Hello there, here are your daily updates from the MAKE blog - 2009/01/14.
Ugo Conti's Water Spider Boat Because I get seasick, I suffer at sea. I think there has to be a better way. I want to fix that.Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Transportation | Digg this! GPSd under OS XGPSd is a TCP daemon that displays location data that's been polled from a connected GPS device. The are a lot of unix location-aware applications that use GPSd instead of communicating directly with a GPS device since it allows more than one application to access the device at a time. Seth Just sent us a howto on getting GPSd working under OS X, along with a few useful applications. Luckily, there's a wonderful open source project called gpsd which provides support for a wide raft of devices and protocols, and talks to an even wider assortment of software. Primarily, I wanted to be able to get my gps to talk to the network scanner Kismac, and Randall Munroe's cyborg.py script. Both of these were built to take information from gpsd, so I was in business. However, gpsd, which is designed to play nicely with Linux, takes some coaxing under OS X. This is meant to describe how I got it all running. The documentation also walks you through getting GPSd working with the free gpsdrive navigation software. If you have a Mac laptop and a GPS, it's worth your half hour of time to get all of this running. You never know when you'll need to find a public access point or get last minute directions. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in hacks | Digg this!Single spout portafilter holderIf you've ever tried to tamp espresso in a single spout portafilter, you'll know that it tends to wobble around, due to the single, offset contact point with the surface you rest it on. CoffeeGeek forum member Juanjo Viagran shows off his ingenuity and woodworking skills with this beautiful portafilter holder. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!Powder coating in an old ovenI've seen some cool candleholders around town made from plumbing fittings so this holiday season I made a bunch of powder coated iron pipe candleholders for friends. I've always wanted to try my hand at powder coating since it produces a beautiful durable finish and this is a project that lends itself very well to powder application. The candleholder tops swivel for several different candle configurations and the threaded fittings allow you to screw the candles in for a good hold. Seems much more durable than the flaky paint jobs I've been putting on metal projects! Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Instructables | Digg this!Handy tip for coin cell clips
A friendly reminder that you needn't hold off completing that coin cell powered project - Vilxes shares this technique for going without those somewhat costly clips - CR2032 battery adapter Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!New machine art website...   ...called, handily enough, Art Machines. Looks promising. Nice list of mechanized performance art groups and machine artists on the rail. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Arts | Digg this!Secondhand mini-amp turned talkbox
Flickr member Aud1073cH turned a sweet thrift store find into something even better - I found this little battery powered amp at a second-hand store, and converted it to a "talker" by replacing the regular speaker with a compression driver (horn driver) that I pulled from a car alarm speaker.For a relatively small amount of effort, Talkboxes can deliver a lot of interesting sonic exploration (aka - awes robo-frampton-alien-overlord voices) - Portable Talking Amp More: Open source manufacturing primer The fine folks at Oomlout, makers of several seriously sweet robot kits, have put together an Instructable on how they go through the process of fulfilling their kit orders, in this case, a 30-kit lot. The idea is to show you all that's involved in running your own cottage factory, by way of example. You will find everything you need to get up and making your own SERB's in semi-industrial volumes, ideally you won't decide to. The real purpose of this Instructable is to act as a repository for our methods, jigs, and tricks, and to help anyone looking into producing similar style kits (or simply for those who like to see how a product is made). I had the pleasure of putting together a SERB kit over the Christmas holiday and I'll be posting a full review of the build later this week. Open Manufacturing - (How to Build 30 (SERB) Kits) More: Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Arduino | Digg this!Myvu display in a wearable computerIt seems like one of the trickiest components in a wearable computer is coming up with a wearable display device that's usable, not overly intrusive, and preferably inexpensive. Last November, I posted about Raif Ackermann's Nokia-based wearable that uses a hacked Myvu Crystal headset as a head mounted display. Meant for privately watching iPod videos, the Myvu device can be easily hacked to work with a wearable system since it's basically just a very tiny VGA device. Gregor Richards has been working on his own wearable using the Myvu. He sent us a couple of Youtube videos that demonstrate how the display can easily be mounted to a set of safety glasses, and he was kind enough to answer a couple of questions I had about the device he's planning on building with his new HMD. I asked Gregor about the software and hardware that he'll be using in the device he's building. Here was his response. I have two options for cursor control: The simple one is a finger-mounted optical mouse as it's usable against clothing and so it should be possible to mouse on the sleeve. The other, slightly more wild option is an arm-mounted Wii remote. A friend of mine has been messing around with that configuration and has had some success at using the rotation and pitch of your arm to move the mouse. Depending on which one is more convenient, I'll go one way or the other. I was also really interested to know what the primary function will be, or if he has any particular application in mind. I have no particular plans, I'm building it because it's cool :). I'll probably use it for the same things I use my PDA for now (calendar, general PIM stuff, etc), it'll just be a much more awesome way to do that. At some point I may get a full-sized bluetooth keyboard so I can more-or-less use it as a laptop, just to reduce the number of computers I have to drag around (I can tolerate the resolution for this). I actually think it would be better as something not too special-purpose, as then it can just blend into the background of my daily affairs. Gregor is documenting the development of this device on Youtube. It's always cool to see projects like this take shape. If you've got a favorite wearable project, or if you're working on one yourself, please share a link in the comments. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Wearables | Digg this!Elegante pianoforte digitale
