Ping-pong beat sequencing
Sebastian Thielke’s PongThatBeat! sequencer was created using Max/MSP and Processing – and it looks like fun!
Fun & Games
The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for bikes, rockets, R/C vehicles, toys and other diversions.
How-To: Jawa Doll With LED Eyes
I love this awesome Jawa doll with LED eyes from Bitter Betty Blogs. She’s created a pattern for download and personal use.
How-To: Happy Meal Toy Ornaments
Heather Sitarzewski shares how to turn small plastic toys into festive Christmas tree ornaments. This could be a fun way to clear out the toy bins and create fun ornaments for lower branches of the family tree, or for a small kid-friendly tree! [via @dollarcraft]
Designing in SketchUp
In my Principles of Technology class, we’re using Sketchup to design the parts we will make for the Mendocino Motor. Though we’ll fabricate the parts with hand and power tools, you can also use Sketchup to make the files needed to cut parts on a mill, Makerbot, Shopbot or other CNC tools.
The Mendocino Motor project appears in the Teachers’ Pet Projects section on
in MAKE, Volume 20, page 79.
Here are some techniques to design parts for the motor:
First get familiar with the Sketchup interface. This is pretty easy, the software is rather intuitive. A good place to start is by making whole shapes with the rectangle and circle tools. Draw a shape, then use the Push/Pull tool to extrude it up or down. You can make a shape on the side of another shape, then pull it out or push it in. Make some shapes. Mouse over the tool icons and you should see the name of the tool in a popup.
On a unicycle built for two…
Not a whole lot of build info, but this looks like it would be an exciting ride! [Thanks, Star!]
Legos on Hoth
Cool pics from Flickr user Avanaut. He describes the photography in this comment. [via The Brothers Brick]
Downloadable papercraft Elder Thing
British video game artist Wayne Peters has a downloadable fold up pattern (PDF) for his 28mm paper model of one of Lovecraft’s master baddies from At the Mountains of Madness. [via Propnomicon]
