Here’s a Flickr photo set on making a belt buckle from a hard drive. Ingredients: Hard Drive platter (Jaz disk), paper clip, hacksaw, screw(s), and small sheet of basswood (for guide). Out of the recent “technology” on a belt projects, I think I like this one the most – it’s subtle but still recognizable. [via] Link.
Bruce writes “There’s been some hype about Nokia offering music downloads over Bluetooth to phones. This article shows you how to make your own MP3 file server, called the Bluetooth Music Store, that pushes MP3 to any Bluetooth device that supports OBEX.” Link.
Aaron made a great little kit for anyone who’d like to make their own 9V USB charger that will charge just about any gadget that uses USB, all inside, you guessed it, an Altoids tin. It’s pretty simple to construct one of these, but Aaron put everything together in kit form if you’re not a hardcore Maker yet. For $8.50 it’s a good deal, and it’s always good to support a Maker who’s turning their ideas in to little businesses. Link.
In MAKE 03 we showed you how to make a VCR into a cat feeder, here’s MSN’s article about the project and the decline of VHS – “Don’t tell English inventor James Larsson that a VCR is useless. He’s got an idea what to do with that aging video gear–turn it into an automatic cat feeder, using the VCR’s timer to dispense food on a regular schedule.” Link.
We’ve covered some of the LEGO software, but it’s always worth another looksie, it appears LEGO has added more resources for designing your own LEGO bot – JBB writes “Lego factory A boon to lego robot builders, the lego factory lets you build a virtual model of your unique lego structure and order those blocks as a custom set. Add your robot’s sensors and other such items, and you’ve got a beautiful custom robot.” Link.
Tom writes “Inventgeek.com has a great article on rescuing your LCD monitors from the dumpster. Those of us that have used LCD monitors for a while know that over time the backlight starts to dim and can eventually completely fail. Well for less than $20.00 and about a half hour of your time you can replace the backlight and rejuvenate that monitor to as good as new condition. Now if they can only come up with a way to do this with my old Plasma TV tube.” Link.
This just launched today – “OpenSource.nokia.com is the first place to look for information concerning Nokia involvement in the Open Source community. The Projects link will take you to project descriptions and give you access to any Nokia developed downloadable code with an Open Source license.” They’ve got an NNTP news reader up there (source is on Sourceforge), and a few more things (Python, a SIP user agent library, and more). A web browser is coming soon (based on Apple’s Webkit). Also, “Series 60” has been rebranded as “S60”. Thanks Brian! Link.
