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November 7, 2009

The Chumby has landed!

Yesterday afternoon I arrived home to see a box on the doorstep. The return address was from the Maker Shed. That could only mean one thing: The Chumby has landed!

My daughter had to draw first blood on the package. We cracked the box and checked out the stuff inside. After going to the hypnotist show to benefit the school drama department and doing strange things on stage, I felt refreshed and motivated to assemble and play with Chumby guts until long past my bedtime.

I didn't take any photos, in large part because of the very helpful images already taken and posted to the MAKE Flickr Pool.

Build instructions are on one double sided sheet of paper. I missed it the first few times I looked through the box because I thought I would find a booklet. There is a link to the instructions pdf on the Chumby guts page in the Maker Shed. The directions are pretty good, but leave a bit to be desired. I found the photos by MAKE Flickr Pool members MTBFO and ewee to be essential. Early in the build, I was wondering which of two sets of small screws to use, and found that the silver ones were likely the ones by checking a photo. I also found the notes on many of ewee's pictures to be really useful.

So now there is a new tooltoy in the arsenal. This should be fun, and already the big question is "How do you case this thing?" Kent Barnes has extended the chumbilical cord that connects the mother and daughter boards and seems ready to move things around. John Park has a nifty laser-cut case. The box that it came in is sized about right for a first enclosure. The next case will probably be a cigar box, which is very alluring lately. You can clothe your naked Chumby guts by following these instructions.

As soon as it was plugged in, the disembodied Chumby woke up, started talking and showed a tour of the basic functions. Within a few minutes, it had upgraded the firmware and brought me to the website to register it. Finding the household wireless was a snap. Over on the Chumby wiki, you can find resources on hardware, software, and more.

In all, this has already been a fun project with few pitfalls. The next steps of customizing the case and configuring the software are exciting prospects at this point. Now that she's awake, my daughter is curious about how each of the widgets work. This will be a fun thing to have.

Have you got a some Chumby guts waiting to be animated? If you've already built yours, please weigh in with your tips and tricks by adding a comment or two. If you have a glamour shot to share or process set of pics, post them over to the MAKE Flickr pool.

In the Maker Shed:

Chumby Guts

November 6, 2009

The patented 18 button OpenOffice mouse?

Oomousep3
It's not April 1st, so I'm going to guess it's real. The patented 18 button OpenOffice mouse -

In partnership with the OpenOffice.org community, WarMouse announced the release of the OpenOfficeMouse, the first multi-button application mouse designed for the world's leading open-source office productivity suite. With a revolutionary and patented design featuring 18 buttons, an analog joystick, and support for as many as 52 key commands, the OpenOfficeMouse is intended to provide a faster and more efficient user interface for OpenOffice.org applications such as Writer and Calc than the conventional icons, pull-down menus, and hotkeys presently permit.
"You can do far more with this mouse than most people are likely to realize at first," said mouse designer Theodore Beale. "You can launch applications from the desktop, and in your browser you can fire up a specific Internet site with one button, then close it with a double-click on the same button. In Writer and Calc, you can have your most powerful and complicated macros on one row of buttons and simple functions like Bold, Undo, and Format Cell on another. It's very useful in games like World of Warcraft, because even without taking the joystick into account, you've got 16 commands within one click, 40 within two, and all 72 icons on the six action pages within just two double-clicks or less."

I'm hoping they consider the Chumby-style patent so others could improve on the hardware, perhaps adding more buttons.

Reminder: Alex Rider book giveaway

As a special preview for our upcoming Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest, we're giving away two copies of Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz, part of the Alex Rider series! Just leave a comment in this post and tell us why you or your kid(s) needs one of these books. That's all you need to do to enter! Please make sure you include your email address in the comment form field (it won't be published). All eligible comments will be closed by Noon PST on Sunday, November 8th. The winners will be announced next week on the site. Good luck!

More:

Really narrow car

Look, Ma, it's a motorcycle with four wheels. Not a bike but, um... a "quike," maybe? It's the 4RWF V8 from "Cosmos" Muscle Bikes. ("Cosmos?" Really?) Four wheels or no, they're at least going to have to hire a copy editor for their website before they'll persuade me to part with the nearly $100K it reportedly costs. [via Born Rich]

How-To: Make a Star Trek Bluetooth Communicator

Usually I write about ham radio. But looking at communication devices of the future from the past, I thought it would be fun to have a Star Trek: The Original Series Bluetooth communicator for a cellphone. I worked with Dave Clausen to hack one together from a toy Star Trek communicator, a Bluetooth module, and a microcontroller. Following are the directions and program to make your own. And of course a video to show how the Star Trek Bluetooth Communicator works.

