DC Power Station for a lot of Cell Phones?
SpiderWrench has a Maker challenge! “Ok, I really need help with this. I have several prototypes without power, (or rather, I have been forced to use an AC power strip with 30 individual, ugly chargers and a mess of wire everywhere) here is the situation: I need to be able to charge 30 new cell phones on a single power supply. Through some risky experimenting on my part, I have been able to charge 3 cell phones off of a single wall transformer, and I know I need more power to get 30 up and charging. I have thought of using a modified laptop/PC power supply, and I think it will work, but I do not want to risk blowing up 30+ $300 cell phones which are not mine to blow up.” Post up ideas in the forum! Link.
Chris writes “I’ve been a regular user of Skype for about a year now and have been using my own solutions to try to make this as user friendly as possible. But it was never perfect and I’ve always been the only one in my house using it as it hasn’t been user friendly. Then I heard about the Sipura and started looking around on how to use it, and then I heard about VoIPBuster which provided free VoIP calls to land lines all over the world. In this how-to I will explain why I made the choices I made and show you how easy it can be to have this up running in your own house. Calling nationally and internationally for free to regular telephones.” 
This is crazy, I just recieved my Powerglove off eBay and another Gyration mouse for a VR glove project and Leadingzero built one! – “The time has come to bring new life into our old friend and to welcome him back as a productive member of society with the ‘Powerglove Mouse’. With this hack I can strap on the Powerglove and have total control over the mouse cursor on my computer. I can control the cursor’s position with a wave of my hand and activate the mouse clicks by simply bending my fingers – a beautiful integration of old and new.” [
Chris Jang is building his own autonomous robot – “This robot is my first electronics and embedded systems project. I studied Electronic Circuits and Applications by Senturia and Wedlock for six months and then rebuilt and cross compiled my home computer systems with a Linux From Scratch book to prepare for it. This project is also the first time machining moving parts (as simple as the front suspension is, the parts do move). I’ve maintained what a friend referred to as an “mail blog” during the project. After some progress or discovery, I emailed a status report of sorts, usually with pictures and (rarely) movies attached. A coworker convinced me there is value in these emails as artifacts of the project history.” [
Joelsprayberry iPod mount Instructable for his Honda Element – “I had been lookin online for ideas on the cleanest way to mount an ipod that wasn’t in the way, with wires everywhere and was not cumbersome to use or to see. I got a ipod mount for a bicycle handlebarfrom 
Bug writes “Make your own Mardis Gras mask out of water-hardened leather. Start with vegetable-tanned (also known as saddle-skirt) leather. I picked mine up at a local Tandy Leather. You’ll also need paint suitable for leather (fabric paint usually works).” 
Great discussion in the MAKE forums! Leenwebb writes – “Like many of us, my house is filled with wires. And until we get the Broadcast Energy Transmitter from the GI Joe movie working, I need the wires. But here’s the thing: they’re ugly. And, often, in the way. So I am putting a call out to all Makers: What do you use for wire-wrangling?…” 
