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This is my favorite paper plane design of all time. It is a completley flat glider that can soar and loop. enjoy!
I will show you how to tie a monkey's fist knot, and what you can make with them. I had aways wanted to know how to make these, and one day someone showed me how. They are really fun to make and whack people with.
Here's a little hack that'll save you needless minutes logging in.
There are limitless possibilities for using cardboard. This instructable shows many projects, short descriptions, included photos, mouth watering ideas, can't wait to get started prompts, where does the time go, I can't do it all, I LOVE cardboard , ad infinitum ways to envision it, design it, cons...
This details a simple way to add a virtually free fender to your bike to
keep mud/rain/blood off of your duds. This design uses recycled
materials and the only cost is your time. The presented design uses a
rear rack as the support, but you could easily use some other found
items such as wire from a...
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
This minute-long short by Mindfruit Studios is called "Memoirs of a Scanner," and was made using only a scanner, plus software to stitch the still images together into a movie. It has characters, special effects, and a coherent plot that tells the story of an episode in the life of a business office. From the copier's perspective. [via Neatorama]
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Video Making | Digg this!
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I have been looking to make a travel sized watercolor palette for
when I am on vacation or out and just want to paint. I have found
that this is an extremely effective palette, and also extremely
affordable. I bought it at the dollar store so it was only $1 but
if you have one laying around at ho...
A dozer blade mod for for the robots, more to come soon, sorry for
picture quality
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It’s been a busy week here at Toolmonger. If you’ve been spending time in the shop — you should! — and you haven’t had a chance to keep up with Toolmonger this week, we suggest you start with these posts, which our readers helped to select:
The Penta Square
Besides just measuring 45° and 90° like a combination square, the Penta Square also measures 22.5° and 60°. But, that’s only four measurements; penta is a prefix for five. Either they’re considering 180° a measurement, or else they’re call it that because of the irregular pentagon-shaped body.
Editorial: Made In… Part 3
In part one of this editorial, I discussed the international nature of large tool companies, and I laid out my basic opinion: that the “Made in…” stamp doesn’t provide enough information to determine a tool’s quality. In part two, I discussed the manufacturing process. Read on as I endeavor to explain what all this means to you as a tool consumer.
Micro Kerf Blade Pinches Dimes, Not Pennies
The 10″ Micro Kerf Blade is a carbide-tipped, 40-tooth blade meant for both rips and crosscuts. Total Saw Solutions claims the saw kerf is half that of a standard thin-kerf blade, as thin as the width of a dime. This is one finely machined blade — the plate is precision ground and tensioned so that runout is less that 1/2 the thickness of a human hair.
Wiha Stubby 6-In-1 Sets
TM has covered stubby* drivers before (e.g., 2/10/07, 7/10/09, and 7/14/09), and their usefulness when just nothing else will fit. Now Wiha has five new stubby 6-In-1 bit sets. The bits are stored in the “Ergo Soft Grip” handle and the overall length, with a bit inserted in the ¼” SS holder, is just 2.5″.
New PBS Woodworking Show
The Fine WoodWorking blog reports that Boston’s WGBH will be producing a new PBS woodworking show featuring Thomas J. MacDonald (a.k.a. T. Chisel from his series of web videos). Maybe we’ll have someone to fill the void created when Norm retired from TV?
Help us choose next week’s Top 5!
We’d appreciate your help in choosing next week’s Top 5, which’ll be featured here, elsewhere, and in the podcast as well. While you’re reading TM this week, look out for the “Interesting Post” button at the bottom of the article:
When you see an article that piques your interest, click the button once. You’ll return to the same page, but TM’s software’ll score your click for future reference. We’ll check in on the totals before selecting next week’s Top 5.
One of the monstrous joys in life is spreading paranoia to those you
love and hate because misery loves company, so start a campaign to
heighten awareness about the small terrors in life that plague your
imagination and dreams. April Fool's Day is the perfect day to do
just this because people migh...
So this is the theater I made myself. I made it as a school project
with 3 other students. I was the leader of the group. I designed this
theater myself based off Kamishibai's I found on the internet. I also
added some improvements. It has lights, front doors and a curtain that
rolls up and down ...
