LEDs Everywhere

It would seem that there is a conjunction between the advent of white LEDs and make projects. I remember reading/listening somewhere when they first came out about how they were supposed to revolutionize the third world, which was now going to have cheap lighting. Can't find anything about that now. Anybody?

There are a lot of different electronic projects, including tactical flashlights and bike lights. All good kiddy project stuff.

Sharpening Knives For Busy People

A while ago I posted a comprehensive guide to sharpening knives. For those that don't have the four hours to read and make notes here is a more practical guide, including a very easy method for getting your sharpening stone flat.

Plus good advice like: "This step is a totally unnecessary way to show off. You can impress people this way, especially if you rip your leg open, blood gushes everywhere, and they have to take you to the hospital."

Home Made Jerky Maker

If you do as much camping & hiking as I do, you know that buying jerky is expensive. Exorbitantly so, it seems. This looks interesting, especially since my lovely wife wants me to go out & shoot a buffalo. Apparently, somewhere around here, for $200 you get to shoot a buffalo. It's that cheap because you also get to gut and butcher it yourself. But lots of good jerky. Should I build the dryer first, or shoot the buffalo?

Re-Cycle Old CRT Monitors

Wish I'd seen this before I tossed those several old monitors last year. Plus, and project who's disclaimer includes risk of explosion, electrocution, and death has got to be worth double geek points.

Why I Drink Coffee

Yes, this is about how I feel in the morning, before I've had my coffee. Please remember this, non coffee-drinkers, when you're being cheerful early in the morning.

Building Stuff with LEDs - Tactical Flashlights

A tactical flashlight is one that is easily bright enough to flood the immediate area with light, or "blind an opponent to gain the tactical advantage." For those of you that need a tactical flashlight but don't want to pay through the nose for it, here's the supplier for the LED and instructions on how to build it.

Father of the Beast

My eldest son - my only son - turned 18 on 6/6/06, which I guess makes me the father of the beast. I didn't put much stock in the whole Revelations thing until I saw this video-clip, which was aired the same day. Now I'm convinced there *is* a Satan and David Lee-Roth is his bitch.

. . . and what's up with that cheezy smile?

World Cup Fever

I watched the France v Ghana game at supper last night. If you know me at all, this is surprising since ours is not a spectator sport family. So in honour of the world cup I went looking for some soccer videos.

There's some funny commercials, some amazing goals, incredible soccer skills, and something for the ladies who appreciate soccer players who aren't hidden under a mound of padding or, as in this case, nothing at all.

Do-It-Yourself Motivational Posters

I wonder where I can get these printed out poster size for cheap, and do some guerrilla marketing at work.

How Not to Manage

While I don't agree with everything this blogger postulates, it's a good start for on how not to be a total asshole.

Mindfulness - the Path to Enlightment

How to get better at something? Pay attention while you're doing it - duh!

Suduko

Anybody else got into this yet? I was bored on my flight back from Quebec City and tried it out in the in-flight rag. Now I've been sucked in. Even my 10-year-old daughter has a Happy Bunny Suduko puzzle book.

Rigging Tarps Over a Fire

Rigging tarps in the rain is a pain. You're either eating smoking, or getting wet, or worse your fire's getting wet. Here's a way to rig two tarps so they form a chimney but still protect your fire.

Here's a freebee - you know how when you set up a tarp in the rain, and it either runs all the water down your back, or it pools in the middle of the tarp and pulls the whole thing down on your head? Rig your tarp so that no corner is at the same height as any other. That way the water will run down to the lowest corner.

Getting Rid of Wasps

I've used the 2-litre pop-bottle trap to keep wasps down at camp before, with good success. Here's another home-made trap that also looks fairly effective.

Art or Science

Many of the electronics projects I've been looking at lately would be best mounted on a PCB board. Now I just have to (re)learn how to do it. This looks like a fun project to do that with.

Quickie Gift - Photo Blocks

This looks cool. Something to do with a family photo, then prop it up on my desk at work.

Playing the Spoons

. . . just in case you need a rythym section in your kitchen which, oddly enough, has happened to me.

Best Music on the Net

To make it easy to make it easy to discover & explore new musick, somebody's put together a list of the the music most referenced by the "best" blogs about music. I'm blogging it here.

Sharpening Knives

Everything you wanted to know about sharpening knives but were afraid to ask.

Building a Kayak

There are many fine builders of hand-made cedar strip canoes in Calgary. I keep running into them everywhere, including at work where I got pointed at the Southern Alberta Woodworkers Society. I work with the guy who led this class. I'm working towards a workshop that I can do this in for myself one day. All I need now is a band-saw. This guy builds replicas of collected kayaks from modern materials. Very cool.

Making a Bow

The first time I saw somebody making a bow was in a high-school wood-shop class. The next time I ran across it was in Tom Brown's books. Now somebody's simplified the process even further and posted it on the internet. Cool.

Tattoo Anything?

I'm starting to think people will tattoo anything on their bodies. I read this morning about a guy in Edmonton that had the Stanley Cup tattooed on his back. It was a big tattoo. Then there's the subgenre of web-comics crossed with tattoos.

Blacklight Tattoos

Here's a neat idea - UV reactive tattoo ink, for those that want to show their tattoos off in the club. Which is, of course, why many get a tattoo. To pick up chicks.

Battery Booster Upgrade

Go figure - as soon as I finish soldering up my 9v/USB battery pack, along comes a better model. It uses two AA batterys, which gives you 2.5 times more charge, and features a through-hold board which makes soldering easier. And it's all published under open source.

That's not the best part. The best part is Lady Ada is also a maker, with all her projects up on the web for all the world to share. These include a full synthesizer, "persistance of vision" aka blinky LED projects including one that goes in the spokes of your bike, and an MP3 player built into an Altoids tin with a built in FM transmitter, and a bike repair stand welding project.

I think I'm in love.