Now I know what to do with those extra caps !!
But I probably would need some more....

Test-Firing of 2000 Volt Washer Launcher a Success

Bob's updated his washer launcher. It's now got 10 capacitors in it, capable of generating enough force to partially crush up to three beer cans or throw a CD way up into the sky above his house.

If you're not good at paying attention and don't appreciate a nice, lengthy build up, skip to around the 3:15 mark to see Bob's machine smashing cans, or to 4:30 to see a CD reach near orbital velocity while making a particularly pleasing noise...

And remember your washer launcher safety protocols, kids—always activate extremely dangerous equipment with the handle of a mop from a very small distance away. [2KV Washer Launcher via Make]

checkout the video(trying to figure out how to embed youtube in gmail still)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i87EuYIQO9c&feature=player_embedded

LED Matrix using an AVR ATTINY2313 and 74LS374

LED Matrix using an AVR ATTINY2313 and 74LS374

This is a little circuit to drive a 5x7 jumbo LED matrix module that I picked up at a local hamfest. All it takes is a ATTINY2313 and a 74LS373 octal latch to create a row/column mux to access the individual Leds in the module. Attached is the schematic. the 6pin ISP programmer is not shown, this is a given , if you're using one of the available programmers, such as the AVRISP mkII from Atmel. I will post a pic of the module shortly with the pins labled.

This schematic can be expanded to include several LED matrix modules. I'm currently wiring up 6 of these into a 15x14 LED matrix. You can alos use a larger AVR such as the ATMega32 or similar which have more I/O's to handle larger displays.

I really want to wire up a RGB LED matrix very soon.

NOTE: Atmel released a newer version of this microcontroller, it's now the ATTINY2313A

MAKE A HIGH VOLTAGE SUPPLY IN 5 MINUTES

I love HIGH VOLTAGE !!


MAKE A HIGH VOLTAGE SUPPLY IN 5 MINUTES:
"In this Instructable you will learn how to make a High Voltage High Frequency power supply in 5 minutes and for less than $20.

All you need is a compact fluorescent light (CFL) and a flyback transformer.

Flyback transformers are found in TVs and CRT monitors. They make the high voltage, high frequency current necessary to trace the electron beam across the screen. They are small and compact, and you can take them out from an old computer monitor or TV.

CFLs are very popular high efficiency fluorescent lights. They are similar to their ancestor the fluorescent light tubes but use electronic ballasts instead of the big and heavy ballasts in the old technology.

The electronic ballast works by generating high frequency currents that are fed to a tiny high frequency transformer that boost the voltage and run the fluorescent tube. It is the high frequency that makes the assembly compact.

The electronic ballast generates less than 1000 volts. But by replacing the fluorescent bulb of the CFL with a flyback transformer, spectacular voltages can be achieved."

How to Make a Negative Ion air ionizer

...it's about time I make one of these !
below is a brief clip from the article about the project....

How to Make a Negative Ion air ionizer:

Two models will be shown, one full-wave rectified and the other a half-wave rectified negative ion ionizer. Featuring an optional fan on the full-wave model.

Benefits of negative ions supposedly include
• freshen and purify the air
• help lift mood
• alleviate depression including winter depression(SAD)
• eliminate most tiny particles suspended in the air (indoors)"

Chickens Can Help Save the Planet Too | Fast Company

...Now here's a challenging Hacker project  [holding nose]
My daughter once made a Microbial Fuel Cell [she won first in the PJAS 9th grade sciencefair too]
so this should be easy :)
Below is a brief clip from the article.....



Chickens Can Help Save the Planet Too | Fast Company:
As regular readers know, we love poop-powered gizmos. And with everything from wastewater thermal energy devices to portable poop-powered nuclear reactors popping up on our radar, there's no shortage of sludgy stories to cover.

Our new favorite: FuelCell Energy's chicken poop-powered fuel cell plant.

The fuel cell power plant, set to be installed at Olivera Egg Ranch in French Camp, California, will convert the chickens' waste streams into methane gas for a mini-power plant. All methane waste from the chickens will be converted into renewable energy--a big change from the current system, where poop is stored in a giant waste lagoon and methane (a greenhouse gas) is free to escape into the air. Considering the scale of Olivera's operations--14 million cartons of eggs produced each year--that's an awful lot of methane.