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Xylocopa Design just added a Build-Your-Own Ratmobile kit in their Makers Market store. Keep in mind the ratmobile pictured above is a fully painted version. Your kit will arrive unassembled, and unpainted, but that's half the fun!
Construct your very own ratmobile in minutes with this easy-to-build kit by Xylocopa Design. Your friends will be envious, and your enemies will flee (or is it the other way around?) when they see the glory of this fantastic little vehicle. Comes as an unpainted, unfinished kit. Just add glue (and, for the adventurous, paint, ornamentation, accessories, etc)!Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Kits | Digg this!
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The cats at Hackerspaces.org are calling for a worldwide hackathon in hackerspaces the weekend of March 20th, 2010. These events are the third weekend of every month, with the inaugural event held last November.
Hackerspaces participating in past events have included Chicago's PS1, Luxembourg's Syn2cat, Ireland's TOG, France's Tetalab, Saint Louis's Arch Reactor and a bunch more besides. Most spaces share ustream feeds during the events.
Might be a good opportunity to work on your Robot Build projects? Is your hackerspace participating? Does a monthly event have value? Leave your thoughts in comments.
Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Events | Digg this!
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Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Tired of an old, clunky printer destroying more paper than it prints? Instructables user laxap helps along a printer aspiring to be a shredder by gutting it and installing an actual shredder. Almost as fun as smashing the thing to bits, like in Office Space.
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The Gakken SX-150 is one of the most popular kits in the Maker Shed, and we just got a fresh new supply! We have posted a lot of projects that involve hacking and modifying of the SX-150. We've see Arduino controlled versions, fooling around with plasma, incredible analog cassette hacks, button mods, and more! Collin did a really nice video review too! Did you hack and mod your SX-150? Are you planning on it? Let us know in the comments. Thanks!
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Artists Juniper and T.J. Tangpuz built this paper horse out of cardboard and wire ties. Most impressive! [via boing boing]
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Home brewing is a fun and exciting way to make your own beer, the way
you like it. The fermentation process is very temperature
sensitive, and off flavors are easily developed if temperatures change
by just a few degrees. Some home brewers are lucky enough to
live in a climate that enables...
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Lately we've had lots of folks writing in seeking practical advice on collecting tissue samples for use in studying whaleborne disease. I had no idea there were so many amateur cetopathologists out there!
Anyway, as you folks know--all too well, I'm sure--it is extremely difficult to collect blood from a wild whale without injuring or killing it in the process. However, and as even a child can tell you, the next best thing to live whale blood is live whale snot. Turns out it spews from their blowholes when they exhale, so the process is really very simple:
Step 2 is actually the hard part. And although your first instinct may be to just jump in your rowboat, paddle out to a whale pod, lean way out over the side with your sample container, and wait, that's actually not as safe as it might sound. Each year, untold millions of scientists die attempting this maneuver. Their sun-bleached bones litter beaches all along the Pacific coast.
Enter Dr. Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse, of the Zoological Society of London. Her recent paper in Animal Conservation (abstract), irresistibly entitled "A novel non-invasive tool for disease surveillance of free-ranging whales and its relevance to conservation programs," introduces the ground-breaking methodology of strapping a petri dish to a toy RC helicopter and flying it into the spout. This landmark work stands not only to revolutionize our understanding of whale disease, but to save countless lives, and establishes Dr. Acevedo-Whitehouse as a serious contender for this year's (Ig) Nobel Prize.
[via The Thoughtful Animal]
P.S. Dr. Acevedo-Whitehouse, you are made of awesome. And although I have never met you and probably never will, I love you with all my heart.
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I had a TomTom One unit which although being quite old now still
works, however the DC charging socket on it was broken so once the
battery ran out it was impossible to charge it up again, thus rendering
an otherwise working unit useless. Originally I tried replacing the
internal DC socket with a...
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
I have been and continue to be a big fan of shop floor coverings. I covet them like the neighbor’s ‘Vette. To help with this sickness Sears has a 30-percent-off deal going down right now with flooring materials and storage.
