Keyring/facepalm
Shared by Rob
Words fail me!
Well not in so much as to say it's always the obvious that gets overlooked.
Scott Amron of Amron Experimental wins this decade's OMG-why-didn't-I-think-of-that award. Via Neatorama.
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Gadgets | Digg this!URL: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/07/facepalm.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
John Hodgman: "Barack Obama Is the First Nerd President" [Blockquote]
Shared by Rob
I too am a Nerd. Feel free leave comments on whether you agree. Nerd or Geek, or both?
John Hodgman, now perhaps best known as the PC in the "I'm a Mac" ads, spoke at the Radio and Television Correspondents Association Dinner about nerds, Trekkies, and President Obama's favorite "name-brand smartphone [he] shall not name, for contractual reasons."
In this video you will learn of our President's enthusiasm for comic books, see a photo of him imitating a statue of Superman, and watch him flash the Vulcan sign.
Indeed, John Hodgman. It is an exciting time to be a nerd. [Collegehumor, Thanks Julian!]
Weekend Project: Kinetic Remote Control
Get rid of your batteries and power your remote control with just a shake.
Thanks go to Dhananjay Gadre for the original article in MAKE, Volume 12.
To download The Kinetic Remote Control MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes.
Check out the complete Kinetic Remote Control article in MAKE, Volume 12 "Kinetic Remote Control"
and you can see that in our Digital Edition.
The Aliens of the Star Iota Horologii Are Just Watching Captain Kangaroo Now [Space]
When our broadcasts leave Earth, they slowly travel into space. There is, however, a sizable delay between what we watch and what distant aliens watch. This convenient chart shows us what TV various stars are receiving today. [AbstruseGoose via TDW]
Explaining voltage on FMCG
Shared by Rob
This video should be shown in schools. It freaks me out how coolly and simply this technical concept explained.
In this clip from FMCG, Ken responds to Jeri's capacitor deconstruction with his own very visual (and very mechanical) demonstration of how voltage is generated and how you can build a simple capacitor, with aluminum foil and plastic, to generate charge mechanically and dump it into the cap (analogous to how a Wimshurst machine works).
I love how this was inspired by Jeri's demo and how the two of them are having a Net-carried, seemingly casual conversation, marveling over the miracles of science. I don't know about you, but this sort of thing makes me strangely happy.
BTW: Jeri's capacitor demo is cool too, but unfortunately, the sound craps out at the end.
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Electronics | Digg this!URL: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/07/deconstructing_capacitors.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
Folding Design Flattens the Fatty UK Plug [Concepts]
Shared by Rob
I loved the idea of this concept, especially the compact 3-way adapter. Heat dissipation might be a problem though.
It's why we declared independence in America, and it may have something to do with fabled British teeth. The UK's power plug is ridiculously large, and now one designer has fixed it.
The video is a bit on the slow side, but here's the gist: The UK is filled with beautiful slim electronics, but these electronics have actually become skinnier than the required 1.8-inch-thick power plug. This new proposed design can collapse to 1cm (.4 inches) when not in use, allowing it to squeeze into the narrowest of bags and pockets will no longer putting unnecessary pressure on the prongs whenever your bag is set down the wrong way.
Now we just need those US to UK adapters to go through the same round of smart engineering. [Pocket-Lint]
URL: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/AkRhjhVS7Ng/folding-design-flattens-the-fatty-uk-plug
Playing card polyhedron
Shared by Rob
I used to make stuff like this when I was a kid. Cardboard polygons and origami. Oh I was a weird kid!
>From the MAKE Flickr pool
Fdecomite created this paper puzzle using tips from George Hart's 'slide together' instructions - looks to be quite a simple and fun project.
URL: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/06/playing_card_polyhedron.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
MakerBot Cupcake CNC Delivers DIY 3D Printing for Just $750 [3D Printing]
Shared by Rob
I love the idea of using CNC to build stuff. Check out http://www.thingiverse.com/ for stuff you can print with it.
You know Wired editor Chris Anderson's pet idea of the moment that "atoms are the new bits"? At just $750, MakerBot's CupCake CNC rapid prototyping machine—3D printing with extruded melted ABS plastic—made me think about it.
MakerBot founder Bre Pettis compared the CupCake to the mythical Altair 8800—but you know, for 3D printing. Next on their list is a 3D scanner that'll copy the design of objects so you can skip creating the 3D schematic yourself—turning CupCake into a replicator. We talked a bit about the possibilities of DIY object replication—Cory Doctorow's Printcrime story came up, but for now you're limited to 3D printing objects the size of cupcakes, hence the name.
You can buy CupCake fully assembled for $2500, but that takes part of the fun out of it—putting the $750 kit together makes for a weekend of awesome. Besides that very nice Empire State Building model—the tip of which was destroyed partly at my behest to show how sturdy the Lego-grade plastic is—the coolest item they'd produced was a custom lens hood for a camera. Why buy spare parts when you can just make them?
