From traditional crafts to modern crafts, we’re covering news and interesting projects to educate you and keep you inspired. Design trends and pop culture related projects are here to inspire.
“Digiscoping”, based on methods of marrying your digital camera to a conventional optical device, is an off-the-shelf solution for TreeHugger closeups of birds, concerts, and sporting events. The better way is to adapt a decent digital camera, which you may already have and spent a lot of time learning to link to your computer, to fit with a decent spotting scope. Link and Link.
Digital microscopy systems can cost thousands of dollars but a very useful model can be assembled by using one decent compound microscope and consumer products that cost less than $150. Many hopitals and universities have retired micorscopes that can be adapted to this task. The plans found here show how to modify a commonly found microscope. Thanks Dan! Link.
Great how to…I still enjoy the aesthetic of black and white a great deal, and of course have tried to get the “look” I like in digital as well. Thanks to a lot of experimentation, some reading up, and tips from people who are a lot better at it than I am, I’m finally starting to see the kinds of results I wanted. In particular, thanks to Jim Fuglestad, aka Shutter at DPReview, who thought up the “dodge and soft light” technique described in this essay. Link.
Available to order in 3 colors for a cool 200 bucks, the Muff Pack is a unisex shoulder bag that doubles as a handmuff. Kinda handy when you think about it. If you’re the type of person who constantly loses gloves around the city or find gloves to be cumbersome in general, this might be a fun alternative. The only drawback (well, other than the price) is that you may get suspicious stares on the train with your hand stuck in your bag. Link.
Painting the Myth, a new system for interactive biography, allows participants to illustrate the work, histories and stories of artists by moving through increasingly rich and detailed layers of their best known works. This unique digital storytelling experience merges form and content into one engaging look at the story behind the canvas, the secrets inside the history, and the artist in each of us. Link.
NPR_Nut writes “A group of musicians took centuries-old instruments from the forests of Congo, brought them into the city – and plugged in! Their do-it-yourself amplification devices conjure up garage bands. African punk music from Konono Number One.” Link (WindowsMedia audio). Wow, this is really great- they also talk how they made the DIY pick ups.
This might be cool idea for other projects too. In this project, Home Depot is responsible for the plant in two ways: first, an unconditional guarantee to replace any plant they sell, for up to one year; secondly through an implied cybernetic contract. [