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]
Scott Metoyer built this awesome telepresence rover using really cheap parts. He started with a Pentium II laptop that wasn’t being used. Then he picked up a relay board to connect to the parallel port. A servo board was connected to the serial port and a webcam was attached to the USB port. The drive wheels are powered by two windshield wiper motors. The rover runs a server application that talks to a wireless client computer for control. He says the control lag is minimal and you get 15fps from the webcam with pan and tilt. This is a great start and really shows how cheaply you can build a telepresence robot. Scott still has a lot of sensor connections he can use so I’m sure will see more interesting applications in the future.
Here’s another poll. We like learning stuff. So vote.
So Live 8 is tomorrow. Woohoo. The lineup keeps getting better. You can check out live8insider.com for live blogging on Live 8. Anyways, I was looking at the new iControl for Garageband and I remembered a nice little secret that you guys might enjoy.
If you want a hardcore discount at the Apple store online, go and sign up for the Apple Developer Connection. I think it’s a once a year $79 or $99 fee. You’ll get all this free stuff and pre-release software etc. which is cool. But aside from that
We’ve mentioned Christoffer’s Skype phone before; Jeroen decided to make a device that could work with any standard phone. Seeing the Chat-Cord he decided that one could be built really easily. The main component is a transformer to demux the the mic and line signals. I’m guessing you could grab the appropriate one off of an old modem. To translate the DTFM tones for dialing he downloaded the Chat-Cord software. The only problem left is how to ring the phone using Skype and Jeroen has enough tips to put you on track. I know at least one reader requested this after seeing the Chat-Cord so I hope you guys enjoy.
[thanks usergentoo]
it is most certainly a dreary day. again.
good news though, the third hackaday podcast is finished! we’re going to release it onto iTunes when we get our RSS feed up (very soon). we’ll be sure to put a download link here too of course. it’s packed with content and humor and we’re sure you’ll love it.
more good gnus. i have ordered hackaday stickers and pins/buttons! they’ll be here in about 2 weeks. we’ll be giving them out at defcon but when they do come, and you want some, we’ll let you know how. it’ll just be the old technique of mailing us a SASE for us to mail them back to you in. so that’s good. everyone loves free stuff.
speaking of stuff, t-shirts. hackaday t-shirts will be made soon. we will have them at defcon and that will be the first place to get them. we’re getting a very small ammount made (like 25 or so), so make sure you try to get to vegas or defcon to score one. other then that, we’ll be giving them out on the site somehow. we just need to think of a creative way. hmmm
Tim uses his Nextel phone as a GPS receiver for his laptop. This drains the battery on the phone much quicker than usual. He decided to jump power into the system so the phone would actually charge when it is plugged in. The power is tapped from the 5 volts coming from the USB to RS-232 adapter. A full schematic and list of phones that this should work on are available at the site.
