Makers

R/C blimp prison break attempt

R/C blimp prison break attempt

Francesco Fondi, of the Italian site Hobby Media, sent us a link to a story about Giulio B, an Italian drug trafficker jailed in Spain, who attempted a prison break using this small dirigible. The site’s in Italian, but I gather the R/C craft was supposed to fly into the prison, with the payload of […]

13 Colonies Ham Radio Special Event

After a fourth of July BBQ, I was tuning around on the radio and made contact with Vince, K4AOC (operating as K2L) the 13 Colonies Special Event station in South Carolina. July 1- July 5th was the 13 Colonies 4th of July Special Event during which all thirteen original colonies were on the air with […]

Apply for an Awesome Grant!

Apply for an Awesome Grant!

That’s not an adjective in the title, “Awesome Grant” is the actual name of the grant, from the Awesome Foundation, of Cambridge, MA. Each month, they give away $1,000 to someone who wants to do something… well awesome. Here’s how they define what they’re looking for: Awesomeness is often overlooked by mainstream culture, which tends […]

Japanese POW camp radio

On today’s HacDC Blabber list, Trammell Hudson posted a link to this awesome account of British soldiers building a radio in a Japanese POW camp. Trammel writes: Since they didn’t have a local Digikey or Radioshack, everything had to be sourced from what was available. The caps were made from aluminum foil lining of tea-chests, […]

The Walnut Creek model railroad

The Walnut Creek model railroad

Now this is a train layout, 1,800 sqaure feet of it. It’s the pride and joy of the Walnut Creek Model Railroad Society, Walnut Creek, CA, who’ve been at it since 1975. I like how the piece on Wired.com opens: Before SimCity — even before Dungeons and Dragons — back when “computer” was a job […]

A PAC for geeks?

A PAC for geeks?

Introducing Syn/Ack Pac, a Political Action Committee for “SysAdmins, Tinkerers, CodeMonkeys, Makers, Technologists, Warranty Voiders, and Geeks of all types.” Why Do Geeks Need a PAC? Non-profit groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge and many others do a great job evangelizing, lobbying, and litigating on our behalf. But as non profits, they’re unable […]