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Chumby Guts kit lets you build your own Chumby device

by Donald Melanson posted Sep 30th 2009 at 9:24PM

Chumby may now finally be branching out with a few less cuddly products of its own, but it looks like you can now also expand your Chumby options yourself with a few basic DIY skills -- or you could if you were lucky enough to get in on the first batch of Chumby Guts kits. Offered exclusively through the Maker Shed, the kit includes all the necessary "guts" to let you build any sort of Chumby device you like, and has apparently proven popular enough to sell out before the first shipment even arrived. Those hanging on for that Chumby toaster of their dreams won't have to wait too much longer to get their fix, however, as the second shipment is set to arrive in late November, and will run the same $99 as before.

DIY spring reverb from cassette player brings noise, nostalgia

by Laura June posted Apr 28th 2009 at 7:42PM

Back when we were growing up, we had three cassette players all our own (one in the bedroom, one in the playroom for dancing, and one kept by the back door for travelling) which were tiny, pink, and had the audio quality of of a GBV record cranked thorough a baseball park sound system -- but still, many of us have at least one cassette player laying around the house, sad and disused. Make has posted a project by Leadtowill which puts an old cassette radio player's parts to use by removing the motor, adding an input to the amp part of the circuit, and adding a spring to convert the speaker to a driver. The end result is a spring reverb, which he plans on augmenting further by repurposing the radio as a white noise generator. Us? Well, we still use our tape player for the occasional outdoor rollerskating / baton routine so we'll leave this one to the pros. Hit the read link to check out the very cool photo set.

[Via Make]

8 bit computer now available for all your homebrewing needs

by Laura June posted Mar 30th 2009 at 2:56PM

The above 8 bit computer -- which is intended as an educational tool in emerging markets, and has been available in China and India for a while now -- is finally for sale here in the good old US of A. This hackable little package boasts a 1Mhz 6502 chip, and comes with a keyboard, mouse, two game controllers, an OS cartridge, RCA cables and nine volt power supply. You'll be jamming to your own, handheld version of "Personal Jesus" in no time at all. These bad boys are available now for the shockingly affordable price of $49.99.

Tweet-a-watt crowned winner of Greener Gadgets 2009 design competition

by Ross Miller posted Mar 2nd 2009 at 10:03PM

Hey New Yorkers, did you get a chance to check out last week's Greener Gadgets conference? If not, you missed out on some killer eco gadgetry and discussion, including a panel on electronics recycling from our own Editor-in-chief, Joshua Topolsky. As the dust settled on the main event, the design competition, Limor Fried and Phillip Torrone's Tweet-a-watt walked away with top honors. The service, which automatically updates Twitter with your power usage, beat out a coin-operated electrical piggy bank dubbed the Power Hog, a decidedly un-electronic indoor drying rack, and a hand-powered portable laundry machine, the Laundry Pod. Congratulations to all who won and participant; hit up the read link for a full list of the finalists.

[Via MAKE]

Evil Mad Scientist's "BristleBot" project boosted by Scholastic / Klutz for book, no credit in sight

by Joshua Topolsky posted Feb 19th 2009 at 3:02PM

In an upsetting -- though somehow not surprising -- turn of events, it appears that Scholastic and partner company Klutz have ripped off the work of two Makers, Windell and Lenore Oskay. The duo (also known as Evil Mad Scientists) created a charming little droid called a BristleBot which can be easily constructed using the head of a toothbrush, a pager motor, and a tiny amount of elbow grease. Apparently, Scholastic liked the idea so much that they turned it into a kit and book for kids (with the help of Klutz), but failed to involve or even credit the gadget's original creators. Knowing how open and excited the Make crew (and friends / cohorts) are about sharing their ideas, this comes as a particularly disheartening piece of news. Check out the read link for the whole story, and we're including Scholastic's media relations page below if you want to get in touch. Video of the original project after the break.

Read - Sad day for makers - unauthorized book from Klutz and Scholastic "BristleBots"
Read - Scholastic media contact

Continue reading Evil Mad Scientist's "BristleBot" project boosted by Scholastic / Klutz for book, no credit in sight

Wiimote + pens + coffee cup + office putting toy = deadly coil gun turret

by Tim Stevens posted Jan 15th 2009 at 8:48AM

Inside a mild-mannered toy golf cup, the kind that pop the ball back at you when you sink a putt (and make you go walk for it when you miss), lurks a lethal weapon -- a tiny rail gun just waiting to serve. Modder Jay took one of those induction coils to build himself a small but fierce turret, also using a little inspiration from the Serv O'Beer, an ioBridge module, two ballpoint pens, two wooden spoons, a coffee mug, and -- the pièce de résistance -- a Wiimote liberated from someone's console. By twisting the controller left or right the weapon rotates accordingly, honing in on threatening textbooks and launching a screwdriver bit with deadly force. Alas, you can't fire the turret by pressing a button on the controller, but that's said to be entirely for safety reasons -- we wouldn't want some poor kid trying to play a little My Horse & Me and accidentally shooting themselves in the back.

Update: Jay commented to let us know that he's posted the source, meaning making your lethal weapon is that much easier -- and open!

