MobileArchive: Mobile

July 18, 2008

Singing with the fishes

The Sashimi Tabernacle Choir is an art car project by Richard Carter, John Schroeter (Houston, TX), and some thirty volunteers. The car incorporates 250 singing Billy Bass animatronic fish and 250 mechanical lobsters, including a conductor that's perched on a boom over the hood of the 1984 Volvo sedan the choir calls home.

After the car made an appearance in Lewes, DE yesterday, the Cape Gazette wrote:

Occasionally you witness firsthand an astounding display of American ingenuity. Such is the case with the Sashimi Tabernacle Choir art car that wowed dockside crowds in Lewes Wednesday afternoon. When you see such displays, you wonder: wouldn't we do better in Afghanistan and Iraq if we rolled more of these down the streets of Kabul and Baghdad?

The project's website has a lot of construction information, photos, and video clips of the car singing and twitching its goofy little heart out.

Sashimi Tabernacle Choir [Thanks, Judy Willard!]

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Jul 18, 2008 02:00 PM
Arts, Electronics, Makers, Mobile | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry

July 1, 2008

Bizarre car accidents

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accidents070108_2.jpg
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Dark Roasted Blend has a gallery of seriously strange and guiltily entertaining car accidents.

Oops! - Weirdest Accidents

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Jul 1, 2008 02:00 PM
Made On Earth, Mobile | Permalink | Comments (14) | Email Entry

June 24, 2008

HOW TO - Universalize a MacBook Air SuperDrive

macAirDriveHack.jpg

tnkgrl writes:

So like me, you have a MacBook Air SuperDrive... It's affordable, it's functional, it's sexy. If only it was usable with other Macs and PCs!


Well rejoice :) I have successfully hacked my MBA SuperDrive to work with other Macs and PCs. All you need is a $9 part (shipping extra) and a bit of soldering and you too can do this mod.

MacBook Air SuperDrive for all

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Jun 24, 2008 02:00 PM
Computers, Mobile | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email Entry

April 28, 2008

HOW TO - Make your own G-force meter

Build your own dashboard G-meter using a PIC 18F452 microcontroller, a 20 MHz crystal, the ADXL320 Accelerometer, and a 7-Segment LED display.

Personal G-Force Meter [via]

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Apr 28, 2008 03:00 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics, Mobile | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry

75 things to do with an old iPod

iPodRemote.jpg

Packing up for Maker Faire, I was debating whether to bring my old iPod as a back-up to my iPhone. That got me thinking about ways I might make use of my iPod besides just insuring music and address book redundancy. On TravelHacker, I found this round-up of 75+ tutorials on everything from turning it into a guitar tuner to using it as a universal remote, to an ebook reader, to turning it into money (ah, as in selling it...).


How to: Turn Your iPod Into Anything (75+ Tutorials)

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Apr 28, 2008 12:43 PM
iPod, Mobile, Portable Audio and Video | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email Entry

April 1, 2008

NES controller Mp3 player with cartridge speakers


Another nice NES hack that turns the old cartridges and controller into a portable MP3 player / boombox to take on the road.

NES Controller MP3 Player Sports Functional Cartridge Speaker [via]

Posted by Jonah Brucker-Cohen | Apr 1, 2008 07:00 AM
Gaming, Mobile, Music | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry

BoomBox cellphone makes portability an afterthought

boombox.jpg

If you are looking for the best in portable cellphone technology, do not look here at Make. This cellphone, called the "Thunder Super Radio HiFi" features a 1.3 megapixel camera, 2.4 inch TFT display, built-in mini boombox, and even an microSD card slot. What looks like a normal phone on one side, morphs into a mega ghetto blaster on the back with all the speakers needed to start a house party. Sorry, this one's not an April Fools joke.

Top 5 Weirdest Cell Phones Ever

Posted by Jonah Brucker-Cohen | Apr 1, 2008 07:00 AM
Cellphones, Mobile, Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

March 27, 2008

Overclocking the XO

Cory at Boing Boing points us to this piece on OLPC News about overclocking the XO laptop.

OLPC XO Hacks: Overclocking an XO Laptop Geode LX 700 CPU

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Mar 27, 2008 01:00 PM
Computers, Electronics, Mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

March 13, 2008

Wetsuit laptop sleeve

wetsuitCase.jpg

On Alex's Tinkerlog, he has a piece on how he turned an old wetsuit (surf jacket, actually) into a sweet-looking laptop sleeve for his MacBook.

Neoprene MacBook sleeve - Link

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Mar 13, 2008 05:00 PM
Crafts, Green, Mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

Arduino + Mobile.Processing

IMG_3251-full.jpeg

five.b.oh writes:

I've been playing with Mobile Processing for a few months now and I recently wrote a little sketch that can shuttle bytes from an arduino board to a website and back using a cheap Motorola phone. All the work is largely based on samples and tutorials I found around the web. . . all I had to do was splice it all together.
Check out the site for code, pics, and more video -Link

Mobile.Processing -Link


In the Maker Store:
Mkardie-2-1-2

Arduino Diecimila - Link.