Most folks don’t have the scratch to unload thousands for a stainless rollaway and complete makeover with their favorite floor covering, but with 30 percent off until 3.31.10 you’ve got some time to make a play for one or the other. In my case I’d opt for some Rhino-Tec Multi-Purpose PVC tiles to make my shop a little more comfy, but, alas, the money gods are not with me at the moment.
30 Percent off on Flooring & Storage [Sears]
Rhino-Tec Multi-Purpose PVC tiles [Sears]
What do you do when your toddler's having trouble reaching the buttons on the guitar for Beatles Rock Band? Why, modify it and make an Instructable, that's what!
Toddler's Guitar Hero controller
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Gizmodo reports that CRKT® has a new tool for getting out of your car in emergencies. The ExiTool™ combines a seatbelt cutter, a window breaker, and an LED flashlight in one unit that clips onto any standard seatbelt. It’s like a ResQMe (see TM 9/29/07 and 9/28/08) with an LED, but may be more convenient because it’s right there on the seatbelt.
This tool’s seatbelt cutter is designed so that “it’s virtually impossible for even the smallest fingers to accidentally reach the blade,” which is razor-sharp high-carbon stainless steel able to cut seatbelts with a quick pull. The tungsten carbide breaker point is designed to shatter tempered glass side windows, and the LED is powered by a single CR2032 lithium battery.
The ExiTool™ is expected to retail for $26.99, and will be “Coming Soon in 2010.”
What do you think? Would you pick one up for each of your vehicles?
ExiTool™ [Manufacturer's Site]
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We here at MAKE are thrilled to have teamed up with the fine folks at Jameco to bring you The Make: Robot Build. Over the next eight weeks, we'll be featuring a series of tutorials here on the site about the basics of robot building, from overall design considerations to mechanical construction, electronics, and programming. The information in these tutorials and the build contest are designed so that anyone can participate, even if you don't know anything about electronics or robots! On March 27, we'll officially launch The Make: Robot Build contest, and over the ensuing weeks, each week, we'll cover a different subsystem of robot construction (drive train, controllers, sensors, etc.) and help contestants in building these subsystems on their bot. Builders will post progress images to the MAKE Flickr pool and we have a topic set up in the MAKE Forums for discussing your project.
The Goal: Build a CoasterBot!
The goal of this series and the contest is to teach you how to build a simple robot and for you to learn all of the various aspects of design and the mechanical and electronic systems used in robots. Contestants will build "CoasterBots," mini robot development platforms, made using CD/DVD media as the main body components ("coaster" being slang for a dead/damaged CD/DVD). Your goal is to create a CoasterBot that can navigate a space on its own, avoiding obstacles, and that is designed so that additional sensor systems (proximity, heat, light, sound, etc.) can be added "on top" of this obstacle-avoidance behavior. Contestants are free to use the CD/DVD media in any way they choose. Extra points will be given for creativity and innovation in the overall design.
We will have a two-week prep phase where we'll post overview articles here about basic robot design and construction and to allow time for readers to start planning out their design and to gather needed parts and supplies. Then, each week, we'll cover a different build phase, from design and chassis/drive train, to microcontrollers and sensors. The final two weeks will be devoted to finishing up the bots, fleshing out your documentation, and submitting your project(s). Please see the timeline and further details on The Make: Robot Build contest page. You can enter as many bots as you like, but you can only do a single entry for each one.
The Contest and Prizes
The contest will begin at 12:01am PDT on March 27, 2010 and will end at 11:59 p.m. PDT on May 7, 2010. Winners will be announced on May 14th, 2010.
Judging Criteria
The robots entered into the contest will be judged on the following criteria:
The Prizes
Every contestant who finishes the robot build and documents his or her finished project will receive a Maker's Notebook from the Maker Shed.
