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Domain: instructables.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to instructables.com.
Comments · 389
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Re:Three things.
Good idea. I suggest this pi, or this fractal pie or a penguin or this rickroll cake or this portal cake (no lie).
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Re:Three things.
Good idea. I suggest this pi, or this fractal pie or a penguin or this rickroll cake or this portal cake (no lie).
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Re:Three things.
Good idea. I suggest this pi, or this fractal pie or a penguin or this rickroll cake or this portal cake (no lie).
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Re:Three things.
Good idea. I suggest this pi, or this fractal pie or a penguin or this rickroll cake or this portal cake (no lie).
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Re:Three things.
Good idea. I suggest this pi, or this fractal pie or a penguin or this rickroll cake or this portal cake (no lie).
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Re:It's only class 3 and 4 lasers
There are Class III lasers in every DVD burner. There are instructions easily available for making a pointer out of it.
Banning Class III lasers pointers is not going to keep them out of the hands of anyone who wants one. -
Re:While we're at it...
I'm not arguing with the overall thrust of your discussion. However, I can think of some good reasons for having a high intensity laser -- just like an arcwelder, it can be used as a tool. I'm in the process of rebuilding an old X/Y plotter to use a 250mW laser diode instead of a pen, so I can cut stuff out very precisely and very quickly. Now, that doesn't mean I'm running down the street with my 250mW laser diodes, any more than I'm running down the street with my TIG welder. But high-power lasers are useful.
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Re:I don't think that...
The keyboard is designed to be replaceable at home (as is the touchpad, the LCD, just the LCD lightbar, and even the bumpers...). Sophie & Philip demonstrate separating the display an motherboard (similar disassembly of the bottom half allows for replacing the keyboard and touchpad).
At the moment, the bottleneck for people in the US is getting replacement parts -- in the meantime, you can install an ASK-3100 keyboard instead (for +clickiness and -waterproofing). -
Lego 3d printer
But, what if they start building 3d printers made out of Lego to make more Lego? Like this one: http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Polar-3-D-Printer-from-Legos/ Unfortunately, it seems to have a driver problem.
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Don't forget...
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Re:May be the best decision he ever made.
It can be a real pain to even try on and Acer laptop. Here are some links to copy and paste:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080219125919AA0x92v http://boardreader.com/t/Windows_XP_General_439584/Why_I_cant_run_XP_on_my_new_PC_2738193.html
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-UPGRADE-from-Vista-to-Windows-XP-on-an-Acer/ -
Re:That's not a transparent fish...
How to eliminate MTS (and ramshorns, and pond snails, and any algae wafers with a quickness):
Add one Crawfish*
*Make sure lid is secure and wire pathways small. They have excellent escape tactics... albiet poor strategy
2 10g, 1 20L coffee table, 1 1g, and various clear bucket sorts of breeding / quarantine tanks -
Re:Table
Yes. In addition to the links in the above responses, also see: http://www.instructables.com/id/Interactive-Multitouch-Display/, which uses that exact method.
Simple and effective! -
Re:Art is subjectiveHere's best instructable ever I've ever seen, happens to be on the subject of "How to Make Art".
My wife is a painter and loved it. Be sure to read the alt tags...
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-art./
Excerpt: A breif history: Western art has a rich history, arguably dating back to ancient Greece. Of course, since visual artists historically have toiled with their hands, Greeks viewed painters and sculptors as we would today view cabinet makers; skilled laborers. In an attempt to get laid more, eat better and party with the Popes, artists in the renaissance reinterpreted the role of visual artists in antiquity to elevate their position in society. From here, western visual art was kind of like a snowball rolling down a hill of loosely packed snow. In short, it started an avalanch of rationalism that eventually landed upon abstract expressionism (think of a canvas painted white with a slash in it). Three hours later, when we finally dug Jackson Pollock out from under ten feet of packed snow, he was somehow still alive, but very pale and slightly braindead. We now called him Andy Warhol. He, along with a number of other avalanch survivors, created postmodern art. This lead Marshal McLuhan to proclaim: "Art is anything that you can get away with." This will be our working definition of art. -
Re:I like the digg thingit should be made thinner and integrated into shirts....so when you go out, and someone diggs you, they just..uhhmmm..click your shirt.
