After trying to find a way to remotely control their DSLRs, the clever hackers at HDRLabs couldn’t really find anything that would do what they wanted. So what did they do? Built a control of their own, using a Nintendo DS. HDRLabs went on to make the device available, for free. All you have to do is build one yourself. → Read More
Here’s something old, but definitely cool and worth showing you. Livejournal user Igor113 posted some pictures from his trip to… somewhere in Russia. He loves to travel and take pictures, and these are some extremely cool photographs of some rusted and cool equipment. Igor did apologize for the quality of his camera though, and requests that you don’t kick his legs. → Read More
BB has some great images from Nepal’s CAN InfoTech, a 17-year-old tech trade show. It had 238 stalls where folks were flogging amazing 8TB hard drives and the three year old Nokia N81. → Read More
Mr. Jones watches are unique in many ways; they are produced by a small design studio, there are generally limited quantities available, but they are pretty much inevitably cool. Normally, they are also easy to read, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with the Cyclops Special Edition. → Read More
Electron microscope photography is cool, and it’s been around for a while, but that doesn’t mean that that they can’t still find cool things to take pictures of. Take a record for example. It’s amazing to look a those little tiny grooves and see how raw and uneven they are, but still able to produce beautiful music. It’s even more amazing when you compare the analog to the digital, and see how clean and uniform a CD is by comparison. → Read More
Whoa, whoa, whoa, look what you can do with the internet! According to the video’s description: “Brian at CAIN MOSNI thought of a cool concept and coordinated a virtual “jam session” with musicians from all over the world!” Very, very cool. [YouTube via Gizmodo] → Read More
Over the past 120 years, National Geographic Magazine has been one of the most important publications ever printed. From the insightful articles to the brilliant photography, NatGeo has been the benchmark that other magazines compare themselves to. Now, you can own a copy of every single issue without having to build a new addition to your house to store it. → Read More
Hot off yesterday’s news of the DIY USB wall outlet (replace your standard outlet plugs with two USB plugs) comes a product that addresses the shortcomings inherent with getting rid of the standard plugs altogether: a wall plate with both standard and USB plugs. Problem solved – and it only costs $10. → Read More
Okay, just humor me and watch the video, please. It’s not like I get paid to describe things with… those… um, you know, the things that make stuff readable. With individual letters, etc. And periods, commas — the things in between those. → Read More
Cideko is a wireless video sharing system. You connect one box to your computer and another to your TV and you can control the computer from a mini-keyboard. Considering that the potential for this device – and ease of set-up – I’m surprisingly impressed. → Read More
If you’ve ever wandered around an older building you’ll notice something that looks like an ashtray bolted to the wall. These ashtrays, which usually say something like “Watch Station,” once held keys to wind up a watchclock, a mechanical wonder that forced the night watchman to make his rounds through the building under mechanical supervision.
As you moved through the building carrying the clock you would have to fit each key into the watchclock. The clock then noted the time and location of each winding, ensuring that the watchman didn’t just bugger off and drink whiskey. → Read More
Wow. Jerry Jalava lost the tip of his left ring finger in a motorcycle accident and made his own prosthetic fingertip which doubles as a USB memory stick. → Read More
Wow. While building a digital pinball machine out of a giant LCD and a second, slightly less-giant LCD might cost more than buying an actual machine, the ability to play multiple machines using the Future Pinball simulator effectively turns it into an almost endless supply of fun for any serious pinball fanatic. → Read More
I don’t have the time, patience, carpentry skills, open space, or wherewithal to build my own trebuchet but after seeing Mark Winkler’s “Mongo the Trebuchet” launch a flaming ball of fire across an open field under the cover of darkness, I suddenly have the urge to go to Home Depot with a quick stop at the local Fireball Emporium (or wherever they sell fireballs). → Read More
Wow. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Hatfield Hotdog Launcher that’s brought out in between innings at the Phillies’ games. A lot of work went into getting all the science-y stuff right and even then, sometimes the hot dogs fly out of their wrappers mid-flight (watch at about the five-minute mark). Very cool. → Read More
Hats off to Joshua Callaghan of Los Angeles for coming up with a way to not only hide those utility boxes you see all over your neighborhood, but to also turn each one into something of a conversation piece. Callaghan calls it “public art” after answering a call from the city of Los Angeles to somehow disguise the boxes. More photos after the jump… → Read More
I’m not one to get overly excited about the technology behind transportation logistics (or am I?) but this thing from HP looks pretty cool. It’s basically a handheld wireless-enabled barcode scanner that can also print quick-drying ink directly onto boxes. So if you work at, say, UPS, you scan a box coming in, that info is transmitted wirelessly to your warehouse servers, and then you print another barcode or “FRAGILE” or some other message onto the package itself, all in the blink of an eye. Check out this video to see it in action. [via Treehugger] → Read More
Jalopnik has a pretty extensive photo gallery of the second-generation Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV) from Discovery’s Storm Chasers series. For the uninitiated, the tank-like TIV is able to drive into the middle of tornados, allowing owner Sean Casey to film from the inside out in high definition. If you haven’t seen the show, check it out. The TIV2 weighs a staggering nine tons and gets 12 MPG from its 92-gallon gas tank. Its key feature is the 360-degree steel turret that sticks out the top of the vehicle. That’s where Casey and his camera spend most of their time. → Read More
It’s entirely possible that most ordinary people won’t ever have the problem of trying to figure out what to do with two empty fire extinguishers (that’s a lot of fires) but just keep this idea in your back pocket should the scenario ever present itself. A Russian man has turned a couple of spent fire extinguishers into some pretty cool-looking speakers. It’d be an understatement to say that the process looks a bit daunting for those of us without extensive metal cutting and welding experience. Oh, and it also might help if you speak Russian, as the step-by-step process is written entirely in that language. So welding, metal cutting, and Russian. If all three check out, you, too, could have a set of awesome fire extinguisher speakers. [TopMods.net via technabob] → Read More
