[zayitz]
Hey folks this is Eliot. I know when I got my wisdom teeth pulled I didn’t want to do anything; So, I’m hoping Vince is going to take it easy today.
Things have gotten pretty heated in the comments recently and I wanted to address some of the things brought up. Just so you don’t get bored I’ve included all of the wallpapers that have been submitted so far. Click on the images to get the full size versions. The following isn’t going to be all bureaucratic drek. I’ve included other interesting links that have appeared during the week. Here we go, starting at the end and working back towards the beginning.
[Cyber spider tech] (started this whole wallpaper
trend)
Hackaday.com is owned by Weblogs, inc. and Vince and I are
compensated for maintaining this site. This is not our day job though. I work 8-5 like most of you and Vince is a
full-time college student. We maintain the site in our spare time and are required to post every day (like the title
says ;-)). That all being said, we post here because we want to. We’re proud of what we do and wouldn’t be here if we
didn’t enjoy it.
[jamie]
Wednesday is part of the reason I’m bothering
to write this. Some have commented about the quality of the hacks being on a decline. We are fueled by the links you
send in, be they your own hacks or ones that others have done. Joe Landers took it upon himself to send in a ton of
links the other day and I know you liked it because of great response to the stuff we posted on Thursday. Also, the
links you send in and the comments give us a better idea of the hacks you want to see. So, keep sending in the
links.
[eru]
We love it when you send in your personal projects and we usually give them precedence when picking features. I’d
like to thank the following people who sent in personal projects last week:
- DIY Frozen Drink Machine [fixer]
- DIY Recumbent Bicycle [Bill Dudley]
- Auxiliary Input for a Car Stereo [Matt
Gilbert] - 3D Scanner [Andrew Lewis]
- JuiceBox eBook reader [Brian Pipa]
[Sean Su]
Forums. No, it isn’t going to happen. It has been said many times over that we are a blog in a blog network. We are
working on providing new forms of content for your enjoyment. I’ve never been a fan of forums because they are usually
brim full of fanboys and h4x0rs and it is hard to get anything useful out of them. There are exceptions; I wouldn’t be
running Gentoo if it wasn’t for the great
forum.
[sterling]
Still not happy? How about this: Hackaday is a forum, but only the administrators can start threads. There is one
“on-topic” thread (the feature) and there is one “off-topic” thread (the links). There are already a lot of established
regulars here that always comment using the same name and have there own voice, so let’s make the most of it. A final
note: the comment numbers change as people approve their comments so you should address other people using their name
since the post number will change.
[Sean Su]
Here are some interesting links you may have missed that have shown up in comments or other places and are related
to stories we’ve posted this week:
Matt and his dad tried out the plasmoid from yesterday,
check out the video.
Here is a page of unwise microwave oven experiments.
Here is Rob’s clean install of an auxiliary jack in his car.
Someone also sent in another aux hack in a
Civic.
Here’s another Honda via Technorati’s
inbound links.
Brian was able to jumper the CD connector to get “line-in”
on his Mazda.
Matt Gilbert gave us the original hack. The rest of his site might not be hacks, but it is definitely
thought provoking.
This is another 3D scanner
project with Matlab code.
A fun little three-wheeled electric kart with videos.
The missing barstool racer
plans.
Rob updated his site. It now has pictures of converting a pedal car to an
electric.
[blackzero]
I’d like to thank everyone that sent in wallpaper. We’ll probably be running some other themed submissions in the
future. Thanks to all the people sending in links. If anyone is driving through Nebraska this summer you could always
stop by. Vince, I hope that you heal up quick; I think this last wallpaper is for you. Have a great weekend!
[ORANGE]
has anyone made a widescreen version of a hackaday wallpaper? that’d be great if you did! those wallpapers are awesome, too.
Ladies and Gentlemen the fight is over, it has clearly been lost by those who REQUESTED a forum system.
[+3 Informative]
I disagree with the argument, but it was well made. I prefer a forum type format to a blog (Usually, the sound of one hand clapping). It encourages discussion and would allow for greater inspiration. However this decision is not my domain (pun intended), and the argument should be laid to rest.
[+2 Interesting / +5 Flame bait]
If your looking for links, try just Goggling for “brunel degree design show”. Try to find the sites that are for each annual show. In order to pass a degree we would have to build a working prototype. So what you see is usuall y realised as a PIC/Electronic/Actuator hybrid.
Nearly every project could be a feature on this site.
[+1 Informative]
I like this site, and even if I get one interesting hack a week, its better than nothing.
[+2 Arse licking]
thanks for the tip about the changing numbers, eliot. keep up the good work.
hackaday rocks, best site ever. don’t go changin
I like this site too, albeit that I follow just since early april or something.
There are many, many hacks out there and this is a good blog that tracks them for those who have interest in these kind of things.
What I would like to know is if there is a delay in the links that are submitted. If not, are submitted links kept in a pool of usable fill-up or are they just disposed?
Not to brag about it, but I submitted a link and thought it was a good and funny hack. I almost was very certain that it should show up on the blog, but it didn’t. I don’t necessarily need it shown, but what are the guidelines for submissions? Should I use the form or the e-mailaddress and if so wich one?
