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Showing posts from March, 2017

Dress up your iPhone with this "Paperwhites" iPhone Case or Wallet

Also available for Samsung phones, iPads and Laptops Dress up your iPhone with this "Paperwhites" iPhone Snap or Tough Covers Wallet Features Open book style with built in stand and elastic strap closure 3M adhesive strip designed to stick to your device Anti reflector camera hole Full access to camera, buttons and ports iPhone 6 & 6s wallet holds two credit cards; 6 Plus & 6s Plus holds three Easy to clean a with damp cloth Tough Case Features Clip-on case with a unique inner silicone absorbing sleeve Allows full access to all device ports Extremely durable, shatterproof casing Long life, super-bright colors embedded directly into the case Over 150 designs Available exclusively from DouglasEWelch.com/shop View my entire portfolio

Join Us for Arduino Day in Los Angeles - Saturday, April 1, 2017

RSVP Today Arduino Day in Los Angeles Saturday, April 1, 201712:00 PM to 6:00 PM Make In LA Building 9408 Owensmouth Ave, Chatsworth, CA Come celebrate Arduino's birthday with Hackerspace Los Angeles.  We invite the open source community to join us in celebrating Arduino’s birthday on Saturday, April 1st! Arduino Day is a 24-hour-long worldwide event – organized by our team and the community – where people interested in Arduino can get together, share their experiences, and learn more about the platform through all sorts of activities, tailored to local audiences. Participation is open to anyone, from young Makers and students to professional engineers and designers. Learn more and tinker with the Arduino micro-controllers and learn about building all types of devices with it. Bring your own laptop, Arduino and bread board. This is for anyone, at any level, to come and have some fun tinkering, learning, and showing off your own projects.  Agenda 12:00 - 12:30 - Welcome and

On YouTube: Best 3D Printer Under $200 - Tevo Tarantula Full Review

It arrived very well packaged with thick protective foam, even the box was unscratched! The building process was enjoyable and is something I highly recommend to anyone as it is a great way to learn more about electronics! It's not perfect, it does need a couple of minor modifications. All of which is described in the video. You need a cooling nozzle, spool holder and a reinforced Z-motor mount. Obviously the settings inside your slicer impacts the result as well. I was happy when I realised the bed could reach high enough temperature in order to print ABS filament. This was great news, as my Anet A8 is not capable of reaching higher than 70°C and ABS requires at least 95°C. In conclusion the printer is amazing! Not only is the bed remarkable, but it's way more quiet than my other 3D printers. The quality of the prints was absolutely stunning as well. Because of the bowden extruder it might have a hard time printing with flexible filament, but you will be able to print at

Cool Tool: 1byone Amplified HDTV Antenna - 50 Mile Range with Detachable Amplifier USB Power Supply and 10ft Coax Cable [On Sale]

I gave up cable television several years ago and transitioned to a variety of over-the-top services including YouTube and Netflix.Still, I occasionally want to watch something on Broadcast TV or need to watch local breaking news and weather, so I grabbed a Mohu Leaf Antenna that was on sale. Since we live in the middle of the city, un-amplified version was fine for my purposes, but this unit comes with a USB-Powered Amplifier to pull in more distant channels, should you need it. My antenna allows me to watch full 1080p HD broadcasts for free, instead of paying $50+ /month for a hundred channels I would never think of watching. It paid for itself in just one month. If you find your cable television is disappointing and expensive, you could save a significant amount of cash each month. — Douglas FREE FOR LIFE - Never Pay Your Cable or Satellite For Television Again! 1byone antenna can pull in all of your local news, weather, sitcoms, kids and sports programs absolutely FREE. Just co

Protect your gear with this "White Rose" Laptop Sleeve

Protect your gear with this "White Rose" Laptop Sleeve! Over 150 designs Available exclusively from DouglasEWelch.com/shop View my entire portfolio

