childhood you had to blow on an NES cart, or inside the console itself, to get it to recognize a game. In fact I never even had an NES, but I can still remember having to do it on a friend's system. At this point it's almost become cliche to bring it up whenever the conversation turns to classic video games, but that didn't stop one clever modder from attempting to turn a profit on Nintendo's folly.

Right now Super Mario 3, Dick Tracy, and Legend of Zelda models are available. [via Geekologie]

March 12, 2010

Awesome ultra-low-tech DIY movie making method

This minute-long short by Mindfruit Studios is called "Memoirs of a Scanner," and was made using only a scanner, plus software to stitch the still images together into a movie. It has characters, special effects, and a coherent plot that tells the story of an episode in the life of a business office. From the copier's perspective. [via Neatorama]

March 11, 2010

More thoughts on "Coder Barbie"

On Mashable, math teacher Rebecca Zook weighs in on the whole Computer Engineer Barbie (aka Coder Barbie) "controversy" with "Why Computer Engineer Barbie Is Good for Women in Tech."

While some have embraced Coder Barbie, others have attacked the concept, saying that her pink laptop, sparkly leggings, and trendy glasses are "too feminine" to be realistic.

The critics imply that real coders aren't feminine, and feminine coders aren't real. But women shouldn't feel like they have to stop being feminine to work in technology.

[Thanks, Ed Troxell!]

Why Computer Engineer Barbie Is Good for Women in Tech

More:

Next Barbie is an engineer

Seasonal Flickr color cycle

This visualization of the way colors in Flickr images change over the course of the year was created by Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg of IBM's Visual Communication Lab. It's called "Flickr Flow."

The two of us see the world as a stream of color, and in 2009 we finally had a chance to draw the river in our heads. We began with a collection of photographs of the Boston Common taken from Flickr. Using an algorithm developed for the WIRED Anniversary visualization, our software calculated the relative proportions of different colors seen in photos taken in each month of the year, and plotted them on a wheel. The image [above] is an early sketch from the piece. Summer is at the top, with time proceeding clockwise.

The finished infographic, complete with seasonal labels and callouts of representative images, appeared in the Metric section of Boston magazine in March of 2009. You can view a low-res version of it here.

March 9, 2010

The drumbot of our dreams …

Beeple posted this video analyzing/documenting/presenting a beyond-awesome computer-generated rhythm machine I so deeply wish was real. Note to self - must figure how to construct laser capable of creating laser sound … anyone? [via CDM]

From the pages of MAKE: Drumbot Activate! MAKE: 15: Music, Page 60. Subscribers--read this article now in your digital edition!

March 8, 2010

How-To: Mad cyborg costume

Rawr! Instructables user poyecto_gir writes:

I will teach you how to make props of a mechanical arm (the clamp can be activated by spring action or motorized action, I will show both possibilities), a face plate (the eye lights) and the battle vest (the chest plate lights too).

And the best part? The props are made 90% of dead computers pieces. You will find here plastic cases of almost any kind of computer parts or accessories related with computers, PC and MAC. (Curiously, the only thing you will not find here is a mouse).

March 4, 2010

March Madness hacker-style: a program a day

Jersey hackerspace FUBAR Labs created a challenge: a program a day.

Starting this Monday, March 1st, FUBAR Labs members will be kicking off March Madness, an open challenge to all hackerspaces! One program, everyday. Any platform, any language.

Our members have been itching for March to come so they can challenge themselves, many of us biting our tongues upon the temptation to write a quick Python script or AVR program throughout February.

Awesomely, the madness has spread, with hackerspaces like NYC Resistor and Hive 76 getting in on the action. But there's still a lot of March left, hackers! Noisebridge? TCMaker? PS1? The gauntlet has been thrown down!

(The image above was produced by the March Madness project of phooky of NYC Resistor.)

Readers: what did you come up with? Send me email at johnb@makezine.com.

March 2, 2010

Petition to establish "hella-" as SI prefix for octillion

Thanks to the prodigious growth of computer storage media over the past couple of decades, most people have a pretty good command of the metric (SI) prefixes for big numbers: a kilobyte is a thousand bytes, a megabyte is a million, a gigabyte is a billion, and a terabyte is a trillion. Some folks are already making noises about "petabyte"--or one quadrillion byte--storage media. After that comes "exabyte," which, of course, would be a quintillion bytes. And beyond that you get into "Marx brothers" country. More than one wag has suggested that the as-yet-unnamed metric prefix to denote one octillion somethings-or-other should be "groucho" or "harpo."

But I like this proposal that's been floating around Facebook even better: Use "hella" to denote 10²⁷, as in "a one hellabyte RAID array" or "the sun weighs 2.2 hellatons and gives 0.3 hellawatts of power." [via Boing Boing]

February 26, 2010

Book giveaway + project excerpt: 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer by Randy Sarafan

62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer by Randy Sarafan
Book site: deadcomputerbook.com
Buy on Amazon

We all have old, broken, or otherwise junk electronics stashed away in our closets. Randy Sarafan's 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer is just what it sounds like and much more, inspiring makers to repurpose mice, scanners, iPods, and yes, computers, to make high-tech housewares, newly-functioning gadgets, and accessories. The projects run the gamut of techniques, and with sections like fashion, pets, and music, there's something for everyone. Not only is the book full of DIY ideas, it also has excellent primers on electronics parts and the safety concerns regarding taking apart and repurposing tech-junk. Once you make your own upcycled projects, you can enter them in Instructables' Dead Computer Contest, where the deadline is March 7th.

