2010.09.03
Weekly Metapost : 2010.08.27 - 2010.09.03
03.00.11 - Mark
Weekly Metapost from August 27th, 2010 to September 3rd, 2010
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
DIY PIXAR: Luxo Jr. Lamp
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-PIXAR-Luxo-Jr-Lamp/
Tagged : DIY instructables Luxo Jr. Make Pixar todo
I am a Pixar fan, and I've mentioned it several times, and I love making things, so making my own Luxo Jr. Lamp is pretty tempting. Even if I wasn't going to, it's always cool to see some Pixar animation become a "real" object.
1 frame every 12 clicks | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37227626@N00/2534192401/
Tagged : attempts camera done film hack howto MAKE photography
An idea I attempted trying on an old Kodak Jiffy Six-20 camera that's been floating around my house unused for years. Pretty clever and a whole lot less expensive than 620 film. Now to see if I can save a couple exposures...
Eye Candy [list of other movies]
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008) RatedThe Book of Eli (2010) Rated
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Movies Weblinks
2010.08.27
Weekly Metapost : 2010.08.20 - 2010.08.27
03.00.16 - Mark
Weekly Metapost from August 20th, 2010 to August 27th, 2010
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
Rose Garden Pizza
http://www.instructables.com/id/Rose-Garden-Pizza/
Tagged : creative food instructables pizza recipies todo
I love real pizza, not the stuff you order with a phone and see it arrive at your door in 30-60 minutes. While there are some decent pizza joints, I love making my own. Better flavors and textures. The visual appeal of it varies, but this idea is quite clever, and I suspect I'll try it sometime.
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Weblinks
2010.08.20
Weekly Metapost : 2010.08.13 - 2010.08.20
03.00.01 - Mark
Weekly Metapost from August 13th, 2010 to August 20th, 2010
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
YouTube - Exploding electronic components in HD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCPXckfT-6g
Tagged : amusing electronics funny life technology videos youtube
Assorted electronic components, destroyed with the technology they're designed for. Something I've done myself for many years, both accidentally and intentionally. [via Adafruit]
EL Wire Spiderweb
http://www.instructables.com/id/EL-Wire-Spiderweb/
Tagged : art articles electronics howto instructables todo
Very tempting project. Electronics crossed with some wood working I've yet to try, all to create an art piece. Yeah, I can see myself doing something similar.
Eye Candy [list of other movies]
Speed Racer (2008) RatedEagle Eye (2008) Rated
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Movies Weblinks
2010.05.28
Metapost Changes
03.36.36 - Mark
A few months ago I restarted my metapost feature, built a working version (as opposed to a nonfunctional heap of code I had when I first tried building the feature), then set up a cron to run it every day. At the time I think I was probably going to be writing more articles, talking about cool things, the way I used to run this site. If that had been done, daily bursts wouldn't have been a bad thing.
But obviously that didn't quite happen.
There are reasons why, which shall be written, just not in this little note. So since the metaposts have been showing up like crazy I decided last week to make it a weekly occurrence, rather than a random day. Methinks it'll look better with the blurbs I've been doing on them as well. Course a tweak here and redesign there, it's always adding more things to change on this site.
Link | 0 Comments | code features metaposts site updates
Weekly Metapost : 2010.05.21 - 2010.05.28
00.00.02 - Mark
Weekly Metapost from May 21st, 2010 to May 28th, 2010
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
Beef Jerky Recipe : Alton Brown : Food Network
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/beef-jerky-recipe/index.html
Tagged : Alton Brown beef jerky cooking DIY food fun geek good eats
A long time ago I saw this episode of Good Eats where Alton Brown made beef jerky. At the time the making jerky thing didn't do much for me - it's easy enough to buy, but the idea of using a box fan and a few air filters, I loved that idea. Beeing a geek I tried it out, and I love his recipie - it's far better than commercial jerky.
pcb_fabrication [tanjent.com wiki]
http://tanjent.com/doku.php?id=pcb_fabrication
Tagged : articles electronics hackaday howto todo
While I've known about this technique for preparing and etching circuit boards for a while, I more or less followed it's instructions, and I'm sold. Inexpencive, accurate, and and wildly difficult. [via hack-a-day]
YouTube - Pixel - A pixel art documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mqAZ06dwKU
Tagged : art creativity documentary pixels videos youtube
Nice little mini-documentary on Pixel Art, from it's origins in video games to it's use of art, music, and creativity. Plus I had to run off and look at half the stuff it uses as clips or referances [via Adafruit]
One More Production - video - Pixels
http://www.onemoreproduction.com/video/209.html
Tagged : animation art entertainment pixel videos
One of the video clips from the Pixel - A Pixel Art Documenraty. The clip in there was amazing, the alternative universe the full video creates is lovely, and the work put into it is a bit mindboggling.
