Shopping list, prices, and step-by-step instructions to build a durable and versitile home studio…for less than $100! This is a good guide if you want to make your own photo studio on the cheap. The sections are divided in to plumbing, nuts and bolts, electrical, oversized wood and backdrops. It looks like many of these things might already be laying around most basements, so you could do it for even less than $100. Link.
The new Sting-Ray Electric shares the original design characteristics of the Street Series Sting-Ray, but adds an electric motor and a battery pack in the form of a motorcycle engine casing so it looks even more like the chopper it originally emulated when it took the world by storm way back in the early sixties. The new Sting-Ray Electric will reach 14 mph and the battery will last up to two hours for a price of US$399. Those specs are distinctly commuter machine territory. Link.
The prospect of saving money and controlling every aspect of their computer is leading a growing number of users down the path of DIY. Happy to rely on the manufacturer warranties for each individual component, DIYers assemble and configure their own machines and provide their own tech support. The payoff, they say, is a more powerful machine that they understand down to the smallest quirk. Arts-law student and PC enthusiast Greg Sadler says building his own PC is as much a learning tool as it is a hobby. Link.
Handy battery guide- Each battery has unique needs that must be met to obtain reliable service and long life. The Do and Don’t battery table summarizes these needs and advises proper handling of each battery type. Optimal handling may not always be practical in real life. Deviations from the ideal are acceptable but will lower the life expectancy of the battery to some degree. Exposure to heat may be the larger deterrent. Link.
I thought it would be fun to talk with MAKE pal Richard Giles in Australia for today’s MAKE Audio show, so here’s the Gadget Show for May 22nd. We chatted about MAKE issue 02, E3, Astromechs, VOIP for the Nintendo DS, NASA’s O2 challenge, the XBOX 360, Broadcast Flag part II and a lot more. Download / Subscribe to the audio here.
Kevin Rose of G4Tech TV fame is moving on to do his own web only technology show (and homegrown network) called Systm. All episodes will be released free of charge, in a variety of formats (Theora, Xvid, WMV, H.264, PSP), wrapped in RSS (for vidcasting) and licensed under the Creative Commons. Link. I think we’re going to see a lot of great shows come out this year!
Another one to add to the LEGO project list- The VCR is controlled by the Lego Mindstorms Robotics Invention System. It has a motorized top-loading deck, working tape reel drive and IR remote control.The deck accepts a cassette that holds two reels of (imaginary) tape. Beta, VHS and now Technic. Link. Source included on the site.
