Cool Link Wednesday: Lights, Lamps and E...

Dave Hrynkiw
July 10, 2012

It's officially hot outside. So if you're looking for an excuse to take a break, check out this week's batch of cool links:

Everything Will Be Illuminated: Artist to Cover Bay Bridge in Programmable LEDs Artist to Cover Bay Bridge in Programmable LEDs
The idea is to cover the San Francisco area Bay-Bridge with a bristling of white LED pixels. The conceptual video looks great, but having spent time in SF, we're wondering cool they'll look through a light fog? (Serendipitous pun, there)
Processing Codeable Objects Lamp Using the Codeable Objects Processing Library to Make Purdy Lamps
This is a pretty comprehensive tutorial that shows you how to design some nifty lamps from the open-source Processing programming language and then cut and assemble them with the help of a laser cutter. Give it a look - it's a decent walkthrough, and the results are stunning.
Salt and Vinegar Etching Salt and Vinegar Etching
This is pretty clever - you can use Vaseline and a bath of salt and vinegar to remove the copper from copper fabric, to form patterns, decorations, or even make your own circuits and sensors. It's a brilliant DIY approach using really simple materials to get fantastic results.
Robot films Big List o' Robot Films
Yeah, we get it. It's freakin' hot outside, and at the end of the day you just want to plunk yourself down on the couch and watch a movie to relax. Thanks to Wikipedia, here's a full list of robot-themed movies. My personal recommendation? Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
BEAM Robots BEAM Robots
Who says BEAM is dead? Okay, so maybe this particular site hasn't been updated in a couple years, but it still has some fantastic content worth sifting through. The authors from this site are still active on the Yahoo BEAM Group, though, which still sees frequent activity.

And after you're all cooled-off, get back out into the sun! Especially in places like Calgary where we only get warmth twice a year, it's important to get out and enjoy this 'sun' stuff while it lasts.

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