SWITCH is a DIY show that creates fun and fashionable items with electronics. We’ve posted about SWITCH before but now the site has launched with two new videos to check out. Watch Allison take a tour of CES showcasing the best in girl technology. Then get your workshop ready as Allison and Diana show you how to make a talking photo frame. We can’t wait to see what these ladies make next! Link.
A clever maker out there made his own robot pal – “My dream of a home-built robot was smolding since the early 80ies. The floor of the young boy’s room was covered with “fischertechnik” parts, and a robot which clears the mess seemed feasible… Well, it took some years until the project actually started. And this not only due to my personal capabilities as a mechanical engineer, but also in the environment of today’s technologies: Webcams, WLAN, and last but not least powerful yet power-saving PC-Mainboards.” Here’s how he made his robot! [via via] Link.
C64s.com has a pretty neat way to play your old favorite Commodore 64 games / retro-games right in your browser. Each day you can get a daily dose of C64 nostalgia with their “game a day” mailing list. All games are abandonware or copyleft. Link.
With our kits you can capture high-speed events, splashes, popping balloons and breaking glass. It’s an adjustable flash controller triggered by light or sound. Our kit includes a high-speed flash, disposable camera, flash controller and fully assembled flash trigger that synchronizes the high-speed event and the flash. Also included is a 6-ft cable connects your high-speed flash to the flash controller, and all the tools needed to precisely time your high-speed picture. Flash controller is adjustable, so the flash can be triggered by soft sounds, loud sounds, a laser pointer, or a flashlight. The kit also includes digital output that can trigger other external flashes, such as the SnapShot II strobe light. But, how do we test each unit before we ship them? Here’s great video with Tom Anderson from Quaketronics showing you what we do! Link (MP4). Click here to get the video with iTunes! This video should work on PC/Mac/Linux/iPod video and PSP (let us know if it does not).
Check out this amazing relay computer “Features of the Arithmetic Logic Unit: Two 8-bit inputs (from B and C registers) 8-bit result (onto data bus) 3-bit function code input Functions: Add, Increment, And, Or, Xor, Not, Shift-left, Nop Carry output (from Add, Increment) Zero-detect output Features of the Register Unit: 8 Registers (8-bits each) Register Names: A, B, C, D, M1, M2, X, and Y Data Bus (8 LEDs and 8 Switches) Features of the Program Control Unit: Program Counter (16 bits) Instruction Register (8 bits) Jump Target Register (16 bits) Increment Unit (16 bits) Increment Register (16 bits) Address Bus (16 LEDs and 16 Switches)…” Link.
Great interview! “Benjamin Heckendorn (aka Ben Heck) is one of the greatest console hackers the gaming community has ever known. Not only does Ben have the amazing technical knowledge and great design sense, but he is also a riot to converse with. In case you are not familiar with his work, Ben basically takes full game systems (from basically all console generations) and turns them into a custom handheld device.” Thanks Brian! Link.
Saul pointed me towards this great deal on a laser cutter. I sat there and almost clicked bid, but it’s a little outside my budget for now – if you want to laser etch Powerbooks or iPods, or cut shapes from CAD/Sketchup – this is the machine that’ll do that for you. The usual caveat: it’s an eBay sale and it’s something pretty expensive… Link.