Noted: Neopixel strip control on ESP8266 with MongooseOS in 3 mins

Demo of how to control Neopixel strip on ESP8266 with Mongoose OS. In less than 3 minutes and in a simple JavaScript! Read Neopixel strip control on ESP8266 with MongooseOS in 3 mins via Hackster.io An interesting link found among my daily reading

Noted: Zelda Inspired Home Automation System (video)

Technology, gaming and geekery combine masterfully in this amazing, if nor exactly practical, home automation system. A home for the ultimate Zelda fan. — Douglas "It’s a fairly simple setup based around note recognition. When certain notes are played in a specific sequence, the Raspberry Pi detects the tune via a microphone within the Amazon Echo-inspired body of the build, and triggers the action related to the specific task. The small speaker you can see in the video plays a confirmation tune, again taken from the video game, to show that the task has been completed." Read Zelda Inspired Home Automation System (video) via Geeky Gadgets An interesting link found among my daily reading

Cool Tool: Brinch 15.6-Inch Multi-functional Suit Fabric Portable Laptop Sleeve Case Bag

I spotted this in my online travels yesterday and it made my list of “possible purchases” for the future. I love the design and it comes in a variety of colors, if you are so inclined. I thought the grey one looked pretty cool on its own. — Douglas Brinch 15.6-Inch Multi-functional Suit Fabric Portable Laptop Sleeve Case Bag Bag Interior Size:385*265*65mm ,Exterior Size:410*280*70mm Comfort - For added comfort, the slipcase features durable, nesting handles for ease of travel as well as a removable padded shoulder strap for hands-free carryin.  Adjustable padded shoulder strap to comfortably fit the tall and the short personAdjustable padded shoulder strap to comfortably fit the tall and the short person Full front flap with magnetic snap and vertical zipped pocketment walls provide extra protection and keeps your MacBook or laptop protected Fits most 15 - 15.6 inch Laptops / Notebooks/ MacBooks / Ultrabooks,may not snugly fit all computers due to variations in the sizes of di

On YouTube: No-etch circuit boards with your laser printer

Use silver adhesive to make circuit boards on your laser printer Watch YouTube: No-etch circuit boards with your laser printer I liked this video and think you might find it interesting, too!

Noted: Cigar Box Opens to Raspberry Pi Laptop

If you were to go back to the middle years of the twentieth century and talk to electronic constructors, you would find a significant number had a cigar box radio among their projects. Cigar boxes were fairly robust, readily available, and could easily accommodate the parts required to make a crystal set or a simple one-tube regenerative receiver. These days there isn’t much attraction to a simple AM radio though, so while they can still be fun to build, the cigar box radio only occupies a niche in vintage radio circles. Cigar boxes, however, remain. [Mike] found a very nice antique cigar box, and made something unexpected, he put a Raspberry Pi in it and made something close to a laptop. Into the lid goes an LCD screen secured with wooden blocks, while in the body of the box goes the LCD controller, Pi 3, and battery charger and PSU modules. There are two sets of cells, one each for screen and Pi. Read Cigar Box Opens to Raspberry Pi Laptop via hack a day An interesting link fo

Noted: Filament Friday: Refil ABS Is Recycled Plastic for More Sustainable Prints | Make:

A major complaint leveraged against 3D printing is the creation of additional plastic waste that is quickly filling the world’s waterways. Most filament on the market is created from new, first-use polymers, but the team at Refil is working to combat that with their line of recycled plastic filament — creating little to no extra plastic waste. Read Filament Friday: Refil ABS Is Recycled Plastic for More Sustainable Prints | Make: via Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers An interesting link found among my daily reading

Noted: Book review: Up to no good with 'Raspberry Pi for Secret Agents'