Steinway? nope. Matt the Modulator built this classy nano-baby grand from a kit, and an incredibly cute one at that. - elekit_piano2 Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Kits | Digg this!Cabin Fever 2009 model engineering expo    Dorkbot DC founder Thomas Edwards, now kickin' it at Dorkbot SoCal, sent us this message, reminding us about Cabin Fever Expo, coming up this weekend, in PA: A friend of mine told me about "Cabin Fever Expo", a yearly exhibition of what-yer-been-working-on, with respect to metalworking, model making, steam engines, locomotives, miniature gas engines, etc etc. January 17th & 18th, 2009. It's held in York PA, up I-83 about 90 minutes north of Baltimore/695. More: Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Announcements | Digg this!DIY solar trackersHere's a great design for a solar tracker, using bicycle wheels and a linear actuator (salvageable from an old satellite dish):
What other useful designs have you found? Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!Remake: Second Hand Stores and Repair ShopsAmericans are rediscovering the fusty fix-it shops and unassuming secondhand stores on their local Main Streets. Reuse is the subject of this story by Ben Arnoldy in the Christian Science Monitor. The economy is creating new business for small, local repair shops, as Americans seek to extend the life of the things they own. The article cites examples in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the Boston area, where people are frequenting repair shops to fix shoes, bicycles, and vacuums. "We were a mend-and-make-do society, and we have completely changed. We don't fix anything anymore. We use, throw away, and buy more," says Bruce Buckelew, a former IBM engineer who has repaired more than 30,000 computers and put them into public schools, nonprofits, and low-income households in Oakland, Calif. "The worse the stock market gets and the bleaker the job market, the better for reuse, actually."  Buckelew's Oakland Technology Exchange West is not only restoring equipment that would otherwise be thrown away but they are upgrading it and returning it to use by people who couldn't afford new computers. In general, most computers are designed to be upgraded, although not everyone is able to do it themselves. Many type of electronics are not designed to be easily fixed or upgraded. "What's different from the last time we had a recession is that a lot of the products are not repairable because parts are not made for them – they are considered disposable," says Vicky Evans, owner of Phil's Electric Center in San Francisco, Clearly, we need product designers and manufacturers to be thinking more about extending the lifecycle of a product rather than shortening it. Creating user-servicable products seems like the way to go, along with making sure to supply parts along with the information required to do the repairs. A talk by Dmitry Orlov compares how the collapse of the Soviet economy affected its people and how the same might affect Americans, whom he views as ill-prepared. In the United States, you often hear that something "is not worth fixing." This is enough to make a Russian see red. I once heard of an elderly Russian who became irate when a hardware store in Boston wouldn't sell him replacement bedsprings: "People are throwing away perfectly good mattresses, how am I supposed to fix them?" Economic collapse tends to shut down both local production and imports, and so it is vitally important that anything you own wears out slowly, and that you can fix it yourself if it breaks. Another aspect of reuse is that "used things" retain more value. Second hand stores, also covered in Arnoldy's story, are seeing good sales, compared to the drop in sales at retail stores, some of which are even closing. Second hand stores are not only a source for used clothing; they're buying clothing for resale and those sources are local. A friend of my daughter's works as a buyer in a second-hand store in the Bay Area and she confirmed that business was up before and after the holidays. There's more interest in selling clothes once you no longer need or want them. Like buying a new car and selling it as used, the actual value of the item is the difference between those two prices, not its sticker price. Increasingly, there are some people who prefer not to be seen in "new" clothing and prefer the lower prices at second-hand stores. So it's not only practical, but in some cases fashionable. Repair shops and second-hand stores are part of a new landscape that's emerging. It's one way we can become more resourceful. Have you noticed repair shops and second-hand stores in your town or neighborhood? Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Remake | Digg this! How-to Tuesday: Maker's Notebook & contest
Good luck, and I'll see you next week with the results! In the Maker Shed: Pick up The Maker's Notebook ($19.99) for all your big ideas, diagrams, patterns, etc. Exclusive to the Maker Shed: Sticker sheets and a band closure to customize your book. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Altoids and tin cases | Digg this! Embroidered retro digital watch
Michelle @ CRAFT points us to instructables user tobias.tankes' embroidered retro digital watch. If you've got access to a computerized embroidery machine, you can use his instructions to make your own. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Crafts | Digg this!S.W.A.R.M. sculpture Here's an interesting acoustic sculpture by Jim Lee - he says it produces a "kind of choral moan reminiscent of a beehive". Make sure you listen to the audio (links on his site), it's a really cool sound. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Kids | Digg this!Tom Igoe's monkey tracking adventuresTom Igoe, author of Making Things Talk, is in the rainforest in eastern Ecuador, applying his sensor and embedded hacking skills to tracking monkeys (from Part 4 of his adventure postings): This morning, Kevin and Tony and I went to look for titi monkeys. We didn't find any, but we did manage to get lost, or as Tony prefers to put it, "got to know the forest a little better." It was a good hike, but frustrating for them because no monkeys were found. I did another test with the GPS micro-mini, and got the same results. I'm pretty sure it's going to take a bigger antenna to make it work. Tom's posted four parts to his monkey tracking adventures; keep an eye on his blog for more posts.
