This is a little device that I designed for the simple purpose of being discreetly annoying. It waits for a predetermined amount of time, and then it starts emitting high-pitched beeps. I have programmed mine to take advantage of an interesting property of sound. That is, in general most people above the age of 25-30 can't hear very high-pitched tones (say, 17 KHz for instance). This means if you were to (hypothetically of course) place it in a classroom, it would start bugging the heck out of the students while the teacher/professor will (most likely) be completely unaware of the source of the disturbance.
I've been excited about the forthcoming 1000 Journals documentary. In case you don't know about the 1000 Journals project and documentary, here's a synopsis:
1000 Journals is a film about people whose lives are touched by 1000 traveling journals. These blank journals were released into the world in the summer of 2000, by Someguy, a San Francisco based artist. Some people found a journal, or got it from a friend or stranger. Some signed up on the web and received it in the mail. Some wrote in them, others doodled, pasted in photographs, or added artworks. Some kept them. Some passed them on. There are no rules, and no one really monitors these journals and their movements. And yet, they are connecting tens of thousands of people worldwide, provoking and inspiring them.
In September 2003, one of the 1000, number 526, returned to Someguy, filled. What happened to the other 999? This film tells their stories. 1000 Journals shares the experience of their worldwide journeys, and chronicles the self-governed collaboration of thousands of random people who have added to this global "message in a bottle." Directed by Andrea Kreuzhage. USA. Running time: 88 mins.
"Someguy" was at the Bay Area Maker Faire. I never saw him, but I came back to the Maker's Notebook Modding Station in the Maker Shed after a break, opened up a notebook on the table, and like a visit from the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus, a bunch of pages had been magically altered in my absence. Here are a few:
The 1000 Journals documentary will be running at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco from Aug. 1 - 7. Check the film's website for more upcoming screenings.
Artist Kitty Clark bent several circuits to shape this piece entitled "Remote Controlled Hand" -
A hybrid of a remote controlled car & mechanical hand generates random music.
The car is controlled by an altered remote, which is triggered by 2 desk fans. When the fans are directed at the remote, contacts are blown together and the circuit is completed, sending the car up and down the keyboard in random directions.
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New York magazine interviewed artist Joshua Allen Harris regarding his continued adventures with subway grate bag art - Street Art: Joshua Allen Harris
Here's part two of BBtv's tour of the TCHO chocolate factory that David covered in his Proto column in MAKE Volume 14. I love the way they've bodged together village tech, Home Depot specials, and high-tech components to create machines for a few thousand bucks that would cost tens of thousands on the market.
Make attended The Last HOPE in NYC this past weekend. I really should call it the most recent HOPE, since the name is a bit deceiving. The Next HOPE is already planned for 2010 and it should be just as interesting as the The Last HOPE. I managed to take a few pictures, but most of my time was spent talking with people at our booth. It was a great event, and I look forward to the next one.
Imagine this: A 30 something bearded man in shorts with a multi-meter connected to cables out of an exercise bike trying to remain balanced an read the multi-meter at the same time as he is turning the pedals with one foot and listening to a beep from the multi-meter. My wife who did not have to imagine it asked "What are you doing?" and I can tell that my answer "isn't that obvious" wasn't really that great. So here it goes, all the details of how and why I hacked my exercise bike.
A while back I bought an Arduino together with the pocket piano shield. That was fun and all and I did create a little hardware synthesiser which you can watch at YouTube. Then recently work had a little workshop with David Cuartielles one of the creators of Arduino, and I got seriously interested in doing more with that Arduino I had at home. I also have an exercise bike that I bought with a little idea of perhaps hooking it up to the internets in some way. This is how I've done just that. Reverse engineered the bike's sensors and logic viahooking up my Arduino and reading it's sensors.
