Month: October 2009

24-hr Microchip Technology giveaway delta on Twitter – GO!

Tomorrow, Wednesday the 14th, at noon Pacific time, we will be giving away another prize bundle consisting of one Microchip Technology PIC10F Cap Touch Demo Board and one MCP1650 Multiple White LED Demo Board.

This time, the winner will be selected from among our Twitter followers. Follow us in the next 24 hours and you’re automatically entered! If you’re already following, send us a DM containing the phrase “GIVEAWAY DELTA GIMME” and your name will be in the hat, too.

The winner will be announced Wednesday afternoon through our Twitter feed.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan

Homebrew CNC hot wire foam cutter

I keep trying to persuade anyone who will listen that CNC foam cutters are dramatically underrated machines. People look at them and say, “That’s cool and all, but I don’t want styrofoam parts.” To which I reply, “If you have a styrofoam part, you can turn it into cast aluminum with an unbelievably simple garage process.” What’s more, styrofoam is ubiquitous, cheap, and so easy to cut that the CNC robot can be extremely lightweight and inexpensive, as for instance, this one submitted by reader Raul Aguaviva, which is hacked together from a coat hanger and junked scanner parts. Combine one of these with a Gingery-style charcoal foundry and you could conceivably produce a homebrew CNC system, that can produce aluminum parts, for less than $50.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan18
How-To: World’s scariest Halloween prop

How-To: World’s scariest Halloween prop

Forget cheesy yard tombstones, evil cackling pop-up witches, or ghosts that fly down from on top of the porch. Todd Harrison has put dual 110-decibel automobile horns inside his jack-‘o-lantern, which features a cute red button nose and buck-toothed smile to throw people off from how diabolical it truly is. And here’s the really wicked part: The horn is on a delay. Pushing the button causes the eyes to light up immediately, so the little tykes think, “Hey, neat, a pumpkin with light-up eyes,” and then go on about their tyke-y business, at least for a few seconds before the dual 110-decibel automobile horns go off and leave them traumatized for life. Genius! There’s video on Todd’s site. [via Hack a Day]

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan4