Inconvenience makes people do strange things. Having to wait at traffic lights sees people run across the road, risking life and limb just to get somewhere a few seconds faster. People allow packages to be “hidden” on their doorstop rather than secured…
Laser cutting technique makes plywood bendable
Here’s a laser cutting technique that makes thin plywood bendable. By cutting away elongated diamond shapes from the material, a lattice of strips connected minimally by alternating tabs is left over. The wood is then bendable, and it must be somewhat durable since the idea came from a product that uses the technique as a …
Reverse engineering a Korg Monotribe
Yesterday, Korg released a firmware update to their ribbon controller synth, the Monotribe. The firmware is just an audio file that needs to be played to the sync input of the box. [gravitronic] thought this was rather interesting, so he decided to decode the monotribe firmware. It’s the first step to custom Monotribe firmware, and …
Adding Fluke 54 II features to a 51 II thermometer
The difference between Fluke’s 54 II and 51 II thermometers is the addition of a second channel for dual temperature sensing, and buttons which control data logging. Oh, and an additional $150 in price for the higher model. [TiN] was poking around inside and with the help of some forum members he figured out how …
An instrument that plays along with you
The crew over at Teague Labs was talking about musical instruments and how digital music creation seems to get bogged down under user interfaces littered with increasing numbers of buttons, knobs, and sliders. They decided to build a musical device that has its own musical inclinations and personality, while also allowing for two-way interaction with …
Automatic lock cracker makes breaking and entering a breeze
For most people, forgetting the combination on a lock means breaking out the bolt cutters and chopping off the lock. Some students at the [Olin College of Engineering] decided there was a far more elegant way to do the job, so they built an automated lock-cracking machine. The machine consists of a clamp to hold …
Apple readying three iPad 2 designs
According to the latest fear-eastern whispers, Apple is preparing to capitalise on the success of its iPad with three new designs lined up for early 2011. iPad 2 will arrive during the first quarter of the year, with some units heading for Apple outlet…
Hacking together a bedbug exterminator
We’ve seen so many stories in the news about the growing plague of bedbugs. It kind of infuriates us because the spin of these “news” pieces is always that we’re going to have to live with these insects and there’s nothing you can do to avoid it. Bullcorn! [Ed Nisley] was dealt a bum hand …
An Overview of Search Engine Optimization (seo)
An Overview of Search Engine Optimization (seo) There is a list of what not to do as well, and that list is applicable to all engines, as it mostly refers to tricks and hacks unscrupulous designers use to try to trick the engines. These kinds of pages generally get removed by automated tools and don’t …
