Shared posts

22 Aug 13:19

Damaged Soil Moisture Sensor Upgrade

by Challon
I hope this simple instrucable will help some folks out there like me who like to use these cheap soil sensors in their projects. I found that over time the sensor will corrode and become of no use, so I decided to upgrade them so to speak with some simple 24 gauge stainless steel wire to make them ...
By: Challon

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27 Feb 21:29

Fish’n Tweets

by Boris Landoni
  With this project we’ll show a practical application of our Fishino board that allows a very simple and cheap way to control remote appliances as lamps, heaters, climatizers, alarms, etc. The peculiarity of our system is that it doesn’t need any external support server nor special network interface boards, but just a Fishino UNO […]
27 Feb 04:29

Primus Campfire Range

by werd.com

Primus Campfire Range

Just because you’re making dinner outdoors doesn’t mean you have to cook like a caveman. The Campfire Range from Sweden’s Primus is a collection of complete camp cook stoves made for the wilderness gourmet. The collection includes 3 different 2-burner gas stoves plus stainless pots & pans, cooking utensils, cutlery, plates & pint glasses.

For purchase information, Click Here
12 Jan 04:24

Android Set Top Box Lets You Stream and Record via HDMI Input

by Brandon Dunson

While on the hunt for some hardware that would let him stream video throughout his LAN [danman] got a tip to try the €69 Tronsmart Pavo M9 (which he points out is a re-branded Zidoo X9). With some handy Linux terminal work and a few key pieces of software [danman] was able to get this going.

The Android box was able to record video from the HDMI input with pre-installed software found in the main menu as [danman] explains on his blog. File format options are available in the record menu, however none of them were suitable for streaming the video (which was the goal, remember?).

[danman] was able to poke around the system easily since these boxes come factory rooted (or at least the Tronsmart variant that [danman] uses in his demo did). Can anyone with a Zidoo X9 verify access to the root directory?

Long story short, [danman] was able to get the stream working over the network. Although he did have to make some changes to the stream command he was issuing over ssh. He finds the fix in the ffmpeg documentation which saves you the trouble of reading through it but you’ll have to check out his blog post for that (pro tip: he links to a sweet little .apk reverse engineering tool as well).

We’ve seen set top box hacks before, however, streaming and recording HDMI at this price is a rare find. If you’ve been hacking up the same tree let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to send in those tips!


Filed under: Android Hacks, video hacks
04 Jan 00:06

PINE64 Computer

by werd.com

PINE64 Computer

A fifteen dollar computer might seem suspect until you see what’s inside—which you can, with the see-through PINE64, a powerful 64-bit expandable single board computer. Currently available for pre-order on Kickstarter, this little unit packs a 1.2 Ghz Quad-Core Processor, supports up to 2 Gigs of RAM & can output 4K video.

For purchase information, Click Here
26 Sep 23:57

Trinity Portable Wind Turbine Power Station

by werd.com

Trinity Portable Wind Turbine Power Station

A portable wind turbine power station will allow you to generate your own power in places beyond the grid & in places where solar won’t work. At just 1.5 pounds, the smallest model is truly portable and will charge your iPhone 6 three to four times via efficient, Li-Ion batteries. Larger models will charge your electric car & home.

For purchase information, Click Here
18 Aug 18:18

No Windows Drivers? Boot up a Linux VM!

by Elliot Williams

[Voltagex] was fed up with BSODs on his Windows machine due to a buggy PL2303 USB/serial device driver. The Linux PL2303 driver worked just fine, though. A weakling would simply reboot into Linux. Instead, [Voltagex] went for the obvious workaround: create a tiny Linux distro in a virtual machine, route the USB device over to the VM where the drivers work, and then Netcat the result back to Windows.

OK, not really obvious, but a cool hack. Using Buildroot, a Linux system cross-compilation tool, he got the size of the VM down to a 32Mb memory footprint which runs comfortably on even a small laptop. And everything you need to replicate the VM is posted up on Github.

Is this a ridiculous workaround? Yes indeed. But when you’ve got a string of tools like that, or you just want an excuse to learn them, why not? And who can pass up a novel use for Netcat?


Filed under: computer hacks, linux hacks, Network Hacks
11 Mar 02:00

Creators of 3Dponics indoor gardening system to launch Cloud-based 3D modeling app 3Dcreative.ly

Ask any hobbyist 3D printer without previous CAD experience what one of their biggest hurdles in creating new objects is and it’s likely to involve 3D modeling. While existing CAD programs including SolidWorks and Rhino offer professional-level CAD tools designed for creating real-world products, they can easily cost over $1,000 and even up to $10,000 depending on add-ons and other features.

