Month: September 2005

Gauss Pistol

September 3, 2005 by 13 Comments

coil gun

Nuts to the Midigun, we’re talking gauss pistols today. The gun works by accelerating a projectile through a pair of coils. Is it dangerous? Only indirectly: There is 440V across the capacitor terminals. It is kinda heavy, so you could throw it at someone. The laser sight could cause eye damage. The small parts are a choking hazard. Finally, it has about the same power as a pellet gun, but the projectile is much heavier so it moves a lot slower. All the info you need can be found in the FAQ.

[thanks Jason]

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Hackaday Links

September 3, 2005 by 5 Comments

The first anniversary of Hack-A-Day is coming up Monday September 5th. So if you’ve got any pictures of Hack-A-Day swag in the wild, now is the time to send them in. Since it is labor day I’ll probably be idling on the #hackaday Efnet channel most of the day too. So stop by and say hi.

Wondering what to do with the vacuum forming table? The process was used to create the case for this portable Dreamcast. [ian]

The ReBirth software synth has been retired and released for free. The software models two Roland 303s, an 808 and a 909. [via MeFi]

The competition for the Treehugger DIY contest is heating up. Check out this solar powered hydrofoil. UPDATE: Readers have cried foul because Marquette’s Solar Energy Society deserves all of the credit for this project.

Fabienne was wondering the other day how to make private links in del.icio.us. She dug up this clever bookmarklet hack that encrypts your links.

How to make your Molex power connectors glow. [AD]

I’m not sure if these guys are in the DARPA Grand Challenge or if they just enjoy running crap over in their homebuilt tank. [Baconjacobs]

I hope you’re having a good weekend.

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Siggraph Best-Of 2005

September 2, 2005 by 12 Comments

bwhaptic

Siggraph is a hot bed for tech prototype research and crazy art each year. [Dan Kaminsky] attended the conference last month and graced us with tons of pictures and descriptions of his favorite projects and pieces. Thanks Dan! Many of the exhibitors at Siggraph are hardware hackers and handheld gadget modders. Where possible we’ve linked to project pages and videos. We’ve gone ahead and added a few more of our personal faves as well to round out this round-up. Get your groove on at this visualization and interaction party.

by Dan Kaminsky

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AppleCrate: Apple II Based Cluster

September 2, 2005 by 14 Comments

cluster

The author purchased a box of 8 Apple //e main boards at auction for a dollar each. He then assembled this simple crate for them to live in. He wanted to use the burn-in connectors to supply power but they weren’t consistent. Power is delivered to the buses through a threaded rod along the bottom. Each board is net-booted by a more equipped Apple //e. It is a unique project, but I can’t think of what you would do with it.

[thanks exparrot]

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Vacuum Forming

September 1, 2005 by 12 Comments

vacuum forming

Vacuum forming involves heating up a sheet of plastic and stretching it over a mold known as a “buck”. A vacuum is applied to pull the plastic up to the mold surface. The major parts are a table top grill and a shop vac. The author uses this set up to create studio props, but it can be used for a lot of other things. The acrylic bodies on RC cars are manufactured using this process. So, if you want to start generating your own custom bodies, this is where to start.

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TUAW Trys Out OSX86

September 1, 2005 by 27 Comments

Our friends over at The Unofficial Apple Weblog decided reinforce their name by trying out the OSX86. After some bumbling they got it installed (I don’t think they’re going to be Linux converts anytime soon). Conclusion? They were thoroughly impressed that it worked and how incredibly slow it was, deciding that it needed some more tweaking. I’m just happy someone else did this before I had to bite the bullet and sacrifice my only running laptop in the name of hacking.

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