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In each volume of MAKE we have "major projects" these project pages are meaty step-by-step articles with start-to-finish photos, precise instructions and how-to learning that can range from making a VCR cat feeder to kite photography. In MAKE volume 07 the projects are:
Rocket-Launched Camcorder by John Maushammer. Hack a $30, single-use camcorder to make it reusable, then launch it up in a model rocket and capture thrilling astronaut's view footage of high-speed neighborhood escape and re-entry. Page 78
The Two-Can Stirling Engine by William Gurstelle. The Stirling engine has long captivated inventors and dreamers. Here are complete plans for building and operating a two-cylinder model that runs on almost any high-temperature heat source. Page 90
Home Mycology Lab by Philip Ross. Use an off-the-shelf home air purifier to make a laminar flow hood for your own miniature mycology lab. Then use it to culture and grow mushrooms, and to perform other experiments that require a clean-room environment. Page 102
MIDI Control by Peter Kirn. Music equipment language isn't just for audio anymore. Page 158
You can subscribe to MAKE to get in on this project action (use code CMAKE for $5 off) and you'll also get access to the MAKE digital edition, it's exactly like our print magazine, but online (no DRM), shareable, printable and can be accessed from just about any computer. Back issues of MAKE are also available in our Maker Shed store.
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I've never been into ornate and elaborate clocks - and that's not just because I'm always late. Even though I'm clearly fond of crazy mechanical stuff, I've never really been a fan of Grandfather clocks for example. I've seen them most when awarded to alarmed frat boys on The Price Is Right, but even in person they just strike me as a just little too much.
Delftclock There's an unusual brand of white Delft porcelain clock that some folks have on their mantles. Delft porcelain is a Dutch specialty - blazing white porcelain with art brushed on in a deep blue. Clearly this is what the above craft project is meant to evoke... but in cross-stitch! This is such a weird collision of ideas that I just don't know how to feel.
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The UFOCapture software records nighttime sky highlights via PC with attached vidcam. Quite handy for those alien/meteor enthusiasts who still have to hold down a dayjob - UFO@Home [via Boing Boing]
Dover Publications has a really extensive catalog, everything from coloring and maze books to clip art to engineering and tech books. They're the publishers of the wonderful 507 Mechanical Movements. You can sign up here for the Dover Sampler - every week they send out an email with links to book content. It's a complete mixed bag, you never know what you'll get, sometimes it's really fun! This week there were pages from this Origami Aircraft book. They also give you discount coupons and notice of sales.
Linus Akesson and friends have created the "Craft" demo - using an ATmega88 to generate 4 channels of 8-bit sound and 3D graphics.
Timing is crucial: One display line takes 24 μs, and is followed by a 7.75 μs break called the horizontal blanking period. After 480 such lines, there's a longer break (1428.75 μs, equal to 45 full display lines) before it all starts over. Two digital signals are used to synchronize the sender (graphics card, custom demo hardware etc.) and the receiver (monitor). [...] Sound is generated during the horizontal blanking periods. That gives a sample rate of 31496 kHz. Of course, only the really timing critical part (waveform generation) is performed during the horizontal blanking. Melody, rhythm, amplitude envelopes, arpeggios etc. are handled by a playroutine which gets called once for every video frame, during vertical blanking.
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This project, complete with parts list, explains how to get GPS data into a Mac using a GPS module and a BlueSmirf Bluetooth chip, without any microcontroller. I agree with the maker who posts that a microcontroller would really just add cost to this project. Check out the details at the link below.
These "Mittens AKA Twinkling Gloves" from Finland include a temperature sensor to let you know the outside temperature so that you can be sure not to forget to wear them. Interesting, although you might want to be careful shaking hands with someone while wearing them.
This hack shows how to create a large iPod remote for the visually impaired by hacking an existing OnStage remote and stuffing it inside a large case with custom buttons. This maker wanted to give his grandfather access to audio books on an iPod but had to fashion his own controller since his grandfather has lost most of his vision.
If you carry a lot of keys and don't like that jingle-jangle in your pocket or on your 'biner, this may be the solution. Instructables user pyro22 figured out how to embed keys in a mini multitool. Leave the tools you want, replace the others with keys! And, of course, you still have your pliers. I particularly like that one multitool is used to disassemble another in the pictures.
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This week: Time-lapse Video of Rice Paddy Art, Making Shocked Skeleton Photos, Self-Standing Gyro Crawler, Creative+Ecological Packaging in Japan, Giant Newspaper Gag, Akibarduino - The Akihabara-centric Arduino-compatible, "Pimped" Fixed-gears in Japan, Papercraft Houses of the World - Asia Edition, and a Cheap Earbud Amplifier.
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