Photo from Animated Knots One of the challenges with learning knots is that it’s often difficult to interpret written directions and sometimes it’s tough to follow photos. Animated Knots by Grog has a neat collection of knot-tying animations. There are loads of variations, and the interface allows you to invert, flip, and rotate some of […]
Amit Zoran’s Chameleon guitar uses replaceable soundboards built from various types of wood and other materials to take on different sonic characteristics – The five electronic pickups on the soundboard provide detailed information about the wood’s acoustic response to the vibration of the strings. This information is then processed by the computer to simulate different […]
Joe Grand writes in with plans to build his POV wristwatch (mentioned here a while back) – Five years ago, I designed a prototype for a wristwatch based on the phenomenon of persistence-of-vision. Being a longtime runner, I thought it would be cool to be able to run at night without fumbling with my watch […]
Make: Day was a huge success this weekend at the Science Museum of Minnesota. My fingers are crossed that this marks the first of many events where you can take your family to learn about electronics, make robots, meet the makers from your favorite Make: television episodes, interact with radio controlled artwork, and listen to […]
Our new MAKE magazine columnist, iconic electronics guru Forrest M. Mims III (see “Country Scientist,” MAKE, Volume 17) has a piece up on the Jameco website about using a laser pointer to create cool laser-light patterns to capture with a digital camera: The coherent properties of a laser beam provide an ideal tool for creating […]
I love the Buddha Machine, the ambient sound generator with a Buddha inside every byte. Modulator Mike bent his box to add a pitch control and a light-dependent resistor theremin control. I’d love to hear what this sounds like. BTW: I discovered that there’s a Buddha Machine iPhone app. It’s $4, tho. Too much for […]
I like this “Beginning Engineer’s Checklist,” from the PIClist site. Here are the first six items on the list: 1. NEVER loan out your copies of: The Art of Electronics (Horowitz & Hill, Cambridge University Press) (you do HAVE a copy don’t you?) Illustrated Sourcebook of Mechanical Components or Ingenious Mechanisms for Designers and Inventors […]
