Once, in Kindergarten, I built a diorama using cotton balls, crayons, construction paper and Elmer’s glue. It looks like shit but boy was I proud of it. Today, I think I’ll leave the diorama-making to Thomas Doyle, a guy who produces true works of art using miniature figures and houses that would normally be found on a train set. Click through to see his work. It’s something that really can’t be missed.
In the latest issue of MAKE, there are instructions for a DIY project that is long overdue. If you’re into creating digital music, by now you’ve surely seen the video of a ball bearing sequencer on YouTube. You haven’t? Well watch the above video and you’ll be brought up to speed.
Essentially, you move the metal balls around to different areas of the setup to create beats. It works like a standard 16-step sequencer except that the possibilities for innovation are endless. Building your own will take a lot of time, money and effort, but the payoff will be priceless.
Anyone interested in DIY, energy or our ecosystem should most definitely check out the Alternative Energy Gift Guide from MAKE. They cover some key issues that we as Americans must confront head on, such as our dependence on foreign energy and oil. There’s a bunch of a kits you can browse through that will have you using the Sun as your new battery pack in no time.
If you love WHYY as much as I do and you’re down for a little DIY action, scrape three pennies from your sofa and try building this tiny radio. Full instructions are available and the electronics involved can be had at your local Radio Shack. There’s even instructions on how to make your own batteries out of vinegar and aluminum foil. Insane! You’ve got to check it out if you’ve got a soldering iron and a free weekend.
The team over at Hackaday (my old stomping grounds) have whipped up an excellent and detailed HOW TO that shows how to make your own web server. Before you complain and state how easy it is to use your grandmother’s old HP and all that jazz, let me ask you this: Is your server the size of a business card? Oh, ho! What a dark horse-style response! Yes. You can build an SD card server and it will actually work. Hit the link below for the full skinny and complete details on how to make one.
For those of you who will be in New York during the second week of September, we suggest you come out and visit us at the Minitek Electronic Music Festival. It’ll feature a handful of different electronic performing artists, music, art, technology and more. It takes place September 12th through the 14th and will feature both an indoor and outdoor location in case it rains on all those Arduinos being set up. Rumor has it that attendees will receive an RFID-enabled wristband. This is starting to sound like The Last HOPE and less like a music festival!
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.
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.
Reading in bed just isn’t my thing. I tend to be that dude with the laptop watching YouTube videos until 3:00AM. Fortunately, there’s plenty of people who do read in bed, creating a lucrative market for light-up book covers everywhere. But why shell out $14.95 to Borders when they’re not even going to bother to order Vaginal Release, Volume 4 for you?
Instead of buying a nightlight book cover, try making your own. I’m sure that if you’ve helped a kid build LEGOs or finger paint, you can figure this out. Plus, you get to infuse your creativity onto the actual book cover that houses the LED light. Isn’t that wonderful? Expression! Now!
These toys made by Sang Won Sung (not to be confused with twin brother Sing Two Singing), are made from bits of other recycled toys (and some assorted household objects), creating odd, and sometimes eerie looking toy models.
The two boys pictured above are aptly named “bull” and “elk”, both of their faces made with the recycled torso of a doll. — Andrew Dobrow
