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make your own custom lightsaber!

filed under: geek art & craft | hacks-mods | retro

Lightsaber

I don’t know what’s up with me loving the Star Wars action so much lately but this is too cool to pass up. Instructables has all the deets you need to make a Jedi-licious custom lightsaber!

The project is from Instructables user Ricardoaraujo, and utilizes cutting-edge LED and AA battery technologies…

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posted: June 13th, 2008 stumble it! post a comment author: karen

build your own robot in 2 hours or less

filed under: hacks-mods | robotics

2 Hour Robot by Fritsl

Every day, I come across all sorts of cool homebrew robot projects, but never thought I had the skills or patience to make my own. Now, thanks to a generous member of the ‘bot building community, even the most novice builders can crank out their own little robots with ease…

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posted: March 25th, 2008 stumble it! 1 comment author: technabob

zetalink nixie tube clocks offer funky fonts

filed under: design | retro | timepieces

Zeta Nixie Clock Example

This wouldn’t be the first Nixie tube clock I’ve ever seen, but it sure offers some different display options than the typical numeric display they usually feature. Raymond Weisling’s GeekKlok not only can display time using traditional digits, it offers custom “fonts” which can tell time using special characters…

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posted: December 11th, 2007 stumble it! post a comment author: technabob

homebrew star wars at-st learns to walk

filed under: hacks-mods | robotics

Star Wars AT-ST Robot

Check out this awesome homemade Star Wars AT-ST walker, built from a mish-mash of electronic parts, brass tubing and custom cut circuit boards.

The bipedal MiniMechadon walker is fully functional, and can hobble around just like the ones in the motion pictures…

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posted: November 6th, 2007 stumble it! post a comment author: technabob

hats off to this led chapeau

filed under: geek art & craft | strange and wonderful

LedHat

While you might think that top hats went out of fashion a hundred years ago, this funky hat hack uses modern technology to bring the classic cap into a new era.

The LedHat is a handcrafted wonder that involved soldering a grid of hundreds of individual green LEDs around the crown of a top hat…

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posted: October 18th, 2007 stumble it! post a comment author: technabob

playstation reincarnated as robot insect

filed under: hacks-mods | robotics | video games

Harold Ilano’s Mercury BEAM Robot

I’ve seen some interesting hackjobs in my day, but nothing quite like this. Builder Harold Ilano has built himself a little robotic insect from the remnants of an old Sony  Playstation console…

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posted: September 10th, 2007 stumble it! 2 comments author: technabob

giant nintendo controller won’t fit in your hands

filed under: hacks-mods | just plain fun | retro | video games

Giant NES Controller

You won’t have any trouble finding the buttons on this massive replica of Nintendo’s famous NES controller.

Game fan Philip Torrone and his team of builders put together this 5-foot wide joypad for the recently completed 2007 Maker Faire…

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posted: June 10th, 2007 stumble it! 1 comment author: technabob

tetris gets an led makeover

filed under: design | retro | video games

Sparkfun Tetris Board

A team of tech wizards working with Spark Fun Electronics has built together this awesome wall-sized Tetris game that’s uses colored LEDs to animate the game.

The game features a unique interface that controls the movement and rotation of the game pieces by pressing on square backlit LED buttons…

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posted: May 12th, 2007 stumble it! 3 comments author: technabob

xgs micro edition: build your own retro games

filed under: retro | video games

XGS Micro Edition DIY Game Console

If you’re into video games and technically inclined, you might want to check out this kit that helps you learn how to build your own video games…

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posted: February 9th, 2007 stumble it! post a comment author: technabob

build an xbox live arcade game and win prizes

filed under: video games

XNA Game Studio Express Contest

A while back, we reported on the availability of Microsoft’s XNA Game Studio Express, which allows you to roll your own homebrew games for the Xbox 360 and the Xbox Live Arcade…

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posted: December 11th, 2006 stumble it! post a comment author: technabob

build your own pong machine

filed under: just plain fun | video games

build your own pong

In case the Xbox 360 and forthcoming PS3 are too sophisticated for your delicate taste, here’s a chance for you to return to the kinder, gentler, pre-Atari 2600 days…
For the low, low price of $19.95 (USD), the folks at ThinkGeek are offering a complete electronics kit that allows you to build your own table tennis video game console…

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posted: July 3rd, 2006 stumble it! post a comment author: technabob

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