Eye Candy [list of other movies]
District 9 (2009) RatedMaverick (1994) Rated
The Sting (1973) Rated
2012 (2009) Rated
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Movies Weblinks
2010.05.25
Intervalometer Version 1.3
16.44.40 - Mark
I've been working on my home made intervalometer on and off for well over a month now. I bought the parts for it in early April, bounced between building the original version based on it's schematic and reading up and learning how to actually use 555 ICs in mid April. Finally got the first working version packed into an Altoids sized tin in a frantic morning on April 20th (written inside the tin since I was pulling it off between going to a class then driving 6 hours to go camping for a weekend) About a week after finishing it I got around to putting together a semi-decent time lapse video.
Part of the reason I had held off on the time lapse is because I wanted this to work as a wired remote for my camera, rather than having to carry around a couple candy tins with switches and cables attached. This however has been my big problem.
The original schematic calls for a NPN transistor to work as the switch for the shutter release. When it's base is getting power, the emitter and collector are bridged and the circuit for the shutter is closed. Since the manual switches are wired in parallel, they can't override a closed circuit and are blocked until the base looses power - be it the few moments the 555 drops power or when the battery is disconnected. If I had gone this way I probably wouldn't have had a problem using it as a wired remote, but it is mentioned as a glitch in the original write up.
In my build however I used a PNP transistor, originally for no reason other than I had a bunch more of them than NPNs and they worked in the breadboard prototype. It's emitter and collector are still the connections for the shutter release loop, but those points are only bridged when the base is grounded. Unfortunately this was a somewhat massive problem for me. It not only blocked me from using it as a wired remote when powered off, the second it was plugged into the camera was the second it would take the first exposure. I could jerry rig it into working in my favor, but I wanted full control all the time.
At that point I started thinking about how to get that control. I first thought of using multiple transistors, looking into Darlington transistors or Sziklai pair, even started thinking of Logic Gates and building them with transistors. All it needed to do would be isolate the transistor from the circuit when the power was off. As I got frustrated with the complex schemes of using transistors to control transistors, I started to rethink the simplest approach of isolating the key PNP transistor.
A quick test on the breadboarded version, and just unplugging the PNP's base made it work with the parallel switches when the power was off. While I could have wired in and mounted another switch, I preferred simplicity, and a DPST switch was purchased to replace the SPST power switch. One side still for power, the other between the 555 and the PNP base. It's a good fix, and I finally feel good documenting my version.
In addition to my use of a DPST switch and a PNP, there are a few other changes I made. The first is the different selection of resistors. While the potentiometer and paired 100k ohm resistors remain the same as the original, I changed the LED resistors to 10 ohm (I wanted some more light coming off the LEDs).
Since I wanted a time lapse mode faster than once every 30 seconds or so, the fastest given by the 220uF capacitor (up to about 4 and a half minutes as its slowest), so I used a SPDT switch and 22uF capacitor to add in a second mode that can shoot as fast as one exposure every 9 seconds (which goes up to ~30 seconds).
I also changed the .1uF with 33k Ohm resistor to a 10uF capacitor and 470k resistor. The original design didn't allow my Canon XSi enough time to run the shutter. This my change is a particularly long break for the shutter trigger, about a full second. While I originally only changed the resistor for a sufficient delay, I realized that the SPDT switch with the key capacitors, really had three positions.
This switch happens to have ON - OFF - ON positions. While I only cared about being able to switch the 2 key capacitors, when testing it I accidentally had it on the off position. When I powered it on it started running the shutter faster than once a second. While I may not be getting this right, when the one of the 2 larger capacitors are connected the circuit is monostable, a quick burst for the transistor, then starts over. When neither large capacitor is connected however, it starts running as a bistable, or flip-flow, circuit, opening the shutter loop for a second, then closing it for a second, with it's pace set by the small capacitor and resistor. While I have yet to find a real reason for this feature, I decided to take advantage of it and added the 10uF capacitor. So, if you follow this design, this gives the camera shutter a full second or so to run when it's in Monostable mode, and get an exposure every 2 seconds or so when in Bistable mode.
