Minecraft.Print() is a Python script that will convert any in-game object into a printable object. By placing identifier blocks at the corners of the object you can select a certain part of the the environment and then run the script to output it to a 3D printer. → Read More
Once again, an example of how Steampunk can actually be pulled off. This one-off flash drive was created by a Russian guy, who modeled it in 3D, had the components cast or printed, and then assembled it himself (you can see the whole project here). The wheels spin and lock or unlock the drive, which slides out a la one of the rugged drives I reviewed a while back. Very cool. This man needs an Etsy store! Wait, is this thing old? Whatever. [via Fancy and Technabob] → Read More
I’m not one of these guys who creates functioning computers or scale models of the Vatican in Minecraft, but occasionally I’ll put together a sweet little tower and house that could just possibly be worth saving. Unfortunately, I can’t take these little structures into the real world! At least, I couldn’t before now. → Read More
You know you’ve got a winner when Mr. Mythbuster himself, Grant Imahara, is actually excited about your product. The Hexbrite is an open source flashlight that comes in 350 and 500 lumens models. It’s USB rechargeable and, oddly, USB programmable. What does that mean? Nothing, yet, but the idea is pretty cool. → Read More
Happy birthday, dear Pringles Can antenna! Happy birthday to you! It was 10 years ago today that the first 12db Pringles Can antennas were created, allowing hax0rs to grab Wi-Fi from their neighbors with relative ease (until the rise of simple network security.)
First created by Rob Flickenger and friends, the antennae saved hackers hundreds of dollars and beat out the Wi-Fi professional gear of the period. → Read More
PBS NewsHour sent their tech reporter Miles O’Brien to Maker Faire where he found the weird, wonderful, and wild arrayed before him. In an excellent few minutes O’Brien experiences the wonder of making and posits that DIY could help us out of a number of doldrums. → Read More
This wild Game Gear and Master System-playing mod uses the guts of a Game Gear, a PS One screen, and the original buttons from the original device to offer a fairly massive package full of retro fun.
Made by loveablechevy, it includes a rechargable battery and, as mentioned before, weighs more than a Motorola Xoom. → Read More
You’ve probably seen a few little gadgets and apps where you can wave it around and it spells something out on a long exposure, or draws a little picture. Pretty cool, but they’ve all been somewhat small — mainly good for painting stripes or single lines of text. The Mechatronics Guy’s “Light Scythe” is a two-meter bar covered in LEDs, and can be used to make man-sized graphics by moving it around in a long exposure. → Read More
Here’s a fun little project, a little too advanced for me but worth looking into if you’re okay with a little soldering and such. Basically you’re just replacing the innards of a book with a frame (or you could cut out the pages, which would look cooler) and putting an LED strip and some opaque acrylic in there. Makes a nice diffuse light that turns off when you shut the book. Instructions and video here. [via Red Ferret and BoingBoing] → Read More
Make Magazine asked geeks for the best advice their equally geeky dads gave them when it came to making cool stuff and here are some of the best ones on a single card. → Read More
Detroit doesn’t need a Robocop statue. Hell no. They need guys dressed in Tony Stark’s first Iron Man suit patrolling the street. Even this recreation looks awesome and weighs in at 110 lbs thanks to the Ethylene-vinyl acetate frame, “working” Arc Reactor and battery-powered fans. It’s just too bad the city couldn’t afford it even though the Chinese craftsman only spent $460 making his. Click through for the video. → Read More
Need a place to hide out when the apocalypse comes? Why not try a DIY geodesic dome! This Kickstarter project offers a $99 10-foot geodesics kit or a 14-foot model for $189. This isn’t really about shelter as much as it is about fun. I’ll let the folks at Effalo explain: → Read More
In the post-apocalyptic hellscape that will be next week, we’re going to need people who know how to make unique electronics projects in order to power the homes of the cannibals who will populate our cities. To that end, we present this interesting DIY Electrostatic motor that will power, for example, a fan used to blow flies away from the new God-King who will rise to take his place on the throne once all political systems have fallen. The device uses a set of sticks topped with round clackers. A high voltage charge shoots into them, shuttling back and forth as the power flows. → Read More
Some French hackers have put together a program that uses the Kinect to detect certain hand gestures (which is, after all, what it was designed to do) and translate them into words. Right now it only recognizes “hello” and “sorry,” but the team is only just now teaching it words — the “build” period is over, and now it’s time to learn.
Check out the video inside. → Read More
Some charming youngsters from Cornell have created a fairly simple and effective face matching system using a webcam, a little LCD read-out, and a tiny Atmel ATmega644 8-bit microcontroller running a set of Eigenface tests on the face in question. The system is 88% accurate with no false positives. It is almost completely self-contained and is small and simple enough to add to a front door lock or other device where case real estate comes at a premium.. → Read More
With Google’s Open Accessory Toolkit rolling up Android and Arduino together, there’s a lot of attention being given to to the popular hacking engine. But unsurprisingly, such a powerful tool isn’t really able to be just picked up and played with. Teagueduino is a modification of the Arduino system that makes the platform a bit more accessible to newbies. → Read More
In today’s post The Inside Job world the poor get poorer and the rich get 85-inch Panasonic plasmas flush mounted on a reinforced wall. CEPro has the entire run down of equipment and installation fun facts, but all you really need to know is that this one TV is the size of four 42-inchers and sound comes from a B&W surround sound setup that’s powered by a 100-watt per channel Rotel receiver. Yeah, the system was good enough to be deemed Electronic House’s Bronze Winner in the Electronics Design Group. Here’s the winning system that, at least from an aesthetics standpoint, isn’t as impressive to me. → Read More
Here’s an easy project to make use of an old viewfinder camera you might have lying around. The big viewing windows on cameras like Rolleiflexes and Seagulls provide enough light to capture using a digital camera — and you can rig one up just using a Pringles can and a little elbow grease. Works best with a macro or telescopic lens, it looks like. The result may not replicate the incredible definition of these medium-format cameras, but it will capture the amazing look provided by the viewfinder window. More instructions can be found at Make. → Read More
Yesterday, Google showed off its “Open Accessory Development Kit,” a set of tools and hardware for connecting Android to a variety of devices via an Arduino-based board. I wrote how it indicated a new direction for Android, but I’m no technical expert on the stuff — I couldn’t say anything specific about the devices and capability. Make, however, knows what they’re talking about with this kind of thing, and has posted a nice little hands-on, with initial impressions and some tips. → Read More
