Category Archives: Tinkering

2 more projects for the RPi

Stumbled on 2 more projects you can do for the Raspberry PI, first one is basically making an arcade gaming system.  The second one seems to be still in the works, but is a weather station. http://lifehacker.com/how-to-turn-your-raspberry-pi-into-a-retro-game-console-498561192 http://www.weather.dragontail.co.uk/index.php?page=station_setup  

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.NET going to Linux and Opensource

Server based only.  But its interesting to see the powerhouse of Microsoft open up all its development code to opensource and to Linux.  I wonder what the real reasoning behind the  release is.  Perhaps MS is feeling the heat of … Continue reading

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The 5 Dollar Bike Light

Some free flashlights from Harbor Freight, 2 PVC T’s, and 2 pipe hangers and you have a simple, dual beam LED bike light http://www.instructables.com/id/Three-Dollar-Bike-Light/

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Convert a bluetooth headset to a receiver

Good idea on recycling a bluetooth headset into something useful.  BUT…down side is powering this thing.  I think I would have gone a bit farther and figured out a way to power it with the speaker. http://www.instructables.com/id/STREAM-MUSIC-VIA-Bluetooth-on-any-amplifiers/?ALLSTEPS

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Utilities to build C/C++ for Android

Interesting set of utilities (mostly python based I think) for building C/C++ code for Android.  Why would you want to do this?  Well perhaps to port an existing Linux project to Android, thought it would be limited to the type … Continue reading

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Amazon Drive gets an API

Remember a month or so back Amazon announced free storage for prime members for photos, well now the have an API developers can use to access those pictures.  Let the hacking begin! http://techcrunch.com/2014/11/11/amazon-cloud-drive-gets-its-own-api/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

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Build a robotic bartender on the cheap

Well cheaper than the aiBAR mentioned.  Nice build though a bit clunky.  Clean up the wood box would go a long ways. Oh and non-plastic cups. http://www.instructables.com/id/Robotic-Bartender-Arduino-Based/  

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Nice python cheat sheet

Nice cheat sheet if you are starting out in python.  Sofar I like python as a language.  Much better than Ruby. http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/vip/~3/u85UsbP84mY/keep-this-python-cheat-sheet-on-hand-when-learning-to-c-1655521825

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Find out what is killing youf battery in Android

Nice write-up on a couple of battery monitoring apps for Android.  Haven’t tried them myself yet. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/find-apps-killing-android-battery/

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Build your own vac based robot gripper

A simple write-up using a vacuum, funnel, balloon, coffee, and a small bit of cloth to make a gripper for a robot.  My 2 cents, make sure you use a strong balloon for this project.  Not one of the cheap … Continue reading

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