Brought to you by the folks at MIT Lab, TapTap is not just a scarf, it’s like a big hug from someone you love. TapTap is a wearable haptic system that can record, broadcast and playback human touch for emotional therapy. Made in two layers of felt, the pink color on the inside contains pockets where up to six actuation circuits mounted on flexible plastic sheets can be placed where ever you want. You can even have a place for your keys and wallet. [via] Link.
Command-Tab is reviving an iPod with a ThinkPad 240 HD adapter. In his Flickr photo set you can see the start to finish of building an iPod to 2.5″ hard drive adapter. Looks pretty easy to do if you have an old drive and iPod to hack up. Link.
Jeff at Palm addict writes – “Somehow tonight I stumbled on something I’ve never heard of. It seems that Google has a page that will optimize any website for viewing on a mobile phone or PDA, similar to Skweezer and IYHY. All you see when you load the page is what shows in the included graphic. No Google logo, no explanation, nothing. But simply enter a URL and you recieve a quick-loading mobile optimized version of the page you requested.” [via] Thanks, Brian! Link.
Here’s how to make a very cool motor from a disposable plastic drinking cup, aluminium foil, glue-stick, bamboo or dowel, wire and a non-conducting base, such as a plastic plate or a wooden board. Kiteman writes – “Normal motors are driven by electromagnetic forces. This motor needs no batteries, mains supply or solar cells. Electrostatic motors are turned by the kind of electricity generated by wearing nylon clothes in a modern office. Think of it as gigantic nano-technology as well, because this is how the microscopic motors of nanobots work.” Link.
Pretty unfortunate. I suspect we’ll see a hack to work around this soon – “So you just bought a Windows Mobile Treo with EV-DO service and you want to use it as a modem for your laptop? Forget it. Verizon Wireless says you must buy a second 3G subscription and they have the technology to back it up. Specifically, while the device, which has well-reviewed, comes with Bluetooth, Verizon has disabled the Bluetooth dial-up networking capability that would enable the Treo 700w to act as a modem for laptops.” Link.
Good round of motherboard upgrading tips on Extremetech – “…motherboard upgrades can be either difficult or straightforward. It all depends on how you approach it and how you prepare. We’ve upgraded motherboards quite often over the years, so we’ve learned a few lessons along the way. We’d like to share our knowledge, so that when you tackle this, you encounter minimal hassles. Our pain over the years is now your gain.” Thanks Star! Link.
A MAKE reader sent in Bruce Sterling’s year-end “State of the World 2006” discussion over at The Well with MAKE mention! – “so there’s a lot of renegade tech going on these days. seen any you think portends larger good for us? That depends what one means by “renegade” and “larger good.” I’m pretty cool about today’s tech hippies with solder-guns; I think MAKE magazine has got a lot going for it, it’s really brisk and unpredictable. The distributed-knowledge, web-autodidact thing is a happening scene. Alpha geeks can make a dent in the tech scene, and they don’t have to sell out to VCs and ask permission first. I don’t underestimate this development; I’ve got an eye on those guys. Discovery Channel has got almost a franchise on this wack tech stuff; mythbusters, weird people with filthy jobs, huge unlikely gizmo s… there’s a zillion home-repair shows all of a sudden. It’s some kind of popular groundswell.” Link. The whole thing is an excellent read.
