With almost all of the states in the US under snow this week a lot of ice has come with the snow. I know here in Texas things have been bad, we rarely get snow and a lot of areas are under several inches still. That means a lot of folks have slipped and busted their butt.
If you are the geeky DIY sort that doesn’t care for wiping out on the driveway or the stairs where everyone can see you, you might want to check out these DIY krampons or ice claws as I like to call them. These are the sort of things that climbers wear when they need to go up an icy slope.
The dude made them using a T profile plate that is 2mm thick, 25mm metal screws, and a nylon strap. Basically, you drill into the T profile plate, then put the screws into the holes, and strap them to your feet. If you are uncoordinated, the downside is if you still manage to fall you can now stab yourself as you hit the ground.
A geek has decided to take cooling his PC to a new extreme and use the cold winter air outside to keep his rig chilly. The way he went about it is easy enough, even if there are some apparent issues with the system.
The geek took a board cut to window size to wedge under the window. He cut a hole in it and used a dryer vent kit outside hood and hose to connect to his PC. The system uses a fan inside the computer in a pull configuration to suck in cold air.
It appears that he used a mesh Scotch-Brite pad to act as a filter to keep bugs and dirt from getting to his hardware. The big issue I see here is that the cold air could cause some condensation inside the PC at some point, which could lead to a quick death for his rig.
Even though games like Infinity Blade can be great fun on the iPhone, there’s no getting around the fact that touchscreen-centric, buttonless devices don’t offer the best gaming ergonomics. A modding project gone horribly right, however, might just fix that right up for all of us. Shane Wighton set out to build a robot to try and beat his favorite iPhone game, replete with a webcam and an Arduino setup, but in the process of doing so he “just realized that [he'd] made a mechanism to play tilt based phone games with a joystick.” Yes indeedy, one of the most awesome DIY gaming accessories was built by fluke as much as design. See it revolutionizing mobile gaming just after the break.
Here’s a really cool idea. Let’s say you want to give someone an item, but you really want to make them work for it. There are many ways you could do it, but few as interesting as this DIY reverse-geocaching briefcase. What does it do? Well it can be programmed with specific coordinates, and will only open with the briefcase is actually in the listed spot.
The case uses an Arduino, GPS sensor and some cool-looking nixie tubes to pull off this feat. Once the location has been programmed, it will use the GPS sensor, then display the distance to the location on the tubes. Once you’ve gotten to the spot, a motor will release the latch holding it closed. Expect to see something like this in the next James Bond movie, only with a bomb as the contents.
If you’re a crafty type with a penchant for gadgets you’re probably already familiar with the Cricut. It’s kind of like a printer, but instead of printing your design on paper or other materials, it cuts them out. However, it can be a pain to use since it requires everything you want to cut be attached to a stiff matte before passing through the machine, and designs are limited to what’s already available on expensive cartridges you have to buy in addition to the cutter. (Should you choose not to use an unapproved SVG-friendly third-party program.)
But the eCraft Cutter does everything the Cricut does better, and even a little more. It can cut on any thin material up to 12-inches wide in a continuous roll without the need for a matte underneath it, and the included eCraftshop software allows you to either design your own patterns and graphics, or import an SVG file exported from your favorite ‘illustrating’ application. It’s also able to draw thanks to a marker tip integrated into the cutting head, and from what we saw the cut results were as crisp and smooth as if someone had used a fresh hobby knife. Available some time in the next couple of months for ~$300.
Not satisfied with the smattering of LTE products announced at CES thus far? Why not build your own with Bug Labs‘ modular components? Yes, the open-source hardware manufacturer has teamed with Verizon to offer pre-certified wireless modules once again, though this time they take advantage of the new LTE hotness rather than Verizon’s EV-DO network. No word on when we’ll be able to sign up to prototype our own phones nor how much they’ll cost, but know that even just the base platform will slurp $500 out of your wallet. PR after the break.
If you’re wanting an authentic looking lightsaber, then you’re probably going to look at purchasing one that’s been mass-produced. Generally the Force FX sabers are the go-to for authenticity. However, not everyone wants something that was built in a factory. After all, part of the jedi training is building your own lightsaber, and that’s exactly what Bradley Lewis has done.
Looking through the pictures on his website and watching the video below, this guy has thought of everything. Something you don’t see on most crafted sabers is the ability to open it up and see the “power crystal.” Granted, it’s actually just a set of LEDs, but who cares? If you have the time, patience, skills and tools, then you’ll find the step-by-step instructions on his site most helpful on your journey to become a jedi.
They might be cheap and reliable, but the name brand digital clocks you can get at your local big box electronics store aren’t really designed for tinkering. Now obviously that’s probably not a feature at the top of everybody’s wish-list, but those who prefer to do-it-themselves, and like to be able to customize their gear, will find the DOTKLOK an appealing option.
Designed by Andrew O’Malley, the motivation behind the DOTKLOK was to create a clock that could tell time in a variety of different ways, whether through standard numbers, words and even animations. It’s powered by an ATmega328 microprocessor running the Arduino bootloader which allows it to be easily updated and/or customized, and the 24×16 LED display allows for a high-degree of creativity, while still having a bit of retro charm. The DOTKLOK kit is available from Andrew via Etsy for $150 with either red or green LEDs used for the display, and an experienced builder can put it together in about 90 minutes. However, if soldering and wiring isn’t your thing, there are also pre-built DOTKLOKs available, but they’ll set you back $200.
I own a 2010 Mustang GT, which is the same on the inside as the 2011 Mustang that this geek has hacked for a custom iPad install. The problem with these cars is that there is only one after market option for installing a radio in the car other than the factory set up right now and that option isn’t very good looking. This fact and the desire to get an iPad in his ride has led one geek to some DIY modding.
The dude removed the center panel from the dash and made a custom mount for the iPad and the vehicle info display right below the iPad. The center console was where the controls for the AC system and the radio normally sit, which are very important.
The dude took those controllers along with the factory faceplate for the center console and moved them to the roof. The finished product is pretty slick, even if you will have to look at the roof to adjust the radio or ventilation system. That missing section in the faceplate above the lit buttons for the car systems is where the LCD screen now under the iPad normally sits.
We all know that the sign that your Jedi training is complete is when you are able to build your own lightsaber. That means that Bradley Lewis has to be a Jedi now that he has built an awesome DIY lightsaber using aluminum and copious amounts of geeky elbow grease.
The handle of the saber is cool enough on its own with its custom machining, but it also has a blade that can be attached and glows green when the switch is thrown. I wish I had the skill to build something like this, that thing is so cool.
You can check out the build process photos in the gallery below and see the thing in action in a video as well. This guy should sell these things to the geeks lusting after his work. Of course then George Lucas would sue him into oblivion.
