TechnologyIQ

Monday, April 16, 2018

ESP8266 ePaper WiFi Display Kit Runs for Months on a Charge via Tindie Blog

In my humble opinion—as I’ve mentioned elsewhere—ePaper is really an amazing display technology that has never really burst onto the mainstream. ePaper is incredibly energy efficient, requiring power only to change the display, the refresh rate is atrocious compared to television or smartphones, but seems to have been relegated to dedicated e-readers and the odd smartwatch. The natural outlet then would be makers and hobbyists, but options are less numerous than most other display methods.

The other market I could see for this type of device is as a static display, such as in office meeting rooms, or for weather and other stats which needs to only be updated intermittently. You can try to hack something together yourself, but the 2.9″ ESPaper Plus Kit has everything you need to get started with your semi-static display, including an ESP8266 WiFi module.

Read Tindie Blog | ESP8266 ePaper WiFi Display Kit Runs for Months on a Charge via Tindie Blog

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Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Dremel Announces 40 Watt Laser Cutter via Make

I have often thought about a 3-D printer, but I am thinking a small laser cutter and etcher like this might be more useful for me. — Douglas

This weekend at Maker Faire New York, we were excited to see a brand new tool sitting on Dremel‘s tables. This is the Dremel Digilab Laser Cutter.

We don’t have all the details yet, such as the price, but we do know a few things. Here are the specs according to Dremel.

40 Watt Laser

12″x20″ Bed Size

Integrated heat exchanger called the “Hex Box”

Full suite of safety sensors

Of note are those safety sensors. Most lasers right now have simple lid detection, but Dremel has added all kinds of safety checks to maker sure things like the high voltage power supply or cooling system failures won’t injure you or cause more damage. This is a good step in my opinion and I’m curious to see what all they have implemented.

Read Dremel Announces 40 Watt Laser Cutter via Make

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Monday, April 09, 2018

Raspberry Pi Weather Station via Hackster.io

Weather stations are always a good starting point for learning about Raspberry Pi and Arduino systems. — Douglas

Raspberry Pi is a perfect tool to get Internet of Things (IoT) up and running - a Linux computer with access to I2C.

Read Raspberry Pi Weather Station via Hackster.io

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Wednesday, April 04, 2018

Relay Computer: You Can Hear It Think via hack a day

This is so geeky as to almost defy description, but as someone who uses audio cues a lot (perhaps it was all those years listening to modem tones to diagnose problems) I love the ideas of being able to hear your computer working — at least for a little while. — Douglas

Modern digital computers have complex instruction sets that runs on state-of-the-art ALUs which in turn are a consequence of miniaturized logic gates that are built with tiny transistors. These tiny transistors are essentially switches. You could imagine replacing with electromagnetic relays, and get what is called a relay computer. If you can imagine it, someone’s done it. In this case, [jhallenworld].

The Z3 was the first working programmable, fully automatic digital computer designed by Konrad Zuse. The board employs modern semiconductor devices such as memory and microcontrollers, however, the CPU is all relays. A hexadecimal keyboard allows for program entry and a segment display allows tracking the address and data. The program is piped into serial to the parallel decoder and fed to the CPU where the magic happens. Since the core is electromechanical it is possible to connect the output to peripherals such as a bell as demonstrated near the end of the video.

Read Relay Computer: You Can Hear It Think via hack a day

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Monday, April 02, 2018

A Raspberry Pi Is a Great Platform for Building an Inexpensive, Yet High-Quality, Wildlife Camera via Hackster’s Blog - Medium

Wildlife photography is a tricky field, as it requires both finding animals and not scaring them away. When filming a documentary like Planet Earth, photographers and videographers don’t just walk into the field a snap a picture; they spend days, or even weeks, sitting as still as possible to get that perfect shot. Luckily, there is another choice: the wildlife camera.

Wildlife cameras are designed to be placed inconspicuously, and to wait patiently until movement is detected, at which time they snap a photo or record a video. While prices for commercial wildlife cameras have certainly dropped, they can still be pricey. So, if you want to get some great wildlife snaps, you might want to follow PiBat’s lead and build one yourself.

