I’m still trying to wrap my head around this one. The idea behind scrying is to reveal hidden data – i.e. electromagnetic fields within a structure. (Like those created by a metal building/computers/etc) It does have other uses besides artistic – it can be used to analyse the 2.4ghz spectrum among other things. It looks like an interesting project, despite the odd description. (Lets just say that it’s an eccentric bit of reading)
Misc Hacks4116 Articles
Window Unit Turned PC Water Cooler
I almost passed this one up because it was shotgunned across a few blogs, but it would be a shame to pass up on a good hack. [Mike] decided to use a standard window AC unit to cool the CPU in his rig. The A/C unit was modified to place the evaporation coil inside a fish tank filled with glycol/water antifreeze coolant. To cool the CPU, he used a normal water block, but insulated the coolant lines between the cooling unit and the machine. That should give you the idea. For more details, have fun deciphering his project in pictures. [via]
Bonus: [Johnny] sent in the NASA workmenship guide. It’s pretty interesting to see what the space boys require for their electronics work.
EeePC Inverse Video Scaling
[Tracker] sent in this handy software hack for the eeePC. The idea is to scale higher resolutions like 1024×768 down to the native 800×480 screen resolution. His post tells you how (but requires windows) and helpfully provides the required downloadable driver. I wonder if he’s seen this video showing up 1600×900?
(update: fixed the missing video link.)
Cheap 360 Degree Head Tracking
[Joel] sent in his efforts to build an inexpensive 360 degree head tracking display. He’s using a Playstation six axis controller as the key to his helmet tracking system. The demo is short and to the point. He’s using the usual Glovepie driver to provide the software interface and what looks like off the shelf hardware on the helmet.
What really grabs my attention is the low cost of getting into VR now. Assuming that you own a computer, you can build your own VR setup for the cost of a Playstation controller and a cheap heads up display. (Remember these?)
Personal (IR) Radar
[chris] sent in this inexpensive personal radar project. It uses a servo mounted IR range finder to locate and display the distance to an object. (Lake a parked car as shown in the demo video) The project is destined for some robotics projects – and who doesn’t love LED display proximity sensors. It makes me think of the direction finders in every other 80’s action movie. It’s gotten some attention on Digg, but I like it for the inexpensive build and the excellent use of a PIC 18F452.
PWM Audio Generation With An AVR
[Dane] sent in his sweet AVR hack. He used the PWM output to play pre-recorded audio output. It’s not very high quality, but it could be useful for adding low cost audio feedback to your projects.
$20 Mini-dvd Player LCD Hacking
[Jeff] sent in this nice how-to on gutting the 2.5″ LCD from a $20 mini dvd player. After removing the player hardware, he shows where you’ll need to tap the circuit to feed it composite video. Looks like just the thing for those portable console projects.
