Ben writes “A few weeks ago I replaced my failed lighter outlet in the ashtray/cupholder region of my 1994 Lexus ES300 with a new DIY plywood one. The new cover has a mount for my Sirius satellite radio and a new lighter outlet. I tried to keep the production quality as high as possible while keeping costs down.” Link.
Great project from Jed and Nikhil (videos) – “We designed a working metaphor of a new ecology of things by using networked objects. This was possible through the sponsorship of Sun Microsystems who donated instrumental technology. Through a defined research process we designed objects that behave and respond in specific ways and are part of a networked system that emphasizes autonomous and flocking behavior. There are two main components: feeding and flocking. ALAVs are 3 flying objects (Bubba, Flipper, and Habib) that exist in a networked environment and communicate through assigned behaviors forming three scenarios: ALAV with a person, ALAV with other ALAVs, ALAV alone.” [via] Link.
Michael writes “While looking up the Firebug extension for Firefox, I ran into this site about a simple-to-build sailboat from New Zealand called the Firebug. They sell plans and their intention is to foster the skill of amateur boat building. This looks really quite cool.” Link. Anyone ever build one of these?
From the same folks who publish MAKE comes Rough Cuts, early access to books at they’re being written. I just started reading Flickr Hacks and it’s awesome. Here’s more info – “Sometimes you just can’t wait for the book. When you need to learn a new technology right now, turn to the Rough Cuts service from Safari Books Online. You’ll get early access to books on cutting-edge technologies-you can literally read them as they’re being written.” Link and here’s Tim on Radar.
Here’s a homemade remote control pan and tilt system mounted on a competition class RC car. All controlled wirelessly, with the video piped into a head mounted display. We’ve all seen those minicameras mounted on RC cars but never like this. Awesome mod! Link.
Handy Instructable from murph38_99 – “Create a USB car charger for any iPod or other Device that Charges Via USB by splicing together a car adapter that outputs 5v and USB Female plug. The most important part of this project is to make sure that the output your chosen car adapter is between 4.75v and 5.25v otherwise you risk damaging your device. Please verify voltage with a voltmeter.” Link.
If Martha Stewart were a Geek…She would read MAKE! – article by Steven Levy in Newsweek! “A new life awaits your wheezing videocassette recorder… as a time-release cat-food dispenser. After only a weekend of work–two fun-filled days involving an old meat grinder, parts from a broken lawn mower and serious surgery on something called the video head drum assembly–you will have a Rube Goldberg-esque contraption that dispenses Tabby’s kibble while you’re away at the Burning Man festival.” Link.