The Robot Build Newsletter
We'll be mailing out a newsletter each week of the contest with the latest contest details, tutorials, images from contestants' designs, build tips, technical advice, and more. We'll also be sending out word of the final contest submission form through the newsletter, so if you want to be a contestant, you need to subscribe. All we need is your name and email address (which we'll keep confidential):
The Jameco Robot Build Kit Bundle
Jameco has put together a core parts bundle to make it easy to gather the necessary parts for the contest. It includes a Solarbotics Ardweeny Arduino microcontroller, a Solarbotics Breadboard Voltage Regulator, an L293D motor controller, two Hi-Tec HS-322HD servomotors, two Parallax BOE-BOT/Sumobot wheel/tire sets, two lever switches, a breadboard, battery holders, wire, hardware, all sorts of goodies for building your coasterbot. You do not have to buy this kit to participate, and it won't be counted in the judging, but we at MAKE and the folks at Jameco put it together to make getting started in this contest as easy as possible. You can purchase your Jameco bundle and other parts here.
Check out the Make: Robot Build contest page for more info, the build timeline, and full contest rules. Matt Mets and I will be heading up the project/contest. We think this is going to be a whole lot of fun and we hope you'll join in!
Photo courtesy Coastal Treated Products Company.
In a discussion in the comments on yesterday's "plastic plywood" post, I mentioned that I was often reluctant to buy plywood and other "new" timber products at the hardware store because I didn't know how to tell if I was buying forest-friendly wood or not. A kindly gent named Hank responded to tell me that it was as simple as looking for the seal of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and supposedly that even the big orange store "is surprisingly good at stocking FSC certified lumber." I haven't verified that last bit for myself, but I did spend a long time googling around yesterday afternoon and satisfied myself that these FSC folks are on the level. That's their "tree with a check mark" seal in the photo, above. Now I know what to look for. And so do you. [Thanks, Hank!]
More:
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Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Take a look "behind the scenes" as Kipkay shares what goes into shooting the Weekend Project videos and shares some tips to help you be a better movie maker. To download the Making The Weekend Projects video click here
Just something I built this week. You can find more information
about it here: http://colvins.ca/?p=44
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Well hello, I have seen a lot of charging stations for sale and made
on this site, so here is my simplified cheapy ( dirt cheap I only
bought the switches!) version, made with card, wire, wall paper an
extension lead and some switches. it will charge 4 items, i
use it for 2 phones a camera a...
Well hello, I have seen a lot of charging stations for sale and made
on this site, so here is my simplified cheapy ( dirt cheap I only
bought the switches!) version, made with card, wire, wall paper an
extension lead and some switches. it will charge 4 items, i
use it for 2 phones a camera a...
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Blueprint Magazine describes a very neat machine:
In a small shed on an industrial park near Pisa is a machine that can print buildings. The machine itself looks like a prototype for the automotive industry. Four columns independently support a frame with a single armature on it. Driven by CAD software installed on a dust-covered computer terminal, the armature moves just millimetres above a pile of sand, expressing a magnesium-based solution from hundreds of nozzles on its lower side. It makes four passes. The layer dries and Enrico Dini recalibrates the armature frame. The system deposits the sand and then inorganic binding ink. The exercise is repeated. The millennia-long process of laying down sedimentary rock is accelerated into a day. A building emerges. This machine could be used to construct anything. Dini wants to build a cathedral with it. Or houses on the moon.
What do you think, readers? What would you build with a giant 3D printer that lays down sticky sand?
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I was going around Kiteman's instructables and decided to make his
rubber band-powered paper clip butterfly. I failed, then I just messed
around with it. Placed a rubber band here and another paper clip there,
then I got a catapult! Tools and raw materials You will need
lots of paper clips an...
KTZ Project: DIY iPod nano Dock Sync with compuer Charging with pc
or adaptor Play music with a output amp Prepare iPod nano iPod
nano USB to PC USB line 5v Adaptor (need 3, cut the 2 tails) Box
for iPod stand a Doll just for fun Audio jack Mouse pad make
ipod stand ...
C. Guy Yarvin is a “good friend” of Mencius Moldbug, a pseudonymous blogger known for iconoclastic novella-length essays on politics and history (and occasionally computer science). Guy recently published, under his own name, a project in language and systems design. His own writing about his work is entertaining but verbose (as Moldbug's readers might expect), so I will attempt to summarize it here.
