The Smithsonian Channel’s series America Wild & Wacky is featuring ArtCar Fest. In a blog post about the episode, they linked to my flickr video from Maker Faire of the Sashimi Tabernacle Choir. Here for your entertainment is my clip of hundreds of computer controlled singing sea creatures performing Bohemian Rhapsody.
Here are a few simple and elegant Lego projects that can bring a little cheer into your kitchen. Above, a complementary pair of candy dishes.
On our way to Maker Faire Austin, we grabbed a bite to eat at the San Jose airport, where we saw this rather confusing sign on a soda machine:
“NO REFILLS–Refills Available For .59¢”
So which is it, refills or no refills? And do they really make change for a penny?
Jack-o’-Lanterns are supposed to be scary, right? So here is our new one: it’s a mini pumpkin with a (tiny) scrolling LED stock ticker. Reprogrammable so you can update it every day with gloomy news from Wall Street.
Continue reading Scariest Jack-o’-Lantern of 2008
Our Edible Googly Eyes recipe (original post here) has made it to the New York Times to accompany an article about The Hungry Scientist Handbook. Woo-hoo!
We had a wonderful time at Maker Faire Austin. I’ve put some pictures and videos up in this flickr set for your enjoyment.
Our neighbors at Maker Faire were Kris and Carly who were doing very fun things with LEDs, like making Monopoly more fun by lighting up when you land on certain squares. The no-solder wiring system was very clever, and the flashing blue and red lights in jail were perfect.
This cute little robotics platform stopped by for a visit, but in order to see most of the rest of the faire we had to pry ourselves away from our table, which was tough. There was a nice collection of art cars, including this Chia Car. Maker Faire is wonderfully overwhelming, and we didn’t take very many pictures. Luckily, many other people took pictures too, and you can check lots of them out on flickr.
Simple Solar Circuits:
How to get started adding solar power to your small electronics projects. Use the sun to power small solar and battery powered night lights, garden lights, and decorations for halloween.
Continue reading Simple Solar Circuits
You can make these simple LED ghosties (based on LED throwies) from a soda bottle, a couple of LEDs and batteries, string, and a scrap of fabric. Hang them in your trees, your haunted house, or in your porch for Halloween. They look especially excellent because the eyes seem to float in mid-air behind the fabric.
Continue reading LED Ghosties for Halloween
Here’s an inexpensive electronic circuit that you can build to put in your Jack-o’lantern. It provides power to drive a few LEDs at night, and automatically turns them off during the daytime. It’s a simple and automatic dark-detecting circuit that you can use to for your very own photosensitive pumpkin.
Continue reading A dark detecting circuit for your jack-o’-lantern
