set of 50+ industrial machines that are required to build and maintain a small, sustainable civilization. The open source aspect covers designs, instructions, schematics, budgets — everything anyone needs to know to build their own machines.
every game starts out as the handmade creation of the inventor, which eventually becomes a standardized and mass produced product; but sometimes the commercial versions of games are not available, too expensive, or just not nice enough
Nice little guide to building an IR transceiver - uses the USB port for stable 5V, but includes a link in the comments to a decent circuit diagram that uses a voltage regulator and therefore doesn't need the USB port for power.
fairly simple DTMF decoder to control solenoid door unlocker and connected it to phone (in this case a cell phone). NOTE:CALLERID would save the phonecall as commented on the article
MIT professor Neil Gershenfeld talks about his Fab Lab -- a low-cost lab that lets people build things they need using digital and analog tools. It's a simple idea with powerful results:
Weekend Project Podcast: Make simple radios to listen too. These were made with materials that they could get their hands on and were small enough to carry around in a big pocket.
If your own water is safe from heavy metals, but you still like the way water tastes when it's been through something like a Britta filter, there's an easy way to convert the filter to be reusable, saving a ton of waste and a bit of money.
2.4GHz parabolic mesh dishes from Chinese cookware scoops & a USB WiFi adaptor! Called "WIFRY","WOKFI" or "WOKTENNA" (12"= 300mm diam) shows 12-15dB gain (enough for a LOS range extension to 3-5km)
A remote control car that can be driven over the internet or with a laptop wirelessly from up to 500m away. It has a live-feed network camera so that it can be driven without line of sight and a horn so that you can honk at people.
Made use of this info since my PSU did not support PCI-e, still have some strange behaviors that I blame on this mod but it has been working so I really don't care...
"If you have ever watched a TV quiz show you have probably seen contestants trying to press a button in order to win a chance to answer a question. The contestant’s quick reaction time results in some kind of light and/or sound indicating victory. This is a practical way to choose the next focus of the game’s activity and it adds a bit of excitement to the process. So when the holiday party planning committee decided to have a trivia contest I decided to build a quiz contestant lockout system to add an extra dimension of fun to the festivities. This would help the planning committee’s mission of creating some entertaining activities for the event."