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.

The Packet Sniffers – Maker friendly web show!

The Packet Sniffers – Maker friendly web show!

Ps Logo03 …a web based TV show that showcases technology and other things of geek interest. Episode 4 covers automotive technology – Laptop stand for your car, Zach explains EFI, Bumper mounted video camera, Zach’s Axiom Industrial Computer, ECU & the body computer, Retrieving trouble codes from your ECU – 3 key turn method, Zach rants about auto tech, Commodore – aka Holden Automotive, ECU modding tools, OBD Scan Tools – what are they?, Scantool.net OBDII scan tool and Digimoto software, DIY EFI – Mega Squirt, Remote Keyless Entry – how it works (KeeLOQ) Extending the range of your RKE. Link.

What’s That Stuff?

What’s That Stuff?

Image6-8 Chemical News & Engineering has a nice section on their site – all about what’s in the stuff use Ever wondered about what’s really in hair coloring, Silly Putty, Cheese Wiz, artificial snow, or self-tanners? C&EN presents a collection of articles that gives you a look at the chemistry behind a wide variety of everyday products. Link.

No User Serviceable Parts Inside – MAKER Bill of Rights…

No User Serviceable Parts Inside – MAKER Bill of Rights…

Images-21 No User Serviceable Parts Inside? – a Maker’s bill of rights…Mr. Jalopy has a list of “rights” I think we’d all like to see as Makers when we buy our gadgets, parts and equipment. Screws not glues, replaceable batteries, stuff like that. The days of the Color TV tube tester at the drugstore are gone, but why give up control of what we buy? Link. Post up suggestions in the comments here and/or drop Mr. Jalopy an email.

DIY solar bike light

DIY solar bike light

1-1 …a solar-powered bike light, modified from a solar flashlight. (I did find one product that is advertised as a “solar bike light”, but it’s not good: it uses an incandescent lamp rather than LEDs, and it’s a one-piece unit so the whole big thing has to mount on the handlebars). With my home-made version, the solar cell and batteries mount on the rear rack, as you see here. Link.

HOW TO – Interfacing with a PC’s Keyboard

HOW TO – Interfacing with a PC’s Keyboard

Images-20 Why would you want to interface the Keyboard? The IBM keyboard can be a cheap alternative to a keyboard on a Microprocessor development system. Or maybe you want a remote terminal, just couple it with a LCD Module. Maybe you have a RS-232 Barcode Scanner or other input devices, which you want to use with existing software which only allows you to key in numbers or letters. You could design yourself a little box to convert RS-232 into a Keyboard Transmission, making it transparent to the software. Link.