Read A Raspberry Pi Is a Great Platform for Building an Inexpensive, Yet High-Quality, Wildlife Camera via Hackster’s Blog - Medium

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Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Smallest GPS and Bluetooth trackers and finders via Social Business Blog RSS | ZDNet

All of us have an item go missing on occasion. If you find your self looking for something more than using it, these trackers might be just right for you. — Douglas

Kingcenton tracker

The Kingcenton Bluetooth tracker will enable you to find your things whilst in Bluetooth range of the app. It will also record the last location of your item through its smartphone app.

Read Smallest GPS and Bluetooth trackers and finders via Social Business Blog RSS | ZDNet

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Monday, March 26, 2018

Make your own Twitter bot with Python and Raspberry Pi via Adafruit Industries

Twitter is a wonderful communication and social media platform. It has everything: breaking news, political opinion, humor, celebrities, entertainment, special interest chat, and, well, anything. Individuals, companies, departments, projects, and more—really anyone or anything—can have a Twitter account. Some Twitter accounts are not even run manually by a person or a group of people—they’re automated bots.

It’s very simple to write a Twitter bot using Python—and a Raspberry Pi is the perfect tool to run the code; rather leaving a PC or laptop switched on permanently, you can leave your Raspberry Pi running 24/7 and hardly any power will be used. That said, if you don’t have a Raspberry Pi, most of this tutorial will still work for you on a PC.

Read Make your own Twitter bot with Python and Raspberry Pi #piday #raspberrypi @Raspberry_Pi via Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers!

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Monday, March 12, 2018

Small CNC machines for customizing coasters via Arduino Blog

This would see such a cool conversation piece in the workshop…or even at home! — Douglas

As seen on Make:, Barton Dring wanted to make something interesting to bring to a hardware meetup, along with learning more about the Grbl Arduino machining package. What he came up with was a pair of drawing robots that are both small enough to fit inside of a backpack, and are used to decorate coasters!

The first of these projects, known as “Coasty,” employs a laser to mark, or even cut, square coasters. They are fed in from the side, then pop out again with a new pattern.

Read Small CNC machines for customizing coasters via Arduino Blog

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Monday, March 05, 2018

Web-Based Universal Remote for Under $4 (Probably) via Hackster.io

I have been looking for something like this so I could automate all the infrared devices in the house along with the smart switches and bulbs I have now. — Douglas

Don't buy a universal remote, make one. It's cheaper, funner, universal-er, kind of, and you get to learn the ESP8266, kind of.

Read Web-Based Universal Remote for Under $4 (Probably) via Hackster.io

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Monday, February 26, 2018

Build a simple CO2 meter using Raspberry Pi 3 via Adafruit

Build a simple CO2 meter using Raspberry Pi 3!

This short tutorial shows how to build simple CO2 meter using CJMCU-8118 board and Raspberry Pi 3. This board uses CCS811 sensor. This sensor supports intelligent algorithms to process raw sensor measurements to output a TVOC value or equivalent CO2 (eCO2) levels, where the main cause of VOCs is from humans.

CJMCU-8118 includes HDC1080 sensor. There is also list of available alternative boards with CCS811 sensor on the end of this video.

Read Build a simple CO2 meter using Raspberry Pi 3 via Adafruit

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Wednesday, February 21, 2018

This App is Fire: GIF Toaster via Lifehacker

Animated GIFS are everywhere these day, so you might as well have an easy way to make them. I am in the middle of checking out this app today! — Douglas

iOS: Making GIFs yourself has always been a pretty involved process either made too simple to suit my desires or too complicated to be intuitive. GIF Toaster blends the best of both worlds, offering more than enough control over the GIFs you’re trying to create in an interface that’s simple to use and unobscured by ads (if you pay). It’s a must have app on your iOS device and has been praised by users familiar with the apps available for GIF-building. If you ever want to make a GIF with some pro-level tools, or desire more flexibility to customize your creation just the way you want it, GIF Toaster is a more than capable tool.

