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July 3, 2009

Make: Projects - Outlet-mount device charging pocket

Most cell phones are provided with a very basic wall-wart charger, and you usually have to pay extra for a proper charging dock. The bundled charger is often unsightly in use, being just a transformer with a cord strung out to an end table or something where the cell phone rests. If you have a cat who likes to chew through cords, as I do, this can be more than just inelegant--it can be totally impractical. It's also a good project if you just hate, for aesthetic reasons, loose power cords strung out across the furniture.

A similar product is for sale at ThinkGeek, and that's where I got the idea. The nice thing about my version is that it requires no tools to mount or demount, being suspended by the plug on the charger itself. So you can quickly move it around to whatever outlet you want or take it with you when you travel. Plus it costs all of nothing to build.

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Thermographic camera on the cheap

Jörn Loviscach shares strategies for thermographic imaging using an infrared thermometer and custom software. Impressive results considering IR thermometers can be had for less than a hundred bucks while the cameras cost several thousand. [via Hack a Day]

Update: There's also a related discussion in our forums, where Bill Beatty points out an interesting strategy.

Power drill coffee grinder

From the MAKE Flickr pool

Timothy J Silverman used the burrs from a peppermill to convert his drill into a handy coffee grinder. Use this along with the drill scrambler and you've got yourself a real workshop power breakfast!

Update: The maker adds -

I don't recommend using peppermill innards to grind coffee. They grind better than a commercial propeller-style grinder. But they're just too small to get the job done in a reasonable amount of time.

The next iteration will use real coffee burrs from a real coffee grinder. I found some to salvage, but they're also available as replacement parts. Then I can use a hand crank instead of the drill. That should make those who share my office, where this device is normally used, happier.

3G on Dell Mini 9

Some mobile carriers have started selling subsidized netbooks with integrated 3G radios. If you've already got a netbook and enjoy the form factor, but would rather not have to plug in a dongle, here's a quick run-through for integrating a Novatel EU850D 3G radio into a Dell Mini 9 that should give you an idea of what such a project entails.

How-to: 3G to Dell Mini 9. Not so easy way.. [via jkkmobile]

July 2, 2009

Motorcycle brake rotor repair kludge

My dad recently took a minor tumble on his motorcycle. He's fine, but the bike was banged up a bit, including a bent brake rotor. Consensus among his buddies in the Magna Owners of Texas was that the rotor would have to be replaced, but of course they're pricey, and since the rotor was "shot" anyway, Dad figured he might as well try to straighten it and see what happened.

Here's what he did, in his own words:

Since I had mounted the tire/wheel on the axle in my vice to polish the wheel, it was a simple matter to rig up the "feeler" shown in the first picture to check out the rotor flatness. Just a piece of copper wire about AWG 7 to 9 or thereabouts -- I had in my electrical junk box. With a light behind the setup, one can use the reflection of the end of the wire from the rotor surface to obtain a very sensitive indication of warp when one spins the tire/wheel. Brought it back to planar using a soft face (brass) hammer. Go slow, it takes some time. "Sneak up on it" by whacking gently, measure, whack a little harder, measure, etc. until it yields just a bit.

Then, concerned that the rotor needed to be flatter than he could detect with the naked eye, he rigged up a second jig to test it:

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June 29, 2009

How-To: Dual USB/serial cable for Nikon Coolpix cameras

I recently got it in my head that I wanted to take some time-lapse photos showing the oxidation of various bright-polished metals over the course of a week or so. Investigating the possibility of setting up an intervalometer for my elderly Coolpix 4300 quickly became frustrating, however, as I realized that I was facing a nightmare of proprietary connectors, unpublished protocols, and exotic cables. Nikon manufactured a time-lapse controller compatible with my camera (the MC-EU1), but all the reviews I've seen are unfavorable, and I can't find one for sale for less than $85.

To make matters worse, it turns out the proprietary 8-pin connector used on the 4300 and other older Coolpix cameras is dual-function: Four of the pins provide for normal USB connectivity, while the other four provide the serial interface used, for instance, by the MC-EU1 to remotely control the camera. My camera was supplied with a cable to access the USB half of the connector, but of course getting to the serial pins requires the purchase of a completely different cable (the SC-EW3), which can't be had for less than $30 plus shipping.

