How-To: Make a cellphone battery holder using a vacuum former
Lets Make Robots user fritsl wanted to play around with some old cell phone batteries, but needed a way to securely connect to them.
Hacks
Mod your camera and your microscope on Make: Projects
Two fun and simple project contributions to Make: Projects this week both involve mods. The first is the above-pictured retrofitted microscope by Christoph Ziimmermann (nuess0r) from Switzerland. Christoph had access to a solid, classic microscope, but wanted to amp up its usability by adding lights. The mod ended up costing him a paltry $8. The […]
Simple solution for removing dried hot glue
MAKE reader John Mangan (siliconghost) wrote in to share a nifty simple trick with us: you can remove dried hot glue with isopropyl alcohol and cotton swabs. He writes: “I literally stumbled on this while working with hot glue over 20 years ago at a previous job. It ended up being a ‘major discovery’ for […]
How-To: DIY tank treads from roller chain, rubber hose, nuts & bolts
his very clever design by Derek Engelhaupt has me looking around the house for something I can put tank treads on. The sofa, maybe?
It’s actually one of seven designs for homebrew treads collected on this page over at R/C Tank Combat, which looks to be an absolutely fascinating click-trap. [via Hack a Day]
PayPal vending machine
While walking the show floor at the PayPal X Innovate 2010 developers conference today I came across this cool PayPal vending machine prototype. Ray Tanaka and his crew at PayPal Labs hacked together the multi-part system using a mechanical candy dispenser, a couple of Arduino Duemilanove, a WiShield, relay, proximity sensor, and LED display. The end result allows you to scan a QR code, make a payment, and acquire munchies using a smartphone. As you make your payment, the machine will tweet your purchase and notify a payment confirmation display.
MAKE Video audition: Matt Richardson’s Google Reader pedal
We’re holding open auditions for video makers here at MAKE! Here’s Matt Richardson‘s entry, an awesome keyboard hack that lets you control your Google Reader (or any other keyboard-shortcut application) with the press of a foot pedal. He writes: Here’s a how-to video for an easy, but very useful peripheral hack. It’s for creating a […]
1000W arc lamp + arc welder + trashcan = DIY search light
Impressive high-voltage project from Ben Krasnow. The video is mostly technical details; clicking the embedded player will take you to the action shots at 7:18. Rewind for the greeblies. [via Hack a Day]