Already Done -
Re:3D Printer option: chocolate?
I think this one counts as "playing around"
http://www.instructables.com/id/3D-chocolate-printer-made-from-LEGO/
The RepRap guys have played around with the IDEA (and lots of other material ideas)
http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/MaterialsScience
And Fab@Home has been used with chocolate - shame it's the most expensive by far.
http://3dprinterusers.blogspot.com/2007/05/more-than-chocolate-cornells-fabhome.html -
Re:3D Printer option: chocolate?
Well, they have cake printers for doing 2D images on cakes, so I imagine that 3D printers for doing chocolate or other candy is possible. A little Google search revealed some instructions for making your own 3D chocolate printer. Merry Christmas, Dada!
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Re:Myth
You can revive those dead NiCad batteries. Check this out:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Revive-Nicad-Batteries-by-Zapping-with-a-Welder/ -
Shot in the arm for failed municipal wifi, etc.?
Could be a boost to the 'failed' attempts at establishing 'free' wifi in urban & other areas, many of which originally intended to help the poor who - as often - were missing out on an important part of modern society.
Also for sites that encourage listing 'free' hotspots and help you with establishing your own. Too many to list here - Google is your friend, (uh, if you're logged out and using Noscript etc.)
Finally, if you're near a border, or have a rich friend that's just a little too far away, you can always try something like this!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Wifi-Signal-Strainer-(WokFi)/ -
Make, Instructables & Science Fiction vs Fact
From an English perspective, I would recommend you have your students read a magazine like Make (http://makezine.com/) or a website like Instructables (http://www.instructables.com/home) with a two-fold goal. First, either individually or preferably in groups, the students should create one of the projects they find (with instructor and parent approval). Second, again individually or in groups, they should create something new and post the what they did and the results. Both of these could easily be joint projects between science and English instructors. Personally speaking, I'd be really interested in what 8th graders would choose to make, and would therefore really would like to see what they publish. You might even be able to strike up a deal with the folks over at Make to have a special 'middle school' edition with projects from students around the world. One of the popular concepts in instructional technology right now is 'authentic' learning/problems/assessments, and between the creation of something new and writing it up for publication, I can't think of anything more authentic to encapsulate both science and English at the middle school level.
I'd also strongly suggest having them read a classic scifi book (http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/topscifi
/ lists_books_rank1.html; and I'd highly recommend the Red, Green, Blue Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson) then do a report or class presentation including (a) what science was fiction when the book was written, but is now real (think tricorder), (b) what science was fiction when the book was written, but is based on real science (think anti-matter in Star Trek), and (c) what science was and appears to be fiction (think faster than light travel). -
instructables
so how long until someone makes an instructable on how to mod your ipod into an iphone
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Proposed regulationsI've posted a relevant portion of the proposed regulations below, regarding what will and won't need a permit:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/html/news/080107_prop osed_permit_rules.shtml
http://www.nyc.gov/html/film/downloads/pdf/moftb_p ermit_regs.pdf Section 9-01. Permits for Scouting, Rigging and Production Activities.
(a) Introduction. The Mayor's Office of Film Theatre and Broadcasting ("MOFTB")
shall issue permits in connection with filming, including but not limited to the taking of motion
pictures; the taking of photographs; the use and operation of television cameras, transmitting
television equipment, or radio remotes in or about city property; load-ins or load-outs supporting
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indoor performances; or such activities in or about any street, park, marginal street, pier, wharf,
dock, bridge or tunnel within the jurisdiction of any City department or agency, or involving the
use of any City owned or maintained facilities or equipment. As defined herein, MOFTB will
issue permits for scouting, rigging and shooting activities. Obtaining such a permit does not
obviate the need to obtain approval for an activity that may also be subject to other laws, rules or
case law.
(b) Permits.