Nock, Urbit, WattFirst there is Nock, “a tool for defining higher-level languages – comparable to the lambda calculus, but meant as foundational system software rather than foundational metamathematics.” Its primitives include positive integers with equality and increment operators, cons cells with car/cdr/cadr/etc., and a macro for convenient branching. Nock uses trees of integers to represent both code and data. Nock is aggressively tiny; the spec linked above is just 33 terse lines.
Next, Guy provides the rationale for Nock. In short, he asks how a planet-wide computing infrastructure (OS, networking, and languages) would look if designed from first priniciples for robustness and interoperability. The answer he proposes is Urbit: a URI-like namespace distributed globally via content-centric networking, with a feudal structure for top-level names and cryptographic identities. Urbit is a static functional namespace: it is both referentially transparent and monotonic (a name, once bound to a value, cannot be un- or re-bound).
Why does this require a new formal logic and a new programming language? In Urbit, all data and code are distributed via the global namespace. For interoperability, the code must have a standard format. Nock's minimal spec is meant to be an unambiguous, unchanging, totally standardized basis for computation in Urbit. Above it will be Watt, a self-hosting language that compiles to Nock. Urbit itself will be implemented in Watt, so Nock and Watt are designed to treat data as code using metacircular evaluation.
The codeA prototype implementation of Watt is on GitHub. It is not yet self-hosting; the current compiler is written in C. Watt is a functional language with static types called “molds” and a mechanism for explicit lazy evaluation. (I was suprised to find I had accidentally created an incompatible lazy dialect of Nock – despite its goal of unambiguous semantics – just by implementing it in Haskell.)
The code is not fully documented, but the repository contains draft specs for both Watt and Urbit. Beware: the syntax and terminology are a bit unconventional. Guy has offered a few exercises to help get started with Nock and Watt:
The Nock challenge: Write a decrement operator in Nock, and an interpreter that can evaluate it. Basic Watt: Write an integer square root function in Watt. Advanced Watt: How would you write a function that tests whether molds A and B are orthogonal (no noun is in both A and B)? Or compatible (any noun in A is also in B)? Are these functions NP-complete? If so, how might one work around this in practice?If you want to learn more, start with these problems. You can email your solutions to Guy.
Will it work?I find Urbit intellectually appealing; it is a simple and clean architecture that could potentially replace a lot of complex system software. But can we get there from here?
Guy imagines Urbit as the product of an ages-old Martian civilization:
Since Earth code is fifty years old, and Martian code is fifty million years old, Martian code has been evolving into a big ball of mud for a million times longer than Earth software. (And two million times longer than Windows.) …
Therefore, at some point in Martian history, some abject fsck of a Martian code-monkey must have said: fsck this entire fscking ball of mud. For lo, its defects cannot be summarized; for they exceed the global supply of bullet points; for numerous as the fishes in the sea, like the fishes in the sea they fsck, making more little fscking fishes. For lo, it is fscked, and a big ball of mud. And there is only one thing to do with it: obliterate the trunk, fire the developers, and hire a whole new fscking army of Martian code-monkeys to rewrite the entire fscking thing.
… This is the crucial inference we can draw about Mars: since the Martians had 50 million years to try, in the end they must have succeeded. The result: Martian code, as we know it today. Not enormous and horrible – tiny and diamond-perfect. Moreover, because it is tiny and diamond-perfect, it is perfectly stable and never changes or decays. It neither is a big ball of mud, nor tends to become one. It has achieved its final, permanent and excellent state.
Do Earthlings have the will to throw out the whole ball of mud and start from scratch? I doubt it. We can build Urbit but no one will come, unless it solves some problem radically better than current software. Moldbug thinks feudalism will produce better online reputation, but feudal reputation does not require feudal identity; it is not that much harder to build Moldbug's reputation system on Earth than on Mars. I still have not figured out the killer app that will get early adopters to switch to Urbit.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
My two year old daughter recently started playing Beatles Rock band with
me, but she had a lot of trouble reaching the buttons on the neck. The
strap wouldn't adjust high enough either, so I decided to get her
own controller and modify it for her. For this Instructable, you will
need a Torx drive...
