NES CONTROLLER SYNTHESIZER

Gadget hacker Michael Rucci builds his audio mods into old electronic toys and other salvaged parts, but my personal faves are his Nintendo controller synths. He’s currently got this NES synth up on his Etsy shop. LINK, Via Youtube



But from the looks of things he’s also done a version with one of those beefy NES Advantage controllers, using a pair of square-wave oscillators for sound generation. LINK: Youtube

If You Use IE8, Firefox, and Safari, Today Is a Bad Day

No browser is safe: Internet Explorer 8, Firefox, and Safari, all of them have been hacked at 2010 Pwn2Own, and used to take full control of a Windows 7 machine (Chrome wasn't targeted). [Zdnet, Zdnet, Zdnet] Via: Gizmodo

Larry Cotton's MIDI Marimba

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Larry Cotton created a 3-octave "player marimba" and added MIDI control via two Highly Liquid MD24 MIDI Decoders. LINK: Youtube

The Senster - Robotic Sculpture from the late 1960's

Today and Tomorrow has some photos and a video of a cool robotic sculpture from the late 1960s, designed by Edward Ihnatowicz. Senster would be right at home at Maker Faire!

The Senster was a robotic sculpture developed by Edward Ihnatowicz in the late 60’s. It was commisioned by Philips and part of their permanent showplace, the Evoluon, in Eindhoven between 1970 and 1974. It was the first robotic sculpture to be controlled by a computer and could react to the behaviour of the visitors with its sound and movement sensors. The computer used to control The Senster was a Philips P9201 and had only 8K of core memory. Now, almost 40 years later, every interaction student could make something like this and fit the logic in a small box. But this is still an amazing project.

The Senster (Via: Mt. Holly Mayor's Office,Via: Boingboing, Via: Youtube)



Edward Ihnatowicz was a Cybernetic Sculptor active in the UK in the late 1960's and early 1970's. His ground-breaking sculptures explored the interaction between his robotic works and the audience, and reached their height with The Senster, a large (15 feet long), hydraulic robot commissioned by the electronics giant, Philips, in Eindhoven in 1970. The sculpture used sound and movement sensors to react to the behaviour of the visitors. It was one of the first computer controlled interactive robotic works of art.

Dremel 4000 Must Be Two Times Better than the Dremel 2000

Do-It-Yourself humans! Lust for the Dremel 4000—the magic rotating tool that can sand surfaces, carve wood, polish metal, scramble eggs, mix cocktails, and overstimulate naughty bits with different tips—for it's the new king of the multifunction tool hill.

It has new replaceable motor with electronic feedback control, which in theory will give you consistent speed under pressure. The speed range goes from 5,000 to 35,000 revolutions per minute, and it has the obligatory backward compatibility with all your existing Dremel tips. [Dremel], Via: Gizmodo

Stick sequencer

This is the Stick, controlling the notes of the sequencer. LINK: Mobius Megatar,Via: Youtube

Lewis Hamilton and the RC Office Grand Prix

Have you ever seen Lewis Hamilton driving his McLaren with a mobile phone as it was a RC car? LINK: Youtube

Microbe Combat

Simple cat and mouse type of game where you control a microbe and you need to eat up the enemy microbes. Divide your microbe into 2 and you get a larger force but easier for your enemy to gobble you up too. LINK