Thingamakit sits too close to the TVAn ear-jarringly extensive exploration into what happens when a Thingamakit watches way too much FREAKING TELEVISION! Yeah well, either way the effects of the screen refresh rate produces some interestingly strident tones - and that's a pretty sweet paint job to boot. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Kits | Digg this!Chandelier made of cash might make the recession go by easierThese chandeliers by Stuart Karten are made from hundreds of dollar bills in different currencies including dollars, euros, and pesos. In a time when the US national economy is ailing from recession, the idea of putting money somewhere you can see it (such as directly over the dinner table) might seem crazy, although it might also remind us that in today's hard time there's nothing more comforting than "cold hard cash". Kurrency Chandeliers via Core77 Oscilloscope display of a Fibonacci GeneratorOnce again, Eric demonstrates the intricately beautiful results of mathematics/electronics - The patterns are synthesized with a Lagged Fibonacci Generator (LFG) circuit built with discrete logic chips (CD4000 CMOS). The LFG is an algorithm sometimes used in cryptography to generate encryption keys. I'm exploring it as a pattern generator for algorithmic art and music. Although cryptographers like the LFG because its output is similar to white noise, I find that through creative electronic filtering, the intricate details of its cyclic patterns become visible, and we can appreciate the details.A near complete version of the circuit used is available for viewing here. [via Matrixsynth] Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Arts | Digg this! Array and Constellation projects create forests of light in public space"Array" is an art installation at the Yamaguchi Center for the Arts and Media (YCAM) consisting of a field of columns that create a light and sound array that shifts with viewers movements through the space. This project is similar to the "Constellation" project in Covent Garden, London that contains 600 custom designed LED mirrored tubes which is featured at the link below. Interesting use of space and custom circuitry to control both sets of lights. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Arts | Digg this!GO-Tech meeting tonight - 1/13/09Attention Ann Arbor makers - GO-Tech will be gathering this eve @ a new earlier time of 7 pm. Dale writes - We'll have the Five-Minute Timer Contest (see below) and a talk on EMC2, the open source CNC software that many of us use. We'll also have our usual 5-minute presentations on projects. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Events | Digg this! Shine a light around Yokohama to hear the cityThis art project called "Yokohama Soundscape 2007" allows visitors to shine light with infrared flashlights onto a miniature model of Yokohama, Japan. As the beams move around the city, a camera above tracks their presence and plays samples recorded from the locations of the city being targeted. We've mentioned this project here in the past, but here's a nice video showing it in action. Overall, it's an interesting way to integrate geographical mappings to sound placement in the city. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Arts | Digg this!DIY: Camera stabilizer Inspired by the Steadicam Merlin, and unwilling to spend £500 on that device, I set about making my own, following the basic principles of the Merlin and other similar designs viewable on the internet. More about DIY: Camera stabilizer From the pages of MAKE:
Labyrinth game controlled by an Arduino and Wii Fit Plug an Arduino and two servos into a wooden labyrinth board game then add some programming and a WiiFit board and you have instant fun. The robotic labyrinth game debuted as our regular weekly CCCKC meetings resumed after the holidays. It was an instant hit and now videos capturing this inaugural event are showing up around the Internet. More about a Labyrinth game controlled by an Arduino and Wii Fit [Cowtown ComputerCongress] Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Arduino | Digg this!POV fun: The Propeller Clock The Propeller Clock found on YouTube [older version of the clock] Update: ArnoDeParno points us to the future commercial version of the product. Too bad it isn't a kit. The YouTube video is really cool. Check out the comments below for all the links. Thanks ArnoDeParno! Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!Photoshop wheatpasteI like these graffiti photoshop tools on top of this Berlin subway ad featuring three pretty ladies. It's all there, too, the brush palette, the repeated clone stamp in the history window... subtle. Via Wooster Collective. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Culture jamming | Digg this!More Recent Articles
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