MAKE Flickr photo pool member pftburger writes “I found a whole bunch of old display board panels at the local scrap yard, so i built a computer interface and set them in resin, now they can function as a simple VU meter, jumping to the music.” Link.
Master of the ‘teardown’, Eric Pratt from iSuppli Corp. specializes in stripping down gadgets and finding out how much they’re really worth…The Mac mini which retails for $499 is actually worth $283 in parts and labor. The 2 Gig iPod Nano retails for $199, but is actually worth $103 in parts and labor. The most expensive component is actually the iPod Nano’s 2 Gigs of memory. Eric finished up with a G4 exclusive teardown of the Game Boy Micro which retails for $100. The actual cost of the Micro is only $44. The screen on the GB Micro is actually the most expensive component. Link.
Making Toys is “The Insides and Outsides of Electronic Toy Design” blog from Professor Yury Gitman at Parsons. The assignments are doled out on the site, you can peek in on many electronic toy dissections, autopsies and see how many of the cheap electronic doo-dads are made with wonderful parts to be procured. Link.
One of the most asked questions when I venture out to meet other Makers or folks just getting in to making things usually is – “Are there any simple how-tos that explain transistors, LEDs (Light Emitting Diode), etc..” so, here’s one I dug up from my bookmarks to check out. If you have others that we haven’t covered, post up in the comments or via our “suggest a site”. Link.
Wonderful way to learn about computing – these ought to be on the back of cereal boxes. CARDIAC (cardboard illustrative aid to computation) illustrates the operation of a computer without actually being a computer. It is a very practical aid to understanding computers and computer programming. [via] Link. We have a ton of great Maker-like kits on Make 04 too.
Homemade ergo-monitor riser made from a half-inch thick piece of 24″ x 48″ birch plywood, some ABS plastic drain pipe (1 1/2″ diameter), and some plastic spray paint. Very simple, under $20 and might save some neck pain. Link.
Here’s an incredible case mod made to look like the iconic droid, R2-D2 – the Maker used a white plastic barrel for R2’s body and a weber grill for R2’s head. It’s not Jawa junk though, the unit cools a 3.2Ghz P4 running at 3.7Ghz to -38 degrees celsius. [