Case of Fans

So your computer is a little on the hot side. Overclocking that CPU to the max. Want a good cooling solution and don't care about noise? Well this guy may have the solution for you:

The AMAZING case of fans!!!! hehe - Wonder if it's quiet?

Take a look if you're interested: The Amazing Case of Fans

P.S.: Thanks York for this one...

Micro-copters, not RC but IR-C

This is a very cool project. Still can't find any mention of whether he sells these kits or it's simply a little project for himself. I would think you'd have a hard time finding the parts for these things, but they definitely are cool.


Pixelito, @ 6.9 grams, 4 channel, no servos, full carbon with no swashplate. There is a little video of the helicopter flying around - really cool stuff. Alexander has out done himself. Nice little project. Check out his site: http://pixelito.reference.be/

Oh and I forgot to mention - Love the Hamster.

Smallest Linux Computer?

Looking around for small computers for some projects in my head (hello anybody in there?) and I came across this little GEM: The Picotux. The one thing I hated about it was the cost, and shipping charge.

The Picotux 100 is around ~$150 CAD and shipping will run you an additional ~$60 CAD.

Frying your CPU

If you've ever wondered what would happen if you stopped cooling your Computer's CPU and removed the passive heat sink as well...well....see for yourself. I'm surprised they didn't get hurt doing this. I would recommend no one try this themselves - be content with the videos.

AMD Processor & Intel Processor

All Metal Starwars Blaster Replica DIY

Found an interesting little DIY project for those Star Wars fans. A full metal Storm Trooper Blaster pistol (Rifle?) from Plumbing supplies. Definitely fits the imaginative side of Hacks/Mods. I'm sure someone would get a kick out of making this replica - and for the cost, ~50$ not too bad.

Take a look at Studio Creations website How-To. There are lots of other DIY projects there take a look at them all.

Vista - Rant Time

Now for a less useful entry.

I wonder how Microsoft can continue to be so clueless of what it's consumers really want from their Operating Systems. I used to work for the friggin' company.

Well Microsoft Windows VISTA will likely be yet another OS to give us all the fancy new User Interface features (i.e.: Bells and Whistles) without really solving the past Operating System problems.

I'm thinking: The day Microsoft builds an Operating System that has all the 'crap' stripped out of it and gives the user the option to add the modules they really need without having to worry about this dependency and that dependency. For example, 90% of my spyware / advert problems went away after switching to the Firefox browser. One reason I would appreciate this feature is that I could build a barebones version of Windows for use with my Snapstream PVR setup. This would eliminate all processes, services, applets, etc. that weren't critical to Beyond TV running.

Ah but as with every manufacturer these days, Microsoft is continuing to follow suit by provided 15 trillion flavors of the new OS. For example according to the website there will be the following releases of the OS (obviously this could change on release):

Windows Vista Business
Windows Vista Enterprise
Windows Vista Home Premium
Windows Vista Home Basic
Windows Vista Ultimate

I don't know about everyone else but this is getting out of hand. I do understand fully the reasons for having 2 different retail versions - One for home and one for business. I DO NOT understand why it's necessary to have five (or even 10 if you count the obvious OEM versions of the ones listed above).

When is someone going to give me the option to add different features and remove them. When I install an OS, I expect the OS to do 2 things and only 2 things: display my Files/Folders graphically, and allow me to execute applications from those Files/Folders. Ah well, I guess I'm getting a little peeved about their marketing model.

I'll wrap this up, time to install Linux, or pick myself up a Intel Mac.

Let me know your feelings on the matter. I'd love to hear them.

A *real* USB THUMB drive

Not really sure if this device exists any more, cause the site doesn't have it listed although there are some pretty cool alternatives like SUSHI drives, Hello Kitty Drives, etc.

Check it out. The website is www.Dynamism.com

I'm sure making one yourself would be easy enough - just remove the Thumb drive from it's plastic packaging and make a silicone mold of your thumb. Cool idea. Let me know if anyone out there actually does it.

LASERs

I've always been fascinated with LASERs since a child. Wanted to study Physics/Quantum Machanics because of it. I remember looking into building a CO2 and Ruby Pulsed LASER when in my young teens. Obviously that wasn't a financially feasible thing to a kid. Well over time they came out with LASER diodes which were solid state components which produced coherent beams of light (we now know of these as LASER pointers). Back when the initially came out there weren't any that were in the VISIBLE wave length, or if there were they were extremely expensive. Now you can walk into a DOLLAR store and pick one up for about a 1-5$. When I first got one for presentations it cost me 170$, wow was I an idiot back then.

Seems we've come a long way in portable LASER devices. Most (or ALL?) pointers are limited to the under 5mw power I believe. A company in the US sells high powered handhelds for pretty reasonable prices. A good place to go for people interested in doing amateur 3D hologram projects or 3D object scanning.

Check them out at www.wickedlasers.com.

2 Skin or not 2 Skin?

So you have a PS2, XBOX, XBOX360 or PSP but find the device doesn't have that unique look that you want? Want your device to stand out in the crowd?

DecalGirl.com may be your solution. They have some of the coolest skin/decal mods for your entertainment devices (and other things as well). They also do iPods and brake calipers!? So what are you waiting for go check some of the cool images you can wrap your device in. Very reasonably priced.

I wonder if I buy a XBox 360 skin whether it's reason enough to get the console itself? mmm. Don't think that will fly. I'm very short on cash now so it'll have to wait.

Jump over to their site and take a look.

Robodump 1.0

Now this is something, well, um, I'm not even sure how to describe what it is until you see it. The person made a fake 'crapper'...Ah never mind just go see the sight and you'll figure it out.

Great idea for work.

LINK

Chris

Hacker's Playboy Magazine.

In case you don't already know about this magazine I point you in the right direction. It's about as good as they get, been out I think 5 issues now and going strong. I got a subscription to the first issue and I don't plan on dropping it from my required reading.

Check out thier website and subscriptions in PRINT (Digital versions are available online to subscribers).

Chris

Spark Fun Electronics - 12ft Digital Office Clock

When I saw this I remembered doing business with them online through E-Bay, I think I purchased one (or several of thier PIC programmers). This little project definately caught my eye. I especially like the fact that it's a good idea which was OVER OVER done. Like that. Kudos to the guys at Spark Fun Electronics.



If you want info on doing it yourself and want to get the materials (I believe they sell them) - head on over to thier site before the project isn't listed anymore.

I think I'll try this scalled down, using those really cool purple'ish LEDs, make it a 4' one...

Chris

LED Graphics displayed on Bike Spokes!!!

Wow! Now that's cool. Remember those clocks where you flipped a long stick back and forth and it created the Time (and Date sometimes) into thin air as it swung back and forth. Well take that idea and place the same solution on a spinning Bike wheel.

The possibilities are endless. Take a look at this one over at the instructables website.

There is a kit AND pc board available and information on how to update the graphics to whatever you like.

Have fun on this one. The instructables website is a wealth of some seriously valuable (and some worthless) hack instructions.

Happy Creation Day. Many more to come. Create this, Create that, Hack this, Hack that. That's what I'm talking about. This is going to be a long year....