From traditional crafts to modern crafts, we’re covering news and interesting projects to educate you and keep you inspired. Design trends and pop culture related projects are here to inspire.
Justin Frankel (Winamp & Ninjam creator) has a new multitrack recording software called REAPER. This is a pretty good PC program to try out, small, fast, looks like it can tap in to your system sound for recording Skype or other VoIPs too, that could be useful for podcasts, etc. Don’t fear the Reaper, it’s free, for now. [via] Link.
PC World has their top 50 gadgets of the last 50 years – I’m pleased to say we’ve modded most of these, and they’re all still useful for new projects! – “After a lot of Web surfing, spreadsheet wrangling, and some near fistfights, we emerged with the following list. Some items in our Top 50 are innovative devices that appeared briefly and then were quickly consigned to museums and future appearances on eBay, but whose influence spread widely. Others are products we use every day–or wish we could.” [via] Link.
Pat sent in this holiday treat, how cars are made! “…a video of the making of a very important (and common) mode of transportation: cars. Thanks to the good people at Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Georgetown, Kentucky for supplying the 5-minute narrated video of the manufacturing process. It goes from stamping through painting and powertrain through the end of the assembly process. At the end, you see the car being driven off the line.” Link.
Great (old) project from Rocketboom’s Andrew – “This project was designed to create an isolated box which can be placed inside of an elevator to play dramatic sound designs based on the direction and altitude of an elevator. A microprocessor chip is stamped with conditionals to determine the location of the elevator based on barometric pressure and then pulses are sent to trigger an mp3 player which, when amplified, plays out from a complex set of musical relationships to create a dramatic and playful experience for the unassuming passengers.” Link.
Reuse your old glass bottles and make a neat etched vase out of them. With vinyl stick-on letters and etching cream, you can create just about any kind of message on a bottle. A quick personalized gift idea for the holidays! Link.
Calling herself the “fashion nerd”, Designer Diana Eng brings her technology sense to the fashion world on the TV show “Project Runway” which can be seen every Wednesday nights at 10pm on Bravo. From the site, “She hopes to make the fashion-minded more interested in the research process and the scientific-minded more interested in fashion as a form of self-expression. Diana is currently co-creating an online show called iheartswitch.com, a do-it-yourself fashion website designed to switch girls onto technology by teaching them how to make accessories and apparel with embedded electronics from everyday supplies.” Not only do Diana’s creations incorporate technology in a useful and ingenious manner, they look amazing too! We can’t wait to watch tonight to see what she makes next. Thanks Kevin and Eliot! Project Runway and Link.
Here’s a great use of your old light bulbs. Make pal Ianiv writes,”When your light bulbs die, don’t throw them out. Make them into really cute ornaments. My fiance Arieanna made some really cute snowmen for our Christmas tree.” The complete instructions are on the site. Thanks Ianiv! Link.