Many parents see my daughter’s articles on Opensource.com and regularly ask me, “How did you get your daughter started with the Raspberry Pi?”  It all started with the Raspberry Pi as a Christmas present, and we started with the Raspberry Pi Education Manual as our guide. As a free download, it was a very good primer to get started. Then we moved onto other books, such as Getting Started with Raspberry Pi, and I started to notice some patterns. Those books often covered the same things over and over: getting the system to boot with Raspbian, visual programming with Scratch, and using the GPIO pins. Also, I noticed that the books focused on how to use the disparate features of the Raspberry Pi, but they didn’t have a common goal or theme in mind. Both of these observations led to my next observation that my daughter’s excitement in Raspberry Pi books started to wane because it felt like we were slogging through math textbooks as opposed to reading with an exciting goal in mind.

Noted: NEW PRODUCT – Adafruit TPL5110 Low Power Timer Breakout

Neat little component to provide long life to any of your projects by switching them off and on at an interval you set. It can also receive a signal from your project that it is safe to go back to sleep when it is done reading its sensors or providing other data. See full article for details. -- Douglas Read NEW PRODUCT – Adafruit TPL5110 Low Power Timer Breakout via Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! An interesting link found among my daily reading

Noted: Arduino + Geometry + Bicycle = Speedometer

A great, geeky and retro project for your bicycle — Douglas Read Arduino + Geometry + Bicycle = Speedometer via hack a day An interesting link found among my daily reading

Noted: Giphy made 2,000 GIFs to help you learn sign language

Read Giphy made 2,000 GIFs to help you learn sign language via Engadget An interesting link found among my daily reading

Noted: The BioLite CampStove 2 - how it burns wood like gas, and converts heat into electricity

I have thought these stoves were quite cool from the very beginning. It's great to see a new and improved version. -- Douglas Read The BioLite CampStove 2 - how it burns wood like gas, and converts heat into electricity via Boing Boing Find more Biolite Kits and Accessories on Amazon.com An interesting link found among my daily reading

On YouTube: Now, Everyone Can Afford 3D Printing (Monoprice Select Mini Review)

The cheapest price is now around $320 on Amazon, but there might be sales that lower it closer to the $200 mentioned in this video. — Douglas Watch YouTube: Now, Everyone Can Afford 3D Printing (Monoprice Select Mini Review)   I'm a little late to the 3D printing game, but I finally get it. For $200 , the Monoprice Mini Select is a no brainier for anyone who's curious about 3D printing. It's an extremely capable machine with a small footprint. Best of all it comes pre-assembled ready to print, right out of the box.  No this video was not sponsored in any way. I just really like this printer :) I liked this video and think you might find it interesting, too!

On YouTube: The basics of BASIC, the programming language of the 1980s.

This was the state of the computer world when I first gained access to a computer full time. So much has happened since. — Douglas Watch YouTube: The basics of BASIC, the programming language of the 1980s. I liked this video and think you might find it interesting, too!

Noted: Helping libraries get youth excited about computer science

Libraries can be a focus in jumpstarting makerspaces in your area. This is a great, expanded role which takes their expertise in research and learning and combines it with all the benefits of promoting making in your life and career. -- Douglas Read Helping libraries get youth excited about computer science via The Official Google Blog An interesting link found among my daily reading

Noted: Latest Raspberry Pi Magazine Issue 55 Out Now (video) - Geeky Gadgets

Read Latest Raspberry Pi Magazine Issue 55 Out Now (video) - Geeky Gadgets via Geeky Gadgets An interesting link found among my daily reading

How To: Maker Connectors 1 from Barb Makes Things

After my filament rivets tutorial, I was asked about other kinds of connectors for folks making things on the fly, so here is the first video with four different options: brads, zip ties, barbed plastic, and straws. Let me know what things you like to use in the comments below! Don't forget to subscribe for new videos every Tuesday! I liked this video and think you might find it interesting, too!

On YouTube: Arduino Control Flow

Get started with Arduino programming in this quick and clear video on how programs work — Douglas Watch YouTube: Arduino Control Flow I liked this video and think you might find it interesting, too! Learn more about Arduino Programming with these books * 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! 

