The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for digital gadgetry, open code, smart hacks, and more. Processing power to the people!
If you are one of those people who never has the right cable when they need it then this project is for you. Turn one cat5 network cable into the Megatron of cabling by wiring custom adaptors and bridges. This straight through cable can transform into a crossover, serial, serial null-modem, cisco console, vga or vga extension cable by using four adapters, two links and one couple. Link.
Matthew writes “Previously, E-DSP visited the possibility of using your sound card as a signal/function generator. I was curious about the results, but did not have a Windows machine close by to test it. After some searching, I found a Linux alternative and was able to test the limitations of my Sound Blaster Live!” Link.
Peter Green made a portable Mac Mini! “Why the Mac Mini Portable? Well, in short I wanted a machine that was really dinky to just pop in my rucksack, and while the PowerBooks/iBooks are pretty small, they still take up a fair amount of space. I wanted something with a very small screen that was more or less hand-held, and mac just don’t do that [yet].” [via] Link.
Jeremiah writes “As a new Linux user, there is a sense of frustration. You can’t seem to get anything working correctly or you just don’t know how. I know exactly how that feels, and after spending countless hours searching forums and guides, I have compiled a list of the ten guides I find most useful as a new Ubuntu user (and Linux user for that matter). So, here they are, not listed in any particular order.” Thanks Jason! Link.
SpiderWrench has a Maker challenge! “Ok, I really need help with this. I have several prototypes without power, (or rather, I have been forced to use an AC power strip with 30 individual, ugly chargers and a mess of wire everywhere) here is the situation: I need to be able to charge 30 new cell phones on a single power supply. Through some risky experimenting on my part, I have been able to charge 3 cell phones off of a single wall transformer, and I know I need more power to get 30 up and charging. I have thought of using a modified laptop/PC power supply, and I think it will work, but I do not want to risk blowing up 30+ $300 cell phones which are not mine to blow up.” Post up ideas in the forum! Link.
AizeMashehu’s writes “I built two fan controllers into a happy-face baybus for two sets of fan arrays so I can hear the sound of silence while the eight large fans chug-a-lug-lug. One knob on the new fanbus controlls the two rear 80mm fans blowing into the water-cooling radiator (in addition to the existing 120mm fan with rear-mounted speed control knob sucking air out of the radiator from the other side) and the other knob controls the 2 front 80mm fans that blow air around 5 of the fastest hard drives in the machine. You can see a close up as well as an explaination of the switch here and the main machine that this is wired to in the other photos in this series.” Link.
Scott writes “For those who don’t already know, the Gimp is a powerful, open source image editing application. For more info on the Gimp visit gimp.org. GIMPshop is essentially the same program with some cosmetic changes. The Gimp’s menu structure and naming conventions had been a constant source of frustration for me because I was so used to Photoshop. So, I did what any hardcore graphics geek would have done. I hacked GIMPshop together.” New version! Link.
