Sundial for the 22nd Century
Designer Gina Reimann looks to the past for inspiration with her nomination for concept watch of the future. Billed as a sundial for the 22nd century, the Orbit use natural sunlight to tell the time with the help of a simple compass interface. At night, pushing a button illuminates a bright LED that simulates the sun’s shadow. And if that isn’t enough, there’s also a digital display of ‘world’ time – a hypothetical international time without time zones. No word on whether this will will ever see the ‘light’ of day. Link.
“The first time we looked through it we looked at the moon, and it was like, oh my God, this is so cool, and we built it, it is ours,” said Katie Barmazel, 15. As part of the project, the three teenagers also hand-ground their own 8-inch mirror, a job that took 270 hours and propelled them to both Merit and Astronomers Choice awards at the Riverside Telescope Makers Conference, winning over 600 other entries. 
MAKE Magazine will be covering the annual hacker conference DEFCON in Las Vegas July 29th to the 31st. If you plan to attend we’ve put together an iPod notes version of the schedule for all three days of DEFCON as well the complete speaker list. Download 
Great HOW TOs here. While software can reside on a microcontroller, it is my style to execute it on a laptop, allowing the hardware to be simple and flexible. In addition, a laptop has sufficient computing power and a full bodied user interface, so that adequate attention may be given to precise tracking (sub arcsecond over many minutes), precise goto (35 arcsecond rms from horizon to horizon), and all encompasing error correcting routines. My software also tends towards straightforward text interfaces, as complex graphical environments are hard to operate in the dark and injurious to night vision. Finally, the ease of developing software and getting bug fixes and enhancements out to users the next evening should not be underestimated for laptop and PC platforms. 
Change the color of the Apple on a PowerBook. You will need a hex wrench (I didn’t really pay attention to the size), and a credit card type device. You need to use your hex wrench to unscrew the 2 screws on the bottom of of the display. The angle is really bad so you may need to us a smaller size hex than the screws use so you can get at them from an angle. The screws are not in very tight but be careful, you don’t want to strip them or scratch them up too much. 
