Wonderful entry on this old Maker story – David Hahn (born October, 1976) attempted to build a nuclear breeder reactor in 1994 in his backyard shed in Commerce Township, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at the age of 17. Hahn, nicknamed the “Radioactive Boy Scout”, was an Eagle Scout candidate who had previously earned a merit badge in Atomic Energy after years of basement chemistry tinkering that included small explosions. [via] Link.
…examples of game cartridges and portable systems that have been circuit bent to create a nice glitch aesthetic & sound…Jumpstart has been bending the Gauntlet game on Sega Master System II here. Link.
This website shows a hand made set up for taking highspeed inflight pictures of insects. Included is a pdf of the circuit board layout and a series of improvements and different photos illustrating improvements. The gallery of pictures is truly inspiring. Thanks DeKitchen! Link.
Please have this kid contact MAKE – A 14-year-old German boy has been ordered to pull down a 300ft long roller coaster which he built in his backyard. The boy, unnamed due to German privacy laws, from Offenburg built the 16-foot-high wooden construction over the summer holidays. He even designed his own carriage which can reach speeds of up to 30 mph. But local town planning officials say he must pull it down again because he did not ask for planning permission. They say the construction is too large and not built to rollercoaster safety standards. The boy has until mid-September to tear it down if he wants to avoid a fine. Link.
ZaphodB42 writes “We’ve all seen that spiffy “transparent” desktop hack on the net. But thats ancient history. Here is a quicktime movie of a “live” transparent desktop. Ok, you’ve probably figured out that its not a “real” transparent desktop. For one thing, I did not have all the camera angles perfect, so things do not line up exactly. The video cameras I have do not have a wide enough zoom lens. But with a little more time, I’ll get things aligned and post a new video. Still a neat trick”. Link.
Another cool Flickr app- Make your own magazine cover! Be a superstar! Prove to your friends how famous you really are! They are currently cranking out 268 covers/hour. Just finished cover 3280. [