Shawn writes “Rhode Island artist Neil Salley makes interesting installations using his own home grown technologies for creating 360 degree-viewable holograms. Be sure to look at his TVD 360 degree TV prototype. I wish there was more on the site about the technical details- all of his inventions and pieces are refreshingly simple and low tech.” Link.
Might be a good DIY project…“This is the first laser-guided regulation-sized pool cue. When activated, the harmless visible laser provides a precise guide for lining up the perfect shot with pinpoint accuracy. The touch sensor on/off switch features both manual and automatic shut-off to preserve battery life. The set includes a 58″ two-piece cue with a secure microfiber grip and an aluminum joint and ferrule…” [via] Link.
This week’s video from the Nation Association of Manufacturers is all about steel…“Try to live in a world without steel. Steel is sorta of the mother of manufacturing. For many, it epitomizes the history of manufacturing here in America. When you see this video, you’ll see that it really does epitomize manufacturing in that it is now as high-tech as the rest of manufacturing…From spectrometers that do molecular-level inspection of steel to lasers and high-tech instruments that calibrate and measure the steel in every step along the production process, there is technology everywhere you look.” Link.
Paper replicas of vintage Panasonic household appliances, from Panasonic’s World of Discovery. PDF models available: a 1959 automatic rice cooker, a 1931′ radio, a 1952′ TV Set, a fridge from 1954 and a washing machine made on the year after, a character from the National company and of two pop-up cards with fireworks and fish. [via] Link.
Just like video game cars, real cars have cheat codes too…“Here’s a(n) [alleged] way to disable the traction/skid control systems called VDIM on the Lexus IS: “start the car with the parking brake on…then foot brake twice. (keep the foot brake down). then parking brake twice (keep it down ) and repeat till skid light is on the dash…..it will reset when you restart the car” [via] Link.
Great (and funny) instructable by sMoRTy71 “One of my co-workers was giving away and old Atari 800XL and Macintosh SE case. He had been planning to do a mini-ITX project, but had never gotten around to it. Always wanting an excuse to tinker with something, I decided to take them off of his hands. Well, as soon as I saw the Mac SE case, I realized that this one had the most potential. So this weekend, I bought a few things at Home Depot and got started making my Apple-powered, wireless, portable toilet paper dispenser — the iWipe. The whole project took a couple of hours and cost about $15.” Thanks Saul! Link.
Daniel writes “I purchased a first generation Tivo unit a few years ago and used it in the “normal ” way. But since then I have moved and I do not have a use for a landline. I am relutant to toss it because it is still good hardware. Which brings me to the question: What alternative use is there for a first generation Tivo unit?.” Link to Tivo hacks…add your suggestions in the comments!
