Joel Johnson

Felt Playstation is really an iPhone case

An adorable felt PlayStation is really a case for your iPhone, crafted and sold by etsy seller rabbitrampage for just $20. (It's sold out now, but I bet they'll make you another one.)

The PS1 controller keychain is sold separately, but is probably essential. [via]

Steven Leckart

Contest: Win an Alto User's Handbook & Smalltalk Instruction Manual

When I visited PARC for the second time, I asked the staff what kinds of historical mementos they had lying around. Not only did they promptly hand me a copy of the Alto User's Handbook from 1979 and a Smalltalk-72 Instruction Manual from 1976, BUT they also told me I could keep them.

How cool is that?

Then it occurred to me that not just anyone can call up PARC, schedule an appointment and commandeer these classic manuals. Sure you could visit the DigiBarn and ask to see one, or try eBay and Amazon. But I do realize it's a bit gauche to show off my good fortune, which is why BBG is going to give away these collector's items to one reader.

What to Enter:

1) share any pics of yourself using an Alto
2) share any stories about your use of an Alto/Smalltalk, memories of the first Alto you saw, etc.
3) write a poem, paint a watercolor portrait of Alan Kay or create some other homage to PARC

How to Enter:

1) include text and/or links in the comments OR email me steven AT boingboing DOT net
2) if you leave your entry via the comments, be sure to include your email address, and be sure to write/format the address as I did to avoid spammers

Who Wins:

BBG will choose one person, winner-take-all. Good luck!

Alto photo provided by PARC

Steven Leckart

Video: Hot For Tools Demos

A girl named Erica is hosting a new video podcast on YouTube that teaches home repairs like hanging a door, removing grout and using the Saw Stop. Erica wears low cut tops which reveal a pierced bellybutton and lower back tattoo. You may be surprised to hear the videos are sexually-suggestive:

"The only thing I like more than working with my hands is a guy who knows what he's doing."

"I measure 36"... from the floor to the doorknob."
If the pin does not go in... lube may be required.

All of the videos end with a gag reel, which should help endear her to you.

Steven Leckart

Tick Removers: Which Do You Use?

"Uh, I think I snapped it..."

I got my first tick on the BBG camping trip. I was lucky. I didn't even know it was there until it was gone. I brushed it off in the shower somehow without leaving any of the tick in my body *knock wood*. My completely uneducated guess is the hot water must have shocked the little bugger, and when I inadvertently passed my hand over him, he backed out and/or fell out because he had yet to burrow? (if you're a tick expert, feel free to weigh in).

Next time, I won't be so lucky, which is why I'm going to: a) use bug spray, and b) pick up a legit tick remover just in case. Cause there's no way I'm going to try the above method.

Here's a series of tick removers, including one that uses cryotherapy. I'm tempted to buy the one with a mini-lasso and just call it a day. Before I do, though, please feel free to chime in with any suggestions, experiences or links to videos of yourself removing ticks.

This post is part of a theme day: BBG on Camping.

Steven Leckart

HOWTO: Assemble A Mobile Office

I dropped by Wired to review some outdoor gear for working remotely, including a tandem bicycle.

Xeni Jardin

BB Video: Omega Recoil, Mad Electro-Makers Who Craft Giant Tesla coils

(Download / YouTube) Boing Boing Video today peeks inside the electrified world of Omega Recoil, a group of engineers and "makers" who craft giant Tesla Coils, and stage humorous and thrilling performances with those large electrical devices. What's a Tesla Coil? From the Tesla Society website:

[It] is one of Nikola Tesla's most famous inventions -- essentially a high-frequency air-core transformer. It takes the output from a 120vAC to several kilovolt transformer & driver circuit and steps it up to an extremely high voltage. Voltages can get to be well above 1,000,000 volts and are discharged in the form of electrical arcs. Tesla himself got arcs up to 100,000,000 volts (...) [They] are unique in the fact that they create extremely powerful electrical fields. Large coils have been known to wirelessly light up florescent lights up to 50 feet away, and because of the fact that it is an electric field that goes directly into the light and doesn't use the electrodes, even burned-out florescent lights will glow.

For viewers in San Francisco -- Omega Recoil members will be giving a talk at the 7th anniversary Dorkbot event, which features other cool "maker mutants" we've featured on Boing Boing Video before, like Jon Sarriugarte and the Boiler Bar folks. Organizer Karen Marcelo says,

...and to think this all started because i was bored seven years ago and decided to call Douglas and start the SF one in Marc Powell's garage! Pesco was a speaker at the first one! We had Brian Normanly talk about how to 'liberate' electricity from PG&E. I dont think anyone has the guts to do that now! :) Here's that first event from 2002.

