[Ben Heck] has written up what he calls a “super unboxing” of the new jasper Xbox 360. The “jasper” refers to a new graphics processor that is supposed to be smaller and more reliable. They have been hard to find, but [Ben] shows us how to spot them. Simply look at the sticker on the back of the unit that shows voltage/current. If it uses 12.1 Amps instead of 14.2, it has the jasper.
This hulking monster was created by the Mutoid Waste Company because, well, why not? Part dog, part motorcycle it walks/drives and breathes fire. Constructed from all salvaged parts, this thing is a testament to recycling. Either that or it is the harbinger of the robot apocalypse. Regardless of the possibility of it enslaving all mankind, we want one. Be sure to watch the video.
We’re sure that almost every one of our readers has been wondering why they can’t have a hemp covered Wiimote. Well, [Dhreck] got tired of waiting and made one himself. This isn’t just as simple as covering a Wiimote with hemp chord. Major modifications had to be made to keep it from getting too bulky. [Dhreck] whittled down most of the shell, then re formed it with modeling putty. After sanding that nice and smooth and applying a nice black paint job, he started the painstaking process of wrapping it in hemp. It still works perfectly fine, but can fray if you are too hard on it. So, if you get your hands on some hemp, take it easy on your Wii.
Cold Heat soldering irons are pretty cool. They heat up in seconds and cool down just as quickly. [photozz] shows us how we can make one from stuff we probably have sitting around right now. Cold Heat soldering irons work off of resistance, the tip material heats very quickly when electricity is passed through the two halves. Upon assessing what he had lying around, [photozz] realized that graphite would work much the same way. He modified a regular soldering iron with a new two piece graphite tip, and powered it with an old pc power supply. The end result is quite nice, though it still needs some kind of temperature control. You may recall seeing other electrical uses for graphite, such as making quick and dirty light.
[Ewout] sent us some info on this Automated Gigapixel Panorama Acquisition system. The system automates the process of taking the large amounts of images required to do gigapixel panoramics. You tell it key information, like what lens, and what percent overlap you want and the system will calculate how many images it will take, as well as the gigapixel count. The results are quite stunning, no visible seams with fantastic detail. Interestingly, this was created for a class in embedded system design (ECE4180) at Georgia Institute of Technology and so was our post earlier today on Digitally Assisted Billiards. Is Hack a Day part of the class curriculum? It should be.
[Justin] sent in his Digitally Assisted Billiards project. Using a web cam, a computer and a projector, these guys have set up a system that shows you the trajectories of your current shot. It detects the angle of the cue and displays a glowing blue line showing where each ball would go and where the collisions would be. It is a bit slow right now, and made somewhat less accurate by a low resolution web camera. This could be a fantastic teaching tool if it were to get some more polish. The source code is available on the site, so you could try this one out at home.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpDltKLZSrM]
This is an interesting twist on multi touch input. [s9lucas] is using a simple multitouch system as an instrument that uses solenoids and pinballs to make music. He has taken the basic multitouch tutorial and combined it with an Arduino bell tower. The end result is possibly more fun to watch than it is to listen to, but that’s fine.