PS3 modchip claims to finally allow backing up games without invasive console surgery (video) -- Engadget

Now much of a security if you can defeat the protection with software :)
Now I can backup my games to the hard drive.

Below is a brief clip from the article.....

PS3 modchip claims to finally allow backing up games without invasive console surgery (video) -- Engadget:

By Vlad Savov posted Aug 19th 2010 5:31AM
Who needs George Hotz anyway? A USB modchip for the PS3 has emerged from the mists this morning, purporting to allow the dumping of games onto nearby storage -- the console's internal HDD and external drives are both a-ok -- as well as the subsequent playing of said games without the need for the original disc. Could it be the backup/piracy nirvana Sony loyalists have been awaiting for so long? Well, there's a video showing the little USB device apparently working, and the PSX-Scene team say they have personally verified that it does what it claims to do, but skepticism remains advisable here. The PS3 has been a fortress of hacker unfriendliness, so we'd rather kick back, relax, and wait for some braver souls than us to do the testing. For now, the video awaits after the break."

The Open Source Web Design Toolbox: 100 Web Design Templates and tools | Design Vitality

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, free software !

Below is a brief clip from the article.....

The Open Source Web Design Toolbox: 100 Web Design Templates and tools | Design Vitality:
"The open source model has, over the last 20 years, proven that collaborative development is one of the best ways to incorporate the newest ideas and latest concepts into design.

In fact, the open source model, which began with programmers, has been so successful that it is currently being applied in government, media, education and private business. But despite these new applications, the unique combination of the open source model with the universalism of web design remains one of the ideal applications of open source. This pervasiveness of the open source spirit in web design now means that you can use open source software to design both graphics and your CSS and HTML, and you can also use the dozens of reliable open source code resources or thousands of web design templates to base your own designs on. In this article we highlight 100 open source web design templates, resources, and tools."

Beat censorship by hiding secret messages in Flickr photos

Beat censorship by hiding secret messages in Flickr photos
Georgia Tech researchers have developed a tool called Collage that will allow Internet dissidents to insert hidden messages into Twitter posts and Flickr images in order to circumvent the censorship measures imposed by oppressive governments.
The tool, which is implemented in Python and uses the OutGuess framework, relies on a technique known as steganography to weave hidden messages into an image file. It uses an automated testing tool called Selenium to facilitate the deployment of the messages. The researchers believe that hiding subversive messages inside content that is indistinguishable from legitimate social network activity will reduce the chances of detection.

Have to Try this ! -->EL Experimenter's Kit - ELEN 4193

This is some cool stuff, you can put this on T-Shirts

EL Experimenter's Kit - ELEN 4193

Citizen Scientists Make First Deep Space Discovery With Einstein@Home | Wired Science | Wired.com

This is something great to do with that extra PC you having stashed under your workbench :)

Below is a brief clip from the article...

Citizen Scientists Make First Deep Space Discovery With Einstein@Home | Wired Science | Wired.com:
"While your computer is running idle, it could be finding new pulsars and black holes in deep space.

Three volunteers running the distributed computing program Einstein@Home have discovered a new pulsar in the data from the Arecibo Observatory radio telescope. Their computers, one in Iowa (owned by two people) and one in Germany, downloaded and processed the data that found the pulsar, which is in the Milky Way, approximately 17,000 light years from Earth in constellation Vulpecula.

“The way that we found the pulsar using distributed computing with volunteers is a new paradigm that we’re going to make better use of in astronomy as time goes on,” said astronomer Jim Cordes of Cornell University. “This really has legs.”

About 250,000 volunteers run Einstein@Home, on average donating about 250 teraflops of computing power — equivalent to a quarter of the capacity of the largest supercomputer in the world, says program developer David Anderson of University of California at Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, co-author of the Aug. 12 discovery announcement in Science."