Sponsor shout-out

Rob Beschizza

RGB Table

64 RGB LED Tisch mit "Touchscreen" Funktion [Edokriegsmann.de via Hacked Gadgets]

Joel Johnson

Video: Destroy Build Destroy teaches kids to, well, you know

How awesome does Destroy Build Destroy look? It's a new show from CN Real (apparently some Carton Network spinoff) that lets two teams of kids compete to break things, build new things from the wreckage, and then break them all over again. It's like a pint-sized Junkyard Wars with full-size explosions or a Mythbusters without the veil of junk science. [via Laughing Squid]

Joel Johnson

Global Street Food exhibit shows the world's snack rigs

At the Vitra Design Museum until the 12th of July, "Global Street Food" is an exhibition of all the carts and boats and strange contraptions used by street vendors around the world. Today and Tomorrow has a image gallery and video preview.

My favorite thing at E3 in Los Angeles has always been the Mexican vendors who linger around the outside of the Staples Center, cooking bacon-wrapped hot dogs that they cook on shopping baskets topped with jerry-rigged griddles made from aluminum sheet pans. I asked the guy once how much it cost him to build one and he told it me it was around $20—cheap enough to just leave if the police came by to chase him off for selling food without a license. [via Kottke]

Steven Leckart

Touch-Sensitive Hoodie Lights Up, Plays Tunes

Leah Buechley Kanjun Qiu* designed this hoodie at the MIT Media Lab using a LilyPad Arduino, power supply, LEDs, tiny speaker and iron conductive fabric.*

I've looked at a ton of light up garments, El Wire, etc. This is one of the most tastefully- and artfully-done articles of clothing I've seen as of late. Instead of hiding the electronics, the graphic on the back integrates, even highlights the main board.

Really well done, imho.

The how-to up on Instructables is thorough and straightforward. Considering a handmade touch-sensitive hoodie can fetch $6 300 (not kidding!), you really should try going for it on your own.

*Update: Kanjun Qiu (who appears in the demo video) actually designed and built the hoodie while she was an undergrad researcher in Leah Buechley's lab.

*Here's a good assessment of various types of conductive thread.

Lisa Katayama

Fashioning Technology, and how to make a vibrating cell phone finger puppet

Syuzi Pakhchyan is an artist-roboticist-fashionista who integrates circuits and motors into everyday fashion. Her book, Fashioning Technology, includes easy-to-follow instructions on things like, how to make a Space Invaders tote bag with eyes that light up when your cell phone rings.

"In the future, our clothes will actually do things, whether we're taking biometric data or downloading visual patterns onto what we're wearing that day," Syuzi tells me over the phone. "It's pretty sci-fi, but it's an interesting space for designers to be working in." It might be a while before haute couture designers put solar panels on evening gowns, but things like snowboarding jackets with speakers and shoes that record run data have existed for a few years already.

Keep reading for an instructional guide on how to make a vibrating cell phone finger puppet.

READ THE REST

Lisa Katayama

A step-by-step guide to cosplay the right (Japanese) way

Cosplay is a popular pastime among anime and video game fanatics in Japan, and probably the closest we can get right now to becoming our favorite characters. But it isn't just about going to a Halloween store and buying the best costume there. Cosplay is a time-consuming, DIY hobby that entails creativity, crafts, and a detailed knowledge of every single aspect of your favorite character's being. Here, a six-step cosplay guide based on my previous research:

1. Pick the character you want to cosplay.

The more obscure the anime, the more wow's you will get. For example, you'll get more street cred if you dress as Lunamaria Hawke from Gundam SEED Destiny than as the giant mecha himself. Most importantly, though, choose a character that speaks to you. If that happens to be Ken from Street Fighter, then so be it.

2. Draw a detailed illustration of the outfit.

What is the character's best outfit? How does she wear her hair? What accessories does she wear? Make a list of things you can buy ready-made at the store, of things you would have to custom-order, and things you can make yourself. Most likely, the entire outfit will be a combination of all three.

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Rob Beschizza

Arduino Merit Badge

For you. [Make]

Joel Johnson

Mojo Workin's One-Wheeled Baby Stroller

I'd have to use one in real life before I dropped $475 on a one-wheeled stroller, but even if it's not as practical as its creator claims, the one-of-a-kind unit has a neat design. I bet that black plastic shell gets hot on little legs, though.

