Use a rotary phone as a cell phone handset
Josh Bloom sent us a great mini how to on converting an old rotary phone for use as a cell phone “handset”. Link.
Telecommunications
Telepresence book signing robot?
Sci-Fi author Margaret Atwood won’t need to travel for book signings any longer it seems, she’ll have a video screen and a robot arm that translate he movements to sign books for her. I suppose the proper term will be “tele-signing”? [via] Link. Until we get a chance to see this in person, here’s how […]
Motion Detector Telephone Alarm
For $79, this might be useful for all sorts of fun projects – “The Telespy Motion Detector Telephone Alarm, a standard telephone features a built-in PIR motion sensor. If an intruder is detected within a 30 ft. range, TeleSpy calls a preset telephone number and allows you to listen in to the premises. Great for […]
VoIP for free with the Sipura
Chris writes “I’ve been a regular user of Skype for about a year now and have been using my own solutions to try to make this as user friendly as possible. But it was never perfect and I’ve always been the only one in my house using it as it hasn’t been user friendly. Then I heard about the Sipura and started looking around on how to use it, and then I heard about VoIPBuster which provided free VoIP calls to land lines all over the world. In this how-to I will explain why I made the choices I made and show you how easy it can be to have this up running in your own house. Calling nationally and internationally for free to regular telephones.” Link.
Distributing the Future Podcast: ETel
Bruce Stewart, editor of the new ETel site, joins The Distributing the Future Podcast for a look back at the highlights from last week’s O’Reilly Emerging Telephony conference. Josh Kinberg shows you how easy it is to get started with video blogging and what to expect if you just want to watch some good ones. Bruno Souza continues his look at open source in Brazil. Link. MP3.
HOW TO – Read your car’s mind OBDII
Drew writes “If your vehicle was manufactured after 1996, it contains an On Board Diagnostic (OBD) computer that captures information about how it’s running. I’ve put together a basic HOWTO Guide for OBD-II so that you can get started playing with it. I use ScanTool‘s great hardware and GPL’d software for my setup. You can use it to save money by reading error codes without a trip to the mechanic when your “check engine” light is on, capture performance data about your car’s drivetrain in real-time, or log data as if it were an airplane’s “black box”.” Link.
SRL Shop Photos
Scott writes “Here’s an inside look at the legendary Survival Research Labs shop where they create the robots and machines for their amazing shows. It’s been at it’s current San Francisco location since 1982, but will soon have to move.” Link.