Microcontrollers are great. You can do anything from water your garden to catch wildlife trash diggers in the act—and on the cheap. I prefer to use the Arduino microcontroller because of the large and helpful community built around the website. Though it is my favorite, there are some drawbacks to using an Arduino board in every project. It gets expensive, the board can take up too much space, and the rat's nest of breadboard wires are a pain to repair.
It turns out that the popularity of soft circuit electronics has leaked out of the interwebs and into the hands of the U.S. military. Soft circuit electronics allow you to literally sew electronics circuits into fabric using flexible conductive thread instead of wire. Soft circuits can be used for all sorts of fun projects, like the TV-B-Gone Hoodie and the Heartbeat Headband.
Welcome to Microwave Energy—the next part of my Making Electromagnetic Weapons series. For the Electromagnetic Pulse Generator, check out the last three articles (One, Two and Three).
The new MacBook Air from Apple may be one of the thinnest notebooks on the market, but don't let its size full you— it's a fortress, an impenetrable laptop designed to discourage user modifications, just like the Apple iPad.
Graffiti is a great way of getting your message out to the masses. The earliest known graffiti dates back to 30,000 years ago and used the traditional apply-paint-to-wall technique. Though our paint now comes in cans and not from scavenged berries, the actual graffiti process hasn't really evolved from those first cave paintings.
Grand Theft Auto 3 was the biggest video game of the last decade, by far, introducing open-world adventure games to consoles, a genre that now rivals shooters and sports games for market dominance. A huge map, decentralized narrative, and myriad of interlocking quests and objectives that happen in a flexible order all became hallmarks of the "new" genre, along with the ability to shape the morality and reputation of your character. And most importantly, all of the quests and stories are compl...
Introduction In the competitive world of today's video game scene, PC gamers are known to squeeze out the best possible visuals in their games. Every few months a new video card rolls out, and RAM is ever increasing; constant upgrading is the norm of staying ahead the curve. One of the most important things a PC gamer looks at is how many FPS (frames per second) he gets. It defines his gaming experience.
Since the invention of the mechanical clock, enclosure of the commons, and proletarianization of labor, the alarm clock has been the bane of our existence. While not actually evil, it does represent the constant and uncompromising glare of our owners shaking a patronizing finger at us, telling us to get to work so they can use our labor to grant themselves bonuses.
This is a hands-on video tutorial that addresses the basic setup and configuration of a Cinevate Brevis 35mm Lens Adapter. We demonstrate this using the Brevis on a Panasonic HVX200 mounted on Zacuto rods and baseplate.
Check out this video to learn how to make a keychain out of old computer circuit boards. Make a keychain from old computer components.
Here's a fun little hack you can try at home with your kids. The purpose of this tutorial is to teach you how to make this fun toy gun. It's a very simple and economical project. Tools and Materials:
Infiniti is like no other car, it has emotion, it has soul, it inspires. There's a difference between being physically transported and emotionally moved, and you can tell them apart when you sit inside this magnificent automobile. Although the Infiniti is like a dream car, it has its problems just like any other brand of vehicle. There's maintenance, minor repairs, major repairs, needed replacement parts, oil changes, headlight adjustment, low tires, transmission and everything else you can t...
Having numerous components and wires attached to your TV can make an awful clutter. Learn how to distribute wireless video content throughout your home in this free video. Distribute wireless video content throughout your home - Part 1 of 15.
Ever wonder how all of those tiny chips and components can fit inside your laptop or smartphone? If you tried to squeeze them in there yourself, your laptop would quickly become too heavy for your lap, and your mobile phone would need wheels to stay mobile.
Solar panels are an amazing invention. Catching energy from the Sun before it even enters Earth's food chain, photovoltaics are like an all-natural nuclear power plant. Unfortunately, the constituted parts of a solar panel are rare, valuable, and subject to the coercive forces of market competition.
Bikes are a great form of transportation. They use human energy more efficiently than any other machine. You can keep it in your closet or hallway. You can even take it on the train in a pinch. However, this portability is also the bike's biggest draw back. If you own a bike in the city, chances are it will be stolen. Locks barely deter thieves armed with bolt cutters and crowbars. Throw the bike thieves for a loop and make a tilt-sensitive alarm. It will hopefully startle your bike's assaila...
In this article, I'll be covering Triggers and Coils, part two of the series (see part one here). Generally, a simple EMP generator consists of four components; a capacitor, a transformer, a trigger and a coil of copper wire. The transformer component can be varied, but the coil is very important, and must be precisely tuned.
Oh, teenagers. Maybe you would be better off planning a scavenger hunt for the screaming toddlers. Just kidding! Despite the mood swings, teens will enjoy a scavenger hunt more than younger kids. Some things to keep in mind, though:
Hi again, Just wanted to share a neat little code that I found way back, when I was presented with a spreadsheet which was locked and asked to ''unlock'' it or do whatever it takes to enable the user to edit it's contents.
This week saw the release of Gears of War 3's most extensive DLC to date: RAAM's Shadow. Having played the first hour or so of the single-player component, I have to say that it is very good. The story serves as a prequel to the first game in the series, taking place right after Emergence Day. While it's a little pricey at 1200 MSP (or $15 in actual money), the amount of content you get in RAAM's Shadow makes up for the initial investment. It's also one of the best Xbox 360-exclusive DLCs out...
