The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for digital gadgetry, open code, smart hacks, and more. Processing power to the people!
Just a friendly reminder to those of you who are polishing up your entries for the Gadget Freak Design Contest: The deadline is tonight at 11:59 PM California time. The grand prize is $1000 cash and a free storefront in Makers Market. When you enter, be sure to upload finished or in-process project shots or video to the contest Flickr pool!
If you’ve got a T-Mobile G1 or myTouch (HTC Dream, Magic, or Google ADP1) and are comfortable flashing an alternative ROM, then you’ll be happy to know that the latest CyanogenMod (CM6 RC1) delivers some tasty Froyo. There are some reports of minor hiccups here and there, but the newer features and minor speed boost should make up for most glitches. As always, it’s your call and your mileage may vary.
Pet owners who want to spend a day hiking, at the beach, shopping at the mall or even a weekend far from home can build an automatic pet feeder to dispense water and dry food at a preset time. Tom Thompson, Julie Redmond, Curtis Siebenaller and Nathan Woodworth at Colorado State University explain how to combine electronic and mechanical devices to do just that.
Speaking broadly, non-Newtonian fluids are of two types: Either they get thinner under shear, or they get thicker. Shear-thickening fluids, like the common corn flour-water mixture sometimes called “oobleck,” obviously, get thicker when a force is applied. This new and highly secretive non-Newtonian fluid formulation by British defense giant BAE is like oobleck to the power of ten, and can, reportedly, be very effectively combined with Kevlar to improve human body armor performance against bullets. [via Fast Company]
And we’re back with our sixth installment of Your Comments. Here are our favorites from the past week, from Make: Online, our Facebook page, and Twitter. Nate imagines what it would be like if the Star Wars characters were making Death Star cookies: Hee hee…I’m having all of these wonderful images of Vader, Tarkin, and […]
Reportedly this cam-actuated, weight-activated grabbing hook from designer Stefan Bennedahl “makes it easy to hang things like towels that tend to fall off hooks,” which I’m willing to buy into if for no other reason than that it looks like a heckuva lot of fun to use. Design Within Reach actually lives up to its name with these, which are only $10 apiece.
Google’s App Inventor for Android (beta) is a tool that will help you visually design mobile apps and run them on an Android device. This should be exciting news for all the Open Blocks/Scratch fans out there as the project uses the Open Blocks Java library distributed by MIT’s Scheller Teacher Education Program.