Get Lamp: Something more to pass on to my kids

With the release of the Get Lamp documentary by Jason Scott, I'm coin# 948, it was very sentimental and also very rewarding to have something which I can share with my kids about the times when I grew up. Thankfully my teenage kids like the same type of challenging puzzles. But it was funny to see them first hand how they reacted to playing a game such as ZORK. Only text, no instructions, and no graphics. I essentially had to "hold their hand" to let them see what is entailed to play such a game. This documentary made it ever more special to watch together with them to show the excitement from decades ago. The music soundtrack was also very pleasing to hear, I was always fond of electronic, synthesizer music, not only as an avid listener but only playing with these instruments. I thank Jason Scott for making this wonderful film.

I've been in the computer and electronics as a career and hobby for almost 40yrs now, with other hobbies that usually spawn from these, such as robotics, RC planes, rocketry, etc. I was mainly into hardware from the getgo, ever since my late brother purchased a Heathkit experimenter's kit for my birthday in '72. Ever since that I was always looking into the lastest innovation with computers - by reading the various publications, BYTE, Popular Electronics, Radio Electronics, etc. Not only learning about the latest advances but also experimenting with building my own transistor logic circuits and TTL computer.

Shortly after that, it was then a fascination with microcomputers. During the 70's, there was this revolution with the microprocessor which could be used in a variety of products, not just home computers. No sooner that the newest microprocessor chip was released, we would be hacking some homebrew design with any spare parts that we could find. Cruising out on Long Island or downtown Manhattan - Canal St ! - to the Surplus Electronics outlets of the day.

At school, there was a Honeywell 1646 timesharing computer system where we studied computer programming while in the other large room we had our electronics lab. We were fascinated by the game called Adventure, which originated from Colossal Cave. I couldn't wait till Computer lab to get a another chance to navigate thru the world of Adventure. When this game was released on the home microcomputers, it became even more popular. ZORK was very popular, all of us wanted this. I have to admit I was never a pro at playing these games - my head was mostly into hacking hardware projects -- but I like the fact it always kept challenging me to think.

P≠NP Proof? - Vinay Deolalikar | Geekosystem

what a bummer if this will be confirmed....
P≠NP Proof? - Vinay Deolalikar | Geekosystem

Plastic computer memory device that utilizes electron spin to read and write data: Alternative to traditional semiconductors

great another reason to use Plastic,
can we NOT use oil any longer for plastic ?

Plastic computer memory device that utilizes electron spin to read and write data: Alternative to traditional semiconductors

Zork Online - Play Zork in Your Web Browser!

Zork Online: "Play Zork in Your Web Browser!"

This is a web based Zmachine capable of playing Infocom text interactive games. The base code of this interpreter is a library called Zax created by Matt Kimmeland a GWT interface. The application should feel like an real app much like Gmail but runs in any JavaScript enabled web browser. It’s still in development and therefor has a few bugs and hiccups.

Yap, yap, yap.: >TELL OTHERS ABOUT LAMP.

Yap, yap, yap.: >TELL OTHERS ABOUT LAMP.

cool science tricks - Richard Wiseman's Blog

cool science tricks

Richard Wiseman's Blog

a t o m i c w a r e h o u s e

A very cool place with antique/retro/etc etc stuff, all kinds TV's to furniture and more. located in Harrisburg,PA

a t o m i c w a r e h o u s e

Taking Inventory - Jason Scott's blog

Jason Scott's blog

Taking Inventory

This Week In Tech - The TWiT Netcast Network

The TWiT Netcast Network with Leo Laporte: "The TWiT.tv Story

It all started in 1998 with a small cable network called ZDTV, a channel dedicated to covering computers, the Internet, and personal technology. The people behind this site all worked on that network as hosts, reporters, or producers.

In 2004, ZDTV, then called TechTV, was sold and dismantled. Former TechTV hosts, Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, and John C. Dvorak, and producers Robert Heron, David Prager, and Roger Chang went on to other jobs, but we stayed in touch, with each other, and with fans of the late TechTV. Those fans told us again and again how important TechTV had been in their lives, and how much they missed the channel. We missed working with each other, too."

GET LAMP: THE TEXT ADVENTURE DOCUMENTARY

GET LAMP is here !!

GET LAMP: THE TEXT ADVENTURE DOCUMENTARY

In the early years of the microcomputer, a special kind of game was being played.