Flying orbs. At first, you might think of the Tall Man and his army of flying sentinel spheres, equipped with zombie brains and a mini-arsenal of saw blades, drill bits and shooting lasers. But these flying orbs weren't conceived from the evil mind of a superhuman mortician—they were designed by Fumiyuki Sato, a researcher at the Japanese Defense Ministry's Technical Research and Development Institute—for something other than deadly deeds.
It's best known as a children's toy, but kids aren't the only ones who can appreciate the unique and marvelous properties of Silly Putty. It's an incredibly fun silicone polymer that almost seems like a scientific anomaly, thanks to its viscoelastic non-Newtonian flow. This amazing dilatant fluid can be stretched, torn and mashed back together, as well as bounce and shatter into pieces with a forceful blow.
In recent years, communication has become more intimate with the advent of applications like Skype and FaceTime, but what about the longing for actual physical contact? What if you could feel a loved one's hand, or even exchange a kiss? Impossible, right?
Food is the meeting place of left and right brainers: Culinary arts call for creativity, but is also deeply rooted in the What, Why and How of basic science—baking powder vs. baking soda, the rising of dough, the falling of a cake, etc. Below, two plays on left brain principles—the Möbius strip and the law of gravity—both executed with right brain flair.
Rovio's highly successful Angry Birds game has generated a slew of wannabe Angry Clones and dominated nearly every device and platform known to man—iPhone, Android, PSP, Xbox 360, Windows—and now, for the first time it's available for play directly on the web (for free). It was specifically designed for Google's Chrome OS and their new Chromebook line of laptop computers, but can play on any device in almost any web browser (like Firefox).
Some people might check their activation status of Windows XP by simply right-clicking on the My Computer icon on their desktop, then clicking on Properties. It opens up a new window with General tab showing some basic information about your PC, like system info, registered to, and computer hardware. However, it does not actually tell us complete information about the system, like whether or not your current copy of Windows XP is activated or not. To check the complete details about your Wind...
Type: Purist photography, no visual or graphic art manipulation Theme: Photo of the Day
Ever wonder what your brain looks like on video games? Below, Matt Richtel of the New York Times lies in a $3 million M.R.I. scanning tube while playing a simple driving game, as researchers sit by and observe the real-time images inside Richtel's brain.
After 3,000 man hours and $100 grand spent, 49-year-old Randy Grubb of rural Oregon turned this old junker long-haul truck...
Infiniti is like no other car, it has emotion, it has soul, it inspires. There's a difference between being physically transported and emotionally moved, and you can tell them apart when you sit inside this magnificent automobile. Although the Infiniti is like a dream car, it has its problems just like any other brand of vehicle. There's maintenance, minor repairs, major repairs, needed replacement parts, oil changes, headlight adjustment, low tires, transmission and everything else you can t...
The slide board pike is an advanced exercise that requires "above average" upper body strength. Balance, flexibility, and muscular control are also important components of this exercise.
Nowadays, any electronic items which takes some efforts to take proper care of it because we love our gadgets (Electronic items) which we use in every single day and as human being we want to preserve and extend the life of that gadgets to use long period of life without any maintance cost.
One of the biggest downsides to having so many gadgets is that you never seem to have enough outlets to power them all. Most of us have a power strip or two to solve this problem, but Instructables user dlewisa wanted something a little nicer looking, so he built this DIY desktop power outlet. For the housing, dlewisa put together a small wooden box using a nail gun and wood glue. He used a sander to round off the corners, then filled in the gaps with wood filler and painted it. You could als...
Night vision goggles are awesome, but the price? Not so much. Luckily, you can make your own pair that will have you sneaking up on your friends in just a few simple steps.
Need to find some directions? No problem, use Google Maps. Want to find some spy photos of yourself? No problem, use Google Street View.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim set off a bang in the video game world this month. It will likely be video game of the year a few times over. Skyrim is another part to a series set in the fantasy world of Tamriel, a world filled with mystical creatures, folklore, and even its own history. It's quite the beatuiful and immersive experience. If you have not picked up the game yet, please do (my fiancée even plays!). Also, make sure to buy it new, so the hard working coders at Bethesda get the money ...
Perhaps one of the greatest embodiments of urban exploration lies in a disturbing and volatile mental health facility in Massachusetts, and its story starts with...
The ComCoachVideo Tutorial is an online learning environment designed to help students improve their oral presentation skills. The website contains video clips illustrating effective and ineffective public speaking practices, as well as an interactive feedback component designed to foster students' ability to critically evaluate presentation segments.
To catch a lot of bluegill fish, the best way is with a slip float rig. The weight is all at the bottom of the line. Wade Bourne, host of Wade's World on MyOutdoorTV, shows you how to use a slip bobber rig when panfishing.
Creating any object you want is as simple as point and click if you have a 3D printer at home. If you don't have one handy, there are a few companies that offer printing services online. But to help services realize your design in extruded plastic, you have to make a 3D computer model for the printing machine. For beginners, the free Google SketchUp application is the best choice of software. Using only a few tool bar buttons and a scroll wheel computer mouse, you can model literally any obje...
