Archives for February 2008

Mooftronic Mini Electric Organ

Mooftronic Electronic Organ3The Mooftronic Electric Organ measures just 3cm by 1cm and it built around a 24 pin integrated circuit holder. A small stylus is used to play 8 notes in just one octave in the key of C. As well as creating those 8 notes, it has a small antenna which makes crazy noises too when picking up interference from the speaker. To generate noises the miniature organ uses an 08M micro controller built by Picaxe.

One funny thing to note in the pictures below is that the power source to keep this thing running is actually a lot bigger then the miniature organ it’s self. It will probably work with a smaller button cell type battery, but for ease of use I can see why the creator used a 9V battery due to the ability to just clip the connector on the battery. It’s not a bad idea although potentially it could be difficult to play due to the small size.

More images and a video of the Mooftronic can be found below.

Mooftronic Electronic Organ

Mooftronic Electronic Organ

Mooftronic Electronic Organ

Mooftronic Electronic Organ

Via: Etsy

Deli Touch – Automated Food Ordering

deli-touch
If you struggle to impress your date with your ease of ordering up a foreign meal, then a restaurant using Deli Touch might be your better option. Deli Touch is a device which uses wireless technology to connect to the restaurants kitchen. When ordering, you touch the pen on to the menu on the items you wish to order. The pen has a camera which scans the codes and the wireless features transmit this data to the kitchen. Once the order has been placed a voice confirms that all is OK and a few minutes later your food arrives.

Apparently this technology has been around in Japan for a while, but this new version has more user friendly menu’s that cater more towards the elderly. The system comes with 1 server, 30 pens and a printer and costs 45000 YEN a month for rental which equates to about $416 which is not bad at all. That is actually cheaper then a waiter although they would need a robot to bring the food out to you. Maybe that’s next year.

Via: kilian-nakamura

Pyramid Car

pyramid_carA pyramid is not something you see often, other then when in Egypt. However, this pyramid does not stand still for a few thousand years. The Pyramid car can actually drive around by battery power. 80 batteries keep this thing powered and running at speeds of up to 45 MPH and it can run for 80 miles. It also has built in solar panels to help with the charging process. It weighs 8000 pounds too which makes it no light weight (3.5 tons).

Costing $60000 in supplies to make, it’s not one of the cheapest cars to build although it was done as a labour of love. This version is Mk1 and they are looking for backers to fund a second prototype which they hope will reach 500 miles on a single charge.

I have to admit that it’s not the most normal of shapes to choose when building a car, but for laughs this would be cool to cruise around in with a nice sound system. Maybe the prototype 3 model can work on acceleration. Wouldn’t it be cool beating some kid off the mark on a road.

Via: SlipperyBrick

Hot or Not – Steampunk Arm

Steampunk ArmWe have written about a couple of Steampunk gadgets before. These were the Steampunk Nerf Maverick Gun and a Steampunk Furnace Mouse. Both look cool and this next one is no exception. I have to admit that it’s not something I would ever wear to a party, but it is still quite cool to see.

For those who are not familiar with what Steampunk is, it is the process of building a modern day gadget type object with a Victorian look and normally made or brass, wood and other materials commonly used in that era.

Steampunk Arm

Via: Flickr

Floppy Disk Drive with built in Memory Card Reader

floppy_disk_drive_card_readerA rather strange combination of computer hardware has just become available. It mixes a 7-in-1 card reader with a floppy drive. This allows you to quickly (as quick as floppy drives work) transfer files from your old floppies over to memory card. The problem I have is that any floppy disks I have now do not work any more, and if they did, I still would not have a use for them as I haven’t tested them for maybe 8 years now.

Although I do like the converging of gadgets, I just do not get the point of mixing something this old with something a lot more modern.

Via: Redferret

Prayer Gadget uses RFID Technology

prayersI can’t say I have ever in my life written about a prayer gadget before. However, this is now changing as I came across this prayer device which uses RFID technology. In some churches there is a tradition of lighting candles during a prayer. This device is named “for this we pray” and has RFID technology that lights up a wall mounted shrine which is modelled around a stained glass window effect. Several prayer cards can be chosen from and when you swipe one past the prayer gadget a light lights up. As more prayers are read out and swiped past, the more lights are then lit up.

