reaDIYmates are fun wi-fi objects that you can build easily. They move and play sounds depending on what's happening in your digital life. Choose from a variety of existing designs, use our templates or create your own object.  Then decide what you want them to do through a simple web interface. Link them to your digital life (Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, RSS feeds, SoundCloud, If This Then That, and more to come) or control them remotely in real time from your iPhone. You don't need any creative or technical skills to build and use your reaDIYmate, but if you want to go further, we made it super easy for you to change designs, write applications, or add inputs and outputs. They're Arduino compatible and you can plug 50+ solderless electronic bricks.

You'll be able to learn simple programming techniques, soldering skills, and other basics before moving on to more advanced skills like using an Atmega and Xbee Wireless. The curriculum is simple enough for a child to understand, but interesting enough for an adult to walk away with some good knowledge. The entire curriculum is free and you'll even get a nice big Intro to Arduino book. If you've been toying with the idea of taking on some of the electronics projects we've featured here but didn't know how to start then this curriculum will give you a good understanding of what you need to know.

Eric Wilhelm, Gründer des Webdienstes Instructables.com – auf dem Konstruktionspläne für offene Hardware angeboten werden –, ist jedoch optimistisch. Ninja Blocks könnten für alle interessant sein, die ein einfaches, konkretes Problem haben, dass sich mit bisherigen Systemen nicht kostengünstig lösen ließ – etwa eine SMS zu erhalten, wenn die Post ein Paket vor der Tür abgelegt hat. Michael Nelson von der Georgetown University glaubt gar, dass die Ninja Blocks den "Hype um das Internet der Dinge“ entscheidend weitertreiben könnten. Er hat sich bereits eine der bunten Kistchen bestellt, zusammen mit fünf Sensoren, einem WLAN-Dongle und einer Webcam. Die 265 Dollar hat Nelson nicht angelegt, weil er sich von seinem Ninja Block die Lösung von Alltagsproblemen erhofft. „Ich kann nun anfangen nachdenken, wie man Probleme löst."

If you're a fan of technology, chances are you've retired a few gadgets over the years and they're sitting in a box in your closet. Today's the day to dig out your leftovers and start thinking about what you can do to let them live and breathe again. Here are ten of our favorite ideas to get you started.

Auf Weather.chrisge.org ist in den letzten Monaten eine kleine Wetterstation mit Livecam entstanden. Als Basissystem kommt eine Seagate Dockstar mit Debian Squeeze zum Einsatz. Ein 1-Wire Netzwerk verbindet die 2 Temperatursensoren sowie einen Multisensor. Das Auslesen dieser Wetterdaten übernimmt OWFS. Des weiteren wird eine Webcam eingesetzt, die mit Motion betrieben wird. Die Wetterdaten werden mit Munin graphisch ausgewertet.

As a designer and engineer, I asked myself what should I do, I do not have political or economical power enough to make a difference. eWaste and kids not interested in education. What should I do? Ah! there there, eWaste = partly functional gadgets at no cost and kids = maybe fun interactive toys made from those gadgets? With that thought, ThinkerToys started, converting eWaste into educational fun interactive toys. Tinkering was a central part of coming up with new toys, and these toys were made to make the kids think, and yes that's where the name comes from, Thinking X Tinkering = Thinkering.

Having done half a dozen V-USB tutorials I decided it’s time to whip up something cool. As USB keyboards were an area untouched, I decided to make a small USB HID keyboard device that types a password stored in EEPROM every time it’s attached. A new password can be generated just by tabbing CAPS LOCK a few times (4 times to start password regeneration and one tab for each password character generated, 10 is the default password length)

diy

It's definitely not the most efficient way to get a clock on your wall, or the cheapest, but if you're looking for a clock that turns heads, looks cool, and is a great starter project if you're interested in tinkering with an Arduino, this laser wall clock definitely fits the bill. If you dig DIY clocks or you just think lasers are cool, this is the kind of project that you might want to try, especially if you're getting started with Arduino projects. You'll need an Arduino, of course, and you'll also need a pair of laser pointers, a few servos and motors to make the lasers move as time passes, and of course, the IKEA BLANDA salad bowl, available for 5 bucks, which will serve as the housing for all of the gear.

