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‘DIY’ Stories

Frank Zhao Creates “Flat” USB Business Card

Chris Burns, Nov 5th 2010 Discuss [1]

Inside each of these business cards is a ATtiny85 microcontroller which, upon insertion into a computer and detecting the CAPS-LOCK has been pressed three times, types out a pre-selected set of text into whatever text program is open. To make the ATtiny85 into a USB keyboard, V-USB is used. Sort of more fragile than your everyday business card, but infinitely cooler. Read The Full Story

Pumpkin Carving with a 70 LED Matrix

Chris Burns, Oct 29th 2010 Discuss [0]

Installed in this particular jack-o-lantern is a 5x14 matrix of light-emitting diodes, spaced apart by printing out a grid on paper, taping it to the pumpkin, and drilling 70 holes into its face. The creator of this magical mystery machine says the hardest part of the whole process was inserting all the lights into the pumpkin through the back -- imagine having to line up 70 points when they're not all held tight to the board. Hardness. At the moment, the pumpkin scrolls the message HAPPY HALLOWEEN. Read The Full Story

PhotoFast GM2 SFV1 256GB SSD upgrade kit for 11.6″ MacBook Air outed

Chris Davies, Oct 27th 2010 Discuss [1]

iFixit weren't exactly impressed with the new MacBook Air's upgrade potential, with Apple soldering the RAM into place and using a non-standard SSD, but that hasn't stopped PhotoFast from coming out with a new accessory. The GM2 SFV1 offers 256GB for your 11.6-inch Air (for which Apple only offers a 128GB option), as well as bundling a USB 3.0 adapter to make the most of the SSD you've removed. Read The Full Story

The Register Plans to Launch Paper Airplane in Space

Evan Selleck, Oct 22nd 2010 Discuss [0]

At some point in your life, you've probably thrown a paper airplane. But, just throwing it from your desk is small beans to a team at The Register, who have come up with an idea to not only throw a paper airplane, but to do it in space. The launch is called PARIS, and it was originally scheduled to launch on Saturday, but it has now been pushed back until Sunday due to weather, and other troubles. Read The Full Story

Father Creates Samus Aran’s Arm Cannon for Son [Video]

Evan Selleck, Oct 22nd 2010 Discuss [2]

With Halloween right around the corner, there's going to be all sorts of costumes that pop up, designed from some of the most famous faces in the tech, and video game markets. While the face of Samus Aran, the main character from the Metroid titles, may be hidden behind a mask for the majority of games, she is still a recognizable character. And, with plenty of reboots on Nintendo's GameCube system, along with a recent release for the Nintendo Wii, there's no doubt that a few kids (and maybe some adults) will want to dress up as the power-suit wearing heroine. Read The Full Story

Mechanicards prove the card can be the best part of the gift

Shane McGlaun, Oct 15th 2010 Discuss [0]

When I was a kid, I didn’t like to read the cards that came with gifts at birthdays and the holidays. I didn’t care who it was from nearly as much as the gift inside the package. A new type of card has been unveiled by artist Brad Litwin called Mechanicards and these things are probably better than any gift you might give. Read The Full Story

ArcadeDock Uses IdeaPad Y560 Notebook to Make Half-Sized Arcade Machine

Evan Selleck, Oct 14th 2010 Discuss [0]

While ThinkGeek's iCade Arcade Docking Station may have been a clever April Fool's joke, the concept behind the machine was a good one. And it's good to see that the Do-It-Yourself crowd out there is doing their best to make that magic happen again. The difference this time around, though, is that this particular modder was called out by Lenovo to come up with "an idea for fun." That idea happened to be a half-sized arcade machine. Read The Full Story

Sony UX UMPC gets massive DIY upgrade: CPU, 3G, GPS, TV & more

Chris Davies, Oct 13th 2010 Discuss [0]

Sony's UX-series of UMPCs may not be in production any more, but they're still like catnip to modders. After the beastly upgrades applied to one UX490 late last year, now here's another which has seen the stock CPU switched out and a 3G modem squeezed inside, together with GPS, a TV tuner and a USB hub. Read The Full Story

ChumbyBot bipedal robot: when widgets take over the world [Video]

Chris Davies, Oct 12th 2010 Discuss [0]

Chumby was made for hacking, and so we probably shouldn't be too surprised to see one sprout legs and start its gradual path to world domination. Eric Gregori of EMG Robotics has developed a bipedal walking ChumbyBot by pairing the touchscreen Chumby One with a Freescale MMA7455l controller board. That board is soon going to be commercially launched as part of the Tower Robot/Sensor board from EMG, working with the company's RobotSee and Robot Vision Toolkit to make for easy vision-based navigation and control. It's also apparently easy to code for, using the same sort of language as BASIC. Video demo after the cut Read The Full Story

Steampunk Iron Man Costume Wins Marvel’s Costume Award at New York ComicCon

Evan Selleck, Oct 11th 2010 Discuss [3]

Our love for steampunk, which has been obvious from the get-go, has just been doubled. Over the weekend, New York was home for some of the biggest fans in comic books, and they descended upon the New York ComicCon event. During that event, Marvel held their costume contest, and one look at this design and you'll immediately realize why it won. A stagger depiction of what Iron Man would look like in the guilded age, this steampunk Iron Man is just about one of the most interesting things we've seen in a long time. Read The Full Story

Storm Trooper Helmet made from milk jugs

Shane McGlaun, Oct 11th 2010 Discuss [0]

Halloween is coming up and if you like to build your own costume or costumes for your kids form stuff around the house, this DIY Storm Trooper mask may be the coolest DIY Halloween creation ever. The thing is made from a milk jug. Read The Full Story

Gigantic Lego DIY ships are awesome

Shane McGlaun, Oct 11th 2010 Discuss [1]

If you thought that Lego shirt folding robot I mentioned earlier was complex, these ships will really twist your noodle. Some Lego building masters have constructed massive navy ships using Lego bricks and ingenuity. The largest of the three ships is a model of the USS Intrepid and the thing is so huge it couldn't be constructed inside the builder's home. Read The Full Story