Month: July 2005

Parellel port output super-guide

Parellel port output super-guide

Lptcircuit1 PC parallel port can be very useful I/O channel for connecting your own circuits to PC. The PC’s parallel port can be used to perform some very amusing hardware interfacing experiments. The port is very easy to use when you first understand some basic tricks. This document tries to show those tricks in easy to understand way. Link.

Make a desktop trebuchet

Make a desktop trebuchet

Treb01Treb2
By using popsicle sticks and some glue you can build yourself a clever little trebuchet. This is a good replacement for the one made out of paper that has vanished from the Internet. You will need 18 sticks for the frame sides.  Start by squaring off the ends of 6 sticks.  2 sticks will form the uprights (part 1), and 4 sticks will form the base fore and aft of the uprights (parts 2 and 3). Thanks John! Link.

HOW TO make Google Earth Movies, for Free! 

HOW TO make Google Earth Movies, for Free! 

Testflyin-Divx Great how-to. The free version of Google Earth does not allow you to do certain things, like produce paths. So, I hacked that together by editing the .kml file in WordPad (ah, brings back memories of html before wysiwyg editors). After producing some stunning tour animations on-screen, I quickly wanted to be able to save them as a movie. The problem is, you can not save movies unless you buy the $400 Pro version of Google Earth, plus the optional Movie Maker module for God knows how much more. The heck with that! I figured once it was displayed on my screen, I should be able to save it. So I did. Link.