(1) The following activities require that a permit be obtained pursuant to this chapter:
(i) Filming, photography, production, television or radio remotes occurring
on City property, as described in subdivision (a) of this section, that uses vehicles or
equipment, except as described in subparagraphs (2)(i) and (ii) of this subdivision;
(ii) Filming, photography, production, television or radio remotes occurring
on City property, as described in subdivision (a) of this section, involving an interaction
among two or more people at a single site for thirty or more minutes, including all set-up
and breakdown time in connection with such activities; or
(iii) Filming, photography, production, television or radio remotes occurring
on City property, as described in subdivision (a) of this section, involving an interaction
among five or more people at a single site and the use of a single tripod for ten or more
minutes, including all set-up and breakdown time in connection with such activities.
(2) The following activities do not require that a permit be obtained pursuant to this
chapter:
(i) Filming or photography occurring on City property, as described in
subdivision (a) of this section, involving the use of a hand-held device as defined in
paragraph three of subdivision (a) of 9-02, provided that such activity does not involve
an interaction among two or more people at a single site for thirty or more minutes,
including all set-up and breakdown time in connection with such activities.
(ii) Filming or photography occurring on City property, as described in
subdivision (a) of this section, involving the use of a single tripod, provided that such
activity does not involve an interaction among five or more people at a single site and the
use of a single tripod for ten or more minutes, including all set-up and breakdown time in
connection with such activities.
(iii) Filming or photography of a parade, rally, protest, or demonstration except
when using vehicles or equipment other than a handheld device or single tripod. I'm rather curious about how they're defining a "tripod." For example, what if somebody has a Gorillapod or a string tripod? -
How about the power infrastructure?
How about the power infrastructure?
* Electric infrastructure systems research (publications) from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
* Electric Power Research Institute re: a distributed network.
* Electric power transmission
* Hydrogen power wiki (questionable) * [pdf] Present limits of high-voltage transmission
* Power station diagram (and more)
* Energy development as well as * "The SuperGrid for Electricity & Hydrogen"- but no designs are included.
And with DIY wind turbine and the DIY UPS system, maybe we can cook something up?
Need more information. -
Re:Hardware
As far as I was aware the hardware needed to use MPX is a computer with a screen and some USB ports. Just plug in, like, 18 mice (I think that's the number they bothered going up to). If you want to have some multi-touch hardware using the same technology as TFA then there is a guide here: http://www.instructables.com/id/EJIXKOEF3ER7VN5/ . Thing is, MPX is a modified X. I would like to see it as an extension for regular X, then you could, for example, let people giving you support control an unclickable mouse pointer on your desktop (through a modified VNC client or something) to say "Click this", "Type your name in here" and things like that. This is sorely needed, and why a lot of people think Linux is command-line oriented, since at the moment people helping via text interfaces (forums, IRC, etc.) find it a lot easier to say "run 'chown bob file.txt'" rather than "open your home folder, right click on file.txt and select properties, go to the permissions tab, change the user to bob and click OK" (this is the whole issue of CLI having masses of functionality instantly available if you know how to use it (and those helping newbies generally do), compared to GUIs which require navigating through a hierarchy of menus, tabs, wizards, etc.)
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Re:ETA for consumers
Its not quite at consumer level but its certainly available at the enthusiast level. Have a look at http://www.instructables.com/id/EJIXKOEF3ER7VN5/ or a search for "multitouch diy".
I'd estimate thats its currently possible to put together a large (42" or greater) version of one of these with 1080p (display) resolutions for under $800 EXCLUDING the cost of a PC. With some clearer hackery you could probably get the sensor resolution up to higher than that.
If I currently had the space for one Id be building one to that kind of spec. -
Why not...
Build your own multi-touch sensitive display device? It's surprisingly easy:
http://www.instructables.com/id/EJIXKOEF3ER7VN5/?A LLSTEPS -
related: match box tv
perfect for Sharp Pencil Quality TV
This guy made a tv in a match box. -
Re:I smell......
And if I ever produced the soldering seen on this page, I'd be asked to hand in my soldering iron and go mop the floor.
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Re:Ridiculously complicated solution!
