MAKE is sponsoring “This Day in Apple History” over on Applematters – each day you can get an email of what happened in Apple history that day and also a daily podcast of “This Day in Apple History” (Click here to subscribe with iTunes). Link. They’re giving away prizes too, a custom-engraved brand-new white 60GB 5G iPod engraved with the original Apple logo, an Apple Newton and an Apple II.. The iPod will be laser etched by MAKE magazine at Squid Labs.
Procure IR modules from an old VCR, Raphael writes “Some time ago, I came across the Lirc (Linux Infrared Remote Control) website and decided to build a serial port IR receiver. They had a list of suggested IR receiver modules, but I was unable to buy one, so I had to think of using something else. A IR Receiver module is usually a photodiode and a 38khz detector. Most of them have 3 pins. VCC, GND, an output pin. If a 38khz carrier is detected, the output pin will become active. Some modules are active low, and others are active high. It is sometimes required to use an inverter(eg: 7404) to get the correct signal.” Link.
Make your own LEGO blocks “…not everybody has access to their own CNC machine, but for those who do, here is a lesson in building up custom lego parts. This is not necessarily a design just for those of us lucky enough to own a CNC machine. A manual milling machine, or even hand tools and a great deal of patience will do the job. This post IS however directed at somebody who owns some sort of CNC milling machine, has access to some plastics and the tools appropriate to cut them, and somebody who is not a rank beginner at building lego robots.” [via] Link.
On New Years MAKE kicked it the virtual world. Here’s what I was wearing in the real life (more about this soon). Here are a couple photos sent from the all night dance-a-thon. Lastly, a quick video of some pixels getting funky! Special thanks to Eric for putting on this spin-dig.
Dave writes “Steve runs a kayak-building company but his spare-time project is designing a velomobile, that is, a human-powered, closed vehicle; technically a recumbent trike with a full body. There are a few commercial velomobile products in Europe, see links at the top of Steve’s page. His current design is just gorgeous (be sure to look at all the pictures) and makes clever, sophisticated use of hi-tech materials, and is very close to commercially practical.” Link.
Tim used our how to on using the Kodak Wi-Fi camera with Flickr and writes in “Thanks for your help. I followed the instruction on your post on the MAKE blog, but was having trouble getting the Automator application I created to work. When I tried it as a stand alone Automator application, it would not work. When I ran it from within Automator it worked. I noticed that software update was telling me about some new updates. I ran them and then restarted and now it works fine. Don’t know if it was the updates or just restarting, but now it works well. Thank you for your help with this.” Link.
Make is a sponsor of the Great Downwinder…“The Great Downwinder is an epic kitesurfing roadtrip which will take place every year. The aim is to celebrate the diverse range of people who are drawn together by their common passion for kitesurfing and desire for adventure. It will involve a number of riders, from all over the world, undertaking a long downwind adventure.” Link. MAKE pals Saul and Corwin and Tim Anderson are all riding and will have some Make-friendly videos (fixing kites, etc) soon. Thanks Arwen!