Noted: Bert Simon’s Icoled is a 3D Printed Arduino Powered Lamp #3DPrinting #ArduinoMonday

  The leds are controlled by an arduino an you can shift through the palettes with a knob, or remotly by phone and voice commands Read Bert Simon’s Icoled is a 3D Printed Arduino Powered Lamp #3DPrinting #ArduinoMonday via Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! An interesting link found among my daily reading

Noted: From 1950s Multimeter to Internet Connected Clock

I love seeing old technology repurposed for new, cool, tech. -- Douglas Read From 1950s Multimeter to Internet Connected Clock via hack a day An interesting link found among my daily reading

On YouTube: Intro to 3D Printing - A Series

Watch YouTube: Intro to 3D Printing - A Series This is the first video in a series of 3D Printing video’s i plan on doing. Since 3D printing and 3D Printing Technology is relatively new i am going to start as though you’ve never printed anything before and work my way through everything you need to know. I will go over what to look for in a printer, how much does a printer cost, tips and tools, settings, enclosures, modifications, filament explanations, prints you need, adding a glass bed, fixing clogs, insulation, and the best 3D design software. Hopefully you can watch these video’s and save yourself the hassle of making the typical mistakes that most people do who are just starting out. I liked this video and think you might find it interesting, too!

Make Your Own Leprechaun Night Light at OSH - Free Event - March 11, 2017

  Make your own Leprechaun Night Light FREE Saturday, March 11 9am to noon Kids are invited to make their own Leprechaun Lantern nightlight. Each child will be given all the goodies to make the magic happen. Limit one kit per child, while supplies last. Adult supervision required. #myoshproject

Noted: Hardware Hump Day: 3 Easy Robots You Can Build This Weekend

Read Hardware Hump Day: 3 Easy Robots You Can Build This Weekend via SparkFun Electronics Blog Posts An interesting link found among my daily reading

Noted: Everything You Need to Get Started in Screen Printing for about $50 (or Only $100 to Go All Out)

I was doing some research into screen printing the other day and this article provided a lot of great information. — Douglas   Read Everything You Need to Get Started in Screen Printing for about $50 (or Only $100 to Go All Out) via Man Made DIY Recent Posts An interesting link found among my daily reading

On YouTube: Intro To Laser Cutting

Watch YouTube: Intro To Laser Cutting I liked this video and think you might find it interesting, too!

On YouTube: Introduction to the Laser Cutter

I'm trying to increase my own knowledge about all the equipment that can be found in a Makerspace, so I have been searching about in YouTube for good introductions to laser cutters, 3D printers, drill presses and more. I'll share my best finds in the days to come. -- Douglas Watch YouTube: Introduction to the Laser Cutter I liked this video and think you might find it interesting, too!

Noted: Snag Three Free Programming Guides for HTML, Python, and Java for Your Kindle Right Now

Free is nearly always a great thing. Free books are even better and free books that teach you something are the best. Want to learn some programming? Grab these books. — Douglas  Read Snag Three Free Programming Guides for HTML, Python, and Java for Your Kindle Right Now via Lifehacker An interesting link found among my daily reading

On YouTube: Weather Shield - Temperature, Humidity, Pressure, Illumination [Arduino]

Watch YouTube: Weather Shield I liked this video and think you might find it interesting, too!

Noted: Arduino Heart Rate Monitor

A great learning project for Arduino. Limited components with known working libraries to make coding easier. — Douglas Read Arduino Heart Rate Monitor via Instructables An interesting link found among my daily reading

Noted: Worksheet - Getting started with Node-RED | Raspberry Pi Learning Resources

A detailed and well-written introduction to using Node RED on  your Raspberry Pi to get things happening — Dougas     Read Worksheet - Getting started with Node-RED | Raspberry Pi Learning Resources via Raspberry Pi An interesting link found among my daily reading