Year: 2005

The Pong Clock

The Pong Clock

195577 ThumbIt wouldn’t be too hard to make your own pong clock (software app / Macromedia Flash) and put that on a LCD picture frame… “The dutch design company Buro Vormkrijgers has designed a clock which uses the popular videogame Pong to show the time. A random game of Pong is played, and when it’s time to change minutes or hours, one of the two sides will score, thus changing the score and the time. This has got to be one of the most inventive ways of using Pong ever!” There is video in download archives, showing how the clock works in real time. [via] Link.

DIY iPod breakout dock…

DIY iPod breakout dock…

Blog Nov 25, 2005 11-28Image2Excellent DIY iPod dock for tinkering on panocamera “I needed a quick way to test signal interactions with a microcontroller and an iPod, so for about $50 and an afternoon of soldering, I threw together an iPod dock/breakout box. Ingredients include a small breadboard, and a $15 cheapie usb charger cable, which when stripped of its plastic housing luckily has all 30 dock connector pins ready to solder.” Link.

HOW TO – Running Asterisk@Home Under Windows

HOW TO – Running Asterisk@Home Under Windows

Aah Logo SmRun Asterisk on a Windows machine, handy for on the go…“We have been touting how cool the Asterisk Open Source PBX is and especially how nice the Asterisk@Home installation package is for some time now. You are all excited to try it out but don’t have an extra machine, or maybe you are like us and want a way to show clients the web interface and the features but you don’t want to run Linux on your laptop or carry a second machine. Well now, with the help of a few free downloads, you can now do a complete installation into a virtual machine on your system…” Link.

Crafters Saving Penguins

Crafters Saving Penguins

Penguinsweaters
The Tasmanian Conservation Trust put out a call to everyone to use the following pattern to knit small sweaters (or “jumpers”) for penguins in a case of a major oil spill. They received an overwhelming response, over 15,000 sweaters! According to the Conservation Trust,”In the case of a major oil spill, these jumpers will be used to help rehabilitate Little penguins (Eudyptula minor) that have been oil affected. Oil clogs the feathers of these tiny seagoing birds, and reduces their insulating and waterproofing qualities. Even worse, the penguins attempt to clean themselves by preening, and rapidly become poisoned.” [via] Link. (Additional news story from Australia.)

Making Felt

Making Felt

Felting
Felting is the art of matting wool. Any kind of knit that you want more durable can be done through felting. The process of felting can sometimes seem intimidating or complicated. I love this complete feltmaking process with photos for every step from the Handweavers Guild of America. You can use the felting technique for creating ipod cozies, bags, bookcovers, you name it! Link.

Functional Paper V8 Engine

Functional Paper V8 Engine

V8Paperengine
Make friend, the Lotharian, says,”This V8 Engine made entirely out of paper with the exception of a few parts (motor, wires, etc.), is fully functional. It features many moving parts which include: a compound crankshaft, a rapid cooling fan, 8 rods, 8 pistons and a complex compound gearbox. The engine is powered by 2 times 1.5V D Batteries and weighs 2.98kg. From start to finish this model took one year to design and construct. There is even a D.I.Y. kit in the works that will be released shortly.” Thanks Lotharian! [via] Link.