In Cradle to Cradle, McDonough and Braungart argue that the conflict between industry and the environment is not an indictment of commerce but an outgrowth of purely opportunistic design. The design of products and manufacturing systems growing out of the Industrial Revolution reflected the spirit of the day-and yielded a host of unintended yet tragic consequences. Today, with our growing knowledge of the living earth, design can reflect a new spirit. In fact, the authors write, when designers employ the intelligence of natural systems—the effectiveness of nutrient cycling, the abundance of the sun's energy—they can create products, industrial systems, buildings, even regional plans that allow nature and commerce to fruitfully co-exist. Cradle to Cradle maps the lineaments of McDonough and Braungart's new design paradigm, offering practical steps on how to innovate within today's economic environment. Part social history, part green business primer, part design manual, the book makes plain that the re-invention of human industry is not only within our grasp, it is our best hope for a future of sustaining prosperity.

“FLORA has the benefit of not using an ISP header for programming; FLORA is completely USB-compatable.”

True, but there’s a Lilypad kit that includes the ISP header to USB thingy, so in practice you’re just programming it over USB anyway.

Not as slick as having USB built in (and the HID support in Flora is sweet) but folks shouldn’t get the idea that loading programs onto the Lilypad is somehow tricky.

Hier steht eine Beschreibung des Pollin Bausatzes AVR-NET-IO. Best.Nr. 810 058, oder als aufgebautes Fertigmodul, Best.Nr. 810 073.

Einige Features: Ethernet-Platine mit ATmega32 und Netzwerkcontroller ENC28J60. Die Platine verfügt über 8 digitale Ausgänge, 4 digitale und 4 ADC-Eingänge, welche alle über einen Netzwerkanschluss (TCP/IP) abgerufen bzw. geschaltet werden können

Here is the documentation for a solar PV monitoring system that’s been developed as part of the OpenEnergyMonitor project. It’s based on Arduino and is fully open-source; hardware, firmware and web application.

The system monitors both generation and consumption and gives the user a clear indication of when their household electricity demands are being met by their solar PV array (green light) or when their not (red light). The wireless display also shows how much electricity is currently being exported or imported. Monitoring data is also posted on-line by a wireless
web-connected base-station to our powerful open-source web-application emoncms.

This development is part of the actively on-going OpenEnergyMonitor project to design and build open-source tools for the monitoring, visualization and control of energy.

his is the home for everything about amateur Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Use the tabs and drop-down menus above to navigate the site.

This community also created ArduPilot, the world's first universal autopilot (planes, copters of all sorts, ground rovers, boats). The ArduPilotMega autopilot hardware runs a variety of powerful free Arduino-based UAV software systems, including:
* ArduPlane, a pro-level UAV system for planes of all types.
* ArduCopter, a fully-autonomous multicopter and heli UAV system.

Something else you should do is validate your EPUB. Validation is the process of making sure that your EPUB books contain all the elements that ebook readers expect. Like what? Here’s a partial list:

Complete metadata
The proper directory structure in the EPUB file
Valid XHTML
Working links and references to files in the EPUB file
A table of contents

All of that should be fine, but it’s best to check. To do that in Sigil, select Tools > Validate Epub. Validation only takes a few seconds but it’s a useful step

In the past we've covered how to turn the inexpensive Ikea Sunnan solar lamp into a solar display case and today we have a hack from electronics manufacturer Voltaic Systems to turn the same lamp into a solar charging station for an iPad or other power-hungry phone or tablet.
This hack is actually three mini-hacks rolled into one—Voltaic shows how to replace the low-capacity rechargeable batteries in the lamp's battery pack with larger batteries, mod the lamp to accept additional external solar panels, and adding a modified Minty Boost charging circuit to allow devices to pull up to 1 Amp of electricity.

I’m motivated and moved by the idea, the belief – that the people who invent and build and make things have the power to change the world. People who “remix” something or hack a better way.

