Jun 24th, 2010
Blogsnapper at 12:06 pm Eric von Hippel raps about the Lego Group prospering by embracing hackers. It’s a great lecture on companies tapping into the creativity of their fans, rather than suppressing it. [Via openp2pdesign.org]
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Jun 24th, 2010
Blogsnapper at 12:06 pm 
This instructable will tell you a simple way to connect flexible solar
cells to fabric. This is a system that mechanically fixes the cell to a
fabric, but also, most important, electrically connects the positive and
the negative terminals of the cell. This is a great way to remove
solar cell from…
By: rmarchesi
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Jun 24th, 2010
Blogsnapper at 12:06 pm 
There are many ways in which people try to limit the amount of power
that their computer uses. From screensavers to shutting down your pc
using twitter, people keep coming up with interesting ways to go green.
This tutorial shows one way to save power using sonar. W…
By: gigafide
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Jun 24th, 2010
Blogsnapper at 12:06 pm 
Find out how to construct a slab for your application with this video.
Sakrete offers a number of concrete mixes ideal for constructing
concrete slabs. From high-strength to fast-setting to lightweight,
Sakrete has a concrete mix that will work for your application.
By: Sakrete
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Jun 24th, 2010
Blogsnapper at 12:06 pm 
One of our readers, Milton Ammel, sent us images of this clever little hack he did to his mother’s “grabber tool” so that it could both trigger the latch on the door and grab the handle. So simple. Funky, but effective. Milton writes:
This is a door opening device I made for my handicapped mom. As you can see, I took a regular “grabber” and then measured the height from the handle up to the “door button” and superglued a paint mixing stick, supported by a short prop. To increase “grabbing ability,” I put Velcro on both left and right “graspers” of the grabber, and Velcro on the door handle. It works as advertised!
I spent several years semi-wheel-chair bound. It was a very unpleasant experience, made even more so by the poor designs of a lot of this type of assistive technology. I was constantly thinking of hacks like this (e.g. I glued magnets to the ends of some of my grabber tools to pick up small metal objects). I thought seriously about teaming up with an engineering/robotics department at some university to collaborate on some of my design ideas.
During this month’s theme of Physical Science and Mechanics, it’s good to be reminded of the great utility in knowing basic physical science and how the mechanical world interacts. It allows you to identify problems, as Milton has here, and to engineer often simple solutions that have disproportionally large impacts on one’s quality of life.
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Jun 24th, 2010
Blogsnapper at 12:06 pm Lotta Jansdotter has partnered with Rowenta as their new host for their online craft videos. I love this one on making simple iron-on transfers.
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Jun 24th, 2010
Blogsnapper at 12:06 pm 
PXE (P reboot Ex ecution E nvironment) booting is a way for a
computer with an Intel compatible network card to boot across an
intranet network from a server based computer running Windows, Linux,
etc. PXE booting allows for small client like computer with limited
system resources to boot a fil…
By: wingeekkid
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Jun 24th, 2010
Blogsnapper at 12:06 pm 
This is a Knex chopper thing that I made hope you like it!
By: TSC
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Jun 24th, 2010
Blogsnapper at 12:06 pm 
people need places to hide stuff from people with sticky fingers
robbers, sometimes parents(not recommened hiding stuff from parents),
and anyone else who you dont want knowing u have these things. here in
the following steps is how to make a aresol can with secret
compartment. when follow…
By: nuckthebuck
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Jun 24th, 2010
Blogsnapper at 12:06 pm 
No silly, this isn’t a post about the bouquet from my first of many weddings! (So far I’ve only been married once, fingers crossed!) It’s actually the first wedding bouquet I ever made. I created it for my friend Harper, and I kinda went over the top with the flowers I chose. It has 5 types of orchids, including Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis, Encyclia, and Odontoglossum. The other flowers include burgandy cala lillies, icelandic poppies, roses, orange asiatic lillies, and tuber rose to give it a luxurious scent. Each blossom is set into a bouquet holder that the bride wanted wrapped in red satin. Fun fact: the pretty red satins I liked were upwards of $60 per yard, so I went to the thrift store and picked up a red prom dress to chop into ribbon. Why is it sitting in a milk crate you ask? Milk crates are the perfect sturdy work surface for building bouquets in holders.
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