Daily DIY

Josh writes in with news that Boston police & authorities are detonating blinky Aqua Teen Hunger Force art -

Ignignokt from Aqua Teen has been a reoccuring theme in art projects and random builds. Were these Ignignokts left around Boston a part of an alternative art project gone awry? I love how CBS describes a Ignignokt made from circuit board as a “device”. Very threatening. Even if it was just something random, it sort of shows the folly of our security-obsessed world when a fictional martian can set a major city on high alert.

We obviously had nothing to do with this, but for some reason CNN mentioned MAKE — if the authorities or CNN wish to speak to someone they can call me (Phillip Torrone, Senior Editor at any time - my info is all over the place, I’m not sure what CNN said or why they did not contact us - 206-355-1323)….

More:

• Hoax Devices Creating Gridlock In Boston, Devices Resemble Cartoon Character - Link.
• Hoax packages cause alarm in Boston - Link.

Updates:
Boston.com - Link.
Boston Metblogs - Link.

A MAKE reader sent this in, it all appears to be an ad campaign - we are trying to find the transcripts to see what exactly was said about MAKE:

–Being a walking commuter I didn’t hear anything about this until I got to work. There are a couple of people here who have been refreshing boston.com all day trying to get more information, not only because it would affect their commute but because they were worried.

Currently boston.com has in it’s breaking news section the blurb:

Turner Broadcasting is expected to issue an apology for causing today’s series of bomb scares throughout Boston. A statement emailed to the Globe from Turner Broadcasting said: “The ‘packages’ in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger. They are part of an outdoor marketing campaign in 10 cities in support of Adult Swim’s animated television show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. They have been in place for two to three weeks in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Parent company Turner Broadcasting is in contact with local and federal law enforcement on the exact locations of the billboards. We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger.”

Related:

Aqua Teen Hunger Force LED art - Link.

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Wooster has an update about the worldwide Space Invader art project that seems to appear in every city -

“Along with hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world, we’ve been obsessed by Space Invader’s work for years. This week, Invader updated his website, and for the first time, posted a Q&A which gives some background and explains what his project is all about. We thought we’d pass it along. In addition to checking out Invaders site here, you should also check out Invader Flickr pool which includes over 3,600 photos.” - Link & FAQ.

Pictured here, Derrière l’Assemblée Nationale 07è - by yoyolabellut.

Related:

• Space Invaders - Link.
• Invader Flickr pool - Link.
• RUBIKCUBISM - Space Invader Art! - Link.

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Pasta is a staple food surrounding collegiate life. Boil some water — throw in some pasta — plaster on tomato sauce. Here’s a simple way to break away from simple tomato sauces.


By: trebuchet03

A small cheap robot toy


By: 20XT6

Or, How to randomly flash 8 LEDs



OK. I’ll admit that the fireflies in a jar thing has been done already. The difference here will be that this version will be done entirely with an analog circuit.



For anyone without a lot of electrical knowledge, what that means is that you can do the firefly circuit without needing to buy a PIC micro controller or do any programing on your computer. This circuit can be put together entirely from parts available at Radio Shack for a reasonable amount of money.



The one or two I have built are being used in enclosed projects with a translucent lens. I’m using them as night lights. The one pictured below is built from an old Weston meeter. You could easily use the micro LEDs and finer wire to simulate free-flying fireflies. I used green and yellow LEDs, and arranged them so some are closer to the front than others. The effect is somewhat hypnotic and organic. like there is something really alive in there.



The primary difficulty in designing this was in finding a way to randomly flash the LEDs. Much of the project was based off the very good instructions found here:

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/projects/random.htm



The Decade counter chip (LED driver) can actually drive up to 8 LEDs. I kept it to 5 just to keep the size and complexity down.



The second difficulty was finding a simple way to get a fade-effect in the LEDs. After a long series of fruitless searches and overly complex ideas, I found a few posts suggesting the use of a large capacitor and resistor combination. I worked it in, and the results were good enough. It does require some experimenting, though, to get the effect to work to your taste.



Parts List:

1 lm555 timer chip

1 cd4026b combined counter and display driver IC

16v 47uf capacitor

2 - 10k resistors

Jumper wire, a few feet.

LEDs. used 5-6 here, but with some creativity you could add more.

5-6 large capacitors. I’m using 1500uf

5-6 resistors of varying values

5-6 diodes.

5v DC power source of some kind. You can use 4 AA batteries as well. It’s not that fussy. I would not go any stronger than that without a 7805 power regulator or something.



Equipment:

Soldering Iron

Solder

Wire Cutters

Housing of some kind


By: photozz

I like how Extremetech doesn’t just review new motherboards, they rate them on how well they can be overclocked…

“When it comes to selecting a motherboard, you’ve got a bunch of factors to consider: Form factor, features, stability, performance, and price are a few that jump to mind. Some of us, however, look at one more little checkmark on the outside of the box: overclocking prowess.

Faced with five motherboards to review, including Nvidia 680i- and Intel 975-based boards, we decided to take a slightly different approach, to veer off from our normal modus operandi. While we still performance test all of the boards (except one, because it arrived dead), we look at how well they overclock a CPU. Not just any CPU, mind you; we chose one that presents a true challenge. “ - Link.

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(NOTE: Turn your Volume Up! I Forgot to talk loudly!)


By: ddsn

Here’s how I patch a wetsuit.



A friend gave me this nice orange survival suit.

A coastguard station near her house threw it out because a mouse gnawed a hole in it.

They wrote "Condemned" on it which makes it extra stylish.



Here’s the hole in the ankle of the suit.



I guess I’m supposed to buy eggs.


By: TimAnderson

simple wood and electronic furniture (bed-like) to compose intense physical electronic music.


By: cesar harada

One of our Maker is over in Shenzhen and did a fantastic write up of the electronics district, SEG Electronics Market -

“Ten years ago, Akihabara was the place to be for the latest electronics and knick knacks and components. I’m convinced the new place to be is the SEG Electronics Market in Shenzhen (although to be fair I heard there is a competing market in Korea that’s supposedly even better-the Japanese test-market their stuff there even before they try it in Akihabara!).

…This is Digikey gone mad.” - Link.

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