Below is a video of the prayer device in use.

Product Page

Ghostbusters Voice Changer

Ghostbusters Voice ChangerGhostbusters is a film that most people will remember from the 1980’s. One of the popular items the ghostbusters used was the ghost trap which captured ghosts such as slimer so they could take them back to HQ and store them safely. This item above lacks a bit of information, but from what I understand it’s connected to a long cord and works as a speaker housing. It must rank as one of the most bizarre looking speakers I have ever seen.

Via: Flickr

Hercules Mega Laser – Focus the Sun on a Grain of Sand

hercules_laserThe Hercules laser has a ridiculous amount of intensity. As a comparison you need to picture a huge magnifying glass above the earth which would focus all the sun’s light to one grain of sand. That would almost represent what the Hercules laser is capable of. The Hercules laser takes up several rooms and contains 300 terawatts of power (which is 300 times the capacity of the US power grid). I personally found the TechLasers laser pen a tad crazy and not practical for every day use although it is very cool. So, you might be wondering what you would do with a 300 terawatt laser. It is able to focus it’s beam on to a 1.3 micron speck which is tiny. This may be capable of being used for medical reasons such as better ways to treat cancer and other complex things.

It works by using a titanium sapphire laser then bounces off a lot of mirrors and gets refracted, reflected and what not till it can focus the beam in to such a tiny space.

Via: SparkingTech

Homemade Chalkboard Globe

Chalkboard Globe
Sometimes a chalkboard is just not enough. Some want to write on the world and have a globe to store their ideas. However, I doubt anyone has ever seen a globe chalkboard for sale. MakeZine have created their own by using a regular classroom globe, chalkboard paint, Spackle, newspapers, Gesso and a coat hanger.

Other home made versions of this include blue paint where the sea is and the globe is then used for educational purposes in which the students need to mark on the globe all the different places around the world.

Via: Make

150 Games on the Table Top Arcade Machine

tabletop-arcadeBack in the 80’s, arcade games were starting to become big. Atari, Namco and Midway were amongst the big names producing games like Pac-Man, Centipede, Tempest, Gauntlet and a ton of other classics. This Tabletop Arcade Machine brings all these games in to your home on just the 1 machine. It has 150 of the beauties built in and displays them on a crisp 19″ flat screen LCD. On the arcade machine you will find an 8 direction joystick, 11 large buttons, a 3 inch trackball which together, bring the 80’s back in to your home. The good news is that there is a PC running the show (that might not be good news to some). What this means is you can easily upgrade, add games and make as many mods as you want. Music in MP3 format can be sent and sound is produced by 2 speakers and a sub woofer.

The machine measures 24 x 22 x 24 inches and can be purchased for $2495.95 from Hammacher Schlemmer.

Product Page Via: GeekAlerts

How to put to good use your AOL CD’s

CD LampNow that a great number of people own MP3 players there is a tendency for your old CD’s to gather dust. Old music from the 90’s was ripped to your computer and since then, you have never touched the CD. Why not make better use of your old CD’s and build a lamp just like this guy did. It was built from a massive amount of CD’s that had gathered in his room which were then put together on a circular base. The base was cut using a template on a table saw, sanded and then a cold cathode lamp from NewEgg was chosen to light the thing up.

If you do not have many old music CD’s then hopefully you have kept all those ISP junk CD’s that bombarded you several years ago.

Via: GrantCunningham

Satellite Sputnik Lamp

Satellite LampThis lamp is one of the most unique ones I have ever seen. It is built in a retro style which reminds me of Sputnik although it has extra legs. The satellite is a chrome ball and has LED tipped spikes which emit red, green, blue or multi coloured lights. The base it stands on is 10″ Width x 18″ High.

The light is not designed to replace your main lights of the room, but is ideal as a table lamp or as an ambient light in your room.

You can find the Satellite lamp over at Amazon and it currently costs $47.25.