Earlier this month I was lucky enough to head over to Shenzhen, China, for Dangerous Prototypes' Hacker Camp and Maker Faire Shenzhen. I flew over with Jon Oxer (from Freetronics), and Mitch Davis (from Hackvana) was on our flight as well. Good Melbourne contingent!
Ian from Dangerous Prototypes has put …
I've been messing around with Bluetooth Low Energy on a few projects lately. There's some fun stuff out there, but like a lot of embedded stuff it can be a bit tricky in a non-Windows environment (I run Linux whenever I can.)
One module I've come across is …
Misappropriating discount store LEDs to improve the illumination in my microscope.
If "a poor workman blames his tools" then I am a poor workman when it comes to electronics. Every time I buy new equipment my soldering gets better - nicer soldering stations, different tips, decent magnification. Soldering under a microscope …
"Sony Smartwatch now open-sourced"? "takes wearable tech into open-source territory"? It's a shame this is almost entirely untrue.
(Updated 21/6 with some info about the Bluetooth/FM chip.)
Image © 2013 Sony Mobile Communications
My initial excitement really cooled when I started digging around the Open Smart Watch project page …
I've assembled a network installer image to install Debian 7.0 "Wheezy" on the GK802 "Android TV" Mini PC. This is intended for people who want to run the GK802 headless or semi-headless, for server or robotics applications.
Last update: 24 May, see details
The GK802 is a 1GHz quad …
Problem: You have a computer running Debian 7 wheezy (also Debian 8 jessie) with an encrypted root filesystem. At startup you'd like to be able to unlock the disk over ssh, maybe because it runs headless.
There are some existing solutions to this: early-ssh worked on previous Debian versions. There …
I bought this LG branded USB 2.0 Hub for $10 from PCDIY.
Seems to be an LG promotional item that PCDIY decided to resell. (I don't mind, it works properly in Linux unlike most cheap hubs.)
However, the form factor is kinda big and the LG logo is pretty …
Taking apart a very cheap USB to Ethernet adapter and pondering on the parts found inside.
Here are two USB to Ethernet adapters:
One of them is sold on ebay for $3.85 AU ($3.99 US), including postage to Australia. The other is sold at Apple Stores for $29 …
At Make, Hack, Void we've had a Rep Rap Pro Huxley 3d printer since the beginning of the year.
Unfortunately we've also struggled with a couple of long-standing problems. One of them is the PTFE "bowden tube" that encloses the filament between the extruder drive and the hot end. In …
Demo page with data from the last week in September
A few months ago, in the dead of Canberra winter, we discovered our flat had a mould problem. Insidious disgusting mould had crept in around our walls. Much scrubbing ensued.
Black mould found behind a cupboard - eww!
We bought a …