We’re not living on the moon yet, but this is encouraging – Specialized robots, devices for DIY content creation and new TV displays are among the trends to watch in 2006. That is according to the American-based Consumer Electronic Association which has published its view of technologies set to influence in next 12 months. Link.
A ton of Halloween DIY projects over on Derek Greenwood’s Halloween pages. There you’ll find how to make a “head in a jar“, perfect for any occasion really, along with many many more. And last up, here’s a Doctor Octopus costume from one of my fave Makers, Rob Cockerham – Link.
The iPod video might not be your cup of shiny, and if you have a Pocket PC you can pretty much view videos now – in more formats, sans DRM. While it might require a bit more elbow grease than the one-click iTunes offers up, this handy guide rounds up most of the ways you’ll get, convert and load up video on a Pocket PC. Link.
One of the most asked questions when I venture out to meet other Makers or folks just getting in to making things usually is – “Are there any simple how-tos that explain transistors, LEDs (Light Emitting Diode), etc..” so, here’s one I dug up from my bookmarks to check out. If you have others that we haven’t covered, post up in the comments or via our “suggest a site”. Link.
Here’s a pretty good group of paper templates you can download, print and make your own papercraft car. The site is not in english, but it’s pretty easy to figure out and best of all – it has a lot of paper cars I haven’t seen on other sites, like 5 different types of Fiats. Link.
Wonderful way to learn about computing – these ought to be on the back of cereal boxes. CARDIAC (cardboard illustrative aid to computation) illustrates the operation of a computer without actually being a computer. It is a very practical aid to understanding computers and computer programming. [via] Link. We have a ton of great Maker-like kits on Make 04 too.
Here’s an incredible case mod made to look like the iconic droid, R2-D2 – the Maker used a white plastic barrel for R2’s body and a weber grill for R2’s head. It’s not Jawa junk though, the unit cools a 3.2Ghz P4 running at 3.7Ghz to -38 degrees celsius. [