For those looking to ride where no man has ridden before, take a look at this U.S.S. Enterprise-inspired bike. Photographer Alan Light took this shot at the 1982 San Diego Comic Con and while it may not be fresh it certainly is fresh looking. Check out how huge that horn is! I bet it can blast the opening theme of Star Trek so loud that Geordi La Forge would be able to see the sound waves.
It just goes to show that not much has changed in 26 years. Nerds will be nerds.
Not since the days of Sifl and Olly on MTV have I seen sock puppets singing. If Matt Irvine Brown gets his way though, he’ll have a choir of these singing socks howling at me on a bad night. Each puppet has built-in sensors that measure how far open the puppet’s mouth is. You can make the puppet sing higher and higher on a scale or go real low to make smooth love like Barry White. He can also be hooked up to Ableton Live or your favorite MIDI software as a controller.
Ridiculous looking? Absolutely. Sings out of key? Check. Entertains children, thus making it a cash crop? Oh yes.
If you’ve ever been to Florida, you know that in the summer months it gets unbearably hot. Nothing feels worse than the heat and humidity of Florida. So when Carl Morris, a Florida resident, set out to cool his kids off, you can bet he tried damn hard. It seems that hard work and patience paid off in the form of the KidWash 2.
KidWash 2 is a PVC pipe stand with misting water jets built-in. Run underneath it and get soaked. Walk near it and get soaked. Ride your bike through it and GET SOAKED. Carl was kind enough to throw a HOWTO up on Instructables so you can build your own and beat the heat!
Truth be told, solder isn’t very pretty. I tend to chuck it in my toolbox and leave it there until I need it. I should really be more like these Flickr users that took solder-holding to the next level with empty dental floss containers. Very useful for the casual DIYer who isn’t using a mile of material a minute. Say that three times fast.
Great project, strange name. Created by Danish artist Alexander Laner, Viva Las Vegas is a project that makes one gaze in wonder and amazement. Creating POV visuals from a spinning set of recycled hardware and neon lights, Viva looks to engage the user in an inebriated state and hold their attention continuously. So if you’re in Copenhagen, Denmark anytime soon, stop by the Tom Christoffersen Gallery and let us know how it looks.
Pesky trespassers, beware! This USB missile launcher is outfitted with a radar that picks up enemy movement in its field of vision. The instructions to make one are provided with a circuit board layout and a free download of the C# code to run it. Just plug this missile launcher into your PC and you’ll be scanning for Charlies in to time.
This DIY MAME cabinet is the kind of arcade system you always dreamed of having as a kid. John Keeler has crafted this work of art and while doing so, was kind enough to throw together a HOWTO so you can build your own.
Aside from some of the neat stuff thrown into this thing, such as two NES, two SNES and 2 Adaptoid adapters built in to the front of the unit for easy retro controller support, the arcade has a custom built-in “Mother Brain” as tribute to Metroid. Using polymer clay, Keeler crafted two halves of the brain and fit them inside a plexiglass case that lies behind the monitor. It’s as if Mother Brain herself were powering this machine of Metroid glory.
It’s no joke that the Arduino is changing the way we build projects. I’ve even ordered one so I can start tinkering with it and discovering how it works. It seems a more advanced architect of sorts has already shown me up, though. This Powerball-based game lets you move around in a Flash-based game with the ball controller. Just like Tempest!
Here’s a nice mod that seems relatively easy to pull off. It’s a headphone amp inside an old CD-ROM drive and it even uses the drive’s headphones jack. Creator Gio Militano provides detailed instructions if you’re itching to build your own. Just make sure you’ve got a pair of proper cans to go along with it. If you don’t, make a pair.
Earlier this month, I was sitting on the can reading the latest issue of MAKE magazine. Inside, I read about Laurier Rochon and his deodorant-based docking station. At first, the concept sounded a bit off color but after reviewing his project, dubbed “I Am Clean”, as a whole, I’m proud to report I’m obsessed with it.
Laurier used an Arduino and an XPort along with a combination of PHP, SQL and XML to create a docking station that lets the world know how long he used his stick of deodorant for. You pick up the stick, use it and put it back in the dock. Instantly, the information is sent to his website Iamclean.org, where users use a slick Flash interface to view when and how long Laurier was messing around with the Old Spice. It’s a both an innovative and complex technical project, one that you have to see to believe. Hit the link below for the full goods.