Posted by Collin Cunningham | Mar 13, 2008 10:50 AM
Arduino, Mobile | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry

March 10, 2008

Design LEGO creations on your iPhone or iPod Touch


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LEGO-touch is an application for designing LEGO creations on your iPhone or iPod Touch. From the website:

View, post, build, or edit other LEGO maniacs projects. Create your own LEGO characters in pals, post your LEGO self to represent in share. Play and download different LEGO games or challenge anyone to a build-off! Personalize your bricks with color-slider and more...

The community aspect of this software seems pretty interesting to me; collaborative designs, perhaps! - Link.

Posted by Becky Stern | Mar 10, 2008 09:00 PM
iPod, LEGO, Mobile, Telecommunications, Wireless | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email Entry

iPod laser pointer

iPodLaser.jpg

iPod laser pointer - Link

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Mar 10, 2008 04:00 PM
iPod, Mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

February 13, 2008

Bedtop computer stand

lapTopStand.jpg
Here's a simple, adjustable laptop stand for use in bed (and in your driveway, apparently).

A better laptop stand for bed - Link

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Feb 13, 2008 11:00 AM
Computers, Furniture, Instructables, Mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

February 5, 2008

Illegal Soap Box Derby

illegalSoapBox.jpg
Mark at Boing Boing writes:

The Blow N Glo Special, built and driven by Maddog, is a nice-looking car built to compete in the San Fernando Valley Illegal Soap Box Federation races. The February issue of Hot Rod has an article about the S.F.V.I.S.B.F.

San Fernando Valley Illegal Soap Box Federation - Link

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Feb 5, 2008 06:00 PM
Events, Mobile | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry

HOW TO - Use full-size CD-Rs on a VideoNow


This video tutorial shows you how to modify the case on a Tiger Electronics VideoNow kid vid player (which normally uses a special 4" CD) so that it can play back regulation CDs.

VideoNow Color Mod Uncut Cdr [Thanks, Craniac!] - Link

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Feb 5, 2008 12:00 PM
DIY Projects, Mobile, Portable Audio and Video | Permalink | Comments (6) | Email Entry

December 10, 2007

Herr von Slatt's car carrier conversion


carTrailer.jpg
jakeVonSteamCar.jpg
In preparation for work on his steam-powered car, MAKE pal Jake von Slatt went Medieval on a 29' Cobra Sierra mobile home and turned it into a 21' (chop, chop) car carrier. And just in time, too. On the day he finished the project, he found (and bought) on eBay a replica of a 1929 Mercedes Gazelle built on a Volkswagen Beetle chassis. This car will make a very lovely steamer, indeed.

Car Carrier Trailer - Link

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Dec 10, 2007 04:00 PM
DIY Projects, Mobile | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email Entry

October 8, 2007

Piezoelectric concept backpack

EnergyHarvestingBackpack.png

Researchers at Michigan Technological University, Arizona State University and NanoSonic Inc. are working on harvesting the ambient energy of walking and carrying a backpack with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), a nylon-like material with piezoelectric properties. This would be great for multi-day hiking, since you wouldn't have carry heavy batteries to keep your GPS or cellphone juiced! - [via] Link.

Posted by Becky Stern | Oct 8, 2007 04:00 PM
Electronics, Green, Mobile, Wearables | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email Entry

September 27, 2007

The World of Arts Cars documentary


Scott Beale of Laughing Squid posted the four-part video series, The World of Arts Cars, on his site. Part 1 is above. If you're interested, you can find Parts 2, 3, and 4 on Laughing Squid. Scott also has info on ArtCar Fest, which starts today (Bay Area).

Weird America's World of Art Cars Videos - Link

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Sep 27, 2007 07:00 AM
Arts, Crafts, Mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

September 12, 2007

Raising an old OnStar GPS unit from the dead

gpsOnStar.jpg
In this PopSci "Void Your Warranty" piece, MAKE contributing writer Dave Prochnow shows you how to use an old OnStar GPS unit on a laptop computer with free software, no subscription required.

Raising GPS from the Dead - Link

Related:

  • OnStar Projects - Link
  • OnStar eavesdropping - Link

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Sep 12, 2007 08:00 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics, GPS, Mobile | Permalink | Comments (8) | Email Entry

September 2, 2007

Internal USB/ReadyBoost hack for Ultra-Mobile PC

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"ThoughtFix," over at UltraMobileGeek, has a piece on how to add an internal USB hub, for adding Flash memory and ReadyBoost (the Flash-based memory cacher for juicing Vista) to a UMPC, in this case, the eo V7110. He's not sure what he's going to do with the other two internal ports, maybe add more Flash, maybe an RF remote.

Adding Internal USB (and internal ReadyBoost) to a UMPC - [via] Link

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Sep 2, 2007 02:27 PM
Computers, DIY Projects, Electronics, Mobile | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

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