Technabob » harry potter

Hogwarts Model Prop to Go on Display, Was Actually Built by Muggles

Lambert Varias — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:00:43 +0000

It’s shocking, I know – the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft was actually built by humans. I’m talking about the scale model of the Harry Potter’s alma mater, which was built in 2001 and used in all of the Harry Potter films.

The scale model was made by award-winning production designer Stuart Craig (he’s the white-haired gentleman in one of the pictures in the gallery below) with the help of 86 artists and crew members. It measures 50 feet across and while it has no tiny ghosts inside, it does have details like miniature owls in the Owlery and tiny doors with even tinier hinges. It also has more than 2,500 fiber optic lights “to simulate lanterns, torches and students passing through hallways.”

The good news is that Harry Potter fans will have the chance to see the scale model in person, although you do have to take a trip to the UK to see it. It will be shown at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, England as part of The Making Of Harry Potter studio tour. The rest of us who can’t make it to the tour will just have to be content with the pictures on Online Foktai.

[via Dude Craft]

Harry Potter Maize Maze: Sending Him Off in Style

Range — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:58:24 +0000

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll be fully aware that the final Harry Potter movie is coming out this week. Apparently, people are celebrating (and commiserating) this all over the world. Check out what a farmer in the UK decided to do with his corn field.

Farmer Top Pearsy decided to create a Harry Potter corn maze, which he calls a Maize Maze in York, England. It was unveiled in photos yesterday, and I have to say that it looks pretty impressive. It always amazes me when I see stuff like this. I just wonder how it was exactly designed and laid out. Maybe Google Earth helped.

Needless to say that fans everywhere will be mourning the end of the beloved movie series. To be honest, after the last book was released in 2007, I kind stop watching the movies. Maybe it’s time to watch them again.

[via Design You Trust]

Cross-Stitched Characters: From Star Wars to The Justice League

Range — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 12:22:28 +0000

I’ve never cross-stitched in my life, but these cross-stitch patterns looks pretty amazing since they featured pixelated pop culture characters, ranging from The Justice League to Star Wars. WeeLittleStitches also includes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghosbusters, and more.

WeeLittleStitches is Jacqueline Gable from Canada and if you’ve got something pixel-like that you want to cross-stitch, she’s your gal. She’s also got an assortment of completed cross-stitches you can choose from. Expect to wait about 2 weeks for any custom order.

Prices vary from $5 for the PDF pattern to create your own up to $50 for the real stitched affairs. I have to say that I really like these and they’d make great decorations and/or mementos for any geek or geekette.

[via Comics Alliance via Thaeger]

Geeky Mice: Way Cuter Than Ewoks

Technabob — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:30:42 +0000

The gals over at The House of Mouse do one thing, and one thing well. They make little tiny mice based on geeky and pop culture icons. In browsing through their collection I found hand-sewn felt rodent versions of characters from Star Wars, LoTR, Harry Potter, and Doctor Who among others.

My personal favorite has to be the Stormtrooper mouse, but I have to say that the Darth Vader, Jabba the Hutt and Wall-E ones are pretty awesome too. They’re each handmade by British sisters Anna and Naomi for The House of Mouse. Check out the gallery below for a bunch of their clever and funny designs:

Okay, did you notice that the Pulp Fiction collection has a Gimp mouse? Wow. And that Edward Scissorhands one is pretty great too. Want some mice in your house? Head on over to The House of Mouse on Etsy to order your faves in time for the holidays.

Hogwarts School Id Card: the Surefire Way to Not Buy Booze and Not Get in Bars

Lambert Varias — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:30:06 +0000

Harry Potter may not be in the spotlight these days, what with the vampires of Twilight, the Na’vi of Avatar, and the choir members of Glee. But I’m sure a lot of people still re-read J.K. Rowling’s books, and a lot of kids still like to pretend that they’re going to train to become wizards when they grow up. The Hogwarts School ID is a nice and affordable gift for those hardcore Potter fans. It has four themes, one for each of the Hogwarts’ Houses.

The ID card measures 3.65 in x 2.3 in. You can customize the number and types of information that will appear on it, and you’ll get a preview of what your ID will look like before it’s actually printed.

You can order your very own Hogwarts school ID at ElectrikPinkPirate’s Etsy shop for only $7 (USD). The ID will be made as soon as your payment is received. Of course if you’re skilled in the arts of Photoshop (or even Word) then you can easily make your own version. Just don’t tell ElectrikPinkPirate.

Arduino Weather Clock Tells the Temperature, Not the Time

Range — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:58:10 +0000

This kind of reminds me of the Weasley clock that was in Harry Potter, but there’s actually more to it than just the time. It can actually show you what the weather is like outside.

I love how this display is retro and analog. You’d never expect a clock like this to show you the weather. What’s even more surprising is the technology that’s behind the clock. There’s actually a computer that drives this analog display!

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Sean Carney built this display using an old clock and removed the mechanism. He replaced it with a mechanism controlled by an Arduino chipset, which checks the weather on the Environment Canada website, since he’s in Winnipeg. The Arduino checks up on the website every 15 minutes and updates the hands of the clock accordingly.

Check out the full project worklog over at his Sean’s blog.

[via Make:]

Harry Potter Clock Shows Family’S Whereabouts Through the Magic of Twitter

Lambert Varias — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:55:39 +0000

Harry Potter fans will no doubt remember the Weasley’s strange but practical clock. Instead of telling the time, the clock showed the location or status of each Weasley, including “mortal peril” at the 12 o’clock position. A software version of the clock would be awesome enough, but someone with mad workshop skills went ahead and made a physical version of the clock that relies on good ol’ muggle technology to work. Behold the Magic Clock:

A friendly family debate between an old nerd versus his geek offspring resulted in a real version of the useful but fictional device. The nerd in question goes by the Picasa Web name Slip, and his two sons the geeks, who love the Harry Potter series. After championing science and engineering over magic, the ultimate argument being “they actually work” (like that’ll convince kids), Slip felt that he needed to show his kids something tangible to drive his point home, so he made the Magic Clock.

While the outside of the clock – an old clock body with brass plate face and hands – looks handsomely aged, any self-respecting nerd will tell you that it’s the innards that count. The clock is powered by a Seeeduino microcontroller board; a wireless router allows it to move the four servos to position the each of the clock’s hands to the appropriate status or location based on Slip’s Twitter updates. The clock will look for keywords that correspond to the ones on the clock face. If no match is found, then the hand will point to “Read Me” at the 4 o’clock position.

Messy muggle magic:

It took an insane amount of imagination and effort to make this clock. If you’re interested in the details check out the Magic Clock’s website for Slip’s exhaustive how-to. I’d like to think that while working on the clock, Slip – in a moment of weakness – wished that he could just whip out a wand and poof the damned thing into existence.

[via Coolest Gadgets]

LEGO Movie Posters by a Bunch of Blockheads

Alisha K. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:22:29 +0000

Redone movie posters are almost always awesome, but when they’re made out of Lego bricks? It’s an automatic win. These recreations, from painstakingly detailed to simple and effective, are certain to catch the eye–and now they’ve been collected in one Flickr group.

With the massive popularization of Lego minifig characters, it’s certainly easier to recreate certain franchises, but that doesn’t detract from the creativity that went into these projects.

Definitely one of my all-time favorite Lego projects in spirit, though of course it’s difficult to compete against the really epic creations.

[Flickr group via Geekstir]