Posts by Category: diy

Do it yourself, dude!

diy August 24, 2005 posted by

DIY X-Ray machine.

The DIY X-Ray Machine. Oldie but goodie. But remember, kids, be safe out there!   Whenever the machine is in operation, the experimenter must wear a lead apron and stand well behind the orifice through which the rays are emitted. Never turn your back to the machine so that you are between it and the apron!…Finally, resist the temptation to make X-ray examinations of the bones in your hands or other body parts. A frozen fish makes a much safer…


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diy August 18, 2005 posted by

Hands free photography.

The DIY Digital Camera Shooting Rig. What, you mean like the best way to get a hands free shooting setup is to lug around a PowerBook with you? You’re kidding, Romaine, right? Do you get to take natty shots of the nurse as you get wheeled into casualty with a broken back after a few hours? Eh? Do ya? Still it’s a neat hack, anyways. Harrumph!  This rig allows you to take photographs by saying “Take shot” into the microphone…


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diy August 15, 2005 posted by

The Ultimate Water Gun.

The Ultimate Water Gun. Grab some pipe clamps, high pressure hose and epoxy and you’ll be well on your way towards building a Fireman Sam style water pistol. Soak ‘em? Drown ‘em, more like.  Open the stop valve on your gun, and close the ball valve. Unscrew the cleanout cap on the tank. Fill with water through the 1.5″ port on the Tee. Replace the cleanout cap, making sure it’s on tight with a wrench. Attach the air compressor and…


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diy August 11, 2005 posted by

String quartet?

String Thing. A DIY geek musical instrument of note. Note. Geddit?  String Thing is a cello-like electronic instrument played by stroking or beating metal rods with the hands. The use of bodily gestures, infinitely variable and visible to the audience, avoids the ‘robotic’ and visually uncommunicative quality typical of computer music.


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diy August 4, 2005 posted by

Water powered mower.

The Water Powered Mower. Hey it may not be robotic, and it may not move, but it’s a fascinating experiment nonetheless. Why can’t this work commercially, oh powers that rule the world? That’s what we all want to know? [Thanks HAnno!]  I decided on “Water Engine” because it was simple and it was direct. After all, once people start using these things, all they will think of is the Water aspect of it. They will only know that they put…


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diy July 27, 2005 posted by

Buy me, Buy me!

The Talking For Sale Sign. $329.99. Simply brilliant idea. Set up your own short range advertising radio station and spam your neighbours and friends ad nauseum.   Perfect for selling homes, cars, boats, etc. Repeats a message over and over. Just put a sign on your house or car letting people know what station to tune their radio to. Record your voice and transmit it to any FM radio on any FM station (up to 600 ft). Our latest kit combines an…


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cool tech July 26, 2005 posted by

Solar light kit.

The Solar LED Lighting Kit. Solar is good. Lights are useful. LEDs are trendy. Mix and serve to save the earth, you feckless heathen. £20.50.  Get creative with the SolarMAX Solar Powered 6 LED Lighting Kits, these kits come with 1 Ni-MH AA 1300mah 1.2v rechargable batteries and are ideal for providing low level lighting. The LED lights automatically illuminate as light fades. 8 hrs of full sunshine gives 8-9 hrs of lighting…Sheds, Outbuildings, Playhouses, Garden Lighting, Sign illumination and…


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diy July 22, 2005 posted by

Make your own MP3 ringtones.

Make your own MP3 mobile phone ringtones. What it says folks.   Why should you pay 3 to 4 bucks for a one ringtone? This is a tutorial about how to make one for free. For this tutorial you need audacity, lame, and razorlame (lame gui).


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diy July 20, 2005 posted by

Mad mod mood.

The Mad Science 1944 computer case mod. Whoosh!  The Idea: To create a huge wooden server case that houses two computers and an LCD monitor, as well as a nuclear bomb and a temporal relocation driver. =) The Purpose: File and game server at lan parties, a render farm for 3d and video, to play movies and videos (especially my own work), and to make people go “what the hell?!” The Motivation: …I had two old Pentium 3 machines laying…


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diy July 19, 2005 posted by

Laptop Lounger.

The Lappyvator.  Geek notebook nirvana? The problem –  One sore coccyx as a result of a bicycle incident. Treatment, lots of rest. Requirement, computer. The solution – 3 metres of PVC pipe, hacksaw, Cat5 cable, strap, glue.  Each type of laptop is a different size, with different bits sticking out in different places, so there’s not much point in drawing up and publishing exact dimensions. You might be fatter or have shorter arms than me, or lie in a narrower…


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Bookmark This! July 11, 2005 posted by

DIY TV.

ACTLab TV. Create and run your own Peer to Peer television station. Coolness.  Your ACTLab TV is the place to get started on creating your own ACTLab TV station. We will be releasing tutorials for all aspects of running your own audio and video broadcasts, including capturing, transcoding, and setting up a server. All with low-cost and/or open source software.


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diy June 28, 2005 posted by

DIY flight simulator.

The DIY Flight Simulator. I’m sorry but some people have WAY too much time on their hands. And an unhealthily lustful appetite for work. It’s just not natural, know what I mean? Seven years of hard graft just to fly about a bit? Hmm, next life maybe.  It took me 3 years to finish the cockpit – the first stage of the building process, to be precise. I had built all those switches and displays into their panels, and I…


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diy June 14, 2005 posted by

Play away.

Newt’s Design Your Own Playing Cards. Upload your own photo or graphic, tweak the design with the online Flash tool and get ‘em printed. Enjoy trouncing the wife with the mother-in-law’s face. $28.00 a deck.   Be sure your image is a jpg or jpeg nonprogressive file. Most digital camera pictures work fine. Upload your photo by clicking the Upload image button. You will be prompted to the custom image upload screen. Hit the browse button to locate your picture, hit upload image to…


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diy June 13, 2005 posted by

Hot stuff!

The DIY Hot Pepper Sauce Kit. Some people clearly aren’t satisfied with ordinary temperatures and need heat. Plenty of it. So here’s the thing, sort it yourself and stop bothering the neighbours, eh? However please do not send letters of complaint to the Ferret from Ward 15 or anywhere else medical or mental. Thank you. $19.95.  Challenge your creativity (or imbalance) while pleasing (or cauterizing) your taste buds with hot sauce you make using the ingredients in this kit and your choice…


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