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Gary Mauler and the folks who put on the RobotFest in southern Maryland each year are expanding their enterprise to include a Mid-Atlantic 2010 Mini Maker Faire! Gary writes:
I work with Maryland College Institute of Art each year to produce the artwork for T-shirts and advertising for RobotFest (and this year's Mini Maker Faire). This year, the challenge was given to about 60 Advertising and Design students for one of their graded semester projects. All the designs that were shown to us were fantastic, so it made our job of picking one design very hard.I am going to print up a bunch of the Paper Robot posters on index stock to hand out for kids to build at RobotFest.
RobotFest/Mid-Atlantic 2010 Mini Maker Faire will be held on Saturday, April 24th, at the National Electronics Museum, Linthicum, MD. More information here.
I have 3 senior dogs. They're all allowed in my bed, but
they're starting to have trouble getting in. One has hurt herself
recently; I thought she had decided not to try to join me in bed
anymore, but after about a month she started trying to jump up
again. She can't. So I made her a set of stai...
"About Adafruit video" by RocketBoom
A lot of readers are likely familiar with Adafruit Industries, supplier and maker of many kits found in the Maker Shed. In addition to my role here at MAKE, as senior editor, I also work with Limor (Ladyada), helping her with the open source hardware kit business. I'll have a few articles about general things we do around here to keep the ship afloat and charting new waters, but I thought I'd start this "Maker Business" article with an overview of how it all works and how we use many many web tools/services. One of the most asked questions I get from makers is "what shopping cart do you use?" The short answer is Zencart, and while I think it doesn't actually matter what you use when you start out, this is what we're using at Adafruit. A recent milestone, we just shipped our 50,000th order. We mostly create and sell open source hardware, most of the tools we use are open source -- I've never seen an article detailing "everything" a business uses online, so here's one. I think you'll enjoy it. Let's take a look...
Bread Pudding is a classic British Dessert, delicious hot or cold and
fantastic with a drizzle of homemade custard. This is a very
simple recipe, You don't need to be a good cook to get great results.
You'll also find there will be no use of mixing spoons in this as you
will be using your hands!...
This is my first instructable so bear with me! I recently
bought a Motobecane Super Mirage to replace a Grand Touring that was
stolen from me and found that, unlike my previous bike, it has no space
available to hold my Kryptonite U-Lock and cable. After a little
googling with no satisfactory ...
What this is: This instructable will show you how to make your
Arduino into an R/C interface that you can use for just about anything
requiring remote control. I will also show you how I built an
R/C lawnmower using my Arduino, a cheap R/C transmitter and receiver
pair, and a couple of electric-w...
[Better photos to come once I get a chance to be home during daylight
hours.] An absurd set of requirements leads to a hacked compression
shelving system for easy maneuverability and expansion. Goals
Recently I 'earned' some upgraded bookshelves. Having casually
shopped shelving for a w...
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
On Mashable, math teacher Rebecca Zook weighs in on the whole Computer Engineer Barbie (aka Coder Barbie) "controversy" with "Why Computer Engineer Barbie Is Good for Women in Tech."
While some have embraced Coder Barbie, others have attacked the concept, saying that her pink laptop, sparkly leggings, and trendy glasses are "too feminine" to be realistic.
The critics imply that real coders aren't feminine, and feminine coders aren't real. But women shouldn't feel like they have to stop being feminine to work in technology.
[Thanks, Ed Troxell!]
Why Computer Engineer Barbie Is Good for Women in Tech
More:
This is a guide to help folks who've bought a wall sticker somewhere
and want to take a moment to do it right. Don't be afraid of the vinyl
wall art. It will not bite, it will not leave grossness on your walls,
it will not be stuck there forever. You can change your mind, update
your look, or le...
I scream, you scream, and then we go get ice cream! Check out
this great collection of homemade ice cream recipes and
techniques. From quick and easy sorbets to frozen yogurt,
dairy-free options, and more traditional ice cream making methods, the
Instructables community has you covered. Get st...