And if you really want to geek it up, the Star Trek Bluetooth Communicator can also be used with the Yaesu VX-8R ham radio. It also makes an awesome gift. Read on for the full tutorial.

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November 5, 2009

Linking mugs

I can't seem to find a way to describe these "link mugs" without venturing into uncomfortable sexual metaphors, so I'll just let the photos speak for themselves. So you can, you know, carry a bunch of them at once. [via Slippery Brick]

R1 tactile radio prototype

The user interface to the R1 radio is both familiar and unique. Roll up and down for volume or scroll left to right to tune. It's brilliant in its simplicity and rather stylish in a contoured minimalist design. [via GeekyGadgets]

An analog radio is one of most important product for a blind people. In the using a behavior of how people manipulated rather than burying all of interaction in to the product. So adjusting radio to the right station would require a new kind of manipulation rather than simply tuning a knob. 'R1' has designed for them to control the radio more intuitively. By using a wheel structure user can control the radio by physical movement. The 'R1' allowed users to turn gadget on or off and to control volume and tuning simply by physically rolling the radio forward, backward and sideways.

November 4, 2009

iPod touch POS system

If you've ever shopped at an Apple store you've probably experienced their relaxed point of sale (POS) system. You walk in, try out new gear, talk to a sales rep, swipe your card, sign a screen, blurt an email address, and you're out of there. Usually you skip the register, yet your wallet always seems lighter after each visit. It's all very smooth and thought out. But something has always bugged me about the whole process. The sales reps have always used a third-party mobile device to complete the transaction. It just didn't go well with the jeans and black turtleneck vibe.

Well, it would seem that Apple has picked up on customers pestering them about this minor user experience discrepancy and are about to remedy the situation with a new POS system based on their wildly popular iPod touch mobile entertainment device. Dubbed EasyPay, each unit will consist of a iPod touch and a special case which houses a barcode scanner, card reader, extra battery and mini-USB connector. The system runs custom POS software and uses a Pogo Sketch stylus to capture cardholder signatures.

Apple's new iPod touch-based EasyPay checkout [via AppleInsider]

November 3, 2009

Alex Rider Eagle Strike book giveaway!

Alex Rider's Smokescreen Bike Pump: contest preview

On November 17th, we'll be launching the Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest, to coincide with the release of the next chapter in Alex's adventures, Crocodile Tears . The book comes out the same day that MAKE, Volume 20 (the kid-themed issue) hits newsstands! In case you're unaware, Alex Rider is a young spy whose exploits are chronicled in a popular series of teen spy/adventure books. Alex uses all sorts of crazy high tech contraptions, made from things in his school backpack, to get out of sticky situations.

Attention all adventure-seekers, gadget lovers, and closet inventors. You are invited to join in the fun! If you were Alex Rider, what gadget would you want in the upcoming adventure Crocodile Tears? Design your Alex Rider dream gadget, inspired by an everyday object (i.e. an iPod, a toothpaste tube, a pen). The winning gadget will be built here at MAKE Labs. Send us a schematic, tell us what your gadget is made from, and how it works. Your entry can be a schematic, sketches, and/or an explanation by you. Remember that the winning gadget should be inspired by an everyday object that one could realistically build (as much as we wish we could create a pair of scissors that fly us to the moon)!

For the next two weeks, we'll be offering excerpts from the Alex Rider books, highlighting the fantastic, clever (and entirely fictional) gadgets used by Alex. Up this week is the Cannondale Bike Smokescreen Bike Pump from Eagle Strike.

Cannondale Bad Boy Bike Smokescreen bike pump:This is activated by the blue button. The pump included with the modified Bad Boy does not, in fact, work as a pump; the flat-free tires should mean that punctures and deflation are never a problem. Instead it contains a miniature smoke machine designed to facilitate evasion of pursuers.

