As of June 7, 2017, Active-Tech Calgary is now under the ownership of Solarbotics Ltd.! Solarbotics has been a part of the Calgary DIY Electronics community for over 22 years, manufacturing and reselling the kits, parts and pieces you use for your own creations. Active-Tech Calgary has been around slightly longer, supplying industrial electronics & […]
Wednesday Cool Links: The Flying Stuff, ...
Solar botics
March 20, 2013
Solarbotics and the Useless Box have been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article "Looking for Something Useful to Do With Your Time? Don't Try This"! It is dedicated to the historical overview of the uselessness starting with its invention in the 1950s to nowadays. The useless box can take many guises, names and materials to be made of, but the initial impulse for pure purposelessness keeps on fascinating " tinkerers and thinkers alike". It's an interesting read, check it out if you haven't already. And now to our traditional portion of links:
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"Wings" by Dukno Yoon Not sure whether these would qualify as jewellery, mobile or art piece, I think - a little bit of everything, but definitely these look cool. By using this mechanical structure jeweler and metalsmith Dukno Yoon explores the nature of movement of the wing, and the interactive relationship with the body. |
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This is What Happens When You Run Water Through a 24hz Sine Wave First it might seem that the water stream is vibrating only because the hose is doing the same, but when you get to about 1:43 in the video, it gets almost eerie, as if the water is running upwards. |
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A Hovering Magnetic Cloud and Other Kinetic Sculptures by Laurent Debraux Kinetic sculptures by artist Laurent Debraux using primarily magnets, ferrofluid and metal objects with a touch of vintage. More stuff on his youtube channel. |
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A million times (Time Dubai) by Humans since 1982 What happens if you orchestrate 288 clocks to wave their hands in a specific fashion? Pretty mesmerizing, I say... |
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Retrotechtacular: flying foot-soldiers are coming for you (sixty years ago) Here's a remarkable piece of the 1950s experimental military technology- a single-rider flying platform. Two rotors are mounted underneath and provide enough lifting power to hover the platform above the ground. |
Also, according to the Wall Street Journal Useless Box has also been called a "green machine" as one of its inherent attributes is energy efficiency. Our links are also very… green! They last only until you click them, leave minimal environmental footprint, with the exception of, maybe, brain. But, you know, that regenerates, so grow some more neurons by the next time we'll see you here!
MORE POSTS
At the Expo!
Bad news, everyone - we don't have any new OR shiny things to show off today. That's because we've been busy packing up to attend the Calgary Comic Expo, which runs this weekend, from the 27th to the 29th. We have a booth set up and will be showing off some of our cool stuff, […]
Moving ActiveTech
As some of you know, ActiveTech is changing locations and merging operations with Solarbotics. The retail store is going to take the space where the former RnD lab was, and we've been working hard to prepare that area for the move-in.
PICAXE Project Boards
For the past few months we've had bundles for many of the PICAXE project boards. They come with cables and a battery holder, and are generally what you need if you're getting started in this kind of stuff for the first time. But what if you already have all those fun appetizers on the side, […]
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