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Winners for MakeShift 01

MAKE author William Lidwell had his work cut out for him when it came to selecting the winners in MakeShift 01, where readers were challenged with a scenario of being stranded far from civilization with a dead car battery. As he reports, “MAKE readers answered the challenge with audacity and vigor”.

The winners have been selected, and you can read all about it in our web Extra, MakeShift 01: Analysis, Commentary, and Winners.

If you have to be stranded with a dead battery, you’d be lucky to be stranded with a group of MAKE readers. Unless, of course, you were the one who left the lights on. Then they might just hang you over the side of a cliff as part of their solution…

Continue Reading Terrie Miller
RoboCup US Open Crowns Champs

RoboCup US Open Crowns Champs

Aibogruppe
RoboCup soccer match results are in via Sportsdot.org- The American entry from CMDash from Carnegie Melon fell 2-0 in robot soccer to the powerhouse German squad, the MicroSoft HellHounds. After the match, the German robot dogs were programmed to flex their metal biceps. With the time to devote to development and the financial backing of a company like Microsoft, the German entries are much more polished than their American counterparts at the moment. Last month at the RoboCup German Open, the Germans dominated nearly every category. Link.

Continue Reading Phillip Torrone
Cheapo Laptop Carrier

Cheapo Laptop Carrier

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Here’s a pretty neat idea- inflatable laptop bags. Next visit to the mega-mart I’ll look for something cheap to make one out of clear plastic and then just inflate the whole thing while I’m traveling to expedite my trip through security. Although I suspect it might actually delay things more with the type of soldery / wirey things I usually carry. Via jorn . Link.

Continue Reading Phillip Torrone
D-Link DWL1000AP 802.11b Access Point Mod

D-Link DWL1000AP 802.11b Access Point Mod

Dlink Guts1
Brain sent in this handy D-link Access Point Case Mod. One of my hacks in the past that I’ve taken time to write up. Like most everything else in my house, the D-Link AP I had was dissassembled to see what was inside. The result: not much, meaning that the plastic case it was in had a lot of wasted space. So, I decided to see if I could make it any smaller. Link.

Continue Reading Phillip Torrone
Play Records with a Laser

Play Records with a Laser

Elp Laser Turntable Lt5
The ELP Laser Turntable plays records by beaming the laser at the grooves (no needles touche the record). There are a total of five lasers: two for the left and right groove walls, two for tracking groove pitch, and one for tracking groove warp. Sounds amazing, until I saw it was $18,999. I think we’ll need to a Make version! Link.

Continue Reading Phillip Torrone