MAKE pal and Maker faire attendee Mark Hoekstra has completed his hacked up iPod charge for bicycles, pedal your way to a fully charged iPod! He’s put together a how-to with everything you’ll need to attempt building your own, or just get inspired. I have a feeling we’ll see an iPod accessory in stores like this very soon! Link.
Jean sent in a great round up of hardware you can build to make your own videos look more film like “…a guerrilla movie maker tool, making a Track Dolly and making a Lens Hood for a Camcorder. And while on the DIY tip, is worth mentioning the old photographer trick of keeping a string tripod in your pocket to help stabilise a still camera ( a bolt that fits into your camera tripod hole, with string attached which u stand on and pull taut – presto less camera movement ). And I’m not going to bother, but the DIY LCD projector system is cute too…” Link.
Raphael writes “Ah the NES! It’s old but still great. And with a few mods, hacks, and tweaks, it can get even better. This page resumes what I have done to restore my NES games and improve my NES console, such as adding stereo sound outputs, a remote reset button, disabling the lockout chip and cleaning cartridges.” Link.
Fun calendar project “A dodecahedron is literally a polyhedron with 12 faces, but usually a regular dodecahedron is meant: a Platonic solid composed of twelve pentagonal faces, with three meeting at each vertex. It has twenty vertices and thirty edges. Its dual polyhedron is the icosahedron. Download a dodecahedral calendar after your own specifiation. Choose PDF format if you can’t print PostScript files. Choose PostScript format if you want to modify the calendar. The PostScript file explains how to mark holidays and birthdays.” Thanks Star! Link.
Southpaw writes “After reading the Dean Kamen (MAKE 04) article I wanted to learn more about stirling engines and stumbled upon this site which shows you how to build your own…out of marbles! Also of note is the NMRI homepage which shows off the firm’s 400m long tow tank and 35m long Ice basin (under “main facilities”).” Link.
This site has a bit of information about a paper microscope kit, they’re only sold in Germany, but it looks easy enough to recreate these and make your own…“Here’s a microscope, made from nothing but paper, two lenses, a plastic mirror and a drinking straw. Although this is not the kind of material you would expect to be used in an optical instrument, the facts are quite amazing: 50 x magnification, gear drive for focus setting, high quality plastic lenses, mirror to collect light for transmission view.” Thanks Joevennix! Link.
Very cool how-to, the Maker writes “I first thought electrostatic headphones were a joke. It didn’t sound safe to strap high voltage transducers to your head. But after my work with electrostatic loudspeakers I had the skill and knowledge to try building a pair and listening to them.” [