Well, it’s my birthday today, and despite my request for no presents, I did get a couple of MAKE-like goodies. Here is a spent shotgun shell turned into one of those flower vases with the suction cups. Photo here and here (with flower). I wonder what it shot.
Another great CVS camera hack HOW TO…When I first saw the CVS disposable camera, I knew that it would be hacked soon. I also knew that as soon as it was, I would have to buy one, and I knew exactly what I wanted it for: Mountain biking. Here are directions for building a helmet mount for the CVS one-time-use camcorder. Includes photos and a 10 minute trail riding video. Link.
“Digiscoping”, based on methods of marrying your digital camera to a conventional optical device, is an off-the-shelf solution for TreeHugger closeups of birds, concerts, and sporting events. The better way is to adapt a decent digital camera, which you may already have and spent a lot of time learning to link to your computer, to fit with a decent spotting scope. Link and Link.
Digital microscopy systems can cost thousands of dollars but a very useful model can be assembled by using one decent compound microscope and consumer products that cost less than $150. Many hopitals and universities have retired micorscopes that can be adapted to this task. The plans found here show how to modify a commonly found microscope. Thanks Dan! Link.
A MAKER profile of Natalie Jeremijenko, building toxic sensing robot dogs from discarded toys, as read by Dale Dougherty, MAKE publisher. This is an enhanced podcast: it will play audio and show the actual pages of MAKE Magazine from volume 02 when you click on them. We hope to do more of these, so please let us know what you think. iTunes: Click this link and click SUBSCRIBE. View the comments for more info (the MAKE iTunes feeds has tons of free articles and more from the mag)…
Here’s how to make an ultra-cheap external cell phone antenna from coax cable and a hangar. You’ll need- A wire pants hanger. A length of coax cable (2′ should do). A plug that fits into your phone’s external antenna jack on your phone. (or be prepared to rig something together) Link.
The principles of its operation are simple: The fan creates an air flow which is cooled by contact with the 4 bottles full of ice. In this way, the temperature of the air flow is reduced to a more tolerable level. The more bottles the better… You must closely watch it unless you want a swimming pool on your carpet or floors. [via] Link.
