Teardown Of The Barista

August 18, 2009 by Steve Watkins 15 Comments

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iFixit has done a tear down on the symbolic do-it-yourself Espresso machine, the Starbucks Barista. Believe it or not, there is not a single circuit board in the works. There doesn’t seem to be much to the Barista; A few switches, some solenoids, a heater, and one way spring valve among other things. The assembly of the device is very simple. It is noted that in a pinch it may be torn down with a pair of pliers and washer; in place of a flat head screw driver. We have pondered the possibilities of this machine numerous times, while enjoying a cup of cappuccino. Though most conversations end at the bottom of the cup, many survive such as this Silvia PID looped expresso machine. The very name “Mecha turbo crazy coffee roaster” seems to encapsulate the effects of caffeine quite adequately.

The Wake Up Machine

August 18, 2009 by Caleb Kraft 10 Comments

Meet the Wakeup Machine. It is here to ensure that you are up and ready to go when the time comes. This machine will vibrate your bed, remove the sheets, make coffee, play music, even adjust the temperature in the room for optimal wake up experiences. We like the large heavy industrial look of it too, but after looking inside you’ll see it is only a prototype which could be made much smaller with its own pcb. This thing brings back fond memories of Rube Goldberg style alarm clocks from movies such as Pee-wee’s big adventure, Back To The Future, and even Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. You can see some videos of the device on the page as well as download complete plans in pdf format. The did forget one feature though.

[via makezine]

WiFi Spectrum Analyzer

August 18, 2009 by Caleb Kraft 18 Comments

ez430 (Custom)

[Tim] noticed a 2.4Ghz WiFi spectrum analyzer on thinkgeek a while ago and got curious. He knew that the spectrum analyzers with which he was familiar were giant expensive units, so he got curious what this little dongle was. It turns out, it really wasn’t much at all. Just a simple wireless receiver. He decided that rather than spending the $399 for one, he would toss one together using an Xbee. His total cost ended up at roughly $50 for basically the same unit. While he doesn’t give a schematic, you can download his source code on the site.

Streamfile Encrypted File Drop

August 17, 2009 by Eliot 16 Comments

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There are myriad file transfer services on the web. Streamfile tries to set itself apart by providing a unique secure service. Their file upload system is all JavaScript and doesn’t rely on Flash. It uses SSL to secure the file transport. As soon as you start uploading the file, you can hand the link off to your recipient and they can start downloading without waiting for the upload to complete. The free limit is 150MB, but their PRO service allows 2GB files.

[via Download Squad]

Adafruit Releases New TV-B-Gone Kit

August 17, 2009 by Nick Caiello 54 Comments

Recently, our friends over at Adafruit released a new version of their popular TV-B-Gone kit. Built in cooperation with [Mitch Altman], the inventor of the TV-B-Gone, the new kit sports four high power IR LEDs, two wide beam and two narrow beam. The four LEDs give the new TV-B-Gone increased range, with a maximum distance of over 150ft. One of the most impressive features of the kit is the fact that the new TV-B-Gone is universal and can now work in Europe and Asia in addition to the US. Users are able to select which region they want to use during the build process by soldering a resistor into the board at their region’s corresponding spot as seen in the picture above. The new TV-B-Gone kit is now available in the Adafruit store for $19.95 plus shipping.

1-Click Android Rooting

August 17, 2009 by Eliot 19 Comments

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In the last few days, rooting the T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G has become much easier. [Zinx] released FlashRec which lets you flash a new recovery image onto your Android phone. It takes advantage of Linux kernel vulnerability CVE-2009-2692. The app lets you backup your current image and then flashes Cyanogen’s Recovery Image 1.4. Once that’s done, you can use any custom Android build you want. Android and Me has documented the entire process on their site and points out the ridiculously large number of custom ROMs that are out there. Embedded below is a video from [unknownkwita] showing the rooting process.

Continue reading “1-Click Android Rooting” →

Automated Blinds

August 17, 2009 by Caleb Kraft 11 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BendxUgRh0]

Inspired by the multitudes of other automated window blind projects, [John] decided to build his own simpler design. Knowing his Arduino was massive overkill (yes, we hear you all cheering) he picked up a picaxe 08m starter kit. Looking at his very simple circuit, you’ll notice there are no resistors or capacitors. He designed it to take commands from his PC via IR. The final product is fairly well hidden, and should his girlfriend ever be upgraded to wife, we assume he’ll hide it better. Good job [John]. We’re no strangers to automated blinds, we’ve seen them a few times.