I have made it work with an mp3 player and a coil of wire on a ferrous core. The range is no where near theirs, but its easy and it works. http://www.instructables.com/id/ENSDA1VF3KLNVD9/
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Re:I smell......
I found the diagrams on the bottom of this page to be most informative.
http://www.instructables.com/id/SDIS7ALF3ER7V5W/ -
Re:Who's the @**hole now!
Surprised nobody is talking about Throwies http://www.instructables.com/id/E9D2ZJ3FG0EP286JE
J / -
Re:Fire Marshall Bill
I like your joke. Still, I'd like to point out that you can't get standard size (AA, 9 volt, etc.) rechargeable batteries. They need special circuitry to avoid exactly what you joke implies.
Sort of off topic -- apparently one can use a welder or other high powered device to revive worn out rechargeable batteries. http://www.instructables.com/id/EPV474YLF3EV2Z8V9V / Hopefully I won't remember this the next time I'm drunk. -
Shameless plug for my instructable...
Peripheral Power control with screen saver
http://www.instructables.com/id/EE62QUOM31EUOJJVA4 /
saves a few pennies here and there..... -
I prefer this...
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If you stop about halfway through the process...
...you've got yourself a nice miniature marijuana pipe on a ring. Gives the name "Green Lantern" entirely new meaning.
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I can think of several ideas
Computer disguises that just might sell:
1950s-starlet-manniquines, with the CD drive in just the right place.
[for those geeks who know they'll never get the real thing]
A toaster, with 2 cd drives.
[Also makes for a good Battlestar Galactica pun]
A table lamp. Yes, a real, working, lamp with an honest-to-goodness 60W incandescent light bulb.
A stack of WIRED magazines.
A stack of Sports Illustrated magazines for the incognito look.
[Software includes PDFs of every swimsuit issue ever made.]
A couch. Yes, the couch you sit on while watching TV.
CD drive is the crevice between the cushions.
A cell phone. Oh wait, today's cell phones are computers. Nevermind.
Wall decorations. Oh wait, that's been done too.
--
In most cases, the monitor will be the TV, the primary control will either be a TV-remote control-like device or voice command, with a wireless keyboard optional. -
Re:USB controlled or USB powered?
Well, this qualifies. DIY USB phone handset
The guy combined a USB skype/gaming headset and an older style telephone handset for something that actually seems somewhat practical compared to a USB aquarium. -
Anyone else more interested in the
DIY stripper pole that was advertised on the left side?
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Resources for Makers/Builders/hightech DIYers
The first thing to realise there are plenty of technology related hobbyists around the world, although most are not high profile and some may be different very different demographics than yourself.
Some (hobby) groups to consider looking towards for ideas and help include: woodworkers, metalworkers (hobbyists using micromills and mini-lathes from TaigTools and Sherline, etc.), model railroads, model aircrafts (static and RC), robotics, amateur radio (ham), 2600, LUGs, and Artist Run Centres/Communities
Random list of some I use or know of:
Make magazine http://www.makezine.com/
Instructables http://www.instructables.com/
ARRL http://www.arrl.org/
http://www.sparkfun.com/ (check out their tutorials)
http://www.fpga4fun.com/ / http://www.knjn.com/
QRP-L http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/qrp-l/>
GQRP http://www.gqrp.com/
http://www.pololu.com/ (cheap stencils laser cut, e.g. 3x4 for $32)
http://www.diyaudio.com/
http://www.digikey.com/ (if you're still buying electronics from Radio Shack, get these 3 catalogs now!)
http://www.mouser.com/
http://www.jameco.com/
the ton of various surplus/NOS dealers online
http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/
http://www.seattlerobotics.org/
http://www.chibots.org/index.php
DorkBot
http://eyebeam.org/production/production.php?page= tools
MIT CBA FAB http://fab.cba.mit.edu/
http://www.leevalley.com/
http://www.smallparts.com/
http://www.danssmallpartsandkits.net/
http://www.wmberg.com/
http://www.acklandsgrainger.com/
http://www.grainger.com/
http://www.onlinemetals.com/
http://www.amqrp.com/
http://www.princessauto.com/
http://www.sherline.com/
http://www.taigtools.com/