Hello there, here are your daily updates from the MAKE blog - 2009/01/31.
Picture of the XO-2 OLPC
It appears that the very first photo of the next-generation OLPC XO 2.0 low-cost laptop has finally emerged on the Internet, showing us some of the things we should be expecting. In addition to that, it looks like Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the One Laptop Per Child project, has confirmed that the next-generation XO laptop is going for a different design and marketing strategy. To be more specific, the upcoming laptop, which could be released sooner rather than later, will be meant to provide users with a book that can be a laptop as compared with the first XO laptop, which was meant as a laptop that could be a book.Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Computers | Digg this! Make: television polecam photo from AOTSDuring my appearance on Attack of the Show! this week, Kevin Pereira lined up some crew members to shoot with the Burrito Blaster. Brave souls. This is a photo of them, along with lovely co-host Olivia Munn, that Kevin took using the remote-controlled pole camera rig. One clever thing segment producer Sean Jordan thought of was to tap into the camera's video out so we could monitor what the camera saw. I wish we'd thought of that! This is just a humble point-and-shoot camera, too, so it may be a pretty solid addition to the project. If you want to see what you're shooting, just run a long RCA cable down the pole to a small monitor or video camera with a composite input. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Make: television | Digg this!Besmoke - interactive fluid dynamicsEric Gradman has created this awesome interactive fluid dynamics program called Besmoke. It is iPhone accelerometer aware and responds to sound input. It is based on Navier-Stokes fluid simulations. Besmoke - Interactive Fluid Dynamics with iPhone and Sound Reactivity SSerial2Mobile - SMS library for ArduinoThis looks like a handy library for mobile-enabling your next Arduino project: This library implements the Software serial Arduino library to establish a serial connection to a Mobile phone. The methods methods hides the AT+ commands from the user allowing messages to be sent by passing the method on a phone number or email and the message. The specific AT commands were made to work with the Motorolla C168i, but you can tweak a header file to adjust things for the specific device you are using. It makes sending an email or SMS almost as easy as a single function call: Example code:
The reason the author chose to use the C168i is that you can get the phone on the cheap, without contract, and prepay for SMS service. It's also simple to make a serial cable which connects to a 3/32" stereo plug on the phone. In all, it looks like a pretty simple and cheap task to get this all working. Note that it's the last day to use code 2009OX during checkout in the Maker Shed for a 10% discount. If you need an Arduino for this, go get one now! SSerial2Mobile Austin Event: DorkbotThis beautiful flyer, by Joey Lopez, says it all: If you're in / near Austin, hope to see you at next Wednesday's Dorkbot! Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Events | Digg this!Softsynth puts noisy racket in your pocket Don't forget - this week we have a 10% off sale this week in the maker shed, use code "2009OX" at the time of checkout - Happy Chinese New Year! Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Crafts | Digg this!If DaVinci invented the iPhone From the makers of Exploded Phone comes the iSteam Phone, a t-shirt depicting an exploded view illustration that asks the musical question: What would the iPhone have looked like if Leonardo had invented it in the 15th century? iSteam Phone [via Boing Boing Gadgets] Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in iPhone | Digg this!Introducing the Maker'skineI did a double-take when Collin sent me the link to this Flickr image of a Mini Maker's Notebook. What the...? It's one of our pal's Kent Barnes' "5 Minute Hacks." He made a Maker's Notebook paper book cover for a pocket-size Moleskine. Maybe if we ask real nice, he'll let us post the PDF so you can Maker-fy your own mini notebooks. From the Maker Shed: MAKE: television premieres in Colorado this weekend!