While I'm sure there are other changes that could be made, I think I'm done with this one (with the possible exception of designing a real circuit board for it). Between arduinos boards and the parts for building a Camera Axe, I think this will suit me well for a carry around wired remote and intervalometer.
If you want to build one for yourself, feel free to work off my schematic (image above, enlarged, or EAGLE Schematic) put it's still a good idea to refer to the article I worked from in Make Volume 15 or the extremely useful discusion thread on it's Instructables page.
The components are all from Mouser, but I got the perf board from Radio Shack. You can get all the parts there as well (in theory) but they charge a lot for the things they do stock, and sadly my local Radio Shack's component area is a sad disorganized mess. Of course Digikey is on par with Mouser (just a bit harder to navigate) and in this case everything you need (including perfboards) can be purchased at All Electronics (which just takes a good bit of hunting) It's worth nothing however that you can scrounge together a lot of these parts from old electronics.
| 555 Timer IC Based Intervalometer Part List | ||
|---|---|---|
| Parts Needed | Part Description | Price Per Part |
| 1 | 1M Ohm Potentiometer | $.80 |
| 1 | DPST Toggle Switch | $1.24 |
| 1 | SPDT Slide Switch | $.75 |
| 2 | Tactile Switches | $.31 |
| 2 | Tactile Square Caps | $.15 |
| 2 | LEDs | $.08 |
| 1 | 220uf Capacitor | $.14 |
| 1 | 22uf Capacitor | $.10 |
| 1 | 10uf Capacitor | $.06 |
| 1 | 555 IC | $.31 |
| 1 | PNP Transistor | $.11 |
| 2 | 10ohm Resistor | $.10 |
| 2 | 100k ohm Resistors | $.10 |
| 1 | 470k Ohm Resistor | $.10 |
| 1 | 2.5mm Stereo Plug | $1.55 |
| 1 | 9v Battery Snap | $.38 |
| 1 | Multipurpose PC Board | $1.99 |
| Hookup wire | ||
| Solder (you should have it) | ||
| Enclosure (I used an altoids sized tin) | ||
| Total: | $9.01 + taxes and shipping | |
Link | 0 Comments | article documentation electronics howto instructables Intervalometer MAKE photography projects schematics
2010.05.19
May 18th, 2010 Metapost
00.00.02 - Mark
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
Clever Canon AE-1 Program Digital Mod
http://www.petapixel.com/2010/04/29/clever-canon-ae-1-program-digital-mod/
Tagged : ae-1 camera canon hack hackaday mod photography technology
While it's not the dream I once had of seeing digital camera backs for Canon AE-1s, it is an impressive hack fitting a modern Canon Powershot into a classic AE-1. [via hack-a-day]
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Weblinks
2010.05.15
May 14th, 2010 Metapost
00.00.02 - Mark
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
Solar water disinfection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection
Tagged : articles health plastics science sodis technology water wikipedia
I'm not a fan of bottled water - at least not the 20oz bottles of glorified tap water being sold a buck or two then seeing it tossed into a trash can on a day to day basis. I've got Nalgene bottles for that. In emergencies it's a different situation, but now, finding out that those bottles we trash can be used for disinfecting questionable water. That's amazing. [via National Geographic, via There, I Fixed It]
Light Graffiti Cars - BBC Top Gear
http://www.topgear.com/uk/photos/lightbulb-moment-supercar-art
Tagged : art images light light painting photography topgear
The beauty of light graffiti is that simplicity works. That's why I play with it from time to time. However when you see work like this, you're left a bit speachless.
The Lost Tribes of RadioShack: Tinkerers Search for New Spiritual Home | Magazine
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/04/ff_radioshack/
Tagged : article businesses electronics radio shack wired
As I'm once again playing with electronics, my last minute needs and occassionally suggested parts have me going over to Radio Shack for one or the other, I've yet to come out of there without a bit of fustration. From employees who neither know or care about the electronics they stock, the disoranized cabinets they carry, or the moderatly painful prices they set. However this article covers both sides, from the saving and survival of the company to the few stores that still care about the DIYers.
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Weblinks
2010.05.08
May 7th, 2010 Metapost
00.00.02 - Mark
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
Geocities-izer - Make Any Webpage Look Like It Was Made By A 13 Year-Old In 1996
http://wonder-tonic.com/geocitiesizer/index.php
Tagged : eyegouging funny geek geocities humor parody technology
When I was in middle school (~1999), I had friends that created geocities (or similar) websites. Geocities-izer remindes me why I never hopped onto that bandwagon.