IT IS MADE WITH A STYROFOAM INNER GIVING IT VERY LITTLE WEIGHT. IT IS COVERED WITH A LEADFREE PLASTICIZED COATING THAT IS UV STABLE AND NON TOXIC. THIS COATING GIVES IT INCREDIBLE STRENGTH AND DURABILITY. IT RIDES ON A SINGLE 10" INFLATABLE TIRE. THIS SINGLE TIRE GIVES THE STROLLER UNMATCHED MANUVERABILITY AND THE ABILITY TO TRANSVERSE ALL TYPES OF TERRAIN. THIS ITEM IS VERY STABLE AND CAN NOT TOPPLE WHILE MOVING.

Steven Leckart

Do Your CPR Training via iPhone [Just Don't Practice on Me]

iCPR Lite is a new, $0.99 app for the iPhone that provides visuals and prompts to help you learn basic Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.

But is it better than the free CPR*Choking app released last month?

If you have experience with either and/or know CPR and can provide some insight, please drop some knowledge in the comments or email me: steven AT boingboing DOT net.

[via Medgadget]

Rob Beschizza

How to tether your Palm Pre

Instructions are at Is You Geeked Up?.

Credit goes to fish199902 for this one. Basically, you setup an SSH tunnel to the Pre, which supports running as a SOCKS proxy. You then configure your browser to point to this proxy and BAM, you're tethering away.

Rob Beschizza

The Story Drawer

The Story Drawer is an MP3 player with a difference: when you put an item inside it, it detects its presence with RFID and tells a story. Inventor Matthew Simpson:

Story Drawer has been designed as a counter to the current culture of products with heavy emphasis on the technology. I believe interactions with products should be more evocative and less convoluted. Story Drawer reflects this by combining refreshingly eloquent function with clean and refined aesthetics.

Check out the flickr gallery charting its development.

Xeni Jardin

BB Video: Maker Faire Selects - CandyFab, DIY Screen Printing, Electric Music.

(Download / YouTube) In today's edition of Boing Boing Video, Mark Frauenfelder and Boing Boing Gadgets editor Lisa Katayama profile three cool things found at the recent Bay Area Maker Faire: The Yudu personal screen printer, an interactive, collaborative, musical Tesla Coil, and a candy-fabbing device from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories.

Below, one of the freaky, free-form sugar creations produced (photo courtesy Windell of Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories)

Where to Find Boing Boing Video: RSS feed for new episodes here, YouTube channel here, subscribe on iTunes here. Get Twitter updates every time there's a new ep by following @boingboingvideo, and here are blog post archives for Boing Boing Video. (Special thanks to Boing Boing's video hosting partner Episodic, and to Wayneco Heavy Industries!).

Sponsor shout-out

Rob Beschizza

Homebrew Hello World comes to Palm Pre

At Engadget:

The first application puts a stake in the ground by displaying a simple "hello world" on the screen. Unfortunately, the code overwrote the pre-installed Sprint Nascar application... oh wait, that's probably a good thing.

Steven Leckart

HOWTO Click Train Your Dog

This video has nothing to do with click training (that I know of). But I'll go out on a limb and say it had to have taken some deep, deep discipline to shoot that thing.

Personally, I'm all about affirmative verbal cues and occasional treats. Other dog owners prefer the non-verbal conditioned reinforcements of a handheld clicker.

So which is more effective?

According to one recent study the use of a clicker resulted in a "decrease of over 1/3 in training time and number of required reinforcements" when compared to verbal conditioning. Plus, click training also promoted the superior acquisition of complex behaviors (on a limb again, but just look at that video!).

Most of Clickertraining.com's 15 Tips seem pretty straightforward and helpful:

Click for voluntary (or accidental) movements toward your goal. You may coax or lure the animal into a movement or position, but don't push, pull, or hold it. Let the animal discover how to do the behavior on its own. If you need a leash for safety's sake, loop it over your shoulder or tie it to your belt.

A clicker costs $1.50. How hard could this technique be, really?

If you've used a great book, web site or video, or just want to share your experience, please write us in the comments...

This post is part of a Theme Day: BBG on Dogs.

Steven Leckart

The Palm Pre, Deconstructed

Rapid Repair spent the weekend taking apart the Palm Pre in just 10 easy steps.

[via LikeCool]

Joel Johnson

Making a 130-megapixel camera from a flatbed scanner and an old camera lens

What do you get when you combine an old Epson flatbed scanner, a 50mm Canon lens, and a little elbow grease? A 130-megapixel camera perfect for shooting ridiculously high-rez photos of your desk.

The project is the work of this fellow, an amateur photographer with a lovely eye for light.

