Before the bow and arrow there was the atlatl*, or spear-thrower, an ancient weapon that could throw a spear or dart with enough force to penetrate a mammoth’s hide. It was used in North America for about 10,000 years, and used by native Australians and Aleuts as recently as 50 years ago. It’s easy to […]
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I bought a new scanner recently, and soon found myself spelunking through drawers of old photos from my many misspent years in photography. Some of the most interesting shots were the pinhole camera experiments I had done as a teenager. With ghostly outlines from multi-minute exposures, and shapes warped into boomerangs by curved film, these […]
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In our prior house I patiently installed dozens of popup sprinkler heads all over my garden at a cost of a few hundred dollars and several days of work. When my wife and I moved into our new house I decided to take a more calculated (lazy) approach. I found a way to cut the […]
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The Space Invaders are sensitive to the electromagnetic waves of mobile phones. When in close proximity to a mobile phone, the Space Invader is energized by an incoming call and its LED eyes begin to twinkle. Accessorized with a handmade Space Invaders Tote for an evening shindig, you will never miss a call again. Whether […]
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Crafting under pressure is irresistible. This year the Craftzine gals suggested an ornament swap– 12 days before Christmas. With a lot on our plates we all agreed to make time for crafting eight handmade ornaments each, and the deadline made it even more intense. Cheers to speed crafting!
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In early 2011 my robot club, the Dallas Personal Robotics Group, was looking for a way to help our beginning members build up their skills. To this end, we produced a series of lessons covering 5 topics needed to make a simple, programmable robot: making PCBs with the toner transfer method, programming ATtiny microprocessors, laying […]
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This is the follow up to my Chomping Pacman Costume There are plenty of resources out there for creating magic mirrors, but I wanted to take things one step further. Everything that found was for an installation, and I wanted to find a way to make it into a wearable Halloween costume. My idea for […]
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