Chris writes “I was looking to make my own Power Over Ethernet injector for my Apple Airport Base Station, and found this great looking HowTo. Haven’t tried it yet, but I plan to.” Link. Here’s another one we’ve posted, if you have others to help Chris out – post them in the comments.
This MP3 player is made from an old Nintendo controller. The buttons were rewired and are used to control the music and select the songs. If you have an old controller and a busted up MP3 player, this looks like a fun mod to attempt. [via] Link (translated page).
“The original Minix was an educational operating system – that actually served as the inspiration for development of Linux. MINIX 3 is a new open-source operating system designed to be highly reliable and secure. It is based somewhat on previous versions of MINIX, but is fundamentally different in many key ways. MINIX 1 and 2 were intended as teaching tools; MINIX 3 adds the new goal of being usable as a serious system on resource-limited and embedded computers and for applications requiring high reliability.” One of the nice things about Minix 3.0 is that unlike previous versions of Minix – it installs and runs just fine inside of Virtual PC. Thanks Brian! Link.
“The ideal time to install a home network is while your home is being built. It is so much easier to run all the cabling throughout your home before the walls are finished. This web page will describe the network that I installed in my new home as it was being built with a focus on the ‘How To’ aspect.” [via] Link.
Good how to on surface mounting with hand-soldering tools. “Integrated-circuit (IC) manufacturers produce fewer new designs in dual in-line package (DIP), shrink dual in-line package (SDIP), or other through-hole forms. These are the classic looking chips that have legs that extend through the circuit board and are soldered on the other side. They’re easy to put into sockets and easy to use on solderless breadboards. Most of the new families appear only in surface-mount technology (SMT), surface mount device (Philips SMD), or surface mount component (SMC) packaging such as small outline integrated circuit (SOIC), small outline J-leaded (SOJ), small outline transistor (SOT), plastic leaded chip carrier (PLCC), quad flat pack (QFP), or thin small outline package (TSOP). Without special adapter (carrier) boards, surface-mounted components make breadboarding and hobbyist experimentation difficult.” Thanks Greg! Link.
“Gold, silver or copper can be a great looking accent, but not all mod parts come in these colors. Having parts dipped and plated, like chroming, can be very pricey. So what do you do? A technique called Leafing, which is a process of applying a real metal onto wood, metal, or plastic.” Here’s how to metal leaf computer parts… Link.
Excellent write up of a Maker who created a beautiful line of low power LED lighting for your home, and now they’re for sale – “The light I built for my dining room has three 1W LEDs encased in clear rod, surrounded by transparent blue plastic. This means that the light shines downward with white light but glows out the side in a very nice blue. I built it for our dining room and so I call it the dining room light, Eurolite has come up with their own names for the lights and this one is the Borealis Linear.”… Link.
