Lepht Anonym and the 'Grinders'. crazy stuff -- low-end DIY cybernetic augmentation. 'The implants sit in various places under my skin: middle fingertips of my left hand, back of the right hand, right forearm — tiny magnets, five or six millimeters across, coated in gold and then in silicon to isolate the delicate metal from the destructive environment of your body. They’re something of an investment at about thirty euros apiece, and hard to get hold of, but worth pursuing. When implanted, they become technological sensory organs. There’s an entire world of electromagnetic radiation out there, invisible to most. Our cities are saturated with it. A radio, for instance, gives off a field that’s bigger than the device itself. So do power supplies and wires in the walls. The implants pick up on the fields, and because they’re magnets, they fizz with gentle electricity, telling you this hard drive is currently active, that one is turned off, there’s the main line in the wall. Holding a mobile phone, you can feel the signals it sends and receives. You know it’s ringing before it starts to play any sounds, and when you answer it, you stick the touchscreen stylus to the back of your hand to hold it, then to your finger to type.'Source: http://pinboard.in/

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"Last year this short documentary came out on hardware hacking called Repurpose. It’s based on the projects of a Montreal hackerspace called Foulab. It does a good job at describing and explaining circuit bending and general hardware hacking, and why people do it. It also gives a nice look into what many hackerspaces are like — a worldwide phenomenon of grassroots labs like Foulab that provide a means for hobbyists and amateurs (in the best sense of the word) to explore their passions. " via thought exploratorium

Clever idea: create a location aware box that only opens in one place, limited to 50 open attempts, tells only the distance away. Oh, and it's a wedding present.

"By the late ’90s, Mr. Chabon writes, “abstraction was dead” and “realism reigned supreme in the Legosphere.” Whereas children of his generation created Legolands that sprang full-blown from their imaginations, today’s kids, he says, can buy Lego kits to build “precise replicas of Ferrari Formula I racers, pirate galleons, jet airplanes,” not to mention “Star Wars” kits and other “ventures into trademarked, conglomerate-owned, pre-imagined environments.”" Via @timoreilly

"A simple first modification for budding do-it-yourselfers is to alter a non-USB gadget so that it can be run off of USB power from your computer. This mod is fairly easy to perform and is an important part of many more-complicated DIY projects, such as the USB charger on the next page. Here, we show you how to use USB to power a desk fan and book-light lamp. First, a quick primer on USB power. Any USB cable (2.0 or 1.0) is composed of four wires—two for data and two for electricity. The power is delivered across the outer two pins—a +5-volt wire and a ground. USB connectors are configured to provide 100 milliamps of current through these pins when in “low-power” mode or 500 milliamps in “high-power” mode. Although some USB connectors will provide maximum power without any questions asked, most won’t unless the USB device requests high power using the proper protocols. Most USB hacks aren’t that sophisticated, and are therefore limited to about 100-200 milliamps of current."

"Do-it-yourself auto air conditioning recharging requires eye protection, a charging kit, refrigerant, and some practical knowledge. Keep in mind, if you do not have the manufacturer's specifications and a charging manifold with gauges, you will not be able to do a professional job, but many people successfully recharge their ACs with kits available at department stores and auto parts retailers. Try to get a kit that includes a pressure gauge, this will make troubleshooting and charging easier. Here is a guide to how it is done."

steps for converting a toy from batteries to AC

nice DIY repurposing.

"The pinhole camera is the simplest type of camera. It has no lens, only a teeny-tiny hole of an iris. This pinhole ensures that the light which reaches any position on the exposure surface originated from a single direction; as the hole diameter approaches zero, the possible light source for a point on the exposure surface becomes an increasingly narrow cone, approaching a straight line. The result is that if you make the hole small enough, you can capture a very wide depth of field, with objects both near and far in focus. The small hole also reduces the amount of light that reaches the exposure surface, in this case a CCD, so you need to compensate with a very long exposure time. It's a perfect tool for capturing slow movement over time, or taking rich photos of still scenes that require a huge depth of field."

describes steps to clean a dslr sensor, including the wet method. i've been happy with my copper hill kit.

"the recycling, reuse and reppropriation of common household goods, trash and miscellany into functional and/or amusing items is something Cool Tools readers know well. No matter where you fall on the spectrum of tinkerers, whether you have children or not, it's near impossible to visit Arvind Gupta's Toys From Trash without wanting to attempt at least one of his many projects."

