No User Serviceable Parts Inside? – a Maker’s bill of rights…Mr. Jalopy has a list of “rights” I think we’d all like to see as Makers when we buy our gadgets, parts and equipment. Screws not glues, replaceable batteries, stuff like that. The days of the Color TV tube tester at the drugstore are gone, but why give up control of what we buy? Link. Post up suggestions in the comments here and/or drop Mr. Jalopy an email.
…a solar-powered bike light, modified from a solar flashlight. (I did find one product that is advertised as a “solar bike light”, but it’s not good: it uses an incandescent lamp rather than LEDs, and it’s a one-piece unit so the whole big thing has to mount on the handlebars). With my home-made version, the solar cell and batteries mount on the rear rack, as you see here. Link.
Great project- My ROV, “Bob” is based on the “Sea Fox”. It uses 5, 500 gpm Johnson Bilge Pumps ($10 Each) for thrusters. Unfortunately these pumps have increased in cost to $20 since I built Bob in 2002. If you have more time than money you can convert bilge pumps to use propellers similar to a boat and then reverse wire the so you can reverse them. Since each motor can produce forward and reverse thrust you can design and ROV with only 3 motors. The control is an old Atari switch type joy stick ($10 on ebay), that now houses a 9 volt battery, and is wired to mechanical relays on the ROV using Cat-5 (Standard 4-pair Computer Network) cable. An extension cord provides power to the ROV from a 12volt trolling motor battery”. [via] Link.
Why would you want to interface the Keyboard? The IBM keyboard can be a cheap alternative to a keyboard on a Microprocessor development system. Or maybe you want a remote terminal, just couple it with a LCD Module. Maybe you have a RS-232 Barcode Scanner or other input devices, which you want to use with existing software which only allows you to key in numbers or letters. You could design yourself a little box to convert RS-232 into a Keyboard Transmission, making it transparent to the software. Link.
Why would you want to interface the Keyboard? The IBM keyboard can be a cheap alternative to a keyboard on a Microprocessor development system. Or maybe you want a remote terminal, just couple it with a LCD Module. Maybe you have a RS-232 Barcode Scanner or other input devices, which you want to use with existing software which only allows you to key in numbers or letters. You could design yourself a little box to convert RS-232 into a Keyboard Transmission, making it transparent to the software. Link.
The Fourth Street hotspot is part of a communal wireless project called Neighbornode, started by then New York University grad student John Geraci as a way to add a community-building aspect to the common practice of using a neighbor’s Wi-Fi network to get online. Anyone with a broadband connection can start a Neighbornode. When someone uses the node to access the Web, he is first directed to a home page with a message board, classified section and photo page to help locals recognize one another. Here’s how to do it in your hood’ Link.
The Fourth Street hotspot is part of a communal wireless project called Neighbornode, started by then New York University grad student John Geraci as a way to add a community-building aspect to the common practice of using a neighbor’s Wi-Fi network to get online. Anyone with a broadband connection can start a Neighbornode. When someone uses the node to access the Web, he is first directed to a home page with a message board, classified section and photo page to help locals recognize one another. Here’s how to do it in your hood’ Link.