Love this whimsical iPhone stand made out of forks and spoons. [via ManMade]
More:
Well, this is my first Instructable, so, well, here you go. I like
showers. I like relaxing. I combined the two and after
experimenting with methods for a few weeks, I've come up with, what I
believe is the best way to do so.(Without taking to much time or
spending a ton of money) Mater...
Here is a simple set of instructions for building a set of sawhorses. It
is a fairly simple design that most people who have some woodworking
experience can build with a fairly basic tools. Its a low cost
woodworking project, that will net you a useful tool, and make the
projects that come after it...
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
From ManMade comes this video about how to create a quick n' dirty no-sew toolbelt from recycled fabric and duct tape. I don't think you're going to rock the construction site in this thing, but for light tools and crafting supplies, it's an easy way to cobble something together.
ManMade Video How-To: Make a Custom, No-Sew Tool Belt from Repurposed Fabric
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What You Need... What you need.... 1 Chicken Bullion Cube....
1 Shower with Removable Shower Head... 1 Adjustable Wrench And 1
Victim Un-Screw the Shower Head At the end of the shower head there
is a collar that can be un-screwed to take it off. Use your wrench to
help you unscrew ...
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
If you've ever wished you could get an insider's look at the daily activities of NASA Goddard's largest clean room, you're in luck. Web cams are now providing live coverage of work on the components of the upcoming James Web Space Telescope. The cameras snap and display one picture per minute from the pristine workspace of the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
The advantage to the Webb-cam is that the average person doesn't need to do a micron-type clean up and spend time donning protective gear. Anyone can sit at their computer and see what's going on, no matter what they're wearing.
[via @NASA_Langley]
you have to have this waterspout thing attached to your sink. rubberband
time put the rubberband on tight so it holds the handle down aim and
fire aim the nozzle thing towards the center of the sink so your victim
will definately get hit with the water.
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This visualization of the way colors in Flickr images change over the course of the year was created by Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg of IBM's Visual Communication Lab. It's called "Flickr Flow."
The two of us see the world as a stream of color, and in 2009 we finally had a chance to draw the river in our heads. We began with a collection of photographs of the Boston Common taken from Flickr. Using an algorithm developed for the WIRED Anniversary visualization, our software calculated the relative proportions of different colors seen in photos taken in each month of the year, and plotted them on a wheel. The image [above] is an early sketch from the piece. Summer is at the top, with time proceeding clockwise.
The finished infographic, complete with seasonal labels and callouts of representative images, appeared in the Metric section of Boston magazine in March of 2009. You can view a low-res version of it here.
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Josh at imsolidstate came across an extra battery charger, so he decided to turn it into a spot welder. We've seen spot welder projects in the past, however his goes the extra mile, adding a digital control circuit and current monitoring capabilities, to give precise control over the welding operation. Schematic and source code are available on his site.
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How to make a blanket fortress! Location, Location, Location.
Where should you place a blanket fortress? Well the first
requirement is space! Make sure the area is clear and try to keep it
out of foot traffic areas, just for convenience. Some extras would be
to place it near A: an entertain...
The Final Cut saw blade packs sandpaper on the sides for a smoother cut.
The latest in saw blade technology. Fully patented and proven successful in cutting and sanding your work piece all at one time. Use with table saw and power miter boxes for the perfect joint or finished edge. No edge sanding is required after passing your work piece through the table saw and when making miters the joints virtually disappear. Make minor length adjustments by simply sliding the work piece towards the rotating blade (just like a disc sander). One operation produces two functions. Try it and see for yourself how easy it is to become a professional wood craftsman.
[via Core77]
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Instructables user zieak upcycled some discarded keyboard circuit sheets into this attractively geeky document folder for his wife.
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As part of our spring-cleaning sale in the Maker Shed we're offering FREE shipping on orders over $125! (Contiguous US only) Just use the code "CLEARME" at checkout. But what about all of our international friends? No worries, we have a deal for you too! You'll get $10 off your international shipping, just use code "MAR-10" at check out.
