DIY watch holder pantry light
Gina writes “…my crafty father-in-law had built a lighting system for his kitchen pantry out of Christmas lights and a Timex watch holder. He drilled a hole in the plastic watch holder just under the tension flap that holds the watch up, and inserted a reverse switch inside the hole. Once the switch was connected to the lights, when the pantry door closes, the circuit breaks and the lights go off. When the pantry door is opened, the circuit closes and lights go on and Mom can see which can she’s plucking off the shelf.” Link and photos.
Neat how-to and video from Troy…“This is my hydrogen generator that I built Using stainless steel switch plate covers. You may be asking, Why switch plate covers? Well in the area I live in I was having trouble finding Someone to sell me a sheet of stainless steel and cut it for me. So I was in the Home Depot (a local hardware store) And I ran across switch plate covers made of stainless steel. All cut to size and all uniform. Well this made it too easy for me so I bought them About 36 @ $1.24 ea. I thought it was kind of expensive but what the heck. I was not getting the generator built waiting for a deal to drop in my lap. So on to the building of the h2 generator.” Thanks Jason! 
If you’ve seen any of the MAKE presentations at conferences or MAKE fairs one of themes is usually about ebooks and the need for a great ebook reader – I use a hacked up Sony Librie from Japan (
Drew writes “The quarter-scale dalek I was working on (which I mentioned in a previous 
MAKE is sponsoring “This Day in Apple History” over on Applematters – each day you can get an 
Procure IR modules from an old VCR, Raphael writes “Some time ago, I came across the Lirc (Linux Infrared Remote Control) website and decided to build a serial port IR receiver. They had a list of suggested IR receiver modules, but I was unable to buy one, so I had to think of using something else. A IR Receiver module is usually a photodiode and a 38khz detector. Most of them have 3 pins. VCC, GND, an output pin. If a 38khz carrier is detected, the output pin will become active. Some modules are active low, and others are active high. It is sometimes required to use an inverter(eg: 7404) to get the correct signal.” 
Make your own LEGO blocks “…not everybody has access to their own CNC machine, but for those who do, here is a lesson in building up custom lego parts. This is not necessarily a design just for those of us lucky enough to own a CNC machine. A manual milling machine, or even hand tools and a great deal of patience will do the job. This post IS however directed at somebody who owns some sort of CNC milling machine, has access to some plastics and the tools appropriate to cut them, and somebody who is not a rank beginner at building lego robots.” [