Fortunately, I then stumbled across this excellent tutorial by David Holmes about how to convert the connector on the bundled USB cable into a dual-use USB/serial cable that lets you swap out the proprietary end with two different harnesses that access the USB or the serial pins as needed. Thanks, David!

P.S. I've found a promising piece of freeware called Snappixx that claims to control the Coolpix cameras through the serial interface. I can't vouch for it yet, however, other than to report that it downloads, installs, and starts up without any apparent hitches.

June 28, 2009

Blogging epic kludges

The latest addition to my feed reader is There, I Fixed It, a site collecting fantastic and hilarious examples of jury-rigging in daily life. My favorite so far is the point-of-use hot water heater shown above, but the "Franken-chair" has to take a close second. Thanks to Melody for steering me to it.

Creep out your babysitter!

From planetwrite in the MAKE Flickr pool, This ought to scare the daylights out of your average babysitter!

June 22, 2009

Nintendo NES emulation on Palm WebOS

It's now possible to run Nintendo emulation without 'classic' emulator on Palm WebOS. In just ten easy steps, provided by the kind folks at pre web wiki, you, too, could be shooting up the baddies in the Central American jungles of Contra.

NES emulator on WebOS [via CruchGear]

June 19, 2009

Faucet hack

Steve Donnelly writes:

Just a little something I whipped up to solve the age-old problem of separate hot and cold water taps in a rented apartment where you can't start replacing the plumbing. Cheap and works well.

[Posted on Facebook]

Amphibious bike

Not sure how well it works, but from the pictures on Inhabitat, it does appear to at least... float. It's made from eight plastic water jugs. Wanes attached to the rear spokes provide power.

The DIY Floating Water Bike

June 15, 2009

Tether your Palm Pre

Here're some instructions for tethering your Palm Pre. It works the same way as tetherbot for Android in that it's an SSH tunnel to the phone running as a SOCKS proxy. It'll only get you HTTP, but hey, it's something! Via BBG.

More:

Tetherbot - browse on your laptop through the T-Mobile G1

Nokia N95 accelerometer in Blender 3D

Marco Rapino, a developer working at the Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research at HSE in Helsinki, has developed a prototype controller using the accelerometer in his Nokia N95 smartphone, some Python, and the Blender 3D content creation suite.

The application is structured in this way:

Mobile client, a python script which reads the accelerometer data and sends it via bluetooth to the pc

A server that runs on your pc and shares the data with the BGE through a local UDP non-blocking socket

A Blender script which handles the cube rotation in the BGE using the n95 accelerometer's data

Source and examples available here

N95 accelerometer with Blender [via BlenderNation]

June 12, 2009

PhonePoint Pen prototype

Duke University students have developed a prototype smartphone app that reads characters drawn with accelerometer data and outputs text using OCR. Though a little impractical as a keyboard replacement, it would be great for gestural input. You could annotate photos incorporating this method or use it in conjunction with other eyes-free input methods to enhance alternative user experiences.

Air Writing: Next Big Thing in Cell Phones? [via hackaday]

June 8, 2009

ThinkSafe: A Magnetic Power Connector for Thinkpads

Got a ThinkPad and have a tendency to trip over the power cord all the time? Envious of all those silver MacBooks with their stark minimalism and futuristic MagSafe power cables? Well, you're in luck. This Instructable will show you how to assemble your very own ThinkSafe magnetic power connector.

My Thinkpad's power connection started getting flaky, so I made a magnetic connector that works just like Apple's MagSafe connectors. It's effective, cool-looking, and breaks away cleanly when kicked. I used common materials that I had around or could find at my local hardware store, so you should be able to duplicate my efforts.

June 6, 2009

Wii nunchuck controlled beanbag chair

At Maker Faire, we saw loads of really cool projects. The BeanCat was a clever one, a skid steer chair controlled by a Wii Nunchuck held by the user in a bean bag chair.