[Via Make]

Continue reading Wiimote + pens + coffee cup + office putting toy = deadly coil gun turret

When Make and Engadget collide

by Joshua Topolsky posted Dec 26th 2008 at 11:29PM

Thanks Phil! That's one sweet laser.

Engadget's NYC reader meetup / holiday party is tonight!

by Joshua Topolsky posted Dec 19th 2008 at 12:00PM

This is it! The Engadget reader meetup / holiday party is happening tonight in New York City! All of the information you need is below, but we'd like to stress a few points:

The venue capacity has a limit, so make sure you get there early, and plan to wait in a bit of a line.
It is snowing like crazy in New York -- so please bundle up and come prepared for the elements! We'll do everything we can to move people inside as quickly as possible, and there's a coat check at the venue for your heavier gear.
Bring your ID! Without it, you can't get in!

And the rest of the details about the event:

We're giving away tens of thousands of dollars in gear! Including...
SanDisk 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB microSD cards for the first 200 people through the door!
Free food, and free drink tickets for the first 500 people
Live Q&A session with Engadget editors
Music for the evening will be provided by Justin VanDerVolgen (of !!! and Outhud)
The event is 18 TO ENTER / 21 TO DRINK, AND YOU MUST BRING AN ID. ADMISSION IS FREE. Sorry younger readers, but we'll do a follow-up all ages event soon!
The venue capacity tops out at a tiny bit over 1000, so you if you're coming, be sure to get there early!

When: Friday, December 19th, 7:00PM to 12:00AM
Where: Hiro Ballroom, 371 W. 16th St., New York, NY. 10011

You can discuss plans for the event on Facebook here.

View Larger Map

For media interested in attending, please ping us at: nycreadermeetup [at] gmail [dot] com
Note: space for media is very limited as this is a reader event. Readers, you're all set -- no need to email us.

Engadget NYC reader meetup, December 19th: new giveaways, more info

by Joshua Topolsky posted Dec 18th 2008 at 12:00PM

By now you should have heard about the Engadget NYC reader meetup / holiday party taking place TOMORROW, Friday, December 19th. If you're not clued in to all the happenings, this should bring you up to speed. We'll have participation (and giveaways) from the following companies: Nokia, Microsoft (Zune and Xbox), T-Mobile, Palm, HP, SanDisk, Peek, VIA, Sling, Bug Labs, Neat Receipts, Panasonic, Livescribe, Rhapsody, and Make.

Some new additions (to the already large stack of items): VIA has just handed over an Artigo A2000, Peek is going to be flooding the event with a whopping 12 handhelds to give out (celebrating its 12 days of Peekmas), Bug Labs is offering a BUGBundle, and Livescribe has provided us with a Pulse (courtesy of Target)! And remember, those are just a few of the goods on offer.

Remember, feel free to bring any hacks, mods, or other generally awesome tech you want to show off to us and other Engadget readers -- you don't get the chance too often!

Here are some super-important details about the event:

We're giving away tens of thousands of dollars in gear! Including...
SanDisk 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB microSD cards for the first 200 people through the door!
Free food, and free drink tickets for the first 500 people
Live Q&A session with Engadget editors
Music for the evening will be provided by Justin VanDerVolgen (of !!! and Outhud)
The event is 18 TO ENTER / 21 TO DRINK, AND YOU MUST BRING AN ID. ADMISSION IS FREE. Sorry younger readers, but we'll do a follow-up all ages event soon!
The venue capacity tops out at a tiny bit over 1000, so you if you're coming, be sure to get there early!

When: Friday, December 19th, 7:00PM to 12:00AM
Where: Hiro Ballroom, 371 W. 16th St., New York, NY. 10011

You can discuss plans for the event on Facebook here.

View Larger Map

Xmas tree made entirely of SCSI drives, offers lower CPU load than IDE alternatives

by Tim Stevens posted Dec 18th 2008 at 8:42AM

Xmas tree made entirely of SCSI drives, has lower CPU load than IDE alternatives

Ever found yourself with 70 decommissioned SCSI hard drives and an awful, awful lot of free time on your hands? If so, and you're bursting with holiday spirit, perhaps you'll choose to do the same as an apparent sys admin who goes by the name of Trigger. He took those drives from RAID arrays destined for the scrap heap and, rather than perform the DoD wipe that would have otherwise been required, chose to build this lovely -- if somewhat askew (see below) -- "tree" from the bevy of mirrored platters within. In fact the geeky holiday decor was made entirely from the bits and pieces within the drives, the lone exception being a nut purchased for $.39, making it a far more affordable project than yesterday's OLED tree. It's impressive to behold, but given the amount of personal data within, we think it's probably more likely to spread lawsuits than cheer this season.

