PEZ MP3 is on sale!
We’ve covered the PEZ MP3 story for many months, and today (iPod day it seems) comes news of Patrick’s PEZ MP3 player! This may be stating the obvious, but this player has one feature that no other MP3 player can claim. It looks like a PEZ dispenser. In fact, it looks a lot like a PEZ dispenser. But, look a little closer and you will see where the headphones plug in, you will see a small play button. Pull on the toes and you will open up a battery door. I wanted the PEZ MP3 player to be as true to the PEZ dispenser as possible and still be an easy to use, inexpensive MP3 player. Link.
As Halloween approaches, we’re going to post some costumes and spooky goodies to make – Here’s a fun costume based on the game “Operation”. Felxis writes “Basic supplies – this is what I started with. Wire, a battery, doorbell, Krazy glue, velcro, some markers, Scotch and electrical tape. The metallic items are outlet covers, which I got from Home Depot. Really, any sort of metal will do; I just happened to like the box shape of these guys, and they make grabbing the candy a little harder”. 
Jeffrey writes “Whew! After a couple of late nights, we present to you the DoubleSpace Kitchenette, a combination kitchen and armchair. Yes, you heard right. When college students or SoHo residents run out of space (as they are wont to do…) this is the perfect thing to reduce your material lifestyle. Also doubles as a seat warmer. Just kidding”. 
Garth on Extreme Craft writes “For every crafty punk rocker or artist dipping their toes into the craft world, there’s a techno-geek with a heart of gold and a yen for the handmade. So it is with Leah Buechley, a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at the University of Colorado. Leah is a part of the Craft Technology Group, which investigates intersections of craft and technology with a pedagogical bent. Her personal projects have included LED tank tops and bracelts with programmable light-up ornaments, math handbags, and an automated wine glass orchestra”… [
Wonderful looking (and I bet sounding) hand cranked musical instruments – There is a mount for a contact microphone (piezo) on the back of each one, so it can be amplified. Each has a hand-crank in the middle, and all but the Spring Board Hand Crank have a feather-spine that acts as a plectrum that rotates when the hand-crank is cranked. As the plectrum rotates, it plucks something that vibrates and is amplified. The “something” that vibrates is in some cases a rubber band, in some wires sticking up, in one it is a metal strip, and in another one is a heavy spring. Each has a handy handle too. 