Not only is this clever use of a beer can an ultra cheap tech hack, it also means less fiddling around with cardboard and aluminum foil as required by other hack methods. This method has been proven to improve Wi-Fi reception from around 2 bars to about 4 on average, varying between 3 and 5. Give it a go – all you've got to waste is a beer can!
Edit Steps
Gather the required materials and tools. These are listed below under "Things You'll Need". Gather the required materials and tools.
Clean the beer can. Make sure there is no residue left inside. Clean the beer can.
Take the ring-pull off the can. Take the ring-pull off the can.
Cut the end off the beer can where there's no opening. Do this using the Stanley knife or similar suitable safety knife. Cut the end off the beer can where there's no opening.
Cut around the end with the opening almost all the way. Leave a little bit of metal to keep attached the part that will be the base (see the white line in the illustration). Cut around the end with the opening almost all the way.
Cut along the middle of the can in a straight line, opposite to the piece of metal attaching the base. Cut along the middle of the can in a straight line, opposite to the piece of metal attaching the base.
Being careful, open up the middle piece of metal by bending it until it vaguely resembles the shape of a radar dish. Being careful, open up the middle piece of metal by bending it until it vaguely resembles the shape of a radar dish.
Place the completed Wi-Fi booster on your router. Place it so that the antenna pokes through the opening, and stick the base of the can to the router with a small piece of poster tack or other suitable adhesive. It's time to test how much your Wi-Fi is now boosted! Place the completed Wi-Fi booster on your router.

Edit Warnings
Be careful of the sharp edges around the can. It's easy to cut yourself on the sharp metal (and it's a lot worse than a paper cut!). You can use adhesive tape to cover them and avoid dangers. Use duct tape to cover the cut edges of the can bottom and sides.

Edit Things You'll Need
An empty, clean 500ml (16.9 fl oz) beer can
A Stanley knife or similar safety knife
A pair of scissors strong enough to cut through thin metal (most will do it)
A small piece of poster tack or similar adhesive
A decent router

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(Youtube Direktraspberry, via Gizmo)

David Braben, Spieleentwickler von unter anderem Elite (!), hat einen winzigen PC vorgestellt, der nicht mehr als rund 20 Öcken kostet (15 Pfund, 17 Euro, 25 Dollar) und per HDMI an einen Fernseher anschließen kann. Die Produktionskosten sollen letztlich so niedrig werden, dass man die PCs an Schüler verschenken kann, die müssen sich allerdings noch eine USB-Tastatur dazukaufen. Eat this, One Laptop per Child.

Snip von der BBC:

It’s not much bigger than your finger, it looks like a leftover from an electronics factory, but its makers believe their £15 computer could help a new generation discover programming.

The games developer David Braben and some colleagues came to the BBC this week to demonstrate something called Raspberry Pi. It’s a whole computer on a tiny circuit board – not much more than an ARM processor, a USB port, and an HDMI connection. They plugged a keyboard into one end, and hooked the other into a TV they had brought with them.

The result, a working computer running on a Linux operating system for very little, and a device that will, like the kit computers of the 1970s and 80s, encourage users to tinker around under the bonnet and learn a bit of programming. And it’s a yearning to return to those days that is driving Braben and the other enthusiasts who are working to turn this sketchy prototype into a product that could be handed to every child in Britain.

Specs:

- 700MHz ARM11
- 128MB of SDRAM
- OpenGL ES 2.0
- 1080p30 H.264 high-profile decode
- Composite and HDMI video output
- USB 2.0
- SD/MMC/SDIO memory card slot
- General-purpose I/O
- Open software (Ubuntu, Iceweasel, KOffice, Python)

A 15 pound computer to inspire young programmers, Website zum Projekt, spOnline zum Thema

Wie oft denkt Ihr darüber nach, wie die technischen Spielzeuge und Arbeitsmittel Eures Alltags hergestellt werden? Und wie oft verdrängt Ihr den Gedanken ganz schnell, weil Ihr ahnt, dass das nicht so ideal aussieht? Die Gründe, warum wir ständig neue glänzende Gerätschaften kaufen sollen und können, sind vielfältig. Eine Ursache sind die beschissenen Arbeitsbedingungen derer, die sie zusammenbauen.

Eric von Hippel, a long-time affiliate with the Berkman Center, leads off our 2010 season of lunch talks with a discussion of “Household Sector” innovation. To explain his body of work, von Hippel explains that he’s tried to bring thinking about the communications space into the world of physical things, examining how processes we think of as affecting digital media can also apply to other forms of innovation.

In its improvisational, experimental quality, tinkering is a bit like jazz. The comparison with music can be pushed further: both are forms of human expression shaped by both specific historical forces, and deep human needs. The counterculture is one important influence on tinkering; so is computer hacking, with its casual contempt for established authority, deep respect for arcane technical skills, and refined love of imaginative jokes. The open source movement showed that hackers could create extraordinary things by co-operating on a large scale.