Here it is in action, generating a MakerBot coin: 
[MakerBot]
Rotating LED throwies driven by a Stirlingengine
This is a hot-air machine (stirlingengine), built with some old computer-parts (heatsink and the head of an old harddisk). This Stirlingengine (and all others also) works with a temperature difference between the hot bottom side (e.g. heatet with a candle) and the colder topside (cooled with the hea...By: eVolti
URL: http://www.instructables.com/id/Rotating-LED-throwies-driven-by-a-Stirlingengine-/
Ignite: "The Secret Underground World of Lego"
In this Ignite rap, Hillel Cooperman talks about his, and other adults', Lego obsession. Caution: Mild adult themes and the ol' F-word is dropped halfway through.
You can subscribe to Ignite:
iTunes: http://bit.ly/ignite
ORM Show: http://feeds.feedburner.com/oreilly/igniteshow
Watt's linkage and possible app in rapid prototyping hardware
As Primus tells us: "Jerry was a race car driver." Jeri Ellsworth was both a race car driver and a race car designer. In this segment from a Fat Man & Circuit Girl episode, she talks about the concept behind Watt's linkages she used in a rear suspension system she designed and how this mechanical linkage could be used in rapid prototyping/CNC machines to achieve precision positioning using much less expensive parts.
The linkage model she has in the video might be hard to understand. This animation on Wikipedia might make it easier.
BTW: I finally got to meet my new idol at Maker Faire, but alas, I did not get to hear her talk or to see her booth where she had her Easy Bake Chip Fab set up. I was there to see her present her "homebaked" solar cells to Jérôme Demers, Solarbotics' intern (and MAKE Contributor), for him to build them into a BEAMbot. Can't wait to see what he does with them.
Frozen Mentos and Coke Parlor Trick [Mentos And Coke]
You've either seen the Mentos and Coke experiment on YouTube or you've destroyed your kitchen trying it yourself. Wired has come up with a parlor trick that'll surprise your friends with a delayed explosion time: Mentos, frozen in ice cubes.
Admittedly, I don't know many people who let their drinks sit long enough for their ice to completely melt, but Wired suggests using warm Coke to help speed up the process. Next time you get some strange looking ice in your drink, I'd suggest you start chugging. [Wired via Neatorama via BoingBoing]
URL: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/44SaKRwzdng/frozen-mentos-and-coke-parlor-trick
WiNet, wireless Arduino touchscreen
Liquidware has put together an interesting kit called the WiNet. It has a battery powered touchscreen controlled by an Arduino. Using an XBee shield, it can send commands to a paired XBee and Arduino attached to a computer. The computer can also update the touchscreen display. This is demoed in the video below. It's a unique interface, but the TouchShield alone costs $174 so we're guessing you're going to be pretty damn confident in your project before you go this route.
URL: http://hackaday.com/2009/05/30/winet-wireless-arduino-touchscreen/
OpenStreetMap Sends UK Volunteer Mapper To Antigua
Gerv writes "When Google launched their Map Maker community mapping tool last year, they included loads of Caribbean islands. This led Ed Parsons (chief Google Maps guy) to say that he was sad there wasn't any fieldwork involved. Well, now OpenStreetMap have gone one better — following a successful Pledgebank pledge, they have got together the money to send one randomly-chosen guy to Antigua for a week to work on the OpenStreetMap map!"Read more of this story at Slashdot.
URL: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/lBKqJKP3gSE/article.pl
CandyFab relaunched
Forget about machines that can replicate themselves, what we want is a machine capable of making an 8 inch wide hollow torus out of sugar. The CandyFab project has been around for a while, but with the release of the new machine, the CandyFab 6000 they are reinventing the project. Built from the ground up to be a candy constructing beast, the CandyFab 6000 might be a little smaller than the previous version, but it's much better designed. You can get more details on the new wiki site.
Reminder: Don't Forward that Funny Email (Or Tweet or Digg or Facebook) [Cartoon]
Dear friends, foes, and relatives. Please, don't send that funny email. OK, actually, as a last exception, please forward this post to everyone you know. Thank you! Much love, J. Updated
p.s. I've modified the original into various versions, so you can resend them appropriately in Twitter, Digg, Fark, Facebook, and YouTube.
[Shoeboxblog—Thanks David]
Images of the BlackBerry Storm 2 emerge
A mere four days after the world got its first look at the upcoming BlackBerry Driftwood, the guys at CrackBerry have scored pictures of the successor to the BlackBerry Storm from the same source. Featuring similar styling queues as the Driftwood with black plastic convenience keys and a battery cover sporting the seven-dot BlackBerry logo, the Storm 2 does look a lot like the current 9500 / 9530 Storm — albeit much thinner and more streamlined. We're currently short on concrete specs other than the fact that it will launch on Verizon and feature Wi-Fi and a new screen technology called TruePress (as opposed to the current Storm's SurePress). The newest Storm also retains the metal battery cover and auto-focus 3.2 megapixel camera with flash as well.
URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBoyGeniusReport/~3/92iWe9RuQgQ/
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