Video: Shocking [Jack] Into Submission With High Voltage

August 22, 2011 by Jack Buffington 59 Comments

Hackaday headquarters has recently been overrun by techno-groupies hanging around outside so we decided to take some measures to discourage that. A word of warning though, if last week’s video ruffled your feathers then you probably shouldn’t watch this one. In this video [Jack] shows you how to create a stun glove using a disposable camera and some leather spikes. To prove that it really works, he intentionally takes a jolt from it courtesy of Hackaday’s security chief [Vlad].

Check out the video after the break.
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Weekly Roundup 8/20/2011

August 20, 2011 by Jack Buffington 6 Comments

In case you missed them, here are our biggest posts from the past week.

The post that drew the most attention this week was our own [Kevin Dady]’s post about how to install Linux on a 386. In this post, he talks about the process that he used to put a functional copy of Linux on an old 386 laptop.

Next up is a post about a robot dog that was found in an antique dealer’s shop in Paris. This post has a very active comment thread.

Following that is a post about a LED cuboid consisting of 2048 bi-color LEDs, which are all hand-soldered. This is definitely a testament to steady hands and a lot of patience.

Next is a hackaday-original video where [Jack] shows how to kill weeds using the transformer from a microwave oven. This one was controversial but like it or hate it, it was popular.

Last, we had a post about a very interesting hexapod. This robot adds a new spin on the hexapod theme by adding the ability to have all of the legs mechanically extend farther out from the center of the body. It also adds spherical shell pieces to the legs that allow it to transform from a walking to a rolling robot.

One final thought: If you are working on an interesting project, why not post your progress on our forums? Have a problem with something that you are working on? We have sections for that as well. Our forums aren’t too active at the moment but we have nearly 90,000 unique visitors at hackaday each and every day so all it may take to whip them into shape is for just a few of you to be early adopters. We would like to start featuring projects and interesting topics from our forums so this may be a way that your project could find its way onto our main page.

Hackaday Weekly Roundup

August 13, 2011 by Jack Buffington 9 Comments

In case you missed them, here are our most popular posts from this week:

First up is [Bertho’s] Pointless Switch machine. This machine is yet another take on the ‘most pointless machine’. It looks like his server couldn’t handle the load from his video so he moved it over to youtube. You can find it here.

Next is The DIY nuclear reactor, which links to a project by a fellow who was silly enough to post his nuclear experiments online. You can imagine how that went…

This week’s most popular post was the tutorial created by our writer [Brian Benchoff]. In this tutorial, he shows how you can insert your logo into a still-readable QR code.

After that is this post showing how you can resurrect your IBM model M keyboard to use it as a bluetooth device.

Finally, we wrap up our roundup with a brainwave disruptor. This device allows [Rich] to experiment with light and sound to see how it affects brain waves.

Video – Turning Good Gnomes Evil

August 8, 2011 by Jack Buffington 23 Comments

Image of gnomes with glowing eyes

In this video [Jack] will show you how to take a garden gnome and a solar light to create a FrankenGnome that is sure to creep out your friends and neighbors. This Hackaday original video is the first in a new series of videos that we will now be posting on a weekly basis.

You’ll notice a few symbols at the beginning of these videos. These symbols are there to help you understand what the video is all about. In the upper left corner, we have the skill level. These will range from 1 for very basic projects to 4 for highly advanced projects. The upper right corner breaks the video into two categories. The first category is ‘feature adding’. In these videos we will be taking off-the-shelf items and modifying them to do something new. The other category is ‘skill building’. In these, we will be exploring different topics in depth. At first, the skill building videos will be mostly about electronics and software. In the future when we have excavated more room in Hackaday Headquarters, located deep beneath a mountain in remote [REDACTED], we will start doing videos showing you topics with a more mechanical nature. The other icons represent the major skills involved in the project.

Check out the video after the break.

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Announcing Hack A Day Themes

August 8, 2011 by Jack Buffington 18 Comments

Starting next Monday we be adding some themed posts into the mix. Every couple of weeks we will pick a new theme. Our first theme will be about hacks and projects involving high voltage. Each day we will have a new post based on the current theme. To make this happen though, we need your help. If you have been working on something that involves high voltage or you know someone who has, hit us up on the tip line. If you have a cool high-voltage project but haven’t posted it online yet, take a look at this link where we show you some options.