"Make your own edge-lit holiday cards using LEDs, plastic, paper, electrical tape, batteries, a pen, scissors, and a hobby knife." via lifehacker

fantastic—using food grade silicone to make a mold for gummy candies (in this case using Legos) via:lifehacker

custom fabric printing

The Brooklyn Botanical Garden recommends a homemade mixture that works as well as the commercial variety. Mix 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon bleach, and 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice in a quart of warm water. Warm water is important because it’s more easily absorbed. However, cold weather blooms, such as tulips, thrive in cold vase water.

notes on a diy nas project running opensolaris and zfs

6" softbox (Wescott Apollo) that is unique in that it has an internal umbrella shaft and can be used with an ordinary lightstand and speedlight, without any additional hardware.

A non-explosive demolition agent, Dexpan is a mortar-like powder you mix with water and apply to rock, concrete and even reinforced concrete in order to break the material apart.

overview of building a silent low-power htpc

concept (and product) for a wall-mounted cabinet to grow plants in. clever use of space.

helpful diagrams for identifying or making ethernet cables

We've lost our Everyman ability to build, maintain, and repair the devices we rely on every day. And that's making it harder to solve the country's nastiest problems

an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.

good stop for a glimpse of Arduino enabled physical computing examples

some neat arduino-based physical computing examples

Create, make and trade your product ideas (you design it, they make it)

RepRap is short for Replicating Rapid-prototyper. It is the practical self-copying 3D printer shown on the right - a self-replicating machine.

Clever: create a "lens hood" with a small shape cutout in the center--which will then apply to the bokeh balls...

use some simple software to design a 3D or 2D part and then you get an immediate price and if you like it, you hit the send button and in a few weeks your fabricated, machines, or milled parts come back, in any material of your choosing. (via cool tools)

You need thin, two-part epoxy. Get the stuff that takes a long time to dry, because it is much stronger and has better adhesion than the 5-minute stuff. Before gluing the surfaces together, clean the mating surfaces with a piece of synthetic sponge dampen

an open source, modular consumer electronics platform that makes building hardware just as easy as writing software or Web applications

Make your own non-toxic toy with custom colors and fragrances.

Awesome DIY antenna for wireless radio

#6 plastic, permanent ink, 350 degrees for 3-4 mins.

Making a light ball out of plastic cups won't change your life, but it will make everything a little sparklier. The instructions here are free, and I hope, easy.

Use redwood or cedar — both are beautiful and rot-resistant. You’ll need a table or power saw to cut the wood; after cutting, paint the wood on all sides with an oil-based sealer. An electric drill is helpful, though not required.

aggregate all support information that is scattered throughout the internet in a single user friendly location. In addition, FixYa is a huge knowledgebase that is constantly updated by a live community of users who share their experiences of technical pro

an easy way for people to design decent looking cards without any additional software, or any particular design skills.

Clutter is an unloved side effect of modern life. Here’s how to find more room — and make peace with your stuff.

clever space-saving shoe rack

making PCBs (printed circuit boards) via a laser printer or copier printout and the household-clothes-iron toner-transfer method.

Runs built-it-yourself features like Bang for the Buck and $800 Gaming PC

nice video demonstration of how to seal an open bag of snacks

Remove a dent with dry ice or with a hairdryer and an air duster

contains PDF documents that can be printed and cut out to make lens hoods for a variety of 35mm and digital SLR camera lenses

glass-topped aluminum containers are ideal for organizing seeds, beads, bugs, buttons, or anything else small

templates that you can use to make custom cards, envelopes, and boxes. Simply print out the image, use it as a template to cut your fine papers, and fold along dotted lines.

check out the geolocator app!

This handy calculator will help you estimate the amount of paint you will need to paint an interior room -- including all the trim. If you plan on applying a primer coat or multiple finish coats, multiply the results accordingly.

of sensitiser. Working by the red light of your own BVM, mix the emulsion with the sensitiser (each brand comes with its own set of instructions on the label). Once sensitised, emulsion is good for about 3 weeks at room temperature, or about 3 months (top

rs are the same on the top and left + right. The bottom border can be larger to give the piece visual weight at the bottom, I determine this on a case-by-case basis. Generally, according to me, mats need to be at least 2″ and I would go even wider for l