The smoke machine heats a mixture of distilled water and propylene glycol and forces it into the air under pressure. The smoke is dense and nontoxic. Because it is heated, it tends to rise slowly; this means that the screen should work to mask the bike rider for thirty seconds before the fluid reservoir runs out, and for a further ten seconds until it disperses. Times may differ in windy conditions.

The heating coil wrapped around the fluid tank will heat the contents to the correct temperature in under one second. The batteries powering it contain enough charge for one use and, like the fluid, must be replaced afterward.

You can download the high-res schematic for the bike pump and download a sample chapter from Eagle Strike to see how Alex uses it to get out of trouble.

Disclaimer: Excerpts from Alex Rider: The Gadgets by Anthony Horowitz are fictional and for inspiration only. Readers should not attempt to recreate these gadgets.

More:

November 2, 2009

Android 2.0 shoehorned onto G1/Dream

Android hacker Akia Harada has successfully ported the latest version of Android to the T-Mobile G1/HTC Dream. It's an early build that needs optimization, but it does boot and gives those brave enough to install it a glimpse of the new Android 2.0 operating system. [via AndroidGuys]

October 30, 2009

Reminder: Alex Rider book giveaway!

As a special preview for our upcoming Alex Rider Dream Gadget Contest, we're giving away two copies of Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz, the third book in the Alex Rider series. Just leave a comment in this post and tell us why you or your kid(s) needs one of these books. Please make sure you include your email address in the comment form field (it won't be published). All eligible comments will be closed by Noon PST on Sunday, November 1st. The winners will be announced next week on the site. Good luck!

More:

October 29, 2009

DIY netbook stand

This sturdy, portable DIY netbook stand is perfect for smaller models between 7-10 inches. [via liliputing]

In a nutshell, all you need are two IKEA shelf brackets, a drawer handle to hold them together, and some vinyl cabinet brackets to keep the laptop from sliding. You'll also need a drill, screwdriver, and hammer, but I'm going to go out on a limb and predict you've already got those lying around.

October 27, 2009

Alex Rider's Geiger Counter Game Console: contest preview and book giveaway!

Attention all adventure-seekers, gadget lovers, and closet inventors. You are invited to join in the fun! If you were Alex Rider, what gadget would you want in the upcoming adventure Crocodile Tears? Design your Alex Rider dream gadget, inspired by an everyday object (i.e. an iPod, a toothpaste tube, a pen). The winning gadget will be built here at MAKE Labs. Send us a schematic, tell us what your gadget is made from, and how it works. Your entry can be a schematic, sketches, and/or an explanation by you. Remember that the winning gadget should be inspired by an everyday object that one could realistically build (as much as we wish we could create a pair of scissors that fly us to the moon)!

Book Giveaway Time!

For the next three weeks, we'll be offering excerpts from the Alex Rider books, highlighting the fantastic, clever (and entirely fictional) gadgets used by Alex. Up this week is the Geiger Counter Game Console from Skeleton Key. We're giving away two copies of the book! Just leave a comment in this post and tell us why you or your kid(s) needs one of these books. Please make sure you include your email address in the comment form field (it won't be published). All eligible comments will be closed by Noon PST on Sunday, November 1st. The winners will be announced next week on the site. Good luck! Congrats to Heather, Jenny, Kelly, and Special Agent Chris for winning last week's giveaway!

Geiger Counter Games Console [CIA Issue]

The CIA gave Alex a games console when he went to work for them in Cuba - but what they didn't tell him was that it contained a Geiger counter to help them find a nuclear bomb. Alex discovered its secret function when it picked up the radiation produced by the luminous face on his hotel alarm clock.

Inside this handheld games console is a Geiger-Müller tube, which detects and measures levels of radioactivity. The tube contains a mixture of two gases - neon with a very small amount of halogen - which does not conduct electricity unless it is ionized by a radioactive particle passing through it. When this happens, a current passes between two electrodes inside the tube, and the device turns this into sound. The more radiation that is picked up, the louder and more high-pitched the noise. The screens display the amount of radioactivity detected as green or white flashes.

If the sound produced becomes a constant, high-pitched buzzing, and the screen is entirely white, the user is advised to leave the area immediately, as levels are dangerously high.

You can download the high-res schematic for the console, and download a sample chapter from Skeleton Key to see how Alex uses it to get out of trouble.