This article Creators of 3Dponics indoor gardening system to launch Cloud-based 3D modeling app 3Dcreative.ly is first published at 3ders.org.

16 Feb 18:33

This Web App Easily Turns Your Selfies Into 3D Models

by Matt Stultz
Smoothie-3DSmoothie-3D is trying to make the 2D-to-3D process easier with their free online modeling tool.

Read more on MAKE

16 Feb 18:31

New Project: Browse Anonymously with a DIY Raspberry Pi VPN/TOR Router

by Nathan Hurst

Screen Shot 2015-01-28 at 9.47.31 AMSurf the Internet securely with your very own portable WiFi VPN/TOR router

Read more on MAKE

The post Browse Anonymously with a DIY Raspberry Pi VPN/TOR Router appeared first on Make:.

16 Feb 18:30

Manual Log Splitter

by Gareth Branwyn
logSplitterA simple wood splitting machine that lets gravity do all of the hard work.

Read more on MAKE

16 Feb 18:29

Control This Robot Arm – With Your Brain

by Nathan Hurst
3I1A8813"We are aiming to make a change, show the world that BCI is not something in the future, it is something that is already happening."

Read more on MAKE

16 Jan 03:31

Enko Running Shoes

by werd.com

Enko Running Shoes

Enko has created a next-generation runner with mechanical, impact-absorbing shocks. The interchangeable shocks are adapted to the wearer’s weight and switch between walking & running mode for comfort when you’re walking & supportive joint protection while running. Available via Indigogo crowdsourcing February 2015. via

For purchase information, Click Here
27 Dec 18:49

ESP8266 based web configurable wifi general purpose control (Part II)

by HoracioBouzas
On Part II I will go over how to program the ESP8266 so a USB to serial module and a terminal is not necessary: it will all be done via web. Also, I will explain how to drive a binary counter and control 4 relays (multi on/multi off) using GPIO0 as control and GPIO2 as reset. This way the ESP8266 re...
By: HoracioBouzas

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27 Dec 18:45

ESP8266 based web configurable wifi general purpose control (Part III)

by HoracioBouzas
The electronics partIn Part I and II we saw how to program and remotely configure the ESP8266 to turn it into a processor of TCP events and use GPIO to communicate with the world. Now we will take those events and turn them into something useful by controlling a set of switches. We start with a dual...
By: HoracioBouzas

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26 Dec 15:58

Laser-Etch Stainless with Only Plaster & Alcohol

by Matt Freund

Many hobbyists and hackerspaces have the $500 Chinese 40W lasercutters which most of us know are about as successful at etching metals as a featherduster is at drilling. [Frankie] and [Bryan] have figured out a way to use the laser to chemically activate an etching process. See experiment part 2 as well.

First, to be clear, they are using a quality 40W Epilog Zing, not the cheap one, but40W is40W. They mixed the plaster (calcium sulfate) with Isopropyl until it resembled white ketchup. After either thinly painting or airbrushing the material onto the stainless surface (both worked), the mixture is dried with a heatgun then put into the laser. 100% power and 5% speed was what worked for them.

The result was an engrave with a noticeable bite. Something they claim had no effect at all without the mixture.

Stainless steel is an alloy of iron and some chromium – not the same as chrome-plated steel. [Frankie]’s explanation of the chemistry is that the surface layer of the stainless is a transparent chromium oxide. With the heat of the laser, the calcium and chromium swap dance partners. Calcium takes the oxygen and chromium takes the sulfate. The calcium oxide washes off but the chromium sulfate causes the etch.

Next time you’re at your local space, give this a try.


Filed under: Hackerspaces, laser hacks
24 Dec 02:11

How to make USB OTG cable

by chemlife
Did you forgot to put an important file on your USB key or you want to type faster on your smart phone? If your one of those watch this tutorial where I build nice and compact USB OTG 'On-The-Go' cable from an old Usb connectors.Video: What you will need -First thing you are going to need is a f...
By: chemlife

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24 Dec 01:21

Husband and wife create superfood ‘3D printer’ to get their kids to eat their vegetables

A new Israeli startup wants to change all of that (for their kids) and not just with regular food, but superfood. Partly inspired by additive manufacturing, Tsipi and Ben Shoham, founders of Green Onyx, want bridge the gap between agriculture and 3D printing in a way that makes eating vegetables fun for kids (and adults).

This article Husband and wife create superfood ‘3D printer’ to get their kids to eat their vegetables is first published at 3ders.org.

