DIY Projects

New episode of from the shadows is released! In anticipation of the release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of The Sith, the From The Shadows Crew took a trip to the “Star Wars Line” in Hollywood. There FTS met up with Aaron Mosny Master Sabersmith of Saberology.com. Following in the tradition of the Jedi and the Lightsaber, Aaron has created the “Perfect Dueling Weapon” utilizing forms including Kendo, Kenjitsu, Iaido, Chinese Broadsword, and European fencing. Unlike shanai, boken, or fencing foils, this weapons design could be used for almost any martial form. Link.

Steve Cooley has a couple time lapse videos of building things- the first video making a table for his drill press the second video is turning some old wood in to a really neat looking table leg or something Link. Perhaps on my next project I’ll do some time lapse and see how it turns out.

Netflix for Makers! (Disclaimer: They have an ad in MAKE). Technical Video Rental is a service that rents video tapes and DVDs – just like your corner video store…but we rent the kind of videos that you can’t find on every street corner. Videos on running lathes, building target rifles, welding steel…Link.

I’ve seen swiveling power strips and thought it was a clever idea– and here are outlets you can use in your home and/or office that do the same thing. These are really handy since a lot of chargers tend to cover up two outlets.
[via] Link.

A long time ago you could modify a RadioShack dialer so it would play tones that simulate money was dropped into a payphone. Well, now it’s time for the old to meet the new. Here’s a How-to for doing this with an iPod- the ability to do this has been turned off on payphone for years now but it’s a fun thing reminisce about. I think the iTalk would be the best way to do this for playback if it were to work. Link.

WiFi antenna made from Pepperidge Farm Pirouette Cookie Can. This article will describe how to make a cheap, portable, high performance (15-18 db) directional antenna out of commonly available parts that can be purchased in most grocery and hardware stores. Link.

I just got our 2nd issue in the mail! A lot of folks have been emailing and IMing me about how to get started in podcasting and here it is! We have a great how-to along with tips, tricks, software to use, gear suggestions and a lot more. You can get the magazine at most books stores or by subscribing and if you want to get an idea of what’s covered in the article- here’s a video I shot for a friend of the podcasting 101 section. Link (QuickTime 3mb).