Disclaimer: Excerpts from Alex Rider: The Gadgets by Anthony Horowitz are fictional and for inspiration only. Readers should not attempt to recreate these gadgets.

More:

Alex Rider's High Tensile Yo-Yo

October 15, 2009

Custom case for Chumby Guts

My friend Joe Bowers bought a Chumby Guts kit. Step one: get it up and running. Step two: give the poor, naked thing some clothes. Joe designed a case for it and asked me to laser cut it for him. It reminds me of an old television set. This is an early prototype; we plan to refine the design, add some etched graphics, and more. Maybe some rabbit ear antennae?

Clever trick alert: Joe put the Chumby on a scanner and traced the rounded-cornered bezel in CorelDraw to get an exact fit. It pops in there beautifully!

In the Maker Shed:

Chumby Guts

Joe's blog

October 14, 2009

IFixit's sponsored blender teardown

Now this is a welcomed development. The company Blendtec provided iFixIt with one of their Total Blenders to take apart and document. As you know, we're always prattling on about "If You Can't Open It, You Don't Own It" and other litanies from The Maker's Bill of Rights. This is a company that apparently understands these rights. Looking at the teardown docs and watching the video, you can see that the blender is well made, with user-accessible parts, clearly marked circuit boards, etc. They obviously know they have a quality, intelligently-designed product, which is why they're not afraid to subject it to public inspection. Let's hope this starts a trend.

Blendtec Total Blender Teardown

Stylophone Beatbox shows potential

[begin_noisegeek_rant_here] There's no doubt that the Dubreq's classic Stylophone keyboard holds a special place in the ranks retro-cool musical instrumentats. Similar stylus interfaces have been employed for various synth-DIY endeavors, with ease of implementation being an obvious plus.(who needs switches? just touch GND to a PCB pad!) Unfortunately, the original infamously lo-fi plastic synth wasn't much fun after the novelty wore off and it never sounded as cool as it looked :/

Well it seems someone over at Dubreq realized it's more fun to tap beats, instead of notes. The new Stylophone Beatbox is just as much a toy as its predecessor, but seems a lot more fun to play. The digital sounds may be a bit cheesy, and would probably benefit from some exploratory bending/hacking. The divided contact surface does seem rather neat-o - looks like a great remake for controlling homebrew percussion circuits/microcontrollers/etc. Not bad for ~25 bucks - I'll be hacking one up later this week and will report back my findings.

In the Maker Shed:

SX-150 Analog Synthesizer Kit

How-To: His and hers matching iPod costumes

Instructables user jtigermask13 has posted a tutorial on making these working children's iPod costumes.

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

October 7, 2009

Weird front tricycle scooter for sale now

Saw one of these on Burnet Rd. in Austin today. It's a Piaggio MP3. Apparently the front wheels "loosen up" at speed to allow for cornering, but are stiff at idle so you don't have to hold the bike up with your legs. There are, supposedly, other advantages as well. I'm no bike expert, but it seems like an interesting novelty. Glad, as always, of comments from those in the know.

Nikon Coolpix S1000pj teardown

Our friends over at iFixIt.com just couldn't keep their screwdrivers and spudgers off of the new Coolpix S1000pj, the digital camera with a built-in video projector. They just had to find out how Nikon fit all that bleeding-edge tech into that tiny camera case.

Here's some of what they discovered in their testing and teardown:

* A room has to be quite dark to view the projector's image properly. We expected as much given the size of the projector, but the image quality is mediocre at best. Anything that's projected looks like it was shot in the '70s.

* Surprisingly, both the front and rear outer cases are machined out of aluminum. It's quite a solid camera.

* The speaker pumps out some pretty solid sound when the camera is in projector mode.

* Like most compact digital cameras with no externally telescopic lenses, the S1000pj's internal zoom lenses move perpendicular to the front face.

* Light has to travel through at least four glass lenses until it shines on the CCD sensor. What a journey!

* Disassembling this camera is not for the faint of heart -- Nikon definitely did not intend this device to be user serviceable. We had to de-solder a bunch of components including the camera cover actuator, projector LED, and flash bulb.

* Light for projecting images is supplied by a very powerful LED that even has its own heat sink to conduct heat to the aluminum front panel.

Nikon Coolpix S1000pj Teardown

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