Remember you can always watch Make: television online at makezine.tv. New episodes and the PDFs for the Maker Workshop are posted each week. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Announcements | Digg this!Linoleum Asphalt Mosaics - CRAFT Video Podcast
Linoleum asphalt mosaics, also called Toynbee Tiles, are artworks permanently embedded in pavement. In this video I'll show you how to construct your own from inexpensive materials. You can get real linoleum (don't use vinyl flooring) for this project by ordering free samples online. By cutting out a mosaic design in the linoleum and sandwiching it between layers of paper, wood glue, and asphalt crack filler, you can affix the mosaic very permanently to an asphalt surface, such as your driveway. You may choose to use a heat gun to make the linoleum easier to cut, or even a laser cutter. The earliest examples of these tiles were found in the 70s and 80s on streets in Philadelphia, all bearing the same (or very similar) message: "Toynbee idea / in Kubrick's 2001 / resurrect dead / on planet Jupiter." They are speculated to have been created by the same person until they began to gain a following. There's an active message board on the topic which shares sightings and other information. If you make one, please share your pictures in the CRAFT Flickr pool! Subscribe to the CRAFT Podcast in iTunes, or download the mov, mp4, or iPhone/Android video. Thanks to my pal Matt Mechtley for his help on this one. In this video I used this cc-licensed photo by Flickr user mojunk. The music is "Regurgitation Pumping Station" from the World of Goo soundtrack by Kyle Gabler; used with permission. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Culture jamming | Digg this!Cross country ski strollerAptly named Instructables user dirtydiaperchanger made this X-country ski stroller with relatively inexpensive materials. I hope my brother is reading, since he's got a little one up in Maine where there's five feet of snow. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in DIY Projects | Digg this!Building papercrete domesI blog about Mikey and Wendy's projects very frequently because they're doing so many cool things. One of the most impressive is their papercrete dome, which is now documented in this Instructable: When my girlfriend (Wendy Tremayne) and I arrived in southern New Mexico one of the first things we did was look around for a local building material. Clay would need to be excavated and hauled in, straw bale was already expensive and not local, manufactured building materials like rastra were a little too off the shelf for us. We ended up settling on what we had locally available and that was/is paper. It is common for small remote towns to not have much in the way of recycling. Our town was collecting paper, but more often than not would just dump it in the landfill after collection. They were happy to help us load our truck up with their newspaper which was mostly a nuisance to them. We later found a source of rebar being made from old cars within a 100 miles of our place. Great, inspiring work, y'all! Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Green | Digg this!In the Maker Shed: January recap
Here is what we have made so far in 2009: Physics of music and musical instruments Tufts University has a really good book available online about the physics of music and musical instruments. It's a nice balance between theory, examples, and hands-on projects. The Physics of Music and Musical Instruments covers the physics of waves, sound, music, and musical instruments at a level designed for high school physics. However, it is also a resource for those teaching or learning waves and sound from the middle school through college, at the mathematical or conceptual level.Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Kids | Digg this! MAKE: television Episode 105: Kinetic Wave Sculptures & Shopping Cart Chair
Tour the elegant and hypnotic motorized wave sculptures, created by visionary maker Reuben Margolin. In the Maker Workshop John Park upcycles a discarded shopping cart into a stylish easy chair, and Mister Jalopy details the unsung wonders of his 1950 Studebaker. The Maker Channel features a treadmill bike, an obedient, robotic foot stool, a homemade foundry (built by two 14 year old wizards), and an ultra-high-temperature heat ray that can melt brass! The HD version is available at Blip by selecting the .MOV from the "play episode as:", Subscribe in iTunes or download the m4v here. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Make: television | Digg this!Maker Profile - Kinetic Wave Sculptures on MAKE: televisionReuben Margolin, a Bay Area visionary and longtime maker, creates totally singular techno-kinetic wave sculptures. Using everything from wood to cardboard to found and salvaged objects, Reuben's artwork is diverse, with sculptures ranging from tiny to looming, motorized to hand-cranked. Focusing on natural elements like a discrete water droplet or a powerful ocean eddy, his work is elegant and hypnotic. Also, learn how ocean waves can power our future. Learn more about Reuben at reubenmargolin.com Get the m4v, subscribe in iTunes., or watch on YouTube or Blip. Maker Workshop - Shopping Cart Chair on MAKE: televisionKick back with John Park as he demonstrates how to upcycle a no-longer-usable shopping cart into an easy chair. This Make: magazine-based project offers an introductory look at how to cut, bend, and shape metal using metal cutters, saws, vice grips, and other tools common to home workshops. John also attempts a "deluxe" version of this project that employs motors and switches to transform it into a "go-kart chair." View the clip to see his mixed results. Check out the details for making this project! Get the m4v or subscribe in iTunes.. Or watch on YouTube or Blip Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Make: television | Digg this!Maker Workshop PDF - Shopping Cart ChairCheck out the PDF for detailed instructions for building your own shopping cart chair. Take a look at the Maker Workshop segment with John Park. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Make: television | Digg this!Maker to Maker - 1950 Studebaker on MAKE: televisionIn this 'Hidden Treasures' segment, Mister Jalopy waxes philosophic about the the unsung wonders of his old 1950's Studebaker, emphasizing how old-school design and build techniques can inspire and teach today's new generation of makers. Get the m4v or subscribe in iTunes.. Or watch on YouTube or Blip. Maker Channel 105 - Treadmill Bike, Robostool, Foundry, Death Ray Treadmill Bike - Brent Curry crosses a two-wheeled bike with a treadmill to allow the 'rider' to produce a double-whammy of a workout. RoboStool - Steve Norris's remote-controlled robotic foot stool comes to him wherever he wishes to sit. Foundry - 14 year olds Oliver Ramin and A.J. Brackovitc make their own foundry for molding aluminum swords. [Trouble Maker] Death Ray - Richard Whitney uses sunlight and the Fresnel lens from a rear projection television set to melt a steel security lock. Get the m4v or subscribe in iTunes. Or watch on YouTube or Blip. Build an inexpensive cave surveying apparatusHere's a how-to on building the "Auriga", a portable electronic sensor box and cave surveying instrument with an electronic compass and serial output that can be cataloged using a computer or PDA. This particular build uses an old Palm PDA to collect the data. Check out the link below for parts list and details on how to build this device. How to build an electronic cave surveying instrument Lamps made from recycled cardboard will illuminate your worldSantiago Morahan's cardboard furniture is a cheap and easy solution for the multitudes of cardboard boxes that most people have hanging around their homes. The artist has stacked them up, cut a hole in the middle, and fire-proofed the cardboard so that the heat of the lamp doesn't burn down the house. The result looks like a lost set piece from Bladerunner and will definitely make your neighbors envious. via InHabitat Arduino Duemilanove in 10 different colors
New Arduino Duemilanove available in 10 different colors in Maker Shed
Eco-Gym
To the strains of Olivia Newton-John's aerobics anthem, the puritan work ethic is transformed into a sweatshop for the body beautiful. The slick machines, treadmills, and cross trainers merely serve to disguise antique apparatuses more at home in a world of steam engines, and to stifle enquiry into thermodynamics and economy. Then there's artisan Manuel de Arriba Ares. Under the sign of his "eco-gym," Gimnasio Ecológico Lumen, Arriba has turned the demon of entropy on its head. Making use of the very waste and byproducts of the modern entropic economy, Arriba has created a truly practical monument in the form of a supremely low-tech gymnasium. Its fitness machines, created with a good deal of physical effort over three years from raw and junked materials such as wood, rope, and rubber, directly mirror both the design and functionality of those found within its wasteful counterpart. Located in the small town of Valdespino de Somoza in the north of Spain, Arriba offers free access for all to this functional work of Art Brut, a wonderful Heath Robinsonesque assemblage constructed from remnants of strollers, boats, bicycles, and automobiles salvaged from neighboring dumps. Helpful signs, painted on the tarnished white remnants of refrigerators, instruct the would-be eco-gymnast on exercises and operation of the intricate machinery, reflecting Arriba's knowledge and experience over many years as a physical education teacher. Lumen is a "gymnasium that was born of the nature, (and which) will return to her," Arriba philosophizes. The cycle of waste, embodied by so many aspects of the smogged-out city gym, is closed. From the column Made on Earth - MAKE 12, page 17 - Martin Howse. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Made On Earth | Digg this!Best of Instructables excerpt: Mousebot revisitedHere's another Make: Books PDF excerpt. This one comes from the Best of Instructables, which is a compilation of some of the most amazing projects from Instructables, the world's biggest show and tell. This excerpt is kind of special to us. In it, former Make intern Jacob McKenzie riffs on a project by Gareth Branwyn, Lead Editor for this book: Gareth Branwyn's "Mousey the Junkbot," from MAKE Volume 02, is a fun introduction to robotics. So fun, that I've created this expanded documentation of a Mousey build from start to finish, with a few extra tips and tricks you won't find in the magazine project. This how-to is best understood after reading the original article, found on page 100 of Volume 02 (or in The Best of MAKE collection), however it is probably not required. Follow this link for the full excerpt. Previously:
Buy Best of Instructables in the Maker Shed today! (Use code 2009OX on checkout for a 10% discount for the week of January 26, 2009.) Instructables.com has become one of the most popular magnets for makers and DIY enthusiasts of all stripes. Now, with more than 10,000 projects to choose from, the Instructables staff, editors of MAKE: Magazine, and the Instructables community itself have put together a collection of technology how-to's from the site. The Best of Instructables Volume 1 includes plenty of clear, full-color photographs, complete step-by-step instructions, and tips, tricks, and new build techniques you won't find anywhere else! Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Maker Shed Store | Digg this!Craftsman/Instructables workshop of the future contest winnersGive a community the motivation of a $20,000 grand prize, and they can produce a lot of great tutorials. That's just what Instructables and Craftsman did, and they selected one winner and ten finalists whose Instructables are all worth a good read. Several have been featured on MAKE, but not the one on extracting honey! The grand prize winner was how to convert your honda accord to run on trash. Check out the rest of the winners. More: Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Instructables | Digg this!More Recent Articles
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