HOW TO – Build your own Robot friend…
A clever maker out there made his own robot pal – “My dream of a home-built robot was smolding since the early 80ies. The floor of the young boy’s room was covered with “fischertechnik” parts, and a robot which clears the mess seemed feasible… Well, it took some years until the project actually started. And this not only due to my personal capabilities as a mechanical engineer, but also in the environment of today’s technologies: Webcams, WLAN, and last but not least powerful yet power-saving PC-Mainboards.” Here’s how he made his robot! [via via] Link.
Nathan True’s excellent mobile hotspot – “Wouldn’t it be great if I could just plug my phone in… and have it automatically connect to the phone and serve its sweet, sweet Internet over a Wi-fi connection? Better still, have it transparently proxy all connections so that nearly all Internet programs will function properly? Maybe even prioritize certain types of traffic, or encrypt everything so my wireless carrier can’t spy on what Slashdot stories I like to read? All of those things would be just great. And all of those things are exactly those things which I set out to do (and/or enable you to do!) in this project. ” [
Universetoday.com on DIY high altitude photography – “Paul Verhage has some pictures that you’d swear were taken from space. And they were. Amateur Radio High Altitude Ballooning allows individuals to launch functioning satellites to “near space” at a fraction of the cost of traditional rocket launch vehicles. Paul’s balloons have been as high as 35 km, and the photographs he’s taken are out of this world.” Thanks Fraser! 
Russ writes – “For many years now, I have tinkered with all kinds of interesting projects, and have found a lot of fun in the realm of DIY gas turbine engines. These engines are based around turbochargers, but are in every sense real jets. They produce considerable thrust, and can even be used with afterburners. While I have been tinkering with one of these with a friend of mine, we debated on what kind of vehicle to put it on for testing. He suggested a small boat or a go cart. My theory was that if you really wanted to test out the speed of one of these, you would need a good long stretch of road. That being the case I thought it best to put the engine into a street legal frame. This is where the YSR came into my head. Firstly, a motorcycle would be perfect, as it is street legal, easily registered, and also has very little friction from the tires and wind drag.” 
Carpespasm writes “it seems that all shower mfgs have had to comply with low flow regulation for a while now, but my shower was choked down too low to be enjoyable. so what to do? modify it of course! first i took the whole thing apart, and looked for the areas with the lowest flow. upon inspection, it turned out to be several places. i have one of those “head on a hose” shower heads, and there were restrictors on the ends of the hose, in the swivel mount, and in the head itself.” 
Stefan writes “A nice detailed description of Oregonian Adrian Carbine’s record-setting amateur rocket flight. Powered by twin “N” motors, the two-stage model soared to over 40,000 feet. Dimensions: Length: 17’4″, sustainer dia: 4.25″, booster dia: 4.6″. Pad weight: 96.5 lbs. Weight without motors: 43.5 lbs (including parachutes, tubular nylon, electronics, avionics bays, CO2 systems, etc.). The entire airframe weighed 28 lbs empty.” 
