Computers & Mobile

The latest DIY ideas, techniques and tools for digital gadgetry, open code, smart hacks, and more. Processing power to the people!

Project Gutenberg’s Michael Hart: Builder of Public Libraries, Tinkerer

Michael S. Hart, the founder of the Project Gutenberg, passed away this week at age 64 in Urbana, Illinois. He single-handedly created the first free e-books and then organized a worldwide effort to give books their first digital form — as ASCII text. His chief goal was to make sure e-books were accessible to anyone for free on any device. His work in creating a truly public library is a lasting legacy, and Hart should be considered among the founders of the Free and Open Source movement.

Continue Reading September 9th, 2011 Dale Dougherty20

Chumby NeTV Networked In-line HDTV Interface

Even if you own one of the newer smart TVs, you’ll want the new NeTV from Chumby. Out of the box it can use an Android handset as a controller (iOS soon). Enter a website in an app on the phone and have it show up on your TV in a WebKit browser.

Continue Reading September 9th, 2011 Adam Flaherty

How-To: Large Homemade Vacuum Forming Machine

From James Bruton of XRobots.co.uk. James’s take on the familiar vacuum forming machine uses a three-layer MDF sandwich for the vacuum box and forming table, with a vacuum cleaner hose connected at the bottom. His heating system is novel, in my experience, using an off-the-shelf quartz room heater at the bottom of an MDF “chimney” lined with aluminum foil reflectors.

Continue Reading September 8th, 2011 Sean Michael Ragan11

The Thingiverse Cube Gears Phenomenon

This video of Thingiverse user dougc314′s motorized cube gears caught my attention, this morning, on one of my co-workers’ blogs. It’s a modification of user emmett’s much-copied screwless cube gears which replaces one of the corner gears with a motorized pedestal that constantly drives the geartrain, endlessly folding and unfolding the shape.

Continue Reading September 8th, 2011 Sean Michael Ragan8

Intriguing Photo of the Month

It’s from Thingiverse user DieselG. You can click through to learn what it’s for. DieselG, if you read this, I very much hope you’ll let us see how it works out.

Continue Reading September 7th, 2011 Sean Michael Ragan6

Japanese Joinery Inspired Smartphone Stand

Berkeley area maker, Milo, is really into Japanese joinery techniques and since his phone doesn’t have a fancy kickstand, he decided to make a smartphone stand using some scrap wood and his Japanese woodworking tools. If you’re looking for an easy to accomplish project, you can follow along with Milo in his step-by-step how-to.

Continue Reading September 7th, 2011 Adam Flaherty22

QR Code scavenger hunt at RI Mini Maker Faire this Saturday

Thom Nichols is building a mobile QR Code scavenger hunt for the RI Mini Maker Faire based on QuiRk: A Cross-Platform QR Scavenger Hunt Game, which he launched at this year’s Wooly Fair.

We’ll be hiding QR Codes all over the RI Mini Maker Faire. If you find them all, you’ll be entered in a (free) drawing to win one of three awesome prizes, which we’ll be announcing soon.

Continue Reading September 6th, 2011 Brian Jepson2

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