Technabob » reuse

Remote Control Shutter Release Made Out of Wii Nunchuk

Range — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:00:47 +0000

You probably have one or two extra Wii Nunchuk controllers lying about, or better yet, some cheapo knock-off ones that your friends, family, or kids just chucked around too hard and you no longer use. This was why Duncan Murdock decided to use one of those spare controllers to make a remote shutter control for his new DSLR.

He took some telephone wires and wired them up to a Radio Shack 2.5mm plug. Then, he fed it through a hole that he made through the rubber strain relief of the Nunchuk and soldered it where the shoulder button connected to the main board. C aut0-adjusts and Z fires the shutter. None of the other controls do anything at this point, though it would have been cool if the joystick could be used for zooming and focusing remotely.

I always like the idea of reusing tech that you might throw away or no longer use. What spare gadget do you have lying around, and what would you like to rebuild it into if you could?

[via Ubergizmo]

Lamp Made Out of Keyboard Parts: Qwertylight

Range — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 20:16:01 +0000

Nolan Herbut’s lamp design is made out of keyboards. He meticulously created the fixture by rearranging all of parts of keys that he found from unwanted keyboards and wrapping the whole thing up.

The light that comes from the lamp creates an interesting and ethereal effect. Does it make you want to create your own keyboard lamp? Probably not, but it’s definitely an good idea to do something with your old keyboards.

I’d like to see the effect if colorful LED lighting were used inside this lamp instead of a regular lightbulb. I’m sure that would be pretty funky.

[via Design Yearbook and Walyou]

Vhs Coffee Table: My Betamax Table is Better

Range — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:56:55 +0000

Just like me, you’ve probably got a bunch of VHS tapes in storage somewhere. Let’s be honest, some of us just can’t throw away some of this stuff. That’s why I really like this coffee table, made up of of old VHS tapes.

Luisa Montealegre used 92 VHS tapes to make this cool coffee table. Luisa also decorated the tapes before using them in her project. It’s a good idea and it recycles some tech that will usually find its way to the garbage heap. It’s such a simple concept, but I’ve never seen anything quite like it before.

What do you think, will you hack your VHS tapes into something useful? What will you make with yours?

[via Make:]

Recycling at Its Wearable Best: Keyboard Earrings

Alisha K. — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:21:59 +0000

Raise your hand if you don’t have or have access to an old keyboard. If you didn’t raise your hand, I’m pretty sure you’re an alien. For the rest of us… what’s a girl to do with all those old keyboards? They gather so much dust! But if you’re creative enough, you can turn ‘em into jewelry.

Unfortunately, however, in order to pull this one off, you’re gonna need more than just an old keyboard. While there’s a detailed tutorial available, it might just require materials or steps that seem foreign to you. If you have a dremel tool lying around, though, or are familiar with jewelry-making, then you’re a few quick steps away from your own keyboard earrings.

What keys to choose? Your initials? Arrow keys? A two-tiered set so you can use WASD? That would require some thought.

[Craft Bits via Crafty Crafty]