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Weblinks
2010.05.05
May 4th, 2010 Metapost
00.00.03 - Mark
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
Doctor Octoroc Presents | 8-Bit Dr. Horrible
http://www.doctoroctoroc.com/8-bit-dr-horrible/
Tagged : animation Dr. Horrible geek NES video video game
Dr. Horrible Sing Along Blog, reincarnated as a NES game look-alike (where in one wishs it was available as a real game). A great way of rewatching Dr. Horrible. [via waxy links]
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Weblinks
2010.05.01
April 30th, 2010 Metapost
00.00.02 - Mark
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
Thoughts on Flash
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/
Tagged : Adobe Apple articles flash geek iPad iPhone pr technology
Interesting seeing why Apple decided to exclude Adobe Flash from the iPhone/iPad OS.
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Weblinks
2010.04.27
Bluecheese Burgers and 555 ICs
16.55.08 - Mark
Ah, the combination of technology and food.
Well sortof. After dusting off my Canon S3is for it's timelapse feature for Inkinga few weeks ago, and then in the same post complaining about not getting anything faster than 1 shot a minute out of it, I decided to try and make the 555 IC based camera trigger.
The version I build was covered in MAKE Magazine Issue 15, as well as a bit more detailed on it's Instructables page. When I described it as "crude" in the Inking rant, I was surprisingly accurate.
While I tried to follow the schematics exactly the first two attempts (the first soldering, the second by breadboarding) I still wasn't getting a working device. Perhaps by my mistakes, but perhaps by design flaws. However after going over it's comments on instructables, I managed to hack together a working solution as well as a couple upgrades to the original design. While it's a bit tempting to document my changes, I'll hold off until I either debug it or create another version.
However, after assembling the components, and shoehorning it into an altoids-esqe case, I wanted to use it. While I've come close to using it a few times over the last week or so, I finally used it last night when I made some Bluecheese Burgers.
The photo rate was about 1 exposure every 9 seconds, Canon XSi camera on tripod, lens set on manual focus but camera shooting in Program mode. I turned off the trigger a couple times (like when the burgers were on the grill) but the whole series works pretty well. And since it's food, written ingredients and instructions are included (both here and in the video)
Bluecheese Burgers
2 lbs Hamburger (85/15 lean or better)
1/8 teaspoon Ground Cayenne Red Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly milled Black Pepper
2-3 oz. Crumbled Bluecheese
Hot Grill
(All measurements approximate - Cook to your taste, not mine)
Mix all spices and hamburger together.
Divide hamburger and form 8 thin paddies.
Put crumbled blue cheese onto 4 paddies, leaving open space on the edges.
Place remaining paddies onto the blue cheese piles and "seal" the edges of the two paddies together.
Cook burgers on the grill to taste. Roughly 7-8 minutes per side for Medium
Bluecheese Burgers are great on their own, but I prefer them with some Red Onion, slice of Tomato, some Lettus, and a bit of Mayo, but enjoy it however you want to.
Bluecheese Burger Timelapse (2MB 320 x 480 H.264 Quicktime)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License.Link | 1 Comments | burgers cameras electronics food MAKE photography projects recipe technology timelapse vidcast video
April 26th, 2010 Metapost
00.00.04 - Mark
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
Dan's Projects: Pneumatic Walker From Only LEGO Set 8049
http://projectsbydan.blogspot.com/2010/04/pneumatic-walker-from-only-lego-set.html
Tagged : geek hack howto lego MAKE makerfaireNC2010 toys
Cool little idea to making a pneumatic walker out of a single Lego set. Neat idea, clever hack, and learning about some cool lego sets I wasn't really aware of. [via Maker Faire:NC 2010 Flickr Group]
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Weblinks
2010.04.25
April 24th, 2010 Metapost
00.00.03 - Mark
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
YouTube - Shell Helix Ultra Transparent Car - The Making Of
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3HM1bQzubw
Tagged : applescript automation automator automotives code engineering geek models programming referances science scripts videos youtube
While I'm not picky about the oil that goes into my car, this little bit kind of blows my mind. A car, rebuilt in clear plastics, with a "working" engine that shows us what the engine is really doing with oil. [via adafruit]
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Weblinks
2010.04.08
April 7th, 2010 Metapost
00.00.04 - Mark
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
The Kids Have Been Quiet For Over An Hour… - There, I Fixed It
http://thereifixedit.com/2010/04/06/epic-kludge-photo-the-kids-have-been-quiet-for-over-an-hour/
Tagged : funny pallets thereifixedit
Clever use of a lot of wood pallets
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Weblinks
2010.04.02
April 1st, 2010 Metapost
00.00.02 - Mark
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
How to make a rugged and handy Paracord Belt.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-rugged-and-handy-Paracord-Belt/
Tagged : belts clothing howto ideas instructables MAKE paracord todo
Having been active in scouting for a while, I've seen plent of paracord neckaces and bracelets, but I don't think I've seen many Paracord belts. I'll probably try this one.
