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Showing posts from October, 2020

Home School: The Art of Code - Dylan Beattie from NDC 2020 via YouTube

Software and technology has changed every aspect of the world we live in. At one extreme are the ‘mission critical’ applications - the code that runs our banks, our hospitals, our airports and phone networks. Then there’s the code we all use every day to browse the web, watch movies, create spreadsheets… not quite so critical, but still code that solves problems and delivers services. But what about the code that only exists because somebody wanted to write it? Code created just to make people smile, laugh, maybe even dance? Maybe even code that does nothing at all, created just to see if it was possible? Join Dylan Beattie - programmer, musician, and creator of the Rockstar programming language - for an entertaining look at the art of code. We’ll look at the origins of programming as an art form, from Conway's Game of Life to the 1970s demoscene and the earliest Obfuscated C competitions. We’ll talk about esoteric languages and quines - how DO you create a program that print...

Historical Technology Books - 66 in a series - An historical account of inventions and discoveries in those arts and sciences, which are of utility or ornament to man...(1820)

 Historical Technology Books - 66 in a series - An historical account of inventions and discoveries in those arts and sciences, which are of utility or ornament to man, . Lend assistance to human comfort, a polish to life, and render the civilized state, beyond comparison, preferable to a state of nature(1820)     Download this entire publication from Archive.org in a variety of formats   Find more books on Bookshop and Help Indie Book Stores!  

Mold-Making Masterclass in Minutes via hack a day

Making silicone molds seems easy, but there are a lot of missteps to be made along the way that can mean the difference between a great, reusable mold, and one that’s a sad waste of silicone. If you’re helpless to know the difference, then check out [Eric Strebel]’s 9-minute masterclass teaser video on making a two-part mold for resin casting, which is also embedded below. Even if you already know how to do this, there’s probably a good tip in here somewhere. One of them being that you should always pour your silicone from one place and let it coat the piece being copied. Otherwise, there might be lines on the mold. Another tip is for DIY mold release made from petroleum jelly thinned with naphtha. Read Mold-Making Masterclass in Minutes via hack a day An interesting link found among my daily reading

Greg’s Harp is an Arduino-powered robotic string instrument via Arduino Blog

   Frank Piesik recently designed a robotic three-stringed instrument for his friend, Gregor, that features a unique sound and mechanical arrangement. Notes are selected by an array of 12 servos — four for each string — which pull down using a loop mechanism.  The aptly named Greg’s Harp is played by a solenoid-driven “KickUp” device that hits it from below and a small motor that continuously swipes with a “tape-propeller.” A coil assembly is also implemented to give the notes the ability to keep ringing for as long as needed (infinite sustain). Read Greg’s Harp is an Arduino-powered robotic string instrument via Arduino Blog An interesting link found among my daily reading

Historical Technology Books - 65 in a series - Technology Quarterly by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1904)

 Historical Technology Books - 65 in a series - Technology Quarterly by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1904)   Download this entire publication from Archive.org in a variety of formats   Find more books on Bookshop and Help Indie Book Stores!  

Scratch Built Subnautica Sub Explores the Pool via hack a day

In Subnautica, players explore an alien underwater landscape with the help of a number of futuristic tools and vehicles. [Robert Cook] found himself particularly enamored with the large submarine you unlock towards the later parts of the game, so much so that he decided to build his own real-life version. Read Scratch Built Subnautica Sub Explores the Pool via hack a day An interesting link found among my daily reading

This Arduino project lets you see your heartbeat via Arduino Blog

It’s easy enough to check your heart rate, but Sharath Naik has designed a project that actually lets you see it instead. The roughly heart-shaped, 3D-printed device sits on a pedestal with four sections that are pushed out in response to your pulse. The visualizer utilizes a servo and linkage system to physically actuate beating, and a MAX30100 pulse oximeter mounted to the base is implemented to track your heartbeat. This data is fed into an Arduino Nano board, which signals the SG90 servo to expand and contract the model in response to your own body.  More info and code are available in Naik’s post, and you can see it in action below!  Read This Arduino project lets you see your heartbeat via Arduino Blog An interesting link found among my daily reading

Historical Technology Books - 64 in a series - Microcomputing Magazine (April 1982)

 Historical Technology Books - 64 in a series - Microcomputing Magazine (April 1982)   Download this entire publication from Archive.org in a variety of formats     Find more books on Bookshop and Help Indie Book Stores!  