With limited sound, simple graphics, and tiny amounts of computing power, the first games on home computers would hardly raise an eyebrow in the modern era of photorealism and surround sound. In a world of Quake, Half-Life and Halo, it is expected that a successful game must be loud, fast, and full of blazing life-like action.But in the early 1980s, an entire industry rose over the telling of tales, the solving of intricate puzzles and the art of writing. Like living books, these games described fantastic worlds to their readers, and then invited them to live within them. They were called "computer adventure games", and they used the most powerful graphics processor in the world: the human mind. Rising from side projects at universities and engineering companies, adventure games would describe a place, and then ask what to do next. They presented puzzles, tricks and traps to be overcome. They were filled with suspense, humor and sadness. And they offered a unique type of joy as players discovered how to negotiate the obstacles and think their way to victory. These players have carried their memories of these text adventures to the modern day, and a whole new generation of authors have taken up the torch to present a new set of places to explore. Get Lamp is a documentary that will tell the story of the creation of these incredible games, in the words of the people who made them.

Transistor RS Flip Flop Tutorial & Circuits - Flip Flop Tutorials - Electronic Hobby Projects

Transistor RS Flip Flop Tutorial & Circuits - Flip Flop Tutorials - Electronic Hobby Projects:

"A Transistor RS Flip Flop Tutorial"

This is a type of bistable multivibrator, with two stable states.

The Flip Flop

The Flip Flop

Build your own Transistor Flip Flop circuit and learn how it works

Relay flip-flop � Visual Art and Obscure Technology

Relay flip-flop � Visual Art and Obscure Technology

This circuit uses three relays. One input is the clock which is shown as a push switch. The other main input is the D or DATA input which is the two way switch on the left. When you apply power to the clock input, the circuit copies the state of the D input, either on or off, into the output relay called Q here. But the important part which is the tricky bit of the design is that the circuit is edge-triggered which means that following the moment that the clock input is energised, the D input can be changed without affecting the output. More specifically, the D input can come from the Q output of another flip-flop circuit with the same clock and there won’t be any race condition. This is because changes of state on the D input are guaranteed to be locked out before the Q relay changes to reflect the pre-existing state of the D input.

Reprogrammable NES cartridge

this is a great hack

Reprogrammable NES cartridge

more NES hacking info...NES stuff

more NES hacking info

NES stuff

NES Flash Carts – DIY Kits Soon For Sale - RetroGaming with Racketboy

I need this !!

NES Flash Carts – DIY Kits Soon For Sale - RetroGaming with Racketboy

Maker Faire: NYC 2010 - makerfaire.com:

Don't miss it !!

Organized by the staff of Make magazine, makezine.com and craftzine.com, Maker Faire is a newfangled fair that brings together science, art, craft and engineering plus music in a fun, energized, and exciting public forum. The aim is to inspire people of all ages to roll up their sleeves and become makers. This family-friendly event showcases the amazing work of all kinds of makers - anyone who is embracing the DIY spirit and wants to share their accomplishments with an appreciative audience.

makerfaire.com: Maker Faire: New York 2010

SAVE THE INTERNET ..... Fight for Net Neutrality

SAVE THE INTERNET
Fight for Net Neutrality
http://www.publicknowledge.org/



Google AND Verizon has been accused of betraying one of the most widely accepted "laws" of the internet called net neutrality; the principle that everyone has equal access. The firm has admitted that it has been in talks with the US communications provider Verizon and even agreed an outline plan on how internet traffic should be carried over networks.

However, many have already voiced fears that if the plan becomes public, it could serve as a blueprint for how to carve up the internet and sell the best performance to the highest bidder.

Robot Builders Sourcebook - my old webpage is in there

My old webpage made into Robot Builders Sourcebook

http://pghrobotics.blogspot.com/2010/08/whoa-my-old-robotics-webpage-made-it.html

Old biped robot projects from 1995

Old biped robot projects from 1995
http://pghrobotics.blogspot.com/2010/08/now-heres-some-biped-robots-that-i.html

Make: Online : Hack your way through PCB antenna design

Time to make some wireless gadgets !!

Make: Online : Hack your way through PCB antenna design

FWD: C code: Some weirdness with 'strcmp' when using Interrupts with UART

This is the [link] to the problem and work around about using 'strcmp' when using interrupts with the uart - Atmel AVR ATMega128