Eye Candy [list of other movies]
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010) RatedThe Invincible Iron Man (2007) Rated
The Amazing Screw-on Head (2006) Rated
Appleseed Ex Machina (2007) Rated
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Movies Weblinks
2010.03.31
March 30th, 2010 Metapost
00.00.03 - Mark
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
Convert PDF to JPEG on OS X « Le Blog de Maurice
http://mauroandres.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/convert-pdf-to-jpeg-on-os-x/
Tagged : Automator pdftojpg programming scripts software tips
Helpful little trick using Automator in OS X to convert PDFs to JPGs.
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Weblinks
2010.03.29
Inked all over
23.27.32 - Mark
Last week I posted Inking, part of it my history with screen printing shirts, part as attempting a short timelapse video of preparing the negatives for a few screens on some vellum paper. Aside from my own screw ups, the the DIY Screen Printing Instructable was a good resource I used though the entire project. However if it's your first attempt, don't start with your favorite project.
The first of the four screens I did ended up with a lot of pinholes in the screen's mask after washing it up after exposure. I was also stupid enough to ignore the pinholes and do a test print.
A small art-style paint brush and more of the photo emulsion goo I was more or less able to remove the pinholes with a couple passes. Once it was done I started preparing the other three screens. However these I either spread on the wrong amount of goo and fell though, or the goo had been partially processed with light and didn't expose. In either case I only noticed it after I checked the dried screens, and the holes were too great to bother repairing, so they all got a heavy bleach water wash and a fresh round of photo sensitive emulsion (this sort of screw up and I was extremely pleased with using the homemade mix of Potassium Dichromate and Elmer's Glue instead of buying commercial products.)
The second batch worked and I applied the art, then set off to printing, and learned another lesson (or three).
First don't print them by yourself. In the past, I didn't print more than one or two on my own. I either paid for a company to do the prints or worked with a friend to make the prints. In this case I did 36 prints (9 of each screen), and it would have gone a lot faster if I had an extra set of hands to handle either the fabric or manage the screen and ink.
The other lessons would be a good workplace with good tools. Since I didn't have a table that could be used, and raining like crazy outside, I made the prints on the floor. Works well enough for small runs, but as many prints as I did it wasn't comfortable. Same sort of goes with tools. While the kit I had / made was fine, I needed the ink to dry before I could stack it. Without suitable shelves the "solution" I should have worked on setting up a drying rack or a heat treating system. C'est la vie.
Despite all these problems and lessons, and a couple mistakes on the flags I was printing, all 36 are good enough to use, since the friend who asked me to do all this work was half expecting to loose 5 or 6.
Link | 0 Comments | howto images Instructables lessons photos projects screen printing
2010.03.26
March 25th, 2010 Metapost
00.00.03 - Mark
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
Great News: Vodka Soon Available As Pill - Geekologie
http://www.geekologie.com/2009/12/great_news_vodka_now_available.php
Tagged : alcohol funny news science technology
I learned about these newly developed "vodka pills" technique where alcohol is powdered and packed into pill form off a Wait Wait, Don't tell me episode from December I just listened to (podcast backlog). It's way too tempting to associate these "Vodka Pills" and an old Jetsons cartoons.
Bacon Beer « Grocery Eats
http://groceryeats.com/2009/03/26/bacon-beer/
Tagged : alcohol bacon beer food ideas weird
I'm not sure if this is more intriguing or more disturbing drink than Bacon Vodka. [via geekologie]
Link | 0 Comments | metaposts Weblinks
2010.03.25
March 24th, 2010 Metapost
00.00.02 - Mark
Elsewhere Online [collection of past links]
Self-sorting (sorta) bin - HOME SWEET HOME
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=335964.0
Tagged : furniture hardware ideas organization todo workshop
Cleaver idea, not sure if it's the best solution for my (desperate) need to sort assorted workshop supplies to the number I have, but for a smaller collection I'd look at making a sorting drawer like this. [via Dinosaurs and Robots]