Things are back to normal around the Podcast studio, and this week you’ll hear the dulcet tones of Elliot Williams and Kristina Panos.
I
n Hackaday news, we still have a Frikkin’ Lasers Challenge going on, and now you can even enter your project into it! Join the ranks, won’t you?
Not only do we have a triple mailbag this week, we have another failed attempt at guessing the sound by Kristina. However, [Baron Maximilian von Knuthausen] knew that it was a train, a British one, even. Then it’s on to the hacks, of course, which ought to go far in explaining the show title.
Check out the links below if you want to follow along, and as always, tell us what you think about this episode in the comments!
Episode 374 Show Notes:
News:
- The Frikkin Lasers Contest Starts Now (a couple weeks ago, that is).
Mailbag:
- Triple scoop! [Brett Gibson] asked whether the Hackaday Europe talks will be posted, [AT] dreams of electric tweezers, and we have an audio missive from [Shlomo Yitzchak Kaganoff], who wants to know what the most elaborate and/or interesting home automation is that exists. Can you weigh in? Of course you can. Will you?
- Found Footage: Elliot Williams Talks Nexus Technologies
Interesting Hacks of the Week:
- Behold A 60 Hz Refresh Rate E-ink Monitor
- Commodore Unveils Linux Powered Flip Phone
- OpenCAL: Computed Axial Lithographic 3D Printing For Everyone
- Wooden Piano Keys Hold Your Less-Wooden, Not-Piano Keys
- Building A Ceiling-Based Crane Robot To Keep A Room Clean
- Ergonomic Mouse Gives Each Fingertip Its Own Saddle
Quick Hacks:
- Elliot’s Picks:
- Kristina’s Picks:
splinter tip. if you need reading glasses and have two pairs, put them on one in front of the other. adds the powers. better than magnifying glass your hands are free.
My young self was using a Dremel wire wheel with a pair of safety squints, and got a wire in the middle of my eyeball, I picked it out with tweezers and a steady hand.
I haven’t developed too many good home automations, but I’m pretty proud of this one:
I added a smart switch to my bed’s electric blanket.
This switch has a configurable auto-off timer – when switch is activated, turn off after X seconds. For the blanket, I have this set to 20 minutes.
This ends up being excellent for the blanket, for two reasons.
I can set timers to turn on the blanket and not worry about turning them off later. Usually I have one around bed time, and one in the middle of the night – say 4am.
(The best bit) I have a zigbee button on my bedside table to turn on the blanket. If I’m cold at any time in the night, I don’t need to fumble with anything half-asleep. Just wack the button and get 20 minutes of warmth. No worries about off times, straight back to sleep.