We’re fans of PVC here at MAKE, from marshmallow shooters to our gift guide, we find uses for PVC for just about everything. PVC is a little like LEGOs for adults depending on how you use them I suppose…Imarunner2 just posted up a great Instructable on how to make a simple, cheap bike rack using PVC. Link.
New Instructable on how to convert a computer power supply into a power supply for a lab bench, mat_the_w writes “I started into my main electronics classes, and needed a good power supply for working on lab projects at home in my room. My roommate Adam told me about somebody online who had converted a spare ATX computer power supply into a lab bench power supply, so I decided to do the same thing.” Link.
The MAKE team is pleased to announced that we’ve teamed up with Instructables! What’s Instructables? It’s a convenient system for documenting any how-to project, it’s Wiki + Flickr + step-by-step collaboration. You can use images, text, ingredient lists, CAD files, and more. Read all about it here. Ready to start? Head on over, grab a free account and join the MAKE group. Link. We’ll be looking for cool MAKE projects and will have some giveaways soon, so start adding your projects!
Here’s a modified tunecast 2 that now uses USB and PS/2 power instead of AAA batteries. This is part of an ongoing project that also increases the range by 20-30 feet. [via] Link.
Keeping cool indoors when it is hot outdoors is a problem. The sun beating down on your home causes indoor temperatures to rise to uncomfortable levels. Air conditioning provides some relief. But the initial costs of installing an air conditioner and the electricity costs to run it can be high. In addition, conventional air conditioners use refrigerants made of chlorine compounds, suspected contributors to the depletion of the ozone layer and global warming. But there are alternatives to air conditioning. This article provides some common sense suggestions and low-cost retrofit options to help you “keep your cool” and save electricity. Link.
The idea of coaxing multiple machines to gang up on one graphics-processing job is old; but the feasibility of configuring such a system on a shoestring budget is rather new. With open-source solutions proliferating on the Web and businesses kicking decent PCs to the curb like so many red-headed stepchildren, money’s no longer an obstacle. Only one question remains, really: Are you a big enough geek to put it all together? Link.
A while back I saw someone had taken a webcam and changed it over to an InfraRed (IR) webcam. I had thought about doing that before but never did because I saw all these new webcams that had the IR LEDs on the camera and made it an IR webcam. Even still I went ahead and modified my webcam any ways to practice and see how easy it is. I had this digital camera I picked up for $70 a few years back. It is a Fuji FinePix 2300. My goal was to turn this into a Digital IR Camera without having to use expensive filters which range from $70 and up. [via] Here’s how he did it- Link. Also- HOW TO for the Nikon D70.
