MAKE Flickr photo pool member Chris Mckenna writes “I was inspired by Mister Jalopy’s MAKE volume 04 World’s Biggest MP3 Player article to hack together something from a thrift store bought console radio. No where near as complicated as the project described in the article, but perhaps interesting to some. It sounds pretty awesome.” Nice work! Link.
In MAKE 04 we featured some great kit gift ideas in the magazine, “Kits for the Holidays”. But we didn’t have room for all the kits we found, so here’s another round for elves with makers on their list. MAKE subscribers can log in and view the full article here…Link. We also have our own kit for taking high speed flash photography to capture high-speed events — A splash. Popping balloons. Breaking glass. It’s an amazing adjustable flash controller triggered by light or sound. Link.
These are pretty clever to make or buy – “4 way rubber bands…a great new way to hold boxes or books or large stacks of paper together. (Sample shown above holding a Nuclear War box together). If your game box is starting to fall apart, or if it is so stuffed with supplements things start to slip out, or if you just want to organize your books, this is for you. Package of 6 for $5. You can order small (4″), regular (8″) and large (10″).” [via] Link.
Rocket writes in regarding our TiVo to iPod post “Notice that this will only work for PC-based iPods, and they mention that “TiVo subscribers will need to purchase special software to tap the features.” What? Pay extra for iPod support? A bunch of us got fed up with Tivo not supporting macintosh for the Tivo to Go. So we created TivoTool which already has video iPod support – all you need is a hacked tivo and a macintosh (well, and a video iPod.)” Link.
After AmBio observed some “Maker-like” contraptions using mesh networks and PC panels to track dead mosquitos and propane levels (used to kill the bugs) – they’re “upping the ante with a “smart” mosquito net, or computerized defense system, to serve the corporate and public health sectors. By the first quarter of 2006, AmBio executives hope to have finalized sophisticated software to control a network of magnets–forming a kind of wide-scale fence–which will be able to communicate with a central network through wireless 802.11b technology.” Link.
A Multifunction Led Display is the easiest way to create your own information system display. This display is a kind of colored LEDs controller through the parallel port using a very, really very easy scheme. The software is a Perl script under GNU(GLP) license and works only under GNU with Linux. This version display 3 system views modes: a Binary Clock (Only for Geeks), a Memory Status Bar and HDD Status Bar, the script have a auto mode to change the system views (10 seconds Binary Clock, 4 seconds Memory Status Bar and 4 seconds HDD Status Bar). Link.
“In case you lose your iPod (or any other external drive for that matter) or it gets stolen your data is in danger. Here is a brief tutorial aimed at those that want their data protected without investing in commercial software.” [