22 Dec 21:53

Make Meringues in Three Minutes, No Whisking Required

by Melanie Pinola

Meringues are delightful, airy little desserts, but if you don't have the time or motivation to whip the egg whites until they're the right consistency, just use the microwave.

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22 Dec 21:53

Track Your Time with a Colorful Chronodex to Get More Done

by Melanie Pinola

Track Your Time with a Colorful Chronodex to Get More Done

The Chronodex is a graphical way of visualizing and keeping tabs on your time every day. For very visual people, this might be the perfect system for adding more accountability to your activities and motivate you to use your time better.

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22 Dec 21:50

Hone a Knife on the Rough Edge of a Vehicle Window

by Patrick Allan

If you're out fishing, hunting, or camping, a decent knife is a good thing to have on hand. If you haven't honed the blade in a while, you can do it along the top edge of your vehicle's window.

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22 Dec 21:33

Know If Your Pet Is Tax Deductible

by Dave Greenbaum

Know If Your Pet Is Tax Deductible

Pets are great companions in our daily lives, but they are expensive. In limited circumstances, you can get some money off your taxes with them.

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22 Dec 21:31

Avoid the Underage Car Rental Surcharge by Renting from USAA

by Dave Greenbaum

Avoid the Underage Car Rental Surcharge by Renting from USAA

Most car rental companies charge you extra if you're under 25. If you're a military service member (or have one in the family), you can rent from USAA to avoid the fee.

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22 Dec 21:21

This Start-to-Finish Tutorial Helps You Build Your First iPhone App

by Tori Reid

When you're learning to code, it's best to start with small projects. This tutorial, for example, will get you started with a simple to-do list app, and it walks you through the whole process, from start to finish.

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22 Dec 21:20

Google Search Now Displays Lyrics Right In Search Results

by Thorin Klosowski

Google Search Now Displays Lyrics Right In Search Results

If you're searching for lyrics for a song on Google, you'll now get instant results right at the top of the results page. All you need to do is type in "[song title] lyrics."

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22 Dec 21:13

A newbie's guide to setup ESP8266 with Arduino Mega 2560 or Uno

by shinteo
Karl.niemann

Make an arduino wifi capable

For any open source products to be successful or adoption en masse by the "makers"/ "DIY-ers" / "dev" / "etc"; an up-to-date and accurate documentation or quick start guide has to be provided. User's posts in discussion forums are good, but the bits and bites of (usable) information are hidden in th...
By: shinteo

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22 Dec 21:11

Control Electrical Devices From your android phone and create your own android app

by Magesh Jayakumar
Hi , do you want to control all your electrical devices at your home controlled from your android mobile, do you want to create your own app to achieve this task, This post explains step by step procedure to create android app for controlling electrical appliances using MIT app inventor. you don't n...
By: Magesh Jayakumar

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22 Dec 21:11

Control devices by Voice command using android and arduino

by Magesh Jayakumar
Karl.niemann

Old android devices

This ible will serve questions like, How to control devices by voice commands , speech recognition available in android.All the android devices comes with the inbuilt speech recognition. This can be used to convert speech to text, by calling bluetooth function these text can be sent to device in thi...
By: Magesh Jayakumar

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20 Dec 19:57

Create your own fluorescent plant

by ualbuquerque
One day I was with nothing to do and decided to play God, so I decided to create a new species, but WHAT create? A squirrel shoot lasers for eyes, a hamster part fish, and despite all this not be a bad idea, I chose to make a fluorescent plant. Jokes aside, this instructables, will teach you ...
By: ualbuquerque

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15 Dec 04:43

A Simple Hoverboard Everyone Can Understand

by James Hobson

To be honest, we were wondering when we would see someone try this…

[Ryan Craven] has successfully built a working hovercraft that looks like a skateboard. It floats on two pockets of air generated by four Black and Decker leaf blowers — and by golly, it certainly looks like it works!

Ever since the HUVr hoax earlier this year, [Ryan] has had the goal to make a real, working hoverboard. Hendo may have beaten him to the punch with their $10,000 eddy current inducing halbach array board, but alas, it only works on copper or aluminum floors. [Ryan’s] can be used anywhere a normal skateboard can be. It’s far from sleek, but it’s only just the prototype — though we’re curious to see how far this could actually go.

Which is precisely why he’s shared it over on Hackaday.io and is hoping to draw some support and ideas from our wonderful community here.

What do you guys think? Is it worth continuing the pursuit of a hovercraft style hoverboard? Can we shrink the technology enough to make it feasible? It’s come a long way from the classic hover craft using a giant shop vac…


Filed under: transportation hacks