Wednesday Cool Links, and Thanks for the...

Solar botics
February 27, 2013

Hello!  Today I actually have stuff to say, and this time these are the news on the Useless Box. Looks like it's time to receive thanks! Remember back in November 2012 when we decided to donate $1100 to Plan Canada from a percentage of past sales of Useless Boxes? They sent us a nice thank you card for that, and now we are onto our second donation (this time of ~$1,500), and this time it is going towards:

  • Beekeeping kit;
  • Library in a box for Haiti;
  • Ten mango trees;
  • Rainwater harvesting tanks;
  • Herd of goats.

This card is from "Desert Bus for Hope", an annual gaming telethon that raises thousands of dollars for the children's game charity Child's Play. We have sent them custom Useless Boxes which were a huge hit and brought nearly $2,000 in donations.

Thank you to everyone who noted our efforts in making the Useless - Useful, and now onto with the regular:

Cardboard Computers and Plotter by Niklas Roy
Electronics rendered mechanically - that's our kind of reverse engineering! Built out of cardboard, this plotter shows how computers work on a fundamental level: using rope, rubber bands and cardboard, this plotter renders simple vector graphics. And it looks cool too.
Raspberry Pis are now available from the NYCR vending machine
The title says it all. I can definitely see the potential in this fusion of vending machines and electronic components!
Chuck: A Flexible Wooden Bookshelf
You would think this is some sort of fancy design shenanigan that doesn't stand up to the challenge of everyday life, but check out the video, it actually can hold quite a bit of printed matter!
Hacking a Radio Controlled Spy Device for Overly Attached Girlfriend
The goal was to have a radio controlled device that would send live video and audio to someone and had the ability to plant a small GPS tracker on the undercarriage of a car. The video is a masterpiece. I want that device!
A Billboard in Peru Creates Clean Drinking Water From Air Humidity
Great idea, not sure how financially viable that is, but definitely sounds interesting, especially for a region with 98% humidity and only 0.5" of rainfall.

Aaaaand this is it for today, see you next time.

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