The Crazy J is a completely computer controlled acoustic guitar. Spawned as a Georgia Tech graduate class project it features 6 picks and 23 fingertips. These combine to generate 29 individual notes. The whole setup is controlled through a MIDI interface. There are several sample mp3s on the site. How does it sound? Well, let’s just say I hope in the future our robot overlords can play an instrument without making it sound like a harpsichord.
[thanks nullset]
It looks like old Pentium boxes aren’t the only systems being relegated to web server duties. This is a supposedly easy install of Debian ‘woody’. The Linux distro can not be booted directly and needs to be started from OS 7.5.3. The guide gives some handy tips on what security upgrades need to be installed. I’m guessing most highschools finally threw these out last year, but you may still luck out.
[thanks MarkDavid]
Here are some really simple projects for building guitar effects pedals. I mean REALLY simple. I’m sure that a little more than this goes into the brightly colored commercial boxes and there is always room for some gouging. Unfortunately this site seems to have stagnated. I’d like to see more simple effects like this, but I’m guessing the curator got a little burnt out building circuits using pixel art.
[thanks alex]
Our buddy Mike Outmesguine over at the wireless weblog has just posted his Popular Science article on building a backpack based wireless access point. The backpack is solar powered and uses a JunxionBox to bridge a wireless access point to the EVDO network. The JunxionBox is a commercial solution that parallels the StompBox we covered earlier. This isn’t Mike’s first outing with the box; Feel free to check out his other adventure.
Here’s a good 4th of July project: Chris Garrison sent in his portable peltier based beer cooler. He saw a cheap peltier junction for sale and decided to build a mini-fridge. It holds 14 cans and is portable enough to place wherever needed. He does comment that his power supply isn’t quite up to snuff, but it does a passable job for only spending $35 on the project.
Reader David Kristian was annoyed with having to use a full table or other object to support his half-rack effect when playing gigs. Laying the box flat made it impossible to read or tweak the device. He ended up with this mini-tripod. Replacing the pan lock screw and adding a suction cup foot created a really elegant solution. It gives a good viewing angle and it’s easy to pick up and take with you.
Well, it seems like our last two Saturdays of automotive hacks have been keeping you interested, so we’re going to keep it up. By popular demand: Here is a guide to building your own nitrous oxide injection system. The nitrous oxide molecule has a better oxygen/nitrogen ratio than normal air so it is more useful for the combustion process. The site describes all of the components you will have to gather to build a fully functional system and has instructions for modifying stock parts for better performance. Nitrous is really hard to use properly and I can’t imagine someone putting one of these together without some experience with a commercial unit first. Nitrous can lead to really high cylinder pressures and temperatures; so, be careful or you’ll just end up with an aluminum foundry.
[thanks XyTec]