Steven Leckart

HOWTO Take A Camera Toss Snapshot

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Joel Johnson

Juicer made from an old soda bottle

Scott Amron sells these juicers made from old bottles for a reasonable $6.50, but they look like something you could do yourself with a nice serrated blade. [via Charlie Sorrel]

Rob Beschizza

iFixit launches gadget teardown site

iFixit likes to dismantle gadgets and splay their guts over the internet. That it now has an official teardown site is as awesome as it was perhaps inevitable:

We are launching a new user driven teardown platform today. Our new online teardown creation tools allow anyone to easily author and publish teardown guides, complete with disassembly photos and technical details! We have also posted eight new teardowns for recent cell phones, including the G1. We launched the new site just hours ago: www.iFixit.com/Teardown

Teardown [iFixit]

Steven Leckart

HOWTO Predict Surf at Mavericks [Hint: Data]

Surfers have been catching massive waves at Pillar Point in Half Moon Bay, CA since the 1960s. The first legitimate contest was held in 1999-2000, but what most of us know as Mavericks didn't launch until 2004 with the help of big wave rider Jeff Clark. Unlike the Kentucky Derby or March Madness, Mavericks doesn't happen every year. It was a no-go in 2007 and again this past season.

Why?

The problem isn't a lack of big swells, but whether the perfect one will rock Pillar Point during the contest waiting period (Jan. 1 - March 31 in 2009) -- and then predicting the if and when so everyone can get in place. The 24 surfers who compete at Mavericks are given 24-hours notice to show up. Extending the waiting period and tethering the surfers to Mavericks wouldn't be fair since they make their living traveling to contests all over the world, says Keir Beadling, who co-founded Mavericks Surf Ventures with Clark. Plus, the arrival of late spring welcomes gray whale migration and seal pups, which results in crowded waters.

So how do you forecast one of the most celebrated big wave contests in the world?

"It's no longer a secret where you have three puffs of smoke announcing who the next Pope is gonna be," says Beadling, "You definitely couldn't hold a contest of this magnitude -- 50,000 spectators in person and another 1+ million on webcast -- and get mobilized in time if it weren't for all the technology."

The short answer: datahead surfer Mark Sponsler (surfing Mavericks above).

Find out how a former quality engineer and product manager at Kennedy Space Center moved to the west coast, started dropping in on big waves, tuned into data, founded Stormsurf.com, and currently crunches more than 2 terabytes of swell data per year.

photo by Doug Acton, provided by Mark Sponsler

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Steven Leckart

HOWTO Learn To Shape a Surfboard (Step 1)

The start up cost for surfing can be daunting. If you live in cold water regions (I do), you'll probably want booties (check), maybe gloves (yup), and perhaps a hood (nope), in addition to a wetsuit (I wear a 3/2*). All that could set you back somewhere around $300-500 for relatively-decent new gear -- and that's not even counting the priciest, must-have item: a board.

I was lucky to get a 9' loaner from a friend. Five months later, though I'm still a beginner, the time has come to graduate to my very own longboard**. New boards can be obscenely overpriced due to store markups. So I tried Craigslist. Some deals, some ripoffs, as usual, but the idea of riding a virgin board built with the shape, dimensions, feel, color and design of my choosing is too great to resist.

So I'm going DIWF.

Find out what I mean, after the jump...

*3mm thick on the body, 2mm on arms/legs. Other folks who surf Northern California prefer 4/3. I'm never cold (even in January) in 3/2 -- though it's worth noting I wear 5mm-thick boots and 3mm gloves. For more info, here's a good guide to wetsuits.

**My reasoning for the longboard is that it's more buoyant, doesn't require larger waves, and I am old school.

photo by David Torch

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Joel Johnson

This is the Present

Steven Leckart

Video: How Much Does A Remote-Controlled R2-D2 Cost? [Hint: $10,000]

At Maker Faire over the weekend, I tagged along with the video team at Wired.com. One of my favorite finds: the Bay Area R2 Builders' booth.

These are the droids you're looking for...

Steven Leckart

Electric-Powered VW Bus Photobooth

Portland, OR-based photographer Soren Coughlin-Glaser runs a mobile photobooth out of his bright orange VW-EV bus. Cool stuff, but even cooler is that he re-built the e-bus mostly himself using 24 6V golf cart batteries.

Soren's blog doesn't provide full-on step-by-steps, but there are schematics, as well as lessons learned with regard to blown connections and brake woes.

Sadly, all those set backs pale in comparison to this full-on meltdown:

After the jump, find out what happened and check out some close-up pics...

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