When you can’t afford a real breadboard for prototyping, you might as well turn to the next best thing: a piece of toast. Yes. This gentlemen embedded a circuit of LEDs inside a slice of bread and the end result is simply delicious.
The difference between shoving your circuit inside a piece of bread and this project is that the slice of bread actually acts as a circuit board with etchings and all. Unconvinced? Hit the jump:
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Digi-Key has unleashed its power house single-board computer called the Beagle Board. This developer dream board is perfect for DIY projects and ground level design work. Don’t judge it by its size either, its processor: the ARM Cortex A8, runs up to 600MHz while delivering over 1,200 MIPS (million instructions per second). It packs quite a punch for a 3″ x 3″ board.
It connects to your computer via mini-A to standard-A adapter with a high speed USB 2.0 port and even supports 1280×1024 DVI-D video output. Listen, I could go on and on about the heat this baby’s packing, but it’d be best to get one for yourself and try it out. Maybe you’ve got what it takes to make a game on it, or even better: a robot. It’s relatively cheap, too. At $149, its the least expensive, most powerful development board on the market that I’ve heard of.
Dice can be some cumbersome equipment to carry around for board games. That’s alright though, because as long as you have your iPhone on you, you’ll have a set of some topnotch dice that’ll have any D&D enthusiast drooling at your feet. It’s only 99 cents from the Apple store, after which you’ll be rolling away with your D20 Gaming Dice Set. More practical than iBeer, with a prettier interface than that chick holding the D20 die.
Remember, it’s compatible with most die-based games, so you’re not limited to playing Dungeons and Dragons exclusively but c’mon, that’s what this app was made for. It’s got four, six, eight, ten, twelve, twenty and hundred sided dice a shitload of dice that’ll also let you roll between one and nine dice at a time.
The Fourth of July has passed and now we’re stuck on a Monday with a big week ahead of us. However, nobody’s week will compare to that of Jerry Yang’s. Jerry is CEO and co-Founder of Yahoo!, a dying Internet company you probably use daily. Today, money-maker and powerhouse Carl Icahn issues a letter to Yahoo! shareholders telling them that the current board at Yahoo! must be ousted, including Yang. Why’s this? Icahn and Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer have been chatting about Yahoo! recently. Check out choice quotes from Icahn’s letter:
Much has been said about how badly the Yahoo! board has “botched up” negotiations with Microsoft over the past months. There is no need to keep pointing out the mistakes I believe Yahoo! made by not immediately taking a $33 offer made by Microsoft. But one thing is clear — Jerry Yang and the current board of Yahoo! will not be able to “botch up” a negotiation with Microsoft again, simply because they will not have the opportunity.
– If elected, I have little doubt that the new board, subject to its fiduciary duties, will do what the current board will not do, i.e.,
– Immediately start negotiation with Microsoft to sell the whole company or, in the alternative, sell “Search” with large guarantees.
– Move expeditiously to replace Jerry Yang with a new CEO with operating
experience.
Things are not looking good for Yahoo! or Yang. I give it six months before Microsoft is finished purchasing the company and replacing Yang with Icahn. Thoughts?
Have you ever gotten the sudden urge to just sprout up living quarters anywhere you see fit? We have too, that’s why the Abilmo Pop-Up Hotel Rooms caught our attention. It can be difficult finding an affordable room and board while taking a cross country road trip. Abilmo themselves deliver these pop-up rooms and set them up on site for your convenience.
Don’t doubt that these rooms are stocked better than any Holiday Inn you’ve stayed at before. With bathrooms, showers, a quality hardwood floor as well as heating and air-conditioning and even noise insulation, these hotel rooms come packing. With Abilmo willing to customize your own room to fit your unique sense of style, you could say these pop-up rooms look and feel nicer than home.
The days of slapping magnets all over your refrigerator are thankfully over with the Jot Dry-Erase Refrigerator. Leave messages, reminders, chores or just doodle right in the privacy of your own kitchen. Is someone drinking from the milk carton? Tell them to “Fuck off!” with one of the many colored dry-erase markers included. Has the cheese gone bad? Leave a warning to your friends and family so no one is stuck cutting the proverbial cheese. At $549, you’ve got to ask yourself: what are you willing to pay to express yourself?
Getting wet sucks, especially if you’re that alien species from the movie Signs. Michael Burton has crafted an award-winning concept of a virtual water interactive installation. Unlike the Light Rain, you won’t find shoddy poetry and goofy dancers throughout this video. Rather, you’ll see people playing with life-like water displayed on a board.
The water will react to anything pressed up against the board including your entire body. Plants will grow in dry areas of the board, aquatic life will spawn from bodies of water and water will become stagnant if its source is severed. With multiple users, an evolving network of virtual water is obtained. The Waterboard claims to
“offer the means to encourage creating thinking to emphasis the natural progression of the Earth’s water supply”
Looks like he’s going for an eco state-of-mind and from the looks of things, it seems to be quite the success.
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I stumbled upon the greatest hack/mod/sandwich for the Nintendo DS. It’s called Midify and as any dork or musician could guess, it’s MIDI-related. This little board adds MIDI ports to your DS, allowing Electroplankton to shine at its full potential. Apparently the interface is very easy to work with and mapping triggers shouldn’t be a problem.
At $35, DS enthusiasts will be very happy with this mod. Lots of options are available and the ability to us a DS (with a touchscreen) as a MIDI controller opens all kinds of possibilities.
The lightest most durable decks to hit store shelves, Element’s new “Push Construction Positive Negative” series of decks is leading by example and showing old-timers that wood isn’t good. Element had previously released a featherlight helium deck which trapped air in between the layers of the deck. Combining that with with carbon fiber material has spawned the first three pro-skateboarding sponsor Push Constructions: the “Darrell,” the “Muska” and the “Tave”.
Less wood equals responsible foresting and a more eco-friendly board than others. But skaters don’t care about clean air and clean streets. All they’re looking for is a mean grind and people to piss off.
No one wants to stand during a raid. Yet, these German fellows who turned the Wii Balance Board into an interactive control mechanic for World Of Warcraft do want to stand as they play. They’ve done a similar project with Google Maps but this software mod sets the all time precedent of uselessness.
Relaying data to a laptop via Bluetooth, the pressure of your stance on the board is converted into directional instructions for the game. Much like other games for the Wii Fit, such as skiing, this control mechanism proves that much physical prowess is needed to play the game for a long duration. World Of Warcraft is one such game that requires prolonged exposure to the environment in order to achieve success. No lard ass geek looking to do a Gurtogg run wants to stand on his heels all day shifting his weight around like a hula dancer.
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