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iPhone Geiger Counter Module Offers Portable Radiation Detection

Range — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 23:30:14 +0000

This hack allows for people concerned about radiation to use a Geiger counter with their iPhones. It could come in handy, especially if there are more disasters like Fukushima.

The iPhone Geiger counter has a case that was designed by Rick Pannen. He created the design in FreeCAD and had it CNC milled out of a solid block of POM plastic. It’s loaded with a custom-milled PCB and a surplus SI-29BG Russian Geiger-Müller tube that was sourced through eBay. The circuit was designed by BroHogan of DIYGeigerCounter and it connects with the iPhone via the audio jack.

It runs ND Apps’ Geiger Bot, an iOS app that interfaces with geiger counter modules, and it’s the first prototype of a projected series. It will be interesting to see how much he can streamline this design in future.

[Phlegmatic Prototyping via Make:]

Every Time a Bell Rings, a Blog Gets Its Hits

Technabob — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:45:22 +0000

Here’s a fun little holiday project for you mechanically-inclined folks out there. This strange looking contraption connects to your computer and rings a little bell every time a visitor hits your website.

With a few bucks worth of off the shelf parts, an Arduino board, a USB cable and a little code, you too can have one for your website, thanks to this detailed “how-to” article over on Tinkerlog.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

While I think the idea is really clever, I think you’d end up throwing the thing against the wall if you have even a mildly popular website. But if you just have a personal blog, or only want to monitor a single page, it could be gratifying to hear the little bell ring every time a visitor pops by.

Ding!

[via MAKE]

Daysago: the Digital Day Counter

Technabob — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 23:10:29 +0000

Did you forget how long ago you put that meat in the fridge, or when you last scooped the nasty cat box… how about the last time you changed the oil in your car? This simple, ingenious device lets helps you keep track of the last time you performed a specific task, right in the context of the item in question.

The DaysAgo Digital Day Counter is a simple little electronic badge with a day counter on it. Each badge has either suction cup or a magnet on the back so you can stick it right to the item you’d like to keep track of. Just press the button, and it keeps track of how many days have passed since you last reset it. A set of two timers is just $10, and they come in four assorted colors.

Every once in a while, I see an product and just ask myself: “Why didn’t I think of that?” This is one of those times.