Book Giveaway Time!

We're giving away 3 copies of 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer. Just leave a comment on this post, letting us know what kind of dead technology you have, just waiting to be transformed. We'll grab the winners' emails from your commenter account, so don't put your email address in the comment box! All comments will be closed by Noon PST on Monday, March 1st. The lucky winners will be announced next week on the MAKE Twitter feed. Good luck!

Sample Project: IR Camera

Over the years, I have collected a number of digital cameras that are not quite broken, but are definitely no longer quite working as they should. And as it turns out, a somewhat-broken camera is the perfect device for dabbling your feet in camera hacking. You already don't expect it to work exactly as it should, so if you make a mistake, there isn't the greatest loss. On the other hand, when you succeed in modifying it, the results are often phenomenal and result in experimental pictures that often far exceed all expectations.

Download the project PDF to make your own IR Camera!

Update: Thanks for entering! Comments are now closed.

Professor destroys laptop with liquid nitrogen

Physics professor Kieran Mullen of OU apparently has a hard-and-fast rule against laptops in class. To drive the point home, he staged a public execution of one by freezing it in liquid nitrogen and smashing it against the floor, where its broken remains were left as a warning to others. Of course the whole thing is staged and the laptop in question was old and worthless, but hey, any excuse to freeze stuff with LN₂...

[via Engadget]

Mouse usage visualization

Architect Alan Tansey of Brooklyn, NY traced his mouse movement for one day. Click the image to see it full-sized.

February 24, 2010

ASCII keyboard emulator makes connecting to Apple I easy

Spotted in the MAKE Flickr pool:

Flickr user llemarie wanted an easy way to upload programs to an Apple I replica computer that he was building, because typing them in by hand was tedious and error prone. To solve the problem, he used an Arduino to build this ASCII keyboard emulator, allowing him to copy and paste programs over to the computer with ease. Of course, it's kind of funny to use two powerful computer to program one hobby computer, but for expediency it can't be beat.

February 18, 2010

Glove mouse is perfect wintertime computer peripheral

From the MAKE Forums:

Forum user thetanktheory built this Glove Mouse to help improve his FPS game skills:

Built from an old laser mouse and some random parts i had lying around. This is a first version and I have quite a few improvements in mind (already working on the next one) but, it functions a lot like I hoped it would. It makes those quick, twitch-reactions in FPS' much easier. Currently I need to move the buttons over a bit and center the laser a bit more. I plan to add a few more mappable buttons, figure out how to implement a scroll-wheel, lower the laser assembly's profile, and cover all the functional parts.

More:

Inside the "Magic-1," homebrew CPU

Phillip covered this awesome homebrewed CPU before, but there's now more info on the builder's site and a series of videos showing it in action. Visitors to the 2007 Maker Faire Bay Area may remember seeing the Magic-1 and meeting its builder, Google engineer Bill Buzbee. The project is incredibly well documented on the site. You can even telnet into the Magic-1, running 16-bit Minix at a scorching 4.09Mhz, to play the original Adventure game, or run classic apps like Eliza and Conway's Life. Retro-geeky good times!

Homebrew CPU

Backwards tower PC case

Although this is an old page, it's still a clever idea, and a relatively rare example of a purely practical case mod. Mike Harrison was tired of having to crawl around behind his computer to mess with all the connections, so he turned the case around by mounting all the lights, switches, and drives in what was the back of the case, and using it with that side forward.

February 17, 2010

Building a CP/M 68k computer from scratch

João Silva's latest project is to build his own computer from scratch, and it looks like he is off to a great start. Based around the Motorola 68000 processor, he is attempting to build a system that can run the CP/M-68k operating system. Besides just figuring out how to wire the chips up correctly, he is also working on getting a compiler set up so that he can write C programs for his system. It's an ambitious project which harkens back to the good old days of building computers in one's garage using discrete components. I look forward to seeing his progress!

Software MIDI bridge uses serial port to transmit MIDI

Got a cool idea for a physical computing project (or actual music instrument) that uses MIDI, but don't have a computer with an actual MIDI port? Use a Windows-based computer? Then Stephen Hobley (of laser harp fame) has you covered with his serial port MIDI relay project. After getting tired of relying on expensive, unwieldy adapter boards, he wrote a slick piece of software that monitors a regular serial port, and passes messages between it and the operating system's MIDI interface. Excellent idea!

Under Linux, I *think* you can configure the snd-serial module to achieve the same effect, however I don't have any experience with OS X. Have you done this with your favorite operating system/program? Got tips, or a better way to accomplish the same thing?

February 11, 2010

Robots versus pirates!

A Russian firm is selling a system of ship-mountable auto-targeting water-pumping robots with the dual purpose of fighting fires and repelling pirates. BotJunkie's Evan Ackerman explains:

The robotic water cannons (six on each side of the ship) are controlled by a central computer, using TV cameras to target pirates approaching the ship. The robots shoot streams of water at 40 liters per second out to a range of 70 meters, and can wash away potential boarders and even sink small boats. This is a defensive technique that is already used against pirates, but having robots do the shooting helps keep the people who would otherwise be wielding the fire hoses safe.

My biggest concern with this system would be that the pirates could use their Electro-Bolt plasmids to temporarily short out the automated turrets, then hack them to turn against their masters. I mean, just looking at them, it's pretty clear these things are based on Rapture-style hydro-tube technology.

[via BotJunkie]