Hey, wouldn’t it be cool to make a cannon that can shoot a potato a couple hundred yards? And wouldn’t it be cool to put a motor on a shopping cart and see how fast that sucker can go? And wouldn’t it be really cool to hook up your living room couch to a device that makes it shake whenever there’s an explosion on the TV show you’re watching?…Funny article about MAKE… Link.
Battle Kits are designed along the lines of the most successful combat robot ever: BioHazard. We started with some of the key features in BioHazard and developed four rugged, low-profile, high-performance, mobile platforms on which you can build the next killer robot! Thanks Doug! Link.
...cool project by Canadian engineer Steve Lapp who modified his 2001 Prius by installing solar panels on the roof. It is admitted that the car is still a rough prototype, but so far the fuel economy improvement are of 10%, a respectable figure; for reference, Honda completely redesigned the Honda Civic engine for the 2006 model and achieved a 6% increase in fuel economy… Link.
Fossil isn’t going to SPOT any longer, looks bad- but this watch project looks amazing! eWatch is a wearable computing system that can be worn on your wrist. It has several sensors that gather information about the user and the environment. It can attract the user’s attention with visual and/or tactile notifications. eWatch supports wireless Bluetooth communication which allows it to interface with a computer, PDA, or cellular phone. The wrist watch form factor allows open exposure to the environment making it ideal for ascertaining user state information. This also means that eWatch is instantly viewable and always accessible to the user. Link.
Google Maps is one of the web technologies that take the web to the next level. When Google introduced Google Maps with searchable and pannable interface, and recently released the API for adding implementation on the map, it creates many interest from users and developers. Here are some great examples and resources… Link.
Not a lot of details, but here’s a nice shot of a homemade still. The homemade still seems to be constructed using a stove and a paint can condenser. See previous “still making“. Link.
The IMSAI 8080 computer system (circa 1976) has been re-released by the original company. The case accepts a modern PC motherboard alongside the vintage S-100 system. Think of it as the ultimate old-meets-new case mod, complete with lots of switches and flashing lights. [