Vonage and why I really like Skype and Gizmo…
MAKE pal David Weekly posts about his Vonage experience, I’ve been hearing a lot of stories like this lately, I went Skype and Gizmo, haven’t looked back …there started to emerge some wierdnesses. Like how the ringing sound would keep playing a few seconds into an answered conversation or into the beginning of a voicemail greeting. Or how the router itself would reboot about once a day, sometimes requiring a full power cycle in order to start routing packets again. Or how incoming phone calls sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t, depending on the phase of the moon or something… Then he couldn’t cancel. Link.
I’ve been meaning to post this for awhile, the folks from MakingThings have a whole bunch of new HOW TOs and project ideas for their Teleo product. What is Teleo? Teleo is a rapid-prototyping and development tool developed and marketed by MakingThings. It consists of a line of modular and networkable hardware components that can easily be connected to a computer via USB and programmed and controlled using any one of a number of programming languages. Components range from a variety of input and output modules, motor controller modules and accessories. 
A 454 cubic inch big block Chevrolet in a walk-behind snowblower? This custom unit blows the snow back to where it came from! It features heated handle bars (with engine coolant), full instrumentation with monster tach, hydraulic drive wheels and a host of other gotta have blower ‘Bling’ 
In MAKE 03 we have a VCR cat feeder project, but Peter from NYC sent in another way sans VCR…“When I had to feed ol’ Skippy upon leaving my apartment for a few days or so, I’d hot-glue a standing box of kittyvittles in the center of a piece of 2′-square cardboard, and cut a paw-sized hole in the bottom. After making sure the bathtub faucet was dripping slightly into a dish, I was good for as many as 3 or 4 days, and no worrying about power outages. Skippy had to work for his meals, but all the better. Now, an electric self-cleaning litterbox – THAT would be something worth warming up a soldering gun for.” 
Richard (not a DR), has shared his shed, and it happens to be a TARDIS. He’s built a full size one out of wood, he even has the plans to download so you can have a go. This TARDIS is being assembled in the village of MARTIN where the Dr. Who episode “The Awakening” starring Peter Davison was filmed. 
Inside that $15 Farnsworth radio cabinet is a Sansui tuner, a replacement Panasonic turntable, a Griffin AirShark, an 8 port USB hub, a cheap-o LCD panel, a Griffin iMic, a Griffin Powermate, a Logitech wireless keyboard transmitter, a power strip, a Griffin AirClick, a Sony bookshelf speaker, a Mac Mini and enough patch cables to encircle the world 7 times.