Author Archives: robertwilkie

Improving a bike light with pipe

Posted on March 19, 2014 by robertwilkie

Nice write-up on how to modify a simple bike light with limitation into a more self contained unit with volt meter readout and all contained inside a pipe that looks good. http://www.instructables.com/id/PowerTube-Vr-1/

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Get the kids to work, build a bike generator

Posted on March 19, 2014 by robertwilkie

Not a bad build, I like the chain to motor idea instead of direct drive off the wheel.  The author brings up good points such as being careful to not overload the inverter with someone that pedals really fast. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-a-Bicycle-Generator-1/?ALLSTEPS

Posted in Misc-Life, Tinkering | Comments Off on Get the kids to work, build a bike generator

Make a lab agitator from an old CDROM drive

Posted on March 19, 2014 by robertwilkie

The author basically made a slow “shaker” that moves a bowl back and forth to mix things up. http://dangerousprototypes.com/2013/09/11/homebrew-lab-agitator-from-salvaged-cd-rom-parts/

Posted in Cheap, Xerox | Comments Off on Make a lab agitator from an old CDROM drive

dumpsterCNC, good place for anti-backlash nuts

Posted on March 19, 2014 by robertwilkie

Stumbled on this site in a newsgroup.  Looks like a good source for anti-backlash nuts for CNC projects. http://www.dumpstercnc.com/

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If you have a CNC, you can make your own furniture

Posted on March 19, 2014 by robertwilkie

If you have access to a good sized CNC, or maybe a HandiBot, you could make your own furniture from the opensource designs in the article below.  IF you have a CNC of course. http://makezine.com/magazine/open-source-furniture/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=%24%7Bfeed%7D&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+%24%7Bmakezineonline%7D+%28%24%7BMAKE%7D%29&utm_content=%24%7BGoogleReader%7D

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How to get some DRM free music from ITunes

Posted on March 19, 2014 by robertwilkie

Assuming you already bought it from them before, apparently you can remove it and download the new stuff DRM free. http://lifehacker.com/delete-old-drm-copies-of-itunes-music-and-download-drm-1546445214?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+lifehacker%2Ffull+%28Lifehacker%29

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Xerox CEO talks to Government about Big Data

Posted on March 17, 2014 by robertwilkie

It sounds like Ursula Burns, and several other CEO’s went to government and I believe are asking the US to not regulate big data.  Which is good for them, bad for individuals and privacy. http://www.cio.com/article/print/749714

Posted in Xerox | Comments Off on Xerox CEO talks to Government about Big Data

Xerox new VP coming in from HP

Posted on March 17, 2014 by robertwilkie

I had seen articles that HP is killing alot of its Europe branches, so I wonder if this gent is just jumping ship to save himself. http://www.printweek.com/print-week/news/1142735/stabler-steps-xerox

Posted in Xerox | Comments Off on Xerox new VP coming in from HP

Using REST with Arduino Yun

Posted on March 17, 2014 by robertwilkie

Now that the new bred of arduino’s are network enabled, someone decided to build a REST interface to control the pins on it. Good idea but….security is lacking here.  As long as you are not worried about that, then go … Continue reading →

Posted in Arduino, Security | Comments Off on Using REST with Arduino Yun

new stand-alone CNC controller

Posted on March 17, 2014 by robertwilkie

An opensource one that that.  Its still in prototype, but the nice thing here is the GUI, line feed, and controller are all built in. http://hackaday.com/2014/03/14/dagu-the-standalone-cnc-controller/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+hackaday%2FLgoM+%28Hack+a+Day%29

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