Read This App is Fire: GIF Toaster via Lifehacker

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Tuesday, February 13, 2018

If you want to learn about Arduino, this is the book to get via Boing Boing

Arduino is on open-source electronics prototyping platform that lets you make interactive stuff without having a degree in electrical engineering.

For about $25 you can buy a credit card sized circuit board that has input connections (for buttons, knobs, light sensors, microphones, humidity sensors, fart detectors, Internet signals, etc) and output connections (for servo motors, LEDs, buzzers, speakers, stepper motors, vibrators, etc). You write programs on your computer to tell the Arduino how to process the input signals and how to activate the output components. This program is uploaded to the Arduino's microprocessor, making it self-contained.

Read If you want to learn about Arduino, this is the book to get via Boing Boing

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Monday, February 05, 2018

Hack an old typewriter with Arduino for digital input via Arduino Blog

A demanding and yet really, really cool project. There is something special about the retro sound of an old school typewriter and to see it being used as a modern input device is mind-blowing. — Douglas

I modified a vintage type writer to function as a USB keyboard using an Arduino and 50 phototransistors. The typewriter is a German Olympia Monica that I bought at a local flea market. For this project I created a simple PCB that carries the phototransistors and several multiplexers and decoders. The PCB is connected to the Arduino through a ribbon cable. I used an Arduino Leonardo, which can function as a USB input device.

Read Hack an old typewriter with Arduino for digital input via Arduino Blog

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Monday, January 29, 2018

Sony KOOV Robotics Kit Review: Hands on with the Robots via Technabob

Every generation’s kids seem to know much more about technology than the prior generation. I grew up as part of the first wave of kids to use desktop computers, and now the little ones are using smartphones and tablets like they were born with them as appendages. Today’s youngsters are picking up science and technology at a faster pace than ever before. Now, kids can learn how to create their own robots at home or in the classroom. Developed by Sony Electronics and Sony Global Education, the KOOV building system aims to teach kids to do just that.

Read Sony KOOV Robotics Kit Review: Hands on with the Robots - Technabob via Technabob

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Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Simple Battery Holder for Coin Cells via Instructables

Read Simple Battery Holder for Coin Cells via Instructables

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Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Simple Battery Holder For Coin Cells via Instructables

Great idea for school projects or any event where you have a lot of attendees who want to power their projects. You could even make the manufacture of these holders a project for more experienced makers in your group. — Douglas

Small coin cell batteries are inexpensive and useful, with one big problem, how do you connect to them? You can purchase holders for cylindrical that are complete with wires to make it easy to connect to your project, but not so for coin cells. Here is a very simple solution for using coin cell batteries to power small projects. The holder will work with almost any coin or button cell, even tiny hearing aid batteries. Since the cost is so low, this method is ideal for Maker Camps and other kid activities.

Read Simple Battery Holder For Coin Cells via Instructables

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† Available from the LA Public Library

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Sunday, January 21, 2018

Most Viewed Pages on Technology IQ for 2017

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Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Libraries across the U.S. are Ready to Code via The Official Google Blog

Not everyone wants or needs to be a programmer, but programming can help you learn other skills like organization, problem solving, critical thinking and more! Check out this program from Google and see if your local library is involved. — Douglas

Emily Zorea is not a computer scientist. She’s a Youth Services Librarian at the Brewer Public Library in Richland Center, Wisconsin, but when she noticed that local students were showing an interest in computer science (CS), she started a coding program at the library. Though she didn’t have a CS background, she understood that coding, collaboration and creativity were critical skills for students to approach complex problems and improve the world around them. Because of Emily’s work, the Brewer Public Library is now Ready to Code. At the American Library Association, we want to give librarians like Emily the opportunity to teach these skills, which is why we are thrilled to partner with Google on the next phase of the Libraries Ready to Code initiative—a $500,000 sponsorship from Google to develop a coding toolkit and make critical skills more accessible for students across 120,000 libraries in the U.S.

Read Libraries across the U.S. are Ready to Code via The Official Google Blog

Learn more about programming for kids with these books

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* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs
** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library

An interesting link found among my daily reading