Today only from 3-5PM you can come to NYCResistor and get your laptop etched for a mere $25.
This is crazy since we normally charge $100, but it’s a slow day here at NYCResistor so we figured, let’s see if we can get people in here to do something awesome. This is an experiment and it’s likely to never happen again.
It probably won’t hurt to bone up over at ladyada’s setting page and read instructable’s etching instructions.
Laser Etching Macintosh Powerbooks. – More cool how to projects
The Spooky Box is a simple interface for Processing that consists of 3 knobs and 4 buttons. There are two versions, an Arduino based hardware one which doesn’t exist yet, and a software emulator which I just finished. There’s also an accompanying Processing library that works for both which is ridiculously easy to use.
If you’re looking for a simple, generic UI for your Processing apps, consider trying this out. I’ll be releasing more info as the hardware gets put together.
PS. The skull image in the background there is CC licensed, and can be found here.
Canuck Hackers Hacking Aboot
You may remember Canadia as the red terror of the north. Whose imperialistic aspirations once lead them to invade the United States without any evidence or accusation of wrong doing. But today, I’m going to write not about the unbridled threat to our freedoms that these loyalists bring to the table… but about the awesome hack space that’s starting to really get rolling in Toronto. hacklab.to is housed in the kensington area of toronto above a bar. Seth Hardy and Leigh Honeywell have been working tirelessly for months to see this place get off the ground and from the looks of it they are very nearly close to success. I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing more from these guys. Especially if they start stock piling on siege weapons and molson ice for an impending invasion of the colonies.
Read more about them at their site: http://hacklab.to/
Metamorphosis from Glenn Marshall on Vimeo.
How appropriate! Glenn’s video was generated using Processing, the rad visual programming suite that is so terribly useful for hacking Arduinos. 🙂 Take a look!
This is a fantastic segueway to the PROCESSING STUDY GROUP being hosted at NYCR tomorrow (Wed, 9/24) at 7:00PM by Justin DAY! Join Justin for an evening of Processing chat, hacks, and general inspiration.
Via Gizmodo (and others)
Vise Grip Wire Strippers - so simple, and yet so much fun!
For the craftsman and the shade tree mechanic alike, tools can represent an extension of oneself and a useful companion who eases the journey to a finished project. This amazing tool is a true companion which turns one of the most tedious aspects of electronics into a simple pleasure.
The IRWIN Vise Grip Self-Adjusting Wire Stripper has a satisfying click and solid feel. As it mercilessly rips the rubber sheath from that offending bit of copper, you can’t help but feel a sense of pico-accomplishment. It’s a smooth action, smooth operator and it takes the tedium out of wire stripping. And I loathe wire stripping. I raise a glass to you, wire stripper mechanical engineer!
These babies should be fairly easy to find, and they seem to sell for about $23.
Photo courtesy of Bre Pettis
For History Hacker, my fellow resistor Raphael Abrams helped prototype some projects with me. We were at NYCR working on making an AC Generator out of a bike when Adam had the bright idea to hook the two ends of the coil to a speaker to listen to the sound of music. Bonus points for anyone who comments with a cunning and subtle reference to that movie, the sound of music.
My show is coming in a week! If people watch the pilot and the Nielsen ratings are good, I’ll be able to make a whole season of History Hacker and get to investigate inventions and inventors in history and show you how to make them!
History Hacker
Friday September 26th
8PM and Midnight
History Channel
(Right before and right after the first presidential debate)
You can join the History Hacker facebook group where folks are discussing their favorite inventors of yesteryear and I set up a History Hacker flickr group because I’d actually like to see the people who are watching my show as they are watching the show with me on the tv. (I think it will be cool to see who is watching the show!)
The show will live or die based on ratings and feedback from folks.
The history channel has message boards to talk about the show. They are tracking what is said there.
And if you feel so moved to write a message to them, I’ve set up an email for History Hacker feedback that forwards to the people at the History Channel who need to know.
I built a fantastically hacky boost converter to light this lovely Soviet nixie tube. One cap, one inductor, one resistor, one mosfet, one diode, and an ATTiny13. Or, as Raph put it, “one of everything”.
Equally tacky, hacky clock coming soon!
We’ll be hosting the first Processing Study Group meeting on Wednesday, September 24th at 7:00PM at NYC Resistor HQ. If you’re interested in Processing, from novice to expert, join the mailing list and come check it out! I’m looking for someone to give a 5-minute ‘Why you should use Processing’ talk at the meeting, if you’re interested please let me know. See you there!
NYC Resistor is not only a sweet hackerspace, but it is also the home of the RepRap Research Foundation, a not-for-profit setup to support RepRap research. If you are unfamiliar with RepRap, it is an open source project to build a self-replicating 3D printer. This is a large project, with a wide range of disciplines involved: the software, firmware, 3D positioning system, and extruders are all large projects in their own right.
We will be having an open hacklab on Sunday, September 21st from 1PM to 4PM. It is absolutely free to come, but we will gladly accept donations. The format of the hacklab itself is still amorphous, and I like it that way. We will probably start with a short Q/A session about the RepRap, and then get to working on the machine. Please read up on the project before coming to the hacklab. Every single question you have for me has probably already been answered in great detail on RepRap.org Feel free to bring your own RepRap, or parts of it if you have one. My machine has been in various states of broken for months now, and I hope to finally have it working by the day of the hacklab. If it is working, then we will probably work on making it print cool things. If it isn’t working, then we will probably work on making it work. I also am expecting new PCBs this friday, so we can play with some experimental prototypes.
This is intended as more of a work session than a talk / show and tell. Please show up ready to get your hands dirty playing with fun open source hardware.
News Knitter Sweaters
Meet News Knitter. It’s described as: “… a data visualization project which focuses on knitted garments as an alternative medium to visualize large scale data.” The sweaters are all designed pulling in feeds from Google News and a few other local news sources and parsing them through Processing. Some really interesting images and approaches to data visualization end up in blue, black and red on these garments. The project was created by Mahir M. Yavuz, MFA and Ebru Kurbak, MSc, both PHd students at Kunstuniversität Linz (I have no idea what that word means or even how to say it, but I am assuming it’s a University).
I couldn’t find any details about whether it’s open source or if some of the Processing code is available? It would be nice to make a news t-shirt.