Continue reading Xmas tree made entirely of SCSI drives, offers lower CPU load than IDE alternatives

Reader meetup update: 'Fallout 3' bundles, Nokia N-Gage / Ovi, Make, and more!

by Joshua Topolsky posted Dec 11th 2008 at 3:00PM

Say there, perhaps you've heard about that little Engadget NYC reader meetup / holiday party happening on December 19th? Well we've got a little more info for you (and some important details) that might be of note. First we wanted to show off some of the stuff we're going to be giving away, and we thought there would be no better illustration than these amazing Fallout 3 "Nuclear Winter Survival Kit" bundles from Microsoft (pictured above). Some details:

PC bundle

Alienware Area 51 m15x laptop
Fallout 3 Collector's Edition (PC)
Fallout 3 Token (redeemable for Operation: Anchorage premium downloadable content in January '09)
SideWinder mouse
Wenger Impulse Notebook Case by SwissGear
Emergency blanket

Xbox 360 bundle

Xbox 360 Elite console
Fallout 3 Collector's Edition (Xbox 360)
Fallout 3 Token (redeemable for Operation: Anchorage premium downloadable content in January '09)
1-yr Xbox LIVE Gold Subscription
Emergency blanket

These are just two of many, many succulent giveaways you could walk away with if you attend. Nokia has also graciously offered up some free N-Gage content. If you're an N-Gage user, you can bring your device to the meetup and they'll hook you up with a free game! The company is also outfitting a handful of readers with Ovi-equipped devices during the event so they can stream live content. Five (5) readers will be selected -- if you'd like to be one of the chosen few, leave a comment on this post, and we'll contact you with more info!

Additionally, our main homeboys from Make are going to be in attendance with some projects and magazines, as well as a pretty cool surprise to show off that we're awfully excited about.

Just added: LIvescribe will be giving away a Pulse (courtesy of Target), Palm is handing out a Treo Pro, and Neat Receipts has graciously offered up 3 Neat Desks!

Read on after the break for more details about the meetup!

Continue reading Reader meetup update: 'Fallout 3' bundles, Nokia N-Gage / Ovi, Make, and more!

The DIY iPhone belt: please don't

by Thomas Ricker posted Jun 30th 2007 at 7:23AM

If you're still using terms like "bling" and "pimp your [insert consumable]" to show how down you are with the kids, then perhaps you're also interested in wearing your new iPhone as a belt buckle in support of your poser persona. In fact, why not strap on a set of speakers too and show everyone just how ghetto you really are. Ok, ok, we'll admit, the design (bottom picture) shows some promise and the cats at Maya are only in the early stages (as in, the iPhone's only been out for 13 fargin hours) of their how-to. Besides, we know how desperate you are to show off your new gadget. Believe us, we know. Peep some early samples of the speaker-less version of the belts after the break.

Continue reading The DIY iPhone belt: please don't

MAKE offers up open source hardware primer

by Donald Melanson posted Apr 24th 2007 at 4:30AM

Those that have yet to wrap their head around the notion of open source hardware may want to mosey on over to the MAKE blog, which has put together a quick primer that attempts to clear things up for you and set you off on the right foot. Among other things, it sorts out the partially open source hardware like Linksys's WRT54GL router from the truly open source gear like MAKE's own Daisy MP3 player (pictured above), and provides a few suggestions to ensure that your own open source hardware creations remain as such. True to its nature, the primer is also admittedly a work in progress, so you know what to do if you see room for improvement.

Mechanical Hit Counter rings 'em up the old fashioned way

by Darren Murph posted Mar 20th 2007 at 2:27PM

If you're curious about just how many hits your blossoming website is receiving on a moment to moment basis, but don't feel like fiddling with those questionably accurate electronic types, the Mechanical Hit Counter could be just the project you've been yearning for. As the name implies, the kit combines a vintage counter, lots of cabling, a few relays and transistors, an Ethernet interface board, a Basic Express BX-24, power supply, and an eagle-eyed webcam for spreading the excitement all over. This geeky (albeit beautiful) display of "overengineering" accomplishes a useful task by going around the proverbial elbow to reach the thumb, but even more shifty than the creation itself is its connection to the internet. The networked webcam snaps a photo of the counter every five or so seconds, giving bored surfers quite a bit of novel entertainment to pass the time. You know the drill, tap the read link for a detailed description and a killer time waster.

[Via MAKE]

German robotics group crafts LEGO factory to build... LEGO cars

by Darren Murph posted Jan 7th 2007 at 11:40AM

It's one thing to craft something remarkable all by your lonesome, but constructing an entire factory to handle all the dirty work for you is really doing something. A robotics group assembled (ahem) at a German "grammar school" (VHG) in lower Bavaria has fabricated a feat that even Toys R Us would marvel over, as the group's expansive LEGO Mindstorm factory was built entirely out of LEGO blocks, and moreover, programmed to assemble LEGO-based vehicles. Taking a note from every other major assembly plant in the world, this automated construction site feeds blocks from one end to the other, carefully pushing, pulling, and connecting pieces as necessary to completely assemble a LEGO car. While we've no idea how you'd even begin concocting this same masterpiece at your own domicile, nor how tough it is to be admitted into this apparently incredulous university, you'll reportedly need at least 2,000 man hours and €3,000 ($3,937) just to get started, but feel free to click on through for a lengthy video demonstration.

[Via MetaFilter]

Continue reading German robotics group crafts LEGO factory to build... LEGO cars