Translating Japanese Crafts
Ningyo or Kokeshi? If you’ve seen our post last week on Japanese craft books, you may have also found a lot of Japanese craft sites along the way, but have no idea what they are saying. Check out Makewrite’s full Japanese craft translation guide and how to use Google Translate to see your what your favorite Japanese craft sites are sayin’. Makewrite says, “It may actually make less sense translated into English than it did in Japanese, but that’s half the fun.” Link.
DIY satellite of sorts…A Russian Orlan spacesuit with three batteries, a radio transmitter, and internal sensors to measure temperature and battery power – “One of the strangest satellites in the history of the space age is about to go into orbit. Launch date: Feb. 3rd. That’s when astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS) will hurl an empty spacesuit overboard. The spacesuit is the satellite — “SuitSat” for short.” [
AntonOlsen writes “This is an easy to build dc-dc switcher that can drive quite a few LEDs at 3.3V with a single AA battery. Version 1 is going in a mini mag light and I’m thinking version two will make a very light weight bike light.” [
Refik writes “Here’s a free Funcion/Signal generator. Engineers and hobbysts need a function generator to test their circuits if they are working properly and it happens that they don’t have money to buy a function generator or don’t have time at the moment to build one! This function generator is a free of charge software that needs just a sound card in the computer!” 
Free PDF download “The massive popularity of wireless networking has caused equipment costs to continually plummet, while equipment capabilities continue to increase. By applying this technology in areas that are badly in need of critical communications infrastructure, more people can be brought online than ever before, in less time, for very little cost. We hope to not only convince you that this is possible, but also show how we have made such networks work, and to give you the information and tools you need to start a network project in your local community.” – [
Barry writes “After attending the Winter NAMM show for a number of years I’ve noticed that the exhibitors seem to fall into two categories: the established company showing their new (and sometimes vaporous) products; and the independent start-up company looking to be noticed by distributors, music stores, potential investors and the music press. It seems that every year I spent more of my NAMM cruising time checking out the various small companies that all get stashed off in some side room. Many of the products from these companies are never seen the by the mainstream either because their potential market is too small, or most people simply can’t figure out what the hell to do with it.”