The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for digital gadgetry, open code, smart hacks, and more. Processing power to the people!
Here’s a good resource for making an cell phone LCD in to a small display that gets its data from the parallel port. pcd8544-based displays can be found in some monochrome nokia-cellphones. With some technical skills, an independant, small display with background light can be gained out of these phones at hardly any costs. Link.
Some video card hacking…Firingsquad is running a story on how to unlock all 16 pipelines in nVidia’s GeForce 6800. By default the card only ships with 12 pixel pipelines enabled, but with a tool and a few mouse clicks, the card can be unlocked to run with all 16 pipes. Performance improvements are seen everywhere, so it’s a pretty nice free upgrade. These cards are currently selling for $200 online, so a 16-pipe GeForce 6800 delivers great bang for the buck. [via] Link.
Ask Slashdot has posed an interesting question looking for a cheap (under $50) word processor for banging out notes on the go. I think my favorite one is the $9 (Ebay) DreamWriter NTS 325. Seems like you can get the data off fairly easily too. Link.
If you’ve been using PCs for a while, you’re bound to have an old one you don’t use much, if at all. With 2-GHz computers available for well under $1,000, what good is an old 300-MHz Pentium II system? The answer depends on your willingness to experiment, have fun, learn, and prevent pollution. Here are ten things you can do with that old PC, starting with tasks for relatively “better” old PCs, and working our way down to the real junkers. [via] Link.
Graphics Demo is a modified Commodore CBM 3032 computer. Its inner life was replaced by a mechanics. A wireframe model of a teapot, soldered out of silvered copper wire, is gimballed inside the monitor cabinet. The model is varnished with green uv-active paint and lighted by four blacklight tubes, which are installed invisible inside the cabinet. The teapot can be rotated in any direction by using the numeric keypad. During the rotation, you can hear the electric motors and feel their vibrations. [via] Link.
Mashing up Google maps and Gasbuddy = locations of cheap gas in your area on a Google map (map or satellite view). Just choose a city- then the data on the right side is updated cheapest gas prices. If you have mobile high speed access you could add a GPS and have this running while you drive. In the future, maybe our cars will do this for us. Via Robotwisdom. Link.
