Purolator is one of our more popular couriers, and they've recently rolled out an update that we thought wasn't going to affect our website. Guess what? Why yes; yes it has. And on a Friday afternoon, we are unable to get anybody on their end to help us pin down the error location. That's not […]
Wednesday Cool Links: Nook Hacking, Kerf...
Solar botics
September 27, 2012
Hey, looks like we are still being late with the Wednesday cool link posts. Our busy days at the office are filled with fighting the multiple misbehaving lasers (with other lasers), conquering fridges stuffed with food (curtsey of Solarbotics bosses) and withstanding the unexpectedly good weather (or so I've heard…). Today's link collection is random at its best, almost as if it was made by a miniature sheep grazing on a green sled dog that dreams of being a pirate... that is interested in fluorescent lamp sculptures, carrot guns, pixels and espresso machine-generated images. We're not even going to pretend to justify this assortment of links aside from the fact that they're kinda cool, so hopefully everyone can find something they can enjoy and be distracted by:
 |
Fluorescent Light Moon Sculpture Chinese artist Wang Yuyang constructed his own Artificial Moon using thousands of differently shaped fluorescent lights. |
 |
PlayStation gaming on a NOOK Simple Touch Improvements in processing power really hit home when you see an eBook reader playing PlayStation games. Sure, we’re talking about a system which launched more than 15 years ago (the original PlayStation launched way back in 1995), but this is a $99 device which seems to be playing the games at full speed! |
|
Kerf Bending Patterns For all those of us who like playing with lasers! Kerf bending is a method of bending plywood by burning patterns along the desired bend. Here you can find some interesting patterns that not only work, but are visually appealing as well... And just to complete this section, another link on Laser-cut Lattice Living Hinges, with a mathematical modelling twist to it. Or torsion, I should say. |
 |
PIXELS by Patrick Jean Here's a clever and overall pretty impressive animation on 8-bit creatures overtaking NYC. PIXELS is Patrick Jean' latest short film, shot on location. |
 |
The Naked Espresso A really interesting take on a coffee ad campaign that involves hacking the espresso machine with an Arduino to output both analogue and digital signals. These signals are then converted from voltage to the relevant units and displayed through a processing application as the generative art animation. |
 |
Carrot Gun Improves Eyesight Just in time for your garden’s carrot harvest, Lou shows us how to make a carrot firing rifle. It’s cheap, easy, and quick. If you’ve got 15 buck and 15 minutes you can have one to call your own. |
 |
Mechanical Typewriter Keyboard for iPad If you like the old-time tactile quality of a classic manual typewriter, but have come to appreciate the ease of use of an iPad, you’ll dig Austin Yang’s iTypewriter mechanical typewriter keyboard. Each key is mapped to match up with the built-in iOS keyboard, so as you type, a mechanical arm tipped with a conductive pad swings out and taps the capacitive screen to render a character. |
Well I hope this post was as well-balanced as a calorie-counting vitamin-supplemented health freak diet and as lighthearted as popcorn with rainbow unicorns (hmmm, corn?) sprinkled with pink feathers… Yeah, let the random things rule, and happy (day after) Wednesday to everyone!
MORE POSTS
Calgary Mini Maker Faire Ticket Giveaway...
We've got two pairs of weekend passes for the Calgary Mini Maker Faire taking place this weekend up for grabs. To enter, send an email to it@solarbotics.com with the subject of "I <3 Solarbotics" to enter. Two winners will be selected Friday the 13th @ Noon.
Solarbotics looking for fun people
...oh, and they also should want to work with us. We have a few positions open we want to fill with people that have a good sense of humour, have some geek qualities, and can tell the difference between a diode and resistor (or sincerely want to learn!) Here are the types of people we're […]
KISS and Show n' Tell
Herbie the Mousebot, that lovable robotic rodent of ours, is a pretty popular critter. Seeks light, avoids obstacles, chases other Herbies (when modified), and is generally a swell robo mus musculus. He doesn't whistle and can't quite drive a steamboat like certain other mice, but he's gets by alright. What most people probably don't know about […]
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!
Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.
Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.