ybox
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Arduino kit beams low-fi Google Weather to VGA screens
Looking for another way to use that aging VGA CRT screen hogging space in the closet? Try making your own dedicated weather screen by mixing together Google's meteorological data stream and some Arduino magic. It looks like parsing that Google Weather data was a bit of a challenge on the miniscule 2KB of RAM, but a tinkerer going by the handle Zmashiah has managed to do it. He's even managed to cram in a few extra graphical flourishes, including icons and background themes that change depending on the temperature and time of day. The entirely PC-free device grabs the data through an Ethernet connection and flashes up all the weather goodness in stunning VGA. Any meteorological mavens reading this can grab the full shopping list and procedure at the Instructables link below.
Video: YBox2 DIY widget box grows a VGA port
It's been far, far too long since we've heard anything on the YBox front, so it's with great pleasure we pass along the first major YBox2 mod that we've come across. The modders over at adafruit industries have discovered that adding a VGA output to the DIY set-top-box (not to mention adding stereo audio support) is relatively simple, and there's even a video to prove it. If you've been itching to get your hands dirty with an Altoids box, you owe it to yourself to hop on past the break and mash play. [Via MAKE]
YBox2 DIY networked set-top box keeps the dream alive
The YBox was pretty much destined to become a hit with the DIY crowd just as soon as it was handed 15 spectacular minutes at last summer's Maker Faire. For those who reckoned the project would fade into the sunset as quickly as it arrived, we've got news proving your assumptions wrong... dead wrong. YBox2 has at long last arrived to the party, ready to serve up widgets and all sorts of pertinent information on your television screen. The new kit boasts an 80MHz Parallax Propeller chip and functions with any NTSC / PAL TV and any DHCP-compatible router -- and yes, it still all fits within a flashy Altoids tin. Score![Via MAKE]
Build your own YBox for free at the Maker Faire
We caught the nifty YBox last year when it was still just a proof-of-concept, and now the folks at Uncommon Projects are ready to unleash their televised-widgets-in-an-Altoids-tin wonder on the world -- for free. There's a catch, though: you have to show up at the upcoming Maker Faire in San Mateo, California, and build it yourself. Yahoo is sponsoring free workshops with parts for all, and all the skills you need to get one together will be taught at the 'shops. No worries if you can't make it out to San Mateo, however, as you can still get the schematics and parts list from the YBox website and build one at home, but you'll be doing a little more work -- Uncommon Project's Kent Brewster has already milled 80 Altoids tins for Maker Faire participants. Peep a vid of YBox assembly after the jump. [Thanks, Wasabi]
Ybox: the set-top internet box in an Altoids tin
The folks at Uncommon Projects have taken the venerable Altoids tin where no Altoids tin has gone before, turning the scarily-versatile mint case into an always-on Internet appliance that'll work with any old TV. Dubbed the Ybox, the device works a bit like an Atari 2600-era Konfabulator, delivering a constant stream of stock quotes, weather forecasts, and other customizable information in ultra low res-fashion, controllable with nothing more than your standard TV remote. Currently, the Ybox requires an ethernet cable to get that info, though the developers say WiFi's a possibility in the future. Unfortunately, this is only a proof-of-concept device, meaning that you can't get your hands on one, although its intrepid creators do tantalizingly say that it's ultra-cheap to make, yet fail to make any plans available. Let's hope that their second place finish at Yahoo's recent Hack Day event will spur them to crank these suckers out, bring-yo'-own-tin-style.