Just a few questions….. ;-)
Oh, and the link to the nice hack is this:
http://www.afrotechmods.com/cheap/hdspeakers/hdspeakers.htm
Also check out his other hacks, stupid, fun or not:
http://www.afrotechmods.com/
– Unomi –
I love hackaday, and have since the beginning (though I’ve rarely posted). Every hack, no matter how low or high tech, I learn something which could come in handy for my own hacks. This is what is so great about hackaday. Hackaday has definitely greatly improved, with a wide variety of hacks on different subjects, so that almost every day a neat hack is learned. also, the podcasts are awesome.
The only thing I would ask to change about hackaday is the comment system. Unfortunately, I am not much of an e-mail person, and therefor don’t post often because of the fact I need to verify my comment via email. Just a simple username and password would be awesome.
For those who think the quality has changed, i think the number of hacks has just increased, and what may not appeal to you, appeals to others.
The problem with a forums is all the jerks who come in, post once, post again to say that they’re leaving, and how the moderators have changed.
“Every hack, no matter how low or high tech, I learn something which could come in handy for my own hacks.” I could not agree MORE with this statement. Even the most useless of the hacks or mods posted on here, keep me entertained and teach me something that is actually usable in the future……unlike my school or current job.
haha hillary duff
also thanks for _not_ putting forums up, they do tend to bring in the fanboys *cough* and slashdot *cough* readers (which tends to get annoying)
i agree with #4, hackaday owns as it as – no changes needed
I also like hackaday and find it an interesting and entertaining site (just to see what people are coming up with out there.) As long as the site has a way to search on past hacks, I don’t see that much value in a forum system (cause eventually forum topics get old and get relegated to page 10+ and then people lose interest in it anyways.) It might be useful though to have a “best hacks ever” category where you can put sticky links to the things that have most interested the hackaday readers in the past (so that way new readers can find things that tney missed pretty easily to see what the site’s all about.
I love this site. It’s part of my daily surfin’. Leave it alone. The hacks keep all of us here in the IT Dept from killing one another with our own stupid ideas. Thanks for keeping us safe Hack A Day
Every blog has its good and bad times(yeas, even Hack a day) but still I have found myself to return in here from time to time.
I just have to say this: I like he first and the third wallpaper.
For what its worth, I’m with “TIMMAH” on his “best hacks ever” post.
I’m thinking as soon as I get power back I’m gonna make a wallpaper too. Or at least try. That, and read this post more thouroughly.
never doubt it for a second, this site is awesome. The only thing i really don’t like about it is that Bess (http://www.n2h2.com/products/bess_home.php)
blocks access to this site from my school so if i want to check hackaday i have to do it from home in the morning or after school. Proxies work well enough though for the machines i use regularly.
A lot ofthe hacks on here are too simple (like the posted lighter mod) so it’s nothing new or they’re too complicated (like that glider with a webcam some guy built) so its interesting but too hard. There are a lot of hacks in the middle ground that i really like and that’s the main reason i keep coming back here (multiple times a day).
So for my own sanity, I really am hoping that the hackaday site maintainers will also consider making sure that the hacks make it into the wayback machine. At least that way when the original pages fall off the Internet then the content can be preserved. Other wise I would like to see some of the content (with permission of course) reproduced in blog form for posterity. Many of the hacks of yesteryear (even yester-month) seem to have a bizarre likelihood of magically disappearing. It only takes one good slashdoting (read bandwidth overage bill) and it seems that site owners don’t feel the need to be philanthropic any more.
I do believe that it is important to ask permission, but for the sake of any of what you are recording being relevant in 1 year let alone 6 months pull and save or make sure it gets spidered by wayback.
Case in point I remember a large water-cooling hack posted on Slashdot cannot be but 2 or 3 years ago that I cannot find. If anyone remembers and has the link submit it please that was great, He was cooling all of his systems off of one very large water cooling reservoir.
Or, better yet, “greatest hits”.
so, in agreeance of the last several readers, i’ve been readin think that this site ownz. I come here everyday as it kinda soothes the day at work (a boring ass dialup help desk call center) and the tips are good. Yah sometimes there is stuff that I skip over and leave unread, but every site has that, most of them moreso. This site here and engadget are my sources of “weird shit” that keeps me from poisoning fellow employees arp caches for fun. Everybody needs something to concentrate their talents on. Funny, due to hackaday I now own a home built DIY lcd projector and that fog machine is probably on the next todo list after fitting a metal halide lamp. very cool ideas come to me when i read all that people have submitted, and without this site i’d have never found kevin rose’s super cool vids. Mad props go to the guys that keep up this site, and speaking of arp caches, the guy playing a movie all loud in the next cubicle over is gonna get dealt with. Peace yall, and try to be fucking nice to eachother!!
eru – im loving that wallpaper!
Hackaday is great as is! No forums please as they quickly become little cliques and serve little purpose if not moderated correctly. And if moderated correctly, the moderators will be labeled as fascists and the forum soap opera cycle will begin.
BTW, please don’t ever post any of #5’s links. Thanks! :-)
hey… who wants to find a hack for N2H2’s filering system?? we’d like to access our web pages at school, but they are blocked. we’ve tried proxies, translation services, and just about everything else. everything is blocked. prefereably we’d like to get myspace unblocked, and also deviantart.com. thanks