Craft & Design

From traditional crafts to modern crafts, we’re covering news and interesting projects to educate you and keep you inspired. Design trends and pop culture related projects are here to inspire.

MAKE VIDEO PODCAST- Testing high speed flash photography kits…

Screenshot 01With our kits you can capture high-speed events, splashes, popping balloons and breaking glass. It’s an adjustable flash controller triggered by light or sound. Our kit includes a high-speed flash, disposable camera, flash controller and fully assembled flash trigger that synchronizes the high-speed event and the flash. Also included is a 6-ft cable connects your high-speed flash to the flash controller, and all the tools needed to precisely time your high-speed picture. Flash controller is adjustable, so the flash can be triggered by soft sounds, loud sounds, a laser pointer, or a flashlight. The kit also includes digital output that can trigger other external flashes, such as the SnapShot II strobe light. But, how do we test each unit before we ship them? Here’s great video with Tom Anderson from Quaketronics showing you what we do! Link (MP4). Click here to get the video with iTunes! This video should work on PC/Mac/Linux/iPod video and PSP (let us know if it does not).

Satellites on a Budget – High Altitude Balloons

Satellites on a Budget – High Altitude Balloons

2006-0119Hialt-LgUniversetoday.com on DIY high altitude photography – “Paul Verhage has some pictures that you’d swear were taken from space. And they were. Amateur Radio High Altitude Ballooning allows individuals to launch functioning satellites to “near space” at a fraction of the cost of traditional rocket launch vehicles. Paul’s balloons have been as high as 35 km, and the photographs he’s taken are out of this world.” Thanks Fraser! Link. In Makers we also profile folks who take high altitude ballooning to the extreme (DIY)…

Hackable Windows PC / Synth / Entertainment Center

Hackable Windows PC / Synth / Entertainment Center

MikomoviePeter writes “Korg has kept its OASYS Linux PC – synth hybrid closed, but not Open Labs. Their Windows-based synthesizer keyboard slash DJ/VJ workstation slash home entertainment center (with remote control) has an open hard drive bay, four PCI slots, and hinged access to the PC innards, all with a fully-customizable Windows install. Sure, it’s preconfigured for music production with a 15″ touchscreen and software bundle, but you could go inside the machine and reconfigure it into whatever you wanted. One idea: control games from the music keyboard.” Link.

Make stuff with ropes and poles

Make stuff with ropes and poles

Final Inspection 20Shannon writes in about a new blog all about making thing with ropes and poles – here’s the latest “I set a challenge to my scouts to design a pioneered wheelbarrow during our recent troop camp, and this is the result- Kingfishers patrol built a wheelbarrow complete with wheel cut from a log. Construction is very simple- 4 thin spars lashed together with square lashings, a “cradle” woven between them, and a wheel with a tent peg axle. Very fast wheelbarrow, still looking solid six months down the line, it now hangs in front of their patrol den.” Link.

Make your own video streaming server with iTunes 6.02…

Itunes-1Fsteele writes in to confirm you can stream purchased video with the new iTunes – “Thanks for the link; it works just fine with store content. That’s actually how I noticed it. I’ve successfully imported content I captured via EyeTV, as well, but it looks like it only works if it was imported via iTunes 6.02. My wife has a couple of videos she bought with 6.01 that aren’t available. What really makes this cool is that there’s now a video streaming server inside every copy of iTunes, so it will be interesting to see what people can do with that.” Link.

“O” Class altitude record for amateur rocket flight…

RocketStefan writes “A nice detailed description of Oregonian Adrian Carbine’s record-setting amateur rocket flight. Powered by twin “N” motors, the two-stage model soared to over 40,000 feet. Dimensions: Length: 17’4″, sustainer dia: 4.25″, booster dia: 4.6″. Pad weight: 96.5 lbs. Weight without motors: 43.5 lbs (including parachutes, tubular nylon, electronics, avionics bays, CO2 systems, etc.). The entire airframe weighed 28 lbs empty.” Link.