Free Book: Think Python 2e via Green Tea Press

Free Book: Think Python 2e via Green Tea Press Think Python is an introduction to Python programming for beginners. It starts with basic concepts of programming, and is carefully designed to define all terms when they are first used and to develop each new concept in a logical progression. Larger pieces, like recursion and object-oriented programming are divided into a sequence of smaller steps and introduced over the course of several chapters. Download Precompiled copies of the book are available in PDF. The LaTeX source code is available from this GitHub repository. Here is the HTML version. Read Free Book: Think Python 2e via Green Tea Press

Raspberry Pi Illuminates Staircase Steps with LEDs and a Motion Sensor via Tom's Hardware

This summer seems to be an excellent opportunity for home repair and improvement. If you're looking for something fun and colorful to spruce up your home, check out this awesome Raspberry Pi-powered LED staircase project by Reddit user chocolate_dingy. The project concept is simple enough, it uses a motion sensor to detect when someone is walking on the stairs. There are LED strips corresponding with each step. The Pi will send a signal to light up each step depending on the location data received from the sensor. According to the creator, the whole setup relies on a single sonar sensor. This is used to measure distance while ascending the steps. The sensor information is relayed to the Pi so it can process the location information.  Read Raspberry Pi Illuminates Staircase Steps with LEDs and a Motion Sensor via Tom's Hardware

Historical Technology Books - 63 in a series - inCider 1983-01

 Historical Technology Books - 63 in a series - inCider 1983-01 Download this entire publication from Archive.org in a variety of formats   Find more books on Bookshop and Help Indie Book Stores!

How About a Nice Cuppa TEA Laser? via hack a day

If lasers are your hobby, you face a conundrum. There are so many off-the-shelf lasers that use so many different ways of amplifying and stimulating light that the whole thing can be downright — unstimulating. Keeping things fresh therefore requires rolling your own lasers, and these DIY nitrogen TEA and dye lasers seem like a fun way to go. These devices are the work of [Les Wright], who takes us on a somewhat lengthy but really informative tour of transversely excited atmospheric (TEA) lasers. The idea with TEA lasers is that a gas, often carbon dioxide in commercial lasers but either air or pure nitrogen in this case, is excited by a high-voltage discharge across long parallel electrodes. TEA lasers are dead easy to make — we’ve covered them a few times — but as [Les] points out, that ease of construction leads to designs that are more ad hoc than engineered. Read How About a Nice Cuppa TEA Laser? via hack a day An interesting link found among my daily reading

This system enables users to create room-sized interactive surfaces with spray paint via Arduino Blog

If you’ve ever thought of adding a user interface to an everyday surface — like a concrete wall, or even a sofa — MIT CSAIL’s SprayableTech system presents a variety of interesting possibilities.  Input elements, such as buttons and sliders, are airbrushed onto a surface like graffiti with a single layer of conductive ink, while electroluminescent displays can be formed by the application of multiple layers with different properties. Spray paint stencils for these interfaces are created with the help of a toolkit integrated into Blender.  Read This system enables users to create room-sized interactive surfaces with spray paint via Arduino Blog An interesting link found among my daily reading

Historical Technology Books - 62 in a series - Popular Computing Weekly (1982-04-23)

 Historical Technology Books - 62 in a series - Popular Computing Weekly (1982-04-23) Download this entire publication from Archive.org in a variety of formats   Find similar books and magazines: Publication date  1982-04-23 Topics  program ,  print ,  goto ,  referral ,  programs ,  machine code ,  computer ,  bbc ,  referral points ,  popular computing ,  micro gen ,  referral service ,  zexion ship ,  open forum ,  wide range ,  broadcasting support ,  computing weekly Collection  popular-computing-weekly ;  computermagazines ;  magazine_rack ;  additional_collections Language  English Find more books on Bookshop and Help Indie Book Stores!