The Beancat is an all-wheel drive, battery powered bean bag chair, controlled by a Wii nunchuk. Getting a drink from the fridge has never been so much fun. The low profile drive, frame and controlling hardware are completely concealed so at first glance it's just a simple bean bag.

Imagine a bean bag chair that you could drive around, in or outdoors. A commuting vehicle, entertainment device and relaxation enabler all in one.
Why, you ask? Because we wanted to.
The real challenge here was fitting everything into such an envelope that would not be obvious when looking at the bean bag. We didn't want a bean bag that was simply sitting on top of a big, ugly frame. There should be some degree of mystery as to what exactly is going on here- as a matter of fact, how is that person driving around on a bean bag chair?

Their documentation includes some nice screenshots of the design files for the build. This chair was going nonstop for a good while with a long line of patient aspiring beanbag riders. I was surprised in seeing such a small battery performing so effectively.

The bean bag support frame was built entirely out of scrap wood, hardware and $2 worth of foam from the "House of Foam" in Palo Alto, CA. As you can see, it changed a bit from the rough sketch above. This was the least planned part of the project, as it was simple enough to just do as a last step. The back of the frame is tensioned with a steel cable that runs from one corner up to the top center of the backrest and down the opposite corner. In this way, we were able to keep the backrest super strong, flexible and lightweight.
The bean bag was then stretched over this, refilled with beans, and we were driving!

Great build!

June 5, 2009

Make: Projects - Thermochromic Maker's Notebook

Here's an easy hack for your Maker's Notebook that's sure to get noticed: Buy some thermochromic liquid crystal (LC) film and attach it to the cover! Originally I bought LC film from US suppliers and tried gluing it on. I tested three different adhesives (3M Super77, DAP Weldwood Contact Cement, and Elmer's Craft Glue) and ruined one notebook and several pieces of film before discovering this self-adhesive LC film available from MUTR in the United Kingdom. (The 30x45cm size is necessary.) It works great! I cut two rectangles [5 3/8" (13.65 cm) x 6 7/8" (17.46 cm)] using a swing arm paper cutter, peeled off the protective backing, and carefully smoothed the film in place on both front and back covers, first with my fingers, and then using a rolling pin. See the video for some cool thermochromic effects.

Subscribe to the MAKE podcast in iTunes, or download the m4v file.

June 3, 2009

DIY iPhone Stylus

With such an elegant interface that begs to be touched, you might wonder why anyone would bother using a stylus with an iPhone, but there are times when such an implement comes in handy. When you find yourself in such a situation don't bother grabbing your old PDA stylus. You'll need something that works with the iPhone's capacitive touch screen like this handy DIY iPhone/iPod touch stylus pen.

June 1, 2009

Experiments with homebrew CIS

So-called Continuous Ink Systems (CIS) are after-market goodies that attach to your inkjet printer, replacing the pricey consumable ink cartridges with permanent cartridge-heads that are continuously refilled from external ink bottles connected by silicone tubing. So to replace the ink in the printer, you just pour more ink in the bottles. Here's a good review of an aftermarket CIS system priced at $250 (which still seems like a lot to me since it's basically just a couple hundred grams of injection molded plastics.)

The idea of a CIS is simple enough, and beautifully subversive of the military-industrial-inkjet complex, but it's received surprisingly little attention from the DIY community. Eddie Matejowsky of Brisbane, Australia, has one of the very few pages I could find on DIY CIS, and its records of his experiments--both successful and otherwise--make very interesting reading for those interested in the idea.

Know of other cool pages about this? Drop me a link in the comments!

May 28, 2009

Tangible interface hacking at Internet Week

If you're in NYC for Internet Week (June 1 - 8), be sure to check out the "global hackday" for tangible interfaces, computer vision, and creative use of OSC/LusidOSC, featuring the open-source, free, multi-platform Trackmate project developed at the MIT Media Lab. The event will be on Saturday, June 6, 11:00am - 9:30pm Eastern time; hacking 11-7 for coders and makers, party 7-9:30 for everyone else.

Hands-On Tangible Interfaces: CDM + New Work City Hackday, June 6

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