Archive for February 2016

And now for your moment of zen. This Etch a Sketch Zen Garden Coffee Table is a great way to channel your inner calm. Friend of Technabob Caleb Kraft created this fun project that combines a coffee table, an Etch a Sketch and a zen garden.

The computer keyboard is the most versatile gaming controller by virtue of its number of keys. But unlike mice or the joysticks on gamepads, those keys typically have only two states: not pressed and pressed. Until now.

Redditor Sithslayer78 loves playing Humans vs. Zombies (HvZ), a live action game where players try to survive a zombie invasion using soft toys, such as NERF blasters. He’s added another layer of roleplaying to his HvZ games by modding his blasters in the style of Halo‘s trusty assault rifle.

Volvo is working on a slick autonomous vehicle project with a Swedish refuse company that is aiming to automate the task of picking up your trash and taking it to the truck for dumping. The process needs a human driver for the truck (for now) and otherwise the process of picking up the can, schlepping it to the truck, and dumping it is automated.

Allen Pan is a cool guy. Cool as ice even. Allen recently built a sword not out of steel, but of ice. Surprisingly, it is strong enough to chop through a watermelon and also can decapitate helpless snowmen.

It’s easy to find NFC or RFID rings these days. Adafruit sells them, but the electronics shop knows that it caters mainly to makers, so it came up with a guide for a customizable 3D printed ring.

Sure you have your selfie stick to capture awesome shots of you and your friends on that roller-coaster. It’s a shame about that guy who lost his eye when you dropped it, but whatever. Well, now the selfie stick has been upgraded so that you can use your Mac to snap those selfies.

LEGO’s Mindstorms and Power Functions lines both have remote controllers, but shockingly they transmit only via infrared. Polish company RC Bricks wants to expand LEGO enthusiasts’ tools with its Servobrick Pro, two motors that receive signals over radio, just like most RC models.

We’ve seen a couple of cool LEGO BB-8 models, but this LEGO Ideas proposal by Mark “mjsmiley” Smiley and James “artbot138” Garrett is significant because it can actually roll while its head stays upright, all using commercially available LEGO parts.

For his first Raspberry Pi project, Redditor tvm78 used the tiny computer to turn an old monitor into a digital picture frame. But instead of loading pictures of their family, tvm78 decided to stay connected with their online community.

Hackster member Minimum Effective Dose made a pair of helmets that makes it seem like the wearer both speaks and understands droidspeak. Each helmet emits bleeps and bloops as you speak, and you can understand what the wearer is saying only if you have the other helmet on.

I’ve come to the conclusion that even if you buy the cookie dough that is offered in sheets during the holidays, your cookie cutter cookies will still come out more round and blobby than you expect.

I like to cook and I really like to eat. The problem is that sometimes when I get home from work and everyone’s like “What’s for dinner?” and all I want to do is watch The Walking Dead before Facebook dicks give up spoilers, cooking is the last thing I want to do.

After reporting on companies getting hacked, Fusion reporter Kevin Roose wanted to find out exactly how devastating it would be to have one’s online identity and information stolen. So he asked two computer security experts – Chris Hadnagy of Social Engineer and Dan Tentler of Phobos Group – to hack him.

Bubble wrap is crazy amazing stuff. Popping it’s bubbles is both calming and addictive. There are some people who love bubble wrap so much that they would put it all over their walls and surfaces. For those people, check out these Unpoppable Bubble Wrap Drink Coasters.

It looks like Build-A-Bear is getting in on the Batman v Superman craze. The custom toy show is releasing new Superman and Batman bears, costumes, and even a bear-sized plush Batmobile. These are great for cubs and adults.